Accidental Media

Tucked away amongst the 40 films that we'll be showing at Hidden Door this weekend are a couple of gems from Accidental Media.

The Shutdown was Directed by Adam Stafford and produced by Peter Gerard & Leo Bruges. In this film Alan Bissett recalls the intense experience of growing up next to one of Europe's largest petrochemical plants and the harrowing experience of an explosion that temporarily deformed his father.

Motion/Static was directed by Peter Gerard and produced by Andy Green. Here a childhood dream of travelling funfairs dances with the reality of a family manufacturing thrill-rides and their life on the road.

These films will be shown on Sunday in the Hidden Cinema. 

General Musical Awesomeness

Time to dangle some more musical carrots before your inquisitive little noses (and ears). This time around at Hidden Door we’re delighted to be showcasing some top-notch musical talent from all over Scotland, including the foot-stomping energy of Glasgow-based Washington Irving and the magical soundscapes of Dundee-based Esperi.

And the thing that makes Hidden Door so unique is the emphasis on collaboration. One of the many highlights of Hidden Door 2 is set to be an epic 4-band collaborative set, performed for the first time ever on 4 of our sculpted stages and brought to you by some of Glasgow’s most talked-about acts: Jo Mango, Bear Bones, Open Swimmer, and The Social Services. Nobody knows yet quite what it’s going to sound like but we do have some inside information and we can tell you it’s going to involve at least 14 voices, two drum-kits, a smattering of guitars, one omnichord, two clarinets, one shruti box, two glockenspiels, one autoharp, one accordion, one harmonium, three bass guitars, one set of hand bells, one trumpet, one melodica, one banjo, one kalimba, one ukelele and at least one saxophone. Wowzing. Don’t miss it, good people.

How to build a festival...part 1

Our first day of building Hidden Door at the Roxy Art House...


Hidden Door Festival Preparation - Day1 from Julien Pearly / Pundigrion Films on Vimeo.

Radio Killed the Video Star

The very talented David Martin and Andrew Philip were on BBC Radio Scotland today as part of the Culture Cafe. Have a listen to them here again - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vc381

The lovely Ed Stack will be on Leith FM on Wednesday evening at 10pm talking about his role curating the music at Hidden Door.

Building

Well, we’ve begun the build in the Roxy Art House. A multitude of wondrous items are being assembled for your delectation and delight. We’ve got sails being rigged, grass being laid, towers being built and smoke coming from the weirdest of places.

The Director of Hidden Door, Dave Martin, begins drilling

If you cant wait until Friday to get your Hidden Door fix then tune into the Culture Café on BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday from 1:45pm to hear Andy Philip and Dave Martin talking about the festival. 

Digital Jones

What? You’ve not heard about our awesome line-up? Just as well we’re giving you sneaky little peeks into the musical world of awesomeness that we’re creating for Hidden Door 2.

First up, we have the lovely Digital Jones who released their debut album C LICK CLACK at the end of July and who played at the our first Hidden Door event in January.  Digital Jones was founded by Philip Mcbride and Nikki Kent who share a mutual affection for all thing P funk, Disco and Electro. Nikki has a truly mesmerising voice and Phil is a master of computer synth funk. Have a listen here. 

Kona Macphee

In recent years there's been a fashionable rash of Saying Yes - to everything from dating requests to - well - everything. While certain junior members of my family might contend that I never say yes to anything, these days I always try to accept commissions and project invitations, unless there's some inescapably huge reason to turn them down. I do this for two reasons - the first mainly pragmatic, the second more philosophical.


On the practical front, since late 2007 I've had a Poem Of The Week blog, which cured a seemingly unshiftable case of creative block, and whose relentless weekly deadlines I must therefore, rather superstitiously, continue to meet at all costs. The very constraints of a commission - for example, the Hidden Door theme of "Impossible Journeys" - can be a paradoxically rich source of inspiration, in just the same way that a strict form (such as a sonnet or sestina) can actually help a poet to write about a difficult subject.

Finding inspiration for poems is one thing, but there's the bigger question about why we might want to get our poems out into the world in the first place. Given the impossibility of actually making a living as a poet, one thing we may still hope for is that our poetry "career" might bring us a richer and more interesting life, a life that takes us in unexpected and stimulating directions. Commissions and projects, especially new, grass-roots or multi-disciplinary ones, act as a conduit for serendipity - people to meet, ideas and happenings to encounter, coincindences, synchronicities, sparks - and serendipity, rather than a Five Year Plan, is the wellspring of most of life's best adventures.


Hidden Door has been a particularly appealing project for me because of its multi-arts approach. As an "I'm-really-a-musician-at-heart" kind of poet, I always enjoy events involving poetry and music, and as a part-time IT geek, I'm very interested in how computer animation/digital art and poetry might intersect, so the chance to plug into Edinburgh's wonderful visual arts network is very exciting. The best bit for me, though, is that thanks to Hidden Door I've managed to have my Impossible Journeys poem "Prodigal" studio-recorded by Alastair Cook, whose sublime reading voice I've adored since the first time I heard it. I hope that Hidden Door visitors will find the result as spine-tingling as I do!


Kona Macphee grew up in Australia and now lives in Scotland. Her latest collection, "Perfect Blue" (Bloodaxe Books 2010), includes a free e-Book of commentaries intended to support new readers of poetry. The remaining copies of her first collection, "Tails" (Bloodaxe Books 2004), are being sold to raise money for UNICEF. Kona writes a monthly blog column for the Scottish Poetry Library.