Celebrating local creativity with New Balance

While it’s always been important to support what’s local – whether that’s favouring independent shops or championing the work of local creatives – it’s become especially important following the past year or so of restricted living. The arts in particular have taken a big hit, and we know you're all just as keen to get back to our trusty cinemas, gig venues and dancefloors as we are. 

To celebrate local creativity, footwear people New Balance are using their annual Grey Day to platform five next-generation talents hailing from London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. Known for positively impacting their communities, the chosen creatives are Cktrl, Lauren Ralph, Sumuyya Khader, Meme Gold and Wheelman. Each of these independent, boundary-pushing creatives will be taking over radio stations in their respective hometowns, selecting tunes and discussing their work across music, illustration and fashion design.

Glasgow-based DJ and promoter Jonathan Fernandez, aka Wheelman, will be taking the reins on Clyde Built Radio this Saturday at 5pm. Known now for helming Stereotone, a club night and label “focused on good music and good people”, Fernandez has been involved in Glasgow’s clubbing scene for much of the past decade, having nurtured a passion for DJing since his youth.

“I used to be able to walk until I was 11,” he explains. “Then I got meningitis and it affected my spine. It was a bit of a freak thing. So, I guilt-tripped my parents into getting me turntables!” From there he immersed himself in electronic music, until he was eventually struck by the urge to host his own events.

There are few cities better than Glasgow for developing exciting new parties – even if you’re just starting out. “I had no money, I didn’t have many connections at the time, so I had to figure out what was the best way to do a party with what I had.” 

To get Stereotone up and running, he essentially just talked to folk. “I met the booker of La Cheetah out, and I just emailed him one day and he set me up with a night. At first it was just local DJs and my pals, but going down that route felt right. I had lots of friends who were great DJs who weren’t getting to play out. It was the right time and the right place to do that.” 

As he – and Stereotone – grew, he turned to producing music too, putting out tracks and EPs via the Huntleys & Palmers sub-label Belters, DBA records, Studio Barnhus and even Stereotone itself. And while it’s been a little while since he was last able to get back into the proverbial studio, the first lockdown gave him the time and energy to start creating again. 

“In that first period I was productive out of boredom,” he laughs. “I was making beats to amuse myself which was so much fun. I hadn’t been creative like that in ages.” You can find the fruits of this, his latest EP Reaching For a Higher Place, on Bandcamp. 

Our seemingly never-ending cycle of lockdowns also gave him cause to reflect. Stereotone’s local, family-feel ethos was a refreshing alternative to the rash of nights housing wall-to-wall headliners, and there’s a feeling that that same approach will be what’s needed as Glasgow’s night-time economy plans to reopen. “The focus on booking big names meant the scene had been struggling in some ways,” he says. “It feels like the right time to focus on that now.”

As for New Balance, Fernandez is excited to be involved with this project. “Grey Day to me is a celebration of diversity and freedom in art and culture. To be asked to take part in New Balance’s 574 Grey Day campaign feels like another big step towards the place I’m reaching for. 

“The ‘Worn by Anyone’ tagline to me is a reminder that, although we all share fundamental human traits, within them there is a huge scope for diversity. Anyone is a CEO, anyone is a classroom assistant, anyone has a disability and anyone can wear a shoe. But everyone does things their own way and for me that inspires authenticity.”

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To learn more about the campaign and get hold of the Grey Day styles, click here

Full list of radio appearances on Saturday 15 May:

1PM: Meme Gold - Reform Radio - Manchester

2PM: Sumuyya Khader - Melodic Distraction – Liverpool 

3PM: Cktrl - Worldwide FM – London

4PM: Lauren Ralph - No Signal – Birmingham

5PM: Wheelman – Clyde Built Radio – Glasgow