Analysis
of Results
The aim of this chapter is to
analyse and discuss my results. By
visiting the club, and talking to
clubbers, every weekend, I discovered who visits the club and why they
go
there.
I found being a covert
observer participating in the nightclub very easy
as it is a venue that I would normally frequent during my leisure time
and I
already know many of the clubbers which enabled me to approach them and
discuss
issues relevant to my study.
This chapter will discuss the
venue at night when it is a night club.
The Bus Stop hosts various different club nights including some of the
long
standing club nights that have made a name for themselves over the
years and
will nearly always draw a local crowd.
These nights are “Flava” which is a hip-hop night; “Jungle
Fresh”, which
is drum ’n’ bass; and “UFO” which provides electro and break-beat music. There have also been various house music
nights over the years.
The main thing that I
discovered during my research and speaking to the
clubbers was that the venue is very popular with the underground music
scene in
“A musical scene, in contrast
(to a
musical community), is that cultural space in which a range of musical
practices coexist, interacting with each other within a variety of
processes of
differentiation, and according to widely varying trajectories of change
and
cross-fertilization”
(Straw, 1991 in Rietveld,
1998:16).
I became a part of this group
in the summer of 2000 whilst out clubbing
every weekend. This core group all tend
to listen to what would be classed as ‘underground’ music,
“The term ‘underground’ is
the expression
by which clubbers refer to things subcultural…undergrounds denote
exclusive
worlds whose main point is not elitism, but whose parameters often
relate to
particular crowds…generally underground crowds are attached to sounds”
(Ross and Rose, 1994:177).
In the context of this study
‘underground’ refers to non-mainstream
music,
“Undergrounds define
themselves most
clearly by what they are not – that is “mainstream”...the mainstream is
decried
as passive, indiscriminate and uncommitted to dance culture; it is
ridiculed
for its “herd instinct” and bandwagon mentality”
(Ross and Rose, 1994:178).
For youth involved in the
club subculture it is important to be part of
the ‘other’ as opposed to being part of the mainstream. To be a part of
the
‘other’ one must know which venues to frequent, which music to listen
to, which
clothing labels to wear and how to speak the language of the subculture. Bennett (2000) examines the need of young
people, involved in the urban dance music scene in
“Indeed, among certain
sections of
Newcastle’s youth, the wholesale rejection of those cultural traits
typically
associated with Newcastle has resulted in highly particularised
strategies of resistance in which music
and style also play a crucial
role…this is particularly so among those young people involved in the
local
urban dance music scene for whom music acts as a central cultural
resource in
determining their ‘otherness’ from what they collectively deem to be
the
mainstream ‘townie’ youth scene” (4).
The same is true of the local
urban dance music scene in
“Millennium!
I would never go there now, I used to go when
it was Warehouse, but then it was cool, now they play cheesy music and
it’s
full of Janner [slang for a
This statement shows how
there are distinct youth groups within the city
and also highlights how the cultural meaning of a space can change
depending on
the style of music played and the people within the space, this will be
discussed later on in this chapter.
Other clubbers mentioned various other pubs and clubs
within
Throughout my clubbing life
in
It is this core group and
students who are interested in the music
provided that support the underground music scene in
“There has always been a
locals club in
Plymouth, first it was the Warehouse which was home to Cultural Vibes
and
Scream which closed in 1999, then it was the Cooperage with Jungle
Fresh and
UFO, but that went downhill after Antonucchi took it over, then it was
the
Candy Store but that changed into Zanzibar and is now a complete dive,
finally
we’ve found somewhere else to call home”.
Another told me,
“
As mentioned earlier the core
group comprises of DJs and club night
promoters and their friends who all tend to frequent the same venues to
support
each other. One of the major
difficulties facing club promoters in
“I’ve been running nights in
Mitch told me how most of the
venues in Plymouth are now run by big
leisure chains who do not care about music, they just want to provide
cheap
drinks and get as many people in as possible and without venues such as
the Bus
Stop the underground music scene would be limited to house parties and
illegal
outdoor parties.
After speaking to some of the
Bus Stop clubbers, most of whom were local
residents (and not students) I discovered that many of them felt that
the Bus
Stop was a locals’ venue, run by local people catering for the local
music
scene. I wanted to confirm if this was
an important factor contributing to the venue’s popularity. I asked 200 clubbers, over the course of three
weeks, to rate the following statements, in order of importance, about
the Bus
Stop.
- It caters specifically for
students.
- The music.
- Décor/graffiti/lighting.
- Location.
- All of my friends come here.
- I’ve met lots of friendly
people.
- It’s different from other
clubs.
- The entrance fee is good
value for money.
- The drinks promotions are a
good deal.
- It feels like a locals’ venue.
I also asked the respondents
to indicate whether they were a student or
not, so that I could compare their responses with those who were local
residents. The following graphs show the
results.
The most important factor for
both students and non-students is the
music, with 17% of students and 15% of non-students choosing this as
the most
important factor about the club. This
was to be expected as that is the venue’s main purpose, as I was
advised by
Tom, one of the managers of the venue,
“We hope to be able to
provide
Music is now a very important
factor with regards to youth subcultures,
Bennett (2000) discusses this,
“In many different parts of
the world
popular music is a primary, if not the
primary, leisure resource for young people” (34).
Music gives meaning to spaces
and can change the meaning of spaces. Valentine
(1995) explores this concept by
examining how the music of K.D. Lang, because of the meaning given to
it by its
audience (namely lesbians), creates lesbian space,
“when kd lang performs her
music publicly
at concert venues such as the Hammersmith Odeon and the Albert Hall,
these
spaces, which are taken for granted as heterosexual, are culturally
produced
through the meanings given to her/her music as something different,
namely as
lesbian space” (478).
A specific cultural meaning
can be given to a space because of the music
that is played in that space. I have
observed this concept in the Bus Stop by visiting the venue when there
are
various different ‘nights’ on. When
hip-hop music is being played the venue becomes a hip-hop space,
displaying
characteristics associated with the hip-hop scene, break-dancing and
rapping
(see plate 4.1 – hip-hop MC on stage at Flava), and drawing in those
associated
with the hip-hop scene in
Plate
4.1 – Gertbiggun (Hip-Hop MC) on stage at Flava in the Bus Stop.
When drum ‘n’ bass is being
played, the venue displays characteristics
of the drum ‘n’ bass scene. It is rather
difficult to verbalise, but the atmosphere in the space is different
depending
on the music that is being played there.
The clientele may differ slightly from night to night, but
as mentioned
earlier the core group always tend to be there.
It is therefore not the clientele or the venue, which both
remain
relatively the same, that creates these specific atmospheres, it is due
to the
music that is being played and the cultural meanings that are attached
to these
styles of music. The music itself,
however, does not actually carry the meaning it is the audience that
gives
meaning to the music because of their cultural background.
Bennett (2000) quotes Shepherd (1993) who
argues that “music does not “carry” its meaning and “give it” to
participants
and listeners. Affect and meaning have
to be created anew in the specific social and historical circumstances
of
music’s creation and use” (60-61). This
fits in well with the work of Roland Barthes and his concept of the
death of
the author, he states, “the birth of the reader must be at the cost of
the death
of the author” (1977:148). What is
important
is what the cultural text (the music) means to the audience, once the
author
has produced the music they are unable to add to or produce any meaning
for it
and it is the audience who creates their own meaning depending on many
factors
such as their cultural background, where they were when they
experienced it,
who they were with and so forth. The way
that the music is played in clubs such as the Bus Stop fits well with
this
concept. Once the music has been
produced and is pressed onto a record the DJ mixes it up with other
records
creating a whole new meaning which is then experienced by the clubber
who can
again give the text further or different meaning. Barthes
tells us that all texts are
infinitely deferred, a text is never original it always draws from
other texts,
this is particularly true of modern music.
In some ways this is really obvious with music containing
direct samples
from other music it may, however, be more hidden, but someone creating
music is
always going to have been influenced by their previous experiences of
music,
thus intertextuality is inevitable.
I have said that the
production of these different atmospheres within
the Bus Stop, on the various different club nights, is dependent on the
style
of music being played, this in itself is dependent on the meanings
given to the
music by those who are in the venue, Valentine (1995) confirms this by
stating,
“the production of space is dependent on those present” (478). However, those present are there due to the
style of music being played so the meaning of a space cannot be created
without
both the music and the audience, “a club is a socially defined space
where a
crowd can make or break the occasion” (Rietveld, 1998:173).
Music is used by youth to
confirm their identities and to mark out
territory. This concept has been
investigated by academics since the first research into youth
subcultures was
begun by the subcultural theorists of the Birmingham C.C.C.S., who are
discussed in chapter 2. Although the
C.C.C.S. recognised that music played a part in defining subcultural
identity,
the research tended to focus on issues of class, “in modern societies,
the most
fundamental groups are the social classes” (Hall et al, 1976:13). Class is no longer the defining factor of
youth subcultures and in today’s society music appears to be the main
differentiating factor between youth subcultures and people are placed
into
certain subcultural groupings depending on the style of music they like
to
listen to. In some instances people will
go along to a certain club night purely to be with a certain group, as
the
questionnaire results show the second most popular reason that people
will
frequent the Bus Stop is because their friends do, as Bennett notes,
“in some instances musical
tastes and
accompanying consumption patterns are quite deliberately fashioned in
such a
way as to enable the clear articulation of collective attitudes or
statements
that respond directly to everyday situations experienced in specific
localities” (2000:68).
Some pretend to like
something even though they may not in order to fit
in and be cool. This was something I observed in the Bus Stop. Although the majority of the clientele like
the music as do their friends, some go along because they think it is
the cool
place to go and the cool music to listen to.
This does tend to be more of a male trait.
I spoke to a few female clubbers who were
there because they had been dragged along by boyfriends or friends who
like the
music and they were perfectly happy to voice their opinions on the
music, one
female clubber said,
“I hate hip-hop, I think it’s
a load of
macho rubbish, I’m only here because my boyfriend loves it and I’d
rather go
out than sit at home by myself, which way’s the bar, I’d better amuse
myself
somehow!”
Speaking to one male clubber,
whom I know personally and know from
previous experience that he really does not like hip-hop, I asked him
in front
of his friends why he was in the club as I thought he did not like
hip-hop, he
replied,
“No, I like hip-hop like
this, it’s just
some of the other stuff I’m not to keen on”.
I asked him later on when he
was by himself at the bar why he had lied
to me and he told me that he did not want his friends to know that he
did not
really like the music, because if they knew, they would tease him about
not
being cool and make jibes about the commercial hard house music he
likes to
listen to. Ross and Rose highlight this
gender difference,
“Girls and women often opt
out of the game
of “hipness”, refusing to compete and conceding defeat” (1994:179).
Gender did not appear to be
an important factor in the construction of
the Bus Stop as a club space, the only main gender difference that I
observed
was the concern of males to always appear to be ‘cool’. They tend to
follow their
friends more than the females do. Other
than pretending to like music that they do not really like, in order to
fit in,
I observed that on every club night I visited, females were always the
first to
be on the dance floor (see plate 4.2).
This is a phenomenon that I have observed in night clubs
and at parties
for so long as I have been attending them, more often than not, it is
my female
friends and myself that are always first to get up and dance, from
reading the
work of Ross and Rose (1994), I would assume that this is because the
females
are far less concerned about whether the music is seen to be ‘cool’ and
will
dance because they personally enjoy it, whilst males will wait until
their
friends or other males are dancing before they will join in, in order
to
confirm that the music is indeed ‘cool’.
Reitveld quotes Grossberg (1994), “rather than dancing to
the music you
like, you like the music you can dance to” (1998:164), this opinion
fits in
better with females than with males, as males will tend to ‘like’ a
particular
style of music or music track because of its associated ‘coolness’,
whereas a
female will tend to like what she likes.
Plate
4.2 Girls first on the dance floor.
From the research undertaken,
I discovered that one of the main factors
contributing to the popularity of the Bus Stop is that it appears to be
a locals’
venue, just from personal knowledge I know that there are a greater
number of
local residents, those who are part of the core group, that attend the
Bus Stop
than attend other youth venues in
“The musical event, from
collective dances
to the act of putting a CD into a machine, evokes and organises
collective
memories and present experiences of place with an intensity, power and
simplicity unmatched by any other social activity.
The ‘places’ constructed through music
involve notions of difference and social boundary” (Bennett, 2000:61).
As mentioned earlier, many of
those attending the Bus Stop are part of the
core group, this group have had many musical experiences together which
has
created strong ties between them and they have brought these strong
connections
to the Bus Stop, thus creating a collective sense of place, a feeling
of
belonging in that space, which is why many feel that it is their club. This group mark out their territory in a
number of different ways within the venue.
As many of the core group are DJs who play in the club,
they tend to
some of the first in the venue each night and will claim their space,
whether
that is the sofas by the bar (see plate 4.3) or adjacent to the DJ box,
the
core group will always tend to gather together in a specific area. This group will always try and display their
belonging to the space, by ensuring they greet other members of the
core group
and staff within the venue, thus, although to many this is
subconscious, they
are telling others in the club “I belong here”.
Plate
4.3 - The bar and sofas, within the Bus Stop, where the core locals
tend to
congregate.
The Bus Stop is decorated
with graffiti done by local graffiti artists
(as can be seen in plates 4.3 and 4.4), many of whom are also part of
the core
group, although not immediately obvious, this is another way in which
they are
marking their territory.
Plate
4.4 – Graffiti covered walls in the Bus Stop.
Graffiti has long been seen
to be young males marking their territory by
writing their names, or pseudonyms, on walls, they are letting others
know that
they are there and it is their space, “the practice of graffiti by
dominant
groups makes claims upon the meaning of spaces” (Cresswell, 1996:47). The fact that the owners of the Bus Stop have
encouraged local graffiti writers to decorate the space with their
personal
writings is again enforcing the idea that it is a local space. Many of the locals who attend the venue know
the graffiti writers, therefore, the writing on the walls will mean
more to
them than to non-locals. An example of
this would be that one of the writers always adds his girlfriend’s name
to his
work, this is something that would only be known by those who are part
of this
local core group and those that recognise this will be able to further
develop
their sense of belonging to the space.