BUC Updates

Hull - This is Hull BUC Review October 2009

British Urban Collective Youth Music Project Strikes a Chord in Hull

British Urban Collective is a national youth-music project that turns inner city kids into rising stars of the British music industry. The project launched in 2004 as London Urban Collective and has now expanded into Hull, Manchester, Belfast and Glasgow, with funding through the Execution Charitable Trust.

The Hull artists featured on the British Urban Collective album, to be independently released on Freeport Records / Universal Digital in 2010, were selected from open auditions at The Warren.

They then completed an intensive week of music training that included vocal tuition from Sam Brown, before writing and recording their own music, which now features on a double album, alongside tracks from the other cities.

The project’s legacy also enabled a free-to-use start up recording studio, built at The Warren, and the goodwill story continued when Martin Stamp, who visited Hull as part of the Channel 4 programme The Secret Millionaire, donated an additional £20,000 to The Warren to start up their own record label and continue artist development in the city.

Warren Records is now launched and Jody McKenna, a Hull Urban Collective artist from Bransholme, who received Martin\u2019s cheque in person, is now recording his debut album and has already supported Finlay Quaye and One Eskimo.

Another Hull Urban Collective artist is Keith Hagger who lives in east Hull, one of the most deprived areas in the UK. His songs hark back to Johnny Cash and The Beatles while his unique and heart-warming personality on stage have won him fans across city and beyond. Keith is now also preparing his debut album at The Warren studios.

The British Urban Collective project has recently been nominated by The New Statesman Edge Upstart Awards 2009 for Best Social Enterprise Serving A Community.

’It’s not often a well meaning community project produces generally compelling results, but Urban Collective is a noble exception’ – IDJ Magazine.

To read and hear more about the many other Hull Urban Collective artists and the wider, national project please visit: www.britishurbancollective.com