Anna Key has announced the first run of posters for The List; an exciting opportunity for the drum & bass community to once again show its true heart and help those in need.
Launched last year, The List is an interesting and highly inclusive initiative that comprises and lists all artists who’ve ever contributed to drum & bass. Past, present and new-gen talent are all included in two hugely comprehensive lists split into male and female/female identifying artists.
The start of a much bigger, ongoing mission that will raise awareness and funds for a variety of charities as it develops, this project launches with the sale of posters to raise money for Breast Cancer UK and Prostate Cancer UK, two essential organisations on the frontline of the battle against cancer, a disease responsible for nearly one in six deaths worldwide*
Future plans regarding The List include a signed canvas version that be auctioned to the highest bidder in the future. The brainchild of rising talent Anna Key (who has previously appeared on this site as an Artist Of The Week), we caught up with her to find out more.
How have things been?
Really well thanks, I’m working with Heist as my mentor to improve my production which has been incredible. My first lesson with him ended up with me writing 14 pages of notes so he’s given me loads to think about. I’ve been really enjoying it!
I’ve also had some BBC Introducing support again, which is always great, and I’ve been talking with Jayline about doing a jungle track together, which is really exciting. I’ve sent beats over to ACMC for some vocals and I’ve got a bit more time to focus on DJing so I’m also taking bookings at the moment.
And in amongst all of that, you’ve launched The List posters!
Oh they look amazing. I’m so proud of them. We’re starting to send them out and now and there’s been a lot of interest. We’re getting the canvas printed and getting some signatures from various artists on the back and will be working towards to auctioning the canvases to raise more money. We’re currently in the process of registering as a non-profit organisation now as well, to make sure it’s all legitimate. It was only meant to be a small project but it’s blown up into something much bigger. We’ve got some beautiful support from the scene behind it. My inbox has been nonstop with orders and people showoing interest. I’m really excited to get it out there.
Amazing! What comes next?
We’ll be focusing on calendars, I want to look at raising money for mental health organisations and start developing various side projects around that. I also want to look at raising money for youth projects in the future, too. Lots of different projects and lots of different charities. It’s amazing how it started from such a small idea.
And you know the D&B scene will get behind it as there’s a really strong theme of fundraisers and community based initiatives in the genre.
Yeah it’s really positive and it’s something I’m very passionate pushing outside of drum & bass. I don’t think many people outside of the scene see this. They make assumptions about certain behaviours or old cliches surrounding the genre. I’ve tried to book a D&B event in the past and have been told the club is fully booked, then contacted a little while later to book a different genre event and had no issues at all. That really annoys me so if I can help to highlight how much positive energy there is in drum & bass then that would be amazing.
Yeah absolutely! Best of luck with the sale and launch of these first posters. I understand you’ve had a cancer scare during all of this?
Yeah I had a lump in my boob which was terrifying. I had it checked and some cells were malignant, others were benign so it was removed. It was scary. My nan passed away from cancer so it’s in the genes. Luckily I had some really good friends around me.
Wow scary. Big up your mates!
Very much! And actually that’s another project I want to start; a page for people who want friends to rave with. Or people with mental health problems who want someone to talk to. I’m looking into that but it needs to have proper resources and support but it’s another thing I’d love to address and try and help to combat. So many people aren’t confident to go out on their own so it would be amazing to create a place where people can find raving buddies and make new connections and friendships through this culture.
