The Lubber Fiend
81 Blandford Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3PZ
7 September 2024
Convened by Chris Duddy and Moritz Cheung
The Experimental Noise Artists Seminar is a project mapping the grassroots experimental sound art scene in the UK. In 2023 we (Moritz Cheung & Chris Duddy) asked about the contrasting experiences of artists from rural and city-based locations and mapped where they got their opportunities for showing work. We then hosted a live-streamed roundtable with five guest panellists discussing their experiences in front of a live audience, interspersed with three short performances from guest artists.
In 2024 we were offered the opportunity to do this again with the topic being diversity and opportunity within the scene. We canvased forums, venues, audiences, individual artists and organisations with an interest in experimental sound with a survey on diversity asking where artists found opportunities, what could be done to improve these opportunities and their diversity, and what support could help them to increase their opportunities. We received around 80 responses.
From the anonymised group that responded we found that the most common age group was in their 30s-40s followed by those 45 years and up. Over 80% were 30 or over. The group also contained mainly male, white and heterosexual individuals. Although the group seems to be quite homogenous, from the artist specific responses it seems that there is a keen interest in inclusion and diversity and an openness for others to participate in the scene. The group suggested that inclusive events, mentoring, greater funding, networking events and more venues/locations open to hosting the artform were key to improving and supporting diversity in the scene.
We held our 2024 roundtable at The Lubber Fiend in Newcastle, an independent, community-focused venue that has previously hosted local experimental artists. We had a mixed audience of live and online participants who had the chance to see our four guest artists (Pinnel, JohnnyX, Speculum Bunny and AKO) speak and perform.
