Welcome to Fleckies, where we highlight the venues and creatives shaping local culture.
There is a moment every year at Boomtown when you realise you’ve completely forgotten the outside world exists. Your phone barely works. You’ve lost track of what day it is. You’re dancing next to someone whose name you’ll probably never know, in a venue you didn’t know existed half an
Before I’d watched any of Azim Miah’s work, I was struck by the way he spoke about creativity. He first reached out to me through social media, and after spending an evening exploring his work, it was obvious this wasn’t simply someone making music videos. Every project felt intentional. Every
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
