Local bands get Loaded in Swindon

Laura Snow
BBC Wiltshire

Loaded have been putting gigs on in the Swindon area throughout 2009

A year ago, Swindon band, The City Riot, were asking themselves, "can we really do this?"

Now they have their own gig promotions company, Loaded Promotions.

And they are offering unsigned bands from the South the opportunity to play in their hometown of Swindon and join their musicians network.

I caught up with The City Riot at The Victoria venue before their July show, which boasted Wiltshire bands such as Formula 51 and What Is Echo?

The City Riot are undoubtedly a band at the forefront of the Wiltshire music scene and have already been featured on Tom Robinson's introducing show.

Vocalist Kieran described how their band background was their main motivation to start Loaded Promotions. He said: "When we first started out we struggled a little bit to get gigs and we thought why don't we start to put nights on?"

The City Riot are one of Swindon's most popular bands

"We wanted to do something different," explained guitarist Jon. "So we decided to make it a night for local bands, which also gives us a chance to network with other bands."

Networking local bands is a pivotal part of Loaded Promotions, as bassist Seamus acknowledged: "In Wiltshire you don't get the chance to play with any signed bands. There are big bands at The Oasis but then they already have their own support act."

"There are a lot of good bands around," Kieran said of the Wiltshire music scene.

"But there are a lot of bands who don't know the right people to get the best gigs," explained Jon. "We give anyone a chance. We listen to anyone and nine times out of 10 we will find a slot for them.

"We don't care how many gigs you've had. We don't care how much experience you've got as long as they've got the right attitude, we will always give you a good slot on the Friday."

We will give anyone a chance, we will listen to anyone, and nine times out of 10 we will find a slot for them Jon, Loaded Promotions

Drawing from their own experiences of being in a band Jon also explained how: "We make it our effort to pay bands even if not many people turn up. When the big promoters used to put us on, for example, and they didn't pay us even though we'd had a good gig it left a bit of a bad taste in our mouths."

For the next instalment of the best unsigned bands sourced from the South by The City Riot, don't miss Loaded Promotions next show on August 28th at The Victoria.

Loaded Promotions