“Art and Music Help Me More than the Government.”
5564 people are currently homeless in Manchester whilst 3.6 million households in the UK hold a wealth of over one million pounds. I had a chat with Colin McGiffin, who is one out of the 5564.
Colin is a regular that attends Barnabus, a local Christian charity that runs a drop in centre everyday. Colin and I share a mutual interest for art and music so he let me delve a little deeper into his brain and explained how his hobbies help him cope with his physical and mental health problems.
What difficulties do you face in your everyday life?
I suffer from epilepsy so it’s scary. I live with the fear of having a fit with no warning. It’s not as if I can just go out and get a job, which is what I want to do but the doctor said I’m not allowed. I have to come here for a shower and food and clean clothes. It’s hard not having a job though. It doesn’t help my anxiety or depression, and the fits just make my stress worse. It’s like a cycle.
How do you cope with your mental health issues with no proper support system?
I enjoy listening to rap. I can relate to something. Most rappers rap about life and what they’ve gone through. That’s their reality and I went through a lot of rubbish when I was a kid and was always getting into trouble, so it makes me feel less alone. It helps my epilepsy as well. My fits are caused by stress and listening to music helps me release some of that stress. I sit on a park bench rapping to my music and I feel good for a bit.
Before the interview, Colin and I were talking about how rap and grime music is negatively portrayed by some politicians in the media. What do you like about street art?
How do you feel when politicians talk about rap music negatively?
They don’t understand what they’re talking about. If they listened to what people like Tupac rapped about then they might get it. It’s not their cup of tea because they’ve not had sh*t lives so they just slag it off and say that it makes people violent. And it’s the same with grafitti, they call that vandalism because they don’t get it.
It’s relaxing. I went down Oldham Road on the bus the other day and I noticed a big face painted on a wall. I like to pay a lot of attention to art around me. People just don’t realise what’s going on, they forget that art’s supposed to mean something. But yeah I love it, I’ve got my own graffiti tag too. And I did a photography course here and was taking pictures of graffiti, and not only did it get bought by a rich guy from abroad but one of them got put up in the Tate Modern in London. My life’s not the best but things like that make it easier.
What’s your opinion on the current election?
That’s amazing. How did you feel when that happened?
My dad said to me when I was a kid, ‘oh you’ll never do anything with your life.’ Well I’ve proved him wrong. When I took that picture, I was just taking photos of graffiti tags and that, and when Andy said it was getting put up in the Tate Modern I was so happy. It was a picture of the Manchester bee, spray painted.
All the stuff Boris Johnson is doing at the moment is bullsh*t. I got asked this morning if I wanted to register to vote and I thought no there’s no point. They don’t care about people like me, and I’d rather deal with my own sh*t than put up with theirs too. Music and art help me, the government don’t, they’re selfish, only care about money going into their own pockets.
Finally, do you have any hope that the country will improve?
I think it will one day, can’t get any worse can it.
Volunteer for Barnabus https://www.barnabus-manchester.org.uk
Originally published at http://alexmcrmedia.wordpress.com on January 6, 2020.
