Indicate Magazine Issue 1 by Leonora Belcher

Editor - Leonora Belcher sparrow_@hotmail.co.uk Design - Grant McArthur grantmcarthur@hotmail.co.uk

A Word From the Editor I would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who got involved with issue number one! Its been a long journey to get here but weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve finally made it! I hope everyone likes the first issue and that even more of you will get involved in the future. Thanks again to all the contributors, Leo. Welcome To the first issue of Indicate Magazine! All about Glasgow and the surrounding areas, Indicate hopes to focus on the fashion, culture and talent hidden within our city. We are interested in anyone with a passion for art and we hope that this will become an outlet for all aspiring musicians, artists, photographers, designers and writers. Indicate is non profit and will appear online on a quarterly basis. Interested? Get involved!

How long have you been together? About a year now, we were all really bored ad wanted to make tunes and spend time with friends so it seemed like the perfect thing to do. We have a meeting with More Recording at the end of the month and hopefully we will have 7 or 8 songs out on an EP in the next few months!

was really good, I was drunk and It was a busy gig and there was a good crowd, everyone seemed to enjoy it!” Phil: “Classic Grand in November ’08 was good because we hadn’t played for quite a while and probably played our best ever gig, a good comeback performance even though Fraser had an issue with his drumsticks…”

Are you inspired by any other music or bands? Lockie: “I’m inspired by girls being dicks to me and Interpol I guess” Colin: “M83! Personal experience helps me write songs too.” Phil: “Death Cab for Cutie” Fraser: “Tv on the Radio” Murphy: “Hot Club de Paris, pretty girls and the weather inspire me.”

Which of your songs is your favourite, is there a collective decision? Lockie: “I think we all like “Run this City” the best, it’s a really energetic song and people always seem to recognise it. It’s the last song we play in a set so we can give it the most without having to worry about snapping strings!” Well that’s De Jour, the band who claim to have got their name from a unicorn in a dream. Their music is a mix of catchy songs that make you want to dance and soulful ballads. Every gig is special and you could see them a hundred times and never get bored. Get down to one of their gigs or check their songs out at www.myspace. com/dejourmusic.

DE JOUR

What’s the best thing about being a band in Glasgow? It all depends on where you play really! Generally good friends equal good times.

We met De Jour at Lofi studios on Anchor Lane to chat about the five-piece alternative indie band. Lockie takes the lead on vocals and guitar, Fraser on drums, Colin on keyboard and vocals, Phil on bass and Murphy on vocals and guitar also.

Has there been a gig so far that has been particularly memorable for you as a band? Murphy: “Sleazy’s in October ’08

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black rat death squad We headed down to the Captain’s Rest on Great Western Road to speak to Black Rat Death Squad, a five-piece band from Glasgow who have been together for about a year and a half. As they all have their own Black Rat names, Büna takes the lead on microphone, El Butcho! on guitar, Swimsuit Edition on bass, Traynin Bra plays drums and Wolfblood: “anything I want”

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So why was Black Rat Death Squad formed? We were fed up of playing in shite punk bands and wanted to do something different, so we got together to write some songs and break some rules. I think we’re all wondering how the band got its name? Büna: “I saw it on a gravestone! Nah not really. I think we all wanted the name to have ‘squad’ or ‘brigade’ in it and I always used to say to girls ‘show us your manky INDICATE

black rat’ so the idea came from there really”. Would you class yourselves as a genre of any sort? Wolfblood: “deathsurf or necrosurf punk n’roll.”

Traynin Bra: “yeah we were seen as a proper band. We were pretty new at the time and pulled the biggest crowd even though we were the first band on so it was a cool gig.”

Do you remember a gig in Glasgow or Scotland that was particularly memorable or important for you? El Butcho!: “I think the gig we played at the 13th note in May last year was pretty cool, everybody seemed to get it. “

Do each of you have a preferred song to play or is there a collective favourite? Büna: “I think I personally prefer making a set of songs that are all written to sound as one so that each gig is a tide wave of sound. Wolfblood: “Surfing a tsunami

with a cutlass in your teeth shagging a dead guy. That’s what it should sound like.” Is there a particularly good thing about being a band in Glasgow? Traynin Bra: ”Nah it’s actually really annoying being a band in Glasgow, there’s so many shite bands around it’s hard to be noticed by press or record labels. Also because we have a completely different style from all other Glasgow bands and people generally only like the norm. “ INDICATE

Wolfblood: “I agree but the crowds are good and we’ve had a lot of help from the Arts Council” Did Büna really eat glass on tour? Büna: “Aye, El Butcho was trying to cut a pentagram into his stomach with some broken glass in Gothenburg so I grabbed it off him and ate it. Two days later in Stockholm I started spewing black blood and had to go to hospital where they put tubes in me and prodded me in the arse. There were loads of hot doctors and nurses though and I got a free continental breakfast in the morning so it was pretty cool. I still owe £900 in Swedish hospital fees though…”

you’re guaranteed to enjoy the show. Especially with broken tambourines flying about and front man Büna’s unique dancing, you can’t help but get a bit sweaty in the crowd. Find them at www.myspace. com/blackratdeathsquad and find out more about the Arts Council at www.scottisharts. org.uk.

Is there anything you’d like to say to people reading this? Listen to Black Sabbath, finger your sister and buy us drinks please. Well that sums up Black Rat Death Squad, a bit nasty but a bit interesting and definitely a very distinctive Scottish band. To go and see them live is a memorable experience, with a dedicated group of followers, INDICATE

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Shaun Murawski So what inspired you to get into photography? Picking up a camera and deciding that was what I wanted to do was a pretty unexpected decision. A friend of my dad’s passed away and when they were going over what little posessions he had and what went where I ended up with his old pentax 35mm slr, I’ve no idea whether or not he’d planned on me having it or whether it was just chance but I put a roll of black and white film in it and shot away. Of course I had no idea what I was doing loaded it wrong and my first film was a complete mess but I had a second go and that worked out quite well. The second roll of film and the pictures from it got me a place on a NQ course in film photography and it all kind of snowballed from there. I find it hard to pinpoint one thing hat inspires me photography wise but the idea that when I pressed down on the shutter release button and light was let through for that fraction of a second thats so small it’s completely immeasurable as far as anything humans are capable of noticing, and because of that action that “moment” “face”, INDICATE

“image” or however you want to put it what you’ve just looked at through a viewfinder is imprinted on a 35mm piece of plastic for longer than anything else in my life was relevant for, well I thought that was fucking awesome. Is your work influenced by anyone? There’s lot of different photographers who’s work and ideas I admire in particular with Izima Kaoru, Albert Watson and David La Chapelle. My main interest lies in portrait photography and they all have completely orginal views and striking ways in which they view it. But mainly I get my ideas through music and whatever I’m reading at the time, I really think that words have as big a part to play visually and idea wise as a photograph. Anything that you stop to think about, or a word, phrase or general idea is only limited in what it can develop into by your imagination. Which has been your favourite camera to use so far? There’s a fondness I associate with film and film cameras since INDICATE

it’s what I started on, the quality and the effects that you get are something that still has to be re-created as far as digitial is concerned unless money isn’t a factor you have to work by. Medium format cameras like my Mamiya 645 are just something else, but I still have an attachment to my Pentax and I’m sure I always will. It’s a big heavy chunk of metal and glass but it’s never dissapointed. Is there anywhere we can look at your work, an online portfolio? I’m directly contactable through my email shaun.murawski@ gmail.com and my website www. shaunmurawski.com. Anyone who wants to do something original is the sort of people I’d like to meet, god is that a bit ironic in retrospect? What do you like to do best in your spare time? Reading everything and anything that’s good that I can get my hands on, too many computer games and listening and playing music from guitar to violin all with severely bad timing. I’ve also started skateboarding again, but the less said about that the better, I know inanimate objects that could ollie better than me. INDICATE

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one night with greg

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Saturday night in Glasgow can be so many things, shite being an adjective commonly used. However, I do believe that with a willingness to laugh, dance and a large group of friends a night in Glasgow is definitely salvageable. I am one of the predictable indie kids of the last few years who graduated from the attic in the Garage to the ABC, looking for something a bit cooler and many more like-minded people. Well, it’s been three solid years of Saturdays in the gaff, and while there has been distractions, such as the monthly jaunt to the arches for the once delectable Death Disco, (which ended up looking like times square spewed up all over the crowd, making the whole event look like a cheesy pop video on acid and thus ensuring a mass migration of the usual crowd to, well, just about anywhere else, but that’s another column) the usual stuff is getting old to say the least - Possibly it’s me getting old but we won’t entertain that train of thought. So this Saturday a couple of comrades and I decided to give Subclub’s Saturday offering a bash. The definition of Subculture is; “A group of people with a culture (whether distinct or INDICATE

hidden) which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.” Good so far. The club itself is on Jamaica Street, which gives the impression of a far more appealing location, the harsh reality is however it’s a stones throw from the Maccy D’s at Central bridge. Anyone familiar with this part of town will know this is a tried and tested measurement of the distance between the two establishments. The Saturday we stumbled up there was almost no queue to speak of, although we did have to wait just long enough to see two girls, apparently friends, play tug-a-war with handfuls of each others hair, not pretty, but then, neither were they. The dark basement that is the Subclub is small but perfectly formed for the night’s hedonism it promotes. Subculture Dj’s Harri and Dominic conduct the night that has become an institution. Their myspace promises; “swathes of dubbed out electronic music, Chicago ‘n’ Detroit leaning sounds peppered with tracks and samples of the best productions you’ve never heard before.” I hadn’t heard any of it before, there are no well known ‘floor fillers’ here, you just have to put yourself at the mercy of the dj’s, and they do get the crowd on their

feet, fists in the air in salute to the never ending beat. The crowd are - whilst up for it – are around thirty in years and a bit dismissive of the young guns. In fact the myspace points out that the night isn’t; “about a fad or fashion or striking a pose.” A cattier columnist might point out that the crowd could breath a collective sigh of relief at this, but I am sure they are far too interested in “the tunes” to care about looking good on a night out. Overall a good night if you like heavier electronic sounds and I bumped into my old friend Mandy, she is always a laugh, £4 for a double feels pricey at the time but in comparison to what you pay for a single elsewhere on a Saturday, it’s not too bad. www.yoursubculture.co.uk

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the Flying Duck’s homely kitchen style bar and before heading down to the main club, enjoy a drink on the comfy sofas. A tiny £3 entry to emerge into the mad atmosphere of Blood Club where we areimmediately transfixed by projections of amazing video art. Heading past the main floor and past the bar we get to the back of the club. Here are exhibitions by Elaine Morris, Steven Hill and Shaun Murawski. We ask Steven Hill where the inspiration for Blood Club came from: “Me and Will where joking around one night and decided it would be fun to start an open mic night for experimental music. It stemmed from there to become an open jam night. I have a short attention span as well and always wanted a club night to have art and visual objects to keep me entertained.” The next couple of hours were spent taking it all in, first up were Weenliz!

We arrived at the Flying Duck (142 Renfield Street) on Thursday the 5th of February to attend the launch of Blood Club, the brainchild of Steven Hill and Will Chadwick. The night offers to bring live music to our ears and exhibitions of art and film to our eager eyes. We walk into INDICATE

First band on are Weenliz, an experimental band using an array of different instruments. A blend of Shoegaze, post-rock and noise, Weenliz will cause your hearing some damage. They remind us of Explosions in the sky on steroids and 65daysofstatic if you cut out

the melodies, and a whole lot of intense emotional sound, The only recognisable instrument is a guitar and the rest is bass and technical looking synths and buttony things. Noisy as it may be, the crowd is pretty transifxed as the band plays their second song. Rythmn and beat sneak their way in and you’re torn between wanting to stay still and watch so you don’t miss any of the action or wanting to headbang. The singer entertains the crowd by wandering in and out, falling over and crawling under things whilst the rest of the band stay focused on changing between the many, many instruments that only three of them seem to control at any one time. Overall a interesting and noisy opening to Blood Club, definitely more than we bargained for! Find Weenliz at www.myspace. com/weenlizweenlizweenliz The next musical performance on was theapplesofenergy, a one man band who makes beautiful ambient sounds. The crowd is transfixed by the music being played, gathered around in a semi circle it’s a fight to get close. Sweet instrumental sounds fill the club, reminding us of both Shoegaze and Four Tet. Experimental and INDICATE

folk music with sweeping guitar loops, echoes, quiet undertone rhythms and soundscapes to be admired have filled everyones ears. His set takes the audience on a journey that they don’t quite realise they’re going on, until the last note of his finale fades and everyone blinks and suddenly remembers who they’re standing next to. There are tones of This Will Destroy You, Squarepusher and Sigur Ros, but you couldn’t say the music sounds similar to any. Find theapplesofenergy at www. myspace.com/theapplesofenergy One of the exhibiting artists at INDICATE

Blood Club was Elaine Morris a 20 year old art student. Where do you get inspiration from for your work? Well I have a really deep interest in high fashion images that are really heavily photoshopped and then putting them with death metal lyrics and images. I like mixing the two extremes together and they’re also both interests of mine. Have you exhibited your work before? Nope this is my first ever exhibition, it’s really scary!

How did the smoking images come about? Well it was a project on how beautiful the hand looks when it’s holding a cigarrette. Also once again I like the fact that something so beautiful is juxtaposed with the cigarette which is killing you. The pictures of the hands holding cigarrettes are usually contrasted with pictures of tumours. Find Elaine at www.myspace. com/miss_elaine One of the exhibiting artists and creators of Blood club took a moment to talk to us on the night. Steven HIll is a freelance graphic

designer and screenprinter. How did you get into graphic design? I got into graphic design through skateboarding, I loved the artwork on decks, particularly people like Ed Templeton’s Toy Machine boards and Jamie Thomas’ work for Zero - So i set out with the intention of designing skateboards, but as I discovered UK skateboard design is a very niche market. So from there I got interested in music, particularly punk and DIY stuff like that and I liked the imagery on the flyers, t-shirts and posters etc. I have always drawn but it’s not really my INDICATE

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strong point, I reckon I just have a good eye for what looks nice together and fortunately thats got me some awesome work recently. What inspires you? I’m inspired a lot by other artists and designers work, the work of Michael Sieben is up on my wall, classic movie posters, 7 inch singles, old t-shirts and just the stuff I see around me. Lately my cat Oscar has been a big part of it, but for some reason I represent him with owls. I guess it must be the innocence and wisdom crossover thing. I use a lot of animals in my work, I have this big book of animal woodcuts and it totally beats anything I could draw by hand, just awesome illustrations.

pieces I made for various reasons, but it looks pretty cool projected up so why not? I definitely think i’ll be producing more videos and stuff particularly of blood club and some of the amazing bands I get to work with. Find Steven at www.myspace. com/askmeaskmeaskme

We’ve also seen your video art on the walls here at blood club, is this something we’ll be seeing more of from you? Video art and animation is something I got into involuntarily, uni projects forced me into editing, but I really enjoyed the scope of possibilities it threw up for me, I watch stuff and I always want to know how it’s done, and a lot of it is pretty straight forward. A lot of the stuff I showed at blood club was sitting around for a while, bits and INDICATE

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Vintage Yae or Nae!

Watermelon:

Found on Great Western Road, this is one of the newest vintage shops in Glasgow. Very small and well known for its slightly erratic opening times, Watermelon is nice and quirky on the inside. Great Prom dresses and bags to be found with a sharp eye. Also a brilliant collection of old university scarves and it’s just the place to get your denim jackets! Lots of boots and old vanity cases too. We here at Indicate really love Watermelon, yae! INDICATE

Retro:

Retro, just off Great Western road on Otago Street is one of Glasgow’s longest standing vintage shops. However that doesn’t mean it has the best vintage around, quite the contrary. It is charming onthe inside but you wouldn’t be able to find anything wearable if you spent a year in there! Not one pair of Ginas in sight or anything resembling fashion of decades past. We say nae! INDICATE

Retrocity Vintage:

Tucket away in Tradeston, there is only one thing to say: BOOTS! every girl knows that finding the perfect pair of vintage boots is rather tricky. But here at Retrocity vintage, the problem is solved with a huge selection. Boys can get their hats and dubious 80s sports wear here amongst many a plaid shirt. Just be careful of the crazy Spanish owner, she definitely knows how to make a sale and you could end up with more clothes than you went in for! However everythingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a bargain so no matter, yae! INDICATE

Mr Bens:

Found on King Street, this is one of the biggest and best of Glaswegian vintage shops, Mr.Bens never fails to have that ultimate vintage piece somewhere amongst the huge stock of clothing. Girls get your fur coats and clutch bags here! Boys can find interesting tweed pieces and great satchel bags. It is very easy to walk into Mr.Bens and walk away with your wallet a lot lighter. Dangerous but we love it, yae!

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LAST DAY OF MAGIC Photos by Mark Dorrian Models Leanne and Sean

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things to do Words by Thalia Kemp

The Rio Cafe: Three Steps To Heaven:

Byres Road, West End. Tasty, as ice cream is, but if you’ve ever experienced a cold-stone ice cream parlour in the States, then you’ll find it quite underwhelming. Also, try not to hit it between the hours of 3pm and 5pm – in other words, the time of day when school children are wandering around, or their parents take them after they’ve been picked up from school. It is also very open plan, lacking a little in atmosphere, probably quite overpriced and not enough toppings for the ice cream. I demand chopped nuts. But good milkshakes, fantastic (yet expensive) cupcakes that you can have gift wrapped, and nice posh lemonade.

27 Hyndland Street, Partick Nestled in a nice patch of Partick, opposite a not just grassy but also leafy verge with a moderately graffitied bench, where we once met a crazy lady who claimed to have touredwith the Charlatans and had a smack addict son. Rio Café is pretty nice, it’s kind of old-timey but very comfortableat the same time, with all its fairy lights, candles, wooden chairs and 70s style coffee machines. I’d generally give it an all-round thumbs up, apart from one wee complaint. I kind of felt that they rely a little too heavily on their trendy, arty, “bohemian” reputation and overall attractiveness to entice customers, and subsequently not feel like they actually have to give them particularly good service once they’ve sat down in one of the wooden booths with a beverage. My nachos took ages. Oh, they also have good live music nights.