Isolation Station starts tonight at 7.30pm for a weekend of music supporting local artists such as Fugitive Orchestra and Dutch Criminal Record, as well as further afield acts like Raw Kids from Berlin (who I can’t wait to hear live!). In such strange times, it’s great that music can still be promoted for us to listen to and discover. Ella from Missing really wanted to do something that involved a live stream that could showcase artists in a fun way and bring music fans together. This means you can dance along in your kitchen and even get your friends to do the same at their house.
The fact that there are no music events happening globally right now feels very sobering. We would normally be gearing up for the festival season, planning out our trips, schedule clashes, checking the camping kits and deciding who we want to see.
At the moment, none of these things can happen.
But that doesn’t mean our music scene is silent!
Missing is an independent Portsmouth based promoter and community that helps to share and diversify the local music/arts scene, and ultimately aims to bring cool music to Portsmouth. Chatting to Ella we talked about how, in these scary and worrying times, music really helps lift the spirit. There is something magical about music: It can take you back in time; transport you across the world; bring people together; make you smile with a song that reminds you of good times and it can be something you share with loved ones – whether they are in the same room or hundreds of miles away. Ella said (and I agree!) there is a great local music scene in Portsmouth that needs to be pushed in a positive way. And she is on a mission to do just that.
Helping Ella put together the weekend event is Mix It All Up music blog AKA Nikki from Portsmouth who really understands what is happening in our local music scene. Between them, the girls have organised an exciting mix of artists from indie with Raw Kids and Dutch Criminal Record, to Highlights of Our Modern World who offer instrumental hip-hop mixed with ambient sounds. There’s something for everyone, so just make sure you’ve got space to dance and get your friends and family involved!
Over the past 4 weeks, I have seen so much creativity and positivity come from the independent community. It’s incredibly helpful for people feeling trapped in their homes to feel good about so many things happening locally that they can get involved with. To be able to escape your worries by listening to a great band, joining in with a kitchen dance party, doing a live exercise class or watching a tutorial from your favourite artist is proving to be exactly what we need right now. This all proves that we need cultural things in our lives now more than ever, as well as building on our wonderful community to feel more connected to each other.
You can tune in to Isolation Station by going to Instagram: @missingpromo and clicking on the live button at the top of the page. You can keep popping back for your favourite artist or listen to the whole thing. I can’t wait and am so up for a weekend of music: Meet you there!
To find out more about Ella and Missing you can go to her Social Media pages
