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NEW ARTS & MUSIC CENTRE PROPOSED FOR NORTH LONDON

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NEW ARTS & MUSIC CENTRE PROPOSED FOR NORTH LONDON

‘BRAND NEW START’

 – a breath of fresh air for arts & music –

North London – that’s Crouch End, Haringey, Hornsey, Stroud Green and the surrounding area was once home to a thriving music & arts scene – famous names from the arts who lived and worked in the area abound – they include -The Kinks, Pete Brown of ‘Sunshine of Your Love’ & Cream fame, Mick Kidd (Biff of the Guardian), Anthony Minghella, Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) Laurie Morgan (legendary Jazz drummer) , Tim Healy, Denise Welch, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth; Bob Dylan – yes he resided in Crouch End for a while. In recent years some of the area’s best loved venues, theatre, cinemas and arts centres have gone – recession, corporate Gastro Pubs and the like have taken over. A once thriving area feels like a cultural wasteland.

But not any more if entrepreneur Jonny Rogers has anything to do with it. Jonny’s vision of a community arts & music centre based in Stroud Green and serving North London’s creative community is gathering momentum – read on…

 

 

BRAND NEW START

A home for community arts and music in North London

With recession devastating the arts & music scene, a single individual has come up with an exciting plan to launch a creative complex within the community.

BRAND NEW START (BNS) envisages the realisation of an ongoing ‘creative village life’ in the heart of North London. BNS would enable a multifunction network channelling independent creative practice into the community and vice-versa. It would harness music, visual & performing arts, film-making, fashion, craft and other disciplines, with particular care taken to accommodate the disadvantaged. All this would be in the confines of a 10,000ft² live-work complex.

BNS seeks those with an interest in this project, investors or donors, who possess material assets that they are willing to contribute. Financial investments will go into a co-operative fund held in trust to facilitate the instigation and day to day running of the centre.

At a time when one of North London’s iconic buildings – Church Studios in Crouch End is in imminent danger of conversion to flats – BNS offers those with a vision a brand new oasis in the present cultural desert.

Initial enquiries to jonny-rogers@hotmail.co.uk

 

ABOUT JONNY ROGERS

 

Jonny is an established successful  professional antique & furniture restorer who specialises in prestige period property renovations. He has wide experience and connections with the local creative and charitable community and previous experience of involvement with creative premises. Further information on application to jonny-rogers@hotmail.co.uk

 

ABOUT THE PROJECT

BNS envisages offering space, support services and facilities to those believing in developing local creativity. Its core principles would be justice, community, equal opportunity and creative expression, as well as creating a level playing-field for individuals coming from vulnerable or under-privileged circumstances and who are in a position to benefit dramatically from its services. With music as one of its core creative areas, BNS would provide stage, recording and rehearsal settings, as well as a touchstone for shared musical contact, dialogue and interaction.

BRAND NEW START will consist in self-sustaining and community-dependent artists, musicians, tradespersons and other people of relevant profession, who will occupy live-work space and help to run the continual flow of workshops and events that make up the BNS scheme.

THE SITE The project is presently is pitching for is a 10,000ft², A1-status premises in Stroud Green, N4. This would be occupied by project contributors and sub-let to other artists. Work has been done to secure a series of pre-let guarantees for the property.

 

August 22, 2012

Diana Stone, London N14, UK July 2012

February and March 2012 dianas doings init

Delta Ladies, Elephant Shelf, music, Musings

15th February 2012

The video from the Cambridge folk Club gig Delta Ladies gig has come out fairly well. Although though it was not a huge attendance the audience is quite responsive and the playing is OK so that will hopefully help with the profile. I am rather pleased about that. The present relief from the cold weather is also a blessing and its supposed to last until the end of the week at least. I used not feel the cold to much, but this year has been something else. February is traditionally my moping around month and this year has not been any different so far. Yesterday was a typical day, a couple of hours on the piano in the morning then over to N London to do some over dubs for one of our recording projects where we are adding a guest player. Then off for an Indian meal (starters only) and a quick drink and a chat at one of the venues we play that’s also our local by proxy, though its a long way from here. they were having a Valentine themed evening, but it seemed the same as usual to me except our favorite ale had just gone off. In bed by about 3 then up at 09:30…

19th February 2012
Thursday was a studio day and fairly successful. Just overdubs for percussion and second vocals to go on. We won’t go back to the studio for about 3 weeks or so though.

Saturday, and only one gig this weekend at the Bellvue in High Wycombe. Woke up with a bit of a headache in the morning, but I shook it off. A very lively night with a good audience and also some very good beer too. One of my favorite gigs and a place that has a regular music crowd. They also have an art exhibition in what I suppose would be have been called the saloon in days of old.

We recorded the gig,(we record most gigs as its a useful reference) and one newish number which we had not done live before worked remarkably well. Its a track that will be on the new album.

A side effect of recording gigs is that you can often pick up some of the audience talking in between numbers about cabbages and kings which is often quite amusing. particularly if they are discussing band members! People have there favorites of course.

Although we have been at it for 7 years the TG aspect of the band is still an unknown quantity with regard to bookings and so forth. I suspect that we do miss out on some opportunity’s due to this. We are also perhaps perceived as something of a novelty in some quarters. Often the biggest problem is those PC types that might think they are doing you a favor, rather than the very un PC types. Here is a perhaps a not atypical punter slightly edited quote from a gig a while back “When I saw you come in I thought this is going to be rubbish, but its really good” There are still some barriers to be overcome but we are working on it. It also pays not to be too sensitive as there can be some interesting comments and our main working environment is boozers of course. Still you make your bed an lie on it as the saying goes.

It could be worse, I could still be working in an office… Though being employable in some sense might be an asset

21st February 2012 at
Its been about 3 years since I came off anti-depressants, after having taken them for around 12 years on and off. They did create a consistent warm fuzzy feeling and lack of tension a lot of the time but also stopped me from feeling very much as well. Mostly these days my mood is reasonably easy to manage, though I do get a few crap days.

One thing that has really hit me in recent months is the “Is that all there is” syndrome.
I have always assumed the worst will happen and whilst getting on with life kept a weather eye out for some cosmic thunderbolt or similar to knock me flat on my back just when I least expect it. What is quite frightening is perhaps the possibility that everything will just be a bit average from now on.

Possibly its just the midlife Crisis thing or in my case the Tranopause which occurs when you discover that your doing everything you always did before and the grass is not any greener and you can’t remember what was so important about all this old gender malarkey or just a good existential hangover.

Perhaps averageness is the English condition?

5th February 2012

I had a really strange dream last night. In the dream I was covered in weird squishy growths all over my body. These were quite annoying so I picked up a sword and started slicing the tops off, at which point gallons of green yellow muck came out. Having done this I then went to a sort of veggie cafe for a breakfast in somewhere that was a bit like Malvern. I asked for a Veggie burger but they had run out and tried to give me a meat one instead! At this point I woke up.
29th February 2012

Still limping along and yesterday I rehearsed some new stuff for the Delta Ladies act. Didn’t sound too bad so we will try out a few things on Fridays gig. I am getting very fed up with aches and pains which seem to be very much still with me and are affecting my playing a bit. We have a full couple of months coming up gig wise though mostly low key pub stuff. To be honest I often find the smaller gigs are the most enjoyable if you can engage the punters sufficiently. We are not going to make our fortune doing this but that’s OK I think.

My mood is still quite low a lot of the time but I do get a lift from getting out and playing.

4th March 2012

A couple of gigs this weekend. On Friday we were back at a place we have not played since 2008. It was a not that good as the Road was closed for re-surfacing so we had a very low attendance as nobody could get in the car park. Saturdays night was at the New Inn Witney near Oxford and went fairly well, but it was a fairly late finish so I didn’t get home till 4.

There were a few local musicians in, and also some superb dad dancing at one point, shame I did not have the video camera with me.

Some very nice comments from Martin who runs the place about how the band is sounding now as we have refined it quite a bit, and he was also quite complementary about the new Album tracks. He has a good ear being a musician and also involved in recording as well, including a lot of classical (up to full orchestras) using very big desks with up to 120 input channels

We also listened to some rough mixes of the new album in the car, and it seems to work quite well though the running order may change a bit.

Slightly less in the way of aches and pains, thank goodness, though my left shoulder is a bit problematic as this can make playing the violin very awkward, but it seems to be easing over time and and becoming more mobile, though it can catch me out me from time to time. Last nights gig was using the solid violin,(basically a cut away body and can be loud enough to deal with any errant electric guitar players) but its not as good to play as my trusty old Ben Franklin acoustic from around 1780 ish.

A new tune in an old style ‘Old Bones in winter’

I have been doing a lot of slightly introvert solo Piano recently. This is sort of late 50′ early 60’s Jazz Ballard with nods towards Bill Evans and similar folks.

‘Old Bones in winter‘

http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_12482368

Nerd quiz:

See if you can spot the quoteish from a very well known tune at about 3.24.

Of course some you of may think this is self-indulgent old bollocks 😉

One of the Uk’s fastest rising ethical fashion designers Ada Zanditon’s new collection Aw12/13 Simia Mineralis shown at London Fashion Week Somerset House this week February 2012. Music is by North London’s Elephant Shelf – a new tune in retro clothes ‘Ooh Bop Sh’Boogie’

Delta Ladies, Elephant Shelf, pictures, video

One of the Uk’s fastest rising ethical fashion designers Ada Zanditon’s new collection Aw12/13 Simia Mineralis shown at London Fashion Week Somerset House this week February 2012. Music is by North London’s Elephant Shelf – a new tune in retro clothes ‘Ooh Bop Sh’Boogie’