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HOMECOMING celebrates Knowle West’s musical history

On Thursday 19 September we hosted a special night exploring the music history of Knowle West and its influence on the Bristol Sound. The event was programmed in collaboration with Gary Thompson, filmmaker, creative and founder of Cables&Cameras, who grew up in Knowle West and got in touch with us to suggest hosting this event as part of the Homes for Heroes 100 programme.

HOMECOMING was an evening of music, film and conversation, charting the lineage of pioneering musicians from Knowle West and their contributions to the city and beyond. In September 1989, Fresh Four released top ten hit ‘Wishing On A Star’, an example of the bass-driven and female vocal-led sounds bubbling up from Bristol’s underground at the time. From here, DJ Krust developed an internationally renowned electronic music career. Trip-hop forefather Tricky was a Knowle West Boy, and new talent continues to develop today in bedrooms, back gardens and the music studios of Knowle West Media Centre.

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: Image by Ibolya Feher

How has growing up in the neighbourhood shaped these artists? What local venues and community champions have supported them on their way? What would Bristol’s music history look like without the cultivating grounds of council estates across the city? HOMECOMING provided a powerful line up of DJs, musicians and filmmakers to discuss these questions and share their stories.

Over 60 people from across Bristol and Knowle West came to enjoy the night, and we hope it will spark many more events where the unique music talent of Knowle West can be widely celebrated.

Special thanks to Cables&Cameras, artists: DJ Krust, Gary Thompson, Kala Chng, 3 Culture, DJ Bunjy and music journalist and host Joe Muggs.

The event was part of KWMC’s creative programme 100 Years of Knowle West Style. 100 Years is part of the wider Homes For Heroes 100, city-wide projects marking a century of council housing coordinated by Bristol Cultural Development Partnership.Homes For Heroes 100 is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Bristol City Council.

Photos by Ibolya Feher

Music and performance live-streamed from Knowle West

This September, KWMC artist in residence Marc Blazel will be running a live music and performance session at Filwood Community Centre. Marc will be joined by local and UK-based artists who will be performing a short experimental set in front of a green screen.

You can watch the live stream on Marc’s Youtube channel between 6 – 8.30pm on Sunday 9 September 2018.

Marc’s residency is part of Living, Working, Making Together, a programme of artist residencies in Knowle West exploring how artists and communities live, work and make together.

Over the last few months, Marc has been investigating Knowle West TV – an early community cable TV project first broadcast on Bristol Channel in the 1970s. KWMC was given access to 23 hours of Knowle West TV footage in 2014 and hosted a programme of activities in 2015 to share the footage with the community, including daily screenings and a discussion about the past, present and future of community media.

In 2018, Marc is asking the question: ‘what could Knowle West TV could look like today?’ He is also interested in the cross-over between digital and real-life communities.

Marc has been interviewing people involved with Knowle West TV as well as filming some of the activity that takes place at Filwood Community Centre. To make his video works, Marc blends layers of video to create a digital collage.

To find out more contact Hannah: e-mail hannah.clark@kwmc.org.uk or call 0117 903 0444. See more of Marc’s work online here.

Change Creators: XLR Collective Prep for Their Graduation

The XLR Collective were back this week for another session of prep for their Campaign Celebration which will be on Monday the 25th of September. It’s hard to believe that the course is nearly over but with so much hard work put into the project there’s much to be excited about.

After recording the majority of their EP last week at dBs Music College the team took this week’s time together to organise the workings of what their graduation celebration will look like. Still having a few bits to record to polish off their EP the group took turns to record at KWMC as well. I remained with the majority of the collective and facilitated the planing session that allowed the team to work out everything that needed to be thought about regarding the event.

The great thing about this week’s session is that the team came in fully prepared. A member of the group had drafted a PowerPoint document that outlined almost everything that was needed for the content of their presentation. After giving it a read the team then divided up the work load of typing up the stats they had collected over the past few months.

Another highlight of the night was at the end when we played what had been recorded of the EP over the past week. Smiles were left on everyone’s face at the end, a beautiful sense of accomplishment in the air. Less than two weeks to go for this cohort of Change Creators:XLR Collective, exciting times ahead!

If you would like to attend Hack a Heckle’s graduation you can sign up here!

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Change Creators: XLR Collective Rehearsal

This week the group sat down and talked through what we have all been doing the past week. We also had a small brief about how life coaching will work and our commitment to it. The group also did a value excise where each member wrote down 1. what they value about themselves/ what they think they are good at and 2. what they value about the person sitting next to them to the right. So we each went round and said out loud what we had written and gave the other person the sticky note to keep. The idea was to get us to pin point what we feel we are good at and to think how we can use that more for this project. It was also a nice reminder to each other that we all appreciate the talents that each individual in the group has.

With the other half of the session the group recorded draft versions of our songs so we have references for when we record them properly. Also the two members of the group who produce sat down and shared their work with the vocalists and got some ideas going ready to record on Friday.

Written by Olivia Sully-Karlis

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@xlrmusicuk @change_creators
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A Musical End to The Summer

The third and final instalment to our 2017 summer programme for young people launched with a bang – literally!

After an adventurous Animal Photography course that took us to Bristol Zoo Gardens and the activities of Tech on the Table, featuring a walking, talking robot courtesy of At-Bristol, the Hack a Musical Instrument workshop included making instruments from scratch, composing songs, and a live performance to mark the launch of Luke Jerram’s Play Me, I’m Yours project. Over the course of two days, young people and adults came together to enjoy the unifying power of music.

Day One

With excitement high, we welcomed a band of young people ready to bring some tunes to the surrounding area…Project Manager Dot began the session and introduced those who would be volunteering and lending a musical hand. After a few “icebreakers” it was time to start building instruments. The activity saw rainmakers made of tubes with rice and pasta inside, maracas and even a full drum set put together with plastic tubes and old vinyl records.

The day got even more lively when Adam Amer from Chango World came to deliver an upbeat drumming session with the group. Chango World aim to deliver engaging, memorable and accessible musical experiences to a diverse range of people and their time with us didn’t disappoint.

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: Image: Dean Ayotte

: Image: Dean Ayotte

: Image: Dean Ayotte

: Image: Dean Ayotte

: Image: Dean Ayotte

: Image: Dean Ayotte

: Image: Dean Ayotte

: Image: Dean Ayotte

: Image: Dean Ayotte

Day Two

Having laid a solid foundation of music on Day One, the second day took things a step further with an introduction to song composition. The young people created their own recordings using the music production app Logic.

Decorating the set for the Play Me I’m Yours launch was next, which included hanging decorated vinyls around the outdoor piano and setting up their proudly self-made instruments in preparation to play to parents, KWMC staff and a host of other keen listeners.

Showtime came just after 4pm when BBC Points West came along to film the first pianists using the piano. The young people performed alongside pianist Nick Bignall – and were featured on the 6pm news programme!

In just two days the young people successfully built instruments, created songs and even performed live. All of the young people who gave feedback said they would “definitely recommend KWMC to a friend”. We hope to see them – and you! – next term when our after-school sessions start up again.

Visit the Jump Studios page for more details.

Change Creators: XLR Collective Gig Prep

In this week’s session, we reviewed our original pieces that we performed at Bristol Harbour Festival to see what we could make even better. We set up [a] stage in the main space [at KWMC] so every little detail was exposed.

Beth’s “Not About That” had slight adjustments to the second half of the chorus, making it more soulful with a variation with the vocals that the guitar follows. We kept the edgy verses which amplify the message of the song.

Our song “Lady” took a few steps down tuning-wise so Millie could really achieve her range without busting her voice. Down-tuning actually gives a more mysterious vibe as well as keeping the jazz influences in the melodies.

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Courtney smashed “Take Back the Night”. Only a few adjustments were made to make this punch more hard, mostly to do with adding more drums!

We also began working on a new song together around Milo’s hip hop idea. Milo started to demonstrate his rap and an improvised jam blossomed into a song. Beth got in with some backup vocals which help add depth to the song. We now need to confirm the structure to get this one rolling.

We also ran [through] the details of the upcoming At-Bristol gig on Sunday 6th August: we still had to source performers and practice our own sets as we decided to split into more individual performances. The band songs will come [in] useful later on, whether that’s for recording or performing at another gig together – tonight was all about getting us on the same page musically and we’re happy to say that we’re getting there!

Written by Molly Perryman

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Play Me, I’m Yours Knowle West

This summer a world-famous street pianos project will return to the streets of Bristol – and Knowle West will be one of the main locations!

Play Me, I’m Yours is a musical trail of 18 individually-decorated pianos which are installed in public spaces across a city for everyone to play and enjoy. The project, from Bristol-based artist Luke Jerram, first came to Bristol in 2009 and 2017 marks its 10^th year. It has seen over 1700 pianos played in over 55 cities across the globe. Each piano bears the simple instruction Play Me, I’m Yours.

From Thursday 17th August – Thursday 7th September pianos will be at locations across Bristol including Broadmead, the Harbourside, The Mall at Cribbs Causeway – and Knowle West Media Centre.

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: Image Dean Ayotte

: Exterior of Knowle West Media Centre: outdoor piano and bike racks

The Knowle West piano will be decorated by young people taking part in our summer holiday activities. They will be working with emerging artists Jasmine Thompson and Nick Ogri (pictured above) to create the designs and make them a reality. The piano will be unveiled ready for the first performance on Thursday 17^th August at 3.30pm. Join us for a series of performances and free tea and cake!

The piano will then be available to play for the rest of the summer holiday during our opening hours. Drop in between 9am-7pm Monday to Thursday and 9am-5pm on Fridays.

We’re looking forward to hearing Knowle West make music and we’d love to see your photos and videos of the piano, whether you’re playing a classical concerto, writing own composition, freestyling on the keys or doing something else entirely!

If you’re sharing photos and video on social media please tag @knowlewestmedia and use the hashtag #bristolstreetpianos For more information about the project visit www.bristolstreetpianos.co.uk

We look forward to hearing your music – and maybe uncovering a piano superstar in the making…

Change Creators: XLR Collective Coaching Session

This week the group had a refreshing session about coaching. We had some guests sitting in with us whilst we did some activities that involved learning how to actively listen, filling out the wheel of life and learning how to respond in conversation to empower the other person.

It was really interesting and highlighted a lot how important it is to to allow space whilst conversing with someone and to focus less on your response and more on how your response can empower the person – rather than just telling them what to do and force opinions onto them. It’s about allowing the space for people to make their own decisions and you being a support.

Towards the end of the session the group went over our new structure for our campaign. The campaign is beginning to take a different shape and our roles will shift again so we spoke about what we want from the campaign in our last seven leadership sessions and how to take over the social media and decision making. [We] all agreed the focus for the next few weeks is the recording and producing tracks for our EP.

Written by Olivia Sully-Karlis

Follow us at:
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www.facebook.com/xlrmusicuk/
@xlrmusicuk @change_creators
#xlrcollective
Insta: @xlrmusicuk

Change Creators: Hack a Heckle Campaign Launch

On 22nd July the Hack A Heckle campaign officially launched at Bristol’s Harbour Festival! Catch up with Collective blogger Olivia to find out more:

We were very excited and anticipated this moment for months. Beforehand we were organising, practising and refining our music for our 1 hour set on the Bristol Plays Music stage and couldn’t wait to share it with our community!

On the day of the launch the group had a meeting and organised our plan of action for the day. We began by surveying people in our immediate environment around the stage. We were asking the passing public specific gender harassment questions and had an amazing time connecting to people who were sharing their stories.

Our merchandise for the day was a great help: we had cupcakes thanks to Cakeshop, which were a great way to catch people’s eye and to thank them for stopping to chat with us! We also gave out leaflets which gave them a valuable point of access to follow us on our social media pages, visit our website and tell others to share their stories through our online survey!

It was amazing to speak to so many people and gain so much more insight into their experiences. The group was really inspired by the stories shared and were really thrilled to connect to so many people who care about gender harassment and want to see it stop.

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Around 3pm we began our 1 hour set on Bristol Plays Music stage. We had some amazing advice from Eva Lazarus beforehand about song arrangements for our set. This was incredibly helpful as she gave us ideas on how we want our set to flow from start to finish.

We wanted to begin our show with a powerful introduction to our music so we chose our song ‘Lady’ to be first followed by a cover. We then wanted our acoustic slower piece ‘Hide‘ to be mid-set: this is our debut single and is available to download. This was followed by U + Ur Hand and then our speech and electronic track ‘Emily’.

We had a guest spoken word artist Bex Dudley who spoke some powerful words, and this was followed by some more of our music, then ended with a powerful cover of ‘NO’ by Meghan Trainor. This left our audience with a memorable last message and it tied our set together with a high energy outro. The group learnt a lot that day and it was an amazing launch and experience for future events!

Overall we got more than 80 surveys completed which was an amazing number to reach and we would like to thank every single person for stopping and playing such an integral part of raising awareness of this issue! It was amazing to share our music with you and to get the ball rolling! We have so much more planned: our next performance will be At-Bristol on Sunday 6th August from 1-5 pm where we will be performing, speaking and having special guests perform during our 4-hour set.

So keep up to date with our movements on our social media and website and get your friends and family involved by filling in our survey or sharing your specific story.

Written by Olivia Sully-Karlis

www.hackaheckle.org.uk
Facebook: Hack A Heckle
Twitter: @hackaheckle
Instragam: @hackaheckle

Change Creators: XLR Collective meet Life Coach Sam Holman

This week the XLR Collective looked beyond the launch of their campaign to challenge gender harassment, Hack a Heckle, to consider their hopes and fears for the future. Campaign Leader Will explains more…

17th July 2017, KWMC

This week’s session started early, with three of the collective meeting Daniel (Communication Coordinator for the Young People’s programme) for a chance to plan the social media strategy for Hack a Heckle. Our primary sites are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but we will also be utilising Soundcloud, Bandcamp and YouTube throughout the campaign. The four of us agreed on things like tone of voice, post frequency, and different types of content.

We were then joined by Euella from Rife Magazine and we explained about the Collective and what we had done so far during the course of the leadership programme. We spoke about the [Hack a Heckle] campaign in detail and what we wanted to achieve at the end of it. Ella was really interested in what we were saying so she decided to record an interview with us and we hope to partner with her and Rife more during the campaign.

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After the rest of the collective joined us at the Media Centre, we were greeted by Sam Holman, a life coach and careers advisor from Holsam Life Coaching. She spoke to us about letting go of internal fears and visualising success. Sam taught us an alternative to SMART Goals which allowed us to think deeply about what we want to see, hear and feel when the campaign is over. It also made us think about any negative effects, either personal or professional, that success can create and how we can limit these during the campaign itself.

Using a piece of string to represent our life, Sam then made us pinpoint different stages of life and think about what our fears are at present, where they may have originated from and what advice an older version of us would give. This definitely gave an alternative way of looking at our current situations and has given the group some fresh ideas of how to move forward with the campaign and where it might go afterwards.

Written by Will Sissons

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Check out Holsam life coaching here:
http://www.holsamlifecoaching.com/
https://www.facebook.com/holsamlife

Contact Us

Knowle West Media Centre
Leinster Avenue
Knowle West
Bristol
BS4 1NL
+44 (0) 117 903 0444
enquiries@kwmc.org.uk

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