Adrian’s Homepage

Contact Adrian

Why read this page?

You may want to consider the nature of collaboration. You may want to read about yourself and the way you work with Adrian. You may wish to see how much you have helped Adrian. You may wish to see how you can work with him in the future. You may wish to employ Adrian with music or other art-forms. You might want to expand the project you are engaging Adrian for into other media. You may well have completely new ideas as a result of the experience below.

 

The Nature of Collaboration

I have really grown in this last year achieving a deepening of experience through working with others (Zen for the self-employed). Right down there inside I believe in poetry; that poetry goes everywhere; that it can fit into life in all its aspects. This philosophy gives me the brass neck to go out there and get work! It gives me the audacity to be employed by allotment associations, Local Exchange Trading Schemes, high promotion festivals and MacDonald's!!!!!!

Properly seriously though; I have always enjoyed working with others and making new discoveries as a result. The idea of being a performance poet seems to lend itself to this. Collaboration is a transient being in tune with the nature of the cosmos. We cannot expect that gaining new directions from bonding with another will secure their soul or barbwire them to us or any other similarity, indeed we, or they, could move on at any month to pastures alternative or additional. We will all be better for it as a certainty. What is more important is that our employer will be offered a wider range of services.

 

How I got to here

Out the window of Maximum Security, swung over on to the top of the spiked wall….. I have always, as I say above, been in there and sharing. Just look at the Hussars gigs: Me and a different musician melding our creativity for a full evening every Wednesday for about two years. Wonderful stuff. Actually what I had missed in more recent times was the close collaboration of a team (I used to work in Community Services where all we ever did was talk!). School work etc is me with others but it is over the phone, by email, and the like and then we spend a happy day together. The work with York Archaeology has seen me being truly part of a team. (If you are reading this I am looking forward to working with you guys at the ARC again once the place is refurbished) I have averaged over four and a half hours a week at the Coppergate Centre or in the ARC - In fact I think that qualifies me to start being invited to the staff night outs! - Being involved with a full team again is so refreshing, so stimulating and has opened lots of doors, not just windows of opportunity but doors in my soul. New ways to share and to feel safe too.

 

Collabortorials

Here follows a list of the guilty (and the highly employable cohorts).

Many thanks to Elenid Davies of City of York’s City of Festivals, thanks ‘Len’ for accepting me as part of a lovely exciting festival concept that took the city into itself like no other festival I have ever seen here. My concrete poetry experiences for Jane Stockdale of Jorvik led to me being requested to do something highly similar. What I came up with was Shape poems for the festival or is that ‘of’ the festival. My first collaboration on this was with the street artist. I can’t recall her name at the mo, but a wonderful artist who had been commissioned to do work with children. (If you were at the festival you will remember the Australian art in pastels that was really special). I needed help to visualise my space and she was just the person for me. Following advice I cordoned off the area with chalk explanations - Streets Alive, Adrian Spendlow etc - and I created shape poems that represented the festival, Viking axes, roman chariots, floral displays etc. People flocked to join me in this and their work and phrases formed the shapes of the streets (See chat).

 

Lisa Nicholson Mythic Artist worked with me on the Streets Alive thing as she has on several events and activities. I have made her promise in fact that she will spend time with me sharing before any project that either of us do whether it is together or not because we stimulate and direct each other so well. Sleipnir the eight-legged horse plus helpers on placements (Schools, Job Club, Overseas, Students, volunteers) helped attracted kids, teenagers, street-people and Ascot-goers alike to decorate the magical horse and to find the path of Sleipnir around the streets of York.

 

Imagery from his life and journeys were recreated in word and art and runic symbols were spotted to lead us to paint pictures and meanings around the event.

 

The guys in Maintenance, or whatever you call it, were the most successful collaborators of this or any other street event for me this year. Among all the other services provided from security to entertainment was the clip on mike. Fantastic: A radio mike and free standing speaker changed so many activities. The pavement work was accompanied by a casual running commentary that drew crowds of volunteers and observers (see Chat for how I nearly got arrested), sagas caused heads to appear at forth floor windows to listen and enjoy, people stood by their cars in multi-story car parks because they didn’t know where I was coming from and didn’t want to miss it, I even became the invisible poet by standing the mike and a chair and a lectern facing the square where the art was and read from elsewhere - that had everybody totally flummoxed by the atmospherics of the invisible. 

 

Sorry guys but I am getting one of my own!

 

Lisa Nicholson and I are currently available for schools, museums, festival and about everything else that will benefit from an art and word collaboration. We have worked mainly to date on the Norse Myth work from instant sound and visual performance to saga and art myth work for children, we can however adapt our skills to cooperative themed projects to suit any topic or need.

 

Kalindi Kankali is another artist I have met up with lately. I do seem to be working alongside visual artists a lot lately when I never really have before. I find it generally very stimulating. We actually met up at Lisa’s art launch over a glass of wine and discussed the idea of working together on community projects. So more of that in the future either from us or from you!

 

I have gone and lost contact details for another friend of Lisa Nicholson’s who, as well as being a photographer, is an events coordinator supplying everything you need from transportation to marquees. Lovely guy I will bring you details for another time.

 

Kate Lock in her role as the coordinator of Young Friends of Rowntrees Park, in York, arranged for me to go along to her activities evening. Fire-juggling and moth observing were the other two activities and each group came to me in turn (One of the groups was singed and the other was blinking). We created group poems in the form of happening haiku, Zen haiku, acrostics, alphabet, performance and action poems for a final performance.

 

Anna Jillings, who you will remember from Cosmos jugglers and if you don’t you should, didn’t actually teach the children fire juggling, that would have been ridiculous. She showed us all juggling and circus skills to great effect and then did fire juggling in conjunction with the performance poems we had written in our groups.

(Gordon who I don’t know did the Moth work.)

 

Kate also is a professional writer who is well published and also has a weekly column in the Yorkshire Evening Press, which I believe is the biggest regional newspaper in the country (Got a plug in for you Matt). We are currently looking at working together in schools, hopefully starting on National Poetry Day. Who knows what other projects we will be getting together on.

 

Anyone from Otley Black Sheep Festival who is reading this, or indeed those involved in any festival, might take note of the need for power for children. Pete of Suitcase Circus fame, (he really is very good) and I did the children’s events together over the weekend. A few parents said how they had come specially, but one guy said his children were not going to come because Pete wasn’t listed in the programme. Then a mutual friend let them know that he was and the guy was then able to go out and buy weekend tickets without having a revolution on his hands. Jim and Sue will know that it is similar with me at Whitby Musicport, kids have been coming for years and still act like they are 4 when they see me. I will end up cranking in there with mi Zimmer and 50 year olds jigging about all excited. The thing is Pete wasn’t listed in the running orders. We tend to think that putting on kids events is the trick and it keep them occupied while we hit the … bee..eautiful music. If kids entertainers are in the program more kids might want to come once they have got to know them.

 

Nice to be working with Pete Bell again. Pete (Cultural Foundation) is stage managing The Resolution during Whitby Musicport and I am MC. There is a great line up too. Me n ‘im aught to be engaged to put on more venues at more festivals. We await your word oh great reading audience of promoters.

 

Cooperative accommodation is an idea I have been playing with. No not the crazy commune plan from the chat section. Just a little less barm-potty. I need help with promotion and more particularly with my book (formatting researching etc). Does anyone want to volunteer to be a live in secretary? Maybe a couple of weeks holiday in York for 20 odd hours work a week? Let me know what you think, especially friend and family.

 

Drivers too maybe!?!?

 

On the Musicport thing it is a real shame to be not working with Wendy or Dave or with John Harvison this year. We were a real team. John is running the Theatre too, my favourite venue, perhaps in the history of time. Me n ’im do a mean turn as a duo though and haven’t for ages. I will have to look at ways that we can.

 

Someone else I haven’t got together with in yonks (See you at Musicport for a performance maybe) is Martin Fletcher. Superb harmonica, I will never forget my jams with MFSU, wonderful stuff. Martin added haunting stuff to my words last year. And seeing as I am starting to work with Spee 69 melding with hip hop (of the small case I seem to feel) perhaps hti sis the time. Lets go for some double bills.

 

(This page is going to bring the gig offers flying in!!!!!)

 

Martin is also an excellent producer and put together the album Remember This for Tony Morris and me. (See Albums for details)

 

Remember This is material from Tony Morris and I, who together are Granny Knot. His other act are, I may spell this wrong, The Nailhouse Boys, because there always is one in the town (thought needed here). Tony and I have put some wonderful poetry and accompaniment sets together over the past year with audiences being absolutely spellbound. Entertaining for folk clubs and community venues such as rural touring. He puts the avant-guard into my rusty art. Folk Art for you. Just ask his groupies.

 

Spee 69 invited me along to the Vynal Explosions nights at City Screen York, because poetry was needed. They have an open mike slot (Its once a month on a Wednesday) and people weren’t getting up. Then word got out that there were lots of poets who didn’t want to get up on a rap night - so - The Godfather (or was that grandfather) of Performance Poetry was asked to lead the way. Now the spot fills every time (Before I can get my name down again). Player One and ABD were all a joy to work with and plans are afoot for more of those, what was the word, collaborations. Me n Spee 69 have never looked back. 

 

Dan Webster: Friendship, support, wisdom, the most fantastic guitarist ever to have lived and the universe’s undoubtedly most awareness changing, mood lifting songwriter and I get free sound engineering from him too (I use to work with him as a duo until I wrote this).

 

See Rainbow Bright Promotions for sensational news regarding our work with JC Promoductions and the one and only Mick Reed.

 

I have been approached by a wonderful Irish harpist who wants to work alongside my activities but I have gone and lent the album etc to a friend, who keeps raving about it but not retuning it. More next time.

 

See also Bill,  Words and Rhythms of the Seasons, Flutes, David Moss, Mo Burrows, Tantara Arts, The Adrian Spendlow Band, Samantha, Jo, Fiona, Connie, Connie and last but most importantly of all the Empress.

 

Just STOP PRESS been talking to Jeff of Kwame D about the idea of future cooperation's. They are muchobuzzy but we are keen to find a way to fit something exciting in. I will have to come upon a solution the the work-rate factor so as it’s a turn up and go for it type of evening or sumpin. Promoters please note.

 

Lastly I suppose I aught to give a big thank you to Colin the Kobold and all his friends such as pink and puce Angus, Lucy and Spike…. Without their invisible help much of what we do together would have been impossible.

Adrian’s Collaborations

(Now and future)

Including Elenid Davies, Jane Stockdale, Lisa Nicholson, Sleipnir, Kalindi Kankali, Kate Lock, Anna Jillings, Matt, Otley Black Sheep Festival, Pete of Suitcase Circus, Jim, Sue, Whitby Musicport, Pete Bell, Cultural Foundation, The Resolution, Wendy, Dave, John Harvison, Martin Fletcher, Tony Morris, Granny Knot, The Nailhouse Boys, Spee 69, Vynal Explosions, City Screen, Player One, ABD, Dan Webster, Mick Reed, Jeff of Kwame D, Colin the Kobold, Angus, Lucy, Spike, Mo Burrows, Tantara Arts, The Adrian Spendlow Band, Samantha, Jo, Fiona, Connie, Connie and last but most importantly of all The Empress.