Were you part of the rock/punk/alt scene between 1970 and 2010?

Were you there the night Kurt proposed to Courtney? What about ‘that’ Morrissey gig at the Newport Centre in 1986? Did you catch Joe Strummer at TJ’s? Or maybe you bumped into Lemmy in the chippy after Motörhead played? If so, Newport Rock Collecting, Winding Snake Productions’ Brand new social history project, needs you.

Newport Rock Collecting is a social history and contemporary collecting
project, created by Newport resident Amy Morris. “I’ve been making work
that celebrates the cultural history of Newport for 10 years now. Its gritty
determination and no-nonsense approach to everything, makes it a special place.

“During the production of a recent film I made about female munitions workers in the Second World War, called Newport Gun Girls, I had lots of conversations with local people about what Newport means to them.

“Music, in particular is the scene that I happen to love, and rock was a hot topic!

In the 90s the rest of the world started to take notice of what was happening here, to the extent that in 1996, the recently departed and dearly missed MP Paul Flynn applauded the Newport music scene in parliament.

“Sadly, time marches on and memories are forgotten and memorabilia is lost. Now, we want to record as much as we can about the bands and musicians that came to and came from here, who have made Newport the Welsh city of Rock.”

Throughout 2019, the Winding Snake team are gathering stories and artifacts from gigs in Newport between 1970 and 2010 for an audio archive that will be available to the general public and an exhibition that will take place at Newport Museum and Art Gallery between July and October 2020, celebrating Newport’s commitment to bands, gigs and rock music.

Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and First Campus at the University of South Wales, later in 2019 there will be a free public lecture delivered by Richard J Parfitt, of the 60FT Dolls at City Campus, and Amy will be delivering Girls Rock!

This is a free program of music production workshops for girls, with support
from BAFTA Cymru award-winning composer and sound designer Tic Ashfield.

To find out how you can get involved or share your gig memories with the Rock Collecting team, keep an eye on the project website.

All memories welcome. Who did you see?

For more info, visit www.rockcollecting.co.uk

Alternatively, call 07716 243217 or email rock@windingsnake.com