Carnaby Echoes

Reveal the hidden musical history of Carnaby Village in the heart of London

This app reveals the fascinating hidden stories behind 10 decades of music history in Carnaby, London W1. Uncover Carnaby’s music past via a series of films and audio interviews. Contributors including Boy George, Mark Ellen, Lloyd Coxsone and Doc Brown all share previously unheard stories as they are taken back to the buildings they once had a connection to. Their voices bring memories to life on this music journey.

Carnaby Echoes covers several diverse musical styles from jazz, reggae, rhythm & blues to rock and hip-hop. As you walk around the Carnaby Village, listen to interviews and music, and view pictures relating to key music venues, clothes shops, nightclubs and magazine offices that attracted music fans and sub-cultures to the Carnaby area.

Artist Lucy Harrison explores the little known music heritage, from 1930s jazz clubs such as the Nest and the Florence Mills Social Parlour, to the introduction of Ska to the UK by Count Suckle and Duke Vin at the Roaring Twenties Club in the 1960s. Vibrant plaques on key buildings mark these locations, guiding visitors on a tour through history.

‘Lucy Harrison, an artist who uses places to get to people’s stories, has uncovered a new old Carnaby Village. One that’s still musical, but not so clichéd. One where histories jump, stop-start, fold back on themselves, fast forward, fade and emerge again, louder, stranger, but still connected. One where the stories are unknown, forgotten or never heard.’ Miranda Sawyer

The Carnaby Echoes app is by artist Lucy Harrison and is commissioned by Shaftesbury PLC.

Warning: some videos contain strong language.