Issue 104 / October 2019

New Music + Creative Culture
Liverpool
Issue 104 / October 2019
bidolito.co.uk
Second Floor
The Merchant
40-42 Slater Street
Liverpool L1 4BX
Publisher/Founder
Craig G Pennington - info@bidolito.co.uk
Editor-in-Chief
Christopher Torpey - chris@bidolito.co.uk
Media Partnerships and Projects Manager
Sam Turner - sam@bidolito.co.uk
Features Editor
Niloo Sharifi - niloo@bidolito.co.uk
Live Editor
Elliot Ryder - elliot@bidolito.co.uk
Digital and Social Media Officer
Lucy Atkins – lucy@bidolito.co.uk
Community Manager
Brit Williams – brit@bidolito.co.uk
Design
Mark McKellier - mark@andmark.co.uk
Branding
Thom Isom - hello@thomisom.com
Proofreader
Nathaniel Cramp
Cover Artwork and Photography
Kate Davies
Words
Elliot Ryder, Christopher Torpey, Ed Haynes, Vahid
Davar, Matt Hogarth, Sam Turner, Ian R Abraham,
Mike Stanton, Frankie Muslin, Conal Cunningham,
Joel Durksen, David Weir, Jennie Macaulay, Georgia
Turnbull, Christopher Carr, Natalie McCool, Nina
Franklin, Beija Flo.
EDITORIAL
Further justification of this city’s blackout of The
Sun newspaper was found recently (as if any more
were even needed) with a report into its effect on
Euroscepticism rates in Merseyside. Two political
science academics – Florian Foos and Daniel Bischof – showed
that Liverpool people gradually, but definitively, swayed away
from a Eurosceptic outlook in the years since the Hillsborough
disaster, largely (but not solely) because of the boycott of
the publication and its anti-Europe
propaganda. Without it, Foos and
Bischof estimate that Merseyside would
have voted to Leave in the 2015 EU
referendum by a margin of 60 to 40
(Merseyside voted overall to Remain in
the referendum, by 51 to 49; Liverpool’s
Remain vote was at 58 per cent). There
were, naturally, many other factors at
play in this decades-long switching of
attitudes, such as The Sun being largely
replaced by the Europhile Mirror, and
European Union funding in the area that
helped rebuild it after a post-industrial
slump – a fact that culminated gloriously
in the 2008 European Capital of Culture year.
These findings help to prove what we’d already come to
understand instinctively: that quality matters. The quality of what
news you’re served, the quality of the discourse you’re involved
in. Just like we care about the provenance of the food we eat
and the goods we buy, this report shows that we should take
as much care with the news and information we ingest. As we
head inexorably towards another election cycle – one that looks
set to be at least as divisive as the 2016 referendum – we need
to be aware of these factors so that we can equip ourselves
FEATURES
“The power of what
can be achieved
when unity is
allowed to flourish is
abundantly clear”
accordingly. The power of what can be achieved when unity is
allowed to flourish, rather than divisions deepened, is abundantly
clear. When Liverpool boomed in the years of the last Labour
government, it did so on a wave of enthusiasm and positivity
that facilitated a ‘can do’ attitude. It’s hard to see how another
viewpoint can be easily reached.
Of course, all media has its own agenda – even ourselves.
I hope it’s obvious where Bido Lito!’s vested interests lie:
supporting and encouraging; selecting
what we write about based purely on
taste; giving a platform to stories that
we feel need to be heard. I sometimes
see Bido’s role as that of a looking
glass, reflecting back the best of our
collective community. But it’s not always
that; sometimes it takes on the role of a
megaphone, an amplifier or a soap-box.
When you see us out at gigs, hosting
our own events, doing our own releases,
championing local artists and spreading
the word about how amazing this place
is – we hope that it’s obvious where our
intentions lie.
As we continue on in this same vein, it’s a real shame that
we won’t be doing so with three massively valuable members of
the Bido family. We’re gutted that Sam, Niloo and Lucy will not
be with us as we move on to our next chapter. All three of them
leave Bido in a lot more interesting and healthy place than when
they joined, and for that we say a massive, heartfelt THANK
YOU!x
Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Editor-in-Chief
Future Yard (Michael Driffill)
Photography, Illustration and Layout
Mark McKellier, Kate Davies, Vahid Davar, Anna
Benson, Ian Skelly, Ross Davidson, GCH Photography,
Michael Driffill, Keith Ainsworth, Michael Kirkham,
Tomas Adam, Brian Sayle, Darren Aston.
Distribution
Our magazine is distributed as far as possible through
pedal power, courtesy of our Bido Bikes. If you would
like to find out more, please email chris@bidolito.co.uk.
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Bido Lito! is a living wage employer. All our staff are
paid at least the living wage.
All contributions to Bido Lito! come from our city’s
amazing creative community. If you would like to join
the fold visit bidolito.co.uk/contribute.
We are contributing one per cent of our advertising
review to WeForest.org to fund afforestation projects
around the world. This more than offsets our carbon
footprint and ensures there is less CO2 in the
atmosphere as a result of our existence.
The views expressed in Bido Lito! are those of the
respective contributors and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the magazine, its staff or the
publishers. All rights reserved.
12 / STRAWBERRY GUY
This affecting songwriter’s bathtub melancholia has connected
with a swarm of online fans who’ve found solace in his lilting
dreamadelica.
16 / WRITING OUTSIDE OF THE
MARGINS
Comics Youth has been helping young people write their own
stories for the past four years, with the next chapter focusing on
the lives of the marginalised.
20 / NASSIM’S TESTAMENT
Iranian poet Vahid Davar considers the inherent sacrifice that
migration demands in an extract taken from his dissertation that
looks at language and belonging.
REGULARS
10 / NEWS
26 / SPOTLIGHT
31 / PREVIEWS
18 / MARVIN POWELL
Classic Americana storytelling baked into the soul of a Mersey
wanderer.
22 / INTERSECTION OF MUSIC
Matt Hogarth of Eggy Records reflects on a cultural exchange
that saw a bit of Liverpool transplanted to a creative community
on the banks of the Volga.
28 / RICHARD HERRING
The Podfather opens up about the art of subversiveness in
podcasting, and how far he might yet go with the medium he’s
helped to define.
30 / BRADLEY WIGGINS
Britain’s most decorated Olympian opens up about the roots of
his cycling obsession and how it has helped him find new roads
in the sport.
36 / REVIEWS
46 / ARTISTIC LICENCE