Doncopolitan #05 - The 'Being A Boyo' Issue

Issue 05

November 2014

FREE TO A GOOD HOME

Being aBoyo FEATURING: Robin Hood, Frank Turner, Jade Clark, Kosy Street Art, Kaspar & Phantom Cinema

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Contents

Contributors Writers:

Reviewers:

Rachel Horne

Karen Huzzard

Warren Draper

Guy Russell

Fenrir

Andy Henwood

Rachel Carruthers

Ryan Madin

Frances Bibby

Gavin Clarke

Paul Prendi

Hayley Smith

Jonathan Jones

Catkin Jaquiem (and friends)

Shelia North

Shirley Wilson

Artwork:

Design:

Robert Sample

Warren Draper

Kosy

Rachel Horne Conal Deeny

Photography: Louise Davies

Editorial Team:

Warren Draper

Rachel Horne

John Fuller

Sam Walby

Vic Lentaigne

Warren Draper

Joel Webb

Rachel Ryan

Luke Bell Photography

Eva Wuestum

Nick Page

Linda Jones

Editorial Rachel Horne

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Boyo in the Hood Warren Draper

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Original Skills Fenrir

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Badman Rachel Carruthers

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Foley: No Nonsense Frances Bibby

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Pull-Out Rob Sample Poster Rob Sample

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From the Skies to the Scrap Dealer: Eveyone’s Gotta Earn Sometimes Paul Prendi

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"Dancing Was My Getaway" an interview with Kaspar Vilkaste

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Frank Turner Jonathan Jones

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The Guide -

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Phantom Cinema Shelia North

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Dustin Holmes Hernan Pinera

With Special Thanks to:

The First 45

Jamie Brookes

R&J Photography

New Fringe

Nathan Turnbull

Right Up Our Street

Martin Pick

Arts Council England

James Truepenny

Andrew Loretto

Joris Louwes Mishio

Proud to be Independent

Disclaimer

The Doncopolitan aims to provide a truly

The opinions expressed in each feature and article in the Doncopolitan are the opinions of their respective

independent voice for Doncaster. To ensure maximum

authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Doncopolitan. The editors and production team

freedom the magazine is produced and distributed by

of the Doncopolitan accept no responsibility for the opinions expressed.

a small team of dedicated individuals and production costs are met through advertising sales. If you want to fight for Donny independence then why not write for us or donate much needed time, money or equipment?

Printed by Kingsbury Press, Unit 13/Durham Lane, Doncaster, DN3 3FE. Conceived and created by

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Interested? Then call us on +44 (0) 7846 439982 or email: doncopolitan@gmail.com

Cover Art: ‘Dan Lacey, Federal Bikes’ by Robert Sample - 89 x 122cm (45” x 55”) Oil on Board ©2010 Inside Cover Photography: ‘Liam and Darcy’ by Louise Davies ©2014

Articles and images marked with a are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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EDITORIAL Rachel Horne This edition celebrates that hard-working Doncastrian man known locally as the “boyo”. For those unfamiliar with the term, here’s a short introduction.

Draper (Type A Boyo) takes a look at the original Robin Hood and finds that he’s much more Yorkshire boyo than our modern tales suggest.

Initially of Welsh/Irish Celtic origin the word has passed through both time and borders to find itself firmly established in the local lexicon. Our investigations into the habits of the boyo are ongoing, but initial observations suggest that there are 5 distinct types:

Type D - The boyos working in lifethreatening conditions, such as builders, soldiers and all those ex-miners with nothing to show for their years underground but memories, scars and coalblack lungs. During the warmer months Paul Prendi spends his days dangling from the electric pylons - essential to our power-guzzling lifestyles. His article, ‘From the Skies to the Scrap Dealer: Everyone’s Gotta Earn Sometime’, describes how he survives his winter months when he’s laid off work.

Type A – “The Grafter”, trying to earn a crust despite the cards life has dealt him. In many cases Type A’s can be found working 9-5 in an unloved day job, pursuing their real passions in the twilight hours. You may have witnessed this type of boyo climb the ladder to success, the best of them can then be found helping other youngsters find their own way to fulfil their dreams.

Several Type A boyos feature in this month’s magazine, such as Foley, a wellknown boyo who can fix most things and is always keen to help out, who features in Fran Bibby’s interview on page 18.

Type B - Those lifting heavy things at the warehouses. According to SkillsforLogostics.org the distribution and logistics industry is worth £93 Billion in the UK alone with 1 in 12 people working for the industry. That’s 2.3million people.

One is Kaspar Vilkaste, a Latvian-born street dancer whose recent performance on Baxter Gate outside Santander went viral across Facebook and Youtube. See our interview on page 24 for details.

Type C - The historical boyo. Ever heard of Albert ‘Ginger’ Goodwin? He was a Denaby miner, agitator and conscientious objector who moved to Canada where he worked tirelessly to improve the working conditions down the pit until he was cut down by a policeman’s bullet in 1918. The Canadian people love him so much they named a mountain after him (Mount Ginger Goodwin in the heart of Vancouver Island), but this arch boyo is all but forgotten in his native Yorkshire. For this issue Warren

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ABOUT This magazine aims to provide an independent voice for Doncaster. We will big up anything which has the potential to add to Doncaster’s metropolitan appeal and strengthen the local economy - or as we call it, the Donconomy. We’ll celebrate Doncaster’s culture, arts, style, music, people, fashion, lifestyle, architecture and even, its coal-black underbelly.

To remain as independent as possible this magazine is completely self-funded, relying on advertising and generous donations to stay afloat. If you would like to advertise with us, or if you’d like to support our endeavours through subscriptions or donations please call us on:

Type E - The boyo who has wandered off track. You might see him clenching a cider bottle asking to borrow 20p, but few people get to know his real talents, or tease out the stories which hide behind his sad eyes.

Rob Sample’s dark and edgy paintings accompany this month’s magazine. His unapologetic style, exploring the sinister side of human nature, can be found in galleries across the UK and Europe and although his imagery can sometimes seem bleak it is unquestionably human.

+44 (0) 7846 439982

In addition to Rob’s pieces, street artist extraordinaire, Kosy, has created a special series of ‘boyos’ to help illustrate the pages of this month’s edition. He’s just finished a stint at a warehouse, which certainly qualifies him as one of the finest boyos for the job.

Write to us:

Elsewhere, Rachel Carruthers discusses super talented designer, Jade Clark’s ‘Badman’ menswear collection, which combines trends in gang culture with the sportswear so lovingly adorned by many a Northern boyo. So, for all the underrated, hard-working, fun-loving, non-creepy boyos out there, this issue is dedicated to you.

Social Media:

If you’re a local artist, musician, writer, photographer, fashionista, socialite or social commentator, and have something to contribute to this magazine, please get in touch.

Online: doncopolitan.wordpress.com doncopolitan@gmail.com

Doncopolitan Magazine Church View Centre Church View Doncaster DN1 1AF

Twitter: @doncopolitanMag #DoncopolitanMag Instagram: @Doncopolitan #Doncogram Facebook: facebook.com/doncopolitan YouTube: youtube.com/user/Doncopolitan

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#Doncograms - 1. Stained Glass circa 1891 @DiamondLiveDN1 by @Rachelhorne ©2014 2. #boyo by @kosy_crackhead ©2014 3. #KosyStreetArt at The Masons Arms, Doncaster by John Fuller ©2014 4. #LeanLogic A Dictionary For the Future and How To Survive It

by David Flemming ©2014 5. “I used to Be An Adventurer Like You” Acrylic On Canvas by Shaun Michael Jones ©2014 6. #boyoboots by @ TheLucideLife 2014 7. Kaspar Vilkaste #danceboyo ©2014

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Boyo in the Hood.

Warren Draper We live in bandit country. To the north west of Doncaster lies the village of Hampole. It sits at the very heart of what was once the vast and ancient Barnsdale Forest. During the early medieval period this wooded expanse, rich with game and deer, stretched from Wakefield to Sheffield, covering much of what is now South Yorkshire. The imposing forest may be long gone, but there are still small patches of woodland that were seeded from trees which once knew the impenetrable shadow of the wildwood.

Further north, where Yorkshire’s internal borders huddle together like newborn kittens, lies Wentbridge, the only village to be named in ‘A Lytell Gest of Robyn Hode’. Dating from the 15th Century, the ‘Gest’ is one of the earliest known ballads of Robin Hood and suggests that it was Barnsdale Forest, rather than Sherwood Forest, which originally provided home and sanctuary to the kind-hearted bandit and his bold outlaw kinsmen. After proving himself in various adventures, Robin was invited to live with the king in Nottingham Castle, but he soon grew tired of courtly life and longed to return to his beloved Barnsdale.

“I made a chapell in Bernysdale, That semely is to se, It is of Mary Magdaleyne, And there to wolde I be.”

We cannot be absolutely sure of the chapel Robin speaks of, but a few miles south of Wentbridge lies Campsall, home to one of the oldest churches in our

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region. The church is dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. Local legend says that Robin and his beloved Maid Marion were married in this church, but Marion does not appear in the Gest.

The Gest itself can be a struggle to read in its original form, but luckily the talented Mr Simon Heywood, expert in South Yorkshire folklore, is working on new versions of the Robin Hood ballads more in tune with modern ears. Here too Barnsdale gets good mention: “I live on dales and downs,” he said, “and done many a cursed turn; and if you want to know my name, I’m Guy of good Gisburn.”

And I’m from Barnsdale,” Robin said; “to names I give no thought; because my name is Robin Hood; you’ve found the man you’ve sought!”

Not only was Robin more likely a Yorkshireman (Nottingham can keep their bloomin’ sheriff), but he was also a bit of a boyo. It was a former Earl of Doncaster, Sir Walter Scott, who gave us the modern, Errol Flynn-esque image of a cheerful, aristocratic, tight-wearing Robin Hood. Scott’s 1819 heroic adventure novel, Ivanhoe, which was inspired by the same landscape which had played muse to the writer of the Gest hundreds of years earlier, gentrified the outlaw and portrayed him as a noble who had lost his ‘rightful’ lands through duplicity.

But in the original ballads Robin is a

Article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

hard man in a hard world. The modern children’s story portrays Guy of Gisburn as a romantic rival for the attentions of Maid Marion, but in the original stories he is a hired assassin sent to kill Robin. Not only does Robin kill the assassin, but he mutilates the body to fool the Sheriff of Nottingham: Then Robin drew his Irish knife and cut sir Guy’s dead face till never a man from woman born could tell whose head that was.

“Now back you come with me, sir Guy, since now I cooled your wrath.

I had the better luck, but you must wear the better cloth.”

Robin pulled off his hood of green, and wrapped the bloody head, and then put on the horse-hide hood, and this is what he said: “Your bows, your arrows, head and all, I’ll borrow and I’ll bear from here right back to Barnsdale, for I guess the Sheriff’s there.”

This may seem utterly brutal (or maybe not, if you’re a fan of The Walking Dead), but we’re talking about people trying to survive under a feudal system. It wasn’t until the dawn of capitalism that the idea of Robin ‘robbing the rich and giving to the poor’ became popular.

Money and possessions meant much less to the people of pre-capitalist England than they do to today’s more consumer-minded brood and the Robin of the Gest was more than happy to keep

his (not so) ill-gotten gains for himself.

But in feudal England acts of solidarity, support and kindness – offering shelter, protection, food and clothing – could mean the difference between life and death. The modern Robin Hood story fails to convey the full insurrectionary nature of the original ballads. This was a tale of land, liberty and mutual aid, not bravado, honour and tights. Or, as historian Stephen Knight puts it, “The semi-mythical sense of resistance and opposition to the ‘statutory’ forces of state, church and emergent mercantilism seems deeply embedded in these tales and references ... The Gest, after all, advocates massive theft from the church, civic insurrection against and murder of a properly appointed Sheriff, breach of legitimate agreement with a King ...

[It is] a story with much potency among

people who experience institutionalised oppression and therefore require the relief of fictional forms of dissent.”

Like it or not, Robin was more than a little bit gangsta, albeit a pretty revolutionary one. His story remains popular because most of us understand that the law is not always morally right and that those who step outside it are not automatically ‘bad’ people. Boyos often get themselves a reputation for being ‘wrong uns’, but of all the boyos I’ve ever known very few of them are nasty or malicious. Like any of us, they’re just doing what they can when times are hard. I’m not going to romanticise boyos as potential Robin Hoods, but I am going to argue that the original Robin Hood was definitely a boyo.

And although we can’t go as far as to say that Robin was a Donny lad, we can see

Art: ‘I didn’t Know It Was Loaded Sorry’ by Robert Sample - 73 x91cm (29” x 36”) Oil on Canvas ©2010

from the original Gest that the writer knew our region well. Likewise the people of Doncaster have been known to stand up for what they believe in on many an occasion over the years. So while the sanctuary of the Wildwood may be long gone, the rebellious spirit of freedom and justice definitely lives on in the good ol’ Boyos of Barnsdale.

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Some of this text first appeared in issue 43 of The Idler magazine as part of a longer essay entitled ‘Common People’.

Simon Heywood’s South Yorkshire Folktales will be available in 2015 from the History Press.

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original skills.

Fenrir

Work is not the usual place to have an interesting conversation. It’s usually booze, balls and bitches, but every once in a while there’s a diamond in the rough.

One that sticks in my mind is a lively discussion about friction fire lighting versus spark based lighting techniques, interrupted by a quip from the ubiquitous eavesdropper, “What’s the point? I’d just use a lighter”. Not an entirely daft suggestion and in the original skills world, one I would make. But - and here’s a thought - after 5,000 years of so-called progress we still light fire by striking a spark off a chunk of steel with a bit of stone.

Notice I didn’t say primitive? Good.

Because there is nothing primitive about our ancestors. There is a lot of technology and chemistry bound up in the myth and song that makes a culture.

Take the simple stick. Humanity’s first machine. It can be used to dig a deeper hole, apply leverage, carry something or someone and even just be leant on.

In nature, never underestimate the power of a good lean. Just look at Yorkshire Arrows, ironically called Chinese Arrows in these parts - a stick with a sharp bit of stone, flung by a piece of string, with the power to go clean through a deer. You have taken a fibre from a house plant,

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worked out its breaking strain, shown a working knowledge of conical stress fracturing, understood ballistics and studied the anatomy and behaviour of your quarry. Who’s primitive now?

I use ‘original’ or ‘living’ skills to describe what I do, because that’s what they are the first skills we learned in order to live well on this blue green paradise we call Earth. Through these skills I have learnt to see the world the way it is meant to be seen - shifting patterns of light and shade, the flow of energy through symbiotic patterns of life and death to life again. To learn true respect, that in order to live, a life must me taken. To be grateful and respectful of that sacrifice, and never to waste that most precious of gifts.

No greater love doth a man have for his brother, than to lay down his life for him.

The skills of those that passed this way once are still there, deep with in our souls, whispering in our psyches on those warm summer days, telling us to once again feel the earth beneath our feet and run across the meadow, play amongst the woods. They send a shiver down our spine on those cold winter days when the frost nips the air and the wind howls at the windows. The same song sung over and over.

Art: ‘Tall Boy’ by Robert Sample - 122 x147cm (48”x 58”) Private Collection

Remember, remember who you are.

Remember, remember you are Human.

In a world where switching off usually means turning something else on, the skills of our forebears reconnect us to our humble yet beautiful home, reconnect us to ourselves and ultimately connect us to each other.

I leave you with a quote from an old comic that has stuck with me over the years: Man is an animal, Driven by animal passions.

Civilisation is a charade, Predicated on a tissue thin veil of lies.

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Something For

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Weekend?

We are once again looking for artists and groups to showcase their work in a unique environment where the public can interact with a wide range of performance and art forms and celebrate local creativity of all shapes and sizes- if you have a great idea, we want to hear for you.

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The next DNweekeND will be animating the town centre of Doncaster 19-21 June 2015, with unique and surprising curiosities waiting around every corner.

Wonder ART Dance Technology Magic

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Right Up Our Street is led by a consortium of Doncaster arts organisations and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England until 2016

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B dman.

Rachel Carruthers Donny born and bred, designer Jade Clark has been building quite a name for herself over the past two years.

After graduating from De Montford University in 2012, Jade has quickly been recognised as a rising star by such prestigious publications as Vogue and Vice, featuring pieces from her Badman graduate collection. She’s also big in Asia, unsurprisingly, with her signature holographic prints and cute pastel palette.

Drawing on her surroundings, her work is heavily influenced by the grim streets of the North and the sportswear clad locals that walk them. I caught up with her recently to find out what influences her, where she’s headed and how being northern has created her distinctive style.

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Photo Credits (pages 12 - 15): Vic Lentaigne ©2014

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It may seem like the distant past now, but I’d like to speak a little about your Graduate Collection. I like how it plays with traditional male and female aesthetics. Could you tell us a bit about your process and influences in creating the collection?

I like playing with the idea that men’s and women’s wear can in fact just be neutral.

For example, a third of my wardrobe is menswear pieces. I also know a lot of girls that wear guys clothing effortlessly. But when you flip this idea, there’s hardly any men that could pick a women’s garment up and be like, ‘Hey, I can so wear that!’

So that’s kind of why I make such versatile pieces. Strong masculine silhouettes with a more feminine colour palette.

Why do you think men aren’t like that about women’s clothes?

Men seem to have this shield of masculinity that they try their hardest not to break or bend because it would make them weak or a target to be ridiculed. I think that, but mainly the issue is that women’s wear wouldn’t necessarily fit them, even if they wanted to wear it.

It’s two years since you decided to start the Badman brand. How do you think it has developed from that first collection?

Do you think being from a provincial northern town affected your style and has it been an inspiration for your work?

It’s changed loads, I have a diffused ongoing T-shirt line that I bring out and new mini ranges every few months. But at the moment I’m doing a lot of custom women’s wear pieces, building up to launching another catwalk collection in the new year.

I think being from Doncaster definitely has influenced my work. Being surrounded by such varied styles of people opens your eyes. I took two of my favourite elements like sportswear and tats and just kind of mashed them together, to create the theme for my Graduate Collection.

You take influence from pop culture, social media and slang terms to create humorous pieces. A lot of fashion seems to take itself very seriously these days. Is the fun element of your work a reaction to this?

So what’s next for you as a designer?

For me, having fun with what you wear is my main goal in life. I never take myself seriously and adore daft items of clothing, which in turn reflects on my work.

I’m working towards launching a new collection in the new year, which will in turn create a new diffusion line. So big things for 2015.

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www.jade-clark.squarespace.com

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“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”

Albert Einstein

Art: ‘Hong Kong’ by Robert Sample - 122 x122cm (48”x 48”) Oil on Board

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Foley: No nonSeNse. Frances Bibby

I’m at the bar, finishing off a salad. Foley will arrive any moment. Just as I’m getting my bag Foley appears, his face resting in its usual calm expression. His hair is dark grey and brushed back with gel. He’s giving me a lift somewhere and while we’re driving I’m going to interview him.

I know snippets about his childhood already. He went into foster care very young, his dad had a drinking problem and his sister suffered with problems caused by having one kidney. Foley is a quiet man who exudes no nonsense.

I like Foley. Even though he’s had a tough life growing up with an alcoholic father, he’s pretty much a friend to everyone. He does odd jobs for people in Doncaster, usually things like painting and pub discos. He’ll give anyone he knows a lift to anywhere, as he’s doing for me today.

‘I’ll just grab a coffee,’ he says, and glides off to the coffee station. We’re in a restaurant, but he knows the owners so well he can go and help himself.

I used to work behind the bar here and I remember one night there were high winds causing the door to blow open.

Foley turned up just to call in. He was fresh from a job, covered head to toe in white paint. The owner asked him if he’d mind the door. He obliged, pocketed 40

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Photo Credit: ‘Foley’ by Joel Webb ©2014

quid and stood there all night, opening and closing the door for customers, taking intermittent drags on his trusty e-cig. He drew very odd looks from the few customers who didn’t know him. Most people know Foley around here.

He then tells me about setting traps for his dad on his way home. ‘I used to dig big holes for him so he’d fall in ’em when he were coming home. When he found out it was me who did it he beat hell out of me.’

We get into the car and I ask him my first question, which is more of an invitation: ‘Tell me about your childhood’. His initial response is ‘Got any tissues?’

Suddenly he pauses and stops smiling.

Hand across mouth, eyes deep in thought, he then springs back into his story. ‘We literally had nothing.’ He emphasises ‘nothing’ with a swiping gesture. ‘I remember coming home from school … and there’s all these people wi’ posh cars. I didn’t have time to go in house. They took us away and put us in kids home. That was the best thing what ever happened to us. We had clean clothes, got fed.’

‘Had a shit upbringing really. Poor family.

Dad were an alcoholic so he’d spend all the money.’ I relax, seeing that he’s comfortable talking about his upbringing.

‘Christmas time, we knew the presents weren’t new. They was from kids next door or something. We’d go out … and the kids would turn round and say ‘that’s my toy!’

Foley takes me through his memories from carrying his dad’s window cleaning ladders home with his brother at the mere age of 8 so his dad could go to the pub, to sneaking through his dad’s pockets for money while he slept. ‘When he were pissed he used to fall asleep in t’chair and me mum used to go through his pockets. We decided to do t’same, but didn’t tell each other and it were really funny. We bumped into each other in same spot in pitch black!’ He giggles loudly at the memory.

He tells me about working at Cooplands - baking and delivering bread as a teenager, working 70 hours a week for £69, getting the managers to install onsite showers so that staff didn’t have to walk home covered in flour. ‘I got really well known there. Even now people still talk about me there.’ That fond smile returns to his face.

When I ask him about his present life he seems sad and directs his answers back to his younger years. ‘I like it when people ring me up and ask for lifts. Even

if I don’t wanna do it, I’ll do it, ‘cause once I’m in the car, I’m happy. Take me car away, that’s me gone.’ I think about the numerous times Foley’s given me lifts to and from town. The first time I tried to offer him money, he just laughed and brushed it away.

Eventually, he talks about his sister, who has been in hospital on and off throughout her life. ‘I think the main thing what keeps me going in life is me sister.

The best time of her life was when she got a kidney transplant. First thing she did, not thinking about anything else, she went straight out to work.’

At the end of the interview I get out of the car, Foley gives me a nod and a smile, then drives off. No nonsense.

End

Frances Bibby is somebody who loves a good story. Especially tales of positivity, change and independence.

To find out more visit her at: w w w.the nle ts b e g i n .co m Twitter - @Frances_M_B

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ŠRob Sample 2014

From the skies to the scrap dealeR:

everyones gotta earn sometime.

Paul Prendi It’s typical for me to start panicking this time of year. It’s not my fault. My profession doesn’t entertain winter work.

Would you want to climb pylons in the eel-slippery cool of winter?

As the nights draw in we’re sent home on basic wage to wait it out until spring like frustrated hedgehogs. We manage, but that’s not the point. The point is I’m left to scramble around using my other skills to keep the wolf from the door.

This usually includes tearing the hell out of the cellar to find things to sell. Many a time I’ve held a pair of female leather boots thinking, ‘She’s not worn them in ages. Surely she won’t miss these?’ Only to find myself having to quickly cancel the sale when she asks for them the next morning.

Every year my CD and vinyl collection gets shaved down - placed into ‘classic’, ‘need’, ‘might need’ and ‘sell’ categories in the confidence that someone will find their long-lost album online - but there’s always that guilty feeling after posting a CD that smells like it’s been gathering fur next to those leather boots in the cellar.

And there’s the scrap. All year keeping old bolts, bits of useless wire, broken tools. The stereotypical tight-fisted Yorkshireman hell bent on scrimping and scraping, slowly shaping the old ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ adage into dirty finger-nailed reality.

What I should be concentrating on is the old disco. The money for old rope, bread and butter hobby I dare not turn into a job for fear of hating it. I totally admire anyone who DJs for a living. The superstar DJs, who turns up with their laptop and demands lists the size of Shropshire, can wallow in the fact that half their life and their money will be looked after by someone else. But the others - who week-in, week-out, carry those heavy

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chuffing speakers up and down, in and out of venues all year while putting up with some of Britain’s finest drunkards - are the ones who really need to be commended. And that’s where I come in. Carefully picking venues, sticking to friends’ events, playing it safe with just the right amount of gigs, keeping the balance (and the Mrs happy).

Halloween and Christmas are busy times and I still love it, although Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are now out of bounds due to Father Christmas coming down our chimney to meet the kids. But New Year’s Day sees my long-running 10 hour disco, when I get to play old Irish records, folk ballads, rock & roll and stuff you’d never dream of hearing anywhere else. It’s a good day.

As January progresses and the hangovers are finally dealt with, I’m glad for the extra days sorting my life out at my own pace. The Mrs does her best to speed this process up in the form of a to-do list.

Under its guidance I carefully pick out the jobs in order of: 1. Easiness 2. Cheapness 3. What I can take to the tip or sell By now the savings are taking a battering, as family and friends’ birthdays all come too soon. No-one should be allowed a birthday in January. I take to the Internet and read through emails which I really should have replied to instead of drinking gin at ten in the morning over Christmas. ‘The role has now been filled...

The opening for this opportunity is now closed...’ I curse my luck, or should I say my laziness.

By February the gaffers at work are sick of my phone calls. ‘When are we due back?

Is there nothing at all? Can’t you get me in for a couple of days?’ All answered

Photo Credits: “Electricity Plyons” by Nick Page ©2013 “Scrap Metal” by Dustin Holmes ©2014 “Up an Electricity Plyon” by Hernan Pinera ©2013 “DJ” by Karl Fricker courtesy of Paul Prendi

with the usual ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ I must remember to do less work for that bastard this year.

We’re hit with an almighty icy blast and the winter hits hard. Our boiler, which was installed by a mate, has packed its bags and gone to Tenerife for a few weeks. The pipes are frozen. I take the Mrs and the kids to her mother’s and start pouring boiling water down the sinks, bath and shower. It takes days.

My plumber mate - who, incidentally, is the only one who will go near our boiler - fixes the bloody thing and were back on track. I don’t tell the Mrs its fixed for another two days. Heaven.

I can see all my neighbours struggling with the ice and offer some industrial strength rock salt (I had acquired quite a lot from work due to my parents’ steep drive). Soon the street is safe and I drive down to the main road in the van and park at the bottom of the steepest hill in the village. I stack bag upon bag of rock salt on a pallet. ‘£5 a bag!’ That’s the plumber paid for.

After promising myself that I cannot sustain this amount of time off again I manage to get two interviews in one week. They’re with rival companies. They go well and I get offered both roles. I pick the one which best suits my family. I start in two weeks - March 11th. Things are looking up.

It is now March and the odd DJ stint in the local boozer keeps me afloat (just). I’m amazed how these regulars survive. ‘Old Joe’s been there since ten this morning,’ says the landlord. It’s now half past eleven and Joe is trying to grope Mick’s wife. It looks like Mick isn’t bothered.

At this time I’m still currently employed, albeit earning a pittance, and I get a call from the Gaffer. ‘Get your lads together,

we’ve got a start up in Cumbria.’ Details aside, he gives me the date - March 11th.

I’m lost for words. I really need the wife to make it all clearer. She puts it all into perspective and makes me feel like a naughty kid, because I have to phone my new employers and let them down. After all, the pittance I get at the moment is a bit more than the pittance my prospective employers are offering.

And so the process begins again. We still have to work a week to get full pay. That’s just another kick in the nuts as we have to fork out digs upfront. But it’s great to see the lads again, especially as I had well and truly outstayed my welcome in my own home.

You see, when you work away, your family is used to you not being around. I’m on the phone every night talking to the kids and they always ask when I’m coming home, which makes my job so hard. But as soon as I’m home, the first thing she asks is when I’m going back. By Sunday morning I’m basically just in the way.

I love this job. That’s why I’ve put up with it for so long. It’s physical and I can’t help feeling sad that people like me won’t be able to keep working as long as people in another profession, like an office clerk or something. No offense.

So now the bills are getting paid and there’s a new boiler in town. Roll on winter, eh?

End

23

"Dancing Was My GetAway."

Rachel Horne interviews Kasper Vilkaste who was recently spotted street dancing in Doncaster town cente. The video evidence went viral on Facebook and YouTube, so we needed to find out who he was and why he was prancing around outside of Santander.

Kaspar Vilkaste - that’s an unusual name?

Yeah, I’m originally from Latvia, moved here ten years ago.

You started dancing at the age of 13. How did that come about?

There were no classes where I lived at that point, on my Granddad’s farm, but I do remember seeing a video of Michael Jackson on TV. It changed my life.

Good old Jacko, inspiring the kids.

He made everyone want to dance. I remember my dad trying to do the Moon Walk.

Yeah, Jackson is my hero.

Tell me a little bit about life back home on the farm?

I grew up in a little town called Vilaka in East Latvia, 8 miles from the Russian border. My grandparents fell ill so my dad had to move in with them and care for them and mum stayed in town where I went to school. After school I had to go to help dad with farm animals - give the cows water and look after the sheep, doing all the farm jobs. It wasn’t me. I felt like I didn’t belong there and dancing was my getaway.

Sounds like it was a hard life?

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My dad said, “What the hell are you doing? You are crazy! Come help me with jobs!” He said I’m lazy and don’t act like a farmer like my ancestors, but my little heart and soul was with dance and art.

I didn’t know it then but I was really talented and passionate and my dad is very proud now. I can’t blame him. He didn’t give any time to art. It was all work, work, work. When I was 16 I moved away from it all and my life began.

I was so happy to live in a city with universities, theatre and young passionate people like me. I moved to Rezekne, a city in Latvia. My mum wanted me to have a good education and moved me away from the little town to live with her sister, so I lived in Rezekne for 5 years and went to the university to study economics.

So you wanted to be a businessman?

Yep, to work in a bank. Some sort of man in a tie job. My mum wanted that. I wanted to dance, so I did.

Why did you come to Doncaster?

Back in high school I started my dance lessons and continued to teach people throughout Uni days. Then 2 years into Uni I realised, ‘I hate all this accounting and economics. It bores the crap out of me.’ One of my friends lived in Doncaster already from 2002, so I asked him if I could come visit him. He said yes and I moved to Doncaster, put Uni on hold for a year and travelled.

You didn’t want to go to London or one of the bigger cities?

Yeah, it was Soviet Union life. Iron curtain, Russian ideology and shortages of products in shops, so you had to kind of make your own way to survive - the farm.

I didn’t know any better at that point and couldn’t judge. It was fun though, being on a farm, surrounded with forests and lakes. Great childhood.

London at that point was too scary for me. Can you imagine? Plus I didn’t know anyone there. In 2004 I got a job for MFI and was able to earn more working there than being a headmaster in Latvia. Then MFI went bust! Bankrupt.

What did your family think of you dancing like Michael Jackson?

I looked for another great company in logistics, got all the licenses for forklifts

What did you do?

and got level 2 in English, Maths and Literacy with Learn Direct. I looked for a job and found DHL. I still work for DHL. I’ve been with them for 6 years.

Well, we’re bigging up the hardworking warehouse man this issue.

I’m not a typical warehouse man. I’ve got other jobs too. At one point I had 4 jobs.

How did you manage to squeeze in any dancing?

At first it was an evening thing. I went to town on Tuesday nights and Saturdays and started dancing in clubs. People here were like, ‘Damn!’ I was branded the best white guy dancer. I went to all the clubs that played Hip Hop or similar music so I could dance, express myself, make new friends and meet fellow dancers. It led me to meet many great people. Funny thing is, most of the clubs later employed me to dance for them. It’s my other job - club dancer or performer, should I say.

When did things start to take off for you?

And can you tell me more about your crew, the Urban Jokers?

About 5 years ago. I entered Battle of the Bounce and won it. Then I entered Dancemania and won that. I realised, ‘Hey, it’s time to earn money with this.’

So I was warehouse man by day, dance teacher by afternoon, club dancer at night and competitor on weekends at dance competitions and battles. Now I do busking in cities.

Urban Jokers are my bessies. I met Pierre in Trilogy in the R’n’B room and we had a jam. He was like, ‘Damn, you’re pretty fly for a white guy,’ and we became friends.

5 years on this other guy Sia and Pierre were practicing all the time together and had a dream. They wanted to be a comedy street dance act and they succeeded. They got to the semi-finals of Got to Dance and moved like Michael Jackson. Great guys.

They are still together now. They went on Germany’s Got Talent as special guest recently.

Your recent street performance in Doncaster went viral.

We started busking about a month ago.

I created this group called Streetformers and we busk in Leeds, York, Lincoln and Donny. The best place is Doncaster. We get the best donations and feedback here.

There’s me, Pierre (Urban Jokers) and Ace (G-style) in this group, but we perform in duos. Some lady filmed a couple minutes of our street show and people around the world loved it. It’s has nearly 3,000 likes, 1,000 shares and 175,000 views. Mad. People are liking it and it makes me do it even more. We bring happiness to streets.

End

You might bump into Kapsar and the Streetformers but if you fancy learning some of his moves why not join one of his classes: www.st reet b e atd an ce .com

Kaspar in 1999, aged 15, enjoying the Latvian countryside near the farm where he grew up.

Kaspar Judging and performing at Savour the Flavour 4 in York.

Luke Bell ©2014

25

Frank Turner Jonathan Jones As we approach the main entrance to Unity Works we are greeted by a small group sitting on the step, a couple of whom are covered by a flag emblazoned with the logo for the man they are desperate to be as close to as possible during his performance. They’ve been there since 11 in the morning and have a mere 8 hours to wait before the doors are opened. This is the devotion some people have for the man taking the stage that evening.

The man in question is Frank Turner, a Wessex boy who has cultivated an ever increasing army of fans since his hardcore beginnings with former band Million Dead. Now a folk-punk artist wielding an arsenal of acoustic anthems backed by his band Sleeping Souls, he brings his latest show (number 1,623 to be exact) to Wakefield. This in itself is the mark of a man who holds smaller venues close to his heart. He doesn’t have to play in places like this anymore. This is a man who has sold out Wembley Arena on more than one occasion, not to mention playing to a global audience of millions as the opening act - not the warm up, as he would humbly have us believe - of the Olympics in 2012.

I make my way to the stage door, and after a bizarre conversation outside with Turner’s crew about the viability of creating a Sunday dinner on a stick for the man on the go, we are led into a pristine whitewashed room, empty but for the chairs we have taken in with us and a huge iron safe on the wall. After a few minutes our interviewee strolls

26 26

in, dressed in a black 9:30 Club tee and grey shorts, not that what a “celebrity” wears is of any consequence - a fact that I later realise isn’t lost on Turner, a man who owns eight pairs of the same jeans because he found some he liked.

So we begin, and I hope my opening line pays off, “Frank Turner, musician, defender of live music venues and celebrity genius”.

The tall tattooed man sat in front of me laughs with a genuine friendliness that relaxes me immediately, “Ha ha, yes.

They re-showed the Mastermind thing yesterday didn’t they?”

Turner is extremely proud to have taken part in a TV show that he grew up with and always had a desire to appear on. “I was very stoked when they asked me to be on the show. I was a nerd as a kid and that was on my bucket list. Getting on the celebrity version was kind of cheating but I was glad to be on it and to win it was great, plus it raised a lot of money for Shelter”. Not one to draw attention to his charity work, it was through his ambassadorship of the homelessness charity that he got the opportunity to realise this particular ambition. I guess that’s just karma and a lesson for us all.

If you give something good, maybe you’ll get something good back.

I try for a little cheek in my next question, “Your specialist subject on the show was Iron Maiden, yet you actually did better in the general knowledge round.” Deep breath. I’d heard Frank could be a prickly

Photo Credit: Frank Turner on stage at Wakefield Unity Works by The First 45 ©2014

interviewee, but again I was presented with a heartfelt chuckle, “I know, and I’m hideously ashamed of that. I did tons of research, but somebody had done Maiden before so they covered later period stuff, and I’m more into Maiden prior to 1990.

I did celebrate with a new tattoo though which hurt like Billy-O!” He lifts his right leg to reveal one of his many impressive inks. Tattoos are a big part of Turner’s character. He famously had one done before the encore during one of his Wembley gigs.

It is with this gig in mind that I ask which of his particularly significant performances made him most nervous - Mastermind, Wembley Arena or The Olympics? “Probably the Olympic thing.

I was a little out of my comfort zone.

It was more like a video shoot, an odd vibe. Just before we went on a guy told me how many people were watching worldwide. I wish he’d waited until after the performance to tell me that.” I ask whether it makes a difference to him how many people he plays to, “Yes, but not as you’d imagine. Sometimes a small crowd can be more nerve-wracking. Larger crowds sometimes conglomerate in your head and make it easier to handle.”

A swig of water is consumed and we move on to a topic that has caused Frank to take to the Internet to campaign for a change in the law to protect small music venues. “I love small venues. When I’m not playing gigs I go to gigs. I love it. It’s my culture. A rash of small venues have come under threat as gentrification increases.

I’m all for cities being made nicer places

27

to live, but there is a dereliction of duty, or of care, for smaller venues. Rock and roll isn’t considered cultural in the way that opera or theatre is, but I like that we are self-sufficient. There isn’t much state funding for rock music. The petition I’ve started isn’t about raising money. It’s about giving venues a fighting chance.

It seems unjust that a venue that’s been in place for years can be closed down by a person who moves in next door and complains twice. The petition aims to change that. This is the first political thing I’ve been involved in. I’m decidedly not a political artist. It’s just sophistry. If you want to make a change you should stand for parliament.”

I suggest that musicians have an important role to play in politics, giving kids a less stuffy alternative to suited politicians when it comes to the things that matter, “Yes, this is true.” There is a recognition that he has a political voice whether he wants one or not. In fact he is due to meet with the Culture Secretary to discuss the small venue issue. His major concern rather amusingly though seems to be what one should wear to meet a Tory politician. “Probably a Napalm Death T-shirt.”

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Live performance is where Turner really comes into his own. Those lucky enough to have been to a show will know what I mean. It’s an impassioned, heartfelt singalong to which everyone is invited on the proviso that they have fun and dance.

We go on to discuss Turner’s reimagining of The Levellers classic Julie for their recently released Greatest Hits compilation, a track he has performed many times since his early teens on Cornish beaches with his sister. “It’s a really easy song to play as it’s only three chords. I love the song. I know the guys and they asked if I’d be interested in recording one of their songs, and it had to be ‘Julie’. I was nervous at first. I messed around the arrangement, but I’m so happy with the way it came out.”

It’s at this point that tour manager Tre re-enters the room. Our 15 minutes (that actually took 30) is up, but I still have time to ask about the first record our interviewee purchased, which unsurprisingly was Iron Maiden. “My dad bought me a cassette copy of Killers from Our Price at Waterloo station.

My parents, to this day, still believe that was their central parenting error,

Photo Credit: Frank Turner on stage at Wakefield Unity Works by R&J Photography ©2014

because everything changed that day.

I was sleeping on floors and playing to no people for no money. But it all came good in the end.” Never was a truer word spoken.

End

Jonathan Jones is host of The First 45, an alternative new music show broadcasting live every Friday on Sine FM. You can find more of his interviews in audio form at: www.soundcloud.com/the-first-45

The Best Service & The Freshest Food

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28th Nov - Alan Reid & Rob Van Sante + Jim McDonald www.reidvansante.com £8/£10 5TH Dec - Steve Turner + Rumdoodle (Duo) www.steve-turner.co.uk £8/£10

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12th Dec - Reg Meuross + Support www.regmeuross.com £8/£10 19th Dec - Johnny & The Prison Didn’t Help Boys + Strange Triangle www.johnnyandtheboys.co.uk - www.strangetriangle.com £8/£10 9th Jan 2015 - Guest Singers Night (contact us if you want to perform) FREE 16th Jan - O’Hooley & Tidow + Bob Chiswick www.ohooleyandtidow.com £10 23rd Jan - King Size Voodoo Traveller (THE best roots/rock/blues band in Newcastle! – come early) £8 30th Jan - Matt Woosey + Frank Carline www.mattwoosey.co.uk £8/£10 6th Feb - Red Dirt Skinners + Support www.reddirtskinners.com £8/£10 13th Feb - Adrian Ingram & the Jazzdawgs + Support www.adrianingram.com £8/£10 27th Feb - Angie Palmer & Steven Buckley www.angiepalmer.com £8/£10

Doors Open 7.30pm Advanced Tickets from: www.wegottickets.com/rootsmusicclubdoncaster Live Music Fans 16 yrs & under FREE IN with ticketholder Please suppor Live Music. Tel: 07939148603 Email: Donnijonti@aol.com for details

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Art GUIDE

Pathway to Abstraction

Legacy'84

Neil Rands at the BrevanArt Gallery, Bass Terrace, DN1 2HZ Closes 30th November 2014

What’s Left Doncaster Museum & Art Gallery 8th Nov 2014 - 4th Jan 2015

If you have never visited the small, friendly, amply-stocked BrevanArt Gallery, now’s the time. It is the studio home of resident artists like Terry Chipp, Nathan Turnbill and Katherine Bailey, who have been offering classes in painting and life drawing along with artists’ website advice. Sadly, it closes its doors on 30th November.

Currently the gallery is hosting an exhibition of works by local artist Neil Rands. A selection of his pieces displayed on the second floor features bold colour, faux-naif figurative elements and unusual substrates, incorporating some of the tools of his art. Outside in the small courtyard stand a number of unfinished works inspired by travel and everyday experiences, tall facets of the artist’s persona in reclaimed doors, mirrors and junk wood.

Each piece seems to reveal a blend of Arte Povera, NeoExpressionism and Fauvist colours, taking in found objects and symbols of Christian faith. But there is nothing offensive, shocking or pretentious here. To the contrary, I found myself strangely comforted by being with these everyday characters.

This wasn’t just because I identified parts of myself in them, like in a fairground hall of mirrors. There is something fascinating about old doors, like old books, each with a history of their own. Rands’ exhibits in “Pathway to Abstraction….outside” took me back to my childhood in the North East, where a variety of multi-coloured weathered doors featured in the construction of allotment boundaries and pigeon lofts along the coast. It would be interesting to see these works again in a few months time, when the elements have altered them further.

The BrevanArt Gallery closes it’s doors on the 30th November, you can still catch Pathway to Abstract in the courtyard area until then. The gallery is a local treasure, I’ll be sorry to see it close.

What’s left 30 years after the 1984 miners’ strike? What traces have the industry, its rapid closure and regeneration activities left on the landscape and communities? These are the questions behind the latest group show curated by New Fringe. Launching on 8th November at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery, the exhibition promises to be one of the groups’ most ambitious projects, with the intention to tour it around the former mining villages across Doncaster throughout 2015. Formed in 2006, New Fringe hosts events, exhibitions and projects throughout Doncaster, including the annual art show at Church View Centre.

What’s Left? brings together eight artists from varied disciplines, including sculpture, photography, installation, painting and illustration. The show explores the folklore and impact of the coal mining industry since the miners’ strike.

The exhibition also features the artwork and sketchbooks of overseas artist Cheryll Kinsley Potter, an established international artist working from her studio in the South of France. Her work produced during the 1984 strike sits alongside images from the present, overshadowed by the long and growing collective memory of the region.

The show runs till 4th January. Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery is open Wednesday to Friday, 10am-4.30pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 10.30am-4.15pm.

For more information, email chair.newfringe@gmail.com doncasternewfringe.wordpress.com Guy Russell (photo Martin Pick ©2014)

Karen Huzzard (photo BrevanArt ©2014)

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Music GUIDE

ROOTS MUSIC CLUB

Battle Of The Bands

Roots Music Club 40th Anniversary 12th September Ukrainian Club, Beckett Road, DN2 4AD

Cask Corner, 3 Cleveland St, DN1 3EH The Hallcross, 33-34 Hall Gate, DN1 3NL Diamond Live Lounge, Wood St, DN1 3LH Sine FM 102.6

Tonight is the 40th anniversary gig at the Roots Music Club. The club originally started in the Rockingham Arms in Wentworth as the brainchild of Jonti Willis and Rob Shaw. It has had many homes over the years, but is now firmly established at the Ukrainian Club on Beckett Road, which has a reputation amongst artists for being a good live roots music venue. In 2004 the club won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Club of the Year award. The headline act for tonight is one of the icons of the folk scene, and one time cohort of Tony Benn, Mr Roy Bailey.

But first to grace the stage is an unassuming gentleman who goes by the name of Graham Fellows. This turned out to be something of a reverse Stars in their Eyes, because Graham is none other than comedy legend John Shuttleworth. Graham sings songs from his early repertoire (before John), including the delightful ‘Denise from Doncaster’, which tells the story of Donny lass calling her local radio station and winning a £5 record token. Graham often slips into John mode as he plays his set and he certainly has something to fall back on when John puts on his slippers and shuffles upstairs.

Enter Roy Bailey, a man in his seventies, to play two sets to complete the night. Roy played the first ever gig of the Roots Club back in September 1974 and is welcomed back by an enthusiastic crowd of seasoned Roots goers and folk virgins alike. Tony Benn once described Roy Bailey as “the greatest socialist folk singer of his generation”, and you can see why, as he sings his way through the evening with two sets worth of audience-grabbing stories.

Roy is a true storyteller, both in his music and mid-song patter.

He captivates and entertains the crowd with tales of his 50 years on the road and a thought-provoking mix of folk and protest songs from his vast repertoire. The Sheffield folkster has the entire audience eating out of his hand, singing away to the chorus of every song.

Cask Corner, The Hallcross, Diamond Live Lounge and Sine FM are looking for new original bands. Think you’ve got what it takes to be the next Bang Bang Romeo? This may be your first step on the ladder.

Forget X Factor. We all know it’s fixed anyway. Battle of the Bands will get you noticed. What better way to build an authentic fan base in your hometown?

The winner will receive a cash prize and a support slot at Diamond Live Lounge. They’ll also appear live on Sine FM’s radio show The Otherway, hosted by local music promoter Simon Saynor. The two runners-up will get to play support gigs at Cask Corner and The Hallcross in 2015.

The competition starts in January 2015. Bands will be contacted in December to confirm the dates they will be competing and the bar they will be performing in. Voting will take place via social media and public vote on the night, so get your friends and fans whipped up.

There are a couple of rules in place before battle begins: 1.)

Have a band and write your own material, and 2.) Have a set of at least three of your own pieces. Simples.

To enter the competition, email botb@caskcornerbar.co.uk with your details, band name and band Facebook page (if you have one), and a video, MP3 or Soundcloud link. Let battle commence.

Gavin Clarke (photo James Truepenny ©2014)

The Roots Music Club has roots, folk and Americana acts on every Friday of the year. Under 17s get in free with an adult.

Food is often served during the night with a ‘pay what you want’ tariff and a raffle takes place, with prizes including CDs, bottles of spirits and free gig tickets. For every five gigs you attend, you get to see the sixth one totally free. Full gig listings can be found on at www.rootsmusicclub.co.uk Andy Henwood: @beetlebeard

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Music GUIDE

SINGLE RELEASE

Vinyl's Back In Town

Shimmer by Ash Carr

The Notorious Aardvark, 4 Kingsgate, Waterdale, DN1 3JZ

Ash Carr is a Leeds-based, Doncaster-bred house producer and DJ. His past guises - The Action Kids, Ash Static and Disko Nasty - have seen him churn out drum and bass, large slabs of techno and deep tech house, and it’s safe to say Ash has kept himself quite busy on the underground scene, promoting parties and nailing down many residencies.

The first records to come into my life were old - 78s of Frankie Laine passed down when my nana passed away. I didn’t have a record player, but even the feel, the weight and the tatty cardboard sleeves bearing the Fields Radio Ltd (52 Hall Gate) logo let me know they were something special.

His latest release, ‘Shimmer’, has been floating around the Traxsource charts for some time now and has been a weekend essential for the last two weeks, getting plays on legendary DJ Graeme Parks’ radio show.

The track comes in two solid forms, the original mix and the saxtrumental mix, the latter a sun-tinged, dreamy house affair that would sit perfect in any White Isle set. The lead sax sample sets the pace and you find yourself happily nodding away whilst the rest of the track follows it into an old school piano sample before lifting off again. It’s all rather nice, moving with a solid groove before it slips away effortlessly.

The original mix, however, strips away the sax and leaves the raw elements of the track to be revealed. Everything is more prominent here and the piano stabs almost take this track into techno territory. The bass line will give any decent speakers a run for their money and the piano drop takes on a whole new stance. House and techno DJs alike will appreciate Ash’s efforts here, as the track goes through the gears until it’s all over too quickly. Both tracks will no doubt make their way into many top DJs sets.

Shimmer is available on itunes.

To find out more about Ash Carr @ashcarrmusic soundcloud.com/ashcarrmusic facebook.com/ashcarrmusic

When I finally got hold of a record player and put them on, my suspicions were confirmed with the crackles, pops and the silky smooth vocals of Frankie himself. From then on I was hooked, bitten by that glossy plastic bug. There was, however, one issue.

Doncaster had no record store and the only place to get my fix locally was the overpriced HMV, a trip to Sheffield or looking out for a special find on the market and car boot. Until, that is, The Notorious Aardvark waltzed into town, led by Simon Saynor and carrying with it a whole host of musical goodness.

The Notorious Aardvark, located in the Waterdale Centre, will boast vinyl as 70% of its stock, alongside CDs, merchandise and, most importantly, record players. A 1950s themed living room space will serve as a spot for customers to hang out, drink coffee and listen to music, with a stage providing a platform for some of the area’s best bands to play. Opening 8am while 6pm to give working people a chance to pop in before or after, the shop will have music from all eras and all genres, as well as a dedicated section for local and unsigned musicians to sell their music.

Doncaster hasn’t had a record shop for about ten years, and Simon admits he’s taken on a massive feat, but with 40 years of collecting records behind him, plus being immersed in the local music scene, he’s confident he can pull it off. With national sales rising every year, it’s clear the people want vinyl and Doncaster needs somewhere to buy it.

Ryan Madin

Paul Prendi

32

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WARM YOURSELF THIS WINTER

at The Masons’ Arms On a cold winter’s day what could possibly be better than a hot drink and belly-filling food enjoyed next to a roaring open fire?

How about an open fire with its own bar?

Get yourself down to The Masons’ and enjoy a bite from their warming winter menu. From jerk chicken to mulled wine there’s something to suit every taste.

Comfort, joy and a well pulled pint, don’t you just love winter.

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34

Entertainment GUIDE

Comedy Night

Rum Diary

Diamond Live Lounge, Wood St, DN! 3LH 25th October 2014

No.7 @ The Rum Rooms, 7 Market Road, DN1 1LS

It’s comedy with the Jongleurs On The Road and the venue is sold out, with around a 100 people sitting at perfectly arranged tables in this atmospheric venue, a former Victorian church on Wood Street.

There’s a mixture of people here. It’s a different offer to the usual Saturday night crowd in Doncaster. Later on tonight there’s a funk and soul night, with live music and DJs, and there’ll be dancing till the early hours. You can’t help but feel things are changing for Doncaster’s nightlife, that people want something different to the usual booze-fuelled pub crawl.

After speaking with proprietor Dominic Gibbs, it’s clear he wants Diamond Live Lounge to become known as a premier venue, not just a gig venue. On Sunday there’s a wedding fair followed by a metal night. Dominic laughs, “They’ll be kids moshing”. During the day the venue is a coffee shop hosting conferences and networking events. Dominic wants the venue to offer a diverse range of events and there is an open door policy to collaborate and support up-and-coming businesses, music promoters and event organisers.

There’s some great gigs on the horizon too. The Dunwells play here on 21st November. They’re making big headlines in the US as well as across the UK and Europe. For those of a 80s and 90s vintage, chart-topping band Toploader (6th Dec) and Go West (20th Feb) are selling out fast. Diamond is a venue with lots of potential. If you’ve not checked it out yet, you should. www.diamondlivelounge.com @DiamondLiveDN1 Hayley Smith (photo The First 45 ©2014)

It’s 9pm and we can hardly get through the door as we enter No.7 @ The Rum Rooms on Market Road in Doncaster. The Races are on - that’s horse racing, for those out of town reading this the ladies are dressed up to the nines and the fellas are suited and booted. We find out the restaurant is still open but it’s fully booked. We manage to sneak a look. It’s small but perfect for an intimate candle-lit social. The walls are covered with artwork in a salon exhibition style, and there’s an exhibition of paintings by a local artist.

You can expect a number quality of acts here, from jazz on Thursdays with Carney and the Cat to James Taplin with his awesome power notes. This Saturday there’s a vocalist and guitarist doing covers and although we’d like to hear original material, it seems to be going down well with the races crowd.

Later we notice three glamorous ladies drinking out of metal teacups. At first we think they’ve snuck in their own drinks, before noticing there’s a tea pot too. I decide to ask them what it’s all about. The girls look at me, perplexed. I’m not sure if they want to lamp me for disrupting them, but in the next breath all three are offering me a slurp like we’ve been friends for ten years. Two words - Donny charm. The drink tastes strong, with fresh fruit and mint. I discover it’s the new Cuban Teapot Cocktail. A few teacups of this brew and you’ll be sailing.

In fact I think these Donny lasses were well on their way.

If you’ve not been out in Doncaster recently, you should check out No.7 @ The Rum Rooms. It shows that there’s a change in the air for Doncaster’s food culture and nightlife, and we highly recommend it.

Catkin Jaquiem (and friends) (photo Warren Draper ©2014)

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Good Goings On Guide

Doncaster Read

Help The Homeless

Doncaster Central Library, DN1 3JE Waterstones, Frenchgate Centre, DN1 1SR 7pm, Tuesday 9th December

Christmas Shoebox Appeal Doncaster

Our November Doncaster Read, in association with Doncaster Waterstones, is not just one book. This time, we have chosen a series of fourteen books for you to enjoy by Doncaster Libraries’ Ambassador, Stephen Booth.

Stephen’s crime series features two Derbyshire police detectives DC Ben Cooper and DS Diane Fry. All of the books are set in the Peak District, adding a familiar setting to the novels for anyone who has visited this beautiful yet haunting National Park on our doorstep.

Stephen started out as a newspaper reporter, worked as subeditor on the Daily Express and The Guardian, then worked on local newspapers in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

His first book in the series, Black Dog, was published in 2000 and in 2003, Stephen won the coveted Crime Writer’s Association’s ‘Dagger in the Library’ Award. In the same year, DC Cooper himself was a finalist for the Sherlock Award for Best Detective created by a British author!

Our fourth Doncaster Read coincides with Stephen visiting Doncaster Waterstones on Tuesday 9th December at 7pm for a talk and book signing of The Corpse Bridge, the latest in the Cooper & Fry series.

For more information on our bi-monthly Doncaster Read go to: http://library.doncaster.gov.uk/web/arena/the-doncaster-read

Christmas is a time that should be full of joy, love, and giving, so spending the Holiday Season homeless and alone can be truly miserable.

The ‘Homeless Christmas Shoebox appeal - Doncaster’ is a Facebook campaign hoping to spread the goodwill we all feel at Christmas in order to help somebody in need. To give a gift - a little bit of happiness, a reason to be hopeful and something practical for the winter to come - to someone who truly needs it.

To take part in this Christmas Appeal simply decorate a shoebox for either an adult male or female (or even for a dog) and fill the box with items that are a combination of useful, beautiful and thoughtful things.

Items could include: Gloves, Socks, Toothpaste, Toothbrush, Deodorant, Feminine Products, Shaving Foam, Shower Gel, Shampoo, Sweets, Books, etc. Anything that you personally would enjoy if you were made homeless, but please, no alcohol.

A Christmas Card along with a cracker should also be included if possible.

To get involved and find and to find out how to get your box to the charity pay a visit to the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/homelessshoeboxappealdoncaster Thank you x (photo ‘It’s a Labyrinth’ Joris Louwes ©2012)

Shirley Wilson

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Shelia North Sine FM presenter of Book It! Shelia North interviews the mysterious mind behind Phantom Cinema also known as Mr. Phantom. The independent cinema project opened its doors on 31st of October to a sold-out crowd upstairs at the Brewery Tap.

Tell me about Phantom Cinema. Firstly, why ‘phantom’? Are you planning to only show scary films?

No, not at all. The ‘phantom’ part is about operating on the fringes and only appearing once a month. We will be showing horror, sci-fi, action, drama, musicals, westerns, crime films - whatever we think is good and would like our audience to see.

Who’s involved and what brought you together?

Jon Kelly, Donald Lownes-Sanderson and Paul Bareham are the main protagonists, although Ian Blaylock at Doncaster Brewery is hugely important, the fourth musketeer. We met at the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield and decided that it was time that there was a place in Doncaster to watch and discuss interesting and unusual films. Phantom Cinema is the result.

Do we need another cinema in Doncaster?

We already have Vue, and… er, Vue. We’re not trying to compete with Vue. We’re not offering the same thing. A town

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with one cinema is like a town with one horse. Where’s the choice?

Your first film is Cabin In The Woods. Why did you choose that particular film?

As we’ll be opening our doors on 31st October it seemed appropriate to kick off with a horror film, but Cabin In The Woods also embodies what we hope Phantom Cinema will come to represent. It’s smart, it’s different, it’s entertaining and it doesn’t do what you expect it to.

I understand you’re showing Fahrenheit 451 later this year. Something tells me that The Sound of Music isn’t turning up at Phantom Cinema any time soon.

You can turn your telly on almost any day of the week and find The Sound Of Music somewhere, so you don’t need Phantom Cinema for that (we’re not against it, by the way - one of us has ‘My Favourite Things’ as his ringtone). Fahrenheit 451 is a fascinating film by a great director, adapted from a critically acclaimed and best-selling book with a star cast. It’s not a difficult or obscure film. In fact, it’s a bit of a masterpiece, and we want people to see it.

You’re going to be showing your films at Doncaster Brewery Tap. Isn’t that a pub? And will someone be stood down front during the interval with a tray full of pints?

for the films we are going to show, and that includes respecting the atmosphere and other patrons. It’s a relatively small space, so it will be exceptionally embarrassing if we have to eject you.

A full range of beverages will be available.

You get your own drinks. You’re in for a treat.

My husband doesn’t like going to the cinema anymore because the other punters make too much noise. What’s your policy on mobile phones, noisy sweet wrappers and, worst of all, people who chat to their friends about what’s going to happen next?

I’m sold. What’s the bottom line on tickets. How much and how do I get some?

We don’t expect that there will be anyone there who doesn’t have a healthy respect

Photo Credit: ‘Looking Back’ by Moshio ©2014

schemes. Members are guaranteed entry into any film by paying a very reasonable subscription fee up-front. This also helps us greatly when securing licences for the future. Standard tickets are £3.50 when bought in advance. If we have remaining places left on the night entry on the door is £4.50.

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Demand for tickets has been high ever since we announced our Halloween launch in mid-September. Our screening of Cabin in the Woods sold out in two weeks, although there may be extra seats available on the night. We have a schedule of films for the next few months on our website - www.phantomcinema. co.uk - where you can also buy tickets and find out about our membership

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©2014

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