Constant Flux Interview
Constant Flux is an arts organisation based in London that began in 2013, to create opportunities for musicians with learning disabilities by the brilliant Richard Phoenix. The organisation puts on DIY gigs and tours with bands like Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät, The Fish Police, Daniel Wakeford and Zombie Crash. They’ve also released cassettes by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät, The Carbonators, Daniel Wakeford and Richard Rock N Roll, they’re an amazing organisation giving voice to a burgeoning Learning Disability Arts Scene and giving space to musicians with learning disabilities within the DIY Music Scene. I’ve been following Constant Flux for quite a while now and the work you’ve been doing is so amazing! What influenced you to start up Constant Flux? Thank you! It was a number of things, I had been working in learning disability arts for a number of years, involved in organising various projects as a music facilitator, supporting people to write songs, form bands and play, etc… I had been bringing a lot of what I’d learnt from being involved with various DIY music scenes over the years into this work. The most tangible being setting up a night in Brighton (that is still running 6 years later!) called The Rock House - which initially was a place for all the musicians and bands I was coming into contact with to have a somewhere to play, which wasn’t really there at the time. The idea was to create a space where a ‘scene’ could flourish - which it totally has, there are now so many bands and musicians creating work and playing and more nights have started cropping up emulating the night where people can play. It’s great! To try and cut a long story short though I was involved with all of this and then I heard the band Pertti Kurikan Nimipaivat - an incredible punk band from Finland whose music I fell in love with and the more I found out about them I wanted to see them play. I got in contact with them and found out they were meant to be coming over to the UK. So I booked two gigs for them to play whilst they were over in Brighton and London... their trip unfortunately fell through because of financial issues so the gigs turned into fundraisers, I put in a (successful) funding bid to the Arts Council to bring them over and thought the ideas and concepts behind all of this work - essentially using DIY & punk as a form of social integration needed a name so I called it Constant Flux. I’ve been hearing quite a lot about the subject of Integration in relation to learning disability led events, I know that Constant Flux has put on a few integrated events itself. Do you feel that the attitudes towards Integration within the arts community has shifted in wider society now and what are your perceptions of the changes? I’d like to think all the events Constant Flux puts on are integrated and I think it’s important to be vocal about this. From the very start it was decided to try and create events that are for everybody, that aren’t just ‘disability events’ - that we have integration on stage and off. I think it’s a two way thing, making sure that events are accessible - physically and psychologically - making sure people, with and without disabilities, are made to feel comfortable in that space. I had noticed that I was able to come into contact with a lot of amazing music through my work and I wanted to share that with people but unfortunately not everyone feels comfortable going to a learning disability club night just as an observer - you can have that sense it’s not for you. We’re trying to find the middle ground where everyone feels like they can belong. I do think attitudes are slowly changing within the arts community as to what integration looks like but there’s still loads more that can be done. The best examples of I can think of within the arts are ones that don’t try and chase mainstream values of what’s ‘good’ but celebrate and place value in the strengths of the artists and musicians they work with, if it does cross over then it’s because the mainstream has come to them. The subject of representation in the arts and media has been on my mind a lot recently. The organisation itself has had a bit of mainstream exposure via outlets like The Guardian, also bands like Pertti Kurikan Nimipaivat have had exposure via The Eurovision Song Contest. Do you feel that there’s been a slight progression in terms of how the learning disability arts community is being represented? I think there has been a slight progression, it’s still an uphill battle to try and find much in the press written about people with learning disabilities that doesn’t either cover hate crime or benefits - two things which really create an impression of the community as victims or people to be felt sorry for. In my experience for the most part I have encountered a community which is open, caring, trusting, refreshingly free of ego, enthusiastic and positive and I feel a lot could be learnt if there was more engagement with it. I think that’s why I still feel it’s important to talk about the music and gigs we promote in the context of learning disability culture - to try and run counter to the often negative narrative in the media but also to communicate to those with, or those that know people with, learning disabilities that there is positive stuff happening out there. Has Constant Flux done any collaborations with other organisations since it first began? Yes we have! We now run The Rock House in collaboration with the organisation I used to work for in Brighton - Carousel. They’re involved with the Daniel Wakeford tour and also the first tour we did as they support both Daniel and the band Zombie Crash that did the tour with Pertti Kurikan Nimipaivat. We also set-up a similar night to The Rock House in Croydon called Soda Beat with a band and organisation I used to work with - The Carbonators & Club Soda. The second tour we worked with Heart n Soul as they support The Fish Police as a band. On the upcoming tour with Daniel we’ve made more of a point to connect with organisations across the country to be involved in the gigs in each town, for example Project Ability in Glasgow (who I found out about through you!) did the flyer for that date, Under The Stars in Sheffield are working with the Audacious Art Experiment there to make that show happen. Has the organisation had a positive impact within the DIY Music Scene? I’d like to think so! All the gigs so far have had a really positive response and I think some of the key concepts and ideas are filtering through. A big thing recently has been the setting up of a venue in London called DIY Space For London. From the very start of trying to find a space accessibility was on the agenda and now it’s set-up and running it has flat access, accessible toilets and a group (which i’m involved with) working towards gaining bronze accreditation from Attitude Is Everything. Constant Flux had previously done one gig there and the London date of the Daniel Wakeford tour is happening there… the hope is to put into practice all things that are coming up through doing the accreditation! What have been your favourite moments since beginning Constant Flux? There’s been so many! I think one that comes to mind right now though is at the Brighton date of the PKN/Zombie Crash tour when Zombie Crash were playing to a packed out venue and absolutely killing it, it was wild and euphoric! However Ryan, their lead guitarist and one of their singers, near the end of the set gave a speech about the tour and talked through the journey him, the band and myself had been on together. They were one of the first groups of people I ever worked with and the first band I ever helped form as a facilitator, he gave me a pretty epic shout out and I think I was so exhausted from organising and being on the tour I got so emotional I had to leave the room and go cry outside! It was a really amazing reminder to myself that if you invest yourself in something, make sacrifices and work hard that it can take you places you never could envisage. I never feel like I do this for a sense of self-satisfaction... it’s a totally two way thing, like those guys I met at not such a good time in my life and they gave me so much as a person, changed my mind about so many things and I’ll always be indebted to them for that. What would you say to musicians with learning disabilities out there, who are wanting to get their music heard or a chance to connect with other organisations like yours, what would your advice be? Share your work! Let people know you exist… if you need support in doing so - Do It Yourself is a great concept but not all of us can do everything ourselves! - reach out to other musicians, friends, family, organisations that might be able to help. I think finding like-minded people that you can share with and that can support each other is always really important. We always welcome people getting in contact - [email protected] and we might be able to help putting you in touch with people in your area. Are there any future projects/releases in the pipeline? The Daniel Wakeford tour is happening right now! More info here - http://constantflux.co.uk/daniel-wakeford-uk-tour-2016/ We have loads of other things planned in the future too, for a while it was just me working on all of this but we’re slowly building up a team which means we can do more, it’s all very exciting! For more updates on what Constant Flux are up to you can visit their website at http://constantflux.co.uk/ Constant Flux Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/theconstantflux/?fref=ts Constant Flux Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/theconstantflux
