SHOUT LOUDER

PAPERCUTS book raises over £1,000 for Music Venue Trust

Shout Louder’s new book about gigs, festivals and tours has raised a grand for Music Venue Trust’s #SaveOurVenues campaign so far.

I’m pleased to announced that our new book PAPERCUTS #2 has raised over £1,000 for the Music Venue Trust on the pre-order alone!

We wanted to give back to grassroots music venues: they were in enough trouble before the pandemic hit, but the recent chaos is threatening many venues with closure. Music Venue Trust are a superb charity that support 670 iconic UK venues through fundraising, resources and guidance. They work to gain recognition of the essential role that these venues fulfil, not only for artist development, but also for the cultural and music industries, the economy and local communities.

Every single penny of profit from PAPERCUTS #2 will be donated towards MVT’s #SaveOurVenues fund. This supports the 30 UK venues that are faced with imminent, permanent closure. We’ve over the moon to have raised over £1,000 so far, but we’re aiming even higher!

PAPERCUTS is a 196-page paperback book celebrating gigs, festivals and tours. Over 50 writers and photographers have contributed to the book, primarily from the UK’s DIY punk scene.

Donate to the Music Venue Trust; buy your copy here: shoutlouder.bigcartel.com

Podcast: Colin Clark from Colin’s Punk Rock World

“I’m just a man who writes a blog in his pyjamas.” Listen to our conversation with one of the UK best bloggers.

Our latest podcast is a conversation with Colin Clark, blogger extraordinaire, from Colin’s Punk Rock World and CRPW Records.

Colin is one of the most positive, humble and hard-working people in the UK punk community. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of underground music and a true passion for all things DIY.

Sarah spoke to him at the beginning of December 2020, so we inevitably discussed the impact of the pandemic on live music, while also reminiscing about our favourite gigs. We also had an in-depth conversation about our different experiences of sobriety at gigs, as well as our take on the DIY community from the perspective of two bloggers and broadcasters.

Colin also recommended and played select tracks from Boss’ Daughter, Free Dogs and Fine & Great.

Listen below, or on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or any of your favourite podcatching platforms.

Shout Louder’s Top Punk Rock Releases of 2020

Check out Shout Louder’s musical highlights of 2020, including a playlist and a round-up of the year’s best singles and albums.

Listen to our Best Underground Punk Rock of 2020 playlist now!

In the words of Burnt Tapes, “This year’s been a weird one.”

Despite that, it’s not been a bad one. Shout Louder’s been quieter than usual, but I did publish two books (PAPERCUTS #1 & #2 – get yours here!). I started a punk rock radio podcast that was surprisingly popular (65k listens on Episode 4 is surely a fluke?!) and co-hosted Do It Together Fest… which I hope would have made a few folk’s ‘Top 10 Gigs of 2020’ list even if it weren’t one of the only gigs in 2020.

The musical landscape is not the only thing that’s changed dramatically in 2020, but it’s the one I’ve noticed the most. I’ve read that the unpredictability of the year’s events has driven people to a lot of nostalgic listening – replaying comforting past releases rather than diving into new albums. I’ve definitely fallen into that trap: it turns out I still know all the words to Anthology by Alien Ant Farm and every Limp Bizkit and Slipknot album.

I’ve also found myself exploring a lot of genres outside of ‘punk rock’, because for me punk is ultimately about live music. Without gigs, without all-dayers and without people buzzing with excitement around me, I’ve had less interest in discovering new bands. According to my Spotify Wrapped, I’ve spent 2020 listening to ‘jazz rap’, ‘neo-soul’ and grime instead. For anyone interested, my personal 2020 Bangers playlist can be found here.

I’m not doing a traditional Top 10 Releases but I didn’t want to let the occasion pass without identifying a few top albums, EPs and singles that I’ve enjoyed this year.

Listen to our round-up of 2020’s best underground punk rock releases on Spotify.

Shout Louder Launches PAPERCUTS #2 Pre-Order

Order our new book about gigs, festivals and tours – it’s a celebration of everything we’re missing in 2020.

Since September, we’ve been busy working on a brand new volume of PAPERCUTS. This edition is destined to be bigger and better than the last one, which sold out within two weeks of our launch back in January 2020.

PAPERCUTS #2 is a collaboration between musicians and fans across UK DIY punk scene and further afield, celebrating the gigs, festivals and tours that mean so much to us. Clocking in at approx. 200 pages, it’s a high quality paperback book, filled with fiction, tour stories, essays artwork and live music photography.

It’s all edited and designed by Sarah Williams at Shout Louder and, this time around, every single penny of profit will be going to the Music Venue Trust. Even before the pandemic, grassroots music venues were facing closures and hardships, but MVT work to keep them open through education, support and lobbying for policy change.

Order your copy of PAPERCUTS here: shoutlouder.bigcartel.com

We’re also re-printing our first volume of PAPERCUTS for those of you who missed out the first time. You can grab it on its own or in a great-value bundle of both books.

Podcast: Lesley-Anne O’Brien of Lockjaw Records & Midwich Cuckoos

Listen to our latest podcast, featuring an interview with Lesley from Lockjaw Records. We talk about inclusivity, marketing music in a pandemic and the current state of the UK music scene.

This instalment of the Shout Louder podcast features an interview with Lesley-Anne O’Brien: label manager at Lockjaw Records and guitarist in Midwich Cuckoos. Lesley is an eternally upbeat, enthusiastic and dedicated member of the UK punk rock community who works tirelessly to help new bands get heard.

We discuss the impact that COVID-19 has had on small artists and labels, and how using social media can help bands to get out there right now. We also discuss ways to improve inclusivity in the punk scene and make it more open to all audiences. We even get on to what it’s like to be a woman in a mosh pit!

All our conversation is broken up with fresh new tracks from Borts, Prey Drive and Midwich Cuckoos. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

The podcast is hosted on Soundcloud, but you can subscribe on any podcast platform of your choice (apart from Spotify, who make life difficult for us little podcasters), or listen to it right here. Enjoy!

Podcast: Punk Rock Radio – Round #5

Listen to our latest punk rock radio show, featuring heaps of brand new music, including Winning Streak, Teresa Banks, The JB Conspiracy and Stöj Snak.

This week’s podcast is brimming with new punk rock releases -I’ve got some great new tracks from up-and-coming bands, with a couple of old favourites thrown in for good measure. If you’re looking to hear some new music, you’re in the right place.

I’ve also got tales of portaloo incidents and socially distanced gigs, some complaints about the state of the world and quick-fire band assessments. My main hope for this episode if that you get to discover some great new bands.

Interview: The Union Ares

We speak to Todd Giles of The Union Ares about his multi-country musical project, their sound, history and creative ambitions.

The Union Ares are an unusual premise: two bands in one. Linked by guitarist/vocalist Todd Giles, who’s based in The Hague (NL), the first incarnation of the band includes Iain and Huw from Scotland (known for their work in Carson Wells). Their first album Songs From The North was released on April 1st, a literal message from the ‘northern’ band. It’s due a response from the ‘southern’ version of the band, which features Mike and Gabry from The Hague. Confusing, right! We guess they’re making good use of Zoom to keep track of it.

I caught wind of this fascinating new band late last year, and had a chat with Todd Giles to shed some light on it.

PAPERCUTS #2: Submission Guidelines

We’re seeking contributions for our new PAPERCUTS print zine. Send us your stories, essays, poetry and photography.

Shout Louder’s first print zine was released in January 2020, with 250 copies selling out in two weeks. PAPERCUTS is a 92-page paperback book collecting submissions from 34 writers and photographers from within the DIY punk scene, including authors in the UK, Canada, Belgium, Denmark and South Africa.

Following the unprecedented success of PAPERCUTS #1, I’m keen to make another high-quality book celebrating the DIY punk scene. This time, a proportion of the proceeds will be donated to The Music Venue Trust’s Grassroots Music Venue Crisis Fund.

The theme for this edition is Gigs, Festivals & Tours.

Instant Reply Culture… And Why I Haven’t Replied To Your Messages

Expecting an instant response is part of the way we work in 2020, but is it asking too much? Sarah explores why she’s left you on read.

Written by Sarah Williams.

I walk around every day carrying a dizzyingly-advanced dystopian-sci-fi computer in my pocket. Every day, I clock up multiple hours of screen time and I send countless messages. I am constantly connected… and yet I frequently fail to connect.

I am notoriously bad at replying to messages… and emails, phone calls, comments and voice notes especially. Honestly, I fear listening to voice notes in case it’s someone yelling at me, because the written word wouldn’t suffice to convey their anger. This is an entirely irrational thought, but it’s there nonetheless.

Podcast: Punk Rock Radio – Round #3

Listen to our latest punk rock radio show, featuring heaps of brand new music, including Burnt Tapes, CF98, The Sinking Teeth and Other Half.

This week’s punk rock radio hours is choc full of brand new tunes. I’ve delved into the world of recent releases and collected my favourite new songs, peppered with a few old classics for good measure.

It’s mid-August at hotter than the fires of hell in Manchester right now, so this was a sweaty recording. It reminded me of festival season, driving hours in burning sun and finding new bands out there in the fields full of drunk punks.

The podcast is hosted on Soundcloud, but you can subscribe on any podcatchers of your choice (apart from Spotify, who make life difficult for us little podcasters). Enjoy!

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Order your copy of PAPERCUTS here: shoutlouder.bigcartel.com

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The theme for this edition is Gigs, Festivals & Tours.

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