Spiers tells Jim Kellar how it all came about.

The start of Ruckus music and events was a combination of two aspects of my musical life at the moment. For the past few years, all of my musical energy has been directly purely towards playing bass in the Appointments, as the band started to play more and more shows, it became clear the band has some serious aspirations career wise.

All the tracks have been recorded and mixed (apart from drums) at the band's old share house (now our singer, Rhys Love's house). The DIY ethos of the band is definitely a core value, and becomes really contagious. I started to push the band, as I guess a pseudo-manager, and organised a few bits and pieces while the other guys focused more so on the recorded music, after it's written.

A lot of the best blues and roots music when I was younger was found on pages like triple j unearthed, or forums. I've always had half an eye on the smaller bands around town, and genuinely love discovering new artists, that you can evolve with.

Three conversations I had, in retrospect planted the seed for the idea. I've always loved the idea of naming events.

I saw Piper Butcher at the Rogue Scholar and began pestering the owner there for a gig for The Appointments. I loved that he still promoted live music during the COVID periods. I met Adam for a beer and we discussed music for a bit, and by the end of the conversation I left with a budget to play original acts for a day. "Ruckus at the Rogue", was born out of that, with absolutely no plan to do it again.

The day went amazingly off the back of amazing local talent and a great venue, and we all agreed to do it again.

The Rogue Scholar is associated with a number of similar types of events, including the recent 'Midtown Darkside' event.

The Adamstown Bowlo is one of the best outdoor venues in Newcastle, and has a natural crowd in summer. Coming out of COVID, I genuinely believe that people want to see good, original music, people are craving a new experience.

I approached the bowling club with a similar idea, "Grooves on the Green", a festival format with solid live acts that appeal to all ages and demographics.

The big idea here was to demonstrate to the venue that original music is just as viable as cover artists, from a business perspective.

As they had a small grant from 'Great Southern Nights' they rolled the dice on the day. The demographic was as broad as Bluesfest - grandparents, children, blokes coming in from the punt, and groups of friends that were up for a good afternoon, women from 18-50 odd working down the cocktail menu.

I believe an older guy was getting pushed around the dance floor in a wheelchair by some younger girls by the time the sun went down. The show had a real community energy to it.

The response from the bowling club was more than I initially anticipated and we both agreed we had to do it again.

The bowling club show is really what drove me to start a brand, my hunch is that most people are more inclined to come see an "event", rather than know individual artists from the local scene so it needed a name. My wife reminded me of "Ruckus" from a few events prior, and it stuck.

People want to hear good music, presented well. Intentional melodies, interesting arrangements and good feel. The artists are all unique, and of a certain calibre.

"Art" certainly doesn't need to be inaccessible.

The Rogue is an amazing venue for live music, and a pleasure to play. The sound system and sound team Ruckus uses for 'Grooves on the Green' is second to none.

There are a few aspects of the local market at play here. I want to bring original music to where there is already a good culture of people listening to cover musicians.

Taking nothing away from the immense talent that it takes to be a cover musician, but in essence, to coerce or cajole people in Newcastle to realise how bloody talented this city is right now.

I've seen strangers come together on the second chorus at the top of their lungs to sing a tune they've never heard before. So there's certainly a desire to be apart of whatever is going on.

On the other end of the spectrum in the venues that already embrace original music, it's really great to get bands together that rarely play together and bring fans of each others together. Either way it's a festival energy.

I've recently been accused of just putting bands on the bill that I want to see, because usually there's an Appointments' gig or I simply haven't had the chance to see them.

This is probably true. Almost all the bands that play on the Ruckus bills are around the rock, blues, singer songwriter, folk or indie genres, with a bit of soul, or alt country thrown in.

At the base idea of Ruckus, is that a strong local scene will allow good artists to be more successful. The cliche of "exposure" is certainly a part of that, but they are also really fun events to play, usually with a pretty packed house for the last few bands. (Adamstown Bowling Club had to close their doors at a few points, and the Rogue had a line up at the door for both prior events.)

The pay is big part of the conversation in the art scene at the moment, and as it should be. I'm fully transparent with the artists before they commit to playing, I know some venues prefer to discuss payment after the gig. That's not how we operate. There have been some acts we simply can't afford yet, and I love to see artists knowing their worth. I'm a big believer in negotiation on these things.

This being said, the budget grows each show, and I'm currently discussing with some potential sponsors for future events.

(If anyone is keen to sponsor, I'd love to hear from you, particularly local businesses!!!)

In terms of time. It's hardly a part time job. I'd consider it a freelance/ passion project at the moment. I'd love to see this grow into bigger festivals, or even work with a larger events company at some point. My 9-5 is in OHS and environmental management, there's significant overlap there, with the events space. But that's just something to look forward to.

My desire for the most part is to keep these shows as "free entry" as the venues and sponsors are also being exposed to new patrons, and the obvious sales that come with a packed house of music fans.

The next Ruckus event is 'Grooves on the Green II' at Adamstown bowling club on Saturday, June 25, kicking off at 3pm. We'll be warming up the winter air with some of the best acts in Newcastle at the moment.

On the bill: Piper Butcher, Acacia Blue (recent UON band comp winners), Liquid Zoo, Loons, and Slapjack (2021 UON band comp winners).

Tables can be reserved by contacting Adamstown Bowling Club.

Details can be found by Following 'ruckus music and events' on facebook and instagram, as well as a playlist of artist that have played at our events on spotify.