Favourite Haunts: Scaler, Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band, Autocamper on the Small Venues They Love
Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Written by Huw Baines
Clockwise from left: Scaler, Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band, Autocamper
Welcome to the second edition of Favourite Haunts, our newish feature celebrating small venues, community spaces and the bands who play them. This time around we hear from Bristol’s industrial-leaning experimentalists Scaler, future Americana greats Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band, and Manchester indie-poppers Autocamper, who’ll all be on tour supporting excellent new records in the coming months. Head below to find out which rooms occupy a place close to their hearts.
Who? Bristol-raised genre-transgressors with a core understanding of what makes their city’s music scene tick and also a joyful disregard for tradition and convention. Their second album ‘Endlessly’ is out on September 26, bringing a collaborative spirit (guests include Art School Girlfriend, Tlya X An, Shadow Stevie, and Thomas Ridley) to bear on a sound that is increasingly exploratory and, in the case of Salt, their recent single with Akiko Haruna, even meditative. It offered an interesting contrast with the preceding Broken Entry, which leaned hard into cold-steel synths and a sense-awakening sort of menace.
Where? After playing their part at Idles’ Queens Square throwdown in their hometown, Scaler will follow the new record with November dates in London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds and Cardiff.
What’s their favourite small venue? “Strange Brew in Bristol is a special space. Their curation is always on point and the vibe is one of a kind, with local art displayed everywhere in the front gig space and then the perfect dark and smoky back room for late nights.
“We launched our Daniel Avery collab EP with two back-to-back shows there, the first supported by Cold Light (ELDON from the band has since joined us for a track on ‘Endlessly’) and the second featured Daniel opening his set with Slipknot! It’s a perfect example of what a venue can be when the people running it give a shit about what they’re doing and put the thought into how they can further local culture.”
Who? Fronted by Louisville-based songwriter Ryan Davis, the Roadhouse Band occupy a cool space between David Berman’s hyper-specific, oddly melodic indie-pop and a barfly’s favourite country-rock band. Their latest album ‘New Threats from the Soul’ is out on July 25 and it adds a few more dives and diversions to their world, with woodwind and strings laced throughout spacious songs that allow you to get up and wander around in them. Davis has a way of tripping you up with a great hook — they’re rarely signposted or made a fuss of but they get you all the same — and his lyrics are a mile a minute recounting of weird stuff, lingering anxieties and the vague hope that it’ll be fine in the end.
Where? Davis and company will play a whole bunch of UK and Ireland shows in August and September. Catch them in Marlborough, London, Cambridge, Coventry, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Norwich, Luton, Moseley, Bath, Winchester, Kilkenny, Dublin and Glasgow either side of their set at Dorset’s End of the Road festival.
What’s their favourite small venue? “So many great venues come to mind, but I’ll pick a small bar in Kingston, New York, just a couple hours north of the city, called Tubby’s. The live room is tiny — I can’t fathom fitting more than 60-70 people in there, though I’m sure it’s been done. Some buddies of mine who used to live in Austin, Texas moved up there to open it seven-ish years ago and I’ve been playing there as often as possible with my various musical outfits ever since.
“You get treated well at the bar, the sound is pro, there’s some good coffee and food spots nearby, and bands can stay at their little apartment near the venue, so it always makes for a fun night of having perhaps one too many and not needing to leave the block you’re on from load-in onward. When stars align, as they often do, it’s the ideal one-two punch for an east coast US tour routing to or from the equally beloved Union Pool in Williamsburg.”
Who? Manchester indie-poppers who are very clear about what they’re not (press materials for their debut album quickly reject their “city’s predictable post-punk machismo” and “C86 revisionism”) and also very clear about what they are. ‘What Do You Do All Day?’ is a lovely, rickety pop record that understands the power of a melody that is more human and addictive because of its understatedness. Their songs have ringing guitars and sun-dappled melancholy to spare, with recent single Proper even offering a driving, reassuring spin on the “everything is going to be alright” chorus template. Proper, indeed.
Where? Following Manchester Pop Festival they’ll play an album launch show at the Star & Garter before heading to Glasgow for a stop at the Glad Cafe. After that, there are dates with their Slumberland label mates Chime School (spin their beautiful 2024 album ‘The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel’ for that good jangle) in London, Coventry, Leeds, and Newcastle.
What’s their favourite small venue? “I [vocalist and guitarist Jack Harkins] enjoy playing at Wharf Chambers in Leeds because they have this toilet cubicle with an old style chain flusher in there that you have to properly yank. When we play and I feel too nervous or shy to be out smoking or talking to people, I sometimes take myself in there for a couple of goes on the flusher without any real need to. Everything about that flusher is just right. The chainlinks are quite large and it gives it a denser, stronger feeling when you pull it. It makes me feel both herculean and like I've just got out of a hot bath. Excellent.”
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