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Yorkshire Forward! Yorkshire at SXSW

On the lips of the most studious punter and industry types at SXSW, today’s Yorkshire Showcase is one of the must see events in Austin this year. We dodged Swn founder Huw Stephens to grab an interview with the organiser, Pat Fulgoni, in an Austin alleyway next to some bins…

So Yorkshire and Austin – why are you here?

Well, I’ve been lucky enough to have come to SXSW for the last few years and there had been a really good presence from Liverpool, Manchester, Scotland, Wales and the West Midlands – they all seemed to have showcases except for Yorkshire. So under the social enterprise music project I got a couple of CDs together over the years just showcasing Yorkshire record labels initially with labels like 20/20, Bad Sneakers and Dance to the Radio, and I’d hand it out at the other regions’ events. But that got a bit embarrassing because we weren’t paying for the privilege and last year we managed to make the case to Yorkshire Forward to fund an official Yorkshire showcase. So we had Wild Beasts, Sky Larkin, Rolo Tomassi, Talk to Angels and Paul Marshall, and that was one in one out and was a really good showcase. Alongside that there was the annual Yorkshire CD, and now we’re back this year - with avengence. We have One Night Only, Grammatics, Slow Club, The Crookes and Middleman playing at midday today.

How did you get it going? Did you get Yorkshire Forward to fund it all?

No we’ve really had to work it to get the funding. The original CD compilations were done on a real shoestring, we get a couple of hundred quid here, a couple of hundred quid there, it’s just to fulfil a need and a gap. I’ve been out here anyway with my band Kava Kava in 2007 and other times I’ve been here with my label Chocolate Fireguard, and other projects, and it’s sort of paid for itself. The gig was a bit more ambitious, I had to find a lot of money to contribute to the British music stand in the Convention Center, and have our own showcase at the British Music Embassy, so we had to do a lot of funding forms. This year, we moved as if we had the funding, thankfully NorthernNet, a digital superhighway company from the north sponsored it and paid for it all at the last minute.

Is it stressful to get it going?

It’s alright, it should be a bit easier and I’m working on making it easier for future years, it would benefit from a bit more advance planning.

Why SXSW then?

There have been a few theories over the years, but it’s certainly the case that Amy Winehouse played here to launch her US career, from our region you see people like Corrine Rae and Kaiser Chiefs all coming through here to establish themselves in the US market, in a place where there are so many music industry people – it’s been tried and tested.

So what do the bands want to get out of coming here?

It depends, if you’ve got a record deal in place you might want to come here to showcase to attract some more concerts or get a publisher or some promoters or some sync opportunities. You might come here to get a US deal - there are a variety of reasons why you might want to showcase here.

So is it about the industry rather than the punters?

The Yorkshire showcase is an industry thing, we are about proving it’s the most kicking region out of all the regions – we’re better than the others!

It does appear to not get its fair share of praise…

Yeah it’s not fair! Yorkhire is home to some big hitting artists. I said about Kaiser Chiefs, we’ve got the Arctic Monkeys, Corrine Bailey Rae – these are massive artists. For us not to have our own showcase is scandalous. I think Yorkshire’s a really big region and that’s possibly why it hasn’t got off the ground before. It’s always either Sheffield or Leeds.

So who’s here that isn’t from either?

Well Scars on 45 are from Bradford, I believe. Obviously we’ve got a few from Sheffield and a few from Leeds. Kava Kava are from Huddesfield. We will represent the Hudds!

So why don’t your band play this showcase?

It’d be a bit tricky, I was asked that question last year. But we’ve been lucky enough to get a few other showcases organised, hopefully it won’t be necessary to play this gig. Maybe one day when I’m not organising it I’ll put the band forward.

What’s in it for you then?

I just got pissed off that it wasn’t happening. Initially when I set up the Chocolate Fireguard label, I was getting a bit tired of people thinking it was funny we came from Huddersfield. I don’t know if it was the name or the fact we were from Huddersfield that made it funny – it could be either. But you had to go to Cannes to get a UK distribution deal. The industry is so London centric that it’s a bit unfair. With so many quality bands coming from Yorkshire, it’s important that this showcase happens every year – and more, we want more events.

The Yorkshire Showcase is today at the British Music Embassy, Latitude 30, 512 San Jancinto, Austin, TX. 12pm – 3pm