SPRING | FEATURE
The Roundhouse is not only one of London ’ s busiest and best loved music venues but also a hugely valued hub for emerging creative talent . AAA talks to head of events Rhiân Pressley ahead of the unveiling of new creative centre Roundhouse Works
Words : Christopher Barrett
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ince the Roundhouse was converted from a steam train turning facility to a concert venue more than half a century ago , the building has not only seen performances by many icons of popular music including The Clash , The Ramones , Jimi Hendrix and The Doors , it has also provided an important springboard for entertainment industry newcomers .
Among the key 2022 events at the 3,500-capacity Chalk Farm venue was the return of emerging talent festival Roundhouse Rising , which took place on 4-8 October with curator partners VICE , BBC Music Introducing , multivenue festival RISEN , and shesaid . so . The long-running annual event has helped many acts on the road to success , staging early performances from artists including Little Simz , Jacob Banks , Greentea Peng , Kojey Radical and KOKOROKO .
The opening of new creative centre Roundhouse Works this spring will be the latest major initiative from the Roundhouse Trust , which aims to help young people get a foothold in the creative industries . It will include three large rehearsal spaces for theatre makers , musicians , film makers , circus and performance artists . It will also house a dedicated podcast studio . Alongside Roundhouse Studios , Roundhouse Works will double the capacity of the current site to support 15,000 young
Interpol perform at the Roundhouse
people . Says Pressley , “ It is going to have a doubleheight theatre space and will be suitable for circus work but it ’ s largely a creative space supporting 11-30-yearolds in the creative industries . We currently have around 7,000 young people that come through our doors , and with the introduction of Roundhouse Works we ’ re hoping to double this in the next three years .”
Among the other major changes to take place this year at the Grade II listed venue will be the unveiling of an upgraded backstage area , with the venue ’ s dressing rooms , back-of-house production offices and tech facilities currently undergoing refurbishment .
“ It ’ s a full back-of-house revamp that will mean the building will be able to continue working 300 days out of 365 ; which is a pretty tough ask ,” says Pressley .
Making up a substantial part of the Roundhouse ’ s events calendar are
Rhiân Pressley gigs , with around 120 staged per year . Pressley says it also hosts around 80 commercial events annually , along with a similar number of performing arts shows that include everything from spoken word to theatre .
Despite the ubiquitous media gloom around escalating prices and a looming recession , Pressley says the Roundhouse team is confident this year will shape up to be another strong one in terms of ticket sales and show numbers .
She says , “ We set very ambitious targets in 2022 and have done extremely well . The building has been busy and is set to continue to be busy in 2023 . Having seen our way through a couple of recessions already we ’ ve no major concerns that it is going to have a huge impact .
“ We tend to see that when people plan to have a big night out , they commit to the spend . They might not go out as often but when they do , they go out with a bang .”
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