US musician supports Knowle West arts charity with latest release

A US-based musician has selected Knowle West Media Centre as one of two charities that support young musicians – to receive a donation of proceeds from his latest release.

Vexxe, from Ohio in the eastern USA, will split the proceeds from Pulse 5 between Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC) and Music Loves Ohio, a non-profit organisation providing opportunities for financially underserved youth to pursue their passion for music.

KWMC, a digital arts charity based in Leinster Avenue, has been running free music production courses for young people for a number of years and has a fully equipped recording studio on site. Currently its Jump Studios project is offering online courses for 10-16s.

Vexxe explains: “Everyone who was involved with the release viewed it as an opportunity to support local organisations working to make music accessible to underserved youth in our communities.

“While I am from Ohio, the record label [Circular Jaw] is based in Birmingham and the remix artists are from Bristol and London. We wanted to split the proceeds to create an impact in both local communities.

“We are thrilled to support KWMC’s dedication to uplifting people from diverse backgrounds to develop tools, skills, resources, and opportunities to achieve social change.”

Vexxe was introduced to KWMC by Matthew Bentley, a teacher at a local college.

He says: “I have known Matthew virtually for a few years. He was the mastering engineer behind this release and one half of production duo Spektralsound, who remixed Pulse 5. Matthew highly recommended KWMC and mentioned that KWMC took a few of his students on a wellness and song-writing retreat in nature.”

Rachel Clarke from KWMC says: “We’d like to thank Vexxe and the team at Circular Jaw for choosing to support KWMC and helping us continue our work supporting young musicians and communities across Bristol to explore their creativity.”

Vexxe describes the sound of Pulse 5 as ‘rhythmic, introspective music for the body and mind alike,’ taking inspiration from dance music including techno, breaks, and 2-step.

You can hear and support Vexxe’s latest release via the Circular Jaw Bandcamp and find out more about his music on his Facebook page, or search VexxeMusic on Twitter.

For more information about KWMC’S music courses visit https://kwmc.org.uk/projects/jumpstudios/ or to support the charity visit https://kwmc.org.uk/support/