Ethical Clubbing Manchester
Article published: Saturday, January 19th 2008
Manchester is known for its strong and inventive music scene. Everyones musical tastes are catered for, here in the fast-developing second city of England. But what about their ethics? Is it possible to be a green clubber? Phoebe Ferris-Rotman investigates…
Manchester offers a plethora of music genre options but there are few eco friendly ones. However, there is a committed core of conscious people in the city who use their love of music to make a difference. Josh Steiner from Action for Sustainable Living says: Theres definitely a huge void when it comes to ethical and environmental awareness in the UK music scene. Its kind of ironic because a lot of musicians and artists tend to be sensitive to global issues but then dont find it easy to practice their values through their profession.
But while artists tend not to practice what they preach, organizers and punters are arguably the real key to ethical success, Josh Steiner argues: People are generally enthusiastic for this type of thing. Theres still a lot of apathy in consumerist popular culture and people think they have to pay more for good things. By putting on high caliber events which are environmentally friendly but not overstating the case were moving the apathetic mainstream into a place of comfortable acceptance. The point is to make people realise they dont have to feel moralistic or different to act ethically and globally aware. Josh is proud to have initiated what he calls Manchesters first ethical club night last March. He teamed up with Manchester Metropolitan University People & Planet Society and local volunteers from his own organisation Action for Sustainable Living. The night Sound Impact proved a massive success.
But not everyone is so pro-active in seeking out like-minded green buffs, according to Alan from Drum Music, a Manchester-based collective who believe it is very important to live their lives in an ethical low impact way. He says: I dont think I ever consciously made a decision to get involved in an ethical music scene, its just that I have my ethics and have found a bunch of people to work with who share a lot if not all of them.Drum Music side step the issue of punter apathy by leaving their ethics out of promotion. People think they are going to a normal club night but in fact Drum Music follow a strong ethical code – all their flyers are printed on recycled card using organic, plant-based ink and their t-shirts are fair trade cotton and sweatshop-free. Drum Music also raise money for good causes. Last year they organized
a charity fundraiser for the Basement, a volunteer run social centre and café which was forced to close after water damage resulting from a fire in a neighbouring building. All the musicians played for free and the crewe only took enough to cover costs.
Drum Musics Alan also actively participates in many other ecofriendly and ethical groups such as
Solid Earth, which raises funds for Médecins Sans Frontières relief effort in Darfur, but he avoids preaching. He says: None of these groups Im involved with really make a big deal about our views. We just try to put on good events in a way that keeps our consciences as clear as possible and are always looking for ways to improve on this. Drum Music has many inventive plans, one being starting a record label and using recycled vinyl.
The final example are the Since Cell Collective, member Matt Ganicliffe describes them as a cooperative of very different musicians who share an ethos. They played together for years in various combinations before knowing they could make something special happen. Officially forming earlier this year, the group defines itself as a record label, live event, pool of skills, nest for projects and a
thinking space. They have organised fund raisers for groups which their members were involved in or
supported in the past, but they are now looking to more unusual and creative collaborations.
Not a record label in the normal sense, they say: we dont give you 20K to spend on studios and snazzy pants, we give you a cup of tea and a thinking cap and divide up the work. The group likes the image of a single cell because it divides, spreads, and evolves. Its quite a fi tting description for the entire Manchester ethical music and clubbing scene, and as the group says: the true scene is the sum of the scenelets and they branch out every which way, expressing more experiences than anyone can shake a fair-trade tambourine at.
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