Indie and in debt
(Img Source - Polo Lounge)
With streaming paying artists fractions of a penny per play, small indie bands are relying on grassroots venues and the hyper local music scene to survive. Will Roberts speaks to Polo Lounge about adoring fans, packed venues and life on the music breadline!
The grassroots indie scene in the UK has a certain restless energy that flourishes in small venues, gig rooms with sticky floors, and late-night soundchecks. It is the sound of bands pursuing something greater and gaining momentum gig after gig. One such band is Polo Lounge, which has grown from a solo recording project in Canterbury to one of Kent's most promising up-and-coming indie acts in less than a year.
Their journey starts with their frontman Tom Rich. He launched Polo Lounge in 2024 and laid down the band’s first three singles Joyride, Burnt Tongue, and Trapped Nerve. What began as Tom’s personal outlet of creativity quickly evolved into a full band. With Courtland Adams joining on guitar, Oscar Saunders on bass, and Eevie Taylor on drums. The result is a tight knit four with a clear musical vision and an eagerness to make a lasting imprint on the indie scene.
Reviving the 2000s
Their sound taps into a familiar but enduring formula: early 2000s indie rock revivalism. The kind that defined a generation of British guitar music. But Polo Lounge are not simply chasing nostalgia; they are injecting it with urgency and dancefloor ready intensity.
Courtland Adams describes the band’s sound as “a throwback to the early-2000s indie rock scene. Loads of energy, angular guitars, and frenetic drums, but we’re also looking to get people on their feet and dancing. I think the closest comparisons are bands like Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, and Foals.”
They are part of the DNA Polo Lounge proudly embrace, drawing from the golden era of British indie while pushing forward with their own identity.
Where Else?
Like many emerging bands, Polo Lounge’s early days have been rooted in grassroots spaces, the lifeblood of the UK music ecosystem. Adams pointed toward places like Where Else in Margate and The Spice of Life in Soho as having the largest of impacts, along with a handful of local festivals. “It is really hard to pick a favourite, but we have a lot of love for Where Else and Ramsgate Music Hall, which are two brilliant Kent venues”, Adams told us.
Ramsgate Music Hall (Image source - MapQuest.com)
For Polo Lounge, venues such as these have already delivered career defining moments. One of the most memorable came at the start of 2025, when the band played their first headline show at Where Else in Margate, a gig that quickly became something much bigger than expected.
Margate is currently bidding to become the Town of Culture 2028. The national programme aims to bring funding, festivals and cultural investment to creative areas. Margate set out the bid to help strengthen some of the grassroots venues and attract even more tourism than they currently have, with 4.6 million visitors coming to Thanet
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Margate is currently bidding to become the Town of Culture 2028. The national programme aims to bring funding, festivals and cultural investment to creative areas. Margate set out the bid to help strengthen some of the grassroots venues and attract even more tourism than they currently have, with 4.6 million visitors coming to Thanet 〰️
Tom Rich remembers it clearly – “It was such a big deal for us to get our first headline show in the books, and the crowd were amazing. We had actually booked the show for a smaller venue, but demand for tickets was so massive that with only a couple of weeks to go we had to upgrade to Where Else. It was only our third show as a band, so we were not expecting that kind of turnout, but we were absolutely blown away.”
It was only our third show as a band, and we had to upgrade venues because of demand -Tom Rich on Polo Lounges breakthrough headline moment
It is the kind of story that captures the excitement of grassroots music: unpredictable, community driven, and powered by word of mouth.
That attention has already spread beyond locals, with Polo Lounge’s debut single Joyride being named Record of the Week by BBC Introducing in Kent, a platform that has launched countless new British artists.
BBC Introducing giving us Record of the Week was a brilliant way to start life as a band - Courtland Adams on early radio recognition
That recognition has opened doors with the band having recently been shortlisted in a public vote to perform at Y Not Festival, a major UK indie and alternative festival that has hosted some of the biggest names in modern guitar music. For a band still in its early stages, this opportunity could be transformative.
(Image Source - Polo Lounge)
Surviving the streaming era
But even with momentum building, Polo Lounge are navigating the same challenges facing almost every emerging UK band. The grassroots music scene. Which was once a reliable pathway for new artists, but now is under increasing pressure, with venue closures and financial constraints making it harder than ever to break through. The scene has still been in recovery after the destructive years of covid.
However, Adams points to the wider industry as a key obstacle. “The main barriers we have found are the plight of grassroots music venues and the economics of the industry. We are really lucky to have a strong scene in Kent, especially in Margate, but other places are not so lucky.”
The issue is not just about places to play but sustainability. With streaming dominating music consumption, artists earn far less than they once did from recorded music. This is something we’ve seen plenty of larger artists arguing for increases in artist profits especially from companies like Spotify and Apple music.
‘As great as streaming is for the consumer, artists get paid about £0.007 per stream, you would need about 7,000 streams to pay an hour of minimum wage for a band of four people. It is harder to make money now than it used to be.’ Adams told us.
And this is clearly the cast for all musicians in the modern era with artists such as Snoop Dogg going against the service. On an episode of ‘Business Untitled’, when asked about hitting a billion streams on Spotify “My publisher hit me. I said, 'Break that down, how much money is that?' That s**t wasn't even $45,000,". According to Ditto Music (a trusted music source) Spotify generally pays artists between £0.003 and £0.005 per stream, with an average rate often around £0.0034. Spotify claim however that they pay out roughly 70% of royalties to rights holders and that the company only keeps 30 percent.
You would need about 7000 streams just to pay an hour of minimum wage for a four piece band - Courtland Adams on the financial reality of streaming
In the CD era an average album sale in the UK would be around £9.99 to £12.99, roughly equating to between 2,500 and 4,300 streams. That’s a monumental gap an goes to show the importance of gigs and venues for bands such as Polo Lounge.
The Next Chapter
Tom Rich outlines the bands future ambitions clearly: “release more music, start touring, and break onto national radio stations like BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6, and Radio X”. Which is a trajectory built on persistence as much as talent, with an extremely ambitious set of goals.
Small stages, packed rooms, and late-night encores, continue to define Polo Lounges journey. In a difficult industry shaped by algorithms and streaming statistics, they are carving out a path built on real audiences and real experiences.
And that might be their greatest strength, because while the UK indie scene continues to evolve, bands like Polo Lounge prove that its spirit is still alive, in Margate gig rooms, in BBC Introducing slots, and in the roar of a crowd that forces a venue upgrade on a band playing only their third show.
For Polo Lounge, the road ahead is still being written. But if their early momentum is anything to go by, they are already on their way to becoming one of Kents most exciting new indie voices, one grassroots gig at a time.
Polo Lounge play Poco Loco, Chatham on 11 April.