Exactly five years ago, in September 2009, I began work on what was to be Britain’s first Vintage Computer Festival. I was a volunteer for the National Museum of Computing at the time, and the project was intended to be a major fundraiser for a charity which receives no government or lottery funding.
In an effort to make the event appeal to as many people as possible, I decided (in my infinite or questionable wisdom) to add electronic music to the event, because music somehow seems more funkier and sexier than old computers. Some people thought I was completely mad, but the idea attracted some attention. Andy McCluskey very kindly agreed to help us with the cause, and soon a small OMD gig was added to headline the weekend event. Once that happened of course, the non-technical press suddenly started to pay attention. That event marked a change in direction for me, in that I suddenly found myself organising events to do with computers or music… or in some cases, both.
Since then, I’ve either organised or co-organised a lot more events and I’ve met a lot of people. It’s very easy to dismiss or mock computing events as being “geeky” or “nerdy”, but in reality we should encourage those who have a passion for something and aren’t afraid to show it. As long as it isn’t illegal, immoral, or downright dangerous to public safety of course. What soon became apparent from events such as Vintage Computer Festival, is that many people have a deep-rooted passion for one particular machine – often deriding its former competitors with scorn. This became apparent shortly after the second VCF-GB (to give the event its adapted acronym), when I saw on a blog post a brief but mildly scathing review of the weekend. I contacted the gentleman who wrote the post, to ask him what he found so disappointing about the event and what I could possibly do to improve things – if and when we do another. His blunt response was that the Commodore Amigas were at the back of the museum, and not the front. I think I’d doubly offended him by allowing a lowly Commodore 64 to be placed somewhere near the entrance. Anyway, I explained to him that the Amigas couldn’t be placed near the front of the museum because there wasn’t a big enough floor space – instead, I had allocated the largest available floor space for them at the back. Once he understood this, he was a lot happier and went on his way. Just thank goodness we hadn’t placed an Atari ST at the front…
It’s much the same within the classic car community. As many people know, I’m a bit of a classic car petrol-head and love going to shows whenever I can – if ever you come with me, be warned, as I can talk about the finer points of a Triumph Stag or Ford Escort Mexico as much as anyone. For some, however, the love of their favourite classic automobile can turn into friendly (or not so friendly) rivalry. It’s widely known (to those of us of a certain age – ahem) that the Morris Marina and Austin Allegro were market rivals in their day. Quite why, nobody can answer, because they were both made by the same company – British Leyland – so why any car manufacturer would want to compete with itself is anyone’s guess. Anyway, Allegro fans are usually quite anti-Marina, and Marina fans are quite anti-Allegro. The rest of the world simply look at this and ask why, because both cars were terrible when launched, and even worse by modern standards now. The point is that an interest can spark intense devotion, debate, and sometimes rivalry.
It should have come as no surprise to me that such intense opinions and rivalries also happen within electronic music, particularly within the “up and coming” or unsigned bands. Unfortunately, I think it did! I generally like what I like, and if there’s an audience for a band then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t play live and make people happy. This isn’t always the case, especially where certain music journals or blogs were concerned. Picking bands for a line-up is a bit like playing The Adventure Game – one wrong choice and your pre-event publicity will disappear into the Vortex. If you’re under forty you’ll probably have no idea of what I’m talking about, but suffice to say the whole experience became a baptism of fire to me.
Picking the right bands is just a part of the battle. When I say battle, I don’t mean it as if Spandau Ballet and Depeche Mode fans will ever launch into combat. To those unfamiliar with the music business, it carries an air of attraction and exudes sex appeal. The reality is often quite different, as anyone who has tried hauling their instruments out of a seedy pub at midnight will tell you. I certainly found out who my real friends were. One or two people I’d known for years suddenly dropped off radar, or started making cryptic comments about what I was doing as if I was having some kind of midlife crisis. Others – and sometimes the people I’d least expected – have been wonderfully encouraging and supportive. I soon learned that keeping everyone happy was an impossible task – I found this difficult to come to terms with, but I just had to accept it and move on. Even recently I have made and lost the occasional friend because of scene politics. I hate this, I admit. Certain factions within the music press, or blogs, can be quite divisive or harsh – not only to artists but sometimes towards the people who write for them. This leaves me uncomfortable, because whilst I know there are some musicians out there who (shall we say) need to “develop their art”, I hate the idea of crushing someone’s hopes and dreams. Worse still, hurting their feelings or shattering their confidence. I know some promoters are quite hard-faced, but I put on events for people to have a good time and enjoy themselves. If they say “thank you” afterwards, that’s a bonus. Music events, like computing events, are based around a community that love them.
All in all, the last few months alone have been quite a learning curve – or perhaps a rollercoaster would be more apt a description. If it wasn’t for the support and guidance of some very wonderful – and new – friends, it would have probably been a very different experience. The ticket-buying public have been wonderful, and it really is the smiling faces and words of thanks which keep me going (that and the caffeine probably!).
I’ll finish with something to think about. One thing that I find most disheartening for bands is when people dismiss them without giving them a chance. “I’ve never heard of them. They’ve never had a chart hit. They’re not on X-Factor”. Good music doesn’t necessarily create chart or media success – exceptional marketing for the lucky few does that. If you’ve never been to a gig, there’s an unsigned band out there within the music genre you like, and they’re playing near you – give them a chance. You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised – and it may open a whole new social interest for you.
Simon Hewitt 