Happy Halloween!
Graveyard smashes and awful puns aside, it’s the one day of the year where we get to be as weird as we want without anyone giving us (much) hassle about it. Giving me a funny look won’t stop me quietly stimming ‘lizard, lizard, lizard’ to myself, Karen. In these trying times? Please, just let me have this.
In any case, no matter whether you’re a zombie, the devil, Jesus, or Rick O’Connell from the 1999 cinematic masterpiece The Mummy, tonight, we all get to cut loose by being someone else for a change – and as anyone who’s been with us over the course of NTKO’s journey knows, we’re all about authenticity, performance, and being a bit silly.
While Halloween might only happen once a year, we want to give people a chance to be their own weird-selves all year round. That’s why we’ve been working hard to bring as many opportunities as we can for people to enjoy great live music from artists in Lincolnshire and beyond, and maybe even give performing on stage a shot themselves.
This month, I spoke to NTKO Director and Founder Dale Tyler alongside NTKO’s newest member, Jordan Burton-Morris about the events that are helping to put Lincolnshire on the UK Music map… and how a chance encounter transformed a once-shy 19-year-old into NTKO’s resident promotions powerhouse.
Jordan (left) and Dale (right), on set at BalaClava’s ‘Saint and Sinner’ music video session. He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.
A Man of Many Talents
Jordan, 19, is nothing short of a modern renaissance man when it comes to music: a master of many instruments, a singer and songwriter, an avid sound tech, a venue promoter, band liaison, and social media manager – all between being a full-time student.
“I get bored of just doing one thing, I generally need to do a lot of different things to stay engaged,” he says. “Honestly, music is what takes up most of my time outside of college. It’s what I love.”
He credits Metallica for kick-starting his love of all things Metal: “The first time I heard them was transformative for me. Going from listening to chart music to seeing these guys throwing themselves around on stage and playing fast and heavy was an eye-opening experience.”
Metal is more than just an empowering genre to listen to; there’s a sense of liberation that comes with performing it on stage too, explains Jordan, even when the nerves set in – and especially when performing around taboo topics.
“There’s always an anxiousness that hits me right before I get on stage, but there’s also this moment of clarity where I can just step into a different identity – the band I’m currently performing with, Sacred Starfish, in particular. I can put myself into a completely different character to play everything from acoustic ballads and Pop Rock to Power Metal, Death Metal and Heavy Metal.”
“Sacred Starfish are very niche in terms of their original content, but they really embody what we’re about at NTKO,” points out Dale. “They’re not afraid to do what they want to do, and they’re committed to trying something different with their original tracks, and above all, sticking with it and being themselves.
“I wanted to bring him on board as a musician after I’d seen him post online that they’d done a gig at Marisco in Sutton-on-Sea and wanted to perform again. Knowing that it’s difficult to get gigs around Lincolnshire as an original band, I commented and said to get in touch. It wasn’t until after I got to know him that I realised he could bring a lot of value to the CIC.”
While striving to excel in so many fields can be a rewarding (if demanding) pursuit, it can also take a toll on our mental and physical health without careful reflection, as Jordan knows well.
“I’ve had days where I’ve been impossibly productive, recording 4 songs in a day, and the next week I just have no energy for anything and I’m barely able to get out of bed,” he says. “I definitely struggle with burnout. It’s difficult when it’s something you love doing, but you need to rest, or it gets to a point where you’re just running yourself down.”
Jordan can adopt a completely different persona when performing with Sacred Starfish.
But joining the NTKO team has taught him to find a healthier balance between work and rest. “What NTKO are doing is great. It’s a great message and it’s a mission I’m proud to work on. Since working with Dale, I’m learning to manage my resources more realistically every day too,” he says. “The work keeps me engaged and I’m learning that taking time to decompress is part of being healthy and productive. I’ve even been able to establish myself a promotions business, Tongues of Silence, using what I’ve learned from working with the team.”
Dale can sympathise: “Between managing the socials, admin, securing funding, and marketing our events, I was getting overwhelmed with doing a lot of different things as well. It was getting difficult for me to stay hands-on with the grassroots work, which is really important to me. Jordan has taken over the event planning, the event scheduling, liaising with bands, being our sound tech, and acting as a promoter. He’s been incredibly committed to helping the CIC, and It’s given me a lot more space to focus on how I can better help this community.”
“It’s important for us to give our bands opportunities to grow and build their audience in the rest of the UK, and to share our mission of authenticity with the rest of the country.”
– Dale Tyler
Three Events, One Vision
It’s all part of Dale’s master plan to keep bringing opportunities not just to the music lovers of Lincolnshire, but its bands too – with Jordan leading the charge, NTKO are hosting three great events, on repeat, curated especially to meet the ravenous tastes of Lincolnshire’s music-hungry masses;
F*CK Normal on Tour
We’ve got great bands in Lincolnshire that deserve to be heard by the rest of the country! F*CK Normal is about embracing your own kind of weird and owning it. “As neurodivergent people, we get sick of being asked why we can’t just be normal like everyone else. Why aren’t we normal? F*CK Normal! We deliberately called it that because it’s exactly what we’re about,” says Dale. “It’s about authentic expression without being shut down by arbitrary rules, and we want our bands to be able to show their version of that philosophy too. It’s important for us to give them opportunities to grow and build their audience in the rest of the UK, and to share our mission of authenticity with the rest of the country.”
Sanity Check
Where F*CK Normal takes the best of Lincolnshire out on the road, Sanity Check brings great artists here to Lincolnshire. NTKO thrives on giving people a chance to try something different, and by bringing bands from South Wales like Rites to Ruin (who recently performed at Bloodstock) and Leeds’ All I Live For into our roster, we’re helping to build the foundations for Lincolnshire to have a thriving rock and alternative music scene.
“When bands visit the UK, it’s typically only ever gigs in London and Manchester; we want to give Lincolnshire better opportunities for music lovers to see something new” says Dale.
“Through our work we get to give some great bands a chance to thrive that otherwise wouldn’t have had that opportunity,” adds Jordan. “We’ve had bands that were in that position who’ve managed to secure more gigs off the back of our Sanity Check events, so it’s great to see that we’re able to give them those opportunities to grow.”
“We’ve given some great bands a chance to thrive and secure more gigs off the back of our Sanity Check events. It’s great to see that we’re able to give them those opportunities to grow.”
– Jordan Burton Morris
The Riff Room
Our latest collaborative effort to bring the Lincolnshire music community together has been a roaring success with Jordan at the helm – building solidarity for seasoned performers to show a live audience who they are, and inspiring confidence in people who might otherwise be uncomfortable performing on stage. Celebrated as ‘a monthly welcoming and inclusive jam session’, it’s all about giving musicians and non-musicians alike an opportunity to socialise and network together, all while enjoying some great live music.
“I love the expression of performance, I love being on stage and interacting with the crowd,” Jordan tells us, “But even I get nervous about a minute before we step up on stage, so I know how hard it can be. That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing with The Riff Room – once you get on the stage, pretty immediately this adrenaline surge hits you, and just like that, in those first few notes, you’re free. Having the crowd enjoying what you’re doing is just an awesome feeling, and I wanted to give other people an opportunity to feel that.”
Power to the People
And there’s more to come – with initiatives already in place to help guide Lincolnshire’s existing artists on their path to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Dale and Jordan plan to make music more accessible for lower-income musicians, too.
“Music shouldn’t be something you can only do if you have the money; it’s about expression, it’s a great outlet for positive mental health, and it’s one of the ways we can cultivate culture and art in our society,” says Dale. “We’ve had musicians need to sell their kit to afford rent – this is something we’re trying to stop from happening. It’s vital that we make it accessible, particularly with young musicians who have so much value to offer us with their perspectives.
Jordan and Mentor Jake Newby of Burning Face join Dale at Olivia’s in Skegness.
“We’re working on an initiative to help working class musicians who don’t have access to the funds to establish themselves as bands. Working class musicians in the UK often struggle with getting established, especially in more rural parts of the country. We want to take those bands and give them chances to impress audience that they wouldn’t have been able to reach, audiences that appreciate their creative potential.
“1 in 3 kids in the youth justice system are Neurodivergent: often their parents can’t afford to bankroll them having a creative outlet like music that could have drastically altered their life trajectory. We absolutely want to try and help those vulnerable people and give them chances to make positive changes through music.”
“There’s no right or wrong way to do what you’re doing; there doesn’t need to be a grand strategy. You’ve just got to do whatever you’re doing in a way that makes you comfortable.”
– Jordan Burton Morris
As a musician and NTKO headliner as well as a member of the NTKO Leadership Team, Jordan has experience on both sides of our campaign to give young musicians greater opportunities:
“It’s nice to see that other people who also struggle with mental health can still put these sorts of events on,” says Jordan. “I’ve had periods where I’ve struggled massively, and it’s good to know that there are people in the industry that are in a similar position to me who can promote the cause and help fight the stigma. NTKO is very much about helping people, but also about helping people to help each other – even just going to the events and chatting to the people that turn up and seeing a community who are always there to support each other growing because of our work is incredible.”
See you next time!
That’s all for now – as ever, stay tuned for more live events, interviews, and music from our great roster of artists by following us on Facebook (@Not That Kind Of CIC) and Instagram (@WeAreNotThatKindOf). Check out the rest of the website while you’re here, and consider heading over to the events page to see what’s coming up in your local area!
Join us in December for some extra-festive NTKO Crimbo F*CKery, where we’ll look back at 2025 and peer into the murky crystal ball of 2026, discuss the highly anticipated Blue Monday Gig, and find out what New Year’s Resolutions the whole NTKO Team are planning – until then, stay weird Lincolnshire, and dare to be loud.
– Mitch
