As the iconic silhouette of the V&A museum emerges from the waterfront, there’s an air of change in Dundee. A new era for the city where creativity and design are at the forefront.
But beyond the glitz and glamour of the waterfront, in the workshops, the studios, the co-working spaces and the spare bedrooms of the city, there are hard working individuals forging creative careers. These individuals make up the talented, diverse and driven creative community of Dundee.
A little over two years ago I decided to become part of that community by leaving a job in Glasgow and moving to Dundee to start a design studio called Slurpp. Since then I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know many of the brilliant creatives living and working in the city.
Whether they’re animators, illustrators, craftsmen, theatre producers, graphic designers or ex-pro BMXers – everyone has fascinating stories to tell. These stories are often rich with insights and advice passed on over a coffee or a beer at the end of the week. But what if we captured all these amazing stories and utilised them in a way that would benefit the creative community?
Back in November I set out to do just that. Armed with a microphone and relatively little interviewing experience I decided to start a podcast called Creative Chit Chat.
First and foremost it had to be informal and relaxed, documenting genuine conversations between myself and some of the best creative minds working in and around Dundee. Even more importantly, I wanted it to be open and honest. These days, so many of us obsessively frame our Instagram photos or pontificate over the 140 characters of a tweet.
We often feel the need to create a public facing gloss to portray the most perfect version of ourselves. With the podcast, I wanted to go beyond that and really get under the skin, to explore the struggles and difficulties as well as the successes and triumphs. You’ll learn far more from your failures in life than you will from your successes, so it was absolutely paramount that the podcast was an accurate representation of creative working practice in the real world.
I also felt it was important to give people a voice in a time when their city is going through enormous change. To pass comment, spark discussion and share opinions.
Fast forward five months and there’s more than 17 episodes released. Every week I put the spotlight on someone new, whether it’s Beth Bate, director of the DCA, chatting about her moments of joy, or the guys at Roots furniture talking about their adoption of the Shou-sugi-ban technique. The wealth of talent in Dundee has made it relatively easy to find guests and curate the podcast to represent a diverse range of professions, age groups and levels of experience, in order to create snapshots of the creative community from many angles.
For me, the most interesting aspect of the podcast comes in the commonalities that arise across conversations. Financial stability, work/life balance, confidence and luck all feature frequently but my particular favourite is the idea of success. History and ingrained societal values may dictate this as fame and fortune. But for the creative community, freedom, flexibility and ultimately happiness are the real measures of success.
I’ve often found comfort in the podcasts of other ‘successful’ creatives, particularly when realising that we’re all just getting our heads down and muddling through in our own way. So I hope that my podcast can provide that knowledge and reassurance to the creative community of Dundee along with aspiring creatives, other professionals and even just casual listeners.
Creative Chit Chat is released every Wednesday morning, listen by going to cccdundee.com and keep up to date by following @cccdundee on Twitter and Instagram.
Ryan McLeod is a digital designer with Slurpp.
