Fred Again.. hosts free Abbey Road workshops for trans+ producers on June 19

Fred Again.. is putting the spotlight where it often never lands: trans+ producers. Later this week, he is hosting free production workshops for trans+ musicians at Abbey Road Studios in London on Friday, June 19, led by Fred Again.. with a lineup of special guests.

The whole thing is powered by a new initiative called Trans+ Future Sounds, organized by the Trans* Creative Collective and made in partnership with Emily Lazar’s We Are Moving The Needle, a non-profit group dedicated to women, non-binary, and trans producers and engineers. Organizers say the aim is to “facilitate and support producers and writers from the trans and queer community to become the innovative leading producers the industry needs.” It is also a response to a specific industry gap: a recent report from We Are Moving The Needle found that just 2.3 per cent of producers are women, trans, or non-binary.

If you are a music executive, label operator, investor, or platform leader, that 2.3 per cent number should land like a dashboard warning light. The music world loves to talk about discovery, authenticity, and breaking through, but production is where careers get built or blocked. Recording access, engineering mentorship, and studio culture are not side quests. They shape who learns fast, who gets feedback from respected professionals, and who feels welcome enough to keep showing up.

Trans+ Future Sounds is designed to do more than offer a feel-good workshop. The event is set for a prestigious, high-signal room: Abbey Road Studios, described by organizers as “one of the most prestigious recording institutions in the world.” The organizers frame it as an opportunity for trans+ creatives to be “welcomed” and shown that they are respected and valued. In other words, this is about infrastructure and belonging at the same time, not just teaching production basics.

The partner structure matters, too. The initiative is organized by the Trans* Creative Collective, which was founded in 2021 and has built an international community through workshops, mentoring, socials, and industry partnerships. The collective’s recent collaborations include projects with BMG, and it has been featured in the UK Music Diversity Report as an exemplary campaign organisation driving industry change. Then you layer in We Are Moving The Needle, Emily Lazar’s non-profit focused on women, non-binary, and trans producers and engineers. Together, the message is that this is not charity theatre. It is a coordinated attempt to address pipeline problems in the production stack.

Fred Again.. is also bringing real momentum from his own touring cycle. The collaboration arrives as he wrapped up his huge ‘USB002’ tour earlier this year, which included special guests such as Underworld, Mike Skinner, Joy Anonymous, La Roux, Nia Archives, The Streets, Romy, D Double E, Berwyn, Ezra Collective, and Daft Punk icon Thomas Bangalter. The joint set with Bangalter took place at London’s Alexandra Palace during the final show of the tour, and has since been released on Apple Music. Since then, the producer dropped a 108-hour continuous mix, using exclusive files created for the live stint. The point here is straightforward: he is not stepping into this cold, he is arriving with audience reach, credibility, and experience in working with high-caliber collaborators.

For Trans+ Future Sounds, the guest list gives you another signal about what the event could become. Alongside Fred Again.., special guests include Sans Soucis, MESSIE, Trans Voices, charlieeeee, Satch, Emily Green, Fuzz Chaudhrey and more. That roster plus Abbey Road access creates a practical “who knows who” moment for trans+ creators who often get locked out of networks by accident, gatekeeping, or both.

The strategy stakes are bigger than one day at one studio. Organizers say more 2026 events from Trans+ Future Sounds are set to be announced later, suggesting this is meant to be an ongoing pipeline, not a one-off. In boardrooms, leadership teams, and partnership committees, the second-order question is: does your organisation treat production access as a diversity initiative, or as a repeatable operating practice? Trans* Creative Collective co-founder and founder of Trans+ Future Sounds charlieeeee says the mission since founding TCC in 2021 has been “to make space for trans+ creatives to thrive, not just survive,” and that Trans+ Future Sounds feels like “the fullest expression of that yet.” For executives watching this, the play to learn is not “do a workshop.” It is to design programs that reduce structural friction, measure representation gaps like the 2.3 per cent finding, and create pathways that turn invited participants into future professionals the industry actually needs.