Posts tagged with "creative in colchester"
Creative in Colchester this Thursday
Thursday 23rd February, 7.30pm
15 Queen Street, CO1 2PH
Entry and Bar Free to members and designated guests, suggested donation for non members £10
Creative in Colchester is your monthly face-to-face at fifteen Queen Street.
This month’s theme is architecture with two incredible speakers lined up. First up is HAT Projects - Hana Loftus and Tom Grieve - A local architectural firm who design, build, advise and self-initiate projects and research, including the exciting Jerwood Gallery which opens 17th March 2012.
Our second speaker - Emily Turnbull (Studio Can Can) has worked in the design and architecture industry since 1999 on award-winning interior projects across the UK and internationally.
We will also have our resident DJ Cantcutcarwyn playing funk and soul throughout the night, a special performance from multi-instrumentalist Slowlife plus the usual drinks and discussions. Read a quick interview with Slowlife on what makes the Colchester based musician tick.
Whether you are an artist graphic designer, poet, tailor, milliner, musician, film maker, cook, thespian, or any other creative living in or around Colchester, come join our group, meet others like you, and become part of our burgeoning community.
PLEASE NOTE: An RSVP is essential as we now run a strict door policy.
With the help of our residents and online video experts Kinura, tonight we will be streaming our acoustic performance for our monthly Creative in Colchester networking event.
We will be streaming from around 8.30pm so please join us right here on our site for a live performance from Rhonda Merrick. Read more about Rhonda in our creative showcase interview.
We’d also like to let you all know about Kinura’s upcoming project - A Room for London.
Most of the events we stream are from theatres, conference venues and the like. Nowt wrong with that, but this project is rather different, and possibly the only time we’ll be streaming live from a boat. Definitely the only time we’ll be streaming live from a boat on top of the SouthBank Centre.
Kinura’s top webcasting team have been involved from the beginning, helping to spec’ connectivity, hardware, HD capture and live streaming delivery. They’re now in the midst of final preparations for the first Sounds from a Room performance by Andrew Bird, the amazing Chicago-based multi-instumentalist.
The live gig will be on Saturday 28th January at 2pm. All the performances will be archived on vimeo too.
Not one to be missed! A big thank you to Kinura for streaming our event. It’s a real pleasure to have such a wonderful and seriously professional bunch of people in the building.
Creative Showcase: Rhonda Merrick
Meet Rhonda Merrick, our acoustic performance for our Creative in Colchester event this Thursday. She popped in to participate in our ongoing photography project “I make…” capturing our members and local creatives in the town.
We will be streaming Rhondas performance live Thursday evening so even if you can’t make the event, make sure you visit our site to digitally partake in a night of acoustic charm.
Tell us a bit about your journey and where you are today.
In 2011, I wrote songs everyday. The project was called My365. The viable songs will need to be finished/recorded/remixed/sorted into albums and genres/distributed/played live in front of people and used in a variety of other ways over the next several years.
While I taught myself to play the guitar fluently… I dabbled with other instruments, recording hardware and software and started to build a following.
I made my own website and eventually figured out how to connect it to all my other stuff online.
This year I’ve ‘slowed down’ to one song a week that’s shared publicly. I called it Tuesday Tunes and I’m far more organised from day one than I was last year. I still write several songs a week…but I don’t HAVE to and I can post whatever I happen to like that week… it will give my songs an element of surprise…the one’s I don’t share as they’re created.
What do you think of our membership hub and Colchester’s growing Cultural Quarter?
I’m from New Orleans originally…home of the French Quarter…so I’m all for a bustling arts centre in town. I like the flexibility in the support that’s available for creative people. I’ve also found audiences in Colchester have been wonderfully receptive to my music.
Give us a sneaky peak of what you are working on right now.
It’s an open secret that I received an offer from a major record label. I accepted the offer through my lawyer, but with some conditions. It’s now down to them to accept my terms or walk-away.
So, while I’m in this sort of waiting period… I decided to keep going on my own.
I’m working on making my music and gigs fan-driven. If someone hears my music and would like to have me bring the guitar and come sing in their town, then can book me themselves, right on my website. When 20 or more people in the area want me to come out…then I will.
I’m also thinking of putting some of my favourite original versions of my songs up for sale. A web design and marketing company offered to handle upload and download sales for no monthly fee at all and the lowest fee I’ve ever heard of when someone buys a song.
I used to think I needed to have production and professional instrumentalists before I could do that…but I can’t afford to hire those people, so it’s a catch 22. Sort of like buying your first house… difficult, but not impossible.
I don’t want to impose or expect anyone to do work for free… so if I’m going to move up to the position where I can hire people to do what I need, then I need to tour and sell the product I’ve made myself. I get messages from people all over the world who absolutely love my songs… I think an album or an EP of just me and my guitar will move things along.
Eventually, I plan to work with a handful of producers and sound engineers I’ve met online and musicians I’ve met online and at the Bull.
Thank you Rhonda! We can’t wait for your performance on Thursday.
Creative Showcase: Johnno Casson
My name is Johnno Casson and I currently make music as Snippet, which has been described as quirky, intelligent, infectious pop music or sometimes I make music just purely as Johnno Casson.
Meet Typoretum
We met up with Justin Knopp, the man behind Typroetum. Offering bespoke letterpress printing from Coggeshall.
We’ve always lusted after beautiful typography and well designed print. Justin offers both along with keeping a traditional printing method alive.
Justin will be our guest speaker at our Creative in Colchester event on Thursday 25th of this month. We are hosting a print themed night celebrating this wonderful art form. Alongside Justin will be students who set up the Essex Print Club in Brightlingsea. There will be prints to win in our tombola plus music from Cantcutcarwyn and a soon to be announced acoustic act.
Justin’s studio is a sight to behold. Large beastly print machines housed inside a specially build studio next to his house. There are rows and rows of type in cases (not trays!) including the full font set Garamond from point 8 to 16. The letters have been collected from various dying print studios and printers around the UK, including an extensive collection from the Cambridge University Press.
“I always had a passion for beautiful professional print. I am also drawn to the hand crafted element and the fact it is truly recyclable. I began to buy out printers as a student to keep the craft alive.”
Some machines have taken a fair deal of work but now produce stunning prints unrivaled by any digital printer.
Letterpress printing uses small lead or wooden letters set inside of a frame. The frame is then hand fed through a printer which has been weighted, set, registered and checked to produce a one off print. Justin can produce large orders of up to 500. Bearing in mind each one is hand fed it is a time - it a time consuming and labor intensive production.
“Letterpress printing is truly recyclable, if a letter or set is broken the metal can be melted down and recast. Unlike Lino Printing where the whole stencil has to be thrown away and uses harmful inks - letterpress uses only vegetable” - Justin informs us.
His bread and butter is a constant stream of wedding invitations, exhibition invitations and business cards, plus making his own posters in his spare time. Justin is currently looking into getting larger fonts cut from wood to produce his own type. Lead letters can only go up a certain size before they become too costly to produce. Wood is much more versatile but doesn’t last as long. Wood can warp and swell due to the inks and its porous nature.
“The reason I got into this is because letterpress produces high quality work that has depth, texture and effects that digital print cannot reach.”
To come hear the full story and to meet Justin, come along to our Creative in Colchester event next week. This event in members and guests invite only - If you would like to RSVP and more info on an invite email Alex.
On Thursday 27th October 2011 Colchester Circle magazine celebrated it’s one year anniversary with a big celebration at 15 Queen Street.
We teamed up with our resident members to present our usual networking event - Creative in Colchester, but this time celebrating this superb local magazine. Members of the building, contributors, supports and friends were invited to enjoy music, drinks and a talk from the people behind the magazine - Ana and Howard.
Film Colchester are a growing film makers network and they we invited to document the evening. View a video that not only captures the night but has some great interviews with the people behind Colchester Circle and 15 Queen Street.
To all those who came thanks again for making it the perfect celebration for a fantastic magazine.
Our next Creative in Colchester is Thursday 25th where we will be presenting a print themed bonanza. We will be joined by local letterpress printer Justin Knott known as Typroetum, and the Essex Print Club. Both will be talking about what they do and their passion for print. Win prints in our classic tombola and enjoy music from resident DJ Cantcutcarwyn and our special acoustic act - Snippet.
This is now members or invite only. If you would like to come and find out more about our membership please talk to Alex.
Colchester Circle’s first anniversary
Thursday 27th October
7.30 - 12pm
15 Queen Street, CO1 2PH
Members or invite only
Our magazine fiend friends and residents, Colchester Circle, will be hosting their first anniversary as part of our Creative in Colchester event this month.
This is a members only event, please email Alex by the 13th October if you would like to come with details of your allocated guest.
Colchester Circle have invited their good friends, supporters and funders of the magazine and it is set to be a busy one!
Not only will we have the usual talks, drinks, resident DJ Cantcutcarwyn and discussions, but also magic tricks by Lee Moss and music from Joel Fisk. Plus Keep Colchester Cool’s Ben Howard will be providing a DJ set. Come say HUZZAH and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a fantastic local magazine that has already crept up to being one year old. Boy how time flies when you’re having fun!
Their October issue is now out, so don’t forget to pop in and grab a free copy or read online here.
(Picture: Lauren Baker)
