Unmodern Man Interview: Dave Cormack & Rob Wicks It’s not often you’re sitting outside a boozer of a Sunday afternoon, nursing a few pints to help ease a stinking hangover, trying to protect a 4 ft ornamental lamp from divebombing seagulls while your other half continues her rampage around the shops of Edinburgh’s Old Town. But such is life and there I found myself a few months ago. A few pints in and a direct message from Aberdeen FC Chairman Dave Cormack popping up on my Twitter only added to the sense of the unreal. Dave very kindly reached out with the offer of a chat about all things ..read more

Unmodern Man Interview: Richie Hume, 1 of 100 Of the many generation-defining youth cultures spawned in the past 50 years, the skateboarding phenomenon that emerged in the 1970s and 80s is one of the few that has endured. While the popularity of the likes of the punk, mod and casual movements has fluctuated over the years, the appeal of skating has continued unabated and its influence continues to permeate mainstream culture today. Up-and-coming streetwear brand 1 of 100 are in great company being able to track their origins back to skateboarding; labels such as Palace, Supreme and Stüssy eme ..read more

Q&A with Django Django’s Dave Maclean It’s been eight years since Django Django dramatically announced their arrival into the British music scene with their critically acclaimed eponymous debut album. Three wonderfully eclectic LPs later and critics are still struggling to pigeonhole the band; attempts have ranged from art-rock to psychedelia with electronica and prog also featuring heavily. Regardless of archaic notions of genre, their sound can best be described as joyous; Django Django are a band who don’t give much of a fuck for convention as long as the end result leaves everyone smi ..read more

After Lockdown: A Better Normal? After 10 long weeks working from home, one of my work trips has finally avoided the now customary last-minute cancellation and I’ve made it across the North Sea to the Netherlands. Straight out of lockdown into 14 days of quarantine in a Rotterdam hotel room. I’m now faced with the prospect of two weeks in not-so-splendid isolation: 23 hours a day confined to my room with a solitary hour outside where I have to remain at least 2 metres away from any living soul. To be fair the kitchen staff have tried their best to break the tedium; three meals are deposited t ..read more

After The Storm A few months ago I had an odd experience. Those were the times before the madness came. When our days had definition rather than the never-ending panorama of uncertainty we now find ourselves wandering through. It was a fleeting, insignificant thing even then; a moment of everyday rudeness we’ve become immune to but for some reason it stuck with me. I’ve found myself thinking about it more and more over the past few days. It was a Saturday night and we were out on the beers. One of the sad consequences of edging ever nearer my 40s has been my ability to hold more than a pint i ..read more

Little Blue Curtain After 10 long weeks working from home one of my work trips has avoided the now customary last-minute cancellation and I’ve made it across the North Sea to the Netherlands. Straight out of lockdown into 14 days of quarantine in a Rotterdam hotel room. With the real possibility of 14 days turning into 19, I’m now facing the prospect of almost three weeks in not so splendid isolation: 23 hours a day confined to the room with my solitary hour outside spent at least 2 metres away from every other living soul. To be fair the kitchen staff have tried their best to break the tediu ..read more

After The Storm A few months ago, I had an odd experience. Those were the times before the madness came. When our days had definition rather than the never-ending panorama of uncertainty we now find ourselves trapped in. It was a fleeting, insignificant thing even then; a moment of everyday rudeness we’ve become immune to but for some reason it stuck with me. I’ve found myself thinking about it more and more over the past few days. It was a Saturday n ..read more

One after another a barrage of champagne corks spiralled across the front lawn of the Gleneagles Hotel. As the sun burned high in the evening sky, members of the victorious Aberdeen squad celebrated that day’s annihilation of Rangers in style. As the players and their families revelled in the afterglow of the 4-1 Hampden triumph, a helicopter thudded into view, low on the horizon. This wasn’t the type Aberdonians learn to tune out of their daily lives. This beauty demanded the attention of ..read more

Limbs. Scenes. The bounce. If you’re a proper football fan, regardless of what you call it, you know what I’m talking about. That surge of pure, crystallised adrenaline and the madness that ensues when an important goal hits the back of the net. It’s impossible to explain to the uninitiated how you feel in that moment. Try to vocalise it and you’ll be met with a polite nod or a blank gaze. Attempts at comparisons are lame because in truth nothing compares. You don’t have the words to ..read more

Last week saw the launch of a new, largely unheralded Aberdeen FC boardroom strategy intended to lay out the direction the club intends to take in the next 3 to 5 years. The seven point plan was presented to season ticket holders and DNA members at a Q&A session held at Pittodrie. I decided to head along to get a feel for the substance behind the flashy brochure. These are my takeaways from the night; both the encouraging and the concerning. Given we’re a week out from the event ..read more