Not only does it allow them to polish their musical skills but it’s a crucial step in a band developing a fanbase and increasing the support which can help them make the transition from hobbyists to full time music makers.Colin is ambassador for Independent Venue Week which begins today (28 January) and aims to highlight the importance of small venues in sustaining music at grassroots in the UK.We quizzed the bass player about his first gigging experiences, the importance of touring to Radiohead’s songwriting process and what he thinks about Spotify…My friend Sybil Bell, who's organising the campaign, asked me because she knew I love gigs and had some time to spend exploring and celebrating the current scene across the country.I think the first gig was when I bunked off from Oxford to go see the Fall at the Lyceum in London. I think it was with Flux of Pink Indians and some industrial noise group from Australia called SPK. I also remember the vodka lemon jelly shots. Yum!There were lots and lots of gigs I went to in Oxford. Separately, New Order and Cocteau Twins in ‘84 at the Apollo were memorable. We were spoilt with the Jericho, and, later, the Zodiac, in the late 1980s. Local bands like 530, Ride, Swervedriver and the Jennifers (who later became Supergrass) were all you could ask for. The fabulous Candyskins were enormously supportive too, selling us gear and offering support slots. It was a nurturing, creative scene that every town deserves to have today.Playing live removes a lot of the second guessing of being in a studio - you have to commit yourself in the moment and have no time to endlessly revise.We loved touring at the start of our career and we've really enjoyed it recently too, particularly on the lasttour. It's been a vital space to try out new stuff in front of critical but supportive audiences. We worked out a lot ofplaying it while supporting Alanis Morrisette in the 90s. We also toured while we recordedtoo. Stages can have the best acoustics to try out new songs at soundchecks.So touring done right can feed the endless curiosity and privilege of playing different places live.I remember the shows that went well - Kansas City on the last tour was great, with Clive Deamer (he played drums with Phil [Selway - Radiohead's drummer]) giving us a musical history lesson of all Kansas' jazz greats - Count Basie, Lester Young, Charlie Parker.One of the most electric shows was probably Glastonbury in 1997 on the Pyramid Stage. We lost monitors and some lights froze on Thom, it was very scary. Listening back, though, it gave the music a locked down power, because we all had our heads bowed, trying to keep it together.I don't have one opinion about such a fragmented, catholic world that music is in. I miss being told what to buy from more mainstream taste curators such as record labels, music press, shops and radio shows. They all still exist, but feel more scattered and specialist.An argument that's been put to me about touring and local gigs is that the decline of traditional record company tour support has led to fewer bands travelling so much, and more focusing on building up a local following at their local independent music venue. If that's true, then it's even more important that the industry supports these gigs, as they offer the most viable way to school local artists.They're certainly good for record companies, Google and to a much lesser extent Spotify have been writing royalty payments that are saving them. How much of that black box money is reaching the artist, is another question. The new technologies might be very good for building a profile, but the social and digital media sample size is much larger now than the old HMV/music magazine tie-ins and chart promotions. There's less financial support so it can be harder to stand out. That's why playing live is so precious, because it hasn't fallen prey to the free, mechanical reproduction of music in a digital age.We are taking some time off, but fingers crossed we'll get together later in the year.BBC Oxford introducing local music are having a Jericho gig to celebrate IVW with Glass Animals, with support from We Aeronauts, Salvation Bill and Charlie Cunnningham on 1 Feb.Support your local venue!