You may have noticed more of a spotlight on Blackpool’s grassroots creativity lately. With a new Cultural Strategy on the brink of release, and an expanding town-wide lineup of gigs from musicians both emerging and established, the focus is certainly shifting onto the new music scene.
It only follows that a space to spontaneously explore and collaborate should emerge. Hot Saké – a musical collaboration between singer and guitarist Ryan Greaves (Rhy Grooves) and producer and multi-instrumentalist Liam Baugh – have been working with a rota of Blackpool musicians for the last year or so. Now they are bringing this spirit of collaboration to the stage, with their first jam nightis set to take place on Saturday 12 April at Bootleg Social. Catherine caught up with Rhy) to find out more.
How did the idea for a jam night come about?
Following conversations with other musicians, we’ve struggled to recall good jam nights based in Blackpool. This led to many people informally reaching out to me and (co-host) Liam Baugh, asking to come and jam with us. We thought that there were probably more people out there who would like to take part, so why don’t we open this up? If there’s a way we can bring all sorts of musicians together in the same room, that would be amazing. We approached Bootleg Social with the idea, they said ‘yes’ almost immediately, and within 24 hours the poster was made and it was announced. No messing around, just getting straight in there! So a big shout out to Bootleg really, because they’ve given up a Saturday night for us to do this.
We’re opening this up to all sorts of musicians: amateur, professional, everybody’s welcome. It’s not about making something perfect, we want to improvise and experiment. Liam and I will be there to help and guide and people can come up and do their thing. We’ve been trying to figure the night out and just see what works, if we can have everyone jamming together and then they go on to connect and start new bands, it just strengthens the music scene overall, which was always the goal with Hot Saké. We’ve been releasing music for well over a year and writing for two, so it just felt like the right time to make this community event happen. If everything goes well, then we’re going to try and make this happen on a quarterly basis.
Where did the name come from?
There’s this video on YouTube of people playing Japanese funk and soul and one of the songs on there was Hot Saké. It was like the standout track and I just fell in love with the name. It’s a cool name, and it’s interesting enough to get people thinking ‘what’s going on there?’
What would I expect if I rocked up on one of these nights? For example, if I have a bass guitar and I’ve not picked it up in years. I want to play, but I’m a little bit nervous. How does that work?
You’ll come down between 7pm and 8pm to register, then the session runs from 8pm to 10pm. After putting your name down along with what you play/want to do. We’ll ask about experience levels but that doesn’t matter too much as we’ll guide people in terms of keys and chord patterns etc. It’s important that we ‘show our working’ as we improvise and so that people can feel comfortable jumping in. If you haven’t played for a while or are very new to live performance and a little bit nervous, you can always just come along and feel it out, see how it works, then play at the next session. This is all about experimentation and connecting with other musicians, so you can do that at your own pace.
We’ll have a full drum kit ready to go, guitars, bass guitar, amps, so you don’t need to bring any specialty gear but we’d love to see people bringing their own instruments along, and that’s any kind of instrument.
You’ve mentioned ‘showing the working’, what you plan to do in order to make the whole process clearer?
As we improvise, I’ll have a microphone and will make something up on the spot, calling out some chord progressions so that everybody has a similar starting point. This will give everyone something to join in with. From there we can collectively paint a picture, making a unique piece of music or multiple unique pieces of music together live on stage. It’s just really exciting.
I think it’s important to show the working, because it allows people to go at their own pace. If you’re a beginner, you could be strumming a guitar or if you know all the scales, you could be ripping a ridiculous solo. It’s all valid, as long as people are performing together, that’s the ethos.
What’s the audience dynamic on the night?
The idea is to keep things relaxed, low lights, friendly atmosphere etc. We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen due to the improvised nature of it, but we see it very much as smooth, chilled-out, jazzy, low volume; not really a screaming rager! I mean, if people want to go all out, then cool, there are no strict no rules. We just want to have music lovers in the same room, discussing music, listening and playing music together.
There’s a marked difference between improvisation and creating on your own or in a small group in a private setting, compared with this big, collaborative, semi-public environment. What makes this special?
It’s the idea that there are no wrong answers with this. You could just come and play one note or play like a maestro, all the contributions are just as important as each other. I don’t want people to feel unsure of their skill level. I want you to be there, be present and be involved, you know? That’s the important bit, It’s giving people their first taste of live performance, or exploring a work in progress and figuring it out together. Something like that would be absolutely wonderful.
Bootleg really is the perfect place too. There aren’t many places where you can experience performance at an ambient level, have conversations and enjoy a night of music together.
Why do you think this hasn’t happened before in Blackpool?
I know there’ve been jam nights in Blackpool before, but we’re focusing on improvisation rather than covers. This just feels a little more exciting, you don’t really know what’s going to happen. There could be a variety of styles and influences, whatever we’re feeling in the moment.
Where did your interest in improv come from?
I’m self taught, I don’t know how to read music. I’m always asking Liam for numbers as opposed to letters. I kind of understand what goes where and have always loved picking up a guitar and just ‘doodling’, so I kind of fell into improvisation. I just know what sounds good to my ear.
A while back I was in Matt and Phred’s bar in Manchester and I put my name down to sing. I had my mind totally blown because I jumped up on stage with five or six random strangers and we all just connected through this awesome song, I just couldn’t quite believe what was happening. I was at the front singing and looking out into this room full of people, tucking into their pizzas and cocktails, all having an absolutely amazing time. It made me think that we could do something like this at home. If we can attract the right people to it we can really make something special happen here.
What do you think this will add to the local music scene?
There are plenty of local acts out there and it’s great that some venues are giving them opportunities. I want visitors to come to town and be blown away by our local musicians, and nurturing a culture of opportunity is necessary for that. The talent in this town is insane, I know this for a fact. I’ve met so many absolutely incredible musicians, the creativity and technical prowess is breathtaking.
We’ve got what it takes to really deliver a fine product, because even though we are keen to support our local musicians, it’s not just for us. We have this huge tourist led economy and I want people to come back to the seaside and say ‘shit, these guys are not messing around!’. We want to push forward people that are excelling in their craft and showcase what they’re all about.
Finally, what’s your kazoo policy?
Yes!
Hot Saké jam night, 7pm – 10pm on Saturday 12 April 2025 at Bootleg Social, 30 Topping St, Blackpool FY1 3AQ.
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