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The underground music scene in Manchester is incredibly exciting at the moment. One of the most exciting places for music right now is a disused garage in Salford which has been re-christened The White Hotel. Daniel Broomhall, singer, guitarist and knob-twiddler in Manchester band Monk tells us how he sees the current state of affairs with music in our city and the scene based around one Salford industrial estate. A scene made up of strivers and strugglers.

The world is in a bit of a spin. Europe is tearing itself apart, America has seen fit to install a shouting wig as it’s leader, Russia is, well, being Russia and North Korea is running around trying to steal every bodies dinner money (the bullies didn’t have nukes when I was at school though, must be a millennial thing). However, there seems to be something bubbling in the brown canal water of Manchester. It may not be as sinister and evil but it’s definitely corrupting the minds of the cities youth and I for one am all for it.

Division has a funny way of bringing people together, those left out in the cold often huddle for warmth and in these trying times those who need that warmth the most are the young. Anyone who grew up in the 90s will probably attest to how great it all seemed. Education, education, education, warm summers and white Christmases. It’s all bollocks of course but the eyes of innocents only fixate on the joy of life, leave the stress for the grown ups. We were promised amazing things, money, a great job, maybe even 15 minuets of fame, the world had pop stars who looked like us and talked like us, film stars who could have been your neighbour. Your idols where real or at least they felt it. Yet here we are, 2017, and it all seems so mundane, as if nothing good happens to “are lot” any more. Pop starts are fresh faced, stylish, American. What the fuck happened, when did it all become so fake, was it 9/11, Tony Blair, X Factor? Or, did we just grow out of those rose tinted spectacles we’d been peering through our whole lives?

As depressing as it all seems at the moment, there are diamonds hidden in the tarmac and they are shining brighter than ever, you just need to look for them. All over Manchester there are amazing things happening, clubs started by the people that want to go to them, musicians pouring everything into their creative output, artist throwing canvases to the wind and pressing for something new, fuckin’ ‘ell, even the clothes are top. The city is coming alive, it’s shaking off those baggy Lois jeans and Joe Bloggs t-shirts and forging it’s own path, something new, something for today’s youth. It’s not Madchester anymore it’s something else, there are echoes of those glory days for the city but it’s not at the forefront and why would it be? Most of the people creating these things in the city now weren’t even alive back then and if they were they probably hadn’t got upright yet. But what is it, why have so many decided to take matters into their own hands and do it for themselves? What are the conditions required to make so many people push to make something great? Something their own. Fucked if I know but it’s brilliant all the same.

There’s a perfect storm brewing it seems, the music, clubs, art and fashion are all ace and it seems the river is about to burst its banks and spew its attitude all over the fucking place. Clubs like The White Hotel (Salford) are putting on some amazing nights, and inviting incredible musicians down to their dingy backstreet warehouse (when was the last time you saw a jazz quintet perform in an old MOT garage?) Hidden is inviting big name DJs to its phone mast come nightclub. Partisan Collective, although new, have shown what can be done when politics and a party clash. And that’s just the clubs. There’s DJs doing amazing things as well – Tom Boogizm, Jon K, Annabel Fraser, Bitzer Maloney, Vendel, Nova (the list could go on) all playing to their own taste and sound and inviting anyone who will listen to come along for the ride. Bands like Errant Monks who put on a barn-storming party at The White Hotel in November are showing what can be done with a few synths, a drum kit and a load of wine glasses tied to a coat hanger.

This injection of life didn’t come from anywhere but the bottom though. It wasn’t some focus group analysing statistics to see what youth movement would generate the most capital. Instead it was the disaffected youth of not just this city but the countless cities the country over who are young and underwhelmed and crave something new and exciting. There’s nothing given away in this world and the youth of today have figured that out, there is no guarantee in this life only what you want and you’re own drive and ability to get it. Because of this many people are finding themselves burning the candle at both ends, working full time jobs, making the excitement happen around the mundane. It’s not easy, in fact it’s very fucking hard.

But what’s the pay off of all this? Is there one? For now, very little. There isn’t a huge amount of money floating around, the world has only just started to take notice and as such this whole movement hangs by a thread. It could all so easily crumble under the weight of its own relevance. So what’s the answer? How do we ensure this all sticks around long enough for people to get what they deserve? The answer is simple, go and enjoy it.