Gaz Coombes has called for government support to help small music venues survive.
Gaz Coombes
The 44-year-old musician - who was due to reunite with his Supergrass bandmates on tour this summer to mark the 25th anniversary of their seminal chart-topping debut album, 'I Should Coco' - has called on Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to allocate money from the Emergency Grassroot Music Venues Fund to smaller establishments.
Speaking ahead of a live-streamed performance at The Bullingdon music venue in Oxford, he said: "Fingers crossed some of this money from the government can go towards correcting things, fixing things, helping these venues out because it's just so vital.
"It's really concerning, the main stream pop world is a different beast, I think it comes in at a different level.
"It's a different approach, but for indie music, or for rock and roll bands and artists, that whole idea of starting out with a group of fans that see you in a small room with 100 people, to share that start of a journey with a band is kind of fundamental, it's the foundation of live music."
Meanwhile, Gaz previously admitted he felt "responsible" for Supergrass' split and explained that their lengthy hiatus largely came down to feeling "uninspired" with the album they were working on.
He said: "I remember feeling uninspired. You'd take CDs with you on your journey home and it was the first time I'd never play them to anyone, which was weird.
"I was trying to be optimistic, thinking that they weren't ready, but I just wasn't digging it. I just felt quite sad about it, really."
He added that it felt "horrible and demoralising" when they showed what they had to a record label and insisted he had never intended to start a solo career and said he felt like he had a "weight" lifted off his shoulders when they decided to go their separate ways.
He added: "We played them two or three tracks and I was sitting there thinking: 'These aren't very good.'
"It just felt horrible and demoralising. It was painful and I didn't see a way out apart from leaving the band.
"I felt responsible. I didn't want to f*** things up for anyone else. "But once I'd decided to leave, I felt really good, that weight had gone.
"I had no thoughts about doing any music on my own, I just wanted to not have that feeling with music before it got too much and did any damage."
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