Incubator is a British Council project that is bringing cutting-edge UK musical talent to Latin America and developing a network of music producers between both regions. The project is supporting creative collaborations which encourage a deeper understanding in the UK of the Latin American musical culture, and vice versa. Incubator activity to date has included live productions, professional exchanges, learning and outreach, academic events, recordings and an online platform.

Forthcoming events
October 2009
One of the most respected labels in the world, Warp Records marks its 20th birthday this year. In celebration, Incubator is bringing a Warp showcase to Brazil, featuring the British music duo Plaid and renowned producer Tim Exile. The showcase will include performances and meetings with musicians and the public.

Plaid – consisting of Andy Turner and Ed Handle - have just released their ‘Listen Tree’ album. On the night for their show, the screens will be commanded by Robin McNicholas, part of the VJ collective Flat-E and a previous collaborator with Aphex Twin and London Sinfonietta. On the following day Tim Exile and Flat E will lead a creative workshop with professionals, musicians and the public to talk about their creative process and associated works.

Recent activity
August 2009
With support from Incubator, Friendly Fires played in Brazil for the first time at the Popload Gig 2 Festival (Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo). The British quartet's sound takes in electro, modern pop and dance music, as well as influences from Brazilian samba and ‘technobrega’, and their debut album was recently nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize. In conjunction with the gigs in Brazil, we arranged for Matt Thornhill, Director A&R from XL Recordings (the Friendly Fires' record label) to present to a group of music industry professionals, journalists and interested guests in São Paulo.

June 2009
Urban Transnational Cumbia in Bogotá, Colombia
One of the leading exponents of dub, Mad Professor visited Bogotá to take part in studio sessions and workshops with Colombian musicians, and also performed at the Teatro Metro with Joe Ariwa. This part of the Incubator project seeks to unite cumbia (a popular Latin American music genre that has some similarity to Jamaican music) with dub through a creative exchange between Colombian musicians led by Front Cumbiero and Mad Professor. Mad Professor, who is widely recognized for his work with artists like Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Sly and Robbie, and Massive Attack, has previously taken part in a 'Powering Music' workshop for the Incubator project.

Watch a video of Mad Professor working with Colombian musicians in the studio

Creative Radio / Community Radio in Caracas, Venezuela
BBC Radio 1 presenter Huw Stephens and producer Clare Chadburn led a discussion on 'Making Music Radio' with local young professionals and students, and then run a practical workshop with emerging community leaders working in community radio, in how to create a music radio show.

The Kooks live in Santiago, Chile
For their first visit to South America, The Kooks performed live in Santiago (see photos top left) at the Teatro Caupolicán. This activity was supported by the Incubator project and was part of the UK Indie music strand.

Incubator themes

Incubator has developed a number of broad strands of activity. These include:

UK Indie music - a series of activities focusing on the experience and current context of the UK indie music scene. Based around tours by up-and-coming British indie artists and bands in Latin America, accompanied by independent label representatives to share their experiences with local music professionals.

Powering Music - aimed at sharing experiences of established professionals and building the capacity of the music industry in Latin America. This includes advice on promotion, artist management, sound and lighting, use of technology, or event production.

Urban Transnational - this strand is connecting the contemporary urban music genres from the UK with a range of urban sounds from Latin America.

Radio Incubator - supporting capacity-building for community leaders and young musicians from barrios who are running community radio stations in Venezuela. The idea is to provide access to technical skills and music knowledge from UK experts in order to support their professional development.

Central to Incubator is the project website (www.incubatormix.com) which provides a platform for news and blogs about the contemporary music scenes in Latin America and the UK and facilitates the exchange of ideas between music fans and professionals alike.