Ahead of the upcoming Prismatic event, which takes place at The Imaginarium on Thursday 2nd February, we spoke with founder, Joe Hunter…
Tell us a bit about Prismatic
Prismatic is an immersive spoken word event that augments performances with visuals and DJs playing ambient music.
What inspired you to start these events?
We came up with the concept when the team behind Leeds Lit Fest invited students on the LAU Creative Writing degree course to host a spoken word event as part of their 2021 festival. I was a mature student at the time and have a fair bit if experience in running events, so I felt compelled to be involved. Two other students from my course – Hannah Prince and Beth Harrison, both brilliant poets and performers – were also keen to be involved, so we formed a little group to organise the whole thing. With the UK still in lockdown we had no idea whether or not we’d be permitted to have a live audience. When it became certain that the whole event would have to be pre-recorded and then streamed, we decided to turn that into an opportunity to do something a bit different. That’s when the live visuals and music came in. It just made sense that if we had to stream a pre-recorded event, we might as well lean into the multimedia element and aim for something with high production values.
The name ‘Prismatic’ seems apt. Did you choose it because of the different elements to the event? And tell us more about these…
Exactly that. We were thinking about the ethos behind the event and how we wanted it to be more than ‘just’ spoken word. That led me to thinking of Storm Thorgerson’s cover art for Dark Side Of The Moon – the prism and beam of light – and it made sense that storytelling and poetry can be refracted into different elements. I tend to prefer one-word titles for things like this, as they’re just snappier and more memorable. It works for everything from nightclubs (Wire, Distrikt, Berghain) to bands (Rush, Clutch, Yes). The three of us all like names with a few meanings or that allude to various things, so Prismatic felt like the perfect title for an event that aims to refract the spoken word into an array of colour and sound.
Your first event was in lockdown. What was the response like, and how important do you think things like this were to people at that time?
As someone who struggles to engage with the whole livestream world, I have to admit I didn’t think we’d get much attention, especially alongside some really strong offerings by Leeds Lit Fest. Thankfully my cynicism was proved dead wrong and we ended up with one of the largest audiences of any Lit Fest event that year. The performers were superb, very diverse, and we had some superb feedback. I’m sure anyone who appreciates spoken word will also appreciate that we received the ultimate compliment, that a number of audience members were brought to tears. So I guess that partly answers the second half of your question. Lockdown was a test of everyone’s mental endurance, and by this point we had come out of one and then been put back into another, so the public was at the end of their collective tether. Emotions definitely ran high among the organisers too, as we know how important live events are to society. Our ability to gather in a room with strangers and have a collective experience is so important for social cohesion. Everyone had been through so much; the public deserved a great show and I feel we gave them that.
You’re a Creative Writing MA graduate from LAU. How did your course influence the creation and development of Prismatic?
Well, it wouldn’t have happened at all without the course. We were the first students to sign up for the Creative Writing degree course; it was brand new and in a large way was shaped around our little group. Had it not been for that, Beth, Hannah, and I wouldn’t have met at all, and Leeds Lit Fest would have had to look elsewhere for someone to organise an event for them. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to our course leader Dr Karen Tobias-Green for convincing the LAU faculty that they needed a creative writing course. She was absolutely right and has changed the course of our lives in the process of striving for her dream.
Are there any writers, poets, or spoken word performers that you would say have particularly influenced you?
Before enrolling on the course, I never really delved into spoken word poetry. I’ve written lyrics in the past, as I sing in bands, so lyrics have always been important to me. Gil Scott Heron is a huge inspiration as a writer and performer. He struck a perfect balance between beautiful phrasing and clarity of message. When the course began and I looked more deeply into poetry, I was chiefly inspired by my course mates. They’re all half my age or thereabouts, but I learnt more about writing, phrasing, expression, and delivery from that beautiful set of weirdos than I will ever be able to thank them for.
And finally, you’re a multidisciplinary artist. Tell us a bit about any projects you’ve been working on lately…
After I graduated, I was pretty burnt out, as is the way with a degree course. As a result I didn’t really write much for a while and focused on my music production instead. That culminated in me releasing my first EP, titled Bough, and released last December through Sheffield label Holy Crow.
Other than that, I’ve mainly been working with the collective behind The Imaginarium CIC. We recently opened our creative event space at Church Walk and have had a run of great events, with more in the pipeline. I’m working on a new event called Bookwatching, which is a totally fresh concept invented by me and my friend Sean Kyle during the first lockdown, so watch this space for more info on that.
My plan this year is to work on a live electronic set and also to finish the novel I wrote for my final degree submission. And more Prismatic events, of course!
Prismatic will be at The Imaginarium, Church Walk, Leeds on Thursday 2nd February at 7pm. Performer callout is still open. If you’re interested in getting involved, contact Joe via the Prismatic Instagram.
The video below is the event that was streamed live from Hyde Park Book Club during lockdown, in 2020.
Interview by Roya Brehl
