On 4th November 2024 Natalie Reeves Billing DL visited Future Yard at Argyle Street in Birkenhead to get a feel for what happens there and had a taster session of a Live Sound course.
The Future Yard team, (Craig, Chris and John) started life as the leaders of a popular music magazine called Bido Lito, and turned their minds towards providing a space for musicians to develop their music and engineering crafts, and to help creative people to find a job they love in all aspects of the music industry.
This live music venue regularly hosts festivals, gigs, parties, and exhibitions, and has an impressive board consisting of recording executives from major record labels, members of the Liverpool Combined Authority and leaders of big national businesses, all committed to the development of local people and local heritage, making Birkenhead great, and finding ways to attract more visitors into the area.
The space holds an indoor live room for performances with a 280 people capacity, there are exhibition spaces, a café on site serving locally produced foods and beverages, merchandise shop, pizza kitchen, dressing rooms, recording studios and an outdoor beer garden for outdoor festivals and music events. This space shows the company’s commitment to sustainability with seating made from upcycled pallets and tables made of old beer crates. There is an ice cream van on site which was donated to the CIC by leading world celebrated dance music group, KLF, who partnered with Dolly Parton on their smash hit song, Justified and Ancient. The team employs engineers and musicians to conduct training for up and coming musicians including music lessons and live sound, and find apprenticeships for the students in venues across the North. The team also provide training opportunities to university students for practical experience.
