Old Chapel Music Studios - Crowdfunder
The landmark Leeds rehearsal space, recording studio and community hub Old Chapel Music has announced its first ever Crowdfunder campaign, in response to an unprecedented rise in rental costs. The Crowdfunder campaign, formally launched on Sunday 23rd July, managed to raise over £1,200 in its first 24 hours - but the CIC is hoping to encourage more donations in the coming days, in service of reaching a £9,000 funding goal.
Old Chapel Music has been operating out of its Czar St home for over 30 years, providing essential services and resources to Holbeck residents and the wider Leeds community. But its future has been challenged by rising rent and the cost-of-living crisis – leaving dozens of partnerships, community programs and staff hanging in the balance. The CIC aims to raise £9,000 by 17th August, in order to cover its rent hike and backdated rent costs, in turn enabling its directors to re-focus their attention towards the future of the enterprise.
Old Chapel Music began life as Parkside Studios in Armley, in 1982.
From humble beginnings, the space soon became a bedrock for Leeds music talent, paving the road to success for the likes of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, The Mission and Sisters of Mercy. In the early 1990s, Parkside left Armley for its permanent home – the Old Chapel, a 18 th century Wesleyan chapel on Czar St in Holbeck.
From this new and iconic venue, the freshly-named Old Chapel Music would continue to build on the foundations it had laid in years past. The Old Chapel was a formative launching-ground for many contemporary Leeds legends from Embrace and Pigeon Detectives to Kaiser Chiefs. Indeed, the Kaisers still call Old Chapel home, with a permanent recording and writing space on-site. Old Chapel’s illustrious history has recently been immortalised in the form of a free heritage tour, funded by the Leeds Civic Trust.
Old Chapel provides vital rehearsal space for active bands and musicians in Leeds, and also recording opportunities through its state-of-the-art recording studio fronted by award-winning composer David Whitaker. There are also permanent studio spaces, providing a base of operations for local businesses, enterprises and charities. Amongst these partnerships are The Swan Song Project – a charity that helps the terminally ill create an original song to celebrate their life - , and Single Coil Guitar Repairs – aka Gordon White, guitar technician who has provided his services to the likes of Richard Hawley and Noel Gallagher.
All the while, Old Chapel hosts a number of vital programmes and services via its rehearsal and recording studio spaces. Free music groups enable disabled and disadvantaged members of the community to come together, develop their practice and make friends; upcoming programmes promise to provide essential skills both within and without music.
The £9000 fundraiser is just the start for Old Chapel. With the impact of rent increases offset for another year, it can continue to provide its space and services, uplifting Leeds communities and inspiring growth in music.
The Crowdfunder campaign ends on 17h August. Find the Campaign here.