Bang Bang Drum School

Now that the dust has settled a little, we’d like to say a big thanks to everyone who came to our workshop at End Of The Road Festival.

It was quite possibly one of our biggest sessions to date and we were overwhelmed by the positive response.

From babies to adults, together we made an awesome noise and even walked through the woods scavenging for sounds.

Thanks to Benny Locke for inviting us and everyone at the festival for making our stay so fun and memorable. Here’s to next year!

Big news! We’ll be running a bucket drumming workshop and sound walk at this year’s End Of The Road Festival.

It’s gearing up to be an excellent weekend of music, comedy and activities for all the family. We’re personally looking forward to seeing Altin Gün, Lankum, Yo La Tengo, Still House Plants, Mdou Moctar… there’s so much cool stuff on that we’re spoiled for choice.

You can catch us at The Boat on Sat 31 Aug at 10:30-11:30 am. Materials are provided and no previous drumming experience is necessary. Everyone is welcome!

On Monday, the Bang Bang team visited the Japan: Myths to Manga exhibition at the Young V&A.

We came across three taiko drums there and got a chance to play them all. You can see Laura’s reaction in Ilia’s manga documenting the event.

"Taiko" means drum in Japanese and encompasses the contemporary kumi-daiko style, featuring multiple performers playing various drums in unison.

The practice of taiko holds profound cultural importance in Japan. The roots of Japanese mythology trace back to the tale of Amaterasu Omikami, the Sun Goddess. Intrigued by a unique dance synchronized with the rhythmic beats of taiko, she emerged from a cave, bringing light to the world. The story is illustrated in the print on the last slide.

We’re set up and ready to go!

Come to Hackney today for .beckroad an all day festival featuring work by artists intimately linked with this amazing street.

Our workshop runs from 11am until 4pm. It’s free and anyone is welcome to join. Sound walk at 3:30pm.

We're really looking forward to taking part in Beyond Beck Road and Open House Festival again this year!

Our next workshop is a week today, on Saturday 16 September. We’ll be facilitating a free drop in session (11am-4pm) exploring the DIY aesthetics of drumming.

Families will be invited to compose beats and play together with our collection of bucket drums, homemade shakers, customised drumsticks, and frame drums.

The workshop will be followed by a soundwalk along Beck Road where the architecture and latent sonic characteristics of the street will be momentarily activated through percussion.

Photo by Jack Kitchen.

Join us for a special workshop this coming Saturday 2 September!

From 12-1pm we’ll be doing a show and tell for children aged up to 4 years at The Home, 38 Pentonville Road, London N1 9HF. Your little ones will get to play an assortment of drums and percussion instruments.

The workshop will be part of the super cool Anomalous event series, which will be running all day from 11am until 5pm.

There’ll be great music played by resident and guest DJs, plus parent & child yoga w/ Fred Butler. It’s as if your local community stay & play took a trip to David Mancuso’s Loft!

Not only does this event have great activities for kids there are also healthy snacks on offer and a fully licensed bar for the adults! Best of all the proceeds go to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Tickets 👉 https://anomalous.sumupstore.com/product/daytime-disco-sept-2nd-2023

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We’re all set for our workshop for .uk 🥁

Join us at 10:45am in for some drumming and craft activities.

We still have some spaces left. Best for children 0-4, but all ages are welcome.

The session is free for displaced Ukrainian families. £10 for everyone else.

All proceeds help to fund the Ukraine Hub charitable project, which supports displaced Ukrainian families in the UK by providing free cooking classes, events and community projects.

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Join us on Saturday 8 July at Ukraine Hub for a Bang Bang workshop. We’ll be exploring different beats and styles as well as making our very own miniature drum/shaker.

There will be two sessions taking place at Refettorio Felix, at 09:45 and 10:45. Both sessions are designed for children 0-5. Older children and siblings are welcome, but need to book a separate space.

Please spread the word. Tickets are free for displaced Ukrainians. Book yours here:
https://www.ukrainehub.uk/events-schedule

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Bang Bang Drum School are really excited to have been asked to do a workshop at Ukraine Hub this summer!

Ukraine Hub is a charity project offering free cookery classes and community events for Ukrainians in London displaced by the war.

It is a new initiative from food writers and campaigners Olia Hercules and Alissa Timoshkina, the two women behind the global fundraising campaign .

With Ukraine Hub Olia and Alissa hope to create a welcoming space and a sense of a community for Ukrainian refugees in London through a series of cookery classes and creative therapy sessions.

Yesterday brought to a close the last session of our month-long, weekly stint at The Old School Rooms in Hackney.

We had a great time, met amazing little percussionists and have been overwhelmed with the feedback and support for the workshops!

Unfortunately, we didn’t take many photos but here’s a few we did manage to snap.

We’ll be back soon with some exciting plans for when the weather is a little warmer!

Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to know: https://bangbangdrumschool.com/mailing-list/

Laura and Ilia x

Join us in Clapton tomorrow for our session exploring different cymbals. Did you know that cymbals have been around for at least 3,000 years?!

You’ll get to explore different types of cymbals and even make your own gong to take home!

The toddler session is sold out but we still have a couple of places left for the baby session!

Book now: https://www.happity.co.uk/schedules/bang-bang-drum-school-london-the-old-school-rooms-baby-class

We launch in Hackney one week today!

Join us on Sat 4 Feb at the Round Chapel Old School Rooms, Clapton.

There are only a few tickets left. Grab them while you can!
https://bangbangdrumschool.com/book-classes