The first full venue feature for The Ground Up - a Substack telling the stories of grassroots venues - is now live!

For this instalment, I spoke to Kwame Otiende, co-founder of beloved Dalston venue, The Jago.

Thanks for being here at the start, so many more stories coming soon.

#GMVs

Chuffed to launch The Ground Up, a Substack documenting the UK’s grassroots music venues.

Through in-depth stories and interviews, myself and @willbpask.bsky.social will be spotlighting the vital people and places making local music scenes thrive, often against the odds. Subscribe below!

For The Observer, I’ve written about where Glastonbury sits within not just an increasingly corporate festival scene, but also wider British culture, and whether it can hold on to its countercultural roots in a live music industry in crisis

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Kneecap at Glastonbury don't RT they are supposed to be terrorists or something.

As the world tunes in to the biggest live event on the planet this weekend, a reminder: without grassroots music venues, the line-up would look very different.

Support the live music ecosystem that takes artists from their first stage to the world stage.

#Glastonbury2025

@musicvenuetrust.bsky.social doing the vital work for our grassroots venues. Chuffed to get my first feature for @thequietus.com out there

I've made my debut for @thequietus.com, reporting on the state of grassroots music and how a £1 levy could provide a huge lifeline for venues that form the bedrock of the UK's live music scene.


In short — get out there and support your local venues! Or they won’t be around for much longer.


#GMVs

I’ve made my @residentadvisor.bsky.social debut today, discussing club culture’s post-Covid economic malaise and the need for radically different approaches to it.

This was a tricky one to write, but I’m really proud of it & hope it’ll help spark some broader conversations:

ra.co/features/4428