From Grassroots to Glory: 10 Years of This Feeling on the Isle

"This Feeling are the best in the business when it comes to finding new artists and propelling them upwards. It's a pleasure to support what they do, it's incredibly important that we support new music and the next generation of headliners here at the Isle of Wight Festival." 

John Giddings, Isle of Wight Festival

This Feeling’s epic 10th anniversary line-up!

The Isle of Wight Festival kicks off this Thursday, and with it, a 10-year anniversary of This Feeling’s now legendary stage at the event. This Feeling Supremo Mikey Jonns spoke this week of his delight at the achievement.

“I’ll never forget walking towards the This Feeling tent and just going ‘Wow,’” he recalls. “I still get that sense of awe, wonder and pride now.”

Having slogged it out on the grassroots circuit, giving rise to countless bands along the way, the stage is a pay-off for artist and promoter alike. Financially, festival slots traditionally result in a loss for the promoter, but culturally – and most crucially – spiritually, these appearances become an unquantifiable jewel in the crown of many an unsigned band. Quite simply, This Feeling’s work in the industry is priceless.

Opportunity Rocks

“The big thing about This Feeling – and the thing I am most proud about – is giving people a chance,” says Jonns. “Unless you have an agent of connected manager, it’s very difficult to play major festivals. Over the last 10 years, we’ve given well over 500 acts a major festival slot – with the vast majority of them having no agent.”

Band of the moment cutting their teeth on This Feeling’s stage

Jonns went on to speak of his pride at This Feeling’s biggest success to date. “Probably the biggest and best example is The K’s, who progressed from low down on our stage, to headlining it and then opening on the main stage, all without and agent. And just look at them now, they’re the huge band we believed very early on they could be.”

Anyone lucky enough to have seen them, would be hard pushed to dispute Jonns’ eye (and ear) for new talent as being up there with the best in the business. In retrospect, the roots of the now-beloved festival still carry a certain aura that resonates from its very first year. A celebration of new music, and a launchpad for its future stars, all packed into one unforgettable weekend.

“Incredible” is the word he uses to describe it. “We had Dave McCabe's new band and Jez and Andy Doves’ side project Black Rivers headlining, plus loads of great new bands including The Sherlocks, Slow Readers Club, Trampolene and Findlay, who all played their first ever festival.”

Believe in Music and Working Hard

When asked about the first band to ever take the stage, Jonns’ response is immediate. “Bully Bones, a band from Isle of Wight who are still going now. I think it's important there's support for local acts and the local scene.”

Mikey Jonns on Zone Island!

The local scene is everything to This Feeling. Giving bands a shot in their hometowns, helping them build real audiences before moving on to support slots and later headline tours may sound like a business model, but it is so much more than that. This Feeling is a public service.

He continues: “We’ve not changed in terms of how we work, and as long as I am in this industry, I won’t change. There’s no deals done, or shortcuts.” This Feeling’s founder went on to open up on the non-negotiables within his ethos. “I believe in music and working hard. Impress at your local grassroots music venue, keep releasing good tunes, keep grafting, and there’s a good probability we will give your band that all important chance...”

A Rare Launchpad for Young Dreamers

John Giddings, the Isle of Wight boss, deserves credit too. Bands on the This Feeling stage one year often graduate to the bigger festival stages the next. There is an unbreakable community spirit among the bands, writers, photographers, DJs, and PR people, all of whom recognise that the link from top to bottom in the industry is broken.

Front of stage, they’ll be in the first few rows singing. Backstage, there’s a family spirit (a boozy one, granted, but a fiercely loyal one. It’s created a place where rising bands and big names coexist as one.

“Bands like The K's, The Clause, The Kairos and The Lilacs – who are all playing the big stages at IOW now – make a beeline to This Feeling as soon as they've finished. I think that's great. They've not forgotten where they've come from, and where the zone is! Crouchy turning up was great, although he had to stand at the back!” Jonns laughs.

“Rick Witter, Jamie Webster, Blossoms – they've all popped in to see mates’ bands, or just come to hang out.”

Over a decade, and across multiple festivals, This Feeling has become the glue that holds the industry together. Fans, writers, bands, photographers, pluggers, PRs and labels alike. This Feeling is the unspoken bond that unites anyone who has ever uttered the words “this band should be bigger.” Thanks to This Feeling, we get to see it happen.

Interview with This Feeling's Mike Jonns

This Friday, grassroots promoters This Feeling take to Bridlington Spa for the second By The Sea festival. In an era of venues closing down, poor outcomes from streaming, and mainstream media barely interested in bands, This Feeling proves there is another way.

Spangled at 2023's festival. Image Credit: Dirty Rock Photography

Everyone featured last year, and this began in grassroots venues with This Feeling. All were given crucial exposure and chances to develop via their festival stages at Isle of Wight, Truck, Godney Gathering, and YNot. Stages that we can attest to attract big crowds.

Whilst This Feeling are promoters, they recognise that the industry has fragmented and bands need help connecting the dots. As such, they have helped all of this year’s line-up receive their first radio plays from crucial tastemakers such as John Kennedy (Radio X), Jericho Keys (BBC Introducing), Gary Crowley (BBC Radio London), and Jim Salveson (XS Manchester).

We sat down with This Feeling’s Mikey Jonns recently to discuss By The Sea and all things new music:

How does it feel to be back for a second year? Amazing, absolutely buzzing for it. Honestly, it's a dream come true. 

What were your highlights from 2023? Every act was amazing and the atmosphere was magical. To see so many people from all over the UK (the world!) enjoying themselves watching bands we've supported right from the start was probably the proudest I've ever been. 

The Lathums at 2023's festival. Image Credit: Dirty Rock Photography

With so many good bands gracing This Feeling stages across the UK, how tough has it been selecting the line-up? Very! There's so much quality out there but we feel we've nailed it and there's something for everyone this weekend. 

Having John Kennedy and Jericho Keys must be a huge bonus? Yeah, to get two of the biggest and best new music champions on board, plus Fenners who also falls into that category, it's the best cherry on top ever. They've been on a journey with us and most of the acts on the bill since the start, it all helps adds to the magic. Everything we do is real.

Breaking bands seems more challenging now than ever. Are this year's headliners, The Ks and Royston Club, a shining light for the acts you put on that the rock n roll dream can still be achieved? Absolutely. Both started their journey with us in tiny hometown venues, then grassroots tours and our festival stages. To see them doing so well and with so much more to come, we're buzzing for them, and they're showing what's possible and inspiring the next wave of guitar bands.

What advice would you give a band starting on day one today? If you're not prepared to work hard, go and do something else instead. 

What This Feeling gigs should we look out for this autumn/winter? Oh, we've got loads, including The K's, The Clause, The Crooks, The Lilacs, Rosellas, The Kairos, Megan Wyn, Tom A. Smith, Bride, plus there's still more to be announced. The future's bright, the future's at This Feeling! 

Click the image below for tickets to this year’s festival:

On The Cusp...Holy Youth Movement

In today’s climate, bands and artists blowing up overnight and storming the charts are dead. It is a brutal process, from getting local gigs to performing on the main stages of festivals. As such, there is a swelling of talent on the underground, poised to break through.

So, this week, we are picking five of our favourite artists on the cusp of said breakthrough.

Today, we focus on Holy Youth Movement. Born out of the ashes of the once formidable Shimmer Band, HYM hail from Bristol. They recently blitzed Truck Festival and have their sights set on Shiiine On this winter.

They have been working with the legendary producer Jagz Kooner (Primal Scream / Kasabian / Oasis) who is often found raving at their gigs. They have also collaborated with Primal Scream’s rock ‘n’ roll idol Andrew Innes on former single ‘Tranquilizer’.

To celebrate HYM, we take you back to our first live experience of the soon-to-be iconic band at the Social in London. Enjoy the live review but, most importantly, rejoice in Holy Youth Movement!

*banner image courtesy of Alan Wells.

HOLY YOUTH MOVEMENT

THE SOCIAL, LONDON, October 7th 2022

Bristol's Holy Youth Movement was second up on This Feeling’s Test Transmission night. They have been supporting headliners The Utopiates across the UK this past summer.

Image courtesy of Rocklands TV

In the 00s, many bands tried to bridge the gap between rock ‘n’ roll and breaks. Kasabian and Radio 4 got the closest, although, if we’re honest, neither married the two to a level the scene deserved.

Step forward Holy Youth Movement! A walking remix behemoth of a band!

Everything about them screams Kasabian debut, nu-school breaks, and 3am mayhem in nightclubs (remember them!). Previous singles ‘Information Is Beautiful’ and ‘Tranquilizer’ explode into the ether like a Serge Pizzorno wet dream. The former is blessed with the melodic yet destructive synths of Justice vs Simian alongside the beautiful volatility of the Primals ‘XTRMNTR’. It allows their message of humanity to come together, no matter the chaos.

‘Tranquilizer’ does what all post ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ Kasabian albums have attempted and failed. It delivers a post-apocalyptic rave that throbs and thunders to the soul. The guttural electronica of Underground meets the spirit of BRMC's ‘Whatever Happened to My Rock ‘n’ Roll’. It leaves the room feeling hollow afterwards. It looked your soul in the eye, licked it, fucked it, and left whistling, leaving you desperate for more.

It’s easy to see why the legendary Jagz Kooner hooked up with the band in the studio. Holy Youth Movement have tapped into the post-headliner twitching hours of Bestival and Secret Garden Party from 2005 to 2015. Their ability to splice in rock ‘n’ roll showmanship will take the band to another level.

No one knows what it is, but you know it when you see it. This was it.