Derry has always been a hub for music, with countless talented artists emerging from the city.
The city has seen a vibrant return of live music since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions. However, some aspects of the return of live music have proved challenging to organisers.
Kieran Dunlop, of Music Capital, spoke to MyDerry about the importance of live music and his hopes going forward.
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He said: "Music has always brought people together, regardless of sex, race or, creed, it’s the common denominator the we all understand, that breaks down barriers and connects us all.
"To understand how important music is, not just for the town but for its people, is in the many emails I receive after an event thanking me, for people who may have struggled during Covid or still struggle with the isolation. Music brings them together in a setting that they feel comfortable with, sharing the experience with their friends and family.
"We have so many talented creatives and musicians here in the North West, and with so many opportunities with music and arts courses and education, I think people tend to gravitate here because of this.
"I think going forward for Derry to thrive and establish itself as a creative force we need more help for the arts, not just for music but the wider creative community, we have so many talented creatives in the North West. It is a natural resource on our doorstep and it should be supported more."
While the return of live music has been widely welcomed, organisers have noticed that the saturation of music events this year has impacted on ticket sales.
Kieran said: "There has been lots of positives with the return of live music, I think people have been more respectful and appreciative of the music scene now.
"One of the main negatives I have noticed in the past few months is the complete saturation of the market right across the arts community. I understand that there has been two years of shows that had to be rescheduled and are now live, but its complete madness right across the scene.
"I know of a lot of promoters and festivals who are not seeing the numbers attending or buying tickets like it had been in previous years. Some of the biggest promoters are not getting bums on seats for shows that should be a complete sell out. This has a trickle down effect all the way down to the local level."
Going forward, Kieran stated that there needs to be a consideration into different sized venues within the city to enjoy a wider range of shows.
He said: "You can never have enough live music I believe, but I think at times we do struggle with lack of venues, especially for small to medium type shows that need a capacity between 100 – 200.
"Something I thought I never would have to do, but that has been happening a lot on a regular basis is turning down shows because we don’t have the availability in venues or right space to host a performance for a certain type of genre of band.
"Over the past six months I have had to say no to some amazing artists, artists who normally and regularly sell out thousand seated capacity venues in Dublin, but want to do an intimate show in Derry.
"It is difficult in this current climate to predict what is gonna happen, with the cost of living and people raining in there spending and how this will affect the live scene over the next twelve months, but I would like to see more new spaces animated with music and performances."
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