‘Radio Underground’ was a new sound work by London-based artist Joe Namy – developed over a period of collaboration with three organisations supported by the Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk programme.
Joe Namy works in sound, performance, radio and video – this new project continues Namy’s interest in the politics of listening, music and translation by inviting creatives connected to different cultural and community spaces in London to contribute to a new 10-minute sound work.
‘Radio Underground’ was developed through dialogue and co-creation with Sister Midnight, a cooperative community radio station in south London; Colour Factory, a live music venue and nightclub in Hackney; and PalMusic UK, a music education charity supporting young Palestinian Musicians and celebrating Palestinian music.
Spoken word and segments of speech from each organisation are layered with original music from flautist Wissam Boustany (PalMusic), oud player Saied Silbak (PalMusic), flautist Ruth Montgomery (Audiovisability), and theremin by Lenny Watson (Sister Midnight).
The work could be heard at Waterloo Underground station from 15-28 July 2024, Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, through the station speakers along the moving walkway connecting the Northern and Jubilee lines. Echoing the style of a radio broadcast, ‘Radio Underground’ brought a new sonic experience to the station, a public broadcast that called on people to listen to each other in new ways, to new rhythms and to shared interconnections.
The work created a space to find solidarity, and for culture and community to express resilience and an understanding of the socio-political power music holds. Radio Underground could also be accessed through a QR code on a poster campaign across the London Underground, with a link to imagery that gave visual rhythm to the sound and constellation of the many parts, people, places and histories that made up the work.
Credits
Voices:
Ekow Oliver, presenter
Val Woods, relax
Isabella Cobb, weather presenter
Nai Barghouti, siren
Nathanael Williams, Colour Factory
Miss Alexis Bailey, style presenter & songstress
Wissam Boustany, PalMusic UK
Saied Silbek, PalMusic UK
George Mills, keffiyeh child
Clara Buffong, presenter
Lenny Watson, Sister Midnight
Sophie Farrel, Sister Midnight
Music:
Lenny Watson, theramin
Ruth Montgomery, flute
Wissam Boustany, flute
Saied Silbek. oud
Joe Namy, drums
Star Power Drummer, drums
with excerpts from:
Nai Barghouti, Granada Calling (accapella)
Cécile B Evans and Joe Namy – Prelude and Fugue 100 (for Wendy) (REMIX)
Recorded and mixed at Somerset House Studios, Studio 53, Wysing Arts Centre, and BBS Community Radio. Additional recordings by Other Cinemas. Special thanks to Audiovisability for accessibility consultation and thanks to Suhel Nafar and Amal Khalaf.
Design by Hato
Joe Namy is an artist, composer, and educator often working collaboratively through the intersections of sound, video, performance, and sculpture. Their projects focus on the politics of music and organised sound, such as the pageantry and power of opera, the noise laws and gender dynamics of bass, the colours and tones of militarisation, the migration patterns of instruments and songs, and the complexities of translation in all this—from language to language, from score to sound, from drum to dance. Joe holds a monthly DJ residency called Rhythm x Rhythm on Radio Alhara, is the artist in residence for the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, and a PhD researcher at the Ruskin School of Art at Oxford University.
The Mayor of London’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk programme (CCSaR) is the only Greater London Authority programme focussed on safeguarding existing spaces across London – protecting both their social and economic value. The programme provides expertise to help protect against threats to London’s cultural and community-led spaces, and directly supports organisations to save spaces at risk.
Colour Factory is a nightclub, live music venue, food court and multi-functional events space in Hackney Wick, East London. Colour Factory advocate cultural diversity and offer an all-inclusive environment in which everybody is welcome
PalMusic UK, a registered UK charity (Friends of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music), has been giving access to high-quality music education to Palestinian children and young people since 2012
Sister Midnight is a South East London based cooperative working since 2021 to open the first community owned music venue in Lewisham. Sister Midnight is also a community run radio station
Information about Saied Silbak is available at www.saiedsilbak.com
Information about Wissam Boustany is available at www.wissamboustany.com
Radio Underground has also been developed in part in conversation with Audiovisability to realise a digital visualisation of the sound work, accessible via a QR code on a London Underground wide poster campaign. Ruth Montgomery, Artistic Director has contributed original flute music to the piece. Audiovisability is a registered charity based in the UK. They champion the deaf perspective, tap into the ingenuity and brilliance of deaf creativity and musicianship through instrumental performance, visual arts, sign language, creative captioning, technology and music education.
With additional support from Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant
