#2022
Straight out of a pandemic into a global recession. Regardless, as a community we have been able to persevere and move forward.
We would be non-existent without your support - the worldwide community. Without the dedicated passion and support from you, our valued loyal customers, supporters, turntablism practitioners, artists and purveyors, none of this would be possible.
#scratchinschool
The programme is now starting to gain momentum, since the opening of UK Schools following the pandemic. With the continued support from our suppliers, notably Reloop (SPiN portable turntables) and Magma (Class Cuts flight cases), we have been able to deliver substantial class sets of equipment into the educational system.
Further information on the Class Cuts Scheme of Work can be found here.
We are now reaching further afield within the UK, with units delivered to Northumberland and Devon. Additionally, new regional hubs will be introduced during early 2023 with some exciting performance projects already in the making.
#beatgeak
BEATGEEK 2022 took place from 19th - 25th September.
New venue, new concept.
Due to the nature and volume of events, these were some of the highlights:
Educational week
Introducing the #scratchinschool taster sessions to local London based primary/elementary schools was a major milestone. London, has yet to experience the concept of the new Scheme of Work being introduced across the UK. The morning sessions were attended by students from Kennington Park Academy (PRU) and the afternoon sessions with students from Oasis Academy South Bank. The feedback from these taster sessions were outstanding.
UK & Ireland IDA Championships
The success of hosting this event in 2022 resulted in the UK Technical Category Champion, Tommy P-Nuts, going on to win the IDA World Finals in Krakow, Poland. That is a wonderful journey to have been part of. Congratulations to the other UK & Ireland IDA winners - Statik & Tommy P-Nuts (Show Category) and Symatic (Scratch Category.
The event also featured live performances by Zuckell & Roughneck Jihad promoting a new EP release plus the full compliment of personnel from The Beatbox Collective.
Portablist Lounge
2022 witnessed two winners from The Battle For Free Passage earning their travel and accommodation to compete at Portablist Lounge. DJ Prolifix from Los Angeles and Marvel from Athens - both came first and second place respectfully. Third place went to Tommy P-Nuts.
The two day event had many entries with both UK and International competitors. Hosted by Ritchie Ruftone, Tigerstyle and DJ Rasp with live finger drumming by Beat Matazz.
Trade Show/Other
Westend DJ coordinated the BG Traders area, with trade booth representation from Westend DJ, Novation, Focusrite, Adam Audio, Technics, Pioneer, Reloop, Phase, Dynamic Distribution, Turntable Training Wax and Jesse Dean Designs.
Throughout the weekend there were numerous performances by DJ Spoony, DJ Hype, Spinscott and others.
The Sunday witnessed a first time ever live podcast, with some of the UK's Royalty in Jungle, hosted by DJ Ron. The London Something Podcast featured DJ Brockie, Chris (Music House), DJ Rap, Jumping Jack Frost, Geeneus (Rinse FM) and Micky Finn.
None of this would of been possible without support from Arts Council England.
#turntabletrainingwax
To date, 2023 will see two more vinyl releases from the 'Practice Yo! Cuts' series. If manufacturing times remain on schedule, a 7 inch version of v11 should be ready for pre-order by the start of March. Details of the other release will follow.
Over the last few years, we have been absorbing the costs of vinyl manufacturing which has impacted the end sale price. Due to our regular re-pressing of previous releases, we have found it challenging to keep up with the rate of inflation. Costs have dramatically increased since the pandemic due to the rising costs of materials, labour and logistics which in turn pushes up the end cost.
We have now raised the purchase price to an acceptable point that we feel is both competitive and workable and is reflected online for all TTW releases.
In relation to the #scratchinschool Scheme of Work and following on from the success of the educational week event at BEATGEEK, we have submitted a bid to Arts Council England for a year long project focusing on taster sessions around the country for SEND schools.
We are also considering a new format for a weekend BEATGEEK 23 event.
Have a fantastic leap into 2023.
As always, many thanks for supporting TTW!
#TTW #scratchinschool #beatgeek #2022 #community
