Here's a little bit about me.
MUSIC
Under a variety of names I have released music on the labels Dissident, Tirk, LOAF, Thisisnotanexit, Snuff Trax, Radius Records and Black Lantern Music, and have produced roughly a third of the releases our own Little Rock Records imprint.
As well as being The Niallist, I have released under the names House Machine, Trippy Disco, The Evil Eye, Metatron, Dr Ghe and Disco Beard. I have remixed Detachments, Late Of The Pier, La Roux, MIA, Goldfrapp, Franz Ferdinand, Shunda K, Clouded Vision, Pierre Pascual and many more. All my remixes and edits (as The Niallist) are on my "Remixxes" page.
My latest single "I Came (ft Ms Mac D)" has been played on BBC radio by Sinden, Optimo and Vic Galloway (for whom I have recorded a session) and led to a cover feature for the London magazine BOYZ.
PERFORMANCE
Live I have shared bills with Drums of Death, Tim Sweeney, Optimo, Mylo, Men, Divorce, Remember Remember, Den Haan, Scream Club, Dam Mantle, the Glimmers and more. I have performed at the Glasgow club nights Melting Pot, Death Disco, Men and Machines, Croc v Croc and Wrong Island, and have played Optimo (Espacio) twice.
In the past I have been a member of the bands The Evil Eye and Mong (and its reggae offshoot Mongzilla), however my current live performance is focused on The Niallist, and a more stripped back, jacking set as House Machine.
DJing
DJing was my entry into music production and performance. I have been djing since I was 15. I first started on school radio, and still contribute regularly to the Little Rock Records show on the UK's longest running internet station Radio Magnetic.
In the past I have been resident DJ and promoter of the Glasgow parties RPM and NORAVE (Stereo/Glasgow School of Art). I have helped compile the NORAVE and FUCKNO free downloads compilations on Little Rock Records, which comes to over 60 tracks by Glasgow and internationally-based artists.
I am currently resident DJ at Menergy, for whom I compile a bi-monthly mix of electro-disco. My recent "Cybernetic Love" mix has been downloaded over 600 times in a matter of weeks. In 2005 I recorded the "Skool of Rock" mix, over an hour of original disco rock from the late 70s and early 80s, which has become a cult classic. All my dj mixes (and unmixed compilations) are posted on my "Mixxes" page.
MENERGY / VOGUE BALLIN'
I am resident dj/occassional performer for the night/collective Menergy, along with Lady Munter, Vanity Von Glow and Kid Zipper, where a host of fabulous drag queens and club kids get sweaty to a mix of Italo, Hi-Nrg, Disco, House and live performance. We are currently based at the Glasgow School of Art's Vic Bar, but will be moving to Stereo once the Art School's intensive re-build begins this summer.
A "vogue ball" is a cross between a catwalk show and a dance off, where drag queens and fabulous children come to show off and compete for "legendary" status. Inspired by the film "Paris Is Burning" and the new queer underground, these balls have been having a revival in the past few years. I have organised, promoted and hosted two very successful vogue balls in the last 12 months - the Fierce Ruling Divas Ball for Menergy/Che Camille in Glasgow (video clip here), and Vogue Brawl for Growler & Niallist at Manchester's Legends (video clips here).
GROWLER & NIALLIST / JOYCE D'VISION
In Manchester I work with Joe Spencer on event promotion and live performance as Growler & Niallist. I provide the musical accompaniment (as "Les Akimbo") during the performances of "Joyce D'Vision", a high camp drag tribute to Northern miserablism.
Since moving to Manchester in 2010 I have had the good fortune of working with some very respected names in the world of drag and queer performance, including David Hoyle, Peaches Christ, Scottee Scottee, Dicky Beau, Mother's Ruin and Zsa Zsa Noir.
WRITING / DANGEROUS MINDS
I am a prolific blogger, managing both Niallism.com and Menergy.tv, co-managing and supplying content for the Little Rock Records blog Shallow Rave, and writing a retropsective series on the music of the Noughties for the site Weaponizer.
I write regularly for the American website Dangerous Minds, run by Richard Metzger (ex-Disinformation). I recently had two big stories there, the first being an article called "In Defense of The Hipster" and the second being a piece I wrote on the John Snow pub gay kiss-in that was removed from Richard Metzger's Facebook wall. The gay-kiss picture removal story inspired over eighty thousands re-posts and was responsible for a campaign called "Kissing Is Cool". It has been reported on in the The Daily Mail, Perez Hilton, Huffington Post, Gawker, The Advocate, Boing Boing, and many more.
LITTLE ROCK RECORDS / The Early Years
In 2007 I founded the download label Little Rock Records. In the past we have released music by Gay Against You, Sycamore Drive, Fox Gut Daata, Divorce, Hudson Mohawke, Kids On TV and more. Our catalogue currently stands at 75 releases, and we have recently started producing 12" vinyl and CDs alongside the downloads.
Through Little Rock and Last FM I have released a trilogy of albums of music I recorded between 1999 and 2005 - "And Out Of Nowhere", "The Next Big Thing" and "Lo-Fi Gold". The music was made on primitive equipment, so has a lo-fi, indie feel. DJ Mag compared it to Lone Pigeon, and Everett True, writing for the Village Voice said: "[the] cover of Suicide’s “Ghost Rider”... is even more irritating than watching the seminal NY duo perform live. And that’s a recommendation, cos irritation is vital."
THE CHATEAU
Before its collapse, I was based in the legendary illegal Glasgow art studio the Chateau, also home to Franz Ferdinand, Shitdisco, Che Camille, Laurence Elliot and many more. While there we helped create some of the best underground parties Glasgow has ever seen, in particular the Miami beach party, Che Camille catwalk shows, and the infamous Hogmanay parties.
While at the Chateau I built a music studio with my friends, and we used it to record music by myself, Chorus of Gastornis ("Machete Attack"), Trippy Disco ("Miami Playa"), The Evil Eye (the full length "TV Face OST"), Ms Mac D ("I Came") and to mix a soundtrack for a Jonathan Saunders London Fashion Week show.
DISCOPIA
From 2002 to 2008 I edited the fanzine and website Discopia, which hosted interviews, articles and opinion pieces from Daniel Wang, Greg Wilson, David Mancuseo, JD Twitch (Optimo), Liquid Liquid, Nicky Siano, Metro Area, Beppe Loda, Horse Meat Disco, Cosmo, Annie, I-F and Legowelt to name but a few.
From 2002 til 2007 I also hosted the Trippy Disco / Discopia Show on Radio Magnetic that featured guest DJ or live sets from Daniny Wang, Greg Wilson, Prins Thomas, Maurice Fulton, Bangkok Impact, Darshan Jesrani (Metro Area), Pete Z (Block 16), Lindstrom and local Glasgow disco talent Billy Woods, Andrew Back, James Pole and Andy Piagentini.
Thanks for looking at my blog and I hope you find much to enjoy here! Below is a biography I wrote for my MySpace profile five years ago:
Born in Russia in the Seventies, the Niallist has fond memories of the golden age when communism was at it's peak. This has informed his outlook ever since, and probably accounts for his hatred of the Western capitalist system which leaves no room for individual expression except the relentless pursuit of fame and material goods. "We may have lived in fear of the gulag, but at least our sense of community was strong, we had something tangible to believe in outside of ourselves."
His father worked for the Russian military creating advanced systems for use in sonic warfare. He was also the greatest theremin soloist the old Bloc had ever seen. While on a trip to Dublin to perform with the Irish Symphony Orchestra in 1990 the Niallist and his father learnt of the terrible tragedy that had befallen the Soviet State. Fearing for his son's (and his own) safety, the Niallist's father entrusted the care of his son to a group of monks in a remote monastry on the Connemara coast. He never saw his father again, the only reminder of him being a recording of that last concert he gave in Dublin. Though lonely, the Niallist enjoyed his time in the peaceful surroundings of the monastry, the culture of learning and abstinence, the simple devotion to a higher cause and especially the Moon-like countryside. The most enjoyment he gained, however, was in playing the huge organ that stood at the back of the monastry's church. Though he could never fully devote his mind to Christianity (a hangover of his upbringing I am sure) he respected the monks for their unerring faith. He could not stay there forever, however, and when he reached the age of eighteen he decided to leave to make his way in the "real" world.
He decided to move to London, after seeing an obscure socialist documentary about a capitalist spy ("Mr. Powers"). However, he found the attitude of the locals and the cost of living too alienating. But his time in London provided him with valuable lessons on the true nature of humanity in Western "civilsed" societies. He found only one job in his time there he could enjoy: creating a musical accompaniment to old silent films on the Wurlitzer organ of the London Palladium. Indeed, he would often lose himself in the wonderment of the music and the fantasy life being played out on screen, and have to be forcibly reminded that the Palladium had to shut every night at 12 o'clock. Fearful that they may have had a superior player in their midst, the local union of Wurlitzer players had the Niallist forcibly removed from his position after one energetic performance had encouraged some homeless people to rise up and dance in the isles. Heartbroken, the Niallist wandered the streets for days in the company of his new found friends. It was while on this lost weekend that he had his first experience of the Western vice of intoxicants. Truly, his head has never been the same since. He decided his time in London was through.
After throwing a dart at a map, he decided to move to the Scottish city of Glasgow, merely to collect his thoughts while he planned his future. Surprisingly, though, he found the people of Scotland to be most hospitable, and the city even reminded him of his Motherland in certain respects. He also discovered, quite by accident, that the current vogue for "call-centre" "telesales" positions was something he could adapt himself to easliy, due to the deep, undulating, near-hypnotic quality of his voice. He found himself most popular among the decadent, constantly aspiring world of "middle-managers".
Though it went against his deepest beliefs, he decided to earn enough money to live comfortably on when he could quit his position. After sacking said job he found that he could in fact claim social security, and live a meager but happy existence on the "bread line". With the money he had earned he decided he would build his own wurlitzer organ in his bedsit. However, the room was far to small to accomodate both him and his organ.
Quite by accident, through being curious as to construction of a large Public Address system the locals called "Mungo's Hi-Fi", the Niallist was introduced to a local artistic collective who were based in a disused building they had christened "the Chateau". Though the Niallist found some of their beliefs to be weak and naive, there was one particular group who seemed hell-bent on re-starting World War 1 that he found to be most agreeable. The Niallist was offered a space to rent in the building with another local artist named "Kepa Rasmussen", and he accepted on the strength of his studio partner's name alone. The artist has brought a strong visual element ot the work of the Niallist, and has become his trusted associate.
The Niallist decided to use the knowledge imparted to him by his dear father to create smaller musical devices powered by electrical currents and controlled by computer programmes. These machine seem to have taken on a life of their own, though how much is real and how much is delusional fantasy is open to debate. What remains certain however, is that these machines, these incredible dancing machines, are the purest, truest tools the Niallist has ever had. He has even been known to refer to them as his "family".
"Together we can work towards a higher goal, with a uniform system of belief, something I have been missing since my youth."
The Niallist is most happy when he is in his studio creating with his friends (he has even invented a new language by which they all communicate, a mixture of binary code and old Russian). Though sometimes his heart aches for a special person to whom he can communicate using no words whatsoever, and he would like to see a lot more of the world, he is happy. But this is only the beginning...
SELECTED PRESS CLIPPINGS
BOYZ Magazine cover feature, Jan 2011
MUSIC WEEK, Jan 2011
BENT Magazine, December 2010
METRO, December 2010
MIXMAG December 2010
DJ MAG, December 2010
THE LIST, April 2009
DJ MAG, January 2009
THE SKINNY April 2007
ONLINE PRESS
Niallist interviewed on Gaydar Radio
Niallist interviewed on Lo-Quality blog (Part 1)
Niallist interviewed on Lo-Quality blog (Part 2)
Niallist featured on The Beat blog
Niallist guest mix for Bicep blog
Niallist guest mix for Halleluwah Hits
