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Students raise £500 for homeless in Brighton & Hove

Students raise £500 for a charity for the homeless by taking part in two surveys.

Photo by Mihály Köles
Photo by Mihály Köles

THE students, from the University of Brighton’s School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, completed the Brighton Student Survey for first and second years and the National Student Survey for final year undergraduates.

Money raised through donations from those taking part will go to the Clock Tower Sanctuary, a day centre providing information, advice and guidance to homeless young people, aged 16–25 years, in Brighton and Hove.

Jane Challenger Gillitt, Senior Lecturer, said: “We tried a new way to encourage participation by linking the response rate to cumulative donations to the sponsored charity. It was a success both for us and for this great charity. Thanks to all the students who took part and the staff who supported the initiative.”

Trans Pride sixth annual film event

My Genderation and Eyes Wide Open Cinema team up at the Duke of York’s Picture House on July 20, 2018, to present a selection of short films exploring a variety of trans lives and experiences worldwide.

Tear Jerker
Tear Jerker

ORGANISERS of the Sixth Annual Trans Pride Film Event are looking for short, fact or fiction films, under 25 minutes that represent the trans experience.

They are particularly encouraging submissions that are fiction films, and films by and/or about trans people of colour, non-western trans people, trans people with disabilities, bi+ trans people, trans people of faith, older trans people, and non binary people.

If you cannot afford the fee,  email Fox at mygenderation@gmail.com and you will be sent a fee waiver code.

The $5 fee is to ensure that the committee aren’t wading through a lot of material which isn’t trans specific and will be used to pay for the subtitling of all films sumitted to make them more accessible for everyone.

Tickets for the screening will be on sale very soon, at a subsidised cost of £4/£6.

This is a fundraising event to raise money for Trans Pride Brighton.


Awards & Prizes

♦ Best Fictional Short

♦ Best Non Fictional Short

♦ Best Cinematography

♦ Best Acting

♦ Best Script

♦ Most Engaging Trans Content

Awards will be selected by an independent panel of trans people.


Rules and Terms and Conditions

♦ The short film submitted must represent transgender experience in some kind of way.

♦ All non-English-language films need to be submitted with subtitles in English.

♦ All short films must be under 25 minutes long.

♦ Ideally, you should have some promotional material (images, copy, etc.) that organisers can share.

♦ By submitting your film you are giving organisers permission to screen it as part of the Trans Shorts International Film Night.

♦ All successful applicants will receive two complimentary tickets to the screening in Brighton.

♦ Unsuccessful applicants are not guaranteed to receive feedback on our decisions.

For more information, click here:


Event: Official Trans Pride Brighton Sixth Annual Film Event

Where: Duke Of York’s Picturehouse, Preston Circus, Brighton BN1 4NA

When: Friday, July 20

Time: 6.30pm – 9pm

Cost: Tickets £4-£6

Sussex Police donate £500 to the Sussex Beacon

Sussex Police donate £500 from the Police Property Act Fund to the Sussex Beacon.

THE POLICE Property Act Fund is made up of monies received by the police from the sale of found property and from property confiscated by order of the court and then sold.

The Sussex Beacon provides specialist care and support for people living with HIV. They promote independence and improve health and wellbeing through their inpatient and outpatient services.

Accepting the cheque from LGBT liaison Officer, PC Breeds from Sussex Police, Sussex Beacon Fundraiser Lisa Marshall said: “The Sussex Beacon is really delighted to receive the £500 donation. On behalf of all our service users, volunteers and staff we would like to say a huge thank you to The Police Property Fund and we are very grateful for PC Breeds nomination this year.”

 

LGBT+ chorus support campaign to restore Saltdean Lido to former glory

Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus support campaign to help save and restore the Art Deco building at Saltdean Lido, the only Grade 2 Star listed building in the U.K.

THE #lovesaltdeanlido campaign was launched recently with this purpose in mind. The intention is to raise £100k from supporters which is needed to unlock a further £4.2m from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Brighton & Hove Council has also pledged £700k to this second phase of the Lido restoration project.

Deryck Chester, Volunteer Director for Saltdean Lido Community Interest Company, said: “It really means a lot to the campaign to have the public support of organisations such as the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus. We are developing great momentum with the campaign and support like this really helps boost morale and spread the word. Thank you to all!

“We need to show the Lottery there is public support for the campaign by raising £100k from donations. People need to pledge by the time the Lottery meet to make a decision in the first week in June. And don’t worry – money won’t come out of their accounts until the project has been given the green light.”

Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus member Adam Betteridge added: “I’m really excited by the bid to restore the rest of Saltdean Lido building. A number of the Chorus members and supporters live in the Saltdean area, and I for one took great pleasure in using the outdoor heated swimming pool after it was reopened last Summer.”

For further information to support the restoration of the Saltdean Lido, click here:

Reuben Kay – The Wicked Queen of Oz!

Photograph by Ayesha Hussein
Photograph by Ayesha Hussein

Reuben Kaye sits down with Tin Nguyen to talk about his latest production, what drives him and where he’s come from (hint: it’s down under!).

VIVACIOUS and vivid are two words that come to mind when one thinks of the ever glamorous Reuben Kaye – not to mention he has just won Best Cabaret at Adelaide Fringe 2017 and nominated Best Cabaret in Perth.

Amid a lively and business laden bar, his defiant personality penetrates the noise as he talks of breaking away from the monotony of musical theatre.

GS: How did you end up where you are?

RK: I started cabaret recently and certainly what I originally came to London [from Australia] to do was become a serious actor in the musical theatre. I did that, and it was really constrictive creatively. What I love is bounce, bounce, bounce and that moment of connection but in musical theatre, except on rare occasions, that doesn’t exist. For me, the product I want to give the audience is honest, spontaneous and real. I want the audience to walk away saying “f**k that was great, that was inspiring, that was uplifting”. Said with lightness, after every show, I want to feel changed by the audience or the audience by me.

GS: How long have you been doing what you’re doing now?

RK: I did my first cabaret gig in 2012 in Oxford when I was doing panto. I was at the Oxford Playhouse playing ‘King Rat’ and it was then that I did my very first cabaret show.

GS: As a performer, what makes you unique and memorable?

RK: I do look at myself as a product, but for me, knowing what makes [me] unique and memorable, kills what I’m doing. That’s for the audience to decide, because if they can remember me through a hangover and a come down, then I’m doing my job right! My narrative of being gay bashed and abused [in Australia] to become a fragile and broken book, I don’t think it gives hope to a newer generation of queers who are growing up without this psychosexual trauma of the only narrative they’ve been exposed to is you’ll get beaten up and die of AIDS. I don’t think that’s a narrative that will help any young queen or older queen out there.

GS: So how do you intend to contribute and make a difference to the younger generation?

RK: Through the show, through the celebration of what I do, and the fact that I’m a queen with power. I represent that. There’s emotional vulnerability but it’s not about me being an assistant. I’m not here to do anyone’s hair or makeup. I want to look after our own community – our rates of suicide, drug addiction and teen homelessness are sky rocketing and that’s through a problem with the [inherited] narrative of the LGBT+ communities.

GS: What is a snapshot of the show that is showing at Soho Theatre?

RK: Imagine if you were priority boarding at Dean St Express! That’s a snapshot! Into the class lounge where you get a cocktail, you get a drink, you get a massage, they take your blood and everything’s fine – HEAVEN!

GS: What inspires you?

RK: Jayne County and the Electric Chairs, who were one of the first transgender rockers in the world. Tom of Finland – f**king amazing! Queer artists, queer writers who get out there and do it and own it and don’t apologise. Anyone who does that! It’s 2018, the period of ‘everyone living their truth’ but they’re not, they’re just doing a hash tag on a f**king trend.

GS: So what has inspired this show?

RK: The first Batman film with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson – the moment where Jack Nicholson has fallen into a vat of chemicals and he demands a mirror post-operation as he proceeds to historically laugh in joy. Through something super traumatic, he has so much joy  and power, that was my real inspiration for this show. My inspiration point was how sh***y I felt in high school, how I felt like I don’t belong and how I still feel like I don’t belong. But no one belongs in the world, you have to make your own world.

GS: So the show started in Australia?

RK: This was created in London but premiered and developed in Australia. Started in Perth and Adelaide, then Edinburgh and it took off. We got sixth best reviewed show – it went really well!

GS: What is the hardest thing you come up against in the creation of a show?

RK: I’ve had audience members [in Australia] not get it, they’ve loved it but they come up to me and say “you know you’re actually pretty good, but you’re not really gay are you?” (laughs) The physicality of my shows also take a lot and doing the run of Edinburgh was a lot of effort. What this show does to my body is intense and the worst thing is I’m a fan of a party after! The emotional journey, the physical journey – that takes a toll on your body and learning to do what I do on stage and to push myself to a limit, you’ll see it’s a lot of sweat!

GS: So what have you got planned for the future?

RK: I have to go get tested… (laughs) I will keep making work, because I have no choice! I am doing a show at the Roundhouse over summer called ‘Club Swizzle’. I’ll take this show back to Melbourne, my home town which I’ve never played. I want to keep doing what I’m doing because I have an amazing time working with and for brilliant people.

Photograph by Ayesha Hussein
Photograph by Ayesha Hussein

Reuben Kaye plays at the Soho Theatre, London, till Saturday, June 16.

To book tickets online, click here:

He also will appear at Club Swizzle at the Roundhouse in London from July 31 – August 26.

To book tickets online, click here:

MUSIC REVIEW: Glassmaps – My head my heart

Glassmaps conjures a balance of yin and yang, with his track My head my heart.

GLASSMAPS is a curious name for an artist. A map made of glass would surely offer no aid to a lost traveller; the glare alone would be problematic at best. And much like his namesake, creator of the project Glassmaps, Josh Stein’s latest single casts up unifying contradictions.

An 8bit drone of synth chords lines the floor of a hospital waiting room, when the track known as My head my heart begins. Notes string themselves out from the Australian guitarists’ electronic hands, dipping into the sound of artificial trepidation as they mix with the weary kicks of drum beats.

Stein shuffles away from his days as a main player in indie rock band Howling Bells, grasping whole heartedly at crumbling distortion but decorating it with an eerie programmed synthesis instead of his usual guitar based glory.

His humming vocals capture the nuance of a hospital waiting room – the place of the track’s conception, with brittle pixels of overdrive. Each of the gravelly vocal notes seem to dissolve into their twinned synthesiser note. Each droning chord is treated with a gritty DIY production that feels as though it’s been picked up from the song’s birth place, and dropped off in a studio to grow up. If Stein were to record his conjuring of uneasy drones and ominous electricity just as his amp blew over, it wouldn’t sound any different to the overarching production of this track.

And yet, as the track’s chorus approaches, hope streams through the otherwise dimly lit room. Airy chords that string out their own line of pretty melodies, find themselves immersed in red lining falsetto from Stein’s now desperately hopeful vocals. Steampunk rock reminiscent of Royal blood or Cage the elephant, bursts out from the climbing voice, offering the light yang to the previously overcast yin of ominous sounds.

Stein paints a burnt out hospital room of desperate victims and hopeful loved ones, with his juxtaposition of threatening pitch black verses and encouraging chorus in this track. He seems to find a refreshing sort of balance in the volatility of bleak melancholic drones and sanguine vocal cries, offering us emotional contrast through electronic devices.

I wonder if the rest of the artist’s album can juggle this oxymoronic twist on synthesised odes.

Stockholm Pride supports Baltic Pride

Stockholm Pride supports Riga’s LGBT+ organisation, Mozaika, with €4000 to help them organise and stage Baltic Pride this year.

THE money comes from Stockholm Pride’s solidarity fund which supports Pride festivals in vulnerable locations around the world.

Britta Davidsohn, president of Stockholm Pride says: “Stockholm Pride wants to actively take part in the global Pride movement. The work Mozaika is doing is truly important and we are proud to be able to support them in arranging Baltic Pride.”

According to the latest ILGA-Europe Rainbow map and Rainbow index (released on May 14, 2018) Latvia is firmly in the last place in the EU with a worrying number of 16% regarding the rights for LGBT+ people. That is not only the lowest in the EU but also only 5% more than in Russia.

Currently the legal position of LGBT+ people in Latvia is much closer to Russia and Belarus than to Western Europe.

This is an extremely dangerous tendency, especially taken in context with CIVICUS Monitor‘s recent conclusion that in the last two years civic space in Latvia has been “deliberately” restricted.

As a result CIVICUS monitor has downgraded Latvia to a ‘narrowed’ democracy due to shrinking civil society space and the decline in respect of fundamental freedoms in the country.

Kristine Garina, chair of Association of LGBT+ and their friends Mozaika says: “At such a critical moment for democracy and human rights it is especially important to uphold freedom of assembly and march at this years pride!  Baltic Pride 2018 in Riga will gather those who feel threatened by this dramatic decline in rights and democracy in Latvia. Support for Baltic Pride at this point is absolutely essential!

“We applaud and thank Stockholm Pride for taking this solidarity action! It means the world to LGBT+ communities in Latvia to have allies and friends who don’t just look away from troubled regions in Europe.”

The organisation of Baltic Pride alternates between three Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Stockholm Pride attended EuroPride 2015 in Riga to show support and will be returning together with West Pride for this years Baltic Pride in Riga to show their support once and promote EuroPride 2018 which they are co-hosting with West Pride.

EuroPride 2018 will take place in Stockholm from July 27 – August 5 and in Gothenburg from August 14 -1 9.

Stockholm Pride is the largest Pride festival in the Nordic countries and works for the visibility of human rights for LGTB+ people and to create a safe space for homosexuals, bisexuals, transgenders, queers and other groups within the LGBT+ communities.

For more information about EuroPride 2018, click here:

OPINION: Sam Trans Man on drugs

Dr Samuel Hall on the drugs he’s dependent on and how his brain is rewiring itself in his second puberty.

Dr Samuel Hall
Dr Samuel Hall

PLEASE forgive my indulgence, since I’ve little to say about chemsex as per last month’s theme, instead I’m exploring the influence of a drug that I’m totally dependent on for both my physical and mental health, and wellbeing. Testosterone.

As I write I’m on enforced convalescence. Who knew that I’d have to be dragged away on holiday? That I’d be reluctant to travel or seek the sun… I was initially reticent because we had to book this break prior to my surgery in February, and I was nervous that I wouldn’t be healed enough to travel, or that some complication would hold me back. But my beloved, who always knows best, persevered, riding roughshod over my protestations to drag me away from gloomy England to a tranquil spot in the mountains nestling above the Costa del Sol, eating local food and dipping my toes and still healing arm into the freezing Mediterranean. What bliss. I know that I’m both extremely lucky and singularly ungrateful – I really don’t deserve to have someone so very much on my side! I’m increasingly becoming a grumpy old man in the eyes of my family and the tide is seemingly unstoppable. And yet I’m blissfully happy.

I’m not sure what it is that makes this juxtaposition possible, but some insight has come over the past few months from my wife. She thinks I have Asperger syndrome. Somewhere on the spectrum of autistic disorders, people with Asperger’s are often very difficult to interact with, being lost in their own intellectual worlds and missing normal social cues, they can be frustratingly literal in speech and interpretation, and find it difficult to express or understand the nuances of relationships. The terminology around the autism spectrum is rapidly changing as neurodiversity is explored and increasingly understood. There is a long way to go, and I’m certainly no expert.

However, reading around the subject a little more, and thinking about my childhood behaviours, as well as questioning my parents, has helped both my long-suffering wife and I to understand why we often miscommunicate, sometimes with great detriment. Of note here is that there’s a well-documented association of autism with gender identity issues. There’s no hint or supposition of causation, but there’s an association which is suspicious. Way more people who identify as trans are on the autism spectrum than one might be led to expect given the prevalence of ASD in the cisgender (non-trans) population. This isn’t a medical journal, so I’m not going to expound theories or present you with statistical evidence here, this is merely an assertion of the little we already know.

What I will say is that this is revelatory to me on a personal level. It’s increasingly recognised that children assigned female at birth (ie, put in the pink box) are harder to diagnose than those assigned male (blue box). But we also know that girls and boys are socialised very differently, and that some of the social skills that girls learn allow them to hide their autistic traits more easily. Much in the same way that adults with autism have often learned to mitigate the impact of their differently-wired brains so that they can and do function effectively in society. Nevertheless, it’s a sad and little known fact that adults with ASD are less likely to be in long-term successful relationships (amongst other things) than those without (so-called ‘neurotypicals’).

Whilst I’m aware that some of the language and expressions I’m using may be outmoded or considered inappropriate to others, this is very much a personal journey, an exploration of my own internal wiring, and a search for answers about my experiences as I have transitioned.

You see all this has become far, far more obvious since I started medical treatment. I believe it’s the testosterone that’s changing my brain and the way I perceive and interact with others. Each stage of my transition (including surgeries to masculinise my body) has been accompanied by an alarming sense of ‘skills lost’, rendering me incapable of doing things I could previously accomplish easily, or even excel at. Over time I’ve been able to regain these lost skills, as I’ve adjusted to the new reality of seeing and being seen as male – but this doesn’t really make sense. Why would a change of fuel, a different hormonal milieu, have such a deleterious effect on my ability to function? The studies haven’t been done of course, but the gender clinicians did warn me that I would enter puberty (admittedly for the second time around, only this time the ‘right’ puberty for me).

Prior to transition I was seen as someone who had empathy, and was able to comfort those in need and provide emotional support to those around me. On testosterone I gradually found myself losing these skills, which, I think, must therefore have been learned, rather than innate. My brain is rewiring itself in this second puberty, and I’m having to relearn how to be with people.

This reinforces the idea that gender is a construct, adhered to by parents, teachers, peers and society in general. The acquisition of empathy and the capacity to relate emotionally is nurtured into us, it’s not ‘nature’. No wonder then, that boys and men are considered less emotionally intelligent (please note these are generalised statements and really not applicable to individuals). Those in the blue box simply don’t stand a chance and cannot compete with those in the pink box, who’ve been carefully tutored into emotional intelligence and care-giving since birth.

Again I generalise here – I appreciate fully that there are many men/boys who are sensitive and gentle with others’ emotions, and plenty of girls /women who are tougher by far. Broadly speaking, what I’m getting at is the notion that neither gender identity nor autism spectrum traits are innate. It’s entirely possible that we’re socialising these problems into our children by placing constraints on them that are both prohibitive and restrictive, and that only a massive change in outlook can alter this state of affairs…
Food for thought at least.

FEATURE: My So-Called Chemsex Life

Or When I Met Jack, Seb and James by Craig Hanlon-Smith

I originally tried to write this piece 18 months ago, but rather than an unsophisticated or educated guess along the theme of what has come to be known as ‘ChemSex’, I wanted to hear real and current stories from those who were actually engaged, in some way, with this lifestyle and recreational practice.

I had of course read other articles and at various theatrical fringe festivals seen many (largely dreadful) plays on the subject, but I wanted to hear the facts firsthand and fresh. So, I took to the most notable [dating] apps and websites, openly declaring my intentions.

No-one wanted to talk. The online profile I posted included my face, my writer’s interest in the subject, and a promise of anonymity for anyone who wanted to talk. I received a limited number of responses, but these were either suggestions that I f-off and get a real job, learn to enjoy myself more (what?) and a handful inviting me to join them for some sexual activity which requires no further description here, but trust me, they were not vague about their tastes. However, when it came to research for this article, no takers. Not one. Almost a year later, and thanks in part to twitter, I spoke to Jack (mid 40s), Seb (mid 30s) and James (mid 20s).

Before we hear from them directly, I’d like to thank all three for sharing their experiences, and for being so candid and honest. I also want to be clear, which makes sense to me if not necessarily to anyone else, that I really liked them and am pleased I had the opportunity to talk to them. So, without prejudice, judgement, comment or analysis; ChemSex by those who do or certainly have. Jack, Seb and James.

James: aged 25, from the Brighton area
“I’m not really a regular on the gay scene in Brighton, certainly not weekly. Possibly once a month and occasionally I meet people [for sex] in person, but it’s usually on the apps, Grindr mostly. The interest in taking drugs during and for sex actually came from meeting people on Grindr, although I don’t remember the first time I had sex with ‘chems’ – it was a few years ago now. I reckon I have sex with people on chems once sometimes twice a month, there are usually a few people involved, on average around five, sometimes people I already know but often online meets. I prefer sex with ‘chems’ than without, I feel that there’s more of a buzz that way. Most of the guys I have sex with are older than me but that’s the age range I’d go for anyway and that’s nothing to do with the drugs. My regular drugs are G and Tina, although M-cat and coke do make an appearance and as a result these parties can last between three and four days, although recently more like one or two. I work shifts across the week and usually find that whatever the day or time there are people around. I’ve slammed (injected) but that’s not a regular thing for me.

“Bareback sex is my preferred type of sex, it’s just my preference.”

At this point I ask if James is concerned about HIV or other STIs.

“There’s always that thought in your head but that’s my decision and I get checked out regularly. One of the reasons I go for older guys is that younger guys appear to be more cautious and their preference would be safer sex – older guys are more interested in bareback. This is also a sober decision, it’s how I want sex and it’s my choice. Chemsex is just part of how things are… I know myself and I’ll know when to stop.”

Seb: aged 34, from London
“I should say that I no longer take part [in chemsex], about eight months ago was probably the last time and that was a one-off. It started as a cheaper alternative to booze. It used to be that you could buy Mephedrone (M-Cat) for £20 and it was absolutely not associated with sex – bags of Mephedrone would come out at your friends and a bag would last a few days. At some point the formula changed and then so did its use. It went from being a more more drug to becoming less potent overnight. The problem with that is that the only comparable drug in terms of the high and horniness it gave you is Tina. I absolutely wasn’t interested in Tina until Mephedrone changed. M-Cat was cheap and nasty but you wouldn’t crave it, it gave you the high when you wanted it, and you wanted more as you took it, but when you stop you don’t crave it. The drug use can escalate quickly and you take the drugs on Friday night and you’re still awake on Monday morning.
“It’s difficult to judge or build ‘normal’ relationships when you’re doing those drugs. I can remember lots of occasions being at a friend’s house waiting for the dealer to arrive, there’s a delay and another delay and whilst waiting we have nothing to say to one another other than getting frustrated at the dealer, but we couldn’t talk like adults. One of these friends I met at a chillout, then became really good friends outside the druggy circle, but ultimately we did fall out over drugs. That neither of us was particularly upset about the friendship dissipating is an indication of what kind of relationship it was.

“I have to say though, since stopping the drugs, my sex life has dropped off the earth – which is actually a bigger struggle than giving up drugs. I’d say that since my chemsex experiences, normalising sex is difficult. I became HIV positive during that time. I passed out at a party after someone put G in my drink, although I was aware that I’d unprotected sex sometimes. I had a f**k buddy I trusted and we were both negative and I felt the sex was better [unprotected] and so when I was partying, I started taking risks. I can think of times when I bare-backed more.

“Back then I was in a job that I hated and for a time my professional life wasn’t making sense to me. The chemsex gave me escape. Then I changed my job, the salary doubled, my responsibilities were different. When my life got better – the drugs went. I’d say that for most people engaging in chemsex, there’s usually something going on causing them to do it. Trying to escape and forget something. When all that gets better, the drugs go away.”

Jack: aged 46, from the Midlands
“My drug use started when my relationship ended. He was the love of my life, say no more. I was living alone, no friends, and I just ran into a time of confusing intimacy and making friends with having sex. Someone offered me a line of something and I hit the ‘f***-it’ button and thought OMG this is amazing. What no-one tells you is that the problem with drugs is that they do work. It was a terrible combination for me though; dealing with an HIV positive and personality disorder diagnosis quickly led to self-loathing, abandonment and depression. Mix drugs into all that and… well.

“Predominantly the drug was M-Cat. I didn’t like what I saw of Tina, people who took it quickly turned into twats. On the occasions when I did take it, I become suicidal later. On reflection, the escalation is frightening. Taking one line per night becomes one every couple of hours, one chill session becomes every other week then every week. Sniffing becomes slamming, then one night becomes three days and one gram lasting three weeks becomes five grams a week. You are out of it, it’s fake, it’s chemically induced – once you are out of the door you are blocked on the apps: ‘let’s be bro-friends’ whilst you’re taking drugs and having sex and then you’re just deleted.

“I used to think: ‘I’m middle class, I’m educated, I’ll never become addicted’, but all you need for addiction is a human being with a problem and a slight wobble, then a drug. I felt that what I was doing was wrong – there’s always a little voice reminding you: this isn’t what I want to be. I eventually lost everything. Someone dobbed me in to work, sent information, images, the lot, and I lost the job. I took part in the chemsex more than 50 miles away to avoid anyone finding out, deliberately, but still.”

Craig Hanlon-Smith
Craig Hanlon-Smith

Although I asked, James elected not to tell me the nature of his employment.

“I’m now off all of the apps, they over promise and under deliver. What delivers is the drug. I’ve now changed that from M-Cat, which is psychotropic, to coke. I don’t do it with anyone else, I do it on my own, every so often for a few hours. That may sound sad, but I feel no sexual desire whatsoever without it. It’s sad, isn’t it?

“This can happen to anyone. I’m university trained, I have degrees from two top universities, and yet now I’m working part-time in a minimum wage job because it’s all I can cope with. And you know? No one wants to talk about it, I think because it shames them. I’ve tried, but barely go on any form of social media for that reason. These are not real conversations. This is my story and I’m not saying it’s everyone’s. Some can survive, but some lives go down the tubes.”

New album from ROALD Hughes – HeadSpace

HeadSpace, Roald Hughes’ new fourteen track album about our  idiosyncrasies and misdemeanours is now available to download online.

ON his last album ROALD his tracks reflected different perspectives of life and people. “I was at the point in life where I was dealing with baggage from my past. I was filtering through it all psychologically, processing wounded memories and knew I had to embrace all the good ones,” he says.

He’s very proud of that album, calling it “very genuine,” though in hindsight he thinks he was still developing as an artist and composer at the time.

A deep thinker and very much a people watcher, on his new album HeadSpace he has tried in the new numbers to be original in his approach to the writing and vocally he uses the complete range of his voice from the head voice (falsetto), down to the bass.

He continues: “I write in quite a unique way. The melody; embryonic without any form of instrumentation will find its way into my thoughts then through my mouth to the mic like water flowing naturally finding its way, sung out with my lyrics, and then the music is arranged around it.

He found the writing process on the new album very cathartic, and in a way considers it an art form not written from a standard musicians point of view.

He believes this album has more depth and he has learnt to successfully balance seriousness with a little humour. He considers HeadSpace to include his best song writing yet and is extremely sanguine about the project.

ROALD grew up in Derbyshire, going on the study menswear and fetishism at The London College of Fashion where he went on to complete a degree with honors.

“Studying for a degree in the arts does make you view things in a different way” he says: “It’s definitely made me look at music differently and affected the way I now construct a song, compared with the songs I wrote formerly.”

Road’s been singing since he was a kid, along with his brothers and mum who played guitar. “I used to make songs up but never thought of them as important as a child. I should have written them down as they were all done from memory. Since then I’ve written and recorded hundreds of songs.”

He was also involved with a male voice choir for a time, which taught him much about harmonisation and how to use different vocal techniques. He has been in two pop bands; World Nation and Hideal and has provided vocals on numerous tracks for different projects and various releases.

His current musical influences are many and varied. “I especially like the bands ‘London Grammar’ and ‘Hurts’ and feel a sense of real emotion with their music. I like how their arrangements work so well with the songs. Paloma Faith, Ellie Goulding, Sia and Coldplay are in my view masters in their art.”

George Michael was an early inspiration for Roald and he loves Alison Moyet and how she uses her voice like an instrument. “She writes phonetically and is quite brilliant and I’ve probably learned more from her than anyone. Her ‘Other’ album is my current favourite.” He tends to follow artists who also write their own material.

He thinks there is more depth to this album and considers this to include his best song-writing yet. He has learnt to balance seriousness with a little humour and overall is extremely sanguine about this project.

“I found I was writing lots of songs about people’s idiosyncrasies and misdemeanours as well as my own, and I came up with the album title, ‘HeadSpace’, when I also considered how we need to live and work at our own pace, our own space. That space can be troubled at times, so there are some quite dark songs and some are very beautiful.”

His personal favourites tracks are Through The Water, Listen and Help which in part relate to himself, but he is also fond of some of the more up-tempo tracks, including Beautiful, HauntedMedicine and the title track Head Space.

He loves the intimate honesty of  In This Bed, while he thinks Torture Garden a number about mental health, depression and bipolar will hit home with many people.

He has recorded a video for Torture Garden which was released on May 14 for Mental Health Week 2018.  “We all go through highs and lows in our mental health. There is a message of hope in there and there is a story in this album. There are no ‘fillers’ each song stands up,” he says.

Looking to the future, Roald wants to write more material for other artists. Although the artist and DJ are the ones who get the song known to the masses, he thinks writers deserve a bit more credibility – matching the artist or even the DJ.  “I don’t think we give enough focus on the writer. Without the writer there is no music business. On download sites etc, they’re almost overlooked. If there’s one way in which I would hope the music industry will change, it’s that,” he says.

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