Words by Ed King
Running from 7th to 9th August, Project Soundlounge comes back to Birmingham – presenting a ‘festival’ of music across various venues in the city.
Set times vary depending on the gig and/or venue, with all Project Soundlounge events free to enter – as presented by THSH (Town Hall / Symphony Hall). For more info, direct from THSH, click here
Established in 2012, as a ’youth led music festival’ for emerging and unsigned acts in Birmingham, Project Soundlounge has an uncanny knack of booking people you’d happily put your hands in your pocket for – then giving them to you for free. Lovely for us punters, although I doubt the artists get much more than the kudos.*
But free work is still work, kinda sorta, and the profile of the venues used by Project Soundlounge are nothing to be sniffed at – with the Town Hall as the usually unattainable centerpiece. Plus the whole event is programmed by 16-25 year olds, which may well be what keeps the line up so pertinent; if you’ve been to any Beatfreaks events you’ll know this isn’t as precarious as it sounds either.
Starting off on Friday 7th August (in oddly opposed pockets of Birmingham) Ruane Maurice bring their fresh brand of Electro-Hop (…©Birmingham Review) to Brindley Place; think Fischerspooner meets Tricky on a particularly band Monday morning. Also on the Brindley Place bill is the feminine fire of Sic’nis, bringing her silk, strength and social commentary to the Friday night lineup.
On the other, diametrically opposed, side of town Project Soundlounge presents the beautiful ballads and Soul of Lumi HD – alongside some good, ol’ fashioned, fingernails down the back ‘unprotected sax’ from Midnight Magpie. Both acts will be performing at the Digbeth Dining Club, as hosted by the Spot*light Bar on Heath Mill Lane/Lower Trinity Street.
Saturday sees the Town Hall host a respectable and local mélange of Reggae, roots and Jazz – with Friendly Fire Band, Lobster, Malarkey, Goodall & Namiwa Jazz all performing on the prestigious stage. Before Sunday closes this year’s Project Soundlounge weekend, again at the Town Hall, with the more Indie Folk inclined line up of Midnight Bonfires, Piston, He Is A Pegasus, Matt Tyrer & Dan Wilkins.
And did we mention this is all for free..? But you don’t need us to twist your arm, especially over such arbitrary issues such as money (since when did the artistic community need to eat/pay rent) here’s a couple of the people behind Project Soundlounge 2015 to tell you themselves.
Project Soundlounge 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhEfBthEzVI
Project Soundlounge Festival 2015 runs from 7th – 9th August, with acts performing in Brindley Place & Digbeth Dining Club (Friday 7th) and Birmingham Town Hall (Sat 8th, Sun 9th). All Project Soundlounge events are free to enter, but may carry age restrictions relative to the venue.
*Since publishing the above, Project Soundlounge have contacted Birmingham Review to clarify ‘Every single artist performing is getting paid a fee which they suggested for the allocated time slot.‘
For more on Project Soundlounge Festival 2015, visit http://www.thsh.co.uk/event/project-soundlounge-08-2015/
For more from THSH, including full event listings at all venues, visit http://www.thsh.co.uk/
