A famed live music venue, recording studio and champion of artistic endeavour and community spirit, our beloved Yellow Arch hits the quarter-century mark this year. Exposed nipped down to see co-founder Andy Cook and the recently arrived Russ Frisby and Stephen Myerthall to reflect on the venue’s illustrious history while looking ahead to an exciting future.
The sign is now an iconic feature of Burton Road, Neepsend.
Let’s go back to the start. What sparked the Yellow Arch journey?
AC: I had a studio behind The Forum in Trafalgar Works, a little mesters full of artists. Colin had a studio in Attercliffe called The Boardroom. I’d just had a hit with Finley Quaye called ‘Sunday Shining’ and Colin had had a big success with Womack & Womack, so we thought we needed to upsize and put both businesses together. We were looking for a rough-arsed end of town where the council might say yes, so, naturally, we visited an abandoned Victorian Neepsend factory in the rain. Of course, it had no roof. The landlord said, “50 quid a week, lads.” And that were it. The planets had aligned.
Big question here: where did the famous yellow arch come from?
AC: I was walking through Weston Park the following day, and at the time they had these unbelievably ornate Victorian gates with a large arch. That got me thinking about the stone arch downstairs at the building. We weren’t going to advertise it with a big sign or anything, we wanted it to be an in-the-know thing. So, I suggested painting the arch yellow and directing people to that. And there it is – ‘Yellow Arch’ was originally a signpost that meant we didn’t have to tell everyone about it.
The early days: an abandoned nuts and bolts factory became a hotbed for hits
The building finally opened its doors in 1997, but the initial plan was to have it solely as a recording studio?
AC: Yes. The idea was to build three rehearsal rooms: 1, 2 and 3. Room 3 is the famous one because it’s massive and the Arctic Monkeys, Reverend, Milburn, etc., practically grew up in there. At one point, Richard Hawley, who’d just left Longpigs, asked if Colin and I wanted to join his new band. I said we needed a rehearsal room, so we took the downstairs room. The first four Hawley albums were written there, in what would become the venue room.
When did the transition to live venue come about?
AC: Around 2005, there was a touring gypsy jazz band called The Balkan Bandits, and Tim Walker, who runs The Big Swing, asked if we could put them on in the rehearsal room for a couple of hundred quid. We owed a bit of a leccy bill, so we agreed. It was the night of everyone’s lives. In fact, it was such an amazing night, Tim turned around to me and said, “It’s been decided – this is Sheffield’s new venue.” That spawned years of fundraising, planning permissions and getting together a viable business.
It essentially spawned from Hawley and his mates wanting to make a few tunes. The people of Sheffield bought those tunes, which paid for it to become a gig venue. Then Sheffield people bought the gig tickets, which enabled an idea to come further to life. It was like a weird Sheffield butterfly effect going on.
It launched as a fully licensed music venue in 2015. What was the initial ethos behind that?
AC: The ethos has always been live music and community. It was a slow-burner at first, then people wanted to get married here, then people wanted to party here, then it started to snowball – 10 gigs to 20, 20 gigs to 25. That was led by the community, not a marketing strategy. It was all live music and Yorkshire-based DJs.
The bar intersects the live room and the cosy cafe.
Covid had a massive impact on the venue, and not many people know how close we came to losing it for good. Can you tell us a bit about that and how Russ and Stephen came to be involved?
AC: I was a bit frayed. We were in debt from building the venue, then those debts didn’t go anywhere during the pandemic. The bills still had to be paid, and it got to the point where we thought we’d have to file for bankruptcy because we didn’t want to take on any more debt. We were very close to closing the business for good. But our accountant suggested finding people who had the energy to take it on. Russ, Steve, Liam and Nathan came onboard and have given the ball a real kick. I don’t think people realise how precarious Yellow Arch was, and without these guys, it probably wouldn’t be here today.
Russ and Stephen, what motivated you to get involved?
RF: I’ve been coming here, whether rehearsing, gigging or recording since I was about 14. So that’s about 20 years of me being a patron of all things Yellow Arch. It was the place for bands to rehearse. On Sunday afternoons there’d be Milburn, Arctic Monkeys and sometimes Jon McClure all in. You’d be making a brew in the old kitchenette and Richard Hawley would come in and talk to you about Sheffield Wednesday. For a young kid, seeing these people walking around who’d just been performing on tele, well, it has a big impact.
Arctic Monkeys at Yellow Arch Studios. Photo: Dean Chalkley/NME
It seems that most local bands who’ve recorded here have a story about a brush with Sheffield music royalty.
AC: I do remember Jarvis coming in the office once and saying, “They’re doing a bloody good version of my song over in Room 2.” He was proud that there were local musicians who’d learned his lyrics and chords and were giving it a damn good go. I think Alex was the same, as I don’t think there was another band covered more here than Arctic Monkeys. That says a lot about the impact.
RF: So, when the four of us were approached to take it over, it was a bit of a no-brainer. I’ve got experience working at and putting on bands at live venues like Plug, The Boardwalk, The Nelson and Frog & Parrot. I thought I had enough behind me to give a go. Steve’s a master of bar operations, so my job is to get people in, and his is to keep people in. When we got the keys, the doors had been closed for five to six months. As a venue, there was no Yellow Arch.
SM: I think we’d rather take a plunge rather than risk losing the heritage of Yellow Arch. We want to follow the same ethos of Andy, Colin and everyone who worked behind the scenes previously, to try and do that justice moving forward.
I do remember Jarvis coming in the office once and saying, ‘They’re doing a bloody good version of my song over in Room 2.’
With all the renowned names you’ve had pass through this building to record music and gig, you must have some special memories. Does anything spring to mind?
AC: One that does spring to mind was when Sister Sledge rehearsed in Room 3. We are all listening because that was the sound of our childhood, right there. Then there was a call, “Oh! Why don’t you come and join us?” So, we went in, they got us to form a circle and hold hands. Then the bass player started up, and before we knew it, we were stood holding hands with Sister Sledge and singing ‘We Are Family’. An unbelievable but true story.
Outside the yellow arches
RF: [To Andy] Surely Kylie was a big one?
AC: Yeah, it was… in a bit of a weird way. But for me, it was when Arctic Monkeys got the record deal; they finally got the instruments they’d always wanted and it all turned up to the studios at once: Marshall stacks, Fender Squiers and whatever else. We were literally crying. It wasn’t the fame or gig or tour buses, it was them finally getting six strings on a guitar that works. You could see it on their faces, and it was a really endearing moment.
RF: There have been plenty of great gigs in the last year alone. But, for me, I’ll go back to that Adelphi Music Factory show, the first one, sold-out crowd, and as soon as the music started, I knew we’d made a good decision. Bodega, Your Demise… there have been plenty of special gigs.
SM: The Dream Wife gig last October was a special one. We’d booked that gig at the perfect time, and it was just a great show to be part of. The KOG shows back in February were great, too.
The Control Room
What was the game plan for getting Yellow Arch back up and running as a venue?
SM: Live music. Live music is the most essential part of this place.
RF: Yep. I do the majority of the programming, and we want to get it back to being a go-to place for live music, where over 50% of the events are gigs. We’ve been playing catchup in some respects due to covid restrictions, but the first music event we put on, Adelphi Music Factory in October ’21, was enough to convince us we’d made the right decision.
A venue is as strong as its community, not the booking agent or the artists. The closer a place is connected to the local community, the stronger that brand is – and that’s hugely important.
Over the years, eclectic offerings from Yorkshire-based DJs became a big part of the Yellow Arch experience.
But the clubnights and DJs are still a part of the offering?
RF: Yeah. For example, For the Record is still a free entry night with DJs. That’s the first weekend of the month, when Peddler Market is on, so it’s a way of taking advantage of our late license and giving people a late-night space to come in and enjoy ourselves. Planet Zogg are staying here, of course, and have been going for 20+ years themselves.
SM: We want to offer that to the community. When the other pubs or events in the area are closing around 11pm, there’s a spot just around the corner that’s free entry, decent prices and you know it’ll always be a good place to let your hair down. It’s the whole Yellow Arch package: the live music room, the courtyard area, the café/bar as more of a loungey space.
AC: A venue is as strong as its community, not the booking agent or the artists. The closer a place is connected to the local community, the stronger that brand is – and that’s hugely important.
Jam night at Yellow Arch. Pic: Mal Whichelow
How important are the small to medium-sized independent venues in a city in Sheffield?
RF: Massive. When I was going to and putting on gigs you’d get places like Plug, Frog & Parrot, Soyo Live on a Monday all consistently rammed – even during the week. There are a few places like Sidney & Matilda, Record Junkee and obviously Leadmill who are so important for the local scene. We’ve got a good network with these places and work alongside them with what we’re trying to offer.
Let’s talk about the 25th-anniversary celebrations. What can we expect?
RF: There’ll be a mixture of some of the artists who’ve been a big part of the live venue’s heritage. Otis Mensah is headlining the live side; he’s been playing since he first started out really. Cool Beans Collective will be coming back, and they’ve had many of their birthday parties and Christmas parties here. There’s also Rogue Siesta, who has played here countless times. The Beatles Dub Club project will also be performing, and our current live engineer Micky Nomimono will be opening the night. So, there’s a nice mix of past and present in there and we hope it will be a special night.
Hear, hear! And happy birthday, Yellow Arch! For more info on the venue’s 25th-Anniversary Special, head over to yellowarch.com/events.
