Meet Derby's live music stalwarts who are keeping a 'brilliant' scene alive

The Public Eye at Dubrek Studios
-Credit: (Image: Dubrek Studios/ Oolay Photographers)


Four key figureheads of Derby's live music scene have had their say on what needs to be done to help keep a "brilliant" scene alive. Jay Dean, Jamie Quince-Starkley, Paul Keenan and Gez Addictive say "there is so much on" in the city centre, but are calling for more awareness to help local venues thrive once again.

So what is holding Derby back from becoming a Midlands grassroots live music hotspot? Jay Dean has been in the game since the mid nineties and runs Dubrek Studios - a small but thriving city centre venue.

He said: "We have such a brilliant scene, so much emerging talent, people on the first rung of the ladder like Marseille. Right across the board we have so much going on. I think the challenge that we have at the moment is audience participation, we need people coming into the city centre.

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"There is a whole raft of great venues and promotors doing work, now there is a negative press around the city centre. It is a place to go into, we are a vibrant city we just need the people to engage with it now.

"People don't know about the stuff that's going on, and the image of Derby needs to change. There is no reason why these venues aren't full every weekend."

Jay Dean, the owner of Dubrek Studios
Jay Dean, the owner of Dubrek Studios -Credit:Joseph Connolly

So while there is a high number of live music events taking place in the city, Jay believes the challenge that the scene is facing is that Derby's image is currently not one that is drawing in crowds. Of course, the national picture has not helped with the cost of living crisis and the pandemic providing some serious setbacks to the hospitality industry.

One of Derby's newest venues, Electric Daisy, has been trying to change that, with last month's Re-imagine Derby festival and a whole host of different events that are aiming to paint Derby in a new light. Founder of Down to Earth Derby and Electric Daisy, Jamie Quince-Starkey, said: "Derby has a bit of a cultural renaissance happening. We are at the cusp of it taking off. I think the main problem is that all these great things are disjointed, you have all these incredible venues doing amazing things but people are only finding out about things on Facebook.

"The challenge is why aren't people coming out, I think we need a city-wide approach. We need to come together to push stuff together. Look at what we did with Re-imagine Derby, we had 10,000 people come through Sadler Gate and that happened when all these organisations coming together."

Jamie Quince-Starkey of Electric Daisy
Jamie Quince-Starkey of Electric Daisy

So while some are calling for more cohesion in the live music industry to uplift footfall, some argue that while there is a great scene in the city and awareness is a major problem.

Another key challenge is that once bands get to a certain point they have no further progression in the city due to a lack of bigger venues. This then doesn't allow the smaller venues to get that trickle down effect that other cities enjoy.

Paul Keenan, owner of The Hairy Dog, one of Derby's most famous venues and one of its only 450+ capacity establishments said: "Derby desperately needs a replacement for the assembly rooms. I've been banging this drum for years, something that is on a par with Rock City. We need more diversity in the scene, as well as the city centre needs sorting out.

"We just need people to want to come to Derby, if we want to compete with the likes of Nottingham we need more to be put in here. There are only a certain level of bands we can hold here, we are already punching way over our weight. We have been hanging on by a finger nail for years and we are just surviving, honestly if I had the time to raise that awareness I would.

Paul Keenan, the landlord of the Hairy Dog in Derby city centre
Paul Keenan, the owner of the Hairy Dog -Credit:Derbyshire Live

"If we had the big shows going on every week, then imagine the amount of people coming through the city, that would boost the music scene so much. We have the talent, we have the scene but we just need more diversity in venues, more people in the city and more awareness of what is going on."

There is, of course, the £45.8 million Becketwell performance venue, which will open its doors early in 2025, with a capacity of 3,500 in the main auditorium.

One of Derby's biggest promotors, Gez Addictive added: "There isn't a magic wand solution, we need to change peoples attitude again. The great things are going on we just need to make people aware.

"We want people to get out and come and enjoy live music again. We need organisations, businesses and the scene to work together to show what the scene is doing, like they do in Nottingham."