The first-ever all-female MC collective coming straight from the North. HERchester is a Manchester Female Collective made up of 7 Strong Manchester MC’s.
Massive thanks to Arts Council England for funding and all the talented female MCs in the collective.
Reform launched their Cypher project in May 2019 which focused on bringing female MC’s from Manchester together to work alongside multitalented Oneda towards a Cypher. In the process the collective was born.
In the video below, we catch performances by OneDa x The Mouse Outfit and HERchester ladies from the 2019 Manchester International Festival.
Reform Radio launched a pilot project, focusing on finding Female MC talent. Due to a lack of woman coming forward and a lack of gender diversity, we developed a pilot project with support from Arts Council England to respond to this.
This Project gave female MCs across Manchester the chance to work side by side with OneDa. We Followed the emerging Female MCs over the time period of the project, watching them transform from strangers into HERchester.
Rhythm Lab is an opportunity for up and coming artists to team up together to produce original tracks.
Remote Rhythm Lab 2020
Remote Rhythm Lab is a project in which we have partnered Manchester based artists with four artists from around the world, challenging them to explore virtual methods of collaborating and creating music. The project was made possible with support from Arts Council and Jägermeister.
The four tracks were released on Friday 19th June 2020 on Bandcamp – 100% of all Bandcamp and Rhythm Lab’s share of sales on the day were donated to NAACP Legal Defence Fund in support of the BLM movement. You can listen to these tracks on Bandcamp and Spotify.
Each of the artists involved have documented their experience, offering an insight into how music production can transcend borders. The image above is a still from episode 3 from music producer Imaginary Part who spent lockdown residing in Yorkshire.
EPISODE 1: Angel Bat Dawid & Berry Blacc
Chicago based composer, clarinettist, pianist and vocalist Angel Bat Dawid paired with vocalist and hip-hop/Jazz producer Berry Blacc.
Despite the physical distance between them, their creative spirits clearly aligned in their emotive encapsulation of the current moment with their tribute to ‘George FLoyd’
EPISODE 2: Contours & KMRU
Contours – whose sound explores the spaces, rhythms and textures that sit between House, Jazz, Afro, Latin, broken-beat and Hip Hop – will collaborate with KMRU, a field and sound artist, producer based in Nairobi renowned for his evocative electronic music.
Watch how they overcame the distance beteeen them of over 6000 miles, to create a bridge between their musical worlds, resulting in ‘Portals’
If you want to see the other episodes for this project, head to reforms youtube channel here.
Rhythm Lab Volume 1 2018.
The original Rhythm Lab in 2018 took five pairs of musicians and producers into the studio to give them the space collaborate.
Episode 1 : Denis Jones and Luke Leadbelly
The Ninja Tune affiliated Denis Jones partnered with exciting new bass influenced producer Luke Leadbelly.
Episode 2: Sam Healey and Feral Mittens
During day two, prolific jazz man Sam Healey met with experimental noise maker and experienced collaborator Feral Mittens.
For more episodes, head on over to the Reform Radio Youtube Channel here, and once gain head to Bandcamp or Spotify to listen to the tracks produced!
Co-Lab Theory is a collaboration project, creating trios out of eight upcoming artists paired with eight different music industry mentors and eight varied visual artists. Made possible by support from Jägermeister and Arts Council England, each trio created an exciting, original audio-visual work.
Industry mentors involved with the project include the pioneering production duo Swing Ting, internationally renowned creative Mr Scruff and spoken word artist Malik Al Nasir, mentee of the late Gil Scott Heron.
The project has provided a fantastic opportunity for young, upcoming music and design talent to learn from experienced music industry professionals as well as reap the rewards of being associated with such renowned creatives, profile-wise.
With the project now complete, the tracks and audio-visual pieces have been released by Rhythm Lab and Reform Radio. You can listen to all the tracks on Bandcamp and all other major platforms.
If you want to get a glimpse into the production process, head over to our Youtube channel to watch the Co-Lab Theory documentary series!
Soundcamp is a Youth Music programme started back in 2018. The project had a week of music taster sessions with Jenna G,Werkha and Danny ‘Falz’ Fahey.
The 8 Breakthrough Artists selected during the taster session were supported to develop as artists over a period of 12 weeks. Artists were given the opportunity to improve their performance and music business skills, and showcase all of this at one of Manchester’s most iconic music venues, Night & Day.
They have gone on to develop skills with mentors, and we hope to take the programme into a third year, alternative provision for those not in other mainstream music focused opportunities.
Have a listen to this incredible showcase of talent here.
Soundcamp Virtual Bootcamp – November 2020
In Soundcamp (2020), our artist development and mentoring programme, funded by Youth Music and delivered in partnership with Thirty Pound Gentleman, returned online from 23rd November for it’s initial week-long boot-camp.
Watch the video below to catch a sneak peak of what happened in this quite literally jam-packed week of creative and musical energy that was being pinged back and forth through Zoom.
The Bootcamp marks the start of this project, a search to cultivate sixteen of Manchester’s promising artists, to be inducted as the second cohort guided down the pathway to success through this breakthrough artist scheme. We welcomed into the meeting loads of exciting & promising talent, including some familiar faces, as well as some new faces.
Along with them was the return of our partners TPG & the lead facilitators, instructors & mentors Jenna G (top left), Danny Fahey (top right), Werkha (middle left), Anna McLuckie (middle right) & Adam Seymour (bottom centre).
Through their expert guidance and knowledge offered, participants were shown the ropes to the various aspects of the music industry and business and the most promising talents will be chosen by them to join the mentorship programme.
During this initial week they were also joined by some special expert industry guests who delivered a taste of some of the expert and guidance with the various areas the full mentorship is set to guide artists through, including:
Aly Gillani, EU Label Rep @ Bandcamp & Co-Founder of First Word Records
OneDa, Rapper, Songwriter & Lead Vocalist for The Mouse Outfit
Tom Northey, Director of Con Brio Creative Consultancy
Sophie Bee, Head of Entertainment & Programming @ Escape To Freight Island
Abnormal Sleepz, Rapper, Writer, Producer & DJ
Mike Burgess, Music Industry Advisor @ Sound With Mike
As you might be able to tell, in spite of the constraints of conducting things remotely, there was an incredible display of the work that the artists had been able to create during their final showcase, which would be the final way for them to be selected in the final 16 of the next round. It’s safe to say that anyone would not envy the position that Jenna, Danny, Anna & Adam find themselves in right now, given the sheer level of talent on show. Even during these strange times, the future is as bright as ever.
Soundcamp: The Artist Vs COVID
As part of Soundcamp 2020, our artist development program run in partnership with Thirty Pound Gentleman funded by Youth Music Charity, we aired a special show that was produced as a part of the project:
“As a response to 2020’s global pandemic we thought it was an important measure to discuss the devastating impact that Covid has had on the gig economy and in particular freelance artists and musicians. We brought together a variety of emerging and established artists to a virtual roundtable discussion to share information and experiences, to help us better navigate the current situation.
Listen to the show back in full below by clicking on the show image!
Reform have been awarded a successful funding bid for Youth Music’sIncubator Fund call out, to run a project which will support 5 emerging artists with the unique development opportunity to take on roles at an independent record label for 6 months. Specifically our Record Label and Artist Development Platform, Rhythm Lab Records.
Led by expert Music Industry advisor and educator, Mike Burgess, with support and mentoring from other industry experts, they’ll gain career-defining skills, working collaboratively across key music industry functions to source, develop, manage, promote & market 5 new commercially successful tracks. This will provide a clear snapshot of the roles and responsibilities of music executives and a deeper understanding of the realities and risks artists will experience during their careers.
This project has been developed in consultation with dozens of early career artists and informed by Youth Music’s Blueprint For The Future Report into under-representation and barriers within the music industry. With this being the specific focus of the Incubator Fund and of ours as an organisation, the project will focus on recruiting people from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds; from suburbs; women; transgender and non-binary people; Black, Asian and ethnically diverse artists; disabled and neurodivergent artists.
ShortaFORM is a program that works with young people 18-30 to develop short form media and creative digital skills. The project is delivered with Shorta TVand Manchester Studios.
With a mix of expert advice and placement opportunities from partners from the BBC, Bearded Fellows, The Presenter Coach, Crocodile Media, Ashgate Hospice, Sonder Radio, Enterprise UK and more – the talented cohort have been equipped with the skills to excel in the creative industries.
The ShortaFORM participants were given the task of each finding an interviewee from the Manchester community that fits the criteria of being extraordinary but ordinary.
Not only were the young people given the opportunity to interview their chosen interviewee in a studio space, but they were also given guidance from industry level professionals for the whole production process, from planning to distribution. Check out the instagram page the 2020 ShortaFORM group created to get a sneak peak into the amazing pieces they made!
Granada Television became famous for its ground-breaking creativity and ambitious ideas. To kick off the series is Episode 1 which focuses on the studios on Quay Street and three specific characters…
EP2: Let’s Go On a Tour
Granada Studios is a slightly mythical place. The big red letters on the studio roof beaming across Manchester City Centre invites curiosity.
Inspired by the Granada Studios Tour, episode 2 takes the listener around the building to find out more about where the magic takes place.
EP3: From Quay Street to the World
The final episode of Tales from Granadaland dives into some of the studio’s game-changing programmes and maverick ideas. The listener will also peek BTS of the nation’s favourite soap and learn about Granada’s influence on music across the world.
