On a cozy summer evening in the Shakespeare’s beer garden, Exposed’s Sean Johnson sat down with James Watkins, figurehead of Jarred Up, a renowned music promotions organisation based in Sheffield, to talk Tramlines Fringe frenzies, hosting punk gigs in back-gardens and what the future holds…
Jarred Up have taken the Sheffield live music scene by storm. They are at the centre of local gigs in the city, providing a platform for emerging bands to perform at a multitude of venues. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what you should expect to hear or see from one of their lineups, because each gig offers a unique, thrilling experience.
“I like to book artists that are off-centre, not anything too poppy or mainstream. It’s not that I don’t listen to mainstream music, but I want to put on acts with a bit of edge, a bit left-field,” says Jarred Up founder James Watkins.
Django Jones and the Mystery Men at Shakespeare’s. Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
‘Off-centre’ certainly seems an appropriate account of the most recent Jarred Up gigs, particularly their Tramlines Fringe weekend shows, where an array of exhilarating underground bands performed under the Jarred Up banner at both The Washington and Shakespeares.
Attending a Jarred Up show feels like being part of a movement, a creative vessel showcasing some of Sheffield’s best underground live music acts. The nights range from volcanically charged punk gigs to astutely cool acoustic nights and even eccentric yard parties.
As the drummer for popular Sheffield punk band Blackwaters, renowned for their raucous DIY shows, James is no stranger to live music. However, his first venture into events promotion dates back to his adolescent years, when he hosted a series of outrageous parties in South London.
Minds Idle and Nervous Pills. Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
“Way, way back, before Blackwaters or Jarred Up, I use to put on events at Tooting and Mitcham FC in South London, which my mum runs.”
“There was this 200-capacity function room inside the stadium, and she let me have a party there and invite loads of mates, who then invited loads of their mates. I hired out a bouncer and everything, it was mad!”
Despite the intensity of these events, they laid the foundations for James’ venture into live music promotions.
“Afterwards, I was just doing Blackwaters. We formed and soon got on a big management company, who were saying that we were gonna be the next Libertines, who were under the same management as us.”
Femur at Yellow Arch. Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
“We were doing really well and we got all these mad support slots, tours, streams, all that kinda stuff.”
“What I was doing before, in relation to Jarred Up, kinda makes sense because I’m in a band and I’ve played a lot of shows with promoters. I’ve seen both sides of the coin. The experience of playing in a band enabled me to run successful events as a promoter.”
In fact, it was during a Blackwaters recording session in Grenada with Youth from Killing Joke that the foundations were first laid.
Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
“Back where I’m from in London, he’s involved with an arts space called South London Arts Lab.”
“It’s kinda weird to explain what an arts lab really is. It can be anything you want it to be. It’s a collective of creatives, doing a load of different stuff: jam sessions, DJ sets, gigs, radio shows, etc.”
After hearing about the arts lab, Max Tanner, front man for Blackwaters, suggested that the band start a similar project up in Sheffield, where they had recently relocated.
In 2018, Jarred Up Arts Lab, named after the Blackwater’s song ‘Jarred Up Generation’, hosted a series of notorious DIY gigs in their back garden.
Flat Stanley at Shakespeare’s. Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
“We got the idea from Jon McClure, from Reverend and the Makers. Reverend were on our management and we wrote a lot of songs with Jon. Jon’s quite a pun- minded guy and he basically said to us, ‘Do a fucking party in your back garden!”
The manic nature of these yard shows, where the booze flowed as freely as the stream of crowdsurfing bodies making their way from the living room into a garden mosh pit, helped establish Jarred Up as pioneers of mayhem in the city.
To this day, some of the featured artists at the early yard gigs, such as Nervous Pills, Django Jones and the Mystery Men, Calva Louise and The Dronny Bottom Buskers continue to perform on Jarred Up lineups.
Django jones and the Mystery Men’s Will Tomlinson at Shakespeare’s. Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
From that point onwards, James realised the potential he had to host gigs in Sheffield, a city which he describes as having “a ridiculous number of bands compared to the amount of people living in the city”.
It was during the pandemic when he started to develop Jarred Up Arts Lab into a fully-fledged music promotions company.
“It was my mum who suggested that instead of trying to start a million new hobbies, why not progress something that you’ve already got going?”
As lockdown restrictions started to ease, James felt that it was necessary to ensure that Jarred Up was firmly present in the minds of gig-goers upon the return of live music. After a successful all-Sheffield Tramlines Fringe lineup at Shakespeares in 2021, including Femur, Floodhounds and Richard Carlson Band, James set his sights on organising a monthly gig night to take place at The Washington.
Femur’s Felix Renshaw. Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
“What I noticed about The Washy was that it’s like a creative ecosystem within Sheffield. It seems like, right, all this lot are here, that lot are there, everyone’s involved in art, or bands or DJing; they all know each other and don’t have a problem with each other, but they’re all in their own crews and don’t really interact.”
“I thought, I’m gonna put a show on with this lot from here, with that lot from there, and then everyone’s crews will come to the same show. Nobody’s too cool for school; we’re all on the same page.”
“I 100 percent think that there’s a strong sense of community in Sheffield and as a promoter here, you don’t necessarily have to have lots of money, or have loads of people working underneath you – you can be successful with it on your ones.”
Mickey Nomimono at Sheakespeare’s. Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
The Washington provided the platform for James to book bands with little financial risk, propelling Jarred Up as a focal force within the Sheffield live music scene. The gigs progressively got busier, better and bumpier, and Jarred Up have since gone on to host shows at other Sheffield venues, including Yellow Arch Studios and Sidney and Matilda.
Tramlines 2023 was anything but quiet for Jarred Up, as they took over The Washington on the Friday and Shakespeares on the Saturday. The latter once again featured an all-Sheffield lineup, with a range of acts, including experimental melody makers Ye Woodbeast, the sonically-fuelled Flat Stanley and poetic pop posse Minds Idle, before closing with a hard-hitting, tremulous punk trio.
Femur at Yellow Arch. Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
“I always try and finish with a bang; Mickey Nomimono, Drastic//Automatic and Nervous Pills were on last. It was sick.”
In addition to the frequent gig nights, Jarred Up also run a weekly open mic night at Picture House Social, a culture magazine called Jarred Up Mag and a record label, Jarred Up Records, which aims to provide a platform for bands to reach new audiences.
First to sign to the label were Nervous Pills, with the ferocious noise revellers Femur soon following. More recently, Minds Idle and Leeds band Yutaniii have joined the roster, with more soon to follow.
Femur’s Felix Renshaw at Yellow Arch. Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)Photo credit: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
James has high hopes for Jarred Up’s forthcoming projects, particularly after their hugely successful Tramlines Fringe weekender and the announcement of various established out-of-town acts performing under the platform, The goal is to further broaden the platform’s scope, with even more gigs, as well as a Jarred Up festival, set to take place in 2024.
“The label came from my experience being under management with Blackwaters. It gave me an insight into labels and how music releases work.
“There were a lot of bands in Sheffield who were friends of ours, whose music we really liked. We wanted to give them a bit of guidance.
“We’re not these big industry players or anything, we just had a bit of insider knowledge of working with music labels and we wanted to put bands that we liked in environments or conversations that they might not have been a part of before.”
Look out for Jarred Up’s upcoming shows at @jarreduphq
SEPTEMBER
14th- Yaswadah- The Washington
19th-Minds Idle- Yellow Arch Studios
20th- Flip Top Head- The Washington
21st- System Exclusive- Sidney & Matilda
22nd- Django Jones & The Mystery Men- The Washington
26th- Floral Image- The Washington
28th- Yusuf Yellow- Yellow Arch Studios
29th- Drastic\Automatic- Shakespeare’s
OCTOBER
5th- The Psychotic Monks- Sidney & Matilda
7th- An Evening With Honeyblood- Sidney & Matilda
11th- Brown Horse- The Washington
12th- Dreamwave- The Washington
13th- Nervous Pills- Delicious Clam
19th- The DSM IV- Shakespeare’s
24th- Nothingheads + My Fat Pony- The Washington
26th- Karma Sheen- The Washington
28th- A Nightmare on Burton Street feat. Femur, Ed Edd and Eddy, Any Old Iron, Ahmed and The Romans, Ye Woodbeast, Twin Siblings- Yellow Arch Studios
NOVEMBER
6th- Japanese Television- Yellow Arch Studios
8th- Wax Head- The Washington
9th- Yutaniii + Dim Imagery
11th- SUPER SECRET HOUSE PARTY SHH
16th- Seas Of Mirth- Sidney & Matilda
DECEMBER
21st- Jarred Up Xmas Party
