Soul Frequency at We Out Here Festival
With the multitude of festivals that have taken place this summer across the UK alone, it is hard to produce one that stands out in a meaningful and memorable way. It is no longer just a matter of having a line-up comprising the greatest names or the biggest venues, but also of the experiential safe space for all to feel their best at.
And this is exactly what We Out Here festival set out to do. Everyone who joined the event towards the end of August in Cambridgeshire got to enjoy the perfect balance between dancing the days away at live music gigs, joining fitness activities surrounded by gorgeous nature, getting stuck into delicious food, browsing the sustainable fashion market, and attending stimulating talks and intimate performances. Everyone from families with young children to large groups of early twenty-somethings, to those who probably bump into their now grown-up kids got to experience the fun time that they came for.
There were so many highlights at the festival, but two in particular immediately grabbed my attention. The genuinely diverse and inclusive line-up of emerging and well-known artists from around the globe was something to be noticed. The musical range of soul, hip hop, house, afro, electronica, jazz and beyond allowed people to immerse themselves and support artists that they already knew of and to discover fresh voices that quickly stole the crowd’s hearts.
Then there were the live talks and wellness activities - it was undeniably something many festival goers engaged with. There was a lot on offer - people could choose between movement, swimming and yoga sessions; smaller day-time stages provided a more laid-back atmosphere where many artists performed all throughout the long weekend, interspersed between thought-provoking live panels and spoken word performances.
The Talks Tent was the spoken-word hub of the festival - many of the events it hosted caused the space to overflow with people eager to listen and join in.
A definite highpoint of the day was Selextorhood’s panel, a Birmingham-based female-led community for emerging and established DJs alike. Born out of the need for safer spaces for female and gender minority artists in the DJ and club scene, they recognise the lack of opportunities that people identifying with those groups usually face and put incredible emphasis on empowering everyone who is open to trying out or improving their skills behind the decks. Selextorhood’s goal is to support those who have found it hard to carve out a space for themselves in an industry that tends to repeatedly prioritise the same names and types of people. Listening to the powerful stories of the women on the panel, it was hard not to be touched by their stories of why having a community has been a saving grace for all of them. On the panel their Founder Holly was joined by DJs Dee’Cleo, Auracul and Sexy Roy, and collectively they reflected on how huge of a difference communities like Selextorhood can make, by uplifting the voices of those who have otherwise been pushed to the side and challenging the established hierarchies in the world of live music.
In between joining the events at the Talks Tent, I was lucky to speak with some of the artists to pick their brains on their relationship with the contemporary music scene. I wanted to see if and how the music industry is becoming a more equal playing ground.
Zoe's Shanghai, comprising lead singer Zoe, Emerik (keys), Landy (drums) and Mehdi (bass), are a Paris-based band with a sound and style that oozes soul, chilled rhythm and deep grooves. During my conversation with them, they mused on the fact that the soul scene in Paris is only just beginning to be formed and that the UK has been much more perceptive to their music. They often find themselves travelling back and forth between France and London.
Ana-Maria: What has your experience been at the festival so far, anything that stands out?
Zoe: We’ve met so many nice people since coming on Thursday. Because we’ve had time to stay, we have seen and met a lot of the other artists which has been an unexpected result, but it’s been great, and we’ve even talked about maybe collaborating with some of them.
Also, since we’re performing as well, we are looking at the other artists and their performances with different eyes and learning a lot about ourselves as a band, too, and where we want to go next.
Touching on the essence of inclusivity, a conversation with Holly, who plays with Ishmael Ensemble, and Tara, a Bristol-based vocalist and producer known as ‘t l k’, was particularly insightful.
Ana-Maria: Do you think there’s been more gender diversity in live music events like this?
Holly: It looks like now after the pandemic there is a bigger effort to put women on stages and at festivals and that’s great. But maybe that’s what I see because it’s what I always look for anyway, listening and seeing other women perform.
Tara: This has definitely crossed my mind on a few occasions. There is still great lack of representation of gender non-conforming people in music. Where the queers at? […] In the emerging spaces, there are a lot more women who are being put on stage which is really cool.
Holly: Absolutely, it needs to be not just women who are being allowed on bigger stages but also everyone who is underrepresented. Trans and gender non-conforming people deserve a space, too.
As Bristol-based artists, they also noted the importance of having a community to connect with and how the city has provided that for them. For Holly, it has meant that she has been able to grow in confidence and “experiment and find my own musical identity”. Yet, the lack of female and gender minority artists to work with once again came up as an issue that is ever-present.
To finish the day off on a high, the Poetic Unity’s performers at the Talks Tent was an experience that will stay with me for a long time. The Brixton-based charity gives young people a platform to present poetry and spoken-word pieces, and during their performances, the space was transformed into a power centre charged with palpable energy and passion. Clearly speaking from deep within their souls, Magero, Jerome, Siah, and Demii stood up to breathe life into their words and transport the listeners into the experiences that have inspired their bodies of work. Sharing intimate stories, through verse, from their lives while the sun was slowly setting outside, the four young people created an atmosphere of grounded tenderness.
We Out Here was indeed a something-for-everyone kind of festival. People may have left physically exhausted from all of the dancing but undoubtedly mentally and emotionally recharged with a frequency of new memories. The blend of a diverse range of music performances and talks from people so passionate about what they do was nothing short of the perfect way to escape from the grind of daily life. If it so happens that you get the chance to take a trip next year, do it!
Images: Ana-Maria Molnar
