Kate Carr – I Ended Out Moving to Brixton

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Brixton was my introduction to London when I moved here almost two years ago. I had never heard of Brixton before I arrived, nor had I spent any time in London. I ended up here simply because a friend of a friend knew someone with a flat. This document represents the ways I have come to know this district, and through it a little of the rest of London.

My work has always begun with the soundscape, and Brixton offers a remarkable one. From outdoor markets, bicycle sound systems, shop stereos and buskers to booming car hi fi systems, sirens, car washes and people simply talking and taking up space on the streets, Brixton is a noisy place. It was through listening to Brixton that I also came to hear voices being raised about how much this area had changed, about rising rents and neglected public housing, about how many people who grew up or used to have businesses here can no longer afford to stay. I learned about the role of Brixton as a centre of Black British culture, resistance and musical production, as well as a location once known for its anarchist squats, and left wing activism. I learned about how, as Brixton has become increasingly gentrified, some of the sounds associated with Brixton’s history and communities were being lost from this area. I began to hear some of the new silences of Brixton. I don’t want to pretend that this release could ever be a definitive documentation of Brixton’s soundscape, there are many far better situated than me to understand all the nuances of this area. This album is simply about the ways I came to know Brixton through listening, and the respect I gained through this process for the many struggles being waged in this district to maintain it as a community. This album is about arriving somewhere to find it in the midst of major upheaval in its social fabric, and about examining my own role in this as a new white Australian addition to the area.

A soundscape reveals a lot about a place, through its presences, its silences, its rhythms and its pauses. A soundscape is forever being made by us all. It stitches us together in ways both subtle and sometimes overwhelming. I think in both its openness and fragility the soundscape can reveal something about the process of community making, and its sensitivity to change offers both opportunities and risks.