The State Of The Arts

Jasmine Myra is Leeds' breakout star in the UK jazz scene.We chatted to Jasmine about how it's been writing, releasing and touring her second album 'Rising', released earlier in 2024. We also discussed how her experience as a Leeds native and Conservatoire graduate has shaped Jasmine's career, differences between the Leeds jazz scene and that of her current home in the capital, as well the London-centrism of ‘UK jazz'.

Last year, the city of Leeds held its Year of Culture - a 12-month programme of arts and culture events, delivered by LEEDS 2023.Now the dust has settled, how do its leaders feel about it? And what did it take to deliver a project of this scale? We sat down with Kully Thiarai, Creative Director & CEO, and Emma Beverley, Programme Director, of LEEDS 2023 for an honest reflection on this eventful year.Timestamps:3:16 - Kully and Emma's roles in LEEDS 20238:06 - What does it take to deliver a Year of Culture?27:24 - The personal impact of delivering a YoC37:55 - LEEDS 2023 staff & key events47:52 - Working with Leeds' culture sector56:12 - Advice for the wider culture sector1:08:29 - Highlights from the YoC

Darren Emerson is a VR artist who's been working with the medium for years.In 2021, Darren produced 'In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats', an immersive piece exploring Coventry's acid house rave scene of the 1980's. Darren recently joined TSOTA to discuss the piece and virtual reality art in general, with a conversation touching on the state of VR today, the scale of work required to make art with it, and the potential of VR to express things other art forms may not.

The State of the Arts are proud to be starting a new digital exhibition project focusing on the overlooked moments that make up the North's musical landscape.To start, we're focusing on the Jazz-Funk era of the late 70's and early 80's that took over the North and Midlands. We enlisted three key characters from the scene that drove its success in Manchester, the North West and beyond - DJs Colin Curtis, Mike Shaft and Greg Wilson.

Manchester's music scene is always thriving, but the city's R&B/neo-soul movement is having a special moment.Mali Hayes, Fliss and [ K S R ] are just a few of the artists shaping the city's sound and turning Manchester into a national capital for the genre.For our latest roundtable podcast episode, TSOTA spoke to them about the scene, their music, their careers and much more!

'Culture Matters' return explore  the state of the independent and grassroots cinema industry!The State of the Arts enlisted several figures from across the North's cinema landscape to discuss how the industry will recover from lockdown…Tony Mundin – The Savoy, Regal, Rex & Ritz cinemasSally Folkard – Film Hub NorthWendy Cook –  Hyde Park Picture HouseMichael Pierce & Monika Rodriguez – ScalaramaListen to this special recording of our third panel event!

Jack McLoughlin and Georgia Madden are two talented, young Liverpudlian filmmakers, both featured at this year's BFI Future Film Festival. The festival takes place from the 17th - 20th February 2022 and both filmmakers' short films are up for awards.We chatted to Jack and Georgia for a roundtable podcast episode, discussing their work and what it means to be nominated by the BFI. And with both of them being from Liverpool, we of course spoke about the role the city plays in both their lives, as its cultural reputation gets bigger and bigger.

Listen back to a special roundtable discussion coordinated by Molly McGrath of Leeds Library, featuring Jack Simpson of Hyde Park Book Club, Poppy Jennings from Leeds Poetry Festival, author Dan Coxon, Amanda Truman or Truman Bookstore and Zoe Turner from Comma Press.Leeds Lit Fest returns in 2022 for a programme packed with the best literary events and performances the city has to offer. For this podcast, Molly spoke to some of the key figures involved in this year's festival and the thriving literature scene in Leeds!Leeds Lit Fest takes place from Feb 26th - March 6th 2022.

Dave Haslam is one of the most versatile creatives that the North has produced. With a career that's taken him from  the decks of the Hacienda, to a desk for writing an array of books about British cultural history.As part of an event in partnership with Hyde Park Book Club, director of TSOTA Jack Simpson caught up with Dave about everything from his new book to his creative process to Sylvia Plath.Dave's new book, 'All You Need is Dynamite', is the latest in his series Art Decades, with this addition uncovering a moment of dramatic political change in Manchester at the end of the 1960s. On 12th September, Dave will appear at Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds a part of a tour for his book launch.

Our second Culture Matters panel event looks at ‘Nightlife',  the corner of the cultural landscape sorely missed for over a year – our clubs, events and festivals, responsible for uniting selectors and sounds with party goers across the country. The State of the Arts enlisted several figures from across the North's nightlife culture to discuss how the industry will recover from lockdown…DJ Paulette - a cultural icon of Manchester whose career has taken her from the Hacienda to Paris to the biggest festival line ups of 2021.Harkirit Boparai - based in York, Harkirit manages  The Crescent Community Venue and programmes the Basement Jazz Club, and is North-East coordinator for the Music Venue Trust.Gemma Krysko - director of We Are Indigo and part of the team behind Escape to Freight Island, she also helped with the UK government's pilot club event in Liverpool.Anton Stevens - an organiser for the most popular Manchester nightclub, Hidden.Listen to this special recording of our second panel event!

‘Culture Matters' is a new series of panel events looking look at how different creative industries have navigated, and will bounce back from, the lockdown.Our first event explores ‘Galleries',  the essential spaces that connect artists with audiences, which have been largely closed across the UK since the pandemic began. The State of the Arts enlisted three leading figures working with galleries, museums and exhibitions in the North to feature on our panel…Alistair Hudson – Director of the Manchester Art Gallery and the Whitworth.Courtney Spencer – Director of the Leeds Summer Group Show and former director of Left Bank Leeds.Nicola Triscott – Director/CEO of FACT Liverpool.From new ideas on the role of institutions, to the changing behaviours of audiences, to the impact of the pandemic on regional culture, there's plenty to unpack in this hour long chat. Listen to this special recording of our first panel event!

DJ Paulette has had a massive influence on culture in Manchester and around the world.Her career has been filled with success, from DJing at the Hacienda to her autobiographical ‘Homebird' gallery at The Lowry. She has residencies with Reform Radio, Worldwide FM and has kept busy in lockdown with several remote DJ sets streamed across the globe. We spoke to Paulette about her career, got her thoughts on the state of nightlife and events in the UK, and heard about the exciting creative potential of her hometown – Manchester.You can follow DJ Paulette on Instagram and  Twitter and be sure to check out her website to see everything she is getting up to!

In our third episode, we spoke to Dr Dave O'Brien, an expert on arts and culture policy and co-author of ‘Culture is Bad For You'. His new book uncovers the inequalities that exist within the creative industries and the way we consume culture, using a wealth of data and interviews to show how race, gender and class determine your chance of making it as a creative. Hailing from Liverpool, he's spent his academic career learning and teaching at universities across the North of England and the UK, and has worked on various projects looking at what life is like for creatives in this country.We spoke about the findings in his new book, the current crisis facing the creative industries and the advantages of working up North if you're an artist.‘Culture is Bad For You' can be purchased from the Manchester University Press; you can read an exclusive extract from the book in a recent feature on our site. You can follow Dr Dave O'Brien on Twitter here.

As part of our ‘See/Hear/Read' series, The State of the Arts has launched its very own podcast. Our podcast episodes will feature interviews and showcase artists and creative thinkers in the North of England. In each episode, we'll hear a new artist speak about their work and the world of the arts in general.In our second episode, we spoke to David Firth, creator of Salad Fingers, MC Devvo, Locust Toybox and much more.David Firth is an animator, writer, musician and multi-disciplined artist from Yorkshire whose work gained him a cult following in the 2000's and millions of YouTube views since.We discussed his creative process, his motivations and his journey as an artist, as well as indie music, Northern humour and the 'golden period' of animation. You can access David's material and see what he's up to via his Patreon here.

As part of our ‘See/Hear/Read' series, The State of the Arts has launched its very own podcast. Our podcast episodes will feature interviews and showcase artists and creative thinkers in the North of England. In each episode, we'll hear a new artist speak about their work and the world of the arts in general.In our first episode, we sat down with GoGo Penguin's Chris Illingworth, pianist in Manchester's most exciting band. Nominated for a Mercury Prize and hailed as one of the best live acts around, GoGo Penguin have worked up a distinct sound that makes them much more than your typical jazz act, taking IDM or UK dance styles and structures, and treating them with classical and jazz instruments. In June, the band released their 5th album. TSOTA interviewed Chris about the process of releasing an album in such unexpected circumstances. We also discussed Manchester's DIY jazz scene, the ways GoGo Penguin make their music and what the future holds for the music and live performance industry.