Local Spotlight – Interview with NuMuze Founder and Director Lewis Nevin

By Cara Collins

When asked to highlight someone who truly makes a difference, I immediately thought of Lewis Nevin, founder and director of NuMuze, a promotion agency launched in 2023. Working with standout local talent including CHALK, Esmerelda Road, and Joshua Burnside, NuMuze supports artists, organises top live gigs, and hosts a popular podcast. As someone captivated by Belfast’s music scene, I found Lewis’s honest, artist-focused approach refreshing. I interviewed him to explore his achievements and understand how he’s become such a positive force in Northern Irish music.

Who is NuMuze? (When did it start, how, why?)

NuMuze is a music promotion platform that I founded in November 2023. The idea came about on a walk to college one morning. Being from Ballymoney and travelling to college in Derry every day to study Music Production, I often listened to local music on my journey. I remember being in college and asking people in my class if they knew about bands that lived ten minutes down the road, and being that they had no idea who they were. I remember from that point forward having a real burning desire to do something about the problem I had stumbled across, so NuMuze started, and I haven’t looked back since. We are now a platform giving local artists visibility, building a community, and making it easier for people to discover the music happening right on their doorstep.

Were there any moments in your early career where you realised that this was something you wanted to pursue further?

Yeah, absolutely. I call them pinch-me moments. I’ve been privileged to experience a few since starting NuMuze that have definitely made me think “there could be a future in this”. I think the first one I can remember was when I hosted my first ever gig, although not the best attended and admittedly, I made a lot of mistakes. It was the first time I saw the extent of what I was building, a real community that cared about local music.

How would you describe NI’s current music scene, any local favourites or bands you’re loving at the moment?

I feel like I can speak for many of us when I say that the NI music scene continues to surprise me every single day, with an unlimited drip of talent coming out of it right now. Ireland is just producing some of the best bands in the world, and I’m so incredibly proud of what is being built here. There are so many bands/artists that I love, of course, I get the privilege of being sent so much incredible music; I genuinely could be here all day talking about them.

Have you ever encountered any hard challenges or surprises in promotion? If so, how did you manage to pull yourself and the company through that?

Every day, you are faced with challenges and often tough decisions. I take a lot of time to think about things. When I make a decision, I rarely go back on it. I think the hardest challenge I faced early on was simply not knowing anyone or anything about the industry. Coming from Ballymoney, I was completely new to both Belfast and Derry, so I had to build connections, learn the industry as I went and make mistakes that have shaped NuMuze into the platform it is today. I had to learn to be a leader and to become more organised to keep the cogs turning. Being young also adds another problem: people look at you a certain way when you’re just starting out. Luckily, I have always looked older than I am and have never really let that get in the way of me achieving the things I want to.

If you could say anything to people local to the scene who haven’t yet got involved, what would you tell them?

Just give it a go. I understand that it’s not everyone’s thing. However, I have mates who would never go to gigs. They came to one of our Belfast shows a few months back, and they were surprised at how much they enjoyed it. They even ended up coming back in the future.

What changes do NuMuze, as a company, want to make in terms of promotion? Do you think the local scene needs any progression in terms of artist treatment?

I speak to musicians all the time, and one thing I have heard time and time again is that they are sick of PR companies charging extortionate prices with very little transparency of where the money is going. NuMuze will offer PR services at some point soon that will be artist-first and honest with clients instead of leaving them high and dry. Keep an eye on our socials for more details on this. Apart from that, we just want to expand our formatting and keep refining what we do.