Wartime stories captured in unique vinyl project

A Yorkshire arts collaboration is bringing history to life through music and design.

Musician and photographer Stewart Baxter has teamed up with academics, producers and creative businesses to produce a limited-edition vinyl project inspired by Hull’s wartime legacy. 

The project connects stories of the Hull Blitz with recordings pressed on historic equipment once used at the Nuremberg trials.

Centred on “Bombed Buildings – House”, a composition created by Stewart during the pandemic, the initiative draws on his memories of Hessle Road during his childhood alongside community accounts of war and renewal.

He said: “When houses were demolished as part of the regeneration, we nicknamed them ‘Bombed Buildings’. 

“I have so many memories of playing in them. 

“It was such a big part of my childhood and I can still smell the brick dust.”

The track has been developed with support from Dr Mark Slater of the University of Hull and Danny Thompson of Eclectic Music.

Each of the 20 records produced for the project is unique, with the A-side featuring Stewart’s composition and the B-side carrying spoken contributions from global artists, musicians and writers. 

Contributors include Hull poet Audrey Dunne, rapper Chiedu Oraka, French musician Jehnny Beth and Kate Stables of This is the Kit.

The records have been cut on a rare Presto 28N double lathe, a machine built in 1941 and believed to be the last of its kind still in use. 

Operated by Ben Pike at Rare Tone Mastering, in Leeds, the lathe originally served as transcription equipment at the Nuremberg trials in 1945-46 before later being dismantled and transported across Europe.

Ben, pictured below, said: “I really liked the music and the concept. 

“It’s always nice to work on something that’s a bit different from a standard three-and-a-half-minute song. 

“Stewart explained the whole thing about the building he is in and how it had informed the performance. 

“It just seems the right fit to do it on this vintage machine when it has so much history itself.”

Design and production have also been a regional effort. 

Hull-based paper company G F Smith designed bespoke sleeves inspired by Maister House, which were hand-printed by Makerspace at Hull Central Library and Misc Print Co to reflect the project’s focus on craft and heritage. 

20 one-off vinyl editions will be launched to coincide with a live performance at Maister House on Tuesday, October 7.

Each vinyl combines sound, spoken word and design to offer a multi-sensory exploration of Hull’s wartime past and its cultural present.

Stewart added: “Each buyer will be the only person in the world with that record – it’s the opposite of Spotify and music for the masses, where you are always chasing numbers and streams.”

By linking music, memory and historic technology, the collaboration highlights how creative industries across Yorkshire are working together to explore themes of conflict, resilience and community through innovative cultural projects.

For booking details of the one-off performance of Bombed Buildings – House at Maister House, see here.

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