withtheband

Bandstand Busking is what Sundays were made for.

So much so that Sundays just don't feel like Sundays without one (sorry mum, you're roasts don't cut it anymore). So it's with great excitement that I received the monthly visit I actually look forward to (!), a little email from the lovely folk at Bandstand Busking telling me there is a busk this Sunday 1st November.

We're massive fans of Bandstand Busking and thought we'd take this opportunity to share this gem with you. The concept is simple yet genius, the kind of idea you sort of simultaneously thank and curse them for coming up with it before you did. "There are loads of bandstands in parks across London, and most of them are looking fairly tattered from lack of use. When did you last see/hear one surrounded by hordes excited by the sounds? ...well we hadn't so we decided to do what we could to change that, to fill the parks once more (at least for a wee while every couple of weeks) with some talented people capable of carrying a tune or two."

This months busk sees Sleeping States and The Twilight Sad treading the boards. The gorgeous poster by Anika Mottershall should be enough to encourage you there!

Past busks have played host to acts such as Hockey, Theoretical Girl, Kill It Kid and Slow Club as well as Mercury Music Award Winner Speech Debelle. Check the site to see all the past busks.

withtheband spoke to Ian Sutherland, one of the chaps behind Bandstand Busking to find out where the idea came from and where it's going.

WTB : What made you start Bandstand Busking?
BB : A couple of years ago Padraic (Halpin) and Thomas (Muirhead) used to run a podcast called Cross The Pond and they used a studio at City University. But one day the studio was out of action so they recorded the podcast and the band played a session in the bandstand in Northampton Square. That triggered the idea and the concept of Bandstand Busking was born!

WTB : Who has been your favourite busk so far?
BB : Ooh, tricky one! It's been great this year to have a bit of an audience and i think all the busks have been enjoyable. I really liked Slow Club, The Leisure Society and First Aid Kit this year, but that maybe more reflects my own music taste than anything else. Also Treetop Flyers were ace and Thomas absolutely loved Wilbirds and Peacedrums.

WTB : If you could have any band or artist past or present play for Bandstand Busking who would you choose?
BB : Past - Elliott Smith
Present - The Low Anthem

WTB : Bandstand Busking is a band at it's most raw and stripped back. What band would you like to challenge to do this?
BB : Metallica

WTB : Are the bands and artists you choose to busk driven by the sort of music you're into or do you choose what will work best in the setting?
BB : It's a bit of both. Padraic Halpin - the man behind www.raggedwords.com is one of the BB founders and has been mostly responsible for picking the artists. Obviously the acoustic setting plays a part in who we choose.

WTB : What made you choose the Northampton Square bandstand for the majority of your busks?
BB : It's where it started; it's about the perfect size; there's lots of nice grass for people to sit on before/during/after; it's fairly central; it's quite big so people can huddle in it when it rains; it has close access to a toilet.

WTB : What are your thoughts on acts performing covers?
BB : Quite happy for this to happen and we've had some good ones: Woodpigeon's Abba cover was fantastic and Left with Pictures did a great cover of Richard Thomson's 1952 Vincent Black Lightning.

WTB : Are any of you in the Bandstand Busking team musicians and if so would you ever step into the breach?
BB : Thomas used to play the Trombone ... but we wouldn't want to subject that on anyone!

WTB : I like trombones ... and trumpets. There aren't enough trumpets in music. What instruments would you like to see more of at busks and in music in general?
BB : Thomas agrees with respect to trumpets. Homemade instruments are fun, Psapp invented the Bone-o-phone for their busk, weird but cool. Oh and we'd love to get a Piano in a bandstand one day.

WTB : What would be your Bandstand Busking beverage of choice (if you didn't have to keep a clear head and a firm hand during filming)?
BB : On a cold day a hip flask containing some Balvenie Double Wood, summer - cold beers usually do the job!

WTB : If you could have a guest director work on a Bandstand Busking filming with you one day who would you choose?
BB : I'm sure we would learn a thing or two from Vincent Moon ... love La Blogothèque.

WTB : If money was no object how would you develop Bandstand Busking?
BB : Probably investment in technology ... and a van to carry all our equipment. Actually, a plane to take us to Buenos Aires on a whim to do a random busk, that would be the dream.

WTB : As it stands what is the future for Bandstand Busking?
BB : Keep the concept alive, use some more bandstands and to keep looking for great new up and coming music

WTB : In progressing Bandstand Busking would you prefer to: a) have one location but grow the scale of the busks i.e. more artists per busk, a larger bandstand where more could watch? b) have busks running in multiple locations at the same time?
BB : We have thought about both. We definitely want more variety in locations, it means talking to more councils and therefore requires more organisation.. so watch this space!

WTB : We like the fact that Bandstand Busking is made up of a group of people who are passionate about music and that you work flexibly in different roles, drafting in similarly minded people when needed. This is something that we at withtheband also believe in and it forms a big part of our ethos. How do you feel about this type of co-operative and do you think more larger companies such as record labels would benefit from this flexibility?
BB : I think what we do is different from a company or a business ... it works well for us as we wouldn't want to force someone to give up their spare time so people are involved as and when they like to be. In terms of business though there can certainly be a lot of benefit in being more flexible. Netflix in the US is a great example of this, as are Google obviously.  Netflix have an amazing HR policy, you can read a presentation on it here.

WTB : We see your website is built using Drupal. We at withtheband use Joomla! to create our band sites because we feel that it's important that when we hand a site over it can easily be updated at the other end. Do you think Content Management Systems are pretty nifty like we do?
BB : We love CMS's too! And in particular Drupal, we are Drupal addicts and enthusiasts. My first child might have a Drupal based name.

WTB : Are you a mac or a PC?
BB : Mac, with a bit of PC on the side