You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But these Manager types seem to see it differently. They appear to work on the assumption that playing DIY gigs irredeemably stigmatises a band as belonging to the toilet circuit, and once you’ve played for, say, Spiral Scratch or Daisydaisy then the Industry will have nothing to do with you, ever. And maybe they’re right; certainly the NME won’t go anywhere near our circuit and ‘our’ bands, and the NME is now just a compliant publicity vehicle for the Industry, of course. Either way it still sucks a big fat one.

I hope that this manager thing isn’t true, I don’t understand why bands/managers would take an anti-DIY gig stance in this day and age. If you’re offered a DIY gig, as far as I can see there are two options which you could take -

1) take the gig. This gives you the opportunity to play in a different city, maybe make your money back but certainly not make a huge loss. This is outweighed by having a lot of fun, and getting out there and playing a gig to some people who like your music.

2) not take the gig. This gives you the opportunity to… well, certainly not gain further exposure for your band. At least you’ll be by the phone if a ‘big’ promoter books you for a cavernous venue, or as support for a tour.

Either way, the work of DIY and ‘big’ promoters isn’t mutually exclusive and taking a DIY gig will certainly help you if you do show up in a larger venue 6 months later.

Genuinely good luck to them though; they seemed like really nice people when I bought merch off them, and their music deserves to be heard by more people.