Issue 96 / February 2019

ISSUE 96 / FEBRUARY 2019
NEW MUSIC + CREATIVE CULTURE
LIVERPOOL
EYESORE & THE JINX / LADYTRON
LEE SCOTT / YVES TUMOR / ERIC TUCKER

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What’s On
February – April
Wednesday 20 February 8pm
In Aid of Alder Hey Children’s Charity, Claire
House Children’s Hospice and Pete Fitzmaurice
Laughterhouse Live
Special
Friday 22 February 8pm
Music Room
Emotional Geography Album Launch
Only Child
Friday 8 March 8pm
Music Room
Liverpool Acoustic
Stand & Deliver by
Pilgrim’s Way
Wednesday 3 April 8pm
Music Room
Band On The Wall Presents
Bill Laurance
Friday 12 April 6.30pm
Glyndebourne Film Screening
Handel’s Saul (cert. 12A)
Tuesday 16 April 7.30pm
Film
Mary Queen of Scots (cert. 15)
Box Office
0151 709 3789
liverpoolphil.com
LiverpoolPhilharmonic
liverpoolphil
liverpool_philharmonic
Principal Funders
Thanks to the City
of Liverpool for its
financial support
Principal Partners
Media Partner
Image Handel’s Saul © Bill Cooper

17 / 5 - 22 / 6 2019
In May 2019, Bido Lito! will publish
the 100th edition of our magazine.
To mark the occasion we will be
taking the opportunity to ask the
following question:
‘What will Liverpool’s new music
and creative culture look like
in 2028, in another 100
editions' time?’
As a community what do we
foresee: a dystopian, culture-less
nightmare or a utopian, Technicolor
dream?
Through a series of projects,
bido100! will explore our fast-paced
and unpredictable, tech-laced future
and look to learn what we can do
differently today to help shape a
better, creative tomorrow.

Spring 2019 stage highlights at
SELLING
FAST!
The Comedy
About a Bank Robbery
29 January – 2 February
Jason Manford:
Muddle Class
13 – 14 February
Moscow City Ballet
The Sleeping Beauty
and The Nutcracker
21 – 23 February
SELLING
FAST!
Avenue Q
25 February – 2 March
Ghost – The Musical
5 – 9 March
English Touring Opera
Macbeth and Idomeneo
15 – 16 March
SELLING
FAST!
Wise Children
19 – 23 March
Annie
25 – 30 March
Dara O’Briain:
Noise of Reason
1 – 3 April
BalletBoyz:
Them / Us
4 April
Zog
5 – 7 April
Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat
16 – 20 April
book now at storyhouse.com | Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
Funded by:
Key partners:
Principal Sponsor:

Robin Clewley
New Music + Creative Culture
Liverpool
Issue 96 / February 2019
bidolito.co.uk
Second Floor
The Merchant
40-42 Slater Street
Liverpool L1 4BX
Publisher
Craig G Pennington - info@bidolito.co.uk
Editor-in-Chief
Christopher Torpey - chris@bidolito.co.uk
Media Partnerships and Projects Manager
Sam Turner - sam@bidolito.co.uk
Features Editor
Niloo Sharifi - niloo@bidolito.co.uk
Live Editor
Elliot Ryder - elliot@bidolito.co.uk
Digital and Social Media Officer
Alannah Rose - alannah@bidolito.co.uk
Design
Mark McKellier - mark@andmark.co.uk
Branding
Thom Isom - hello@thomisom.com
Proofreader
Nathaniel Cramp
Cover Photography
Robin Clewley
Words
Christopher Torpey, Ian Abraham, Bang On, Niloo
Sharifi, Julia Johnson, Richard Lewis, Amy Czarnecki,
Sam Turner, Elliot Ryder, Ciara Nevinson, Eddy Turner,
Ross Scarth, Georgia Turnbull, Gina Schwarz, Paul
Fitzgerald, Danny Fitzgerald, Jennie Macaulay, Sophie
Shields, Megan Walder, Glyn Akroyd, Matt Hogarth,
Oscar Seaton, Caitlin Whittle, Clara Cicely, Daniel Melia,
Yank Scally, Michael Eakin.
Photography, Illustration and Layout
Mark McKellier, Robin Clewley, Mark McNulty, Eric
Tucker, Maria Louceiro, Victoria Digby-Johns, Niloo
Sharifi, Duncan Stafford, Molly Norris, Stuart Moulding,
Michael Driffill, Roger Sinek, Michael Kirkham, Scott
Charlesworth, John Johnson, Brian Sayle, Tomas Adam,
Pete Carr.
Distributed by Middle Distance
Print, distribution and events support across
Merseyside and the North West.
middledistance.org.uk
The views expressed in Bido Lito! are those of the
respective contributors and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the magazine, its staff or the
publishers. All rights reserved.
EDITORIAL
There’s a video doing the rounds of David Bowie giving
an interview to Jeremy Paxman for Newsnight, in which
he predicts with eerie accuracy how our relationship
with the internet will develop in the future. The video,
from an interview in 1999, resurfaces from time to time, just
as someone notices that we’ve slipped a little further towards
another of Bowie’s predictions. In it, Bowie talks enthusiastically
about the web as a tool for rebellion, but also envisages that
we will have difficulty in comprehending the impact it will have
on society, both for good and for bad. “I think we’re actually on
the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying,” he tells a
bemused looking Paxman, struggling to keep up. “It’s going to
crash our ideas of what mediums are all about.” I think we can
say he got that one right.
Back in 2010 when we started Bido Lito!, we did so with
a digital presence comprised solely of an email address. Long
before we set up a Facebook account or website, the only
apparatus we had other than the magazine itself were sheets of
A4 paper pinned to noticeboards around town, and the trolley
Craig bought so that he could lug the magazines from venue
to venue. It would be reductive to make a ‘how things change’
point about the disparity between then and now – despite being
slow on the uptake, we were always aware that we would need
a strong digital presence to thrive. I don’t think, however, that
we could quite have grasped how vital a digital strategy would
become, even merely for survival. We were the generation who
grew up with Web 1.0 and were used to living in an exponential
age, where the time versus advancement graph always looked
like it was about to topple over on itself. But as I stared into the
yawning abyss of our newly created Twitter account in 2010, it
felt like being on a rollercoaster as it paused before its first jawdropping
descent. Both exhilarating and terrifying, you might
say.
FEATURES
12 / EYESORE & THE JINX
Satire and psychobilly in West Derby: how to turn Britain’s
crumbling façade into high art by passing it through a darkly
comedic filter.
14 / LADYTRON
“We’ve grown up more and life has shown us things that it
possibly hadn’t before.”
16 / ARTS CENTRAL – OPEN
CULTURE
“Give people opportunities, and they will amaze us.”
18 / LEE SCOTT
Rapper Bang On picks up the phone to chat with fellow
beatsmith Lee Scott, the Runcorn artist exporting the sound of
Blah Records far and wide.
REGULARS
10 / NEWS
28 / SPOTLIGHT
31 / PREVIEWS
In this issue, we announce our plans for our bido100!
celebrations, which will take place in May and June of this year.
It is tempting, when you reach a milestone as significant as 100
issues, to look back at your achievements; we won’t be doing
that. We believe that it’s far more exciting – and important – to
look ahead to the kind of world we want to create for ourselves
in the near and distant future, and to work out how we go about
achieving it. Over the past nine years, the publishing industry
has been trying to put the digital genie back in the bottle in both
its (increasingly difficult) pursuit of truth and in working out new
models to replace the slow, clunky old ones. But what does the
next nine years hold in store for journalism – more swingeing
journalist redundancies, like recently seen at Buzzfeed? How
will we still access honest and vital reporting? Will the music
industry continue to cling on to the coattails of innovation, and
be able to work within the newfound democracy that digital
brings? And what of democracy itself: are we living through a
time when the first cracks in the centuries-old system are mere
aberrations, or the beginning of the end? Flying cars, hover
boards?
The beauty is that we don’t know any of these outcomes
– and it’s understandable if you find that worrying. We can,
though, use our imaginations and think of where we want to get
to in the future; and plan and talk and build towards whatever
kind of a world we’d like to create. Maybe the words of David
Bowie will once again be a guiding light as we set our minds to
the task ahead…
“Please don’t tear this world asunder. Please take back this
fear we’re under. I demand a better future.”
Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Editor-in-Chief
20 / ERIC TUCKER
Dubbed “the secret Lowry”, Eric Tucker documented everyday
life in Warrington over hundreds of paintings, which only came
to life after his death in 2018.
22 / RAY MIA’S ADVENTURES IN
SOUND
“Our lifeblood is the city. Our main audience, first and foremost,
is the people of Liverpool.”
24 / NO HUGO BOSS
Scouse fashion specialist Amy Czarnecki investigates the
practice and class dynamics of banning branded wear in clubs.
30 / INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS
OF POP
“If there’s going to be an end of the world, ITOP would be the
only band qualified to play that discotheque in Hell.”
34 / REVIEWS
44 / ARTISTIC LICENCE
46 / FINAL SAY

NEWS
bido100!
bido100!
In May, Bido Lito! will publish the 100th edition of our
magazine. Rather than succumbing to temptation at such
a landmark and look back, we have other plans. Today, our
city’s creative community faces a unique set of challenges
and as a magazine we’ve never shied away from this
fact. So, to mark the occasion of reaching 100 editions
we will be taking the opportunity to look forward, asking
the following question: what will be the key issues and
challenges, opportunities and changes we’ll be grappling
with in 2028? Through a series of projects – interactive
installations, large-scale gigs, discursive events and
commissions – bido100! will explore our fast-paced
and unpredictable, tech-laced future and look to learn
what we can do differently today to help shape a better
creative tomorrow. Stay tuned for details of the expansive
programme which will take over the city from 28th May to
22nd June.
Sound Sounds At Sound City
The excitement continues for SOUND CITY 2019 as more artists
are announced for the festival, taking place from 3rd May to 5th
May. Leading the announcement are South London-based rockers
SHAME. The widely acclaimed five-piece will bring the incendiary
sounds of their anthemic 2018 LP Songs Of Praise to join a diverse
range of artists performing across the Baltic Triangle. Joining
them are BLAENAVON, who combine harmonious guitar with
heartfelt melodies and vocals, while the sublimely bonkers Aussie
outfit CONFIDENCE MAN bring their dance-pop joy to the city.
Additionally, SOAK, KING NO-ONE and HUSKY LOOPS join the
dozens of artists that have been revealed to perform. Tickets and
further info can be found at soundcity.uk.com.
Shame (Darren Aston)
Oyé, Save The Dates
Africa Oyé
The mid-year festivities are on the horizon as the AFRICA OYÉ dates have been
announced. The culture and music of Africa will take over Sefton Park once again
as the esteemed festival celebrates its 27th year. Taking place on the 22nd and
23rd June from 12.30pm to 9.30pm, the festival is always a highlight of the city’s
summer activities. The Oyé Village will continue to grace attendees with live
music, DJs, dance, workshops, food stalls and a range of traders, all alongside
maintaining its free entrance fee. The first of the main stage acts are set to be
announced later in February, amid the buzz for a culturally rich event that now
attracts crowds of over 50,000 people from all over the world each year.
Dig’s New Digs
It’s a Bold new move for DIG VINYL at the start of 2019, as they’ve swapped the
basement of Soho’s for the first floor of the Resurrection building as their new
Bold Street home. Since opening its doors in 2014, Dig hasn’t only become a
vital asset to Bold Street’s independent retail offer, but it’s become a cornerstone
of Liverpool’s music community. The staff have established themselves as much
behind the decks and stalls at key music events in the city as well as dishing out
expert advice and recommendations. Their new space gives them more room for
racks of records, covering all kinds of genres in new, rescued, loved and traded
records. Go for a rifle in their new store and you’re as likely to find the work of
local noisemakers sitting alongside rare and classic cuts, any of which could be
the start of a new musical odyssey for you. Happy digging.
Quid Pro Quo
There’s never been a better time to join the fantastic MUSICIAN’S
UNION. The MU – who provide artists with such perks as free
instrument insurance, copyright and property rights protection,
career advice and much more besides – are offering first-time
members the chance to sign up for just £1 for their initial six
months’ membership. As well as supporting musicians in
navigating their way through contracts, live fees and other
potential pitfalls, the organisation also does great work lobbying
for musician-friendly policy and has been vocal in their support of
free movement of musicians in Europe in the event of a less than
favourable Brexit divorce deal. Go to the themu.org.uk for more
information.
Rail Love Baby
Merseyrail Sound Station unveiled the set of artists who will take
part in Semester Two of the innovative development programme
earlier this year. 12 of Merseyside’s most exciting musicians begin
their journey this month culminating in a showcase event at Liverpool
Central station on 28th March. Among the artists are WILD FRUIT
ART COLLECTIVE, RACHAEL JEAN HARRIS, PALE RIDER and SALT
THE SNAIL who will undertake studio workshops, artist masterclasses
and industry mentoring. Semester Two follows the inaugural round
of activity which featured the likes of Eyesore & The Jinx, Beija Flo
and Sara Wolff last year. To track Semester Two artists’ progress go
to merseyrailsoundstation.com.
Merseyrail Sound Station Semester Two Artists
10

MEMBERS’
MIXTAPE
In this new monthly section, we
ask one of our members to compile
a selection of music from their
recent listening playlists. To get
us started, Suzi Gage tells us
what tunes have been keeping
her headphones busy lately.
Liverpool, 2028
We are teaming up with independent art gallery DOT-ART to
curate and present an exhibition of work which seeks to critique
and contemplate our city’s creative future. We are now inviting
any artist based in the Liverpool City Region to show us a future
not yet determined, with a piece of work that explores what
Liverpool’s new music and creative culture will look like in the
year 2028. Today, our city’s creative community faces a unique
set of challenges and opportunities – from rapid digitisation to
the rising prominence of AI. As a community what do we foresee:
a dystopian, culture-less nightmare or a utopian, Technicolor
dream? What will be the key issues and challenges, opportunities
and changes we’ll be grappling with in 2028? Submissions are
open now for artists whose work responds to the exhibition
theme in innovative and visually interesting ways. Selected
artists’ work will be displayed in the dot-art Gallery between
17th May and 29th June, as part of our bido100! campaign.
Post-Work Party Playlist
No pint tastes better and no slice goes down smoother than
that after-work livener. Parr Street pizzeria CRAZY PEDRO’S
offers both and we are adding an extra ingredient into the
mix. Pedro’s Post-Work Party Playlist compiled by Bido Lito!
gives you the opportunity to unwind with the finest tunes to
wash down that Wacko Jacko pizza slice. Featuring the finest
bangers from all corners of the partysphere, The PWPP gives
the perfect transition from work to play via the likes of William
Onyeabor, The Human League and The Orielles. Get there at
5pm to get added vibes on your slice.
SK Shlomo
Liverpool, 2028
The Citadel Of Change
After 30 years at the heart of a creative and cultural buzz,
St Helens’ CITADEL ARTS CENTRE is to close down. Citing
ever-decreasing arts funding and a difficult economic climate,
the Citadel’s management and board made the tough
decision to give up the building, which has been a focal point
for community and arts-related activities for three decades.
The doors close for the final time on 30th June, with a busy
programme still planned before then, giving residents and
frequent visitors plenty of time to say goodbye. But it is not all
over for good, as the Citadel Charity will continue to operate in
the area as an agency organisation, delivering quality theatre
performances for children and families in the public realm.
As part of this shift in focus, the Citadel Charity has opened
a Crowdfunder appeal to help them raise funds to continue
brings arts and cultural activities to the area. You can find out
more about this campaign at crowdfunder.co.uk/citadel.
Raising The Threshold
THRESHOLD FESTIVAL continue to showcase their expansive line-up
of emerging and grassroots talent in their second announcement of
acts that are to grace the Baltic Triangle’s stages on 29th and 30th
March. Beat boxing champion SK SHLOMO will headline the weekend
festival, revealing the electric blend of innovative lyrics, live-looping
and epic synths that feature on his debut album Surrender. Another
15 artists join Shlomo in this announcement; these include our North
West pioneers of creativity GANG OF FIVE and Threshold’s electronic
regular PADDY STEER. Japanese surf-pop artists EMERGENCY
TIARA also make their second appearance at the festival. For more
information visit thresholdfestival.co.uk.
Art Brut
Wham! Bang!
Pow! Let’s Rock
Out!
Alcopop!
Art Brut are back, hooray!
They’re playing Phase One
in Feb and I for one can’t wait. This new record is kind of
a concept album about Eddie Argos’s life since the last AB
record, including a near death experience and finding new
love in Berlin. Aww. Oh, and it’s a total banger.
The Big Moon
Happy New Year
Fiction
I first came across The Big
Moon because they were
Marika Hackman’s backing
band. I love this tune (and the
whole album) as it has more
than a little nod to the finest era of music – I’m talking, of
course, about Britpop. The chorus backing vocals have
some kind of power over me, I HAVE to sing along.
Jemma Freeman
And The Cosmic
Something
Heaven On A
Plate
Friction Shifter
Jemma and I were in a band together when we were at
school – heavily influenced by Mansun, we had songs
about vicars and alcopops. But Jemma has been in some
fantastic bands since then, including Landshapes, and I
think this solo work is the best thing she’s done. The new
album isn’t far away I believe – one to watch out for.
A Walk Through The City
We’ve got the perfect accompaniment to your wanders
through the city in the form of our latest podcast.
Songwriter and musician NICK ELLIS joins us for the
second episode of the Bido Lito! Arts + Culture Podcast,
taking us on a psychogeographic walk through the city,
focusing on places that have particular resonance with his
music. Stopping off at St. George’s Hall, the Pier Head and
Central Library’s Picton Reading Room, Ellis expands on
the oral histories and traditions that have seeped into his
music. Download our latest show wherever you get your
podcasts, or head to bidolito.co.uk/podcast for an archive
of all previous episodes.
Nick Ellis (Paul McCoy)
Simon & Garfunkel
America
CBS
My sister got me tickets to see
the Simon & Garfunkel Story at
the Empire for Christmas and
ever since I’ve had S&G songs
stuck in my head, particularly
this one. You can’t beat those harmonies. And lyrics that
occasionally punch you in the stomach.
Head to bidolito.co.uk for an extended version of the
Members’ Mixtape, including a playlist compiled by Suzi.
For more information on our Community Membership, head
to bidolito.co.uk/membership.
NEWS 11

12

EYESORE &
THE JINX
Satire and psychobilly in West Derby: how to turn Britain’s crumbling façade
into high art by passing it through a darkly comedic filter.
An empty crisp packet blows past a rundown social
club in a small town, its chipped and peeling sign a
limp signifier of general neglect. People walk past
and don’t give it a second glance. Inside, the carpet is
threadbare and the split cushions on the bar stools and couches
tell a similar story. The cracks in its already shabby exterior are
only getting wider and deeper. This was once a place that bustled
and thrived, and was important to so many; but only a few souls
now remain, still searching for some means of escapism. Apathy
has killed it.
The same scene can be found at greasy spoon cafés, pool
halls, boarded up pubs and soulless shopping centres across
the country, the crumbling façades of broken Britain. Bitterness
stalks frustration in such places, quickly followed by anger at
the hopelessness and of having been left behind. But there’s a
resilience there too, an ability to look at the situation not just with
despair but with a wry smile and a self-deprecating sense of
humour.
EYESORE & THE JINX are acutely aware of these simmering
tensions, and are able to tap in to the undercurrent of unease and
channel it through their own darkly comedic filter. Bassist/vocalist
Josh Miller, guitarist Liam Bates and drummer Eoghan Robinson
are the observers of “shit Britain”, as they term it, spitting out “a
collection of maudlin odes to the world’s impending annihilation”.
They do this in the form of a frenetic punkabilly that is angry,
funny and tight as hell. You might already have seen one of
their (many) pulsating live shows and been hooked in by their
intensity, the hold and release of emotions. You may even have
heard their single, Gated Community, which rages about the
smallminded factions of society over a breakneck beat: “The
rigid sameness attracted me/The rich and famous attracted me/
The original sadists attracted me/And that’s why I live in a gated
community”.
The trio’s follow-up single On An Island, also released
on Eggy Records, is a similar attack, and finds Eyesore in the
kind of form that has marked them out as one of the brightest
sparks in UK guitar music. A critique on arbitrary borders,
superficial trends and a “violent lack of empathy”, On An Island
was recorded at Fresh Goods Studios with production work by
Clinic’s John Hartley. “I can’t believe the things I’ve seen” Josh
spits, as he turns his ire towards body shamers and Instagram
famous, among others. On a previous, discarded version of the
track (recorded at ChampZone in Sheffield, the new studio home
of Fat White Family), you can almost hear the veins popping in
Josh’s neck as he battles to keep up with the relentless tempo.
The definitive version of the single keeps all the same tension in
balance, but it unspools in a much more controlled way, making
Josh’s barked “On an island” land with even more impact.
“There’s definitely a collective sense that something’s gone
wrong, isn’t there?” Josh says when I meet the band for a chat,
and try to pick away at the anger that seems to be fuelling a lot
of this tension. Although they reference the shambolic state of
the country as the reason for the pervading sense of unease, you
would say that Eyesore are a politically-charged band rather than
a political one: you won’t find them singling out specific figures
for ridicule, but a critical eye on political and societal discourse
is inferred through Josh’s lyrics of social climbers and surface
dwellers. “The current political climate being the shitshow that
it is, I think it’s impossible to ignore,” Josh explains. “I don’t think
any of our music is political out of responsibility, it’s more a case
of shooting fish in a barrel.”
Rather than being rage-filled polemicists, the three Eyesore
lads are more interested in making light of the humdrum, and
poking fun at the kind of “Brexit scruffs” who tend to dominate
public discourse. There’s great humour to be had in making light
of a hapless situation, and is often the best way to combat the
frustration and misery it brings. The band’s social media tone
finds exactly the right kind of irreverence and pulls at the same
threads of absurdity, sharing pictures of faded celebrities or
infamous people, with tongue-in-cheek observations of life.
It’s partly this fascination for hilarious mundanity that
leads us to be standing around in Birkenhead on a cold Sunday
morning for a photo shoot. The search for a no-frills version
of Britain that’s frayed around the edges has brought us to an
“Sometimes it’s quite
horrible and dark, but
it’s rooted in reality”
almost forgotten bit of the world that is dotted with shuttered
warehouse units and a sense of abandonment. When the lights
go down it also doubles as a red-light district. This is the broken
Britain of post-industrial towns and suburbs on the edges of
big cities that Eyesore speak of, where money is scarce and
frustrations run high.
We step inside a pub near Hamilton Square for some warmth
after the band have spent the best part of two hours looking
awkward stood in front of various shabby buildings (it turns out
they’re experts). Amid the military paraphernalia and frequent
odes to past glories, Josh and Eoghan chat about the similarities
between what they do and the satirical nature of Spitting Image,
or the tragi-comic parodies of Twitter sensation Coldwar Steve.
Josh also likens their shared appreciation for “cultural tat” and
the weirder aspects of human existence to a very British strain of
comedy horror, the kind of surrealism depicted in Ben Wheatley
films and perfected by The League Of Gentlemen. The pair share
a joke some over scenes from Inside No. 9, the latest sitcom from
the creators of The League Of Gentlemen, which also speaks to
that desire to reflect the absurdity of normal life back at us, but
with an added twist of unsettlingly dark humour.
Similarly, their musical lineage owes a lot to the barked,
surreal commentary on small town characters that Mark E
Smith excelled in. This lineage also includes the post-punk take
on psychobilly that is found in the DNA of The Birthday Party
and The Gun Club; equally, Eyesore fit comfortably alongside
contemporary acts like Parquet Courts, Omni and Duds when it
comes to knitting together great hooks with stop-start rhythms
(with plenty of cow bell on top). But it’s the influence of The Fall –
in terms of non-contemporary influences – that looms the largest.
It’s also something that the conversation naturally returns to, and
reveals some insight into the band’s thinking.
Do you see anything of The Fall in what you do?
JM: I’d like to think so. I’ve been trying to pick at it a bit more as
we developed. Not so much in the lyrics directly, but more in
the way that it’s an exaggeration of more normal walks of life.
The new single we’ve just done [for the upcoming EP] is called
Murder In The Culture Void, and it’s just about having murder in
every sense of the word – both literal and figurative – and basing
it in West Derby on a Saturday night!
That surreal strain on British comedy that plays on the fringes
of society and of forgotten places is very exaggerated, but
there are lots of grains of truth in it, too. Is that what you were
going for?
JM: I think so, yeh. That’s what we were hoping to eventually get
at, and I even think there’s so much more to pull at. It also comes
from not wanting to be just a political band. We’ve no desire to
be Billy Bragg and have everyone digging into the politics in all
of our songs. But there’s politics in the situation as well, and the
places and the behaviour of the people. Singing about the kind
of people who get coked off their heads on a Saturday night
and batter someone is also talking about the frustration of the
situation they find themselves in. It’s about things that are as a
result of politics, more subtle. And I think it’s funnier as well. It’s
such a rich seam to delve into. I think Sleaford Mods do that quite
well, and they touch on a lot of that too, without being overtly
political.
More satirical than preachy?
JM: Definitely. It’s dark but with the element of comedy. That’s
kind of what the point of the name Eyesore & The Jinx is, I
suppose. To have something at its core that was quite horrible,
but then the Jinx being the comedy element, to frame this dark
scenario. That’s probably what ties in The League Of Gentlemen
and Inside No. 9 stuff. British people tend to do that quite well.
It’s a very British sense of humour – eventually that’s where I see
that we can push it.
ER: Sometimes it’s quite horrible and dark, but it’s rooted in
reality.
JM: We use the music for comic effect sometimes, in certain
sounds and rhythms. That speaks as much as the overt politics.
Like, there’s only so many times you can use a cowboy drum beat
over something I’m singing about racists! In that way, it is a bit
limiting. I just like the thought of grounding it in more reality.
ER: The only way to get through everything is comedy really, and
just laughing about it.
JM: I find it weird that nostalgia for stuff that’s a bit rubbish and
frayed around the edges. Just look at that picture there with the
grey sky [pointing over my head to a picture of a ship on the
wall]. It’s Britain, isn’t it? Just a bit shite. It’s a bit class-less as
well, isn’t it? In that, anyone from any background can find it
funny. It’s not demanding too much of you.
What fuels it, do you think?
JM: Maybe it’s a little bit of frustration, or a disconnect that
breeds apathy. I dunno though… I suppose we do something
slightly similar in the way we use social media, sharing pictures
of slightly ridiculous figures and such. Coming back to something
I said before, there’s a collective sense that something’s gone
not quite right, and there’s also a feeling that it’s a little bit out of
your hands, too. The whole Brexit thing is pretty bizarre – I still
can’t get my head around how it all happened. I think Britain, at
its core, is quite conservative, and because of that you feel like
you’re fighting a losing battle sometimes. That can leave you
feeling quite helpless, and all you can do then is take the piss out
of the situation you’re in. That’s all we’ve got left really, our sense
of humour.
But you don’t walk round angry?
JM: Oh no, it’s not that I wanna wallow in it… but I suppose the
live show is quite angry! Maybe that’s the cathartic thing – when
we play live we can just let it out. Some people go out in West
Derby and have a fight, we just play a gig! Everyone’s got tension
in them, though. You’ve got to have that little bit of release.
As things stand currently, Eyesore & The Jinx are firmly part
of the collaborative ‘scene’ that has coalesced around Eggy
Records, sharing bills regularly with Wild Fruit Art Collective, Jo
Mary, Beija Flo and Bill Nickson. It’s a tight, supportive unit that
Josh describes as “a bit like a family”, going on to explain how he
shared the demos of the new songs with other members of the
group before making any decisions. It’s testament to the strength
of this connection that he could take on board their criticism and
go back to the drawing board with the On An Island recordings.
“There is an honesty there, which is healthy,” says Josh.
“I’d like to think we could have come from anywhere and
we would still have made the same music, and that’s definitely
a good thing,” he continues. “But we owe a lot to our mates,
too. I think the same thing can be said for a lot of the bands
kicking around the city at the minute – and that’s probably why
Liverpool’s music scene is as healthy as it is.” !
Words: Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Photography: Robin Clewley / robinclewley.co.uk
soundcloud.com/eyesoreandthejinx
Eyesore & The Jinx’s new single On An Island is out now via Eggy
Records.
FEATURE
13

LADYTRON
The end for Poxy Music – a new start for Ladytron. The far-flung collective
of synth wizards return with their sixth album, and they mean business.
are, for me, the best of English pop music.
They’re the kind of band that really only appears in
England, with this funny mixture of eccentric artschool
dicking around and dressing up, with a full
“Ladytron
awareness of what’s happening everywhere musically, which is
kind of knitted together and woven into something quite new.”
This is a quote from Brian Eno. Lifted from Wikipedia and
unashamedly so. A quote like that stops you dead. Brian Eno
knows his eggs and rarely proffers his compliments so starkly.
For anyone familiar with the work of Marnie, Wu, Hunt and Ayoro
then the excitement of a return is enraptured in such a comment.
For those of you who are not: welcome. They’ve been away,
you see, and now the time is upon us to behold a band that was
conceived, then born in Liverpool and brought up around the
world. There are places in Glasgow, São Paulo, Chicago, Bulgaria,
Italy, London and Bebington that have nurtured and developed
the four-piece to the point where the ‘electronic pop’ (their own
simplified tag) of Ladytron is more than just a sound. It’s an ology.
A way of crafting distant and otherworldly artificial pop sounds
that are actually none of the above. They are the sound you’d
hear when crossing the International Dateline of space and time
on a broken Korg.
We are on the cusp of the group’s sixth album, simply titled
Ladytron. There’s been a hiatus, brought on by life and the merits
of living in the moment. There’s babies (Mira), solo work (Helen),
photography (Reuben) and production (Danny) that have all
conspired to keep the creative flow of the band to a mere trickle
over the last seven years. But all that has changed and a redefined,
realigned and rebooted Ladytron are returning with an album of
such heft and direction, it’s hard to believe the gap was that long.
Danny is stood outside a cafe in Glasgow. It’s cold and he’s tired.
Rehearsing is a bitch. But now the dust has settled on getting
everyone back in the same room, Bido Lito! can ask the opening
question that he’s probably sick of now: where the bloody hell have
you been? He doesn’t sigh. He almost enjoys the bounce.
“When we wrapped up the last record [Gravity The Seducer],
late 2011, we just stopped. Mira had a baby and stuff. We didn’t
tour it as much as we’d have liked to as we couldn’t play live any
more. We were ready for a break and we anticipated three years or
something like that. A brief pause, I guess.”
It’s such a good record. A remarkable ‘comeback’ if you
will. There’s a nod to new romantic on Tower Of Glass, there’s a
fraught, post-punk nursery rhyme Paper Highways, there’s Michael
Jackson pop electro-funk on Deadzone and the industrial seeping
You’ve Changed. There’s a lot of ideas fighting for attention here.
He continues.
“It [the new album] wasn’t intentionally over-thought. It was
a collection of our various ideas from the break that worked well
together as a group. It was actually easy and therefore the most
straightforward record to make. We had more material than we
needed, but as we’d been working remotely, going in the studio
was such a release. Remember we’d also been going back and
forth to the UK and bouncing stuff around the four of us for a
couple of years.”
Ladytron have had the luxury of being able to creatively
mutate over the various record deals down the years, so it
seemed right to plough on and plan. “We weren’t in a hurry,”
Danny continues. “We’d done six or seven world tours and it was
very intensive for a long time. This break has allowed us to hit
reset.” This time he does sigh. Not a world-weary sigh, more a
contemplative force of breath.
“It’s hard not to be
influenced by the
politics of today, [but]
most of the songs
are more influenced
by personal events.
One track explores
that feeling of trying
to dodge death
as we always do
within a dream”
The album backs that up furiously. There’s an argument
that the previous album, Gravity The Seducer, was not a typical
Ladytron record. Their need to push the boundaries suggested it
had been pushed too close to the edge, and the pop sensibilities
had been overcooked. This eponymous sixth has more than
steadied the ship, it has plotted a course that suggests that there’s
a future ahead. There’ve been hiccups along the way. Indeed, the
time it has taken to produce Ladytron is not lost on the other band
members, as Helen explains.
“Seven years in the life of Ladytron compressed into a neat
13 songs. That was actually the hard part, pruning it down to a
listenable amount of songs.”
Electronic music production as topiary? Did it work? Did you
argue?
“Yes! Personally, I’m really happy with the album. It’s different
to our previous efforts, but I think it needed to be. We needed
to come back as a new, refreshed Ladytron and that is definitely
expressed through this record. I’m not going to lie; having four
members spread out across the globe is not always the easiest to
negotiate. However, some things you just have to work around for
the greater good.”
Helen’s comments are slightly at odds with Danny’s, but only
marginally as both views are born out of relief. This has been more
difficult to arrange than both members are giving us, dear reader,
credit for. But the globalisation of technology, infused with the
desire to make this happen has brought to the fore the need for an
act like Ladytron to flourish. As pop music blands itself through its
own advancement, the acts that grow in the margins are becoming
more and more essential, or necessary, depending on your passion
for the anti-mediocre.
The new album draws on the societal sources that have
plotted the course of the majority of Ladytron’s oeuvre, especially
since the first album. Ladytron have never been shy of exploring
themes that are personal to their own world-view. But it’s been
the ‘difficult’ sixth album, so what were the main influences both
musically and, more importantly, culturally?
Here’s Helen Marnie: “Musically, we wanted to bring an energy
to some of the tracks in order to create songs that were more
danceable, or at least had more of an up tempo vibe. But at the
same time we always want to create space and atmosphere with
a record, and songs such as Run and Tomorrow Is Another Day do
that well. It’s hard not to be influenced by the politics of today, but
saying that, most of the songs I’ve written are more influenced by
personal events as well as being injected with a little imagination.
One track is a dreamscape, exploring that feeling of trying to
dodge death as we always do within a dream.”
Danny’s side of the story has a more concrete base of influence.
“Experience and wisdom, really. We were writing in that vein
on the last two, but now, I feel, we are closer to the subject matter,
especially when you consider we are getting older and we have
had more experiences. I’m satisfied with the lyrical content of this
one more so than any of the others. We’ve grown up more and
life has shown us things that it possibly hadn’t before. I certainly
wasn’t dissatisfied with the previous ones, but this one has
something about ‘the moment’ to it.”
The new record hasn’t quite got around to the full live
experience. Only the two ‘singles’ – The Island and the utterly
glorious bastardised pop of The Animals – made it into the set
for the band’s three shows in late November (Glasgow, Liverpool
and London). It’s worth noting that these were an overwhelming
success as the quartet gingerly dipped their live toe back in the
water. Glasgow was heaving, and a sold-out London Roundhouse
proved the demand is still more than there. There were over eight
hundred in Liverpool, the older songs being as enthusiastically
received as some of the more ‘classic’ analogue tunes. The packed
Liverpool Academy danced, listened, swayed and thrusted as a
rejuvenated Ladytron powered through their strongest moments.
As the band exited the three screens came together to show
a giant ‘¡No Pasarán!’ They shall not pass. A comment based on
Danny’s life in the day-to-day political upheaval of modern day
Brazil. With sweat dripping off the walls and the 30-something
crowd baying for more, the lights came up and there was a
palpable sense that there’s more of this to come. Especially in the
Merseyside soul of its creator.
“With the Liverpool show, we just wanted to see a load
of people we haven’t seen for a long time. But I do come back
reasonably regularly. Liverpool produces so much unique stuff and
has a better infrastructure in terms of labels and ‘scenes’ for want
of a better word. There’s a whole bunch of folk that didn’t exist 20
years ago and I’m very proud of what’s happening here.”
With that he exhales, wishes me a good night and turns back
towards the warmth of the cafe, the bosom of his band waiting
to drink, laugh and row about the rehearsals. They needn’t have.
The gigs were a success and 2019 sees our heroes take on
America, South America and back to Europe, cradling an album
that has been more than worth the wait. Ladytron are here for your
pleasure and they deserve that embrace so much now more than
ever. Welcome back. Don’t leave it so long next time. !
Words: Ian R. Abraham / @scrash
Photography: Maria Louceiro / marialouceiro.com
@LadytronMusic
Ladytron is released on 15th February via !K7.
14

@LpoolJazzFest
David Helbock’s Random/Control
Strobes
Kit Downes & Tom Challenger
Darius Brubeck Quartet
Atom String Quartet
VEIN feat. Andy Sheppard
Slow Loris
Kollega
Watts and Grew
Artephis
Deep Cabaret
After the Flood
Ancient Infinity Orchestra
Liverpool International Jazz Fest
21 - 24 February 2019
For more information
Call: 0844 8000 410
Visit: www.thecapstonetheatre.com

In the latest in her ongoing Arts Central series, Julia Johnson looks at the role that public realm spectacles
play in our relationship with our city by chatting to the team from Open Culture.
The beginning of 2019 marks the curtain coming down
on another officially designated year of culture. If
Liverpool 2018 looked back at the legacy of the past
decade, it also provided a chance to look at some of
the areas of disconnect which still exist between the voices
of the Liverpool arts scene. As valuable to a sense of identity
events such as the Giants may be, they offer the city’s many
independent artists limited space for involvement. It can feel
like there’s a parallel world between smaller studios and artist
operations, with their own close networks for support. These
networks need opportunities to reach the audiences so vital
to maintaining creative activities, or perhaps unlock new
perspectives for artists and audiences alike.
OPEN CULTURE, then, are exactly the team Liverpool needs.
As the force behind events such as the Summer and Winter
Arts Markets and LightNight, they are perhaps the strongest link
between the artist and maker communities and the wider public.
Consider the scale of December’s Winter Arts Market, the busiest
ever, with over 9,000 attendees supporting over 200 local artists
and craftspeople. When you realise that these huge events are
brought together by a team of just three women, the scale of what
they achieve becomes even more staggering.
Their motivation is straightforward. In the words of director
Charlotte Corrie: “Our mission is to create a platform for artists
and engage the Merseyside public in that.” A mission they’ve been
working on for almost a decade of their own; for the seeds for
Open Culture were sown when Corrie and fellow director Christina
Grogan were working on the official preparations for European
Capital of Culture. After all, Phil Redmond recognised that the year
couldn’t have been such a success without the engagement and
support of the public.
The question of what happened after 31st December 2008,
however, was left a bit loose. “There wasn’t space for us to stay...
but we didn’t feel that we’d finished what we’d started,” Corrie
recalls. Finding a way to go it alone seemed like both an obvious
and necessary path.
Corrie is half-joking when she describes Open Culture as “the
glue” between the city’s best-known arts organisations and the
creative community, but it feels like an accurate description. As
we discuss the mechanics of how LightNight comes together,
Communications and projects co-ordinator Rachael Jones
mentions the incredible statistic that, in some years, they’ve found
that up to 50 per cent of the visitors to Tate have never been inside
the building before the evening’s events. This significant number
shows the role landmark events can play in encouraging audiences
to explore culture in new ways, putting curiosity into practice. The
team themselves are in no doubt about the importance of this
work. “Hopefully that means that once you’ve got someone over
the door, you can get them coming back. That door is less of a
barrier.”
The glue metaphor also rings true in Open Culture’s desire
to fill in gaps in the city’s cultural life. Another of their recent
developments, Uncover Liverpool, is the online iteration of this.
With characteristic clarity of purpose, Uncover is based on a
simple question: how can we let the public know? It fills a gap
you’re almost amazed to discover existed in the first place,
functioning as a single space where workshops, exhibitions, gigs
and theatre are listed together. To Jones, its
most exciting aspect is its egalitarianism;
“It’s non-hierarchical. No matter if you’re a
big or small organisation, an independent
producer... you’re able to put events
somewhere for people to find.” Letting local
and independent workshops sit alongside
the most headline-grabbing events on the
calendar gives everyone the opportunity
to find a place for arts and creativity that
they’re comfortable with.
The more they talk about their work,
the clearer it becomes that everything Open
Culture facilitate is done out of true passion.
Ten years of establishing these events has only strengthened
their ethos. “We’ve stuck with what we’re doing. We find the
time and money to do this because of our belief that it needs
doing,” Corrie affirms. But sticking to principles doesn’t always
mean sticking with what’s worked before. The success of the
Arts Markets depends on finding a balance between established
participants and creating new talents. “Liverpool is absolutely
choc full of amazing people,” enthuses Jones, “the sheer variety of
different things you can get. There’s also that lovely extra element
that the market does, which is it gives the person the opportunity
to meet the person who’s made that work.” The popularity of their
events continues to grow with both the public and the artists –
December’s 200 stallholders represents an enormous growth
“Give people
opportunities,
and they will
amaze us”
from a mere 60 in 2009. “The makers scene has a real sense of
community – lots of our artists know each other well and help each
other out on [market] day. We like to think we’ve played some part
in that!” says Jones. This year’s success would seem to confirm this
self-belief.
With the Christmas activities over, thoughts are turning
towards the organisation of the tenth LightNight. The theme
changes every year, a strategy that lays down a challenge to
themselves, as well as every artist, group and venue, to continually
evolve their offer. Alongside new commissions, local artists and
communities have been invited to apply to play a role. As with all
their events, the team’s aspiration is that participants find as much
value in the process as the event itself. Corrie explains that it’s
about “asking how they can gain from [events] that will go on to
lead to other commissions. To question, ‘How are you presenting to
the audience? How are you selling yourself?’,
saying ‘Have you thought about this?’ and
trying to make people think differently about
what they do”. Open Culture’s model of
dialogue has at its heart the determination
show off Liverpool’s creative communities
at their strongest, offering the best cultural
diversity possible to show the public what
the city has to offer.
The theme for Open LightNight 2019 –
Ritual – could scarcely feel more appropriate.
Actions become rituals when they are
repeated consistently and with particular
social significances. In many ways, Open
Culture have spent the last decade facilitating creative rituals, from
annual landmark events to providing entry points into learning new
skills. From their straightforward and positive belief – “Give people
opportunities, and they will amaze us” – marks the last decade
as a starting point, from which, with the help of Open Culture’s
platforms, creativity can work from a legacy and continue to
flourish. !
Words: Julia Johnson / messylines.com
Photography: Mark McNulty
culture.org.uk
uncoverliverpool.com
16

Box office:
theatkinson.co.uk
01704 533 333
(Booking fees apply)
The Atkinson
Lord Street
Southport
PR8 1DB
Love folk
Festival
—
Fri 15 & Sat 16
Feb 2019
Book
Now!
Featuring
Martin & Eliza Carthy
Faustus
Blackbeard’s Tea Party
Sound of the Sirens
Roving Crows
Mawkin
Shackleton Trio
Busk Love Folk
#LoveFolkFest
Festival Tickets: £48
Friday Ticket: £20
Saturday Ticket: £35
Media Sponsor

“I love all of it: naming
tracks, making artwork,
designing clothes. If
I’m not doing one thing,
I’m doing another”
LEE SCOTT
The sound of Blah Records is known far and wide in the hip hop world, and it’s largely
down to prolific Runcorn rapper Lee Scott. Fellow beatsmith Bang On picks up the phone
to chat with an artist who may have flown beneath your radar for too long.
LEE SCOTT is a rapper, producer and fashion guru hailing
from Castlefields, Runcorn, who has spent the majority
of his adult life in Liverpool. After first gaining national
attention in his early 20s through a series of classic
underground projects, he then went on to create the label Blah
Records as a medium through which he could release his and his
friends’ brand of uncompromising hip hop.
That was way back in 2006 (before Facebook existed), and
the landscape of British urban music has changed dramatically
since then. Grime made a resurgence, gaining mainstream
attention; the drill movement resonated with the youth and found
a new home over here; and UK hip hop artists started getting a
lot more exposure. Co-signs off industry peers, a few inspired
signings (Black Josh, Stinkin Slumrok, Bisk, Danny Lover) and a
constant stream of quality product has seen Lee play his role in this
renaissance, with the Blah sound almost becoming a sub-genre in
its own right.
I’ve known Lee since around the time the label was formed
and have watched his brainchild slowly become a reality. I decided
to bell him when I was drunk to ask him various intrusive questions
about his rise and rise, and interrupt him whenever he was about
to disclose anything of worth. Every time I call him, there’s always
something new happening, he’s always doing something. This time
was no different...
Bang On: “What ya up to?”
Lee: “I’m just in the studio, working on Cult Mountain 3,
sounding boss like. Did you see the track I was on with Dike?”
I had, it was dope.
Cult Mountain is a supergroup made up of Trellion, Milkavelli,
Lee Scott and Sumgii who have been co-signed by The Alchemist
and whose merch is sported by Skepta, among others. Their
popularity is understandable, but this facet of Lee’s artistry feels
as natural as any other and makes no plays towards the popularity
it has gone on to acquire. The video for Whoa, on the other hand,
which had dropped a couple of weeks earlier, saw Lee collaborate
with Dirty Dike of High Focus Records again (the pair released a
collaborative album last year which also gained him exposure to a
whole new demographic).
I always find it hard to imagine rappers gelling easily in
a studio environment. Often ego and bravado can stifle what
would otherwise be a hive of creativity and productivity. It may be
effortless alongside close friends, but the ability to adapt without
compromising is something that Lee seems to have mastered to
the point where he can make a home for himself in a wide variety of
scenarios with a plethora of different individuals and aesthetics. I was
eager to find out how this came about and how aware of it he was.
“Well, once I sort of got out of the mentality of, like, doing
battles and all that, I got rid of that mentality of competing,” Lee
says. “Like, you know the way in hip hop documentaries there’s
always that guy that says, ‘It’s a sport!’ Well, for me, it’s not. When
I’m making tracks I’m not going to try and write the best verse
ever, I’m just going to try and make the best verse for this track. I
cared a bit less – in a good way. That gave me confidence, too –
to not second-guess myself. Then that made me, like, way more
productive too.”
“Way more productive” equates to five projects in 2018 and “a
load of features too”. Last year, Lee’s work ran across Attack Of The
50,000 (ft. Sweg Lawds from Outer Space, with Black Josh), Oh, The
Fun We’re All Having, ADHD Concerto 77 (with Nobodies Home),
Hock Tu 3 (with Reklews) and Lou Reed 2000. That’s impressive.
The lack of a competitive drive may seem a strange catalyst for
productivity, but this has led to a work ethic that must be respected
as on a par with any of the hustler rappers out there who are
heralded for this seemingly unsustainable, anaerobic output.
“When I stopped smoking weed I got way more productive
too. It’s not something I like to go on about, and I can’t do what
they do, but being honest I think I am one of the few people who is
considered of a certain level technically or whatever, this style, who
also puts out shitloads of music… I’m only saying that cos I can’t
think of anyone else off the top of my head right now.”
I still can’t.
Blah fans are referred to as ‘the cult’, an immersive experience
has been cultivated for them by a seeming ever-presence. Every
month a new release fleshes out the aesthetic and lifestyle
depicted through art and sound. The merch has been pivotal
too – through being more creative and daring than many of their
contemporaries they have created their own lane. This has all been
overseen and curated by Lee, he explained its importance.
“The real level-up on the merch happened with the 616 shit.
You know how Odd Future came out they were wearing Supreme?
But they don’t like… own Supreme? Well, we just thought, let’s do
that but it will be our own clothing brand as opposed to someone
else’s. We have the means, so why not? Obviously, we’d done Blah
merch before the 616 thing, but the connections we made through
that just helped. That’s where I really go in with mad designs.
Scarves, jackets and all that. I suppose I was like: if am going to do
it, I’m going to do it differently, in my own way, just the music.”
If Lee doesn’t fit the aesthetic of the average hustler rapper,
he might not fit the typical mould of a fashionista, either. “When I
was a kid I wanted a Helly Hansen because I liked the colours and
the way they looked, so I saved up and found one in Cheshire Oaks
and bought it. It was only years later that I saw Raekwon wearing
one. So, when people say it’s not hip hop, that’s just funny to me
because it’s just another creative outlet that I’m expressing myself
through genuinely, so I’m not even trying to be hip hop, but I kind
of am anyway. People who don’t get that are probably the same
ones that are telling me what type of music to make and accusing
other people of only listening to us ’cos we’re cool or whatever.”
Somewhat of an anomaly, and certainly an enigma of
sorts, his inability to pigeonhole himself into an easily digestible
one-dimensional character might lead to the greatest peril of all
geniuses: being misunderstood. His dry humour and use of irony
and satire always seemed apparent, but I wondered whether this
was lost on some of his audience.
“Yeh, I read something the other day in a review, it was
positive, like, but it went on about my ‘dark persona’. I was like:
‘Huh?’ If I say something and it’s a bit harsh or whatever, it’s not a
character or anything, it’s just a bit of a joke and I think people are
just taking it literal like, they need to relax. I had this tune called
Mid-Afternoon too, about being so broke ya bring up, like, 20p
debts ya mate owes ya from last week – that’s not dark, we’ve all
been there.”
In our long, meandering conversation I got no hint of this ‘dark
persona’, in fact Lee seems to be in a really good place in his life
at the moment. Achieving goals and committing to his passion full
time as his sole source of revenue, his current status can in no way
be understated and his grind cannot go un-respected. I asked him
if he had ever thought of giving up?
“Yeh, one time, I weren’t really discussing it with anyone. I
was signing on in Dingle and on one occasion it just struck me,
like, ‘This is not enough money to live on’. I was smoking too
much weed, I weren’t eating enough, I was completely broke and I
weren’t even putting out tunes. They changed all the laws around
that time and brought in ‘work placements’ where you would just
go and work somewhere all day for no money, so I just had to
decide at that moment, like, sink or swim. I started getting working
tax credits, went self-employed and just went for it. I tried to do a
normal job before then and I didn’t think, ‘I’m too good for this’ as
such, I just thought, ‘If I keep doing this I’m going to jump off a cliff’.
So I knew what I had to do and I did it.”
Even though we were talking over the phone, I knew from this
brief pause that Lee looked out of the window and saw a shooting
star at that exact moment. Rather than tell me about it, he let it
inspire his words.
“I went on a suicide mission and I’m glad I did. Last week of
November 2012 I went on Working Tax Credit and I’ve been off
benefits now for five years. I fuckin’ love it, la, all of it, naming
tracks, making the artwork, designing the clothes. If I’m not doing
one thing, I’m doing another. I love it.” !
Words: Bang On
Photography: Victoria Digby-Johns
leescott.bandcamp.com
18

ERIC TUCKER
Dubbed “the secret Lowry”, Eric
Tucker documented everyday
life in Warrington over hundreds
of paintings, which only came to
life after his death in 2018. Niloo
Sharifi speaks with his nephew to
uncover some details on the life of
an unknown painter.
“He still prolifically
produced this work
without needing to
know that anyone
might see it”
ERIC TUCKER was a previously unknown painter from
Warrington who made national headlines last year when
his family discovered upwards of 400 paintings in his
house after he died. Over a decades-long career, carried
out silently and prolifically, he had left his family with a huge
body of distinctive work; mainly portraiture focused on locals and
oddballs he came across in pubs and carnivals. Intrigued by a
flurry of rumours and stories (some of which we later found to be
untrue), we joined the two-hour long queue of people lining the
Warrington cul-de-sac where he lived. The October morning air
was bitterly cold and, as we waited, we discussed the rumours,
wondering what we would find in the semi-detached when we
finally reached the front door. As we learned from the artist’s
nephew, Joe, who was waiting with a clicker by the entrance, the
Daily Mail headlines claiming Eric Tucker had died alone were,
in typical fashion, totally fabricated. I called him later on to get
the real story and ended up with a touching insight into the man
behind the beautiful, strange paintings on the walls of a semidetached
house that hosted 1,500 people over one weekend.
“It’s one of those things were the story was a little bit more
nuanced than you can easily fit into a fairly brief article.” He
is generous in his interpretation: “I think the headline writer is
separate to the person who writes the article, so there was just
a bit of oversimplification. Most of the papers corrected those
claims, at least online, although once it’s gone out in print it’s gone
out in print.” His family bore the brunt of the mainstream media’s
tendency for exaggeration. “There were a few stories where they’d
written that he died alone, which my dad who is his brother, and
was very close to my uncle, and also my auntie, Eric’s sister, were
quite upset about, because he hadn’t. I mean, he literally hadn’t,
they were both there with him in the moment that he died.” The
hurtful implication contained within these untruths was that a
neglectful family had come across this vault of paintings, and
started rubbing their hands with dollar signs in their eyes.
Again, this was a gross exaggeration that painted a distorted
picture of the family as exploitative. “[They] kind of made it sound
like it was a total shock to us. First of all, my parents saw my uncle
every week, if not two or three times a week. And we always knew
he’d painted all his life, since his 20s. It was more that no one quite
knew how much work he’d done. “Even when you go round to a
relative’s house, it’s not like you go looking around every room. So,
it wasn’t until he died and my parents were starting to catalogue
and clear his house out that they started counting these paintings.
They thought there would be about a hundred, I remember I was
fairly amazed when they said there were two hundred, but in the
end, they got to four hundred plus.”
As Joe tells me this, I am struck by Tucker’s total lack of
ego. Historically, artists have been precociously self-involved,
creatures of pride. These days, I tell him, especially in the age of
digital reproduction – and for me personally, growing up in the
digital age – it’s a struggle for me to picture doing anything that
other people won’t see. Eric’s work to me also contains this sense
of self-effacement; there is a doting attention to and obsession
with the people he encounters. But perhaps my interpretation is
too romantic. “I don’t exactly know if he thought no one would
see them,” he responds, “and it’s interesting, actually; since the
exhibition, a few people have contacted me and told us things
about our uncle that we didn’t previously know. So, one guy
worked with him at a building yard in 1962, and he said he wanted
to go to St Ives and become a painter. He did dream about this,
it was a legitimate dream, I just think that he didn’t conceive that
there was any way of getting these works shown.”
I am curious as to why this should be the case for an artist
with Tucker’s tremendous drive to paint and obvious skill. “I think
the art world seemed extremely middle class to him and therefore
out of reach, or even, to be honest, he had a bit of an aversion to
it. They weren’t his people. But he still prolifically produced this
work without needing to know that anyone might see it. It’s the
complete opposite of these days – you take a quick photo on your
phone and you can immediately show that to a potentially infinite
number of people.” Although he never went to art school, Tucker
was self-educated on art history, and frequented all the galleries
he could easily get to. There seems something almost ideological
about his refusal to enter that world in earnest. “I think the other
part of it was probably a bit of a sense of class betrayal. Y’know,
he was a dyed-in-the-wool, lifelong socialist. He didn’t even have
a bank account. I think he had, like, a post office account. And
that wasn’t because he couldn’t have opened a bank account in
NatWest in Warrington. I think it was a class thing for him, he felt
like [it] would be slightly betraying the person that he was. So, I
think that was why he felt like he would always be outside of the
art world, he kind of felt like he would be leaving the world that
he portrayed, I suppose.”
This world was strange and unfamiliar for Joe as a child.
“That house was my grandmother’s house, he lived with my
nana. Occasionally as a kid I’d go into his front room and have a
look at what he was painting and they were quite weird to me.
I vaguely recognised some of the places because I’d grown up
in Warrington, but I used to think, ‘People don’t look like this’,
they just seemed odd to me.” But witnessing his uncle’s artistic
20

process for himself, he came to understand that the paintings
were the result of a unique eye for characters. “He did these little
sketches at pubs. I remember once being with him as a kid and
he got his sketchbook out, and he scanned the pub and started to
draw people. Out of 30 people in the pub, he would select maybe
three or four and start to draw them. I could sort of see [that]
these are his people. Once he populates the painting with these
particular people he’s kind of picked out of a crowd, they were his
world.”
“He’d managed to hold on to the world of the 1950s and
early 60s, I suppose, of illegal drinking dens and these kinds
of places. So, it was kind of like a glimpse into another world.”
The people Tucker portrayed belong to a bygone era, and in this
obsolescence, he found beauty. “As I got older, I realised that they
are the people of his youth, but also that he continued to know
throughout his life. The sort of people who don’t appear in a lot
of artwork, but just ordinary people that he would bump into
at the pub or bookmakers. When he would speak to me about
his paintings, he would pick people out of the painting and say,
‘This lady used to come in and she would just sing opera in the
afternoons on a Thursday in this bar in Salford’, so they had little
stories woven within them that are all slightly lost now in one
sense, but obviously in another they are there forever, y’know, in
the paintings.”
The integral story binding all these vignettes together is Eric
Tucker’s warm disposition. “I guess in a way, unsurprisingly, he
was extremely people-orientated. He was a mix of contradictions,
in that he was in some ways quite shy, but in other ways very
gregarious. If he came into a room he would immediately want
to meet everyone and talk to them. He couldn’t bear not to have
a kind of rapport going with absolutely everyone in a room. And
I think that was his lifelong interest was. The vast majority of his
paintings are of people or of social life, the world he knew.” His
work shows a fascination for unusual people. “He was like that in
life, really, he was immediately drawn to anyone who was slightly
marginalised. Eccentrics, or, y’know, tramps, clowns. He had
tremendous empathy for anyone on the margins. I think that’s
how he felt himself, and he was interested in great characters.
It wasn’t done out of pity or an act of charity, it felt like an act of
friendship, because I think he really felt like those were his people
and he was genuinely interested in characters like that. That was
a great thing.” His lack of ego, which meant even his family were
more aware of Tucker’s personality than his work, made him a
true observer. They say that grace visits those who are able to
silence the self, making them a conduit for something truly great,
free of the limiting strain of self-absorption. This describes not
only Tucker’s artistic practice, but also the man he was in life.
Laughing, Joe points out, “He could have done with a bit
more ego in terms of getting the work shown in his lifetime.
But I think when it came to his work he was free of that. And it
shows in the work as well. It’s an interesting mix of sophisticated
and artless, because he’s coming from an unusual perspective
where he knew a lot about art through his own endeavours, but
at the same time he had practically no tuition beyond school.”
I am curious to find out whether his family feel they need to
honour his ambivalence towards art institutions. What would
they do, hypothetically, if the National Portrait Gallery wanted to
formally celebrate and show Tucker’s work? “I think, if I’m really
honest, we’d be incredibly excited, because the key thing is that
we would like as many people as possible to see the work. We
were resistant from the outset to just selling it in commercial
galleries, because it would just disappear into people’s houses.
I know exactly what you mean; it’s a funny one. And a lot of
what I say about his attitude towards the art world, it’s a little
bit of speculation. He was a regular visitor to all the galleries in
Liverpool and Manchester, and I have no doubt – like, towards
the end of his life, he did say to my dad, ‘I would love to have an
exhibition at Warrington Art Gallery’, and little things like the man
who told me my uncle had dreamt of going to St Ives. I think it
was his dream to be a known artist.”
To this end, plans have been set to bring Tucker’s work to a
wider audience. “Warrington Museum and Art Gallery are going
to hold a retrospective of his work, which is brilliant because it
means we’re going to get to show a lot more of the work than
we could just in his house. I’d like the work to be seen as widely
as it possibly can be, not least because I feel like that’s the way
it will survive in this world the longest.” Ready For Christmas,
his only publicly exhibited piece so far, is now viewable by the
public in the gallery ahead of the major retrospective scheduled
for November 2019. I ask Joe whether he and the family are
apprehensive about the reception they may encounter along this
journey. “Like with any art, once you put it out there you kind
of release it to the world and you don’t really have any control
over the response. To be honest we had a little bit of that even
having the exhibition in the house, which was free, we had a few
“When it came to his
work he was free of
ego. And it shows in the
work. It’s an interesting
mix of sophisticated
and artless”
negative comments saying ‘Oh, they’re trying to exploit [him]
– this poor guy’s done this work all his life,’ and it was difficult.
It’s not nice to hear comments like that, but I sort of just held on
to what I thought the greater good was. We think it deserves
to be seen, and if that means facing down a few comments like
that, that feels like nothing in comparison to the overwhelmingly
positive response we got to the house exhibition.”
If Eric Tucker’s name was to be recognised by history, Joe
believes that this would have positive implications for the art
world, and perhaps open the way for a living Eric Tucker, and
other precocious working-class talents who could do with a little
more audacity, a little more ego. “I think it’s just that for someone
from a background, a working-class background, there’s always
that slight difficulty about betraying your background in some
sense.” Joe, a scriptwriter for television, is keenly aware of the
discourse that surrounds artist like his uncle. “I work in the
media where this is a bit of a hot thing – his voice, people from
backgrounds like my uncle’s, sort of staunchly working class,
they’re very, very few and far between in the art world, and that’s
probably as true now as it was in 1943 when my uncle was a
young man. The North feels like another underrepresented bit of
the art world, we’re kind of allowed LS Lowry and that’s sort of
it. I think it’s important that artists like my uncle are seen because
they’re such a rare commodity.” Eric Tucker is well deserving of
being remembered, and the art world, increasingly a game of
‘clout’ and self-regard, could learn something from this rare artist.
Right up until the moment he passed away, at 86 years
old, Tucker lived on his own terms. “He had a degenerative
heart problem that he refused all treatment for. So, he was the
uncompromising artist right ‘til the end. Everything he did, he
curated it the way he wanted it. My dad and his sister were right
there with him until the end and I saw him a few hours before. He
was very peaceful, he wasn’t in any pain or anything.” !
Words: Niloo Sharifi
FEATURE
21

“Our lifeblood is
the city. Our main
audience, first and
foremost, is the
people of Liverpool”
RAY MIA’S
ADVENTURES IN SOUND
What’s going on at Jacaranda Records? The former Universal Music executive behind the label talks to us
about his Liverpool roots and his plans to create a micro-industry in the city.
A
small but venerable list of record labels to have
originated in Merseyside: Deltasonic, Probe Plus, Zoo
(that issued the earliest Bunnymen and Teardrop
Explodes releases) and, more recently, The Coralfounded
Skeleton Key. Joining such illustrious company this year
is Jacaranda Records: headed up by Liverpool-born producer and
former Universal Music Group (UMG) Executive Vice President
RAY MIA, the company has plans to create a cutting-edge
recording studio, film and broadcast facilities in the city, along
with the UK’s first major vinyl pressing plant in decades.
Re-established as a coffee shop, record store and venue
along with a bar in 2014, a potted history of the legendary locale
almost isn’t needed. Established in 1958 by Allan Williams – who,
between 1960-62 managed a pop group of some import you
may have heard of – the venue has been a stalwart of Liverpool
city centre ever since.
An alumnus of Merchant Taylor’s School in Crosby, Ray Mia
went on to study law at Oxford and film school at Canterbury
before starting in work in the music industry, going to become a
Vice President at Universal Music. For Ray, his introduction into
the Liverpool music scene began early. “My dad owned a shop
in Seaforth which had loads of second-hand music and amplifier
equipment, disco and DJ equipment,” he explains, sat in the
performance space of new Seel Street venue Phase One. “We
had loads of records, eight-tracks, singles and records. You can’t
name a single band in Liverpool that was coming through the
ranks that didn’t have some kind of handprint of my dad’s shop
in terms of equipment, because it was all dirt cheap. When you
go into 69A and look at those counters, they were all from there.
Trevor [69A owner/operator] bought them all from my dad when
the shop closed down in 1990.”
A straightforward question, then, to someone recently relocated
to the city after a successful career in the London-centric
music industry: what does Ray feel are Liverpool’s main assets?
“Talent,” he replies simply. “It’s a city of troubadours and poets and
gobshites!” he laughs. “And attitude and authenticity, and they care
about the music and the craft. It’s a city with an incredibly attuned
bullshit detector. It’s unforgiving and relentless in its pursuit of
straightforward talking. Liverpool’s one of the only places that
doesn’t call itself a music city, ’cos it doesn’t need to. It’s a bit
rubbish saying you’re a music city. If you have to say it, you aren’t.”
“I left UMG five months ago and set up a deal with The
Jacaranda,” he explains. “We’re building up towards crossing the t’s
and dotting the i’s on ten local artists, Liverpool first. At the same
time, we’re working with a bunch of publishers, catalogue owners,
producers and artists to work in Liverpool, too. Once we’ve got
the footprint down of the studio, we’ll be bringing musicians
to Liverpool to record and do mixing here. The entire business
is based here in Liverpool, it ain’t moving anywhere. From a
mathematics perspective it’s a good idea; from a talent perspective
it’s a good idea; from a can-do attitude and people who give a
shit about music perspective it’s a good place to put it here. What
is there not to like about coming to Liverpool if you’re a musician
to perform, to write, to get a deal? To go into a studio, to find the
talent, to find a band?” The Bohos, one of the bands they have
been working with under the Jacaranda Records banner, have just
come off a national tour supporting Cast and have recently been
recording in Parr Street Studios as part of their development.
Despite the doom and gloom forecasts about the state of
physical music sales and Britain’s high street in general (news
about HMV had been on earlier that day), Ray has a positive
outlook about the business environment. “I know that all the data
has been pointing towards 2018’s physical sales in the UK fell off
a cliff. But the independent sector has been buoyed,” he states.
“There are over 300 independent record stores across the UK, of
which Jacaranda Records is two of them. Somebody’s got to stick
up for the independent sector and that’s what Jacaranda Records
is all about. In terms of artist discovery, development, recording
it with the cutting-edge technology so we can get it out digitally
and how you monetise it. The relationship between an artist and
a label is changing; the very idea of a label is changing. What’s
the definition of a label? Strip it all right down and it’s about good
music. ’Cos wherever’s there’s good music there’s audiences. And
you gotta find ’em –that’s our job.”
“There’s never been an infrastructure to support through-theline
independent sector, it’s never had a vinyl production facility.
It lacks a sense of transparency,” Ray says of what Liverpool
needs. “We’re buying a studio or we’re going to build a studio,
we’re putting a physical production plant in, our record label is in
The Jacaranda on Slater Street. There are venues here, there are
record stores here, there’s artists here – we’re gonna link all of
that together. Whether we sign people or not we want there to
be a community of writers, performers, engineers and producers.”
“We’re not reinventing the wheel here,” he continues,
warming to his theme. “There’s already a series of
establishments: the original Jacaranda, Jac Phase One, EBGBS,
which already put on artists. There’s an appetite for it, so we’re
already doing it from that perspective. Will that grow? Yeh. Do
we want the sound on the street to be, ‘We wanna be heard at
The Jac’? Yeh. We’re gonna bring the best and the brightest we
can bring together, we’re not focusing on our core which is fourpiece
guitar bands.”
“We’re re-evaluating the way deals are struck as well. We’re
not offering standard label deals. We’re doing everything in a
very different, transparent way. Lots of people have been talking
about these pro-artist deals. What’s the label’s relationship with
the city that it’s based in? What we’re being is community-first.
We’re working on an announcement for local artists and external
ones we’re bringing into town. Working with the Mayor’s Office,
the Liverpool City Region Music Board, building up connections
there. Showing not telling basically,” Ray explains. “We’ve got
some really interesting gigs we’re lining up. One in February here
at The Jac that will be really cool.”
“We’re gonna have to invest in the city. Who’s gonna run the
vinyl plant? We’re gonna have to train. Liverpool is favourably
positioned geographically in the UK. We’re not just doing this
’cos we believe in a romantic idea of this steam-punk machine
with some dude in a white coat with a clipboard seeing what
lacquer smells and tastes like. It’s not gonna be a Charlie And
The Chocolate Factory version of it, it’s gonna be an operational
business that’s gonna hire people and then load on to trucks to
go and deliver to shops,” Ray enthuses.
“We have independent labels larger than ours interested
in the vinyl plant, are we gonna we gonna work with them?
Course we bloody well are! It’s for the independent sector. We
wanna build a community of people we’re talking to and build
up rapport. We’ll tell you really transparently what we’re doing.”
With the interview clock rapidly running down, Ray gets round to
summing up Jacaranda Records’ ethos: “We’re reinvigorating the
whole culture of what The Jacaranda was originally all about. Our
lifeblood is the city. Our main audience, first and foremost, is the
music of Liverpool and the people of Liverpool.” !
Words: Richard Lewis
@JacRecordsLtd
22

MEMBERSHIP
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Bido Lito! has always been about supporting and championing
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With this in mind, we are making some changes to our Bido Lito!
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NO HUGO BOSS
Fashion journalist and Scouse fashion specialist Amy Czarnecki investigates
the practice of banning particular branded wear in clubs, the social and class
dynamics involved and the sartorial history that got us here.
KB’d:
“Knocked back” – Term in the north of England for: (1) refusal
of service while trying to buy an age restricted product; (2)
turned down for a date; (3) denied entry to a bar, club or other
establishment.
(1) “Did you get served for our beer?”
“Nah I got KB’d.”
(2) “Is Mike going out with that girl from last night?”
“No way, she KB’d him.”
Saturday night in Liverpool: you’re out, having just piled
out of a taxi at St Luke’s, the Bombed Out Church.
From here you make your way through the cobbled
streets of Ropewalks, having either arrived armed
with a game plan or arguing amongst yourselves over which bar
you’re most likely to get in. If your group is made up of a gaggle
of immaculately made up Scouse girls, the likelihood of getting
into your bar of choice is far greater than if you head to town as
part of a group of brand-loving lads, clad in box-fresh Balenciaga
Arenas and a meticulously chosen branded T-shirt. Think Armani,
Hugo Boss or Stone Island.
Since a rise in violent behaviour in city centre bars of late,
bouncers are growing noticeably stricter in terms of door policy.
Stabbings are increasingly frequent; the tragic death of 21-yearold
Sam Cooke in Empire in October 2017 was shortly followed
by another fatal knife attack in Maya in early February. While
being a Hugo Boss fan by no means implicates one in this type
of behaviour, the easiest way to keep out violent gangs of lads
is to implement dress codes. It’s less personal than a straight up
refusal, which is important considering that attacks on doormen
in Liverpool are steadily on the rise. In 2017, 249 bouncers were
attacked on the job, a figure which has increased every year since
2013, when there were 160 attacks. Many of the larger clubs
simply enforce a blanket ban to keep out trouble; a “no tracksuits,
no brands” policy, whereas the higher end establishments (such
as Empire and Maya) tend to keep track of the codes of dress of
those who cause trouble.
When asked about dress codes, the bouncer on the door of
Maya (which had recently re-opened following the fatal stabbing)
explained: “We’re quite casual but we don’t let certain lads in
“90 per cent of clubs
will KB you for wearing
Hugo Boss. They
associate it with scallies
and that image isn’t
really going to go away”
with sportswear or big brands showing. We don’t mind a casual
shoe but no Adidas, Reebok – we don’t like them on lads.”
A promoter for one of the larger clubs followed a similar set
of rules: “If you’ve got Nike trainers like Huaraches or 110s on,
you’re not getting in anywhere. Armani or Hugo Boss, you’re
getting KB’d at most of the bars in town. Apparently, it’s because
these big brands are associated with gangs, a lot of them are
wearing Armani and Hugo Boss.”
Owen, an 18-year-old sales assistant at a popular
sportswear store, almost exactly echoes this assessment, again
noting that “90 per cent of clubs will KB you for wearing Hugo
Boss. They associate it with scallies and that image isn’t really
going to go away for some time”. Despite this association, he’s
still a fan of the brand, taking care to “never wear Hugo Boss to
go to town, only if I was having drinks somewhere else, or going
to a party”.
It would appear that the majority of Scousers are similarly
undeterred, as Hugo Boss still has two wildly over-performing
stores in the city. Elizabeth, a sales assistant at BOSS Menswear
explained that the brand’s popularity is such that in the lead up
to Christmas, the store stays open late through the month of
December, “easily making up to £70,000 a day”. The brand is
also responsible for creating the navy suits for Liverpool Football
Club, which the players and managers wear to all official formal
engagements.
While brand obsession is by no means exclusive to Liverpool,
this approach to dress is something that was born here, when
Liverpool fans returned from Rome in 1977 having witnessed
the team win their first European cup. It was during these ‘away
days’ that the Scousers began to pick up on otherwise unheard of
European brands such as Giorgio Armani as well as unusual pairs
of Adidas trainers that weren’t stocked in the UK. This formed the
beginnings of what is now known as the ‘football casual’ style,
which went on to popularise the practice of dressing according
to brand names in the UK. This conspicuous approach to dress
is one that stuck firmly in Liverpool; it is certainly something that
I have always been conscious of growing up there, and when I
asked Owen to describe how he likes to dress he immediately
started listing brands. “Day to day, I wear a black Adidas
tracksuit; the black bomber with the three stripes and then the
logo. I’ll wear that with a plain T-shirt and my white Adidas
Ultra Boosts – I’d never wear Nike and Adidas together, though.
That’s a no-go for me. If I’m wearing a particular brand I’ll do my
best to make it like a full set. So, if I’m wearing Nike; Nike shoes,
tracksuit, Nike hoodie – that sort of thing.”
It’s interesting that the ‘scally’ association that Hugo Boss,
Armani and others now carry in Liverpool sort of echoes the
attitudes that were widely held about the casual style of dress
– the very mention of casuals is synonymous with football
hooliganism for many. However, part of the appeal of casual
dress to fans was that it meant avoiding attracting the trouble
that wearing team colours often attracts. With standing pens
having been banned from all stadiums following the Hillsborough
tragedy in 1989, as well as alcohol later being banned from the
stands, rates of ‘hooliganism’, or antisocial behaviour at football
games have significantly dropped. Yet, casual clothing was never
outright banned at Anfield or Goodison. Instead, to combat
violence and knife crime, both of these stadiums now routinely
employ metal detector checks and bag searches upon entry. As
clubs and bars in Liverpool are now beginning to introduce the
same measures, it will be interesting to see which establishments
continue to enforce dress codes as a matter of taste or crowd
control. !
Words: Amy Czarnecki
24

Until 31 March 2019
#LGBTtales
1 February to 6 May 2019
FREE ENTRY
liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/leonardo500
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SPOTLIGHT
THE INDICA GALLERY
Indie surrealism is the order of the day with this five-piece of psych
obsessives, who show that our connection to music is more than just
skin deep.
“No one will ever
understand music’s
significance or
beauty until it’s
probably too late”
could think of it like taking a colour and trying
to divide it by a letter,” says Joe Mansergh when
we ask him to describe his band’s style. “The
“You
initial idea comes from somewhere so far out it
becomes void of any conscious corruption.”
Are you any closer to knowing what makes THE INDICA
GALLERY tick? No, thought not. But with this quintet of psychaligned
indie shufflers, that’s part of their charm. The warmth of
their pastoral ditties lifts as much from the classic songwriters
(Lennon and Arthur Lee) as it does from the revivalist indie of
Neon Waltz and Submarine-era Alex Turner. And it’s a heritage
they wear proudly.
“It’s driven completely by ideational lyrics: sonically, it has
this weird mathematical pairing of a 50s/60s sensibility laced
with a melting pot of every guitar band you’ve eventually learnt
to loathe,” Joe explains. “It’s insight music, the result of the lefthemisphere
attempting to ride shotgun with the right.”
Citing the whimsical guitar balladry of Connan Mockasin and
Mac DeMarco as influences, the five mates from Liverpool show
an ability to filter their musical lineage through contemporary
stylings. They might be named after the swinging 60s gallery
where John and Yoko met, but retro obsessives they ain’t.
“Like most self-confessed charity shoppers,” Joe continues,
“we started out on a heavy diet of Oasis and Eminem, but quickly
learned to shun both, in an attempt to stay relevant with our
leather-clad peers. It seems to me that music is one of those things
that’s very hard to conceptualise or capture in a linear sense, so if
you have the sort of brain that needs cold, rigid answers but still
craves a certain type of mythology, it can suddenly become like a
lifelong femme fatale to soft boys like ourselves.”
Songwriting and making music offers the chance to process
your emotions and make sense of the world, which is something
that The Indica Gallery seem more than comfortable with.
Pointing to an “innate inability to properly deal with certain
emotions for various reasons”, Joe likens the group’s reasons
for making music as “an itch that something has to be said and
channelled into something positive. We care a lot about people
and there’s a certain element of desiring the sort of connection
which enables others a voice, whether it be the most personal
love ballad or a scathing news report we’re trying to write, it all
comes from the same place”.
But is that all it means? Is it just art for art’s sake? Music
has to have some deeper connection, surely, or else we’d all be
pouring our heart into angst-ridden symphonies on our lunch
break. For Joe, and the rest of the band, that hunger for music
runs deep. “It’s like the cry of the last dodo,” he exclaims, when
asked why music is so important to him. “No one will ever
understand its significance or beauty until it’s probably too late.
How stale might the world be without it? How underdeveloped
would we be as a people? I think we’re starting to see wisps
of that notion in the shallowness of modern society; it feels
like the mainstream media, more so than ever, is dumbing
down the circulation of true artistic expression because of the
overpowering capitalist nature of the industry. That’s why it’s
hard for us to listen to the radio.”
So there you have it: music is our salvation, our looking glass,
our way of understanding the madness of the world around us.
And now you have The Indica Gallery to help along the way.
@theindicagalleryband
The Indica Gallery’s new single Wait For Your Love is out now,
and the band play 81 Renshaw on 14th February. Follow The
Indica Gallery’s progress as part of the Merseyrail Sound Station
artist development programme at merseyrailsoundstation.com.
28

KYAMI
This neo-soul vocalist and New
York native is on the rise, as one
of LIMF Academy’s Most Ready
Artists.
“The power of music
is so much deeper
than any of us can
really comprehend. It’s
essential to life”
If you had to describe your style in a sentence, what would you
say?
Quirky but cool; a mixture of the cultures and sounds of neo-soul,
RnB, hip hop and indie.
How, if at all, did your surroundings inspire the music you make
now?
I grew up in Troy, NY, right outside of the capital, Albany. Growing
up there taught me a lot: how to be a tough girl, to stand up for
myself and others and that I could go anywhere in the world and
be OK. I always felt like I didn’t belong in Troy and I consistently
felt outcast by my peers. Getting away from that was a huge
turning point in my life and it’s been a turn for the better because
I feel way more comfortable in my skin and that’s reflected in my
music.
Have you always wanted to create music?
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always loved the connection I had
with music and I started writing songs at 12 when I was looking
for a way to express the variety of emotions I experienced as a
young woman of colour growing up in America. I never really
liked to talk to people about my problems, so I let it all out in my
music. My dad was a huge influence because he’s a musician
as well, and so I grew up listening to my dad play music in one
of our favourite pubs in Albany, NY which is where I started
performing at around 10 years old. I think I usually played piano
covers of pop songs, but it took quite a few years for me to gather
the courage to share my own originals.
Which contemporary artists do you feel are making the most
interesting music today?
Me and my friends always talk about how music nowadays is so
interesting, complex and beautiful. Among many of the artists that
we discuss, I’d say the top artists of conversation are Tame Impala,
Brockhampton, Anderson .Paak, Phony Ppl and Travis Scott.
Why is music important to you?
Music has healed so many wounds for me and without it I don’t
think I could feel everything so deeply on the level that I do. I think
the power of music is so much deeper than any of us can really
comprehend and can do so much for people on so many different
levels. I’d say music is an essential to life.
soundcloud.com/iamkyami
THE PEACH FUZZ
This five-piece invite you to get down with their
hazy cosmic jive, as they bring a fresh new edge to
the Deltasonic Records roster.
If you had to describe your style in a sentence, what would you
say?
Nathaniel: Pysch, pop and rock ’n’ roll.
How did you get into music?
Danny: We’ve all been obsessed with music since we were
kids and creating music is something that has happened really
naturally as we’ve matured and improved.
Can you pinpoint a live gig or a piece of music that initially
inspired you?
Nathaniel: There are too many to name just one, but I saw Lou
Reed when I was pretty young, and that blew my mind. I’ve
wanted to be him ever since, ha ha!
Danny: Not really, but Paul went to see McFly.
Paul: Yeh, that was pretty life changing to be fair.
Do you have a favourite song or piece of music to perform?
Danny: We’ve got a song called Try It, which is great to play live.
It’s always good to start a gig with a bang, so that one has been
the set-opener recently.
What do you think is the overriding influence on your
songwriting: other art, emotions, current affairs – or a mixture
of all of these?
Nathaniel: Lots of things influence our songwriting; some are
really personal and reflective, others address broader issues too,
like a song we have called Softie. Mainly I think it’s just important
to be honest and to try and connect to other people who might
feel the same.
If you could support any artist in the future, who would it be?
Danny: Brian Wilson. I think, he’s a living legend.
Nathaniel: Iggy!
Tom: Supporting Nick Cave would be pretty cool...
Do you have a favourite venue you’ve performed in? If so, what
makes it special?
Paul: It doesn’t matter where we play; it’s the people that make
the gigs so special!
What have you got on the horizon?
Nathaniel: We released the video for our debut single Destroy
The Evidence on Skeleton Key Records, and we’ve just been on
tour with The Vryll Society and Clean Cut Kid. We’ve just been in
the studio at Parr Street, too, so it’s all go at the moment.
Can you recommend an artist, band or album that Bido Lito!
readers might not have heard?
Phil: Timber Timbre’s Hot Dreams is an album we’ve had on
repeat recently.
Paul: Got to be Malibu by Anderson .Paak for me, and Turtles
Have Short Legs by Can was definitely the after party song for
the first week of our tour.
@thepeachfuzzuk
Destroy The Evidence is out now via Skeleton Key Records.
SPOTLIGHT 29

PREVIEWS
“If there’s going to be an
end of the world, ITOP
would be the only band
qualified to play that
discotheque in Hell”
INTERNATIONAL
TEACHERS OF POP
Sheffield’s latest musical response to the
UK’s woes is a trio of Northern Rail-baiting
synth obsessives pumping out acidic nerd
disco. Just what you wanted, right?
MEMBERS
PICK
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. Those were the words uttered by
Hunter S. Thompson with the aid of his babbling moniker, Raoul Duke, back in
1971. It’s unlikely such a maxim was penned to best describe the future music
of a synth-pop outfit hailing from South Yorkshire. But this is where we’re at.
Things are weird. And the weird are giving it their best shot at turning pro. We have our own
assortment of Tricky Dickies lurking on periphery of power. No Watergate moment in sight. So,
it’s best we don’t rule anything out, yet. Enter INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS OF POP, the trio
writing the musical accompaniment to Raoul Duke’s indictment of a senseless society.
Don’t come looking for desperate imagery of rusted warehouses and ringfenced cliff edges.
International Teachers Of Pop bring unapologetic hypernormalisation to tomorrow’s chaos. A
carnival of wild smiles and incessant groove, rumbling along untroubled, untested towards an
unforgiving sun. There’s no angsty schtick. Just warm licks of pop drawn together by three unhinged
pros when it comes to the weird and wonderful sonic assortments.
Next month will see this well-travelled collection of musical minds release their debut album.
With a show in Liverpool pencilled in for 24th February, Elliot Ryder spoke to Adrian Flanagan of
the band in an attempt to locate their demonic disco pulse.
International Teachers Of Pop may be a relatively new creative outlet, but the group isn’t quite a
fresh-faced supply teacher. Can you give us a little bit of insight to your backgrounds and how
ITOP came to be?
Dean [Honer] and I are the producers/writers/founders of psychedelic rockers The Moonlandingz,
which we do with Lias Saoudi from Fat White Family. We also do a weird spoken word and
electronic music project with actress Maxine Peake called Eccentronic Research Council. The
Moonlandingz are slowly chipping away at writing new music, but we are on a hiatus from playing
live so Lias can tour the next Fat Whites album. It’s not feasible to have two lunatic bands out on
the road at the same time as it’s likely to kill him... However, Dean and I were at a ‘circuit bending
workshop’ early last year where I met an old singer friend who I knew from Manchester called
Leonore Wheatley. We invited her down to the studio to have a go at doing something collaborative.
It turned out alright; within a month we were supporting Jarvis Cocker in a cave for two nights, then
did a session for Marc Riley on BBC Radio 6 Music – then we got a little record deal, all within about
six weeks. We then put out a few singles which went well on radio. And now – in 2019 – we are
heading out on our second tour coinciding with the release of our debut album. We’ve not really had
much time to think about anything as everything happened incredibly fast. We just really gel and
people are really loving the live show. So, I can’t wait to do our first Liverpool show at District!
You’re self-described purveyors ‘nerd pop’. Is the nerdiness by nature or by design?
I think by nature, really. Leonore, our singer, is incredibly nerdy, bookish even. The subjects she
writes about are very nerdy, but in a very English way. She’s the Morrissey you can go dancing
down the club with, minus the racism. Dean’s pretty nerdy when it comes to analogue synths and
studio equipment. I suppose that’s the same for me. However, I’m probably the least nerdy person
ever; I’m the one who’s most likely to be chucked out of the library for chatting up the librarian.
How much of this owes to your penchant for synthesisers, sequencers and analogue equipment?
Is this a medium you’ve always worked with?
Dean has a lot of vintage synths and a great little home studio filled with lots of analogue gear. I have
a more modest set-up, which is OK for getting ideas down to a decent standard. But yes, in general,
we do all our writing for all our projects using dusty old drum machines and analogue synths.
Your debut album meanders into more accessible waters than some of your output as
Eccentronic Research Council, notably Dreamcatcher Tapes Volume 1. Was it a conscious
decision to look for a balance between eccentricity and the steady synth-pop grooves found on
the record?
The ERC is a musical vehicle for the more experimental side of Dean and I’s cranium, but it’s also
where The Moonlandingz were born, who are also quite poppy and radio friendly (nasty). Though,
the ERC is more like the Radiophonic Workshop and The Moonlandingz has guitars and more
traditional instruments within the weird psychedelic electronic arrangements. ITOP is somewhere
between the electronic pop of the Pet Shop Boys or The Human League and the super disco of
Giorgio Moroder, with a bit of Kraftwerk and Michael Jackson thrown in for good measure. Dean
was on Top Of The Pops three times with his first band All Seeing I and produced the closing track
on Britney Spears’ debut album. He also did mixes for Moby and suchlike, so we are not strangers to
the more interesting sides of electronic pop music.
What was the impetus for wanting to create a shimmering collection of synth-pop tracks?
Personal taste, gap in the market, antidote to the UK’s drab state of affairs?
It would be pointless for me to repeat that demonic quasi-political, scab-picking psychedelic thing
that The Moonlandingz or Fat Whites did very well, and a lot of bands are now imitating. To be
honest, I’m kind of bored of that vibe now, especially when we are currently in this frightening
political and social climate. I feel the last thing people need now is another half-wit musician
banging on about something that even the politicians don’t really understand. Brexit: what even is
it? There’s nothing entertaining to me about going to see a band like Idles. It’s just some guys aping
Sleaford Mods’ vibe, shouting over a Sham 69 B-side. Michael Jackson saved more souls than the
entire indie top 40 albums ever will, do you get my drift?!
How did you find the process of recording and compiling the record as a trio? A little more
conventional than previous output?
Indie bands are always proclaiming how they could easily write a pop song ‘if they wanted’ –but at
best they still sound like some wet-the-bed, landfill, post third-rate Arctic Monkeys to me. I don’t
get the snobbery that some people have towards something that has some kind of pop sensibility.
It’s either got a tune and a groove or it’s avant garde! To answer your question, when you’ve got
nine songs on your album that all sound like singles, it’s actually quite hard sequencing and getting
the pace and the breaths right. I was going to say it’s a bit like love-making, but then the first song
is about 130 beats per minute – you don’t want to go ‘straight in’ at 130bpms with anyone who’s
marriage material!
To what extent is Sheffield currently a melting pot for futuristic freak-zone pop? Even
Moonlandingz collaborator Lias Saoudi has left the capital to set up in the region to make the
new FWF record, hasn’t he?
Sheffield has always been at the forefront of pop music made by weirdos. From The Human
League to Pulp to The Moonlandingz, it breeds these unusual characters that see things differently
to everyone else, all the while loving disco and classic pop music. I really do believe International
Teachers Of Pop are the natural heirs to that particular weirdo pop torch.
Your first single Age Of The Train appears to lament Chris Grayling’s apocalyptic timetabling
abilities and general northern transport infrastructure. Yet chugs along more merrily than a
1980s Northern Rail pacer train struggling across the Pennines in 2019. With that, on the debut
record, are International Teachers of Pop soundtracking a dystopia or utopia? Light within the
darkness, perhaps?
If there’s going to be an end of the world, ITOP would be the only band qualified to play that
discotheque in Hell!
How long can we expect to reap the benefits of ITOP’s disco lessons? Is this a project you will be
sticking with beyond the album and scheduled live dates?
We have already started writing our second album, so yes, I do see it as having some kind of legs.
Legs with trainers with wheels and flashing lights and lasers on its feet! It’s always hard to gauge
the future of a band that deals in future pop. We are not aping Merseybeat here!
Words: Elliot Ryder / @elliot_ryder
Photography: Duncan Stafford
@teachersofpop
International Teachers Of Pop play District on Saturday 23rd February. Their self-titled debut album
is released on 8th February via Desperate Spools.
30

Strobes
FESTIVAL
Liverpool International
Jazz Festival
Capstone Theatre
21/02-24/02
Recently, Liverpool has been a growing home to the blues.
They’ve been warmly welcomed, too. We’re not talking about
the tendency to bathe in scorching introspection as the
new year comes demanding and expecting all. Nor are we
talking about Everton. Here, we’re talking about the now celebrated
LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, retuning once more to
serve up a new year treat of jazz blues, fusion, jazz rock, indo jazz, funk
and acid jazz, among other strains and varieties.
This year’s festival will again be hosted at the Capstone Theatre,
within the campus grounds of Liverpool Hope University. Performer
and Hope lecturer Neil Campbell has been the brains behind the festival
since its inception in 2013, along with Liverpooljazz. Over the years, the
festival has followed an intense curve of trajectorial progression in order
to deliver the freshest sounds garnered from the world of jazz. This year
sees a big step in this direction, as the festival will be branching out to
ensure the music on offer is as close to the future as humanly possible.
Don’t come expecting elbow patches and chin scratchers. This year’s
line-up ties unconventional creativity to tried and tested jazz standards
with great aplomb.
Headlining the four-day programme will be DAVID HELBOCK’S
RANDOM CONTROL, DARIUS BRUBECK QUARTET, ATOM STRING
QUARTET and VEIN, featuring saxophonist ANDY SHEPPARD. Also
topping the bill will be London based collective STROBES, a band that
perhaps best encapsulate the festival’s growing future-facing interests.
The trio are fronted by keyboardist Dan Nicholls, who’s previously
applied his colours to the expansive sounds of Matthew Herbert and
Squarepusher. They’re ones to catch, for sure.
Across the four-day celebration, there will be further appearances
from contemporary acts such as AFTER THE FLOOD, DEEP CABARET
and ANCIENT AFFINITY ORCHESTRA. Topping off the assortment
of performances, jazz sax superstar Andy Sheppard will be running a
workshop day in collaboration with Curly Woodwind.
Head Of Leda
EXHIBITION
Leonardo Da Vinci: A Life
In Drawing
Walker Art Gallery
11/02-06/05
To mark the 500th anniversary of the death of original
Renaissance Man, the Walker Art Gallery is one of 12
galleries to be given the privilege to exhibit a selection of the
extraordinary artist’s greatest artworks. Running from February
until May, the free exhibition will feature 12 drawings that showcase
Leonardo’s wide portfolio of interests and revolutionary drawing skills.
Materials from pen and ink to watercolour and chalk will accompany new
exclusive information and findings to produce a unique and expansive
exhibition the UK public will not have had the chance to experience
before.
Da Vinci was a famed polymath, bending his prodigious talents to
all manner of subjects and pursuits throughout his life. This collection
of sketches explores the diversity of subjects that inspired his creativity,
including painting, sculpture, architecture, music, anatomy, engineering,
cartography, geology and botany. It will also present new information
about Leonardo’s working practices and creative process, gathered
through scientific research using a range of non-invasive techniques
including ultraviolet imaging, infrared reflectography and X-ray
fluorescence.
National Museums Liverpool’s Curator of European Fine Art,
Xanthe Brooke, said: “Leonardo da Vinci is undoubtedly one of the most
renowned and influential artists in history, having left a major impact
within the disciples of both art and science.” To get the chance to witness
original work by a master of the Renaissance movement – for free – is
a fabulous chance to get a glimpse at the practice of one of the most
enduring characters in western art. The exhibition will be held as part of
a nationwide event organised by Royal Collection Trust, in which 144 of
Leonardo’s greatest drawings in the Royal Collection will go on display in
12 simultaneous exhibitions across the nation, giving the widest-ever UK
audience the opportunity to see the work of this extraordinary artist.
PREVIEWS 31

PREVIEWS
John Grant
MEMBERS
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GIG
John Grant
Philharmonic Hall – 04/02
Last October, three years since his last solo LP, JOHN GRANT returned
with his new album, Love Is Magic. When Grant brings his fourth studio
album to the Philharmonic Hall, he will demonstrate his evolution,
presenting his most electronic record yet in collaboration with BENGE.
Since the release of his debut solo album in 2010, the Michigan-born
musician has perfected his mix of soft-rock ballads and an array of
spacey, wistful synthesizer sounds. Those familiar with Grant can
understand the authenticity that his life experiences bring to his music.
“Each record I make is more of an amalgamation of who I am,” he
explained upon the release of Love Is Magic. “The more I do this, the
more I trust myself, and the closer I get to making what I imagine in my
head.”
CLUB
Lena Willikens and Octo Octa
24 Kitchen Street – 08/02
Dusseldorf’s LENA WILLIKENS has fast acquired a formidable reputation
thanks to her ear for leftfield, spacey selections. So much so, it’s unlikely
you’ll be able to ID many of the tracks she plays in her sets. One thing
is for certain, however, everything she does pull from her record bag is
adequately equipped to find an unrelenting grove in the middle of a packed
dancefloor. With her presence growing on the underground circuit, aided
by a regular slot on NTS Radio, this appearance at Kitchen Street will arrive
in good time to sample the tastes of this idiosyncratic selector. If that’s
not enough to whet your appetite, the set will see Lena play all night long
alongside Brooklyn selector OCTO OCTA.
Lena Wilikens
FESTIVAL
Love Folk Festival
The Atkinson, Southport – 15/02-16/02
LOVE FOLK FESTIVAL is an annual event that caters to Southport’s music lovers – a
weekend-long celebration that features new, upcoming and traditional folk music. For its
fifth outing, the organisers at The Atkinson have managed to snare folk royalty in the form
of MARTIN and ELIZA CARTHY as their Friday night headliners. Twice Mercury-nominated
Eliza joins her father, a great of English folk, to represent a musical dynasty who, according
to The Guardian, “have quietly revolutionised traditional English music”. Pioneering ‘bloke
folk’ trio FAUSTUS also bring their virtuosic skills to the Friday night proceedings, with
Saturday’s action taking place across three stages, including the free Busk Love Folk stage
in the building’s foyer between 1.30 and 8pm.
MUSICAL
Avenue Q
Storyhouse – 25/02-02/03
Tony-award winning musical AVENUE Q comes to Chester for a oneweek
run at Storyhouse this month. If you like your puppets foul-mouthed
and your theatre pushing boundaries, this is the production for you. One
of the longest running shows on Broadway ever, the critically acclaimed
musical explores the disappointments that come with reaching adulthood.
The cast of humans and puppeteers make for a surreal experience,
especially with the issues of sex, porn and Scientology on the agenda.
Avenue Q has run for 15 years, with the production travelling all over the
world; it stops off at Chester as part of a UK tour.
GIG
Party Hardly
EBGBS – 02/02
Partly Hardly
The latest off the Leeds production line, PARTY HARDLY are a nap if you like your guitar
bands to have the right mix of surf, bite and slacker charm. If you can imagine Blur,
Pavement and Parquet Courts poured into the minds of four woozy individuals with an ear
for writing poppy hooks, you won’t be far away. Down in the basement of EBGBS you’ll be
able to catch the quartet in their natural habitat – and the next time they come to Liverpool
you’ll be able to humblebrag about being onto them before they went massive.
GIG
Pip Blom
Birkenhead Library – 03/02
Fresh from a scorching set at Shipping Forecast at the tail end of 2018, Dutch whizzkids PIP BLOM are back
in town for another tilt at garage rock greatness. This time, the quartet are playing a matinée set at Birkenhead
Library, as part of a joint venture between Independent Venue Week and Get It Loud In Libraries. If you’re the
kind of person that isn’t excited by spending a Sunday afternoon watching a scintillating rock band in a library,
you’ve probably already stopped reading this anyway so we won’t try and win you round. It just means there’s
more space for the rest of us to enjoy what will be a corker of a show.
MEMBERS
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“I’m excited to catch Pip Blom’s invigorating performance and catchy tunes
before their inevitable move to larger crowds and venues. Birkenhead Library
on a Sunday afternoon is going to be one of those ‘glad to be there’ moments.”
Trac Binns, Bido Lito! Member
Pip Blom
32

GIG
White Denim
O2 Academy – 20/02
Seven albums deep into their career and WHITE
DENIM have re-discovered the mojo that propelled
them out of their Austin bubble and turned them into
a world-touring outfit. Last year’s LP Performance,
released on City Slang, has them edging back towards
the heavier end of the guitar rock spectrum. By rights,
their coarse and hairy take on indie rock has more in
common with metal, but you’d have a job wrestling
them from their loyal crowd of indie and alt.rock
adherents. Modern day troubadour BC CAMPLIGHT is
on support duties and is well worth getting in early for.
CLUB
Donna Leake
24 Kitchen Street – 24/02
SisBis are on the money again with their first show of 2019,
bringing the Winds And Skins collective (DONNA LEAKE,
DEBORA IPEKEL and ECE DUZGIT) to Kitchen Street for a party
of epic proportions. A resident DJ at Brilliant Corners in London,
Donna Leake is a music obsessive whose love of sounds leads
here on a constant search for the unknown. Her DJ sets are full of
danceable rarities from across jazz, Afrobeat and world sounds,
and her NTS shows are cherished by people with a similar open ear
for discovering new material. Leake also performed at the first ever
SisBis night, which has gone from strength to strength under the
stewardship of DJ and promoter GIOVANNA.
GIG
Têtes De Pois
Sound – 21/02
Funky souls psychsters SAMURAI KIP embark on
their own promoting adventure by welcoming sevenpiece
instrumental troupe TÊTES DE POIS to Sound’s
basement. The Leeds group weave Afrobeat and hip
hop stylings into their horn-powered jazzy odysseys,
and release their debut EP Framework via the Leedsbased
indie label Tight Lines at the start of February.
As well as the hosts, support on the night comes from
prog-skewed jazz wanderers THE BLURRED SUN
BAND. If you like your grooves slightly on the wild
side, this is the show for you.
GIG
DAM
Constellations – 27/02
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival team up with MARSM UK to bring the muchlauded
Palestinian hip hop trio DAM to the Baltic Triangle, a group that have
grown to become one of the most influential acts of the Middle East’s urban
music scene. The group have been heralded as “the spokesman of a new
generation”, and have been working together since the late 1990s. They were
the first Palestinian hip hop crew to rap in Arabic, and they’ve since rapped
in English and in Hebrew over their multitude of releases, including over 100
singles. For this tour of the UK, the trio will be joined by their live band – a
riotous collection of Arabic percussion and dabke maestros – as well as singer,
songwriter and pianist Nancy Mkaabal and DJ Bruno Cruz.
DAM
Laura Viers
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Laura Veirs
Phase One – 07/02
LAURA VEIRS has been capturing her journey through the
last two decades in her own personal, poetic manner. The folk
singer-songwriter has kept a regular output in that time, taking
her discography into double figures and collaborating with kd
lang and Neko Case, all before last year’s critically acclaimed
album The Lookout. A fresh European tour for the Portland
native will see a return to Liverpool next month where she’ll take
centre stage at Phase One. Allow the breezy, storytelling talents
of Veirs to blow away any new year’s cobwebs.
FILM
Mark Leckey
OUTPUT Gallery – 07/02-21/02
Birkenhead-born Turner Prize-winner Mark Leckey hosts a solo exhibition at Seel Street’s OUTPUT Gallery,
featuring a rare presentation of his 2001 film, We Are (Untitled). Made after his breakthrough 1999 work Fiorruci
Made Me Hardcore, Leckey used the film to pick apart the hedonism of rave culture and all-night partying, this
time filming original footage in his Windmill Street flat rather than creating a collage work of found footage (as
on Fiorucci…). We Are (Untitled) is in part-music video, part-time capsule, a piece that follows the cycle of a party
from start to comedown, and serves as a nostalgic work that preserves the non-judgemental ethos of a culture
that pervaded society, from big cities to provincial life in the towns and suburbs.
Mark Leckey
GIG
Bido Lito! Social: Bloom Building Launch
Bloom, Birkenhead – 28/02
Bloom is a brand new creative space coming to Birkenhead, a place where music and art live side by side
with a progressive conversation around mental health. Containing a café and events space, Bloom is also
the new home for The Open Door Centre, an independent charity supporting young adults in Wirral with
issues around anxiety, depression and stress. To launch the opening of the new building – handily located in a
brand new warehouse space close to Birkenhead Priory and the Birkenhead Tunnel – we are teaming up with
Bloom and Wirral New Music Collective to host the opening live show in the venue. Woozy synth star DAN
DISGRACE joins retro vibe loving vocalist and ANA MAE on the line-up, with Bido DJs adding extra layers in
between. As usual, Bido Lito! Members get free entry – to sign up, head to bidolito.co.uk/membership now.
Bloom
PREVIEWS 33

REVIEWS
“This is an artist
expressing their
honesty through
an ever-thinning
veneer. So much
more than just
the creator”
Yves Tumor (Molly Norris / @clarathecarefreechicken)
Yves Tumor
24 Kitchen Street – 23/11
The ambiguity of YVES TUMOR underpins his music’s
compelling nature. The release of his most recent album, Safe
In The Hands Of Love, is the latest rabbit hole for listeners to
descend towards his warped perceptions. And yet, even in this
gloomy, unsettling concave he is able to present himself with an
edge of humility; he opts to take centre stage with a more vocal
approach, rather than hiding behind the mystique of his heady
productions.
Yves is here to play his only UK date outside of London, a
Friday evening showcase in the intimate confines of 24 Kitchen
Street. Unmissable, for those in the know, even to just attempt to
absorb his complex persona.
Liverpool’s own ALEC TRONIK begins the proceedings. He
provides a solid musical backdrop between sets on the night,
with a unique mixture of deconstructed ravey breaks, warped
RnB hooks and gqom beats. Reinterpretations of favourites
by artists such as Kelela and Abra create a setting that feels
momentarily tranquil, alluring and alarmingly perforated by brief
moments of anxiety – especially against the more aggressive
808 workouts of trap numbers such as Bulma by BbyMutha.
MC TARDAST, accompanied by DJ BЯYN, builds upon the high
energy. The MC weaves his fast bars in and out of droning
dubstep and bombastic grime instrumentals. The discordant,
post-industrial tones sit comfortably with the dim lighting
spreading through the venue. Yet, the atmosphere would be
greatly be enhanced if the MC wasn’t so sparing with his flows
and hooks.
As ICEBOY VIOLET takes to the stage, the room is packed. Its
energy is spilling from body to body like an electrical circuit. The
androgynous figure, mic in hand, is using this to his advantage.
He throws himself into the crowd sporadically, playing upon
their insistent desire to be thrashed out from their comfort zone.
The sound of the Manchester based artist can only be described
as controlled chaos, a rehearsed anarchy: uncompromising and
very much emphatic. The experimental artist playfully toys with
discordant keys and serene tones, all of which are thinly shrouded
with spoken word and harrowing vocals. It’s a challenging set in
which the viewer is asked to confront their sensitivities, dealing
with themes such as sexuality, abuse and suicide through the
provocative nature of the performance.
There is no big entrance for Yves Tumor. Beginning with the
lush basslines of Honesty, the track’s simplistic bounce stirs the
crowd, yet many are perplexed as to whether the set has actually
begun. Abandoning the more introspective soundscapes and
brash noise collages established on the likes of Serpent Music
and When Man Fails You, the music presented is rich with lush
vocal hooks and bulky rhythms. It demonstrates his attempts to
further obscure the line between the accessible and experimental.
His vocals soar throughout the venue with an emotional rasp as
he thrillingly strides through tracks such as Licking An Orchid and
Recognizing The Enemy. The biggest reaction of the night comes
early into the set, as he performs the newly crowned indie-pop
anthem Noid. Expectantly, the crowd roars along to the enormous
chorus.
Much like his output as of late, the performance appears
to signify Tumor’s transition towards a more visible presence.
Bowie-esque, he dominantly fills out his human frame,
backdropped by a haze of red fog, impetuously strutting around
with an assured projection of allure and animality. This is an artist
Yves Tumor (Molly Norris / @clarathecarefreechicken)
expressing their honesty through an ever-thinning veneer. His
gangly stature contorts across the stage, piercing through the
light as he cuts his shapes. He becomes the captivating spectacle;
so much more than just the creator. His art lies within the delivery
as much as it does the physicality of the performance. This is no
more evident than when he performs his recent Blood Orange
collaboration, Smoke. The track is outlined as an ode to the late
Mac Miller. Stirring, as he wails the lines: “Have you ever lost
somebody? Felt so helpless?”
The 45-minute set comes to a climax with an amalgam
of piercing squeals and distorted clangs. The wash of sounds
doesn’t quite sate the appetite of those in attendance, who pine
for a final taste of avant-garde pop. The reward comes with a
surprising rendition of Lifetime. Following such an energetic
performance, it’s fitting that such a delicately delivered track
gently consumes the crowd into an ethereal state of placidity.
Ross Scarth / @Rossscarth
34

“It’s far removed from
sleepy West Kirby. It’s as
though he’s channelled a
wild energy lurking below
the sedate landscape”
Bill Ryder-Jones (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu)
Bill Ryder-Jones
Harvest Sun @ Grand Central Hall – 13/12
You sometimes get the feeling you’re bothering BILL RYDER-
JONES when listening to his music. It’s as though every play
tugs on the emotive strings that delicately tie his compositions
together. Forcing him to recall moments without compliance.
Recount all when requested, rather than when ready. His
yearning, sigh-like vocals wear the same strain whether it’s
the first stream you’ve listened to or the fiftieth. The proximity
between himself and the recorded product feels non-existent, as
though you’re sat opposite in a confession box. Sadly, you don’t
have the right thing to say. So you can only listen. It can seem
as though he is laboured by his craft, and you, paying your two
hours’ worth of wage to see him, only add to a cycle that doesn’t
explicitly find balance between career and catharsis. The artist
perhaps puts it best: “There’s a fortune to be had from telling
people you’re sad.” It’s a strange guilt, but it’s one that doesn’t
speak for all currently in Grand Central Hall. Bill is perhaps
the most attenuative producer, writer, recorder and wanderer
currently on Merseyside. He deserves this crowd, likely the
biggest he’s had for a solo show.
The venue itself typifies the sonic grandiosity of his most
recent album, Yawn: uncompromising, rough-edged, spacious,
but never lonely. It’s music and theatre that rests easily in the
pensive dark of deep winter, guided by unnatural, insincere lights
– like flickers of thought in an anxious head.
Bill himself has had a drastic costume change from the
narrator of his music when he eventually appears on stage. The
clothes are the same, but he seems looser, buoyant, cheery,
playful. Maybe the oversized goblet of wine, clutched in left hand,
explains the non-existent nerves. “I’m getting notes of success,
tragic beauty and ASDA,” he asserts, as he takes a sip from the
glass before rumbling into There Are Worse Things I Could Do.
The set bridges each of his studio albums to date, excluding
his first solo foray, the instrumental If…. Songs from A Bad Wind
Blows In My Heart seem to grow in size when they’re played live.
Maybe it’s the enhanced levels of bass, the cavernous roof, or
rumbling fixtures losing their collection of dust, but each of these
earlier songs have the weight to stand alongside the barrelling
waves of distortion on Yawn. But it’s the moments of joyous
crescendo that typify the quality of the set. It’s far removed
from the slack, sleepy waters of West Kirby and the Dee. It’s as
though he’s channelled a wild energy lurking below the sedate
landscape. Here, Bill orchestrates more of barrelling tide of noise
as he and Liam Power carry the heights of Mither to the precipice
of the dome above.
Talkative renditions of Seabirds and Put It Down Before You
Break It cause the now seemingly expected bi-partisan split
within Bill’s crowd; those rustling, and those who eventually
block out Bill altogether with a harmonious shush. It’s irritating,
but should it be surprising to fill a room of 1,000 people and
observe fee-paying entitlement from a minority? Bill remains
composed and plays along diligently. When playing solo, he
knows those making noise are only ruining it for themselves. His
part of the bargain is being fulfilled. And even above the chatter,
it’s the songs being played solo where you can zero in on the
emotive landscape being sketched out by vocals and guitar. It
can be comfortably isolating, sedative almost, watching Bill play
through songs such as Daniel. Perhaps this is where the guilt
of viewership is most prevalent. It’s like his music creates an
emotive time-share; you step inside it and assume ownership of
the highs and lows until departure. It’s completely captivating,
but it’s not without its challenges. All those in attendance,
chatter or not, know there’s no shortage of sincerity in the honest
anguish and joyful upheaval taking place before them.
Elliot Ryder / @elliot_ryder
Bill Ryder-Jones (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu)
REVIEWS 35

REVIEWS
Queen Zee (Michael Driffill)
Queen Zee (Michael Driffill)
Queen Zee
+ Piss Kitti
+ Zand
+ Munkey Junkey
24 Kitchen Street – 13/12
QUEEN ZEE don’t need any introduction, but they certainly
deserve one. An even better introduction than this is being
delivered by drag darling Jackie Jervo. Jackie is the host for the
evening, introducing all the acts in fabulous style while dressed
as the greatest gift under the tree this Christmas. This evening
is also a showcase for the acts on Zee’s own label, Sasstone
Records, as well as the debut album out next February.
First act on is MUNKEY JUNKEY. Their music is fun and
energetic with their stage presence, dancing and lyricism. But
Munkey Junkey also maintains a certain chilled energy while
doing all of this, in a similar vain to amazing hip hop acts like Mick
Jenkins and Kaytranada. It certainly gets the crowd going and
ready for the next act, ZAND.
She walks on stage to All She Things She Said by tATu wearing
a balaclava scrawled with transphobic and sexist slurs. She then
rips it off, saying a big fuck you to all the bigots out there by
embracing those words but also tearing them down. Zand’s voice
is incredible, full of passion and soul and not comparable to anyone
else out there at the minute. The electronic pop with extra gusto
that backs her voice reminds me of NALA. This uprising of queer
solo acts across the UK creating refreshing new electronica, fused
with pop, is not only amazing to watch, but inspiring. It’s great to
watch them gain the recognition they deserve within the scene,
albeit still small in comparison to the macho indie bands selling out
stadiums – but who cares about stadiums when you’re creating art?
The next act on have already cemented their place as a band
ready to break down the masculinity of the North West punk scene,
PISS KITTI. Their songs are short, brash and bold, in a similar
vein to the finest tracks by X-Ray Spex and Bikini Kill. Lead singer
Esme Davine demands your attention (also to pay her, judging
by the make-up on their face) while the rest of the band create a
wall of noise behind her. Ex-member Clara Cicely also makes an
appearance on stage for a few tracks, including Hash. It’s a relatable
track as we definitely know someone who’s became a bore after
smoking too much. “You don’t smoke hash, hash smokes you, yeh”
is stuck in my head.
All these acts have perfectly built up for the headliners,
QUEEN ZEE. With the words ‘Sass’ shining into the audience’s
eyes, they immediately demand the attention of everyone in the
room. You know you’re about to witness something very special.
Every single member has such charisma, to the point you don’t
know where to focus – and that’s definitely not a bad thing. The
new album sounds spectacular live; an amalgamation of angst,
anger and fun in one ferocious package. It doesn’t matter if you
don’t know all the words because the entire crowd is screaming
and dancing away, myself included. Queen Zee’s music has a
message as well. Zee dedicates Sass Or Die to all of the people
who feel marginalised by their sexuality, their gender – anyone
who has felt like they haven’t fit in. The message within a Queen
Zee song and live show is straightforward: we’re all people, let’s
create a safe space where we can have a great time and respect
each other. I’d go as far to say that Queen Zee are the champions
of the queer punk movement, rallying the troops of queer kids to
stand up for what they believe in, to feel like you’re not alone in an
internal struggle with sexuality and/or gender. Queen Zee are not
taking over as the best band in Liverpool, but they’re ready to take
over the world. Just you watch.
Georgia Turnbull / @GeorgiaRTbull
Wake Up Together: Ren Hang And
Where Love Is Illegal
Homotopia + Witness Change @ Open Eye
Gallery – until 17/02
An unclothed woman stands on the roof of a high-rise
building, the Beijing skyline light and dusty. She arches defiantly
in a backward curve to meet the face of a nude man, tilting
forward to kiss her, creating a bumpy ‘m’ shape with their bodies.
Can people see? They don’t care. Behind his point and shoot
camera, REN HANG carefully directs his friends, arranging their
limbs and hair to capture a transient image of youth, affection
and life.
3,000 miles away in Russia, ROBIN HAMMOND photographs
two women holding each other in an embrace; their fingers
knit tightly together between their chests, one rests her cheek
against the other who looks directly into the lens. They get a
biro and paper and write down their story for Hammond to take,
describing how they were followed home and brutally attacked
for holding hands on a subway.
In more than 70 countries around the world, there are
discriminatory laws against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and intersex relationships. As part of Homotopia Festival 2018,
Open Eye Gallery’s winter double bill Wake Up Together: Ren
Hang And Where Love Is Illegal brings together two fluent
bodies of photography which champion identity and the right to
love who we want.
Uncensored and enlivening, Ren Hang’s keenly experimental
point and shoot photography has shone a light onto a generation
of China not often seen through layers of politics and western
clichés. Having been denied the right to exhibit his work
repeatedly in China for his deemed ‘flagrant’ and ‘pornographic’
themes, an electricity runs through each of Ren’s photographs
chosen for his UK premiere.
One of my favourite images is I Compact U, which features
in Frank Ocean’s self-directed publication Boys Don’t Cry. Three
young men hang out of the same car window, unclothed and
arranged in a remarkable constellation of elbows and wrists,
holding cigarettes to each other’s mouths. Throughout all of Ren’s
images a sense of touch and physicality is exaggerated through
carefully aligned shapes and objects; heads tucked under armpits,
Wake Up Together And Where Love Is Illegal (Scott Charlesworth)
bodies stacked, limbs coiled into orifices.
Often shooting his friends, Ren had an illuminated and
unphased way of seeing. Before tragically taking his own life in
2017, aged 29, Ren’s enduring struggle with depression was
apparent, the elegiac show title Wake Up Together taken from
his last poem posted online. His work, however, celebrates his
abiding vitality, a seemingly random use of objects – lily pads,
peacocks, lizards, cherries – provide planes of texture and
palpability, his aesthetic world clearly referencing bodies as
vehicles for play and unapologetic identity.
When Robin Hammond began his project Where Love Is
Illegal he gave complete control to his sitters, allowing them
to choose exactly how they presented themselves before the
camera. The portraits here are peaceful and homely, even a bit
bizarre at times; Amine from Tunisia sits across his bed, his white
stilettos not quite touching the floor; Jessie, a transgender woman
from Lebanon, is poised like a cat in her front room, shrouded
in a red veil. Shooting members of the LGBTQI community in
countries where bigoted views are backed by law, Hammond’s
tangible and importantly singular Polaroids (should they wish
to withdraw their story) are paired with poignant handwritten
stories.
Moving between each gallery space, the two bodies of
work confront each other in a way that enhances the agency
of Ren’s subjects, while spotlighting the lack of freedom for the
people courageously sharing their own stories of censorship
and isolation. Aspects of each narrative captured by Hammond
are unimaginable, but the collection of portraits in its entirety
provides a strong sense of community; each person’s story is
relatable regardless of identity, creative activism at its most
powerful.
Gina Schwarz / @gsschwarz
36

Molly Burch
+ Andy Jenkins
Harvest Sun @ Leaf – 05/12
Upstairs at Leaf, the room falls silent. Pin-drop silent. Such
a rare phenomenon, it actually takes us a little by surprise. An
already appreciative audience in waiting, as MOLLY BURCH waits
to take to the stage.
ANDY JENKINS, special guest for the night, opens with a
set of Nebraska-era Bruce tasting songs, played on distressing
sounding guitar, which he struggles to keep in time. There are
elements of Dylan in the mix, and more than a flavour of Matthew
E. White, who just happens to have produced Jenkins’ most
recent record. In all honesty, there may well be some magic to be
found on that record, but such sustenance is thin on the ground
with Jenkins’ Leaf performance. It could be tiredness on his part,
nearing the end of a 43-date tour, but we’re left with the distinct
impression that Jenkins simply doesn’t want to be here. Maybe
next time.
Molly Burch’s new album, First Flower, while still concerning
itself with the demands of love and relationships, sees the LA
native turning inwards to observe her place in it all, in a bid,
we’d assume, to understand it all a little more. Love is joy and
disappointment, thrill and confusion. Instant and eventual. These
are the cornerstones, the signposts of Burch’s writing. She seems
on this album, and certainly in the live format, at ease discussing
these matters. She’s at once plaintive and unsure, while trying to
remain calm and defiant.
On the stage at Leaf, surrounded by a highly skilled band
bringing just the right amount of nuance and space to her
delivery of these barroom torch songs, Burch’s voice leaps at
times from laconic and understated to crystal clear falsetto with
bewildering ease, almost as though it was controlled by someone
else. Beginning with the album’s opening track, Candy, she’s
challenging and confronting. In the lyric and in the attitude of
the vocal. “Why do I care what you think? You’re not my father.
Don’t even bother, don’t bother me”, she almost sneers. The band
keep it simple, making it as much about the spaces between the
notes as the notes themselves – giving Burch’s vocal plenty of
room to move. It’s that sparseness in the music, the surf twang of
the guitars, the fractured bossa nova rhythms, as light and bare
as it gets, that hint of her adopted home of Austin, Texas. The
whiskey and the dust of the landscape; the roadside juke joints;
the Hispanic influence and cinematic 60s feel to these emotional
missives; the country flavour of Margo Price and Patsy Cline, all
adding depth and breadth.
More and more, listening to the lyrics, and listening to her
weave her way through the easy, accessible, almost familiar
melodies, it feels as though it’s herself she is challenging and
confronting, as both a writer and performer. Some moments
clearly pain her, but she puts across with an assured clarity. And
cool. Very, very cool.
Next To Me is an interesting delight, perfectly cheery country
pop music, one for the floor, almost celebratory, but with a
claustrophobic lyric of confused and unrequited love. Light and
shade; a perfectly misplaced mash of the two. The band, almost
taking the darkness to the cabaret, allow Burch’s strength as a
writer and singer to lead the way. She enjoys the challenge of
mixing it up, clearly. As on Good Behaviour, a soft, lilting love
song of disillusion, with the most delicious vocal performance
of the night, as she wonders repeatedly, “Will I ever know good
behaviour?”
Wrong For You, from Burch’s harder-edged debut Please Be
Mine, brings the set to a close. All equable vocals and bass heavy
rhythms, there’s definitely something to be said for using a pair
of maracas as drumsticks. All the while, the audience is rapt and
attentive. We remain amazed for the duration of this wonderful
gig. Silent appreciation at a gig in Leaf. Who knew?
Paul Fitzgerald / @NothingvilleM
Fernand Léger: New Times,
New Pleasures
Tate Liverpool – Until 17/03
There’s a sense of familiarity about New Times, New
Pleasures. You’d be forgiven for wandering through the four
gallery spaces, observing FERNAND LÉGER’S incessant
commitment to his role as the artist, striving to retune his craft
to the surroundings he’s given, and believing a mirror holds the
best reflection of the future. Parts of the exhibition are compelling
in such a way. It plays the prescient prospector well through
a mixture of paintings, film and lithograph prints. His early
infatuation and eventual disillusionment with automation seems
apt. Yet, the prevailing mood doesn’t find the buoyant conjecture
with contemporary feeling. It’s all too positive to suggest history
is showing the way through dark times.
Were the New Pleasures strapline to be completed with
a question mark, you’d have the tagline of a comfortable
contemporary exhibition with contemporary artists that looks
towards a discordant future. This wouldn’t be a resounding target
of ridicule. Every age has the unapologetic narcissism to believe
it is their times that are truly the worst, the most unprecedented.
Leave your Blitz and Brexit, your Cuban missiles and Kim-Jong
Un’s rockets, your anxiety soaked anti-depressants and isolating
industrial decline. New times, new problems. It’s relative.
Perhaps this is what this current exhibition does well: it’s
positive, rose-tinted, hopeful. It’s naïve, but for all the right
reasons. It isn’t ‘I told you so’. It isn’t a gaggle of woke centrists,
with their Orwell pin up, their 1984 quotes with direct page
reference, all of which explain as much as the automated
voices announcing the train’s destination. Next stop dystopia…
Fetishised logic of a future few would be able to comprehend.
Like enjoying JG Ballard’s High Rise and fawning over the
Barbican’s serrated jaw lines. Why build 2000 roofs for society
when you can control everything under one stylish piece of
brutalism?
Léger, for the most part, isn’t filled with cynicism. However,
his optimism is forlorn when staring towards the failed dreams of
socialism. The Essential Joys, New Pleasures wall mural, originally
created for the 1937 world fair in Paris, is resounding in its belief
that content existence is found in simple pastures. It’s a brazenly
hopeful piece, but, set against the backdrop of 2019, it aches for
the better rather than truly believes.
Elsewhere, Léger’s feeling that the human form can be
decompartmentalised is apparent. There’s consistent use of
Essential Happiness, New Pleasures 1937/2011by Charlotte Perriand, and Fernand Léger (Roger Sinek)
mannequin limbs, robotic arms, legs and torsos jumbled within
his ‘tubist’ paintings and film work. Machines, like humans, rely
on repletion and practice to enhance productivity. There is a
sense that Léger believes the engineer can harness the power
of a divine creator, hence the blurred lines between mechanical
component and human limbs in his paintings – perhaps most
evident in film The Girl With The Prefabricated Heart or Soldiers
Playing Cards, an impressionist imagining of occupied machines
passing the time in the trenches of WWI. It shows a fascination
with the coming dawn, dark as it may be for the moment. It’s far
from the Dadaist screams and ridicule that echo onto canvas in
the decade following the war, notably the work of Otto Dix who
filled the exact same loft space in the Tate just over a year ago.
While the exhibition is rather unusual in its assortment of
works, showing collections via theme rather than a retrospective
timeline, it offers the sense of re-evaluation in the final two
rooms. Here the machinery has been superseded as the human
form, gentle sea-shells and tree roots find their way into Léger’s
work. These tendencies were not new, but the layout gives the
impression Léger focus has shifted to cut and paste humans
with curved limbs, rigid stares and thick, black outline, as though
shapes conjured on a drawing board and placed into societal
roles. Beyond mention of support for the French Socialist Popular
Front, it is only now the exhibition seems to touch on the artist’s
politics, his growing favourability to communism.
We see this best in his recalling of scenes such as the
circus, or families holidaying on bikes – pockets of society
that are underpinned by collective endeavour. And here there
are glimpses of nervousness about the rapid advancement of
machinery; the bombastic draw towards pistons and levers
wanes in Study For The Constructors: The Team at Rest. The
painting depicts man grappling with the growing prowess of
machinery. It becomes highbrow propaganda. Real jobs for real
people. Not machines.
It’s perhaps fitting that the optimism that rises up through
most of the exhibition fills the closing wall with The Two Cyclists,
Mother And Child. Here is the vision where Léger confides
himself. The idea of the machine as equally dependant on the
human. The harmony of cycling underpinned by the balance of
co-dependence. History might yet fail to validate the exhibition.
It merely shows us a fading narrative. Currently, there’s little
co-dependence to be had in the contemporary era. Whether
we require our machines to operate, their ghosts demand that
they do, that they invade without a sound, no longer whirring
and chugging. Ever so silent they are, just so Instagram can hear
exactly what adverts to serve up.
Elliot Ryder / @elliot_ryder
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
+ Mésange
Shipping Forecast – 30/11
A sold-out gig for a doom-psych metal seems unheard
of, right? But Newcastle’s PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS
PIGS are truly the best at what they do, and tonight’s gig is
resounding evidence of that. For support, we have MÉSANGE,
a duo comprised of violinist Agathe Max from the band Kuro,
and guitarist Luke Mawdsley from the band Cavalier Song. Their
individual talents mould together and they feed off each other’s
energy on stage. The classical melodies from the violin mix with
the synthesised sound of the fuzz pedals and the end product is
a beautiful, sombre and powerful folk noisescape. More artistry
than just any other guitar band.
Shortly after Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs take the
stage. They’re here for the tour of their incredible new album King
Of Cowards. I make my way back inside after taking a break from
the hot venue, only to hear “this one’s about baking cakes!” in a
broad Geordie accent. I have to laugh – it’s not every day you hear
a band from the doom genre, one of the most serious, talk about
baking. Of course, he is referring to the song Cake Of Light and
not about Bake Off, sorry everyone. The sense of humour, the
snarling energy and voice that mirrors a rally call is lead singer
Matt Baty.
The amazing musicianship is what makes a Pigs Pigs Pigs
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs show truly stand out from the crowd. All
the songs melt into one another to create one gargantuan wall
of noise. You can’t help but either head-bang or stare at them
in amazement. Their last song was dedicated to a “particularly
dangerous road”. As a fellow North Easterner, I immediately
knew what it was – the A66.
Maybe the fact that Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are
from my home region, I feel a particular love and pride for them.
But, regardless of where you’re from, if you love doom you have
to see this weirdo lot. That’s an order.
Georgia Turnbull / @GeorgiaRTbull
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (Michael Driffill)
REVIEWS 37

REVIEWS
“In Head we find
timeless, soulful and
emotive writing, with
an air of classicism
and few truly worthy
comparisons”
Michael Head And The Red Elastic Band (John Johnson / johnjohnson-photography.com)
Michael Head And
The Red Elastic Band
Harvest Sun @ Grand Central Hall – 15/12
What is it? How do we begin to explain it? Understand it?
Where does it come from, this devotion, this almost slavish,
rose-tinted obsession with MICHAEL HEAD? So many are
seemingly held under his spell, drawn to his light almost by
nature’s own demands, as though they have no choice. They’re
compelled to be here.
You can see it in the bars and pubs within a well-sung chorus
of the doors of Grand Central Hall on this December Saturday
night in Liverpool. It’s in the excited chat, the smiles and hugs of
friends, the handshakes of acquaintances, the nods and the letons
across the bar. Faces of the ages pulled together in a single,
reverential pursuit. There’s a nervous energy on their faces.
Caught in the moment. That staunch affection, founded in song
and driven by loyalty. It’s so much bigger than the word ‘cult’ –
often the default word of choice for commentators – could ever
evoke. But then, it’s more than just a gig. More than just a band.
It feels like something more. It’s in the feeling of community. Of
connection and shared experience. It’s unity. It’s in the air, on
the faces and in their hearts. Whichever way you describe it, its
unmistakable and undeniable. One thing’s certain: it’s nothing
new.
No matter when you started following the career of this most
treasured and widely respected artist, whether an early starter
Pale Fountains fan at 80s gigs in venues like Mr Pickwicks, the
heady days of Shack, or stumbling across 2017’s acclaimed and
long awaited Adiós Señor Pussycat, you’ve felt it. You’ve felt that
thing, been touched somehow by that magic. Maybe that’s what
it is: magic. Some untouchable ethereal connection between
singer, song and the listener, maybe?
And the songs. For over four decades, Michael Head has
brought us songs of truth. Don’t look for rage. There isn’t anger
in his writing. That’s not what you’re there for. Head sings of
truth. He writes tales rich in character and charm. They’re open.
Raw, even. They’re honest. In Head we find timeless, soulful and
emotive writing, with an air of classicism and few truly worthy
comparisons. In time, these tales and the people in them have
woven their way into the consciousness. We’ve grown to know
Natalie and Heidi, Jimmy Price, AJ Clark, Josephine and Rumer.
We know Daniella and Mr Appointment, Mrs Johnson and Sian,
The Queen Of All Saints.
We’ve learnt of those places. In Hocken’s Hey and Newby
Street, Lavender Way and Letitia Street. The Streets Of Kenny,
and Kilburn High Road. The connection is there for everyone, as it
is in Grand Central Hall, as the Red Elastic Band take to the stage.
Michael Head, forever humble and appreciative, but less driven
by nerves and more assured these days. He is healthy, happy and
wise.
He’s evolved over recent years. Back where he should be,
back to where he was long ago, at the beginning chapters of this
ever-twisting tale.
We note a small detail that tells the big story between then
and now: he’s wearing a watch. For too long, time will have
meant little to him. It will have served no purpose, was of no
consequence whatsoever. Now, he’s been welcomed back into a
world where time matters, and he’s clearly relieved to be making
it matter once more.
It’s an achievement worthy of huge respect, given the journey
he’s taken, but he’d be the first to admit that without the support
of everyone in the room, onstage and off, he maybe might never
have completed it. There’s that deep connection again.
And so he finds himself playing with a band that features
two brothers, a father and son, a brother and sister, and a host of
friends so close, so bonded through music that they have become
family. Maybe that’s the magic? Family. Maybe this is one big end
of year family celebration. It’s been said before. Five years since
Violette Records was created as a vehicle for this renaissance,
there was certainly much to celebrate. And celebrate they did.
For those among our number who remember the days in the
early 90s when Shack playing an eight-song set was considered
a bonus, the surprise and thrill was in the fact that the Red
Elastic Band and their triumphant leader bring no fewer than 21
songs in their bag, plus an encore of three more. An evening of
treasured moments, long to be cherished, etched into the hearts
and minds of the fortunate ones who secured tickets for this sold
out show.
Few will remember any live renditions in past gigs of Shack’s
Up Against It, or Faith from the first album, Zilch, an often unfairly
overlooked collection of shimmering, earthy songs not necessarily
aided by the heavy-handed polish of 1980s production. Here,
Michael Head And The Red Elastic Band (John Johnson / johnjohnson-photography.com)
those songs stand well, and take their rightful place alongside
later wonders such as the criminally overlooked, swoonsome
Somethin’ Like You, perhaps the most perfect paean to love
ever written. Or the sheer spirited elevation and unbridled joy
of Meant To Be, with the crowd taking on their now to-beexpected
role of mass singalong on the Tijuana flavoured trumpet
breaks. Similarly, Newby Street, voices and hands raised aloft
in a united essence of singularity. An almost tangible sense of
oneness descending over the crowd of smiling faces, the outside
world and its dark uncertainty, for all too brief a moment, to be
abandoned in the warmth of this blissful feeling.
A cover version in the shape of My Favourite Things, from
The Sound Of Music, is given extra bounce and pulse by the choir
stage right. There is the touchingly tender dedication of a doting
father to his daughter in the audience, the subject of The Prize.
He’s got The Prize, alright. A poignant moment. The dreamy,
floating waltz of Stranger, from the magnificent Waterpistol
album, is all visionary psychedelics under the vast Victorian circus
dome of Grand Central. A song uniquely suited to that place and
that time. “There’s just one way to get it in the city”. Is right.
The full family – a 15-piece band now including Nathaniel
Cummings of Peach Fuzz – come together for Comedy, one of
many which highlights Mick’s finely tuned sense of song, story
and melody. The dynamics in the build and drops, the layers of
guitars weaving in and around each other, and the chorus. That
chorus. Big hearted, open and joyous, the entire crowd joining in
throughout. And a confetti canon to seal the moment, the huge
sound of the band repeating the refrain as confetti drifts down on
us all like 50 million Rizlas.
So what is it, we asked. Simply put, it’s everything. Music, joy,
elation, beauty, family, friends… to everyone at every Mick Head
show, it’s everything.
Oscar Seaton
38

Kazimier Winter Ball
+ Stealing Sheep
+ Dogshow
Invisible Wind Factory – 14/12
Since rehousing The Kazimier from its levelled and lamented
original setting, the Invisible Wind Factory has provided a space
for original and creative artists and gatherings. The New Rituals
Winter Ball fits this bill. It uses the space imaginatively, although
they certainly took the title to heart and made it winter inside as
well as out. A few more 50 pence pieces in the meter might have
gone some way to heating up this awe inspiring space.
Considering the event’s presence on social media, it’s
surprisingly off to a quiet start. There’s a lovely atmosphere
though; everyone’s happy and up for a good time and, as it fills
up, it’s clear that some have taken the theme of iridescence to
the next level – there are some incredible costumes which could
surely win prizes somewhere. The info released beforehand
states that one of the aims of the night is to “stimulate the
faculty of imagination and discovery on a new kind of ceremonial
setting”. It’s a bold claim, which the night achieves but it all
seems a bit serious. After all, it’s essentially just people in shiny
shoes dancing with a pint.
STEALING SHEEP’s links to the creative heart of the city run
deep and they are well-established artists for this audience. As
Wow Machine, they provide an innovative and thoughtful set.
Humour and self-awareness are sprinkled liberally as they stand
in pearlescent Lycra onesies atop a three-tiered wedding cake
surrounded by extras from Blake’s 7. They wouldn’t look amiss
in a packet of midget gems with their pink, yellow and blue net
bonnets.
It’s all rather art-school inspired and at points cult-like with
band and dancers in role throughout, moving in synchronicity
before limbs move in stepped times with a Daft Punk-esque edge
(or should that be Dada-esque?). It’s well practised and effective
with the three members of Stealing Sheep sighing breathlessly in
harmony.
The night continues with duo DOGSHOW, on a rotating
stage which is pushed round eagerly by the most enthusiastic of
the revellers like a roundabout, possibly in attempt to keep their
core temperature above freezing. It has a carnival atmosphere
with the keyboardist and drummer going for it. If this was back in
the centre of town with its pure joy and beats, it’d be packed out
every weekend.
As can be expected from something produced by The
Kazimier, the light show is captivating. The lights and lasers are
like UFOs above the revolving stage, creating a beam which
seems otherworldly, almost matching the euphoria of the
sparkling crowd.
It’s definitely a fascinating night, which is rough round the
edges in all the right ways: there’s a mix of frivolity and coolness
which does have its charms. Undoubtedly Liverpool needs this
type of venue and this type of night; it would be a much less
interesting place without it.
Jennie Macaulay / @jenmagmcmac
Yazmin Lacey
+ Kyami
Bam!Bam!Bam! @ 24 Kitchen Street
21/11
In recent years, Liverpool has been lucky enough to
experience some seriously exciting jazz music, live and direct.
We are blessed to be witnessing a resurgence and redefinition
of jazz in popular culture – contemporary, uniquely British music
that challenges mainstream preconceptions of the genre. An
intricate and widely varied sound spectrum, equally informed by
the pulsing rhythms of bass culture as it is by bebop. The latest in
a long line of ever-evolving musical ingenuity which ranges from
the soft, soulful, and groovy to the hard, head-nod, screw-yourface-up
variety.
On this particular night at 24 Kitchen Street we are treated to
a night of the former. London-born, Nottingham-based singersongwriter
YAZMIN LACEY is in town. Having unveiled her latest
EP When The Sun Dips 90 Degrees last June, followed by a tour
of European cities that showcased her sultry sound from Portugal
to Norway, Lacey is on a triumphant UK tour which almost seems
like a victory lap. No Fakin’ selecta Mr Jonze is on DJ duties as the
hump-day crowd filter in, grateful for their brief respite from the
cold, eagerly anticipating another one of those special you-hadto-be-there
kind of nights. Like, “remember when Yussef Kamaal
played Kitchen Street to a room full of jaw-dropped Scousers,
back in 2016? That was a Wednesday night in November too.
Mansur Brown was there on guitar. It would be impossible today.
You wouldn’t understand. You just had to be there”.
Liverpool-based singer-songwrter KYAMI warms up
the stage confidently. The expatriate New Yorker is usually
complemented by a backing band, but tonight she faces down
the crowd with a lone acoustic guitar. She cracks jokes and
shares stories between a lovingly presented collection of honest,
emotion-baring songs. Expressive vocal treatments are seated
in a quiet stylishness, which is occasionally dialled up, but never
to the max, softly hinting at some kind of raw, underlying soul
power. The jazz-tinged R&B of Oceans, Games, and forthcoming
Concrete Rose are received to immediate praise. If Kyami
experiences stage fright, you’d never know it – she’s feeling her
own vibe, and it’s infectious.
In the interim, I am cornered by a veteran jazzer who asks
me to help him identify the track currently playing. It’s a new
record which he doesn’t entirely recognise. Now, in the hipster
underworld, simply asking the DJ for the track ID can be deeply
uncool – you immediately illustrate your lack of knowledge to the
watchful eyes of the other, cooler-looking punters who already
seem to know everything. So it’s best to keep your ignorance on
the down-low.
“Fuckin’ hell mate, do you know what this is? Is this that
whatshisname? Henry Wu?”
“Yeh, I think so... Kamaal Williams... it sounds like something
off The Return album but I’m not sure...”
“I knew it! Eh, mate, do you like jazz, yeh?”
“Yeh, I do.”
“Tell you what, mate. I’m a child of the 70s, yeh?”
“Right.”
“Yeh. And I’ll tell you what, mate. The fuckin’ 70s, right? I
reckon that’s the best music ever. Herbie Hancock? Bob James?
Les McCann? That’s the best era if you ask me. But y’know
what?”
“What?”
“That Kamaal Williams, mate. He’s got it, mate. He’s like
fuckin’ Bob James or Herbie Hancock but he’s going now.”
“Oh, do you reckon?”
“Yes, mate. But the 70s. That’s the best music if you ask me.
How old are you?”
“I’m 27.”
“See! I’m not being funny, mate, but you’re too young to
know. Herbie Hancock, mate. Bob James.”
At this point the DJ drops another tune.
“Yes! Red Clay! Do you know this one mate?”
“Yeh, Freddie Hubbard?”
“Exactly! Oh no – wait! It’s the Mark Murphy version! Fuckin’
hell! Yes!”
And he’s off into the crowd, gripped by overwhelming
ecstasy in hearing Mark Murphy’s velvety pipes, his insatiable
thirst for proper Sunday Afternoon at Dingwalls type jazz
grooves temporarily quenched. I am left musing on his
unassailable 70s-versus-now argument, but it’s too late for that
now, as Yazmin Lacey and company take to the stage. There’s a
microphone, drums, keyboards and a bottle of wine. Sometimes
that’s all you need.
Lacey is joined by fellow Brownswood Future Bubblers alumni
Pete Beardsworth and Tom Towle on keys and drums respectively.
Anyone left wondering how the lush soundscape of Lacey’s
recordings could be replicated in a live setting is surely satisfied
as the group breaks into their first tune. Beardsworth’s left hand
provides deep moog basslines as his right hand conjures up tasty
Rhodes licks that immediately draw a small crowd of keyboard
nerds to the front, craning their necks for a peek. The setlist
demands that Towle juggles hip-hop breaks, samba shuffles, UKG
hi-hatting, and sophisticated jazz atmospherics – all of which he
furnishes with apparent ease. And, of course, Lacey’s elegant
vocals float above it all, sitting weightlessly in the air. There is an
indescribable, entrancing quality to her cool, calm energy, which
leaves the audience hypnotised. So much, in fact, that the spell
is only broken when Lacey quietly greets, “Everything alright?”
to rapturous applause. The calm can be partially credited to the
aforementioned bottle – “I’m not gonna lie,” she admits, “I had two
or three glasses of wine before this!”
Slowly rocking to herself as the musicians cook, Lacey leads
the crowd in singalongs of tracks from her two EPs – Black Moon,
Still, and Something My Heart Trusts already proving to be neosoul
anthems – as well as an excellent analogue rendition of Red,
her collaborative contribution to Future Bubblers Volume One
with beatsmiths Congi. Her laidback, restrained style has drawn
justifiable comparisons to the great Erykah Badu, yet Lacey’s
relaxed, almost muted stage presence suggests that perhaps she
herself has not fully realised the magnitude of her own talents.
As we move and groove to some forthcoming and unreleased
material, including a killer funk-samba hybrid structurally akin to
Letta Mbulu’s What’s Wrong With Groovin’, it’s hard not to think
that there’s some even greater music yet to come from Lacey, and
that maybe we’ll be talking about this night in a few years’ time in
the old you-just-had-to-be-there fashion.
Our friend from before is convinced, and hopefully assured
of some contemporary competition to his venerated oldies. As
the group finish their set to universal acclaim, and Lacey humbly
thanks the attendees, the 70s veteran can be heard shouting
above the rest. “The pleasure was all ours,” he proclaims. “Ours!”
Danny Fitzgerald / @rumpunchsounds
Yazmin Lacey (Michael Kirkham / michaelkirkhamphotography.co.uk)
REVIEWS 39

REVIEWS
ROUND UP
A selection of the best of the
rest from another busy month of
live action on Merseyside.
Mogwai (Tomas Adam)
The Orielles
+ Brad Stank
+ Three From Above
+ SPILT
EVOL and Harvest Sun @ Invisible Wind
Factory – 07/12
A sort of ethereal daze surrounds me as the words “I’ve
never been a fan of reviews” roll off BRAD STANK’s tongue.
Well, I’m sorry Brad, but Bido Lito! are here tonight. With his
combination of psych, soul and pop, he has the whole room
swaying with songs such as Pond Weed – something his bassist
may have amusingly had too much of. A Sunday morning vibe
encompasses the room on this very Friday night. Brad has
been one to watch out for a while now and 2018 has definitely
been his year following the release of his debut album, Eternal
Slowdown.
SPILT drag me back to the start of the weekend. A musical
scream, a reminder to do whatever the hell I want. There’s also a
slight fear that I might have stepped into an asylum, not a music
venue, such is the shrill echo of their sound. Donning a jumpsuit,
lead singer Mo grabs the mic as well as everyone’s attention. An
unusual blend of grunge and punk contrast the earlier tranquil
atmosphere, but with THE ORIELLES as headliners, it seems
Pizzagirl
+ Brad Stank
I Love Live Events @ Sound Basement
01/12
Straight out of his Beatzzeria – otherwise known as his
mum’s spare bedroom turned home music studio – and into
Sound’s basement, PIZZAGIRL, who is neither a girl nor made of
pizza, serves up a night of cheesy 80s synth inspired pop tunes.
It’s his first hometown headline show. Now, I don’t mean to say
the tracks are cheesy in the unpleasant sense of the word; they
are quite the opposite. They’re the equivalent of a four-cheese
pizza with a stuffed crust, evenly distributed pepperoni and some
pineapple – a classic with an unconventional twist. Everyone
wants a slice of it. My penchant for Pizzagirl’s tracks aren’t a
secret though, and I’ve been spreading the love to everyone I
come into contact with, urging them to take a bite of the action
(and follow his genius Instagram account).
Before Pizzagirl takes to the stage to serve up his bedroom
pop offerings, smooth talking soul crooner BRAD STANK chills
out the crowd with his sultry dark tones and sexy guitar rhythms.
It feels like we should all be smoking cigars, while nursing a
whisky on a chaise lounges in a jazz bar basement. We’re already
in a basement, but if you close your eyes and immerse yourself in
the music, you can imagine the rest. It’s the perfect appetiser for
the main course.
Pizzagirl – or Liam Brown to his mum – then takes to the
stage with his MacBook, synth and Denise in tow. Denise, it turns
The Orielles (Brian Sayle / briansaylephotography.co.uk)
only right to have support acts that also refuse to sit in a box,
refuse to conform to just one genre.
After a deep breath and a drink, I’ve just about recovered
from the shock of SPILT when that unanimous silence fills the
room, I guess now is the time to get back to the front of the
crowd. As The Orielles step on stage, I recognise Henry Wade
(guitar, vocals) as the guy who was rocking out next to me just
moments earlier. I immediately know this is going to be amazing.
Now this guy wears his devil-may-care attitude on his sleeve,
and along with bandmate Alex Stephens (keys), he doesn’t just
have the audience bouncing, but the stage too. With a multitude
of musical instruments, most of which I last saw in school, The
Orielles’ originality feels even more ingenious, they’ve taken
something from the shadows of our memories and made it cool.
Whistle, cowbells, double block guiro, this band almost don’t
need vocals. Almost. Sugar Tastes Like Salt demonstrates how
amazing the band is with limited vocal content. Their brand
new single, Bobbi’s Second World, is a fine example of how
the band are increasing the presence of the inquisitive and airy
vocals of Esmé Hand-Halford, it’s all complemented by the
rather bizarre and, at times, amusing vocal sound effects that
Henry Wade and Sidonie Hand-Halford (drums, vocals) produce.
This band use everything in their power to blend and unite the
weird and wonderful aspects of everything that they love. In
some ways, this four-piece have created a Yorkshire version of
Superorganism. The Northerner in me beams with pride watching
them shake things up. Rules? Not in this building, not tonight.
Megan Walder / @m_l_wald
out, is his new guitar who is also making her debut tonight. After
a few technical difficulties, which we will put down to nerves, she
helps provide that distinctive Pizzagirl sound.
Diving straight into Body Part, the first track off his recently
released Season 2 EP, you can tell the people in the room are
well versed on Pizzagirl’s zany pop tunes. Everyone is instantly
singing and bopping along. Nostalgia-inducing Gymnasium and
stand out track Coffee Shop, with its catchy riffs, stuck in your
head for days riffs, continue to keep the toes tapping as he stops
service to have a chat with the packed out basement. Throwing
in a few songs from his first EP, An Extended Play, including
Carseat, a song dedicated to all those people who don’t drive and
have the ultimate power in the passenger seat – control of the
music – continue the same John Hughes 80s cult movie classic
vibes. Ending with new release Blossom At My Feet, Flower
and oldies Seabirds and Private Number, a raging applause is
instigated from an adoring crowd after a stellar performance.
Pizzagirl creates nostalgic, ironic pop culture tunes from
the 80s and early 90s and thrusts them into the 21st Century. It
sounds upbeat with dark, sad indie undertones laced throughout
the lyrics; think a modern day Morrisey, mixed with the Breakfast
Club Soundtrack and Rugrats theme tune. Pizzagirl has come up
with a unique sound and it is refreshing to witness something so
unique and genuinely fun from someone who was probably only
born at the turn of the millennium.
After recently playing Reading and Leeds Festival on the BBC
Introducing stage and receiving some impressive radio airplay, it’s
not going to be long before the 12” (pizzas) records will be flying
out of the Beatzzeria and off the shelves.
Sophie Shields
The soundscapes which lie before Matt Hogarth at
the Eventim Olympia are the soundscapes of winter; dark,
nuanced with glimmers of hope from the low winter sun.
There’s hope to be had in the that much needed light which
fills our grey shadows at this time of year. The mood inside
the venue for tonight’s MOGWAI show is in keeping with the
conditions, as T-shirts glare back at these eyes emblazoned
with the words ‘Brexit: is shite’.
As the Scottish post-rock Titans get into full swing, the
crowd are plunged deep into blisteringly loud depths, as
brilliant reds and luscious blues flood the theatre. It feels
as though the ceiling could collapse at any moment, as
lighting fixtures rattle under the strain of the wall of sound.
Any fleeting moments of serenity are shattered by blasts of
sonic destruction accompanied by blinding light – and it’s as
cathartic as music gets.
“Does humour belong in music?” queried Frank Zappa.
For ALABAMA 3 and Glyn Akroyd, there seems to be no
doubt: their adoption of alter-egos for the band members;
the southern preacher personas of the band’s two frontmen.
The levity of image and content has polarised the critics and
has resulted in them remaining something of a cult, despite
over 20 years of touring. To NME they are “a monumental
waste of time”, while Time Out reckons that “they swing like
the devil’s own dick”. The gleeful disciples packed inside the
O2 Academy are swingin’ with Satan on this one.
The Capstone Theatre is a perfect choice for ED
HARCOURT’s return to Liverpool, particularly given the
nature of his newest release, Beyond The End. A collection
of autumnal, atmospheric works, piano led (and with the
added strings of Harcourt’s wife Gita), the album is at times
haunting and dark, cinematic and picturesque. On a quiet
Sunday evening, Paul Fitzgerald escapes the noise of our
everyday, ultra-connected lives for some welcome moments
away from the tyranny of our devices, finding some much
needed space and time in the company of one of the UK’s
most underrated songwriters.
Where to start with DAN STUART? Musician, novelist,
ex-addict, ex-ex-pat, as colourful a character as you can
find over the last 30-odd years in the music biz. Stuart and
collaborator TOM HEYMAN performed first as The Serfers
and then as Green On Red, becoming cult proponents of a
B-movie, noir sensibility, peddling tales of outsider heartache
for low down losers told with a wry humour and deceptive
simplicity. Glyn Akroyd is in place at Naked Lunch for this
show for the ages, delivered by a musician who hasn’t
allowed the vicissitudes of life to dull his edge one iota.
Full reviews of all of these shows can be found now at
bidolito.co.uk.
Alabama 3 (Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd)
40

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SATURDAY 2ND FEBRUARY
ACADEMY 2
HOODIE ALLEN
SUNDAY 10TH MARCH
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CLOUDBUSTING: THE
MUSIC OF KATE BUSH
FRIDAY 29TH MAR / ACADEMY 3
STEEL PANTHER
MONDAY 11TH FEBRUARY
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SWMRS
WEDNESDAY 13TH MARCH
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MAYDAY PARADE AND
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Metropolis Music by arrangement with X-ray present
18 APRIL
EVENTIM OLYMPIA,
LIVERPOOL
EVENTIMOLYMPIA.CO.UK METROPOLISMUSIC.COM

ARTISTIC
LICENCE
As part of our continuing series focusing on the region’s
wordsmiths, we’ve curated a selection of work from some
regulars on the city’s poetry scene.
Caitlin Whittle
Untitled
And you understand immediately,
this is what you are here for.
The smallest moments when your eyes are open,
you catch glimpses of the crumbling plaster
on the window and outside the cold sweat of daylight
the cold sweat of theirs on your skin
feels like the wet bricks against your neck
from a previous encounter one less terrible
maybe but you can’t remember you feel
the coffee ruining your breath and staining your teeth
and you feel – thank god
at least I’m still here
Clara Cicely and Daniel Melia
Untitled
I buried my cat in a Tesco bag for life
Didn’t work, he’s still dead
I check on him every night
I buried my goldfish in tinfoil
Didn’t work, he’s still dead
I check on him every night
Yank Scally
Hello, I’m from Toxteth
I have dreams
I want to go back to Hawaii
Smoking makes me feel good
My bike takes me places
I like adventures
Feeling quite peckish
There’s not enough hours in the day
Last night I slept in the shed
I’ve made lots of new friends
Tomorrow I could wake up anywhere
Feeling so alive
Spending all day in bed
Hours on the phone
Heads bursting
Smoke my dreams away
7,000 miles
You want what you can’t have
Still awake
In the rave
Starting to crash
I hate walking
I buried my hamster during hibernation
It didn’t work,
and now he’s dead
I check EVERY night
My pets watch me from beneath the soil
I hope you enjoy the shiny tinfoil
I’m so sorry, welcome to my animal graveyard
This is my sanctuary, this is my haven
That’s what you get for misbehaving
44

SHARING
STORIES FROM
THE CITY
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SAY
THE FINAL
“If any city can call
itself a music city
it’s Liverpool. Our
music is our calling
card. It’s in our DNA”
In January it was announced that a Liverpool City Region Music Board had been formed to help realise the
city’s potential as a global music city. The board’s chair Michael Eakin (Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic) talks us through some of the challenges facing the board and what its main aims are.
I
am writing this the day after a fantastic concert given by the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The centrepiece of
the concert was the UK premiere of the cello concerto by the
unjustly neglected 20th Century Polish composer Mieczysław
Weinberg. The conductor was Vasily Petrenko, our transformative
Chief Conductor for the last 12 years, who is from St Petersburg.
The soloist for the Weinberg was our brilliant principal cello
Jonathan Aasgaard. Jonathan is from Norway. His wife Georgina,
also a cellist, is French. Joining Vasily and Jonathan were 80
colleagues: musicians from across the UK (including Liverpool
of course); and from the USA, New Zealand, China, Germany,
Austria, Ireland, Spain, Estonia and Poland. All of them are living
and working in the region; all of them are bringing their talent and
contributing to the culture, the life, and the economy of this city.
And what has brought them here is music.
They are not alone. This city is full of musicians of all kinds,
either Liverpool born and bred, or who have moved and settled
here from elsewhere. And we export talent as well. From Sir
Simon Rattle to Chelcee Grimes, Scousers are having a musical
impact across the globe.
If any city can call itself a music city it’s Liverpool. Go
anywhere in the world and people know about Liverpool, and
they know about The Beatles. Our music is our calling card. It is
in our DNA. It’s there in the music brought in across the centuries
by Irish, Welsh, African, Caribbean, Chinese and other immigrant
populations. It’s there in the extraordinary and continuing
tradition of great melodic pop music that’s come out of Liverpool.
It’s there is the longest standing orchestra in the UK – one of the
oldest in the world.
Some people think we shouldn’t bang on about our glorious
musical tradition. I disagree. It is something to be proud of, and it’s
a huge asset. But we also need to bang on about – and grow – our
current strength and potential; to look forward as well as back.
Nashville does this. It’s a city with a great musical
heritage, which it milks for all its worth. But it also has a huge
contemporary scene of many of the best musicians in the US
– songwriters, producers and associated music businesses,
all working in the city. The heritage is helping drive the
contemporary and the future health of its music business. If
Nashville – a city and a region of similar size to Liverpool – can do
this, then so can we.
Music is one of the most important sectors for the city – in
employment, attraction of visitors, export of talent and product.
And it’s not just the music and musicians themselves; it’s also the
other businesses which grow around them – security services,
lighting and PA companies, music publishing, music writing,
venues, marketing and PR; recording and studio businesses;
agencies and promoters, music education; legal and accountancy
services and so on.
But we’ve struggled to make the most of our potential in
two ways. Firstly, we are a disparate sector of mainly small
businesses and individuals. This makes it hard to be cohesive and
get recognition as an economically important sector.
And, secondly, while celebrating our past we haven’t always
been good at recognising our strengths now, or being honest
about our weaknesses, and developing a long-term view on how
we address them.
In recent years, however, that has started to change. Firstly
many in the sector, together with Liverpool City Council and
others, came together to successfully bid for recognition as
England’s first (and so far only) UNESCO City of Music. Then
we had had a series of reports which have highlighted the
importance of the sector, and both the need and the opportunity
to do something to grow it. In 2016 The Institute of Cultural
Capital published a report for Liverpool City Council, ‘Beatles
Heritage In Liverpool And Its Economic And Cultural Sector
Impact’. At the end of 2017, Bido Lito! and Liverpool John Moores
University published a report, ‘Liverpool, Music City? Challenges,
Reflections And Solutions From The Liverpool Music Community’.
In early 2018, Liverpool City Council published a report by BOP
Consulting, ‘Developing A Liverpool City Of Music Strategy’.
And also in 2018, UK Music published ‘Wish You Were Here –
Liverpool City Region Edition’, a report highlighting the significant
economic impact of our music sector.
One outcome of those reports is the creation for the first time
of a Liverpool City Region Music Board. Made up of people from
across the music sector in Liverpool, it is charged with developing
a strategy for music, and for lobbying for the sector with those in
a position of influence.
I think this is a real opportunity for us. It shows that the
sector is recognised and valued at the highest political level,
locally and regionally. It provides a vehicle for us to come together
and find common cause – not just those sat around the board
table, but the entire sector. And the work undertaken in those
reports over the last few years gives us an agenda to focus on a
range of priorities. These include practically addressing a number
of questions: How do we ensure great music education and
talent development opportunities, which allow our young people
fulfil their musical potential? How do we support and grow our
venues and promote the Agent of Change Principle to protect
venues from nuisance complaints from new developments that
put them out of business? How do we more effectively market
the city region around its music past and present, and make
sure our music tourism and heritage offer is of the quality that
will continue to grow our visitor numbers? How do we improve
still further our care of the extraordinary legacy of The Beatles,
both recognising it in the way that it deserves and using it
to strengthen the city’s current music sector, and its overall
economy? What should a long-term vision for our music sector
look like? And, crucially, what do we have to do to achieve it?
It’s a big agenda, and there are many other things to address.
And there are risks. With so many different perspectives
and priorities we could easily lose focus and, in trying to do
everything, end up doing nothing. We also know that these are
challenging times for both public and private investment. We
can’t demand such investment – we will need to make the case
in a persuasive and evidence-based way. It will be important
to make choices and focus on a few key things. And no board
– which, after all, is just a bunch of people around a table – can
possibly achieve these things on its own.
But what it can be is somewhere where the case is made
and an ambitious and long-term picture is created and promoted.
Where immediate barriers or opportunities for the sector can be
raised and lobbied for. It can be a voice for the industry; a voice
which shows that this is a grown up, ambitious and go-getting
sector which deserves backing and which is fundamental to the
future success of Liverpool and the City Region. And in doing
so, it can build support, recognition and investment – making
Liverpool the music city in the UK, and one of the great music
cities of the world. !
Words: Michael Eakin
Photography: Pete Carr
46

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