Tag: robin valk (Page 5 of 7)

March 2011 Music Network Meeting Minutes

Music Network Meeting Thursday 31st March 2011

TEE, Millennium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham

In attendance

Saurab Thomas (bcu graduate), Sheryl (student acces to music, starting ) Robin Valk (radiotogo), Clare Edwards, Simon Howes, Abi , Adrian Kimberline, Katy Jay (photographer musoplex),  Colin Tippin (musicalechanges.com), Peter Marchant (student), Matt Marchant (student musician, presenter on scratch radio), Alex (accounting and finnace student), Sean (student), Liam (composing and producing music, comedy script writing) Keisha Thompson (singer songwriter poet). Ann Sulaiman. Spence Cater.

Apologies

Nicola Toms – Oxjam, Martin Mullan – Changing Horses, Anthony Hughes – Musician, Andy Ward – Musoplex, Vince is touring with 10cc, Kevin Moore – Scratch Radio, Andy Derrick – Musician. Continue reading

October 2010 Music Network Meeting Minutes

Present:
Andy Derrick, Adrian Kimberlin, Darren Roberts, Gary Heywood, Colin Tippin, Vince O’Malley, Iona, Robin valk,

Apologies:
Anthony Hughes
Clare Edwards
Kate Southall
Andy Ward

Announcements:
Andy Derrick, Mark Badger

New Points:
Darren Roberts, Robin Valk, Ioana, Mo Hawk, Colin Tippin,  Andy Derrick,

Andy Derrick:
Andy would like to acknowledge and thank Dave Taylor at BCU for help and support given to The Music Network and of course for supplying Teas and Coffees for the meeting.

Andy lead a discussion about #quitmyspaceday blogged about by Andrew Dubber and the Issues surrounding Myspace both For and Against.

Andy made the point that Myspace is still valid for many people but wanted to ask who else still uses myspace? A lively conversation followed.

Against:
Agreed that it is a terrible interface.
Myspace appears to be in decline.

For:
Still a useful resource to find out about stuff.
Some bands still find they need to use myspace as many people they wish to engage are still to be found on myspace.

If you google a bands name at present….usually first result is myspace.

Suggested alternatives: bandcamp, reverbnation, build your own wordpress site,

Concensus of opinion: Think, be independent, do what you think is suitable for your needs. Andy has invited people to add comments at: www.andyderrick.co.uk

Robin Valk:
The Pilot Project
www.pilot-project.co.uk
Bristish Library New Music Network
Website goes Live on 18th November, Project is working with The British Library.
There is an Audio Restoration project already going on but Robin is interested in targetting contemporary music and had an idea to start an experimental  project on a regional basis to assemble a project.

This will be a curated site as opposed to a band nominated site.

Clare Edwards, Katy Jay, Richard Elms, and many others have been invited to be involved.

Idea is to run the project for five years.

Nick J Townsend:
Made an interesting point that if you live in Kidderminster you can get airplay on Radio Hereford and Worcester but if you live in Brierly Hill, Dudley, Stourbridge then West Midlands Radio doesn’t seem to recognise those areas as part of their geographic catchment area and so does not prioritise playing or engaging music produced in those areas.

Ioana:
Uncle Jeb events
Bristish Bands to Romania
Ioana based in birmingham, she takes rising Birmingham or British bands and organises gigs for them in Bucharest Romania, covers their expenses.

Ioana is looking for indie, guitar based rock, post punk, punk bands

She is looking for bands with a unique selling point

Contact: Ioana Epure
www.unclejebediah.co.uk
Uncle Jebediah Ltd Trading as UnkleJeb Events,
Aston Cross, 6 rocky lane, Birmingham, West Midlands, B6 5RQ
(+44) 0755 476 5967 / (+40) 0724 249 379
She is also a photographer and journalist

Mo Hawk
Artist fusing African music Styles and Hip Hop
Looking for words of wisdom about how to market and promote their music in Birmingham. Suggestions made Giles Petersen
The Block Studio
Mo Hawk
Gambia tel: 220-9983980, 220-4371508
Sweden mobile 46736465996
Mohawkk1@yahoo.com
http://www.theblockstudios.com

Programme called “rooted” about promoting African languages
If anyone can help with a Birmingham gig and help marketing and promoting the record.

Try carlos www.birminghampromoters.com

Suggestions: rhubarb radio, shelley atkinson, brumcast, musicworldradio,

Darren Roberts:
Working on research to include local people involved with music in local government and politics
he has spoken to Councillor Martin Mullaney
suggestions made of Ernie Hendricks, Ed Vasey, David Furmage,
Also playing a gig: 20th november: the void at the actress and bishop
contact Darren: dxr827 at bham.ac.uk

Colin and Vince:
www.musicalexchanges.com
Recruit area where people can find each other, auction area on there
online shopping center for anything music related.
The website is coming together, has a social networking tool
A flyer was given out with more info

Nick J Townsend:
Provided feedback on the Dudly jbs situation. The gig he organised was very successful and the publicity that the venue has had has helped bring in a lot of interest

Next meeting thursday 25th November.

The West Midlands Pilots the first phase of the Birtish library’s New Music Network

Emerging contemporary artists from Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and the West Midlands will be among the first in the country to have samples of their current work permanently stored in the British Library music archive. This is because they have been selected for a new website which showcases the very best new independent music from the West Midlands, as chosen by a panel of local music experts.

The PILOT PROJECT website – www.pilot-project.co.uk – goes live Thursday, November 18 in Birmingham, at 7pm.

The launch represents the first public step of an ambitious UK-wide scheme. It follows a six-month period of curation, working with a panel of West Midlands music experts. Music on the site will be accessible to stream, and the site database is fully searchable. The music and data will also be stored permanently in the British Library’s music archive as part of the British Library’s New Music Network. This aims to document contemporary British independent music of all types as it is made available through websites, blogs and other digital platforms.

Project co-ordinator, Birmingham radio veteran Robin Valk, said: “The Web has changed everything. Musicians now have access to tools that give them real control over the production and distribution of their work. They can exchange ideas and collaborate, instantly, worldwide, and this opens up huge new areas of experimentation and creativity. There is more good new music, more experimentation and more creativity than ever before, and most of it is online. This is a vital new part of the culture of our country. We owe it to ourselves to preserve it for future generations of music lovers.”

The launch will feature performances from West Midlands musicians Jo Hamilton, Vijay Kishore, and Friendly Fire Band, and representatives from the British Library and the Pilot Project advisory team (listed below) will be available for interview.

Andy Linehan, Pop Music curator for the British Library Sound Archive, said: “This is an important step in archiving new music at a local level for the national collections. So much new and innovative music is being made at grass roots level which bypasses the traditional business model, and it can be difficult to be aware of such activity.

“Successful local activity such as the Pilot Project means we will be able to provide a detailed picture of the diverse and creative output of West Midlands musicians for future generations.”

About the Pilot Project

The Pilot Project has been organised by Robin Valk, veteran radio expert and one of the founding members of staff at BRMB. Music for the project has been selected by a panel of regional advisors, broadcasters and music experts, including:

Chris Downing, Brumcast           brumcast.podomatic.com

Richard Elms, Herbert Media, Coventry    www.theherbert.org/index.php/home/herberrt-media?

Shelley Atkinson, Arts Deville        www.artsdeville.co.uk/?

Clare Edwards                   clareedwards.wordpress.com/about/

Marc Reck                www.marcreck.com/

Apache Indian                en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Indian

Tony Dudley-Evans, Birmingham Jazz    www.birminghamjazz.co.uk/

Kate Southall, Wolverhampton        www.myspace.com/katyjaywcrfm

This website will stay live for six months, showcasing the very best new music being developed in the region. Music selected for the site will be also be saved in the permanent British Library sound archive. Following a period of evaluation, the organisers hope to launch more regional pilots in 2011. The Pilot Project is supported by Digital Content Development at Arts Council West Midlands.

About the British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and one of the world’s greatest research libraries.

It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library’s collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages.

For further information, images, recordings and pre-launch interviews contact:

Birmingham coordinator:    

Robin Valk robin at radiotogo.com

British Library:       

Andy Linehan andy.linehan at bl.uk

www.pilot-project.co.uk
www.bl.uk

Musicians appearing at the launch
www.johamilton.com/
www.vijaykishore.co.uk/
www.friendlyfiremusic.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pilot Project website launch Birmingham, 18th November 2010

Radio To Go invites you to the launch of the Pilot Project website, a joint venture with the British Library. The site showcases new online music from the West Midlands for the next six months of web streaming experimentation.

Doors open for guests at 6.30pm, allowing you to meet Pilot Project and British Library representatives. At 7pm the Pilot Project website goes live, allowing guests to explore the site. The exceptional Jo Hamilton, the hugely innovative Vijay Kishore and 3rd generation Birmingham Reggae pioneers Friendly Fire band will all play showcase acoustic sets during the evening.

The Pilot Project site is the first public phase in a two–year long project, whose ultimate goal is to build a comprehensive archive (the British Library New Music Network), documenting and preserving the best British new music. This is a long overdue and welcome development – our music industry has changed beyond all recognition, and new media and web-based creativity has empowered independent artists as never before.

This website is a first step in acknowledging these changes. Supported by Digital Content Development at Arts Council West Midlands, the site is a test bed. In developing the project, the British Library and Radio To Go have experimented with curation to present a first sampling of material. We have worked with regional experts across the West Midlands, drawn from the local music industry and local media, most of whom will be in attendance (for more details, see the attached press release). The site repertoire will be accessible and searchable, with information and contacts for the musicians. Users can choose to stream the repertoire in various ways.

It is planned for the site to stay online for 6 months, while streaming experimentation takes place, yielding further technical research information for future projects.

Doors open at 6.30 pm for welcome reception; the site launch is at 7pm.
Would you like to attend the launch? Would you like to know where the launch is being held? We would very much appreciate your RSVP  to:  robin at radiotogo.com

The Pilot Project website launch Fazeley Studios, Birmingham, 18th November 2010

Handsworth Evolution – a documentary by Robin Valk for Birmingham Music Heritage

Robin Valk says “It’s all there – the story of how the children of those early post-war immigrants came up with a vital new approach to reggae, mixed, matched and mashed up… and invented whole new styles of music along the way. And right now, there’s even a third generation doing new and vital stuff. Now, with the blessing of Birmingham Music Heritage, whose commission it was, I am making it available via Sound Cloud, after the jump. Know what? I love internet publishing.

The programme is in three parts – I built it so it would allow for a news bulletin and breaks for promos and/or ads. It’s also on offer to local community stations for rebroadcast, gratis – email me, using the link at the botton of this post, and I’ll send you a DropBox invite. In the meantime, tag away to your hearts’ content on the Soundcloud files.”

http://radiotogo.blogspot.com/2010/10/handsworth-evolution-documentary.html

Just click to play:
Handsworth Evolution Part 1

Handsworth Evolution Part 2

Handsworth Evolution Part 3

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