Notts’ own singer songwriter Callum Burrows, AKA Saint Raymond, is back headlining Rock City this Saturday 6 November with support from DECO and CJ Pandit. We catch up with him all about it...
Excited to play once again in your hometown?
Yeah it's been a very long time. I genuinely can’t remember how many years it's been, so it's a bit surreal - and it's the first one of the tour so I'm looking forward to it. I’m a bit nervous, a bit apprehensive, a bit of everything, but it should be good.
What does Rock City as a venue mean to you?
It's probably my favourite, definitely top two or three, just because I grew up going there. There's so much sentiment and personal memories there, it will be a special one. Being a hometown one adds to it all really.
Do you feel nervous?
Yeah, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. Definitely because it's been so long. When you’re touring you get into the flow of it, little things like remembering lyrics, you find yourself on Google, Googling the lyrics to songs you wrote because it's been so long. So yeah, there's definitely a sense of nerves with it all.
How have you spent your time off from gigging?
A mixture really. I guess at first, when everyone got thrown into lockdown, I was off the back of a lot of recording so I just took the time to watch a load of Netflix really. But the past six months I’ve been doing a lot of writing, not just for me but for other artists. I've really enjoyed that side of it, but it’s nice to jump back into the Saint Raymond world. I’m looking forward to it.
What's your set-up like?
So it's me and three other guys that come and join me live. My drummer’s been with me for near enough ten years now, and my guitarist, the last time I played Rock City he played guitar for me, so it’s a little bit of a reunion for us all. There’s a lot of sentimental value in this gig.
The first ever headline show at Rock City was just a really stand-out moment for me as I’ve grown up going there
You have played some really great gigs. What has been the highlight so far?
I’m not just saying this, but the first ever headline show at Rock City was just a really stand-out moment for me as I’ve grown up going there, to get to play that. But the Ed (Sheeran) tour, that was playing venues that were once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, the arenas across Europe and the O2 in London. That whole tour was crazy, it would be hard to singularly point out one from that. But in terms of shows, the Nottingham Rock City headline and maybe even the Dot to Dot headline were really special.
What have been your favourite things about the Nottingham music scene?
There’s a few things. The scene feels very supportive of each other, growing up there were always opportunities to open up for artists, and I felt like everyone had each other's back in that way. A lot of places don't have that many venues and I think it's helpful that there are so many different ones in Nottingham. I think growing up and getting to be first on at Rescue Rooms for a band or first on at Bodega and just learning, it always felt like a really supportive scene. There was no snobbery and no one turning their nose up at anyone, everyone just got along.
What’s coming next for you?
I’m completely all in on this tour. No pressure on myself really, just been doing tons of writing and working on projects for other people as well, which has been fun and broadened my horizons.
Saint Raymond plays Rock City on Saturday 6 November and you can get tickets here
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