Interview with Lee Allcock from NE VOLUME

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 9^th 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: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1730033653875466/

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.


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