The Skinny March 2024

March 2024 Issue 218

THE SKINNY

The Skinny's songs we'd like to see have a Murder on the Dancefloor-style soundtrack renaissance?

John Farnham – You're the Voice Steps – 5, 6, 7, 8 Daft Punk – Get Lucky Alice Deejay – Better Off Alone Mr Blobby – Mr Blobby Waldir Calmon – Airport Love Theme Toto – Hold the Line Journey – Don't Stop Believin' (Glee Cast version) Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch The Last Post Fleetwood Mac – Landslide Prefrab Sprout – Cars and Girls Tears for Fears – Head Over Heels Boney M. – Rasputin Peter Andre – Mysterious Girl Dolly Parton – Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That?

Listen to this playlist on Spotify — search for

'The Skinny Office Playlist' or scan the below code

Issue 218, March 2024 © Radge Media C.I.C. March 2024 - Chat

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Championing creativity in Scotland Meet the team We asked: What film would you most like to see turned into an immersive cinema experience?"

Editorial

Rosamund West Editor-in-Chief "A low budget immersive 101 Dalmations – the puppies are played by real puppies, Pongo and Missis are played by humans in dog costumes. The audience must find the venue by following a complex chain of dog barks."

Peter Simpson Deputy Editor, Food & Drink Editor "Chicken Run – I don't want to be a pie, but I *do* like gravy, so let's see how this goes."

Anahit Behrooz Events Editor, Books Editor "Nymphomaniac (dir. Lars Von Trier)."

Jamie Dunn Film Editor, Online Journalist "How about any Hong Sang-soo film, and then like his characters, we can just get drunk on sake and eat delicious Korean food for two hours."

Tallah Brash Music Editor "To be immersed in Amélie's Parisienne sensory world of dipping her hand in sacks of grain and the crack of a crème brûlée would be a delight. That or a Keanu Reeves action flick: Matrix or John Wick, thx."

Cammy Gallagher Clubs Editor "Cocaine Bear."

Polly Glynn Comedy Editor "Withnail and I (being whisked away on holiday by mistake, yes please) or Ratatouille (keen to live amongst my rat brethren under a really big hat)"

Rho Chung Theatre Editor "Hook, because I want to eat the feast they eat."

Eilidh Akilade Intersections Editor "Maybe Ladybird? I have always wanted to be a teenage girl in Sacramento. Failing that, Twilight because I have always wanted to be a teenage girl in Forks."

Jack Faulds Intern "Labyrinth - I just want to know how stenchy the Bog of Eternal Stench really is, and I'd like to get some more dialogue out of that polite little worm."

Business

Production

Laurie Presswood General Manager "In The Loop."

Dalila D'Amico Art Director, Production Manager "Tremors."

Phoebe Willison Designer "9 to 5 of course! Dolly Parton would actually be there, and all men with bad vibes would actually be blackmailed into going to a far away land on business and kidnapped so they can't return."

Ema Smekalova Media Sales Executive "Jan Švankmajer's Little Otik.

Everyone comes dressed as tree stump baby."

Emilie Roberts Media Sales Executives "Eraserhead. Everyone in the audience gets one of the babies to hold for the entirety of the film. Someone (preferably David Lynch himself) plays the organ live. No one has a good time."

Gabrielle Loue Media Sales Executives "Night at the Museum. I'm tired of going to museums and NOT seeing the T-Rex come to life, so now's my chance."

Harvey Dimond Art Editor N/A

Ellie Robertson Digital Editorial Assistant "I try to live my life like the Studio Ghibli immersive cinema experience (I eat a lot of soup and dress like a bisexual wizard)"

Sales

George Sully Sales and Brand Strategist "Serious answer? Tron. Real answer? Tommy Wiseau's The Room.

Oh hai Mark!"

Sandy Park Commercial Director "Dodgeball."

THE SKINNY

Editorial Words: Rosamund West

I

March 2024 — Chat

n March, as we prepare for second winter and the spring of deception, Scotland welcomes an array of film festivals to our cinemas, creating a space which helps us dream of a brighter future. We’re celebrating with a Film Special, which opens with a conversation with activist film collective Invisible Women, whose programming showcases the work of women who might otherwise fall through the archival cracks. They’re presenting a range of programmes and retrospectives this month, with a series of shorts by Mexican feminist film collective Cine Mujer at Glasgow Short Film Festival, and a retrospective entitled Wild Flower, Flaming Star at Glasgow Film Festival, celebrating the prolific Mexican actress Dolores del Río.

We examine the visionary programming in Scottish film which makes space for community-building and radical change, looking at the work of Take One Action, Glasgow Short Film Festival and Berwick Film & Arts Media Festival (Berwick for this issue being treated as part of Scotland along 15th Century border lines, naturally). The curators behind Følkløric, a two-part strand of shorts exploring traditional and contemporary visions of folklore, also at GSFF, share the pub discussions that inspired them to develop the programme. We talk to Romanian director Radu Jude, whose Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, a satire of late stage capitalist work culture, is also screening at GFF. Finally, we look forward to HippFest, the annual celebration of silent film in Bo’ness’s historical Hippodrome.

On the back of the Misogyny in Music report published by the UK government in January, Tallah has spoken to women and non-binary people who work in the Scottish music industry to find out more about the barriers they face on a daily basis. It’s a depressing read. While editing it, I found myself worrying about our safeguarding responsibilities in allowing the interviewees to voice very basic criticisms of their working environments. I also wonder which of the Scottish music industry’s various maniacs is going to send me abuse about it either in person or online, as

has happened when we’ve discussed misogyny and abuse before. This is how the silencing operates.

Music also talks to Empress Of, aka Lorely Rodriguez, about her provocative fourth studio album For Your Consideration. A pair of virtuosic fiddle players, Pekka Kuusisto and Aidan O’Rourke, are interviewed by someone with a Grade 5 in violin, ahead of their Scottish Chamber Orchestra performances as part of Time and Tides.

Intersections examines the recent student-led campaigns organising against Scottish universities’ institutional complicity and investment in fossil fuels and the arms trade. One writer takes a walk in the Pentlands and finds solace in the exploration of nature and geological time.

Comedy’s got its second biggest month of the Scottish cultural calendar, looking forward to the arrival of Jessica Fostekew’s show Mettle, and the return of Glasgow International Comedy Festival. We talk to Eleanor Morton and Jin Hao Li about the work in progress shows they’re bringing to the programme. Books talks to Lewis-based writer K Patrick about their debut poetry collection Three Births, and Theatre talks to Fronteiras Theatre Lab’s Flavia D’Avila about La Niña Barro, the daring physical theatre work which arrives on an Edinburgh stage this month.

Art celebrates a pair of big birthdays, as Collective and Fruitmarket mark their 40th and 50th respectively. Collective’s programme begins with the Scottish premier of Elisa Giardina Papa’s Sicilian-set film work “U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale, drawing on histories of witchcraft, mythology and oral culture.

Fruitmarket present a solo show from Martin Boyce, one of his most ambitious exhibitions to date and his first with the gallery since 1999.

We close the magazine circling back to comedy, with The Skinny On… Liam Withnail, who hates La La Land, loves plotting to cook Laurence Fox in a witch’s cauldron.

Cover Artist Élise Rigollet runs a creative practice and design studio established in 2018. She focuses on creating visual and conceptual stories across brand identities, editorial design, art direction, print and digital design.

Her love for layout and colour translates to custom typography, intuitive image-making and elegant layouts that come together to create sensory worlds. @eliserigollet eliserigollet.com

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THE SKINNY

Love Bites: Arnie, Aliens, Action Love Bites

This month’s columnist reflects on a past and present watch of cult classic Predator Words: Anthea Batsakis

“D

March 2024 — Chat

illon! You son of a bitch!” An arm wrestle ensues. “What’s the matter? The CIA got you pushin’ too many pencils?”

When Arnold Schwarzenegger utters those lines with his guttural Austrian emphasis, the audience in the vintage cinema erupts. Predator (1987) remains a cult classic, and will always have a corner of my heart for its camp and nostalgic air, and genuinely engaging steroid-fuelled narrative.

The film follows a US special operations team in the jungle somewhere in South America. They’re led

by Arnie’s character named Major ‘Dutch’ Schaefer.

One by one, the team is picked off by an anthropomorphic alien that camouflages with the jungle.

Arnie is at his most muscle-ballooning glorious.

The late great Carl Weathers is also a muscle-bound stud. In fact, every character in this slice of testosterone of a film is in peak physical condition. You might even, like me, find the film deeply homoerotic: the glistening sweat; the butch camaraderie; the slow, methodical handling of weapons before an ejaculation of gunfire and explosions.

“You are one ugly son of a bitch,” Arnie says, lathered in mud, and we all cheer again.

I first watched Predator alongside new friends in my first year at university, with a few cheap beers and Doritos crumbs scattered on the floorboards. At 19, I was discovering who I was away from childhood friends and the rigidity of secondary school. I barely understood my developing personality, let alone my own seemingly alien-like adult body. And so, maybe, there was something comforting in the alien, somewhat absurd world of Predator. But my whole life lay ahead and I could take it in any direction I wanted to.

This moment is a gorgeous, rose-tinted memory of our own sort of camaraderie and the excitement of self-discovery. I wish I could watch Predator for the first time again – but, for now, the cinema and its undying Predator fans are enough.

Crossword Solutions Across 1. CINEMATOGRAPHER 9. TAKE PART 10. REAPER 11. VIVANT 12. AT LENGTH 13. WARDROBE 15. ANYWAY 17. MYOPIC 19. THESPIAN 21. LABOURER 23. STRUMS 24. MIMOSA 25. ANIMATOR 26. ATTENTION-SEEKER Down 2. IMAGINARY 3. EMERALD 4. ADAPT 5. OUTTAKE 6. RERELEASE 7. PLAINLY 8. EXERT 14. OSCAR BAIT 16. ALAN MOORE 18. PROMOTE 19. TORNADO 20. PERVADE 22. A-LIST 23. SNIPS

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THE SKINNY

Heads Up

It’s a film-heavy month in this here film issue, with festivals and screenings galore, as well as some excellent gigs, otherworldly art and late night dance parties.

Compiled by Anahit Behrooz

Heads Up

Various venues, Glasgow, 28 Feb-10 Mar It’s another banger of a programme from the folks at Glasgow Film Festival, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year.

Help them celebrate in style with screenings of the likes of Alice Rohrwacher’s eagerly anticipated La Chimera (finally on a UK cinema screen!), French vampire horror The Vourdalek, and Ava DuVernay’s blistering take on racial politics Origin.

Image: courtesy of Glasgow Film Festival

Photo: Constantine Spence

Glasgow Film Festival

Holly Humberstone The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 8 Mar, 7pm Pop rock singer Holly Humberstone released her debut album Paint My Bedroom Black only in October, but it’s already made huge waves. Dark, moody and unflinching, her music has an engagingly melodramatic quality: full of big heartbreak themes and the riffs to match. She’s toured with the likes of Olivia Rodrigo and girl in red before, which should give you a sense of the angsty vibe.

La Chimera

Photo: Naomi Woddis

Holly Humberstone

Photo: Katherine Cantwell

bdrmm Beat Generator Live!, Dundee, 7 Mar, 7pm Touring their latest album I Don’t Know, shoegaze sweethearts bdrmm head to Dundee for a show full of introspective lyricism, post-rock riffs and dabbles in electronica. The four-piece signed on with Mogwai’s record label Rock Action Records following the critical success of their debut album Bedroom and their star is only on the up, with appearances planned in the summer at Glasgow’s Big City 2024 and Brighton’s Psych Fest.

bdrmm

Image: courtesy of the Artist and Galerie Tanja Wagner

Image: courtesy of artist

March 2024 — Chat

Collective Gallery, Edinburgh 1 Mar-19 May Collective turns 40 this year, and they have a gorgeous programme of exhibitions to celebrate four decades of innovative creation and curation. Kicking things off is the first solo presentation in the UK of Sicilian artist Elisa Giardina Papa, whose exhibition “U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale brings together ceramic sculptures and moving image to explore the folkloric figure of the ‘donne di fora’ - ‘women from the outside and beside themselves’.

DJ Shahrazadi

Image: courtesy of the Artist and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow. Photo: Keith Hunter Martin Boyce, Long Distance Sleep Talking, 2022

Summerhall, Edinburgh, 2 Mar, 6:30pm Join Palestinian solidarity group Sumud in Summerhall for an exhibition of sounds and words, bringing together music, poetry and art that carve out moments of resistance. The lineup features musicians Bashir Saade, Tarik Bashir, and Aidan O’Rourke, poetry and spoken word from Courtney Stoddart, Janette Ayachi, Noon Salah Eldin and Aisha Husain, a dabke performance by Zarifattoul-Assamer will perform dabke and a DJ set by Edinburgh-based duo DJ Shahrazadi.

SCO: Time and Tides

Photo: Steve Gullick

Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, 2 Mar-9 Jun

Under the Olive Tree

Various venues, St Andrews + Edinburgh + Glasgow, 13-15 Mar, 7:30pm Photo: Bård Gundersen

Image: courtesy of GSFF

Martin Boyce: Before Behind Between Above Below

Various venues, St Andrews, 8-10 Mar There’s an embarrassment of riches (if you like poetry) at StAnza, Scotland’s international poetry festival, this year.

Big names abound – including past and present Scots Makars Liz Lochhead and Kathleen Jamie, Moroccan poet Mouna Ouafik and a closing event with 2023 TS Eliot Prize for Poetry winner, Anthony Joseph – as well as workshops with the likes of Maria Sledmere and Glasgow Zine Library and morning Poetry Cafés.

Anthony Joseph for StAnza

Elisa Giardina Papa, “U Scantu” A Disorderly Tale, 2022

Elisa Giardina Papa: “U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale

StAnza

Chasing the Sun: El Shatt by Ana Bilankov Marika Hackman

Glasgow Short Film Festival Various venues, Glasgow, 20-24 Mar

Pekka Kuusisto for SCO

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Marika Hackman Oran Mor, Glasgow, 12 Mar, 7pm

THE SKINNY

Image: courtesy of Sneaky Pete's

Image: courtesy of The Hug and Pint

The Mirror Dance: Yu Su Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 16 Mar, 11pm Dance party The Mirror Dance is bringing Kaifeng-born composer, DJ and sound artist Yu Su to Sneaky’s tiny dance floor. Known for her dreamy, leftfield compositions that create musical narratives from a myriad of genres and personal introspection, her set promises a gorgeous, luminous, and welcomingly lowkey take on dance music.

Yu Su

Phantom Beirut by Ghassan Salhab

Image: courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art Film Stills Collection

Photo: Steve Tanner

The Wind (1928) at HippFest

Blue Beard

Tapir!

The Hug and Pint, Glasgow, 21 Mar, 7:30pm Kooky indie folk outfit Tapir! (the exclamation mark is key) blend all kinds of musical genres, from art pop to post-punk, to craft a dreamy, mythic, and playful soundscape. Central to their live performances is their visual language, utilising paintings, set design, costumes and short films to transform their music into an unforgettable storytelling experience.

Image: courtesy of the artist

Hippodrome Silent Film Festival

Rae-Yen Song

Rae-Yen Song: life-bestowing cadaverous soooooooooooooooooooot CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow, until 18 May Half exhibition, half live research programme, RaeYen Song’s wonderfully titled life-bestowing cadaverous soooooooooooooooooooot explores the possibilities of world building, in which artworks, prototypes, experiments, artefacts and models imagine new forms of existence and entanglement. While focusing on Rae-Yen’s own speculative practice, the exhibition also features multiple other artists to collaborate and comment on the work.

Samedia Shebeen presents TOYA DELAZY + DJ Mango Park

Photo: Wilk

The Mash House, Edinburgh, 2 Mar, 11pm

Vittorio Angelone at Glasgow International Comedy Festival

Sadie Downing, The End, Still from performance to camera, 2023

Glasgow International Comedy Festival Confidence Man

Photo: courtesy of RSA

Sub Club, Glasgow, 12 Mar, 7pm

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 12-30 Mar, various times Emma Rice, the director of groundbreaking theatre company Wise Children, takes on the enduring horror folktale Bluebeard, about a man who hoards his dead wives in the attic, in this subversive and visually stunning retelling. Melding witty writing with music and innovative stage craft, Blue Beard breathes new life into a familiar tale.

Photo: PatternNation

Image: courtesy of Monkey Barrel Comedy Club

RARE Club: Confidence Man

Blue Beard

RSA New Contemporaries

Various venues, Glasgow, 13-31 Mar

Toya Delazy

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RSA: Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 30 Mar-24 Apr

March 2024 — Chat

The Hippodrome, Bo’ness, 20-24 Mar A breath of fresh air in a busy, noisy month: Hippodrome Silent Film Festival returns, with a stellar programme of non-Talkies. There’s a Scottish focus with 1916 classic Peggy, about a New York socialite who moves to Scotland, and delicate documentary The Rugged Island: A Shetland Lyric, as well as screenings of classics such as The Wind and Mantrap.

Various venues, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 7-10 Mar 47 films across five different strands chronicle desires for liberation in Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival’s 19th edition. The opening film is a stunning restoration of Ghassan Salhab’s 1989 film Phantom Beirut, followed by the likes of Heiny Srour’s blazing The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived and a series of screenings exploring the work of Palestinian filmmaker Basma al-Sharif.

Heads Up

Image: courtesy of Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival

Tapir!

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival

March 2024

THE SKINNY

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THE SKINNY

What's On All details correct at the time of writing

Yard Act

March 2024 — Events Guide

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LVRA

Photo: Phoebe Fox

Film We couldn’t squeeze every film festival happening in March into this film special. For example, IberoDocs, the festival dedicated to documentaries from Spanish, Portuguese and Latin-American filmmakers, which began on 21 February and will continue until 2 March. One upcoming highlight is José & Pilar, Miguel Gonçalves Mendes’ delicate portrait of the relationship

Photo: Minsett Hein

Photo: Apsi Witana Brenda

Music Kicking things off in Stirling this month, we’re excited about the New Noise series at Tolbooth which dominates Fridays. Throughout the month you’ll find folk artists Fidra (1 Mar), scrappy electro punks Brenda (8 Mar), supreme singer-songwriter Alice Faye (15 Mar) and Lost Map’s melodic Sulka (22 Mar).

With grand plans across Tolbooth and the city’s Albert Halls venue, Stirling is one to watch for new music.

International Women’s Day is officially on 8 March, but we don’t want to limit celebrating women to only one day, so here’s a whole host of local events to check out through the month. On 2 March, be sure to catch LVRA performing as part of King Tut’s Halo night which showcases the best producers and DJs from Scotland. On the 6th, singer-songwriter-rapper EYVE launches her debut EP Sista! Beyond the sky isn’t the limit at The Old Hairdresser’s, while you can catch the aforementioned Brenda at Tolbooth on the 8th. On 9 March, in Edinburgh head for Summerhall’s Dissection Room to catch the Rebecca Vasmant Live Ensemble, or to the basement of The Safari Lounge for Thundermoon who perform at Supper Club.

If you find yourself in Galashiels on the same day, be sure to head for MacArts where you can catch Swim School and Her Picture, while on the 22nd in Glasgow, head for Stereo’s She/Her Live night celebrating International Women’s Day with a night showcasing female and female identifying artists across live music, magic(!) and dance, with all proceeds going to Women’s Aid, or catch the Martha Ffion-fronted Former Champ at The Rum Shack.

When it comes to all-dayers, March is bookended by two in Edinburgh with Fuzz Bat’s St Vincent’s Spring All Dayer in Stockbridge (2 Mar) with live sets from Adam Stafford, Bell Lungs, Gaze Is Ghost, Ali Sha Sha and loads more, while Edinburgh Psych Fest bring Cave Wave to The Caves on Easter Sunday (31 Mar) with Scaler (fka Scalping), PVA, Eyes of Others, Pearling and Ebbb all set to play. On 9 March, EHFM is celebrating experimental music with a whole daytime broadcast dedicated to exactly that, rounded off with an evening of live performances at Embassy called Works In Progress: Live.

If immersive audiovisual performance is more your thing, head for Sean Logan’s Collide at CCA (7 Mar), hosted by Cryptic in partnership with the National Autistic Society Scotland. Back in Edinburgh, AMPLIFI returns to The Queen’s Hall (20 Mar) with a trio of local hip-hop talent as Conscious Route, Jurnalist and P CASO get set to rock the venue’s cafe, while you’ll also find a whole host of touring artists across the Central Belt this month including Gilla Band (The Caves, 3 Mar), bdrmm (Beat Generator Live!, 7 Mar), Say She She (Assembly Rooms, 11 Mar), 1-800 GIRLS (live) (Sneaky Pete’s, 13 Mar), Yard Act (O2 Academy Glasgow, 15 Mar), Griff (Barrowlands, 30 Mar) and Fatima Yamaha (SWG3, 31 Mar). [Tallah Brash]

THE SKINNY

Redstone Press at Fitzroy, Berlin

Samedia Shebeen

Photo: Courtney Rabbit @courtney_rabbit

Clubs On Friday 1 March, Flora Yin Wong + Mondlane bring experimental electronics to The Glad Café. In celebrating their tenth release on the label, it’s Redstone Press at Exit: SAMH Fundraiser with live performances and DJ sets from various artists involved. At The Berkeley Suite, don’t miss Bonzai Bonner and David Vunk for Shoot Your Shot. Near Field x Pop Mutations x The Flying Duck: ML Buch + Astrid Sonne + Fergus Clark runs from 7.30pm on Saturday, shortly followed by Edinburgh-born, London-based LVRA at King Tuts for Halo w/ KOPI O. If you’re feeling adventurous, catch a train afterwards to the capital for Samedia Shebeen with South African powerhouse TOYA DELAY at The Mash House (2 Mar).

On Tuesday 5 March, Bristol’s fast-rising NUKG star, Oppidan, takes on a sold-out Sneaky Pete’s. In Glasgow, KAVARI and bloody shield join Tennessee’s Hi-C, as the Euroluvv Tour stops at Stereo. On Wednesday 6 March HEAVY FLOW presents Freshta for an Edinburgh debut at The Mash House. Friday 8 March marks International Women’s Day in Glasgow, as Stereo presents: Anna Morgan alongside Effua, Iso Yso & pure g1rl, whilst Edinburgh’s Palidrone celebrate six years with Ehua. Karawane’s back at King’s Dundee on Saturday with live djembe drummers and salsa dancers together with MC Butterscotch (9 Mar).

Combining UK jazz with downtempo deep house, berlioz boasts a sold-out St Luke’s show in Glasgow (14 Mar). fabric lands at Sub Club on Friday 15 March, celebrating 25 years with long-time resident and Houghton founder Craig Richards – Bake joins until 4 am. Otherwise, catch OJOO GYAL at The Flying Duck, or Irish techno royalty, Sunil Sharpe, at La Cheetah. Get down to Sneaky Pete’s on Saturday as The Mirror Dance: Yu Su showcases an unconventionally irresistible journey through leftfield grooves.

In Glasgow, Talkess turn four at Broadcast with French percussion specialist Kaval in the basement, while más all soundtracks the bar. At Exit, expect kuduro, kizomba, tarraxinha, batida for HEALTHY x Príncipe (16 Mar).

Brand new Account__Unavailable01 bring a stunningly weird and wonderful dream team to EXIT on Thursday 21 March. Fine Times partners with Aberdeen Jazz Festival on Saturday 23 March, staging a live and diverse mix of ambient, dub and cosmic disco at Spin. In Glasgow, Shoot Your Shot

Home Movies Gaza

Photo: @recompo.se

Image: courtesy of Redstone Press

March 2024 — Events Guide

Dance, Girl, Dance

between the Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese author José Saramago and his wife, Pilar del Rio. Mendes will be in Edinburgh for a post-film conversation, and there’ll be a selection of Saramago’s work available if you’re inspired to dive into his writing (2 Mar, McDonald Road Library).

If music is more your vibe, there’s Miúcha, the Voice of Bossa Nova from Brazilian filmmakers Liliane Mutti and Daniel Zarvos. The co-directors will be in Edinburgh for a Q&A, and the screening will be followed by a performance from Edinburgh-based bossa nova band Fingertraps (1 Mar, Institut Français). IberoDocs comes to a close at Lost in Leith on 2 March with One Day Lobo Lopez, the story of Kiko Veneno’s hit album Échate un cantecito, followed by a dance party with live music and DJs. March also sees the return of Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (7-10 Mar). Two retrospectives jump out as highlights. There’s a deep dive into the work of Basma al-Sharif, a nomadic artist and filmmaker whose parents are Palestinian: expect films challenging the legacy of colonialism through satirical, immersive, and lyrical images. There’s also a focus on Argentine filmmaker Eduardo Williams, best known for the extraordinary The Human Surge. Its follow-up, The Human Surge 3 (there is no part 2), will have its UK premiere at Berwick. Also look out for plenty of boundary-pushing short films in the always exciting New Cinema strand.

Glasgow Film Theatre have an unmissable season dedicated to pioneering director Dorothy Arzner, who was at one point the only woman helming features during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Four films screen, including her sparkling study of female friendship Dance, Girl, Dance with Lucille Ball and Maureen O’Hara (14 & 30 Mar), and the dark relationship drama Craig’s Wife, starring Rosalind Russell (16 & 19 Mar).

The above are good movies. But what about bad ones? Well you can ‘enjoy’ them with funny movie buffs like Billy Kirkwood and Chris Thorburn at Glasgow Comedy Festival’s Watch Bad Movies with Great Comedians, a night of live commentary to truly honking films (28 Mar, The Glee Club). This event is an 80s special, so expect turkeys like Masters of the Universe, Mac & Me and Howard the Duck to be on the menu. [Jamie Dunn]

Toya Delazy X PatternNation

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THE SKINNY

Image: courtesy the artist and Herald St, London.

Photo: Gunnar Meier Nicole Wermers, Reclining Fanmail, 2022

Matthew Arthur Williams, In the afternoon, I, 25th May 2021

March 2024 — Events Guide Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic

Theatre With the days in Scotland getting longer, theatre-goers have a wide array of options across genres.

Glasgow’s Tron Theatre will complete its run of Caryl Churchill’s seminal play, Escaped Alone, which opened last month. The production will also run at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre. The show features an accomplished female cast of older Scottish actors and probes the constraints of civility that burden older women. (22 Feb-9 Mar, Tron Theatre; 13-16 Mar, Traverse Theatre).

The Tron will also host And the Birds Did Sing, an award-winning dance theatre piece by Christine Devaney. The show utilises movement, spoken word, music, and design to loosely follow Devaney’s childhood memories of change, loss, and love (22 & 23 Mar) Acclaimed company Mischief will be bringing its production of Peter Pan Goes Wrong to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Known for their smash hit, The Play That Goes Wrong, Mischief’s signature style features uproarious slapstick and perfectly timed comedy (27 Feb-2 Mar, Edinburgh Playhouse, 4-9 Mar, Theatre Royal Glasgow).

In new Scottish work, Canonical Theatre bring their grassroots collaboration, To the Letter, to Òran Mór on 3 March. Developed by six emerging writers over the past year, the production follows two sisters who can’t seem to communicate. The piece explores how we connect to each other through the written word.

Summer 1986 advert by The Cloth from i-D Magazine, April 1986

Image: courtesy of the artist

Photo: Ben Collins The Tron

Art March is a bumper month for new shows across the country. Between 7-10 March, the 19th rendition of the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival takes place in venues across Berwick-upon-Tweed, with a special focus on the Palestinian filmmaker Basma al-Sharif. In Fife, Crafted Selves: The Unfinished Conversation, a group show of 13 artists curated by Cat Dunn, tours to Kirkcaldy Galleries this month, opening on 23 March and continuing until 12 May. In Glasgow, The Reid Gallery at The Glasgow School of Art is mounting a retrospective of the textile works of Fraser Taylor. Titled Instant Whip: The Textiles and Papers of Fraser Taylor 1977-1987 Revisited, the exhibition brings together textiles and archival material relating to Taylor’s practice and his involvement in art and design collective The Cloth (16 Mar-20 Apr). Close by, at their new York Street space, The Common Guild’s first show of 2024 runs 1 March-20 April (preview 29 February). Day Care, Nicole Wermers’ most substantial UK presentation to date, considers women’s bodies and labour in relation to urban spaces – all set against Glasgow’s industrial cityscape.

In Edinburgh, Matthew Arthur Williams’ solo show In Consideration of Our Times opens at Stills from 22 March and runs until 15 June. The exhibition features a selection of entirely new colour and black & white self-portraits and landscapes which delve further into Williams’ exploration of memory, race and queer identities. Down the road at Fruitmarket, Martin Boyce’s first solo show at the gallery in 25 years opens on 2 March, as part of Fruitmarket’s programme celebrating its 50th birthday. Before Behind Between Above Below (2 Mar-9 Jun) will fill all of the gallery’s spaces with Boyce’s architecture-inspired sculptural forms. Collective are also celebrating a birthday this year (their 40th), opening their 2024 programme with the Scottish premiere of Italian artist’s Elisa Giardina Papa’s “U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale (1 Mar-19 May), which explores a Sicilian myth about women cast as otherworldly, supernatural creatures.

Also in Edinburgh, the Drill Hall hosts Homestead, a new exhibition

by Lauren Cory, featuring pastel compositions that blend the nostalgic comfort of home with the sense of something bigger on the horizon. Continues until 30 March. At the tail end of the month, the Royal Scottish Academy hosts its annual New Contemporaries exhibition, featuring a selection of graduates from Scotland’s art and architecture schools. Opens 30 March and continues until 24 April. [Harvey Dimond]

Image: courtesy of The Glasgow School of Art

returns to The Berkeley Suite with Bored Lord B2B Introspekt – support from Hu-Sane (23 Mar).

The following weekend, SWG3’s TV Studio stages Fatima Yamaha… what’s a girl to do on a Saturday!? For sound systems, all roads lead to The Old Fruitmarket in Dub with An Dannsa Dub and Mungo’s Hi Fi (both 30 Mar). [Cammy Gallagher]

Escaped Alone

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Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic Traverse Theatre

Books The biggest book event this month is over in the tiny seaside town of St Andrews, as StAnza poetry festival (8-11 Mar) descends upon the town’s venues. Find the likes of Liz Lochhead, Daljit Nagra, Alycia Pirmohamed and Anthony Anaxagorou in town, with a series of invigorating readings, workshops and performances. Over in the big smoke (Edinburgh), meanwhile, Doug Johnstone launches his new book The Collapsing Wave at The Portobello Bookshop (19 Mar), Lighthouse Bookshop host a poetry evening with local poet Rosa Campbell (5 Mar), and a climate activism evening with author Lynne Jones on her book Sorry for the Inconvenience But This Is an Emergency (18 Mar).

For those who want a more active part in proceedings, Typewronger Books are hosting their regular play-reading night on 15 March: this month tackling Nick Dear’s retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which premiered at The National Theatre in 2011, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller. Over in Glasgow, meanwhile, Glasgow Zine Library are launching Queer Read-in Club (25 Mar), an evening open to LGBTQ+ people to bring their own books and chat about them at the end. And over in Civic House, Justin O’Connor is launching his very timely book Culture Is Not An Industry (12 Mar), examining the harmful events of creative commodification.

[Anahit Behrooz]

Photo: Sarah Harry-Isaac

Comedy Glasgow International Comedy Festival (13-31 March) is here with an influx of comics working up brand-new sets and bringing tour shows to the west coast.

Before the festival properly kicks off, make sure you book in for Phil Ellis’s Excellent Comedy Show (2 Mar, Monkey Barrel, 8pm; 9 Mar, Glasgow Stand, 4pm) – an all-out chaotic riot from a man dressed as a cat, and perfect for anyone who missed out on Sam Campbell tickets this month (doublecheck for returns from Monkey Barrel or Glasgow’s The Garage). Marjolein Robertson brings her touring show Marj to The Stand in Edinburgh on 6 March, while Jessica Fostekew’s new tour show Mettle also comes to town (5 Mar, Monkey Barrel, 8pm; 6 Mar, Glasgow Stand, 8pm) – we chat to her about it too!

There’s plenty of Scottish talent performing at this year’s GICF: Krystal Evans brings a WIP (28 Mar, 6.30pm) and her fantastic Fringe show (22 Mar, 6pm) to Blackfriars; Mara Joy previews her first stand-up hour at Drygate (Peaks Bar, 18 Mar, 9pm); David Callaghan’s moving comedy-theatre show comes to the Old Hairdresser’s (13 Mar, 7.30pm), and Liam Withnail’ (this month’s back-page Q&A star) brings acclaimed show Chronic Boom toGlasgow Stand (29 Mar, 8pm).

Journeying to Scotland for the festival are US rising star Leslie Liao, who makes her Glasgow debut at Òran Mór (24 Mar, 7.30pm), Kemah Bob with a WIP of their debut hour (Old Hairdresser’s, 23 Mar, 6.30pm) and Alex Franklin, a surprise hit of Fringe 2023, who brings Girl Code, a WIP of her sophomore show to Van Winkle West End (31 Mar, 1pm).

Other BIG DEALS coming to GICF include Daddy herself, Rosie Jones (Glasgow Glee, 27 Mar, 7.30pm), a brand new WIP from Taskmaster Champ Sophie Duker (Old Hairdresser’s, 24 Mar, 5.30pm) and a new show from spooky sketch conglomerate Tarot (Old Hairdresser’s, 24 Mar, 2.30pm), whose show at Fringe ‘23 was unbelievably (annoyingly) good for a knockabout work-in-progress. [Polly Glynn]

Sophie Duker

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Daljit Nagra

Photo: Trudy Stade

March 2024 — Events Guide

Photo: Martin Figura

Image: courtesy of Lighthouse Bookshop Lighthouse Bookshop

Beyond Glasgow and Edinburgh, Rosy Carrick brings her subversive and daring comedy, Musclebound, to CatStrand in Castle Douglas (15 Mar).

Structured around Carrick’s childhood obsession with 80s bodybuilders, the piece is a witty, frank, and powerful look at femininity and sexuality.

Towards the end of the month, Scottish company Birds of Paradise will embark on their UK-wide tour with Don’t. Make. Tea., the disability-led company’s acclaimed dark comedy. Amidst an increasingly hostile environment, the show is a witty invective against the discriminatory and restrictive benefits system. The tour will open at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre 21-22 March before returning to Scotland in April. [Rho Chung]

Marjolein Robertson

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Remaking Myths The new Perth Museum opens with an exhibition celebrating Scotland’s national animal, the Unicorn, including six new commissions by queer artists exploring the unicorn’s significance to the LGBTQI+ community

Image: courtesy of Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection

Photo: National Museums Scotland

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March 2024

cotland is a nation enthralled with myths and legends. One mythical creature that seems to enchant us more than most is the unicorn.

We long ago adopted this magical horned horse as our national animal, and its significance to Scottish culture, from antiquity to the present day, is rich and multivariate.

Unicorn, the debut exhibition at the new Perth Museum, which opens its doors this month after a £27 million redevelopment, takes a deep dive into this national obsession. Featuring objects and artworks from across the world, the exhibition explores the unicorn in relation to art, science and popular culture. One of its most exciting aspects is Hunting the Unicorn – a series of specially commissioned artworks exploring the unicorn as a modern symbol of the LGBTQI+ community. The museum has invited six queer artists to create The Unicorns, by John Duncan, work for the series, with the proviso that they use Thanks to Dewar's Aberfeldy Distillery and 1920, tempera on canvas a blank life-sized horse head as their creative Perth Museum, we’ve got two sets of Unicorn canvas, which they are free to modify in any way exhibition tickets and two bottles of Perth Cannon hopes to that serves their concept. trans people. Even now, Museum branded whisky to give away. To enter, “highlight the insubEdinburgh-based artist Alex Hayward tells us the government may please go to theskinny.co.uk/competitions. stantiality” of conceived that he wanted to explore the issues that face still allow forms of gender categories. “I LGBTQI+ people living in rural areas. “From open For full terms and conditions, go to conversion therapy to theskinny.co.uk/about/terms-and-conditions hope this will raise prejudice, violence, and abuse, to microaggressions take place in faith-based awareness of the issues and oblivious ignorance, rural queerphobia can settings due to concerns being faced by the queer culminate in queer people feeling isolated, othered, of some religious groups community and provoke meaningful discussion or targeted by their local community,” Hayward who state a ban would infringe on traditional around the nature of identity and societal norms,” tells us. “I now live in the city but am conscious of religious practices.”

Hanna’s Hunting the Unicorn commission he says. By using found metal objects assembled at the tendency to regard queer culture as primarily adds a horn, cold-cast from jesmonite, to the the Glasgow Sculpture Studio, Cannon will create a urban. For the countless Dorothys who don’t or life-sized horse head, before deconstructing the wall that his unicorn appears to be striding won’t have the opportunity or desire to relocate, through. “There is a sense of freedom as the uniKansas must be a safe and fulfilling place for them.” horse head by slicing parts of the face away. “This corn steps gracefully through any barrier,” he says. act of slicing is indicative of the abusive practices To explore these issues, Hayward has incorFor Cannon, freeing these scrap metals from carried out during conversion therapy, which causes porated the unicorn into a sign he’s designed for their previous functions is an expression of the life-long lasting psychological harm,” she says. an imaginary village called ‘Kiljessie’. Below this “Through the simple act of mutilating freedom and joy of the genderqueer community sign, Hayward will install a village exploring and expressing themselves openly. the form, I believe the artwork can notice board, but viewers will quickly “These [metal objects] were intended for something harness its poignant and bold staterealise that what little is going on in ment while being easily understood by different, but now they are taking back ownership this sleepy village doesn’t cater to its all visitors to the new Perth Museum.” over the form. My art does not suggest there is no queer community. “It is essential to The unicorn head is also adorned with form; rather that it is contextual, fluid and subject direct all viewers, regardless of their a stole, reminiscent of the shoulder to change in response to the conditions of the own identity and circumstance to vestments worn by priests. universe, and is far more mysterious than our consider these notices from the Ciaran Cannon is a Glasgowsocietally constructed boundaries allow space for.” perspective of a possibly vulnerable based artist whose work often These three artworks, along with commisrural queer person,” says Hayward. “I explores the insubstantiality of sions from artists David Hutchison, Francis hope it’s a success.” gender through found and salvaged MacLeod and duo GAINAGAIN, will be on display The commission from Kathryn materials and objects. His Hunting at Perth Museum as part of the Unicorn exhibition Hanna, a socially engaged sculptor the Unicorn commission builds on from 30 March to 22 September. For more inforand environmental artist based in Detail of a gilded and enamelled this practice, and hopes to be a mation about the Unicorn exhibition and to buy Glasgow, is concerned with horrific unicorn holding a shield with the lion rebuttal to recent comments by rampant, atop a silver baton, part of the tickets, head to perthmuseum.co.uk/unicorn. stories of conversion therapy. “The regalia of the Usher of the White Rod. leading politicians who have fanned Happy hunting!

UK Government has not taken a the flames of prejudice against the strong stance on conversion therapy,” trans community, behaviour that he calls “a Hanna tells us. “At one point plans [to ban convercynical attempt to unite the general public sion therapy] were scrapped entirely... these plans through preying on their fear.” were then reintroduced but they did not safeguard

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Words by: Jamie Dunn

December 2023

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5 Meet the Team — 6 Editorial — 7 Love Bites — 8 Heads Up 11 What’s On — 18 Crossword — 19 Ask Anahit — 35 Intersections 40 Poster by Jonny Mowat — 59 Music — 65 Film & TV — 69 Food & Drink 70 Books — 71 Comedy — 72 Listings — 78 The Skinny on… Liam Withnail Features 22 Our Film Special opens with archive activist film collective Invisible Women.

26 Heather Bradshaw and Grace Feinmann discuss folklore in film ahead of their curated GSFF strand Følkløric.

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28 Romanian firebrand director Radu Jude discusses new film Don’t Expect Too Much from the End of the World.

32 We meet some of the digital artists and VJs creating immersive visual environments in clubs.

37 Following the Misogyny In Music report, we interview some music industry insiders to offer a (depressing) snapshot of the situation in Scotland.

44 Lewis-based writer K Patrick on their debut poetry collection Three Births.

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45 We catch up with Lorely Rodriguez, aka Empress Of, as she prepares to release fourth studio album, For Your Consideration.

46 Fiddle players Pekka Kuusisto and Aidan O’Rourke discuss musical styles ahead of their Time and Tides performance.

49 “Hold on to that fizziness”: Comedian Jessica Fostekew on her new tour show, Mettle.

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53 Fronteiras Theatre Lab’s Flavia D’Avila on daring physical theatre work La Niña Barro.

54 Elisa Giardina Papa on the Scottish premiere of her Sicilian witch hunt video installation “U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale.

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Image Credits: (Left to right, top to bottom) No Es Por Gusto; The Sermon; Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World; Jeany Uzheng; Marie-Lulu Högemann; Alice Zoo; Charlotte Patmore; courtesy Aidan O'Rourke; Matt Stronge; Trudy Stade; Sandra Navarro; Nicolò Gemin

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On the website...

More from Glasgow Film Festival and Glasgow International Comedy Festival, reviews from Manipulate festival, our fortnightly film podcast The Cineskinny, and an 1800-word ode to Married At First Sight Australia…

March 2024 — Contents

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50 We talk to Eleanor Morton and Jin Hao Li about their Work in Progress shows as they prepare for Glasgow International Comedy Festival.

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Shot of the month billy woods @ Summerhall, 6 Feb by Izzy Reeve

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Across

Down

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2. Made-up (9)

Cameraperson – a cringe metaphor (anag) (15)

9. Participate (4,4) 9

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10. Death – harvester (6) 11. Hedonist – bon ___ (6)

March 2024 — Chat

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12. In detail (2,6)

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13. Costume department (8) 13

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15. Regardless (6) 17. Short-sighted (6) 19. Actor (8)

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21. Worker (8) 23. Plays (guitar) (6)

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24. Cocktail – plant (6) 25. No I am art (anag) (8)

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26. Ekes to entertain (anag) (9-6)

3. ___ Fennell – director of Promising Young Woman (2020) and Saltburn (2023) (7) 4. Rework – adjust (5) 5. Blooper (7) 6. Distribute an older film again (9) 7.

Obviously – candidly (7)

8. Make an effort (5) 14. Award fodder – actor bias (anag) (5,4) 16. Comic book author known for Watchmen and V for Vendetta (4,5) 18. Market – advance (7) 19. Vortex (7) 20. Suffuse (7) 22. Particularly famous (1-4) 23. Cuts (5)

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Compiled by George Sully

Feedback? Email crossword@theskinny.co.uk Turn to page 7 for the solutions — 18 —

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In this month’s advice column, one reader asks how to deal with right-wing family drama

I’m feeling increasingly frustrated and isolated from my right-wing family to the point where I’m considering cutting ties with them completely. I love my family and have tried to ask them several times to avoid talking politics with me but it’s getting worse and it’s affecting my mental health. Help!

March 2024

I hope you do not take this as rebuke, dear reader, but when this column started it was intended as a receptacle for petty nonsense (shout out to the girlie whose boyfriend didn’t understand memes, I think of you daily), and has now become a place to potentially excommunicate fash parents. Like, I get it, it makes sense, but I’m just saying – what a weathervane.

Anyway, if you have to cut ties with them you just do it – I don’t think you need my help with that. But I’m going to assume that you’re looking for a bit of a middle ground, which is great because my family and I come from way east of here and I was brought up learning that nothing ever comes between family (in reality, these places have some of the most telenovela family drama you’ve ever seen but on paper? Baby we’re a Fast and Furious film). This is absolutely not to say that you shouldn’t cut your family out if that’s what is right for you, but I guess my instinct is to find a way where that doesn’t have to happen. It’s hardwired into me, like eating rice with yogurt, or not using a washing up bowl.

It sounds like you’ve tried to communicate your boundaries with them and they’re not listening. I would maybe try again, in a firmer, more ultimatum-y, this-isgoing-to-destroy-our-relationship kind of way. And if crickets, well. Family might be for life, but intimacy is something that’s earned. You don’t have to cut them out entirely, but I think you can cut that intimacy out – share less about yourself, check in less, ghost a few text messages. You know, mature behaviour. It really sucks, especially if you’re close, but if someone isn’t respecting the boundaries you clearly communicate, the only solution sometimes is to set up boundaries around everything. Maybe they’ll get the message. Maybe they won’t. But you don’t owe anyone complete access to yourself.

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One of a Kind

Edinburgh celebrates its 900th anniversary this year, and the city still has plenty of unique experiences to discover and surprises up its sleeve

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Words by: The Skinny Unique food and drink Edinburgh is one of the finest food and drink cities in the UK, with a mixture of history and modernity offering something for everyone. If you’re looking for a sense of mystery, head to one of the New Town’s hidden, speakeasy-style bars. A trip to Panda & Sons starts at what looks like a barbershop, while Bramble is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it spot with brilliant bartenders. The Voodoo Rooms is a one-of-a-kind venue – the main bar is a gilded-age throwback with cosy booths and a truly incredible roof.

For a spot of entertainment, head to NQ64 on Lothian Road and try your hand at classic arcade games, or visit Flight Club at the St James Quarter for a revamped take on darts. The decor is equal parts Edwardian pub and eccentric fairground carousel, and the computerised dartboards help out with the maths. For an activity you won’t find anywhere else, head to the Sheep Heid Inn. It’s one of the oldest pubs in Scotland in a scenic location behind Arthur’s Seat, and it also features a skittles alley which dates back to the 1800s.

Edinburgh is also packed with unique restaurants where the sights are as much of a draw as the flavours. You’ll find a magical afternoon tea at the Colonnades at the Signet Library, an oasis of calm in the heart of the Old Town, while the Lookout by Gardener’s Cottage on Calton Hill offers panoramic views over the city. A seaward view can be found in the ninth floor bar at the new Port of Leith Distillery – enjoy amazing views across Granton and the Firth of Forth.

March 2024

Image: Courtesy of Forever Edinburgh

Arthur's Seat

Green Edinburgh Edinburgh is one of Europe’s leafiest cities, with parks and green spaces making up nearly half of the city’s footprint.

Edinburgh’s green spaces can also kickstart your exploring – head to Stockbridge and hop onto the Water of Leith path. One route leads to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the waterfront at Leith, the other towards National Galleries of Scotland: Modern on the way to Murrayfield and Edinburgh Zoo. A lighter walk can be found on the Union Canal, starting in Fountainbridge on a leafy, flat trail through the southwest of the city.

More committed adventurers should explore in the Pentland Hills, with reservoirs at Harlaw and Threipmuir a highlight. Out of the city, head southeast for Dalkeith Country Park with its vast adventure playground, excellent cafe and sprawling grounds. Go west and you’ll find a world-class contemporary art collection at the Jupiter Artland outdoor sculpture park. Both are easily reached by public transport.

But Edinburgh’s green tinge doesn’t just come from the great outdoors. Many of Edinburgh’s hotels have been lauded for their green credentials – Ten Hill Place in the Southside, The Balmoral on Princes Street, The Scott next to Holyrood Park and the Sheraton at Festival Square all hold Gold Green Tourism Awards. The city’s bars and restaurants are also leading a wave of local and sustainable food and drink. In Leith, Nauticus is a lovingly restored pub with excellent cocktails, where 90% of the products sold are Scottish or have a Scottish link. Over in Abbeyhill, the Gardener’s Cottage is an excellent restaurant which regularly features produce grown on-site.

The Festival City No city embraces festivals quite like Edinburgh, with dozens of events on the calendar across 2024. Spring offers a range of unique festival experiences, starting with the Edinburgh Improv Festival bringing four days of shows and workshops to the Scottish Storytelling Centre (29 Feb-3 Mar).

March also sees the return of Eat Out Edinburgh, a monthlong festival featuring 40 venues in the Old and New Towns.

Want to run off some of those meals? Check out the Edinburgh Marathon Festival from 25-26 May – the marathon and halfmarathon are closed to entries, but there’s still time to sign up for a 5k or 10k in Holyrood Park.

Edinburgh Science Festival returns this month (30 Mar-14 Apr) with a bumper 35th anniversary programme for inquisitive minds of all ages. Another festival celebrating a big anniversary is Hidden Door, the grassroots pop-up art and culture festival; they host a pair of 10th birthday parties at a secret location on 10 and 11 May. And if you’re longing for the return of summer, the Beltane Fire Festival welcomes the sun with a wave of fire, dance and drumming. Join the crowds on Calton Hill on 30 Apr, and wave goodbye to winter with a bang.

Accessible Edinburgh While Edinburgh’s historic and hilly nature can present issues, the city is committed to being as accessible as possible.

Edinburgh’s tram network is 100% step-free at all stations, while Lothian Buses have a range of provisions including wheelchair access and audio announcements on board as well as via the Transport for Edinburgh app.

The city’s attractions also take accessibility seriously. The National Museum of Scotland has lift access to all floors with accessible toilets throughout the building, and National Galleries Scotland offer regular audio described and British Sign Language (BSL) tours. BSL and audio described events are also available at this month’s Edinburgh Science Festival along with a host of relaxed sessions. In August, the Edinburgh International Festival offer a wide range of accessible ways to enjoy the festival, from touch tours to captioned performances, while sensory backpacks are provided by the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with a host of products to help those who may become overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the festival.

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For more Edinburgh inspiration, visit edinburgh.org/experiencethebeauty To stay up-to-date on what’s happening in Edinburgh, sign up to Forever Edinburgh’s newsletter at edinburgh.org/newsletter

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POSTER ARTIST (p40-41) Jonny Mowat is a filmmaker and illustrator based in Glasgow, Scotland, and sometimes he does illustrations about films @jmowatstuff

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Celebrating Film Festivals January 2024

Words: Jamie Dunn

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n Scotland, March has become film festival month. Three of the best events on the Scottish arts calendar – Glasgow Film Festival, Glasgow Short Film Festival and Hippodrome Silent Film Festival – take place, each bringing its own unique brand of programming which helps make the Scottish film scene so vibrant. But these festivals have plenty in common too: an ability to bring film fans together, to challenge us, to show us things that feel fresh or magical or revelatory. Over these next few pages, we’ll be celebrating some of the programmers bringing work to these festivals.

Film collective Invisible Women are dedicated to championing women filmmakers who have fallen through the cracks of cinema history; they tell us about their work digging into the — 21 —

archive for programmes at GFF and GSFF. We also chat curation with GSFF guest programmers Grace Feinmann and Heather Bradshaw, whose delicious two-part strand Følkløric explores traditional and contemporary visions of folklore on film to give a fresh perspective on the folk horror canon. From HippFest, we take a look at their canny programming of silent films that showcase differing perspectives of Scotland, from the setting for Hollywood hijinks to contemplative docudramas capturing a hardscrabble way of life. Tying this all together is Anahit Behrooz’s essay celebrating young programmers bringing fresh and radical new ideas to film festivals that help foster community and solidarity beyond the cinema space.

Film Special

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Reframing Film History

The mission of archive activist film collective Invisible Women is to shine a light on women filmmakers who’ve fallen through the cracks of film history. We chat to them about their slew of upcoming film retrospectives and seasons Words: Carmen Paddock

March 2024 – Feature

T

he ephemerality of film is increasingly apparent. Only a fraction of films made each year see a wide release. Preservation, exhibition, and archiving are fraught issues due to destroyed national libraries, corporate tax schemes, and major distributors refusing physical releases. Compounding these issues is a power imbalance in who makes, funds, distributes, and champions films, the result of which is that the works most often held up as the ‘greats’ are almost exclusively by white men. The magnitude of cinema history can make archival exploration daunting, but filling gaps and championing voices that – due to their gender, race, class, nationality, or other factors – are overlooked by the canon is vital.

One group doing this essential work is film collective Invisible Women. Since their first event in 2017, co-founders and curators Camilla Baier and Rachel Pronger – alongside curator Lauren Clarke – have been working with cinemas and festivals across the world to facilitate programmes that champion women and filmmakers with marginalised identities, bringing their under-recognised work to a wider audience and reframing the broader story of film. Their ten-point manifesto declares principles such as “to curate is a privilege”, “the archive is our past, present and future” and “blow away the dust – make it real, tangible, now!”.

In Scotland, Invisible Women’s schedule is packed. Having recently finished a retrospective on Colombian documentarian Marta Rodriguez at Edinburgh’s CinemaAttic in January, they further explore Latin American cinema with a brace of programmes at Glasgow Short Film Festival featuring shorts by Mexican feminist film collective Cine Mujer. Titled Cine Mujer: Shifting the Narrative, the two strands – The Personal is Political and It’s Not by Choice – boldly explore societal norms and pressures that still resonate despite Colectivo Cine Mujer’s roots in 1960s/1970s radical student politics.

At Glasgow Film Festival, meanwhile, the collective will take part in a panel following Morocco, part of GFF’s What Will the Men Wear? strand, which explores the star power of three of Hollywood’s most subversive female stars of the 1930s: Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and

Katharine Hepburn. Invisible Women also present their own retrospective at the festival called Wild Flower, Flaming Star, celebrating the prolific Mexican actress Dolores del Río. And once GFF comes to a close, they’ll explore the great Hollywood director Dorothy Arzner at the Glasgow Film Theatre as part of the cinema’s regular Cinemasters project.

The Marta Rodriguez series and Cine Mujer: Shifting the Narrative both aim to introduce UK audiences to radical Latin American cinema. Baier, who has lived in Mexico, led the way on access.

“We were doing a presentation about feminist film collectives and started looking at Mexico City collectives born from the student movement,” she explains. “Cine Mujer was the one where we could

find the most films – so many that we had to screen them rather than just present them.” The programme at GSFF follows a 2021 programme at the London Short Film Festival. “I wrote to every single person I could find that had worked with Cine Mujer,” Baier says. “We found a festival in Chile restoring and digitising these films. And last year, a lot of restoration was done in Mexico,” she adds, noting a focus on historical revisionism in the Mexican art world. One film, digitised last year, will be a UK premiere.

The Rodriguez season featured four films, some of her earliest; Invisible Women hopes to show her later work in upcoming seasons.

Rodriguez is still working in her 90s, and the team began to notice that many female filmmakers,

Dolores del Río in La Otra

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Film Special

Cine Mujer, No es Por Gusto (It's Not by Choice )

– some were raunchy as hell, like The Loves of Carmen from 1927,” says Baier. “She came from a really wealthy family that can be traced back to Spanish royalty and was called the ‘Princess of Mexico’. But her first talkies are almost humiliating. I can’t imagine the same thing happening to an American star.” White Europeans with accents, like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, were also exoticised but with greater reverence.

This horrendous treatment of del Río raises questions about a curator’s responsibility to mediate work: there is a balance between examining work within the problematic context of its time, and presenting portrayals that degrade actor and subject. “You see fetishisation so much across the Hollywood studio era,” says Clarke “but is showing some of these films useful? I think we’ve selected a spread that taps into such stereotyping, but not ones where you think, ‘What the hell was going on?’”

“The del Río Hollywood films we love are the ones where she transcends the part she was given,” says Pronger. “She is such a charismatic performer and incredibly dignified presence, and in Flying Down to Rio and Flaming Star [screening at GFF] she is magnetic and brilliant to watch.

She’s a trailblazer and a cautionary tale, and created a long and amazing career for herself within these circumstances. And typecasting Latin American talent in the US is still a huge problem.”

This work doubles as film preservation. The headquarters of the Chilean film festival that digitised Cine Mujer’s films burned down early this year, and Invisible Women shared some files back.

They also commission subtitles when the budget exists, allowing films to reach wider audiences and help create a network of distribution. “That can be limiting in terms of what we end up screening in the final programme,” says Clarke, “but keeping films — 23 —

moving builds a whole community ecosystem.”

Cinemasters: Dorothy Arzner comes next.

Clarke feels her directorial work, spanning from 1927 to 1943, exemplifies the evolution of characters pre- and post-Hays Code. “You see a difference – punishment if someone does wrong – but someone as smart and intelligent as Arzner sneaks in critiques and circumvents these ideas,” she says. “You’re always well aware of where her critiques are – how she’s bringing in queerness, how she pointedly questions different ideas around women’s role in society.”

“I don’t notice the impact [of the Code] as much on Arzner’s films,” adds Proger, “because they are critiques of heterosexual marriage and of the interaction between patriarchy, capitalism, gender, and class” – the latter point being a relative rarity in American films of the time. “She gets forgotten and rediscovered and then forgotten again. But I don’t see how Arzner is any less interesting, subversive, or modern than Billy Wilder.”

After months of research and curation, the team is excited these films will be screened in cinemas. It will be a first for many in the audience, and a very overdue first for many of these films.

Cine Mujer: Shifting the Narrative, CCA, 21-22 Mar, part of GSFF What Will the Men Wear?: Morocco + Recorded Introduction and Panel Discussion, CCA, 29 Feb, 6pm, part of GFF Wild Flower, Flaming Star: The Films of Dolores del Río, GFT and CCA, 29 Feb-7 Mar, part of GFF Cinemasters: Dorothy Arzner, GFT, 12 Mar-3 Apr invisible-women.co.uk instagram.com/invisiblewomen_archives

March 2024 – Feature

including those of Cine Mujer, become permanently associated with their early works rather than their holistic, evolving careers. “[Critics] tend to contain them in a particular moment, like the second wave,” Pronger says, explaining how dismissive and reductive initial criticism can limit rediscovery, focusing attention on to filmmakers’ breakouts. “I’m worried we fossilise older female filmmakers unless they’re really established, like Agnieszka Holland.

Critical reevaluation is ongoing. Also, as we progress, we challenge our own assumptions around what we should screen and when.”

Clarke explains that interrogating the choice of certain retrospectives at certain times is key.

“The Cine Mujer films in particular are so relevant to current conversations around women’s autonomy, sex work, gender, and unions,” she says.

“There’s a resonance and frustration when engaging with these pieces. We’re hoping to foster conversation about these concerns that are consistently imposed on women and people with marginalised identities.”

“So little Latin American cinema is released in the UK,” Pronger adds. “There’s an amazing new generation, particularly of Mexican female filmmakers like Lila Avilés [Tótem, The Chambermaid] making incredible work. We can access films that others in the UK can’t. The del Río season involved extensive negotiation with Mexican archives. It would have been impossible without Camilla, so it’s almost become a mission.”

Del Rio had a star career in the US and Mexico, appearing in 69 films. Invisible Women’s GFF retrospective offers a tantalising taste of her range through four key features. “She bridges the Mexican and Hollywood golden ages,” says Pronger. “She was one of the first Latin American stars widely seen in the US. But because she was a trailblazer, there’s a lot of compromise in terms of the way she was portrayed – often very stereotyped or cast across ethnicities. She’s such an interesting, intelligent, and fascinating person who was maybe reduced into a box by the ways she was shown in Hollywood.”

Del Río was a huge star in her home nation, but it was in the US that she first came to prominence. “She started in pre-Hays Code silent films

March 2024

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THE SKINNY

Community Notes Scotland has a thriving film festival scene, and it’s at its best when it functions as a communal and political space. Programmers like Xuanlin Tham and Sanne Jehoul are among those unleashing this collective and radical potential of film festivals Words: Anahit Behrooz

Sanne Jehoul

similarly exploring interdisciplinary events programming as a way of creating a communal space within the festival. The former, under the curatorial direction of Rachel Didsbury and Michael Pattinson, features a programme of artist residencies – titled The Teviot, the Flag and the Rich, Rich Soil – that engages and collaborates with local communities to explore the social, ecological and colonial histories of the festival town of Hawick. This year’s festival at Berwick, meanwhile, introduces The Burr of Berwick, a new social space and screening library featuring discussions of the day’s programming open to the public and an archive of radical cinema with frequent ‘watch together’ screenings.

In an arts ecosystem under increasing suffocation – cuts to the arts budget always threatened, ever looming; the slow death of long-standing institutions such as the Filmhouse; and the neardeath of ones like the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which has returned from the brink but at a much-diminished scale – these unexpected, innovative curatorial approaches break cinema out of its margins, giving it an ongoing life beyond the few hours it lives on the screen.

Glasgow Short Film Festival, 20-24 Mar, glasgowshort.org Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, 7-10 Mar, bfmaf.org Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, 2-5 May, alchemyfilmandarts.org.uk Take One Action, 2024 date TBC, takeoneaction.org.uk

March 2024 – Feature

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Film Special

Photo: Kat Gollock Foragers at Take One Action

and art spaces across Scotland. The film was curated alongside a performance by Scottish-Palestinian writer, singer and actor Amira Al-Shanti, whose spoken word piece explored the same ideas of belonging and land explored in the film, as well as a traditional dabke dance performance

by Palestinian dance troupe Zarif-AtToul-AsSamer.

Playing out together in the same room, the arresting political resonances of the film – positioning the foraging of wild plants in Occupied Palestine as a crucible through which to examine the violence of colonialism and extraction – found expression through other forms of Palestinian creative resistance.

Rather than imagining film exhibition as a series of contained screenings, Tham’s distinctly political act of curation positioned film as part of an ongoing discourse of cultural solidarity, allowing the audience to linger together within the physical and emotional space of the screening and build a continuity between the film and their own political lives.

This kind of interdisciplinary programming is also a hallmark of Glasgow Short Film Festival.

The upcoming edition is Festival Programmer Sanne Jehoul’s tenth and final year at GSFF, and during her tenure, she has helped the festival craft out spaces for togetherness – even in the midst of GSFF’s lockdown and online programmes.

This year Jehoul is behind the timely Towards Liberation, a strand that brings together archive, documentary and fictional short films from across the globe to examine threads around imprisonment, imperialism, representation and resistance.

Included in the strand is a programme of Palestinian shorts, which will be followed by a live performance by British-Palestinian musician and sound artist Kareem Samara, whose joining of traditional and contemporary genres explores threads of decolonial possibilities and diasporic identity. This isn’t programming as empty political gesture. Half the ticket sales from the Palestine shorts screening will be donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians. Jehoul will also be taking some of GSFF’s short films out of the cinema space and into HMP & YOI Polmont, the largest young offender’s institution in Scotland, allowing the young inmates to engage with the ideas of this year’s programme.

Other indie film festivals, such as Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival at Hawick in the Scottish Borders and Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, just across the Scottish border, are

Photo: Ingrid Mur

T

here was a point in the depths of the pandemic, somewhere between the shuttering of public spaces and the sudden emergence of Netflix Party on everyone’s browser extensions, when the idea of cinema transformed from a private experience to something communal. We might go to the cinema alone, we might sit there in silence, but suddenly, co-existing in a room full of strangers and a film became, if not the whole point of the art form, then a very great part of it. In practicality, nothing much had changed except our imaginations, but through its sudden absence, the collective potential of cinema – the shared experience of both time and space, its ability to form connections – suddenly came to the fore.

How can cinema, not just the physical building but the medium itself, function as a community space? In this regard, Scotland’s film festivals are doing perhaps some of the most ground-breaking work, examining how the art form can provide a space for conversation, interdisciplinary work, and radical change.

Over the past two years, curator Xuanlin Tham has taken this very approach to Take One Action, Scotland and the UK’s biggest global action film festival, expanding the scope of what a film festival can be through their interdisciplinary approach. Take One Action has always been, true to its name, based on the relationship between cinema and action, encouraging viewers to build connections between the social and political issues depicted on screen and their own political agency. Under Tham’s tenure, film programming has become just one aspect of the festival’s remarkable multi-arts curatorial approach, with poetry, dance and performance art used to build a much-needed space within Scotland for conversations and actions around social justice.

In Tham’s 2022 programme, themed around ‘land’ in all its myriad political, ecological, and social significances, they programmed Jumana Manna’s moving image work Foragers in cinema

THE SKINNY

Get Følked Up

March 2024 – Feature

Film Special

One of the highlights of Glasgow Short Film Festival this year is Følkløric, a two-part strand of shorts exploring traditional and contemporary visions of folklore. The strand’s co-curators, Grace Feinmann and Heather Bradshaw, introduce their concept

I

f you go down to Glasgow Short Film Festival this month, you’re sure of a big surprise.

Nestled in late-night slots you’ll find Følkløric, a two-programme strand tracing folklore on film, from classic ghost stories to modern twists on vampirism. The strand sprang from the imagination of programmers Grace Feinmann and Heather Bradshaw. The pair are friends and colleagues (they both work for GSFF’s sister festival, Glasgow Film Festival), and reckon that Følkløric has been brewing with them for a while. “Heather’s got quite a strong foundational knowledge of folklore,” explains Feinmann over Zoom. “And I’ve studied folk horror in the past and just really love it as a genre. So just naturally, it’s something we chat about endlessly in the pub.”

The idea crystallised on a cinema trip last summer to see Medusa Deluxe, Thomas Hardiman’s murder mystery set in the world of competitive hairdressing. Afterwards, they were having another chat about folklore and film over a pint. “This might sound a bit cringe now, but at the time it felt very profound,” recalls Feinmann. “We were talking about how the cinema space is like the campfire; people gather around to watch stories in the dark. So that was a poetic flame that inspired us, and it grew into something more concrete from there.”

What makes films ‘folkloric’ can be tricky to pin down, so the pair started assembling the programme around a collection of classic works that became their framework. Stigma, a 1977 episode of the BBC’s long-running A Ghost Story for Christmas series, was one of these cornerstones. “Stigma is very rooted in folk horror but it was the first of these BBC ghost stories to subvert the setting,” says Bradshaw. “They’re usually M.R. James-style tales set in the past, but this had a

contemporary setting.” So influential was Stigma that its bleak, grainy, washout 70s aesthetic has become a hallmark of modern folk horrors. “If you look at something like O, Glory! [Charlie EdwardsMoss and Joe Williams’s trippy, disorienting horror with a dash of sci-fi thrown in], that looks like classic folk horror because it’s rooted in the same visual language as Stigma.”

Feinmann also points to The Motorist, a gnarly Scottish horror directed by Ciaran Lyons, whose debut feature Tummy Monster screens at GFF (see our Scotland on Screen interview on p. 66). “Ciaran does such amazing work in that film,” says Feinmann. “It’s so emblematic of that visual form of folk horror you see in Stigma: the style, but also the traits of folklore that are based in hysteria and social isolation and these skewed moral beliefs that snowball to the point of fracture.”

Films like Stigma, The Motorist and O, Glory! can be found in Følkløric’s first programme, Sticks and Stones, which according to the programme notes “invites you to experience folklore in all its terrible glory.” These are more traditional visions of folk storytelling. In programme two, What a Shame She Went Mad, things get more subversive. Specifically the idea of folklore shifts so that it’s viewed through a feminist lens. Bradshaw points out that in folklore, women often do have agency; be it Macbeth’s witches or the seductive, shapeshifting selkies of Scottish myth. “Women are often shown to have magical power over men in the genre,” explains Bradshaw. “And that power is often punished in these stories. But in the second programme, we wanted to push beyond that idea.”

Bradshaw points to Cracked Screen: A Snapchat Story as an example. It follows a young Black woman from London who uses social media to broadcast her life before, during and after a

Words: Jamie Dunn

“We’ve often spoken about our admiration for Scottish filmmakers’ tendency towards the strange” Grace Feinmann random acid attack. “One of the reasons we wanted to include Cracked Screen was because it reflects this idea of folk ballads, and how women would use folklore to warn other women about men and about things that men could do to them,” explains Bradshaw, “but it’s done in this really contemporary way through Snapchat stories.” Another standout in this programme is Steakhouse, a fantastic Portuguese animation where an abusive husband serves his wife a fillet steak he’s intentionally burned to a crisp as a cruel punishment, but he bites off more than he can chew.

Another reason Bradshaw and Feinmann were drawn to exploring folklore is the wealth of homegrown films they could incorporate into the programme. “Scotland is so rooted in its folklore,” says Bradshaw. “That's something we wanted to showcase.”

“We’ve often spoken about our admiration for Scottish filmmakers’ tendency towards the strange,” says Feinmann, “even in films that aren’t directly folk horror or folklore. There’s just something off-kilter about them.”

Why does Feinmann think that is? “Well there’s the gloomy weather for a start,” she suggests. She also brings up the theory of Caledonian Antisyzygy, a term she discovered from a friend doing a PhD in Scottish literature. “It’s such a great word and so useful,” she says. “It’s the idea of duelling traits within one entity. It applies to foundational texts of Scottish literature, like Jekyll and Hyde. But I think you see it in Scottish filmmaking as well. And folklore is perfect for that because there’s always something happening off-screen, some horror or some evil that you’re only seeing the effects of, as these people on screen become overcome by it.”

GSFF runs 20-24 Mar; glasgowshort.org Følkløric 1: Sticks and Stones, Civic House, 21 Mar, 9pm Følkløric 2: What a Shame She Went Mad, Civic House, 22 Mar, 8.45pm

The Sermon

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THE SKINNY

Safety Last

March 2024 – Feature

“I

’m working a lot at the moment, but it isn’t real work,” Radu Jude tells us, as we sit down to talk about his latest film, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World. “I used to make a living as an assistant director, and then as a director on TV shows and advertisements. Real work is spending long hours doing things that you hate.”

A stinging satire of contemporary work culture, Do Not Expect… offers audiences a passenger-seat view of the indignities and absurdities of late capitalism. The film follows Angela (Ilinca Manolache), an overworked production assistant hired to interview candidates for a work safety promo. “First of all: I hate personal stories!” Jude interjects, when asked if Angela’s character was based on anyone he’d worked with. “I don’t believe cinema should be a means of self-expression. It just creates these artistic products where everybody speaks about their own issues, rather than all the other things going on in the world. However, you learn a lot about human nature in these high-pressure work environments, and all the storylines in the film are based on my own experiences or the experiences of people I have worked with.”

We join Angela as she drives endlessly across Bucharest, only stopping occasionally to post satirical sexist rants using her social media pseudonym ‘Bobita’. “In a way Bobita was cast before Illenca!” laughs Jude. “She invented this character four years ago, during the pandemic, and I knew immediately that I wanted to use it in my film.” Created using a TikTok filter that gives her a bald head and goatee like noxious men’s rights influencer Andrew Tate, Bobita continues Jude’s recent fascination with our image-saturated culture, but rumour has it that English-speaking

audiences are only getting a watered-down version of her odious hate speech. “It’s much more vulgar in Romanian,” Jude tells us, before giving an example that’s far too offensive to print here. “A lot of these insults just look weird in English. I think it’s the maximum amount of vulgarity you can get away with in Romania, but I challenge anyone to be more vulgar!”

Angela’s work days are shot on black and white 16mm film by Jude’s regular cinematographer Marius Panduru, and interspersed with colour footage from Lucian Bratu’s 1981 film Angela Moves On, which charts the life of another Angela (Dorina Lazar), a taxi driver working in Bucharest at the end of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s regime. “It was supposed to be a love story with an empowered woman in the main role, which was quite an interesting theme for the time,” explains Jude while discussing the decision to put Angela’s story in dialogue with Bratu’s film. “Putting these two stories together can be interpreted in multiple ways, and I like that it’s vague. I’m a fan of Umberto Eco’s concept of ‘open work’; I don’t want there to be one fixed interpretation.” Jude also recontextualises this footage; he occasionally slows it down and magnifies details that might otherwise be overlooked. “I wanted to highlight these moments of subversiveness in the original footage,” Jude tells us. “The film was supposed to present Romanian society in a warm light, but look closely, and you can see the poverty, and the food lines.”

Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World

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Words: Patrick Gamble

Photo: Silviu Ghetie

Film Special

Romanian firebrand Radu Jude talks to us about his potty-mouthed new provocation Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World – essential viewing for all of us caught in the net of late capitalism – ahead of its screening at Glasgow Film Festival

Radu Jude

The Angela of the present represents anyone who’s taken on unpaid work to get a foot in the door, or worked extra hours for fear they’ll be replaced by someone who’ll do the same job for less. It’s a precarious existence, which is highlighted in a conversation between Angela and Austrian marketing director Dois Goethe (played by Nina Hoss) about a treacherous highway on the outskirts of Bucharest. “The shadow of death looms over the film,” Jude says when asked about the decision to include a several-minute-long montage of the 115 crosses commemorating those who have died on this stretch of road. “The person Angela is based on actually died in a car crash while working as a production assistant. I wanted to create a memorial that showed the reality of this type of work.”

Do Not Expect… closes with a locked-off 40-minute shot in which we observe the making of the corporate safety video Angela has been working on. In it, wheelchair user Ovidiu (Ovidiu Pîrșan) is forced to censor the story of his accident. After years of working in this industry, you’d think returning to this type of corporate shoot would be uncomfortable for Jude. “Not at all,” he laughs. “About six years ago I said, ‘I don’t want to do this kind of crap anymore!’ and decided to concentrate on making my own films. All of a sudden, I felt much better! Now it doesn’t feel like I’m working at all.”

Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World screens at Glasgow Film Festival on 29 Feb and 1 Mar, and released 8 Mar by Sovereign

THE SKINNY

Hot Tickets Ten films that you’d be mad to miss at this year’s Glasgow Film Festival

Words: Jamie Dunn

The Beast

Jericho Ridge

La Chimera Dir. Alice Rohrwacher In an Alice Rohrwacher film, myth and fable sit side by side with biting social commentary, and that is certainly the case in her latest, La Chimera.

A magic-realist comedy set in 80s Tuscany, it stars Josh O’Connor as a curmudgeonly English archaeologist who specialises in digging up artefacts from ancient burial grounds in the sun-dappled Italian countryside. If Federico Fellini directed Raiders of the Lost Ark, it might have a similar vibe to this wonderfully strange and absurdest skewering of class and ecology. 1&2 Mar, GFT

petty thefts and some serious student rights violations. Caught in the middle is Clara, an idealistic young teacher who cares too much, tries to do what’s right and ends up pissing off everyone in the process: colleagues, pupils, HR, the school’s student rag. Clara’s nightmarish journey will put you off being a Good Samaritan for life.

1&2 Mar, GFT

of them is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Playing in a double-bill with Grant’s short film Stronger. 2 Mar, CCA

Riddle of Fire Dir. Weston Razooli Another film where the border between reality and fantasy is distinctly porous, Riddle of Fire is a nostalgia trip spilling over with invention and imagination. It centres on three kids with overactive imaginations as they embark on an afternoon’s odyssey while their mum is holed up in bed with the flu. Playing like a lo-fi, blissed-out version of the Goonies, it features mythical forest creatures, wicked witches and to-die-for blueberry pies. 8&9 Mar, Cineworld

The Beast Dir. Bertrand Bonello French director Bertrand Bonello is one of the most original and prolific filmmakers working in Europe, but you’d be forgiven for not knowing so given the erratic distribution of his films in the UK. The Beast, an audacious, decades-spanning sci-fi romance should hopefully bring his brand of arthouse cool to a wider audience. And I’m sure having the gorgeous Léa Seydoux and George MacKay star in the film as lovers across several timelines will help too. 7&8 Mar, GFT

Jericho Ridge Dir. Will Gilbey If you’re looking for a late-night film to get your pulse racing, you’d do a lot worse than this sinewy siege movie. It follows county sheriff Tabby as she finds herself pinned down at her secluded station, trying to hold off heavily armed gunmen until the cavalry arrives with only a rusted old revolver as artillery. Oh, and she has a broken leg to contend with. What makes Will Gilbey’s all-American action-thriller debut all the more impressive is that he shot it in Kosovo with a cast of British TV actors. 9 Mar, GFT; 10 Mar, Cineworld Big Banana Feet Dir. Murray Grigor GFF are bringing a few Scottish classics back to the big screen this year, including Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher and Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave.

Makes some time, though, for Murray Grigor’s wonderful verité film following Billy Connolly on and off stage as he tours Ireland in 1975. Clearly inspired by DA Pennebaker’s fly-on-the-wall Bob Dylan documentary Dont Look Back, this is a rarely-screen gem that captures the Big Yin while he’s on the brink of becoming a superstar. 3&4 Mar, GFT Bill Douglas: My Best Friend Dir. Jack Archer The pick of the new Scottish films at the festival looks to be this affectionate documentary celebrating the great Bill Douglas, quite possibly Scotland’s greatest-ever filmmaker. The heart of the film is Douglas’s friendship with Peter Jewell, whose memories of living and working with Douglas are brought to life over never-before-seen Super8 films Douglas made with Jewell for a lark.

8&9 Mar, GFT

The Teachers’ Lounge Dir. Ilker Çatak This crackerjack thriller takes us inside the day-to-day workings of a German school where a toxic atmosphere is brewing thanks to a series of

Tell Me a Riddle + Stronger Dir. Lee Grant Last year GFF celebrated the fantastic documentaries that Lee Grant made in the 1980s, which collectively told a damning story of the Reagan era. The festival’s continuing their Lee Grant appreciation with this screening of her newly restored 1980 debut fiction feature Tell Me a Riddle, which tells the moving story of an elderly couple taking one last road trip together when one

GFF runs 28 Feb-10 Mar; full programme at glasgowfilmfest.org

Sleep

Tell Me a Riddle

Bill Douglas: My Best Friend

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March 2024 – Feature

Sleep Dir. Jason Yu Don’t sleep on this twisty thriller from South Korea. It follows newlyweds Hyeon-Soo and Soo-jin, whose marriage gets off to a bumpy start thanks to Hyeon-Soo’s sleepwalking. Cinema has had a mistrust of somnambulism as far back as The Cabinet of Dr Calagari, and so it proves here as Hyeon-Soo’s initially benign nighttime wanderings turn increasingly menacing. Reportedly, Sleep is so creepy you’ll have trouble sleeping yourself after seeing it. 1&2 Mar, Cineworld

The Green Border Dir. Agnieszka Holland The mighty Polish director Agnieszka Holland continues to be one of our most astute political filmmakers with this devastating drama. Shot in black and white and separated into distinct chapters, Holland’s film follows various people caught up in the European migrant crisis, from the refugees who are treated as political pawns by European leaders, to the border patrol conditioned to dehumanise these displaced people, to the activists trying their best to help. 5&6 Mar, GFT

Film Special

La Chimera

THE SKINNY

Silent Scotland Words: Jamie Dunn

S

ometimes it feels like there’s only one vision of Scotland in our collective imagination. You know the one: the tartan-clad fantasy of Braveheart and Brigadoon. While this image might dominate cinematic depictions, myriad other versions of Scotland exist on screen, from the whimsical (Local Hero) to the romantic (I Know Where I’m Going!) to the otherworldly (Under the Skin). That’s the case now and it was the case when cinema was only a few decades old, as evidenced at the upcoming Hippodrome Silent Film Festival, which brings two very different cinematic depictions of Scotland.

One is Peggy, from 1916. It’s a lively early example of Hollywood’s fascination with the ‘Old Country’. The title character is played with much charm by Billie Burke, most famous for her role as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. Peggy is an orphaned young Scottish heiress who’s under the guardianship of a well-to-do New York family and she’s clearly been making a nuisance of herself. In the opening scene she’s declared a “little Scotch witch” after she causes chaos at a high-society ball. A letter arrives from her stern uncle, Andrew Cameron, demanding she returns to the homeland, to the sleepy town of Woodkirk.

Peggy’s aghast at the idea at first, but soon relents. “Pack a couple of porridge bowls and a bagpipe,” she says to her trusty maid. “We’re off to Scotland!” Woodkirk doesn’t know what’s going to hit it.

What ensues is a fish-outof-water comedy with a sprinkling of romance. Peggy causes as much carnage in Woodkirk as she did in New York. Her antics include nearly mowing down half the village while driving on the Sabbath, dressing like a boy to sneak into the local boozer and daring to stand up to her Presbyterian patriarch – oh, and she manages to seduce the town’s hot reverend too.

To get the lowdown on Peggy’s place in the Scottish canon we speak to Dr John Ritchie, a lecturer at Stirling University who specialises in Scottish identity on screen.

Ritchie’s experience isn’t just academic. He’s also an actor, who’s cropped up in uber-Scottish

shows like Outlander and Monarch of the Glen. You can currently see him on your TV screen hamming it up opposite Alan Cumming as Fergus the groundskeeper in the US version The Traitors.

Ritchie is well aware that with that hit reality show, he’s helping to put across a clichéd vision of Scotland. “Oh it’s gloriously kitsch,” he says of The Traitors. “It’s interesting, the BBC version doesn’t really bang on about it being set in Scotland. But the American version makes such a big deal of it taking place in this Highland castle. Alan said something about it being strange that the American version was more camp and theatrically Scottish than the British one, but it makes sense to me.”

Ritchie explains that the image of Scotland we see in The Traitors, similar to many films and TV shows, is designed for an American’s idea of Scotland, but this image was very much cultivated closer to home. “Scotland looks and behaves the way it does on screen because this is what Scotland told the world it looks and behaves like,” says Ritchie. “It’s thanks to the writings of people like Walter Scott and the Kailyard writers, where Scotland is presented in very romanticised ways.”

He can certainly see some of the Kailyard writers’ parochial vision of Scotland in Peggy: “the film was written especially for Billie Burke, who was a huge stage star at the time. But let’s face it, the whole story is basically just The Little Minister,

the J. M. Barrie novel.” But in other respects, it’s a more subtle depiction of Scotland. “Peggy doesn’t scream Scottishness to me,” says Ritchie. “In fact, in some ways it feels quite modern. It’s a lot of fun, and Billie Burke is a great comic actress – there’s lots of good comedy in there from her.” The character begins the film as an adorable kook, but reveals layers of maturity and bravery throughout, particularly in terms of the suffering of other women in town. “She’s an agent of chaos but she’s also a strong, independent woman who’s not afraid to stand up and do the right thing and try to influence and change behaviour,” says Ritchie. By its end, Peggy has dragged this small village towards modernity.

For an entirely different depiction of a corner of Scotland, there’s The Rugged Island: A Shetland Lyric, a poignant film blending documentary and fiction to tell the story of a young couple torn between emigrating to Australia or remaining to work their croft in Shetland. It was made in 1933

by Glasgow-born Jenny Gilbertson, an extraordinary pioneering filmmaker, whose films were entirely one-woman productions. She wrote, directed, filmed, and edited The Rugged Island, and the result is an overwhelmingly beautiful film that doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities and conflicts of island life.

Both films screen on the opening day of HippFest. Stephen Horne will be providing a live, improvised accompaniment to Peggy, while a brand new score has been composed for The Rugged Island

by Fair Isle multi-instrumentalist Inge Thomson, who will perform it live with Shetland fiddle-player extraordinaire Catriona Macdonald. Both are great films in their own right, but taken together they give a fascinating insight into our national identity.

Image: courtesy of National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive

March 2024 – Feature

Film Special

At this year’s HippFest you’ll find two very different depictions of Scotland on screen: effervescent Hollywood comedy Peggy and heartbreaking ‘story documentary’ The Rugged Island: A Shetland Lyric. We look at both ahead of the festival

HippFest, Bo’ness Hippodrome and other venues, 20-24 Mar Peggy, Bo’ness Hippodrome, 20 Mar, 2.30pm

The Rugged Island: A Shetland Lyric (1933)

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The Rugged Island: A Shetland Lyric, Bo’ness Hippodrome, 20 Mar, 7.30pm, and will stream online live

THE SKINNY

March 2024

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Film Special

The Practice and Proliferation of Visual Artistry We meet some of Scotland’s leading digital artists and VJs to learn more about the optical artistry involved in melding the production values of the mainstream and the underground to create immersive club environments Words: Cammy Gallagher

his A/V show as multimedia artist and musician Konx-Om-Pax, having previously released a series of stellar Planet Mu projects, alongside collaborations with Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite.

Exploring the latest performance for local synthesizer specialists Instruo, Scholefield breaks down the mechanics behind bringing his vivid animations to life with the same information used to create their vibrant sonic counterpart – “the main synth line is triggering the amplitude of patterns I made in TouchDesigner,” he says.

Likening the programme to an audio-visual modular synth, he explains: “You can build whatever you want, and control it with LFOs [Low Frequency Oscillators] and envelope generators.” The patterns are a form of generative art, employing combinations of Perlin or Simplex noise, subsequently pixelated and displaced to create feedback systems “like old traditional video synth art from the 70s”, via digital methods. Scholefield finds the combinations of shapes and shades soothing, opting for abstract forms in conjuring up ideas.

“You don’t have to spell it out for people, it’s more about feeling rather than trying to intellectualise.”

Outside of solo projects, Konx-Om-Pax cherry-picks collaborations, like past kaleidoscopic partnerships with Hudson Mohawke and Rustie. “I like to work with a shared vision,” he explains, preferring it to “trading a bunch of random visuals indiscriminately throughout a night.” Teaming with Dekmantel’s Nadia Struiwigh on LP artwork, they now double down on a new A/V show. The Dutch artist sends thorough mood boards, to which Scholefield can quickly sketch ideas, screen record them and share via WhatsApp. “That’s why I moved into real-time animation, it’s instant… I’ve spent half my life waiting for things to fucking render.”

While acknowledging the likes of Aphex Twin affiliate weirdcore and A/V duo 404.zero in paving paths where visual artists can gain recognition, he emphasises the overall difficulty in being valued, particularly in Glasgow and “especially if you’re not a man.” Together with teaching more Visual Music Workshops in the months ahead, Scholefield is learning Unreal Engine amidst “a community of designers using computer game technology to bring 3D ideas to life.” Primarily using Houdini and Cinema 4D thus far, he adds that “I’m at the stage Photo: Jean Uzheng (@jeanyuzhengart)

March 2024 – Feature

N

iki Cardoso Zaupa – hailing from Vicenza in Italy, now studying at The Glasgow School of Art – began VJing in the city with experimental electronics collective Pink Noise, in 2020. Learning TouchDesigner, in tandem with a run of solo gigs – celebrating DIY immersion techniques – led to the birth of the audio-visual project Moventia, involving collaborations with the esteemed A Cut Above, Kelburn and co:clear.

On being a video jockey (VJ), Zaupa says, “there’s a dependency on the sound… you adapt yourself to follow it,” alluding to the shared responsibility between DJ and VJ in serving a function within dance-centric contexts. But it’s not only a feedback loop between sonic and visual: “the DJ influences the VJ, who visualises content, and the crowd gets fired up,” completing the self-propelling circuit. For the pupil of Interaction Design, it’s about “how people interface with elements through the aid of computation.”

Utilising Kinect Sensors and Leap Motion controllers, audience movement is monitored – “that motion is just numbers that I can use to modulate something,” explains Zaupa. Enjoying the advent of genre-fluid events, he scavenges Internet Archive, selecting “strange textural found footage” as source material to “manipulate and re-contextualise according to any situation.” He compares it to training on an instrument, “so you can trigger sweet spots whenever you need them,” as he did in late 2023 for Conna Haraway’s co:clear series. Taking place at The Dream Machine, a square venue boasting four projectors, his piece for co:clear was immersive to the extreme. “You can’t get more immersive than that,” he says, “in Glasgow at least… maybe Las Vegas’s Sphere, but, we did it first, okay?” Highlighting small-scale budgeting, he adds: “It’s a creative limit that can help from a problem-solving point of view.” For DUALISM at The Art School, a holographic effect was achieved in utilising debris netting from construction sites – “it’s super cheap, semi-transparent and fire resistant… it works a charm.”

Tom Scholefield studied Visual Communication at The Glasgow School of Art, where he now introduces students to TouchDesigner while hosting the likes of Autechre, Warp and Modeselektor. At present he largely tours

vnc.ptk

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THE SKINNY

Photo: Angelina Storozhenko (@geelich)

Film Special

Moventia

years later, she was billed at Hanoi’s Monsoon Festival, “going from home streams on the computer to being flown out to Vietnam,” she adds.

Partnered with local artists, combining synthesisers with recordings of traditional throat singers in the North alongside sculptures by Heather Lander, Petukhov created The Field of Heritage, which will return to Glasgow at Sonica in September.

Noting the evolution of and accessibility to technology as a means of “enriching the club experience, with artists from different backgrounds bringing new styles and aesthetics”, Petukhov works with an awareness of the funding that female and queer-oriented collectives lack. She mentions the visual versatility of home products like mosquito mesh. “If you’re smart about what and how you’re using it… you can always make something cool.”

Jamie Wardrop is a Glasgow-based digital artist toeing the line between dance, theatre and clubbing. Having worked with Funktioncreep, Marc Brew, and the National Theatre of Scotland, he’s been responsible for the creation and projection of live visuals at T in The Park, Creamfields, and even for former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Working to a strict brief in theatre evokes new styles, which he then “recycle[s] in the club the next night in a completely different way.”

Reminiscing about early influences from Death Disco at The Arches, Wardrop recalls, “I saw visuals could be this playful thing, setting the tone for what a night might be.” In his experience on the festival circuit, however, “VJs get little to zero communication with DJs before going live… we — 33 —

never meet them afterwards either,” only interacting with management. “We’re these weird unicorns,” he says, “roaming around in a land most do not understand.”

Sometimes provided only a static PNG logo to work with, Wardrop makes an analogy to sourdough. “You whip it up into some sort of state, leaving it to spawn in the computer” before further decorating. So even with limited starter material, “the power of the software means you can start with nothing and turn it into something,” he says, binding you only to the limitations of your imagination. But sometimes with techno, simplicity is key.

“Minimalism is something I have to watch, because I’m naturally a decorator.”

Despite his love of urban brutalism, Wardrop grew up in Stirling’s countryside, and his current work is inspired by and seeks to spread ecological awareness. Sparking conversations surrounding the state of the planet with Strange Loop, alongside Sita Pieraccini, the pair combine live feeds from four microscopes varying in resolution and magnification of plant architecture and cellular pattern “in a quantum way of focus, where something starts happening.” Showcasing the project at Kelburn 2023, he explains that “we did it for four hours… by the end, it was like an organic microscope botanical rave.” Whether dancefloors are an environment to be confronting climate change, Wardrop’s interested in navigating crisis without bringing a downer. “There’s something incredibly important, in this time, about people gathering en masse… there’s a transmission of feeling within that.”

March 2024 – Feature

of joining everything to talk to each other… future projects are going to be way more intense to look at.” He’s currently working with Cryptic to bring a 30-minute A/V piece to Glasgow’s Sonica Festival in September. “It’s probably the closest thing I’ve ever had to creating something with a narrative,” he tells me…“I think I’m a frustrated filmmaker who hasn’t made a film yet.”

Veronica Petukhov, an Italo-Ukrainian digital artist, works via Edinburgh across an array of fronts, as one half of muto major together with Samm Annga, powerpot beside Inez, and vnc.ptk – the moniker under which she’s lit up the Cowgate, VJed for Microsteria at Summerhall, and produced Dixon’s Boiler Room animation.

Graduating from Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, where she established an interest in VJing and net.art aesthetics in the third year of Contemporary Art Practice, Petukhov curated an exhibition at The Tunnels just prior to the pandemic. Projected visuals soundtracked by DJs took to the stage in the main room, while friends displayed digital art installations in the other – “it was like a creative hub,” Petukhov explains, “people were walking around the showcase and then went for a dance.” Petukhov found the pandemic to be a self-graduation of some sort: “Everything I do now, I taught myself through YouTube tutorials, internet forums and books.” Despite the loss of physical venues in which to practise, the increase in club-adjacent live streams provided plentiful opportunities to develop her internet-inspired 3D animation style, backdropping local DJs, promoters and labels with the use of green screens. Three

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An Education in Disruption O

manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Raytheon, Rolls Royce and Thales. These relationships can often be reciprocal; these companies are platformed at careers fairs while cutting edge research projects at top universities feed into the manufacturing of weapons worldwide, intimately connecting the education sector with international violence.

Calls for universities to ‘demilitarise’ – divest and disassociate from arms companies – are often explicitly articulated through the language of Palestinian liberation, and global attention on Gaza since October 2023 has galvanised these campaigns into action. The last five months have seen major student action in Manchester, York, Cambridge, and London, in protest of research, recruitment and financial ties with companies complicit in Israeli violence.

Glasgow Against Arms and Fossil Fuels (GAAF), the group behind the occupation, says, “We are observing universities becoming and acting increasingly like private companies [...] As a result, we live in a reality where academic institutions like the University of Glasgow feel inclined and have no issues with investing, colluding and profiting even from genocide.” According to GAAF, the University of Glasgow has received £26,294,744.75 from projects involving arms companies since 2017, and partners with BAE Systems and QinetiQ who produce weaponry and aircraft used in Gaza. The occupation – beginning

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on 22 January – was a result of a growing sense of disgust at the University’s lack of public condemnation of Israeli violence, particularly after the death of Palestinian alumna Dima Alhaj, and repeated dismissal of GAAF’s campaigning.

Despite an open letter of support for the peaceful occupiers from staff, the eviction on 6 February was drawn-out and hostile. After hours of negotiation, the occupation ended after management agreed to set up a working group and continue discussions of the group’s demands.

GAAF seemed optimistic about future negotiations but they’re clear that if demands aren’t met, their direct action will continue.

Beyond higher education, the wider divestment movement itself faces the threat of government repression. The spike of public condemnation of Israel since October resulted in the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Act, known colloquially as the ‘anti-BDS bill’, which cleared The Commons on 10 January. It prevents public authorities from being influenced by ‘political or moral disapproval’ of certain countries or states, specifically Israel, but it has already raised alarm bells amongst environmental and human rights campaigners, like Friends of the Earth, as an attack on a well-trodden tactic to influence global change.

While campaigns against industries and companies rather than governments shouldn’t be affected, Dallas warns that “given the government’s consistent stances against migrant and climate justice, it wouldn’t be a shock if the vagueness of the language were exploited to allow for wider application.” Should this come to fruition, it threatens both the right to non-violent protest and a crucial site of politicisation.

Universities have long acted as hotbeds for youth activism, allowing students to affect impactful change which complements other disruptive actions within a national movement. These student campaign spaces are vital in targeting institutional complicity in global injustice, showing that we can and should demand change – in higher education and beyond.

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n 6 February, a group of students draped in Palestinian flags filed out of 11 University Gardens on the University of Glasgow campus followed by a squad of university security. Addressing the crowd gathered outside, they read aloud from a prepared speech: “We did not do this occupation out of naivete, or because we thought it’d be fun [...] We see divestment from arms as essential and necessary. Palestinians are being murdered with arms that our university pays for. The university is complicit in genocide, it is funding genocide.”

The University of Glasgow is not the first to come under fire from its own student population for its investments and partnerships. Student campaigners have been working to disentangle higher education institutions from harmful industries and entities for decades, from South African apartheid to fossil fuel extraction. In doing so, activists aim to both incur a material reduction of capital to such companies, as well as shape public opinion through eliciting public statements of condemnation from universities.

These tactics have seen particular success amongst student environmentalists, with, according to People and Planet, nearly 75% of UK universities having made commitments to divest from fossil fuels, setting a clear precedent for other campaigns. National campaign Divest Borders targets university relationships with companies which prop up the UK border industry through detention and surveillance technologies such as Accenture, Microsoft, Mitie and Elbit. The campaign’s coordinator, Andre Dallas, says, ‘‘Institutions now cannot deny the relevance of moral considerations in financial policy-making decisions, and this provides opportunities for campaigners to demand that the same logic be applied to other unjust activities such as bordering, the arms trade and Israeli apartheid.”

While many universities have ethical policies in place preventing relationships with industries like pornography or tobacco, many routinely accept donations, funding and sponsorships from huge weapons suppliers and

Words: Paula Lacey Illustration: Dusty Watts Intersections

From fossil fuels to arms, university funds have long been corrupt. We take a closer look at institutional complicity and the recent student-led campaigns organising against the system

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Rewilding & Rerouting

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Words: Anthea Batsakis

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t the summit of West Kip in the Pentland Hills, the wind is a banshee. It slaps at your face, pulls at your trousers, screams above your voice and threatens to topple you off. With red faces and snot flowing freely, my friend and I staggered against the gale and were rewarded with unobstructed views.

A patchwork of heather, grass and gorse covers distant hillsides, a reservoir shines sapphire in the sun, and a solitary house sits nearby. This sort of terrain is familiar in Scotland. It is, however, a relatively recent sight shaped by generations of human settlements. The magic of the Pentland Hills is deeply ancient – it has seen continental collisions, volcanic eruptions and melting glaciers forging and carving the land like the work of primordial Norse giants. Now, as rewilding efforts and climate change take hold, the land continues to shapeshift.

We went to the Pentlands hoping a long sunny ramble would untangle the sparking wires of our minds, relieve the seasonal depression and the work woes. I left with a foreign feeling of self-pride for something that wasn’t achieved from behind a laptop, and a closer connection to the evolution of the land – and, admittedly, myself.

440 million years ago, Scotland was part of one landmass, England was part of another, and between them was an ocean. Over millions of years, the two continents inched closer until, ultimately, they collided. The crush lifted land and rock on the seabed like folds in fabric to eventually give us the rugged Highlands and parts of the Pentlands.

Millions of years after the continents merged, lava

“I spent most of my twenties bound to a desk. At age 30, a little wiser, a little wilder, I’m slowly learning what I’m capable of away from it – even if it does only begin with a small round hill”

and ash from furious volcanic eruptions created rock up to 5,000 feet thick. But, primarily, the hills still rise high because of a huge gash in the Earth’s crust called the Pentland Fault, which runs along the A702 highway and enabled the rocks to be pushed upwards.

Rambling in the Pentland Hills, however, will hardly remind you of such violent beginnings. Most hills are rounded with gentle slopes. The highest peak is Scald Law at a somewhat manageable 1,900 feet.

This is because, during the last ice age, glaciers strewn with rocks smoothed and eroded the hills like sandpaper. When the ice age ended around 11,000 years ago, torrents of melted glacier water carved the network of channels and valleys we see today.

Still, we should’ve double checked the weather forecast. When I felt too overwhelmed by the wind gusts that made us stumble precariously close to the edge, my friend urged us to keep climbing. It didn’t help that a couple striding downwards warned that the wind would only worsen. But in a strange way, our vulnerability to the elements made me feel relieved. Anxiety for me often takes the form of claustrophobia, where my catastrophising mind, my stacking “what if’’ scenarios, feel like walls closing in. Vast, open landscapes like the Pentlands are an antidote. I so rarely find myself working with nature, not against it: using the wind to propel us up the hillside, or clinging to rocks, or sitting on pillowy moss while we snacked on stroopwafels.

It’s likely the Pentland Hills were once blanketed by oak and birch woodland, before Bronze Age settlers logged the trees for farming. Today, much of the Pentlands is private property. Sheep dot the hillside like balls of cotton wool.

In February they’re heavily pregnant and it’s best not to get too close. I didn’t like the way one eyed me defensively as it blocked my path. I gave it a wide berth.

Land under the City of Edinburgh Council is being rewilded, but very carefully to avoid harming existing wildlife. For instance, the expanded moorlands have been helpful for curlews, who nest among heather at least 30 metres from the nearest tree. This keeps their eggs safely out of reach from — 36 —

Photo: Anthea Batsakis

Intersections

Collisions, glaciers, woodland, and lots of sheep – over the centuries, the Pentland Hills have seen it all. Through a walk amid their beloved peaks, one writer reflects on the ever-changing land and an ever-changing self

The Pentlands

egg-stealing crows. Farmers, too, are planting trees.

As climate change brings milder winters and more ferocious storms to the region, trees will help hills withstand erosion by stabilising the earth and soaking up heavy rainfall.

Of course, my friend was right to push us onwards. When we sheltered against the slant of the hill, things became more manageable. I’m not, by a long stretch, an athletic person. And if I’m honest, I’m not the kind of person who relishes a challenge. If alone, I certainly would’ve turned around in search of a pint. But I was surprised by what my body could actually achieve by making it to the top. I spent most of my twenties bound to a desk. At age 30, a little wiser, a little wilder, I’m slowly learning what I’m capable of away from it – even if it does only begin with a small round hill.

Amid the ever-changing nature of the Pentlands, wandering the hills brought me closer to its wildlife. Roe deer emerged from hideouts at dusk. Birds sparkled white in the sunshine or nested carefully in spiky gorse. Wildlife has persisted throughout centuries of human settlements – it’s clear it, like us, can thrive when given the chance.

And as my thirties unfurl, I’m excited to discover new limits of my comfort zone, ready to be breached.

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Girls’ Club Words: Tallah Brash Illustration: Marie-Lulu Högemann

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t the end of January, the UK government’s Women and Equalities Committee, made up of 11 cross-party MPs, published their second Misogyny in Music report. Across its 70(!) pages, it calls out the music industry as a ‘boys’ club’ and details in great depth the limitations faced by women and non-binary people in the music industry, covering gender and race discrimination, sexual harassment and assault, unequal pay and gendered power imbalance among other things. Depressingly, none of the findings are surprising. But we’re pleased the report exists and that for once it feels like the government is trying to enact positive change to an industry that essentially gets left to its own devices.

Arusa Qureshi, Music Programmer As a woman myself working within the music industry for the better part of 20 years now, I too have come up against most of these issues. By men, I’ve been belittled, overlooked, bullied, challenged, not believed, harassed, and aggressively and terrifyingly threatened in the workplace, unable to do anything about it for fear of losing my job. I have friends who no longer work in the industry because they haven’t felt safe doing so, while the influential men who have caused such damage continue to have a seat at the table. It’s sickening, disheartening, and it’s not a new story, nor is it one exclusive to the music industry. With a high percentage of the music industry made up of freelancers, protections, reporting mechanisms and legislation all fall short.

The report’s aim is to rectify these shortcomings. In its summary, it states that while it is focusing on improving protections and reporting

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Summerhall, among other things, says, further highlighting this issue of misogynoir, a serious issue covered in the Intersectionality portion of the report which also highlights other areas of discrimination around disabilities, LGBT+ and ageism. “With the new job, it has been really tough. Most of the people that I’m dealing with, in terms of agents and promoters, are men and it just definitely felt like when I started out, people were using it as an opportunity to take advantage... and being like, ‘this new person has come in, she doesn’t know what she’s doing, let’s try and get more money out of this.’ And that was really shit to go through.”

This assumption that we don’t know what we’re doing is yawn-inducing, but when you’re starting out in a new role, how could anyone, no matter their race or gender, know everything? “It just feels like people maybe aren’t willing to give, and this is just my experience, they’re not willing to give young women in particular a chance to actually make mistakes and, you know, not do things quite right, and learn.” Qureshi continues: “It’s like you have to either be perfect straightaway or you’re not really worth dealing with.”

Since starting at Summerhall, Qureshi says she’s been lucky not to have dealt with any serious cases of sexism or misogyny, although has on occasion frustratingly felt the need to explain to touring parties why she’s there (“You should be able to get on with your job without having to tell people, ‘It’s okay, I’m supposed to be here.’”)

“You’re just treated completely differently” Kate Lazda, Tour Manager Aimee Douglas, Assistant Manager of Edinburgh’s Assai Record shop, has been met with similar questioning (“Who’s in charge here?”) when working on in-stores and out-stores with bands launching their albums in conjunction with the shop. But the casual sexism they deal with most happens on a shop floor level. “In every record

March 2024 – Feature

“As a woman of colour, you have to work harder because people do not take you seriously”

mechanisms as well as structural and legislative reforms, ‘the main problem at the heart of the industry is the behaviour of men.’ A big part of tackling this issue is the proposed introduction of properly educating boys and young men on the issues of misogyny, sexual harassment and gender-based violence.

For DJ and producer Rebecca Vasmant, throughout her 17 years in the industry she has constantly experienced casual sexism and misogyny, and still does as her work continues to evolve.

“Now that I’m doing this live project, it’s unbelievable the amount of sound engineers that are like, ‘aw, put the backing track on’, or they’ll give cables that are for me to my male bass player or the drummer who’s a guy... There’s four women and three men in the band, and it’s always the same, they just address the guys, even though it’s my name on the paperwork.”

When her band were booked to play the renowned Ronnie Scott’s in London, she tells us: “We got asked through my booking agent, who’s also a woman, for previous evidence of ticket sales in London. And Georgia Cécile got asked the same,” despite, Vasmant says, a whole host of male-fronted artists she knows from Scotland not having the same experience. “I’m not being funny, but are we imagining this or did only me and Georgia Cécile get asked for ticket evidence, but the guys didn’t?”

It’s an incredibly frustrating and exhausting situation to find yourself in, constantly feeling like you’re being gaslit, having to endlessly prove yourself and your worth to gain just an iota of respect. “I think with my DJing now, it’s gotten to the point where I do feel like I’m respected but, interestingly, only since Gilles Peterson started pushing me quite hard did I feel that… But he is a white straight male, fundamentally, and he is very respected and listened to in my scene. Whereas now that I’ve got a relationship with Jamz Supernova, for example, it’s not the same. When she posts stuff… It doesn’t hit the same... But she’s a Black woman.”

“As a woman of colour, you have to work harder because people do not take you seriously,” Arusa Qureshi, the new Music Programmer at

Music

In light of the recent Misogyny in Music report, to give a snapshot of the music industry at play in Scotland, we chat to six women and nb people about their experiences navigating this so-called ‘Boys’ Club’

Music

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March 2024 – Feature

shop role that I’ve been in over the years, there’s always been customers assuming I don’t know who massive artists are and not asking if I know them, but telling me about them rather than asking first.”

They later add: “When someone immediately assumes that you don’t know, then you can second guess yourself a little bit, or maybe don’t think that you deserve to be part of the conversation.”

“Oh my god, I could give you some record shop stories!” Kate Lazda, who worked for years in a record shop, says emphatically when we mention our chat with Douglas, laughing that “record shop customers are another breed.” As well as her record shop past, Lazda is also a musician, the label manager for Lost Map Records, and these days she spends a lot of time on the road as a tour manager. “The main thing that I find really annoying is that you just get treated so unprofessionally,” she states when we ask about her experiences. “I wouldn’t say it’s [by] people working in venues, but if you work on the merch desk, I think the last Pictish Trail tour I did, two different people asked me which member of the band I was in a relationship with… I’m just doing my job.”

“I notice a deeply ingrained attitude towards women engineers that they are by default not good until they prove otherwise” Jane Datony, Live Sound Engineer She also shares an utterly ridiculous story from when she was tour managing This Is the Kit. “I had to get a document stamped at customs in Dover – it’s basically a place that only truck drivers go to – I think I went in with Kate [Stables] and the first thing they said to us was, ‘Oh, have you got horses?’, because presumably the only women they ever encounter are people who take their horses to Calais. Then there was some issue, and the guy took my documents away for a bit. I went back and I saw the Post-it Note he’d written on top of the file – he’d written ‘lovely ladies’ documents’... It’s so weird, you’re just treated completely differently.”

Being treated differently is something live sound engineer Jane Datony has also experienced in her line of work. “I often am held back in the roles I’m given, and have to really work to gain full autonomy over that role. It can be a confusing situation to find yourself in, making you doubt why you were given the job in the first place.”

She continues: “I notice a deeply ingrained attitude towards women engineers that they are by default not good until they prove otherwise; this attitude can really take away the confidence to prove otherwise. Whereas male engineers tend not to be met with the same scepticism. I’m ashamed to say I have had to work really hard to even dispel this kind of thinking from myself when meeting junior women engineers, or when I’ve been in a position to hire women in technical roles.

“Representation really is powerful and I grew into the industry with almost no role models, so it’s a sort of ingrained-against-your-will frame of mind. Having said all that, I feel there is usually a turning point for women in my field where being female starts to work in your favour. It has become trendy and woke to have women engineers, and once you reach a certain level you become not only ‘decent’ at your job but you have the added bonus of filling a quota for the company/employer.

And in my case I tick two boxes: woman and Asian!”

Casual sexism and misogyny is something Datony deals with so often, she says, that she barely notices it anymore. “At the beginning of my career I was constantly met with the old ‘where is the sound engineer’... I’ve had artists bypass me and go to the nearest man to request monitoring changes; I’ve had artists compliment me after a show with incredulous surprise, making it clear they were not expecting good results […] On comms at events, I’ve been privy to foul chat between the techs about women either in the audience or in the talent; the same on WhatsApp group chats – usually in these instances management has shut down the inappropriate chat, always leaving me wondering ‘is it just because I’m in the chat, am I ruining their fun?’”

She adds: “I have also had a feeling that I should look less ‘feminine’ in order to be taken more seriously and fit in with the other sound engineers, this has impacted me throughout my career in various ways.”

As a DJ, Vasmant has had similar experiences: “When I was younger, I was super feminine… I wore mini skirts and high heels and I got my nails done, but when I started DJing I would buy men’s — 38 —

clothes because I noticed that the way I was received when I walked into a club gig, if I was wearing baggy jeans and a skateboarding hoodie was completely different to if I was wearing a sparkly dress… It was a safety thing as well – when I was younger, I did feel constantly like the pro-

“Myself and other women in the industry warn each other who to be wary of and avoid where possible” Jenn Nimmo-Smith, Electric Shores Publicity moter, the promoter’s friend, somebody would always try and get me to go back to a hotel with them, or sleep with them, or think they had the right to ask me out or something which, at the time, I was always like, ‘Oh, I’m so flattered they think I’m hot’, but actually that’s not okay.”

While the education of boys and young men will surely go some way to helping address these kinds of situations, what about the men who don’t fall into this category, what about the gatekeepers? Can you teach an old dog new tricks? The report acknowledges the ‘evident frustration at the continuing effect of the historic domination of key roles by white men,’ stating that: ‘The lack of women in positions of authority sets the culture.’

Diversity and inclusion feature prominently in the report, with mandatory training in this area a major point, proposing that there should also be increased investment in diverse talent and the schemes that support it, more stats reporting on diversity and an essential improvement in pathways for women, particularly in key gatekeeper roles like A&R, sound engineering and production.

Vasmant tells us about her Diversity and Inclusion Rider, which asks for show supports to be women or people of colour, and she suggests that this kind of idea should be extended industry-wide.

While touring, Datony notes the difference it makes to the general atmosphere when there are more women around, stating that it can “put more of a focus on the overall wellbeing of the crew.”

And she agrees that “education is probably the

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Music

messages and emails, and being in the room or at events with known abusers and harassers. Myself and other women in the industry warn each other who to be wary of and avoid where possible. It’s really a terrible way to live your life and your career – going into work settings where known abusers and harassers will be.”

“They just address the guys, even though it's my name on the paperwork” Rebecca Vasmant, DJ and Producer “The fact that these people exist, and continue to just do what they do and just, you know, work and exist in the music industry, it makes me feel really shit to be honest,” Qureshi echoes. “And sometimes it makes me feel like I don’t want to work in this industry. Because how can these men who have been around for so long get away with such bad behaviour for so long? And people have called it out of course, but nothing happens.”

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There’s refreshing news in the report of a forthcoming new Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CSIIA), as well as a vital section exploring the misuse of NDAs. With the recommendation to ‘urgently bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit the use of non-disclosure and other forms of confidentiality agreements,’ there’s a breath-giving goal to stop women being silenced, putting the victims in control rather than abusers.

It’s impossible in so few words to fully dissect the report’s intricacies, but I’m sure you get the picture? The situation is grim, it always has been, and it would be easy to end this piece on a hopeful, positive and profound note by saying something like ‘mon the girls’ club’. But in reality, while it does feel like progress to have such a serious and important discussion happening at the topmost table in the UK, the report sadly only highlights how much work still needs to be done before women and gender nonconforming individuals can gain true equality in the music industry.

Read the full Misogyny in Music report from the Women and Equalities Committee at committees.parliament.uk For updates, follow the Women and Equalities Committee on X (fka Twitter) @Commonswomequ

March 2024 – Feature

most important tool we have,” going on to say that “some larger touring productions are implementing this as part of their practice, getting the crew together for educational sessions and aiming to foster a more inclusive and wellbeing-focused atmosphere on tour, including looking after everyone’s health and reducing the focus on alcohol through activities on days off that aren’t alcohol-related.”

With a strong focus on increasing the safety of women in the industry, in the report you’ll find in-depth eye-opening sections on licensing, proposing that recording studios, music venues, security staff and artist managers should all be subject to licensing. In the case of recording studios, it recommends that the licensing process should include a sexual harassment risk assessment with clear reporting pathways when incidents do occur, and that repeat instances would result in the loss of a licence. Why doesn’t this already exist!?

Jenn Nimmo-Smith, the Founder and Director of Electric Shores Publicity, and recently appointed Night Time Economy Ambassador for Glasgow tells us: “There’s been multiple situations throughout the years where I’ve felt unsafe in a work setting, including receiving inappropriate

Film Poster by Jonny Mowat

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Articulating the Body We chat to K Patrick, named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists last year, about their debut poetry collection Three Births and queer bodies in and of nature Books

Words: Paula Lacey

K

Patrick is achingly cool – so cool that it’s easy to forget during our conversation that their past year has seen the rabid reception of their debut novel Mrs S, earning them a coveted spot on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list. Despite all this, and their being shortlisted for the 2021 White Review Poetry Prize, they’re nothing but humble about their debut poetry collection, Three Births.

“I’ve always admired poets the most, for what they can do on the page, but I never ever thought that it would be me,” they admit, naming the mentorship on their programme at the University of Glasgow as having boosted their confidence to explore the flexibility allowed by poetry. For Patrick, poems are a vehicle for detail – where their novels aren’t rooted in a specific place or era, they say “I’m not afraid to be contemporary in that way in poetry, I couldn’t tell you why that is – I think I’m still trying to figure that out for myself.”

March 2024 – Feature

K Patrick Three Births is a heady, sprawling exploration of vulnerability and connection which follows the protagonist through a tumultuous year of marriage, divorce and growth. On the process of building the collection, they laud Granta editor Rachael Allen for helping them draw out the underlying narrative structure that had emerged unconsciously in their work. “I’m interested in the way the seasons articulate, or rearticulate, the body,” they say, and reorienting the collection around the passing of the seasons opened up new space for experiments with form and scale.

Throughout Three Births and Mrs S, Patrick places the queer body in contrast and in confluence with the natural world. Living on the remote Isle of Lewis, they describe feeling interrupted returning to cities after periods of living without the perception of others. “I think maybe that’s what I love about the body within the natural, especially the queer body or the trans body,” they say on this preoccupation, “the queer rural can be a lonely place, but within that loneliness there’s

— 44 —

you walk, of how your voice sounds.” Writing about sex, as Patrick does so well, the present tense conveys the urgency of “two bodies trying to find each other.” They find that whilst retrospect obstructs the articulation of desire, both in sex and in the trans experience, present tense engages with the material and the sensory. “Sometimes, that kind of way of relating to the world feels truest for me.”

When our conversation turns to the future, they seem equally as grounded in the present.

Having just submitted their second novel – which is, in fact, in past tense – they’re focusing on writing as much as possible while they can, and making the most of any opportunities which come with their success. “I can do this for a living now – even saying that out loud still blows my mind,” they say, lunging for a nearby tabletop. “I touch wood on that all the time.”

Three Births is out with Granta on 7 Mar. Mrs S is out now with 4th Estate. K Patrick will be launching Three Births at Lighthouse Bookshop on 26 Feb, 7pm Photo: Alice Zoo

“The queer rural can be a lonely place, but within that loneliness there’s the potential of self articulation”

the potential of self articulation.”

It is not so much that Patrick writes about queerness, yet it effortlessly bubbles up through the page. Moments of recognition, community and solidarity pass between their protagonists and other queer figures, a sociality which is immediately legible to the queer reader. “I mean, it’s my life, you know?” they smile when I ask if it’s deliberate. “There’s a language that you have access to that other people don’t, a way of seeing that other people don’t.” They say they’re lucky to have never felt pressured by their editors to translate themselves for a wider audience: “It’s so tempting as a queer person to try and explain who you are, you know? Or to feel like you’re always operating from some sort of debt, but you’re not.”

While they don’t write with an audience in mind, they read throughout the writing process, and “sometimes those authors become my audience, in a way, because you have all these really complicated feelings about them. [...] I have to have an author crush while I’m writing.” This time around, their crush was their editor – unsurprising, for those familiar with the queer urge to impress your English teacher.

The week before our conversation, American writer Grace Byron analysed Mrs S in a fantastic essay on the prevalence of present tense in the often-incoherent genre that is trans fiction. When I ask if K has read it, they praise Byron’s work, saying “it’s always so exciting when there’s an article that knows how to take a trans text seriously [...]

I find that thrilling and I was so excited to be a part of it.”

Although Three Births is playful with the passage of time, it remains mostly in present tense. When asked why they operate in this temporality when portraying the trans experience, Patrick described transness as an “identity without conclusion” – a “queer state of ongoingness” – one which “suits the present tense, because you’re hyper aware of moving through the world, of how

THE SKINNY

Shooting Star Ahead of releasing her playful, bold and provocative fourth studio album, For Your Consideration, we catch up with Lorely Rodriguez, aka Empress Of

For Your Consideration is a culmination of Rodriguez’s years living and working in LA, reflecting on love and sex and the fantastical nature of Hollywood. The bilingual album was born out of its title track, which was inspired by heartbreak but then opened the door for an exploration of numerous broader themes.

“If you live in LA, ‘FYC’, or ‘For Your Consideration’, is something you see all the time,” Rodriguez explains. “And I had my own experience with it. Long story short, I fell in love with a director as he was announcing his ‘FYC’ for the Oscars, and he love-bombed me. And then I wrote a song about it.

“The album is not a heartbreak album,” she continues, “and it’s not a love album either – it’s just sexy. I keep saying it’s sexy, but it really is.

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The aforementioned playfulness in the writing is backed up in the album’s visuals and styling, which Rodriguez believes have also taken a step up. “I kind of wanted to go a little bit camp for this record in my own way,” she adds. The Ryan Heffington directed and choreographed video for Femenine, for example, sees Rodriguez at a sweat-fueled dance party which she previously labelled a “fever dream fantasy.”

“I think looks and styling and what I’m trying to say across the board for this album are really important,” Rodriguez notes. For Your Consideration may be seductive and sexy in its make-up, but it’s theatrical and hyperbolic in the same breath. “That’s also why I happen to be riding a shooting star over LA on the album’s cover.”

For Your Consideration is out 22 Mar via Giant Music empressof.com

March 2024 – Feature

Lorely Rodriguez, Empress Of

Music

“The album is not a heartbreak album, and it’s not a love album either – it’s just sexy”

And I’m being very flirtatious on every track. I liked calling the album For Your Consideration because I’ve always felt like an outlier in the pop world.

To me, this feels like a play on Hollywood.”

While the album has a clear element of playfulness which runs throughout, there’s also a sense of boldness and provocation that sits within the songwriting itself. As Rodriguez notes, “I just think I write songs in a way that no one else is going to write songs.

Even if I write about the same thing, even if I write about a one night stand, even if I write a break-up song, even if I write about my hoe-era – I’m not going to write songs in a way that other people do. I find that lyrically, I just really like the way I deliver a phrase.”

For Your Consideration was written in LA, Miami, and Montreal, with Rodriguez working with a diverse collection of songwriters and producers, including Nick León, Billboard, Valley Girls, Cecile Believe, and Umru. Despite the inclusion of different styles and voices from varying genres, the album sounds cohesive and in turn, elevated as a solo body of work. When asked if listeners might be surprised by anything they hear, Rodriguez points to two tracks on the album.

“There’s a song called Baby Boy that has an acoustic guitar on it and it’s like my early 2000s pop song,” she says. “And I really love the song Lorelei, which is one of the singles that’s going to come out.

“My name is Lorely and people always call me Lorelei when they first meet me, and this song is my take on Dolly Parton’s Jolene. It’s about a guy who cheats on his girlfriend with me and I read it from the girlfriend’s point of view. I like that people are going to see that and they’re going to be like, ‘oh, there’s a song on the album called Lorelei?

Isn’t that her name?’”

Photo: Charlotte Patmore

J

ust a week ago, Lorely Rodriguez was performing in front of an audience that included Alanis Morissette and Caroline Polachek.

Having been invited to sing two songs at We Are Moving the Needle’s Resonator Awards, the musician found herself in a small room with the aforementioned two artists, who were being honoured, among many other heavy-hitters.

“The only other time I’ve been that nervous was when I sang in front of Björk,” Rodriguez says, beaming in from her home in LA. “I had to keep reminding myself – I’ve done a lot of stuff in my career, I did Madison Square Garden with Blood Orange when he opened for Harry Styles, and I played Primavera twice... But Alanis was particularly special because I grew up listening to her.”

Rodriguez has been releasing music for over a decade now as Empress Of, a moniker that was inspired by a tarot card reading that drew the Empress card, typically signifying strength, love and femininity. In that short time, she’s achieved a great deal. Nervous energy is natural for any performer but when listening to Rodriguez’s upcoming fourth studio album For Your Consideration, it’s hard to imagine how the voice behind such defiance and vulnerability could ever feel anything but confidence.

“I’m more of a contained fireball,” she says of her new music. “Before, I just had so much ferocity, and now I kind of sculpt it into storytelling, which is what you do when you perform thousands of times.”

Words: Arusa Qureshi

THE SKINNY

Breaking Down Barriers

Image: courtesy of Aidan O'Rourke

March 2024 – Feature

A

idan O’Rourke (virtuosic fiddle player) is waxing lyrical about Pekka Kuusisto (virtuosic fiddle player) when Kuusisto himself joins the call (This writer: grade five violin, 2005).

“We were just talking about you,” says O’Rourke.

“Oh shit,” replies Kuusisto.

“Pekka, I was just saying how you’re one of the few classical violinists who can really authentically cross traditional and classical genres. It’s a very difficult thing to do, but you’ve nailed both,” explains O’Rourke.

“Ah well, in that case, don’t let me interrupt,” Kuusisto replies, laughing.

There’s clearly a great deal of love and respect between these longtime friends and some time collaborative performers. Kuusisto, from Finland, is an exceptional violinist and conductor so heralded within the world of contemporary classical music that his achievements are too long to list. He is celebrated for his modern and energetic approach.

O’Rourke is an equally exceptional player. Originally from Argyll, he is best known for his band Lau in which he has used his distinctive and expressive style of playing to interrogate the roots and boundaries of traditional Scottish and Irish music.

Kuusisto is a student of traditional music too, devoting a great deal of work to promoting the marriage between classical and traditional styles. “I didn’t grow up with traditional music, but fortunately I had some stuff in my upbringing that wasn’t purely classical violin,” says Kuusisto. “So I began getting into trad Finnish and Nordic music at the age of 20, I suppose. My life as a fiddle player, as a musician, would have become significantly less fun had I not discovered it.”

The two have been brought together again by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for several upcoming evenings built around SCO alumna Anna Clyne’s

Aidan O’Rourke

violin concerto Time and Tides. O’Rourke and Kuusisto will play the song, alongside a celebratory set of traditional songs, as a duo, including music which influenced Clyne’s piece. O’Rourke had lent some expertise and other material which fed into Clyne’s exploration of traditional music.

“I sent Anna this Scottish tune, an old work song – a rowing song actually. There’s a lot of songs going back to the 17th and 18th centuries that were used for rowing, called iorrams,” says O’Rourke. “These are beautiful songs, they feel like air. They’re not rhythmic tunes – not meant to be sung and rowed to in time. It was more about feeling the intensity of the sea, I guess.”

Traditional music and classical repertoire may not immediately seem a match: each has a reputation for being, respectively, spontaneous and earthy, the other more mannered. But Kuusisto, O’Rourke and Clyne are committed to breaking down that barrier.

Kuusisto explains by way of metaphor – one about coloured directional lines running through the corridors of a hospital, another about circumventing roadworks on the journey to your favourite coffee shop – that classical performance can benefit from the personality of a more improvisatory trad music playing style. “Most of the repertoire that we play, we make a point of playing exactly what’s on the paper as much as possible,” Kuusisto says. “Of course, we allow the music hopefully to breathe, and how we emphasise certain notes and feel the harmonies will always happen in the moment, but we don’t come up with arrangements or alternative decorations to the melodies. We don’t change that.

When somebody comes into a classical music situation and does do that, then it’s immediately a massive departure from what usually goes on.”

These upcoming concerts showcase another way that the SCO has attempted to democratise, and create accessibility within, contemporary classical music. “It’s only in the last 30 years that [traditional music has] been put onto the world stage as a respected performance art,” says O’Rourke. “It was seen as music for in the house, the village halls, music for dancing to, to share with friends and the community. It wasn’t really concert music. It’s cool to see it being presented and broken down so clearly ahead of the performance of Anna’s concerto.”

Kuusisto adds: “Now it’s impossible to imagine getting a violinist education, even a purely classical violin education, without being really exposed to things like Scottish and Irish traditional music, or traditional music from India, the Balkans, or Hungarian trad music – it’s influenced so much of our standard repertoire.”

O’Rourke goes on: “It’s all about connections and the exchange of ideas. The Nordic fiddle tradition is really present in Scotland just now.

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Words: Tony Inglis

Photo: Bård Gundersen

Music

Ahead of the SCO’s forthcoming Time and Tides performances, we catch up with fiddle players Pekka Kuusisto and Aidan O’Rourke to discuss the marriage between traditional and classical styles

Pekka Kuusisto

“My life as a musician would have become significantly less fun had I not discovered [trad Finnish and Nordic music]” Pekka Kuusisto That goes right back to the sharing of songs by whalers and fishermen in the 1600s. These exchanges go back hundreds of years, and maybe just a continuation of that.”

Kuusisto says wryly: “I do feel like a whaler sometimes.”

Few things can epitomise the bridges between classical and traditional music more than when Kuusisto, with genuine awe and respect, asks O’Rourke what he would do to show a symphony orchestra’s violin section how to play like him. “I’d show them how to hold the bow completely wrong,” laughs O’Rourke.

Time and Tides takes place at Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews, 13 Mar; The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 14 Mar; City Halls, Glasgow, 15 Mar sco.org.uk

THE SKINNY

March 2024

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Music

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THE SKINNY

“Hold on to that fizziness” All-round comedy powerhouse Jessica Fostekew chats chaos, rage and feeling fizzy ahead of bringing her new show to Scotland

J

Photo: Matt Sronge

essica Fostekew has gone from strength to strength, literally, since the last time we caught up with the comic. Her Edinburgh-nominated show Hench propelled her into the public consciousness, with a string of high profile TV gigs immediately following, as well as success with her own podcast, Hoovering, and co-hosting The Guilty Feminist. More recently, her follow-up hour Wench has just been released online, and new show Mettle is about to start a nationwide tour. A few days before the tour begins, she’s more than ready to get going: “Right now I’m desperate to just crack on with it, release some bits of adrenaline into the universe and not just hold it. I’m giddy, but it is maddening because it’s too exciting.”

Comedy

Words: Polly Glynn

“The one bit of my material that I always want to be really controlled is the anger” Jessica Fostekew

gonna talk about things in this show that might make people annoyed because it scares me to do that. I’m a people-pleaser.” She tells herself to “hold on to that fizziness, that real presence in the material for as long as you can,” harnessing it to her advantage.

Chaos seeps into Fostekew’s day-to-day, as much as her comedy. “Internally, it is non-stop chaos. It’s fireworks all the time. Scrambly fireworks. There’s these little moments of clarity where you understand ‘Oh well I’ll do that, then that, then that’... but most of the time it’s just [screams] noise inside.” Outwardly, it’s a different story: “I’m really organised, like I am addicted to planning,” admitting to surprising new friends with her life admin skills. “I find it weird that I’ve ended up in a career where a lot of my work comes in last-minute.”

Yet the anger she threads through her comedy is far from chaotic. “The one bit of my material that I always want to be really controlled is the anger... When you’re fizzing with a genuine, hot, real, present anger, that’s not actually that pleasant to watch.” Instead, Fostekew says, the best way to get it across is by “telling the story of having those feelings.” From the perspective of her — 49 —

audience, she’s a maelstrom of fury; at once a rallying cry and a tidal wave of catharsis. But it never feels uncomfortable, she now reveals, because she has such a tight grasp on it.

“I grew up in a comedy era where it was very popular to have a sad bit in your show and I love that I have an angry bit. I’m trying to start a trend,” swapping out the now-expected climax that’s nestled itself into hundreds of comedy shows. “I want there to be baby comedians bursting with anger, I want to start a fashion for having an angry bit in your show.” But Fostekew’s keen to not let that emotion define her comedy. “I’m also a naughty lady, silly lady, serious lady, but I’m also an angry lady and I want to find a way to be all of those ladies in my work. It’s more about being my authentic self than it is about having ever wanted to be angry on stage.”

Jessica Fostekew: Mettle, Monkey Barrel Edinburgh, 5 Mar, and The Stand Glasgow, 6 Mar, 8pm, £15-£17 Wench is available to stream from 800 Pound Gorilla. Jessica also appears on the latest series of World’s Most Dangerous Roads and in an upcoming episode of Travel Man with Joe Lycett

March 2024 – Feature

Mettle is framed around an out-of-body experience Fostekew had last New Year’s, reaching a landmark birthday and having left something on a bus. “The bus thing perfectly typified the lunacy of ‘the older you get, the more you realise you’ve got to do and the less time you’ve got to do it’. The more things you care and feel so passionately about. And actually, the more equipped you are to have a go at acting on them.” At 30, she had a wobble, knowing she wanted to achieve some major life goals (having kids, being in a loving relationship, owning a house). Her wobble at 40 came with some stark self-advice: “You’re not allowed the same one ‘cos you’ve got all those things now. This one’s just about your face getting baggy!”

The new show is unusual for Fostekew, having not been a Fringe run first, but she’s thrilled if it means there’s more space for chaos and being in the moment. A show fresh from the Fringe is a “lean show that’s really well trodden but by that point, it’s also pretty written and settled.” Once fellow comic Sara Pascoe had calmed her nerves about it not having the same polish as a Fringe hour (“She went ‘Yeah, it won’t.’

And I was like ‘Oh, of course, why put that expectation on it?’”), she leant into embracing the challenge of a looser, less ‘muscular’ show. “I’m

THE SKINNY

WIPped into Shape We chat to Eleanor Morton and Jin Hao Li ahead of their Work in Progress shows at Glasgow Comedy Festival

I

f you’ve been following Eleanor Morton’s career, you’ll understand why Haunted House feels like a show she was born to make. A childhood connoisseur of Historic Scotland tours and general history buff, she found viral fame as Craig the tour guide, and on the way made 2017’s Ghost Police, a mini web series in which she dragged other comics to top haunted locations to see what they could find. In spite of all this she doesn’t believe in ghosts (but still wants to see one).

“I love watching myself flop. How else are you going to improve?”

Jin Hao Li

Photo: Trudy Stade

March 2024 – Feature

Morton’s bringing Haunted House to Glasgow International Comedy Festival this month as a Work in Progress – she’s one of 60 comics with a WIP on the programme, the first step to building a polished show for festivals and tours. Comedy is the only artform that is immediately shaped by its audience, and as a result it’s always evolving, even from one end of an Edinburgh run to the other. But she points out that stand-up isn’t necessarily as fluid as it appears.

“Even audience interactions might be a lot

Eleanor Morton

more pre-planned than the audience assumes, but part of a good show is making the audience feel like it’s spontaneous, even if it isn’t” In any case, she says, the point of a Work in Progress isn’t to make the show funny (hopefully it already is), but rather to make it cohere.

“Part of a WIP is working out those the slightly less funny bits as well,the building blocks that you don’t really need in a 20 minute [set].”

The emotion-fuelled standup favoured by the Fringe is closely linked to the idea of the ‘40-minute mark’; that the brain can’t concentrate for a full hour at a time. In order to hold onto the audience they need a narrative. This is an especially timely lesson for Jin Hao Li, who brings his debut WIP to Glasgow. It’s been 12 years since Morton first attempted an hour-long set; for Li it’s been 12 hours, when we talk. His reflections on the previous night are constructive, if not quite positive: “It was really good for half an hour. I’ve never done longer than that before, so I think beyond 30 minutes I started to maybe flop a bit.”

Part of this, he says, is definitely structure.

Like many comics doing their first hour, his WIP set is an amalgamation of individual jokes worked on over several years. He’s used them in club settings before, as well as in his finalist sets for Chortle’s Student Comedy and BBC New Comedy Awards, so knows they can work. For this hour, they were grouped stylistically into three chunks (surrealist, conversational and confessional) rather than having a particular narrative – which also means that when he jumps from surrealist bits featuring cartoonish violence into jokes about his real-life experience doing national service in the Singaporean army, the audience doesn’t know how to respond. Thanks to his first Work in Progress, he already knows how to restructure.

Every comic has a different technique for a Work in Progress which will often change over the year or so that it’s being worked on. As the hour gets closer to being finalised, some standups perform with a word-for-word script; last Fringe, Daniel Kitson gave them out to the audience.

Li’s process, as terrifying as it seems, is to watch the recording of his set as soon as he’s on the bus home (“I love watching myself flop. How — 50 —

Photo: Wong Rui En

Comedy

Words: Laurie Presswood

Jin Hao Li

else are you going to improve?”). Morton’s WIP process is to start with a theme, collect ideas on stage, then turn that into a rough draft and fine tune from there. Starting with the theme means it’s easier to be a ruthless editor, and ensures the narrative of the show is more natural – she compares it to writing university essays. She’s performed Haunted House around six times, but the show she’s bringing to Glasgow this year is completely different to the WIP she did for GICF 2023, when it was in its earliest stages (an exercise in “get up and ask people if they think any of this is working”).

The Work in Progress is typical of all live comedy, in that the performer has to trust the audience’s judgement. Li mentions a woman in the crowd he fixated on because she was the one face not laughing. He wonders aloud if this is being a narcissist – but we reckon it’s just being a standup.

Eleanor Morton: Haunted House (WIP), 26 Mar, Oran Mor, 9pm @eleanormortoncomedy on Insta / @eleanormorton on Twitter / @eleanormortoncomedian on Tiktok Jin Hao Li: Rapping at the Bottom of the Ocean (WIP), 17 Mar, Van Winkle West End, 3.30pm @jin.hao.li on Insta / @jin_hao_li on Twitter Glasgow International Comedy Festival runs from 13-31 Mar. More info at glasgowcomedyfestival.com

THE SKINNY

Theatre

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THE SKINNY

Flesh Desires Theatre

Our Theatre editor speaks to Fronteiras Theatre Lab’s Flavia D’Avila about La Niña Barro, a daring and intimate piece of physical theatre Words: Rho Chung

Photo: Sandra Navarro

T

March 2024 – Feature

his month, the award-winning Fronteiras Theatre Lab bring their international hit, La Niña Barro, to Edinburgh’s Assembly Roxy. The project premiered a decade ago at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has since toured Spain, Brazil, Uruguay, and the US. Featuring the original cast, this iteration of the show is impacted not by changes to its content, but by changes to our environment and culture over the past decade.

The piece, performed by Elizabeth Sogorb and Alexandra Rodes, uses the nude body as a tool of physical theatre. “It’s very interesting,” director and producer Flavia D’Avila says, “Because we didn’t exactly conceive of the show to be about [Sogorb’s] body, but it was very much part of it. It’s not about the body, but the body is very present, and we used the body so much in how we translated the forms, because the text is still spoken in Spanish.”

Of the 28 poems from Massé’s original collection, only 25 lines of text appear in the show. D’Avila says, “We worked a lot more on translating the rhythms and the images of the poems into physical, visual cues.”

The piece is a devised embodiment of Massé’s work that explores femininity from a personal, emotional perspective. “It’s more to do with the creation of humans than to do with being defined by motherhood or anything like that as a woman. I like to see it more as, ‘This is how humans are shaped,’ than as being about actually coming out of a birth canal,” D’Avila says.

Resistance against gender essentialism and against a perceived ‘universal’ feminism have been woven through the project since its beginning. “It’s not a ‘feminist’ show in the sense that it’s not militant about any sort of political rights for anyone, really,” D’Avila says. “It’s more a reflection on that old conflict between nature and nurture – how did we get to this point? It makes you think about where you are at in your life right now, and how we got here regardless of gender, age, or culture.”

Massé’s collection and the show alike confront grief and loss – of Massé’s mother and of other, even less tangible things.

The piece was devised in 2013, while D’Avila was in Brazil.

“I had been kicked out of the [UK], and so there was that process of loss going on there as well. The first few workshops we had, [Sogorb] actually fell down some stairs and broke her leg. So [during] the first few attempts choreographing it we had to account for her broken leg, and that just stayed. Ellie’s body has always been part of the dramaturgy of the show... There is this idea of shaping and moulding, and then breaking and putting it back together. And this desire is a bit like Pinocchio: she is made of clay, but she desires to be made of flesh.”

Early in the show’s life, D’Avila had problems programming it in Scotland. Venues pointed to the nudity in the show as reason to censor it, but, after a few years of trying, D’Avila

began to “suspect that the problem was not that [Sogorb] was nude, but [that] the problem was that she was big.” This pervasive fear of larger bodies has remained a cultural battleground over the past decade, and with celebs (allegedly) removing their buccal fat right and left, La Niña Barro is still acutely relevant, even though fatness isn’t central to the piece. Ten years later, we are still trapped – if not more trapped – in a trend cycle that conceives of the body as itself an accessory.

La Niña Barro, Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, 7-9 Mar, 8pm, from £15 assemblyroxy.com

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THE SKINNY

Women from the Outside Collective open their 40th birthday year with the Scottish premiere of Elisa Giardina Papa’s video installation “U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale

Art

Words: Harvey Dimond

March 2024 – Feature

Photo: Nicolò Gemin. Image: Courtesy of the Artist and Galerie Tanja Wagner

A

lthough it may not appear so on first encounter, Collective’s City Observatory space on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill is the perfect setting for the Scottish premiere of Elisa Giardina Papa’s “U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale, first screened at the 2022 Venice Biennale. Papa’s film, which is set on the Italian island of Sicily, speaks of joy riders and witch hunts – which, curiously, Calton Hill has distinct connections to. Calton Hill is known as an occasional haunt for joy riders (who, in Papa’s film, drive through the abandoned town of Gibellina Nuova in Sicily). Greenside, which sits on the northern slopes of the hill, was the site where thousands of women accused of being witches were burned at the stake between the 15th and 18th centuries in a religious, frenzied flex of violent misogyny.

Witch trials gripped countries across Europe during this era, and it is the tales of the donne di fora (‘women from the outside and beside themselves’) in Sicily that inspired Papa’s film. She explains that the donne di fora were “said to possess both the feminine and masculine; the human and the animal; the magical and criminal” – identities at odds with the Catholic faith of the Spanish, who colonised Sicily during the period of the Inquisition.

“My work charts their mythology through two completely different archives, which violently collided to become one during the Spanish domination of Sicily. The first archive belongs to the Sicilian oral culture… the second pertains to the history of the Inquisition. That is, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the syncretic (the mixture of different beliefs and schools of thought) immaterial heritage of ‘the women from the outside and beside themselves’ was violently reified in the trials for heresy perpetrated… under the Spanish Crown,” the artist explains. The donne di fora became symbols of persecution and demonisation; punished by the Spanish invaders as “riotous, unruly, and politically troublesome women who were often punished for not being devoted to normative or proprietary notions of selfhood and sexuality,” as Papa describes them. The mythology of the donne di fora still lives large in Sicilian life: Papa says that her grandmother used to share their stories with her but “each time with slight variations.” Now, she understands the myth as a metaphor for “insurgent practices of life and desire that I interpret as collective anticapitalist, anticolonial, and radically queer repositories.”

“U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale, 2022

I ask Papa about the making of the film, a process which took her to Palermo for nearly 12 months: “The highlight in the creation of this work is the temporary ensemble of brilliant individuals who gathered in Palermo, Sicily, to participate in its production. To produce “U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale, I returned to Sicily for almost a year. We were still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet poet Megan Fernandes flew from New York to Palermo to collaborate with me… she wrote the poetry that punctuates the visual narration. Artist and streetwear designer Mike Grapes from Savant Vision, based in Brooklyn, also came to the city. In less than a week, he created the looks for the bike tuners by repurposing and remixing items found in flea markets and secondhand stores, collaborating with local artisans.”

As well as presenting work as a solo artist, Papa also works as part of Radha May, an international collective, alongside Bathsheba Okwenje and Nupur Mathur; the three met while studying at Rhode Island School of Design. “We came together due to a shared interest in forgotten archives, hidden histories, and peripheral sites and their relation to gender, sexuality, and colonialism. We now work remotely, connecting online between — 54 —

Brooklyn, Cape Town, Palermo and New York.”

Radha May’s first project was When The Towel Drops Vol.1 | Italy, “a video installation that investigates the censored representation of female and queer bodies and desire in Italian post-war cinema… tracing a history of the institutional regimentation of female and queer bodies.” The collective are currently working on a second installation titled When The Towel Drops Vol. 2 – India, which investigates censorship in Bollywood cinema in post-colonial India.

The next iteration of the project, currently in progress, will focus on cinema censorship in Apartheid South Africa.

Speaking about the upcoming exhibition of Papa’s film, Collective’s Director Sorcha Carey says: “Collective has a long history of introducing the work of international practitioners to Scotland and the UK. As we look forward to celebrating our 40th anniversary later this year, we are delighted to bring Elisa’s ground-breaking practice and distinctive imaginary to Calton Hill and the City Observatory.”

“U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale, Collective, Edinburgh, 1 Mar-19 May

THE SKINNY

Above & Beyond Fruitmarket celebrates its 50th birthday this year – their first major show is a solo presentation by Martin Boyce, with his first exhibition in the gallery since 1999 Words: Harvey Dimond Hamburg. He represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale back in 2009, curated by Dundee Contemporary Arts as part of the Scotland + Venice partnership. The commission was particularly ambitious and took place across seven interconnected rooms in a grand 16th-century Venetian palazzo. Boyce imagined and brought to life an abandoned garden in the palazzo’s faded grandeur, with suspended aluminium trees, wax paper leaves, raised stepping stones and man-made constructions such as bird boxes, tables and benches.

Before Behind Between Above Below will flow and run throughout all of Fruitmarket’s spaces and its ground floor Warehouse space, with the artist creating a distinct atmosphere in each one. One installation, exhibited downstairs, will work with the existing architecture of Fruitmarket to create a structure that displays a series of wall-based works, originating from various periods in Boyce’s practice – from early graphic and text works to more recent painterly compositions. The artist will also make reference to Jan and Joël Martel’s concrete Cubist ‘trees’ from 1925, through a presentation of series of models and materials.

Boyce’s interest in these trees has remained

constant throughout his career, although materials relating to his ongoing interest have never been exhibited before as widely as they will be for this exhibition.

In the Warehouse space, a constellation of sculptures will be displayed, set up as though recently returned or in preparation to be put on display. Those familiar with Boyce’s practice will recognise many of the works shown here, although they have been curated to present them in new and unfamiliar ways. Here, Boyce experiments with ideas around archiving and storage, and allows the audience a window into the art making process that is not usually rendered visible or tangible.

In Fruitmarket’s Upper Gallery, several recent works will fill the space in an atmospheric and revelatory configuration. This includes Future Blossom (For Yokeno Residence), a very recent work, alongside the Ventillation Grills series, with the works combining to create a space that references psychological and physical exteriors and interiors.

Before Behind Between Above Below, Fruitmarket, 2 Mar-9 Ju

March 2024 – Feature

Image: courtesy of the artist and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow Martin Boyce Dead Star (Reclining), 2017 (detail)

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Art

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efore Behind Between Above Below features works by Martin Boyce from as early as 1992 to the present day. Boyce was born in Glasgow and continues to work in the city, creating sculptural installations that reference our built environments, transforming, reimagining and reworking them into poetic landscapes. This exhibition will be one of his most ambitious and extensive exhibitions to date – a brilliant chance to see works that are rarely exhibited in Scotland or beyond, from across Boyce’s illustrious career.

Between 1999 and 2003, Fruitmarket initiated Visions for the Future, a project which commissioned substantial new bodies of work by a new generation of Scottish artists. When Now Is Night, the first exhibition of the five-year-long project (taking place in 1999) featured sculptural works by Boyce in the gallery’s downstairs space, alongside works by Ross Sinclair in the upper gallery space.

Boyce’s contribution included sculptures, photographs and room-sized installations that made reference to civic and domestic spaces and objects. Boyce has been working and living in Glasgow continuously since then, while also, since 2018, being a Professor of Sculpture at HFBK

THE SKINNY

Design for Climate Change Design

We meet Alicia Storie, award-winning eco-interior designer and the founder of AdesignStorie, the Edinburgh-based design studio bringing sustainability to the core of a variety of design processes and projects Words: Stacey Hunter

Photo: Megan Redden Photography Tiny House

March 2024 – Feature

“Our mission is to design climate-conscious interior environments that promote well-being, with a focus on both people and the planet. We take pride in collaborating with furniture and materials suppliers prioritising sustainability in their manufacturing and business operations.

Guided by sustainability principles, we navigate the complex terrain of materials’ off-gassing in alignment with the chemical red list, considering human health. We are striving to seamlessly integrate wellness and sustainability into every aspect of our designs.”

In addition to her design work, Storie is a regular speaker and workshop host, sharing her experience in climate design. She has been selected by the World Design Organisation to collaborate on the Young Designers Circle 202325. She explains “The programme is aligned with the World Design Organisation’s mission to design for a better world, and its objectives to promote the use of design to help meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). This initiative aims to strengthen the role of design leadership today, by planting seeds that will lead to a large impact tomorrow.”

She also holds the role of Climate Designers UK Hub Lead, where she champions the widespread adoption of sustainable practices across the design industry. After attending an online climate designers event in San Francisco she saw the need to have a similar endeavour in Scotland – empowering designers to take climate action.

Through Climate Designers, a global collective effort utilises cross-disciplinary collaborations to address complex environmental challenges.

“We are open to all creatives who want to further their climate action ambitions whether they’re at the start of their climate journey or sustainability experts. We create an environment for everyone to learn and share from each other.

The sorts of insights that have emerged from previous discussions are that printing can be more — 56 —

Photo: Meggan Redden Photography

I

n her work at AdesignStorie, Alicia Storie combines creative thinking with contemporary environmental practices that help to deliver conscious interior designs and collaborative projects with clients such as IKEA and Grand Designs Live.

AdesignStorie are fast becoming known for creating low-impact spaces with a focus on wellness environments – from yoga studios to Tiny Houses. From the placement of bins to local ecotourism suggestions in the guidebook, Storie has mapped the user experience to weave sustainable behaviour into every Tiny House visit.

Multifunctional layouts and modular joinery design minimises the volume of materials used and maximises functionality and flexibility, while the majority of the interior finishes and furnishings are reclaimed and layered with innovative eco-conscious materials. The result is a natural and timeless palette that reflects the local landscape.

Storie explains, “For the yoga studio I’m currently working on, the focus is on using design to enhance wellbeing. We have looked at how to create a healthy, sensory experience for people looking for a retreat. That includes sound, scent, natural light and colour theory to create a space that exudes calmness through consciously sourced materials.”

Eco-friendly sourcing in an interior design context involves utilising a combination of secondhand and new sustainably-sourced materials and furniture to create one-of-a-kind low-impact spaces. For a recent client – a cafe that prioritises sustainability – Storie has developed this approach beyond materials, designing user experiences around sustainability. For example, how the food is prepared and what’s on the menu through to how the website can be designed to make collaboration with other sustainability partners easier. Even the artwork has been selected to communicate positive messaging.

ADesignStorie at IKEA

sustainable when using fonts with a lighter weight because they use less ink. Similarly, certain colours in web design are more efficient to use, as is a move towards less video content and smaller images. Bio-materials are something that cross over into lots of disciplines and we also get into specifics like making your interior design studio more conscious.”

Storie wants to share her sustainability resources and help others to start their journey and evolve. Easy wins allow businesses to take action right away – for example, a switch to vegan catering can be implemented very quickly.

“It’s really informal and that helps us to be able to have honest conversations about sustainability and be open about success and things that didn’t work in equal parts. In this way it’s authentic and a much more approachable way, to see how to implement actions through conversations.

I want to share my knowledge to help make sustainable design the default choice rather than a ‘nice to have.’”

The Climate Designers next UK event is online Thu 21 Mar, 10.30am Check the @adesignstorie Instagram for upcoming sustainable design workshops and climate design events and join the Climate Designers UK Chapter at climatedesigners.org/unitedkingdom adesignstorie.com @localheroesdesign

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Theatre

March 2024 – Feature

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February 2024

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Album of the Month

Album of the Month Mannequin Pussy — I Got Heaven Released 1 March

by Epitaph rrrrr Listen to: Loud Bark, Nothing Like, Split Me Open

H

again, ‘a loud bark, deep bite’ – that punctuates their canny ability at shimmering pop. Is there a better band applying pop sensibilities to heavy music? Here they extend their toolkit with the loungey dreampop of I Don’t Know You and the skittering drum machine pattern in Nothing Like.

The band’s excellent 2019 record Patience was full of self-flagellation, guttural outpouring and railing against abuse and injustice, but it ended on the hopeful budding of new love, a journey of breakdown and renewal. They continue on this record to wrap up extreme emotion in sonic confection, but in the meantime things have got worse.

At a humid show at Glasgow venue Broadcast in 2022, just after the US Supreme Court rolled back abortion rights made precedent by Roe v. Wade, Dabice led the crowd in a seismic scream of pain, a call for resistance cut by a sense of hopelessness.

That has lingered. On OK! OK! OK! OK!, Colins ‘Bear’ Regisford shouts over crushing bass: ‘Fuck a future, I don’t see it’. I Got Heaven ends with yearning and a desire for tenderness touched by the realisation that the world never quite lets you sink your teeth into it. [Tony Inglis]

Find reviews for the below albums online at theskinny.co.uk/music

Nils Frahm Day Out 1 Mar via LEITER

Moor Mother The Great Bailout Out 8 Mar via ANTI-

Tierra Whack World Wide Whack Out 15 Mar via Interscope

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Waxahatchee Tigers Blood Out 22 Mar via ANTI-

Gossip Real Power Out 22 Mar via Sony Music Entertainment

March 2024 — Review

ow can we be tender when the world is a threat? For Mannequin Pussy, feeling threatened manifests as ‘a dog without a leash’ which is ‘growling at a stranger’ and ‘biting at their knees’. Even the most placid animal will turn vicious when encountering danger at every turn. On I Got Heaven, the band’s universal howl looks for a split in the darkness.

That animal can also mean release – as the band’s unstoppable frontwoman Marisa Dabice yelped on their 2021 song Control, ‘What I need is just one real bitch to set me free’. Conveying that through the rush of soft loud dynamics is something Mannequin Pussy excel at. It’s exhilarating to hear a band of DIY origins refuse to dilute themselves this far into their career. That’s in the sheer gall to sing a line like, ‘And what if Jesus himself ate my fucking snatch?’ on a first single, or the simple incisiveness of: ‘I want to be a danger, I want to be adored, I want to walk around at night while being ignored’.

Dabice’s voice is an unending cavern that stretches and shapeshifts. It’s also in their throatwrecking rapid fire hardcore – there’s that animal

Albums

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Adrianne Lenker Bright Future 4AD, 22 Mar

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March 2024 — Review

Listen to: Real House, Donut Seam, Ruined

Julia Holter Something in the Room She Moves Domino, 22 Mar

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Listen to: Spinning, Evening Mood, These Morning

Bright Future’s opening track could quite easily be its last. A minimal ballad, Real House lingers for six minutes of tender storytelling – and it feels almost unfathomable that it opens the record, such is its overwhelming weight. It’s a remarkable song, full of the wit and wisdom we associate with Lenker’s work fronting Big Thief. As an introduction, it threatens to overshadow all that follows but, thankfully, we’re in the palm of one of the great songwriters.

With co-production from Philip Weinrobe, and working alongside three collaborators – Mat Davidson, Nick Hakim, and Josefin Runsteen – it wasn’t initially meant to be an album. Such was the strength of the recordings they carved out of the cherry wood, 150-year-old room they played in, Bright Future was seen through to its completion.

Such energy is captured beautifully; daylight seeps in, floorboards creak. It’s raw and unvarnished and all the better for it. Sadness As a Gift and Vampire Empire swoop with warm country-rock bluster, but it’s the quieter moments that define the record. Evol is breathless simplicity, while the closing one-two of Donut Seam and Ruined balance the scales, a powerful reminder that there are few who do it better. [Tom Johnson]

After the resounding success of 2015’s Have You In My Wilderness, Julia Holter doggedly stuck to her experimental origins with the clattering, to some impenetrable, (Alice) Coltranisms of Aviary. Six years later she returns with a record that balances the impulses of pop and experimentalism with deft skill, walking a tightrope between cosmic vastness and subtlety.

Holter’s instrumentation may have broadened to be more consistently orchestral, but the forms of her songs are still loose and exploratory; music that can seem to be meandering until the most gorgeous of hooks blows through and completely reshapes it. But there’s an intimacy to this record that hasn’t been in Holter’s music for some time. Evening Mood masterfully strikes this balance, shuffling forward like a badger through woodlands until the whole thing elevates, Holter’s voice keeping it gossamer delicate whilst everything else around grows and swirls.

Barring the magnificently punchy Spinning, most of the record moves in these wafts and drifts, beauty dissipating as quickly as it appears, only to reemerge in a different form just as quickly. But it’s an album that worms its way into you, slowly revealing more and more of itself with each listen, layers of intricacies shifting beneath its drifting beauty. [Joe Creely]

Sheherazaad Qasr Erased Tapes, 1 Mar

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Listen to: Koshish

Jlin Akoma Planet Mu, 22 Mar

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Listen to: The Precision of Infinity, Open Canvas, Challenge (To Be Continued II)

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Spacious arrangements meet deeply poetic storytelling on this stellar stand-out debut mini-album from American-Indian artist Sheherazaad.

Produced by Arooj Aftab, Qasr (translated from Urdu: ‘castle’ or ‘fortress’) weaves tales on topics from fame’s excesses (Mashoor) to apocalyptic temporalities (Khatam), to aging and nostalgia (Koshish) over five tracks.

Qasr draws from folk, Indian classical stylings, pop, even jazz and flamenco, never tied down by genre or era. The inherent fusion and flux of diasporic life breathes itself into the ebb and flow of textures and tonalities across songs: Koshish, she says, is homage to her Californian upbringing, “revamping the surfer genre with brown beach bodies and hidden Oud” Her lyricism often paints contemporary life with surreal beauty. ‘Come, lets eat this Silence’, she sings (translated from Urdu) on the slow, jazz-inflected Khatham, ‘But here there is neither hunger nor thirst’.

Qasr is an album drawing from, but never mired by nostalgia – rather, it reimagines what it means to ‘be’ in this world, across worlds, at times creating spaces between reverie and reality to explore what also could be. Slipping into the world Sheherazaad weaves on Qasr makes for utterly compelling listening, arresting and refreshing in equal measure. [Anita Bhadani] Since her last full-length solo release, 2017’s Black Origami, electronic producer Jlin has deepened her approach with leftfield collaborations and impressive commissions. Her composition work on Third Coast Percussion’s Perspective even earned her a Pulitzer nomination. That’s scratching the surface. This new record goes back to basics – at least in theory. With no heady concept or artistic constriction, Akoma is a blank canvas. The tone is sleek, futuristic and forward-looking, while the songs are dense and tactile.

Tracks morph into multi-part beasts. Speed of Darkness goes through several transmutations before arriving at a sci-fi club. Iris comes up for air occasionally, amid the wild mix of bass and percussion. Its sudden tempo changes feel like teleporting.

Throughout, Jlin’s command over rhythm and texture make what could be too impenetrable a blast to hear.

She gets the chance to work with personal heroes, like Björk and Philip Glass. The latter appears on highlight The Precision of Infinity, which blends classical and contemporary with a careful balance; piano arpeggios don’t usually bang this hard. Derived from the Asante of present day Ghana, ‘Akoma’ means endurance, understanding and consistency. It’s fitting for a record that underlines Jlin’s growth and heart. [Skye Butchard]

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Listen to: I’m A Man, Shelf Warmer, Dream Dollar

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Listen to: Lorelei, For Your Consideration, What’s Love (ft.

MUNA)

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Listen to: Dream Job, Petroleum, When The Laughter Stops (ft. Katy J Pearson)

The Jesus and Mary Chain Glasgow Eyes Fuzz Club, 8 Mar

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Listen to: Venal Joy, jamcod, Second of June

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Feedback, fuzz, chaos and misrule spring to mind when it comes to The Jesus and Mary Chain. In this regard, their latest outing, Glasgow Eyes, does not disappoint. The album features all of this from the very offset of opening track Venal Joy. This opening is less a declaration that they are back, but instead a challenge to those who might think they ever went away; Venal Joy is as loud, as frenetic and as uncompromising as ever.

More classic Mary Chain elements become apparent as the album progresses, with the bubblegum fizz, harmonies and melodic guitar of Second of June and the self-referential jamcod – a song in which they seem to be paying homage to themselves, and who can blame them? We all love a bit of nostalgia, and this album is laced with it.

Clearly age has had no mellowing effect on Glasgow’s, or, perhaps more precisely, East Kilbride’s most notorious musical misfits and, while Glasgow Eyes is no Psychocandy, it is without doubt a true-to-form The Jesus and Mary Chain album and, for that reason alone, worth the listen.

[Mia Boffey]

March 2024 — Review

Empress Of For Your Consideration Giant Music, 22 Mar

Like a human metronome, rhythmic heavy breathing counts in the first track of For Your Consideration, setting the irresistible tempo of Empress Of’s commanding and addictive fourth LP. These ASMR-like touches crop up throughout the record, giving a sense that the music is a living, breathing organism – Lorely Rodriguez’s most compelling creation yet.

As executive producer on For Your Consideration, Rodriguez was inspired by vocal music to use elements of her voice and breath to create some of the beats and basslines that make up its dense soundscapes. Rodriguez’s voice, flitting between lyrics in English and Spanish, exudes confidence but is, at times, unexpectedly vulnerable.

The album’s storytelling is absorbing, too: the title track was written on the day Rodriquez had her heart broken by a Hollywood director, leading her to reflect more widely on power dynamics and the more degrading aspects of both relationships and of existing in the entertainment industry.

For Your Consideration finds Rodriguez collaborating with other female artists, including Rina Sawayama and MUNA. Featuring the latter, the record’s closer is a pulsing ballad made expansive by synths and hypnotic voices: an appropriate end to Rodriquez’s most cohesive and ambitious work to date. [Katie Cutforth]

Yard Act Where’s My Utopia?

Island, 1 Mar

Following the major success of their 2022 debut album, The Overload, that earned them the number two spot in the UK Albums Chart, post-punk rockers Yard Act are now set to release their second record, Where’s My Utopia? Co-produced between the band and Gorillaz drummer Remi Kabaka Jr, the album uses cynical storytelling and dark humour to focus on topics such as capitalism, gentrification and social class. We Make Hits centres around a pair of hitmen who get jobs as assassins for Holy Global Enterprises, while tracks like Dream Job and An Illusion spotlight frontman James Smith’s experiences of feeling guilt while struggling with the band’s success.

Smith acknowledges his growth throughout with a sense of responsibility and ambition forming the backbone narrative of the album. Disco and rock elements are clear throughout, and every song takes the listener on a new journey through Smith’s storytelling. Down By the Stream discusses bullying and abuse, while Blackpool Illuminations is a seven-minute track about Smith’s childhood at the iconic event. It’s structures like Where’s My Utopia? that make an album stand out, as does its sense of hope and perseverance, with the overall message that one’s struggles and emotions are valid.

[Emma Cooper-Raeburn]

Albums

Kim Gordon The Collective Matador, 8 Mar

If you thought Kim Gordon’s last solo effort was a far cry from her Sonic Youth days, The Collective is an experience that will shatter your expectations of this deeply singular artist tenfold. On lead single BYE BYE, Gordon’s performance is straight-faced but not half-hearted as she commits to a Dry Cleaningstyle recital of a to-do/shopping list over a track that combines blownout 808 bass, glitchy hi-hats and whiny fuzz guitar feedback.

For the bone-rattling, almost parodically modern production on BYE BYE among others, you can thank producer Justin Raisen (Charli XCX; Sky Ferreira). I’m a Man is a standout, seeing Gordon adopt the narrative voice of your typical internet incel – ‘I can’t get a date / It’s not my fault!’ – and pointing the finger at other pathetic men with saviour complexes – ‘I’m supposed to save you but you got a job / You got a degree and I’m just a fuckin’ slob’.

In other places, The Collective contains subtle elements of ethereal hyperpop, eery metallic soundscapes and lo-fi egg-punk influences. Gordon manages to hit that sweet spot, creating an album that is adventurous, charmingly deadpan and visceral at every turn.

[Jack Faulds]

THE SKINNY

Music Now March into March with excellent new music from Stephanie Lamprea, Dancer, Siobhan Wilson, EYVE and more

March 2024 – Review

W

Photo: Oana Stanciu

e didn’t miss much in February’s issue – only the comeback of the century from Glasgow alt-pop three-piece LYLO! Coming out of a six-year hiatus, the band reappear with swanky new single Hush from their upcoming third album Thoughts of Never. The chorus of this track was written and performed by Esmé Dee Hand-Halford of The Orielles – the first of many collaborations to come on this glistening new record. See our Spotlight On… Q&A with the band on our website to dig deeper into this long-awaited return.

February also brought in a slew of gorgeous EPs from Lacuna (Greenhouse Baby), SHEARS (Now We’re Getting Somewhere) and Anna Secret Poet (Psychogeography), alongside singles from Bikini Body (Mr. Tinnitus), Gallus (Wash Your Wounds), Junk Pups (Trophy Wife), Possibly Jamie (Love, to all my boyfriends), Dara Dubh (My Raincloud), Sludge Gloom (Havisham), Ben Chatwin (Sawtooth), Sister Madds (Here We Go Again), Pleasure Trail (Is It Not Safer In The City?) and tonnes more.

The month of March kicks off with an otherworldly collaboration between Glasgow-based Colombian-American soprano Stephanie Lamprea and composer Tom W. Green, titled Don’t Add To Heartache (1 Mar). Commissioned by Edinburgh arts organisation Hidden Door, this album is an impassioned exploration of sound, space, and the relationship between nature and humanity. On the opening track We come into the world…, Lamprea sets the scene with a swooping drone, over which she layers gorgeous falsetto embellishments and a robotic monologue in which she describes an Edenic world. The near ten-minute Imprints of our Botanizing is an animalistic adventure – a symphony of sporadic gasps and rasping exhalations; kookaburra-esque vocal pitching and toad-like organ croaks; intermittent static and excitable synthwork.

Complementing the immersive foley work on tracks like Udaviti Se and Inversnaid is the avant-garde instrumentation from flautist Richard Craig, saxophonist Richard Scholfield and violist Katherine Wren – a compelling trio who pile on the atmosphere in spades. Top to bottom, Don’t Add To Heartache is a fiercely inventive body of work that urges listeners to consider their relationship with nature in an increasingly artificial world.

Moving further into the month, Glasgow post-punks Dancer offer up their debut album 10 Songs I Hate About You via Madrid label Meritorio (15 Mar). The lead single from this release, Passionate Sunday, is a woozy twee ballad about being absolutely skint but still finding ways to let your hair down. The raw, rattly bass from Andrew Doig; chirpy guitar sounds from Chris Taylor; punchy drums from Gavin Murdoch and matter-of-fact vocals from Gemma Fleet (Current Affairs) come together to build a delicious sonic palette.

With titles like When I Was a Teenage Horse and International Birdman cropping up

across the record, it’s kind of impossible not to be intrigued by this off-kilter bunch.

On the same day, Elgin native Siobhan Wilson releases Flowercore Vol.1 via Olive Grove Records and her own Sufrecs label, the first instalment of the Flowercore double -album. This introductory half of the project feels like the first breath of spring in the Scottish moors, the score emanating from the heather-covered hills as a highland calf awakes and shudders off the cold morning dew. Even without the overt Scottishness of Wilson’s rendition of Floors O’ The Forest with Ross Ainslie on the bagpipes, this album is a meticulously crafted love letter to Caledonia, its enchanting fauna and magical allure. Ghost Pipe Flowers completely encapsulates the deep mysticism of Scotland, with Wilson’s spectral vocals dancing on a bed of twinkling glockenspiel and powerful strings. Clovers White is another highlight, beautifully dynamic and cinematic to its core – a delicate and slightly spooky tune that wouldn’t sound out of place on the Coraline soundtrack.

The following week sees the release of Sista! Beyond the Sky isn’t the Limit (20 Mar), the second EP from Glasgow-based Zimbabwean singer-songwriter-rapper EYVE. EYVE’s vocal delivery on the lead single Um, Indecisive is guttural, taking no prisoners each time that glorious chorus hook comes back around. Tracks like Gotta go (to Therapy) are steeped in themes of self-discovery, a driving desire to abandon toxicity and embrace a chosen family. EYVE says that the ballroom scene is where she “found family in Glasgow”, and the ballroom ethos of unapologetic self-expression is certainly carried throughout the EP in tracks like But baby that’s your cure, alongside noughties R’n’B influences on tracks like Can’t Touch This and Fantasise My Heart.

Other exciting releases include the second album from Dundonian synth-pop savants Echo Machine (Accidental Euphoria, 15 Mar), Joesef’s Permanent Damage (Live at 45) (16 Mar) – the stunning live edition of the Glasgow alt-pop heartthrob’s critically acclaimed debut album – There’s also the second part of Union of Knives’ double-album release Start From the Endless (19 Mar), and Glasgow Eyes from The Jesus and Mary Chain (turn back a page for more on that). You can also expect a plethora of singles from the likes of Midnight Bike Rides (Cape Horn, 1 Mar), Oyakhire (Bad & Good, 8 Mar), Finn Layers (Late Stage Capitalism, 11 Mar), Scunnurt (Lemon Tree, 14 Mar), Amateur Cult (Eyes, 14 Mar) and Jane Francis (Reborn & Grown, 29 Mar).

Stephanie Lamprea and Tom W. Green

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Scan the QR code to follow and like our Music Now: New Scottish Music playlist on Spotify, updated every Friday

Photo: Anthony Gerace

Local Music

Words: Jack Faulds

Dancer

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March 2024

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March 2024

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Film of the Month

Film of the Month — Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World RRRRR Released 8 March

by Sovereign Certificate 18 theskinny.co.uk/film

N

o filmmaker is more plugged in to the current moment than Radu Jude. His 2021 film Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn was made at the height of the pandemic, and it was one of the first films to engage with the strange reality that we found ourselves in, with Jude seeking bold new cinematic forms to comment on our broken society as he saw it.

Bad Luck Banging won Jude the Golden Bear in Berlin, but his follow-up, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, is an even more ambitious and accomplished achievement, and an even more scathing portrait of how we live now.

How do we live now? Perhaps how we survive now or how we exist now would be more apt. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World is a portrait of life at the sharp end of 21st-century capitalism. Jude follows overworked and underpaid production assistant Angela as she drives around Bucharest conducting interviews with injured employees for a work safety video. Angela is played by Ilinca Manolache, and in a just world she’d have collected every available acting award over the past year for her blazingly charismatic performance here. She is especially memorable when she uses a TikTok filter to present herself as Bobita, a bald and goateed Andrew Tate-style influencer issuing misogynistic and right-wing missives on social media (“I’m like Charlie Hebdo, sucker!”), which is Angela’s means of letting off steam and briefly escaping from the exhausting drudgery of her day.

Jude uses Angela’s experiences to interrogate the state of post-communist Romania, occasionally drawing parallels with — 65 —

the Bucharest presented in the Ceaușescu-era drama Angela Moves On (1981), in which Dorina Lazar played the taxi-driving protagonist. It’s a country of cheap labour where the notorious German filmmaker Uwe Boll can shoot his non-union sci-fi schlock, and where the workers Angela meets – most left disabled or badly maimed – are willing to take the much-needed €500 to record a testimony that absolves the Austrian corporation (represented here by an icy Nina Hoss) of responsibility. Even in death there is no escape from this rapacious exploitation, as the final resting place of Angela’s grandmother is set to be moved so a luxury apartment block can be built on that site.

Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World runs for almost three hours but that running time never lags. It might feel sprawling and scattershot in its construction, but Jude is always in complete control of the rhythm. He knows just when to ramp up the energy and when to slow it down, with an extended photo montage late in the film proving particularly poignant. The final 40 minutes unfold in a single static take and it is a masterclass in deadpan satirical filmmaking, as we watch a victim of poor labour practices lose control of his narrative to corporate interests in real-time. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World is frequently an exhilarating and hilarious experience, but the feeling that lingers afterwards is one of emptiness and despair. This is a stark look at the world we have made for ourselves, and the end is nigh. [Philip Concannon]

March 2024 — Review

Director: Radu Jude Starring: Ilinca Manolache, Nina Hoss, Uwe Boll, László Miske, Dorina Lazar

Scotland on Screen

THE SKINNY

Scotland on Screen: Ciaran Lyons and Lorn Macdonald Ahead of the world premiere of Tummy Monster at Glasgow Film Festival, we speak to its director (Ciaran Lyons) and star (Lorn Macdonald) about making this ambitious, go-for-broke, micro-budget feature

Words: Jamie Dunn

Ciaran Lyons’ filmography: The Mad Shagger (2020), The Motorist (2020), Slaves: Sockets (2015) Lorn Macdonald film and TV (selected): Bridgerton (2020-present), Shetland (2014-present), The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (2022), Beats (2019)

March 2024 — Review

hopscotchfilms.co.uk

O

ne of the first films to sell out at this year’s Glasgow Film Festival was also the cheapest to make: Tummy Monster, the debut feature from talented young Glasgow filmmaker Ciaran Lyons. It’s a one-location, shot-forbuttons caustic comedy-drama centred on a vibrant turn from rising star Lorn Macdonald, best known for his livewire performance in 2019’s Beats. He plays Tales, a down-on-his-luck tattoo artist who gets into a bizarre standoff with an American pop star who visits his Glasgow tattoo parlour in the dead of night to get inked.

Their battle of wills stems from a disagreement about boundaries. The pop star (played by Orlando Norman) refuses to take a selfie with Tales as he’s leaving the shop. Tales, perhaps justifiably, reacts badly to the snub, and the pop star abandons his busy schedule to spend a long dark night of the soul trying to teach Tales a lesson.

When we catch up with Lyons and Macdonald a few weeks before Tummy Monster’s world premiere, the director explains his initial idea stemmed from a rumour about Justin Bieber.

“Someone told me about Justin Bieber doing exactly this,” explains Lyons, “turning up at his friend’s tattoo parlour in the middle of the night, and when the guy tried to get an autograph, Bieber said ‘no!’. And my friend, who was relaying this story said, ‘Can you believe that? What an arsehole!’” That was the end of his friend’s story, but it got Lyons wondering: Why did Canada’s king of pop say no? “I was trying to think of how you create a story that takes a character with zero empathy for someone like Justin Bieber on a bit of a journey to the point where they have gone through whatever psychological torment Justin Bieber has gone through that causes him to say no.”

Macdonald recalls reading a very rough draft of Lyons’ script and initially being attracted to the danger of working with an inexperienced director with an extremely limited budget: “One of the first things I said to [Ciaran] was, ‘I’m really drawn to the fact that this film feels like it could fall on its face and could be terrible.’ There was a real risk of us not being able to pull something like this off. But that was a positive for me, Photo: Kieran Howe Tummy Monster

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because it felt very unique and odd, and a really exciting way of making something.”

As if in retaliation, Lyons has his own backhanded compliment for Macdonald. “This isn’t meant to be an insult, but what I was looking for in an actor wasn’t perfectionism,” says Lyons.

“I was looking for that magic quality when someone’s performance is just really alive.” Because of the way Tummy Monster was going to be shot (fast, over five days), and there only being three on-screen characters (the third player is Michael Akinsulire as the pop star’s no-nonsense minder), Lyons needed actors who could hit the ground running. “I wanted the feeling of spontaneity, and I felt like I could see that in Lorn’s performance in Beats.”

Before the shoot, Macdonald spent several weeks trying to get into Tales’ head. “A lot of actors will tell you, ‘Oh, the character starts from this small space inside and you let it breathe’ and all that kind of stuff,” says Macdonald. “For me, this character was very much aesthetics first. He’s a vain character, even though he’d say he wasn’t, so deciding on a look, deciding on clothes, the tattoos, the piercings – it’s not who you are, it’s about how you want to be perceived.”

Macdonald didn’t go full method. The neck tattoos he sports in the film are only transfers, but he did notice that he was treated very differently in his Tales getup. “I really loved embodying Tales’s look and seeing how people react,” he says. “On the subway, I’d get people that were choosing not to sit next to me, or just giving me wary looks. Being like, ‘that guy’s intense’.”

Making a low-budget feature is no mean feat, and Lyons has ploughed a lot of his own savings into the project. It’s a sad state of affairs that there aren’t better funding models available for ambitious young filmmakers trying to make their first feature, but Lyons seems to see the struggle to make Tummy Monster as a wholly positive experience. “Even if we lived in the land of milk and honey, where everyone could just rock up and be given a blank check, this has still been an incredible process,” he says.

“There’s a freedom in risk-taking that has felt amazing.”

One ambition Lyons has for Tummy Monster is that it’ll give other young directors the confidence to take their own leaps of faith. “There are so many amazing filmmakers on the scene here,” says Lyons. ”I would love to see the feature films they could make. Hopefully when they see this, they think, ‘OK, it is possible. You can make a compelling, proper film with a very small budget.’” It’s risky advice, but Lyons doesn’t see the funding landscape improving in Scotland anytime soon (“it’s just not the way the world’s going”). He reckons an indie spirit is the way to go: “I would love to see a renewed vigour in lowbudget filmmaking here.” The clamber for tickets at Glasgow Film Festival suggests local audiences would agree.

Tummy Monster has its world premiere at Glasgow Film Festival, screening 2, 3 and 7 Mar

THE SKINNY

Robot Dreams Director: Pablo Berger

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Robot Dreams

The Sweet East Director: Sean Price Williams

Starring: Talia Ryder, Simon Rex America is the land of opportunity – or for teen Lillian (Talia Ryder), who becomes separated from her classmates on a school trip, the land of misadventure – in this deliciously off-kilter road trip comedy.

Accomplished cinematographer Sean Price Williams brings his eye for the gloriously feverish and unhinged to his feature directorial debut.

By juxtaposing moments of frenetic comedy with a sun-dappled, soft-focus, quasi-nostalgic Americana (amplified by Lillian quickly losing her cellphone, relying on old-fashioned modes of communication and transport), the promise of the kindness of strangers walks a tightrope with the threat of their violence. Nick Pinkerton’s script floats just above topical relevance, alluding to today’s most outlandish, dangerous, and deluded without getting into socioeconomic realities.

Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda

Starring: Mugino Saori, Hori Michitoshi

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Superbly scored by Ryuichi Sakamoto in his final film work, Monster is an ever-shifting three-headed creature that escapes definition. Kore-eda’s latest follows a trio of POVs, crafting an intricate tapestry of multiple accounts regarding the relationship between two young boys, Minato (Sōya Kurokawa) and Yori (Hinata Hiiragi).

Parental apprehension, a societal penchant for keeping up appearances and a perverse relief in pointing fingers come together in Minato’s conflicted prelude to adolescence. His widowed mother (Shoplifters’ Sakura Andō) fears he may have been abused by his teacher, Mr Hori (Eita Nagayama), who, in turn, insists her son is a bully and torments the socially awkward Yori. The truth lies in both their versions, and somewhere else entirely at once, and Monster treads carefully not to crucify

The Sweet East

Ryder, magnetic throughout, sells Lillian’s confident improvisations that take her from one folly to the next. Other standouts include Ayo Edebiri as a bohemian film director and Jacob Elordi – adding purposefully bad accents to his achievements in diction – as her star.

The Sweet East is not perfect: some “edgy” slurs in the dialogue feel designed to shock rather than comment on Lillian’s (lack of) self-awareness or the fractious American identity.

Additionally, jokes on celebrity culture, while amusing, feel borne of an earlier era. The closeted neo-Nazi academic (Simon Rex) avoids both pitfalls, selling genuine laughs with perfectly judged self-seriousness. His diatribe against the “European” view of the United States as a young country with no history is upturned by the film’s refusal to confuse ephemerality with innocence – marking The Sweet East as a road trip to remember. [Carmen Paddock] Released 29 Mar by Utopia; certificate 18

Monster

Drift Director: Anthony Chen

Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Alia Shawkat

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In Drift, Jacqueline (Cynthia Erivo), a Liberian refugee attempting to survive on a Greek island, is always walking: across the sand, the pavements, amid drying shrubbery, on tiles of restaurants that turn her away. She’s displaced and it’s a relentlessly ongoing state until she meets American tour guide Callie (Alia Shawkat).

Anthony Chen’s film is a necessary watch that challenges perceptions of refugee experiences, albeit with limited colour. Fragmented flashbacks offer slim insights into Jacqueline’s history. We do know she’s scared though, and Chen lets this fear bruise across each scene, sore and barely touched. But we’re held at a distance. Chen never quite indulges in the beauty of the landscape – the blue upon shades of blue, with only concrete, sand, and rare greenery amid stretches of white

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a culprit. The film exposes our prejudices, working relentlessly within a circular, programmatic structure to hand us different pairs of shoes in which to walk.

Monster’s form lends itself to an easy comparison to Rashomon but rejects that film’s competing relativism in favour of a more slippery and intimate set of coexisting perspectives that can’t, and perhaps shouldn’t, be fully grasped. Peeling back layers of narrative that initially seemed straightforward, Kore-eda rewards his audience with a moral whodunnit where the resolution doesn’t really matter, allowing us to walk gently when invited into the lived experiences of others. The movie shines brightest when the children can finally speak their own language in a finale that abandons the intriguing, horrortinged hues of the first half and lets the light in. [Stefania Sarrubba] Released 15 Mar by Picturehouse; certificate 12A

Drift

offering respite. There is, after all, only so scenic a landscape (and its carefree tourists) can be amid one’s own survival, although this is a tension only somewhat noted.

It’s Erivo who pulls us in. Her performance is weighty with empathy, sensitive to the nuances of Jacqueline’s pain, so much of it unspoken, only understood. Shawkat, meanwhile, plays Callie with a curious warmth, allowing her to both soothe and disrupt. However, their friendship is never quite fully realised, an on-screen intimacy without connection. There’s a restraint to the characters themselves – Callie’s bravado, Jacqueline’s misdirection – as well as their scripted portrayal.

Slow, wading, Drift acutely notes how painfully monotonous trauma can be. But something is left undrawn. Drift guards itself – perhaps understandably and intentionally so. [Eilidh Akilade] Released 29 Mar by MetFilm; certificate 15

March 2024 — Review

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Released 22 Mar by Curzon; certificate PG

Monster

Film

Robot Dreams opens with a dog named Dog sitting alone in his apartment. Illuminated by the glow of the TV, he slouches over a microwave dinner and looks longingly into the house next door at the happy couple inside. It’s about the most devastating portrayal of existential despair to come from an anthropomorphic animal since BoJack Horseman.

Rather than descending into a self-destructive whirlpool of drugs, alcohol and narcissism, Dog calls the number from a TV advert and orders himself a new robot friend. The pair then take to the city – an animalfilled version of 80s New York – where Dog teaches his shiny new pal the joys of rollerblading, hotdogs and days at the beach. Pablo Berger’s film features no spoken dialogue, but it communicates the happiness of this newfound friend-

ship with perfect clarity using a vibrant, cartoon sitcomesque art style and a lively soundtrack driven by Earth, Wind & Fire’s iconic September.

Tragedy strikes when a bout of rust leaves Robot trapped where Dog can’t reach him. From there the film splits in two, following them separately as they try to find a way back to each other, or a way to move on.

After the explosion of noise and colour that their friendship created, Dog’s world feels all the quieter in its absence.

While Robot Dreams does find itself repeating a few of the same notes over the course of its runtime, it remains a sweet, sad, hugely inventive tale of love and loneliness.

[Ross McIndoe]

March 2024 – Review

Local Heroes

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THE SKINNY

HÖFN, DUNDEE Höfn is a delightful slice of Nordic coffee culture in the heart of Dundee

instagram.com/hofndundee

W

March 2024 – Review

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Image: courtesy of Höfn

Image: courtesy of Höfn

Set in a surprisingly spacious unit that was once the DC Thomson publishing office, Höfn makes a lovely first impression. It’s a light, airy, Nordic-inspired space that’s all white walls and pine furnishings, big windows and brushed concrete.

There are a bunch of cool recessed shelves, a window seat if you really want to get as much of that sun as possible, and enough space to stand and wait for your takeaway espresso without repeatedly getting in everyone’s way. We’ve spent enough of our time shuffling on the spot and apologising to everyone around us, so we appreciate the space.

As for the coffee itself, it’s excellent – our flat white (£3.30), made with beans from the excellent Unorthodox Roasters in Kinross, is brilliantly balanced and expertly put-together. Excellent microfoam, lovely cup, all good. Food-wise, there are two strands on offer. We’ll start with the open sandwiches, and folks, someone round here has a pal who makes very large loaves. No word of a lie, one of us said out loud “that’s a long piece of bread” when the dishes came out. As for the toppings, the Posh Ham and Cheese (£9) is loaded with serrano ham and burrata, with a sweet honey glaze dribbled somewhere on top. We can’t quite see it but we know it’s there, possibly under the large pile of rocket. The avocado on toast (£8) is a classic of the form, in that it’s absolutely loaded with avocado, and sprinkled with plenty of lemon and chilli. This is all quality stuff; if we’re nitpicking we’d say the bread needs to go back in the toaster for another 20 seconds, but all round it’s a nice brunch/ lunch option.

The other way to go is to throw yourself on the mercies of the wellstocked pastry and cake counter, which today is absolutely stacked with various forms of brownie. For the aesthetes among you, the pistachio and raspberry brownie (£3.90) is covered in an amazing multicoloured speckle, but resists the urge to go over the top. Sure, it’s very chocolatey, but it isn’t too sweet or sharp.

The marmalade brownie (£3.90) can’t compete on looks – dark brown and translucent orange isn’t the most

Food

Mon-Sat, 8.30am-4.30pm; Sun, 9.30am-4.30pm

e begin this month with an apology. Dundee – the food section is sorry for overlooking you for, as it turns out, a number of years. That feels a bit silly on our part, because there is actually a fair bit going on in Scotland’s Sunniest City™, and not least in the world of coffee.

There’s the vibey EH9 Espresso on the Perth Road, the excellent Mana on Whitehall Crescent, a clutch of great places right by Kengo Kuma’s Big Arty Triangle™ (Heather Street Food, Dundee Cycle Hub) and Daily Grind on Exchange Street. That last one is particularly relevant, because it’s one of the folk from Daily Grind who’s behind the bar at Höfn, the latest addition to the city’s coffee scene.

Image: courtesy of Höfn

7 Bank St, Dundee, DD1 1RL

Words: Peter Simpson

photogenic combo – but it’s delicious, and a touch gooier than the pistachio number which is always a plus.

Höfn would be a great new addition to any high street in Scotland – super-cool, very welcoming, plenty of space and really excellent coffee. It’s yet another excellent addition in Dundee’s ever-growing coffee scene; hopefully it won’t take us ages to find the next great spot that pops up.

Books

THE SKINNY

Gathering

Martyr!

Before The Queen Falls Asleep

Lobster

By Durre Shahwar and Nasia Sarwar-Skuse

By Kaveh Akbar

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By Huzama Habayeb, trans. Kay Heikkinen

By Hollie McNish

The latest anthology from Scottish indie innovators 404 Ink, Gathering is a breath of fresh air showcasing the broad church of experiences of moving through the natural world as a woman of colour. Co-edited

by Durre Shahwar and Nasia SarwarSkuse, with illustrations by Haricha Abdaal, and writing from across Scotland and Wales, these essays are both fierce and meditative, covering the deep-rooted sanctity of trees, a meditation on punk, the colonial history of sugar, and bugs as queer icons.

It’s refreshing to hear about the lives of women from all walks of life and to have my own doubts echoed and soothed, about nature being full of a Certain Type of Person and carving out a place for yourself on your own terms, the tension of feeling like you belong nowhere and everywhere as an immigrant, mixed heritage, or diaspora creator. Some of these women find solace in nature later in life, initially sharing the suspicion that there could be any enjoyment in climbing a hill or foraging for berries. These are stories of encountering nature from the intimate and quotidian through to the vast and adventurous, finding connection in unexpected places, dreaming of home across oceans, and reclaiming spaces as brown and Black women. Gathering shows us the natural world is for and reflects everyone and it’s a welcome and necessary addition to the nature-writing canon.

[Katalina Watt]

The debut novel from poet Kaveh Akbar, Martyr! follows its central character, Cyrus Shams, on a mission to make his eventual death mean something. His mother was ‘turned to dust’ (a visceral description borrowed from the news broadcast of the event) in the real-life shooting down of a passenger plane over Iran in 1988. Its shadow cast over his life, he is rudderless but desperate to write about martyrs.

Iran is Cyrus’s birthplace, though his AA sponsor points out that by the amount it is referenced in his poems, you would never guess he grew up in the States and that his daily phone usage exceeds the cumulative time he has ever spent eating pomegranates. Through these honest truths that friends and acquaintances give Cyrus about his schtick, Akbar, also IranianAmerican, demonstrates the selfawareness his protagonist lacks.

Cyrus’s ethnicity, sexuality, preoccupations and addictions are written with the intimacy of lived experience but the wit and lightness of hindsight.

The book’s bricolage structure allows for jumps across borders, across time, that put its central character’s self-destructive habits in a compassionate frame. That a novel steeped with grief is so shockingly funny is testament to its radical authenticity. It is an open vein, bleeding all over the carpet. On some days, the stain is barely visible. Silly, even. You laugh when you notice it.

On others, it’s all you can think about. [Louis Cammell]

Before the Queen Falls Asleep tells a tale of tragedy and not-quite-love, expertly capturing the everyday reality of displaced Palestinians.

Originally published in Arabic in 2011, its English translation has come at a time of utmost importance.

Huzama Habayeb does not write explicitly of the atrocities that we know have fuelled the difficulties her narrator, Jihad, is faced with.

Yet it is through this unspokenness that we find a strange potency – in the few moments in which such suffering is addressed, it is with impact one can hardly imagine. Jihad, like Habayeb, is a well-regarded Palestinian writer, loomed over by an ongoing history of displacement.

The novel is framed in vignettes: short stories caringly addressed to Jihad’s daughter. Each one is marked with frustration yet told with the loving language of tender guardianship, wonderfully mapping this mother-daughter relationship. The prose (as translated

by Kay Heikkinen) is full of vital language and, when not poetically delving into deep and emotive expression, is pushed forward with the interpolation of vibrant and sharp wordplay.

Habayeb leaves her readers hanging on every word, as we scrap to fill in the gaps she leaves between her night-time stories, told in anticipation of the imminent departure of a child she adores so much. Before the Queen Falls Asleep is a slow-burner, yet the burn is hot and leaves a lasting impact.

[Jo Higgs]

In the midst of the cost of living crisis, toxic political turmoil and climate collapse, it comes as no surprise that hatred is a precondition of contemporary life. To love is to be seriously deranged and embarrassingly deluded. But that is the exact challenge that Hollie McNish takes on in her blended collection of poetry and prose, Lobster: and other things I’m learning to love.

McNish’s writing traverses between memoir and polemic. She shares the most intimate and cringeworthy moments from her past, particularly the awkwardness of navigating university. The book is structured into different thematic chapters such as ‘bodies’ and ‘motherland’, and McNish examines each topic with humour and sensitivity. Perhaps the best part of the collection is the chapter dedicated entirely to oral sex, where McNish advocates for the twin practices of pleasure and unlearning.

If the collection falls short it any way, it is its length: at a total of 460 pages, it is far too long. McNish’s words, although lovely, could have left a more lasting impression if they had been more focused and succinct. Yet they still pack a punch; McNish is careful to avoid tired clichés of late stage capitalism masquerading as self care. As she aptly observes in the poem strike: ‘a scented candle will not calm you if you can’t afford to eat’. McNish may be hopeful but she is definitely not ignorant.

[Laila Ghaffar]

404 Ink, out now

Picador, 7 Mar

MacLehose Press, 28 Mar

Fleet, 14 Mar

March 2024 — Review

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THE SKINNY

Dream Gig Brummie gal and Edinburgh Best Newcomer Nominee Lindsey Santoro designs a belter of a Dream Gig Illustration: Lada Chizhova

Comedy

I

hadn’t eaten a vegetable in three months and his body wasn’t used to it. I will not go down for a crime I did not commit.

Opening would be Jo Brand. Come on, it’s Jo Brand. Do I need to give an explanation?! She’s just brilliant. What an icon.

Next, doing a tight five open spot, I’d have Linda La Hughes from Gimme Gimme Gimme. Any excuse to have Kathy Burke within 1m of me. She is everything I want to be as both a comedian and woman. An absolute role model and genius.

My pal Harriet Dyer is my third act, dressed as a dinosaur. I once had to spend ten hours in a box with them as part of a TV pilot and it was one of the most joyful experiences of my life. Of all the people in the world to be trapped in an empty room with, Harriet Dyer is the best. We both have such novel imaginations that we managed to keep ourselves entertained. The team on the other side of the box started to go a bit nuts, while the trick with me and Harriet is we’re both already demented so had a lovely time.

After Harriet, I’ll have Harry Hill on because he makes me laugh so much. I saw his recent tour and can’t stop shouting “traybake” at people. I still maintain that his reboot of Stars In Their Eyes is the greatest thing to happen this century. TV Burp was a Saturday night staple for me – lest we forget, Wagbo.

I would close the show, wearing my wedding dress (I only wore it once and it was a lot of money). There’d now be a ring of fire on the sushi belt and I would have four men carefully carry me through it like a starfish (the wedding dress is realistically made out of quite cheap material so I could easily set on fire). I would do three minutes of material, get a standing ovation and be asked to do an encore. Only this time, I won’t run off for a wee.

Lindsey Santoro: Pink Tinge, The Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow, 15 Mar, 7pm, £12, part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival @linzsantoro on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok

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March 2024 — Review

’m lucky to have had so many brilliant gigs. Not my favourite one ever, but I once had an iconic gig in Sale, Manchester. I was having a really nice time but ran off stage once I’d finished as I was desperate for the bog. When I came back, the promoter told me the audience had been chanting for an encore but because I’d run off, I’d missed it. I’ve never had an encore before or since. It should have been the greatest moment of my comedy career but, unfortunately, I needed a wee and refuse to get a kidney infection for anything/anyone.

My ideal gig would be one run from my back garden.

Comedians travel a lot so you get very excited when a gig is less than two hours away – thirty steps outside would be an absolute treat. The audience would be made up of people who love me unconditionally, so my husband David x 1000, and it’ll finish by 9pm because I want to go to bed.

To really enhance the gig, I’d set the stage up like a sushi belt so if I get fed up of somebody, I can press a button and they’re whizzed off stage (or swoosh them back if we want more). Forgot to add: the green room is a Chinese buffet! I love a Chinese buffet. The idea that there is always constant food available – hello, yes please.

My mom Tina, who looks like me but squashed, will come on before the show and between each act to belt out Whitney Houston’s The Greatest Love of All. It’s her go-to karaoke song, mainly because she finds it hilarious to change the word ‘dignity’ to ‘virginity’. This is probably where my strange comedy stems from. My mom loved me too much and gave me too much attention as a kid so that’s why I’m the way I am now. A wellbalanced child would’ve got a job in the civil service.

The compere for the evening is Phil Ellis, in his skin-tight cat suit. Phil claims that I poisoned him at the Fringe but it’s not true. I invited him over to my house for some toad in the hole, then he claimed the next day that I had tried to kill him – he just

THE SKINNY

Listings Supported by 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 Tue 27 Feb 86TVS

KING TUT’S, 19:00– 22:30

Alt indie from the UK. POTTER PAYPER

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Rap from the UK. SAINT AGNES

CATHOUSE, 19:00–22:00

Rock from London.

ESPRIT D’AIR

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

RAYE

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

R’n’B from London.

DYSTOPIAL (THE SALLYS + KNACKERED) KING TUT’S, 19:00– 22:30

Eclectic lineup.

ESCHER (LAUNDRY ROOM + WITCHING HOUR)

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

Jazz from Glasgow.

SNOW STRIPPERS

STEREO, 19:00–22:00

FLORA YIN WONG (MONDLANE) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Ambient/experimental from London.

JUNTO CLUB (LUGAS EUROP + HYPNOTIC GROOVE)

DRYGATE BREWING CO., 19:00–22:30

Post-punk from Glasgow.

THE MIGHTY JOES + SITUATION ZERO + CHANEL FOX + HANNAH NICOLE GRAHAM

Electronica from Michigan.

ROOM 2, 19:00–22:30

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:30

Sat 02 Mar

Prog metal from Japan.

LIME GARDEN

Eclectic lineup.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Indie from Brighton.

HALO FT. LVRA (SPENT + KOPI O)

PROJECTOR

Rock from Brighton.

THE SNUTS

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

Rock from Scotland.

RICK ASTLEY

THE OVO HYDRO, 18:30–22:30

Pop from the UK.

Wed 28 Feb NATHAN DAWE

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Producer from the UK.

MICKEY CALLISTO SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Synth pop from Sunderland.

JOHN TAYLOR SPENCE (ZOE ELIZA + PAUL MUIRHEAD + LEWIS AITCHESON)

March 2024 — Listings

Thu 29 Feb

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

Singer-songwriter from Glasgow.

THE SNUTS

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

Rock from Scotland.

RY BUDD

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:00–22:30

Indie from Glasgow.

NIALL HORAN

THE OVO HYDRO, 18:30–22:30

Pop from the UK.

Fri 01 Mar

PVC (SO BORING + ENDOV + VACANT PAVEMENTS)

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Mon 04 Mar

CHARMING LIARS (SPLIT THE DEALER + DREW DAVIES)

MOUTH CULTURE

Metal from the US.

Indie from London.

Tue 05 Mar

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

THE RARELY SOCIAL + CERAMICS + EVERYDAY PHARAOHS + CRATER CREEK

GREG PUCIATO

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

RØRY

Dance pop from the UK.

KNOCKED LOOSE

SWG3, 18:00–22:30

Metalcore from the US. FORT HOPE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Rock from the UK.

THE DOOLES ( ELLYSSE MACLENNAN + MAYA MCCRAE + EMMA SMITH)

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

Indie from Glasgow.

HI-C

STEREO, 19:00–22:30

Trap from California.

X AMBASSADORS

Electro pop.

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:30

LANDE HEKT (FLINCH + PINK POUND)

DEREK J MARTIN

THE LUKA STATE

DUBINSKI

Post-punk from Glasgow.

Alt indie from Edinburgh.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:30

CATHOUSE, 19:00–22:30

Singer-songwriter from Scotland.

CAST

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Britpop from the UK.

Indie rock from Cheshire.

MISPLACED

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Pop punk from Glasgow.

POWERSOLO

THE SKETCH (NERVOUS HABITS + THE TRAUMA)

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

Rock from Scotland.

Singer-songwriter from Glasgow.

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

DAYSHIFTER

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Hardcore from Newcastle.

TALK SHOW

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

Rock from London.

SLIX

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

Indie from Glasgow.

CAVERNS MEASURELESS

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:00–22:30

Indie from Glasgow.

Rock from Denmark.

CALUM BRAWLEY

STEREO, 19:00–22:30

SNJO: NU-AGE SOUNDS

OLD FRUITMARKET GLASGOW, 19:30–22:30

Jazz from Scotland.

LUST FOR LIFE 2024: CLEM BURKE (BLONDIE) + GLEN MATLOCK (SEX PISTOLS) + KATIE PUCKRIK

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

Rock lineup.

THE LONELY OATCAKED (BISCUIT FACTORY + JACK MURNING) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Folk pop from Scotland.

SYNCRATIC (SILVER MACHINE + DECEMBER TENTH + CORNFIELD CHASE) ROOM 2, 19:00–22:30

Thrash metal from Glasgow.

Sun 03 Mar ALESTORM (KORPIKLAANI + HEIDEVOLK)

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Metal from Perth.

Alt rock from Ithaca.

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Indie punk from Exeter.

GARETH GATES (JAMES MCFARLANE + NATALIE JAMES) ROOM 2, 19:00–22:30

Pop from the UK.

NAPALM DEATH (PIG DESTROYER + PRIMITIVE MAN + WORMROT)

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 18:30–22:30

Grindcore from the UK. COLLIDE (SEAN LOGAN + ANGUS BRADLEY)

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:30–22:30

Experimental from Edinburgh.

GLASGOW STREETSOUND (ELLA ENGLAND + LOLA O’DOREL + CAMERON KING) ROOM 2, 19:00–22:30

Indie rock from Germany.

PUNK ROCK GIG

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Eclectic local punk rock lineup.

ORBIT CULTURE

CATHOUSE, 19:00–22:30

Death metal from Sweden.

IMMERSE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Metal from Bristol.

ROBBIE MCTAGGART (CAITLAN AGNEW + JACOB SHARPE + ELLIOT CAMPBELL)

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

Indie from Scotland.

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:30

Blues from Glasgow.

PETE WYLIE & THE MIGHTY WAH!

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Rock from the UK. DAZED AND CONFUSED

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Psych rock from Glasgow.

SI CRANSTOUN

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Blues rock from the UK.

MEATRAFFLE (PINK EYE CLUB + STEVEN THOMAS)

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

Post-punk from London.

BROWN HORSE

THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–22:00

Thu 07 Mar

JOHN ALEXANDER

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Singer-songwriter from Scotland.

HANIA RANI

Sat 09 Mar

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Instrumental from Poland.

MANGA SAINT HILARE SWG3, 19:00–22:30

RED RUM CLUB

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Rock from Liverpool.

THE UMBRELLAS (THE CORDS) NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:00–22:30

Indie pop from San Francisco.

Grime from London.

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

Punk and ska.

GLADCAST TWO (BECCI WALLACE + BUDGEE + LAINEY DEMPSEY + L.T.LEIF + NICKY MURRAY + ROBIN ADAMS)

STEVIE MCCRORIE SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Singer-songwriter from Scotland.

— 72 —

Tue 12 Mar

MARIKA HACKMAN

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:30

DONNY BENÉT

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Glad Radio fundraiser.

ROOM 2, 19:00–22:30

Pop from Australia.

ALL FOLK'D UP

Folk rock from Ireland.

AGNIESZKA CHYLIŃSKA

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Rock from Poland.

DAMIEN DEMPSEY SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Folk from Ireland.

LUCID SINS (CHEER + CWFEN)

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:00–22:30

Folk rock from the UK. DEAN LEWIS

Singer-songwriter from Australia.

JAZZ AT THE GLAD (LAIRD-JARVIE + HONG + PAYNE TRIO) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Jazz from Amsterdam.

BILL RYDER-JONES

ROBERT SHINDELL THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Singer-songwriter from New York.

CHARLOTTE CARPENTER

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:30

Singer-songwriter from East Midlands.

Fri 15 Mar YARD ACT

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

ROOM 2, 19:00–22:30

Rock from Leeds.

Wed 13 Mar

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Indie rock from the UK.

SAM NESS (ANDREW DICKSON) KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Americana from Wisconsin.

JEFF COHEN

Country from Nashville.

KEIR GIBSON

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Alt pop from Fort William.

MANDRAKE HANDSHAKE

SOUND THOUGHT

LIAM GALLAGHER + JOHN SQUIRE (JAKE BUGG)

Experimental.

Rock from the UK.

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Sat 16 Mar

Occult psychedelia from Glasgow.

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

Psych from Oxford.

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

HAPPY MONDAYS

EL GALVARINO (JOHN CHRISTOPHER )

CUA

Rock from Salford.

DRYGATE BREWING CO., 19:00–22:30

Indie from Glasgow.

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Hardcore from Australia.

THE BLOCKHEADS

Indie rock from Kilmarnock.

Bedroom pop from Glasgow.

POLARIS

Shoegaze from Glasgow.

Mon 11 Mar

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:30

Alt country from Norwich.

STEREO, 19:00–22:30

THE RAMPANTS

RAZZ MATTREEZY

Electronica from London.

KILGOUR

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:30

THE DEKE MCGEE BAND

STEREO, 19:00–22:30

TENNOTA

Eclectic lineup.

Fri 08 Mar

Folk pop from Texas.

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

Sun 10 Mar

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:30

GIANT ROOKS

Alt indie from Leicester.

Eclectic lineup.

CHANCE PENA

Wed 06 Mar

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

TOM ODELL

Alt indie from Chichester.

FERRIS & SYLVESTER (JACK FRANCIS) KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Folk pop.

THE BLINDERS

Folk and roots from Ireland.

JAMES ARTHUR THE OVO HYDRO, 18:30–22:30

FOLLY GROUP (COMFORT)

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Singer-songwriter from the UK.

Indie rock from London.

Thu 14 Mar

Alt rock from Motherwell.

EKKSTACY

SUB VIOLET

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

SOUTH ARCADE

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

1-800 GIRLS

MASTER PEACE

Indie from Vancouver.

Rock from Oxford.

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

HAPPY MONDAYS

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS

Indie from London.

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Electronica from London.

THE TWANG

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

DUB PISTOLS

FLIPTRIX

SMIRK (ENGINE OF RUIN + TOIL)

Rap from London.

Sludge noise from Glasgow.

BEN OTTEWELL + IAN BALL

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

Rock from the UK.

Rock from the UK.

Indie rock from Birmingham.

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:30

Rock from Salford.

Punk rock from Belfast.

STEREO, 19:00–22:30

THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–22:00

Dub from London.

BERLIOZ

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

Jazz house from the UK.

THE SKINNY BARRY CAN’T SWIM

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:00–22:30

Electronica from Scotland.

THE CITY SINNERS THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Country from Scotland.

MARTI PELLOW THE OVO HYDRO, 18:30–22:30

Pop from Scotland.

DEWOLFF (SILVEROLLER)

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:30

Rock from the Netherlands.

Sun 17 Mar

DEAD POET SOCIETY (READY THE PRINCE) KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Rock from LA.

NICK MULVEY

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Singer-songwriter from the UK. HENRY MOODIE

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Pop from the UK. WASTED4U<3

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Trap and hardcore.

DEATH VALLEY GIRLS

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

Rock from LA.

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

Punk rock from Belfast.

BCUC

STEREO, 19:00–22:30

Afro-psychedelic future pop from South Africa.

DEREK RYAN

OLD FRUITMARKET GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Singer-songwriter from Ireland.

Wed 20 Mar

STEREO, 19:00–22:30

Electronica from the UK. STRANGE BOY

Post-hardcore from Japan.

LUKAS GRAHAM

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

OVERPASS

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Indie from Birmingham.

PETE & BAS

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

INDIA BLUE

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

Rock from Salford.

SCOUT GILLETT THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Indie folk from Brooklyn.

TAPIR!

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:30

Indie folk from London.

Fri 22 Mar ERIC NAM

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

K-pop from Atlanta.

DON’T PANIC + THOMAS IAN NICHOLAS

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Eclectic lineup.

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

Black metal from Norway.

OZRIC TENTACLES (GONG)

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

Prog rock from the UK. BAD BOY CHILLER CREW

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:00–22:30

Rap from Bradford.

THE HANGING STARS THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Psych-folk.

FORMER CHAMP

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

Rock from the UK.

BAD TOUCH (THE KARMA EFFECT + ELECTRIC BLACK)

Electronica from France.

SKY FERREIRA

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Indie pop from the US. JAZ COLEMAN

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Singer-songwriter from the UK.

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Rock from Norfolk.

FEEDER

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

Rock from Newport.

CHRIS SHIFLETT

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:00–22:30

Rock from the US.

HURRY (U.S. HIGHBALL + GERRY LOVE) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Power pop from Philadelphia.

MADISON BEER

Pop from the US. THE NATIVE

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Indie from the UK.

EMOTIONAL ORANGES SWG3, 19:00–22:30

R’n’B from the US.

SHAWN JAMES

Rock from the UK.

Wed 28 Feb

Experimental folk.

CORPUS DELECTI

DRYGATE BREWING CO., 19:30–22:30

Folk from the UK.

Fri 29 Mar

BRÒGEAL (DIRTY FACES)

Indie from Brighton.

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Folk from Falkirk.

Punk from Scotland.

R’n’B from the US. YONAKA

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Alt rock from the UK. BLEACHERS

SWG3, 18:30–22:30

CHARLIE AND THE BHOYS

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

Folk from Glasgow.

DUTCH WINE (LACUNA + SULKA)

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

Tue 26 Mar

OBJECTIONS (CR@M + DRAGGED UP)

SUNN O)))

Alt indie from Glasgow.

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING

SIMPLE MINDS (DEL AMITRI)

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Art rock from the UK.

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

TOBY SEBASTIAN

EXTC

Rock from Swindon.

CHRIS BRAIN (RHONA MACFARLANE) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

Folk from Leeds.

Wed 27 Mar

DECLAN MCKENNA

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Pop rock from London.

MURDO MITCHELL

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Indie folk from Glasgow.

DJ SHADOW

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

Electronica from the US. JOHN MAYER

THE OVO HYDRO, 18:30–22:30

Singer-songwriter from the US.

Thu 28 Mar

DECLAN MCKENNA

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Pop rock from London.

KING TUT’S: THE HUT SESSIONS (ELLIE BLEACH + MEGAN BLACK + NEAVE MARR + CHRISTIE OLIVER) KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Eclectic lineup.

ROSELLAS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:30

Rock from the UK. SAINT PHNX

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Alt rock from Scotland.

VEEZE

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Rap from Michigan.

Post-punk from Malta.

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Country folk from the UK and Ireland.

FATIMA YAMAHA

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Producer from the Netherlands.

GRIFF

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

Pop from the UK.

THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–22:00

Power pop from Brooklyn.

AN DANNSA DUB

OLD FRUITMARKET GLASGOW, 19:30–22:30

Celtic dub from Scotland.

SIMPLE MINDS (DEL AMITRI) THE OVO HYDRO, 18:30–22:30

GRACE PETRIE

SUMMERHALL, 19:30– 22:30

Fri 01 Mar

THE DEKE MCGEE BAND

GROOVE GARDEN (CITURS + REROTONIX + RAINFLOWERS) WEE RED BAR, 19:00– 22:00

Indie rock.

Sat 02 Mar O.S.T.R.

THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–22:30

Hip-hop from Poland.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

Post-punk from London.

SCARRED LIP DEBUT EP LAUNCH (SCARRED LIP + MAGPIE BLUE + LEO BARGERY) WEE RED BAR, 19:00– 22:00

BAR STOOL PREACHERS

Sun 31 Mar

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00

BLIND CHANNEL

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Nu metal from Finland.

CHEEKFACE

Alt indie.

CHERRY RED (AND THE BANDAGES + OCEAN VIEWS)

Indie rock from California.

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00

OLD FRUITMARKET GLASGOW, 19:30–22:30

Sun 03 Mar

PENDULUM (SCARLXRD + SHOCKONE)

THE CAVES, 19:30–22:30

STEREO, 21:00–22:30

AN DANNSA DUB

Celtic dub from Scotland.

THE OVO HYDRO, 18:30–22:30

Rock and indie.

GILLA BAND

Rock from Dublin.

Electro rock from Australia.

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00

Indie from West Africa.

Mon 04 Mar HENRY WAGONS (DEAR HEATHER)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:30

Indie country from Australia.

Wed 06 Mar

GEORGIA CRANDON THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:30

ROCK CON (PAPER SAILOR + STAY FOR TOMORROW + HOPE AVENUE) WEE RED BAR, 19:00– 22:00

Rock and heavy metal.

— 73 —

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–22:30

Sun 10 Mar

Thu 21 Mar

Metal from the UK.

TIM KLIPHUIS TRIO

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Jazz from the Netherlands.

CAPOLLOS

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:30

Tue 12 Mar ENUFF Z’ NUFF

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Rock from Illinois.

FERRIS & SYLVESTER THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00

Folk pop.

Wed 13 Mar

1-800 GIRLS (SWATT TEAM)

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Electronica from London.

POHJOISEN SOTURIT

Industrial metal from Finland.

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:30

REVELLER (WEBB + JEANICE LEE)

Soul from the UK.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

Thu 14 Mar

CATAPELTA (GRACELESS HIGHTS + DUKLA SLAM)

Death metal from the Netherlands.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

Alt rock from Aberdeen.

SOLAR TIDES

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00

Post-rock.

Fri 22 Mar

BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–22:30

Alt indie from the UK. THOMAS TRUAX

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–22:30

Americana from the US.

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING

DEWOLFF

THE DUALERS

Art rock from the UK.

Rock from the Netherlands.

Ska and reggae from London.

THE CAVES, 19:00–22:30

ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK USHER HALL, 18:30– 22:30

Thu 07 Mar

MEATRAFFLE (PINK EYE CLUB + BÜTTER)

Indie.

Rock from Scotland.

THROUGH THE NEVER: SIDIKI DEMBÉLÉ + FRIENDS

Rock from the UK.

RANDOM RULES: TALK SHOW (UMARELLS)

CENDE

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Electro-punk from Dublin/ Edinburgh.

AMBLE

Jazz from Scotland.

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:30

THE DIRT ROAD BAND

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

Sat 30 Mar

Rap and hip-hop from Scotland.

LOLLAPALOSERS (TWENTY GAUGE )

TRANDOSHAN HUNTERS (NEW SLANG + AYLA ERSOY)

Indie from Oxford.

Folk rock from Glasgow.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

GENN

Blues from Glasgow.

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:30

AMPLIFI (CONSCIOUS ROUTE + JURNALIST + P CASO)

Thu 29 Feb

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–22:30

Rock from Scotland.

JAMES GRANT & THE HALLELUJAH STRING QUARTET

Electronica from the UK.

Folk pop from the UK.

Noise rock.

THE OVO HYDRO, 18:30–22:30

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Drone metal from Seattle.

VANTAGE POINT (DEMON RIFF RIDERS + DANNY & THE DRIVERS)

Heavy metal from Edinburgh.

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–22:30

Pop from New Jersey.

Post-punk from France.

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–22:30

Mon 25 Mar O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00

LIME GARDEN

GUEVARA (DOT PIXIS + AFTRSHOCKS)

THUNDERCAT

BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:30

Post-hardcore from London.

ALISON COTTON

Blues folk from Chicago.

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

STAY IN NOTHING (DYING GIANT + DO YOU LIKE BUTTER)

NU-AGE SOUNDS (KITTI + FERGUS MCCREADIE + HELENA KAY + MATT CARMICHAEL + NOUSHY + EWAN HASTIE + KARMA + CORTO.ALTO)

Rock from the UK. SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

Post-punk from London.

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:30

LACH (DAVID CRONENBURG’S WIFE)

SUMMERHALL, 19:30– 22:30

Fri 15 Mar

Sat 23 Mar

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:30

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–22:30

BULLETBOYS

WHITE TYGER (WHITE SKIES)

Anti-folk from New York.

Indie from Nottingham.

WILLE & THE BANDITS

RODDY WOOMBLE

Rock from the UK.

Indie rock from Scotland.

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Hard rock from LA.

CHARLOTTE CARPENTER (CORTNE + MATCH REPORT)

Fri 08 Mar THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–22:30

SEA GIRLS

Alt pop from Scotland.

COLOURING

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

WUKASA

USHER HALL, 19:00– 22:30

Singer-songwriter from East Midlands.

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Rock from Birmingham.

THE DUALERS

USHER HALL, 19:00– 22:30

Ska and reggae from London.

OZRIC TENTACLES

SUMMERHALL, 19:00– 22:30

BDRMM

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00

Shoegaze from the UK.

Sat 16 Mar

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00

SUMMERHALL, 19:30– 22:30

Sun 24 Mar

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–22:30

Alt indie.

PREVENTIONFEST: DAL RIATA + HAMMER + DANIEL WAX OFF + MELTED MESSIAH

SAM LEE

Eclectic lineup.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

Folk from the UK.

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

MUSTBEJOHN (FINN FM)

AMATEUR CULT (DRAGGED UP + SAMWOODDOOW MAS)

Hip-house from Hertfordshire.

MOYA BRENNAN

SUMMERHALL, 19:00– 22:30

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–22:30

HOLLY HUMBERSTONE

Mon 18 Mar

Post-punk from Scotland.

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–22:30

Folk from Ireland.

Indie Pop from the UK.

IVY GOLD (THE DEVILS FORFEIT)

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00

Blues rock from Munich.

THE BLOCKHEADS

Punk and ska.

Sat 09 Mar

SIX YEAR SILENCE (HOLYRUDE VAULT)

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

THE NUMBER 9’S (THE OTHER SIDE) BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Post-punk from Edinburgh.

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

THE LONGEST JOHNS

THE STRANGLERS

Folk from Bristol.

Hard rock from the UK.

SUMMERHALL, 19:00– 22:30

USHER HALL, 18:30– 22:30

Tue 19 Mar

REBECCA VASMANT LIVE ENSEMBLE

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Punk from the UK.

SUMMERHALL, 19:00– 22:30

Producer from Glasgow.

LAURENT

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

Singer-songwriter from Edinburgh.

HARRY MILES WATSON (DOLL BOY + GIANT HOGWEED) WEE RED BAR, 19:00– 22:00

Jazz fusion, post-punk, indie rock.

THROES (HELPLESS)

Indie from Idaho.

RHODES

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00

Acoustic.

Prog rock from the UK. THE KATSUNS

Indie rock.

MASTIFF (IRON ALTAR + TYMVOS) BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Hardcore from Kingstonupon-Hull.

Mon 25 Mar TELES

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Rock from the UK. CREEPER

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00

Goth.

Tue 26 Mar

THE WANDERING HEARTS (PEARL CHARLES)

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–22:30

Folk americana from the UK.

Wed 27 Mar

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN USHER HALL, 19:00– 22:30

Alt rock from East Kilbride.

Thu 28 Mar EXTC

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:30

Rock from Swindon.

Wed 20 Mar

WILLIAM DOYLE

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Art pop from Bournemouth.

LIVID (EDENBANK)

Hardcore from Wisconsin.

GIPSY KINGS FT. NICOLAS REYES

USHER HALL, 19:00– 22:30

Rumba and salsa from France.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

Fri 29 Mar

THE BLUETONES

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:30

Brit pop from the UK.

March 2024 — Listings

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

Sun 24 Mar

Sat 23 Mar

JERSEY

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:30

JOHN BRAMWELL & THE FULL HARMONIC TRIO

HAPPY MONDAYS

Grime from the UK.

Indie from Scotland.

Tue 19 Mar

SCOTTISH GABBER PUNK (EVILLE)

Hardcore punk from Edinburgh.

BEN OTTEWELL + IAN BALL

R’n’B from the US.

Punk from the US.

SWG3, 19:00–22:30

Pop from Denmark.

THE OVO HYDRO, 18:30–22:30

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00

Thu 21 Mar

DRYGATE BREWING CO., 19:00–22:30

NE-YO (MARIO)

CROWBAR

Alt hip-hop from New York.

EMPEROR

KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Alt R’n’B from London.

DRYGATE BREWING CO., 19:00–22:30

Surf rock from Australia.

MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00

MIKE

JA RULE (KERI HILSON + LLOYD + MYA)

Rock from New Jersey.

GEORGE RILEY

Experimental pop.

Folk from Ireland.

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:30

Tue 27 Feb

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:30

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

Edinburgh Music

ALMOST NOTHING

ST LUKE’S, 19:00–22:30

Mon 18 Mar

Emo from New York.

Rock from Liverpool.

MOYA BRENNAN

Rap from the US.

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:30

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:30

THE TERRYS

THE OVO HYDRO, 18:30–22:30

DEL PAXTON (FROG COSTUME)

ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN

THE SKINNY

ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:30

Garage rock from Tokyo.

GERARD LOVE & BAND (BIG LANES) WEE RED BAR, 19:00– 22:30

Sat 30 Mar

Bass and garage.

Folk from Scotland, Ireland and England.

VINCULAR

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00

Trad.

Sun 31 Mar

CAVE WAVE: SCALER + PVA + EYES OF OTHERS

THE CAVES, 19:00–22:30

Eclectic lineup.

SIMON & OSCAR ‘ALBUM LAUNCH SHOW’

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–22:30

Rock from the UK.

Dundee Music Sat 02 Mar TRAIL WEST

CHURCH, 19:00–22:30

Trad from Scotland.

Thu 07 Mar BDRMM

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 19:00–22:30

Shoegaze from the UK.

Sat 09 Mar

THE GUILLOTINES (DOG EARED + THE OVERBITES + AFTRSHOCKS)

CHURCH, 19:00–22:30

Punk rock from Glasgow.

Sun 10 Mar TOM MEIGHAN

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 19:00–22:30

Rock from the UK.

Sat 16 Mar

ANTI NOWHERE LEAGUE

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 19:00–22:30

Punk rock from the UK.

Thu 21 Mar

BAD BOY CHILLER CREW DUCK SLATTERY’S, 19:00–22:30

Rap from Bradford.

SPIKE (THE QUIREBOYS)

March 2024 — Listings

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 19:00–22:30

Rock from London.

Glasgow Clubs Thu 01 Feb

REDSTONE PRESS AT EXIT: SAMH FUNDRAISER

EXIT GLASGOW, 23:00– 03:00

Techno and bass.

Sat 02 Mar COLOURS: 29TH BIRTHDAY

SWG3, 23:00–03:00

Trance and house.

STEREO BAR: NXSA

STEREO, 22:00–02:00

House, bass and ballroom.

LOST HARMONY

STEREO, 23:00–03:00

House.

Sun 03 Mar

KEEP ON WITH OOFT! & DAVID BARBAROSSA LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

House and disco.

Wed 06 Mar

NEON WALTZ (CLOAKS + FORGETTING THE FUTURE) KING TUT’S, 19:30– 22:30

Psychedelic indie rock.

Thu 07 Mar

FRENCH TOUCH PRESENTS: ROS T

SUB CLUB, 23:00–04:00

Techno and house.

BREATHE PRESENTS: ISAAC CARTER

KEEP ON WITH GUEST S/A/M (CAFE DEL MAR IBIZA)

SWG3, 21:00–03:00

Hard techno.

JOY ENERGIZER

SWG3, 23:00–03:00

House and disco.

STEREO IWD SPECIAL: ANNA MORGAN (ISO YSO + EFFUA + PURE G1RL) STEREO, 23:00–03:00

Jungle, bass and footwork.

STEREO IWD SPECIAL: BAR OPEN DECKS TAKEOVER BY FLOS COLLECTIVE STEREO, 22:00–03:00

Disco and house.

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

I LOVE ACID

Techno and acid.

Techno and club.

EXIT GLASGOW, 23:00– 03:00

SWG3, 23:00–03:00

Sat 09 Mar

ATRIP

SWG3, 22:30–03:00

Electronica.

SOUND: 1ST BIRTHDAY SESSION (JAMES HOMETOWN, WENDS, T-O-D, IZIT?)

FANTASM

Hard techno.

PADDY’S AFTERS: CÉLESTE + KNEES UP + SWATT TEAM + ROBBIE + BENNY LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

Techno and house.

ST PATRICKS NIGHT WITH CONDUCTA

SUB CLUB, 23:00–04:00

House and garage.

Thu 21 Mar

Wed 13 Mar

SUB CLUB, 23:00–04:00

Disco and Balearic.

FEMMEDM 1ST BDAY LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

Garage and EBM.

Thu 14 Mar

VENØM PRESENTS: ARM & HAMMER, RENY, KIEF AND NERVE DAMAGE NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:00–03:00

PERCOLATE PRESENT: PROSPA

House and rave.

THUDLINE

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00

breakbeat and bass.

ACCOUNT__ UNAVAILABLE

Experimental.

Fri 22 Mar

STEREO PRESENTS: L-VIS 1990

Bass and percussive.

NEAR FIELD X THE FLYING DUCK: OJOO GYAL + MOTHER B2B NATALIE + CONOR THOMAS

Dancehall, dub and grime.

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

Techno.

HANG TOUGH + HIJACK PRESENT: PAPA NUGS B2B DJ SWEET6TEEN

House and club.

PARALLEL VISIONS LABEL LAUNCH WITH FRAZI.ER + PARALLX

UK garage and breaks.

STEREO BAR: MISS CABBAGE

STEREO, 22:00–02:00

Trance and ambient.

SOUL FEEDER (GMAAIL + T0NI (LIVE) + HEARTC0REGIRL (LIVE) + USER2222 + DJ GHEPARD + BLOOD OF AZA) STEREO, 21:00–03:00

Techno, hard dance and hardcore.

VOCAL OR VERSION THE RUM SHACK, 20:00–03:00

Psychedelic indie rock.

Fri 08 Mar

Sun 17 Mar

Sat 30 Mar

MEMBRANE: I-SHA AND DAKSH

PULSE

OVERGROUND

SHLEEKIT DOSS: PROC FISKAL, SHIP SKET SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

STEREO, 23:00–03:00

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

Techno and hardcore.

Fri 01 Mar MJÖLK

WEE RED BAR, 23:00– 03:00

Indie.

Wed 27 Mar

FUSION PRESENTS: CIRCO

Deep house and disco.

Pop.

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

Techno.

Sat 02 Mar

LUCKY DIP: ASA NISI MASA, XIVRO, ZO3 SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

Breakcore from Dublin.

Thu 21 Mar

Sat 09 Mar

Goth and darkwave.

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

WEE RED BAR, 23:00– 03:00

SUMMERTIME SADNESS CLUB

BALKANARAMA SPRING FLING

Pop.

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

Balkan.

BANGER AFTER BANGER THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

Drum ‘n’ bass and jungle.

Mon 11 Mar

SWEATBOX: TEXYO, LEAHGTE, CLO, OBROTHER

NINE LIVES DISCOTRON

WEE RED BAR, 23:00– 03:00

STEREO BAR: DIJA

Disco and funk.

STEREO, 22:00–02:00

Bass and club.

DISTORTED

CHURCH, 23:00–03:00

Alt and rock.

DISCO LOVE AFFAIR KINGS, 23:00–03:00

Disco.

Fri 08 Mar

REGGAE GOT SOUL KINGS, 23:00–03:00

Reggae.

CALL ME MAYBE 2010S PARTY

CHURCH, 23:00–03:00

Pop.

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

Techno.

DILF

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

Dance and disco.

Sat 23 Mar ATHENS OF THE NORTH SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

Disco.

BACK TO THE 80S LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

80s pop.

KICKSTART MY HEART LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00

80s metal and power ballads.

DISORDER PRESENTS: DILLINJA THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–04:00

Drum ‘n’ bass and jungle.

— 74 —

Emo and punk.

Sat 09 Mar

House.

ETERNAL // ALL VINYL SPECIAL

Wed 13 Mar

CHURCH, 22:30–03:00

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

House and techno.

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

UK garage.

Bass and sound system.

MEANWHILE: NOODLE + PRIVET

SATSUMA SOUNDS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

STEREO, 23:00–03:00

Fri 22 Mar

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

HEADSET LABEL PARTY

Rock ‘n’ roll and soul.

Fri 01 Mar

Dub and drum and bass.

Fri 15 Mar

THE RUM SHACK, 21:00–03:00

Dundee Clubs

ASCENSION

WEE RED BAR, 23:00– 03:00

House from London.

ANNA AND HOLLY’S DANCE PARTY

Techno.

Sat 02 Mar

UK techno.

Disco from Paris.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

Techno.

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

BOTANICA

MANGO LOUNGE: DUSKUS

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00

House and New Wave.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

Thu 14 Mar

THE HAMMER HITS

SIGNAL X UNKNOWN UNTITLED: SECRET SPECIAL GUEST

EZSTREET PRESENTS TJADE + SOPHIA VIOLET + SWEENEY

WE ARE STILL YOUNG

Breaks.

Breakbeat, garage, electro, techno and jungle.

Techno from Bristol.

WEE RED BAR, 23:00– 03:00

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

STEREO, 23:00–03:00

MILE HIGH CLUB: SMIFF B2B YUNG KIDD

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

WAVELENGTH

INKOHERENT UPSTAIRS VII

Club.

Techno.

Donk.

SIM0NE (INEZ + JENN GUNN)

Footwork, juke and bass.

VIVID X ELATION

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

STEREO, 22:00–03:00

House and acid.

Techno and hardcore.

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

Wed 28 Feb

HAND-MADE WITH LOVE: PITAYA SOUNDSYSTEM + EVIE

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00

Trance.

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

Wed 20 Mar

WEE RED BAR, 23:00– 03:00

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

RUSH 6TH BIRTHDAY WITH FABIO MONESI

INKOHERENT

Reggae.

K-pop.

RHINESTONE RODEO

Thu 28 Mar

TRANCEPARENCY

Deep house and disco.

Groovers.

STEREO BAR: VAJ. POWER

Techno.

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

REGGAETON PARTY

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

Bass from Italy.

Garage and breaks.

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

CLUB_NACHT

UK techno.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

Thu 29 Feb

FRENETIK

House from Paris.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

PALIDRONE 6TH BIRTHDAY: EHUA

Sat 23 Mar

House and techno.

Pop punk.

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

THE RUM SHACK, 21:00–03:00

SHYTE TRAX: ST. PATRICK'S DAY SNAKEBEAT SHINDIG (BLEEN + C FRAME + DEVVO + ZER0KELV1N)

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

TELFORT’S GOOD PLACE: DVDE

K-POP PARTY

WHIPPED CREAM

Reggaeton and baile funk.

NEON WALTZ

Fri 29 Mar

DECADE

Club.

Techno.

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

STEREO, 22:00–02:00

Pop and Broadway.

Bollywood.

ANDROMEDA

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

STEREO BAR: INDIGO

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

Psytrance.

House and garage.

Trance.

THE MUSICALS PARTY

LA BELLE ANGELE, 15:00–22:00

BOLLYNIGHTS

Mon 18 Mar

KEEP ON WITH GLOSS

SWG3, 22:00–03:00

Dub and reggae.

80s and New Wave.

Queer house.

DBT

Edinburgh Clubs

SO FETCH - 00’S PARTY

SOME BUZZ FT. DAVID RUST

WEE RED BAR, 22:00– 03:00

Techno.

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

DEEP JUNGLE WALK (PLANET SAM + METATRON)

Sun 24 Mar

Sat 16 Mar

HEARTY SQUIRREL

Experimental club from Manchester.

SHOOT YOUR SHOT: BORED LORD B2B INTROSPEKT

House from China.

FULL FRONTAL: MAIRI ‘B’ POTS & JORDY JOANS

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00

Dance and disco.

Thu 07 Mar

Techno from Leeds.

Thu 28 Mar

CLUB CULTURE PRESENTS - FAT TONY

Techno, hard dance and hardcore.

EPIKA: NIAMH

THE MIRROR DANCE: YU SU

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

SUB CLUB, 23:00–04:00

Techno and trance.

Sat 16 Mar

WEE RED BAR, 23:00– 03:00

STEREO, 19:00–22:30

Tech from Belfast/Estonia.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

Techno from London.

HEAVY FLOW

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

Techno and experimental.

SWG3, 23:00–03:00

SOUL FEEDER

ANDROMEDA: ABDUL RAEVA B2B HOLLY LESTER

Wed 27 Mar

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

BETAMAX

House.

Mon 25 Mar

PARABELLVM

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

House and garage.

HAPTIC: LUXE

House.

SWG3, 23:00–03:00

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

PHLOX

Fri 15 Mar

HIJACK PRESENTS: PARAMIDA

Techno.

SUPERSTAR FISHBAR

Wed 06 Mar

Mon 26 Feb

UNWIND X AFTER DARK

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

Pop.

Techno and house.

DAIRE

SWG3, 23:00–03:00

UNTITLED

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00

Reggae and ska.

EXIT GLASGOW, 23:00– 03:00

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00

SWIFTOGEDDON

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:00–03:00

Techno and gabber.

Fri 08 Mar BLACKWORKS: GLASGOW

Sun 17 Mar

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

MISSING PERSONS CLUB: SUNIL SHARPE + DJ SMOKER + LOVEJOY

Deep house.

Fri 01 Mar

Techno and experimental.

Sun 10 Mar

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00

EASTERN MARGINS X KAVARI

STEREO, 23:00–03:00

Techno and house.

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

RED MUSEUM (DJ JM + INGRATE + BOOSTERHOOCH + AKUMU)

EXIT GLASGOW, 23:00– 03:00

RARE CLUB (CONFIDENCE MAN) DJS

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00

SWG3, 23:00–03:00

JOSH CAFFÉ

STEREO, 23:00–03:00

Wed 28 Feb

Techno.

Acid and ballroom.

Techno.

Techno and house.

DEBORAH DE LUCA

CLUB UPRISING

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:00–03:00

House and disco.

Tropical and techno.

Sat 30 Mar

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00

Club and dance.

EXIT GLASGOW, 23:00– 03:00

Breakbeat and techno.

OPTIMO (ESPACIO)

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00

Techno.

A.D.S.R

Acid and Italo disco.

WE ARE STILL YOUNG: THE CLUB NIGHT

SAMEDIA SHEBEEN W/ TOYA DELAZY (LIVE) + DJ MANGO PARK (BAILE LDN)

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00

Techno and experimental.

Breakbeat and techno.

CÉLESTE WITH DJ SUZIE + VERVE

DAVID VUNK (MOUSTACHE RECORDS) & BONZAI BONNER (SHOOT YOUR SHOT)

RED MUSEUM (DJ JM + INGRATE + BOOSTERHOOCH + AKUMU)

A.D.S.R PRESENTS 7XINS

Grime and club.

SUB CLUB, 23:00–04:00

LOVECYCLE WITH STEVIE COX & DANSE ATMOS

STEREO, 23:00–03:00

SWG3, 23:00–03:00

House.

Indie.

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:30

MARK BLAIR

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00

MAGIC CITY PRESENTS: P-RALLEL

MICHAEL MCGOLDRICK, JOHN MCCUSKER & JOHN DOYLE

Fri 29 Mar

LA CHEETAH CLUB PRESENTS...PEACH + WARDY & DOM D’SYLVA

SWIFTOGGEDON

Pop.

KARAWANE: AFRO LATIN TROPICAL WORLD

KINGS, 23:00–03:00

Afrobeat and kuduro.

Fri 15 Mar

RHINESTONE RODEO CHURCH, 23:00–03:00

Club.

Sat 16 Mar

INDIE DISCOTEQUE

CHURCH, 23:00–03:00

Indie.

DEE BOOGS + RONAN BAXTER KINGS, 23:00–03:00

House and disco.

Fri 29 Mar FELT

KINGS, 23:00–03:00

New Wave and post-punk.

Glasgow Comedy

THE SKINNY

Glasgow Comedy

Regular Glasgow club nights The Rum Shack

SATURDAYS (THIRD OF THE MONTH) MOJO WORKIN’

Soul party feat. 60s R&B, motown, northern soul and more!

SATURDAYS (SECOND OF THE MONTH) LOOSEN UP

Afro, disco and funtimes with three of the best record collections in Glasgow and beyond.

Sub Club SATURDAYS SUBCULTURE

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic, oft' joined by a carousel of super fresh guests.

FRIDAYS (SECOND OF THE MONTH) RETURN TO MONO

SLAM’s monthly Subbie residency sees them joined by some of the biggest names in international techno.

Cathouse

THURSDAYS UNHOLY

Cathouse's Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

FRIDAYS

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.

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

THURSDAYS ELEMENT

Ross MacMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey.

FRIDAYS

FRESH BEAT

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.

CATHOUSE WEDNESDAYS

DJ Jonny soundtracks your Wednesday with all the best pop-punk, rock and Hip-hop.

FRIDAYS FLY CLUB

Edinburgh and Glasgowstraddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

SATURDAYS PLEASURE

Regular Saturday night at Cab Vol, with residents and occasional special guests.

The Bongo Club TUESDAYS

MIDNIGHT BASS, 23:00

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)

Sound system and crew, part of a music and art collective specialising in BASS music.

FRIDAYS (MONTHLY, WEEK CHANGES) SOUND SYSTEM LEGACIES, 23.00

Exploring the legacy of dub, reggae and roots music and sound system culture in the contemporary club landscape.

FRIDAYS (EVERY OTHER MONTH)

DISCO MAKOSSA, 23.00

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, 23.00

A safe space to appreciate all things rave, jungle, breakbeat and techno.

HEADSET, 23.00

Skillis and guests playing garage, techno, house and bass downstairs, with old school hip hop upstairs.

SATURDAYS (FIRST OR SECOND OF THE MONTH) MESSENGER, 23.00

Roots reggae rocking since 1987 – foundation tune, fresh dubs, vibes alive, rockers, steppers, rub-a-dub.

SATURDAYS (MONTHLY)

MUMBO JUMBO, 23.00

Everything from disco, funk and soul to electro and house: Saturday night party music all night long.

SATURDAYS (MONTHLY)

SOULSVILLE INTERNATIONAL, 23.00

International soulful sounds.

SATURDAYS (EVERY OTHER MONTH) PULSE, 23.00

Techno night started in 2009 hosting regular special guests from the international scene.

Sneaky Pete’s MONDAYS

MORRISON STREET/STAND B-SIDE/CHAOS IN THE COSMOS/TAIS-TOI

House and techno dunts from some of Edinburgh's best young teams.

TUESDAYS RARE

Weekly house and techno with rising local DJs and hot special guests.

THURSDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH) VOLENS CHORUS

Resident DJs with an eclectic, global outlook

FRIDAYS (SECOND OF THE MONTH) HOT MESS

A night for queer people and their friends.

A heart-stopping, glassesdropping, hard-rocking, wig-shaking, levothyroxinetaking, knee-knocking, boot-licking, justifying, teeth rattling, digressing new show MAISIE ADAM

13 MAR, 7:00PM – 9:00PM

A new work in progress show.

CRAIG HILL: THIS GETS HARDER EVERY YEAR! 15-16 MAR, 7:30PM – 9:00PM

Cheeky and irreverent, Scotland's much-loved kilty pleasure unleashes his fantastic new show.

ZARA GLADMAN AND FRIENDS 26-28 MAR, 7:00PM – 9:00PM

Comedian Zara Gladman and her alter-egos present an evening of silliness and song.

After a hugely successful Edinburgh Fringe, James is fast becoming one of Scotland's most exciting new comedians.

ELEANOR MORTON: HAUNTED HOUSE (WIP)

SATURDAYS (LAST OF THE MONTH) SOUL JAM

Monthly no-holds-barred, down-and-dirty disco.

SUNDAYS POSTAL

Weekly Sunday session showcasing the very best of heavy-hitting local talent with some extra special guests.

The Liquid Room

SATURDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH) REWIND

Monthly party night celebrating the best in soul, disco, rock and pop with music from the 70s, 80s, 90s and current bangers.

The Hive 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.

26 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

SUNDAYS

SECRET SUNDAY

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/handle on a Sunday.

Subway Cowgate

A new show exploring all things spooky.

ALASDAIR BECKETTKING 29 MAR, 5:30PM – 7:30PM

Multi award-winning standup Alasdair Beckett-King unravels life's shallowest mysteries.

MONDAYS 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 TWISTA

Banger after banger all night long.

KIM BLYTHE: MIGHT AS WELL 30 MAR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM

Embracing her innate comedic flair, Kim Blythe ventures into the world of stand-up comedy in this debut hour.

The Glee Club

BBC ASIAN NETWORK COMEDY 2024 29 FEB, 7:00PM – 10:00PM

THURSDAYS FLIRTY

Pop, cheese and chart.

FRIDAYS

FIT FRIDAYS

Chart-topping tunes perfect for an irresistible sing and dance-along.

SATURDAYS

SLICE SATURDAY

The drinks are easy and the pop is heavy.

SUNDAYS

Join us for a night of nonstop laugh out loud performances from some of BBC Asian Network's favourite stand-up comedians/ RICHARD BLACKWOOD: LIVE 24 MAR, TIMES VARY

Richard Blackwood brings his jam packed hour of pure heavyweight punchlines and anecdotes.

SUNDAY SERVICE

Atone for the week before and the week ahead with non-stop dancing.

The Mash House TUESDAYS MOVEMENT

House, techno, drum ‘n’ bass and garage.

SATURDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH) 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.

— 75 —

17 MAR, 6:30PM – 9:30PM

Scotland's premier comedy-music podcast Enjoy An Album with Christopher Macarthur-Boyd and Liam Withnail comes to the Glasgow International Comedy Festival.

ROSIE JONES: TRIPLE THREAT 27 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM

Join Rosie as she ponders whether she is a national treasure, a little prick, or somewhere in between.

DANIEL FOXX: VILLAIN 28 MAR, 7:30PM – 9:00PM

What's a little evil amongst friends? Fresh from a complete sell-out extended run at the Edinburgh Fringe, award-winning gossip and TikTok starlet Daniel Foxx delivers a sensational show about childhood, Tilda Swinton and bullying (but in a chic way).

CHRISSY: DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK 31 MAR, 7:00PM – 9:30PM

Come and join Chrissy for a night of uproarious laughter and fun as he weaves his unique dark tales of mischief, mayhem and hilarity.

The King’s Theatre

STEWART LEE: BASIC LEE 17 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Back to basics with one of the UK’s most beloved comedians.

KIERAN HODGSON: BIG IN SCOTLAND 29 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Kieran Hodgson moved to Scotland. Now he’s travelling around the stilljust-about United Kingdom to tell you how it’s working out, for him and for the Scots.

MARK NELSON: ALL THE BEST

22 MAR, 7:30PM-10:30PM

Mark Nelson heads out on his first ever national tour.

SUSIE MCCABE: THE MERCHANT OF MENACE

15-16 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Brand new stand-up after a successful Edinburgh Fringe run from one of Scotland’s most beloved comedians.

ED GAMBLE: HOT DIGGITY DOG 24 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Ed Gamble has minced a load of meat (thoughts), piped it into a casing (show) and it's coming to a bun (venue) near you.

The Old Hairdressers HAROLD NIGHT

5 MAR, 7:00PM – 9:00PM

Come see two Glasgow Improv Theatre house teams performing the improv format The Harold.

YER DA WANTS A WORD 19 MAR, 7:00PM – 9:00PM

A monthly show from friendly neighbourhood improv team Yer Da.

AURIE STYLA: THE AURATOR TOUR

2 MAR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM

Join Aurie as he talks about this wild world, and his journey to make sense of it.

COUCH SURF

MARJOLEIN ROBERTSON: MARJ

A night of improv comedy from Couch and special guests who are crashing for the night.

After a successful sold-out Edinburgh Fringe run, Marjolein brings an hour of surreal stand-up, a Shetland folktale and blah blah blah.

26 MAR, 7:00PM – 9:00PM

GIT IMPROV CAGE MATCH 26 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

Two improv teams battle to be crowned champions of the Glasgow Improv Theatre this month. You decide who wins!

The Stand Glasgow

SPONTANEOUS POTTER: THE UNOFFICIAL IMPROVISED PARODY 10 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

An entirely improvised Harry Potter comedy play, based on an audience suggestion of a fanfiction title.

ST PATRICK’S DAY SPECIAL 17 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

Celebrate St Patrick’s Day in style with Ireland’s finest under one roof.

SUSAN RIDDELL: WONDER WOMAN 31 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

Join Susan Riddell as she performs a mix of stand-up and filmed sketches tackling hard-hitting topics like Turkey teeth and air fryers.

JOSIE LONG: A WORK IN PROGRESS ABOUT GIANT EXTINCT ANIMALS 29 MAR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM

Silly, informal shows where Josie tries out new ideas.

SCREEN TIME

4 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

A new multimedia comedy night hosted by Feaghas Kelly.

NABIL ABDULRASHID: THE PURPLE PILL 28 FEB, 8:30PM – 9:30PM

Join the star of Live at the Apollo for this unapologetically funny exploration of empathy, morality and political contradiction.

CHRIS KENT: BACK AT IT 26 FEB, 8:30PM – 9:30PM

Cork man Chris Kent returns with his brand new show Back At It.

MELANIE BRACEWELL: FORGET ME NOT

3 MAR, 4:20PM – 6:00PM

Melanie hits the UK shores for the first time with her critically acclaimed show about desperately trying to be remembered, love, and eggs.

26 MAR, 7:00PM-9:00PM

JOE WELLS: KING OF THE AUTISTICS 13 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

Two years ago, Joe Wells decided he should be ‘King of The Autistics’ and it all went horribly wrong.

JOSH PUGH: EXISTIN’ LA VIDA LOCA

15 MAR, 8:00PM-10:00PM

Josh returns following a sell-out debut UK and Ireland tour with a show about enjoying yourself and doing your best.

KARL SPAIN: WELL, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?

23 MAR, 8:00PM-10:00PM

Karl Spain has long been established as one of Ireland's most popular comedians.

STEPHEN BAILEY: CRASS 27 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM

Star of BBC's Live at the Apollo & Would I Lie To You? Stephen proves why he's much more than a crass act.

JESSICA FOSTEKEW: METTLE

6 MAR, 8:00PM-10:00PM

Award-winning comedian Jessica Fostekew brings her brand new show to Monkey Barrel Comedy Club.

PHIL ELLIS’ EXCELLENT COMEDY SHOW 9 MAR, 4:00PM-6:00PM

One of the top 20 bestreviewed shows of The Fringe, this is an hour of hilarious stand-up and fun from the North West's most punctual working-class comedian.

SAM CAMPBELL: WOBSERVATIONS

11 MAR, 8:30PM-10:30PM

As seen on Taskmaster, Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Sam Campbell tours his absurd new show.

VITTORIO ANGELONE: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM! 14 MAR, TIMES VARY

Following his awardnominated debut, his new show looks inward to find out who exactly he thinks he is.

PAUL CURRIE: SHTOOM

15 MAR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM

For the first time, veteran comedian Paul Currie will not speak for 60 minutes and still bring all the laughs.

March 2024 — Listings

ELECTRIKAL, 23.00

FRIDAYS (FIRST OR LAST OF THE MONTH)

2 MAR, 7:00PM – 9:00PM

28 MAR, 9:00PM – 11:00PM

Regular Edinburgh club nights Cabaret Voltaire

JOHN KEARNS

JAMES GARDNER: SQUARE GLASGOW

DJ Garry Garry Garry in G2 with chart remixes, along with beer pong competitions all night.

WEDNESDAYS

Oran Mor

ENJOY AN ALBUM

THE SKINNY

STEPHEN HALKETT: SAVE THE PLANET KIDS SHOW

NEIL DELAMERE: NEIL

BY MOUTH

A fun filled interactive show on how to save our beautiful planet.

Catch the usual hilarious tall tales, razor sharp observations and quickwitted improvisations.

16 MAR, 2:00PM – 4:00PM

RACHEL JACKSON: AMERICAN HORROR STORY (WORK IN PROGRESS)

16 MAR, 8:00PM-10:00PM

Rachel discusses what it was like to lose her mind in America.

MARC JENNINGS: MARC-IN-PROGRESS (WIP)

16-20 MAR, TIMES VARY

Some Laugh podcast host Marc Jennings returns to the Stand to work on his new stand-up hour.

ROSCO MCCLELLAND: SING SING DEATH HOUSE 17 MAR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM

See the hideous formation of clay (jokes) before it is sculpted into a tolerable work of art (it’ll be good anyway).

MONDAY NIGHT IMPROV: GLASGOW COMEDY FESTIVAL SPECIAL 18 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

Award winning comedians bring you a night of improvised comedy madness based entirely on your suggestions.

ADAM FLOOD: REMOULDED

20 MAR, 7:00PM – 9:00PM

16 MAR, 6:00PM – 7:00PM

Following a hugely successful Fringe run, Adam Flood returns to Monkey Barrel Comedy Club with his critically acclaimed show.

THE THINKING DRINKERS PUB QUIZ: FANCY ANOTHER ROUND?

CAROLINE RHEA: I IDENTIFY AS A WITCH 21 MAR, 8:00PM – 9:50PM

22 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM

Canadian actress and comedian Caroline Rhea returns to Scotland with a show filled with comedy, improv and star-studded Hollywood tales.

A comedy quiz and illuminating tasting, you'll laugh a lot, learn loads and enjoy five first-class drinks.

MR FIBBERS: ON THE PLECTRUM KIDS SHOW! 23 MAR, 2:00PM – 4:00PM

Mr Fibbers and his guitar are back, and he's here to encourage all the minions out there to embrace their wonderful brains.

SOUP GROUP: ART SHOW! KIDS SHOW! 24 MAR, 2:00PM – 4:00PM

Visual jokes and messing about from this absurd duo.

Surrealism, clowning and fun for the whole family.

JAMIE MACDONALD: TOXIC BASTARD (WIP) 24 MAR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM

As seen on Have I Got News For You, QI, and Celebrity Mastermind.

ALEX KEALY: THE FEAR (WORK IN PROGRESS)

MATT REED’S HA HARMAGEDDON

LIAM WITHNAIL: CHRONIC BOOM

After three sold out shows for haharmageddon in Newcastle 'master of crowdwork' brings his hit show to the Glasgow Comedy Festival.

A show about how we adapt when life throws a curveball.

24 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

SAM LAKE: ESMÉRALDA (WIP) 25 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

Sam Lake presents a new show about living up to expectations, grief and embracing your heritage.

EPILEPSY SCOTLAND’S PATTER MERCHANTS COMEDY CLASH 28 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM

With three brilliant comedians to have you in stitches, it promises to be a night to remember.

29 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM

RAYMOND MEARNS HAD A STROKE OF LUCK 30 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM

On the first day of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Raymond had a stroke. But he’s better now and is back to tell you all about it.

VLADIMIR MCTAVISH: THE END OF THE BEGINNING OF THE END 31 MAR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM

One of the finest acts on the Scottish comedy circuit presents another hour-long sideways look at the problems facing the world.

Edinburgh Comedy Regular Glasgow comedy nights Drygate Brewing Co.

FIRST AND THIRD TUESDAY OF THE MONTH DRYGATE COMEDY LAB, 19:00

A new material comedy night hosted by Chris Thorburn.

The Stand Glasgow

FIRST MONDAY OF THE MONTH

TUESDAYS

RED RAW, 20:30

Legendary new material night with up to eight acts.

FRIDAYS

THE FRIDAY SHOW, 20:30

The big weekend show with four comedians.

SATURDAYS

THE SATURDAY SHOW, 20:30

The big weekend show with four comedians.

MONDAY NIGHT IMPROV, 20:30

The Glee Club FRIDAYS

FRIDAY NIGHT COMEDY, 19:00

The perfect way to end the working week, with four superb stand-up comedians.

SATURDAYS

SATURDAY NIGHT COMEDY, 19:00

An evening of awardwinning comedy, with four superb stand-up comedians that will keep you laughing until Monday.

March 2024 — Listings

Regular Edinburgh comedy nights MONDAYS

RED RAW, 20:30

Legendary new material night with up to 8 acts.

TUESDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH) STU & GARRY’S IMPROV SHOW, 20:30

The Stand’s very own Stu & Garry’s make comedy cold from suggestions.

THURSDAYS

THE BEST OF SCOTTISH COMEDY, 20:30

Simply the best comics on the contemporary Scottish circuit.

FRIDAYS

THE FRIDAY SHOW, 21

The big weekend show :00with four comedians.

SATURDAYS

THE SATURDAY SHOW (THE EARLY SHOW), 17:00

A slightly earlier performance of the big weekend show with four comedians.

LARRY DEAN: WORK IN PROGRESS

4 MAR, 8:00PM – 9:00PM

A brand new work in progress show from three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee.

JESSICA FOSTEKEW: METTLE

4 MAR, 8:00PM-10:00PM

Award-winning comedian Jessica Fostekew brings her brand new show to Monkey Barrel Comedy Club.

PHIL ELLIS’ EXCELLENT COMEDY SHOW

2 MAR, 8:00PM-10:00PM

Host Billy Kirkwood and guests act entirely on your suggestions.

The Stand Edinburgh

Monkey Barrel Comedy Club

SATURDAYS

THE SATURDAY SHOW, 20:30

The big weekend show with four comedians.

Monkey Barrel SECOND AND THIRD TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH

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.

FRIDAYS

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY'S BIG FRIDAY SHOW, 19:00/21:00

Monkey Barrel's flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

FRIDAYS

DATING CRAPP, 22:00

Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, Farmers Only...Come and laugh as some of Scotland's best improvisers join forces to perform based off two audience members dating profiles.

SATURDAYS

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY'S BIG SATURDAY SHOW, 17:00/19:00/21:00

Monkey Barrel's flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

SUNDAYS

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY'S BIG SUNDAY SHOW, 19:00/21:00

Monkey Barrel's flagship night of premier stand-up comedy.

One of the top 20 bestreviewed shows of The Fringe, this is an hour of hilarious stand-up and fun from the North West's most punctual working-class comedian.

SAM CAMPBELL: WOBSERVATIONS

6 MAR, 8:00PM-9:00PM

As seen on Taskmaster, Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Sam Campbell tours his absurd new show.

VITTORIO ANGELONE: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM!

11 MAR, 8:00PM-10:00PM

Following his awardnominated debut, his new show looks inward to find out who exactly he thinks he is.

TAMSYN KELLY: CRYING IN TK MAXX

1 MAR, 8:00PM – 9:00PM

Cornish comedian Tamsyn Kelly’s critically-acclaimed 2023 show.

JAY LAFFERTY: BAHOOKIE (LIVE RECORDING)

23 MAR, 6:00PM – 7:00PM

A work-in-progress comedy show about fear (probably).

MARJOLEIN ROBERTSON: WORK IN PROGRESS 23 MAR, 8:00PM – 9:00PM

A work-in-progress from the Shetland comedian.

A special live taping of Jay Lafferty’s sold-out, smash hit show.

PETER PAN GOES WRONG

Join the star of Live at the Apollo for this unapologetically funny exploration of empathy, morality and political contradiction.

The now classic play of mishaps and mayhem returns to Neverland.

27 FEB, 8:30PM–9:30PM

MELANIE BRACEWELL: FORGET ME NOT

2 MAR, 4:20PM – 6:00PM

Melanie hits the UK shores for the first time with her critically acclaimed show about desperately trying to be remembered, love, and eggs.

AURIE STYLA: THE AURATOR TOUR

3 MAR, 5:00PM – 7:00PM

Join Aurie as he talks about this wild world, and his journey to make sense of it.

MARJOLEIN ROBERTSON: MARJ

6 MAR, 8:30PM-10:30PM

After a successful sold-out Edinburgh Fringe run, Marjolein brings an hour of surreal stand-up, a Shetland folktale and blah blah blah.

RACHEL FAIRBURN: WORK IN PROGRESS

JOE WELLS: KING OF THE AUTISTICS

A new work in progress from the star of Live at the Apollo.

Two years ago, Joe Wells decided he should be ‘King of The Autistics’ and it all went horribly wrong.

24 MAR, 5:00PM – 6:00PM

RICHARD BLACKWOOD: LIVE

24 MAR, 6:00PM-7:00PM

Richard Blackwood brings his jam packed hour of pure heavyweight punchlines and anecdotes.

NICK HELM'S SUPER FUN GOOD TIME SHOW 27 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM

Nick Helm - the man with the golden larynx and greatest living all-round entertainer - is back.

CIARAN BARTLETT: GIANT 30 MAR, 8:00PM – 9:50PM

Bringing his arena-filling set to a venue near you, Giant sees Ciarán tell outrageous stories, sing filthy songs, spin bad yarns, and drop knockout one liners.

The Queen’s Hall BIG FAB COMEDY SHOW 15 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM

Scotland's biggest live comedy experience.

The Stand Edinburgh

BANK HOLIDAY SHOW 31 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

Join The Stand for a mixedbill of four top acts this bank holiday.

SUSAN MORRISON IS HISTORICALLY FUNNY 31 MAR, 5:00PM-7:00PM

Susan takes you through some of Scotland’s seediest, skankiest and scandalous history. And the funniest.

THE EDIT

27 MAR, 8:30PM-10:30PM

A new monthly political material gig. Hosted by Laura Davis and James Nokise.

THE BRIGHT CLUB

28 FEB, 8:30PM–9:30PM

A new crop of comedic academics from Scotland’s universities every month.

SUSIE MCCABE & FRIENDS 13 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM

3 MAR, 8:00PM – 9:45PM

NABIL ABDULRASHID: THE PURPLE PILL

Stand favourite Susie McCabe and some of her favourite comedy chums.

— 76 —

12 MAR, 8:30PM – 10:30PM

JOSH PUGH: EXISTIN’ LA VIDA LOCA

14 MAR, 8:30PM-10:30PM

Josh returns following a sell-out debut UK and Ireland tour with a show about enjoying yourself and doing your best.

MARK NELSON: ALL THE BEST

17 MAR, 8:30PM-10:30PM

Mark Nelson heads out on his first ever national tour.

KARL SPAIN: WELL, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?

24 MAR, 8:30PM-10:30PM

Karl Spain has long been established as one of Ireland's most popular comedians.

STEPHEN BAILEY: CRASS 26 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM

Star of BBC's Live at the Apollo & Would I Lie To You? Stephen proves why he's much more than a crass act.

Glasgow Theatre Oran Mor

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: BREAD & BREAKFAST 26 FEB-2 MAR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM

A B&B in the Highlands has an ordinary day turned upside down when a visitor chokes on his morning toast, in this eventful and farcical play.

The King’s Theatre

THE ADDAMS FAMILY 1-2 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Award-winning musical featuring America’s kookiest family.

AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN THE MUSICAL 5-9 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Jukebox musical based on the hit 1980s film.

Theatre Royal

THE WOMAN IN BLACK 26-30 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

One of theatre’s most chilling plays, this classic Gothic horror has been terrifying audiences for decades.

4-9 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

GO DANCE 2024

27 FEB-2 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

A programme of bite-sized dance pieces presented by companies and schools across Scotland.

BUFFY REVAMPED 17 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

All 144 episodes of Buffy told through the eyes of the person who knows them inside out...Spike.

Tramway

BARROWLAND BALLET: CHUNKY JEWELLERY

9 MAR, TIMES VARY

An alternative love story of friendship unravelling over a year.

AN ACCIDENT / A LIFE 22-23 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Storytelling, film, music, dance, and a car come together to explore the tipping points we cannot escape in this blistering new piece.

Tron Theatre ESCAPED ALONE

26 FEB-9 MAR, TIMES VARY

Four friends’ domestic intimacies are interrupted by flashes of the apocalypse in this stunning Caryl Churchill play.

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS

29 MAR, 7:45PM – 10:30PM

The Tandem Writing Collective stage three play readings.

Edinburgh Theatre Assembly Roxy LA NIÑA BARRO

7-9 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM

A physical theatre interpretation of an anthology of over 20 poems by Spanish writer Marta Massé, examining our relationships to nature and our bodies.

Festival Theatre HAMILTON

1 MAR-27 APR, TIMES VARY

Head to the room where it happens in this global musical sensation.

Royal Lyceum Theatre TWO SISTERS

1-2 MAR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM

Two titular sisters return to a childhood paradise only to discover all the ways they themselves have changed.

BLUE BEARD

12-30 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Theatremaker Emma Rice brings a wondrous edge to this bloody and twisted fairytale.

The Edinburgh Playhouse PETER PAN GOES WRONG

27 FEB-2 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

The now classic play of mishaps and mayhem returns to Neverland.

BILL BAILEY: THOUGHTIFIER

11 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM

Curiousity and meandering thoughts come together in this new stand-up hour by the UK’s beloved comedian.

ELLEN KENT: CARMEN 13 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Bizet’s sultry masterpiece returns in this production by the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv.

ELLEN KENT: MADAMA BUTTERFLY 14 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

An exquisitely staged rendition of the Puccini classic.

Traverse Theatre

ESCAPED ALONE

13-16 MAR, TIMES VARY

Four friends’ domestic intimacies are interrupted by flashes of the apocalypse in this stunning Caryl Churchill play.

A GIANT ON THE BRIDGE

26 FEB-9 MAR – 10:30PM

Half-gig, half-theatre, this play explores the homecoming process for people released from prison.

THE SKINNY

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: JACK 1-2 MAR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM

A dark comic monologue that explores the struggles of navigating a life of love, loss and finding hope. All with the help of man’s best friend.

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: BREAD & BREAKFAST 5-9 MAR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM

A B&B in the Highlands has an ordinary day turned upside down when a visitor chokes on his morning toast, in this eventful and farcical play.

PEAK STUFF

1-2 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Combining spectacular drumming and video design, this visually inventive work explores the age of retail therapy in the climate crisis.

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: STARVING 12-16 MAR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM

An exploration of hunger in all its forms, inspired by the life of Scottish activist Wendy Wood who went on hunger strike in 1972.

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: PUSHIN’ THIRTY 19-23 MAR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM

A comedy about two friends on the cusp of thirty, looking to get the band back together...

DON’T. MAKE. TEA.

21-22 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

A blackly comic take on the UK benefits system.

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: HOTDOG 26-30 MAR, 1:00PM – 2:00PM

Trauma unravels in a hotdog costume in this highly memeable show.

PASS DOUBLE BILL: THE GRANDFATHERS + COMMENT IS FREE 27-28 MAR, TIMES VARY

A double bill from Performing Arts Studio Scotland’s students.

HITCH

29 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM

A reading of Kieran Hurley’s first play on political agency, now adapted for our contemporary times.

Dundee Theatre Dundee Rep

GoMA

BEAGLES & RAMSAY: NHOTB & RAD

1 MAR-28 APR, 11:00AM – 4:00PM

29 FEB, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Artist duo use life-size sculptures and video to create a flagship store interrogating ideas of consumerism and labour.

THE LIFE AND TIMES

Street Level Photoworks

40/40

An autobiographical dance piece exploring 40 years of life.

29-30 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Scottish Dance Theatre’s acclaimed, Baroque exploration of creativity returns in a uniquely hybrid format.

A GIANT ON THE BRIDGE 7 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Half-gig, half-theatre, this play explores the homecoming process for people released from prison.

SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE VALLEY OF FEAR 13-16 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

Arthur Conan Doyle's thrilling final Sherlock Holmes novel brought to life.

GIRLS NIGHT OOT! THE MUSICAL

22-23 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM

JENNY MATTHEWS: SEWING CONFLICT 1 MAR-5 MAY, TIMES VARY

Documentary war photography stitched over with local embroidery, examining the obliterating and fracturing effects of warfare.

The Briggait

ERIN MCQUARRIE: THE TIME BETWEEN THE LIGHTS 1 MAR-5 APR, TIMES VARY

Sculptural textile pieces challenge the domestic associations of cloth, exploring its architectural and dynamic perspective.

The Common Guild

The quintessential British hen party is given the musical treatment.

NICOLE WERMERS: DAY CARE

Glasgow Art

An exhibition of new and recent sculptures set against The Common Guild’s temporary offices in 60 York Street, exploring the tension between the visibility of high art and the invisibility of care work.

CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art

LIFE-BESTOWING CADAVEROUSSOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOT 1 MAR-18 MAY, TIMES VARY

A group exhibition curated

by Rae-Yen Song exploring the vivid possibilities of world-building.

Glasgow School of Art

INSTANT WHIP: THE TEXTILES AND PAPERS OF FRASER TAYLOR 1977–87 REVISITED 16 MAR-20 APR, 10:00AM – 4:30PM

Printed textiles, garments, drawing and painting, photography and personal ephemera drawn from Fraser Taylor’s archive exploring the creative culture of the 1980s.

TRANS ZINES

1-30 MAR, TIMES VARY

A display of zines created by and for the trans community, selected from Glasgow Women’s Library’s archive.

The Modern Institute ADAM MCEWEN: PUNCTURES

1-9 MAR, TIMES VARY

Objects such as Bic pens, swords and straws are reduced down to a diagrammatic style that examines their latent symbolic value.

Tramway

RAMESH MARIO NITHIYENDRAN: IDOLS OF MUD AND WATER 1 MAR-21 APR, TIMES VARY

Elaborate ceramic sculptures examine the iconographies of social, political and cultural narratives.

FONDS: STORIES OF PEOPLE THROUGH OBJECTS THEY LOVE

1-31 MAR, TIMES VARY

Part photography exhibition, part film and podcast, this multimedia exhibition tells the story of Govanhill through the community’s most treasured objects.

&Gallery

ANDREW MACKENZIE: BETWEEN CONCRETE AND WOOD 2-30 MAR, TIMES VARY

Paintings and drawings focusing on two modernist buildings in the Scottish Borders, set against a series of responses to an area of woodland near the artist’s home.

City Art Centre SHIFTING VISTAS: 250 YEARS OF SCOTTISH LANDSCAPE 1 MAR-2 JUN, TIMES VARY

Sweeping landscapes both classical and modern are drawn from the City Art Centre’s permanent collection.

THE SCOTTISH LANDSCAPE AWARD 1-3 MAR, TIMES VARY

The inaugural exhibition of Scotland’s newest art open call, exploring both natural and man-made environments through traditional and boundary-pushing media.

Collective Gallery

ELISA GIARDINA PAPA: “U SCANTU”: A DISORDERLY TALE

1 MAR-19 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

First exhibited at the 2022 Venice Biennale, U Scantu brings together ceramic sculptures and a largescale video installation to explore the Sicilian myth of the ‘donne di fora’ – women from the outside.

Dovecot Studios

MONARCHS OF THE GLEN 1-2 MAR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

An exhibition exploring the ongoing cultural legacy of Monarch of the Glen, from shortbread to Schitt’s Creek and beyond.

ANDY WARHOL: THE TEXTILES

1 MAR-1 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

A groundbreaking showcase of the commercial textile designs of one of the most famous artist’s of the 20th century.

PAULINE CAULFIELD TEXTILES

8 MAR-20 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

iota @ Unlimited Studios

9-23 MAR, 12:00PM – 5:00PM

Edinburgh Printmakers

Installation broadening the idea of connection through forms of communication, as the artist pays homage to her family heritage, researching the duality between industrial labour and domestic care.

BRANDON LOGAN

1-9 MAR, 11:00AM – 5:00PM

Stromness artist’s work navigates the line between sculpture and painting with nods to Orcadian traditions of weaving and tapestry.

CAROLINE WALKER

16 MAR-1 JUN, 11:00AM – 5:00PM

JOURNEY

1-17 MAR, 11:00AM – 4:00PM

Printmakers’ third annual members show exhibiting 78 artists.

Fruitmarket

Glasgow-based artist whose sculptures rework the textures and forms of the built environment to explore the conceptual histories of art and architecture.

RSA New Contemporaries celebrates it’s 15th year, bringing together a brand new class of recent graduates at the absolute cutting edge of Scottish visual and fine arts.

National Gallery

1 MAR-21 APR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

YOUR ART WORLD

1 MAR-14 APR, TIMES VARY

Community exhibition created by young people, examining the power of creative process.

National Museum of Scotland

PAOLOZZI AT 100

Celebrating the centenary of the birth of Scottish pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi with a retrospective exhibition, including his Mickey tapestry and the tile designs at Tottenham Court Road tube station.

DO HO SUH: TRACING TIME 1 MAR-1 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

RISING TIDE: ART AND ENVIRONMENT IN OCEANIA

Exploring the foundational role drawing and paper play in acclaimed South Korean artist Do Ho Suh’s practice.

An examination of our relationship to the natural environment told through responses to climate change by Indigenous Australian and Pacific Islander artists.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Open Eye Gallery

1-3 MAR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

1 MAR-14 APR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

DAVID MARTIN: SILK ROADS 1-2 MAR, TIMES VARY

A selection of new works informed by the artist’s travels in Central Asia.

GRAEME WILCOX: SHOWCASE

Realist portraits of people enacting quotidian activities.

BRITA GRANSTRÖM AND MICK MANNING: HIGH TIDE - LOW TIDE AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN 8-30 MAR, TIMES VARY

Celebrating 30 years of creativity by renowned artistic double act.

CHARLES SIMPSON: BACK AT THE EYE

8-30 MAR, TIMES VARY

A series of paintings capturing the landscape of the Highlands.

Out of the Blue Drill Hall

MAKING SPACE: PHOTOGRAPHS OF ARCHITECTURE

Exploring the social footprint of architecture, and the ways people have documented it through the decades.

BEFORE AND AFTER COAL: IMAGES AND VOICES FROM SCOTLAND’S MINING COMMUNITIES

23 MAR-15 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

Quiet, intimate portrait photography examining the history and ongoing legacy of coal mining on Scottish communities.

Stills

MATTHEW ARTHUR WILLIAMS: IN CONSIDERATION OF OUR TIMES

22 MAR-15 JUN, 12:00PM – 5:00PM

A new selection of analogue photography by Glasgowbased artist exploring themes of race, queerness, memory and history.

LAUREN CORY: HOMESTEAD EXHIBITION

Summerhall

Framed with delicate pixel patterns reminiscent of early computer games, Lauren Cory’s pastel landscapes blend the cosy, nostalgic comfort of home with the sense of something bigger on the horizon.

Developed out of a residency program in Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, this large-scale work explores intersections between art and architecture.

1-30 MAR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

Royal Botanic Garden 1 MAR-13 APR, 10:00AM – 6:00PM

2 MAR-9 JUN, 10:00AM – 6:00PM

30 MAR-24 APR, TIMES VARY

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

CONNECTING HISTORIES

MARTIN BOYCE: BEFORE BEHIND BETWEEN ABOVE BELOW

RSA NEW CONTEMPORARIES 2024

A new body of work exploring the artist’s ongoing interest in intimate depictions of women at work in both domestic and labour contexts.

1-2 MAR, TIMES VARY

Large-scale screen-printed panels that draw on architecture and ecclesiastical themes, veering between abstraction and illusion.

MEG AULD: CODED

Ingleby Gallery

An extraordinary survey of Indian botanical drawing.

Royal Scottish Academy RSA AFTER GILLIES

1-3 MAR, TIMES VARY

A continued celebration of Scottish artist William Gillies, this exhibition examines his enduring legacy on members of the Royal Scottish Academy.

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YUMIKO ONO: COMPOSITION IV

1 MAR-1 NOV, 12:00PM – 5:30PM

Talbot Rice Gallery CANDICE LIN

16 MAR-1 JUN, TIMES VARY

Situated in Talbot Rice Gallery’s former natural history museum, this exhibition examines how ideas of the human and nonhuman have been shaped by histories of science.

Dundee Art Cooper Gallery

THE SCALE OF THINGS 1 MAR-6 APR, TIMES VARY

Three moving image works

by Grace Ndiritu, Saodat Ismailova and Margaret Tait exploring relations between humans and nonhumans through frameworks of intimacy and spirituality.

DCA: Dundee Contemporary Arts MICHELLE WILLIAMS GAMAKER: OUR MOUNTAINS ARE PAINTED ON GLASS 1-24 MAR, TIMES VARY

A moving image work depicting a decolonised retelling of The Thief of Bagdad, exploring the ability of cinema to navigate structural violence.

Generator Projects

MEMBER’S SHOW 2024

1-3 MAR, 12:00PM – 5:00PM

Generator Projects’ annual Member’s Show featuring an array of groundbreaking, innovative visual arts.

V&A Dundee

PHOTO CITY: HOW IMAGES SHAPE THE URBAN WORLD

29 MAR-20 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM

Bringing together items from the V&A archive as well as two specially commissioned works to explore how two distinctly modern phenomena – cities and photography – have informed each other.

March 2024 — Listings

Glasgow Women’s Library

1 MAR-20 APR, TIMES VARY

Edinburgh Art

THE SKINNY

The Skinny On...

The Skinny On...

Liam Withnail Ahead of taking his acclaimed Fringe show Chronic Boom on tour across the UK, Liam Withnail takes on our Q&A. We discover his favourite pizza joint in Edinburgh, his Letterboxd top four, and his admiration for Hayao Miyazaki

What’s your favourite place to visit and why?

My farm on Stardew Valley. I’m very close to having an optimum setup in regards to turning starfruit into wine, but I have to craft a lot more kegs first.

Favourite food and why?

Pizza, and nothing else even comes close. I’d love to say something more interesting but I have a literal pizza tattoo. Razzo Pizza in Edinburgh is GOATED and I’m mentioning them in hope of a freebie.

Favourite colour and why?

I wear a lot of black. It’s slimming, goes with everything, is neutral on stage, and goth as fuck.

Who was your hero growing up?

Italian footballer turned fascist Paolo Di Canio (before he was a fascist (publicly)).

What’s your all-time favourite album?

Probably In Rainbows by Radiohead. I know what a ‘6 Music Dad’ answer that is, but it opened up a portal in my mind with regards to music taste.

What’s the worst film you’ve ever seen?

I really hated La La Land. Hollywood actors sniffing their own farts for two hours, and it was falsely advertised to me as “not really a musical” and then in the first scene everyone is dancing on a motorway.

If there was going to be a film about your life, who would you cast as Liam Withnail?

Considering someone heckled me recently with “Homeless Brendan Fraser” I would say, Brendan Fraser (homeless).

What book would you take to a desert island?

Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals.

When did you last cry?

It doesn’t take much. I think I cried at Poor Things.

The girl just loves pasteis de nata and shagging, and who amongst us doesn’t.

What are you most scared of?

Moths, bats, anything airborne that flaps about without dignity.

As this is the Film issue, can you also tell us the best film you’ve ever seen?

I’m going to cheat and give you my Letterboxd Top 4. There Will Be Blood, The Handmaiden, Chungking Express and Paris, Texas.

When did you last vomit and why?

The last time I vomited was the last time I drank.

Eight and a half years ago, after drinking in The Hive. Vomit could be related to booze or location, still unsure tbh.

Photo: Rebecca Need-Menear

Tell us a secret...

I struggle to tell the time, and I have to count my way around the clock to figure it out.

Which celebrity could you take in a fight?

I would like to punch Piers Morgan’s head clean off his shoulders and kick it into the sea. Is this the sort of answer you’re looking for?

If you could be reincarnated as an animal, which animal would it be?

One of those little Japanese monkeys that has baths and steals people’s iPhones.

March 2024 – Feature

Whose work inspires you now?

Hayao Miyazaki, the Studio Ghibli director. He’s old as hell, still smoking tabs and drawing weird little guys. I find that inspiring.

What three people would you invite to your dinner party and what are you cooking?

I would like to have Alex Jones (not The One Show presenter), Laurence Fox and Katie Hopkins, and I am cooking them in a giant witch's cauldron and cackling.

You’re bringing your tour Chronic Boom to Glasgow Comedy Festival. What’s been your favourite audience reaction to the show so far?

Having people with chronic illnesses tell me how much they relate to the show and feel seen; that’s really special.

Liam Withnail kicks off his Chronic Boom tour at The Stand in Glasgow on 29 Mar as part of Glasgow Comedy Festival before taking it to venues across the UK in Apr and May, including a hometown show at Edinburgh’s Monkey Barrel on 20 Apr. Full tour details at berksnest.com/liam — 78 —

THE SKINNY

Young Fathers Takeover

March 2024

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March 2024 – Feature

The Skinny On...

THE SKINNY

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