Thomas Martin and Harry Tilson
Do you wish tickets to various bars and clubs were cheaper? Do you wish, once in these venues, you could have discounted drinks? Do you like music? (I hope so) If the answer to all these are yes, then the newly formed Indie Music Society is beckoning to you. IndieSoc President Harry Tilson and Impact’s own, IndieSoc Treasurer-elect Thomas Martin, elaborate – vigorously – on why you should join us.
NOTE: For our final social of the year, IndieSoc are collaborating with BandSoc and Nottingham New Theatre to bring a big student gig to end the academic year, before exams, on May 10th at The Studio.
What is IndieSoc?
Created in October 2023 by Harry Tilson and Louis Moran, the society is dedicated to listening and sharing indie music, ranging from ‘bigger’ artists (e.g., Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Catfish and the Bottlemen) to ‘smaller’, lesser-known artists. The medium through which this is done is under the ‘Indie’ category, through ‘Album of the Week’ and ‘Playlist of the Week’, with the former attached below as an example.
What does IndieSoc do?
There are weekly socials, to encourage members to chat with one another, listen to their favourite songs, and expand their music taste.
A very popular social is ‘Indie Wednesday @ Bodega’, a club night dedicated to indie hits. Tickets are just £1 (as well as an additional £1 booking fee) with a free Jägerbomb, and the venue itself also has beautiful outdoor seating. Face-glitter is also available, but the pictures from Indie Wednesday nights we could use to illustrate this are best left out!
Other socials are numerous, ranging from Bonkerz Bingo, Rock City, Rescue Rooms, various bar crawls, as well as an elusive Ocean night (which Thomas is sure everybody wants, so will be lobbying Harry on). Less intense socials are also frequent, relating to quiz nights, bingo events, and relaxed meetups. All of this for just a £5 membership fee (bargain).
Indie music itself is also broader than other genres, more creative, boundary-pushing, and experimentative.
Why start IndieSoc?
There are music societies already in existence, such as RockSoc and PunkSoc. However, we identified a gap in the market for those who enjoyed indie music which did not fall under either category. I imagine Declan McKenna lovers are not particularly deep listeners of Metallica or blink-182.
Indie music itself is also broader than other genres, more creative, boundary-pushing, and experimentative. It draws in listeners ranging from fast-paced rock to chill folk.
Why join IndieSoc?
IndieSoc is an active society, which holds regular socials so that everyone has the opportunity to get involved. The environment is truly relaxed, welcoming people of all music tastes. There is no elitism over who’s taste is the most niche – diehard Arctic Monkeys or The Killers fans are just as welcome as fans of smaller, niche bands.
Socials are also laid-back and enjoyable, with the aim to have members meet one another, listen to their favourite (or new) music, and relax. There are no expectations or pre-conceptions involved, whether that concerns music taste or drink choice.
There is a Playlist of the Week (POTW), a weekly playlist of 8 indie songs featuring classics, underrated tunes and new releases.
Who are the Committee?
Your article co-author, Harry, is the co-founder and President of IndieSoc. He oversees the society and has a genuine passion for it which is demonstrated through the time and effort he has put in. This was shown through creating Album of the Week (AOTW), with Vice-President Louis researching (with the classic ‘Credit to VP Louis for the research’ signalling this). Additionally, there is a Playlist of the Week (POTW), a weekly playlist of 8 indie songs featuring classics, underrated tunes and new releases, found here.
The popular and frequent socials are collaborated between Harry and the Social Secretary, Cerys Nolte, whilst gigs around Nottingham have information supplied by the Gig Secretary, Chloe Hart.
Most importantly, as rhetorically outlined at this article’s outset, discounts to places around Nottingham, including Bodega, Rock City, Rescue Rooms, Billy Bootleggers, The Music Inn, Running Circle Records, and so much more have been negotiated, with further discounts coming as the membership grows.
Recently, the 2024/25 IndieSoc Committee Elections took place, with Harry and Louis retaining their positions as President and Vice-President, Chloe transferring to Welfare Secretary, Josh Barling being elected as Gig Secretary, and your article’s co-author, Thomas Martin, being elected as Treasurer (taking over from Lucas, who did a fantastic job)!
Where can you find out more?
As always, Instagram and email are the easiest points of contact.
- Instagram: @uonindiesoc
- Email: indie@uonsu.com
We look forward to seeing you at the next social, which can be found on our Instagram with plenty of advance notice, with the discount code being published on IndieSoc’s private Instagram story for members!
See you all soon!
Thomas Martin and Harry Tilson
Featured image courtesy of Luis Felipe Sousa via Unsplash Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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