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House and proud: a retrospective of Smokescreen Soundsystem

Being home to two of the UK’s greatest underground house soundsystems, DiY and Smokescreen, Nottingham has been spoilt for quality deep house music - but what were the origins of these now legendary gatherings, and how did they fit into the politics of the time? We asked the individuals who lived out those joyful days firsthand about the history of sound-systems in Nottinghamshire and beyond.

Diy Poets – November Showcase

In photos: Smokescreen Soundsystem – 35 years of DiY

Nottingham’s iconic and anarchic music collective DiY Soundsystem joined forces with kindred friends Smokescreen Soundsystem for an all-night, sold-out party at Hidden Warehouse on 7 September 2024

From DIY theatre to still-life art: Here's what's on in Nottingham this week 19 -25 August

This week, there's definitely no shortage of opportunities to indulge your artistic, theatrical and musical needs, from art at Richmond House to the return of the Foolhardy Folk Festival. Here are our Picks of the Week from 19 to 25 August. 

Diy Poets Quarterly Showcase

Diy Poets – Quarterly Showcase

Diy Poets – Quarterly Showcase

Director Aaron Trinder on His Documentary ‘Free Party: A Folk History’ - Which Features Nottingham's Own DiY Soundsystem

Free Party: A Folk History is a timely DIY indie film that follows the birth of the UK's free party movement from the late eighties and early nineties and the social, political and cultural impact it's had on our present times, with appearances from the founders of Nottingham’s very own DiY Soundsystem - but those of you who were lucky enough to go down to Broadway Cinema’s screening of the film back in November will already know this, of course. Director Aaron Trinder tells us about the process of obtaining footage for the documentary from a time before mobile phones and his own experiences of the free party movement…

DIY Musician Ricky Jamaraz Tells Us How He Transported His Music From His Bedroom to 166 Countries

In 2023, Ricky Jamaraz’s music was streamed from 166 different countries, 5.4 million times on Spotify. To put this into perspective, this length of time equates to 29 years, which is roughly how long it would take to walk from the Earth to the Moon three times. Ricky’s jaw fell off when he saw these figures and it’s no surprise - he’s only sixteen years old, still attends school, and makes all of his music from his very own childhood bedroom. We spoke to the DIY musician about how he went about transporting his music from his bedroom to the world…

Louis Cypher Tells Us How He Created LeftLion’s DIY-Themed January Cover

Hip-Hop artist and collage-maker Louis Cypher designed the cover of this DIY-themed issue of LeftLion. Here’s the story behind it…

Mimm’s Nathaniel Coltrane Tells Us All About Their Latest Project ‘Our Yard’, a Detailed Look Into Soundsystem Culture

For the past thirteen years Nathaniel Coltrane has run Mimm (Music is my Motive) from the heart of Nottingham. Starting as a clothing shop, it has evolved into a community hub for the vast amount of creatives residing in the city. We spoke to Nate about his new project Our Yard: a detailed look into the history of sound system culture.

Celebrating Nottingham’s History of DIY Football Fanzines thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Two of Nottingham’s best loved football fanzines Brian and The Pie will be given a new lease of life thanks to a regeneration project by LeftLion, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund…

Gary Clail Soundsystem

DiY Collective Veteran Harry Harrison Discusses His New Book, Dreaming in Yellow, and the Importance of Rave Culture

We chat to Harry Harrison, founding member of DiY Collective and author of new book Dreaming in Yellow: The Story Of The DiY Soundsystem, which takes a look back at rave culture... 

Nottingham Film Fans Set Up DIY Screenings at One Thoresby Street

We chat to George and Charlie Alexander, the brothers behind Jackie Treehorn Productions - a DIY project spotlighting exciting films for Screen fanatics across Nottingham...

DiY Goodbye: A Tribute to Pete 'Woosh' Birch

Last month Nottingham (and the worldwide free party scene) said goodbye to Pete ‘Woosh’ Birch after a long battle with cancer. A driving force of the DiY Soundsystem, one half of the DJ duo Digs and Woosh and the founder of Spirit Wrestlers. Pete’s oldest friend Harry Harrison tells us about his remarkable life…

Pete 'Woosh' Birch on the History of DiY Soundsystem

The DiY Soundsystem were one of the biggest raving crews of the nineties. Their ethos was all about rejecting profits and putting on damn good parties. Founding member Pete Woosh talks us through some of the highs and lows of being in the gang during the nineties...

Hackspace Help Nurture the DIY Skills of Nottingham's Creative Crowd

Tucked away off the outskirts of Sneinton stands Roden House, a building most wouldn’t think twice about when walking past. But if you are one of the 700 Nottingham Hackspace members who owns a key, you’ll know that there’s quite an extraordinary space inside, where your skills and creative projects can be nurtured with the help of specialist equipment. Our Eve Smallman spoke to founder Dominic Morrow about the concept, the ups and downs, and why spaces like these should be as common as gyms...

DiY Collective's Pete Woosh on His Battle With Cancer and His New Musical Project The 52 Card Trick

As a founder member of the DiY collective, one of Britain's first house sound-systems, Pete Woosh has been a leading figure in the UK counter-culture for almost thirty years. Whether DJing solo or with his long-time DiY sidekick, Digs, he has performed everywhere from Glastonbury to Dismaland, Banksy’s apocalyptic theme park style art exhibition. But after being diagnosed with highly aggressive head and neck cancer in December of 2015, he decided to take a natural approach to treatment, and is about to launch The 52 Card Trick project to give something back to everyone that helped him...

Tradition Hi-Fi on Their All-Valve Soundsystem Journey

Andrew Neale and David Foreman make up Tradition Hi-Fi, a local soundsystem duo who this month are reviving the old times and taking over The Irish Centre with an all valve, all vinyl vintage session; one deck and a mic in tow. Here, Andrew tells us about his journey from Nottingham to Kingston, and back again...

Poetry Profile: Two Days With the DIY Poets

Every now and then you’ll come across something that does exactly what it says on the tin. Nottingham’s own DIY Poets are a prime example of this, with their tagline “We’re Nice and We Don’t Always Rhyme” neatly printed on the front cover of each issue of their monthly zine. We decided to pop in for a chat with the gang to get a gauge of just how nice they are, and we were not disappointed.

Frank McMahon from DIY Poets Answers our Questions in Photos

DIY Poets have been running things on the Nottingham poetry scene for yonks. They meet on the first Wednesday of every month at 8pm, upstairs in Broadway Cinema, to share work and plan for future events. We got leader of the poetry pack, Frank McMahon, to answer a few questions in photographic form…

DIY Poems

Some local bards offer up their poetry prowess in a collection of work that has been done all by themsens

DIY Poems

Some local bards offer up their poetry prowess in a collection of work that has been done all by themsens

Interview: DIY Poets' Francis McMahon

"We want the public to want to read poetry and not see it as an irrelevant art form"