BBC Radio 6Music - The History of Bristol's Musical Underground

We're proud to have produced our first piece of work for the BBC this month. Gilles Peterson presents The History of Bristol's Musical Underground, a three hour radio documentary broadcasting on January 23rd of January 2016 on BBC Radio 6Music, and available on-demand for 30 days via the BBC Radio iPlayer. 

BBC iPlayer - Gilles Peterson presents the history of bristol's musical underground

“Gilles Peterson heads down to Bristol for the day to explore the city’s musical heritage. His journey takes him all around the city, tracing the lineage from reggae and dub to late 70s post-punk, through the arrival of US hip hop and the development of trip hop in the 90s, onto jungle, drum and bass and the dubstep movement, through to the bass innovations of today.

Featuring interviews with the key players involved in cultivating these underground movements, Gilles investigates how Bristol birthed such generation-defining sounds, which ultimately crossed over into the mainstream, achieving phenomenal commercial and critical success. Having left an indelible mark on the sound of modern pop culture over recent years, Gilles also looks to today’s Bristol music scene which continues to innovate, remaining as vibrant as ever. Contributors include Jabulani of Black Roots, author of Original Rockers Richard King, Janine Rainforth of Maximum Joy, Mark Stewart of The Pop Group, DJ Krust, Mo Wax label boss James Lavelle, Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, Roni Size and Appleblim.”

— BBC Radio 6Music

Mistral Productions and Gilles Peterson went to Bristol in early January, interviewing many of the key figures who have shaped, documented and witnessed the city's musical development over the last 30 years.  

During the broadcast, the show was trending on Twitter across Bristol. Post-broadcast, the show has been featured by many publications and websites including Fact Magazine, Jocks & Nerds, Red Bull Music Academy, DJ Mag, The Vinyl Factory, British Council Music and On U Sounds to name a few. The show was in the top 10 most-listened-to shows on iPlayer Radio, across all BBC networks. 

A blog post by Gilles Peterson has now been published on The Guardian Online, touching on themes discussed on the show, with Huck Magazine also writing a piece based on the show, featuring an extended interview edit from Jabulani of Black Roots.