Steam Down or How Things Begin

by Emma Warren

Steam Down or How Things Begin is a celebration of an influential weekly jam in Deptford, which author Emma Warren uses to explain the universal ways things are when new culture is being generated. She should know—she's been there when new music has evolved on multiple occasions. It also draws a line between the young London jazz musicians making waves internationally and the reggae soundsystems that operated further down Deptford High Street in the 1980s. It extends that line to the site of Deptford Docks, ten minutes walk down the same street, where ships left for the Caribbean hundreds of years ago.

33 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2020

About the author

Emma Warren has been documenting culture for decades. She's a reformed music journalist turned community enabler who wrote for major UK and international publications including THE FACE and Fader in both staff and freelance positions and who worked for six years as an editorial mentor at Brixton's Live Magazine. She set up a private press, Sweet Machine, to publish her first book 'Make Some Space: Tuning Into Total Refreshment Centre'. The book was listed as one of 2019's Best Reads in Mojo Magazine, on Vinyl Factory and on Gilles Peterson's end of year list. In 2019 she also published 'Steam Down: Or How Things Begin' with Rough Trade books. This was listed in The Irish Times as one of the books of the year.

Reviews

[Gabriel Reis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short read about how a musical jam in Deptford, London, can be the perfect example of a cultural movement in its first steps. Emma Warren really opens your eyes for the amazing things that might be happening around you, wherever you are.