In conversation with Alex Fitzpatrick of Holy Roar records

I've been volunteering at a new project called Home of Metal. I've always been interested in understanding the relationship between specific space and the music which is cultivated from within that. HoM is an investigation into Birmingham as a city and the range of huge bands who have grown from out of it. This is a small conversation i had with Alex Fitzpatrick, runner of Holy Roar records who spent a time of his life promoting shows in this city

How distinctive and connected do you think the contemporary scene is in Birmingham? For someone who has recently moved here it seems that there is a thriving scene for outside bands but on a local level maybe something a little more disperate?
Birmingham has always felt like a weird contradiction to me. On the one hand it has a great infrastructure of venues and spaces, supported and used by huge touring bands/promoters and by organsations that are much more in tune with the local 'scene' such as Capsule. Obviously Birmingham and the surrounding area has thrown up some great bands in its time too - but the last heavy band that broke through was Napalm Death or something unless i'm missing something. Mistress made a small go of it I guess.....but I always noticed amongst local artists an apathy, a sort of 'whats the point?' attitude and it was hugely insular, with bands not seeming interested to get out of the local area despite possessing immense talent.


Is the blueprint of holy roar records one which would work in another city or is there something about that London scene which is so unique?
I think Holy Roar could work anywhere now. We have worked with bands from America, Wales, the West Midlands, Scotland, Cornwall - everywhere! Maybe London has influenced me subconsciously though - i've never actually explicitly thought about it really. But alot of people seem to have a strong drive here, there is a huge artistic scene here - it does inspire me to do better and work harder when I meet other people releasing records, taking photos, doing bands etc - I realise that can be the same in any city, but with the media industry being concentrated here its easy to be around alot of creative, productive people I guess.

How relevant were bands like napalm death, terroriser, bolt thrower or earache records bands in your music with cutting pink with knives?
Hugely. I'm not really the prime person to ask as Eddy wrote 99% of it. But I know he was a huge Napalm Death/Terrorizer fan. And, if i'm honest - i've only just recently got into Bolt Thrower! But yeah we always wanted to have elements of that raw, trebly harshness that is not heard anywhere near enough these days.

How much of role do these bands play in the Birmingham scene today, is there a clear heritage?
I'm a bit out of touch really - but the last band i saw from Birmingham influenced by that stuff was Mistress, whose first couple of albums were fucking awesome. I have no idea if there is a scene in Birmingham now of good bands? There seems to be a few hardcore bands or hardcore shows - but even that is pretty under the radar.

Would you agree that many of the bands which have derived out of Birmingham/Midlands (Sabbath, Napalm Death, Motorhead) have an amazing physicality and presence, why do you think this is?
Yeah certainly! There is a really strong tone of defiance with Birmingham/Midlands bands who have been successful - its fucking great! I've always enjoyed the sort of 'fuck off, take us or leave us' attitude that comes from alot of bands from the area. I have no idea why that is - I dont consider it a deprived area or anything these days....not too much anyway. I think its a clan mentality or something, in the best possible way.

Whats next for Holy Roar, anything especially exciting in the pipeline?
We have a presence across a bunch of festivals via our bands or affiliated bands - Hevy, Offset (we are sponsoring a stage), Reading&Leeds, Sonisphere, Truck, The Great Escape and others - which is great and we have ALOT of releases planned or coming up -i'm pleased our productivity seems to keep improving.

How is running an independent in the current economic climate?
Its been hard, there has been problems such as distributors, shops and manufacturers going out of business - but I believe we are out of the worst of it and that the music industry is finally starting to move forward a bit more positively.