Music in Leeds

The Music in Leeds ecompasses a variety of styles and genres, including rock, pop and electronic. While groups like Soft Cell, the Kaiser Chiefs, the Wedding Present, Utah Saints and the Bridewell Taxis have gained success in the mainstream, Gang of Four, the Sisters of Mercy, Chumbawamba and the Mission have helped to define genres like punk rock, gothic rock and post-punk.

In a 2018 article for the Independent, Leeds was described as "one of the best UK cities for live music", due to both major venues like the O2 Academy Leeds and First Direct Arena and grassroots venues like the Brudenell Social Club, Wharf Chambers and the Hyde Park Book Club. The city also plays host to festivals like Leeds Festival, Slam Dunk Festival, Live at Leeds and Damnation Festival.

Electronic music and the clubbing scene

Chapeltown's large Afro-Caribbean population gave way to a dub scene in the 1980s. Foundational groups, Ital Rockers and Iration Steppas, began performing at Shebeens at local venues like the Leeds West Indian Community Centre using their own DIY sound systems, before influencing the opening of rave clubs and organisations like Tribe and SubDub.

Age of Chance formed in Leeds in 1983, their single "Don't Get Mad… Get Even" reached number 8 on the US '' Billboard'' Hot Dance/Club Play chart.

Although formed in Harrogate in 1991, Utah Saints were based in Leeds, heavily influenced by the sound of the Prodigy. Throughout the 1990s they had three top ten singles and another five in the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart.

International DJs and producers like Paul Woolford, Ralph Lawson and Riley & Durrant have their studios in the city, alongside less well known DJs such as Bragguar and DJ Tango.

The earlier underground house scene developed into the Leeds club scene of the 1990s, when for a while Leeds held the title of Britain's clubbing capital. Both Back to Basics and mixed gay night Vague enjoyed the title of best club in Britain at different points in the decade, whilst The Orbit club in Morley was an internationally recognised techno mecca (Orbit closed in 2003 and was replaced by a restaurant).

In the 2000s, the city's University students began making music influenced by Ital Rockers and Iration Steppas, forming groups like Submotion Orchestra and Gentleman's Dub Club. The groups would often perform by putting on parties in their student houses in Woodhouse, Hyde Park and Burley, with sofas and beds place upright against the walls for soundproofing. Performances in fields and squats were also commonplace.

Punk rock

In the late-1970s, Leeds was home to influential punk rock groups such as The Mekons, Gang of Four and Delta 5, who helped to shape the sound of post-punk. The scene's genesis began when Andy Gill and Jon King received a funded trip to New York City in 1976. As art students, the trip happened so that the pair could study in the city's art galleries. However, while there, they became aware of the punk rock scene that had manifested itself around CBGB. After returning to Leeds, the Sex Pistols performed at Leeds Polytechnic in December. Soon after the pair formed Gang of Four. The formation of many other groups by local art students followed, for example the Mekons, Scritti Politti, the Three Johns, Girls at Our Best! and Delta 5. Pop act Soft Cell also emerged from this cohort. The members of these bands often frequented the Fenton on Blenheim Terrace, with the most frequent venue being the F Club founded by John Keenan. Groups such as the Mekons rejected being labelled as "bands", instead likening themselves to an art project espousing Marxism–Leninist politics. These groups also subverted many gender norms within the British punk scene, by attempting to include women as much as possible. Former Mekons and Delta 5 member Julz Sale said in ''Music in Leeds vol.2'' that no woman "ever felt unequal" in the scene. During this period, members of the scene often found themselves in physical altercations against fascists, neo-Nazis and members of the National Front, leading to Leeds playing host to many Rock Against Racism concerts. In the '70s, Leeds also housed the two first openly Nazi punk bands the Dentists and the Ventz.

As the aforementioned groups pushed punk rock into more experimental directions, the likes of Abrasive Wheels, The Underdogs, The Expelled and Icon A.D. pursued more aggressive and confrontational punk styles like anarcho punk, street punk and hardcore punk. Chumbawamba, who lived in a squat in Armley, emerged from this scene soon after and transformed it by bringing vegetarianism, animal rights and anti-violence values into the anarchist scene. Along with A State of Mind, Chumbawamba brought about the emergence of the term "peace punk".

In the early–2000s, Leeds punk groups became increasingly interested in the sound of U.S. bands like Fugazi, Hot Water Music and Small Brown Bike, leading to the emergence of a more U.S.–centric sound seen through the likes of And None of Them Knew They were Robots, Fig.4.0, Dugong and Joe Ninety. Send More Paramedics formed in Leeds in 2001 by members of And None of Them Knew They were Robots. They won Zane Lowe's the 'fresh meat' competition on BBC Radio 1 show, leading to a "Guerilla Gig Live" performance on BBC Three.B'Hellmouth speaks...to Guerilla Gig live
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