Salford Media Scene

Salford Media Scene
The magazine of SalfordCommunityMediaPartnership
Salford
Artist
She maps the city...
corrie's
kickin' kirk
Andy Whyment follows
his goal...
Misfit music
Rappin’ with Briggzy
and co.
Steve Evets
...and the Hollywood Planks
Mediacity madness
Arts cuts and Quays capers
Issue Three 2011
FREE
Salford suss in
sounds, sights
and nights
Welcome to issue three of Salford
Media Scene magazine!
Over the past year, SCMP partners
have been busy delivering their
own projects – film, theatre, music,
courses and much more. For most
of us this has been a difficult year
funding-wise, however, with an
injection of NLDC funding, SCMP
continues to roll out amazing projects and ‘save lives’ – yes literally
‘save lives’ (see Pink Grapefruit
feature).
The great thing about the SCMP
network is that you remain part of
it, and continue to receive information about what’s going on.
front cover photo by Gareth Lyons
Salford
Media
Scene
We’re a fabulously friendly bunch
at SCMP, not because we’re here
for the community – but because
we are the community!
This year the SCMP organisational
partnership became a Consortium
with the help of Salford CVS and
we are in the process of refining
what organisational membership
means and exploring opportunities
to fund future SCMP activity.
If you want to get involved in
SCMP just sign up!
Linda Robson, SCMP
Twitter:
scmp_salford
Facebook:
SCMP Stuff!
Email:
[email protected]
Salford Media Scene
Contributors
Editor: Stephen Kingston
InDesign Workshops supported by
Sam Twyman
Graphics Editor: Lewis
Harrison-Wood
Words: John Edge, Mike
Atherfold, Graham Williamson,
Gareth Lyons, Alison Cook, Paul
strategy. Meanwhile SCMP itself
had a new logo created, Salford
Arts Theatre was given a briefing,
and leaflets were produced for exhibitions and community events.
Watson, K. Mac, Jude Bazen, Mike
Scantlebury, John Crumpton,
Melanie McPhail, Kerry Steadman,
Terry Scragg, Bernard Brough, Pete
Liggins, Karen Illingworth, Stephen
Kingston
SALFORD
COMMUNITY MEDIA
PARTNERSHIP
SCMP was set up three years ago
to help Salfordians get a foot in
the door of the creative industries,
and runs training courses allied
with real life experience of being
chucked in at the deep end working with local community companies.
This year, as part of SCMP’s PR,
Marketing and Branding course
we worked closely with the newly
refurbished St Sebastian’s Community Centre in Charlestown to
create a smart logo and marketing
P.2 Salford Media Scene
Salford Media Scene magazine is
the result of SCMP courses in journalism, digital photography and
In-Design magazine layout.
Photos: Paul Watson, Albert Spiby,
Mike Atherfold, Jamie Stephenson,
Verena Kennedy, John Elliott, Blake
Pearson, Steve Baker, Bernard
For details of all courses and
opportunities contact Linda Robson on 07534 969007 or e-mail
[email protected]
Brough, K. Mac, Terry Scragg, Ste-
New SCMP website!!!
Check out www.scmp.info to keep
up to date with details of events
and opportunities in Salford’s
creative industries. You’ll also find
on there a digital copy of Salford
Media Scene
Atherfold, Gareth Lyons, Johnson
ven Speed, Phil Hamer, Mikey Kay,
Jemma Cooper
Layout: Chris Arthern, K. Mac, Mike
Asa, Lewis Harrison-Wood
Proofing: Jude Bazen
Printed By: Caric Press Ltd, 525 Ringwood Road, Ferndown, Dorset, BH22
9AQ Tel: 01202 871766
www.caricpress.co.uk
Contents
Salford
Media
Scene.
Cover Feature
24 Jo Carlon
38 Where’s All Our
Cinemas Gone?
Does it matter? We hit the streets
16 Media City
Madness
Arts cuts, Quays capers and
graffiti walls
28 Salford’s Hidden
Bar
Salford Artist - she maps Salford‘s
psyche...
Going down the Corridor
Features
Rappin’ with Briggzy and co
12 Steve Evets and
Hollywood planks
From Cantona To Pirates of the
Caribbean
30 Corrie’s Kickin’
Kirk
Andy Whyment follows his goal…
10 Misfit Music
8 Higher
Broughtonwood
Tinned up Hollywood prospers
36 Pink Grapefruit
In The Area
Juicy films and video
22 Salford graffiti
Palace.... RIP
Salford Media Scene
P.3
NEWS
New Young Creatives
I
t might sound like some 1980s band with
shoulder pads and bad haircuts but the New
Young Creatives scheme is actually about getting
paid training and a job working in film, theatre,
music and art.
CRIS: Unleashing Creativity is looking to take on
people aged 18-25 to train as development workers
in the creative community. That means basically
finding out what the community wants and kind of
giving it to them.
“The hardest thing about working in our community
has been trying to get the right people for the job,
so we’re training them up ourselves” says CRIS
founder Alison Surtees.
You get paid for doing the training too. If you’re
interested call Steph Pierce on 0161 839 7983 or
e-mail [email protected]
THE BIG SALFORD
FEATURE FILM
Salford is making a movie. A great big proper
large production and anyone with some skills
can be a part of it – from writers and actors, to set
designers and editors, to those with admin or even
accountancy skills.
“Both this and the Young
Creatives programme are going
to enable us to push at the base
of the industry and give people
opportunities to get into the
creative sector that are not being
offered anywhere else.”
The idea is to give people, who may have had a
bit of experience producing a video or something,
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Salford Media Scene
a step up to get real work-based experience and
opportunities in the media industry. You won’t need
a cv – just whip out the Salford Feature Film!
The Raising Aspirations scheme is aimed at people
who are unemployed, on low incomes or who are
lone parents.
“After working in Greater Manchester for eight
years we’ve got a critical mass in terms of people
we’ve trained, supported and nurtured” says Alison
Surtees of CRIS: Unleashing Creativity which is
managing the project “Both this and the Young
Creatives programme are going to enable us to
push at the base of the industry and give people
opportunities to get into the creative sector that are
not being offered anywhere else.”
Want to get on board the big Salford Feature Film?
Give Steph Pierce a ring on 0161 839 7983 or
e-mail [email protected]
NEWS
SALFORD MUSIC FESTIVAL
“It’s going to be on fire!”
Rock and indie bands,
rappers, DJs and MCs, singer
songwriters and folk groups
perform everywhere from The
Old Pint Pot pub to Monton
Unitarian Church, with the vast
majority of events being free
entry.
Salford Music Festival
will continue to grow
as a major player
on the national and
international music
scene.
Hanky Park play an acoustic set at The Hope pub on Sat 24th Sept
Although he admits
“there are lessons to be
learnt from last year”, Ed is
passionate about making the
2011 Festival even bigger and
better, despite operating on
a shoestring …“It’s not about
making money” he stresses “It’s
all about making music and
making it happen”.
Organiser, grass roots music
fanatic and former Fall guitarist,
Ed Blaney, is confident that the
The Salford Music Festival
kicks off with the Grand Final
of Salford’s Got Talent at The
Willows on September 22nd
Salfords
Got Talent
contestants who will take part in
the Grand Final of Salford’s Got
Talent to be held at The Willows
on 22nd September.
All year, loads of acts have been
battling each other to be Salford’s
number one talent. They’ve been
whittled down to twelve lucky
With one heat still to go, those
through to the Final so far include
a variety of singers, rappers
and all round entertainers - Jo
Thomas Domonique, One Voice,
Sam Moran, Fresh Connections,
James Bennett, Louise Bowyer,
Milli Alaira, Misfit Music, Helen
Rutherford, Daniel Clarke and
Lauren Johnstone. Only one act
can win the first prize of £500, to
be judged by celebrity and music
industry judges.
“It’s not about making
money” he stresses
“It’s all about making
music and making it
happen”
and continues day and night
until the Main Stage Finale at
The Willows on Sunday 25th
with top headline acts.
For full details see
www.salfordmusicfestival.co.uk
Jude Bazen
The Salford’s Got Talent Grand
Final is at The Willows on 22nd
September, kicking off the Salford
Music Festival. Tickets are £7 and
available online from
www.thewillowsonline.co.uk
or by calling 0161 736 8541.
photos by Jamie Stephenson
After the first Salford Music
Festival last year, the event
is already firmly on the city’s
music map and here to stay.
This year, from 22nd - 25th
September, four hectic days
of gigs all over the city will
see over sixty acts covering all
types of music.
Salford Media Scene
P.5
NEWS
AM DRAM GOES OVER THE MOON
A
lways wished it was
you up on that stage
singing and dancing, just
getting the rush that comes from
performing? Well it doesn’t have
to be a wish any longer.
and rehearse every Monday and
Wednesday night 7.30-10pm at St.
Luke’s Parish Hall.
The next production is this year’s
panto, Hey Diddle Diddle, written
by one of the group Sonia Whittle,
and is on from 24th-29th October.
Check out the SLADS website
www.slads.co.uk and their
facebook page or e-mail them at
[email protected] for further
details of how to join or upcoming
shows. The box office number for
productions is 0161 281 7423.
St. Luke’s Amateur Dramatic
Society, or SLADS, is based in
Weaste and is always looking for
new members to help with
shows, either on stage, back stage
or front of house. The team put
on two shows a year, a musical
in May, and a panto in October,
Alison Cook
No turn Unstoned
The Open Mic Night That Comes with a Warning!
B
ernard Brough and Mike
Skeffington’s adult-only No
Turn Unstoned events are
hosted every 2-3 months by The
Star Inn in Higher Broughton,
The Racecourse in Kersal and
occasional other venues, where
anyone with a yearning for
stardom can step up to show off
their talent.
Bernard is keen to emphasise that
“the poetry and stories can be
quite raw at times, which is why
we recommend you don’t bring
your children along, nor your
mother for that matter!”
Bernard explains that it is, within
reason, a free-for-all – everyone
from singers, to jugglers,
musicians, poets, storytellers,
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Salford Media Scene
comedians and fire-eaters [the
latter in the beer garden I hope]
are all welcome. The only
certainties on the bill each time
are singer and guitarist Bernard,
musician Tony Harvieu and Mike
with his ‘tall tales’. The rest is up
to you!
To find out when you can join in
the fun or just sit back with a pint
and enjoy the mayhem, check
out www.salfordstar.com or the
SCMP facebook site for venues
and dates.
Jude Bazen
NEWS
Photo by Verena Kennedy
T
A to Z of Lost Salford Streets
he roving Streets Museum
project has landed at the
People’s History Museum
until 14th September. Alison
Cook checks out the exhibition
of old Salford street signs, family
snaps and audio recordings of
what’s fast becoming a lost city…
Once where you would have
found streets full of homes, you
will now find just wasteland.
Totally empty, unused space
throughout Salford. Places that
used to be full of life now look
like cemeteries.
Lawrence Cassidy, from Lower
Broughton, is trying to rebuild
a picture of what these now
deserted places were once like.
He started the A-Z of Lost Streets
which is an online museum, but
also with exhibitions taking place
throughout Salford.
How many street signs have you
collected since you started this
project?
Lawrence: We’ve collected
around sixty street signs since we
started the project. The signs and
artefacts we have show less than
10% of the 1,500 streets that have
been demolished in the last fifty
years.
How did this project begin?
Well I studied Art PhD at
Manchester Metropolitan
University, and as part of my
research I went out to South
Africa and visited the District 6
Museum in Cape Town which
displays street signs, pictures
and memories from District 6,
demolished during the apartheid
period in South Africa. The A-Z of
Lost Streets Museum is based on
the District 6 Museum.
What is the aim of the A-Z of Lost
Streets?
To recapture a sense of place,
which has been lost through
excessive demolition over the
past fifty years.
Have there been any famous
Salford residents who once lived
in these now demolished homes?
Yes there have been a few Alastair Cooke, Bernard Summer
and Peter Hook from New Order,
Christopher Eccleston and John
Cooper Clarke. They all lived in
lost streets.
Streets Museum: A-Z of Lost
Salford Streets runs at the
People’s History Museum, Left
Bank, Manchester until 14th
September. But the online
exhibition continues at
www.streetmuseum.co.uk
e-mail:
Lawrence [email protected]
Salford Media Scene
P.7
NEWS
Welcome
To
Higher
Broughtonwood
In every sense,
Higher Broughton
is a million miles
away from the
futuristic £billion
MediaCityUK on the
Quays.
P.8
Salford Media Scene
W
hile Salford Quays
becomes MediaCityUK,
over at the other end of
town, unique tinned up terraced
houses in Higher Broughton are
being used as sets for tv dramas
and soaps.
In every sense, Higher Broughton
is a million miles away from the
shiny glass, futuristic £billion
MediaCityUK on the Quays.
Here, rows and rows of original
terraced houses are tinned up
awaiting demolition.
NEWS
Lots of streets have already been
obliterated by the bulldozers but
others are still standing as local
residents fight to save their homes
with a High Court injunction
stopping any further destruction.
It’s fair to say that these are the
most controversial houses in
Salford.
Recently, however, cameras have
been turning up, not just to feature
the residents’ real life struggle on
programmes like Newsnight and
Dispatches, but also to use the
terraces as film sets for Coronation
Street and Appropriate Adult, the
new ITV drama centred around
serial killers Fred and Rose West.
For Coronation Street, overnight,
a tinned up terrace was opened
up and became the Super Catch
chippy, complete with flashing
lights and a big smiling cartoon
cod. For Appropriate Adult, old
fashioned cops, crowds and
lights suddenly arrived as the
end terrace of Cardiff Street was
transformed into the notorious
West home at 25 Cromwell Street
in Gloucester.
Meanwhile, filming for other
independent dramas has taken
place on the Higher Broughton
terraced streets which make the
perfect location – closed off,
available to alter to fit any scene
and classic examples of northern
working class homes that are fast
disappearing.
The houses have also aroused the
interest of SAVE Britain’s Heritage
group which is currently looking
into legal action to stop Salford
Council demolishing them.
The infamous
Higher Broughton
houses featured on
Appropriate Adult
and Coronation
Street
Salford Media Scene
P.9
THE
MISFITS
ARE
SICK!
Teamed together by hardened
mic battler, Briggzy, Salford now
has a collective of rappers under
the banner of Misfit Music. Kerry
Steadman met up with the lads
in Whit Lane to get a taste of the
totally sick…
P.10
Salford Media Scene
As we all sit in the Amber Project
hut in Whit Lane, Misfit Music
explain their approach to the
music industry. With a
combination of top You Tube
videos and live gigs around the
city, including Whit Lane’s Party
In The Park, Chimney Pot Park’s
Super Salford Saturday and at
the forthcoming Salford Music
Festival, the Misfits infamy is
spreading…
Photos by Blake Pearson
Kerry: How did you get together
Kerry: Salford isn’t really known
as a group?
for its rap scene, is this changing?
Briggzy: I put Notes and Kamo to-
Kamo: We’re all local lads from
gether and was going to quit music
for a bit and manage them. Then
we did a gig for the biggest British
hip hop act called Rhyme Asylum
and everyone said it was sick…
`What’s the group called?’. So
from there we just called ourselves
the Misfits; then Ric Charles came
in as the producer, then Illatant
decided he wanted to join…it was
just random but we’ve all known
each other for years.
Salford basically, Lower Broughton
and Irlams O’ Th’ Height, Higher
Broughton and Whit Lane…we’re
all local.
Kerry: What type of rap do you
do?
Briggzy: With the Misfits you’re
gonna get something completely
different from what I used to sound
like, a bit more commercial. And
Notes is a sick dancer as well! I’d
say that the majority of our music,
especially for the new CD we’re
doing is more street music. People
our age don’t want to hear people
singing choruses, they want tunes
you can play in your car leaving
the window up or they’ll think
you’re a gangster! That’s the new
sound that we’re coming with.
Notes: We’re all from Salford but
it’s hard to get gigs here, especially
for the music we do. Everywhere
we’ve gone has said `Na we don’t
do hip hop here’. So it’s good
that we can showcase our music, which is the biggest form of
music out right now. We all just
get together and have fun at things
like Party In The Park and Super
Salford Saturday.
Briggzy: We played The Crescent
pub recently and it was rammed
so we’ve got a fair few followers.
Kerry: Have you got any new
tunes coming out?
Notes: We’ve not been in the
studio much, we’ve had a break
and been performing for about six
months.
Briggzy: We’ve got a mixtape
coming soon called Misfit Music:
Button 5, The Initiation. Button 5
is a Mafia term for a gang of killers. But it’s in a music sense, so
gang of killers is not about killing
people, it’s about killin’ every tune
we do.
We’ve also done the odd things
like a Help Our Heroes track
which is on iTunes and all the
money from that goes to soldiers,
and there’s loads of tracks on You
Tube.
Kerry: Briggzy, we’ve been
waiting a long time for your solo
album, Gingerfication, to come
out – is it in sight?
Briggzy: We released the single,
Home, from it ages ago, that’s
when the album was going to
drop, but I don’t want to release
something that people are paying for and it’s rubbish. I want it
to come out and for people to say
it was worth the five or six quid
that you pay for it. So hopefully it
will be a classic. There is a launch
party for Gingerfication plus loads
of top rap acts at the Crescent Pub
30th September. It is only £3 and
gingers get in free.
Find loads of Misfit Music videos on You Tube and more info at www.briggzy.co.uk
Also, see the Misfits at the Salford Music Festival Old Pint Pot 23rd September
Salford Media Scene
P.11
FROM
TO
THE
CANTONA
CARRIBEAN
Broughton actor, Steve Evets, thought he
was sorted when he was offered a part in
the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film with
Johnny Depp. So how did Steve, who starred
with Eric Cantona in Looking For Eric, get
on with the Hollywood planks?
Bernard Brough joins the journey…
O
K so how many people
do you know who have
travelled the world, spent
their eighteenth birthday in a
Bombay brothel, been kicked out
of the merchant navy, survived
horrific injuries in a bar fight and
been a pirate?
Let me introduce you to Ernest
Hemingway, er, I mean Steve
Evets. Steve’s a Broughton lad who
has taken a rather circuitous route
via the Merchant Navy and a string
of jobs and situations to a position
where he is now an actor capable
of playing an array of roles - from
a psychopathic murderer in Scott
and Bailey, to Colin an alcoholic
Christian in Rev, to the brilliant
lead in Looking For Eric.
Steve’s path has not been easy.
He joined the merchant navy on
leaving school.
“I’m from Salford and most of us
went into factories, it was kind of
what we were bred for” he recalls
“When I left school I had no idea
what to do until the last day at St
Albert’s when this guy came in
and showed us a film about the
merchant navy and I thought `Yeah
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Salford Media Scene
I’ll have a bit of that, it’ll help
me see the world a bit’. I was in
there for about three years. It was
great, we didn’t have to salute any
officers and when the ship got into
port you went ashore and went
mad.”
After being kicked out of the
merchant navy, Steve got married
and tried settling down, but it was
hard.
“I hated working in a job” he
says “I didn’t particularly like to
earn money to buy things that I
didn’t particularly need. So when
my marriage broke up, I was
out of work and signed up for a
foundation course at Abraham
Moss. It was in English and maths,
which I didn’t like, but there was
also drama which piqued my
interest.
“Then they started a new course
which was just drama” he
adds “You had to put on three
productions a year and we even
had a budget. We had to write,
direct, do costume, publicity and
organise the tour.”
That year-long course encouraged
Steve further and he started his
own theatre company with a
couple of friends.
“It was basically doing street
theatre and passing a hat round”
he says “So we made a bit of
money.”
It was around that time that Steve
joined Equity and changed his
name from Steve Murphy to Evets,
as there was already a Steve
Murphy on Equity’s books.
He worked as an extra on
programmes like Coronation
Street, but as Steve says “That was
not enough for me...I stopped
doing extra work and joined the
Actor’s Centre in Manchester.”
From there Steve learned
audtion pieces and with sheer
perseverance he got to the stage
where work started to trickle in,
and more roles came along…
“They were giving me lines to
learn, parts to get into and I loved
that.”
explains “He makes you do loads
of improvisation exercises about
your character...you know, your
character’s past, his present, but
not his future. He also gives you
the script a couple of days before
shooting so the story feels like it’s
unfolding day by day.
After signing with an agent, more
tv parts came along and perhaps
through sheer bloody mindedness
his reputation grew. To date, the
biggest and, for Steve, the most
enjoyable success was starring in
Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric.
On the other hand, working with
Johnny Depp and co on Pirates of
the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
was the worst experience...
“It’s the way Ken Loach works,
he shoots in sequence which
is very unusual, and doesn’t let
his actors see the script” Steve
“Artistically the worst job I’ve ever
done” Steve scorns “I was there for
nine weeks – six weeks in Hawaii
and three weeks in Los Angeles.
They flew me out first class, put
me in five star hotels and paid me
a stupid amount of money, but I’m
on screen for about two seconds.
Blink and you’ll miss me.
“But I got to be a pirate, meet
Johnny Depp and be on the Queen
Anne’s Revenge - Blackbeard’s
ship - with Ian McShane. And I
met a great bunch of lads” he adds
“Adventure-wise it was great, but
artistically the worst job in the
world.”
After leading such an eventful life
you might think that Steve Evets’
head could have been turned, and
the success affected him. But no,
it hasn’t. He is still the same Steve
Murphy that went to St Albert’s all
those years ago.
Salford Media Scene
P.13
ECCLES
COMMUNITY
ART GALLERY
In a formerly disused shop unit in Eccles
Shopping Precinct an art gallery has sprung up.
Karen Illingworth tells her own story...
W
hen I moved to Eccles
twenty five years ago
I was amazed by the
amount of talent that was simply
‘invisible’ because there was nowhere to exhibit their work. The
larger galleries don’t generally display work unless you are known,
and you don’t become known
unless you can exhibit.
I curated an exhibition for my art
class at Swinton Library and it set
me thinking about other possibilities. Eccles town centre was my
location of choice. I knew I could
create something lively and interesting for local people to visit.
In October 2008 Kyla Ankers,
Eccles Shopping Centre Manager,
lent me an empty shop unit for a
weekend to display artwork. The
management and landlord liked
what I had put together so much
that two years later I am still there!
We show a wide variety of artwork
and I would like to encourage
participation from different groups.
Photo by Phil Hamer
A big feature of the Gallery is that
the artists help staff it where possible, so there is the opportunity
for the public to talk to the artists
about their work, and the artists
benefit from their feedback.
Eccles Community Art Gallery
can be found at Unit 4 Boothway
Eccles M30 0EB, and is open to
the public on Tuesdays 1-3pm and
Saturdays 10-4pm.
To get involved see www.
ecclescommunityartgallery.org
PUMP ART
Strong beer and art meet at Salford’s only
independent brewery as Paul Watson
discovers…
M
any breweries will have
just one brand logo, full
stop. But Salford’s only
independent brewer has a new design for every occasion and each
new ale it brews.
Photo by Paul Watson
The Star Brewery, based at the
Star Inn community-owned pub
in Broughton, creates ‘pump clips’
(the logos that go on beer pumps)
that are now as eagerly awaited
as the new beers and have even
become collectors’ items. Images
have ranged from Julius Caesar to
Christopher Eccleston to the Star
Inn itself bathed in moonlight.
“I create an image to illustrate the
spirit of the beer” says Jude Bazen,
whose partner Richard runs the
Salford microbrewery “Branding
each of our beers helps to demonstrate that each one has its own
unique character and identity.”
There was even a series of pump
clips that featured a `Bitter Tirade’
of wrath against the big powerful
breweries.
See a range of Star Brewery artwork at the Star Inn, Back Hope Street, Broughton.
P.14
Salford Media Scene
I MARRIED A CULT FIGURE
FROM SALFORD
After thirty years, a video for the world’s first double B-sided single
is being released. Why? Here the video’s producer and director, John
Crumpton, explains his ongoing fascination with John Cooper Clarke…
W
e’re about to release a
new video, I Married
A Cult Figure From
Salford, but its origins lie some
thirty years in the past when
the target of its satire, Salford
Baird, John Cooper Clarke was
approaching the zenith of his
celebrity.
In those long gone days the
idea of an artist ‘selling out’ was
viewed as a betrayal of their
fans and their supposed artistic
integrity, rather than now,
when it is seen as a considered
marketing strategy by their
management.
In a short space of time JCC had
gone from being the thinking
person’s punk poet to signing
a lucrative recording contract
with CBS Records, and was
relocating from seedy Salford to
sunny Stevenage.
by Mike Rowe. We wanted
to put out the soundtrack, Tea
Machine Dub, as a 7” vinyl
single by Steve Hopkins but we
were lacking a ‘B’ side.
Mike Rowe came up with, I
Married a Cult Figure, and in
the original version of the duet
he performed Clarkie’s part.
Written from the point of view
of JCC’s imagined girlfriend/
wife, and sung by the wonderful
Cathy La Crème, she relates
the story of their ‘affair’ and her
subsequent abandonment as
she is left behind in the wake of
his upwardly mobile trajectory.
The record was pressed and
was the first double ‘B’ sided
single, eventually selling 2,000
copies, and climbing the indie
charts of the time. John Peel
liked it and played it on Radio
One. But in the days before
MTV there was no money or
shop window for a video.
Back in 1980 I had just directed
a twenty minute film drama,
Last year was the thirtieth
The Tea Machine, set in a
Manchester canteen and written anniversary of the record, and
it seemed a good time to put
that right. A new voice, Neil
Bell, was found for JCC on the
soundtrack, and actors Tam
Hinton (as JCC) and Rachel
Priest (as Cathy) stepped
forward to play the main parts
on the video. It was shot by
cameraman Andy Davies
over two days in Salford last
November.
I’ve got some original film
footage of the real John Cooper
Clarke that I shot myself in
1982 so this has been edited in
and gives the five minute film
an added layer of irony and
humour.
I’ve always been a big fan of
John Cooper Clarke. Hopefully
when he sees this he’ll laugh
at what we’ve recreated thirty
years on - and not be dialing up
his legal team!
The video should be available
to view by late September. See
www.johncrumpton.co.uk for
updates
Salford Media Scene
P.15
MEDIA CITY
MADNESS
by Stephen Kingston
Over at MediaCityUK £millions are being spent on art
and ‘community engagement’. But at the same time,
Salford art and media companies that already work
with the community are struggling. The contrast is
quite staggering…
In the Langworthy Cornerstone, football game
cards are being passed around the café. It’s
only a quid to play and the money raised goes
towards a new roof at Salford Arts Theatre.
Currently, when it rains the foyer is covered in
buckets and they’re almost handing umbrellas
out at the box office.
At Ordsall Community Arts, cultural worker
Gail Skelly is on a sponsored 22 week `dry
run’ where, for a quid a week per person, she
won’t touch any alcohol. She’s trying to raise
money for the annual Lighting The Legend
community firework display.
A few hundred yards away at Ordsall Community Cafe, Bob Jeffery has just completed a
sponsored cycle ride from Lands End to John
O’Groats to raise money for ongoing community work.
All over Salford, community workers are trying
to come to terms with the new Government
and local council reality which has seen, and
will see even more in the future, savage cuts to
funding for their projects.
P.16
Salford Media Scene
Ordsall Community Arts (OCA) is based almost
across the road from MediaCityUK in an area
where child poverty runs at over 53%. Everything positive in that community seems to flow
through OCA, from community gardens to the
Ordsall’s Got Talent contest, to art exhibitions
and festivals, adults’ and kids’ cultural clubs.
parade which culminates in a firework show.
“This year we don’t have enough money to
have a decent firework display and I really
want people to know” Gail says “It suddenly
twigged one day that if I could get myself
sponsored I could get the money but also get it
talked about.”
Before applying for external grants, OCA
usually starts the year with £40,000. This
year it was £25,000, or a 40% cut, including
£12,500 axed directly from the government’s
Area Based Grant. The organisation has lost
Hence, Gail’s sponsored dry run for 22 weeks
ending on the 4th November. But this is not
just about getting the money for a wicked
firework display. Lighting The Legend was
started 19 years ago to stop kids getting
“I don’t let if affect me,
because if I did I’d probably go
stark raving mad!”
Roni Ellis, Salford Arts Theatre
a part time worker as a result, while grants
from sources like Ordsall and Langworthy’s
Community Committee have already been
reduced as a consequence of Salford Council’s
15% cut in the Committee’s budget.
“It’s looking like grants are going to be harder
to get and we’re going to be doing less work
in the community because there’s more time
needed to be spent on fundraising” explains
OCA cultural worker, Gail Skelly “At the
beginning of the year we were all concerned
with how the cuts were affecting all kinds of
different services. We lost the youth services
manager in Ordsall and we had to start to
think how we were going to raise money for
the projects that the community expect – that’s
why I made it personal.”
Lighting The Legend is Ordsall’s own version
of bonfire night, that happens on the Ordsall
Hall site where Guy Fawkes was said to
have hatched his original plot to blow up
Parliament. Each year, special lanterns are
made in local schools and community groups,
and around four hundred people take part in a
involved in setting off fireworks and bonfires
all over the estate. It’s about calming antisocial behaviour, increasing kids’ safety and
raising aspirations by getting them involved
in creative arts. Lighting The Legend is a
microcosm of the importance of community
media and arts in, for want of a better word,
disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
“I work with a young person, who wouldn’t
say anything to me, but told someone else…`I
was on the wrong road and if it wasn’t for OCA
I’d still be on that wrong road’” Gail recalls “I
think that art in a community setting has got a
huge, indescribably powerful role to play. But
these projects need continuity…and the Tories
have taken that away.”
It’s not just in Salford that government and
local council cuts might reverse the positive
affects of community and cultural work.
Nationally, almost three thousand full time staff
who work with young people have lost their
jobs and Graham Stuart, chair of Parliament’s
Education Select Committee has warned that
an increase in crime is “inevitable”.
Salford Media Scene
P.17
THE MEDIACITYUK MILLIONS
Media Enterprise Zone Fund:
£10million over next 5 years
Community Engagement Plan:
£161,000
Quays Signature Project Sculpture: £68,000
Welcoming the BBC to
MediaCityUK and MIF:
£520,000
“If you cut summer activities for young
people as night follows day you will see an
increase in crime”
Professor John Pitts
Salford City Council has
made huge cuts to this type of
work, mostly imposed by the
LibDem Conservative coalition
Government. At the top end,
£1.2million (42%) has been axed
from Salford’s youth budget as a
“new integrated youth service”
is launched; Salford’s culture
department is expecting cuts of
between 26 and 28% over the
next four years, and the Positive
Action for Young People project
has been slashed by 50%.
The community media and
creative groups that we spoke
P.18
Salford Media Scene
to have all tried to keep their
work going this summer, perhaps
because everyone knows the
consequences if it stops…
“If you cut summer activities for
young people as night follows day
you will see an increase in crime”
says Professor John Pitts who
advises London local authorities
on gang and knife crime. This, he
pronounced months before the
summer riots.
“There has been no funding made
available to provide summer
activities but we are going ahead
with our Crazy Customised
Cycle Competition and funding it
ourselves as we know that there
is a need to provide positive
activities during the holiday
period” says Trish Bartlett, Chief
Executive of Gears+, the motor
based arts group which was set
up seven years ago `to provide
positive and diversionary activities
for young people’.
Similarly The Lowry, despite a
£150,000 cut in funding, told us
“We have committed to deliver
a significant body of community
work under our Walkabout
banner. This work has not been
scaled back and will go ahead as
planned.”
The sentiments are echoed by
John Sculley, Salford’s Museums
and Heritage Services Manager…
“No family activities are affected,
we’ve been especially focused on
keeping our summer exhibition
family/child friendly” he says.
Despite this ongoing summer
work, the cuts have really begun to
bite. CRIS: Unleashing Creativity,
which does loads of community
work based around film, made six
people redundant at the end of last
March.
ARTS CARNAGE IN SALFORD
“We had no new projects or
contracts at the time” says CRIS
co-ordinator, Alison Surtees “We
have got one now but at a much
reduced price - a15% cut. We
were lucky to access Transition
Funding from the Government
managed by Big Lottery, so we can
build out internal mechanisms and
be ready for new contracts. It’s
supporting us to do Quality Marks,
improve our education offer and
train new development workers for
CRIS amongst other things.”
Salford Council Arts Department:
Salford Community Leisure:
Salford Youth Service:
Salford Community Committees:
Salford Schools Music Service:
Positive Action for Young People:
Little Hulton Small Project Fund:
Winton Small Projects Fund:
Salford Film Festival:
The Lowry:
CRIS:Unleashing Creativity:
Salford City Radio:
Working Class Movement Library:
Ordsall Community Arts:
Embrace refugee and asylum
seeker programme:
National Play Day Celebration at
Albert Park:
Magic Garden performance/art
activity:
Dirt and Dreams:
Proms in the Park:
Community Media Centre at
MediaCityUK:
Meanwhile, GEARS+, as yet,
hasn’t been so lucky…
“We haven’t experienced any
direct percentage cuts as most
of the services we deliver with
council funding are contracted
or commissioned each year” says
Trish Bartlett “However this year
we have been subject to delay
after delay… the overall impact of
this is that, like a lot of third sector
organisations, we are having to
look at short time working in the
hopes of avoiding redundancies.”
Other arts and media organisations
are trying to offset the cuts
by pulling in income from
wherever they can. While the big
organisations like The Lowry and
Salford Art Gallery and Museum
can increase income by growing
their commercial sides (car parking
charges, exhibition loans etc),
small community groups haven’t
got this option.
So Bob Jeffery has got on his bike
for the Ordsall Community Café,
Gail Skelly has gone on a sponsored dry run, and Salford Arts
Theatre is passing around the footy
cards. Basically they’re having
to look to their own, hardly rich,
communities for financial help.
26-28% cut over next 4 years
£1.16milion cut over three years
£1.2million cut (42%)
£196,000 cut
£300,000 cut
£700,000 cut
£10,000 cut
£10,000 cut
£20,000 cut
£150,000 cut
15% cut; 6 redundancies
£6000 cut
£10,000 cut
40% cut, one job lost
cut
cut
cut
reduced in scale
cut
cut
“Art in a community setting has got a huge,
indescribably powerful role to play”
Gail Skelly, Ordsall Community Arts
CRIS Production: Pack Up Your Troubles
Salford Media Scene
P.19
Ordsall Festival photo by Mike Atherfold
“Maybe there is a Big Society thing
that’s going on, they’re cutting
costs here there and everywhere”
decides Roni Ellis of Salford Arts
Theatre.
After years of uncertainty Roni,
who works with upwards of fifty
local kids doing drama, has just
got a ten year lease on the theatre
from Salford Council “on the
premise that the Council doesn’t
help us in any way, shape or
form”. They’ve leased it out to her
with a roof that leaks waterfalls
into the foyer when it’s raining…
“We said to parents and kids who
we work with that if we don’t
get this roof done this winter we
would be in a really vulnerable
position” she explains “So some of
the parents started it off. Mike and
Cheryl from The Weaste pub gave
us some football cards and £80
they collected from the cards in
the pub. Then they came up with
the idea of doing a boxing night
in October, and The Willows have
kindly given us the room for free.
“We’ve been quoted £5220 to get
the flat area of the roof sorted, and
with the money we have in the
bank and from the football cards I
reckon we need to raise £3000 by
September. We probably won’t get
there. But we can try.”
While everyone involved in
community media and culture is
scrambling around trying to keep
their work rolling, to keep staff in
jobs and even to keep roofs over
their heads, over at MediaCityUK
it’s a completely different story.
Last January, the Salford Star
revealed that out of £161,000
`Salford Community Engagement’
money for MediaCityUK, only
£10,000 was set aside for Ordsall
and Langworthy community
groups to fight over. The rest
was being given to five other
organisations, only one of which
was based in Salford. Following
the exposure, the funding was put
on hold and is still to be allocated.
The Star also estimated that out of
almost £1.5million Public Sector
Partners Programme which was
supposed to further engage the
community in MediaCityUK, a
Millions of pounds worth of public
money is being sucked into the
new `City’, and a lot of that money
has the word `Salford community’
attached to it. Yet local community
organisations, working with local
people every day, don’t seem to be
getting a sniff of the funding.
photo by Jemma Cooper
P.20
Salford Media Scene
staggering £1.3million never went
near the community, with the
money going on `research’, `consultancy’, `overheads’ and `virtual’
and `core’ programme teams. This
year, Salford Council has spent
£520,000 on three events for the
Manchester International Festival
and to “celebrate the BBC’s arrival
in Salford and the opportunities
they and MediaCityUK will bring
artists. Instead students from the
University of Salford and from art
institutions from Italy and Romania
were invited to enter.
“We’ve always prided ourselves
on collaborating with the
communities we work in” says
Scott Neal of LPC Living “so
when it came to developing the
open space at Radclyffe Park
Out of £161,000 `Salford Community
Engagement’ money for MediaCityUK,
only £10,000 was set aside for Ordsall and
Langworthy community groups to fight over…
to the city”. No Salford community
media groups were involved in the
staging of these events.
Meanwhile, £68,000 is to be spent
on a `Quays signature project’
or installation. SCMP bid for the
funding on behalf of local artists
and community groups but didn’t
get it, with the winner still to be
announced.
As part of LPC’s new £50million
retail and housing development
in Ordsall, 100 yards from Salford
Quays, £15,000 has been set
aside for a new public artwork.
The competition to design it was
never open to Salford’s community
we naturally turned to the local
University for their assistance.”
Salford Council has also set aside
£2million a year for the next five
years as a Media Enterprise Zone
fund, in part, to support creative
industries at Media City – although
there’s no actual financial help if
local media companies want to get
in there. And Salford’s proposed
Make Media centre for community
groups was axed by the North
West Development Agency in its
first round of cuts.
Salford Council also withdrew its
£20,000 funding for the Salford
Film Festival which showcases our
community made movies. As we
go to press the Festival is in danger
of not happening at all this year.
You can argue ‘til the cash cows
come home whether MediaCityUK
itself will benefit Salford’s
community with jobs. But what
is clear is that it certainly isn’t
providing work or contracts for
Salford’s grass roots community
media, youth and art companies.
The gulf between the huge
amounts of public money being
spent at MediaCityUK and the cuts
affecting local groups is staggering.
When the sums for just a couple of
MediaCityUK projects are put to
Gail Skelly it’s enough to make her
almost reach for the bottle again…
“Where’s that money gone?” she
asks “What’s going through my
mind is `What could we do with
that money?’…I would have an
Ordsall Community Arts post in
every area of Salford. I’d have a
cultural worker working alongside
organisations like the Broughton
Trust and the Seedley and
Langworthy Trust…”
But Roni at Salford Arts Theatre is
not about to jump off her roof…
“To be honest” she says “I don’t
let if affect me – because if I did
I’d probably go stark raving mad!
You’ve just got to try and pursue
what you want to do.
“However, without the work that
people like Gail and ourselves do,
there would be more anti-social
behaviour, crime figures would
probably go up and aspirations go
down…”
Salford Arts Theatre’s
Fundraising Boxing Night is at The
Willows, Weaste Lane October 20th.
Tickets available from:
www.salfordartstheatre.com
Salford Media Scene
P.21
IN MEMORY OF SALFORDS
GRAFFITI
PALACE
words by SK
P.22
Salford Media Scene
D
own by the Manchester Ship Canal,
almost across the road from Ordsall
Hall, Salford had another unique
hidden gem – a Graffiti Palace, where artists
from all over Greater Manchester came
to display their creativity in a huge, ever
changing outdoor public gallery.
Salford Council described the Palace as “one
of the longest unbroken stretches of graffiti in
the city” but declared it a “growing problem”
and “a significant negative impact on future
investment potential”.
It has now spent £15,000 removing the art,
as part of `Ordsall River Park’ improvements
costing £1,102,915 which will see a
walkway between Manchester City Centre
and MediaCityUK, and eventually intends
to replace the Palace with “bespoke’
green, graffiti-proof screens” which would
“embrace a panel design with vibrant
colours complementing the Irwell River Park
branding”.
Currently, the former Graffiti Palace, first
featured in issue 1 of Salford Media Scene,
is reduced to a secret warehouse and just
two walls that make up the sides of a private
factory on the site where the owner is happy
to allow artists freedom of expression.
SALFORD GRAFFITI PALACE R.I.P.
Salford Media Scene
P.23
Jo Carlon goes under the simple title of Salford Artist. Never
has that name been more apt as she maps her physical,
emotional and aesthetic ties to the River Irwell and beyond.
Gareth Lyons charts where Jo is coming from…
”
don’t know where it’s going to take
me...nobody is doing anything like
this” muses Salford Artist Jo Carlon
on her personal artistic journey
incorporating maps and memories.
“Life is a circus…life is busy, we’re constantly
bombarded with images which I’m trying to
bring into my current work” she explains, to
show how small we are in the grand scheme
of things. Just small dabs of paint on the
canvas of life.
Lounging on a chaise longe in her studio at
Salford’s Islington Mill, life seems to be okay
for Jo, who is successfully juggling a fulltime job as well as her art career which has
seen her work in television, theatre and as a
privately commissioned artist.
P.24
Salford Media Scene
Photos by Gareth Lyons
Salford Media Scene
P.25
Born and raised in Salford, Jo spent her
childhood in Higher and Lower Broughton and
has also lived in Eccles, Irlams O’ Th’ Height
and Kersal. It’s no surprise that Jo’s Facebook
pseudonym is Salford Artist as there aren’t
many places within the city she hasn’t called
home. Her experiences of living within the
bustle of Salford have allowed her to use these
experiences to become the artist she is today.
They are snapshots of the world Jo lives in
and as a consequence our world as well.
Using maps of places personal to her as a
base, Jo draws in the roads and rivers to create
a web on canvas or, as she explains, the
“human trials of existence”. She then fills in
this web with her thoughts, life experiences,
current events and memories.
There has to be progression i n my work....
With a degree in visual arts from the University
of Salford, Jo is a multidimensional artist,
illustrated in a burgeoning portfolio
which includes portraits, figurative
work, landscapes, set design,
fashion, design and poetry.
While she is in demand as
a commercial artist, the
images she is currently
creating away from
that career are,
for her, deeply
personal and introspective.
Each piece, a mix of traditional and
conceptual art, inspired mainly by Picasso and
J.W. Turner, is unique and takes approximately
six months to create. Once Jo has created the
web she herself doesn’t know the direction the
work will take, mimicking the meanderings
of the River Irwell which has been the
centrepiece for many of these images. One
thing is for certain; each piece is poignant and,
like the maps from which Jo draws, captures a
moment in her lifetime.
Jo uses a variety of mediums to create these
works - from paint, flyers and magazine
pictures, to reviews from her own work. Each
section of the collage is drawn together
within the web by aboriginal artinspired dots, which represent the
“light, repetition and energy” of
human existence. In what is a break
from many of her commission
pieces, Jo finds solace in this
personal work as she believes that
there “has to be progression in my
work…I can’t become the artist I
want to be until I have painted a
lot longer.”
Jo’s belief in progression and
challenging herself as an artist
in her map work has resulted
in praise and recognition
from the public, her peers
and from unexpected places.
At the Ordsall Community
Arts Exhibition she was told by
the organiser that her work was many
people’s `star of the show’. Jo seems even
more proud when she speaks of how some
schools in the city have integrated her map
work into parts of their curriculum.
It is therefore no surprise that Jo is currently
working on some more of these images, and
although not finished she enthuses over her
representation of Irlam’s O’ Th’ Height, and
the religious iconography she’s using to show
how her Catholic upbringing influenced her
early life.
Without prior knowledge of how Jo’s map
images combined together, the full meaning
of her work may be missed by the viewer…
“That’s the thing about being an artist, people
want an explanation” she says “When you’re
trying to get the image out and envisage it
in your mind you’re not worried about an
explanation, you’re just trying to get what’s in
your head out!”
than ten
years. She
explains that Salford
has always had an excellent and
diverse range of artistic talent in the
city. But now that the BBC is coming,
suddenly art and media is taking
centre stage. She echoes the thoughts
of many when she says “maybe the
council needs to start looking on its own
doorstep instead of bringing in southern
artists to do our stuff. ..
I can’t become the artist I want to be
until I have pai nted a lot longer.
This is what makes the work so poignant and
interesting. Jo has opened herself up and
trusted us, the audience, to her innermost
thoughts and memories.
Away from her art, Jo has also got plenty to
say about Salford’s creative scene, as one
who has been involved within it for more
...they want to have a look on their own
doorstep, they may be pleasantly surprised.”
Jo hopes that her current batch of work will
be ready around Christmas time, so she can
exhibit them for her ever-growing band of
followers.
See more of Jo’s work at
www.jocarlonart.com
or search Salford Artist on Facebook
Salford Media Scene
P.27
THE
Secret
Corridor
Photos by Jamie Stephenson
P.28
Salford Media Scene
Salford boasts one of the most
famous bars you’ve never heard of.
Pete Liggins investigates...
A
tiny blue neon lit sign, half way
down an uninviting alleyway, is the
only invitation you’ll get to Salford’s
most secret venue.
Corridor opened in 2008 with no hype, no
fanfare and certainly no publicity. People
liked finding out about it through ‘word of
mouth’ and the feeling of exclusivity that
gave them. Soon the Guardian, Financial
Times and FHM were handing out five star
reviews and last year it won the Northern
Hospitality Award’s Best Bar prize.
too many people where his new venue
actually was. A lot of customers even wake
up the next morning, not quite sure where
they’ve been.
Founder Ian Morgan was working in the
hospitality industry when he wanted a
change of scene and decided to move up
from Bristol.
It’s not an exclusive bar, if you can find
it you can go in, but its mainly cocktail
menu will only ever appeal to a minority
of drinkers. Because of this and some tight
lipped regulars, Ian says the bar is able to
keep under the mainstream radar.
“it’s not an exclusive bar, if you
can find it , you can go in.”
“It was just when Deansgate Locks had
first opened” he recalls “a friend running
a bar invited me up, so I packed a couple
of bags and paid a deposit on a flat I had
never even seen in Salford.”
It proved to be a good choice, with
the North West offering a stream of
opportunities for someone with a skill for
mixing cocktails. While working at the
Sugar Lounge and at just 25 years old, Ian
was named the UK’s Bartender of the Year.
That success brought with it the
opportunity to go it alone, co-founding
Socio Rehab in Manchester’s Northern
Quarter. Four years on and Ian was ready
to open his ideal bar, a passion project
created without compromise. It brought
him to an old textile factory, half way
down an unlikely looking alleyway in
the back streets of Salford. Of course,
being Ian, he wasn’t planning on telling
“You’re in the taxi talking, not paying
attention to where you’re going” he
explains “Then suddenly you’re here,
you get out and have a good time – hail
a taxi home. The next day you’re not
exactly sure where we are. They certainly
wouldn’t be putting their mortgage on it.”
“In some ways we’re quite lucky, you
speak to a lot of people and they’re very
wary of who they tell...I don’t know
whether that’s a bit selfish or not?” says Ian
“If we advertised we could probably pack
it out more, but that’s a dangerous road to
go down. You get that crowd in and it’s
great for six months, but one day you look
around and all the regulars have gone. It’s
easy to get greedy and watch it disappear
very quickly”.
Although it’s whispered quietly, Salford not
Manchester is home to one of the country’s
best new bars.
Find Corridor at 6-8 Barlow Croft, M3 5DY
www.corridorbar.co.uk
Salford Media Scene
P.29
Andy Whyment has
become a household
face playing Kirk
Sutherland in
Coronation Street.
But his yearning to be
an actor started really
young – in Salford,
and definitely not
in LA, as John Edge
discovers…
CORONATION
STreet's KIRK
I don’t have the heart to tell him
the Los Angeles thing is from his
official website. Just as well that
he’s not from L.A. Andy has starred
in two of the most iconic and wellloved northern television shows,
The Royle Family and Coronation
Street.
Stuff. For the next few years after
that it was just like one episode in
different things.”
I
“I’ve been acting since I was eight”
Andy tells me “It was a hobby
when I was at school and my sister
used to go to a dancing school.
The teacher there gave us the
number of an agency and I joined
them.
“Then I did The Royle Family starting in 1999” Andy recalls “And in
2000 I started in Coronation Street,
and I’ve been there ever since.”
“That’s a load of rubbish!” he retorts “I was born in Hope Hospital.
I’m Salford born and bred. I grew
up in Clifton and went to Ambrose
Barlow School.”
”I got my first speaking part when
I was eleven, in a six part series
called Once Upon A Time In The
North” he adds ”I played the son
of the lead character, acted by
Bernard Hill, who was also Yosser
Hughes in Boys From The Black
t’s ten o’clock in the morning
and actor Andrew Whyment has
just finished filming at Granada
and isn’t best pleased when I tell
him I’ve read that he was born in
Los Angeles.
P.30
Salford Media Scene
These included Cracker, Russ
Abbot, Where The Heart Is, The
Cops and a series Harry Enfield did
for Sky.
In The Royle Family, Andy played
Darren Sinclair-Jones, Anthony
Royle’s best friend. A hapless,
slow, inarticulate, but jolly petty
criminal who once got caught
stealing a fridge. In Coronation
Street Andy portrays Kirk Sutherland, brother of Maria, good as
gold, but thick as mud. I can’t
resist asking if Andy thinks there
are any similarities between Kirk
and himself…
“Not really” he decides “but I think
Kirk has got a heart of gold and
I’d like to think I’ve got a heart of
gold too. I’m definitely not as thick
as Kirk, but he’s certainly a loveable character, and I enjoy playing
him.”
Andy appeared as Kirk doing an
X Factor audition which can still
be seen on itv.com On the show
he expertly works the crowd to his
rendition of Kings Of Leon’s hit Sex
On Fire.
“It was part of Corrie’s fiftieth anniversary” he explains “They asked
if I would do it, so I said `Yeah’. I
thought it would be a good craic to
sing in front of the X Factor judges.
It was a bit weird though, and I felt
a bit of a fraud because I’m there
playing a character, and the rest of
them are there as themselves, trying
to make a career out of singing. I
enjoyed it though, and got three
`Yeses’ from the judges which was
nice.”
Photo by Albert Spiby
Andy sings as himself too and came
a very creditable second in Soapstar Superstar, just beaten by musical wonder-kid Richard Fleeshman
who played Corrie’s teen goth
Craig Harris.
Andy’s advice for
reaching the goal of
professional acting…
“If it’s something you
want to do, follow
your heart” he urges
“Get yourself an agent
and work hard”
“If it’s something you want to do,
follow your heart” he urges “Get
yourself an agent and work hard –
and I also have to thank my mum
and dad for running me to auditions up and down the country.”
For anyone starting out, hopefully,
those auditions will be held now
in Salford’s Media City, where the
BBC and ITV’s Coronation Street
are now moving.
Andy mainly just sings for charity
events, and plays football for good
“It’s been where it is now for fifty
causes too.
years and I think moving to Media
City is moving with the times” he
“I’m a massive Man United fan
decides “I think it’s going to be
and I go to nearly every single
a great set up down there, and I
game but I also play a bit for the
expect it’s going to be the place
All-Stars, which is a team with
to be. Everyone seems to be really
people from Corrie, Emmerdale
excited about it.”
and Hollyoaks” he says “I play
quite a few charity matches, but I
don’t play as much as I used to as Everyone’s also getting excited
about Andy’s upcoming Corrie
I’ve got two kids now.”
storylines which, we understand,
Perhaps they should follow Andy’s feature gangland kidnaps, prison
and drugs. Very L.A.
advice for reaching the goal of
professional acting…
Salford Media Scene
P.31
Salford and Manchester have just endured their worst riots in living
memory, which have coincided with the 192nd anniversary of the
Peterloo Massacre. For those interested in the reasons for such civil
unrest, look no further than The Working Class Movement Library.
from
riots
roses
to
T
he name ‘library’ belies
the other functions
and services this gem
provides. It provides an
unparalleled rich insight into the
narratives of ordinary people,
detailing their daily struggles and
routines. Also included in the
extensive collection, are items
less of a political persuasion but
more cultural, and include folk
songs, Industrial Ballads and Sea
Shanties, dramas and plays, all of
which give great insight into the
interests of typical working class
people.
is a perfect place to display the
various historic plates and jugs
commemorating cooperatives and
class struggles. Also on display,
are a collection of “stunt doubles”,
life-sized reproductions of various
items, handcrafted by artists based
at the nearby creative hub that is
Islington Mill.
Words By
K.Mac
Photos by
K.Mac and
Gareth Lyons
Recent exhibitions offered have
been a timely reminder, given this
A perfect day for those with a
sense of history would be to
spend a delightful afternoon with
the scores of enchanting books.
Then amble down the historic
Crescent to the pub that bears
its name and sample some fine
ales whilst discussing all that has
been gleaned during the afternoon
spent browsing, and no doubt
lament at how perhaps not enough
has changed for those on lower
period of austerity when the arts
are having their funding axed,
of the importance of arts to our
culture . As James Oppenheim so
eloquently wrote, “Hearts starve as
well as bodies, …..we want bread
but roses too.”
incomes. For those with some
time on your hands, why not
discuss the disenfranchised, in the
very same place where those two
greats, Marx and Engels waxed
lyrical and exchanged ideas on
those exact same concerns.
A further positive aspect to this
library, is the dynamic nature of it.
Fresh and inspiring events include
‘object of the month’ whereby a
particular item from the Library’s
collection is showcased, as
well as the various talks and
frequent exhibitions on offer, both
photographic and literary which
change periodically.
The latest and very recent addition
to the Library is the new ceramic
display which is currently housed
in what was once the photocopier
room of the previous tenant, Hazel
Blears! A tad too damp in places
to house the valuable books, this
P.32
Salford Media Scene
That life has improved
significantly, albeit not sufficiently,
is as a direct consequence of
the efforts of all those whose
lives and ideals and politics are
encapsulated in this very library.
For those of you who get irate by
the amount of inequality depicted,
this is the place to go to.
Whilst it might serve as a sad
reminder that in many ways,
little has changed to improve
the lot of the masses, certainly in
comparable terms to those much
richer, it is still nonetheless a very
inspiring experience to touch
and smell the artefacts
representing class struggle
through the ages. It’s as if
the energy of those heartfelt
pioneers of equality are in
the room with you, shoulder
to shoulder, urging you to
take up arms (metaphysically
speaking, of course) and
continue the fight towards
equality and respect for all.
Whilst it appears obvious
that the lives of the lower
classes have improved
dramatically since the likes
of Engels roamed the local
area, it is still the shameful
case that relatively speaking,
they are still a poor lot. For
those who may dismiss our
history or see it as having
little cultural significance to
today, open your eyes and
see the parallels so neatly
drawn out between yesteryear’s
poor and today’s. Sure we all have
the trappings, the televisions, the
PlayStations and so forth, but life
expectancy for those on poorer
incomes is still way below that of
higher earners.
As always, it is those at the bottom
that are forced to endure the worse
cuts and are affected most by the
economic changes taking shape.
Certainly equality amongst the
classes has a long way to travel
before being truly realized.
The WCML not only records the
history of class struggle but it
documents the process that we
are all still a part of in fighting
inequality. Sadly workers struggles
and inequality are not a distant
chapter in our history but are a
part, and a significant part at that,
of our very shameful present.
Dipping into the library will
hopefully give some impetus
to visitors to actively strive to
improve equality for all.
For further details about the
WCML and future events see:
www.wcml.org.uk
WCML 51 The Crescent
Salford M5 4WX
0161 736 3601
HORRIBLE
COMES TO
Mike Atherfold dons a plague mask and steps back in time to meet with the
Living Tudors....
I
n the shadow of St Ignatious
Church I meet up with Amber
Sanchez, the founder member
of the Living Tudors, who along
with two others is all ready in full
regalia. She thrusts a plague mask
in my direction and asks if I’d like
to join in with the merriment…
“We are a merry band of courtly
Elizabethan time travellers, lost
on our way to a banquet” Amber
tells me, sat at a table set out with
a veritable feast of cakes fit for
Elizabeth 1st herself.
“We make schoolchildren laugh,
and share stories about life in
Tudor times” she explains “And we
encourage children to compare
and contrast then and now.”
The characters they play, however,
were real people in those times.
There’s Mistress Middleton (Denise
Roberts) a herb and history
expert; Dickon the Jester (Ross
McCormack) an actor and writer;
Lady Margaret (Amber Sanchez),
an ex teacher, artist and general
show off, and Torkington (Walter
Greenhalgh), a falconry and
weapons expert.
“Primarily we are here to entertain
and educate and leave all the
gruesome details in” Amber laughs
“For example, the terrible things
Henry VIII did to his wives and all
the things you wanted to know but
were too embarrassed to ask.
“We also do various craft-based
sessions, like weaving, nosegay
making, quill writing, spinning and
a mystery object handling session”
she adds “We teach archery too.
We love toys and games, and
each of us has lots of experience
working with children and in
heritage education.”
Another passion is dancing The
Rat Dance, which they perform for
Photos by Mike Atherfold
HISTORI ES
SALFORD
me later. Strange stuff. Amber tells
me that she loves dressing up and
enjoys early modern history, so
this is the perfect project for her.
The Living Tudors get their costumes from ebay, flea markets and
enlist neighbours and relatives to
create…
“My mum, Yasmin, is a wonderful
seamstress and Tudor fanatic”
Amber states “She makes fantastic
hats, jewels and props. All in all
we have a great team behind us.”
But this isn’t just about dressing
up and having fun. The Tudors are
available for school bookings in
Greater Manchester, and normally
visit for a day, tailoring activities
to the teachers needs. They also
do festivals and parties, as well as
presenting talks on history. They
even perform shows, including
one called Punchenella and Joan,
an early form of Punch and Judy.
But it’s their love of role play
which shines through…
“My character, Lady Margaret, was
a favourite of Queen Elizabeth
Ist and is supposed to haunt
Ordsall” says Amber “They say she
died of a broken heart when her
twin brother, Alexander, died in
Ireland.”
She adds that jesters, far from
being poor, often became quite
rich when favoured by kings. One
was known to be able to do ‘a
leap, a whistle and a fart’ all at
once.
“I haven’t perfected this yet” she
says with a mischievous grin “But
Ross has!”
On that note I decide to bid Lady
Margaret good day and wish her
every success with this venture.
She plays me a parting tune on her
flute and curtsees.
Salford Media Scene
P.35
A pink grapefruit
has given
inspiration for a
new film production
company that has
sprung from the
seeds of despair.
Melanie McPhail
gets the juice…
Pink Grapefruit
Film Productions are:
Mike Atherfold
& Terry Scragg
FRUITFUL BEGINNINGS
B
oth are smart and well
dressed. Mike has a natural
humour, and Terry is clearly
an intelligent communicator.
Together they make a quirky, yet
down to earth pair. From first
impressions Mike and Terry are
not the sort of people you would
associate with depression, nervous
breakdowns or homelessness. But
they both have these experiences
in common. Now a pink grapefruit
has allowed them to live a new
creative dream.
P.36
Salford Media Scene
Terry was born in Salford, and
has lived here for most of his life,
apart from a short period spent in
Edinburgh. In the Eighties he set
up a design company and worked
around the world, however this
high flying career was not to last,
as his life spiralled out of control.
“I lost myself about ten years ago,
was homeless, and when I came
back down from Edinburgh four
years ago I was homeless again”
Terry explains “but one of the
events which changed my life was
starting with SCMP. If it wasn’t for
that I’d be sat in my flat or walking
the streets, a suicide case, really.”
Mike’s first job was in a
darkroom, and photography had
been his childhood passion, which
led to completing a degree in
photography-based media.
“I’d never thought of getting into
film work whatsoever” he says
“I’m similar to Terry in the way
that I went through a lot of bad
years and found myself again
Photos by John Elliott
Check out their ripening
creative business project at
www.pinkgrapefruitfilmproductions.com
through SCMP. I’m just getting my
confidence back again as I had a
total breakdown. We both have
the same ethos and are the same
type of people.”
“I’m so proud of being from Salford, and
there are so many creative people at SCMP
who have a passion.” Terry
After doing creative courses with
SCMP and film making with
CRIS: Unleashing Creativity, the
crucial moment came whilst
the pair, who were getting on
really well, were filming a stage
production of Romeo and Juliet in
TrenthamGardens in Stoke...
“There were 600 people sat
there and nothing on stage” Terry
recalls “But as soon as you set a
camera up everyone looks at the
cameraman and I thought, why
don’t people know about us? So
we talked about forming our own
film company.”
Mike had brought pink grapefruit
for lunch and Terry had
coincidentally just bought a load
of them too, so for this charmingly
eccentric pair, that sealed the fate
of the company name.
“The people involved with Pink
Grapefruit are making it work for
me, I feel safe” says Terry “I’m so
proud of being from Salford, and
there are so many creative people
at SCMP who have a passion.”
“On the drive back we got the
name sorted out, started the
website, and got t-shirts printed”
says Terry. Pink Grapefruit Film
Productions.com was born.
Mike excitedly talks about what
can be expected of Pink Grapefruit
Film Productions.com in the
future. “We hope to work with
theatre companies, and other
creative groups, as there is so
much talent in Salford and
Manchester so we’ll definitely be
working with them, in the future.”
Terry and Mike are a passionate
duo who are now bursting with
zest about new projects. Only time
will tell what the fruits of their
labour will bring.
Salford Media Scene
P.37
WHERE HAVE
ALL our
Photos by Paul Watson
Salford, with its population of 226,565 people has only one cinema
– the Vue, stuck out on the Quays in The Lowry Outlet Mall.
T
he Rialto in Higher
Broughton is now a
McDonalds. The Carlton
on Cross Lane is demolished.
The Salford Cinema on Chapel
Street is now a mission. And
the listed Ambassador cinema
in Claremont was demolished
in 2005 after a huge battle to
save it. Salford is a graveyard
of picture houses.
Even the free community
Salford Film Festival is on its
knees. Not a day goes by in
the city without a film being
made – yet there’s nowhere
to show them. Are people
bothered?
Graham Williamson went out
to Salford Precinct to find out
how people see films – do
they trek out to the Trafford
Centre, go into Manchester or
stay home with snide DVDs
from the market?
Do you go to the cinema at all?
Mrs Tither: No, I used to go.
Which cinema did you used to go?
Mrs Tither: I used to go to the Princess in Monton, it’s shut down, it’s flats now. We
used to have one in the centre of Eccles as well called Broadway.
Mrs Walker: There’s a place in Eccles that used to be a bingo hall, it’s been closed
a long time and I think it’s listed but it would make an ideal cinema. It’s a fabulous
place.
So if they opened that place up now do you think it would serve the city well?
Mrs Walker: Oooh yes. There’s nothing, nothing for young ones.
Mrs Tither & Mrs Walker
“I remember the heyday of the suburban cinema and
we had eight cinemas within walking distance. In fact,
the movies was my baby sitter. If me mam was going to
town she’d just bung us in the Rialto and pick us up on
the way home.”
John Cooper Clarke - as told to Peter Hook on Radio
4’s Chain Reaction
P.38
Salford Media Scene
CINEMAS
?
GONE
Shileen Norris
Do you go to the pictures at all?
Nah, do I ‘eck.
Did you know that the only cinema left
in Salford is at The Lowry?
Well I have been there with the kids.
Would you go to the cinema more if
there was one more central to Salford?
Probably yeah!
Joanne & Abbi Froggatt
Joanne Bolton
Shirley Swan
Do you go to the pictures at all?
I do but I’ve not been for ages. I usually go to Town or the Trafford Centre.
I used to go with my son who’s a
film buff but I’ve not been for ages. I
would definitely go more if there was
one around here because I’ve got a
little girl and she’s two and a half.
When did you last go to the cinema?
Joanne: Oh my God! About two years ago.
Any reason why so long?
It’s hard work because you have to go to the Lowry Centre or go to town.
When you went to the Lowry Centre did you find it hard to get there?
Not really it’s just that the car park price goes up after an hour to about a fiver or
summat.
If there was a cinema in Central Salford would you take Abbi?
Yeah.
Do you go to the cinema at all?
Not often.
Do you think it is a problem there being a lack of cinemas in Salford?
Yes I do because I live in Swinton and a lot of my friends have got kids and there isn’t
anywhere really local for them to go. You have to go to The Lowry or somewhere.
Do you think The Lowry is a bit of a mission to get to?
Yes and the buses aren’t cheap anymore. I mean when I was younger there used
to be loads of little cinemas. I used to live in Monton and there was a little picture
house there but now there’s nothing like that for anybody. It’s a shame because noone seems to be putting money into anything anymore. I find it frustrating sometimes.
They forget about all the little communities and focus on the money.
The Rialto, Higher Broughton
Photo by Mikey Kay
Salford Media Scene
P.39
ESCAPE
FROM THE CRYPT
Happystorm Theatre do plays in strange
places with strange subjects. Mike
Atherfold went underground to explore
where they’re coming from…
Photo by Mike Atherfold
H
aving dodged a rat I descended deep beneath the
bowels of the city into the
dank, dark crypt of St Philip with
St Stephen church, which is still
home to the remains of its patrons.
The smell was overwhelming, the
walls crumbling as Susi Wrenshaw
of Happystorm Theatre chuckled “Our biggest challenge was
working in an underground space
which was not designed for the living, let alone as a theatre space!”
hair “And we became overnight
experts at how to pass the fire
regulations.”
Happystorm are always up for a
challenge. The company, created
by Susi and Matthew Ganley only
last year, states that it `strives to
make professional, high quality
theatre which is innovative and
evocative’. And Salford people are
at the core of that.
As she spoke, fragments of the
ceiling started trickling down
my back like the sand in an egg
timer. The strange setting was for
a production of The Crypt earlier
this year, where twenty people at
a time wandered through tunnels
on a journey of life which had the
subject of addiction at its core, and
had been inspired by workshops
with the recovering community in
Salford.
“We moved to Salford and fell
in love with the place and the
people” says Susi “We speak to
the community asking them what
is important, what excites them,
what are people afraid to talk
about but really affected by? And
then we set about making a play
and gather first-hand experiences
from members of the community.
We also encourage local writers to
produce new plays as we
want to be part of the growing
sense of pride in Salford.”
“We very quickly learnt about
health and safety” said Susi, as she
brushed bits of the crypt from her
Happystorm’s latest production,
The Myth Of Escape, is a `dark
comedy exploring isolation, op-
P.40
Salford Media Scene
pression and the fight to hold on to
everything you believe in’. It takes
place in a cell to give added paranoia and got great reviews when it
ran at the King’s Arms during the
Not Part Of Festival in July. It’s on
a mini tour of the North West until
October and returns to Salford
in September, showing at Smiths
Theatre Restaurant in Eccles.
The Happystorm people don’t
make theatre easy for themselves.
First a church crypt, and then a
cell - in a restaurant?
“Every obstacle is an opportunity
for development and improvement” says Susi, adding “Well,
this is what we keep telling ourselves…”
Happystorm Theatre
also does community
workshops, local events
and acting tuition. For
further details and
contacts see
www.happystormtheatre.co.uk
ALICE IN
SALFORDLAND
Salford Arts Theatre’s Young Performers’ Company are
all set to go down the rabbit hole this autumn with a
very Salford take on Alice…Paul Watson gets curiouser
and curiouser…
N
o less than three young
actors will be playing Alice
in a new youth production
of Lewis Carroll’s famous story of
white rabbits, the Mad Hatter and
the Cheshire Cat.
As Alice slurps the bottle with the
`Drink Me’ label, three girls will
play the Looking Glass heroine
while she grows and shrinks.
Clarice is really looking forward to
becoming a third of Alice…“The
play is funny and you can be silly”
she says “There are talking animals
too, and people dressed up as
cards and in rabbit costumes hopping around the stage.”
Alice In Wonderland is the latest
production to be staged by Salford
Arts Theatre’s Young Performers’
Company, in the tradition of the
Salford Players that gave the world
Jesus, Ghandi and Charlie Bubbles, or Robert Powell, Sir Ben
Kingsley and Albert Finney.
The Young Performers’, co-ordinated by Roni Ellis and Faye Harrison, are encouraged in workshops
to devise the plays and Alice is
the latest of many productions, including Missing, a piece about a
child that disappears.
For Alice, with its caterpillars,
card people and grinning
cats, this will certainly
be a fun challenge…
“To act in Missing
I had to imagine
what it would be
like if one of my
friends disappeared,
and how this would
make me feel” says Lee,
who adds that Roni encourages the actors to draw on
any past experiences they
may have had and to
use them in acting
out a role.
Photo by Paul Watson
Alice In Wonderland
Salford Arts Theatre, Kemsing Walk,
off Liverpool St, M5 4BS
24th - 26th November Tickets:£5
Performance times: 7pm Thursday & Friday
Matinee performance Saturday 2.30pm
Further details:
www.salfordartstheatre.co.uk
Salford Media Scene
P.41
I
n Salford City Radio’s tardis-like
premises behind Swinton Civic
Centre, presenter Jill Bowyer is
telling me about a new Salfordbased radio drama that has been
written and produced by the team
at Twisted Ear productions.
It is set in Salford and called Life
in Suttie Street…and Jill can’t help
laughing when she mentions it as
it references former radio station
manager, Steve Suttie who was
reluctant to have his monicker
used when he was at the station.
“It’s set at the top of a cul de sac
where the main characters live
and the main meeting point is
the local garage run by the local
heartthrob” she says, adding that
the storylines are not only based
on the local residents but plots
include passing characters filling
up their vehicles.
One of the episodes may strike a
chord with the many Glaswegian
exiles living in Salford. It’s called
Ice Cream Wars and is about
ice cream van owners arguing
about nicking each other’s patch,
harking back to the Scottish
city’s notorious Ice cream wars
in the 1980’s where the conflicts
involved daily violence and
intimidation. Let’s hope Suttie
Street’s ice cream vendors can
work out a more amicable
conclusion.
With ten episodes already
recorded, the show is due to
be aired on Salford City Radio
in September. Twisted Ear
Productions has now been
running for three years and was
the brainchild of the
aforementioned Steve Suttie who
wanted to add drama to the radio.
Jill responded to advertisements
in the local press for contributors
and soon became the chief cocoordinator overseeing content,
P.42 Salford Media Scene
Twisted
Ear
A new Salford City Radio drama features ice
cream wars in the city. Graham Williamson
went to investigate life in Suttie Street......
Photo by Steve Baker
recording, editing as well as
contributing her own work.
Current Salford City bosses Roland
Gent and Chris Brophy have
continued the station’s support by
allowing local poets, actors and
writers to use Twisted as a conduit
for airing their talents out in the
public domain. Jill enthuses about
the individuals who have passed
through the Company’s door and
have gone on to success in their
own field.
Tune in on Tuesdays 5pm till 6pm.
Contact Jill on
[email protected]
Salford City Radio - 94.4 FM
www.salfordcityradio.org
Funk flippers, the Original Headits, have had nearly one and a half million
plays on their myspace site. Not bad for a band that takes its inspiration from
the Starsky and Hutch theme tune. Graham Williamson gets on their case…
I
t was Salford artist Joe Coffey
who brought my attention
to urban funk duo Original Headits. Joe told me they had over a
million profile hits on their myspace page which is a phenomenal
amount of interest by anyone’s
standard; Wembley stadium filled
more than ten times over. When
I actually checked the site, that
number was nearer the one and a
half million mark.
I meet up with the pair in Swinton boozer, The Bull’s Head,
after months of trying to track
them down. The place is depressingly empty and the monsoon-like
weather doesn’t help but the mood
is buoyant as I sit down with the
lads to talk about music.
One best describes the Headits’
sound as brilliantly looking to the
future by foraging through the past,
namely 70’s funk, old school rap
and a sprinkling of jazz, digging up
tunes you have likely heard from
the old American cop dramas.
Bassist and Winton based
F
producer Trev explains “Yeah!
Starsky and Hutch theme tune,
that was what got me into funk in
the first place”. And Vocalist and
guitarist Neil adds “Yeah that’s the
kind of vibe we are going for, a
funk feel”.
One of the Headits’ strengths is
the clever production that brings
parallels to The Dust Brothers,
who have worked on masterpieces
such as Beastie Boys ‘Paul’s
Boutique’ and Beck’s ‘Odelay’,
with clever use of sampled vocals,
DJ scratching, weird interludes and
stops in the middle of songs.
Trev tells me how his home studio
has evolved from a small six track
analogue to 32 track digital, and
one Headits track, the bass heavy
Everything I Wanted To Believe In,
highlights his studio jiggery pokery,
sounding delightfully like a mix of
The Professionals theme tune with
Average White Band-style vocals.
Other strong tracks include the
anti-drugs themed High From The
Pill so, with a ruck of tunes already
UNK IN THE
in the bag, when can we expect
to see an album?
“We’re just trying to get four
tracks finished at the moment,
we’ve got too many tunes to be
honest” explains Neil “We’re not
sure what to put on it, we want to
make sure we get the best ones
on there.”
“We’ll get the album
downloadable on iTunes”
adds Trev “Then get into music
licensing for tv and film and stuff
like that. We’ve been offered
dates in the States too in the past
but found it hard to get a band
together.”
With a sizeable established
audience, all that’s needed is a
good tour management team,
a decent music video for the
album’s lead single and maybe
get the BBC at Media City to
commission a Salford-based cop
drama to soundtrack, and the
game is theirs. Brilliant stuff.
HEAD
Photo by Steve Baker
Listen to Original Headits at:
www.myspace.com/
originalheadits
Photo by Steve Baker
Salford Media Scene
P.43
ONE
DAY FILM CLUB
Can anyone really make a film? Yes, according
to the One Day Film Club which makes short
films with local people. Here, Mike Scantlebury,
founder of the Club, explains what it’s all about
T
a script and some actors. I got
in touch with a local 6th Form
College, we had a meeting, picked
a day, and off we went.
SCMP provided a camera and
we used the Cornerstone as a
location, so all we needed was
When people asked, ‘What are
you trying to do?’ the answer
was, ‘Make a short film in a day’,
so when we came to open a
Facebook page, the name kind of
suggested itself… The One Day
Film Club.
he One Day Film Club
emerged after a SCMP film
night at the Cornerstone
in Langworthy two years ago,
at which they said that all you
needed to make a film was: a
script, a camera and equipment, a
location and actors.
The aim of the club is to showcase
local talent. Most of the kids don’t
want to learn scripts, and most
people who make short films
don’t like writing them out, so we
work with ‘a plan’, i.e. a story, but
the words just come along at the
time.
This is good news for people who
just want to turn up, spend a few
hours and get to see a result. We’re
not saying, ‘Come back next week’
or ‘We’ve got a shooting schedule
of days and days’, and generally,
we can share the film as soon as
it’s edited. We put it up on Vimeo.
com, which is an accessible site
and people can download it if they
want to.
Since most schools and colleges
spend weeks, maybe months
planning shoots, this is an
enjoyable alternative, and still
produces a product that you can
add to your portfolio and CV.
It helps school kids, university
students, out of work actors;
and ordinary people who want
to try making a film without a
massive investment of time and
effort.
We’ve been using Salford Lads
Club as a location for nearly a
year, and work closely with their
kids and volunteers. However, the
Club is independent and has been
busy fund raising, but we only
need money for travel and lunch
now, since we’ve had funds to buy
camera, film, memory cards etc.
Find the One Day Film Club on Facebook,
watch out for dates offered and reply if you
can make it..
Or e-mail: [email protected]
P.44
Salford Media Scene
Ideally, we’d like all ages to take
part, and feel that the experience
is a good way for young people
to get to know and appreciate
older people. So, anyone can take
part, and will be welcomed on the
day.
by Mike Scantlebury
REVIEWS
F
I
L
M
LOVE, LOSS, TRUE GRIT AND GANGSTERS MAKE UP TWO FILMS
SHOT IN SALFORD AND SHOWING NOW…
Moving On
A story of pain and loss as well as hope
S
hot in Buile Hill Park and
at The Racecourse Hotel in
Lower Kersal, Moving On
is a short film about death, grief
and depression. Dave is a bloke
who’s lost his world, along with
his place in it. Emotionally pained,
his appearance is shoddy, his life
empty.
This is a man who has clearly lost
everything he once held dear, and
is now devoid of all hope, drinking
to cope with his insurmountable
pain. Dave is divorced, his
inability to come to terms with the
death of his young son capsizing
his once stable marriage. Grieving,
unravelling, and spiralling out
of control, he seeks help from a
counsellor and eventually begins
the arduous journey of turning his
life around.
Comedic relief is provided by
the character Bob, an old mate
of Dave’s, whose half-hearted
commiserations, coupled with his
unashamed boasting of his many
successes, will leave viewers
laughing hard.
Whilst the film opens with
utter emptiness and despairing
loneliness, it veers towards the
potential of hope. It reminds us
to take chances in life and is a
poignant guiding light to anyone
who has experienced the pits
of loss. For those wanting to
know if Dave comes unstuck
and moves on, the film has been
shortlisted for its public premier
at Soho Film Festival, London
- or check it out online www.
pinkgrapefruitfilmproductions.com
and on Youtube
by K.Mac
MOVING ON
Written by: Yvonne Carsley
Directed by: Oliver Milatovic
Produced by: Terry Scragg
(in association with CRIS)
Starring:
Graham Williamson
Terry Scragg
Oliver Milatovic
DURATION: 15 minutes
The Watcher
Strange occurences on Paradise Heights
I
t is Halloween night. The
Police have asked that kids
don’t trick or treat. Gangs of
masked hoodies roam the streets
in the latest film of Joe O’Byrne’s
acclaimed series of movies and
plays set in the fictional North
West estate of Paradise Heights.
Ian Curley stars as East European
Marek, a taxi driver on a night shift
he will never forget. It’s an unsettling ride. Something strange is
happening to the radio. A young
family, a homeless man and a loan
shark (O’Byrne reprising his role of
Frank Morgan) are all haunted by
the past.
This stylish, powerful and atmospheric film had its premiere at The
Lowry recently. Although part of
a series, the film stands well on its
own.
by John Edge
THE WATCHER
Written & Directed by
Joe O’Byrne
DURATION: 26 minutes
find the film at www.vimeo.com
Salford Media Scene
P.45
REVIEWS
M
U
S
I
C
THE LATEST SALFORD MUSIC ON DISC AND DOWNLOAD, FROM
ROCK TO RAP, TO GLAM TO LYRICAL SLAM…
OTHER PEOPLE LIKE ME is
available on download with the
CD released on 5th September.
The UK tour starts first week
Sept ‘til last week November.
Check it all out at
www.vinnypecuilar.co.uk
Vinnie Peculiar
Other People Like Me
by my top tracks, Artrockers, Art
Thief, Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
Favourite Sunday chills are Judy
Wood with its melodic cello and
haunting piano, while Something
and Nothing and Theme Fifteen
chill on.
C
reated by Salford
homeboy, Vinnie, a critical
wry talent with punk
poetics, glam rock and attitude,
has done it again. With his own
sounds influenced from the last
forty years, Mr Peculiar has, with
the best British ingredients, made
by Terry Scragg
a meal with, T Rex, Bowie, Ferry,
Costello, and Jarvis Cocker. If you
ever wondered what it would taste
like, don’t. Vinnie has cooked it
up.
The My Generation rock and glam
guitar track is for starters, followed
If filming the music video at
Weaste Lane allotments on a
Sunday morning is anything to go
by, Vinnie is a must see on stage.
The sounds from a fired up red
Audi Quattro screaming round the
streets of Salford. What albums
would Vinnie Peculiar buy for
Christmas? If you have discerning
tastes listen and find out...
Trojan Horse
Trojan Horse
S
alford four piece nouveau
prog band, Trojan Horse,
took three and a half years
making their debut album and you
can tell.
“We make Prog-Rock, it’s not
about being pretentious, it’s about
letting everyone know how good
you are” they say about their
ethos.
The album is an epic journey
through a range of genres, woven
P.46
Salford Media Scene
together in often surprising ways.
Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd psychedelic flights turn into Sonic Youth post
punk and white denim-like driving
rock. Other times you might hear
Beach Boys harmonies, Gong-like
jazzy syncopation, or a little nod
to James Brown, all combined in
a mix somewhere between Yes
and The Avalanches. Despite
all the influences, they’ve come
up with a sound that is unique to
themselves. A remarkable debut.
Musically accomplished, thoughtful, bravely experimental and
clever. Not many bands do songs
about Patricroft either. They must
be awesome live.
by John Edge
The album is available for
download from trojanhorse.
bandcamp.com
REVIEWS
I
t’s loud, it’s shouty but Class
Actions are a breath of fresh air
as the country falls to pieces to
a karaoke soundtrack of Pop Idol
and the X Factor.
M
U
S
I
C
Class Actions
Con-Dem Killers Mix-tape Vol. 1
These are hardcore political
tunes that fly from the left with
raps, with soul, with Mike F’s ace
electro vibes - with loads of angry
language to match from the gob
of Aslan AK. And no-one escapes.
Not the Royal Family. Not the
BNP. Not the “morally deranged”
bankers. And def not the Con-Dem
government… “We don’t want no
Con-Dem nation, f***king it up,
we’re the lost generation”.
They got a track glorifying Militant,
starring the politicians who got
stuffed by the system years ago…
And they got contemporary smashing glass and news soundtracks
of the recent student riots to the
sweet background of the Internationale.
Well, someone had to do it. Someone had to put a proper political
soundtrack to the economic and
political mess that is 2011. Thank
God it’s coming from Salford…
Find out more about Class Actions and download Con-Dem Killers
free at www.classactionsuk.com
by SK
Toby Jughead And His Band Of Merry Drones
Media City Ditty
T
his catchy, rock infused,
danceable track is a rather
cynical song about the
famous flagship development
on the Quays... “Media City
you’re so sh***y” starts the song
which goes on to suggest bribery,
hypocrisy and nepotism. “Status
can be got with your knickers
down” the punkish, jazzy vocalist
sings... “Your lover’s in through
the back door.”
It’s certainly topical and worth
a listen. Not sure who they are
getting at but someone comes to
mind…
by John Edge
Find it on Facebook and at www.reverbnation.com/tobyjughead
Salford Media Scene
P.47
Salford
Media
Scene
is the magazine of
Salford Community Media Partnership
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// TasterDays // Exhibitions //
Get Involved NOW!
Contact Linda Robson on 07534 969007
[email protected]
www.scmp.info