State of indiependence!

ROB FIDDAMAN this week chats to Faith Portt of Keele Indie Society about how her love of music has led to her putting on gigs to give new talent a chance to shine...

- ROB FIDDAMAN

Hi Faith, tell us about yourself and where you are from. I'm originally from Somerset, but moved to Stoke-on-Trent last year for university.

I understand you're studying at Keele University!

Yep, I'm in the second year of my degree studying business and geography. Originally I got into uni at Bath but changed my mind last minute and came to Keele instead! I'm forever grateful for that random spontaneity as I've met some amazing people.

I'd love to hear more about the society you've started.

Joining a society at uni is said to be a great starting place to meet new people but when I first started last year there wasn't really a society I was fully interested in and wanted to join. So, when I was a tad bored last summer I thought I'd look into making my own, and whether anyone would be interested in an indie music society as well. It seemed a lot of people felt the same way. So, we went through the process of setting up: designing our logo, filling out all the forms, and starting a social media presence for ourselves.

It initially felt like a lot to take on, but my love for indie music and help from everyone massively helped in making us who we are today. We focus on bringing light to new talent, both from Keele University and the local areas by hosting gig nights in key student hotspots. Seeing the current struggle in the music industry is saddening for many of us and we hope to make our own impact in helping it live on.

We had our second gig night last week. Our first was a major success: filling out the venue, getting more popular as a society, and getting our bands' names out there - with some of them getting booked. We've had so many artists contact us asking to be part of it, I don't even have to fully do my job myself.

Do you run it yourself?