Fully Backed.

When I moved away from South Wales in 2001 the hardcore scene was in a horrible state. There were no local bands, no cheap venues, and no promoters with a clue. Every single one of my mates that claimed they gave a fuck about hardcore had dropped out, moved on or “grown up”. There were ghosts eveywhere, and I was glad to be getting the fuck out too. But soon, things changed, and it can pretty much be traced back to one pub and its role in helping a flat-lining community rebuild itself. By the time I got back to Wales in Feb 2005 Le Pub was THE heart of the re-emerging hardcore scene in South Wales. I feel like I’ve known Sam forever, although when I work it out it can’t be more than four years. But she is brilliant and I love her. So I figured it would be cool to have a chat with her about everyone’s favourite gig venue. Enjoy.

What was the first gig you ever went to?
I was 14 and I went to see NEDS ATOMIC DUSTBIN and THE SENSELESS THINGS in Newport Centre, I had brand new Doc Martens and everything!

Name 5 bands responsible for shaping the music taste you have today.
I dont think i can really, I can name bands who made me love music the way I do but I couldn’t even tell you what my music taste is! THE VIOLENT FEMMES and JANE’S ADDICTION are bands that stand out when I look back to being about 15, I was properly obssessed with PERRY FARRELL. METALLICA were a big influence, but I also really indie stuff like THE STONE ROSES and these days DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE. I dont really care what kind of music a band play, if they play it relatively well and with real passion and excitement for what they are doing then I’ll probably love it!

How long have you run Le Pub and what were you doing before?
My parents have owned pubs since I was a baby, so all I have ever done is bar work, I started in Le Pub as a barmaid 11 years ago, I’ve been manager for 5 years this coming September, when I took over as manager we weren’t doing anything with the live music side of things, local bands on a Thursday was about it, but I got together with the Dead Souls Collective and we started putting on touring bands and bands from a wider area than just Newport and its just gone on from there really,

What is your verdict of Newport in terms of the music that comes out of there, both now and when you first got into music?
When I first starting going out Newport was the “new Seattle” with NME journalists camped out in TJ’s hoping to be the one to spot the next big thing but then nothing really came of any of those bands. People seem to think that Newport is a hub of creativity but the majority of the good bands come down from the valleys and then people assume they are from Newport as they play a lot of gigs in Newport as its the only place close with decent venues for them to play in.

Do you feel Le Pub has a duty to live music? There must be more cash to be made from running a vapid, trendy mainstream bar with no stage, a massive screen showing twenty football matches at once at full volume, and a name like The Carrot And Weasel?
Le Pub does OK, we don’t have cash for massive widescreen TVs and stuff but then I don’t think I’d even want them in the place, Newport and South Wales in general needs Le Pub, some of the gigs we have put on in the past have been so amazing, there is something about that building that just makes bands play their hearts out and something about the kids we have coming for shows that make Le Pub the most amazing place in the world. So many bands tell me Le Pub is the best night of their tour and I even believe most of them!

Every now and again there are rumours about legislation that will kill live music and whatnot. Mostly nothing ever seems to come of them. What changes has Le Pub had to adopt in reflection to changes in the law or council regulations etc etc?
We had to have new soundproof insulated windows fitted upstairs, the cash we have to pay out in licenses and things is getting silly but generally we just try to get on with what we do.

Tell us about the Le Pub refit, and the scramble to get everything done.
August 06 we swapped the stage and bar round, it was a nightmare from start to finish, the brewery screwed up their dates and didn’t come to disconnect the beer taps so I had to do it with a man on the phone giving me instructions, everyone very nearly got a beer shower, getting the new PA was just as bad, the company we ordered it from refused to ship to the pub and would only ship to the owners house, only she was away and no one was there so we had to cancel the order and try and get a new PA sourced, pricematched and delivered in a week, we ended up being there installing it until 4am most days and then back in at 8am to carry on with the refit. DIGNITY DIES FIRST played the opening night of the new set up and literally while they were setting up and soundchecking me and the old assistant manager were varnishing the back of the stage! It was amazing though because we really got to see who cared about the place, i sent a text to everyone in my phone on the morning we were supposed to be opening begging anyone who was free to come help and the people that turned up were so amazing and just got stuck straight in, hywel of THE KEEP/OF NOBLE BLOOD fame was bottling up behind the bar, staff were turning up on their night off and helping to fill the skips, it was complete chaos but also one of my favourite times, i knew we were being ambitious trying to get it done in 5 days but thanks to everyone that turned up and helped we did it! Just.

I know we are roughly the same age, and when I was in college, if you liked ‘guitar music’ you were pretty much either a metalhead, or an indie kid. Metal hasn’t changed much but 10/15 years on you hardly see indie kids any more. Does ‘indie’ still exist as a stand alone entity, or is it redundant given the other (and somewhat louder) 21st century subcultures that anguished teens can subscribe to?
To be honest I think indie is the strongest it has been in a long time, the radio is full of indie all day along and indie bands are regularly topping the charts, its very different to the shoegazing soppy indie of 15 years ago, its a lot more upbeat and fun but its definately still very much alive but putting indie bands on in newport is a waste of time as no one turns up but in other places indie bands do really well in terms of turnout. As for actual indie kids I dont think I know what they would look like these days, its definateley not an obvious fashion like it was back in 19-dickety, the tie dye dresses and purple Doc Martens are gone, we probably walk past 20 indie kids a day but dont even notice, it seems indie has actually become about the music not the image.

Does Le Pub have a target demographic? Seems like a good mix of townies, Nathan Barleys, hardcore kids, skaters, goths, nu-ravers, and ginger left handed vegans. Is this deliberate?
Le Pubs target demographic is people that love music, any kind of music, we put on any kind of band upstairs and anyone is welcome to drink anytime they want. I’m not sure about the townie bit though, I’ve not really seen any come in regularly, just the few that wander in accidentally and leave quite quickly! People say Le Pub is realy cliquey, and I guess it does look that way from the outside, but its just because everyone that drinks and works there gets on really well, all you have to do is make an effort to talk to someone and you will be welcome, at the end of the day we all just like to watch bands and get drunk.

Last question then – Will we ever see you do a band again?
Never say never but I doubt it very very much, it was fun and despite how bad we were its something I’m really proud of, but I cant see it happening again, I cant sing for one thing, I have no idea why the rest of the band wanted me there!

Link: http://www.myspace.com/lepub