Frankie Beetlestone on supporting Tom Grennan and 'upset' over Leadmill closure

15 September 2023 , 14:19

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Sheffield musician Frankie Beetlestone spoke to the Mirror's Daniel Bird

Frankie Beetlestone is fresh from a handful of summer festival performances but admits that while some may feel imposter syndrome, he was meant to be on the bills.

The Sheffield-born indie-pop musician, 21, recently released his EP, Caravan and joked that he often feels "bored" of his own music and is continually working on his next release. Fresh from his sets at Leeds and Reading Festival, the musician caught up with us about everything from throwing his support behind The Leadmill and touring the nation with chart-topper Tom Grennan.

Speaking to the Mirror, the Get Paid singer said: "It's amazing, it was amazing to be performing at Leeds Festival because me and my band have been coming here for four years and to be on the other side of it, it's quite incredible really." The star played the BBC Music Introducing stage alongside the likes of Only The Poets and found hundreds of music lovers gathering at the barriers to watch him and his band perform some of their best tracks.

Frankie Beetlestone has revealed he never feels imposter syndrome (Instagram)

The musician also revealed he often gets 'bored' of his own material and focuses on his next release (Instagram)

Reflecting on his sets across the Leeds and Reading weekend, Frankie said: "It was good, quick, we dropped a song for Leeds, we played Reading but there was a timer for Leeds and we went over a couple of minutes but we said we'll make sure we don't miss the last song." Although he admitted to cutting his set short, fans didn't seem to mind as they stayed to watch his whole performance.

Following the release of his EP which took fans by storm, he said of the release: "I'm kind of stopping myself from looking at how well stuff is doing, I have a very controlling, anxiety tendency about me. Recently, I've started meditating and all I care about now is making the next thing. Once something is out, a week later I'm bored of it and I'm making the next project." Frankie revealed that the EP was called Caravan, paying homage to the caravan that he lived in on his nan's driveway at their home in Sheffield, South Yorks, which he also credits for being his creative haven.

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But while representing a city with such a vast history of incredible musicians including the Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me the Horizon and The Human League to name a few, he doesn't feel any sense of pressure to live up to previous standards. He said: "It feels like Sheffield's got a history that's richer than its present in my opinion, I love the music history of Sheffield.

"Apart from a splattering of artists, I can't really tell you what's coming out of there, maybe the whole industry has flipped upside down and sideways, right now, I don't really know what's coming out of Sheffield. I've just moved to London so I've realised that being from Sheffield people are nice, speak to you, very honest with you," he joked.

Frankie hit out at the possible closure of Sheffield's The Leadmill (The Leadmill /twitter)

Sheffield has a history of launching established artists, with many of the biggest names in music playing The Leadmill, perhaps the most iconic venue across the UK, with the likes of The Killers having previously taken to the stage. But in 2021, landlords of the iconic venue slapped staff with an eviction notice, meaning it may possibly close its famous red doors for the last time.

Bosses of the venue recently launched a campaign to keep the business going, with thousands expected to take to the streets of Sheffield to protest against the possible closure. Discussing the #WeCantCloseLeadmill campaign, bosses issued a statement reading: "The Leadmill's current landlords, MVL Properties (2017) Limited, served The Leadmill with an eviction notice in March 2022 to evict us in March 2023. The landlords have confirmed their plans to operate The Leadmill as their own venue, attempting to seize the goodwill created and developed by The Leadmill over 43 years.

"The Landlords have to apply to the courts to try and force us out; this process takes time and could go on until 2024 or later. In the meantime, the landlords are applying for a premises licence. They cannot succeed in evicting the Leadmill without that licence. A Public Hearing has been arranged for Monday 18th September to decide whether the landlord will be allowed to evict us. If The Landlord wins, The Leadmill will be evicted, forced out and cease to exist."

Discussing a possible closure, Frankie fumed: "I was very upset, it's a load of b*****ks, that place needs to be kept alive if you go to a gig in Sheffield, we played our headline at the Foundry, the Leadmill is the place, that place needs to be kept alive. I'd like to think when we're at a level where we can sell out a venue, we'll play the Leadmill. Everyone went through there, I know there's the Harley, they've had their moment but I'll be upset if Leadmill ends up getting crushed."

The Sheffield-born musician recently supported Tom Grennan on tour and reveals what he learnt from the chart-topper (Daily Mirror)

Frankie explained that he 'loves' being able to talk to his fans at any given moment (Instagram)

Currently, Frankie is managed by Various Artists, the home of some of the biggest names including Tom Grennan and Spice Girls songstress Melanie C – but while some may be feeling imposter syndrome, this hasn't affected Frankie. The singer recently toured across the UK with Tom and admitted that he knew he was meant to be performing in arenas.

He told me: "It was crazy, amazing, and mental we obviously played in pubs in Sheffield to ten people to then play to 10,000 people is crazy, it felt like it was what we should be doing, I didn't feel, some people have imposter syndrome thing, it didn't feel like that. The biggest thing I took from it was how he as an artist deals with the things that come with playing venues of that size. The guy is screwed on, spiritually, I took that away from it. The other thing, he influenced me as a writer."

But while he's making waves in the music industry, Frankie admits that if he didn't work in the business, he would completely remove himself from all social media. The musician has racked up thousands of followers but says he "loves" being able to share anything almost instantly with his supporters.

He explained: "I try and look at it from a positive aspect and think 'I don't have to go through anyone to share how I'm feeling immediately', there was a time when I imagined, that anything you wanted to say had to go through management and now, I could Instagram Live and tell people what I really think about the world, I love that, I think that's the most punk-rock thing ever, you can tell people what's really on your mind, I love that aspect of it.

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"I have a really weird version of how I should interact, I try my best to post stuff and speak to people when I've dedicated enough time to speak to people, if I didn't do the music side of things, I wouldn't use social media, it's a toxic place to be but if it's the only place I can communicate with people who care about me and my band, of course, I'm going to talk to people. I try and use it for that, I try and use it for a positive thing."

Daniel Bird