What we are about


What is Gappy Tooth Industries?

Gappy Tooth Industries was formed in 2002 with the intention of promoting artists and encouraging creativity.

With our monthly showcase events we aim to provide an outlet for anyone wanting to perform or exhibit their material. No genre (or medium) is privileged within this space, in fact we endeavour to always juxtapose contrasting interests so as to present as varied a night as possible.

Anything is up for consideration providing it falls within boundaries of time, space and the law!

What's that supposed to mean?

We do this gig once a month and it has an odd line-up. "Come for the black metal, stay for the string quartet", that sort of thing. We very occasionally also have spoken word artists or other non-musical acts somewhere in the whirlwind of genres.

Why don't you do a normal night, like other promoters?

Because that's what other promoters do. No point doing anything unless you can justify it as essential, is there?

Sounds good, where is it?

At the Port Mahon, St Clements, Oxford. Link to Facebook Show map

This is a small, unpretentious venue above a friendly pub. We're probably too little to accommodate particularly large bands, so 9-piece voodoo jazz harp ensembles probably won't fit, we're sorry to say (though if you have a 9-piece voodoo jazz harp ensemble and you're playing Oxford let us know!).

And when?

Our night happens on the last Saturday of every month. Doors are at 19.30, the first act usually starts at about 19.50, and we try to have it all done by 22.15, so everyone can get the last bus home, or retire to the downstairs bar for a beer and a post-match discussion.

Because the last Saturday in December isn't a great day to be booking a gig, we skip that one. However, most years we end up putting together a Winter Warmer weekend festival earlier in December to compensate: the venue and nature of the event changes every year.

How much?

£5 on the door for our standard nights. Cheaper advance tickets are available. We try to keep the price down, so that as many people as possible can afford to attend. The bar is a damn sight cheaper than the big venues, too.

What do you do with all the vast profits?

Vast profits! Cute. But, anyway, GTI is a non-profit organisation, and once costs have been covered, the excess is shared equally amongst the performers.

Do you do guarantees?

Nope, what you see is what you get. We split all profit between the performers, but we don't guarantee any fixed sum, and we don't supply riders, or anything extra like that. And, yes, that means if nobody turns up to the gig you get nowt - our average door take is easily healthy enough to pay all the acts a good few quid, but fate can be a cruel mistress, so don't mortgage your house to come and perform!

What do I do if I want to get involved?

Just whisk us something to watch/listen to/experience so we can see what you get up to. Contact Us, or send us a good old fashioned demo CD (we always like that):

Gappy Tooth Industries
126 Balfour Rd
Oxford
OX4 6BT

Absolutely any style is considered. We get tons of contacts though, so not everyone will get a gig, and even those who do wait a while as we always have a shortlist bubbling away, if that's not a hideously mixed image. Which it is. We tend to book our gigs three months in advance.

So, in short, if you contact us saying, "We want to play a gig on Thursday 12th next month, and all you need is to do is give us £300 and a lobster vindaloo each", we'll ignore it. So don't bother. We try to acknowledge every serious contact, however.

Do you put on acts from outside Oxford?

Yep. An average night will feature two acts from Oxfordshire, and one from beyond. We've had great performers from Australia, Canada, Germany and all over the place, as well as regular visitors from London, Birmingham, Bristol, and all points in between.

Can I play more than one gig?

No. We try never to repeat an act at our normal monthly events, to keep things fresh. Part of our mission to be Oxford's most exciting promoters, and all that. Individual performers have turned up in various outfits, though.

Why don't you do a student discount?

We used to. But we'd get about one student every two months on average. So we stopped. Market forces, chum. It's a really cheap night out as it is, anyway.

I'm a photographer/engineer/PR genius/stage designer, can I get involved?

Probably not, but thanks for the interest. We have pretty much everything we need supplied by the GTI team. People have occasionally designed posters for us, so get in touch if you fancy that, but please note a) it'd be for your portfolio only, we can't pay you (except in a free ticket and a pint), and b) we only do black and white photocopies of posters at work when nobody is looking.

Having said this, if you have a Port-size PA and might be interested in being on our back-up list of engineers, do get in touch.

Gappy Tooth Industries is quite simply the greatest thing about Oxford music, and quite possibly the greatest entity in Oxford's long and glorious history

Yeah, sounds about right. Thanks for noticing. Obviously, we'd never have made such a claim ourselves, but seeing as it was you...