Venue: Summerhall – Secret Courtyard
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
For several years now Summerhall has been the beating heart of Edinburgh’s arts scene. One of the top arts venues during the Fringe, but also throughout the year, it remains at the forefront of promoting local creatives within theatre, music and dance. Therefore, in 2018, it became the perfect place to set up a local community radio station that would bring these local creatives to the world. EHFM was officially born.
Since then, EHFM has cultivated a large community of presenters and volunteers, bringing to the airwaves anything from Detroit techno to traditional Scottish music. To celebrate this, the station presented a one-off Fringe show to celebrate three years of the growing digital platform. One of the station’s resident DJs, Other Lands (also known as Gavin Sutherland), performed a one and a half hour set of some of his most popular tracks and a few new releases.
As you walk into the venue and take your seat, you get the immediate impression of a togetherness and community spirit in the air. Many of the audience members were either personal friends of the performer or other DJs on the station. Even if you didn’t know anyone closely associated with the station you still felt a part of something special regardless.
The tone for Other Lands’ performance was set from the start. As he took his seat he began by cracking a few jokes and pointing out some familiar faces from the audience. In the background was underwater footage of fish swimming in the Coral Reef. This immediately set the ambient mood of the performance.
Gavin has previously described his sound as “instrumental meditations made with a multitude of instruments”. For anyone familiar with the sounds of groups like Mogwai or Boards of Canada this is the sort of sound the performer seemed to be channeling. The use of guitars, keyboards and loop pedals created a melodic and somewhat mellow sound.
His performance was philosophical, and at times reflective as he spoke of the many people, perhaps loved ones we have lost in the pandemic. Nevertheless, Other Lands’ performance was mesmerizing and was a fitting way to celebrate a local station dedicated to celebrating local talent.
Dates: This event run has now ended
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/ehfm-and-nehh-present-ehfm-s-3rd-birthday-featuring
Image credit: Other Lands