The Govanhill music collectives transforming traditional music
Rebecca W Morris catches up with Ben Vardi from Duende and Anna, Lili and Joel from How Serene to talk about breathing life into old forms of traditional music, and how the local trad music revival aims to bring people of all backgrounds together.
Ben Vardi, Duende
By Rebecca W Morris | Photos by Karen Gordon
Duende on the decks
We live in a time when young musicians or music enthusiasts are racing against the algorithm, continuously reinventing themselves to stay relevant.
The twentieth century, particularly in the West, saw young people turning their backs on the musical traditions of their family. Folk and traditional music were anti-progress; it clung to the past and national identity. We were in a world that looked to the future: it was global-facing, richer and supposedly freer.
Now, in the twenty-first century, a new generation of young folk is casting its eyes back to the past. The hope of freedom in a faster-paced, technology-based world has dwindled. Autotuned, manufactured pop has lost its shiny gloss and we are searching for meaning in an industry that thrives on money and numbers.
Where better placed than Govanhill to do this work: a cultural melting pot of traditions, community spirit and cutting-edge arts.
Ben Vardi is a local DJ, sound producer and the brainchild of Duende. Vardi started Duende three years ago, when he saw that Latin American music wasn’t represented in Glasgow’s music scene. Inspired by Edinburgh-based collective Samedia Shebeen, he became a central figure in bringing non-commercial Latin music to Glasgow’s southside.
Vardi is Scottish Chilean, with family also living in Argentina, though he didn’t grow up with the music he plays at his parties today. It was as if the music had found him.
Vardi speaks about his obsession with Cumbia, Meringue and Salsa starting after visiting Cuba in 2017. From then on, he spent time in Cuba, Mexico and Colombia, building up a collection of music that reflects the Latin music scene authentically, but with a personal touch. Vardi was surprised by the enthusiasm with which his DJ sets were received, and since then the popularity of Duende nights has imploded, with sold-out events and parties from Ryan’s Bar to the Rumshack.
Ben Vardi laying down a rhythm
On the flip side of the music spectrum we have How Serene, a collective running unaccompanied trad singing sessions at The Ivory Hotel. Trad is a term that usually refers to traditional Irish and Celtic music. Yet the modern trad scene, like the world around it, is becoming more fluid and accepting of other styles.
The How Serene trio
The How Serene trio, Lilí, Joel and Anna, talk about being inspired to start the sessions after attending the Inishowen singing festival in Donegal. The How Serene crew loved how welcoming the festival was to songs from other traditions, and they hoped to emulate the spirit of this in Glasgow.
Lilí explains that How Serene, as well as other unaccompanied singing sessions around Glasgow, is changing the way that people understand folk music. The sessions honour music traditions, while also reflecting how we live now. She speaks about attending trad sessions in Kerry, Ireland, where she’s from, but never daring to share a song there.
Lilí was used to singing at home with her family, but the obsession with etiquette, or “the old ways”, made it feel inaccessible to anyone considered an “outsider” on the scene.
Joel adds that How Serene doesn’t operate in opposition to the old trad style singing circles. It continues the tradition of gathering together to sing in a circle, but with a modern spin. A huge variety of songs are shared at the How Serene sessions, from trad, to pop, to political anthems.
In the traditional scene, singing from words in front of you is frowned upon, but this is not the case at How Serene, making it open and accessible to entry-level session singers. Anna adds that although she enjoys the immediacy of hearing a song sung by memory, it’s important that the How Serene sessions facilitate rather than discourage people to sing.
Many participants have said that singing at How Serene had been the first time they’d ventured to sing\publicly. Anna talks about wanting to reclaim music and song as a way to entertain each other at gatherings, rather than being performed and professionalised.
For these Govanhill collectives, it is important that the music they share dissolves barriers rather than reinforces them. Vardi talks about the fact that the cumbia rhythm originates from the music of enslaved Africans in Latin America. Within the rhythm lies the heartbeat of protest, empowerment, as well as the joy that can be found in its music.
Today, the rhythm of cumbia pulses through Govanhill’s venues, echoing the neighbourhood’s rich migrant heritage—from early 19th-century Irish arrivals to the vibrant Roma communities of the present day.
How Serene’s sessions certainly reflect that, where songs are sung in multiple languages. While regulars regale the circle with Glasgow ditties and Ayrshire ballads, guests like Nakul Krishnamurthy have performed classical Indian songs and visitors from Ando Glaso have shared the music of the Roma tradition.
The How Serene trio
The idea is that everyone has a tradition, no matter where they are from. Anna grew up in Belfast but her family was from Kerry and they sang modern rebel songs as opposed to ancient ballads. Joel is from Bradford, and though he shies away from claiming Englishness as an identity through music, he has his own traditions, such as the radical leftie anthems he learnt at his youth group, or growing up listening to the traditional songs of his Cornish grandmother.
Traditional music nowadays has become countercultural. It goes against the grain of fast-paced, so-called “progress”, and an over-commercialised music industry. It is not about clinging to national identity but blurring the boundaries of what that means.
When people gather together to share old styles of music from their collective cultures they are daring each other to listen, and I mean really listen.
Vardi talks about the joy to be had in dancing to and reclaiming Latin music. Yet amongst the joy, as Joel says, people also sing to share their grief. Singing, listening, dancing and gathering together in a world where greed, war and cruelty still dominate is defiant. And not only that, necessary. Music can obliterate borders in a way that geopolitics never can and never will.
Upcoming dates for Duende gigs
20 June - The Marlborough (formerly The Shed)
9 August - Rumshack
4 October - The Marlborough (formerly The Shed)
Keep updated about Duende via their mailing list or follow Ben Vardi on instagram @vardi.music
Upcoming dates for How Serene sessions
How Serene sessions are at The Ivory Hotel, 2-4 Camphill Avenue, Glasgow, GB G41 3AY, on the last Sunday of every month from 7 pm
You can listen to the How Serene radio show hosted by Lilí and Joel on the last Thursday of each month on Radio Buena Vida
Find tickets for The Ivory Hotel sessions via ra.co and updates on their Radio Buena Vida shows on instagram @radio_buena_vida