Bloc Party front man to become world's first artist to launch new track on 3D printed vinyl at pop-up London store

Bloc Party's Kele Okereke and vocalist Bobbie Gordon are poised to become the world's first artists to release an original music track on 3D printed vinyl.
It coincides with the opening of the world’s first 3D printing record store in London in December.
The musical duo met as part of BACARDI Beginnings music mentoring project which gives emerging artists a unique platform to showcase their sound.

Bloc Party's Kele (left) met vocalist Bobbie Gordon (right) as part of BACARDI Beginnings music mentoring project which gives emerging artists a unique platform to showcase their sound

Together they came up with Down Boy, which draws heavy on Bloc Party's dance music and features classic garage beats and ambient vocals from Bobbie Gordon.

Each record will be sold in limited edition record sleeves with four different cover designs for fans to choose from.

Front man Kele, who broke through in the UK in 2005 with Bloc Party's Mercury-nominated album ‘Silent Alarm’, said: 'I’m really excited about being part of this year’s project and working with Bobbie.

Together they came up with Down Boy, which  features classic garage beats and ambient vocals from Bobbie Gordon

'She has a lovely quality and fresh energy to her voice which works really well with the up-tempo dance track we’ve created. I hope this project makes people take notice of her.'
Bobbie Gordon, who started out providing vocals for the likes of Adele, Cee-Lo Green, and Noisettes said: 'I’m proud to have provided the lead vocals on this track and my name's on it.
'And to then release it on 3D printed vinyl – that’s just brilliant!
'I’m so glad that Kele has chosen to work with me; it’s increasingly difficult to break through in this industry and it’s great to have that opportunity.'
The bespoke 3D printing has been developed by technologist Amanda Ghassaei who came up with a programme for converting digital audio files into 3D-printable records.
She said: 'I designed this project as a way to explore the limits of these 3D printers.
'They can print a highly complex fractal in the same amount of time as it would take to print a solid cube. Complexity is trivial to a 3D printer. 
'This project was an experiment to write a piece of code that plays off this idea, by packing an enormous amount of complexity into a 3D model.'
All sales proceeds from the vinyl will go to charity Nordoff Robbins, the national music charity dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable adults across the UK through music therapy and services.
A launch party to celebrate the release of the track and 3D printed limited edition vinyls will take place on Thursday December 12th at the Vinyl Factory in Soho, with Kele and Bobbie performing their new track ‘Down Boy’ for the very first time.