sustained theatre

Music is our business here at Punch, but music has an impact on our souls that reaches far beyond the balance sheet.

Our mission is very clear at Punch; to bring people together with creative work that will excite and engage them. Usually this is through music; most people today having developed their passion and connection to artists through their recordings. But we want audiences to actually get in there to see and hear music being played. We know that Black music from across the Diaspora has always been a huge draw on the UK’s national touring circuit, from the heydays of Steel Pulse working alongside “Rock against Racism” to the new hybrid genres like Grime and Dubstep. Our mission is to innovate, challenge and inspire our partners - venues, programmers and festivals - to produce, promote and programme acts that represent the full spectrum of Black music. But how? This April saw the launch of a new UK wide touring network for African and Caribbean music - Black Routes (http://www.blackroutes.org.uk) which we hope will do just that.

Black Routes is a special project for me, not just because Punch is a founding partner and chair, but because this initiative will genuinely be bringing the best new African and Caribbean ensembles out to British people. It offers audiences the chance to see high quality performances by professional acts, acts who are neither in the R&B niche or in the pop mainstream. At the same time, Black Routes will be offering these artists an opportunity to build relationships with audiences around the country. But what is probably most unique about our venture is that it's not led by a mainstream agency, nor is it a venue looking to find a junior partner to lend their street credibility to a toe-in-the-water exercise. It's about professional agencies coming together, bringing a diversity of skills, output, scale, location and experience to get something happening. Black Routes is an equal partnership between five organisations – Liverpool's Africa Oyé, London's Serious and Joyful Noise, Punch, and the Centre for Music & Arts Technology, also from Birmingham. Each organisation will tour two projects each year to a range of venues throughout the country and deliver an associated education or participation programme.

Black Routes has a dynamic remit for organisations to work in partnership, developing the profile of the sector, sharing good practice, creating opportunities for promoter, producer and artist development and building new audiences for African and Caribbean music. Black Routes has been supported by the Arts Council England for an initial two-year period. “Ah!” I can hear you say!. “You're talking about self reliance and so on, but there's a kickstart been applied from the Government!” Punch knows, all promoters know, that we can fill niche venues with niche music seven days a week, and fill our wallets at the same time. But without some kind of subsidy, intelligently applied, the live music scene will continue to deteriorate into a sea of tribute bands and music hall antics.The most recent statistics from the West Midlands Cultural Observatory are a message from a world where future gaps in funding will require entrepreneurial thinking from those running all creative business’s. I know that Black Routes is the right balance between private enterprise and public interest.

Well; I'm nearing the end this message in a bottle. If you've read this far, let me tell you that for the first time in my life I've finally been persuaded to write a blog of my own. Why? By the time you read this we'll have carried out a major redesign and relaunch of our website (http://www.punch-records.co.uk). We've moved to a platform that will be easier and quicker to navigate, as well as something gives us all the social media tools that are changing the game at the moment. From now on, when you see one of our shows you can share you pictures and thoughts with us straight away. And there'll be blogs on music and the music business, so I can spread to others the opportunities passed on to me through this column.

Now you and I have a little shared heritage – this website and a love for black music! But what's changed since we started 9 months ago? Quite a lot. I explained to you my conviction that, given the opportunity, cultural entrepreneurs can radically improve how our city is pitched to the world. And now Clive Dutton (Ex Regeneration Director for Birmingham City Council) has drawn everyone's attention to that very issue. I laid out how our enduring passions for Carnival, Vaisakhi and Mela reveal an untapped reservoir, ready for mainstreaming. And now we just had Bollywood Steps at the Town Hall, great way to celebrate the 175 birthday. I wrote about how misguided initiatives like Police Form 696 are blighting live music at the root, and driving young people into potentially hazardous unlicensed venues. And now UB40 are joining the fight to save the Rainbow pub and the city centre's other live music venues. I soapboxed about the mismatch between the corporate indifference over this year's Black History Month and the gloating over the Staffordshire Hoard and that got picked up by blogger worldwide

Of course, none of these changes are happening because of this website of me. Change is happening here, now, in our city because we now have a critical mass of risk takers, Black businesses, young creative’s, bloggers, twitterers and cultural entrepreneurs. If the mainstream finally chooses to do business with these people and buy into their skills, vision and innovation, then Birmingham will begin to move forward once again with creativity at its core. And now is the time; time to bring back some good news and good times. If we continue to marginalise talent - just as we complain Birmingham is marginalised by the rest of the nation - then other cities, perhaps other countries, will welcome what they can bring.

In tough times we in the Black / BME communities need to remember that we have always represented ourselves well. The Muhammad Ali centre – today a site of heartbreaking corporate neglect – was a beacon in its day. The Greatest of All Times cut the ribbon himself at the venue in August 1983, and for years it entertained and guided thousands of local people, providing what the Government today calls “community cohesion”. It was from these same seeds on the streets in 1978 that Bob Ramdhanie & fellow activists grew Kokuma Dance Theatre, a group becoming a movement that put out ground-breaking work for over twenty years. Today Bob is still at the forefront of cultural entrepreneurship in Birmingham through his Centre for Music and Technology (C.M.A.T.) based at the legendary Grosvenor Road studios in Handsworth, one of Punch's current partners, as I'll be getting on to later. Also with a Kokuma connection, Gail & Ian Parmel are still bringing new music and dance work into the city through the African Cultural Exchange in Digbeth.

In recent years, New Style Radio housed at the African Caribbean Millennium Centre (ACMC) based over in Winson Green have made the successful move from underground champions to mainstream entertainers, whilst newcomers Birmingham Media Group (BMG) make great use of messaging and social networking technology to stay close to their audiences every minute they are on air via Big City Radio. In Handsworth Wood, Nu Century Arts have been mixing the best in theatre and live music with jazz stalwart Soweto Kinch, with the best in performance, collaboration and education for nearly a decade. Over in Aston, The Drum Arts Centre not only produces great quality arts work with local people but is an anchor for the creative industries and social enterprises in North Birmingham, a vital role as the cultural and geographical divide continues to deepen.

Come and join us for an evening of fine great music in the 2nd city soon!!

Ammo Talwar MBE
C.E.O. of Punch

About the author

Ammo Talwar

Ammo is the founder and chief executive of Punch. Having qualified in Civil Engineering, he left the world of engineering to pursue a career in his first love - music, and opened Punch Records in Birmingham, UK in 1997. He is a member of the Arts Council England, West Midlands and board member for the Africa Consortium. He was honoured with an MBE in the 2008 Honours List for his contribution to music and young people.