FM is a music industry social networking night. Or if you want the less stuffy description, drinks in a pub.

FM Stands for First Monday – so everyone knows exactly when it is (although people do sometimes still ask when the next FM is).

It’s not stuffy in any way; no badges or bossy organisers – if it was like that, we wouldn’t come!!

FM is a very relaxed get together with people from the industry, in a bar, all there to meet other people in the industry and possibly do business. And it’s totally free.

We have been running in London for just over 2 years and in the autumn of 2009, FM will go online as well as see monthly events kicking off in Liverpool and New York. As of June 2009, we have 630 people on the mailing list and generally the events attract between 10-40 people.

So much business is now done by email and online, we wanted to do things on a more personal level. There area also a number of new businesses of 1 or 2 people setting up who enjoy the chance to meet other people from the industry.

We don’t bombard you with endless emails – apart from anything we don’t have the time! FM starts from 6.30pm and runs until people go home – not always early… You can arrive early then go off to a gig or come along after – you don’t need to RSVP – just turn up.

People who come are; MANAGEMENT – LABELS – ARTISTS – PROMOTORS – PUBLISHERS – PRODUCERS – LAWYERS – ACCOUNTANTS – PR’s – PHOTOGRAPHERS – VIDEO PRODUCERS – CHARITIES – TRADE BODIES SUCH AS MMF, BPI, AIM, MPA ETC, UKI TRADE AND INVESTMENT AS WELL AS STUDENTS LOOKING FOR INTERNSHIPS

We take a break in January and August.

Evening to you all.

Hope you’ve got some serious air conditioning or large open windows to help with the heatwave we’re going to enjoy/endure this week – well done to those of you who’ve got time off and are heading to the beach!!

Last week was a busy one kicking off last Tuesday with a UK Music reception at No.10 Downing Street hosted by Sarah Brown. Whilst the heat wave officially starts this week, the weather that evening was sunny and warm enough to allow us to enjoy the Downing Street Garden. Ben Bradshaw and Feargal Sharkey addressed the guests made up of around 100 managers, labels, publishers, the live sector, music charities, composers, a very small number of artists as well as technology companies and key politicians.

I tried to find people who would be happy to join me on the trampoline in the garden….no one was brave or game enough which in hindsight was probably a good thing….

Glasto’s been and gone – sadly I wasn’t there but first hand reports are unsurprisingly glowing and from what I saw and heard, it’s easy to see why.

If you haven’t already done so but would like to have lunch with Take That, please don’t forget you can still get the last few tickets to the Nordoff Robbins Sliver Clef lunch this Friday 3rd July at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane.

Take That are the winners of the prestigious Silver Clef Award this year and if last years event is anything to go by, it will be a wicked afternoon. Amongst other award winners who will be there on the day to receive awards are Madness, Brian Wilson and La Roux.

All proceeds go to Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy; a charity that does incredible work but doesn’t have the exposure that perhaps it deserves.

I know times are tight at the moment but if you pull anything more than a hairy toffee out from the back of the sofa that comes close to £295, you’ve got yourself a ticket.

If you would like to attend, please contact Nordoff-Robbins directly; Rachel on 020 7371 8404 or emailrachel@nrfr.co.uk

FM will be kicking off in Liverpool in September so if you would like to attend and haven’t already been in touch, please let me know.

We’re also going all international and launching an FM in New York this autumn too!!! If that’s something you’re interested in getting involved in, please reply and put New York in the subject line. I already have some people who will help organise the night out there but as with all get together’s, they work so much better with lots of people so please do pass this mail on to anyone you know who lives/works in the big apple. Now, I’ve just got to find a way to justify going to the big apple for that one….

The next London FM is on Monday 6^th July – that’s next week and the last one before our summer break.

We’re back here

UPSTAIRS

Duke of York, 47 Rathbone St, W1T 1NW

Map here

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=W1T+1NW&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=A

Nearest tubes – Goodge Street or Tottenham Court Road with Oxford Street not too far.

We had a great turnout last month so hope to see as many of you again next week.

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Sybil

sybil@fmfirstmonday.com

I know it was last month now, but I do have a very good excuse. I’ve been on holiday pretty much since then, lapping it up in the Mediterranean sunshine (still reading?). In fact, then location of this festival must account for part of its success. I’ll explain…

As a punter, the fact that you can fly to Spain cheaper than the cost of a cab home across London, is a big draw. Then the fact that, although I can be spoilt for choice with superstar international DJs and bands at home, I almost certainly can’t watch them in 30 degree heat with a nice COLD beer (and one that costs less then £3). The result of this feel good factor? I spent the whole long weekend with a huge smile on my face before I even heard a single beat! So by the time the music started thumping, it was like our own clubbers’ paradise.

Thursday, Sonar by Day. An essential meeting point if you hope to find anyone sober and having slept the night before. I was very impressed with the space they put together there, and the two outdoor sound stages didn’t clash at all. From the chilled electronic funk of Little Dragon, to the grimier hip hop beats of Chacos Brodas, this was perfect sunshine listening. As the evening drew in, Bass Clef put on a fantastic show, epitomising Sonar’s theme of genre bending by fusing his bass, beats and breaks with a, erm… live trombone! It worked though, and you can find some decent video clips knocking around t’interweb of all these guys.

Friday night saw the enormous Fira Gran Via complex opened up to host a whole wealth of talent. A live show from Madness kicked the party of to a great start, plenty of silly dancing to Baggy Trousers and the like, and then it was on to catch some of BC & JC vs DE. Jamie’s energy was fantastic; it was great to watch someone have so much fun performing, and completely lose himself in the music… to the point that I started thinking Darren had slipped something in his drink! You could see the kind of live improvisation that you get with The Bays, and the whole ensemble built the tension very well, and the end of their set came all too soon. And so it was on to Diplo, again a perfect example of the cross-genre fusing. Sometimes Hip Hop, sometimes fidgety Switch-esque beats, sometimes booty bass (whatever that is), and sometimes indescribable, but always the kind of tunes that strike a raw chord and make you get up and shake a leg. Following form that, Justice and their usual industrial French funk were great at times, although sometimes it was just too much. A lot of people enjoyed the variation of Diplo, and the dance-ability of his tunes, and some of the flow was lost when you were met with a wall of white noise and distorted guitar loops.

This didn’t disappoint me too much, as in the next arena was one of my personal favourites, Roisin Murphy. Having seen her live a couple of times now, I knew a few tracks from the last album, but still enjoyed the show she put on, and the rest of the band was on fine form too. After a snack break, it was outside for a good couple of hours of the Minus collective. Troy Pierce kept a good groove going, but for me Magda let it down. I know this kind of set is meant to be very subtle and the simple breaks and drops make it, but she hardly ever let a track actually drop, annoyingly fiddling with the EQs. Richie Hawtin was much more up my street, chunkier beats, rolling basslines and tracks that invited you to get your head down and jack your body along. The crowd, being a mix of English and Spanish, were absolutely loving it, both countries currently enjoying a trend of records and DJs of this ilk. Finally, around 5am and pretty exhausted, we thought a round on the bumper cars (!) and a few piano house classics from the legendary Frankie Knuckles would pick us up, and so it did. Nothing like getting the bus home humming ‘Where Love Lives’.

Saturday night started by meeting up with some DJ & producer friends for a dip in the pool and then on to dinner. My main focus at Sonar By Night was to be Freerange Records, pioneers of UK deep house. Arrinving early, I had a bit of time to check out French DJ, Chloe. Although there was some great melodic stuff going on, it was far too laid back for me, and too slow for a night time vibe I thought. So I went to see Yazoo for a short while. Having refoprmed after 25 years, maybe I was expecting too much, or maybe we are so used to the way that music production has moved on since, but the songs didn’t do it for me, bar ‘’. Maybe I was just fidgety and waiting for the Freerange guys to start. Cue Jimpster back outside to give my night a kick up the arse. Still deep and lush, but with a real chunky groove and a definite ‘sound of now’, I knew what to expect, but it still delights me everytime I hear it. Jimpster passed the baton to Milton Jackson, with a live show of his forthcoming album tracks, and the time flew by.

Tonight, I had to leave around 3am to head over to the OM Records party at La Terrazza. Unfortunately this means I didn’t get to stick around for Jeff Mills and his Rings of Saturn experiance. That’s the thing with the whole sonar weekend – there’s barely a chance to see all the acts at the official shindigs, without the endless offerings of other parties, beach gatherings and label clubnights! On the plus side, I arrived at OM to the last couple of Mike Monday tracks, and then Jesse Rose jumped on and destroyed the place. Every tune was driving along with just the right amount of funk, pinned together with squelching beats and an Unhealthy dose of bass. Closing the party would be Justin Martin, all the way from San Fran, and yet more house music of the highest pedigree. After that, well, let’s just say it was one of those special afterparties that you don’t always get to hear about

There are certain things you can do in Barcelona that you can’t get away with at most UK festivals; dance on the beach with friends and muchos sangria; dine on amazing seafood paella and wine opposite the festival and spend just £8; Too hot at Sonar by day? Go dip in the Sea, just 15 mins walk away. As I said, this makes for such a different atmosphere to English festivals, but I also realise that they have the absolute cream of European and US artists, and seeing any one of about 25 headliners is special in it’s own right. Combined with some fantastic home-grown talent (and the ice cold beer), it’s easy to see why Sonar is such a success every year. I know I’ll certainly be back.

(pls note, the sonar by night pics are from the official website // www.sonar.es)

Lee Jarvis.