illustration: Pete Spenceley
2000 - A man named Will Robinson moves from Watford to Mansfield and everyone thinks he's from London. He's not.
2004 - Will starts travelling to Nottingham and hanging out with his sister’s friends, Punish the Atom, and becomes their non-sex groupie. He meets their label Gentle Electric, their manager Anton Lockwood, more bands, and is introduced to the DIY gig scene.
After a severe kicking by a gang of youths in a Mansfield park, Will opts to move to Nottingham and lives in JC Decaux's Rafe's bedsit. Rafe’s band mate suggests he take a job at See Tickets. The only people Will now knows in Nottingham are musicians, and he now has access to free telephone calls.
September 2005 - Anton gives Will his first gig in the Red Room at Rescue Rooms. Will puts on the bands he works with at See and it sells out.
A Blackpool nightclub owner rings See. He asks to speak to the head of promotions. There is no such position. Will says that he is the head of promotions. He calls back wanting a ticket for up and coming Sheffield band, The Arctic Monkeys. It’s sold out but Will's friend sorts him out. Will bags two gig dates at Blackpool’s Beat nightclub.
Royal Gala
October 2005 - Will puts on two gigs in Blackpool called I’m Not From London featuring Amusement Parks On Fire, Plans and Apologies, Drive By Argument, The Sound Of The Superstring, Punish The Atom, Curtis Eller and The Hellset Orchestra. The punters enjoy the nights, the venue enjoys the punters, and the bands enjoy the gigs. Will promotes gigs in Blackpool to this day.
March 2006 - Will checks out Blueprint to hold a bigger night with more bands. Management double book the night with some electro promoters, so they decide to make it a joint event. It’s all going well until a fight breaks out into a mess of tight jeans, knuckledusters, angular haircuts, gold chains and tracksuits. The Recovery escape down the fire exit; a car is set on fire; Will and friends are attacked; some members of Plans and Apologies hide in a bush, another is beaten with baseball bats and screwdrivers. The police call the night off. The bouncers make bad ‘uns leave, while indie kids stay inside and the injured are tended to by girls from Oh Lovely Lie. Will pays for taxis for everyone.
May 2006 - Will starts a night at Templars: he nails up chicken wire to create a cage in front of the stage and hires stick fighters to battle while YouNoGoDie play their most warlike songs. Pink Grease headline and burlesque troupe The Deville Dolls perform skits. Many friendships and anecdotes are born.
Friday 13 October 2006 - Will and Audio Massage’s Andy Clydesdale decide better mischief can be made with two promoters. Their team-up kicks off with a Friday 13th gig: shoes nailed to tables, girls spilling salt and tequila, ladders, umbrellas and black cats hanging from the ceilings, and broken mirrors stuck to walls. Andy eventually moves to London and joins City Shanty Band, but musical antics continue.
January 2007 - Will and Andy go for a drink in The Loggerheads – a pub Pete Leary and Jay Evans had just been granted a three year license on. Building developments for Nottingham Contemporary come through so the passage from the Lace Market is blocked, cutting off their trade, and they are subjected to a ban on loud music.
Undeterred, Will and Andy book loads of live acoustic bands in the caves below it. Wire and Wool is born. Eventually Pete and Jay are forced out by the brewery, but not before years of cave parties, late-night folk gigs and INFL’s Nottingham Comedy Underground nights. Wire and Wool lives on at Alley Cafe.
Years later, Jay joins a band called Hot Japanese Girl, Will becomes their manager after signing a contract in blood in the Golden Fleece with his flick knife as a show of intent.
Upside down, INFL turns.
April 2007 - Andy and Will start The Audio Montage, taking over Mansfield Road pubs with different promoters running gigs simultaneously – all for a fiver. Up at The Maze, birthday boys Will and friend Nate wear lycra Mexican wrestling suits and take part in a Nacho Libre wrestling match. They agree it's the best birthday ever.
June 2007 - Will meets Adam Pickering who asks INFL to host a stage for Hockley Hustle. Adam begins the Leeds leg of INFL by hosting and promoting nights at Brudenell Social Club. INFL go on to run Leeds nights at The Cardigan Arms.
On the last day of smoking indoors, INFL and Audio Massage start Prohibition, a twenties-themed gangster night harking back to speakeasy and clandestine smoking dens. A side hatch in the back door of The Maze is cut, and everyone wears twenties-style spats, hats, and dresses. The Cuban Crimewave dish out free cigarettes at midnight.
Will and boxing photographer friend, Steve McGloughlan, scour Nottingham’s boxing clubs, gypsy caravan sites and gyms to find fighters for an exhibition fight, in homage to Nottingham prizefighter Bendigo who used to box there. Two boxers are found but their car breaks down en route, so Andy and Will pull on their gloves and get in the ring instead.
October 2007 - The INFL team – Will, Jez Linay, Adam Pickering, Danny Clarke and Matt Thomas – put on the INFL Festival at Templars, The Horn in Hand and Speak Easy. Over fifty bands play, including Captain Dangerous, who have an argument with a soundman and their then drummer, an ex-marine, settles it by knocking him out.
April 2008 - Will becomes official gig booker and artist liaison for Leftlion gigs at The Orange Tree.
May 2008 - Ben Bretell introduces Will to James Waring – poster designer, printer, instrumentalist and manager of Royal Gala. He later founds The Invisible Orchestra. Many projects are born.
INFL take on Leeds.
May - June 2009 - The crew embark on I'm Not From London The Movie, filming over forty bands and interviewing key characters of the Notts music scene, posing the question, “Do Nottingham bands have to move to London to achieve national recognition?” The movie is still raising finishing costs.
October 2009 - INFL goes to London. The Stag's Head in Dalston, to be precise. Shedloads of Nottingham bands go down to raise our city’s profile. It’s rammed. Film star Sam Morton pops in, says some words for the film, and parties with them. This trip is repeated three times over the next twelve months.
A London bus is rented for a Halloween Ghost Bus Tour of Nottingham, inclusive of beers and fun times. Captain Dangerous come as ghosts and Manière des Bohémiens as Ghostbusters. Both play acoustically while vampire burlesque girls strip. Everyone's in fancy dress and shit gets messy.
July 2010 - INFL launches Jazz Hands, a free jazz night at the Alley Cafe.
The INFL team, Flux and Audacious Face unite to create The INFLUX Waterfront Festival to raise money for Parents Association for Seriously Ill Children. Over fifty bands play and £1,000 is raised. Headliners Baby Godzilla row in on a dinghy using guitars as oars, and jump in the canal after their set.
June 2011 - INFL and Audacious Face team up to create Kerblammo, a cheap, quarterly festival with a sixteen-band bill.
October 2011 - INFL hires out the Arts Theatre in Hockley to showcase Red Bear, The Barnum Meserve and Long Dead Signal, everyone is dressed for the theatre and has a jolly spiffing night.
December 2011 - The INFL website is born but it’s inaccessible because the programmer is doing websites for banks, and the designer never answers the phone.
March 2012 - Interns Louise Ahern and Kimberley Winter come on board. Will throws them in at the deep end by asking them to stage manage their Pride stage.
The faithful garage rock night.
April 2012 - A former barman from The Loggerheads, Pat ‘The Hat’ Cannon is looking for experience in music law following a law conversion course. He helps Will with some contract issues, and is roped into stage managing the INFL stage at Out The Box. Pat gets the taste and is soon working with Will full-time.
June 2012 - I'm Not From London Records is born with Captain Dangerous' single Forgive Us We're British. Baby Godzilla become the third signing and their debut single, Powerboat Disaster, is released as a limited edition cassette. Further releases include Hot Japanese Girl, Practical Lovers, Whisky Stain, Gallery 47, Ryan Thomas, The Most Ugly Child and 94 Gunships.
July 2012 - Kim Winter and Louise Ahern start Under The Tree.
February 2013 - INFL launch a corporate events management tier, INFL Events.
Mass karaoke night Bamalamasingsong is launched with Michael Wetherburn, whose band Hellset Orchestra played at the first INFL Blackpool gig.
June 2013 - INFL Ltd is formed – Will as Director, Pat as Business Affairs and Miles as Head of Publishing.
September 2013 - Will leaves his day job as a carer to run INFL.
December 2013 - Matteo Banfi and Leanne Morgan join. Matteo helps Kim run acoustic nights and stage manage gigs. Leanne becomes public relations officer. A steady stream of interns, volunteers, freelancers and work experience students follow.
January 2014 - An accessible website is launched, with the new publishing site that aims to get INFL bands on TV and films. Will, Pat and Miles go to MIDEM, Cannes, to launch their label and publishing on an international level.
April 2014 - Wire and Wool Records – INFL's imprint label – launches at JamCafe.
May 2014 - I'm Not From London Marafun: eleven pubs, eleven bands, eleven miles. All for charity.
October 2014 - Will, Adam Pickering, Tommy Farmyard, Ash Dilks, Tim Bellamy and Kris Ike relaunch Hockley Hustle after a three-year hiatus.
Get your tickets chaps.
November 2014 - INFL partner up with Phil Taylor (soundman/producer) and Ian Brow (The Breakfast Club) to create I'm Not From London Studios.
December 2014 - Ryan Thomas gets a sync to French TV programme Rendez-vous en terre inconnue that boasts six million viewers, plus it’s included on the compilation album.
April 2015 - INFL launch INFLIGHT label services to help independent labels and bands with releases.
August 2015 - The Waterfront Festival's 5th birthday at The Canalhouse is another sell-out, bringing the total raised to date to £17,273.
A Kickstarter campaign is launched to celebrate their tenth anniversary with a double LP compilation. It’s live until Friday 18 September, and you’re all cordially invited to pledge some cash.
September 2015 - INFL celebrate their tenth birthday alongside Alley Cafe – who turn fifteen – with a festival. Scorzayzee is named as the headliner for this celebration of a decade of distortion.
Outstanding (In a Field) Festival, Old McDonald’s Farm, Woodborough, Saturday 12 - Sunday 13 September, £10. Tickets available here.
Donate to the I'm Not From London Kickstarter campaign
I'm Not From London website
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