HOW TO MAKE IT
Singer-songwriter Lou Hickey began plying her trade at open mic and acoustic nights all round Glasgow. She is now part of the Club Noir Burlesque troupe, has supported acts such as Martha Wainwright, and recently played at T in the Park and Indian Summer
‘I used to be in a really awful metal band. and started doing my own stuff live by accident when l was in my final year at uni. l was recording some songs for my sound engineering project. I also used to run gigs for Strathclyde uni and there was a spare slot and I put myself on. Then the 13th Note offered me another slot and it all started from there. The first time I performed live. l was taken along to an open mic to build up my confidence and it was the best thing I could have done. If you're starting out. or if you've got new material it '5 good to try it out without the pressures of a big formal gig. There are no expectations there — and you get free beer.
‘These days, my gigs come through my managers. but that's not an essential thing. You shouldn't look for a manager; your manager should find you. At first I put on gigs of my own — which is great because you get to pick the bands you play with and can supervise the publicity - and played open mic nights and acoustic sessions in the West End. Just phone up venues and promoters; they always have slots that need filled. And if you haven't got enough money to put a CD together, try approaching students on the music production course at Strathclyde Uni. Most students have projects to do and will be looking for bands to record. and the production there is really good; I've had a lot of compliments about the quality.
‘My second gig with my full band was a support slot for Martha Wainwright in the Carling Academy. It was amazing playing in such a big venue. but the most exciting gig for me was King Tut's. A lot of people out there are doing this to become rich or famous, but my ambition was always just to get a CD out there and play King Tut’s! Everything else on top of that is a bonus. But really. the best advice is just to keep plugging away.’
(Shelley O’Neill) I www.myspace.com/louhi‘ckey
together with the occupants of a Leith working man‘s club.
'All our events have been very well attended and well loved — cabaret especially seems to be a perfect form of entertainment for a crowd that wants to explore a variety of art forms.’ says Neue Liebe organiser Jennifer Williams. She curates the acts in her cabaret. but is open to new performers approaching her.
‘I consider it my own duty as a poet to find ways to share my work with as wide an audience as possible. and helping other artists in this pursuit is a worthwhile and necessary activity.‘
What Williams. C aims and Lyons are all absolutely clear on is that the
a THE LIST 16—23 Aug 2007
performers who attend their nights do it for the love of performance itself.
‘I can't see a career in television for a performance poet.‘ Cairns says. with a grin. 'Spoken word performance isn't going to make you famous. and it's not a crash course in becoming a comedian. This is a haphazard scene. but it's wonderful when you get these big. beautiful voices rising out of it.‘
‘It's therapy. isn‘t it'." says Lyons. “That's why a lot of people write music. that’s why people need to perfomi it. that‘s why they come to open mic nights. where people are sympathetic to them. It's got absolutely nothing at all to do with the fact that we give them free beer.‘
WHERE TO GO Glasgow
Music open mic nights Biaekfrnrs. Bells St. «‘1-2‘ 553.31 ever. sos‘ontl Tuesday. 8;er Ell:ots. Bath St. ill-11 3183060 Thursdays. Sim: Nite'N'Sle;i.".'s. Saut‘txie'nrll Sf. 1.“ 1‘ lid {it‘s-37, Mondays. :‘ljrrn
Oran Mo'. Byers Rd. «11.1‘ .iif it‘d-fl. Wednesdays, Hj‘rn
Comedy open mic nights
Red Raw. The Stand Comedy Club, \‘i/oodlands Road. tltifi) tilitl s lfif», Tuesdays. Spin
Comedy (zthe Stale, lhe State Bar. Holland St. (”411. 31%." 31:35), Saturdays, 9pm
Spoken word events
Last Monday at Rio, Rio Cafe Hyndland St. ()1-11 Lil-198M) Cabaret nights
LKIOHCO Pending. various tunes and
venues. See www.myspal:e.<:om licence;>endintj
Edinburgh
Music
Bannerrnans. Niddry St, 0131 5)th 325/1. Sundays. 4pm
Blind Poet. Nicholson St. ()131 (it‘n' 4268. Tuesdays. 10pm
The Canon's Gait Bar. Canongate. 0131 556 (1481, Thursdays. 8pm Whistle Binkies. South Bridge. (>131 557 51 14. Mondays. ‘3er Comedy
Comedy at Black Bo's. Black Bo's. Blackfriars St. 0131 557 (3136. Tuesdays. 8.30pm
Red Raw. The Stand Comedy Club.
York Place. 0131 558 7272. Mondays.
8pm (not during Fringe)
Spoken Word
Big Word. Jazz Bar. Chambers Street 0131 220 4298. Not during Fringe. see wwwthejazzbareo.uk for further info.
Beatnix Poetry Slam. Jazz Bar. Chambers St. see above.
Cabaret nights
Neue Liebe. various times and venues.
See www.myspacecomneueliebe
Drew Taylor, 22, has been making waves around Glasgow since he won the open-entry Glasgow Slam in April. He now runs Cabaret night License Pending with fellow performer Martin O’Connor
’l'd been writing for years. but I started performing my own poetry mainly as therapy. 1 went to drama school and I've trained as an actor: it was good fun. but I found myself a bit restricted by the opportunities that we were given during training. You're not really encouraged to do your own stuff.
‘After a while I decided to go my own way and as live art things weren't necessarily my bag. I stumbled across the work I'd done when l was a kid. It was good. and I started writing my own things again — generally when things were getting a bit rubbish I'd write everything down just to help get through it and all of that ended up turning into poems. It didn't occur to me to do anything with them until a friend suggested it to me and I started performing my own work in February this year. My first performance was at Tchai Ovna's irregular “Reading the Leaves" session, then I went on to do student open mic nights at Glasgow uni and the art school. I gradually got noticed. and winning the Glasgow Slam has led to lots of other invited performance slots for me - l was in the Big Word in Edinburgh recently.
'I don't think that coming from a drama school background has given me a particular advantage as a performance poet. Okay. I benefitted from the vocal training and all of that kind of stuff. but the idea behind acting is that you lose yourself when you're performing. you get really into the character. You can't do that when you're performing your own work. and my performance poetry is all about me. The majority of actors that I know find it very difficult to stand up in front of people and talk honestly and candidly when not hiding behind a character.‘
I www.myspace.com/ nurtured_not_natured