If you enjoy sticking on a good playlist just as much as a great podcast, then this is the series for you!
We’re proud to have produced this 5 part series recognising Black artists’ contributions to Britain’s best loved music genres. Packed with music that you know and love, we spotlight the stories of instrumental people whose legacies have been sidelined, but without them British music would not be the same.
Hosted by Northerner and creative Mia Thornton, each episode she delves into a different music genre, exploring classical, punk, folk, dance and pop. Mia takes us on a journey within each, using intriguing storytelling, high profile interviews with contributors such as Craig David and Jaguar Bingham, and rich archival content to touch on important themes such as erasure and re-telling, breaking stereotypes plus legal and economic challenges. Listen to the full series on BBC Sounds.
We had a lot of fun recording with many contributors, often travelling across the UK to capture visual content too…
In the pop episode, broadcaster Clara Amfo discusses stereotypes, colourism and what is considered ‘desirable’ within pop’s power structures. Check out a snippet below.
In the punk episode, Benji Webbe, lead vocalist of Skindred, reflects on how being brought up by his Rastafarian brother shaped the sound he creates today.
Mia spoke to DJ Paulette, a trailblazer who played at Manchester’s iconic Hacienda nightclub, who discusses overcoming sexism, ageism and racism in the dance episode.
Instrumental also made history, being the first podcast for the BBC to make use of a new music rights agreement called SORP, allowing us to feature longer music extracts than the usual BBC documentaries you hear!
This podcast was produced under the Audio Lab 2024 scheme, an annual programme aiming to amplify the next-generation of audio creatives. You can learn more about Mia and her experience here.
Collective Encounters are seeking someone who is organised, creative, and empathetic to support the delivery of their Adult Theatre for Social Change group. The role would suit an emerging or early career participatory theatre maker, or someone with experience in youth and community work who has an interest in Theatre for Social Change. You will have a commitment to inclusion and be able to support people with a variety of needs to get the most out of the group. You will be confident providing administrative support, arranging workshop resources, and getting involved creatively during both online and in person sessions.
Click the link above or here for more information and details on how to apply.
Venture Arts is an award-winning visual arts organisation working with learning disabled and neurodivergent artists of all ages. Through their studio programmes, exhibitions and collaborative projects, Venture Arts remove barriers to the arts, put artists in the lead, champion neurodiversity and provide pathways for every individual to develop their creative identity.
Venture Arts are seeking a caring, patient, motivated and organised person to join their vibrant team to support with planning, coordination, administration and evaluation of selected Venture Arts artistic programmes and projects in collaboration with the Head of Creative Development. This will involve supporting artists and communicating with them and our partner venues, and parents and carers. An important part of this role involves helping artists to take on leadership roles within the artist steering group and outreach projects.
The successful candidate should have a passion for the arts, enjoy working with people and be skilled at supporting individuals to flourish. You will have experience of arts project management and be a strong communicator who is able to cater information to different learning styles, as well as being confident in liaising with arts professionals. Being adaptable and comfortable with managing change on a day-to-day basis is important in this role.
Click the link above or here to find out more and apply.
1853 Studios are looking for a kind, creative and organised individual to support their upcoming programme of events at 1853 Studios and Gallery.
Over the next 12 months, they will present a variety of arts events from their new purpose built gallery and event space: Mill 2 Gallery. These will include art exhibitions, workshops, food + art events, an artist residency and a performance project. This role will be vital to producing a successful programme of events for artists and the community alike.
To apply for this role, please send an up to date CV, along with a cover letter or video (max 1 page or 2 minute video) explaining your suitability for the role to luca@1853studios.co.uk.
The Early Career Promoter Fund is open again for applications after a successful first year of the programme. For the latest advice see the ‘How to Make a Strong Application’ webinar with Grants & Programmes Manager Ben Price on the PRS YouTube channel here.
Early Career Promoter Fund recognises the vital role independent promoters play in supporting the talent pipeline across England, and offers grant funding and capacity building support, with the aim of bolstering the local, regional and national ecosystems.
Grants of up to £3,500 will be available to support a range of activity, including:
The booking, programming and promotion of gigs, concerts, club nights, showcases, tours and other performances
Costs associated with those activities (including venue hire, production, artist and/or DJ fees, crew fees, administration and other related costs)
Capacity building (including mentoring, coaching, shadowing, workshops, masterclasses, and other skill building and networking opportunities)
Other expenditure which helps grantees to programme a diverse range of artists, develop new audiences and build their skills
The fund aims to help emerging promoters to do what they do best – book and promote shows to develop scenes, support artists and DJs and to reach and engage audiences locally, regionally, and nationally, and build sustainable careers in the grassroots music sector. Those receiving support will be able to step up to book and promote talent at a scale beyond their current level, and build their capacity, skills and networks.
Managed by PRS Foundation and supported by Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Early Career Promoter Fund also helps to address under representation, ensuring support reaches a diverse range of promoters, and proactively encourages grantees to support a diverse range of artists and music genres nationwide.
Change 100 is a flagship programme of paid summer internships, professional development and mentoring.
Alongside your paid internship, Change 100 provides support and guidance in sharing your disability and identifying and requesting workplace adjustments.
It’s also an opportunity to develop a peer network of fellow Change 100 participants, as well as accessing a wide ranging alumni community.
Consider yourself to have a disability or long-term condition as defined in the Equality Act 2010.
Be in your penultimate or final year of university level study, or have graduated within the last five years.
Have the right to work in the UK for a summer.
Still Not Sure If You’re Eligible?
If you’re still unsure if you can apply for our Change 100 internship scheme, you can find further information on eligibility criteria to help you check.
As an Events & Community Officer you will play a crucial role in enhancing the student experience through a wide range of extra-curricular events and activities. Your expertise will be pivotal in the planning, pre-production, and on-the-day management of events that encompass academic, industry, employability, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), student wellbeing, hobbies, and interests. Your contributions will directly influence the vibrancy and inclusivity of campus life.
Click the link above for more information and to apply.
Delia Derbyshire Day are looking for a highly motivated person to help deliver this exciting cultural heritage project in 2025. Previous experience is not necessary as this is a trainee role, so do tell them about all the transferable skills you think you have. They want to give you the opportunity to develop in project management and/or the arts & culture sector with a small developing organisation that is passionate about unlocking the heritage and history of electronic music through the arts. You don’t need to be an expert on Delia Derbyshire but do need to be familiar with her work and heritage – there are plenty of videos about Delia on Youtube and on our Youtube channel.
You will assist with the smooth running of the project including administration, marketing, documenting the project, evaluation, liaising with project partners and staff.
Fee: £6300 (35 days @ £180 per day), a temporary freelance contract. For our Charity Commission auditing, you will need a UTR (Unique Tax Reference number)
Hours of work: Approx 0.5 or 1 day per week with more days leading up to DD Day in November, 8 hours per day (including breaks)
Base: Working in Manchester with the DD Day 2025 team, with some working from home
Deadline to apply – 10am, Monday 19th May, link here
HOME are looking for a full-time Engagement Manager to support the Head of Creative Engagement in the coordination, administration and delivery of an inclusive and accessible multi-disciplinary community engagement programme. The Engagement Manager will manage multiple community projects, programming cultural work within communities, coordinating events and co-creating work with community members that creatively tells their stories, ensuring work is reflective of their local, diverse communities.
Click the link above or here for more information and to apply.
Deadline to apply – 12pm, Friday 16th May, link here
The Proud Trust are seeking a passionate and committed Youth Worker to join their team. They have a part time role available in Manchester/Greater Manchester. The successful candidates will work with LGBTQ+ young people in a youth group setting, engage in outreach work and manage young people referrals into their group. They will have responsibility for the planning, delivery and evaluation of the youth groups, ensuring they keep LGBTQ+ young people at the heart of everything.
This vacancy is:
Part time (22.5hrs), with
Salary: £25,350 – £30,600 per annum (pro rata) plus 5% pension contributions
Successful applicants will need to be legally allowed to work in the UK, will need to undertake an enhanced DBS check, and will need to provide references. The Proud Trust wants to draw from the widest possible talent pool and is always keen to receive applications from people from under-represented groups within the LGBT+ youth work, and voluntary sectors. They are especially keen to receive applications from Black people and other People of Colour; minoritised ethnicities; trans and non-binary people; and those who consider themselves to have a disability.
Peshkar are seeking artists across disciplines under the age of 30 who have an interest in working in a participatory way and an interest in digital practice, although experience in these areas is not essential, this is an opportunity for you to explore, develop, learn and accelerate.
There are no limits to artform, and they are interested in anyone from theatre, dance, music, visual arts, digital arts and beyond. All you need are some big ideas and are looking to develop your practice in participatory and digital environments.
This is a rolling opportunity and prospective candidates are contacted on a roughly quarterly basis.
This opportunity is for artists who would like to explore socially engaged participatory practice, identifying key target groups in the communities of Oldham, Bolton and Blackburn to explore themes and issues that are important to society in 2025/6.
This is a 10 day paid engagement including access to mentoring to develop concepts and ideas, training, support to develop digital content to profile your work across Peshkar’s social channels, time to develop and deliver a participatory piece of work with a target group and the chance to showcase work created at Peshkar’s annual flagship event, the Young Digitals Festival 2026.
The full value of the contract to the artist is £1665.
Peshkar are actively seeking under-represented artists so would particularly welcome applications who possess protected characteristics. We are also actively seeking artists who currently reside in Greater Manchester, Pennine Lancashire or West Yorkshire (Calderdale and Kirklees).
Salary: £18, 345.60-£22,932 per year depending on hours (£22,932 FTE per year) – Real Living Wage
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our welcoming and purposeful team at Gorton Central on a temporary basis. The Centre Assistant will provide a welcoming and inclusive reception service and ensure that the rooms are looking their best and set up for the day’s activities and bookings.
Location: Gorton Central, Highmead Street, Gorton, Manchester, M18 8PE. Position type: Fixed term for 3 months.
Working hours: Between 28 hours (4 days) and 35 hours (5 days) a week – we are open to discussion with candidates and job share. Hours to be worked Monday – Friday with earliest start as 8.30am and latest finish 6pm.
Location: this is a Centre-based role, it is not possible to work from home. Start: As soon as possible.
Managed by: Centre Manager/Services Manager
Responsible for: Day to Day supervision of volunteers
HYPE THEM returned with a bang on the airwaves last month. Hosting duo, kaoti & sher, welcomed Salford’s Roukaya B to the show for an incredible live session and chat. Roukaya B has been making moves in the Northern music scene, fusing sounds of jazz, RnB and soul. Therefore, we were beyond excited to share her genre-bending melodies on Reform Radio.
Check out the full live session and show below.
Off the back of the show, we caught up with Roukaya to find out more about her musical journey and inspirations.
Please can you introduce yourself (name, pronouns and star sign)
I am Roukaya B, she/they and 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?
If I had to describe my music in three words – which is very hard for me – I would describe my music as “analog in digital”.
Where did your journey with music begin?
It’s always been a part of me to be honest. I’ve always felt connected to music very deeply and as though I really understood it from an early age. For example, how certain songs would make me feel when you heard them or being able to pick up melodies and lyrics really quickly.
In primary school my older sister and I would make up dance routines to our favourite songs. I would sing, and in high school I did BTEC music which taught me about basic production and music theory. This was where I started to focus on refining singing more. From here and alongside A Levels, I did a little stint in the Manchester United Youth Foundation Choir. This taught me a lot about my higher range and blending with other voices.
After completing my academic college studies aged 18, I enrolled at Access To Music in Manchester to do a vocal artist course. This taught me more about my range and studio workflow. It was where I began developing my writing skills, started busking in the city centre and where I first auditioned for Little Mix The Search.
I think this period in my life was really the solidifying factor of where my music journey began. Having danced with the rhythm for years and swayed with only academics for a couple at an A Level college, my studies at Access opened my eyes to the possibilities of what I could do with music and why I feel it as deeply as I do. It felt like a natural step back into something that was, at this stage, partially unknown, if that makes sense.
Have there been any important figures/role models in your musical journey or any that have inspired your sound/aesthetic?
Diving into that whole “analog in digital” to describe my sound, I’d say I resonate with artists of that similarity, like Amy Winehouse, Joy Crookes, Raye, Erykah Badu and Greentea Peng. I love artists that fuse or blend genres. My sound is definitely inspired by that and I think it’s showcased in not only beat selection, but flow and tone. I take a lot of inspiration from rap styles and love me some early 2000’s hip-hop, West coast and different styles of UK rap. I think it can be seen in even my most contemporary releases.
Where do you find inspiration for your creativity?
Usually it’s something that flows out of me, a melody of something, a flow, or a kind of cadence. My approach to creativity is very holistic. There is no specific knack or place, position, maybe even real reason for creating. It is more about capturing the essence of something. It definitely involves feeling what the vibe of something is too. For example, the track, the room I’m in, or the emotion I’m currently experiencing. I think that, combined with my everyday human experience, is where I find inspiration for my creativity.
How does your music writing process look?
The first steps definitely involve the inspiration for the creativity mentioned in the previous question. Usually from this I have some sort of rough outline of how I want something to feel and sound. Intelligibility on the other hand is different. Depending on what is laid down, some vocal phrases might say words which also contextualise the mood set. Alternatively, the whole take could be freestyle and the rhyming scheme and context may also be there for me when listening back to the voice memo or project laid down in the software.
In terms of collaboration, the process above may be how we work it. However, if there’s a hook or verse already laid down by the collaborator, I have an alternative process. This involves listening to the track a couple times to grasp the overall vibe, cadence, lyrical content and context. Then, either on the second or third listen of the song, I will freestyle something I think suits the track and my vibe.
If you had to recommend a music-centred event, space or venue in Manchester to somebody, where would you point them to?
Do Not Disturb for your intimate vibes. Also, 0161 Spotlight, Savage PnP, Sofar Sounds, Black Creative Trailblazers and Heads UK have an array of creative things to get involved with. Formatt GG also has a cool event coming up at the end of May to keep your eyes peeled for.
I’ll also say keep an eye out for Beyond The Music 2025. There will be so much to explore there and I know Factory International also has really cool showcases and events.
What do you see for the future of your music? Do you have any particular goals you’d like to achieve with your creative journey?
For the future of my music, I see myself being very experimental. I see myself diving in more with the capabilities of the human voice and seeing how it can be communicated through music as an instrument. I have a lot of really cool demos in the mix. These are blending more alternative/indie styles with soul, jazz, blues and rap. I’m really excited to start reworking them later this year to see what comes out of the project.
With my creative journey, my goals are to release music that continuously inspires me to create more. I want to create a community that unites those that have taken a few years to figure out what’s going on and how they truly want to express or communicate that. My goal is to make music that unites the outcasted or those labelled as something other than just being themselves. We’re all just figuring out what life is and my main goal is to capture the journey of chaos and the beauty of life.
Where’s the best place for people to find you on social media and to find your music? Instagram for gig updates and hot pics @iamroukayab. TikTok if you want the real me @badgyalroukrouk. My music is out on all streaming platforms – just search Roukaya B.
Fee: £150 per 8 hour day (£18.75 per h/r). This is a freelance role and you will be responsible for your own taxes.
Location: Haydock Library, St. Helens (Hybrid working available, Flexible hours).
Contract Type: Project-based.
Duration: 16 days over 10 months.
Reporting to: Dr Emily Peasgood and Project Manager Theresa Smith.
Emily Peasgood Studio are seeking an Artist Assistant to support a project that aims to drive meaningful change in accessibility and inclusivity at Haydock Library in St. Helens. This is an exciting opportunity to shape an environment that is accessible to all, ensuring that diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our project. You will support the core team in the redesign of Haydock Library, St. Helens, specifically in designing public engagement materials for co-production workshops in the local community. This project is co-produced through an engagement programme with children, young people, adults and families who have lived experience of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The design includes the library space, a combined meeting room and sensory space, and a disabled toilet.
This post will provide an opportunity to shadow the team, learn new skills and provide assistance and support throughout the project.
Emily Peasgood Studio is a Disability Confident Committed Employer (Level 1) who advocates for and enacts inclusion in hiring policy for all available roles. Their recruitment process is inclusive and accessible; reasonable adjustments and access statements are part of our culture. This role is open to people with disabilities.
The Castlefield Gallery & Volunteer Coordinator’s primary responsibility is to support the effective delivery of the charity and organisation’s artistic programme and artist / creative freelance development programmes, including Castlefield Gallery Associates and New Art Spaces; volunteer and placement programmes. Working with other team members, the post-holder plays a crucial role in ensuring the smooth operation of both Castlefield Gallery’s front-of-house and back-of-house activities, and in particular driving high-quality visitor and user experiences on-site, off-site and online.
The role demands the post-holder performs wide-ranging administration and coordination duties. The post-holder will work from Castlefield Gallery’s Manchester city centre main premises and at times Castlefield Gallery New Art Spaces in the North West of England. The role is a 4 day a week role and the post-holder will be expected to work 3 of those days between Tuesday and Friday (to be agreed with the successful applicant) and 1 day on Sundays. Some occasional evening work will be expected.
Click here or the link above to find out more and apply.
