Dear Readers,

Number 7 always had magical prosperities. It was the lucky number in many Western and Eastern cultures. There were 7 Wise Men in Greece, River Styx encircled Hades seven times to protect the underworld. 7 principles of higher education in the ancient times were known as Artes Liberales. Christianity introduced the concepts of 7 Deadly Sins and 7 Heavenly Virtues. Modern times are also filled with all things seven: Seven Up (we are only kidding!), 7 Samurai, The Magnificent 7, seven books in the Harry Potter series and of course the seven pillars of the modern art: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Literature, Music, Performing and Film.

The world of art is not always appreciated as it should be. With rampart capitalism on the loose and omnipresent everything-has-to-bring-profit attitude, one has to argue and fight for the funding of concerts, exhibitions, museums and libraries. But when tragedy or unprecedented event happens, such as the corona virus pandemic, everyone turns to the arts for comfort. Music and films are helping millions to get through and we really hope the calming nature of art will not be forgotten once the dust settles.

In the meantime, artists of any kind are doing what they have always done – they make the world more bearable with their craft. And on local level, we have two young girls who are proving that the seven traditional arts are alive, well and kicking even in the digital age.

Chloe Mogg and Amy Crouch organized the first West Midlands Online music and arts festival last week. It took place on 18th – 19th of April and brought together performances from 36 musicians and more than 20 artists. As you can imagine, it was a great success. More than 24.000 people tuned to watch the performances, the event was shared more than 200 times, hundreds of comments were posted on social media and the online art exhibition was seen more than 1000 times. 24 thousand people is enough to fill a big stadium, so if it was a real gig, the festival would have been a sold out affair.

We want this blog entry to serve a specific purpose. To show that artists can do very well online performing from their own bedrooms, and those who are organizing such events, should know how much they are able to achieve. And hopefully the success of  The 7.A.S.E Online Music & Arts Festival will be a great example how to go viral while streaming.

1. Organizational team:

As, we have mentioned that the online festival has been the brainchild of two young women. Best friends, collaborators and both equally talented:

Chloe Mogg – Singer, songwriter, journalist and producer. Delivering a mixture of musical influences, Chloe Mogg creates a spacious journey that will take you through all the emotions of music. As a young singer-songwriter with “parrot” hair, she brings life and colour to her performances. Known for her quirkiness and smile, she haunts the audience with her ability to tell a story with only her voice, guitar and ‘strange’ effects. With influences from Jeff Buckley, Nick Harper, Alanis Morissette and Marika Hackman to name a few, Chloe showcases a wide range of inspirations. Supporting artists such as Nick Harper, Jon Gomm & Quill, and playing hundred’s of festivals all over the UK (including Lakefest, Moseley Folk & Arts Festival, Avebury Rocks, Leamington Peace Festival), Chloe’s in her natural habitat on stage. With debut EP “Thalamus” getting radio play on BBC Radio 6 & BBC Introducing Hereford & Worcester, the songwriter has recently released her first single in 2 years “Judgement Day” which sees her experiment in an electronica/trip-hop world. Currently the songstress is in the recording process of her debut album due for release October 2020, the debut album will see all her influences in one place and will become her most diverse work yet.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chloemoggmusic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChloeMogg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloemogg/

Amy Crouch – Artist and designer. “My work challenges the traditional conventions of painting. The visual elements of the paintings are geometric and abstract in creation however, the physical form of the canvas is manipulated and changed in order to affect how these simple geometric shapes look. In doing this, the focus is always still on the fact that it is a painting and when I’m pushing the boundaries of the canvas, I’m always thinking about how far I can push those boundaries without it no longer being a painting.”

Amy graduated from University of Worcester in Novembert 2018 and won the Meadow Arts Prize 2018. Her exhibitions have included the Degree Show 2018 at University of Worcester and the Parallax Art Fair in Kensington, London. Current exhibition is entitled “Nothing is Square pt2” and is based at Shipton Street Gallery.

Website: https://www.amycrouchart.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amycrouchart/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amycrouchart/

2. Radio stations:

Everyone of us knows the song “Radio GaGa” by The Queen with its most famous line: “And everything I had to know, I heard it on my radio”. In times of corona virus, except for the internet, radio is the most important source of information, music, news and everything else. And being mentioned by popular DJ’s or being interviewed on air is a huge boost for any event.

Chloe Mogg has an impressive musical resume having been played at BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing in West Midlands and BBC Hereford and Worcester many times. Her work at the online festival has been quickly spotted and that led to her being invited to speak to Kate Justice at BBC HW twice to discuss the event. Sadly we were unable to find the first interview which took place around the 1st of April (not an April’s Fool joke, we assure you!), but we had secured the second one from 15th of April. Chloe was also mentioned by legendary BBC6 Music DJ Steve Lamacq during his BBC Recommends show on 17th of April and finally appeared on BBC Introducing HW with Andrew Marston on Saturday 18th of April during Jack Cattell set being streamed live! You can listen to all clips below:

 

3. Newspapers:

Establishing a proper relationship with press is vital for any artistic endeavour. Local journalists are always on the look out for an interesting topic to cover and an online music and arts festival during a full country shut down, proved to be a real hit.

Worcester News, the leading newspaper in Worcester, has been especially supportive towards the festival. They printed two large articles: one on Saturday 18th of April 2020 in their online edition and another one on Monday, 20th of April in their printed version of the daily paper.

 

You can read the main article at: https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/18386422.online-music-arts-festival-promote-artists/
PDF version is available at: Worcester News_page 4 20.04.2020

And once the happy news got out, the sister titles of “Worcester News” around several counties, re-printed the story as well.  In this way, Chloe and Amy went viral from Wales to East Midlands. They appreared in Bromsgrove Advertiser, Kidderminster Shuttle, Tewksbury Magazine, Malvern Gazette, Halesoven News and Droitwich Advertiser among others.

https://www.bromsgroveadvertiser.co.uk/news/regional/worcestershire/18386422.online-music-arts-festival-promote-artists/
https://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/regional/18386422.online-music-arts-festival-promote-artists/
https://www.tewkesburyadmag.co.uk/news/regional/18386422.online-music-arts-festival-promote-artists/
https://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/regional/18386422.online-music-arts-festival-promote-artists/
https://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/regional/18386422.online-music-arts-festival-promote-artists/ https://www.droitwichadvertiser.co.uk/news/worcester_news/18386422.online-music-arts-festival-promote-artists/

On 23rd of April, another article appeared in Worcester News and Kidderminster Shuttle! This time the journalists praised the festival’s success, attendence and the atmosphere!

Both articles are available at:
https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/18400222.worcestershires-online-music-festival-saw-24-000-viewers-tuned/
https://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/regional/18400222.worcestershires-online-music-festival-saw-24-000-viewers-tuned/

And as last time, the story has been picked up by number of other titles such as Hereford Times, Droitwich Advertiser, Ledbury Reporter, Malvern Gazette, Halesowen News, Bromsgrove Advertiser and Dudley News. You can see the links to each article below:

https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/regional/18400222.worcestershires-online-music-festival-saw-24-000-viewers-tuned/
https://www.droitwichadvertiser.co.uk/news/worcester_news/18400222.worcestershires-online-music-festival-saw-24-000-viewers-tuned/
https://www.ledburyreporter.co.uk/news/regional/18400222.worcestershires-online-music-festival-saw-24-000-viewers-tuned/
https://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/regional/18400222.worcestershires-online-music-festival-saw-24-000-viewers-tuned/
https://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/regional/18400222.worcestershires-online-music-festival-saw-24-000-viewers-tuned/
https://www.bromsgroveadvertiser.co.uk/news/regional/worcestershire/18400222.worcestershires-online-music-festival-saw-24-000-viewers-tuned/
https://www.dudleynews.co.uk/news/regional/18400222.worcestershires-online-music-festival-saw-24-000-viewers-tuned/

Additional mentions came from SLAP Magazine in Worcester and New Noise Magazine:

https://www.slapmag.co.uk/the-7-a-s-e-online-music-arts-festival/

https://newnoisemagazine.com/news-the-7-a-s-e-online-music-arts-festival-is-set-to-take-place-18th-and-19th-april/

4. Founding:

The 7 Arts Still Exists Festival hoped to raise £250 for future artistic projects. And they managed not only to hit the target by mid Saturday, but collected a round £300 to date – a whooping 122% of their original target! This will help Chloe and Amy to cover their production and advertising costs of another edition of the festival. Hopefully, we can get a real 3 dayer next time!

5. Arts Gallery:

More than 20 artists participated in the Art Exhibition curated by Amy Crouch and hosted on her personal website. It featured a wide range of styles (graphic design, photography, abstract and mixed media) and attracted more than 1000 views during the weekend. If the opening took place not online but in a traditional art gallery or a museum, people would have been queuing outside of the doors!

We dont think we have a venue that large in Worcester. The exhibition would have to be probably held in the Guild Hall, on both floors!

6. Aftermatch:

With the event completed, comments exchanges, links shared, streams finished and fundraisers reaching their targets – it’s now time to relax and enjoy the festival memories. Luckily we have no wellies to clean and tents to wash! To summarize what has been achieved during those two days, Chloe has created two playlists that contain the majority of the acts that performed.

Please give them a listen. You may discover your next favourite artist.

Soundcloud:

 

And on Spotify:

 

 

Please visit the events socials:

Festival Main Page:
https://www.amycrouchart.co.uk/the-7-a-s-e-online-music-and-arts-festival/music

Festival Arts Gallery:
https://www.amycrouchart.co.uk/the-7-a-s-e-online-music-and-arts-festival/exhibition

The 7 Arts Still Exist group has more than 1200 members already! It can be accessed at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/the7artsstillexist/

Main event page on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2616013701977211/

The event was free but you can still donate in lieu of tickets at:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/the-7-arts-still-exist

This of course is not the end! Chloe and Amy are thinking about new editions of the festival. Bigger and better, with more attractions for everyone to enjoy. We will keep an eye open and our hand on the pulse to cover any future events, streams and shows that this dynamic duo will be involved in. Our West Midlands scene is doing very well, despite lock downs, isolation and closures.

See you down the (virtual) front row,
R+M