Sometimes, at least from the perspective of websites like this one, it can seem like the Oxford music scene is nothing but guitar-toting indie kids. (No offence, we love guitar-toting indie kids!) There’s more going on in this town, however, and recently much of what can be bracketed under the term ‘urban’ – for want perhaps of a better name – is being corralled and backed by BG Records. The collective/team/group are led by Baby Gravy’s Zahra Tehrani, who has been not only promoting and helping out young musicians, but getting involved in all manner of related activities.

Zahra gave up some of her (very valuable) time to answer a few questions for MusicInOxford.co.uk, which will hopefully help to introduce a whole new facet of Oxford music to a soon-to-be-enthusiastic crowd.

MIO: What is BG Records all about?
ZT: BG Records is a music project aimed at young people and run by young people. I started this label off as a way of getting my band’s music out there, and it developed more into a mentoring project. For 2011 we have our own studio to run recording sessions in, workshops covering everything from music video editing to lyric writing, one-on-one lessons in most instruments, lots more gig opportunities, and regular record releases from any genre that is thrown in our direction.

MIO: Why are you doing it?
ZT: Young people need encouragement to be creative. The amount of space that is available to do creative things in Oxford is becoming more and more limited, with all the cuts in the youth service, lack of live music venues for young people to perform in, and lack of space for artists to exhibit in. There is a gap where people are too old to access facilities or help, but they are still only 19+, which I find extremely unfair, and I intend on helping those people, along with those who may not know what to do when they finish school, or might not be able to get a job, or may be be too unwell to work. Most of the music that is being forwarded to me is more ‘urban’ than band-orientated which proves there is a real need for Oxford to take notice of this scene. We are doing our best to get as much of this talent exposed as possible.

MIO: Who’s involved with BG Records?
At the moment, anyone who wants to be. We have a list of around 30 people involved: musicians, songwriters, beat makers, DJs, promoters, artists, film makers – and the list goes on. I have had a lot of support from Moe Berrie (one of the first female DJs in the country) and Asher Dust (an inspirational and experienced artist from Oxford) which I am really grateful for.

MIO: Do you think there’s an invisibility of the ‘urban’ music scene in the local music press – and does this bother you?
Yes I do. There is plenty of press for the pushy rappers that have little talent and massive business skills, but not enough for the real true talent, the real representation of Oxford ‘urban’ music. It bothers me because the reviewers that we have a choice of using within the local music press have very little knowledge of the ‘urban’ scene or reference to what is currently going on in the UK ‘urban’ scene.

MIO: What’s the involvement of young people with BG Records?
The young people are the participants but I must stress that to me there is no age limit to the people we work with. The young people are also the people that take part in running this project (which includes myself) and deliver some of the workshops.

MIO: Where is the stuff that you and BG are involved with happening in Oxford?
BG headquarters is at the Saxon Centre, Saxon Way, in Northway, at the moment. We have the BG café most Saturdays, workshops, studio sessions, lessons and BG movie nights happening there from now until June. We have a launch party at the O2 Academy Oxford too on 2 April, to showcase some of the talent we have been working with.

MIO: How do, and how can people get involved with BG Records?
Honestly all you have to do is get in touch with me via Facebook or Twitter, and let me know what you want to do. Or show up to one of our events and have a word. We are an inclusive organization – not exclusive in any way.

MIO: Is Oxford better now than in the past for the kind of music that you/BG are involved with?
I think Oxford has always been quite cliquey when it comes to music – not sure if anything has changed much. We are just all about community, working as a unit and helping everyone get to the next level in whatever they want to do, so whether it changes or not we will still be here doing our thing in some shape or form.

MIO: What’s the relationship with and involvement of Ark-T in BG?
For the past year most of the recording for BG had been done through Ark-T but engineered by me, as that is my other place of work. The only real involvement we have is that I work for both organizations.

Future plans for you and BG Records?
We plan to release as much music as we can this year, build on empowering as many young people as possible, create lots of new opportunities, and to run bigger and better regular events far and wide.

Amen to that. To get a taster of the music that BG are helping to get out there, you could do at lot worse than to attend their ‘BG Records Presents’ event, as mentioned by Zahra, which is at the O2 Academy Oxford on Saturday 2 April. The show will run from 7.00 pm to 10.00 pm and is an all-ages event (although under 14s need to be accompanied by an adult). The line-up features Babygravy Allstars, The Vibe, Half Naked, MVE, Yank$, Uneek, N-Zyme, Devz, Asher Dust, Nonsensible, Aikz, Notezz, Chukie, Silecta, Esby and Volume. More information at the event’s Facebook page.

Make contact with BG through their Facebook page or on Twitter.