History

History

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Things started out in 1997 with a record shop in Perry Barr, Birmingham called Punch Records. It specialised in what is now known as urban music but then was plain old hip-hop, soul, garage and R&B. The shop soon gained a strong reputation around Birmingham, especially with DJs, for the quality and knowledge of music that was available. However, the shop not only sold music but also actively encouraged visitors to show off their skills or try their hand at DJ-ing on the turntables in the shop.

Founder and owner Ammo Talwar takes up the story:
" Well, we set up the turntables for the DJs who bought their vinyl from us to demonstrate their skills and we found that young kids would come into the shop just to look and basically learn. It got me thinking about why kids were so interested in DJ-ing and how we could take this forward and actively start teaching these skills. In the meantime the shop was getting more and more kids coming in, practising, learning and generally hanging out; it was more like a youth centre!"

By 1998 the shop had cemented its reputation as a hang-out for all those interested in urban music in Birmingham. If you'd popped into the shop around that time you may have come across a DJ competition, an intimate gig or, increasingly, an impromptu workshop. This area in particular was becoming more and more popular and the shop staff were finding it difficult to cope with demand, a situation which prompted Ammo to take action:

"I started thinking about how we could incorporate what was happening at the shop into schools and their curriculum, and whether we could take this sort of activity into youth centres, schools and other places where young people went to learn. We put together an education pack and started visiting schools with it and found that they were receptive to the idea. Soon the idea had become so successful that the local authority asked us to put some workshops together. From there things have snowballed."

Whilst Punch is still best known for their DJ workshops, in recent times their education work has developed organically to include rhythm, song writing, music production, poetry, lyrics, dance, street art, photography and percussion. For details, check out the workshops section. They also continue to promote and organise events, including commercial music projects, dance events, seminars and conferences. With a unique blend of commercial and community respectability they are consistently in demand as regional consultants and event managers for some of the UK's biggest organisations, including Urban Music Seminar, Acfest and a range of commercial partners including the BBC, Sony, BMG and Warners.

Key Dates