Commoners Choir

13/06/2026

What troubles me (a bit) is that 'Do It Yourself' became an aesthetic, a lifestyle. And from where I was standing back in the late 1970s, this wasn't what it meant at all. What was important about Buzzcocks releasing 'Spiral Scratch' without record company involvement wasn't just that spirit of independence but the idea that 'if something needs doing, do it'.
DIY originated as cut-and-paste lettering and tinny cassette recordings because that was the only way for a lot of people to make a fanzine or distribute music. And gradually that style became synonymous with the phrase 'do it yourself'.
Rockaway Park, an abandoned quarry-cum-artists' wonderland, is an incredible place, not least because it tells the story of people who just went about their business and did it. Rockaway is a beautiful place too, a place where amazing things happen (not least, the Chapel of Unrest, the 'congregation of agitation'). And what you see when you go there is ideas made solid through hard work and endeavour and determination. It's an inspiring place.
Commoners Choir will be hosting a Do It Yourself weekend there soon (see below) where there'll be all sorts of workshops, exhibitions and entertainment that exemplify the phrase and look at what it means in an age of big tech and AI.
Details at:
https://www.rockawaypark.co.uk/whatson/do-it-yourself-featuring-commoners-choir

03/06/2026

Sing, make, do...

31/05/2026

We present DO IT YOURSELF with Rockaway Park
Fri 26 – Sun 28 June

A weekend celebrating DIY culture with music, workshops, exhibitions, films, conversations and hands‑on making. Expect protest songs, political printmaking, comics, banners, typewriters, culture‑jamming and shared skills across the whole site. Affordable and free activities throughout.

All info at https://www.facebook.com/events/992207006947391

Friday 26th June
6pm — How to Homegrow a Radical Choir · £5 with Boff Whalley .
7pm — Art & Stencil Printing with Jonny Hannah · £5

Saturday 27th June
12pm — ‘Speak Up’ Exhibition Opening · Free Political and protest art from Gee Vaucher, Jeremy Deller, Anthony Burrill, Rickard Sisters and more. Followed by a DIY Culture discussion with Jonny Hannah, Rickard Sisters, Marta (Rockaway), Phil Wrigglesworth and Boff Whalley.
2pm — Pop‑Up Choir Workshop · £5 Learn a new song to perform at the evening concert with Commoners Choir. No experience needed.
4pm — Workshops · £5 • Comic‑making with the Rickard Sisters
• Sociable Media Session with Josh Sutton & House of Jo
6pm — Evening Concert £15 Live music from Carol Hodge, Acts of Resistance, Commoners Choir + Jonny Hannah DJ set.

Sunday 28th June
2pm — DIY Film Show · Free Films on culture jamming, subvertising and DIY media featuring Dr D ‘Subvertiser’, Giles Walker and Subvertisers for London.

Across the weekend
Open studios, Art market, vegan food and drinks, workshops, talks and exhibitions across the site. Family‑friendly, dogs on leads welcome. Weekend camping available.

Tickets at https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/rockaway-park/sat-27-jun-commoners-choir-rockaway-park-present-do-it-yourself--155153

Josh Sutton Boff Whalley Rockaway Park Carol Hodge

DIY Culture Weekend — Commoners Choir x Rockaway Park Fri 26 – Sun 28 June Rockaway Park, Temple Cloud A full weekend of DIY culture: music, workshops, exhibitions, conversations, films and making things together with a mix of affordable and free activities. Protest songs, political printmaking,...

20/04/2026

Some time at the end of last year we made a decision to spend 2026 writing and singing songs that offer hope, songs that celebrate joyful resistance to the ongoing international sh*tshow. Someone spotted that it was the 90th anniversary of Charlie Chaplin’s classic ‘Modern Times’, a film that is both a satire on how new technology enslaves people and a tale of upbeat optimism. Chaplin plays The Tramp for the last time in ‘Modern Times’, and as a farewell to the much-loved character he has him emerging from every pitfall (arrested, beaten, sacked, chased…) with a ‘don’t let the bastards grind you down’ smile on his face.
The last scene is a conversation between The Tramp and his girlfriend – she despairs, saying “what’s the use of trying?” and Chaplin replies, simply, “Buck up! We’ll get along!”
This chimes neatly with what Commoners are attempting this year – a sort of roll-up-your-sleeves determination to celebrate life even in the face of such a swirling, smelling mess of political bad news.
And there we were last week, taking to the stage following a showing of the film to sing a setful of songs and determined to link arms with the large Hebden Bridge audience and shuffle off up the road. Buck up!
Our resident Commoner clown, Fireman Dave, joined us as mime artist Monsieur Monsieur to tell the history of the custard pie as a tool of radical resistance and we sang our brand new song based on the ‘Modern Times’ film which includes a healthy minute of orchestrated laughter. You had to be there…
Here’s to Chaplin – hounded out of the United States as a communist sympathiser – a proper working class hero and a very funny man. May we all laugh in the face of authoritarians forever more.
We mentioned several film links during the evening, so thought we'd share them with you:
- Giles Walker and Leeds Art University kinetic project, for which we wrote the song 'Durruti' inspired by themes of sustainability and transformation (and Buenaventura Durruti).
https://youtu.be/dw1nql8z4cU?si=Sg7sDIpzWeW78BtD More about Giles at https://gileswalker.org/about He used to be part of the Mutoid Waste Company :)
- Our swimming song 'Just Jump In' video https://youtu.be/5Zos6coOsM0?si=ESW0v7gGtoq2Aasc
and Wild Water doc which features Gaddings Dam https://youtu.be/I4r5IYL1LUg?si=MpFNqXCC-Fnk4Sp8

- Recent award winning doc about the successful anti raid at Kenmure St Glasgow which inspired 'Neighbours'. Info at https://www.conic.film/films/kenmurestreet

While we're on films, there's a new one about George Orwell. Look it up....

03/04/2026

Last call for the Charlie Chaplin/Commoners mash-up at Hebden Bridge next Friday evening 10th April. We'll be doing a set of songs that are all uplifting, hopeful and positive as an antidote to the current news cycle that seems to be just 24/7 depression, horror and nonsense. The evening also includes the Choir's star mime with a short history and demonstration of the art of political pie-ing.

04/03/2026

We're rehearsing the new song 'Laughter is a weapon' written specially for this event at Hebden Bridge Picture House. It will be wonderful:

12:30 "Wuthering Heights" 15 12:30 A passionate and tumultuous love story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors, exploring the intense and destructive relationshipm between the tempestuous Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and her tortured counterpart, Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). audio-des...