(actual artwork coming soon!)
A week from today (Friday 1st July) we launch our next project! Now, in terms of HeavyFeet and 'projects' you can be forgiven for thinking that we're about to embark upon another epic, year long project ala the '12x12', as this time around we're talking about a relatively short and somewhat compact project, to be undertaken (and completed) between July 1st and July 31st.
Six months ago, we were having a few drinks in Manchester one evening and whilst mooching about the Northern Quarter (trendy-ish drinking area), we ended up in a classic Mancunian pub. In said pub, we met Tony, the landlord, who we began chatting to about all manner of things, including the music that we make as HeavyFeet. After professing to not being a particularly big dance music lover, we started talking about the local music of his youth. Obvious names came up, Happy Mondays, New Order, A Certain Ratio, amongst others. We moved on to 808 State, which got us talking about Andy Weatherall, Sasha, Arthur Baker and Paul Oakenfold, and the incredibly influential and important role they had on Manchester's evolving musical output of the late eighties/early nineties, between what was essentially indie, merging with dance music.
Now, being friendly with certain people and artists in Manchester since we started HeavyFeet, and from our own youth, we've always been fairly in the loop of what is happening in Manchester in terms of bands and singer-songwriters, although we certainly don't profess to be as clued up as someone like Tony, who is heavily involved in booking and supporting local bands at his pub, Gullivers. But following our chance encounter with Tony, we couldn't get the idea out of our head of merging what we do as HeavyFeet, as music producers and remixers, with the wave of great Manchester bands and artists of today. It felt like the right summer project for us.
Having spent some time working on the logistics of how such a collaborative venture could come to fruition (not to mentioned how we would clear our schedule for an entire calendar month!), we are now extremely happy to be able to announce 'Manchester : Remixed', an eight track remix project which see us, HeavyFeet, remixing eight of the best bands and artists the city has nurtured over the past few years, and is nurturing right now, today. From the international touring acts, to the underground talent, we will be providing you with a remixed snapshot of what our great city has to offer an international, online audience, music-wise. Throughout the month of July we will be blogging (and Tweeting, of course) the entire creative process we go through to complete this project from start to finish, between July 1st and July 31st.
All eight remixes will be presented by ourselves, alongside each original track, as part of a special remix focused BBC Introducing show on Sunday 7th August via BBC Radio Manchester. Following the show's broadcast, all eight remixes will be made available as free downloads throughout the month of August via HeavyFeetMusic.com and other specially selected online music platforms and blogs.
We hope you, a supporter of HeavyFeet, a fan of a band involved in the project, a random social media follower or Google finder, will find this project as exciting as we do, and will continue to check back to this site (or our other equally important outlets,
Twitter and
Facebook), and help spread the word! More info will be announced shortly in regards to which bands and artists are involved in this project, and the premiering of all eight remixes via BBC Introducing Manchester in August.
Stay tuned!
