UK and Ireland surf comp SURF BRITANNIA out now

Terrorsurfer

Joined: Nov 13, 2016
Posts: 10
1 News Pin

Posted on May 07 2019 08:25 PM

This topic was automatically created to discuss the news story UK and Ireland surf comp SURF BRITANNIA out now.

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DeathTide

Joined: Apr 13, 2018
Posts: 1338
New Orleans
United States

Posted on May 08 2019 11:36 AM

I love this! Purchased his morning. Lots of non-traditional sounds, but super cool! The second track for example. Upon my first listen, there really was nothing boring for me. It’s also a cool step up the surf music evolutionary ladder. I will listen further.

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Daniel Deathtide

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crumble

Joined: Sep 09, 2008
Posts: 3158
Guildford England
United Kingdom

Posted on May 09 2019 03:05 PM

It's a fun album, I recommend you all take a listen.
https://surfbritannia.bandcamp.com/releases

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wfoguy

Joined: Dec 11, 2011
Posts: 2089
United States

Posted on May 21 2019 08:37 PM

I purchased a copy.

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maximumsurfandroll

Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 182
Edinburgh, Scotland
United Kingdom

Posted on Jun 01 2019 11:14 AM

It's a great compilation and we're pleased as punch to be featured on it. If anything, it shows there's a lot going on in UK surf and hope it encourages international surf bands who tour Europe to consider adding in a UK date or two. Not many seem to venture on these shores and I don't understand why, there's definitely an audience for it.

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djangodeadman

Joined: Jan 25, 2007
Posts: 1563
Brighton UK
1 News Pin

Posted on Jun 01 2019 02:17 PM

maximumsurfandroll wrote:

It's a great compilation and we're pleased as punch to be featured on it. If anything, it shows there's a lot going on in UK surf and hope it encourages international surf bands who tour Europe to consider adding in a UK date or two. Not many seem to venture on these shores and I don't understand why, there's definitely an audience for it.

Simple economics. UK gigs don't pay enough. That said, we've put on Messer Chups, The Razorblades (many times), Los Venturas, Pirato Ketchup, Surfer Joe and The West Samoa Surfer League in Brighton. We've also had The Bambi Molesters and The Phantom Four over, but they were for parties, which we funded ourselves. How much do you want to see these bands? Are you prepared to take the financial risk?

We've also put on quite a few if the bands featured on the compilation, although they were all fairly local to us.

—

Los Fantasticos

Last edited: Jun 01, 2019 14:20:50

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bigtikidude

Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 25309
Anaheim(So.Cal.)U.S.A.
United States

Posted on Jun 01 2019 03:04 PM

I've heard that it's quite pricey for the work permit to play in England.
If it's the same or more than USA then that's a thing to consider. Also
Do the bars play a flat rate for bands? Or a portion of the door?

Here in Ca. It's hard to get local surf fans to go see a band not from here. If they haven't heard of them before. Not all surf fans do the research and know of all the Euro bands. That being said, I always wish for more bands to tour. But knowing its financially hard. I don't expect much.

—

Jeff(bigtikidude)

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djangodeadman

Joined: Jan 25, 2007
Posts: 1563
Brighton UK
1 News Pin

Posted on Jun 03 2019 04:01 AM

bigtikidude wrote:

I've heard that it's quite pricey for the work permit to play in England.
If it's the same or more than USA then that's a thing to consider. Also
Do the bars play a flat rate for bands? Or a portion of the door?

Here in Ca. It's hard to get local surf fans to go see a band not from here. If they haven't heard of them before. Not all surf fans do the research and know of all the Euro bands. That being said, I always wish for more bands to tour. But knowing its financially hard. I don't expect much.

The cost of the permits is not huge, but not just anyone can apply for them, so you have to find someone who is able to do that. Essentially they are making a financial guarantee that the band will leave the country again at the end of the tour. With Messer Chups (who only needed permits for Igor and Svetlana, since Boris, the drummer at the time has an EU passport), the cost of the permits was spread over five or six gigs, so not prohibitive. The band also has a considerable crossover appeal to both the rockabilly and garage crowds, so it wasn't too hard to fill the venue, pay the band well and have some over for the promoters (it was a co-promotion between three different promoters).

When margins are tighter, though, the cost of those permits could become a problem. Currently, of course, EU bands can tour in the UK without permits, but once we leave the EU, all bands will need them (at least until we have trading arrangements with other countries that cover such things). The same will apply to UK bands wishing to tour in the EU. I know of one Spanish promoter who told me that as soon as this involves him in ANY additional expense, he won't book the tours, since he already operates on tight margins.

In the venues where we have put on shows, we pay a hire fee for the room (not excessive), but we set the ticket price and take all of the money on the door once that fee has been covered. As promoters we then have to pay the bands and cover any other expenses. We've been very fortunate in having a number of local-ish bands who will play as support without needing very much payment, meaning that we can do our best to pay the touring bands as much as possible. In he case of a band like The Razorblades, who have visited every year for many years, we can guarantee a fee, since their hard work over the years has meant that we can be fairly certain they will pull a crowd. We've also acted as a hotel for many bands over the years, which is another way of operating within tight margins.

Lorenzo, for one, will tell you that the money on offer from gigs in the UK is much lower than he can get in other countries around Europe and this is one of the reasons (more likely the main reason), why it is so difficult to get the bands over here.

As you describe, Jeff, it's also very difficult to sell a show featuring bands who people don't know. On this forum we think of Slacktone and The Madeira (for example) as big acts, but in the UK, they are virtually unknown and it would be very difficult for us to offer them the type of money they would need to make it worthwhile coming over, even if they were already touring in Europe.

—

Los Fantasticos

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bigtikidude

Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 25309
Anaheim(So.Cal.)U.S.A.
United States

Posted on Jun 03 2019 11:49 AM

Thanks for info Jon, all very similar situations here.
Keep doing what you do!

—

Jeff(bigtikidude)

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Terrorsurfer Joined: Nov 13, 2016 Posts: 10	Posted on May 07 2019 08:25 PM This topic was automatically created to discuss the news story UK and Ireland surf comp SURF BRITANNIA out now. Top
DeathTide Joined: Apr 13, 2018 Posts: 1338 New Orleans	Posted on May 08 2019 11:36 AM I love this! Purchased his morning. Lots of non-traditional sounds, but super cool! The second track for example. Upon my first listen, there really was nothing boring for me. It’s also a cool step up the surf music evolutionary ladder. I will listen further. — Daniel Deathtide Top
crumble Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 3158 Guildford England	Posted on May 09 2019 03:05 PM It's a fun album, I recommend you all take a listen. https://surfbritannia.bandcamp.com/releases Top
wfoguy Joined: Dec 11, 2011 Posts: 2089	Posted on May 21 2019 08:37 PM I purchased a copy. Top
maximumsurfandroll Joined: Nov 16, 2013 Posts: 182 Edinburgh, Scotland	Posted on Jun 01 2019 11:14 AM It's a great compilation and we're pleased as punch to be featured on it. If anything, it shows there's a lot going on in UK surf and hope it encourages international surf bands who tour Europe to consider adding in a UK date or two. Not many seem to venture on these shores and I don't understand why, there's definitely an audience for it. Top
djangodeadman Joined: Jan 25, 2007 Posts: 1563 Brighton UK	Posted on Jun 01 2019 02:17 PM maximumsurfandroll wrote: It's a great compilation and we're pleased as punch to be featured on it. If anything, it shows there's a lot going on in UK surf and hope it encourages international surf bands who tour Europe to consider adding in a UK date or two. Not many seem to venture on these shores and I don't understand why, there's definitely an audience for it. Simple economics. UK gigs don't pay enough. That said, we've put on Messer Chups, The Razorblades (many times), Los Venturas, Pirato Ketchup, Surfer Joe and The West Samoa Surfer League in Brighton. We've also had The Bambi Molesters and The Phantom Four over, but they were for parties, which we funded ourselves. How much do you want to see these bands? Are you prepared to take the financial risk? We've also put on quite a few if the bands featured on the compilation, although they were all fairly local to us. — Los Fantasticos Last edited: Jun 01, 2019 14:20:50 Top
bigtikidude Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 25309 Anaheim(So.Cal.)U.S.A.	Posted on Jun 01 2019 03:04 PM I've heard that it's quite pricey for the work permit to play in England. If it's the same or more than USA then that's a thing to consider. Also Do the bars play a flat rate for bands? Or a portion of the door? Here in Ca. It's hard to get local surf fans to go see a band not from here. If they haven't heard of them before. Not all surf fans do the research and know of all the Euro bands. That being said, I always wish for more bands to tour. But knowing its financially hard. I don't expect much. — Jeff(bigtikidude) Top
djangodeadman Joined: Jan 25, 2007 Posts: 1563 Brighton UK	Posted on Jun 03 2019 04:01 AM bigtikidude wrote: I've heard that it's quite pricey for the work permit to play in England. If it's the same or more than USA then that's a thing to consider. Also Do the bars play a flat rate for bands? Or a portion of the door? Here in Ca. It's hard to get local surf fans to go see a band not from here. If they haven't heard of them before. Not all surf fans do the research and know of all the Euro bands. That being said, I always wish for more bands to tour. But knowing its financially hard. I don't expect much. The cost of the permits is not huge, but not just anyone can apply for them, so you have to find someone who is able to do that. Essentially they are making a financial guarantee that the band will leave the country again at the end of the tour. With Messer Chups (who only needed permits for Igor and Svetlana, since Boris, the drummer at the time has an EU passport), the cost of the permits was spread over five or six gigs, so not prohibitive. The band also has a considerable crossover appeal to both the rockabilly and garage crowds, so it wasn't too hard to fill the venue, pay the band well and have some over for the promoters (it was a co-promotion between three different promoters). When margins are tighter, though, the cost of those permits could become a problem. Currently, of course, EU bands can tour in the UK without permits, but once we leave the EU, all bands will need them (at least until we have trading arrangements with other countries that cover such things). The same will apply to UK bands wishing to tour in the EU. I know of one Spanish promoter who told me that as soon as this involves him in ANY additional expense, he won't book the tours, since he already operates on tight margins. In the venues where we have put on shows, we pay a hire fee for the room (not excessive), but we set the ticket price and take all of the money on the door once that fee has been covered. As promoters we then have to pay the bands and cover any other expenses. We've been very fortunate in having a number of local-ish bands who will play as support without needing very much payment, meaning that we can do our best to pay the touring bands as much as possible. In he case of a band like The Razorblades, who have visited every year for many years, we can guarantee a fee, since their hard work over the years has meant that we can be fairly certain they will pull a crowd. We've also acted as a hotel for many bands over the years, which is another way of operating within tight margins. Lorenzo, for one, will tell you that the money on offer from gigs in the UK is much lower than he can get in other countries around Europe and this is one of the reasons (more likely the main reason), why it is so difficult to get the bands over here. As you describe, Jeff, it's also very difficult to sell a show featuring bands who people don't know. On this forum we think of Slacktone and The Madeira (for example) as big acts, but in the UK, they are virtually unknown and it would be very difficult for us to offer them the type of money they would need to make it worthwhile coming over, even if they were already touring in Europe. — Los Fantasticos Top
bigtikidude Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 25309 Anaheim(So.Cal.)U.S.A.	Posted on Jun 03 2019 11:49 AM Thanks for info Jon, all very similar situations here. Keep doing what you do! — Jeff(bigtikidude) Top

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UK and Ireland surf comp SURF BRITANNIA out now