In terms of British music, Nottingham is very much a forgotten city.
The area has always had a thriving scene, but somehow this has escaped the attention of the watching world. Thankfully, the success of Late Of The Pier, Swimming and more has helped alter perceptions.
Returning this summer Dot To Dot is an ambitious tri-city event, spanning dozens of venues and countless new groups. Fresh faced indie songsmiths Dog Is Dead are amongst them, with organisers handing them the chance to enjoy a no doubt emotional hometown show.
Ahead of their set, ClashMusic tracked down Dog Is Dead to get a brief guide to Nottingham, it’s music scene and more…
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Trev
I have been going to see live music in Nottingham since the tender age of 14. I remember my first gig; I went to see the Kings of Leon at the Nottingham Ice Arena. It was their Aha Shake Heartbreak tour and it was incredible; though now you won’t see a band at that stage of their careers play the arena unless it’s The Wanted or something. After I got my first taste of live music, I ventured out into some of Nottingham’s smaller venues if I could. A lot of shows were 18+ but luckily for me it was around the time of the rise of All Age gigs. I soon discovered some of Nottingham’s incredible venues like Rock City, Rescue Rooms, The Chameleon and The Bodega. From watching big acts like Metronomy and Hot Chip at Rock City to various math rock bands at the Chameleon, I had the privilege of growing up in Nottingham as a fan of live music.
When we started Dog is Dead (2007) we used to put on our own shows in tiny venues and fill them up with under age sixth formers who couldn’t buy booze. We were fortunate that there were venues that would even let us play – even if some of these venues doubled up as Robin Hood exhibition centers or workingmen’s clubs. As we progressed we found that Nottingham was a great city to bag local support slots with the amount of touring bands coming to Nottingham. We got the chance to play with bands we were into and learnt a lot.
Daniel Harvey
I’ve had a much different experience of Nottingham to the other guys – I didn’t grow up here. Growing up in the countryside, I found it almost impossible to find good live music without travelling an hour to the nearest cities like Leeds and Sheffield. So when I moved to Nottingham (about a year ago when I joined Dog is Dead) I didn’t know what to expect from the music scene and nightlife.
Nottingham seems to be a hub for a great mix of incredible local talent and touring bands. Pretty much every day of the week there’s a gig I want to go to – although we don’t really get the time to see many at the moment. Traditionally Nottingham hasn’t had that much commercial success and I think the hardest thing for any local band is breaking out of the city. There’s a lot of support here for local music and the rest of the world is finally starting to take notice. Five Notts artists got signed to major labels last year! There are still loads of opportunities for new artists to get good shows too. There are competitions to play the two big festivals in Nottingham: Splendour and Dot to Dot. I think Dog is Dead were very lucky to start off here and it meant a lot to us getting the chance to headline one of the best venues in the UK, Rock City.
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Dot To Dot runs between June 2nd – 4th.