Spreading The Magic With Demo Tapes

Demo Tapes is the protest music project inspired by the North West sound archives. Using these archives of sound to make protest music, a group of young people make music that touches on many significant historical social movements that are prevalent not only in the NW region, but globally.

Previously, you could have heard Demo Tapes shows on Reform’s airwaves back in 2021, taking us behind the scenes of their journey from their first workshop to their final gig. Within which, musicians from More Music, Collective Encounters and Brighter Sound wrote original music responding to archives of sound they listened too.

This year, young musicians from the Demo Tapes project join us again during LGBTQIA+ History Month for another show, ‘Rewind With More Music’. Continuing to work with More Music in Morecambe and unlock the sound heritage of Manchester, they found an incredible archived audio of Luchia Fitzgerald, one of the founding members of the Gay Liberation Front in Manchester.

A prodigy to the LGBTQIA+ community in Manchester, Fitzgerald’s hard work has not gone unnoticed. In 2020, she won the Lifetime Achievement Awards with Pride of Manchester and has been continually recognised for her activist work in the city.

Inviting Luchia into the studio, Demo Tapes discussed her life as an LGBTQIA+ activist and campaigner. The conversation spanned the establishment of the Gay Liberation Front, the obstacles that were and are in the way of the LGBTQIA+ community fighting for their rights, how activism has changed from the 1970s to now and much more.

Using the sound archive of Fitzgerald’s voice, they made a song entitled ‘You’ve got the magic’ which they have been performing both live and online since its creation.

Joining Reform’s Resident Aisha Williamsin Demo Tapes is Ashley Murphy, the workforce development and music leader from More Music, who are also joined by some of the young people that took part.

Listen back to the show down below to hear all about Demo Tapes, More Music‘s workshops and how an Irish female activist fought for women’s and LGBTQIA+ people’s rights in Manchester.

This project has been supported by the The National Lottery Heritage Fund and co-ordinated by the British Library, with special thanks to More Music, Hope Streets & Manchester Libraries archives.