A Very Important Update

WELL, who knew it would be this quick? We’ve been open for just over a year now and already the looming shadow of redevelopment has cast its Burton-suited, TOWIE-watching shadow across our place of work, and it sucks.

Anyone who’s visited Rye Wax & the Bussey building (or indeed any of the myriad of artist studios, bars, restaurants, gyms, yoga practices, martial arts practices, cinemas, or even churches) will know that 133 Rye Lane serves a vital function as a hub of creativity for South East London. So, naturally, the property developers have decided to cash in.

The eleven flats will be in that big, derelict building in the smoking area of Bussey. On the ground floor will be 8 shops and if they aren’t generic chain stores, I’ll eat my copy of the last Light Sounds Dark compilation. This basically puts the kibosh on any late night shenanigans in the Bussey or down here. You know, the kind of late night shenanigans that makes a place worth living, the type you want to move to a place for…

Thing is, these flats and shops will lean heavily on Peckham’s cool cache and thriving nightlife when they’re being shopped around to potential tenants. If you listen closely, you can hear Papa Irony playing a muted trumpet on a night bus headed to Zone 3 (which will be next, of course).

The loss of jobs is the real crime. To destroy an infrastructure that supports so many in the arts at a time of colossal cuts to anything that involves an imagination is awful. Most of the staff here are musicians or producers or artists, and the fact we have a relevant job that is able to fund our passion is a minor miracle in this day and age.

It’s a damn shame we’re having to add another article to what is becoming a timeline of the systematic dismantling of London’s clubbing scene by forces that don’t understand them and never wanted them there in the first place.

But, this is all worst-case scenario. Hopefully, you understand that we exist for the community that surrounds us. So, if you want us to stick around a bit longer and keep bringing you the music that doesn’t quite fit anywhere else, please make your objection to Southwark Council known here.