Mykaell Riley, Director and Principal Investigator at the Black Music Research Unit (BMRU) at the University of Westminster, took part in a talk hosted by Writing on the Wall (WoW), a writing and literature organisation based in Liverpool as part of Black History Month.
The talk titled ‘Windrush: Music of the People’, discussed the Windrush scandal and how it has influenced the UK music scene, including the pop music of The Beatles and the electronica of Orbital. Windrush was a political scandal in the UK where many people were incorrectly detained, deprived of legal rights, threatened with deportation, and in some cases, wrongly deported from the UK.
The talk presented an anthology of essays and photographs in From SS Orbita to Orbital, a WoW project which aimed to research, document and promote the Windrush influence on Britain’s musical greats.
The talk was part of WoWFEST, Liverpool’s longest running and nationally acclaimed literature festival. The organisation aims to promote, and support equality, diversity and inclusion and they are an Arts Council’s National Portfolio organisation and a not-for-profit, social enterprise and company limited by guarantee with charitable status.
Riley started his career as a founder member of Steel Pulse, a British roots Reggae band, who received a Grammy. Over the years he has performed, produced, manages and consulted on many successful artists and their projects. As a professional writer/producer, his work has encompassed TV, Film and Theatre, resulting in over eleven UK top twenty positions, and 3 UK number ones.
He also formed The Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, Britain’s first black pop orchestra – and composed extensively for television including the BBC One and Two, ITV1, 2 and 3, Sky and Endemol TV. He was then invited to join the first popular music, industry-focused course at the University of the Westminster.
Talking about the event, Mykaell Riley said: “Firstly, it was essential to contribute to WOWFest as so much of the work around BHM happens regionally. I was humbled to be added to their list of previous speakers that included names such as Linton Kwesi Johnson, Bernardine Evaristo, Ben Okri, Kehinde Andrews, Akala, and others. It was a fantastic event that allowed the (BMRU), to be part of their effort to generate a national conversation on Black contributions to the creative industry.”
