Venue funds local artists to record tracks

A major venue is paying for local artists to work on their music for six months.

The Bristol Beacon has started a new resident artist programme, funding three musicians for six months and giving them access to studio equipment.

The first group of musicians includes Bristol-based Groves, Holysseus Fly and Waldo's Gift.

James Vine, drummer for Waldo's Gift, said: "It's really meaningful to us to have a space to make stuff but also to have the time and support of Bristol Beacon."

Mr Vine added: "It's the difference between being able to do this viably as a career or not, so it means everything to us."

The musicians are able to use the studio space at the Beacon for a few hours every Tuesday.

"This space has basically been a space of play for us where we can make music in the most carefree, least pressured way, given we have six months to just explore music and try out ideas," Mr Vine said.

"There's no immediate pressure. We are writing an album, but because of the nature of this residency, there's no ticking clock - it's taking these pressures off."

The musicians use the space to write and record music - and also to meet each other and collaborate.

Mr Vine said making music can usually be "quite an isolating pursuit".

"You're isolated from other people in the industry," he added.

"It's nice to be in a place with other people doing the same thing. We're all in it together."

Grove, producer and vocalist, said it was like a "music co-working space".

She added: "It's the holy trinity of time, space and money that is useful for us as artists.

"My initial plan is to make tracks for an album. I'm chipping away slowly at that and utilising the space with some really good-quality equipment to just record in general, get a load of music down."

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