Metal Disco

After viewing a documentary and reading Steve Waksman’s depiction of the rise of “The New Wave of British Heavy Metal”, I was enthralled by the idea behind Neal Kay’s heavy metal nights at the Kingsbury Bandwagon Pub. The event coined as, “Soundhouse”, was a regular gathering where as Waksman described, “it was a place where heavy metal fans could feel at home a few nights a week” (Waksman 172). What fascinates me regarding this “heavy metal disco” is a couple of things; first of all the notion of a musical community that existed back then and secondly, how important this collective environment (and many others like it) were to creating the present day metal scene and underlying sense of community.

Ironically, DJ Neal Kay’s Soundhouse was no more than, “young male fans in denim jackets and rock t-shirts milling about, mooning the camera and most notably, playing air guitar, a favored practice of heavy metal musical appreciation”(Waksman 173). This being said, the whole concept of a place for who most of society deemed as misfits to roam free and casual was so influential in shaping the culture of the new wave of British heavy metal. Just like Sarah Thornton interjects in her study, “Club Cultures”, “The music and style press are crucial to our conceptions of British youth; they do not just cover subcultures, they create them”(Waksman 175). Thornton is getting at a great thing here, during the up rise of the new wave of British heavy metal teens didn’t simply have computers to download all their music, nor did they have chat rooms to get advice on good music, these young listeners had to go out and find clubs that had the correct equipment and LOUD sound systems. At these clubs is where the subculture norms were created, that includes dancing, lingo, dress and anything else you could think of. Events like Kay’s Soundhouse are responsible for shaping the entire new scene of British heavy metal and rocketing the genre into the public limelight.

At the Soundhouse, Neal Kay managed to bring together fans of both the softer Melodic Rock and lovers of the harder-edged Heavy Metal. Kay also compiled many of the numerous demos he received onto an album called "Metal For Muthas", and several volumes were released, becoming collector's items for fans and really the start of the “mixtape” phenomenon making it easier for bands to get discovered and for the scene to take on rapid growth in both musicians and listeners. The Soundhouse, a tiny bar in a tiny town absolutely brought a great sense of community to the up and coming metal scene in England.