Firstly, a little bit of background. Before I became a contributor to a lot of music webzines/magazines I was a journalism student and, in that time, I set up my own music blog, which was called The Musical Chairs. It was always intended to be a platform to showcase my writing and it also gave me some nifty perks – I went to the Great Escape festival in Brighton for three years through it.
But now I don’t need to use it for that. I write for music webzines like MusicOMH and For Folk’s Sake and publications like Artrocker and Clash. Over the last year Musical Chairs has been struggling to find a new sense of purpose.
Then last year the idea of a new angle for the site was floated about by me in my own head. I then got this idea out of my head and talked it over with a few people. This was in September. It’s now January and I’ve only just put it into action. Why? I do not know.
There isn’t really a website that exists to showcase what is happening in Guildford with regards to music. This is also the time where such a website would be useful. G Live opened last September, the Boileroom is getting more and more popular, artists of national recognition like Slow Club and Summer Camp are actually seeing the town as a place to go on their tour itinerary. In short, we’re going through a good period.
So in terms of what The Musical Chairs would be it is now this: a source of news about the Guildford music scene, showing a spotlight on local bands who are quite good and other things besides. It’s not a finished product but it is something that I hope to spend some time on throughout the year. It’s also re-kindled my love for WordPress, which was much needed.
