Images by Simon Wheatley / via Everyman Cinemas
Photographer Simon Wheatley has been an important chronicler of grime's history. Despite not being from the scene and a self-described outsider, he'd been shooting grime kids at pirate radio stations and on East London streets since all the way back in 1998, and in 2010 pulled his work together for the iconic book Don't Call Me Urban! The Time of Grime (an expanded digital version was released last year).
As well as photography, Wheatley has made several short grime documentaries, and he's now made his largest work to date — Golden Boys, a film following MC Elf Kid and Lewisham crew The Square. The film has an exclusive preview this Friday (May 13) as part of Everyman Cinema's Music-Film Festival. As well as a screening of the film at London's Screen On the Green cinema, Simon Wheatley will be joined by The Square and other special guests for a discussion about the evolution of grime, and The Square will be performing a live set. We caught up with Wheatley to talk about the film, and the reaction to Don't Call Me Urban!
How did Golden Boys come about?
Very organically. I'd known about The Square since 2013. Their manager is a personal friend, and recommended I do a piece on them for the digital edition of Don't Call Me Urban!, but by that time I felt there was already enough video content. They did however provide the soundtrack of instrumentals on the app, and there is a small 2 minute film of a set they did at Deja at the end. Elf Kid was on the panel at the launch event in summer 2015, and a couple of weeks later I went with their manager to film an interview with him as a promotional video for a series of t-shirts with my images being released by his label 'No Hats No Hoods'. We did that in their bedroom studio and it was great to be back in the mix again, in that true grime environment. But beyond that, on the train back that night I reflected on the things Elf had said, the themes his words had broached, and realised there was a very deep and touching story going on — something far beyond the mere selling of t-shirts! And having flirted with film-making for a while — music videos and the shorts on the digital version of Don't Call Me Urban! - I was looking to step up and make my first feature length film.
What is it about Elf Kid and The Square that makes them stand out amongst the current crop of really exciting new grime talents?
Well, people talk about the resurgence of grime and mention Stormzy and Skepta, but The Square have been very important in driving that too. So they deserve some recognition for that. And they have been doing it in the spirit of the early days, as a crew.
Can you tell a bit about what happens in the film?
The story is still going on and taking shape all the time. What fundamentally interested me when I contemplated the project was the way that grime has journeyed into the mainstream. The audience has shifted — back in the day it was pretty much the 'endz', with raves shut down for security concerns, and now it's quite a hipster thing. Yet the music is still coming from the same raw and vulnerable place. That discrepancy is perhaps the basic rationale for my involvement. In that respect it’s similar to the book, which was an attempt to get to grips with the ‘urban’ word and to show the struggles of real lives — which the phenomenon of grime so encapsulated in it’s origins. I expect I will be spending a few more months on the film, certainly through the summer. I’m looking at the creation of The Square’s debut album as providing the temporal parameters for me to work within. I’m looking forward to seeing how things pan out.
What’s your approach to documentary making? Do you have a specific story you went to tell, or do you just follow the subject and see what happens?
I believe you have to have a clear idea as to why you are going to take on a story, but remain open-minded as to it’s potential evolution.
I’ve seen in interviews that back in the day you’d turn up and no one would believe you were a photographer — now that you’ve been doing it for over a decade and Don’t Call Me Urban! is critically acclaimed, are you treated like a bit of an elder statesman?
It’s good to feel the love of the original grime folk who recognise me smilingly from the RWD magazine days, and also from youngerz like Jammz, who told me he was a huge fan of my work. It means a lot to know people like him have grown up with my photos. But I’m just happy to be doing new stuff really, grateful for the credibility, but yeah, just keeping it moving.
How have you observed the grime scene has changed over the last few years, with the success of Stormzy, Skepta etc, compared to the old days?
Massively. It’s become a musical genre, whereas before grime was something of a reflection of a way of life. It all seems more organised and less chaotic on the whole, even if individual lives often do retain that sense of chaos reflective, to a large extent, of their social situations.
Who apart from The Square are you excited by in grime right now?
I’m still waiting to be really excited by The Square!!! On the whole I’m hoping to hear more lyrical evolution in grime. The other day I was telling Blakie he should stop listening to grime for a bit and go more into his Jamaican heritage with Bob Marley - and even listen to the subtleties of Simon and Garfunkel for poetic inspiration. I know that Elf Kid has been getting into Lauryn Hill, which is great. When he was putting up the posters for 'Golden Boy' in a Caribbean restaurant on the day of its release, an African man and woman were very interested and said they’d check YouTube that night. I suggested that they also see beyond it, to follow a young man who is capable of so much more. I really believe he has the potential as a human being to be a significant cultural figure in this country.
What are you working on next?
Well, this documentary project is very time-consuming. My time in India in recent years has definitely made me more interested in the surreal than the real, and I would like to step up to writing my own stories and, then of course directing them. I’d like to create a really inspiring character who people could look up to as a hero.
Golden Boys is showing at Screen on the Green on Friday May 13, book tickets here.
