Let it Roll Records Blend Club event

Blend Club’s Camden Debut

Connecting people in the arts, culture and social impact with inquisitive corporates, this Brazilian networking concept has just arrived here in London

Last week at cool and cosy Kentish Town record store, Let It Roll, Blend Inspire made their London debut with Blend Club.

A Venn diagram of an event, the varied guest list is motivated by a belief in the power of unusual connections. With pink lights in the garden and DJ D.Vyzor behind the decks, the evening felt at times like a slightly eccentric house party. Instead of teenagers with bottles of vodka, there were investors waxing lyrical about community development projects, a lawyer with a penchant for Chopin and a school teacher producing his own radio show, to name a few, all sipping on gin cocktails from low alcohol spirit brand Drink Mary.

Blend began in Brazil at the end of 2019 when former marketing director at Rolex, Nadia Leaute Legrix, decided to start a Culture Club with an emphasis on social impact. The aim was to connect arts, culture and impact entrepreneurs to businesses, inspiring segments of society who don’t usually get to come together to collaborate. Kentish Town resident Eric Sampers recently joined the Blend team with the aim of developing the project in Europe. 

At Blend’s London debut, we heard from four guest speakers who spoke about their very different experiences. Comedian and content creator Nazia Vicente told us about growing her platform during the pandemic, commenting on the patience it takes to build a community: “if you’re not willing to create for 10 people, you’re not ready to create for 10,000.” 

Street artist David Speed shared some wisdom about pursuing a creative career, “try throwing mud against the wall and seeing what sticks. Just start.” During the first lockdown he ended up painting 97 artworks around London and growing his following from 300 to over 80,000 with his signature neon pink creations. Goldie even commissioned him after spotting David painting on his roof. 

Brasilian DJ D.Vyzor spoke about growing up in Brazil and his excitemet at his residency at the nearby Jazz Café and Sophie Gallois, CEO of 10% For The Ocean, told us about the impact of bottom trawling on our planet’s largest ecosystem and how shockingly underfunded ocean philanthropy is. 

Hearing from such a variety of people, and meeting even more, provided a fascinating reflection on what really connects us and what we can learn from each other. 

As we all continue to rebuild our ‘real world’ social interactions after the global disruption of Covid, Camdenist will be bringing you a series of various meet-ups, talks, tasting events and parties. Stay tuned for more info.

Find out more about Blend Club and Blend Inspire 

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