At pointblank, we’re committed to doing our bit to help those around us who need it. As such we have teamed up with several charities to provide support and equipment wherever we can, on an ongoing basis. Read on and discover more about each of the organisations and how our donations have been put to use. Some of these charities, such as our UK partner Feast, are always on the lookout for more volunteers, so if any of this piques your interest, please feel free to get in touch with the relevant charity and get involved.
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is a charity that looks to use the global dance music community to support projects the world over. One such initiative is a DJ & production school and studio set up in a small village in Tanzania. We are thrilled to be able to support the school by sending controllers, computers, decks and mixers. Watch the video above to see the reaction when they receive the equipment, especially the Mac! And watch the video below to see the studio head Modest talking about what they’ve used the equipment for. Modest will also receive a scholarship to take our online courses, helping him to run the studio and pass on his knowledge to others.
Nyege Nyege is a collective and festival based in Uganda which has been making serious waves in recent months. By supporting each other and supplying equipment they aim to reduce the reliance on music from overseas and encourage a generation of producers and musicians in Uganda to do their own thing for themselves. Check out this recent feature on Resident Advisor for an in-depth rundown of what they are about, and see their website here.
We’ve been sending computers and equipment to the initiative and were delighted to hear that within weeks of our first iMac’s arrival it had been used to produce an entire EP by Slikback. For more by Nyege Nyege check out this incredible mix by one of the collective’s stars Kampire.
The Beating Heart Project was set up in 2016 in Malawi, and our involvement came via Olly Wood, the founder of Black Butter Records. The project at large gathers some of the most exciting producers and beatmakers from all over the planet to build tracks from field recordings taken from a country in sub-Saharan Africa, the subject of which changes with each compilation album released. So far Beating Heart Malawi and Beating Heart South Africa are available on Bandcamp, with Beating Heart Tanzania in the pipeline. The proceeds from these projects are then funnelled into the communities from which the original recordings were made via organisations and activists working locally. In Malawi Garden to Mouth have been building food gardens at school, and in South Africa, the proceeds have been put to great use by The Women’s Legal Centre.
pointblank donates computers and hardware to the charity so they can be handed out to students via the Access Music Project in South Africa and used to encourage more young people to get into making music. Check out the Beating Heart website and AMP for more details and check out the latest compilation below.
CAYE (Central African Youth in Enfield) is an initiative in the north of London which aims to help the African French-speaking youth in the area. Part of this involves music classes for children and young people and we are proud to be able to help by providing equipment to the centre. Find more information at their website.
We are privileged to support all these projects on an ongoing basis with equipment donated on a regular basis each year.
If you are interested in taking a course with us we have schools in London, Los Angeles, Ibiza, Mumbai and Online. We are also holding an Open Day on Wednesday 1st August for which there are still a small number of spaces. If you miss out on that, you can always get in touch to organise a tour, or simply ask us any questions you may have.
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** Editors note: Things have moved on significantly since this article was published 🙂 Please head to our blog homepage for the very latest news at pointblank.