Los Campesinos! claim Twitch streamers are introducing them to a wider audience
Gareth David of indie-pop legends Los Campesinos! has given Twitch some credit for the extended success of the band in a recent interview.
In the interview, with Last Donut Of The Night, David suggested that the continued popularity of the band, along with new Los Campesinos! fans, might partially have been influenced by Twitch streamers. “There’s a couple of very famous Twitch streamers who are fans of our band,” he said, “and one of them wears our merchandise on his streams.”
David talked about the impact this had on the band, saying “we’ve sold a lot more items of that merch… our Spotify streams are up in the last year by 100,000 listeners, and our demographics massively skew to younger ages. It really surprised me.”
He commented on the younger influx of fans, and the ratio of male to female listeners, saying the story had changed over the last year or so. “On my last check a month ago, 12 per cent of our Spotify listeners were under 18, which amazed me. 77 per cent are younger than us, which I think is a brilliant situation to be in.
“In terms of gender, 49 per cent female, 44 per cent male, and six per cent nonbinary. That was a pleasant surprise, to see that only 44 per cent of our listeners are dudes.”
He went on to say the band “have to thank Twitch a lot for that” saying, “it’s been a nice organic growth, especially as we haven’t been able to play shows or record.”
Los Campesinos! released their debut album ‘Hold On Now, Youngster…’ back in 2008, and released their most recent album, ‘Sick Scenes’ in 2017. While the band formed in Cardiff while the members were at Cardiff University, they’re now scattered throughout the United Kingdom.
Further on in the interview, talk switched to video games, with David expressing his determination to “get into” gaming during lockdown. “I’d had Breath Of The Wild for a long time before the pandemic,” he confessed, “I tried to get into it but couldn’t, so [when the pandemic began] I was like “Right, I’m gonna get into it”. That was one of the best months of pop culture of my life.”
He also described how his friends kept in touch by playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch through Zoom, and how the band once got a bunch of free Xboxes. “About 12 years ago, Microsoft licensed a song from the Sticking Fingers Into Sockets EP for an in-house training video or something, and they paid for it. It must’ve been a decent amount for us to say “Yes,” but we also said to them, “Can we also get seven free Xboxes?” Two days later, we all got Xboxes delivered, so that was my brief period of getting into gaming, like Call of Duty. But I was just rubbish at it.”
“I don’t think I have the dexterity. Mario is my limit when it comes to gaming.”
Los Campesinos! has just announced three gigs in December which will see 10 per cent of tickets sold going to low-income fans for just £5, gender-neutral facilities and all venues fully accessible.
December 2021
13 – Cardiff, Tramshed
14 – London, Village Underground
15 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
In other gaming news, Nintendo of America has said it has “no plans” to cut the price of the Nintendo Switch, following the console’s standard model’s price drop in Europe earlier this week.
