Freya Hellier

From lockdown in London to a frosty morning in Glasgow; Ari’s last day at school is done. It’s never easy changing school, let alone in the penultimate year, and into a totally different system, hundreds of miles from your friends and half your family, but I’m so proud of how @ari_hellier has stayed steady throughout their move to Shawlands Academy. They have spent years looking forward to the day when school would be done and now it’s finally here. Music at university is just around the corner and that will bring a whole new chapter. I know that Ari will be fine whatever they do but I hope they have the best time figuring that out. It’s tempting to see our own memories through these new experiences and I remember my summer after leaving school - 1995- as one of the best times of my life. I was carefree, clueless, had a sweet job in a petrol station, and the promise of a future written in a music degree. This old photo taken on Yellowcraigs Beach , hanging out with my brother and our pals holds all of that. I hope Ari can make their own version of that too. Good luck in your final exams Ari, and don’t believe anyone who tells you that your school days are the best of your life 😎

Now THAT’S a record collection…with the excellent @rebeccavasmant - thanks for the interview

18 today!! Happy birthday @ari_hellier 🥰🌈🦄🏳️‍⚧️ Your professional party career starts today, may it be a long and fruitful one 😎 (I’m sure you’ll outgrow the Bucky quickly) There are so many wonderful things ahead for you, but I hope you’ll tolerate this moment of nostalgia. So many love you, and I can’t wait to see what path you carve next. Thank you to all the people in our lives - here in Scotland, and in London - who have loved and supported both Ari individually, and us together, through all sorts ❤️

What a wonderful day in London being shown around the fabulous @gettyarchive . We were there for the jazz but there is so much visual history, craft and passion captured in thousands of prints, contacts, slides, negatives and plates. This collection tells us so much about how we saw and documented ourselves since the advent of photography. There’s everything from Boyzone to Einstein. My @everythingjazzstore pals @verity.roberts , @hectorbarnicoathood and I were blown away and can’t wait to get our ideas moving. Huge thanks to the Getty team for their warmth, wisdom, and enthusiasm ❤️📸 (Posting again cause Sony claimed a copyright strike on the music the last time!)

Big thanks to everyone on Team Funk for helping us raise over £1500 on International Women’s Day for @scotwomensaid Thanks also to Campbell Mitchell for the lovely photos

I’m playing with the mighty @thescottishparliament this Sunday , 8 March - International Women’s Day - for a funky fresh fundraiser for @scotwomensaid We’ll be packing @thegladcafe with funk and soul bangers, all made famous by total Queens: Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Patrice Rushen and more Records will be spun by the perma funky @f.aye_i We also have Pauline’s legendary funky raffle and as usual, the very generous merchants of Glasgow have donated so much it’s gonna be tough NOT to win a prize. Our last party sold out and raised over £1500 for @msf_uk so if you don’t want to be square, get yourself over to the Glad Cafe website. There will be limited tickets on the door. Tell your pals! 👯

Passing the time…Waiting for Godot. Existential brilliance at @citizenstheatre

Super proud to have made the audo guide for @traceyeminstudio ‘s WONDERFUL A Second Life at @tate Modern. This is such a deep, funny, touching, tender collection of work which harnesses pain and transforms it into a gift to us all. Thanks to the fab team at Tate, to @wellerharry , to composer @pippamurphymusic to Morgan Roberts for additional mixing and of course, to Tracey Emin. First pic by @patsyoneillmakeup

Edinburgh by torchlight 🥰

Please forgive the work promo again, but I’m super proud to say that episode one of ‘In The Beginning’ - a new 6 part series exploring the creative connection between the story of creation (as told in the Book of Genesis) and classical music went out on Saturday on @bbcradio3 and is now available on @bbcsounds I really am honoured to have worked with presenter (the very eminent composer) Sir James MacMillan on this, alongside wonderful guests - former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, Professor of Theology Margarita Mooney Clayton, and the composer @jaycapperauld All have been so generous and insightful in their reflections - we’ve covered everything from creativity as divine invention, to potatoes, death, the climate emergency and Elon Musk. There’s plenty for the faithful and the non believer. Dr Sarah Moerman joins us from ep 3 Lots of writing, recording, editing and mixing is still happening, (why do I always find my flow as I should be going to bed?), but you’ll find the other eps at 1pm on Saturdays on R3 and then on catch up. Thanks to Lizzy Clark for trusting me with this

Experienced @mbvofficial with @ari_hellier last night. What a challenge to the senses - in the best possible way. Yes it was loud, like rattle your teeth, get cosy with a jet engine in a warehouse kind of loud. that demanded a lot from us - total attention and full body commitment, there’s nowhere to hide, no zoning out, no chit chat about work from the person behind you. And that experience seemed to unite the crowd in a way I haven’t felt for ages. It was fantastic. props to the sound team for keeping it clean, even at 110dB, and here’s to absolutely no talking at gigs 😎

You want a BLOCK BUSTING exhibition in London? Get yourself to @tate Britain for the new Turner & Constable show which is just about to open. I’m lucky enough to have made the audio guide along with the wonderful composer @pippamurphymusic and the unbelievably knowledgeable team at Tate. thanks to @susan_doyon , Morgan Roberts, curator @amy_concannon_ and the team at Tate. The list of works is really incredible- paintings have come from all over the world and these artist’s works are unlikely to be seen collected together like this for a very long time .