Talking About Old Records

Mapping the music of derby:
celebrating the sounds that shape us

Bridging Generations Through a Shared Love of Music

Charity Shop DJ collaborated with Dr. Matt Connell of Nottingham Trent University to bridge the generation gap through a shared love of music.

By partnering with charities, local authorities, community groups, and schools, the project utilised the universal appeal of music to foster genuine communication across generations.

What Was "Talking About Old Records"?

"Talking About Old Records" was an intergenerational music project that brought teenagers and pensioners together through a series of DJ workshops, music sessions, and performances.

Why Was It Important?

While musical tastes varied, the love of music, regardless of style or format, proved to be a unifying force, bringing people together.

"All I'm asking is for a little respect. Find out what it means to me." – Aretha Franklin

"Unambiguous joy. I've never seen such diversity." – Richard Talaska, Older People's Consultancy Officer, Derby City Council

"Soon we started talking about music and we realised a lot of today's music is in the same style as the older music. It's just different bands singing the tunes." – Libby, 13

Creating New Spaces for Connection

The project built creative partnerships and cross-sectoral links to establish new spaces where individuals from different generations and backgrounds could communicate with each other in a spirit of equality and respect.

It also united youth services and older people's services, highlighting the benefits of using the arts to pursue Local Area Agreements.

Through a series of intergenerational DJ workshops, participants mixed the sounds of yesteryear with the formats of tomorrow, teaching each other to play DJ equipment. This experience served as a catalyst for conversation, interaction, skills transfer, and performance.

A collaboration between Charity Shop DJ and Nottingham Trent University, the project achieved real and creative cross-sectoral partnerships. Special thanks went out to the Bemrose Community School, Staveley Seniors, Aurora Music Project, Churchside Walk Community Coffee Club, Renaissance East Midlands, the Golden Age Club, Derby, and all the other wonderful people and organszations who embraced this project and made it their own.

Examples of the Work

One8 at Nottingham Castle

At the One8 Festival at Nottingham Castle, Bemrose Community School, Derby, went head-to-head with Churchside Walk Coffee Club. The project was featured on BBC East Midlands Today.

During the run-up to the ONE8 event, students from the Bemrose Community School in Derby were trained in basic DJ skills by Charity Shop DJ and DJ Dr Matt.

They then helped to train a small group of elders from the Churchside Walk Coffee Club, Derby, using records from charity shops as the musical catalyst for DJ performances, ingenious album cover re-enactments, and conversations about old records.

A series of workshops - and tea parties - at the Bemrose Community School brought the sound system together.

Staveley Pilot Project

This exciting project was piloted in the summer of 2007 in the ex-mining town of Staveley, bringing together young people and older residents to share their musical experiences and histories.

Following a heated discussion about the value of rap music, one older lady told us later that she had started to listen to it. The youngsters subsequently declared a passion for vinyl records. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much that the teenagers were asked back to DJ at the Staveley Seniors Christmas party.