Full of Noises: Barrow-in-Furness's Unlikely Experimental Music Hub
In the industrial landscape of Barrow-in-Furness, where BAE Systems' submarine facilities dominate the skyline, an unexpected cultural phenomenon has taken root. Full of Noises, an experimental music and arts venue with a modest capacity of just forty people, has become a magnet for some of the world's most innovative musicians, challenging perceptions about where cutting-edge art can flourish.
From Submarine Canteen to Permanent Home
The journey began in 2009 when artistic director Glenn Boulter and four fellow local artists secured funding to launch a two-day festival. Their initial venue was the crumbling canteen building on Barrow Island, situated within the heavily secured military-industrial complex that defines much of the town's identity. "For us, that was an interesting context to be working in," Boulter reflects, recalling how the team would test security protocols by pretending to take photographs near restricted areas.
This paradoxical setting offered unexpected creative freedom. "You could do anything because no one was really bothered or looking," Boulter explains. The inaugural festival featured krautrock legends Faust destroying an electric guitar with a pneumatic drill, while local ex-submariners performed Kurt Schwitters' dadaist poetry in morse code, establishing the venue's boundary-pushing ethos from the outset.
A Permanent Sanctuary in Barrow Park
After sixteen years of nomadic programming that saw the venue "commissioning work, drawing on the town's history, architecture and communities," Full of Noises found a permanent home in 2025. Piel View House, a former park keeper's lodge perched on a hill in Barrow Park, now hosts the venue following a thoughtful renovation that added a Scandinavian-inspired black cuboid extension to the original red brick structure.
The acoustically engineered space features pristine white interiors and high rectangular windows framing the surrounding tree canopy. This intimate setting has welcomed internationally acclaimed artists including:
- Julia Holter from Los Angeles
- Lonnie Holley, who performed here to forty people just a week after playing London's 1,500-capacity Roundhouse
- Marisa Anderson and Jim White
- Tashi Wada
Beyond concerts, the venue hosts film screenings, creative workshops, and artist residencies including electronic musician Lee Gamble. "We've always enjoyed the challenge of putting on this kind of work in a place that's fairly small and isolated," says Boulter.
The Financial Model Enabling Accessibility
Full of Noises operates through an innovative funding structure that prioritises community access. The venue holds a twenty-five-year lease on a peppercorn rent from the local authority, which supported redevelopment over demolition. Arts Council England funding covers the majority of overheads, with Barrow's recent designation as an ACE Priority Place proving transformative.
"It meant being able to access money for the building and increasing our funding enough to have a proper team," Boulter explains. Additional support from the local authority, trusts, and foundations allows the venue to host more than sixty events annually, most priced at just £5 or pay-what-you-feel. "It's about being really open and welcoming to anyone that wants to engage with us."
Creating a Home Away From Home
Venue programmer Amy Stretch-Parker emphasises the personal touch that defines the Full of Noises experience. Having toured extensively herself, she recalls "sleeping on astroturf in someone's kitchen" and is determined to offer better hospitality. She cooks a communal meal for every visiting artist, ensuring "no matter who's performing, everyone's treated the same."
Future renovations dependent on funding will create bedrooms for visitors and artists-in-residence upstairs, further enhancing the venue's welcoming atmosphere. During Independent Venue Week, the team hosted graduates from London College of Communication, with one performer, Sanki, captivating audiences using an illuminated tank of water and metal chains to produce sub-aquatic, mechanical distortions that vibrated the walls—a fitting sonic exploration for a town built around submarine engineering.
The Shakespearean Connection
The venue's name finds poetic resonance in Barrow's isolation. A local regular points to Caliban's speech in The Tempest: "Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises / Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not." This Shakespearean reference perfectly captures how Boulter and his team have discovered enchantment in unexpected surroundings.
"As an artist, it's just a really unusual, interesting place to be," Boulter concludes. "An unlikely place where excellent art can happen." In a town where roughly one third of working-age residents are employed in submarine construction, Full of Noises demonstrates how strategic arts funding can transform remote communities into vibrant cultural destinations, proving that experimental creativity can thrive in the most surprising locations.
