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January April 2022 2022 Issue Issue 195192
Music Festivals Special featuring
January 2020
Books
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Art January 2020
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The Skinny's favourite songs we're excited to hear in a field this year: Yves Tumor — Kerosene! Kacey Musgraves — High Horse Fringe is like a field right? In that case, everything by Flo & Joan Joesef — Loverboy Caribou — Odessa Yeah Yeah Yeahs — Maps Kendrick Lamar — Alright Niteworks — Air Fàir an Là Sudan Archives — Come Meh Way Mura Masa — 1 Night (ft. Charli XCX) Lionrock — Packet of Peace (The Chemical Brothers Remix) Warmduscher — Wild Flowers CHVRCHES — Final Girl My Chemical Romance — Planetary (GO!) KOKOROKO — We Give Thanks Bicep — Glue half•alive — creature Listen to this playlist on Spotify — search for 'The Skinny Office Playlist' or scan the below code
Issue 195, April 2022 © Radge Media Ltd. April 2022 - Chat
Get in touch: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk The Skinny is Scotland's largest independent entertainment & listings magazine, and offers a wide range of advertising packages and affordable ways to promote your business. Get in touch to find out more. E: sales@theskinny.co.uk All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the explicit permission of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within this publication do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the printer or the publisher. Printed by DC Thomson & Co. Ltd, Dundee ABC verified Jan – Dec 2019: 28,197
printed on 100% recycled paper
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Championing creativity in Scotland
Meet the team We asked – What's in your essential festival kit? Editorial
Rosamund West Editor-in-Chief "In Scotland, camping, preparations for both tropical and sub-zero conditions. Raincoat, sunscreen, thermal layers, Arctic sleeping bag, sunhat, those tinfoil blankets marathon runners use to keep warm."
Peter Simpson Digital Editor, Food & Drink Editor "Bring me the strongest antihistamines you have."
Nadia Younes Clubs Editor "Rehydration sachets and enough chat to last at least 72 hours."
Polly Glynn Comedy Editor "Sun cream and antihistamines. Bugs just think I'm real tasty."
Jamie Dunn Film Editor, Online Journalist "A box of red wine, with the box part removed so it becomes a delicious bag of red wine that you can secrete in your trousers. Also: all the baby wipes you can carry"
Tallah Brash Music Editor "A torch so I can pee in the dark, a fully charged portable power bank so I can charge my phone, a hip flask and a tube of Berocca."
Adam Benmakhlouf Art Editor "Lalique perfume, tasseled earplugs and PrEP."
Business
Eilidh Akilade Intersections Editor "Spare socks – wet feet kill the vibe."
Eliza Gearty Theatre Editor "I should have an essential festival kit. This is a good idea!"
Heather McDaid Books Editor "Neck pillow. Not as young as I used to be."
Laurie Presswood General Manager "Earplugs."
Tom McCarthy Creative Projects Manager "[Redacted]"
George Sully Sales and Brand Strategist "Berocca. Wouldn't be here today without it."
Christian Gow Marketing & Commercial Assistant "Beers, obviously, and wellies and sun cream, so I’m playing for both sides of the weather!"
Sales
Production
Dalila D'Amico Art Director, Production Manager "Sunglasses, chewing gums and a disposable camera."
Anahit Behrooz Events Editor "A bed, a roof, plumbing, notable architectural integrity."
Phoebe Willison Designer "Dioralyte."
Sandy Park Commercial Director "A hip flask, painkillers and a change of footwear."
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Editorial Words: Rosamund West
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Outwith the music festivals special, Books meet literary sensation and Scotland’s second Booker winner, Douglas Stuart. He’s here to discuss his new novel, Young Mungo. Intersections features a thoughtful exploration of Britain’s obsession with imagined wars and why that needs to change. Clubs meets London-based DJ aya ahead of her appearance at Counterflows festival, while Theatre meets Cora Bissett and Douglas Maxwell to hear about their ambitions to create the Glasgow musical with their new stage adaptation of Peter Mullan’s 1998 film Orphans. Comedy talks to Will Naameh, aka MC Hammersmith, about his new tour marrying his twin loves of improv and hip-hop. As is now traditional, Film has taken a deep dive into the Glasgow Short Film Festival programme to highlight some of the individual filmmakers we should be paying attention to in 2022. We also take a look at the programme for IberoDocs, which celebrates documentary from Spanish, Portuguese and LatinAmerican filmmakers. In sadder news, but a stand-out feature, we have the final piece written by Adam Benmakhlouf in their tenure as Art editor. Adam has been running this section for seven happy years, and it has been an incredible journey. They’re stepping down to focus on their PhD, and continue on a brilliant career documenting, engaging, championing, creating within the Scottish art scene. I had a tear in my eye when I reached the end of this month’s feature – signing off by answering the question WHAT IS HAPPENING IN GLASGOW, a serious appraisal of the health of the city’s grassroots art scene and the structural issues which may be imperiling it. It’s the sort of well researched, sensitive exploration of a tricky subject we’ve come to expect from Adam – go read it.
April 2022 — Chat
ill this be the year music festivals return with a vengeance? We certainly very strongly hope so. Things are already looking a world away from last year, with lineups already announced and restrictions all but lifted. To celebrate, we’ve decided to run our annual music festivals special this month. First, we meet band-of-the-moment, formed-on-top-of-aFerris-wheel, Wet Leg. We catch up with the Isle of Wight duo as they prepare to release their hotly, no, hysterically anticipated debut and embark on an epic world tour featuring a few Scottish dates, including Glasgow’s very own TRNSMT. Next up, we check in on the Keychange pledge five years after its inception. Their advocacy for gender parity on festival lineups has made huge waves in terms of redefining the conversation around booking, addressing structural inequalities throughout the music industry and just allowing us to begin to move beyond exhausting “girls need to pick up a guitar” excuses for sexist programming. As a host of new music festivals foreground the queer community, we meet Saoirse Ryan, co-founder of Body Movements, a one-day event dubbed ‘East London’s first queer dance festival’. With it seeming increasingly likely that tickets bought in 2019 and repeatedly rolled over can finally be used, we consider why people feel such loyalty to individual festivals. Our regular Spotlight series shines a light on Brooke Combe, the East Lothian singer-songwriter whose career has developed in the pandemic / lockdowns. She’s going to be appearing on a load of festival stages this summer, so go find her. Finally, we provide a calendar featuring the key Scottish music festival dates for the rest of the year.
Poster Artist You will find this month’s pull-out-and-keep poster on p36. The design is by Lewi Quinn, aka BOIIING, a Glasgow-based artist who makes murals, prints and paintings. Check out more of his work on Instagram @boiiing_ or buy a print at boiiing.bigcartel.com
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Love Bites
Love Bites: On Okra Stew This month’s columnist reflects on maternal love and okra stew Words: Esraa Husain
‘D
April 2022 — Chat
early I yearn for my mother’s bread, my mother’s coffee, mother’s brushing touch’, wrote Mahmoud Darwish in the 1960s. Today, I personally yearn for Omi’s (‘my mother’, in Arabic) okra stew. Omi’s Persian and Arab mixed-heritage gives her a certain leeway for creativity in cooking recipes: her okra stew unconventionally contains fish; despite years of domestic objections from her siblings, she persisted, and her stew became her branding signature. I believe that maternal intimacy is the foundational imprint of love within my own humanity. In my world, Omi’s embrace is a synonym for safety; her scent of oud brings solace; and her word of endearment is my native language. Her being is as crucial as oxygen for my sanity (and, sometimes, my insanity). We live on separate continents now, and I find myself longing for her warmth when I daydream of her okra stew. One evening, in winter 2022, Glasgow Southside, I spoke with Omi over Facetime. She was fighting the urge to surrender her eyelids to sleep while asking what I had for supper. I was in bed, covering heavily and seeking warmth. “I cooked the diasporic version of your okra stew tonight,” I said jokingly. We said our goodnights and ended the video call. I couldn’t let the stew simmer long due to my financial limitations when attending to the energy bills. Canned food fits my student budget so I used canned baby okras, canned tomato sauce, and canned tuna flakes. To compensate, I sprinkled in some Kuwaiti mixed spices, and the aroma took me right back to the vision of Omi in her kitchen, cutting fresh vegetables and rearranging her spice cabinets. I didn’t feel cold anymore; Omi’s okra stew brings a complete disconnect from my reality as a solo immigrant, and instead re-connects me to her.
Crossword Solutions Across 1. SHAN 3. T IN THE PARK 10. VETERAN 11. CERTIFY 12. SUPPORT 13. IN TOUCH 14. DELAYED REACTION 16. METHAMPHETAMINE 21. SOLD OUT 23. HUNNERS 25. UKRAINE 26. CHARADE 27. BACCHANALS 28. HYPE Down 1. SAVES 2. AUTOPILOT 4. IGNITED 5. TACTILE 6. ERRATIC 7. ADIEU 8. KEYCHANGE 9. GROOVY 14. DAMP SQUIB 15. ITINERARY 17. ABOLISH 18. PATTERN 19. ETHICAL 20. ANNUAL 22. LYRIC 24. SCENE
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Heads Up
To celebrate this issue’s music festival extravaganza, we find the best gigs happening this month, as well as some excellent theatre, films, and exhibitions for good measure. Compiled by Anahit Behrooz
Heads Up
Image: courtesy of Bowness. Photo: Jerry Hardman Jone
IberoDocs Various venues + online, Edinburgh + Glasgow, 6-17 Apr The best film festivals introduce you to cinema you might otherwise never see, and that’s just what IberoDocs — Scotland’s festival dedicated to Ibero-American documentaries — does. This year’s hybrid programme revolves around themes of territory, belonging and migration, including the Scottish premiere of Neus Ballús’ comedic The Odd-Job Men and Rocío Huertas’ La Alameda 2018.
Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, 9 Apr-2 Oct One of the twentieth century’s most influential artists gets a major retrospective in this ambitious new exhibition by National Galleries Scotland. Featuring many of Hepworth’s groundbreaking modernist sculptures, as well as rarely seen drawings and paintings, Art & Life is a remarkable journey through the last century’s turbulent creative, social, and political landscape.
The Meaning of Zong
La Alameda 2018
Image: Josiah Hyacinth
Image: courtesy of artist and Fruitmarket
Image: courtesy of Iberodocs
Mother and Child, 1934, Barbara Hepworth
Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 13-23 Apr Penned and directed by Hamilton’s own Giles Terera (put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain etc), The Meaning of Zong tells the story of Olaudah Equiano, whose condemnation of a massacre aboard the slave ship Zong would set in motion the abolitionist movement in the UK. Weaving together multiple tales and characters, Terera’s debut play is as inventive as it is devastatingly timely.
Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic
Night Music: Djrum + Loraine James (live) + object blue Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, 15 Apr, 7pm Fruitmarket’s immense new warehouse space makes its debut as an experimental music space as part of as part of Sneaky Pete's and Palidrone's Night Music. Beneath the eaves of Jyll Bradley’s sculptural installation Pardes, experimental producers Djrum, Loraine James and object blue will perform a series of atmospheric back to back sets. For those who like their music very good and very vibey. object blue
The Meaning of Zong
SWG3, Glasgow, until 22 Apr Taking place in SWG3’s Yard Life Gallery beneath the venue’s arches, A Slice of Life is a punchy, deliciously anti-establishment series of work by acclaimed Newcastle-based artist PREFAB77, aka Peter Manning. These are portraits unlike any you’ve seen before: made from a vivid, textural mix of acrylic, spray paint and varnish, his allegorical paintings blend pop culture and politics to examine modern mythologies.
Image: Sonic Youth courtesy of artist and SWG3
April 2022 — Chat
PREFAB77: A Slice of Life
PREFAB77
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 28 Apr-7 May The latest play from renowned theatre-maker debbie tucker green, hang builds on tucker green’s trademark claustrophobic dramaturgy and examination of social violence to astonishing effect. A nameless victim of a nameless crime holds the future of the perpetrator in her hands, making for a sparse and brutal exploration of our impulse to discipline and punish.
Mitski Barrowlands, Glasgow, 23 Apr, 7:00pm
Image: courtesy of No Strings Attached
The Howl And The Hum
Peony, 2022, Colin Brown
The Howl and the Hum A Love From Outer Space
Image: courtesy of artist and The Scottish Gallery
The Caves, Edinburgh, 8 Apr, 11pm
hang
Photo: Ebru Yildiz
Photo: Sam Boullier
A Love From Outer Space: Sean Johnston + NSA
hang
Colin Brown: Primavera
Beat Generator Live!, Dundee, 13 Apr, 7:30pm — 8 —
Mitski
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 31 Mar-30 Apr
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Photo: Charlotte Padmore_
Stag & Dagger Various venues, Edinburgh + Glasgow, 30 Apr-1 May Taking place over the Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday in Edinburgh, Sunday in Glasgow), Stag & Dagger is a delirious celebration of music and venues, with a glorious rota of back to back gigs spread out over the beating heart of the cities’ music scenes. Highlights from the lineup include Let’s Eat Grandma, Bröntes, and the wonderfully named Pizza Crunch.
girl in red
Wet Leg The Mash House, Edinburgh, 17 Apr, 7pm Irrepressible and infinitely playful, this month’s cover stars play Edinburgh in an aptly chaotic punk gig to celebrate the release of their highly anticipated debut album, the eponymously titled Wet Leg. Hailing from the Isle of Wight, rocking duo Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have a firm friendship that comes through in bitingly funny lyrics and an infectiously high-energy live presence.
Egg
Heads Up
SWG3, Glasgow, 30 Apr, 7pm Norwegian indie pop sensation girl in red writes music that cuts to the quick of the hapless modern condition. With carelessly witty lyrics — 'You stupid bitch, can’t you see / The perfect one for you is me?' she sings plaintively, tongue firmly in cheek — and bubblegum melodies to balance it all out, this is indie pop for the proudly sadgirl generation.
Church, Dundee, 27 Apr, 7pm An aerial theatre production that took the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by storm in 2018, this dynamic, innovative show tells the true story of a woman who donated her eggs to a friend, using gravity-defying choreography to explore ideas of sexuality, fertility, femininity, and what it means to create and nurture a family.
Let's Eat Grandma for Stag & Dagger
Photo: Richard Dyson and Kate George
Image: courtesy of artist and SWG3
Photo: Hollie Fernando
Egg
Animal Farm: Clara Cuvé + Quail + AISHA + FARNAZ
Wet Leg
girl in red
Bakar
April 2022 — Chat
St Luke’s, Glasgow, 7 Apr, 7pm An intoxicating blend of punk, indie, and rap, Camden-born Bakar’s music has been compared to the likes of Bloc Party and is a breath of fresh, incisive air in the UK’s often maddeningly uniform indie scene. Having been releasing music for five years, this year marks the release of his remarkable, genre-defying debut album.
Image: courtesy of Animal Farm
Image: courtesy of artist
Bakar
Sub Club, Glasgow, 29 Apr, 11pm Animal Farm returns to Sub Club with a stellar lineup of techno and acid for seeing the night out. Leading the gang is Berlin-based DJ and producer Clara Cuvé spinning everything from jungle to hardcore, with support from Animal Farm residents Quail and AISHA and Tehran-born, Glasgow-based techno aficionado FARNAZ.
FARNAZ
All details were correct at the time of writing, but are subject to change. Please check organisers’ websites for up to date information.
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 29 Apr-9 May
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 19 Apr, 7:30pm Photo: Beth Chalmers
Image: Couresty Edinburgh Tradfest 2022 Janice Burns and Jon Doran
Fault Lines
Image: courtesy of the artist
Photo: Driely S
Edinburgh Tradfest
Elf Lyons
Sunflower Bean
Sunflower Bean
Elf Lyons: Raven
Stereo, Glasgow, 2 Apr, 7pm
Two Destination Language, Fault Lines
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Monkey Barrel Comedy Club, Edinburgh, 16 Apr, 8pm
April 2022
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All details correct at the time of writing
Photo: Camille Vivier Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul
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Ibibio Sound Machine
Enough Said
April 2022 — Events Guide
Film Glasgow Film Festival crowns Nicole Holofcener a CineMaster this month with a season featuring a trio of her best features: Friends with Money (2 & 6 Apr), Please Give (9 &1 2 Apr, on 35mm!) and Enough Said (17 & 20 Apr), a tender romance that proved all the more moving for featuring the final lead performance by James Gandolfini, plus Ridley Scott’s sorely underrated The Last Duel (23 & 27 Apr), penned by Holofcener. Filmhouse in Edinburgh have their own retrospective this month, which pays tribute to the late, very great Sidney Poitier, who died in January. Seven films featuring this wonderful actor who tore down racial barriers in Hollywood are included. Among them are classics In The Heat of the
Foals
Photo: Simon Webb
Photo: Wolfgang Tillmans Kae Tempest
Music It’s only right that the month of our music festivals special should be bookended by two very good ones – Glasgow’s experimental Counterflows (31 Mar-2 Apr), and Stag & Dagger which takes over a multitude of venues in Edinburgh on 30 April, landing in Glasgow the following day (1 May). In between all that, The Twilight Sad’s rescheduled shows are finally set to happen at the Barrowlands (1 & 2 Apr); on the same nights, in both Edinburgh and Glasgow, you’ll find Future Islands at Usher Hall and the O2 Academy respectively, with support from the wall-of-hugs lovin’ Dan Deacon. You’ll also find eight-piece jazz and Afrobeat fusion outfit Kokoroko at The Queen’s Hall (1 Apr), Edinburgh-based rapper Conscious Route at Sneaky Pete’s (2 Apr), while London octet caroline bring their gorgeous sounds to Summerhall (3 Apr). Also at Summerhall there’s Rachel Sermanni on 6 April, with Lizzie Reid in tow, Pictish Trail the following night, with Savage Mansion on support duties (they also headline their own show at Sneaky Pete’s on 17 April), before Honeyblood’s Stina Marie Claire performs with a string section and full band featuring Laura Wilkie on fiddle and Carla J. Easton on synth, plus support from Katherine Aly (16 Apr). Elsewhere in Edinburgh, AMPLIFI returns to The Queen’s Hall (6 Apr), catch Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul (11 Apr) and Advance Base (16 Apr) at Sneaky Pete’s, Wet Leg at The Mash House (17 Apr), Foals at Usher Hall (21 & 22 Apr), Kae Tempest at Assembly Rooms (23 Apr) and Tae Sup wi’ a Queen at The Queen’s Hall (27 Apr) with performances from Kinbrae & Clare Archibald, Liz Lochhead & Andrew Wasylyk and James Yorkston’s electronicish alter ego, J Wright Presents. In Glasgow, Ibibio Sound Machine celebrate their latest record, the exceptional Hot Chip-produced Electricity, at St Luke’s (8 Apr), before Alex Cameron brings his latest, Oxy Music, to the same spot a few nights later (11 Apr), while on the same night in the city centre you’ll find BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2022 poll winner Pinkpantheress at Stereo. After a cancelled tour in 2020, which resulted in some inspired ‘Fuck 2020’ merch, Canada’s Holy Fuck are finally coming to Glasgow this month as they bring Deleter to Broadcast on 20 April; Metronomy tour their latest, Small World, stopping by the Barrowlands on 22 April, before Mitski touches down at the same venue with support from SASAMI on 23rd April, the following night sees Dua Lipa bringing her massive Future Nostalgia Tour to the OVO Hydro. As if all that’s not enough, Record Store Day returns this year on 23 April – support your local vinyl dealer! [Tallah Brash]
Photo: Edward Cooke
What's On
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Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and Lilies of the Field – with the latter, Poitier became the first Black performer to win the Best Actor Oscar. Taiwanese Film Festival Edinburgh kicks off an ongoing series of screenings with a mini-season in partnership with the Hong Kong Film Festival UK focused on social uprisings. Screening at Summerhall Cinema, the programme includes three films: two from Hong Kong that are banned in their home country – Revolution of Our Times (1 Apr) and May You Stay Forever Young (1 Apr); and Taiwanese film The Price of Democracy (2 Apr), which looks back upon the 40-year-history of democratisation in Taiwan. April also sees the in-person return of one of our absolute favourite film events: Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival (28 Apr-2 May). Expect a new venue in the form of ‘Moving Images’, a solar-powered cinema in a converted 1980s caravan that will showcase a programme of experimental film made in the Scottish Borders and South of Scotland; retrospectives of work by Ghanaian-American filmmaker Akosua Adoma Owusu and Julia Parks, an artist in residence on Alchemy’s Culture Collective programme The Teviot, the Flag and the Rich, Rich Soil; and special screenings of Emily Beaney’s Deviant and Sonya Dyer’s Andromeda. [Jamie Dunn]
Andromeda
Photo: Clarissa Ceci
April 2022 — Events Guide
Image: courtesy of the artist and Koppe Astner, Glasgow Corin Sworn
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Loraine James
Image: courtesy Talbot Rice and Edinburgh University
Art Opening the art calendar this month on 7 April, artist Corin Sworn gives a performance lecture as the second event in her series Moving in Relation, working with The Common Guild. Reference will be made in part to the stunning sunset performance that Sworn created with artist Claricia Parinussa in a Hamilton business park last year. On 9 April, CCA in Glasgow open their new two-person show by artists Annalee Davis and Amanda Thomson. Each of the artists’ work comes from experiences of living in, walking around and mapping their respective landscapes in Barbados and Scotland. We last caught up with artist Andrew Sim during Glasgow International 2021 when they hinted that some new motifs of “full-size horses and aliens” were emerging in their figurative and landscape pastel drawings, which explore queer love, relationships and community-building. Making good on this promise, Sim’s exhibition Two Horses, One Pale and One Red is open in The Modern Institute’s Airds Lane gallery until 7 May. Also running through this month and until 21 May, there is the Talbot Rice Residents’ group show Meet me at the threshold. The exhibition offers an insight into the works developed by ten of the artist cohort who have been in receipt of significant mentorial and material support from Talbot Rice for the last few years. The show doesn’t have a single set of thematics, but contains ‘moments of grief, joy, resistance, intimacy and fracture’.
Photo: Eddie Otchere
Elena Colombi
Clubs An early feature this month is Szentek’s Moving Castle, which will bring Donk connoisseur (Donkonnoisseur?) Asquith, Shoot Your Shot’s Bonzai Bonner, and more to Mains Castle in Dundee on 1 April. If you’re not quite ready for festival season yet, there’s a double whammy at Stereo on 1 April, as Club Sylkie makes its Glasgow debut with diessa in tow. The following night, the venue continues its Stereo presents series with Manuka Honey and Bianca Oblivion. Sneaky Pete’s and Palidrone join forces to bring Night Music to Edinburgh in The Fruitmarket Gallery’s new space on 15 April, and they’ve invited DjRUM, Loraine James, and object blue to join the party. It’s all systems go for Easter Bank Holiday weekend. Terminal V returns with its Resurgence event at the Royal Highland Centre on 16 and 17 April. Over in Glasgow, London label Scuffed Recordings host a party at Stereo on 16 April, showcasing some of the label’s talents. And Glasgow’s Sunday seshers have Lunacy to thank for sorting out their Easter Sunday party plans, as they invite Young Marco and Elena Colombi to join residents at Drygate on 17 April. The team behind FLY bring back The Slam Tent for one weekend only (or at least for now) to Hopetoun House in South Queensferry from 29 April-1 May, with a heavy focus on local talent. Alternatively, you could opt for something a bit more lowkey, as this year’s Tectonics Glasgow festival celebrates the work of Scottish electronic music pioneer Janet Beat in a series of events taking place from 30 April-1 May. And *deep breath* finally, end the month on a massive high as Optimo celebrate 25 years (!!) with help from Melting Pot and Heverlee. On 30 April, Queen’s Park Recreation Ground will be transformed into an Optimo funfair, with the duo themselves DJing, a live performance from Free Love, and a stage curated by Electric Shores featuring DJ sets and live performances from Nightwave, Bemz, and Junglehussi B2B Plantainchipps. [Nadia Younes]
Revolution of our Time
Talbot Rice
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April 2022 — Events Guide
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April 2022 — Events Guide
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Photo: Anna Docherty Jupiter Artland
Poetry With restrictions easing, poets are hosting some brilliant readings across the country. Edinburgh’s Scottish Storytelling Centre is featuring Morna Burdon’s Fire is Not the Only Element on 2 April: a Scots fusion of poetry, song, and stories. Be quick to catch Scribbler’s Union on 1 April, in Glasgow’s Dram! Headlining the show is the legendary Jim Monaghan, who will be accompanied by comedian Elaine Malcolmson. The pair are supported by a selection of the Scribbler’s Union’s writers: a varied collection of flourishing writers who have been working alongside the Union’s founder, Kevin P. Gilday. Henry Bell and Angela Catlin have launched their exhibition and accompanying book of poems, Still Life, in Glasgow’s SoGo Gallery. Running 16 until 17 April, the poems and photographs document the experience of living in Glasgow during the pandemic. Writer and performer Ross Wilcock has realised his EP, City Streets, featuring Finn Le Marinel and Josephine Sillars. A lyrical fusion of poetry and music, Wilcock beautifully brings together Le Marinel’s atmospheric soundscapes and Sillars’ otherworldly vocals. This EP reflects on themes everyone can connect with: identity, heartache, romance, and is a stunning collection of songs for poetry and music lovers. Granta’s latest release comes from legendary Canadian poet, Sylvia Legris, with her new collection Garden Physic. Out on 7 April, the collection is a complex and emotive journey through the physic garden as it’s never been experienced before. A celebration of plants and true human connection to our living greenery, Garden Physic will be a joy to read this spring. [Beth Cochrane]
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Tracy Alexander Rigg
Dram!
April 2022 — Events Guide
Photo: Emily Wylde Josephine Sillars
Theatre Spring is in the air, and Scottish theatre and dance feel full of creative possibility this month. In Glasgow, head to Drygate for an unconventional night out – a seven-hour retrospective of polymathic artist Tracy Alexander Rigg, packed with costume, immersive performance, live music and DJ sets (The Self Assembled, 1 Apr). In the Southside, DIG (Dance International Glasgow) continues at Tramway. Check out the premiere of Will Dickie’s White Sun (1-2 Apr), an electric appraisal of inheritance, privilege and addiction. You can watch Lovey and Boy: A Carnival Odyssey, a magical dance film celebrating Caribbean heritage and history, for free at the venue until the 3rd. Tramway are also hosting the premiere of The Hope River Girls on 23 April, a version of groupwork’s multi-award-winning 2019 show The Afflicted reimagined for younger audiences – it’ll go on to tour venues across Scotland until early May. In Dundee, the Scottish Dance Theatre are hosting the world premiere of Ray at Dundee Rep (14-16 Apr). The brainchild of choreographer Meytal Blanaru, the piece will explore the idea of ‘emergence’. In Edinburgh, the Lyceum is hosting a new festival called Wonder, billed as a celebration of ‘the creative process in all its forms.’ Work-in-progress sharings include a live preview of KELI, a new audio drama by Lau member Martin Green (3 Apr), and a sneak peek of the stage adaptation of Ali Smith’s novel How To Be Both (9 Apr). The Tandem Writing Collective are returning to Traverse on 2 April to host a night of new writing and live music. Yes, we know that on-screen theatre is so 2021 – but it’ll still definitely be worth your while to check out Morna Young’s Demon Island: Takeo’s Tale (on demand on Traverse's website until 10 Apr). This interactive, part-game, part-show digital story, created by Young on a residency in Japan and inspired by a folktale called Momotaro, sounds more multilayered than most streamed theatre shows. [Eliza Gearty]
Photo: Ciorstaidh Mon
Lyceum
15 April marks the seasonal reopening of the vast contemporary art sculpture park Jupiter Artland, between Edinburgh and Glasgow. For Scottish art trips further afield, there are two exciting events on Bute and Mull, if you’ve got the time and money to make it to either. The first is by Abbas Akhavan, a Montréal-based artist whose exhibition in Mount Stuart on Bute opens on Saturday 30 April. Akhavan’s site-specific, multimedia installation addresses ‘social, economic and political concerns through the lens of ecology, animal and plant life.’ Secondly, there’s a blockbuster weekend art festival happening on Mull from 29 April-1 May curated by artist Bobbi Cameron with An Tobar. Named after the tarot card, Daughter of Cups of the North brings together ten artists including some of the most exciting international contemporary artists working presently, whose practices share ‘themes of ancestry ... and breaking down barriers between worlds.’ [Adam Benmakhlouf]
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Across 1.
Unfair – rubbish (Edinburgh slang) (4)
3. TRNSMT Festival's predecessor (1,2,3,4) 10. Experienced person (7) 11. Make official (7)
April 2022 — Chat
12. Music act that performs before the headliner (7) 13. Communicating (2,5) 14. Takes effect later than expected (7,8) 16. Synthetic stimulant found in ecstasy – hmm, a mean epithet (anag) (15) 21. No tickets left (4,3) 23. Loads (Scots slang) – run, hens! (anag) (7)
Down 1.
Rescues (5)
2. When a plane flies itself (9) 4. Sparked (7) 5. Physical – tangible (7) 6. Unpredictable (7) 7.
Farewell (5)
8. Movement committed to gender parity in the music industry (9) 9. Funky (6) 14. Anticlimax – B&Q is a dump (anag) (4,5) 15. Schedule (9) 17. Scrap (7)
25. Country invaded by Putin in March 2022 – to donate to relief efforts try dec.org.uk or donate.redcross.org.uk, or search AUGB on Facebook (7)
18. Repeating design (7)
26. Pretence – mockery (7)
22. Line (in a song) (5)
27. Parties – can, lash, cab (anag) (9)
24. Moment – commotion (5)
19. Fair – good (7) 20. Yearly (6)
28. Anticipatory excitement (4) Compiled by George Sully
Turn to page 7 for the solutions
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5 Meet the Team — 6 Editorial — 7 Love Bites — 8 Heads Up 11 What’s On — 16 Crossword — 36 Poster — 55 Music — 58 Film & TV 60 Design — 63 Food & Drink — 64 Books — 65 Listings 70 The Skinny On… Squiggles
Features 20 Music Festivals Special! Looking forward to a summer of actual things actually happening (pleeeaaaase) we catch up with band-of-the-moment Wet Leg. 23 Five years on from the Keychange pledge for gender parity on festival stages, we reflect on its aims and achievements. 24 Saoirse Ryan on Body Movements and the rise of queer festivals.
20
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28 We shine a spotlight on Edinburgh singer-songwriter Brooke Combe ahead of a busy summer of festivals. 34 We meet Scottish Booker Prizewinner Douglas Stuart as he publishes his second novel, Young Mungo. 38 A reflection on how Britain talks about war and why that needs to change.
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40 aya on performing at Counterflows and her debut album, im hole. 42 We speak to some of the filmmakers behind our favourite shorts at this year’s Glasgow Short Film Festival. 47 A look at IberoDocs’ incoming hybrid programme from Spanish, Portuguese and LatinAmerican filmmakers. 48 As exhibition listings decline, we ask what happened to Glasgow art?
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51 Douglas Maxwell and Cora Bissett on their hopes for creating the great Glasgow musical with their adaptation of Orphans. 52 Will Naameh aka MC Hammersmith on his love for improv and hip-hop.
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51 Image Credits: (Left to right, top to bottom) Hollie Fernando; Reading Leeds Festival; Jake Davis; Island Records; Amy Lauren; Kate Osmond; Suleika Müller; Go Home; Ana; McAteer; Peter Dibdin; David Wilkinson
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On the website... Weekly Spotlight features on a whole host of Scottish bands and artists; a bumper bag of Glasgow Film Festival reviews; a brief history of The Slam Tent; more album reviews (Fontaines D.C., Father John Misty, Tomberlin); our fortnightly film podcast, The Cineskinny; a photo recap from SxSW in Austin, Texas; a Record Store Day preview
April 2022 — Contents
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April 2022 – Festival Special
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his month we take a deep dive into music festivals as we start allowing ourselves to get genuinely excited for the warmer months ahead after a couple of years filled with uncertainty, regular cancellations, postponements and socially distanced seated shows. In this year’s festival special we speak to two artists who have come up through the ranks during the global pandemic. First, we speak to our cover stars – “the buzziest of UK buzz bands” – Wet Leg about their fast rise, self-titled debut album (read our review on p56) and how they can’t wait to embarrass themselves in a field this summer. We also get to know local indie-soul artist Brooke Combe; at the end of last year Combe was signed to Island Records and she has a ludicrous amount of festival slots lined up this year.
With 2022 being the year by which a host of festivals had pledged to have 50/50 balance on their lineups, one writer takes a look at how the Keychange initiative is doing five years on from its inception, while another writer hones in on the rise of queer festivals like London’s Body Movements, this year’s new Flesh festival in St Albans and Colourboxx in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park. Finally, as we do every year, we’ve put together a handy calendar for you of all the festivals worth going to in Scotland this year, so if you haven’t done the research yet, sit back, relax, we’ve done it for you. Have a read, get some tickets booked and look out your camping gear, because festival season is on… we hope!
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April 2022 – Festival Special
Feeling Festive
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Good Times, All the Time Ahead of releasing their debut album, and a summer filled with festival slots galore, we catch up with Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers Interview: Tony Inglis
April 2022 – Festival Special
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isembodied voices rise up from the phone. “Rhian is this one,” goes a voice, straight and businesslike. “Hi, I’m Hester,” goes another, high-pitched and airy. “I am Rhian, this is my voice,” goes a different one still, this time dead-eyed and robotic. Still again, something else, gurgling and decrepit sounding: “It’s Rhian and Hester from Wet Leg here…” Thirty seconds with Wet Leg and you are ensconced in their dizzying, playful world. Equally quick to speak sincerely as they are to take the piss, talking to the duo – perhaps the buzziest of UK buzz bands in a long line of them – can be somewhat disorientating, but that’s perhaps fitting for Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, who have broken big in a confounding whirlwind, one a studio executive could only imagine in their wildest ‘wet dream’. ‘I’ve never seen anything so obscene’, you might say, as their song of the same name goes. This is when we tell you Wet Leg signed for Domino off the back of only a handful of songs. That they came second in the BBC’s often prophetic Sound of 2022 poll. That their zeitgeistpiercing smash Chaise Longue has racked up nearly twelve million streams on Spotify. That they are on the verge of releasing their self-titled debut album, a record so anticipated, so under lock and key, guarded like some precious, combustible organic material, that, at the time of speaking to Teasdale and Chambers, we – and not even the band’s PR – had been permitted to hear it. “The damage is done,” jokes Teasdale from down the line when asked what listeners can expect of the record. Calling in from Brixton, they are both relaxed and whimsical about what they are teetering on the precipice of. After all, they are just a “baby band”, as Chambers puts it, born out of their
“We’re really excited to play festivals, purely because of the atmosphere” Rhian Teasdale, Wet Leg
friendship on their home of the Isle of Wight (“If you play the record backwards, you can hear in the second track ‘we’re stuck on the island, send help’,” teases Teasdale), something fun to pass the time with together, a hobby – there hasn’t been endless demoing, a run of EPs, or even much performing to hash out new songs, coming to the fore as they did in the midst of the pandemic. This first full-length collection of songs will, ultimately, be what they’re judged by, even if the shows are already selling out and their tunes have become omnipresent. “People will get a bit of heartbreak, some disenchantment,” Teasdale says about the record. “And fun, and good times, all the time.” The latter said coldly and monotone, without any hint of being earnest, is a nifty summation of the appeal of Wet Leg. That fierce, deadpan humour, the feeling this is all just a bit of a lark for them, things happening to them, getting rolled up in the absorbent plasticine ball of the modern music industry. When Teasdale says “good times, all the time”, she kind of means it, but she is also able to play with the silliness of that as a concept. Often Teasdale speaks as if filtering every possible piece of information, every scrap of emotion. On Too Late Now, the pre-chorus goes into anxious overload; at one point she pauses the verse to clarify: ‘I don’t even know what I’m saying’. She does this a couple of times in our conversation. Chambers adds: “We’re not really striving for anything in particular. It’s quite free flowing. Rules are: there ain’t no rules. It’s exciting to feel free in what might come out. But then, playing live is what’s important right now. We hadn’t played much together with this line-up, and so since the summer we’ve been on the same journey, learning and writing the set, and we’re just trying to…” “…navigate this crazy wave,” Teasdale chimes in. “Yeah, we’re just excited to play some gigs really,” finishes Chambers. They often do this while we talk – turn to each other and chat as if no one else is listening, or finish each other’s sentences. There’s a sisterly bond; on the cover of the album, they’re locked together, arms around the other’s waist. “When we’re playing,” says Chambers, “I’ll be looking down, then we’ll have a call and response vocal part and I’ll look over to you, and you’re looking back at me. It’s really nice — 20 —
to be in the moment together.” They both start “aaawww”-ing in unison. After a pause, Teasdale says: “Yeah, it’s sickening.” And then they both wretch, loudly. And play live they will – almost everywhere, with TV spots, tours, and multiple festival slots this year. “We’re really excited to play festivals, purely because of the atmosphere,” says Teasdale. Wet Leg’s existence, perhaps apocryphally, sprung from an inspirational moment between the pair on a Ferris wheel at the End of the Road festival. “Everyone’s wandering around and so there’s no real expectations of you. Everyone’s there to have a good time and it’s really nice to just be ambling around making friends with other bands. Love to amble. We can get them all to sign our limbs. Just gonna fangirl everyone really hard. We’re really going to embarrass ourselves.” When the wacky, but contained, imagery of Chaise Longue became an out of control sensation, its staccato Sprechgesang seemed to be in line with other British bands – like Dry Cleaning, Squid, Yard Act and Black Country, New Road – matching post-punk guitars and somersaulting basslines with speak-singing. While all these bands are popular and notable in their own way, Wet Leg seemed to hit a sweet spot that took that toolkit and smoothed down its edges and made it more listener-friendly, pairing it with twee visuals
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streams and just two songs’ and you’ll quickly find enough suspicion and criticism to make you think twice. Questions like: “How can such a young band get so big so fast?” seem laced with misogyny and a retrograde ‘rockist’ attitude that still perceives music through a traditionalist lens – a world where a band made its name gigging themselves into the ground, a world that barely exists now. What even does an organic development for a band look like now? “I’d be like, ‘I hope they burn in hell, I can’t believe it, only two songs and they’ve been to America? I hope their plane crashes on the way back.’ I’d be jelly as hell,” says Teasdale, tongue firmly in cheek, about how they would look at themselves from the outside. “No, I don’t really think people are jealous, just overanalysing. But it doesn’t matter. Music is just about the stars aligning. It’s been quicker for us, but I think it’s the same with any band, even if you have followed their journey of them grafting and working their way up. The stars still had to align at some point for them. It’s a total mystery why we are doing what we’re doing but, you know, we’re just trying to have a nice time doing it. If that’s OK?” Living up to the hype will no doubt silence many of those comments. But if those criticisms affect them at all, they don’t show it, instead disarming with their wit. One recent tweet read: — 21 —
“We’re not really striving for anything in particular. It’s quite free flowing” Hester Chambers, Wet Leg “Our first ever US tour starts in New York tonight. How did this happen? Anyone else getting industry plant vibes.” It’s hard to argue with that kind of good-spirited response. Teasdale, back to her usual tone, replies: “I will find a way to argue with it. It is pretty funny. I mean, it’s a good thing both of our parents are really high up in the music industry. My dad actually owns all of music. He has many CDs.” Wet Leg is released on 8 Apr via Domino; Wet Leg play The Mash House, Edinburgh, 17 Apr; SWG3, Glasgow, 17 Nov Catch Wet Leg at a festival this summer as they play Neighbourhood Weekender, Warrington, 28-29 May; Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, 3 Jun; Isle of Wight Festival, 16-19 Jun; Glastonbury Festival, 22 Jun; TRNSMT, Glasgow Green, 9 Jul; Lowlands Festival, Biddinghuizen, Netherlands, 19 Aug wetlegband.com
April 2022 – Festival Special
and simple, memorable refrains – at least that’s what their comparatively massive streaming numbers seem to indicate. Basically, the ‘Avant Basic’ of music: the moment when something considered artful and trending up becomes mass-produced and ubiquitous. For better or worse, the album (finally released from the vault before this piece was finished) deviates from this blueprint somewhat. Wet Leg is filled with prettier vocals; the song Angelica builds into layered shoegaze guitars. And elsewhere the band deal in more conventional indie rock sounds. What they continue to nail is their sharp brand of humour. Teasdale and Chambers are adept at finding that liminal space between laughing and crying, where feeling everything all at once becomes overwhelming. On opener Being In Love, an album highlight, Teasdale sings: ‘I feel like someone has punched me in the guts / The world is caving in, I’m kinda struggling / I kinda like it cause it feels like being in love.’ “We didn’t really set out to do that. It just kind of happened,” says Teasdale. “I think some of the songs on the album are a little bit sad. And I think one of the ways you can deal with dark times is make it into a joke.” Wet Leg may be doing everything right, but a cursory look at YouTube comments or Reddit pages titled ‘Wet Leg: the band with millions of
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The Time Is Now Five years on from its inception, we reflect on the Keychange pledge to push for gender parity in our festival fields with some of the forethinkers breaking down the boys’ club Interview: Cheri Amour
Francine Gorman, Keychange
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Frustratingly, questioning is exactly what so many organisations need to be doing right now as we begin to navigate out of a pandemic. There’s no doubt that the live music industry has been hit hard by two years of global flux. But COVID has also provided a stop-gap to reflect on the infrastructures our music festivals have long been built on. An opportunity to slowly dismantle the longreigning boys’ club. As Gorman attests: “We want to go into this new era of music festivals with the lineups that represent who we are and who’s attending. There is no better time to be implementing change than now.” To find out more about Keychange’s longterm goals or to sign the pledge, visit keychange.eu Way Out West takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden, 11-13 Aug; Jupiter Rising takes place at Jupiter Artland, Wilkieston, Edinburgh, 26-28 Aug
April 2022 – Festival Special
“There is no better time to be implementing change than now”
all-female and non-binary songwriting collective Hen Hoose, on curatorial duties. But it’s not only Scotland where we’re finally seeing the ripples of change making waves. Last year Keychange received its 500th signatory to the pledge from industry juggernaut EBU Music (the European Broadcasting Union’s music department). It’s a milestone that Gorman believes is significant to the project’s future. “To have an umbrella organisation like that on board is vital. They’re in touch with every national broadcaster throughout Europe!” Elsewhere in Europe, we’re already seeing shifts. Partner festivals like Way Out West in Sweden continue to deliver a gender-balanced lineup with homegrown exports First Aid Kit topping the bill in 2022. For Head of Communications Filip Hiltmann, signing the pledge was a no-brainer. “50/50 gender balance should not be communicated as a feather in your cap, but rather as the new status quo. Because if you think about it, why wouldn’t it be?” Many will remember the backlash after TRNSMT boss Geoff Ellis stated: “we need to get more females picking up guitars” to address the imbalance in the industry. But for Feeley, she believes it’s with these underrepresented genders where the spark of innovation is burning brightest. “The most exciting work being created right now is coming from non-binary, gender non-conforming artists. What Jupiter Rising has done is create a home for this energy.” Hiltmann agrees: “We’ve never had any trouble with finding enough female acts for our stages. Actually, our problems are reversed – there are too many that we can’t fit on our bill!” There’s also no data to suggest that women sell fewer tickets than their male counterparts. In fact, last year saw solo female artists leading the Billboard Top 200 for the first time in over a decade. It’s a falsehood that Gorman believes can lead to toxic behaviour. “When festivals spread sentences like that around, it’s devaluing the place of women in the music industry and that’s not acceptable.” As Feeley posits, this attitude breeds future iterations of exactly the same thing. No questions asked. “I’ve seen first-hand the pressure promoters are under to book white male artists as stats suggest they give better box-office returns. The problem is when this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
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n midsummer of 2015, social media was awash with blanked-out festival posters. Male acts were slashed from the weekend listings to prove how few women were being programmed to major festival stages. But this disparity doesn’t just exist within the festival fields. In 2018 The New York Times reported: “Of the 899 individuals who have been nominated for the last six Grammy ceremonies, 90.7 percent were men and 9.3 percent were women,” while in the same year PRS for Music revealed that only 17% of their songwriter memberships identified as female. Five years ago, against a backdrop of raging timelines, the Keychange initiative launched hellbent on addressing this imbalance with a two-pronged approach. First, its talent development programme. Secondly, a pledge with a goal to reach 50/50 women and gender minorities representation by 2022, as Project Manager Francine Gorman recalls. “The pledge was developed as a response to festivals looking for ways to develop their lineups differently.” The team quickly realised that inequality isn’t merely stage deep though. Beginning their work across the live music and performing arts sector, they only found more rotten roots. “For a festival to book an artist, there’s so much infrastructure that leads to that point from radio (how do you get on radio?) to labels (where are labels finding music?),” explains Gorman. And while the Keychange initiative works to support women and gender minorities, there’s also the issue of diversity. “It’s a conversation that we want to have with every person, pointing them to other resources where they can start learning in those areas as well.” Nurturing an inclusive space for a broad range of artists sits at the heart of Jupiter Rising. Launched in 2019, the indie arts festival formed with the “urgent need to address the imbalance” as Head of Exhibitions and Learning Programmes at Jupiter Artland (the festival’s home), Claire Feeley shares. “We push for inclusivity and celebrate artists, specifically queer-folk and people of colour who have fought to see themselves represented.” Last year’s event boasted DJ sets from Gemma Cairney, Junglehussi and OH141’s Sarra Wild alongside live sets from Kapil Seshasayee, Sacred Paws and Lady Neptune, with installations from multidisciplinary artist Furmaan Ahmed. This year sees Alloysius Massaquoi (Young Fathers) and Tamara Schlesinger, of
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Community Focus For too long, queer events have generally taken place under the shadow of darkness. But promoters up and down the country are making this a thing of the past, with a whole host of new music festivals bringing the queer community into the light
April 2022 – Festival Special
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or one day in October last year, one corner of London was transformed into a playground for the city’s queer community. “It felt like a real place of self-expression… to see everyone express their queerness in the middle of the day, taking over a whole section of East London,” says Saoirse Ryan, DJ and co-founder of Body Movements festival. The one-day event – dubbed “East London’s first queer dance festival” – took place in venues around Hackney Wick, an area already known for its plethora of independent, queer-friendly spaces. Just a glance at some of the photos captured from the festival showed exactly how joyous it was, and highlights the need for more events of its kind. “I’ve been playing at a lot of queer events around the world… and it just clicked in my head [that] there’s no festival that represents all of these people,” says Ryan. “Our goal with Body Movements was that it was representative of the full – as much as possible – spectrum of the queer community within clubbing culture,” she continues. “We wanted to have a broad and diverse music policy; we wanted to make sure that it was representing a lot of different sexual identities, cultures, ethnicities; and also it was important to work with promoters who we know have a real established audience, but also with promoters who are doing something a lot more unique and smaller.” If the huge turnout and glowing reviews of the festival’s inaugural edition didn't prove just how necessary a festival like Body Movements is, then the demand for tickets for its second edition certainly does. When we speak to Ryan, it’s on the same day that presale tickets for Body Movements 2022 go live, and by the end of the day 80% of tickets for the festival have gone. This time around, though, Body Movements boasts a much more localised line-up, with collectives like Glasgow’s Lezzer Quest, London’s Pxssy Palace, and Manchester’s High Hoops among those hosting showcases. The festival will also incorporate workshops and panels for the first time, with Ryan’s Body Movements partner,
“The whole future goal [is to] build something that really benefits the queer community and the culture of clubbing” Saoirse Ryan, Body Movements
Working with many of the same collectives as Body Movements, Flesh will showcase an array of rising and established DJs from all over the world across its three stages, featuring sets from the likes of Chippy Nonstop, LSDXOXO and TAAHLIAH. There will also be an activity tent – catered towards sober festival goers – hosted by art-rave collective Riposte, where attendees can socialise, take part in workshops and panels, share their experiences, and relax. Closer to home, Colourboxx Festival describes itself as “a celebration of love and unity with inclusion at its core”, and takes place at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park on 25 June. Combining live music and drag performance, Years & Years, Sugababes, Rina Sawayama, Lawrence Chaney and Bimini are among those set to appear at the festival, with additional performers selected by local collectives Shoot Your Shot, Push It, Pretty Ugly and Obsession. For its debut edition, Colourboxx is also actively working with and supporting two Scottish LGBTQ+ charities. When purchasing a ticket for the festival, ticket buyers will be given the option to donate to the festival’s partners: Time for Inclusive Education – Scotland’s LGBT Inclusive Education charity – and LGBT Youth Body Movements Scotland – Scotland’s national charity for LGBTI young people aged 13-25. A running thread between all three festivals is their focus on community, with each of them working with various organisations and collectives to offer a broad range of experiences that cater to as many members of the queer community as possible. And as each of them work to bring queer events into the daytime economy, that feeling of being cast into the shadows that has existed, for so long, among the queer community feels like it might just be starting to slip away. Jake Davis
Music
Interview: Nadia Younes
Clayton Wright of Little Gay Brother, even working on putting together an LGBTQ+ promoters forum that will provide advice for queer promoters on licencing, funding, legal issues and so forth. “There’s not really anything like it that exists for queer promoters, and there’s a lot of different nuances that come with being a queer promoter,” says Ryan. “The whole future goal [for Body Movements] is not just to put on a rave, but to actually build something that really benefits the queer community and the culture of clubbing.” And it feels like a match has been lit, with the announcement of several new queer festivals across the UK this year already. The UK’s first queer electronic music and camping festival, Flesh, was announced in January, and is set to take place at Springfield Farm in St Albans on 28 and 29 May. The festival’s line-up is also the first to be entirely made up of underrepresented artists, with 90% of those performing being women, trans and non-binary artists of various ethnicities. — 24 —
Body Movements takes place at various venues across Hackney Wick, London, 30 Jul: bodymovements.co.uk Flesh Queer Festival takes place at Springfield Farm, St Albans, 28-29 May: fleshfestival.com Colourboxx takes place at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, 25 June: colourboxx.com
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April 2022 – Festival Special
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Loyal Subjects Having opted to hold onto a festival ticket since 2019, instead of getting a refund, one writer asks: what is it that makes festivalgoers remain loyal to a festival? Interview: Maeve Hannigan Music
Chris Knight, Music Programmer, Kelburn Garden Party “I think the best festivals are those that seem to have an ingrained culture, because when you have festivals that have been around for a few years, you get the staff and crew embedded in the festival. And you end up with an event that doesn’t seem transient – it doesn’t seem like it’s just been thrown up and is there just to make some money for the promoters. It’s a real sort of solid cultural entity. “We’re a small festival, we can’t afford to book the heavy hitters. So we’ve certainly worked hard to really establish ourselves with a reputation of booking new, exciting, up-and-coming acts that always deliver. So while a lot of people might come to Kelburn not really knowing the acts so well, a lot of people say that they always discover a lot of stuff.”
TRNSMT
Katch Holmes, Producer, Knockengorroch “Knockengorroch is run by a family, my family, and it has family at the very core of it and that sensibility sort of seeps out into the ethos of the festival as a whole. You know, how you try to love your family, whatever their faults are? Your loyalty is kind of driven by love and only love. And I think that the festival is a little bit like that – none of us is — 27 —
Knockengorroch
perfect, but there’s very little judgement. People look after each other. Also the length of time we’ve been going for: we’ve been going for 24 years this year. That means you’ve had entire families form and grow up at the festival, you know, people have met there, conceived there, we’ve had ashes scattered there.” Aarti Joshi, Head of Marketing and Communications, DF Concerts “I think the reason that people stay loyal to TRNSMT and why they did for T in the Park for so many years, is because of that special connection – the relationship between the artist and the crowd. Artists tell us all the time that the atmosphere is different in Scotland – there’s a special relationship and energy in Scotland that can’t be replicated. A Scottish crowd is unlike any other. Festivals that we put on like T in the Park and TRNSMT are just about creating or facilitating that moment to happen where artists and crowds come together. It’s something special, and it makes people want to experience that feeling again and again.” Knockengorroch, Carsphairn Hills, Kirkcudbrightshire, 19-22 May Eden Festival, Raehills Meadows, nr Moffat, 9-12 Jun Kelburn Garden Party, Kelburn Castle, nr Largs, 1-4 Jul TRNSMT, Glasgow Green, Glasgow, 8-10 Jul
April 2022 – Festival Special
Photo:Allan Lewis
Chay Woodman, Press Officer, Eden Festival “I think Eden goes the extra mile to make people feel welcome and entertain them. It’s okay having artists in a field, some flags and calling it a festival... but Eden picks some fantastic music. It’s not always about having a heavy top line, you can have really good headliners and then spread everything out through all the other stages, which I think works for Eden very well because it’s a four-day festival. It’s a family-friendly festival and you get to see a lot more things just by wandering. “Eden is also in this beautiful valley, Raehills Meadows near Moffat in southwest Scotland. There are not many artists that come to southwest Scotland.”
Photo: Stevie Powers
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ummaging through my inbox for a festival ticket bought back when life seemed simpler brings up everything that has not happened since. Time has passed without new memories, without gatherings lit by dazed fairy lights, dust-stained beats, reunited strangers and the sound of collective freedom. You can imagine the shock that stirred when the date at the top of the confirmation email was 2019. You can imagine the mental questions that rolled on after in a Sandy Denny cry – ‘Who knows where the time goes?’ As somewhat of a commitment-phobe, it seems hilarious and rather worrying that my loyalty to Kelburn Garden Party has lived longer than any romantic relationship in my life. The idea of the festival has become like a long lost relative, the fun auntie you only hear crazy, legendary stories about. But therein lies a trust that these stories will once again become a reality and I will be both taken under its wing and given a taste of careless freedom. There is a comforting quality in Scottish festivals that is embraced protectively by their small communities yet forever grows among warm, open invites. Like an old family reunion that gets brilliantly out of hand, the mutual connections trail off further than anyone can keep track of. But what is it that pulls people back to these festivals year after year? Every festival devotee will have qualities they look for: the programme, the people, the place. But what about the elders of the family? With that in mind, we ask some of the people behind Scotland’s most-loved festivals what it is that they think makes festivalgoers stay loyal to their festival over others?
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Spotlight On... Brooke Combe Having sold out King Tut’s and signed to Island Records during a global pandemic, we shine a spotlight on Brooke Combe ahead of a busy summer of festivals
Image: courtesy of Island Records
Music
Interview: Tallah Brash
April 2022 – Festival Special
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dinburgh-born singer-songwriter Brooke Combe’s star has been on a steep incline over the past year and it’s been exciting to watch. From a very classy cover of Baccara’s Yes Sir, I Can Boogie to the singles which have followed, it’s clear that Combe has a knack for relatable lyrics and infectious hooks, with latest single Miss Me Now probably her catchiest song yet, turning bad decision-making into an earworm of a bop. “I wrote Miss Me Now after seeing an old flame when I was on a night out and thinking it was a good idea to leave the club with them,” she says. “It’s never a good idea… but it makes for a good tune.” With an impressive array of successes gathered in such a short period of time, from selling out King Tut’s and signing to Island Records to winning Best Female Breakthrough artists at the 2021 Scottish Music Awards, it’s mad to think that Combe’s journey is only really just beginning. With all that in mind, we shine a spotlight on Brooke Combe to get to know her a little better before she becomes a household name. You’ve been playing music in some form or another since you were five years old – who would you cite as your main musical influences and what inspires your music writing? There are a lot of artists and bands that inspire me musically, but I’d say some of the main ones growing up were Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Amy Winehouse...
the list is endless. However, the main theme throughout them all is soul. I’ve got a really soulful voice and it’s important to me because that’s what moves me the most when listening to tunes. I’d say lyrically my biggest inspiration is Arctic Monkeys. I love the endless use of metaphors throughout their tunes. It just always gets me thinking about ways I can incorporate metaphors in my tunes. It’s quite a difficult thing to do. It must’ve been quite weird for you coming into prominence with your music amid a global pandemic – what have the last couple of years been like for you? The last couple of years have been sort of crazy, but in a good way. A lot of people saw the pandemic as a hindrance to my development which is somewhat true in terms of performing. I wasn’t able to get out and gig for a long time, which is something I was probably most nervous about considering I’d never really gigged before. However, it also gave me a lot of time to focus on writing tunes and lyrics and bettering myself as a songwriter. I’ve grown a lot over the last two years and being a fairly shy person, I’m excited to push my limits and see how far I can go with everything. You’ve got a really busy summer ahead of you – what are you most looking forward to? This summer will be a busy one but I am really excited for it. There’s loads of festivals lined up — 28 —
and I didn’t ever really go to festivals until I started getting into gigging, so I’m excited to see other great artists I love performing. I’m trying to work on a really fun, energetic and soulful setlist for this summer and I’m excited to share it with everyone. I’m opening for Miles Kane on his UK tour as well for a month so I’m looking forward to being out on the road and really getting a taste for the touring life.
What festivals are you most excited about playing this summer? I am so buzzed to be playing some of the big UK festivals this year – I’ve just announced Reading and Leeds which is madness to me and the response has been great. As well as Neighbourhood festival, a big one for me is TRNSMT in Glasgow. Playing at home in Scotland alongside some Brooke Combe unbelievable company is definitely going to be a highlight of the summer. I can’t wait to be back on the stage and doing what I love and I’d love to see as many people as possible there enjoying it with me. What does the rest of the year hold for you? I have just released my first single of the year Miss Me Now, which feels insane; I tried something a little different and I’m super proud of this one. We had such a laugh filming the video and the outfits were amazing; I’ve been so excited for everyone to see what I’ve been working on. Throughout the rest of the year I’ll be releasing more tunes and hopefully getting myself out on the road doing my own little headline tour around the UK. It’s going to be an exciting year and opportunities keep coming up, I can’t wait to steal everyone’s hearts… That’s the main goal. Brooke Combe plays Dalkeith Miners Club, 29 Apr; she supports Miles Kane at O2 Academy, Glasgow, 20 May You can also catch Brooke at several festivals this summer including: Sound City, Liverpool, 30 Apr; Neighbourhood Weekender, Warrington, 28 May; TRNSMT, Glasgow Green, 8 Jul; Truck Festival, Abingdon, 21 Jul; Tramlines, Sheffield, 22 Jul; Deer Shed Festival, North Yorkshire, 29 Jul; Kendal Calling, Cumbria, 30 Jul; Y Not Festival, Derbyshire, 31 Jul; 110 Above Festival, Leicester, 14 Aug; Reading and Leeds Festivals, 26-28 Aug instagram.com/brookecombe
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Photo: Harry Millett/State of Music
Music
Dear Diary
With festival season just around the corner, here's a handy calendar featuring all of the key Scottish dates for the year ahead Compiled by Tallah Brash
Terminal V: Resurgence Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, 16-17 Apr Terminal V makes its long overdue return this Easter Bank Holiday weekend, very appropriately named Resurgence. After an unfortunate run of cancellations due to you know what, we’re feeling hopeful that this one will go ahead and the lineup is, as we’ve come to expect, stacked. Expect live sets from KiNK, Robert Hood and 999999999, alongside world class DJs like Helena Hauff, HAAi, Amelie Lens, Eats Everything, Austin Ato and more. terminalv.co.uk
The Great Eastern Various, Edinburgh, 21 May Following a successful first outing for The Great Eastern last November in Edinburgh’s Southside, the festival returns this spring for round two to The King’s Hall, The Queen’s Hall and the many rooms of Summerhall. So far the lineup includes Brighton indie quartet Porridge Radio, London psych outfit Soccer96, indie-pop trio Peaness and the inimitable Kathryn Joseph, with Anna B Savage and The Joy Hotel back for round two. thegreateastern.org Photo: Marilena Vlachopoulou
Riverside Festival Riverside Museum, Glasgow, 2-4 Jun Following a euphoric September outing for Glasgow’s Riverside Festival last year, the weekender returns to its rightful place in the calendar, taking full advantage of the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend. Taking place in the shadow of the Riverside Museum on the banks of the River Clyde, Charlotte De Witte, Róisín Murphy and Carl Cox head up a bill which also includes FJAAK (live), Joy Orbison, TAAHLIAH (live), Lisalööf and more. riversidefestivalglasgow.com
April 2022 – Festival Special
Colourboxx Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, 25 Jun Making its debut in the Scottish festival calendar this year is the vibrant Colourboxx. Taking place in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park, the aim behind the all-dayer is to bring people together to celebrate love and unity. As well as a whole host of exceptional drag artists like Lawrence Chaney, Bimini and Tia Kofi, there’s also a gleaming bill of pop music featuring Years & Years, Becky Hill, Rina Sawayama and the Sugababes, in their original lineup no less! colourboxx.com
Tectonics Festival Various, Glasgow, 30 Apr-1 May BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Douglas R Ewart, FUJI||||||||||TA bbc.co.uk/tectonics
Old Royal High School
Douglas R Ewart
Chef
Wide Days Various, Edinburgh, 19-21 May Savage Mansion, Chef, Katherine Aly widedays.com
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Fly Open Air Hopetoun House, Edinburgh, 21-22 May Peggy Gou, DJ Koze, Horse Meat Disco flyflyfly.co.uk Photo: Alex James
Photo: Glen Stubbe
Stag & Dagger Various, Edinburgh, 30 Apr; Various, Glasgow, 1 May Dream Wife, Let’s Eat Grandma, Protomartyr instagram.com/staganddaggerofficial
Hidden Door Old Royal High School, Calton Hill, Edinburgh, 9-18 Jun After an exceptional return to form from Hidden Door last year, which saw them take over the Granton Gasworks, the location-hopping festival will take over the Old Royal High School on Calton Hill this June. Featuring both an outdoor and indoor stage, this ten-day extravaganza will welcome music, art, theatre and more to this unique setting, with music from This Is the Kit, Warmduscher, Dry Cleaning, EFÉ, Makeness, Girl Ray and more. hiddendoorarts.org
Photo: Jannica Honey
Photo: Ian Schofield Dream Wife
Rina Sawayama
Knockengorroch
Photo: David Martin
Photo: Ryan Buchanan Riverside
Photo: Stevie Powers
Photo: James Gourlay Terminal V
Anna B Savage
Knockengorroch Carsphairn Hills, Kirkcudbrightshire, 19-22 May The Knockengorroch World Ceilidh is finally set to return this May, ushering in the start of ‘taps aff’ weather and getting the camping festival season off to a strong start. This year the much-loved world music/trad/hip-hop/fusion knees-up welcomes the likes of Afro Celt Sound System, Lowkey, Mungo’s Hi-Fi Sound System, Nova, Callum Easter and Plump DJs to the stunning Carsphairn Hills beside the Water of Deugh. knockengorroch.org.uk
Peggy Gou
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Photo: Allegra Stodolsky
Kelburn Garden Party Kelburn Castle, nr Largs, 1-4 Jul After a three year break, we can’t wait to get back to Kelburn this year. The lineup is as suitably diverse as we’ve come to expect from the team behind the Garden Party, and we’re delighted to say we’re programming the Pyramid Stage for all three days of the festival this year with Nova, Free Love and Maranta all set to play alongside the likes of Kapil Seshasayee, Bemz, Swiss Portrait and Katherine Aly. Bring on the sunshine! kelburngardenparty.com
Otherlands Scone Palace, Perth, 19-21 Aug Partnering with the likes of BBC Introducing, Sub Club, Sneaky Pete’s and Boiler Room, Fly Club launch their debut Scottish camping festival this summer which will see them taking over the grounds of Perth’s Scone Palace. Best known as the site where both Macbeth and Robert the Bruce were crowned, this summer it will be best known as a place for dancing the night away to world class acts such as Bicep (live), Jamie xx, Honey Dijon, TSHA and Elkka (live). otherlandsfestival.com Photo: Alex James-Aylin
Jupiter Rising Jupiter Artland, nr Edinburgh 26-28 Aug Jupiter Rising was a real highlight of 2021 for us and we can’t wait to be back in the beautiful surrounds of Jupiter Artland this August for more fun. So far, this year’s festival features guest curators Alloysious Massaquoi (Young Fathers) and Tamara Schlesinger (MALKA / Hen Hoose). The lineup so far includes Emma Pollock, AMUNDA, Poster Paints, Susan Bear, jayda, Djana Gabrielle, Distruction Boyz, Dylema and Mychelle. jupiterrising.art
Otherlands
Music
Photo: Euan Robertson
Photo: Aly Wight Jupiter Rising
Kelburn Castle
Doune the Rabbit Hole Cardross Estate, Port of Menteith, Stirling, 14-17 Jul We almost choked on our coffee earlier this year when the family friendly Doune the Rabbit Hole announced that Patti Smith would headline the festival’s opening night. Returning after a few years off, the 2022 lineup is one of the most exciting on the Scottish festival circuit, where alongside Patti you’ll find Boney M(!), Yard Act, Belle and Sebastian, Camera Obscura, Snapped Ankles, Nadia Rose, Porridge Radio, Stanley Odd and more. dounetherabbithole.co.uk
Mogwai
Connect Festival Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, 26-28 Aug At the end of 2021 it was announced that after 14 years Connect Festival would return in 2022, much to the delight of many on social media. With a relocation to Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre, Massive Attack, The Chemical Brothers and The National are set to headline this year’s fest with Mogwai, Self Esteem, The Twilight Sad, Black Coffee, Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul, Caribou, Sudan Archives and more further down the bill. connectmusicfestival.com
Some more dates for your diary
TRNSMT
TRNSMT Glasgow Green, Glasgow, 8-10 Jul The Strokes, Wet Leg, Self Esteem trnsmtfest.com
Solas Festival
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HebCelt Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, 1316 Jul Texas, Seasick Steve, Admiral Fallow hebceltfest.com Photo: Eoin Carey
Solas Festival Errol Park, Perthshire, 17-19 Jun Stanley Odd, Lewis McLaughlin, Callum Easter solasfestival.co.uk Photo: Jassy Early
Eden Festival Raehills Meadows, nr Moffat, Dumfries & Galloway, 9-12 Jun Coolio, Hollie Cook, Pictish Trail edenfestival.co.uk
place in the seaside town of North Berwick (5-14 Aug), while the Edinburgh Summer Sessions bring big names to Princes Street Gardens for a run of shows from 7-14 August. Meanwhile in Glasgow, Summer Nights at the Kelvingrove Bandstand are well worth checking out (27 Jul-13 Aug), while later in the year Tenement Trail takes over Glasgow’s East End on 8 October, with The Great Western taking place the following month (12 Nov).
Photo: Allan Lewis
Image: courtesy Eden Festival Eden Festival
Isle of Eigg for Island Family Gathering (1-2 Jul). The following weekend sees the Tiree Music Festival take place (8-10 Jul), before the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival (28-30 Jul) brings revellers to the Belladrum Estate near Inverness. Back in the central belt, the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival takes over the capital from 15-24 July, warming up the city ahead of the Edinburgh International Festival (5-29 Jul). Coinciding with the Edinburgh festivals, Fringe by the Sea takes
Admiral Fallow
April 2022 – Festival Special
As if all of that isn’t enough, there’s plenty more going on across the country this year that’s worth shouting about. Counterflows kicks things off in Glasgow at the end of March (31 Mar-3 Apr) before The Return of the Slam Tent (29 Apr-1 May) sets the grounds of Hopetoun House alight. Skye Live (12-14 May) gets things underway in the Highlands and Islands, with the Orkney Folk Festival (26-29 May) following shortly after, before Lost Map Records’ Howlin’ Fling invites you to the
April 2022 – Feature
Books
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“My art can be enough” Douglas Stuart was the second ever Scot to win the Booker Prize, with his debut novel Shuggie Bain taking the book world by storm. Ahead of his second novel, Young Mungo, and his first book tour of the UK, he talks to The Skinny Interview: Andrés Ordorica Illustration: Amy Lauren — 34 —
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Young Mungo is published by Picador, 14 Apr, £16.99
April 2022 – Feature
“There’s room for every kind of story, and so I reject all pressure to be a representative for something”
some pain, or some hurt, or some really big themes that will haunt me, I think, for my entire writing life.” Manhood is another important theme, especially the shaping of gay men in a world in which the quintessential male is a violent, disenfranchised heterosexual. “You know Mungo loves his mother, but the mother is not the focus of [Young Mungo] at all. This is about his love for himself, discovering himself, and with James as well, but really what it means to become a man.” It was important to write Mungo in that way, he says, against a backdrop of performative toxic masculinity “especially because he’s a very tender and a very gentle boy, and sometimes tenderness or being gentle or being kind can be seen as a weakness for men.” As we speak ahead of his first major UK book tour, I can’t help but note how his rise in the literary world happened during a time in which our collective worlds grew smaller and many of us turned to books and TV as a portal into other worlds. As the world began to bunker down during the early days of deepest, darkest lockdown, his 2020 debut Shuggie Bain became something of a zeitgeist for booklovers and literary awards alike. Published just a month before most countries began to close their borders, Stuart is now only just getting to meet his fans during a packed publicity run for his sensational follow-up. “Shuggie doesn’t intend to speak for every single working-class family in Glasgow,” notes Stuart, on the pressure of portraying Scotland, specifically a grittier, unglamorous Glasgow, ahead of his imminent return. “It speaks for the working class family I created and that is it. But there are many people who survived under the Thatcher years and who flourished and who had great lives. There’s probably young queer people who grew up in the 90s in Glasgow who had a great time that lived on the other side of the city. There’s room for every kind of story, and so I reject all pressure to be a representative for something.” Perhaps this is what all writers deserve, the ability to transcend both expectation and the self and to write into the unknown. For Douglas Stuart, writing about Glasgow and its gallus denizens was a way to work through the very things that weighed heavily on him decades after emigrating from Scotland. But his acute ability to depict the daily struggles of the human experience no doubt means wherever he chooses to write into next will give his readers even more insight into what it means to survive and exist in all one’s multitudes. Undoubtedly, his art will indeed be enough.
Books
ou may think you know the writer Douglas following the slow burning romance Stuart, but you most likely don’t. Not really. of Mungo, a Protestant teenager, and Stuart, a former creative director in the James, a Catholic school-leaver, one fast-paced world of fashion, now a Booker Prizeyear his senior, who are navigating winning novelist, has found freedom in rejecting the start of manhood against a any pigeonholing that might have come with his backdrop of violent toxic masculinity. monumental past few years. Stuart is only the Mungo is a quiet, gullible young second Scottish author to win the Booker Prize in man who sits in the shadows of his its 51-year history (after James Kelman) with his gang leader brother, Hamish, and debut Shuggie Bain, a novel that follows a young academically gifted sister, Jodie. He man’s relationship with his mother as their family is constantly told what to do, how to navigate life on a Glaswegian council estate. think, how to act, but it is not until he From his New York apartment, I speak with meets James that he realises he can Stuart over Zoom while I myself am not far from simply be himself. What is so moving about Young the very city that has shaped much of his early Mungo is how it unfurls its main writing. While fans may revere Stuart for his effort character’s sexual awakening, set in in shining a light on marginalised stories, he is not the 1990s during the years of Section to be mistaken for his widely acclaimed charac28 when queer visibility or LGBT ters; specifically, his debut novel’s portrayal of allyship were not a part of mainstream queer, working class Scottish life during the Thatcher years. He is now ready to make clear that culture or society. Reading it serves as a reminder of just how harrowing a his life’s experiences are his and his alone. “I journey coming out can be even to this day. For reject all pressure to be a representative for Mungo, all he knows of being gay is that it will make something,” he says. “My art can be enough. This him a pariah in his community, a further target for is the story that I am telling. homophobic vitriol. He has learned to quell any “I can’t say to you I was the kid that grew up sort of journaling or writing poems or disappearing desire for other boys until he meets another outsidinto the world in that way,” Stuart continues. “But I er in the form of James. That isolation is not unfamiliar to Stuart, always had an imagination that was really restless though he notes his youth differs from the era of because I was a lonely kid. I was suffering, both social media in which young people might more with addiction at home and poverty. Then when I easily find community or visible queerness online was going on the streets, I was queer, and so a lot of the other young boys and men didn’t quite know even if their home life is not as accepting. “There has to be an easing of loneliness when you can what to do with me. I didn’t know how to fit into just see someone, even if they’re in Venezuela, or that world that I was in.” That notion of fitting in as a young queer man Argentina, or no matter where they are in the world. It can be geographically a billion miles away is something threaded in both Shuggie Bain and from you, but you know that there’s other stars in Young Mungo, his sophomore effort. Both novels the firmament. You know that they’re out there, feature central characters who are coming to terms with their sexuality in the middle of commu- somewhere, and they like the same things as you.” Like many LGTBQ people who did not grow nities that constantly deride them for being soft, up during the dawn of social media, I effeminate, unathletic. too struggled to find examples of As Stuart alludes queerness, especially examples of to in both novels, the queer people thriving, happy, and at other male characters peace. The need for this visibility is are often at a loss with something Stuart emphasises how to interact with the throughout the relationship Mungo young men. Shuggie’s shares with James. Both young men mother tries to get her are paramount in shaping their neighbour to take the understanding of same-sex love and boy out on a fishing desire. trip, much to his horror. While much of the story is Still, Shuggie digs deep centred on its two star-crossed inside himself to find lovers, it is violent, harrowing, and at the courage to go only times difficult to read. There is a real to then be left behind sense that Mungo and his neighby the older man and bours will never escape their estate his young sons. Douglas Stuart and instead must learn to survive. Mungo’s older brother Filled with scenes of sexual assault, Hamish struggles to sectarian violence, and visceral depictions of connect with him, fearing that their lack of father addiction, Young Mungo is painful but powerful for has made Mungo weak. He eventually forces his how it explores young love and sexuality. Against younger brother to take part in a sectarian clash all odds, it feels powerful that Mungo can maintain so that Mungo can prove his manhood. Such a friendship with James, even as the communities violence goes against Mungo’s very nature and around them are at odds with each other. ultimately leads to unimaginable consequences. Stuart acknowledges that he might always need While Young Mungo may share many characto explore the pain that colours much of his writing. teristics to Stuart’s debut (the city of Glasgow, “Thematically, I am still getting my hands around poverty and addiction), it is largely a departure,
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Image: Lewi Quinn
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Lewi Quinn aka Boiiing
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War Games Over recent years, the UK’s damaging war rhetoric has persistently reared its ugly head. We reflect on how we talk about war and why that needs to change
April 2022 – Feature
Intersections
Words: Anahit Behrooz Illustration: Kate Osmomd
W
hat is this country’s obsession with world wars? They are everywhere, all the time. We dreamed of one in early 2020, when a conflict between the US and Iran never quite came to fruition but lasted long enough for crazed armageddon rhetoric to grip the nation. During lockdowns, so-called Blitz spirit was invoked more often than public health policy, a sick nostalgia for a time of terror and making do. And now, ever since the invasion of Ukraine, my social media timelines are thick once more with hypothetical violence and newly imagined home fronts. There’s a strange bloodlust in the air. World War III is trending on Twitter and people are joking about drafts and evacuations and I am so sick of it I could scream. The UK does not have a healthy relationship with its past. Every time a fresh crisis occurs that might tap into whatever murky, idealised idea it has of its history, I am struck anew by it all: the delusions of grandeur, the desperation for heroism, the longing for meaningful violence – any kind of violence – as long as it does not arrive on our own shores. Perhaps it is unsurprising. British history has left so many bloody footprints on the world, with centuries of colonialism and extraction and coups, that maybe the only way to cope with the weight of it is to blot it all out, sink comfortably back into a time when we were heroes, good people, when we did the right thing. Remember when we protected Poland, remember when we drove out fascism, remember when we sacrificed everything – our young and beloved – for a higher purpose. Remember, remember, remember. If we say it enough, surely it must be true. The problem with mythologising, let alone self-mythologising, is that it, by necessity, creates a rupture with reality. Yes, we sheltered during the Blitz, lived frugally on rations and purportedly pulled together. But wait – did we really? Black people were routinely ejected from air raid shelters during the Battle of Britain; the Jewish parents of the children on Kindertransports were denied asylum and consequently died in the genocide of the concentration camps; and the efforts of soldiers of colour have been all but erased from every war film that has followed. Tom Moore may have walked for weeks to raise money for the NHS, but what was that but a gruesome protraction of the exploitation his generation faced – an entire country of men farmed out to fight and die, no structures of welfare or care in sight. What nobility is there in any of it? What kind of pure past are we harking back towards? It all feels so utterly meaningless, and so utterly hopeless, because if we can’t understand or see the past for what it was, then how can we ever process the present with any sense of
responsibility or, indeed, reality. The way the UK and the West fight wars has changed: the time of drafts and mandatory service is over, and this current warfare will likely not reach our lands. That isn’t to say that the anxiety and horror of human misery won’t affect us, but also – they won’t, not really, not in the same way. Not directly. We likely won’t have to flee our homes, we won’t have to count and bury our dead, our lives will not change overnight. — 38 —
And yet, somehow, we can’t stop imagining it. Teenagers on TikTok are bantering about conscription and people are cosplaying military tactics by donating to the Ukrainian army’s bizarre Patreon account and as spring creeps incongruously through the windows I wonder if we have all lost our minds. People die as missiles pound the air hundreds of miles away and here there is nothing but silence and the grind of the internet and newspapers guessing what the fallout from a nuclear attack on
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the invasion begins I sit frozen all day, an acrid panic heavy in my stomach. I can’t stop scrolling. One Tweet appears again and again. “Men,” it tells me, “will literally invade Ukraine instead of going to therapy.” The conflict is barely hours old and already it is just a silly little gag. But what place does the meme-ified language of bad dating have in devastating international conflict? What new stage of feminism is this deliberately cultivated ironic carelessness? Which women are being — 39 —
April 2022 – Feature
Glasgow would be. I wonder how far Western narcissism will take us, when its outer limits will finally be reached. How inwardly do you have to look before you eventually collapse in on yourself? Everything has become a game, a joke, because it barely feels real. We have become very good at outsourcing our fantasies of violence and so violence has become entirely sundered from any kind of material reality; blood and bones and sheer, unimaginable horror. On the Thursday that
helped? Surely not the women of Ukraine, or Russia, or Afghanistan, or Yemen. I scroll again. The next Tweet predicts World War III, that we will all die. Well, I wonder, which is it? It sums it up really, the complete and utter insane paradox of it all: the illusion that we are just as vulnerable as those being bombed; the solid comfort of knowing that we aren’t. That we can make jokes, laugh, try and be the funniest person on the internet with impunity. I am certain now that this is how the world will go out. Liberalism and smug, flimsy feminism and solipsism right until the last ray of light. An understanding of war that only ever centres the West, and then maybe – just maybe – those that look similar. “There’s rumours of a thermobaric bomb,” a man from the news explains, in a clip that circulates again and again online. “Which,” he adds, “the US has used before in Afghanistan, but the idea of it being used in Europe is stomach churning.” I click off Twitter. In the days following the invasion, a poem by Ukrainian-American writer Ilya Kaminsky goes viral, its screenshot from Poetry Foundation intermittently breaking up the rest of the internet’s savage shriek. “I took a chair and watched the sun,” it goes. “In the street of money in the city of money in the / country of money, / our great country of money, we (forgive us) / lived happily during the war.” I have been thinking of these lines often, every time World War III re-trends, every time I myself become preoccupied with the idea of possible nuclear holocaust where I am. We, so many of us, live in the country of money – we have always done so. Here, safe in the country of money, far from the shells and bombs, it is so very easy to fantasise about war.
Intersections
“British history has left so many bloody footprints on the world, with centuries of colonialism and extraction and coups, that maybe the only way to cope with the weight of it is to blot it all out”
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Go With the Flow Ahead of two performances at this year’s Counterflows festival, we meet London-based DJ aya to discuss what she has planned, and discover that forward planning isn’t exactly her strong suit
April 2022 — Feature
F
or someone who thinks very deeply about music, Aya Sinclair’s approach to preparing for a live performance is surprisingly ramshackle. Speaking to us from her South London flat, the DJ and producer – better known as aya – is in the process of pulling things together for an upcoming performance at MUTEK festival in Barcelona in just a few days. “I’m fairly used to being quite last minute,” she laughs. “I sometimes write tunes in the green room and then play them half an hour later.” And it appears that the same last minute approach is also being taken for her upcoming performance at Glasgow’s Counterflows festival – taking place in venues around the city from 31 March-3 April. In a late addition to the programme, it was announced that not only will Sinclair be DJing at the festival’s late night club event at Room 2, she will also be performing live at the festival’s closing party, alongside her close friend and frequent collaborator Iceboy Violet. “I think we’re going to be working out how we’re going to do it up until the week before, of course, but it’s definitely something we want to do more of,” she says. “This could all change in the space of a week, but from where we’re at now it’s going to be that there will be a set within a set, basically. There will be a handing over of the microphone, and we’ll have a bunch of Iceboy stuff as well.” Having known each other from their days living in Manchester and as part of the queer DJ collective boygirl, the pair worked closely together on aya’s debut album, im hole, released in October last year via Hyperdub. During the making of the album, Sinclair was heavily influenced by the writing of Sadie Plant, specifically her 1997 book, Zeros and Ones: Digital Women and the New Technoculture. “There’s a few consistent narratives that come back time and time again, and each time they come back a bit more context is given to them based on all of the things that have happened
“While my music can maybe come off quite complicated or disorientating, most of the stuff that’s on [im hole] is incredibly simplistic” aya
around them,” she says. “So you get this sense of weaving taking place in the writing… and you’re recognising all of these loops that are happening around you as you’re reading it. It’s absolutely magical.” Such was the book’s influence on her, Sinclair adopted a similar structure for im hole, which was released with an accompanying clothbound book of lyrics, poems and photographs, designed in collaboration with Oliver Van Der Lugt. Just like Plant’s book, each element of the album gives meaning to another and our understanding of it is constantly shifting as a result, making each listen more thrilling than the last. “Stitching and weaving is something that comes up time and time again in the lyrics, but it’s also finding ways of creating this sort of patchwork in my production,” she says. “I reuse the same sounds quite a lot, but just the processing that I put on them is super different. “While my music can maybe come off quite complicated or disorientating, most of the stuff that’s on the record is incredibly simplistic,” she adds. “Most of the tracks are three or four elements really, and it’s about the way that things are combined or the way that things are arranged… I think making a point clearly and simply, and coming to an odd conclusion about things based off that is something that’s really valuable to me.” There’s one particular recurring motif on im hole that we discuss: the repetition of the phrase ‘red shoes, blue shoes’, spoken in an almost frustrated and confused tone that appears across the album. To one ear, this might suggest some sort of internalised identity struggle, but, in fact, Sinclair tells us that it is merely a vocal warm-up she picked up while doing some voice training sessions, and its inclusion on the album is a way of forcing herself to actually practise them. “There is the nice thing that it’s kind of walked backwards into being about an indeterminacy of identity,” she says. “These things get meaning attached to them… and sometimes the answer is as stupid as they’re just vocal warm-up phrases, but that doesn’t invalidate that reading of — 40 —
Photo: Suleika Müller
Clubs
Interview: Nadia Younes
aya
it… Also, she gave me a sheet of like 35 words and phrases, and those are the ones that I picked.” With Sinclair, you get the sense that the cogs are always turning. Whether intentional or not, her work feels incredibly intricate and considered, with hidden gems scattered throughout for the listener to unpack in a manner of different ways. And, even if it’s only been thrown together in the few days, hours or minutes before, you can always expect something special. Counterflows takes place at various venues across Glasgow, 31 Mar-3 Apr Late Night Counterflows: Bonaventure, aya, and Ira, Room 2, Glasgow, 2 Apr Still House Plants, aya featuring Iceboy Violet, and MC Yallah & Debmaster, The Ferry, Glasgow, 3 Apr
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Abbey Days
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that will be parked up in front of the Abbey, right in the heart of town. They’ll be serving up great cask ales from the local area and beyond at Paisley Food and Drink Festival. Entertainment comes in the form of live music programmed by a trio of venues over the course of Friday and Saturday. First up is The Rum Shack, the ever-popular bar and gig venue in Glasgow’s Southside, and they’re joined by Paisley rock bar and burger joint The Keg. Making up the trio is The Bungalow, Paisley’s independent, ethical, grassroots gig venue. Again, the lineup is TBC at this stage, but keep an eye on paisley.is for details. Taking place on the final weekend of April, this is the first ‘in-person’ outing for the Paisley Food and Drink Festival since 2019, and the first in a series of big events in Paisley this spring and summer. It’s just a ten-minute train ride from Glasgow Central, and if you get your timetables right, you can make it from the centre of Edinburgh to Paisley in under 90 minutes. The Paisley Food and Drink Festival promises a weekend of extremely edible fun as well as acting as a jumping-off point to discover more of what makes Paisley great.
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Paisley Food and Drink Festival 2022, Abbey Close, Paisley, Fri 29 Apr, 4-9pm and Sat 30 Apr, 12-9pm, free entry Find out more about Paisley Food and Drink Festival at paisley.is
April 2022 — Feature
ver since Saint Mirin rocked up in this corner of the Lowlands in the 7th century and decided to settle down for a bit, Paisley Abbey has been a site of meetings, greetings and camaraderie. Paisley may have some famous sons and daughters – from fashion designer Pam Hogg to shouty action man Gerard Butler – but the Abbey itself remains one of the town’s most recognisable residents. Over the centuries it’s been burned down, rebuilt, and fallen in and out of favour, but after an extensive renovation project it’s now a spectacular sight to behold. While the building itself may be very very old, the Paisley Food and Drink Festival – taking place in the shadow of Paisley Abbey this month – is a chance to try something new with a collection of your fellow travellers (the 2019 edition of the Festival drew in 16,000 attendees). Or, to be a bit more accurate, the Paisley Food and Drink Festival is a chance to try a lot of new stuff. Take the Festival’s extensive selection of street food as an example. There are more than 30 food traders lined up for 2022, including a host of stands, trucks and stalls from Glasgow street food market PLATFORM. Expect a huge range of street grub inspired by locations and traditions from around the world, all helpfully wrangled together in one place to allow you to bob between cuisines at a moment’s notice. So that’s the food part of the title dealt with. As for drinks, there’s some good news and bad news. The bad news is that Paisley Town Hall – the traditional home of the town’s beer festival – is currently undergoing a major refurbishment. The good news is that the beer festival’s organisers at Renfrewshire CAMRA have found an ideal solution, in the form of a beer tent
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The Paisley Food and Drink Festival returns this month; here’s a look at what’s in store
THE SKINNY
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Short but Sweet As is now tradition, we speak to some of the filmmakers behind our favourite shorts at this year’s Glasgow Short Film Festival Interviews: Jamie Dunn
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Maryam Hamidi on Bahar Film and TV were Maryam Hamidi’s first loves. “Escapism was crucial for our mental health as an immigrant family,” she tells us, “and helped me and my siblings understand our hybrid culture after moving to the UK from Iran.” She toyed with directing when she was younger, making videos at college, but ended up pursuing a career in front of the camera instead. Most of her acting has been on stage, although you might have seen her in feature films like Wild Rose and The Last Bus, or during her three-year stint on Glasgow soap River City. “Working as an actor on screen projects lit a fire in me for screenwriting and directing,” she says. She’s now stepped behind the camera. First for zombie apocalypse romance Bloody Love and now Bahar, a dazzling short exploring the inner turmoil of a mother who’s haunted by grief for her dead daughter – figuratively and potentially literally too. Hamidi always wanted to incorporate genre into her scripts. “For me, drama needs something to elevate it, whether in story terms or picture terms, and I’m always reaching for the supernatural to unlock that inner dimension of character psyche.” Hamidi cites three Iranian films that gave her the confidence to play with genre while also holding on to her own voice: Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Babak Anvari’s Under the Shadow and Shirin Neshat’s Women
Bahar
Without Men. “Exploring Iran’s painful socio-political transitions through the lens of horror and magic realism was a revelation,” she says, “and I feel like grounding genre elements in social drama is where I find really charged up stories.” Bahar centres on Narges, a single mum and professor of Iranian literature, who might be losing her grip on reality. For ten years she’s been mourning the death of her eight-year-old daughter who was killed in a car accident, and she’s become convinced the creeping mould that has enveloped the walls of her family home is the manifestation of the girl’s lingering spirit. “The premise grew from witnessing the slow and sometimes toxic impact of ‘empty nests’ on the elder immigrant women in my life,” explains — 42 —
Hamidi. “The convergence of visceral bereavement and loss of identity and purpose when your children leave home felt quietly urgent to me. The supernatural textures grew from the truth of the characters, and this developed loads in collaboration with my producer Alysia Maciejowska and the rest of our creative team.” Hamidi’s ambition for the film is that it will help open some eyes to how grief continues to evolve over decades. “Within repressed cultures we often expect people to move on from grief, which breeds this toxicity. I hope this visceral, mouldy expression of that is ultimately cathartic for people.” @MazzHamidi on Twitter
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Sean Lìonadh on Too Rough
Cat Bruce on Dùsgadh
loosely on the Highland fairytale The Sea-Maiden and features a fearsome two-headed dragon, a plucky hunter who’s transformed into a dog and a mysterious kelpie who sends the hunter on a magical quest. The soundtrack comprises five new pieces of music, one from each of Breabach’s members, while Bruce dazzles with the animation. It’s been a fruitful partnership. “I find sound and music very helpful to visualise ideas and stories,” says Bruce. “When working in collaboration with Breabach, they have always been very open with how they approach the projects, so it feels very free. With Dùsgadh, we started with some folk story ideas, based around — 43 —
seanlionadh.com
Too Rough
themes of awakening, then the band came up with some music based on the story chapters and I responded to this in the animation.” This isn’t the first time Bruce has dabbled in folklore. Her ECA graduation film The Golden Bird was a Brothers Grimm adaptation. “I see fairytales as malleable structures to build new stories Dùsgadh upon,” she says. “The nature of them is to change through each telling.” Dùsgadh feels even more embedded in the fairytale realm thanks to its form. Constructed in the black cardboard silhouette, it instantly calls to mind the great German animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger (The Adventures of Prince Achmed). Homage wasn’t the only reason for using this technique. “In some ways I used it because of the connotations with Lotte Reiniger films, but I decided on that style because of the way the simpler forms leave space for imagination. The less detail in the image, the more the viewer’s mind can fill in the blanks.” catbruce.co.uk
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As one of Scotland’s most talented young stopmotion animators, Cat Bruce has forged a career bringing inanimate objects to life. But that wasn’t always the plan. She rocked up at Edinburgh College of Art intending to study the more static art of sculpture, but switched degrees after getting a taste for animation in first year. “I completely fell in love with it,” she tells us. “I really enjoyed the process of expressing ideas and telling stories through moving images.” And what images. In No Place Like Home and The Golden Bird, Bruce utilises gorgeously tactile models and puppets while films like Vincent Black Lightning and her beguiling new film Dùsgadh see her work in a black and white cut-out style. Animation tends to be a fastidious and exacting business, but in Bruce’s hands there’s a thrilling freedom to the work. “Messy” and “haphazard” are the first two words Bruce reaches for when describing her work. “I am aiming to be precise, but at the same time I lose patience. It becomes like a casserole I have made with whatever is in the kitchen and I will never remember the recipe for.” Dùsgadh’s stew was cooked up by Bruce and folk band Breabach over lockdown. It’s based very
and Arnold’s work, we have both the beautiful, European, 4:3 cinematic qualities, and also the widescreen, open plain sensation of Hollywood. These women are courageous and go to some of the darkest places I’ve seen. I would love to follow in their footsteps.”
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When we catch up with filmmaker and poet Sean Lìonadh, he’s fresh from a trip to SXSW in Austin, where his new short Too Rough was making its international debut. “During my first screening, an ‘Amber Alert’ went off and we were all texted by the government to tell us a child had been kidnapped,” he recalls. “Everyone seemed unfazed by it, like it was a common occurrence…” That wasn’t the only culture shock. “During the film itself, I felt there were some jokes where the audience may have felt they weren’t allowed to laugh. In Scotland, people were roaring. I think our humour is a lot darker. Despite that, I could hear a lot of sniffling, so the emotion seems to be viscerally universal.” It’s no wonder emotions cut through. Too Rough is raw and visceral, particularly for any queer person with vivid memories of the closet. It sees Nick, a gay teen still uneasy in his sexuality, wake up in horror after a night of partying when he realises he’s brought his boyfriend home to his single bed under the roof he shares with his highly dysfunctional and blatantly homophobic parents. Lìonadh delved into similar themes of shame and homophobia in previous works like Time to Love. It’s clearly a subject he’s compelled to explore in his poetry and through cinema. “Shame has unfortunately been the experience of the LGBTQ community for centuries,” he
says. “That makes it sound like a collective experience, but when you’re in it, it feels like you’re the only person who has ever felt like that. I’ve been trying to understand it for so long now, and the best way I can do that is through making it visible. Visibility is the antithesis of shame – because we hold others to a completely different standard than we hold ourselves. When we are ashamed of ourselves, it feels right in some way. When we see others ashamed, we suddenly recognise something is very wrong. That empathy frees us, makes us caring, makes us soft. I really want my work to invite people to soften.” It’s no surprise Too Rough has been a success in America and at home: both cultures’ cinema sensibilities are present in his work. He’s particularly influenced by two directors: Lynne Ramsay and Andrea Arnold. “I’m so inspired by both of those female filmmakers – they can manage the huge and the minuscule. In Ramsay
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Razan Madhoon on Go Home Razan Madhoon’s route to filmmaking was a circuitous one. “Back home in Gaza I did a degree in journalism and I worked as a TV reporter and programmer and directed news-led documentary films, but I have always been interested in directing fiction.” After winning a Chevening international scholarship, she moved from Palestine to Scotland to begin an MA in Film Directing at the University of Edinburgh.
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Daniel Cook on The Bayview Daniel Cook is a filmmaker drawn to people on the fringes of mainstream society. He stumbled across a passion for shooting documentaries almost by accident in 2016, while studying for a Master’s at Edinburgh College of Art. “I had been out photographing a charismatic New Town resident called Graham Croan Bee,” Cook recalls. “I also happened to take some video on my DSLR as a bit of an experiment. When I presented my work to the tutors they were totally into the video, and I made this footage into my first short documentary. From then on I’ve been persevering with lots of different documentary film ideas around Scotland.” He cites “slow documentaries” such as Gianfranco Rosi’s Sacro GRA among his influences, as well as the great Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang, who’s known for his long, static shots filled with rich visual details and seriocomical surrealism. You see shades of both in Cook’s elegant observational doc The Bayview, which takes us inside a ramshackle guest house in Macduff, a small fishing village in the northeast of Scotland, that’s become a refuge for an international collection of fisherman seeking some semblance of a home away from home. The heart of the film is American ex-pat Susie, The Bayview’s gregarious proprietor who’s become a mother figure to the dozens of itinerant workers, from Eastern Europe to The Philippines to Ghana, who wash up on Macduff’s docks along with the catch of the day. Cook patiently observes
Go Home is Madhoon’s professional debut and takes us inside the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the UK Home Office. “It has been an idea on my mind since I claimed asylum in the UK in 2017,” she says. “I claimed asylum to be able to stay in the UK and went through the tough and bureauGo Home cratic asylum process myself. The film is my own observations of the immigration centre and the people I met there – either the officers who worked there or the other asylum seekers who were waiting for hours for their interviews.” As you would expect from a film by a former journalist, Go Home is rich in detail and feels deeply authentic in its depiction of the UK’s dehumanising asylum process. Raw, realist films are the work to which Madhoon says she’s naturally drawn. “I like to be truthful to reality and close to the characters I’m portraying in my films. That’s why I appreciate realism in cinema and the documentarylike approach, like what we see in the films of the
the pop-up community that’s formed around Susie and The Bayview. Another key character in the film is Matt, Susie’s adopted son, who’s Tongan. “I had always liked the idea of hanging the film around Susie’s matriarchal personality,” says Cook. “There’s a nice synergy about all these characters when they are in a room together. Particularly Susie’s love for Matt as well as the younger men coming off the boats; they are like an extended family. I thought Matt’s uncertainty about The Bayview’s future acted as a bit of an allegory in parallel to the lives of the fishermen, who have precarious futures working in these uncertain times.” The film appears to take place across a single day, but in reality Cook had to spend a significant amount of time at The Bayview for its residents to get fully on board with what he was trying to achieve. “It was important that the people involved trusted me, felt respected and were happy with the arrangements,” he says. “I have lots of footage where people felt awkward or tried to break the silence by acknowledging my presence. But eventually, with time, I became good friends with those involved and they were able to relax in front of the camera.” Cook says his aim was to take us on an intriguing journey into the lives of others that — 44 —
Dardenne brothers, Claire Denis and Andrea Arnold. It’s an authentic and honest representation of the realities of the people and their experiences.” What makes Go Home so powerful is the fine-grained performances Madhoon has elicited from her faultless cast, and the riveting parallel editing structure she employs. Throughout the film, action intermittently switches between the experience of a young Palestinian woman trying to claim asylum in the UK and the point-of-view of a Polish asylum officer who’s encouraged by her hard-nosed boss to reject genuine asylum claims. Madhoon herself was interviewed by a female asylum officer who had a foreign accent. “I kept thinking, ‘we are alike, we both want a home accepting us as we are both challenged by the same political system and its hostile policies towards foreigners.’” The parallel story lets the film speak to every immigrant who has made the UK their home but is still faced with a government set on alienating them. “We are all in the same boat no matter what our backgrounds are.” We ask what she hopes UK-born audiences will take away from Go Home. “More sympathy and understanding of refugees and immigrants’ need for home, freedom, and acceptance,” she says. You’d be a callous person to come out of Madhoon’s deeply empathetic film with any other notion. razanmadhoon.com
The Bayview
people don’t necessarily know exist. “This is a traditional Scottish fishing village where locals have contrasting views about welcoming much needed migrant fishermen into the fold. So it’s a great thing to see Susie’s and Matt’s solidarity with the fishermen and their work within the community when times are hard and kindness much needed.” danielcook.co Bahar, Too Rough, Dùsgadh, Go Home and The Bayview screened at Glasgow Short Film Festival glasgowshort.org
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THE SKINNY
Online Postgraduate Open Day, 5 May 2022 Join us online to find out how postgraduate study at QMU can help you achieve your career goals.
You will be able to speak to staff from the majority* of our postgraduate courses and learn more about our career-focused courses in the areas of: · Management (inc. Gastronomy) · Culture and creativity · Education · Health · Media, communication and PR · Occupational and Arts Therapies
Flexible study options that fit around your existing commitments: full-time, part-time, online, single module study. *Check our website for the courses taking part and to view the event timetable.
April 2022
Take the first step towards a more fulfilling career and register now at: www.qmu.ac.uk/the-skinny or just search: “QMU PG Events”
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THE SKINNY
I like to be in Ibero-America IberoDocs returns with a hybrid edition featuring in-person events in Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as online screenings across the UK. As usual, expect a sharply-curated selection of documentary from Spanish, Portuguese and Latin-American filmmakers
Ana. Untitled
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violence, class struggles and marginalisation in Seville, where the director and animator is based. Huertas is set to participate in a live Q&A during the festival, and will lead a free animation workshop prior to her film’s screening at Edinburgh’s Banshee Labyrinth on 8 April; a Glasgow screening, minus a workshop, takes place at the CCA on 9 April. Additional feature films on offer include António Aleixo’s Spread Through Inland (Filmhouse, 9 Apr), a Portuguese documentary about the Terras da Chanfana area, as framed through the eyes of musician Tiago Pereira and geographer Álvaro Domingues; Aleixo is down to participate in a Q&A after the film. Musicians have additional presence at the festival through No somos nada (Banshee Labyrinth, 8 Apr; CCA, 9 Apr). Javier Corcuera’s documentary shines a light on legendary punk rock band La Polla Records, returning to bid a farewell to fans. As a means of celebrating the band’s final tour, singer Evaristo Páramos revives 40 years of history from his hometown in the Basque Country. Following the film and a Q&A with Corcuera at Banshee Labyrinth’s Friday screening will be a party, which will be in the spirit of the celebrations and music audiences have just spent time with. Away from features, the short film programme – playing 8 April at Filmhouse and 9 April at CCA, before heading online from 11 April – offers a lineup curated by Edinburgh-based Spanish filmmakers Inma de Reyes and Nelisa Alcalde. The selections bear connections to the pair’s own short Isabel’s Independence, which also plays in the programme and follows a Spaniard migrating to Edinburgh for new opportunities. Among the other highlights in this shorts programme is the UK premiere of recent Goya Award-nominee Extra, which takes us into the world of a film and television extra. And speaking of extras, there’s one final bonus for this festival celebrating a return to in-person participation: a series of free, informal ‘Movie Gatherings’ in Edinburgh and Glasgow, where attendees can get together to discuss the films and themes of the exciting lineup.
IberoDocs runs 6-10 April in-person in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and 11-17 April online Full programme details and tickets at iberodocs.org
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s with basically every UK arts festival in the first five months of 2021, the eighth edition of IberoDocs – Scotland’s main showcase for documentary works from Spanish, Portuguese and Latin-American filmmakers – went fully online in light of lockdowns. For the ninth edition, in-person events in Edinburgh and Glasgow are back on the cards, but lessons from last time haven’t been completely abandoned. Between 6 and 10 April there will be screenings at those cities’ participating venues, while between 11 and 17 April a selection of the festival programme will move online and be available across the UK. There’ll be one online-exclusive in the form of Bolingo. The Forest of Love – a documentary exploring the journey undertaken by women migrants from the heart of Africa to northern Morocco, searching for the ‘European dream’. Additional accessibility will also come via a number of post-film Q&As featuring BSL interpretation. IberoDocs’ programming tends to focus on a particular theme each year. Last year’s instalment saw ‘Art as a Need’ as the driving force, with documentaries challenging stereotypes concerning artists. In 2022, the festival programming is dedicated to territory, belonging and migrations, themes reported to be close to the hearts of the IberoDocs team. Representing the Beyond Docs strand, which showcases films blurring fiction and nonfiction, the festival will open with director Neus Ballús’ The Odd-Job Men at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse on 6 April. It’s described as a comedy following a young Moroccan plumber who’s navigating a hectic probationary week in a new job, where the colleagues are just as eccentric as the customers. Also repping Beyond Docs is Lucia Murat’s Ana. Untitled (Glasgow Film Theatre, 10 Apr), a road movie exploring letters exchanged between female Latin-American visual artists in the 1970s and 1980s. The director of the aforementioned Bolingo, Andalusian filmmaker Alejandro Salgado, has a second film at IberoDocs this year. Barzakh screens at both Filmhouse and GFT on 7 April, with an online screening window to follow later. The title references the Islamic culture term for the liminal realm between physical death and the afterlife, and the film evokes that same sense of indeterminacy, telling the story of young, undocumented Moroccan boys waiting and hoping to make their way across Europe from the coastline of Melilla. Experimental enthusiasts should seek out Rocío Huertas’ La Alameda 2018, which looks at the history of economic
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Words: Josh Slater-Williams
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Where’s all the art gone in Glasgow? Art
Art event listings in Glasgow have been decreasing for a while. Why? What’s happening on the ground, and what does this mean for art activity as a whole in the city? Eight of the city’s most active artists, curators and organisers share their insights Interviews: Adam Benmakhlouf
“Maybe the city’s butting into this conversation... people are still making shit happen” and beyond to find a place where they’re not going to get kicked out whenever the property bubble has swollen enough for the landlord to decide to sell up. Shout out to all the new Paisley residents. This isn’t the only time the subject of property comes up. Glasgow Women’s Library cofounder Adele Patrick mentions the serious effects for the city’s DIY art scene of the transfer of the council’s properties to City Property Glasgow LLP and the subsequent requirement that market rent would be demanded for previously publicly held buildings and shop fronts. “How many creative epiphanies, connections, moments of insight and passion have been fomented in visiting each other’s spaces? [They were] ramshackle but exciting. Glasgow Women’s Library could not have started now.” For Patrick, this is an example of the absence of working knowhow within the Council on what a cultural scene needs to thrive, and part of an extended 30-year period of negligence in relation to arts in the city. “We have to say it’s a failed leadership at work here. And the fact that the political and cultural guardians have not reflected on what gave rise to that sense of blossoming and flourishing. A particular stressor has been this resistance to developing cultural literacy within the council. Where there are councillors – they might be well-meaning and lovely – unless there are people who are deeply knowledgeable about culture and the arts and deeply aware of what’s happening in the world, deeply committed to the city, it’s going nowhere.” Alongside city politics, insidious changes to immigration regulations for international students are cited as another stressor on the artist network in the city. Francis McKee is Director of the Centre of Contemporary Art and a tutor and research fellow at Glasgow School of Art. He describes the “brilliant networks of students who have studied here from all around the world. They love Glasgow — 48 —
and they have friends here… They want to give something to the city, it’s not like they’re going to make a fortune from staying in Glasgow [and working] in the art scene. It’s this unbelievable gift they keep on offering.” They’re forced to leave: an extension of the same system that prides itself on making a ‘hostile environment’. Also working in the Glasgow School of Art, artist and lecturer Marianne Greated teaches on the Painting and Printmaking course. Greated embeds (and this is speaking from firsthand experience) an ethic of cooperation throughout her teaching, and she encourages students not just to feel excited about their own work but also each other’s. Greated tells the story of what’s been happening since COVID restrictions have been relaxed in the previous months. “We have had so many pop-up student exhibitions, there has been absolutely loads.” Greated admits that she’s genuinely “not sure if this is followed through in the sector more widely.” Nevertheless, when it Image: Courtesy of the artist
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hat’s happening in Glasgow’ is the subject of the email that comes through from Rosamund, the Editorin-Chief. Listings for Art have been gradually shrinking since pre-COVID times, and they’ve not bounced back in the same way as the other sections. More galleries are closing than opening, and as much as the grassroots arts culture in Glasgow is often paid lip service, how stable a foundation is this for the city’s art activity? Eight interviewees have been brought together here to look for some answers to this broad and lowkey dreadful question: where’s the art activity gone in Glasgow? Poet, educator and artist Robert Thomas James Mills was last on these pages as he rowed down the Clyde for Glasgow International 2018. He suggested we meet in Ushi’s Coffee Corner, the brand new “and only DIY queer vegan filter coffee spot in G2 (or the UK for that matter).” He admits he didn’t plan to go to this place deliberately, but that it’s a topical setting. “Coincidentally, this feels like a space where we would have done events.” Maybe the city’s butting into this conversation. New spaces are opening, people are still making shit happen. Speaking about the idea of the ‘just do it’ DIY attitude, Mills says: “I’m for people getting paid. I come from a working-class background. People can say they’re working class if they want, I’m not here to gatekeep that but I will have my private opinion.” Same. “If someone says ‘I’m doing an event tomorrow, do you want to come along slash help out slash play at it?’ No, because from 1pm 'til 4pm I’m going to have my youth work job then from 5pm 'til 12am I’m going to my restaurant job. Unless you give me three weeks notice, and unless you pay me, I’m going to lose money.” As well as money being tighter than ever, there are also issues of distance. “Not everyone’s a five-minute walk from the West End anymore. People are on social media less and everyone’s dispersed. Where are the community notice boards? There are so many spam emails and newsletters. If I didn’t bump into that person or someone didn’t come into my work and get a coffee [and happen to ask] ‘Are you going along tonight …?’ I wouldn’t know what was on.” Memo: check The Skinny. But still, the point stands. Rent hikes have meant people are shifting all around the city
Rob Miller
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Image: Courtesy of the artist
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“Glasgow Women’s Library could not have started now” Adele Patrick, Glasgow Women's Library
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comes to the students, they are “just desperate to do live events, and get that experience and have a live audience. It’s been really busy, there’s been tonnes of stuff going on.” This seems to hold true for 2020 GSA graduate Robert McCormack. Since he graduated without a degree show, he’s been running events and exhibitions – whether he’s in them or not – whenever and however COVID regulations allow, including a cross-city multi-venue Alt Degree Show, the Graduate Drive Thru exhibition for him and his peers on the rooftop of a carpark, and group shows in Transmission and CCA. For McCormack, the idea that there’s been a downtick in art in the city doesn’t match onto his last couple of years, but the experience has been intense. “For the car park we got ourselves paid, not by the art school [who funded most of the shows McCormack mentions] but by a different funder. Not very much and definitely not enough, but I think we would have lost our shit early on if we weren’t being paid. For the CCA one and the
Transmission, we weren’t being paid… I work five days a week in a care job at the moment. So I was going to the school [where McCormack works], coming home, going on my laptop, making food, going on my laptop, going to bed and doing it again.” To manage to pull the car park show together, McCormack had to leave one job and start another one and time it so the show was in the middle. McCormack mentions how the people he worked closest with have also felt some severe effects of burnout since that time. “Now I’ve had to say no to a few projects.” While graduate group shows might traditionally be one sign of an active art scene, another less-visible indication of continuing artistic activity in the city is brought up by Director of The Common Guild Katrina Brown. “There are waiting lists for studios… and there are new studios cropping up. [I visited] Strangefield Space on French Street in Dalmarnock and there were ten to 12 people in a space there. I’d never been there before, and it only opened during the pandemic time. There is a long waiting list at Glasgow Sculpture Studios, too.” This idea comes up again that artistic activity is going on even if not in the form of public-facing shows and events. Visual artist, teacher and researcher Ashanti Harris describes some of her work as co-lead artist for Project X – “a creative education programme, platforming the dances of the African diaspora.” Harris says that through the pandemic, Project X have been doing several projects. “They’ve been less outward, we’ve been in conversation with the artists we work with about
what they want. At the start of the year, we were talking to artists who normally teach for Project X about what they need to continue their teaching practice and… the artists we were working with were saying they wanted more time and support to figure out what they’re doing and what they’re working on… But what Graduate Drive Thru , Robert McCormack actually happened was when we created the time and space for people… all everyone wanted to do was to create events and performances and put them in the world. So people ended up putting on film screenings of what they’ve been doing, and sharings… It’s a rocky road; what you think you need one week might be completely different to what you need the next.” This experience of the last two years has led to new ways of structuring ways of working with artists for Harris at Project X. “If anything, what we’ve taken forward in how we’re going to work collaboratively or collectively with others [is that] we need to form projects and activities that are really flexible to change. Every project doesn’t necessarily have a public expectation, but always having a pot for a public outcome if that feels appropriate in the moment.” All eight interviewees are generous with their time, including artist Danny Pagarani who cycles over to my place on a Sunday morning because I’m looking after a nervous greyhound. Maybe because we’re in my living room, I can admit when it comes to this enquiry I’m not just an observer. I could have featured more events, I could have commissioned more reviews of what’s been going on in Glasgow during the last seven years that I’ve been running the Art section. This is my last article as Art Editor, so the balance sheet is final: have I done enough to platform all the tireless efforts that go into making Glasgow a place I like living? “No,” Pagarani answers. “But also yes. ‘Not enough’ from each person… together that’s hopefully enough.”
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The Glasgow Musical Theatre-makers Cora Bissett and Douglas Maxwell have joined forces with songwriters Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly, and the National Theatre of Scotland, to transform Peter Mullan’s cult film into a stage musical
Image: Peter Dibdin
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“The question in a musical is always, why are they singing? Why would they sing? Because they can’t say any of these things”
separately around Glasgow, each experiencing one long dark night of the soul before their mother’s funeral. As a sardonic, occasionally bleak black comedy with a 90s kitchen sink drama vibe, it doesn’t superficially scream ‘musical.’ But one of Bissett’s greatest talents is her Cora Bissett creative foresight – as with Room, she was able to envision exactly how the raw material in Orphans could translate showtime!” Mullan, fantastically into song. “It’s a gift to make this a however, was very musical because you’ve got four characters who open-minded. “I put my cards on the table and are all quite emotionally repressed,” she says. “It’s tried to explain why I thought it was a good idea,” a loving family, but the men especially have that Bissett says. “He created a bulletproof structure, classic west coast inability to share that they love with such a good spine for songs and dance each other. That gives you fantastic licence in a sequences to come into it. I also think it’s a musical. The question in a musical is always, why brilliant, Scottish piece of work that is slightly are they singing? Why would they sing? Because undersung [in this country] – it has a cult followthey can’t say any of these things.” ing, but I think it should be one of those Scottish What’s more, Orphans is full of self-confilms we all know about. I think he could feel my tained, epic moments – the moment when John passion for it and knew that I had a real vision for it. He also liked the boldness of going musical with screams on the street, the moment when Thomas it. He said, ‘I love a musical, my maw loved ‘em.’ He sobs during karaoke, the moment when the storm blows off the roof of the cathedral – that seem got it.” almost made for musical numbers. Bissett and Someone who needed a little more convincMaxwell found the natural ‘gaps’ for songs, while ing was playwright Douglas Maxwell, who Bissett maintaining the story’s Glaswegian spirit and approached to adapt the script shortly after essential ‘Orphan-ness.’ The first “big massive recruiting songwriters Roddy Hart and Tommy choral song”, developed from an early scene in the Reilly to write the music. When they met in a cafe, film when an exhilarated new father espouses Maxwell wasn’t sure but was swayed by Bissett’s positivity in a pub bathroom, is called Every Cunt vision and what he calls her “Cora-ness”. “I mean, Should Love Every Cunt. “If we get the authenticity Cora was a bit like one of those people out of right, and we’re loyal to it – and there’s not a bit of Ocean’s Eleven with this,” he says proudly. us going ‘oh god, what will our London audience “Putting a team together, and everyone she went to see was like ‘ooh, I don’t know’.” Maxwell wasn’t think, or an audience in New York’ – then there will be some universality in it,” reasons Maxwell. fully won over though until he met with Hart and Bissett agrees. “You look at musicals like Billy Reilly at St Luke’s in Glasgow. “They already had Elliot and Blood Brothers, and the specificity of some songs written, and one of them was A Storm these stories and the fact that they are so rooted Is Coming, which is in the show,” he says. “I heard in the place where they’re from gives them their it, and I thought man, this could totally work. I power,” she says. “I hope that Orphans might be wasn’t unconvinced for long. Now I’m at the point where, when John screams ‘I’m gonna kill Duncan! the big Glasgow musical.” There’s a storm coming!’ it would feel weird if he didn’t start singing.” Orphans tours Greenock, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness, Orphans follows brothers Michael, Thomas, 1-30 Apr John and their sister Sheila as they wander — 51 —
April 2022 – Feature
hen it comes to creating musicals, Cora Bissett has never played it safe. In 2011, the Fife-born theatre director came up with the idea for Glasgow Girls - an all-singing, all-dancing show inspired by the seven schoolgirls who took on the government and led a campaign against dawn raids on asylum seekers. It burst onto stages in 2012, a defiant retort to the Home Office just as their Hostile Environment Policy was coming into effect. Later, in 2017, Bissett worked with author Emma Donoghue and singer-songwriter Kathryn Joseph on an adaptation of Donoghue’s novel Room. A story about abduction and captivity might not seem like the most instinctive choice for a musical, but Bissett has a knack for turning unlikely or less obvious tales into smash hits. “We think of musicals as being a bit fluffy and glitzy, but most of the musicals that have lasted for 50 or more years are very brutal,” she explains. “You think of your Sweeney Todds and your Les Miz. It’s all about dying and death and destruction and anarchy! The emotions are just so big and raw and primal. [That’s what] everyone can relate to.” Even with her fearless track record, there was one thing about Bissett’s latest idea for a project that made her feel slightly nervous. She wanted to make a musical version of Orphans, Peter Mullan’s 1998 film about four Glaswegian siblings dealing with the death of their mother. Sitting down to pitch it to the man himself was a bit daunting. “I know Peter from way back so he wasn’t a stranger to me, but it was a pretty bold offering,” Bissett recalls. “I mean – you know that really big cult movie you did? Gonna turn it into a musical ...
Theatre
Interview: Eliza Gearty
THE SKINNY
Comedy
Self Improv-ment This month, we speak to MC Hammersmith, Scotland’s number one freestyle comedy rapper as he embarks on his first solo tour Interview: Polly Glynn Savile suggestion. I think what being on the stand-up circuit has taught me is that you own the stage and the buck stops with you... Improv is seen as a very wholesome, approachable artform full of delightful wholesome vibes, and while that’s true, a little bit of edge and establishing dominance in the first minute of the set while taking the suggestion, as any standup would do, doesn’t hurt.” Alongside his teenage love for improv, he also developed a taste for hip-hop. “When I was growing up, I loved Akala especially, and now I’m older, my favourite rappers are probably Big L, Supernatural, MC Juice, RA the Rugged Man, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane - the golden age hip-hop.” Naameh learned to rap in 12 months after setting himself and his best mate the challenge: he practised every day, while his pal forgot. To improve his skills, he listens to “East Coast rhyme dense vibes cos not only do I find it very cool, it’s good material to remember and absorb for learning rhymes.” Despite his success, Naameh suggests that improv is still maligned as part of the wider comedy landscape. For one, it’s hugely difficult to get quality press recognition: “The standard review you’ll get of improv, when it is given four stars, is ‘I thought it was a five star show, but I can’t be guaranteed it’ll be this good every night.’” He argues that acts such as TJ and Dave (“probably regarded in comedy circles in thick inverted commas as ‘the best improv show in the world’”) are clearly off the scale compared to a bunch of graduates who are only just moving into longform improv, but could receive the same write-ups. Secondly, it’s not eligible for any of the major Fringe Comedy Awards. He recalls long-running Jane Austen-themed improv, Austentatious, running into that problem when they debuted. “I remember going to that show four times and having to queue for two hours to get in... and it was incredible. There was this rumour about ‘Why has Austentatious not been nominated? It is THE breakout hit. It is the show that every single person seems to be talking about, even if you don’t like Jane Austen and improv, like most people.’” But Naameh is hopeful that change is on its way. “Give it 10 years,” he says. “I think a lot of people will be screaming for it to be eligible for things alongside clown, 'cause like Doc Brown won it for a clown show which is semi-improvised, so it’s getting there.” Photo: David Wilkinson
April 2022 – Feature
“I
used to sit and download Whose Line is it Anyway? videos off Limewire”, says Will Naameh, aka MC Hammersmith. “The first half of them would be Whose Line is it Anyway?, the second half would always be something dreadful like Spongebob Squarepants porn.” He’s been doing improvised comedy for half his life, after being introduced to it at school as a teenager. “What a waste of time,” he laughs. He’s since seen success as a Scottish Comedy Award winning solo act, and as part of Men With Coconuts and Spontaneous Potter. After moving to Edinburgh in 2010 and performing improv “that really sucked” within the tiny Scottish scene, he arrived at Second City in Chicago four years later. “It was amazing seeing a city full of tens of thousands of people that are very, very good at it with a thriving scene.” In the US and Canada, improv is almost built into the school curriculum, so audiences immediately understand the comedy format. Because of this, Naameh says, “there is a permission in places like LA, Chicago, New York or Toronto, to be experimental and do different kinds of improv because there’s an understanding that most people in the crowd will have seen it.” That said, you’d think familiarity with the form would result in audience originality. Suggestions tend to converge, regardless of where you are. “It’ll always be the same three things: spatula, pineapple and dildo. Audiences always default to those same three things here and in the States and I don’t know why.” So think of something different if you want to show off to the man. And if you reckon a controversial suggestion will get some stage-time, Naameh isn’t afraid to shut you down: “There is no need to be polite about it. I used to feel like you had to politely refuse a racist suggestion, or a Trump suggestion or a Jimmy
MC Hammersmith: 1 Man 8 Mile The Stand Edinburgh, 24 Apr, 8.30pm, £10 The Stand Glasgow, 25 Apr, 8.30pm, £10 @mc_hammersmith on Instagram and TikTok — 52 —
THE SKINNY
Comedy
April 2022 – Feature
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April 2022
THE SKINNY
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THE SKINNY
Music Now New music continues to come in thick and fast across Scotland this month – we take a closer look at releases from Jill Lorean, Swiss Portrait, Conscious Route and more Words: Tallah Brash
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Jill Lorean
Skye Records. The album is inspired by everything from our reliance on technology to groundbreaking female swimmers via Leith watering holes, and musically it’s just as diverse. With their trad influences not solely fished from the shores of Scotland, and their beats mined from disco, house, drum’n’bass and more, we’d say Yoko Pwno should be high up your agenda should you find them on a festival bill near you this summer. Shortly after The Spook School went to the moon, the band’s drummer Niall McCamley returned as a mental healthfighting superhero going by the name Squiggles. His mantra? “You are not alone. You are a Squiggle. Together we are Squiggles. Squiggles is not a band. Squiggles is a cult.” Three years on, Squiggles releases his debut EP, Look What We Have Done (2 Apr) via Alcopop! Records. Its four tracks, which race by in just over 11 minutes, take you on an upbeat, rambunctious emo romp, featuring mosh-worthy drums, grungy guitars, pleasingly discordant lead vocals and sublime backing harmonies. A common topic being explored these days in music is the climate crisis. Just last month Steg G released his urgent collaborative album Surface Pressure, while this month the latest response comes from Glasgow-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Duncan Sutherland, aka These Southern Lands, who incidentally has a PhD in Renewable Energy. By combining his musical knowhow with his knowledge of the natural environment – and working alongside talented sound artist, musician and composer Kim Moore, aka WOLF – Sutherland has created a beautiful collection of songs, which more than a few times bring to mind the indie-pop joy of US supergroup The Postal Service. But there’s more to Midnight Oil than that, as it genre-hops over the course of its ten tracks, combining warm synths with classical elements. Some parts feel like you’ve been sucked into a Broadway musical, while others bring together beautiful found sounds and ethereal ambient soundscapes, never sounding trite. The biggest release this month comes from SAY Awardwinner Kathryn Joseph, whose third album, for you who are the wronged, arrives on 22 April via Rock Action, while Glasgow’s Walt Disco release their debut, Unlearning, on 1 April via Lucky Number (read full reviews for both overleaf). Also on 1 April, West Lothian’s Megan Black releases Deadly Is the Woman, before Edinburgh-based producer Ravelston releases a six-track mix of cosmic and Balearic beats via Paradise Palms Records (8 Apr), while Glasgow-based Rebecca Vasmant releases her Dance Yourself Free EP for Record Store Day on 23 April.
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April 2022 — Review
he end of March saw new music and announcements from Gentle Sinners (James Graham and Aidan Moffat’s new band), Phillip Jon Taylor (PAWS) and AMUNDA (Bossy Love), and April is also packed to the gunnels with new releases. One of the records we’re most excited about comes from Glasgow supergroup Jill Lorean, featuring Jill O’Sullivan (Sparrow and the Workshop, BDY_PRTS), Andy Monaghan (Frightened Rabbit) and Peter Kelly (The Kills, Jonnie Common). The trio release their debut album, This Rock, on 1 April via Monaghan’s own Monohands Records label. Its ten tracks place O’Sullivan’s voice front and centre as she documents “motherhood, memory, human nature and grief to some degree”. As well as O’Sullivan’s always astounding vocals, This Rock is filled with infectious choruses and an abundance of hypnotic drums, strings, and bass and guitar lines; it is atmospheric and utterly engrossing from start to finish. Next up, Swiss Portrait is the musical project of Edinburgh-based artist Michael Kay Terence, who writes and records all of his music in his spare room, such is the DIY ethos of his practice. On 25 April he’s set to release Safe House, his latest EP as Swiss Portrait, and it is the most summer-ready collection of tunes we’ve heard in a long time – dream pop at its finest with sparkling guitars, catchy refrains, handclaps in all the right places and gorgeous vocals throughout. What’s more, there’s a softness to Kay Terence’s voice that feels as if you’re almost viewing the music through sunglasses; each song feels like a warm, hazy mid-summer afternoon. You can almost smell a sea breeze, fresh cut grass, sun cream. Safe House is the perfect soundtrack to warmer days, summer holidays, road trips with pals, trips to the beach and garden gatherings, and if the weather’s shit outside, Safe House is sure to transport you to where you’d rather be. Following the release of his collaborative Lost Routes album in 2020, Edinburgh-based rapper Conscious Route returns with another collaborative effort, this time working alongside producer Scott Bathgate to release Pyramid, which sees Conscious calling out the government, exploring life’s struggles and the highs and lows of relationships. Due for release on 7 April via True Hold Records, the EP sees Conscious and Bathgate masterfully melding classic hip-hops beats with grime, dancehall, afro-pop and electronica, with features from the likes of Sean Focus and Kryptik. From hip-hop to trad, Edinburgh party band Yoko Pwno also return this month with Part Machine (8 Apr) via Iain Copeland’s
Music
Photo: Andy Monaghan
Photo: Ben Glasgow Conscious Route and Scott Bathgate
Albums
THE SKINNY
Kae Tempest The Line Is a Curve Fiction Records, 8 Apr
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April 2022 — Review
Listen to: Salt Coast, No Prizes (ft. Lianne La Havas), More Pressure (ft. Kevin Abstract)
Confidence Man TILT Heavenly Recordings, 1 Apr rrrrr Listen to: Holiday, Push it Up, What I Like
Kae Tempest is a wordsmith of our modern times. The London musician, novelist, poet and playwright has a way with words that’s so endearing, it’s no wonder their previous albums have gained such high critical acclaim. In 2020, Tempest came out as non-binary, which they described as being a “beautiful but difficult” process. Now their latest album, The Line Is a Curve, sees Tempest at their most grounded, unashamed and unafraid yet. Collaboration is a core element to the record; features from Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten on I Saw Light to the velvety smoothness of Lianne La Havas on No Prizes give the album an added sheen. Sonically, punchy synths pair with live, acoustic setups which fluctuate the dynamic. But of course, Tempest’s lyrics are the star of the show. Their ability to produce such profound, poetic one-liners at any given moment is second to none. Pairing this with much more personal themes than they’ve ever explored before – from shame to disillusionment, love, anxiety and growth – it is both vulnerable and beautiful. Tempest fully opens up on This Line Is a Curve and it continues to blossom with every listen. [Jamie Wilde]
The Oz group’s second record, TILT, is a euphoric album that audaciously borrows from early 90s dance anthems (think Dreamer by Livin’ Joy or Gala’s Freed from Desire). It is great fun; the production expertly reproduces the sounds of a particularly interesting time for electronic music without taking itself too seriously. On Luvin U is Easy, a nostalgic familiarity is created through the dirty bassline, tinny hi-hat trills, rhythmic piano riffs and nonsensical pop clichés: ‘Don’t wait for me in heaven / Too beautiful for that / Everyday feels so, feels so real’. Throughout the album, lyrics imitate pop phraseology with the group’s classic wink and grin: ‘With a face like that you don’t need to work hard / With an ass like that you don’t need to work’, Janet Planet expertly delivers on Toy Boy via her half pop-princess, half Kardashian-Valley girl persona. Granted, Planet’s voice is a bit thin at times, and TILT is definitely missing the cool, camp interjections of Sugar Bones that were more prominent on their debut. Still, Conman has delivered yet another non-stop album that is guaranteed to raise the bar of your next party. [Niamh Carey]
Kathryn Joseph for you who are the wronged Rock Action, 22 Apr
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Listen to: of all the broken, until the truth of you, the burning of us all
Warmduscher At the Hotspot Bella Union, 1 Apr rrrrr Listen to: Fatso, Wild Flowers
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On her latest record, for you who are the wronged, Kathryn Joseph’s voice is barely above a whisper, accompanied by sparse keys and understated reverb. These lullaby-like compositions mask a quiet rage throughout, reflecting the internal discord of those who live with abuse. Joseph may be fae-like, but she doesn’t mince her words. ‘The way they make you eat the shit out of their hands’, she croons on the burning of us all, her fusion of the ethereal and corporeal finding a new potency in images of abusive love. She styles herself as a place of refuge, a friend who will lick your wounds clean, even as she harbours vengeful thoughts like ‘Makes me want to kill them’. More than just a sympathetic ear, Joseph offers herself up as a channel for the downtrodden. The refrain ‘I like it, I hate it all’ gives voice to the emotional entrapment of toxic relationships. Unleashing the album’s pent-up sorrow in the penultimate track, she cries: ‘Are you screaming out into the dark side of your insides?’ Ever the documentarian of devastating emotions, Joseph’s latest release sounds newly communal, with a sense of gathering closer those who share the same pain. [Becca Inglis]
Warmduscher welcome us back into their weird and sketchy world as expected, with the spoken-word title track from ‘Tramp-pa’ inviting all the ‘little piggies’ to the Hotspot, followed by a loungey instrumental overloaded with non-sequiturs. This album is a lot more chilled than previous efforts, due in no small part to the production of Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard and Al Doyle. This makes for a spacey, disco vibe, though there’s still time for some harder-hitting rockers. Twitchin’ in the Kitchen splits the difference with a frenetic, energised vocal and a loping, funky arrangement – complete with a schoolyard chant for a chorus. Clams Baker Jr has a few stylistic modes; sometimes he’s David Berman spouting nonsense instead of poetry, sometimes Mark ‘E’ Everett delivering noisebox irony, but you never know if you’re gonna get shithousery or a perfectly rendered bit of subversion: ‘Everybody’s laughing because they don’t want to drown in tears... of joy’. The madcap experience of Warmduscher is still probably best on the stage, but this album proves that given the time to let their ideas gestate, they can actually produce something that sounds good on the stereo, as well as the back room of a pub. [Lewis Wade]
THE SKINNY
Listen to: I Don’t Wanna Go Out, Ur Mum, Too Late Now
Listen to: Oh!, Growing Up, Remember
Listen to: Cut Your Hair, Be An Actor
Toro y Moi MAHAL Dead Oceans, 29 Apr rrrrr Listen to: Magazine, The Loop, Way Too Hot
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Seemingly inspired by the Filipino jeepney celebrated on the album’s front cover, Chaz Bear’s seventh record as Toro y Moi, MAHAL, plays out like a warm summer road trip with the radio up full blast. It leans into this vibe hard too, with regular crackles of static, crunchy dials navigating the chatter of static and the passing fog of general car noise throughout. As a result, songs dip and dive in and out of focus, smothered in a swooping filter one minute, breaking into glorious groove or melodic joy the next, like changing channels on the fly. At its best, it helps amplify the freewheeling feeling of momentum and movement but more often than not, it detracts from the quality of the tunes themselves. And the record has plenty: from the righteous 60s psych rock of opener The Medium (ft. Unknown Mortal Orchestra) to the squelchy funk of Postman, the lush grooves of Magazine (ft. Salami Rose Joe Louis) and The Loop, and the slow jam of Mississippi. It’s a smooth ride for the most part but sometimes you just wish whoever’s driving this thing would find a decent station and stick with it. [Ryan Drever]
April 2022 — Review
The Linda Lindas Growing Up Epitaph, 8 Apr rrrrr
A recent New York Times opinion headline read ‘There Are Almost Too Many Things to Worry About’. I’m 30 and I feel utterly helpless to impact those worries, living by the whims of unseen powers. Imagine being The Linda Lindas, aged between 11 and 17. On Oh!, Growing Up’s opener, the refrain goes: ‘What can I do? What can I say? Nothing changes, it’s all the same’. Bursting into public consciousness through a viral video from a performance of their brilliant Racist, Sexist Boy – included here, and retaining the same gut punch effect of their live version – they were quickly signed. Four talented youngsters from LA of Asian and Latinx descent, wearing their influences on their sleeves, have produced a light-of-foot album of fun riffs and effectively simple ideas. Channelling riot grrrl fury and the kind of catchy garage pop melodies the Pixies haven’t written since the 90s, it would take the hardest of hearts, the most cynical among us, to find this record, filled with their wants and fears, worries and wins, as anything but a joyous good time and open window into their youthful outlook on modern life and everything they face going forward. [Tony Inglis]
Walt Disco Unlearning Lucky Number, 1 Apr rrrrr
Glasgow-based six-piece Walt Disco are known to lean into the theatrics, and on their debut album, Unlearning, it feels very much like they’ve had their ears to the West End of Glasgow and their eyes on the West End of London. Never ones to conform to tradition, however, Walt Disco’s musical takes more tips from Leos Carax than it does Stephen Sondheim – even the album’s artwork feels like more than a slight nod to Carax’s 2021 rock opera Annette. And much like Annette, Unlearning is gritty, melodramatic, and a little bit batshit. The album is split into two halves, separated by the aptly-titled and suitably eerie instrumental track, The Costume Change. But as much as there’s the kind of zesty glam-rock Walt Disco do so well, there are also hints of the influence of hyperpop sprinkled throughout, from album opener Weightless, through to Hold Yourself As High As Her, and album closer If I Had a Perfect Life. Unlearning is a daring and ambitious debut from a band who aren’t afraid to take risks in order to achieve their vision, and for Walt Disco it’s a risk that’s paid off. [Nadia Younes]
Albums
Wet Leg Wet Leg Domino, 8 Apr rrrrr
For a lot of people, there reaches a point in your late 20s when you start to realise that life isn’t panning out exactly as you’d imagined when you were younger. On their debut, self-titled record, Wet Leg have captured that difficult feeling of drifting through life in early adulthood, but always with a wry smile. The Isle of Wight duo of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers take us through days spent aimlessly lounging about (Chaise Longue), evenings spent aimlessly getting high at parties (Angelica), and late nights spent aimlessly scrolling through our phones (Oh No). There’s the times that you’re desperate to get out of any and all social plans (I Don’t Wanna Go Out), and there’s the times you fantasise about just simply making it out to the shop (Supermarket). When it feels like life’s moving too fast, and that things are starting to get away from you, it doesn’t hurt to revel in the small things. Across their debut album, Wet Leg do exactly that and it makes those precious moments of nothingness feel that little bit more special. [Nadia Younes]
THE SKINNY
Scotland on Screen: Bryan M. Ferguson Film Film
We catch up with Bryan M. Ferguson, one of the most distinct voices on the Scottish short film scene, to discuss his ridiculously prolific filmmaking practice and hear about the funeral home-set coming-of-age feature he has in the works Interview: Jamie Dunn Videography (selected): Alice Glass: Love Is Violence (2022), Alice Glass: Fair Game (2021), Ross from Friends: Love Divide, Arab Strap: Here Comes Comus! (2021), Sega Bodega & Låpsley: Make U Stay (2020), The Ninth Wave: I’m Only Going to Hurt You (2020), Fish Narc: New Medication (2020), Fish Narc: So Long! (2020), Sega Bodega: U Suck (2019), Ladytron: Deadzone (2019), The Ninth Wave: This Broken Design (2019), Ladytron: The Island (2018) Filmography (selected): Red Room (2021), Insecticide (2020), Satanic Panic ‘87 (2019), Toxic Haircut (2018), Umbilical Glue (2017), Blockhead (2017), Rubber Guillotine (2016), Flamingo (2016), Caustic Gulp (2015), The Misbehaviour of Polly Paper Cut (2013), Sockets (2012)
April 2022 – Feature
bryanmferguson.co.uk i: @bryanmferguson
I
f while watching the films of Bryan M. Ferguson you come to the conclusion, ‘that’s a born director!’, you’d kinda be right. “I’m not sure if there was any sort of real defining moment that made me realise I wanted to be a filmmaker,” he tells us. “It genuinely felt like it came naturally.” From an early age he was surrounded by movies in the form of his parents’ VHS tapes that covered the shelves at home (“I’d nearly have an anxiety attack when I’d go to mates’ houses and their folks only had like seven tapes near their telly”). Not only was the collection vast, it was classy. “I’d watch Psycho, Rear Window and The Birds when I was in early primary school and just became completely compelled by how Hitchcock fucked with form in mainstream cinema. Then from there I had a real appetite for films that were unusual in narrative but also in how they were crafted.” What hits you first in a BMF joint is the aesthetic. His expressive mise en scène, vivid colour design and scrupulous framing delights the eye. Your reaction to his work’s troubling subject matter is likely to be more complicated – just ask the two burly guys who fainted during the premiere of 2016’s Flamingo, Ferguson’s sensual film that takes us into the world of self-amputation fetishists. But it’s the contrast of the pleasing form with the peccadillo content that makes his films so thrilling. “I’m naturally attracted to transgressive subject matter,” Ferguson says, when we ask how he developed his idiosyncratic style. “It’s just how my brain is wired. I get excited by the juxtaposition of things that are normal or picturesque but have a real warped undercurrent that sort of fucks an audience’s perception of even the most banal thing.” It’s an aesthetic that’s instantly distinctive but don’t be too quick to file Ferguson away in any auteurist box. When The Skinny first encountered his work in the mid-2010s, he was trading in candy-coloured, sun-scorched films like Caustic Gulp (2015), a deadpan drama about a small cult dedicated to the consumption of chlorinated water, and the aforementioned Flamingo. More playful were his micro-comedy-horrors like Rubber Guillotine (2016), about a young woman who wants to be transformed into a lime jelly, and Toxic Haircut (2018), featuring a heavy-handed barber. Since the Sam Raimi-influenced Satanic
Bryan M. Ferguson
Panic ‘87 (2019), Ferguson has been playing in a more nocturnal horror universe that persists in his most recent short Red Room. Commissioned by Edinburgh International Book Festival and based on Helen McClory’s novel Bitterhall, it’s a moody and mysterious short dripping in an atmosphere of paranoia and dread. “My early stuff was me using what I had to hand and then trying to make the best of a bad situation,” says Ferguson. “I would have a script, a million ideas of what I could do technically within the limitations I had and lean heavily into the production design to give it its own identity. I remember reading Chris Cunningham mention that his first music video was the first thing he ever made and it was like ‘learning in public’ and thats how I feel with my early work, I was learning each job behind the camera and fucking around with form and transgressive subject matter but taking it completely seriously.” Like Cunningham, Ferguson has also shown a talent for creating wildly imaginative and provocative music videos. He’s made a string of startling promos – 15 in four years – for artists like Ladytron, The Ninth Wave, and Arab Strap. His latest music vid, for Alice Glass’s Love Is Violence, is his best yet, and brings to mind the violent sexual desire that often bubbles up in Claire Denis’s work, particularly her horny vampire yarn Trouble Every Day. The next chapter in Ferguson’s history will be the feature Funeral Home. It’s still very much in development, but he can reveal it’s set in 2002 and centres on a rebellious teenage boy who’s forced to pick up some of the slack at his crumbling family-run funeral home after his father’s death. “It’s all based on my own teen years and experiences when I was a funeral director,” he says. “It’s really a coming-of-age film about death.” If you’re worried Ferguson’s shift to teen coming-of-age tale, which he says will be filled with “angst, awkward romance and a lot of dead people”, will make him go soft, forget it. “There will naturally be a change in sensibility as it’s feature length but the characters are definitely transgressive and the story goes to some very dark places,” he says. “It’s a very personal story to me with my fingerprints all over it so my wild style from my previous work will definitely be driving the visuals.” Red Room screened at Glasgow Short Film Festival
Love is Violence
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THE SKINNY
Film Happening Director: Audrey Diwan
Starring: Anamaria Vartolomei
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Happening
Benedetta Director: Paul Verhoeven
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“Your worst enemy is your body,” a nun tells a young Benedetta upon her arrival at a convent in Pescia. “Best not to feel too at home with it.” Oddly, however, Benedetta’s relationship with faith is rather bodily: while other nuns at the convent speak of miracles in the abstract, Benedetta seems to have Jesus on the spiritual 17th century equivalent of speed dial. Colloquially known as the ‘lesbian nun movie’, Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta (starring Virginie Efira in a pitch-perfect, hammy performance) is based on the true story of a nun who rises to power in her convent after a series of miraculous events mark her as Christ’s chosen bride, all while having an affair with novice nun Sister Bartolomea (a horny, wide-eyed Daphné Patakia). The film is predictably provocative
Director: Lauren Hadaway
Starring: Isabelle Fuhrman
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Elitism in rowing goes further than its entrenchment in Oxbridge and Ivy League universities – in the world of this punishing endurance sport, it’s easy for struggling rowers to convince themselves that their competitors’ bodies are simply better than theirs. For novice Alex (a powerful Isabelle Fuhrman), a freshman at an excessively brutalist mid-tier college, the solution to such performance anxieties is to push herself past all reasonable breaking points. After joining her school’s all-female rowing team, she never sees her fellow oarswomen as anything but obstacles to be vaulted over in her obsessive, relentless pursuit of being the best. Why? Debut writer-director Lauren Hadaway doesn’t sit the audience down to explain the origins of Alex’s fixations. Her actions, feverish
Benedetta
– featuring a very creative use of a Virgin Mary statuette – but alongside its wicked comedy at the expense of the church’s hypocrisy, Benedetta asks whether it’s really so hard to believe that intense religious devotion spills over into eroticism. Sister Benedetta’s telenovelaesque visions of Jesus are delightfully camp in sensibility, yet Verhoeven’s film balances overwrought hilarity with a complex exploration of truth, politics, and the subjective interpretation of God’s will. It’s left ambiguous whether Benedetta’s miracles are divinely ordained or the result of skilful design – but after all, as Benedetta reminds those who accuse her of blasphemy, God works in mysterious ways. Someone needs to do his work on this earth: why shouldn’t it be a lesbian nun? [Xuanlin Tham] Released on 15 Apr by MUBI; certificate 18
The Novice
Murina Director: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
Starring: Gracija Filipovic, Leon Lucev, Danica Curcic, Cliff Curtis
rrrrr
Julija (Gracija Filipović) is a teenage girl who lives upon an idyllic Croatian isle, diving for Muraena eels and dreaming of the world that lies beyond the horizons of island life and adolescence. Her would-be paradise is tainted by the presence of her father, Ante (Leon Lučev) – a beast of a man who spends his days barking orders and spitting insults. Julija’s mother, Nela (Danica Curcic), tries to keep the peace through appeasement and apologies, both a victim of Ante’s abuse and an enabler of it. When a rich friend of Ante’s named Javier (Cliff Curtis) swaggers into town, all three of them spy a life-changing opportunity. Ante hopes to sell his old friend some land while Nela quietly expresses hopes that a good payday and a change of
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and manic, explain her interiority, aided by a taut and operatic filmmaking style that pulls us along Alex’s descent into psychosis and self-destruction. The cuts are sharp and the sound is impactful (Hadaway was a sound editor on several Zack Snyder films) – all landing like gut punches as we powerlessly witness Alex punishing her body. The Novice isn’t just a film about obsession. It’s about abuse, of the self-inflicted variety, and how competitive ideologies can be damaging for young people who don’t have a healthy understanding of their self-worth. Audiences alien to the technical lexicon and toxic atmosphere of the sport may struggle to feel the stakes of Alex’s climb to the top. Yet it becomes clear the goal is not for Alex to row the best, but to avoid destroying herself in the process. [Rory Doherty] Released 1 Apr by Vertigo; certificate 15
Murina
scenery might soften her husband’s brutal nature, although whether she truly believes this is unclear. Julija doesn’t – one way or another, she believes that Javier can offer her with an escape route into a life of her own. Throughout the movie, Kusijanović cleverly contrasts Julija’s heavy, suffocating home life with the stillness and grace she finds while diving, allowing for some truly stunning underwater photography. Between that and the sharply-drawn psychological drama playing out on the shore, Murina announces Kusijanović as a filmmaker to be reckoned with. [Ross McIndoe] Released 8 Apr by Modern Films; certificate 15
April 2022 – Feature
Starring: Virginie Efira, Charlotte Rampling, Daphné Patakia
Released 22 Apr by Picturehouse; certificate 15
The Novice
Film
Three weeks, then seven, then twelve: in Audrey Diwan’s Happening, time is a pitiless and unrelenting thing. Its ticking clock marks the days since Annie (a remarkable Anamaria Vartolomei) had her last period, begged a doctor for help, armed herself with a knitting needle and lighter. The year is 1963 and in France abortion is illegal, but for Annie – a star pupil set on university – going without is unthinkable. There is barely a shot where Vartolomei is not in frame, and her performance – taut and sinuous and forceful – grounds Happening in the intimate trauma of patriarchal control. Yet Diwan’s film is less a character study, visceral and personal though it is, than a portrait of a universal
predicament. In fields, dorms and bars, Annie’s schoolmates whisper about men and coyly mimic sex positions, their desires a girlish fantasy until the reality of bodies and an indifferent state come crashing down; the softly suffused pastel of school life is suddenly bloodied and sweat-stained. Diwan’s camera is tight on tense young faces, crumpled underwear and splattered sheets, the film’s boxy aspect ratio near-suffocating as she soberly charts the imposed bodily risk of female desire, the impossibility of lust when so much punishment might ensue. “Agere, ago, agis, agit,” chorus Annie’s friends during Latin revision, oblivious of her plight. Yet when “agere” – to act – might mean prison, death or condemned domesticity, Happening is a harrowing reminder that such agency can never be taken for granted. [Anahit Behrooz]
THE SKINNY
Mural Matters We meet East Lothian-based textile and mural designer, Leigh Bagley Interview: Stacey Hunter
Local Heroes
Image: courtesy of the artist Trieg, Leigh Bagley
April 2022 – Feature
T
extile designer Leigh Bagley creates vibrant and dynamic wallpaper, murals and limited edition artworks for both commercial clients and the public. Following a career working as a freelance knitted textile designer, where Bagley sold designs to Calvin Klein, Levis, Nicole Farhi, and Woolmark, he now focuses on print. Blending traditional design methodologies with digital technology, Bagley creates distinctive surface patterns rich with geometric motifs and a masterful use of colour. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, the Birmingham native is now based in East Lothian and passes on his expertise to a new generation of designers in his role as lecturer at The Glasgow School of Art. In 2012 he launched The Graphic Pattern Studio to pursue his interest in abstract graphic print design. Through the studio, Bagley produced his first collection of limited edition prints and wallcoverings. His work was an instant success with leading architecture and interior design companies and is much sought-after by private clients. In a world where neutrals dominate interiors, Bagley’s mural collections are a striking way to bring vivacity and dynamism into a space. Whether for a single wall or an entire room, the bold scale of pattern and confident use of colour add energy. The mural concept is new, and has developed from a collection Bagley designed for Newmor. Standard wallpaper rolls restrict the size and scale of a pattern and also dictate that the design must repeat. The mural concept overcomes these restrictions. Each mural panel is 70cm wide and 280cm long making it suitable for most interior ceiling heights. Designs can be constructed of six separate individual panels which can be hung in any order. Customers can purchase these in twos, depending on the width of their chosen wall. “Clients looking to reinvent a space often opt for an adventurous approach and my new Calendar collection fits that bill perfectly. Since its launch six months ago, Calendar’s striking and distinctive patterns have been specified by interior designers for boutique hotels, bars, private homes and corporate spaces,” explains Bagley.
The Calendar collection is inspired by the work of iconic French product designer Jean-Pierre Vitrac. It explores imbroglio shapes which add rhythm and colour to interior spaces. Each design is based around a square tile format made up of eight individual shapes mirroring the lunar cycle and colour palettes that evoke the interior and product design of the Festival of Britain era. “Vitrac’s iconic design aesthetics are echoed throughout this collection, playful shapes and sweeping curves are juxtaposed and offset by the tile format with architectural forms and repeating shapes throughout. The collection includes five chromatic families where neutral colour backgrounds sit among warmer, brighter shades. Within each of these families, there are four complementary palettes.” Colour development is integral to Bagley’s creative process. The designer has always been interested in how people perceive colour and use it in their own environments. His prints explore interactions of colour through geometric composition, each one meticulously planned, every hue, proportion, saturation and opacity considered. Bagley’s limited edition prints are bought by collectors internationally and can be found in a range of private homes, corporate boardrooms and healthcare sectors. “I am constantly looking for inspiration from shadows on a pavement, to the built environment or a skyline; I always have a camera with me to capture anything I see that later can become a resource.” In the future Bagley would love to work on a design project or collaboration with Alessi or Marc Newson, while his design heroes are Charley Harper, Hella Jongerius, Dieter Rams Marimekko, Bridget Riley, and the Bouroullec brothers. His work can be purchased directly from his online store or via platforms such as Saatchi art, Rise Art, Artfinder and Dept.store @leighbagley leighbagley.com
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THE SKINNY
April 2022
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THE SKINNY
OUTLIER, GLASGOW The city’s hippest new bakery is a rustic, communal space filled with a constantly changing selection of treats
Words: Peter Simpson
Thu-Sat, 8am-4pm; Sun, from 10am IG: @outlier.gla
A
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April 2022 – Review
journalism, we tried a whole bunch of stuff, all of which came in at between £2 and £3. As we were leaving, a glance back at the counter revealed that two new items had come online while we were sat down, so take these tips as a general guide. That said, if there are any of the cardamom and custard buns on offer, snap them up. Sweet, light, fragrant, and covered in a crystalline wall of sugar, they’re great and very deserving of your time and subsequent sticky fingers. Good pastry – robust, flavourful and flecked with grain when you rip it apart – is a common theme at Outlier. Our broccoli and courgette galette is simultaneously crumbly and puffy, and piled up with roasted veg and a shitload of cheese. Away from the pastry, the wholemeal chocolate chip cookie is a chewy, salty treat, but soon enough we’re back at it with a many-layered and extremely crunchy rhubarb Danish. We’re huge fans of that thing that sometimes happens with good pastry where the edges and corners end up basically frying under the weight of all the butter, and that’s on display a couple of times here. The enormous plop of stewed rhubarb on the top does a noble job of balancing things out. Outlier is a great bakery, an extremely welcoming space, and an object lesson in how to make a cafe or venue feel like a home away from home. It can be chaotic, or noisy, and you can even worry that you’re
Image: courtesy of Outlier
Image: courtesy of Outlier
muted pink paint job framed by old tenement brick, and one easy-to-miss piece of signage well below eye level; from the outside, Outlier is all ready to receive its ‘understated cool’ badge. Once you get in the door at the new bakery, between the end of the Trongate and the start of the Barras, things take on a much more communal air. The space itself is a big factor. It’s decked out in warm, earthy tiles, worn concrete and festoon lights, but Outlier is currently one big room for everyone to share. There’s the counter and the coffee machine as you walk in, bread ovens on the far wall, two enormous tables staffed by bakers working on a constant rotation of sweets and savouries, and the rest of us are dotted around the room trying to work out where to look first. First thing on a Sunday morning, six weeks after its opening, the place is stowed out; folk by the window hoping the sun stays out, food nerds like us near the back, glued to the process in the back. At one point we’re watching a baker put together some enormous sausage rolls, when a toddler at the next table sticks his entire hand in his dad’s (now-cold) coffee, and a small wave of pathos catches half the room. It’s a lot like a great pub; there’s always some action going on, but there’s also a pleasant background buzz and the reassuring feeling of community. Anyway, to the counter. In the name of
Food
Image: courtesy of Outlier
38 London Road, Glasgow, G1 5NB
missing out on something (those sausage rolls!), but the sense of shared space and air of community is what we want when we head off into the world. Combine that energy with some brilliant baking, and Outlier will be getting plenty more badges and plaudits before too long.
THE SKINNY
Books
Book Reviews
Woman, Eating
Welcome to Your Life
By Claire Kohda
By Bethany Rutter
April 2022 — Review
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Homelands: The History of a Friendship
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By Chitra Ramaswamy
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Limbic By Peter Scalpello
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Move over, Twilight: there’s a new vampire in town. Lydia – daughter, art student, and as close to millennial as the ageless can be – is searching for food; yet brought up to spare humans and live off pig’s blood, her relationship to sustenance is anything but easy. Newly arrived in London as a gallery intern, broke and all out of swine, a gnawing, bewildering hunger underpins her new start. Food is everywhere and, maddeningly, nowhere. There is an obvious eating disorder analogy at work in Woman, Eating – Lydia’s mother is filled with self-loathing, teaching her daughter that unclean pig blood is all they deserve – yet Claire Kodha’s debut is fascinated not just by the psychology but by the systemic construction of want and shame. Food vlogs of sushi and hand-stretched noodles fill Lydia’s day, a wistful reminder both of her disappeared humanness and the Japanese heritage she barely knows. Through sensual, frank prose, Kodha locates gendered and generational memories in blood and skin and digestion, rendering the alienation of otherness a distinctly embodied experience. From Dracula to Interview with a Vampire, the traditional vampire novel has always used bloodlust as a cipher for a different kind of voracious hunger. Woman, Eating is a long-overdue recalibration of the genre: a brilliant, subversive inquiry into the very politics of desire and denial, and a twisted testament to the depths of female appetite. [Anahit Behrooz]
Serena Mills has had a revelation. She’s with the wrong person, and needs to do something about it immediately. The downside is that this is the morning of her wedding. Fleeing to a Harvester off the M25, it’s time to leave behind the comfort she’d settled with for years. The world of dating awaits, looking to hit a target of one a week for the next year. It’s a merry-goround of dodgy matches, and tales for friends over wine, that’s just really funny, filthy and joyful, whether hitting it off with someone at a wedding, or awkwardly ignoring Malcolm in the middle, the ultimate third wheel in an Uber Pool. Welcome to Your Life questions real happiness vs what you think you are owed, holding happiness at arms’ length in an act of self-preservation on an unforgiving internet. Instead, the revelation is not one of who to be with, but how to be with herself – that she is deserving, her body is a wonder, someone would be lucky to have her, whether that’s a one-off post-theatre shag or a longer-term deal; frankly, she’s fantastic. And she is fantastic. The whole book is. The horror of dating apps is nothing new, but there’s a breeziness to Rutter’s writing, a sweetness to her characters, a deeply funny flare that grips from the off. It’s a book brimming with joy and laughter; inhale it with ease. [Heather McDaid]
Virago, out now, £14.99
HarperCollins, 31 Mar, £14.99
Canongate, 21 Apr, £16.99
Cipher Press, 24 Mar, £10.99
virago.co.uk
harpercollins.co.uk
canongate.co.uk
cipherpress.co.uk
Homelands: The History of a Friendship is both biography and autobiography, as journalist and author Chitra Ramaswamy weaves together her own family’s story of migrating to the UK with that of her friend Henry Wuga, a man who came to Glasgow as a teenage refugee to escape the horrors of Nazi Germany. Theirs is a friendship that is simultaneously simple and complex as the extraordinary is discovered in lives that, to those on the outside, most likely seem unexceptional. At its core Homelands is about belonging – as much about people as it is place – and fortitude in the face of prejudice and persecution. It’s also a book that couldn’t be more timely – in ways no one involved could have foreseen. While it deals with the contemporary, touching upon the personal and emotional cost of Brexit, and then COVID, the reality of another war in Western Europe, with people fleeing from their homes and for their lives, raises Homelands from an interesting read to an essential one. There are few books that prove that individual stories inform shared experiences as well as this one. Chitra Ramaswamy’s and Henry Wuga’s recollections would be compelling on their own, but by bringing them together we are encouraged to look at our own family history, and compare them with those of others. Homelands rightly proffers there is more that unites than divides. [Alistair Braidwood]
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Limbic is a darkly glittering journey of queer experience, wild partying, and intimacy – both physical and emotional. Scalpello eloquently and fiercely winds their way through many stories, poetic forms, and human connections, building a collection that is at once a blistering and heart-breaking celebration of living. This collection speaks with its own, nurtured voice: Scalpello’s language is sharp and searing, their vivid poetic forms leap from the page and arrest the reader’s interest with an immediacy rarely found in a debut collection. There is a dark humour at play, too, with poems such as Don’t Really Have a Type But Please Be Masculine giving the reader a moment to punctuate their reading with a wry, empathetic laugh. Limbic dives into bleak themes: addiction, trauma, the toxicity of masculinity, stigma around HIV; Scalpello doesn’t shy away, instead writing with tender questioning and strong, blunt lines. In Sex and drugs often go hand in hand, they use extensive research into chemsex and chemsex culture to sharply hook the reader’s attention to the poem and topic; the use of footnotes encourages readers to continue research. This poem exemplifies some of Scalpello’s barest poetics, often working beautifully to create a dialogue between poetry, research, and experience. Limbic is a vital debut collection, fizzing with life and living. Scalpello shows their skill as a poet on many levels: technically, emotionally, and narratively – both the words and the poet are worth investing in. [Beth Cochrane]
THE SKINNY
Listings Looking for something to do? Well you’re in the right place! Find listings below for the month ahead across Music, Clubs, Theatre, Comedy and Art in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee. To find out how to submit listings, head to theskinny.co.uk/listings
Glasgow Music
APRIL FOOL’S SHINDIG (PIZZA CRUNCH + VELVET + STOCK MANAGER + GRACE & THE FLATBOYS)
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
Eclectic local lineup.
Tue 29 Mar
BC CAMPLIGHT (THE JOY HOTEL)
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30
Singer-songwriter from the US.
THUNDERCAT
R'n'B from Los Angeles. THE BETHS
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30
Indie pop from New Zealand.
BOB WAYNE (JASON CHARLES MILLER (GODHEAD) + STEVE GROZIER) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:00–22:30
Country rock from the US.
Wed 30 Mar
TIM DILLON: A REAL HERO O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 18:00–22:30
Stand up from the US. DAYGLOW
SWG3, 19:00–22:30
Singer-songwriter from the US. JPEGMAFIA
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
THE SELF ASSEMBLED (SAMSON SOUNDS)
THE FLYING DUCK, 19:30–22:30
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 18:00–22:30
Ska from Florida. CMAT
ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
Indie from Scotland.
Sat 02 Apr
FUTURE ISLANDS (DAN DEACON)
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Synth pop from Maryland. UNTO OTHERS
Metal from Oregon.
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00
Experimental rock ‘n’ roll from Glasgow. MATILDA MANN
Indie from London.
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Indie pop from Brooklyn RYDER THE EAGLE (ALAN POWER) THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–23:00
Pop from Paris.
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30
REMINDERS
Indie rock from England.
Sun 03 Apr
Singer-songwriter from Italy.
DAN PATLANKSY (ARIELLE)
Fri 01 Apr
Singer-songwriter from South Africa.
ERIC GALES (DANNY BRYANT)
MELTS
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:00–23:00
Pscyh rock from Dublin.
Tue 05 Apr NEWDAD
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Galway.
AGAINST THE CURRENT (YOURS TRULY + HALFLIVES) KING TUT’S, 19:30– 23:00
Pop rock from the US. DORIAN ELECTRA SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Alt pop from the US.
GROOVE ARMADA
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Electronicaa from the UK. HIRO KONE
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Synth from New York. GREYWIND
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:00–23:00
Alt rock from Ireland.
Wed 06 Apr
NOAH GUNDERSEN
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
Electronicaa from Germany. THE HUG AND PINT, 19:00–23:00
MARIO BIONDI
Rap from London.
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
WARMDUSCHER
Post-punk from London.
STORMZY
Indie folk from Seattle.
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
SWG3, 19:00–22:30
Hardcore from Canada.
ULRICH SCHNAUSS
KING TUT’S, 19:00– 22:30
Pop from Dublin.
F*CKED UP
THE OVO HYDRO, 19:00–23:00
SUNFLOWER BEAN
LESS THAN JAKE
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
THE RAMPANTS (THE SQUINTS + THE INVAINES + UNDETERMINED)
Nu-jazz from Glasgow.
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Rock from London.
Pop rock from the US.
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Thu 31 Mar ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:30
KING TUT’S, 20:30– 23:00
THE RUM SHACK, 19:30–23:00
Post-punk from London. SPECTOR
JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN
CORTO.ALTO (NOUSHY 4TET)
STILL SHADEY
THE COOL GREENHOUSE (BIKINI BODY + GLOBAL CHARMING)
Mon 04 Apr
Art rock from Manchester.
Electronicaa from Scotland.
THE KUNDALINI GENIE (MAYFLOWER MADAME + LAS ACUARELAS)
Rapper from London.
Synth pop from Birmingham.
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING
KING TUT’S, 20:30– 23:00
STEREO, 19:00–22:00
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:00–23:00
DRYGATE BREWING CO., 18:00–23:00
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30
Rapper from Brooklyn.
MOTE (DISTILLER JAMES + YOU ARE LOST BE CAREFUL)
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
DARREL HIGHAM
JACK SAVORETTI
Acoustic from England.
RETRO VIDEO CLUB KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Indie rock from Scotland. TEENAGE FANCLUB SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Alt rock from Glasgow. KILLING JOKE
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
MONO, 19:00–23:00
Rock from London.
RICK WAKEMAN & THE ENGLISH ROCK ENSEMBLE
DBY 44 (LIL PANDA + MURDERONRAVENSTRT)
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Guitar from Tennessee.
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 18:00–23:00
Rock from the UK.
OCTOBER DRIFT (LAYAWAYS + THE GLASS KEY)
KING TUT’S, 20:30– 23:00
Alt indie from Taunton.
AMS SONGWRITERS SHOWCASE SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Eclectic lineup. SAINT PHNX
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Pop rock from Glasgow. THE DUNTS
CATHOUSE, 19:00–23:00
Indie rock from Scotland.
Rockabilly from the UK.
BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00
Indie from Scotland. GECKO CLUB
THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–23:00
Indie surf rock from London.
LITTLEST CHICKEN
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
Indie from Scotland.
THESE SOUTHERN LANDS (NEURO TRASH)
THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:30–23:00
Experimental from Glasgow.
METZ
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Post-punk from London. OCEAN ALLEY
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Psych rock from Australia. VOODOO BANDITS
BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00
Indie rock from Florida. CELESTE
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Soul from the UK.
BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Art rock from Glasgow. Part of First Footing. THE UNDERCOVER HIPPY (SUPA + DA KRYPTONITES)
ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
Reggae from Scotland.
Thu 07 Apr
RETRO VIDEO CLUB KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Indie rock from Scotland.
CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:30–23:00
Jungle and rap from London.
JUNIOR BROTHER THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Singer-songwriter from Ireland.
Sun 10 Apr BASTILLE
CONOR SCOTT
ANDO GLASO COLLECTIVE (TARAFUL DIN GLASGOW)
Pop rock from England. SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Singer-songwriter from Belfast.
THE RUM SHACK, 19:00–23:00
CHARLOTTE ADIGÉRY & BOLIS PUPUL
TELLISON
Electro pop from Belgium.
Rock from London.
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Trad roma from Scotland.
Fri 08 Apr
THE SHORES (THE LATITUDE + TEMPE) KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Indie rock from Scotland. REEF
QUEEN MARGARET UNION, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Glastonbury.
TTV DISCOVERY TOUR (THE BIG DAY + PRETTY PREACHERS CLUB + AUTOBAHN 86 + UNINVITED) STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Eclectic lineup.
IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE
Singer-songwriter from the US. MCLUSKY*
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
Hardcore from Cardiff. MDOU MOCTAR
DRYGATE BREWING CO., 19:00–23:00
Desert blues from Niger. AMY DUNCAN
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Folk from Scotland. MALACHY
ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
Indie from Australia.
Mon 11 Apr BASTILLE
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
Afro-funk and electronica from London OPEN MIKE EAGLE CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–23:00
THE OVO HYDRO, 19:00–23:00
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Folk Americana from the UK.
THE JOHN RUSH BAND (THE GILHOOLY’S + THE SOLID BOND) ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
Folk pop from Glasgow.
House from London.
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Trip-hop from London. STU LARSEN
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Folk from Australia.
MADDOX JONES (ANDREW DICKSON + DER MIST)
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
Soul pop from the UK.
BELVEDERE (PMX + WOLFRIK)
Pop punk from Canada.
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Rock from the UK.
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
DECLAN WELSH & THE DECADENT WEST
Alt rock fom Philadelphia.
Indie from Glasgow.
Indie rock from Liverpool.
THE WOMBATS
KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Noise rock from Japan.
AIRPORT IMPRESSIONS
BAMBI OFS (HELENA CELLE)
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
Alt rock from Malta.
THE FLYING DUCK, 19:30–23:00
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
JOSHUA RADIN
Pop from the US.
MELT BANANA
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
RIANNE DOWNEY
Singer-songwriter from Glasgow.
Thu 14 Apr
DEVIN TOWNSEND
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Singer-songwriter from Canada.
DECLAN WELSH & THE DECADENT WEST KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Indie from Glasgow.
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
THE MISSION
Goth rock from the UK. BAMBARA
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Post-punk from Brooklyn.
Sun 17 Apr
Electronicaa exploration from Brussels. CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–23:00
Indie from the US.
WEAKENED FRIENDS
I AM KAWEHI
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Electronicaa from the US.
Wed 20 Apr
KING TUT’S, 20:30– 23:00
Indie rock from Maine.
SQUIRREL FLOWER
THE YOUNG ‘UNS
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:00–23:00
MAX COOPER
LAURA STEVENSON
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
REJJIE SNOW
Rap from Ireland.
Indie folk from Boston.
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00
LORAINE JAMES
MERRILL OSMOND
Electronicaa from London.
Folk rock from New York.
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
5 SECONDS OF SUMMER
LUNACY X DRYGATE EASTER BANK HOLIDAY PARTY (YOUNG MARCO + ELENA COLOMBI + SEBASTIAN SWARM + GORBALS NEBULA)
Electronicaa from London. THE OVO HYDRO, 19:00–23:00
Pop rock from Sydney. THE STROPPIES
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Indie pop from Melbourne.
Fri 15 Apr
DEAD SEA SOULS
Pop rock from Utah.
DRYGATE BREWING CO., 20:00–23:00
House from Scotland. ADVANCE BASE & KARIMA WALKER
Folk from Country Durham. MADISON BEER
Pop from the UK.
LEWIS WATSON (SUNFLOWER THIEVES)
KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Indie folk from Oxford. THE ACADEMIC
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Indie rock from Ireland. HOLY FUCK
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
Electronica from Canada.
Thu 21 Apr
THE PICTUREBOOKS (CELLAR DOOR MOON CROW)
PINKPANTHERESS
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Mon 18 Apr
SALEM
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
DECLAN WELSH & THE DECADENT WEST
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
SEAN NOONAN + LIGETI QUARTET
Indie from Glasgow.
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Indie pop from London.
BLIND RIVER (SKYPILOT)
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Heavy rock from the UK.
Tue 12 Apr MYSTERY JETS
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
Indie rock from London.
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
Art punk from Leeds. PROPER.
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
ALABAMA 3
SPARKS
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
Folk from Montreal.
KING TUT’S, 20:30– 23:00
EADES
MEZERG
Rap from Brooklyn.
BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00
Americana from Chicago/ Arizona.
Experimental folk from London.
NOBLE JACKS
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
BIG BRAVE (FAGELLE)
JAH WOBBLE & THE INVADERS OF THE HEART
Alt indie from Scotland.
Pop rock from England.
THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:30–23:00
DJ and producer from the UK.
MEDHANE
Sat 16 Apr
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Synth pop from Sydney.
CAMELPHAT
CATHOUSE, 19:00–23:00
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
ALEX CAMERON
Hip-hop from the US.
THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–23:00
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
ERIC NAM
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
KING TUT’S, 20:30– 23:00
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:00–23:00
ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION
Indie rock from London.
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
Sat 09 Apr
IVYNITES (BIN JUICE + JUNK PUPS)
Breakcore from France.
BAKAR
THE OVO HYDRO, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Scotland.
IGORRR
Indie from London.
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Indie from Cardiff.
Noise punk from Toronto. SIMPLE MINDS
KAWALA
Indie from New York.
Wed 13 Apr
PETER BUCK + LUKE HAINES
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
Rock from the US.
BOWLING FOR SOUP O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Pop punk from Texas. SPACEY JANE
KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Indie rock from Australia.
— 65 —
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
KHRUANGBIN (SECRET NIGHT GANG)
Psych rock from Houston. KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
MONOPHONICS
MONO, 19:00–23:00
Psychedelic soul from California.
LOUIS TOMLINSON
Pop from the UK.
THE WOMBATS
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
OKKYUNG LEE (YEONG DIE + BELA + KATZ MULK) THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:00–23:00
Experimental from South Korea. PATTERN PUSHER THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Retro pop from the UK.
TOM HARRIS TRIO (NORMAN WILLMORE) THE BLUE ARROW, 20:00–23:00
Jazz from Manchester.
YOKO PWNO (ACOLYTE + IONA Z) ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
Folktronica from Scotland.
Indie from Scotland. JAYA THE CAT
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Punk rock from Boston.
SENYAWA (FRANKIE + K.YALO)
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
THE FLYING DUCK, 19:30–23:00
Indie rock from Glasgow.
CROWDED FLAT: BEAFETS (SIXPEACE + STATIC)
HEALTH
Indie rock from Liverpool.
Folk from Glasgow.
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Witch house from the US.
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
Noise rock from LA.
SAVAGE MANSION ALBUM LAUNCH (BABE + THE BELLYBUTTONS + BAS JAN + LOST MAP DJS)
CATHOUSE, 19:00–23:00
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
CHARLIE & THE BHOYS BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Rock from the UK.
Experimental noise from Indonesia. MIKE MCKENZIE (AMIE UCKSTEP + PIPPA BLUNDELL + SHORTHOUSE) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Folk pop from Edinburgh. Part of First Footing.
Tue 19 Apr
OPEN FACE (MARY COLUMN + SIMONE ANTIGONE) BLOC+, 21:00–23:00
Indie from Scotland. JAMES BOURNE
KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Singer-songwriter from the UK. NIGHTINGALES
CATHOUSE, 19:00–23:00
Post-punk from Birmingham.
THE SHERLOCKS
Indie from Sheffield.
Fri 22 Apr AARON SMITH
KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Singer-songwriter from Polmont. LUCA WILDING
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Folk from London.
KOMPARRISON
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
Alt rock from North England. METRONOMY
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Electronica from the UK. AWKWARD FAMILY PORTRAITS
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Rockabilly from Glasgow. EVENTS RESEARCH PROGRAMME THE FLYING DUCK, 20:00–23:00
Weirdo experimental series.
April 2022 — Listings
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS (PAULINE MURRAY)
THE SKINNY SEA POWER
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Kendal. SQUIGGLES
THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:30–23:00
Indie from Glasgow.
BLONDIE (JOHNNY MARR) THE OVO HYDRO, 19:00–23:00
Rock from the US.
HELENA KAY’S KIM TRIO (PETE JOHNSTONE)
THE BLUE ARROW, 21:00–23:00
Jazz from Scotland.
Sat 23 Apr
BABY QUEEN (PHOEBE GREEN) KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Pop from London.
ARCADE STATE
SWG3, 18:30–23:00
Alt rock from Glasgow. SLEEPER
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Ireland.
MITSKI (SASAMI)
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Indie rock from the US.
COLONEL MUSTARD & THE DIJON 5
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Scotland.
NIKA SON (BARRY BURNS & OLIVER PITT DUO + MARK VERNON)
MONO, 19:00–23:00
Singer-songwriter from the US. RIDE
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Oxford.
AARON WILSON TRIO (ACRYLIC MILKS)
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
Jazz from Scotland. STILL CORNERS
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Dream pop from the US/ UK.
Wed 27 Apr JAMES TW
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
Singer-songwriter from England. THE HARA
KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Alt rock from Manchester. KAYLA PAINTER
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Electronica from Bristol.
BENNY THE BUTCHER SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Rap from New York. HONEY MOON
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00
Pop from the UK.
JAMES LINDSAY’S TORUS CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–23:00
Trad from Breabach.
Sat 30 Apr
FEEDER
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Wales.
JAMES BLAKE
Electronica from London.
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Regular Glasgow club nights
SLIME CITY
The Flying Duck
WILLIAM DUVALL
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Rock from the US.
BEIGE BANQUET (YUNG KP)
KING TUT’S, 20:30– 23:00
Nerd rock from Glasgow. THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–23:00
Weekly house and techno night for losing yourself in the beats.
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
SISTER COOKIE
The Rum Shack
SLIME CITY
Soul from the UK.
SATURDAYS (THIRD OF THE MONTH)
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Soul party feat. 60s R&B, motown, northern soul and more!
BEN MONTEITH
Sub Club
Singer-songwriter from Glasgow.
SUBCULTURE
GIRL IN RED
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
FEEDER
Post-punk and krautrock from London.
Rock from Wales.
THE RUM SHACK, 19:30–23:00
Indie rock from Norway.
STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Nerd rock from Glasgow. BEIGE BANQUET (YUNG KP)
THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–23:00
JAMIE SUTHERLAND + RICK REDBEARD
Indie folk from Scotland.
Post-punk and krautrock from London.
ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
THE RUM SHACK, 19:30–23:00
Sun 01 May
SISTER COOKIE
Soul from the UK.
JAMIE SUTHERLAND + RICK REDBEARD THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
SIMON AND OSCAR (OCEAN COLOUR SCENE)
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Solihull.
Indie folk from Scotland.
ASHLEY MCBRYDE
ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
Country from the US.
BEN MONTEITH
Singer-songwriter from Glasgow.
Sun 01 May
TUYS
KING TUT’S, 20:30– 23:00
Neo-jazz from Scotland.
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
DINOSAUR 94 (THE STREAMS + ZENDEN)
Thu 28 Apr
TUYS
Indie from Edinburgh.
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
THE BLUE ARROW, 20:00–23:00
Jazz from the UK.
ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
Sun 24 Apr RED RUM CLUB
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
Alt rock from Liverpool.
THE WHITE BUFFALO O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Country from the US. MAE MULLER
KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Pop from England. KAE TEMPEST
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Performer from England.
ON-U SOUND 40TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS SCOTLAND (TACKHEAD + MARK STEWART & THE MAFFIA + ADRIAN SHERWOOD) STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Eclectic lineup. DUA LIPA
THE OVO HYDRO, 19:00–23:00
Pop from London.
MAYBESHEWILL
DRYGATE BREWING CO., 19:00–23:00
Post-rock from Leicester. IONA LANE
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Folk from Leeds.
Mon 25 Apr JP COOPER (WORRYWORRY)
KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Singer-songwriter from England.
UNITS (HARRY WEIRS) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
CRAIG DAVID
Rapper from the UK.
PC MUSIC SHOWCASE: HANNAH DIAMOND, FELICITA & CARO <3 SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Eclectic lineup.
DAVID RAMIREZ (KIRBY BROWN)
BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00
Americana from Texas. SCOTT BRADLEE’S POSTMODERN JUKEBOX
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Pop from New York.
MOLLY NILSSON (APOSTILLE + TOWN CENTRE) STEREO, 19:00–23:00
Synth pop from Berlin. THE K’S
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
Fuzz pop from England. LITTLE MIX
THE OVO HYDRO, 19:00–23:00
Pop from the UK.
Fri 29 Apr
CHUCK RAGAN
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
Singer-songwriter from Texas. NEONWAVES
KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
Indie rock from Glasgow. DENZEL CURRY
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Rap from Florida.
DYLAN JOHN THOMAS
Indie from Scotland.
HONNE
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
Electronica from London.
THE W
Folk pop from the UK.
Tue 26 Apr
SKUNK ANANSIE
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Rock from the UK.
Indie rock from Montreal.
LARKIN POE
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Roots rock from Georgia.
THE BESNARD LAKES THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Indie rock from Montreal.
Mon 02 May BRETT ELDREDGE
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Country from the US. OMAH LAY
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Afrobeats from Nigeria. FIZZY BLOOD
Indie rock from Leeds.
Country from the US.
CHUCK RAGAN
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
Singer-songwriter from Texas. NEONWAVES
Indie rock from Glasgow. SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Rap from Florida.
DYLAN JOHN THOMAS BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
Indie from Scotland. THE WEDDING PRESENT
OMAH LAY
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
FIZZY BLOOD
BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Leeds.
Edinburgh Music Wed 30 Mar
JUST A RIDE (ROYAL BLOOM + HAZMAT)
ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
Rock from the US. GIRL IN RED
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Ska from Scotland. FATHERSON
THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–23:00
Alt rock from Scotland.
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:30
Rock from Wales.
CONSCIOUS ROUTE & SCOTT BATHGATE (MICALL PARKNSUN + NICOLA TAYLOR + KRYPTIK) SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
Metal from Italy.
Hip-hop from Edinburgh.
Fri 01 Apr
CHANGO MUNKS (ESPERANZA + BIG FAT PANDA) BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
KOKOROKO
CAROLINE
SUMMERHALL, 19:30– 23:00
Post-rock from London.
Mon 04 Apr
PAUL MENEL & THE ESSENTIALS BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
Afrobeat from London.
Prog rock from the UK.
JACK ROWBERRY
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
Singer-songwriter from East Lothian. FUTURE ISLANDS
Tue 05 Apr
MARCO MENDOZA BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–23:00
Metal from Oregon.
Sat 02 Apr
CATHOUSE FRIDAYS
Screamy, shouty, posthardcore madness to help you shake off a week of stress in true punk style. SATURDAYS
CATHOUSE SATURDAYS
Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs. SUNDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH) HELLBENT
From the fab fierce family that brought you Catty Pride comes Cathouse Rock Club’s new monthly alternative drag show. SUNDAYS (SECOND OF THE MONTH) FLASHBACK
Pop party anthems and classic cheese from DJ Nicola Walker.
SUNDAYS (THIRD OF THE MONTH) CHEERS FOR THIRD SUNDAY
DJ Kelmosh takes you through Mid-Southwestern emo, rock, new metal, nostalgia and 90s and 00s tunes.
Wed 06 Apr
THUNDERMOTHER (BETH BLADE & THE BEAUTIFUL DISASTER)
Sundays (Last of the month) SLIDE IT IN
Classic rock through the ages from DJ Nicola Walker.
The Garage Glasgow MONDAYS
BARE MONDAYS
Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers. Nice way to kick off the week, no? TUESDAYS
#TAG TUESDAYS
Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence. WEDNESDAYS
GLITTERED! WEDNESDAYS
DJ Garry Garry Garry in G2 with chart remixes, along with beer pong competitions all night.
ALABAMA 3
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–23:00
Trip-hop from London.
AMPLIFI (BEMZ, WASHINGTON, AIITEE AND CLARISSA WOODS)
Singer-songwriter from Isle of Lewis.
Hip-hop from Scotland.
BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
Indie from Cardiff.
RACHEL SERMANNI (LIZZIE REID) SUMMERHALL, 19:00– 23:00
Folk from Scotland.
Thu 07 Apr IMONOLITH
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
Sat 09 Apr
TRANSYLVANIAN CEILIDH INTERNATIONAL ROMA DAY CELEBRATION
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–23:00
Roma and folk from Scotland. TASH SULTANA
USHER HALL, 19:00– 23:00
Multi-instrumentalist from Australia.
TELLISON (NELSON SAVAGE + WAVERLEY.)
Hard rock from Canada.
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
CALUM BOWIE
SARI SCHORR
Rock from London.
Blues from the UK.
THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–23:00
THE UNDERCOVER HIPPY THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00
Singer-songwriter from Scotland.
Reggae from Scotland.
Sun 10 Apr
USHER HALL, 19:00– 23:00
THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–23:00
TTV DISCOVER TOUR (THE BIG DAY + WEB + PRETTY PREACHERS CLUB + UNINVITED)
Mon 11 Apr
GOLDFRAPP
THE BUG CLUB
Electronica from London.
Indie rock from Wales.
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
Guitar pop from Glasgow. PICTISH TRAIL (SAVAGE MANSION) SUMMERHALL, 19:00– 23:00
Psych pop from the Isle of Eigg.
Fri 08 Apr
CHARLOTTE ADIGÉRY & BOLIS PUPUL SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00
Electro pop from Belgium.
Tue 12 Apr MELT BANANA
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
Noise rock from Japan. JOHN SMITH
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00
Americana from the US.
Acoustic from England.
Scottish folk album launch.
Indie rock from New York.
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
MIDWICH CUCKOOS
THE ANTLERS
USHER HALL, 19:00– 23:00
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–23:00
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–23:00
RIANNE DOWNEY
KAWALA
Wed 13 Apr
Heavy metal from the UK.
Indie from London.
JAMES MORRISON
USHER HALL, 19:00– 23:00
Singer-songwriter from England.
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
Punk from the UK. STANLEY ODD
SUMMERHALL, 19:30– 23:00
Hip-hop from Scotland.
Indie rock from Norway.
— 66 —
Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore. SATURDAYS
I LOVE GARAGE
Garage by name, but not by musical nature. DJ Darren Donnelly carousels through chart, dance and classics, the Desperados bar is filled with funk, G2 keeps things urban and the Attic gets all indie on you. SUNDAYS SESH
Twister, beer pong and DJ Ciar McKinley on the ones and twos, serving up chart and remixes through the night.
Ross MacMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey.
ROSIE H SULLIVAN
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–23:00
FRESH BEAT
ELEMENT
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
Rock ‘n’ roll from the UK.
FRIDAYS
THURSDAYS
FERGUS MCCREADIE TRIO
Singer-songwriter from Glasgow.
FURY (DAKESIS)
FRIDAYS
JACK SAVORETTI
Rock from the US.
Synth pop from Maryland.
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
WARNER E. HODGES BAND
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–23:00
TEMPERANCE (ALIA TEMPORA + CONTROL THE STORM + COLLIBUS)
UNTO OTHERS
KING TUT’S, 20:30– 23:00
LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–23:00
THE ALARM
Thu 31 Mar
Sat 30 Apr
WILLIAM DUVALL
PORK PIE (BIG FAT PANDA)
Rock from Tennessee.
Singer-songwriter from Italy.
USHER HALL, 19:00– 23:00
Electronica from London.
Rock from Plymouth.
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
Indie from Falkirk.
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Rockabilly from the UK.
MARIO BIONDI
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–23:00
THE BALUGAS (DISTANT IMAGES + DEMO + DALE)
THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–23:00
Sun 03 Apr
THE W
Jazz from London
DARREL HIGHAM & THE ENFORCERS (CUTTIN’ A RUG + THE THREE ‘N’ EIGHTS + BED BAD INFLUENCE)
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:30
Ska punk from Edinburgh.
CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–23:00
DJ Jonny soundtracks your Wednesday with all the best pop-punk, rock and hip-hop.
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00
Afrobeats from Nigeria.
ST LUKE’S, 19:00–23:00
Indie rock from Leeds.
CATHOUSE WEDNESDAYS
STRANGE AND CHARM
Fri 29 Apr
THE BALUGAS (DISTANT IMAGES + DEMO + DALE)
Indie from Falkirk.
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:30
Rock from Leeds.
JAMES BLAKE
ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
BRETT ELDREDGE
BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00
CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–23:00
Jazz from London
Mon 02 May
Grunge from Nottingham.
DENZEL CURRY
New Wave from France.
THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–23:00
Country from the US.
Rap from Glasgow.
ROOM 2, 19:00–23:00
THE WEDDING PRESENT
JANET DEVLIN
THE BESNARD LAKES
LIL K£LLY
BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 23:00
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
ASHLEY MCBRYDE
KING TUT’S, 20:00– 23:00
VOX LOW (YELLOW BRAIN) NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:00–23:00
SWG3, 19:00–23:00
Indie pop from Luxembourg.
Cathouse
Cathouse's Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.
LARKIN POE
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
KING TUT’S, 20:30– 23:00
Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic, oft' joined by a carousel of super fresh guests.
UNHOLY
Roots rock from Georgia.
THE FIGIRO JAZZ TRIO
Pop from the UK.
SATURDAYS
THURSDAYS
Rock from Solihull.
Electronica from Germany.
THE OVO HYDRO, 19:00–23:00
MOJO WORKIN’
WEDNESDAYS
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–23:00
Indie pop from Luxembourg.
LITTLE MIX
SUNDAYS
GOLDEN DAYS
SIMON AND OSCAR (OCEAN COLOUR SCENE)
THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 20:00–23:00
April 2022 — Listings
KRISTIN HERSH
Thu 14 Apr MORASS OF MOLASSES
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
Blues rock from Reading. INDIA ELECTRIC CO. THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00
Folk rock from Devon.
BAMBARA (DEEP TAN) SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
Post-punk from Brooklyn.
Fri 15 Apr
JAH WOBBLE AND THE INVADERS OF THE HEART THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–23:00
Rock from the UK.
BAMBARA (DEEP TAN) SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
Post-punk from Brooklyn. BAD MANNERS
LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–23:00
Ska from England.
Sat 16 Apr KEV RIDDLE’S BAPHOMET
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
Heavy metal from the UK. THE RAH’S (ARCADE STATE + DICTATOR)
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
Indie rock from Scotland. BOMBSKARE
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–23:00
Ska from Scotland.
ADVANCE BASE & KARIMA WALKER (FAITH ELIOTT) SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
Americana from Chicago/ Arizona.
STINA MARIE CLAIRE (KATHERINE ALY) SUMMERHALL, 19:30– 23:00
Bedroom pop from Scotland. WRAUCCES
THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–23:00
Indie rock from Edinburgh.
Sun 17 Apr
THE WAR ON DRUGS
O2 ACADEMY EDINBURGH, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Philadelphia.
THE SKINNY
SAVAGE MANSION SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
Indie rock from Glasgow. WET LEG
THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–23:00
Indie rock from the Isle of Wight.
Mon 18 Apr
THE WAR ON DRUGS
O2 ACADEMY EDINBURGH, 19:00–23:00
KING KHAN AND THE SHRINES THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00
Psych soul from Berlin. FOALS
USHER HALL, 19:00– 23:00
Rock from Oxford. THE NATVRAL
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
Indie folk from New Jersey.
Rock from Philadelphia.
Thu 21 Apr
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
LAZY HABITS
Hip-hop from London.
Tue 19 Apr
GINGER WILDHEART BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
Rock from England.
RETRO VIDEO CLUB THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–23:00
Indie rock from Scotland. THE LARKINS
LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–23:00
Indie pop from Manchester. YOKO PWNO
THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–23:00
Folktronica from Scotland.
Sun 24 Apr
GENE LOVES JEZEBEL
NICK LOWE IN CONCERT
Rock from the UK.
Rock from London.
LAU: UNPLUGGED FOALS
USHER HALL, 19:00– 23:00
Rock from Oxford.
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–23:00
THE GODFATHERS THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00
Rock from the UK.
Mon 25 Apr
CATFISH
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–23:00
Blues from the UK.
THE ACADEMIC (LAUREN HIBBERD)
Alt rock from Liverpool.
Indie rock from Ireland.
Indie rock from London.
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
THE LONGEST JOHNS
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
Folk from Bristol.
Wed 20 Apr
THUNDERFUCK & THE DEADLY ROMANTICS BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
Rock from Canada.
PORTER ROBINSON
O2 ACADEMY EDINBURGH, 19:00–23:00
DJ and producer from the US.
Folk from Scotland.
RED RUM CLUB
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
MYSTERY JETS
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
ORAN MOR, 19:00–23:00
GWENIFER RAYMOND
Tue 26 Apr
SUMMERHALL, 19:30– 23:00
MYSTERY JETS
Folk from Wales.
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
Fri 22 Apr
HONEY MOON
THE KATUNS
THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–23:00
Indie from Scotland.
Sat 23 Apr
Indie rock from London. SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
Pop from the UK.
Wed 27 Apr
TWISTER
FALLING DOVES (SOUNDMIND)
Rock from North England.
Glam rock from California.
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
TAE SUP AT THE QUEEN’S (LIZ LOCHHEAD & ANDREW WASYLYK, KINBRAE & CLARE ARCHIBALD, J WRIGHT PRESENTS) THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–23:00
Eclectic acts from Scotland. KRISTIN HERSH
SOUTHERN AVENUE THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–23:00
Regular Glasgow comedy nights
A NEW INTERNATIONAL (HEIST)
The Stand Glasgow
Rock from Glasgow.
MONDAY NIGHT IMPROV, 20:30
Blues from Memphis.
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00
GREG PEARSON
SUMMERHALL, 19:00– 23:00
Singer-songwriter from the US.
Thu 28 Apr
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
Singer-songwriter from Edinburgh.
Sat 30 Apr
FALLING DOVES (SOUNDMIND)
CORINNE BAILEY RAE THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–23:00
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
Glam rock from California. JP COOPER
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
Singer-songwriter from England.
JAMIE SUTHERLAND + RICK REDBEARD SUMMERHALL, 19:30– 23:00
Indie folk from Scotland. JUNO BIRCH
Soul from England. RAVEN EYE
THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–23:00
Alien drag from Manchester.
Sun 01 May
TYTAN
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
TUESDAYS
MIDNIGHT BASS
Big basslines and small prices form the ethos behind this weekly Tuesday night, with drum'n'bass, jungle, bassline, grime and garage aplenty.
FRIDAYS (THIRD OF THE MONTH) ELECTRIKAL
Sound system and crew, part of a music and art collective specialising in BASS music. FRIDAYS (MONTHLY, WEEK CHANGES) SOUND SYSTEM LEGACIES
Exploring the legacy of dub, reggae and roots music and sound system culture in the contemporary club landscape. FRIDAYS (EVERY OTHER MONTH) DISCO MAKOSSA
Disco Makossa takes the dancefloor on a funk-filled trip through the sounds of African disco, boogie and house – strictly for the dancers. FRIDAYS (EVERY OTHER MONTH) OVERGROUND
SCOTT BRADLEE’S POSTMODERN JUKEBOX
FRIDAYS
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
Pop from New York.
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–23:00
FRIDAYS (FIRST OR LAST OF THE MONTH) HEADSET
Skillis and guests playing garage, techno, house and bass downstairs, with old school Hip-hop upstairs.
SATURDAYS (FIRST OR SECOND OF THE MONTH) MESSENGER
Roots reggae rocking since 1987 – foundation tune, fresh dubs, vibes alive, rockers, steppers, rub-a-dub.
Everything from disco, funk and soul to electro and house: Saturday night party music all night long.
Monthly no holds barred, down and dirty bikram disco.
MUMBO JUMBO
SATURDAYS (MONTHLY) SOULSVILLE INTERNATIONAL
International soulful sounds.
SATURDAYS (EVERY OTHER MONTH) PULSE
Techno night started in 2009 hosting regular special guests from the international scene.
SOUL JAM
SUNDAYS POSTAL
Multi-genre beats every Sunday at Sneaky Pete's, showcasing the very best of local talent with some extra special guests.
The Liquid Room
SATURDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH) REWIND
Sneaky Pete’s
Monthly party night celebrating the best in soul, disco, rock and pop with music from the 70s, 80s, 90s and current bangers.
HEADSET
The Hive
MONDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH)
Scottish rave label with a monthly, guest-filled night. TUESDAYS
POPULAR MUSIC
DJs playing music by bands to make you dance: Grace Jones to Neu!, Parquet Courts to Brian Eno, The Clash to Janelle Monáe. WEDNESDAYS HEATERS
Heaters resident C-Shaman presents a month of ambiguous local showdowns, purveying the multifarious mischief that characterises Sneaky’s midweek party haven. THURSDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH) VOLENS CHORUS
Resident DJs with an eclectic, global outlook
FRIDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH) MISS WORLD
All-female DJ collective with monthly guests
FRIDAYS (SECOND OF THE MONTH) HOT MESS
A night for queer people and their friends.
MONDAYS
MIXED UP MONDAY
Monday-brightening mix of hip-hop, R'n'B and chart classics, with requests in the back room. TUESDAYS
TRASH TUESDAY
Alternative Tuesday anthems cherry picked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more. WEDNESDAYS
COOKIE WEDNESDAY
90s and 00s cheesy pop and modern chart anthems. THURSDAYS
HI-SOCIETY THURSDAY
Student anthems and bangerz. FRIDAYS
FLIP FRIDAY
Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable, and noveltystuffed. Perrrfect. SATURDAYS BUBBLEGUM
Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.
BAD BOY CHILLER CREW
SUNDAYS
SECRET SUNDAY
Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/handle on a Sunday.
Subway Cowgate
O2 ACADEMY EDINBURGH, 19:00–23:00
TRACKS
Blow the cobwebs off the week with a weekly Monday night party with some of Scotland’s biggest and best drag queens. TUESDAYS TAMAGOTCHI
Throwback Tuesdays with non-stop 80s, 90s, 00s tunes. WEDNESDAYS XO
Hip-hop and R'n'B grooves from regulars DJ Beef and DJ Cherry. THURSDAYS SLIC
More classic hip-hop and R'n'B dance tunes for the almost end of the week. FRIDAYS
FIT FRIDAYS
Chart-topping tunes perfect for an irresistible sing and dance-along.
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00
Singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland.
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–23:00
Rock from Solihull.
Dundee Music Thu 07 Apr
THE JACK FLETCHER BAND
SAMEDIA SHEBEEN
Joyous global club sounds: think Afrobeat, Latin and Arabic dancehall on repeat. SATURDAYS (LAST OF THE MONTH) PULSE
The best techno DJs sit alongside The Mash House resident Darrell Pulse.
A slightly earlier performance of the big weekend show with four comedians. SATURDAYS
THE SATURDAY SHOW, 21:00
The big weekend show with four comedians.
Glasgow Clubs
TUESDAYS (BIWEEKLY)
THE EDINBURGH REVUE, 19:00
The University of Edinburgh's Comedy Society, who put on sketch and stand-up comedy shows every two weeks. WEDNESDAYS
TOP BANANA, 19:00
Catch the stars of tomorrow today in Monkey Barrel's new act night every Wednesday. THURSDAYS
SNEAK PEAK, 19:00 + 21:00
Four acts every Thursday take to the stage to try out new material.
MONKEY BARREL COMEDY'S BIG FRIDAY SHOW, 19:00
Monkey Barrel's flagship night of premier stand-up comedy. SATURDAYS
MONKEY BARREL COMEDY'S BIG SATURDAY SHOW, 19:00
Monkey Barrel's flagship night of premier stand-up comedy. SUNDAYS
MONKEY BARREL COMEDY'S BIG SUNDAY SHOW, 19:00
Monkey Barrel's flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.
MORGANWAY (KEZIA GILL)
BLOC+, 23:00–03:00
BRUCE GLENNY
BLOC+, 23:30–03:00
DJ and producer.
KARAWANE SOUND
STEREO, 23:00–03:00
SWG3, 23:00–03:00
Roots reggae from Scotland.
ROUND EARTH THEORY
CAIRD HALL, 19:30– 23:00
Sat 16 Apr LOST DOGS
BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 20:00–23:00
Alt rock from the US.
SWG3, 23:00–03:00
Hip-hop and club.
SCUFFED (AN AVRIN + FEENA + IAN DPM + WAGER)
A CELEBRATION OF KANYE WEST & FRIENDS
THE BLUE ARROW, 23:00–03:00
UK garage, breaks and bass.
Rap and club.
Fri 08 Apr
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00
STEREO, 23:00–03:00
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00
CAMELPHAT OFFICIAL AFTERPARTY SWG3, 23:00–03:00
House from Liverpool. FAST MUZIK
STEREO, 23:00–03:00
Rave, donk and hardcore party.
RETURN TO MONO (SLAM + RANDOMER + KAI)
JAIVA 3RD BIRTHDAY (SEF KOMBO B2B KITTY AMOR + BUTHO THE WARRIOR)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00
Afrobeats and house.
STEREO, 23:00–03:00
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00
I LOVE ACID (LUKE VIBERT + WES BAGGALEY + POSTHUMAN.)
THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00
Acid and house.
Sat 02 Apr
WE GOT THE BEAT
Dance and Electronica.
Sat 09 Apr
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00
Drum and bass.
Thu 14 Apr
STEREO PRESENTS: ZULI & KAVARI - TO WRITE
Fri 15 Apr
Mon 25 Apr
SWG3, 22:00–03:00
SHAM 69
BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 20:00–23:00
Punk rock from Surrey.
— 67 —
STEREO, 23:00–04:00
Reggaeton, techno, hard drum from the US.
STEREO, 23:00–03:00
Techno from Belgium.
STREETRAVE (DARREN EMERSON + MICHAEL KILKIE + IAIN ‘BONEY’ CLARK + YOGI HAUGHTON + FPI PROJECTS) SUB CLUB, 22:00–03:00
Wed 20 Apr
BASS INJECTION
RAD APPLES, 19:30– 23:00
STEREO PRESENTS: BIANCA OBLIVION + MANUKA HONEY (BOOSTERHOOCH + ROSEHIPS)
TAIKANO (AHL IVER + ERROR E)
R&B, Hip-hop and pop.
ANIMAL FARM PRESENTS NEED 4 SPEED (CLTX + QUAIL + AISHA + NAOMA)
Metal from Scotland.
Sun 17 Apr
Rave and party.
STEREO, 23:00–03:00
Indie and pop.
Techno, bass and breaks from Glasgow.
PUSH IT
BLOC+, 23:00–03:00
IMMORTAL OMEN (VOLCANO X + LATE LANDING)
Sat 16 Apr
OUT OF POCKET
Electronica and techno.
Fri 15 Apr
Techno and house.
Hip-hop, rap and R'n'B.
BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 19:00–23:00
Psych pop from the Isle of Eigg.
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00
Thu 07 Apr
BRAW FM
Americana from the UK. PICTISH TRAIL
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00
SHANTI CELESTE (WARDY + DOM D’SYLVA)
Fri 01 Apr
LEZURE 059 (DJ PEANUT, MAG, SLOAN, CIVIC GRIEF & LAS. DOUG)
CHURCH, 19:00–23:00
SURGE INVITES DONALD (ESFI)
Techno from Inverness and Glasgow.
Breaks and bass.
Sat 23 Apr
SATURDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH)
THE SATURDAY SHOW (THE EARLY SHOW), 17:00
Fri 08 Apr
Rock from Scotland.
The Mash House
SATURDAYS
Indie rock from Wolverhampton.
The drinks are easy and the pop is heavy. Sunday Service Atone for the week before and the week ahead with non-stop dancing.
The big weekend show with four comedians.
CLUB SYLKIE (DIESSA + DJ EGG + VAJ.POWER + XIVRO)
CHURCH, 19:00–23:00
SATURDAYS
SUNDAYS
THE FRIDAY SHOW, 21:00
LILLA VARGEN
MARTI PELLOW
SLICE SATURDAY
Legendary new material night with up to eight acts.
FRIDAYS
Rap from the UK.
SIMON AND OSCAR (OCEAN COLOUR SCENE)
MONDAYS
RED RAW, 20:30
Monkey Barrel Comedy Club
Experimental Hip-hop and bass music from Cairo. JODIE HARSH
SWG3, 23:00–03:00
Dance and club.
THICC SWEAT (FANTASTIC MAN DJS) THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00
Bass, techno and hardcore.
BITCH 4/20 SPECIAL (DANGER CAREY + BILLYBIGBLUNTZ + LIZZZUR + REDRUNNR) LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00
House and techno.
Fri 22 Apr
FANTASTIC MAN PRESENTS TRAP DOOR
BLOC+, 23:00–03:00
Trap and bass.
BTTF PRESENTS ANGERFIST (DEADLY GUNZ + NEVER SURRENDER + GRIDKILLER + OBSESSION) SWG3, 22:00–03:00
Hardcore and techno.
April 2022 — Listings
Offering a new breed of lofi, raw house and techno.
SATURDAYS (LAST OF THE MONTH)
The perfect way to end the working week, with four superb stand-up comedians.
The big weekend show with four comedians.
MONDAYS
Mon 02 May
SATURDAYS (MONTHLY)
FRIDAY NIGHT COMEDY, 19:00
THE FRIDAY SHOW, 20:30
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–23:00
Garage grunge from Yorkshire.
The Bongo Club
FRIDAYS
FRIDAYS
The Stand Edinburgh
WEEKEND RECOVERY (SNAYX + THE PARTY SLOGAN)
Regular Edinburgh club nights
Legendary new material night with up to eight acts.
The Glee Club
Electronicaa from the UK.
Heavy metal from the UK.
Eclectic lineup.
RED RAW, 20:30
An evening of awardwinning comedy, with four superb stand-up comedians that will keep you laughing until Monday.
Regular Edinburgh comedy nights
BANNERMANS, 19:30– 23:00
USHER HALL, 19:00– 23:00
ABBIE MCCARTHY’S GOOD KARMA CLUB (JC STEWART + LUZ)
TUESDAYS
The big weekend show with four comedians.
SATURDAY NIGHT COMEDY, 19:00
THE BLACKHEART ORCHESTRA
Country rock from New York.
Fri 29 Apr
Host Billy Kirkwood and guests act entirely on your suggestions.
SATURDAYS
THE SATURDAY SHOW, 21:00
Power rock from USA.
TEDDY THOMPSON
LA BELLE ANGELE, 18:00–23:00
FIRST MONDAY OF THE MONTH
SATURDAYS
THE SKINNY
THE FREDDIE MERCURY GLITTER DISCO SWG3, 23:00–03:00
Disco and pop.
TEK-NO PRISONERS: 4TH BIRTHDAY (BOURS? + DEEP SPACE MILITIA + ERROR E B2B KABAY) STEREO, 23:00–03:00
Techno from Paris.
Sat 23 Apr
THE UNICORN DISCO BALL
PLATFORM, 20:00–03:00
Disco and pop.
HANNAH WANTS
SWG3, 22:00–03:00
THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00
Techno.
COLOURS
Dubstep. EPIKA
THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00
House and techno.
Fri 08 Apr
A LOVE FROM OUTER SPACE (SEAN JOHNSTON + NSA)
Wed 27 Apr
Thu 28 Apr BOUNCE
STEREO, 23:00–03:00
Afrobeat, dancehall, footwork and breaks.
RUSH INVITE DJ T-1000 AKA ALAN OLDHAM LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00
Techno from Detroit.
Fri 29 Apr
TWISTED AND EXKLUSIVE PRESENTS EXILE (T78 + HARVEY MCKAY + ARGY) SWG3, 23:00–03:00
House and techno.
Dance and techno.
LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00
70s throwback.
OVERGROUND
THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00
House and techno.
Sat 09 Apr
REDSTONE PRESS (BAKE + LEWIS LOWE) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
UK techno.
WAIT AND BLEED LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00
Nu Metal.
CLUB NACHT
THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00
Techno.
Mon 11 Apr CHAOS IN THE COSMOS
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
SARA LANDRY
Italo disco and funk.
Techno and house.
Thu 14 Apr
SWG3, 23:00–03:00
ROUND EARTH THEORY 002: ROBERT FLECK STEREO, 23:00–03:00
Dub techno and broken beat.
Sat 30 Apr
PRINCE’S PURPLE DISCO
PLATFORM, 20:00–03:00
Disco and pop.
A CUT ABOVE X 12TH ISLE STEREO, 23:00–03:00
Club and house. BREATHE
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00
House and disco.
Edinburgh Clubs Wed 30 Mar
EDINBURGH DISCO LOVERS (ARTWORK) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
First of two nights with one of the UK's most versatile DJs.
Thu 31 Ma
EDINBURGH DISCO LOVERS (ARTWORK) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
First of two nights with one of the UK's most versatile DJs.
Fri 01 Apr SO FETCH
LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00
Party and dance. METROPOLIS
THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00
House and techno.
Sat 02 Apr
EHFM PRESENTS: RADIO BUENA VIDA (EHFM + RADIO BUENA VIDA RESIDENTS) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
House and techno.
WE ARE STILL YOUNG LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00
Emo, pop and punk.
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00
DUBBED
THAT 70’S CLUB
Old school dance.
STAND B-SIDE (LIAM DOC)
House and techno.
Techno and house.
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00
Mon 18 Apr
Wed 06 Apr
THE CAVES, 23:00–03:00
ATB PRESENTS DANCE LIKE UR DA (DJ SUZIE + FUNKTION + ACROSSTHEBOARD B2B CHARLIE PRESTON)
April 2022 — Listings
INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
SIGNAL (NINA STANGER + THE NIGHTLARK) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
Bass and breaks. REGGAETON
LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00
Reggaeton.
ROMANIAN BITS THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00
House and techno.
Fri 15 Apr
NIGHT MUSIC X PALIDRONE (DJRUM + LORAINE JAMES + OBJECT BLUE) FRUITMARKET, 23:00– 03:00
Experimental techno.
ATHENS OF THE NORTH DISCO CLUB (LINKWOOD + FRYER) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
Funk and soul.
CALIFORNIA LOVE LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00
Wed 20 Apr THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00
House.
Thu 21 Apr
MILKIT (YUNG KIDD + JODIE MOONEY + REYKA + MERCER + PHARMAKEIA) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
House and techno.
Fri 22 Apr
MAIN INGREDIENT THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00
Acid and house.
MEANWHILE (PRIVET) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
House and disco. DILF
LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00
Party and dance.
Sat 23 Apr
SWIFTOGEDDON LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00
Pop and dance.
Sun 24 Apr CLUB SYLKIE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
Breaks and bass.
Wed 27 Apr HEAVY FLOW
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00
Club and house.
Fri 29 Apr
FLY (COOKED VS T E S T P R E S S) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
House and techno. COSMIC
LA BELLE ANGELE, 21:00–03:00
Psytrance.
Sat 30 Apr THROWBACK
LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00
Party and dance.
Glasgow Comedy Oran Mor
RACHEL PARRIS: ALL CHANGE PLEASE
7 APR, 7:30PM – 9:00PM
BAFTA-nominated comedian looks at life’s changes, big and small. RAY BRADSHAW DEAFINITELY BABY
9-10 APR, TIMES VARY
ETC
Multi-award-winning comedian follows up his smash-hit show Deaf Comedy Fam.
Techno and breaks.
The Glee Club
90s and 00s party. THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00
Sat 16 Apr
FIRST EDITION (CRAIGIE KNOWES)
THE CAVES, 23:00–03:00
Rave and techno.
CLUB MEDITERRANEO (ANDREA MONTALTO + JOE CARDONE) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
Disco and Balearic. DECADE
LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00
Pop, punk and party.
Sun 17 Apr HEADSET
THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00
Garage, house and techno. TAIS-TOI
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00
Techno.
MARIA BAMFORD 25 APR, 6:45PM – 9:00PM
Arrested Development alumni brings her new show on the road.
The King’s Theatre
TOMMY TIERNAN: TOMFOOLERY 3 APR, 8:00PM
Now 50, the comedian is back onstage with an exhilarating mix of highly personal and flamboyant storytelling.
The Stand Glasgow
The Queen’s Hall
19-20 APR, 8:30PM – 10:00PM
NO UPCOMING DATES, 8:00PM – 10:30PM
CARL HUTCHINSON
After two consecutive sellout years, the dynamic and versatile comedian returns with an unmissable evening of comedy.
TOMMY TIERNAN
An exhilarating mix of the highly personal and flamboyant storytelling. DR JOHN COOPER CLARKE
3 APR, 7:30PM – 9:00PM
16 APR, 7:00PM – 11:00PM
NICO YEARWOOD: COYOTE
JINKX MONSOON & MAJOR SCALES: TOGETHER AGAIN, AGAIN!
THE SUNDAY SERVICE
A laid back show for getting the most out of the dying embers of the weekend.
Spoken word from Salford.
6-7 APR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM
29 APR, 8:00PM – 11:00PM
Award winning comedian reflects on his upbringing in Barbados and how that has shaped his life. GARY DELANEY: GARY IN PUNDERLAND 13-14 APR, 8:30PM – 10:00PM
One of the most sought after joke writers in the country returns with a brand-new show crammed full of masterful one-liners. MATT WINNING: HOT MESS 19 APR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM
A show about climate change that answers the big questions.
JONNY PELHAM: OFFLIMITS
23-24 APR, TIMES VARY
TV regular has something to say. MC HAMMERSMITH: ONE MAN 8 MILE 2 APR, 8:30PM – 10:00PM
Award-winning freestyle rap comedian presents his sell-out Edinburgh Fringe show - an hour based on audience suggestions. RAUL KOHLI 241 7 APR, 8:30PM – 10:00PM
Raul Kohli presents two separate hours for the price of one.
Edinburgh Comedy Festival Theatre
The Stand Edinburgh
TOMMY TIERNAN: TOMFOOLERY 2 APR, TIMES VARY
Now 50, the comedian is back onstage with an exhilarating mix of highly personal and flamboyant storytelling. STU & GARRY’S IMPROV SHOW
5 APR, 8:30PM – 10:00PM
The Stand’s long-running improvised comedy show weaves comedy magic from audience suggestions. NICO YEARWOOD: COYOTE 7 APR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM
Award winning comedian reflects on his upbringing in Barbados and how that has shaped his life. GARY DELANEY: GARY IN PUNDERLAND 13 APR, 8:30PM – 10:00PM
One of the most sought after joke writers in the country returns with a brand-new show crammed full of masterful one-liners. THE BEST OF SCOTTISH COMEDY 14 APR, 8:30PM – 10:00PM
A carload of the best comics on the contemporary Scottish circuit. At least four acts on every bill. MATT WINNING: HOT MESS 16 APR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM
TRIXIE MATTEL
13 APR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM
A blend of comedy and music from the drag queen superstar.
King’s Theatre Edinburgh IAIN STIRLING: FAILING UPWARDS 10 APR, TIMES VARY
Brand new stand-up about the impossibility of functioning regularly.
Monkey Barrel Comedy Club
AMY MATTHEWS: MAIN CHARACTER IN HER OWN LIFE AND FLASHBACK IN YOURS 15 APR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM
Matthews explores the absurd possibilities of “main character syndrome”. ELF LYONS: RAVEN 16 APR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM
A spookily original comedy horror stand-up special. MARC JENNINGS: WORK IN PROGRESS 22 APR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM
Wunderkind on the Scottish comedy scene Mark Jennings tries out a new work-in-progress.
GARRETT MILLERICK: JUST TRYING TO HELP (WIP) 23 APR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM
Comic drag from the US.
Edinburgh Fringe favourite tries out new material.
A show about climate change that answers the big questions. CARL HUTCHINSON 19-20 APR, 8:30PM – 10:00PM
After two consecutive sellout years, the dynamic and versatile comedian returns with an unmissable evening of comedy.
JONNY PELHAM: OFFLIMITS 23 APR, TIMES VARY
TV regular has something to say. MC HAMMERSMITH: ONE MAN 8 MILE 24 APR, 8:30PM – 10:00PM
Award-winning freestyle rap comedian presents his sell-out Edinburgh Fringe show - an hour based on audience suggestions. RAUL KOHLI 241
26-27 APR, 8:30PM – 10:00PM
Raul Kohli presents two separate hours for the price of one.
Glasgow Theatre Oran Mor
A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: MY DORIC DIARY 4-9 APR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
A Scottish jukebox musical about holding on and letting go. A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: MOONING 11-16 APR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
A vulnerable woman must decide if the cult she has joined is worth the fantasy. A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: OPENING TIME 18-23 APR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
A story told in song about new normals and old familiars.
A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: MR MOONLIGHT 25-30 APR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
A personal history of Frankie Vaughan in Glasgow.
The King’s Theatre
HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL
1-2 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A feel-good musical comedy about making your own way in the world.
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME 5-9 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A dazzling production of Mark Haddon’s bestselling novel. WAITRESS
12-16 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
This delicious slice of musical theatre follows a young woman in a smalltown striving to carve out her own happiness. JERSEY BOYS
19 APR-7 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A whirlwind look at the lives behind Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
Theatre Royal THE DA VINCI CODE 1-2 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A new staging of the twists and tales of the classic Dan Brown tale.
Tramway WHITE SUN
1-2 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A lo-fi, hypnotic exploration of white masculinity. Part of Dance International Glasgow.
SCOTTISH BALLET: THE SCANDAL AT MEYERLING
13-16 APR, 19:30-22:30
Scottish Ballet take on Franz Liszt's claustrophobic tragedy. FATAL ATTRACTION
19-23 APR, 19:30-22:30
An erotic thriller for the ages starring Louise Redknapp and Oliver Farnworth.
EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE 26-30 APR, TIMES VARY
A young boy dreams of being a drag queen in this effervescent musical. THE HOPE RIVER GIRLS 23 APR, 7:00PM – 10:30PM
An eerie coming of age told through explosive choreography and multimedia storytelling.
Tron Theatre
A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: DANIEL GETTING MARRIED
ME AND MY SISTER TELL EACH OTHER EVERYTHING
The chaos of weddings and marriage is given short and hilarious shrift.
A musical production of the intimacies and traumas of sisterhood.
1-2 APR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
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1-2 APR, 7:45PM – 10:30PM
JULIUS CAESER
1-2 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A remarkable physical theatre production of Shakespeare’s classic. SPUDS
13-16 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
An absurd musical comedy about Breaking Bad. HANG
28 APR-7 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A devastating play by acclaimed playwright Debbie Tucker Green.
CALL ME MR BULLFINCH
1 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A historic piece about a mysterious plane crash in the Highlands in World War II. Part of Wonder Festival. KELI: A LIVE PREVIEW
3 APR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM
Sneak peak of a new audio drama by Ivor Novello winning composer and one third of folk trio Lau. Part of Wonder Festival. INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO CRY 5 APR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM
Edinburgh Theatre Festival Theatre
EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE 1-2 APR, TIMES VARY
A young boy dreams of being a drag queen in this effervescent musical.
BALLETBOYZ DELUXE 3 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
Innovative dance routines are blended with a trademark use of film and behind the scenes glimpses. BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL
5-9 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
Telling the true story of the remarkable rise of Carole King to stardom.
Science, theatre and art come together to explore the extremes of human emotion. Part of Wonder Festival. CLUB MED
13-16 APR, 3:00PM – 5:00PM
A mythic take on life’s hard grind. Part of Wonder Festival. SOUND CHECK
7 APR, 6:00PM – 8:00PM
An innovative piece on the tension between on- and offstage. Part of Wonder Festival. SEE / NOT SEE
8-9 APR, 6:00PM – 8:00PM
Theatre maker and performance designer Mamoru Iriguchi imagines a fight between Cyclops and themselves. Part of Wonder Festival.
MAGIC GOES WRONG
Y DYN YN Y LLONG DANFOR / THE MAN IN THE SUBMARINE
New comedy catastrophe from the team behind The Play That Goes Wrong.
A man sits in a submarine as the world outside begins to come apart. Part of Wonder Festival.
21-23 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
9 APR, 5:00PM – 8:00PM
13-16 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
8 APR, 7:00PM – 9:00PM
NORTHERN BALLET’S THE GREAT GATSBY
THE SEX LIFE AND DEATH OF COMMUNICATION
A decadent ballet adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic. SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN 26-30 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
An all-singing, all-dancing, all-raining adaptation of the beloved Gene Kelly film.
King’s Theatre Edinburgh THE DA VINCI CODE 5-9 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A new staging of the twists and tales of the classic Dan Brown tale. ORPHANS
12-16 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
National Theatre of Scotland introduce a new musical set in 1990s Glasgow. JOHANNES RADEBE: FREEDOM 17 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A celebration of dance, from African fusion to Latin, from TV dancing icon.
FANTASTICALLY GREAT WOMEN WHO CHANGED THE WORLD 26-30 APR, 7:00PM – 10:30PM
The world premiere of an irresistible pop musical.
Royal Lyceum Theatre THE AUTO FICTION PROJECT
1 APR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
Two theatremakers collaborate to create a play based on their lives. Part of Wonder Festival. TRUTHS A DOG MUST TO KENNEL 1-2 APR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM
A meta take on King Lear and contemporary tragedy. Part of Wonder Festival.
Fragments exploring the impossibility of communication in a world of desire and communication. Part of Wonder Festival. HOW TO BE BOTH 9 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
A work-in-progress adaptation of the acclaimed Ali Smith novel. Part of Wonder Festival. THE BUSH
9 APR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM
A fascinating true story of resistance, centring on a group of Australian women protecting local community land. Part of Wonder Festival. THE MEANING OF ZONG
12-16 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
The story of anti-slavery campaigner Olaudah Equiano written and directed by Hamilton’s Giles Terrera. SEVEN AGAINST EDINBURGH
19-23 APR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM
Following an up-andcoming punk band whose journey intersects with the first women to matriculate from a UK university.
The Edinburgh Playhouse DREAMGIRLS
5-16 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
In 1960s America, three talented singers embark on a musical odyssey. WAITRESS
19-23 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
This delicious slice of musical theatre follows a young woman in a smalltown striving to carve out her own happiness.
THE SKINNY
ELLEN KENT’S TOSCA 28 APR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM
A lavish production of the classic opera featuring the Ukrainian National Municipal Opera Kyiv. ELLEN KENT’S CARMEN
29 APR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM
Jealousy, passion and love abound from the Ukrainian National Municipal Opera Kyiv. ELLEN KENT’S MADAMA BUTTERFLY 30 APR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM
Puccini’s classic opera is given new wings.
Traverse Theatre
A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: MAN’S BEST FRIEND 1-2 APR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
A poignant comic screwball tale of the bonds formed under pressure. A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: DANIEL GETTING MARRIED 5-9 APR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
A comedy about the difficulty, and certainty, of commitment.
OUR CARNAL HEARTS 7-9 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
An audacious, gleefully wicked musical exploration of envy. BLINDED BY THE LIGHT 8 APR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM
Two temporally intersecting stories of labour and climate change, set in 1982 and far in the future.
A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: MY DORIC DIARY 12-16 APR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
Glasgow Art Compass Gallery
SANDRA COLLINS: SHOW ME EVERYTHING 29-31 MAR
Surreal paintings interrogating the relationship between reality, dreams and myth.
David Dale Gallery and Studios
JENNIFER BAILEY: SMALL ROOM
9 APR-21 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM
Experimental work that explores the relationship between art production, patriarchy and labour.
Glasgow Print Studio ELIZABETH BLACKADDER
8 APR-28 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM
A retrospective of the career of Elizabeth Blackadder, a groundbreaking Scottish printmaker whose work at Glasgow Print Studio goes back to 1984.
Glasgow Women’s Library
TRANSFORMATIONS 1-2 APR, TIMES VARY
An art and audiovisual exhibition exploring the role of Glasgow Women’s Library in the local community. WHERE THE WORLD MEETS AS NEIGHBOURS
1 APR-7 MAY, TIMES VARY
A Scottish jukebox musical about holding on and letting go.
Archival exhibition marking 50 years of the Dundee International Women’s Centre.
13-16 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
1 APR-21 MAY, TIMES VARY
THE METAMORPHOSIS
Kafka’s haunting tale of transformation and existential dread gets a radical new staging.
Dundee Theatre Dundee Rep
FARAH SALEH AND COLLABORATORS: PAST-INUOUS 29 MAR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM
An innovative, part-digital performance about the Palestinian refugee crisis. Part of Dance International Glasgow.
THE METAMORPHOSIS 1-2 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
Kafka’s haunting tale of transformation and existential dread gets a radical new staging. RAY
Scottish Dance Theatre’s latest creation by Brusselsbased choreographer Meytal Blanaru explores ideas of emergence and the quest for a deep, collective physical experience.
A look back at 30 years of queer activism at Glasgow Women’s Library.
GoMA
DRINK IN THE BEAUTY 1 APR-22 MAY, 11:00AM – 4:00PM
Inspired by Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking environmental treatise Silent Spring, this exhibition features artists engaging with our connection to the nonhuman, and thinking through the ethics and aesthetics of how we record nature. AFROSCOTS: REVISITING THE WORK OF BLACK ARTISTS IN SCOTLAND THROUGH NEW COLLECTING 1 APR-3 JUL, 11:00AM – 4:00PM
Bringing together new acquisitions and existing works from Glasgow Museums’ collection, including pieces by Alberta Whittle and Barby Asante, this exhibition examines ongoing conversations around race and postcolonial legacies in Scotland. TASTE!
1 APR-31 DEC, 11:00AM – 4:00PM
Featuring work by Andy Warhol, Sarah Forrest and David Shrigley, this exhibition looks at how taste is created and art archives are curated.
1 APR-31 DEC, 11:00AM – 4:00PM
Building on the gallery’s space as a former house and civic space, Domestic Bliss examines how artists develop practice alongside social and political change, and the ways in which public and domestic labour intersect with art.
GREGOR WRIGHT: GREYSCALE ACID
1 APR-7 MAY, TIMES VARY
A new body of digital pieces, holographs, and collage exploring the functionality of drawing and painting in the digital age.
Tramway
LOVEY AND BOY: A CARNIVAL ODYSSEY
1-3 APR, TIMES VARY Kelvingrove A dance performance film Art Gallery and delving into a mysteriMuseum ous carnival world. Part
FRANCE-LISE MCGURN: ALOUD
1 APR-1 JUN, 11:00AM – 4:00PM, TBC
France-Lise McGurn’s newly commissioned installation draws on her personal experiences of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, creating bewitching, almost sculptural forms that fill the museum’s gallery.
Kendall Koppe HAMISH CHAPMAN: LOVE GAME 1-9 APR, 12:00PM – 6:00PM
New exhibition by Kendal Koppe’s most recent artistin-residence. MARK MCKNIGHT: KISS OF THE SUN
29 APR-28 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM
An exhibition of photography exploring queerness and the body by New Mexico-based Mark McKnight.
RGI Kelly Gallery
FRAGMENTS, FRAGMENTATION & FRACTURES
8-30 APR, TIMES VARY
Spanning abstraction to figuration, this group show of Glasgow artists examines ways of working with fractured imagery and colour.
SWG3
PREFAB77: A SLICE OF LIFE
1-22 APR, 12:00PM – 6:00PM
A series of allegorical, antiestablishment portraits looking at processes of modern mythmaking by acclaimed Newcastle-based artist.
Street Level Photoworks
THIS SEPARATED ISLE 1 APR-15 MAY, TIMES VARY
Exploring the intersection between identity and nationhood, this series of photographic portraits examines the tensions and divisions in contemporary British life.
The Modern Institute
ANDREW J. GREENE: HOPE 1 APR-28 MAY, TIMES VARY
A group of sculptures that reform and recontextualise Americana kitsch, and ideologies of Western material culture.
The Modern Institute @ Airds Lane
ANDREW SIM: FOUR HORSES AND A SUNFLOWER (ACTUAL SIZE) 1 APR-28 MAY, TIMES VARY
Drawing on symbolism and archetypes, these large-scale paintings explore ideas of duality and queerness.
of Dance International Glasgow.
Edinburgh Art &Gallery
LIZ DOUGLAS: SHOORMAL – A SPACE BETWEEN… NO UPCOMING DATES, TIMES VARY
A series of mixed media works exploring ideas of immersion within landscapes and ecologies.
Arusha Gallery JOY ARDEN + JAI LLEWELLYN: COUNTERPOINT
2-30 APR, TIMES VARY
Two artists explore abstraction and minimalism in their paintings. CATHERINE ROSS: PHANTOMS
1-17 APR, TIMES VARY
Depictions of the city as inspired by Italo Calvino’s magical realism. ILONA
1-17 APR, TIMES VARY
A range of media, from canvas to tracing paper, LED light to glass, explores how to convey the liminality of subjective experience through a restrained, poetic language.
Collective Gallery
CAULEEN SMITH: H-EL-L-O 1 APR-1 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM
Through installation and video, this exhibition draws on musical motifs from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to imagine sites of greeting and healing in post-Katrina New Orleans.
Dovecot Studios
THE ART OF WALLPAPER: MORRIS & CO.
1 APR-11 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM
The legacy of the great Victorian designer comes alive in this collection of over 130 pieces of his archived work.
Edinburgh Printmakers WORKSHOP
8 APR-26 JUN, 11:00AM – 4:00PM
Taking its cue from Edinburgh Printmakers’ history as a working artist space, this exhibition delves into the archives to examine how the space has shaped experimental printmaking in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop
Fruitmarket
Stills
1-18 APR, 10:00AM – 7:00PM
1 APR-25 JUN, 12:00PM – 5:00PM
JYLL BRADLEY: PARDES
Exhibition of sculptures paying homage to Fruitmarket’s industrial and agricultural past. HOWARDENA PINDELL: A NEW LANGUAGE
1 APR-2 MAY, 10:00AM – 7:00PM
Multimedia exhibition spanning the artist’s decades-long career and her anti-racism activism.
Ingleby Gallery KATIE PATERSON: REQUIEM
9 APR-11 JUN, 11:00AM – 5:00PM
Gathering dust from materials dating from pre-solar times to the present day, this exhibition tells the history of our planet through a single object.
Open Eye Gallery
FELICITY WARBRICK: REFLECTIONS 1-2 APR, TIMES VARY
Recent woodcut and drypoint prints from the Shropshire-based artist.
GENNADII GOGOLIUK: FLOWER - MIRROR 1-2 APR, TIMES VARY
The Edinburgh-based Russian artist presents a collection of still life, landscape and portrait paintings.
CATHARINE DAVISON: FLOW 9-30 APR, TIMES VARY
Landscape paintings which develop the ‘plein air’ tradition into a contemporary visual language. RUTH BROWNLEE: INSPIRED BY SHETLAND
9-30 APR, TIMES VARY
Exhibition exploring the visual drama and rugged environment of the Shetland Isles.
1 APR-28 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM
An installation exploring the physicality of ancient geology and the dematerialised aesthetics of contemporary technology.
Scottish photographer Robbie Lawrence embarks on his first solo exhibition, documenting post-Brexit life across Scotland’s cities, rural locations and coastal towns.
Talbot Rice Gallery
MEET ME AT THE THRESHOLD
1 APR-21 MAY, TIMES VARY
An exhibition of works by the first two Talbot Rice Residents cohorts, including Sulaïman Majali, RaeYen Song, and Tako Taal.
The Scottish Gallery
HELEN GLASSFORD: ENCOUNTERS
1-30 APR, TIMES VARY
Using graphite, paint, and scumbled glazes, Helen Glassford’s landscapes capture the wildness of Scottish nature. LIZZIE FAREY: SONG OF THE WILLOW
1-30 APR, TIMES VARY
Organic sculptures woven from willow, birch and heather examines our deeply personal encounters with nature. RUTH LESLIE: SILVER THREADS 1-30 APR, TIMES VARY
Inspired by the delicacy and movement of textiles, Ruth Leslie’s jewellery imitates fabric through intricate metalwork. COLIN BROWN: PRIMAVERA
1-30 APR, TIMES VARY
Inspired by eighteenthcentury floral paintings, Colin Brown’s striking collages recontextualises our aesthetic relationship with nature.
Torrance Out of the Blue Gallery ANDY CROSS Drill Hall GEMMA GORTON: A TIME AND A PLACE
1-16 APR, 11:00AM – 5:30PM
Looking at the cityscape of Edinburgh through the changing light of the seasons, this exhibition of riso prints is a fresh look at a familiar place.
Dundee Art
1-23 APR, 10:00AM – 4:00PM
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
BARBARA HEPWORTH: ART & LIFE 9 APR-2 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM
The largest exhibition of Barbara Hepworth’s work since her death in 1975, this ambitious retrospective examines the personal and political in her groundbreaking art.
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
COUNTED: SCOTLAND’S CENSUS 2022 1 APR-25 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM
KATIE HALLAM: STATE OF LIMINAL
ROBBIE LAWRENCE: NORTHERN DIARY
Inspired by the 2022 census, photographs old and new come together to consider complex notions of identity formation and performance.
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Semi-abstract landscapes, seascapes, and floral still lifes are conveyed through bright colour.
Cooper Gallery TRINITY BUOY WHARF DRAWING PRIZE 2021 1-16 APR, TIMES VARY
A diverse exhibition of 114 drawings overall reflecting a broad scope of current drawing practice by artists, architects, designers, and makers at all stages of their careers.
The McManus THE STREET AT THE MCMANUS
1 APR-22 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM
Immersive exhibition looking at Dundee’s historical architecture.
V&A Dundee MICHAEL CLARK: COSMIC DANCER
1 APR-4 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM
A groundbreaking exhibition exploring the life and works of acclaimed Scottish choreographer and dancer Michael Clark.
YINKA ILORI: LISTENING TO JOY 1-24 APR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM
A vibrant and interactive artistic playspace for young and old alike.
Glasgow Venues
A round-up of some new venues and ventures in Glasgow Words: Tara Hepburn
Spotlight: TO BE CONFIRMED
Sorry to take you back there, but remember Lockdown 1? That sliver of time before the pubs reopened when the hospitality industry was flirting with new ideas? We’re talking at-home restaurant dining boxes, Zoom DJ sets, cocktail delivery services, craft beer party boxes – there was some pretty good stuff. It was not unusual to hear people say “they should keep this after the pandemic, I’d buy it”, while swigging from a carton of takeaway beer in the park. But it’s hard to keep that promise when faced with the irresistible reality of an open pub. Everything else aside, it was a creative and collaborative time for a lot of people working in Glasgow’s hospitality industry. And it’s from that time and spirit that the To Be Confirmed project was born. TBC is a new monthly pop-up which sees familiar faces from the Glasgow bar and restaurant scene join forces for events in popular and unexpected spots in the city. This enigmatic collaborative undertaking is the brainchild of mixologist Jasmine Harrabi (of Celentano’s) who will design the drinks offering for each pop-up – beginning with a CBD cocktail menu with East End pizza place BAKED. This month’s event is set to take place in Tabac’s CBD bar, bringing BAKED’s famous focaccia pizzas to the city centre for the first time. Music will provided by... well, that’s still appropriately to be confirmed. BERTO’S BROWNIES
HIDDEN LANE, 1103 ARGYLE ST, G3 8ND
Anyone who has attended food events or festivals in Glasgow recently will have encountered Berto’s Brownies (and probably have fond memories of the charming Berto himself). This popular Spanish pastry chef has been travelling the west coast selling gooey brownies with sweet sauces for several years to great acclaim. Fans of the sweet treats no longer have to hope and wonder when they might get their next fix – Berto’s now has a permanent home in the city, tucked away from the busy Finnieston strip in the colourful Hidden Lane. A joyful and sunny match made in heaven. ZENNOR
354 DUKE ST, G31 1RB
Occupying the space once held by beloved Dennistoun coffee spot EAST who have since moved round the corner, Zennor is the newest face on the Dennistoun coffee scene. Zennor specialises in short strong coffees but they offer everything a good coffee shop does these days: soft drinks, kombucha, teas (their matcha lattes are particularly popular) and a selection of great food options. A short mix of brunchy favourites such as avocado on toast or granola share the menu pages alongside more substantial offerings such as vegan chillis and hot pots. A changing daily selection of sweet and savoury cakes, breads and pastries is also available.
April 2022 — Listings
14-16 APR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM
OUT IN THE ARCHIVE
DOMESTIC BLISS
THE SKINNY
The Skinny On... Squiggles Photo: Daniel Blake
The Skinny On...
As former Spook School drummer Niall McCamley gets set to release his debut EP as Squiggles, he discusses everything from Grease 2 to vegetarian sausages via chess in our monthly Q&A Sausages. A couple of years ago I helped The Spook School bluff their way to an unofficial sponsorship deal with them. They sent me too many sausages and a branded apron I still wear around the flat. I feel it’s my duty to continue providing a return on their investment. What three people would you invite to a dinner party? Tré Cool, Karen O and Lydia Loveless – to ask if they would like to start a band with me, or at least be my pals, or if they could at least help me choose a new haircut. Either way the deal ends with them getting a lot of Linda McCartney sausages.
April 2022 — Chat
What’s the worst film you’ve ever seen? I could honestly watch Grease 2 forever. I know it’s not ‘good’, but I love it. It’s bad in all the best ways. I guarantee you will have the best time watching it with pals. 'Who’s that guy on that motorcycle / What would they say if they knew it was Michael?'
What’s your favourite place to visit? Any service station. It always makes me feel like I’m on an adventure. What’s your favourite colour? All of them at the same time. I’m terrified of turning beige. Who was your hero growing up? Tré Cool. He made drums seem like the coolest instrument to a tiny Niall. And I genuinely thought his real name was Tré Cool for so long. What a perfect name for a drummer! Whose work inspires you now? Anything John Robins does. The way he deals with shame, self-esteem, and self-image so candidly and with such humour is just fantastic. What’s your favourite meal to cook at home? Just a massive pile of Linda McCartney Vegetarian
What’s your favourite album? Laura Marling – Alas, I Cannot Swim. It reminds me of so many people I haven’t seen in such a long time. It’s bittersweet, melancholic and has the Squiggles ability to make me feel like I’m time travelling. Suddenly I can smell, hear, taste, feel all these memories. It’s almost painful, but in a good way! How have you stayed inspired since the beginning of the pandemic? I don’t know if I have! I feel like I get inspired when I’m around people and travelling. It can feel like it’s been a long couple of years being stuck in more ways than one. Now is the time for trying to shake that off and get Squiggly! What book(s) would you read if you had to self-isolate for the next ten days? A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking – I’ve tried to read it and still don’t understand. Maybe another attempt will help me understand what anti-particles are? Who’s the worst? I’m beginning to come to the realisation it might be me. I’m too loud. — 70 —
When did you last cry? Yesterday. I took a bite of my sandwich and my unkempt moustache got caught in it. Essentially, I bit my own face, okay. What are you most scared of? I’m covered in tattoos but seem to have a fear of hypodermic needles. A while back I needed some blood taken. The nurse told me she had a 100% success rate with no patients fainting. Challenge accepted. I was all good until she decided to show me how much blood she had taken so far. I managed to faint backwards off the chair, hitting my head and bursting open a pack of my collected blood. I woke up confused and covered in blood to have the nurse tell me it was now a 99% success rate. When did you last vomit? I ran around too much for my lungs at five-a-side football and did a little sick in my mouth. I think it’s because I’m an athlete. Tell us a secret? I really like chess. No, I don’t think you get it. I really, really, really like chess. Would anyone like a game? Which celebrity could you take in a fight? All of them. At the same time. Once they’ve been seen with me, by osmosis, they would no longer be celebrities. Then they would just be regular people… beating me to a pulp. If you could be reincarnated as an animal which animal would it be? A tardigrade. A tiny water bear that accidentally lives on the Moon. (This is a real thing!!) I want to go to Space! Look What We Have Done, your debut EP as Squiggles is out this month. What can people expect? The sound of people trying their best to make you realise that you too are a Squiggle, we’re not alone in life. Join us! You’re playing our stage at Kelburn Garden Party this summer – do you have any surprises up your sleeve? Oh yes. MwahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA! Look What We Have Done is released on 22 Apr via Alcopop! Records Squiggles plays The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, 22 Apr; Kelburn Garden Party, 1-3 Jul squigglescult.bandcamp.com
THE SKINNY
October 2020
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April 2022 — Chat
The Skinny On...
THE SKINNY
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