Radio broadcasts from boats have a long history, with the iconic Radio Caroline making waves in the North Sea and inspiring music radio for years to come. On a smaller scale and with none of the radio piracy implications over the summer, artist Lucia Scazzocchio of Social Broadcasts has worked with young people from Blackburn to transform the much loved Bill Hunt barge into a floating micro-radio studio on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
Over the Summer of 2024, from its mooring at Eanam Wharf, Drift became a live community radio station on the water, broadcasting the life and sounds of the canal, both with and by the people who are connected to this region of Lancashire which culminated in a day of live broadcast on Saturday 31st August.
DRIFT moved to its first pop up home at Me To A Tee at the beginning of 2025 with a range of audio residencies from both the shop and within the community, and will continue its journey with a series of pop-up events across East Lancashire in a newly designed pop-up audio studio before returning to the Bill Hunt later in the year.
On April 25th from 6-8pm you can join us at our Drift Audio Exhibition & Celebration, where we’ll have an installation featuring Caelen Salmon, Ian H, Liz and Scott Robertson, Matt Hill, Paul Nataraj, Rob St John, Tom Washington, and contemporary dancer Matthew Rawcliffe. This will take place at the DRIFT Pop-Up at Metoatee – 20 Lord Street West, Blackburn BB2 1JX. More information about this evening as well as the opening times and activity the following week can be found here.
A welcoming pop up space for all, want to broadcast, record or perform? Please contact ben@superslowway.org.uk – after its stint in Blackburn, the Drift Pop-Up then moves over to animate and make noise in Nelson.
You can find a recording of our live broadcast from August 2024, as well as the individual shows and performances from the Drift project so far on our Mixcloud page. Individual shows are linked below!
As part of the project Estudio ESSE worked with young people to co-design a ‘make-over’ for the Bill Hunt as well as to customise a wooden garden shed which functioned as a ‘jingle shed’ for outreach recording and workshops over the summer.
DRIFT: is a collaboration with Super Slow Way and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s Young People’s Services
