Emma takes us through the theme of our second issue – sweaty merch, the sounds of the night bus and her love of broken records – the6ress’s CROOKED JUKEBOX wishlist.
We’ve all bloody missed live music this year. But not even just actual gigs. There’s the frenzied refreshing and purchasing of tickets, the anticipation as tour dates approach, the sound of ticket stubs ripped at the entrance and sussing the best spot by the speakers.
There’s the struggle through too-close bodies with one too many palm-pressed pints, sloshing a spill or two on the shoes of strangers. Spots of floor gum sucking steps across a slightly sinking carpet into unexpected reunions with Jack, Lauren and Jeff down the front.
Later, there’s the walk home clutching precious merch in a sweat-soaked T-shirt with invisible beer sleeves, delirious delight offering invincible insulation against midnight’s chilly breath. Going to bed with ears ringing, waking up dry-mouthed and crispy-eyed, but with a body still warmed by bumpy bass and flashing lights.
All of it.
We want to take the idea of sound, of the audience, of our beloved music and put it through a mangle. What about skipping records, screeching feedback and crooked jukeboxes that steal your coins?
We have our hearts set on the wonky, the off-kilter, the unbalanced, the angled and awry. The lyrical, the rusty retro, the music of broken machinery. Night-time adventures, pubs, clubs, the thudding bones of beloved gigs and the tinny train-home headphone soundtracks.
Gnarly glitches, ferocious feedback, stuck records repeating repeating repeating. Granny gramophones, Walkmans, Discmans, MiniDisc, iPods and MP4s evolved from apes. Secret tracks and played-backwards subliminal messages. Tapes unspooling and the collective sweat of the crowd.
Send us your poetry, art, photography, prose, short stories, ceramics – all responses inspired by our CROOKED JUKEBOX theme will be considered for publication.
Our mission is to adore, promote and publish the weird and wonderful work of artists and poets that melt the minds of the mainstream. If you’ve got something to share, we want to see it!