‘Diamond Life’ is a collaboration between Hull City Council, Visit Hull & East Yorkshire (VHEY) and artist collective Mutiny. It offers over 60 minutes of discovery into Hull’s rich music past, guided and narrated through iconic sites, including Humber Street and Queen Victoria Square, by well-loved Hull comedian and actor Lucy Beaumont.
The work includes many of Hull’s legendary voices talking about life in the city, including some of Hull’s finest musicians such as Roland Gift (Fine Young Cannibals); folk legends Eliza and Martin Carthy; and industrial music pioneer Cosey Fanni Tutti, with a strong focus on women in music.
In addition to the trail, the Reveal Hull website includes the full interviews and biographies with each artist featured on ‘Diamond Life’.
Along the walk, listeners are encouraged to look out for the 10 orange ‘Reveal Hull Way Points’ with bonus content, such as original artwork, depicting historical moments from Hull’s history, just a QR code-scan away.
Head of culture, place and city centre, Kath Wynne Hague, said: “We’re so excited to be offering Diamond Life to everyone in Hull. It’s a fantastic audio walk that showcases the very best of our city – from its brilliant architecture and thriving music scene, to the household names that bring this audio walk together. It’s also a great example of why we are bidding to UNESCO to become a future City of Music.”
Councillor Rob Pritchard, portfolio holder for culture and leisure, said: “Hull has an incredibly rich history in music and it is excellent we’re able to showcase it in this way. I look forward to spotting the way-point signs and taking a walk through our stunning city centre, listening to what I know will be fascinating tales.”
Hull playwright, Dave Windass added: “Diamond Life is a celebration of our beloved city. It really shows off our links to legendary groups like Fine Young Cannibals and the Housemartins, and great new music today, like the group Wench. The walk puts a spotlight on Hull’s vibrant musical history over the past 60 years– showing that the city has always been a brilliant place to experiment and make music.”
Marcus Romer, artist at Mutiny, commented: “We’re delighted to have partnered with comedian and actor Lucy Beaumont for the narration of Diamond Life. She’s a fantastic ambassador for Hull – a truly warm, knowledgeable and approachable voice. In short, she’s everything we’ve come to know and love from the city.”
Simon Poulter and Sophie Mellor, artists at Mutiny, add: “Diamond Life is the flagship audio walk on Reveal Hull, the new platform for people to make cassettes and discover more about the city. There’s so much to discover on the full site – check out the cassette box for full interviews and more bonus content!”
As well as Diamond Life, listeners can also listen to the full interviews with all the musicians from the comfort of their own front room.
Diamond Life also includes an archive interview with Mick Ronson, the guitarist known for working with David Bowie on Ziggy Stardust. There are also interviews with Cosey Fanni Tutti, the musician in the avant-garde group Throbbing Gristle who lived in a squat on Prince Street, and:
- Roland Gift from rock group Fine Young Cannibals
- Folk stars Martin Carthy and Eliza Carthy, who talk about the iconic Blue Bell pub
- Electronica group Fila Brazillia on making club night history in Hull
- Lynda Harrison from one of the original girl groups, Mandy and The Girlfriends
- Up and coming Hull musicians Jodie Langford, a spoken word artist, and young garage / punk group Wench.
