The Skinny May 2018

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CULT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

May 2018 Scotland Issue 152

Adventure Time

HEAD INTO THE GREAT OUTDOORS THIS SUMMER WITH OUR BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO ALL THINGS ACTIVE, FROM KAYAKS TO BIKES VIA MOUNTAINS AND TRAMPOLINES

Music Phoebe Bridgers CHVRCHES Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert Tracyanne & Danny Beach House Modern Studies Distant Voices

Film Lucrecia Martel John Cameron Mitchell Stacy Martin Books Una Mullally

Art They Had Four Years BRUT Ruairidh McGlynn

Theatre Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival Hidden Door MagicFest

MUSIC | FILM | CLUBS | THEATRE | ART | BOOKS | COMEDY | TRAVEL | FOOD & DRINK | INTERSECTIONS | LISTINGS

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May 2018 I N DEPEN DENT

CULTU R AL

JOU R NALI S M

Issue 152, May 2018 Š Radge Media Ltd. Get in touch: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk T: 0131 467 4630 P: The Skinny, 1.9 1st Floor Tower, Techcube, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall Pl, Edinburgh, EH9 1PL The Skinny is Scotland's largest independent entertainment & listings magazine, and offers a wide range of advertising packages and affordable ways to promote your business.

Get in touch to find out more.

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Printed by Mortons Print Limited, Horncastle ABC verified Jan – Dec 2017: 25,825

printed on 100% recycled paper

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Contents

Editorial Editor-in-Chief Art Editor Books Editor Clubs Editor Comedy Editor Events Editor Film & DVD Editor Food Editor Intersections Editor Music Editor Theatre Editor Travel Editor

Rosamund West Adam Benmakhlouf Heather McDaid Claire Francis Ben Venables Nadia Younes Jamie Dunn Peter Simpson Kate Pasola Tallah Brash Amy Taylor Paul Mitchell

Production Production Manager Designer

Sarah Donley Fiona Hunter

Sales Sales Manager Sales Executives

Sandy Park George Sully Keith Allan David Hammond

Online Digital Editor Online Journalist Web Developer

Peter Simpson Jamie Dunn Stuart Spencer

Bookkeeping & Accounts Publisher

Rebecca Sweeney Sophie Kyle

THE SKINNY

Illustration: Jacky Sheridon

Photo: Ruairidh Mcglynn

P.47 Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert

Photo: Courtesy of Aidan Moffat

P. 39 Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival

P.41 Repeal the 8th Anthology

Photo: Aly Wight

P.18 Showcase

Contents 06 Chat & Opinion: Regulars including

the latest from The Artist's Michel Hazanavicius.

Peter’s Diorama, Shot of the Month, Online Only, What Are You Having For Lunch? And a closer look at the mass participation artwork PROCESSIONS, happening in June to mark 100 years of voting rights for women.

38

We meet the brains behind Edinburgh International Magic Festival to hear why magic as an artform deserves more respect, please and thank you.

08 Heads Up: Your daily cultural calendar

39

We look at some of the theatrical highlights of the 2018 Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.

for May.

ADVENTURE SUPPLEMEMT

40 In the latest installment of our series

on the history of the Edinburgh Fringe, we discover the key role the Edinburgh Festival played in broadening the appeal of fringe comedy.

11

Learn how to explore the great outdoors for free with our beginners’ guide to bothies and free swimming.

12

One keen paddler offers some tips for getting involved in Scotland’s white water kayaking scene.

41

14

Our Adventure Planner offers an overview of some of the weird and wonderful activities available on your doorstep, from zip lining to torturous racing.

LIFESTYLE

16

Scotland is a mecca for biking of all kinds – one road cyclist offers a beginner’s guide to getting started.

18

Showcase: Ruairidh McGlynn shares some of his pristine photography of Scottish mountain wilderness.

42

Intersections: What happens to your sex life when you have to move back in with your parents? We also take a look at how the Irish vote to repeal the 8th amendment matters to women in the UK.

45

Food & Drink: We speak to a trio of breweries heading to Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival, plus all your food news.

20 A guide to taking a more food and drinkbased approach for adventure, for anyone who feels a bit overwhelmed by all this active chat.

Music: Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert introduce their new collaboration and also share some photos of Moffat as a child for some reason? We speak to Modern Studies and Distant Voices, select some live highlights for May and offer you our pick of the month’s album releases.

52

A touching interview with Tracyanne Campbell on the tragic circumstances surrounding Camera Obscura's hiatus, as she introduces Tracyanne & Danny her new collaboration with Crybaby’s Danny Coughlan.

Clubs: We meet Finnish-by-way-ofAberdeen DJ IDA and look forward to Stirling’s club-in-prison Shapes at the Jail. Plus a round-up of this month’s clubbing highlights.

56

One half of Beach House, Victoria Legrand discusses changing their process 14 years in as they prepare to release seventh studio album 7.

Books: Poetry news with a rundown of May’s top events, plus reviews of our favourites of this month’s newly published works.

57

Art: News of May’s most hotly anticipated exhibitions and opportunities, plus reviews from Glasgow International

58

Film & TV: We’ve opened up the section to bring in more at home viewing including streaming and TV. Cinema reviews include Lean on Pete, The Breadwinner and Submergence, while our At Home section looks at eXistenZ and Irma Vep.

23

Phoebe Bridgers talks to us about her debut Stranger in the Alps, her many influences and sexism in music.

24

They recorded in America but it’s not going to change them – CHVRCHES introduce their new album Love Is Dead.

28

31

Marija Nemčenko’s exhibition BRUT offers a comparative exploration and recontextualisation of Brutalism in Glasgow and Lithuania.

32

Annual Generator exhibition They Had Four Years brings together a hand picked selection of last year’s graduate artists to display one year on.

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REVIEW

47

FEATURES

27

As Ireland prepares to go to the polls to vote on women’s reproductive rights, we meet the editors of the Repeal the 8th Anthology Una Mullally to hear more about the stories she felt inspired to share.

Argentinean auteur Lucrecia Martel discusses the art of adaptation and the importance of sound in her films as she returns with Zama.

36

Writer/director John Cameron Mitchell sings the praises of Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, the stars of his new sci-fi romance How to Talk to Girls at Parties.

37

We speak to Stacy Martin about playing the late Anne Wiazemsky in Redoubtable,

May 2018

60 Theatre: Our picks of the May theatrical productions, and a closer look at the programme for Hidden Door.

61

Comedy: We look at some of the work in progress shows arriving in Edinburgh this month.

63

Listings: What’s on where (and when) throughout May.

71

Our Local Heroes column takes another look at Scotland’s incredibly productive ceramics scene.

Contents

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H

ello and welcome to what turns out to be my 100th edition as Editor of The Skinny Scotland. I actually thought it was next month, but three of us repeatedly counting to 10 on our fingers have confirmed that if my first issue was 53, my 100th is 152. “It’s that difficult area of basic counting,” I said, repeatedly. Editing The Skinny may impact on your basic numeracy, although it does make up for it with all of the cultural access.

This month we’re launching our inaugural Adventure Supplement, taking a look at some of the manifold opportunities to actively explore the great outdoors that exist on your very doorstep. In Scottish cities we live on the edge of one of the most beautiful yet accessible wildernesses in the world – and there are untold ways to engage with it, from walking to cycling to kayaking and much more besides.

We open with a beginner’s guide to the various means of starting your adventure for free, with some basic information on how to navigate the country’s much-celebrated network of bothies, alongside a nod to the joys of wild swimming. We also have a rough guide to a rapidly escalating cycling addiction, an Adventure Planner with a rundown of some of the events and venues to go to this summer, and find out how to get involved in Scotland’s paddling community – turns out it’s easier than you would think to get out on the water from the city. Our Showcase provides a bit of visual inspo – Ruairidh McGlynn takes beautiful photos of the Highlands’ mountainous beauty, which you will find on p18.

DISCLAIMER: All the information in the supplement is aimed to whet the appetite rather than provide in-depth expertise – a bit more online research or training is probably needed before you decide to drag your kayak to the head of the River Etive’s right angle falls.

Back in our usual sections, Music speaks to Phoebe Bridgers on the phone from SoCal, as she tours her debut album Stranger in the Alps.

CHVRCHES have moved to New York for a change of scene, but they’re not letting it change what they do – Lauren Mayberry and Martin Doherty

discuss recording their third LP Love is Dead. We meet Tracyanne Campbell, offering an insight into the tragic circumstances behind Camera Obscura’s hiatus as she debuts Tracyanne & Danny, her new collaboration with Crybaby’s Danny Coughlan. We also talk to Beach House’s Victoria Legrand about seventh album 7, while the collaborative theme continues with Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert sharing some baby photos, Admiral Fallow’s Louis Abbott on new collaborative project Distant Voices, and a chat with Modern Studies’ Emily Scott and Rob St. John.

In Film, we meet Argentinean auteur Lucrecia Martel as she returns with Zama. Writer/ director John Cameron Mitchell could not be more complimentary about the acting skillz of Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, the stars of his new sci-fi romance How to Talk to Girls at Parties.

And we meet Stacy Martin to hear about playing the late Anne Wiazemsky in Redoubtable, a pastiche portrait of the marriage of Jean-Luc Godard and Wiazemsky.

Art focuses on Brutalism, talking to Marija Nemčenko about her exhibition and event BRUT. We also meet some of last year’s graduates who’ve been hand-picked for Generator’s annual showcase, They Had Four Years. Theatre looks ahead to the respective stage programmes of this year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, Hidden Door and the Edinburgh International Magic Festival – it’s festival season already people, get used to it. And Books meets Una Mullally, who has compiled a collection of women’s stories – the Repeal the 8th Anthology – to coincide with Ireland’s historic vote on women’s reproductive rights this month.

Finally, we close the magazine as is traditional with our Local Heroes design column, continuing to map Scotland’s creative industries with another focus on ceramics. This is the second of three – as soon as we started pulling on that thread it turned out the country is packed full of skilled and creative ceramicists, so we’re just going to keep telling their stories until we’re done. [Rosamund West]

Shot of the Month Ought, Stereo, 22 April by Roosa Päivänsalo

By Jock Mooney

Editorial

Online Only

Lean on Pete

The Shadowy Cabinet: On The Cabinet of Dr Caligari We’re hosting a unique re-scoring of the Weimar-era silent horror at Hidden Door festival in Leith on 31 May – our film editor looks at the film’s impact and influence 98 years on from its release.

Get tickets for our Hidden Door night at hiddendoorblog.org, and read the feature at theskinny. co.uk/film

Tall Tales: Recapping Tallinn Music Week We report back from the Estonian capital in its 100th anniversary year from an inspiring weekend of live music Free freaky feminists, Swedish "fuck-pop", performances from the 2018 Estonian Eurovision Song Contest entry: Tallinn Music Week is the kind of rollercoaster we want to ride.

Read the full report at theskinny.co.uk/festivals

Use Your Imaginate-tion Noel Jordan, Director of Imaginate children’s theatre festival, discusses their latest pro gramme and Scotland’s place on the international stage “I think, ultimately, it’s a safe place where literally anything about the world can be played out in a very controlled environment, and it can introduce us or expose us to questions, themes, ideas that we’ve thought about, but haven’t quite known what to do with.”

Read the full interview at theskinny.co.uk/theatre

Boquerones, BotellÓnes & Bares: Life in Málaga The Andalusian city of Málaga offers a tranquilo lifestyle of parties, good food and multilingual chat – we have the detail you need to get started...

‘The first thing you need to realise about working in Málaga – or anywhere else on the coast – is that you’re going to have to wing it 60% of the time.’

Read our full guide at theskinny.co.uk/travel

Fire Behind the Curtain, track-by-track Adam Stafford’s new record is our album of the month – he walks us through the album “We tracked the guitar on Zero Disruption with different reverbs, tones and distortion to try and make the lines distinct from one another. When the drums kick in it's a real dance party in my mind!”

Read the full track-by-track at theskinny.co.uk/music/ playlists

Power Corruption & Lies, 35 years on New Order’s second studio album celebrates its 35th anniversary this month – we take a look back at the record that stands up as the band’s strongest statement.

‘It offered an alternative to mainstream pop music, and showed us what pop music could be if it dared to defy conventions. In some ways, New Order managed to blur the lines between underground movements and mainstream culture.’

Read our reappraisal of the album at theskinny.co.uk/ music/opinion

Charlie Plummer on road movie Lean on Pete We catch up with the teenage star of Andrew Haigh’s downbeat road movie “When I’ve worked with other directors, often their notes will be ‘can you do that a little bigger?’ So it’s kind of in my wheelhouse to keep it a little more quiet. I was just always listening as a kid, that’s where I learned the most…”

Read the full interview at theskinny.co.uk/film

Find more at theskinny.co.uk

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Chat

THE SKINNY

What Even is This?

100 Years of Rights O

n Sunday 10 June Edinburgh will play host to the Scottish leg of mass-participation artwork PROCESSIONS, which is set to see up to 30,000 women march the streets of the capital wearing the colours of the suffragette movement, green, white or violet. Marking 100 years of women’s right to vote, parades will be taking place simultaneously in each of the other UK capitals, London, Belfast and Cardiff.

Starting from the Meadows, they will move through the city centre, past the Parliament, Holyrood Palace and the Queen’s Park. Women are encouraged to design and make their own banners and flags, drawing inspiration from the

designs of the suffragettes and the visual identities of subsequent protest movements.

16 Scottish organisations have been selected to work directly with commissioned artists including Pester & Rossi, Paria Goodarzi and textile historian (and Harris Tweed weaver) Chris Hammacott to create expressive artworks reflecting the hopes and concerns of women today.

To sign up to participate and also download your banner-making information pack, go to processions.co.uk. Here are some images of banners to inspire you.

Sun 10 Jun, Edinburgh, Free

Votes for Women at 21, 1927

Photo: Courtesy of the Glasgow Women's Libriary

ADVENTURE TIME As you’ll see, this month we’re well into adventuring – heading off into the wilds, running up hills, falling in puddles, and all that kind of stuff. So it’s fitting that this month’s diorama is inspired by the noblest of outdoor pursuits, the obstacle course.

Our regular cast of diorama players are climbing up things, going over rope bridges, and generally trying not to wipe out (totally or

otherwise). The only problem is that our obstacle course doesn’t have a snappy title like the Tough Mudders and Rough Runners of the world.

That’s where you come in – head to theskinny.co.uk/competitions, and Name That Obstacle Course. The best answer, as selected by our crack team of dioramists, will win a hardback copy of The Hoarder by Jess Kidd courtesy of the all-action guys over at Canongate.

Competition closes midnight Sun 27 May. The winner will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our full Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

Competition

WSPU postcard album, c.1911

Photo: Courtesy of the Glasgow Women's Libriary

Win a pair of tickets to this year’s Doune the Rabbit Hole Festival Doune the Rabbit Hole (13-15 Jul) is an intimate, independent music and arts festival set amid the glorious ancient oak trees of the Cardross Estate, near Lake of Menteith. It started life in 2010, at a site near Doune (hence the name) and has since been celebrating the very best of Scotland’s independent/DIY arts scene alongside amazing international guests each summer.

This year sees the likes of The Levellers, This is the Kit, Akala, Atari Teenage Riot, Frankie Cosmos, Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert and We Were Promised Jetpacks take to the stage, alongside many, many more. In addition to the live music, there will be workshops for kids and adults, arts, crafts, delicious local food, ciders and craft ales to soak up too.

For your chance to win a pair of weekend tickets with camping to Doune the Rabbit Hole,

simply head to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and correctly answer the following question: Which DtRH band are celebrating 30 years together in 2018? a) Levellers b) We Were Promised Jetpacks c) Big Country Competition closes midnight Thu 31 May. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. The prize will be posted to the winners prior to the event. Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/terms Doune the Rabbit Hole runs 13-15 July, Cardross Estate, Lake of Menteith, Stirlingshire. For more on Doune the Rabbit Hole please visit dounetherabbithole.co.uk

ON THE COVER

This month's cover is by illustrator Jasmine Floyd.

Based in Liverpool by way of Shropshire, she specialises in vibrant colours and funky subjects.

You can see more of her on her site, jasminesillustrations.co.uk. Find her on Instagram @ jasminesillustrations

May 2018

Doune the Rabbit Hole

Opinion

Photo: Laura Aitchison

Jasmine Floyd

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Sun 6 May

Mon 7 May

All you have to do at The British Street Food Awards: Scotland Heats is eat and judge things – can you even imagine a better way to spend a day?

Just a few of the vendors in the running to move on to the next stage of the competition include Glasgow pop-up kitchen Fatboys, Food + Flea regulars The Peruvian and last year’s Scottish winner The Buffalo Truck.

Sibbald Walk, Edinburgh, 12pm, free

Scotland’s much smaller, much lower profile and much shorter equivalent to SXSW, Stag & Dagger takes over multiple Glasgow venues for the day.

Local heroes Glasvegas celebrate the 10th anniversary of their self-titled debut album with a headline set at this year’s festival, while Japanese noise-rockers Bo Ningen, Detroit’s Protomartyr and fellow weegies Home$lice are also set to perform.

Various venues, Glasgow, 12pm, £25

Moving from its usual autumn slot, the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival will run in spring this year, with a theme of ‘Beginnings’ and a focus on young people. As well as a range of youthfocused events, the festival will also include a run of the inaugural winner of the Mental Health Fringe Award at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Mental.

Various venues across Scotland, until 27 May

The British Street Food Awards

Protomartyr

Photo: Martyna Maz

Sat 5 May

Sat 12 May

Sun 13 May

Abracadabra Alakazam! Or something along those lines. Dust off your capes, wands and any other magical equipment you may need because the Edinburgh International Magic Festival is back. This year’s programme includes a range of solo shows from the likes of Renz and Vincent Gambini, a ‘Fast & Furious’ gala and even a Wizard World Gathering. Various venues, Edinburgh, times & prices vary, until 19 May.

The competition may be slim but Minival are undoubtedly the best party crew Aberdeen has to offer, and they’re celebrating ten years in business this year, with a very special party in a typically unique location. Minival 10: The Castle Party will take place at Kincardine Castle, 25 miles outside of Aberdeen, with sets from Âme, Nightmares on Wax and more. Kincardine Castle, Aboyne, 12pm, £20-40

Scotland’s largest gathering of graffiti and street art, Yardworks Festival will return to SWG3, taking over the entire complex from 12-13 May. Over 80 artists from across the UK and Europe will be painting live across both days to produce large scale artworks, with street food and craft beers also available to keep you sustained over the course of the weekend. SWG3, Glasgow, 11am, £5

Edinburgh International Magic Festival

Nightmares on Wax

Photo: Martyna Maz

Fri 11 May

But Honey, You Look Fine

Yardworks Festival

Fri 18 May

Sat 19 May

Probably not the lightest watch for a Thursday evening, Gut is a psychological thriller questioning who we can trust with our children, and if we can even trust anyone at all. Shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, it is the debut full-length original play by Fringe First award-winning playwright Frances Poet.

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 7.45pm, £10-17, until 19 May

It’s safe to say, people love street food; it’s (usually) quick, it’s easy and you can generally combine your eating with lots of drinking. The Scottish Street Food Festival allows you to do just that all in one place, over an entire weekend (18-20 May). All you have to do is turn up and fill up – doesn’t get much better than that. Riverside Museum, Glasgow, 4pm, £5-7

Glasgow’s most famous blonde (no, not Lulu), Hector Barbour, aka Denis Sulta, has curated a mammoth line-up for this year’s FLY Open Air. The FLY Club resident has roped in the likes of Seth Troxler, Gerd Janson and Jayda G to play at his special Sulta Selects edition of the day-long festival. Pray for sunshine. Hopetoun House, Edinburgh, 12pm, £48.50-60

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Wed 23 May The Grosvenor Cinema are celebrating living legend and cinematic icon Bill Murray this month, screening four of his classic films for only a fiver each in a season titled Murray Mayhem. Tonight, they’re screening Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which Murray himself told us at the Berlinale earlier this year was “the funniest movie ever shot.” Grosvenor Cinema, Glasgow, 7pm, £5

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Chat

Credit: Michael Cranston

Thu 17 May

Gut

Yon Afro Collective

Denis Sulta

Shrimpwreck

Thu 24 May

Fri 25 May

Get practising your Gay Gordons, your Dashing White Sergeant and your Strip the Willow in time for Knockengorroch World Ceilidh festival this weekend. The annual knees-up returns, with a line-up of live music, comedy, art, science and more. If you’ve got two left feet though, don’t worry, you can still enjoy the festival in a static position. Carsphairn Hills, Dumfries & Galloway, 24-27 May, £54-119

Over two days, the CCA will host the Queer Classics Film Festival, screening a selection of films depicting iconic representations of LGBTQ+ people across the decades. Just a few of the films lined up include Jennie Livingston’s 1990 documentary on New York’s voguing scene, Paris is Burning and Sean Baker’s iPhone shot 2015 film following the life of transgender sex worker Sin-Dee Rella, Tangerine. CCA, Glasgow, times vary, weekend pass £30

Knockengorroch



Paris is Burning

THE SKINNY

Credit: Najma Abukar

Shonen Knife

Photo: Martyna Maz

As Glasgow International prepares to wrap up for another year, there’s just a few more days to take in the exhibitions on show. Don’t miss Yon Afro Collective’s mixed media group exhibition, which seeks to amplify the lives of Black women and/+ Women of Colour (WOC) in Scotland. On display is a selection of works by Najma Abukar, Layla-­Roxanne Hill, Sekai Machache, and Adebusola Debora Ramsay. Govanhill Baths, Glasgow, until 7 May

Credit: Chelsea Frew

There are two Bank Holidays in May and its food and drink festivals galore, so get ready to party (and eat and drink loads) at one of these many exciting events...

The word prolific gets bandied around a lot but when it comes to Shonen Knife, there’s no better word to describe them. The Osaka punk trio, who were once endorsed by none other than Kurt Cobain, return to Summerhall, following their 35th anniversary tour and release of their twentieth studio album Adventure last year.

Summerhall, Edinburgh, 8pm, £15

Photo: Jordan McLaughlin

Compiled by: Nadia Younes

Wed 2 May

Photo: Kathryn Wood

Heads Up

Tue 1 May

Turkish Star Wars

Thu 10 May

Edinburgh-based photographer Mhairi Bell-Moodie uses a feminist-adopted rallying cry for the title of her latest exhibition. Nevertheless, She Persisted highlights the stories of 25 women who have overcome child loss, domestic abuse, rape, self harm, body dysmorphia, suicide attempts, breast cancer, chronic illness and much more, through a series of powerful and evocative images. Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Edinburgh, free, until 18 May

Being a British Muslim in the current political climate isn’t easy, and Tez Ilyas is here to tell you why. In his latest show Teztify, Ilyas teztifies against all the assumptions the world has of him, using much of the same witty and subversive cultural commentary as his previous shows, Tez Talks and Made In Britain. The Stand, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £9-11

Also reviving her 2017 Edinburgh Fringe show, Evelyn Mok will bring Hymen Manoeuvre back to the Capital tonight. If you haven’t already guessed, the show is predominantly about sex, but Mok uses the topic to explore themes as wide-ranging as immigration, intersectionality and the complex cultural associations ascribed to female sexuality. Prudes need not apply.

The Basement Theatre, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £8-10

Nevertheless, She Persisted

Tez Ilyas

Photo: Steve Ullathorne

Wed 9 May

Photo: Mhairi Bell-Moodie

Tue 8 May

Wed 16 May

Design Exhibition Scotland is a new project which aims to promote and raise the visibility of Scotland’s designers. The work of around 20 designers and artists will be showcased from 12-15 May, and today DES Debates will bring together key members of the design community to encourage debate, conversation and the exchange of ideas. Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh, 11am, free

Triple Edinburgh Comedy Awards nominee Dan Antopolski may not have struck gold yet but don’t hold that against him. His eighth stand-up show Return of the Dan Antopolski continues to see him play with language in a way that not many other comedians do, while discussing his recent divorce, fatherhood and Brexit. The Stand, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £9-10

Only in its second year, Take Me Somewhere is fast becoming one of the most anticipated events on the Scottish cultural calendar and this year’s programme doesn’t fail to impress. Just one of the highlights is VIOLENCE, a brand new performance art piece

by FK Alexander, combining variously sourced text, live percussion, non-dance and flowers. Tramway, Glasgow, 9.30pm, £8-12, until 19 May

Design Exhibition Scotland

Glasgow Coffee Festival

Sun 20 May Expect to see a lot of people experiencing coffee jitters in Glasgow today because the Glasgow Coffee Festival is back. Keen coffee beans can enjoy sampling the goods from the festival’s hosts Dear Green, as well as Artisan Roast, Ovenbird and more. There won’t be any disposable cups available at this year’s event, so remember to bring your KeepCups or invest in one on the day. The Briggait, Glasgow, 19 and 20 May, 10am, £14.50 - 22.50

Dan Antopolski

Photo: Ed Moore

Tue 15 May

Credit: Rachel Adams

Mon 14 May

VIOLENCE

Mon 21 May

Tue 22 May

You might want to bring your shades with you tonight because Finnish dance-pop sensation ALMA has hair brighter than the sun (see accompanying image for proof). Since appearing on Finnish Pop Idol when she was just 16 years old, Alma has since worked with the likes of Charli XCX, MØ and even French Montana, but don’t judge her for that last one. O2 ABC, Glasgow, 7pm, £10

Nashville punk trio Bully, led by ex-sound engineer Alicia Bognanno, returned with their second album Losing at the end of last year, and their first on Sub Pop. Grungier than their 2015 debut Feels Like, the new album sees Bognanno’s immense vocals jostling with thrashing guitars and rattling drums like she’s competing in a wrestling match – just imagine that live. Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 7pm, £9 Bully

ALMA

Sun 27 May

Mon 28 May

We may be slightly biased, given that we’re curating a night for this year’s Hidden Door festival on 31 May, but the line-up is looking better than ever. That night will feature a live cinema soundtrack to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and a headline set from Makeness, but tonight you can catch Sylvan Esso supported by Happy Meals and followed by a late night DJ set from Daniel Avery. Good, right?!

Leith Theatre, Edinburgh, from 6pm, £13-29

Need we say more than craft beer, street food and DJs on bank holiday weekend? Well, if we must, the Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival will see more than 40 breweries in attendance, from 25-27 May, with over 300 beers available over the course of the weekend, food from all the usual street vendor suspects and DJ sets from Mogwai, Two Door Cinema Club and more. The Biscuit Factory, Edinburgh, 12pm, £35

Ezra Furman may as well be considered modern day rock’n’roll royalty by now.

At only 31 years old, he already has seven albums under his belt; his latest, Transangelic Exodus features some of the best song titles you’ll ever hear, including Maraschino-Red Dress $8.99 at Goodwill and Peel My Orange Every Morning. Oh, and he’s great live. O2 ABC, Glasgow, 7pm, £18

Happy Meals

Photo: Allan Lewis

Sat 26 May

May 2018

Evelyn Mok

Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival



Credit: Graham Humphreys

Insect

Photo: James Deacon

May the 4th be with you.

Yes, it’s Star Wars day and in honour of George Lucas’ space-set saga, Matchbox Cineclub are screening the world premiere of a brand new 2K digital scan of Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam, aka Turkish Star Wars.

Using edited footage and music from Star Wars, as well as other films, director Çetin Inanç’s film has gained cult status over the years. CCA, Glasgow, 7pm, free but ticketed

Photo: Joanna Stawnicka

Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival returns to Hawick in the Scottish Borders this month.

Although a modest-sized town over 50 miles from the nearest urban population may seem an odd location choice for the festival, Alchemy’s success has proven it a wise one. Just one of this year’s must-see films is Insect, by legendary Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer. Various venues, Hawick, until 7 May, prices vary

Photo: Alysse Gafkjen

Fri 4 May

Credit: Jan Švankmajer

Thu 3 May

Ezra Furman

Chat

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Feature

THE SKINNY

The Adventure Supplement Scotland’s countryside is some of the most beautiful in the world, and it’s right on your doorstep. We’ve put together a guide to starting an outdoor adventure this summer – first up, how to explore the wilderness for free, from bothies to wild swimming

Words: Evan Beswick The outdoors on a budget: Dos & Don’ts

DO...

Go to the Mountain Bothies Association website and look at all of the places you can lay you head for absolutely nothing in the most beautiful parts of the UK. It’s incredible.

Photo: Rosamund West

DON’T...

Forget the mountain bothy code. Literally, don’t shit on your own doorstep. And don’t ever sleep on the mattresses that are in some of the bothies.

H

ow’s this for stating the obvious: it’s really no great shakes in Scotland to get out of your house and into somewhere beautiful, adventurous, and out-of-the-ordinary. And it can also be done really cheaply. Even for free.

Of course, that’s sometimes easier said than done. There’s a lot of outdoors out there, and it can be daunting to know where and how to start.

So, what might a real trip look like? How about an early springtime stay in a bothy?

What’s a bothy?

Across the UK (but mostly in Scotland), there are buildings on hillsides and in glens, maintained and kept open for use by anyone. For free. Most (but not all) are maintained by the Mountain Bothies Association. Most (but not all) mean a very comfortable night’s sleep and the chance of unexpected encounters and conversations with a panoply of strangers in an atmosphere that feels a million miles and a hundred years away from the day job.

Some are palatial, with unimaginable luxuries like a squat toilet; some are freezing holes with whole civilisations of mice. There’s an excellent book, The Scottish Bothy Bible by Geoff Allan, which lists most of them. One thing they have in common: they are not hotels. Expect to sleep communally, cook rustically and clean up thoroughly. There’s a bothy code that you should learn by heart. The keyword is respect.

Choosing a bothy is a good place to start your planning. You can plan as much or for as long as you like, but weather in Scotland is, erm, changeable, so the night before is a good time to make decisions based on the weather forecast (don’t forget the mountain weather information service). Private cars have done away with the days when hillwalking groups clubbed together to book a charabanc, but there’s plenty that can be arrived at by train/bus and a walk in. Walk Highlands is an amazing resource with maps and descriptions of all the classic routes. If you’re walking in in the evening, don’t try and do an epic in the dark – be kind to yourself.

May 2018

Essential kit There are some essentials – indeed, there’s a ‘ten essentials’ list which serves as an endless source of debate for the niche group who are aficionados of both hillwaking and web forums. What it amounts to is that you need to stay warm and dry and fed and watered. You need to know where you are (map and compass), be able to see if it gets dark (headtorches are great), be able to stay protected if the sun comes out (it happens), start a fire and be able to deal with an emergency.

A first aid kit and an emergency blanket are a sensible minimum. Always remember the weather can turn, and being able to whip on an extra layer and/or a waterproof will save your sanity, and sometimes even your life. Learn to love warm hats.

If you’re staying in a bothy, you’ll need a sleeping bag and mat, of which there are hundreds of options, so go and have a chat in an outdoors shop. If you want to be under the stars, tents are great, but if the weather isn’t bad then have a look at bivvy bags. These are glorified bin bags that you put your sleeping bag and mat inside. They have the advantage of being cheap, simple, small to carry and easy to set-up. You get in and go to sleep. They aren’t as warm or protected from the elements as a tent. Some people think they are a lamentable hardship. I love them.

You’ll want to eat. Sandwiches and nuts and snacks are great. If you’re cooking there are any number of stoves and pans to choose from, but a big metal mug that doubles up as a pan and a mug for tea is really neat. Even if you’re not cooking, being able to make a cup of tea in the outdoors is a simple, empowering pleasure that is difficult to describe in words.

Walking To be honest, if you live in a city you probably walk loads anyway and have sturdy shoes for pounding the pavements. Common sense is your best guide here. Going outdoors shouldn’t be like going into battle, and a pair of trainers is fine for most walks on paths outside of winter. Going up Ben Nevis in the winter in flip flops is, clearly, a

dick move.

By definition, if you’re walking in the outdoors, you’ll be moving from one place to another. Knowing where you are and where you’re going to using a map and compass is an essential safety skill, which needs practice and more guidance than you should look for in a magazine.

There’s loads of information online, but nothing beats doing. The best advice here is to do things with people who know how to navigate for a while, but don’t let them do the navigating. Poke your nose in so you know what they’re up to.

Going up Ben Nevis in the winter in flip flops is, clearly, a dick move Swimming Genuinely, there is nothing quite like a swim outdoors, and the (re)growth of wild swimming clubs attests to this. It’s bracing. I’ve never felt more completely braced than after a dip. There are also some great guides on how to do this safely (and also a wonderful book, Roger Deakin’s Waterlog, which offers no practical advice but is simply wonderful nature writing). You don’t need a wetsuit – it’s always shocking getting into cold water, whether in a wetsuit or in your birthday suit. A wetsuit just lets you stay in longer. Be safety-conscious but not scared — 90% of outdoor swimming drownings relate to young males and alcohol. Don’t do it pissed, or if you can’t actually swim. Be careful of currents (seas and rivers are inherently more complex than lochs). Don’t stay in too long or try to be ambitiously tough – at this time of year a minute in the water is a good effort. Remember to look up. Your perspective from water level is unlike anything we’re used to. Doubly so if it’s raining.

Off you go.

ADVENTURE

DO...

Subscribe to Ordnance Survey maps. Much cheaper than buying paper maps for every trip. For £20 you get all of their maps, which you can download on to a phone, and print out. Plus they are always up to date, so you won’t end up getting lost using a map from ten years ago which, you are absolutely sure, should show a pylon going across the middle of this bog.

DON’T...

Rely on just a phone for navigation. It’s not just that they sometimes fail and you’d be very unlucky, it’s that they are actually quite likely to fail when it gets cold and wet, or when you slip on your arse and crush it.

Can’t beat a paper map in a plastic wallet.

DO...

Visit Mountaineering Scotland’s website.

There’s loads of information on things like navigation (quite important), route planning (also important) and first aid. If you join, you also get access to cheap courses, which are excellent.

DON’T...

Try and digest all the info you can find in one go. People spend whole lives learning this stuff. It’s meant to be fun, not an exam.

DO...

Get some friends. Go on trips with people more knowledgeable than you. Advice, ideas, inspiration and tips are all free. Take them from people.

DON’T...

Forget to pay it back. As you get more confident, bring people out with you who aren’t. They will slow you down and ask you questions. That’s OK. DO...

Buy a decent waterproof. It’s Scotland and if you want to spend money on one piece of kit then you know what it’s gotta be.

DON’T...

Buy loads of cheap crap from, ahem, larger outdoor superstores. This isn’t just an ethical point – you’ll end up paying twice when you realise that the bargain kit isn’t good enough for the emergency you bought it for. Genuinely, you’ve probably already got lots of things you need to be safe and comfortable outdoors (who hasn’t got a fleece?). Hold off buying kit until you decide that what you’ve already got doesn’t meet your needs.

Feature

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Scottish Water

One keen paddler explains why you should really learn to use a kayak to explore Scotland’s rivers – and how to get started

Words: Cara McGuigan

T

Getting started One of the wonderful things about learning to kayak is that the only real prerequisites are being able to swim and willing to try. All the rest can be dealt with – it doesn’t matter how old you are (you’ll just envy the teenagers), how fit (ditto), or how outdoorsy (praise be to Gore-tex). The thrills are there to be reaped with every rapid you make. It’s not monotonous (like jogging), or mindless (like going to the gym). It’s fast and it’s beautiful, and you need to be alert. If you think about other weekend pastimes, it’s probably most like downhill mountain biking, except on beginners rivers you stand a good chance of not hurting yourself if you capsize.

The point is that kayaking is a sport for a hungry mind – there’s a huge amount to learn, and endless variation. Rivers (and the individual features on them) are graded on a scale of one to six, with one essentially flat water, and six nigh-on suicidal. An added complexity is that a river won’t behave the same way from one rainfall to the next. There’s a whole vocabulary to learn: levels, lines, holes, eddies, ferries, tongues, trim, tracking – terms that become second nature alongside your ability to stay upright, and help you not only read a river, but explain it to other paddlers.

The better you get, and the more confident your paddling becomes, the harder you can push the grades – so you might graduate from the Tay, the Tweed, and the Teith to faster moving rivers with more features, such as the Nith, the Garry and the Findhorn. From here on upwards, rivers get more complicated, and mistakes can have higher consequences, which is why it’s definitely worth serving your time with easier rivers. Each time you sit in a boat, you’re learning how a river moves and how to work with it. It’s about increasing your affinity – and the buzz you get when you can use it to your advantage.

One way to fast track your boating is a kayaking holiday, either with a residential course (the national outdoors centre, Glenmore Lodge’s weeklong beginners, improvers, intermediate and advanced courses are excellent); or a coached trip, either here or abroad, with a reputable coach – the French Alps, the Spanish Pyrenees and the Soca Valley in Slovenia are three popular destinations, each with the added benefit of actual sunshine.

This isn’t to underplay what we have here in Scotland – in fact we’re doubly blessed as paddlers. Not only are our rivers clean and gorgeous, but the 2003 Land Reform (Scotland) Act gives us full rights of access (unlike in England and Wales, where boaters only have unfettered access to 3% of their rivers: 1,400 out of 42,700 miles). This July, the eagerly awaited 3rd edition of the Scottish White Water Guide (Pesda

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Photo: Georgina Maxwell

he first time you plunge off the River Etive’s right angle falls, the adrenaline rush is so all-consuming it’ll make your teeth throb.

However, here’s the thing. With whitewater kayaking, you don’t need to launch yourself off a 20ft waterfall for the endorphins to hit. It’ll start from your very first trip.

The Scottish Canoe Association (SCA) estimate there are at least 2,000 whitewater kayakers in the country, and numbers are growing. Each Sunday they leave their homes at indecently early hours, huck kayaks down corridors, lash them onto upright roofracks and take off for the rivers.

Why? Because each trip is an adventure – every single one. Guaranteed, within your first year of paddling, you’ll see more of Scotland than you did in all the decades before. Rivers are a country’s veins; they’re well hidden until you start to look.

Press) will be published, and this is a great place to learn more about rivers and their grades.

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be Scotland if it was all brilliant.

Somehow, both of the country’s two whitewater paddling shops managed to close in 2016, within a few short months of each other.

This means that when you get serious (and, again, this being Scotland, you’ll want a drysuit pretty darn quick), you’ll have to travel to England, wait for a demo night, or trust to the slings and arrows of online shopping.

Join the club By far the easiest and safest way to get into kayaking is to join a club. Clubs abound across the country, and can be searched on the SCA website, or good old Google. Fees are generally around £30 per year, and allow you to borrow basic kit (boats, paddles, spraydecks, helmets and buoyancy aids) as well as access coaching, flat water sessions, winter pool sessions, and beginners and intermediate river trips. Clubs including Monklands Canoe Club and Glasgow Kayak Club have the added bonus of being based at Pinkston Watersports, Scotland’s only purpose built whitewater course, meaning easy access to guaranteed white water, just ten minutes from George Square. With most clubs, you’ll not only get the benefit of experience and consistent coaching, you’ll also meet people at the same level as you, and this is gold-dust – nothing beats getting better with your buddies.

If you happen to be at uni, chances are you’ve got a club on campus – Edinburgh, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Aberdeen and Dundee all have active clubs, as do some of the smaller universities, including Napier, Stirling, St Andrews and Heriot Watt. Uni clubs stereotypically have a bit of a gung-ho attitude to safety, which is unfair as many are epic and pitched at exactly the right level. However, it’s worth remembering that the transient nature of the student population means a university club won’t be the same from one year to next, so a wise man (or woman) would ca’ canny at the beginning of term.

Make friends Your paddling pals might not be the people you

socialise with off the water, but on the water, they’re who you trust – they’re looking out for you and you’re looking out for them. The rule of thumb is that you don’t paddle in a group smaller than three – one to stay with an injured party, and one to go for help. The longer you paddle, the more you realise that Scotland has about two degrees of separation – if you don’t know another paddler, chances are your friend will. Digital communities are lively, and between that and annual events such as the SCA Club Volunteers Conference, the Scottish Women’s Paddle Symposium and the Garry Boater Cross, you’ll start to see the same faces again and again.

Indeed, when river levels are low in the summer, dam-release rivers like the Awe (which

guarantees water throughout the dry summer months) become really sociable, drawing desperate paddlers from across the country.

Being on the river is an excuse to be completely in the moment. Deadlines, school runs and office politics dissolve with every paddlestroke. Friday’s spreadsheets have disappeared, and Monday’s team meeting is way beyond the horizon. Paddling is a trip you can just keep on taking, no matter what age you are.

Sure, there’s the thrill of pushing higher grades, but paddling new rivers, discovering new places, or simply knowing you’ve managed to get really slick at that one thing you’ve been trying to nail for ages, all make it incredibly addictive.

The rivers are waiting. Go out and play.

Know your boat Like any family, there’s a great deal of slagging off between the different branches of recreational paddling. However, as in most families, it’s pretty good natured – each kind of paddler understands why another wants to be on the water. Chances are they might sneak off to the dark side occasionally too... and maybe not come back.

Sea kayaks Sea kayaks are long boats, starting at around 15 feet and often longer. Sea kayakers themselves are a slightly different breed, needing to understand more about weather and navigation than river paddlers, who simply launch themselves down a waterway. There’s definitely a hardy, endurance aspect to sea kayaking, with the hardcore intrepid travelling some crazy miles – Greenland to Scotland for example. However, it’s also perfect for people who simply want to putter about shorelines, spotting birds, seals, porpoises and dolphins.

Canoes Canoes (sometimes known as Canadians) are open boats, paddled with a single blade on

ADVENTURE

inland lochs and waterways. The appeal of canoeing is the journey, and canoe camping is popular because canoes are essentially juggernauts that can transport a healthy amount of kit (including dogs, camp tents and children). Learning to canoe can be trickier than other types of boating because of the single blade aspect, but when you get the hang of it, it’s very zen. Literally nothing beats a lazy float trip down a fat river in the summertime.

Playboating Playboating (or freestyling) is the boat equivalent of stunt biking – in fact, it used to be called ‘rodeo’. Paddled in tiny, light, manoeuvrable boats, playboating takes place in whitewater features (often at artificial whitewater facilities), where paddlers use the power of the water to help propel them into tricks with names that grow more outlandish the harder they get (including Phonics Monkey, Tricky Whu and Donkey Flip). You need a pretty solid roll to take on freestyle, but if you’ve got that, the world is your McNasty.

THE SKINNY

May 2018

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Mountain bike specialists Dirt School offer courses all over Scotland – from main hub Glentress in the Tweed Valley Fort William Cathkin Braes – providing expert tuition with the simple ethos that your coach should have not just the paperwork but the riding credentials to match. They run courses for anyone from complete beginners wanting to ride safely, weekend warriors who want to improve their confidence and control, right through to riders who race at the top level internationally. If you’re thinking about throwing yourself down a near vertical mountain trail with only a bike between you and the dirt, maybe think about learning some skills from these guys first, eh? dirtschool.co.uk

thebikestation.org.uk

The Bike Station

Dirt School

Coast to Coast surf school

Glenmore Lodge Situated in the heart of the Cairngorm National Park, Glenmore Lodge is billed as Scotland’s national outdoor centre and offers a variety of courses and facilities geared towards training across a wide range of outdoor disciplines. Covering kayaking, canoeing, mountaineering, rock climbing, ski touring and mountain biking (and much more besides), this is a good place to head to find out how to explore Scotland’s great outdoors safely and responsibly.

Glenmore Lodge

Rat Race Edinburgh Take part in a 55km ultra run without even leaving the comfort of your own city! Starting from the Royal Mile, the course weaves 55km through streets, alleyways, onto hills, up crags, past monuments, museums, Holyrood Palace, the Parliament and up and down 3000 feet of ascent and descent. That’s around the height of a Munro. Easy! 21 Oct, from £99 ratrace.com/ute

Rat Race Edinburgh

Scottish Surfing Federation Once you’ve learned the basics and generally got really into surfing, why not join the SSF? Surf’s governing body in Scotland, the SSF organise the national championships and work to safeguard the country’s marine environment. They also offer a range of advanced courses for members, whose benefits include liability insurance, the opportunity to compete in various championships and the chance to participate in protecting Scotland’s surf environment for future generations.

Learn to surf! Located on Belhaven beach near Dunbar, Coast to Coast are well respected for their team of experienced instructors offering a range of lessons and courses in the sports of surfing, bodyboarding, stand up paddling and coasteering.

They also run tours and trips to the most remote edges of Scotland’s beautiful and varied coastline.

thessf.com

c2csurfschool.com

Coast to Coast surf school

Widely regarded as one of the most difficult one day sporting events in the world, the Ironman is a triathlon for people who think triathlons are for the weak. This Edinburgh version includes a 1.2 mile swim at Preston Links, a 56 mile one loop bike course, and a 13.1 mile run within Holyrood Park before crossing the finish line. Sounds pretty straightforward. 1 Jul, from £220

How lucky are we to live in the country that hosts the annual World Stone Skimming Championships?

Taking place on Easdale Island far to the west this September, entrance is £5 for ‘adult ladies and men’, and £3 for ‘old tossers.’

The World Stone Skimming Cup is up for grabs, and runners-up will receive a solid slate medal. Easdale Island, 23 Sep stoneskimming.com

Foxlake

The Climbing Academy offers state of the art indoor bouldering facilities on Glasgow’s Southside, equipment, coaching from age 0 onwards, and even a lovely cafe. Membership is only £10 for life, and their Movement and Technique beginners bouldering course promises to be ‘probably the best 180 minutes you will ever invest in your climbing.’ From £7

Located 25 miles east of Edinburgh, Foxlake is home to Scotland’s first cable wakeboarding park.

It’s also got rope trails, zip lines and segways – fun for all the family (wetsuits are available to ensure survival throughout the ‘summer’ months).

Scottish Surfing Federation

Ironman 70.3 Edinburgh

World Stone Skimming Championships

Glasgow Climbing Academy

theclimbingacademy.com

Photo: Ed Smith

Glenmorelodge.org.uk

World Stone Skimming Championships

eu.ironman.com

Ironman

Playsport Scotland

Playsport Scotland

Glasgow Climbing Academy

Foxlake

This week-long programme aims to celebrate yoga in the city, providing teachers, students and studios with a chance to connect with the community.

A not-for-profit event, all ticket sales are on a 'pay it forward' basis with funds going to the Edinburgh Community Yoga outreach projects providing access to yoga for vulnerable people. Serenity Cafe, 11-20 May, from £10 per session edyogafest.co.uk

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Great West Yoga Fest

Zip Trek Park

A full day celebration of yoga in Glasgow’s West End, Great West Yoga Fest 2018 will (somewhat optimistically) be taking place in a private park. There will be kids’ yoga, chair yoga, hatha yoga, flow yoga, music, stalls, relaxation, meditation, massage, and activities for all ages. Under 12s go free, and tickets include at least one class. No dogs allowed, though. Queens Crescent Park, 10 Jun, £10

In case it wasn’t already obvious from previous recommendations, we’re really really into zip lining over here. Heading to Aviemore? Why not check out Zip Trek Park!

Fly through the pine forest in the heart of the Cairngorms like a noble eagle, screaming as you go. Feel the peril escalate, building to a final half kilometre plummet at speeds of 40mph. Aviemore, from £30

Edinburgh Yoga Festival

Great West Yoga Fest

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zippark.co.uk

Photo: Tony Marsh

foxlake.co.uk

Edinburgh Yoga Festival

Photo: Courtesy of Andy Barlow

This country is packed full of events and places for you to start your own personal adventure. Here’s a small selection of what’s available in the summer of 2018, from learning how to repair a bike to some of the world’s most punishing races, via trampolines and a surprising number of zip lines

With locations in Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee, the Bike Station offers a one stop shop for buying reconditioned bikes, learning how to look after them (or have them repaired by the professionals) and general safety training for all ages.

They’re local, environmentally conscious and generally a responsible place to start your bike owning journey.

Photo: Creative Commons

Compiled by: Rosamund West

Dirt School

Photo: Creative Commons

Plan Your Own Adventure

The Bike Station

This purpose built 90 acre park in beautiful East Kilbride offers a wide range of indoor and outdoor sporting pursuits from Zone 54 – Scotland’s newest indoor skate park – to Air Space, a ‘spring-loaded urban playground’ of over 100 interconnected trampolines. They’ve also got a climbing centre, pool and some inexplicable golf. playsportscotland.com

Zip Trek Park

THE SKINNY

Tweedlove Bike Festival

This annual event happens across a June weekend and features around 250 competitors from up to 30 countries (who’ve earned the qualifying UCI points) taking on the Nevis Range course. Described as ‘a gruelling rock strewn ribbon of bike-smashing dirt that drops 525m in 2.8km,’ participation is strictly for skilled riders only. Everyone else should come to watch the fearless at work, perhaps from the vantage point of a seat on the gondola. 2-3 Jun, day pass from £17.50

Etape Caledonia With routes of 40 or 85 miles on offer, this mass participation cycling event has space for up to 5000 people to take in some of the finest sights of the Scottish Highlands – Loch Rannoch, Loch Tummel, combined with the demanding, twisting climb of Mt Schiehallion – on a closed road one May Sunday. Pitlochry, 20 May, from £37.50

Now the UK’s biggest bike festival, Tweedlove have events throughout the summer celebrating the wealth of mountain and road biking opportunities this area of the Scottish Borders has to offer. They host races for all ages and abilities but the headline is the Big Tweedlove Festival Weekend (8-10 Jun) which features the Whyte British Enduro Championship on the Sunday.

Fortwilliamworldcup.co.uk

Fort William World Cup

Etapecaledonia.co.uk Tweedlove Bike Festival

Loch Rannoch

tweedlove.com

GO APE!

Tough Mudder

Rough Runner

Live out your childhood fantasies of Tarzan or Endor life with a treetop adventure featuring rope courses, zip lines and segways in three forest locations across Scotland – Aberfoyle, Crathes Castle and Glentress Forest, each within driving distance of Glasgow, Aberdeen or Edinburgh respectively – where you can retreat for team, family or solo adventures.

Tough Mudder have a reputation for building sadistically challenging obstacle courses to test the mettle of even the most resilient of outdoorspeople.

There are no winners – it’s all about pushing yourself to the outer limits of endurance. With obstacles involving electrocution, barbed wire, and the engagingly named ‘Ladder to Hell’, this one is definitely not for the faint hearted.

Drumlanrig Castle, 16 & 17 Jun, from £109

In slight contrast to the prior obstacle course, Rough Runner put an emphasis on fun, taking their inspiration from game shows like Fun House and Takeshi’s Castle rather than the CIA’s extraordinary renditions programme. Obstacles include sweeper arms, giant pigeon battles, big balls and The Travelator, and it all takes place in a lovely deer park next to the Forth. Hopetoun House, 18 & 19 Aug,. from £49

Goape.co.uk Go Ape!

https://roughrunner.com/events/scotland/

Tough Mudder

Rough Runner

toughmudder.co.uk

Alien Rock

And compared to CELTMAN! maybe it is?

This extreme Scottish triathlon promises participants such delights as swimming 3.4km in cold, deep and jellyfish-infested Atlantic waters, biking 202km on often very windy Highland roads and running 42km over the Beinn Eighe mountain range which includes two Munros! Apparently this is all meant to happen on one day??? You get a blue t-shirt if you finish sooooooo…

Scotland’s first dedicated indoor climbing centre, Alien Rock offers training from beginners up and the space to learn skills safely, indoors and away from the harsh realities of the Scottish weather. Alien One holds a large selection of roped climbing for all levels, while Alien Bloc nearby provides a bouldering centre with low walls and no ropes.

Edinburgh International Climbing Arena

alienrock.co.uk

Europe’s largest indoor climbing wall is situated at Ratho, just outside Edinburgh, and offers coaching for all ages alongside literally hundreds of roped routes and multiple rocks for practising your bouldering. You can hire everything you need to get started on site – remember it’s basically outdoors, so if you’re planning on climbing at any time but the height of summer (one week in May), take warm clothes. Climb start up course £50 edinburghleisure.co.uk/venues/edinburgh-internationalclimbing-arena

Alien Rock

War of the Thistles - Keith Allan

An unparalleled resource if you’re looking to head out walking in Scotland, Walk Highlands provide maps and detailed descriptions of more than 2000 routes across the country including all the Munros. Offering essential guidance on considerations like required skill, equipment and bog level, it’s worth paying close attention to what they have to say. Remember a (plastic wrapped) hard copy is infinitely preferable to downloading onto your phone cos eh Scottish weather. walkhighlands.co.uk

Walk Highlands

Photo: Graham Tate, North Skate Mag

Walk Highlands

Aerial Yoga

Mikkeller Running Club

National Three Peaks Challenge

Originally started in Copenhagen, the Mikkeller Running Club has chapters all over the world based on the ingenious concept of going for a run then drinking craft beer with people who also like running and drinking beer. The Glasgow gang meet at Dog House in the Merchant City every Wednesday at 6pm, while Edinburgh vary their route (details on their Facebook) but do like Mikkeller stockists the Hanging Bat.

Now you’re a seasoned mountaineer with invaluable training and experience, why not take on the somewhat insane challenge of Scotland, England and Wales’ respective highest peaks in one Wacky Races-style weekend scramble? Guided itineraries are available, and recommended for the not very experienced / those who question their ability to drive vast distances between climbing large mountains.

Mikkeller Beer

mikkellerrunningclub.dk/ chapters

Pilates Festival Scotland

Photo: Creative Commons

Explore yoga from a different viewpoint – quite literally – suspended in a soft fabric hammock above the ground. You’ll find classes from beginners onwards across the country, and if you particularly enjoy the aerial part, there’s a whole world of mid air movement to explore from silk work to trapeze.

Photo: Jose Furtado, i: @unnata_aereal_yoga

Happening across two days in two separate locations, War of the Thistles is organised by Skateboard Scotland and brings together the majority of the Scottish skate scene for what is variously promised to be ‘gnarliness’ and ‘carnage’. Sat 5 May, Transition Skatepark in Aberdeen, Sun 6 May, Unit 23 Skatepark, Dumbarton, £10

May 2018

Edinburgh International Climbing Arena

Aerial yoga

Photo: Graham Tate, North Skate Mag

War of The Thistles

Photo: Colin Henderson Photography

CELTMAN!

CELTMAN!

Photo: Creative Commons

Fort William World Cup

Pilates Festival Scotland This full day celebration of Scottish pilates takes place in Dunblane and brings together a variety of instructors for a packed timetable catering to all skill levels.

Dunblane Hydro, 13 May, £85 pilatesfestival.co.uk

National Three Peaks Challenge, Snowdon

threepeakschallenge.uk

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Features

15

Saddle Up Thinking about getting into cycling but unsure where to start? We’ve put together a beginner’s guide to offer a taster of the many and varied experiences on offer across Scotland

Words: Evan Beswick

S

o you think you might like to start exploring by bike. Let’s assume, for a minute, that you already have a bike. Let’s also assume that it’s not wonderful. You thrash it to and from work most days; it’s had a couple of owners; the price you paid for it suggests that its last owner didn’t voluntarily part with it. What does it matter?

Turns out, if it can get you from Leith to Princes Street, or from Finnieston to Buchanan Street, then it can get you from Newington to North Berwick or from Maryhill along the Forth and Clyde Canal. To Yoker.

Pack a rucksack with some food (real food, not energy gels), a pump and spare inner tube (more on this in the essentials box) and some warm clothes plus a waterproof, and go. Cycle until you get tired. Have lunch. Cycle back.

It’s fascinating to watch city become suburbia, then watch suburbia become countryside – reversing urbanisation under your own power and at your own speed. It’s a reminder that cities aren’t made of isolated districts or quarters. It’s all connected.

Take a lock. If it all goes horribly wrong, leave the bike and get the bus back.

A second bike It used to be that bikes largely fit into three types: upright, heavy, practical bikes for getting around the city; sleek and skinny road bikes with drop handlebars for going far and fast on roads; and mountain bikes for the rough stuff. Excitingly, that’s no longer the case, with advances in technology and geometry meaning bikes can do even more incredible things.

In particular, there’s a new breed of machines branded gravel or adventure bikes which combine the best bits of mountain bikes and off road bikes, allowing you to whip along for miles on roads, and manoeuvre on muddy forest tracks. They start upwards of £600 – but if your employer has a cycle to work scheme that starts to feel increasingly manageable.

With one of these, or with a nice light road bike, what’s astonishing is how far you can get with just your legs – even further if you have company. Cycling clubs have been a mainstay of the British sporting scene since the late 19th century, and aren’t going away any time soon. For

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Cycling toolkit

Credit: The Forestry Commission

Further afield Before long, you’ll realise that long rides are just small rides pieced together. Getting to Yoker is no different to getting to Loch Lomond. It might just take a bit longer.

That said, going on longer rides means thinking about a few extra things. If your city bike works fine, then you can stick with it – speed is not really of the essence in this game. But adding a pannier rack means you can take a few more things. There’s also now an incredible range of bike-specific luggage that turns every nook and cranny into a little storage space for the odds and ends you’ll need if you’re spending a couple of days on the road.

The first tour I did was with a single pannier containing spare clothes and a waterproof, just eating at cafes and staying in B’n’Bs. I’d recommend that as a good start point rather than going straight for biking and camping. One variable at a time, eh?

Safety first: tell people where you’re going, eat before you get hungry, drink before you get thirsty. Maybe have someone you can call if it all goes wrong. And don’t forget your toothbrush.

Another person to look to for inspiration is Karen Darke, British hand cycling Paralympic Champion, and a testament to the fact that access needs are a consideration, not a barrier to getting on a bike. Details of what she’s accomplished on a bike are on her website, and are mindblowing. The majority of this article applies to anyone and guidance is available for adapted bikes and inclusive cycling, from trikes to tandems, hand cycles to wheelchair cycles.

Cycling UK (formerly the CTC) is a good start point for expert advice, and lists of inclusive cycling groups across the UK.

a while they had a bit of an image problem – tough blokes meeting for weekly suffer-fests, and some still are like that. But if group cycling piques your interest, then British Cycling has a great local club-finder.

Getting dirtier If you’ve invested in a mountain bike with suspension and fatter tyres, then, fortunately, it’s easy to find somewhere to take it. Scotland has mountain bike trails like it has midges. There are also designated mountain biking centres all the way from Newcastleton right on the Scottish border, to Golspie in Sutherland. For stuff near the Central Belt check out the 7stanes family of trails.

In truth, biking offroad is as different to biking on the road as cricket is to baseball. To be (horribly) reductive, mountain biking aficionados fall into two main categories. There are those who like pedalling – on a bike with a bit of suspension and good grip you can ride for days in Scotland without touching tarmac. There’s such a feast of riding in Scotland that there’s even a growing and internationally-renowned scene for self-supported endurance racing. Whether or not you’re hardy enough to take on all 187 miles of the Cairngorm Loop, or all 550 miles of the Highland Trails route, is moot. Both are worth looking at for routes which take you to some of the most incredible, isolated, breathtaking places in Scotland.

The other category like plunging downhill fast on bikes with knobbly tyres and lots of suspension. Let’s call them ‘the downhillers’, as that’s the correct term. It’s not hyperbole to say that Scotland is a mecca for downhillers across

the world, not least with the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup taking place every summer in Fort William. Outside of those times, you can ride the course yourself.

You might want to warm up to it, though, and fortunately there are trails centres right across Scotland. Often Forestry Commission owned and run, trails centres are purpose built for mountain biking, with a range of trails and features laid out to test your downhill mettle. They have the distinct advantage of having routes designed for whatever your skill level, and some of them even have a bit of infrastructure beyond a car park.

Glentress is arguably the best example of this, combining miles of fantastic trails with some other quite important things like toilets and a cafe. Even better, you can hire bikes here and, since acquiring some skills is as good a way of avoiding injury as any, it’s worth knowing that there’s a really impressive range of tuition available from a number of experienced bike coaches who base themselves in the area and offer group or 1:1 tuition.

Getting inspired Just when you think you’ve seen or thought of everything people can do on a bike, along comes someone and shows you another side to what’s possible under your own steam. Incredibly, you don’t need to look too far from home to find inspiration. The Adventure Syndicate, many of whom are Scotland-based, are a collective of incredible female cyclists on a mission to inspire, encourage and enable others (especially women and girls) to feel capable of more. Look them up and let them inveigle their way into your imagination.

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Learn how to fix a puncture Genuinely, the most powerful piece of knowledge you can have on a bike is how to fix a puncture. It’s not an ‘if ’, it’s ‘when’ you’re going to get one, and the ability to repair it means the difference between being tied to a walkable distance from your house and being free to explore your cycling horizon. It’s easy empowerment, with vulcanised rubber.

There are loads of YouTube videos on this (including, weirdly, a postlapsarian Lance Armstrong explaining the process).

There’s also a few fantastic social enterprises which are focussed on teaching people these essential skills – like the Bike Station in Edinburgh and Perth, Bike for Good in Glasgow, and Velocity Cafe and Bicycle Workshop in Inverness. These are also great routes in for learning more about bike maintenance and repairs.

Cleaning It’s the best, cheapest repair you can do on your bike – keep it clean and keep the chain lightly oiled.

Clothing A light waterproof stuffed in a pocket is an absolute gamechanger if you don’t want to return home close to hypothermic. Also, I love Lycra. It feels great and comes in bright colours, but it absolutely isn’t essential for getting on my bike. Some of the fastest cyclists I know wear skirts and T-shirts. Still, even if you hate Lycra, padded shorts underneath your real clothes aren’t to be sniffed at. Or sniffed.

Cycling in traffic This is the biggest worry for a lot of people, and anyone who has ever had a near miss from a car knows it takes a lot of mind over matter to remember that the health benefits of cycling far outweigh the risks.

But there are ways of riding that make sharing the road with cars a lot more enjoyable. What used to be called cycling proficiency is now called Bikeability, and training is available for children and adults.

Up north this is organised by Cycling Scotland – you can also find out about becoming a trainer in your community from them.

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Ruairidh McGlynn

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uairidh McGlynn (b 1986) is a photographer and artist recognised for creating evocative landscape imagery that is both captivating and unexpected.

After graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 2008 McGlynn pursued a career in product design. His journey into photography was a much more recent event, initiated during a trip to climb a Munro in the Highlands of Scotland. His work is often informed by his intrigue to explore new places and has attracted widespread attention, resulting in commissions from clients such as Apple, Hasselblad, Qatar Airways, Facebook, The Macallan and Jaguar Land Rover.

McGlynn’s work has been featured in publications such as Time magazine, Conde Nast Traveler and Vogue Paris, and contemporary photography platforms such as if you leave and iGNANT. McGlynn is based in Scotland and when he’s not at work, he can usually be found pursuing personal projects and exploring the mountains.

I: @ruairidhmcglynn ruairidhmcglynn.com

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ADVENTURE SHOWCASE

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Sgurr Chonnich Mor

The Old Man of Storr

Wester Ross

May 2018

ADVENTURE SHOWCASE

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Forks on the Road Whether you’re hitting the trail on your bike, Munro-bagging up north, or just wandering around in the wilderness, Scotland has plenty of great food and drink to grab on the way

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our friends love the white-knuckle thrill of a kayak ride, but you’ve harboured a fear of the water since Jaws. Your pals insist on going climbing, even though they all work in offices and have the fitness and manual dexterity of… well, office workers. You believe that your leisure time should be spent eating delicious food, not chewing on mud thrown up by the cyclist in front.

Buddy, we feel you. That’s why we’re here to turn this adventure guide into a culinary whirlwind around some of the Scottish food and drink greats that lurk beyond the cities. Yes, there is a Scotland beyond Edinburgh and Glasgow; it has amazing booze, great restaurants and bars, and seafood like you wouldn’t believe.

Breweries and Distilleries One of the great things about Scotland is that wherever there are wide open spaces and rugged terrain to traverse, there tend to be a few folk holed up in a stocky old building knocking together something delicious and alcoholic. In extreme sports country, the Cairngorm Brewery in Aviemore runs hour-and-a-half long daily tours Monday to Friday, and can arrange a look around the brewery at weekends given enough notice. In the northeast, the Brewdog brewery in Ellon takes you through the vast ’Dog machine including a glimpse at their grain-to-glass spirit distillery Lone Wolf. Not only do the Black Isle Brewery offer regular trips around their organic brewing operation, but they also host the Jocktoberfest beer and music festival every September to cap off festival season with a slice of far-north exploration. Does that make up for the fact that the Black Isle is not technically an ‘isle’ at all, rather a peninsula? Yes, we believe it does.

Over on Harris, the Isle of Harris Distillery live up to their ‘social distillery’ moniker by throwing the doors open to the public six days a week. You can either go for an organised tour that takes in the full scope of the operation behind one of our favourite gins, or you can simply pop in for a coffee in the communal cafe and a nosey around a selection of goodies from producers from across the Island. Ideal if you wind up on an extremely onerous bike ride round Lewis and Harris and decide you fancy a G&T and/or a scone. Then of course there’s the whisky, and a distillery to complement most selections in our adventure calendar. Doing the Three Peaks challenge? Hike across for a look around Ben Nevis Distillery. Off to the World Stone Skimming Championships? It’s just a hop, skip and *plop* to the Tobermory Distillery. Off on your bike?

Dalwhinnie Distillery is just round the corner from Laggan Wolftrax’s twenty miles of purposebuilt mountain bike trails. Trust us, you aren’t short of options.

Foraging and wild food When it comes to going off-piste on a foodie adventure, foraging is a great way to combine a walk in the hills with some useful ingredients for your return to normality. In one sense, foraging is as simple as grabbing a bag and a guidebook; even in the big cities, wild areas of grass and shrub play host to a range of edible fruits and herbs. In another sense, it is an arduous and often literally fruitless task that requires a bit of logistical forethought, a working knowledge of botany and the patience of a saint.

We’ll start with the rules. Scotland’s Outdoor

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Access Code gives you the all-clear to forage wild food for your personal use, providing you treat the environment with respect and don’t go around trying to sell your wares afterwards. You also can’t uproot any plant without the owner’s permission (the knack of taking fruits without wrecking the scene is where your botany reading comes in handy), and if you’re on a nature reserve or Site of Special Scientific Interest, you’ll need permission from Scottish Natural Heritage before you go a-foraging.

Provided you can stick to those guidelines, there are some quick wins to be found. Among the more straightforward forages to aim for on a sunny day in or out of the city are wild garlic (chive-like herbs that you’ll smell a mile off – they make for a banger of a pesto); seaweed (found on beaches and outcrops across the coasts, there are dozens of varieties and none of those native to Scotland are poisonous!); and soft fruits like brambles and blaeberries. Mushrooms are also plentiful, but require a bit more care in both handling and identification. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources out there to help you get started – Scottish Natural Heritage and Forest Harvest both offer easy-to-follow guides to the basics of mushroom picking and eating, but the usual rules of ‘don’t eat anything you can’t definitely identify as edible’, and ‘be considerate of the habitat and nearby wildlife’ will set you on the right path.

Seafood and extremely secluded pubs If you want to head out of the cities but still want to keep the comfort of having someone make your food for you, there are a number of interesting spots to bear in mind. Oban may be the jumping-off point for a whole host of island adventures, but the legendary Green Seafood Shack is well worth sticking around on the mainland for an hour or two. While everyone piles onto their ferries, you can watch from the harbour with a brilliant selection of locally-landed seafood; any fish fans passing through will be sure to tell you about it on their return, so you may as well join the club.

It’s a similar deal at the Uig Scallop Shack on the Isle of Lewis; excellent seafood in a wild location, combine this with the gin distillery from earlier and this notion of ‘adventure’ becomes a lot more foodie-friendly. Kicking things up a notch, Loch Fyne Oysters provide a chance to crack into some of the freshest oysters you’ll likely get your hands on – the farm celebrates its 40th anniversary on 12-13 May with a series of events and a chance to get up close and personal with the process that leads up to the classic ‘shuck, slurp and get a bit down your shirt’ manoeuvre.

Of course, if you really want to go on a proper adventure, there’s always The Old Forge at Knoydart, the most remote pub in the mainland UK. When we say remote, that’s not just standard journalist’s bluster, we really mean it – there’s no road in, so your options are a seven-mile ferry ride from Mallaig, or a 15-mile hike. Once you reach The Old Forge, the phone signal dies away, the pub wifi goes off at 6pm, and all you’re left with are beautiful views, the peaceful background hum of nature, and a pub’s worth of beer to get stuck into. Now that’s the kind of adventuring we can get behind.

Words: Peter Simpson

Isle of Harris Gin

Loch Fyne Mussels with Samphire

Loch Fyne

theskinny.co.uk/food

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Smoke Signals We speak to Phoebe Bridgers about her stunning debut album Stranger in the Alps, her many influences and sexism in music

Interview: Harry Harris

e have a theory, and our theory is this: everyone got into Phoebe Bridgers’ Stranger in the Alps because of the lyric about David Bowie in Smoke Signals, the one that goes: ‘It’s been on my mind since Bowie died / Just checking out to hide from life.’ It’s quite innocuous really, written down, but at the same time, it’s a bow and arrow aimed at the heart.

“I consciously try to sound like myself,” Bridgers tells us, speaking on the phone from Southern California during a rare break in what has been a pretty gruelling touring schedule for the past year or so, one which has seen her open for people like Bon Iver and Julien Baker, as well as playing sold out shows off her own name, including an upcoming UK headline tour in May, with a stop off at Saint Luke’s in Glasgow. “I don’t like using a lot of ten dollar words that I wouldn’t use in my own conversation.” It’s this conversational aspect that comes out so precisely in this lyric, a directness that relates very specifically to right now, tapping into a kind of collective grief we’ve all been going through these past few years.

As if making reference to the death of a beloved musical icon – two really, since Lemmy also gets mentioned in Smoke Signals – isn’t enough relatability for one record, on Killer Bridgers explores an almost disturbed fascination with true crime that, to someone whose idea of a romantic-night-in with the girlfriend is watching several episodes of Forensic Files, hits alarmingly close to home. “I wrote the song basically because I was having a breakdown about my fascination with that stuff,” she says, “when I was watching hours and hours of Dahmer interviews. All the other serial killers sound like fucking assholes who you’d meet at a bar, whereas Dahmer seems like he’s trying to get at it with the person interviewing him. He’s trying to find out, and he’s like, ‘I just needed to control people, I was sick of getting hurt by people, being in real relationships,’ and it was so disturbingly relatable.”

It’s from this directness and rawness that Bridgers has managed to accrue such a wide fanbase too. “I have genuine singer-songwriter fans who found me through Ryan Adams or whatever, who go to shows all the time similar to me, but then I have tatted up, lesbian couples who only go to pop punk shows. The genre mix is really fun.” Across our conversation, Bridgers mentions Jawbreaker, Joyce Manor, Simon Joyner, McCarthy Trenching, Jason Isbell, Maggie Rogers, Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Bright Eyes. Her audience is a reflection of her influences, and how they’ve all fed into her songwriting, something she was hyper-aware of while making the record.

“There was a conscious choice to wait to sign until after I was done, because my music taste is so eclectic – everything from Rage Against the Machine to Joni Mitchell – so I had no idea what type of record I was gonna make. So how would the label know if they liked it? Or maybe they’d sign me off the Ryan Adams 7” and think I was gonna make a folk album, which I didn’t.” The label she did end up on, Dead Oceans, feels like a perfect home for her, given

May 2018

Photo: Frank Ockenfels

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their roster of bands whose only common denominator is just that they’re Very Fucking Good.

See: Strand of Oaks, Phosphorescent, Mitski, Julianna Barwick, The Tallest Man On Earth.

Bridgers’ notoriety has not come without its frustrations, mostly stemming from the way she’s seen herself compared to other women in music right now, whether or not their music bears any sonic resemblance. “I read shit all the time that’s sheer sexism, comparing me to like, Lucy Dacus, like, insert either one of us: ‘The Phoebe record blows the Lucy record out of the water,’ or ‘Lucy Dacus, a fresh take on the Phoebe Bridgers sound.’” It’s an issue that certainly isn’t specific to singer-songwriters.

Take a recent piece from Noisey US in which Kam Franklin, lead singer of the dynamite soul band The Suffers, spoke about how she struggled to get people to pay attention to her group because of comments like: “There’s already one Alabama Shakes,” or “There’s already one Sharon Jones.” On the plus side, it feels like these comparisons get starved of oxygen quicker than they would have been in the past. Speaking about not only Lucy Dacus, but also Julien Baker, Waxahatchee, Soccer Mommy, Bridgers says: “We’re a scene because we’re all angry about the same shit, and because we all like each other and talk to each other, and because we all send those

insane articles back and forth like: ‘Oh my god, can you believe this?’ I love those people and I’m honoured to be associated with them, but it’s funny when we read shit like that.”

“ We’re a scene because we’re all angry about the same shit, and because we all like each other and talk to each other” Phoebe Bridgers

There is such a quiet confidence in how Bridgers talks, not only about her material, but her place on the scene right now, that you’d be forgiven for forgetting that her debut record is barely six months old. It’s as if she’s been

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champing at the bit for so long that she’s come out at a canter, and is already looking ahead. “I think about the new record all the time, I think about it every day. I don’t wanna fall into the pattern of releasing an album every three years.

Also, a lot of these songs are old to me. It would be amazing to play two albums of music that people have heard. My live set is literally the album. So, it’s like, I don’t have any options.”

Call it a consequence of social media breaking the wall between artist and audience, maybe it’s anxiety over a world in flux, but whereas for a while we wanted our songwriters to sing about a world that wasn’t available to us, now it feels as if the opposite is true – we want some kind of tangible connection with the material, and with the person singing it. We think back to that Bowie line, and countless other wry, sad, intimate, occasionally quite funny lyrics that ebb and flow across Bridgers’ material. There’s an immediacy to them, a kind of paradox in that everything feels familiar, but at the same time, it’s something you’ve not heard before. Phoebe Bridgers is writing songs that mean something, and she’s only just started.

Stranger in the Alps is out now via Dead Oceans Phoebe Bridgers plays Saint Luke’s, Glasgow, 20 May phoebefuckingbridgers.com

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Coming to America Ahead of a busy summer schedule, we speak with two thirds of Glasgow synth pop trio CHVRCHES, Lauren Mayberry and Martin Doherty about latest album Love is Dead, recording in America and Girls Rock Glasgow

Interview: Nadia Younes

the one we had in Glasgow and it was pretty much the same set up.”

“I feel like our music is particularly tied to Glasgow in a way that it always will be,” says Doherty. “The challenge is that people, on the one hand, want you to stay completely the same but, on the other hand, they don’t want you to make the same record again and again,” adds Mayberry. “It has to feel connected enough to what they think the band is but it has to be furthering the conversation in some way.”

“ We didn’t want to be the band that moved to America and made a record that makes no fucking sense” Photo: Danny Clinch

Lauren Mayberry

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t’s the age-old cliché: local band gets successful, moves to America and makes record with big name producer. While many have fallen into this trap and failed though, CHVRCHES were careful not to make the same mistakes as so many other bands before them.

“We didn’t want to be the band that moved to America and made a record that makes no fucking sense,” says lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry of the band’s third album Love Is Dead.

“From a sonic perspective, it was really important to me that it still felt like a British record, if I’m honest. I didn’t want to come here and spend all my time listening to Top 40 radio and be assimilated into the American radio sound,” adds vocalist and synth player Martin Doherty.

Having previously been adamant that they would never work with outside producers, for their new album the band worked with two renowned, award-winning pop masterminds: American producer Greg Kurstin and British producer Steve Mac, who count the likes of Adele, Sia and Ed Sheeran as previous collaborators.

Kurstin co-produced nine out of the album’s 13 tracks, while Mac co-wrote and co-produced Miracle, the only track to be recorded in the UK. “Looking back on it now, I think it was – the truth is – I didn’t feel then like we’d had enough time to establish our identity as writers and producers…

I just felt really strongly that we had to get to a point where we felt totally self-assured and totally secure in what we were doing before we ever considered it,” says Doherty. “I think if you don’t know what you want to do personally or what you want to do as a band, like if we didn’t know what we wanted CHVRCHES to be, I think opening that up to an outside force too early

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could just lead you to a really different place,” adds Mayberry.

It should come as no surprise that working with such pop heavyweights has resulted in a much bigger sounding record. Where Every Open Eye expanded upon the sound of their 2013 debut The Bones of What You Believe, Love Is Dead skyrockets to an even higher level of chart-topping, stadium-filling mega pop. The choruses on Get Out, Graves and Heaven Hell are as bold and catchy as ever, with classic CHVRCHES builds and shimmering synths, while Never Say Die and Miracle take a more anthemic, rocky turn, featuring some of the heaviest production they’ve done. And there are drops. Lots of drops. “I think we maybe wanted it to sound more live in a lot of ways and less precise in terms of the production,” says Mayberry.

“It’s just taking the production in a slightly different direction but I think, if anything, that there’s elements of the production on this record that are more gnarly and DIY. That’s always an important balance for us; that it’s always been about that juxtaposition between the more melodic, direct stuff and the darker, weirder stuff, and I think on this record it was more about just finding the space and the confidence to lean into both of those directions.” Doherty adds: “To me, that was exactly what this album was about. It was about really sharply cosigning both sides of the band, rather than trying to bring them both into a middle ground. It was to celebrate those aspects of what we do.”

The album also features a collaboration with The National frontman Matt Berninger on one of the trio’s self-produced tracks, My Enemy. Having met on the festival circuit several times over the

years, they got to know Berninger more closely while working on the 7-inches for Planned Parenthood project – a curated series of 7-inch records and digital downloads to benefit the non-profit – in June last year. “We started considering that song as a duet after Lauren delivered the lyrics,” says Doherty. “Partly just to do with the key of the song... and those lyrics, when we put them down, really lent themselves to a dual perspective for two points of view in the one song. He was the first name that any of us said in considering who we could ask.”

After emailing him a demo of the track, Berninger responded within half an hour saying yes, recorded his part the next day and sent it back to the band. “So, super fucking efficient,” Mayberry jokes. “He’s such a storyteller in the way he writes but also in the way he sings. It was really insane to hear words that we had written being sung and reinterpreted by him, and it really brought a different energy to the song,” she concludes.

In another first, the trio wrote and recorded the vast majority of the new album in America, between New York and Los Angeles, rather than in their usual stomping ground of Alucard Studios in Glasgow. “It’s important for me, as the lyric writer, to feel like you’re in a different place... even if you just literally put yourself in a different physical location, I think it helps you move your head psychologically to the next step and I just didn’t want to keep writing the same songs about the same things over and over again,” says Mayberry. But that’s not to say that the budget got any bigger or the standards any higher, Mayberry continues; “In the end, in New York, we ended up in a studio that’s smaller than

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They may be global pop stars now, but CHVRCHES certainly haven’t forgotten where they came from. The band recently helped fund Girls Rock Glasgow – a volunteer run organisation who aim to “promote girls making music, art, change, kinship and space for themselves.” The team of volunteers run a week-long summer school where girls can come together to learn instruments, form bands, make art, make merchandise and play gigs. Mayberry has long been a supporter of the project, having previously produced a podcast about it for the now defunct collective TYCI, which she founded in 2012, as well as donating instruments.

“I feel like all the problems that people talk about in the music industry, where we’re at, are things that start on a grassroots level,” says Mayberry. “Whenever you talk about festival line-ups or the lack of representation of female sound engineers, tour managers, lighting engineers; if there’s less women going in the first place, and then they get told that there’s not a stage for them, and the attrition rate is so fucking high, then they’re never going to get anywhere at the top level.

“If you don’t see people at the top level... when you’re 14/15, you’re not even going to think it’s an option for you,” she continues. “It just seemed like they were doing this really powerful, valuable thing for a community and it just sucks that they weren’t getting recognised and getting the money for that, so we thought we would just try and be helpful. They’re doing all the actual hard work, we’re just giving them high fives.” Love Is Dead may very well be CHVRCHES’ next step towards pop stardom, but while you may be able to take the band out of Glasgow, it seems you can’t take Glasgow out of the band.

Love Is Dead is released on 25 May via Virgin Records CHVRCHES play TRNSMT Festival, Glasgow, 8 Jul chvrch.es

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Home and Dry

Photo: Anna Isola Crolla

We speak to Tracyanne Campbell about the tragic circumstances surrounding Camera Obscura’s hiatus, leading to new creative ambitions in Tracyanne & Danny

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realised there wasn’t going to be something coming out of the ocean telling me to hurry up and finish the record. You’ve got to do it yourself.”

For a long time, Tracyanne Campbell and Danny Coughlan’s debut album looked like it might never reach fruition – one of those creative projects that sounds like such a good idea at the time, until life gets in the way and forces the brakes on. The duo toured together in 2013, when her band Camera Obscura took his solo venture Crybaby on the road with them around the UK, but the seed of the idea had been planted a little earlier, when he sent her a handwritten letter asking whether or not she’d like to collaborate on a song.

Perhaps he thought that method of corr-

espondence would appeal to her retro sensibilities; after all, Camera Obscura’s calling card was always sparkling, 60s-indebted pop. Campbell liked the idea of writing with somebody new and invited Coughlan up to her native Glasgow from his hometown of Bristol, where they nailed down one track and decided to keep firing ideas back and forth. The question of a full-length record was still a long way off being raised, not least because Camera Obscura were about to whir back into motion; after a prolonged break enforced by keyboardist Carey Lander’s first bout of cancer, they were now ready to finish and promote their fifth album, Desire Lines.

“It was a fluid thing because we didn’t have to be in the same room to work on it,” explains Campbell. “But I became really busy with Camera

Obscura, which was obviously my priority, and it took quite a while before this project that Dan and I were working on began to grow arms and legs. He’s actually really prolific, and he’d write songs all day if you let him – which isn’t to say he hasn’t got high standards, because he really has.

I’m quite choosy at the best of times though, which slowed things down. I’ll discard things really easily, which made the process feel laborious to begin with.”

Camera Obscura played their final shows in Hebden Bridge and London in August 2015; Lander’s cancer had returned and she died two months later, aged just 33. There has understandably been no activity from the group since, save for their social media channels sharing news of the progress of Lander’s remarkable charity drive – she raised over £100,000 for Sarcoma UK. She was the beating heart of the band, their sound and aesthetic only ever taking shape after she joined in time for 2003’s Underachievers Please Try Harder, and there’s been no appetite so far to carry on without her: as Campbell puts it, “we haven’t broken up, but we are broken.

“After Carey passed away, there was a period of thinking, ‘What am I going to do now?’” she explains. “Outside of the band, all I had was this thing with Dan, and I knew I couldn’t abandon it. I felt like I had an obligation to see it through.

When massive things like that happen, it does give you a new perspective on life. I’ve never been the sort of person who’s been very good at making deadlines for myself, and my manager’s always said that we don’t really have meetings; it’s more that we have coffee and vaguely talk about how many songs I might have ready. Once it seemed like we had ten of them, we started thinking about recording; we looked at a bunch of places in Bristol and we talked about making it in Glasgow, but we didn’t really get a feel for any of the studios we went to.”

The pair’s manager, Francis Macdonald – who also doubles as Teenage Fanclub’s drummer – came up with a different idea; decamping to the Scottish Highlands, where Edwyn Collins had not long since opened his own recording facility in Helmsdale. The erstwhile Orange Juice frontman has always seemed like an ideal fit as producer for Campbell’s throwback pop stylings and it’s really a wonder they’d never worked together before.

“I love Edwyn and his own records, Gorgeous George especially,” she says. “But it’d never occurred to me to work with him before. To be honest, it’s always a gamble whoever it is but when I first met Edwyn, he was so warm and unpretentious that I knew straight away that if I were to go there I’d be alright to make mistakes.

If Edwyn was to produce, I could show up, not be entirely on the ball and it’d still be fine – it’d be a safe place for the songs. That was the motivation, not the idea of working with ‘Edwyn Collins the Indie Legend.’ That would’ve been too much pressure.”

So began the process of cutting Tracyanne & Danny, and it was a swift one once underway, even if it did involve self-professed technophobe Campbell wrestling with GarageBand to make it happen: “We didn’t ever used to demo in Camera Obscura, but once you book the studio time you

Interview: Joe Goggins

get the fear.” That decision though did see her cast off some early doubts; having had a “bee in her bonnet” early on about avoiding sounding too much like her old band on her own songs, she let go and allowed them to seep into her writing, particularly on the thoroughly countrified Alabama, a tribute to Lander that captures the spirit of “the country where we spent most of our working lives together.

“I don’t want to keep banging on about the band though,” says Campbell, as she details Coughlan’s contribution. “In many ways, he’s put a lot more into this album than I have. He’s a very generous songwriter; he won’t keep an idea to himself just because he doesn’t want to share.

I’m honest to a fault really, and I can be brutal, but he was always so great about that and he had to be, really, to make it work. Tracks like Jacqueline and Cellophane Girl – they’re almost all him. It wasn’t a case of me holding the reins by any means. It was never going to be Camera Obscura with some bloke singing. I wasn’t interested in that.”

The future of Camera Obscura remains unclear. “To be perfectly honest with you, we just haven’t discussed it. We’re all just continuing with the loss of Carey, which hasn’t ended. It’s still very new, and fresh, and painful, and diffvicult. I don’t think any of us even have a desire to get back into a room together, so it’s a sort of permanent hiatus. In the meantime, everybody’s busy doing things that they didn’t have time to or that they hadn’t thought of while the band was still going.”

“It was never going to be Camera Obscura with some bloke singing. I wasn’t interested in that” Tracyanne Campbell

As for Tracyanne & Danny, Campbell doesn’t mince her words. “We’re not pissing about, you know? It’s not a vanity project. We do want to take it seriously and we want to play shows, and if all goes well maybe make another record. We’re both parents – I’ve got a four-year-old – so the old thing of spending six weeks on the road in the States, having a few days at home, then going to Europe for a month are over.

“I’m not naive,” she continues. “I know it doesn’t make any difference if I’ve played in a band that’s had a following. We need new people to come and listen, and enjoy this record for what it is. We’ll play these initial dates and if anybody turns up, we’ll play some more. And then we’ll keep on taking it slowly. Just like it’s been from the start.”

Tracyanne & Danny is released on 25 May via Merge Tracyanne & Danny play Saint Luke’s, Glasgow, 31 May tracyanneanddanny.com/

May 2018

MUSIC

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A Second Bloom T

hey say old habits die hard, but for Beach House they seem to die pretty easily. Over the course of six albums, the Baltimore duo – comprising of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally – have cemented themselves as masters of dream pop; their vast, ethereal soundscapes and Legrand’s hazy, haunting vocals taking the genre to the highest of highs and lowest of lows.

Their breakthrough album Teen Dream saw them catapulted from underground blogger favourites to critically-acclaimed indie darlings, but its impact also extended far outwith that realm. Beyoncé and Jay-Z were spotted at the duo’s 2010 Coachella set, Portishead selected them to perform at the All Tomorrow’s Parties I’ll Be Your Mirror festival they curated in July 2011 and Kendrick Lamar even sampled one of the album’s tracks – Silver Soul – on Money Trees taken from his 2012 album good kid, m.A.A.d city.

Then came Bloom, their most fully-formed record to date and one that perfectly encapsulated all the dark and light of the duo’s sound in one grand indie pop package. They followed it up by releasing two albums in one year, Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars, in a feat most bands wouldn’t even dare. When it came to making their seventh album – the aptly-titled 7 – however, they felt it was time for a change.

“Everything we wanted for this record was kind of a reaction to the past, like getting sick of doing things the same old way,” says vocalist and keyboardist Victoria Legrand. “I do feel that the past is great, but it is the past. When it comes to creativity, I personally feel that nostalgia is a bit sickening. It’s not really a productive feeling.”

“ Work is such a great part of life.

It’s what keeps us engaged with the world and I think without something to make or create I don’t know what we’d do” Victoria Legrand

For the first time in their 14 years working together, the duo switched up their writing and recording process. Instead of maintaining a fairly strict structure of writing the entire record and recording it with one set producer, they built a home studio of sorts in Baltimore – “it was just a corner of our practice space,” Legrand quips – and recorded in spurts, either in their home studio or in Carriage House studios in Connecticut. Once they felt a handful of songs were ready, they would record them and move

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on. “We didn’t want to wait a long time and then just do 14 songs in a studio over three months because that’s really draining and has cut down in the past for us on experimenting, which we got to do a lot more of on this record,” says Legrand. “It was very necessary for us to still go away though. Even though we did record stuff in Baltimore, I think it really benefited us as well, going and spending nine or ten days at a professional studio... because they are magical places.”

The making of the album was a pretty close-knit affair too, with the least amount of additional assistance they’ve ever had. Aside from Legrand and Scally, the only other credits on the album are given to James Barone, their live drummer since 2016 who plays drums on the entire record, co-producer Peter Kember, aka Sonic Boom, and Alan Moulder who mixed it. “I think this record marks the beginning of us having more control,” says Legrand. “Alex and I are pretty playful people, especially when it comes to music and art, and I think that’s why we’ve been doing it for so long, because we have a very complementary, playful chemistry between us,” she continues. “As we do this more and as we work more, and we make more records and more songs, I think we’re discovering new ways to keep things feeling really energetic for us... we’re finding newer ways of retaining that playful spirit.”

One of these new methods was allowing themselves fewer restrictions and limitations during the songwriting process. While in the past they would perhaps consider how to translate the song live while they were writing it, this time around they just let their creativity flow. “If we felt it, if we liked it, if we loved it, we kept it; we were absolutely not going to worry about the future. It was really about the moment of the song and the vision of the song, and the imagination and the feelings more than ever,” says Legrand. “I really think that Alex and I have always been good at – we’re getting better at it too – knowing when there needs to be a shift. We wouldn’t have been able to do all this had we not done all the previous records because it takes a lot of work to find new work, to discover a new path.”

7 is still typically Beach House, but sees them exploring a wider spectrum of sounds and delving deeper into shoegaze territory than previously. Album opener Dark Spring is as shoegaze-y as they come, oozing with reverb and guided by urgent drums, whereas Pay No Mind and Lose Your Smile take a more minimalistic approach. Dive is the duo at their absolute best, beginning with Legrand’s vocals at peak dreaminess, while looping around shimmering synths and glittering guitars, as the track builds to a crescendo. “I feel like a lot of this record for me and Alex, there were a lot of moments of surprises and... once it started happening, it really wanted to be alive and it wanted to go,” says Legrand.

Not ones to rest on their laurels, the pair rarely take long breaks between records, usually only leaving two or three years between releases.

This time around, that continued to be the case.

Just three months after returning from touring their two 2015 records they were already on to the next, beginning work on their home studio for 7 and even managing to release a B-sides and

Interview: Nadia Younes

Photo: Shawn Brackbill

As Beach House return with their seventh album, one half of the Baltimore duo, Victoria Legrand explains their decision to change up their writing and recording process after 14 years of working together

Rarities compilation in-between. “I think that working and playing and all that is so much a part of living and life. Work is such a great part of life.

It’s what keeps us engaged with the world and I think without something to make or create I don’t know what we’d do,” says Legrand. “When you’re playing with things creatively, there’s many sides to everything... and you find all these other dimensions. I think that’s the real allure... that all of a sudden you’re shown all of these multitudes and that keeps you physically alive because it shows you something perhaps a bit hopeful and full of possibilities.”

Given the nature of their music, Beach House are often associated with a certain mood – that late night listening through headphones in

Music

your bedroom kind of mood – but the duo are quick to dispel the myth that they are a bedroom band. “I really feel that mood is very relative… I think what it is is it’s really just about energy and that particular moment. Whatever that particular moment is that inspires us working on music, that’s going to go into the song,” says Legrand.

With 7 perhaps their most diverse-sounding record to date, Beach House have also managed to dispel another myth: that if it ain’t broke, you can still fix it.

7 is released on 11 May via Bella Union beachhousebaltimore.com

THE SKINNY

May 2018

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THE SKINNY

Being Brutal(ist) Marija Nemčenko’s exhibition and event series BRUT tries to recontextualise the debates surrounding the beauty or ugliness of Brutalism, adding more nuanced philosophical, historical and artistic viewpoints

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n Marija Nemčenko’s exhibition and event series BRUT, she presents artworks and discourse on the subject of Brutalist architecture. This would likely pique the interest of The Brutalism Appreciation Society – a closed Facebook group.

Its 57,637 members variously post, like and comment on images of Brutalist architecture. As might be expected, there’s an emphasis on a certain black and white, geometric aesthetic.

While this might signal a resurgence of interest in what’s always been a controversial style of building, public opinion is still weighted against the concrete functionalism that Brutalism is often taken to represent.

Nemčenko has been working on BRUT for two years since graduating from her Masters in Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art in 2016. At one point, she was invited to research and exhibit in Kaunas, Lithuania, for a period of time. As part of her engagement with the local community, she presented a talk in a library with a London-based artist. “The conversations I had with people sparked further interest in the project – how the people who live in there see these districts, and how it contrasts to my own views when I came and saw the building from a really different [more romantic] perspective.” One woman, as Nemčenko describes it, was really unhappy with the flats that Nemčenko was describing in her talk. At the time, the woman exclaimed: “Can you see how we live? It’s a black hole!”

“There’s just so many layers and representation to [Brutalism] and a lot of times people dismiss it in a simplistic way,” Nemčenko elaborates. “In Lithuania, there is a lot of ill-feeling towards these neighbourhoods, as they are taken to represent a Soviet legacy. However, this is also not true, as the architects of these buildings were influenced by Western architecture and were trying to bend the rules to be inspired by Le Corbusier and Scandinavian architectures.” Nemčenko describes Lithuania as being thought of at the time as the West of the Soviet Union. “The visions on which those districts were built are completely different to what they are actually seen as now.”

Glasgow formed a point of comparison for Nemčenko, and she took interest especially in the regeneration of the city in the second half of the 20th century. There are notable differences, for example the Modernist turn in Glasgow came at the expense of some of the Victorian architecture, whereas in Lithuania, 70% was rural before the new neighbourhoods that restructured the whole country. Taking cue from some of the changes in Glasgow that came during the 60s and after, Nemčenko includes prints from images of the M8 motorway in her exhibition. “It’s quite an overwhelming sight when you’re standing next to it. It’s quite overpowering and aggressive.” There’s also a print of a building from Anderston Cross of one of the ‘new vision’ buildings, half-demolished after a realisation that it wasn’t working.

For the public event BRUT on 7 May, Nemčenko has invited several prominent speakers to consider the histories, legacies and issues of Brutalist architecture. One of the speakers is Pablo Arboleda, an architect and writer. “His talk is based on studying unfinished public works in Italy. Since the 1950s, as part of the motive of modernisation, there were public

May 2018

Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf

plans to make new buildings but due to corruption and mafia influences, these were never finished. He’s part of a group of artists documenting these buildings, and his work considers how these spaces could be used for cultural movements and be used as modern ruins. He’s thus coming from a sustainable perspective, and wondering how it’s possible to avoid always building anew and using more and more materials. Instead, how can people reuse something that exists as a ruin?” These ideas are also related to the Scottish context by Edward Hollis, who is one of the spearheading figures of the conversion of the Modernist ruin in Cardross, St Peter’s Seminary.

Also presenting is Evelina Simkute, who started the organisation Šilainiai Project that supported Nemčenko’s residency in Kaunas.

She has hosted many international artists, as well as different international political visitors, giving them tours of the city. “She did loads of great work with the community there, and her talk covers the perspective of more socially-engaged art in Lithuania, and relates to back where the project started.” She will be talking alongside a philosopher Egidijus Bagdonas from Lithuania. As Kaunas will be the City of Culture in 2022, they are working together on Fluxus Labas, which will bring together the community and artists in a creative lab to raise problems and strategise solutions.

...the woman exclaimed: “Can you see how we live?

It’s a black hole!”

Renowned architectural commentator Owen Hatherley will also be present on the day.

Nemčenko has taken important inspiration from his writings, and she excerpts one particular passage from Militant Modernism: “Curiously enough, for an aesthetic so often blamed for demolishing the warren-like streets and rookeries, the remnants of brutalism are in the popular imagination precisely what the old slums always were – places of crime and intrigue, places where you could easily get lost, where strange people do strange things, and from whence revolt and resistance might just emerge. "An important argument is also made in Militant Modernism that the preservation of the Modernist styles of architecture also often comes with a gentrification of the districts, and “this takes away from what the architecture was built for, the working class.” By removing the people for whom the buildings were intended, there is a compromising of the essence of the purpose of these buildings themselves, and makes them “empty shells for privatisation.”

However, the event is intended to be as comfortable and accessible as possible. People can come and go, without feeling pressured to arrive at the beginning of the day or required to stay put for entire talks. Lunch and refreshments

Marija Nemcenko, BRUT, Fairfield Heritage

will be provided, too. Incorporating more handson activities, Nemčenko will be leading workshops on screenprinting when people can make tote bags decorated with the Brutalist building graphic from the poster for BRUT. “That will happen simultaneously with the talks, so if they don’t feel like listening they can come to the workshop.”

Some of the structure of the event is inspired by one of the speakers, documentary filmmaker and photographer Chris Leslie, who will finish the day by talking about his work documenting the disappearing communities of the high rises and his famous work, Disappearing Glasgow. “Although my exhibition is part of

ART

Glasgow International, we’re hoping to reach out to visitors that might not usually come to those kinds of events,” Nemčenko explains. Taking cue from Leslie’s work and encounters with people, her interest is to incorporate as far as possible the voices of the people who live in the buildings, and realising the ultimate importance is not whether these buildings are beautiful or ugly, but that they are a kind of accomodation that managed to work well for a lot of people.

BRUT, the exhibition, runs until 7 May (except Sundays) in Fairfield Heritage, 1-4pm, 1048 Govan Road G51 4XS. BRUT, the event day, takes place in The Art School on 7 May, 3-9pm, free no booking required

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One Year On They Had 4 Years is the annual graduate exhibition by Generator Projects in Dundee, when they select five fine art graduates – Lea (Ye Gyoung) Choi, Alice Martin, Yvette Bathgate, Jonny Walker and Kaitlyn Dunsmore – to exhibit one year after degree show

Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf

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hey Had 4 Years (TH4Y) in Dundee brings together five graduates of 2017, and checks in with them one year on. Speaking with each of the different exhibitors this time around, it turns out the last year has come with major moves, new post grad courses, and taking on responsibilities within the art community.

Curated together from submitted proposals, the chosen artists’ works are remarkably different from one another though at points subtly link together. Beginning with Lea (Ye Gyoung) Choi, she discusses the important opportunity for reflecting on, and developing the work she presented at her degree show – which The Skinny gave a shout out to in June, as addressing the ‘very reasonable childhood fear of nuclear war by dressing up as a bomb and rollerskating around handing out candles shaped like missiles/penises.’

Discussing the difference in the work that she’ll present in Dundee, Lea (Ye Gyoung) Choi says “This time I’m not focusing only on the conflict between North and South Korea.” She’s thinking more generally of the “dehumanisation of everyday citizens of foreign countries,” and the techniques of mass media to dehumanise the Other.

This month, Lea (Ye Gyoung) Choi will present a new 16mm film that features the artist in a costume and setting inspired by the different kinds of symbolic language that feature in mass media coverage of foreigners. There is also a series of drawings of military weapons that consider the relationships between world leaders and whether they can ever claim to represent the entire populations that they each lead. Each drawing has a Norwegian title, “For instance one is called Store Alierte, ‘a great ally is won,’ Donald Trump’s description of the US relationship with South Korea and is a blueprint-style drawing of one of the United States’ weapons deployed in South Korea.” Specifically, Lea (Ye Gyoung) Choi considers the high-radiation weapons that were bought by previous South Korean governments, without consultation with the populus. Another drawing is intended as a world map. Covering a rectangle in scribbled pencil, the effect is a greyed-out post-apocalyptic cloud. In this one, Lea (Ye Gyoung) Choi thinks of the worry that came with the revelation of the rocket range of North Korea’s weapons, and the celebration by some Spanish people that they were calculated as outside the blast radius. “Missile rockets can go everywhere, we are not in a safe place anywhere.”

For Alice Martin, she also presents a development of her degree show work as it was presented in Aberdeen. Last year, she created a museum-style space that featured different printouts of objects and set up, as The Skinny described it, ‘tactile indulgence and frustration’ with its mix of surprisingly light then weighted 3D prints of a pen set, key and comb. Titled Copy and Context, Martin considers the possibilities of printed museum objects and presents new work that explores “the value of the copy and how it can enhance experience through the idea of an edited artefact/collection.” For it, she will make an installation around three replicas that will be printed in different materials, including resin, metal and plastic. Different sources of scans and images will be used to combine the 3D forms with public domain images that Martin will superimpose on to the objects’ surfaces.

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Yvette Bathgate

Morton, artist Jonny Walker describes some of the installation and sculptural plans he has for the exhibition this month. Thinking about these influences on his ideas, as well as Morton’s books, he thinks of the impending mass extinctions in the news and being beyond a point of being able to instigate change. This anxiety is a mood that he describes as important for his work to play upon. He’ll be presenting table-like objects “on pointed spiky legs,” with holes cut in them, “like computer vents.” These in turn have grates on them with cable ties and different sculptures. “Everything vibrates softly as a chicken light (a heat lamp that helps to incubate chickens) turns slowly on and off above it.” For Walker, he’s drawn to the “idea of machines and how these different objects act as a collective to form a narrative or function, within natural processes as well.” He describes the work’s relationship with “the environmental disaster we’re living in now. Quite a lot of the sculptures are casts of eggs in silicone, jesmonite and wax.

Nothing is itself, they’re the idea of an object reflected in a different material.” He thinks of the eggs, and their position under a chicken light, making the sculpture look like “an animal, but slightly skewed.”

“Missile rockets can go everywhere, we are not in a safe place anywhere.”

Lea (Ye Gyoung) Choi

Jonny Walker

Martin thinks of this work as making the museum more accessible through new media. “By printing an image on to a 3D model, it can add context and something new.” She describes the replicas as offering the chance to get “up close and personal” with the objects that might otherwise not be so available to audiences, and Martin hopes for a greater sensory engagement between visitors and the objects of interest. “I’ve chosen a Greek jug that dates from 340BC.” Hinting at some of the events and tastes from the time, Martin has taken different imageries and printed them directly on to her edited version of the jug.

“Overall the work is a comment on the access to images and information and is really about using new technology to represent past ideas and cultures. Some people might not agree with copying works of art or culture, but it can create an opportunity to see the original in a new light.”

Also working with a loose sense of archaeology, Yvette Bathgate has been reflecting on an important encounter at her degree show last year. “A member of the public came to me and said that he saw my degree show as a trace fossil.” She then met with one of the commenter’s

colleagues who explained more about the the concept. Rather than a fossil of a bone or item, a trace fossil comes from a footstep or an animal’s burrow. Not representing a thing, these are instead leftovers of movements and impressions.

This then sparked some of the ideas that went into making the proposal for They Had 4 Years.

“Essentially, I’m interested in artefacts of contemporary human culture and our presence on the planet.” She also describes “the deep future” and imagines archaeologists piecing together 21st century culture.

For the show, Bathgate has been combining materials like rock and styrofoam to further ideas of trace fossils, as well as incorporating interests in “hyperobjects,” “entities of such vast temporal and spatial dimensions that they defeat traditional ideas about what a thing is in the first place” – a term lifted from the work of Timothy Morton, a writer on world ecology. “I’ve been making an almost monolithic sculpture out of styrofoam, mirroring this mythological and mysterious [aura] that rock has, then transferring it to styrofoam, this deathless and ever-present material.”

Also referencing the work of Timothy

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There’s a further linking of the machinic and organic in Kaitlyn Dunsmore’s work. “I’m interested in how organic matter has this whole hidden mathematical structure behind it.” She thinks of natural geometry and the Fibonacci sequence – a mathematical principle that can map directly on to many natural formations. She thinks specifically of “breathing as a power system and parallels with the power systems of digital devices. I recorded my own breathing through contact microphones then was looking to programme through an electric circuit, while also drawing the breaths.” She then used some technical skills to transform the drawings into circuits and channel the programmed rhythm of the breath through the paper. Describing her comparison of the organic and the calculated, she describes the form of her work “combining them, to make a hybrid being.”

As well as speaking about planned work, each of the artists chatted about the singular importance of TH4Y on their respective practices and lives over the previous months. It was a reminder that, as well as a major exhibition opportunity, TH4Y will be a worthy celebration that, a year after degree show, they’ve all managed to find new places and spaces to keep making work. They had four years, and they’ve got many more to come.

They Had 4 Years, preview 19 May 7-9pm, continues 20 May-3 Jun

THE SKINNY

May 2018

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THE SKINNY

Lost in Sound A decade on from her discombobulating masterpiece The Headless Woman, Lucrecia Martel is back with Zama. The Argentinean director discusses the art of adaptation and the importance of sound in her films

Interview: Philip Concannon

Zama

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ucrecia Martel has taken a long and winding road to Zama. In 2011, after spending two years developing an adaptation of Héctor Germán Oesterheld’s science-fiction comic The Eternaut, she abandoned the project when the necessary funding fell through. Following this disappointment, Martel decided she needed a break and took a boat trip along the Paraná River as an opportunity to catch up with her reading, which is how she came into contact with Zama. Written in 1956 by Antonio di Benedetto, Zama was gradually recognised over the subsequent decades as one of the great Argentine novels. The story of a frustrated conquistador in 18th century Paraguay, it’s a departure for Martel in many ways – her first adaptation, her first period piece and her first film with a male protagonist – but the end result feels very much like a Lucrecia Martel film.

When we meet Martel, she’s sitting outside a London members’ club enjoying a coffee and puffing away contentedly on her trademark cigar.

Speaking through a translator, she is a thoughtful and engaging interviewee but – as is the case with her films – her answers to questions often come from unexpected angles. For example, when asked if she immediately visualised the film when she read di Benedetto’s novel, she says it’s more accurate to say that she heard it. “When you read a book there’s a sound to it. We tend to think of films and books as very different, because with a book you have letters on pages and with film you have the image, but they both have a sound,” she explains. “Literature has a sound and a rhythm. What is that sound? What is the sound that we have in our head as we read?

When we read about horses or birds, we don’t just imagine how they are or what they look like, we also imagine the sound that they create. I think when we talk about adapting a book to film, we underestimate that aspect.”

Sound is the single most important aspect of filmmaking for Martel. When she is writing her

May 2018

screenplays she begins by finding the sound effects that will go towards building the multilayered soundscape her films are noted for. “All those off-screen sounds during dialogues that focus on Don Diego de Zama were decisions that I was making at the writing stage,” she says. “To give you a concrete example from Zama, the birds, the toads, the insects in the book, we knew from the outset that we wanted them to sound slightly electronic. They are natural, but they seem electronic. These decisions can seem very arbitrary but they are decisions that I take very early on, and during the filming process we were very attentive to make sure that we recorded the sounds of all the insects and toads.”

It’s a fascinating and unusual experience to have a conversation with a filmmaker who places the image some way down her list of priorities.

Even when asked about the way she works with her cinematographers to craft her precisely composed frames, she steers her answer away and back to her favoured subject. It’s perhaps telling that she has worked with a different director of photography on each film, while her sound designer, Guido Berenblum, has been a constant and essential collaborator. “The image, for me, is something that I see as a different experiment in every film, so I see changing the director of photography as a reasonable move from film to film. This probably comes from sound films, this idea that firstly the image is produced and then the sound is produced to accompany it.” It’s this understanding of sound’s potential that makes her use of off-screen space so potent.

“With the visuals you can create a space but the sound is much more effective at creating tension, because it comes from everywhere.”

This sense of immersion is key to the way Martel recreates the 18th century in Zama. Her previous three films (La Ciénaga, The Holy Girl and The Headless Woman) have all been contemporary stories set in Salta, the town in Argentina in which Martel was raised, and all have explored

the anxieties of the country’s middle-class. In switching her focus to a different time and place, Martel found that the devil is in the details.

“There is a detail in all period dramas in Latin America, that leather boots will have a heel that’s a hard leather, almost like wood. So if I was to put those characters in that environment with those boots, first of all it would be absurd, and secondly it would give them an impact, a resonance to their footsteps that wasn’t really appropriate, because they’re all such fragile people.” While the director cites some films as possible “relatives” of Zama, such as Mario Monicelli’s L’armata Brancaleone and Wojciech Has’s The Saragossa Manuscript, she mainly used other period films as examples of what not to do. “These sort of films always tend to be very solemn, and I thought it was important for the film to not be solemn.”

“The image is something I see as a different experiment in every film” Lucrecia Martel

She certainly achieved that aim. In adapting di Benedetto’s book, Martel has accentuated the story’s dark streak of ironic comedy and also taken us outside of Zama’s first-person narrative to view his irrevocable decline from a measured distance. The more desperate Don Diego de Zama gets to escape this bureaucratic purgatory and return to civilisation, the further he gets from it, becoming diminished and humiliated in every scene until he is a shell of the man who looked so imperious in the film’s opening scene.

She has also given a greater prominence to the

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futile pursuit of Vicuña Porto, a possibly mythical bandit, wanted for multiple crimes, whose absence dominates so much of the film and, Martel explains, gives Zama a contemporary resonance.

“I think Vicuña Porto is like the enemy we all need, the scapegoat,” she says. “It’s more like a social construction of the enemy. I don’t know if you get the same thing here, but in Latin America there has been a very strong discourse on this idea in relation to crime. With crime, and the same thing happens with terrorism, a crime is never seen as the consequence of something.

Often in Argentina, when there are 15-year-olds or 20-year-olds committing a robbery, and it’s immediately deemed that they’re a nasty person; they’re lazy; it’s in their nature; they don’t want to work. What we don’t do is stop and think about why that person was prepared to risk so much for so little – what are they lacking? Robbery is never understood or seen as somebody taking a huge risk with their life. It’s always an attack on private property. What is it that pushes that person to take that risk? It’s an obvious question that society chooses to overlook. Vicuña Porto is the enemy we need to be able to justify the inequalities and injustices that exist.”

Zama was a tough film to make. It was difficult to get financed, the production was plagued by bad weather, and the director herself was struck by a debilitating illness that kept her out of action for eight months. The whole process took four years, and having already spoken about how hard she finds the filmmaking process in the past, could this mean we’ll have to wait another decade for her next film? Fortunately, she has good news on that front, revealing that she is currently finishing an essay film about Javier Chocobar, the Diaguita leader who was assassinated in 2009. “His story reveals a particular link between image and power,” she says. Another departure, then, and yet it sounds like perfect material for Lucrecia Martel.

Zama is released 25 May by New Wave

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Anarchy in the UK Hedwig and the Angry Inch’s John Cameron Mitchell is back with sci-fi-romance How to Talk to Girls at Parties. When we speak to the writer-director, he’s keen to sing the praises of his film’s talented stars: Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning

“M

y dick is huge in Japan,” exclaims John Cameron Mitchell proudly as we sit down to speak to him in a London hotel. The eternally youthful actor and filmmaker (he’s 55 but looks like a clean-living 30 year old) is of course referring to his most famous creation: Hedwig, the East German transgender glam rock singer he played in Off-Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and later in the 2001 film version, which he also directed. He brings her up as he’s about to fly east to resurrect her in a series of concerts. “Hedwig’s inch goes the long haul. So I’m going there to make some money for my mom.”

Since the cult success of Hedwig, Cameron Mitchell films have been thin on the ground.

There was his wild sex comedy Shortbus in 2006, which managed to be jaw-droppingly explicit and heartwarmingly sweet all at once. Then he showed his versatility in 2010 with Rabbit Hole: a complete detour in style and tone, it was a quiet but devastating drama exploring a couple’s grief after the death of their son. We’re speaking to Cameron Mitchell ahead of the UK premiere of his first film in seven years, How to Talk to Girls at Parties. If you’re a fan of those early comedies, you’ll be delighted to hear this new film sees him back at his flamboyant best.

Based on Neil Gaiman’s short story of the same name, Cameron Mitchell has taken this jewel-like sci-fi romance and run with it, turning it into a vibrant anti-establishment romp full of rambunctious music, goofy humour and gender-bending aliens. The setting is Croydon at the fag end of the 70s, where teen punk Enn (Alex Sharp) and his two mates are looking for some excitement in the suburbs. They seem to find it when they stumble across a wild house party whose guests the boys take for avant-garde performance-artists. Enn is particularly smitten with Zan (Elle Fanning), a rebellious young member of the collective who’s keen for Enn to show her the town and school her in the ethos of punk, which appears to be a completely alien concept to her and her friends. And the reason that it’s an alien concept is that these are literal aliens on a whistle-stop visit to Earth.

Cameron Mitchell reckons there are some similarities between the mood of the period depicted in How to Talk to Girls at Parties and the present day. “In some ways there are a lot of things in common with the 70s right now here and in the US, a kind of economic insecurity and panic, which resulted in voting for Brexit, for some, and Trump, for others, and the national front in the 70s.”

What’s missing in today’s climate, however, much to the director’s chagrin, is that same punk spirit. “Those people who were once punks have brought about these changes and the young people feel a little helpless,” he suggests.

“They’ve been handed this stupid world by their stupid parents, and most of the young people are just left Instagramming their way into nothingness, as opposed to saying, ‘This just has to stop.’” We’re speaking to Cameron Mitchell in October 2017, so he’s not yet been witness to the extraordinary March for Our Lives protests organised by impassioned teenagers in the US and supported by young people around the world. But we take his point.

There’s certainly a punk spirit to be found in How to Talk to Girls at Parties. It’s an impetuous film full of outlandish ideas and wild flights of fancy. It’s not been to everyone’s taste, we must

admit. At its premiere in Cannes last year, most critics were miffed. The Skinny’s own reviewer was particularly unimpressed, saying it “comes across like an extended episode of a BBC kids’ show from the early 90s with a few lewd jokes thrown in.” This isn’t an inaccurate description of How to Talk to Girls at Parties’ tone, but we’re pretty sure the thrown together aesthetic is close to what Cameron Mitchell was shooting for.

“We’re not trying to recreate the Roxy,” he laughs when we bring up his film’s scrappy edges.

“Ours is a fictional, suburban, fairytale punk.

There was a real punk scene in Croydon, but this one, we made it a bit more creative and sparkly.”

These fairytale touches include Nicole Kidman playing a version of Vivienne Westwood, and a queer houseband called The Discords.

This is Cameron Mitchell’s second time working with Kidman – she played the grieving mother in Rabbit Hole. The 50-year-old actor is going through something of a purple patch at the minute. Last year she gave standout performances in The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Beguiled (both of which screened at Cannes alongside How to Talk to Girls at Parties), and she won multiple awards for her nuanced work on Big Little Lies.

Coming up in the next 12 months, meanwhile, are roles in Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased, the muchanticipated adaptation of The Goldfinch and comic book adventure Aquaman. How to Talk to Girls at Parties is lower profile than all of those projects, but Kidman, who’s sporting a Toyah Wilcox-like peroxide wig and cockney accent in the film, looks to be having a whale of a time.

“There are few women in her class that are up for anything and they’re not worried about the money or the profile,” says Cameron Mitchell of his star. “Isabelle Huppert would be one, Tilda Swinton, Marion Cotillard maybe, but you don’t get a Kate Winslet seeking out Yorgos Lanthimos.

I love Emma Stone, but she’s not going to work with Park Chan Wook, she’s just not. But Nicole Kidman will. She’ll be a prison hooker in The Paperboy and do a fake blow job – whaaat? – and it’s the highlight of the movie.

“ Even though in life she’s rather regal and very sweet, in her work she goes for it” John Cameron Mitchell on Nicole Kidman

As daring as Kidman’s film choices have been over the years, we’ve never seen her in a role like this. “She did find it a bit uncomfortable,” admits Cameron Mitchell. “Someone smacked her on the head with a guitar by accident and other people spat in her face – not on purpose, but, you know, things happen on a punk set. She’d be like, ‘I’m out of my comfort zone,’” says Cameron Mitchell in a spot-on impression of Kidman’s Aussie accent, “and I’m like ‘thank you for being here, Nicole’ and she’s like ‘anything for you, John’.”

Cameron Mitchell has just as much praise for his younger star Elle Fanning. She’s only turned 20, but, like Kidman, she’s proven herself discerning when it comes to her choice of collaborators. “She started so young with interesting people,” says Cameron Mitchell. “I first saw

Interview: Jamie Dunn

her in Somewhere, and Sofia [Coppola] is up for anything too, so she was trained early to go for quality.”

As impressive as Fanning has been in films like The Neon Demon and Super 8, How to Talk to Girls at Parties really shows the young star’s range. Cameron Mitchell suggests this is the first role where she gets to be a “star” in the old Hollywood sense: she gets to sing, flex her comedic muscles and break hearts.

“She’s been the star of other films but in this one it’s like, BAM!!” he says. “I really hope it reminds people that she’s not just the interesting artistic flower, because she’s done a million of those roles, and she’s done them really well, but she should be able to do whatever she wants.”

Could she be one of the greats, we ask. “I really think she’s going to be, yes. It’s her instinctiveness, it’s her sense of humour; and she’s emotionally available in a heartbeat.”

Cameron Mitchell is an effervescent talker, but his tone darkens somewhat when we ask him about the health of independent filmmaking. “It’s not the time of the small film right now,” he laments. “People used to go see the best reviewed small film of the week, they’d look at the paper and go, ‘What’s the good one?’ It didn’t have to have a star, they’d just go. Now they wait for it to come out on some platform and go see the giant blockbuster instead – they go half assuming to hate it, but they go because they’re supposed to. People are a bit sheeplike that way.

They come out and say, ‘That wasn’t bad’. That’s the best they can hope for.”

Whatever your reaction to How to Talk to Girls at Parties, we can guarantee you’ll not come out of it ambivalently shrugging your shoulders, that’s for sure.

How to Talk to Girls at Parties is released 11 May by StudioCanal

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

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THE SKINNY

Wham Cannes, Thank You Anne The Artist’s Michel Hazanavicius returns with Redoubtable, a pastiche portrait of the marriage of Jean-Luc Godard and Anne Wiazemsky. We speak to Stacy Martin about playing the late Wiazemsky and who should play her Nymphomaniac director, Lars von Trier

Interview: Josh Slater-Williams

Redoubtable

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t’s October 2017 and we’re interviewing Stacy Martin, the French-English actor currently best known for her breakthrough role in Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac. We’re here to discuss her part in Redoubtable, the latest film from The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius, but there’s an elephant in the room, and it’s not just that we look shaken up from an attempted mugging on our way to the interview (Martin very kindly poured us a drink upon discovering this).

Only a few days before our conversation, Anne Wiazemsky, the woman Martin plays in the biopic, passed away, aged 70. An actor and novelist, she made her cinema debut at age 18, playing the lead in Robert Bresson’s 1966 film Au Hasard Balthazar. Wiazemsky didn’t make a huge number of films, but she collaborated with many of that period’s key European directors, including Pier Paolo Pasolini (on Theorem and Pigsty), and, crucially, Jean-Luc Godard, to whom she was married from 1967 until their official divorce in 1979, though their relationship had broken down as early as 1970.

Redoubtable is adapted from one of her many novels, Un An Après, which chronicles her time shooting Godard’s La Chinoise in the late 60s. As well as presenting a portrait of their romance’s rise and fall, the film documents a version of Godard’s personal and political conflicts across the surrounding period, including his ultimately successful efforts to have the Cannes Film Festival cancelled – Cannes-celled?

– in light of the May 1968 civil unrest in France.

About that elephant in the room, then: does Martin know if Wiazemsky saw the film and what she thought of it?

“She saw it quite early on once it was finished,” Martin says, “and she came with us to Cannes. She really liked it. One of the reasons she agreed to give the rights to Michel was because he told her, ‘Oh, I think it’s a very funny book and

May 2018

I’d love to make a comedy out of it.’ And she went, ‘I always thought a tragedy should be turned into a comedy.’ And in that respect, I think she connected a lot. It was great to have her at Cannes and walk with her up the red carpet. It was very special.”

Speaking of Cannes, where the film premiered in May 2017, we wonder if any of the Redoubtable team suspected Godard might attempt to sabotage the biopic and try to shut down the festival again. “Well, apparently before one of the press screenings of this film, there was a bomb scare. And we thought, ‘Oh, is it... did he do something?’ It wasn’t a bomb at all, someone forgot their bag, but sometimes you think...”

Martin tells us she first fell in love with Wiazemsky as an actor: “Au Hasard Balthazar is, I think, one of the most incredible films of all time.

But I didn’t know her as a writer, and so when I read the script and then got offered the part by Michel, I read the books. I found them really tender, really funny. She installs this sort of distance between her now and when she was at that time, but without making it too accusatory.”

There was also a degree of research required by Martin on the subject of Godard (played in the film by Louis Garrel), beyond the cultural touchstones of his Nouvelle Vague work.

“I knew his films,” she says. “I didn’t know his more political film period. I watched all of that. I watched Le vent d’est and Weekend and Pravda, and all the Dziga Vertov movement. It was great because I got to learn about his later movements and it put in perspective his more recent work.”

Redoubtable is a pastiche comedy somewhat in the spirit of Hazanavicius’ The Artist, in that while it’s largely designed to look like the Godard films of the years in which it’s set, there are a number of visual homages to other films in the director’s career; mainly the earlier, more famous ones that most viewers will know, the

style of which Godard in the movie itself is asked to revisit. In line with this, Martin’s own look in the movie doesn’t resemble Wiazemsky so much as she’s made to look like various other Godard collaborators – Chantal Goya in Masculin Féminin would seem a clear reference for her onscreen hairstyle.

“ A woman should play Lars von Trier” Stacy Martin

Speaking on the film’s aesthetic, Martin suggests “it was more about finding the dynamic that alluded to that period. It’s about sensations more than particular people, but if you think of Godard, you also think of Anna Karina. So it was almost like doing a mash-up of Godard’s muses without taking one specifically, and then looking at a woman in ’68, in ’69 and then seeing how I could mix it all and create this character.”

When asked what she finds most touching about Wiazemsky’s story, Martin selects “the fact that she’s at a point in her life where so much is changing but she’s also becoming herself, and she has to define herself. She has to make choices not against the man she loves, but she has to make her own choices. And that’s something in a relationship where one of the most classic reasons people break up is because one of us changes paths, and you’re waiting for one person to change or to grow up or to get over a phase and they don’t want to, or someone’s not the person you fell in love with. And to see that in the film is really touching because it’s not like there was this one defining moment where she knew the relationship was over, or where she

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knew that it wasn’t going to work. She’s constantly trying to find the man she fell in love with and it’s so heartbreaking because you can see it slowly get harder and harder. And she says, ‘You know what, it’s not that I don’t love you, but I just want another life.’”

With Garrel’s Godard impression given centre stage, Martin’s role is largely reactive, left to convey a lot behind the eyes rather than through dialogue. “I mean, it’s definitely not in dialogue,” Martin responds to a query about this, “because I had no dialogue. Or very little.”

We worry if we might have struck a nerve, but she very quickly follows this with a laugh. “It was one of the challenges that I was faced with because I thought, she needs to exist. You need to see this couple be completely in love and happy, because otherwise if she’s just standing there not doing anything, you’ll just think this doesn’t make any sense. I needed to find that, and what I quickly found when we were rehearsing with Michel and Louis was that actually, at the beginning of the film, they need to be extremely sexy and they need to be together and they need to smile and they need to have this thing. And then gradually, this physical kinship and the smiles slightly go away, so the work is more in the physical composition than a verbal thing.”

As we finish, we posit a pitch to Martin: who, if anyone, does she think could play Lars von Trier in a biopic?

“A woman should play Lars von Trier,” she responds almost immediately. “Someone he’s worked with. What about Kirsten Dunst? I find that energy very similar to his.”

Kirsten Dunst in Lars, coming to cinemas probably not very soon.

Redoubtable is released 11 May by Thunderbird Releasing thunderbirdreleasing.com/redoubtable

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It’s a Kind of Magic As Edinburgh’s MagicFest approaches its ninth year, moving to May for the first time, The Skinny chats to festival founders, Kevin and Svetlana McMahon about the festival, the nature of magic and why this is a theatrical art form

Interview: Amy Taylor

Kevin 'Kevin Quantumn' McMahon

F

ounded in 2010 by the husband and wife team of Kevin McMahon – former scientist turned magician, known professionally as Kevin Quantum – and arts festival producer Svetlana McMahon, the Edinburgh International Magic festival is about to celebrate its ninth anniversary, with a new programme, beginning a month earlier than usual, in May. “Our festival promotes the art of magic,” Kevin explains. “Magic is a branch of theatre, we programme artists and companies that use their form of self-expression to create wonder and other emotions in our audience.”

“We see magic as the art of the impossible,” begins Svetlana. “It shows you the world in a wonderfully diverse way and challenges you to see things differently. We live in a world where mystery rarely exists, where every question can be answered with a couple of swipes and a click (thanks Google!), but magic brings back that childhood sense of wonder, that joy of witnessing something so impossible that you start questioning other things around you.”

The 2018 MagicFest programme boasts a number of performers, disciplines and firsts for the festival. From solo shows from magicians such as Lewis Barlow, Vincent Gambini and Billy Reid, to ensemble pieces such as the MagicFest Gala, featuring Card Ninja from New Zealand and Magus Utopia from the Netherlands. Magicians and companies from around the world will descend on the capital to share their tricks and promote the art of magic in some world firsts.

This year, the festival plays host to the first ever Wizard World Gathering, a night out with tricks, drinks, chocolate frogs and much more, as well as

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The Secret Room, an event taking place at Lauriston Castle and the Writers Museum, which sees these ancient buildings brought to life through the mysteries that they conceal.

The promotion of magic is key, especially for Kevin, MagicFest’s creative spine and self-described “magician-scientist hybrid.” He came to magic after a career as a scientist and an appearance on Channel 4’s now-defunct reality show Faking It, where he trained with Penn & Teller and has since gone on to wow audiences around the world. Most recently, at the 2018 Adelaide Fringe, where he was awarded the coveted Best Magic Award for his show, Kevin Quantum: Anti-Gravity.

But while the festival undoubtedly has much to celebrate, both Kevin and Svetlana believe that magic has not achieved the same respect or standing as other, similar art forms, such as theatre and dance, which is something they are trying to change. So, what do they think when people don’t believe that magic is an art form?

“Magic can of course be an art form,” explains Kevin. “It can also be a craft, or a puzzle, depending on where you’re viewing it from.”

Svetlana agrees. “I think the whole debate whether it should be called an art form or not came from the fact that there are a lot of amateur magicians and hobbyists in the industry who unfortunately take shortcuts and do not always give magic the justice it deserves. As a result, a lot of people say they don’t like magic because they saw someone performing it badly or didn’t like a particular magician, which is a little odd because you wouldn’t say you don’t like music because you heard a musician playing and you didn’t like the tune. There are so many music

genres, composers, singers… it’s the same in magic. We just need to raise awareness of this.”

“It’s likely they’ve only experienced magic in very narrow terms and that’s fine,” adds Kevin.

“But there is so much more when you take the opportunity to explore. You can’t listen to a Miley Cyrus track and then judge all of music.

The same with magic. If someone once showed you a terrible card trick in a pub a couple of years ago, that’s not representative of what we do. So, take a chance.”

MagicFest is keen to raise awareness of how much magic can benefit the arts as well as people. One way it does this, as Kevin explains, is through collaborations between theatre companies and magicians, who are often called upon to help create effects that are used in some of the UK’s biggest, and most successful, theatre shows. “So many of the top West End productions or UK touring productions employ magic consultants in their companies because they value the skills of a magician,” he says. “So, if you’ve seen Wicked or The Cursed Child or Mary Poppins, the moment when your jaw drops when you see something amazing – that moment was probably created by a magician.”

One of the genre’s strengths, aside from the obvious, is that it can be fused so easily with other artforms to create something totally new and never-seen-before on the stage. “There are a lot of interesting fusions now between magic and other art forms - circus, storytelling, dance.

Some of the biggest touring live music productions also work with magicians to create visual spectacles on stage. So, whether you realise it or not, you’re probably appreciating the work of a

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magician in various forms in many art forms,” explains Kevin.

Like the art of magic itself, MagicFest has undoubtedly changed and grown since the first event in 2010, and Svetlana is confident that the festival has not only found its feet, but is also helping showcase magicians from around the world to Scotland, making it the only event of its kind in a country that is well-known for its arts festivals. “The Festival has been developing and evolving every year,” she says. Over the last few years the couple have experimented, experiencing a number of successes and a few things that didn’t work, but it has helped them shape the festival and all its future events and made them better for acts as well as audiences.

“We had ups and downs, great successes and risks that didn’t pay off,” she continues.

“What it has been doing steadily over the past nine years is growing. And long may that continue. We are supporting Scottish artists, we are bringing the most amazing and cutting-edge acts from around the world and we are doing our best to promote magic as an art form – this won’t change.”

“It’s the best in magic from around the world coming to Scotland,” says Kevin, who believes that a visit to the festival will allow audiences to experience something they might not have otherwise seen. “You’ll get to see the state of the art. And discover something new and interesting and surprising. There’s currently no other opportunity to see these artists because we’re the only ones doing this kind of event.”

Edinburgh International Magic Festival runs from 11-19 May magicfest.co.uk/

THE SKINNY

Mind Health The Skinny talks to the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival’s Gail Aldam and artist Skye Loneragan about the festival’s theme, aims and its biggest theatre programme yet

Interview: Amy Taylor

“A

common misconception about the festival, and work exploring mental health more generally, is that it can be depressing,” begins Gail Aldam, Festival Manager at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, which begins this month. “While much of what we present does focus on difficult experiences and challenging subjects, these shows are creative, surprising, uplifting and funny – and would fit comfortably into any other arts festival.”

Although the subject matter of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF) sets it apart from all of the other arts festivals in Scotland, mental health as a topic has experienced something of a surge in popularity in the arts in recent years, with more work being created exploring the subject. Founded in 2007, SMHAF was created to celebrate the artistic achievements of people with experience of mental health issues, as well as explore the relationship between creativity and the mind, and work to promote mental health and reduce stigma.

Now one of the largest festivals of its kind, SMHAF boasts over 300 events and 25,000 attendees over the course of the month, and the programme features live performance, film screenings, talks, stand-up comedy, music and visual arts.

“We want to encourage everyone to talk about mental health and to understand that it is something that affects all of us. And although our experiences with mental health may be very different, that doesn’t mean that we can’t understand each other or relate to each other’s experiences,” explains Aldam.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, health is not an uncommon theme in the theatre; in fact, issues surrounding mental health can be found in some of the most popular plays in the world, from Hamlet’s performance of madness during his investigation of his father’s murder, to the fearless writing of Sarah Kane.

However, SMHAF’s theatre programme - which this year features Tortoise in a Nutshell’s Fisk, an exploration of depression and connection, as well as a double bill of the National Theatre of Scotland’s award-winning plays exploring transgender identity, Adam by Adam Kashmiri and Jo Clifford’s Eve - has grown since 2017, and this year promises to be the biggest yet, thanks to more and more artists using theatre as a way to retell and explore their stories.

“Theatre creates a space where artists can craft their stories and communicate them to audiences in a very direct way – the process not only helps artists to better understand their own experiences, but also turns them into something that can help raise awareness much more broadly,” says Aldam. “This has been obvious, for example, in the Edinburgh Fringe programme over the last few years, which led us last year to create the first Mental Health Fringe Award. The winner, Mental is being included as part of our own festival programme this May. All this has led to increased awareness of the festival – and more theatre submissions – and we wanted to include as much of the fantastic work touring across Scotland as we could.”

The 2018 festival, which takes place this month, instead of its usual slot of October, coincides with Mental Health Awareness Week (14-20 May), which this year ties in to the theme of stress. The theme of SMHAF for this year is Beginnings, which was selected to coincide with the Scottish Government’s Year of Young People, but also to mark the festival’s move to an earlier

May 2018

Skye Loneragan

cancer or the story of a loved one suffering from cancer…would we ask them to acknowledge the cancer themes in their work?”

For Loneragan, the chance to stage Though This Be Madness at the festival allows her the opportunity to understand and work through past experiences with mind health and attitudes towards it, while sharing it with others.

“I’m trying to make sense of a whole bunch of experiences with close family members who wrestle with their own quest to make sense of the world and ill-health. Life just keeps knocking this theme on the head for me and I want to be able to speak out, freak out, share a laugh, a sigh, some provocations and some new perspectives through this frame of new mature-age motherhood.”

Fisk

time in the year. Because of this, the SMHAF is particularly keen to address and support the mental health of young people, as well as provide a space to explore for Scotland’s next generation of artists.

“Throughout this year’s festival, we want to explore the idea that the road to positive mental health – or to mental health problems – begins very early in life,” Aldam explains. “Considering recent research showing large increases in young people requiring support for mental health problems and suggesting that half of adult mental health problems begin in childhood, we feel it is more important than ever that this festival engages with, and is informed by, young audiences, and that young people are involved in shaping our programme.”

For Skye Loneragan, an award-winning artist who is appearing at SMHAF, the festival is the ideal platform for her latest work, a piece exploring parenthood and mental health, or as she prefers to call it, ‘mind health’, Though This Be Madness. “What I’m really curious about is how we all subscribe to daily delusions in simply getting by… and what madness this is, our idea of sanity,” she explains.

It’s this idea of sanity, and what we as a society believe to be sane that forms the core of this work for Loneragan, as she believes it’s these beliefs and labels that can be more detrimental to our minds and views.

“Given that so much of what we deem sane directly damages our mental health, and our survival on this planet, how can we soothe each other? How can we stay connected and is staying connected key to feeling better?”

The subject of mind health and the mind itself is something that interests Loneragan, especially in how it relates to the words we use to describe it and our ideas of what it actually is, and how artists can respond to it.

“Exploring matters of the mind, and ‘mind health’ is intriguing to me – I think any idea of acknowledging it might be related again to the stigma surrounding that phrase ‘mental health.’

Would we ask someone exploring how their mind works to acknowledge they are exploring how their mind works? And surely if we all have a mind, then we are all complicit in creating our reality. Would we ask someone exploring diabetes to acknowledge they are dealing with diabetic themes, or someone exploring the concept of

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“ Surely if we all have a mind, then we are all complicit in creating our reality.”

Skye Loneragan

For Aldam, the festival has proven to be a very positive experience for everyone who attends, from the artists who create and perform new work, to the audiences that come along to events to watch and share that experience with them. Which, as she points out, can be a highly transformative experience for everyone involved.

“We know that engaging in the arts, at every level, has a positive impact on wellbeing. Artists involved in the festival have also shared that the process of creating personal work about mental health can be a cathartic one which has a positive impact on their own mental health.”

The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, 7-27 May, venues across Scotland mhfestival.com

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When Edinburgh went Beyond Satire

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n the last day of the Edinburgh Festival, 1959, its artistic director resigned.

The director, Robert Ponsonby, was a man who wanted to get things done. Four years earlier, on taking the role, he ordered a report that sounds more like an inventory. It documented every problem from the unsuitability of venues to below-par street decorations.

Once the ailments were diagnosed, Ponsonby believed the Festival’s committee would equip him with the cure. But presenting plans in a logical fashion is almost always a mistake when trying to persuade. Again and again, Ponsonby felt the Festival’s bureaucrats didn’t so much dismiss his ideas as forget them.

In consequence, when he went to invite the world’s leading arts companies to Edinburgh – in opera, ballet and drama – he felt he was short on resources and long on complications. Having all the responsibility without the requisite power, he tendered his resignation.

Naturally, The Festival Society did not share this view. And Ponsonby agreed to do ‘one last job’ and stay for a final year. He decided to use his last year to take on one of the more chronic problems in Edinburgh that had “irked” him: the popularity of the unofficial upstart the Edinburgh Fringe.

Revues The Fringe was no longer so unofficial, though. It had grown out of any sense that it was a mere sideshow to the Festival. Over time, the number of uninvited artists had increased and it now became a co-ordinated movement. In 1958, the Fringe Society formed with published aims, premises and box office.

A large part of the Fringe’s success had been feeding Edinburgh’s appetite for late-night entertainment. Comedic revues became an antidote to the highfalutin Festival performances.

Indeed, revues cornered Edinburgh’s market for humour over the next three decades. From the early-1950s onwards, theatre groups put on additional performances along with their plays.

These quickly gave way to university troupes

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writing sharper work. Revues also acted as an incubator for emerging artists. In 1953, the Oxford Theatre Group presented Cakes and Ale which starred Maggie Smith.

Ponsonby was not without a sense of humour and had put on satirical musical comedy from legendary duo Flanders and Swann, and Anna Russell. This was quite an innovation for the Festival. Yet, that irksome Fringe still seemed to attract more favourable notices.

Instead of competing with the problem, Ponsonby hit on another way to solve it. He dispatched his assistant, John Bassett, to raid the Fringe of its rising talent. Alan Bennett and Dudley Moore were recruited from the Oxford Revue. And, on recommendations, they were soon joined by Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller, who’d come through Cambridge.

With this unknown yet talented quartet in place, Ponsonby could give the Fringe a taste of its own medicine. And he deliberately chose a title for the revue to reflect this – Beyond the Fringe.

The Satire Boom Ponsonby was almost to regret his decision immediately. On seeing the players corpse their way through rehearsals he asked himself, “What have I done?”

What had he done?

In the short term, on the opening night, in front of a far from capacity audience at the Lyceum Theatre, Beyond the Fringe went near unnoticed.

However, The Daily Mail’s critic was there and hailed it: “the funniest, most intelligent, and most original revue to be staged in Britain for a very long time.” In contrast to traditional revues – all chorus girls and the like – Beyond the Fringe was “getting down to the real business of... satire and parody.” It was soon selling out each night and became the hit of the Festival.

In the medium term, Beyond the Fringe helped cement an idea people could make it in Edinburgh and go on to long runs in the West End and on Broadway. On its arrival in London, the

The Edinburgh Festival dreamt up Beyond the Fringe to upstage its rival, but the revue only increased the Edinburgh Fringe’s fame Words: Ben Venables Illustration: Xenia Latii

Observer’s critic Kenneth Tynan wrote, with all the modesty characteristic of the reviewing profession: “Future historians may well thank me for providing them with a full accord of the moment when English comedy took its first decisive step into the twentieth century.”

Though in a sense Tynan’s hyperbole was correct. Beyond the Fringe was a watershed moment, heralding the arrival of the ‘satire boom’ to the 60s. And out of the satire boom came Peter Cook’s The Establishment comedy club in Soho, a TV series of That Was The Week That Was on the BBC and the great survivor of contemporary print journalism: Private Eye. This era is a direct precursor to much of today’s broadcast comedy and the ever popular format of sending up the week’s news.

And yet, despite all this, whether Beyond the Fringe was satirical in intent is debatable. Later, Jonathan Miller said Tynan had shoved “the [satire] banner into our hands.” He added: “it was rather like Charlie Chaplin […] finding himself at the head of the Communist parade.”

The sketch which stood out from the revue was one which turned the joke on Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. A musical mix-up ends with raspberries being blown every time his name is mentioned.

Today, this hardly seems fitting as the catalyst for the satire boom. Moreover, the Beyond the Fringe players did not write it as such.

Peter Cook said: “My impersonation of Macmillan was in fact extremely affectionate – I was a great Macmillan fan.”

Had this sketch truly satirised Macmillan the script may have fallen foul of the Lord Chamberlain’s pen, for this was still an era of theatre censorship. As it happened, the only notes that came from the censor’s office was a bit of homophobia that almost seems quaint. The stage direction ‘enter two outrageous old queens’ was changed to ‘enter two aesthetic young men’.

The censor’s other comment reads like a dismissive comedy review, stating the revue was ‘full of silly psuedo-intellectual jokes’.

However, for a sitting PM to be imperson-

COMEDY

ated on stage was rare. And the whimsical audacity of blowing raspberries on the mention of his name starts to reconstruct a context which would’ve made this sketch funny and seem a comment on changing times.

Legacy Not that political or satirical comedy really affects social change. Beyond the Fringe, in hindsight, harnessed a mood that was already there. Kenneth Tynan’s sober closing remarks in his review are more perceptive, and also ring true of much radio and TV comedy today: “Beyond the Fringe is anti-reactionary without being wholeheartedly progressive.”

In an introduction to the Beyond the Fringe script, the playwright Michael Frayn argues that satire is soon reduced to quelling an audience’s conscience. But it does not compel them to vote “for anything which might have actually reduced their privileges.”

Beyond the Fringe’s influence on satire and the direction of UK comedy was not its only legacy. For Edinburgh its influence was also vast – but not quite in the way Robert Ponsonby expected.

Jonathan Miller later became the Fringe Society chairman and said: “I hardly knew of the existence of the Fringe until we were invited to do Beyond the Fringe.”

In other words, the title Ponsonby chose, the revue he conceived, far from beating the Fringe at its own game only spread the word of the Fringe movement. Miller adds: “I think our notion of fringe theatre is very much derived from the Edinburgh festivals, and from the Festival Fringe.”

In the end, then, the Fringe had the last laugh. As the Fringe Society’s former administrator Alastair Moffat puts it, “[Beyond the Fringe] probably did more to broadcast the name ‘Fringe’ than anything else.”

Sources: Humphrey Carpenter: That Was Satire That Was; William Cook: One Leg Two Few, Michael Frayn quoted in The Complete Beyond the Fringe; Eileen Miller: The Edinburgh International Festival; Alistair Moffat: The Edinburgh Fringe.

THE SKINNY

REPEAL: The Anthology On 25 May, Ireland goes to the polls to decide whether to Repeal the 8th Amendment. The Skinny talks to Una Mullally on her anthology, which captures the movement [Content warning: abortion, miscarriage, sexual assault]

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umpers are black, with a single word in bold white text emblazoned across it: REPEAL. It has become a symbol of protest worn across thousands of chests; that word speaks for a movement looking to claim body autonomy for Irish women, and give them legal access to abortions. The Repeal the 8th Anthology, edited

by Una Mullally, is equally as bold as it lays the numbers bare, unavoidable in their impact: 3,989 women travelled to the UK to access abortion services in 2016 alone; 22 million abortions take place across the world unsafely each year; 14 – the number of years’ imprisonment any women or girl found procuring an abortion can be sentenced to under Irish Law. Change, however, could be on the horizon.

The 8th Amendment has faced protest since its introduction to the Irish constitution in 1983 – equating the ‘life of the unborn’ with that of the mother, meaning that abortion was criminalised, and those involved in the process also. On 25 May, the country goes to the polls for a referendum on repealing the 8th Amendment, and for new legislation to then be introduced.

They have been fighting for a long time, but a number of cultural shifts really brought the issue to the fore of public consciousness. “One particular moment was the death of a woman called Savita Halappanavar,” explains Mullally.

“She was a 31-year-old woman who lived in Galway. She died in October 2012 when she was having a miscarriage; she asked for an abortion, that was refused in the hospital because it’s illegal, and she died of complications of a septic miscarriage. That created massive protest, and forced government to introduce legislation that allowed for abortion in extraordinarily restrictive circumstances. For example, a risk of life to the mother. That legislation is completely unworkable and has remained unworkable.”

Mullally talks about the waves of feminism sweeping the world with focus on body autonomy – the openness for people to tell their stories, particularly those in the public eye, has greatly helped raise the profile of the movement. She acknowledges at every stage of the discussion that for every one story told, there are many we’ll never hear; for every woman who goes through the pain of travelling for an abortion, there are many who could never afford to do so.

And that’s how she came to launch the Repeal the 8th Anthology on Unbound – to capture the movement, experiences, creativity of protest; to showcase what women were fighting for, but also the lengths left to go, even if the vote is won.

“I’ve always been interested in social movements and in social justice,” she explains.

“My first book was an oral history of the movement for marriage equality in Ireland, to document a very fragmented but really vibrant social and political movement. For this, I wanted to bring together the art and the literature that has emerged from the movement for reproductive rights and that has been inspired by the Repeal movement in particular.

“I see social movements as very creative movements. There’s an awful lot of art and literature and creativity that comes out of campaigning. I often find that when the objectives of social movements are achieved, a lot of that creativity is forgotten or lost. People take down the posters, or don’t think of the art in the discourse.

“Look at the art that has emerged from the Black Lives Matter movement or the Gun Control argument in the US, you see these amazing

May 2018

artists, amazing banners, slogans; people making songs, everyone from rappers to folk singers really expressing themselves creatively about the environment that they’re in. T-shirts, badges – a lot of it doesn’t get archived. I wanted to capture that because there is something very creative about people trying to change their societies. It’s not just about lobbying and legislation, it’s much bigger than that.

“When we’re trying to change our world, the way we think about it is creatively and we try to move people in ways that parliamentary politics doesn’t really speak to. A few years ago, I was in New York. I went to the Lesbian Herstory Archive in Brooklyn; the two older women who had actually founded it were there. I went upstairs and they had these file cabinets and bookshelves of all these amazing t-shirts from the 70s and 80s, a lot of the activism, the magazines, zines. I’d heard of the movement obviously, but I’d never seen the creative work that had come out of it and it just got me thinking – there is so much amazing stuff that comes out of these movements and it just gets packed away.”

That messy nature, many grassroots movements coming together into one collective for a shared cause, was key in all areas. Even with the same goal, people come at it from different perspectives, and so she wanted to make sure those not at the forefront weren’t forgotten.

“People who are most affected by the 8th Amendment in Ireland, who are worst affected by it, are migrant women, and poor women, and

trans people. When you talk about reproductive rights, a lot of people who have privilege are able to circumvent bans. That’s still a terrible experience but actually examining what’s going on in the North, where the British government has completely left women in Northern Ireland high and dry…

“I think a lot of people don’t even know about it – if, and hopefully when, Ireland Repeals the 8th Amendment, women in Northern Ireland will still be criminalised for having abortions. There are women in Northern Ireland who have been arrested for taking abortion pills, there are feminist activists in Northern Ireland who have had their premises raided by police looking for abortion pills that they are illegally importing to help poor women. That is just an abomination.

“Migrant women in particular in Ireland – we have a system called direct provision, where asylum seekers are essentially imprisoned indefinitely. A couple of years ago, a migrant teenager arrived in the country having been raped, she was suicidal and couldn’t travel for an abortion – she was forced to remain pregnant and have a C-section. Those are the worst, most terrible cases.

“It’s always going to be most vulnerable, the most marginalised and the poorest people that suffer from this legislation. It’s really important to have an activist voice in there that’s actually looking at those opinions, and also the writing in the book is coming from different places.”

The Repeal the 8th Anthology captures a

BOOKS

Interview: Heather McDaid Illustration: Kate Costigan

moment, a movement. What does she hope readers take from the book, whether they read it before or after the referendum? “I hope if they read it before the referendum they’ll get motivated to get involved in the campaign, to canvas, fundraise, have conversations with their friends and families about why we need to vote yes.

“I hope afterwards that it will remain an archive of this moment in time that will hopefully be over soon, that has been going on for far too long. I hope that people realise that social movements are driven by grassroots, they are driven by people on the streets, by artists and people from the margins, because that’s what’s actually changing things here. We’re constantly told that people don’t have any power but the reason we’re having this referendum is because of the hard work that has been done for decades and decades by activists, and also a new generation of activists now.

“For people outside of Ireland who are reading that and want to change something for the better, know that people do actually have the power. As trite as that can sometimes sound, that is a fact. The more people who agitate for change in a creative way, in a respectful way, and in a way that is forceful and has righteous anger behind it, those changes will actually happen. In any social movement, the thing that drives it forward is solidarity and we need as much of that as we can get.”

The Repeal the 8th Anthology edited by Una Mullally is out now. 50% of profits go towards the Together for Yes campaign

Feature

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LE Y ST FE LI

Home Truths

As the cost of living climbs in the UK, millennials are flocking to their parents’ homes to save cash on rent – but are they paying the price with their sexual autonomy?

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s with plenty of young people, my sex life really took off while I was at university. At my peak, I was living with my best friends in an exceptionally warm and sexually open-minded flatshare: the kind that trades lewd stories over dinner and helps one another take artistic, welllit nudes. Living in a sex-positive environment in a relatively tiny city, I prided myself on refusing ever to travel for dick. It came to me.

But that all changed when I graduated last year, leaving this haven to move back in with my parents in London, under the misapprehension I’d soon find my feet and get a place of my own.

This move, though financially necessary, has had enormous implications for my once bountiful sex life.

Firstly, I have had to humble myself when it came to hook-ups, traipsing all over London from Archway to Wandsworth. But worse than that, for the first time in my life I find myself lying to my parents. While I recognise this is for everyone’s benefit – a frank conversation with my West Indian parents about sex would probably be fatal for everyone involved – lying at nearly 24 about endless ‘sleepovers’ has me feeling like a rebellious teenager in a coming-of-age teen movie.

Still, I gritted my teeth, hid my sex toys and promised myself this was only a temporary measure – I could move into my own place in a matter of months and go back to being a freewheeling heaux: right?

Wrong. Getting money together takes forever, and the temptation to stay put and finally pay off my credit card bill is just too high. These days I have a pipe dream of staying at home until I save enough for a deposit on my own place, but my sexual frustration and minuscule earnings have been making that difficult.

Young people hear an awful lot about how

our current instability is all our fault. Apparently, if we could just give up the avocado toast we’d all have houses by now. But this mess hasn’t been caused by a generation who just can’t stay away from fancy coffees. The under-30s are spending three times more of their income on housing than their grandparents, yet living in smaller, more overcrowded spaces. We are also only half as likely to own our own homes, and four times as likely to be renting privately, as compared to the baby boomer generation. And though the financial status and choices of millennials are well and truly up for discussion, what that’s doing to our sex lives is a truth it seems we’d all rather ignore.

For Miranda, 24, living in Wales with her mother and brother was detrimental to both her sex life and her mental health due to a toxic relationship with her mum. Moving away to university provided a space for her to explore her sexuality where she was able to meet other queer people, join wider discourse about gender and sexuality, and be introduced to academic queer theory. She isn’t out to her family: “When I lived at home I didn’t exactly hide my sexuality but it was definitely a sense of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the house. I never discussed my attraction or relationships with women and as far as my mum is concerned I’m heterosexual.”

Miranda’s recent move to Essex to start a new job has improved her mental health and general wellbeing, as now she is able to, in her words “date who I want and be who I want and eat what I want without my mum scrutinising me.”

The shame she felt around eating and sex held many parallels when living at home. “My mum was obsessed with my weight and would routinely starve me, to the extent that I had to buy and hide food for myself. Then one day she found

both my vibrator and a whole load of food packages under my bed, which looking back is actually very funny... Ironically now I’m eating much better simply because I don’t feel the anxiety about cooking and eating around my mum.”

The feeling of shame around masturbation is one shared by Maria, 22, from South East London.

“The number of times I’m coming close to orgasming through my vibrator and a family member just walks into my room without even knocking. I look forward to the days I have a free yard just to masturbate with no risk of interruption.”

Valentina, 22, shared my own issues with finding alibis. Her South American parents “don’t understand the concept of platonic sleepovers with friends,” so she struggles to find excuses for staying out late. For Samirah, 24, culture and religion also play a part in her newly restricted sex life. As the child of socially conservative Muslim parents, the platonic sleepover excuse doesn’t wash for her either. She’s found inventive ways around this problem, including “once pretending I couldn’t go on a day trip to the Safari Park with extended family because I ‘had to see a friend visiting from Scotland’. In reality, I wanted a free house to invite a (different) friend over for what turned out to be three minutes of sex, amid anxiously listening out for the sound of a key turning in the front door lock, and being found in bed with someone.”

After moving away from London for university at 18, Samirah had “the freedom of space and a wealth of time” at her disposal, in which to explore her sexuality and identity: “I became more confident, and I eventually claimed my identity as pansexual.” Since graduating two years ago and moving back to London, she has had comparatively few opportunities to date. “My parents heavily restrict my freedom to go out and

Words: Rianna Walcott Illustration: Ana Jarén

socialise. I can’t use my room as a private and personal space, let alone a sexy boudoir.”

Shane, 22, only felt able to come out as gay after leaving home, but even then he didn’t tell his parents. Moving home he felt as though he had reverted back to being closeted, and unconfident. He describes avoiding conversations about dating all together: “I’m not sure what I’m looking for in a relationship yet, so I’ve been keeping it short-term, mainly having hook-ups. So of course I can’t say anything to my parents – how do you explain that?”

He feels that it makes little economic sense to move out yet, but laments feeling “like a child again, living at home.” He too has been engaging in many ‘sleepovers’ at friends’ houses, and even some extortionate cross-town Ubers. “These £70 Ubers – no-one at work can really understand why I did that, because they don’t live at home. I can’t help but feel a little irresponsible about it, but then, how else am I supposed to get some?”

As a generation grappling for independence, it’s a struggle to relate this need for agency to our parents-slash-landlords. We are still expected to pull through and emulate the baby boomer model, with well-paid jobs, houses with white picket fences, and most importantly a stable partner to share those costs, but finding that partner is near-impossible without gaining the independence and personal space to date.

Instead, we are forced into an extended childhood by our economic uncertainty. For a generation that has been promised more sexual and social freedoms than our predecessors, it’s a struggle to reconcile with the reality of our living situations. Perhaps it isn’t the avocado toast keeping us off the housing ladder then, but rather the money spent on Ubers and hotel rooms while playing at being adults.

Some names have been changed

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Lifestyle

INTERSECTIONS

THE SKINNY

Solidarity Across the Sea

We speak to Irish and Northern Irish women living in Scotland about why the upcoming referendum is a Scottish issue as much as an Irish one [Content warning: abortion, miscarriage, sexual assault]

“I

can’t really pinpoint the moment when I became aware of the abortion laws in Ireland,” says Clíodhna, born in County Cavan, Ireland and now living in Glasgow. “I suppose it’s just a part of growing up. You hear about how some girl had to get the boat to England and you weren’t sure why, you just knew it was a shameful and secret thing to do […] it was when I was a little bit older that I realised that fear and shame shouldn’t have to be a fact of life or rite of passage growing up as a young woman in Ireland.”

Like Clíodhna, I can’t point to a particular moment when I realised just how restrictive Ireland and Northern Ireland’s abortion laws are.

On both sides of the border, abortion is a criminal offense, including circumstances of rape and incest. Only if a woman’s life is in direct danger is abortion permitted. However, what constitutes ‘direct danger’ is disputable. In the Republic, six doctors are required to assess if a woman’s life is ‘at risk enough’ to permit an abortion under the eighth amendment (the Irish law prohibiting abortion). Under any other circumstances procuring an abortion is a criminal offense. This means that if a woman is raped, she is forced to carry her rapist’s baby or if a pregnant woman’s baby dies in the womb, she is forced to give birth to the dead fetus.

After decades of fighting legislators, Irish pro-choice campaigners have finally attained a short-term goal: a referendum will be held on 25 May that could repeal the eighth amendment and make abortion legal for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It’s a historic, emotional, and long fought victory for Irish pro-choice campaigners, but it’s only a drop in the ocean. While the Republic has a chance to overhaul the country’s restrictive amendment, there’s no similar movement to decriminalise abortion in the north, despite Northern Ireland being part of the UK where, for the most part, abortion has been legal for 51 years. While reproductive rights are seen as an Irish issue, they are just as much a British issue; the UN ruled in February that because of Northern Ireland’s restrictive laws, the UK is currently violating human rights.

Lucy* grew up in Belfast and is from a conservative Protestant family who are firmly anti-abortion. “I think when I was teenager I would have said that I was pro-life and actually would have used that term until relatively recently,” she says. A pro-life stance is common in Northern Ireland, where the government and church rule hand-in-hand. It was when Lucy left Northern Ireland to go to university in England that her view changed. “As you do when you’re away from home for the first time, I questioned a lot of the stuff that I had just taken as received wisdom. I started thinking about pregnancy as a biological reality that happens in women’s bodies rather than a philosophical issue.”

Similarly for Ellen, who grew up in Cork – it was the material reality and consequences of abortion laws that made her firmly pro-choice.

“The big one for me, and I think for many people, was in 2012 when Savita Halappanavar died because of the eighth amendment.” Halappanavar died aged 31 from a miscarriage after being denied an abortion. Ellen continues: “I was around 18 then and I don’t think you could say I was pro-choice or pro-life at the time but I also wasn’t aware that the laws were that bad. Before I thought it was an issue of someone having an abortion or not, I didn’t think it would be a life or death situation.” Despite the eighth amendment

Interview: Katie Goh Illustration: Jacky Sheridan

acknowledging “the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother,” what “due regard” means is subjective. Surely Savita’s death, and the deaths, suffering and shaming of thousands of women negates “right of life to the mother”?

When I was growing up in Northern Ireland, like all teenagers riding out the turbulent years of puberty, my friends and I would talk about sex.

Gossip about who was doing what with whom would turn into serious and frightened ethical debates about what we would do if we found ourselves pregnant. Speaking to different Irish women, this seems to be a universal experience of growing up on the island. Cathy, from Cork and now living in Edinburgh, tells me that when she was growing up, “regardless if people had boyfriends or not, every girl’s biggest fear around that age is falling pregnant accidently. Would I go out of my way and spend a lot of money and experience a lot of misery travelling to the UK for an abortion or have the baby and have it completely alter my life?”

While not everyone in Scotland would describe themselves as pro-choice, abortion being a legal and safe healthcare procedure changes a country’s attitude. As Clíodhna says, “Abortion is still a stigmatised topic but I think living in Scotland has shown me that while people can have their own personal views, it doesn’t have to be such a divisive issue like it is in Ireland.”

If Brexit does end up being a hard border can Irish people still travel freely to the UK to get abortions?

Clíodhna is one of the founders of the Scottish Irish Abortion Rights Campaign (SIARC), a group of activists in Scotland who campaign for abortion rights. The group started as a way of showing solidarity for those in Ireland and to raise international awareness of the reproductive laws in Ireland. With the announcement of the referendum, the SIARC are focusing their attention on #HomeToVote. The campaign is to encourage as many eligible voters as possible to return to Ireland as there’s no postal vote – a point of frustration for Irish people abroad.

Ellen is one of the many who are saving to travel home to cast their vote. “So many people are struggling to get home to vote and that really brought out to me that it’s such a class issue,” she says. “If I was in this position at home now it would mean I wouldn’t be able to travel abroad for an abortion.”

Here in Scotland, we should be just as concerned about Irish and Northern Irish abortion laws. The Department of Health reports that on average 11 women travel to Britain every day to have an abortion – that’s more than 4,000 women a year. As well as supporting Irish and Northern Irish women who are fighting for reproductive rights, British feminists should be concerned about how their laws could potentially

affect those travelling for abortions. “If Brexit does end up being a hard border can Irish people still travel freely to the UK to get abortions?” asks Ellen. “No one’s discussing that and that’s what people abroad should be paying attention to.”

While the referendum is a once-in-a-generation chance for Ireland to put its trust in women to make their own choices about their bodies and futures, it’s also important to remember that no matter the outcome in May, there will still be no reproductive rights in the north of Ireland. There are many avenues through which British women

can show support: by donating to the Republic’s Together for Yes campaign and Northern Ireland’s Alliance for Choice campaigns, attending rallies and fundraisers, and asking our MPs what they’re doing to fight for women’s reproductive rights.

While British feminists stand in solidarity with the Irish and Northern Irish people fighting for bodily autonomy, they should be mindful not only of individual privileges, but also that mainland Britain has only seen 50 years of reproductive rights. If the last few years have proven anything, it’s the fragility of social progress. *Some names have been changed

May 2018

INTERSECTIONS

Lifestyle

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

Edinburgh’s Favourite Wagamama Dishes W

e all play favourites, whether it’s a particular pair of shoes that get more wear than most, or the one sibling who always gets the nice birthday presents. Things are no different in food, as Japanese-inspired noodle bar wagamama have revealed the four dishes that are the favourites of their Edinburgh diners across their three locations in the capital.

First on the list is a Japanese classic, chicken katsu curry. A staple of Japanese menus since being introduced to the country during the Meiji period in the 19th century, katsu is a thick, warming curry that’s both savoury and sweet. The vegetable-based sauce is paired with fresh chicken breaded in Japanese panko breadcrumbs for a hard-to-beat crunch, and a texture that

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matches perfectly with the smooth sauce and accompanying sticky rice.

If chicken katsu curry is a warming hug, wagamama’s chicken firecracker is more of a fierce sprint. It’s a drier curry than the katsu, built upon a fiery, spicy mixture of chicken and fresh vegetables – peppers, onions, mangetout and red chillies – that will wake up even the most jaded of tastebuds at the end of a long day.

Squeeze some fresh lime across the curry and steamed rice, and you’re onto a winner.

Next up is a classic noodle dish that brings together a whole host of flavours, textures and sensations together in one freshly-grilled collection. Yaki soba comes from the Japanese cooking style called teppanyaki, with dishes

cooked on a flat teppan grill; think less ‘one pot’ cooking, and more ‘one grill’. While it’s known as one of the more theatrical forms of Japanese cuisine, wagamama’s yaki soba keeps things simple and focuses on great ingredients and flavours. Soba noodles are cooked alongside egg, peppers, beansprouts and white and spring onions, alongside chicken or prawn. As it’s leaving the kitchen, the whole dish is garnished with crispy fried shallots, tart pickled ginger and refreshing sesame seeds, making for a dish that has something for everyone (even if you won’t want to share it).

And of course, a favourite meal is nothing without that one side dish that goes well with everything. Clearly, Edinburgh diners have a soft spot for wagamama’s chilli squid, crispy fried pieces dusted in shichimi spice mix. A longstanding favourite of Japanese chefs and home cooks alike, shichimi brings together sesame, ginger, chilli pepper, orange peel, seaweed and Japanese sansho pepper in one easy-to-sprinkle bundle. No wonder it’s so popular.

This spring you may find yourself with a new favourite to add to those four, as wagamama are set to launch a brand-new menu full of exciting and intriguing new dishes this May. One dish in particular to watch out for is the Vegatsu – a vegan version of wagamama’s signature chicken katsu curry that has, up until now, only been available at their experimental ‘noodle lab’ test kitchen in London. The chicken is replaced with panko-breaded seitan – a remarkably convincing meat alternative made with wheat flour – in the new vegan dish, with the classic katsu sauce and sticky rice remaining in place. Well, it’s alright to play favourites, but you should always leave room for new ones to join your list... wagamama launch their new menu at restaurants across the UK on 9 May wagamama.com

THE SKINNY

Masters of the Craft Ahead of Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival, we catch up with three of this year’s featured breweries to talk stylistic choices, collaboration, and the great ideas you get while walking your dog...

Words: Peter Simpson Illustration: Giulio Castagnaro

O

ur collective march towards Peak Festival has been an interesting one, but some of the fests it has thrown up along the way have been welcome additions to our food and drink plans.

One such event is the Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival, a weekend celebrating the best in… well, clue’s in the title really. Still, the festival’s focus on music (Mogwai and Metronomy are among those DJing), some top-notch timing (Hidden Door festival kicks off round the corner on the same weekend) and a pleasingly upfront approach with little faffing around with tokens made it a hit last year.

This year’s festival features some very special projects, not least a limited edition kettle sour beer brewed by a team of 24 female brewers, brewery staff and students from Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University. The project was headed up by Jenn Merrick, formerly of Skinny faves Beavertown Brewery and currently in the process of putting together the new Earth Station community brewery in London’s Royal Docks.

Talking us through the spark behind the idea over email, Merrick describes the kettle sour as “technical enough to be interesting,” using the brew as a chance to offer a learning opportunity to brewers from across the UK scene. “The group consists of every woman working in or studying beer production that we could rustle up on the day,” says Merrick. “Students from Heriot-Watt, brewers, packaging, cellar and staff from loads of UK breweries.”

And what was it like wrangling such a big team? “Really exciting! We had people trying out all the botanics in different combinations, designing the beer’s flavour profile as well as helping out with the wort production, digging out the mash etc. There wasn’t any shortage of spare hands!” The end result is described as a “sherbetty, aromatic, crisp and refreshing” drink, and it’ll be on the bar at ECBF as well as its sister festivals in Bristol and London later in the summer.

Speaking of big teams, Belfast’s Boundary packs the might of 1000 members of what is the city’s first cooperative, member-owned brewery, with an as-yet-undecided range of beers from the brewery lined up for Edinburgh. The coop was a big idea that came to co-founder Matthew Dick as all the best ones do; while he was out with his pooch. “I had just moved home from the States,” Dick tells us. “I was out walking my dog, and time stood still.

“Everything about Boundary came to me at once; the style of beers, package formats, tone of voice online, branding etc. We hope that our beer stands up with the best in the world. Many folks have never had the chance to try an exciting and well executed beer from Northern Ireland. Never mind one that is run and owned by its members!”

Even if they haven’t cast eyes on much great beer from across the Irish Sea, we’d guess most ECBF attendees will be familiar with at least one brewery from the opposite direction. Mikkeller from Copenhagen have become ubiquitous in craft circles, and they’re pitching up at this year’s festival with a host of beers to try out.

As Mikkeller’s Pernille Pang tells us, that ubiquity is largely by design: “We’ve always had a very international outlook, but still have a certain Danish or Nordic approach, a sense of quality and aesthetics that does not exist everywhere.

Mikkeller is foremost about beer, but we also do a tonne of other stuff, that sets us apart from most other breweries.

“We have a running club (Mikkeller Running Club) with 200 chapters around the world, we run restaurants and bars, make chocolate and are in

May 2018

the process of designing our own running clothes brand.” Mikkeller are also partially responsible for the HAVEN festival in Copenhagen along with Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, in a further evolution of a craft beer scene that seems to just keep expanding.

For Dick, the current beer scene is an exciting one: “There’s a good balance right now of amazing breweries producing amazing beers while also leaving some space in the market for new bozos like us to have a crack too.” Asked to name the one thing he would change given the chance, Dick points out Northern Irish licensing laws that make events like beer festivals – and the crowds they can inculcate into the world of good beer – key for breweries in Boundary’s position: “[Northern Ireland] is the most tied market in Europe, we can’t sell directly to the public, and there’s a limit on the number of alcohol licenses in the country, making it impossible for us to buy one even if we could afford it.”

Beers from these three and dozens of other breweries will all be available at this year’s ECBF, but as anyone who’s ever delved into the depths of a bottle list will tell you, craft beer can be a powerful proposition. How do we make the most of our time bulling around the proverbial china shop? “Don’t go to extremes and make sure you share and debate with your friends,” Pang tells us. “Some of the more complex beers take time to really love, but then you really fall in love.”

That, right there, is the kind of festival spirit we can get behind.

Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival, 25-27 May, tickets from £35 edinburghcraftbeerfestival.co.uk

Food News May's food round-up stars returning beer festivals, eco-friendly coffee parties and street food everywhere

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busy May kicks off at the Food and Flea in Edinburgh, with the Scottish leg of the British Street Food Awards. Among the confirmed food trucks to battle it out are Spanish tapas-slingers Moskito, the New Orleansinspired grub of Fatboys, The Peruvian (go on, guess what their angle is), and last year’s winners The Buffalo Truck. 4-6 May, various times, Sibbald Walk.

Also in Edinburgh, Stewart Brewing’s Mayfest party returns to their headquarters just outside the capital. Expect a boatload of one-offs and collab beers, with Stewart promising everything from a smoked lager (interesting) to a Raspberry & Chilli IPA (interesting, but in a different way). 11 May, 6-10pm; 12 May, 12-8pm, 26A Dryden Rd, Loanhead, tickets £16, stewartbrewing.co.uk May also marks the return of Glasgow Coffee Festival to the Briggait for a weekend of highly-caffeinated hijinks. 40 exhibitors from across the coffee scene, a pleasingly hard line on the environment (there’ll be no disposable cups at all this year, score!), and a mix of art, film,

FOOD AND DRINK

coffee competitions and general java-based chit-chat. 19 & 20 May, 10am-6pm, 141 Bridgegate, tickets from £14.50, glasgowcoffeefestival.com Meanwhile across town, The Scottish Street Food Festival pitches up at the Riverside Museum for a weekend packed to the gills with loads of our favourite food trucks and vendors.

This one will be ideal for those of you who keep missing the best street grub, as it seems like anyone who’s anyone in the Scottish scene will be here. 18-20 May, various times, 100 Pointhouse Pl, tickets from £5, facebook.com/ scottishstreetfoodfestival Finally, there’s the return of Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival. The weekend-long celebration of the best beer from across the UK and beyond features dozens of breweries, DJ sets from Mogwai and Metronomy bassist Olugbenga, and a format that encourages you to float around trying out different beers rather than resolutely sticking to one favourite. 25-27 May, various times, 4 Anderson Pl, tickets from £35, edinburghcraftbeerfestival.co.uk theskinny.co.uk/food

Lifestyle

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THE SKINNY

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Death and Shagging T

think it’s important that folk know that albums have a bigger function beyond just being some songs. The songs are on one record together for a reason, they all came from the same place and have the same characters in them.”

The story begins in Blackpool – a place close to Moffat’s heart through childhood visits and now through taking his own son there for holidays. It’s where the record’s main protagonists fall in love in the opening track Cockcrow, acting as an ideal backdrop for the unfolding story and surprising themes. “I don’t want to talk Blackpool down but obviously Blackpool is not the most glamorous place in the world,” Moffat suggests. “But also it’s a place where people go to have fun. I’ve had a fucking brilliant time there.

It’s a good metaphor because it’s got this really glamorous fun side ostensibly but the other side of that, the darkness, isn’t far away, it’s not hard to find.” Hubby adds, “It’s the seaside equivalent of being a man in your mid-40s from Scotland, basically. You can have some fun but ultimately it’s going to hurt you.”

Both have fond associations with Blackpool, with Hubby recalling that potentially his first ever gig was there – Little and Large with Chas and Dave. Moffat chats about repeated trips, his love of Carry On culture and a series of old photos in his mother’s possession: “One time my dad was in Blackpool and he went in to buy me a t-shirt and there’s a picture of me. I’m wearing a kilt and this yellow Bionic Woman T-shirt because I loved The Bionic Woman when I was wee. He got my name printed on the top of it but he was pished and my name was spelt wrong. It said Adian.” Hubby erupts in laughter.

“They used to do this thing in Blackpool too, I’d get my picture taken with a fake pint,” Moffat adds. “Every year I used to go with my grandparents and there was a wee bar [The Golden Mile] and you’d get this pint with fake foam at the top, or sometimes I’d get a wee straw hat and they’d take your picture. It’s fucking bizarre but it used to be a thing, you’d take the weans to get their picture having a pint. The old days eh. The strange customs of seaside towns in the 70s!”

Most wouldn’t have predicted that Moffat would pen a record around one of society’s last

Photo courtesy of Aidan Moffat

he pairing of flamenco-tinged, twisted troubadour RM Hubbert and sharp-tongued bard Aidan Moffat was always going to work, if their 2012 collaborative track Car Song was any indicator, but it’s hard to comprehend just how well it has on their first full record together for Rock Action, Here Lies the Body.

With Hubbert’s incredible ability to evoke emotion through guitar plucks and strums, and Moffat’s unmatched storytelling and unmistakable delivery, something truly wonderful unfolds on the pair’s debut LP. The vocal coupling of ascending star Siobhan Wilson, some unexpected sonic design and thoughtful, intelligent production reveal an album that is mesmerising, traversing taboo tales of love, sorrow and regret.

We’re in the bar made famous by the Begbie glass-throwing scene in Trainspotting, only in its newest incarnation there are no noticeable jakeys or junkies; the clientele are more concerned with craft beers than brawls. Some slightly dodgy taxidermy casts a beady eye over the now upmarket eatery as blackened beasts are birling on a rotisserie.

Despite perceptions that Hubbert (playfully referred to by most as Hubby) and Moffat are musical miserablists, the two are a joy to be around. In song they can hit right in the heart and straight to the guts, but today’s pain comes solely from plentiful bouts of belly laughter.

“I would basically send off ten songs about death, and then they would come back about shagging,” Hubby jokes. “The whole theme of the album – death and shagging,” roars Moffat. Hubby adds: “While the words are doing their thing, the music underneath is going ‘You know you’re going to die, don’t you? Enjoy it now.’”

Unsurprisingly, Moffat’s lyrics excel at uncovering the beautiful and ugly parts of life, unpicking and examining desire and the dark corners of the human psyche with an honesty and ease like few other artists. The album’s narratives are thick with the booze-soaked thrill of lost, lusty weekends as well as grim, gnawing parts of life that aren’t often exposed.

Moffat’s not afraid to call it a concept album.

“People died in the punk wars for that fucking shit to be ended!” he laughs. “But these days I

May 2018

Interview: Susan Le May

Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert

taboos, maternal abandonment, with several stories told from the female’s viewpoint. But neither feels the right to call themselves a feminist, having never personally experienced that flavour of discrimination, with Moffat reasoning that “men that do are creepy. It’s not right.

Imagine if your girlfriend came back from work and she’s like ‘I’m going out with my mate tonight – David.’ That’s fine, aye. And then she followed it with ‘He’s a feminist,’ you’d be like ‘Wait the fuck…

He’s trying to get in to your pants, hen.’”

“Dear God,” Hubby exhales.

The idea emerged after Moffat read an article in a magazine about a woman whose mother had left the family and how that’s still a rare occurrence. “It just got me thinking about that and the other perspective, the idea that men are pre-programmed to roam, which is fucking nonsense, there’s no real scientific or evolutionary evidence for this. So I just wanted to explore that and see where we’d get to and also, I’m just a bit sick of singing about myself all the time,” he laughs.

“It’s about time I tried to write about somebody else’s perspective, but I had to do it in a way that didn’t seem presumptuous or something. It’s still a bit detached. And that’s where Siobhan came in as well. I realised at that point that I had to get a woman to sing some of this and have her be a part of it too.” “Having a different voice on the album was something that was appealing to me as well,” Hubby adds. “Just having an album that isn’t about me and my shite.

I like just being a musician sometimes.”

Both are gushing about Siobhan Wilson’s involvement and talent, with Moffat describing her as the “perfect contrast to my rumble.” As well as the inclusion of strings, piano and a female voice for one of the main characters, the record is littered with unexpected sounds and styles, from samba beats to country-tinged strums; rare, ancient field recordings of griefwails, arcade bleeps and sinister fairytales centred around the mating rituals of wolves.

They’re pleased with how relaxed and easy the process of doing the record was, fuelled largely by the trust they held in each other and the others involved in the album’s creation. From Rock Action’s trust in the pair, to Tony Doogan’s expert production skills, Moffat suggests it’s he and Hubby’s decades of experience that’s serving

them so well these days. “We decided to do it when we were having a laugh and it just kind of carried on,” Hubby adds. “Certainly with all my other work and I’m sure with Aidan’s as well, we have a laugh when we’re making that music. You can hit people much harder with the sad stuff if you’re making them laugh immediately before, it’s like dropping them off a cliff. Oh, you’re laughing – my mother’s dead.”

“ I would basically send off ten songs about death, and then they would come back about shagging” RM Hubbert

The seeds for the album were sown as they travelled to perform at Lau’s Lau-Land festival in Gateshead. “We ended up staying up all night fucking drinking and then decided to take the scenic route home for some reason and got totally lost on the east coast,” Hubby says. “I was having such a great time being half-cut in the car, let’s make this day last as long as we can!” giggles Moffat.

“I imagine it was more fun for you not having to drive,” Hubby chuckles as Moffat concedes.

“We stopped in Berwick didn’t we, did we not have a wee stop there?” he queries before Hubby’s reply. “I was determined to find a Gregg’s somewhere.” Moffat roars with laughter before adding: “Did I not get some second hand books as well? We had a nice wee day of it, it was lovely.”

“It actually was very nice, yeah,” admits Hubby. “I had a steak bake, you had some literature. That sums up the album quite well.”

Here Lies the Body is released on 11 May via Rock Action Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert play Saint Luke’s, Glasgow, 17 May hereliesthebody.com

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Photo: LUCUS J Photography

We talk to Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert about childhood holidays to Blackpool, feminism and road trips ahead of their debut album together, Here Lies the Body

Homecoming We speak to Admiral Fallow’s Louis Abbott about new collaborative project Distant Voices which looks at creativity in music to help overcome issues that surround the criminal justice system in Scotland

society because of criminal behavior have to make an incredibly difficult transition at the end of their punishment. Whatever your views on crime and punishment, it serves no-one if people can’t come back and positively contribute to society after their time has been served.” With this in mind, he began to use music as a means of connection. What initially began as simply writing songs with those who had committed crimes evolved into ‘Vox Sessions’: three-day songwriting workshops involving musicians, prisoners, prison officers and other connected people. Abbott believes that these sessions help to build “a wee creative community, and we all come to find more similarities than differences between us.”

Over the course of almost two years, the Vox Sessions have yielded over 300 songs, so whittling it down to only ten for this first record was no easy task. “The [chosen] songs themselves feel almost like ten singles as opposed to a ‘various artists’ compilation; each one has its own personality and story from original demo through to finished track,” Abbott tells us. “But

Distant Voices

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Review

Photo: Iona Spence

Adam Stafford

Anna Burch

Anna Burch @ The Hug & Pint, Glasgow, 8 May Anna Burch’s debut album Quit the Curse was released at the start of February and it’s very lovely and very good indeed; full of bright and breezy choruses and Burch’s powerful yet soft vocal, this gig is an absolute no-brainer for us. And if this is your bag, then you might want to check out Nap Eyes two days later (10 May), also at The Hug & Pint, with support from the phenomenally talented Haley Heynderickx whose I Need to Start a Garden album is simply magical.

Photo: Elene Usdin

Do Not Miss Adam Stafford @ Summerhall, Edinburgh, 3 May The inimitable Adam Stafford’s latest album Fire Behind the Curtain, as you’ll see from our glowing review overleaf, is our sublime album of the month, and it’s out on 4 May via Edinburgh label Song, by Toad. To celebrate its release, Staffy’s got a couple of shows on this week including this one tonight at Edinburgh’s Summerhall, and Glasgow’s Hug & Pint on 4 May. You can also catch him in all his looping wonder at The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen on 12 May.

having to be spread across prison visits, or finding times/recording sessions to suit all parties; Abbott remembers having to be “in HMP Shotts a few days after Christmas to record a guitar part for one of the songs.” And aside from the musicians involved, he also gives a special shout out to Jamie Savage who engineered and mixed the record as he understood how “every intricate part had its own space to fill,” something which hints at the very nature of collaboration and helps to explain how the album retains a sense of cohesion.

Apart from the literal changes that can occur during incarceration (spatial, physical), there are also the emotional and perceptual differences that come after a period of time in prison. The stigma that follows a criminal conviction, difficulties in finding employment or reconnecting with friends and family can all take its toll on a former prisoner. A successful return to society is not wholly reliant on just the individual (though they, of course, must make the biggest changes), but also on society as a whole to try and aid the reintegration process through empathy and open-mindedness, something that this record manages to channel into fantastic music.

But before change, there must be awareness; “A huge part of the reason Vox Liminis (and the Distant Voices project) exists is the hope that the work we create gets people talking about what justice looks like in Scotland in 2018.”

Abbott goes on: “It’s not an issue I had wrestled with much before working with Vox but doing so has opened my eyes to the challenges people face upon their return to the rest of society following a sentence. Starting to understand some of these complexities has focused my views on how hard it can be for a lot of the people involved – for those making the journey home, and for those who support them to do so. As the producer of the album, I really hope listeners can find the commonality and beauty within each song and simply appreciate them for what they are.”

there’s certainly a commonality which binds them together.” Adding to this, Alison Urie (Director of Vox Liminis) states that the idea of “coming home” was frequently explored in the sessions, something that provides a common point of reference throughout the album.

As well as Abbott and Admiral Fallow, the Distant Voices project also features contributions from Emma Pollock, Kris Drever, C Duncan, BDY_PRTS, Fiskur, Rachel Sermanni, Donna Maciocia and Pronto Mama. The subject matter is as diverse as all of the personalities involved, with topics ranging from learning an instrument for the first time (Frank’s Song), coping with death (Dining Room Hospital) and lovers navigating stormy weather (Weather You) all being covered. But through it all common threads emerged, particularly the notion of finding your way back home, an experience that many of the co-writers involved had forced upon them due to their criminal behaviour.

Unsurprisingly, the project was logistically challenging, with writing sessions sometimes

Photo: Sandy Butler

ed by Admiral Fallow’s Louis Abbott, Not Known at this Address is a wide-ranging collaborative album that aims to shed light on a frequently misrepresented and forgotten area of society: the criminal justice system. It’s the first release from the Distance Voices collective, created by working with those who have firsthand experience of the system, including former and current prisoners, prison guards and other staff. The collaboration between professionals, first-time songwriters and everyone in between has been able to bring a sense of individuality and nuance to a group that is usually dismissed in plainly black and white terms. The project is being released on 25 May by Vox Liminis, a Glasgow-based arts organisation that uses a variety of media to help people understand, work through and overcome issues that surround the criminal justice system in Scotland.

The project began as a means to engender a sense of community amongst those who might not feel that they have very much in common.

Abbott explains: “Those who are excluded from

The Spook School @ Summerhall, Edinburgh, 10 May The last time we saw The Spook School was at their Glasgow launch show for latest album Could it be Different? at Stereo; it was a night of fucking great indie pop tunes paired with lots and lots and LOTS of silly chat about Linda McCartney’s vegetarian sausages. The whole night culminated in the Spookies covering, quite unexpectedly, Robbie Williams’ Angels with the lyrics changed to ‘I’m loving Linda instead.’

Veggie sausage chat aside, we had a bloody lovely time and reckon this will likely be just as much fun. Maybe even more. Sausages.

Music

HollieSchool Cook The Spook

Not Known at this Address is released on 25 May via Vox Liminis The album launch will take place at Saint Luke’s, Glasgow, 25 May with an additional performance at Hidden Door Festival, Leith Theatre, Edinburgh, 29 May voxliminis.co.uk

The Big Moon

Photo: Sarah Donley

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Interview: Lewis Wade

Museum of the Moon @ Mackintosh Church, Queen’s Cross, Glasgow, 11 May-24 Jun To coincide with Luke Jerram’s touring art installation Museum of the Moon, which will feature at Glasgow’s Mackintosh Queen’s Cross Church from 11 May-24 Jun, Synergy Concerts have compiled a wide-ranging programme of Events Under the Moon. During the residency, The Vaselines, The Pastels, Blanck Mass and Rival Consoles are all set to play, with a number of lunar-themed shows too including Mr Boom, The Big Moon and Start to End performing Air’s Moon Safari in full as well as four nights of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Good work chaps and chapesses.

THE SKINNY

Stranger Things We speak to Modern Studies’ Emily Scott and Rob St. John about their latest album, Welcome Strangers

Interview: Harry Harris

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helps ground the record is the way Scott and St. John’s voices blend together. They work in tandem, St. John’s bassy, Lancashire accent perfectly in line with Scott’s more sonorous inflections. Almost always they sing the same melody, an octave apart, allowing the other backing singers to augment and adorn as and when. “There’s a real joy in the way we both phrase in very different ways,” St. John says, and he’s right – as with everything else on the record, the quality comes from things that perhaps shouldn’t make sense, making sense.

Modern Studies

beginning with a tape loop of Scott’s voice, a stuttering and strange rhythmic tone which quickly descends into a funky, almost psychedelic groove. “I used a sample of Emily’s voice she sent to me, dubbed it up on various loops, and disintegrated it over time in various ways. And then that kind of falling apart of the material tape gives it its rhythmic character,” St. John explains.

“It’s really interesting, for me at least, to do it in this more tactile way. It’s doing it in this subtle way where it sits and doesn’t say ‘this is something to be appreciated as a piece of art.’ It’s something to be appreciated as a pop song. It’s just got all these weirdy things going on.”

That Welcome Strangers has more of these “weirdy things” going on than the band’s previous work is partly down to funding. The band scored some Creative Scotland funding which enabled the four-piece to enlist backing singers, string players, trombones, free-form saxophone, extra guitars and ample rehearsal time. In total, the whole album took almost exactly a year to make

Photo: Greig Jackson

t’s often overlooked, but arguably the greatest innovation technology has brought to music is the ability for bands to exist without the need to even be in the same city, piling into a shared rehearsal room every week to work on songs. In the case of Modern Studies – whose members live in Glasgow, Perthshire and Lancashire – their geography is arguably one of the things that allows them to flourish. Songs are passed back and forth between each other, growing up and out with each members’ contribution and interpretation.

“We’re playing to our strengths really,” says singer and songwriter Emily Scott, one of the band’s Glasgow contingency, “everybody’s got a real expertise in some area or other, and it’s about letting that person get on with that side of it.” The trust that exists within the band that allows them to work like this comes from having worked with each other for a long time in various other musical guises before Modern Studies ever came about. Scott and Rob St. John – the group’s other main vocalist, as well as provider of guitars, synths, tape loops, and other sonic experimentations – used to play on each other’s solo projects in Edinburgh a decade or so ago. Bassist, cellist, pianist and producer Pete Harvey was also involved around that time, with drummer Joe Smillie coming into the fold more recently.

“Everyone has these really disparate influences and they develop quite easily and naturally,” Scott says; St. John adds: “There’s always a hook, or a riff, or a melody in the middle of all this. There’s always a pop song.”

‘Pop’ might not be the first word that comes to mind upon hearing Modern Studies’ music – songs shift time signature and build up in layers of sound, incorporating beautiful gilded string sections, generally just moving in ways that you wouldn’t expect – but St. John’s description of it does hold water. There’s nothing arch or inaccessible about Modern Studies’ new record Welcome Strangers, and when songs do take unexpected turns they always end up in beautiful places. Every experiment the band undertake is all in service of making the song work, and coming from a musical place. “We just use what’s to hand,” St. John says. “We’re not like analogue fetishists or digital futurists in any way, it’s more about choosing the tools that’ll do the job.”

The track Mud and Flame is a good example,

– 364 days between laying down the first demos to sending off the final masters. “It would have been a four-piece record without the funding,” Scott says, but it’s a testament to the band’s musicality and fluidity that you feel as if this record, as a four-piece, would still be just as interesting and exciting.

“We’ve been playing them live as a fourpiece,” St. John says, “they take on a new life again, and doubtless they’ll take on a new life in the future depending on who we play them with [and] where we play them. There’s a pull and push in these songs in being able to play them as a four-piece, playing quite loud, and there’s times you can play much more grand places, more with a lot of texture and nuance and space, so they’re always pulling and pushing depending on the players and spaces we’re playing in.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the record sounds like it’s being influenced from a lot of different places, from pastoral folk to expansive, trippy, krautrock-esque soundscapes. One constant that

“ We’re not like analogue fetishists or digital futurists in any way, it’s more about choosing the tools that’ll do the job” Rob St. John

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers once described managing a football team as “like trying to build an aircraft while it is flying.” It feels like Modern Studies have a similar approach to making music, putting things together, learning as they go, changing and adapting at will, all with the one shared focus of keeping this thing in the air. New records are already on the horizon, as well as the possibility of other musical projects and directions. “We’re up for whatever people throw at us,” Scott says, and you feel like, at this stage, that could be just about anything.

Whatever it does happen to be, they’ll make it work, and they’ll keep the plane flying.

Welcome Strangers is released on 18 May via Fire Records Modern Studies play The Happiness Hotel, Edinburgh, 25 May; The Glad Cafe, Glasgow, 31 May; Mackintosh Church, Queen’s Cross, Glasgow, 1 Jun; Rip it Up @ Summerhall, Edinburgh, 23 Jun

May 2018

Savage Mansion

Nilüfer Yanya @Broadcast, Glasgow, 23 May With only a couple of EPs under her belt, the immensely talented West London singer-songwriter Nilüfer Yanya is finally garnering the attention she deserves. Following her inclusion as one of the 16 artists longlisted in the BBC’s Sound of 2018 she’s just released her third EP, Do You Like Pain? and has a busy summer ahead including appearances at Chicago’s Pitchfork Festival.

Catch her unique R’n’B and soul-infused indie tonight in the basement surrounds of Broadcast.

Larvely.

Music

Photo: Molly Daniel

Nilüfer Yanya

Makeness @ Hidden Door Festival, Leith Theatre, Edinburgh, 31 May Tonight is The Skinny’s takeover of Hidden Door Festival at Leith Theatre, where following on from a screening of 1920s German silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari – which will be treated to a live soundtrack from The Reverse Engineer, Midi Paul, Matthew Collings, WOLF, Heir of the Cursed and HQFU – there will be a headline set complete with visuals from Kyle Molleson, aka Makeness. His debut album Loud Patterns, released at the start of April, is an exquisite record of electronica and we can’t wait to hear it live!

Makeness

Review

Photo: Dexter Lander

ST.MARTiiNS @ Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 18 May As ST.MARTiiNS, Dundee-based Katie Lynch and Mark Johnston craft unique soundscapes combining elements of jazz, lo-fi, electronica and pop, with Lynch’s vocals taking everything to the next level. We’re so impressed with the duo that we’ve booked them to play our stage at Kelburn Garden Party on 30 June; with tunes this summer-ready, you’d do right by ditching the Meadows tonight* for a ray of musical sunshine instead. (*We wrote this on 25 April, so apologies if we’ve jinxed the weather... our bad.)

Savage Mansion Southside All-Dayer @ The Glad Cafe, Glasgow, 19 May Glasgow purveyors of bright and sunny slacker pop, Savage Mansion are putting on an all-dayer at The Glad Cafe today and you’re invited. Yes, you! As well as the Mansion themselves, you can also catch sets from several other very lovely, fun and most importantly, really fucking good bands: Spinning Coin, Happy Spendy and Martha Ffion are all on the bill, as well as D T H P D L who, like ST.MARTiiNS, are also set to play our stage at Kelburn Garden Party this year.

Photo: Ian Schofield

ST.MARTiiNS

Photo: Caitlin Miller

modernstudiestheband.com

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Album of the Month Adam Stafford

Fire Behind the Curtain [Song, by Toad, 4 May]

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dam Stafford has long produced engaging and interesting music of the highest calibre.

From remarkable solo shows where he would build up tender vocal loops into maniacal danceathons while cutting shapes in a shirt and tie like Ian Curtis at an office party, to his effortless ability to create brilliant, affecting guitar pop – and all sorts of weirdness and wonder in between.

But Fire Behind the Curtain is a work of monumental brilliance. Written over the course of an eight-year period darkened by Stafford’s personal struggles with anxiety and depression, this double-length LP eschews more conventional lyrical expression for a rich and utterly haunting body of work that is mostly instrumental – save for a few spoken words and choral howls.

There are familiar elements at play here to anyone already clued up, such as his aforementioned and extraordinary use of looping, patterns and repetition to weave disparate components into beautifully layered, synergetic symphonies.

There is, of course, his unique turn of phrase and gallows humour (Museum of Grinding Dicks is surely contender for best song title of 2018). Yet

Tracyanne & Danny Tracyanne & Danny [Merge, 25 May]

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A mixture of creative ambition and personal tragedy inspired this new collaborative effort from Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell and Danny Coughlan, best known as the mastermind behind the Bristol singer-songwriter effort Crybaby.

The songs that comprise Tracyanne & Danny were already in the process of being pieced together when, in October of 2015, Camera Obscura keyboardist Carey Lander lost her battle with cancer. The band has been parked ever since, but after a period of uncertainty, a still-tentative Campbell chose to at least follow through on her commitments to Coughlan. The result is a sparkling pop effort, with Campbell bringing copious quantities of the old Obscura glitz to the likes of the swooningly romantic It Can’t Be Love Unless It Hurts, the jazzy Home & Dry and, most poignantly, to the undiluted Americana of Alabama, a direct tribute to Lander.

Not to be underestimated though is Coughlan’s contribution. Jacqueline is a sumptuously realised exercise in balladry, while Cellophane Girl is one of the few moments on the record that we get the sort of shackles-off duet that the title suggests. The future of Camera Obscura remains uncertain, so we should take whatever creative outlet we can get from Campbell. On this basis, and despite terrible heartache, her talent remains undimmed.

[Joe Goggins] Listen to: Alabama, It Can’t Be Love Unless It Hurts, Cellophane Girl

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Review

rrrrr Brilliant rrrrr Life-changing

this album sees Stafford go full composer, taking us on a musical journey of cinematic proportions.

Opener An Abacus to Calculate Infinity with its shimmering, musical ripples slowly turning in smooth waves, and The Witch Hunt with its almost tribal crescendo, are but two examples of a collection which instantly and constantly inspires a sense of drama and colour that practically begs to be set to imagery. Maybe that isn’t much of a surprise given his background in film/scoring.

Chiming guitars, birdlike whistles, rousing choirs, indefinable vocal textures, plaintive piano and more are all used by Stafford to thrilling effect and tied together with truly breathtaking string arrangements from Pete Harvey (Modern Studies). The result is an album of intelligence and beauty, depth and darkness, and ultimately, catharsis. Take the time to absorb it and it will linger in your bones. [Ryan Drever] Listen to: An Abacus to Calculate Infinity, The Witch Hunt, Penshaw Monument

Adam Stafford

Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert

Jon Hopkins

Singularity [Domino, 4 May]

Here Lies the Body [Rock Action, 11 May]

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It’s a wonder it’s taken six years since 2012’s Car Song for RM Hubbert and Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat to work together again. As Cockcrow opens their debut collaborative LP Here Lies the Body (a dual nod to permeating themes of sex and death), Hubbert’s familiar percussive guitar style effortlessly underpins Moffat’s equally recognisable drawl. But from the moment the sweetness of Siobhan Wilson’s vocals begin to dissolve into the mixture, it’s clear we’re entering entirely new territory.

As we continue through the course of the album’s journey, sax, synths, 808 beats and sweeping strings weave in and out of Hubbert’s beguiling arrangements to create unpredictable textures and soundtracks to the ever-turning pages of Moffat’s stories – inspired by an article about the taboo of women abandoning their families.

At times, his own surprisingly melodic vocals meld together with Wilson’s perfectly to create swooning back-ups to some of his finest – and funniest – lines yet (‘She’s a bombshell in leggings / A Goddess in jeggings / But she’s best when they’re on the floor’) as he guides us through subjects as diverse yet bizarrely interconnected as the multiverse, campfires, hen parties and fortune telling. The wit and wisdom of Moffat is about as sharp as ever here and ‘Hubby’ is clearly at the top of his game. [Ryan Drever] Listen to: Cockcrow, Mz. Locum, Zoltar Speaks

There’s rarely time these days to sit down and really listen to an album beginning to end, but that’s what Jon Hopkins wants you to do with Singularity. If you can afford the just-over-anhour-long runtime, then you’ll get so much more out of this record than you thought possible.

While finding emotion in lyricless music can be tough, Singularity is bursting at the seams with it; the ten-and-a-half-minute-long Everything Connected, which Hopkins tweeted was the “energetic peak” of the record is just one example. Wubbing basslines and otherworldly

Solareye

All These People Are Me [A Modern Way, 4 May]

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Most likely, you know Dave ‘Solareye’ Hook from Stanley Odd, whose three full-length records and various other releases have seen them recognised as something of a national treasure.

However, the band have been relatively quiet since 2014 while Solareye has been working on his debut solo full length album All These People Are Me, even though he’s been performing and releasing under his solo moniker since 2004.

Unlike his usual full band backing with Stanley Odd, here we hear Hook’s rhymes and insights to the simple backing of Harvey Kartel’s samples

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synths soar so high your chest feels tight, and when it breaks to let in the light of Feel First Life, it’s a massive relief and release; with its overwhelming sense of calm, it’s like being pushed over an emotional cliff. It’s the ambient high of the record, combining considered piano with celestial choral to breathtaking effect.

As on Immunity before it, Jon Hopkins plays with light and dark, but with Singularity it feels like he’s levelled up the melding of two worlds: ambient and techno. Hopkins’ signature deep tissue massage bass is stitched together throughout, with unreal moments of musical beauty for a simply stunning album of emotional highs and lows. [Tallah Brash] Listen to: Emerald Rush, Everything Connected, Feel First Life (the whole thing if you can)

and beats, doing a sterling job filling in for what is normally five musicians.

By Hook’s own admission, this album took two-and-a-half years to complete with “many peaks and troughs along the way” but it’s clearly a labour of love, with a great deal of passion and vision from the veteran MC, shown on singles Mr. Margins and Didnae Get Repetitive. It’s a tough job being heralded as the key influencer of an entire sub-genre (Scottish rap) – something Hook takes a few jabs at on late-in-the-day vent Hatekeeperz – but for the most part, Solareye explores his identity and sense of self both as an artist and a human with a wonderful sense of confidence and allure. [Adam Turner-Heffer] Listen to: Mr. Margins, Didnae Get Repetitive, Hatekeeperz

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Photo: David P Scott

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Love Is Dead [Virgin Records, 25 May]

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Now they’ve made it to New York, CHVRCHES are aiming for the big time. Teaming up with Grammywinning pop producer Greg Kurstin, CHVRCHES’ third LP Love Is Dead shows the Glasgow indie electro three-piece super-sizing their synth-pop, adding a surprising aggression to boot.

From the neon blue cross through a black heart on the album art and lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry singing of writing names along bathroom walls on colourful opener Graffiti, it’s clear that Love Is Dead is aiming to grow CHVRCHES’ audience.

But if you think that means they're dumbing down, you’re dead wrong. Inspired by working with an external producer for the first time, Love Is Dead shows CHVRCHES attaining a greater urgency and darkness in tracks such as the dramatic, M83-esque Deliverance and My Enemy,

Modern Studies

Welcome Strangers [Fire Records, 18 May]

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Ambition is a hard thing to quantify in music, but Welcome Strangers feels like Modern Studies at their most ambitious. The geographically disparate quartet – based in Glasgow, Perthshire and

Beach House

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7 [Bella Union, 11 May] When Beach House released 7’s lead single Lemon Glow it was a sign of what was to come. In its looping, hypnotic synth layers and dark, pulsating undercurrent, Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand hinted at possible new horizons. Instead of restricting their instrumentation to whatever they could feasibly play live, on 7 they’ve gone whereever their creative flow has taken them.

As Lemon Glow suggested though, Beach House haven’t completely started anew; they’ve built on a sound forged over the years and added to it, with textured opener Dark Spring heralding this shift. The fruits of their reinvention aren’t always so compelling though (see: Pay No Mind). While they may not have completely achieved seventh heaven here, 7 is a solid first step towards Beach House’s next phase.

[Eugenie Johnson] Listen to: Dark Spring

May 2018

a stuttering, drugged up duet between Mayberry and The National’s Matt Berninger.

Mayberry’s constantly questioning presence, bulked by Iain Cook and Martin Doherty’s ambitious soundscapes, succeeds in taking CHVRCHES to heights they’ve never reached before. ‘I always regret the night I told you I would hate you ‘til forever,’ Mayberry admits on the gleaming rush of Forever, while Never Say Die builds a gnarly synth riff over a celestial backdrop. Miracle is most stunning of all, as the three start in 90s rock territory before letting loose a stunning EDM drop, thumping to a witchy conclusion. Never before have CHVRCHES been this awe-inspiringly huge.

Even the weaker tracks written without Kurstin, such as the Doherty-led God’s Plan and the quavering ballad Really Gone, show CHVRCHES’ pursuit of pop success while refusing to compromise their vision. Don’t be surprised if Love Is Dead seals their superstardom. [Chris Ogden] Listen to: Deliverance, Forever, Miracle

Lancashire between them – have created something that feels as abstract as it does accessible, as complex as it is beautifully simple.

The main shift on Welcome Strangers is one of orchestration. Buoyed by Creative Scotland funding, the band have added more layers, more sounds, and more players to their arrangements.

Horns and Trumpets perhaps alludes to this in the title, starting with an almost psychedelic groove before gradually building into something a lot more dense and spacey. Mud and Flame is

LoveLaws [Caroline Int, 18 May] On solo debut LoveLaws, Theresa Wayman – guitarist and vocalist for LA royalty Warpaint – reveals the slippery, shimmering quality of her songwriting.

Her talents won’t be a surprise to anyone familiar with her band, but laid bare like this, her imagination is startling and singular.

An album about motherhood, isolation and romances disrupted by the rhythms of touring, LoveLaws spends ten tracks trying to measure a person by the fragile threads of their human connections.

LoveLaws is co-produced with Wayman’s brother Ivan, Dan Carey and Money Mark (Beastie Boys), and made with help from her Warpaint bandmates, but it’s an unsettling, unexpected testimony to finding your own self within other peoples’ selves, safeguarding that line between yourself and another. [Katie Hawthorne] Listen to: I’ve Been Fine, Dram

Courtney Barnett

Tell Me How You Really Feel [Marathon Artists, 18 May]

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Tell Me How You Really Feel is typical Courtney Barnett fare, but whereas her debut had a tendency to get lost in the details, second LP Tell Me... manages to exude a sense of positivity and hopefulness from within the chaos. Charity and Sunday Roast take limp platitudes about everyone being in the same boat and imbue them a dose of concrete reality thanks to Barnett’s sparklingly precise songwriting.

Elsewhere, there’s a bit more variance, musically and lyrically, but despite the gentle forays into new styles, the universally relatable stories are still well and present, with enough morbid humour, intricately drawn character studies and down-to-earth wisdom to keep you coming back again and again. [Lewis Wade] Listen to: Walkin’ On Eggshells, Charity, Nameless, Faceless

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CHVRCHES

similar, beginning with the sound of a disintegrated tape-loop of singer Emily Scott’s voice, which then works as a kind of bed for shuffling, Fairport Convention-esque folk-rock.

The orchestration of the record, both in terms of instruments used and the directions songs move in, has a strong, world-building character. You wonder how Modern Studies would do with a film score, or an art installation.

The two voices of Scott and Rob St. John help with this too – almost entirely in parallel, their

vocal is hypnotising, trance-like and very easy to get sucked into.

One of the album’s greatest strengths is how it incorporates these experimental choices into something very musical, although that does mean you do occasionally miss what’s below the surface on first listen. Different things rise to the top the more time you invest in the record, so if it’s not clicking with you immediately, trust that it eventually will. [Harry Harris] Listen to: Let Idle Hands, Mud and Flame

Iceage

Eleanor Friedberger

Parquet Courts

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Beyondless [Matador, 4 May] Iceage revel in reinvention. First album New Brigade offered blunt, shambolic, abrasive punk; You’re Nothing refined that punk into razor sharp hooks; Plowing Into the Field of Love was a champagne-swilling, country left turn; and now comes Beyondless, a record altogether more iconic-sounding that straddles a thin line between anthemic and macabre.

Lead single Catch It is the perfect example – the slow trudging build mixed with medieval brass explodes in a racket; Thieves Like Us is a bluesy Let It Bleed-esque stomp; Pain Killer, a horn-driven glam tune; and Showtime would not sound out of place in the Twin Peaks Roadhouse.

Beyondless cements Iceage’s claim as one of the most exciting bands in music. [Tony Inglis] Listen to: Catch It, Take It All, Beyondless

Photo: Danny Clinch

CHVRCHES

Rebound [Frenchkiss Records, 4 May] Eleanor Friedberger’s solo career rumbles satisfyingly on. Unlike her previous record (2016’s warm New View), Friedberger recorded Rebound without her live band, swathing it in chilly synths, drum machines and muted guitars. Long-time fans of Friedberger need not be worried though, as her quirky songwriting is still very much on show, particularly in the billowing Everything, In Between Stars’ playful bounce and the bluesy chug of Make Me a Song.

More notable for its meditative atmosphere than blockbuster tracks, Rebound isn’t the sort of record that will blow anyone away, but that’s never been Friedberger’s MO. When it comes to neatly capturing knotty feelings and subtle changes of mood, she remains one of indie rock’s masters. [Chris Ogden] Listen to: Everything, Make Me a Song, Nice to Be Nowhere

Wide Awake!

[Rough Trade, 18 May] It’s amazing that the songwriting team of Andrew Savage and Austin Brown (backed by Andrew’s brother Max on drums and Sean Yeaton on bass) have been able to consistently produce some of the finest indierock of the decade as Parquet Courts, and they keep besting themselves with every release.

In its 13 tracks and just shy of 40 minutes, Wide Awake! shows perhaps the band’s broadest emotional range to date, with a healthy dollop of anger on display on tracks such as Violence or Before the Water Gets Too High. There is rather a lot to be angry about right now, but Parquet Courts remind us to at least dance and have a good time, despite the impending apocalypse. [Adam Turner-Heffer] Listen to: Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience, Freebird II, Wide Awake

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Acid Queen We speak to Finnish-born, Glasgow-based DJ IDA aka Ida Koskunen about the success of her Acid Flash club nights, ahead of her appearance at Electric Frog & Pressure Riverside Festival this month

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aving launched in 2015, IDA’s Acid Flash nights have become one of the most exciting fixtures on Aberdeen’s club circuit. IDA, aka Ida Koskunen, grew up on the outskirts of Helsinki, but it was a student exchange trip to the Granite City that set her on the path to becoming one of the most exciting emerging talents in Scotland today. ”While doing an undergraduate degree in Sweden, I spent six months on an exchange programme in Aberdeen,” she explains. “When I got back to Sweden, that’s when I started thinking ‘I really need to get my own decks.’ I didn’t concentrate on uni at all, I just played and played and tried to look for music,” she laughs.

Koskunen had always had a passion for music. She explains that she has been playing piano from a young age and that as a teenager she “had these little tapes and I would record all the good songs that came on the radio.” Then, when she was “about sixteen or seventeen,” Koskunen “started writing this music blog and making playlists of music that I really liked. I had actually quite a big following, so then people started saying that these were really good songs and that I should start playing these sort of songs [at clubs and parties] as well. That triggered it, and I thought I should give it a try.”

Fast forward a few years, and Koskunen made the decision to return to Aberdeen – “I even took my decks with me, I took them in my luggage,” she laughs – where she quickly became immersed in the city’s underground party scene.

Her Acid Flash nights pay homage to the iconic sound of the Roland TB-303 and her sound takes inspiration from classic Chicago house and Detroit techno. As a resident for key Aberdeen party crew Let It Bleed, Koskunen moved her Acid Flash nights to Aberdeen’s most prominent club The Tunnels and she has since booked a number of high-profile guests, including Heidi, Slam and most recently, the Greenlandic/Danish techno DJ Courtesy, who made her Aberdeen debut in February. ”There were no acid-themed nights really when I started,” explains Koskunen. “It took a while to get a little bit of a following and for people to be aware of the night. After a while I moved it to The Tunnels, where I did every second month. Now, there are a lot of big names being booked. There’s a massive difference to when I first moved here. There wasn’t anything on every single weekend, but now there might be two or more big events on every weekend. So it’s a massive change, for me at least, I’ve definitely noticed it. ”I was really into all the acid [music] when I started it – I still am, though it’s become a really massive thing again from the past, I’ve still not lost it, I’m still into it. So that’s how it started, so I’m basically playing the same kind of music that I started with. Maybe playing a bit more electronic stuff... I guess that’s the same with any musical path, you start with something and then it leads into something else.”

Having conquered Aberdeen with her squelchy, acidic, retro beats, Koskunen now also holds Acid Flash parties in Glasgow, where she is

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currently based while completing a Masters degree. She currently holds down a residency at La Cheetah Club and on the strength of her Acid Flash performances has been landing bookings for some of the city’s most prominent venues and parties. As a Pressure resident, she’s played alongside Slam and a host of big-name players at the Pressure Halloween and Easter events at SWG3 and last November, Koskunen supported Ukrainian DJ Nastia, who was making her Sub Club debut.

“She’s such a lovely girl. She’s really intelligent, very down to earth. In this industry, when you meet people like that, I can understand you do a lot of gigging and you’re travelling away from home every single weekend, and you get stressed and you can’t sleep... but she was just really lovely. Apparently she got pneumonia that same night as well.” ”I also played Subculture [at Sub Club] in January with Harr & Domenic and it was such a good gig. I thought that in January it would have been not that busy or anything but it was actually super busy. I was so shocked. It was like a dream.”

Glasgow. “I’m really looking forward to that because he’s one of my heroes,” she says. She also cites an NTS Radio mix for Courtesy as one of her career highlights to date: “That came out like last week. I booked her for Aberdeen and then we met, and she was just amazing. And then after a little while, we had been in contact for a bit, and then she just messaged me and asked if I wanted to do a mix for her show. I was like, ohhhhh, it’s the happiest day of my life!” she laughs.

IDA hasn’t ruled out productions either. “I have loads of hardware at home waiting for me but I rarely find the time to actually use it. But I’m definitely looking forward to having more time; I

Interview: Claire Francis

think I’m going to take a gap year after my Masters and try to concentrate on producing. I’m trying to make it happen, but like I still prefer to have a Plan B. That’s why I’m still studying, because I don’t feel confident enough investing everything in music, as much as I love it. The competition is so massive. But yeah I’m planning to work on productions because that’s what I really want to do. I just love creating something of my own.” With Acid Flash, IDA has certainly done that already and judging by the rapid rise of her name, we’ll wager that she won’t be needing that Plan B. IDA plays Electric Frog & Pressure Riverside Festival, Glasgow, 27 May

“ I think the Scottish crowds are really respectful” Ida Koskunen

Next up, IDA will play the MasterMix stage on the Sunday of this year’s two-day Electric Frog & Pressure Riverside Festival, alongside names including Fatima Yamaha, Jackmaster, Four Tet, Joy Orbison, Saoirse and Skream. “It’s not a warm up gig anymore – it really gives me the opportunity to actually play what I really want to play. I’m probably going to keep it... probably a little bit acid-housey, because it will probably be quite early. For Riverside, I can imagine I’ll probably be pretty nervous because it’s a big stage. And because it’s like daytime and people can actually see you really clearly. They can see what’s happening, sober.” she laughs.

She continues, “I think the Scottish crowds are really respectful, which is a blessing. It’s not like that everywhere. They’re so open to new stuff. If they hear something they don’t like, they don’t just leave immediately, they’re open to hearing something different, which I really appreciate.”

Looking forward, Koskunen says, “I’m more looking into booking bigger acts that help me to kind of showcase my style and the people that I really appreciate and am into. But I want to keep [Acid Flash] so that every other night is just like a residents night, showcasing local DJs and balance this between booking bigger headline acts. I have Kim Ann Foxman coming in June, I’m so excited!”

In October, IDA will support Detroit superstar Derrick May, one of the biggest living figures in electronic music, at his SWG3 show in

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Clubbing Highlights Festival season kicks into gear this month, but there are also plenty of excellent one-off club nights around the country in May to satisfy your dancefloor cravings

Words: Donald Shields Illustration: Michael Arnold

Sub Club x H+P: Daphni & Andrew Thomson @ Sub Club, Glasgow, 4 May Daphni (aka Caribou/Dan Snaith) is an incredibly accomplished musician, merging sounds from electro to house to experimental: his recent album Joli Mai is yet another quality example.

Huntleys + Palmers have momentarily returned from retirement to curate this evening, ending their ten year wait to book Snaith, so this party is a poignant add-on to their recent 10th anniversary celebrations.

Headway 14th Birthday with Dr. Rubinstein @ The Reading Rooms, Dundee, 4 May Marina Rubenstein is a raver’s DJ. Taking inspiration from parties in Tel Aviv, her former home city, her sets feature acid, rave and techno with a feel-good factor to boot. Dr Rubinstein’s ethos is that music brings pure happiness and she aims to achieve this with her performances.

Prepare for big smiles in Dundee.

Attention//Please presents: Big Miz B2B Wheelman @ The Berkeley Suite, Glasgow, 5 May Two Glaswegians who are really making a name for themselves with their own productions are Big Miz and Wheelman. The former impressed with his LP on DABJ, while the latter has dropped EPs via Studio Barnhus and the Huntleys & Palmers sub-label Belters. Expect house and disco – and maybe some harder hitting tracks as well.

OTMR Showcase – Housego & Charlie Says @ Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, 8 May Talented DJ and producer Housego will be playing his distinct and ever groovy Chicago house sound at this Tuesday night Cab Vol shindig. The man is an Edinburgh native but has played all over the world, and his productions have graced the turn-

tables of DJs such as Mark Farina and DJ Sneak. If you’re a true house fan this shouldn’t be missed.

We Should Hang Out More with Afriquoi @ Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow, 12 May Fancy something a little different from your normal DJ-turntable setup? How about a six-piece band playing African dance music?

Afriquoi are a band who have strong dance sensibilities, utilising African instruments and rhythms to enchant and move people, and they embody the WSHOM policy of diverse and eclectic bookings.

La Cheetah x H+P with Lena Willikens @ La Cheetah Club, Glasgow, 12 May Cologne-based DJ and producer Lena Willikens is known for selecting the more obscure and off-kilter records, causing music fans to rethink

Guest Selector: Shapes At The Jail What can you tell us about the history of the Stirling Old Town Jail? Any ghosts or gruesome stories we should know about?

The jail was built in 1847 as a new prison for Stirling. It’s a castle-style structure with a large old guarded wall surrounding it. It served as Stirling’s prison until 1888, then was used as military detention barracks until the Second World War. It reopened in 1996 as a visitor attraction – unfortunately I’m not a horror fan so I’ll be staying well away from any ghost/gruesome stories!

Big Miz and Dixon Avenue Basement Jams are headlining the event – why did you select these two particular acts?

I have always followed the Dixon Avenue guys.

They played a previous event for me in 2015 (The Magic Sun Festival) and it’s been great to see their label go from strength to strength. Also, with the release of Big Miz‘s album [his debut LP Build/Destroy, released in January] and the timing of the Jail event, it‘s worked out perfectly.

How has Shapes evolved as a club night since

May 2018

their preconceived notions of dance music.

Huntley + Palmers (retirement? what retirement?) have helped bring Lena’s talents to this intimate basement setting and a 4am license means a nap beforehand may be required.

ODYSSEY. 015 ­­— Jackmaster, Eclair Fifi + more @ The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 17 May The newly refurbished Liquid Room Warehouse will be put to the test by globe-trotting local favourite Jackmaster and Edinburgh-based Eclair Fifi, aka Clair Stirling (having not long returned from Snowbombing Festival in the Austrian Alps, she may find Arthur’s Seat less of a challenge).

Special guests still to be announced.

Bigfoot’s Tea Party – 10 Years – Jayda G & LNS @ Sub Club, Glasgow, 18 May Bigfoot’s Tea Party are celebrating their 10th year

with two of Vancouver’s finest DJs. LNS is a DJ and producer with a penchant for electro. Jayda G is a DJ with a slightly different approach to her craft, selecting tracks that may have charted 40 years ago but will certainly get a crowd moving. These two Berlin-based best buds will put on a night of great music, guaranteed.

Hidden Door presents: Daniel Avery @ Leith Theatre, Edinburgh, 26 May Having released a masterpiece in his latest album Song For Alpha, Daniel Avery graces the capital with a special appearance at the Hidden Door Festival. An immensely talented electronic artist known for his immersive productions, his DJ sets offer an alternative take on techno. This is his only Scottish date in support of the new album – don’t sleep on this one.

We speak to DJ and promoter Ryan Hamblett on what to expect from Shapes At The Jail, the party outfit’s first ever day event at Stirling’s Old Town Jail Interview: Claire Francis

you first started out in 2015?

The main aim has always been to bring bigger acts to Stirling, as well as helping push through local DJs. Plus, it’s been great to see some of the local DJs I’ve got in to play gaining experience; some have went on to start up their own nights, which is great to see.

Do you think the Shapes At The Jail event could pave the way for bigger outdoor music events in Stirling in the future?

YES DEFO! I have some huge plans in my head and the event at the Jail I think will be the stepping stone that will open doors to hopefully bigger outdoor events in Stirling. I know the possibilities are there so I think it’s time to make them happen.

What can people expect from the setup on the day?

There have been events at the Jail before – Bigfoot’s Tea Party ran events there for a couple years with the help from Creative Stirling.

However, we are putting our own stamp on the

Jail this year. With help from Neil Connell at Motion Systems we are bringing in a Void Acoustics Nexus 6 sound system – that’s just a small part of what you can expect from the setup.

Where’s the strangest location you’ve ever played/seen a dance music gig?

The strangest place probably has to be tied in with one of the past jail gigs. Back when Bigfoot’s ran their jailyard events they managed to secure an after party within the jail, which was set in a corridor with a few jail cells down the right hand side. So you could party in one of the cells with a bunch of your mates – it was great fun!

DABJ that was it. I’ve always wanted to have him back through to Stirling to play.

Skatebård – Sgnelkab Last year seeing Skatebard at Sub Club Soundsystem was unreal. He was amazing, the tunes were great!

Griff – Pawn The Monkey My mate Griff has been smashing it recently! This was released last year on Doorly’s new label Reptile Dysfunction. He has a new tune coming out in the summer called Discoball so keep an eye out for that!

Current influences Paul Woolford – Erotic Discourse I’ve been following Paul Woolford for years ever since releasing Erotic Discourse, which is still one of my favourite tunes to play out. Most recently his Untitled tune is awesome as well.

Slam – Harem (Gary Beck Remix) I always think back to when I started Shapes and what I wanted to achieve... it’s all been a bit surreal to be honest. Having the likes of Jasper James, to Alan Fitzpatrick, as well as Slam and Gary Beck, at our events has been unbelievable.

Big Miz – Good Thing As soon as Big Miz released Good Thing on

Shapes At The Jail, featuring Big Miz / Dixon Avenue Basement Jams, Ryan Hamblett, Riccardo Chicarella and Bud Burroughs takes place on Saturday 12 May at Stirling’s Old Town Jail

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Rhyme Watch

background in the Philippines, who has moved to California. Later, the story switches to her niece, Hero, who has come to live with them after a debilitating injury; the story then follows Hero's journey towards recovering and making a home in America, with the help of her family and a hotheaded beautician named Rosalyn.

What Castillo shares is both colourful and raw, the latter partly helped by the fact that the narrative steps out of the body at certain intervals, addressing the reader as though they were the character being discussed: ‘This happens to you. This is what you know about it.

This is what you decide to do.’ During these interludes, the emotional reactions are rarely laid out in front, very effectively leaving the reader to do all the feeling and so adding twice the intensity. Even in the third person, the narrator is coolly eloquent rather than a carrier, recalling the need for protective distance which often comes with trauma or a new home.

The sudden twists and turns the plot takes, along with the untranslated snatches of Tagalog and Ilocano which speak of roots, increase our empathy for the complex, troubled characters we encounter. The quick zip from one event to another especially reflects how Hero must live one day at a time before she can recover from her past. [Clare Mulley]

Words: Beth Cochrane

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t’s been two years, but award-winning pamphlet publisher Stewed Rhubarb is back in the game.

First on the list of publications are reissues of two full-length collections by poets Harry Giles and Rachel McCrum, both collections having been originally published by the now-collapsed Freight Books.

First founded in 2013, Stewed Rhubarb quickly became a publisher of high quality poetry and spoken word pamphlets, having won the Callum Macdonald Award for its first pamphlet, Rachel McCrum’s The Glassblower Dances in 2013.

With over a dozen impeccably designed pamphlets in its catalogue already, Scottish poetry certainly has a lot to look forward to now Stewed Rhubarb’s hiatus is at an end.

Tapsalteerie have not one but two releases this month, in the form of Sarah Stewart’s Glisk, a critique of gender and class, and Russell Jones’ Dark Matters, a pamphlet strongly influenced by the sci-fi poetry of Edwin Morgan. Both pamphlets will be launched at the Scottish Poetry Library on 9 May at 7pm, with the authors giving short readings from their new publications.

Launching his seventh collection, Gerry Loose’s new book, Night Exposures, will be released on 24 May by Vagabond Voices. Said to be formally inventive and composed with the subtle and gentle lyricism which we’ve come to expect from Loose, this is a collection to get your hands on as soon as possible.

Dunbar’s own literary festival, CoastWord is set to return for another unforgettable weekend of poetry, music and stories. Running since 2013, then under the banner The Wee Fest of Words, the CoastWord programme is packed with a stunning variety of poetical participants. Sunday 20 May is particularly exciting for a poetry audience, starting with the Coastword Breakfast at 11am in the Festival Hub. Join award-winning poet Marjorie Lotfi Gill, accompanied on clarsach

by Katie Harrigan, and Ghazi Hussein for poetry, baklava and pastries. The Festival Hub will also feature award-winning poets Em Strang and Iona Lee later that day, kicking off at 4pm for an hour of poetry, hosted by two well-known and wellloved Dunbar-based poets, Ruth Gilchrist and Jo Gibson. The venue will also accommodate a third all-poetry event that evening, with William Letford and Ciara MacLaverty taking to the stage at 5.30pm.

Hidden Door is back in Leith Theatre this May, having expanded its programme to encompass the nearby State Cinema also – where most of its spoken word shows will take place. A few performances to watch out for during the May dates include Colin McGuire’s The Wake-Up Call, a spoken word theatre piece investigating the process of sleep on 28 May, and the widely known collective Women with Fierce Words, who are taking to the stage on 25 May. Flint & Pitch have several May dates lined up, one of which is included in Booked! 2018 – West-Dunbartonshire Festival of Words. On 18 May, at 7pm in Gartocharn’s Millennium Hall, host Jenny Lindsay will deliver the cabaret as a finale to the weekend, presenting poets Michael Pedersen and Katharine Macfarlane, short story author Chris McQueer and music from both Emma Pollock and Heir of the Cursed.

As part of ReimagiNation: Glenrothes (produced by the Edinburgh International Book Festival), Dr Lilias Fraser will be leading Everything You Wanted to Know About Poetry on 19 May, Rothes Halls at 1pm. Dr Fraser will be tearing down the perceived barriers preventing people and poems from coming together.

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America Is Not the Heart

By Elaine Castillo

rrrrr Elaine Castillo’s debut novel is about immigration, colour, trauma and family – those you are given and those you make your own. The tale opens with Paz, a nurse from a deprived

Atlantic Books, 3 May, £14.99 atlantic-books.co.uk/book/america-is-not-the-heart

Fish Soup

The Valley at the Centre of the World

By Margarita García Robayo, translated

by Charlotte Coombe

The Gloaming

By Kirsty Logan

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The Gloaming, Kirsty Logan’s second novel, takes its title from the Scots word for the period of dusk between sunset and night – and the novel itself sits in the gloaming of fiction, a fairytale straddling both fantasy and realism.

Like her previous work, Logan builds a world that feels as real as it does magical. Mara lives on a small Scottish island with her parents – an ex-boxer and an ex-ballerina – and younger brother and older sister. Mara’s island is as much a character as any of the novel’s people: a beautiful and turbulent setting where the sea clashes with the land, full of selkies and stone people. After a family tragedy, Mara’s joyful island childhood begins to crumble away as she’s left marooned on the island and stuck in her own life. However, when the mysterious Pearl, a swimmer in a mermaid show, turns up, things begin to turn around.

The Gloaming is a gorgeous old-fashioned love story of romantic love, and the love between parents and children, sisters and brothers. While on the surface it may seem like a whimsical fairytale, it’s how Logan deals with themes of trauma, grief and loss through her magical metaphorical lens that makes the novel so impressive. [Katie Goh] Harvill Secker, 19 Apr, £12.99 penguin.co.uk/books

By Malachy Tallack

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Problems

By Jade Sharma

rrrrr Fish Soup is comprised of two novellas and an award winning short story collection. Colombian author Margarita Garcia Robayo has been translated by Charlotte Coombe for newcomers Charco Press, who recently made it on to the Man Booker International longlist in their first year of existence with Ariana Harwicz’s Die, My Love. If the sleek, minimalist covers weren’t enough to grab your attention, their impressive curation of impactful Latin American literature packs a punch, and Fish Soup is another book to further their already excellent reputation.

Well named for its amalgamation of parts which simmer together harmoniously, Fish Soup is a satisfying read, despite the two instances where the dish appears and disgusts those around for its stink. Characters are distinctly drawn, but many have in common a sense of slow burning dissatisfaction with their lives, and are often on the cusp of change which doesn’t necessarily promise improvement, whether through travel, reunions or break-ups, or states of altered consciousness. There’s plenty of emotional disconnect in desires unrealised or mistruths left to linger. On travelling: ‘Perhaps it was an acquired taste, she thought, like eating blue cheese.’

Another character finds himself at odds with his stay in “the biggest hotel in Europe,” which is emblazoned on ashtrays and recited by porters.

From seaside fish shacks to conferences which are an excuse to visit a city, Fish Soup’s stories are fascinating studies of disassociation. [Laura Waddell]

The Valley at the Centre of the World is a soaring debut novel from an already accomplished nature writer. Set in a Shetland valley, the book explores the lives of the people who live there in a moving portrayal of island life.

Key amongst the relationships which Tallack so deftly draws is that of the characters’ relationship with Shetland: ‘We’re tied to da islands by elastic... Du just has to decide how du lives wi it’. For David, the valley is the unquestioned home of a lifetime, for Alice it is a refuge and then a research project, while the span of the novel sees Sandy attempt to navigate his relationships with the islands, his ex-girlfriend, her family and himself.

If The Valley... has a flaw, it is perhaps that some characters feel a little too much like supporting cast. Alice, in the role of outsider to the valley, offers another perspective and room for Tallack’s insights on grief, but these passages tend to lack the richness found elsewhere.

Nonetheless, Tallack proves as adept a novelist as he is a nature writer, combining his talents with a novel deeply rooted in place. He evokes the changeable valley in gorgeous prose – one passage sees lupins ‘lolling like wedding guests, drunken and splendid’, another conjures an afternoon ‘darkening and straining towards a storm, like an angry dog on a lead’. A vivid, moving read. [Ceris Aston] Canongate, 3 May, £14.99 canongate.co.uk/books

Fish Soup is translated by Charlotte Coombe Charco Press, 25 May, £9.99 charcopress.com/bookstore/fish-soup

How do you solve a problem like Maya? Well, you don’t really.

Maya has her troubles in life – addicted to heroin, marriage failing, a non-existent Master’s thesis, a haphazard affair, shaky job security – that just skims the surface.

Much like the protagonist, the book is relentless. Throwing aside defined chapters, Sharma leaps in a stream of consciousness, paragraph after paragraph on a whirlwind tour through Maya’s life, looking around, forwards and backwards, but never losing its pace. Maya doesn’t give those in her life a chance to breathe, an all-encompassing force, good, or bad; as a reader, it’s reflected. Where do you draw the line with Maya? When do you put down the book to temporarily get on with your own life? You don’t.

Literature at large seeks to cure female protagonists – spruce them up, make them palatable. Problems says enough is enough; this is what women were never allowed to be on the page. It hurts to read, it makes you laugh. Maya is bold, unforgiving, challenging and self-destructive. Sharma’s writing is witty, brings humour to darkness and challenges the status quo of the palatable woman in a provocative punch.

“It’s an art to make yourself so unloveable,” reflects Maya towards the end. And it is. Problems lays the ugly, messy truth of being human out there without apology, and it’s a whirlwind of a read. [Heather McDaid] Tramp Press, 10 May, £12.99 amazon.co.uk/Problems-Jade-Sharma

BOOKS

THE SKINNY

Art News May starts with the final week of Glasgow International, and brings new sculpture in Jupiter Artland from Phyllida Barlow and the last few weeks of DCA’s well-received show on Shonky: The Aesthetics of Awkwardness

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House Party

Project Ability

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Renowned French artist Esther Ferrer’s 1998 recording of her home, routine and chores, is put together with the work of several emerging artists as a means of drawing out the uncanny aspects from familiar settings and actions.

House Party is a strewn array of drawings, prints, sculpture and costume. They fill the room where Esther Ferrer’s 1998 sound work Fête Maison plays. It’s a soundtrack of rattling domestic chores and personal hygiene.

Particularly at the point of an abrasive toothbrush scratching noise, there’s a sense of disembodiment in its amplified treble, as it’s louder than if it was the noise of someone nearby – more like the kind of interior volume of brushing one’s own teeth in one’s own skull.

There’s more scrubbing, as an experimental and syncopated score begins to play dissonantly.

Previously, just the murmur of what sounds like news coverage was the background noise. It’s at this point that any sense of a simple everydayness is supplanted by a sense of dread, an uneasy striking rhythm in the score with which the household noises begin to meld.

The moving body is suggested by clatters and banging in the track, as a kettle is heard to open, close and drop down to boil. This brutish bulkiness is illustrated in the photocopied posters of artists Pester and Rossi showing a six breasted torso, broadly brushed inked hair dropping over someone’s head suggested only by a thick neck. Something like a balloon is passed through legs that end in claws. A top left figure nevertheless throws her arms up joyously, indulging in the different stretches and bent limbs.

With some connection to common objects, there is a repeated sense of remaking: eggs that are cast, broken lenses and bits of wool in pickled jars, handmade slippers that are blown-up to costume scale. While there may be references to home and common objects, they are made into raw materials again, and are copied and pasted together to reveal and re-do the constructedness of the humdrum.

[Adam Benmakhlouf] House Party, at Project Ability until 7 May

May 2018

new work by the ever impressive Phyllida Barlow as well as the surreal and sculpturally overwhelming Joana Vasconcelos, there are also opportunities to get creative with their Salon evenings of relaxed creativity, drawing and live music, meaning there’s plenty to get your teeth into at the open air gallery from the middle of May onwards.

Funding Opportunities Although not strictly a funding opportunity, there are some big bucks at stake in the Aesthetica Art Prize: set up to celebrate excellence in art, there are several opportunities to put your work up for acknowledgement, as well as for some hefty prize money (deadline: 31 August). The Scottish Portrait Award isn’t strictly funding either, but again there are several cash prizes available to artists willing to submit their work (deadline: 1 October).

If you’re based in Glasgow and looking for a no strings attached grant, then Awesome Foundation have an opportunity to apply for a small grant, the only rule of your application being that your project must benefit the community (deadline: 25 May).

Learning Opportunities It may seem that we’re often talking about the awesomeness that is Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, and there’s a reason for it: not only do they provide novices and well versed practitioners alike an opportunity to explore their sculpting potential, but they are also offering a Scottish Bursary Graduate Award, providing young artists with an opportunity to partake in a three month residency programme. (Deadline: 13 May) This is a little left field, and after a little bit of double checking it wasn’t a Scientology scheme, there is an opportunity for a Residency on the Ocean with Sail Britain: this residency will be taking place on a boat as it circumnavigates the UK coastline and offers artists and creatives the opportunity to share their practices with

Raqib Shaw, The Purification of the Temple (after Marcello Venusti) II, 2014-15

one another and contribute to an interdisciplinary team – all while sailing a boat! (Deadline: 2 October) Finally, the University of Edinburgh have decided to tackle a problem that haunts a lot of us working in the Arts – how can we grow and change as practitioners while we’re making and creating alone? Well, they’re offering up mentoring opportunities through their Centre for Open Learning’s Mentoring Programme, to those of us in the creative industries to help relieve the problems associated with working alone. theskinny.co.uk/art

Intervals CCA

rrrrr It’s hard not to think of Intervals as a metaphor for Glasgow International: full of anticipation, overwhelming and exciting in equal measure, impossible to see all of it. In his CCA installation in the theatre, Raydale Dower has sliced a 1991 Nirvana concert, dividing it into individual seconds and then incorporating enough of a silent rest between them to make 71 minutes last for 71 hours.

It’s an incredibly neat idea, but becomes unruly set within the Theatre space of the CCA. On entering, there’s the sense of total darkness.

The first full volume blast is terrifying, and the red lights nod to some of the terrified reveries that punctuate the consciousness of Hitchcock’s eponymous protagonist Marnie. With that in mind, the form of the work itself draws inevitable comparisons with Douglas Gordon’s 1993 24 Hour Psycho, when Gordon stretched the film from 1 hour 49 minutes to 24 hours.

In both instances, the artists are successful in taking otherwise recognisable material – a film, a concert – and in extending their duration, making something that bears resemblance to its source but becomes unfamiliar through an otherwise intelligible processing. Dower’s Intervals has

Raydale Dower, Intervals

powerful spatial presence, for example. With only one second of red light, there’s the ambivalent need to get your bearings in the room, as the very architecture of the space is intended to direct audiences to the main stage.

Time as well as space becomes harder to count. Despite having a stable and rigorous rhythm, there’s no sense of being able to anticipate with confidence the next unforgiving one

ART

second explosion of noise and light. The silent time of the rests allow a moment to sense the full-body effect of concert-volume music, then the tension of waiting for the upcoming surge.

Dower’s rhythm of sensory overload then deprivation make for a confounding thrill.

[Adam Benmakhlouf] Run ended

Review

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Photo: Ross Fraser Mclean

Esther Ferrer

f you haven’t had the opportunity to explore any of the Glasgow International offerings yet – what have you been doing?! Most of the exhibitions and events wrap up on 7 May so be sure to spend at least a day adventuring through the city to get the most out of the festival. If you’ve missed out on the festival and are reading this a little too late, then don’t panic, a few exhibitions will be lingering on, such as: Ciara Phillips at the Glasgow Print Studio where she has transformed the gallery into a space of simultaneous production and display (until 3 Jun), Ross Birrell at the CCA presenting a major film work (until 3 Jun) and Katinka Bock at The Common Guild for her first UK solo exhibition in which the artist takes the gallery space as the starting point and taps into the history of 21 Woodlands Terrace as a domestic building, as well as the history of Glasgow as a place of exchange and transaction (until 8 Jul).

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art are kicking open their doors with the extraordinary work of Raqib Shaw on 19 May – expect to be immersed in intensely opulent and intricately detailed paintings that are fantastical albeit violent and sexual with their imagery. This is the first time Shaw’s work will be displayed in Scotland and is a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in an uneasy jewel-like world.

Up the East Coast in Dundee, the DCA will be wrapping up their exhibition Shonky: The Aesthetics of Awkwardness on 27 May. This show has been a visual extravaganza so far – exploring ideas of visual awkwardness, the term ‘Shonky’ means shoddy or unreliable, meaning — this exhibition has seen the creation of some obscure but visually intriguing pieces. There is an opportunity to delve deeper on 10 May, as Echo will be occurring in response to the exhibition: an evening of multidisciplinary presentation and events, and one not to be missed.

We mentioned last month about Jupiter Artland’s incredible line-up for spring and summer 2018, and they will be opening their doors to the general public from 12 May. With

Words: Rosie Priest

In Cinemas The Breadwinner

Director: Nora Twomey Starring: Saara Chaudry, Kawa Ada, Noorin Gulamgaus Released: 25 May Certificate: 12A

Zama

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Director: Lucrecia Martel Starring: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lola Dueñas, Matheus Nachtergaele, Juan Minujín, Nahuel Cano Released: 25 May Certificate: 15

Parvana’s life in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is defined by limitations. The tight stone walls of her family’s small home. The fact that neither she, her sister nor her mother can leave it without her father accompanying them. The restrictive, dehumanising clothing they have to wear when they do. The rigid code of conduct they must obey for fear of the roaming militants’ violent reprisal.

Their stories are their only source of freedom. Her father’s historical tales free her from the ignorance the Taliban would have her kept in. The fairytales they tell each other comfort and bind them as a family. When she cuts her hair and poses as a boy, the narrative she creates allows her to walk the streets less fearfully, to see enough of life to remain hopeful and to provide for her family.

Cartoon Saloon have rapidly become an animation studio whose every new release should be anticipated as excitedly as those of Studio Ghibli or Pixar. Their simply drawn characters are furnished with an astonishing depth of expression and their Rayman-esque talent for playing colour and motion to musical rhythm has never been more strongly displayed than in The Breadwinner’s storybook-style sections where Parvana passes on her father’s tales. The chapter in which she and her friend wrestle for creative control is a gleeful ode to the boundless quality of animation.

For all its colour and cuteness, Nora Twomey’s beautiful hand-drawn world is still very much our own and the realities of life in one of the world’s most war-torn corners are never shied away from. Fear, death, blood and pain punctuate the tale and are only sometimes overcome. Some characters’ stories end happily, many sadly, some we don’t know yet. All of them are beautifully told. [Ross McIndoe]

Don Diego de Zama (Cacho), the titular protagonist of Lucrecia Martel’s first film in nine years, stands at the shore looking out at the horizon, one hand on his sword. It’s a striking pose of a hero that is immediately undercut by the next scene. Coming across a group of bathing Indigenous women, Zama attempts to spy on them but this peeping Tom is soon chased away by shouts of “voyeur!” The ridiculous and pompous self-importance of heroes, mixed with surreal and slapstick humour, is the essence of Zama.

Martel doesn’t reveal the specific time and place in which her film is unfolding; the period setting suggests an 18th century Spanish colonial town in some far-flung South American province.

Zama is one of the town’s magistrates but any sense of authority is foiled by his own inflated ego. He’s a bad-tempered lost soul, pining to be released from his duties and get home to his wife and children. Bearing ‘the white man’s burden,’ Zama is a satirical figure of colonialism who’s continuously bested by Kafkaesque red-tape bureaucracy. Repeated requests for transfers and meetings with his superiors go nowhere as Zama gradually realises that he’s never going to get across the sea. Him and his band of colonisers have become trapped in a prison of their own making.

Zama is a strange and, at times, frustratingly inaccessible film to watch. Nothing yet everything happens in a series of surreal and very funny vignettes that create a portrait of a man trapped in a claustrophobic and grim settlement. With lush period detail and exquisite compositions, Martel masterfully creates a vivid, sensuous, and unbearable world from which Zama and the audience can’t wait to escape. Yet we also can’t seem to take our eyes off it. [Katie Goh]

Released by StudioCanal

Released by New Wave Films

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Lean on Pete

Lean on Pete

Director: Andrew Haigh Starring: Charlie Plummer, Travis Fimmel, Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Zahn Released: 4 May Certificate: 15

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Andrew Haigh’s three films to date – Greek Pete, Weekend, 45 Years – have traded in a cinema of delicate grace notes that imperceptibly build to devastating effect. Haigh’s first American picture, Lean on Pete, a beautifully detailed coming -of-age film follows the same formula. It concerns Charley (a knockout Plummer), a melancholy 15-year-old living in Portland with his deadbeat dad. The lad’s mood brightens when he spends some time with Lean on Pete, a racehorse

Redoubtable

Director: Michel Hazanavicius Starring: Louis Garrel, Stacy Martin, Bérénice Bejo Released: 11 May Certificate: 15

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Michel Hazanavicius returns to the realm of movies about movies with his Jean-Luc Godard comedy-biopic Redoubtable. Specifically this is late 60s Godard, at the height of his powers and acclaimed across the world as one of cinema’s greatest auteurs. Despite his arrogant façade, the filmmaker (played by Louis Garrel) remains existentially insecure about his own worth. His youth is fading, and with it his sense of freedom and purpose. To cling to it a little longer,

owned by Steve Buscemi’s cantankerous Del. After Pete has one too many bad races, Charley drags his equine pal on an illadvised cross-country adventure. You might expect a road movie following a boy and his trusty horse to canter towards the sentimental, but Haigh resists at every turn. There’s nothing romantic about siphoning off petrol, running out on a bill or schlepping across rocky desert.

As well as a heartbreaking study of emotional distress, Lean on Pete makes for a compelling tale of economic survival in post-crash US. Like many Americans on the breadline, Charley and Pete just need to keep moving to survive. [Jamie Dunn] Released by Curzon Artificial Eye

he latches on to student protests and marries 18-year-old actress Anne Wiazemsky (Martin).

Redoubtable is a charm offensive. Anne and Jean-Luc’s relationship unfolds across a series of sketches, punching gleefully through the fourth wall time and again by addressing the audience directly, mocking cinematic conventions or subtitling conversations with the characters’ real intentions. Hazanavicius knows when he’s being cute but never pushes far enough to become smug, even if Redoubtable is also never quite as insightful or as funny as it might have been.

It falls enjoyably in the middle, perhaps the place Godard himself would have most disdained.

That too seems appropriate. [Ross McIndoe] Released by Thunderbird Releasing

The Breadwinner

Submergence

Director: Wim Wenders Starring: Alicia Vikander, James McAvoy Released: TBC Certificate: 15

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Wim Wenders’ adaptation of war journalist J.M. Ledgard’s novel is a romantic but flawed tale about the space between people and the enduring power of memories to close that space.

Vikander plays Dani, a bio-mathematician tortured by loneliness on a ship in the Greenland Sea. McAvoy is spy/water-engineer James, imprisoned by Jihadist fighters on the Eastern coast of Africa. Both offer captivating performances despite a lacklustre script.

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Review

Dani, unaware of James’ situation, is enraged by memories of their brief romance. For James, these memories comfort him as he repeats Dani’s name in the hope that he can bridge the space between them across the world. As one scene dissolves into the next, the narrative mirrors the flow of the sea and the various symbolic significances humans assign to water.

Unfortunately, poor development of the two leads and a sorrowfully stereotyped supporting cast prevent the film from being convincing. The result is simplistic, albeit earnest. What could have been a thoughtful exploration of love, life and religion comes up for air before it gets that deep. [Gianni Marini] Released by Lionsgate

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

Director: John Cameron Mitchell Starring: Elle Fanning, Alex Sharp, Nicole Kidman, Ruth Wilson Released: 11 May Certificate: 15

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John Cameron Mitchell’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s short story concerning cannibalistic aliens is a perplexing film, but not a terribly interesting one. Despite a cast that includes the triple-whammy of Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Ruth Wilson, and a director capable of creating a film as sublimely subversive as Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the result doesn’t add up to much, coming across like an extended episode of a BBC kids’ show from the early 90s with a few

FILM & TV

lewd jokes thrown in.

It’s a story of young love in 1970s Croydon, where a teenage punk (Sharp) falls in with a band of travelling performance artists. Travellers they are – intergalactic ones that hop across the galaxy in their humanoid forms gaining new experiences and eating their own offspring before vanishing back into the ether.

Tonally, Cameron Mitchell’s film is all over the place. Its punk sensibility is about as authentic as the Disneyland Castle, while the humour is at Inbetweeners level, with jokes about ‘anal cherries’ and homosexual awakenings.

Nicole Kidman, sporting an outlandish cockney accent and channeling Vivienne Westwood, is fun though. [Joseph Walsh] Released by StudioCanal

THE SKINNY

At Home

eXistenZ

The Touch

Irma Vep

Director: Ingmar Bergman Starring: Bibi Andersson, Elliot Gould, Max von Sydow Released: Out Now Certificate: 15

Director: Olivier Assayas Starring: Maggie Cheung, Nathalie Richard, Jean-Pierre Léaud Released: 7 May Certificate: 15

Extras There’s a contemporary on-set interview with Bergman, a newer one with Bergman confidante Liv Ullman, and an entertaining series of recollections from Glasgow-born actress Sheila Reid about playing David’s sister. Intriguingly, she hints at the possibility of something other than a sibling relationship. [Barry Didcock]

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If it’s films about people making films that you like, it’s hard to see past François Truffaut’s Oscar-winning 1973 work Day For Night.

But Olivier Assayas’s slyly funny 1996 film Irma Vep, about a once venerable but now frazzled director (Léaud) shooting a re-make of Louis Feuillade’s silent film serial Les Vampires, should be high on the list too.

Léaud, star of Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, also features in Day For Night, so Irma Vep’s role as fond homage is obvious. But the whipsmart Assayas adds much more, not least by casting Hong Kong action star Maggie Cheung as herself playing the titular Irma Vep in a tight latex catsuit sourced from a sex shop in the company of voluble wardrobe mistress Zoé (Richard), who fast develops a crush.

The director also deploys free-wheeling set-pieces to have his characters discuss the state of French film, intercuts the action with sequences from Les Vampires and from the work of Chris Marker’s radical 60s collective SLON, offers us a jarring dream sequence (or is it?), and ends with one of the most brilliant finales in 90s cinema.

All in a little over an hour and a half.

Assayas would later marry Cheung, which illuminates another sub-theme – that of the relationship between star and director – and keep an eye out elsewhere for Claire Denis favourite Alex Descas and for Lou Castel, who played a director in another influential film about filmmaking, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Beware of a Holy Whore.

In the late 90s, sci-fi films tended towards the philosophical. Alex Proyas released his futuristic noir Dark City, and the Wachowskis changed mainstream cinema with The Matrix. Both were steeped in Platonist ideas, asking us to question our reality. Then came a strange beast – eXistenZ, from David Cronenberg, which sought to tackle similar themes.

It remains one of Cronenberg’s most accessible films – it’s certainly the least odd of his work from this period. It’s a sci-fi that gently pokes at the soft tissues of your brain but doesn’t ask too much of you compared to his earlier, and thematically richer, mindbenders such as Videodrome and Naked Lunch.

Allegra Geller (Jason Leigh) is the world’s leading virtual reality game designer. During a demonstration of her new product, she’s shot at by an assassin wielding a strange organic gun. Surviving the shooting, Allegra and her newfound bodyguard Pikul (Law) flee to the countryside. Away from civilisation, Allegra convinces Pikul that they must play her game – a choice that plunges them further and further away from reality.

The world of eXistenZ is full of Cronenbergian fleshy oddities, ranging from the placenta-like games consoles to the infamous ‘gristle gun’. Yet the world he creates in eXistenZ is his least immersive to date. More interesting is his critique of what games and other forms of media do to our lives – an issue still pertinent today. eXistenZ remains something of a curio that entertains rather than provokes – unlike, say, Crash. Born of an original concept from Cronenberg, it feels more like a collection of intriguing ideas rather than a cohesive whole.

Extras The film itself is a 2K restoration from the original negatives, but there’s little that’s fresh about the extras, which consist mostly of old interviews. The best is the one with Chueng and Richard, though there’s also an on-set featurette and an experimental short film about Cheung shot by Assayas. [Barry Didcock]

Extras This new Blu-ray (the film’s debut on the format) offers up some additional benefits, best of which is a documentary featuring Cronenberg’s long-term production designer Carol Spier, who offers an insightful perspective on the director’s wider body of work.

[Joseph Walsh]

Released by Arrow Films

Released by 101 Films

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Nobody ever argued for The Touch being Ingmar Bergman’s best film. Not on its release in 1971 – critical response was tepid – and certainly not since. Bergman himself hardly mentions it in his autobiographies, which is odd as it’s the only English language film he made. And in an era when even 1980s faves like Ghostbusters and The Breakfast Club are being viewed through the prism of #MeToo and found wanting, there are different, newer reasons to find fault. But with the centenary of the Swede’s birth falling in July and a programme of spruced up re-releases currently touring, The Touch is worth exhuming – and not just to please those Bergman completists who view it as some sort of ‘lost’ masterpiece.

The main reason to watch is Bergman regular Bibi Andersson.

She plays Karin, a mother-of-two happily married to surgeon Andreas (von Sydow). The film follows her as she starts an affair with American archaeologist David (Gould) when he issues an impromptu declaration of love after Andreas introduces the pair. The relationship, which plays out over the course of two years, often appears abusive. David is controlling, he hits Karin hard enough for Andreas to see the mark, and there’s a suggestion of rape in an early sexual encounter. But somehow it stays believable, gripping and emotionally insightful thanks to Andersson’s mesmerising screen presence, and to Bergman’s feel for the complexities of his material; when it came to charting infidelities, passions and the strange mechanics of the inner life, he always was the grown-up in the room.

Director: David Cronenberg Starring: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Ian Holm, Don McKellar, Callum Keith Rennie, Sarah Polley, Robert A Silverman, Christopher Eccleston, Willem Dafoe Released: 21 May Certificate: 15

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Released by BFI

CCA Highlights

May 2018

own nefarious ends. The freshly restored 1976 film screens in Scotland for the first time. As does the mockumentary Top Knot Detective; a tale of a failed Japanese samurai series which became a cult hit. Bryan M Ferguson may put you off keeping your next appointment at the barbers with his micro horror Toxic Haircut. The winner of The Skinny’s short film competition, Ferguson follows the scissor sharp screening of this and his other works with a Q&A. Glasvegas headline this year's Stag & Dagger festival (6 May), joined by over 35 acts at the multi-venue showcase over the May bank holiday.

The bumper line-up includes Detroit's post-punk quartet Protomartyr – whose Relatives In Descent was an album highlight of 2017 – plus Japanese rock outfit Bo Ningen, and local greats like Solareye, Edwin Organ, Home$lice and The Vegan Leather.

The melodic Melbourne act Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (20 May) come to CCA as part of their tour, ahead of the release of the much awaited first album Hope Downs. The Wave Pictures’ reputation as one of the most prolific bands around is certainly justified with two albums coming out in 2018. The imminent Brushes with Happiness was recorded in only one day and the follow-up Look Inside Your Heart is due in the autumn. But there’s no need for fans to stave off the constant craving for their music when it can be satiated live at their Glasgow gig on 15 June. https://www.cca-glasgow.com

The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, The Silent Glow

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

FILM & TV

Review

Credit: Anja Krug-Metzinger

ueer Classics: The Films that Made Us (25-26 May) screens many striking portraits from LGBTQ+ cinema’s vibrant history. The films cross continents and explore different eras from many perspectives. Funeral Parade of Roses takes place in Japan’s trans subculture, while Paris Is Burning waltzes us through New York’s drag scene balls for the origins of voguing – the stylised dance which imitates fashion model poses. Then, in the magical Orlando, a young nobleman is given eternal lifetimes and the secret of youth by Elizabeth I. He soon courts through British history experiencing lifestyles, relationships and identities from beyond the Tudor era.

The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival’s (10-13 May) theme of ‘beginnings’ is well explored in the CCA hosted film part of its wide ranging programme. In Being Keegan a naval officer faces up to a childhood trauma on his return to Liverpool. Teenage vulnerabilities come to the fore in But Honey You Look Fine, a documentary about bulimia centring on friendship that follows the first tentative steps of recovery. The Festival’s film awards take place on 10 May and submissions will be screened over the following three days.

Another unique film event is provided courtesy of Matchbox Cineclub, as Cinema’s stranger side is brought to life for the aptly titled Weird Weekend (2-3 Jun). A carnival based con artist is the protagonist of The Astrologer: on discovering he has authentic psychic powers, Alexander naturally goes about using them for his

Words: Ben Venables

Photo: Warwick Baker

Q

CCA’s spring and summer programme has a panoramic selection of cinema and a bank holiday crowded with live music thanks to Stag & Dagger

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Stage Directions

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The Scottish theatre calendar springs into action and moves with the times as stages across the country heat up Words: Amy Taylor

Mental

h May, oh May. The Scottish theatrical calendar has been building for months, and May is the busiest yet.

One of the biggest events in theatre in May is Mayfesto. Held at the Tron in Glasgow every year, this mini-festival of new writing, or as The Tron put it, ‘edgy and provocative new work’ runs 3-30 May. This year, the programme is as diverse as it is exciting with shows such as the dark and absurdist Ma, Pa and The Little Mouths by Martin McCormick, which stars Karen Dunbar, Gerry Mulgrew and Nalini Chetty in this world premiere, and Zinnie Harris’ Gut which premiered at The Traverse last month.

But the mini-festival isn’t just about new work, as some familiar faces and productions are set to take place at The Tron over the next month.

Mental, the winner of the first Mental Health Award at the Fringe last year, is set to be revived for the month of May and is presented by both Mayfesto and the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. Additionally, the theatre company Fire Exit are due to present a bursary programme with two rehearsed readings of new plays – Maryam Hamidi’s End Of and The Warhol Assassin by Amy Conway, as well as a reading of the Mayfesto award-winning play Brink by Sarah Farrell and Moving Monologues by Curious Seed.

As it did last year, Mayfesto is also playing host to a couple of productions from Take Me Somewhere, such as David Hoyle’s Diamond and What Girls Are Made Of; a new work-in-progress by Cora Bissett, the director of Glasgow Girls and Roadkill.

Also beginning this month is the Scottish tour of Lisa Nicoll’s new play Shattered, which opens at the Paisley Arts Centre on 19 May. Based on interviews and life experiences, the play follows a young couple in the throes of grief

as they mourn the death of their baby. Taking on themes such as isolation and loss, it shows a young woman wait for her life to begin again, before an encounter with a stranger changes everything.

Over in Edinburgh at the lyceum, and beginning just at the end of April, is David Greig’s adaptation of August Strindberg’s Creditors, the tale of a love triangle that Strindberg himself considered his best. Directed by Tony Awardwinning director Stewart Laing from Untitled Projects, this story of love, betrayal and revenge bristles with sexual tension and manipulation, combined with Laing’s distinctive visual style that will surely be a feast for the senses.

Meanwhile, Anatomy Arts is celebrating a big birthday with two nights at the Traverse Theatre on 10 & 11 May. Famed for curating cabaret nights of the weird, the wonderful and the uncategorisable, this collective is turning five and they have big plans for their birthday celebrations. Anatomy: Finest Cuts will feature, amongst many other names and acts, Jordan & Skinner’s Sanitise, Uranus by Moreno Solinas, Until the Cows Come Home by Xelís De Toro and SEX – SEX – SEX by Sara Zaltash. Expect nothing, expect everything, expect to be dazzled.

While later in the month the Traverse becomes home to some of the performances at this year’s Imaginate festival (find a full preview online at theskinny.co.uk/theatre), another May highlight is the UK premiere of Luden Ensemble’s co-production with the European Capital of Culture Pafos 2017, Forbidden Stories. This multimedia performance takes place from 17-18 May and explores themes of division and borders on the island of Cyprus through interviews with both Greek and Turkish communities.

Hidden Door, Many Voices The Skinny takes a peek behind Hidden Door and talks to four emerging voices in Scottish theatre about why they chose the festival, Leith and a troublesome plastic chicken

t may be stating the obvious to say that Edinburgh is a festival city. But while many think of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe when they think of arts festivals, smaller events such as the open access Hidden Door make an impact year round, providing a valuable platform for multi-disciplinary emerging artists that might not otherwise exist.

“Making theatre in Edinburgh can be tricky – the festival has created a fragile ecosystem in regards to space whereby it can be expensive and bureaucratic for locals to access even underused spaces,” explains playwright Rosanna Hall, about working with Hidden Door for the second time to stage Dead Centre/Made for Walking - a dystopian play set in 2022, where the movement of women is restricted both by the state and by the women themselves. “Hidden Door has been the perfect antidote – a chance to challenge creatives to reimagine what lurks beneath and offer the city a grassroots explosion of creativity at the same time.”

Opening up underused spaces is at the heart of Hidden Door, the arts festival that creates a platform for new work in underused spaces, including, most famously, Leith Theatre in 2017. This year, the festival returns to the Theatre, also opening up the nearby State Cinema, which has been closed since 2004.

Leith, Leith Theatre and gentrification form the basis of Village Pub Theatre, with three new plays, Dirty Lady Garden, Left For Dead and Half a Chandelier and a Packet of Chips all premier at this year’s festival. “For Hidden Door, we were inspired by the Leith Theatre because the building itself is such an inspiring place and such

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Review

an important part of the festival experience,” explains Caitlin Skinner from Village Pub Theatre. “Gentrification is a real issue and blooming incoming artists like me should be hugely conscious of what we are doing to the place, but at the moment, I think Leith is a wonderful mix of people. It’s a much more diverse neighbourhood than many other parts of the city and it’s become a home for a huge community of artists. Leith is political and quirky and welcoming and a space for things to happen.”

Annie Lord’s new piece, Celluloid combines performance and visual art and marks her fifth appearance at the festival, having performed there since 2014.“The incredible buildings that Hidden Door take over for their festivals are what keep me coming back. It’s incredibly exciting to make work which responds directly to their rich history. Every year I’ve taken a particular material or subject matter that relates to the site and built a story around it.”

Although Lord has performed at other festivals unlike these events, Hidden Door allows her the challenge of working in non-traditional theatre spaces, which is part of the appeal. She explains, “For me, this is more exciting than working in a traditional black box theatre, but it also brings its own challenges. There are no smooth walls to project onto, sightlines can be tricky, and you might have to shoo the odd pigeon out... but it’s all worth it for the opportunity to perform in such compelling spaces.”

While the festival’s theatre programme boasts familiar faces, it also features companies making their Hidden Door debut, including

Leith Theatre

playwright Rebecca Nada-Rajah of The Golden Trailer Collective, who are set to perform their first piece of theatre Magical Plastic Chicken, about a woman who buys a plastic toy chicken on holiday only for it to be mistaken for a bomb at the airport. “It’s just a group of friends, really, that’s how it started,” says Nada-Rajah. “We had similar interests and what stuff we wanted to produce. It’s not really a type of project that we’ve done, this is definitely the first adventure into theatre.”

The company, who are made up of nurses and mechanics, chose Hidden Door because the

THEATRE

festival’s ethos closely matched their own and their previous work, which has seen them get hold of interesting objects and putting them in the unlikeliest of places. “I think Golden Trailer is just a very good fit,” she continues. “Another project we did was taking a fishing boat and putting it on top of a hill. In adopting spaces, I guess Hidden Door is one of the few opportunities around; going into spaces, encouraging work and groups, and I was really grateful for that.”

Hidden Door, 25 May-3 Jun, Leith Theatre and State Cinema hiddendoorblog.org

THE SKINNY

Photo: Chris Scott

I

Interview: Amy Taylor

First Drafts Jay Lafferty and Lou Sanders on how practice makes perfect with work-in-progress comedy shows

T

he American novelist Erica Jong once said: “You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.”

While this is sage advice for authors, who know that what’s scribbled on scrunched up paper can stay between them and the bin, it is useless counsel for comedians. The only way to develop material for a live comedy show is to put the work on as a live comedy show.

At Gilded Balloon’s Rose Theatre the Fringe is arriving early with a season of work-in-progress gigs. And far from being like watching a writer stare at a blank page, comedy WIPs can often be as engaging as the final show. The spontaneous nature of the gig might not be as slick as it will become in August, but it gives these performances a different kind of energy for an audience to enjoy.

Although for the comedian, even an appreciative audience can induce something like labour pains. As Lou Sanders tells us: “I like honesty – honestly I do. I like if the audience are up for it at the start, as that sets the tone. If we have a good start then I can usually ride that sweet wave of goodwill. Then through the show it’s obvious some bits are going swimmingly and other bits need drowning. And that’s fine – same as

May 2018

Interview: Ben Venables

having a baby I guess. Exactly the same as having a baby.”

Sanders has a clear vision for Shame Pig. The first spark of inspiration was Jon Ronson’s book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, which she has been pondering since quitting drinking last year: “Looking back at all the shameful, awful – but in retrospect, quite funny – things I’d done when I was a lush, it all sort of came together.”

But to test the material properly a clear idea is no substitute for as much stage time as can feasibly be booked. “I rarely say no to a preview because they’re so important,” she says.

Jay Lafferty is working along similar lines: “I have seven hour previews planned across Scotland from Edinburgh to Strathaven.”

Lafferty started thinking about her latest work while performing her last show: “Last year’s hour wasn’t long enough to say everything I wanted and the bill wasn’t steep enough to stop me talking!” Although the idea for her new show Wheesht!, as the title implies, actually stems from problems caused when she has held her tongue.

Agreeing with Sanders, Lafferty also values feedback from an honest audience. Even if this goes against a comedian’s natural inclination: “I think if comedians had the opportunity to choose

their own audiences they would only ever play in front of appreciative loud laughers,” she says. A more preferable crowd, she adds, would be: “highly intelligent but understand the nuance of a dick joke.”

In addition to her previews she has “a number of shorter slots at development nights across the UK to help get the show ready.”

But when is a show ready? Due to administrative deadlines comedians submit their hour’s description while still working things out. “The blurb is often harder to write than the show,” says Lafferty. “I’m not joking. How can you encompass an hour long show into 40 words?” However, she adds this is part of what comedy is all about – “A Fringe show is a movable feast – it will and should evolve.”

The full preview season at Rose Theatre also includes shows by Tom Stade, Mawaan Rizwan, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Larry Dean, Maisie Adam, Chris Forbes, Ahir Shah, Micky Overman, Alfie Brown. It can be viewed at gildedballoon.co.uk/ programme Lou Sanders: Shame Pig (Work-in-Progress), Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre, 31 May, 7.30pm, £5 Jay Lafferty: Wheesht! (Work-in-Progress), 28 June, 9pm, £5

COMEDY

Lou Sanders

Review

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62

COMPETITIONS

THE SKINNY

Glasgow Music MEXRRISSEY SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £19.25

Like a Morrissey tribute night, except the band involved have reimagined the songs of The Most Miserable Man On Earth in truly Mexican form, with brass, accordion and sunny, sunny vibes.

Sounds mental.

WOLFE TONES

BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £22

Named after one of the leaders of the 1978 Irish Rebellion, Wolfe Tones bring their unabashedly political ditties to Barrowlands.

AN EVENING OF PUNK ‘N’ OI! VOL II (HALF CHARGE + TEAR UP + PANIC ATTAK + SMEEKERED) 13TH NOTE, FROM 20:00, £5

Another night of top punk ‘n’ Oi at The 13th Note.

ADAM STAFFORD

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £8

Tue 01 May

WE ARE ALL HERE: CALUM BARNES DOCUMENTARY FILM FUNDRAISER 2018

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £16.90

Scottish hip-hop’s finest acts unite to fight mental health stigma in the name of Calum Barnes.

FISCHER-Z

John Watts’ 39-year career as Fischer-Z includes 19 albums and 3000 concerts worldwide.

DOPELORD (TELEPATHY)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £12

Heavy. Very, very heavy.

BLANCO WHITE

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £9.50

Inspired by a range of different musical genres, Blanco White weaves together Anglo-American folk with an Andean and Flamenco sound.

SONGS OF THE ROMA

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £10

A new Romani musical journey full of spiritual intensity, catharsis and joy.

IGLOOGHOST (KAI WHISTON)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £8

UK-based, electronic producer of hyperspeed booms, fizzes, squeezes and stretches.

Wed 02 May

WALK OFF THE EARTH (DARENOTS)

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £28

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 19:00, £5

CONOR FERRAIOLI (KERR COCHRANE + NEIL SHAW + DENI SMITH) KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £7.70

Prepare for an epic ride through time and space as Outland brings the 80s back into the future.

THE WOOD BURNING SAVAGES

Fast-paced punk rock band from Derry.

SHONEN KNIFE

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £15

A fully female, fuzzy pop-punk rock band hailing from Osaka.

ROCK IT! FOR CHARITY: BEAT IT! CANCER (FUNDRAISER FOR BEATSON CANCER CHARITY) (GROIN DAY + THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT + STREGA PEZ + ANNA SECRET POET)

BOX, FROM 20:00, FREE

Rock It! For Charity is telling cancer to Beat It! with a fundraiser for the Beatson Cancer Charity in Glasgow.

DRENGE (KAGOULE )

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £11.25

N/L/

Solo electronic artist and connoisseur of ‘sad dance’ music.

MOVEMENTS (PÆRISH + MUSKETS)

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £8.80

Californian post-hardcore band.

EKE BUBA (THE CELETOIDS + BRATAKUS + GAY PANIC DEFENCE)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 20:00, £5

Ripping garage punk from Zagreb.

Fast, frantic and fucked up like Career Suicide/Brutal Knights/Reatards.

PINKSHINYULTRABLAST

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £11

Hot on the success of their debut album Everything Else Matters are Pinkshinyultrablast, a five-piece band from Saint-Petersburg in Russia.

THE NIGHT VISITORS REVISITED

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £10 - £20

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 19:30, £15

TAUPE

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £5

NICKELBACK

THE SSE HYDRO, FROM 18:30, £49.35 - £51.10

Responsible for the most (over) played song of the 00s; now regulars on the meme scene.

STEVEN ADAMS & THE FRENCH DROPS

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

Steven Adams returns with a new band featuring members of The Drink and Absentee.

Fri 04 May THE ALARM

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £25.85

Welsh new wave rock quartet, heavily influenced by Welsh language and culture.

SEUN KUTI & EGYPT 80

Fiesta Bombarda welcomes the youngest son of the legendary Fela Kuti is joined by his father’s 16-piece funk fuelled orchestra Egypt 80.

UNDERNEATH THE LIGHTS (WASTED SUMMERS + SCOTT GILBERT BAND + THE HIGHWAY FIVE)

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 19:00, £8

Five-piece indie/alternative rock band from Dunfermline.

May 2018

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £13.20

Yes, that is a legit band name.

Dublin indie rock band fronted by Niamh Farrell.

WILD ROCKET (ACID CANNIBALS + DEAD OTTER)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 20:00, £5 - £6

The Smiths tribute act.

CATHERINE MCGRATH

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:00, £9.90

19-year-old country singer from Northern Ireland, living in London.

THE RED RUM CLUB (THE MEDICINE PRIESTS + PRIMES)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £6

Sextet from Liverpool, combing sounds of old and new channeling Tarantino-esque wild western vibes with the help of a solitary trumpet.

Nathan John Feuerstein, aka NF, is an American rapper signed to Capitol.

STAG & DAGGER 2018

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 14:00, £27.50

13TH NOTE, FROM 19:30, £5

Edinburgh and Glasgow-born female-fronted trio, doing lovely things with the genres of garage and punk.

HELP ME I’M MELTING! WITH KIM MOORE

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, FROM 14:00, FREE

Mighty saxophonist Tony Bevan runs improvised music event Help Me I’m Melting!, where he collaborates with musicians from the Scottish, UK and international scenes.

ROBIN ADAMS ALBUM LAUNCH

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £5 - £7

Robin Adams performs songs from his new album The Beggar with a full band.

GUY JONES

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £15

BACKBEAT NON-STOP 60S POP

ORAN MOR, FROM 17:00, FREE

Get stuck into some sixties goodness in a dedicated party at Oran Mor, featuring music from early beat-boom, the mod era through to psychedelia.

THE HERBALISER

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £12.50

The Herbaliser continue to mix hip hop, funk, soul and jazz in their own inimitable style 18 years after forming.

STAG & DAGGER 2018

O2 ABC, FROM 14:00, £27.50

Now a firm fixture on Glasgow’s music calendar, the one-ticket, multi-venue export takes over Weegieland with a suitably eclectic line-up set across multiple venues.

PEACE (WHENYOUNG)

ST LUKE’S, FROM 19:00, £15

Detroit singer-songwriter blending folk-rock with 60s pop and 90s alt-rock hooks.

Mancunian rock trio.

DAYLIGHT SESSIONS (THE BRASS MONKEYS + DIRTY OLD RED)

ST LUKE’S, FROM 13:00, FREE

A lazy afternoon with music, brunch, Bloody Mary’s, tea and cake, for all ages.

AN EVENING WITH GARY LUCAS: FROM BEEFHEART TO BUCKLEY AND BEYOND

ST LUKE’S, FROM 19:00, £14

A super famous guitarist who worked with Jeff Buckley, Captain Beefheart, Lou Reed and Nick Cave.

If you don’t know, now you know.

STAG & DAGGER 2018

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 14:00, £27.50

Now a firm fixture on Glasgow’s music calendar, the one-ticket, multi-venue export takes over Weegieland with a suitably eclectic line-up set across multiple venues.

STAG & DAGGER 2018

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 14:00, £27.50

Now a firm fixture on Glasgow’s music calendar, the one-ticket, multi-venue export takes over Weegieland with a suitably eclectic line-up set across multiple venues.

THE BLUESWATER (JED POTTS & THE HILLMAN HUNTERS)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7 - £8

Young award-winning Edinburghbased band who tour internationally.

Influenced by gritty, old-school rhythm and blues they blend the Chicago sound of Chess records with the earthy, droning grooves of Mississippi to create a unique style.

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 18:30, TBC

THE FNORDS (BRUTALISTAS + MISS THE OCCUPIER + OWLS OF NOW)

London duo make luscious indie pop.

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £8

THE LONGCUT

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £10

The musical journey of Joel Wästberg, documenting a wealth of unique and idiosyncratic influences.

13TH NOTE, FROM 19:00, £5

Alternative indie up-and-comers who describe their sound as ‘music to fuck you in the heart’, which is nice.

Mon 07 May

SIR WAS

BLUE HOUSE (CLEMENTINE MARCH + ORDER OF THE TOAD + GIFT HORSE)

Now a firm fixture on Glasgow’s music calendar, the one-ticket, multi-venue export takes over Weegieland with a suitably eclectic line-up set across multiple venues.

Brutal big chunky riffs that just keep on coming, underpinned by the atmospherics of krautrock legends Neu and space explorers Hawkwind.

THE SMITHS LTD

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 19:00, £12

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £25

HAMSANDWICH (FLYING PENGUINS + GARDENING FOR BUMBLEBEES)

Sun 06 May

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £8.50

Thu 03 May

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 19:30, £10 - £50

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £14.65

The Smiths tribute act.

Duo making rock music of the finest variety.

OUTLAND GLASGOW 2018

Americana singer-songwriter who’s been lauded by the likes of BBC Introducing and Americana UK.

THE SMYTHS... UNITE AND TAKE OVER TOUR 2018

Reforming for the 25th anniversary of the release of Private.

ED SCRADER’S MUSIC BEAT (YOUS)

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £14.65

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £5

Tyneside punk/jazz/chaos maestros now splitting their time between Newcastle, Manchester and Edinburgh.

BLOC+, FROM 21:00, FREE

THE SMYTHS... UNITE AND TAKE OVER TOUR 2018

The Smiths tribute act.

Sheffield-based brothers Eoin and Rory Loveless provide guitars and drums-built soundscapes.

Canadian-American country musician.

Sat 05 May

The singer-songwriter heads our way. FFO Chainsmokers and Hurts.

The Canadian rock outfit – best known for their cover of Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know, during which they all shared one guitar – take some of their own material out on the road.

WHITNEY ROSE (LISA KOWALSKI + MARTHA HEALY)

Known for his intense and energetic live performances which incorporate soul-pop, post-punk and acapella experimentalism to dizzying effect.

NF KING TUT’S, FROM 20:00, £11

THE GREAT MAY DAY CABARET

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £12 - £14

A night of music, magic and comedy celebrating the May Day holiday.

THE TWEEDS

Husband and wife duo from Paisley.

ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC NIGHT W/ GERRY LYONS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 20:00, FREE

Come and see some of the best unsigned artists in the country for free.

SAMMY’S OPEN MIC

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 20:00, FREE

Ever popular open mic night hosted by house band The Bucks.

RILEY PEARCE

ANNA BURCH (HATCHIE)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7

Wed 09 May THE BLUETONES

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £21.90

The English indie-rock Britpop troupe return to the live stage.

RICHARD GALLAGHER

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 18:30, TBC

Self-taught musician heavily influenced by Americana, blues and folk.

CANSHAKER PI (BULL)

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £7.70

Dutch slacker rock four-piece.

DAMO SUZUKI

MONO, FROM 19:30, £11

Damo’s network project has taken place in 43 different countries with more than 7000 musicians, meaning every show is different and unique.

ELÊPHANT (NEVER NEVER MAN + FLOAT) NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, TBC

Stomping space, garage riding into war on the back of glam elephants with purple butterfly wings. Take from that what you will.

CALUM INGRAM & JASMINE RODGERS

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £12.10

The Paisley-born classicallytrained cellist and songwriter playing alongside Jasmine Rodgers.

SCOTT MATTHEWS (ADAM BULLEY & CHAS MCKENZIE)

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £18.70

Scott has garnered serious critical acclaim throughout his 10 year career and has taken this time to nurture his songwriting craft.

JIM GHEDI (MARCUS DOO)

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £8

The Sheffield-based experimental guitarist mixes finger-picked guitar and classical instrumentation.

FOLKLUB: KINNARIS QUINTET + CAMERON NIXON

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £12

Part of Glasgow’s thriving folk music community, Kinnaris Quintet’s sound is dynamic and compelling.

Thu 10 May WEEDEATER + ASG

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 18:30, £15

Double headline show from Weedeater and ASG. THE PHASE

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £7.70

RITA ORA

TOUNDRA (DIALECTS)

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £33

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £11

Toustle-haired pop singer/songwriter and actress, also know for dating – and dumping – poor ol’ Rob Kardashian.

RYAN LAWRIE

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 18:00, £10

Up-and-coming X Factor finalist taking to the road before knuckling down for a stint of album recording.

THE HUR (PEPLO + THE LOST LONELY BOY + OCEANCODE)

ST LUKE’S, FROM 19:30, £16

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7.50

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £7

Local folksters headed up by Iain Wilson.

ADORE DELANO

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £35 - £50

The RuPaul’s Drag Race and American Idol contestant plays a full band set.

SPLENDID GENTLEMEN

MAGGIE MAY’S, FROM 20:00, TBC

Splendid Gentlemen return to Maggie May’s, Glasgow to showcase some of their favourite songs.

MIDAS FALL

13TH NOTE, FROM 19:00, TBC

Alt-rock four piece from Manchester, gearing up to release their next album on Monotreme Records.

THE GRACIOUS LOSERS (LYNNIE CARSON)

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £5 - £7

The Gracious Losers launch their new single on Last Night From Glasgow.

Sat 12 May

REAL LIFE ENTERTAINMENT (AFGHAN SAND GANG + DOMICILES + SHREDD)

O2 ABC, FROM 18:30, £6.75

Real Life Entertainment roll in with their psych punk sound.

IAN MOSS

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 19:00, £15

Tue 08 May BADABOUM

BLOC+, FROM 21:00, FREE

French all-star girl group, affiliated to the famous Grande Triple Alliance de l’Est posse.

ERIN PONSONBY

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 18:30, TBC

19-year-old singer-songwriter from Clydebank.

CHRCH (FISTER)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £11

CHRCH wields epic, lengthy songs, massive low end and an occult vocal presence in a perfect blend of height and depth.

DEEP DARK WOODS (KACEY & CLAYTON)

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £13.75

Up-and-coming psychedelic country-styled Canadian quintet.

GOMEZ (JOHN SMITH)

BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £27.50

Gomez celebrate the 20th Anniversary of their Mercury Prize winning debut album Bring It On.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

POPPY ACKROYD

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £10

A classically trained pianist, violinist, producer and composer, Poppy Ackroyd has turned heads in the neo-classical world.

NAP EYES (HALEY HEYNDERICKX)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £8.50

Hailing from Nova Scotia, Nap Eyes makes crooked, literate guitar pop refracted through the gray Halifax rain.

Fri 11 May

WILKO JOHNSON (HUGH CORNWELL BAND)

O2 ABC, FROM 18:30, £28.65

The inimitable guitarist and founding member of Dr. Feelgood returns to the live circuit with a UK headline tour, following his (not actually) farewell tour after his diagnosis with terminal cancer.

THE FRONTIERS (SHOTGUN CITY SUNSHINE)

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £9

Up-and-coming alternative rock band from Ayrshire.

ASHLEY PAUL

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £11

The Brooklyn-based alternative composer who uses an array of instruments – including saxophone, clarinet, voice, guitar, bells and percussion – to create a colourful palate of sound.

RUN LOGAN RUN (GRAHAM COSTELLO’S STRATA QUARTET)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £6.50

Bristol duo Run Logan Run are a head on collision of pounding tribal drums and screaming guttural saxophone.

Mon 14 May STEVE ROTHERAY BAND

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £15

Founding member of Marillion since 1979, Steve Rothery’s melodic and atmospheric style has been an integral part of Marillion’s 17 albums.

CIRCUIT DES YEUX

MONO, FROM 19:30, £11.50

Live music project from Haley Fohr, using sounds as representations of the emotional spectrum that we all experience.

ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC NIGHT W/ GERRY LYONS

SEC, FROM 18:00, £34.05 - £56.75

THE TESKEY BROTHERS

A raw combination of soul and blues.

DELPHI (CRYSTAL + CARA ROSE)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, TBC

Four-piece indie rock band from Glasgow.

BARRALOADASOUL 2018

BARROWLANDS, FROM 14:00, £20

Northern soul, mod and 60s R’n’B all-dayer.

PETE BENTHAM & THE DINNER LADIES (FREAKWAVE + THE CHIBMARKS) 13TH NOTE, FROM 19:00, £5

Pete Bentham & the Dinner Ladies are ‘kitchencore’ artpunks at the vanguard of the current Liverpool DIY underground scene. They fuse the raw rock’n’roll of The Cramps with the invention of The Fall and the pop sensibilities of X Ray Spex.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £5

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £5

The outstanding, award-winning singer-songwriter from Louisana.

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £8.80

A power trio coming up from the emerging scene of Madrid.

Glasgow four-piece.

MARY GAUTHIER

Come and see some of the best unsigned artists in the country for free.

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7.50

THE REASON (KID LUNA + PRIMES)

MINI MANOEUVRES X MELTING POT

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 13:00, £0 - £7

Respected as one of Australia’s iconic musicians, Ian Moss delivers an unforgettable sound.

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, FROM 19:30, £5 - £7

American surf rock sensation, who will lead you to garage pop beaches with raw, sexy and sunny sounds.

MIKI YUI (MARK VERNON)

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £7

Top club DJ’s playing tunes for all the family.

ERRANT MEDIA PRESENTS UPSTAIRS (GREENFINCH + ERRANT BOY + STEPHEN MCLAREN + ROELLE BLUE)

VUNDABAR

SEC, FROM 18:30, £45.40 - £52.80

The British-American rockers drop by to play I Want to Know What Love Is and, erm, some other tunes.

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £11

Six-piece indie rock band from Caithness.

UK-based rock band formed in Larissa, Greece in 2003.

FAVX (CLOSE READING)

FOREIGNER (JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR + JOHN PARR)

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:30, £4 - £6

A showcase of new ensemble work from the Department of Traditional Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Musician from Tokyo creating sonic landscapes emerging out of delicate noises, samples, electronic sounds and field recordings.

NEON WALTZ (BETA WAVES + WALT DISCO)

Alt-folk artist, based in Perth, Australia, following an honest brand of songwriting.

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £7.50

The Spanish post-rock collective take in Scotland as part of their current European tour.

THE ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE OF SCOTLAND: AN EVENING OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC

Leith-based label/promoter exports its successful Upstairs night to Glasgow for a second time.

MARK GEARY (MARTIN MOCHAN)

AUDIO, FROM 19:30, £10

Irish-born singer-songwriter, based in New York since 1992.

CARTER SAMPSON (JESSE AYCOCK & LAUREN BARTH)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 20:00, FREE

RAY LAMONTAGNE

American folk crooner. You’ll have heard Trouble during some emotional scene in a TV show.

DURAND JONES & THE INDICATIONS

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £8

Indiana band making the deepest of soul music.

WRECKLESS ERIC

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £12

COMMON HOLLY

Common Holly puts unpredictable compositional elements into a singer-songwriter/folk framework, packaged in textured, eclectic electro-acoustic production.

Wed 16 May RA THE RUGGED MAN

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £14

East Coast legend RA The Rugged Man heads to our shores for a run of very rare UK performances.

SWERVEDRIVER

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £18

The resurgent Oxford quartet, playing Raise and Mezcalhead.

DEAD WHITE MALES (REALITY TV)

BLOC+, FROM 21:00, FREE

Intense, atmospheric post-rock.

SAPIENN (KYLE O)

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 18:30, TBC

Sapienn blends alternative rock, prog, goth and folk music.

SHANE FILAN

THEATRE ROYAL, FROM 19:30, £31.65 - £80.15

Your man from Westlife. Likely to feature a bar stool.

GREY HAIRS (SAVAK + JUTLAND SONGS)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £6

Nottingham punk rock band.

Thu 17 May

COCO AND THE BUTTERFIELDS (WOODWIFE) O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £11.25

Village folk types.

REPEATER #42 (ACID CANNIBALS + CURDLE) BLOC+, FROM 21:00, FREE

Post-hardcore DIY gig/club effort with a selection of live acts dropping by.

FAITHFUL STRANGER (STATIC SUNS + FUTURISE + ASTROPHE) KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £7.70

Indie rock band from Glasgow.

English rock’n’roll singer/songwriter, out and touring without his usual partner in crime, Amy Rigby.

DEMONIC RESSURECTION (WRETCHED SOUL)

Tue 15 May

Symphonic death metal from Mumbai, India.

MARQUIN

BLOC+, FROM 21:00, FREE

Loud, noisy pop music. Memorable riffs, driving punk rock rhythms and a good old-fashioned vocal hook or two.

ISLAND (CLUB KURU)

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:00, £12.10

A very similar sound to The Kooks of yore.

ACID DAD

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £7

NYC hi-fi rockers.

TOO MANY ZOOS

ST LUKE’S, FROM 19:00, £16.50 - £20.35

A busking phenomenon born in the subways of New York City.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £8

CHAD VALLEY

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £7

Imogen Heap-esque vocal arrangements, dance hooks and tasty electronica from Chad Valley, AKA Hugo Manuel.

BARRY STEELE & FRIENDS - THE ROY ORBISON STORY

THEATRE ROYAL, FROM 19:30, £22 - £27

Roy Orbison tribute show.

AIDAN MOFFAT & RM HUBBERT

ST LUKE’S, FROM 19:00, £16

The two Scots team up for music and good times.

BONAFIDE

AUDIO, FROM 18:30, £12

The Swedish rockers return.

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £13

Okie-born singer-songwriter with a big country voice and songs to match.

IAIN MORRISON

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

A set from the son of Iain Morrison senior, whose 2015 album Eas was shortlisted for a SAY Award.

Sun 13 May SARI SCHORR

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £12.50

Sari, who trained as an opera singer, mixes blues, rock, and soul with concrete melodies and poetic lyrics to striking effect.

BROTHERS OSBORNE (KENDELL MARVEL)

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £19

Country brother duo Brothers Osborne have been jamming together since they were young, perfecting the southern guitar licks and crooning vocals.

Listings

63

CHALI 2NA & KRAFTY KUTS STEREO, FROM 19:00, £16.50

Part of the legendary Jurassic 5, Chali 2Na and his rich baritone vocals are backed by the typical cut and paste style of Krafty Kuts.

CRIPPLED FOX (DANIEL WAX OFF)

13TH NOTE, FROM 19:00, TBC

The Hungarian thrash metalers take to the UK. PHOEBE BRIDGERS

ST LUKE’S, FROM 19:00, £13.20

LA singer-songwriter who wrote her first song aged 11. Yeah, what were you doing when you were 11?

MARY OCHER (HAIRBAND + SEAN ARMSTRONG)

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, FROM 20:00, £8

KETTLE OF KITES THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £10

Project based on the compositions of Tom Stearn.

THE OSIRIS CLUB (FIRST TEMPLE OF THE ATOM)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, TBC

The debut Glasgow performance from The Osiris Club.

Fri 18 May CAR SEAT HEADREST

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £17.40

American indie rock band from Virginia, now based in Seattle.

THE COMMON COLD (STILL HOUSE PLANTS + FEAR OF THE HORSE)

O2 ABC, FROM 21:00, £9

The former John Peel favourites return with more psych for you to rock out to.

REND COLLECTIVE

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 18:30, £21

The religious collective of musicians and artists tread the boards.

GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT (WHITE RING)

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 19:30, £17.50

Irish post-rock trio.

ELEPHANT SESSIONS (HOLY MOLY AND THE CRACKERS)

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £13.20

Award-winning neo-trad quintet forged in the Highlands of Scotland.

FRUIT TONES

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £5

Fuzzkill Records signees. Ripe and ready since 2012.

BROKEN RECORDS

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £12

Edinburgh band, who use their different musical backgrounds and a wide variety of instrumentation to complement the eclectic sound they create.

ITALIAN STREETPUNK

13TH NOTE, FROM 20:00, £7

A night of street punk from Italy, duh.

JILL JACKSON

ST LUKE’S, FROM 19:30, £13

The former Speedway singer goes it alone armed with her Americana-styled country solo work.

KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 19:30, £20

Talented sibling ensemble encompassing a mixed bag of musical influences, from country to rock’n’roll.

JACOB YATES AND THE PEARLY GATE LOCK PICKERS

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:00, £9

Glasgow-dwelling quartet who describe their sound as ‘doom wop’: basically a bit rock’n’roll, a bit rockabilly and plenty dark vibes.

A. WESLEY CHUNG ALBUM LAUNCH (THE MAGIC LANTERN) THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:00, TBC

Californian-born, Glasgow-based Americana musician celebrating the release of his debut solo album Neon Coast.

BABYBIRD

TOKIO MYERS O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £34.25

Tokio Myers is a multi-instrumental artist and composer fusing classical piano with electronic sounds and beats, creating an immersive and compelling show.

SAMSON SOUNDS LIVE

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £9

Reggae, dub and jungle connoisseurs play live.

REEF / THE WILDHEARTS / TERRORVISION - THE BRITROCK MUST BE DESTROYED! TOUR

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 17:00, £33.70

A glorious collision of anthemic British rock, apparently.

SPEAR OF DESTINY

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £17.60

Anthemic punk power rock band Spear of Destiny were founded in 1983 by singer and songwriter Kirk Brandon.

OVERHAUL

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £5

Back at Sleazy’s with a new album and EP due out in 2018.

COLTSBLOOD (OF SPIRE & THRONE)

13TH NOTE, FROM 20:00, £8

Liverpudlian dark noisemakers who surfaced in 2013 with their self-released demo tape.

JOSH T. PEARSON BAND

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 19:00, £20

The dapper Texan musician emerges from almost a decade of silence to release a staggering record that’s a gold standard of how to write about heartbreak.

ROOTS/CROSSINGS

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:00, £8 - £10

Three internationally-touring musicians unite to create a cross-cultural collaboration based on the music of their Lithuanian and Scottish roots through a contemporary lens.

JIZZY PEARL’S LOVE HATE

AUDIO, FROM 19:00, £15

Jizzy Pearl’s back again with a new tour and a new Frontiers record.

SAVAGE MANSION’S SOUTHSIDE ALL DAYER (SPINNING COIN + SAVAGE MANSION + I. SOLAR + MARTHA FFION + DTHPDL + HAPPY SPENDY + CHUMP + U.S. HIGHBALL + GOLDFLAKEPAINT DJS) THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 15:30, £8 - £10

A huge all-dayer curated by Savage Mansion.

ST.MARTIINS

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7.50

Dundee-based indie duo who’ve drawn comparisons to Model Aeroplanes.

Sun 20 May CURRAN

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £16.90

Irish-born singer-songwriter.

CONNOR FYFE

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 18:30, £8

Young singing sensation headlines his first Glasgow show.

WILD CHILD

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £13.75

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £15

The Stephen Jones-fronted 90s indie-popsters return, reformed as a three-piece, with hit You’re Gorgeous still very much their calling card.

Sat 19 May DURANANDURAN

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £12

Duran Duran tribute act.

Folk-meets-pop Texans with Alexander Beggins and Kelsey Wilson sharing lead vocal duties.

BODEGA

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £7.50

Brooklyn art rock unit, with wild minimalism and sharp wit.

LO MOON (BONIFACE)

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £11.55

LA-based trio and the brainchild of frontman Matt Lowell.

Moscow-born Mary Ocher’s work is as enchanting as it is polarising, ranging from traditional folk to raw 60s garage, ambient with ethereal vocals and abstract synths, to experimental pop with African and South American rhythms.

ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:00, £13

A band with a penchant for hooky guitars and undeniable melodies, married to lyrics that are intelligent and wide-eyed with an unmistakably-Australian dry wit.

TRAGEDY

AUDIO, FROM 18:30, £12

Listings

THE CUTKELVINS

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £14.60

The X Factor 2017 contestants, whose lead singer was previously in British girl band Neon Jungle.

DANIEL DOCHERTY

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £11.25

Acoustic folk-pop singer/songwriter from Glasgow.

SONARS (EWAN C. GRANT + ANNA PLUTO)

BLOC+, FROM 21:00, FREE

Electro psych duo from Brighton and Bergamo, with a retro futuristic sound.

MACHINE HEAD

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £31.45

Californian metal-heads heavy on the paint-by-numbers guitar riffs.

JON ALLEN

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £16.50

Acoustic singer/songwriter armed with his kit-bag of soulful, gravely tunes.

KURO (CYNTHIA’S PERISCOPE + GRAVELLE + THE EAGERTONGUE)

13TH NOTE, FROM 19:00, £4

A night of live synth pop, industrial, electro punk and noise.

CLOTH (EWAN CRUICKSHANKS + BYSTANDEREFFECT)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £5

Cloth deliver angular alt-rock cut through with deep electronic grooves.

All metal tribute to the Bee Gees and beyond.

Thu 24 May

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £15

Robyn Hitchcock is one of England’s most enduring contemporary singer songwriters and live performers. A surrealist poet, talented guitarist, cult artist and musician’s musician, Hitchcock is among alternative rock’s father figures.

BOO HEWARDINE & DARDEN SMITH

Two hugely respected artists team up for a joint show.

MEN I TRUST

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, TBC

Indie dance band from Montreal, who love smooth sounds and calm melodies.

Mon 21 May ALMA (OFF BLOOM)

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £11.25

Finnish pop sensation, with the brightest hair you’ll ever see.

JAPANESE BREAKFAST

MONO, FROM 19:30, £10

Solo moniker of Philly solo musician Michelle Zaunder, who knows her way around a damn fine melody.

ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC NIGHT W/ GERRY LYONS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 20:00, FREE

Come and see some of the best unsigned artists in the country for free.

SKEGGS

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £9

Skegss are an Australian punk trio from Byron Bay. GUS DAPPERTON

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £12

21-year-old New York musician.

Real name Brendan Rice.

BULLY (DUDE YORK + TONGUE TRAP)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £9

ROBYN HITCHCOCK (THE LEFT OUTSIDES)

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:30, £15.50

SWIGGY

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 18:30, TBC

Singer-songwriter headlines his first Glasgow show.

MASEGO

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £26.75

The acoustic songsmiths, whose album The War On Mugs is definitely in the running for quite possibly the best album title ever.

SAM EVIAN

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7.50

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, FREE

BELLE AND SEBASTIAN

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 18:00, £40.30

THE FAIM

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £8

CUTTY’S GYM (OBJECTIFIED + SHREDD)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £6 - £8

The Beatles tribute act.

SCREAMING FEMALES

New Jersey-hailing punk rockers with – shock horror – only one female in their midst.

DMA’S

BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £15

Nostalgic garage pop straight from the heart of Newtown in Sydney.

THE KITE STRING TANGLE

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £10

Solo project of Brisbane-based alternative electronic artist and producer Danny Harley.

COSMO SHELDRAKE

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £8

THE SSE HYDRO, FROM 18:30, £42.55 - £51.10

Wed 30 May

BRYAN ADAMS

The man who put (Everything I Do) I Do It For You at number one for 16 bloody weeks. Say no more.

AWATE

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £9

As a refugee from Eritrea via Saudi Arabia, Awate’s lyrics are a complex train of thought on subjects like selfesteem, racism, pride and class.

Sun 27 May MUNDY

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £22.50

Mundy return with the original lineup for a special 21st anniversary show, celebrating Jelly Legs.

MORRISSEY AND MARSHALL (THE PLEA + THE NOVACS + ROBBI MCFAULDS) KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £8.80

Folk’n’roll and centered around harmony vocals.

NERVOUS TWITCH (TRIPTYCH + YUNG KP)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £6

Hook-filled fuzzy new wave pop.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 18:00, £49.50

The James Murphy led quintet of funk, punk and art-obsessed friends.

ANCHOR LANE (RUMRUNNERS + DARKNESS DIVINE)

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £7

Scottish hard rock quartet.

MOON KING

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £7

Ethereal Toronto duo Daniel Benjamin and Maddy Wilde.

SUPERCHUNK

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £6

Sat 26 May THE RUTLES

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £20

DOGTOOTH (HUMAN RENEGADE)

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £6.75

Trio of dudes playing indie, early mod and punk tunes.

MASON HILL

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £11

Highway To Hell UK battale of the bands winners.

THE IDOL DEAD (POWDERKEG + ROCKETFLAIRE)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £5

Rock laced with punk attitude.

CIRCLE

PLATFORM, FROM 19:00, £7.50 - £10

Finnish heavy metal sonic explorers BROOKE CANDY

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £20 - £40

American rapper with the most NSFW Instagram account you’ll come across.

FANTASTIC NEGRITO

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £16.50

Fantastic Negrito is a man’s truth told in the form of black roots music.

FRANKIE & THE WITCH FINGERS (SHREDD) NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £7

West Coast screamers Frankie and the Witch Fingers trade on a tradition built up from the very fabric of psychedelic soul.

GOSPELBEACH (THE HANGING STARS)

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £11

Californian folk-pop.

THE ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE OF SCOTLAND: TRADITIONAL MUSIC RECITAL FESTIVAL

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 11:00, FREE

Showcasing a diverse programme of new work by students of the BMus Traditional Music course at the RCS.

SONGS IN THE SOUTH: DAVID STARR + MARTHA L HEALY + AL SHIELDS THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £10

An evening of the finest Americana songwriting from both sides of the Atlantic.

CHARLES HOWL

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7

Charles Howl are moving away from garage fuzz, instead embracing a poppy psych groove (sounds familiar). Witness the fruits of the transition, see what you make of it.

Thu 31 May

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £18

THE BEAT STARRING DAVE WAKELING (THE PATRICK MONKEYS)

WUSSY

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £21.40

Five-piece hailing from Cincinnati who bridge the gap between The Band and Sonic Youth.

HIRO KONE

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £8

Mon 28 May

Dance to some horn, while a tight rhythm section jams timeless beats into your brain.

THE ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE OF SCOTLAND: TRADITIONAL MUSIC RECITAL FESTIVAL

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 11:00, FREE

Leeds-based DIY post-punk bunch.

Fri 25 May FUNK RENEGADE

Greta Kline’s musical output as Frankie Cosmos exemplifies the generation of musicians born out of online self-releasing.

Showcasing a diverse programme of new work by students of the BMus Traditional Music course at the RCS.

BILGE PUMP

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, TBC

New York-based multi-instrumentalist, combining hardware, synths and modular to cultivate her sound.

Rising Weegie guitar’n’drums duo currently honing their sound on the live circuit.

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £9

AUDIO, FROM 19:00, TBC

With four critically-acclaimed studio albums, songwriter David Ford is essential listening for anyone who gives a damn about music.

The project of New York-based musician, songwriter and producer, Sam Owens.

After performing for the first time ever as a duo on their 2012 tour, Ron and Russell Mael (aka Sparks) return to a live setting – again performing as a twosome using only voice and keyboards.

Experimental art rockers building their sound on the back of some hellish guitar noise.

DAVID FORD (LOU HICKEY + ESCOBAR 9)

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:30, £9

THE FOZ (TELEGRAPH ROAD)

Current Rock Sound Breakout band, whose debut single was co-written

by Pete Wentz. Remember him?

FATHER MURPHY (HOWIE REEVE + UNKIRK)

Manchester-based amalgamation of post-punk, psych and shoegaze.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £5

Tue 22 May O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £31.45

FRANKIE COSMOS THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 19:00, £15

Indie rock band from North Carolina.

The longstanding Glasgow indie-pop troupe head out on the road again.

SPARKS

THE UNDERGROUND YOUTH BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £10

Micah Davis, aka Masego, refers to his music as TrapHouseJazz. Enjoy.

With a vocal style that is as pretty as it is powerful and emotionally resonant lyrics, Bully’s Alicia Bognanno reveals a raw honesty in songs that are distinctly hers.

28-year-old multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and producer.

64

Wed 23 May

EZRA FURMAN

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £20.75

American indie pop singer-songwriter gaining increasing mileage on national radio.

ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC NIGHT W/ GERRY LYONS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 20:00, FREE

Come and see some of the best unsigned artists in the country for free.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 18:00, £49.50

The James Murphy led quintet of funk, punk and art-obsessed friends.

AVI BUFFALO (SOLO) (A. WESLEY CHUNG)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

Solo show from the frontman Avi Zahner-Isenberg of alternative-styled Long Beach ensemble Avi Buffalo.

Tue 29 May THE SHADES (HANOVER)

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £16.90

London-based rock band made up of Dean, Hunter, Moses and Slim.

The Beat and Dave Wakeling return with their first studio album since 1982 and a string of live dates to flaunt it at.

WHY DON’T WE

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £23.60

Rising pop stars, Why Don’t We are headed to the UK for their first ever headline shows.

THE STONED IMMACULATE (SHIVA + WHISKEY PIGEON)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £3

An evening of tunes from the Glasgow four-piece.

TRACYANNE & DANNY

ST LUKE’S, FROM 19:00, £13.20

A collaboration between Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura and Danny Coughlan from Crybaby.

THE ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE OF SCOTLAND: TRADITIONAL MUSIC RECITAL FESTIVAL

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 11:00, FREE

Showcasing a diverse programme of new work by students of the BMus Traditional Music course at the RCS. MODERN STUDIES ALBUM LAUNCH

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £8 - £10

Feral pop outliers Modern Studies launch their second album Welcome Strangers.

CURSE OF LONO (KERRI WATT)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £8

Edinburgh Music Tue 01 May

Fri 04 May

THE CAVES, FROM 19:00, £12.50

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, TBC

JUSTIN NOZUKA

American folk singer-songwriter of Canadian and Japanese descent, who has also tried his hand at a bit of acting.

ED SCHRADER’S MUSIC BEAT & MOANING

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £8.50

BLACKMORES BLOOD

Rainbow/Richie Blackmore tribute.

THE CARPENTERS STORY

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, FROM 19:30, £26.40 - £27.90

A musical dedication to the life and times of The Carpenters.

ZOE BESTEL

Baltimore duo Ed Schrader’s Music Beat are joined by abrasive L.A. post-punk outfit Moaning for an outstanding US double headline show.

Ethereal vocals, poignant melodies and stirring lyrics from awardwinning nu-folk singer/songwriter and musician, Zoë Bestel.

SUMMERHALL, FROM 20:00, £15

USHER HALL, FROM 18:30, £41.25 - £49.50

NEHH PRESENTS… SHONEN KNIFE

A fully female, fuzzy pop-punk rock band hailing from Osaka.

WANTED: OPEN SESSION

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 21:00, FREE

Open acoustic session/jam downstairs at Leith Depot. Bring yer instruments and get a tune going.

All welcome.

Wed 02 May

JIZZY PEARL’S LOVE/HATE (DOOMSDAY OUTLAW + EMPERORS OF THE WASTELAND) BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £12 - £15

Jizzy Pearl's back again with a new tour and a new Frontiers record.

BLANCO WHITE (LUNA DELIRIOUS)

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £10

Inspired by a range of different musical genres, Blanco White weaves together Anglo-American folk with an Andean and Flamenco sound.

Thu 03 May CHROME MOLLY

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, TBC

Hard rock band from Leicester, who re-formed in 2009 following an 18-year hiatus.

LA PEGATINA

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £16.50

Barcelona pop band.

VANIVES

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £8.80

Rising duo fusing electronica, R&B and folk. They have left music lovers and critics floored at every turn.

NEHH PRESENTS… ADAM STAFFORD ‘FIRE BEHIND THE CURTAIN’ ALBUM LAUNCH SUMMERHALL, FROM 20:00, £10

Recorded in the Song, by Toad HQ, The Happiness Hotel, the latest addition to the Adam Stafford opus is Fire Behind the Curtain.

STRANGE BONES (CALVA LOUISE)

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £8

Strange Bones have a reputation for explosive punk shows and have been nominated for UMA Best Live Band 2018.

ACCIDENTAL GOLD PRESENTS: TRAGICAL HISTORY TOUR (TRAGICAL HISTORY TOUR, LOU MACLEAN AND IAIN BETHEL (UNDO))

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, £5

Rousing acoustic bangers from the King of Cow Punk and head honcho of Dundee’s Make-That-A-Take Records.

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £8

DANIEL O’DONNELL

The most successful easylistening-country star tours his back catalogue of hits.

BOHEMIAN MONK MACHINE

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, TBC

Fife-based funk troupe play another monster two hour set.

Sat 05 May

HAIR OF THE DOG (ELECTRIC MOTHER)

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, TBC

Scottish rock trio who draw their sounds from the classic rock bands of the 70s with a modern day punch.

SWEATY PALMS (BLUEBIRDS)

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, FROM 19:00, £5

Fuzzkill upstarts Sweaty Palms head up this show.

PRINCE PARTY

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:00, £12

Party with the purple funky people, celebrating the incredible life of Prince.

ELVANA: ELVIS FRONTED NIRVANA

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £14.85

Elvis-fronted Nirvana, obvs.

GOING UNDERGROUND (NORTH ATLAS + TEEK + LIZ JONES + DR SALAD)

TEVIOT UNDERGROUND, FROM 19:00, £4

An evening of live music and entertainment for Macmillan Cancer Support.

THE BLUESWATER (JED POTTS AND THE HILLMAN HUNTERS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £9

Young award-winning Edinburghbased band who tour internationally. Influenced by gritty, old-school rhythm and blues, they blend the Chicago sound of Chess records with the earthy, droning grooves of Mississippi to create a unique style.

MEXRRISSEY - LA REINA IS DEAD

LA BELLE ANGELE, FROM 19:00, £17.50

Mexrrissey isn’t a cover band, it’s a tribute to everything Morrissey has been to Mexico, and everything Mexico has made him to be.

Sun 06 May BEANS ON TOAST

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £15

Politically-charged one man folkmachine from London, via Essex.

London five-piece, whose songs cover themes including infidelity and sexual jealousy, the death of friends and frontman Felix Bechtolsheimer’s personal struggle with heroin addiction.

ADRENA ADRENA (BLOOD OF THE BULL)

BLOC+, FROM 21:00, FREE

Adrena Adrena is a collaboration between visual artist Daisy Dickinson and drummer E-Da Kazuhisa, blending drums, noise and organic visual work.

BEN MHÒR (HELENA DELAND + CORTNE)

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £8.80

Music project bringing together elements of folk and country in atmospheric musical spaces.

AUTHOR & PUNISHER (TREPANERINGSRITUALEN)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £12

San Diago one-man industrial doom and drone metal chap (aka Tristan Shone), utilizing primarily custom fabricated machines/controllers and speakers.

THE SKINNY

SOUNDHOUSE: MARY ANN KENNEDY TRAVERSE THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £11

After years of writing and recording, Mary Ann is stepping forward as a solo artist.

PARTY FEARS THREE

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £13.20

One of the UK’s leading and most highly-respected 80s covers bands, celebrating the era’s music and sounds.

DREAMWEAPON (MAD GERALD + REAL LIFE ENTERTAINMENT)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £7

Heaps of distortion, melodic concerns and guitar explorations with psychedelic hues.

Mon 07 May

SOUNDHOUSE: MARTIN SIMPSON

TRAVERSE THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £11

40 years after he recorded his first album, Golden Vanity, in 1976, Martin is known as a guitarist of formidable talent and purveyor of traditional folk, American folk and blues.

FANGCLUB

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £6

Fri 11 May HAMMERHEAD

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, TBC

Minneapolis-based noise rock band.

POPPY ACKROYD (CUCINA POVERA)

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:00, £10

Aclassicallytrainedpianist,violinist, producerandcomposer,PoppyAckroyd hasturnedheadsintheneo-classicalworld.

IAIN MORRISON

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £10

A set from the son of Iain Morrison senior, whose 2015 album Eas was shortlisted for a SAY Award.

HYPNOTIC GROOVE & RITUAL PRESENT: KENNY WASP (DABJ) & DEBUKAS

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £5 - £7

Fantastic selectors from some of Scotland’s best house and techno labels.

REFUGEE BENEFIT

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, TBC

Another night of live entertainment at the depot for a local refugee charity.

Sat 12 May SCOPYONNS

Grungy 90s riffs over a throbbing pop heart, they’re a deafening feedback loop of leather and amp stacks with a sugary sweet edge.

Scorpions tribute.

Tue 08 May

An evening celebrating the songs of Patsy Cline.

OUT OF SYSTEM TRANSFER (QFOLK + YOU ART LOST BE CAREFUL)

WEE RED BAR, FROM 19:00, £5

NYC’s gonzo anti-folk punk rock radical leftist hootenanny.

VUNDABAR

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £7.50

American surf rock sensation, who will lead you to garage pop beaches with raw, sexy and sunny sounds.

DAMO SUZUKI

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £10

Damo’s network project has taken place in 43 different countries with more than 7000 musicians, meaning every show is different and unique.

WANTED: OPEN SESSION

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 21:00, FREE

Open acoustic session/jam downstairs at Leith Depot. Bring yer instruments and get a tune going. All welcome.

Wed 09 May SABBATH YEARS

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, TBC

Black Sabbath tribute.

BARRENCE WHITFIELD AND THE SAVAGES

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £12

American soul-meets-r’n’b outfit led by vocalist Barrence Whitfield, now taken under the wing of Bloodshot Records.

LOWER THAN ATLANTIS

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £18.15

Hard-rockin’ foursome hailing from Hertfordshire.

CARMA (AILSA AND THE SEAHORSES + SARAH GALLAGHER)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £5

Highland folk duo Carma have a distinct sound that has been likened to First Aid Kit, Birdie and Daughter.

GOOD GRIEF PRESENTS: BLUE HOUSE + ROBERT SOTELO + CLEMENTINE MARCH LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, £6

Good Grief present another stellar night of sounds local and beyond and all for a good cause. In this case, Drake Music Scotland.

Thu 10 May MIDAS FALL

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, TBC

Alt-rock four piece from Manchester, gearing up to release their next album on Monotreme Records.

GLAMOUR & THE BAYBES (NIPPLES OF VENUS)

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, FROM 20:00, £5 - £7

Jazz rock powered by screaming frontman Angus Munro and drummer Jordie Gilmour.

SCOTT MATTHEWS

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £17

Scott has garnered serious critical acclaim throughout his 10 year career and has taken this time to nurture his songwriting craft.

NEHH PRESENTS… THE SPOOK SCHOOL (BREAKFAST MUFF)

SUMMERHALL, FROM 20:00, £12

Scotland’s indie-pop optimists The Spook School come to Edinburgh with their third record ‘Could It Be Different?’.

THE LIVING ROOM GIGS (KHALID AL KHAJAH + RORY BUTLER + SMITTEN)

ASSEMBLY ROXY, FROM 19:30, £6

The Living Room Gigs are hosting some of Edinburgh’s finest musicians once again, in the most intimate of settings at the Assembly Roxy Snug Bar. FOREVER ALIEN

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, TBC

Italian electronic crew make their Leith Depot debut.

May 2018

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, TBC

PATSY CLINE & FRIENDS

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £19.50

THE WORKINGMANS DEAD

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £10

Scotland’s finest Grateful Dead tribute act are back for another night of homage to the Godfathers of the San Francisco acid wave.

NEW YORK TOURISTS (JOSH WHEATLEY + THE PARTY SLOGAN)

WEE RED BAR, FROM 19:00, £5

An evening of live sounds from Blackburns New York Tourists

MEDITERRANEO: CINEMA & MUSICA! (ASSUNTA SPINA (FILM AND LIVE SCORE) + THE BADWILLS + VIPER SWING) SUMMERHALL, FROM 20:30, £8 - £12

Edinburgh’s very own wild world music concert series, Mediterraneo is back with a huge, special live cinema and music edition.

MCFLEETWOOD

LA BELLE ANGELE, FROM 19:00, £14

Scotland’s tribute to Fleetwood Mac return to Edinburgh for their biggest show in the capital yet.

BRAW GIGS PRESENTS: ASHLEY PAUL - MATINEE SHOW

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 16:00, TBC

Solo matinee from experimental American composer/multiinstrumentalist.

JAGGERS LIPS PRESENTS: VFLAMBDA + THEE RAG ‘N’ BONE MAN + FATALISTS

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:00, £5

Big night of noise from the east coast.

Sun 13 May FOREST CAN’T RUN

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, £5

Pop punk band.

TRIO HLK WITH EVELYN GLENNIE

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 20:00, £10 - £22.50

Pioneering Scottish ensemble Trio HLK, Richard Harrold, Ant Law and Richard Kass team up with the world’s premier solo percussionist, Dame Evelyn Glennie.

VISTAS

THE CAVES, FROM 19:00, £8

Indie-rockers Vistas (formerly known as Friend of a Friend) head our way.

JJ GILMOUR

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £14

Scottish-born, Irish-living singer/ songwriter, well kent as lead vocalist with Scottish Celtic rockers the Silencers.

SOUNDHOUSE: ANNA & ELIZABETH

TRAVERSE THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £11

Inspired by tradition, Anna & Elizabeth gather songs and stories to bring them to life with sparse, atmospheric arrangements accompanied with story “crankies” – intricate picture-scrolls that illustrate the old songs.

BROWNBEAR

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £8

Musical collective led by singer/ songwriter Matt Hickman, whose debut single Dead or Alive gained them national radio exposure and high profile gigs.

MISTY IN ROOTS - SCOTLAND COME AGAIN

LA BELLE ANGELE, FROM 19:00, £15

Original Roots Controllers return to Edinburgh.

BEN GLOVER

VOICEX

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £11 - £13

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £6

Award winning Irish musician Ben Glover has a compellingly unique voice, powerful stories and makes great music.

Mon 14 May MIGNONETTE

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, TBC

Live music at Bannermans.

KATHLEEN TURNER – FINDING MY VOICE

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £27.50

Multiple award-winner Kathleen Turner brings her trademark husky alto to the world of cabaret with her debut show.

THE VEGAN LEATHER

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, TBC

Art-pop quartet from the far-off lands of Paisley.

Tue 15 May

PRESSURE VALVE UNPLUGGED

BANNERMANS, FROM 18:00, FREE

Local artists play stripped back sets, before the public get to be the stars at karaoke.

WRECKLESS ERIC

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, FROM 20:00, £10

Edinburgh’s post-punk supergroup, featuring members of Scars, Boots For Dancing, Fistymuffs and Matt Vinyl.

THE FEMINIST DISCO

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £6

A night of dancing and top tunes from female musicians. LGBTQIA friendly.

DESERT MOUNTAIN TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £24.75

Spacey low slung rockers.

LIQUID FUNKTION | CHRONOLOGY PT. 2 - HISTORY OF DRUM & BASS (HEX + LF RESIDENTS) THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £5 - £6

Starting from 2018, DNB Dojo’s Hex will rewind back to the early 90s to the very beginning of D’n’B, jungle and the original breakbeats.

ERIN BENNETT

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 20:00, £3

Erin Bennett returns to Leith Depot for another rampaging show as part of her Post-Sexy, Post-truth Tour.

Sat 19 May ANTISECT

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, TBC

ICE CREAM FOR CROW RECORDS PRESENTS (DEPECHE CHOAD + LITTLE LOVE & THE FRIENDLY VIBES + CASPER HEYZEUS) HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, FROM 19:00, £3

The Aberdonian tape based label bring three acts to the Capital.

SHOW DOWN

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:00, £10

Dust off your best solo songs or buddy up for a show stopping duet at the second edition of Show Down.

NATASHA COOK JENKINS

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £9.50

One of Scotland’s fastest emerging talents, who got her big break from David Bowie’s producer Tony Visconti.

THROUGH THE WIRE MUSIC PRESENTS (SONARS + WUH OH + TEEK) SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £8.13

Showcasing music from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brighton and Bergamo with Sonars, Wuh Oh and TEEK.

TEVIOT GARDEN PARTY 2018 (IRIE YO-YO + MELLOW CHANTS + BERTA KENNEDY + NEM + LIVELY VIBRATIONS) TEVIOT, FROM 12:00, FREE

Enjoy sun, songs, sizzling BBQ food and a selection of summer drinks deals at this year’s Teviot Garden Party 2018.

English rock’n’roll singer/songwriter, out and touring without his usual partner in crime, Amy Rigby.

Rock band from London.

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, FREE

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £12 - £15

FOLK NIGHT

NILS LOFGREN: 50 YEARS...UP THE ROAD

Popular monthly folk night featuring live performers and an open session.

OVERLAPS

Open experimental improvisational jam session. All welcome, bring yer instruments and get cosmic.

WANTED: OPEN SESSION

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, FREE

Open acoustic session/jam downstairs at Leith Depot. Bring yer instruments and get a tune going.

All welcome.

Wed 16 May BERRI TRAXXI

Sun 20 May BONAFIDE

The Swedish rockers return.

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:00, £32.50 - £42.50

An intimate acoustic evening of songs and stories.

Mon 21 May TRAGEDY

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £10 - £12

All metal tribute to the Bee Gees and beyond.

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, TBC

Tue 22 May

JAMMIN’ AT VOODOO

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £25 - £45

Live music at Bannermans.

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 21:00, FREE

Monthly Live Jam Session with some of Scotland’s leading musicians playing lounge grooves from many genres.

DON MCLEAN (JARROD DICKENSON)

USHER HALL, FROM 19:30, £29.15 - £32.45

Legendary folk singer/songwriter (aka ‘im wot wrote American Pie).

CITY OF GLASS #13: DTHPDL + SAVAGE MANSION + EASTER + MOONSOUP

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, £5 - £6

Absolutely stacked lineup, featuring some of the finest Scottish bands out. From the chilled to the frantic and everything in between, this is another unmissable night from City of Glass.

Thu 17 May OVERHAUL

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, TBC

Back at Sleazy’s with a new album and EP due out in 2018.

EDINBURGH BLUES CLUB (SIMON MCBRIDE + VAN TASTIK)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £17

GRETCHEN PETERS (KIM RICHEY)

The honey-toned American singer/ songwriter does her countrified folk thing.

EDINBURGH BLUES CLUB (HANS THESSINK + BROOKS WILLIAMS + AL HUGHES) THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £14

Edinburgh Blues Club is a Social Enterprise established to harness popular support for regular blues events in Edinburgh to ensure that the city and surrounding areas do not miss out on quality touring blues acts.

NINA NESBITT

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £13.75

Half-Swedish, half-Scottish singer-songwriter in possession of a fine technical agility and emotive style.

BULLY (DUDE YORK)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £9

With a vocal style that is as pretty as it is powerful and emotionally resonant lyrics, Bully’s Alicia Bognanno reveals a raw honesty in songs that are distinctly hers.

WANTED: OPEN SESSION

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 21:00, FREE

Edinburgh Blues Club is a Social Enterprise established to harness popular support for regular blues events in Edinburgh to ensure that the city and surrounding areas do not miss out on quality touring blues acts.

Open acoustic session/jam downstairs at Leith Depot. Bring yer instruments and get a tune going.

All welcome.

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £5

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £15 - £18

SCREAMIN WHISPER

Wed 23 May JANET GARDNER

Singer-songwriter Brian Hughes’ project using anything from acoustic guitars to synths to get the sounds.

Former Vixen frontwoman gone solo.

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, TBC

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, FROM 20:00, £5 - £7

THE TRAMA DOLLS

The Trama Dolls are here to resuscitate the music scene with minimum skills but with ultimate style, glamour, attitude, fierceness and out and out chutzpah.

SAMSON SOUNDS (LONGFINGAH + BREEZY LEE AND BEE + SAMEDIA SHEBEEN)

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £7 - £9

Leading the charge in Scotland’s world dance music scene, Samson Sounds carry the energy towards a positive dancefloor vibration.

MINORS + WATCHCRIES

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, £5

Wild night of hardcore/grind from Canada to Kirkcaldy.

Fri 18 May

JOHN WHEELER (OLD DOLLAR BILL)

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £10 - £12

The Hayseed Dixie man takes to the road solo.

THE BETHS (FRESH + JEALOUS GIRLFRIEND)

Some of the best indie-pop you’re likely to hear, from New Zealand four-piece The Beths.

ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN

USHER HALL, FROM 19:00, £21.45 - £82.50

Still fronted by original member Ian McCulloch, the longstanding Liverpudlian rockers continue to do their thing.

THE DUNTS (PLEASURE HEADS + THE MORNING RETAKES)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £6

Four-part punk rock band from Glasgae.

Thu 24 May THE CUTKELVINS

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £13.75

The X Factor 2017 contestants, whose lead singer was previously in British girl band Neon Jungle.

Fri 25 May RITUAL KING

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, TBC

Manchester’s Ritual King bring a night of heavy tones and riffs.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, £5

HIDDEN DOOR 2018: OPENING PARTY (NADINE SHAH + DREAM WIFE + HONEYBLOOD (SOLO) + GWENNO) OLD LEITH THEATRE, FROM 18:00, £10 - £300

The renovators and curators at Hidden Door return for another ma-hoosive programme of crossplatform entertainment at the Old Leith Theatre.

Sat 26 May

CROWS (HOLY LOAF) SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £6

Dublin merrymakers Crows head out on the road, bringing the gloomy and intense hardcore.

HIDDEN DOOR 2018: (DISTANT VOICES)

OLD LEITH THEATRE, FROM 18:00, £10 - £300

The renovators and curators at Hidden Door return for another ma-hoosive programme of crossplatform entertainment at the Old Leith Theatre.

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, TBC

TXARANGO

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £19.80

Barcelona band with a whole load of members.

SOLAREYE

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £8

Leading light in socially conscious Scottish hip-hop, Stanley Odd frontman Dave Hook performs solo as Solareye.

ANCHOR LANE (RUMRUNNERS + GRACE & LEGEND)

OPIUM, FROM 19:00, £7

Scottish hard rock quartet.

HIDDEN DOOR 2018: (SYLVAN ESSO + HAPPY MEALS + E M I L I E)

OLD LEITH THEATRE, FROM 18:00, £10 - £300

The renovators and curators at Hidden Door return for another ma-hoosive programme of crossplatform entertainment at the Old Leith Theatre.

Sun 27 May LABORATORIUM PIESNI

THE CAVES, FROM 19:00, £25

A group of female singers from Poland, using traditional, polyphonic singing.

THE WEDDING PRESENT

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £19.80

British indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, from the ashes of Lost Pandas.

THE UNDERGROUND YOUTH

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £9

Manchester-based amalgamation of post-punk, psych and shoegaze.

BILGE PUMP + PETROLEUM GENDERLOSS + BRIDAL SHOWER

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, £6

The mighty Bilge Pump take their maniacal stulings to Leith Depot, aided by the furious noise of Petroleum Genderloss and Glasgow post-punk crew Bridal Shower.

Mon 28 May

ADRENA ADRENA (OTHER LANDS)

WEE RED BAR, FROM 19:00, £5

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £25

Blues band, obviously, formed back in 1979 by ex Manfred Mann group members, celebrate 39 years together.

Thu 17 May

NORTHERN TOUR #2 (EVERING + DAUDI MATSIKO + IZZIE YARDLEY)

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, £10

Fri 18 May

String Sisters blend Nordic and Celtic traditions into a glorious riot of all-encompassing sound.

The Swedish rockers return.

Thu 31 May

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, FROM 19:30, £24.50

CHURCH, FROM 19:00, £12

BYE BYE BABY

DO YOU EVEN DISCO?

Italo disco and no wave.

KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic Tuesday nighter playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’. #TAG TUESDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £0 - £4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence.

Wed 02 May MELTED

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, TBC

The story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

Afro-disco screamers.

ALLMAN BROWN

Sat 19 May

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £4

GOSPELBEACH

Californian folk-pop.

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £8

Singer-songwriter Allman Brown has been picked up by high profile Spotify playlists as well as BBC Radio 2 and reached 15 million streams with audiences around the globe.

LEITH DEPOT PRESENTS #6: TONGUE TRAP

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 19:30, £6

Monthly gig night returns with the dark, scuzzy vibes of Glasgow/ Edinburgh crew Tongue Trap.

HIDDEN DOOR 2018: THE SKINNY PRESENTS (MAKENESS + LIVE FILM SOUNDTRACK)

OLD LEITH THEATRE, FROM 18:00, £10 - £300

The renovators and curators at Hidden Door return for another ma-hoosive programme of crossplatform entertainment at the Old Leith Theatre.

DJ Jonny soundtracks your Wednesday with all the best in pop-punk, metalcore, house & EDM and there’s even beer pong.

BILLORDO (MUPPET MULE + THE VEX OFFENDERS)

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £0 - £4

ELIO PACE’S BILLY JOEL SONGBOOK

Two classic Billy Joel albums performed in their entirety in one show.

CONROY’S BASEMENT, FROM 20:00, £6.60

Anti-folk lo-fi sounds from Argentina.

Mon 21 May

MICAH SCHNABEL + BILLY LIAR + DAVID DELINQUENTS

CONROY’S BASEMENT, FROM 19:30, £5 - £7

Make That A Take presents an evening of acoustic goodness.

Wed 23 May WALK RIGHT BACK

CAIRD HALL, FROM 19:30, £22.50 - £23.50

Walk Right Back tells the story of the most successful duo of all time, The Everly Brothers.

Fri 25 May

Thu 03 May

FAT SAM’S, FROM 19:00, £13.75

BROWNBEAR (LUKE LA VOLPE + BILLY MITCHELL + TAYLOR-RAY MUSIC)

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, £6

Musical collective led by singer/ songwriter Matt Hickman, whose debut single Dead or Alive gained them national radio exposure and high profile gigs.

Fri 04 May DREAMWEAPON

CONROY’S BASEMENT, FROM 19:00, £7

Heaps of distortion, melodic concerns and guitar explorations with psychedelic hues.

ANCHOR LANE (MILLSYECK + RUMRUNNERS + BRAVADO)

A definitive homage to punk and new wave’s best, Blondie.

Mon 07 May TIR NA NOG

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, £12

Alt folk outfit formed in 1970 by Leo O’Kelly and Sonny Condell.

Thu 10 May NEON WALTZ

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, FROM 19:30, £7.50

Six-piece indie rock band from Caithness.

JAMES GRANT AND FRASER SPEIRS

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, £14

BRYAN MCADAMS

CHURCH, FROM 19:00, £10

Six-piece Bryan Adams tribute band, replicating the musicality and energy of Bryan Adams’ famous concerts.

THE ABSOLUTE JAM

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, FROM 20:00, £8

Tribute band capturing the authentic raw energy and sound of The Jam’s early punk roots.

Thu 03 May

JELLY BABY (RUBBERMENSCH)

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £5

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

DJ NICK(ERS)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

Highly accessible hits from heaven.

HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £2 - £4

The X Factor 2017 contestants, whose lead singer was previously in British girl band Neon Jungle.

Sat 26 May

THE SCOTTISH PINK FLOYD

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, FROM 20:00, £10

A Pink Floyd tribute act from Scotland, would you believe it?

Sun 27 May

SONG CLUB SHOWCASE: ARIELLE

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, FREE

Music industry triple threat, Arielle is an impressive singer, songwriter and guitarist.

CONROY’S BASEMENT, FROM 21:00, TBC

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, £10

KEEP IT ROLLING

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Keep It Rolling bring UK underground flavours. From rolling UK garage to lively jungle music, this is a night to enjoy a full spectrum of vibrations.

THE CUTKELVINS

Scottish hard rock quartet.

CHURCH, FROM 19:00, £10

DIRTY HARRY

DJ Craig cures your Wednesday woes at The Garage.

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

Tue 29 May

THE ABSOLUTE STONE ROSES

WRAP-IT

CHURCH, FROM 19:00, £7

Sun 06 May

Tribute band to the Manchester legends, The Stone Roses.

BEAST

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, FROM 19:30, £30

Dundee Music

Sat 12 May

THE BLUES BAND: 39 YEARS AND BACK FOR MORE

English rock’n’roll singer/songwriter, out and touring without his usual partner in crime, Amy Rigby.

BONAFIDE

STRING SISTERS

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £22

Tue 29 May

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 20:00, £18

The Love & Money frontman will once again be playing with special guest, God of the harmonica and long term collaborator Fraser Speirs.

THE BREEDERS

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, £12

Wed 30 May

Adrena Adrena is a collaboration between visual artist Daisy Dickinson and drummer E-Da Kazuhisa, blending drums, noise and organic visual work.

Kim Deal’s revered alternative rockers are back together again.

Tue 01 May

WRECKLESS ERIC

A triple bill of stripped back folk.

BLATOIDEA

Sicilian punk rockers now based in London.

Sun 13 May

ANEWRAGE

Alternative metal and post-grunge group from Milan, Italy.

Wed 30 May

UNHOLY

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

ELEMENT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, TBC

Ross McMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey.

FOUNDRY (KANE & DAVID)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5

Foundry residents looking after you all night. Expect fast-paced electro, unrelenting acid, the kicking noise of hardcore and everything in between.

BASSMENT: JAMES ZABIELA (BREEZY + GRAEME DREW) SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £8 - £10

The British DJ is one of dance music’s premier technical wizards, turning CDJ’s into a bonafide instrument.

WALK N SKANK (MUNGO’S HI FI + TOM SPIRALS)

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE – MOZART BY NUMBERS

A weekly club night focused on reggae, dancehall and bass music.

CAIRD HALL, FROM 19:30, £5 - £12

Fri 04 May

Works and movements by Mozart, interspersed with chamber music

by Sally Beamish, Edmund Finnis, György Kurtág and more.

CARPENTERS GOLD

WHITEHALL THEATRE, FROM 19:30, £21.50 - £23

Carpenters Gold authentically performs the greatest hits of The Carpenters.

FRESH! FRIDAY

ORAN MOR, FROM 23:00, £0 - £6

Resident DJ John McLean brings you the biggest tunes and best deals to make your weekend one to remember.

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £4

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

HARSH TUG

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

OG Kush + hip-hop bangers with Notorious B.A.G. FRIDAYS AT THE BUFF CLUB

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6 - £7

A selection of funk and soul and 60s and 70s hits.

TRAX

CATHOUSE, FROM 22:30, £5 - £6

DJ Daryl kicks off the first weekend of the month, spinning hip-hop, grunge, trap and dance tunes.

FRESH BEAT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £6

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

Listings

65

Glasgow Clubs

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue.

MISSING PERSONS CLUB (GALAXIAN + NEIL LANDSTRUMM)

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £6

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5 - £10

MPC are joined by two Scottish producers of the highest order for a night of live music.

SUB CLUB X H+P: DAPHNI & ANDREW THOMSON

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £18

Daphni is the alias of Dan Snaith, who also sometimes goes by Caribou, and probably others.

FRIDAY NIGHTS

SHED, FROM 22:30, £4 - £6

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue.

12TH ISLE

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Label running DJ mavericks with outer limit vinyl selections of dub, wave, jungle, house and erratic synth sounds.

DABJ W/ MYSTIC BILL & FEAR-E

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £5 - £8

DABJ invite Miami-born, Chicagobased Mystic Bill and Fear-E into the booth.

Sat 05 May ROYALE SATURDAYS

ORAN MOR, FROM 23:00, £4 - £8

Resident DJ Bobby Bluebell plays a mix of chart and electro.

LOVE MUSIC (MAGIC NOSTALGIC)

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests.

100% SCOOTER – 25 YEARS WILD & WICKED TOUR O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £41.75

Would you believe Scooter have been around for 25 years? No? Us either, but here they are.

GLITTERBANG

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

Disco divas and Euro-pop anthems for those ready to sweat.

MODESELEKTION WITH MODESELEKTOR & FADI MODEM

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 22:00, £13 - £18

The fourth edition of Modeselektion is packed with an extra amount of mind-bending bangers and dancefloor weapons.

SATURDAYS AT THE BUFF CLUB

LEZURE (SAMO DJ )

I AM

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5 - £7

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Lezure invite enigmatic Swede Samo Forsberg, aka Samo DJ, along for their latest La Cheetah party.

SUBCULTURE (PROSUMER + TAMA SUMO + HARRI & DOMENIC)

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic, oft’ joined by a carousel of super fresh guests.

A//P - BIG MIZ & WHEELMAN

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £7 - £9

I LOVE GARAGE

Garage by name, but not by musical nature. DJ Darren Donnelly carousels through chart, dance and classics, the Desperados bar is filled with funk, G2 keeps things urban and the Attic gets all indie on you.

NUSHA

STEREO, FROM 23:00, TBC

Having performed at techno festivals around the world, NUSHA makes her Scottish and UK debut.

Happy Meals’ Lewis seduces w/ Eurowave + Vaporbeat.

BEAST

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £4

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £0 - £4

WRAP-IT

SYMBIOSIS

AUDIO, FROM 23:00, FREE

Glasgow’s longest running drum and bass club night.

Sat 12 May

SESH

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of electronica and bass, with a special guest or two oft in tow.

SATURDAYS AT THE BUFF CLUB

Wed 16 May

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests.

ANNA & HOLLY’S DANCE PARTY

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £4

JELLY BABY (RUBBERMENSCH)

GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL 2018 CLOSING PARTY: OPTIMO & SOFAY

BURN MONDAYS

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Long-running trade night with Normski and Mash spinning the disco beats.

BARE MONDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

OBZRV MUSIC

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

All the electronic dance.

KILLER KITSCH

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £5

DRUGSTORE GLAMOUR

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

UNHOLY

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £2 - £4

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

ELEMENT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, TBC

Ross McMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey.

ELECTRIC SALSA

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3

After a killer second birthday with Peder Mannerfelt, Electric Salsa return to the booth for an all night residents affair.

WALK N SKANK (MUNGO’S HI FI + STALAWA SOUND + TOM SPIRALS)

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

A weekly club night focused on reggae, dancehall and bass music.

Fri 11 May FRESH! FRIDAY

ORAN MOR, FROM 23:00, £0 - £6

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs.

I LOVE GARAGE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £5 - £7

Garage by name, but not by musical nature. DJ Darren Donnelly carousels through chart, dance and classics, the Desperados bar is filled with funk, G2 keeps things urban and the Attic gets all indie on you.

LA CHEETAH CLUB X HUNTLEY & PALMERS (LENA WILLIKENS + ANDREW THOMSON + WARDY & DOM D’SYLVA )

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5 - £6

Salon des Amateurs stalwart and Dekmantel selectors contributor, Lena Willikens joins Huntley & Palmers and La Cheetah Club for their first collab.

SUBCULTURE (HARRI & DOMENIC)

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic, oft’ joined by a carousel of super fresh guests.

MASSAOKE: GREASE VS DIRTY DANCING

ST LUKE’S, FROM 19:30, £11 - £13.20

Massaoke celebrate 40 years of Grease and 30 years of Dirty Dancing. IKR.

SUPERMAX WITH DJ BILLY WOODS

Resident DJ John McLean brings you the biggest tunes and best deals to make your weekend one to remember.

#TAG TUESDAYS

PROPAGANDA + MILK PRESENTS GET OVER IT

SUPERMAX celebrate six years at The Berkeley Suite with their disco leader DJ Billy Woods at the healm.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £0 - £4

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £4

Sun 13 May

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic Tuesday nighter playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’.

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £5 - £6

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

Mon 07 May

DON’T BE GUTTED

Thu 10 May

The Queens of the Glasgow disco scene.

A Sunday return for legendary duo Optimo, playing alongside one of Scotland’s most exciting breakthrough DJs, Sofay.

I AM (JASPER JAMES)

Nefarious beats for dangerous times.

STEREO, FROM 23:00, £0 - £3

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5

#TAG TUESDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £0 - £4

Nick Peacock, Alex O and John Ross spin a Saturday-ready selection of Northern soul and 60s and 70s hits.

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

RUSH is back to give you hard techno all night long.

Eclectic Tuesday nighter playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’.

The Afloat residents cruise by once again but with some close friends sharing the booth this time.

Twister, beer pong and DJ Ciar McKinley on the ones and twos, serving up chart and remixes through the night.

RUSH -002-

KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

LOVE MUSIC

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6 - £7

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, TBC

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

Marble Gods will be living their best lives playing indie-pop gems, R&B smashes, sweet disco beats and the gr8est pop songs of all time ever.

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £5

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3

A hearty blend of emo, drive-thru, old school and new school pop punk, to see your Sunday through to the stars.

BUCKFAST SUPERNOVA

Resident DJ Bobby Bluebell plays a mix of chart and electro.

CLIFFHANGER

AFLOAT

Tue 15 May

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence.

ROYALE SATURDAYS

ORAN MOR, FROM 23:00, £4 - £8

Rock’n’roll, garage and soul.

Propaganda and Milk team up for a 90s and 00s karaoke party.

SHAKA LOVES YOU

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

Hip-hop and live percussion flanked by wicked visuals.

FRIDAYS AT THE BUFF CLUB

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6 - £7

RUCKUS

CATHOUSE, FROM 22:30, £5 - £6

Sarah Legatt’s monthly hip-hop, trap and R’n’B night.

FRESH BEAT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £6

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

LETS GO BACK (BOSCO + BONZI BONNER)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5 - £7

Non-stop eclectic discotheque.

RETURN TO MONO (DR RUBINSTEIN + SLAM) SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £10 - £12

Monthly night from Soma Records, often with special guests.

Listings

HEALTHY celebrate 3 years in business with the return of Awesome Tapes from Africa and DJ Katapila from Ghana.

DJ Craig cures your Wednesday woes at The Garage.

NULL / VOID

A selection of funk and soul and 60s and 70s hits.

66

HEALTHY W/ AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA & DJ KATAPILA

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £4

Industrial goth rock disco.

Tue 08 May

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £5 - £7

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

Sun 06 May

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £5 - £6

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs.

SMALL TALK W/ DJ ADIDADAS

Two of Glasgow’s most talked about and fastest rising stars take each other on in a no-holds-barred B2B.

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers. Nice way to kick off the week, no?

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

Wed 09 May

DJ Jonny soundtracks your Wednesday with all the best in pop-punk, metalcore, house & EDM and there’s even beer pong.

Nick Peacock, Alex O and John Ross spin a Saturday-ready selection of Northern soul and 60s and 70s hits.

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6 - £7

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of electronica and bass, with a special guest or two oft in tow.

FRIDAY NIGHTS SHED, FROM 22:30, £4 - £6

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, TBC

TECHNOVIZION

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £4

New beats for hungry feets.

SESH

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

Twister, beer pong and DJ Ciar McKinley on the ones and twos, serving up chart and remixes through the night.

RED RACK’EM & REBECCA VASMANT

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £5

Two pals with no musical rules play together all night long.

Mon 14 May BURN MONDAYS

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Long-running trade night with Normski and Mash spinning the disco beats.

BARE MONDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers. Nice way to kick off the week, no?

BEAST

PROPAGANDA O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £4

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

THE LANCE VANCE DANCE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

Exotic dreamy disco.

COLOURS (WILL SPARKS)

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £15 - £24.50

Colours welcome Will Sparks to their deck set – a name now snynonymous with that trademark Melbourne sound, with hints of Diplo and big EDM bangers.

APPLEBUM / HIP HOP HOUSE PARTY

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 22:00, £6 - £10

A celebration of hip hop and R’n’B culture.

FRIDAYS AT THE BUFF CLUB

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6 - £7

A selection of funk and soul and 60s and 70s hits.

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, FROM 22:30, £5 - £6

Screamy, shouty, post-hardcore madness to help you shake off a week of stress in true punk style.

FRESH BEAT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £6

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

PARTIAL

DJ Jonny soundtracks your Wednesday with all the best in pop-punk, metalcore, house & EDM and there’s even beer pong.

Promoting nights to dance at between Glasgow and Edinburgh, est 2014.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £0 - £4

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £10

WRAP-IT

DJ Craig cures your Wednesday woes at The Garage.

KIKABILA SOUNDS (SUMA BAC + MIND YER SELF)

STEREO, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Kikabila Sounds invite you into their Discoteque for a trip around the world of electronic dance music.

ALGORHYTHM PRESENTS SHALL NOT FADE (KGW + KEO + ERNESTO HARMON + ADAM ZARECKI)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £0 - £8

BIGFOOT’S TEA PARTY (JAYDA G + LNS)

Vancouver in the house! Jayda Guy and Laura Sparrow join Bigfoot’s Tea Party for their 10th anniversary series.

FRIDAY NIGHTS

SHED, FROM 22:30, £4 - £6

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue.

Sat 19 May ROYALE SATURDAYS

ORAN MOR, FROM 23:00, £4 - £8

ALGORHYTHM bring along Shall Not Fade, with SNF and Steel City Dance Discs boss man KGW.

Resident DJ Bobby Bluebell plays a mix of chart and electro.

Thu 17 May

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

JELLY BABY (RUBBERMENSCH)

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £5

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

PRAY 4 LOVE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

SHAKA LOVES YOU

Hip-hop and live percussion flanked by wicked visuals.

DOJO 2ND BIRTHDAY (MARK FAZZINI + DARRAN MCNEIL + NEIL ROBERTSON)

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, TBC

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

The Dojo residents celebrate their second birthday, with their trademark sound of deep, dark and uplifting progressive house and techno.

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £2 - £4

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 22:00, £9.50

All love songs + all bangers.

HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

UNHOLY

90S RAVE

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

Revel in the hedonism and fun of a great decade for dance music.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, TBC

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6 - £7

ELEMENT

SATURDAYS AT THE BUFF CLUB

Ross McMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey.

Nick Peacock, Alex O and John Ross spin a Saturday-ready selection of Northern soul and 60s and 70s hits.

STEREO, FROM 23:00, £5 - £7

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs.

REMAKE REMODEL GIZZ NIGHT

Back inside your minds ‘n’ drippin’ hot wax through the Stereo floor.

PALA (VEITCH + CASEY AND STEENGO)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £4 - £5

Pala celebrate their first birthday.

SHOW (MONKI)

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6

The Show crew are joined by Rinse FM and BBC Radio 1 host Monki.

GRIND YOUR AXE (JD SAMSON + SYNCOPHANTASY + UNCLE MARJY)

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 23:00, £5

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £5 - £6

I LOVE GARAGE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £5 - £7

Garage by name, but not by musical nature. DJ Darren Donnelly carousels through chart, dance and classics, the Desperados bar is filled with funk, G2 keeps things urban and the Attic gets all indie on you.

Queer icon JD Samson (Le Tigre) is special guest at a house techno, electro party for LGBTQ+.

NIGHTRAVE (VIOLET + NIGHTWAVE + WARDY)

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

SUBCULTURE (KARIZMA + HARRI & DOMENIC)

WALK N SKANK (MUNGO’S HI FI + MC ISHU + TOM SPIRALS)

A weekly club night focused on reggae, dancehall and bass music.

Fri 18 May FRESH! FRIDAY

ORAN MOR, FROM 23:00, £0 - £6

Resident DJ John McLean brings you the biggest tunes and best deals to make your weekend one to remember.

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5 - £8

Naïve’s Violet joins Nightwave and Wardy in the booth.

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic, oft’ joined by a carousel of super fresh guests.

SGÀIREOKE! (SGÀIRE WOOD + GUESTS)

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 21:00, £0 - £2

Queer karaoke night with performances.

HORSE MEAT DISCO (OOFT!) THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £8 - £10

Horse Meat Disco return to The Berkeley Suite, spinning discs all night long.

Sun 20 May CLIFFHANGER

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, TBC

A hearty blend of emo, drive-thru, old school and new school pop punk, to see your Sunday through to the stars.

SESH

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

Twister, beer pong and DJ Ciar McKinley on the ones and twos, serving up chart and remixes through the night.

Mon 21 May BURN MONDAYS

UNHOLY CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £2 - £4

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

ELEMENT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, TBC

Ross McMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey.

SUNNY SIDE UP

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Sunny Side Up believe in nourishing music lovers with their fix of ear candy whilst simultaneously providing remote communities across the globe with sustainable methods of living.

SUB CLUB X RINSE FM (DJ BONE + THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS)

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £8

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Sub Club team up with Rinse FM to bring in DJ Bone and The Menendez Brothers.

BARE MONDAYS

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Long-running trade night with Normski and Mash spinning the disco beats.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers. Nice way to kick off the week, no?

Tue 22 May KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic Tuesday nighter playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’. #TAG TUESDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £0 - £4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence.

I AM

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of electronica and bass, with a special guest or two oft in tow.

Wed 23 May FREAK LIKE ME

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

Soul, hip-hop and funk.

BEAST

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £4

DJ Jonny soundtracks your Wednesday with all the best in pop-punk, metalcore, house & EDM and there’s even beer pong.

WRAP-IT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £0 - £4

DJ Craig cures your Wednesday woes at The Garage.

EUTONY (QUAIL + KYLE WEC B2B BURRELL CONNECTION)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5

Eutony invite their favourite Glasgow locals to La Cheetah.

Thu 24 May

JELLY BABY (RUBBERMENSCH)

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £5

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

BREAKFAST VLUB

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

80s themed party to celebrate life ASAP. HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

WALK N SKANK (ESCAPE ROOTS + MUNGO’S HI FI + TOM SPIRALS)

A weekly club night focused on reggae, dancehall and bass music.

Fri 25 May FRESH! FRIDAY

ORAN MOR, FROM 23:00, £0 - £6

Resident DJ John McLean brings you the biggest tunes and best deals to make your weekend one to remember.

PROPAGANDA (WE LOVE POP)

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £4

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

DATE NIGHT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

A mixtape of love, lust and nostalgia.

FRIDAYS AT THE BUFF CLUB

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6 - £7

A selection of funk and soul and 60s and 70s hits.

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, FROM 22:30, £5 - £6

Screamy, shouty, post-hardcore madness to help you shake off a week of stress in true punk style.

FRESH BEAT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £6

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

HETEROTOPIA (ASH IS)

STEREO, FROM 23:00, £3

Queer friendly parties with worldly and otherworldly sounds.

EZUP (DAN SHAKE)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5 - £8

Dan Shake brings his soulful energy to the La Cheetah basement as he makes his second appearance for the Ezup crew. If you like it funky then this is the one for you.

FRIDAY NIGHTS

SHED, FROM 22:30, £4 - £6

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue.

Sat 26 May ROYALE SATURDAYS

ORAN MOR, FROM 23:00, £4 - £8

Resident DJ Bobby Bluebell plays a mix of chart and electro.

LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests.

THE SKINNY

Edinburgh Clubs Tue 01 May MIDNIGHT BASS

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

Brand new weekly Bongo night by Electrikal Sound System, dishing out drum and bass, jungle, bassline, grime and garage.

TRASH

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Alternative Tuesday anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

Wed 02 May WICKED WEDNESDAYS

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

DARREN STYLES CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 21:00, £17 - £23

The Colchester DJ/producer shares his love of hardcore trance and 90s rave.

SINGLES NIGHT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

Beans + Divine explore the hits on 7” vinyl.

RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL 2018 AFTERPARTY

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £15

SWG3 holds its arms outstretched to Riverside festival-goers, helping them to continue the party way into the night.

SATURDAYS AT THE BUFF CLUB

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6 - £7

Nick Peacock, Alex O and John Ross spin a Saturday-ready selection of Northern soul and 60s and 70s hits.

MISBEHAVIN

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £5 - £6

Retro-pop, alt, dance and electro from DJ Drewbear.

I LOVE GARAGE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £5 - £7

Garage by name, but not by musical nature. DJ Darren Donnelly carousels through chart, dance and classics, the Desperados bar is filled with funk, G2 keeps things urban and the Attic gets all indie on you.

TRIP NOISE W/ JON K PT.2 (ELENA COLUMBI)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £8 - £10

The second part of Jon K’s trip noise series in the club sees him invite NTS pal Elena Columbi to join him in the booth.

SUBCULTURE (PEREL + HARRI & DOMENIC)

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic, oft’ joined by a carousel of super fresh guests.

MUSIC’S NOT FOR EVERYONE WITH ANDREW WEATHERALL

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 20:00, FREE

Deep, high quality tune selections from this esteemed DJ in a free show.

A LOVE FROM OUTER SPACE (ANDREW WEATHERALL + SEAN JOHNSTON) THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 22:00, £9

Andrew Weatherall and Sean Johnston’s rather ace London night comes our way.

Sun 27 May

RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL 2018 AFTERPARTY

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £15

SWG3 holds its arms outstretched to Riverside festival-goers, helping them to continue the party way into the night.

SLIDE IT IN

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, TBC

BARE MONDAYS THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers. Nice way to kick off the week, no?

NAIVE MELODY (GAVIN RAYNA + BAZ & SOFI)

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £0 - £5

BURN MONDAYS

Long-running trade night with Normski and Mash spinning the disco beats.

KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic Tuesday nighter playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’. #TAG TUESDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £0 - £4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence.

I AM

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of electronica and bass, with a special guest or two oft in tow.

Wed 30 May BEAST

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £4

DJ Jonny soundtracks your Wednesday with all the best in pop-punk, metalcore, house & EDM and there’s even beer pong.

WRAP-IT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £0 - £4

DJ Craig cures your Wednesday woes at The Garage.

MINDSET (DIEGO KRAUSE)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

To celebrate turning two, Mindset welcome the one and only Diego Krause.

Thu 31 May

JELLY BABY (RUBBERMENSCH)

O2 ABC, FROM 23:00, £5

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

JER REID DJ SET

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

A varied mix of post-punk, hiphop, African and disco.

HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

UNHOLY

CATHOUSE, FROM 23:00, £2 - £4

ELEMENT

Ross McMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey.

RENEGADES OF FUNK (KROKAKAI + NOWICKI & ALSHY)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

After smashing it for Invisible Inc at the Rum Shack, Krokakai brings his live set to La Cheetah Club.

WALK N SKANK (EVA LAZARUS + MUNGO’S HI FI)

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

A weekly club night focused on reggae, dancehall and bass music.

May 2018

Thu 03 May ESCALATE

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £4 - £6

Your weekly dose of indie rock’n’roll.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, TBC

BUFF CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

Royal T returns for round two, with Headset’s Skillis on the warm up.

Tue 29 May

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

Mon 28 May

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £5

Brand new R&B anthems and classic hip-hop night, with a bit of grime thrown in.

Classic rock through the ages from DJ Nicola Walker.

Twister, beer pong and DJ Ciar McKinley on the ones and twos, serving up chart and remixes through the night.

ROYAL T & SKILLIS

After party for LCD Soundsystem’s show at SWG3 Galvanisers, with their own Gavin Rayna providing tunes alongside Baz & Sofi.

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

SESH

All new, all fun, all cheese club night.

HI-FI REBEL

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

JUICE (AMI K + DAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £0 - £2

Dan & Ami K make weird waves through house and techno.

Fri 04 May

HEADSET: HELL IN A CELL

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £6

A host of Edinburgh’s heavyweights are lined up for this Headset smackdown.

FLIP

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, £0 - £4

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect.

PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £3 - £5

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

WITNESS X PARADIGM

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £5

Witness team up with Paradigm electronic arts for a one-off audio-visual collaboration featuring Unstable Creations and Witness residents.

ETC 38: MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU FEATURING MANDIDEXTEROUS (DJ STRAY + JASON WATERFALLS)

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 23:00, £6 - £8

Star Wars-inspired techno party with fancy dress and cosplay.

RIVIERA PARAISO (MONTALTO + CAM) PARADISE PALMS, FROM 21:00, FREE

Join resident Montalto and Lindsey (Supermodel / 50% PURE) as they explore avant-techno experiments.

Sat 05 May SOULSVILLE

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5

Residents Cameron Mason and Calum Evans spin the finest cuts of deep funk, Latin rhythms and rare groove into the early hours.

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, FROM 21:00, £0 - £4

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

STRUT!

THE VILLAGE, FROM 21:00, FREE

Funk, soul and disco on the first Saturday of every month.

HECTORS 6TH BIRTHDAY SHINDIG PT. 1

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, TBC

For the first time in their soonto-be six year history, Hectors celebrate their birthday with two parties, kicking off at Sneaks with some special guests.

SAMEDIA SHEBEEN (SAMEDIA + ASTROJAZZ)

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 23:00, £5 - £7

As always Samedia play music spanning Afrobeat, Latin, kuduru, dancehall, samba, soca, cumbia and beyond.

OTHER THUMPERS #15 (DONALD DUST ) PARADISE PALMS, FROM 21:00, FREE

The Original Electro Punk returns to banish your blues with four hours of new age, new beat, New York garage classics and good old fashioned B-boy anthems.

Sun 06 May

SKIN TIGHT (BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL)

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

An occasional dance party from the people behind Headset and Soul Jam. SUNDAY CLUB

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

COALITION (BELIEVE + FRIENDS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, FREE

Believe presents the best in bass DJs from Edinburgh at his weekly Sunday communion.

Mon 07 May MIXED UP

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, R’n’B and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

NUTS

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £0 - £2

Napier University Techno Society return with a storming selection supplied by the next generation of DJs.

Tue 08 May

OTMR SHOWCASE : HOUSEGO & CHARLIE SAYS

CABARET VOLTAIRE, FROM 22:30, TBC

One Track Mind Records is the brainchild of one of Scotland’s most talented producers Housego, who will play alongside Charlie Says all night.

MIDNIGHT BASS

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

Brand new weekly Bongo night by Electrikal Sound System, dishing out drum and bass, jungle, bassline, grime and garage.

TRASH

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Alternative Tuesday anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

Wed 09 May WICKED WEDNESDAYS

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

All new, all fun, all cheese club night.

HEATERS: WRISK (OVERGROUND)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £1 - £3

CRYPZIS PRESENTS SUBMERGE SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £5

A new party promising an experience Edinburgh hasn’t provided so far, with interactive visuals and anonymity at its core.

COSMIC CLUB NIGHT (PLANET MONKEY)

LA BELLE ANGELE, FROM 23:00, £5 - £8

Trance night with a totally enlightened fluro fantasy land by The Cosmic Crew and Psychometric Vision.

Sat 12 May

ANALOG BUBBLEBATH (303MYTH.RAR + DJ KÜSSE + NIKI RUSH + ROSSZ VÉR) THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 23:00, £4 - £5

New IDM and Acid party playing the more obscure sounds of electronic music. Think early Warp and Planet Mu. MESSENGER

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5 - £7

Conscious roots and dub reggae rockin’ from the usual beefy Messenger Sound System.

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, FROM 21:00, £0 - £4

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

LES YEUX ORANGE AT TEESH (RAPHAEL MASSIN + DJ CHEERS)

PARADISE PALMS, FROM 21:00, FREE

Dip your toe into the sounds of pleasure power house Jacuzzi General.

Sun 13 May SUNDAY CLUB

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

COALITION (BELIEVE + FRIENDS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, FREE

Believe presents the best in bass DJs from Edinburgh at his weekly Sunday communion.

Mon 14 May MIXED UP

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, R’n’B and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

SLV GLOBAL FUNDRAISER

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £5

Tue 15 May MIDNIGHT BASS

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

TRASH

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Fri 11 May

Wed 16 May

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6 - £8

All new, all fun, all cheese club night.

A long overdue Edinburgh debut from the Berghain, Ostgut Ton and Panorama Bar resident, Boris Dolinski.

WICKED WEDNESDAYS

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

HEATERS: ACID FLASH WITH IDA & GILES WALKER (C-SHAMAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £0 - £2

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect.

IDA’s Acid Flash party, newly housed in La Cheetah, has become the hot ticket this year. She plays Sneaks for the first time with Aberdeen’s number one tune-digger Giles Walker.

WEE RED BAR, FROM 23:00, £5

Thu 17 May

FLIP

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, £0 - £4

DATE NIGHT

A mixtape of love, lust and nostalgia.

PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £3 - £5

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £8 - £10

Soundsystem party-starters, part of a music and art collective specialising in all things bass.

FLIP

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, £0 - £4

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect.

PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £3 - £5

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

ATHENS OF THE NORTH DISCO CLUB (FRYER + GARETH SOMMERVILLE + LEL PALFREY) SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £5

Edinburgh’s finest gem-digging, discogs destroying re-issue label goes real world once again. Rare records that’ll make you dance, guaranteed.

SHAPEWORK / UNTOLD

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 23:00, £5 - £10

With releases on R&S Records, Hessle Audio and his own Hemlock Recordings, Untold’s carefully curated musical pedigree is well established.

50% PURE (LINDSEY)

PARADISE PALMS, FROM 21:00, FREE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, FROM 23:00, £12

Dan & Ami K make weird waves through house and techno.

SUBSTANCE X PULSE: BORIS (DARRELL HARDING + GAVIN RICHARDSON)

ELECTRIKAL: BASSLINE & GARAGE TAKEOVER #2

JACUZZI GENERAL

Edinburgh’s #1 Metal night.

Alternative Tuesday anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £0 - £2

Fri 18 May

Sat 19 May

Thu 10 May

JUICE (AMI K + DAN)

Dan & Ami K make weird waves through house and techno.

LA BELLE ANGELE, FROM 23:00, £5

KEEP IT STEEL IS BACK FOR MORE

Brand new weekly Bongo night by Electrikal Sound System, dishing out drum and bass, jungle, bassline, grime and garage.

Your weekly dose of indie rock’n’roll.

THE REVEL WEE RED BAR, FROM 22:00, TBC

French tastemaker extraordinaire Raphael Massin of Les Yeux Orange joins DJ Cheers for another round of TEESH.

Charity night with fun tunes.

HI-FI REBEL

TRASH THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

50% PURE is a digital showroom and music label for urban professionals. It supports progressive lifestyles and contemporary art and music in the capital.

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £7

Honcho of lo-fi loving Overground party people, Wrisk drops back into Heaters. Certified ravey belters all night.

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

JUICE (AMI K + DAN) SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £0 - £2

HI-FI REBEL

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Your weekly dose of indie rock’n’roll.

Alternative Tuesday anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

Wed 23 May WICKED WEDNESDAYS

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

All new, all fun, all cheese club night.

HEATERS: MOSCOMAN (C-SHAMAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £5

Releasing deep cut after deep cut of 80s NYC-influenced moody house, Disco Halal and Treisar boss Moscoman is, at his best, like the producer James Murphy aims to be.

GOLD RUSH

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 23:00, £4 - £5

Theme party: Black and Gold. Black if you are loved up and Gold if you want to stand out.

ELYSIUM PRESENTS END OF EXAM PARTY (NEIL FAIRNIE + JACK RAMAGE)

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 23:00, £4

Disco, house and Italo all night long.

IFIT’S FAR-SIDE PALMS

PARADISE PALMS, FROM 21:00, FREE

An evening of immersive sounds and visuals.

Thu 24 May HI-FI REBEL

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Your weekly dose of indie rock’n’roll.

JUICE (AMI K + DAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £0 - £2

Dan & Ami K make weird waves through house and techno.

TEXTURE: BROKEN ENGLISH CLUB (LIVE) (PALIDRONE DJS) THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 23:00, £5 - £9

Hop straight from Hopetoun House to Cab Vol for this FLY Open Air after party.

Broken English Club’s alias explores dark friction between man and machine, a razor-sharp metallic sound that integrates the human chaos of EBM with the uncompromising machine rhythms of techno.

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6

Fri 25 May

BUBBLEGUM

Lionoil bring in Telfort to play all night, celebrating the release of his new 12” on Lionoil Industries.

FLY OPEN AIR AFTER PARTY

RHYTHM MACHINE

Rhythm Machine makes a move to Bongo, and they’re bringing the whole family along.

THE HIVE, FROM 21:00, £0 - £4

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

LIONOIL: TELFORT

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5 - £7

FLIP

Annual legendary end of term ECA-centric party.

RIDE (LOW REN + YOUNG CHECKY)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £5

00’s R’n’B. Y’all gon make me lose my mind, up in here, up in here.

HEADS UP (SPLICER + LG + IRENE + YACOBI + ALEX WHITE)

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 23:00, £5

Powered by the Womp and Stomp sound system, Heads Up brings you a night of drum and bass stompers from start to finish.

FINITRIBE (DAVIE MILLAR)

PARADISE PALMS, FROM 21:00, FREE

Finitribe return for their monthly residency at Palms, known for booking legends such as Justin Robertson, Timothy ‘Heretic’ Clerkin and Jon Pleased Wimmin.

Sun 27 May SUNDAY CLUB

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

COALITION (BELIEVE + FRIENDS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, FREE

Believe presents the best in bass DJs from Edinburgh at his weekly Sunday communion.

GRRRL CRUSH AND NIKNAK’S GALDEM TAKE OVER (CHRISSY BARNACLE + JOYCE DELANEY + BONZAI BONNER + NIKNAK + SOME CHICK CALLED BOB)

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 23:00, £7 - £10

Grrrl Crush are back with a vengeance and they’ve teamed up with NikNak to bring you a double venue takeover at Paradise Palms and The Mash House.

GRRRL CRUSH AND NIKNAK’S GALDEM TAKE OVER (CHRISSY BARNACLE + JOYCE DELANEY + BONZAI BONNER + NIKNAK + SOME CHICK CALLED BOB)

PARADISE PALMS, FROM 21:00, £7 - £10

Grrrl Crush are back with a vengeance and they’ve teamed up with NikNak to bring you a double venue takeover at Paradise Palms and The Mash House.

Mon 28 May MIXED UP

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, £0 - £4

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, R’n’B and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

PROPAGANDA

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £0 - £2

WEE RED BAR, FROM 23:00, £5

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect.

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £3 - £5

WASABI DISCO (KRIS WASABI)

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

The all-female musical beauty pageant of disco, house, techno, soul, funk, reggae, new wave and the rest.

NIKNAK

PARADISE PALMS, FROM 21:00, FREE

Tue 29 May

THE EGG

A salad of genres: sixties garage and soul plus 70s punk and new wave, peppered with psych and indie for good measure.

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £5

Mutant disco and sleazy electro throbbers spun til late in a trashy boozer. Kris Wasabi in control all night.

PMSC: LYLA

PARADISE PALMS, FROM 21:00, FREE

This month, Percy Main welcomes Lyla, runner of Sunny Side Up parties and recently capped record punter at Rubadub.

Sun 20 May SUNDAY CLUB

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

COALITION (BELIEVE + FRIENDS)

Nik and Nak back to back all night.

A night of throbbers, melters and goodo time belters.

Sat 26 May

MUMBO JUMBO W/ THE GOGO

MISS WORLD

MIDNIGHT BASS

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

Brand new weekly Bongo night by Electrikal Sound System, dishing out drum and bass, jungle, bassline, grime and garage.

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £7

TRASH

BUBBLEGUM

Alternative Tuesday anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

Funk, soul, beats and bumps from the Mumbo Jumbo gang and new room two residents The GoGo. THE HIVE, FROM 21:00, £0 - £4

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Wed 30 May WICKED WEDNESDAYS

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

All new, all fun, all cheese club night.

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, FREE

Believe presents the best in bass DJs from Edinburgh at his weekly Sunday communion.

Mon 21 May MIXED UP

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, R’n’B and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

NICK STEWART & FRIENDS

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £0 - £2

A night of pals, party music and #sparedjnames with Sneaks founder Nick Stewart.

Tue 22 May MIDNIGHT BASS

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £4

Brand new weekly Bongo night by Electrikal Sound System, dishing out drum and bass, jungle, bassline, grime and garage.

Listings

67

HEATERS: C-SHAMAN SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £0 - £2

C-Shaman, lord curator of the Heaters Wednesday takes the reigns all night after a slew of excellent guests.

Thu 31 May HI-FI REBEL

THE HIVE, FROM 22:00, FREE

Your weekly dose of indie rock’n’roll.

JUICE (AMI K + DAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 23:00, £0 - £2

Dan & Ami K make weird waves through house and techno.

Dundee Clubs Fri 04 May

HEADWAY 14TH BIRTHDAY WITH DR. RUBINSTEIN

READING ROOMS, FROM 22:30, £5 - £12

A killer techno DJ with an energetic, in-your-face style, Dr. Rubinstein takes the reins at Headway’s 14th birthday.

Sun 06 May

HOT CATS: DAN SHAKE (IS KILL & MARC JD + MAX & RONAN)

READING ROOMS, FROM 16:00, £5 - £10

The first non-native of Detroit ever be signed to Moodymann’s label, Dan Shake joins the Hot Cats crew for a Sunday afternoon garden party.

Fri 11 May

AFRICAN CHARITY FUNDRAISER

READING ROOMS, FROM 22:30, TBC

The Reckless Kettle residents will be playing smoking hot African and African-inspired tracks all night long.

Fri 18 May

MUNGO’S HI FI SOUND SYSTEM (MC ISHU + DUNC4N)

Theatre CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art TELLING THE BEES

3-5 MAY, 8:00PM, PRICES VARY

Exploring the bond between humans and insects, Telling the Bees playfully questions our behaviour towards such a significant and increasingly endangered species.

ULTIMATE DANCER – FOR NOW WE SEE THROUGH A MIRROR, DARKLY

22-23 MAY, 7:00PM, £8 - £12

THRILLER LIVE 14-26 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Touring concert celebrating the career of the undisputed King of Pop, paying homage to Jacko’s legendary OTT live stage performances.

FAT FRIENDS - THE MUSICAL

1-5 MAY, TIMES VARY, £16.50 - £62.50

The hit TV show of the same now gets a musical adaptation, with an all-star cast.

TITANIC THE MUSICAL

28 MAY-2 JUN, TIMES VARY, £15.90 £48.90

This eerie choreography of confusion has been created in collaboration and performed with Jo Hellier and Peter McMaster.

Musical based on real people aboard the most legendary ship in the world, the Titanic.

Citizens Theatre

BIRDSONG

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

1-5 MAY, TIMES VARY, £10 - £23

Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer Prizewinning Long Day’s Journey Into Night delves into the private lives and failings of a conflicted family, while revealing insights into his own upbringing.

Theatre Royal 8 MAY-2 JUN, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Sebastian Faulks’ story of love, courage and sacrifice during wartime is brought to the stage in a new adaptation marking the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI. MONEY FOR NOTHING

9 MAY, 7:30PM, £30.65

One woman piece taking an unusual look at the funny side of funerals, death and the wake tradition.

A tribute to the Dire Straits like no other before. Prepare to be captivated by the authentic sounds of one of the most successful rock bands of all time.

23-26 MAY, 7:30PM, £10.50 - £14.50

3-31 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

BRIGHT COLOURS ONLY

1-12 MAY, TIMES VARY, £10 - £16.50

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

As the Citizens closes its door for the next two years for a major redevelopment, the Gorbals Ghosts have got the place to themselves for a bit of 1918 style entertainment.

THE POOL OF BETHESDA

19-23 MAY, TIMES VARY, £5 - £13.50

Performance by final year students of RCS. THE ANGRY BRIGADE

30 MAY-2 JUN, TIMES VARY, £5 - £13.50

SCOTTISH OPERA: EUGENE ONEGIN

Opera favourite based on Alexander Pushkin’s famous novel, telling the story of a wealthy young man who lives to regret his nonchalant dismissal of a young woman’s love, backed by a Tchaikovsky score.

GRUMPY OLD WOMEN TO THE RESCUE

12-14 MAY, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

90 minutes of brand new ‘full-fat’, ‘batteries included’ comedy from the mistresses of grump.

Performance by final year students of RCS.

Tramway

More heavyweight selections from Mungo’s Soundsystem, playing a full soundsystem set for your clubbing pleasure.

Glasgow Botanic Gardens

16 MAY, 7:30PM, £10 - £15

Sat 19 May

24-27 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

READING ROOMS, FROM 21:30, £8

LOCARNO

READING ROOMS, FROM 22:30, £4 - £7

The Locarno boys, Red & Steven, Reuben and Max will once again bring their alternative slice of 50s & 60s (and a little 70s) music to the Small Town Club.

Sun 20 May

RECKLESS KETTLE DEGREE SHOW MELTDOWN

READING ROOMS, FROM 16:00, TBC

A Sunday all day party from the Reckless Kettle lot, across three stages, with DJs, live music, art and more.

Sat 26 May BOOK CLUB

READING ROOMS, FROM 22:00, £8 - £10

Is Kill and Marc JD spin all genres of disco, house and techno, alongside anything else they damn well fancy.

Glasgow Theatre Britannia Panopticon Music Hall

PETER MCMASTER: THE KING OF RAGS AND STITCHES

29-30 MAY, 7:30PM, £8 - £10

Phantoms of a bygone theatrical era haunt the boards in this satirical response to the phenomenon that Hamlet is the most performed play of all time.

TANIA EL KHOURY: AS FAR AS MY FINGERTIPS TAKE ME

As Far As My Fingertips Take Me is an intimate one-to-one performance piece, a conversation through a gallery wall between an audience member and a refugee.

Govanhill Baths THE DOLL DOCTOR

14-19 MAY, 7:30PM, £7 - £12

The English language premiere of the classic Welsh play Saer Doliau.

Oran Mor GIRLS NIGHT OOT

20 MAY, 4:00PM, £15

Sequel to feel-good production I Will Survive, featuring songs from the 60s right through to modern hits. Frothy as it comes.

Platform

SPLIT BRITCHES: UNEXPLODED ORDNANCES

26 MAY, 5:00PM, £4.50 - £8.50

Unexploded Ordnances explores ageing, anxiety, hidden desires and how to look forward when the future is uncertain.

FK ALEXANDER: VIOLENCE

16-19 MAY, 9:30PM, £8 - £12

VIOLENCE is a personal anti-love tribute to crushed hope and renewed desire, combining variously sourced text, live percussion, non-dance and flowers.

DEAD CENTRE: HAMNET

19 MAY, 8:00PM, £10 - £15

Hamnet is a solo work for an eleven-year-old boy, which stormed the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2017.

BASSLINE CIRCUS & SUE ZUKI: LIQUID SKY

26-27 MAY, TIMES VARY, £8 - £12

Liquid Sky is a new piece of visual theatre exploring the interface between sonic art and aerial circus within a laser light scenography.

QUOTE UNQUOTE COLLECTIVE WITH WHY NOT THEATRE: MOUTHPIECE

30-31 MAY, 7:30PM, £10 - £15

Mouthpiece follows one woman, in the wake of her mother’s death, for one day, as she tries to find her voice.

Sloans

17-20 MAY, TIMES VARY, £10

18-19 MAY, 8:00PM, £5

TO THE END OF THE WORLD!

BRINK

Cat Loud brings her new show To the End of the World! to Glasgow and Edinburgh, fresh from an award-winning run at VAULT Festival in London.

In celebration of Year of Young People 2018, the Tron present two rehearsed readings of Brink, by Mayfesto Award Winner Sarah Farrell.

The Art School

A taut psychological thriller that explores who we can trust with our children, and whether it’s more dangerous not to trust at all.

MOOT MOOT

22-23 MAY, 9:00PM, £8 - £12

MOOT MOOT is a weird and wild trip through never-ending feedback loops; a riotous rhythmic transmission for our times.

The King’s Theatre 15-19 MAY, TIMES VARY, £17.90 - £63.40

The creative lovechild of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber which tells the story of Eva Peron, wife of former Argentine dictator Juan Peron.

Listings

Five women tackle the neoliberalist cult of the body with all their performative brilliance and vicious, physical virtuosity.

Tron Theatre

EVITA

68

FLORENTINA HOLZINGER/CAMPO: APOLLON

GUT

16-19 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

MA, PA AND THE LITTLE MOUTHS

3-19 MAY, TIMES VARY, £9 - £17

We find ourselves in the beguiling world of Ma and Pa, who spend their time exchanging extraordinary and fantastic stories, until suddenly there is a knock at the door.

PYROMANIA: END OF

3 MAY, 8:00PM, £5

Sex addict Sarah is presenting her paper on ’The primal need for the narrative climax’ today, but her life is currently in disarray.

PYROMANIA: THE WARHOL ASSASSIN

SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE FINAL CURTAIN

4 MAY, 8:00PM, £5

28 MAY-2 JUN, TIMES VARY, £19 - £32.50

The Warhol Assassin is a new play by writer and theatre maker, Amy Conway: a gaudy, messy conversation about power and powerlessness, action and inaction, anger and madness.

MOVING MONOLOGUES

5 MAY, 8:00PM, £5

Composer/novelist Luke Sutherland and choreographer Christine Devaney perform two very different monologues.

DAVID HOYLE: DIAMOND

25-26 MAY, 7:45PM, £10 - £15

Diamond is an avant-garde, angry and often hilarious journey into LGBT liberation from 1957 to present day.

WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF

25-26 MAY, 8:00PM, £8.50

Based on her meticulously detailed teenage diaries, this is the true story of Cora Bissett’s rollercoaster journey from the girl she was to the woman she wanted to be.

Chilling, gripping and filled with unforeseen twists and revelations, this new thriller reunites the dream team of Robert Powell and Liza Goddard.

Old Leith Theatre HIDDEN DOOR 2018

25 MAY-3 JUN, TIMES VARY, £10 - £300

The renovators and curators at Hidden Door return for another ma-hoosive programme of crossplatform entertainment at the Old Leith Theatre.

Royal Lyceum Theatre CREDITORS

1-12 MAY, TIMES VARY, £10 - £32

Tony Award-winner Stewart Laing returns to Scotland to direct an adaptation of August Strindberg’s portrait of an intense sexual triangle, which he considered to be his one true masterpiece.

THE HOUR WE KNEW NOTHING OF EACH OTHER

Edinburgh Theatre Assembly Roxy THE STRANGE UNDOING OF PRUDENCIA HART

15-19 MAY, TIMES VARY, £18 - £21

One of the National Theatre of Scotland’s most beloved and iconic productions, the show takes over and transforms non-traditional performance spaces to weave an innovative and immersive theatrical experience.

TO THE END OF THE WORLD!

17-20 MAY, TIMES VARY, £10

Cat Loud brings her new show To the End of the World! to Glasgow and Edinburgh, fresh from an award-winning run at VAULT Festival in London.

Festival Theatre WAR HORSE

1-12 MAY, TIMES VARY, £18 - £61

War Horse continues to tour the UK, telling the story of Albert and his beloved horse Joey, adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s novel.

You may as well just start weeping now...

THRILLER LIVE

14-26 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Touring concert celebrating the career of the undisputed King of Pop, paying homage to Jacko’s legendary OTT live stage performances.

SHEN YUN

20-21 MAY, TIMES VARY, £60 - £100

Classic dance, a full orchestra, costumes and backdrops celebrate the history and heritage of China.

SCOTTISH OPERA: EUGENE ONEGIN

3-31 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Opera favourite based on Alexander Pushkin’s famous novel, telling the story of a wealthy young man who lives to regret his nonchalant dismissal of a young woman’s love, backed by a Tchaikovsky score.

King’s Theatre Edinburgh BIRDSONG

8 MAY-2 JUN, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Sebastian Faulks’ story of love, courage and sacrifice during wartime is brought to the stage in a new adaptation marking the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI. EDINBURGH MUSIC THEATRE PRESENTS GUYS AND DOLLS

2-5 MAY, TIMES VARY, £15 - £20

Expect sequins, New Yawkers and sit-down-you’re-rocking-theboat galore in Edinburgh Music Theatre’s production of Guys and Dolls.

GRUMPY OLD WOMEN TO THE RESCUE

12-14 MAY, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

90 minutes of brand new ‘full-fat’, ‘batteries included’ comedy from the mistresses of grump.

DOUBLE FEATURE

18-19 MAY, 8:00PM, £17.50

Edinburgh’s favourite comedy double act, Andy Gray and Grant Stott are back in a brand-new play written by Only an Excuse’s Phil Differ.

31 MAY-2 JUN, TIMES VARY, £13 - £15

This production gives the simple pleasure of people-watching a vibrant dramatic life, as the audience weave a narrative out of the everyday scenes of a city.

Summerhall TELLING THE BEES

3-5 MAY, 8:00PM, PRICES VARY

Exploring the bond between humans and insects, Telling the Bees playfully questions our behaviour towards such a significant and increasingly endangered species.

The Basement Theatre SHATTERED

23-23 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

After months of watching from her window and seeing her husband move in and out of her world, a woman’s encounter with a stranger begins her reconnection to life.

The Edinburgh Playhouse WICKED

8 MAY-9 JUN, TIMES VARY, £22.50 - £91.50

The captivating and oft-sold out musical, telling the story of how the two witches of Oz came to be known as good and bad, told through song ‘n’ that.

Traverse Theatre GUT

1-12 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

A taut psychological thriller that explores who we can trust with our children, and whether it’s more dangerous not to trust at all.

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: THE PERSIANS

1-5 MAY, TIMES VARY, £13.50

A Conservative, a Scottish Nationalist, and a Democratic Unionist meet over tea to discuss an online petition to bring back the death penalty.

ANATOMY: FINEST CUTS

10-11 MAY, 8:00PM, £9 - £17

A best of five years of genredefying performance.

MA, PA AND THE LITTLE MOUTHS

3-19 MAY, TIMES VARY, £9 - £17

We find ourselves in the beguiling world of Ma and Pa, who spend their time exchanging extraordinary and fantastic stories, until suddenly there is a knock at the door.

FORBIDDEN STORIES

17-18 MAY, 8:00PM, £6 - £12

A multimedia performance that explores the theme of borders in the separated island of Cyprus.

PASS OUT 2018

23-24 MAY, 8:00PM, £6 - £12

Usher Hall REMEMBERING FRED

5 MAY, 7:00PM, £21.45 - £46.75

Strictly pair Aljaz and Janette pay tribute to Fred Astaire with a night of song and dance.

Dundee Theatre Dundee Rep FORGOTTEN

30 MAY, 7:30PM, £9 - £15

A unique collage of Kabuki dance and Irish storytelling, Forgotten is a captivating portrayal of four elderly characters living in retirement homes around Ireland.

FISK

11 MAY, 7:30PM, £9 - £15

Examining themes of depression, support and interconnection, Fisk will draw audiences into an atmospheric and immersive world.

EVE/ADAM – DOUBLE BILL

24-26 MAY, 7:00PM, £9 - £25

Comedy Glasgow Comedy RED RAW (SCOTT AGNEW + MARC JENNINGS)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £3

Glasgow’s legendary new material night with up to ten acts.

GLASGOW HAROLD NIGHT

BLACKFRIARS BASEMENT, FROM 20:00, FREE

Join in the countdown as a selection of Light Bulb’s favourite acts perform shorter and shorter sets until it gets very silly indeed.

Thu 10 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (PAUL TONKINSON + ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN + MARC JENNINGS + GARY MEIKLE + BILLY KIRKWOOD)

One hilarious show, completely improvised by two teams, based off an audience suggestion. Improv comedy at its finest.

Start the weekend early with five comedians.

Wed 02 May

Fri 11 May

COMEDIAN RAP BATTLES (NEIL THE WEE MAN BRATCHPIECE)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £4 - £6

Comedy and rap collide.

Thu 03 May

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £5 - £10

THE FRIDAY SHOW (PAUL TONKINSON + ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN + MARC JENNINGS + GARY MEIKLE + BILLY KIRKWOOD) THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £6 - £12

The big weekend show with five comedians.

National Theatre of Scotland presents two new uplifting, brave and deeply personal productions exploring extraordinary lives in transition.

THE THURSDAY SHOW (GLENN WOOL + CHRIS DISTEPHANO + DARREN CONNELL + JODIE MITCHELL + CHRIS FORBES)

Start the weekend early with five comedians.

29 MAY, 7:30PM, £9 - £15

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a late night comedy show, with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

Fri 04 May

YESBAR, FROM 19:30, £10

A BRAVE FACE

Created from two years of research with ex and serving soldiers, families and health professionals, A Brave Face explores Post-Traumatic Stress.

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £5 - £10

THE FRIDAY SHOW (GLENN WOOL + CHRIS DISTEPHANO + DARREN CONNELL + JODIE MITCHELL + CHRIS FORBES) THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £6 - £12

THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

THE EARLY SHOW

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a weekend comedy club with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

Sat 12 May

The Gardyne Theatre

The big weekend show with five comedians.

24 MAY, 7:30PM, £23

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a late night comedy show, with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

The big weekend show with five comedians.

YESBAR, FROM 19:30, £10

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

SERIOUSLY DEAD

A comedy play feat. Crissy Rock offa Benidorm and I’m A Celeb and Frazer Hines from Emmerdale / Doctor Who. GRUMPY OLD WOMEN TO THE RESCUE

12-14 MAY, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

90 minutes of brand new ‘full-fat’, ‘batteries included’ comedy from the mistresses of grump.

SHOWCASE THE STREET

20 MAY, 7:00PM, £7 - £9

Showcase the Street presents One Night Only, a musical theatre extravaganza.

BEST OF BROADWAY

31 MAY, 7:30PM, £15.50

The best songs from the best Broadway shows brought to you by a first class professional cast.

Whitehall Theatre ALL SHOOK UP

2-5 MAY, 7:30PM, £14.50 - £16.50

Roaring musical comedy set in 1950s America, based on the music of Elvis Presley.

SUMMER HOLIDAY

16-19 MAY, TIMES VARY, £15.50 - £17.50

Bizarre but heartwarming musical about Cliff Richard and his buds going on a summer holiday (via bus).

THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

THE EARLY SHOW

THE SATURDAY SHOW (PAUL TONKINSON + ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN + MARC JENNINGS + GARY MEIKLE + BILLY KIRKWOOD)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £17.50

THE LATE SHOW

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a weekend comedy club with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a late night comedy show, with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

Sat 05 May

YESBAR, FROM 19:30, £10

THE SATURDAY SHOW (GLENN WOOL + CHRIS DISTEPHANO + DARREN CONNELL + JODIE MITCHELL + CHRIS FORBES) THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £17.50

The big weekend show with five comedians.

THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a late night comedy show, with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

THE EARLY SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 19:30, £10

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a weekend comedy club with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

Sun 06 May

GLASGOW KIDS COMEDY CLUB

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 15:00, £4

Let the comedians entertain the kids. Best suited to 8-12 year olds.

BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL (GLENN WOOL + CHRIS DISTEPHANO + DARREN CONNELL + MEGAN SHANDLEY + MICHAEL REDMOND)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £9 - £10

Celebrate the Bank Holiday in style.

SHAZIA MIRZA – WITH LOVE FROM ST. TROPEZ

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 18:00, £9 - £10

Shazia Mirza is back with a a brand new stand-up show.

Mon 07 May

MONDAY NIGHT IMPROV (BILLY KIRKWOOD + STUART MURPHY + GARRY DOBSON)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £3

Hold on tight for this fast, frantic unpredictable showdown of improvised comedy games where the same game is never played twice.

KOMEDY

From the people who brought you CHUNKS, comes a night of actual komedy.

24 MAY, 7:00PM, £5 - £7

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £3

Zinnie Harris and Peter Arnott, two of Scotland’s foremost dramatists collaborate on an exciting new project exploring the nature of theatre and beyond.

LIGHT BULB 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY COUNTDOWN SHOW (CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR-BOYD + ROSCO MCCLELLAND + ELAINE MALCOLMSON)

BLACKFRIARS BASEMENT, FROM 20:00, FREE

Tue 01 May

Edinburgh College’s Performing Arts Studio Scotland returns to the Traverse with their unique take on showcase performances for graduate actors.

REHEARSED READING: VARIANT BY PETER ARNOTT

Wed 09 May

YESBAR, FROM 20:30, £0 - £3

Tue 08 May

RED RAW (MC HAMMERSMITH)

Glasgow’s legendary new material night with up to ten acts.

LIGHT BULB

BLACKFRIARS BASEMENT, FROM 20:00, FREE

THE EARLY SHOW

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a weekend comedy club with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

Sun 13 May

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (BRUCE FUMMEY + DONALD ALEXANDER + CHRIS SCOTT)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £5 - £6

Chilled Sunday night laughs to see the weekend out.

LARRY DEAN – FANDAN

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 17:00, £10

Extra date added due to popular demand. Storytelling from one of comedy’s fiercest new talents.

Mon 14 May

JOE BOR – A ROOM WITH A JEW

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £10

An hour of stand-up from awardwinning comedian and Jewish comedian of the year, Joe Bor.

Tue 15 May

RED RAW (JOHN GAVIN + RAY BRADSHAW)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £3

Glasgow’s legendary new material night with up to ten acts.

Thu 17 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (MICK FERRY + JOHN LYNN + JAY LAFFERTY + CHRIS SCOTT + MARTIN MOR) THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £5 - £10

Start the weekend early with five comedians.

Fri 18 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (MICK FERRY + JOHN LYNN + JAY LAFFERTY + CHRIS SCOTT + MARTIN MOR)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £6 - £12

The big weekend show with five comedians.

THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a late night comedy show, with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

THE EARLY SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 19:30, £10

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a weekend comedy club with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

An alternative comedy showcase and brand new night of stand up comedy.

THE SKINNY

Sat 19 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (MICK FERRY + JOHN LYNN + JAY LAFFERTY + CHRIS SCOTT + MARTIN MOR) THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £17.50

The big weekend show with five comedians.

THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a late night comedy show, with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

THE EARLY SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 19:30, £10

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a weekend comedy club with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

Sun 20 May

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (CHRIS FORBES)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £5 - £6

Chilled Sunday night laughs to see the weekend out.

Mon 21 May BARBARA NICE: RAFFLE!

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £12 - £14

Join the Edinburgh Fringe’s favourite housewife Barbara Nice for an evening of proper good fun.

Tue 22 May

RED RAW (GUS LYMBURN)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £3

Glasgow’s legendary new material night with up to ten acts.

NEWS HACKS

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £12

Writer of the long running hit topical radio show Watson’s Wind Up, Rikki Brown presents a fresh take on the news and those making the news.

Wed 23 May

ANGELA BARNES – FORTITUDE

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £13 - £14

Following another sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival, the Mock The Week regular and host of BBC R4’s Newsjack is back at The Stand.

Thu 24 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (SCOTT CAPURRO + DAMIAN CLARK + JOHN GAVIN + EDDIE CASSIDY + JOJO SUTHERLAND)

DARA O BRIAIN: VOICE OF REASON SEC, FROM 18:30, £26.10

The favourited Irish funnyman hits the road with his new tour, Voice of Reason.

Sun 27 May

BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL (SCOTT CAPURRO + DAMIAN CLARK + STEPHEN BUCHANAN + NATALIE SWEENEY + MICHAEL REDMOND)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £9 - £10

Celebrate the Bank Holiday in style.

CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR-BOYD

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £7

Home Sweet Home is the debut hour from Scotland’s best new comedian, who STV says is ‘following in the footsteps of Kevin Bridges’.

Fri 25 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (SCOTT CAPURRO + DAMIAN CLARK + JOHN GAVIN + EDDIE CASSIDY + JOJO SUTHERLAND)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £6 - £12

The big weekend show with five comedians.

THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a late night comedy show, with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

CROSSMYLAFF COMEDY (ASHLEY STORRIE + SCOTT CAPURRO)

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 20:00, £10

An evening of stand-up comedy featuring a hand-picked selection of local up and coming comics.

THE EARLY SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 19:30, £10

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a weekend comedy club with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

CROSSMYLAFF COMEDY AT THE SOUTHSIDE FRINGE FESTIVAL (FERGUS MITCHELL (MC) + ASHLEY STORRIE + SCOTT CAPURRO + GABRIEL FEATHERSTONE) THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £10

An evening of stand-up comedy featuring a hand-picked selection of local up and coming comics.

Sat 26 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (SCOTT CAPURRO + DAMIAN CLARK + JOHN GAVIN + EDDIE CASSIDY + JOJO SUTHERLAND)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £5

A fantastic night of comedy to raise funds for a great cause.

Tue 29 May

RED RAW (RO CAMPBELL + MICKY BARTLETT)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £3

Glasgow’s legendary new material night with up to ten acts.

Wed 30 May

SCRAM! (CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR-BOYD + ROSCO MCCLELLAND + MARC JENNINGS + STEPHEN BUCHANAN + RACHEL GRAHAM) THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £4 - £5

SCRAM! is the brand new sketch and ensemble night from some of Scotland’s finest new comedians.

Stand-up, sketches and improv.

Thu 31 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (MARK NELSON + CHRIS FORBES + CATHERINE BOHART + STEPHEN HALKETT + SCOTT GIBSON)

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £5 - £10

Start the weekend early with five comedians.

THE DARREN CONNELL SHOW: LIVE

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 19:00, £8

See the star of Scot Squad and host Darren Connell do some stand-up.

THE EARLY SHOW

THE SATURDAY SHOW (SCOTT CAPURRO + CARMEN LYNCH + EDDY BRIMSON + BRUCE DEVLIN)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £17.50

The big weekend show with five comedians.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY’S BIG SATURDAY SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £14

Monkey Barrel’s flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

THE COMEDY SHOW (GARETH WAUGH (MC) + SADIA AZMAT + STUART MCPHERSON + TIFF STEVENSON)

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 21:00, £10.50 - £12.50

Edinburgh Comedy PROJECT X

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £0 - £3

All-new student night themed around the film of the same name, Project X.

Wed 02 May VIVA LA SHAMBLES

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £4 - £5

Anarchic comedy mayhem from Scotland’s finest young acts.

TOP BANANA

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £0 - £3

Monkey Barrel’s comedy competition for new folk on the scene.

NEW SH*T

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 20:00, FREE

The ultimate comedy test-ground for new acts and old pros.

Thu 03 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (SCOTT CAPURRO + CARMEN LYNCH + EDDY BRIMSON + CHRISTOPHER KC + BRUCE DEVLIN)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £5 - £10

Start the weekend early with five comedians.

SPONTANEOUS SHERLOCK

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

An entirely improvised Sherlock Holmes comedy play from Scotland’s hottest improv troupe.

Fri 04 May

The big weekend show with five comedians.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY’S BIG FRIDAY SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £10 - £12

TOP BANANA MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £0 - £3

Stephen Bailey returns with his latest Fringe offering. It’s louder, prouder and ruder than ever before.

Fri 11 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (KEIR MCALLISTER + MALCOLM HEAD + KATIE MULGREW + MEGAN SHANDLEY + GUS LYMBURN) THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £6 - £12

The big weekend show with five comedians.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY’S BIG FRIDAY SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £10 - £12

Monkey Barrel’s flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

THE COMEDY SHOW (RAY BRADSHAW (MC) + STEPHEN BAILEY + EVELYN MOK + JOE HEENAN) THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £10.50 - £12.50

Weekly comedy show at the Basement every Friday and Saturday night, with a different line-up and headliner each week, combining up-and-coming talent with Fringe favourites.

THE PORTOBELLO COMEDY NIGHT (GARY LITTLE + JAMIE DALGLEISH + CHRIS SCOTT + SARAH-JANE JUDGE + STEVEN DAVIDSON (MC)) DALRIADA BAR, FROM 20:30, £12

A night of comedy in Porty.

Sat 12 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (KEIR MCALLISTER + MALCOLM HEAD + KATIE MULGREW + MEGAN SHANDLEY + GUS LYMBURN)

Sun 06 May

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY’S BIG SATURDAY SHOW

BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL (CARMEN LYNCH + EDDY BRIMSON + MATT WATSON + BRUCE DEVLIN)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £9 - £10

Celebrate the Bank Holiday in style.

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW (STUART MURPHY + GARRY DOBSON) THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 13:30, FREE

Legendary free Sunday afternoon improv show.

PROGRESS!

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

Monkey Barrel’s rising comedy star showcase; swing by and catch the stars of tomorrow.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

The To Be Continued crew return with more sketches, scenes and improvised antics.

Mon 07 May Tue 01 May

STEPHEN BAILEY: F**K IT, LET’S TALK THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 21:00, £8 - £10

Weekly comedy show at the Basement every Friday and Saturday night, with a different line-up and headliner each week, combining up-and-coming talent with Fringe favourites.

TBC IMPROV THEATRE

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £6 - £12

YESBAR, FROM 19:30, £10

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £10.50 - £12.50

Sat 05 May

BENEFIT IN AID OF FREEDOM FROM TORTURE (GARRY LITTLE + CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR-BOYD + MARC JENNINGS + CUBBY + ASHLEY STORRIE)

THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

THE COMEDY SHOW (GARETH WAUGH (MC) + SADIA AZMAT + STUART MCPHERSON + TIFF STEVENSON)

Mon 28 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (SCOTT CAPURRO + CARMEN LYNCH + EDDY BRIMSON + BRUCE DEVLIN)

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a late night comedy show, with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

Bearfoot Comedy Club brings you a fabulous comedy extravaganza of stand-up, sketch and musical comedy.

The favourited Irish funnyman hits the road with his new tour, Voice of Reason.

SEC, FROM 18:30, £26.10

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £17.50

The big weekend show with five comedians.

THE MERLIN, FROM 19:30, £10

Weekly comedy show at the Basement every Friday and Saturday night, with a different line-up and headliner each week, combining up-and-coming talent with Fringe favourites.

DARA O BRIAIN: VOICE OF REASON

THE STAND GLASGOW, FROM 20:30, £5 - £10

Start the weekend early with five comedians.

BEARFOOT COMEDY CLUB (LOST VOICE GUY + STUART MCPHERSON)

RED RAW (JAY LAFFERTY + JOHN GAVIN)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £3

Glasgow’s legendary new material night with up to ten acts.

Tue 08 May

BONA FIDE (JAY LAFFERTY)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £5 - £6

New material specially written for the night by some of the countries finest comedians.

PROJECT X

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £0 - £3

All-new student night themed around the film of the same name, Project X.

Wed 09 May TOP BANANA

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £0 - £3

Monkey Barrel’s comedy competition for new folk on the scene.

BENEFIT IN AID OF CAIRNGORM MOUNTAIN RESCUE (FRED MACAULAY + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £10

Comedy benefit to raise money for CRMT (Cairngorm Mountain Rescue).

TOM STADE: WORK IN PROGRESS

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £5

See Tom Stade work on new material, alongside some of his favourite acts, in the run up to the Fringe.

Thu 10 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (KEIR MCALLISTER + MALCOLM HEAD + KATIE MULGREW + MEGAN SHANDLEY + GUS LYMBURN) THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £5 - £10

Start the weekend early with five comedians.

SPONTANEOUS POTTER

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £17.50

The big weekend show with five comedians.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £14

Monkey Barrel’s flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

THE COMEDY SHOW (RAY BRADSHAW (MC) + STEPHEN BAILEY + EVELYN MOK + JOE HEENAN) THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 21:00, £10.50 - £12.50

Weekly comedy show at the Basement every Friday and Saturday night, with a different line-up and headliner each week, combining up-and-coming talent with Fringe favourites.

GARY LAMONT: DROPPING THE SOAP

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 19:00, £10.50 - £12.50

After eight years on River City, Gary’s left his role as hairdresser Robbie behind. But is he destined to be an international showgirl following in the footsteps of Kylie? Or will he be flogging yoghurt Martine McCutcheon style?

Sun 13 May

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW (STUART MURPHY + GARRY DOBSON) THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 13:30, FREE

Legendary free Sunday afternoon improv show.

PROGRESS!

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

Monkey Barrel’s rising comedy star showcase; swing by and catch the stars of tomorrow.

JOE BOR – A ROOM WITH A JEW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £10

An hour of stand-up from awardwinning comedian and Jewish comedian of the year, Joe Bor. TBC IMPROV THEATRE

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

The To Be Continued crew return with more sketches, scenes and improvised antics.

Thu 17 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (CARL DONNELLY + LIAM WITHNAIL + PHIL JERROD + CUBBY + SUSIE MCCABE)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £5 - £10

Start the weekend early with five comedians.

SPONTANEOUS SHERLOCK

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

An entirely improvised Sherlock Holmes comedy play from Scotland’s hottest improv troupe.

BITCH NIGHT

CABARET VOLTAIRE, FROM 20:00, FREE

Bitch Night is Edinburgh’s leading female and man-bitch friendly variety night, showcasing the best talent across Scotland.

KIRI PRITCHARD-MCLEAN: WORK IN PROGRESS

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 19:30, £5

Chortle Award-nominated comedian Kiri Pritchard McLean performs a work-in-progress show.

MAWAAN RIZWAN: WORK IN PROGRESS

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 21:00, £5

Fresh off a UK tour supporting Simon Amstell, Mawaan Rizwan is back with a work-in-progress show.

Fri 18 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (CARL DONNELLY + LIAM WITHNAIL + PHIL JERROD + CUBBY + SUSIE MCCABE) THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £6 - £12

The big weekend show with five comedians.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY’S BIG FRIDAY SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £10 - £12

Monkey Barrel’s flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

CHRIS KENT: MOVING ON

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 19:30, £8 - £10

Cork comedian Chris Kent presents his fifth solo show, Moving On.

THE COMEDY SHOW (TOBY HADOKE (MC) + CMB + HARRIET DYER + CHRIS KENT) THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £10.50 - £12.50

Weekly comedy show at the Basement every Friday and Saturday night, with a different line-up and headliner each week, combining up-and-coming talent with Fringe favourites.

Sat 19 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (CARL DONNELLY + LIAM WITHNAIL + PHIL JERROD + CUBBY + SUSIE MCCABE)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £17.50

The big weekend show with five comedians.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY’S BIG SATURDAY SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £14

Monkey Barrel’s flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

THE COMEDY SHOW (TOBY HADOKE (MC) + CMB + HARRIET DYER + CHRIS KENT) THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 21:00, £10.50 - £12.50

Weekly comedy show at the Basement every Friday and Saturday night, with a different line-up and headliner each week, combining up-and-coming talent with Fringe favourites.

Sun 20 May

Mon 14 May

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW (STUART MURPHY + GARRY DOBSON)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £3

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 13:30, FREE

RED RAW

Glasgow’s legendary new material night with up to ten acts.

PETER PANCAKES’S COMEDY EXTRAVAGANZA!

Legendary free Sunday afternoon improv show.

PROGRESS!

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

Phil O’Shea brings a handpicked selection of riotous lols to Monkey Barrel.

Monkey Barrel’s rising comedy star showcase; swing by and catch the stars of tomorrow.

Tue 15 May

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £12 - £14

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, FREE

PROJECT X

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £0 - £3

All-new student night themed around the film of the same name, Project X.

Wed 16 May

TOPICAL STORM (MARK NELSON + KEIR MCALLISTER + STUART MURPHY + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH)

Resident MC Viv Gee hosts a weekend comedy club with some of the best comedians on the circuit.

Monkey Barrel’s flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

May 2018

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

A brand new Harry Potter play from some of Edinburgh’s most top notch improv wizards.

Monkey Barrel’s comedy competition for new folk on the scene.

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £5 - £7

Satirical comedy at its best.

BARBARA NICE: RAFFLE!

Join the Edinburgh Fringe’s favourite housewife Barbara Nice for an evening of proper good fun.

TBC IMPROV THEATRE

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

The To Be Continued crew return with more sketches, scenes and improvised antics.

Mon 21 May

RED RAW (STU MURPHY + STEPHEN BUCHANAN)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £3

Glasgow’s legendary new material night with up to ten acts.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY PRESENTS: WIP

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:30, £0 - £3

Four of Monkey Barrel’s very favourite acts combine forces for a bumper night of works in progress.

Tue 22 May PROJECT X

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £0 - £3

All-new student night themed around the film of the same name, Project X. ANGELA BARNES – FORTITUDE

Sun 27 May

BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL (BRENDON BURNS + PAUL MCCAFFREY + MARC JENNINGS + RACHEL MURPHY + SUSAN MORRISON)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £9 - £10

Celebrate the Bank Holiday in style.

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW (STUART MURPHY + GARRY DOBSON) THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 13:30, FREE

Legendary free Sunday afternoon improv show.

PROGRESS!

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

Monkey Barrel’s rising comedy star showcase; swing by and catch the stars of tomorrow.

FANNY’S AHOY! (JOJO SUTHERLAND + SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 17:30, £4 - £5

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £13 - £14

The award-winning grand dames of Scottish comedy navigate you through rough seas with their distinctly comedic take on life.

Wed 23 May

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £4 - £6

Following another sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival, the Mock The Week regular and host of BBC R4’s Newsjack is back at The Stand.

SCOTT GIBSON: SUNDAY SESSIONS

Monkey Barrel’s comedy competition for new folk on the scene.

Award-winning comedian Scott Gibson welcomes you to join him for a Sunday Session, with a hand-picked line-up of singers, musicians, poets, storytellers, comics and more.

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £8

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

TOP BANANA

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £0 - £3

LARRY DEAN – FANDAN

TBC IMPROV THEATRE

Extra date added due to popular demand. Storytelling from one of comedy’s fiercest new talents.

The To Be Continued crew return with more sketches, scenes and improvised antics.

Thu 24 May

Mon 28 May

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £5 - £10

Glasgow’s legendary new material night with up to ten acts.

THE THURSDAY SHOW (BRENDON BURNS + PAUL MCCAFFREY + DONALD ALEXANDER + SUSAN MORRISON)

Start the weekend early with five comedians.

SPONTANEOUS POTTER

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

A brand new Harry Potter play from some of Edinburgh’s most top notch improv wizards.

Fri 25 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (BRENDON BURNS + PAUL MCCAFFREY + DONALD ALEXANDER + SUSAN MORRISON)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £6 - £12

The big weekend show with five comedians.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY’S BIG FRIDAY SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £10 - £12

Monkey Barrel’s flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

THE COMEDY SHOW (JAY LAFFERTY (MC) + CHRIS STOKES + STEPHANIE LAING + BRENNAN REECE) THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £10.50 - £12.50

Weekly comedy show at the Basement every Friday and Saturday night, with a different line-up and headliner each week, combining up-and-coming talent with Fringe favourites.

Sat 26 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (BRENDON BURNS + PAUL MCCAFFREY + DONALD ALEXANDER + SUSAN MORRISON)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £17.50

The big weekend show with five comedians.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY’S BIG SATURDAY SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £14

Monkey Barrel’s flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

COMEDY KIDS

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 14:00, £5

Eight brave mini comedians will don the iconic Stand stage to dazzle you with their comic timing, reduce you to tears with hilarious sketches and blow you away with their pint-sized stand up routines.

THE COMEDY SHOW (JAY LAFFERTY (MC) + CHRIS STOKES + STEPHANIE LAING + BRENNAN REECE) THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 21:00, £10.50 - £12.50

Weekly comedy show at the Basement every Friday and Saturday night, with a different line-up and headliner each week, combining up-and-coming talent with Fringe favourites.

HIDDEN DOOR 2018: GILDED BALLOON PRESENTS (SCOTT AGNEW + ROSCO MCCLELLAND + ALFIE BROWN + HARRIET DYER + RACHEL JACKSON)

RED RAW (RO CAMPBELL + MICKY BARTLETT)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £3

Tue 29 May BRIGHT CLUB

Art Glasgow Art CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art

ROSS BIRRELL: THE TRANSIT OF HERMES

1 MAY-3 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

CCA presents Scottish artist Ross Birrell’s 2017 documenta 14 projects, Criollo and The AthensKassel Ride: The Transit of Hermes, including new film and installation works conceived specifically for this exhibition.

EWAN MITCHELL, ZOÉ SCHREIBER AND CAMARA TAYLOR: ROADMAPS

1-6 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Roadmaps brings together new sound and lens-based works by Ewan Mitchell, Zoé Schreiber and Camara Taylor.

Cass Art Glasgow

DAVID MACH: AGAINST THE TIDE

1-27 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Using some five tonnes of newspapers, supported by Herald & Times Group, David Mach will take over The Art Space at Cass Art Glasgow, constructing a tide of newspaper.

Compass Gallery IONA ROBERTS: TRAVELS AND TRANSLATIONS

18 MAY-9 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £5

Debut solo exhibition from Iona Roberts at the Compass Gallery.

PROJECT X

Glasgow Print Studio

Seriously smart stand-up. Comedy and Academia collide. Described by Robin Ince as, “A very good idea.”

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £0 - £3

All-new student night themed around the film of the same name, Project X.

Wed 30 May BEST OF SCOTTISH COMEDY

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 20:30, £5 - £6

CIARA PHILLIPS – GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL

1 MAY-3 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Turner Prize nominee Ciara Phillips addresses issues around women’s representation and self-actualisation in a print installation for Glasgow International 2018.

JOHN BYRNE - 12 NEW MONOTYPES

Join some of the best comics from the comtemporary Scottish comedy circuit for a night of laughter.

1-31 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £0 - £3

Glasgow School of Art

TOP BANANA

Monkey Barrel’s comedy competition for new folk on the scene.

HIDDEN DOOR 2018: GILDED BALLOON PRESENTS (RICHARD GADD + JAY LAFFERTY + MATT EWINS + LOU SANDERS)

OLD LEITH THEATRE, FROM 18:00, £10 - £300

The renovators and curators at Hidden Door return for another ma-hoosive programme of cross-platform entertainment at the Old Leith Theatre.

Thu 31 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (JANEY GODLEY + MICKY BARTLETT + PAUL F TAYLOR + BILLY KIRKWOOD)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, FROM 21:00, £5 - £10

Start the weekend early with five comedians.

SPONTANEOUS SHERLOCK

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

An entirely improvised Sherlock Holmes comedy play from Scotland’s hottest improv troupe.

LOU SANDERS: SHAME PIG

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 19:30, £5

Lou Sanders talks about her most shameful experiences and somehow manages to fit it into 50 minutes.

RACHEL JACKSON: SLUTTY LITTLE GOLDFISH

THE BASEMENT THEATRE, FROM 21:00, £5

Rachel’s tearing into everything from the Harvey Weinstein scandal to the Time’s Up movement that’s followed.

The first showing of 12 new and exclusive unique prints by John Byrne.

TORSTEN LAUSCHMANN: WAR OF THE CORNERS

1-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

This new solo commission of audio-visual and sculptural works by Glasgow-based Torsten Lauschmann, takes its title from a war of words that broke out in 18th century Paris when an elitist French opera had to make way for a sudden wave of populist Italian opera.

PENCIL TO PAPER: SUSANNE NØRREGÅRD NIELSEN

1-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

In this playful interdisciplinary work, Nielsen responds to Sophie TaeuberArp’s (1889-1943) text ‘Remarks on Teaching Decorative Design’ (1922) to form the foundation for a series of drawings on paper. A rare insight into her creativity method, it is translated into English for the first time by Nielsen.

GoMA POLYGRAPHS

1-20 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

A group exhibition with a central point of Hito Steyerl’s film Abstract, which explores truth, fiction and evidence in a complicated world.

CELLULAR WORLD

1 MAY-7 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

A group exhibition that explores questions of identity and individual and collective consciousness at a time of prolific social change and uncertainty, when reality can often seem more like science fiction.

OLD LEITH THEATRE, FROM 18:00, £10 - £300

The renovators and curators at Hidden Door return for another ma-hoosive programme of cross-platform entertainment at the Old Leith Theatre.

Listings

69

Hunterian Art Gallery

STILL MOVING: THE FILMS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF ULRIKE OTTINGER

1 MAY-29 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Hunterian presents a solo exhibition of moving image works and photographs by the internationally renowned filmmaker and artist Ulrike Ottinger, accompanied by a retrospective screening of her key films.

THE PHILOSOPHY CHAMBER: ART AND SCIENCE IN HARVARD’S TEACHING CABINET, 1766-1820

1 MAY-15 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition bringing rare items from Harvard University’s extraordinary collections to Scotland for the first time.

Mary Mary ROSE MARCUS: CORE

1 MAY-2 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Rose Marcus’ first UK exhibition furthers the artist’s themes of public space and its intrinsic use of private experiences.

Platform

JESSICA RAMM: PERSONAL STRUCTURES

1-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

For GI 2018, Jessica Ramm will present a series of temporary structures that will occupy and respond to the architecture of Platform.

JANIE NICOLL AND AILIE RUTHERFORD: IN KIND

1-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

A collaborative action research project by visual artists Janie Nicoll and Ailie Rutherford, examining the “below the water-line” economy of Glasgow International 2018, charting the unseen, unaccounted for efforts that enable Glasgow International to take place.

SWG3 Glasgow

HUGO SCOTT: ON THE EDGE OF TOWN

1-7 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

The first UK exhibition by Hugo Scott, the New York-based photographer and filmmaker, features new and recent photographs documenting contemporary life in the USA.

RICHARD WENTWORTH AND VICTORIA MIGUEL: A ROOMFUL OF LOVERS (GLASGOW) 1-7 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

A Roomful of Lovers (Glasgow) is the first major presentation of work by internationally celebrated artist Richard Wentworth and writer Victoria Miguel to take place in Scotland and is SWG3’s first contemporary art commission for the Galvanizers.

DMITRI GALITZINE: AT THIS STAGE

1-7 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

At This Stage is a multi-screen video installation by Dmitri Galitzine, filmed during a four-month residency at Dance Attic Studios – an acclaimed music and dance rehearsal studio in London’s Old Fulham Baths.

BALDVIN RINGSTED: LOVE WILL TEAR US APART

1-7 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

An installation from Icelandic, Glasgowbased multi-disciplinary artist Baldvin Ringsted in SWG3’s Acid Bar.

Street Level Photoworks

The Modern Institute

1 MAY-1 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

1-26 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

JAMES PFAFF: ALEX & ME

Alex & Me is an artistic reappropriation of James Pfaff’s archive, a tribute to a significant broken love and an authentic road trip through North America in the late summer of 1998.

The Common Guild

KATINKA BOCK: RADIO PIOMBINO

1 MAY-7 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

For Glasgow International 2018, The Common Guild will present a solo exhibition of work by the Paris-based, German artist Katinka Bock, her first in the UK.

The Lighthouse RISOTTO’S RISO ROOM

1-13 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Scotland’s leading risograph print specialist, RISOTTO comes to The Lighthouse to present a colourful programme of workshops, events and installations celebrating the art of risography.

THE ETHEREAL WIRELESS OF THE DREAMING MIND

1 MAY-3 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

This experimental video work by Morwenna Kearsley considers House for an Art Lover as a unique cinematic character, considering its potential voice and its relationship to the idea of hauntology, as presented by Mark Fisher.

FROSTPINNI!

1 MAY-3 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

In this exhibition, Glasgow-based ceramist Laura Lightbody celebrates play, pattern and form using visual inspiration from the everyday.

VILLAGE COLLEGE

1 MAY-3 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Florence Dwyer presents Village College, a piece of work made specifically for the viewing platform on the sixth floor, which she developed whilst on residency at Cove Park in June 2017.

COMMON GROUND (GLASGOW PEOPLE MAKE)

1 MAY-3 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Internationally exhibited artist Alex McEwan’s first public work in the city celebrates Glasgow’s everyday urban design with aspects of architectural drawing. Collaged printed image will be interwoven with hand drawn elements to create a free flowing mural. The work playfully pays homage to the creative soul of Glasgow; its attitude, its architecture, its people and its vibrant streets, by taking the familiar and mixing it up to be seen anew.

The Mitchell Library

DOUGLAS MORLAND: FOR MATTHEW

1-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

New dual-screen video/audio installation from Douglas Morland, inspired by the events surrounding the death of colliery worker Matthew Clydesdale in 1818. The work has been produced in conjunction with independent curatorial project The Hidden Noise, who have programmed a number of events, screenings and performances.

DUGGIE FIELDS

A historical show by British artist Duggie Fields. The exhibition will recreate the artist’s personal environment, collaging seminal works with new ones alongside video and sound pieces – a context that explores Fields’ position as an artist and cultural phenomenon.

The Modern Institute @ Airds Lane URS FISCHER

3-26 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of new work by Urs Fischer, spanning across the Aird’s Lane gallery space and adjacent Bricks Space. Fischer’s multi-faceted practice explores and extends the possibilities of sculpture, painting and image production.

NICOLAS PARTY

3-26 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Party’s practice focuses on examining and re-imagining painting’s traditional genres of still life, portraiture and landscape, which he often renders in a graphic and flat manner.

The Telfer Gallery

ON THE WAVES OF THE AIR, THERE IS DANCING OUT THERE

2-6 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition developed and produced by Carrie Skinner with Richy Carey, Lindsay Douglas, Michael Ebert-Hanke, Andy Edwards, Alexander Storey Gordon and Jen Sykes for Glasgow International 2018. It will be transmitted to audiences simultaneously online and gathered at The Telfer Gallery.

Tramway

KAPWANI KIWANGA: SOFT MEASURES

1 MAY-17 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

The continent of Europe is moving towards Africa at the rate of approximately 2cm per year – eventually it will slide underneath entirely. This was the starting point for a new multifaceted installation by Paris-based Canadian artist Kapwani Kiwanga.

TAI SHANI: DARK CONTINENT SEMIRAMIS

1-6 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Tai Shani creates a large-scale immersive installation that also functions as a site for performance. The work is an experimental adaptation of Christine de Pizan’s 1405 proto-feminist text The Book of the City of Ladies.

MARK LECKEY: NOBODADDY

1 MAY-15 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

For his solo exhibition at Tramway, Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Leckey has taken inspiration from a small statuette of the biblical figure of Job on display in the Wellcome Collection in London.

1-26 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Vilnius-based Lithuanian artist presents his first UK institutional solo exhibition and one of his most ambitious projects to date. A major commission of new installation work spans multiple spaces within the David Dale Gallery building, and involves individuals from neighbouring businesses.

Transmission Gallery

Dovecot Studios GARRY FABIAN MILLER: VOYAGE

1-7 MAY, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

This exhibition showcases a new Garry Fabian Miller tapestry created in collaboration with Dovecot Tapestry Studio, placing it within Garry Fabian Miller’s recent body of work as well as tracing back long term influences through key early pieces from the artist’s career.

IQHIYA

BATHS TO BOBBINS: 10 YEARS AT INFIRMARY STREET

1-6 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

1 MAY-29 JUN, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

South Africa-based network of young black female artists, the iQhiya Collective present a site-specific response to the historical and contemporary erasure of female artists in Scotland.

This is the third realisation of an iQhiya ‘solo’ exhibition, featuring works from members as individual artists, as well as a collaboratively produced collective intervention.

iota @ Unlimited Studios CROSSING

22 MAY-2 JUN, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

From the freshness of first experiments, through developing technique and an emerging voice, each weaver’s journey is shown by a retrospective collection of tapestries: 14 artists, 14 outlooks, passion and palette.

Edinburgh Art &Gallery

ELE PACK: HOLDING THE OCEANS

1-5 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Using pattern and mark to create rhythm, Pack uses a range of materials in a very organic way overlaying layers of paint, mark and collage to build up the pictorial space.

Arusha Gallery

KRISTIAN EVJU: PERFECT STRANGERS

4-28 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Norwegian artist Kristian Evju creates incredibly lifelike pencil drawings, adding his own twist to images inspired by found photographs.

City Art Centre HIDDEN GEMS

1-13 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

The City Art Centre showcases ‘unsung and unusual’ hidden gems from its collection of fine art.

ROBERT CALLENDER: PLASTIC BEACH

12 MAY-8 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Focusing on a selection of Robert Callender’s work, the exhibition addresses environmental concerns, ways and means of recycling; issues that underline the enduring and absolute relevance of Robert Callender’s ideas.

David Dale Gallery

AUGUSTAS SERAPINAS: BLUE PEN

Celebrating 10 years of weaving in the Infirmary Street Baths, Dovecot will share some memories on the Tapestry Studio Viewing Balcony.

SCREEN FOR ANOTHER FOCUS: DAVID PENNY

25 MAY-11 JUL, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

As part of the 10-year anniversary of Dovecot’s new life at the old Infirmary Street Baths, artist David Penny has created an exhibition of photography and video work interpreting the extraordinary craftsmanship of the weavers at Dovecot Tapestry Studio.

Edinburgh Printmakers TRANSLATING TRAVELS

1 MAY-21 JUL, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

British-born, Bergen-based artist, Imi Maufe will be showing work from the past fifteen years – a collection of travels that have been developing into contained, boxed pieces that can also involve collaboration with other artists.

Embassy Gallery GLASSMOUNT: DANIEL COOK

11 MAY-3 JUN, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Glassmount House stands stoically on an island of green, isolated by sprawling fields. Its lavish rooms and idyllic walled gardens make it the perfect retreat. Filmed site responsive performances create a chaotic personification of the house itself.

National Museum of Scotland ART OF GLASS

1 MAY-16 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A new exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland will examine the diverse work of 15 established and emerging glass artists in Britain today.

FRONT ROW: ECA FASHION SHOW 2018

25-25 MAY, TIMES VARY, £15

ECA’s traditional fashion show gets a whole new look, seating every audience member on the ‘front row’ in order to shake up the idea of hierarchies in fashion.

Open Eye Gallery

GLEN SCOULLER RSW RGI: BACK WITH BLACK

1-14 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of Scottish landscapes and still lifes, marking Scouller’s 50th solo show.

GEORGE DONALD RSA RSW: NEW PAINTINGS

1-14 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of new paintings by painter, printmaker and art tutor George Donald RSA RSW. ALASDAIR WALLACE: INCIDENCES

1-12 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of Alasdair Wallace’s densely symbolic paintings set in an alternative modern universe.

Royal Scottish Academy RSA RSA ANNUAL EXHIBITION 2018

5 MAY-6 JUN, TIMES VARY, TBC

The RSA Annual Exhibition is a focal point of the RSA programme and showcases work from RSA Academicians the length and breadth of Scotland. Now in its 192nd year, it continues to provide a platform for contemporary painting, sculpture, film, printmaking, photography and installation alongside work by some of the country’s leading architects.

LENNOX DUNBAR RSA: LEWIS & OTHER JOURNEYS

5 MAY-10 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

New paintings by artist Lennox Dunbar RSA in the Academicians’ Gallery.

NEW PRINTS

5 MAY-10 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

New prints created for the Ages of Wonder exhibition by Delia Bailie, Kate Downie, Stuart Duffin, Paul Furneaux, Jessica Harrison, Marion Smith and Frances Walker.

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Listings

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Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

A NEW ERA: SCOTTISH MODERN ART 1900-1950 1 MAY-10 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8 - £10

An alternative version of the history of modern Scottish art, featuring over 80 works by around 50 artists, including some of Scotland’s artistic giants and more unfamiliar artists.

NOW: JENNY SAVILLE, SARA BARKER, CHRISTINE BORLAND, ROBIN RHODE, MARKUS SCHINWALD, CATHERINE STREET AND OTHERS

1 MAY-16 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The third instalment of NOW will feature a major survey of works by renowned British artist Jenny Saville, spanning some 25 years of the artist’s career across five rooms.

RAQIB SHAW: REINVENTING THE OLD MASTERS

19 MAY-28 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Eight works by Raqib Shaw will be shown, alongside two paintings which have long obsessed him: Joseph Noel Paton’s The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania, 1849 and Lucas Cranach’s An Allegory of Melancholy, 1528.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery SCOTS IN ITALY

1 MAY-5 MAR 19, TIMES VARY, FREE

A showcase of the Scottish experience of Italy in the eighteenth century, a time when artistic, entrepreneurial and aristocratic fascination with the country was reaching boiling point.

THE MODERN PORTRAIT

1 MAY-27 OCT 19, TIMES VARY, FREE

A display collating paintings, sculptures and works from the Portrait Gallery’s twentiethcentury collection, feat. a variety of well-known faces, from Ramsay Macdonald to Alan Cumming, Tilda Swinton to Danny McGrain.

REFORMATION TO REVOLUTION

1 MAY-1 APR 19, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition examining the cultural consequences of the national religion becoming Protestantism in sixteenth century Scotland.

HEROES AND HEROINES

1 MAY-31 MAY 19, TIMES VARY, FREE

A re-examination of major Scottish figures which questions our habit of framing history around individuals and idols.

ART AND ANALYSIS: TWO NETHERLANDISH PAINTERS WORKING IN JACOBEAN SCOTLAND

1 MAY-26 JAN 20, TIMES VARY, FREE

A small exhibition focusing on two 17th-century artists Adrian Vanson and Adam de Colone, showcasing a group of paintings which have been examined by paintings conservator Dr Caroline Rae, along with the findings from her research.

IN FOCUS: THE EXECUTION OF CHARLES I

1 MAY-26 JAN 20, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition centred around a painting of the execution of Charles I – based on eye-witness accounts and contemporary engravings – by an unknown Dutch artist.

VICTORIA CROWE: BEYOND LIKENESS

12 MAY-18 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

This exhibition brings together a group of the best portraits by the distinguished artist Victoria Crowe. Crowe has developed an approach to portraiture that seeks to do more than record the outward appearance of a person.

Stills

PROJECTS 18

11 MAY-1 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Projects 18 is a series of four exhibitions aimed at providing a platform for new talent in photography from Scotland.

Summerhall SYNTHETICA

1-13 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A special contemporary art exhibition co-curated by Edinburgh International Science Festival, Summerhall and ASCUS Art & Science, which will showcase the work of established international artists working in the field of bioart.

P’ENG’S JOURNEY TO THE SOUTHERN DARKNESS: TING-TONG CHANG

1-13 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Using robotic devices to simulate living animals, P’eng’s Journey to the Southern Darkness brings lifelike characteristics to lifeless animal bodies.

RETROSPECTIVE: MARTA DE MENEZES 1-13 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A selection of works forms a brief retrospective on the incredible career of Marta de Menezes. The concept of identity and a dichotomy between the natural and the artificial are recurrent themes in Marta de Menezes’ practice.

PIG WINGS & CROSSING KINGDOMS: ORON CATTS, IONAT ZURR AND TARSH BATES

1-13 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Well-known bioartists Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr (The Tissue Culture & Art Project) present their landmark work Pig Wings (2000).

ALLA PRESENZA DI TINTORETTO / IN THE PRESENCE OF TINTORETTO: MARK PULSFORD

18 MAY-17 JUN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Using Tintoretto’s creative presence and the atmosphere engendered by his great masterworks, studying their subtlety and responding to them with drawings and paintings of his own, Mark Pulsford attempts to relive Tintoretto’s experience of inventing them.

THE ROMANCE OF THE GARDEN: FRAGMENTS AND MEMORIES – DAWSON AND LIZ MURRAY

19 MAY-13 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Married for 51 years, Dawson and Liz Murray share a great passion for plants and have spent the 21 years since they moved to Fife designing a beautiful garden which provides a constantly changing source of inspiration for their work.

ART OF BALANCE: JOEL BAKER, STERLING GREGORY, JAMES CRAIG PAGE, MANU TOPIC, TRAVIS WILLIAMS

5-27 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Dunbar resident and founder of the European Stone Stacking Championship, James Craig Page brings together some of the world’s best in the art of stone stacking.

SATELLITE: VAS AT SUMMERHALL

26 MAY-13 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Satellite will track the progress of some of the 25 aspiring artists that the VAS Graduate Showcase have featured over their last four annual exhibitions and will also feature works by their associate members.

Talbot Rice Gallery DAVID CLAERBOUT

1-5 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

David Claerbout is an internationally acclaimed video artist, known for his subtle manipulation of images and their not-so-simple construction.

This exhibition presents six major works from the past 10 years. David Claerbout presents a thorough experience of an artist whose work can mesmerise and beguile.

RACHEL MACLEAN: SPITE YOUR FACE

1-5 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Commissioned for the Venice Biennale in 2017, Rachel Maclean’s Spite Your Face returns to Scotland at Talbot Rice Gallery for its UK premiere.

Referencing the Italian folk-tale The Adventures of Pinocchio, ‘Spite Your Face’ (2017) advances a powerful social critique, exploring underlying fears and desires that characterise the contemporary zeitgeist.

The Fire Station

ECA PERFORMANCE COSTUME SHOW 2018

18-19 MAY, TIMES VARY, £8 - £12.50

Catch a catwalk of performance costumes created by ECA students for theatre, film, opera and dance.

The Fruitmarket Gallery

Whitespace ORGANISED FUN

4-6 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Award-winning Scottish clothing brand SQUINT launches its new collection Organised Fun, with a weekend long exhibition and popup shop celebrating the playful side to fashion.

Dundee Art DCA: Dundee Contemporary Arts SHONKY: THE AESTHETICS OF AWKWARDNESS

1-27 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

This exhibition aims to explore the nature of visual awkwardness through the work of artists and architects. By drawing together artists and architects whose work has not previously been exhibited together or discussed within the same context, Shonky will allow for new ways of thinking that privilege shonkiness over other aesthetic forms that have dominated recent visual culture.

Generator Projects

YUCK ‘N’ YUM COMPENDIUM LAUNCH

3 MAY, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, FREE

An evening of performance and celebration to launch the Yuck ‘n’ Yum Compendium, with a live link to their exhibition opening at Soil in Seattle, USA. TH4Y 2018

19 MAY-3 JUN, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

This well-established feature of the Generator exhibition programme is an excellent opportunity for a selection of Scottish graduates from the previous academic year to develop new projects post art school. The committee will lead the artists through the development of their ideas, production, and the exhibition process and provide them with financial assistance.

The McManus REVEALING CHARACTERS

1 MAY-31 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

Part of a joint exhibition of selected works from the City’s permanent collection, Revealing Characters includes an array of portraits, which examine the construction of identity.

FACE TO FACE

1 MAY-31 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

Part of a joint exhibition of selected works from the City’s permanent collection, Face to Face includes an array of portraits, which examine the construction of identity.

PORTRAITURE

1 MAY-31 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

In the history of art ‘the portrait’ has taken on many guises, from exact likenesses to abstract collections of ideas and emotions. Selected from the City’s permanent collection this exhibition includes an array of portraits, which examines the construction of identity.

LEE LOZANO

1 MAY-3 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Lee Lozano was a major figure in the New York art scene of the 1960s and early 1970s. Lozano’s radical approach to art and life, in particular her systematic refusal to engage with the institutions and support structures of the artworld, led to her work being neglected and becoming much less well known over time.

Upright Gallery PORTRAITS BY GREG LOURENS

1-18 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Greg Lourens has been quietly working on his own for the past 18 years fine tuning his craft and building up a substantial body of work. His drawings, which take up to three months to complete, are modern icons.

THE SKINNY

Cast, thrown and moulded In the second part of our survey of Scottish ceramics we meet five more ceramicists whose work contributes to this remarkably fertile scene

Words: Stacey Hunter

Mella Shaw, HARVEST, 2018

Sian Patterson

Jono Smart

May 2018

Photo: Sophie Mutevelian

A

ndrea Walsh lives and works in Edinburgh where she has developed a practice that pushes the boundaries of ceramics and glass. Her work has been purchased for major public collections including the V&A London and National Museums Scotland. In 2017, her significant profile in the UK and internationally was further raised when she was one of twelve finalists in the BBC Radio 4/V&A Museum/Crafts Council ‘Woman’s Hour Craft Prize’.

Contained Boxes is her most recent series of work with glass used in combination with fine bone china as she describes, “celebrating their shared material qualities of purity and translucency.” In each piece the vessel is kiln cast in glass, forming an individual vitrine, which cradles a small ceramic box within. Intimate in scale, the work “embraces tactile investigation due to its form, size and proportion and evokes a response akin to jewellery, eliciting the desire to hold and to cherish.”

A solo exhibition of Walsh’s work is on show at The Scottish Gallery from 2 May-2 June.

The Jono Smart online pottery shop often sells out of new pieces within minutes, making their simultaneously rugged and refined work even more highly prized. Smart’s engaging writing about his practice has attracted a loyal following – numbering well over 80,000 on Instagram – of fellow potters, aficionados and customers. Snippets reveal his meticulous and thoughtful approach: “The way the glazes break around any sharp edges such as the rim and handle is a really beautiful part of pottery that can’t be recreated any other way. I still mix the clay that the glaze goes over to as closely match the glaze colour as possible. That’s a lot of extra work for something that only shows on the base of the piece but I think it’s worthwhile.”

His Glasgow studio is run in collaboration with his partner Emily Stephen. They describe their studio as a showcase of the things they make, their home, their neighbourhood and the

Scottish landscape.

Recent Gray’s School of Art graduate Scott Crawford is based at Many Studios in Glasgow.

Items in production currently include carafes, sculptural dishes and vases with both wearable pieces and larger interior homewares planned for the near future. Working almost entirely in Parian clay – a self glazing body – means the designer does not require a further layer of glaze “and I can leave all pieces as minimal and as true to form as possible. I look to follow simple but attractive forms when creating pieces.”

Crawford draws his inspiration from Scottish architecture, Scandinavian minimalist interior design and the principles of Brutalism. It is striking that more widely, an appreciation for the highly crafted techniques of 1960s Brutalist architecture has come back into fashion at just about the same time as ceramics has. With a keen interest in architecture and interior design Crawford is keen to collaborate with like-minded designers on new projects.

Sian Patterson is a Glasgow-based ceramicist designing and making thrown stoneware.

Her work references Victorian pharmaceutical and preserving bottles, 17th century Dutch paintings of domestic interiors and the still lifes of Giorgio Morandi. Patterson’s interest in the domestic – in particular its objects, rituals and rhythms – has inspired the gently abstracted forms of her wheel thrown pieces. These are assembled and arranged into ‘functional still lifes’, investigating the point at which an object or collection of objects can be both familiar and distinctive.

“The visual appearance and coherence of the collection as a whole is as important to me as how each individual piece feels to hold and to use – in terms of proportion, materiality and balance. The act of making by hand is an integral part of the creative process for me. Every item is made individually and stamped with a makers mark and year of production.

Mella Shaw’s current work HARVEST is a large-scale installation focusing on the environmental tipping point of plastic pollution in the oceans and seas. HARVEST is an entirely ceramic collection of press moulded fish and slip cast versions of plastic containers. Smoke firing has been used to give a nuanced array of surface colours and patterns.

“I started making this work long before Blue Planet catapulted this issue into the media spotlight at last. I really wanted to make a piece of work that was aesthetically arresting as well as unashamedly emotive. One of the reasons I made HARVEST in small multiples was that it was the only way to make large-scale, really impactful work now I have my baby son. Also the piece just had to be about quantity. To give a sense of the overwhelming and unstoppable proportion of the plastic pollution problem.”

Exhibited at Edinburgh’s Custom Lane in April, HARVEST will appear at Hampstead Affordable Art Fair in London 10-13 May and The Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther over the summer.

Scott Crawford

Last Word

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