Creative freedom aside, once money is secured, it’s a done deal, right? There’s another battle to fight too, according to the panel. Culture – at least in the UK – is undervalued. And where this disregard meets classism, there’s an uphill battle.

"People tell stories about ballet or opera, or art,” explained music journalist and author, Emma Warren. “No-one questions whether that stuff is culture. But people question whether or not a dance in a bakery in Peckham is culture. Or if a radio station in Liverpool or a pub in Bristol is culture. We know it is.” She advocates for reframing these elements, documenting them. “It gives a stamp of approval that broader society isn’t going to.”

She continued: “The world we’re probably all involved in deal with cultural profit, social profit.” It’s separate from the financial. “Profit is only one kind of profit, but it's the only profit that is evident, visible valued. The stuff we do is invisible." It’s profitable personally, culturally and socially.

One final question: what’s this all got to do with whisky? While Monkey Shoulder has been associated with music for some time, it feels like an oddmove for the spirit more broadly. Especially at a time where stereotypes about who drinks whisky – read: older white men – still prevail.

For Warren, there’s a sense of culture that unites both worlds. People don’t link whisky with UK club culture, she told me after the panel discussion. “I most associate it with community culture in Ireland,” she said, referencing her personal roots. While it might not seem like the most immediate link, it’s a move from Monkey Shoulder that gives whisky a relevancy to most likely fresh audiences.

 Applications for Studio Monkey Shoulder are open now. Written and video submissions are welcome with a closing date of 9 May. Successful projects will be notified by 31 May.Find out more here.