I caught up with Lee Allcock, editor of NE Volume, a music local magazine that celebrates everything the North East has to offer.
Tell us about yourself and the story behind NE Volume?
My idea actually began back in
college, where I basically wanted to go to gigs, review them, and get paid for
it – I thought, at 16, that that would be the dream job.
I then went on to study Journalism
at Teesside University, and I worked voluntarily at another North East Music Magazine where I noticed they were covering the Newcastle area primarily.
Whilst working for that magazine, I felt that bands, venues and music-related
businesses in Teesside and the surrounding areas weren’t getting the
recognition they deserved. So my idea basically came about because I wanted to
help those involved in the music scene in this area – and the North East as a
whole – to gain recognition for their hard work.
Which
artists and/or experiences fuelled your love of music and which albums do you
think everyone should listen to before they die?
From
a young age (around 10) I was into Oasis and the whole Brit Pop thing (I was
only 5 when Oasis released their first album so I didn’t actually discover them
till a bit later down the line). My dad was a Mod when he was younger too, so I
was brought up on the likes of the Jam, the Who etc. But my first ever Leeds
Festival truly fuelled my passion for music, and live music in particular.
Seeing The Futureheads, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Franz Ferdinand, The Subways etc
on a huge stage for the first time was just incredible, and I’ll never forget
that weekend.
And
albums you should listen to before you die include:
Oasis
– Definitely Maybe
The
Jam - All Mod Cons
The
Subways – Young For Eternity
The
Libertines – Up the Bracket
Young
Rebel Set – Curse Our Love
The
Futureheads – Self-Titled Debut Album
There’s
too many to name!
What's been your favourite piece to work on?
What's the most challenging part of running the publication?
My
favourite piece to work on so far has to be reviewing and previewing Stockton
Calling 2015. I have to say, the festival is one of the highlights of the music
calendar in not only Teesside, but the North East. I didn’t make it this year
due to illness, and I was absolutely devastated! The whole Teesside and North
East community comes together for the love of music for one full day, and the
atmosphere is always fantastic.
And
the most challenging part of running the publication is that my mind never
switches off. It’s definitely not a 9-5 job (I work on average around 60 hours
a week - if not more), but I 100% wouldn’t want to do anything else!
NE
Volume has been so successful this past year, interviewing bands like Wolf
Alice and Cage the Elephant and covering festivals such as Stockton Calling,
Leeds Festival and more. What advice would you give to writers, musicians and
entrepreneurs?
Don’t
be afraid to dream! If you’re passionate about something and you really strive
for it, you’ll get it. And also, for musicians in particular, don’t be afraid
to get in touch with publications such as ourselves when you’re releasing new
material or want to talk about something interesting; as it’ll usually turn out
that we’re interested in hearing about it too!
So
NE Volume is approaching its first birthday, are there any celebrations on the
horizon?
Definitely! We’re hosting a charity event in aid of Cancer Research UK on the 9th of June at the Westgarth Social Club in Middlesbrough. The event will feature Hartlepool industrial folk band, The Jar Family, Teesside epic, indie, orchestral, experimental, rock band Abel Raise The Cain and opening the night is one of Miles Kane's favourite acts, Middlesbrough rock 'n' roll band, Alistair James. Tickets are priced at £6.00 in advance from seetickets.com or it’s £8.00 OTD.
Definitely! We’re hosting a charity event in aid of Cancer Research UK on the 9th of June at the Westgarth Social Club in Middlesbrough. The event will feature Hartlepool industrial folk band, The Jar Family, Teesside epic, indie, orchestral, experimental, rock band Abel Raise The Cain and opening the night is one of Miles Kane's favourite acts, Middlesbrough rock 'n' roll band, Alistair James. Tickets are priced at £6.00 in advance from seetickets.com or it’s £8.00 OTD.
We’re
also hosting a three day festival in Darlington in July, but we haven’t
announced the full details yet. However, the link to the event can be found
here:
And the reason behind me doing
both events for Cancer Research UK is because my mam sadly passed away from
cancer five years ago now, so I’ve ran the Great North Run a few times and
raised around £6000 for Cancer Research UK. But I’ve never actually got round
to putting on a gig to help raise funds, and it’s always been my aim. With our
one year anniversary of NE Volume Magazine coming around, I thought it’d be
great to not only celebrate what we’ve achieved this year, but also celebrate
my mam’s life.
What
does the future hold for NE Volume?
Hopefully
we’ll just keep going, keep improving, and print out even more copies so that
the music fans of the North East can keep up-to-date with what’s happening
across the region. The magazine is already stocked in 200+ outlets (where it
can be picked up for free) as well and online, but my aim is to increase that
number to 250 by the end of this year.
Any
final words?
I
just want to say a huge thank you to every single person who’s been involved
with NE Volume in any shape or form over the last year. Whether you’ve wrote
some articles, took some incredible photos, advertised your business, stocked
the magazine, or just read through the mag, it’s really really appreciated and
I wish I could say thank you to each and every one of you individually! You’re
all absolute stars.FOLLOW NE VOLUME
http://nevolume.co.uk/
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