Upcycled Sounds And Fusion Arts Pop Up Studio Oxford

Fusion Arts and Upcycled Sounds launched a pop-up recording studio, community gig and exhibition space in Templars Square on July 17th . The studio is being built in one of a number of disused shops awaiting redevelopment, supported by New River Retail and the Templars Square team.

Fusion Arts is an Oxford arts, equality and education charity. For more than 40 years they have connected artists with communities and inspired hundreds of bespoke creative projects. Fusion Arts works with artists, organisations, communities and landlords to enrich lives by opening up underused spaces across Oxford to create temporary and permanent places for artists and communities to make, show, participate in and experience arts together.

“We chose to work with Upcycled Sounds as, like Fusion Arts, they are committed to DIY creativity, experimentation and diverse cultural programming. They run so many inspiring creative initiatives, supporting and developing artists, with positive social and environmental impact at the core. We want to support their work through this residency space and allow them to develop further and keep creating inspirational, high-quality music.” Kieran Cox, Artistic Director of Fusion Arts

Upcycled Sounds is an independent audio production company, record label and artist collective based in Oxford for several years. As well as working around the world doing film and documentary sound, they are at the heart of several non-profit music initiatives in Oxford: a three-day music festival, a new venue and gig series at Tap Social, Tandem Arts Collective and annual international folk music exchange programmes and electronic music residentials.

They have been running a recording studio and record label in East Oxford for the last year and are delighted to be teaming up with Fusion Arts to transform a larger space.

“Finding affordable creative space in Oxford is so challenging and we’re very excited to be teaming up with Fusion to transform a space which has been empty for years into a thriving recording studio and community gig space”. Hannah Jacobs, Upcycled Sounds

The studio was built by volunteers from the Upcycled Sounds artist collective, in line with their strong environmental ethos. Alongside state-of-the-art audio equipment, they are sourcing sustainable materials from local organisations RAW Workshop, Oxford Wood Recycling and Orinoco Scrapstore and making use of solar power. One of the baffles is even triple upcycled from the remains of a previous Tandem Festival stage, originally made of rescued floorboards.

“Sustainable and local are at the heart of all our projects. The music industry is often wasteful and cut-throat. We want to challenge that with a strong DIY scene where artists feel supported and able to collaborate, take risks and experiment to produce unique new music” Nicholas O’Brien, Upcycled Sounds