Interview with Craig Hill (TTSF)
“The perception is, and I think it’s correct to a point, that the scene in Norwich is good. I’ve bumped into bands on tour who are eager to come here as it’s ‘one of the places to play.’” - Craig Hill on the local music scene...
Like the metaphorical phoenix out of the flames, The Tilting Sky Festival makes its triumphant return in July 2012. We spoke to festival curator and general top dog Craig Hill about his involvement with the Norwich music scene and his hopes for the forthcoming festival...
It’s funny that you can know so much about a person despite never having seen their face. I knew I was going to speak to Craig Hill (the brains behind Tilting Sky Promotions) and I’d attended a few of the gigs he’d promoted, I like the bands he manages and I’d even met his son, yet I still approached a few strangers in the café before I correctly identified him. The immediacy of the business we are part of, and the fact that online networking has somewhat overshadowed face-to-face meetings means that nowadays you can have a profound relationship with a person, but only recognise their email address or their Twitter name. Thankfully my predicament was short-lived, and once I found Craig, who was sitting outside with a coffee, we sat down and had a lovely chat about his festival.
The original Tilting Sky Festivals had passed me by, taking place before I came to Norwich. Craig explained that he used to live in rural Suffolk, and six years ago had held the first festival out in the sticks at a venue called the Banham Barrel. He found 14 bands to fill the day and they all played in the Barrel’s cavernous back room, which was once used to make cider. Around a half a dozen of these one-dayers took place, but Craig moved to central Norwich a few years ago and had to let it all go. In 2012 though, the year where it seems everyone is doing everything, Craig looked around the city and decided to put on the Tilting Sky Festival 2012. An eight-day extravaganza: nine shows at four different venues with a whole host of local talent, TTSF has certainly been rejuvenated.
I imagine it must have been very difficult not to bite off more than he could chew, but Craig, although energised, remains realistic. He’s working with familiar local venues (Norwich Arts Centre, The Waterfront, OPEN and The Bicycle Shop) and is “trying to do something a little different”, but is also aware that TTSF’s attractable audience isn’t large enough to warrant anything too expansive. The plan for the festival, which resembles something more like the Camden Crawl than a traditional weekender, is to have a different themed gig each night, rather than having clashes on the same day. There are larger shows bookending the week - The Kabeedies kick everything off and These Ghosts wrap it up – but through the middle there’s a real variety that can appeal to a larger range of ages. “That’s the great thing about Norwich,” says Craig, “you’ve got places like The Waterfront and the Arts Centre that are 14 venues, as well as places like OPEN that are 18 in the evening.” And although it seems obvious, the ability to attract a wide spectrum of people really is the key to a successful festival.
We talked about the process of approaching bands to play the festival, and having certain expectations, but also certain obligations. Craig explained that some of the bands on the TTSF bill came from 19 acts that he helped book for Playfest 2012 and many of them are people that he has worked with before, but that it’s not always as easy as writing up a dream line-up. “Obviously you want to put on bands you like, but you also have one eye on your pocket as well. It’s not just the money side of things, it’s that you want to create an atmosphere which is good for the bands and the fans.” Craig is concerned about the success of the shows, but also recognises that strict moneymaking schemes won’t work with something as creative as a week of music. “Having TTSF spread across the venues that I’ve been working with for the past seven or eight years is great for me.” TTSF not only operates in popular venues, but has a string of sponsors that tie the festival into the web of Norwich’s arts culture; having benefactors in the form of independents like Franks Bar, The Book Hive and The Little Red Roaster not only gives Craig some revenue, but also a great deal of credibility.
It’s being part of that scene which will allow Craig to create the ‘atmosphere’ that he strives for. The gig on Friday 27th July in The Bicycle Shop will be an “intimate show to highlight some of our finest songwriters.” Craig admits that “I love The Bicycle Shop; its such a cool little place, and it’ll give solo singer/songwriters the opportunity to actually play in front of a reasonable audience, instead of just being given the opening slot at the Arts Centre when the crowds might be a bit thin.” Indeed, for artists like headliner King Laconic, it’ll be great to have an appropriate platform from which to play his music, and to be appreciated to the extent that he deserves.
A good gig means happy people, happy people means a good reputation, and all of the above means financial security; financial security that will help the scene grow and grow. “If you can get a few people through the door it’s going to help everybody.” It’s that kind of passionate, but business savvy approach that shapes TTSF. When OPEN approached Craig about having Sam Kelly play the matinee slot on the first day of the festival, Craig’s response was “Well, why not?” The purists might have turned their noses up at the inclusion of a talent show star at an independent music festival, but Sam Kelly will bring in a different crowd, and will hopefully convince them to stay. Getting new music heard by new people is surely all anybody who puts on a festival strives for?
Craig is particularly excited about TTSF’s gig on Thursday 26th July. The “out of towners” night at the Waterfront Studio is a chance for the festival to go back to its roots. Craig explains that the evening’s line-up will have a “local flavour in that it’s eastern region bands,” but that they won’t all be from Norfolk. “The perception is, and I think it’s correct to a point, that the scene in Norwich is good. I’ve bumped into bands on tour who are eager to come here as it’s ‘one of the places to play.’” We are blessed with a sprawling music scene, a great wealth of venues and a lot of variation, but there is always that creeping parochial mindset to exclude anything from outside of our city walls. The whole mantra of TTSF though, from its humble beginning to the present day, is to give bands an opportunity to play in places they couldn’t have on their own. Craig is proud that gigs like Thursday’s present “a chance to cast the net a little further and to give bands a chance in Norwich and to encourage some people who are from round here to go and check out some bands that aren’t.”
Of course, there are plenty of bands playing at TTSF that you’ll recognise as stalwarts of the Norwich scene: The Kabeedies, The Barlights, Solko, Hemingway, Alto45, Sargasso Trio and These Ghosts to name but a few. I finished by asking Craig how he felt TTSF might develop in the future; he suggested that the festival might become an annual thing, but instead focussed on the positive impact it could have for new music: “For bands that have the talent and have the work ethic, it’s great to give them an opening slot, and then a year down the line have them headlining a gig all through their own efforts. It’s great for us to be able to reward them like that.”
Alex Throssell
The Tilting Sky Festival events run from 22nd – 28th July over various venues. For ticket info, go to www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk.
Like the metaphorical phoenix out of the flames, The Tilting Sky Festival makes its triumphant return in July 2012. We spoke to festival curator and general top dog Craig Hill about his involvement with the Norwich music scene and his hopes for the forthcoming festival...
It’s funny that you can know so much about a person despite never having seen their face. I knew I was going to speak to Craig Hill (the brains behind Tilting Sky Promotions) and I’d attended a few of the gigs he’d promoted, I like the bands he manages and I’d even met his son, yet I still approached a few strangers in the café before I correctly identified him. The immediacy of the business we are part of, and the fact that online networking has somewhat overshadowed face-to-face meetings means that nowadays you can have a profound relationship with a person, but only recognise their email address or their Twitter name. Thankfully my predicament was short-lived, and once I found Craig, who was sitting outside with a coffee, we sat down and had a lovely chat about his festival.
The original Tilting Sky Festivals had passed me by, taking place before I came to Norwich. Craig explained that he used to live in rural Suffolk, and six years ago had held the first festival out in the sticks at a venue called the Banham Barrel. He found 14 bands to fill the day and they all played in the Barrel’s cavernous back room, which was once used to make cider. Around a half a dozen of these one-dayers took place, but Craig moved to central Norwich a few years ago and had to let it all go. In 2012 though, the year where it seems everyone is doing everything, Craig looked around the city and decided to put on the Tilting Sky Festival 2012. An eight-day extravaganza: nine shows at four different venues with a whole host of local talent, TTSF has certainly been rejuvenated.
I imagine it must have been very difficult not to bite off more than he could chew, but Craig, although energised, remains realistic. He’s working with familiar local venues (Norwich Arts Centre, The Waterfront, OPEN and The Bicycle Shop) and is “trying to do something a little different”, but is also aware that TTSF’s attractable audience isn’t large enough to warrant anything too expansive. The plan for the festival, which resembles something more like the Camden Crawl than a traditional weekender, is to have a different themed gig each night, rather than having clashes on the same day. There are larger shows bookending the week - The Kabeedies kick everything off and These Ghosts wrap it up – but through the middle there’s a real variety that can appeal to a larger range of ages. “That’s the great thing about Norwich,” says Craig, “you’ve got places like The Waterfront and the Arts Centre that are 14+ venues, as well as places like OPEN that are 18+ in the evening.” And although it seems obvious, the ability to attract a wide spectrum of people really is the key to a successful festival.
We talked about the process of approaching bands to play the festival, and having certain expectations, but also certain obligations. Craig explained that some of the bands on the TTSF bill came from 19 acts that he helped book for Playfest 2012 and many of them are people that he has worked with before, but that it’s not always as easy as writing up a dream line-up. “Obviously you want to put on bands you like, but you also have one eye on your pocket as well. It’s not just the money side of things, it’s that you want to create an atmosphere which is good for the bands and the fans.” Craig is concerned about the success of the shows, but also recognises that strict moneymaking schemes won’t work with something as creative as a week of music. “Having TTSF spread across the venues that I’ve been working with for the past seven or eight years is great for me.” TTSF not only operates in popular venues, but has a string of sponsors that tie the festival into the web of Norwich’s arts culture; having benefactors in the form of independents like Franks Bar, The Book Hive and The Little Red Roaster not only gives Craig some revenue, but also a great deal of credibility.
It’s being part of that scene which will allow Craig to create the ‘atmosphere’ that he strives for. The gig on Friday 27th July in The Bicycle Shop will be an “intimate show to highlight some of our finest songwriters.” Craig admits that “I love The Bicycle Shop; its such a cool little place, and it’ll give solo singer/songwriters the opportunity to actually play in front of a reasonable audience, instead of just being given the opening slot at the Arts Centre when the crowds might be a bit thin.” Indeed, for artists like headliner King Laconic, it’ll be great to have an appropriate platform from which to play his music, and to be appreciated to the extent that he deserves.
A good gig means happy people, happy people means a good reputation, and all of the above means financial security; financial security that will help the scene grow and grow. “If you can get a few people through the door it’s going to help everybody.” It’s that kind of passionate, but business savvy approach that shapes TTSF. When OPEN approached Craig about having Sam Kelly play the matinee slot on the first day of the festival, Craig’s response was “Well, why not?” The purists might have turned their noses up at the inclusion of a talent show star at an independent music festival, but Sam Kelly will bring in a different crowd, and will hopefully convince them to stay. Getting new music heard by new people is surely all anybody who puts on a festival strives for?
Craig is particularly excited about TTSF’s gig on Thursday 26th July. The “out of towners” night at the Waterfront Studio is a chance for the festival to go back to its roots. Craig explains that the evening’s line-up will have a “local flavour in that it’s eastern region bands,” but that they won’t all be from Norfolk. “The perception is, and I think it’s correct to a point, that the scene in Norwich is good. I’ve bumped into bands on tour who are eager to come here as it’s ‘one of the places to play.’” We are blessed with a sprawling music scene, a great wealth of venues and a lot of variation, but there is always that creeping parochial mindset to exclude anything from outside of our city walls. The whole mantra of TTSF though, from its humble beginning to the present day, is to give bands an opportunity to play in places they couldn’t have on their own. Craig is proud that gigs like Thursday’s present “a chance to cast the net a little further and to give bands a chance in Norwich and to encourage some people who are from round here to go and check out some bands that aren’t.”
Of course, there are plenty of bands playing at TTSF that you’ll recognise as stalwarts of the Norwich scene: The Kabeedies, The Barlights, Solko, Hemingway, Alto45, Sargasso Trio and These Ghosts to name but a few. I finished by asking Craig how he felt TTSF might develop in the future; he suggested that the festival might become an annual thing, but instead focussed on the positive impact it could have for new music: “For bands that have the talent and have the work ethic, it’s great to give them an opening slot, and then a year down the line have them headlining a gig all through their own efforts. It’s great for us to be able to reward them like that.”
Alex Throssell
The Tilting Sky Festival events run from 22nd – 28th July over various venues. For ticket info, go to www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk.
