At 8pm this evening Leatherback will be delivering a live set via The Live Rooms‘ Facebook page. This performance is part of the #saveourvenues campaign. The Live Rooms is Chester’s largest music venue that has seen local artists in the first steps of their career grace the stage, along with worldwide renown musicians of all genres.

Check out the interview below with Matt of Leatherback talking about the live music scene and current changes we are all experiencing.

1) What do you enjoy most about performing live?

Probably getting the opportunity to meet people and share an experience with them, I’m pretty anti-social when it comes to day to day stuff, but I love kind of ‘losing it’ with a bunch of like-minded people. There’s a strong sense of catharsis I get when performing live that I don’t get anywhere else.

2) Do you have a favourite venue to perform at?

Hmm, it may be a little predictable but out of the venues I have played so far, I think I would have to say The Live Rooms. It’s my local venue, they seem to get what I’m trying to achieve every time I play there and they’re super nice people.

3) What is the reaction like from the crowd when you perform?

It tends to be a bit of a mixed bag, I’ll be the first to say that my live show isn’t to everyones taste, but the reactions I’ll get vary depending on the kind of venue I’m playing. Generally, you’ll have the people that start off kind’ve confused but then warm up to it, there’s people that really aren’t feeling it at all and would prefer I just left them alone and then there’s the people that get super in to it and just go nuts.

4) What do you think the future holds for live music? (big question I know!)

Haha, definitely is. Personally, I think live music isn’t going anywhere and it’ll always be around in one form or another BUT, I feel it’s likely that the way people access live music is going to change drastically. At the moment it looks like streaming is going to be the way forward but, who knows. From where I’m standing it seems as though daily life in general is about to be turned on its head.

But, it’s like Jeff Goldblum always says… ‘Life, er, finds a way’.

5) Do you think it will affect the metal scene?

I think so, it’s kind’ve hard to have a mosh pit when everyone is trying to keep 2 meters away from one another. But metal heads tend to be particularly passionate about music, especially live music. So maybe live music takes a hit for a little while, but when times are a more certain I’m confident we’ll see a return to some kind of normality in the metal scene.

6) Do you think streaming live has proved advantageous for musicians at this time?

Absolutely, it’s something that has been a possibility for a long time now but I’d never really considered it until the other options were taken away. Being able to give people the same show that I would from the stage to people in the comfort of their own homes has been a great way to keep in touch with the rest of the world and it helps remind people that all this great music being made by some great artists doesn’t stop because the world goes sideways for a bit.

Of course there’s elements of playing live that you miss out on when playing a stream, like being able to get in peoples faces, the sweat in your eyes and the ‘electricity’ in the air, but it’s a good enough substitute for now.