Negative Reaction is back!

So after a long break, Negative Reaction is back and it’s going to be bigger and better than before. With a new team being involved in the process, there are big things in the works for Negative Reaction which was first was founded in 2014 by Kieran Murphy. It began as just a record label but throughout time it expanded into something much more as he begun to work with bands from all over. I manged to interview Kieran to find out what Negative Reaction is and how it all began.

What sort of thing have you been up to in your music career? What was your first show you put on?

So at an early age I began glass collecting and some other odd jobs with Edwards No8 in Birmingham and I helped name some bands that were worth putting on shows at the time, such as Bring Me The Horizon / Enter Shikari and others. Once that place burnt down I thought ‘there is a scene for this so why not do some myself?’. The first place I tried using, I had the bands arrive and people, but the pub just didn’t open that day! I ended up losing money due to having to pay the band and not even have a show- at which time I told my parents I wouldn’t do it again. A few months later, Bleed From Within and Trigger The Bloodshed needed a last minute show, so I managed to get a venue (The Eagle & Tun) and had local band Silence At Sundown (ft Reece Hayden of Drawn In & Connor Schofield of Jaws) plus another local join them. It helped build my love up for it and I wanted to do more and more which has lead to today. After a few times of saying ‘I’m done with it’ and always coming back , I fell into booking tours for a few friends which then lead to 8 years of tour booking. I’ve traveled the world with friends bands and run a record label for a couple of years, its been a really hectic life but wouldn’t change a thing.

Your favourite gig you put on?

I have quite a few that I look back at and think ‘wow this is crazy’. The first time I booked out the O2 when I had Emmure play there was crazy. The first ever Halloween Havok alldayer in 2008 was mental as we had two stages, loads of bands from all over the UK, Australia and the USA- I lost my mind that day running around the venue with my backpack. I don’t remember watching a single band. We had so many problems but a good couple of hundred traveled for what was an amazing event for the time. Finally the first time I hosted Rotting Out with Expire/Survival/Burnt Earth/Trial & Error, plus my own band Outlived at the time, we sold out the show. When I booked it, I had booked it in an 80 cap room thinking ‘this will be insane’ but then I thought of going up to a 250 cap room-  it was the best possible move ever and the videos from that show still till the day blow my mind!

Describe what Negative Reaction is?

It’s something that snowballed from nothing. From being a record label, to a distro, into myself hosting shows with that name, then branching into interviewing bands from around the world!

When did Negative Reaction start? Why did you start Negative reaction?

I started it in 2014 when I was helping out a local band called Sentenced. We didn’t get a label to release their EP, and the lads all being good friends of mine and a mate called Zain, we decided we’d make a record label, print some merch and do some pre order T-Shirt/CD combos for the release. We just did it ourselves and we ended up selling out of them and thought this is mega fun so lets keep going!

Why do you think its important to have platforms such as Negative Reaction in the music scene?

It helps gain exposure to so many bands. It’s also now bringing me closer to friends by getting more people involved after years of doing it alone. I’ve opened up to some mates and they’re all super stoked to be doing this with me which is an amazing feeling. It helps provide a platform for people to find new music, hear about stories from the bands they love and give them all some amazing content to have.

Any crazy stories?

Probably a bunch I can’t talk about really but stuff like bands requesting weird stuff on riders, traveling around South East Asia with Desolated was just something I will never experience again and being apart of the team at Outbreak Fest for a few years helping with the running of the festival. The majority of it all is crazy because it’s coming from a lad who just wanted to see his favourite bands play in his city and now this!

So why is Negative Reaction back?

I think mainly I needed a creative outlet to do something within music because I just had over a year where I didn’t do anything with the label and I deleted the social network account; I was like ‘yeah I’m totally done with this’ ,  but then with stuff going on in my personal life in the last year, doing this helps me keep my demons at arms length and keeps me busy in them times when I’m alone. It gives people something cool to be apart of now that my friends are involved in the running of it all.

Negative Reaction was a great starting point for bands in the music scene, doing its bit to keep the music scene alive. I have high hopes that Negative Reaction will do great things for the Birmingham music Scene and beyond. Stay tuned and see what they all get up to!

By Sam Hennerley