INTRODUCTION BY WHISKAS AND SIMON RIX With the closure of The Duchess and the Town & Country club, and the rise to prominence of The Cockpit, there were some fantastic bands and individuals in the indie Leeds music scene at the turn of the 21st century. There had been moments in the spotlight, with John Peel supporting artists like Lorimer, and Radio 1’s visit for Sound City in 1996, but by the early 2000s a new scene around Josephs Well had developed, with musicians being involved in gigs, working behind the bar, or frequenting the venue for 7 nights a week of live music from mostly local artists. There was a UK wide resurgence of guitar music, driven by New York artists like The Strokes, and then UK bands like The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party exploded through the British indie scene with angular jagged guitar lines. Out of this, a new wave of Leeds artists emerged, the reimagining of old post-britpop influenced bands influenced by the city’s thriving DIY culture, Cops & Robbers music blog and Out of Spite festival. Within that, Kaiser Chiefs rose fastest and highest, alongside a wave of bands including 10,000 Things, The Cribs and the Blueskins. Then Dance To The Radio label emerged with more new bands, led by ¡Forward, Russia! alongside This Et Al, The Sunshine Underground and I Like Trains. These artists paved the way for a long tail of diverse bands from the region including Sky Larkin, The Pigeon Detectives and later Wild Beasts and Pulled Apart By Horses. This walk was devised by whiskas of ¡Forward Russia! and Simon Rix of Kaiser Chiefs. It draws on their personal experience of making music in Leeds in the early 2000s, their long friendship and their continued involvement in the Leeds music scene.
THE ROUTE Start: Leeds Corn Exchange, Call Lane, Leeds LS1 7BR End: Josephs Well, Hanover Way, Leeds LS3 1AB Length: approx. 2.1 miles
whiskas. Credit whiskas
ROUTE WILL OPEN IN GOOGLE MAPS
Simon Rix. Credit Lizzie Coombes
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