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We are delighted that Bradford has been named City of Culture 2025!

As you can see from the Instagram post below, the celebrations were something to behold…

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Some great work continues with young volunteers at Rites of Passage. 

We’ve been working with a fantastic group of young students who attend the Homework Club at Bradford African Community. They have produced some lovely designs as they gain skills to build their own sound system.

Watch this space for more about what’s going on and meanwhile, enjoy some of their artwork!

More will come next month too and the names of our artists and designers will be revealed too!

Work continues on cleaning old speakers that have been generously given or loaned to the project.

It’s a reminder of what had to be done to assemble a sound system ready, learning as you went along about electronics, carpentry, welding and soldering, testing, getting tips and help from the older generation too.

Now it involves stripping down the systems, checking the wires, replacing and building it up again.

Lots of memories flood in while working on getting a system ready to play again about the skills gained, the DIY, the effort involved going across town to get different parts, and all on so little money.

Working together to produce something unique, believing in our own abilities to create something and receiving encouragement from those around us who cared.

Recent days of filming have again highlighted the vast contribution of music made by Bradford’s African Caribbean community both in the past and continuing into the present. 

People have given their time and memories very generously to ensure that this rich musical legacy is not forgotten. We’ve heard about legendary sound systems, favourite clubs, and inspirational individuals who brought vision, opportunities, leadership and encouragement to their families, friends and communities in different ways and at different times across the city and elsewhere. 

Love of music has been the common thread binding different voices together, together with the sense of unity, friendship and community that offered some hope, strength and protection. Preserving this cross-generational story brings its message of resilience, creativity and determination to new audiences. 

Rites of Passage pays tribute to the dedication and passion of those people no longer around and others still involved with the making and sharing of music.

We offer special thanks to our latest interviewees. As people have come forward to contribute to Rites of Passage, they have also helped to secure a future for Bradford’s sound system stories. We acknowledge the members of Nyah Shanti, Scorcher and legendary names from the city’s DJs, radio programmers, promoters and club owners from the nightclub scene.

We thank youth leaders past and present, the new generation and all those others committed to a life with music and who wish for a dynamic sound system culture to continue.

Back to the Dominica Association today with cameras to hear some Scorcher stories!

Scorcher are a legendary Bradford sound system. You can hear one of their classic recordings from 1986 below:

There’s still time for archive visits – this time to the Telegraph and Argus collections.

The Rites of Passage team appreciates the support given by newspaper staff and their archivists in being able to access materials for the project.

The leather bound volumes of old newspapers are huge and heavy, and without being able to search digitally, it helps to know the date and topic.

It was a fascinating trip and Bradford is lucky to have its own newspaper archives.

Great news about Bradford being shortlisted to the final four for the UK City of Culture 2025!

Bradford will be competing alongside County Durham, Wrexham and Southampton for the coveted title, succeeding Coventry as the most recent City of Culture.

The Bradford2025 team have shown interest in our project from the outset and we wish them all the best for the next stage.

To see all the latest updates from the Bradford2025 campaign, go to https://bradford2025.co.uk/.

Loans and donated materials have been gathering at the project base for some months now. An ambitious programme to locate, collect, clean, test, assemble and reconnect is bringing new life to sound system equipment.

These wires, speakers, turntables, cables and vinyls help to recreate a sense of early sound system culture – and what was involved to create, manage, play, transport and maintain a sound worthy of becoming a legend and gathering followers. 

Here’s a quick reminder about enjoying music in a pre-digital, pre-internet, pre-mobile phone era… and please contact us if you have anything to donate/loan or skills and stories to share. 

And we’re still looking for pictures too – mics/ turntables/ speakers/ dubplates/ cassettes/ vinyls/ mixer decks/ wiring up/ equipment being used/ set out or taken down/ being carried/ indoors/ outside, cherished or neglected – we don’t mind!

We’re also building some flat pack versions too! Thanks to the students from Dixons City Academy and other volunteers for their continuing help.

The Mary Seacole Centre became an excellent recording studio today (despite the fire alarm test!)

A quick sound check for dominoes playing in the background and we were away, good humour and some great memories of enjoyment in the past.

There was a bit of wistfulness about recalling being younger and also a critical eye on the troubled years that many people in Bradford’s African Caribbean community have seen and lived through. 

Revisiting memories of playing and listening to music, socialising and living in or going to places that no longer exist – all this provides a vital backstory to how sound systems took root locally, link back to their origins and connect with the sound systems of today. Each time these testimonies are powerful to listen to and tributes to creativity and resilience.