“It’s the kind of place where you feel comfortable,” Smith says of his home in Newcastle. Raised in Billingham, near Middlesborough, the singer moved to Newcastle when he started university, and hasn’t felt the need to leave since. “It’s quite culturally active, there’s a volunteer-run cinema where nobody makes any money called The Star and Shadow, where people just go in and put on films that they like”. Smith’s label, Billingham Records, is (as those of you paying attention will know) named after his hometown. If remaining up north wasn’t proof that success hadn’t gone to his head, acknowledging his roots through his label certainly has.

“It’s kind of a nice untouched piece of Britain, and in another way it’s as cosmopolitan as any other place”, he continues, “It’s near the coast where I can get away from things. I enjoy my life up here so although I’m sure there are many other great places to go, I’ve never felt the need to move”.

This isn’t to say that Smith is a homebody. As enthusiastic as he is eloquent, he says that one of the best parts of his job is his chance to explore the world. Many artists complain that the infamous tour bus/venue/hotel itinerary prevents them from some much-needed sightseeing, but this isn’t always the case.

“Although I’ve got a lot of interviews and sound checks to do, I always try and squeeze in a morning out in a new place. Some of my favourite days have been just going to a Viennese art exhibition. It’s one of the things I indulge if I can”.

This is good news. As it’s now December, the tradition of most publications is to provide round-up of the year’s offerings and to pick out some highlights. So what did Smith make of this year’s artistic contributions?

“I’m trying to think, I generally forget everything as soon as I’ve seen it,” he laughs nervously, having been put on the spot. As if by magic, inspiration hits. Amidst a “spare few hours in London” he had ventured over to the Tate Britain to see the Henry Moore exhibition.

“If you had to name one sculptor, most people would say either Barbara Hepworth or Henry Moore. You realise what an amazing artist he was, rather than the popular conception of him,” he enthuses, “Actually being in the room with these amorphous sculptures in amazing. One of the things I loved about the exhibition is that you could take a different look at his sculptures and walk all the way around them, and from each angle they look amazing. Some sculptures work from the front only, but he had an absolute mastery of form”.

“He did loads of drawings as well of people sheltering during air-raids in the Second World War. He’s got an absolutely beautiful collection of drawings of people huddled together. He really captures the fear and the mood. There are some really beautiful drawings and etchings”.

As an appreciator of art, he may feel the pressure for his photography book, Thinking in Pictures, to be well-received by the art world. “Whether it’s any good or not is not for me to say,” He admits, “I’d taken thousands over the past five years and I tried to whittle it down to ones that I thought other people might be interested in on their own level. I’ve kind of filtered out anything that might have a connection with being in a band”. Coming complete with a copy of his album Margins, this venture is something entirely separate from Maxïmo Park.

“It’s more about shapes, and some bits are funny. There’s a picture of a sign that I saw in America, coming down a desert highway. We could just see this sign that said ‘CHEESE’”. He breaks to chuckle, before continuing, “It was hilarious, but because of this big blue sky it’s kind of a nice little picture, but because of the sign it makes it humorous”.

Natasha Parker

Kicking off tomorrow (Friday 31st July) at the BALTIC is a three day event with Canadian art duo, Seripop. Seripop artists Chloe Lum and Yannick Desranleau have joined forces with guest curator Sophie Brown to bring a weekend of design, print, illustrations and live music to Newcastle.

Combining installation of two and three dimensional psychedelic screen prints and illustrations Seripop will create a unique environment for performances from 10 live bands over two nights, including Lum and Desranleau’s very own band Hamborghinni.

The live music will come from the likes of Cleckhuddersfax, drawing influences from the weirdest corners of punk, prog, synthy pop and disco to create a unique sound which mixes up experiment and fun in equal measures; Beards from Leeds who dress in homemade costumes and face paint making a theatrical performance; Birmingham based Phil Duckworth and Ben Sadler aka juneau brothers, who will be playing their handmade electronic sculptural instruments inspired by folk history and Newcastle based modern folk trio Les Cox (sportifs).

Seripop are driven by a DIY underground music scene and create posters and artwork for their own band AIDS Wolf and other musicians. From this they have spearheaded an exciting independent art scene, which is more familiar outside of traditional gallery spaces. Seripop are concerned with experimenting with surrealist imagery on their own terms instead of creating commercial artwork. In despite of this their prints and designs have become very collectable and these young artists are forming a vibrant and successful international scene.

A free fanzine for the event has been created by ‘zine makers Ricochet! Ricochet! and Craft Club and will be available alongside other Seripop merchandise and silkscreened posters throughout both shows. BALTIC Shop will be selling Seripop prints and associated merchandise, with products also available to buy online at www.balticmill.com/shop

Seripop at BALTIC forms part of the Northern Print Biennale, a major international event for contemporary printmaking taking place across Newcastle upon Tyne.

Live Music Line Up

FRIDAY 31 JULY, DOORS: 7.30PM
Spin Spin the Dogs
juneau brothers
Les Cox (sportifs)
A Middle Sex
Blood Oracles

SATURDAY 1 AUGUST, DOORS 7.30PM
Hamborghinni (Lum & Desranleau)
Cleckhuddersfax
Beards
Roseanne Barrr
Jazzfinger

TICKET BOOKING INFORMATION
Friday 31 July and Saturday 1 August 2009, Doors: 7.30pm
Price: £8.00 / £6.00 (Cons) + 10% booking fee
Tickets are available from www.wegottickets.com

GALLERY INFORMATION:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Gateshead Quays
South Shore Road
Gateshead
NE8 3BA
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 191 478 1810
info@balticmill.com
www.balticmill.com