Smokin records lights the way...

If music be the food of love play on!  

There's nothing better than buying vinyl or going to an amazing gig but for Richard Labran that just wasn't enough and not only he is the singer/songwriter of the rock band IONS but he has his own record label too.  

Welovebearwood caught up with Richard to find out about Smokin Records, what he thinks of Bearwood's live music scene and how much he loves Alan Warwick's pork and stuffing sandwiches.  

Please tell us why you decided to start your own record label.  

 I started a record label for a number of reasons. Firstly, I felt like there was not enough support for up and coming bands and not enough direction for them. I also realised that between me and friends, we had the right skill base to be able to provide services such as promotion, publicity, record manufacturing and producing at a cost that is far more reasonable than what is currently available or out there.

That sounds very impressive, please tell us about the bands on your label.  

The bands on our label are a mix of some of the most eye catching bands to grace the Birmingham underground music scene in the past decade. Birmingham has had a wealth of really amazingly talented bands taking to its stages and unfortunately this has largely gone unnoticed due to a lack of interest in the arts locally amongst the public.

We agree! What do you offer new local bands and what events have you got planned?

We need to be selective in what we do at the moment as our time is limited and all directors of the label currently have full-time jobs but for bands that we can take on we offer very reasonably priced studio time and a number of options for CD and Vinyl manufacturing.

We recently had a market stall set up at The Sun at The Station in Kings Heath as a wider event for record store day and hosted IONS album launch party at The Adam and Eve in Digbeth. We will have a number of events happening throughout this autumn so please visit our site www.smokinrecords.co.uk

We've never heard of the term DIY music recording, what does it mean?

DIY music recording is a phrase that refers to the notion that nowadays many people are capable of recording and producing their own music at home. Technology in this field has advanced rapidly and if you are willing to put the time in and do your research you can create a top quality professional sounding record at home. IONS wake up is the first material I recorded and produced, I didn’t even have a practise run and the quality is very good in my humble opinion.

The music industry seems to be evolving all the time. How do you think downloads have changed the music industry and do they impact running a record label?

I’d say that technology has changed the music industry. Our phones, tablets, laptops etc are all designed to support digital sounds and therefore the easiest and most convenient way to access music is digitally. The Walkman, personal CD player is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. It’s possible to record a track at home in a day and have it uploaded to ITunes for download the next day, that’s fairly crazy when you think about it. I guess downloads might help a label cut down on its manufacturing costs in the long run but nothing beats having a physical copy of a record, especially in Vinyl so I guess there will always be a market for that too. Labels will have to be smart in terms of their pricing points for different format releases and working out how many numbers of a physical copy of a record to manufacture.

You must be very busy. How would you like Smokin Records to develop in the future?

Well I’d like to get to a point where the label can become a full time occupation for us all but Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that so we’ll have to wait and see what becomes of it.

We can tell you love music. Are you in a band and where do you get your inspiration from?

I am in a band, at the moment I am a singer/songwriter in IONS. I guess most of my inspiration comes from life experiences I observe and feel. A lot of my music is also a reflection of the times however it’s best I don’t go on a rant about that!

Don’t blame you! What do you think of Bearwood’s live music scene and what changes would you like to see?

Bearwood doesn’t really have a live music scene does it? I guess I have been to see live Jazz at Bearwood Corks Social Club on a number of occasions and there have been the Bearwood Shuffles but unfortunately our little town doesn’t yet have a scene as such.

So what’s your connection with Bearwood?

I moved to Bearwood 8 years ago and I did come to the town quite a bit as a boy with the family having lived in West Bromwich most of the rest of my life. I came to move here because of its excellent transport links to Birmingham and its reasonable house prices, saying that I walk to Birmingham and back quite a lot!

Us too!  We seem to be for ever walking up and down Hagley Road. 

Please tell us your Bearwood All-Star.  In other words, who, what or where makes you smile in Bearwood?

Besides my son…….err! Just kidding! I love pork and stuffing sandwiches and the ones at Alan Warwick butchers are a bargain for £1.20. I like my Russian hairdresser at  Cuts Above near Bearwood Primary School as she’s well into her conspiracy theories. I quite like an Iced Coffee too so often frequent We Are Mud in the summer.

 One final question which we like to ask everyone.  What makes Lightwoods Chippy’s chips orange?

I heard that they are deep fried in Orang-utan dripping.

Hee!  Hee!  Now that's a good answer.

Thanks Richard, it’s been fascinating!  To find out more about Smokin Records please visit here!

Now Hat's Style!

The Mad As A Hatter shop on Abbey Road are having their next Market Day on Saturday 5th July and they have already got lots of goodies from new crafters lined up to pull at our purse strings. 

Yummy homemade cakes, original handmade clothes and beautiful bespoke jewellery...you won't know what to look at and buy first.

One local crafter who has caught our eye is Heidi Felton.  Heidi makes children's clothes, aprons, bunting, personalized cushions and lovely accessories for your home.  

Heidi has recently opened her Poppycatlouie shop on Facebook (right here folks!) and she also sells her crafts through Mad As A Hatter. 

So if you can't wait until next weekend, pop along to the Mad As A Hatter shop today, you won't be disappointed

Rafflicious!

Two fantastic raffles are taking place this week in Bearwood and both are for very worthy causes.

The Dog on Hagley Road are holding an all day raffle tomorrow. Tickets costs only 50p each and money raised will be going to Birmingham Children's Hospital. A night in a 5 star London Hotel, a day out at the Motorcycle Museum, a family ticket to National Brewery Centre and an extra large Ferrero Rocher sweet tree - they are definitely spoiling us!

Then on Saturday to tie in with the Bearwood Bake-off Upcycle Chic on Bearwood Road are having a raffle to raise money for Women's Aid. Tickets are £1 per strip - which you can buy from the shop - so you've got lots of opportunity to win. The raffle will be drawn after the Bake Off on Saturday afternoon.

The prizes are De vine hair salon voucher for cut and blow dry, Pretti's beauty salon beauty treatment voucher, Spray tan & 1 month FlabeLOS loss course at The Beach, Three teddy bears from Mad as a Hatter, Designer oven mittens from Webb’s Upcycle Chic £25 voucher, Antonio's Photography Studio £20 off voucher against a studio session and With Love Florists £20 voucher for a bouquet of flowers.

Bearwood's Real Ale Couple!

Photo credit: Bearwood Blog

Raise your pint glasses! The landlords of Bearwood's new real ale pub have just been announced on Bob Piper's brilliant Bearwood Blog.

Richard Parking and Morwenna Hughes will be welcoming real ale drinkers to the Midland when it opens in a couple of weeks time. 

Richard has years of experience in the licensing trade managing pubs, bars and restaurants and Morwenna lives locally and you may have seen her actively collecting for Sandwell Women's Aid. 

Welovebearwood wish Richard and Morwenna all the best in their new venture and we are looking forward to sharing a pint with them.

Get Baking Bearwood!

The Great British Bake-off’s back on our TV screens over the summer but before we see Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry discussing how best to make a Victorian sponge Bearwood has its very own Bake-off competition. 

Photo Credit: Express and Star

Bearwood’s Bake-off is on Saturday 28^th June and if you’re a sponge or cupcake making expert there’s still time to enter.  

You can pick up your application from Upcycle Chic, 420 Bearwood Road (opposite the snooker hall) or by emailing upcyclechicbearwood@yahoo.co.uk.  

The judges are Team Bearwood’s Richard Marshall, top Birmingham chef Gary Griffiths and cake maker extraordinaire Khakan Qureshi so get baking!

The prizes include hampers and there’s also going to be a raffle with top prizes supplied by local businesses with proceeds going to the very worthy Women’s Aid.  Raffle tickets cost £1 a strip. 

We suggest you visit Upcycle Chic quick and get your raffle ticket before they’ve all gone. 

Upcycle Chic sell all kinds of upcycled loveliness for your home so we won’t be surprised if you’ll leave the shop with a new piece of furniture too.

Bearwood Shuffle#6 at Lightwoods Park Bandstand on Sunday 15th June 2014

Despite a little drizzle (call that rain, pah...we’re tougher than that in the ‘wood) there was a decent crowd building up in time for the relentlessly enthusiastic compere Tom Naylor to introduce the sixth Bearwood Shuffle’s first act Simon Boswell who kicked off (you’ve guessed it we’ve got World Cup fever!) with his chilled out acoustic covers of Hey Ya!, 3 Little Birds and, as he described it, ‘the acoustic cliché’ Wonderwall. 

His classic closing mash up of Mr Pitiful, Johnny Be Goode, Ride Sally Ride and I Want You Back got us nicely in the mood for The Blue Notes Junior and Senior.

Juniors first and the ‘new notes’ ranged in age from 8 – 16ish, the late great Andy Hamilton would have very proud that his legacy lives on in Bearwood’s youth. 

The band includes several of Andy’s grandchildren and they finished their set with a gloriously upbeat Happy! dedicated to all the Dads in the park for Father’s Day. Bless ‘em!

It was then time for the seniors to get Lightwoods Park in the jazz mood….niiiiiiiiice! With the velvety mellow tones of Vic Evans (man, does he know how to play the bongos!) and Dutch Lewis on flute Lightwoods Park came over all Caribbean and one of the highlights of the afternoon for me had to be their version of It’s A Wonderful World. Replace the word World with Wood and it sums up their set in Lightwoods Park perfectly.

Bearwood based producer and DJ Kouben was next in da ‘wood (oh yes we’re down with the kids!) and with his Detroit style beats prepared us for party people Dantanna.

Ragga, hip hop, the mad hatter tambourine player, saxophonist, they’re a damn funky bunch. Their song ‘One Life To Live’ was definitely their testament to life and it showed by how much fun they were having on stage (and how much fun the audience were having off it too).

Unfortunately I didn’t get to see all of the Beatfreeks performance as I was busy serving on the cake stall but the Birmingham street poets got a big round of applause and we heard lots of people saying how much they enjoyed their set.

The headliners of the Bearwood Shuffle, the Atlantic Players, had Stax-appeal by the bucket load. Think Memphis in the mid-1960s and the band exuded old school soul classics from every pore.   As big fans of Tainted Love we couldn’t fault their version and Mercy left the crowd begging for more.

MC Tom Naylor kept everybody going with his boundless energy and although the park didn’t seem quite as full as previous Shuffles (we blame World Cup hangovers, the summer drizzle and Father’s Day) the Bearwood Shufflers who were there stayed for the whole afternoon and looked as if they were having a great time.

There were so many different stalls including Peel and Stone with their Lightwood Park first of a mobile pizza oven, Bearwood Pantry who couldn’t sell their local produce quick enough and Webb’s of Bearwood who raised money for future Bearwood Shuffles by raffling off one of the welovebearwood Bearwood Bears.

All in all a wonderful afternoon , can’t wait for Bearwood Shuffle#7!

P.S  All photos courtesy of Bearwood's finest Mr Ken Harrison.  You can see more of his photos here!

Warley Woof!

Calling all Bearwood dog lovers and fans of Warley Woods!

A new initiative called ‘Warley Woof’ is being launched on Saturday 28th June to bring together everyone who visits Warley Woods.

Viv Cole, Warley Woods Trust manager explained to welovebearwood that the project will run until March 2015 and involves a partnership with Warley & District Dog Training Club, whose qualified instructors will be running advice sessions and leading social walks for dogs and their owners.

Dog owners will be encouraged to join the Warley Woof initiative by paying a small fee for their pets to be included on the park’s Dog Log. In return, they will receive regular updates, invitations to special events and seminars, and regular contact with their fellow members as well as expert trainers. All members will get a special poo-bag holder for their dog’s lead to help them recognise each other on the park, so they can share news and views about all things doggie!

The launch event will be a special seminar day on Saturday 28th June at the Pavilion, Warley Woods, with an expert seminar led by Hannah Molloy of Pawfect Dogsense. Hannah and Deborah (of Warley & District Dog Training Club) will be there to offer free help and advice. So if people want to learn more about ethical, effective training, find out why their dog behaves in a particular way, or need advice on training and behaviour, they can come to sessions in the morning (10am–12pm) or afternoon (2pm4pm) free of charge. They just need to book a place on 0121 429 2440.

Viv said “We have been talking about this project for a while now and are really pleased that we are in a position to launch it with this special event with Hannah. We are really hoping that the Warley Woof Project will help bring the Trust into contact with many more owners who use Warley Woods to walk their dogs, in a very positive way. Together we will be able to make the Woods an even better place for everyone who visits.”

Deborah Yuill, instructor with Warley & District Dog Training Club, said: “ As a local club, we were thrilled when Viv invited us to be involved in this great project. As a user of the park myself, I know that dog owners often need a little bit of help with their best friend, and getting a community of people together to support each other is such a brilliant way to go about it.”

Warley Woof has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund through the Awards for All programme.

To reserve your FREE  (yeah our favourite word!) space on the Warley Woof day please call Warley Woods Community 0121 429 2440 and to find out more details visit the Warley Woods website right here!

You know it makes pawfect sense!



Parking Around

Parking Around, the new and exciting show from circus theatre group Rogue Play, is taking place this weekend. We caught up with Bearwood resident, Niamh Smyth, who's taking part to find out more about it.

It sounds like a lot of fun. How did you get involved and what role do you play?

I first heard of Rogue Play through the audition advertisement for the community project that evolved into ‘Parking Around’. Not only did I love the idea of 12 people from all different backgrounds learning something as exciting and challenging as aerial circus skills. But I had previously been tempted to join aerial circus classes but found the idea of going it alone quite daunting.  

You've obviously really enjoyed the experience.  What are your plans for the future?

Now, I have met some amazingly talented new friends as well as had the pleasure of being trained by some incredible people.  The project will be a positive, humorous and dynamic presentation of park life in which you will be able to see me in an aerial silks routine, a dance and a lifts and acrobalance sequence.

Wow!  So what has been the most challenging thing you've done?

Although the whole training process was physically challenging there were also many mental barriers for everyone involved whether that be being afraid of heights, being able to trust somebody or yourself to keep you safe.  

You are brave. Is this something you would like to do again in the future? 

I think its safe to say I am now addicted to the feeling of accomplishing something new in circus skills every single time I visit Rogue Play, the rate at which everyone improves is an incredible thing to watch and I definitely plan on continuing my journey with Rogue Play.

Fantastic.  

What’s your connection to Bearwood? 

I’ve lived in Bearwood my whole life so it’s the place that I call home.  

We like calling it home too. 

Please tell us your Bearwood All-Star. In other words what, where or who makes you smile in Bearwood?

My Bearwood All-Stars would be a certain 2 houses on St Mary’s Road and Barclay Road; it would be telling to tell you what number!

Niamh, one more question which we like to ask everyone this question is what makes Lightwoods Chippy’s chips orange?

Fairy dust and sunshine. 

Aaah, we love that answer!  

Thanks Niamh for agreeing to the welovebearwood interview.  

We’ll come and see you on Saturday.

Parking Around is on this weekend at the following times and venues.

On Saturday 14th June at at 12pm and at 3pm at Eastside Park Curzon St, Birmingham, West Midlands B4 7AP 

On Sunday 15th June at 12pm and at 3pm at Walkers Heath Park, off Walkers Heath Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham, B38 0AU 

The performances are completely FREE to the public and followed by FREE participatory workshops for adults and children alike.

So come along and get Parking Around!  For more details please visit Parking Around's Facebook page right here!

Care-wood!

Have you got your Bearwood Shuffle flyer for this Sunday’s event ?

Turn it over and you’ll find a fish-tastic BOGOF voucher from those kind soles (of the lemon or dover variety) at Chamberlains Fish and Chips Quality Restaurant on Hagley Road. 

They’re also sponsoring the Shuffle for the second year running and on behalf of the friendly bunch, the Bearwood Promoters, organizing the Shuffle we would like to say a very big thank you to them.

The other thing which we are really excited about is that the Bearwood Bear will be making his debut appearance at Sunday’s Shuffle. 

Handmade by Chubby Pink Piggy Creations, the Bearwood Bear will be sold exclusively on Webb’s stall and all profits made will be donated to Bearwood based charities including Smethwick in a Stew, Bearwood Promoters,Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust,  Warley Woods Community Trust, Bearwood Boys Brigade, Friends of Lightwoods Park and Friends of Thimblemill library. 

The big versions of the Bearwood Bear will cost £19 each and the smaller bears £12 each.  The Bearwood Bear is CE tested, safe for babies and big fans of welovebearwood. 

They are so cute.  Get yours quick before they all sell out!

The Midlands’ Return

Exciting news from Black Country Ale about Bearwood’s real ale pub which will be opening very soon. 

The pub has been named (whoop!  whoop!  pint glasses at the ready!) and in recognition of the building’s previous role as a bank at the centre of daily life in the area the pub will be called The Midland.  

We also think the name is appropriate as the Midland Red Bus Company’s Headquarters used to be in Bearwood.

The competition to name the new venture was entered by hundreds of local people and Graham Manwaring of pub owner’s Black Country Ales explained to welovebearwood that “we have had huge interest in naming the pub and we are grateful to everyone who sent in suggestions. The vast bulk of entries made reference to either the building’s past as a bank or to local references with names like “Three Shires Oak” and “Lightwoods Tavern”. We ruled out names involving Banks and Bankers because of rhyming slang connotations and public disapproval of financiers.

We also thought that the building has been so much a part of Bearwood life for so long that we had to let future pub-goers know of its former use.

The competition to win a barrel of Black Country Ales’ famous BFG beer (72 pints) was won by John McCoy – the first of several people to suggest the new name.

A sample of other name suggestions that were mentioned are listed below, some inspired, some wacky … but all gratefully received. Thank you to all who have taken part – we look forward to seeing you in The Midland."

The Bear Trap

The Ken Wharton (Bearwood’s only Formula 1 Driver)

The Bear’s Pour (Bear’s Paw)

The Bottle Bank

The Counting House

The Pounds, Shillings & Pence – a pub of note

The Little Dribble (in homage to the sadly missed Little Nibble café)

The William Mitchell Pen Factory

The Bear Would … (with image of a bear drinking real ale)

The Black (allowing impecunious customers to say “I was in the Black for the first time in ages”)

The Ferret of Warley

The Julie Walters and

The Pig & Ballbearing

Watch out for more news about The Midlands’ opening date.  We can't wait!

Praise In The Park!

Just added to our What's on in Bearwood page, right here!

Abbey Churches are getting together this coming Sunday 8th June to celebrate Pentecost.  It starts at 3pm and there will be free refreshments.

The sunshine will definitely come out for this!

Let’s get ready to Bearwood Shuffle!

On top of the news that  old school soul stars Atlantic Players, Bearwood’s jazz supremos The Blue Notes and hip hop party starters Dantanna will be performing at Lightwoods Park Bandstand on Sunday 15^th June, two more exciting acts have been announced.

Bearwood Beatmaster Kouben  and Birmingham street poets Beatfreeks will be helping us to trip the Lightwoods fantastic.  

It’s not just about the music though as there will be lots of different stalls.  Bubblicious soaps, Charlie’s Mom’s Chocolate Factory, Sweetheart Designs, Webb’s to name just a few.    

We don’t think you’ll go hungry either as Bearwood Pantry, Lil’s Parlour and Peel and Stone Bakery will be selling delicious food throughout the afternoon.

Keep Sunday 15^th June free and bring your friends and family to the Bearwood Shuffle. It's also Father's Day that day so we can't wait to see all the Dad dancing at Lightwoods Park bandstand!

Matt's entertainment!

We got to know film maker and fellow Bearwoodian, Matt Taylor, through being part of the Bearwood Promoters, the friendly team who put on the Bearwood Shuffles.  Don’t forget the next Bearwood Shuffle is taking place very soon on Sunday 15^th June!

We caught up with Matt whilst he was busy juggling video editing with booking bands for the next Shuffle to find out more.

Hi Matt!  Thanks for agreeing to an interview with welovebearwood.  It’s great to see you so busy and we love the website for your company, HTF Media.

Please tell us more about the company, how did it start?

HTF Media started around five years ago, basically as a collaboration between three friends who wanted to learn other skills that we couldn’t learn in our day job at the same time as producing some content for a music festival run by some friends in the city.

I was an editor at the BBC editing everything from Points of View, Countryfile, Gardeners World and Coast. I really wanted to get out of dark edit suites and learn more about the production process and get hands on with cameras and the work with HTF gave me the opportunity to do just that.

After ten years at the BBC the powers that be, rather unwisely, decided to move all network programming to Bristol and Salford. This didn’t really suit me as I kind of like my house and life in Bearwood. It was a no brainer really to try and put all that work into practice and set up our own company.

So what projects are you currently working on and have earmarked for the future?

We have been lucky to work with some great clients during our first year including The Bullring, Marketing Birmingham, The Library of Birmingham and Help Harry Help Others.

HTF Media Showreel 2014

We also have some exciting work lined up for the future including making 40 films for Disability Rights UK which involves following seven families for a year and watching as they cope with getting back on their feet and back to work following a major illness.

Wow! You are busy! Which aspect of the work do you particularly enjoy?

I guess the biggest difference between my work now and previous work at the BBC is that I don’t spend ten or twelve hours a day locked in a dark room with a Director anymore. I enjoy the variety, meeting new people, getting hands on with cameras and some editing (but NOT everyday!)

It sounds as if you really enjoy your work, where do you get your inspiration from? 

Inspiration comes from all over the place but mostly from other people! I always think talking to people about initial ideas helps them to grow and develop.

It must be a tough industry to get into what advice would you give people who would like to go into video production? 

If you are looking to work in the industry my advice would be to get as much experience you can and know what area it is you are looking to get into. The amount of times I have had to suffer wannabe presenters sat bored to tears in the back of an edit suite is countless and not productive for either party.

You are also getting busy with the Bearwood Shuffles as you and Esther book the bands for the Bearwood Shuffles.  What do you think of Bearwood’s live music scene and what changes would you like to see in the future? 

Bearwood’s live music scene is slowly getting better however for it to get a proper boot up the arse we need a decent venue or at least one of the existing venues to sort it’s self out. However, saying that watch this space we are in talks.

Ooh exciting stuff! Are there any particular bands that you would love to see play at Lightwoods Park bandstand?

There is some great stuff coming out of the ’wood at the moment, my two personal favourites are Kouben and Amelia Wallace, both very different but interesting and both very young and unaware of how great they are. We are looking forward to playing host to Kouben at the next shuffle.

It must be stressful though booking bands.  What’s it like? 

Booking bands for a free event can be a massive pain in the ass! I enjoy it, but we always start with a huge wish-list of who we would like to see but a lot turn it down either because we can’t afford to pay them or because they have the wrong idea of what the event is about!

I love the shuffle, I like the idea that someone might stumble across the bandstand and hear not just a band but a style of music that they have never heard before and love it! With all the crap that gets flung at people by corporations and marketeers choice is squeezed out and quite often I don’t think that people realise exactly what’s out there. Hopefully the shuffle is an opportunity for people to be presented with choices in a setting and style that is both accessible and recognisible to them.

I would love to see the Cure play in the bandstand, but then I would love to see the Cure play anywhere! Swans – Now there is a band at the top of their game at the moment, not sure they would be suited though (in fact pretty sure they wouldn’t) - they are one band that everyone should experience live at some point in their lives! Then there’s Daft Punk, Chic, the list goes on!

The Cure, now that would be fantastic!  Talking about Bearwood now, what’s your connection with the place? 

I have lived in Bearwood for six years now, however I was brought up just down the road by the cinema in Quinton and had many school friends who lived in the ‘wood.

It seems as if Bearwood keeps evolving. Do you think more creative people are now living in the area?

I am sure that there has always been a load of creative people living in Bearwood. I think it just seems that we are lucky that they have managed to organize themselves over the last few years so we have the Crafty Muthas, The Pantry, The Shuffle, The 67 and loads of exciting things on the radar, pretty sure social media has a lot to do with helping people get organized and making it feel like there’s a lot going on!

Please tell us your Bearwood All-Star.  In other words, what, where or whom makes you smile in Bearwood?

My wife Sally! Is that a cop out?

No, definitely not.  Sally works hard organizing local community groups and we are very excited to see what happens with the website We Are Bearwood.

Thanks for answering all the questions, Matt. One more which we always like to ask everyone. What makes Lightwoods Chippy’s chips orange?

Teabags in it? Tetley I believe.

Genius!  See you at the Bearwood Shuffle.

You can find out more about HTF Media right here and about the next Bearwood Shuffle on 15^th June right here!