The sound of the Southside at Kelburn Garden Party
The Southside has no shortage of musical talent, from wavy pop tunes to headbangers. Writer Andrew Stark checked them out at Scotland’s annual Kelburn Garden Party and shared how their sounds are shaping the stage and getting the festival’s crowd on their feet.
Words and pictures by Andrew Stark
Glasgow’s Southside has long been a key melting pot of cultures with a thriving musical scene. Many venues are linchpins, with local and international artists alike having played the likes of The Glad Cafe and The Rum Shack. Spaces like Radio Buena Vida have become a cornerstone in the music scene, providing a platform for a range of radio shows and musicians.
Open mic nights at pubs and venues give up-and-coming musicians the chance to take to the stage, and new venues such as Mesh, in the Gorbals, have given locals a space to run a variety of nights. The Ivory pub hosts Hot Towel dance nights, whilst McNeill's pub plays host to DIY gigs.
The annual Kelburn Garden Party festival, set in the beautiful Kelburn Estate near Largs, is another space that showcases the best musical talent coming from the Southside and the many diverse musicians who call the area home. A number of innovative stages offer attendees an opportunity to enjoy some of the best musical and creative talent from the Southside, Scotland and further afield, all in stunning scenery.
This year at Kelburn, I set out to experience artists from the Southside that represent the diversity of the neighbourhood, exploring how this melting pot of cultures is leading to an exciting and flourishing music scene that often blends together different heritages.
The first act I saw was Maztastic, half of Maz and the Phantasms who later that evening played at the Pyramid Stage. The first song I heard was them covering Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’. With the rain pouring outside, it was a warming choice, the crowd singing along and defying the weather.
“My musical heritage is rock ‘n’ roll and punk, but also disco, funk and electronic music,” says Maz, who is Catalan-Egyptian. “I love when traditional Anglophone styles such as blues and rock get reinterpreted and reimagined by other cultures.
“There’s something beautiful about the way music travels and changes, and what every culture and every person adds to it. It just keeps evolving”.
For Maz, it’s clear that one of the Southside’s strengths is its diversity, and how that feeds into music: “I love the Southside music scene because I love the Southside itself and its diversity; the ethnic and national diversity of the people who make it, the different ways communities share public space and spend time together, and the laid-backness of it all make it feel a little more forgiving to queer people and ethnic minorities like me than other parts of the city,” Maz says. “It has been very good for my musical identity and my band.”
Another artist I loved watching at Kelburn was GAÏA, a French singer and part of the flourishing Southside Jazz scene. This has long been a festival that has put this scene at the forefront and Gaïa – who has a regular show on Radio Buena Vida – continued this tradition, taking to the stage on Saturday night with a soulful voice that provided a ray of light as night set in.
Speaking to Gaia, it’s clear how the Southside activated influences from her childhood: “I come from a small town in France, but I've been in Scotland for a few years now.
My family is not musical at all, but my mom has amazing music taste and brought me up on incredible music, lots of soul, jazz and hip-hop; and I think that is where my love for music came from, for sure. It wasn’t until I came to Glasgow that I truly got to be part of a scene,” she says.
“Going to jam sessions, especially Glitch 41 in the Southside, was instrumental to me meeting a lot of the friends I have today but also it really threw me into the jazz scene here. Then I just never left.
“I am a ride or die Southside gal, I love it here. For such a small neighbourhood, it hosts so many amazing musicians. A lot of us go to the same nights, lots of up play in the same bands. There is a really strong community feel, and runs through everything here.”
This is a sentiment shared by Maz: “I think so many musicians choose to live in the Southside for a reason. Being able to support each other and walk to jam sessions, gigs and hangouts in the park is amazing.”
As well as being such an important area for music, the Southside is Scotland’s most diverse and multicultural area. This diversity brings a range of wonderful influences on music, as we see in electronic music producer CUZINO and singer/songwriter Nwanneka who teamed up to play together on the Saturday night of Kelburn.
CUZINO explains that they "grew up with German Jewish influences from my dad and then Romanian and English influences from my mum, but I would say that I was mostly exposed to sounds of folk, blues, rock and old school R&B in my childhood”.
While Nwanneka was raised in a Nigerian household in Sheffield, they share that they were “introduced to Fuji beats, highlife, Apala and afrobeats from childhood and then moved into electronic music such as house and garage followed by indie music and some screamo.”
And when it comes to the Southside, Nwanneka believes that the area “has been blessed with people from many different backgrounds and cultures, which has thoroughly influenced the diverse music scene.”
CUZINO agrees, saying: “I think without immigrants there would be a terrible lack in music diversity and the charm that this part of Glasgow has would be pretty lost. I think the inclusive community aspect of Southside’s music scene really contributes to its diversity and variety; there is a real spirit of excitement and encouragement with creation and art.”
Elsewhere at the festival, Friday also brought Southside rockers Conscious Pilot, fresh off their UK debut album tour. Hits such as Internet Support and Human Poultry brought the crowd into a heaving and muddy mosh, with four 10-year olds the main instigators; intergenerational rocking.
Megalichen, an alt-folk 8-piece band brought songs with meaning and purpose to the crowd, a refreshing reminder of the importance of reconnecting with our natural world.
For those wanting more of a dance, Southside party starters Hot Towel teamed up with Opal Nights to host the new stage, The Giant’s Castle. Set in the woods, this intimate castle stage – with a viewing roof to survey the Kelburn Kingdom – played host to many brilliant sets from Goodnice, Raivo Sloan and OOFT! and David Barborrosa as KEEP ON.
Kelburn also allowed me, a beginner music writer, to join the festival and test myself, which stands out amongst a cultural landscape that can feel like it is shrinking. With the closure and possible sale of the CCA, the delayed reopening of Langside Halls, and the unfortunate cancellation of WOMAD’s debut in Glasgow, it's brilliant to see Kelburn helping to support the Southside’s diverse music and cultural community.
The main downside of music festivals is that you can’t be in multiple places at once, soaking up the sounds and sights across the site. With heavy rain most of the weekend, getting around the site was treacherous at times and meant I missed a few Southside musicians I would have loved to catch. But next year I’ll be back, rain or shine, to see more of the Southside’s standout stars.
