20.15 Blog #3: We Don't Do This To Win (but we still won)

The 20.15 Blogs are a series of blogs over 2015 that are written 20 mins and 15 seconds much to the chagrin of my fingertips.

In 2006 I was discovering the live music scene in York, which for me consisted of going to see my mate’s grungy/rock bands (RIP Tungsten Beanbags and Me-Me-Me and the Bicycle Pilots) and local punk bands (RIP The Mighty Booze).  Usually at Certificate 18 (RIP)

 This is not a eulogy to yet another band.

Now, we all rocked up to catch the Mighty Booze one April evening.  The local streetpunx band were supporting some random band called Random Hand, who turned out to be some weird metal-rap-ska-punk fusion.  I bought the EP.

Random Hand quickly became one of my favourite bands, I remember when their first album, Change of Plan, came out and I don’t think an album ever sat neater on my iTunes.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen them live, but that’s because they were such a committed force.  Like a ska-punk sped up glacier.  I saw them at the Cockpit in Leeds.  I went over the Huddersfield to see them at the Parish, I’d return home to York whenever they were in town, for my sins I saw them at Reel Big Fish shows and that awkward The King Blues Are Now A Big Band gig at Leeds Met.  Last time was the Packhorse.  That was fun.  I went to London to see them support Suicide Bid, I went over to Bradford and bought pretty much every t-shirt, even the rubbish one with blobs that wasn’t a very good design.

If you don’t know, RH are going on indefinite hiatus at the end of the summer.  A lovely tour across the country spiced with festival dates, then that’s it. 

RH are a local band.  A Yorkshire band.  By that I mean, their humour, their approach to punk, their politics and the atmosphere they encouraged always made me feel at home.  Their gigs were sweaty, packed with jokes, relevant statements, friendliness and I don’t doubt their constant energy towards gigging inspired hundreds of bands on the scene flying the chequered flag high.

But you know all this.  You’re reading this because you’re a Random Hand fan.  You were knocked out in their pits, you laughed at Robin’s quips onstage, you got the Alien reference at the end of British.  You bought the t-shirt.  You shouted DYNAMO DEATH PENIS BASTARD.  Every album had songs which nailed it live, every performance meant something, every circle pit was a circle pit to remember.

What RH did for me was three things:

• Get me into a modern punk scene.  I was into 70s/80s punk and ska.  It made we realise there was a whole scene which ‘adults’ dismissed. “There’s no good music these days”.  Random Hand always, and always will, prove that statement is ignorable in the same way that RH are not.
• Opened my eyes to the fusion that makes ska and punk so flexible.  ♫ You can pick and mix with your music fix, there’s a lot of stuff around ♪.  Robin’s vocals (as well as those of the Sonic Boom Sixers) were a gateway to picking up other hip-hop and hardcore styles.  That idea of reworking the structure of a genre stayed with me when I got into folk-punk.  The gigs I put on (5th March, Fulford Arms, Petrol Girls) always try and mix up genres and styles, to the extent of having poets alongside music.
• Scum gonna be triumphant.

This is not a eulogy.  Random Hand are still alive and skanking.  I’m playing them on my iPod right now.  Can’t you hear them?

♪ We're a band
are you in demand? 
well no not quite but the CD’s in our van
would you like to listen?
It’s just what society needs. ♫

This is not a eulogy.  It’s the moment at the end of the gig when you give the band a thumbs up and dash for the last bus.  See you at the next gig.

Top facts:

I quoted Robin in a blog years ago

Random Hand’s name comes from a joke combat move the lads invented and it stuck

I have one of Matt’s plectrums with an old RH logo I picked up at a gig at Cert 18

The figure on the first RH t-shirt I bought with the TV head is modelled by Tilston

Random Hand played their 77th gig on Mars.  Martians are well into ska-punk

Morally Blind was, and always will be, my favourite song by Random Hand.
At Uni, I used Eyeballs of War during my Practical Essay theatre piece.  We chucked toy soldiers around
I convinced a prospective student to come to Uni because I chatted about Random Hand instead of the course during a open day
In London at the Suicide Bid gig, someone asked if I was in RH because I was northern

Their rubbish bins are surprisingly easy to access.

(Another) We Love Youth Theatre poem

A poem I wrote for York Youth Theatre Fete on Sat 7th

I am the master of splat.  If you try and zip me, I’ll boing you back to base, shouting freeze is my catchphrase.  Role call for Play In A Week and Play In A Day.  Colourful clowning through to ensemble devising, scripting scenes and free writing.  The session starts on time, well, maybe we’re a little behind but within those ninety minutes we can take you to another world, another era, make your quake with fear or laugh you into tears

There’s a feeling in my guts and heart that never went away because it was planted by the desire to make something truly great with our ad hoc stage, ramshackle script with limitations we didn’t even see beyond our enthusiasm of age.  The next Laurence Olivier isn’t waiting in the wings, but already strutting across a stage, the next Shakespeare wrote her first scene at the age of 8.  About a dinosaur.

Like bruised knees on the workshop floor, these memories still feel raw. When I started Youth Theatre, as it happened we didn’t have apps, no workshop rooms 1 and 2, just a cold, creaky, unfurnished Ballroom.  Just us, and, as the Grey Lady is witness, the manifesto that if you think Youth Theatre isn’t high quality, you’re not watching it properly.

  

Because if the highest complement they can pay us is: “yeah they were pretty good for kids” then to put it bluntly:  They’re a bit thick.

The Studio is splashed with Kafka, Brecht, political farces, swarms of bees, slave-master clowns and bombs falling down.  The main stage is accused, watched, gets it’s sealegs, sings and breaks into another world.  But as time goes, we remaking stately homes, gardens, art galleries, museums, churches and car parks, each one the scene set for making great art. If all the world’s a stage, we’re on a mission of conquest through every line learnt, every accident report, every movement sequence nailed, every prop bought.

There are two ways to leave:  one’s not pretty it involves aiming for that wall at full force during a game of tig, missing, going too fast and smashing through glass.  The second is no less painful or monumental, it’s realizing it’s time to move on and carry that love burning bright like a spotlight.

From the De Grey Rooms to Palestine, changing the world one ticket sale at a time, make your voice louder than mine, shout it so the Arts Council can hear ya…who loves Youth Theatre?

WE LOVE YOUTH THEATRE

20.15 Blog #2: Don't Judge Me

Another 2015 blog written in 20 mins 15 secs.  Don’t judge me xxx

This last week I’ve had the privilege of performing at TWO slams, the very awesome SLAMalgamate in Newcastle and Say Owt Slam in York.

For those of you who don’t know, a slam is where poets have an allocated amount of time to SLAM words into the audience’s heads.  This might be through traditional means, such as saying them, but the rulebook is sketchy when it comes to literally slamming huge painted wooden words into people’s ears.

Thankfully, Thursday in Newcastle was the former, as 17 poets tested their mettle by performing an outstanding showcase of performance poetry.  It’s always exciting watching a slam and gauging what hits the audience.  Some poets try political stuff, some personal, some funny.  It all works, but like a rhyming Highlander, there can only be one!

Jenni Pascoe is the fantastic face of Jibba Jabba and SLAMalgamate, but there’s a whole host of lovely faces backing up that lovely face, a scene united together, promoting each other’s events and making the upstairs of the Cumberland Arms feel like everyone’s local.  Downstairs, a bunch of folk fans are playing all manner of instruments, and in the other bar posters advertising ska gigs adorn the walls.  The Cumberland Arms is cool, this slam is coooool.

So I want to capture that feeling in a little cage, feed it, learn from it and then dissect and recreate.  Or perhaps just simply honour.

Say Owt Slam is the brainchild of myself and Stu Freestone.  We wanted a night which feeds all the other poetry nights into one space, to raise the profile of the scene and raise the standard.  Slams do this by raising the stakes.  Yes, poets are being judged, but it’s all fun and friendly, and all the poets know what they’re in for.  The slam on Friday featured Dai Parsons, who runs Spokes, and Andy Humphrey from the Speaker’s Corner came down.  Also in the crowd was Dave Gough from York Lit Fest.  Rose Drew from the Spoken Word would be there, but she didn’t get a ticket in time, and we sold out.  Whoop!

A lot of the poets from #1 (from October) and #2 had never been to a slam, much less performed in one.  Some had never really read poetry live before!  But that charge and that energy makes everything electric.  In a city of many unplugged acoustic acts, this York slam really does send sparks.  The night was won by Jack Dean, and rightfully so with his understanding of powerful and dynamic spoken word, but many other poets got great scores with more subtle works.  In the end, we were all winners, weren’t we?

Well, not quite.  Second up was Stephen Quinlan from Manchester, whose poem was a very clear Mancurian “sod off” to UKIP.  Like a chemical reaction, suddenly a gentleman (who from them on became known as The UKIP Guy) stood up with an affronted NO as if someone has pitched a occupy tent on his garden, and stormed off.  Stephen, ever professional, just carried on and received a high enough score to carry him to round 2.

UKIP Guy showed his disdain at criticism of the controversial (read:  vile) party that is creeping up the polls.  He’s welcome to do so.  I think if I heard anything I’d disagree with, I’d be inclined to vocalise it, to argue with my feet, to show my disdain.  If someone read a poem entitled Reasons I Hate Immigrants I think I’d be uncomfortable and angry.

What happened next was totally uncalled for though.  UKIP Guy went and pestered Stephen throughout the rest of the night, trying to get a debate going despite the other acts doing their sets.  Stephen did an amazing job of keeping is cool.  I must admit, dear reader, I didn’t realise until afterwards, as my head was too deep into running and compering the slam, but I should have acknowledged it, and used my privilege and power as White Man On Mic to get UKIP Guy to chill out.

But this is an interesting debate.  We called the night Say Owt Slam, a reference to the famous Yorkshire phrase, the ever present need for alliteration plus the acronym SOS.  But is anyone really free to say whatever they want?  Am I OK with giving a platform to beliefs I disagree with?  The poetry scene is often very left-wing leaning, but what if someone came with an ableist, sexist, racist, transphobic or homophobic poem, or one that could be perceived as such?

Well, education is a big part.  The power and set-up of a slam or performance means a call-out is difficult in this context, but taking the poet to the side afterwards and having a chat about their intention is always helpful.  The other possibility is, in the slam context, the poet will inevitably do poorly.  The crowd might not cheer, or even boo.  The room will turn against them.  The power of a collective feeling will root out unfriendly poetry on this platform.

At least, that’s what I’d like to believe.  Art should create debate, who should have got a higher score, who should have won etc.  It’s only fair the words spoken also create a discussion.  Plus, the general rule it, no can really be censored, can they?  You can’t censor someone post-performance.  But I also feel there’s a duty to safe spaces, and to totally and utterly call out any horrible vibes.

These are my thoughts, and I’m running out of my 20 mins and 15 seconds.  The best thing to do is to keep slamming, keep performing and let the atmosphere channel the vibe of the room.

Oh, and I can’t wait to hear Jack’s poem:  ‘Nigel Farage Is A Dick’ which left UKIP Guy feeling nonplussed, but everyone else in the room, collectively, in stitches. 

The collective feeling won out.

20.15 Blog #1: DANCE LIKE NOBODY’S BLOGGING

The 2015 blogs are a series of articles written by me in 20 minutes and 15 seconds.

20.15 Blog #1:  DANCE LIKE NOBODY’S BLOGGING

It’s no surprise that music is a recurring theme throughout a lot of my poems.  For those of you that know me, you’ll no doubt be aware I own more band t-shrits than HMV.  The floor of my room buldges due to the weight of CDs, and my iPod is full to bursting.  It gorans and wheezes under the pressure of thousands upon thousands of songs.  My first love was punk, and then came ska.  Since then, I loved the mod music of the 60s and 70s, soul, blues, R&B and hip-hop, folk, hardcore, queer punk, rock ‘n’ roll and new wave.  Inevitably I always return to guitar music, like a cat finding sanctuary under it’s favourite grubby car.

But I want to write a little blog about dancing.  My first memories of dancing, like most, was school discos.  Cotton Eye Joe was a favoutie tune for us 90s children.  That song perhaps cemented my love for fusion music.  Hyphens galore, I love ska-punk, folk-punk, hip-hop etc. and Rednex did a odd merge of 90s dance and hillbilly.  Yeah, it never caught on, but it’s not your average pop tune either.

Me and my friends growing up never really went out for a boogie or a dance.  We used to hit old men pubs for ales, find a large table and crowd round and make up silly injokes and debate the meaning of life.

So the majority of dancing I ever did was at gigs.  Now, the first rule of punk gigs is obviously the pogo, but as I soon learned that’s an enourmous effort to maintain, and not always feasible with people slamming around you or even the low ceiling of punk dives.  The mosh pit is the second go-to style of dancing, and of course the skank is trademarked by the ska and ska-punk genres.

The Mosh Pit

I quite quickly fell out of love with pits, inevitably because of the small size of venues meant all it takes is one or two dickheads to wade in, and the pit becomes less fun and more of a battle to not get too bruised.  And let’s not forget, when all’s said and done, we’re here to see a band (at least I believe so).  I remember casually dancing along to bands like UK Subs and then some huge psycjobilly or skinhead punk would throw their weight (usually with shirt off) looking to start something.  Now, as a skinny and (traditionally) scrawny fellow I can’t keep up, and nor would I want to.

Pits should be about respect.  Respeting that not everyone is as tough as you, and therefore toning it down.  The old addage is ‘If someone falls down, you pick them up’ but I’d like to hope people only fall down in the first place, not because you shoved them.  I recall a gig with The Skints where the crowd were eager to mosh even to the most chilled out vibes.  I stopped seeing mainstream bands I liked, such as The Coral or Happy Mondays, due to drunk blokes throwing their weight around when the music didn’t call for it.  The dancing is a repsonse to the music, not a reponse to your own egocentric ideas how to behave to impress (both in the sense physcially and astonishingly).

Skanking

This is where I’m in my element.  I’m a naturaly bouncy person, my feet seem to have the talents of a Tigger (thoughy my mind at times become Eeyore).  Ska seemed eprfect for me, in fact for a long time, I could onlt ever listen to music with an off-beat tempo.  Skanking can still be intrustive, those flying kicks can hit low and high, but you can find your own space with your own groove, and there are different ways depebnding on the music of said band, and the atmosphere.  My girlfriend has a video of me somewhere dancing in the York streets after a demo to Capdown on the sound system.  Any excuse.

So why is dancing so important to me, why does it keep reappearing in my poems?  I have a whole poem about it in the form of If I can’t skank, it’s not be revolution and my tribute to Emma Goldman is partly due to her famous quote (which my poem is based from).

Well, I remmeber one of the first gigs I went to rocking out to a local band called All Sexy But Ginger, and just loving being in my own world fuelled by the chaotic tunes of ska-punk.  Physcially, I often hold msyelf close, duck down, hands in pockets, hunch over (expect when performing I hope).

That same expression is the same as whne I do a gig, and try and bring that energy.  Punk for me is partly about energy .  Bringing some passion which otherwise doesn’t exist in day-to-day life.  We are battling the day-to-day.  The mundane must be killed, so let’s fight that drudgery with some physcial movement!  And that’s why punk pits need to acknowlegde that people are finding their terms of expression, so double-check before you intrude upon them on the dancefloor.

So wap on the soul and groove those feet, listen to some psychobilly and swing those arms, get the disco blaring, head that head a’head bangin’ and see you in the pit! 

Say Owt Slam #2

In October 2014, me and Stu Freestone decided to put on a slam.  The night was a huge success, with 15 amazing poets and Mark Grist as guest poet.  The standard was exceptionally high, and the audience reaction was amazing.

So now Say Owt Slam returns 23^rd Janurary.  15 poets will have 3 minutes each to wow the audience, with the best poet receiving £30 cash prize and bragging rights.  The night will be a fun and frantic display of spoken word and performance poetry.

“I went with high expectations, and was not disappointed”- Nouse

“[an] exciting evening of lively and thought-provoking entertainment” – One & other

“I can’t remember the last time I got so much entertainment out of a fiver”- audience member

Details can be found here

Guest poet at the event is SOPHIA WALKER, a globe-trotting poet who has won the London Poetry Olympics in 2012, was the BBC Slam Champ in 2013 and won the Best Spoken Word Show at Edfringe 2014.

23^rd Janurary, £5, 7.30, The Basement, City Screen, Coney Street, tickets available here

Sophia will also be running a workshop at the Golden Ball 5-7pm, tickets a mere £5, details here

For more info, get in touch at sosyork@hotmail.com

Home & Away: Best bits of 2014

The final gaps of 2014 are weaving through the air, it’s breath rancid and rotted.  In the doorway stands 2015, bright, handsome, head full of hair.  2014 smiles one last time.  “It was a good life” he says, a voice pained but essence of a brightness.  Then he passes on.  “No” 2015 says, in a voice like honey.  “It was a good year.”

This has truly been a good year both home and away.  Here’s some of my highlights:

HOME

I put on Hannah Nicklin’s show A Conversation With My Father totally DIY in the Black Swan with ace support acts.  I forgot to get everyone to sign up to a mailing list though.

AWAY

I toured with Travels By Telephone to Birmingham, Norwich, Brighton, Bristol, Manchester, Knaresborough, Scarborough, Newcastle and various rural venues with our show Practise Patience.  We are dead proud of the show, and still looking for any dates in 2015!  We met some wonderful people, caught up with old friends and had some amazing feedback (“The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”).  We did the show in York to a packed out crowd!  AND NO BLOOMIN’ MAILING LIST!

Download the live recording and get a zine here

HOME

I put together TWO compilations of poems and songs  about my favourite game/cartoon:  Pokémon.  Off the back of this, I started playing more acoustic sets under the name Pewter City Punk and went outside my comfort zone.  Download here

AWAY

I performed at Boomtown Fair, the biggest festival I’ve been to so far.  My set went down well, I met some cool poets and saw a whole bunch of brill bands and acts.  Thanks to Tim for driving me and Sally for putting me on!

HOME

Me and my Emma made a zine with interviews from over 25 female York musicians about their influences and experiences.  We did a launch with Kinky, Freaks + Geeks, Chrissy Barnacle and Jenn Hart.  You can pick up the zine here, and a good read it is too!

AWAY

I did more rural touring in Suffolk and Norfolk, and it’s always nice to write poems for random people on random topics, thanks to Creative Arts East!  Read about it here

HOME

Alongside Stu Freestone, I put on the first Say Owt Slam featuring Mark Grist.  The night sold out, and we had 15 amazingly high-quality poets fighting for the title of first slam champ!  Mark was superb as always, and we got great reviews in One & other and The Nouse.  Next slam is 23^rd Jan with Sophia Walker, and the one after that in March.  Again, forgot to do a mailing list.  Whoops.

AWAY

I went and say a WHOLE LOTTA Youth Theatre (see my blogposts here and here).  I wrote a play for Harrogate Youth Theatre, adapted A Midsummer Night’s Dream for them and wrote a play for York Youth Theatre.  I became a Trustee of Upstage Centre YT and have done more freelance work than ever before in the sector.  Looking forward to writing another play for Harrogate in 2015 and hopefully other freelance opportunities.  Check out my website for more info here.

HOME

I put on WORD & WHIPPETS 2 at York Theatre Royal featuring Rob Auton and the Sky Show.  Rob’s show is very odd but magical, very funny but very moving and I’m dead happy we also had Chris Singleton, Lizi Patch and Genevieve Walsh performing their ace poetry.  Hopefully will be another W&W in 2015, more info to come.  And although it sold out, totally forgot to make a mailing list.  Agh!

AWAY

I compared and programmed the spoken word & comedy stages at Galtres Festival 2014, putting on ace acts like Jess Green, JB Barrington, Jenn Hart, Danny Deegan, Zach Roddis and loads more.   Though we were small in the poetry section, everyone who came had a wicked time seeing something different amongst the music, and the comedy tent was always rammed with people eager for some gags which Peet Sutton and Seb Bloomfield provided admirably with their cast of comedians.  I know Galtres had issues with paying traders and acts after Galtres, and I know there is an uncertainty with 2015, so I’ll say as much as I know:  I do not know if all my acts were 100%, nor whether Galtres will return in what capacity, and I have not been asked whether I’d want to be involved as yet.  But I did dance to The Levellers and forgot to get a mailing list.  Eeeek.

HOME

I put on Buddy Wakefield, one of the greatest poets in the whole wide world.  And he was amazing.  Mind-blowing.  Highly skilled.  Thanks to York Lit Fest for their support, and All Saints Church for letting me use the space.  And guess what?  I MADE A MAILING LIST!!!  Whooooop!!!

Go sign up here

So thanks to everyone that gave me a gig or came to check me out home or away, all the acts I gigged with, all the acts I put on and most importantly YOU.  Yes YOU.

Always looking for gigs, writing and workshop opportunities or new connections, here’s to 2015!

Henry ‘Mailing List’ Raby

Top albums of 2014

This certainly has been the year of queer punk, queercore & indie punk-pop!

AGAINST ME! (Transgender Dysphoria Blues)

Black Me Out!  This album came kicking and screaming into my ears early on January, and I knew this would be a staple of the year.  Fusing a fist-and-furious assault of punk rage that Against Me! had kind of lost over their last few albums, this album featured Laura Jane Grace screaming her heart out over trans* rights and experiences making every track feel raw and salted and totally replayable.  Each track gets my blood pumping and when I saw them live in Leeds I was certainly not disappointed.

KINKY (self-titled) & NOT RIGHT (Your Turn)

This is a joint position, because both bands have delivered awesome old school-sounding punk/hardcore but with all the aggression of queer and feminist policies that I’ve come to discover over the past year.  Kinky were so cool, we put them on twice in York and Not Right were amazing at Nottingham Queer Fest.  Their albums are so sharp and snappy and moreish, unashamedly in yer-face it’s glorious and what I love about both punk and queer. 

Also firm favs of 2014’s riot grrl and queer punk releases were daskinsey4 (Bent Coppers) Petrol Girls (EP), Skull Puppies (Venus Crytrap), Caves (Leaving)

MARTHA (Courting Strong)

When I talk about a replayable ablum, I mean an album that as soon as it’s finished, you just want to hit play once again.  Martha’s album full of stories, growing up, love, gender identity, isolation, home and hope is a fantastic piece of work.  Crafting stories around the upbeat indie-punk-pop, every song has layers in both the lyrics and sound, every verse is full of catchy clever line and live their ramshackle DIY essence should teach bands with a similar sound to punk-afy their lives.  Even the NME praised this Durham super-group!

In terms of cool indie-punk, I loved Thee AHs (Corey’s Coathangers) Colour Me Wednesday/Spoonboy split Young Attenborough (Isolations) Ace Bushey Striptease (Slurpt), Doe (First Four), Happy Accidents (Not Yet Jaded)

HELEN CHAMBERS (Penny Arcade)

Helen is a firm favourite on the acoustic York scene, with her amazing voice, clever song-writing and beautiful strumming she’s always worth checking out.  I have been waiting for this album for a long time, and it was worth the wait.  It’s the perfect album when I’m needing a moment to relax, to drift away and allow the Beverly legend’s music to wash over me.

Some other brill folk music this year included Tree Trunks (Snorgasm), Andrew Jackson Jihad (Christmas Island), The Roughneck Riot (Out Of Anger), Rail Yard Ghosts (Blackgrass), Tim Loud (Out Of Anger), Dan Kemp (Climb Treets Every Day), Ash Victim (Love, Rage & Confusion)

BEAR TRADE (Blood & Sand)

Just one fantastic loud, fast, punk rock album from these North Eastern lads making great tunes and the peppering of Likely Lads sound clips really made this a album to stomp down to the street to.  Another great punk album was The Menzinger’s Rented World, but I only just discovered their early albums.

SCOTT BRADLEE’S SATURDAY MORNING SLOW JAMS

Wicked chilled out and groovy children’s cartoons turned into R&B classics.  Believe it.  It’s brilliant.

KATE TEMPEST (Everybody Down)

Not quite my cup of tea, maybe because it’s a reworking of Brand New Ancients and that jarred for me, but there’s no denying her delivery and powerful use of language.

PERKIE (Time Machines)

A very intelligent album which also boasts some sharp wit and cutting punk ethos sitting neatly above Perkie’s delicate and gentle piano underpinning.  Full of gentle and clever songs about growing up, feminism and living your life by your own rules.

SONIC THE SONIC (Revelries)

I love Sonic The Comic.  I love, love, love, love them.  Their album, Pixel, is so bright and bouncy and fun.  This EP has slightly less hooks, but still packs the power of an upbeat and charming band using their love for punk with their love for gamer nerdiness and their cliptune reworking amazingness.  I can't wait to see them in York in January!