Text for Final Book (Uni Printing) Front Cover Blank Inside Page Blank Inside Page Give Em Hull Series Title Page w/ Names Blank Page “We need to make the time. Life's too short to miss cool shit and not hang with cool fuckers” - Dedication Page Blank Page Page 1. I’ve been in the Hull punk scene for just over 10 years now. Me and my bro started our first band in 1993, and recorded our first tape demo as Freaks Union in 1995 at The Warren. We used to make copies of our cassettes and send them out to places like Silhouette, Welly, Adelphi, Room (that later became Attic) etc. for some promotion. Page 2. I remember we used to write out letters to places and promoters in Leeds. My mam couldn’t afford to pay the landline so we used to give them a telephone box number to ring at a specific time and date. The letter would say “ring this number at 4pm on Monday” and we’d wait outside the box hoping that it rang. Page 3. If we got to the box and someone was using we’d be knocking on the door, “Come on mate, you’ve had your time, get off the phone!” haha! Sometimes kids’ll come up to me now saying “Stew, I can’t get a gig anywhere.” and I think if I could get a gig in Leeds writing letters and waiting outside phone boxes, you can definitely get one now. Page 4. That’s not to say it’s easier now. In a lot of ways it’s harder, there’s a bit of a saturated market. Everything’s on the internet so it’s easier for people to feel discouraged. You think you get a great idea for a band and then you hop on bandcamp or Soundcloud and there’s already a hundred bands that sound like that. When I first started you didn’t have all of that; people felt a lot more confident and legendary. Not knowing your competition made you feel a lot braver. It’s a lot easier now to circulate your music, but you still need that hard graft to make it.
Page 5. We started our own punk scene in the 90’s, but it wasn’t just made up of punk-kids. We had fans of all kinds of genres coming to our shows; indie-rock, metal, all sorts. At the time it felt like there were only about 10 bands around and we all played with each other. It created a really good sense of community in the scene. Page 6. I think that community spirit is still there now. Even though there are tons of bands about now there’s still that ‘city the size of a street’ community. It keeps everyone humble and grounded. I think the ethos and atmosphere in today’s Hull music scene is still the same as it was back then. Page 7. That’s largely down to places like The Warren and The Adelphi that are still around. They’re helping the young music scene in Hull, and I think they’re largely responsible for the community and attitude here. Mental and chaotic. Both there to serve the young people of Hull.
Page 8. + 9. Maybe the attitudes of Hull bands have changed a little since when we started in Freaks Union. Back then it used to feel as though you were taking on the world. We once organised a march; “FU Stop The War” gig. We met in Paragon Square and marched to Clive Sullivan way near where you cross to get to Humber Street, and we stopped the traffic and laid down on the road chanting and with placards etc. We pissed off a lot of innocent drivers but the idea was to make a point and raise awareness about the war in Iraq. After that, we all marched to Welly and had a massive show with loads of energy and it was all ages. Massive sense of unity and positivity. And we did another massive show at Welly for the tsunami disaster and raised money to send overseas. We worked hard and played for years doing small shows full of passion and as we got bigger in Hull, and could sell out The Welly, we used that to do something real and positive and give back to the world. The punk scene was really energetic when we got stuck into it, and it was very active. Page 10. A lot of that fighting is coming through the arts scene in Hull now. It’s inspiring people to say something and fight back, but in a way that’s more celebratory and perhaps less aggressive than how we used to do it. That’s what’s so great about places like Sesh; the music scene can influence the art scene and vice versa. It gets people talking to each other and opens up avenues for collaboration which is ace. Page 11.
When we started you had to do it all yourself, y’know? You had to be your own designer, your own manager, your own producer and promoter. But in a way, that DIY attitude became your strength, and your limitations force you to make the most of what you’ve got. You made a commitment to something because you couldn’t just go back and delete it. Page 12. It’s very different now. Even with the invention of things like photoshop it’s so easy to just ctrl +z. And maybe that leads to a sense of hesitation in taking risks because it’s so easy to just undo it. I spend so much time hunched over a computer and I hate it. It’s so nice to do things without having to look at a screen, but then I guess you still scan it in and clean it up on the screen anyway, haha. Page 13. A lot of things are still the same though. We all just liked having a great time and jumping around like idiots. Adelphi was, and still is, a massive part of that. It’s always given young people something to do and somewhere to go, even back when it felt like there was nothing going on in Hull. The Warren and Adelphi have always given that platform to the young people here. Page 14. When people speak to me about spirituality the only thing I can relate that to is music, y’know? Adelphi is my church. Page 15. That’s why local projects are so important. Events like Humber Street Sesh are so vital because they allow people to feed off each other’s energy and it’s AMAZING. When you see something and it makes you think “Fuck, I want to do that”. That, is one of the best things about community. Blank Page About Give Em Hull Charity Stew & Me Blank Page Back of Book