Welcome to Swindon, where the future will be happening soon.
Hi. We’re the music people of Swindon. Let’s talk.
One of the things I’ve noticed about different towns and cities that I’ve visited is that there are (as you’d expect) so many of the same concerns and challenges that you find anywhere else — but even more interestingly, there’s a real local flavour to the overall tone of the music sector.
I visited Swindon yesterday, and spoke at a Borough Council organised event called the Swindon Music Symposium to talk about opportunities and developments in the area for musicians and music business. Now, Swindon doesn’t have a really great reputation as a tourist spot — or even particularly as a hotspot for local music. In fact, as towns go, Swindon seems to consider itself as pretty much an ‘also-ran’.
Now while I’d argue that our inferiority complex in Birmingham is bigger and better than theirs, there’s a real self-belief problem that feeds into and off the general perception of Swindon as a bit of a non-place. But here’s what’s interesting: they’re clearly at the beginning of something big.
