BIG names in midlands music are teaming up to ensure Stourbridge is ready when the industry emerges from the coronavirus crisis.

Jonn Penney from Ned's Atomic Dustbin has become patron of Base Studios in Stourbridge where he will be mentoring new talent.

MAS Records provide free rehearsal and recording time at the Rufford Road studios and Jonn will be on hand to offer his know-how.

He has decades of experience both as frontman for one of the biggest indie bands of the 90s and 15 years as press and marketing officer at music venues including Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

Jonn Penney said: “That ‘Stourbridge Scene’ that we emerged from, and that folks still romanticise about, only really existed as a powerful desire to succeed.

"That community of passionate creatives around the town built up such a momentum at the time that it was bound to produce something significant and it’s that kind of force of nature I’m hoping we can emulate now with Base at its core.

"I’m hoping it’ll be a new kind of creative community that this generation will shape for themselves - I can throw in some of my experience to help them to find their feet then, with our team from MAS Records and Kidderminster College, we can support them through their development to fulfil their full potential.”

The pandemic lockdown has decimated the music industry with venues closed and tours cancelled but the team at the studios believes there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Jonn added: "There are so many strands of the Stourbridge legacy still weaving away, stitching together a new future for the next generation of musicians to prepare them for a time we all hope for.

"A time when small venues will be able to safely open their doors again. This future will provide opportunities for live performance broadcast online, giving artists a purpose that is crucial to their development.

"Base Studios is central hub to a community of vastly experienced industry experts who have all played their part in the creation of the Stourbridge legacy. Pop Will Eat Itself rehearsed for their recent tours there; live technicians who travelled the world with The Wonder Stuff and Neds Atomic Dustbin are regularly involved in projects there and Neds have rehearsed there ever since their full reformation in 2007."