Forget the bikes, burger vans and the rock clubs – and get the spaghetti, olive oil and aprons out! The kitchen is the new home of classic rock music where fans are more likely to be found boogying over the bolognaise than headbanging in a stadium crowd. A new study was commissioned by rising rockers Violet Blend to get a picture of UK music tastes ahead of their UK tour dates this summer. Their research revealed that rock music is bouncing back in a big way with 84% of British adults admitting they like listening to classic rock music such as Queen, Led, Zeppelin, Status Quo, The Who and Rolling Stones on a regular basis – and there’s clear signs of a resurgence for the genre among young people with 81% of under 25s saying they enjoy it.
However, the study blows out the water any notion that rock music is purely the domain of leather-clad bikers, dark and dingy clubs and rowdy bars. In fact, the kitchen emerges as the new home of rock for lovers of the genre as it provides the soundtrack that the nation cooks its family meals to. The survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK adults asked people in which everyday situations they would listen to rock music as tunes to enjoy.
Across the UK, 37% of adults said they listened to rock when cooking. Men were more likely to rock out in their ‘rock kitchen’ (39%), and the kitchen was also the place where the rock genre was most likely to be discovered and enjoyed by young people (31% of under 25s and 41% of 25 to 34 year olds).
Regionally, it was people in the North East that were most likely to enjoy rock music (90%) – and it was people in Yorkshire (45%) and East Anglia (34%) that were most likely to have the rock tunes on when creating in the kitchen.
Giada Celeste Chelli, songwriter and lead singer of Italian band Violet Blend said: “The UK is an exciting but relatively new market to us so, literally, we wanted to do our research before coming over in May. We commissioned a leading UK research company to help us understand people’s terms of engagement with a genre of music that we love so much. The findings showed that the UK continues to be the home of rock, the vast majority of people love it, a new generation is getting into it – but also the kitchen is where the action is. I guess it’s uplifting music to inspire creativity in the kitchen, the soundtrack for gathering with family and friends and having a drink together. The kitchen, after all is the place when people meet, where they get creative and share quality time together. Rock music is a perfect fit being a genre that inspires and unites people – with its great anthems, soaring solos and power riffs.”
“As Italians, food is as synonymous to us as rock music is to our friends in the UK. So when we come over to the UK, we’re going to put together and bring over some special rock recipe cards for our English fans. The best rock spaghetti dishes in the world, power ravioli and some summer treat ideas from Ferruccio’s ice cream parlour here in Florence. And the link between rock and cooking is a healthy one. With so much focus on wellbeing in the rock music scene today, eating well is an important way to support for mental health and wellbeing.”