Private Regcords’ Regtown Festival is fostering Leeds’ thriving DIY scene: “We may as well just have the best time possible”
Ask anyone who is keeping a close eye on the UK’s DIY music scene, and they’ll tell you that there is something going on in Leeds.
While the city has churned out some big names over the years, from Gang of Four to Alt-J, more recently the likes of Yard Act and English Teacher have risen to acclaim (the latter even scooping up the Mercury Prize), but that’s only scraping the surface of what’s going on in Leeds. It’s arguably one of the most thriving cities in the country in terms of its music scene, aided by its brilliant span of grassroots venues like Brudenell Social Club, Wharf Chambers, Mabgate Bleach, and Hyde Park Book Club.
It’s Hyde Park Book Club that stands as the home of Regtown, a two-day festival that rounded off this year’s Independent Venue Week. Hosted by James Vardy’s independent label Private Regcords, it’s hard to imagine the current Leeds scene without his presence – he has become quite the local legend. When he’s not putting on gigs across the city and beyond or hosting bingo nights and chess tournaments, you can find him releasing music for the likes of Normal Village, Bathing Suits, and Rhiannon Hope, even pressing the latter’s debut EP All Things, Rising and Returning on vinyl.
Doing all of this while having a full-time job is nothing short of impressive, and it’s Vardy’s passion for fostering a thriving community regardless of profit that makes the experience of an event like Regtown so enjoyable. He never thought it would all come this far, though, having started releasing music on a much smaller scale when he was living in Sheffield a few years ago.
Chatting over a few pints at Brudenell, Vardy told me, “We started Private Regcords just to put out our mates’ music initially, and just to put on our own events. During lockdown, I started a new project called Private Reg, just recording tunes and putting them out online, because obviously we couldn’t gig. But then my mates started doing a few bedroom projects as well, and we thought it’d be funny to put them out under the name of a label. It was a bit tongue-in-cheek.
“Then, as it’s gone on, and the more gigs I’ve gone to, I’ve seen some incredible bands that I’ve wanted to put out, and I just thought, it’s already getting to the point of being a label, so we actually just went and did it, like, ‘let’s just put out loads of people’s music that we like.’”
The label has grown significantly since Vardy moved up to Leeds, with his pal Evan J Martin working as a producer on a lot of the tracks the label puts out, while Ludo Ray also serves as a significant helping hand behind-the-scenes at Regcords HQ. It has all come down to simply wanting to help bands out, having put on gigs fairly regularly as a teenager. After being “blown away” by bands like Bathing Suits, Normal Village and Kiosk at a Mabgate Bleach gig a few years back, Vardy knew he had nothing to lose in trying to spread their musical gospels.
With some of the band members not even out of their teens at this point, this was a scene growing out of restlessness, and paired with a desire to experiment and perform within a proper community, Vardy knew that he had stumbled across something magnificent. “I wanted to help those bands out as much as possible, because they weren’t doing a lot of gigs or stuff with management, so I just thought I’d try to help them out. And it ended up working really, really well.”
So, after a successful series of gigs, Regcords started to pick up momentum, leading Benny, also known as DJ Subaru, to suggest that Vardy use an Independent Venue Week slot she had available at Hyde Park Book Club to create an all-dayer. “None of our mates had ever put any DIY 15-band gig on at Book Club, so we thought like, ‘Is this even possible? Is it going to work if someone runs over?’ We were so nervous. I had to write to the council to ask for it to stay open until 2am.”
When Benny suggested the idea of a festival, Vardy admits his response was one of apprehension. “‘Oh, you’re taking the piss. We’re not organised enough to do that.’” But how are you going to foster a scene if you don’t at least try? “Sometimes I like trying to say yes to do things that I don’t think are possible, and then get them done. At the end of it, everyone just couldn’t believe it. I think everyone was just so excited that it actually happened and it worked. And it was full and busy all day, and all the sets were incredible.”
A year on, and Regtown took over both Saturday and Sunday this time around, with a morning session of poetry and prose readings from band members in collaboration with Rhiannon Kane’s Small Distractions Club, as well as plenty of stalls from local artists, zines, and labels including Shooting Tzars and Esco Romanesco. 34 bands played this time around, but it seems like this is still only the beginning for Regtown.
“When we get enthusiastic about it, we have so many ideas,” Ray tells me, admitting that last year they wanted to go as far as shutting down the whole street to have one big party of musical celebration and even get a special beer brewed for the occasion. “So many ideas are yet to come.”
This year was pretty perfect, with a diverse line-up of acts spanning folk to punk electronica from the likes of Bug Teeth, Kiosk, Holly Head, Bathing Suits, Green Gardens, Elwell, Normal Village, Rhiannon Hope, Manchild, Fair Maiden, Vehicle, and Shaking Hand. “We were actually terrified. We didn’t think it was gonna be possible on a DIY level, like, we’re there roping in all of our mates, like, ‘Can you do a one hour door shift?’ and then as soon as everyone’s had a few beers, no one wants to do one,” says Vardy with a grin.
It worked, though, even if there was practically no profit. “We don’t make any cash on it, but it’s just so worth doing because it’s just such a laugh and it’s just so fun for everyone,” Vardy says. Not only do you get to discover new bands, but it’s the perfect opportunity to socialise and meet fellow creatives, “You walk into a room and it’s everyone you sort of half recognise,” Ray remarks, while Vardy chimes in, “You can’t get through the whole room without stopping and chatting to everyone, and everyone’s doing such cool stuff.”
It feels like there’s no real hierarchy, either, with every band playing for the same amount of time, alternating between the basement stage and the intimate snug room. “Getting a 30-minute snapshot of everyone’s band is really good as well, because it’s just the perfect set length where everyone plays their absolute best stuff,” says Vardy.
Ask any of the bands that played at Regtown, and they’ll tell you how much they loved it, too. Spike from Elwell and Normal Village tells me he is “really happy we got to be part of such a good lineup of bands,” adding, “Private Regcords does a superb job of organising events in and outside of Leeds that help to promote up-and-coming bands as well as supporting independent venues”.
“It’s undeniably important to have people like Vardy putting on gigs and getting people so excited about new bands.”
Spike Elwell
Likewise, Maz from Kiosk, who headlined Sunday, calls Regtown “the best time of year,” even if they did break their glasses in the Normal Village pit. “Everyone just gets to enjoy themselves and play to a crowd who are having the best time of their life,” they tell me, “It’s a beautiful and invaluable thing.” Brought together by “one million bands and one million beers,” according to Maz, “The Lord wishes he was doing James Vardy’s work.”
With profit at the back of their minds, Vardy and Ray emphasise the importance of, above everything, just bringing people together to have a party. “It’s not about money, because it’s crazy to go into music for money at all,” says Ray. “The main thing is making sure everyone gets paid enough and has a good time as much as we can organise that.” Vardy agrees. “It feels so impossible to make any money that we may as well just have the best time possible. And I can’t underpay bands. Because I’m in a band, you can’t do it. I just can’t do it. I don’t have the heart to.”
It’s not an easy time for grassroots venues at the moment – you don’t need me to tell you that – but events like Regtown are truly a saving grace at a time when the DIY arts scene feels increasingly under threat. “There’s so much positive stuff happening in grassroots venues at the moment…we’re coming back,” says Ray.
With Regtown flowing over capacity this year – people were even showing up and requesting to buy tickets on the door in spite of it being sold out – there’s no doubt that the next one will be even bigger and even crazier. And you’ve got to hand it to people like Vardy and Ray, who are really keeping the scene together by crafting valuable opportunities for musicians and creatives, purely for the love of art, community, and simply having a good time.
