Music / Noods Radio
Radio station hits the road to bring music education to communities
Noods Radio is on the move with its mobile recording studio, aka the TREAD van.
An initiative of the station’s sister company Noods Levels, a non-profit designed to open up the world of broadcasting to communities citywide, TREAD’s first project is a workshops series set in woodlands, on a farm and within a building site.
Open Space will take participants out on location to explore field recording, sound culture and audio storytelling, spending mornings on location and afternoons in the studio working up narrative audio pieces and music using found sound.
The project is a partnership with youth mental health service provider Off the Record and BIMM Music Institute.
Open Spaces is the first project in which the TREAD mobile recording studio will be taken out across Bristol, bringing sound culture into communities citywide – photo: Khris Cowley
“We’ve seen how accessible sound can be. You don’t need any experience, we’re using really basic tech. We want to show people they can connect through sound,” said Izzy Cross, Noods co-director, of the mission behind the project.
“Part of it is cohesion – we’re in a time where we’re all feeling quite separated and maybe we’re all looking at social media too much… What we’re saying is use technology in a different way and meet other young creatives at the same time. Hopefully all of that will build confidence while trying something new.
“You can learn a creative audio skill, or something you’ve never done before, and you can explore Bristol in a different way. And you never know, that could lead to wanting to get more into radio.”
The free programme’s workshops, offered to people aged 18-25 seeking mental health support, will be run by Noods radio presenters. The first will explore sonic storytelling and soundscapes at Hartcliffe City Farm, connecting with the animals and learning how to preserve the ecology of the site through sound.
Noods Radio started as a Sunday morning living room listening session and has grown into a global station for experimental sounds with a music venue, Mickey Zoggs, attached. Now they want to expand their offerings further afield – photo: Khris Cowley
Workshop two will take place at Jacob’s Wells Baths, currently a building site, with participants collecting field recordings to turn into a musical track.
The third workshop will encompass a deep listening walk in Leigh Woods near the Clifton suspension bridge.
BIMM will host the last workshop at its onsite studios, experimenting with audio collage and the potential of sound in creative performance.
“The aim of it is to have a lot of fun,” said Izzy, expanding on the wider scope of TREAD. “As a CIC our whole mission is to make opportunities like this accessible and we weren’t doing that before because we were very much fixed to spaces.
Young people on the Open Space project will be taken out into nature and will also be given the opportunity to record sounds as work is taking place inside Jacob’s Wells Baths in Hotwells – photo: Alastair Brookes / KoLab Studios
“TREAD is an amalgamation of ten years of broadcasting experience and social impact put into a van so we can deliver music education across Bristol, with hopes to expand to the West of England soon.”
Growing from a local experimental dance music station to a global broadcaster with an attached music venue, Noods feel they can serve as inspiration to other creative organisations, particularly at a time when arts funding is thin on the ground.
“We can create ideas from nothing, we’re very thrifty and we have a DIY edge,” said Izzy. “We want to show community projects can be financially sustainable.
“We’ll be selling our production services to create a Robin Hood financial model so we can self-fund, to the point where if funding disappeared we wouldn’t have to stop what we are offering to the community. In a time when funding is depleting we want to show a different way to do it.”
To participate in Open Spaces or partner with Noods Levels on a sound culture project get in touch at noodslevels.com/contact
Main image: Khris Cowley @asianprovocateur for @wearehereandnow
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