The British Council and Belfast City Council have come together to create Mix the City Belfast - an online interactive mixing website where music lovers and budding DJs around the globe will get to sample Belfast’s distinct sights and sounds and create their own compositions.
Mix the City Belfast involved a collaboration of 95 artists, musicians and creators in total to deliver this iconic and exciting platform celebrating Belfast’s music. The footage was curated by award-winning artist and composer Hannah Peel, and produced by Bounce Culture.
This interactive platform has been rolled out by the British Council in 19 other cities, including Tel Aviv, Afghanistan, Berlin, Glasgow, Mumbai, and Moscow, with big acts such as Django Django and Ghostpoet taking part.
The participating musicians include Arco String Quartet, Úna Monaghan, Ulster Orchestra, Steve Davis, No Oil Paintings, Joseph Leighton, Die Hexen, Katie Richardson & Open House Choir, 1st Old Boys Band, Kaidi Tatham (DJ), John O’Neill (The Undertones), Willie Drennan and Duke Special and Hannah Peel.
Councillor Deirdre Hargey, Lord Mayor of Belfast said: “Mix the City Belfast creates a version of our city like no other and we’re delighted to be partnering with the British Council on this exciting platform.
“We want to celebrate our music culture and it will form a key part of the cultural strategy we’re currently developing.
“We want to nurture and grow this sector and, as a result, enrich the lives of our citizens and build on the city’s growing reputation as a tourist destination.”
Jonathan Stewart, Director, British Council Northern Ireland said: “Mix the City builds on our partnership with Belfast City Council, which supports Belfast’s international ambition and growing international reputation, with a big focus on Northern Ireland music and musicians.
“We have a distinguished and authentic musical history here and this digital platform positions Belfast alongside cities from across the globe such as Berlin, Istanbul, Chennai and Moscow. Mix the City celebrates the rich diversity of our music, arts and culture with a wider international audience but we also hope that it will lead to new opportunities and lasting connections for the city.”
Artist, producer and composer Hannah Peel from Northern Ireland feels privileged to be curating the project. She said:
“This is such an exciting project to be involved in. Music is a key part of our DNA here. From punk to proms and trad to rock, Belfast boasts a vibrant and varied music scene and the city backdrop is really quirky and unique.
“Mix the City invites the world to listen, watch and interact with these through a user-friendly music video platform.
“I’d like to thank Flying Object and Bounce Culture who have collaborated on this project as well as the musicians involved and the street art featured in the Belfast footage by artists EMIC, Conor McClure, MAC Signs, Rob Helkin, Sancho MDN, Blaze FX and DMC Curated.”
The platform will launch live tonight (Thursday, March 21 2019) at 7pm.
The British Council is the UK's leading cultural relations organisation. For more information on their work in Northern Ireland visit nireland.britishcouncil.org.