Every few years I find myself answering the Proust Questionnaire to see how my answers change over time. The famed questionnaire itself came from a French parlour game and, though not devised by Marcel Proust, he certainly popularised it with… Read More »The Proust Questionnaire
This last week, the Scottish BPOC Writers Network hosted a talk on Performance and Resistance by Sumud Edinburgh, an organisation supporting a free Palestine. Sofia Nakou, a lecturer in Performance at the University of the West of Scotland and Dani… Read More »Performance and Resistance
As Scotland hosts England at Hampden Park tonight to celebrate the 150-year anniversary of the first International football match, I’ve unearthed an article I wrote for a short-lived periodical during the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. Rewritten for… Read More »Anyone But England (Redux)
As the time of year for Poland’s finest music festivals is upon us, it’s as good a time as any to reflect on what a miserable experience an outdoor festival can be. Knee deep in a violent blend of mud,… Read More »Middle-aged Memories of Music Festivals
It starts early, at school. Back in the dark days of the mid-eighties, when teachers were less – let’s say – enlightened than they are today. Those were the days of jumpers for goalposts, chalk on blackboards, and right to… Read More »To Be a Southpaw
I was fascinated by silence as a wee boy. That is not to say the times in which I was quiet were plentiful; even when I was a child, it was difficult to shut me up, much to the eternal… Read More »The Sound of Silence
Names. To a band so titled, or indeed to their audience, a name can mean everything, or it can mean nothing. Names can be serious, political, witty, pithy, nonsensical, knowing, ironic, or just ever so simple. After the first few… Read More »What’s In a Name?
Living abroad, there is much I miss about Glasgow. Kelvingrove Park, Offshore, Nice N Sleazy, Monorail, and – of course – the inimitable scene that spawned so much great music. Equally, there are things that I gladly left behind. The… Read More »90 Minute Bigot – The Old Firm
Though largely forgotten now – even by members of the group themselves – my first band in Poland, the post-rock effort, the Frozen North had an exciting first year. Recording, radio, TV, wee festivals, TEDxWarsaw, and other bits and pieces.… Read More »Marain (a tribute to Penderecki)