WHITE BRITAIN RULES

It's normal to define yourself by where you come from. Your family. Your street. Your town. Your footie team. Your friends.

It's a perfectly logical step. If you get used to what's around you, then when greeted with the unusual you will be defensive. Take that to an extreme and you get xenophobia, which essentially means you get scared by what you aren't used to.

If you think about this for a second. I'm positive you can recall an occasion when you treated someone differently just based on the fact that they were any of a number of things, he was French, he was gay, he was a gay Frenchman, whatever...

Now that's what gets loosely termed as racism. Nasty word eh? That basically means you don't like foreigners. But that's normal isn't it, we are all tribes, tribes of families, of race, of friends and peer groups, that's how humans function. Its essential to our identity.

I'm very lucky to have grown up in Britain. It's a great country. We take the piss out of everything. A healthy questioning nature encourages healthy debate. We have the freedom to disagree wholeheartedly with any politics, with religion, with any largely held view. We love our underdogs, the outside bet, and it is that toleration of members, of our tribes that pushes the boundaries that makes our country great.

I once got called a 'multicultural fascist' by a member of a far right popular political party. It made me laugh, then actually consider what he was talking about.

White Britain. The country of invasions. Our place names are in Viking, Saxon, French, and various forms of Celtic and we claim a distinct identity?  The streets I've lived on in Yorkshire have been white. Yes, but a white identity claimed in distinct tiny local chunks; cursed as a Wessie on the seaside. And yes, there's been foreigners here from before I was born, living in the streets and hills long before I was even thought of; working here, belonging to the land they live on. The Indian, the Pakistani, the Jamaicans, the Somalians, the Polish, you see my point...

They come here, they live here, they drink in our pubs, they work in our jobs, and by and large they are accepted. This is what makes Britain great. Its a country that understands and adapts, with new times, new peoples, without losing its identity, because that IS its identity. Hate to break it to you Daily Mail reader - that luxury sandwich in your hands was packaged by, most likely, Polish catering staff - same as your luxury apartment was built with Polish muscle, most likely...

An empire is defined as a gathering of various distinct peoples under one flag. We are still very much an Empire, but an empire in people's hearts and minds as opposed to geography. We have always accepted new settlers onto our land, be it in war or peace, they lived with us, they've married, and they've ultimately become part of us. It's how Britain's always been, as long as there's been a Britain. We can go on forever about the American gran or Welsh dad but we've all got the same passport.

I don't think the fascists are particularly wrong, otherwise they wouldn't have a following. I don't think they have all the truth though. Its like seeing ripples on a pond and trying to give a detailed description of the rock that caused the splash.

Communities will always want to live close together. You'll want the grandparents fairly close so you can check up, you like the kids to go to the local school, you'll like to shop at places you know cater for your needs. The problem comes when you aren't from that area. You drive into it, for example, and see every shop sign's in script, salwar kameez everywhere, and frankly you don't see the Britain you expect. You form an opinion that you've just driven into Bradistan, and you aren't entirely wrong, but you've just judged it based on outward appearances, not considering the reasons for people being where they are... just the same reasons as you live down the road from your mate Barry and the pub...

­I'm not asking you to like it. I'm saying that you should be happy it's there, for what it represents is a country where they have as much right to behave and deport themselves as they choose, just the same as you. You should celebrate choice – difference - because it's the most important asset any person could hope for. Even if you choose to simply enjoy life, get on with it and try not to think about the 'big things', being able to choose to do that, is a sign of a healthy place. A healthy country.

What's the point of this?

Basically, hope? In a world where we are constantly told there are malevolent forces at work to disrupt our way of life, we are found living side by side, amongst our many tribes in these tiny islands. It's something to be proud of. We've always accepted people and new knowledge - and it's why we've  grown stronger.

Now don't go out and hug your neighbour, unless you really feel like you want to. But do remember, the next breath you draw is still, for now, free and tolerant air.

That's a fucking good thing.

I haven't written anything in ages. This is the first article for a Sheffield magazine I do the layout for.

Tell me what you think.

I stand watching as two streetforce officials, sweating slightly behind multiple sheets of yellow nylon, work together to take a small sticker from a pane of glass on that 'new' development on Ekkie Road. You know the one, its been empty in the huge 'great opportunity for cafe/restaurant!!' space for at least the last five years. The sticker was a wicked little illustration of a empty fuel gauge, with 'hope' written above. It'll be back in place soon enough I reckon.

Fact is, Sheffield's expanding. Fair enough. Problem ain't the expansion however, it's how it's being done. I for one refuse to live in a Sheffield thats been pissed on by money hungry property developers. All of them building their identical dreams in pale brick, glass and steel.

But yeah. This is about art. Well for a start, for me it's not. I go into galleries and by and large am left cold by what I see. The same picture of a tree on a hill. That bloody scarface pop art picture. Its identical art for those identical flats I was talking about.

It's about dedication. Think about how graffiti's done. Middle of the night, looking over their shoulder, maximum of half an hour in one place. So cold the paint is coming out the can in spats and drips. Working from a drawing they've worked on for weeks, transferring something a few inches wide into something that covers an entire wall. Shit, but that outline's a bit rough... but just imagine what they could do if given time and places to do it properly.

As loathe as I am to take lessons from the South, Brighton Council over this summer put up boards ALL over the city centre, miles of the things, and actively encouraged and paid muralists to come down and decorate. Just imagine what that vandal that scrawled a tag down your shop shutter could have done if you'd given him the time and the encouragement to do a proper job, something to make your business stand out from all the bloody chain stores on your road.

So what if all they've done is write their name? Would you prefer a brand name, a corporation? In a world where we see ideal living through the latest products, the latest clothing, I find it refreshing to see some individuality expressed. Before you dismiss it as the latest outing from an aggressive egotistical teenager, just look at the amount of work that's gone into showing that they want to do something more with their lives.

This bits for you. The older generation. The dads, the mums, the employers. The 'get a proper job' lot. You must have heard of Banksy by now. Thats proper money that fella's getting.  Graffiti is everywhere, loathe to say it, but its mainstream.  The world over, street artists are now in galleries, in that latest ad on telly, in the latest range of toys for your kids, on the catwalk and in your magazines.

Foster the kid that bothers to do something creative, that bothers to do something different, because they are the ones who will be making the proper money in the long run.

This isn't a world where you can work for the factory down the road all your life.

This is a world where we have to be in charge of our own lives, our own talents, our own money, our own jobs, because if we aren't, they will be sold off to someone else for someone else's gain.

We've established now that a kid with a pen isn't the real criminal. If anything these kids represent our individuality, in a world where Tesco's in on every street corner, that sticker, that paste-up, that mural is the thing that gives our Sheffield streets their colour.

Everything is slowly becoming the same. We have the same problems, racism, poverty, drug abuse that is elsewhere, and its all happening in our city centre, thats increasingly like every other city centre in England, EXACTLY the same chain shops, all made from the same materials. Is it any wonder that we are ending up with more and more people just saying 'fuck it' and not bothering?

Our kids are told they have every opportunity when they are growing up. Be a doctor, be an architect, be a professional footballer, be famous for a few years based on nowt apart from stripping down to your kegs in Big Brother. Slowly, as they grow up, they realise how futile most of their ambitions are. With any luck, someone will come along to encourage their talents, and they'll be a productive member of society. That's what this is about. Appreciate those that want to make something more of themselves, because without them we are lost.

I'm not asking you to like that tag on the roof down on London Road. Im just asking you to appreciate the effort and skill that went into it. Thirty thousand years ago, one of our ancestors dipped a burnt stick in the fire and drew a picture of a bison on the cave wall.

Nothings changed, apart from the walls we now draw on. Do me a favour, and next time you look at a wall someone's painted, try and appreciate it.

That's all I want from you.

Cheers.

This has been the subject of a war between me and threadless - they refuse to put it up for voting 'as it makes them uncomfortable..' (?)

That's the entire point, fellas.

George Braque said 'Art is meant to disturb.'

I'm not a fascist. Anyone with a brain can see that. Getting that said before the hate mail starts flowing... I wonder if they'd have been more comfortable if Id used, say, stars and stripes?

Leave comments if you would like one of these shirts.. I'll get making them if there's enough interest. 3 colour print on red t. Will look sick.

Now then... here's a little summink I knocked up for the Tinnitus crew... an
excellent choice of activity for new year's eve... get yer tickets bought now!

much more dirt in the pipeline. make me do neat design all day - this is the result..  
cheers! 

Cheers!

I've been doing loads of work and kind of forgotten to blog it all - working full time for someone else, learning loads but at the expense of both sanity and sleep!

working on a few album covers for some quality acts, both steel city and beyond.. will post 'em up soon.

anyway, here's the new flyer for Tinnitus. I think you can tell I've had fun doing it...