Chichester musician and songwriter Chris Simmons is offering a multi-venue one-day celebration of new music in the city.
His aim is to give bands and performers the step-up they need – and a vital chance to network. It will all be happening across eight venues across Chichester on November 25 under the title City Sounds.
His aim is to give bands and performers the step-up they need – and a vital chance to network. It will all be happening across eight venues across Chichester on November 25 under the title City Sounds.
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00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Always lovely
00:06 to speak to Chris Simmons, a very significant Chichester-based musician. And Chris, you're
00:10 doing something really exciting, aren't you, with your second double the size City Sounds
00:16 coming up in Chichester on November 25th. Now, just tell me what the format is, what
00:21 happens on that day?
00:23 So the first City Sounds was four venues, and it was over a Friday evening, back in
00:30 March. The second one is on a Saturday, and we're having the whole day. So from 12 to
00:37 five o'clock, we have the basement of Franco Manca, right by the city centre across. And
00:43 that's going to be for under-18/colleges acts. So we have BIM showcasing, we have Northbrook
00:51 College.
00:52 So the point is overall, it's eight venues with probably 40 acts, isn't it, across them?
00:58 Yeah, well, there'll be more than that, because the younger acts are having shorter showcases,
01:03 so they're playing for 10, 15 minutes, two or three songs each, throughout the whole
01:08 afternoon. So they're probably close to 60 bands, yeah. It should be amazing for the
01:14 city.
01:15 And other venues include The Fountain, Hole in the Wall, Havana, etc, etc. You've got
01:19 eight this time, you've doubled the number of venues, which shows a huge willingness,
01:23 not just on the part of the musicians, but on the venues as well. Why are they keen?
01:29 That was one of the exciting things that came out of the first City Sounds, was that venues
01:34 were having original music, sometimes for the first time. And seeing how popular it
01:40 was, they've gone on to actually book original artists playing in their pubs as a result
01:45 of that. So I'm hoping that this time round, you know, more venues take a punt on original
01:51 music in the city, because there is obviously an appetite for it. And there's the quality
01:56 there. So yeah, hopefully that's one thing that sort of comes out of it for sure.
02:00 And the point is, you are a man on a mission, aren't you? Because you say there's a wealth
02:03 of good, decent talent, homegrown talent in Chichester, but somehow it doesn't quite connect.
02:08 And that's the point of this, isn't it?
02:11 Yeah, I mean, I've been here about a year now, and coming from Brighton, Worthingway,
02:18 it just seems to me like there was so much going on, but it was just a bit fractured.
02:23 So I thought it'd be really nice if we could do an event where we sort of bring everybody
02:27 together, not just everybody from Chichester, but from the surrounding areas. And we get
02:33 bands that are breaking to come to the city as well. So, you know, we want to sort of
02:39 benefit everybody with this festival, really.
02:41 How does it benefit? What happens if you start getting bands together?
02:45 Well, by the very nature of it. So we want Chichester musicians to be able to, first
02:51 of all, play in their home city, play to a busy crowd, supporting a local venue, who
03:00 will also benefit from that as well. We also want other acts to come into the city so that
03:07 Chichester acts can start to network in their hometown. They can start to make contacts
03:12 who can help them get gigs around the country, labels, management, all this kind of stuff
03:18 come with this kind of act as well. So it's just a case of trying to provide acts from
03:24 the area an opportunity to network and to grow their band and get their following increased
03:33 through, without leaving the city. That's the goal.
03:37 You were saying that in Brighton, the music scene kind of hangs together in Worthinghead
03:41 Dance, but it doesn't quite yet in Chichester. And that's the aim, isn't it?
03:46 Yeah, the aim is, yeah, it's just to sort of bring people together, get more original
03:52 music in the city and to really sort of culture a scene. There's some brilliant things happening.
03:58 I went to the Hole in the Wall open mic on last night, which was every Tuesday, and it's
04:03 fantastic. It's absolutely packed, full of incredible talent. And it's just one of the
04:11 things that happens in the city. So it would just be good if we could have more things
04:15 sort of bubbling up. And that's how a scene develops. That's how sort of bands start to
04:19 form. And yeah, hopefully we can do that.
04:22 Brilliant. Well, good luck with that. It's City Sounds. It's on November the 25th. And
04:28 the idea is to make it a big annual thing, isn't it?
04:32 That's the hope. Yeah, it's completely free. So anyone could come along and watch anything
04:35 all day.
04:36 Fantastic. Well, well done on all your organisation. I hope it goes superbly. Great to speak to
04:41 you.
04:42 Brilliant. Cheers, Phil.
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