In the depths of the southern Scottish wilderness this September 23, The Dark Outside will once again resume its mountainside broadcast: 24 hours of music to be broadcast only to those who make the trip to Murray’s Monument, a 50 foot granite monolith upon a hill called Big Doon in the Galloway Forest Dark Skies Park.
tQ have been asked by organiser Stuart McLean to host an hour of the broadcast, and we’re asking you, our creative readers, to submit your music.
As our co-founder Luke Turner explains: "After years of supporting Stuart’s work at the Dark Outside we were chuffed when he asked us to put together a Quietus Hour special that will never be heard, aside from by the fauna of Scotland and people trying to tune in on their car transistors. Please do sent in music but remember it MUST be completely unheard and it doesn’t mean it can be crap – the red squirrel is a creature of refined taste. Email luke at the quietus dot com with your suggestions."
Due to the geographical effects of the region on FM broadcasts, the music will only be listenable via radio on the specific, isolated site itself.
We caught up with organiser McLean, who first began broadcasting The Dark Outside in 2012, to discuss the event’s highlights thus far, and what we can expect from its fifth birthday.
tQ: How was the last Dark Outside? Any particular special memories?
Stuart McLean: The last Dark Outside (2015) is the one I can barely remember as I was on industrial strength doses of morphine sulphate.
Over 1000 or so people turned up during the day. I can forgive those who we lost to Bill Drummond who had an event on in Wigtown down the road for the book festival, which I missed (I caught up with him the day after when he was building a bed to raffle off). The Cuts film with Alan Moore narrating was quite something.
You’ve moved nearer the mountain… is it calling you there?
SM: I recently moved to the edge of the forest to a house with a full wall length painting of the Dark Outside site [pictured below] (Murrays Monument is right above the toaster – I couldn’t make this up) with a rather nice view of Cairnsmore (which I always thought was a hill – it’s a mountain) which dominates the skyline opposite the transmitter site. Means I get to watch red kites flying about as I do the dishes.
The toaster in question
What different arrangements are there this year? Why have you asked people like tQ to get involved?
SM: This year is our 5th Birthday and 5th broadcast – to be honest I never expected it to get past the first. To help celebrate and lessen my workload a wee bit I asked people who have always supported it. So far it’s yourselves, as well as Optimo Music; I’ve known Keith far longer than we would both care to admit and he’s always sent some great things in. Joe Muggs has agreed to take an hour which should be fun, he has sourced some amazing tracks in the past for me.
Who have you had music from thus far?
SM: So far 4 floors of whores, Abduction by Giraffe, audbat, Audio Obscura, The Black Bicycles, Black Cat, The Black Dog, Blood Wine or Honey, Broken Glass, Adrian Carter, Stephen Clarke, Cowboy Flying Saucer, Curxes, Dark Knopfler, Entaclishus, éntha, Iona Fortune, Ghost Signs, Hubba Hapa, Alexander Jeavons, T Jervell, Jimmy Kipple Sound, Komputer, Konx Om Pax, Kulatopia, Rupert Lally/Espen J. Jörgensen, April Larson, Lippy Kid Music / Matt McAteer, Low Shadow, Stephanie Merchak, Kathleen Messer, Bruce McClure, Nad Spiro, Moray Newlands, Nightwave, Palmer Eldritch, Plaster of Paris, Primitive Knot, Remembering Steady Eddie, John García Rueda, Salford Electronics, James Sandford, Scanner, Scott Smigiel, Sculpture, Sheer Zed, John E Smoke, Todd Snow, Strelokk, Swarm Of Bees, Tomorrow Syndicate, Triple Dipped Orange, Charlie Ulyatt, The Watcher, Yol have all sent in things
Highlights so far are The Black Dog, Stephanie Merchak, April Larson, Nightwave, Iona Fortune, Kathleen Messer, James Sandford, Blood Wine or Honey, Konx Om Pax, Sculpture, Komputer and Curxes
