Reform Radio to collaborate with shesaid.so South Africa on a new music project

Thanks to funding from The British Council, as one of their Internatonal Collaboration Grants, Reform Radio and shesaid.so South Africa have developed a sixth month Music Production and Online Radio training programme with producer and label owner Rose Bonica. The hope is to uplift women and LGBTQIA+ producers and musicians from underserved communities in the Western Cape of South Africa.

shesaid.so South Africa aims to unite women, LGBTQIA+ and gender non-conforming individuals in the creative industries. They ‘endeavour to nurture a future that is not only a diverse and equal [one], but also equitable for women and LGBTQIA+ music industry professionals’, commenting that all their ‘efforts and energy are best invested in creating opportunities that are conventionally not readily available in our community’. Working to empower their members and equip them with the knowledge and resources they may need, this program will allow shesaid.so ‘to discover, educate and amplify talented artists and illustrate to them that their current circumstances do not have to define their future.’ 

During the process, four of the most promising new artists will be selected to take part in the next iteration of Reform Radio’s Remote Rhythm Lab project.

This concept is a product of our very own sister label Rhythm Lab Records. As an independent record label with a team of upcoming young professionals, they work to foster collaborations between artists in the North West and support them in their development. Their legacy ‘is to continue to support unique and different collaborations’.

Rhythm Lab explores collaboration between various artists. Back in 2020, we teamed up with Jägermeisterand Arts Council to put a spin on the original Rhythm Lab project and paired Manchester based artists with four artists from around the world, challenging them to explore virtual methods of collaborating and creating music.

Music production as we knew it had been reshaped by the pandemic. We saw this as an opportunity to embrace technology and connect artists, exploring other means of music production that were in effect less costly and more sustainably driven.

Listen to the four track album that was released on Bandcamp with our sister label Rhythm Lab Records down below to hear what they composed. All profits were donated to the NAACP Legal Defence Fund in support of the BLM movement.

This time around, each young person will be paired with an artist from Manchester to collaborate on a brand new piece of music, to be released later in the year alongside short documentaries on Rhythm Lab Records. All artists will be announced via one off radio shows, broadcast on Earth Day 2022 on the 22nd of April.

More to follow on this exciting new collaboration. Watch this space, we can’t wait to get started…