Music & Brexit
Fish - How Brexit Has Destroyed UK Artists’ Ability To Tour In The EU
22 January at 16:05
I’m still reeling from the new regulations revealed by the UK Government just over 2 weeks ago regarding touring in the European Union post Brexit. I’ve been trying to make sense of it all from all the sometimes contradictory and often vague information available on various websites that are constantly being updated and working out how this affects my own business and career. It’s quite frankly confounding.
I’ve grown tired of hearing “So what did musicians do before we joined the EU then?”
In 1973 when the UK joined the EU I was 15 years old and the Global Music Industry revenues were around 5 billion US dollars. By the turn of the century they were around $25 billion and today worth around $21 billion with the UK music industry generating $7.5 billion. That is a figure that doesn’t even take in the vast independent network or all the ancillary workers and bolt on industries that contribute hugely these days to the International music business. As an example, my album sales don’t even count as I’m not officially chart ‘registered’ and on unofficial figures I had a Top 10 album in the UK with over 10 000 physical mail order sales of my 11th solo album, ‘WELTSCHMERZ’ in the first week of release in October 2020. A purely independent release. A tree in the forest. And there are a lot of trees out there.
It’s a huge industry generating nearly 4 times more than the UK fishing industry which despite a loud lobbying voice has its own valid frustrations at this time as we deal with all this weight of bureaucracy now foisted upon us by Brexit.
To put things a bit in perspective ‘The Who’ between 1963 and 1973 played only around 55 shows in the current EU countries. I have 27 EU shows and 5 in Scandinavia rescheduled from last year going out across 43 days in the Autumn of this year. That is more than half of the 90 out of 180 days I am allowed to be in the EU under the new rules. If these shows had gone ahead as planned in 2020 I would have been booking further shows in the early part of this year, if the new regulations allowed. Taking into account any EU festivals which are normally a 3-day venture across a performance, plus any promotion trips which would also have to be added to my tally, as well as personal visits to my German family, and those 90 days in 180 fast disappear.
The visa/ permit situation has a major impact. From what I’ve discovered so far we now need permits for every country in the EU. In Holland for example the administration/ processing costs of a permit are around £250 per person not including the instigation and set up on our end. I carry a 10-person team; 6 musicians including myself, a back-line tech, a sound engineer, a lighting/projection tech and a production manager. If the permits are for every individual country and of similar amounts then I have around £2500 in extra costs on permits alone for every EU country we perform in. This will rule out single shows in countries such as France and Belgium where I play medium club size gigs and put a lot of pressure on future shows in Spain and Italy where I normally have a brace of gigs of around 5-800 capacity. These shows are already squeaky as we work to minimum guarantees that cover only costs from promoters and the visa/ permit charge represents nearly 50% of those guarantees. Some shows will quite simply become financially unfeasible on potential permit costs alone.
Compared to many artists I operate with a very tight crew and I have to keep it lean to make the figures work and keep us on the road and earning a living for everyone concerned. I have learned to manage myself - thus saving 20% of my gross income, which can be used to finance touring - and have ‘assassinated’ as many middle men as possible to enable me to continue making music and perform shows. It’s a lot of work for someone who just wants to be an artist but if I don’t take on these responsibilities myself I couldn’t make a living. And I am an established artist! I’ve just been handed a live grenade with the pin pulled out.
My heart goes out to musicians starting out in small clubs and at the beginning of their careers who have to find that money in advance of tours. Artists signed to major labels have a better chance but for independents it’s a killer.
Crew members and session musicians have an added hit from the newly limited time allowed in the EU. Most techs and session musicians make a living by touring with a variety of artists throughout the year and they will now be unable, or find it very difficult, to juggle schedules to adhere to the new rules on travel. In short UK based touring personnel will be hamstrung and UK artists might have to consider taking on EU based crew and musicians to get around the restrictions – thus depriving their long-standing UK crew of being able to make a living.
We now have to have our passports stamped at every border crossing in order to officially document the time we spend in various countries as per the visas/ permits. At those crossings we must get a carnet stamped. This is a UK generated document that identifies and lists every piece of equipment carried out of the UK from guitars and amps to strings, drums and sticks and skins, keyboards etc. It is used to show that we take the equipment out and cross every border with the same manifest and return to the UK with exactly the same contents. The carnet basically shows that we haven’t exported anything for sale to another country and haven’t imported anything out with the manifest. It has to be stamped going in and out of every country and miss a stamp and you walk into a nightmare of bureaucracy and potential heavy fines. (I’ve had to fly someone to Switzerland with supporting legal documents to have a carnet stamped that was missed as there was no one available at that time in the morning at the border as we were gig bound on a tight schedule).
At the border crossings the customs officers are totally within their rights to ask for an entire truck or trailer to be unloaded and examined to see if it matches the carnet documents. Protests on time constraints are a waste of energy and the tour-bus drivers just have to wait while the digital tachographs count down their drive time available. And the drivers’ operating and rest time in these potential circumstances has to be taken into consideration. Being stopped for a couple of hours during the night at a border check could take a driver out of the legal time allowed at the wheel. In order to make sure we get to places we are supposed to be, the only solution now is to take on double drivers, who would normally only come on board for long hauls such as in Scandinavia or occasional big drives. Having 2 drivers full time on an entire tour just keeps on adding to the costs with not only their wages but hotel rooms and catering. The risks of losing shows because a driver is out of hours aren’t worth taking. Yes, carnets existed before Brexit but they were only needed up till now in Switzerland and Norway. It’s now across every European country and every border crossing where they will have to be stamped for the first time since 1973; 48 years ago, when amplifiers only had valves and ‘digital’ was a word in Science Fiction books. Legal drive time didn’t exist in 1973.
USA Inauguration 2021
Amanda Gorman is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, as well as an award-winning writer and cum laude graduate of Harvard University, where she studied Sociology. She has written for the New York Times and has two books forthcoming with Penguin Random House.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, she began writing at only a few years of age. Now her words have won her invitations to the Obama White House and to perform for Lin-Manuel Miranda, Al Gore, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, and others. Amanda has performed multiple commissioned poems for CBS This Morning and she has spoken at events and venues across the country, including the Library of Congress and Lincoln Center. She has received a Genius Grant from OZY Media, as well as recognition from Scholastic Inc., YoungArts, the Glamour magazine College Women of the Year Awards, and the Webby Awards. She has written for the New York Times newsletter The Edit and penned the manifesto for Nike’s 2020 Black History Month campaign. She is the recipient of the Poets & Writers Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and is the youngest board member of 826 National, the largest youth writing network in the United States. In 2017 UrbanWord and the Library of Congress named her the first ever National Youth Poet Laureate in the United States.
Amanda Gorman has become the youngest poet ever to perform at a presidential inauguration, calling for “unity and togetherness” in her self-penned poem. The writer and performer, who became the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017, followed in the footsteps of such famous names as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou.
Gorman described herself as “a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother [who] can dream of becoming president, only to find her self reciting for one.”
The Poem
When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry, a sea we must wade.
We’ve braved the belly of the beast.
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace,
and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn’t always justice.
And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken,
but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.
‘Never been more optimistic’: speeches, songs and celebrations cap Biden’s inauguration day – as it happened
Read more
And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine,
but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge our union with purpose.
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew.
That even as we hurt, we hoped.
That even as we tired, we tried.
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.
Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid.
If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.
That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.
It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it.
Youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
This effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith, we trust,
for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.
This is the era of just redemption.
We feared it at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour,
but within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So while once we asked, ‘How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?’ now we assert, ‘How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?’
We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be:
A country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.
We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens.
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change, our children’s birthright.
So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.
With every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the golden hills of the west.
We will rise from the wind-swept north-east where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.
We will rise from the sun-baked south.
We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.
In every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country,
our people, diverse and beautiful, will emerge, battered and beautiful.
When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid.
The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
Ani DiFranco New LP +
MUSICIAN/ACTIVIST ANI DIFRANCO TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM REVOLUTIONARY LOVE
ON JANUARY 29, 2021
ANI DIFRANCO NAVIGATES INNER AND OUTER CHAOS ON ‘SIMULTANEOUSLY‘ VIDEO
WATCH ‘Simultaneously’ HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H2PJbZXocs&feature=youtu.be
Singer/songwriter/feminist/activist/author Ani DiFranco releases the video for ‘Simultaneously’, the latest track from her upcoming album REVOLUTIONARY LOVE, out January 29 on her Righteous Babe Records label. DiFranco’s 22nd release has been named one of 2021’s Most Anticipated Albums by Pitchfork and Rolling Stone. Watch ‘Simultaneously’ HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H2PJbZXocs&feature=youtu.be
Pre-order REVOLUTIONARY LOVE HERE: https://righteousbabe.ffm.to/revolutionary-love
The mesmerizing ‘Simultaneously’ speaks directly to the challenge of navigating the disconnect between a visionary inner life and a chaotic outside. “I look around and everything’s crashing and burning all around me,” says Di Franco, “but in my mind I can see this alternate reality playing out - one where we are all fulfilling our potential.”
Listen to the track ‘Revolutionary Love’ HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgchuBzz2AY&feature=youtu.be
Tracks
01 Revolutionary Love
02 Bad Dream
03 Chloroform
04 Contagious
05 Do or Die
06 Station Identification
07 Shrinking Violet
08 Metropolis
09 Simultaneously
10 Confluence
11 Crocus
Discover David Ford
David Ford Singer/Songwriter
REQUIEM SONG LYRICS
Well, the world’s getting heavy and it sticks to my feet
Well practiced in losing and brave in defeat
With no friends in this business you keep enemies sweet
And keep one in the chamber for every stranger you meet
————————————————-
Well, I’ll take pieces of silver for a head full of rhyme
I’ll take a headache and a casket for a life full of time
I’ll take a patch of New Mexico and I’ll call it mine
And I swear never to return to the scene of the crime
————————————————-
Well, the mob’s getting angry and the torches alight
‘Cause they’re putting up taxes by a penny tonight
And you can never taste freedom, boys, if you run from a fight
And when the heavens are falling take a step to the right
————————————————
So we smoke ourselves skinny, we drink ourselves blind
Self-discovery knocks but there is nothing to find
And if you’re looking for victims would you keep me in mind?
Let us be kissed on the cheek, let us be fucked from behind
———————————————-
There’s no need to tread carefully, there’s no need for fear
Just talk in obscure non-specifics and try to look sincere
Every administration blames the one from last year
So when consequence calls there’ll be nobody here
———————————————
So we sell our kids for a tankful of gas
And a lifetime in plastics for a fistful of cash
Let the rivers run dry, let the economy crash
And let the discotheques resound to the requiem mass
———————————————–
So we sell our kids for a tankful of gas
And a lifetime in plastics for a fistful of cash
Let the rivers run dry, let the economy crash
And let the discotheques resound to the requiem mass
By David Ford
Over many years it’s become clear that without radio airplay and general media support, even the most talented musicians can and do fail. But it’s also become clear that mediocre talent can succeed, big-time. Back when I used to cover Dublin’s Witnness Festival I discovered two exceptional talents that had yet to strike gold here in England. Their names are David Gray and Damien Rice. Both had delivered extraordinary albums that had failed to secure the necessary and justified radio and media coverage to succeed. Eventually, radio noticed them and their records flew, nationally and internationally. People had discovered and heard them for the first time.
How did I arrive at the Witness festival, an event not covered by the UK media? The link came through a sadly neglected Irish band called The Frames led by one singer/songwriter Glen Hansard. The guys suffered badly from minimum media coverage for excellent record after excellent record. While rare English shows were attended by a small group of avid followers, and the shows were very special, media stayed away. So frustrated did I become that myself and an associate offered to promote their latest album and in the process discovered that one BBC Radio presenter had received an album and never broke the seal on it…As a result the band received coverage including a live spot on BBC radio. But it took Hansard’s Oscar-winning movie song (to his highly acclaimed and successful budget movie) years later in 2006 before the press became more interested. If you’d like to check the band out start with DANCE THE DEVIL, a classic rock record.
In 1999 I received a record by Moby called PLAY. I was blown away by it and as a result went down to London to interview him in a little boutique hotel. While some journalists loved it UK radio ignored it for almost a year and when asked about it Moby shrugged his shoulders and informed me as he was packing that he was heading to Germany to perform in front of no less than 1 million music fans…Eventually, a couple of switched on advertisers used music from PLAY in their TV adverts and radio could no longer ignore the record which then became the UK’s top-selling record.
Radio alone can turn an artist’s career especially when it’s played in rotation after inclusion on BBC Radio’s playlists, and often it takes only a single song for the heavens to open up. This exposes music to fans hungry for something new and different.
I can’t remember exactly when I discovered David Ford. It could have been in a live support slot but whenever it was I was more than impressed and immediately acquired records. Ford became yet another under-exposed artist whose live and recorded music was nothing short of inspiring, and hugely entertaining. Again, his a singer/songwriter much respected by the better music journalists but has failed to receive the exposure he deserves on the airwaves. An appearance on BBC’s Later music show and radio airplay would expose an artist whom I judge to be one pour our best singer/songwriters. I cannot think of a more distinctive, passionate and skilled male artist who has made inroads into the USA market but not yet in a deserved scale on home territory. It’s criminal.
So, there follows some background information on David Ford and some record reviews from people who have purchased various releases. You can also visit his website to learn more and listen. You won’t be disappointed.
New 2021 Releases
The Sad Song Company SAUDADE. The Sad Song Company
The Sad Song Co. is the project of Nigel Powell, currently drummer for Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls, Dive Dive, and ex-Unbelievable Truth. The band also includes silent partner Jason Moulster, also previously of Unbelievable Truth, but he tends to keep himself to himself and stay in the background.
Unbelievable Truth formed in 1996 and released their acclaimed debut album ALMOST HERE in 1998 (#21 UK; two top 40 UK single hits; over 100,000 sales; worldwide global touring), and its follow up SORRYTHANKYOU in 2000. Andy Yorke left the band that year, so Nigel gathered the songs he had been writing under the umbrella of The Sad Song Co. name for his debut release MISERYGUTS in 2003.
Extensive hard work surrounding Dive Dive’s debut album TILTING AT WINDMILLS (top 20 UK indie chart album; 3 top 20 UK indie single chart hits) and producing the debut album THE BIGGER PICTURE for Belgian artist Milow (top 10 and certified gold in Belgium; top 20 single hit in Belgium, Holland, Germany and Switzerland) delayed the follow up POIGNANT ADVICE until 2007, where it was launched during a special guest appearance at Marillion’s bi-annual convention in Port Zelande, Holland.
During 2006 Dive Dive had become musical partners with Frank Turner, and his burgeoning popularity, combined with a relentless tour schedule (including headlining Wembley Arena and the O2 Arena in London; performing at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics; 6 full albums including 2 UK top 10 and a UK top 12), put The Sad Song Co. on ice for many years.
In 2015 Nigel finally found time to return to his solo work and released the thematic album IN AMBER in 2016 following a successful crowd funding campaign. Two years later saw the release of WORTH. In 2020 he parted company with Frank Turner after 14 years to concentrate on the release of his fifth album SAUDADE in early 2021, preceded by the single ‘Feeding’.
Created during the pandemic, SAUDADE is not purely a lockdown record but one that resonates with freedom and personal rediscovery to which we can all relate. Comprising 11 songs, it’s a record that will touch upon love and loss, politics and the pandemic, and finding your way through a world upside down.
With complete focus now on The Sad Song Co, for the first time in almost 15 years, Powell is in his “creatively wired” zone, mapping moods and moments into songs of experimental and accessible nature. In SAUDADE he musters his finest collection of songs to date. Written, recorded, played and mixed entirely by Powell, the record comes out on 22nd January 2021.
Review
The record opens with the title song, a beautiful and haunting instrumental which opens with gentle piano notes before delivering orchestral sounds punctuated by the most wonderful percussive moments. From its quiet beginnings it grows into an epic instrumental piece which I much admired. ‘These Tears Won’t Cry Themselves’ introduces Powell’s voice which I also found more than interesting through its distinctive, pure, natural sound. The song is certainly highly original but is also very accessible through its strong melody and superbly produced sound. It’s also high on emotion and sincerity.
‘Hold’ is altogether more rocky with a powerful backbeat and more aggressive Powell vocal. With a strong melody, bold choruses and literate, emotional lyrics (”I can’t see beyond this moment.”) this could so easily grace the output of higher grade radio stations. ‘Hastings Out Of Season’ is another melancholic beauty as it gently trundles along with Powell’s expressive vocal underpinning a song that’s highly distinctive and adventurous. ‘Makarska Sunset, 25th May 2018′ is a mesmerising, short instrumental interlude before the folk/pop Bowie-esque vibe of ‘Away Until Christmas Morning’. Powell’s delivery is genuinely believable and moving helped by a lovely piano backdrop which verges on the classical.
‘Deserted By Every God’ is a stupendous track with its glacial pace, stripped down percussive background and massive melody. Powell’s vocal and the returning distant piano notes make this one of several record highlights and worthy of high praise. From it’s modest beginnings it develops into something epic and quite superb, and I wonder whether there will be a better song released in 2021…’My Saccharine’ is the record’s first single and understandably so with its more aggressive, rockier facade, memorable melody and chorus hooks.
‘Feeding’ also hits a rockier vein with its quickened pace and heavier sound. ‘Lighthouse’ leads off with bold piano notes before Powell’s pure vocal enters to put meat on the emotional bones. It’s one of those songs that one feels compelled to stop and listen. The solo piano notes are dramatic but develop into a sonic climax that seals this song with some force as it melds the with record’s final song, ‘Sine Qua Non’, which rather appropriately ends proceedings on an instrumental and strongly melodic note.
This is undoubtedly a special and very fine record that, if entered into the fray, could come on top in annual award events. I also believe it could attract international audiences.
4.5/5
Happy New Year?
I’ve been around a while but 2020 was the most difficult and controversial year, for me, ever. In musical journalism terms it’s almost been a total disaster. During this pandemic period coverage of live music has withered on the vine with little clue as to when live performances will recommence. Fortunately my TV channel of the year has provided some comfort. Sky Arts suddenly appeared on Freeview and has blown others out of the water with its excellent and comprehensive arts coverage, with live performances from across the musical spectrum. In 2021 it will continue to be my main TV focus. With online streaming and hard copy sales, music releases have continued although it hasn’t been a vintage release year by any stretch of the imagination. That said, my favourite releases of the year were both spectacular live performances from Roger Waters and Metallica.
Trump has come and, thankfully, gone with the prospect of jail-time a real possibility. But, the Republican party will begin to regret their failure to impeach Trump. While it is often said that Trump generated 70 million votes I wonder how many actually voted for their party rather than the man. I suspect that the vast majority were loyal party followers, however, what is worrying is the growth and visibility of far-right extremists Trump has encouraged during his rule.
The UK is now comprehensively out of the EU which is a destination I still fail to understand. Why did we do it? What are the financial and social implications of the departure? And how did we come to be ruled by this incompetent and corrupt government and leadership? It beggars belief that we actually voted for these people in such numbers with the result that we now are ruled by, effectively, an autocracy.
During the pandemic, the UK has suffered one of the worst records of death and infection rates in the world and mainly due to the criminally inept actions of this present government. Complacency, inaction and delay have dominated government strategy and policies with catastrophic results. The incredible work of scientists and health professionals has partially mitigated the incompetence, but with even more infectious Covid variants appearing the prospect of ‘normal life’ returning is still a distant reality.
On the international front, man’s inhumanity to man dominates in many parts of the world with examples like Russia’s bombing of civilians and hospitals in Syria continuing unabated and unpunished. The move to the extreme political right is another pandemic that prospers without sanction and has even touched UK shores. Climate change is now the major issue but we still behave as usual without modifying our behaviour. Will we never learn?
During this period and beyond social media has proved to be both friend and enemy. Our addiction to this, games, booze and talentless celebrity have taken us away from the reality of the world and life, with my particular concern for the country’s youth. With the costs of education, housing and general living rising exponentially, the young have a hard road ahead of them that politicians have ignored. UK poverty is increasing, even for those in work. Millions more are relying on food banks and social security for basic sustenance. The picture is bleak and getting bleaker. When hope diminishes, life and aspiration die. The UK picture is a dismal one with policing, justice system, health service, social services and care, housing, and the economy in melt-down after years of under-funding and poor political management. In truth, the decline started well before Covid and the people responsible rather than being punished are raking in money by the truckload - Osborne and Cameron just two prime examples.
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