BBC Music Introducing Live returns to Tobacco Dock in East London this week with its host of insider events led by artists and music industry professionals providing a behind-the-scenes look at making it in the music world. We popped along last year and have just found our notes from our experience of Introducing Live 2018.
Last year saw discussion from dozens of prominent musical figures such as radio icon Steve Lamacq and legend Nile Rodgers, as well as live performances from Ben Howard and deadmau5. This year sees Catfish & The Bottlemen headline alongside speakers including Gabrielle Aplin and Glastonbury's Emily Eavis. As well as a live showing of the Rugby World Cup Final between England and South Africa.
Mauwe
One of a whole host of bands given a (literal) platform courtesy of music publishing gurus Sentric, including acts such as Red Rum Club and Tinyman, Mauwe's set offered a short but welcome dose of pop perfection. One of our tracks of 2017, 'That's All' sparkled even its stripped back form. We're glad to say that Mauwe are continuing their fine work, for example on recent 2019 track 'Crazy'.
How To Write A Hit
Hosted by BBC Radio's Tom Robinson, this talk brought a diverse panel to discuss a variety of processes in search of creating a hit. Paul Smith of Maximo Park (who nabbed a top ten UK single in 2007's 'Our Velocity') rather poetically saw his songwriting as "trying to find the romance in ordinary life", with much of the discussion encouraging authenticity and emotional connection.
Emily Phillips, who has written with artists from McFly to SOAK, understandably advocated for collaboration (also supported by fellow panellist Moses Boyd, who cut his teeth as a session musician) while also noting an important aspect of the industry - "at some point, someone will reply to an email".
Orbital
A particular highlight of Introducing Live 2018 was a conversation with dance pioneers/bickering brothers Orbital, aka Phil and Paul Hartnoll. Led by Andrew Harrison, former editor of Mixmag, the duo reflected on their decades-long career in an often self-deprecating and tongue-in-cheek fashion.
They relished reliving their early years and the success of 'Chime' as well as their seminal 1994 Glastonbury performance, despite their nerves at the time - fairly normal apparently, "even Bjork was crapping herself". They would later contribute an iconic Glasto TV crossover moment in 2010 when collaborating with The Doctor of the time (Matt Smith) to close their set with a remix of the 'Doctor Who' theme tune, and an audience member at Tobacco Dock brought up their penchant for sci-fi, asking about their decision to sample 'Star Trek' in their music. A straight-forward answer: "best programme at the time!"
BBC Music Introducing Live 2019 runs from 31 October to 2 November at Tobacco Dock. Find more info and purchase tickets at introducinglive.co.uk.
We're a collaborative British music, film and TV blog. "Trying to find the perfect match between pretentious and pop."
