Movin’ On

This is just a real quick final post here to let anyone following this blog know that I have moved over to a brand new website! It;s less of a blog like this and more of a portfolio of my work and you can find it here or at http://www.timscotson.com which no longer links to this page. There will be a blog there but it will be more for short essays or event reviews of the kind that I have been putting here lately and less for the constant stream of poetry etc. you’ve seen. There is still a showcase of my work there, and several of my better pieces and blog posts have been migrated over to the new site. Please do go and check it out! It’s my new digital home and will be one of the better ways to keep up with my exploits.

Hope to see you there!

Kickstarter Update & New Poem

Wonderfully just today we’ve managed to pass the 50% funding mark on the Kickstarter campaign for Dismantle / Rebuild. This is great news, and with two weeks (roughly half the funding period) remaining this puts us right on track. Of course, there is still a ways to go yet before we’re fully funded but this is a wonderful milestone that we wouldn’t have hit without a ton of help from you guys. And if you’ve not backed the campaign yet but would like to then there is still time and we still need your help to make this book a reality, so follow this link and have a look round.

Now, as you might have seen, I’ve been teasing that there was an as-of-yet unpublished piece from the book that I was waiting until we hit 50% to release to you all, and now we’ve gotten there I can finally share it with you all. It’s called ‘In the Valley’ and you can listen to it below via Soundcloud or just enjoy the text. Or both! It is totally your call. Anyway, here it is. I hope you all enjoy it.

In the Valley

They promised me life was an uphill battle
That fighting was how we all climbed
They sold me a vision of God’s golden throne
Of Olympus as our final prize
But I guess that they thought that I’d die twenty-one
Lain to rest on graduation day
Because since then the mountain has crumbled to dust
But I’m still here making my way

My teachers, they taught me about how to climb
How to grapple with treacherous stone
But none of them ever taught me how to fall
And the hills fade to valleys below
So I’ve tumbled ungraciously back to the earth
On the other side of that first hill
And I’m staring up at yet a dozen score more
And the sight of them’s sapping my will

Now the promises made of how endless hard work
Was the key to the gates of success
Seem to me as hollow as rotted-out trees
And that truth’s a hard pill to ingest
Perhaps, my mind whispers, it’s all my own fault
That I’m walking in circles down here;
That I can’t seem to find a foothold worth a damn
Or a way to silence my fear

But I’m digging my fingers back into the soil
No matter how far down I slide
And the peak of the next ancient uncaring hill
Is where I am fixing my eyes
The world may not care about my mountaintops
Or notice if I live or die
But it hurts if I’m climbing and hurts if I stop
So I guess that I might as well try

Kickstarter, a Little More Info

So it’s been suggested to me that not everyone who follows my work is going to be intimately familiar with Kickstarter or crowd funding in general, and as we are close to two weeks into the Kickstarter campaign for my new book, it seemed like it would be worth taking a few words to talk about exactly how it works for those of you who might not be familiar with it. (Those of you who are feel free to skip this bit, and if you’ve not had a look at the campaign page, or if this is the first you are hearing about it then please do have a look and consider backing. There will be a link to the campaign down below.)

Crowdfunding in general if a fairly simple concept: a creator wants to raise money for a project and so asks their audience to collectively pitch in together to raise that money. The project could be anything from publishing a book to developing a videogame, to touring a play, to creating prototypes for exciting new technology to any number of other different things. Different crowd-funding platforms have different rules about what kind of projects they can or can’t be used to raise funds for but in Kickstarter’s case the only limitation is that “Projects must create something to share with others.” Crowdfunding a creative project like this is in some ways similar to a charity drive. The one big difference though is backer rewards.

Essentially crowd funding through Kickstarter works on a reward-based model. A backer can pledge any amount they like to help the project reach its goal and if they pledge enough they become elidgeable for certain rewards. Most campaigns will offer various tiers of rewards ranging from just a few pounds (or dollars) right up to some really expensive rewards. This allows backers to get something that feels worthwhile back from their contribution regardless of how much they’ve pledged to donate. In my case, the rewards for my campaign are all copies of the book. If you only want to back for £2 or so you can get yourself a copy of the PDF version but by pledging for more you can get pretty much whatever version of the book you like. Because I’ve set it up this way it works kind of like a pre-order for the book, but it’s not exactly the same and this is not always the case.

The other thing backers can often get is exclusive items or behind the scenes materials. By offering backers access to certain rewards that will not be available to other people the creator can really reward the people who’ve helped them make their project a reality as well as offer certain things that might be practical to make in small, limited quantities but not in large ones. In my case, the hard back edition of the book is exclusively available to those who back the Kickstarter, primarily to allow me to judge how many to print so that I don’t spend a lot of money on expensive hardbacks that don’t sell. It also makes it a much more special version of the book, which is what a hardback should really be. (psst, so if you want a hardback copy make sure to back the campaign!)

The last thing it’s important to know about Kickstarter is that the campaign is all-or-nothing. If it hit my funding goal (£250) or even make more than that, then I’ll get that money from you and be able to print and ship the books to everyone. Everyone wins! But if I don’t make at least my goal then no-one will be charged and I won’t see a single penny. This is great for backers because it means they won’t pledge money to a campaign that misses its goal and then can’t afford to fulfil its promises but it does mean that if we don’t hit the goal then no-one gets any books at all and I’ll need to figure out an alternative method of getting them out there. The long and short of that is that I really need your help to make this book a reality and get it out to everyone who wants it. So if you’d like to see me succeed here and make a cool book then it’s people like you who I’m looking to for the support. Every pledge is appreciated whether it’s £2 or £20, because while we’re on our way we’re not there yet.

Hopefully a couple of you know a bit more about Kickstarter than you did before. If you have any more questions, check out Kickstarter’s FAQ page here and if you want to know more about my campaign, message me here, on Kickstarter or anywhere else you can usually find me. And perhaps most importantly, if you’d like to support the campaign, you can do so here.

Thanks for reading guys. I hope to be updating you all soon!

Event Review – Opus Club

This past Saturday I had the distinct pleasure of attending April’s Opus Club night at the Dark Horse Bar and Kitchen in Moseley and I can’t say that I’ve been to an event anything like it in Birmingham. Providing both spoken word and music for the night’s entertainment Opus Club models itself after a prohibition-era speak-easy in everything from atmosphere to the way that the Dark Horse’s event room hides away from the main restaurant and bar through a door labelled for the bathrooms and up an unassuming flight of stairs. Making your way up them and into the venue itself really does carry with it some of that feeling of walking into something underground and exciting, though with a definite air of welcome.

Classic black and white cartoons (think Steamboat Willie) were projected on the back wall of the venue and jaunty music played in the background to set the mood as the crowd gathered. Guests were provided tickets in the form old cigarette cards stamped with the Opus Club logo, and pin-badges bearing a black and gold version of the same vintage-styled design. Many of the patrons had run with the theme themselves, dressing up in vintage attire, and whilst this was hardly necessary it was delightful to see people really getting into the spirit of the evening. By the time the room had begun to fill up it really did feel a little as though Jay Gatsby might be about to stroll in to join us.

Atmosphere and aesthetics are nice of course but without a quality event to wrap them around they don’t really hold up to much. Fortunately though, Opus Club proved itself to be an event that would be worth your Saturday evening even without the delightful novelties of its vintage stylings.

The first half of the evening started with event host Jasmine Gardosi introducing the various spoken-word open mic performers. Her effusive descriptions of each performer and obvious excitement for the event proved infectious and made it easy for the crowd to feel comfortable and engaged. Open mics can often be seen as a bit of a dice roll in terms of quality but once again Birmingham’s spoken word scene proved itself to be absolutely brimming with talent. I was delighted to see a really vivid mix of performers, including familiar local faces such as Casey Bailey (of Bailey’s Rap and Poetry) and the inimitable Leon Preistnall  (who performed this delightful piece), as well as several first-time performers and poets from outside of Birmingham. A particular stand-out for me was Pixie Hulme who’s piece ‘The Forests I Leave’ absolutely blew me away. You can find more of Pixie here, and you definitely should.

The first half was capped off with a musical set by the immensely talented Alisha Kadir. Choosing to eschew the microphone that had thus far dominated the stage Alisha instead let her voice and her instrument (an acoustic guitar) fill the room on their own. Oh, and fill them they did. Alisha manages to pull off the trick of drawing her audience into the performance with a semblance of ease that is at once compelling and remarkable. Her set consisted of a mix of covers and her own material both of which stood side-by-side excellently. If you want to find out more about her though then you might have a little trouble. Her online presence is a little more sporadic than is wholly useful, which is a dying shame as it makes following her tricky. If and when I find something a little more solid I’ll try and follow up here but for now keep your eyes on Birmingham’s music scene, and Beatfreeks -with whom she is affiliated- and you’ll likely find her around. Also, you can watch this video of her performing a cover of ‘Aint No Rest for the Wicked’ by Cage the Elephant. It’s brilliant. No really, go listen to it now. I’ll wait.

After a twenty minute break we returned to our seats for the second half of the evening’s entertainment. This part of the evening also started with a few open mic performers, but this time with a twist – each of the three performers were backed by various musicians ranging from just Alisha Kadir with her guitar to a full band, all of whom were improvising music to the poet’s performance. Special props have to be given both to the remarkably talented musicians able to improvise so deftly and to the three performers brave enough to read their work to a soundtrack they’d never heard before.

After our second little poetic engagement (and a brief fling with a fire alarm that timed itself perfectly to the ending of the final open mic) we were all treated to the poetic stylings of the headline act Mark Grist. You may very well have heard of Mark Grist before as he gained some notoriety when a rap battle he did for Don’t Flop (here) went viral. Mark started out as an English teacher in Peterborough and he told us the story of how his efforts to keep one of his more troublesome students from being expelled led him first to Rap Battling and then eventually back into his childhood love of poetry. Into this narrative personal history he wove a handful of his poems (and one of his battle raps as well) creating a coherent and compelling set. It’s a style that is tricky to pull off, especially considering how much of the evening was dedicated to telling the story as opposed to performing the poetry, but his conversational style and obvious ease in front of a crowd (something that is no doubt desperately important to keeping one’s cool in a rap battle) meant that his story telling was just as compelling as his poetry. The highlight of his set though may well have come right at the beginning with a piece he wrote about his pug Boo who, delightfully, was also in attendance. What began as a charming reminiscence transformed itself into a courageous statement defying both those who’ve claimed that pugs are not ‘real dogs’ and that Mark himself is not a ‘real poet’ in a way that proved deeply heart-warming. You can find plenty more about Mark Grist at his website including what shows he has upcoming and if you get an opportunity to see him perform either alone or as part of a Dead Poets show then I implore to take that chance. You will not be disappointed.

The last act of the evening was another musician, Nessi Gomez, whose ethereal voice and wistful, yearning guitar playing proved no less than utterly transfixing. It is difficult to know what to say about her, beyond that every note was utterly beautiful, as her almost hypnotic quality defied –at least for me- critical listening. It is music that picks you up and whisks you away to somewhere entirely magical and other. Indeed, during her last song I could almost convince myself that I had in fact been listening to her play for ever and that it might never end. If there is a criticism that can be levelled against her it is that perhaps her style is not as varied or dynamic as some musicians, with all the songs being performed feeling gentle, melodic and transfixing but in truth that is hardly a criticism at all in the face of the magic she and her guitar work in person. You can follow her on her Facebook page here, which no doubt will link you to everywhere you can find more of her. She is a rare and unique talent and we were all truly blessed to have been entranced by her for an evening.

Over all, Opus Club proved itself to be a thoroughly fantastic night. Though the event ran over its advertised time by a not insignificant amount, between the impossible-to-plan-for intrusion of a fire alarm and the impeccably high quality of the evening in all its other regards this can, I think, easily be forgiven. After all, who ever really complained about having too much fun?

Opus Club then has managed to create something truly unique in Birmingham, combining a warm, exciting environment for open mic performers with some truly stellar musicians and a spectacular headliner all bundled up in the trappings of something far classier than your average open mic, without ever being intimidating for it. The vintage theme is delightful without forcing itself upon the guests and the venue feels like a perfect place to host this kind of evening.

You can find out more about Opus Club and keep up to date with them via Facebook here. The next one is on Saturday 30^th May, which right now seems like a lifetime away, but in reality that just means you have plenty of time to stick it in your diaries and make sure you’re there. If the next one is anything like the last, you won’t want to miss it.

Nexus Challenge

Last night I took part in a somewhat off-beat but super exciting performance event called Nexus. It was organised and run by the wonderfully talented and dedicated team at Creative Superheroes (Who you should definitely be keeping up with. Twitter here, Facebook here) and took place at Birmingham’s Ikon gallery.

The premise was this: sixteen performance artists from a variety of disciplines were to come together and be paired up to create exciting new two-person collaborative performances. The twist was, you’d only find out who you were working with on the night, and then you’d have exactly one hour to come up with something of no longer than five minutes. Does that sound hard? Because it’s hard.

Never the less, we all somehow managed it. It’s a testament to the level of talent on display at the event that eight different pairs of people, most of whom had never met managed to bring their disparate forms together and not just make something, but universally to make work that was exciting and real and worthwhile.

I was lucky enough to be paired up with the immensely talented Tom Crossland (here he is being marvelous in video form). Tom is also a poet and so we set about finding a topic we could both get excited about writing about. We probably spent far too much time chatting and not enough time rehearsing it at the end, but the piece we ended up writing (called Internet Séances) was something I was immensely pleased with, all restraints considered. Here’s a picture of the two of us performing it on the night:

(Photo courtesy of Heidi Murphy)

The wall we were standing in front of was a part of an exhibition by Nástio Mosquito which occupied that floor of the gallery. Most of his work was video based and whilst it’s not exactly my favourite thing it certain made for an impressive environment to be creating in. The whole gallery is a really wonderful space and it was a joy to be able to work and play in there for a couple of hours. If you’re around Birmingham you should definitely pop in and see what they have on display. All the info you need is at their website here.

Overall the evening was an absolute blast full of wild creativity in a wonderful space. I’m so glad I was able to get involved and that so many people tuned out to see what us mad people managed to make.