Club Fandango was started in March 2001 by Simon Williams and Andy Macleod. The former runs fierce panda records, the latter the Pointy Record label. Between the two of them, these intrepid rock travellers had already promoted such neo-legendary nights as Club Spangle!, Club Pointy and Club Panda at a slew of renowned London venues including the Water Rats, the Falcon, the Monarch and the Bull & Gate.
The original Club Fandango plot was fiendishly simple: to use their collective knowledge to set up a weekly event on a so-called "quiet" night (i.e. Tuesday) at a so-called "untrendy" venue (e.g. Camden's Dublin Castle) where new bands could showcase their sounds without fear of pain or retribution.
22-20s, British Sea Power, Dogs Die In Hot Cars, Agent Blue, Winnebago Deal, The Kills, The Stills, The Killers, Death Cab For Cutie and Keane are just a handful of Fandango bands who have subsequently signed record deals.
Three years later, the Club Fandango brand has expanded beyond all original expectations: first came the addition of a monthly night at Oxford Street Metro; then came two new Thursdays per month at Kentish Town Bull & Gate; as the flow of phone calls, tip-offs and demos from eager new bands became a deluge, another weekly night was set up at the Archway Tavern to attempt to cope with the demand; and as the Fandango word spread across the nation, monthly showcase events were set up in Manchester and Bristol. This means that Club Fandango will now be responsible for a minimum of 150 live shows throughout 2004, with a capacity for showcasing between 450 and 600 bands.
This doesn't include special Fandango one-offs at larger venues such as Lock 17 (aka Dingwalls), Camden Underworld, Islington Bar Academy and the ICA. Nor does it include planned nights in Brighton, Leeds and Glasgow. The most remarkable aspect of all this is that Club Fandango is still run as a part-time concern with a miniscule budget. Both Williams and Macleod are pretty much unpaid coalmen on the Fandango express where advertising is scarce, listings are haphazard and musical genres are generally scrambled week after week, with unsigned metal, electronic, acoustic acts and lovely indie schmindie bands all proudly represented.
After three years Club Fandango still intends to attempt to showcase the best of the UK's undiscovered new talent many of the bands we choose are so new and innocent they don't even have management, let alone a top notch booking agent - but now the PRSF will enable the Fandango organisation to promote those bands far more efficiently. Club Fandango has a great reputation on the underground / alternative circuit which would certainly explain the perpetual waiting list of 50 eager bands looking for live slots and after three years of steady building we feel that the time is ripe to exploit the Fandango name and move slightly overground. We already have a fabulous, home-crafted website (at www.clubfandango.co.uk ) and a huge electronic mailing list. Now we are seeking to embrace music industry basics such as regular advertising in the music press, a part-time press officer to take care of listings and media branding, fiscal input into merchandising opportunities and general investment in Fandango promotions nationwide.
All walks of music industry life have tapped their toes on the Club Fandango boards: A&R men, publishers, managers, journalists, press officers, DJs, lawyers, agents and even rival promoters are often to be found checking out the entertainment. Other punters include rock enthusiasts, generally clever people and, most important of all, new band's burgeoning fan bases. The Fandango dream is an average crowd of 150 people at the regular events, climbing to 500 at one-off shows in larger venues. The basic truth is that you can go down to the Dublin Castle on a Tuesday night and see four carefully hand-picked new bands for £5.00 (or £4.00 with a cheap downloadable flyer from the website) and if that doesn't represent value for money, we bally well don't know what does.
Music type: Multi
Funding Scheme: Promoters
Region: London
Andy Macleod
16c North Villas
Camden Town
London
NW1 9BJ
020 7424 0407
andy@clubfandango.co.uk
