BOOK YER ANE FEST – FAQ (Updated)

by writeyeranezine

What is Book Yer Ane Fest?

(Revised(ish) 32/05/2018)

BOOK YER ANE FEST XI happens in Dundee, Scotland from Friday 1st through Sunday 3rd December 2017. Tickets are on sale here.

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Book Yer Ane Fest is a DIY punk/hardcore/emo/whatever festival hosted in Dundee, Scotland by Make That A Take Records.

For the last nine years (and ten festivals, as we did two in 2009), Book Yer Ane Fest has raised money and awareness for Safe-Tay, a Tayside-based water safety charity formed in Perth following the death of our friend Graham Motion in 2006. The PCC, Graham’s core group of hardcore punk friends, organised “Motionfest” in 2006 and 2007. After consulting with the PCC and learning that they wouldn’t be holding a third event, we asked if they’d hold any objections to Book Yer Ane Fest being a benefit for Safe-Tay. They held no objections, thus our tradition was born.

 The first Book Yer Ane Fest took place at Mucky Mulligans in Perth on November 15th 2008. Book Yer Ane Fest III saw BYAF move to Kage Nightclub in Dundee, which became our home for the next five years, including for our first three-day BYAF in 2011, which saw Leatherface headline on the Saturday night at what would prove to be their final Scottish show. That weekend also proved to be, in hindsight, somewhat the turning point for our collective. 2015 saw Book Yer Ane Fest IX move to Buskers and The Firefly in Dundee, with great results, and Book Yer Ane Fest X was also held there.

Book Yer Ane Fest X also marked the final festival in support of Safe-Tay, as they have wound up operations after ten emotionally difficult yet incredibly productive years. Safe-Tay has achieved a great deal amidst great personal suffering over the last decade, including the erection of many water-safety and caution signs throughout Tayside, the bringing together of many divergent government and non-profit organisations concerned with water safety and education, and increasing awareness of water safety and education throughout the region. With cross-sector connections made between groups with greater reach and influence, Lisa and family felt they had taken Safe-Tay as far as they could. Their influence and legacy cannot be denied.

We cannot thank Lisa Stuart and her family enough for all of the hard work, commitment and dedication that they have shown over the last decade. Our gratitude to Lisa and family for all of their support over the years cannot be understated. Thank you, for everything.

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Over the years we’ve had the distinct privilege and honour to host friends and artists from all over the world, collectively raising in excess of ten thousand pounds for charity. We are very proud that something that essentially started as a Joey Terrifying gig in the back room of a Perth pub to raise some money for our pal’s charity has developed into something for which people are willing to travel from all over the globe to attend and a central fixture on the Scottish punk rock calendar. While never expressly the intent, it continually blows our mind what Book Yer Ane Fest has evolved into and would couldn’t be more humbled at the interest we’ve been afforded over the last few years.

Over the years, we’ve aimed to provide an accessible, interesting and diverse celebration of DIY punk culture and have had the honour of hosting hundreds of local, national and international bands/artists including, but not limited to; Leatherface (ENG), The Slow Death (USA), Franz Nicolay (USA), Rational Anthem (USA), Lipstick Homicide (USA), Antillectual (NL), Bangers (ENG), The Arteries (WAL), Mikey Erg (USA), Oi Polloi, Kaddish, Departures, The Spook School, ONSIND (ENG), Helen Chambers (ENG), Chris T-T (ENG), Beauty School Dropout, Rebuke (SWE), The Bomb (USA), Bear Trade (ENG), The Living Daylights (ENG), Sink Alaska, Uniforms, The Upstarts, Chrissy Barnacle, Wonk Unit (ENG), Slaves (ENG), The Murderburgers, Billy Liar, Make War (USA) and many more. We aim to continue to do so!

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BOOK YER ANE FEST XI; THE EVOLUTION CONTINUES

Book Yer Ane Fest XI sees the evolution continue once again and will happen in Dundee from Friday 1st through Sunday 3rd December 2017. Our venues for this year will be Abertay Student Centre, Conroy’s Basement and The Firefly, all within easy walking distance of each other in Dundee city centre. This year we shall be raising money and awareness for Insight Counselling, The Royal Life Saving Society and Tayside Mountain and Water Rescue. This year, we shall also be running our TINS FOR TUNES programme to support Dundee Foodbank.

There will also be both pre and post-Book Yer Ane Fest shows this year, full details of which will emerge over the next few months. While we have yet to announce any bands, there are bands booked and we look forward to hosting our most open, accessible and inclusive Book Yer Ane Fest yet.

Limited Earlybird Weekend Tickets for Book Yer Ane Fest XI will go on sale on Sunday 21st May 2017. These tickets will be £20 and will be strictly limited to 100 in total, as this is the capacity of our smallest venue.

Possessing an Earlybird Weekend Ticket is THE ONLY WAY to ensure entry to ALL MAIN BYAF SHOWS in Dundee.

Please make sure to grab one if you want to ensure your entry!

Earlybird Weekend Tickets will be available for £20 HERE from 12 noon on Sunday 21st May. Don’t snooze on it!

Both the pre-BYAF and post-BYAF shows will be pay on the door only.

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“Can my band play?”

It really depends.

There is NO FORMAL APPLICATION PROCESS for Book Yer Ane Fest. Let’s be honest, there’s no way to say this without sounding like a roaster, but BYAF is booked collectively with no one individual in a position to impose their will. We are all actively involved in our musical communities, hosting shows and touring all over, so our booking decisions come from an informed perspective and not just on the whim of Dr. Deeker!

However, all that said, we do love hearing from new bands so if you want to get in touch, please do so by email only. Please do not message our FB page as it is collectively run and a timely response cannot be guaranteed.

The best way to get involved is to come along and support the scene on a regular basis. With limited space for local bands, those who support the scene and what we do all year round are more likely to be considered for BYAF.

Please bear in mind that BYAF is a charity fundraiser. While we do have a small budget and do our best to accommodate every reasonable request, we aren’t in a position to offer anything extravagant. For a fuller discussion on this subject, please check out this post.

Local bands can drop off a demo CD/tape/USB/download code/floppy disk to the DEMO DROPBOX that will be in situ at all upcoming shows at Conroy’s Basement.

Also, we’d appreciated it if any/all booking requests went through our email address at; info@makethatatakerecords.com

Also, and we cannot stress this enough, please DO NOT add or message individual members of the collective on FB or any other social media platform to enquire about playing BYAF.

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 When will tickets be on sale?

100 Earlybird Weekend Tickets will be on sale for £20 from Sunday 21st May. An Earlybird Weekend Ticket will be the only way to ensure your entry to all BYAF shows in Dundee.

Thereafter (once all 100 Earlybird Weekend Tickets are gone), a Weekend Ticket will be a straight up thirty quid. As it stands, there will be no advanced single/individual day tickets but walk-ups will be available on the days.

Keep your eyes peeled on the Make-That-A-Take facebook page for further details.

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 Are you doing accommodation packages this year?

Afraid not. While we’d be love to be able to offer accommodation packages, we already have our hands full accommodating bands. However, Dundee has an excellent Backpackers Hostel and loads of hotels that you can get cheap if you book in advance. Again, please keep your eye on the MTAT page for further developments on this front.

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 “Can I have a stall?” “Can I bring my distro?”

Very possibly.

Given that the main events of Book Yer Ane Fest XI will be taking place at Abertay Student Centre, we have a bit more space at our disposal. We’ll be hosting a “Punk Rock Flea Market” of sorts and are seeking to involve as many community groups as possible. If you’d like to get involved and claim a space for your activism, please get in touch.

We have limited space but are always keen to hear from progressive thinking organisations, labels and those that run distros. All decisions are made by the collective and are considered on a case-by-case basis.

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 Is BYAF all-ages?

All shows at Abertay Students Centre are 14+ (under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult). All shows in The Firefly and Conroy’s Basement are 18+, sorry. Please bear this in mind when ordering tickets.

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 “My band is playing, can we get our friends on the guestlist?”

No.

We operate a strict “no guestlist” policy so please don’t embarrass us or yourself. Van drivers, tour managers, etc, are obviously exempt. As Mike Watt says; “If you’re not playing, you’re paying”. Take it up with him.

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 “I work for the press/TV/PR/blog/blahblahblah. Can I get guestlist?”

No.

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 “Is there anything that I can do to help?”

Yes, there are many things and we’d be very appreciative if you could!

This year especially we are looking for some troops to get involved in the BYAF CREW. Please do hit us up if you’d be keen to support in any way, shape or form!

We will also be looking for some volunteers to help us out with spreading the good word in terms of flyering, PR, postering, zine articles, radio play, interviews and all that other weird and wonderful stuff. If you feel like you’d be keen to help in this capacity, please hit us up. The spreading of the good word, even to your pals, is very much appreciated!

The best thing you can do is come to the festival and have an amazing time. It’d be great if you brought some friends with you and spread the word too. We’re always looking for people in Dundee who would be willing to have a bunch of punks sleeping in their flat for an evening and are always keen to hear from volunteers to help with this.

If you think you meet this description, please drop us an email.

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 Why put on a festival in winter? In Scotland?

What’s a punk to do, eh?

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For a more detailed background and history, we’d thoroughly recommend checking out “Film Yer Ane; The Book Yer Ane Fest Documentary” made by our friend Adam Morrow and the crew at Funguerins.

We’d also recommend checking out both the GGM Photography pages and the Smalbob YouTube channel for loads of BYAF photos and videos from over the years. Ye can also find some more at Cowpunk TV.

The first Make Yer Ane Comp was released at the original BYAF also. It’s still rad some ye should download it (and awhin else in the MTAT catalogue).

 

Keep your eyes on the BYAF XI event page and MTAT website for developments as they happen.

THANK YOU.