Live from the XOX Project's 909 event, Readipop presents the afternoons conversation and live demonstration from Saytek Live!

Harrison and Saytek discuss the Roland TR-909's legacy, before Saytek shows how he builds a beat on the machine.

*This is a live recording, so inconsistent noise throughout*

This episode Harrison is talking about sound & music for screen with experienced guests: Jocelyn Chandler-Hawkins (Through A Different Lens), Matt Hulse (Artist & Filmmaker) and Simon Stolland (Cinematographer). Captured live at our bi-monthly Music Meet-up.

*This is a live recording, so inconsistent noise throughout*

With Readipop Festival now only one week away, we thought it would be a great time to get to know a bunch of our local acts before you get to see them live!

Find out about them, learn the music that has changed their lives, and get a snippet of what they sound like. You may even discover your next favourite artist!

Visit www.readipop.co.uk/festival for more information and to buy tickets!

Live from the XOX Project's 303 event, Readipop presents Saytek live and guests! With performances from Standard Model, Electrohed and Saytek. Gavin Lombos asks Saytek a few questions prior to his live performance using the TB-303.

This episode Harrison is talking about touring with experienced guests: Gavin Lombos (also known as Electrohed), Jack Shepherd (Ed Sheeran Experience), Sabrina Findlay (Music Made Fearless) and Tim Greaves (Artist Liaison and Tour Manager). Captured live at our bi-monthly Music Meet-up.

*This is a live recording, so inconsistent noise throughout*

OSP joined Harrison in the studio for this month's podcast!

Esa, J Blackz, and Subject walk us through the breakdown of their track 'Call Me'. The birth of the song, the production of it, and the process of lyric writing. 

About OSP:
First formed in 2014, the Reading-based brotherhood OSP - comprised of Esa Kwame (rapper, beat maker), J Blackz (rapper, singer-songwriter, beat maker), Silqe (rapper, beat maker), and Subject (producer, engineer) - has always strived to become a positive force within the UK’s hip-hop community. Originally standing for Only Speak Positive, the four-piece earned their mantra through a string of bold and vibrant cuts that looked to deliver a powerful message of tolerance and respect through their work. While also regularly collaborating with other artists as well as solo material in recent years, the synergy between the artists has been unparalleled ever since they first came together, as they look to deliver a sound that is lacking from the commercial world.

A recorded version of our bi-monthly Music Meet-up. With an in-depth introduction to some of the team behind Readipop; our day to day work, what we do within the music industry in and around Reading, and all the other work we do in the community too!

We invited our young people to share their experiences within Readipop's AAA programme.

Over the course of a week we interviewed young people who come for 1:1 sessions with our music leaders as well as those who join us for our AAA Friday sessions to see what they had to say about Readipop and what we do!

Readipop’s recorded meet up’s are back, this time the podcast is focused on the LGBTQ+ community in the music business.

We're joined by Sophie Sheehan (Colours and Fires/Reading Pride), Abbie Hill (Readipop) and Elucidate's Theo Bostock & Caleb Paice. They will be discussing their story, work and achievements - reflecting on their experience as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

In this month's Music Changing Lives podcast, we're joined by Hannah Williams and Sophie from Colours&Fires, as they discuss identity, loss and empowerment through music.

Hannah Williams

Hannah Williams, and her band 'The Affirmations', have toured the world, with Hannah sampled by rap royalty Jay-Z and Tyler the Creator. Hannah's powerful and soul voice also taken her to the final of 'The Voice', where she dueted with Sir Tom Jones.

Listen to Hannah Williams and The Affirmations here.

Hannah's music was used with permission from Record Kicks.
Photo (used in artwork) Credit: Olivier Gestin

Colours&Fires

Sophie is a Reading Legend and on the town's Pride committee, whose prog-infused folk rock has taken her everywhere from supporting Suede's Richard Oakes to Trans Pride Brighton.

Listen to Colours&Fires here. 

In this Music Changing Lives podcast you get a chance to meet the Readipop team.

Amy, Louise, Yusef, Abbie and Harrison,  talking about their individual roles at Readipop, alongside what we do as a charity in and around Reading.

This is also our first video podcast, so check it out here on YouTube https://youtu.be/qSJJR9HHTjA.

Listen back to Team Readipop at our live 'Music Meet Up' masterclasses, where industry experts give inside knowledge on how the Music community can best progress their music and careers.

In our first live recorded meet-up, we're joined by Chris Bound (Mystic Sons / 1985 PR) who gives the low down on the best ways to promote your recorded music.

This month we're bringing you a special episode of the 'Music Changing Lives' Podcast.

Local Afrobeats star Danny Lampo is joined by highlife legend Prof. John Collins - reporting in from Accra - to discuss the changing sound of West-African music, the growth of African genres on a global scale, and the ever present legacy of Fela Kuti (who John knew personally and played with at the New Afrika Shrine).

You can find out more on John Collins here.
You can find out more on Danny Lampo here.

The Readipop 'Music Changing Lives' podcast is back once again!

This time we're joined by singer-songwriter Frances, who has written for the likes of Elton John, Rudimental, Katy Perry and Dua Lipa, as well as producing her own solo work, and Hatty Taylor, who is starting a new solo recording journey of her own after playing as one half of local legends Vienna Ditto.

This month the group discusses music as a tool for communication, the craft of songwriting, and keeping your cool in front of music legends.

Find out more on Hatty Taylor here:

https://www.instagram.com/hattytaylormusic/?hl=en-gb

Find out more on Frances here:

https://www.francesmusic.com

Readipop founder, Gavin Lombos introduces XOX Project - a new Readipop project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in conversation with Richard Bentley, Matt Foster and Readipop's Abbie Hill. 

XOX Project:
The sound of modern music can be defined by a few numbers: 303, 808 and 909. The numbers refer to the instruments that created the signature sounds of hip hop, house, techno, garage, acid and dance music culture. Once they were only known by creators but now they are celebrated in culture eg 'Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreaks'. Whilst the sounds and influence are ubiquitous within modern music, the actual instruments are rare, collectible and increasingly inaccessible to young and emerging musicians and the public. 

XOX project will explore, archive, share and celebrate the instruments that spawned many of the musical subcultures from the last 40+ years of electronic music and DJ/club culture. Readipop is creating a publicly accessible music heritage space where people can access, use and learn about a selection of influential, rare, vintage, heritage drum machines and synths and explore how these instruments contributed to the birth of many underground musical sub-genres that have subsequently become the sound of mainstream dance/pop music. 

Readipop host, Yusef Sacoor leads us through a discussion at the start of this exciting project...

00.00 - intro
03.20 - intro to the idea
06.30 - rarity from unpopularity
09.00 - iconic nature and tactility
10.20 - synth memories and inspiration 
13.50 - frame of reference
14.50 - access to the means of production
15.30 - intended usage of the 303 & 606
17.30 - real instruments v emulation
19.10 - limitations and creativity
21.30 - 303s, retro
23.00 - the Roland TB-303
25.00 - happy accidents and determinism
27.00 - favourite synths
32.00 - what is a synth or a drum machine?
36.25 - sonic signatures of genres
40.00 - historical significance and ubiquity
41.00 -  value to education
45.00 - emotional connection and imperfection
47.10 - what are we doing?
51.30 - beyond XOX boxes 
54.00 - favourite tracks, sounds, bands
57.00 - playing out on the 303…

We're back!

After a little while away, the Readipop podcast is back. Join Abbie, Pete and Yusef from the team as we get to know more about Reading's

This month we're joined by Grammy winning producer Don Chandler and Julia and Matt from local blues royalty Ma Bessie, discussing growing up in Reading (and being schoolmates), playing with your heroes and hiding from your bosses to fit in extra guitar practices.
________________________________

Learn more about Don Chandler here, or join almost 30k other subscribers learning reggae bass via his YouTube channel here.

Learn more about Ma Bessie here, and catch Julia evoke the legendary Bessie Smith here.

Team Readipop are back with a brand new #MusicChangingLives podcast. Joined by Valeras - the Reading Festival favourites and local indie icons - and John B - once described by Mixmag as 'One of D&B’s few genuine global super-producers' - the team and this month's guests talk about the growing job spec and skills base needed by modern popular musicians and how they have kept fans up to date and engaged throughout the COVID-19 crisis.


Valeras -
Listen
Learn more

John B -
Listen
Learn more

Readipop -

Readipop is a Reading based Music and Arts charity. We run a number of project using music to change people's lives and work with everyone from vulnerable young people to the elderly, and beginners up to underrepresented and budding professional musicians.

Learn more
Become a friend
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After a little break, Team Readipop are back - this time joined by singer-songwriter Amya-Ray and rapper and spoken-word artist Sami Switch.

Recorded during #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, we touch on the positive power of music and creating music on mental health, latest releases and how Boney M's success led to a growing rap career!

Learn more about Sami Switch here, and purchase/stream 'Victoria' here.
Learn more about Amya-Ray here, and stream 'Stella' here.


Amya-Ray:

"​AMYA-RAY IS A BERKSHIRE BASED SINGER/SONGWRITER WHOSE UNIQUE BRAND OF ETHEREAL-POP SOUL FUSION IS FIRMLY ROOTED IN EVERYDAY LIFE"

..finding beauty in the mundane and offering a vivid account of the hopes, fears and frustrations of a young woman in the modern world.  Her shows are intimate experiences, with songs drawing directly from personal life experiences and delivered with unflinching honesty.   
 
Her debut single ‘Stella’ is a case in point - a bold exploration of teenage female alcoholism which manages to find a message of hope in spite of its bleak subject matter. “I like to captivate people through emotion, telling a story and taking them on a journey. “  She grew up surrounded by music ranging from Classic Rock, Gospel, Garage, Drum & Bass, Bollywood to RNB. This diversity is reflected in her own influences, which include London Grammar, Banks, Erykah Badu, Lianne La Havas, Warpaint and Nina Simone.  Amya is currently in the studio working on new releases.

Sami Switch:

Sami Switch is a half tunisian, half irish singer, songwriter, rapper and poet from Reading. He is signed to BMG publishing and has current writing credits on various chart songs, including an official chart number 3 with "Wes Nelson - See Nobody". After releasing 3 bodies of work (Carpe Diem, Momento Mori, Solace) we can see he’s got an incredible understanding of the way words work, and how to play with them. His lyrically layered experiments need to be peeled like an onion. His viral poem "Ocean of Pain' deciphering and exploring his mental health opened up work with mental health charities and blogs and is a big part of his work.

This week we're graced with the presence of two UK No.1 spot holders who've hit the charts in different decades, but both continue to create music to get up and dance to.

Tom Hollings of current UK No.1 act Billen Ted  talks surfing the Sea Shanty wave to No.1, and balancing that success with both his serious dance music and production work, as well as his love for hard rock and metal.

He is joined by Steven Collazo of Disco/Soul legends Odyssey, who discusses growing up in New York, working to complete some of his late mothers recordings, and how he (for a while) became the producer-in-chief for Wiltshire's very own heavy metal scene.

Listen to more:

Odyssey
Billen Ted
Learn more about Readipop here.
Support Music Changing Lives here.
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Two extraordinary vocalists in one episode, as artists Tabi Gazele and Sabrina Findlay join Gavin and Yusef from Team Readipop to discuss standing out, live vs video calls, international touring and the Home Office checking if you're making music or not!

Listen to Sabrina here.
Listen to Tabi here.

Tabi Gazele:

With over 2 million combined streams, Sofar Sounds sessions, collaborations with Bliss N Eso, Lee Fields and Rufus Du Sol, and a grand-final place on BBC 1's 'All Together Now', Tabi Gazele has cut here own solo career with soulful songwriting and a powerful voice.

Instagram - @tabigazele |  Twitter - @tabigazele | FB - @tabigazelemusic

Sabrina Findlay:

From working with the likes of Soup of Jurassic 5 as part of the Fullee Love Collective and playing everywhere from Glastonbury to Boomtown (and our very own Readipop Festival), to hitting No. 2 in the BBC Radio 1 Dance charts on Lee Walker and DJ Deeon's 'Freak Like Me', Sabrina's vocals have been heard across the country. And with new tracks coming out soon, her solo work and songwriting is now being heard to!

Instagram - @music.made.fearless | FB- Musicmadefearlesss

Gavin, Pete and Yusef of Team Readipop join Jo from local indie mainstays and live legends The Keep Cats and Reading's go to producer of grime, hip-hop, rap and R'n'B, Smiley Smuggler,  to talk creating music at home, identity influencing music and time capsules.  

This episode starts a new series of conversations with musicians, producers and interesting people where we explore how music has changed their lives and how life has changed their music. Team Readipop members Gavin, Yusef and Pete chat with two solo artists from very different genres - Deva St John and Saytek. Deva writes and performs anthemic rock music. Saytek makes 'Berlin basement' house and techno music which he performs live. We talk and then play some of their new music.

More Deva St John:
https://lnk.to/devastjohn-reckless
https://soundcloud.com/devastjohn
 
More Saytek: 
https://traxrecords.bandcamp.com/album/two-definitions-e-p-saytek

Team Readipop review  a strange year with some of the music from the summer's Virtual Readipop Festival, music from our community bands and a brand new Christmas Song from Searchlight Sun.

Features music from:

• Searchlight Sun
• Sion Sollis
• Amya-Ray
• Tabi Gazele
• Beatroots Bateria
• The Small Strings
• Moving On
• Tea & Jam
• Tankata Percussion

Readipop hosts a few open-access, community bands including 'Beatroots' a samba drumming group and 'The Small Strings' ukulele group. Members and leaders of these bands discuss how and why they ended up joining, what its like playing in their bands and how lockdown has changed things...

A conversation amongst the promoters of 4 music festivals local to Reading (not Reading Festival) about the impact of Coronavirus and the lockdown on our festivals and our hopes for the future. This episode is hosted by Gavin Lombos (Readipop) with Pete Wheeler (Readipop Festival), Dave Maul (Are You Listening? and Down at the Abbey) and Jez Felwick (Around The Boundary).