Spill The Sound
Greater Manchester’s multi award-winning broadcaster StreamGM presents new music series, Spill The Sound.
Featuring some of the best indie talent from the North, the upbeat bi-weekly music series launches at 19.00 on www.streamgm.co.uk, 29th February 2024.
With a mission to recapture some of the magic of Generation X music programming, StreamGM’s Spill The Sound blends new and unsigned acts alongside established headliners.
Cassia - Image jomophotography.co.uk
Kicking off the series are ‘calypso and Caribbean’ indie three piece Cassia. Formed in the Northern market town of Macclesfield Rob Thomas (vocals, guitar), Lou Cotterill (bass), and Jacob Jeff (drums), Cassia are dubbed a ‘sun drenched, positive, indie pop’ band with over 350,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and in 2022 they won the prestigious Reeperbahn Festival International Music Award (Anchor).
Cassia bring elements of African and world music into their sound and are heavily inspired by the likes of Vampire Weekend and Bombay Bicycle Club as much as Fela Kuti and Ebo Taylor.
The talented trio perform tracks: ‘Find My Way Around’ and ‘High Tones’ from their brand-new EP - Home Soon on Spill The Sound.
Supporting Cassia are Wull, a lively indie/alternative quintet from Merseyside. Wull consist of Ben Coles (vocals), Ethan Tyler (guitar), John Carter (guitar), Jim Green (bass) and Oscar Hellewel (drums). Influenced by The Strokes, Joy Division and Echo & the Bunnymen, the band give buckets of post punk attitude across their melodic lyrics.
Wull & Louise Schofield- Image jomophotography.co.uk
Spill The Sound Spotify playlist here
Full series line-up:
1 Feb 29th 7pm Ep 1 Cassia & Wull
2 March 14th 7pm Ep 2 The Clause & Alex Spencer
3 March 25th 7pm Ep 3 Red Rum Club Special
4 April 8th 7pm Ep 4 TBA
5 April 22th 7pm Seb Lowe & Antony Szmierek
6 May 6th 7pm Blossom Caldarone & Hi Sienna
7 May 20th 7pm Covasettes & Nico Harmony
The show is filmed in The Yard Mcr, a former Victorian school in the heart of Manchester’s Cheetham Hill. This unique setting with stunning natural acoustics, partnered with StreamGM’s production team and the support of pioneering digital broadcast technology company Black Magic Design, gives acts a high quality, global platform to promote their music.
Spill The Sound mixes quirky interviews in a bathtub full of plastic balls, hook-a-duck quick fire QnA’s with presenter Louise Schofield. Her cheerful chats peppered with exclusive live music sessions, feels like a reminiscent mash up of legendary music television programs such as Channel 4’s music show Popworld, Granada TV’s ‘So It Goes’ (hosted by Antony Wilson) & Snub TV, a cult music show that launched The Stone Roses.
Louise Schofield said: “One of my goals when I was starting out as a presenter was to have my own music TV show with live sessions and interviews, so it has been an absolute dream to work with StreamGM to produce and front Spill The Sound.
“The lively and light-hearted tone to Spill The Sound, coupled with fun interview skits in a bathtub of plastic balls and seriously good live music is reflective of my personality. The acts have all loved diving into the Spill The Sound set where their music takes centre stage, and the artists take centre bath!
“Music is and always has been a huge passion in my life and this show really marks how far I’ve come as a presenter. From starting out interviewing every band I possibly could at gigs and festivals, and cutting my teeth with my self-made YouTube channel, to becoming a professional presenter in the industry. I have loved reawakening the concept of dedicated music TV with StreamGM and welcoming some of the very best new breakthrough bands and artists from north of the M1.”
Red Rum Club Image jomophotography.co.uk
Joe Corby from Red Rum Club said: “We were all extremely impressed with the team at StreamGM when we came to film Spill The Sound with them at The Yard. We were really looked after and enjoyed filming some of our tracks off the new album ‘Western Approaches’. The Yard building is really something to behold. We really liked the Spill The Sound backdrop and set too, plus the lighting made us all look good so that is a bonus!”
Spill The Sound is the latest digital broadcast series for not for profit organisation StreamGM, since it was created in 2021 by the team behind United We Stream.
United We Stream began four years ago in response to the covid lockdowns and government ‘stay home’ campaign. The team raised a staggering £477,000 for various local charities, night time economy outlets and creative freelancers by livestreaming Greater Manchester’s music, DJs and cultural experiences worldwide, and won a string of broadcasting, PR and digital innovation awards for the groundbreaking nine-month project.
Through the remarkable legacy of United We Stream, StreamGM continues to promote the vibrant music and culture from Greater Manchester and create new local, national and global audiences.
Other StreamGM series include:
ICAM: A four-part conversational podcast series also filmed in The Yard Mcr, featuring female artists, DJ’s, producers, composers and musicians discussing their experiences in music and creative arts industries.
MainRoom: A live grassroots clubbing show to capture the region’s iconic, underground club culture, filmed direct from the dancefloors of the deepest, darkest spaces, nightspots and basements around the city-region. MainRoom locations have included: Freight Island, Yes, The Loft and Ramona and featured some of the best up and coming DJ talent in the UK.
Special Edition: Special Edition covers the very best, one-off music and cultural events taking place across Greater Manchester, previous specials include: FAC51 The Hacienda’s 40th and Black Gold Arts Festival.
Spill The Sound’s executive producer and co-founder of StreamGM, Laura Graham explained:
“In the 90’s and 00’s, there were so many regional and national music television shows. Sadly, these days, aside from the BBC’s iconic Later With Jools Holland, which is a simple format that works brilliantly, there isn't any dedicated music television programming anymore. This is such a shame both for audiences and acts alike.
“Music shows were a way for fans to connect with their idols, listen to what they say, look at what they wore and watch music performed live. In turn, bands and artists relied heavily on TV appearances to grow their fan base, reach new audiences and promote their music and brand.
“Music TV was unpredictable, hip, fun, creative and engaging. Nowadays bands can promote themselves in a more controlled form, using radio play, social media platforms, and YouTube, but that doesn’t mean there isn't a market for genre or demographic specific music TV programming anymore.
“The global success of NPR’s Tiny Desk live music sessions on YouTube proves that there is still a huge appetite for niche, digital music broadcasting. As soon as the StreamGM team saw Louise’s pilot of Spill The Sound, a quirky, indie-centric spin on traditional music programming, we saw the potential in the format, and the opportunity to shine a spotlight on brilliant homegrown talent.”
Hi Sienna - image jomophotography.co.uk
Lead singer of Manchester’s alt-pop Hi Sienna band, Poppy Jo said: “To get our music out there, to new ears, to people who may not have ever heard of us has been a huge opportunity and we loved being a part of Spill The Sound and filming a track off our new EP. Its ace that Greater Manchester has a platform like this, can’t wait to watch the whole series!”