From Arctic Monkeys’ first gig to setting up new live music venue ‘Sidney&Matilda’, Paul Tuffs is a veritable Sheffield music legend

If you speak to any band, singer, or other musician from Sheffield over the last twenty or so years, they will all mention a name. A singular figure who has seemingly helped every single local band, in some capacity. He has been a mainstay and a foundational block of the Sheffield music scene for many years. Paul Tuffs basically is the Sheffield music scene. He agreed to sit down with me and talk about his experiences, as well as his views on the scene.

How long have you been involved in the Sheffield music scene? 

I’ve been around for many years! I used to do sound at The Grapes when they used to do loads of gigs, back in the late nineties and early noughties. I started off just pulling pints, but eventually I was putting on events and doing the live sound. I was even at Arctic Monkeys’ first ever gig there! After that I ran Café Totem with my mates George Vaughton and Dave Newman, plus we started Totem Records, our own local independent record label. Then I recently became involved in setting up our new Sheffield venue Sidney&Matilda here, again involving George Vaughton as well as another mate of mine, Al Daw, along with a great team running the bar and stuff. This is probably taking up most of my time at the moment. I’ve been all over though, touring various venues, events and festivals. I’ve had the pleasure of working on some really cool shows, especially when I was working with Sheffield band In The Nursery. I’ve been doing front of house sound for a number of years at some amazing, often unconventional, venues across Europe. Another memorable show in Sheffield, where I was house sound tech at the Student Union’s Foundry, was when Damon Albarn’s The Good, The Bad and The Queen played a few years back; when unloading the truck there was a gigantic flight case that the crew struggled to unload. I helped wheel this massive piece of equipment into the venue, turns out it was Damon’s ping pong table that he always tours with, and he’s a bit of a grand master at table tennis!

Outside Sidney&Matilda (Credit: Charlie Sweeney)

I’m sure you’ve been asked many times but I have to know; what was Arctic Monkeys’ first gig like?

Well John McClure (of Reverend and the Makers) has said to me before that if everyone who’s ever said that they were at Arctic Monkeys first gig was actually there, they could’ve sold out Sheffield Arena! The actual gig was very small; it was in the top room of The Grapes, and they were supporting another local band. I was doing the sound in The Grapes at the time, along with Brian and Ash, and so we had quite a good set-up in there for such a small venue. The other band wanted to record their gig, and so were trying to rig a system to do it and ensure they were able to capture the desk sound. To test it, they recorded the support, Arctic Monkeys. Ironically, whilst that recording worked fine, the other band weren’t able to record their own set due to technical difficulties! That video of AM’s first gig is still available online, somewhere. After that first gig, they seem to play at The Grapes every few weeks. It was a great environment for them to hone their craft. For young’uns they were pretty good, and reasonably well rehearsed. Straight away you could tell they were a solid act, and really lovely lads. Very professional.

Paul Tuffs worked at The Grapes at the same time that AM were starting out, blazing their way through the Sheffield scene (Credit: Glenn Ashley)

What’s your view of the scene in Sheffield currently?

I think there has definitely been some stagnation in Sheffield’s music scene, but there is definitely a resurgence due. Sheffield fans are tough to win over, but once you have, they’re fans for life. The growth of the scene all just depends on upon the infrastructure, and that’s part of what we’re trying to do with Sidney&Matilda. Bands in Sheffield need rehearsal spaces and venues. There needs to be a natural ladder of progression for bands, and part of that ladder is being able to see bands who are ahead of you, seeing what you can become. Arctic Monkeys being able to see what Jon McClure and Milburn were doing was definitely a big help to them. And now obviously Covid has affected bands ability to tour in Sheffield and the whole of the UK as a whole. Brexit has also had a huge effect in their ability to go over to Europe, so it’s definitely a big problem for bands. However, Stagnation due to the pandemic isn’t the only issue though. I also think there can sometimes be a natural lack of understanding by up-and-coming bands and artists as to the realities of the industry.

Could you expand on that? 

A lot of bands don’t realise what a music career is and needs. There can be a certain naivety. At the end of the day, music is an incredibly nepotistic business, so for most normal acts, who obviously aren’t privileged enough to have connections within the industry, they need to be more smarter; being entrepreneurial is the key. They shouldn’t give their music away for free, because if you’re not being seen to value your product, no one else will. Bands need to run their act like a business. A successful band, in my view, is one that is self-financing, one who can maintain themselves. It isn’t difficult to do either, bands just need to focus on their fanbase, seeing what they like and providing them that service, whether that is in records or in merchandise. Also, bands can often be sold the lie of needing agents, when they can do most of this stuff themselves. Again, that ties into what I was saying about infrastructure, and it’s part of my motivation for Sidney&Matilda. For £130-£150 you can hire it out, put on your own gig and do whatever. It’s what my passion is, helping bands at gigs and elsewhere; giving them a hand to get up the ladder.

Would it be safe to say then that your current role now, running such an important venue in Sheffield, is what you’ve loved doing most?

Yeah definitely. Going on tour with bands and stuff can just be a bit boring; it’s not like you really get to see any of the place you’re touring in. You might be in Vienna or Paris but you’re still stuck in a hotel room. And it’s always a rush because you’re obviously having to get everything ready for the gig, you’re lucky if you have a few hours free. I definitely find far more joy now in helping bands and stuff. My years as a sound engineer have meant that we now have some of the best equipment at Sidney&Matilda and at my recording studio, so I feel we can provide a really great environment for these up and coming acts to work within. Even from a business sense, I have always been focused on long-term development, and part of that means making investments in these new acts and in the local scene. Recently, for example, I worked on a ‘demos’ with Casey Lowry. After recording a few songs with him, one ended up getting playlisted on daytime Radio One! Not bad for a youngster from Chesterfield with no management, agent or radio plugger at the time, and who is currently still smashing it in a very DIY manner.

Casey Lowry is one of the latest artist that Tuffs has had a hand in supporting their early career (Credit: Erol Birsen)

So what does the future now entail for you?

Just focusing on Sidney&Matilda, we’re putting on more club nights now and getting more gigs, making the most of this new post-covid world. I like the fact that Sidney&Matilda seems to be almost a disruptive force in Sheffield, giving freedom to new acts, so I want that to continue. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do with Sidney&Matilda, and I’m confident that we can put on some really good events.