The last month or so has passed quickly – apart from my DJ commitments, pretty much every waking hour has revolved around preparation for the first Super Weird, Substance album release, which compiles the label’s singles so far and is issued on on 2xCD (including mix I’ve put together) on November 13th. Just about on top of everything now, until the next avalanche of things to do, I’d forgotten how time-consuming the day-to-day variables of running a record label can be. Great fun though, nothing like a bit of thinking on your feet. More about the album here:
http://www.superweirdsubstance.com/swscd001-greg-wilson-presents-super-weird-substance/
What’s cast my mind back to just over a month ago is Vinegar Films’ wonderful short, capturing the vibe of a day you’d find hard to describe in words, although Josh Ray has made a pretty good fist of it here: http://www.superweirdsubstance.com/festival-number-6-super-weird-happening/
The day was Saturday 5th September, the stage was The Estuary, the festival No.6, with Super Weird Happening #6 the name of the 12 hour event that brought together spoken word, well-being, live art, bands and DJs on a beautiful day in North Wales. But enough words – images, in this case, speak louder than, so over to YouTube:
We’re hoping to take the Happenings into half-a-dozen festivals next summer. We believe we have something really special here and want to take the idea into different festival environments, initially in the UK and Ireland, but eventually further afield.
It’s a case of walk before run as we find our feet, but that sure was one giant leap – we really did collectively work some magic, for a mythical day it certainly was – still feels like it was all a dream. Here’s the recording from my closing slot, available to stream / download:
Ahead of No.6, where she was one of our guests, I re-watched playwright Daisy Eris Campbell’s spellbinding talk at our London Happening last year. This time I really identified with what she said about meeting Alan Moore for the first time. It was something I’d heard him say previously, but this time it properly hit home. She paraphrased his words;
‘art and magic are the same thing, but there’s high art and high magic. High magic is when you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing, but just proceed as if everything’s an instruction from the forces that be’.
I carried this with me into No.6 as my maxim. On top of the fact we had so many participants, as well as their guests, to sort out, there were plenty unknowns and situations beyond our control, but I’m aware that trying to control an uncontrollable situation only causes a vortex of stress, so I went with the flow of act like you know, and thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the day, both behind the scenes and out front. There were some small problems to be solved, but everyone got into the spirit of things and helped make it a day of community and connectedness in an extraordinary space bathed in sunshine.
We couldn’t have asked for more.
Super Weird Happening #6:
http://www.superweirdsubstance.com/super-weird-happening-6/
AMAZING day
Was a magical weekend. Thanks everyone