Charlotte Staunton Gill catches up with a couple who bring their kind of music to Leeds.
Hello, can you introduce yourself, and what you do?
Stewart: Hi, we’re Kerry & Stewart. We go by the name ‘Bad Owl Presents…’ and we put on DIY (not-for-profit) gigs in Leeds as well as an annual weekend festival called StrangeForms. Our events mostly showcase math-rock, post-rock, post-metal, post-hardcore and noise-rock acts. We’re quite old and should probably have settled on a more wholesome hobby at thisstage of our lives.
For readers who might not know the backstory, how did Bad Owl Presents first come about, and what was the original vision for it?
Kerry: It was a happy accident, really – we started without a plan. A friend of Stewart’s from Ayrshire got in touch as her husband’s band (post-rock / metal act What The Blood Revealed) were looking to play a gig in Leeds and they asked if we knew any promoters who could help. After looking around, we realised we didn’t, so we decided to put the gig on ourselves. There was no real vision; at that time we thought it would just be a one off. Fourteen years and well over a hundred shows later, and here we are…
Over the years, you’ve promoted everything from heavy psych to experimental rock. What draws you personally to the more underground end of the music spectrum?
Stewart: This is predominantly the type of music that we’re into. We personally just book bands that we love and want to see ourselves as we might not get the opportunity to see them play in Leeds otherwise, so it’s all very selfish!
Kerry: Leeds has always had a really vibrant DIY music scene – we wouldn’t necessarily say it’s underground, just less mainstream. There are a number of other well-respected promoters in the area who put bigger bands of a similar genre on; they just have healthier budgets than we do!
Are there any emerging bands or artists that people should keep an eye on right now?
Kerry: I feel like I’m starting to sound like a broken record (no pun intended) as this has been my go-to recommendation since last December, but my heart belongs to Manchester’s Shaking Hand at the moment. It’s quite hard to stand out in the scene that we’re involved in, so you really notice when something comes along that sounds different from anything else you’ve listened to recently, and that’s exactly how I felt when I first heard them. Their debut album came out on Melodic Records in January this year and they’ve been gaining traction ever since, and deservedly so. It was by pure coincidence that they got in touch regarding StrangeForms the very same day I’d mentioned to Stewart about asking them to play. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.
Stewart: I’m really excited about math / hardcore act Love Rarely. They’ve been slowly building and have their debut album out on Big Scary Monsters later this year. I think they could be destined for big things and, as they’re really lovely people, it would be fully deserved. We’re very lucky that there are so many incredible bands in the scene – I’d recommend checking through our upcoming and previous shows to find loads more awesome local bands flying the flag for the City and slightly further beyond.
What do you think it is about Leeds that makes seeing live music so special?
Stewart: The City has definitely got the history. We’re lucky too to have Leeds College Of Music so there’s always new, exciting bands coming through. Brudenell Social Club is obviously an institution and is honestly my favourite venue in the world to watch live music.
Kerry: As well as the notable mentions above, there’s a whole melting pot of acts that have come about in the same way that so many other bands do, no matter where they’re from – a bunch of mates jamming in a room together who decide to form a group. We’re also spoiled for choice with venues in Leeds that have been putting on gigs here for decades, and as long as there’s an appetite for writing, performing, organising and attending these kinds of events, then the City will continue to be a really exciting place to watch live music – whether it’s in the back room of a pub or the First Direct Arena.
StrangeForms is a staple in many music lovers calendars. Can you tell us a little about it for those who are unfamiliar with the festival?
Kerry: Simply put, it’s a weekend of math-rock, post-rock, post-metal (plus everything in-between) held at the Brudenell Social Club on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th April, featuring sixteen bands with no clashes. Bands start around around 1.30pm – 2pm each day (the Sunday starts around half an hour earlier and finishes with enough time for people to make their last trains home).
Stewart: It’s also a great community event too – we deliberately have no bands overlapping so that folk can chill out in between acts and catch up with old friends and have the chance to make new ones. The vibe is really friendly and lots of people actually make the trip solo as they know they will bump into lots of kindred spirits over the weekend.
What originally inspired you to launch StrangeForms as a two-day festival rather than a one-off gig series?
Stewart: Our friend Ramsey, who Kerry is good mates with from her University days and played in the band Himself (one of the first bands we put on), asked why we’d never done an all-dayer or a weekender and we couldn’t really come up with an answer other than it seemed very stressful. We then attended the very first ArcTanGent Festival (just outside of Bristol) and came away realising that there was a proper scene for the kind of music we loved and that pretty much inspired us to do StrangeForms. We rationalised any stress we were feeling by thinking of it as just putting on four shows (with four bands on each bill) over the course of two days.
How important has Brudenell Social Club been to the Festival’s identity and atmosphere?
Kerry: Crucial! Just to echo Stewart’s sentiments, it is – in our humble opinion – the best venue in the country. I remember going there in the late 90s when they still did karaoke and bingo for the residents of LS6 on a Friday night, and seeing what Nathan (Clark, owner and director) has achieved in building such a stellar reputation as a grassroots champion over the past twenty or so years has been incredible. Ask any musician or gig-goer which venue they associate most with live music in Leeds (and the North in general) and guaranteed they’ll say The Brude. We must give a special mention to Wharf Chambers too, which is where StrangeForms began – it’s also a very important place to Bad Owl and is our preferred regular gig venue of choice (as well as The Fox & Newt, which is where we first started putting bands on back in 2012). But after we sold out StrangeForms at Wharf two years in a row, we realised we had to expand, and we were incredibly fortunate that Nathan was so encouraging and accommodating towards us.
Stewart: Yeah, the venue is so supportive of what we do and it does feel like a proper collaboration with them. Having the Festival at The Brudenell has definitely swayed some bands to agree to play for us due to its fantastic reputation!
Do you remember the moment you realised the Festival had become something special?
Stewart: I mean, it’s always been very special to us but probably when we realised it might be special to other people too was when it sold out in its third year. To be honest, we lost quite a bit of money on year two of StrangeForms (for the time) and we decided we’d probably just do one more then call it quits. As I say, year three then sold out as did year four and that’s when we decided we’d need to move it from Wharf Chambers to Brudenell Social Club to accommodate a bigger audience. I like to watch the audience just as much as I like to watch the bands during StrangeForms as it’s a wonderful thing to see people enjoying themselves, making new friends and gushing over the bands knowing that you played a part in that.
Last year, you had one of your best years to date with a completely sold out Festival. What were the highlights of that weekend for you?
Kerry: In all honesty, while it was ‘commercially’ our best year – we don’t mind saying that it was also probably the most stressful, for all sorts of reasons! The highlight (for me personally) was finally being able to switch off and see And So I Watch You From Afar’s headline set on the Sunday evening and take in just how much love there was in the room. Stewart reverted back to his youth and decided to crowd surf (ASIWYFA said they’d never seen a promoter do that at,their own Festival before) – it’s at that point you’re reminded that no matter how stressful the weekend might be, those moments are the reason why you do it. It’s important to allow yourself a little pat on the back knowing that you helped bring a big slice of joy to a sold out room full of people. It makes you really proud to be a little cog in a much larger machine.
The festival has a reputation for an array of interesting genres. Is that diversity something you actively aim for when booking?
Stewart: Definitely. It didn’t start out that way as I think we had around 12 instrumental post-rock bands (out of 16) play the first StrangeForms, but I think people like to see a bit of a variety over a weekend event. We’ll always try to stick within the math-rock / post-rock /post-hardcore genre parameters as that’s what we’re best at, but we do like to throw in a couple of wildcards that we think people will appreciate too.
Kerry: I don’t think it’s necessarily specific to our scene, but diversity is something which is always a challenge and something we continuously strive to address. It’s incredibly important to us that all of our shows are inclusive and representative of everyone who attends.
For someone thinking about attending StrangeForms for the first time, what can they expect from the weekend experience?
Kerry: Sixteen incredible bands, a warm atmosphere, a brilliant venue with an amazing sound set up. Like-minded gig-goers, friendly volunteers, lots of lovely merch to buy. And pies. Don’t forget the delicious pies.
Stewart: Ridiculously cheap admission (Weekend Tickets just £37 and Day Tickets £24), beautiful sunshine* and a chance to find your new favourite band. (*not a guarantee!)
Where can people keep up to date with line ups, announcements and general news from Bad Owl Presents?
Stewart: We’re on the usual socials – Instagram, Facebook, YouTube. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and most of it is just us (me) posting silly pictures, trying to convince people to come to our shows.
Kerry: You can always tell the difference between who posts what – Stewart commandeers Facebook as it’s one Social Media platform too many for me. I like to think I’m the more sensible one as far as Instagram is concerned, but meet us both in person and you’ll soon find that claim goes right out the window.
StrangeForms is at The Brudenell on 18 and 19 April. Tickets here.
https://www.facebook.com/BadOwlPresents
https://www.instagram.com/badowlpresents
More from Bad Owl Presents:
VLMV + RuneWeaver<https://www.facebook.com/events/731987589989549> – Wharf Chambers, Sunday 29th March 2026
StrangeForms 2026<https://www.facebook.com/events/1895403594525852/> – Brudenell Social Club, Saturday 18th April & Sunday 19th April 2026
Bicurious + Wot Gorilla? + Patience<https://www.facebook.com/events/2066912030830759> – Hyde Park Book Club, Friday 24th April
Poly-Math + Yoshizawa + Slow Loris<https://www.facebook.com/events/2349494232138719/> – Wharf Chambers, Friday 22nd May 2026
Band photography by Miley Stevens Photography. Main image: Svalbard.
