Dean Rodney Singers
Blue Bar, Level 4, Royal Festival Hall
Open 10:00am - 11:00pm
Free
Dean Rodney is a 21-year-old artist – a songwriter and front man of The Fish Police who are supported by the award-winning cultural producers Heart n Soul.
Dean has a distinctive view on the world, which is informed by his autism – he wants to share his way of seeing things with the rest of the world.
In 2010, Dean wrote a song called the Dean Rodney Singers. The song expresses a clear artistic vision and mission - to put together a global band comprising disabled and non-disabled artists working together. To make this happen he will collaborate with seventy-two performers from seven countries across the world including China, Brazil, Germany and South Africa, to produce twenty-five songs with videos.
The songs aren't made yet. Dean will curate the pieces and share snippets of beats, musical phrases, song titles or lyrics to get the collaborations rolling. The songs are then going to be written, composed, improvised and played by the band itself, using the best web technology we can lay our hands on. Each country will have an exciting lead musical collaborator who will be an inspirational mentor and increase visibility for the work and the band.
This music is going to be inspired by Dean's favourite styles - JPop, Electro, Funk, Rock, and Hip Hop. But the influences will of course come from all the band members. The audience will become a part of the mission too. They'll be able to see the music as it is being created and help develop it. Each country involved will also cultivate its own local audience.
The project will culminate in an interactive sound and visual installation during the London Olympic and Paralympic Games at the Royal Festival Hall, London. It will be a chance for audiences to fully immerse themselves into Dean’s world. They’ll be able to interact with the music, videos and images created, remix a track in a totally unique way or get the chance to appear in a video.
Unlimited encourages collaborations and partnerships between disability arts organisations, disabled and deaf artists, producers and mainstream organisations to celebrate the inspiration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and to create original and exciting works. Twenty-nine Unlimited Commissions have been awarded.
Unlimited is principally funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor and is delivered in partnership between London 2012 Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Wales Art Council of Northern Ireland and the British Council.
