Humble stages are forging the sonic future of Wales

Travel anywhere around Wales and you’ll find music at the heart of the community, and it’s independent venues that keep those communities thriving. As tour routes rarely venture past Cardiff, it’s up to the smaller local stages to nurture new talent and support blossoming scenes that are often as diverse as the culture they grow from.

Independent Venue Week is a seven day celebration of independent UK music and arts venues and the people that own, run and work in them. This year they’re bringing together venues from all around the UK with a long list of special shows to recognise the importance of these self-sustaining stages.

In Wales, the list of participating venues stretches North, South, and West, while artists performing under the banner of IVW ranges from legendary acts like the Gentle Good at Swansea’s Tŷ Tawe to big names like Salford’s Anthony Szmierek at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach.

Across Wales, different scenes breed different sounds, with independent venues doing the heavy-lifting in helping to platform growing creative diversity. BBC Wales presenter and founder of the Horizons/Gorwelion scheme for new artists, Bethan Elfyn, believes the sound of an area is down to personal innovation - be that an artist or a venue owner. “I think people make scenes, so the influence of a small group of people on different parts of Wales, either promoter, band/artist, or 'sound' really does have a huge impact,” she says.

“We've got some amazing examples of that; the Soundsystem culture of Gwynedd, North Wales - how is dub culture so entrenched in the mountains? The impact of Adwaith on Carmarthen in West Wales, and festivals like Focus Wales encouraging the scene in Wrexham with local artists getting such golden access every year to international delegates. There's a connection for sure.”

“'Venues' is often a misleading word, sounding like a solid structure, when quite often they are usually one person behind it all, or an accidental group of friends, who have dedicated a life to the grind! My hat goes off to anyone who has been such an instrumental part of a community culture... Dilwyn at Neuadd Ogwen, Jordan Bunkhouse, the list goes on. These are our local champions, for sure. They often sustain the music world with part time work for creatives and their first places to play. Pastel, a band from Swansea, were telling me that they ended up building and patching up The Bunkhouse with their building skills and it kept them and the venue afloat! I started off in Cardiff pulling pints at Clwb Ifor Bach while a student - it's a right of passage!”

This year’s Independent Venue Week Ambassador for Wales is folk singer-songwriter Eve Goodman, who is playing shows in Mold, Swansea and Pembroke Dock across the week-long celebrations. Goodman took her first steps gigging around where she grew up in North Wales, before moving to study at Cardiff University where her journey continued on stages like Gwdihŵ, Clwb Ifor Bach and SWN Festival. “I just love how independent venues build a culture,” she says. “One of my favorite venues in North Wales is an independent venue called Blue Sky Cafe. I think that they're really important because so many of the bigger venues, the more commercial venues, are driven by profitability and they don't necessarily have a wide range of artists.”

“Just also supporting emerging artists, like myself back in the day when I didn't have an audience and didn't have any kind of clout - the independent venues would just take a punt and it was just a really great way of getting people to listen, getting ears for my music, getting feedback and meeting audiences. It feels like a really supportive way to step into the music industry, especially as a young artist.”

One venue that’s succeeding in nurturing developing talent in a sustainable way is Cardiff’s The Canopi. Founded by Julia Harris, it’s a multi-functional space - coffee bar, workshop and exhibition space, and live venue. “I've been running The Sustainable Studios for nearly ten years and we'd always felt there was a real gap in Cardiff for intimate, affordable venues where emerging creatives could experiment, collaborate, and perform without the pressure of commercial expectations,” she says.

“Independent venues are where culture is born. They’re often the first spaces to take risks on new sounds, new voices, and new ideas. Without them, artists lose vital stepping stones, and cities lose their creative edge. These venues also act as social spaces, places where people meet collaborators, form bands, start projects, and feel part of something bigger.”

“It is really nice that there's a bit of a switch in attitude around the need to move to the big city in order to make it. It feels like you can really build a sustainable career building relationships in different parts of Wales. There's loads of beautiful festivals popping up, not necessarily music festivals but arts festivals, so there's plenty of work and artistic nourishment. I think these independent places that are run by real people are really important in the fabric of that. I think it's really important that we get to keep our merch money. That’ll be what tips it over into earning some money.”

With so many artists self-funding their early careers, every penny counts and independent venues, with their genuine passion to support, are vital in enabling those new acts to keep going. “More and more Welsh artists are doing things their own uncompromising way,” says Elfyn. “A number of artists who go to London for a few years and then come back have said that the genuine support and nurturing environment in Wales is a relief to return to - but I say go for it - experience it, explore what you are doing creatively. I heard Irish artists recently admiring the Welsh language music scene, and I thought it was surprising when we picture the Irish exports like Kneecap to be so global - they've also had the Irish government experimenting with minimum wage for artists and they feel we have more support!”

Welsh language music is a hugely important and healthy part of the country. “The Welsh language music scene is one of the best, and most organised talent pipelines in the UK,” says Elfyn. “The schemes in place, the festival opportunities, the releasing opportunities, and the broadcast opportunities are second to none - look up Tafwyl, the Eisteddfod and the Mentrau Laith Festivals to see what I mean. Within one release you'll see and hear a new artist everywhere - it's dazzling! The biggest problem is the glass ceiling, and the next step - getting out of Wales.”

Goodman, who also performs in a Welsh language duo with SERA, balances her solo setlists to include Welsh language songs. “I love to give the language a platform beyond Wales as well as continue to sing it in Wales,” she says. “What I've observed, I think others would probably agree, is more of a revival in the Welsh traditions, the sort of folk traditions like the Mari Lwyd and something that I've been really getting interested in, particularly this time of year, is Plygain - the Welsh hymn carol singing that's totally acappella. I think lots of independent venues are great places for these traditions to live out their lives and be supported by them.”

One of Goodman’s IVW shows is at Cafe Isa in Mold. “I sent a little message to Grace Elizabeth Harvey, who is the support for that night. She said that she's friends with the venue's daughter and it just sounds like a really nice family run place and that there's a really nice listening culture.”

Opened in 2016, Caffi Isa took over the building from Flintshire County Council to create a hub for the community. “We have slowly developed a programme of acoustic indie, traditional and folk music which works beautifully in the former library space; tiny desk style bookshelves and seated gigs with twinkly lights,” says founder Sara Parker. “As an incomer to Mold twenty-years-ago, it seemed to me that venues for songwriters and bands creating their own sound are few. We are just down the road from Buckley Tivoli which hosts loads of diverse gigs, but is larger than a start out band would be able to fill. We are about filling a gap and creating a mindset of trying new music. We try to facilitate whatever we can as long as it is original.”

That passion for driving and nurturing creativity is something that’s ingrained in Welsh culture, and for Parker, is key to the success and scope of so many artists breaking out of their home borders. “Music is so ingrained in the education and culture of Wales, but also perhaps because the music industry infrastructure isn't as developed, certainly in North Wales, as it is in cities. There's a hunger and a fight to prove yourself,” she says.

“Wales has a long tradition of storytelling and music, and that sense of emotional honesty really comes through in its artists,” says Harris. “There’s also a strong sense of identity here. Musicians aren’t trying to sound like they’re from anywhere else. Because the scene in Wales is relatively small, artists often get opportunities early on to perform, showcase their work, and build real experience.”

Without the heart and tenacity of independent venues in Wales, the country’s musical legacy would suffer. “They are far more than a gig,” says Elfyn. “They are the people that will support you, back you up, manage you, take you on tour, take pictures of you, and get you to the next step. Salt of the earth!”