DOCUMENTING THE UNDERGROUND SCENE IN THE EYES OF 3stacks [@3STACKKS]

For the past three years, 3stacks has archived BTS media from numerous artists, including Pierre Bourne , Len, Trill Tega, and more. Scenes from studio sessions, post-party street culture, and underground events, like Play Piem, are also included in her newly released visual mixtape.

After engaging in the cultural centres, it’s easy to lose yourself in the journey, and unconsciously neglect the present. With pop-ups, live performances, and events happening practically every day of the week having individuals like 3stacks documenting these moments become key figures in our community. So that we can not only relive them but also see how far we’ve come.

The 20 year-old, south London filmmaker and visual effects editor began her journey by declining projects that didn’t excite her, redirecting to producing solely based on her sentiments. After being inspired by the 90s mixtape period, 3stacks purchased a £40 Depop VHS and began documenting all things BTS.

Last week 3stacks published a lengthy project titled “KINO DVD VOL 1” that had it’s first and only screening at the Ritzy, Brixton. She defines this as a 40-minute film that includes all of the bts and archive footage she has collected over the last three years. The ‘visual mixtape’ offers a perspective that is unfiltered and unique to the filmmaker herself, and features footage from the streets of London, Paris, and New York. We sat down with 3stacks to ask her about the motivations for her continuing endeavour, which anybody in the creative community would attest requires both courage and perseverance.

GUAP: The whole documentation process sounds long-winded, how did you manage to stay patient whilst filming the project? 

3stacks: I feel like I believe in myself so much, I know that what’s for me will come and plus I’m only 20, I’m not running out of time. I’ve started doing all this very early, so I’m not rushing. 

GUAP: When did you know it was the right time to stop the project? 

3stacks: That was my problem. I swear to God I could have kept going. Stuff kept happening. I was meant to release it in September but I felt like certain stuff was missing. But mostly the pressure of people telling me to release it then I had to go back to uni and when I hit the 38 minute mark i was like it’s bit too much now. There’s 32 versions of this visual mixtape because I’ll hate it, stop and start again. Editing has taught me a lot of patience.

GUAP: Were you editing as you went along? 

3stacks: Some parts I edited from before, but I was editing in segments. The Paris segment I’ll edit it, export it and then put it in the timeline. In New York I didn’t sleep. I would wake up to film and edit and do it again and again and again. But the time when I properly sat down editing every single day was when I went to Ethiopia for two months.

GUAP: Loved the screening at the Ritzy, but why did you choose that place to screen it? 

3stacks: I was chatting to the lady since October, we were going back and forth for time. Originally they said you can’t do it here but I was like no. I’ve been wanting to do it here for two years like this is all I ever think about. There’s a big sentiment doing it there because I went to school up the road from there, my opticians is on that strip, I got banned from the Mcdonald’s across the road. I grew up on that main strip. The Ritzy has been there for over 100 years it’s a landmark for being one of the first cinemas in London but for that reason Black people aren’t welcome. So I feel like doing it at the Ritzy is like on some, I kind of deserve this, this is my ends. And I owe my story and my confidence to growing up in Brixton. So it was really important to me.

GUAP: So this is VOL1, is there going to be VOL2?

3stacks: Yes there’s gonna be numerous. Fam when I get to VOL5 i’m releasing a box ting. 

3stacks is set to release more projects in her oncoming years of videography. But at least now when you see her with a camera you know why.

Cover image shot by Kiilu

Images by Wildat