Welcome to Fleckies, where we highlight the venues and creatives shaping local culture.
Before I knew anything about Zaba’s sets, I knew about her voice. I first came across her through a post on Instagram. Frustrated by the familiar claim that promoters “couldn’t find” enough female DJs, she spent a single evening compiling a list of more than 300 women behind the decks.
Some artists arrive with a carefully crafted image. Others simply grow into themselves over time, letting every project, performance and lesson become part of the story they’re telling. Speaking to BEKIMACHINE, it’s clear she’s the latter. We first crossed paths at Music Barn Festival earlier this year, where she brought
Sometimes the people making the biggest impact on a scene aren’t necessarily the loudest voices in it. They’re the ones asking different questions. The ones wondering how music can bring people together, how events can become communities, and how creativity can sit alongside kindness instead of competition. That was my
This weekend the UK’s biggest music festival won’t be happening in a field. It’ll be happening on your local high street. From 26th-28th June, more than 400 grassroots music venues will come together for Everywhere At Once, a nationwide celebration of live music led by Music Venue Trust and powered
There’s something quietly comforting about artists who don’t try to force certainty before they’re ready. Beth Eliza feels like one of those people. Her music carries the kind of honesty that can’t really be manufactured – thoughtful, emotional songs that feel lived-in rather than polished for the sake of it.
Some artists ride waves. Others quietly become part of the tide itself, shaping the movement without ever needing to shout about it. Soul Avengerz, made up of Paul Gardner and Wayne O’Connell, are a reminder of what happens when you stay true to your sound and trust the process over
Some people move through music. Others take the time to sit with it, to really understand what it’s saying and why it matters. Karim Bitar feels firmly in the latter. From the moment I met him – briefly, across a dinner table before a Buttah event – there was an
There are some people in music who don’t just exist within it, they actively reshape how it feels to be part of it. MINA (aka Hannah) is one of those people. Not just through the music she creates, but through the spaces she builds and the opportunities she opens up
Some bands feel like they’re chasing something. Others feel like they’ve already found it, even if they’re still figuring out what it looks like. Luna Rosa sit somewhere in that second space – grounded, instinctive, and quietly confident in what they’re building. When I first came across them through my
