Author: Reform Radio

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.

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.

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 is ATALAYA, 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.

At Reform Radio, we get to meet, work and collaborate with some of the coolest creatives and organisations around. In true Reform style, it wouldn’t be right for us to keep them to ourselves so we thought we’d introduce you to some of our hosts.

Meet: RELAX & BAKE FM, one of our radio residents and a platform supporting upcoming talent, who have recently launched their debut zine ‘READ ME‘.

Introduce the individuals behind RELAX AND BAKE FM

Hey! We are RELAX & BAKE FM. The team behind the project is myself (Ade (He/Him)), Ky (She/Her), Alana (She/Her), Aisha (She/Her), Emmanuella (She/Her), Ari (She/Her), Steph (She/Her), Manisha (She/Her), and Augustina (She/Her).

If you had to describe RELAX AND BAKE FM to someone who had no idea what it was, how would you describe it?

A platform for fresh talent – we provide a space for new and upcoming artists to showcase their music.

Where did it all start? What drove you guys to create R&B FM? And do you have any highlights from the journey so far? 

We started at university, as we were keen on showcasing our music taste to an audience. As time went on, we wanted to become a niche show and focus solely on platforming new artists. The highlight of our journey so far has been seeing the artists we spoke to in our first year go on to become full-time artists and live out their dreams.

What would you say are the core values of R&B FM?

Our main aim is to provide a spotlight for fresh talent, as a radio show it usually means this talent is limited to musicians, but we also apply this motto to our team. A lot of us aren’t necessarily trained or have had previous experience before starting. For myself, I became a self-taught graphic designer during this process. Essentially, we all trust each other and we try to match up what is needed to each of our genuine interests.

So, you guys have recently debuted the e-zine ‘READ ME’ – why did you want to create a zine and what have been your favourite elements of getting it up and running?

We wanted to do our part in response to the George Floyd riots in 2020, which was around the same time we started the show. As time went on, I thought it would be good to make a separate platform which can be solely dedicated to providing a solution; a platform that would exist with a social purpose. This is how ‘READ ME’ was born. 

How would you describe ‘READ ME’ to someone that’s never heard of it before?

‘READ ME’ is a platform for Black representation in all fields, industries and career paths. The aim is to inspire our audience to pursue their own dreams and passions by showing how realistic it can be achieved.

If you could interview anyone for ‘READ ME’, who would it be and why?

I would love to have interviewed Reggie Osse of the Combat Jack Show. He was a huge inspiration for me in creating the zine. His podcast conversations were always aspirational and, as a former entertainment lawyer, he would regularly drop gems about the music industry. He was also an editor at The Source Magazine which was one of the best hip hop magazines of its time and remains a staple of hip hop culture. He passed away a few years ago but I would have loved to pick his brain and get some advice from him. 

What do you see for the future of ‘READ ME’? Do you have any particular goals you’d like to achieve with it?

My aim is to have a positive social impact with ‘READ ME’. I want it to be a catalyst for change and improvement; a conduit for people to achieve their dreams. What does this look like? At the moment, I don’t know. We are starting out with the zine but would love to branch into other forms of media. What I do know is that we are excited and ready for the journey that this will bring!

Do you have any cool social media accounts people should follow to find new and upcoming Black talent?

Big People Music, Pedestall Magazine, Quake Magazine, Black Brighton and Kollab Network.

Who are some rising Black creatives we should be aware of right now?

Renzniro, Tunde, Ella Mayamothi, Bridget Eke, Steph MJB, and K Orion.

As well Reform airwaves, where can people find RELAX AND BAKE FM & ‘READ ME’? 

Our social media channels are @readmemag.co.uk and @relaxandbakefm. You find our website here.

We are delighted to invite you all to this Melting Pan & Terra Nova Productions adaptation of 2018’s stage production of Me You Us Them, previewing exclusively at Reform Radio, on Thursday the 12th of October at 6.30pm.

The production will bring characters to life from various cultures in Northern Ireland, including voices and experience from Nigeria, rural Armagh, Belfast, China, Jamaica and Donegal. Informed by conversations with real people from across Northern Ireland, the piece has been curated through Terra Nova’s ethical intercultural practice. Experience the angry, funny, hopeful and heartfelt voices of complex characters, which make an extraordinary difference to those we usually witness on main stages.

The Me You Us Them creative team is led by mixed-race actor-director-producer Melissa Dean, supported by Andrea Montgomery. Through the process, the pair discovered new ways of sharing theatre on film, as they took ownership of sound scope and production elements, making it an exciting immersive adaptation to delve into as an audience member.

As racism and fascism is continually rising across the post-pandemic world, the accounts of racial experience in Northern Ireland through the production are strikingly important and current. This marks the piece as a necessary production to experience, in hearing real stories of racism, identity and sense of belonging.

You can grab your Pay As You Feel tickets now here.

This year, October marks Black History Month 2023 and this year’s theme is ‘Saluting Our Sisters’. The theme is a gracious nod to the crucial role that Black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change, and building communities, alongside highlighting the #WEMATTER campaign which amplifies and notices the vitality of their voice. Not only this, but this year’s campaign also aims to challenge the systems that oppress Black women and actively inspire future generations.

Black History Month is a momentous occasion to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of Black people to British society. From looking back to the historical impacts of Black individuals, to celebrating the work and motions of them today, to looking forward and empowering future recognition of such individuals, Black History Month encourages a necessary acknowledgement of the Black community. 

In honour of the occasion, Reform will have collated a list of events around the North West to attend in celebration of Black History Month. Check them out below and be sure to show up and support the #WEMATTER movement.

Black History Month Workshops

Multiple dates

Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, Manchester

This year, Manchester Museum will be holding three workshops using the themes of ‘Saluting Our Sisters’ and ‘Before Windrush’. These include a writing workshop for adults, a family story-telling session, and a print workshop. Use the museum’s extensive Afro-Caribbean collections to inspire you in these creative workshops. 

Brighter Sound x Vic Meets Workshops

Multiple dates

33 Blossom Street Unit 2, Manchester

Brighter Sound teams up with Vic Meets for a series of workshops and panels this autumn. From songwriting and freestyling to DJing and broadcasting, with industry advice at every turn. All will be hosted by BBC Radio 1 presenter and R&B/Soul artist Victoria Jane, with guests fronting each workshop, including DJ Chaise, Akemi Fox, G33 and Layfullstop. There will be plenty of time to ask burning questions and get practical experience in the workshop areas. All workshops are free but please book in advance. 

Heard Live

5th October, 6.30PM

Feel Good Club, Manchester

Enjoy an incredible line-up of our specially curated storytellers telling you their story, unfiltered and in their own words. In addition to the line up, true to our open mic roots there will be a couple of spaces open for budding storytellers, so feel free to come with your own five minute true story in mind. Our events are as much about the joy of hearing the voices of others, of finding there’s a story in each person, and coming to connect and learn.

The event is also raising money for CAHN and Kids of Colour.

The Black Writers North Panel 

7th October, 12PM – 4PM

The Portico Library, Manchester

The Black Writers Guild has hired the Portico Library in Manchester to provide a positive space for you to hear from published authors, and to connect with other emerging and established black writers in the north and midlands. Guest speakers include the incredible Diana Anyakwo, Yvonne Battle-Felton, Danielle Jawando, Okechukwu Nzelu and Kimberly Whittam. 

COBO: Comedy Shut Down

8th October, 8PM

The Frog and Bucket, Manchester

This is a comedy night that is not only packed to the brim with jokes but also celebrates the vast array of comedic talent throughout Black History Month. We pride ourselves on championing comedians who appeal to comedy lovers of all backgrounds – so grab your tickets and head down for a night of good vibes!

Miss Diagnosis Lunch 

14th October, 1PM – 4PM

The Space, Stockport

As part of the Ubuntu Festival of Events for Black History Month, The Zebra Partnership has collaborated with Stockport Race Equality Partnership to deliver a weekend of events in Stockport. On Saturday 14th October, Carol Ann Whitehead will be bringing back Miss Diagnosis and hosting a special BHM ‘Miss Diagnosis Lunch and Learn’ – a panel discussion about Black Women’s health and incorrect diagnosis from maternal care to breast cancer. After the discussion there will be a chance to network with Afrobeats and enjoy some African Caribbean food. All are welcome.

A-POC-ALYPSE CABARET

20th October, 7PM

The Brewers, Manchester

A-POC-ALYPSE CABARET is a horror inspired event, showcasing queer artists of colour on a stage created for us, by us. This is a safe space to enjoy queer POC artists whose style of performance and creative vision is celebrated. Get ready to experience a powerhouse of POC talent, from some of Manchester’s finest and across the UK. This is going to be a cultural reset, bringing queer POC monsters to the heart of Manchester’s Gay Village! This month’s line-up features Eva Serration, Romeo De La Cruz, Jada Love, Lilly Snatchdragon & The Bollywitch. 

MAMAWE Afro-Pean Dance Festival

21st October, 1.45PM – 5PM

Croft House Centre, Sheffield

MAMAWE brings you an experience you do not want to miss, a workshop focused on celebrating BHM through movement. Join dance teachers and choreographers, Angelina Abel and Adriano Oliveira who will lead this brief introductory session, drawing inspiration from the Angolan heritage, providing you with an opportunity to relax, express yourself, and emphasise the significance of purposeful movement.

Jorgy & Cheech return to the airwaves for two hours of hip hop, rappering and irreverent chat. Joining them in the studio for a live session and catch up this time round is upcoming artist, Grief School.

Grief School spat bars that blew us away, preparing us for their upcoming album out on the 13th of October.

Check out the full session on YouTube and listen back to the full show below.

The Jorgy & Cheech show is BACK. Known for their hip hop mixes, rappering and irreverent chat, this week the pair welcomed Manchester talent PiQasso into the studio to get behind the mic.

PiQasso has been made a name for himself on the UK scene, blending 90s hip hop beats with his effortless flow. With this in mind, the Northern rapper is both excitingly unique, with notes of familiar nostalgia running beneath his verses.

Listen to the full show here and watch the live session below.

https://youtu.be/qkvoxV4Ga80

Reform Radio is bringing its ‘First Dance’ Wedding Dancefloor to Manchester’s Pride Parade, celebrating the 10 year anniversary of, both, the Same Sex Marriage Act and Reform Radio.

This year, marks our 10th anniversary as an organisation, founded in the basement of a shared-house in Manchester by three friends, Reform’s current directors. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Marriage Act, and Reform Radio’s first ever radio show in 2013,  we want will be staging Reform Radio’s ‘First Dance’ as our entry to Manchester Pride. This wedding dance-floor will be a celebration of the power of love, and love for the LGBTQ+ community. 

The playlist for the parade will be made up of songs from our LGBTQ+ community and partners. This is where we need your help!

LGBTQIA+ community and queer wedding attendees, please submit yours and your friends’ first dance songs for them to be played alongside our Pride parade. Send your tracks over to dani@reformradio.co.uk – we can’t wait to hear them and share this celebration with you all.

Header image by Gemma Parker.