By Sophie Scannell, Music Subeditor
From its hidden gems to its soaring stars, capturing the vibrancy of Bristol’s music scene into a film's worth of footage is not an easy task by any means. Thankfully, UoB Film and TV graduate, Cerys Gadsden, is taking it head on. Sitting down with Epigram, Cerys talks DIY filmmaking, an infuriating country-wide lack of funding for the arts, and how a web of interconnected artists in the city scene sparked the creation of ‘Bristol Beats’, the graduate’s upcoming documentary project.
Getting into the guts of the film’s genesis, I’m delighted at how utterly Bristolian it is. Hearing Getdown Services’ ‘Cream Of The Crop’ for the first time thanks to her housemate Rosie, Cerys’ ears were immediately pricked at the band’s spot-on capturing of a gentrified city with their hilarious and quip lyricism: ‘Cabot Circus. Sh!thouse. Who wants a Ben's cookies? Not me.’
One spontaneous message to the band later, and it wasn’t long before an interview was arranged, laying the groundwork for 'Bristol Beats'.
From here, Cerys’ friend and collaborator, Bethan Cox (AKA Meatgrinder), recommended the likes of singer-songwriter Zoe Carr-Smith, and pop-folk collective The Freakshow to interview for the project, off the back of her own photography work in and around the city’s live music scene.
Through Zoe came connections with Ok Ewan, an artist who moved to the city purely for its sonic legacy, and Nat Oaks (another UoB alumni!) who would make up the last of the interviewees, after Cerys discovered her during a gig at Fuse and instantly fell for her vibrant sound.
Taking me through this gorgeously interconnected game of telephone, it’s clear how big a role word-of-mouth, live performance, and connection between artists plays in the process of getting a creative project off the ground.
Community lies at the heart of all artistic endeavours, for musicians and filmmakers alike. Cerys admits that this web of connections that has made her film possible is still not lost on her, telling me that she is yet to listen to Getdown Services now without thinking ‘they’ve been in my living room!’.
Despite an undeniable bustle within the city, our attention turns to the lack of coverage about scenes exactly like Bristol’s. ‘Portishead and Massive Attack are some of the biggest in the country’, Cerys defends, which begs the question of why Bristol’s musical magic isn’t being publicised in the masses it should be.
Unfortunately, there is an answer, and it’s a bleak one at that. ‘There is not enough funding going into the Arts’, Cerys tells me matter-of-factly, before extending this lament to the state of renters’ rights, and the general cost of living crisis that is increasingly turning artists away from doing what they love, purely because they cannot afford to sustain a comfortable life alongside their creative pursuits.
There is less and less interest in keeping the physical reminiscence of music alive in cities like Bristol, where such an eclectic and rich tapestry of sound and culture is held.
‘My Dad tells me about when he went to see Madness perform in the 80s, and the ticket was a fiver’, Cerys recalls, to which follows a lengthy groan from both of us at the increasingly astronomical prices that concertgoers are having to battle with in order to see their favourites perform live.
With her own creative pursuits, Cerys is encouraging a refusal to be defeated by financial hardships: ‘Money should not be the reason people cannot make art’.
In a feat to put this into practice, Cerys’ latest project, 'Bristol Beats', embraces a lack of equipment or funding in light of this revelation that art should not be halted at the sight of an empty pocket, or equally, a relentless struggle to break into the film industry workspace, as she asked her post-graduation self, ‘If I can’t get my foot in the door, why don’t I do it myself?’.
Much of the documentary is filmed on phone cameras, where artist interviews were conducted at the filmmaker’s very own home. The documentary is completed with performance visuals shot by Cerys herself, and well as her own performed narrative pieces.
The edit is again completed by Cerys, to much of the filmmaker’s dismay, as she regales the mental struggles of editing day in day out. ‘It’s like doing a dissertation all over again’, she says with a chuckle.
The film serves as ‘an archive of Bristol’s history’, Cerys tells me, noting that in just a few years, the city’s scene will once again look vastly different.
The closure of live music venues is not a new crisis, yet it remains a heartbreaking reality for music lovers and creatives alike. As we discuss the rapid disappearance of beloved venues across the city, Cerys recalls that much of Josh Law of Getdown Services’ interview in the film was dedicated to his love for Crofter’s Rights—a cherished Bristol venue that then shut its doors just months after their conversation.
Drawing parallels to her own hometown, Cerys reflects on the fate of the Kursaal in Southend—a venue that had the likes of David Bowie and Queen gracing its floors, now reduced to a bowling alley.
The displacement of live music is becoming increasingly severe it seems, but films like 'Bristol Beats' may hold the power to rekindle a lost sense of community and remind us of the spaces that once defined its cultural identity.
Cerys’ first year of studying film at Bristol was steered in an unexpected direction thanks to the Covid pandemic that meant that the grad ‘only got [her] hands on a camera once’ within the year, an infuriating set of circumstances for such a tactile, artistic medium.
For better or for worse, Cerys’ introduction to the film world became one of endless limitations. Yet, her resilience knew no bounds as in this year of restriction and perpetual views of the same four walls for months on end, an unwavering love of DIY film and homemade art had realised itself.
Cerys is exercising this adoration of homely, intimate film by making the centrepiece of her documentary the real, personal accounts from the artists themselves that are helping to keep this bustling scene alive.
Through these chats, every corner of Bristol’s musical haven is covered, as Cerys lists me off a seemingly never-ending list of genres that the city homes: ‘Trip-hop, acid house, DnB, reggae, alternative styles of rap… It’s all interlinked’
Whilst footage of these genre-melding performances are included in the film, a further three live sets are expected at its screening, taking place at Strange Brew on the 23rd February.
A venue that takes a real care and interest in its artists (in Cerys’ words, it is more of an ‘art collective’ than simply just another venue) Strange Brew are currently selling tickets for the debut screening of the film, complete with live performances from Zoe Carr-Smith, Ok Ewan, and Getdown Services.
All profits will be donated to The Aid Box Community, providing ‘Support, Supplies, and Sanctuary for Refugees and People Seeking Asylum in Bristol’. Though a fairly new charity, it is one that is close to Cerys’ heart after having created a film exploring the appalling misrepresentation of refugees in UK media.
The night promises stellar performances and an inspiring celebration of film and music creatives alike.
Tickets to the screening of 'Bristol Beats' can be bought here!
Featured Image: MeatgrinderWho's your favourite up-and-coming artist in Bristol at the moment?
