Gate Kicks!! - JAMAICA!! MEETS SLY & THE FAMILY DRONE

 Hey Gate Kickers!!!

This episode is devoted to the release of the c46 cassette by Sly & Family Drone and Jamaica!! ‘Celebrating The End Together In The Good Time Swamp' issue on the 27th August 2021. Labake, Richie, Duane and Darren (2 Decks) discussed and remembered the live gig at the ICA on 28th February 2019 where this event was recorded.

Sly & The Family Drone present this special art edition of our collaboration with Jamaica!! With the aim of raising money for The Gate, an arts centre for adults with learning disabilities located in Shepherds Bush, London.

For more information visit and to buy the c46 cassette please visit:

https://familydrone.bandcamp.com/

Cassette Cover

Sly & Family Drone

The Wire Global Ear, Buenos Aires and beyond

 Hey guys,

Our friend, Alan Courtis, has elaborated a playlist for The Wire Magazine, Global Ear section, with marvellous bands from Europe and South America including the legendary gig at the ICA with the improvisation band Jamaica! and Sly & Family Drone.

Check the link and discover a new world of sounds and bands from Buenos Aires and beyond...

https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/global-ear-community-projects-in-buenos-aires-and-beyond

JAMAICA!! MEETS SLY & THE FAMILY DRONE

 ‘Celebrating The End Together In The Good Time Swamp’ c46 Cassette

Having released a few CDR's of these sessions and played a few well received gigs on London's experimental scene Jamaica!! were asked to host a night at the ICA as part of Morag Keil's solo exhibition there (Morag has a long-term relationship with the Gate) and thinking that Sly & the Family Drone had a history of communal music-making and a similar musical ethos they were an obvious choice for collaboration for us and we were extremely pleased that they took us up on the offer we presented them . A late edition to the ensemble was Alan Courtis, another long term friend of the Gate who just happened to be in London and expressed an interest in joining us. 

Sly & The Family Drone present this special art edition of our collaboration with Jamaica!! With the aim of raising money for The Gate, an arts centre for adults with learning disabilities located in Shepherds Bush, London.

The night itself, the recording of which is presented here, was a glorious affair with much fun being had by all involved and for me personally was testament to the power of a truly inclusive embracive "joyful noise". – Arlo Yates 2021

There is a distinct symbiosis between everyone onstage, and not only when there are eight drummers conjuring an acoustic barrage of Boredoms-level intensity’ – Wire,2019 

To buy the cassette:

https://familydrone.bandcamp.com/album/jamaica-meets-sly-celebrating-the-end-together-in-the-good-time-swamp

Private listening link:

https://soundcloud.com/slythefamilydrone/sets/celebrating-the-end-together/s-PUduZyxadvT

Limited Deluxe Wooden Box Edition and c46 bcassette

Jamaica!! and Sly & Family Drone at the ICA 28th February 2019.

What about Opera? plus Arlo's farewell

 Hey guys,

In this episode, our presenters talk about their preferences for Opera an art form that is seeing as quite far away from the popular taste but Labake would love to learn how to sing it. We listened to a bit of Charlotte Church and Jessy Norman.

We took the opportunity to say goodbye to Arlo Yates, who was The Gate Manager for many years, who changed everything for good.  He pushed every possible barrier to give the Gate's artists the opportunity to show their art in venues, art galleries and festivals outside of the social care circuit, which used to be the place where these artists were confined before his arrival.  Under his management, The Gate has hold shows and exhibitions in prestigious cultural centres, art galleries and festivals such as ICA London, Cafe Oto, Royal Festival Hall, London Jazz Festival, Arcadia Misa Gallery and Sonic Protest Festival in Paris, to mention a few.  Arlo was behind in the formation of the improvisation music ensemble Jamaica!! which has done gigs at prestigious venues such the Iklectik, Cafe Oto and ICA, releasing several works on record labels such as Takuroku and with Sly and Family Drone on Bandcamp, one of their tracks was included in The Wire magazine as part of the selection made by Alan Courtis for the Global Ear online section.  So we wish all the best to Arlo in his new adventure. Mr Amazing, Labake and MC Top Richie made a song to say goodbye to him. A big hug for him!! 

Arlo Yates

Welcome to the super creative world of Labake Anisere, aka Baby Killer, a unique singer and Learning Disability rights activist.

Hi GateKickers!! 

Welcome to the world of the super creative singer and learning disability rights activist Labake Anisere, aka Baby Killer.

 A daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Labake was born in Fulham, so she supports Chelsea FC. After an accident, she is diagnosed with learning and physical disabilities. Despite all the odds, she became the mother of three wonderful children.   Her music comes from real-life experiences but also from her family influences and dreams.  One of her dreams inspired the surrealistic lyrics of Does Jesus Sleep?. We will listen to songs connected with social issues such as "Buried Knives, not People" to stop knife crime;  "I've got a Body" talks about how disabled people can overcome vulnerability in the streets or "Cannibal" a song which comes from her character Baby Killer in the new video game, Gate Station, where she remembers being bullied in the school so she just eats bullies.

I invite you to explore the beauty and honesty of her music and discover a parallel world.

So seat, wear your headphones, relax and play Gate Kicks to connect to a different dimension.

LABAKE ANISERE AT GATE KICKS

LABAKE SHOWING HER MUM'S PICTURE

Back to Reality, our presenters discuss the Gate Station video game and remember Cirque du Soleil's show Kurios Steampunk

 Hey guys,

Richie, Labake and Duane discussed the end of lockdown restrictions and their video game Gate Station: 

Gate Station

Labake remembers the show Kurios by the famous Canadian circus Cirque du Soleil, they will come next year to the Royal Albert Hall with a new show called Luzia.

You will listen to fantastic music with surprising levels of originality.

Seat, Relax, and Play it if you Dare!

KURIOS Music & Lyrics - Sing Along with us!

The Gate Station Welcome to Our Video Game

Recently as a result of the Covid pandemic we were forced into an online model of working with our members (along with regular socially distanced welfare visits for those who needed it) and like many we were forced to reevaluate and revise our working practices in order to accommodate this. One manifestation of this is the work presented here.

The video game began as an in-person project prior to the pandemic as a number of people who attend the gate are into gaming, the idea was to make a real-time game that represented life at The Gate. We took this idea and adapted it to the online situation, using the tool Twinery. Twinery is an open-source tool that allows people to make interactive fiction in the form of a webpage. 

The story has been developed over the art sessions we hold, with people coming up with ideas and narratives that expand the game into the maze that it currently is. The artists at that gate have their own pages within the game, for example, Duane’s world which features his TikTok videos and music that he has made over lockdown. These are incorporated into the narrative of the game which is horror fiction. There is also a page dedicated to a service user who died during the lockdown, this allowed the artist to compile their memories of Leon and the art he had made into one place that's also linked with the art they are currently making. The graphics for the game have been designed in online sessions with artists co-editing via share screen functions. 

WELCOME TO GATE STATION

PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW

Play It If You Dare