[matilda] DIY: the gig collective speaks

[Joe Public]

The current gig collective, who are working to transform part of the 
basement into a music venue, need to clarify the underlying ethos and aims 
of the space before the collective (as it is now) feels comfortable in 
continuing with this work (obviously this work can be continued by other 
people).

The current members of the collective have 'worked' for many years (by 
writing zines, playing in bands, running record labels, organising gigs and 
tours, driving bands, designing artwork, making t-shirts and badges, 
distributing records/books/zines and attending gigs) to create a community 
that conveys human expression, creativity, enthusiasm and passion as an end 
in itself, rather than as the means to the end of financial gain for 
corporations.

Funds raised by people working within the DIY scene is predominantly 
re-invested into our community rather than leeched away into the pockets of 
shareholders.

Our proposal is that:

- The aim of the gig collective is primarily to created a much needed venue 
where fiercely independent grassroots music, art and creativity can emerge 
and exist without corporate music industry involvement and manipulation.

- major label/corporate backed events need the consensus of Matilda and the 
decision be made on the basis of the overall benefit to and need of Matilda 
at the time, and the political sentiments of the event involved.

It is the collective's opinion that Sheffield does not need an additional 
venue to promote mainstream 'culture'. We feel that space needs to be 
created for new voices and ideas to be heard, and for culture that is is 
counter to the mainstream to be allowed to flourish.

We intend to make this proposal at the next Matilda meeting
K,P,H,N

To try and explain the ethics behind these proposals here is something one 
of us wrote about what DIY means to us. Enjoy!


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Pretty much everything that I do these days is influenced by the DIY ethic. 
It's a way of living, working and co-operating that is inherently radical, 
and it not only works against the things I oppose, but actively creates an 
alternative.

When I want a haircut I do it myself. I find scissors from the kitchen 
drawer and chop away, occasionally watching what I'm doing in the mirror. 
When I get frustrated that magazines aimed at me are full of beauty tips and 
diet plans, I do it myself and create an alternative. I write a zine and 
fill it with vegan recipes and stories about my life and drawings of 
whatever I feel like drawing. And when I turn on the radio and realise that 
the pop songs they are playing mean nothing to me, I find and become part of 
a scene that makes music addressing things I find important, not just being 
in and out of love.

The first time I became part of a coherent network of people working without 
the concept of profit was when I started writing zines. To make a zine you 
write whatever you want, turn it into a booklet and find a way of scamming 
photocopies. then you swap it with other zine writers, sell it on for near 
cost price, give it to your friends, leave it on the bus... anything you 
want. Most zines are made in the writer's bedroom, and most zines have no 
adverts. Those that do advertise other DIY enterprises – tiny record labels, 
badge making business run from someone's living room and other zines.

The DIY ethic creates a community, teeming with ideas and enthusiasm. People 
do things because they are filled with passion, not for a payslip at the end 
of the week. Today I spent 9 hours at Matilda, scraping flaky paint off the 
damp walls of the basement. If I was  being paid to do this so that the 
space could be turned into luxury flats, I would slack off, cut corners and 
complain constantly. If I was being paid less than £7/hr I would probably 
quit. But the idea of a new gig venue in Sheffield, a place to try and 
realise some of our ideas and a space that would help nurture the 
independent music scene was enough to keep me scraping when my knuckles were 
grazed, my eyes full of dust and my stomach growling. To put on bands 
without compromising is so much work. Unless you have the resources and 
support to work within a squat or social centre (like Matilda), you'll 
probably have to put on gigs at pubs, which are benevolent enough, but only 
tolerate you because of the money you make them on the bar.

To me, music without a DIY ethic has no soul. It is music used as a means to 
an end – the end of fame, or money, or influence. I believe in music as an 
end in itself. True, some of my favourite bands are pushing an agenda – of 
feminism, say, or anti-capitalism. But I believe in political music too, and 
corporate bands preaching politics are like companies branding their 
sweatshop t-shirts rebellious and counter-culture. And staying independent 
as a band is in itself is a political act, because it is a rejection of the 
temptation of money and convenience in favour of integrity and autonomy. It 
is refusing to be sold and manipulated and turned into a product. Because 
there is no suggestion that major labels have any interest in music beyond 
its earning potential. They are businesses and businesses seek profit. This 
is not my opinion – it is how things are. EMI does not chase your band with 
a chequebook because your music makes them feel alive, or because your 
lyrics seared to the very soul of the A&R man at your gig. EMI are after you 
band because they think that you will make a strong enough brand to make 
them some money.

And let it be known that if a band does sign to a major label, it is not the 
case that it is their personal choice, or their luck, or none of my 
business. Because every DIY band that signs to a major is standing on the 
backs of the thousands of people who stay independent. They owe every penny 
of their royalties to the people who worked for free to let them be heard in 
the first place. The people who put them on, gave them their sofa to sleep 
on, reviewed them in their zine, lost money putting their record out, drew 
their artwork and supported them by going to gigs.

Money corrupts and it pollutes communities like bleach in a stream. Bands 
who choose the money are placing it above sincerity, passion and belief. 
Zines that take major label advertising negate every word that they print. 
Anything that you write, play, sing or draw once you have chosen the money 
is meaningless because it is now a product, and you are creating a brand 
instead of art.

I work hard to contribute to the DIY scene, because I believe in it, and it 
repays me many times over by inspiring me, entertaining me and giving me 
hope. I will not work to help market music, to promote a brand, to help 
someone, somewhere makes a large profit. Major label bands have chosen their 
path and they can work within the world that they have opted for; a world of 
competition and exploitation; a sanitised world of immaculate dressing rooms 
and high ticket prices; a world of distanced fans and idolisation.

Our city is filled with venues for these bands, because they make money, and 
there will always be space for people who want to make money. It is the 
other people who have to fight – those who are motivated not by money but by 
their music and their community. Capitalism makes no space for the DIY scene 
– we just take it. And when we oppose capitalism and its fetishisation of 
money, we must embrace that which undermines it. And the DIY ethic, with its 
currency of energy, does undermine it.