Capital City

Trapped by a city to which I claim ownerhsip.

Straight talking.

DrownedinSound used to be about music and people used to talk about music and writing and music and emo and bands they liked and music. Mostly music. It was not a scene. In so far as there was a community there were writers, even those now, thankfully, gone. Now it's differnt. It's a proper alternative scene. A symptom of success.. no, a success in itself. A victory for those on the edge of a scene. Something more organic and natural. Something real. But soemthing London.

London is the centre of the music scene. Since early 2004 when "indie is back" swept the natin and made clubs profitable business, it's become more obvious, but it's always been true. The Capital of England is where it's happening. It's what matters, it's like britpop all over - only without wearing football strips and pretending you're working class. The indie revival is about accountants and students. I don't mean that as a bad thing: they're good people. I;ve been one and worked with the other.

Edinburgh thinks it has a resurgent scene. More new club nights than you'd believe. Revolution, a mecca for late night underage drinking, after hours punch-ups, teenage girls in too-short skirts with blue legs, and ibiza styler supeclub fans, is now GIG. An indie venue with radio 1 connections, albeit temporarily for licencing reasons.

(It's shit, by the way)

But I feel I know this place. I've lived in and around Edinburgh all my life. There are two things you need to know about Edinburgh: (1.) it's a beautiful city about students and tourist and lots of former students cant leave because they love whaqt it is and you can get jobs at financial companies here. (2.) it does NOT have an indie scene and will never have.

People think there is an indie scene: students who like the music, but will ultimately move on; working class kids who loved madchesterand/or britpop and keep an half an eye on what is going on; people who will move away to glasgow to join something more real; those who spend half their time travelling to london to see better bands.

Edinburgh is posh/cliquey/fragmented to ever have a SCENE as such.

But I understand this, and feel I've been here long enough to claim that I know this. Small local pubs with men out "walking dogs"; bar staff you know who help you carry too many drinks back to your table; people playing darts and pool; middle aged women sombrely dancing the slosh on a saturday night disco. This is the character of any small town. And it's the character of this Captital City. You can't escape it. And it's authentic: better hearing the Happy Mondays at Evol on a friday night at the liquid rooms, better than seeing the same faces at the egg on saturdays, betterthan dancing at an rapidly emptying I Fly Spitfires on a sunday, better than the hollowed out oppressive dancefloor at the citrus club. It something organic. Like drowned in sound has become.

I can't leave here though. I cant go to london. Even though I see like minded people there. Even tough the music I love is there. Edinburghis too much a part of me. I need those bar owners saying "the usual?". Petting dogs in the corner of pop music playing pubs. Crap Jukeboxes. People telling stories of daft customers at work, and about how Jim's daughter is in Spain Teaching English.

And it's not so bad. You even get lesbians singing Everyday I Love You Less and Less on Karaoke.