"Who invented the typical boy?": Being a man in punk

A lot of audiences see me, in my band t-shirts, patched up jackets and calling myself a 'punk' and, to be frank, there's a confusion.  You can see the familiar flash of surprise across their eyes.  They don't really see how me, a man, can be a punk.

Most people don't think punk appeals to men.  And I can see their point.  Punk is an aggressive musical form.  It has a sharp playful sneer, a clever subverting of standards and expectations.  The clever lyricism of Poly Styrene, The Slits, Patti Smith and Vi Subversa spring to mind.  Not what you'd expect from men, who make up the majority of rule-enforcing, law-making, order-following roles. Bosses, Supervisors, Managers, Vice Chancellors, Artistic Directors, Police Officers, Prison Wardens, Security Guards etc.  Since 1721 there have been over 71 Prime Ministers, but only 2 have been women.  Men make up 2/3s of MPs.  Men are most likely to be figures of authority, so it seems bizarre that punk music attracts the male gender that upholds the tapestry of hierarchy and power, something at odds with the savage, subversive punk genre.  I guess it's just in our male nature to  keep structures and systems, whilst punk is about breaking rules and being DIY with your own rules.

Punk can be a screeching, guttural and a hammer stroke strike from the heart.  It's a passionate wrenching that drains the blood from a clenched fist and embodies teeth-gritting determination.  From Petrol Girls to G.L.O.S.S., from KINKY to War On Women it's music infected with a fury.  Typically, as a man, life is pretty good.  What's there to be so angry about?  I'm more likely to get a well-paid job, more likely to be heard & taken seriously, more likely to see my gender as the protagonist in films, more likely to have any art or music I make given a platform.  I'm less likely to have my arse grabbed, less likely to have abuse hurled at me in the street and less likely to have my drink spiked.  Plus I can pee wherever I like.

So with all these luxuries, there's very little to rail against.  No need to be furious, unlike women in bands who really have something to kick against.

And that's why festival stages are dominated by one type of gender, why most sound engineers and promoters are one type of gender, why gigs are mostly attended by one type of gender and it's quite unusual, even rare, to see a range of diversity in music.

But I hope things are changing, if slowly, so that conceptions around gender can change.  Don't assume that people are solely defined by their gender.

Now go check out the documentary So Which Band Is Your Boyfriend In?

Poets on Picketlines

In Red Shed, comedian Mark Thomas begins by asking that age old question for lefties:  Where do your politics come from?

A question myself and some mates asked ourselves as we sat at the gates of Kirby Misperton’s anti-fracking camp last week, watched steely by more-than-enough Police Officers.  We wandered up the road, and were stalked by three Officers (one each) who referred to us as “young people” in their radios.

Mark’s question leads him to talk about his experience of the 1984-1985 miners’ strike as a student living in Yorkshire’s West Riding and the gut-wrenching pain of revisiting old struggles and battlefields.  It’s a cracking show.

It wasn’t a hate preacher who radicalized me, and I won’t lay the blame at David Cameron’s posh door.  It was Michael Arthur, the Vice Chancellor of Leeds University who, in my third year, stated that cuts will occur across departments.  With my precious theate and English course under review, and therefore the knife, I got involved in Leeds University Against Cuts, at that time a localised collective of lefties and concerned students who would oppose cuts and, critically, defend strike action which opposed cuts.

This led to a great deal of conflict with the current crop of Student Union Officers who essentially backed management and did very little to represent the student’s concerns.  In fact, it felt like they did a super job of representing management’s stance to us.

So my first picketline was a simple batch of students and lecturer’s with a few signs.  Hardly the warring battlelines of cops and miners, or other such struggles across the globe.  People casually sauntered past us, it was all quite civil.  But leading up to this picketline had been a continual battle of debates in seminars, in the Union, in the Student Paper and on the Student Radio.  That’s the environment I learnt:  Do Not Cross A Picktline.  We marched and demonstrated against cuts, it ws the first time I chanted or used a megaphone, and we even did a sit-in outside the Student Officer’s offices.  It was actually the picketline itself that seemed quite tame by comparison, in all honesty.

But the UCU members on strike we fighting for all us students.  We could feel the tide of cuts were coming, not those promised by the VC, but the looming coalition government.  A few months later, Nick Clegg would break his promise, the Tories would test their newfound power against the student and college campuses.  Leeds University students, amongst many, would go into Occupation and the student movement was at the forefront of resisting Tories between 2010-2011.  But by then, I was totally radicalised…er…I mean…politically engaged.  And now UCU are going on a huge strike to defend their pensions, and of course beneath the surface is the issues around the marketability, privatisation and exclusivity of education.

I popped down to the pickets on Thursday, and can confirm the dedicated student body who support their staff and support their strike.  Love, rage and solidarity to all xxx

I’ve read poems on picketlines, and rallies to support strike action.  Picketline poetry is always quite simple and to the point.  From the work of Joe Hill to this day, it’s about giving confidence and inspiration to people constantly and consistently demonised for defending their rights, and by extension other people’s rights.  I’d never claim this poetry is particularly complex, and indeed the romanticism cooked up by artists like Dropkick Murphys and Billy Bragg in songs never quite filters to the ground level, stood in the cold, with flyers, as people filter past without a second glance.  The issues surrounding a strike are always very complex, and people striking need a lot of courage.  But at the end of the day, there’s some very simple rules around pickets and strikes:

Don’t cross a picketline.  Don’t scab.

Rejection Doesn't Mean You're A Reject

For those of you unfamiliar with neither the tradition of non-commercial non-profit driven art-making nor putting up shelves:  DIY means Do It Yourself.  Whilst sometimes taken as a don’t-ask-for-help culture, I take it as a call to make the work you want to make and not wait for permission.

Because this has been neatly wedded in my artistic genetics, I don’t apply for jobs that often.  It also explains why I’ve never held a salaried position.  Also why poor.  Obviously I still sign up for the Arts Jobs newsletter, as well as Lane’s List, the London Play-wrighting Blog and scouring various other opportunities sites.  But I know people who are constantly putting in applications for jobs or projects, or submitting poems for competitions, pamphlets and publishers.  It’s old news, but as the old Tories policies of Austerity continue to squeeze the arts there becomes a bottleneck of applications for fewer jobs.

Last week I didn’t get to interview stage for a job I was really gunning for.  I tried not to envisage actually getting the job for fear of setting expectations too high, but certainly hoped I’d be invited to interview.  When one is faced with such news, there’s plenty of routes an anxious brain can walk.  The road to bitterness is well-trod (treaded?) for a privileged kid like myself.  Assuming that the system is rigged, or stacked against you, is not very helpful when you’re able-bodied, white, male, het and cis.  Plus it’s difficult to change in your circumstance.  Use what little power you have to undo what you perceive as a rigged system in the systems you’re part of.  This road is a sole-shredding, effort-filled uphill slog.

So the other road your brain can take is all downhill.  It starts with acknowledging you weren’t right for the job, a fair assessment.  But then why weren’t you right for the job?  Because you’re not good enough, obviously.  Because you’re not experienced enough.  Because you’re not strong enough.  Because you are good enough, but you wrote a terrible application (even if you spent hours and hours on it).  This is the road that leads to the Land of Should.  I should be at this point in my career.  I should be doing more.  I should Get Better.

The problem with trying to Get Better means feedback.  The problem with anxiety is you pile feedback onto feedback that turns into a weighted, unhelpful burdensome barrage of worries/thoughts.

Not going to lie, not getting an interview put me into a funk these last few days.  And it’s made worse by the guilt at feeling arrogant.  The shame in knowing your worth.  The disgust at yourself that you dared to think you had potential.  All the italic gut-punch flashing thoughts.

As I say, I don’t apply for as many jobs as other people in the industry do.  And everyone deals with rejection in different ways.  But being rejected doesn’t mean you’re a reject.  Shamefully my instinctive gut reaction is to give up, or make a career choice.  Obviously sometimes one needs to readdress strategies and approaches, but to swing to an extreme is never useful.  I guess what I’ve learnt is to take it slowly, to digest, to consider and to take those negative thoughts, interrogate them, breath and let them slide for the more practical package.  So as you continue walking along this over-used, exasperated metaphorical road you have your walking boots, well-resourced backpack and iPod playing your ‘Onwards!’ playlist.

Energy Doesn't Just Mean Energetic

If you watch videos from poets like myself & Dave Jarman we’re much happier to toy with the microphone, to stomp around the stage and to offer more interaction.  I think secretly, me and Dave wish we were rock stars in bands (well, he is).  Dave is bold.  Kate Tempest paces the stage like a tense caged beast, Vanessa Kisuule is an articulate whirlwind and Dom Berry is like a bubbly, walking, talking human high-five.

By contrast, if you watch Hannah Davies energy it’s much more around her face.  The expression of a staunch story-teller, unfazed, the warm eye-contact and of course well-paced delivery draw you in with a welcoming intensity.  Sara Hirsch, our last guest at Say Owt, is a trained actor but she brings characters to life by painting stories with conversational language rather than bluntly embodying them on the stage.

There are different ways you bring energy onto the stage, and how you use it.  Certainly the louder, faster and more intense poets will often be more memorable.  The ones who bellow or ditch the mic or strut across the stage or clamber into the audience.  But that doesn’t mean poets who read from the page or refrain from such ballsy acts are not using energy.  A political point is not made more revolutionary by shouting; a comedic rhyme structure is not funnier because it’s faster.

On Tuesday I took part in the ATG Slam, and most other poets read from the page/phone.  A mixture of introspective, warm and playful poetry from a good number of first time performers.  I knew I didn’t have the scores to win, so I decided to perform a poem off-mic, loudly, messily and, for those who know me, spontaneously self-referential.  I didn’t win, and in the process blew a speaker.  I’m not a punk poet for nothing, right?  I guess I just wanted to bring a different energy into the space, one less introspective, measured and sharp and something more raw and jumbled.

Energy can come from all sorts of places; physically on stage mine tends to be more in my upper body.  I like to ground myself, but enjoy twisting my shoulder, scanning a room, hunching over the mic and sometimes having a little wander.  My energy goes into a bit of chaos, a constant fiddling with the mic stand, rubbing together of hands, being surprised by myself or the audience reaction.  I’d like to call this energy cartoony and playful, urgent and klutzy.

But here are some words that might be good synonyms for how a poet can use energy on stage without necessarily meaning louder or faster.

Generous

Faraway

Disconnected

Fresh

Quarrelsome

Barbarous

Friendly

Relaxed

Rigid

Scratchy

Hushed

Adorable

Anarchored

Squiggly

Lonely

Kind-hearted

Light-hearted

Heavy-hearted

Simmering

Necessary

Blissful

Limp

Triangular

Vital

Sugary

Warlike

Defensive

Buoyant

Neighbourly

Jagged

Expert

“So what’s coming up in 2018, Henry?”

What’s with all the blog silence, Henry?

Last year you wrote 39 blogposts.  That’s pretty much one every 9 days.  I think.  I’m not good at maths.

It’s now January the 23^rd.  if you’re maths is right, you should have written 2.5 blogs by now!

Well, I started writing more blogs because I wanted to flex my digits (hence the ‘rule’ I could only write them in 20.15 minutes because it was 2015 and subsequently gained 0.01 seconds for each passing year).  And it worked, I had a structure!  I always advise people that the best way to get into writing is to try free-writing first.  No pressure, no aim beyond stretching your brain and fingers.

But I’ve quite happy I’ve got a point where I’m not just bubbling around in my head and need to structure them into blogs. I’ve having conversations about theatre in my new theatre company VANDAL FACTORY alongside the marvellous and highly competent director Natalie Quatermass where we’re constantly dissecting what it means to make relevant and engaging political theatre in 2018.  We’re also hacking at the concept of touring as Whatever Happened To Vandal Raptor? hits the road in April.

Spoken word I hear you speak?  I’m having great discussions not just online (mainly through the highly helpful Poetry Promoters Facebook group) but also from Say Owt spaces.  After a gruelling civil war, I have declared myself Artistic Director (think King In The North but more spreadsheets) and have added to the ranks of Say Owt Dave Jarman and Hannah Davies as Associate Artists.  We’ve been having spirited chats about funding, organising, promoting and, importantly, mentoring as we work more with the wider poetry community of performers.

And I’m excited to have more conversations with poets and organisers across the UK as I go on tour in May.  I have a book coming out with Burning Eye called NERD PUNK which collects all my best poems from the last 10 years!  A few years ago I’d see this tour as more a solo outing, but I open up the offer to other poets to jump in my car and hit various open mics and have meet new poets making great work.

So I’m not going to be churning out blogs because I think I’ve found a few gangs to collaborate with and spending my time enjoying those natterings.  But that DOES mean I’ll be bringing those conversations back to my house, back to my room, to my desk and onto this here computer screen.  It’s just these blogs won’t be written in 20.18 seconds.  I shall allow myself this kindness.

“So what’s coming up in 2018, Henry?”

Haha, I have already cunningly listed my upcoming adventures!  I hope to catch you upon one of them!

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VANDAL RAPTOR? UK tour

TESTT

Durham, DH1 4SG

April 12th

7pm

The New Adelphi

89 De Grey St, Hull HU5 2RU

April 15^th

7.30

Workshop Theatre

Leeds, LS2 9JT

April 17th

7.30

Hydra Bookshop

Bristol, BS2 0EZ

April 18th

7.30pm

Derby Theatre

Derby, DE1 2NF

April 20^th

8pm

Harrogate Theatre

Harrogate, HG1 1QF

April 24-25th

7.45pm

Ovalhouse

London, SE11 5SW

April 26-28th

7.45pm

NERD PUNK BOOK TOUR

May

Thursday 3^rd May:  Spoken Weird, Halifax

Wednesday 9^th:  Born Lippy, Newcastle

Thursday 10^th:  Shaken In Sheep Town, Skipton

Wednesday 16^th:  Find The Right Words, Leicester

Monday 21^st:  Queenie’s Coffee Nights, Huddersfield

Thursday 31^st: Gong Fu Poets, Coxhoe (Durham-ish)

June

Thursday 7^th:  Verse Matters, Sheffield

Thursday 28^th June:  Slam Dunk, Hastings

Friday 29^th June:  Word Club, Leeds

SAY OWT UPCOMING EVENTS

(see http://www.sayowt.co.uk/upcoming-events.html)

Say Owt Slam #19 featuring Sara Hirsch 3^rd February @ The Basement

Rob Auton’s The Hair Show 9^th March @ The Crescent

Gecko 22^nd March @ All Saints Church

York Anti-Slam #3 1^st April @ The Basement

Hannah Silva’s Talk In A Bit 15^th May @ The Basement

20.17 Blog #39: Top Theatre of 2017

Here’s some top picks from the year of theatre-goings from this here 2017

Everything Is Possible:  The York Suffragette Story

It’s no mean feat to bring together hundreds of volunteers from across York with different skills to create a mass community production.  But York Theatre Royal are experts at this by now, and moments of this grand production were a breathtaking visual treat backed by mass voices.  The struggle for the vote is one part of a larger struggle of human rights and class war.  Totally justifies my belief that when cops drag OAPs from the gates of KM8 wellsite in Kirby Misperton they’re on the wrong side of history.  Though I wanted a more scathing analysis of the current political climate (yes, we have a female PM, but yes, we still have mass sexism and rape culture) I was proud to have helped programme some buskers in the form of poets and musicians beforehand for the outside scenes and be part of the faux-protest that did raise awareness of women’s charities.  Wrote a blog about it here.

Pink Sari Revolution

Sometimes shows about social justice can paint the hero as a pure and perfect leader for change, but Pink Sari Revolution was also nuanced and clever.  The main character, Sampat Pal Devi, is a mighty force in the world fighting for women’s rights and inspiring to the core but also a problematic figure.  The writing was inspiringly well-paced and really made me think about how you love along such a complex story in snappy scenes.  Also loved the great tree snarling from the concrete and splash of beautiful pink  in the set.

Youth Theatre

Great Youth Theatre shows have included seeing Salisbury Playhouse’s The Government Inspector, Zoetrope at West Yorkshire Playhouse (blog here), Pressure at Harrogate Theatre, The Blue Road at Derby Theatre and Our Mutual Friend at Hull Truck (as discussed here).  The Youth Theatre sector continues to thrive and make amazing work to rival, even best, what we deem 'professional' work.

Morale Is High (since we gave up hope) - Powder Keg

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything - Middle Child

Two shows I saw on the same evening back-to-back at the same venue and both very similar.  A little bit like a Bus Man’s Holiday in the sense both shows about luckless millennials trying to work out how to make an impact in a grey Tory Britain.  As a luckless millennial, I could only sigh and say “yep, seems about right”.  Both shows used great noisy live music, All We Ever Wanted was a great showcase spectacle and Powder Keg were a great sizzle of two chap chemistry and Beyblade references.

The Tin Drum – Kneehigh

This was my antidote to seeing some meh theatre over the course of the year.  It was expensive, but it was ace.  Visually it had everything you need from Kneehigh, messy and evocative and splashy and bright.  The songs were like a punk orchestra.   Time-to-time it’s nice to drag myself from the back rooms of pubs doing solo sets to see something that dominates the stage with a spectacle of style and sound.

A Show That Gambles On The Future - Mark Thomas

Of all Mark’s shows I’ve seen over the year, this was perhaps the most akin to a stand-up set rather than a theatre show.  Nevertheless Mark’s magnetic energy makes him both a dominating, yet welcoming, presence.  His quickfire conversations and cageless enthusiasm make him a must-see for anyone (like myself) exploring how to not only engage an audience, but keep them hooked whilst you unpack Brexit, the monarchy, Tories and capitalism.  Mark is an excellent example of how you grapple with these huge concepts and leave spirited and renewed.  Also see:  Josie Long.

20.17 Blog #38: Top Albums of 2017

Onsind:  We Wilt, We Bloom

They’ve done it again.  Onsind’s ability to paint pictures, craft stories and create characters have always set them apart from the folk-punk bands singing about booze and broads.  No, Onsind’s albums are explorations and here’s no exception.  An insightful, account of Britain in 2017, it unpacks racist border control, self-harm, nationalism, longing, mental health and being a millennial.  You can quite easily lose yourself in an Onsind album, and feel a beautiful mixture of blue sky happiness and forlorn loneliness all within a handful of chords, guitars and Durham howls.

Gecko:  Volcano

If it’s an earworm you’re after, then this album is full of clever, witty and instantly memorable lines and lyrics.  Gecko sits neatly within the spoken word scene, a mixture of gentle folk and hip-hop delivery.  But most importantly, the songs are all sweetly playful.  Gecko takes little ideas, strange concepts and essentially gags and manages to make highly infectious tunes.  We have him back in York 22nd March, keep your eyes peeled on the Say Owt page.

The Menzingers:  After The Party

I came to The Menzingers rather late, but they’ve certainly lodged themselves onto my iPod and brain.  My first reaction to After The Party was a bit meh, and as an album it doesn’t really boast the strongest Menzingers songs.  But the holy trinity of Lookers, Bad Catholics and the title track, After The Party.  Sullen and raw, maybe these songs helped with a tricky year of navigating being single for the first time in a while.

Worriers:  Survival Pop

Lauren Denitzio’s vocal deliver and very sharp song-writing made this a perfect example of punk in 2017.  Very personal and truthful, it has the rawness that I really needed from this winter.  There’s also well-crafted politics on ‘Gaslighter’ and ‘What We’re Up Against’, it’s not necessarily hardcore but has a great melodic hook and musical presence.

Prophets of Rage:  S/t

Maybe a tad over-polished for my punk sensibilities, nevertheless this album has been a staple of this year’s anger at constant failures and flops from authority figures.  Though all stars of the 1990s, the musicians have proven protest music is alive, loud and has agency.  I wish more female voices were part of the all-star line-up I know I’ll look back at 2017 as the year we declared time to UNFUCK THE WORLD.

Captain Ska:  Liar Liar

OK.  This is the real soundtrack to 2017.  Yeah it’s just a single, so I’m cheating.  Other protest songs will come-and-go but I will never forget this track dropping before the General Election and that wave of energy that came with finally getting behind a Labour Party opposed to austerity.  The song was a fiery inspiration that backed travelled to Halifax to protest the manifesto launch.  We danced to it outside the ‘debate’ between May and Corbyn at the University of York.  And it will always be a song that gives me hope.  I also like playing it at Police Officers at Kirby Misperton.  You never know, right?  Might convert a few.  She’s a liar.  You can’t trust her.

Shout outs to:

Public Enemy, Nothing Is Quick In The Desert
Iron Chic, You Can't Stay Here

Fresh, s/t

Jesus & His Judgemental Father, It Might Get Better
Bolshy, Reap The Storm
Days N Daze, Crustfull
Limp Wrist, Facades
Trigger Warning and the Safe Spaces, Everything Is Problematic

CRUMBS, Mind Yr Manners
Priests, Nothing Feels Natural
Porch Cat, Bad Victim
Open City, s/t
Mary Bell, s/t
Kehlani, SweetSexySavage

Kamikaze Girls, Seafoam
Downtown Boys, Cost of Living
Dishlicker, Reality Sounds Better
Bonobo, Migration
Austeros, I've Got This
Escape From The Zoo, Killacopter

David Rovics, Ballad of a Wobbly

Princess Nokia, 1992 Deluxe