On November 17, a new venue launched in one of East London’s many newly-gentrified, ever buzzing creative business hubs – Old Street.
The basement space which serves its customers everything from your favourite alcoholic beverage, to freshly made pizza and tacos, is called White Noise.
The opening night coincided with the launch of Leena Ojala’s debut EP My World, and Artefact met with the performer, producer and musician to talk about the concept behind this EP
Leena tells us that it speaks of new beginnings as she aims to take her music in a new direction: “I needed to make a change from the darker music I was making, I was really happy with it at the time, but I needed to make a change to make it more contemporary.”
It seemed perfect for this to come to fruition on a stage that was yet to be graced by anyone else: “I’m really happy to be in a place that’s just been launched, it’s a real pleasure to be here,” she says.
The venue describes itself as “a two floored bar and restaurant which loves to stay up late. Once inside, you are welcomed to a cutting edge venue which embraces a stripped back, raw industrial style. A generous menu of superb food, drink and cocktails makes White Noise the place to check-out in this buzzing neighbourhood.”
The term White Noise described a sound containing many frequencies with equal intensities, which can be used to mask unwanted sounds. So when entering this new space, we were anticipating an eclectic variation of high quality music, an encapsulating environment; one whose atmosphere was focused entirely on enjoying the music provided.
Leena Ojala [Splento]
Just as life is fluctuant and ever changing, Ojala sings about the “good situations, the bad situations, the good days and the bad days.” Putting life experiences “straight into music and create something that [she’s] really happy with,” in a therapeutic manner.
We scanned the space to see if it matched my expectations, (not to say that it must do). It is definitely a “let’s go out for a nice drink” kind of spot, in comparison to some of the venue’s “let’s enjoy a wild night out” neighbours in Old Street.
To us, it currently is where one might go to enjoy after-work drinks, some live acoustics, or a cute dinner in a comfortable “loft apartment-esque” environment. The mature and composed audience were very much reflective of this.
However, being located close to the Radar Radio studios and so close to Shoreditch, White Noise has the potential to connect with a wider audience. An audience who is buzzing with energy and a passion for the UK’s music scenes.
We look forward to seeing what else is to come with White Noise, how its customers will develop and who will become its regulars. Oh and did we mention their pizza is made freshly from scratch, dough and all?! It’s a yes from us.
All images by Splento, supplied by Leena Ojala’s PR.