In a recent interview with The Independent, the Labour leader details his aims for the future of live music
Jeremy Corbyn has recently spoken to The Independent, expressing his plans and hopes for the live music scene that’s increasingly being asphyxiated. With the number of closing venues continuing to rise, live music is declining, and last September, London’s Fabric nearly faced permanent closure. There’s also been claims that the controversial MET police risk assessment Form 696 targets the grime scene and R’n’B artists in particular.
Speaking with the publication’s music correspondent, he said, “What you have is a number of independent venues, sometimes pubs, cafes, so on, that have become almost informal live music venues.” He continued, “And the small cafe does well and ‘hey presto’ along comes Costa, Starbucks, Nero or something to take it over.”
“[It’s] the same with pubs, which are often very reluctant to have live music on. Those live venues are absolutely crucial to the future of the music scene. So the £1,000 pub-licensing rebate is a good thing – we want to extend that a lot further.”
Recognising his popularity among the grime scene, he mused, “I think what they see in us is a preparedness to engage in youth and do something for young people as a whole. It’s a sense of hope from us.”
As part of his campaign trail for the upcoming snap general election this week (8 June), he touched upon his music choices for NME, revealing that his favourite song is Imagine by John Lennon and that he admires singers Joan Armatrading and Joan Baez. “I listen to a whole range of things. I do love much classical music; I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for Mahler, actually… I also like folk music, I like listening to some jazz, I like listening to world music as well. Because, essentially, music is very interesting history.”
He went on to say, “Think of the history of popular music – where does it go to? It goes back to the USA, it goes back to Elvis, it goes back to the black music of the southern states. Listen to the music of Latin America, you get Andean pipe music… Its origins go way back before the Spanish conquest of Latin America in the 15th century. And you see a history of social movements through music and I love all of that.”
Read Crack’s feature on grime’s ties with Corbyn: ‘Can Grime4Corbyn succeed where Red Wedge failed?‘