What started as a different take on the pub open mic has grown into a Sheffield music community, bringing together everyone form teenage bands, to retired guitarists and singers rediscovering their voices. Ahead of Under the Wire’s first birthday bash at Church House on 25 October, we caught up with founder Dan Millson.
There’ll be a fair few years between the youngest and oldest performers at Under the Wire’s first anniversary celebration. Some are still teenagers, others are picking up instruments in retirement. By the end of the night, there’s a good chance they’ll be sharing a stage.
Taking over Church House on 25 October, the free event will celebrate a year of musical matchmaking, new friendships and Wednesday nights that regularly end with a pub full of people playing together. Doors open at 2.30pm, with live music from 3pm until around 11pm, taking in solo performers, bands and a suitably communal jam to finish.
For founder Dan Millson, it’s an opportunity to show what’s grown out of the weekly sessions at Porter Cottage – and hopefully welcome a few more people into the fold.
I’d love to get everybody involved – musicians, anybody who likes live music, people who may be a bit lonely and don’t know what to do on a Wednesday, or who are a bit afraid of going to a regular open mic,” he says. “Not only for the actual anniversary.”
The whole thing began when Porter Cottage’s owner asked Dan whether he fancied taking over its open mic. A working musician who’d hosted similar nights when he was younger, he wasn’t immediately sold. If he was going to do it again, he wanted to change a few things.
“Instead of calling it Dan Millson’s open mic or something like that, like a lot of people do, let’s make it more about community,” he explains. “Make it a bit more about the people that come.”
His solution was simple: one song per artist, then round again. Rather than playing a short set and disappearing, everyone gets their turn throughout the evening, usually performing two or three songs across the night.
That also leaves room to mix things up. A singer might find themselves paired with a guitarist they’ve never met, while a drummer or bassist can turn up without needing to bring an entire band. Dan makes the introductions and sees what happens.
“People start to jam, and that’s why it has become a community thing.”
The Wednesday sessions start at 8pm, with the individual performances gradually giving way to something more collective. The night before our chat, around 12 people had ended up onstage together.
Those connections have since travelled beyond the pub. Under the Wire has taken groups of performers to Sheffield Food Festival and Leopold Square, giving regulars the chance to play to different crowds. At the food festival, an hour on the main stage brought together several singers, guitarists and drummers; another Leopold Square event gave a dozen or more acoustic artists a slot.
“It’s more about actually becoming a bit better and getting more exposure,” says Dan.
Some of the biggest successes, though, have been quieter ones. Take Stefano, who you might recognise from Caffè Tucci – although describing him as one of the quieter ones might be a stretch! He used to sing in a reggae band in Naples, but after moving to England, opening the coffee shop and settling into family life, music gradually slipped out of the picture. After hearing him sing at Cubana, Dan encouraged him to come down to Under the Wire.
Now he’s performing again, trying other jam sessions and making room for something he’d missed.
“I think he’s become a bit more free again,” says Dan. “Sometimes life does get in the way, and we forget that we have our own hobbies.”
Then there’s Alexandra Wilde, who took up guitar later in life and began writing songs following the death of her partner. The pair had shared a love of live music, and songwriting became a way of expressing that connection. She’ll be among those performing at the anniversary event.
“She’s such a bubbly person, and she’s always really happy to be there,” Dan says. “They didn’t know each other a year ago, and now they’re like mates that go out for drinks.”
Elsewhere, musicians who met through the sessions have started rehearsing together outside Wednesday nights. An American newcomer to Sheffield, who moved here with his wife and child, has found both a social circle and an opportunity to get involved with sound engineering at Porter Cottage.
For Dan, those friendships matter as much as anything happening onstage.
“I think it’s great to see how people that maybe are not as sociable are coming out of their shells,” he says. “A pub is not only about going and having a drink. I think what a pub is all about is to go and have a chat with people.”
His own route to Sheffield involved a fresh start, too. Brought up in Spain, Dan has an Italian dad from Sheffield and a mum from Wigan. His grandfather moved here at 18 and still lives in Millhouses.
Dan had built his music career in Spain, including time in Madrid, a record deal and touring. But frustrations with the industry, particularly the difficulties of being a Spanish-based artist singing in English, left him ready for a change. He was also missing a bit of greenery.
“Every time I came to Sheffield to see my family, I just felt so at home,” he says. “And I thought, ‘Fuck it, just move to Sheffield. Go for it.’”
Two and a half years later, he’s firmly settled, describing his adopted home as “a city with a village mentality” – very much intended as a compliment.
That feeling of everyone knowing someone has helped Under the Wire grow, although Dan is quick to spread the credit.
“I always say I planted a seed, but they water the plant,” he says. “I’m the face. I’m the host, but they make it what it is.”
Church House felt like a natural place to take the birthday celebrations: another independently run venue with live music and jam sessions already part of its identity. The anniversary bill will bring together the different ages and experiences found on a typical Wednesday, with younger bands sharing the programme with performers who’ve discovered music later in life.
Beyond the party, Dan is starting to develop a booking side to Under the Wire, connecting musicians with venues looking to put on live music. He’s already arranging gigs for a restaurant on Ecclesall Road and wants to build that work carefully, drawing on his experience on both sides of the relationship.
“I’m proud of it because it’s giving jobs to musicians,” he says.
He’d also like to involve more photographers, filmmakers and visual artists in the community. But however far it branches out, Wednesday nights at Porter Cottage remain the starting point.
“I think that’s where it started, and that’s where it should stay,” he says. “It’ll be the home of Under the Wire.”
Under the Wire’s first anniversary celebration takes place at Church House on 25 October. Doors open at 2.30pm, with live music from 3pm until around 11pm. Entry is free. Weekly sessions take place at Porter Cottage on Wednesdays from 8pm. @underthewireuk.
