I started following roustghoti's Youtube channel around 2023, at first mainly watching her Black Midi and BCNR recordings. However, because of her vibrant thumbnails and cinematic filming style, I started checking out almost every artist she's put on her channel and got to know many great lesser-known artists over time.

When I started building this platform I naturally wanted to get her opinion on it and she kindly gave feedback that was very helpful. I asked her a lot of other questions back then, similar to the ones below. Today I ask many of them again, this time for everyone else to read. Bolded sentences are mine, non-bolded are hers:

What year did you get into filming gigs, and what got you into it?

It is part of the culture in China to record videos of shows because the band likes it, the audience like it, etc. But for me it was mainly about Black Midi, like I told you earlier. I went to London (from China) because of my master's degree in Music Business Management. Before I came to London I listened to a podcast, hosted by an alumni of the same major, who is also Chinese. She'd studied here around 2018. She had been in the Windmill scene, and she mentioned it in her podcast. And that's what introduced me to Windmill.

I knew about some of the Windmill bands from watching recordings, so after coming to London I started going to their gigs. I got into Black Midi after seeing their shows, I joined their Discord and saw the #bootlegs channel. I realised that there is a hardcore indie culture so I started to try recording high quality lossless audio along my videos, so I could share my recordings on that bootleg channel.

What was the main things you learned along the way, that improved your recording quality?

That you should use professional equipment to record audio instead of the phone/camera itself. I started using a recorder because of a friend, who is also a Black Midi fan, that I met in Leeds. He was using this Sony recorder, which was very small and light, easy to bring anywhere. I asked him the model so that I can buy the same one. It took me some time to figure out what the best mode is to record a show in... But yeah, I figured it out after several shows.

What was the model?

Sony PCM A10

I searched it on ebay and saw that it was around £200. That seemed too expensive so I looked at Chinese ebay and found someone selling it! She bought it to record meetings but she didn't end up using it. She sold it for £90 and I bought it (laughs), but it took another £80 to deliver it from China to here.

A lot of your early recordings are of Black Midi, do you remember when and where you first found out about them?

I actually remember it very clearly because it was a very impressive experience (laughs). It was around 2021 November, and I'd booked a Black Midi show in Southbank for the Pitchfork London festival in around August/July after hearing good things about their new album. It was around when Cavalcade had come out. I actually didn't listen to it that much, I heard it once and thought that it was good and that I should see them live. So that show was in November, and in October I planned to see a band which used to be one of my favourite British bands. I followed their tour around the UK, for 5 shows. Each show was exactly the same: the same song, same order, same dance (laughs). I was a bit disappointed at the end of the tour.

The day of the Black Midi show, I actually had tickets for another show. I saw Damon Albarn's solo show at Rough Trade East, it had a signing session after. I spent around 2 hours in the queue for the signing, but I didn't get the experience that I had hoped for. I was disappointed with the night so far, then I went to Black Midi's Southbank show. They were on pretty late, it was around midnight / 1am. When they started playing, within the first 5 seconds, I felt that the vibe was completely different (compared to Damon Albarn). I nearly got crushed by the audience and had to move towards the left of the stage after 2 songs, so the experience was awful safety wise, but the sound was very unique. After that show I decided to book more Black Midi shows but stand on the left of the stage. They were playing 2 shows in Leeds Brudenel Social Club so I went there 2 weeks later. Those two shows were pretty awesome, they played basically the same set but they would add to songs or change songs in each show. I found it pretty interesting that I saw them for 3 shows in a row but they were all different shows. This was pretty different from the band I mentioned earlier, who always play the same show (laughs).

Those 3 different shows made me realise that each show would be different, and that's what made me want to record all the shows of them. I wanted to record all the different sides of the band.

You followed Black Midi on tour to other countries, did you notice differences in crowds to compared to London?

I didn't go to America, I've only been to shows in the UK, around 4 different countries in the EU and China. I definitely felt that the crowds in the EU were different depending on which country you were in. I followed them to France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland. People in Italy are pretty enthusiastic, you can see that the people arrived at the venue early and they cheered a lot, it was a bit chaotic and you could feel it in the vibe during the shows. In France, Austria and Switzerland they are more calm, peaceful but still polite to the band.

What about China? How did the Chinese audiences react to Black Midi?

So in China, and I don't know if this is similar to Japan, they don't really like to jump or mosh. They like to applaud if they are satisfied with the show. Chinese people are more shy you could say. There were a few people that jumped in the Guang Zhou show, but it was less than 10.

Most people would arrive at the venue very, very early. Like the show in Shanghai, which sold out in one day. The doors opened at 7, but people arrived at around 4/5pm.

Why did they arrive so early?

This is part of the culture. Fans want to see the bands from the very front row. They don't like to mosh, they just want to see the band. People also like taking videos while being close to the band to post on social media. It makes them feel accomplished (laughs). That's the culture. A lot of people would wait in the first row for 5 hours, they wouldn't go to the toilet or get beers, they'll just stand there until the end of the show.

There's also no real vinyl/record shops in China, so the vinyls for bands like Black Midi are very hard to find. But there was still a lot of people that brought their vinyls with them to the show, I assume they got them from Japanese Amazon or somewhere overseas.

A lot of people, especially in Guang Zhou, were waiting after the show with their vinyls. It was around 50-100 people there at the back door. When Cameron saw them he was shocked, everyone just holding their vinyl and asking him to sign it. When I was in EU, for example in the Italy show, there weren't a lot of people with vinyls so I think this is a thing mainly with Asian audiences. If people buy vinyls, they'd like to have it signed. Fans in China also like to take selfies and give the band their fan-made merch.

Have you had any memorable interactions with bands after they've seen your footage?

Yeah. I think Black Midi doesn't really check Youtube actually (laughs). They know I'm recording but I don't think they like to check Youtube for recordings. But with BCNR, I know May's mum and her family really like watching my recordings. She told me in person a lot of times. I think the most memorable thing was BCNR's Bush Hall film. I don't know if you've seen that video.

I really liked BCNR's first two albums, so when Isaac announced that he was leaving the band I was really depressed. I saw Charlie the day after that announcement at Windmill. He was playing as the drummer for the Black Midi karaoke event. After that I booked BCNR's new shows in May I think, it was the first few shows for them to probably try the new songs. I went to Brighton, Leeds and Manchester to see the first 3 shows of their tour, recorded them and put them on Youtube. Those 3 videos became the source for the fans all over the world, since at that time they hadn't released anything officially but they had booked festivals. So people who were going to the festivals were curious about what they were going to play, and my videos kind of became the main sources to hear the new materials.

When they played in Primavera that year, I was in the first row. I heard the people beside me, two Spanish guys, and they started to sing "BCNR Friends Forever". I asked them how they knew the lyrics, they said they saw some videos on Youtube and showed me my video on their phone (laughs). I said "oh cool, I'll check it out". After the show in Primavera, the band mentioned in an interview that it was because of the videos online that they received a big welcome. I felt really happy about that. Though the biggest thing happened around October that year.

Their manager sent me an email, thanking me for recording their stuff, and mentioned that they would like to do a big project. This ended up becoming Live at Bush Hall. He said they'd like to do 3 shows at Bush Hall and asked me if I would like to help them record the footage. So I went to the Bush Hall shows and recorded 3 different videos, and sent them to the director. You can see my name on the credits of the film.

That's so cool. I saw that film but I wasn't aware that you were involved in it.

(Laughs) it's because they used a lot of different angles, recorded with different devices. My footage is kinda mixed in it.

Nowadays, how do you decide which gigs to go to and film?

I feel kind of guilty, but I go to some gigs only because they are famous or they will be famous in the future, while I don't really enjoy their music (laughs). But I try to keep these gigs as few as I can. Most of the shows I go to are because I heard they're good, or some other band I know recommended them. I try to control the quality of the music I put on my channel, I think of it as my curation. I don't want to post any music that I really dislike.

Have you ever recorded a gig and didn't post it because you didn't like it?

Yeah, that happens a lot (laughs).

What are your favourite venues to film in?

I would say, probably Village Underground (hesitating) but not really... There are some venues that are easier to record in, because you can find good spots. There are also venues that have great lighting which make your video look so gorgeous. But in those venues you usually don't find a good spot to record. I really like the lighting at The Old Blue Last. It's good at Windmill sometimes, when they don't use the blue and purple lights. High saturation makes the video look awful. I have a great spot at the Village Underground, near the stairs. But the lights there aren't very good, sometimes the bands look like shadows. I like Roundhouse when I'm on the balcony seats. I like Barbican, it has a very good sound and environment, but I can only shoot good stuff from the front rows.

Other than filming gigs, do you take on other roles in the music industry?

Currently I have a freelance job, working between UK and Chinese management. [REDACTED - she gave some information but apparently it can't be public at this time. Check out her Instagram which is linked below for potential big news!]

I did a small tour last year with a Chinese band called Re-TROS. They did a show with KEXP, they played in the Electric Ballroom in Camden which nearly sold out. I had them play in the Windmill as a secret show, and they also played in Manchester. We're planning to bring more Chinese bands to the UK/EU.

Final question: who are your favourite up-and-coming acts?

The Orchestra (For Now), Heartworms and Mary in the Junkyard. I think I'll go with these three... I hope (laughs). I think Heartworms will be one of the biggest ones. We'll see how The Orchestra (For Now)'s Scala show will go.

Check out roustghoti's Youtube channel for gig recordings, and Instagram account for her other ventures.