Our Music Scene - CHERYM - Derry - Best of Ireland

In comparison to Dublin or Belfast, Derry has a much smaller music scene, but it’s so vibrant and a great place to launch from. There are a lot of new and exciting bands at the moment such as Tramp, Parker and Tomcat.

There’s no shortage of venues, too. We always come back to Sandinos on Water Street. It’s very versatile in terms of what events it can accommodate and who plays there. There are two upstairs venues, one is a smaller room and the other is a huge bar. We go for dance nights and we’ve played CHERYM gigs there. They have all sorts of themed nights like ‘80s, techno or ABBA.

At the start, we played a lot of gigs in Bennigans. Everybody likes Bennigans because it’s very communitarian and they always have something on. It’s a great spot to go for a pint with friends and catch whatever’s on that night. You never know what you’ll stumble on!

The Nerve Centre also helped us get our start as a band, and not just us. It’s a bigger venue that gives a lot of young musicians a start and a platform that focuses on the artist first and foremost. They always have great shows from the up and coming bands.

You don’t really find a particular rock or trad scene - the music scene in Derry has a broad scope with lots of crossover. You could be an indie band, but find yourself on a bill with a jazz artist. It’s important to remember that Derry is a small city with a modest population.

Cherym. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

The scene has changed massively in the last ten years. There are more women and non-binary people in bands around town. When we started, we didn’t see much of that representation at all, bar a few like Emma Gallagher from Making Monsters. It was more of a boys’ club, but now more people are finding the confidence to start projects of their own. That has a lot to do with visibility and representation. You see new bands coming up in the scene all the time.

There are a lot of improvements to be made, for sure. We would like to see more people of colour coming to the forefront. Diversity is a big issue in the live music scene as a whole, especially with festivals or multi-act bills and there should be more opportunities available to people of colour.

But there’s definitely more space for inclusion in Derry these days. Seeing a huge rise in women and nonbinary people playing gigs automatically creates a safe space for more marginalised communities to push through. You can tell there’s a need and a want for representation from artists and audiences alike. It comes from people not feeling represented in art and pop culture, and more people are vocalising the need for it. That connection which comes from those of the same race, gender or sexual orientation is vital and empowering.

• CHERYM’s album Take It Or Leave It is out now.