The Black Sheep: Breaking The Mould
The Black Sheep is a small music venue nestled in the heart of the South Wales Valleys. In an area many consider to be devoid of any form of creativity, people like Erin Julian are breaking the mould. Starting as a rehearsal space, she has developed ‘The Sheep’, as it’s known to its regulars, in to one of the most attractive venues in the Welsh Music Scene. Tom Preece spoke to Erin for Yuck! Magazine Volume One...
Tell us about your beginnings...
The sheep began as a practice pad for bands of family and friends. We soon realised it would be really cool to put on gigs and open it up for the public to use as a creative space, this is still a work in progress but we encourage the community to use it as much as possible!
What do you do at present?
We have occasional gigs every few weeks where we invite local musicians and bands we love, to play at the venue. This will become more regular soon! The space is a practice pad during the week, hired by local bands and projects. Other events and activities that have taken place here involve craft classes, drama classes, a studio space for artists, yoga, meditation, jumble sales, well-being events, aromatherapy, green screening, and much more!
You’ve had some sick shows recently, CVC, Sock and obviously Boy Azooga with Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard. Are there any particular personal highlights?
We have absolutely loved every band that has come and played at The Sheep, and we’re lucky to be surrounded by such talent and creativity! They’ve all been fab and we couldn’t possibly pick any favourites for that reason. I love having different genres of bands that attract different crowds; I think that’s what I enjoy the most – seeing people of all ages come together because of music and having a great time.
What is it about ‘The Sheep’ that attracts top bands?
Aside from the Cwmcarn Hotel, The Patriot Club and Blackwood Miners Institute, there’s a lack of venues in the South Wales Valleys, especially in the Blackwood area, that have bands on that play original music, this must be the main reason for us attracting so many local bands. I suppose the space is quite unique compared to some other venues, due to the DIY laid-back atmosphere. I love how people that come here feel comfortable for this reason; many have described their experience at The Sheep as being like a gig in a living room – and that’s lovely!
Have you got anything exciting in the works, any shows coming up?
There are some really exiting projects in the works! There’s some album recording and music video making going on at the moment. We can’t wait to announce some future shows! But we must be hush-hush about this at the moment…
It seems as if ‘The Sheep’ is one big family of creatives/musicians, very much like the Cardiff music scene at the minute...
That’s how I would describe it, yes! We’re surrounded by so many creative minds and it’s amazing. It’s so nice to have a hub for all these people to come together and there should definitely be more of them!