Alan Raw: A Man of Many Talents (2/4) By Michelle Dee

(1/4), (2/4), (3/4), (4/4)

Alan also shared a behind the scenes story with me, about a disused casino with no electricity. The dilapidated building was set in the middle of the Slovenian woodland where the band and crew were staying. Due to the lack of electricity, torches were the only way to see at night and apparently Alan got up one night torch in hand and panned the beam around to find his way. Inside the casino there was an old, one-armed bandit, shaped like a Red Indian chief.

So Alan is up wandering around and he bumps into the thing in the dark. You can imagine the reaction on seeing this malevolent form casting shadows in the half-light. When the beam from his torch highlighted the chief's angry face he took fright. I asked whether he screamed, he replied in the affirmative. I'm hardly surprised; horror films have been made on less scary premises than a one armed Indian chief scalping, ahem, skulking in dark corners.

Sadly Alan Raw the musician is really a thing of the past being as he is so busy with alternative projects. He rarely plays these days but is still passionate about his drum kits. With the air of someone with an eye for the finer detail, he describes one of his more rare kits a Paralex make that has a special chrome finish on it. As well as his collection of drum kits Alan has over forty African drums left over from his days of playing with Roots Manding in Gambia, West Africa. Whilst overseas he developed connections with Fair trade organisations and sold drums throughout West Africa for a time.

He was passionate about trying to teach musical skills and once back in Blighty, began running workshops to encourage people to get involved in music and drumming in particular. Alongside these projects Alan worked in the Youth service developing Arts and Media in the city whilst studying the relevant courses at university. He worked at the Warren doing music for a number of years sharing his experience and knowledge with the eighteen to twenty-five year olds using the community resource.

Since 1992 Alan has had his own company called Tall Orders Arts and Media Ltd. A board was appointed and it was decided to turn it into a social enterprise style company, which means that any profits made are ploughed back into projects to realise other social aims. Alan was offered the position of Creative Director Which he eagerly accepted. I have ideas and they tell me whether or not we can do them, he supplies, with modesty.

He speaks highly of the other members of the team, in particular Steve Clappison, editor and animator extraordinaire. Steve is also the Senior Producer of Tall Orders and spends a lot of time passing on his skills to others who want to learn. There are also opportunities to learn video production at the new BBC Open Centre with Alan.

Alan has yet more BBC projects that he is working on including documentaries and program managing something called Citizen H. This takes the form of eighty-two short films showcasing young peoples views on social issues such as crime, body image, racism and more. Alan sees himself as a facilitator and by using Tall Orders as an agency the artists/ performers therein, are able to deliver workshops covering all aspects of arts and media. There is a demand from the young people of today for these types of skills and Alan and his colleagues visit schools delivering workshops and courses to meet that demand.

With the opening of the new facility, there is a lot more scope as to the kind of people who can learn these skills.

Various different social and school groups can be seen learning about new media taking advantage of the fully modernised and up to date computer suite in house almost every week. Teaching people to make their own documentaries so that they can have a voice. If all this wasn't enough, Alan has yet another project in the planning stages, this time a documentary, featuring older people and young people, their views on each other and their lives. This will have a fly on the wall feel and will explore what happens when these two seemingly very different parts of the community get together.

Alan is still very much involved in music other than his commitment to the Raw Talent show. Some of the money from Tall Orders goes into producing videos for unsigned bands. He has worked with local favourites the Landaus, whose video is now being played in Australia, New Zealand and parts of the U.S. He also supported Paparazzi Hall, a band who are as yet unknown to me, and helped them to produce a music video also.

With Alan giving so much it is quite natural to want to know what he receives in return. Well it is simple: apart from meeting so many different and uniquely talented people, receiving demos from bands that otherwise you wouldn't get to hear in a million years, and of course getting to play loads of music he actually likes a lot! Alan is presented with the task of challenging musical tastes week in week out. Comparisons to the late John Peel are hard to avoid, but through the likes of John and Alan, other shows catering for a less commercially driven audience are appearing.

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