Crowded Flat: The name behind Glasgow's next wave of musicians

On any given night in Glasgow, there’s a guarantee that you can wander around and find something you’ve never heard of before. From the punk scene to acoustic folk sets, the city’s grassroots venues support and promote the best that local talent has to offer. In venues around the city, there’s a new wave of artists crashing through Glasgow’s DIY scene.

In among these up-and-coming acts, you’ll find a certain name that keeps cropping up; Crowded Flat.

Providing independent band management and event promotion, Crowded Flat has some of Glasgow’s most exciting names under its belt, such as Pinc Wafer, Lacuna, and Bandit Country. On top of this, their past alumni include Bottle Rockets, who have won the Scottish Alternative Music Awards Best Rock/Alternative Artist and BBC Introducing’s Scottish Act of the Year 2024.

Many scenes hold exciting new talent and sounds, but it’s not as common for there to be so much of a community based around events promotion itself.

One of the founding members, George McFadyen, describes the origins of the project: “The original idea comes from that the Glasgow scene kind of got a bit dodgy, there was a lot of wrong ‘uns.

 “We were like ‘we want to create a nice, safe environment for people to work in.’” This is exactly what Crowded Flat have achieved.

From being selected to put together the live music in Glentress at the UCI Cycling Championships to Bottle Rockets playing Barrowlands at Tenement Trail, Crowded Flat have been not only making a name for their artists, but for themselves too.

Crowded Flat’s most recent venture was House Guest, their own all-day, multi-venue festival in collaboration with Scottish Music Collective, which took place on the 6th of April.

In a scene that can often be viewed as overcrowded and difficult to stand out in, association with Crowded Flat creates a buzz for bands.

Bandit Country is one of the bands represented by Crowded Flat, after grabbing George’s attention at once of their early gigs, they were added to their roster.

David Carruthers, Bandit Country’s frontman said: “I think it was being with Crowded Flat that elevates your name a bit.”

This community, comprised of artists, designers, musicians, photographers and more, provides a solid foundation for local bands to grow.

David said: “Even back to that first gig, Caitlin, who’s obviously a part of Crowded Flat, she did all the posters for us, George did a run of photos for us, and Selina, they were helping getting us out there and PR, and getting us on the bill.”

This isn’t just limited to musicians, the atmosphere created by a range of creatives allows for Crowded Flat to provide a diverse range of services for bands. When you’re in any space occupied by Crowded Flat and their entourage, you feel as though you’re witnessing the birth of something big. If you find yourself chatting to any number of characters littered around these venues, you’ll hear about projects from documentaries to zines.

The community created in venues such as Nice N Sleazy and Variety is the beating heart of the scene, with these venues being home to artists not only for gigs, but as a general community space, where nights out are organised, and albums and concerts are planned.

George said: “I’d say there’s probably a group of like 10 or 12 bands who all come to Crowded Flat shows, who all hang out and support each other in things outside of music.”

Spaces such as these venues have been a stomping ground for the ever-changing regular lineups in Glasgow, and they’ve been home to many Crowded Flat nights for some time.

Variety is an important base for Crowded Flat, as someone who used to work there, George still has ties with the bar, and hosts Crowded Pub in the venue, a monthly stripped-back acoustic night to showcase local bands.

The importance of Crowded Flat cannot be overstated for bands starting out in Glasgow. The fact that there is a space where musicians can be supported, and an opportunity to be put on rosters, and have all their promo done for them, allows them to focus on what really matters, the music.

David says: “You don’t really want to do emails, putting on shows, getting venues together and promo and posters, and just all the stuff that, when you’re a band that’s just starting out, the main focus is songwriting, getting together live sets.”

With Gig Brother and Scottish Music Collective being another two promoters on the rise who represent small bands in Glasgow, the changes that Crowded Flat are inspiring can already be seen.

George said: “There’s a lot more DIY promoters who see out that initial few weeks, because I feel like a lot of people try it and give up, but a lot of people have maybe seen what we’ve done and stuck at it and kept going.” Despite this, he hasn’t lost his humility, “I don’t want to take credit for it, but I like to think we’re maybe a wee bit of inspiration, maybe?”

Crowded Flat follows a long line of institutions that have given Glasgow its claim to being a city thriving with musicians. Venues like King Tut’s provided a stage for Pulp, Blur, Oasis, Manic Street Preachers and Radiohead, before any of these acts became the household names they are now.

Glasgow was given the title of UNESCO City of Music in 2008, at the time it was only the third city in the world to receive this accolade, however, it is difficult to say exactly what has been done since then to further promote and maintain Glasgow’s legacy as a breeding ground for new music.

Inner Ear conducted a report on the value of music tourism in Glasgow, and during round table consultations with members of the music industry in Glasgow, it was claimed that: “Little to nothing needs done to further stimulate musical activity in Glasgow.” But how can this be said when the musicians who drive Glasgow’s local scene struggle to support their endeavours?

Despite Crowded Flat being able to take the weight off the shoulders of these bands, there is an immeasurable financial toll associated with not only starting out, but making a name for yourself as a band.

David said: “The financial aspect of it all is so daunting, when you start going into studios and paying for studio time, and paying for mixing and mastering, artwork, all the promo to go along with it, if you’re doing merch and all that stuff it’ll come to thousands and thousands of pounds.”

The value of the DIY scene in Glasgow is severely underestimated. In 2015, the figure was released that Glasgow’s revenue from live music was £105 million, however in Inner Ear’s report, it was found that a further £54.7 million could be attributed to smaller, grassroots venues, which was unaccounted for in the original figure provided by the council.

This wasn’t always the case, in the past, there was much more support provided for musicians in Glasgow trying to break through. Glasgow’s, and indeed the world’s indie darlings, Belle and Sebastian, met at Beatbox, a programme for unemployed musicians. This not only provided them with free rehearsal spaces and access to recording, but it ultimately got them a record deal, allowing them to grow. These bands, for which Glasgow got its UNESCO status, all started their careers in bedrooms and pubs, in the exact same way the bands currently involved in Glasgow’s music scene are establishing themselves now.

The failure to recognise and promote Glasgow’s grassroots music scene, and instead a focus on larger venues and bands, shows a shortfall in protecting Glasgow’s future status as a city where musicians can thrive. Instead, it seems that Glasgow is stubbornly and continuously, although deservingly, solely focused on celebrating the past, instead of cultivating the next wave of musicians to continue Glasgow’s musical reputation for years to come.

Now, when social media is a band’s biggest chance at making it big, even programs like Beatbox couldn’t provide any guarantee of success to a band.

David said: “A record deal doesn’t mean anything anymore, they see people who have potential on social media and TikTok, and how many streams you get, and how relatable you are on those platforms. It’s not really like, you are great musicians, you need to be great musicians and this and that.”

Without better funding and opportunities for bands to continue to put on events and constantly evolve, it begins to take its toll on those involved in the scene.

George said: “I think when you’re at like grassroots level and DIY there isn’t any offer of support or management or guidance or anything, you’re just thrown in, and we DIY promoters can’t really facilitate being managers 90% of the time, so we’re lucky that everyone involved in Crowded Flat is willing to sacrifice their personal life.”

With Crowded Flat constantly evolving, opportunities for better financing and support will hopefully be on the rise. Their latest big venture, House Guest, even received sponsorship from Williams Bros Brewing. This is Crowded Flat’s biggest feat yet, their all-day multi-venue festival produced in collaboration with Scottish Music Collective.

The day itself was a sight to behold, venues brimming with Glasgow’s brightest bunch of musicians, and black branded “House Guest” t-shirts flitting around Sauchiehall street from venue to venue, photographing, scheduling, and above all, taking in what this small but ambitious group of friends had managed to achieve.

As Lacuna, Crowded Flat’s folk six piece, and the proclaimed second coming of Fleetwood Mac, closed the night out in Variety, there was barely space to move, the venue was packed. Between tears and dancing, everyone involved, and everyone who’d paid witness, took a moment to stand back and marvel at what this collection of fans of Glasgow’s music scene had birthed within it.

As for the future of Crowded Flat, the dedication they have shown to their cause will only allow them to continue to grow with the support of those around them.

David said: “I think Crowded Flat has so much potential as this org who could be really anything they want to be, when they took us on, and they only had a couple people on their roster, to now where they have so many people talking about them, and so much acclaim.”

Between House Guest, multiple releases coming up from the different bands they represent, constant gigs and Crowded Pub nights, there’s no doubt that Crowded Flat will be a staple of Glasgow’s music scene for many years to come.