19/6/20006

Alun Parry at The Pilgrim

By Sharon Dobson

Second Tuesday is an acoustic music night in the heart of Liverpool’s student land, offering a showcase for local singer songwriters to perform their own music. As the name suggests, Second Tuesday is hosted every second Tuesday of the month and is proving to be a popular and sought after night out.

The event is held at The Pilgrim (off Hardman Street), a venue with both character and charm, and an active supporter of local live music. The night has quickly established itself as one of Merseyside’s most anticipated music events.

Second Tuesday is the brainchild of singer songwriter and resident host Alun Parry, who has been able to regularly pack in the punters without compromising the often political nature of his music.

Once crowned Merseyside’s Busker of the Year in his youth, Alun is now an established feature of the North West music circuit. He delivers his own fiery brand of gritty folk/rock with a vigorous sincerity and an infectious sense of fun and energy.

I spoke to him about Second Tuesday, his song writing, his politics, and his thoughts about the Merseyside music scene. I began by asking what motivated him to establish the Second Tuesday event.

“I got a regular gig at The Pilgrim but I wanted to do something more with it. I suppose it’s an example of that socialist value that it makes more sense to spread things about than keep it to yourself. It’s a great way for local musicians to gain new supporters. Have three acts on and you’ve got three audiences joined together, and each section of audience will hear two acts they’ve not heard before. It cross fertilises each other’s fan base and builds the local music scene collectively.”

One of his first decisions was to ensure that the policy of the event would be original music only, and that acts would be pre booked rather than open mike.

“Yeah that was important to me. There are lots of great open mike nights around. But you’re restricted to two or three songs. At Second Tuesday each act is able to deliver a full half hour set of their own material. And the great thing is that every song you hear will have been written by the person singing it.”

Although a relatively new event, it has built surprisingly quickly, proving a real thirst for original music in the city. It has also attracted the interest of local radio, with Alun featuring on Radio Merseyside twice, and Second Tuesday guest Tricia McTeague appearing more recently.

While Parry’s songs cover a breadth of topics, he is never shy of commenting on social and political issues in his music. Oddly enough, he claims that Margaret Thatcher was his original inspiration!

“I instinctively loathed everything that she stood for, and I still do. I became politically aware at an unusually young age. It was just one of those times where everything was so polarised. There was Thatcher, the miners, the bomb, apartheid. Even though I was young, it seemed more unnatural NOT to take a side.”

He mentions the effect on his parents’ friends as Liverpool’s industry was decimated, and how his home life also guided his politics.

“I think the values I was brought up with were political, even if not overtly so. I was exposed to ideas that were very much about respect for each other. I think I’ve always had an instinct to stick up for the bullied, and I think that’s a political value in itself. I think there’s something in your gut which makes you automatically side with the slave and not the master, the worker not the boss.”

It’s something that finds expression in his song writing, from his lively tribute to hero Woody Guthrie, to the mischievous Thursday Night Drinking Song. I challenge him that political song writing is a bit cliché nowadays.

“It can be yes. I think political song writing really has to challenge in order to avoid that. It’s like the Iraq war. Everyone knows it was unjustified. So it would feel comfortable and opportunist for me to write a song about that now. It'd feel like I was merely striking a pose.

“I’m more interested in writing songs that put a different point of view. I have a song called I Want Rosa To Stay. It gives an uncompromising opposition to immigration controls so that’s worth doing. There’s a debate to win there.

“You have to keep pushing or there’s no edge to it. If you're just playing it safe then you're not a radical songwriter any more.”

Despite his willingness to tackle hard-hitting political questions in his work, he recoils from the idea that he should be viewed as just a political songwriter. And especially not a dull one. Lectures set to music aren’t really his bag.

“I think it has to be said that I want people to enjoy the songs. I’m always conscious of the audience. Music is meant to be entertaining. No matter how well observed your writing, if it bores people then you’re doing something wrong. I really want people to leave any gig I’ve played and feel like they’ve had a great time.

“Not all observations of life are political. If I want to tell our story then having an hour set filled with political observations is skewed. Life isn’t like that. There’s more that moves us than injustice and struggle. There’s love, and fear, and anxiety, pain, and joy too. And anyone who writes must capture those aspects of life too.

“I think if I looked at my songs and thought it was simply a set of political music it would concern me. I’d feel like I was being one dimensional, and I’d feel I was failing as a writer and a performer. I think if all I did was write that sort of song, I’d be missing out on writing about the simple everyday aspects of what it means to be human.”

Indeed, he is a passionate advocate of music as a form of emotional expression, and finds that the acoustic guitar has one particular advantage over other instruments, especially when writing.

“There’s something physically very satisfying about expressing any emotion with an acoustic guitar. The sound hole is right where your belly is, and your belly is right where the emotions are. To play a guitar and feel that the music is coming right from your stomach really hits the spot. At any time of crisis, I always reach for my guitar!”

I’m curious as to what plans Alun has for the Second Tuesday event given that it’s off to such a bright start. It seems that initially at least, he is seeking consolidation, and to spread the word!

“I feel happy that the night is a good night out. That’s the main thing. What I really want now is for even more people to join us and enjoy it for themselves. It’s a relatively new night but the turnout has been tremendous. I think there’s a real demand for this kind of night in Liverpool. And the area certainly has the talent to support it.”

It’s a new role for him, being in the position of booking acts, but he appears genuinely impressed by how vibrant the local music scene is in Merseyside in terms of talent.

“If I’m totally honest, there’s more top talent in the area than we have room for at Second Tuesday. If I ask ten people to play then I’m booked up for the next five months. So the eleventh person who I listen to and think would be perfect for the night has to wait half a year.

“It’d be nice to get people playing at the gig more quickly but that can only happen if we ever get more frequent than once a month. That’s something on the agenda for the future.”

Any discussion of Liverpool inevitably brings us to his love for the city itself. Parry is contemptuous of people like Boris Johnson who attack Liverpool for its solidarity, and posits the idea that Liverpool people are undermined because of their proud history of struggle. He believes that Liverpool people have expectations of each other that express a set of political values in themselves.

“Being from Liverpool isn’t really just about where you are born. It’s almost a philosophy of life. I was brought up with a template really of what a Scouser should be. Quick witted, rebellious, disrespectful of authority, friendly, funny, welcoming of outsiders, always looking out for someone who needs a helping hand, sticking up for your mates and all that. Oh and don’t take any shit either – stand up for yourselves and each other. All of which I think is a great philosophy of life. As templates go its pretty hard to beat.

“I think when Robbie Fowler publicly supported the Liverpool dockers like he did, he was acting true to that template. He was a Scouser and he was sticking up for his mates and showing solidarity, even if he wasn’t directly involved. I think this is what I mean about why the press like to attack us. The Scouser template is actually a very political one. It doesn’t seem it, but when you follow it through, you find yourself behaving in a way that puts the social before the individual. Looking out for number one is a trait that we don’t look kindly on here.

So what next for Alun Parry? He laughs self effacingly when I put the idea that he might find himself super famous next time I seek an interview. Though fame isn’t something he’s out looking for.

“I’m quite a private person. I like recognition for my music, sure. I like it when people enjoy my stuff. And I suppose some sort of niche fame would be quite nice, where I’m recognised by some and my music is enjoyed, but I’m still able to go to the match without feeling that everyone was pointing at me. Famous people are always on show. I like to have my own life so fame is something I’d never envy or seek out.”

And what does he want to be doing musically twelve months from now?

“I want to have written a stash more songs. And I want to still be having fun, because I really do have fun when I’m up there playing. And like any performer, I’d like to be performing for bigger audiences, and have more people knowing about and enjoying my music. But not so big that I can be classed as famous!”

Second Tuesday takes place every second Tuesday of the month at the Pilgrim.

For more details on Alun Parry or Second Tuesday visit www.parrysongs.co.uk