For young creatives, the ‘traditional’ ways of starting a career are more or less extinct. But this does nothing to stem the flow of hungry, young entrepreneurs who are springing out of every corner. In the heart of South London lies the South Space collective. A group of talented divergent thinkers who, between 18 and 19 years old, have already outgrown the conventional path to success. For label founder Stan ‘5TATIC’ Sorrell, the South Space imprint is synonymous with freedom and creativity. Being just 18 and 19 years old means there could be no better time to take risks, go big and be fearless.
Stan, along with +44RAPTURE, ASTRO/BOY, EKA, Cil, Duke C Majoriti, Mononoke and Eugene Angelo are young people who have grown up savvy to traditional ploys of advertising. They’re into fashion. They know about Photoshop. They know about product placement and celebrity endorsements. As digital natives, the South Space collective are all too familiar with the advances in technology that have essentially levelled the playing field when it comes to getting ahead and they’ve been savvy enough to get skilled up for business using them. Lightroom. Logic. Ableton. Premiere Pro. Final Cut. Rinse and Repeat.
British author and international advisor on education, Sir Ken Robinson has spoken many times about this thing called ‘divergent thinking’. It’s the idea that there are hundreds and millions of people in the world that tend not to think of solutions to problems in a conventional ‘linear’ way. Instead, they are able to concoct a series of possible solutions to one problem.
So how does one build a brand with global appeal from the ground up and with zero investment?
Taking in all they’ve learned from growing up in a world of 24 hour television and round the clock advertising campaigns, the South Space collective design, make and create 100% of their output, harnessing social media for their audience reach, South Space have been able to find those like minds. They produce the music that plays at their live shows, the animated visuals that accompanies the music at those very same live shows, the graphics for their merch sold too, at live shows – they have even created their very own South Space scent in collaboration with Ezra-Lloyd Jackson.
All devised by the minds at the heart of this modern enterprise. The South Space collective have been able to use their tech to cut out exorbitant cost and streamline their entire process, bringing their message direct and unfiltered to their audience. Wildly independent, South Space celebrated their first LP release this month as +44RAPTURE dropped his debut ‘Area Code‘ a future facing mix of psychedelic Electro and bass; a milestone that marks just the beginning for a label driven by passionate creatives with sky high ambitions.
The South Space documentary, was filmed and directed by 18 year old Marcus Laing on his iPhone X, although Marcus is not part of the South Space collective, he’s an upcoming visual artist who is very much of their generation.
The days of the ‘who you know’ industry come up are over. In 2018, you put yourself on. Young people can instantly recognise the faceless voice of a corporation from that of homegrown talent. At the peak of it all these are creators with ideas and the democracy of the internet to ensure each unique and vibrant perspective reaches its audience unfiltered, the UK currently boasts some of the most interesting of these divergent thinkers. Right now, we’re witnessing the rise of the DIY collective, South Space Records represent the start of a new wave. This is the future, and it’s strictly business.
“Divergent thinking isn’t the same thing as creativity. I define creativity as the process of having original ideas that have value. Divergent thinking isn’t a synonym but is an essential capacity for creativity. It’s the ability to see lots of possible answers to a question, lots of possible ways to interpret a question, to think laterally, to think not just in linear or convergent ways, to see multiple answers, not one”. – Sir Ken Robinson
