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"Musical Views"
Musical Views collaborators Chris & Manuel, take the project further by playing together during Chris own E17 Art Trail performance.
A commonality that prevailed throughout the Musical Views interviews was sadly that Walthamstow, so short on public cultural venues, makes it hard for muscians to meet. With this in mind, it was so warming to find two of the contributors performing together during the Art Trail.
I have spent the past 3 months meeting, interviewing, recording and illustrating some of the musical talents that can be found in Walthamstow. It is a sad fact that too many municipal venues in the borough have either been sold off or closed down.
But there is a fight back. The Art Trail itself is run entirely by the community & the tireless devotion of the organisers Artillery. The Mill is a self-funded community centre – a phoenix that rose from the ashes of a library the council no longer fund. Locals are also actively campaigning (and winning) to bring its Grade II listed cinema (vacant and left to disrepair) back to its former glory and accessible for all.
Perhaps with the renewed optimism of reclaiming Walthamstow’s iconic cinema (who boasted performances from the likes of Jonny Cash, the Beatles & the Stones), a cultural hub can again be reborn and truly find a place for such wonderful (but homeless) talent.
Find out more about Walthamstow’s Cinema.
Find out more about Musical Views
Find out more about E17 Art Trail
The tech behind the Musical Views portrait exhibition, has just been covered in the local Guardian.
George Nott Features & Art journalist, is looking into the technology that can be found on this years E17 Art trail, with downloadable audio & twitter competitions, Musical Views was a prime candidate to get a mention.
Each and everyone of the collaborators had fascinating stories about their instruments and musical backgrounds. The audio part of the project really expands on the brief introductions that can be found at the exhibition. We have a QR code that you can scan with your smart phone, bringing you to here to this site where the interviews and music can be found.
Together with Kat Richmond (who recorded and mixed everything), we gathered hours of material that has been edited down to give an insight into the people involved in the project.
We are also running a a twitter competition for visitors to the exhibition. It’s outside, so we don’t always know who have visited – the twitter comp to win a print is just a fun way of engaging with our audience.
Read the Guardian’s article
Find out more about Musical Views
Find out more about the E17 Art Trail
With beer barrels emptied and instruments being packed away, the Stowneydown Park Folk festival was all but over. All bar a solo violinist sitting on the grass, entertaining the stragglers. I had to get Andy involved in Musical Views.
Playing since a youngster (with a break or two due to fatherhood), Andy now plays regularly at Camden’s World’s End & also at the Golden Lion as part of a folk outfit. He is also involved performing a variety of events in Walthamstow.
Musical influence was not hard to find in his family. Son of a jazz fan who did weekly run to music school, and an uncle who played with some quite big names in the 60s on Boogie-woogie scene & his older brother taking him to Uni gigs.
And folk is not the only genre that Andy looks upon when producing tracks at home. Reggae, Soul, (he used to be a raver) “I take all those influences. I’d love to make dance music, I’ve got smatterings of stuff on the hard drive alternative stuff, film sound tracks, that kind of thing.”
This project would be awfully quiet without a massive amount of help from a good friend Kat. She helped out by being my sonic guru, lugging recording equipment across London and mixing all the Musical Views sound.
Katherine started playing the violin at the age of six. She quickly progressed though exams and scholarships to leading local and county orchestras, defining her style as a soloist and improving her skills as an orchestral player. Before heading to London at 18 to study Hispanic Studies at Kings College London, she was leader of the Hull Youth Symphony Orchestra and also played for the Humberside County Youth Orchestra, Yorchestra in York, Hull Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Independent Schools Association String Orchestra.
She began to combine her classical training with dance music, her other musical love, and helped set up small independent dance label SB White in 2008, which began to release several tracks. Her track ‘Do It All Night’ under the pseudonym Triptec, was well received by London’s dance scene and was played out by several artists at clubs like The End and Fabric. On the back of launching the label, she started up a series of parties around town to help promote the music that was being released.
Taking a break from party promoting to concentrate on developing her production skills, Kat completed the Advanced Music Production Techniques course at CityLit which gave her a good foundation in mixing and engineering methods, and this new knowledge encouraged her to set herself up as a freelance music consultant and events coordinator. Although her love of making dance music hasn’t disappeared, she is now interested in offering her mixing skills for all genres.
Chris Cook has played sitar for almost 15 years, learning from sarangi player Surgeet Singh and sitar player Ramesh Chandra. His dawn ragas will be heard during the E17 Art Trail.
As well as learning Indian Classical Music, Cook has performed over 250 concerts of sitar fusion with electronic music, released albums on labels such as Bip Hop and Wrong Music and played live on radio stations such as Resonance and Radio One.
Beyond solo work, Chris performs regularly with other electronic and experimental musicians including cellist Bela Emerson and flautist Katie English, tabla players Hanif Kahn and improvising groups such as London’s Jerico Orchestra.
He was drawn in by the exotic instruments displayed in the music shop windows of Bina & Jas in Southall, West London where he bought his first Sitar. His father’s taste for music with Indian influences like Ravi Shanka and guitarists like John McGlochlan who worked with Indian musicians, would have definitely helped his decision to pick up perhaps the most well known of indian instruments.
Chris has worked as a music workshop leader in London Borough of Newham, the most culturally diverse borough in London. The main client groups are elders in care homes and day centres. This can include Asian music sessions for Subco Elders Day Centre. At Newham College of Further Education, Chris teaches music and music technology to adults within the Additional Learning Needs Department. This work involves regular lesson planning and collating evidence of students’ progress as well as organising public performances.
It is a pleasure to have Chris contribute to the Musical Views exhibition.
Chris on Soundcloud
Chris on Myspace
Chris’s Blog
Jerico Orchestra
E17 Art Trail
Chris is performing as part of the Art Trail
Saturday 15th September 2pm,
St. Saviour’s Church
Chris Cook plays with Jerico Orchestra inside the church.
Saturday 15th September 4:30pm
Hornbeam Cafe, 458 Hoe St, Walthamstow, E17 9AH
Chris Cook plays with Jerico Orchestra.
Wednesday 5th September & 12th September, 5am-7am
St. Saviour’s Church
Chris Cook plays dawn ragas outside the church.
With over 350 events on the E17 Art Trail, you are going to need a little help getting around.
Navigate the 2012 E17 Art Trail using our very own mobile app! Search the up-to-date listings, share your favourite exhibitions and find your way around E17 with a handy map. Designed and coded by app17.co.uk and redleader.co.uk.
You can download the Android version of the app from Google Play, and the iPhone and iPad versions are in the appstore.
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With only 2 weeks to go, the E17 Art Trail coverage begins to ramp up.
It was great to see one of my portraits used to promote the event on Art daily’s website. Artdaily.org claims to be the first daily online publication dedicated to the arts.
“Fro” was created back in 2009 and is actually Redfoo from the now widely know group LMFAO. Motown mogul Barry Gordy’s son Stefan Kendal Gordy was previously a day trader.
Visit Art Daily
Find out more about Musical views at E17 Art Trail
Sophie Shaw is the lead vocalist fronting renowned blues/swing band, Blue Harlem, one of the top swing/jump-blues bands on the London scene – and the band that launched the career of rising star, Imelda May.
They are now enjoying an enviable reputation on the dance and jazz scene and are regulars at Ronnie Scott’s, Jools Holland’s new music venue – Boisdale Canary Wharf, Tne 100 Club, Twinwood Festival and Jitterbugs.
Their gig list includes such highlights as launching the Dubai Film Festival, the London launch of Baz Luhrman’s film ‘Australia’ and parties at Buckingham Palace, Annabel’s, The Sands Venue and Highgrove House for the Prince’s Trust.
Sophie is also an actress and she has worked for several years in theatre, film and television. As well as performing in national and international tours, she has regularly appeared in London’s West End, including The Royal National Theatre, The Aldwych, The Haymarket, Jermyn Street Theatre and many others. (For the last four years, however, she has been starring in her one-woman ‘show’, known as motherhood!)Sophie is also a Reiki Master/Teacher, running her practice, London Reiki Healing, from her home in Walthamstow Village.
Sophie lives with her four-year-old son, Barney – her own personal whirlwind, explosives expert, mess-maker and cuddle-giver!
Blue Harlem’s Website
More info on Sophies’s Reiki healing
More about Musical Views
To celebrate the opening of Musical Views, we are offering you the chance to win a free print.
Ter-wit-ter-woo!
This Owl print was created last year and is yet to go in the Art Shop. Beat it to, it and enter now!
To enter, all you have to do is join our mailing list by clicking on the button below. Your name will be dropped in a hat and winners announced at the private view on 1st September 2012.
Printed on some lovely Somerset Enhanced 100% Cotton 225g paper, Owl is approximate A4 size (30cm x 21cm).
The unframed print will be sent to the winner after being contacted after the draw to confirm your delivery address.
Good Luck!
This competition has now closed.
Congratulations to Kate Fahy from London, you print is on it’s way!
The research begins for my first solo exhibition…
My first collaborator, T-toe is a producer and performer of experimental rave-pop music, whose unique live show combines vocal, trombone and glockenspiel with electronic backing tracks. He’s a hugely talented founding member of the Bit-Phalanx Records roster with releases on numerous record labels.
His music covers a vast range of moods, ranging from fragile melancholic tales, to loud and rawkus fireworks, with the ability to make huge emotional impact on the listener.
T-toe – Thanks for getting involved and being such an inspiring first interview, I’m looking forward to sharing the images with you soon…
To find out more about the exhibition click here
Check out T-Toe’s site
On September 1st, the E17 Art Trail begins and Musical Views will be my first solo collection of illustrations.
I live in Walthamstow, and I want to explore its rich cultural diversity by looking for music (traditional or contemporary) being played in this, the London borough of Waltham Forest.
I’m looking at musicians from all walks of life, documenting them aurally & visually, and putting my findings together as an illustrated portrait exhibition.
Music has been a massive part of my life. At school I learnt to play my Grandad’s cornet, then the Trombone, guitar and taught myself enough to find my way around a keyboard. I’ve DJ’d for the best part of 20 years and also tried my hand at production.
I’m really excited about collaborating with the area’s musical talent (hidden or well known) and look forward to seeing what imagery and soundscapes we produce along the way.
The E17 Art Trail is an artist led project which provides a framework for E17′s and Waltham Forest’s artists and makers to exhibit and promote their work and art practice.
You can follow how the project develops here on my blog and specific info about the exhibition can be found on the Musical Views Microsite.
