What were you hoping to find when you moved to Manchester in your early 20s, from your working class hometown of Scunthorpe?
I wanted to live in a city that could accommodate me as the person that I wanted to be. Although I’m not under any illusion that my interests are particularly unique, back in Scunthorpe there wasn’t much to accommodate the music that I’m into, the clothes that I wear and more recently skateboarding. I’ve recently re-discovered skateboarding and the culture that surrounds it. So I guess I was looking for like-minded individuals, who I’m fortunate enough to have found.
How did you find getting back into skateboarding as an adult and what do you think of the skate scene in Manchester?
It was the perfect time to get back into it. I’m not going to say that people were more divided or tribalistic when I was younger, but people would fit more clearly into moulds that would define which culture they associated themselves with. So I think back then, skateboarding was a very alternative thing.
Now I’m an adult living in Manchester, there are much better facilities. But that’s no thanks to the council. Unfortunately Andy Burnham has made comments about the skate community in the past, which I feel were off the cuff and ill-researched. A lot of people in the skate community don’t like him, though I do think that there are certain positives he’s brought to Manchester. He was invited to try skateboarding at Graystone (an indoor skatepark in Manchester) and he did actually attend, so, I mean, fair play to him. I still think what he said was very ignorant, and unfortunately there is still a bylaw that exists in Manchester that outlaws people from skateboarding within the city centre itself.
Other cities, such as Nottingham, build facilities for skateboarders because they recognise the income that skateboarding brings to the area. And then you’ve got Manchester, which has a huge skate scene and shops like Note and Black Sheep, but where people still see skateboarding as a nuisance.
The community have taken it into their own hands and this is where I think the community itself is really positive. There are a lot of good places to skate in Manchester. I would say a couple of the best places are DIY parks, like Goose Side (in Ancoats) and Beeside (in South Manchester) which embody a punk attitude of building something on land that’s not being used and making the most of it. It’s repurposing a place that would otherwise go to waste and these people have built some great things there. Unfortunately they won’t last forever because they’re built on hot property in the city centre and are prone to vandalism, but it seems to be heading in a good direction this year.
So the community is brilliant, and skateboarding is more generally accepted than it was.
When you first moved to Manchester, you lived in Hulme. How did that compare with your hometown?
When I moved from Scunthorpe, I very much identified with my working-class roots. However, Scunthorpe had recently voted Tory for the first time in a number of years and was part of the falling red wall. I think I was crying out to be around some like-minded individuals.
Hulme seemed like an accepting community. I know that mindset stemmed from Hulme Crescents, where a lot of creative people lived before it got knocked down. There were unfortunately issues there with drug use and crime, but I think the creativity seems to have stuck around.
Walking through Hulme, I’d see signs supporting Black Lives Matter, the queer community and other groups. It was very nice to see. And although I’m a straight white guy, I didn’t necessarily feel like someone that fit in back home. So to move somewhere where all types of different people were embraced was really refreshing.
You’re always listening to new music. What have you been listening to recently that excites you?
My music taste has changed over the past couple of years. I prefer heavier music like hardcore now, probably as I’ve gotten more into skateboarding and going to the gym. I used to be turned off from hardcore, as it seemed very elitist and people were scared to take creative risks. Whereas I think that’s changed over the last few years. You’ve got big bands like Turnstile who seem to be mixing it with more of an alt-rock influence. You’ve got people like Blood Orange, who is a guy from an indie background, featuring on Turnstile’s latest record. You’ve got people like High Viz who seem to be mixing it with an almost britpop, sort of shoegazey type sound. So I think that entire scene is really, really fascinating.
I think one of the reasons that I’ve stemmed more towards heavier music than the indie music I would have listened to a few years ago, is because I look for music to be exciting. Unfortunately indie music has, much in a way as it did in the mid-2000s, headed for a more derivative sound and bands aren’t offering anything new. I feel like post-punk has gone a similar way over the last few years as well. That said, you’ve got some really exciting bands like Black Country New Road and Fontaines D.C. But yeah, separate from a those I think the more alternative scene is offering something a bit more exciting to me.
What were you hoping to find when you moved to Manchester in your early 20s, from your working class hometown of Scunthorpe?
I wanted to live in a city that could accommodate me as the person that I wanted to be. Although I’m not under any illusion that my interests are particularly unique, back in Scunthorpe there wasn’t much to accommodate the music that I’m into, the clothes that I wear and more recently skateboarding. I’ve recently re-discovered skateboarding and the culture that surrounds it. So I guess I was looking for like-minded individuals, who I’m fortunate enough to have found.
How did you find getting back into skateboarding as an adult and what do you think of the skate scene in Manchester?
It was the perfect time to get back into it. I’m not going to say that people were more divided or tribalistic when I was younger, but people would fit more clearly into moulds that would define which culture they associated themselves with. So I think back then, skateboarding was a very alternative thing.
Now I’m an adult living in Manchester, there are much better facilities. But that’s no thanks to the council. Unfortunately Andy Burnham has made comments about the skate community in the past, which I feel were off the cuff and ill-researched. A lot of people in the skate community don’t like him, though I do think that there are certain positives he’s brought to Manchester. He was invited to try skateboarding at Graystone (an indoor skatepark in Manchester) and he did actually attend, so, I mean, fair play to him. I still think what he said was very ignorant, and unfortunately there is still a bylaw that exists in Manchester that outlaws people from skateboarding within the city centre itself.
Other cities, such as Nottingham, build facilities for skateboarders because they recognise the income that skateboarding brings to the area. And then you’ve got Manchester, which has a huge skate scene and shops like Note and Black Sheep, but where people still see skateboarding as a nuisance.
The community have taken it into their own hands and this is where I think the community itself is really positive. There are a lot of good places to skate in Manchester. I would say a couple of the best places are DIY parks, like Goose Side (in Ancoats) and Beeside (in South Manchester) which embody a punk attitude of building something on land that’s not being used and making the most of it. It’s repurposing a place that would otherwise go to waste and these people have built some great things there. Unfortunately they won’t last forever because they’re built on hot property in the city centre and are prone to vandalism, but it seems to be heading in a good direction this year.
So the community is brilliant, and skateboarding is more generally accepted than it was.
When you first moved to Manchester, you lived in Hulme. How did that compare with your hometown?
When I moved from Scunthorpe, I very much identified with my working-class roots. However, Scunthorpe had recently voted Tory for the first time in a number of years and was part of the falling red wall. I think I was crying out to be around some like-minded individuals.
Hulme seemed like an accepting community. I know that mindset stemmed from Hulme Crescents, where a lot of creative people lived before it got knocked down. There were unfortunately issues there with drug use and crime, but I think the creativity seems to have stuck around.
Walking through Hulme, I’d see signs supporting Black Lives Matter, the queer community and other groups. It was very nice to see. And although I’m a straight white guy, I didn’t necessarily feel like someone that fit in back home. So to move somewhere where all types of different people were embraced was really refreshing.
You’re always listening to new music. What have you been listening to recently that excites you?
My music taste has changed over the past couple of years. I prefer heavier music like hardcore now, probably as I’ve gotten more into skateboarding and going to the gym. I used to be turned off from hardcore, as it seemed very elitist and people were scared to take creative risks. Whereas I think that’s changed over the last few years. You’ve got big bands like Turnstile who seem to be mixing it with more of an alt-rock influence. You’ve got people like Blood Orange, who is a guy from an indie background, featuring on Turnstile’s latest record. You’ve got people like High Vis who seem to be mixing it with an almost britpop, sort of shoegazey type sound. So I think that entire scene is really, really fascinating.
I think one of the reasons that I’ve stemmed more towards heavier music than the indie music I would have listened to a few years ago, is because I look for music to be exciting. Unfortunately indie music has, much in a way as it did in the mid-2000s, headed for a more derivative sound and bands aren’t offering anything new. I feel like post-punk has gone a similar way over the last few years as well. That said, you’ve got some really exciting bands like Black Country New Road and Fontaines D.C. But yeah, separate from a those I think the more alternative scene is offering something a bit more exciting to me.
What were you hoping to find when you moved to Manchester in your early 20s, from your working class hometown of Scunthorpe?
I wanted to live in a city that could accommodate me as the person that I wanted to be. Although I’m not under any illusion that my interests are particularly unique, back in Scunthorpe there wasn’t much to accommodate the music that I’m into, the clothes that I wear and more recently skateboarding. I’ve recently re-discovered skateboarding and the culture that surrounds it. So I guess I was looking for like-minded individuals, who I’m fortunate enough to have found.
How did you find getting back into skateboarding as an adult and what do you think of the skate scene in Manchester?
It was the perfect time to get back into it. I’m not going to say that people were more divided or tribalistic when I was younger, but people would fit more clearly into moulds that would define which culture they associated themselves with. So I think back then, skateboarding was a very alternative thing.
Now I’m an adult living in Manchester, there are much better facilities. But that’s no thanks to the council. Unfortunately Andy Burnham has made comments about the skate community in the past, which I feel were off the cuff and ill-researched. A lot of people in the skate community don’t like him, though I do think that there are certain positives he’s brought to Manchester. He was invited to try skateboarding at Graystone (an indoor skatepark in Manchester) and he did actually attend, so, I mean, fair play to him. I still think what he said was very ignorant, and unfortunately there is still a bylaw that exists in Manchester that outlaws people from skateboarding within the city centre itself.
Other cities, such as Nottingham, build facilities for skateboarders because they recognise the income that skateboarding brings to the area. And then you’ve got Manchester, which has a huge skate scene and shops like Note and Black Sheep, but where people still see skateboarding as a nuisance.
The community have taken it into their own hands and this is where I think the community itself is really positive. There are a lot of good places to skate in Manchester. I would say a couple of the best places are DIY parks, like Goose Side (in Ancoats) and Beeside (in South Manchester) which embody a punk attitude of building something on land that’s not being used and making the most of it. It’s repurposing a place that would otherwise go to waste and these people have built some great things there. Unfortunately they won’t last forever because they’re built on hot property in the city centre and are prone to vandalism, but it seems to be heading in a good direction this year.
So the community is brilliant, and skateboarding is more generally accepted than it was.
When you first moved to Manchester, you lived in Hulme. How did that compare with your hometown?
When I moved from Scunthorpe, I very much identified with my working-class roots. However, Scunthorpe had recently voted Tory for the first time in a number of years and was part of the falling red wall. I think I was crying out to be around some like-minded individuals.
Hulme seemed like an accepting community. I know that mindset stemmed from Hulme Crescent, where was a lot of creative people lived before it got knocked down. There were unfortunately issues there with drug use and crime, but I think the creativity seems to have stuck around.
Walking through Hulme, I’d see signs supporting Black Lives Matter, the queer community and other groups. It was very nice to see. And although I’m a straight white guy, I didn’t necessarily feel like someone that fit in back home. So to move somewhere where all types of different people were embraced was really refreshing.
You’re always listening to new music. What have you been listening to recently that excites you?
My music taste has changed over the past couple of years. I prefer heavier music like hardcore now, probably as I’ve gotten more into skateboarding and going to the gym. I used to be turned off from hardcore, as it seemed very elitist and people were scared to take creative risks. Whereas I think that’s changed over the last few years. You’ve got big bands like Turnstile who seem to be mixing it with more of an alt-rock influence. You’ve got people like Blood Orange, which is a guy from an Indie background. You’ve got people like High Viz who seem to be mixing it with an almost britpop, sort of shoegazey type sound. So I think that entire scene is really, really fascinating.
I think one of the reasons that I’ve stemmed more towards heavier music than the indie music I would have listened to a few years ago, is because I look for music to be exciting. Unfortunately indie music has, much in a way as it did in the mid-2000s, headed for a more derivative sound and bands aren’t offering anything new. I feel like post-punk has gone a similar way over the last few years as well. That said, you’ve got some really exciting bands like Black Country New Road and Fontaines DC. But yeah, separate from a those I think the more alternative scene is offering something a bit more exciting to me.