Terry plays at a Piehouse fundraiser tonight and releases a pertinent video for his single 'Persistent'.
Photo: Sonya Woodruf | Words: Lloyd Bolton
'Persistent' is a highlight of Lou Terry's latest album 'Building a Case', which came out on Divine Schism back in November. The track tells of Terry's renting woes in London and the precarity of living at the mercy of a landlord's prerogative to raise the rent or sell up. In not unrelated circumstances, beloved DIY venue Matchstick Piehouse was recently brought back from the brink after its landlords threatened to shut it down for good.
The Piehouse came under threat after the arch under which it is built was sold by National Rail to The Arch Company. As Liv Wynter of the newly formed Piehouse Co-op puts it, the company is, "A joint venture between US private equity group Blackstone and property investor Telereal Trillium – who are both as bad and greedy as their Americana names imply". The venue was a victim of the collateral damage of that deal. "Arch Co. bought 4,455 arches in a £1.46billion deal, and with that came evictions and hiking rents, sometimes as extreme as 100%+ increases". At the Piehouse specifically, there was also the issue of rent arrears in the wake of closure and mixed trading during the Covid pandemic. In November 2023, the venue's new landlords told them they had one week to pay off their full debt. Initial negotiations and the wave of support shown in that week led to an extension to this deadline and later sit-down meetings with the landlords. Months later, after ongoing efforts were buoyed by donations from artists and patrons as well as a grant from Lewisham Council, it was finally announced in November 2024 that the Piehouse would be reopening. As Wynter frames it, "In the face of selfish landlords, a group of workers and resident artists decided that they weren't going to give up on Matchstick Piehouse and our new workers co-op was born."
The situation remains tenuous, however, with the Co-op citing "staff wages, a sustainable and financially secure co-operative structure, equipment (as everything was lost in the previous closure) and rent" as ongoing areas in need of financial support. Tonight, coinciding with the release of a new video for his track 'Persistent', Lou Terry will be headlining Matchstick Piehouse as part of a fundraiser gig to keep the venue up and running, where he will be joined by leather.head "and friends", Nastazia Bazil and 4 O'Clock. Tickets can be found here.
Lou has been closely involved in events at the Piehouse for years while moving from flat-to-flat during his time in London. Telling us about 'Peristent' and its relevance to the Piehouse's struggle, he explains, "Every year (or 2 if I'm lucky) for the past 8 years living in London I've had to move house or flat coz the landlord has decided they want to up the rent or sell. 'Persistent' is a song about that, and the renting crisis in general. It makes a lot of sense to release around the Piehouse fundraiser gig we're doing, as they, like many renters and music venues in London are facing issues with the unchecked greed of landlords."
Of 'his song 'Persistent' specifically, he tells us, "I was having to move at the time of writing this particular song because our landlord (who was a very successful music industry booker with a ton of money) had decided he needed some more money and wanted to sell his spare flats and buy a new property in Margate. Having just moved into this flat, I was pretty determined not to leave, so just kind of hid and didn't answer the door whenever the estate agents called. Or when they had viewings we left mouse traps out (although there weren't any mice, and if there were I wouldn't harm them), or buckets of water to make obvious the multiple leaks that were occurring. It didn't last long, but I got this song out of it."
Lou Terry by Louise Mason | Words: Lloyd Bolton
Matchstick Piehouse is a particularly valuable venue in London because it facilitates artists and promoters trying new things and is often uniquely receptive to noncommercial, experimental events and fundraisers for a diverse range of causes. Its folk jams have spawned new bands and matched players up to existing projects, while nights like 'Raw Eggs', run by Rosie Alena, Louise Macphail and Eleanor Chilton-Sutton, have specifically encouraged artists to try out new material. Aside from its programming, the venue's existence as a volunteer-run cooperative is of great importance to our artistic community. Piehouse is built on the principles of, "Providing a home for art which isn't based on commercialism, a business which respects their staff, and a space which welcomes people with all ranges of ability… maximum empowerment for everyone that we engage with."
Terry's attitude captures the value of fighting for spaces such as this, just as renters fight to hold onto their own spaces and London's artists try in spite of the city to keep its culture vital. "Many fantastic artists and musicians I know are leaving London because of the way landlord's treat tenants and the astronomical rents", he says. "I think it will kill the city eventually and I think that it further widens the already enormous gap of accessibility in arts and music in this city."
Wynter echoes his sentiment in explaining the vision of Piehouse Co-op. "As fat cat landlords get richer and richer, we lose housing, communities, culture, creativity, and everything beautiful that can be borne of a stable roof over our heads and a space to see our friends. We hope that the new Piehouse Workers Co-op will offer a site for artists and community organisers to come together and create new ways of being together. Being inside the venue feels like a small taste of what could be possible, if we are able to come together and organise."
"We implore everyone to make active choices to support their local venues. Pay the entry fee, buy a couple of drinks, maybe even have a pie. Without everyone engaging regularly with these spaces, we will continue to see them drown under the weight of capitalism and unforgiving debt. We also encourage everyone reading this to join the London Renters Union - you are not alone!"
Full info on tonight's Matchstick Piehouse fundraiser: https://www.outsavvy.com/event/25533/piehouse-fundraiser-lou-terry-leatherhead-friends-nastazia-bazil-4-oclock
London Renters Union: https://londonrentersunion.org
Photo: Jazz Noble
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