Music scenes are nothing without the real-life networks that them possible.
A new project hopes to support these communities in cities all over the world by working with people at a grassroots level, and in turn help local electronic music scenes thrive.
Boiler Room and Ballantine's 2019 True Music Tour was announced last week: they’re going to be taking the flagship music program to Russia, Poland, Spain and South Africa during the course of the next year. The team will be working with venues, collectives, promoters, fans – the communities that facilitate a music scene – to identify challenges they face and put solutions into place, pioneering the scene to help push it forward.
The systems left in place could be anything from financial support to mentoring initiatives, and this shift in focus (from artists to communities) comes at a time when scenes across the world are being threatened by increased regulatory control and venue closures.
The first leg of the project tackles the current climate in Russia through conversations with figures like Natasha Abelle, founder of Arma17 (one of Russia's best clubs, dealing in house and techno), Sergey Golikov (whose venue Rabitza was shut down by authorities in 2017), bass producer A-Fruitt, and Gosha Rubchinskiy’s soundtrack creator, techno producer Buttechno.
The first show in Moscow at the end of February will feature experimental producer Shadowax, Buttechno, Arma 17's Abelle and techno stalwarts Karenn, who make their Russia debut. The party will also feature a performance from Parisian DJ and producer Bambounou.
Ballantine's Head of Music, Tom Elton, believes the step towards communities is essential, after having worked on previous True Music projects for five years. “I think it’s a good thing that we're calling people to action,” he said at the launch in London.
”For people to take a stand up for the music they think is worth fighting for. Music isn't just about artists – they can’t thrive without the communities around them. It seemed right as an evolution to ask real people from the scene – record labels, artists, DJs, producers – what they need. Going to those countries and asking people with a real life perspective what it is that our partnership should do, what we can do for that scene."
Steven Appleyard, Chief Business Development Officer at Boiler Room, said this was an idea that came out of previous True Music projects. "In spending time in different countries with artists, crews and collectives we realised that there are certain issues unique to each place that we go that in some way hamper artists and collectives,” he said at the launch. “We literally went to venues, record labels, artists and asked them, basically found the people most likely to have an opinion about it."
“While it was always a key part of everything we did – to showcase meaningful, exciting artists and music, giving them global exposure – we could do something more. We're still gonna do the big shows and turn people on to the music scenes in each country, but we'll also be doing something longer lasting and meaningful."
The launch was accompanied by a panel discussion of the project and the issues it will tackle at Corsica Studios, and a screening of a short film made by music video and documentary maker, Rollo Jackson, who drew on his experience working with the likes of Stormzy and DJ Slimzee to create it, as well as a youth spent immersed in London’s rave culture.
He told people at the launch that the idea behind his film was about how music unites people, often those from the margins of the mainstream. Check it out below to get a feel for what the new project is all about…
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