Makina! is our brand new film, directed by Hector Aponysus – the latest in a series of films made in partnership between the British Council and Boiler Room which explore the connections between music scenes and place.
Makina! takes its name from a genre that, despite being around for three decades and having legions of fans in the North East of England, is barely known outside the region. The music is unique – a supercharged blend of 180 bpm Euro dance and fast MCing which first found adoring fans in North East venues like The New Monkey. The main protagonists of this genre are predominantly white, working-class, and male, yet the music finds its roots in the LGBTQ Spanish club scene of the early 1990s.
Music scenes grow, often from small communities of artists and fans – they draw in influences and expand, they head to other parts of a country, even across continents. They travel overseas, they evolve and sometimes they can get pretty commercial along the way, so much so that the original artists and fans no longer recognise these new forms as bearing any resemblance to what they started. Makina is different. Here is one scene that, for some reason, remains remarkably preserved in, and particular to, the North East of England. And wherever we are in the world, we can relate to the issues that bind this community through its music. Makina is music for raving, yes, but as the film gradually reveals, it is also so much more. It is music for birthdays and even funerals too. This is a story of how music can bring people together to find escapism and how it can be outlet for young men in particular to say things in music to thousands of people that they could barely confide to their own family.
Does your city, your region, your country have anything quite like this?
‘Makina is love.’
Makina!
Warning: contains some strong language
More films from the British Council and Boiler Room
Our series of Boiler Room films have all explored various DIY music scenes in different locations around the UK, from London to Glasgow to the North East.
- Watch Beyond A BPM in London
- Watch Glasgow’s New Wave
- Watch Fleshback: Queer Raving in Manchester’s Twilight Zones
- Watch Keep Bristol Weird
Boiler Room is an independent music platform and cultural curator, connecting club culture to the wider world, on screen and though parties, film and video.
