Northern soul

In a Wrong Speed Records Chat recorded last year, Matt Baty of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs spoke to host Joe Thompson about the thriving underground musical scene in his native Newcastle. Further evidence of the fact that that scene in my home city is in rude good health comes in the form of this recent Guardian article by Joe Muggs, which highlights the energy, community spirit and determined DIY ethic that have come together to create a vibrant and exciting environment for artists and punters interested in venturing beyond the mainstream.

Not that this is a specifically contemporary phenomenon or a new development. Susie Davies' short documentary film The Kick, The Snare, The Hat And A Clap - which Muggs references in his piece - celebrates the (frequently illegal) warehouse parties that took place up and down the Ouseburn Valley in the late 90s and early 00s, characterised by hard-edged techno, "Mitsubishi" ecstasy tablets and a collective euphoria that flew in the face of the grim socioeconomic realities that afflicted the area and the period.

All of Davies' interviewees fondly recall the days of 6am finishes and scrapes with the police, and inevitably lament their passing - with some bitterly denouncing the unwelcome processes of gentrification that have transformed the Valley into a very different place. Gone are many if not most of the vacant industrial spaces that used to reverberate with sound, occupied by trendy start-ups or replaced by expensive flats and the constant threat of noise abatement notices. Things have changed, these interviewees imply, and not for the better - but perhaps Muggs' article might convince them that the spirit of defiant independence of the olden days lives on.