In the sixth episode of our podcast series, Anthony and Giulia speak to Mat Southwell, a global advocate on drugs and HIV, technical support consultant and drug user activist.
Mat was one of the co-founders of the the European Network of People who use Drugs. Mat was also one of the first people to introduce party harm reduction education through his work with MixMag in the 1990s.
Here we discuss this early work, as well as media representations of drug use, the Dance-Drugs Alliance, and the importance of harm reduction as a strategy for drugs policy in the UK.
S01 E13 – Podcast with Earl Grey, producer and DJ – People and Dancefloors
In Episode 13, Giulia is in conversation with someone close to her heart – Manchester producer and DJ Earl Grey
Giulia and Jim bonded over a shared love of music at Boomtown festival in 2016. When I first met him, I was expecting for him to bring up jungle and amen breaks, but he went on and on about Matthew Herbert <3
In the podcast, Jim talks about his journey into electronic music and his relationship to dancefloors (Shout out to Warp, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, and Radiohead for making dancefloors accessible to weirdos like us who enjoy superfast mad breaks, but also emotional depth).
We discuss the future of clubs and festivals, addressing the debate that’s recently become more forceful about who gets to play and make a living, and who gets excluded. We both agreed that rather than targeting and blaming individuals, we should be looking at structural hurdles, chiefly the government’s utter contempt for night time venues and the culture surrounding them, as well as local councils’ unwillingness to support clubs and music venues, pushed further by Nimbyists and developers.
Listen to our chat here
Check out Earl Grey on Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/earl-grey
Instagram @jimearlgrey
Twitter @JimEarlGrey
More snazzy content on the links below!
