Midlands Mix is a new YouTube documentary series that follows Nottingham bands and musicians, no matter how big or small.
The creator, Ella Farnsworth, a third-year Communication, Society and Media Student, 20, has always had an interest in YouTube series and wanted to do something similar to show all the talent in Nottingham.
Ella usually works on social media videos and promotional videos for companies, but last year she made a documentary for a university module.
She said: “I enjoyed the process so much that I wanted to carry on creating documentaries.”
But a series that was her own creation and didn’t have to end when she finished her degree. Ella wants ‘Midlands Mix’ to allow her audience to “tap into their local identity and get to know each band and musician on an individual level.”
She began the project in early 2019 and began reaching out to different bands and musicians across Nottingham, and the first episode was filmed between December 2019 and February 2020.
Ella said: “I initially planned to do more filming than this but was held back due to the situation with COVID 19, so I had to take a different approach.”
The first episode features ‘Left Hand Lane’, an alternative rock and punk band. The band consists of four male members – Jimbo, Pearce, Bobbi, and George – who have all been together for 2 years. The band have played at various venues across Nottingham, as well as across the UK when they were on tour.
The episode is so easy to watch, as it starts with the audience learning who the band is, their history and getting a feel for their personality. Then rather than focusing on all aspects of the band, Ella chooses to focus on one of the bands greatest songs, ‘My Confession’.
Ella said: “The idea of basing the episode around ‘My Confession’ came naturally as it seemed to be a highly emotional and meaningful song for the band.
“Jimbo and I discussed this and decided that the best way to go would be to make the episode about the creation and performance of this song, rather than just seeing a rehearsal of the band and a performance.”
As the audience, we hear how the song came about, and why it’s so important to the band, whilst the song is being played in the background during rehearsals and then performed live at The Bodega, which helped convey how the song has developed.
Vocalist and Guitarist, James Earl (Jimbo), 19, said: “All of us have seen the documentary and we were actually really surprised on how accurate the storyline was, and how well the production of the video as a whole had come together.
“We actually really enjoyed watching the entire documentary from start to finish.”
As ‘Midlands Mix’ is an ongoing YouTube series, there is plenty more to look forward too. Ella is in talks with various other bands and musicians who want to be involved, and she already has at least two more episodes confirmed.
She said: “I aim to cover many different genres of music to cover the wide range of musical talent in the series.
You can watch the first episode of Midlands Mixhere.
By Laycie Beck