A celebration of the past 98 episodes with so many wonderful guests. I talk about some of the things I’ve learned and answer the questions of past guests and listeners. This episode is a big thank you to everyone who has made the first 98 episodes of the podcast possible. I’ve had so many brilliant guests openly and honestly sharing their stories. One the four years I have been running the podcast all those stories have become an amazing bank of content that celebrates creativity in Dundee. In this episode I answer questions from past guests and listeners. It goes from the weird to the wonderful. From my favourite pokemon to feminism and the fickle nature of confidence.

Creative Chit Chat - Dundee

99 - Ask Me Anything

This week I’m joined by the Head of Cinema at the DCA, Alice Black. She gives us a behind the scenes peek of how an independent cinema operates and the difficulties of catering to such a wide and varied audience. Cinema has always been the biggest focus and passion in Alice’s life. From an early age the cinema was an adventure, being a 2hour drive each way. After a bit of a mix up with the tickets Alice’s Mum ended up taking her to see Roman Polanski’s Tess, which had a profound impact on her life even if she might’ve been a little young at the time. Alice is a firm believer that “Film is a great leveller”. MA Glasgow After a degree in Canada an MA in Glasgow and an MA in New York Alice Worked for the MoMA and the French embassy in NY before moving to Dublin. Having such a range of roles servicing different needs and audiences put her in a great position to curate her own screening schedule for a venue, something she’d not done before the DCA. We chat about the difficulties involved in programming a cultural venue for a wide and varied audience. With only 2 screens with roughly 4 showings per day it’s a big ask and often ends up like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Alice also gives us an insight into the decision making process of how decide on what makes the cut. There are a lot of restrictions and restraints that come with showing blockbusters that I had no idea of and I suppose not many people do as we just expect that what we want will be on when we want it. “I want the films to have the best possible chance to find their audience and I want the audience to have the best possible experience.” Alice watches 95% percent of the films that go on at the cinema and she says herself that her expertise is having a sort of encyclopaedic knowledge of films, even if it does make her a harsh critic. Cannes, Berlin and Toronto are the big film festivals she visits every year watching a colossal 5 or 6 films a day! Obviously now, that isn’t going to be possible and the future of cinema is somewhat uncertain. I feel that we will always crave the experience of cinema and maybe with our time away from it, we’ll want it more than ever. (Cover photo by Erika Stevenson - http://www.erikascamera.co.uk/) DCA - https://www.dca.org.uk/

98 - Alice Black

Darryl comes from a background in social care and community engagement through many different jobs and projects that we chat about on the project but he’s currently working on researching and developing a local currency for Dundee. ‘I would never call myself a creative’ Pretty much the first thing Darryl says. Not the best start, given the name of the podcast but ‘creative’ and 'design' have never been in the vocabulary in the work that he has done. Although we talk about how many of the roles he’s been in have utilised design principles, methodologies and approaches. Darryl talks about his introduction to Service Design and how something really clicked and made him realise that those things he was doing all along were part of a bigger picture. Similarly, co-design has had a big impact on the work that he does. From our chat, it’s clear that Darryl likes to throw himself into challenges and bring people together to create change. In 2017 he 2017 stood in the local elections as an independent candidate. His campaign was based on the basis that ‘local people should be more involved in local decision making’. In the episode, he talks about shaping his doorstep manner and trying to make genuine connections with people. He clearly did something right as he finished ahead of the Lib Dems and several other candidates for Dundee East. With his current work on a local currency Darryl has started to make more connections with the Dundee creative community and from his previous jobs and projects finds himself in an interesting position. He can see the crossover of the needs of both groups but there is a distinct lack of connections. He wants to act as a bridge to that gap to help make a difference. He’s also just launched a new podcast looking at events of the past in Dundee and seeing how they’re relevant now and what that means for the future. You should definitely give the first episode a listen and find out more about how Winston Churchill lost his seat in Dundee. Emerging Dundee Podcast - https://soundcloud.com/emerging-dundee-102375827 Darryl’s twitter - https://twitter.com/DDuplooy

97 - Darryl Gaffney du Plooy

Kirsty runs a Passivhaus Architecture practice from Wasps studios in Dundee but we don’t really talk about any of that. Instead, she takes me through her epic journey to the ends of the earth that she was able to make when lots of factors aligned to create the perfect opportunity. Something of a different episode this week for the first remote recording of Creative Chit Chat ever. Please bear with me on the sound quality. I will be trying to improve it as I go working with some new software. In a lot of ways, I feel that this is the perfect episode for what’s happening right now. A way to escape and let Kirsty take you on an adventure over land, mountains and sea. Going beyond the North to just short of the North Pole in a sailing boat, to skiing past hundreds of thousands of penguins in South Georgia and experiencing the wildlife of Antarctica. I don’t really want to say much more than that. Just listen and enjoy. Kirsty’s website: https://kirstymaguire.com/ Kirsty’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/PassivhausArch

96 - Kirsty Maguire

Programme director of Digital Interaction Design at DJCAD, Paul has gone full circle from being a student on the course to now leading it. We cover that whole journey including some brilliant music based side projects along the way. “mostly I’ve just pursued what I’ve been interested in rather than what’s been a good career move” We begin by talking about Pauls relationship with technology and how he created a website for his village when people were getting really excited about the internet. I think there are a few threads running through his career and technology is one of them along with community and developing the careers and aspirations of younger generations. After a PhD and some time working open the dot rural project in Aberdeen, Paul spent several years at Young Scot in Edinburgh. His work involved giving young people a voice in a room of people with influence, to make them heard and to make a difference. During his time studying in Dundee Paul started a music event in a pub basement on the Perth Road called Nilk. Which then grew into a ‘micro festival’ in Dundee’s botanic gardens. The connection and development all came from a graphic design placement and some collaboration. Another musical collaboration project we chat about is Resono. A project that came out of it looking at travelling around different weird and wonderful acoustics spaces and places in Scotland. Utilising a technique called impulse response they put on performances and created recordings in some breathtaking spaces. IKEA x Teenage Engineering Collaborative 3D printing project - https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/news/frekvens-limited-collection-pubcd6f39e0 Resono project - http://resono.co.uk Twitter - https://twitter.com/peg

95 - Paul Gault

Kirsty is the founder and CEO of the Circle, a “More Than Profit” organisation focused on working with social entrepreneurs, community activists, charity leaders, commercial business leaders, trustees and non-executive directors. Kirsty starts her journey on her return to Dundee after being in academia for many years she found herself unemployed. After signing on, a careers advisor asked if she had considered starting her own business. From there she started ACK (Along Came Kirsty) a business offering consultancy services and ended up working primarily with organisations and charities in the third sector. After some ups and downs Kirsty identified the need to set up a space that would allow the types of businesses she was working with to grow. Taking away a lot of the hassles and worries around the basics of keeping a roof over their heads and the lights on. It took 2 years of negotiation with a commercial landlord to convince them it was a viable use for their building. 3 years later and the building is full of a diverse range of charities, social enterprises, community groups and socially aware businesses in Dundee. It’s not just about creating a space but about creating a community that grows and thrives together. They also offer a 12 week Circle Academy to help create businesses that are ‘more than profit’. The Academy helps develop business ideas into viable opportunities and teach step skills necessary to take them forward through a series of challenges. A core theme that of the episode is the value of creative skills. “The minute you start to value your own time and expertise, then other people start to value that as well.” I think this is exceptionally poignant right now given the situation. We need creative skills to be valued and to get rid of the imbalance that creatives often experience when trying to earn money for their skills. Kirsty released this statement outlining the current situation and The Circle’s future: https://thecircledundee.org.uk/2020/03/23/a-statement-about-covid-19 Website - thecircledundee.org.uk Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thecircledundee/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/thecircledundee Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thecircledundee/

94 - Kirsty Thomson

In difficult times for everyone I thought it was important to release some positivity, talk about the importance of everyone still creating content and how we should pull together as a community. As pretty much all events and gatherings are now off we need to look at how we bring together the creative community over the coming months. How do we bring people together digitally to take advantage of this time? Let’s utilise the amazing talent and skills we have in Dundee to create content to get us through the difficult times. I’ve also put together a nice big list of podcasts and TV shows/entertainment to try and take the edge off things: **Podcasts** - The Beans - The Creative Boom Podcast - Everything is Alive - Shagged Married Annoyed - Passenger List - The Chernobyl Podcast - Off Menu **BBC** - What We Do in the Shadows - Frankie Boyle’s Tour of Scotland **Channel 4** - The End of The F***ing World - Before We Die **Sky/Now TV** - Silicon Valley - Avenue 5 - Kidding **Amazon Prime** - Andy Murray: Resurfacing - The Report - Vice **Netflix** - Cheer - Ugly Delicious - Studio Ghilbi back catalogue - American Factory - Uppity - Drive to Survive - Behind the Curve **Apple TV** - The Mythic Quest - The Morning Show - Little America

An Uplifting Update

Ica hosts and runs the Creative Me Podcast in Aberdeen and I invited him down to Dundee to do a podcast exchange. Turns out we have very similar stories and approaches when it comes to podcasting. Originally from South East London, Ica moved up to Aberdeen with his girlfriend about 15 years ago to study social work. He’s seen the creative scene change and grow while recording the stories of creatives in the city. We both started our podcasts around the same time and have put out about the same number of episodes. When chatting it was funny how we have mirrored so many of the same patterns. We both burned ourselves out in the early stages and came to the realisation that there is no expectation to be putting out an episode every week. Granted, in the beginning it’s good practice to get things out there and develop the skills. But 1 episode every week is a massive amount of work to keep on top of and generally more content that listeners can keep up with. Especially if you’re trying to do it all year round. We end our chat by talking about the development of local talent. Aberdeen has had some amazing events over the past few years with things like Nuart but it is mainly about parachuting in that international talent. Ica feels that the focus needs to be on developing young talent in and around the city especially in more deprived areas. Creating a more inclusive atmosphere throughout the city. I could’ve happily chatted for hours with Ica but if you do enjoy this episode we also recorded 1 for the Creative Me Podcast which you can find here: https://soundcloud.com/user-933577069/episode-85-ryan-mcleod-creative-chit-chat-dundee All Creative Me Episodes: http://creativemepodcast.com/ Creative Me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativemepodcast/ Creative Me on twitter: https://twitter.com/CreativeMePodc1

93 - Ica Headlam / Creative Me Podcast

Jen is an Illustrator and ceramicist who has spent her time between Dundee, Glasgow and Toronto during her career so far. Her work often notes quiet moments, human connection and the natural world. Pencil and paper are generally the tools of choice, but she occasionally plays with clay, too. After graduating from DJCAD Jen started making products that she could sell online to build an audience and generate some income. She needed a part-time job at this point to support her creative practice and said that it was important to admit ’In my 1st tax return I had a big fat zero in there’. After changing her supporting job to working in marketing it led her down to Glasgow. It was there that she decided to go to some beginners ceramics classes. Out of a curiosity for the craft and that she had never really quite got away from the 2D nature of her illustration work. We chat about how these beginners classes are really enjoyable but also a great gateway into learning new skills and developing creative practice. There are some great things going on in this area already in Dundee but running those classes can be costly and time-consuming. Could we get together as a creative community to reduce the amount of work and increase the breadth and depth of the offering to make design skills more accessible? It was at this point in Glasgow Jen had built a good online following and purely through developing work and selling it online, she was starting to be commissioned for illustrations. It then time for a big change. Her and her boyfriend went off to Toronto for 2 years to work and live. It was here that Jen joined an open access ceramics space called ‘The Shop’ where she developed her ceramics work and started collaborating and selling through it. She had her own working space shared with others and managed to find a really good creative/commercial balance. We talk about it as the ‘holy grail’ being creatively fulfilled but not being skint! Eventually, the lure of Scotland led Jen back to Dundee to continue developing her career and now has a studio at Wasps. We talk about the difficulty with creative spaces in Dundee and trying to find some sort of answer to the empty shop fronts on the high street. We finish by discussing Dundee in this new ‘post spotlight era’, interesting to see what happens next. Jen’s website - https://www.jen-collins.com/ Jen’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jen.collins/ Jen’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/hellojencollins?lang=en The illustrator - https://bentheillustrator.com/illustrators-survey

92 - Jen Collins

Do you like sneakers? Then this episode is for you. From importing random Japanese zines to working in Hanon in Aberdeen and having over 250 pairs sitting in his garage. Me and Neil chat a lot about trainers in this episode. Even though his journey isn’t really about footwear. He came to Dundee to set up Borders books store. Which he helped build into the most successful branch in the UK but despite this, the company went into administration. Neil had to go through that process and watch the community he had built disappear. He seems to have a knack of getting his foot in the door by offering to lend a hand. This saw him working on some of the early-stage public consultations for V&A Dundee, then on to several Business Improvement District projects. In the episode, he also reveals that Kengo Kuma’s design was not actually the public’s first choice! The Bluebell design was the preferred choice but it was deemed too similar to Belfast’s Titanic Museum. After his work with the V&A Dundee, the Archie foundation approached Neil to help create a fundraising trail. This became the Oor Wullie Bucket Trail that was so successful at getting people out and exploring as well as raising a lot of money for charity. Neil also went on to work on the Maggie’s Penguin Parade and bucket trail number 2. Working with Wild in Art he’s now working on trails projects worldwide. But how long can this model really last? We chat about the possibilities and certain restricting factors for the future. We finish by talking about a mutual love of trainers. It may be a little self-indulgent but you’ve got to take the chance when it’s there! Maggie’s Penguin Parade - https://www.maggies.org/about-us/news/maggies-penguin-parade-va-dundee-auction-raises-half-a-million/ Neil’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/clepington/ Wild in Art - https://www.wildinart.co.uk/ Our Wullie Bucket Trail - https://www.oorwullie.com/ Hanon - https://www.hanon-shop.com/ Dundee Sole - https://www.instagram.com/dundeesole/?hl=en

91 - Neil Cooney

A graphic designer who runs Pixels Ink, helping brands find their identity and voice. He’s also built up a following through online design advice and tutorials on his youtube channel. Col started out doing an interior design course, then moved on to animation and ended up working in a series of smaller studios doing various different roles. He started to get itchy feet when the studio he was at began to grow and he lost the direct relationships with the clients. After finding himself in a pretty toxic environment he knew he had to get out and start his own business. Despite not having any real experience running a business and not having and clients! This was a massive leap and 1 thing that comes up time and again in the episode is confidence. It’s definitely something Col has struggled with and something I think we can all relate to. It was this statement that really stuck with me though: “I don’t think enough people invest in themselves… From my experience, when I’ve invested money in myself, it’s given me a boost of confidence… and it’s paid for itself every single time.” A real turning point in Col’s career was discovering Content Marketing. In simple terms, it’s being as helpful as you can, no sales pitch and essentially just giving away your knowledge. Which seems counter-intuitive at first but in actual fact it shows the design process and everything that is involved. So it actually unveils the complexities involved in graphic design and encourages people to actually commission work. Accountability groups are another amazing concept that came out in the podcast. Essentially a monthly meet up where you all hold each other accountable for progressing your own businesses. It’s a great support structure, especially if you are a freelancer or working on your own. Having people there to sense check with and bounce ideas off can be invaluable. “Have confidence in your imperfections” Col’s Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/pixelsink Col’s Website - https://pixelsink.com/ Col’s twitter - https://twitter.com/pixelsink

90 - Col Gray

5 weeks into a year-long role as director of Creative Dundee I chat to Lori about her journey, what interested her in the role and what she wants to achieve. Starting out, Lori’s journey has a bit of uncertainty that then led to working in the financial sector. After rising through the company she ended up being made redundant along with the rest of her department. This lead her to take stock and make a complete career change with the Nation Lottery Heritage Fund. She spent 9 years there supporting and getting involved in many amazing projects and gaining what would prove to be invaluable experience for the future. Lori said people have described the transition in her career as “gamekeeper turned poacher” as she went to work for organisations for whom the securing of funding is vitally important. The biggest of these was ‘Collective’ a project regenerating the Old City Observatory and surrounding area at the top of Calton Hill in Edinburgh. It was a 9-month role that turned into a 5 year position as she saw the project through to completion. Only being 5 weeks into the post when I chatted with Lori it was maybe unfair to ask what her ambitions are for the next 12 months. Her position is massively important for the city of Dundee and the creative community. It's only fair that there's a good period of understanding the lay of the land and maintaining the current programme before creating any new challenges. I was really pleased to hear that she received a ‘warm and fuzzy’ welcoming by Dundee and I’m looking forward to seeing what the Creative Dundee team achieve over the next 12 months and beyond. Lori’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/LoriVAnderson Collective - https://www.collective-edinburgh.art/ Creative Dundee - https://creativedundee.com

89 - Lori Anderson

An opportunity for a year-long graduate internship on the isle of Coll to write and create music was massively significant in Andy’s life. It kick-started a remote music creation process with his brother and initiated a love for field recordings. Now 2 albums down, Kinbrae are looking to release an LP and then a further album but Andy is looking to other avenues to make music a full-time pursuit. He talks about how he has worked in creating music for film and TV which seems to be a much more commercially viable option. Towards the end of our chat, I couldn’t resist chatting to him about classic football kits. It’s something we talked about one night over a beer and area where creativity is definitely lacking. Kinbrae Website: http://kinbrae.co.uk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kinbraemusic Chernobyl Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chernobyl-podcast/id1459712981 Classic Football Shirts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/classicfootballshirts/

88 - Andy Truscott

Katja has been working in the cultural sector producing events for many years. From music festivals in the Czech Republic to DJCAD degree show. Having only been in Dundee for a relatively short period of time she’s already worked with most of the cultural organisations in the city. As most of her work is event-based it leads to relatively short term contracts. We chat about jumping from contract to contract and having the confidence that something else will always come up. Her latest contract is with Creative Dundee as Programmes Producer. After just a few months in the role, I ask about her ambitions over the next 6-9 months, what she feels Creative Dundee’s role is in the city and where she fits within that. Katja says ‘Dundee is small in the best of ways’ many people have talked about the advantages of the scale of Dundee but no-one has summed it up quite as succinctly and beautifully as this. Creative Dundee - https://creativedundee.com/ Katja Twitter - https://twitter.com/katjakusakova Katja Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/katjasteel/ Ness’ twitter - https://www.instagram.com/_little_ness_monster/

87 - Katja Steel Kusakova

Director of Leisure & Culture Dundee, Stewart has spent many years engaging communities, enabling others and really helping develop the cultural offer in Dundee. As he moves towards retirement we talk about what he has achieved in the role and what he feels is important for the city going forward.  After growing up in Fife, Stewart started in community education in Glasgow. He didn’t exactly when but mentioned it was before the M8 opened. In 1990 he moved to Tayside where he worked in several different roles engaging communities before eventually becoming head of the organisation that merged many bodies and became Leisure & Culture Dundee. From our chat, it’s clear that what really drives Stewart is facilitation. He loves helping others make things happen. In my opinion, this is the right attitude for someone in his role and indeed the role of any big cultural or creative organisation. Stewart talks about working with many people over the years and that he has been lucky to surround himself with those who have the passion and drive to make things happen. These are the 2 key factors in any thriving creative and cultural community. People who facilitate and assist with breaking down the barriers and those who deliver the events, activities and content. We also touch on the UK City of Culture and European Capital of Culture Bids. Ultimately, both were not winning bids but they were great catalysts for the city. The UNESCO City of Design designation came from it and a lot of momentum behind creativity in the city. Again it comes down to the concept of ‘success’ where I trip myself up a little! The work Stewart has done in the role has been phenomenal but retirement now looms and his position is now being advertised. The new director has an absolutely key role and responsibility to the creative and cultural sectors in Dundee. We need someone who carries forward the great work that Stewart has done and the values that he holds. We need someone who will continue to facilitate and help improve the lives of Dundee citizens. Director of Leisure and Culture Dundee Position - https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/director-of-leisure-%26-culture-£98644-£104605 We Dundee - http://www.2013.wedundee.com/ Against Creativity - https://www.versobooks.com/books/2852-against-creativity Moneyland - shorturl.at/lKLR7

86 - Stewart Murdoch

A weekly podcast made up of a series of informal conversations with creative people who are either working in and around Dundee or have ties to the city. It's run by Ryan McLeod and gets released every Wednesday morning.

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Creative Chit Chat - Dundee

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