ConnectsMusic is pleased to share with you about Grosvenor Road Studios and its innovative project ‘Breaking Down Walls Through Bridging Barriers’. For over seventy years, the Studios has been Birmingham’s best kept secret, and many firsts have been recorded here, including all the original sound effects for Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds Are Go, the fabulous brass band rendition of Brighouse and Ratrick’s Floral Dance, the first Brum Beat album, and Jasper Carrott’s Funky Moped.

The Studios have long been an iconic place for the majority of the Birmingham community and beyond, and they now serve a vital role of supporting the city’s next generation of music artists.

It’s a “safe place”, as they call it, where aspiring musicians can access tools, guidance, and a space to perfect their craft and contribute to the ever-changing music scene.

Many musicians have already signed up for the newly launched ‘Breaking Down Walls Through Bridging Barriers’ programme, and many of them are using it to kickstart their musical careers. One of the inspiring early-career musicians is Daniel Senanu Kwasi Tettey, a 24-year-old Ghanaian asylum seeker. It’s not just about the music for him. He’s found a safe space in Grosvenor Road Studios.

It’s not really just a studio. It’s like a community for me. Beyond music, this blend of my Ghanaian roots and my experiences living in vibrant Birmingham has profoundly impacted my life. It’s widened my perspective, encouraging me to embrace diversity and celebrate unity. It’s taught me that the essence of our identity is shaped by the places we call home and the people we meet along the way.

LGBTQ+ people are severely at risk in Ghana, where homosexuality remains a criminal arrest. The Organisation for Refuge, Asylum and Migration (ORAM) have noted an increase in LGBT+ people from the West African nation seeking asylum.  

For me, being in Ghana was hard just to be who I am. And that was something I really wanted to change for myself. I really was just fighting to live. That was when I got into the Asylum system.

Bridging Barriers is a programme supported by ACE dance and music, through the North Birmingham Alliance. The national and international touring dance company are universally recognised leaders in the field of Contemporary African and Caribbean Dance for their signature style rooted in traditional Afro-fusion forms through a contemporary lens. 

ACE Dance and Music have built a global reputation from our signature style rooted in traditional Afro-fusion forms. As a national and international touring dance company, we have previously explored the idea of fusion in a broader sense by asking why people choose imagined destinies over the lives they’d always thought they’d live. In a musical sense, Afrofusion is a fusion of two or more genres with an afrobeat but beyond that, Afrofusion emerges when different generations make connections with their cultural heritage, said Ian Parmel, ACE dance and music CEO and co-founder.  

For this emerging artist committed to celebrating Afrofusion, the collaboration is perfect.  

Afrofusion is like a heartbeat to me. It’s about fusing the rich traditional rhythms and melodies of Ghana with the contemporary sounds and influences I’ve encountered in the UK. This fusion has allowed me to create music that resonates with both my heritage and the diverse culture around me.

The group’s independently released album titled Foundations is available for streaming on Soundcloud.

Stream/download FOUNDATIONS: https://on.soundcloud.com/HyiFF
 

For more information, contact Shereece Storrod: bridgingbarriers23@gmail.com