Every city has a music scene, unique to anywhere else in the world. London has it’s own unique music scene, being one of the most successful in Canada. Between the artists, fans, and venues, the community has a major role in the success.
In 2021, London became Canada’s first city to be recognized as a UNESCO City of Music.
The London City of Music says, “London has deep roots in the creative field of music and continues working towards improving and growing the sector.”
London is known for producing music artists, and for having support for their artists. Sam Allen, the lead singer and songwriter for ‘Run Coyote’ says London has it’s own identity.
“I feel like London always has a bit of a chip on it’s shoulder,” he says. “We don’t have to move to Toronto, we don’t have to be Toronto.”
‘Run Coyote’ is a band from London, that has been around for over ten years. They take inspiration from ‘film noir’, treating each song like a film. They have a rock-and-roll style of music, with emphasis on being able to tell a story, generally more dark and vintage-like.
London is able to hold and sustain this music scene because of it’s community. The support from the venues, the artists and the fans make this scene possible.
The Sunshine Makers (VIA: London Music Office)
Brent Jackson, the lead singer and songwriter for ‘The Sunshine Makers’, recognizes the support from people.
“It means that people are showing up to other peoples shows, because they know what it means for people to invest their time into their shows,” he says. “There’s a real sense of understanding the community, and how to build it.”
Jackson also talked about how it can feel lonely as an artist, being uncertain with your art. But, he says that the support for each other really helps people out of that shell.
‘The Sunshine Makers’ is a band that started out as a solo project for Brent. Coming from the band ‘The Junction’, Jackson still wanted to make music, so he made a record that was very feature heavy, under the name ‘The Sunshine Makers’. He made his own record label, and started forming the current members of the band. They dropped an album a the band called “The Sun Still Shines” in June, and plan on releasing another album next year.
A part of what makes London’s music scene thrive is the venues. Places like London Music Hall and Canada Life Place host some of the biggest concerts in Canada. Artists like Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran and even Metallica have performed in London.
Along with these venues, there are open mic nights and bar shows almost every night. A local bar opened recently, called ‘Honey Dip’. Here, they give local artists a chance to show off their talent, including Run Coyote, who did a release party for their new EP, ‘Song to Run to’.
The turn out was great, with other local artists there performing and to show support with fans. Bands ‘La Rent’ and artist ‘Seth Meeker’. All artists had their own unique sound and genre, helping show the community and support for each other in London.
Brent Jackson says, “I find that with music it can tend to sometimes turn into a competitive thing and people can put ego and insecurities into it. But the cool thing about London is it’s a mix of all different types of musical genres and you will see all these people mingling and supporting each other. And I think that that’s really rare. You’re going to find genuine support here from people…”
Sam Allen went deeper into this, “I think everybody really supports each other. And, at least when I was growing up, we would go to the rock show on the Saturday, and it would be all the same people that were at the folk show on the Sunday, and the hip hop show or the experimental show. Everybody really supports each other, and I think that’s awesome for a scene, because music’s really all about community.”
Community and support are needed for a music scene to thrive, and London is proof that it works.
