Prankster Club

The promotions outfit running for one event under the name Pimp Mama J's Teenage Whorehouse and then as Prankster Club promoted six showcase events last year (2007) for 14 or 16 plus audiences. We promoted Bono Must Die (RIP) at the 600 capacity version of the University of London Union in London in February 2007 to about 400 people for a showcase of young unsigned Camden bands. In the Autumn we promoted five events, starting in September with the headline act Ox Eagle Lion Man at Nambucca, to about 130 people, and following on with The Alones at the Watershed, in October, to about 130 people, Winterkids at Barfly Camden, to about the same, in November, and The Electric Soft Parade at ULU, to about 200 plus in all, and Twisted Charm at Barfly in Camden, also to about 130 people. Bono Must Die (RIP) was certainly our most successful gig, while the Barfly events also went down pretty well too. Our Electric Soft Parade gig with Paul Steel was a money losing venture, despite very heavy and expensive advertising in NME, but it worked well as a creative event and no doubt Paul Steel will sell a good few records. Fascination Records' financial support undoubtedly kept the event afloat. The events were all planned to give some good gigs to our favourite unsigned bands, including Pokerfaced and The Clubs from South London, Joe Fox, The Supernovas from Archway, The Weapons, Girls Cant Dance and One Trick Band, and to our favourite new DJs, Stressed Panda and DJ Tall Order. Unfortunately the least financially successful gigs, meaning mainly Ox Eagle Lion Man and The Electric Soft Parade, where costs escalated out of control, resulted in a massive lack of liquidity and Prankster had to stop promoting almost as quickly as it started in order to refinance. It can claim to have at least helped in knocking our main youth competitor out of London, but in doing so we pretty much collapsed ourselves. We think we paid agents overly generous fees for headline acts in order to get a signed band of sorts to headline our shows at very short notice, and venues charged a heavy surcharge in order to allow under 18s in the venue. With a wider network of teenagers supporting us we may have survived but we pretty much tried to cut into the scene from the outside, seeing as my rave years were from 88 to about 98. We want to offer our professional expertise so as to deal with agents and venues on behalf of young bands working outside the main indie music companies but essentially the agents and bookers are charging too heavy fees to make it worthwhile and the market is too saturated anyway. We have gone back to our core businesses and interests but we do keep an eye on whats happening. We of course are always on the look out for funding in the course of carrying out our other interests. We do occasionally meet major music industry figures and stars so the future is never cast in stone.