A NEW series of gigs has been launched in a bid to give Warrington bands more opportunities to play in their home town.

Rewire started late last year after Emma Bate-Nilsson organised the music for an exhibition by the DIY female-led art group, Womanstanley.

The former Great Sankey High pupil, who fronts the shoegaze band Danxia, got chatting to krautrock trio Klaut and they found they had a lot in common when it came to the struggle of getting their music out.

Emma said: “We decided to try and set up more opportunities for gigs in Warrington. We also wanted to give young people who want to pursue a career in the music industry the opportunity to get experience. For example, we’ve got a student from Barrow Hall College who is shadowing our sound engineer.”

Roger Jeffery, from Klaut, added: “We wanted to create better links between creative people in Warrington, who often feel there isn’t enough of a scene or enough of an infrastructure to support or inspire them here. We were trying to think of a name for it, and ‘Rewire’ seemed to work well as it hints at the town’s industrial past, as well as the idea of us trying to create connections.”

Warrington’s music scene has been a bit quiet lately, especially in the wake of the Viola Beach tragedy. And although Emma and Roger do not think Rewire should be perceived as a comeback they think the potential is there.

Emma, 23, said: “People travel out to Manchester and Liverpool for live bands, so the demand is there it’s just that we, as a town, don’t provide much of it. One of our goals is to give Warrington bands the opportunity to play in their hometown instead of having to travel out of town.”

Roger, who lives in Liverpool but has worked in Warrington for almost 10 years, added: “It also depends on the attitude of venues, and how committed they are to the idea of helping to create an atmosphere for Warrington talent to emerge. Viola Beach are a good example of this if you think about how important The Lounge was to their development.”

After a successful event at The Brewhouse in Buttermarket Street last year, Rewire 2 will be held at The Auction Rooms in Legh Street on Friday. Danxia and Klaut will be joined by folk punk acoustic act Hello Mabel and noise/drone duo Gout.

Roger, 33, said: “I think that it’s so easy to have a moan about Warrington, but when you look a bit deeper there are so many creative people in our town, all from different genres and influences. I think we’re all just waiting for a platform, and hopefully Rewire can help to start the ball rolling…”

Entry for Rewire 2 at The Auction Rooms on Friday is £3. Doors open at 9pm