History of Scottish Music Centre update

In terms of a plan and knowing what I’m going to be working towards I think things have gone well. There has been a great response though it is quite skewed to the punk and post-punk eras which is understandable as it really was a very vibrant time for music in Scotland. Everything since then I can cover from my own experience especially the 80s and 90s indie scene which coincides with the start of Avalanche and I’ll just need to search out more of the old Potterrow crowd and the bands of the time many of whom still keep in touch so it won’t be too much of an effort. Mike who runs the Scottish post-punk sites has been helping out and has some valuable contacts to help with the pre-punk times.

Finance is going to be the next thing and I’m trying to at least find the resources to give me six months or so before hopefully a launch around March. I should have a far better idea in the next month but the centre’s focus will always be skewed towards information and exhibition rather than sales so funding is essential. There has been a very limited response with offers of sponsorship and other financial help which is not a great surprise as these are things that really have to be chased up and a big thank you to those who have been in touch. I haven’t drawn a complete blank and potentially could have some good news. A lot of people talk about “reach” when it comes to funding and there obviously Avalanche’s worldwide reach is a help along with the undoubted interest in Scottish music but it would probably be a help if a lot of people signed up to donate a small amount of money each month for instance. Sometimes the number of people is as important as the funds raised. This is all new to me but I’m getting there slowly. Having said all this surely there must be a few older folk out there who have a few bob and could help make this happen. 

There have been a lot of suggestions as to how we could raise funds especially to get things off the ground from putting on some high profile gigs to asking bands and labels for interesting items that could be auctioned. Bands could also possibly donate unreleased songs or exclusive images but for now I will attempt to get the basics in place and then maybe we will do all those things !