Sly and Jasper relaxing on the set of Sly and Reggie's Dub Save The Queen video shoot
Okay, so I realised today that it's been the best part of a month since I last blogged on Intensely Relaxed. Appropriately enough, my last post was about life being what happens to you while you're making other plans (to blog about stuff). True to form, just as things have gotten interested I've gone quiet on the personal blogging front. So what's been happening, I hear you ask?
I briefly mentioned in my last post that I had the pleasure of finally meeting up with reggae poet Roy Gunter last Friday. Roy will be performing at the Roots of Reggae launch event. Ahead of Roy's performance this Saturday, I would like to tell you a little more about Roy and the role reggae and poetry has played in his life.
First Impressions
I first met Roy around the corner from Brixton Town Hall. Roy had just driven in from his home in Camberwell after a day at work. At first glance, Roy did not initially match my expectations of a what a poet, or indeed a reggae poet should look like.
I’m not entirely sure what I had expected Roy to look like but in my limited experience of poetry (which extends to being made to read them at school and attending a few hipster poetry readings hosted by Pen Pusher) I suppose I had expected one or few poetic affectations. Clearly, Roy didn’t seem to favour the cravat look sported by my old English teacher. Nor was he was working the rasta-inspired style I had seen Blacker Dread in. Instead, Roy looked like much like any other early middle-aged person I would have worked alongside during my days at Lambeth Council.
The contrast between all the amazing things I had heard about Roy and the regular person I first saw on Friday on Friday intrigued me. I wanted to know more about Roy and how he had become a reggae poet.
A life in Reggae
As I chatted to Roy as he gave me a lift back to Forest Hill, I was struck by how significant a role reggae has played in his life. As a teenager, Roy explained, he had been involved with sound systems. This led to working with many of the pioneers of the London reggae scene, including sound system leader and Roots of Reggae guest star Lloydie Coxsone. Back in the day Roy would even be called upon to tune-up the trucks that transported Lloydie Coxsone's sound system all around the country. Roy proudly recalled the nickname he earned, 'i-chanic' (a rasta-inspired take on mechanic), and the excitement of receiving ultra-exclusive dub plates of the latest tracks in return for his services.
From a young age Roy has enjoyed writing poetry. Gradually Roy began to combine his love of poetry with his passion for reggae, recognising putting his words to a beat enabled him to connect with a much broader audience than would otherwise read his poetry. This realisation has led Roy to produce an album of his poetry set to music, as well as two printed anthologies.
Connecting through Poetry
Whilst reggae is central to Roy’s outlook, from speaking to Roy I discovered his true calling in life is working with disadvantaged young people. Over the course of our journey Roy told me that he is a Youth Worker for Lambeth Council. His work regularly takes him into Young Offenders Institutions such as Feltham. Roy described to me the important role poetry can play in this work, encouraging angry and frustrated young men to reflect on their situation and channel their energy in positive ways. Roy beamed with pride as he told me how by writing poetry that is authentic to his life he has been able to connect with even the most disaffected young person and get them to imagine a brighter future is possible.
Roy’s Work
With just one day to go until Roy performs at the Roots of Reggae FREE launch event I don’t want to give too much away about Roy’s work. What I can do, however, is whet your appetite.
From spending some time this week reading and listening to Roy’s work, two things struck me. The first thing that struck me was the positive and universal message Roy delivers through his poetry. One of Roy’s anthologies is called Poetry of the World and in it he speaks with a sense of hopefulness on everything from slavery to a subject close to my own heart, The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Roy Gunter - Brixton Riots
The other thing that struck me is how Roy’s poetry is enhanced by the addition of musical backing. And this is not just because his heavyweight reggae connections have resulted in collaborations with reggae legends such as The Congos and the late Sugar Minott. Listening to Roy’s album, the musical backings he has selected enhance the emotional resonance of his message. Highlights for me are the chilling and hypnotic dancehall track about the Brixton Riots and the spiritual ‘Agony & Shame’, a lament about the social problems black youth experience over a mellow roots tracks.
Roy Gunter - Agony & Shame (Performed by Leroy Jones)
If you’re planning to make it along to tomorrow’s Roots of Reggae launch event make sure to listen out for Roy Gunter, a true local legend!
@JoeSmithDesign Roots of Reggae poster on display at Supertone's Store, Acre Lane, Brixton
It's been an enjoyably hectic couple of weeks or so since my last proper post so I thought I had better get another one written before my thoughts take on a rose-tinted hew and (to continue with the colour theme) my anger at the Coalition's plans to privatise the NHS simply becomes just another grey hair on my weary head.
So where to begin? Gainful employment seems a reassuringly sensible place to start so here goes.
Experience is Everything
A poster which caught my eye whilst on location at James Cake hospital in Middlesbrough
Last time I mentioned I'd picked up some freelance project work with thinkpublic. With much fanfare I can now reveal I've been leading on a piece of work with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. The project is looking at how staff and patients experience either delivering or receiving Ambulatory Care services and exploring with them how, in future, we can build better processes for capturing and understanding these experiences in order to improve how services are designed and delivered.
Exploring how staff and patients experience and feel about services is a really powerful way of involving them in identifying and co-designing service improvements. The project is still ongoing but already we have identified lots of new areas for improvement and, more importantly, got people believing that they have the power to improve health services. You can read more about the project, including an explanation of what Ambulatory Care actually means, in the blog I wrote for thinkpublic.
Guardianista Profiling
An ambition realised: my profile on The Guardian Website
Besides the work for thinkpublic, I'm also proud of the article on co-production which I recently wrote for The Guardian local government network. For the 90 per cent of the population who don't and should never have to know what the term means, co-production simply describes sharing the design and the delivery of public services with users. The article is based on my experience of attending a leadership network event designed to give officers of Lambeth Council the confidence to work in more collaborative ways with their citizens. You can the full piece here.
I am also pleased to have recently connected with the social enterprise Spots of Time, whose mission is to make it easy for all of us for volunteering our time in fun, bite-sized ways. Rather like the work I've been doing with The Amazings, my involvement with Spots of Time is strictly pro bono for now (and I HATE U2) but hopefully there will be more formal opportunities as the organisation grows and connects with different communities. Watch this space for how things progress.
Roots of Reggae
An even greater ambition realised: Roots of Reggae blowing up the spot at Sainsbury's Forest Hill
Those of you with the good fortune to have spent any time in my company or read my Tweets may well have heard of a little project I'm developing in my spare time called Roots of Reggae. I don't want to go overboard in this post but here are a few key milestones:
Age UK Lambeth have endorsed the project, which should help attract an older crowd than might otherwise get along to the Ritzy Brixton.
For the next week or so I'll be working hard to ensure the Roots of Reggae launch is a success. I'll look to write a separate post this weekend on my experiences of developing the project. Other than that, I'm looking to continue with the freelance work whilst looking for new opportunities.
You can follow developments with Roots of Reggae on Twitter @RootsofReggae but to really get what I'm talking about make sure to get along to the FREE launch event on the afternoon of Saturday 3rd December.
Hopefully a good few of you will know this already but I thought it would be worth confirming that my plans for Dub Revolution have really taken off and I am now holding the FREE launch event for the project in Brixton on Saturday 3rd December.
The event, now called Roots of Reggae, will bring people of all ages together to celebrate reggae music and culture. The event takes places Upstairs at the Ritzy Brixton on Saturday 3rd December, 3 – 7pm. Roots of Reggae is a FREE community event and has been developed with the kind support of Ritzy Brixton cinema and the charity Age UK Lambeth.
Brixton and reggae go hand in hand and Roots of Reggae brings this local scene to life. Older people are invited to come along, enjoy some great music and share their memories. For younger people, the event offers a unique chance to hear music from reggae’s golden age in the company of pioneers of the Brixton scene. Roots of Reggae offers an afternoon of live performances and DJ sets. Confirmed acts include: Sly and Reggie (Suburban Pirate), Mistah-Brown Selector (Tighten-Up Crew), DJ Keith Lawrence (Colourful Radio) and MC DaddyRanks and reggae poet Roy Gunter. We are also expecting sound system legend Lloydie Coxsone (Sir Coxsone Sound) to share his memories of reggae music. Guests will also have the chance to share their own memories of reggae music and Brixton’s past.
To find out how to get to the Ritzy Brixton, click here.
Roots of Reggae is designed to be accessible for all. Ritzy Brixton is an accessible venue.
For further information about the event please contact Francis Clarke on 07749374339 or clarke.francisg@gmail.com or visit ourFacebook page.
For latest updates and to share your ideas for future events, follow us on Twitter @RootsofReggae
It is fair to say there has been an explosion of interest in my Roots of Reggae project of late. Photo: jovike / Flickr
It was Harold Wilson who said 'a week is a long time in politics'. That was before Twitter, Facebook and this blog you're reading (or at least skimming out of a mistaken sense of obligation), however. And so with it approaching nearly two weeks since I last blogged, I think it's more fitting to reach for James Todd Smith (aka LL Cool J)'s memorable lyric, 'Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years'.
Now that I've publicly aired the shame I feel for not having taken the time to blog, I suppose I ought to at least explain what's been happening to me when I've been busy making other plans. So as not to strat too far from structural convention, I'll break these up into three themes: paid work; personal projects; and my so-called life.
Paid work
As briefly mentioned last time, I was pleased to pick up some freelance project management work from my old full-time employers, thinkpublic. The project I have been working on is still under wraps so unfortunately I can't say loads about it here. What I can say, however, is that is has been great to be working again with old colleagues and gaining more in-depth of a new policy area for me. I've written a blog post for thinkpublic about this work and will include a link to this once it has been published.
Running alongside this work for thinkpublic have been a number of other positive developments on the work front. Last week I was offered the chance to become an Associate of an ethically-driven consultancy firm. I am very pleased about this as it should allow me to apply the ways of working I enhanced at thinkpublic within a more political/policy-focused environment. I also had the chance to attend a European conference on Social Franchising on behalf of an Associate of thinkpublic. Not only was this a chance to learn more about an increasingly talked-about subject, it also led to some new introductions which should hopefully produce opportunities to get involved in other projects.Again, watch this space for more on how these things develop.
Personal projects
As things have picked up on the work front I have made a conscious effort not to let my commitments to outside projects fall by the wayside. Most significantly, the momentum for my reggae and dub-centred community project is gathering apace. The project now has a name: Roots of Reggae, as well as its own Twitter handle (@RootsofReggae) and blog (Roots of Reggae blog). The Ritzy cinema in Brixton are kindly supporting the project. I also have a date and venue for the FREE launch event, which will take place at the Ritzy Brixton on Saturday 3rd December, 3-7 pm. I have even secured a live dub performance from East Dulwich's finest Sly & Reggie, no less. You can find out more and sign up to attend via Facebook at: Roots of Reggae FREE launch.
Jules and Katie manning The Amazings' stall on Chatsworth Road Market
Besides my work on Roots of Reggae, I've also continued to help out on The Amazings, the East London-based social enterprise that helps people who are about to retire or have retired create amazing experiences with the skills, knowledge and passion they’ve picked up throughout their life. It was through this connection that I found myself last Sunday morning on the newly re-activated Chatsworth Road Market, where we managed to sell two tickets and harvested a good number of sign-ups for the service's newsletter. As with Roots of Reggae, I've found working on The Amazings to be a really rewarding experience, even when faced with less than amazing early morning weekend starts.
My so-called life
That Viking sure was funky. The Band Plays On at Brockley Market
Although the past couple of weeks have been very exciting and rewarding, I have sometimes found it challenging to adjust to flexible and often home-based working. When I working full-time for thinkpublic there would be a clear distinction between work and home-life, give or take the odd early start or late-night deadline. Now the line between work and home is less sharp and I find myself working on my laptop when really I should be having some switch-off time. Don't get me wrong, I've still made time for the finer things in life, such as seeing a friend perform in the musical Bye Bye Birdie (oh yes) and even a trip to the new Brockley Market, but over the next few weeks I want to make sure I find the time to relax and enjoy life, whether that's in Forest Hill or the wider world.
Next steps
Sarah and I are off to Newcastle this weekend for a friend's a wedding. After that, I'll be briefly back in London before heading up to Middlesbrough as part of my work for thinkpublic. With a bit of luck I'll have the chance to write a blog next week and, who knows, I'll maybe even throw in a picture of the famous Transporter Bridge.
A Soundtrack to celebrate Roots of Reggae getting a confirmed date
To celebrate the progress I've made on my Roots of Reggae project I thought I would share with you an upbeat selection of tunes.
Jimmy Cliff - Wonderful World, Beautiful People.
Sure, it's at the very poppy end of pop-reggae but who cares? A song when things in life are going well.
U Roy & Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Double Six.
Ignore the iffy visuals and enjoy the nicely mellow toasting by U Roy over a surprisingly modern sounding synth line. Electro-pop reggae, anyone?
Wayne Smith - Under Mi Sleng Teng
This song is arguably the first all-digital dancehall track. Produced by Prince Jammy, it pretty much revolutionised Jamaican music. I normally stick to 70s roots material but this song is just so catchy you can't resist. If you like this song you should check out the Tighten-Up Crew's gig this Friday in Finsbury Park: Tighten-Up Crew gig.
