Help Musicians announces 39 acts to be supported in round 3 of the Do It Differently Fund

28 November 2019 - Press release

Help Musicians, the independent charity, is celebrating the first full year of its forward thinking, 360-degree fund Do It Differently with the announcement of 39 new recipient acts and updates from awardees in rounds 1 and 2.

 

With a bumper amount of talent being recognised in the final round of the fund’s first year, Help Musicians is proud to support a breadth of projects, including the creation of second, third and debut albums, pivotal international support slots, assistance in self-releasing singles and marketing of work [full project list below].

 

Artists being supported in round 3 represent a wide spread of genres, including reggae, jazz, pop, folk, dance and more, and come from across the length of the UK. All recipients, from all rounds of Do It Differently, will benefit from membership to the Featured Artist Coalition (FAC) as part of an enhanced package.

 

Awarded acts in round 3 are: Alastair White, Run Logan Run, Andrew Woodhead, KIOKO, Caro C, Cortney Dixon, Dani, Elisa Imperilee, BYFYN, Quest Ensemble, Fran Lobo, Freya Roy, Grace Savage, Marici Saxes, Hannah Scott, Asthmatic Harp, yllwshrk, Walt Disco, Jasmin Kent Rodgman, Living Body, Jennifer Crook, Jeph Vanger, Jo-anne Cox, Animal Society, March, LIO, Faux Pas, Distractfold Ensemble, Magick Mountain, Lucinda Chua, 2U4U, Galaxians, Taobh Eile, Ruth Patterson, Beauty Sleep, No Oil Paintings, Simeon Walker, Talk Like Tigers.

 

The impact of the Fund on the acts supported so far is already being felt. Its unique 360-degree support package has proven incredibly valuable, with the three strands of support - wellbeing, business advice and creative output - showing themselves to be worthy cornerstones of an artist’s career.

 

Love Ssega, round 2 awardee, commented: “The best part of the Do It Differently Fund was the business advice element. To be able to speak to two different music industry professionals about my career and plans over a period of a couple months was invaluable. I would not have met these individuals otherwise or had access to their time. It is easy to get isolated in this increasingly more DIY and ‘self-sufficient’ industry, therefore having some fresh ears to listen, look and help advise is the biggest winner and asset of this Fund, so I’m so grateful. The Do It Differently Fund has also enabled me to continue to grow in 2019. In this streaming age, it is a case of ‘feeding the beast’ as music fans really want to consume music, so this has helped me keep pace without taking a step back in terms of quality.”

Camilla Roholm, singer Babyteeth, round 1 awardee, said: Releasing these two [Do It Differently-funded] singles helped us exist as a new band for a while, which is nearly impossible for most young musicians. It’s still early days, but during these releases we doubled our monthly Spotify listeners and gained more than 10k YouTube streams, which is literally invaluable to a band at the very beginning. This in turn led to some really cool gig opportunities. The fund also really helped our drummer Samantha when she was going through some personal issues. The help she got completely transformed her life which positively impacted the whole band. She even plays better as a result of new-found confidence. We’re all ridiculously grateful for this and feel really lucky this was available to us. We’re a tight knit group who love each other like mad and if one of us is struggling, it affects all of us.”

Working in partnership with BAPAM (British Association for Performing Arts Medicine), Featured Artist Coalition, and ThinkMusic to champion the UK’s exceptional DIY talent, the Do It Differently Fund provides the most comprehensive suite of support yet for independently-driven music creators. Created in response to the charity's research into the need for holistic support among DIY artists, the fund provides each awardee up to £3,000 towards creative output, and a further £2,000 towards one-to-one business guidance and wellbeing tools.

 

Claire Gevaux, Director of Programme, Help Musicians said: “The Do It Differently Fund is our most applied-to funding avenue so it’s incredibly fulfilling to see that the support we provided a year ago has had such a positive impact. The level of talent applying to the fund is still consistently high and we’re excited to see how the 39 new acts announced today will develop with support across their wellbeing, business and creativity.

We know we can do more through collaboration and continue to work together with our Do It Differently partners, BAPAM, FAC and ThinkMusic, to make a meaningful difference to even more musicians.

Looking ahead to 2020, we would encourage artists to keep an eye out for our various funding surgeries that will take place across the UK over the year. The sessions will offer guidance on how to apply for the Do It Differently Fund next year as well as for other funds available.”

Help Musicians wouldn’t be able to support the musicians funded through its Creative Programme or supported through its Health and Welfare service without the generous donations from fundraisers. To see how you could make a difference to the charity and the musicians it helps, visit our supporter pages here.