This interview nearly didn’t happen! Here’s what the plan was. Meet up with the EverIsland guys, Sam and Clarry, at Mello Mello. Simples. A sit down with Liverpool’s newest and freshest promoters sounded right up my street and where better to see them than where thier recent jam packed Muto Leo gig took place?

Got there, Mello was shut. It’s a long story so I’ll save you the trauma but it involved a lonely sit down in LEAF, a broken phone, a sachel of sugar and an accidental cross of paths with the EverIsland guys captured on Slater Street by an unassuming Phil Macdonald, our photograpoher. It was a fluke I even found them but as long as they were in sight I could rest easy that night…

First off I want to apologise. Not only to you but to Mr Sam Garlick and Miss Clarry Mowforth. I was planning on posting a video interview but as all we had was my budget handycam things didn’t really turn out too well. Sorry Sam, all that panic was for nothing. And to you, we’ll get some videos up soon.

Anyhow. On with the show…

Joe ManGone: So, New kids on the block, EverIsland. With a strong image, good line ups and drawing quality crowds, where did you come from?

Clarry Mowforth: I came from Brighton originally, then I came up here to come to uni, then near the end I decided I wanted to stay here, then I met Sam because we both worked at Bido Lito,

Sam Garlick: Yeah, I think we both shared a love of the Liverpool Scene, we both wanted to see a lot more local bands more often. A lot of our favourite bands were playing but not necessarily on the same bill. So, rather than start to make money or make a living, we did it just to see bands play.

CM: And to gain the experience of doing this kind of thing

SG: Yeah, It’s a lot of effort but if we can carry on doing it for a while we will be more than happy to do that.

JM: But what is EverIsland?

SG: Ever Island is basically a promotions company with intention to show off local talent and try and get a vibe going.

CM: It’s a way to give bands a chance to perform and to meet other people in the industry

JM: What was your favourite Ever Island show?

CM: Mine was our first one which was Raw City, 26, Battleships and…

SG: That was it.

CM Was it? Well we didn’t expect the reaction we got and a lot of people came. It worked really well and because it was the first one we like ‘Yeah, we want to do this again and again and again’.

SG: My one would be the Minion TV, Muto Leo one with Valet Duke and Carousel. I just think it was a great line up, great bands, great support. And with instrumental bands there tends to be big breaks in between sets but the bands seemed to transfer well.

JM: You’re second gig was fairly unique. You did a gig with vocals kept to a minimum. Did you think that was risky?

SG: I think, stylistically we try and keep the line up quite similar and I think the bands kind of mirrored headliner, Minion TV. We wanted the line up to keep to their kind of ‘style’ and muto leo, carousel and valet dukes fit in  quite well.

CM: I don’t think not having vocals was a risk at all. As long as the music is going then that’s what people come for.

JM: The city is short on Promoters… What are the highs and what are the things to look out for?

CM: The highs are definitely the amount of people you meet, and meeting people who are eager to work on different projects with you is good. And lows…?

SG: I think one of the lows is because we charge a low price on the door for the gigs because we’re not interested in making any money is we put 40 hours in to a gig and not make anything from it. It’s enough for us, well personally for me and I’m sure I speak for clarry, it’s enough just to meet the bands, make new friends and get involved with the scene.

CM: Yeah, There’s very very very little financial/personal gain but it’s early days.

SG: But yeah, you are right about the scene in that there needs to be a few more people putting on nights to make things interesting.

JM: With recent venue closures, as promoters, what do you we need to boost the scene?

CM: I think I’d like to see more people go to gigs really, even gigs where they don’t know the bands. Just going because, I don’t know, they want a night out or something.

SG: I think there are a lot of good promoters out doing stuff, like obseanic, Speakeasy, people like that. The bands are great, there’s no problem with the bands. This is one of the most diverse cities but I think there’s not that much of an audience and I think the way to counter that is to make bigger line ups. I don’t the deal with o2 or the echo arena but I mean maybe get people like them who are not necessarily part of the scene but to generate interest.

CM: Also, I think we need a few more big names coming in to the city because everyone does Manchester and other cities but Liverpool gets missed out of that. I don’t think it should. Local bands could support them.

SM: More gig posters… with maybe… Porn on them?

CM More tits on posters.

*general folly and laughs*

JM: There’s been a big up rise against Pay 2 Play in the city just as things started to crumble. It seems as though blame has been put on that to a certain extent. But is pay to play as common as people make it out to be? And what are your views?

CM - I’ve not even come across that many Pay2Play. I know there’s that thing where the band pays a deposit and if they don’t reach that on the ticket sales…

SG - Some people say it’s a bit dodgy when they get bands to sell tickets and they get a small commission back but that’s not too bad. That’s fair enough. The bands get more money. We did that with Tighten Up and the Warehouse Party. But I haven’t heard that much. Pay2Play promoters are just our for the money and I think they get a reputation, especially with such a well connected scene, word spreads.

As Tall As Trees by Battleships

JM: What are the local bands to look out for in 2012?

SG: My favourite band is either Muto Leo or Battleships. Muto Leo are some of the nicest guys you could ever meet. I’m doing a bit of booking work for them now as well. Their music isn’t necessarily rooted in any one location. It’s just nice matty post rock. Battleships, what they’re doing is making really really good music. It’s great quality.

CM: My favourite band at the moment is the Loved Ones. They’re playing for us 13th January. I just think they’re stunning. And not only the best band in Liverpool but one of the best bands I’ve ever heard… And I’ve heard a lot!

JM: What’s next in EverIsland’s line of fire? What are your future pans?

SG: Our next show is ‘Thirteen’ at Kazimier. We’ve got Capac, Loved Ones,Sun Drums along with the Hive. They’re doing a surreal visual thing.

CM: We wanted it to be more than a gig so we’ve got short films playing at the beginning, the hive will be doing their thing, we’ve got djs as well as line ups. Because it’s Friday 13th we kind of played on that fact and made it a little bit spooky. Hopefully it will be a surreal experience.

SG: This one is a risk for us. We’ve put a lot in to it, my uni loan/Clarry’s work pay, so if it’s a great turn out then perfect! But if it doesn’t go as well as we think it might do…

CM: …Then we might take a little break. But we’ll be back!

Check out EverIsland’s next show, ‘Thirteen’ at The Kazimier on Friday 13th of Jan (This Friday). Click here for more info. 

Words: Joe ManGone

Photography (if you can call it that): Joe ManGone

Links:

http://www.facebook.com/everisland

http://www.facebook.com/events/255392307856991/

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