Interview: Longthrow Radio founder, Keeley Hudd | LOUD Bristol Issue Three

Interview: Longthrow Radio founder, Keeley Hudd | LOUD Bristol Issue Three

Posted on: 04 Jan 2022

This article was first published in the third issue of LOUD Bristol, 365Bristol's dedicated music magazine. Read LOUD Issue Three and browse our first two editions here.

LOUD 3 Cover Tile.

Keeley Hudd

 

Hardwired to help, at just 24 years old Keeley Hudd has been working with young people for half of her life. Here, the Bristol-based activist discusses her passion for youth community work and her latest projects.

 

When we meet for a coffee at The Social, Keeley Hudd is not long back from Berlin. The DJ, activist, vocalist, and community musician has been to visit university mentor and producer Yosa Peit to gain insight into Error Music – don’t delete!, a youth experimental sound and tech education programme for girls and non-binary people.

 

The project bears a resemblance to Cause A Scene, Keeley’s latest Bristol-based venture. Informed by her personal history and her work with young people as a teenager, the initiative is tailored to give 14–17-year-olds from marginalised identities and disadvantaged socio-economic groups a fair shake in creative music-making. The project is her second launched in the city after Longthrow, a collective and radio station giving people from the same communities a look in.

 

Born and raised in Pembrokeshire, Southwest Wales, she grew up in a deprived area with a strong counterculture on a diet of bootleg happy hardcore recordings, 80s soft-rock ballads and 90s pop. Despite her burgeoning passion for music, opportunities were scarce. “I was into music but there wasn’t much going on at home in terms of schooling and education and I was really poor. I couldn’t afford any instruments or lessons.” Despite the lack of resources, Keeley began singing in bands at local gigs thanks to an inclusive community of musicians, before eventually teaching herself to play guitar after being gifted one by her father. Buoyed by the support, she began giving back aged just 12, amplifying the voices of young people in the region to the Welsh Government and local safeguarding bodies.

 

After briefly studying law, Keeley enrolled on a vocals course at BIMM Bristol in 2017, immediately immersing herself in the city’s music community, joining bands and learning to DJ – which she still does today. Then, following her graduation in 2020, she continued at BIMM studying for a master’s degree in Professional Music Practise, where she launched Cause A Scene as her final project. Whilst there, she became fascinated by sociological and cultural studies, developing a particular interest in feminism.

 

“People can see you and within 10 seconds think you’re incapable of something or you don’t deserve a booking, or you can’t do this job because you’re wearing this or doing that”

 

“I’m interested in how it ties in with music; how much culture and sociology has developed and how music represents this,” she says. “A lot of my academic studies looking into feminism and the impact that it and music have on each other took me to the point where I really wanted to set up a community project.” Circling back to her work with young people, she combined the two threads to envisage an inclusive space for anyone who needs it, but especially women, people of colour, non-binary, and transgender people. Although still in its formative days, the blueprint for Cause A Scene has been formulating in Keeley’s head for years – its roots embedded in her first-hand encounters with misogyny and patriarchy.

 

“It’s so prominent. I see it all the time. When people make an assumption, it irritates me. Most of those assumptions are based on your gender and how people interpret your gender. It can literally fuck up your whole life,” she explains. “People can see you and within 10 seconds think you’re incapable of something or you don’t deserve a booking, or you can’t do this job because you’re wearing this or doing that.”

 

Cause A Scene is designed to overcome barriers to participation in creative music making anchored in systemic misogyny and patriarchy, especially within electronic music. “It’s a big discussion, promoting gender equality in the scene. People are putting short term solutions over long term problems. You’re not resolving the issue by putting a woman on the line up, we need to look at the root of the problem, which starts with young people,” Keeley says. “Girls have always been told that they can’t use technology, so how about we tell young people that they can – that music is open.”

 

 

The issue is buttressed by classism. In 2020, Youth Music reported that 92% of people who make money in the creative industries are from advantaged socioeconomic groups. By introducing participants to free resources and educating young people on the roots of popular music, not just western music theory, Keeley hopes to contribute to removing class-related barriers. “A lot of talented artists have setups that are worth thousands of pounds and music education that they took privately. When you start putting everything up against that standard, even if you’re talented, it’s not worth it,” she says.

 

“We’re also trying to show that the roots of a lot of popular music comes from people being poor and disadvantaged. It’s weird now when the standard is that you should have expensive equipment. The people that made the root of this music did it on barely anything. That’s what we’re trying to instil - these guys did it with fuck all, so can you.” 

 

Her other project, Longthrow - a collective and online radio station she set up alongside Pembrokeshire pal Jake Howard and DJ Aaron Bush, aka Lluvia - provides a stepping stone for aspiring DJs, producers, podcasters, and radio hosts on their way to bigger things. Influenced by and celebrating Bristol’s rich musical tapestry, Longthrow aims to build an inclusive and equal space that celebrates creativity and individualism, keeping the city’s music community invigorated. “We want to see the scene thriving, to be refreshed and to see people get excited about things,” Keeley says. “We want to build a community.”

 

Keeley and Longthrow Radio are always on the lookout for new contributors. Find out more on the station's website or Instagram, or get in touch with the team via email.

 

Main Image: Adam Canning

 

Head to Issuu to read the full third issue of LOUD Bristol, featuring an array of interviews with renowned artists, venues, labels and more.


Article by:

George Boyle

 

 

George is a journalism graduate and writer passionate about music and culture. Get in touch via email at george@365bristol.com