Punch is looking for a resourceful and creative new Project Co-ordinator.

Salary range £18k – £20k

What we’re looking for:

At an exciting juncture of the organisation’s development, we are looking for a Project Co-ordinator to build on our innovative education and projects programme and take our digital communications to the next level.

The Project Co-ordinator will be responsible for Punch’s project based work, taking a lead from its inception, through planning and co-ordination to evaluation. This exciting and fast moving role will include organising one off events, bespoke training and workshop programmes, community projects and commissions throughout the year and as part of the annual BASS Festival.

We expect the post-holder to have experience of working on education or events projects within a community or young person focussed environment.

For a full job description and application please click on the links below.

Job Description

Application Form

Closing date: noon on Monday 19^th July 2010

Interview Date: Monday 2^nd August 2010

For further information about the role, please email: ammo (at) punch-records.co.uk

Punch in partnership with Lozells Recreation Group have recently completed a young people’s participation project called Music is my Heritage and we are thrilled to announce that 9 young people have all achieved their Bronze Arts Award.

The 16 week project explored the rich and diverse musical history of North West Birmingham and each week participants worked with a professional, local musician to workshop different genres of music.

The group explored the genres of grime, hip hop, reggae, bashment, bhangra and MC and lyric writing. They have produced their own short film of the project and even created their own soundtrack! Check out the footage by clicking here.

The group worked towards achieving their Arts Award qualification by capturing the project through film. They used handheld FLIP cameras to film each other during the activities and then worked with a professional film-maker to edit the footage. This footage, along with their project folders, was shown to the Arts Award Assessor who passed all the group with flying colours. The assessor commented that “the young people worked enthusiastically and become really involved in the project. Very well done”.

This is a fantastic achievement for Punch and LRG but mostly for all the young people who worked so hard throughout the project – many congratulations to each of them, they are now the very proud owners of a Bronze Arts Award certificate.

Have a look at some of the pictures taken from the various sessions below:

Part of the four day challenge Verma will embark on a 120 mile journey from London’s BBC Centre on 22nd May 2010 to The Mailbox, Birmingham arriving ahead of the public consultation closure 25th May 2010. His protest journey will start on the day of the world’s first ever Bhangra Flashmob! For more details on the Flashmob,click here.

Verma thought of the idea of walking backwards after hearing about Lotan Baba, Indian’s famous ‘Rolling Saint’ who has rolled over 18,000 miles across India in a bid for unity and peace. His belief in penance and the backwards step for BBC’s decision to close BBC Asian Network and 6 Music encouraged Verma to devise this challenge.

Through this Verma hopes to build support for the campaign to ’save BBC Asian Network and 6 Music’.

For more information call Punch on 0121 224 7444.

Check out the short clip added when Punch hit the Birmingham Vaisakhi Mela 2010, click here.

The World’s first ever and biggest BHANGRA FLASHMOB is here to help support the campaign to save the BBC Asian Network and British Asian music.

Date: 22nd May 2010

Time: 1pm

Location: Central London, TBC

RSVP to the facebook group page and join the World’s 1st and biggest BHANGRA FLASHMOB – to save Asian Network, click here.

UPDATE  on 21st May 2010:

Due to overwhelming support a second flashmob event will take place Victoria Sqaure, Birmingham from 12.30 noon.

 Check out Punch’s short clip of Bhangra stars signing up to the World’s first ever Bhangra Flashmob:

Check out the short clip added when Punch hit the Birmingham Vaisakhi Mela 2010, click here.

Punch hit the Vaisakhi Mela in Birmingham on Sunday, 25th April 2010 to target local people distrubuting flyers, encouraging them to fill out the petition and capturing on film people’s message on saving the BBC Asian Network.

Check out our first short clip from the Birmingham Vaisakhi Mela 2010 and watch out for more news to follow.

See the short clip added of Bhangra stars signing up to the World’s first ever ‘Bhangra Flashmob’, click here.

Peter Williams is globally renowned for the photographic iconic images he produced for the late lamented Straight No Chaser magazine alongside Far Out Records and B&W Music. 

Back in 1988, after studying photography at the Royal College of Art, Williams met up with the Chaser crew. They had just launched a designer fanzine dedicated to what they called the Freedom Principle. A long-standing working relationship developed between the photographer and Paul Bradshaw, Straight No Chasers driving force and editor.

The result of that relationship is Headz! – a powerful exhibition of portraiture that features nu-generation playas like DJ Shadow, Reprazent, Sizzla, Soweto Kinch, Courtney Pine and Cassandra Wilson alongside legends like Don Cherry, McCoy Tyner, Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, Randy Weston, Steve Reid, Nina Simone and Miles Davis – horn at the ready, floating in the air like an eerie apparition.  

Following on from the hugely successful Swifty Pop Shop which opened at the Sauce gallery at the end of 2009,  have invited Swifty to contribute to Headz!  As the former creative director of Straight No Chaser, Swifty has long worked with Peter Williams imagery.

Scan through the back issues of the magazine and youll be blown away by the radical combinations of typografix and photography. Swifty has taken these classic spreads one step further and included in Headz are a selection of Peter Williams classics that have been specially remixed for the occasion.

Headz! is curated by The Sauce Gallery, Punch and former Straight No Chaser publisher Paul Bradshaw.

Coming to the Sauce Gallery, Gibb St, Custard Factory 10-6pm Mon-Sat from 16 July 2010. Call Punch on 0121 224 7444 for more information.

The exhibition is launching with a fantastic performance by Digby Fairweather, playing live over the Custard Factory Lake, from 1pm on Friday 16 July.

You can also follow Sauce Gallery on Twitter www.twitter.com/saucegallery

We are thrilled to announce that the fantastic designer and artist Mitchy Bwoy is coming to Birmingham’s Sauce Gallery in April to showcase some of his amazing work.

From Reggae to Roots, Balkan Beats to Bruk, Dub Step to Disco, whatever you’re into, Mitchy Bwoy is likely to have made his mark on your record collection at some point.

Working from his own London studio over the last 10 years, Mitch has carved his own niche not only in music cover design but also in illustration, fashion, and more recently, video production.

His work has become synonymous with new music and club culture, working alongside the most prominent musicians of the last decade, including Chase & Status, Amp Fiddler, Bugz in the Attic, Nitin Sawhney, Ziggy Marley, Howie B and many others.

In addition, Mitch has worked on many special projects, live paints and collaborations with other artists: 55 Roots for 55 DSL (live paint and group art show with Dragon and Shibuya from Japan), Bacardi brand development (with Mode 2) and Blak Twang/We Love You album projects with Banksy.

His reputation has also led to his inclusion in numerous art shows, such as; the Art Basel / Miami (alongside Doze Green, Swoon, Rostar), Candela Festival / Puerto Rico (with Swifty, Mode 2 and HVW8) and Loud Graphix / Berlin (with Parra, Delta, Mode 2, Swifty and Machine).

Mitch has consistently come forward with the most true visual representation of modern times.

The exhibition will be at the Sauce Gallery, Custard Factory, Birmingham from 10 April 2010 until the end of June.

For more information call us on 0121 224 7444.

Check out the photo’s from Mitch Bwoy exhibition launch night, which featured Custard Factory’s first BBQ of 2010:

Ahead of the Mitchy Bwoy launch night, the artist was captured setting up to showcase a range of prints, one-offs and originals. Below are the photos of Mitchy Bwoy setting up for the exhibition:

The exhibition has been extended until the end of February. The exhibition is open Monday – Saturday from 10am – 6pm at the Sauce Gallery on Gibb Street, Custard Factory.

For more information click here.