As usual, we begin the new year of blogging with some broader considerations regarding the direction, achievements, and challenges of the SST research project, alongside some of the highlights of the previous year. The difference this time is that 2025 marked the final year of SST in full operation, as the project reached the end of […]
SSO#11 – Sound System Cultures Worldwide (7-8 November, 2025) was the final research symposium held during the course of the SST project. Unlike previous SSO events —which either brought practitioners and researchers into dialogue or placed practitioners centre stage— SSO#11 was designed to provide all SST contributing researchers with the opportunity to showcase their work, as well […]
Sound System Outernational (SSO) in association with Sonic Street Technologies (SST) ERC research project and Soul Rockers sound system (Italy) are excited to announce the schedule for SSO#11 Sound System Cultures Worldwide on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th November 2025. This two-day event of film screenings, discussion and sound system sessions aims to assess […]
The recent sound system boom in Australia (see this blog post on Melbourne’s sound system scene) did not happen overnight. Rather, it was built upon the foundational work of a generation of pioneers who had to overcome geographical and cultural barriers — often questioning their own positioning in the process. In this post, SST Australia […]
Remembering the Mighty June Elise Reid (Junie Rankin, Nzinga Soundz) 10th June 1958 – 12th September 2025 Dear June, we miss you greatly. Your enthusiasm, commitment, and love for the reggae sound system scene, for which you were a pioneer. I don’t have much experience with other music scenes – or research areas – apart from […]
“You never miss the water ‘til the well run dry” (Jamaican proverb). But also, you never know your culture ‘til you see it worldwide. Sound System Cultures Worldwide (7-8 November 2025) is a two-day event of film screenings, discussion and sound system sessions assessing the global impact of sound system cultures. Documentary films feature sound systems from […]
With sound system culture emerging across a vast territory and among a diverse population, Australia has been a key country in the SST research (see a previous blog post on Melbourne’s sound system scene by Moses Iten). The SST Australia team, led by Douglas Kahn and Clare Cooper, has not only explored the influence of […]
La patrimonialización de las tecnologías sonoras callejeras es una cuestión cada vez más relevante. Más allá del prestigio cultural, el reconocimiento como patrimonio es frecuentemente percibido por los y las practicantes como una herramienta estratégica para respaldar las negociaciones en curso sobre el acceso al espacio público,
The patrimonialization of sonic street technologies is an increasingly prominent issue across the Global South. Beyond questions of cultural prestige, heritage recognition is often viewed by practitioners as a strategic tool to support ongoing negotiations over access to public space, curfew regulations, and to counter the persistent stigmatization of these sonic cultures. At the same […]
Las tecnologías callejeras sonoras (SST) suelen ser empresas familiares, donde la música y la tecnología, el conocimiento y el capital cultural se transmiten de generación en generación. Esto es especialmente cierto en México, donde unas pocas familias prominentes —a menudo denominadas dinastías— han moldeado y continúan influyendo en la cultura sonidera a nivel local o […]
With this first blog of 2025, the SST Goldsmiths team reflects on the achievements and challenges of the past year. Research-wise, we find ourselves in a strong position, having accomplished many objectives and successfully completed numerous tasks. This progress is largely thanks to the enthusiasm and hard work of our global team of researchers and […]
In this blog post, two members of the SST Canada research team, Kavone and Betel, reflect on the process of gathering materials necessary to form an archival collection of ephemera. These preliminary, or in process reflections capture what we are witnessing in the midst of our work, and more importantly what we are not seeing […]
What does the future hold for sonic street technologies scenes? While we don’t know the answer to this, we do know the intergenerational transmission of the culture is an issue for many scenes around the world. We also know that one of the project’s briefs is to try to find out. Hence the need to […]
On Sunday, September the 15th, some of the SST research films were screened at the ????? ?????? ??????? ???? ???????? in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, UK. The event was organised by Let’s Go Yorkshire in collaboration with Sonic Street Technologies and with support from Zion Inna-Vision sound system. SST long-standing collaborator Gopal Dutta reports on this inspiring […]
SST is very happy to preview Sound System Culture Mini Festival, a live screening programme and street party in Huddersfield, UK, on Sunday 15th September, details here. There’re several reasons for why we’re so pleased to be associated with Let’s Go Yorkshire for this event. One is simply that it is a little-known fact that […]
The bespoke, hand-made speaker box is an iconic feature of reggae sound systems. Since the scoop bass bin replaced the quad speaker box in the 1960s there has been comparatively little change in speaker box design. Amplifying however, has gone through several technological revolutions from valves in the early days to the highly efficient and […]
Besides screening our films for participants, touring them within the country is also a valuable part of the research process. From an international perspective Columbia or Brazil might appear as a single nation, but of course they are made up of different states, each with their own geographies, climates and music cultures. Great distances and […]
Una rama importante de la investigación de SST en Colombia se concentra en Urabá, en el noroeste del país. Desde el 2021, el colectivo Urabá Sound System está luchando por el reconocimiento del picó (el sistema de sonido autóctono del Caribe colombiano) como una herramienta comunitaria poderosa para fomenter la cohesión social, facilitando el proceso […]
A exposição Funk: um grito de ousadia e liberdade visa contextualizar e celebrar a importância do funk brasileiro na história da cultura do Rio de Janeiro e no restante do país, por meio de 900 obras de mais de 100 artistas, a maioria deles ligados às comunidades onde se produz, se toca e se dança […]
Funk: um grito de ousadia e liberdade (‘a cry of boldness and freedom’) exhibition aims to contextualize and celebrate the importance of Brazilian funk in the history of culture in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil at large. The exhibition amounts to 900 pieces of works produced by more than 100 artists, most of them linked […]
With SST researchers working in and with local scenes, it’s a pleasure to highlight some of the ongoing activities – namely the Knock-em Down Sound System programme. Part of the SST Australia’s work this offers a public programme as well as providing an opportunity for research. Andrew Belletty is leading the Knock-em Down Sound System […]
As a research project focused on popular music and culture it is our duty to reach out to the scene where this is, being it a small street dance or a massive international festival. The latter was the case when SST France team members Dr Jean-Christophe Sevin and Maria Emilia Escamilla travelled to Dub Camp festival last […]
The 8th Global Reggae Conference provided two major opportunities for the project. One was to share our work, with members from the global SST team presenting papers across many of the conference panels. A major feature of this sharing of research results was the entire day of SSO#10 Frames and Frequencies film festival with no […]
The long term objective of the SST project is to establish sonic street technologies as an area of study. Therefore, having students and younger scholars getting involved is very important. We are pleased to welcome to the SST blog PhD candidate and sound system practitioner Giovanni Mugnaina from UNIBO (Italy) to report on the 8th […]
The first 2024 blog provides the opportunity to reflect on last year’s achievements and challenges. Starting out on the SST project four years ago we were most familiar with reggae sound systems, based on team members’ research knowledge and experience as owners and MCs. We were only dimly aware of other types of sound system. Now, […]
Cover image (C) Miguel Salvatore_Courtesy of Feminine Hi Fi We’re glad to announce a new SST collaboration which marks our first physical appearance in Belgium. Sound system culture: un rituel de resistance (A Ritual of Resistance) , is an upcoming event hosted by Brussels’ Cinéma Nova in partnership with Culture & Démocratie, Osmose, the Sonic […]
As our most attentive readers will already know, February 14th to 17th 2024 will see the 8th staging of the renowned Global Reggae Conference (GRC) celebrating and investigating the culture and technology of Jamaica’s most famous musical instrument – the sound system. Organized by the Institute of Caribbean Studies & Reggae Studies Unit, the GRC is an […]
The Jah Shaka Memorial Event is scheduled for next Sunday the 22nd of October. It will provide one more chance to the UK and international sound system community to gather in honour of the late great Jah Shaka, who passed away on April 12, 2023, and whose Nine Night celebration was held at Goldsmiths. Part […]
One of the most common issues for SST cultures around the world is certainly the difficulties to find spaces to play, which affects literally every scene we are researching. This is caused by a combination of reasons, including middle class disdain for street cultures, institutionalised racism against Black music, and widespread urban gentrification. As a result, anti-rave laws […]
SST has just published an article in the peer-reviewed journal Performance Matters entitled Jamaican Sound Systems and Knowledge Systems: Practice-Based Research (PBR) in Popular Culture. The article is authored by principal investigator Julian Henriques and senior research assistant Brian D’Aquino, and discusses the theoretical and methodological implications of conducting practice-based research on sonic street technologies in […]
Once again SST was proud to support a successful Sound System Outernational gathering, the SSO#9 premiere screening of UK Generation 2 Generation research documentary. This was based on the SSO#8 event, UK Sound System Reasoning Session, which took place at Goldsmiths in November 2022. That full day brought together different generations of British-based sound system practitioners […]
Sound System Outernational #9: Premiere of UK Generation 2 Generation documentary film 6pm, Saturday 6th May 2023, Goldsmiths, University of London SST is proud to support Sound System Outernational #9, to be held at Goldsmiths University, London on Saturday 6th May 2023. SSO#9 will premiere the UK Generation 2 Generation documentary film, a compelling account […]
Continuing the recap of our 2022 activities, this week we’re going to focus on our research methodology. The three SST principles of collaboration, respect and recognition, and sharing findings described in Part One of this blog have both informed and been informed by our working research methods. These are both quantitative and global in the […]
If the SST project is about just one thing, it is about bringing technology into life, as distinct from make technology more life-like or invasive. We believe that sonic street technologies are exemplary in enhancing the creative powers and potentials of off-the-shelf electronic components, as well as those lovingly repurposed and customised. In many different […]
Las SST bajo el volcán: la presentación en 4s El 08 de diciembre de este año tuve la oportunidad de acompañar al equipo de Sonic Street Technologies a la conferencia anual de 4s en Cholula, México. La ocasión sería especial no sólo porque sería la primera vez que presentaría los avances de mi trabajo de […]
By Aadita Chaudhury This last week, the Sonic Street Technologies team headed to Cholula, Mexico to be part of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Conference at Cholula, Mexico. Each year, the 4S conference brings together researchers, practitioners and students of the discipline of science and technology studies, and configures and examines new […]
This blog is the second iteration in a series of photo essays documenting the ongoing activities carried out by local forces in the Colombian region of Urabà with the purpose of preserving, nurturing and enhancing the local picotera culture which has been heavily affected by structural violence and government repression. […]
In the spirit of outernationalism for Sound System Outernational #8 SST asked for a report on the event we sponsored from Marcus Ramusyo Brasil, one of our Brazilian research collaborotors. This day long marathan session – from 10.30 am to 10.00 pm – was very well attended with about 150 participants, more than thirty of […]
Researching the dynamic living music scenes that surround SST presents certain challenges. Not least amongst these is that the material we gather is most often oral, or social media posts, rather formal written records, let alone statistics. With SST this is always with the consent and participation of the professionals and aficionados of these scenes. […]
At SST we always experiment with ways to make our research more accessible and wide-reaching. When doing fieldwork alongside sound systems and other sonic street technologies professionals we come in contact with an astonishing body of knowledge and practices embodied in the life stories of fiercely creative people who are virtually unknown out of their […]
Here at SST, we are always searching for the ways that sound system cultures and their impact becomes more noticed throughout the wider culture and other media platforms. For many of us, the SST project has been a portal into a whole world of musical expressions that were previously unfamiliar to us. As someone whose […]
By Aadita Chaudhury Before SST takes the month of August off, we wanted to share the creative brilliance of some of our friends and collaborators. In this week’s blog, we at SST want to share with you some creative works produced by some of our collaborators and associates. We hope you enjoy the diverse musical […]
Starting back in the 1980s, Lewisham People’s Day is a family-friendly, community free festival that brings together all ages, creeds and colours to celebrate the borough’s people and their creativity, vitality and imagination through music, art and culture. After a few years of forced stop caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the event has returned to […]
Sonic Street Technologies gode del supporto da parte di diversi collaboratori e di relazioni costruite negli anni. Anche prima di SST, alcuni membri del team lavoravano assieme come Sound System Outernational, collaborando con artisti, scrittori, musicisti, professionisti e appassionati di sound system da tutto il mondo. Hylu, fondatore di Unit 137 sound system, di stanza […]
Sonic Street Technologies has long enjoyed the support, shared interests and enthusiasm of many friends and collaborators over the years. Even before SST, several of the current team worked together as Sound System Outernational, collaborating with numerous artists, writers, musicians, sound operators and people passionate about sound system from all over the world. Hylu from Unit 137 has been one […]
SST hosted a research network meeting on Friday 6th May 2022 called Relationalities of Research. We invited research colleagues that are part of the SST network to share and explore our relationships as practitioners and researchers to our fields of enquiry and participants. We choose this topic, Relationalities of Research, as a common theme […]
SST’s commitment to researching and supporting sound system culture comes to nothing unless we take some care of its future with the younger generation. Another commitment the project has besides work globally – is not to forget our local community in Lewisham where the project is based at Goldsmiths, University of London. These two […]
In a previous post, Dakta Dub and Roy Dipankar of Bass Sanskriti wrote about the inception of their new Monkey Sound System. In this post, Dakta Dub, with inputs from Roy Dipankar, takes us through the idiosyncrasies of Indian bureaucracy and cultural spheres that they navigated prior to their sound system launch, and lessons to take […]
Held in Kingston Jamaica on Sunday the 20th of February 2022, ‘Sounds of the Future’ has been a research event bringing together professionals from the sound system scene to discuss the current state of the industry in Jamaica. The one-day event […]
Continuing the series drafting the theoretical basis of SST Research (see pt. 1, pt. 2, and pt. 3), this blog considers the difference sound makes. It develops the idea of thinking knowledge through sounding – rather than image or text as the conventional metaphors for epistemic knowledge – is a fruitful way of revealing the […]
O Brasil pode reivendicar umas das mais ricas e diversificadas cenas e culturas do SST do mundo. É sobre isso que os nossos projetos planejm pesquisar, em profundidade e em detalhe. Por isso, temos o prazer de publicar, como primeira amostra do que está vindo, esta entrevista com a Dani Pimenta, co-fundadora do coletivo Feminine […]
Brazil can lay claim to possibly the richest and most diverse SST scenes and cultures anywhere in the world. Our projects plans to research this is depth and detail. So we are very pleased to publish this interview with Dani Pimenta, co-founder of the Feminine Hi-Fi collective as well as the Mapa Sound System Brazil […]
As a global research project, the SST blog is very pleased to report on emerging sound systems and other SST around the world. This is especially the case in countries where sound system culture is not yet well established – there are very few operating in India. Monkey Sound System intended to have its birthday […]
Continuing the series drafting the theoretical basis of SST Research (see pt.1 and pt.2), this second part goes into some detail on the nature and characteristics of black knowledge and its production. This identified kinds of knowledge that are situated, embodied and shared. Such ways-of-knowing can be described as vibrational in terms of the standard […]
We are glad to announce the publication of the Sound System Outernational (SSO) guest-edited special issue of the Journal of World Popular Music – Volume 8, Number 1, available here. Edited by SSO team members Brian D’Aquino and Oana Pârvan, the special issue features some of the contributions originally presented during the international symposium ‘SSO#5: […]