Written by Sadie Rycraft

“In the same year The Smokehouse music venue celebrated turning 6 years old, the organisation conquered multiple milestones and solidified their spot in Ipswich's music scene even further, establishing two new venues and announcing a forthcoming festival and organisation re-brand.”

Since opening in 2016 - with renovations funded by a BIFFA Award grant and supported by local Labour councillors - The Smokehouse has seen plenty of exciting ventures. ‘The Smokehouse Presents’ promotions team kicked things off in 2018, with the launch of the multi-venue festival Sound City Ipswich coming in 2019, as well as taking on The Baths and St Stephen’s Church as music venues. Most recently, they’ve announced that Sound City Ipswich will be rebranded as ‘Brighten The Corners’ and will be taking place in June 2023, while The Smokehouse Presents will become Brighten The Corners Presents, with BTC being an ‘umbrella’ brand for all things live music. Since closing their doors for a painstaking 18 months during the peak of Covid, it’s safe to say The Smokehouse has come back stronger than ever.

Multiple nights a week there are DIY gigs from third party promoters and at least 15 gigs a year run by The Smokehouse Presents team. In the daytime, the venue is used for numerous projects and workshops that benefit the community. The Smokehouse attracts a wide audience of music lovers and nationally renowned musicians to Ipswich - who have been championed by the likes of BBC 6 Music and played festivals such as Glastonbury and loads more!

The long list of national artists that The Smokehouse has booked was kicked off by This Is The Kit in 2018, and includes Mercury Prize Nominees Yard Act and Porridge Radio, as well as names such as The Orielles, Caroline, Working Mens Club and many more. Ipswich has been graced by genres such as disco-funk psychedelia, ambient Appalachian-inspired folk, indie fused art-rock, soulful hip-hop and heavy psych-doom, thanks to the team bringing a really eclectic mix of shows to the town's centre.

The team have also ignited passions and community spirit with a variety of volunteer opportunities, most recently with the brand new youth project ‘Tune Up’, in which young people aged 16-25 gain hands-on experience in the live music industry. It aims to supply young people with skills that will increase self-esteem and confidence, while broadening employment opportunities in this sector. The 10 week project will end with a gig at The Baths, orchestrated by the project participants using the invaluable knowledge they’ll have attained over the course. The Baths, formerly the town’s principal swimming pool, has low ceilings, dark walls and a vast space that can hold up to 340 people; it is undoubtedly the mid-sized venue Ipswich has been missing.

A sense of excitement has been stirring in Ipswich’s centre with the repurposing of the town’s smallest medieval church. St Stephen’s will be closing towards the end of 2022 and will undergo refurbishments after securing vital funding. The installation of new fire exits will take the venue’s capacity from 110 to at least 225, while new toilets and a cafe-bar will be built alongside sound proofing infrastructure. When the venue isn’t filled with music, it will be a fully equipped and furnished cafe during the daytime and a communal space for people to work from, as well as continuing to home independently run HeX Record Shop. Branded as ‘The Church’, it’s an architecturally remarkable building that will act as a space to attract all ages, all people, in the very centre of town and with a huge focus on music and togetherness.

Establishing two new venues that have immense potential, structural charm and have already seen great success, while simultaneously rebranding Sound City as the new and improved ‘Brighten The Corners’, is really something for The Smokehouse team to shout about. There is a great deal of brilliant and inspiring things going on in Ipswich, with projects that support the community, free creative courses for disadvantaged young people, live music events multiple times a week and so much more. The efforts made by those working behind the scenes alongside members of the community are truly breathing life back into Ipswich, cementing the foundations for a culturally and creatively vibrant town.