N16Life_SUMMER2017

Humans
of N16
Inspired by Humans of New York, N16 Life
records the stories of strangers across Hackney.
Here are the latest Humans of N16.
Photos MEHMET ER
DAVID S. BLANCO
I moved to Stoke Newington in 2011 with
my wife from neighbouring Highbury and
Islington where I had lived most of my
life. I spent a lot of time as a teenager in
Stoke Newington and have witnessed the
transformation of the neighbourhood.
I started Blank Editions primarily as a
vehicle for artists in and around Hackney
to release music in a very streamlined
way and document the collaborative
spirit happening in and around our
neighbourhood.
We release a variety of genres, but
I guess what makes many of these
recordings somewhat unique is down to
the fact many of our releases either share
recording facilities or members who have
collaborated in some capacity at some
point in the past. The local connections
allows artists to develop a friendship, and
work in ways that feel transparent and
natural, without contracts and lawyers.
Despite the size of the label, which is
small, it feels right to work that way.
Some of our releases have had a very
focused narrative relating to N16. For
example, our first release from Thurston
Moore, whose A side, entitled Detonation,
was a homage of sorts to the Angry
Brigade, a revolutionary group that
operated from a house in Amhurst Road
in the 1970s.
In January of this year, we released
material by a Stoke Newington based
artist working under the name Bark!
Dead Summer. The EP was called
Wanderings, which was a direct homage
to the remains of the New River and the
Piano Factory that once stoodin what is
now Red Square, just off Carysfort Road
where the label was originally founded.
In 2014, we put out a solo 7” by Yuki
Tsujii from the Hackney based band,
Bo Ningen, Yuki’s solo record had a leaf
taken from Clissold Park and inserted
into each package along with the record
itself, these records were then shipped all
over the world.
We had to get clearance from the
embassies to find out if they allowed this
kind of vegetation into their countries.
It’s funny to think that there are leaves
from Clissold Park in quite a few
countries around the world due to this
release.
We put our first record out in March
2012 and have released 26 so far with a
pretty busy schedule ahead including a
fifth year birthday event on 23 June at
Blundell Street Studios.
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