Words by Rachel Jones @HMP_SHE. Picture by Callum Linklater.
Ahead of his return to Southampton on Friday, June 26th, Frank Turner reflects on the venues that shaped him, the communities that sustained him, and why, in an increasingly digital world, nothing can replace the experience of sharing a room with strangers and live music.
Frank Turner’s music has been the soundtrack to much of my adult life.
From long drives to difficult days and significant milestones, his songs have a way of finding the right moment. Like many people, I’ve measured periods of my life against albums, lyrics and gigs. I’ve seen him play Southampton countless times over the years, from packed venues, singing every word, to quieter moments when a particular song feels as though it was written just for you.
So when I was given the opportunity to interview him for In Common, I was most definitely nervous. Not because of any rock-star mystique. If anything, Frank Turner has built a career on being resolutely human. But interviewing somebody whose work has accompanied such a large part of your life creates a strange sense of responsibility.
As it turns out, Turner is exactly as thoughtful and articulate as his songwriting suggests. What followed was a conversation about Southampton, community, grassroots music, creativity and belonging.
Southampton is the city where it all started for Turner. For all the miles he has travelled since, a lot for a man who is more or less constantly on tour, Frank Turner’s relationship with Southampton began in the same way it has for countless music fans across Hampshire: getting into town to see a band.
Although he grew up near Winchester, Southampton was where live music happened.
“Touring bands didn’t go to Winchester very often. So as a kid, if I wanted to see bigger shows, Southampton it was.”
At first that meant lifts from his mum. Later it meant lifts from friends, train journeys and trips to venues such as The Joiners and Southampton Guildhall.
“I remember I was in a band at the time with two of my mates. We stood there and we said to each other, ‘one day we’re going to be on the Battle of the Bands at the Guildhall’.”
More than twenty years later, he has headlined the venue many times over.
“It feels very homely to me. When I’m on a tour, it’s generally the show that my mum and my sister come to.”
The value of being there, really there in the room, is a theme that Turner returns to more than once.
“Nothing beats being in a room full of people, strangers or potential friends, enjoying people actually performing their art live.”
In an era increasingly defined by streaming and social media, Turner remains convinced that the most important part of music happens in physical spaces.
“COVID taught us this, you can’t do gigs on Zoom.”
For Turner, live music is about human connection.
“I don’t think social media does the job. Ultimately, it’s not an effective substitute.”
This theme of seeking connection and finding refuge through music is something that Turner explores further.
“The role that punk played in my life as a kid was that it was the first place I ever found where I felt safe.”
Throughout the conversation, Turner repeatedly returns to the idea of community.
“I had a very idealised view of what I thought a punk scene should be like,” he says.
“It had to do with welcome. It had to do with security. It had to do with non-judgement. It had to do with safety.
“If I can provide that to an audience within the context of my own shows, that’s awesome.”
Turner’s commitment to grassroots music extends beyond his own performances.
As a long-time supporter of the Music Venue Trust, he remains concerned about the pressures facing small venues across the UK.
“The economics of the underground live music industry have never exactly been bountiful,” he says.
For decades, grassroots venues have existed on tight margins, relying on passionate owners, dedicated staff and loyal audiences rather than substantial profits. But Turner believes the challenges facing venues today are more severe than at any point in recent memory.
His involvement with the Music Venue Trust began through campaigns around planning legislation and noise complaints, issues that threatened the survival of venues long before the pandemic arrived. COVID then dealt a devastating blow to the sector, forcing many venues to close temporarily and leaving others fighting for their future.
Now, he says, a combination of rising costs continues to put enormous pressure on independent venues.
“Business rates on running venues are just utterly ludicrous,” he says. “They’ve gone up and up and up and up.”
For Turner, this creates a contradiction at the heart of government rhetoric around supporting the arts.
“The government stands there being like, ‘Well, we don’t want to destroy the live music sector.’ And it’s like, well, stop doing it then, because from some angles, you’re the people doing it.”
Alongside business rates, inflation has transformed the economics of touring.
“The cost of everything has gone up apart from gig tickets,” he says. “People complain if you charge more than a certain amount for a gig, but that’s what I was charging fifteen years ago, and the price of everything else that goes into touring has doubled.”
The result is a growing squeeze on both artists and venues.
“You can’t expect bands to put on the same show for effectively half the money.”
Yet despite these concerns, Turner remains cautiously optimistic.
The UK has a long history of nurturing musical talent through independent venues, and organisations such as the Music Venue Trust continue to advocate fiercely on behalf of the sector.
“The UK specifically has had a vibrant grassroots music scene for a long time,” he says. “There are vibrant venues out there, and there are new ones being opened.”
When asked where people should go to experience the culture of Southampton, Turner is swift with his answer.
“The obvious answer for me is go to The Joiners. Catch some shows. That room’s got some history. My God!”
For somebody whose music has soundtracked much of my adult life, it felt like a fitting answer.
Long before the international tours and sold-out headline shows, Frank Turner was simply another Hampshire teenager heading into Southampton to discover live music. Decades later, despite everything that has changed, he is still talking about the same thing: people finding connection in a room together.
In a city built on movement, exchange and community, that feels like a story worth holding on to.
Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls co-headline Southampton Summer Sessions with Bowling For Soup on Friday 26 June at Guildhall Square. Frank will also perform an official aftershow DJ set at The Joiners later that evening. Tickets are available via Southampton Summer Sessions. The Joiners show is sold out – check their website for returns.
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