Apr 11, 2013 |
I’m in Manchester for an academic conference about jazz. It’s the final major event of Rhythm Changes, the three-year European jazz research project I’ve been working on, and it is, by all accounts, the largest academic jazz conference EVER (in Europe).
There must be literally tens of people here.
One of the great things about researching in a field like this is that you get to know most of the people pretty well and you tend to see them at pretty much every work-related event you go to. For the most part, they’re pretty cool people too.
They like jazz, for a kick off – and given that they’re predominantly PhDs and Professors in related fields, they tend to be (though this is by no means a rule) generally smart and interesting people.
I’m giving a paper on Saturday morning on the social, cultural, infrastructural, political and economic conditions that led to a very particular and very vibrant jazz/dance/hip hop crossover music scene in Auckland in the mid to late 90s. I’m also chairing a couple of panels on jazz and the internet.
So… I’m here to work. That said, you might not think so – but this is a party crowd. They’re a good bunch and some of my favourite people are among their number. They carry on until very late, they squeeze every last drop of jazz juice out of the local nightlife and they listen to (as well as make) sounds that would terrify most ordinary music consumers.
Take our evening’s opening entertainment, for instance. This was our polite dinner music before we got onto the harder stuff as the evening progressed.
Me, on the other hand, I’m back in my hotel room eating room service fish and chips, doing a bit of writing work and tweaking the project website. I just don’t have the stamina or the commitment to the cause needed to get me drinking schnapps and singing classic trumpet solos in the street at four in the morning.
At least, not since Vienna…
Sep 29, 2012 |
I’m in Stavanger, Norway. It’s Nordic Music Week and I was invited to come out and talk at a seminar on a panel about local music scenes.
Stavanger is interesting when it comes to that sort of thing. It seems to be a really musical town, despite a population of only around 130,000. There’s a lot of money here because of the oil industry, and the government has some very generous arts funding schemes and large scale initiatives like a massive new concert house they’ve just built (that very few Stavanger bands will ever be big enough to play).
Serious questions were being asked about whether the arts were “too well-funded” and whether that money gets in the way of people being creative “for arts sake” or whether they were just spending all their time filling in application forms and reports, and doing administration.
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Sep 9, 2012 |
I’ve been back in New Zealand this past week speaking at an event called Going Global. It’s been great to spend time in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch with some really lovely people, talk about music online, see a bunch of bands and, where possible, catch up with some friends.
A bit of a whirlwind tour, unfortunately, but I have managed to do some of the things on my must-do list – including spending some time (and money) at Conch Records, seeing a bit of each city (and, in the case of Christchurch, some of the incredible scenery of the surrounding areas), and doing some of the radio and press interviews, I said I’d do while I’m here.
I absolutely, positively loved Wellington – and it more than lived up to its windy reputation (in fact, we were lucky to get out, as they closed the airport not long after we left due to extreme weather), and going to Auckland felt like coming home – even more than I thought it would. Christchurch has been bittersweet of course. It’s lovely, but it’s heartbreaking to see so much devastation.
I don’t know Christchurch nearly as well as I’d like to – and now I feel like there’s a large part of it I’ve missed out on and will never get a chance to experience. But the overwhelming feeling here seems to be one of optimism and normality. Absolutely loved the shopping mall made of shipping containers, and hope that stays around as a landmark and a testament to the people here. Inspiring stuff.
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Sep 18, 2011 |
I was in London this week, presenting at a conference about Subcultures, Popular Music and Social Change. Some really interesting stuff in there – and the keynotes were really quite spectacularly good.
Dick Hebdidge (above), who literally wrote the book on Subcultures, presented a fascinating tour from punk rock to centenarians on Facebook via Japanese popular art, Birmingham nightclubs and the Mojave desert.
David Hesmondhalgh presented an inspiring talk about, essentially, the fact that music’s really lovely and it makes people’s lives better. Which sounds really obvious, but people who study it tend to forget that sometimes.
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Jun 27, 2011 |
I’m in Madrid today at a conference about the independent music industry in the digital age. I’m doing the keynote speech tomorrow, and I’m here with my colleague Jez Collins (left, above) who’s going to be talking about music, identity and cities.
The first thing we’ve noticed is the heat. It’s around 40 degrees here. Lots of people in Birmingham are complaining on Twitter about the ‘heatwave’. It’s 27 degrees there.
The conference has been organised, in large part, by Ignacio (“Nacho” – also above) who works here at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, but who came and spent a few months working with us in Birmingham last year.
We’ve met some really great and interesting people, eaten some amazing food, seen some incredible art in some of the world’s greatest museums and art galleries, and heard some excellent music.
My brain is slowly frying and I may not be able to make sentences tomorrow – but having a lovely time.
