FastForward Leeds music conference at Belgrave Music Hall aimed at halting 'brain drain' to London

When the Mercury Prize was handed to English Teacher a year ago this week, it was a special moment for music in Leeds, as their award for debut album This Could Be Texas meant they were the first winners from outside London for a decade.

In the surrounding areas of West Yorkshire, the Piece Hall’s reputation as a top summer concert venue in Halifax, attracting world famous stars from Nile Rodgers to Boygenius, and Bradford 2025’s roster of brilliant acts this year, also point to exciting times for creativity in the region.

However, some in the music industry say that it is a bit more complicated. While big things might be happening, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the expertise to sustain the sector is staying in Leeds and the wider county.

One of those who wants to make sure the region thrives is Tony Ereira, who runs Come Play With Me, which supports people in Yorkshire into sustainable music careers, and who set up Leeds-based Clue Records after moving up from London more than a decade ago.

“There is some good infrastructure in Leeds and in West Yorkshire and in the North of England, but it's patchy to be completely honest,” he says. “There are large parts of the music industry that just aren't really very well represented.”

While there are a number of music conferences in the area available to the people starting their careers, Tony wanted to organise an event more catered to those who had already got a foothold in the industry as professionals but whose connections could be strengthened still.

He says: "We've been berating the fact that there wasn't really a conference that was designed for people who were already successful within the industry. Sorry to be crude, but the messaging was almost: if you want to go meet like-minded folks, get yourself on the train to London or to Manchester.”

Despite the success of bands like English Teacher, there is, he says, “a bit of a circular, self-fulfilling prophecy, that we get some good infrastructure up and running, or we get some good people trained, but then for them to progress to the next level their career, they then have to move to London.

"You've kind of got this constant brain drain and you're never really putting meat on the bones of the infrastructure we have here.”

In an effort to counter this, the first FFWDxLEEDS conference will take place at the Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen on Tuesday next week.

Gus Unger-Hamilton from the band alt-J, who won the Mercury Prize in 2012 for their debut album An Awesome Wave after meeting at the University of Leeds, is among the speakers. Thando Zulu, founder of Zulu Music, Julie Weir, head of music for nations at Sony Music, and Hazel Savage, CEO of Syntho, an online learning community where members can learn from touring artists, are also among the 19 speakers.

Delivered in partnership with organisations including Come Play With Me and West Yorkshire Music Network, which is funded by West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the conference is the latest of the FastForward brand set up by Chris Carey in 2015, which has previously held out events in London, Amsterdam and Sydney.

“Despite being a South Londoner, I think the world is too London-centric,” says Chris.

When Tony approached Chris about setting up the conference, he was already looking to take it outside the capital anyway, so it was a good fit.

In the example of managers, Tony says there are “really good managers here, but they won't use that name,” because people in this part of the country tend to be more “humble”.

Chris adds: “I think there is a really interesting question for me on humility, the skillset and standing up for yourself. Culturally, as I understand it, actually to stand up and say ‘I do this’, ‘I'm valuable at this’, ‘I'm good at this’, ‘I'm world class at this’, is rarer outside of London than inside. And while there are definitely some downsides to the forthright approach, let's call it, politely, there's also a massive downside to not owning your talent.”

Perhaps one of the less expected names included in the line-up Frances Milner, CEO of the Leeds United Foundation, the football club’s charity.

Chris says: “So often, we need to learn from outside if we just think past the defences, that there's a pile of things about building community that Leeds United will be doing right that we don't think about from an artist point of view.”

Tony adds that when Chris suggested the idea, “I thought he was mad”, but realised it made sense. “If you're a bass player in a band, you're not going to speak to the person who's playing flute in an orchestra because you just don't exist in the same world, you don’t see the parallels, whereas in football, that's just not true. Leeds United binds everyone together. There is that shared sense of camaraderie.”

Ultimately, it is about building a sense of community and, says Chris, the “networking of people who don't feel like they need to network”.

“Community is such a big part of it because if I know you've got five skills, but two are listed on LinkedIn, and three are not - but I know you - I can say, ‘You would be great’. And inside community, that recommendation matters so much more. I think there's a lot to be said for just bringing good people together,” say Chris.

"I'm confident we can pull some amazing people together from across the North who will become friends, who will do business together and who will back each other up when the going is tough.”

For more information and tickets, visit: www.ffwd.group/ffwdxleeds-home