14/03/2011
Ant Openshaw runs SHS Promotions; a small company based in Sheerness, organising gigs showcasing the local talent at the Ivy Leaf Bar. On April 23rd and 24th The Ivy is kicking off the festival season in style. I bugged him with some questions in his lunch hour:
Q. So what does "SHS" stand for?
A. "Stupid Human Scum," - It was a Kick-Kick Murder Squad song back when I started doing gigs and wanted to do just small underground shows.
Q. Okay so do you still carry that sentiment when it comes to gigs these days?
A. No, not anymore. I enjoy seeing more people come to our gigs and meeting new bands, instead of just sticking to one musc genre and only having 20 people turn up.
Q. That's fair enough. I guess that in order to have an underground scene, you need to have a mainstream one for it to counteract. Apart from promoters like yourself and pub karaoke there isn't much of a scene around here these days is there?
A. Not in Sheerness anyway, but its really hard for promoters and venues to keep going. The costs are a lot higher to put gigs on or run venues these days plus having noise restrictions in place aren't helping.
Q. That's true, it is still going though. Tell us about "The Ivy's Big Weekend" in April.
A. A couple of years back we used to do these kind of gigs, where we would have 24 bands playing in one day over two stages. I really missed doing those sorts of shows, so once I got the green light to put back the second stage in the Ivy, I knew this would be the first show I wanted to do. At first it was only meant to be one day but as I couldn't get certain bands to play on the Saturday, we moved them to Sunday. If this one goes well then the plan is to make the next one even bigger!
Q. 35 bands over two days is pretty epic. £3 entry is modest too considering the usual prices for festivals these days. Talk us through your headliners.
A. The original plan was to make it free entry over the two days but running costs are too high. So I didn't want to over charge and I think £3 is fair. For both days I wanted an eclectic mix of bands and most of the 35 bands could headline in their own right, so it wasn't easy choosing the four headliners but I think its right and I haven't had anyone tell me otherwise yet.
Floors and Walls + The Kairs headline the saturday and Tyrannosaurus Alan + One Day Elliott headline on Sunday.
Q. So there'll be something for everyone. Would you encourage more promoters to put on this sort of event? Where do you see the scene in the next couple of years?
A. Yes I would. If a promoter has a venue that can cater for this sort of event, then there's no reason why more promoters shouldn't do it. Err hopefully it will be better than it is now but so much of that depends on the bands / venues / promoters left in the scene. I mean there is no guarantee I will be in the scene in a few years time.
Q. Well let's hope you are, you've done a lot of hard work keeping it going. Any last words?
A. I would like to thank Stevie, Colin and Vic because without these people, the Ivy wouldn't be where it is now. I would also like to thank the hundreds of bands that have played over the past three years and to anyone that has come to one of the shows because without you there wouldn't be much point.
Thanks man.
