Meet The Hear Me Out Band

The Hear Me Out Band was formed in October 2019 in Dover. Initially, it was called the Music After Detention Band. It is currently made up of seven Artists: Anna De Mutiis, Elisha Millard, Joseph Ayanfe, Kaveh G Dezfuli, Lamin Joof, Oliver Seager and Sam Carter.

The members of the band come from all over the world and we met some of them while they were held in immigration detention centres in the UK. Their music is a fusion of different musical traditions. The band’s first residency was before the pandemic in Dover and they played a gig at The Lighthouse in Deal. These tracks can be heard on the Music After Detention album.

In June 2022, the band undertook a four-day artist residency at Rising Tide in Hackney. The group wrote and recorded music tracks from scratch during just four days. They then performed the tracks that weekend in Tottenham as part of the Bernie Grant Arts Centre’s 2022 Windrush Festival to a diverse, intergenerational audience alongside headliners Cleveland Watkiss and the Great Jamaican Songbook. The set included a tribute to O'Neil Reggae Stewart (who we know as 'Goodhead') who was a member of the band but was deported a couple of weeks prior to the performance. As well as O'Neil, Kingsley was also previously part of the band.

For enquiries about booking the band, please contact our Artistic Director Gini at gini@hearmeoutmusic.org.uk

Watch the short film below of the residency and the performance.