Young Women in the Media

I have just joined a new London group, Young Women in The Media, after being recommended by an old student radio buddy; Heather – who now works for the Radio Academy (very cool organisation).

We’re going to be having socials, networking and training events/workshops in various media practices. Looks like it’ll good fun and it will be amazing to hear from other women in these fields.

Find out what we’re up to and let me know if you want to join by visiting our website/blog. http://workinginmedia.wordpress.com/

BBC Blast Event at the V&A

BBC Blast Event at the V&A – 20th-21st June 2010

Blast is a creative outreach program run by the BBC’s Learning department. At its core is the BBC Blast Tour, which runs for 9 months of the year, hosting a range of free art, cultural and media orientated workshops for young people aged 13-19, at various destinations across the UK.

After building up a relationship with the BBC Blast crew over the past year – through completing a Creative Trainee Scheme and previously gaining work experience on the tour – I was asked if I would like to get involved with this year’s London event, held at the V&A and the Natural History Museum.

Saturday

The first session was held in a lecture theatre in the Victoria and Albert Museum, where most of the creative arts and media workshops took place throughout the week. I was part of a discussion panel member for ‘Getting into Radio’, alongside Rampage, 1Xtra Producers; Janine, Emma and the compere – Iyare, who has worked for both 6 Music and 1Xtra.

As a panel, we each spoke about the challenges of getting work experience and paid jobs in radio, as well as debating the relevant training and qualifications required; each using our differing areas of expertise to offer advice to an audience of young people.

After the discussion, we were approached by a number of young people, eager to find out more about how we gained work experience and for advice on which University courses to apply to. It felt extremely rewarding to pass on the knowledge I have gained so far and to hear from the rest of the panel about their career progressions.

Immediately after the Q&A session myself and Iyare headed to the Natural History Museum to facilitate a workshop on how to ‘Build your own radio demo’. After passing numerous fossils we reached our second workshop room, where we spent the afternoon guiding a small group as they wrote scripts, recorded and produced their very own demo, representing their views on music, festivals, fashion and exams.

I helped them to script-write, whilst gaining knowledge of audio-editing program, Garage Band.

It was brilliant watching talented young people experiencing new skills, producing their own work and leaving with a sense of achievement.

On Sunday I volunteered to work Front of House on the BBC Blast truck at the Natural History Museum.

Here I worked within a small team of work experience and crew members – signing young people into creative workshops, answering general enquiries, guiding people to workshop rooms and giving out goody bags containing information on various local arts organisations around London.

As always, the Blast event ended on a high, the sun came out, we spoke to many enthusiastic, young (and some old!) people, many of whom were eager to continue what they’d learned and who had produced some amazing content. You can view some of the content on the BBC Blast website.

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As well as the Blast workshops, many other creative sessions took place throughout Sunday as part of the Exhibition Road Music Day.

This event took place in order to encourgage people to visit the many arts institutions in Kensington and to diminish the perception of the insitutions and museums being old and outdated. You can hear Paul Cutts, the CEO of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group speaking about the purpose of this event on the Guardian Careers Talk podcast.

Camden Crawl Podcast

Now online!

Roundhouse Radio have a brand new website – if you have trouble listening to the podcast let me know. Once I have my own copy I shall stream it directly from this blog.

https://roundhouse.org.uk/explore/radio/camden-crawl-podcast-project

Anti-bullying package, BBC Blast/Radio 1’s The Surgery

Last year, I became a Creative Trainee for Radio 1 through BBC Blast – an exciting outreach programme, which unfortunately looks set to be cut in the near future pending the BBC’s forthcoming strategy review.

At the heart of the Blast scheme is the Tour, which visits several cities across the UK each year, from April through to November. I was fortunate enough to work as a volunteers at both the Brighton and Isle of Wight events beyond my Radio 1 placement last summer; assisting across the TV and Radio production workshops.

The workshop that most inspired me was Radio Journalism, run on the IOW with two great facilitators, Kath and Kevin.

We aided a group of young people as they revisited their pasts (some recent) and faced some uncomfortable memories of bullying, in the lead up to anti-bullying week. Surprisingly, all of the young people had experienced some form of bullying and despite the initial unease, they relayed their experiences with us as a group, recorded each other and edited together a short package for BBC Radio 1’s Bullyproof campaign.

The content expressed was inspirational and the resolutions and tips they presented for others hopefully not only reassured those within the group, but also those across the nation who listened as the package aired on the BBC Radio 1 Surgery, soon after the event.

Listen to the packages here:

Bullyproof Part 1: Experiences

Bullyproof Part 2: Resolutions

65daysofstatic, Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms, Monday 10th May

65daysofstatic, Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms, Monday 10th May
[Printed in The News, entertainment pages, Tuesday 11th May 2010]

Who needs vocals when you have harmonics this infectious, guitars that roar this loud and a stage presence this intense? The only words 65daysofstatic need are the flickering samples and ridiculously long, yet ingenious song titles.

They’re the perfect soundtrack to your escapism. It’s hard not to conjure up your own personal imagery to accompany the eclectic sounds they produce, unless you’re too busy fixating on the band’s frantic stage antics; including lead singer Joe’s guitar-on-chin balancing act and haunting glare.
In fact words do them an injustice. ‘Crossover’ just doesn’t quite cut it, ‘Experimental’, well, that goes without saying, but how do you explain how incredibly mind-blowing yet easily accessible their music has become?

65DOS have always combined genres, but for their latest offering ‘We were exploding anyway’, they have developed an even dancier sound. Not that this puts off the fans; new tracks Mountainhead and Tiger Girl are equally as explosive as any of their earlier epic soundscapes.
They’re no strangers to the Wedgewood Rooms stage – and it doesn’t look as though they’ll be straying too far anytime soon – but one thing we can count on for definite is that live, this band are unstoppable.

Dan Le Sac VS Scroobious Pip – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

To onlookers Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip may appear simply as two dysfunctional mates onstage – one mashing up samples on a laptop whilst the other spouts almost incomprehensible rhymes into a mic at 100 miles per hour.

And this would be partially true. However, if you pay more attention you’ll realise that this unconventional pair’s lyrical messages are wiser than the somewhat gimmicky image seen at a glance.

Spoken word poet Scroobius Pip’s passion resonates through tales of suicide, politics and failed relationships, whilst dan le sac provides the powerful accompanying beats and harmonies (whilst fighting off ‘man-flu’).

Despite growing popularity and album number three’s imminent release, the awkward crowd banter and the welcome return of familiar on-stage props, (namely an armchair and an array of hats) ensures the show remains an intimate affair.

As with many acts, older material initially gets the best response but the crowd break from their reserved moods throughout and show some exceptional love for the duo’s latest releases ‘Get Better’ and ‘Great Britain’.

A dysfunctional pair though they might be, their intelligent mix of beats and poetry not only entertain, they also leave some thought-provoking content for the crowd to reflect upon, once the thudding bass fades.

[Published in The Guide (Portsmouth News), Friday 26th March 2010]

Hadouken! Portsmouth Pyramids, 2nd March 2010

A far cry from the DIY indie new-rave kids that emerged three years ago, Hadouken entered the Pyramids to an impressive back drop of smoke, lazers and reverb, following a momentum building DJ set full of dup-step and grime.

True to their accelerated culture, the crowd switched from standing attentively to jumping about with their hands wailing, as the 5-piece kicked things off by sampling classic nineties dance tracks, that many of the crowd are probably too young to remember.

Front-man James Smith stood centre stage, lazers rising from his sides like a modern day messiah of the electro movement, whilst his band-mates remained hidden in the shadows, lit sparingly by the strobe lights.

What followed was a truly unique mash up of euphoric trance, grimey vocals and heavy riffs; spurring on mosh pits and raves alike, beneath an array of erratic lights.

Hadouken hold the same raw energy that has propelled the likes of fellow crossover acts The Prodigy, Pendulum and more recently Enter Shikari into the limelight.

If they can hone their talent that little further, proving that they’re more than just a party band for a wasted youth, then they could certainly bring their music to the masses.

BBC Blast Placements open for 2010

The BBC Creative Trainee placements have now opened for 2010. The deadline is 22nd Feb and the team have featured me and my fellow Blast buddies on the website, to encourage everyone to apply.

I’d encourage anyone who is remotely interested in working in the creative industries to check out the many work experience schemes they have available and to apply – no matter how little or how much experience you already have, they want passionate people!

Good Luck  – Click the image to visit the BBC Blast Work Experience website.

Working for NUS

Hurrah, after several months of being unemployed I have finally landed a job, at the National Union of Students.

It’s been an extremely fast turn around. I applied to this job a week ago, had an interview and two hours later I received a phone call to let me know I was successful. Not only that, but they wanted me to start immediately. So, after a weekend of planning, I was on a train to Camden to work at NUS HQ.

It’s an exciting time. Luckily a friend of mine from Radio 1 is putting me up for two weeks, whilst their house mate is away and I am using this time to catch up with friends in the City.

The role I am undertaking is Events and Admin Officer for the National Union of Students. It’s a temporary two-month role, which ends on 26^th March. However, there is the possibility that my contract could be extended, or that other jobs will arise within the organisation so I am going to work hard and keep an eye out for opportunities.

I’m incredibly happy as I loved working as a sabbatical officer at Solent Students’ Union and NUS work on so many worthwhile projects.

Obviously my next step is to find a place to live, beyond next Friday (and before my first pay cheque arrives). This is going to be challenging, what with London prices, but I’m hopeful that I will find somewhere and become settled soon enough.

Of course, despite all this excitement and possibility I am sad to leave behind some amazing projects in Portsmouth that I have been a part of the past couple of months.

Living Memories will continue to run up until the end of March and Rant on the Radio has now begun on air, broadcasting every Wednesday 7pm-8pm, on Express FM. I urge you all to listen!

I will still offer my assistance when visiting Portsmouth and via the internet. Culture Flash – a project run by a friend of mine – is still going ahead so I shall endeavour to have an input virtually for the time being.

More updates to come, as ever!

Visit the NUS and Officer Online websites for information on all events and student news. And follow NUS UK on Twitter.

The Joiners, Music Venue

[Originally written for Solent Riot in 2007]

The Joiners Arms has simply got to be the best place in Southampton to see local and not so well-known bands play in an intimate environment. The bar can be crammed, the space can be restricted and don’t even mention the lack of air-con, but there’s something very special and somewhat homely about this particular venue.

The images and posters that are plastered around the bar area document the many bands that have played in this small-time setting since it’s opening as a music venue in 1968. These include large paintings of Oasis, Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and controversial Pete Doherty’s original band, The Libertines. Other well-known acts that have played this once quiet, local pub are Radiohead, Green Day, Suede, PJ Harvey and The Manic Street Preachers; proving that this place holds quite a legacy.

If you’re into bands of the alternative persuasion, or simply love finding out about new music, then there’s absolutely no excuse not to visit the Joiners as often as you can over the duration of your University life, especially if you’re living in halls as it’s literally a minute walk from Kimber and Hamwic, 5-10mins from Deanery/Chantry/Mercury Point and approximately 15mins from Lucia Foster. It’s the closest established music venue to Halls, followed closely by the Nexus [RIP – Ed].

Last year The Academy is… and Panic! At The Disco played a sell out performance at the Joiners right before they shot into the limelight, so keep an eye on the listings for bands of a similar buzz because you never know, tomorrow night’s headliners may be gracing much larger venues in no time at all.

If you live in Solent Halls of Residence, make the most of the Joiners being pretty much in your back garden!

Ticket prices vary depending on the artists and drinks prices are relatively low for a music venue (there’ll be no £3.50 pints here!) Check out the Joiners website for listings, artist previews and online bookings.