Ben Goulder suggested speaking to Lew Currie from Nai Harvest (Grazes, Thumbuster, Splutter & More) and I am very glad I did. I think Lew is one of the people whose intro to punk music and illustration/design for bands echoes my own the most. We both dived into the world of MySpace and embraced the wealth of local bands that were there looking for a creative person to make record covers and shirt designs for them at a fairly early stage and we've both continued as designers since. Lew is a MUCH better drummer than I am, but that goes without saying.

We touch on Lew's early days, when his dad felt that learning an instrument was essential for a young lad, and how he learned his chops playing covers at home with his brother, and later in various projects that didn't really get off the ground. We mention Flood of Red and my previous gues Calum Doris, which is a very nice little link.

Then we go into the wild ride that Nai Harvest provided us all with, not least the two core members, Ben and Lew. I was lucky enough to catch onto this band pretty early and we worked on their first 7" together, which went on to multiple represses and represents a benchmark in the 'UKEMO' scene of the period. I also worked on artwork for the first LP - Whatever, which was my first LP cover design and still means a great deal to me now. Nai Harvest had an energy and charm about them that is rare to find, there are thousands of talented bands that deserve our attention but something this two-piece really connected with our little group and saw them become a firm favourite. We talk a bit about what that was like from the inside, and the reality of getting by as a full-time touring artist.

Lew's illustration work has been a vivid part of the look of our scene, through record covers, merch and more for wide range of bands and more, including the DIY space, venue and label Delicious Clam.

This conversation was a great one to have - I really enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with Lew, and I hope you like it too.

Closing track: Wendy House by Thumbuster from the album NO:P https://deliciousclamrecords.bandcamp.com/album/no-p

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Calum was one of the first people I thought of for this podcast, and we've been trying to find the time to chat for a few months now, but boy was it worth the wait. We've been friends for a long time before the label existed, I worked on designs for Flood of Red, we hung out on nights out and ended up working together in a well-known coffee chain. Calum has done illustrations for various zines and Struggletown merch in his signature cartoon style, so he's well connected to the Struggletown story. Flood of Red has played amazing sets for us at Struggle nights in Bloc and Bad Luck has tore it up at Strugglefest on more than one occasion.

If you've had the pleasure of meeting Calum, you'll know he likes to chat - so I knew this would be a story that would take place over at least two episodes - by the time we wrap up part 1, Calum and a group of high school friends under the name The Psychotic Pandas have been playing local shows in community rooms to 400 kids most weekends, sharing the bill with up and coming UK bands like Enter Shikari and Azriel. We'll catch up with Calum again soon for part 2.

Closing track - Hold On (feat. Jordan Spiers) taken from Old Songs by Bad Luck - http://badluck1987.bandcamp.com

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In this episode, I catch up with Ben, whose bands always play exactly the right covers to get me grabbing the mic. We chat about his latest project - Fanfare, which releases mixtapes created and curated by artists. These limited edition cassettes are designed as an accessible evolution of the photo and art books of his previous project Snöar Press. We chat about the Sheffield hardcore scene that Ben threw himself into in the mid-2000s, the influence of MySpace on the UK music scene as well as Dead and Gone Records' impact on the Sheffield scene and UK hardcore in general.

Ben's first band Grazes was influenced by a mixture of the local hardcore bands that popped up at the time, as well as tinges of screamo and punk. We met at a two-day festival booked by Hawkchild DIY in Stereo called Shortsfest. They covered No Spiritual Surrender by Inside Out and I was stoked (see cover image). After Grazes, The Pact went for a straight-up hardcore sound, emulating bands like American Nightmare and Carry On. Struggletown distributed releases by both bands, a split 7" with Jackals and Grazes and a demo tape for The Pact.

Once those bands were out of his system Ben moved to London to study publishing, finding a gap in the local art scene for working-class northern voices. His DIY approach was heavily influenced by his time in bands and many of the artists he worked with are connected to hardcore, including his longtime collaborator and friend Luke Overin, who fronted Never Again. Snöar Press was a successful little DIY operation, releasing books from artists and exhibiting at book fairs in the US.

Ben has since launched Fanfare, which is an evolution of his involvement in art releases, aiming for greater accessibility, through the format of sound/music on limited edition cassettes by artists, Cali Dewitt, Luke Overin & Eddie Langham. Find out more about these releases at http://fanfare.world

Closing track - Breathing Fresh Air Through Rotten Lungs by The Pact from the demo/Everyday Struggle Vol.II

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Anna's story of getting into punk, figuring out how to DJ and meeting folk along the way is inspirational and underlines the idea that DIY is not genre-specific, but that punk rock gives people the permission to do what they want, how they want.

I really relished the opportunity to sit down with Anna and learn about what she does and why and I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Closing song - Mini Skirt Blues by Flower Children

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Following on from the collection of photos that we released in January 2021 entitled Boketto, I was interested to find out what led Shaun to pick up a camera, how his involvement in the local hardcore scene impacted his photography as well as the story of how he ended up shooting the Queen. After years of pushing Shaun to publish a collection of his work, it was great to have the opportunity to release it through Struggletown and see the amazing response it had, selling out its initial run in just 3 days. We intend to release more photography, art, design, and culture publications, definitely more from Shaun.

We discuss photography in general and what drives Shaun to take the photos he takes. We talk about growing up in the east end of Glasgow and coming across punk music as a teenager. We cover the strange angles the press took when he was appointed to shoot the portrait of the Queen for the Scottish Parliament building, attempting to paint him as a 'rubber earring wearing punk'. Shaun also co-owns Super Bario, an arcade bar in the east of Glasgow city centre on King Street. It's a great place for a pint and a game of House of the Dead.

The song at the end is by Quests - a band Shaun and I were in with Steven Gribbin (theapplesofenergy) it's called 'If you wouldn't tell Stalin, don't tell anyone'. We recorded it as we wrote it with Richard Wardrop (Bear Arms). We only played one show, we were mostly in it to hang out, drink Quilmes and eat pizza.

Find Shaun's work at shaunmurawski.com and on Instagram @shaunmurawski

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Song - The Good In Me from the split 7" with Last Call

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We pick up where we left off talking about the music scene in Sackville, moving to Halifax, and later on to Toronto.

We talk about punk jobs, that are flexible enough to allow time to tour, pay the bills, and also contribute to the punk economy in some way.

We are then joined by Anne Herteis, who is married to Glenn and is one of the most genuine activists I know, she has worked in a few jobs - advocating, fighting for justice, and generally improving the world directly around her. In this conversation, we focus on Thunder & Lightning, a bar that they took over, what the place meant to them and how they operated it in an inclusive, open, and above all community-minded way. Under their guidance, the pub became even more of a pillar of the local community, hosting live events that challenged perceptions, while also making sure everyone had a good time. I have never had the pleasure of drinking a pint in T&L, but I feel like I have, just based on knowing these two amazing people, the team they assembled, and the work they put into making it that way.

I feel like Glenn's voice will be back on the podcast sometime soon, maybe as a guest host!

T&L forever!

End track - Nowhere by THREES from We're Sorry We Missed you.

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Big thanks to Beth for having the patience to do this twice, as the first version was a write off for a few reasons (all my own fault!)

Opening theme by gerard from flakes (and grave matthews)

End track - Escape from Rupture Farms by flinch. from Enough is Enough.

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Glenn played in literally hundreds of bands, to name a few:

Horses, !ATTENTION!, Fortune Teller, No Hands, THREES, he also played drums for Risky Business on the split with Nervous Wreck (uncredited). He and his partner Anne went on to run a bar in Sackville, New Brunswick called Thunder & Lightning which was a local community hub and stop off point for international DIY bands, musicians, artists and more - we go into that in Part 2.

End track - When Good People Make Babies - !ATTENTION! from the self-titled LP

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