Check out the lovely Amelia in this months Catch a Vibe magazine- if you dont know Amelia runs an AMAZING blog (we mentioned it a few times before) so good its made me a bit lazy when it comes to finding out new music coz she has it all sorted for me- check out her blog here.
Alternative beats with Put Me On It
Amelia IDeh of Put Me On It
On a Wednesday afternoon, I meet
fresh-faced Amelia Ideh at Market Place, a bar where the young woman
holds regular events. Ideh is that rare breed: a female event organiser
who understands the power of social media to promote her events and
share the music she champions: hip hop, soul, boogie, funk, electro and
alternative beats… Her blog Put Me On It has a big fan base and her tweets are followed by more than a 1000 people. Amelia tells us more about Put Me On It and that all important New Year’s Eve party.
CAV: How did you get into promoting?
Amelia Ideh: I went out a lot [laughs]. I kind of got obsessed with going to live gigs for a while. I went to DJ nights as well. I just met a lot of people through that really.
Amelia Ideh: I went out a lot [laughs]. I kind of got obsessed with going to live gigs for a while. I went to DJ nights as well. I just met a lot of people through that really.
Catch a Vibe: You seem to be one of very few female promoters.
Amelia Ideh: Yeah, it seems like it but there’s actually quite a lot of female promoters/organisers who are more like behind the scenes. I think a lot of the time they may not be DJ’s. And unless you are behind the decks, nobody knows that you are actually doing anything, unless you work hard at promoting yourself.
Amelia Ideh: Yeah, it seems like it but there’s actually quite a lot of female promoters/organisers who are more like behind the scenes. I think a lot of the time they may not be DJ’s. And unless you are behind the decks, nobody knows that you are actually doing anything, unless you work hard at promoting yourself.
CAV: Something that you do really well is putting the name/brand “Put Me On It” out there.
Amelia Ideh: That’s actually recent. I have been promoting for two years and haven’t put my name to things before. I started to realise people didn’t really understand that I was working on stuff and they would show up and go “Oh, is this your event?” I thought I might as well let them know.
Amelia Ideh: That’s actually recent. I have been promoting for two years and haven’t put my name to things before. I started to realise people didn’t really understand that I was working on stuff and they would show up and go “Oh, is this your event?” I thought I might as well let them know.
You recently won the BBC Urban Music Talent Awards. How did that happen?
Amelia Ideh: I put the info on my blog and was thinking about which artists I knew could apply and a friend of mine who won it a couple of years back got me to apply. It’s amazing but it’s really a long-winded process. It took a couple of months. [With the funding awarded I’m going to] redevelop the blog. That’s coming in the next couple of months. After that, it’s kind of all about the events. We’ve got exciting stuff coming up next year but I can’t talk about it because I don’t want to jinx it [laughs].
Amelia Ideh: I put the info on my blog and was thinking about which artists I knew could apply and a friend of mine who won it a couple of years back got me to apply. It’s amazing but it’s really a long-winded process. It took a couple of months. [With the funding awarded I’m going to] redevelop the blog. That’s coming in the next couple of months. After that, it’s kind of all about the events. We’ve got exciting stuff coming up next year but I can’t talk about it because I don’t want to jinx it [laughs].
What about your NYE party?Amelia Ideh: It’s at the Big Chill House. Livin’ Proof is going to be downstairs and they are real kind of jump up hip hop. Upstairs we’ve got Pause with Eric Lau which we’ve been doing for a while at Market Place, but we’re going to charge it up with Eglo. It’s going to be a really good night. Upstairs is going to be a little bit more mixed in terms of the music that we play. It will be definitely hip hop with loads of soul, electronic stuff, we might jump from Ludacris to Dam Funk, it’s that kind of vibe. Alex Nut is one of my favourite DJ’s in the world so I’m really happy that he’s going to be there on the night.
CAV: What would you tell people who’ve never attended a Put Me On It event to get them to come for NYE party?
Amelia Ideh: I would tell them that regardless of what kind of music you are listening to, the vibe at my parties is always the same. We might be playing the most obscure, eclectic stuff but it’s always really good. It’s a real party vibe. Whether you know the tune or not, it’s going to make you dance. No matter what you listen to, it doesn’t matter the vibe is there. The people are really lovely and open-minded. It’s all about the music, they don’t care about the fashion. They don’t care about being cool and being seen. They’re literally just there for the music.
Amelia Ideh: I would tell them that regardless of what kind of music you are listening to, the vibe at my parties is always the same. We might be playing the most obscure, eclectic stuff but it’s always really good. It’s a real party vibe. Whether you know the tune or not, it’s going to make you dance. No matter what you listen to, it doesn’t matter the vibe is there. The people are really lovely and open-minded. It’s all about the music, they don’t care about the fashion. They don’t care about being cool and being seen. They’re literally just there for the music.
CAV: Where would you be if you were not at your own party:
Amelia Ideh: I probably wouldn’t be in England. I’m getting older and to be honest with you, I kind of feel like I’d like to be on a mountain somewhere… Something elemental… Feeling quite connected with the rest of the world, not necessarily in a party.
Amelia Ideh: I probably wouldn’t be in England. I’m getting older and to be honest with you, I kind of feel like I’d like to be on a mountain somewhere… Something elemental… Feeling quite connected with the rest of the world, not necessarily in a party.
Pics (c) Denise Arthur, taken on location at Market Place, W1
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