A funeral for queer nightlife from Fatt Butcher

00:00:00: Today, I am joined by creator and drag artist Fat Butcher to talk Congregational which is a brilliantly unhinged choral service for nightlife.

00:00:09: It begins as the funeral of The Dying Gay Village.

00:00:12: before a queer choir, live DJ Mirables

00:00:15: & Poppers attempt

00:00:17: to resurrect the dancefloor but beneath the camp

00:00:19: spectacle.

00:00:20: it's something really urgent.

00:00:21: What

00:00:22: do we lose when queer venues

00:00:23: close?

00:00:24: Why can't singing

00:00:25: together become a survival strategy?

00:00:27: and can clubs still teach us how to build community.

00:00:30: Queer

00:00:30: politics...

00:00:31: When Faraj says jump,

00:00:33: Labour might say How High.

00:00:35: And it's not true.

00:00:36: It is offering people false hope.

00:00:39: Sex Vating apps have become A breeding ground for the worst of human behaviours.

00:00:52: We got together

00:00:57: to be simple.

00:01:00: Thanks for coming on the show, appreciate it.

00:01:02: I know you must be really busy at the moment because you are planning... You're beyond-the-planning stage!

00:01:09: The launch stage now of your new show which is going to be touring everywhere from this August all the way through until next year.

00:01:17: Yes we start rehearsals tomorrow morning.

00:01:24: I was actually recording, so maybe you've got it and be able to hear that.

00:01:27: You said can you hear the printer?

00:01:30: And i was like...I can't!

00:01:31: Then could here very much a printer?

00:01:33: six hundred pages is not the script.

00:01:36: No its not actually..i run a choir in Birmingham and its sheet music for tonight's rehearsal.

00:01:43: Right, okay.

00:01:44: I thought let's just get him printed now.

00:01:46: Wow

00:01:46: It is other printers right?

00:01:48: Now but with an actual printer out not mind as opposed

00:01:51: to being at home What you do there worth

00:01:56: the choir.

00:01:56: and this really This really creative in different approach that blends together loads of different stuff is has Really found it's.

00:02:04: its moment is now isn't it kind of one of my best mates from when I grow up lives in Brighton now And he um He's part of gay men's choir in Brighton and he loves that, is found purpose from that.

00:02:17: And I don't think he had... That one when was younger?

00:02:19: Have you noticed with your choir or work like that at Birmingham?

00:02:24: it's kind of people are more interested now?

00:02:28: Yeah!

00:02:32: Without being too... Sorry i didn't ask you can I swear or

00:02:36: not?!

00:02:38: It's all fine.

00:02:40: without being too wanky I think singing is like a thing that we actually need.

00:02:50: I think, if you get into the anthropological history of music they think that music developed as way to form social bonds and there's evidence human tribes that like made music together were more likely to survive than tribes that didn't.

00:03:20: And so I guess, in a big sense it's kind of a strategy for survival right?

00:03:28: Maybe we're feeling like we are in times now where they feel quite scary and... Survival is the thing on some level starting to feel the need for bit more.

00:03:44: I mean, i had come back to choirs in the last few years...I grew up in a choral environment and grew up at a faith school during section twenty-eight.

00:03:57: Same with both by the way.

00:03:58: A cathedral choir..I went into the Cathedral Choir School.

00:04:01: my whole upbringing education was Catholic Choir but doing all the rehearsals, it was great and it was fucking awful at the same time because of the intense.

00:04:11: I mean i was like a church in England so less glamorous than the Catholics...

00:04:16: by design!

00:04:17: By design yeah by choice.

00:04:20: maybe that's why I decided to become a drag queen instead.

00:04:25: there weren't enough men and dresses in my childhood I don't know, and i'd stopped.

00:04:34: And stop singing with other people really because it just felt like everything felt very religious... ...and that was really struggling with that!

00:04:45: Then I was really craving the feeling of singing with people You know?

00:04:51: I've spent the last five or six years working in bars & nightclubs doing cabaret for five nights a week.

00:05:01: It's really lonely.

00:05:02: You just sort of, you know rock up by yourself sing some songs and then leave again.

00:05:06: And I was really missing the thing about singing with other people... ...and this is a very long-winded answer to your question but..

00:05:12: I love

00:05:13: it!

00:05:14: So initially i had this idea like well what would be like to pull together Some other queer singers who are also feeling this isolation?

00:05:24: Lots have these complicated relationships to choral music because often It has religious context.

00:05:31: If you're trans, if your non-binary and gender nonconforming the choir hierarchy structure is very gendered.

00:05:38: And so lots of people whose voices don't necessarily match what their expectations are not engaging in choral spaces either.

00:05:51: but I was like why?

00:05:52: Why have i been denying myself this?

00:05:56: because it's something that really brings joy.

00:06:01: but also like you just get better at being a musician, I'd be in a single and thinking it brings you social bonds with people.

00:06:09: There's something really undeniable about the process of making one collective sound together that i think is actually super important.

00:06:23: why are we denying ourselves this?

00:06:26: or what am i denying myself?

00:06:27: so... an experiment, basically to see what would a choir look like with kind of queer music and could that be... What could our own spiritual music be?

00:06:46: And I started thinking about the nightclub as a kind of spiritual space.

00:06:49: Dance was these places where we get together in congregate.

00:06:55: Well drag, that's kind of like your priest or your preacher.

00:06:57: You know you've got someone there who is everyone gathered around to listen too for a bit and hopefully feel better about life at the end of their experience.

00:07:06: And we do have these rituals and hymns.

00:07:09: so thats where this idea started.

00:07:11: really In twenty-twenty four We did work in progress week long.

00:07:18: figure something out See what happens experiment.

00:07:22: And off the back of that, I was like God.

00:07:24: I've really missed singing with people.

00:07:25: so i started a choir in Birmingham called The Full Fat Sound.

00:07:30: We started at the beginning of twenty and twenty five.

00:07:33: we have now got sixty seven members or something Like That Of Queers Singers who come together every week In Birmingham... ...and in that process sort been writing this show Congregational which is A Choral Service for Nightlife That's going out on tour as of two and a half weeks away

00:07:58: And the rehearsals start tomorrow.

00:08:01: didn't

00:08:01: do

00:08:02: that.

00:08:02: all that stuff about choirs I think from Like, from childhood all the way through to now.

00:08:07: Even though you jam in Jerusalem old ladies who sing along with The Women's Institute I think what a lot of people are looking for is a sense of community like... You know what choirs are like?

00:08:17: There's often a real range of vocal abilities present and some choirs not yours.

00:08:24: And there'll be some old ladies that aren't Great, but they've been there for twenty-five years that hold the fort together and do other bits.

00:08:30: And then some people with big egos you give their solos to... I think it provides one of the original forums for legitimate genuine unvarnished community to happen.

00:08:46: It's no real surprise queer people are putting their own choirs because my experience was they were stacked with queer people anyway.

00:08:52: so we might as well be a bit more open about this.

00:08:56: Catholic?

00:08:56: Yeah, I am.

00:08:57: And there's quite this one tradition of like the gay men's chorus and queer choirs.

00:09:05: It has been really lovely to create a space that lots people who felt they'd lost music were able come back too.

00:09:14: but i do think it is about community and its an active thing you have keep working at.

00:09:18: sometimes you don't agree.

00:09:24: It's a really good place for the big lessons about how we deal with community in a wider sense, have to play out that smaller places as well.

00:09:37: I think maybe...I don't know.. I had this idea that choirs were going somehow save nightclubs and i dont'know if thats true or not!

00:09:48: We see time & again these gay venues queer spaces closing down.

00:09:55: You know, in the last fortnight I think like Camp and Margate as an arse is closed-in.

00:10:00: Charles Street tap in Brighton and that's two days ago it was close-in... ...I think we're seeing people go out less but where were maybe going out more to find community?

00:10:13: Find each other...?

00:10:15: And maybe weren't finding them.

00:10:17: Do you thing?

00:10:17: things quite offer this amazing space weekly to connect with other people and to sort of start building alternative possibilities for communities in a time when you know our communities feel like they're under threat again.

00:10:37: Walk me through the shape of it, funeral then resurrection.

00:10:42: there's a lot going on isn't there what actually happens on stage?

00:10:44: Yes so The Show is called Congregational.

00:10:47: um It's Me And A Choir Of Eight To Twelve Professional Queer Singers and a live DJ, and a Live Pianist.

00:10:59: And it kind of starts like sort-of traditional funeral service.

00:11:05: so we're gathering to mourn the death of The Village these bars that are closing.

00:11:14: in my head It's like you know they're in memoriam section at the Oscars each year.

00:11:18: Like here is picture of these venues.

00:11:22: I mean, it's a very drag.

00:11:23: take on what does the funeral for The Gay Village look like.

00:11:27: And so we all come in chanting and were wearing robes carrying big mirror balls on sticks!

00:11:35: We sing these songs that have written sort of riff around with traditional funeral service.

00:11:42: but then quite soon into this show... ...we decide to try and resurrect the dead gay bar tonight In this room, in this space.

00:11:53: if we do it together We might be able to bring it back To life.

00:11:58: And so the show is.

00:12:01: It's a kind of musical In some ways.

00:12:04: Its'a bit like A traditional choral service If you've ever been to.

00:12:08: Like a church choral services It follows that structure But with all original music That I have written Which i guess are sort of hidden for The dance floor.

00:12:20: so the music kind of swings from like classical um choral music right the way through to like EDM, dubstep house trance.

00:12:34: What are they all doing in there?

00:12:35: Like with blending gospel... Gospel and House make sense to me.

00:12:38: I feel like gospel an uplifting vocal house just thinking about it.

00:12:43: They're kind of sick kind of adjacent to each other really don't be in many ways.

00:12:46: but what is each genre doing for you?

00:12:49: i guess?

00:12:50: some sort pulling across all the music that for me has made like incredible nights out in these spaces.

00:13:01: You know, I think you can chart the progression from Disco to House and these kind of styles of music.

00:13:08: but it's about...I'm trying….

00:13:10: I think this show is also a bit like….

00:13:14: It's been like a guided trip in so much as like.. I am really interested into how music could make us feel euphoric and like transport us to somewhere else.

00:13:24: And so it's all about this kind of ritual trance journey, we start the show The Resurrection Bar by collectively sniffing poppers!

00:13:35: It sort of opens yourself up To another portal Another dimension.

00:13:40: I always say that if you haven't done poppers before it is living in dubstep for thirty seconds Your brain is like... And again i've been trying to recreate those feelings In music.

00:13:52: Does everyone do poppers in the audience, is that their idea?

00:13:56: If you want to.

00:13:57: You are welcome.

00:13:58: It's entirely optional but... I've

00:14:00: never heard of that done before!

00:14:03: And if you don't like it and your music doing this for you its taking me on a trip.

00:14:07: It brings a whole new meaning to the term loosen up doesn't

00:14:11: it?

00:14:13: And we sing with all our instructions how to sniff them properly And like, so it is very silly as well.

00:14:21: It's very serious because I think those two things go hand in hand and

00:14:26: I don't...

00:14:27: I think you know us queer people.

00:14:28: we've always found ways to manage our experiences and to communicate them through subversion and silliness.

00:14:39: So the show is about really serious things but also goes into some very stupid silly places.

00:14:49: And really, I think what you're coming to is a concert like a really incredible musical journey that goes through... What does it sound like?

00:14:57: To put a choir over dubstep?

00:15:02: You can't find out!

00:15:02: Yeah i guess It's just about this kind of sense of like..I'm not a religious person but do have a yearning for spiritual connection And I guess i've been thinking a lot about like, well what does... What can queerness itself offer us spiritually?

00:15:24: and if you're a person who has a religious specific religious belief then maybe you could find yourself in that aswell.

00:15:28: But also we are lost searching for something.

00:15:33: so i have kind of looking at.

00:15:37: actually the dancefloor did provide those things.

00:15:41: We learn things on the dance floor that we take out into real life.

00:15:46: Becoming best friends with someone in the smoking area.

00:15:50: Yeah,

00:15:51: yeah is a skill that we could all be taking out into The real world to try and make the World A bit better but We don't always And so I just don't know.

00:16:00: i've been thinking a lot about this kind of sense Of how some other things That we've been learning In clubs and dance floors and bars Alongside All the problems there as well can also give us have already giving Us the tools to kind of start building a better future and I think that's probably what the show is really trying to get out.

00:16:23: I love that idea.

00:16:24: you talk with people in this smoking area, stuff like... You wouldn't normally do it In different ways where they're just drunk.

00:16:32: It's a different thing isn'it?

00:16:34: Talking to friends or friends People who would never bother making connections on the dance floor In queer clubs in particular and yeah, if only the rest of society was like that.

00:16:46: Tell me about um.

00:16:47: The glory holds choir as well.

00:16:48: As being just a brilliant name.

00:16:51: Um

00:16:52: tell me how you find and build a choir like that for this job?

00:16:56: Um Well i mean this show has been a process of nearly three years worth of making And pulling bits together.

00:17:06: um Initially we did an open call out to professional queer singers who were interested in the idea of what it would mean to put a choir on a nightclub and see what happened.

00:17:19: And we did that at a fierce festival, in Birmingham in twenty-twenty four.

00:17:24: Um so just... It was an audition process really!

00:17:28: We found such like a wide range I mean.. At that point we had twelve slots available and we have one hundred fifty singers apply.

00:17:36: So the idea took hold for people And then it's been a case of kind of refining and figuring out as we built the show, like what we need.

00:17:47: So the singers that were working with for this show are each individual artist in their own right?

00:17:55: They span a range of musical styles from opera through to soul gospel hyper-pop.

00:18:08: You've got some more... cabaret performers, alongside contemporary music.

00:18:16: And I've tried to ensure that in each voice part we have got voices which can lean more towards the sort of classic sound and then voices like much more contemporary music sounds so were able flow into lots different ways.

00:18:39: what's been amazing is We wanted to make sure that the Glory Hulse choir members were able bring their entire self.

00:18:50: Some of them are go-go dancers who also have trained as classical musicians.

00:18:56: It's a real mix, there is lots of trans singers in there Who you know they're able come into this space and be full selves but sing around vocal parts still comfortable for them.

00:19:14: It's such a broad, a broad church of people which is amazing to have all these different voices from all over the country get together and make sound.

00:19:27: We are talking about a group of singers who individually each like incredible soloists.

00:19:33: so when you put that altogether it really does sounds unbelievable!

00:19:38: And having them live I think its such a rarity to be able see a show with that many voices live on stage, and for each of them to be exceptional.

00:19:53: I think like it is such an unique offer for performance.

00:19:59: at the moment especially.

00:20:00: you know things are getting harder and harder to do so.

00:20:03: huge thanks to The Arts Council for making this possible as well.

00:20:07: but your gonna see a spectacle full sound with live instruments and then these insane psychedelic visuals behind us.

00:20:20: It is going to feel very... I don't think there's another show like it?

00:20:25: You said that nightclubs give queer people somewhere to grieve, become themselves.

00:20:30: have you got a memory that kind of feeds into this?

00:20:34: if you've obviously got someone in mind haven't looking at your?

00:20:36: they're thinking i want bring back.

00:20:41: Yeah!

00:20:45: I think about, like...I grew up in a small village outside of Birmingham.

00:20:55: In the nineties and you know before we had access ready-access to the internet at home during section twenty eight And so lot my childhood really feels.

00:21:11: it was an experience being invisible.

00:21:15: The schools, councils whatever weren't able even acknowledge existence of queer people.

00:21:20: I didn't have you know social media or the internet to kind of explore and understand things.

00:21:26: Um, i was one of those like young people watching Queer as Folk on like one bar of volume at two o'clock in the morning!

00:21:38: And um...I guess I grew up with this idea that like..to be a queer person?

00:21:44: To have that- I had to move to London Or I Had to Move to Manchester And then I sort of found community in Birmingham, like In The Gay Village here.

00:22:02: But i always think about that Brunsky Beat song Like Small Town Boy...like..I felt that hard!

00:22:11: Leaving with all my stuff to find something because the answers you seek will never be found at home.

00:22:18: No,

00:22:19: I did move to London.

00:22:20: Yeah eventually

00:22:20: in Manchester?

00:22:21: Um no i've worked in Manchester a lot but I didn't...I did moved to London to study as a student.

00:22:28: um and I remember going to these like bars for the first time.

00:22:33: I remember go into The Nightingale in Birmingham for the First Time And I was probably twenty one.

00:22:38: um and Like.

00:22:41: don't get me wrong none of these spaces are perfect But like the possibility of what could happen in this space.

00:22:50: Like, it just sort of opens up a whole new world and I don't know...I remember meeting people who worked In clubs and nightlife And..in my head like It was sort-of thing of the past Because i'd watched on documentaries.

00:23:12: So couldn't really.

00:23:14: It sort of blew my mind to know that these spaces were still operating and existing.

00:23:19: I do think i'd felt very sheltered up until the point where I had left my parents home, And I don't know...I just found going into this space is like suddenly you have the opportunity to test versions with yourself To be more flamboyant or extra whatever.

00:23:42: That's why we get so many nightmare gays clacking their fans around.

00:23:48: Yeah, I'm not saying it's all good stuff either but we're like you just got to be able to test that!

00:23:52: i remember the first time i made out with a stranger on the dance floor um and that felt impossible for me as a young person.

00:24:01: so i guess...i am thinking about what those spaces have offered us And at the same time, I'm wondering how much of that is like a myth as well.

00:24:15: Like we build up these ideas around what the nightlife spaces can provide to us and At the same Time i think there are also lots of problems inherent in here In The Show.

00:24:24: We forget the Problems Don't We?

00:24:25: Yee's

00:24:26: That Out As Well You Know...I Think One Of The Greatest Struggles That I Find At The Moment Is That Multiple Things Being True At The Same Time Right Like the especially regional queer spaces, queer venues and stuff like save lives.

00:24:45: I do believe that even if you've got one gay bar within fifteen miles That does do something important.

00:24:52: And losing them i think is...like..I feel immensely sad about The closure of Spaces!

00:24:59: At the same time those spaces are stuck in a cycle where they have to get us To drink or come out.

00:25:07: That's making people unwell.

00:25:11: It is a constant, like.

00:25:13: this isn't binary basically?

00:25:14: but then the show just tried to grapple with that.

00:25:18: But I think the possibility of what can be found in those spaces?

00:25:21: What we're imagining might be found and those places it's essential for us to conceive better futures.

00:25:32: And yeah i do feel like that.

00:25:35: i think nightclub sort of saved my life or started as well Because I think without them, I wouldn't have imagined the things that i'm doing in my career.

00:25:48: Just to know alternative possibilities for ways to exist were out there.

00:25:56: and if we lose all these spaces

00:26:04: where does it go?

00:26:07: But would it be more healthy if the queer scene sometimes was built around a bit less trying to sell us loads of alcohol?

00:26:12: And then kind of things.

00:26:14: we've accepted that, but where does it go once these venues are gone.

00:26:17: What doesn't happen?

00:26:18: what Does It mean To you to Be making this show and now specifically with all These venues closing?

00:26:25: I Mean Venues Are Closing Across The Board but Queer venues its Accelerating at A speed We've Never Seen Before.

00:26:33: i think That's why i'm Making This Show right Now.

00:26:35: so Be Honest i Think like Its Come.

00:26:38: Initially, the idea for this show was going to be a sense of like, oh spiritual.

00:26:46: what could him sound on The Dance Floor?

00:26:50: And more and more as I've been developing even in two-and-a-half years working at the show.

00:26:55: More and more venues have been closing!

00:27:08: tired sometimes.

00:27:09: I don't always want to go out this much and so my relationship with those spaces is also changing, i'm seeing how hard it is just for venues to keep getting by.

00:27:21: um...and this show I think is about responding to that moment and thinking about like we-I feel an immense sense of complicated feelings right?

00:27:34: I'm grieving for something that feels And at the same time, I want us to imagine better ways of it existing.

00:27:43: Um...I think that The show is me trying to grapple with.

00:27:54: how do we find hope?

00:27:59: and my-the feelings that i think a lot of us are having right now That It's impossible To change things.

00:28:06: everything Is stuck in fixed In this system.

00:28:08: We're in and we can't do anything about it, so why bother?

00:28:11: And I'm hoping that's also a bit of let's shake ourselves out with the headspace.

00:28:18: Because as much is going to be difficult... ...and its gonna feel impossible or change isn't possible.

00:28:23: We have to keep remembering that.

00:28:26: So i think this thing about honouring past marking the closure these spaces like so often here are posts on on social media to say thanks for all the memories and then thing disappears.

00:28:41: And actually like I guess that show is an opportunity for us.

00:28:43: come together, do what a congregation would do right?

00:28:48: Process sadness.

00:28:50: think about future.

00:28:52: consider our perspectives or options.

00:28:54: are it's town hall as much as its concert and musical drag show?

00:29:03: The reviews have ranged from commandingly camp, which is great to a troll that said you were accelerating the decline of humanity.

00:29:15: Found out earlier on!

00:29:17: Which one do you prefer?

00:29:19: I love a good troll.

00:29:20: sometimes if someone's really tried to insult and you're like... You've actually just made it worthwhile.

00:29:28: I mean, don't get me wrong.

00:29:30: It's always a joy to receive something like that.

00:29:34: That is just the odd one!

00:29:35: To be yeah...to re-describe as the accelerating decline of humanity feels like a real batch of honour doesn't it?

00:29:40: It does.

00:29:41: i'd have it put on t-shirts myself.

00:29:42: Yeah

00:29:43: I think about that divine quote Like kill all my politics Kill everyone now Um..I tell you what I've been saying this for awhile.

00:29:54: um can we?

00:29:56: I've received a lot about Clash.

00:29:57: I am not an individual in this, like a lot of queer artists and drag performers have received that.

00:30:03: Yeah A lot.

00:30:04: just you know queer people in public life have received it.

00:30:07: It has been immensely challenging at points.

00:30:11: At the same time i think we spent a long time being like You don't need to be Um, afraid of us and actually now I'm like no.

00:30:17: No i want you to be afraid Like we're like a coming back into an energy.

00:30:22: that's about like saying if you want us to be villains?

00:30:24: I'll be the villain.

00:30:25: um I think And again at the show in part starts to kind of talk around this as well.

00:30:34: but um i'm just less interested In what other people Think know and i'm way more interested.

00:30:43: How can I build some spaces that even if it's just for a few hours, that queer communities people not even just queer people.

00:30:51: If you've ever found any kind of meaning on the dance floor in like this is The Show about That.

00:31:01: but i hope that This Is A Space For People To Come to experience something that feels spiritual and beautiful and gives you space to think, and works.

00:31:16: exercise some of those feelings out.

00:31:20: And leave feeling like you've got a bit more of a compass... ...to sort-of guide on the next one or two steps.

00:31:36: That feels like an important part of work.

00:31:39: I am very much just this conduit For that, nothing I'm saying in this is like something other people haven't said before.

00:31:50: But i hope what it's doing is reminding me and reminding everyone who comes That our lives are of value as are the lives of others And we're going to do anything.

00:32:04: make any real difference with eachother's life Is if you start putting your effort into them the nightlife, hedonism whatever you want to call it.

00:32:19: Though like we can learn lessons from those spaces and take that out and build the thing that we want to see.

00:32:27: um... And in a time when we're feeling more afraid than I can remember feeling i think that like..I hope that-that The show is offering something practical an ability for us to feel and be connected with each other in a meaningful way, because I think that's the only where we're going through this.

00:33:03: So is there risk of making something this joyful about something so sad?

00:33:09: Or is it part of what you are trying to do as you mentioned earlier on about holding silliness or seriousness when they live next?

00:33:18: So I guess to a certain extent if you want to elicit some sort of emotion and feeling in people You need to give them both of those feelings kind of To evaluate the right next to each other.

00:33:26: So they're going on Some sort of journey, don't yeah?

00:33:30: Yeah um i mean a few things.

00:33:36: I think like A lot of British comedy Comes out of darkness And response for that.

00:33:45: but I Think drag has Like The actual art form of drag has always been about taking this kind of pain and difficulty, the challenges of queer experiences.

00:34:06: And finding ways to sort of elevate them into things that we can celebrate or transform.

00:34:19: It's a loop right.

00:34:20: it's not a process that goes from A to B and we're done like its constantly circling round on itself, but I think about Like it is.

00:34:31: I Think parody like piss take and profound live right next to each other Part of the same mechanism.

00:34:38: We can't have joy without pain because it is joy as a response to pain like.

00:34:43: it's The way we overcome that in the same way that we wouldn't have like pride as a movement if we hadn't been like forced to experience shame.

00:34:55: I don't think we can separate those things, and if were going to deal with something really big or heavy then we've got balance that with something.

00:35:10: the level of euphoria has also matched a level of despair for it feel an exchange because thats what life is about.

00:35:21: So no, it doesn't concern me.

00:35:23: I think that's always been the way that I've processed things.

00:35:27: Historically this is how our communities often process things.

00:35:35: Darkness and light exists together because if you didn't have them neither would exist.

00:35:44: Where can people catch The Show?

00:35:45: Because its going to be on for quite a bit in the UK isn't?

00:35:49: It is so our first performance, it's the twenty second of August at Aviva Studios in Manchester and then we're out on tour sporadically into next year.

00:36:02: We are going to Brighton Dome, Liverpool Philharmonic in November, Warwick Arts Centre Coventry, Birmingham Town Hall and a few more dates that haven't been announced yet.

00:36:18: Um, I'm sure after this they

00:36:20: get bigger as you get on there because like that then You're getting slight.

00:36:24: I've been to the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool many times.

00:36:26: It's absolutely fucking massive.

00:36:28: we're in The.

00:36:29: They've got like a music space there.

00:36:31: That's like smaller one but they do get bigger.

00:36:33: Birmingham town hall is like just over thousand people.

00:36:37: yeah

00:36:37: um so it's going to be pretty huge.

00:36:39: and Yeah, the same so they are.

00:36:41: they do Get bigger.

00:36:42: i guess like

00:36:43: As you get more confident.

00:36:44: Is that what you thinking?

00:36:45: As We get into This we want To Do Bigger venues.

00:36:48: I'll be honest, these are a step-up in scale venues for me and my work.

00:36:55: We felt like it's a big show.

00:36:58: the space kind of needs it And i hope that so often what we consider to be queer art or whatever is one on two people In our small studio theatre... ...and wanted to offer something that wasn't there.

00:37:15: This was a big music experience at Scale And in a time when it's like everything is feeling, we've got to make stuff smaller and smaller.

00:37:29: Just do the opposite?

00:37:29: Do the

00:37:30: opposite!

00:37:30: Say that you're going to do something big.

00:37:32: You are gonna hear A choir full of singers.

00:37:36: You will have this experience together So fully that We just need people To come Because I think It'll feel Like being at a concert or festival vibe, but yeah it just keeps growing and hopefully as the congregation will get bigger and bigger.

00:37:59: Where can we get tickets?

00:38:01: Tickets are available from all that respective venues.

00:38:05: if you head to my website fatbutcher.co.uk That's Fat with two Ts.

00:38:11: All the information is up on there.

00:38:12: Alright Fat Butcher.

00:38:13: Adam thank you so much for having a chat this morning.

00:38:16: good luck with your show.

00:38:17: sounds absolutely incredible.

00:38:19: Thank you so much.