Features / bristol music
Turn it up: Bristol’s eclectic music scene
Last month I moved into my new house in Bedminster. After sourcing a last minute man-and-van from Gumtree – who also happened to be a Marxist punk rocker – my stuff was dumped on a street corner and he drove off to pick up a lady who was “possibly” soon to be his girlfriend from Bristol Airport.
As I explored Bedminster over the next few days, several miraculous things happened.
The first was my flatmate – only minutes after his first trip to North Street – running into Kate Stables of This Is The Kit fame.
is needed now More than ever
The next morning, when we got coffee and stopped by Friendly Records, my girlfriend bought a copy of Crosby, Stills & Nash that was originally owned and sampled by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow on the Annihilation soundtrack.
Slowdive performs a sold-out show at SWX – photo: Benji Chapman
On the way back, a flash of pink hair hidden beneath a fisherman’s beanie passed us on the street. It was Joe Talbot, the IDLES frontman, wearing a distinctly tired expression post-Glastonbury.
I’ve lived in Bristol for two years now and in that time I’ve met more of my favourite artists than I ever could have hoped: David Pajo, Nia Archives, Thurston Moore and all of Protomartyr to name a few.
I can’t forget the time my friend bumped into Roni Size on the bus to St Paul’s either.
The music that comes from Bristol has always owed itself to the city’s cultural heritage and web of grassroots influence.
Geographically, the city isn’t the largest. By many accounts we’re overshadowed by London – a fact which somewhat stunted Bristol’s ditsy rock and roll scene in the 1960s – but by the 70s a budding underground scene of punk, reggae and dub had begun to surface: the parents of the so-called Bristol Sound.
Bands like The Cortinas introduced the city to punk rock. They matched their political ferocity with the rocksteady groups who were mainstays of St Paul’s Caribbean community, like Talisman and Black Roots.
The result was the abrasive post-punk movement, with acts like The Pop Group, which has seen something of a revival recently with local acts like IDLES.
In this sense, Bristol’s influences and appeal have always been international. The birth of trip-hop and jungle scene in the 90s signalled an expansion of the city’s musical influence to even greater heights, as records like Blue Lines and New Forms saw recognition at the Brits and Mercury Awards respectively.
With continual grassroots efforts to keep artistic hubs alive, such as Tara Clerkin’s ‘Save The Rhubarb’ initiative or the more recent ‘Save Mickey Zoggs’ project, there is an undeniable sense that musicians from Bristol are part of the local community and proud of it too. Thanks to these initiatives, independent grassroots venues continue to live and breathe across the city.
Solidarity is also an important part of Bristol’s music scene. It is said that Tricky would never go hungry walking around St Paul’s on account of locals offering him meals, while Massive Attack’s recent battery and solar-powered performance on the Downs demonstrated a priority for environmental and social justice concerns. IDLES’ antics at Glastonbury this year, with help from Banksy, reinforce how important it is to Bristolian musicians to make a social impact beyond the local.
As you start going out to gigs in Bristol you may come across familiar faces – most likely local legend Big Jeff. You’ll also be exposed to more and more music that will soon become the eclectic mixtape accompanying your fondest memories.
Bristol’s music draws from countless voices but is united by a guiding thread of sonic exploration and social awareness that is sewn by the tireless local creatives who put everything they have into their art.
It has challenged my tastes like never before and made me feel closer to the other people in this city in a way I am certain no other music scene could.
Main photo: Benji Chapman
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