Welcome to Fleckies, where we highlight the venues and creatives shaping local culture.
Sometimes the people making the biggest impact on a scene aren’t necessarily the loudest voices in it. They’re the ones asking different questions. The ones wondering how music can bring people together, how events can become communities, and how creativity can sit alongside kindness instead of competition. That was my
This weekend the UK’s biggest music festival won’t be happening in a field. It’ll be happening on your local high street. From 26th-28th June, more than 400 grassroots music venues will come together for Everywhere At Once, a nationwide celebration of live music led by Music Venue Trust and powered
There’s something quietly comforting about artists who don’t try to force certainty before they’re ready. Beth Eliza feels like one of those people. Her music carries the kind of honesty that can’t really be manufactured – thoughtful, emotional songs that feel lived-in rather than polished for the sake of it.
Some artists ride waves. Others quietly become part of the tide itself, shaping the movement without ever needing to shout about it. Soul Avengerz, made up of Paul Gardner and Wayne O’Connell, are a reminder of what happens when you stay true to your sound and trust the process over
Some people move through music. Others take the time to sit with it, to really understand what it’s saying and why it matters. Karim Bitar feels firmly in the latter. From the moment I met him – briefly, across a dinner table before a Buttah event – there was an
There are some people in music who don’t just exist within it, they actively reshape how it feels to be part of it. MINA (aka Hannah) is one of those people. Not just through the music she creates, but through the spaces she builds and the opportunities she opens up
Some bands feel like they’re chasing something. Others feel like they’ve already found it, even if they’re still figuring out what it looks like. Luna Rosa sit somewhere in that second space – grounded, instinctive, and quietly confident in what they’re building. When I first came across them through my
Some conversations take their time. This one has quietly been in the works for a couple of years. Andy – better known behind the decks as Andizz – and I first spoke about doing this interview not long after Fleckies launched in 2024. Life moved, questions were drafted towards the
There’s something refreshing about a band deciding not to wait around for opportunity and instead creating it themselves. That’s exactly the spirit behind A New Forever Fest, an ambitious all-day music event coming to The Steel Bar in Corby on Saturday 20th June 2026, built around the debut album release
