Lovers of live music will be glad to know that we’ve got a new live promotion agency to introduce! Indie In Town is a well-known brand for those of us that started out being a part of the Amsterdam music scene. The agency has now branched out into London and will soon be crossing even more borders! We introduce you to Jelle and Marieke, who run Indie In Town UK.
Hi! Could you introduce yourself and what you do, what does a day in your life look like?
Jelle: My name is Jelle, and I’m a music manager and concert promoter. Together with Marieke I organise an indie night called Indie in Town in London. We also host events in Amsterdam and are starting to branch out to Berlin. A day in my life is usually a lot of emailing and calling people. During the day I work at the office of the management company, and in the evenings I have time to discover new bands, advance shows, or spar with Marieke.
Marieke: My name is Marieke and I do several freelance things. I mainly work with independent labels and distributors, but I’m also a photographer, content creator and work at live shows. Together with Jelle I organise Indie in Town events in London. A day in the life looks like: do a bit of work, get a coffee, go for a walk or run errands, do some more work, eat food, go to a gig, do my Duolingo.
Could you introduce Indie In Town and what the organisation does?
Jelle: I started Indie in Town with my twin brother Thom about 8 years ago. We promoted by-monthly gigs in Amsterdam where we booked three new indie bands, a DJ and an art expo. Now that I moved to London we promote gigs in Amsterdam and London. This way we can get British bands a platform in the Netherlands and Dutch bands a platform in London.
Marieke: What Jelle said! Here in London, we’ve had some line-ups with all UK bands, but we were very passionate about getting more Dutch bands to come and play at our events. So collaborating with Dutch Music Export was a great way to make that happen.
What and or who inspires you to do what you do as Indie In Town?
Jelle: It’s always really exciting to meet new artists and get to know them better. We always meet up with the bands in the weeks before the show to shoot a promo video, and that really helps forming a connection with the bands. We’re there on the night and I cook for everyone. It’s a lot of fun to discover new bands and make new friends.
Marieke: I definitely think we’re good at adding some Dutch hospitality to our shows, making sure there’s some food and drink for the bands to enjoy, meeting them before the show so we can get better acquainted. We actively promote the gigs on social media, and we bring mini stroopwafels to the gigs for the crowd to enjoy. So it’s small things that make Indie in Town shows a bit more special, I think. And I’m really glad we can help Dutch acts play more shows here in the UK, because Brexit has definitely made that more difficult and more expensive.
What do you think makes Indie In Town successful and how do you make sure it stays successful?
Jelle: I think the connection with the artists makes it successful. We really want to treat artists better than they usually get treated. We hope to grow to venues that are a bit bigger (400 cap maybe, we’re at 150 now), but we don’t have to make any money doing this. It’s really a passion project.
Marieke: I think it has been great trying out different things with our events last year, to see what works best and what we like to improve on. I really like the small community that’s starting to take shape as well, with our friends coming to the shows, the past bands that have played at our shows, friends of friends. Some of our friends also put on their own gigs, so who knows, we might do some more collabs in the future.
How do you pick the artists, venues, and businesses you work with and what do you look for in them to decide whether it’ll be a good fit?
Jelle: With venues or sponsors it’s mainly about whether it ‘feels good’, but also about the deal. If we can make more money somewhere, and thus pay the artists more, it makes sense to host the event in that venue. With the artists, we’re looking for something that we personally get excited about. A good live act helps, and a bit of a buzz is always a plus.
Marieke: There are so many great bands to choose from, but I always think the line-up needs to make sense. So if there are people that will only come for one of the acts, they will probably like the other three as well. Because they all sit in the same ‘corner’, so to speak. We will also never have an all male line-up, and we’ve been very lucky to have worked with bands who have been a great fit and were willing to make some silly videos with us. Check out our ghost hunting adventures with Gag Salon for example.
Who are 3 of your current favourite emerging UK artists, and 3 of your current favourite NL artists?
Jelle: My three favourite UK artists in the indie space at the moment are Trout, Aziya and UNIVERSITY. In the Netherlands I’m a big fan of Hiqpy, Marathon and Future Husband.
Marieke: My favourite UK artists currently are Hot Face, mary in the junkyard and C Turtle. Dutch artists are Library Card, The Klittens, and I really like the last Teddy’s Hit album. But also a shout out to Tramhaus, Real Farmer, Personal Trainer, Parker Fans, The Homesick, Pip Blom, POM, Iguana Death Cult, Elephant etc etc. There are so many great Dutch bands!
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