So, it’s leg five of the Queerpod Tour, and this time in a safe space location in Hull. Today’s show will look at the BNP (yup, they’re going straight for the hardcore issues).
Keep watching our Twitter feed for more updates, and a debrief on the whole project will be posted here on the blog soon!
Last week the QueerPodders headed to Leeds to visit the Out to 25 LGBT group, and very professional they were too.
Scripts were ready, a musician on hand to perform a slot, and there was even a Q&A with a university lecturer.
Out to 25’s theme was sex education in schools, and the group really got into the nitty-gritty of the issue.
The podcast will be available for download soon. In the meantime, QueerPod will be in Exeter on 23rd July (that’s next Thursday) with the X-Plore youth group, who will be looking at the big bad BNP.
Yes, yes, feast your ears! The Coventry session is now available for you to listen to our download. the X2Y Wolverhampton session will be available next, followed by Leeds Out to 25 as soon as possible.
What an adventure it was. After being stuck in traffic due to two separate accidents on the M1, listening to an endless reel of Michael Jackson tributes, the QueerPodders made it to Coventry’s GYGL youth group.
The volunteers were a little bit shy on this one, but with their confident host for the show and some secretly eager contributors, they all came together after some warm up exercises to make a great podcast in the end. The group discussed gay life in Coventry, what GYGL gets up to, and held a fantastic interview with a local promoter from Glitter Events, who is working towards bringing more varied gay events to the area.
From there, Ray and the FYI Radio chaps, Ryan and Tim, made their way to the Coventry Travelodge, after a long time attempting to negotiate the city’s crazy one-way/bus-only road system.
Wandering into their family room, the team remarked on what facilities were available to them:
“Ooh, we’ve got one of those little slots for your keys that make the lights work! Ooh, we’ve got a little corridor! Oooh, we’ve got, um, someone else’s stuff…”
It appeared that the family room came with a family already in it. So, the team were bumped up to having separate rooms. Result!
The following morning, after a long and irresponsible night in Coventry’s gay club, Rainbows, the team headed on over to Wolverhampton to meet the X2Y group. What tigers they were! Discussing coming out and the psychology behind it, these guys were naturals, and everyone got involved.
All in all the first leg of the tour was a lovely experience. The podcasts will be online at www.fyradio.net within the next few days, as well as on each youth group’s website too.
Next week, the team are off to Leeds to discuss sexual health with the next batch of eager young volunteers. Watch this space for more developments or follow it as it happens on Twitter.
After all the planning and fiddling about, flinging emails and phone calls around and tweeting like a mad thing, it’s finally here: THE QUEERPOD TOUR STARTS TODAY!
Tour coordinator Ray has spent the morning charging around, fighting through traffic and rain to pick up the tour t-shirts for the team and lugging a big banner and a big rucksack around her native Southend-on-Sea. Soon she’ll be off to meet Ryan, FYI Radio director, and Tim, FYI Radio producer, in North Greenwich.
From there it’s all systems go in Ryan’s little car, armed with a sat-nav, tons of sound equipment and a vague hope that we will miss the traffic.
And thence, to Coventry in the Queermobile, to meet the GYGL group, run by Terrence Higgins Trust.
Tonight, the young people will be discussing GYGL, gay life for young people in Coventry, and maybe a little coming out too. All packed with great music and much fun and games.
Then, the FYI Radio team will be heading to the Golden Cross in Coventry, where they will be collecting vox pops from the lovely clientele there.
After that, the QueerPodders might all go to sleep for a bit. They’ve got a family room at the Travelodge, isn’t that cosy?
They won’t be sleeping for long, because on Saturday it’s up and out bright and early to dash across to Wolverhampton to meet the X2Y group, also run by Terrence Higgins Trust.
They will be discussing coming out, with interviewees, music, and all the usual podcast joy. It’s going to be wicked.
The podcast should be edited and ready for download sometime next week.
Check out QueerPod on Twitter for regular updates!
Just a quick note; we were scheduled to do a workshop session in Hull on 6th July, but it has been postponed. Those poor devils didn’t know their building is closed for the entire week for a refurb! So, we’re in the process of rescheduling. Meanwhile, everything else is going according to plan. Keep watching this space for photos and blogs of the QueerPod Tour’s progress!
Well now, it’s June and the first of the QueerPod Tour sessions is on the horizon.
The Coventry youth group have confirmed that their theme is going to be “Outside the Closet”, looking at coming out, and being out in Coventry. They are in the process of securing guests, preparing scripts and contacting the press to let the journos know how fabulous it is all going to be.
Watch this space for more news.
Hey hey!
Seeing as those bods at FYI Radio are a tenacious bunch, they are looking to tour the bars and clubs of each location after their QueerPod Tour session to collect vox pops, which will become more featurettes for FYI Radio.
If you work in, own, frequent or know of great gay venues in Coventry, Hull, Leeds, Wolverhampton and Exeter, let us know here on the blog by commenting on this post.
We’d love to hear from you!
The QueerPod Tour is about to begin!
Thanks so much to all who expressed an interest in the project, and we hope to work with you on another project soon.
This summer, the QueerPod Tour will be blaizing a trail to the following locations:
26th June – Coventry
27th June – Wolverhampton
6th July – Hull
7th July – Leeds
23rd July – Exeter
It’s going to be rockin’. Watch this space for more information and developments, or look us up on facebook or the FYI Radio blog.
