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*Audiobook* Make Some Space: Tuning into Total Refreshment Centre

by Emma Warren

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  • Book: 'Make Some Space: Tuning into Total Refreshment Centre'

    EXCLUSIVE NEW MUSIC FROM ANGEL BAT DAWID, SNAPPED ANKLES' CHESTNUTT AND LUNCH MONEY LIFE accompanying new audiobook of Emma Warren's Make Some Space: Tuning Into Total Refreshment Centre.

    “An amazing book about an amazing venue.” Emma-Jean Thackray

    “Make Some Space captures TRC’s cooperative anarchy with such verve it leaves no doubt about the relationship between spaces and creativity and why this is vital for culture to thrive” Lloyd Bradley, author of 'Sounds Like London' and 'Bass Culture'

    Make Some Space documents the colourful community that ran under-the-radar music venue Total Refreshment Centre. It tells the story of an Edwardian factory that became an influential music space that was run on the shortest of shoestrings. It’s an insider guide that explains how TRC helped incubate the new London jazz scene, and which uses deep research to link Britain’s turn-of-the-century sugar rush to lovers rock and forgotten London venues. It’s a vivacious and idiosyncratic reminder of why we need places to gather.

    It combines narrative chapters with quotes from new London jazz musicians Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Joe Armon-Jones, Theon Cross, Kwake Bass, Henry Wu aka Kamaal Williams and The Comet Is Coming plus Gilles Peterson, Kieran Hebden, Glamma Kid, The Mighty Diamonds, Louie Vega, Snapped Ankles and Bo Ningen among others.

    Make Some Space uncovers the original inhabitants of the TRC building, which operated as a confectionary factory until the mid 1940s. It takes the reader back in time to Mellow Mix, who took over when the collapse of a gearbox factory left the building derelict and ran rehearsal rooms throughout the 1990s and 2000s for local and international reggae royalty, as well as pirate radio and grassroots theatre.

    The book contains a range of cameos including Bob Marley dipping into a Hackney after-hours spot; the Thompson Twins’ delay pedal; grime godfather Wiley; Johnny Rotten’s politics teacher and the 1912 Hackney Mayor.

    A bonus chapter explains how the book was written and calls on readers to document their own stories.

    “In this loving tribute to Total Refreshment Centre and the birth of the new London jazz scene we have an inspiring testimony to how community spaces can make culture come alive – and make the people that use them come alive, too. In a rapidly gentrifying city, it's a rare and beautiful thing.” Dan Hancox, 'Inner City Pressure: The Story of Grime'

    “A lyrical testimony to the power of street-level social energy and creativity – and a considered and optimistic rebuke to the forces that continually seek to oppress it” Richard King, ‘Original Rockers’ and ‘The Lark Ascending’

    136pp paperback book, black card cover with silver print, including new and exclusive photographs detailing the colourful histories behind Total Refreshment Centre and London's new jazz explosion.
    ... more

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Introduction 15:02
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Peach 18:08
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One More 11:41
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about

EXCLUSIVE NEW MUSIC FROM TRC FAMILY ANGEL BAT DAWID, SNAPPED ANKLES' CHESTNUTT and LUNCH MONEY LIFE

The audio version of 'Make Some Space: Tuning into Total Refreshment Centre' is read by author Emma Warren and contains two exclusive new tracks and interludes between the chapters by Lunch Money Life.

Emma Warren's book tells the story of London's Total Refreshment Centre and uses its multi-layered history to advocate for space. Previously, there were plenty of spaces to gather and now there are far fewer. She explains how the right spaces can make culture – and people – come alive, bringing together examples from across the decades and across the country.

The audio book comes with exclusive new music inspired by TRC, all made by artists with a direct connection to the place. Members of Lunch Money Life are right at the heart of TRC and appear in the book, although you'll have to tune into your Lunch Money radar to figure out who's who. They provide the musical interlude between each chapter.

International Anthem's Angel Bat Dawid recorded 'Transition East' after reading an early draft of the book and recognising the connections between the London venue and her experiences in Chicago. "There’s a place here in Chicago called Transition East where we can record, jam and throw events," she says in 'Make Some Space'. "It’s tucked away deep in the Southside, hidden in plain sight ... The medium we call jazz was birthed in the streets in poverty and crime-ridden areas where the joy of music was solace to weary souls oppressed by a system of racism and injustice. So we meet at Transition East and we pump the South Side with fuel, with energy-healing weapons."

The audio book also features a bubbling 10-minute acid-cosmic-motorik workout by Snapped Ankles affiliate Chestnutt. It was made at TRC and was written in response to the chapter that digs into the building's history, referencing its past incarnations as a shoe factory and a chocolate factory. “Having a studio at TRC is just conversations leading to some weird avant-garde project or association I’d never have thought possible," he says in the book. "I look forward to my coffee breaks. It’s about the people. It’s like a factory up there, with all that talent.”

The print book, available in the merch section, gained a four star review in Mojo and lead reviews in The Wire and The Observer. It includes interviews with artists including Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Sheila Maurice-Grey, Cassie Kinoshi, Shirley Tetteh, Emma-Jean Thackray, Joe Armon-Jones, Theon Cross, Kwake Bass, Henry Wu aka Kamaal Williams and The Comet Is Coming plus Gilles Peterson, Kieran Hebden, Louie Vega, Snapped Ankles and Bo Ningen and others.

credits

released September 5, 2019

Emma Warren. Produced and mastered by Will LV. Exclusive tracks by Angel Bat Dawid and Chestnutt. Interludes by Lunch Money Life. Emma Warren photograph: Barry MacDonald. Book design: Brian O'Tuama at BOT Graphics.

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Sweet Machine Publishing London, UK

Put a little something in, get a little something out.

Publishing house run by Emma Warren est. 2019.

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