How You Can Help - Write to the Mayor of London & Meg Hillier MP!

A staggering amount of people have gotten in touch expressing their solidarity, offers of help and COSMIC LOVE... and we are just totally blown away. Thank you for everything. Your messages mean so much to us at this trying time.

We've asked people to get in touch with new London Mayor Sadiq Kahn, and local MP Meg Hillier, and in response we've had a few requests to do a basic email template that people can use. Feel free to use the following email/tweet templates, and add your own comments, or edit it to suit you. Together we can make our voices heard!

SADIQ KAHN -

EMAIL: [email protected]

Dear Sadiq Kahn,

As the Mayor of London, I implore you to save London's culture and nightlife scene, specifically Passing Clouds in Dalston.

A huge part of your campaign (and a large part of why so many people voted for you) was your promise to save London's nightlife.

Unfortunately since you've started your term we have lost the Silver Bullet in Finsbury Park, and 50 people are suddenly unemployed, due to Passing Clouds in Dalston losing their fight against property developers. It's also worth mentioning that Dalston's Dance Tunnel is set to close this month due to licensing issues, with Shapes in Hackney Wick and Fabric suffering from similar fates.

I understand that property developers will always exist, and seek to turn our diverse melting pots of culture into colourless offices and flats, available only to the wealthy of London. Therefore I see it as your responsibilty to make good on the promises you made during your campaign, and step in to protect our culture and heritage.

Sadiq, will you help save London's culture? Will you help save countless jobs? Will you protect community centres like Passing Clouds that provide a platform for up and coming artists, and allow people of diverse cultures, ages, races and backgrounds to come together in harmony? And where is this "Night Czar" you spoke of during your campaign?

I look forward to hearing a response from you.

Best wishes,

Your name here
 

TWEET: @MayorofLondon

Dear @MayorofLondon, will you stand behind your electoral promises and step in to protect important cultural venues like @passingclouds? 

MEG HILLIER MP -

EMAIL: [email protected]

Dear Meg Hillier MP,
 

I write to you today to implore you to step in and save my local community arts centre, Passing Clouds.

I understand Passing Clouds has recently submitted an application to be considered an Asset of Community Value. I stand behind this, and strongly urge you to support their application.

Passing Clouds has provided a unique space in Dalston for the past ten years, bringing people of diverse cultures, ages and backgrounds together in harmony. It has provided a free space for countless groups such as Permaculture Picturehouse, the Hackney Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and the People's Kitchen, to grow and develop, and also to educate the community.

In your manifesto you vowed to continue to fight and stand up for Hackney. Since Passing Clouds have closed their doors, it has resulted in the loss of over 50 jobs, severely affected the livelihoods of hundreds more in the form of promoters, musicians, artists, DJs and local businesses, and has generally had a devastating impact on the local borough.

In a recent Independent article, you were quoted as saying "Live music venues such as Passing Clouds are part of what makes Hackney and Dalston a magnet for creatives and a hotspot in our city’s leisure life. It is vital that developers and planners recognise that it is venues like these that contribute so much to make areas desirable. If these are lost, some of the very reasons why Hackney is such a popular place to live and work are undermined.”

It's extremely unlikely that developers and planners will stop developing important cultural sites such as Passing Clouds of their own volition. So what do you plan to do to make sure they recognise the importance of venues like this? Wandsworth Council have recently told the owners of 120 bars and pubs that they have to seek councillors’ approval before changing the building’s use or knocking it down. Wandsworth said the 120 sites were chosen “due to their historic or architectural value or because they make a positive contribution to their community”. Why can't we do this for Hackney?

I look forward to your reply,

Your name here
 

TWEET: @Meg_HillierMP

Dear @Meg_HillierMP, Wandsworth Council have stepped in to protect their nightlife and culture. Will you do the same for @passingclouds?

With infinite thanks, love and blessings, from Passing Clouds xxx

Congo Natty Family Showcase July 22nd 2016

For our 10 year anniversary celebrations, Congo Natty AKA Rebel MC and his family & crew dropped more than 3 hours of live music, transforming our beloved Passing Clouds into a wild and crowded jungle! As core crew member Virgo Don wrote:

“The gig was a complete roadblock. What a crowd! What a vibe! What an absolute gem of a night! The love they showed was unreal!”

We couldn’t say it any better ourselves! The building surely rose a couple of inches off the ground due to the intense bass lines and jungle rhythms that tore through the venue till 4am, and of course the the cosmic love of the crowd was giving off an intense energy! It was by far one of our most intense and electrifying nights we've ever had at Passing Clouds! The gig – when it wasn’t peppered with gun-finger shots, clashing MCs, and #PassingCloudsForever shouts – served as a long-form tribute to Jonathan Sutter AKA Tenor Fly, a close member of the Congo Natty crew who sadly left us on the 19th of June 2016.

The music kicked off with UK hip hop, fusing into Niyahbinghi roots, dropping into future dub tracks, and ending with old school jungle music. The takeover fused the power of British and Jamaican music, giving a nod to the Notting Hill Carnival tradition. Have a glance at the night thanks to this banging video of 'Tarantula' in tribute to Tenor Fly:

As a small independent music venue with restricted capacity, Passing Clouds was soon filled to the brim with Congo Natty fans! The pioneer of jungle music who grow up in South Tottenham assembled an ecstatic crowd who exhibited remarkable patience as the queue began to wind down past the Haggerston Pub to Kingsland Road!

We apologise to any person who could not make it in or had to wait!

Congo Natty AKA Rebel MC represented in style with some exceptional talents from the Congo Natty family - KLASHNEKOFF, Congo Dubz, Kaya Fiyah, Buggsy, Nanci Ninja and Virgo Don showed great support towards our #PassingCloudsForever campaign!

Whereas Congo Natty said the following great words of support:

“It is very important to keep a place like Passing Clouds open, because there are very

few real underground music venues in London city.

With no disrespect, there is no love when it comes from the global organisation.

So we’re here tonight, spreading love through word, sounds, power, jungle music.

Music is a revolution.

We are part of the revolution.

So we want big up all the revolutionary crew - we are the sons and daughters of slave

trade that took place in the European disapora; we are the children of slaves, and we

are free to spread out music through word, sounds and power.

This is Jungle - this is the revolution."

Be part of the revolution and spread the love! Sign and share our petition or even help us out with a donation to fund the cost of our campaign.

One Love, from Passing Clouds

#PassingCloudsForever

How You Can Help!

Thank you so much for your amazing support and help ever since we found out that Passing Clouds was secretly sold to developers Landhold Developments last November. And thank you even MORE for the extraordinary display of solidarity, love and commitment you have shown us since we enacted a lawful eviction of County Enforcement Group, the private security firm posing as bailiffs who unlawfully occupied Passing Clouds at 6:30am on Thursday morning. (Read the full story in Time Out HERE)

We are truly humbled and overwhelmed by all the incredible messages of support and solidarity, and forever grateful to all those who have made it possible for us to reclaim our home and maintain security of the venue. Too many to name but you know who you are and WE LOVE YOU ALL! 

We feel that our greatest possibility of success in maintaining possession of our precious venue will be a tidal wave of support from the public, the press, political figures, campaign groups, celebrities and our own community whilst at the same time progressing negotiations with Landhold to sell us the building. 

And for this WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! 

Here are 12 things that you can do to help the campaign:

1. Sign and share our change.org petition

At the time of writing we are at just under 3,000 signatures - we need millions!! Remember that this is not just about Passing Clouds. Communities are being destroyed by property developers everywhere and it needs to stop NOW. Click HERE to ask Landhold Developments to protect Passing Clouds for life. 

2. Make a donation to our JustGiving page

Even if it’s as little as £1. We desperately need the funds necessary to make this campaign go through the roof and anything you can donate will be deeply appreciated and put to good use. Our page can be found HERE. 

3.  Like, Share, Comment, Tweet any #PASSINGCLOUDSFOREVER Posts and Speak Positively about us on Social Media.

Our hashtag is #PassingCloudsForever

4. Make a Short Video in Support of Passing Clouds

A number of musicians and bands who have performed here as well as members of the community are sending in support videos. This is all very helpful!

5. Send a Quote of Support to [email protected] for our Website

up to around 100 words. 

6. Help us find Well-Known Ambassadors/Spokespeople for our Campaign

We are looking for well-known ambassadors from the worlds of music/culture/politics/academia.  Feel free to contact directly. A quick email or facebook message is enough. 

They can support by providing a quote, tweeting about us, being a spokesperson for the campaign or visiting the venue. We have a great backstage area now and are very happy to host people there during our events. Please contact me ([email protected]) or [email protected] if you have someone in mind to support. 

7. Write to Diane Abbott MP and / or Meg Hillier MP

Meg Hillier is our direct MP for Hackney South ward but we also want Diane Abbott to be a spokesperson for Passing Clouds as a vibrant community hub and important platform for diaspora arts and culture. 

Diane Abbot's contact is [email protected] and [email protected]

Meg Hillier's contact is [email protected]
We suggest explaining to them why Passing Clouds needs to be saved and how they can help us by being a spokesperson in the media and opening up negotiations with the landlord. 
We suggest reading their website for the issues they are most passionate about also.  But just writing an email is the most important thing! 

8. Pass on any Media Contacts

If you have ideas of publications that might like to feature us, please let us know.

9. Support the campaign in our office or at home

We have a huge amount of campaign administration to get through! If you have any free hours in the week that you could dedicate, please let us know!

10. Help us bring well-known musicians to perform Passing Clouds

Bringing internationally recognized artists such as Sun Ra, Lee Scratch Perry and Osibisa really builds national and international recognition for us as an important live music venue. Please help us continue this work by making suggestions of artists to bring here, or contacting them directly yourself. 

11. Help with Media - Film, Photography and Graphic Design

Let us know if you have the skills- We always have need of help with these things.

12. Send unconditional love to Garry Simpson of Landhold Developments

Sending love to your adversaries is always effective in opening up their heartspace for negotiations. Garry Simpson is the main director of the development company that bought Passing Clouds. 

 you can read about him here: http://www.landhold.com/contact-us

Thank you so much for everything you have done so far. We are feeling SO grateful and for the amount of love and offers of help from you all. If you have contacted us recently offering help but have not yet received a reply, please know that we are reading every single message and working our way through them as quickly as we can. Also know that PASSING CLOUDS LOVES YOU!!

Sign Our Petition

Our petition is now live on Change.org and we'd love if you could all sign it and help spread the word! We're currently up to over 2,000 signatures, although it was only created last night!

SIGN & SHARE THE PETITION HERE!

By signing this petition and helping to protect Passing Clouds, you will be helping us win an historical victory on behalf of the arts against the corporate behemoth that threatens to destroy our industry, our livelihoods, and the heart and soul of the UK’s vibrant and diverse culture.

Any suggestions on how to spread the word even further are gratefully received. You can contact us at [email protected]. We are already amazed at the offers of help & support we've been receiving, so thank you everyone. One love x

Passing Clouds Reclaimed!

Passing Clouds was bubbling with a wonderful energy yesterday, as our extended family came together to lawfully reclaim our beloved venue! If you're wondering what's been going on, here's an in depth update about what's been going on behind the scenes these 8 months.

In November 2015, our building was secretly sold to property developers Landhold Developments who originally told us that they had no intention of developing the property and would let Passing Clouds stay indefinitely. However, in February they then informed Passing Clouds that they wished to turn our building into their offices, and that we should vacate the building at the end of our lease in May 2016. You can imagine our surprise at this completely unexpected turn of events.

Due to the massive business liabilities that Passing Clouds would incur if we had to leave with such short notice, we entered into negotiations with Garry Simpson of Landhold Developments, who agreed in writing to extend our lease by 3 months. In April of 2016, Mr. Simpson informed Passing Clouds that he intended to break his written agreement and terminate the lease. He offered to provide a one-month extension if Passing Clouds signed a fraudulent letter stating that Passing Clouds were leaving the building voluntarily due to being unable to sustain the business and buildings. We refused to sign this coercive and fraudulent letter and informed Mr. Simpson that Passing Clouds would be continuing with the original 3-month extension.  

At 6:30am on 16/6/16, a private security firm called County Enforcement Group illegally broke into and occupied the building at the behest of Landhold Developments and changed the locks, without court orders or lawful authority. The Passing Clouds community mobilised in the region of 200 people to rally together and reclaim lawful possession of the building.

At 4:30pm that afternoon, Passing Clouds successfully performed a common law eviction of County Enforcement Group and are currently maintaining security of the premises whilst continuing to run events as usual. 

Spirits were very high upon re-entering our home of ten years. We continued to celebrate into the night with an impromptu all star jam, featuring all of our core musical family coming together onstage. As we watched our loved ones sing "Passing Clouds Forever", and saw all these wonderful humans of different backgrounds, ethnicities and ages co-create beautiful music, we felt utterly blessed.

The video of our crew performing this Common Law Eviction has since gone viral, with over 55,000 views on Facebook at the time of writing this blog. Check it out below!

The news continues to spread, thanks to this great article from Timeout London, and lots more press in the pipeline. Please get in touch with us if you'd like to help spread the word! Simply send us an email: [email protected]

We are one of London’s very last collectively-run independent music venues and it is imperative that the live music scene does not fall prey to the corporate behemoth that threatens to destroy our industry, our livelihoods, and the heart and soul of the UK’s vibrant and diverse culture. Over 40% of London music venues have shut down in the past ten years, and it stops here. Help us keep #PassingCloudsForever!

Passing Clouds' Eleanor Meets Jeremy Corbyn

Our company director Eleanor Wilson went down to the Silver Bullet over the weekend to show some support and meet with the mighty Jeremy Corbyn, who is stepping on board to join the Save The Silver Bullet campaign! Eleanor also met the wonderful Hayley Squires, who is the events manager at the Silver Bullet and helping spearhead the campaign. Jeremy was eager to save the London music scene and pressed the need to establish a league of independent live music venues.

The recent election of our new London mayor, Sadiq Kahn, also gave a lot of hope to London music venues, as a key point in his campaign was the need to save London night life. Let's support these politicians who want to end the plight of music venues in London - 40% of London venues have shut down in the past 10 years, and we need all the help we can get to save local arts and culture.

Other amazing forces that are always working to help save London night life are the NTIA (Night Time Industries Association) and the Music Venue Trust. Follow the links to find out more about these important groups, and to learn about how important music venues are to the UK. For example, did you know that the night time industry is the UK's fifth biggest industry and accounts for almost 8% of the UK's employment?

Sending much love, respect and support to the Silver Bullet and all the other independent music venues out there. Stay strong! One love xxx

Babilondon: NEW VIDEO & EP

Over the past few years, Babilondon has cemented their position as a Reggae Roots band on the London reggae circuit. Their debut music video, 'Cultural International Dub' - off their self-titled EP - marks the beginning of the next chapter of Babilondon's mission to spread groovy tunes and positive vibrations.

Check out their new video, which will be released alongside a remix EP, with remixes from London’s Heavy Goods, Noole and Babilondon's very own Nano Sigo. The remix series follows Babilondon's eclectic sound, with drum n' bass, electro swing and tech-house influences!

Electric Jalaba THIS FRIDAY!!

'ELECTRIC JALABA' by Gina Southgate

ELECTRIC JALABA bring their brand of Psychedelic Gnawa, haunting vocals and driving North African rhythms to the Passing Clouds stage this Friday, as part of a Sahara Gnawa event.  The space-age band is a collaboration between electro-groovers Soundspecies and Gnawa master musician Simo Lagnawi that slinks along like the best desert blues yet kicks like the subtlest kind of dub. Also live on stage on Friday are highly anticipated sets from KEL ASSOUF and ZAHED SULTAN.  See you there!

Tuning Cycles Album Launch

Fresh from their stomping set at WOMAD Music Cycles comes to Passing Clouds to launch their new album 'Tuning Pegs and Fishing Lines'.

Expect live bands to treat ya ears, colourful photos to warm ya eyes and delicious hot Maffe (West African peanut curry) to nourish ya bellies! All of this will be brought to you at the home of London's colourful music scene, Passing Clouds.

Expect to leave wanting more.

Free before 20:00
£4 after 20:00

Albums will be available on the night, £12 for one, £10 for additional copies!

Go here for more information.

HEMPOLICS THIS FRIDAY!!

http://www.organiclea.org.uk/