Mastering the decks with Kent DJ Academy
Plus new artist pop-up, Rochester walking tours, we review Legends, our weekly events guide, and more
Ever considered that you could be the next big club DJ? No, us either, but a Medway organisation is training the music DJs and producers of the future with lessons for all abilities. We’ve been along to find out more about their work. Further down, we have news of a new artist pop-up in Rochester, and of a new series of walking tours in the same town. Beyond that, we’ve got our review of Legends Cafe, our weekly events guide, and more.
Editor’s note: Thanks to everyone who came along to our Medway Question Time event at MidKent College on Wednesday. There were good discussions on several of the big issues facing Medway, and we appreciate all of the great contributions on the night and the feedback we have received since. We’ll be back with another MQT event later on in the year.
Mastering the decks with Kent DJ Academy
We recently interviewed Jim Riley of Ranscombe Studios in what now seems to be becoming an unofficial music hub for Medway. Jon Glover runs the Kent DJ Academy across the corridor, teaching people how to get behind the decks.
The Kent DJ Academy is an independent DJ and music production school established ten years ago. The organisation teaches all ages and all abilities, with lessons suitable for “anyone who has an interest to get creative mixing,” says Jon. “90% of our students want to do it as a fun creative hobby.” Jon helps them take the music they already love and do something new with it. They also work with people that want to make a career in DJing, and Jon works with them to help them get to a professional level through coaching and mentoring. Beyond all this, they also provide group lessons with schools and have even done corporate events.
Jon, now 45, started DJing at clubs in Maidstone, “underage when I was 15, 16,” at venues like Da Vinci’s and Liquid Lounge. “It was actually my best friend and I. We started DJing at the local youth club,” the YMCA in Maidstone, trying to entertain his peers. “We were terrible at it, had no gear or idea.” Working with his dad’s record deck and a CD player, they were working for free and the feeling of being cool. “Music got played, people came.”
In 2014, having been teaching for a couple of years, a friend asked to be shown how to DJ. Jon spent two hours showing him what to do, and at the end his friend said, “I don’t understand a thing, you are a terrible teacher.” Jon decided to take the time to think about the process of walking somebody through the process of DJing. “DJing has been the most consistent thing in my life,” says Jon, “and is probably the only thing I am good at.” With this new focus it went from being a part time business to full time due to the demand in Kent.
Five years ago, Jon moved to Medway from Maidstone, “to be with my partner. She has always been a Rainham girl.” To stop the commuting back to Maidstone he acquired a new studio space, first at Chatham Dockyard, and then the move opposite Ranscombe Studios. The move enabled them to gain more space and improve access. As a result, Jon is now “providing lessons not just around my availability, but we can now do evening.”
What makes somebody a good DJ can be a subjective question, but Jon tries to answer it. “There are all kinds of DJ and ways and opportunities to DJ. Anyone can call themselves a DJ if they are putting out content,” whether they are putting mixes online or doing live streams. “It’s not just about being in dark smoky night clubs until three in the morning.”
One aspect is being a great selector, picking great tracks, reading the crowd or “getting very technical and clever with all the amazing things you could do with modern DJing.” Jon thinks a good DJ is someone prepared to do it, confident to do it, and can entertain people, “whether you get paid for it not.”
DJs don’t just play other people’s music, Jon tells me. They also produce their own tracks. “It can go hand in hand, the knowledge you have in making music also goes into what works for crowds, and what will work if you are producing tracks.” For those staring out, you don’t need your own equipment to come and learn at the Kent DJ Academy. “It's always good to really progress to have something they can practice with at home, but nowadays it's easier because decks can cost less, and you can even hook them up to your laptop.” You can even DJ with your thumbs, Jon tells me, via an app on your phone, “to get into the theory of mixing. It can cost nothing to get into.”
Jon provides sessions for absolute beginners through to a masterclass 14 hours of lessons, which is designed to “give everyone everything they need to get practiced and confident to DJ independently.”
If you are interested in DJing, check out Kent DJ Academy via their Instagram account, or contact them via info AT kentdjacademy DOT com.
In brief
💃 Chatham Carnival is returning in July and they are offering performance slots for live entertainment groups.
🏞️ Mutual Aid Medway are running Climate Cafe Courses to help those suffering climate anxiety to learn more about how the climate crisis can affect your life.
Artists get ready to open new pop-up
Launching today (Fri 18 Feb) is a new pop-up shop on Rochester High Street. Led by Chicken Monster’s Nick Ashton, fifteen Medway Creatives will have items for sale out of the former Get Ready Comics shop, which has been rebranded for this venture as Get Ready Artists.
Declaration of interest: Our Medwayish venture has worked with Nick on several items which will be available to purchase at Get Ready Artists.
Get Ready Artists is a collective of local artists who focus mainly within the realms of comic, pop culture, gothic, scifi, fantasy art. “It's quite a mix that really focuses on the Get Ready Comics brand,” says Nick. “Being under their umbrella, it very much focused on their audience.” Nick has a studio at Nucleus Arts and has been involved in many Medway projects. Previously, he won a Medway LGBTQ+ award for his Doodle and Draw workshops.
“I work with a lot of local talented artists, I saw an opportunity to hire the space as a pop-up shop, hopefully until January, where we can give these artists a platform to shine.” As well as artwork, stickers, key rings, and t-shirts will be available.
Get Ready Artists operates out of the 168 Rochester High Street, opposite the Golden Lion Wetherspoons, in the location of the original Get Ready comic shop. Nick is, in his own words, “officially the artist that works for Get Ready Comics. When Loungefly bags go out, quite often they'll be sent out with a piece of my artwork or if they (Get Ready) need any artwork to go around the shop or for promotional purposes, quite often I'll get asked to do that.” Nick has had a solid relationship with Get Ready Comics for around five years.
Nick felt that the opportunity to launch the pop-up was the right thing to do. “The lease on this place is available until January. It just seemed a shame to waste the space.” The venture provides two opportunities: The artists have a focused venture to sell their work and Get Ready Comics can cover some of that rent commitment. “This was something I suggested to them. But they've been very busy, I've been very busy.” Getting the idea to fruition took time, “but they've effectively said, ‘as long as you're happy to run it pretty much entirely upon yourselves.’”
Whilst not entirely an Avengers Assemble moment, Nick has gathered a collective of trustworthy people he is “happy to have around me.” They have agreed to share the responsibilities between themselves, from the running of the shop to dealing with the money and stock. Opening this Friday, they plan to be open continually the Sweeps Festival when a different pop-up will be running on the site for a week. “Once that's done, we're going to re-setup until January.”
In a town tha, like Garfield, doesn’t do Mondays, they are expecting to be open seven days a week. “10 till five, Monday to Saturday, and 10 till four on a Sunday,” with the collective taking turns to run the shop, “depending on our own lives, schedules and stuff.” With the collective running at fifteen people, Nick is considering putting a cap on the collective to stay manageable. “We are obviously in danger of running out of space, but I was much happier to have too many artists than not enough.”
Other artists involved in the project include Jonathan Ash, Phil Buckingham, Sophia McMullin, Jio Butler, Luke Hand, and Dwarven Wonders, who have a wide range of talent to check out. Nick is most looking forward to the possibility of establishing themselves with the community, and wants to use the pace to run workshops and see his friends do well. As part of Nick’s Doodle and Draw sessions, he has been happy to give participants space in the window for a little pop-up gallery, where they can submit artwork.
Nick has often considered running a shop and wants to encourage the general public to support local artists. “Times are hard, but we have been presented with a fun opportunity.” Though he concedes that the biggest challenge, herding artists, is harder than herding cats, as he works to get the shop ready to be open for Friday. “It’s the organisation of what essentially are quite chaotic beings, creative types.”
Keep an eye on the space as they have plans for themed weekends, guest artists and writers, cosplay days, Dungeons and Dragons weekends and horror events. “We want to mix it up, and we have lots of fun ideas to keep giving people a reason to come down and to get involved.”
Exploring Rochester’s history on foot
We caught up with Rob Flood, Chair of the City of Rochester Society, to discuss the new series of free history walks they offer to explore the town.
I immediately start by poking the bear, asking if the tours are short walks because Rochester isn’t a city. Rob gently reminds me that the City of Rochester Society was founded in 1967 and that “Rochester is a ‘City by ancient prescriptive right’ which predates any charter documents, so we still refer to it as a city.”
The City of Rochester Society was responsible for setting up and manning the first tourist information centre in Rochester and for them it seemed natural to also run guided tours. “We’ve been running tours for over 40 years and have a team of 15 volunteer tour guides,” Rob tells me, and that the tour guides have all been through guides training, “so you know you’re getting expert guidance.”
The walks take approximately 90 minutes and run Wednesdays, weekends, Bank Holidays and festival days from now until the end of October. They start at 2.15pm outside the former Visitor Information Centre. “No need to book, just turn up.” However, if you have a larger group, separate walks can be organised by contacting the Society.
The walks taken in all the key historic beats, from Romans to Dickens. “Our walks are a great way for people to learn more about where they live or are visiting.” Rob’s favourite part of the walk is Restoration House and The Vines, where there is “so much history in such a small area with a bit of Miss Havisham thrown in for good measure.” Most of the walk is on a level surface so it’s accessible if you’re in a wheelchair. It’s not a great distance, but Rob still recommends wearing decent walking shoes and bringing a bottle of water.
If you’re interested in knowing more about the City of Rochester Society, membership is £15 a year and they have what I am assured is an excellent quarterly newsletter. The walks are free to attend, but if you enjoy your walk and would like to contribute, the City of Rochester Society, as a registered charity, would gratefully accept. Still, Rob is clear that there is no obligation to do so, and getting people to come and join in on the walks is the main goal.
Out to Breakfast: Legends Cafe
In which Steven Keevil assesses the breakfast options available in our towns. This week, he’s been down to Legends Cafe in Rochester…
If you had never been to Legends Cafe, but had to describe a modern greasy spoon to somebody, there is a strong likely hood that you would describe Legends. An integral part of the Medway breakfast offering for two decades, I had eaten there many times in my and their early years. I was nervous about reviewing their breakfast, because, as the saying goes ‘You can’t go home again.’
The café is fairly spacious with a good number of tables, locked into place. It is clean and inviting, with a ridiculously large menu greeting you. A series of photographic reproductions of famous faces from the 50s and 60s is the tenuous reason to call the café Legends. You order at the counter, should you be considering sitting at the table and waiting for somebody to take your order.
Ignoring the previously mentioned large menu, I order four rashers of bacon well done, three fried eggs, two fried slices, and a portion of mushrooms. These were accompanied by a black tea and an apple juice, which unexpectedly came in a pint glass. The food, when it arrives, is clean and non-greasy and tastes great.
It’s reasonably priced for a modern greasy spoon, and I’m thinking of going home again just to dip another fried slice in a runny egg.
Events this week
🎸 Sat 19 Apr - My Life Story + The Pastel Waves // The Britpop band come and play in Rainham. Oast Community Centre, Rainham. Tickets £22.50.
🥕 Sun 20 Apr - Rochester Farmers’ Market // Wide range of traders selling food and gifts. Blue Boar Lane car park, Rochester. Free.
🪘 Sun 20 Apr - African and Caribbean Easter Market // African and Caribbean inspired food, products and music. Corn Exchange, Rochester. Free.
📽️ Tue 22 Apr - The End + Q&A // Screening of Joshua Oppenheimer’s apocalyptic musical, followed by a discussion about the film. Cineworld, Strood. Tickets £9.
🗣️ Thu 24 Apr - Full Medway Council meeting // Elected representatives squabble over how to do things. St George’s Centre, Chatham. Free.
Footnotes
Follow us on social media! We’re on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and Threads, but not that other one.
If you enjoy Local Authority, please share it with your friends, family, associates, and enemies. We have no meaningful marketing budget, so rely on word of mouth from our readers to find new readers. You can even get some sweet rewards for sending new readers our way. Details here.