“I WANT TO STEP IT UP” | SPOTLIGHT ON B12 ENTERTAINMENT
INTERVIEW FEATURE | GARETH GONET @ B12 ENTERTAINMENT by Jenna Millar
You’ve made it. Your band is playing in your dream venue, Glasgow’s Barrowlands, supporting an artist that you have idolised for your entire musical career. Main support. You can expose your music to a whole new audience, and elevate your platform to the next stage. But are you finally emerging into the rich scene of Scottish music? It’s hard to say. Why? Well, unfortunately your manager has informed you that you and your bandmates will receive a grand payment of fifty pounds. Fifty pounds to pay off that EP you so desperately want finish. Fifty pounds to pay for the studio space to make your ideas come to life. Fifty pound to book that venue. How can you expect to ‘emerge’ when there’s no money to do so?
The music industry has become increasingly harder for new artists to enter the scene. With recent funding delays from the Scottish Government and organisations targeting only the bigger names, it is hard to come by new opportunities. Big promoter such as Live Nation, dominate the field from tickets to venue bookings and therefore perpetuate the ideology that sales are the only factor that is driving this industry. As for new artists, this hunger for numbers simply cannot be met when at the start of their careers, heightening the chances of discouraging the artist to progress any further.
For Gareth Gonet, his mission is to change the scene for emerging talent and make it an easier one. Gonet is the founder and owner of B12 Entertainment, a company who believe in making the music industry accessible for not only artists, but for audiences as well. Based in Glasgow, B12 started organising their own gigs in a function room above a pub in Greenock, and now host their own mini versions of festivals in some of Glasgow’s most iconic music venues: “Since I’ve started this, I’ve tried to figure out what I liked about gigs I went to and what I didn’t like to try and see what we could change”, Gareth begins.
“Admittedly, B12 is a tiny business compared to these bigger promoters, so, what I’ve tried to do is not copy what they do but do it on a smaller scale. I’ve tried to create our own niche if you like, where we do things a little a differently so that there are opportunities for the artists that don’t necessarily exist elsewhere or are hard to come by.”
“For example, a band that are in their first year that getting to play at St Luke’s, that can happen, but it would be as an open support act on a Wednesday night for a DF Concert show. Having managed a band before, you can be begging for that sort of thing for about a year and a half before you finally get it. Whereas I aim to create these opportunities for bands to be able to play on those sort of shows”.
Offering support to a wide variety of bands, ranging from those who are perhaps more established to those that have never played a gig before, B12 present a place to play for artists that haven’t even had any tracks recorded before, allowing for that first barrier to be tackled as soon as possible.
“We look to provide a clear pathway. We have our Midweek Nectar shows which are aimed at bands that haven’t has their first gig, because what I was finding was that bands that haven’t even had any demos recorded yet to show me, were repeatedly asking me for gigs” explains Gonet, adding “So, we created Midweek Nectar for those bands to play and be given the opportunity to play their first gig. But we’ll say from the start ‘we do need you to sell tickets’, as shows are expensive to put on. I try and be honest, but if you bring a good crowd and appear to be popular, we’ll look to put you in a Gathering show, rather than it being some vague promise or carrot that we’re dangling that never actually happens”.
B12’s ‘Gathering’ shows are catered towards bands that have proved to be promising when it comes to their lively crowds and set lists. Gathering shows allow bands to be able to play on stages that would’ve otherwise taken years to get on. B12 have used stages such as St Luke’s in Glasgow’s East End with a capacity of 700 and SWG3’s Warehouse with a capacity of 500. They allow a total of 5 bands to play on the night of a Gathering show, a gig which has built a reputation of showcasing some of Glasgow’s best up and coming bands.
For indie band Bogle, this truly was one of their best gigs yet. With only three current songs recorded, Bogle have managed to expose their music to those now eager to hear more. When speaking to the group, they describe how impactful this has been for the band’s emergence: “Our experience with B12 has been exceptional. They are by far the best promoters we’ve worked with, offering us our biggest show opportunities to date.” Bogle continue: “Their artist-first promotional style sets them apart from others and they really care about artists they work with which is an incredibly refreshing notion in the current Glasgow music scene”.
Although the music scene may be divided when it comes to emerging artists and those established, B12 have formed an environment which artists can gain support with not just gig access but with a network of those experiencing the same struggles when first coming into the industry. “It’s like a community sort of thing”, Bogle drummer Evie explains. “A lot of little bands like us go to see each other play in different gigs and you’re able to make pals in a way. You can form alliances with each other, and no one is competing for ‘who’s the best’ as such. There’s no sense that people are wanting to do better than anyone else. Everyone is doing what they love, and everyone has respect for that”.
B12 Entertainment strive to be a company in which improves artists and provide them the support they need, sometimes being the money, they need. This includes a ‘Battle of The Bands’ style gig, where bands can compete to be the audience’s most favoured to win a cash prize of £1000. “I know it can sound a bit cheesy”, Gonet jokes, “but it can help bands progress that little bit more, especially with funding becoming hard to come by”.
With the Scottish Government delaying Creative Scotland’s funding until next year, Gonet explains the importance of having financial support within the creative industry and between bigger promoters: “I’d never tell anyone else how they should be doing things. I’ve had someone in the past tell me that I wasn’t paying enough whilst I was having to use wages from my day job to cover costs, which meant I couldn’t pay my own bills, and it hurt, so I’d never want to do that to anyone else.”
“Every promoter has unique income and outgoings. For a DIY promoter, outgoings may only be the costs of the show whereas a larger promoter has to pay staff, premises, insurance and much more plus event costs but will have much income with which to cover it. We fall somewhere in the middle. Everyone has to do what they can to ensure they remain in business or there are no shows. At the same time, however, I believe that some money from bigger shows could be filtered down to grassroots.” Expanding on that idea Gareth explains: “I feel that artists are forced to navigate a minefield on the way up which could be made easier through some money filtering down from the top level. We do what we can to support artists by providing a clear pathway, taking away as many costs as possible, offering support services free of charge and offering additional earning opportunities. However, we’re a minnow in the grand scheme of things, so the impact we can make is limited, but we shall continue nonetheless”.
From Gonet’s experience of seeing artists struggle to then achieving a healthy income, he has used this to strive for better for emerging artists. The financial struggles of artists are becoming increasingly more difficult, however, with Gonet’s support, it makes it that bit easier to get your sound heard.
“I want to step it up”, Gonet declares when explaining the future of B12 Entertainment. Over the past year, B12 Entertainment have expanded their reach by joining forces with some of Scotland’s biggest industry grassroot players who share the same ambition to support emerging talent. Featuring yours truly at Northern Exposure, Let’s Have It Productions and HMV Glasgow, B12 are set to announce even more exciting partnerships imminently and the future is looking very promising.
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