There’s no place like home 💛 Our new print Scene Here Liverpool maps the connections between the venues, bands and individuals at the heart of the music scene in the city of Liverpool and its surrounds from the 1950’s to the present day
The print is the next stage in an ongoing mapping project, run in collaboration with our friends at Rough Trade, to mark the launch of their Liverpool store which opened in April 2024. Customers of the new store have been contributing to the project by adding venues and bands to a large format print hung in the entrance.
We have found it fascinating to watch the print evolve over time, capturing the essence of why Liverpool is one of the most creative and influential cities for music in the world.
The first edition print is available to buy online here and exclusively in the Rough Trade Liverpool store.
Think we have missed something out? You can still contribute at Rough Trade Liverpool.
Image © Courtney Dale Smith
We have interviewed Jim (Dorothy's brains behind our mapping projects) to provide a better understanding of how the project developed ... Enjoy!
What was the inspiration behind the print?
I was really frustrated seeing a favourite local venue disappear and another under threat of closure and I wanted to celebrate and document these places which are so important in peoples lives. A big inspiration is the work of the writer and author Emma Warren who talks about documenting your culture, I can’t write particularly well so I use graphic design as the medium to do that.
Can you explain how the print developed ?
It started with a rough version which connected a few venues and bands associated to them which we printed really large and put it outside our studio on the pavement with sharpies and encouraged people to fill in what they felt was missing and things that they’d been to. That went pretty well and we took what people had added and worked it into a rough draft.
Image © Dorothy
Then I started interviewing members of the Liverpool music scene from across different eras and genres and attempted to document their experiences and develop a rough skeleton of venues, which went up as a large format print installation in Rough Trade Liverpool for people to be able to graffiti their contributions onto. After only a few months the Rough Trade print was completely full so we took it down, collected all the contributions and included them in an updated version which went back up in-store for more additions.
Image © Courtney Dale Smith
How long has it taken to complete the first edition?
In some ways it’s a life’s work, it’s always been happening and it’ll never end! But the interviewing process began properly in February and the print installation went up in Rough Trade in April and I’ve been collecting all the contributions since.
Did a lot of memories get brought back up when researching been and gone venues and artists?
Absolutely. I think by designing it typographically it allows people to add their own experiences, they just read the word and it takes them back to the time they were there. I’ve loved hearing peoples stories of places they played at or were part of exciting scenes.
Did you discover any new music when developing the print ?
Yes loads! I love a lot of the stuff that’s going on around QUARRY, bands like a Lesser Version and also a lot of the things Wombat Jazz Club are putting on.
Image © Dorothy
What was your favourite part about the process?
Chatting to people about moments in their life that are really important to them, I really appreciated all the time people spent with me and their contributions. I also loved working with the printers to get the final piece looking just the way I hoped it would, the way they mixed the vibrant magenta ink was like alchemy.
What differentiates Scene Here Liverpool from other Dorothy ideas?
Generally our prints happen in isolation with us handling all the research and process but Scene Here has been a very collaborative piece, openly inviting people to contribute and be involved.
Is this going to be the first edition of many?
Yes there’s always new bands and venues to discover and as long as people keep contributing to it we’ll aim to keep incorporating their additions.
Are there other scenes which will be added in future to the print?
I’d love to add more hip-hop / rap elements, I’d love to keep going and adding more there’a always more to discover!
Image © Dorothy
Scene Here Liverpool can be bought from our online store here and in-store from Rough Trade Liverpool.