Some words from S.D.V.A Obern

My dear 209 friends, believe me when I tell you all that…THERE IS A WAR !!! And we the collective artistic community in the Highlands have been immersed and engaged in a conflict with banality for years. Banality is not a euphemism or a cheap metaphor that I deem to be shit or evil. I mean ‘banal’ as in mundane, plain, no focus . People’s high tolerance of the mundane is as soul destroying as it is horrifying and baffling to myself . I’m sure Brian Eno would completely disagree with me but his affiliation, his embracing and subservience to the cause of banality of late has left me feeling that this once great pioneer is now worshipping at the temple of mediocrity allowing his talent and passion to just drift off and away into the ether…….God it depresses me. It must be like sitting in an air port terminal on a grey day thick with fog watching planes start their engines up, turn around and move on to the runway and then disappear into the mist, into nothingness with out watching them take off……hmm…Well that’s my point of view and perhaps not one shared with the other members of the Mill . At the same time though my love and faith in the local scene has sustained and nourished me in ways that are too varied & perhaps too complicated to even begin to get into. We have always known that there is a constant cooking scene up here that’s always been bubbling away (& may it always be so).
I really got off on the fact that the showcases at the Ironworks recently demonstrated a whole litany of musicians all following their own artistic paths with out any apparent care for the cool set in London or Glasgow. We are like the Texans of the United Kingdom, perceived as red necked inbred heathens, we even have the oil!!! Truly, we are the outsiders and I take a lot of pleasure in this preconceived, ill informed ridden cliche…..nothing gives us greater pleasure than hitting the road down south and sonically reducing the room to complete dust every time….This Saturday, Inverness is going to witness a truly fantastic band ‘Two Wings’. They have a really wonderful musical vision and a singer who is blessed with a peerless voice. I’m very proud to inform you that The Little Mill of Happiness will be opening for them. Proud because they are a band composed of truth and belief and proud because we are doing the gig IGLU. IGLU (the ICA HQ) is one our strongest allies in the battle against banality. I understand there are some who will find that last statement a little to jagged to digest but they do a colossal amount to encourage and nurture the artistic scene in this town of ours along with a very few others. The whole experience will take an hour and a half of your life but discovering a new band, waking up the next day and being haunted (hopefully in the beautiful sense of the word) is exhilarating.It’s like discovering a new colour. It would be wonderful to see all 209 of you there at IGLU at 7pm. Hope you are all well. Peace love and conviction. S D V A Obern