|You did two episodes of Rat Hole Radio from The Nerve Centre during it's brief opening. What was it like to be on location at The Nerve Centre?
Fantastic! I usually do the show from home and while it's nice to interact with people online through chatrooms and other things, it's really different to have an audience in front of you and see their faces. It gives the show a different feel I think. It's nice to have a back and forth dialogue with people in the same room.
Did anything catch your eye particularly in the gallery?
I particularly love the large "people not profit" banner at the back. The colours are great and the message is one close to my heart. I sang a couple of Billy Bragg songs and as I said at the time, there can't be anywhere better to do that than in front of such a banner. I also liked many of the paintings by Carl and others but I'm afraid the exact names of the pieces escape me now.
A memorable quote from the first broadcast, referring to our big statue "as very off putting when you're broadcasting" echoes many comments I've heard. Now time has passed, what is your opinion of homage to "Democracy"?
That was mostly a joke for people listening really, I didn't actually find it that off-putting. It certainly catches attention and I think it's an interesting piece. It got people talking and I suspect that's the intention so that's good. It's a big statue though, I feel sorry for whoever has to lift it in and out hehe. It should be on a plinth somewhere in town, that would be great.
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| The banner that never stays up! |
Now to a question that's had many answers, what is the message of The Nerve Centre?
The message, that's an interesting one, different for everyone you ask I suspect. I think the message for me is that no matter who you are and what you do you have a value. That value can't always be measured in pounds and pence, but it doesn't make it any less real or important. It was great to see so many people from different walks of life mixing and sharing ideas. That's the most valuable thing to me. No matter what colour or creed, we are all the same inside and it can be good to talk to people outside your normal peer group and realise that. I think that's healthy.
Once the closing party has wrapped, and the doors are closed, where should The Nerve Centre go?
I'm not sure but the value of having such a place in a busy part of Liverpool is clear. It's a real shame you can't stay in the current location. I think another City Centre location with good passing traffic would be ideal. The council should do more to support these things. It may be worth talking to the people at The Black-E in Chinatown. It's a big place and they have similar community values I think. I did an event there earlier this year and I really like the place, plus it's nearby.
How did you learn of Nerve Magazine and are you a regular reader?
I only heard about the magazine through my friend Neil who organised How Why DIY. I have to confess I didn't know it before these events. I hope to be a regular reader in the future though and perhaps this is one of the biggest benefits of having the centre. People passing by and learning about it who wouldn't otherwise get a chance.
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| A lens aims at Dan Lynch mid-broadcast. Fez's are cool. |
Will we be hearing more of 20lb Sound, your newly Christened band who played at The Nerve Centre, soon?
Yes I'm sure we'll do more. We haven't really been going long and only just got a name. I hope we'll have more gigs and some good recordings of the original tunes to share with everyone soon. There's a website at 20lb.net , I call it a website but really I'm still building it at the moment. Hopefully there'll be much more to see very soon.
How do you go about choosing what you will play during the show?
I try to focus on Creative Commons licensed music and independent artists because I think it's so valuable to hear from people who aren't just told what to say by management or a record company. In this day and age it's so easy to self publish and promote what you do on a worldwide scale. I believe artists should be taking charge of their own destiny, not waiting around for a record company exec to deem them worthy. You can connect directly with fans now, we don't need the middle men. The criteria for the show is simple really, I listen to tons of submissions along with other stuff I find and then I play the things I like. Doesn't matter what style or genre, I think it's good to mix it up. Obviously I can't play a lot of mainstream music for copyright reasons and I don't really want to anyway, for the reasons I've already mentioned.
Where would be your ideal place to broadcast from and why?
I'm not sure. I quite like my home studio if I'm honest, it's comfy. For the majority of the shows it's quite good to have a base like that. Doing stuff with a live audience is great though and having space for artists to play live sessions would be fantastic. So maybe an old warehouse I could convert into a studio/venue would be ideal. That's the pipe dream, if I ever get the money and time.
On a similar line, where's the oddest, or furthest, place you've had listeners from?
Hmm, good question. A lot of people listen from a cafe in Amsterdam where the owner has taken a liking to the show, they broadcast it there on the PA. That's pretty amazing. I regularly get emails from people who listen in Australia, New Zealand and all over America as well as Europe. That's really nice to know. It's amazing that you can reach that far with just an Internet connection.
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| The fez is still cool, apparently. |
The music you play on Rat Hole Radio is highly eclectic. Is this a reflection of your own tastes?
It is eclectic yes. I think people get too bogged down in genres and pigeon holes when it comes to music. It's fine to know what you like but you have to try new things and not dismiss them without even listening first. You wouldn't eat the same meal 3 times a day for the rest of your life, so why would you do that with music, or any other art form? I listen to bits of everything and I only play the stuff I like, so it very much reflects my personal tastes I suppose.
What would you change about Liverpool, or the world, if you could change anything?
It's tough to say. I love this place and I defend it with a passion like many others. I think perhaps sometimes though we are a bit too quick to go on the defensive and get upset. The city has been run down in the past and we've had reason to feel neglected, but we need to look forward and not harp on the past so much. There's a lot of positive history around Liverpool but somehow you never hear about that, you just hear negative stuff. I hope that's changing, we can't sit around feeling sorry for ourselves. I'd like to get more people coming to Liverpool and giving it a chance. I organised a large technology event called OggCamp in April and that was partly the goal. So many people came from all over the world and said they'd been totally wrong in thinking Liverpool was crime-ridden or nasty. That's very satisfying to hear. We certainly have our share or problems here like crime and poverty but I think the misconception of Liverpool people get from the outside (often people who've never even been) is what I'd like to change.
Finally, any last words, pieces of advice etc for The Nerve Centre?
I would just like to say please keep doing what you are doing because it's massively valuable to the community. I think the world would be a better place if every high street had somewhere like the Nerve Centre on it, rather than just a succession of Starbucks, McDonalds and other faceless corporate outposts. So much of what we see today is harmonised and bland, individuality should be celebrated. I think the Nerve Centre has done that and provided a place where many people can find a home. The importance of that can't be underestimated.
Thanks to Dan for a revealing interview. You can listen to Rathole Radio via the website: ratholeradio.org/
The Nerve Centre.
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