I’m not certain why, but I’ve always shied away from interviews. Amongst my closest friends, I won’t shut up talking, but talking to a group, or, even addressing a room terrifies me. Get me in front of a camera or microphone and I’m bound to turn into a stammering/stuttering mess.
However, over the past 18 months, a lot has changed. Again.
I’d consider these months, formative months.
My attitude to a lot of things has shifted. My focus has changed and my patience for the same old nonsense has been truly tested, so much so, that I’m trying to adopt a more ‘fuck it’ attitude. I guess, being more stoic is the path I’m choosing to take for a more pleasant future.
Other people’s opinions and issues can only be absorbed for so long. If they aren’t attempting to change things themselves then they aren’t progressing. Whether that’s our diet, mental health or money. In the end, we are solely responsible for ourselves. There’s only so much talking one can do, and one can listen to.
With that being said, I thought I’d try the ‘fuck it’ attitude and apply that to how I feel about interviews.
Last year, DSouth got in touch with me regarding the change in direction I’ve taken, again. Knowing how important this was for me, he expressed that we discuss this as part of a series of conversations for creatives by creatives. The talks were/are to be rolled out by the British Ceramics Biennial x Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce – Factory programme.
After several weeks of back and forth and some loose conversations over a Wetherspoons, we decided on the direction we wanted to cover and what D hoped to achieve.
The plan was to meet at his studio and record an open conversation to be edited for public consumption. If people wanted to hear this prior to us meeting in person then they were free to do so. If anything, this was a prelude to the actual main, planned discussion.
The final discussion was held at the ACAVA Spode artist studios on 19th April 2023. It was a round table format where any guest could contribute to my journey and discuss things of a similar ilk, if they wanted to. To my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed it. Everyone was amazing and people’s welcomed additions really helped the conversation flow in the right direction.
The following edit was derived from 3+ hours of open dialogue about my creative journey so far. To provide a suitable listening time, It’s been heavily redacted down to 1:26 minutes (told you I can talk!).
I did actually record the planned evening’s talk. I’m still debating whether or not to release this however, leave it with me, I’ll make a decision at some point soon.
Special thanks to DSouth and Rhiannon from the BCB.
