Hatch A decade of DIY: Local venue appeals for scene pics

Hatch, formerly the Audacious Art Experiment, will use community-sourced pictures to create a 'photozine', with proceeds going to the new Lughole venue and a coronavirus fund for small venues.

"We're looking for photos of the people and spaces that have surrounded and driven Sheffield's amazing DIY music scene from 2010 through to this year," Hatch's Nick Potter told Now Then.

"They don't have to be professionally taken, or from a proper camera. We're after anything and everything that's interesting, fun or shows a small insight into the scene."

The second incarnation of punk venue The Lughole is planned to open in Kelham Island at some point this year, after the original Arundel Street space was forced to close in 2017.

The submitted photos will be published in the form of a 50-page photobook, and with permission will be held in an archive for future research on the scene.

Hatch are looking for photos taken in not-for-profit spaces or "pop-up gigs somewhere unusual", rather than shows in licensed bars or profit-making venues.

"For now we are also trying to focus on music-orientated events and spaces, but we're fully aware that there's a huge range of projects current and former out there, and we don't expect everything to fit neatly into categories," said Potter.

The collective are also releasing their first record on Friday to coincide with Bandcamp's 'no fee day'. Echo From Below: New Music from Hatch Vol. 1 features 18 tracks from bands, singers and producers linked to the venue, with artwork by Edith Rothwell.

Potter says that with a generation of small venues opening from 2011 onwards, including Audacious, Tye Die Tapes and the original Lughole, Sheffield was "ahead of the national curve" in DIY culture.

"Touring musicians often commented how amazing it was that there were so many - but as always with the ethic of just working on these things we felt like this had been left uncelebrated."