Interview With Art Mouse Promotions (Ste and Hana)

I’ll start by asking DIY is a big part of what you two do how have yas been keeping that going during the current lockdown? Well quite literally I suppose. We decided to do up the house so we've been spending a lot of time painting doors, walls, radiators, laying flooring, tiling ha! But more seriously, we've definitely had ups and downs in this lockdown so far. We started just burying our heads into housework and jobs and really didn't have the motivation to do anything creative. We finally pulled ourselves out of that last week, started some little illustration businesses that we've wanted to do for ages, Ste has started writing and recording new music again and we just reached out to friends in the DIY scene to try and actually do some stuff. We put our first live-stream show on last Sunday and it was super lovely to be honest - different but really lovely. We've got an online market coming up at the weekend and then we're in the middle of organizing a bunch more live-stream shows too, the next one being 10th May with Nath, Vicky from Salsola, Simon from Milk Crimes and Dressed Like Wolves!

For anyone who has not been to an Art Mouse show how would yas describe them We basically just try and create a super friendly, super inclusive space for everyone. We want people to be able to be themselves and feel totally safe and comfortable doing that - and also to maybe open their minds to different ideas and different perspectives! We focus on showcasing bands and artists from marginalized and underrepresented groups and also artists with something important to say, whether that be issues of equality, environmental issues etc. We just want to do our little bit to make the world a better place. 

Mousetival must be a big day in the calendar for yas. How do you prepare yourselves for such a big event? Really badly - every year we say we're going to be better the next year and we never are. WE WERE REALLY DOING GOOD THIS YEAR - we had such a buzzing line up and poster - but unfortunately it's not happening!! :( SO SORRY - we can't wait to see you all in 2021 though and we've pretty much got the poster and line up now so - nailed it for 2021 haha!  

We all have different jobs which helps. Hana is the band Booker so that's usually done pretty early and Tommings always smashes out the best ever posters nice and early. We are always really proud of ourselves every year and excited about the line ups - having bands you listen to all the time playing for you is the best feeling so that pulls us through. We're pretty on top of signs/policies etc. now - every year we add a little something else cool in though. We have the lovely Vicky from Salsola working with us now so this year (now next year) she'll be doing plastic free things and making sure we're doing our bit for the environment which we definitely think is important. We plan the new stuff pretty early on and make sure we know it'll work so its not rushed. Ste works so hard doing lots of graphics, putting the 'zines together etc - but its usually Nath popping over and us getting everything together and folding t-shirts etc. the day before! I think last year he left our house at something stupid like 1am then we had to be at The Georgian to set up early haha but yeah just a love for everything we do I guess and lots of time for most of it. 

What have been some of your favorite shows so far? Every one of them? haha - we love every single Mousetival a lot but bringing Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something here was a big highlight! We've loved them for a long long time and they put on such an amazing show and to have them play for us was just ace. 

Yas have even started house shows is this something that you would recommend to maybe other promoters or bands to get into? Yes, we've done a few house shows and have some more planned for when we are allowed to do them again. A few other people we know have put on some cool house shows in the cities/towns they live in too. They're super lovely and a good way to play for people in a DIY sense - you don't need a big sound system, a promoter to book you and your audience don't have to pay (we run them on a donations basis with all money going to the act) but it's a good way to bring music to younger audiences that can't go to gigs due to age restrictions or people without the disposable income that gigs sometimes require. With that in mind I'd recommend them HOWEVER we are privileged enough not to rent our home and we have nice neighbors that don't say anything and our audiences are always lovely and respectful of the area but if you're house is joined onto others or your landlord is a little strict or something - maybe don't do it! Noise complaints and tenant convictions are real and we don't want to be held responsible for any of that! 

What can you tell us about some of the none music related projects ya that yas work on? Such a indoor markets, movies screenings, and talks? OOOO we've been interested in drawing, graphics etc. for awhile now. We buy a lot of smaller brand/vintage clothing, second hand clothes and furniture, eat lots of scrummy food from independent businesses and our house is full of smaller artists' art work. We started working at Base Camp and they were keen to hold fairs and it just seemed to fall into place with that. They're basically there to highlight all the amazing people we have making amazing things on our doorstep. 

With the movie screenings they're a pretty new thing we'll hopefully be doing more of soon. We wanted to put on movies that weren't just your average Netflix and chill vibe. We wanted to show stuff that reflected our ethos so we're looking at showcasing lots of LGBT+ movies, work by important queer, female and POC directors, films about race issues, environmental issues etc. along with documentaries about inclusivety in music and anything else that ties in with the rest of our stuff. There are some awesome films out there that are amazing viewing but also highlight incredibly important issues.

Same goes with talks/workshops etc. - we wanted to provide people with information that isn't available to some people and have a place where we can let people talk about their experiences in order to help us to understand. We put on a talk with Maja from Queers to the Front Bookings that was amazing and educational as well as super interesting. Same goes with workshops although they're a little more 'loosely based'. So far we've run some 'zine making workshops for part of the pride event in Middlesbrough - the idea was it was themed around Identity but it seemed to stray off and some people made 'zines about cats and stuff - thats fine though! We all love cats! Then we ran the Crisp Packet Bivi Bag Workshop that went down really well. It's always a good vibe having people doing their bit for our planet etc. and interesting conversations always spring up at these things so yeah expect more cool non music related things! 

You both like to make anyone who goes to the shows feel welcome. How important do you feel this is for the local community? We think it's incredibly important and it's something we've always focused on loads with our events. We've sort of always used the ideology of "no one is free until everyone is free" and applied it to the things we do. As in if everyone at an event doesn't feel included, safe, comfortable and happy then you need to do more and it needs to be better. It's something you have to be passionate about, as it does take a lot of thought, time and sometimes policing, but its something we feel is more than worth all of the time and effort. You don't really have a community if it's not open to everyone.

Finally if yas can both recommend five acts right now who would it be? Arghh 5 is stupidly difficult - we love so many bands! But...

Hana's choice is: Toodles & The Hectic Pity, Milk Crimes, Slagheap, Childbirth, Boom Boom Racoon. 

Ste's choice is: Charmpit, Animal Byproducts, Garden Centre, Camp Cope, Nervus

(Ste and Hana with Duck and Jemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something)

Links

Facebook(Art Mouse)

Facebook(Mousetival)