University News Last updated 14 June 2011
Since 2008, Birmingham School of Media PhD student Rob Horrocks has been working on the Home of Metal project, making important contributions to a major exhibition and to the project’s digital archive, on which he will give a paper at the Home of Metal Conference. Home of Metal launches this week.
Following a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Birmingham City University (then UCE), Rob undertook a part-time distance learning MA in Mass Communications at the Centre for Mass Communications Research at the University of Leicester. After working in London as a record label manager he returned to Birmingham and became more involved in the local music scene.
He was invited to join Home of Metal (see below) as a volunteer when the project began in 2008. This prompted a renewed interest in studying popular music and, in particular, how the political economy of music heritage practices that he had observed were becoming an increasingly important part of popular culture. His interests were shared with members of Birmingham School of Media’s Centre for Media and Cultural Research and, when a studentship was advertised, Rob sent in a proposal involving his work with Home of Metal.
What is Home of Metal?
Bubbling away since 2008, but coming to fruition 18 June – 25 September 2011, Home of Metal is a celebration of the music that was born in the Black Country and Birmingham. Created and produced by Capsule, Home of Metal brings people together to share their passion and explore themes of Heavy Metal through exhibitions, film screenings, live events, a conference (at which Birmingham City University is sponsoring a panel on the media's relationship with metal) and family friendly activities. Four decades since Heavy Metal was unleashed onto an unsuspecting world, Home of Metal honours a truly global musical phenomenon.
As a research intern on Home of Metal, Rob has undertaken primary archival and oral history research – obtaining and interpreting many of the objects in Home of Metal’s exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. He has also been heavily involved in the digital archive facility on Home of Metal’s website. This aspect of the project has resulted in Rob being invited to present papers at two conferences (including the Home of Metal Conference) and a forthcoming event at The British Library.