Bradford music promoter Mark Husak is the man behind launched Granadaland, a regular showcase of local bands.

When asked to write a column for the T&A on the city's exciting music scene I wasn't quite sure where to begin. After a few days thinking about it, I thought the best way to start was to introduce myself and to report on what has been happening in Bradford over the last year or so.

I started Granadaland, a DIY gig promotions company based at the Love Apple, in January 2006. I realised that there were enough people in Bradford interested in live music, but there weren't any reputable gigs happening in the city. These people, myself included, travelled to Leeds to find excitement. Granadaland was a way of trying to change this pattern.

I wanted to bring up-and-coming bands from out of town to the city while letting new and exciting local bands support them, thus creating a bit of a scene and getting people excited about music in the city. I wanted to put Bradford on the map and give people a reason to take it seriously.

Over a year later I feel that I have achieved my goals. Granadaland moved from the second Thursday of the month to the second Friday and now attracts over 300 people. I have put many critically acclaimed acts on, including Hot Club De Paris, Jeremy Warmsley, The Research, Wolf & Cub, Laura Groves and Wild Beasts. There have been a number of occasions when A&R men from London have turned up at Granadaland to check out the talent on offer. I have become friends with a couple of them and they are as excited as I am how Bradford is developing its music scene. One A&R man from a well-known indie label loves coming up to Bradford to find bargains at Discovery Records and at charity shops as well as catching the local talent.

Mono, a Bradford music fanzine, started just after Granadaland. It is a great fanzine that covers everything related to the local scene; reviews of gigs and CDs, news, history etc. They print 1,000 copies of the fanzine a month and they all go in the first few days.

More and more independent gig promoters, most of them doing their business at the Love Apple, have been cropping up and bringing well-known acts to the city. Delius, on Claremont near the University, is more of a pub then a venue that offers a great choice of beers, food and the best jukebox in Bradford, but still has live music every Thursday. I had the dilemma of either watching Falconetti or Lab Noise at Delius or O Fracas and Fourteen Corners at Love Apple last week - something that has not happened to me in Bradford before. I made both shows.

I have noticed that the quality of bands in Bradford has also improved over the last year or so. Acts that particularly impress me are Laura Groves (who I manage), Tixxx, Harmacy, This Et Al, Le Tournoi, Fourteen Corners and Monty Casino to name but a few. These acts are not just doing well in Bradford but nationally. Analog Bombs were mentioned in the NME the other week and This Et Al and Laura Groves have been impressing crowds up and down the country for some time.

This is an exciting time of change for Bradford. The music scene has improved so much over the last year. There are some interesting events happening shortly but I will have to tell you about that next time.