We sat down for an exclusive interview with Rohan Rakhit and Jammz. A collision of past, present and future, London, From The Margins at Rich Mix is conducted and connected by Hackney-born multiplatform storyteller Jammz and DJ, broadcaster and DAYTIMERS cultural programmer Rohan Rakhit. It brings together the music and subcultures that have defined East London and continue to shape activism and identity in the community today. Four genre-inspired weekends, each rooted in a scene with a rich history and artistic talent in this part of London – Asian Underground, Jazz, Grime and Club Culture – lead into a celebratory two-day birthday weekender finale.
Tickets are available here.
You’ve described London, From The Margins as “not a festival” but “a story.” What’s the difference, and why did that distinction matter to how you built this season?
“What we’ve tried to do is tell Rich Mix’s story in the area over the past twenty years, and use its role in helping to shape these genre-focused evenings that we’ve put together, but also more broadly provide a space where activists and artists can co-exist. We’re really platforming local talent, but also trying to create a space for different generations to convene — both in the audience and on stage as well.”
Each weekend pairs film and panel discussion with music. Why was it important that the argument matters as much as the music?
“A lot of the history is lost, especially now, in the age of social media, where promotional campaigns are more often than not trend-based. We lose the roots of the argument of where these scenes and stories and sounds come from. By having a film programme and a talk programme, it allows an audience member to really hear firsthand about the battles that were happening on the ground, the stories behind the scenes. It’s a really authentic way of storytelling. And more broadly, it’s a great way for Rich Mix to really say that we are an art centre, first and foremost, and we can’t be pigeonholed into just a music venue, or just a cinema.”
This season was built from the inside out, shaped by people from within these communities. What did that actually look like in practice?
“We were very much given full creative control over the programme, and we were encouraged to have conversations with artists that have been really heavily involved in the venue’s history. Jammz and I are very much a part of a lot of these scenes in the first place, so we were just encouraged to utilise our networks, but also pour on the knowledge we have of these scenes, and try and build a programme that is authentic to us, but also authentic to and specific to East London, and to the venue’s place in advocating for anti-racism, activism and inclusivity.”
Jammz, twenty years after Rich Mix opened and a decade into I Am Grime, what’s changed and what hasn’t about who gets to build infrastructure for these scenes?
Jammz Said: “Good question. I think what hasn’t changed is who owns the ground. Typically, someone else always owns the building, the platforms, the rights, the data etc. Streaming platforms essentially rent you your audience back. Too often, many venues programme at their discretion and use your energy to build their audience without giving you ownership, and then move on when it suits them. However it’s not all negative – what has changed are the tools.
Technology has advanced to the point where creators don’t need to seek permission from institutions and buildings anymore. Want to have your own radio show? Open your laptop and record and upload one. Want to start your own label? Make your music and distribute it via an independent distributor. Creators in today’s era have much more control over their own destiny, putting the power back in their hands. In some ways it’s a harder graft, but equally you have more of a stake in the direction you want to go in, and this kind of leverage helps you to build partnerships with people that have shared goals and values. That’s what London, From The Margins is for me: a partnership built on that footing, not a favour.”
Rohan, you’ve programmed for the Royal Albert Hall, Southbank Centre and Somerset House. Why does East London’s underground still matter to you, and what does it do that those bigger stages cannot?
“I’m fascinated by the political history of East London. I think it’s rare that, as a cultural programmer, you get to idealise events and lineups in the middle of a battlefield. Rich Mix is literally opposite where the National Front used to sell newspapers at the top of Brick Lane by Bagel Bake. You can’t get more political than that. The area is so synonymous with the Bangladeshi, Bengali and Jewish communities that built it. Everything that area stands for is countercultural, radical, and it is innately community-first in a way that other artistic venues tried to tap into, but by the nature of geography, or funding, or a need to sell tickets, they’re actually just removed. That’s what I find so interesting about Rich Mix.”
The season closes with a “reunion and a reckoning” at the birthday weekender. What do you most want people to reckon with by the end of the two days?
Shay Rafati replies: “I think I want people to reckon with where these scenes and sounds actually came from and to respect and recognise the communities who created them and gave them a voice in the first place. A lot of times something that starts on the margins, or as a space for people who aren’t being heard elsewhere becomes “trendy” or fashionable and gets absorbed into this capitalist world where the people who built it can end up being pushed out of their own culture.
We see that through gentrification and a kind of colonisation of music scenes all the time. So for me, it’s about reclaiming that space, celebrating and honouring the people who made it what it is and keeping it rooted in what it was created for in the first place.”