Young Fathers offer to meet with Edinburgh City Council to discuss live music scene

The band are unhappy with "Draconian" noise limits that are imposed on bands. Speaking to The Scotsman, rapper Alloysius Massaquoi said: “Edinburgh is a vibrant, beautiful city. It’d be great if it had a thriving live music scene. It’s so frustrating and I think a lot more could be done. It’s obviously not good at the moment. We’ve been trying to do events for years, and it’s pretty bad when someone from the council turns up with a noise meter, saying ‘You can’t go any higher than this.’”

The city's venue owners argue that the council enforce a "zero tolerance" policy, with small establishments shut after only a few noise complaints. Continuing, Massaquoi said: "The council has been aware of this problem for years, so it’s positive that they are now taking the initiative on it. I don’t see why we couldn’t go and speak to them and talk about the issues. It would be good to get an explanation of how it is and why it is.”

A council spokeswoman has responded to the calls, saying: “We very much welcome Young Fathers’ views on how we can enhance Edinburgh’s music scene. We know musicians and venue owners have strong perceptions around the council’s noise licencing. That’s why we have set up a working group to look into how we could do things differently.”