Sounds Phenomenal - A History
2000
Sounds Phenomenal 2000: Music Industry Conference
2000
saw Sounds Phenomenal changing shape in a number of ways, mainly through
direction and personnel.
Through
funding received from the Government’s Single Regeneration Budget, The
Hangleton & Knoll Project set up AudioActive
- a youth music project designed to provide young people from the local area
with access to opportunities and training in music making, and building on the
work already done by Sounds Phenomenal.
Dom
Pates joined SP to volunteer for helping with the organising
of the third Music Industry Conference. A change in personnel meant that
he was to devise the programme
for this conference and organise
the event himself (with the help of a very capable team around him). In
accepting this role, it also meant undertaking stewardship of Sounds
Phenomenal from that point onwards; as a vehicle that would diversify from it’s
original aims yet continue to help musicians.
Brighton
College of Technology invited the use of their premises for the third
Sounds Phenomenal Music Industry Conference. Given the
handover of responsibilities and the time frame needed to organise the event
properly, the entire Conference programme, including the additional feature of
a week of live music in the run-up to the day of the main event, had to be
started and finished within three months. However, the good name that Sounds
Phenomenal had built itself around Brighton meant that many people were
willing to once again donate their time or services to what was becoming an
established part of the local calendar.
With funding from the National Lottery's Awards 4 All scheme and additional sponsorship from Groovy Gecko and Waterstone's, the Sounds Phenomenal 2000 programme went ahead in the October of that year, attracting up to 3000 people across the range of events held. The conference itself, at the end of the week, was once again intended to demystify the music business and offer Brighton's up-and-coming talent an opportunity to meet and question leading industry luminaries. The day was divided between seminars from industry professionals and figures from the local scene, and a number of workshops providing training in many different instruments/music making techniques. It culminated in a gig at the college's Tower Theatre that included Kriminal Kollective, a collection of musicians pooled from the college's own Popular Music course students.
The showcase of the best of Brighton’s live music was held at two venues across the town. It incorporated the return of live music to Sussex University after an absence of many years, and was also used as a platform for the live launch of 'The Metway Sessions', an initiative whereby band demos were put to a panel of local music industry and the best ones were chosen to record free at Metway Studios and broadcast on Surf 107's 'Totally Wired' programme. The other venue was The Freebutt, situated in the town itself.
Featured acts included:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Birdhouse | Platform | Supercoolwater | Snorkel | Flying Machine |
|
Venue |
Monday
|
Tuesday
|
Wednesday
|
Thursday
|
Friday
|
|
East Slope Bar |
Things To Do For Boys Platform 5 Amp Fuse |
Mosquito |
The Feltro Media Rift |
AudioActive DJ Crew (house, trance, garage) |
Brighter Lunch Supercoolwater Flying Machine |
|
The Freebutt |
Birdhouse
|
Slip
Jam B
(underground hip-hop) |
Liquid
Laugh
Jaded Snorkel |
Cheetah
Elmo’s
Rehab Blitz Tennessee |
The first night at East Slope was featured in The Argus, Brighton's newspaper, who offered this review:
"Monday night's launch at the East Slope Bar featured three bands, starting with Shark, formerly known as 5 Amp Fuse. Amid a muddle of beer and banter the crowd cheered the three-piece, who offer Johnny Cash tunes alongside their own blend of indie crossed with occasional Monkees-style harmonies.
As the floor grew stickier, Platform stepped on stage and gradually stunned the crowd with a style that made me think how Radiohead might sound if they were ever happy.
With the venue sweating and straining to full capacity, Things To Do For Boys presented their cheeky stage and song drama as a finale to the evening's music. Favourites included A Tale Of The Unexpected and El Torro/The Bull, whose lyrics, "bless my soul to alcohol", were well chosen for the event."
Review by Laura Hills; with thanks to The Argus.
Conference Programme: Seminar/Workshop Listings
| Seminar Room 1 |
Seminar Room 2 |
Seminar Room 3
(Hosted by D2
Consulting) |
Workshop Room 1 (AudioActive) |
Workshop Room 2 |
Workshop Room 3 |
|
| 10.30-12.00 |
New
Deal for Musicians. Meet with Alan
Christmas, the New Deal Music Industry Consultant for Brighton &
Hove, and Opportunities re: training opps. In music. |
A panel from SKINT,
featuring Damian Harris, Andy Mac and Dave Philpot to talk about the
label. |
Introduction
to listening to music on the Internet. With Daniel Nathan
from Festival Productions. |
Computer
Music for Beginners. This masterclass
will cover everything you need to know about setting up a computer
music based system. Max 12 people. |
Guitar
for beginners. Bring your own
(with lead) and let Dan Woods (Barnstormer)
help you make more out of it. Max 12 people. |
Voice. Imogen Ryle
develops your voice with tips, exercises and a belting finale. |
| 12.30-2.00 |
Women
in the Music Industry. With Sarah Thain
(Dolly Mixers), Lisa Lout (Brighton
Rocks) & Saranne Reid (Sample Clearance Ltd). |
Management. |
Publishing
& Distribution using the Net – Uploading MP3s. With Pete Lush (Things
In Herds; MP3.com artist) |
Beginners
DJ workshop. A session for
those wondering what skills are needed to be a good DJ. Max 12 people. |
Drums
& percussion: Latin. Carnival
Collective show why street samba is infectious and lend you the
instruments to try it out. |
Frontline
brass. Sax, trumpet,
horn? If you play brass and want to be part of the gig then this is
where you learn how. |
| 2.30-4.00 |
Harry
Shapiro. Acclaimed author
of ‘Waiting
For The Man’ – the history of drugs and popular music. |
Find out about
performing and copyright royalties. With Malcolm Buckland (PRS) and
Emma Cummants. |
Digital
Rights Management. Issues of
copyright and royalty collection. |
Advanced
Computer Music Making. A session for
musicians who already have some experience of computer music making
and MIDI. Max 12 people. |
Guitar:
Advanced. Bring your own
(with lead) and let Dan Woods will show you how to use your talent
more professionally. Max 12 people. |
Groovy
Gecko demo. Part 1: What is
this thing called Streaming Media anyway? - a brief intro. Part 2: Shooting
video for the Web. |
| 4.30-6.00 |
The do’s and don’ts.
With Saranne Reid, Emma Cummants from MCPS & Dave from SKINT. |
A.I.M.
(Association of Independent Music). Find out about
this umbrella organisation for indie labels. |
Futurology:
A brief look at the industry & the direction it’s heading in. Discussion forum
& input session on music and the internet |
Advanced
DJ workshop. This session is
for DJs with some experience of basic mixing and scratching. Max 12
people. |
Drums
& percussion: Indian, African & Middle Eastern. Julian Franks of
Kunundrum leads an introduction to hand percussion with tabla, djembe
and darabowka. Max 25-30 people. |
© Sounds Phenomenal, 2003
