So, in case you didn’t know, I grew up in Northern Ireland during a very difficult time in that country’s history. It was very confusing to be a child and teenager in the atmosphere of violence that pervaded at the time. At some point I came to the conclusion that I had to leave. That decision was helped by seeing lots of dubbed foreign, mostly German and Eastern European, TV programmes and films that expanded my horizons. And music of course. Music was the main thing that offered escape and hanging around record shops was a favourite weekend past-time. The first proper gig I saw - the first that I saved up for, bought the tickets for, and persuaded a friend to drive me the 50 mile round trip to Belfast to see, was Echo and the Bunnymen. I can still remember everything about it and the experience had a huge effect on me. Quite possibly it was the moment when I realised that I had to leave Northern Ireland which I did a few years later, to go to art college in Dundee. This week, amazingly, I met the person who organised that very gig - Bill Drummond. Turns out that he managed Echo and the Bunnymen at the time, before going on to do all sorts of amazing things as a musician and artist. Bill grew up in rural Scotland, knew Belfast well through family holidays, and knew how important it was to get bands like that playing in the city. In fact he has  told me that he approached working with the band as an art work; a way of working he has developed over the years. He came to do a talk at Wysing during Pil and Galia Kollectiv’s brilliant retreat last week. It has been kind of amazing to have had the chance to say thank you to him, from my teenage self. I didn't expect to have the opportunity.

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Ectopia were one of the first bands I booked for this year's festivals. I saw them at Powerlunches in a programme that was curated by Wysing artist-in-residence Alice Theobald, who is in the band Ravioli Me Away who are also playing in the festival again this year. Ectopia are an incredibly exciting band to watch live. They're fronted by the artist Adam Christensen who is a compelling performer. I saw them with Wysing Curator Lotte juul Petersen and studio artist Florian Roithmayr, and the three of us were completely enthralled. They don't play live much so it's a real treat to have them play at Wysing; the last act on the Amphis stage. No videos available unfortunately but a recording is on their new website, here.

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