After a pandemic induced hiatus, The Jacaranda Basement Tapes returns to our screens today.
Our pilot YouTube series, which gained a cult following and a broad reach during its first pilot series in 2019, is now back as a regular feature.
In keeping with our mission of fostering young talent, the production process has evolved into a creative partnership between Jacaranda Records and media production university SAE Institute, with audio and video students from the Liverpool campus working with the Jacaranda team to gain hard-earned experience of the demands of professional production.
Liverpool’s own Waiting Till Marriage feature in the first of the new sessions. Fresh from their first headline gig, the band took to The Jacaranda Club’s famous basement stage to perform their latest single Three Times, this time in front of a film crew instead of a sell-out crowd.
Subscribers to Jacaranda Records will receive their first Basement Tapes notification in over two years and many fans of the series will be introduced to Waiting Till Marriage for the first time.
With other 200 bands registering their interest in performing for the series, the roster for the return of The Basement Tapes in 2022 reads more like a shortlist for the BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year Award rather than an underground YouTube series filmed in the basement of The Jacaranda Club, Liverpool.
Jacaranda Records founder Ray Mia said: “The Basement Tapes is about providing frontline acts with a platform and an opportunity. What they do with that is entirely up to them. They are performing on the spot that gave The Beatles their break, and there is no tougher stage.
“That’s the question that the series was conceived to ask: can you cut it? Some acts will flourish under the live, no frills format, others will crash and burn – but that’s the entire point.
“The show also poses a challenge to the SAE students filming it. In a live environment they have to think on their feet, learn from their mistakes, and understand how to get better. And they will – very quickly.
“Jacaranda Records and The Jacaranda Club exist to give young bands and artists a platform to grow and showcase their talents, SAE do exactly the same with young creatives across Liverpool and the UK. Yes, we could have shipped in a professional crew, and yes, blooding inexperienced kids at the start of their careers brings its own challenges and consequences, but the journey has to begin somewhere, and we are proud to be giving a very enthusiastic and ambitious young team their start.”
