We are delighted to introduce our new free series of workshops with Drum Happy, funded by The National Lottery and Manchester City Council. Every Friday through November & December, from the 17th of November, you can come along to join us in learning the foundations of drumming and rhythm. All sessions will be held at Powerhouse Library in Moss Side.
Alongside getting to grips with percussion with a focus on music improving your wellbeing, you will also have the opportunity to explore creative writing and content creation. You will also have the opportunity to perform and chat on Reform Radio throughout the process.
No experience is necessary and all the instruments are provided so why not get signed up? Check out the flyer below for the full details on how you can get involved.
The 13th to the 19th of November marks Transgender Awareness Week for 2023. The week’s purpose is to celebrate transgender joy and all members of the trans community, whilst also highlighting the struggles the community faces and elevating the voices of gender non-conforming people. The 20th of November this year marks Trans Remembrance Day, dedicated to memorialising transgender people who lost their lives to transphobic violence. In the past year, transphobic hate crimes have risen by 11% across the UK, showing the vitality of Transgender Awareness Week more than ever, and also the need for greater visibility of transgender people and their stories.
To bring in the occasion, we have collated a list of events taking place across Manchester for the queer and transgender community to enjoy, alongside ones allies can attend to seek education, appreciate the transgender community, whilst joining the celebrations.
At this event you can expect talks from queer community members across a range of topics including tech, leadership and barriers into employment and career development. This is the perfect opportunity to network with like minded community members and hear from experienced speakers.
This animation screening is part of Manchester Animation Festival 2023. It explores transgender identities through animation, whilst showcasing a vibrant spectrum of gender identities, highlighting the necessity of community and found family, and the urgent need for trans voices to be heard. Sparkle have a number of fully funded tickets available for the event – sign up via the link above.
If you identify as queer or LGBTQIA+ and are looking to get some work done you are most welcome to come along and join in with the Queer Hive co-working sessions in some relaxed and friendly environments across Manchester.
Central Manchester Location TBC – Check @sparkle.charity for updates
As part of Trans Awareness Week, Sparkle is proud to present a lived-experience Q&A panel. Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK’s Banksie will be leading the conversation between some wonderful panelists: Logan Brown, Yvy DeLuca (AKA Bolly Witch), HUSK, Vil, and a collection of trustees and key volunteers from Sparkle – the national transgender charity. They will be discussing all things trans, non-binary, self-care, coming out, and much more.
This class is an energising morning vinyasa flow class exclusive to the LGBTQIA+ community. It is a dynamic class with an emphasis on connecting body movement with the breath; the perfect way to wake up the mind and body in the morning for the day ahead. Tamsin Cole’s teaching style aims to be inclusive to all people whilst adopting a trauma-informed, body acceptance approach. She believes in the healing power of connecting to nature through yoga and how this should be accessible to everyone.
The Union – Conference Suite, Manchester Metropolitan University
The Union is bringing in a group of speakers to talk about their personal experiences with transitioning and the ups and downs they’ve faced along the way. Whether you’re a member of the trans community or an ally, pre-book your free ticket above and celebrate this special week.
Join members of the Untold Orchestra, led by the vocals of Dom Lawson, in an intimate but interactive night celebrating the stories and lives of some of music’s queer icons. You will also have the chance to share stories of some of your favourite icons, their songs and join Dom, the band and all the Feel Good Club staff on the dance floor.
Drop in to Manchester Central Library during Transgender Awareness Week, to engage with some of the rich history and experiences of trans and non-binary community members, activism and community organising in Manchester and beyond. You’ll be able to see items specially selected from the LGBT Foundation Archive. If you’re inspired by the items in the archive and wish to get involved in community organising yourself, there will be a chance to chat to Nico, Community Organising Coordinator, and hear about ways you can get involved.
Head along to GRUB for a pop up event centred around trans joy, with Sparkle and Manchester Queer Art Market. The event invites LGBTQIA+ creatives to showcase and sell their work. If you are an LGBTQ+ creative, you can apply to have a stall by emailing jay.crawford@sparkle.org.uk. Entry to the market is free so pop along to support the community and their creativity.
If you have any recommendations for events to attend during Transgender Awareness Week, or are holding your own event, please send them over to dani@reformradio.co.uk for us to shout about them on our social media.
Following two weeks of learning the ropes of music theory and production, alongside some incredible collaborative work, our Music Course has come to a close. The project, funded by Manchester Adult Education Service, invited nearly 20 participants into the Reform Radio space to create their own tracks to be played live on the radio, as well as encouraging them to work together and fine tune their own musical styles.
Listen to the collective’s final radio show below, showcasing the tunes they created throughout the course.
We chatted to participant, Sarah, about what she got up to on the programme and what her plans are moving forward.
Introduce yourself (name, pronouns, and what you’re up to at the moment/hobbies etc).
My name’s Sarah and my pronouns are she/her. I’m producing bangers and staying positive.
Describe yourself in 3 words.
I’d describe myself as a legend, party starter and confident out of my head.
If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Now, this one may shock you, but if I could only listen to one album for the rest of my life it would probably be ‘Harry’s House’ by Harry Styles. The reason I’d listen to that particular album is because it reminds me of how beautiful life can be.
Did you have much musical experience before? If so, what’s your favourite thing about making music?
I’d say I had some music skills prior to doing the course. My favourite thing about making music is how I can use it as evidence that I am capable of creating something amazing.
What prompted you to get involved with the Music Course?
I’ve been to Reform before and the support and acknowledgement you receive from them amazes me. So being able to be part of a Reform Radio course was enough for me to want to get involved.
Let’s throw it back to your first day at Reform versus now, tell me a bit about your first impressions/feelings/emotions in comparison to how you feel now. What has changed?
Well, deep down I had some doubts but I knew I loved music and I knew I had something special to share. As soon as I walked through the doors of Reform Radio, it was like they thought a star had entered the room and their belief in me quietened my inner voices of incapability. I now know after completing the course that I am capable and I am appreciated.
What will you take from the Music Course moving forward & what are your plans from here onwards?
From the course, I will take the knowledge that the voices in my head are chatting cheddar and I am good enough.
Do you have any musical role models that inspire your practice and why?
My musical role model is Fred Again.. all day long, I just love how moving his music is; it’s proper feel good music.
Who would be your dream artist/producer to collaborate with?
I’d, of course, have to say Fred Again.. but, also, I’d love to work with Four Tet and Dom Dolla.
What’s your go-to album to listen to after a long day?
My go-to album to listen to is probably my own music, to be honest. I don’t have a full album, however I do listen to all the mixes and songs I’ve created and feel so proud.
To find out about our future free creative courses, you can head to our Projects page, or reach out to our lovely Engagement team at projects@reformradio.co.uk.
We had the pleasure of welcoming Manchester electronic artist PHIA SKY to join kaoti and sher on their recent HYPE THEM show. From chatting about her musical journey, to telling her story as a queer musician, and performing an exclusive live session on the airwaves, we were left loving PHIA and her excitingly unique tunes.
HYPE THEM, is a bi-monthly show on Reform Radio dedicated to platforming women and queer people in music, of both local and global scale. The duo also cover LGBT+ news with the help of a special local guest.
Get to know the emerging artist that we all want to be our new best friend in her quick fire Q&A with Reform below:
Please can you introduce your name, pronouns and star sign.
Hey I’m PHIA SKY, my pronouns are she/her, and I am a Gemini.
If you had to describe your music in three words to someone who had never heard it before, how would you describe it?
Fun, textural, comfy.
All photos by Ellen Rose Moss
Where did your journey with music begin?
As a young child I’d hold my DS up to my ear on long car journeys, trying to pick apart the tunes note by note. I then got into making tunes in Audacity, layering DS sounds with kiddy keyboard presets, beatboxing and clarinet. It sounded horrendous but I’m sure if Björk put them out tomorrow Pitchfork would slurp it up.
Have there been any important figures/role models in your musical journey or any that have inspired your sound/aesthetic?
For sure – Yellow Magic Orchestra (and all associated projects), SOPHIE, Caroline Polachek, Pet Shop Boys, FKA Twigs, Sugababes, and Porter Robinson. A particular aesthetic I’m also enjoying at the moment is the whole jungle revival movement, through the likes of Nia Archives and Pete Cannon. I love repurposing those addictive 90s productions and visuals in a modern context.
Where do you find inspiration for your creativity?
Generally just from walking around, observing my environment and my place within it. I recently stopped bringing my headphones out and about with me every day, which made me more aware of how surrounded by sound we constantly are. This can get a bit lonely sometimes though, so also just anything that makes me want to dance around with my pals is a big inspiration too.
Who is your queer icon?
SOPHIE.
How does your music writing process look?
My process is all about limitations, whether self-imposed or dictated by the equipment I work on. It can be as simple as scribbling lyrics in my notebook on the tram, or as contrived as programming sequences step-by-step on the Commodore 64, a computer from 1982 which can only produce three notes maximum at a time. Once I hit the walls of these limitations, I can then bring it into the modern digital domain where I have all the tools at my disposal to polish it up. It’s the best of both worlds!
What does being queer mean to you?
A sense of inner peace and self-care.
If you had to recommend a queer-centred event, space or venue in Manchester to somebody, where would you point them to?
Tough Act at The White Hotel; an antidote to “traditionally queer” nights in terms of genre. Chipped Polish at YES; a punk night with camp bangers sprinkled in for good measure. FLUFF at Fuel; extremely wholesome and welcoming DIY electronica. And I’d be remiss not to plug Evil Things which I co-run with my other project, Flowers of Evil; curated on a genre-by-genre basis. There’s lots of wonderful stuff going on currently!
What do you see for the future of PHIA SKY? Do you have any particular goals you’d like to achieve with your creative journey?
A big overarching goal in what I do is to bridge the gap between the “DJ scene” and the “live scene”. The two worlds can sometimes feel a little fragmented, in Manchester at least. Particularly on a queer grassroots level, more unification in the creative community leads to more eclectic art and can only be a good thing.
You can check out PHIA’s live session on YouTube, and find her on Instagram @phia_sky_, all streaming platforms, and Bandcamp.
From the 8th of November, you can become a paying member of Reform Radio, and support the next generation of creatives, musicians and broadcasters. Click here to find out more.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with the work we do, Reform Radio is an arts organisation and radio station that broadcasts the best in independent music, arts and culture from Manchester to the world. We use our radio station as a tool to engage young adults from across the North into high quality creative training and to support them to build meaningful careers. We want all young adults to have the opportunity to realise their full potential.
Last year…
We supported 300+ unemployed young adults; 84% progressed into employment, training or volunteering.
We delivered 800+creative skills sessions.
We provided an internationally recognised 24/7 radio platform for 500+ artists/DJs.
If you are invested in the collective mission and you’re able to make a regular donation, then we’d love you to join us as a paying member. You’ll get entered into our free monthly prize draw, with exclusive offers from our partners like festival tickets and VIP passes. As a thank you, we’ll share regular updates, showcasing the impact of your donation, with behind the scenes access to our projects and programmes.
The only difference between our support tiers is the amount you are able to give. Your donation means the world to us and the future of the organisation.
Our memberships range from £2.99 to £9.99 (+VAT) per month in cost and they are available via the Ko-Fi platform here.
One year’s Easy Listening membership could fund the travel expenses for a young unemployed adult to attend a creative employability programme.
One year’s 4 To The Floor membership could fund a radio producer to support six live radio shows on our platform.
One year’s Full House membership could fund a course of six counselling sessions for a young adult.
Whether you want to be the first to discover new music, support independent artists or you are invested in our mission as a not for profit organisation, to support young adults into meaningful opportunities, your membership goes directly into making it all possible.
Join us here in doing what we do best. We are so excited to have you with us for the ride on this next part of our journey.
Over the past year, Reform Radio has held a series of MC and lyrical workshops across the North West; a new leg of our rap collective project, HERchester. HERchester, led by world-class Manchester rapper, OneDa, was formed three years ago in answer to a need to nurture a safe space open for, but not exclusive to, female and non-binary spoken word, hip hop and grime artists. Following the cohort’s recent Northern workshop tour, we have released a behind-the-scenes documentaryrecording the participants’ progress towards performing at Manchester’s Blues Kitchen for an exclusive cypher, platforming marginalised voices within the UK rap scene..
Since its formation in 2020, funded by Arts Council England, HERchester has welcomed tens of aspiring MCs and rappers to the collective, offering them peer support, guidance and mentorship through the likes of workshops, performances, and more. The project has continually held a place-based approach to its creative sessions, with Reform Radio partnering with organisations across the North West to hold safe hubs for the collective to meet, create and collaborate in key cities. Since 2021, HERchester has had presence in Manchester, Sheffield (in partnership with Rite Trax), Blackpool (in partnership with House of Wingz), and Morcambe (in partnership with More Music). Year on year, the project has established itself as a vital contributor to changing the narrative regarding diversity within the scene.
Throughout the project’s biggest year yet, we filmed HERchester’s workshops and members to find out more about the individuals behind the movement, and to witness their progression first-hand. Thus, forming a 20 minute documentary of the programme. It soon became clear that HERchester was not only a hub of musicianship for its cohort, but it also provides a safe and social space in supporting them through their personal journeys.
“For me, being in HERchester and being in that space… I don’t feel this pressure to be the best or perform… it’s more so about being in a space, having freedom to write and create and connect with other people, hear what they’re doing, and just uplift each other. ”
– FREEQUENCY3 – HERchester member
Within the documentary, viewers get to meet each member of the cohort and gain insight in to how HERchester has impacted them both professionally and personally. From supporting musicians to offering safe spaces for women, queer and gender non-conforming artists to express authentically, to building confidence, resilience, social skills, and more within individuals, the project provides a well-rounded network to elevate the voices of all those involved in all capacities.
“We saw a huge lack of female and non-binary representation across hip-hop and rap lineups and we wanted to make a difference. In answer to this, we partnered with OneDa and Arts Council England and HERchester was born. We are already seeing the legacy it has created, with greater diversity across the North, more female and non-binary artists coming through and getting paid for their artistry. We want to keep changing the narrative, and keep the number of these artists getting recognised in the industry growing”
– Jemma Tanswell, Co-Director of Reform Radio
2023 has been a great year for HERchester, with the collective bagging performance slots at the likes of Manchester International Festival and Beyond the Music, alongside hosting their own residency on Reform Radio, and featuring as BBC 6 Music’s Spotlight artist.
Both the documentary and cypher mark HERchester’s ambition to grow from HERchester Up North to HERchester To The World. The course of workshops and their closing cypher make a nod to the necessity of amplifying marginalised voices in rap and altering the narrative on diversity. It is also a moving motivation to those considering beginning their journeys in music. HERchester aren’t stopping here, however; they intend to continue making a storm with their inspiring work across the North West.
“Our ambitions for HERchester going into 2024 are to move into new cities, new territories, as well as keeping the cities that we’ve got under our belt. We want to get the collective into production too alongside working on cypher material… this will further empower them to be independent well-rounded artists through their craft”
– OneDa, Manchester rapper & HERchester leader
So, the quest continues and we can’t wait to see what HERchester have up their sleeves for the new year. For now, you can support the cause over on their socials @herchester here, and follow Reform Radio on socials to keep up to date with where the project is heading next.
We are delighted to share the news of our new partnership with Manchester’s live music marketplace GigPig, in hopes of providing hundreds of paid gigs for young people carving out their careers as professional artists.
At Reform, engaging young people is at the forefront of what we do, using our platform to help them source new opportunities, and work creatively with them to develop new skills for employment. Meanwhile, GigPig provides venues with an online platform to search, book and manage entertainment in-house, whilst offering artists an accessible method to find, play and get paid for gigs. Together, we are forming a partnership to bridge the gap between our community of emerging artists and the incredible connections GigPig have on offer.
Kit Muir-Rogers, co-founder of GigPig, himself was formerly an artist utilising the Reform Radio network to re-enter the Manchester music scene when he moved to the city a decade ago.
“The music industry is complex and hard to enter – all too often it is about ‘who you know’ rather than ‘what you know’. We’re wanting to turn that on its head by challenging the norm and democratising the system. This pivotal partnership is extremely important in terms of breaking down barriers for talented young artists who would otherwise struggle to earn money doing what they love and have trained to do.”
– Kit Muir-Rogers, co-founder of GigPig
Initially this collaboration will be rolled out across Manchester, where both ourselves and GigPig are based. Manchester’s appetite for live music is booming and we are lucky enough to hold a community of over 500 artists eager to perform and practice their artistry.
One of those artists isATALAYA, a queer DJ who has attended several of our free creative programmes including our DJ Sessions, Music Production and Creative Leadership courses. They now DJ at festivals, in venues and on radio, making a name for themselves on the Northern music scene.
“It’s brilliant that GigPig is partnering with Reform Radio, helping to plug new and upcoming talent straight into working opportunities in this city. It’s also pivotal that GigPig will be promoting a wider variety of DJs from a diverse range of backgrounds and music tastes. Building lasting relationships with venues helps artists to secure more consistent work and this partnership will allow so many of the next generation to flourish.”
– ATALAYA
Meanwhile, DJ and researcher Latoya Reisner of our DJ Sessions course shares their success of using GigPig: “I now DJ in venues via GigPig and I love doing these jobs because they help to build my confidence and give me a chance to adapt to different environments”, acknowledging how performing early in their career has aided them in their journey.
Working together, we hope to bring hundreds of new talent to the Manchester scene, and ease the process of upcoming artists sourcing their initial gigs performance opportunities to kickstart their careers. Our Station Manager, Robin Guérard, notes “Our partnership with GigPig is a fantastic opportunity to open doors and improve access to the industry. The ultimate goal is to enable the city’s venues to discover new artists, in turn giving young artists a platform to establish themselves as professional artists; from where they can build their profile and connections to secure repeat work”.
We are beyond excited to see where this new collaboration leads, and what lineups our incredible community will get to feature on across the city.
If you’re an emerging artist, or wanting to get started in the creative industries, don’t forget to check out what upcoming free creative projects we have coming up here to join the Reform Radio community.
If you would like to keep up to date with future Academy courses and projects which you can get involved with then subscribe to our newsletter and sign up on the form below.
