COMMUNAL LEISURE Issue 4 Free
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HELLO ...and welcome to the fourth clever here about the way this pan- for those of us in the ‘precariat’ issue of Communal Leisure; the demic has had complex effects who feel (perhaps subconsciously) open submission, free newspaper on our ideas about work, leisure wedded to such markers. for music, art and politics in Glas- and the state - but to be honest We chose to write this issue gow. we’re all just really exhausted and in the midst of the pandemic part- spent. Maybe better is to recom- ly because it felt hard to find other Can you believe we launched mend three books that came out ways to get together, share ideas Issue 3 in March 2018?! That time, in the last three years that speak and enjoy the often fleeting (but no we had a party in the upstairs of to a particular idea of organising less affecting) relationships that McNeils Bar, with various friends that could inform such a discus- come from gigs, clubs, readings playing tunes: Cucina Povera, sion: AngryWorkers, ‘a small po- and hanging out (in groups of more Horse Whisperer, Boosterhooch, litical collective’ (who featured in than 4). For some of us, the strange Quinie, DJ Lanyard, plus some previous issues of Com Les) who new work-setups of the pandem- lads downstairs banging out coun- published Class Power On Ze- ic left us with time we wanted to try rock covers. It’s hard not to get ro-Hours, an amazing insight into use, or experiences of work and nostalgic. six years of workplace struggle in ‘culture’ that we wanted to reflect This time, we’re still in the logistics and warehouse spaces on on. We hope you can find within midst of a ‘lockdown’ we’ve all ex- the outskirts of London; Feminism these pages some of the forms of perienced in a differentiated but Interrupted, Lola Olufemi’s in- connection, amusement and (may- familiar blur - whether grafting in credible and very readable vision of be even!) transcendence that such essential work, blurring all divi- a feminism that fights back against activities have often offered. Or at sions of the domestic / workplace, structural violence and injustice, least, it’s something to pass all this furloughed but nowhere near at and D. Hunter’s Chav Solidarity, time we’ve not really worked out ‘leisure’- anxiously waiting to an autobiographical meditation on how to process. see what will come from the next trauma, class and identity that was Either way, let’s all look after round of ‘easing’. produced as part of the Class Work each other, and maybe see you in We’d like to apologise to an- Co-operative project, who also put some strange pub backroom again yone who submitted stuff back in out Lumpen, a Journal of Poor and sometime soon, or for another is- 2018, or this time a few months Working Class writing. sue of this very infrequent maga- back, for being so slow. It turns out Such works unsettle a certain zine (in 2024? Or before!). doing a magazine in our spare time variation of ‘leftism’ that tends to- with everyone unpaid isn’t always wards the academic, the exclusion- Take care, Communal Leisure that sustainable. ary and the ‘culturally superior’ We’d wanted to say something - whilst raising serious questions Illustration O.P
LONG LIVE like to continue GAS and all that its green shipping container on 26 Civic community have built together. They St, Glasgow G4 9RH. People can sign BOABY’S BOTHY have an open call-out for groups that up online to become a member, make could work independently of current tool reservations on our website and Living Rent tenants union have been GAS crew to take on the lease, insur- pick them up on a Saturday when we busy across the city, leading tenant-led ance and bank account, manage bills, run a door-stop click and collect ser- consultation on rent rises, fighting run the social centre, and take GAS vice. Currently, we are looking for cuts to services in their Lanarkshire on as their own while honouring the donations to help us to expand the branch, campaigning for better close ethos under which it was started and library into a wider group of objects, cleansing in Govanhill, campaign- running the space collectively. There including event & catering equipment, ing for rent freezes and reopening of is a timescale of 6 months for this games, drones, textiles, camping gear, libraries in Pollokshields (see the ar- transition (starting January 2021). If and any other misc stuff that falls into ticle later in this very issue), fighting no group is able to take this on, GAS our laps.! GHA for new windows to offset terri- as a space will be closed, but GAS as With many people using furlough, ble damp and mould in Castlemilk and a “spirit” will continue, and maybe or the long dark nights of 2020 to re- Knightswood, campaigning against rise again in another form one day…. paint that DISGUSTING hallway, the dereliction using a community app Continued monthly donations will tool crew have been in high demand. in Tradeston, and launching a new help GAS in any potential transition, As they go onto explain “In Dec-Jan branch in Partick. At the start of the and if GAS closes with money to spare, we took a month out to ensure the year Wyndford Tenants Union, anoth- they will donate it to Edge Fund, who service could be run safely in light of er Living Rent branch, occupied Colli- funded them at the start and invest in the new Covid strain. Now we have na street aka “the Valley” - vacant land radical projects across the UK. Email reopened we want to make sure that above the Wyndford. They have built glasgowautonomousspace@gmail.com the library is serving people primari- a small hut (Boaby’s Bothy) there and if you want to discuss the future of ly within walking/cycling distance of one person is there at all times. Glas- GAS. Watch this space! us in North Glasgow.” Remember: its gow City Council aim to sell the land cool to tool! to developers, but the union believe it should be redeveloped using a com- munity buy-out, to build good quality, affordable housing. The site has grown GIVE SOME CASH and flourished loads since the initial occupation, with a mural, outdoor ac- TO SUNNY G tivities and a flower meadow. Every- Beloved community radio station Sun- one is welcome to get involved and ny Govan are fundraising in the wake Living Rent are looking for commu- of limited operating through the pan- nity members to assist them in their demic. Sunny G, known for its wide plans, which if they go ahead, would be range of incredible community pro- the biggest ever community buy-out in jects and radio shows, along with its Scotland! They need skills and support infamously banging late-night dance to achieve this ambitious dream: get in shows, are looking for donations big touch with nick.durie@livingrent.org. and small to help them through. As they explain: “Since the closure of our studios in March 2020 as a conse- PASSING GAS? quence of Covid 19 [...] we were unable to deliver SQA training, our advertis- Tradeston’s finest autonomously run TOOLS APLENTY ing and sponsorship income is down venue, print studio, library, meet- by approx 70%, we were unable to ing space and community hub, GAS Glasgow Tool Library, your friend- have our regular fundraising gigs and lease is running out, and COVID has ly local spot for borrowing tools and events. This has resulted in a deficit meant that there isn’t really a GAS other tool-like things, is expanding! of approx £20,000.” The team are well collective anymore and, quote, “ener- As they explain: “The general prem- on the way to making that target, but gy is looooow.” The individuals that ise of GTL is that we lend tools like a could do with a boost from any not- are legally bound to GAS (named on traditional literary library lends books, too-skint Communal Leisure readers. lease and bank account) would like we try to make projects and hobbies You can donate to the fundraiser at: to step down. The lease is under an more affordable and reduce waste. https://uk.gofundme.com/f/lets-keep- individual’s name, and GAS is not a We are currently open from 11.00- sunny-g-radio-on-air legal structure that could take on the 1.00pm on Saturdays (with the hope of And tune in to listen at 103.5 FM or new lease itself. GAS is hopeful that opening another day mid-week come www.sunnyg.com there are people out there who would next month). We are based in the big
DELIVERPOO from prisons, whilst supporting those NO EVICTIONS: TEARS affected by the harms of prison and Rumours abound about human poos criminal justice. The group are doing FOR MEARS being posted to various businesses in Prisoner Pen Pal writing, explaining: “Glasgow Prisoner Solidarity is a com- Glasgow No Evictions Network started the southside area of Glasgow. Appar- munity-based group formed to offer off April with a week of action against ently some targeted parties fear this is non-judgmental support, solidarity housing company Mears, as part of a part of an effort to literally shit on the and friendship to people in any prison nationwide week of action protesting more middle class bougie businesses in Scotland. It is launching a pen pal against the use of institutional accom- that have opened up in the Queens project matching up people inside and modation and the inhumane treatment Park vicinity, with one source (who outside for monthly letters of mutual of asylum seekers in the UK. heard it from a pal) saying they thought it might be about getting revenge on support. The project came together out of a shared sense that the prison The network, which supports people gentrifiers. Less fun for the harried system can isolate people and cause in asylum accommodation in Glasgow barista who already has a queue of flat harm, and a desire to do something to against evictions, planted a commem- white afficiados waiting at the door at fight this. One member of the group orative tree and at a vigil for Adnan opening time to have to deal with bags said: “We have no agenda beyond of- Walid Elbi, Badreddin Abedlla Adam of shite through the letterbox, but hey, fering support, keeping people con- and Mercy Baguma, who all died in this is the news not comment section. nected to what’s happening in the 2020 while in Mears accommodation We’ll leave it to you to decide if this is world, and learning how people are in Glasgow. The action comes amidst an hilarious piece of direct action, a getting on inside.” increasing scrutiny of Mears’ role in complex revenge plot, a misspent job- GPS is open to new pen pals, and en- the asylum system, and is organised bie, or simply made up. courages anyone inside who is inter- as part of a national action alongside ested in learning more and potentially SYMAAG (South Yorkshire Migration HERE TODAY, GUM in being matched up to write to this and Asylum Action Group), Sheffield address: GPS Pen Pals, c/o Category Against Asylum Evictions and MAJF TOMORROW Tyneside (Migration & Asylum Justice Is Books, 34 Allison St, Glasgow G42 8NN. Include your name, address and Forum), in a united display of anger at Happier news here, from the world of prisoner number.” the despicable conduct of Mears and community facebook posts, where a The group is also working on research- other privately contracted companies. local man was reunited with a lost pair ing and building campaigns against The actions also include a tweetstorm, of dentures after a walk: prison building, and has been writing banner drops and a satirical property “FOUND TEETH about policing in schools (see this is- website drawing attention to condi- *Update* The lost teeth have been reunited sue for an article they wrote with the tions in Mears accommodation which with their owner in exchange for a bottle of red! Anti Racist Educator). If you are inter- can be viewed at: www.asylumland- Poor guy lost them on his daily walk and has ested in getting involved with any of lords.co.uk been looking for them ever since! Sounds like a this you can get in touch with GPS via: joke but I’m dead serious. Thanks ....... commu- Among the groups’ demands are calls glasgowprisonersolidarity@proton- nity for helping reunite an old man with his lost for the Home Office to: allow people teeth :D” mail.com in the asylum system to live in safe, own-door accommodation, in the PINK PEACOCK community; end the use of so-called ‘institutional’ accommodation such as READY hotels and barracks; stop running asy- lum accommodation for private profit; TO PLUME and fund local authorities to properly support housing & services for asylum pink peacok “a queer, yiddish, pay- seekers. what-you-can café in glasgow’s south- Find out more and get involved at No side” is on its way to being ready to Evictions’ facebook page: https://www. open, with a premises on Victoria facebook.com/noevictions Road and an amazing menu and set of events in the pipeline. The cafe has been keeping up various activities through the Covid-19 crisis, including pay-what-you-can meal deliveries for the queer community and various on- line events, including a peysakh party with a ‘fuck visibility’ liberation sed- er on trans day of visibility. The cafe will provide an alcohol free late-night GPS START THEIR space with 100% vegan, kosher, and JOURNEY halal food, in yiddish and english and “focused on solidarity, accessibility, A new prisoner solidarity group has and queer liberation.” Any last bits of formed in Glasgow, with a particu- donation or support would be really lar focus on supporting people inside welcome to get the cafe ready for open- prisons around Scotland, and raising ing, with a donation page (and shop) on awareness about the proposed new their website: https://pinkpeacock.gay/ HMP Glasgow. The group is meeting twice a month and welcomes anyone to get involved if they are interest- ed in working towards a future free Illustrations S.M
HOLD TIGHT ravages of colonialism). apocalyptic lit- erature, writes one author i’ve recently going to have to report you, it is the rules after all. What will people say? been reading, “is resistance literature, Going to your room, or the break TO YOUR a coded attempt to envisage some out- side in a political present that has be- room, crying about something that has no real consequences outside the walls DOOM come unbearable, even if it means the death of the known world.” Sometimes i stop and wonder they have built around you- maybe only to your psyche. Certainly there is always someone that what if i am wrong about climate ca- you even slightly get along with, but it’s been a really lonely lockdown. I tastrophe. i know i’m not. the science it would cause too much distraction spent the first lockdown, in the spring, is in! but i also know that i’ve come to to keep you together, so you can work in the countryside where doom and need my climate doom. capitalism is different shifts, sit at the other end of despair suffused everything. i went unbearable and if it were not causing the table. Peace restored. for long walks and cycles, read about the destruction of the planet im not Semi-mandatory gatherings that you states and corporations seizing the op- sure how i would cope with it. there’s are forced to attend and mingle with portunity to increase surveillance and comfort in knowng that capitalism - people you wouldn’t even say hello to policing, and felt a loss deeper than i work, rent, bills - is not just unbeara- otherwise- and can only get through could express in words. this was not ble for me and most the people i know when drunk. Trying to avoid the just about covid; covid was the disas- but is unbearable for the planet too. creepy coworker/ uncle who insists on ter we knew was coming. it was some- i need to hold tight to my doom and telling you how things “were better in what affirming, the veil lifted and the dispel any notion of a ‘stable future’ my time” and maybe “women have too brutality of our ruling institutions laid where i need a ‘stable job.’ there is no many freedoms nowadays” but he was bare for all to see. this was the clos- such future. what a relief. just drunk, it was just a joke, please est i’d felt to the climate catastrophic don’t take it personally- maybe you’re future we’ve been barreling towards - JV just too sensitive, too..delicate, have (personally i mean; climate catastro- you ever thought about that? phe is happening every day for some- And we do care about your mental one somewhere). health, as long as you do not ask us to This time around lockdown has felt different. im not in the country- side anymore i am back in the city. un- MINIMUM do anything about it. Putting on your fakest smile- No wor- ries, everything is going great, see you til recently climate doom had retreated again, as it tends to do, while i am con- WAGE soon or later, thank you for waiting, thank you, thank you- I forgot about cerned with how to survive in the city. what but thank you. i’ve gotten caught up again in thinking about jobs, about how i will secure FAMILY Surely you can do some unpaid over- time for your family, you are depend- some kind of stable paid work that will ent on us. allow me to eat and rent a decent place ‘We are all a family here’ Yes absolutely do not forget to smile, well into the future. these bread-and- why would you be sad? Have a treat. butter anxieties rely on my projection Classic pep-talk phrase your manager of the present into the future. i am not utters; usually when they want you to - AS imagining a future absolutely different do something you are definitely not from the present, but a future where getting paid enough to do. capitalism, as it does, absorbs crisis At first you think- how can they be so after crisis and emerges looking more eternal and inevitable than it did be- vile and compare work, which more of- ten than not you hate and only do be- PENPAL fore. cause you need to survive, with family, Lewis Prosser, a 28 year old public sec- I hate being anxious about work. something supposedly safe and warm? tor worker and freelance florist living i hate work. i want a world without But then you think, maybe work is ex- in the coastal town of Penarth, Wales, work (you know what i mean). i actu- actly like family. seeks correspondence from like mind- ally don’t live in glasgow now, i live in Managers, cruel mother and father fig- ed individuals. His interests include a city by the sea. i go to swim as often ures that “understand you”, “have been folk crafts, film, gardening and food. as i can because in the ocean these dis- in your shoes” and Any mail addressed to 7 hill terrace, mal everyday anxieties wash away and “just want to be your friend”, while al- Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan CF64 1HA i become more attuned to the world ways telling you what to do and how will be answered happily and quickly. roaring all around us. there’s fight in to behave, expecting nothing less (Physical post only please) everything. some people (white men) than perfect (of course!). Then comes created this system that forces most of the unexplainable fear of letting them Mae Lewis Prosser, gweithiwr sector us to labor, the world is much bigger down, even if you do not care. Do it my cyhoeddus 28 oed a deliwr blodau ar ei than this system; the past stretches far way or the highway they think, while liwt ei hun sy’n byw yn nhref arfordirol beyond it and there are many presents telling you they value your opinion Penarth, Cymru, Yn ceisio gohebiaeth aside from it. as soon as i get home i’ve and will take it under serious consid- gan unigolion o’r un anian. Ymhlith usually forgotten this. eration. y diddordebau mae: crefftau gwerin, I decided - just a few days ago - Can’t leave out opinions about your ffilm, garddio a bwyd. Bydd post a gy- that my shortsightedness wouldn’t do. appearance- it is a given. Maybe about feirir at 7 Hill Terrace, Penarth, Bro like i said, i hate being anxious about your weight or your hair, maybe about Morgannwg CF64 1HA yn cael ei ateb work. so i decided to get back into the way you dress- the fatal mistake yn hapus ac yn gyflym! (post corfforol reading ‘apocalyptic literature.’ apoc- of wearing another brand’s cardigan yn unig plis) alyptic literature is nothing new. col- because you live in Scotland and you lapse and catastrophe has happened were cold and your uniform did not - LP countless times to countless commu- have one. I am deeply sorry, but I am nities already (see, for example: all the
SOME One customer talks at me about how it is so hard for young people these top and reading books, pausing occa- sionally to chuck some pre-prepared days, how getting a job is so hard. dishes through a conveyor belt oven THOUGHTS What should I do? Why is she telling me this? She continues the conversa- food-heater thing. The reason I got fired that time is too long and compli- ON tion on her own, unaided, and begins telling me about how her son has just bought a place. She tells me how much cated to put down in detail here. In any case, it was a pretty high-octane affair that involved a full-on shouting match RECEIPTS it cost him. He is about my age, she says. My hands are freezing cold and with the head chef in the middle of the restaurant. It was a very cathartic ex- red raw from the nasty chemicals that perience. we use to wash our utensils, and I am This piece has been written entirely on utterly exhausted. Another custom- *** discarded receipts while at work. I do this er - an old university tutor of mine On my days off I sit in the kitchen and so that I can get away with writing while from my undergraduate days - tells me listen to radio call-ins talk about how making it seem like I am working. So if this I should be doing a PhD rather than they were made piece seems a bit weird and disjointed and working here. I am wasted in a place redundant because of Covid. One man directionless, that’s why. like this, he says. It is just small talk, begins to cry. Outside grey sleet is but he should mind his own business. pouring down from the sky. *** I work in a fancy deli/wine shop/cheese *** *** shop. We are still open. We never Yesterday my boss threatened to fire My boss is back and she is flitting fran- closed for the me because I told her I have to self-iso- tically around the shop in really expen- pandemic. This is because we are clas- late with my girlfriend for ten days. sive-looking fitted designer clothing. sified an ‘essential business’ - because She says that if I voluntarily go into I’m not really sure what is going on. I we sell bread, eggs, flour. Most of what quarantine then I am voluntarily not don’t want to speak to her, so I say I we sell though is about as essential as going into work. My girlfriend lives in need to go to the toilet and sneak into designer clothing: truffle flavoured the US, and has to return to the UK to the staff room to make myself a cup of crisps, expensive charcuterie, pâté, renew her visa. She has nowhere else tea. I sit on the toilet and quickly down insanely-priced fizzy water. Some to stay, so it isn’t much a decision as it it, scalding my mouth in the process customers spend over £100 pounds is a necessity that she stays with me. It on such stupid things. Some of them is also Christmas, and we haven’t seen *** spend it and don’t ask for a receipt. each other in a year. Give me a fucking Since March my wages have been Maybe it is silly to get annoyed about break. increased to £9 an hour, up from the things like that but I do. previous £8.70 or I’ve been fired from jobs before. One whatever it was. I have been told that *** place, a chippy (or ‘Fish Bar’, as they this is as a thank you to all the staff My Boss, boss (my manager’s boss, the called themselves), low-key fired me (‘essential workers’) who have put shop’s owner) is here and for some rea- by ghosting me after I fractured my el- themselves at risk during Covid, but son she is painting the door frame. I’m bow. Another place, a posh gastro pub, the word on the shop floor is that this unsure why; the shop is very busy, and fired me because I was terrible at my generous wage rise will simply mean the door doesn’t need painted, at least job. That was fine by me. no increase next time the national according to my standards for doors. It minimum wage is raised. is the start of the Christmas rush, our *** busiest time, and the only explanation The third time I got fired was from *** I can come up with for her door paint- this dodgy* restaurant over on the What is the point of this piece? I’m ing is to make it look to us that she is west end of town. I had been hired as not really sure. As I said, it was written also getting involved in ‘the graft’, as a chef, which seemed pretty cool at the entirely on discarded receipts while at an act of solidarity or something. She time. But in reality it was unbelievably work. is getting in the way. dull. I spent most of my days sitting precariously atop my station work- - JG ***
SELLING all projected. Homes were supposed to be clean, off limits, and obscurely ‘nor- area looked like a dystopian EasyJet / Clockwork Orange waiting lounge, mal’ – only a false friend could really SUNSETS upturn this. The fact that the vast ma- jority of people at school had very lit- all sparkling plastic and glass, huge brightly coloured sofas, soft lighting, breakfast stools. But the novelty of the tle money was a contributing factor to ‘home makeover’ was contagious: blow My first real memory of a reality tele- such discernments, not a logical issue: up armchairs and lava lamps became vision debate is when some friends at to be a ‘townie’ as we framed it (never the top items on friend’s Christmas school started arguing about whether a ‘chav’, which was only ever used as an lists, sponge-based wall stencilling it was ok to piss in the shower. This accusation that served as a distancing started happening all over the place. It was in 2002, after a contestant on Big tool), meant a conspicuous newness of didn’t really matter that much of this Brother Series 3 did just that, much to clothes, shoes and accessories, along- interior novelty was, as with the Pop the annoyance of some other house- side pride in local and working class Idol music that soundtracked the era, mates. I had to look up the episode roots. A rejection of poshness was so forged in a sanitised palette of 60s just now, to check the facts against implicit it didn’t really need stating, nostalgia (See Will Young’s Light My my memory. The main protagonist though there was a memorable episode Fire video, a full Twiggy / Sgt Peppers was Jonny Regan, a county Durham where a history teacher was ripped homage). Like a Sims expansion pack, fireman with sopping gel-spiked hair. apart after telling us that she’d ‘had to houses started to feel somehow more The main complainant, Alex Sibley, come to this school because you can’t upgradeable and customisable, from was a male model from Essex (favour- just do private for a good teaching CV.’ kitchen to teen bedroom, as part of a ite band? Spiller, of ‘If This Ain’t Love’ At 13, most of us wore fake Rockport confusing blur of middle class aspi- fame - yes, it still bangs), who managed shoes, discount designer brands, and rationalism. Surly teens could join in to leverage his anger at ‘piss-gate’ and ‘Dirty Donnay’ boxer shorts - and oc- weekend B&Q trips to get the kind of general fastidious cleanliness into casionally these were drawn upon in practice run at adult home-making an advertising deal with Domestos accusations of fakeness, but the point many of us would go on to be decisive- bleach, after leaving the BB house. was more to hold yourself in such a ly denied through the tight confines of This was the season where Jade Goody way that the this didn’t matter, and perpetual rental tenancies. first made a dent on the public con- wouldn’t be challenged in the first sciousness, ridiculed and belittled by a place. The gradual death of interior design rabid tabloid press. It was also the year shows (RIP Changing Rooms in 2004, where the house got split into ‘Rich’ I was never very good at that, and DIY SOS in 2009) was simultaneous and ‘Poor’, with housemates separated found myself around this time making with the final melting of ‘Cool Britan- by a see-through Perspex shield, and the seemingly vast journey from the nia’ pretences in the years between the denied or granted luxuries depending ‘townie’ football pitches at the front of Iraq War in 2003 and Financial Crash on each other’s whims. The producers school, to the small enclave of ‘mosh- of 2008. House buying shows took on rebranded this as ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ ers’ who hid around the back, near the the ascendancy, location over interi- in later seasons, presumably because ice cream van where everyone would ority. Newlyweds and urban families pseudo-biblical damnation felt a lit- spend their entire lunch money on were replaced with retirees, small scale tle less on the nose. The writer Jason shortbread fingers and sour sweets. property developers and rich people Okundaye characterises this era as one Moshers (the equivalent to Sweaties ‘escaping’ to the country, with our own in which: in Scotland) cultivated a certain dirti- ‘generation rent’ condemned to the ness, and sometimes this was formed odd sanctimonious news report. This Gameshows, reality television, and com- through expensive shopping trips to was also an era when the overt cruelty edies were the central genres of main- fabled epicentres like Leeds Corn Ex- of early 00s reality TV became a point stream public broadcast which offered up change or Manchester Affleck’s Palace, those seeking fame, financial prosperity, of discussion and push back in itself, and the kind of zealous ‘second hand’ or interventions in their personal lives for though brutally exploitative talkshow clothes that hint middle-classness. But ritual humiliation to gratify middle-class formats like Jeremy Kyle barrelled on, the moshers were a wide mix of kids - attitudes towards lower social classes. only cancelled in 2019, following the Blairism’s regular attacks on ‘scroungers’, many just ‘didn’t quite fit in’, or came suicide of former participant Steve ‘chavs’, single mothers, asylum seekers, and to mosherism through ex-punk rela- Dymond. The sneering faces of Simon hooded youths provided a sheen of respect- tives, second hand guitars and the fact Cowell, Anne Robinson and Super- ability to TV executives who made a career that System of a Down were actually nanny became steadily eclipsed by the out of mocking Britain’s most marginalised, really good. Visiting both mosher and allowing it to become a pursuit of popular sort of hokey, mum-friendly reality TV townie friends for sleepovers showed culture. epitomised by Bake Off, and the dom- how similar most of our houses were, inance of ‘scripted reality’ shows like across the subcultures that I had sus- We all sensed this during the play- Geordie Shore and The Only Way is piciously traversed. Mosher bedrooms ground ‘piss-gate’ and Big Brother de- Essex. The latter provided glimpses of might have fraying Kerrang posters bates, even as crushingly self-involved domestic space characterised by ‘glam’ of Brody Dalle from The Distillers, teenagers. Around this time one par- and shining newness that tack onto or a few postcards demonstrating the ticularly nasty kid at school told every- the Changing Rooms era, but appear obsession we all had with being ‘ran- one that on a visit to a friend’s house to the viewer perfectly formed and dom’ (‘The badgers stole my spoons!!’), he’d found the family’s toilet seat sculpted, like their inhabitants. This but otherwise the interiors were sim- ‘covered in shit’ and they ‘didn’t even culminated by 2015 with the Love Is- ilar. Neat, minimal living rooms and have a toilet brush’. This was the kind land villa, an airbrushed vacation-pho- kitchens with framed family photos, of accusation you couldn’t get away to backdrop full of plush blankets, soft palettes of magnolia and beige, from through denial, or even violence, pebble fire features and spaces to ‘pull concaving sofas, big hefty TVs: this because it came from the intimacy of someone for a chat’, in contrast to was before flat screens and full IKEA having let someone into your house in the way Big Brother designers would hegemony. Big brother, along with the the first place. It built on the general, build surreal tasks, proximity and ob- lurid colours and DIY luxury of Chang- crushing accusation of being ‘dirty’ stacles into the domestic environment ing Rooms, served as a shock to the and the wrong kind of poor, punctur- itself. Love Island’s genius is to posi- domestic system. BB season 3’s living ing the visions of material comfort we tion the drama firmly within debates
around relationship etiquette and per- tions and allows Adnan to publicise their bad taste. Selling Sunset is a land sonal transparency, in opposition to that fact that he is choosing to live in a where people argue over the biggest the overt ridicule and exposed social constantly ‘on sale’ home, demonstrat- square footage and longest infinity difference of earlier eras, reflecting ing a wealth and domestic liquidity pool, but its interiors are remarkably this in the design of the villa. Rather that is never acted upon. As of January dull, in that way that only gleaming than attempting to document a con- 2021 you can still check the Oppen- white and glass can be. They offer a structed ‘private’ sphere, Love Island heim Groups real, functioning web- compelling mirror to our own hastily creates a curated, blemish-free public site and see the house on sale, browse moveable collections of chipped mugs, space, with the villa functioning as a through its pictures, check its pin on colour-ordered books, and wilting kind of constant holiday smoking area the google map. This is a strange prox- houseplants. Sometime’s the show’s (cigarettes not allowed), rather than a imity to reality, completely removed weirder properties feel haunted by the home. Viewers are invited to join in, from most people’s lives, yet available spirit of an early Big Brother house, as many thousands apply to do, if they at a price. with a ‘Real Wives’ splash of bad art can demonstrate social media ‘graft’ and Gucci bedspreads, but this is usu- and gym-honed bodies, or even tempo- There is a peculiar attraction to see- ally muted or painted over for sale. rarily through popular tourist ‘Love Is- ing people choosing to position their Most have pool gardens straight out land’ trips to the villa itself. The show domestic lives as constantly for sale, of Love Island, and ‘home offices’ that still seeps into our domestic interior especially for those of us who don’t look like a miniture Google HQ: per- designs, but through vision of polished get much say in when the next land- manent vacation, permanent work. In escapism, rather than processes of lord house inspection might come. a distorted symmetry, we watch from DIY or gradual ‘home improvement’. This is property, even in its domestic locked-down bedroom offices, in rent- form, as pure asset, shorn of the indi- al flats that always prioritise the next Such a partial, broad-brush reality vidualised interior design of the early buyer, over the current occupant. TV history leads neatly to the surprise Netflix hit of Great reality television has al- 2020, Selling Sunset. A clas- ways invited the viewer to ques- sic scripted reality setup tion ‘what about this is real’? focused on the statuesque Selling Sunset never hides that employees of LA real estate its interiors are completely con- brokerage firm the Oppen- structed, temporary – or that heim Group, the show adds many of its protagonists are pre- two conceits to the format: cariously renting these opulent people are filmed at work, in properties themselves, trying to contrast to the majority of maintain all the right veneers of ‘real wives’ and TOWIE-es- wealth and lifestyle. In this way que shows, and a spotlight it feels weirdly resonant of my is put on the multi-million teenage school playground dis- dollar Hollywood proper- cussions, of keeping alive the ties being put up for sale. idea that we all had nice, nor- These become characters in mal homes, without revealing themselves, referred to by what any of us meant by that. A their ‘price tag’, occasionally few of my old friends went on to linked to human sellers but get mortgages, buy houses, get more regularly anonymised married. Many of us continue through celebrity non-dis- to rent, spending as much time closure agreements. While documenting issues of mould, the fallouts and rivalries of the vari- 00s. The showroom becomes the end damp and broken furniture, as we do ous characters make up the drama of point. This isn’t to romanticise that on making the spaces we live in feel the show, it’s the mixture of this with earlier era, with its ‘wacky’ design and like a home. No doubt the interiors of a kind of obscenely wealthy proper- ‘wacky’ people being subject to all Love Island, TOWIE and the rest con- ty speculation that hooks you in. One kinds of strange cruelties, but to notice tinue to creep into these attempts to main job for the estate agents is ‘dress- a shift in ideas of domestic space, even personalise and improve these spaces, ing’ the houses for viewings, with in the narrowest realms of mainstream as do the judgements and hang-ups emphasis put on attracting particular pop culture. The surreal playgrounds we have about bringing someone else clients: ‘bachelors’, ‘young creatives’, and DIY experiments of early reality into ‘our’ homes, of being seen in the ‘tech bros’, through the right contem- TV have been replaced by a homoge- frame of the domestic. It turned out porary art, rug placement and orna- nous kind of wealthy house, more fa- that most people in that playground mental vases. Other houses are being miliarly ‘real’ but more removed than back in 2002 had pissed in the shower, sold with owners still present, but must ever from the limited housing options and I’m sure still do. The overt cruelty be presented as similarly ‘lived-in’ and most of us face. Some people try and and snobbery of early reality TV might yet untouched. One storyline follows sprinkle Love Island glamour into have waned, but such shows remind resident mean girl Davina Portratz their Airbnb spare rooms, domestic many of us that we find ourselves more attempting to sell the home of Adnan space as pending sale, in the perma- contained than ever within the ideas of Sen, a “real estate mogul” and appar- nent vacation of a paying other. Rental beauty and dirt held by someone else, ent bond villain, who wants to sell his agreements mandate against interior someone richer. For all the opulence, 9 bedroom, 12 bath, 18,000 square-foot changes by those who actually live in drama, and fun that Selling Sunset estate for $75,000,000, in three months. a home, as landlords seek to main- gives us, the show presents a vision The fact that this is completely impos- tain the barest possible basics, punish of the domestic stripped of life. This sible at such a price, that and Davina wear and tear, and ensure future prof- is the kind of empty cleanliness of a is told as much by all her colleagues, is it. Even the stupidly rich end up living morgue, rather than a home. Do they beside the point, the story arc serves to on hold, pending a sale, though we piss in the infinity pool? Would you? advance Davina’s ‘high level’ connec- watch without sympathy and marvel at - JW (Illustration SK)
SCENE CHECK IN Illustration RC At the end of 2020 we set up a Goog- soundtrackings of Daniel Dafoe’s jour- The opening of new queer spaces like le Form and link for people to answer nals of the 1772 plague outbreak to a Bonjour and Quto along with some some basic questions about ‘DIY’ arts, series of New-Age mixes from Japa- rumblings from others looking to open music and organising in the midst of nese record store owners. We’ve also venues gives me a lot of hope this the pandemic The following answers taken on around 15 new shows and could happen. are presented basically verbatim from about 10 new team members over the I think open-minded music spac- everyone who filled it in and got in last couple of months. I think as peo- es will play a big part in the next wave touch. We don’t pretend that it is in ple have gotten better at adapting to of talent that will also be needed for any way representative of the ‘scene’ everything people have begun to feel this to happen. Subcity Radio, along as a whole, whatever that may be, but a bit less anxious and a bit more crea- with the several other stations that think it is nice to see what people have tive, so that’s been heartening. have popped up this year could be a been up to and start thinking about Club nights were Subcity’s sole big part of this and that makes me re- what comes next. Thanks so much to source of income which has obviously ally excited. all the respondents! vanished for the foreseeable. Luckily we have enough in the bank for now *** and with some plans for merchandise JULES AKA JOEY we should keep ticking into 2022 if MOUSEPADS needed. TOM WILLIS FAST MUZIK Subcity Radio / Body Parts How are you feeling about 2021, and a post-lockdown Glasgow? HEY! How are you? HEY! How are you? A mixture of wariness and cautious I am feeling festive simply drinking optimism. Over lockdown exactly how bramble wine in my cow print pyja- Great! grim, corporate and exclusionary a lot mas so i guess u could say i am ‘living of the scene is became more obvious it large’ What kind of work / music / political or- ganising / art / writing etc were you do- than ever. The money that Sub club raised over summer could have kept What kind of work / music / political or- ing before the pandemic? 10 far more valuable community/arts ganising / art / writing etc were you do- spaces like GAS or the African Arts ing before the pandemic? In June I took over the running of the local lovely community station Subci- Centre (RIP) going for years. There’s hardly a large institution or venue left I was DJing a lot and mostly focusing ty Radio. I was also running a sporad- that hasn’t been embroiled in some on my party ‘FAST MUZIK’ which is a ic club night/radio show called Body kind of racism, sexism, transphobia or club night dedicated to rave, hardcore, Parts. homophobia scandal. trance, nightcore, donk etc ! How was this affected by the lockdown? Recessions, like the one we are on the verge of, haven’t historically How was this affected by the lockdown? It’s been tough! At the station we hav- been good for arts accessibility or the wellbeing of working class artists. Luckily i have been able to keep DJing en’t been able to safely use our studio or thanks to streams & radio, but obvi- have an in person team meeting for the What’s been giving you hope through all ously clubs and parties are out at the last 9 months. So as with every thing this? What gives you hope for the after- moment. DJ Tinyhandz and I had been else post-pandemic, a lot of previously math? planning a new bassline, bounce & fun things have been reduced to email makina party for May which I hope we shuffling and zoom. We’ve been rely- I think hopefully more than ever, as- can still make happen at some point. i ing on people with shows to pre-re- suming 2021 will see an end to lock- love DJing but events are what I’m re- cord everything at home which is a big down, there will be a huge appetite ally all about so it’s been tough! i have ask and quite a different experience to for embracing culture in a social con- so many ideas for themes for the fu- broadcasting live. But the resilience text. If the right people can make sure ture; all I do is fantasize about future from the contributors has been amaz- as much money from that as possible parties. get ur formalwear ready for ing - we’ve had literally thousands of goes to the right places, I think 2021 FAST MUZIK “homecoming” !!! with hours of radio since March and a lot could ignite something wonderful. FAST MUZIK, i get to take my fantasy of it has been incredible. From dark
of what I think a club should be like tions eh. I’m actually in a really lucky Any other thoughts or questions you and make that real for people. i really position with work and friends so have for us? want to make a space where folk can pretty grand thanks. I mean I do miss just be themselves. i really think clubs, old fashioned fun. I’d be interested in people’s ideas for parties, and raves are very uniquely democratising the scene or different able to do that!! i love creating this What kind of work / music / political or- ways of communicating ideas to each totally all-encompassing sensory eu- ganising / art / writing etc were you do- other. Regular health check ups like phoric experience. I’m missing the ing before the pandemic? this are needed x FAST MUZIK community loads, can’t wait to see everyone again. Running parties and events with Healthy. My day job is for a think-tank ANDREW MILK How are you feeling about 2021, and a and involves trying to improve how de- Bum Notes / The Pink Pound / post-lockdown Glasgow? mocracy is done in Scotland. Spite House / Current Affairs while i’m not sold on WHEN exactly How was this affected by the lockdown? HEY! How are you? we will be able to come together again, i’m feeling VERY optimistic about the Well no gatherings allowed = no par- I am doing ok party landscape - I think people have ties since March. And as much as I a huge appetite for parties at the mo- appreciate the efforts of people run- What kind of work / music / political or- ment that’s only getting stronger, and ganising / art / writing etc were you do- that might bring out people who ha- ing before the pandemic? ven’t really thought of themselves as ‘clubbers’ before. i hope we will all re- I work in Music and Cultural Activ- alise that what’s important about clubs ism by which I mean I play in bands and parties is not big name headliners, and organise queer feminist accessible but coming together with our friends events and create platforms for queer and our communities! sometimes the performance. DJ best-placed to bring the perfect vibe is just a friend. i hope we all start How was this affected by the lockdown? to realise that everybody at any given party is a stakeholder in that party, and Everything came to a screeching halt. I that the crowd is just as important as moved some of what I do to the online the DJ - I think usually more impor- space like my online version of *Bum tant!! Notes drag karaoke* but pretty much the only thing that worries me is most projects are on hold and I’m fo- whether the venues to host the parties cusing on what I can do from home will still exist by then. and what brings me the most joy/ sat- isfaction. What’s been giving you hope through all this? What gives you hope for the after- How are you feeling about 2021, and a math? post-lockdown Glasgow? ning events online, for me it doesn’t my incredible household and our tiny translate. With work I was (blissfully) I am cautiously excited about it to be private raves! also i know a lot of peo- furloughed for 5 months and then we honest. I’m sure everyone wants to be ple kinda got tired of DJ streams but started back with everyone working able to get back out to events etc but I I never did - online dance music com- remotely. am also looking forward to a renewed munities have been a proper lifeline and redefined cultural landscape. I for me this year. It’s so incredible to How are you feeling about 2021, and a think people have had a lot of time me that rave music can continue to post-lockdown Glasgow? to focus on what matters to them and lift me up even when we can’t come what they want to support and see together , and i’ve met a lot of people Depends what day you catch me on grow- I know I have. My hope is that through streams and stuff that i can’t but usually it’s positive. I’m hopeful this will be reflected in the kind of wait to meet at parties sometime soon. people will more than ever seek es- venues, events and groups we support also i think stream culture has actually capism and to be close to one another, and that support us. done more for my DJ rep than playing rather than this being a full stop on in clubs ever has. spontaneity and physicality. I’m fasci- What’s been giving you hope through all gotta shout out CRUSH RADIO , subc- nated by how this aberration of a year this? What gives you hope for the after- ity, doesitbang? , VIP MIX , clydebuilt will change peoples’ mentalities for math? radio, and the whole HSMMG posse the rest of their lives, though I’m less positive about these outcomes. I quite My solo music as The Pink Pound Any other thoughts or questions you like to indulge in fantasising about the only got to appear on stage twice be- have for us? past and I’m already wistful for the fore lockdown but I’m happier now in past futures that would have come to what I’ve made and hopeful for *2021 u know i gotta say it .... hardcore will be before this all happened. I’m not shows*....maaaybe? Anyway, The Pink never die sure that makes sense but I know what Pound will start this year off with a I mean. new monthly show on Clyde Built ra- PHIL dio from 21st January. HEALTHY What’s been giving you hope through all I play drums in Current Affairs this? What gives you hope for the after- and we have managed to record half an HEY! How are you? math? album during this year. I know that we will finish that record soon and that Phhht. Starting with the hard ques- Pals and pipe dreams
Spite House - the events collective I Any other thoughts or questions you ly do some good rather than be an ego am involved with - will be launching a have for us? stroking exercise. website soon. Queer-feminist gigs will be present in the Glasgow landscape What exactly is this about? Any other thoughts or questions you and this gives me hope. New things are have for us? coming and I think a greater strength of community will emerge, we’ll see LEWIS LOWE How are you doing? wont we? Redstone Press Any other thoughts or questions you HEY! How are you? EOTHEN STEARN have for us? Spite House / Nightshift I’m okay, mix of being fine and feeling I feel like Jerry Springer- my final shite but accepting of it. HEY! How are you? thought. If you spent a lot of this year playing video games and watching TV What kind of work / music / political or- I’m ok thanks don’t worry about it, me too. It won’t ganising / art / writing etc were you do- be forever but if there’s anything that ing before the pandemic? What kind of work / music / political or- alleviates your anxiety during this time ganising / art / writing etc were you do- grab it with both hands I reckon. Music - djing and record label. ing before the pandemic? How was this affected by the lockdown? I am predominately a visual artist who YVONNE plays and loves music. I was volunteer- Migrants Organising for Rights Hugely, there is no djing and putting ing / involved with SPITE HOUSE that and Empowerment out records that won’t be played in put on gigs. HEY! How are you? How was this affected by the lockdown? Contemplative SPITE HOUSE is on hold. My art practice is continuing but in a weird What kind of work / music / political or- way, more crafts from my house - hard ganising / art / writing etc were you do- to make a mess and then live in it. I did ing before the pandemic? record an album during lockdown with band NIGHTSHIFT which actually I was doing organising around Mi- was a positive thing. But whole thing grants Rights and Racial Justice work is very bad for mental health / wellbe- ing. Hard to feel inspired! How was this affected by the lockdown? How are you feeling about 2021, and a We are unable to meet in person, this post-lockdown Glasgow? has limit our capacity to organise, learn and grow together significantly We are back in the lockdown now sad- On the positive side technology has ly and I feel very down about it. Winter enabled to reach a much wider section is tough also so not good. of our community and engage with other communities virtual that would What’s been giving you hope through all have been inaccessible otherwise for their intended environment isn’t any this? What gives you hope for the after- example we had several zoom meet- fun. math? ing with migrant rights activists and Climate Justice activists in USA and How are you feeling about 2021, and a Music! Friendship, family. Seeing them Africa post-lockdown Glasgow? all again. More social justice being on peoples minds. People having time to How are you feeling about 2021, and a I’m feeling quietly hopeful but the rest and deal with complex things is post-lockdown Glasgow? reality is that things are going to get also positive. But there is ultimately worse (maybe not covid wise but eco- a-lot of impending doom. I’m worry- Positive and more self aware of my nomically) before they get better. I’d ing about folk that are dealing with so needs and limitations be a lot more hopeful if Glasgow was much on top of covid - and our govt is closer to an all night license and was in a disgrace. Sorry went off, I am gaining What’s been giving you hope through all a warmer part of the world to allow for hope through small acts of kindness. this? What gives you hope for the after- lots of open air events haha. Just the idea of feeling safe again also. math? What’s been giving you hope through all Any other thoughts or questions you First My Faith God unfailing love has this? What gives you hope for the after- have for us? been my anchor, my strength and my math? shield. Secondly the courage of fellow Thankyou for doing this! activists during the world wide Black 100% it’s got to be all the wee online ra- life matter movement and the anti Sars dio stations. Clyde Built being the main- protest give me hope because we have stay of my 2020 and now 2021. Having a CATRIONA REILLY not stood on the sideline of history we place in which to access friends music Push It / Stereo have made history as will be remem- and be interactive through the chatroom bered as change makers its an incred- has given me hope that we are gonna HEY! How are you? ible feeling bounce back with a new and invigorated Not bad! community in Glasgow that can actual-
What kind of work / music / political or- Optimistic-ish! Feeling like 2021 might aware existed in my knowledge of con- ganising / art / writing etc were you do- be a long slog, but hoping that this temporary performance theory - from ing before the pandemic? downtime has provided opportunity to the role of politics and literary theory I was/am the club booker for Stereo reflect on making festivals, events and to that of drama and film making. and run the night Push It. I also DJ and communities safer and more inclusive. perform. I’m hopeful that when we come out the How are you feeling about 2021, and a other end people, venues and organi- post-lockdown Glasgow? How was this affected by the lockdown? sations will have survived. It’s been nice to see charity auctions, fundrais- As an amateur, very optimistic. But It all stopped abruptly and I was/am ers and mutual aid, although a bit de- rather worried that for professional furloughed, Stereo is currently shut. pressing to see this needing to happen Glasgow artists the road ahead might and the support not being a given. I’m be very difficult and lacking in oppor- How are you feeling about 2021, and a also feeling very excited to see all the tunities. post-lockdown Glasgow? faces of people I miss. What’s been giving you hope through all Not sure - seems quite difficult to en- What’s been giving you hope through all this? What gives you hope for the after- vision at this point in time but I think this? What gives you hope for the after- math? Glasgow has an incredible fortitude so math? My faith. My faith. I can see it bouncing back. Although I hope not with the same problems Radio!!! Subcity, Clydebuilt and Ra- Any other thoughts or questions you it had to before with inclusivity and diophrenia have been definite high- have for us? crappy politics etc lights and a much needed reminder Thanks for asking me and I hope my that there’s still life and community responses don’t sound too egotistical What’s been giving you hope through all out there! Mattie and I started a radio or shallow. this? What gives you hope for the after- show on Subcity where we connect math? with people in and around Glasgow The vaccine and the fact that people and play our favourite feel good songs. MICHAEL KASPARIS have been doing things like online This was definitely born from our re- Night School / Apostille club streams and radio shows to keep newed love of radio and the way it’s going kept us feeling connected to the city/ HEY! How are you? living in hope! Still working on still being here. ALICE DE BOURG Supernormal Festival What kind of work / music / political or- ganising / art / writing etc were you do- HEY! How are you? ing before the pandemic? Hello! OK! Grateful to be in a relative- I was recording an album with my ly stable position, exasperated with the band, writing another one, had about UK government and at the feeling that 12 releases lined up with the record being able to meet my basic needs and label I run and booking a European stay safe feels like a privilege. tour for another band I’m helping out. Ahhh I’m getting nostalgic for the What kind of work / music / political or- stress. ganising / art / writing etc were you do- ing before the pandemic? How was this affected by the lockdown? I’m a co-director of Supernormal Fes- The band album ended up canned for tival, and was working freelance on unrelated reasons. The writing process festivals in Glasgow and other parts of stopped as I think psychologically I Scotland. I’d also been putting on per- was finding it hard to feel motivated to formance nights with my friend Mat- write music if I was just going to sit in tie and we had plans to make this more my spare room with it. I realised more regular. TONY MORRIS than ever I do it to connect to people Performer / DJ and being isolated and bunkered in How was this affected by the lockdown? I began to feel it was all pointless. I HEY! How are you? read books instead. As the new norm Cancellations all round! Supernormal became the new norm I got back into wise; months of seemingly endless Determined. everything again and i’m more excited back and forth on whether/ when to than ever for everything. cancel, trying to imagine a time when What kind of work / music / political or- events and festivals can come back ganising / art / writing etc were you do- How are you feeling about 2021, and a without excluding people on their ing before the pandemic? post-lockdown Glasgow? health status, trying to continue run- 1) Expressing my unconscious mental ning a largely voluntary organisation purposes in performance: as a solo vo- 2021 as an entity doesn’t exist yet, it’s while being stuck in some kind of lim- calist and electronic noise maker. 2) just an extension of the mind jail we’re bo (and all ends of the UK) unable to Presenting programmes on Clyde Built trying to survive in for the time being. do the thing that ordinarily brings us Radio and before that on Threads. Lockdown has taught me a lot of home all together. truths though, mostly personal stuff How was this affected by the lockdown? but also about this extended scene we How are you feeling about 2021, and a In a good way: it allowed me/forced me were all part of once. Post lockdown post-lockdown Glasgow? into filling the massive gaps that I was Glasgow still seems so far away, tem- poraly but also psychologically. It’s
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