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Sun 18th October
October 19, 2009Andrew was in the chair on Sunday pushing the boundaries of community radio with his controversial style and highbrow intellectual musings. We had two guests of Ukrainian descent making it Leith Tonight’s first ever Ukraine night.
Dmytro Drozdovskyi
First up with was Dmytro Drozdovskyi. While Andrew struggled with his name the interview was one of the most fascinating we’ve had on the show. At just 22 Dmytro is an expert on English literature and is head of the department of critism of the Ukrainian magazine of world literature VSESVIT amongst many other things. He was in our studio to promote a reading of Janet Paisley’s poems from Alien Crop in the original English and his Ukrainian translation at the Henderson Gallery. He spoke eloquently and passionately about his love for language and poetry and what our two cultures have in common. His inspiration words will not be forgotten.
Milton Jones
We had a quick phone interview with this one man joke machine. He was promoting his current UK tour which has seen him enjoying all the best service stations this country has to offer. He is performing his current show , Milton Paradise Jones, at the Stand, Edinburgh on Tuesday 20th of October. He also has a DVD out so he’s a very busy funnyman. Here he is in action.
Dmytro Morykit
Edinburgh based composer and pianist was our second Dmytro of the evening. He was in to talk about Holodomor: A Portrait of Evil. This film is an artistic collaboration commemorating the Holodomor but still searching for wider distribution. Dmytro was gracious enough to educate us about this engineered and still controversial famine which took place in Ukraine in 1932-1933. The film shows a live performance by Dmytro combined with film and dance. He also talked to us about some of his other work and collaborations with other artists. We look forward to welcoming him back sometime soon so we can play some of his compositions.
Mon 12th Oct
October 19, 2009
Simon Rennard, Boreus Ensemble
Jonathan hosting
Simon Rennard, Boreus Ensemble
Andrew Midgely, Bank Holiday Britain
Andrew Midgely, Bank Holiday Britain
Sunday 11th October
October 12, 2009Leith Tonight came from Fraggle Rock thanks to Andrew’s obsession with children’s television of the eighties. We had only two guests which was a wonderful opportunity to get some really in depth interviews on.
Susan Diamond – Head of Fundraising at the National Galleries of Scotland
Susan Diamond
Have you ever wished upon a star? Well now you can own one and help Edinburgh’s Portrait Gallery for their Portrait of the Nation project. These stars are going to be on the ceiling of the gallery and can be purchased for a competitive price compared to other pictures of stars of ceilings. Even if you own loads of stars already don’t miss out. Susan Diamond came by to explain all the work that is being done to raise funds for this major redevelopment of the Portrait Gallery, the first purpose-built of its kind in the UK. It is being restored to a new level of glory and will be closed until 2012. She also told us all about the work that artists have been doing over the summer and some visions of the future.
Stevie Christie - Director of The Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival
Stevie Christie
This Thursday sees the launch of the annual Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival. This festival began in 2003 screens the best of films based around adventure. That can mean skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, mountain climbing, base jumping and many more outdoor pursuits. Festival director, Stevie Christie explained this festival favours films with a narrative and told us about some of the films to look for . There are around 20 showing over the weekend and some of the footage is spectacular. Over 2,000 people are expected to attend so grab your tickets while you can. There are also a series of lectures with some amazing stories to be told. If that’s not enough to entice you then watch this………..
Mon 5th October
October 12, 2009Jonathan hosted but Fin was sick so no photos.
Guests were Maria Conte of the Hispanic Festival in Edinburgh, Mike Kearney musician in Edinburgh and Rod Jones of the Scottish Mental Health Art and Music Festival
Sunday 4th October
October 6, 2009If music be the food of love then we were having a massive orgy on Leith tonight. Andrew Moir was in the hotseat to interview three sets of diverse musicians. They all loved the Leith tonight atmosphere so much that they decided to stay in the green room and listen for the whole show.
Mao No Chao
Mao No Chao
Mao No Chao
Lee and Claire joined us in the studio to tell us all about Capoeira Angola. This is a martial art and dance that originated in Brazil among African slaves created as a form of cultural identity in their struggle for freedom. This art-form has enjoyed a renaissance not only in Brazil but all over the world. Their group, Mao no Chao (meaning, Hand on the Earth) is based in Edinburgh and is committed to spreading the traditions. Lee and Claire treated us to a live performance with some traditional instruments and created an amazing sound.
Stagger Rats
Stagger Rats
Stagger Rats
Some guests you just can’t keep quiet with flowing conversation and anecdotes. Others are like the Stagger Rats. Andrew eventually coaxed them out of their shells but it all made for compelling radio. They came in to promote their soon to be released EP and we were treated to a couple of tracks from that. Their music has a retro quality and is a catchy blend of pop and rock. They are a band who love performing live so find out where they are playing at their Myspace.
Sylvain Ayite
Sylvain Ayite
Sylvain Ayite
The most charming guest of the evening was guitarist, singer and songwriter Sylvain Ayite. He has been living in Leith for the last ten years and loves to collaborate with local musicians. Sylvain has a diverse cultural background having been born Senegal from a Ghanian father. This allows him to perform in a number of languages and express his feelings in a unique way. Watching his guitar skills was a great pleasure but unfortunately the news interrupted his second live track. We would love to have him back some time soon for a longer session to make up for it.
Sunday 27th Sept
September 28, 2009The sensual Andrew Moir was flying solo for the first time and spreading the love and chat all through Leith from his restaurant of arts, entertainment and culture. The guests provided a great diversity: from a fantastic arts initiative, to rocking with new instruments and a band that were just too cool.
Fay Purves
Coming out of university and finding work can be difficult, especially for artists. Fay Purves came in to tell us about a great initiative that’s helping bridge the gap for aspiring artists and lets them exhibit their art for the first time. Artspace2let was founded in January 2009 and is a non-profit organisation helping to promote new and emerging artists. Currently one of the founder’s houses is being used as an exhibition space but they are already expanding and hoping to use multiple sites to help young talent show off and even sell their work. The next exhibition will be Sunday 25th of October so check out their website for more details.
Lucky Pockets
Alone they are lucky and pockets, together they are Lucky Pockets. We were treated to a great live session from this band. If you’ve ever wanted to hear The Holloways 2007 hit Generator performed with a ukelele, melodica and fantastic harmonies then this is the band for you. These guys also run an open mic night where guitars are banned. They hope this will get away from the monotony of endless Wonderwall covers. Listen to the podcast for more details.
Action Group
We had the great privelige of playing Action Group’s new single Take it out and also welcoming the men themselves. Presenter Andrew was slightly intimidated by the effortless cool of band members Dylan Mitchell, Pete Boggon and Mark Donnelly but soon won them over with his charm and pentetrating questions. They didn’t always answer the questions but they had plenty to say anyway including how they may become the new members of The Sugababes. They’ll be having a single launch at the wee red bar, Edinburgh on the 3rd of October. Find more details on Action Group’s Myspace.
Monday 21st September 09
September 21, 2009Tonights show was my first solo ride after a bit of a holiday planting trees – but that’s another story. Minus a few bloopers the show was a smooth soiree with a diversity of energetic creatives. Lucky Leith FM listeners!
Maria Oller of Lung Ha theatre co, + Kim
Sun 20th Sept
September 20, 2009‘Twas a night of contrasts, with Pauline and Andrew doing some pre-interview swotting-up on classical string quartets and roller-skating chicks in string tights…well, fish-net tights but you get the drift.
Philip Burrin, Andrew & Pauline
We started the show chatting with the lovely violinist Philip Burrin, one of The Edinburgh Quartet. Although he came to the violin late - aged 14 – he has clearly wasted no time since in following his passion. He described the role of his string-quartet-in-residence at Edinburgh Napier Uni, mentoring students and bringing classical music to the parts of the world that other string quartets fail to reach. You can see the Quartet perform this Wednesday 23 Sept at the Canongate Kirk, Royal Mile, and check out details of their UK tour and gala concert in February 2010 at www.edinburghquartet.com
Andrew, Cherry Fury & Pauline
Next up was Dee aka Cherry Fury from the Auld Reekie Roller Girls, Edinburgh’s all female full contact roller derby league team. Anyone remember the film Rollerblade? Ok, take out the weapons, and you have ‘full contact roller derby’. This is scary stuff – mouthguards, helmets, elbow-pads, knee-pads and fish-nets must be worn at all times. And that’s just the spectators. These girls are wild – ‘we’ve only had two fractures this season’ – and apparently there is a real advantage to having a large, erm, booty with which to literally block out your opponents’ attempts at smashing their way into your team. Their next bout is ‘Hassle at the Castle’, Meadowbank Stadium, Sat 26th Sept. Check them out on YouTube – seeing is believing.
Kevin Bridges
Finally, realising that Billy Connolly was not in fact coming in for interview - we’d assumed he was playing hard to get, and would turn up late - we played out our pre-recorded interview of the new face of Glasgow comedy, Kevin Bridges. Clare Carswell, another of our Leith Tonight presenters (currently living in Glasgow – Kevin, we have her details….) had the good fortune of interviewing Kevin Bridges during this year’s Fringe Festival. A rising star, definitely on the ascendancy. Kevin’s doing not badly either.
