Jay Landman

Jay Landman is a Newcastle based music promoter for 'Northern Music Collective'. Jay is known around Newcastle for organising gigs, promoting bands and supporting the growth of the live music scene in Newcastle.

I celebrated my 25th birthday by putting on my annual “birthday gig” at Cobalt Studios on 7 Feb 2020. I put on roughly 50 gigs a year, however, the birthday gig is always special and different.

I’d never thought about doing birthday gigs before 2017. I only started because I did a favour for a friend (a Leeds-based promoter) by putting on the band Red Rum Club for their first ever North East gig. This was one of those ‘right’ decisions as the band have gone on to explode. Anyway, as such, this was the third time I’d done one of these special birthday gigs.

Usually I’m running the whole thing: paying bands, sorting venue hire, and engineer fee - sitting on the door for admissions. Thankfully, one of my good friends insisted on working the door, which meant I was able to watch the bands I’d booked to play and could socialise and have a drink. After the second band had finished their set, I took to the stage to thank everyone for coming along, and to also make them aware of the variety of free cakes I’d brought along for people to help themselves to.

My friend Paul Murray had just recovered from an accident involving his spine, so this was his first gig back doing photography. He took the opportunity to take some photos of me on stage.

I usually do everything behind the scenes, so it was a stark contrast to be able to go on the stage and under the spotlight; a place usually reserved for musicians.

*Photography by Paul Murray

To find out more about Jay Landman and his work follow his social media pages!