NOW THEN | ISSUE 12 | A MAGAZINE FOR MANCHESTER

NOW THEN

NATALIE M WOOD | JOHN COOPER CLARKE | Liz Green A MAGAZINE FOR MANCHESTER | ISSUE 12 | FREE

NOW THEN.

Now Then

is a free , independent magazine published in Sheffield and Manchester. It is all about supporting independence in art , trade and citizen journalism . Local people are strongly encouraged to contribute and each magazine includes artwork from a different featured artist .

Now Then is published by social enterprise

Opus Independents .

opus distribution A print distribution service for independent traders, charities, statutory organisations and arts institutions.

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Opus PResents A live music project hosting regular events, from intimate folk and blues nights to dancing till dawn.

wordlife A literature organisation dedicated to showcasing exciting new creative writing and performance.

Background art by Michael Latimer

Opus also operates a flyer and poster distribution service, and a variety of music and spoken word events.

At its core, Opus is a democratic arts collective providing mechanisms for creative activities which support local communities and affect social change .

EDITORIAL. It’s hard to believe it’s two years since the first issue of Now Then hit the streets of Manchester, but the ‘Issue 12’ adorning the front of this magazine can’t be disputed. We’re proud to have been able to work with Manchester’s independents since October 2012, printing bi-monthly. The writing you see within these pages is by you, for you.

Inside this issue you’ll find a few Stockport themes to tie in with our Arts Council collaboration event that takes place at Seven Miles Out on 20 September. More info is dotted through these pages, including a feature on Liz Green, who’ll be performing live at the event. Elsewhere, we have an interview with local wordsmith John Cooper Clarke, along with David Dunnico’s concluding article on the statues theme.

Enjoy the read.

IAN. ian@nowthenmagazine.com

NOW THEN 12, SEPT - OCT 2014 Out of Stock

5 // LOCALCHECK

In with a Bang, Out with a Whimper

6 // JOHN COOPER CLARKE

The Bard of Salford on Cycling, Accents and Social Media

8 // STOCKPORT

Returning to a Fresh Start / Photography Feature

12 // FOOD On the Rise

16 // WORD LIFE Hosted by Joe Kriss Our world is increasingly unequal, characterised by apathy, disconnection and the interests of the few. We can do better.

Now Then is a platform for independent art, trade, music, writing and local news.

It’s about supporting the things that make a community what it is – creativity, cooperation, collaboration, conscience and consciousness.

Anyone can contribute to the magazine, both online and off, remotely and in person, in support or in opposition – the discussion is what matters.

We want you to write for Now Then. Get involved.

Writer? Musician? ian@nowthenmagazine.com Artist? sam@nowthenmagazine.com Poet? wordlife@nowthenmagazine.com Theatre? andrew@nowthenmagazine.com Advertise with us? joew@nowthenmagazine.com Search ‘Now Then Manchester’ on Facebook.

Twitter? @nowthenmanc #nowthenmanc

21 // MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL Decoding, Beekeeping and Sock Trees

23 // ARTEFACTS & EXPERIENCES Where Art, Health and Technology Meet

24 // POLITIKA

Public Realm Intervention and the Affairs of the City

28 // NATALIE M WOOD Digital Design from Stockport

33 // SOUND

What’s Right with Grassroots Festivals?

34 // LIVE

Beat Herder / The Centennial Arkestra / Jeffrey Lewis / Listings

36 // ALBUMS

The Travelling Band / Mammal Hands / Generic Greeting / Gymnast / Ivan Campo / Khufu

38 // LIZ GREEN

Cabaret, Interviews and Saving Pianos

The views expressed in the following articles are the opinion of the writer(s) and not necessarily those of Now Then Magazine. Reproduction of any of the images or writing in Now Then without prior consent is prohibited.

43 // STAGE

Now Then may be unsuitable for under 18s.

Nativity Plays, Authority and Planet of the Japes

Now Then is a registered trademark of Opus Independents Ltd.

Contact Compacts

45 // COMEDY

46 // FILMREEL Screen Stockport

Contributors.

MANAGEMENT. IAN PENNINGTON. JAMES LOCK. EDITOR. IAN PENNINGTON. STAGE EDITOR. ANDREW ANDERSON. DESIGN & LAYOUT. THURSTON GORE. PROOF & COPY. IAN PENNINGTON. SAM WALBY. ADVERTISING. AMELIA BAYLISS. JOE WEBSTER. SAMUEL BUCKLEY. JAMES LOCK. AD DESIGN. THURSTON GORE. JOE MILLS. ADMIN & FINANCE. MARIANNE BOLTON. FELICITY HEIDEN. PHOTOGRAPHY. DAVID DUNNICO. ELLE BROTHERHOOD. RUTH WARMAN. YGR ERSKINE. BRANDALISM. ANDREW ANDERSON. CHRISTOPHER BETHELL. EMILY DENNISON. DISTRIBUTION. OPUS DISTRO. WRITERS. DAVID DUNNICO. STEPHEN GREENWOOD. DAVID EWING. TOM WARMAN. JOE KRISS. YGR ERSKINE. DR JENNA C ASHTON. DAISY KIDD. IAN PENNINGTON. ANASTASIA CONNOR. STEFANIE ELRICK. JOE MILLS. NATHAN MCILROY. MIKE AINSCOE. ADAM ROBERTSHAW. BECKI CLARKE. SARA LOUISE TONGE. RUBY HOFFMAN. SAMUEL BUCKLEY. ADAM BLAIZE. CHARLES VEYS. ART. NATALIE M WOOD.

48 // FAVOURITES

Our Pick of Independent Manchester

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Localcheck In With a Bang, Out With a Whimper

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garden centre style classical figures on the roof, the culprit being Guy Portelli.

Following earlier criticism, one Councillor said, “We have made mistakes in the past and we’ve taken a lot of stick over it, but no more! We want traditional […] no more of this arty stuff.” Much of Spofforth’s work is figurative, realistic, traditional – so none of that arty stuff. No surprise then that he has become something of a go-to guy for councils seeking statuary powers. Yet even he gets some stick. Spofforth’s commission for a figure of a Victorian-ish market trader outside Altrincham Town Hall was met with disapproval from Trafford Councillor Cornes, who said: “I think it looks awful, absolutely awful”. Noticing one of the traits of three-dimensional objects, he went on, “It is visible from all angles…” Another objector suggested the £35,000 cost should have been spent on public toilets. It was always thus. When Manchester launched its George V memorial appeal for 500,000 shillings (£25,000), it was proposed the money should be spent on hospital beds.

We started this series with Frank Sidebottom’s statue.

Spofforth had been an advisor to the project, which was funded by donations. Manchester City Council is examining proposals for a female worthy to be immortalised in time for the centenary of women getting the vote. Councillor Simcock assured us that “not one penny” would be coming from the parsimonious public purse.

David Dunnico

Ph oto by David Du nnico

n 1996, the year of the IRA bomb, Manchester City Council became a Conservative Free Zone and waited for the following year’s general election. The Thatcherites were replaced with Thatcher-lite in the shape of Tony Blair, who was joined by Manchester’s leftish Council Leader, Graham Stringer, who became the MP for Blackley. The colleagues Stringer left behind in the Town Hall didn’t erect any statues in his honour, but did dismantle the £80,000 obelisk that had been plonked at the top of Market Street. This 45 foot tall, 30 tonne pointy piece of pointless marble got in everyone’s way, but did give the punks and drunks somewhere to sit. It was replanted in Crumpsall Park like some municipal Cleopatra’s Needle.

Councils such as Manchester had been neutered by Tory policy. They became little more than brand managers and sculpture became less artwork and more publicity logo. Anthony Gormley’s Angel of the North was seen to have successfully branded Newcastle-Gateshead and if Manchester had something as big and as rusty it could do the same.

‘B of the Bang’ blew up in the face of the Council. Artist Thomas Heatherwick named it after the comment by runner Linford Christie that he started running on the ‘B’ of the bang from the starting gun. The sculpture was a little slower. It came in two years behind the 2002 Commonwealth Games and £1 million over budget. It originally had 180 spikes, but one was nicked, then others started falling off. In 2009, they gave up trying to fix it and weighed in 165 tonnes of it at the scrap merchants, who gave the Council £17,000 and a red balloon, which popped when it rubbed against one of the barbed criticisms. The Council sued the artist, whilst the artist sued the structural engineers. This year the Council spent their winnings on some more statues for Beswick by Ryan Gander, this time in rain-resistant, non-rusty, shiny stainless steel.

In 1901, The Manchester Guardian had questioned the point of having statues of worthies, which they described as being “befouled effigies” in the city’s polluted atmosphere. Today in an atmosphere of cuts, the value of a monument to regeneration is similarly questioned, although not by developers who find a bit of outdoor art greases the planning.

In 2010, Manchester City Council decamped to One First Street while the Town Hall was tarted up. They missed the statues in Albert Square, so paid £150,000 for some fibreglass cavorting figures on poles outside their temporary headquarters. These were by Colin Spofforth, who also did ‘The Runner’ outside Sports City, near B of the Bang, and the four jazz men inside the shopping apocalypse of the Trafford Centre. He is entirely innocent of the

David Dunnico is a documentary photographer dunni.co.uk

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John Cooper Clarke The bard of Salford on Cycling, Accents and Social Media

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r John Cooper Clarke is regarded in the world of punk poetry in the same way that James Brown is in the land of soul – The Godfather. He conjures up an endless stream of magical phrases and delivers them with his unique Salford drawl, leaving behind piles of people requiring medical assistance due to split sides. His pioneering style has influenced generations of writers and his poem, ‘I Wanna Be Yours’, was reworked and featured on the Arctic Monkeys’ latest album, AM. John recently travelled to Yorkshire for some special shows celebrating the arrival of the Tour De France. I spoke to him over the phone from his home in Essex.

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Poetry and cycling aren’t words you would usually associate with each other. How did these shows come about?

My friend Johnny Green [former road manager of the Clash] – he reports on it every year. That’s what he does these days.

He reports for a high-end cycling magazine called Rouleur so he was sent up to cover it. He drives me places, so this time I got a show on the back of him. We figured out why not tie in a couple of shows, one in Harrogate where it set off from and one the next day while we were up there in Sheffield. We also made a program about the Tour De France for Radio 4 which will be broadcast in the autumn.

What was the first bike you had?

For a start, I had to save up for it really hard. It seemed to take years for me to acquire a bike. I grew up on a main road, probably the busiest crossroads in Manchester. My mother used to look out the window and say, “You’re not having a bike!” But I wouldn’t shut up about it, so then it morphed into, “I’m not buying it for you. I’m not contributing to your early death.” So I bought a second-hand one. It was a Phillips Vox Populi, gold coloured with yellow mud guards, which I stripped off in the interest of velocity.

And did it change anything?

It got me out and about. I’ve never been much of a saunterer until now actually. I quite enjoy the life of a flâneur.

But back then there was an etiquette to being on a bike. I think the days of the gentleman cyclist are over, ever since they were conferred with moral superiority. Now they seem to be the carriers of all that is right and moral in the world, simply by not having a car. It has a bad effect on people, that kind of thing.

Now they think they can just ride it anywhere.

While we are on the subject of bikes, I still do a lot of cycling now. I’m in possession of a 1959 Hercules Roadster in English racing green. I consider the hours I spend in the saddle to be golden.

Have you noticed a change in the demographic of your audience since the Arctic Monkeys released ‘I Wanna Be Yours’?

Oh, without a doubt. I’ve noticed that ever since the Arctic Monkeys started touting my name about, there is no age group

light. In an attic. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The time-honoured method of poetry composition.

When did you first realise you had a talent for it?

Probably when I was about 13. That’s when I got an enthusiasm for it.

What was the first poem you wrote?

It was some commission we got at school. But I got severely punished once because games had been abandoned because of fog. That was the only thing that could get us off games. It was a foggy afternoon and we were given the job of writing a poem about cricket, just to keep us occupied. Not knowing anything about cricket and not being particularly interested, I just wrote, “Rain stopped play”, and then looked out of the window for an hour. It wasn’t appreciated. I thought I was being succinct, but the powers that be saw it as skiving off poetry duty. And I was the poet. Ironic really. But a year later I would embrace the world of poetry thanks to an inspiring English teacher called John Malone.

Have you entered into the domain of social media?

No. Not in any way. Not because I am a luddite, but because I know how great it is. I would never step foot out of the house ever again. It is computer or livelihood. It’s as simple as that. If I got a computer you would find me dead in six weeks under a pile of pizza boxes. No mither.

Do you think the way people use technology today will be detrimental for the future of writing?

Almost undoubtedly. I can’t prove it. Do you know what I

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“I consider the hours I spend in the saddle to be golden”

.................................................................... for my audience anymore. It’s across the board. And being on Have I Got News For You, that helped.

You have such a distinctive voice and accent. Has it ever got you in any bother while on tour?

It’s never got me in any bother, but I don’t think the accent has anything to do with it. If some people find it charming, I’m glad. I can’t see it meself. My dad was a very left-wing person, but when they started having people reading the news on Granada who had slightly regional accents, he went ballistic.

He thought that people like Alvar Lidell should be reading the news, people with received pronunciation, because quite rightly he thought it was more important that the majority of people knew what was going on in the world, rather than some chicken shit regional point being made by shipping in some yokel. Let’s face it, no matter what your accent is. Even Alan Hansen understands received pronunciation. Doesn’t matter if you’re from the Orkneys or fucking Cornwall.

Are there any accents you can’t stand?

Most of them. They make you sound like a peasant. I don’t like most accents.

What about yours?

The thing about my voice is I like the tone of it. I have a rich baritone. I’m a fucking fabulous singer. But I don’t see the appeal of the accent if I’m honest. I wish I spoke like George Sanders.

How do you write your material – still with a pen and pad of paper?

Yeah, old school baby. A quill and a parchment. By candle-

always say to people with mobile phones? Be here now.

I know in recent times you’ve often toured with Mike Garry, who is a very gifted poet. Is that the case for the upcoming tour?

Yeah, a very popular choice. Mike Garry and Luke Wright.

We are kind of a team now.

Are there any other talents out there that we should be aware of?

Poetical-wise, millions of them – Tim Wells aka Frankie Mansfield, Salena Godden, Jock Scott, who is not very well at the moment, so catch him out while you can. A very gifted writer and gentlemen poet.

Anything else in the pipeline?

I gotta get a book out real soon. I have loads of new stuff.

They have just reprinted my old book, Ten Years In An Open Necked Shirt, which is selling very well, but of course I have all these new fans that Alex Turner and Plan B have introduced to my work. There is no age demographic at all to my audience, which is an enviable position for any writer.

Stephen Greenwood

Dr John will be hitting the road again this autumn, including a special Christmas show at the Apollo on 3 January. johncooperclarke.com

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Stockport Returning to a Fresh Start

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oming home after completing an undergraduate degree is never going to be easy. Not only are you leaving behind friends, significant others and a level of hedonism and freedom akin to the last days of Rome, you’re also starting again in many respects, as both you and the place you hail from will have changed significantly in the three-year interim.

I’m from Stockport. After giving myself leave to make cruel jokes about it whilst living in Sheffield and revelling in all the arts and culture that a university student living in the centre of a city can, it was time to come home and confront myself with the reality of the town, or ‘cultural sinkhole’ as I affectionately called it.

Manchester’s regeneration over the past 20 years or so seems to have taken away from its outlying feeder towns. As the great metropolis expands, its jaws of progress eat more and more into the creative and social characters of places like Stockport. Not that anyone can blame those that are consumed. Why stay local when moving to the big lights means your art – be it music, poetry, paintings or food – is going to reach a wider audience?

mimes at Christmas. After much refurbishment and restoration it now shows classic and contemporary films. And if cinema is your bag, submit a film to Stockport’s film festival, Screen Stockport.

October sees it run for a fourth year and the special guest is Stockport filmmaker Carol Morley, who directed Dreams of a Life.

If you also believe that good food can only be found further north along the train line, you’d be mistaken again. In the town centre you can find restaurant quality, locally sourced pub food at the excellent Arden Arms. You’ve also got the favourite of local foodies, Lord of the Pies on St Petersgate, serving up awardwinning traditional and contemporary pastry delights. Eat in or take-away, but make sure you try the Stockport pie which is made with Robinson’s Old Tom ale. Over the road there’s Da Vinci’s, a coffee house and eatery, and heading out of town to Cheadle (the 11 bus will take you there) you’ll find phenomenal Turkish food from Turquoise and delicious Lebanese wraps from Jaz Jaz Jaz. It’s easy to hop on the 192 and immerse yourself in the bright sights of the big city, but stay behind and dig around and you’ll

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Manchester’s regeneration over the past 20 years or so seems to have taken away from its outlying feeder towns

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Thankfully, some people are staying and it is the duty of all of us to support these local heroes who are fighting for a better Stockport.

One such place that is doing just this is Seven Miles Out, an arts café and venue on the Market Place which describes itself as “a community hub for creative projects and creative people in Stockport’s Old Town Area”. I was intrigued, and when I visited I was surprised by the positivity and passion of those involved for giving Stockport a fresh, creative space.

If you’re after live music, look no further than the Blue Cat Café in Heaton Moor. Every Monday they hold their Blue Monday open mic night which regularly attracts good crowds. All you have to do is turn up before 8pm, sign in at the bar and wait your turn. Then there’s Stockport Art Gallery. Upcoming events not only showcase local talent – Stockport Art Guild’s 94th Annual Exhibition is being held there from Saturday 16 August to Sunday 7 September – but also world talent – Elena Leonava’s Through the Prism of Self exhibition can be visited from 13 September to 1 October.

The Plaza was that place you only ever attended for panto8

find yourself suitably rewarded. If, like me, you come back after university, treat it like you did when you first moved out. Find independent traders, look up side streets and scratch away at the surface. You can’t save a town with retail chains. People need to be encouraged to stay. One way to do that is to support local industry and creative enterprises when they do start up in your hometown.

Stockport is fighting back and, although many would say it’s a fight it cannot win, there are plenty of people who are proving otherwise.

David Ewing

The next Now Then event takes place at Seven Miles Out on Saturday 20 September. It’s free entry and features a poetry workshop by Word Life, a talk on music production

by Denis Jones and a live performance by Liz Green.

Stockport’s skyline as seen from Hillgate.

The memorable Glass Umbrella market hall houses many stalls and events.

Victorian buildings, lampposts and cobbled streets illustrate the history of the area.

The fishmonger, Direct Fish, is on the sloped cobbled street close to the Market Place.

Stockport Old Town’s architectural character has been retained, although its buildings’ uses have changed over time. This is now a bank.

Photos by Elle Brotherhood

The sun shines directly onto the two sellotape sculptures sat outside Seven Miles Out.

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Food On the Rise

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y the time this latest issue hits the streets we’ll have experienced the fourth series of a TV programme that has become a national (and international) phenomenon in a short space of time. I am talking about the BBC’s Bake Off, a programme with such a simple format that it’s a wonder we weren’t watching it in the 70s. But those were the bad old days of bread, when arguably the most exotic loaf beyond a litany of anaemic pre-packed white offerings was an unsliced Hovis, unless you managed to track down an alltoo-rare specialist bakery or health food shop.

Fast forward three decades and bread making and artisan bakery have been accorded a quotient of cultural coolness and reverence hitherto reserved for the likes of iconic pop festival acts, Olympic sporting heroes and smartphone technologies.

Both at home and on the high street, interest in artisan baking is gathering momentum, with thousands of people

seems to hark back to a time when food was respected for its local provenance and the hand-crafted practices handed down from generation to generation.

Although supermarkets are now trying to muscle in on the act, the true stars of the show are the small independents driven by a love of their craft rather than pursuit of profit.

In Manchester we already have a network of artisan bakers who have carved their own niche in their localities, including Bakerie in the Northern Quarter, Trove in Levenshulme, Barbakan in Chorlton and a newcomer Uprising Bakery in Hulme. What each of these offers are small batches of handcrafted breads made with the purest and simplest of ingredients.

When reading around the subject for this article, one recurring name was that of English cook and food writer Elizabeth David, whose 1977 book English Bread and Yeast Cookery is still universally regarded as the best ever book

................................................................ “interest in artisan baking is gathering momentum”

................................................................ now signing up for baking courses – not only so they can bake their own bread but so they can set up their own bakery. After years of seeing their decline, in part thanks to the popularity of low carb diets, bakeries – particularly those of the artisan variety – are now on the rise. It’s almost as if the industry has been given a much-needed injection of fast-acting yeast. Latest government figures show that there are now at least 20,000 people working in the artisan baking industry, but the number could be significantly higher and is certainly growing.

One thing is for sure, consumers of every age are falling in love with handmade bread, not just because of the range of varieties – spelt, sour dough, rye, multi-seed and so on – but because there is now a much deeper appreciation of the pure craft of baking. In the same way that we now revere vintage clothing, retro furnishings and the romanticism of DH Lawrence style beards despite their ubiquity, artisan bread

covering bread making. Taking her five years to write, her forensic research involved an exhaustive journey around England and France to see firsthand a rich heritage of milling, kneading, proving and baking techniques, each reflecting the local provenance and culture of the area. If you can’t stretch to a professional baking course, the £12 outlay for this fascinating book is worth every penny. Its author received the coveted accolade of Glenfiddich Writer of the Year Award.

If you want to try your hand at bread making, courses are available at a wide range of places. Bakerie offers a bread and baking course for beginners, which includes how to make a basic white loaf before moving on to foccia and panettone.

70 miles north, near Penrith, Little Salkeld Mill, one of the last remaining water-powered mills in the country, offers a range of basic, intermediate and advanced courses.

Tom Warman

bakerie.co.uk | organicmill.co.uk | trovefoods.co.uk | barbakan-deli.co.uk | uprising-bakehouse.herokuapp.com

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Wholemeal Loaf 4-5 cups warm water (2 parts hot and 1 part cold) 2 tsps dried activating yeast 1 tsp salt 1 dessert spoon honey Wholemeal flour Perfect to eat with pickles, cheese and beer You don’t need any precise measures, just an instinct for feeling your way to creating a malleable dough. Its success is embedded in starting with a warm, yeast-activating ‘batter’. Create a starter batter by mixing the dried yeast with the warm water in a large bowl. The idea is to create a wet, liquidy mixture, almost like a beer in which the yeast can activate. Add a cup of flour along with the honey and salt then stir with a fork to incorporate all the ingredients. Cover with a dry tea towel and leave for a few hours. Wait until the mix looks slightly frothy. It should smell yeasty and beery.

Add full cups of flour and stir with a spoon. Keep adding slowly until the flour is integrated into the wet mix.

Don’t add too much flour all at once. Ideally you want to integrate all the flour sufficiently into the mix so that you have a ball of dough that keeps its shape and feels slightly sticky. If it’s too wet, add a bit more flour. If it becomes too dry, add a teaspoon of warm water at a time. Once you can lift the dough from the bowl without it sticking to the sides, you’re ready to start kneading.

Lift onto a floured surface and start kneading. Look on YouTube for techniques on how best to do this if unsure. Shape into a small ball, place back in the bowl and cover with greased cling film. Leave for a few hours.

Ideally you’ll be coming back to a beautiful risen ball of dough. Now knock back the dough and gently punch so it deflates. Return to a floured surface. Knead all over again and place in a greased bread tin. Don’t tear the dough.

Just shape it by pressing it into the edges of the tin. Leave to rise.

Cook for 40 minutes on 200°C. When cooked it should sound hollow when you knock its base. Leave to cool on a wired tray.

Beer Selections by Those Four Mobile Bar Siren Craft – Undercurrent (oatmeal pale) Bold, nutty flavour with a hint of caramel malts.

Beaver Town – 8 Ball (rye IPA) Slight hint of spice from the rye fits with any sort of bread.

Recipe by Bakerie | Photo by Ruth Warman

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Wordlife

Sleeping Black Jaguar

Hosted by Joe Kriss

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e have one poem, an interview with the powerhouse that is Kate Tempest and our pick of the best bits of Manchester Literature Festival this month. Hope you enjoy. We’ve had a busy summer, with feature slots ourselves at Shambala Festival and Boomtown Festival. We’re also holding a poetry workshop this month in Stockport on 20 September. If you’ve been thinking about submitting to the magazine but haven’t got round to it, this is the perfect time to come down, meet the team and try putting together some new work. Keep the submissions coming to wordlife@nowthenmagazine.com.

Joe

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Manchester Literature Festival Northern Lights Writers Conference featuring Will Self 25 October | 10:15am-4:30pm Waterside Arts Centre | £30/25 Creative Industries Trafford and MLF present the second Northern Lights Writers’ Conference, a one-day conference for emerging and established writers. Will Self will give a special masterclass exploring his work and inspirations ahead of the release of his new novel, Shark.

1.

A solar eclipse – his fur seems to veil light, the smoulder of black rosettes a zoo of sub-atoms I try to tame – tritium, lepton, anti-proton.

They collide as if smashed inside a particle accelerator.

But it’s just Aramis sleeping, twitching himself back to the jungle, where he leaps into the pool of a spiral galaxy, to catch a fish.

2.

Later, the keeper tells me Aramis has had surgery for swallowing a hose-head where his hank of beef was lodged. But

7 October | 7:30pm | Manchester Cathedral | £8/6

what vet could take a scalpel to this dreaming universe?

Simon Armitage will talk about his engaging, darkly comic and irreverent work with author and Observer writer Rachel Cooke.

What hand could shave that pelt, to probe the organs

Simon Armitage

Peter Blake 11 October | 3pm | Martin Harris Centre | £8/6 This event will be hosted by author and Dylan Thomas expert, Jeff Towns, and will feature projections of Blake’s art inspired by Under Milk Wood and a rare conversation with the godfather of pop art.

of dark matter, untwist time’s intestines and stitch night’s belly together again, only to return him to a cage?

Patience Agbabi 16 October | 7:30pm | Contact Theatre | £6/5 Award-winning poet Patience Agbabi retells Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales for the 21st century in her new book, Telling Tales.

Interested in performing or writing something for Wordlife? Contact Joe Kriss at joe@nowthenmagazine.com

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Pascale Petit Republished here by kind permission of the author.

Pascale will read on 8 October, 7pm at Manchester Museum. Tickets are priced at £6/£4 concessions.

Kate Tempest

Book Review The Graphic Art of the Underground: A Countercultural History

Kate Tempest is a force of nature at the moment. Recently selling out most of the dates for Brand New Ancients, at which she performed her epic poem over a live score, and now touring her new hip hop album, she has a new poetry book and novel to follow expanding on the characters she created for Brand New Ancients. She spoke to us about character-led narrative pieces and advice for aspiring writers.

Articulated through the cultured voices of Suzy Prince and Ian Lowey, this book threads the styles that have united a network of sub-cultures across geographical borders and distinct eras by piecing them together in a chronological framework. It began as a series of lectures at Cornerhouse back in 2012 and has developed into an all-encompassing manual for the art of graphic subcultures. Whilst the socio-political environments may have evolved, there is a united front of rebellion against the establishment, commercialism and high art that is interwoven through an iconoclastic history, right up to the present day.

Starting in the late 1950s in the Golden State of California, this book traces the development from the hot rod custom car culture, which was pioneered by figures such as Von Dutch and Ed Roth, to the equally loud and boisterous world of 1970s music, where an outburst of graphics defined popular music in the form of psychedelic art. Merging into the British pop culture of the mid-70s, the archetypal punk aesthetic of cut and paste montage is investigated through the work of artists such as Barney Bubbles, Peter Saville and Linder Sterling.

Moving full circle back to the West Coast, the book then further develops the theme of ‘lowbrow’ art, in reference to the Pop Surrealism and Conceptual Realism of the time. In the final chapter, the archive is brought up to date with the relatively recent world of designer toys and indie crafting, referencing hip hop and graffiti culture.

Whilst this brief review may seem like a whirlwind tour of The Graphic Art of the Underground, the 260 pages comprised of imagery and essay style prose provide an insightful and darkly humorous window into the lives and works of a revolutionary band of artists. The countercultural rhythm of fan zines, comix, LP covers, hot rods and indie crafting exists as a deeprooted retaliation towards mainstream culture, where visual imagery is used as both a political and a social tool, unashamedly making a stand. As the introduction states, “This book by its very nature may contain imagery which some people may find to be in bad taste or even downright offensive. Indeed it is hoped that this may be the case.”

Recently you’ve been doing more character-led narrative pieces as opposed to stand-alone poems or songs. Where did that influence come from?

I’d always been interested in storytelling, but I never thought it was something that I could explore in a satisfying way. I was blown away by how it feels as a writer to let the characters say the stuff and let the work do the talking. So I got obsessed with these stories. It’s easy to say once you’ve written a piece, that’s what I was trying to do, but actually it’s just what’s coming out. I didn’t plan on doing narrative work.

It’s just what was buzzing in my head at the time.

Where do the characters come from? Are they from friends or overheard stories?

It comes from life. They’re not ripped off people that I know, but they are people I know because they’re my characters and I love them. They’re me and they’re you and they’re everyone I’ve ever met and everyone I’ve ever loved. If you’re a writer, you only realise how you’re responding to things when you realise the characters that you’re creating. It’s not autobiographical, but it’s from life, definitely.

Have you got any advice for upcoming writers or musicians?

There’s a poet called Rilke who wrote a book called Letters to a Young Poet, which is a collection of his correspondence to this young guy who was writing poetry. I think he says it so fucking perfectly. When you’re just starting out, the desire to get affirmation from somebody and for someone to tell you that your work’s working… the only person who knows the value of what you’re doing is you. So the only advice I could give is you don’t need my advice – you need your advice.

Daisy Kidd Interview by Joe Kriss An extended version of this interview will appear on our website. Kate Tempest will perform on 18 October, 8pm at Contact Theatre.

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INDEPENDENT ALE

INDEPENDENT ALE

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ENGLAND WOMEN’S RUGBY TEAM WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS 2014 (PS. We didn’t do badly either; Chocolate Marble GBBF Winner - National Bottled Beer Of Britain 2014)

Now Then Quarter Page - 134 x 93mm V3 AW.pdf

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02/09/2014

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Manchester Cathedral Decoding, Beekeeping and Sock Trees

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ocated on Victoria Street in the city centre, Manchester Cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, the seat of the bishop and the city’s parish church. It’s fair to say this Grade I listed building has been through the wars. Its extensive restorations through the years have resulted in a mishmash of architectural styles, but it’s still one of the finest cathedrals in England and, although it may be small, it has the widest nave of them all. For anyone who has never walked through its rather impressive doors, it is not only a place for worship and civil activity, but also a fascinating visitor attraction and cultural hub.

Manchester Cathedral Decoded If you have a passion for history you will love this tour given

by Andrew Drummond, who is part of Manchester Cathedral’s Volunteer Team, and Dympna Gould, their Visitor Services Manager. They make a good team. Andrew is the knowledgeable enthusiast guide, with Dympna adding more personal touches.

Her account of the 1996 IRA bomb struck a chord with everyone and took us all back to where we were on that day.

Highlights of the cathedral’s history are many. There’s the winged Angel Stone, which is the oldest part of the church and evidence of an Anglo-Saxon church on this site dated 700 AD. The mysterious carved green men looking down on us from the tops of columns are perhaps of pagan origin or spirits of the woodland the building replaced. No one knows for sure. The west wing’s glorious stained glass windows were all shattered in the blitz of WWII in 1940, but with funding from the Friends of the Cathedral Society and a new design by Anthony Hollaway, with a little help from his love of Kandinsky, they have been stunningly re-glazed.

Picnic on the Lawn with Proper Tea Proper Tea, in collaboration with Manchester Cathedral, was offering picnic baskets to enjoy in the cathedral grounds to coincide with Dig the City, the award-winning urban gardening festival. Dympna told us to keep a look out for a sock tree meant to symbolise how in the past clean clothes, in particular undergarments and socks, had been left in the cathedral for the sick and homeless. My eight-year-old’s eyes nearly fell out as she eyed up the cake, and the cream tea picnic was thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the sun, all with proper china too. The staff were really friendly, but I think it’s a shame this idea is limited to the festival. Surely it would have legs on any bright day. No matter how hard we looked we still couldn’t find the sock tree.

I visited three times in two weeks and chose from a varied event diary. I could easily have picked a live concert, but I wanted to see what else was on offer and I’m glad I did because I really enjoyed each visit and the people I met there. Importantly, the cathedral has embraced change and remains current, ensuring its steady growth and upkeep through new audiences, and not just of the spiritual persuasion.

For anyone who loves Manchester, its history, architecture and the arts, take a look at Manchester Cathedral and all it has to offer.

I’m going to that concert next.

Y.G.R. Erskine

Ph oto by Y.G .R. Ers kin e

Beekeeping at Manchester Cathedral Apparently, keeping bees on the roofs of Manchester’s buildings is nothing new. But it was only two years ago Adrian Rhodes, Honorary Canon and Chaplain at Manchester Cathedral, introduced them here. The initiative is supported by the Manchester and District Beekeepers Association and volunteers have been trained as beekeepers and are involved in honey preparation and marketing. Here the cathedral really serves the community, by training out of work volunteers who can increase their opportunity for paid employment with the cathedral’s partners.

Who knew there was so much to learn about bees? Adrian is a bit of a character. In his green suit and long brown boots, he explained the hives’ early beginnings at his home and their arrival through the post in a white cardboard box through to

their re-housing on the cathedral’s roof due to a particularly bad tempered phase. I found it fascinating that the queen can set the entire mood of the hives and the female worker bees do all the work. Nothing new there then. They have four hives there now and their honey tastes delicious. We were in good company, as apparently the Queen received their first two jars ever when she visited Manchester in 2012 as part of Her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

manchestercathedral.org

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22

Artefacts & Experiences Where Art, Health and Technology Meet

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am looking at two objects. The first is a photographic portrait of a woman in her eighties. Her silver curls frame intense blue eyes which gaze unflinchingly into the camera like two beautifully set marbles. The colour of her iris complements the rich cobalt blue of her jumper. It has a fuzzed edge, a hazy, dream-like quality, yet the woman in the portrait is fleshly real. A smile dances on her lips.

Margaret suffers from hearing loss in both ears. She feels if people don’t look at her directly then it’s hard to lip read, hence her unflinching gaze. Margaret was a fan of Glen Miller and the wartime songs but now the songs don’t sound so good – a clashing and muffling of notes and instruments, like everything has been put through a filter. Crossing the road can be dangerous.

The second object is an odd curiosity, seemingly too beautifully crafted to be a sterile medical implement, yet too alien to be anything but. Its smooth, silver pewter surface invites touch.

The curved bell shape and incised wind holes point to a musical instrument of some sort. This is not one to be played upon, but one which receives sonic airwaves, communicating music (if there is any to be heard). The label states that it is an ear cornet, size 4, pre-1900. Mr and Mrs N Pilkington were once the owners and users.

These two artefacts alluding to medical experiences can be found along with many other images and curiosities at Central Library’s Artefacts & Experiences: Reframing Narratives across Medicine and Health. Unveiling the potential for the intersections between arts, medicine, health and technology, the exhibition contains cabinets of selected artefacts from the University of Manchester’s Museum of Medicine and Health collections and showcases a project with hearing-loss participants, Silence of the Photograph. Anatomy Projects (Gavin Parry and David Penny) have created beautiful portrait photography with a Victorian camera as a linking thread between lived experiences of medicine and health and its technologies and artefacts.

Collaboratively devised by Sheila Fidler, senior lecturer and clinician in Audiology from Human Communication and Deafness at UoM, and photography practice Anatomy Projects, Silence of the Photograph attempts to reframe and make visible an impairment which goes largely ignored by mainstream media. Acquired hearing loss sits neither in deaf culture nor the hearing world.

Currently there are more than 10 million people in the UK with some form of hearing loss. By 2031 it is estimated there will be 14.5 million in the UK. The impact of hearing loss on everyday life remains under-researched and the voices of this cultural group are underrepresented or misrepresented. Experimental alchemy, probes and prods, a smoking out of the evil in the ear, stupidity and ignorance, an old fool – these are just a few of the approaches and

stigmatising stereotypes. Hearing loss has suffered from its lack of ‘visuality’. It is not an impairment which makes itself apparent on a first encounter. How, then, can we make visual a seemingly non-visual medical concern? What does it mean to make portraits of those with hearing loss? Who has rights over representation of disability? Why did the 26 participants desire to have images created and eventually displayed? How do the portraits challenge perceptions of hearing loss? What does it mean for an artist and art historian to collaborate with health and medicine professionals?

These are just some of the issues raised and responded to by the project and its related events.

The artefacts on display in the exhibition are not just hearing aids, but have been selected from across the range of collections held at the Museum of Medicine and Health. These objects are not “magical things” in the sense that Steven Connor describes in his 2013 book, Paraphernalia, as objects which “invite a practical kind of reveries”, magical in their incredible ordinariness and associations of everyday use. Instead these are objects of a different kind of magical. Yes, allegories of human life, but magical in their role as things which seemingly preserve, soothe, heal, medicate, cure the body injured, in pain or diseased. These are objects which have played their part in the mysticism of the life saver, the doctor, surgeon, nurse, midwife, pharmacist and audiologist.

These artefacts are uncanny, beautiful – once useful, once terrifying – curiosities. In her 2008 book Falling For Science, Sherry Turkle describes the potency of the science artefact as something we cannot simply like, but fall in love with its materiality, shape and histories. A preoccupation with the virtual neglects the physical beauty of the scientific object. Turkle says that objects have the power to spark imagination. Likewise, the artefact has the ability to connect us to unknown narratives and experiences of medicine and health. Photography and artefacts invite the storyteller. Displayed together, new tales of medicine and health can be woven.

Dr Jenna C Ashton – Exhibition Curator

Artefacts & Experiences is free to view at Central Library from 22 Oct to 7 Nov and is part of Manchester Science Festival. manchestersciencefestival.com | mms.manchester.ac.uk/ museum | anatomyprojects.co.uk | studioloose.co.uk jcashton.wordpress.com

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Politika Public Realm Intervention and the Affairs of the City

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olitika is an exhibition that draws together a global network of artists and collectives, integrated through a common dissatisfaction with the alienating superstructures of capitalism, politics, neo-liberalism and the freedom of the artist in contemporary society. The sphere of cultural activism or ‘socially engaged art’ is a growing phenomenon that is redefining itself constantly in response to its environment. Given the accelerating scale of globalisation and urbanisation, our collective empowerment comes from our right to reclaim the city as our own. In that process the urban space becomes the common ground for artist-led activity.

Taking place under the guidance of Upper Space in the engine room of a disused cotton mill in Ancoats, Politika will use its setting’s post-industrial context to provide a launch pad for a series of social interventions, public workshops and discussions.

The aim is to build deeper interactions with local audiences on the basis of a global dialogue. To introduce some of the themes and issues addressed through this project, I spoke to two of the contributing art collectives, Austria’s Wochenklausur and the UK’s Brandalism, about their practice.

m

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Daisy Kidd

Ph oto by Bra ndalis

Wochenklausur, do you feel that the boundaries between art, politics and social activism are becoming increasingly blurred?

The boundaries of art are culturally defined and are always shifting. Our art collective feels that there are lots of resolvable problems. Therefore we are successfully using the art concept in order to implement our projects. To enable the medical care for homeless people in Vienna, for instance. Or to establish an initiative that offers “learning by doing” – programmes at Japanese schools. We have learned from politics and we work by using all resources we can access, like politics and bureaucracy, media, budgets, public space or law. These are our materials and our tools.

Could socially engaged art eventually be accepted into the mainstream art world?

As artists we also try to shift the boundaries of the mainstream, as it has often been done before our intention and will be done according to the changes of societies in future. Of course, socially engaged art is not the mainstream in a world dominated by capitalism. The mainstream in art still deals and speculates with physical objects. In our understanding socially engaged art is nevertheless needed and it is a contemporary possibility of understanding art. Art is always political. The important questions are: who does what, why and for which purpose?

Brandalism, your work is very much orientated around public spaces, how do you feel that your work adjusts to being in a confined exhibition space?

If objectified, the art works created through our project are always confined to a space, be it the advertising spaces we take back or in this case the interior of an exhibition space. In a gallery environment it changes the context of the type of art that is created or displayed, however we do feel there always needs to be some link to the place where the project exists, which is outside. It loses some meaning when it is abstracted from the process of installing in public space – its point of creation. It exists when viewed in context. After this the objects become like artefacts, dead things.

Do you feel that it is important for your work to be presented as art?

The Brandalism project follows on and builds on the guerrilla art traditions of the last century, from Dada, Agitprop, Situationist and graffiti art movements. Conceptually it is an art project and we hope it is a manifestation of a shift from making political art (finger pointing, critique), to making art politically (working together with others to manifest change) via the processes, methodology and context.

Given the current situation with everything getting more and more fucked over by intense possessive individualism and neo-liberalism, and the climate, economic and social structures faltering, art cannot only be concerned with aesthetics alone. We need more meaning.

Politika runs from 19 September to 1 October at the new Upper Space Gallery in the Engine Room at Hope Mill. upper-space.org/projects/politika

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27

Natalie M Wood Digital Design from Stockport

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first caught wind of Natalie M Wood’s design work as part of an exhibition at Twenty Twenty Two last year named Before I Could Draw, at which artists were asked to replicate an image they’d created during their childhood. Her style – clean but with an abstract edge, particularly when creating images of people – has attracted the attention of international magazines, including Public Finance and Computer Arts, for which she has contributed editorial illustrations during evenings and weekends, while by day she works as an illustrator and animator at the Stockport creative agency Fuzzy Duck.

What initially drew you to graphic design?

As a child I was constantly drawing. Anything creative that I could do, I’d do it. I remember having a massive bag filled with pens, crayons, cardboard tubes, egg boxes. It was like a Blue Peter presenter’s dream bag. My primary school books, which I still have, were filled with colourful pictures that I’d decorated the pages

you work?

Definitely. There was a time at college when the photocopier was my best friend. It was a fantastic way of composing pieces from found imagery – enlarging things to ten times the size they’re meant to be and using them in a more abstract way. Now I mainly use a Wacom tablet to produce my final pieces, which is a great piece of equipment that I find bridges the gap between computer and pen.

Which other artists or art forms inspire you?

I’m influenced by a lot of different styles, with the main runners being Charley Harper, Shepherd Fairey, David Weidman and Jim Flora. I love 1950s graphics, anything that came out of the 1980s and Pop Art. I spend a lot of time visiting art galleries and various exhibitions, gathering inspiration anywhere I can. Also I have a real passion for children’s book illustration and this is an area that I’d really like to explore at some point.

What are you working on at the moment?

....................................................................

I find that I get my best ideas late at night

.................................................................... with, so I suppose it has stemmed from there.

Early bird to catch the worm or burning the midnight oil?

When do you find is the best time to work on your art?

A bit of both. I do find that I get more done late at night and regularly find myself working until the early hours of the morning.

If a deadline is looming though I will burn the candle at both ends, so to speak, and get up early to continue. I find that I get my best ideas late at night though. I recently heard that the reason this happens is because the part of your mind that pushes for perfection is suppressed at night and lets the more crazy ideas run free.

Do you prefer working from design briefs or with a blank slate to fill with your own ideas?

I definitely prefer working from a brief. Sometimes sitting and looking at a blank piece of paper and thinking up something to draw can be daunting. I’ve always been a perfectionist and am my own worst enemy when it comes to making mistakes. I’ve always hated having sketchbooks as any mistakes are there forever, unless you tear them out. I prefer to work on scrap pieces of paper, so there is no requirement for what I’m drawing to look good initially, then I can just keep the best of a bad lot when I’m done.

Have design technological updates changed the way 28

I’m currently working on an editorial piece about confidence within teams. The topics I usually work with are business-related and it’s my job to liven up the piece with an interesting image to draw the reader into the text. I’ve also been working on a personal project which is a series of posters based around popular 80s movies, which I really need to continue with.

Good advice you wish you’d been told earlier?

Don’t get disheartened and keep at it! Whilst trying to get my first break in freelance it seemed like an endless task to keep sending out postcards featuring my work and hammering art directors of magazines with my work in the hope of getting my first freelance job. It paid off in the end though and it’s a very rewarding thing to finally receive a copy of your work in print. I keep all the magazines that my work is in, as there’s nothing nicer than having a physical keepsake of the work you created.

Ian Pennington

nataliemwood.co.uk

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Manchester Events

Art courses & Exhibitions

Northern Realist

Drawing and Painting courses in Manchester

Want to learn realist drawing & painting techniques?

Studied art but want to push your skills further?

Christopher Clements, BA (Hons), Manchester School of Art, also trained for three years at the prestigious Angel Academy in Florence.

Focusing on giving you the skills to take your artwork to the next level, Christopher provides a fun and relaxing atmosphere within a professional environment and fully equipped art teaching studio.

Come along for courses and tuition this autumn, meet likeminded artists and progress your artwork: • Life Drawing or Painting / 5 week courses Saturday afternoons / 4 Oct - 1 Nov / 15 Nov - 13 Dec • Portrait Drawing or Painting / 5 week courses Saturday mornings / 4 Oct - 1 Nov / 15 Nov - 13 Dec • Still Life course / 5 days / 27 Oct - 31 Oct • Portrait sessions / Monday nights / 7-9pm / Start 29 Sept • Life Drawing sessions / Tuesday nights / 7-9 pm / Start 30 Sept • 1:1 tuition or studio space/hire To book or find out more, contact Christopher Clements: Chris7clements@gmail.com / 07976 738212

www.northernrealist.com

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Sound What’s Right with Grassroots Festivals?

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nce upon a time, we had four or five biggish summer outdoor events that attracted mainly younger crowds and were a relatively small part of the live music market.

These were known as festivals. This remained the case until around 2006, when the growth of live events as the key music industry income resulted in an explosion of festivals. Before long it was metropolitan multi-venue weekenders and inner-city non-camping outdoor gatherings. Then came genre, family, retro festivals. Today you see all-day, single-venue events using the title ‘festival’. Estimates of the number of annual UK festivals now range between a few hundred and 1,000. So what are festivals these days and how do they operate?

At the top are the established big players like Reading and Leeds or Glastonbury. Whether they’re independent like Glastonbury or under larger umbrellas like Reading and Leeds (owned

by Festival Republic), these are big business operations, often supported by multiple income streams and loved by the media.

Boutique festivals, such as Green Man and End of the Road, often begin not as commercial ventures but as big parties founded by small teams of enthusiasts driven by a shared love of music, strong community ethos and genuine care for their artists and audiences.

Their growth has not betrayed their original philosophy. Resisting the temptation to accept big brand sponsorship has allowed them to retain their artistic credibility and dedicated fanbase. At the base of this pyramid lie smaller local events, some of which are organised or supported by local authorities, others entirely DIY. Unsurprisingly, money is a major obstacle. According to James Drury, Managing Director of Festival Awards, “Roughly only 60-70% of new festivals return the following year. People forget that festivals are not just very expensive to put on, but you also need to put all your money in upfront.” Mirroring many business ventures, general festival wisdom dictates that you should expect to lose money in the first two years, break even in year three and make profit in year four. For a festival without major financial backing, starting small and growing organically could be the only way to avoid financial pitfalls. As a recent ill-fated case Alt-Fest shows, aiming to stage a large event in the first year can lead to seven-figure debts and loss of reputation. Successful fan engagement and crowdfunding campaigns simply weren’t enough to pay big festival headliner fees and make Alt-Fest financially viable.

Being non-profit doesn’t mean you don’t need to take a commercial approach. If people don’t buy tickets, drinks at the bar or merch, these events are forced to fold or go bankrupt. Very few receive any form of public or trust funding, although established small festivals like Leefest have proved crowdfunding is an option.

Liverpool’s Threshold Festival focuses on emerging music, which means promoting the event and selling tickets can be challenging. Its producer Chris Herstad-Carney says, “We don’t take the easy route. In many cases the acts you see at our festival are about to go huge, but not enough people care about that yet. It’s a fine balance, because we are passionate about those artists.” Working with lesser-known acts often limits any appeal to the media. Although Salford’s Sounds from the Other City has achieved cult status and coverage from national music press, organiser Mark Carlin maintains that “favouring new acts or the less obvious ones and generally taking a risk on the programming can be a very unknown quantity for the audience, which can make it difficult in terms of picking up press as that’s often based around the profile of the acts alone.” Conversely, he is clear that new music discovery is what makes SFTOC special and exciting.

Indeed, many festivals fail precisely because they offer similar line-ups with little imagination or creative experimentation.

Those who survive are soon faced with the question of expansion. Some, like Supernormal Festival in Oxfordshire, choose to remain small to avoid the red tape inevitable for large events, concentrating instead on creative programming. Others may have to find a larger site, as was true of Green Man and Leefest.

The only constant is commitment to ethos and aesthetic, which generally means the possibility for expansion is limited. SFTOC doesn’t aspire to become an industry new music event like The Great Escape, and Green Man was unlikely to accept Jägermeister sponsorship or turn itself into Latitude-lite.

The majority of people involved in these festivals work parttime, often unpaid. But through supporting local creative communities they bring economic benefits, providing jobs and creative opportunities and attracting more people to the area. Things don’t become easier for start-up grassroots events, but they remain allimportant platforms for developing new talent, testing new event formats and providing fields on which to encounter passionate, engaged and creative people.

Anastasia Connor

Extended versions of the SFTOC and Threshold interviews will appear on our website: nowthenmagazine.com/manchester soundsfromtheothercity.com | thresholdfestival.co.uk

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Live .......

Beat Herder

The Centennial Arkestra

18-20 July Ribble Valley

17 August Band on the Wall

Despite being a festival addict, Beat Herder has slipped through my net. Originating from Skipton, the idea of ripping it up a giant’s boulder throw away from my nan’s seemed somewhat impertinent. Now I’m kicking myself that I’ve missed the past seven years.

I live for that moment when you step on site and feel like you’ve stumbled across your very own Brigadoon. From a corrugated fortress and teleportal phone boxes connected by crawl spaces to churches where creatures of the cloth sup Bloody Marys from chalices, Beat Herder has it all. The theme this year was ‘H’, meaning hoovers, hobbits, Heisenbergs and hillbillies frolicked in carefree abandon.

Feel-good bands from the soulful reggae of Macca B to thigh-slapping satire from Lumberjack Cowboy Heartbreak Trucking Co provided the soundtrack, as pretention was dumped in a layby off the M1. The Lumberjacks tickled me, opening to an overcast sky and exclaiming sincerely that they’d prayed to Jesus for sunshine. It seemed a dangerous tactic to a field of dampened atheists, but they persisted with their alt-country disco. Their moment of redemption came between honky-tonk riffs in the phrase, “I’m the fucking resurrection and you’re stepping on my wood”. The powers that be were obviously charmed as the clouds parted and it was sunny from thereon in.

Grammatik was flawless in mixing old school swing, ‘Superstitious’ and live instruments onstage with crunchy breaks and tech. Then came the legendary Boney M, uniting hundreds of revellers with ‘Rasputin’. Watching seas of limbs flailing happily to ‘The Rivers of Babylon’ was a hit of pure unadulterated magnificence. Stumblefunk’s tent was a hotbed of bouncy beats with standout sets from DJ Clumsy and Red Eye HiFi, seasoned Mancunian veterans bringing urban oomph from the sunnier side of the underground.

Beat Herder did exactly what a good festival should. It humbled us with that great social equaliser – mud – lifted us with music and conceived a collapsible community of freethinking weirdos. It’s life-affirming to be reminded that most people aren’t on a self-serving mission towards ambition. In fact, generally they want to dress up like fools and roll around in the grass on their days off, laughing manically at the topsyturvy absurdity of life itself.

An envoy from another galaxy crash landed in Manchester one Sunday evening carrying messages of logic and pragmatism. Clad in kaleidoscopic, sequin-covered space gowns, this intergalactic unit of tone scientists identified themselves as The Centennial Arkestra. Originally formed by the late Sun Ra, a cosmic philosopher and pioneer of afro-futurism, this 12-strong musical troupe is now led by Sun’s lifelong collaborator, Marshall Allen.

Under the instruction of Allen’s 90-year-old hand, this free-thinking wall of sound began weaving timeless patterns of celestial blues into the anticipant souls of the crowd. The first of the evening’s two sets had the audience wriggling with joy and excitement. The twinkling presence on stage emitted furiously melodic montages of sonic beauty that were perfectly sewn together by the majestic chanting of Tara Middleton. “Space is the place.”

Tyler Mitchell’s roaming bass kept Mancunian feet moving, whilst Allen’s piercing alto saxophone instilled an undulating fear in the faces of onlookers. As the first set drew to a close, the five-man horn section descended into the sea of punters, snaking a hallucinogenic path of smiles and applause as they went.

Sticking to the more upbeat of Ra’s and Allen’s compositions, the band took turns in soloing with supreme precision over the six songs that comprised the second hour of the night.

The most mesmerising of these solos was unleashed by Knoel Scott. Dressed head-to-toe in purple and seated directly to Allen’s left, he was an invisible glue fusing everything together.

When blowing his alto saxophone he stared deep into the eyes of the crowd with such otherworldliness that you’d probably be right in assuming he was having a conversation with your soul that you may never understand.

The unamplified worm then meandered through the crowd once more to close the meeting of these two worlds, skipping and stomping all the way home. There was an inexplicable communal spirit in this and the way it affected the evening.

Having seen their encore request denied, the northern congregation began chanting “Ole, ole, ole, ole, Sun Ra, Sun Ra,” which seemed to please the last remaining band member on stage greatly. What stranger a way to give thanks for such a strange musical gift. Space most certainly is the place.

Stefanie Elrick

Joe Mills

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LISTINGS Recommended by Now Then

.......

Jeffrey Lewis and the Jrams 23 August Deaf Institute Tonight’s support band, Onions, are so off-kilter with the current crop of indie dullards that they seem to occupy another planet, where melody exists in abundance and those swimming with the tide don’t exist at all. Their harmonic set tips its hat to doo wop, girl groups and Merseybeat in a browbeaten way, devoid of innocence. Songs about remorseful sex, misspelt tattoos and dangerous bacteria in the microwave have never sounded so beautiful. They are currently promoting their new EP, Here Comes The Rage, before releasing their second album of pop-flecked oddities in October. For the price of an expensive round of drinks you could own the back catalogue, feel far more intoxicated and have a better taste in your mouth the next morning.

Jeffrey Lewis’s new band, the Jrams, consists of a deft rhythm section that augments his streams of higher consciousness brilliantly. They charm the sold out Deaf Institute with fan favourites ‘Cult Boyfriend’, ‘Time Trade’ and a cover of The Fall’s ‘Cruiser’s Creek’. ‘What would Pussy Riot do?’ has evolved from a poetry recital to a Crass-like call and response anthem, leaving you tongue-tied just listening to it. ‘Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror’ induces cringing and awe amongst the aspiring artists in the room, and new songs ‘Crackhead Ian’ and ‘Sad Screaming Old Man’ prove there’s an embarrassment of riches still to come from one the best lyricists of his generation.

Jeffrey Lewis is a multi-talented artist in every sense, giving two illustrated lectures using his own comic creations on a projector. We were treated to the Complete History of Communism: Part 6 and Life and Times of Alan Moore. I couldn’t help thinking what a different country this would be if these were on the school syllabus instead of jingoistic British history.

Lewis has evaded me for years, but now I’ve finally seen him I feel the trajectory of my life would have been different if I’d discovered him earlier. Its three days later and his lyrics are still ringing in my ears, like an encouraging form of psychosis telling me what to do. I know I’ll soon snap out of it but, for a while at least, the possibilities seem endless.

Nathan McIlroy

EXTRA LOVE 12 Sept | First Chop Brewery | £5 This one’s a rarity. The much-loved local reggae group is launching its own ale in cahoots with the First Chop brewers. Sup on their mango-infused pale ale while listening to the songs that inspired it.

RAMSBOTTOM FESTIVAL 19-21 Sept | Ramsbottom Cricket Club | £66 Crowds descend on the north Bury town’s cricket ground once more for three days of pop, indie and rock. The headline grabbers are Soul II Soul, Levellers, Jimi Goodwin and British Sea Power.

LIZ GREEN 20 Sept | Seven Miles Out, Stockport | Free Did we mention the next Now Then event? Well, it merits another reminder. With critically acclaimed folky Liz Green performing, avant-garde producer Denis Jones talking about his equipment and a Word Life poetry workshop all for free, there’s plenty of reasons to make the trip down the A6. Check our website for info about registering for the workshop in advance.

DAVID THOMAS BROUGHTON 21 Sept | MCR Climbing Centre | £10 This eccentric Yorkshireman’s live show is worth catching at any opportunity, but when he’s joined by his new Juice Vocal Ensemble for a gig inside a Gorton church that’s been converted into a climbing centre, you know it’s a real one-off.

NIGHTMARES ON WAX 17 Oct | Gorilla | £10 When Onra is only the warm-up act you know it’s a strong line-up. On this occasion it’s befitting of a birthday bash as the Coded Rhythm promotional squad go all out.

A CAREFULLY PLANNED FESTIVAL #4 18-19 Oct | Various | £15 The ACPF team’s picks and tips add colour to the Northern Quarter via their fourth multi-venue two-dayer. Expect 125 shades of the indie music spectrum, including one-man orchestras, supersonic bluesmen, acoustic raconteurs, amp distortionists and many more.

HONEYFEET 19 Oct | Islington Mill | £5 This Freedom From Torture fundraiser has gathered an assortment of arts, crafts and performances to make a day of it at the Mill, with proceeds going to their work with survivors of torture. Music-wise, you can’t go wrong with Honeyfeet headlining and the likes of Rapid Pig and Paddy Steer among the supports.

35

The Travelling Band

Mammal Hands

The Big Defreeze Sideways Saloon

Animalia Gondwana Records

Funny how time flies when you’re enjoying yourself. In the three years since Screaming Is Something, while gigging has been the focus, Manchester’s The Travelling Band has been carefully assembling their latest effort, The Big Defreeze. Available to fans who pledged money as a deposit for some time, the general release finally arrives at the end of August and it seems to be worth the wait.

Whilst there’s the comfortingly familiar, confident and fresh sound of the opening ‘Passing Ships’, from the rolling drums and slow build to the choral chants, the feel of the album is one with a range of textures and styles, hallmarked with the usual Travelling Band seal of quality. There’s a mid-album shift which sees the more restrained atmospherics of ‘78.8%’ and ‘Borrowed And Blue’, the latter changing gear with a typically melodic refrain, followed by the mournful lyrics of ‘Sticks And Stones’.

Combine that with friendly and mellow pop tunes in ‘Garbo’ and ’25 Hours’, and the stomp of ‘For All The Fallen’, and The Big Defreeze starts to become a kaleidoscope of images and sounds.

The collection is topped off with a bona fide anthem in ‘Hands Up’ – a song which you might bet on being their breakthrough song. It may be their ‘Sit Down’ or ‘One Day Like This’. It may even be one of those songs that will come to haunt them in the future, but a really rousing way to close an impressive set.

On one level, they’ve presented a record which is openly accessible, yet on another level there’s a rewarding depth.

Suffice to say the convoy’s rolling with the new sound of Manchester and there’s a comforting warm feeling of being back.

Following in the icy footprints of GoGo Penguin come Gondwana Records’ new signing Mammal Hands and their debut release Animalia. The bass-less trio consisting of Nick Smart (keys), Jordan Smart (saxophones) and Jesse Barrett (drums and tabla) has crafted a beautiful modern jazz exploration that has been subtly produced by the experienced ear of Matthew Halsall.

The swirling pianos and roving horns of ‘Mansions of Millions of Years’ give the first insight into the African and Indian influences scattered across the vibrating landscape of the album’s eight tracks. The intricate percussive tapestries woven by the skilled hands of Mr Barrett give all but one of the compositions a distinctive, hypnotic framework for the brothers Smart to lay their melodic wares over. ‘Inuit Party’ starts somewhere resembling The Young Holt Trio’s ‘Strangers in the Night’, traversing through several melancholic grooves before unleashing the freest segment of the whole piece, in which the musicians seem to leave the beaten path and float above the more solid structures found in the rest of Animalia.

For me, music without bass can often be like a sandwich with one slice of bread - somewhat lacking in the physical structure to deliver the versatile filling to the necessary orifice. On this occasion though, Mammal Hands have managed to rustle up a super clean, sharp sonic sarnie that, although in contrast to its earthier influences of Alice Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders, delivers a sizable portion of musical nutrition without the requirement of the lower frequencies.

It’s a must for Gondwana fans and a highly recommended gateway drug for those yet to be hooked on Indian and African jazz.

Mike Ainscoe

Joe Mills

36

Generic Greeting

Gymnast

Compilation #3 Anti-Party

Wild Fleet Self-released

Generic Greeting is a Manchester-based collective of artists, illustrators, musicians and general creative types. This, their third compilation of cuts by their resident producers and DJs, is released on cassette and a ‘pay-what-you-like’ download. There’s a broad spectrum of genre-bending electronic music on offer with plenty to please anyone with an open mind and eclectic tastes.

There’s twisted trip hop from Big War on tracks like ‘Urk’, chill-out ambience from No Arms on ‘Kuhn’, dancefloor bothering house from SZANJA, and darker, grimier beats from Kernon on ‘Thugg’.

Other standout tracks include ‘Go Down’ by Quieteyes, Kernon’s percussive and aptly titled closing track ‘Artist’ and ‘Eternity’ by Big War, on which Bay Area rapper Issue has provided vocals.

Like much of the collective’s visual work, the music on here is at times challenging, slightly odd yet enthralling and always expertly crafted with a deft artist’s touch.

Manchester duo Gymnast’s new album is a vocal and literary treasure. Cathy Wilcock and Chris Lyon make music that is vocally strong yet beautifully fragile. The duo play with a rare delicacy in irresistibly melancholic and atmospheric moods, effortlessly mixing gauzy electronic beats with an orchestral modernism that naturally occupies that intangible state between classical and pop.

Leading tracks ‘Leander’ and ‘Geneva’ have already made their debut to a favourable response and have been praised by radio presenters and press alike. ‘Sleeper’ and ‘Siren’ are both graceful and elegant, with Chris adding vocals for perfect harmonisation reminiscent of Wild Beasts and Thom Yorke. But sweeping generalisation does not do this pair justice. Every song is deliciously rich and elegantly executed, with its powerful dual vocal work providing a unique sound in an experimental genre. Gymnast are, as their name suggests, lyrically and musically agile and articulate.

Adam Robertshaw

Becki Clarke

.................................................................... ....................................................................

Ivan Campo

Khufu

Fantastic Blue Debt Records

Khufu Self-released

Ivan Campo’s latest release takes you on a 20-minute journey of emotional folk songs. They have stayed true to their principle of only releasing albums compiled of seven tracks, which makes for a short but sweet listen. The album’s undertone is somewhat bipolar – bright melodies with minor sounding accompaniment.

Most of the songs are about love and happiness. Lyrics such as, “Only when you’re dancing does it make me feel all right,” sung in a sweet, reminiscent voice provide a slightly moody feel, but despite this a few of the songs do make you want to get up and have a little jig. Some of the echoey harmonies could be compared to Simon and Garfunkel, along with slightly strange tempos and harmonicas akin to Bruce Springsteen.

A fantastic release which reflects on topics like modern music culture, drinking and dreaming, but could be improved with more adventurous melodies.

Khufu may favour a minimalist approach when it comes to their online profile (self-described merely as “a group of musicians”), but their self-titled seven-track LP offers a complex and diverse sound, combining electronic as well as outright rock elements and a range of layered instrumentals. The aptly named first track, ‘Cinema’, seems to best convey the band’s attention to thematic components, but the next two tracks lose this controlled momentum to the point of appearing slightly redundant. Track names in themselves appear to be a bit problematic. ‘Perfect Sky’ doesn’t quite live up to its intended image and ‘Holocaust’ teeters on being predictably dark, and as such they run the risk of attempting too many musical directions at once. However, the radio-friendly ‘Next to Me’ demonstrates a well-orchestrated change in tone with gliding, trip hop beats and, with a better ear for precision, there’s plenty of potential.

Sara Louise Tonge

Ruby Hoffman

37

Photo by Emily Dennison

38

Liz Green Cabaret, Interviews and Saving Pianos

.......

“A

nd is it fair to say that you are fascinated by the cabaret era of the 1930s?”

“Well, my favourite film is Cabaret,” Liz Green says, sat in front of a camera, visibly nervous and fidgety. The situation is not helped by us, her nattering band mates, eagerly snacking on Mars Miniatures on the other side of the dressing room. We get up and leave to smoke cigarettes, leaving the interview to be equally awkward away from our presence.

At the time of writing, Liz had just released her second album, Haul Away!, so the interviews are pouring in and I am lucky enough to be in a position to hear the numerous questions.

We are in Paris for the Femmes s’en Mêlent Festival. Leaving Manchester at 6am to take an early flight, we are tired. But where Gus and I take our fragility from a late night, last bottle of wine, Liz had stayed awake into the early hours of the morning super gluing blue Hobby Craft eyes onto the sleeves of a grey silk shirt, the effort being the start of a creation that will make up her outfit for the night’s performance.

“What made you decide to move from guitar to piano?”

“My mum and dad had a piano that they were ready to throw away. It’s a sin, I think, to throw away an instrument, so the piano moved to Manchester. It’s in the one room where I do everything, so I can practically reach it from my bed.”

“And how would you explain your new style?”

“I wouldn’t say I had a new style.”

The questions are often the same.

The aim of any interviewer is the same – to get as much information from as close to the heart as possible – but the techniques differ wildly and the questions that come thick and fast are often suggestive and descriptive enough by themselves without the need for an answer.

Liz is attentive to each question. She does not want to disappoint. She wants to give as interesting an answer as possible, so when we are all sleeping or drinking after a long day on the road, she is tapping away on the keyboard, explaining why there’s piano on the new record, explaining that the emotion isn’t layered on by method but by the very subject. And that, no, onions are not a prop to bring about sadness in the studio.

When I ask about the meaning of her lyrics, Liz tells me, “I just pour stuff onto a page then play around with it. It’s only afterwards when I’m singing that I think, shit, that’s what it’s about.”

When I first saw Liz play, I was excited. I wanted eagerly to be behind her playing bass. Five years later, when she calls me up and says, “Hey, wanna come on tour with me?” I still feel

the same excitement. And when I sit in the audience and watch her do solo segments of the show, I still get those same goose bumps.

The songs are stories with brilliantly crafted arcs within colourful scenarios that reveal a stark spirit. Some of the characters in her songs are fantastical, mythological even, but the content and the lot of the characters is intensely human, so listening to these songs is kind of like that joy, despair and elating sadness you feel all at once when watching a puppet show. You realise you are watching a glorious projection of life, a projection that dresses in reverence only to accentuate the darkness below.

Liz lives in a state of emergency to please. On stage she exists between the songs and the audience, always striving to do justice to the material she has created and the places it has come from. At the same time she will try to give the audience as great a show as possible and she does this by placing herself between the audience and the songs themselves, anxious to justify her lovingly plied craft to both sides. To tell the story as well and as honestly as she can, night after night.

The kooky or presumptuous questions often asked of a musician take root in an underdeveloped response to the music that is created. The immense personal energy that any artist puts into a piece of work cannot be explained through a question that leads or suggests towards an answer that would suit the intended angle of a piece of writing.

Being a performer is not always fun. Humour and an offbeat stage manner can often be a prop to disguise a personal relationship with the material, but they can also help to illuminate that relationship and help settle the audience into something which is not always, at first, so accessible.

Setting out to write this was never supposed to be an interview, an exposé of life on the road or a promotional piece for the new record. I’m not sure what it was supposed to be, but I hope it goes towards filling a gap where you may have learnt that, no, Liz Green has no familial ties with the Deep South, her favourite colour is blue and, no, she doesn’t actually sleep at the piano.

Samuel Buckley

Samuel plays bass in Liz Green’s band. Liz will be performing live at Seven Miles Out in Stockport on Saturday 20 September.

39

Music, Vintage & Fashion

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Learn and Watch Music

Band on the Wall

in association with Wall of Sounds presents

BREAKFAST OF

CHAMPIONS Cut & paste, audio visual and VJ pioneer DJ Yoda leading 13 emerging artists from across the UK in an incredible week of collaboration, invention and innovation.

PERFORMED LIVE AT BAND ON THE WALL 19TH SEPTEMBER 2014 • 9PM–2AM

Sept/Oct Listings 2014 www.bandonthewall.org / 0845 2500 500

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 12 : 8PM

RAHEEM DEVAUGHN

SATURDAY OCTOBER 4 : 10PM

MR SCRUFF KEEP IT UNREAL

———————————————————————— ————————————————————————

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 13 : 8PM

SUNDAY OCTOBER 5 : 6PM

INTRODUCINGLIVE RECREATE ACOUSTIC BHUNA ——————————————————————— DAFT PUNK’S ‘DISCOVERY’ —TUESDAY OCTOBER 7 : 7.30PM — 100% LIVE BILL LAURANCE (SNARKY PUPPY) ———————————————————————— SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 14 : 6PM

ACOUSTIC BHUNA

————————————————————————

FRIDAY OCTOBER 10 : 8PM

CYMANDE

———————————————————————— ————————————————————————

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 19 : 9PM

DJ YODA PRESENTS: BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

SATURDAY 11 OCTOBER : 8PM

DENNIS BOVELL DUB BAND + CARROLL THOMPSON

———————————————————————— ———————————————————————— TUESDAY OCTOBER 14 : 7PM

— LIVE

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 20 : 11PM

SOUL GARDEN

PACO PEÑA ‘REQUIEM FOR THE EARTH’

———————————————————————— (AT BRIDGEWATER HALL) MONDAY SEPTEMBER 22 : 7.30PM ————————————————————————

EZRA FURMAN + SPECIAL GUESTS

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15 : 7.30PM

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 23 : 7.30PM

————————————————————————

————————————————————————

CHASTITY BROWN

————————————————————————

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 25 : 7.30PM

LIFESIGNS + BLACKHEART

TIM GARLAND’S LIGHTHOUSE FRIDAY OCTOBER 17 : 8.30PM

TERRY CHRISTIAN’S NORTHERNERS WITH ATTITUDE

———————————————————————— ———————————————————————— SATURDAY OCTOBER 18 : 7PM BAND ON THE WALL

presents:

Creative Music Learning at Band on the Wall this Autumn Practical courses at Manchester’s favourite music venue to suit all ages, tastes and levels. Our courses run regularly throughout the year — Group and 1 to 1 tuition available.

Sing City FREE! Every Wednesday 6pm – 8pm Songwriting & vocal collective for young people aged 13 – 18.

Harmonica 10 weeks — 3 Levels — All styles Groups from beginner to advanced.

Ableton Live Studio 5 weeks — All levels 1 to 1 and group tuition in music production software.

Picturehouse Choir 10 weeks — All levels Fun, relaxed, inspirational a cappella choir.

Open to all.

Global Grooves 8 weeks — Beginner & Intermediate Congas & Percussion. Fun, friendly and informative group learning.

Beginner Guitar 5 & 10 weeks — Beginner & advanced Groups and 1 to 1. Learn to play in the way you want.

Saturday Music Sessions for 0–8 year olds!

Drop in sessions Musical fun for parents and young children.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26 : 7PM

CARL VERHEYEN BAND

JUSTIN FURSTENFELD

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26 : 11PM

SATURDAY OCTOBER 18 : 11PM

———————————————————————— OF BLUE OCTOBER ————————————————————————

SOUL:UTION

————————————————————————

SOUL GARDEN

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27 : 9PM

MONDAY OCTOBER 20 : 7.30PM

CRAIG CHARLES FUNK ’N’ SOUL CLUB MONDAY SEPTEMBER 29 : 7.30PM

Jazz Foundations 10 weeks with gig — Beginner & advanced Musical fun for parents and young children.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 30 : 7.30PM

5 Weeks - All Levels For folk fiddlers who want to learn a new style and for classical players who want to branch out and learn folk music in the aural tradition.

Manchester Youth Jazz Foundation 3 day course For young instrumentalists and singers aged 8-18. Improvise, create new music and play in groups.

For prices and information please contact

bandonthewall.org/education learning@brightersound.com 0161 830 3899 @brightersound brightersound

Band on the Wall, Swan Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester M4 5JZ

————————————————————————

YOUNGBLOOD BRASS BAND

———————————————————————— ———————————————————————— THURSDAY OCTOBER 23 : 7PM

JUNGLE BROTHERS + IN THE LOOP DJS

Folk Fiddle

AN EVENING WITH

————————————————————————

MARTIN SIMPSON, ANDY CUTTING & NANCY KERR

————————————————————————

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 1 : 7.30PM

COLD SPECKS

————————————————————————

THURSDAY OCTOBER 2 : 7.30PM

SYD ARTHUR + I SEE ANGELS

————————————————————————

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3 : 9PM — XFM FIRST FRIDAY FT.

THE GRAMOTONES & NEON WALTZ

————————————————————————

SHE’KOYOKH

————————————————————————

SATURDAY OCTOBER 25 : 9PM

CRAIG CHARLES FUNK ’N’ SOUL CLUB FT. THIRD COAST KINGS

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SUNDAY OCTOBER 26 : 6PM

ACOUSTIC BHUNA

————————————————————————

MONDAY OCTOBER 27 : 8PM MASTA ACE, WORDSWORTH, PUNCHLINE & STRICKLIN

EMC FT.

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TUESDAY OCTOBER 28 : 7.30PM

SIMON MCBRIDE & FEDERAL CHARM

————————————————————————

FRIDAY OCTOBER 31 : 11PM

SOUL:UTION

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Independent MCR Events

bagthing.co.uk // Fb: bagthing // tw: @bagthing

Ramsbottom Festival

19-21 sept 2014 // Ramsbottom cRicket club // FRom £24

Family Friendly Festival feat levellers, british sea power, soul ii soul and many more. ramsbottomfestival.com

the DoRs presented by Freedom principle 26 sept // DulcimeR, choRlton // 8pm £5/4

influences from gamelan music to experimental rock [members of triovD].

QuaDRaceRatops presented by Freedom principle 7 oct // DulcimeR, choRlton // 8pm £5/4 septet playing original jazz “suitably psychotic” (Jez nelson)

king cReosote

8 octobeR // the epstein theatRe, liveRpool brand new album ‘From scotland with love’ out now.

homegRown

16-18 oct // the met & venues acRoss buRy // FRom £8

english folk festival feat Fisherman’s Friends, show of hands, Faustus, spiro & more. themet.biz/homegrown

blueblut + websteR/holub 31 oct // DulcimeR, choRlton // 8pm £5/4

“a broken wind up children’s toy, driving drums, theremin and distorted guitar.” presented by Freedom principle.

bagthing is a targeted marketing and distribution network in manchester. we help artists, labels, promoters and venues to get their promotional material to the right people. contact bagdaddy@bagthing.co.uk

Stage Contact Compacts

.......

L

a bit of an ‘in’ club, but we’re trying to ensure Compacts remains open doors and accessible to everyone,” says North.

The brief performances are long enough to make their mark and not leave you feeling bereft and disorientated, unless otherwise intended. For those intrigued by certain pieces or performers, it is a chance to dig deeper into their oeuvre before trying out their next project. Likewise, it is a good opportunity for people who haven’t experienced theatre but want to give it a go without running the risk of being locked in a room until Act 5. The night is also about meeting new people, says Griffith. “It’s as much a social occasion as an artistic one – a great opportunity to see artists in action and meet the creative people who are doing it for themselves.”

Not everything will hit the mark with everyone but there’s an eclectic enough mix to suit all tastes and placate anyone with short attention spans. And to all those who are intrigued but don’t want to peel themselves off the sofa – pull your finger out.

Nathan McIlroy

Ph oto by An drew An de rso n

ate summer is usually a slow time for theatre in Manchester. The fringe is finished, time has been called on 24:7 and the autumn programmes are off the press but not yet on the stage. This can be tricky for venues because reduced audiences means less income. Inspired by the quiet, last year Pull Your Finger Out Productions premiered Contact Compacts to keep the summer energy alive. Now they’re looking to build on that initial success and create an annual event, with a new instalment this September.

The premise of Contact Compacts is to showcase six new plays, all of which are 15 minutes long. They are performed back to back each evening in half-hour bursts, interspersed with two intervals when you can raid the adjacent bar. The open submission policy means that this year’s event boasts a mixture of new talent as well as more established names.

“We were overwhelmed to receive 50-plus submissions,” says PYFOP executive producer Megan Marie Griffith. “The nice thing about Compact is uniting different parts of the theatre scene, from first timers to seasoned writers.”

It’s also a good chance for actors and directors to get some exposure. “We make sure we have really good industry presence over the course of the run,” says PYFOP producer Sophie Charleson, who acted in three of last year’s productions.

Contact Compacts will feature three directors fresh from 24:7 – John Clarke, Matt Hassall and Griffith herself, along with Joe Mellor, Holly Mazur and Ruby Thompson – making for a vibrant mix of styles and approaches.

PYFOP have already been busy this year, recently receiving rave reviews for their 24:7 festival production of Afterglow, directed by Griffith, who started the company alongside Charleson, writer and producer Louise North and actor and producer Kimberly Hart Simpson. The money made from that run has gone straight back into staging these productions and, in the spirit of the grassroots, the cost is capped at £5 (83p per performance). “I think there’s still the assumption that everybody’s in Edinburgh,” says Griffith, “but the fact we drew an audience of 150 to our first event demonstrates that this isn’t necessarily the case.”

Without wishing to give anything away, this batch of plays touch on subjects as disparate as psychosis and domestic abuse to heavy-lifting health and safety procedures. Although Manchester is thriving with fringe productions popping up all over town, it is refreshing to see an event collating a wide range of pieces, exposing a mixed audience to performances they might not witness otherwise. “Theatre can accidentally become

Contact Compacts runs from 25 to 27 September at Contact Theatre contactmcr.com/whats-on/25692-contact-compacts

43

Comedy Nativity Plays, Authority and Planet of the Japes

.......

W

e sit in a small café in the city of Buenos Aires.

There is a fire in his eyes, a look that says, “I didn’t order this”. And with that, the waiter leaves us.

The man I’m sitting with is radio personality and stand up comedian, Sam Smith. Hailing from the small town of Croma in Norfolk, it’s a busy time for Sam. After this interview, he will embark on a 15-minute gig in a local library before guest starring on a local community radio show about the tradition of crabbing. It’s been quite the journey for Sam. He doesn’t drive and the local bus service leaves a lot to be desired.

Tell us about your first job?

My very first job? I was a waiter, in the aforementioned Croma, in a little restaurant. Tiny it was. Not that small, but big enough. I was a waiter there and I think I lasted there for about

themselves as a class clown. I wasn’t him.

What were you in the class?

Just the guy who would sit there and mind his own business, keep himself to himself.

You clock in, you clock out. Do your time.

All right teacher, I’m not here to make trouble. Just gonna keep my head down and get on with it.

Did you ever perform in any plays or school productions when you were younger?

I was in the Nativity. I was one of the wise men. I forget which one. The green one. Was there a green one? I was the green one anyway.

I was at a comedy night once and you were on the bill. I had to leave before you were on. How would you describe the thing that you do on stage?

....................................................................

I don’t answer to anyone. Unless my phone goes off. I usually answer that

.................................................................... six months, which was pretty good. I remember the lasting impression of that job being they fired me the day after Boxing Day because I refused to come in on Boxing Day. They had me working on Christmas Day and you know what I said? “Enough’s enough”. I bucked the system.

So you’ve always been anti-authority?

Yeah, I don’t answer to anyone. Unless my phone goes off. I usually answer that. Unless it’s an unknown number.

And how did you make the transition from that job and into stand up comedy?

I was at uni and I did a Creative Writing course at Manchester Metropolitan University. Got a 2:1 there, not a first. After that I did a Masters in Scriptwriting at Salford University. It was really after seeing a few people from the course doing it, then a couple of people from the course said, “You should do it, you’d be good at that”.

So did you always have a desire to perform and make people laugh?

I don’t know about performing. Some people might think of

It’s quite wordy and quite cerebral at times. I don’t really do dark stuff. I’m quite thoughtful and I talk quite slowly. I’m not very physical. I don’t move around a massive amount, although I’ve been doing more of that recently. You can’t just look like you’re reading from a script. You’ve got to put some emotion into it.

You’ve also co-created a new comedy night. What’s it about, where’s it happening and what can people expect?

It’s called Planet of the Japes, it’s on at the Crescent pub in Salford and it’s a comedy night, obviously. The setup is the classic comedy night setup. For those who don’t know, that is an MC, a 20-minute spot, two new acts and a headline act.

Adam Blaize The first Planet of the Japes Comedy Night takes place at the Crescent Pub, Salford on 17 September. on.fb.me/1oZiKIP

45

Filmreel Screen Stockport

.......

S

ince 2011, Screen Stockport has put the south Manchester town on the independent film circuit. Providing an outlet for emerging talent, both home-grown and worldwide, the festival acts as a bridge between industry and art, between prospective filmmakers and their audience.

Who better to take us through this year’s event than the creator himself, Joe Barratt. Aged only 21, the young filmmaker is the perfect example of what he works to uphold. He has been involved in developing a number of creative community projects over the past four years, including Screen Stockport Film Festival, The Teenage Market, Seven Miles Out and Stockport Old Town. Now Then caught up with Joe to pose a few questions.

What first got you into filmmaking?

I’ve always had a keen interest in film, but I first got involved when I edited a short film for the Co-operative Bank on their ethical trading policy aged only 14. Since then I’ve been involved in filming and editing a number of films, mainly promoting community projects.

Screen Stockport has been great for me from a filmmaking point of view as you get to see what works really well and what doesn’t work so well, and then learn from it. I just try and absorb as much as possible from the short films we screen, dissecting exactly what made it a gripping, touching or hilarious scene to watch. The selection process itself is both an incredibly difficult and interesting process. Unlike most major film festivals, we always try and find reasons to screen the film, rather than not screen the film. I’m proud of the fact we’re one of the most inclusive and accessible film festivals out there.

What is the history of the festival?

I set up Screen Stockport Film Festival up back when I was at college. The aim was to give independent filmmakers an opportunity to have their short films shown on the big screen and connect everyone up to experienced professionals who could share advice and guidance about the film and media industry.

The first festival went incredibly well and I’ve strived hard to make it bigger and better each year. We now have over 600 students attending the festival each year and many of them have been inspired to pursue filmmaking further due to the support they received at Screen Stockport. We’ve now supported over 200 filmmakers since we began and firmly established ourselves as the leading independent film festival in the North West.

It’s also been great to bring people like Mark Herbert from Warp Films, Col Needham who created IMDb, Helen Bullough from CBBC and Mat Whitecross, an award-winning director, to 46

the film festival as special guests. During their interviews I really enjoy being able to ask questions that give an insight into what it takes to be a director, producer or CEO. What does this year’s event have in store?

Our special guest this year is the talented filmmaker Carol Morley, who made the BAFTA-nominated documentaries The Alcohol Years and Dreams of a Life. Carol will be talking about how she became a filmmaker, the different themes she tackles within her films and the different challenges between making documentaries and feature films. She’ll also be talking about her latest feature film, The Falling, which features Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams.

I’d really encourage anyone who has a passing interest in film to come and experience the festival. Not only is it a fantastic opportunity to experience films in all different styles and genres, but also a great chance to meet new interesting people. It’s a real creative community event.

Any names to look out for in particular?

It’s hard to pick out individuals as the standard by everyone is so high, but I have been impressed by the quality of films submitted by Helen Curran, Will Herbert and Joonas Makkonen each year. The short films by Calavera Cafe Productions really make me laugh. They have such a great sense of humour and a talent for writing snappy dialogue.

Any tips for individuals or groups looking to enter next year’s competition?

Be really critical of your own work. There is nothing worse than a short film that’s self-indulgent. Make it shorter. You can tell your story in half the time you think you can and make it so much more engaging in the process. We want to be entertained, moved, shocked or stunned by your short film and we love good dialogue, good characters and good storytelling. So no pressure.

Charles Veys

Screen Stockport takes place on Thursday 16 October at the Plaza cinema screenstockport.co.uk

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FAVOURITES Our Pick of Independent Manchester

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Photo from ‘City Stories’ by Christopher Bethell

Cold Specks at Band on the Wall

NORTHERN QUARTER INDEPENDENTS

BAND ON THE WALL

HBLYTHCO.COM @VREVOLUTIONYEAH

bandonthewall.org brightersound.com

If there’s one area of the city centre teeming with all the culture, trade and artistry that Now Then stands for, it’s the Northern Quarter. Having smartened up its veneer in line with redevelopment across Manchester over the past 20 years, the area has become one of the city’s treasured destinations. Many more businesses are choosing to set up in the area, which has forged a creative hive.

For daytime visits, make sure you stretch your legs down Oldham Street to sample the vegan junk food on offer at V Revolution, a place where hardcore punk roars from the stereo and rare vinyl lines the shelves. For your art supplies, drop into Stevenson Square’s H Blyth. They’re offering students a discount of 15% for the new term with your copy of Now Then. On the topic of art, you could spend days hunting for all the hidden murals down its alleys and crannies, from the periodical OutHouse MCR commissions to the Space Invader tiles and Frank Sidebottom stencil.

At night, these streets don’t sleep till late. For locally brewed ales, head to Marble’s Thomas Street bar before striding further down the same road to Odd, Trof or the Bay Horse. That’s not to mention the established live music venues. Try Soup Kitchen, Mint Lounge or Matt & Phreds for starters. Sample two of those and more by bagging your wristband for the latest Carefully Planned Festival, which traverses seven venues across 18-19 October.

It’s hard to believe it’s now five years since Swan Street’s Band on the Wall music venue reopened its doors following refurbishment. Many a famous band has trodden the Band on the Wall stage, from Björk to The Buzzcocks, Tinariwen to Toots & the Maytals, and the funk, jazz, soul and world music specialist continues to deliver a range of quality music.

Its autumn schedule continues to invite performers from across the globe to share their songs with Manchester. It’s an outlay of £22.50 to catch Cymande on 10 October, but Halley’s Comet has put on a performance more frequently than these original funky groove peddlers in the past 40 years. Or perhaps catch psych rockers Syd Arthur on 2 October. On a more local level, their regular, free entry Acoustic Bhuna showcases feature upcoming acts from the area along with homemade curry in the intimate climes of the venue’s adjoining Picturehouse bar.

Brighter Sound is a creative music education group housed within the BOTW walls and equally important to the development of Manchester’s music. The team deliver workshops aimed at a variety of ages and abilities. For musicians further along the road, Brighter Sound has also established a series of week-long artist residencies to which musicians have the opportunity to apply. Snarky Puppy and The Unthanks have hosted these in the past and DJ Yoda will lead a group for a week later this month, culminating in a live performance featuring all the musicians who’ve been involved.

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LEVENSHULME MARKET

CYCLE LOGIC

LEVYMARKET.COM @LEVYMARKET

374-376 BARLOW MOOR ROAD, M21 KENFOSTERSCYCLELOGIC.CO.UK

You could spend your full Saturday roaming the 50 or so stalls at Levenshulme’s weekly market on the car park behind Stockport Road. Among the independent stallholders appearing each time are those offering bread, milk, cheese, fruit, veg and other staples as fresher and more ethical options to the nearby supermarkets. Less frequent are those peddling more bespoke or uncommon wares such as the jewellery and crafts featured on the first Saturday of each month, artisan food and drink on the second Saturdays, vintage and modern fashion on the third and a ‘best of’ assortment of all the above on every fourth Saturday. After you’ve stocked up on quality local produce, the social enterprise is also a place to have a drink among friendly faces.

Chorlton cycling hub Ken Foster’s Cycle Logic has been pedalling for 60 years now and showing no signs of tiring or slowing down. Walk into the Barlow Moor Road shop and you’re greeted by racks filled with all the best quality bicycles in all shapes and sizes. Fans of folding bicycles in particular should pay a visit, as Cycle Logic is a specialist in the field. From pumps to inner tubes, cycle wear to lights, they have all the necessary accessories to support your two wheeled transport. Cycle Logic’s staff may not have been there since it was established in 1954, but their knowledge is extensive nonetheless. To celebrate the occasion, they’re offering Now Then readers 10% off in store when you quote ‘Now Then’.

ELIXIR TONICS & TREATS 123 DEANSGATE, M3 ELIXIR-MANCHESTER.CO.UK “A magical and medicinal potion,” says the dictionary definition of elixir. A fitting description for this welcome escape from the hustle and bustle of Deansgate, Elixir’s smart and stylish sanctuary serves up a setting as comfortable and therapeutic as home but with extra charm and wonder. While their speciality is innovative alcoholic cocktails, this is backed up by a hearty array of wines, beers, spirits and ‘purification tonics’, which blend a range of non-alcoholic ingredients including juices, fruits, syrups and spices. Their plentiful sharing plates are the cherry on top of a great night out. Design My Night’s readers voted it their favourite cocktail bar of 2014 earlier this year and more accolades will surely follow.

RAMSBOTTOM FESTIVAL 19-21 SEPTEMBER RAMSBOTTOMFESTIVAL.COM Located at a venue where for most of the summer you’re more likely to see cover drives than covers of ‘Drive’, music fans from the North West and beyond will invade the pitch at Ramsbottom Cricket Club later this month for a weekend of live music, theatrical performances and family friendly fun. The big hitters are British Sea Power, Soul II Soul, Levellers and Doves’ Jimi Goodwin, but looking beyond those you should also make time to catch Bird to Beast, Bridie Jackson and the Arbour, The Tapestry and Harp and a Monkey, with plenty more scheduled to grace the stage. Bury-based brewery Outstanding will be on hand to top up your pint glass, offering its fine selection of ales.

EAST STREET ARTS EASTSTREETARTS.ORG.UK/OPEN-STUDIOS Leeds based contemporary artist development organisation East Street Arts is hosting an Open Studios week from 20-26 October. It will span across more than ten venues in Leeds, including its own, which is based at Patrick Studios on St Mary’s Lane in Mabgate. The week will bring together artists across the full breadth of the spectrum for tours, workshops, performances and exhibitions, before presenting a fully open weekend from 24-26 October. Contact Lydia@esamail.org.uk for more information about the programme and symposium.

POLITIKA UPPER-SPACE.ORG/PROJECTS/POLITIKA 19 SEPT-1 OCT Politika is a programme focusing on politically motivated art that questions the status quo, including debate, workshops, exhibitions, documentary film screenings and live urban interventions across Manchester. Its hub, Hope Mill in Ancoats, will launch its refurbished Engine Room space as part of the event, its walls being adorned by the work of a hand-picked roster of international artists. A key part of the fortnight-long run is location, so Saturday 20 September is a day dedicated to the area, with films and workshops in collaboration with the Ancoats Dispensary Trust. There are two sides to the story of regeneration in New East Manchester, so for one side they’ve invited the area’s developers to conduct a talk about its plans, again on 20 September. Acclaimed author Anna Minton will present the alternative viewpoint on Monday 22 September. Elsewhere, there’s involvement with guerrilla gardening, perma-culture, sustainability and activism in the digital age.

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RF Poster.pdf

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Summer Festivals

19 | 20 | 21

20 minutes from Manchester

SEPTEMBER

FRIDAY 19 SEPTEMBER THE TAPESTRY • GRAMOTONES • BY THE RIVERS THE MINX • RACING GLACIERS • BIRD TO BEAST • BERLIN BERLIN WALK THE PLANK • LANTERN PARADE

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JIMI GOODWIN • ADMIRAL FALLOW • THE SKINTS

FRANKIE FORMAN • XOVA • GORGEOUS GEORGE • THE SHEE • JOLANGA BRIDIE JACKSON AND THE ARBOUR • MARCUS MALONE • PAPER BEAT SCISSORS RANDOLPH SWAIN & THE RED LIGHTS • VINNY PECULIAR • THUGS ON WOLVES • MOTOR CITY DISCO PIF-PAF THEATRE • LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES • WALK THE PLANK

SUNDAY 21 SEPTEMBER CARA DILLON • NEVILLE STAPLE BAND • NELL BRYDEN

JO HARMAN & COMPANY • KESTON COBBLERS’ CLUB • MAD DOG MCREA • LISBEE STAINTON HARP AND A MONKEY • LUKE DANIELS • HANS THEESSINK • MY SWEET PATOOTIE RUM THIEF • MATT HAMER • SECOND HAND WINGS • KING KARTEL STORIES AND MORE • LANTERN PARADE • BOLLYWOOD HEAT

FOUR STAGES • FAMILY FRIENDLY • CAMPING • FESTIVAL ALE TENT BUSES DAILY FROM CHORLTON & MANCHESTER • CAMPING AT BURRS COUNTRY PARK DAY TICKETS FROM £24 • FULL FESTIVAL £66 • CHILDREN & FAMILY DISCOUNTS INFORMATION AND TICKETS

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HULME, MOSS SIDE & WHALLEY RANGE

CHAPEL STREET STOCKPORT CHORLTON OXFORD ROAD NORTHERN QUARTER EAST DIDSBURY WEST DIDSBURY

MEDIA CITY

HEATON MOOR GORTON PRESTWICH BURY & RAMSBOTTOM ANCOATS

3. POLITIKA

4. MARBLE BEERS 5. BAND ON THE WALL 6. BRIGHTER SOUND 7. V REVOLUTION 8. H BLYTH & CO 9. BAG THING 10. A CAREFULLY PLANNED FESTIVAL 11. GLASSWERK CONCERTS

12. THOSE FOUR MOBILE BAR 13. NORTHERN MONK 14. GORILLA 15. THE EIGHTH DAY 16. DEAF INSTITUTE

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52 bY Mogul desIgn Map

1. RAMSBOTTOM FESTIVAL 2. THE OUTSTANDING BREWING CO

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18. MARBLE BEERS 19. PROOF 20. ELECTRIK 21. ODDEST 22. MORLEY CHEEK’S 23. CYCLE LOGIC 24. STRANGE BREW 25. CHIN AND TONIC

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