The 1975’s Matty Healy has spoken out about the importance of protecting indie music venues, while supporting the upcoming Seed Sounds Weekender festival.
The nationwide, multi-venue festival, scheduled to take place from 26th to 28th September, aims to support seed venues that provide platforms for emerging artists. Healy, who serves as this year’s festival ambassador, emphasised the critical role these spaces play in nurturing new talent.
“Local venues aren’t just where bands cut their teeth, they’re the foundation of any real culture. Without them, you don’t get The Smiths, Amy Winehouse, or The 1975. You get silence,” Healy said. “The erosion of funding for seed and grassroots spaces is part of a wider liberal tendency to strip away the socially democratic infrastructure that actually makes art possible. What’s left is a cultural economy where only the privileged can afford to create, and where only immediately profitable art survives.”
Healy further added that the Weekender is “a vital reminder that music doesn’t start in boardrooms or big arenas; it starts in back rooms, pubs, basements, and independent spaces run on love, grit, and belief in something bigger.”
The frontman has previously demonstrated his support for grassroots venues, notably during the Night & Day Cafe noise dispute in Manchester. While he expressed interest in purchasing the flat at the centre of the dispute to help preserve the venue, the plan did not materialise due to potential ongoing council actions. The venue was ultimately permitted to continue operating as a music venue and nightclub.
According to the Music Venue Trust’s recent report, the UK is currently losing one grassroots music venue every fortnight. The organisation has called for comprehensive reform of the sector, with the government now backing a levy on arena-level ticket sales to support smaller venues.
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