#docnrollfilms

On Tuesday 19th July Harkive will return for its fourth year to once again collect stories online from people about the detail of their music listening experience.

The project asks people to tell the tale of How, Where and Why they listen to music on a single day each year, with the aim of capturing for posterity a snapshot of the way in which we interact with the sounds and technology of today. Since launching in 2013 the project has gathered over 8,000 stories, and on Tuesday 19th July we’ll be doing it all again. We hope you’ll join us by telling Harkive your story.

We’re now on the final countdown to Harkive 2016, with just 3 days to go. As we have done in previous years, in the run up to the big day we’ll be posting some ‘example’ stories from people who do interesting things with their music listening. Today we welcome Vanessa Lobon and Colm Forde, the good people behind Doc'n Roll Films.

Doc’n Roll Films was set up in 2013 to build a nation-wide platform for the distribution and exhibition of alternative music documentaries. Focused primarily on first and second time filmmakers, Vanessa and Colm provide support and guidance through the industry’s maze. Based in London, with an annual autumn festival of premiere films across the city’s independent cinemas, they are gradually branching out to the regional cities with weekend editions in Brighton, Manchester and Liverpool.

After meeting with Harkive at Liverpool Sound City earlier this year, Vanessa and Colm kindly agreed to keep a record of their music listening day. Here is their story.

A regular day for the core Doc’n Roll team – Colm Forde (Programmer) and Vanessa Lobon (Artistic Director)

Alarm goes off, it’s 8:15

Another hectic day ahead, as we’re entering the build up period to our annual festival in November.

First thing,…on with the radio - Shaun Keaveny’s 6 Music show.

He sounds little bit grumpy today but good tunes to start the day, Roisin Murphy’s “Ten Miles High”, The Smiths “What difference is it makes”, White Denim “Had 2 know”…

Breakfast, showers and we are ready for work,….from home today.

Sifting through and answering emails we’ve still got the radio on 6, with Lauren Laverne,….ESG’s Erase You a particular favourite,…‘til 12pm….when we start to listen to a great show off RTE Radio 1 player. The South Wind Blows, from Philip King of Other Voices festival, is a weekly Saturday evening show broadcast from Dingle, in Kerry,....well worth exploring!

His one-hour programme has a great selection of folk/rock tunes,.. Bob Dylan, The Waterboys, The Beatles, Lisa Hanigan. A cool mix of old and new bands. Where I was first exposed to The National, Laura Muluva, Villagers…

Colm is the cook, so while he is prepping he’s got 6 Music on the kitchen radio in the background.

I’ve decided to listen to one of our recently acquired albums as I’m still working in the office, Car Seat Headrest –Teens of Denial,… American indie rock. It’s a grower, been hearing a lot recently about these guys.

Once lunch is over, we’re both back to researching and sorting through social media leads on docs being released in 2017. One of these ‘in-production films’ profiles the early days of the UK Hip-Hop scene,….so for a change of mood, out comes my Gangster’s Chronicle: Best of London Posse album for some good witty early 90’s street poetry.

An email update on the progress of a great doc on the horizon called Northern Disco Lights: The Rise and Rise of Norwegian Dance Music, inspires a search through our vinyl for a taste of Röyksopp’s Melody AM album.

The latest draft of our festival poster design arrives, so we consult via Skype with our designer on what’s good, what needs tweaking…..

Another quick search through Mixcloud for a soundtrack to this task and where off with a classic Norwegian cosmic disco set, Prinz Thomas’ et al, ending 45 minutes later with an impromptu boogie as Todd Terje’s Inspector Norse hits….

Dinnertime,….radio is on again, prepping to 6 Music, Marc Riley’s selection is a ritual, as his live sessions and general banter shake the evening and mood up a little.

As evening tilts towards night, we pick a new music doc from our to-watch list. It’s almost a nightly occurrence these days, as we’re currently swamped with a backlog of 11 films waiting in-line.

This is a great opportunity for us to discover new bands, broaden our knowledge and learn about some music genres that we are not overly familiar with, like jazz or metal. This exposure to new sounds often leads us to new album discoveries via Youtube, Soundcloud, Spotify….etc.

We end the day listening a few albums on our record player.

A good selection of down-tempo tunes from Bill Wither’s Greatest Hits, The Shins’ Wincing the Night Away,,..closing with Yo La Tengo’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside (over and) Out….

If you enjoyed Vanessa and Colm’s example and would like to tell your own Harkive story in a similar way, you can do so by emailing [email protected] on or after 19th July with the tale of your listening day, writing as much or as little as you want. If email is not your thing, you can contribute your story in a number of other ways, such as by Tweeting with the hashtag #harkive across the day, by posting to the Harkive page on Facebook, or by adding stories and images to Tumbr and Instagram – just remember to add the hashtag #harkive to each of your posts. More information on the ways in which you can tell your story are on the How To Contribute page. Full details can be found on the project website: www.harkive.org

Harkive 2016 is just 3 days away. We do hope you’ll join us on Tuesday 19th July by telling us the story of your listening day. If Harkive sounds interesting, please do help us spread the word by telling your friends about the project. In the meantime you can keep an eye on the project by following us on Twitter, or by liking our Facebook page. If you have any questions about the project please feel free to email us.