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Third Kind DIY are a promotion company like no other. For starters it is run by a collective of friends, who are all musicians involved in the Merseyside DIY punk community, without any backing from the suits in the music business.
We spoke to Tom Massey, a 23-year-old musician, who helps run the collective. Tom doesn’t have any lofty aims of making a quick buck from whatever is trendy and profitable.
Instead, they want to foster a supportive and tight knit community of passionate people who truly care about the music and putting the punk ethos above all else.
What sets Third Kind DIY apart from other promotion companies is the fact it sticks to the anti-capitalist roots of Punk and Hardcore. All gigs are held at the local Pilgrim pub and are £5, so people can afford it, in a time when concert prices are rising steadily.
All the profits are shared equally amongst the bands performing. Tom believes if you get into putting gigs for the sole reason of making a profit then you are in it for the wrong reasons.
With a background in live sound, Tom got their start going to a gig at the sadly closed down punk venue “The Old Townhouse” in their hometown of Warrington. But the venue gave Tom the chance to start doing sound at their gigs, when they were aged 15.
The friendliness, support, and lack of egos from the DIY community stuck with Tom and since then they have done everything related to their music completely independent, including self-booking a U.S tour at 18 with their old bedroom pop project, “Ghostbusters VHS”.
Tom self-releases all their projects, which are often just them and their friends making the kind of music they want to hear. Tom’s projects are very diverse sonically and include the melancholic emo/post hardcore band “Lorelai, the frantic and chaotic screamo of “Prise” and the straightforward in your face urgent attack of hardcore punk band Inflicter (made up of members of their frequent collaborators and best friends Muddle).
Third Kind’s first event in November was an unexpected sell out featuring local hardcore and emo bands, Muddle, Lorelai, Fead, Step Beyond and XSharperthaneverX and since then have only gone from strength to strength.
An unexpected kinship has formed with Third Kind and some Scottish bands, they brought Bleaks from Glasgow and Wreaking Joy from Dundee down to the Northwest.
This friendship came about after Tom’s band Inflicter played Dundee and met likeminded promoters Daisy Chain and Guideline, who make their gigs super inclusive for everyone, truly care about hardcore and go against the macho bullshit that can sadly plague the scene.
The Next Third Kind Diy gig takes place on the February, 17th, at the Pilgrim and features a stacked bill of Emo and Post Hardcore headlined by local Midwest Emo legends Muddle. The stellar lineup includes Knives Chau Fan Club from Dundee, Collapse, Tom’s own Lorelai and Post Hardcore new bloods Big Problem.
If you want to see some of the best in new emo, get yourself down, tickets can be purchased from the Third Kind DIY big cartel.