MEET THE TEAM INTERVIEW WITH ANNE FRANCIS

Introduce yourself…

Hi! I’m Anne and I’m the newly appointed Managing Director of Northern Exposure! I’m not new though, I’ve been involved with the mag for around a year and a half now. Initially writing articles and doing some interviews but within a few months I was getting more involved with the admin side. Rachel – the owner of Northern Exposure – was confident giving me the reins to get the website back up to what it once was and I think I have helped take it there. I took the plunge and brought on a ‘team’ of writers and photographers so we could increase our content and whilst that has been very challenging to coordinate, I feel the hard work is paying off and we have a strong team covering events across the country. Excited to see where the next 6 months take us!

So, how did you get into music?

Music has always been a big part of my life. I grew up listening to music through my Dad who was a passionate music fan too. From bands like Black Sabbath, The Sex Pistols to David Bowie and beyond, my dad always encouraged my music interests from a young age. When I started discovering bands like Led Zeppelin as a teenager, he indulged my CD collection with many additions. Music fed my awkward wee socially anxious soul. It came everywhere with me and got me through some tough points in my life.

At college, my interest in the local scene really heightened. I immersed myself with upcoming talent and decided that I wanted to put on my own gigs in the area. So I did and it thrived but it didn’t last very long. My confidence dipped and I pulled away.

After having my first daughter very young (aged 21) my life took an alternative path so music took ake a back seat, but following the Covid years I found that flame reignited and I emerged with a passion in my belly, ready to pick up where I left off.

Apart from Northern Exposure, what’s the day job?

So I’m actually a librarian! I run a small community based library which I absolutely love! Never a job I envisioned for myself but I sort of fell into it. And despite much speculation, my job doesn’t actually mean I read a lot! I mean, I love a book, but writing is my forte. I love what I do though and seeing the impact libraries have on people of all ages. It’s sooo much more than just stamping books and gives a hefty dose of job satisfaction.

What’s your personal ethos regarding Northern Exposure and helping photographers and budding journalists get opportunities to flourish?

This is my biggest motivation for working with Northern Exposure. Music is one of the most cherished but significantly under valued industries and if we can’t change that then we can do our best to support it. The people who work for us (and that includes me and the rest of the top team) don’t make any money doing this. But what we do is provide is money can’t buy experiences and opportunities to network. It’s the sort of platform that I believe really celebrates and flourishes new creativity. We don’t expect our creatives to stay with us forever, we want to see them being recognised by the wider industry and gain paid work in the future. We really do want the reach a point soon though that we can afford to cover our running costs and provide expenses to our team.

Tell me about your first album that you were obsessed with and a memory surrounding it.

I think I need to go with Foo Fighters here…I discovered them just before One by One was released, so I think it’s only fair to credit it as the first real obsession. I genuinely would listen to it on repeat, obsessing over the meanings of the songs – anything to feed my mega crush on Dave Grohl at the time! (and no, I’m not his new baby Mama haha). It came at such a pivotal point in my early teens that it opened doors to a much bigger and exciting music network that I still love today. (Weird) Memory I have?? Applying to be in the video for Times Like These and being gutted I never heard back! I mean, it was shot in California but still!! The video under the bridge…not the green screen one.

Who are your favourite bands (new and old) and why?

Tricky one! Old? Can probably throw in the aforementioned Foo Fighters and Led Zeppelin in there as classic favourites that have never really left me. Nirvana too has found its way back to my on repeat lately too. But more recently I would say my current favorites are mostly from within the emerging talent pool; especially within Scotland. Bands such as Dead Pony, Gallus, Dictator and Swim School are just a few who are absolutely smashing it right now! Then bands like Fontaines DC or The Last Dinner Party are really exciting on the more popular scale. I could honestly go on though, I’m just so excited by the talent out there.

Tell me something about the music industry that you love?

Honestly, the talent. From all corners of the industry there are so many people doing incredible things, for little or even no reward. But they still put so much passion into their craft. Whether it’s those on stage, technicians bringing it all together, the management, the publicists, promoters, the photography teams and of course the press teams who bring all of this into the spotlight. There’s so many more people involved and they all have a pivotal role in the wider industry.

Tell me something you hate?

Bitterness! This game isn’t a competition, there is still space for you to succeed without knocking others down. Celebrate other people’s wins as spite won’t make you feel any better in the long run.

How hard is it to run a non profit magazine, is it time consuming?

Absolutely!! It really is time consuming. The more ambition I have, the more I want to get things right and the more time it takes us.

We currently have 30-40 creatives on the team so there’s a lot to manage. There’s so much that goes into every bit of content you see our team produce. From the initial contact with an artists team or promoter, there is so many steps you won’t see. I’m forever checking emails for updates and planning what’s next – it’s definitely not a 9-5 ‘job’!

But I genuinely love it. It gives me focus and leaves me feeling I’ve used my time productively. Do I neglect other aspects of my life to do so? Absolutely! But it brings me joy and that’s that’s something I have needed for me for a long long time. It’s a massive collaborative project though and I just love the team we have right now.

Best festival?

I’m really not much a festival goer! I have covered TRNSMT for Northern Exposure a couple of times but I’m not well travelled. I do love Belladrum though, which is based in the Scottish Highlands. It’s a festival I have attended with my own kids too in the past and it always has such a lovely family feel about it. Always plenty of entertainment across the site and celebrates a wide range of music genres. I haven’t been for many years now but it holds such a special place in my heart and I hope one day I can brave taking my wild kids along again!

If you had to listen to one album for the rest of your life what would it be and why?

Oh this is very very tough! I think even my most favourite albums would become tiresome if overplayed. Maybe something by Bowie though. His music stands the test of time over and over again in my mind. Trying to decide which one though…I’m torn between Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. Oh, and Hunky Dory. Oh this is hard! If I had to chose just one though I’m going to stick with The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust. That album is so theatrical, every song is like mini musical playing out. I suppose it was, Ziggy is such an interesting character which Bowie just owns. I think it captures everything that makes music interesting, I think I could listen to those songs over and over again and interpret the story differently every time; there’s so much going on there.

Last but not least, give me one new track or ep for whoever is reading this should listen to now…

Seb Lowe! The bands new EP has just been announced for October, with many of the tracks already released as singles and available now! Another interesting lyricist which a social conscious which I think everybody should get behind. I was fortunate enough to meet and chat to the band after their set at TRNSMT and they were great. Probably up there with my favourite interviews yet!

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