Kagoule open up about Momentum Fund: “It came as such a shock!”

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Earlier today, the latest round of artists funded by PRS for Music Foundation and Arts Council England’s Momentum Music Fund was revealed, with Kagoule being one of the eighteen chosen.

Fresh from playing DIY’s Alcove Stage at Latitude Festival, we spoke to Cai Burns, frontman of the Nottingham-based trio, to find out exactly how they came across the Momentum Fund, what advice they’d offer to anyone wanting to apply and what they’ll be putting the funding towards.

Hello Cai! How’re you doing?
Just dandy, thank you!

It’s just been announced that you’ve awarded funding through Momentum - how does it feel?
It came as such a shock! We were stuck at the bottom of a big soily hole and the Momentum angels have just thrown down a rope ladder

What have you actually applied for the funding to do?
We will be using it to record and release our second record.

What was it that made you turn to the idea of funding? Is it something you were familiar with before submitting your application or were you introduced to it fairly recently? Was it something you really thought available?
I first heard of it through our friends in The Wytches but I thought it was a bit like winning the lottery, yanno? It’s hard to keep things afloat in this industry so we thought we’d try any option available to us.

What was it like to fill in the application? Do you think it prompted you to come up with more of a concise plan?
We knew what we wanted to do and how we wanted to go about it but didn’t have the money to make it happen. We put that across clearly in our application and maybe that helped towards us being awarded the fund.

How much do you think the money will really benefit you? Is it hard to convey how necessary support like this is in the music industry?
It’s going to help us out no end. We’ve had the songs for this record ready for a while now but have been been chucking everything we make back into touring. We don’t have the backing of a label so the idea of saving up for a second record has seemed almost impossible. People seem to think that there’s a lot of money in this industry and that bands just waste it away, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Everyone I know in bands invest everything they have into it and often fund it from their own pocket. Funding like this takes a massive stress off their personal lives and lets them fully focus on being creative and moving forward.

What advice would you give to bands in your position, especially if they’re considering doing similar?
If you’ve given it everything you can but found yourself stuck in a rut then this is your saving grace.

DIY and PRS for Music Foundation will be bringing you information, advice and interviews with the artists funded through the Momentum Fund over the next week. Stay tuned for more, or head to their official website to find out how to apply.

Momentum receives support from Arts Council England and Spotify. Check out Spotify’s Momentum Music Fund playlist below.