WOH Thursdays is a 4 part series, premiering all the performances from Reform’s Stage at We Out Here On Line & On Air Festival. The stage gave Soundcamp graduates the opportunity to perform alongside…
On Friday 28th May, performances from KING, Sibz, Sarah Angel and Zed Bias will be going live.
KING
French Born, London based singer songwriter KING allies the musical details of French lyrical culture with the soothing tones of her soulful voice.
KING takes inspiration not only from her French upbringings but the great tradition of genre-fluidity, on a quest of sonic expansion with the trait of being experimentally audacious.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:00 (BST) to catch the performance.
Sarah Angel
Sarah Angel is a singer-songwrited and visual artist bring word play, double entendres, and her unique viewpoint of the world into her multidisciplinary artform.
Sarah Angel has a particular presence as a performer and songwriter, and is informed by her deep understanding of visual artistry, that has very much captured the attention of the Manchester scene and beyond.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:15 (BST) to catch the performance.
SIBZ
Specialising in spiritualistic hedonism and raucous beats, SIBZ‘s bold and braggadocio performances deliver emotional expressionism in a heated package.
SIBZ delivers a strong alternative vision of rap, presenting psychedelic self-produced sounds and an emotive approach to performance.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:30 (BST) to catch the performance.
Zed Bias
The iconic artist that continues to innovate and stay connected to the grass roots, traversing UKG, UK funky, Dubstep, Broken Beat and other bass sounds with DJ sets that have always been a mainstay.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:30 (BST) to catch the performance.
WOH Thursdays is a 4 part series, premiering all the performances from Reform’s Stage at We Out Here On Line & On Air Festival. The stage gave Soundcamp graduates the opportunity to perform alongside…
On 20th May, performances from Trees.R.Good, Queen Tamika, Sutty and The Mirror Ball Test will be going live.
Trees.R.Good
Trees.R.Good is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and DJ spreading her extended European heritage through bass driven, groove infused sounds.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:00 (BST) to catch the performance.
Queen Tamika
Born in Manchester, the singer-songwriter, rapper, model and performer is an all around creative who uses influences from her Caribbean heritage and life experiences to give us soul nourishing music, draped in advice and wisdom.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:15 (BST) to catch the performance.
SUTTY
SUTTY is a singer-songwriter, producer and flautist based in Manchester. She creates and collaborates on hip hop beats, singing over them with soulful vocals and honest lyrics.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:30 (BST) to catch the performance.
The Mirror Ball Test
The Mirror Ball Test are a 7-piece jazz fusion band from Manchester, whose music is an exploration of the world through psychedelic interpretations, and grounded in melodic and layered soundtracks.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:40 (BST) to catch the performance.
WOH Thursdays is a 4 part series, premiering all the performances from Reform’s Stage at We Out HereOn Line & On Air Festival. The stage gave Soundcamp graduates the opportunity to perform alongside some of Manchester’s finest artists.
On 13th May, performances from Joe Roche, Skarlet, INKA, Aaliyah Esprite and Renee Stormz will be going live.
Joe Roche
Joe Roche represents the new school old school. From receiving recent support from Jaguar on Radio 1 to spreading his wings across the Mancunian club circuit and beyond. Adding signature versatility to the acid house dimension has seen this young DJ/producer rise through the ranks.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:00 (BST) to catch the performance.
Skarlet
Skarlet is an electro-folk singer-songwriter who writes about real experiences, drawing out the light from the darkness with her jazzy, blues rich voice.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:15 (BST) to catch the performance.
INKA
Based in South Manchester, Inka is an inspired DJ/producer who has been turning heads in the UK underground for a while, mesmerising dance floors up and down the country with his unmistakable selections. From the studio, he manages to bend and fuse sub-low frequencies with his own unique influences from the worlds of hip-hop, soul and ambience, creating a trademark Inka-style.
Expect to be taken on a journey through sound at his shows, as he sets his own unique productions alongside some of the deepest cuts around. The Beeswaxx resident and co-founder is always experimenting with his sets & delivers the energy every time so make sure you pull up.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:25 (BST) to catch the performance.
Aaliyah Esprit
Aaliyah Esprit is a singer, songwriter who’s been making waves with her fusion of lounge R&B sound with soul and trap and her sweltering vocals, with a standout release on Future Bubblers and a string of festival performances.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:45 (BST) to catch the performance.
Renee Stormz
Renee Stormz is an MC, writer & singer, delivering bouncy flows articulating poignant truths that explore the experiences of a black woman growing up in the West. Renee presents powerful songs, solo and collaboratively.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 21:05 (BST) to catch the performance.
WOH Thursdays is a 4 part series, premiering all the performances from Reform’s Stage at We Out Here On Line & On Air Festival. The stage gave Soundcamp graduates the opportunity to perform alongside
On 6th May, performances from Yelena Lashimba, KUPI, Babyflxcko and Zelya will be going live.
Yelena Lashimba
Yelena Lashimba uses inspiration from percussive genres like Samba and Afro to carve a unique indie RnB sound, infusing smooth vocals alongside the occasional spoken word verse as part of a new generation using their art to champion feminism.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:00 (BST) to catch the performance.
KUPI
Formed within the vacuum of lockdown, KUPI is a newly born experimental music project piecing together highly detailed rabbit holes of sound for you to fall down. Within these sonic environments, lush soundscapes flow and crash around mangled found sounds and jagged walls of electronic percussion.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:15 (BST) to catch the performance.
Babyflxcko
Bethany White better known as Babyflxcko, Sheffield born singer/songwriter has been surrounded by music her whole life with a family full of musicians. Being a young girl she spent time singing daily in her bedroom and figuring out which music best suited her voice. Growing up she had (still has) a great passion for Hip Hop and Rap.
Her influences Amy Winehouse, Billie Eilish, Jhene Aiko, Michael Jackson, Kali Uchis, Lauryn Hill etc inspired her love for Soul, Jazz and R&B.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:30 (BST) to catch the performance.
Zeyla
Raised on a rich heritage of Hip, Hop, Soul, Jazz, Funk, Reggae & House, Zeyla is a multi-genre DJ and Reform Resident, who makes it her point to share her experiences of the world through her mixing.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:45 (BST) to catch the performance.
Tandem Theatre is a creative arts charity for communities across Greater Manchester and beyond. Enriching, developing and transforming lives through drama and other participatory arts.
The organisation has extensive experience in delivering high quality arts practice for homeless adults, vulnerable women, young women and young people with behavioural and emotional challenges. Tandem Theatre aim to encourage and edify participants so they acquire the tools needed to reach their potential. Their projects take many forms depending on the needs of the various groups we work with. Working in partnership is the heart of what we do, and work alongside host organisations such as Youth Services, Homeless Support Centres, Women Centres and Alternative Education Providers to name a few.
Zhoosh*, is a project for groups of LGBTQIA young people based in Rochdale, Salford and Wigan. The groups have written and recorded their own songs with composer Michael Betteridge, written their own poetry with performance poet Jackie Hagan, and seen Kate O’Donnell, Artistic Director of Trans Creative, perform at the Birdgewater Hall, Manchester. The young people then performed their music live to launch Trans Vegas, the Trans Arts Festival by Transcreative at Manchester Art Gallery, at Salford Pink Picnic and at the biggest national LGBT+ youth festival, Rainbow Playground, by the Proud Trust.
The groups also created short films, which will be available online and screened at HOME, Manchester in the new year. All the young people who completed the project achieved the Silver Arts Award, Level Two qualification accredited by Trinity College London.
Rhythm Lab Records has new music coming out of their most recent project Sonic Synthesis.
Rhythm Lab Records is an independent record label run out of Manchester (UK) with a history of fostering local and international collaborations in a sustainable and forward-thinking manner.
Sonic Sythesis is a project where artists that have never met before create a track independently of one another – and subsequently swap each other’s STEMS in order to create a unique re-work of each other’s original tracks.
The second release to come out of the series is Roots, a collaboration EP between China Lilly X Sindysman & Micco X Elias. The tracks glides from soulful experimental electronic sounds to remixed fast-paced garage influenced beats.
Sonic Synthesis: Roots will be released on Wednesday 28th April.
Push Pad Pioneers gives schools students the opportunity to learn production skills as well as given the chance to record their own music tracks, interviews and other content for their own show.
Push Pad Pioneers (2018)
Supported by MyHub Manchester Music and One Education, the first Push Pad Pioneers collaborated with The East Manchester Academy & William Hulme’s Grammar School. It was a fantastic opportunity to get to work with these schools and educate a new generation of producers.
The second Push Pad Pioneers radio show was presented and produced by students at Loreto High School in Chorlton, Manchester. This creative electronic music project was designed and led by electronic musician/composer Caro C with One Education Music and Ableton Ltd.
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.
