Those guys from Test Space Leeds don’t half know how to get the party started. They’ve only been back in Leeds a few weeks from their mysterious sojourn in the South (I must get the proper story sometime) and already seem to have hit the place with force of a small but significant typhoon. I went down to see them at 42 New Briggate this afternoon after they invited me to have a natter about the events planned over the next week both there and in the basement of Crash Records on The Headrow. It wasn’t an interview. Nothing so formal. Though I did expect maybe to sit down, you know, have a leisurely exchange of information, a quiet chat over a cuppa. ‘Appen even a Rich Tea. But the guys had other plans. Or rather, other people had plans for the guys.
When I got there Neil and Steve were quite literally knee deep in art. Canvasses leant against walls, prints were strewn liberally on tables, incomprehensible objects jutted from huge luggage bags, and god only knows what that thing was under a blanket in the corner! It looked, well, spooky . . . I would have asked but there seemed to be a rush to get to Crash Records. Steve hastily scribbled a note to explain his whereabouts to any visitor in his absence then noticed as he was sellotaping the sheet to the door that his message was entirely illiterate. More haste, less speed I advised. Not that Steve advocates illegal pharmaceuticals (though he tends to speak fifty to the dozen, so who knows! It may just be the coffee.) Neil and I left Steve to rewrite his sign and headed off to the Headrow.
Crash Records epitomises the independent, fiercely anti-corporate, d-i-y spirit that the Test Space guys admire about the real Leeds underground culture. It was great to see a huge Test Space poster dominating the window. We stood looking at the poster as Neil went through some of the marvels on the line-up, a really impressive eight days of exhibitions, films, workshops, talks, performances, music, and even people selling stuff! Some of the things I can’t even begin to imagine . . . what exactly is guerrilla upholstery? Surely, it’s worth going along simply to investigate that? I think my favourite has to be the avant garde ironer . . . we had a bit of a joke about the health and safety aspects of ironing as art and chuckled at the idea that the show could gain notoriety as the first cutting edge event to be shut down owing to an act of definitive domesticity! That would get some publicity.
Down in the basement one of the Test Space volunteers, Debbie, was hard at work with a brush and a 5 litre pot of matt white emulsion. I heard her mutter something under her breath about the lack of a paint roller. She was doing a sterling job though and Steve had to dissuade her from starting on the third coat. Debbie is a bit of a perfectionist it seems. Steve was regaling me with a tale about the DJ they are using, a guy who plays YouTube stuff, who prefers to remain in the background while the images are projected onto the wall. It sounded fabulous. Can’t wait to see that. Then Steve went into a long and diverting monologue about Test Space’s intentions for cultural hegemony and intellectual domination of the Leeds cultural scene . . . he’s such a big kidder. Neil just smirks benignly and passes the occasional telling comment. This partnership works because they are both so different and yet so complementary. Steve fizzes and pops more than a Trebor Mint in a pint of Tizer, while Neil is icy cool, unmoveable, solidity personified, positively glacial. A typical moment occurred when Steve interrupted a comic routine to worry about a vinyl branding sign of a certain size, fretted at great length and with much head scratching and beard stroking; Neil looked on quietly from the step, rubbed his chin, and pronounced that it would be sorted. I have no doubt but that the sign will be there tomorrow, just the right size, with exactly the right branding.
Back at the shop in New Briggate I was hoping to get a few quotes for this preview, but suddenly the place was filled with artists all wanting reassurance and recognition that their work was worthy and would be in the show. Every few minutes it seemed that someone new turned up clutching a priceless piece of art. The Clash was playing in the background, Working for the Clampdown (actually it’s been playing every time I’ve been there; somebody lend a cd or we’ll all be heartily sick of London Calling by the end of the week!) Neil calmly organised and directed, Steve schmoozed and made everyone feel like they were part of something special. And something special is indeed happening in Leeds starting tomorrow, 3 O’ Clock at Crash Records, then 6 O’ Clock at the bigger venue, 42 New Briggate. Get down. Be part of something beautiful. Oh, and bring a bottle! The guys are putting on a bit of booze but I reckon it won’t last long. Neil and Steve deserve a drink after all the hard work they’ve put into this in the past few weeks. Let’s help ’em celebrate properly, Leeds style.
PS Have just been texted by Neil (8:45pm) that it’s Debi, not Debbie . . . easy enough mistake to make, but apologies to the redoubtable Debi Holbrook. Neil also wants to mention a late addition to the programme, Laura J Martin, a musical gem! Can it get any better?