Mix-Up ‘24: Coventry’s Musical Melting Pot
Ray Folarin
Coventry University’s annual concert, Mix-Up ‘24 is back again, with a special headliner and cross-course amalgamation twist. Students and staff involved give their insight.
Mix-Up Poster - Coventry University
A staff-led initiative, marketed as ‘an afternoon of innovative and eclectic music’, Mix-Up ‘24 will provide a platform for student musicians to showcase their original written content, hone their live performance skills and show their cohort what they can do. This year aims to be a celebration of student expression of all years and different creative disciplines.
Held in the newly built Delia Derbyshire building on Wednesday, March 13th, the venue is representative of the collaborative spirit that the event encourages. In contrast to the Mix-Up’s humble origins in the Square One venue, the Delia Derbyshire building serves as a more visible space that “allows us to take control of the whole tech set up” says even coordinator Rich Hall.
Alongside student musicians are the headlining act, Orchestra of the Swan, who will be featured in the lineup as this year’s special guest performers. This accompanied by the luminous lighting set up and visual presentations, courtesy of students from the graphic design course, will create the collaborative spirit that this year’s event seeks to evoke, upping the ante and justifying its renewal. Journalism students will also be present creating converge to broaden the reach of this melting pot of creativity.
A member of Coventry University’s multifaceted roster, Rowan Power, a third-year musician, will contribute his vocal talents to a cover of Cian Ducrot’s ‘I’ll Be Waiting’. He will also perform an original song titled ‘I’m Falling’.
Rowan Power - Beliz Mahmut
“It's a song I wrote with my friend Barnabas and it's like a pop/piano-ballad sort of song, but it's a nice sounding thing.”
What is your musical speciality?
“I'm primarily a vocalist, but I play the guitar, bass, drums and pretty much anything I could get my hands on really.”
What does an opportunity to show off your work mean to you?
“Man, it’s everything. I think we're so lucky to be able to work with these amazing musicians who are in Orchestra of the Swan and the fact we get to showcase what we do with these people to an audience I think it's just it's a privilege.”
Rowan rehearsing - Aasiyah Salloo
Fellow third-year student and bassist (as she would let you know) Gwen Marigold, is back for her second year at the Mix-Up supporting the other acts at the event. Gwen is a friend and collaborator with MPA award-winning musician and student, Twilight Therapy, AKA Bethany Canning, who will also be performing tonight.
Gwen on bass (left) and Bethany on guitar (right) rehearsing before the concert - Ray Folarin
“I play bass mainly, mainly bass guitar, a little bit of electric but mainly a bassist.”
So, what is this whole event about and what does it mean for you?
“It’s about showing off everyone's creativity, the songs that we've been working hard on and it's a great opportunity to work with the orchestra, to add on to stuff. It's a whole lot of fun and everyone puts in a lot of work and it's just a good way to get stuff out there. We got the Mix-Up last year, yeah, I played with Beth and with Willow who graduated and that was a great opportunity as well, I'm really happy to be back doing it again.”
An effort has been made by the Coventry University staff and students behind the scenes to make sure the event surpasses its predecessors. Rich Hall, event coordinator and director for the performance and songwriting course has been one of the main organisers for the concert since 2022 and has high anticipation for this year, giving insight on what is to be expected.
Rich Hall at the Mix-Up rehearsal - Ray Folarin
“It's bigger and better from the very first year to where we are now. It's a collaborative event, it's primarily music-based so we have our popular music students who have written the original songs and are working with the members of an external orchestra, the Orchestra of the Swan, on making arrangements for those songs and exploring new sounds and textures, performing them here in the Delia Derbyshire building.
Together with help from the music and audio production students we're having it filmed by the film production students, media, and narrative capture by the journalism students. We've also got the graphic design and illustration students doing some live art creation for the music, so it's a truly collaborative event.”
What sets this event apart from last year’s?
“It’s got bigger and better every year so the first year we did it, it was all new we were trying things out for the first time, and we had great songs, but they weren't all original. Last year it was all original songs and we had more collaboration but I would say this year the way it's gotten better is we've widened that collaboration to include more courses and more students and I think the songs are a cut above what we had last year in terms of their quality and in terms of how we've built the arrangements up.”
Why should any student who is outside of the music groups come to this event today?
“Who doesn't like a music performance? Everyone loves music and so if you're into music in any form you're going to love this. It's going to sound great. It's great to support your fellow students and I guess just get to see what other people are doing on other courses because we don't get to see that all that often. It's going to be music that will appeal to a wide variety of people regardless of your kind of music interests and proclivities; it's just going to be a great event.”
Whether you are a musician, visual artist or just looking for something to do, Mix-Up ‘24 is a concert that welcomes all to have a good time. Entry is free of charge for anyone who wants to appreciate the artistic expression Coventry University has to offer, as the school year reaches its climax.
For an audio/visual scoop on the event and its performers, click here for CovFeed’s video package, where we talk to the artists and show a preview of what’s to come. If you can’t make it or are hungry for more Mix-Up ‘24 content, check out CovFeed’s TikTok, Instagram or Twitter/X coverage to quench your creative appetite.
