Distant Drums

Hi Distant Drums fans!

Distant Drums Session 1

The project kicked off in earnest this week, with the first session on Tuesday evening. Six young volunteers attended, they will meet and interview members of the dub reggae sound system community in the East Midlands during the course of the project. We were also excited to welcome a visitor who had heard about the project, and who volunteered to be an interviewee! The session began the programme of work by introducing the history of the Leicester sound system community, delivered by Steve Gibbs of reggae collective Vibronics. They also enjoyed listening to some vinyls (after all, what is a sound system project without music?!)

Several of the young people who have volunteered to be involved in Distant Drums are also Press Start musicians on Pedestrian’s Perfect Score project.  Distant Drums offers them an excellent progression opportunity as they will have the chance to gain new skills and experience in interviewing, researching, networking and communicating, while engaging in an academic process. This will open up new possibilities in terms of their career development and aspirations, and give them a taste of bigger responsibilities including professionalism, as well as the ability to conduct interviews effectively and use their time well. While working on the project they will be linked to the broader music community, discover how sound systems are built, learn how the music developed, and how that culture influenced today’s sounds.

Interview Training

Then on Wednesday evening it was time to train the trainers! Helen of the East Midlands Oral History Archive delivered a session in recording oral history to the Distant Drums delivery team and members of Pedestrian’s staff. This involved developing interview techniques, considering the emotional responses of interviewees and how to put them at ease, getting the most out of interviews, ethical issues and practical aspects such as how to set up an effective interview space. The session was very enjoyable and provided much food for thought!

We’ll see you next time with more news from Distant Drums!

If you’re a young person who’d like to get involved, simply drop in on a session at 29A Horsefair Street, Leicester, LE1 5BP on Tuesday evenings 6pm - 9pm. Alternatively, you can email [email protected] for more information.

Pedestrian are delighted to announce the launch of their brand new music project, Distant Drums! This project is all about the sound system culture that made its way to the UK with the Windrush Generation and influenced the local music and live performance scene.

Sessions will take place at Pedestrian’s premises in Leicester city centre (29A Horsefair Street, Leicester, LE1 5BP) on Tuesday evenings 6pm - 9pm from 25th February to 14th April 2020. Participants will have the chance to interview the people involved in the sound system scene, create their own music and exhibit their work at the Leicester Riverside Festival.

What is Distant Drums?

Distant Drums is a Heritage Lottery funded project led by arts company Whispered Tales in partnership with Pedestrian. The project will focus on the development of an interactive sound system installation; the final large-scale exhibit will be hosted at Leicester Riverside Festival on the 6th and 7th June 2020 and then again at Grafwerk art gallery in Leicester during Black History Month.

Pedestrian will host a series of workshops in which young people will act as researchers and interviewers, meeting and recording the memories and thoughts of a range of people who have experience of the sound system culture. This will include musicians, producers, technicians and people who build the sound systems, as well as members of the community who have taken part in carnival or have memories related to the sound system culture.

The interviews will be included in the exhibit, allowing members of the public to listen back through headphones. Participants will also have opportunity to create original music to be included in the exhibit.