Mon 20 Jan 2014: PMOI DIY Music Fundraising Workshop

PMOI DIY Fundraising Workshop Flyer  

On January 18th 2013, after receiving a grant from the PRS Foundation and becoming an advisor (a judge) I decided to hold a workshop for a few of my artist friends in the hope it would encourage and help them to apply. Almost exactly a year later, and everyone from that initial workshop who applied for funding from the PRSF got it (Eric Lau won the Individuals Fund, Flako won a Momentum Award, and Tanya Auclair won the Women Make Music Fund), I've published a DIY how to guide, and helped artists and companies to raise just over £40,000 so far (that I know of). 

crop"I've just received a PRSF Women Make Music grant and owe a big thanks to Put Me On It's guidance and advice though the application process. The funding will enable me to devise a new show and my next tour, which are really important next steps for me. I've learnt a lot about how to present my creative ideas - in ways other than sound! - and plan a tour, which are such valuable tools for any independent artist."

- Tanya Auclair (PRSF Women Make Music)

"Many thanks for your help! Your advice really helped to understand the application process and overall funding scheme."

- Flako (PRSF Momentum Fund)

It was a world I knew relatively little about despite having worked on the Roundhouse Development team on a £30m capital project - I just assumed funding was only available for big arts organisations. I've now judged hundreds of applications for the PRSF and the Musicians Benevolent Fund, have a good relationship with the Arts Council and a pretty clear understanding of what makes an application successful. I wish I had more time to help people through the process but this is a very small part of what I do - so with funding deadlines looming I'm running a workshop for anyone who wants to attend - artists, managers, booking agents, record labels, promoters etc. I'll walk you through what kind of funding to apply for and when, what funders are looking for, and confusing jargon. My aim is to de-mystify the process.

PMOI DIY Music Fundraising Workshop Bootstrap Company, The Print House 18 Ashwin Street, E8 3DL Limited earlybird tickets £10/ £15 adv (sold out)

**Please note that this workshop is independently run by PMOI and is not affiliated with any funding bodies

PMOI Live @ Bootstrap Company Summer Party

pmoibootstrap Our friends at The Bootstrap Company invited PMOI to curate the live music for their annual summer party at Dalston Roof Park, and we were only too happy to oblige. Somehow we managed to blag our musical heroes The Invisible for a DJ set, it was the perfect excuse to invite Denai Moore along to play before she goes stellar (and whose beautiful Saudade EP we've had on repeat for 6 months, after PMOI events intern extraordinaire Amina thrust it under my nose), in keeping with the mixed events of the day we have poetry (a first!) from the witty and provocative Musa Okwonga, and a party ain't a party without a DJ set from NTS Radio's morning marauder Marshmello.

There will also be lots of other activities on the day - a four storey mural, the launch of the Bootstrap Campus, swing dance lessons in a bunker, a design exhibition, comedy from Hackney's finest Kojo and various other amusements in and around the Bootstrap Company's various spaces. Tickets are only £3 but they're going fast...

 

PMOI DIY Marketing & PR Sessions @ LBB's State of Independence Pop Up

diypopup The lovely folk at Let's Be Brief have invited me to their State of Independence Pop Up Island at Shoreditch Box Park this Sunday 28th July from 1-3pm to give 20 minute DIY marketing and PR sessions.

If you have an idea, project, event or brand you want to bring to life online but you’re not quite sure how to do it, come along for a free one on one advice session. I'll be sharing some insights about the power of momentum, how to grow a community instead of “followers”, marketing myths, what makes bloggers blog, the biggest PR pitfalls, strategies that work, and how to tell compelling stories to help you find your way through the mysterious world of marketing. It's first come first served so please don't be late and please do bring a pen...

PMOI Beach Party @ Soundwave Festival, Croatia 2013

soundwave flyer web  

This was our third year at Soundwave Festival in Croatia, and much like a healthy farm occasionally you need a fallow year - which meant we got to concentrate all of our energies on a six hour long beach party with no live stage to worry about.

Having never DJ'd publicly before, apart from the odd guest slot on Marshmello's morning show on NTS Radio, I was rather nervous, so Jack Prideaux and I knocked out a quick half hour selector set each before bringing in the big guns - a few people came to see what I was playing though, a mixture of tropical, bashment, brass, and some very slutty RnB and hip hop.

Chris P Cuts, who has rapidly become on of my favourite DJs in the last year (you may have heard him covering for Kutmah on NTS , he also DJs for Roots Manuva and Spoek Mathambo) was up first. I've never met someone quite so enthusiastic about DJing as Chris - who quite literally and very endearingly - cannot stop talking about it. His set travelled through time and across genres as though neither really existed; he plays old school tunes like he was actually there and weaves it in to totally different new music like it was a sample.

Brass band Riot Jazz did their annual beach takeover in the sea in the middle of the afternoon, as Kidkanevil readied his set and paced up and down waiting for them to finish.

I don't know if he was joking when he said he'd play a really chilled set, but it never happened, much to my joy and the slight chagrin of the festival organisers ("you guys can just play loads of A Tribe Called Quest and relaxed stuff at your party yeah..."). It wasn't long before we were all screw facing to Busta's "Twerk It" and loads of amazing and obscure stuff I will never know the name of.

The legendary Mr Thing arrived from a boat party for our last hour at the beach (which turned in to almost two) to go back to back with Kidkanevil.I was expecting it to get Dilla / Pete Rock / Premo heavy but they just got more hyped on new stuff with loads of bass until we were all in danger of getting permanent Yayo face. They eventually calmed it down to hand over to Tall Black Guy, but not before dropping some serious classics. Our Soundwave beach party is always one of the highlights of my year but this year it seemed even more special - huge thanks to the festival for inviting us, all of those who played, and to our crew for dancing all day.

PMOI DIY Guide To: Music Fundraising

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A few months ago, I was chatting to fellow blogger Kenny Fresh of FRSH SLCTS about the whole blogging thing, and he asked my thoughts on it and where it was all heading. I told him that for me personally, blogging no longer felt like it was enough - I was frustrated by the transient nature of blogging, and the (sometimes) negative impact the more powerful blogs can have on artists. I started blogging because I was an event promoter and music PR who was excited about music and wanted a place to share it with my friends, but it quickly transpired that I had other skills I could use to help the artists I have covered over the years and I still do. That conversation really stayed with me, and over the coming months you can expect to find new PMOI resources and workshops launching - more info on that soon.

There is a big infrastructure gap for many emerging and independent artists - it's hard to find management and booking agents willing to take you on if you don't have a label deal almost on the table, so artists end up taking on all of those roles themselves. It's not easy, and one of the things that can really help with artist development is funding. A couple of grand to help record your EP, make a video, pay a PR company and cover rehearsal space can make a huge difference, but so many people feel unsure or intimidated by the process. I have worked as a fundraiser years ago so I have some experience, but it took the encouragement of my friend Noah to get me to start applying for funding for PMOI. I've been lucky enough to receive support from the BBC Performing Arts Fund (though the urban music scheme no longer exists) and most recently the PRS Foundation. I've found them to be lovely, knowledgeable, extremely helpful people and I am eternally grateful to them.

I've written this guide to encourage other people to apply for funding, but I would also encourage anyone who is thinking of applying but is unsure to get in touch with funding organisations directly and to ask for their advice - they are only too happy to give it.

*Since this post will go live on the eve of the first deadline for the heavily publicized new PRSF Momentum Music Award, I would also add a note about that here. Over 2000 applications have been started for only 8 places in this quarter. I would highly recommend you either wait for the next quarter, or apply to the PRSF Individuals or Women Make Music schemes (for which application numbers are expected to drop), and in addition to the recently simplified Arts Council Grants for the Arts Scheme. 

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Photos: Rosie Lowe and Andreya Triana @ PUT ME ON IT Live 12th June 2013

It has been a wonderful run of shows at the Old Queens Head, and it took me right until the last one to work up the courage to ask our secret special guest Andreya Triana to perform, (which is ridiculous because she's a friend and a lovely human being who seems to be a fan of PMOI Live)! However, watching her grow as an artist and in stature over the last five years has been so exciting and her recent sell out show at the Union Chapel was definitely a landmark, so it was a genuine honour to be blessed with her presence and beautiful performance, which started with a powerful tribute to her mother entitled "Everything You Never Had", and ended with an incredible beatbox / looped cover of the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" after some raucous demands for an encore. A personal highlight was the audience becoming an impromptu choir, helping Andreya take it to church for "Lost Where I Belong". I booked Rosie Lowe back in March after her sell out show at the Sebright Arms; I was an instant fan and have been listening to the demo of her EP non-stop this year. I also have a sneaking suspicion that shortly after it's released (with production by Dave Okumu of The Invisible and Kwes), she'll be catapulted in to the stratosphere, so I was thrilled when she agreed so far in advance. I had a sneaking suspicion she was slightly nervous before her set, but you would never have known from the confident and masterful performance she gave. The cheering started in the middle of songs - in particular "Ghost" which you can hear at the start of this video. The murmur as I walked through the crowd after the encore they didn't get was "she's amazing, and I've never heard of her?!", a testament to Rosie's talent and the quality of her performance.

We will be back soon, with more exciting live events and the videos from the first half of this year.

You can view the rest of the photos on our Facebook page.

 

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PUT ME ON IT LIVE – Wed June 12th: Rosie Lowe + Secret Special Guest + Eric Lau + Marshmello

After last months roadblock this is the last PMOI Live event before we head to off Croatia in July and announce some exciting new events for the Autumn, so if you are already a fan or have been meaning to come and check it out, make sure you come to this one. Though we're not allowed to announce who our special guest is, she has been part of the PMOI family from the very beginning, working with some of the most talented producers in the world and blossoming in to one of the UK's most gifted and soulful performers. We are so excited we may have to kidnap ourselves so we don't give it away.

We are also thrilled about the live guest we can announce - we booked the beautiful Rosie Lowe all the way back in March just to make sure we got to work with her before her debut EP, produced by Dave Okumu and Kwes, appears and launches her in to the stratosphere. We genuinely haven't been able to take it off repeat we're so in love with it and with Rosie, so we cannot wait for you to see her perform live with her band.

On DJ duties we welcome back Eric Lau, who has just about recovered from our fantastic sell out show featuring his live band last month, and the nations' favorite (or the part of it with great taste)morning radio show host Marshmello. Since it's the last one for a while we'll be going out with a bang and expect the poor bar staff will have to chuck us out. Again.

PMOI Live 12 June 2013 Rosie Lowe and Secret Guest