Press Release The Synergy Project, Friday 7th October 2005 SEOne, Weston Street, London SE1, Tickets : £15 adv (+bf) £17 door £12 concs 07766 566691 www.thesynergyproject.org
London’s leading conscious partying organisation returns from the festivals to celebrate the opening of the new Synergy Centre in Camberwell, a new focus for training, mutual support and collaboration for London’s creative and campaigning underground.
Since its launch in March 2002, Synergy has established itself as one of the most diverse, creative and progressive club nights in the country, with an eclectic mix of psychedelic trance, live festival bands, performance poetry, dance, conscious video installations, healing areas, wholefood cafes and information stalls from leading non-governmental organisations campaigning for social and environmental justice. With a strong non-profit ethos, uncompromising production values and some of the friendliest, unpretentious community vibes, Synergy stands apart from the stagnant commercialism of mainstream club land, fully earning the title of a vibrant indoor festival.
All profits from the night will be spent on the renovation and refurbishment of the South London warehouse space which Synergy have recently rented to realise their long-held dream of opening a centre focussing on work-based learning in the skill and technologies used in the Creative and Cultural Industries, the sector of the capital’s economy identified by the Greater London Authority and the London Development Agency as one of most vibrant and dynamic and therefore ideal for employment generation, particularly amongst London’s disadvantaged yet culturally diverse communities. Over the years, many of the Synergy crew have managed to overcome their alienation and disaffection from orthodox patterns of employment in drudge filled nine to fives, enabling them to enter into self-employment offering considerable creative and communal fulfilment. Working with the young people of the South London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham, Synergy look forward to sharing the experiences and skills to empower young people living in the disadvantaged communities surrounding the centre to set up their own social enterprises or acquire skills and experience which they can then harness to gain employment in the wider creative and cultural economy.
The opening of the centre signals the end of a long struggle that has seen Synergy emerge from the underground squatted social centre and squat party scene to gradually gain legitimacy and credibility in the eyes of the local authorities of South London. It also resonates with a broader trend whereby the protest and alternative movement, previously centred around the anti-Criminal Justice Bill and anti-roads protest movement of the early-mid 1990s, has gradually come of age, moving on from squatting to gain licenses or leases of their community premises. This process has not necessarily been a smooth one, with some sections of the old guard criticising Synergy in particular for what they see as ‘hippy capitalism’, merely for working in an over-ground venue with its attendant costs. However, Synergy have found that rejecting the rhetoric of confrontation and exclusion in favour of engagement and collaboration has borne fruit, reaching out to communicate to new audiences and to work with new partners rather than remain isolated and irrelevant in the Green Ghetto.
On the 7th October, Synergy welcomes the return of the Liquid Connective, who will host a room of psy-trance featuring trance veterans Logic Bomb and the launch of Z-Man’s new album, ‘Story Teller’. Sangita Sounds return with global grooves featuring Avalonian Celtic Dub from Panacea and Paraguayan Harp music from Kike Pederson, while the Turaya Gathering host a room fusing contemporary live music with new wave electtonica featuring sets from Gaudi v Red Seal and the Peaking Goddess Collective. Kakatsitsi, Master Drummers from Ghana, fresh from their Scottish escapades, where they led the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh before confronting Bob Geldof about the lack of African representation in Live8, join forces with Eddy Gongman in the Indigenous People room, while the Small World stage host an acoustic healing chill featuring singer-songwriters Carrie Tree and Pink ‘n Ruby.
More info on full line-ups : www.thesynergyproject/future.asp History / origins of Synergy : www.thesynergyproject.org.past Mission and Organisation : www.thesynergyproject.mission