A brand-new venue has opened in Southport that promises to inject new life into Sefton’s grassroots music scene.
The Warehouse Arts Centre is a collaborative effort between the family behind Coopers Bar (Ella, Spud, and Yvette Cooper), Andrew and Stephanie Portersmith from the non-profit Music Stuff, and the team at Tides Out Studios.
The ambitious venture even picked up a formal commendation in the House of Commons earlier this year from Southport MP Patrick Hurley for its commitment to the town’s music scene.
Instead of just being a standard venue, the space spreads different creative outlets across all four floors. This includes the new Coopers Bar which can accommodate larger touring bands, a music and repair shop, galleries and crafts, as well as a new coffee shop, theatre space and full recording studio.
We spoke to Max Pritchard, Creative Development Manager at Tides Out Studios, about the opportunities available to local musicians and how they can perform at the centre.
Max said: “I would encourage them to apply to play in one of the showcases or to come down to the open mics at Coopers Bar on Sundays. There’s always a member of the team there, and quite often the people who come in and play we’ll ask to come and record in the studio.
“One of the things that we loved about the idea of opening the art centre as a big kind of consortium was how everything interlinks with one another. Obviously, Coopers are a great local grassroots music venue, and so we see that as a kind of major pipeline for people coming to record in the studio.
“We focus on bands with original music and try to develop them. When we find a band and we think they’ve got loads of potential, and they’ve got some good songs, we’ll get them recorded in the studio for free. We’ll run songwriting sessions with them, make music videos for them, do photo shoots, point them towards music publishing companies like Ditto, and we just try and take them as far as we can.”
The next ‘Tides Out’ open mic will be held this evening (30 August 2026), 6pm at the Warehouse Arts Centre. To book a slot, email: bradevents@tidesoutstudios.co.uk
For more information, visit: mostsefton.co.uk/the-warehouse-arts-centre
