the United Borders Project

fighting gang culture through music.

“To avoid hosting it in one crew’s ‘no-go’ area, Justin decided to set up the programme on a double-decker bus, which he then converted into a makeshift music studio and classroom. In the mornings, he would drive to Church Road, before moving onto Stonebridge in the afternoons.

“The idea to convert a double-decker bus into a studio came from a need to get my services to youths who had become cut off from certain colleges in Brent due to postcode violence,” he explains. “I know too many youths who would not dream of attending Willesden college because they are from Stonebridge. Crossing the Church Road divide would be seen as slipping, and vice versa.”  Justin Finlayson, founder of United Borders

read the full article in Huck Magazine

or listen to Justin Finlayson in a BBC.com podcast

Neko Case in tape op

“Everybody sings for different reasons. People use the term “vocal gymnastics” a lot. It’s usually used as a semi-negative term, but it’s a superpower. It’s not a superpower because you’re good at it, or as Bjorn Yttling would say, “It does not mean that you are ‘The Queen of Singing!'” It’s because you can do something physical with your body, like how I was talking about making a harmony with another person. It’s the same natural phenomenon that tore apart the Tacoma Narrows Bridge when it vibrated at a certain frequency. Feeling that vibration and resonance is heavy. It’s why a lot of times, a large group of people singing, even if they can’t sing, will make you start crying. It’s such a massive, unique way to communicate. It’s really heavy. It’s something that people used to understand a long time ago that we don’t really understand anymore. On a scientific level, sure; but I don’t think we understand it as a species anymore.

read the full interview in Tape Op Magazine, Sept/Oct 2018