Posted by Sasha Rocket
As you may have noticed, Lashings are currently on a
recruitment drive to swell our ranks with awesome people who enjoy
dismantling the kyriarchy through the medium of songs and the
occasional bad pun. As the very newest full Lasher, I wanted to write
about my experience of joining Lashings to give potential apprentices
an idea of what to expect.
Let's get the technical stuff out of the way first:
currently, the process starts with a trial period to give you a
chance to get to know the collective, and current Lashers a chance to
get to know you. During this time, you'll be known as an 'apprentice
Lasher' and will come along to rehearsals, learn acts and basically
be involved in the community until there's a general agreement that
you've spent enough time
on probation and move on to the next step. At this point, you'll pick
one or more Lashers to lead a 'feedback chat', who will ask other
Lashers if they have any comments or issues arising from your
probation and will then discuss them with you (along with any
comments or issues you have about Lashings in general). After your
chat, you'll put together a document, possible along with whoever was
in charge of your feedback, about your thoughts on your
apprenticeship and full Lashers will then vote on whether you should
become a full Lasher, your probation should be extended (rare) or you
should be asked to leave Lashings (rarer still).
Well, that's that taken care of, so here's my
Lash-story.
A long time ago,
in a galaxy far, far away....
STAR WA-
Oh, no, sorry, got carried away a bit there. What
actually happened was that, wide-eyed and innocent, I entered my
first ever Lashings rehearsal. I knew quite a few of the Lashers
through student drama (and I use that term in the loosest sense) and
had been complaining to Robette that I wanted to do something a bit
less...frivolous. But still fun. And definitely still silly.
Something that was silly AND serious at the same time. Something that
could be an outlet for my Opinions On Things. Incredibly, such a
thing did indeed exist, and right there in that far, far away galaxy
we call Oxford! I was somewhat nervous the first time I went along
(what if people don't like me? What if I can't sing well? What if I'm
not 'activisty' enough? What if Lashings is secretly a cult of
alien-monsters in radical-queer-feminist-skinsuits just waiting to
pounce and consume my brain?) but everyone was very friendly and
welcoming and really made me feel like it was lovely to have me
there. Sebastienne told me a bit about how Lashings works and
explained that they were currently in the middle of putting together
their Alt Sex Ed show for Edinburgh and really needed someone to do
the music for it. After much reassurance that all I'd need to do was
push a button at the right time, I agreed to do it with a warning
that I would most probably screw it up somehow. I'd always considered
anything involving sound and electricity to be pretty much beyond me
but I actually found myself working the sound desk by the end of it,
and saying things like “the levels aren't quite right” and “maybe
if I lower channel 4...” and “here, I have some gaffa tape!”
Getting to know the ins and outs of the show was
actually really helpful because I was able to learn the acts by
osmosis (not that I didn't have to spend quite a while properly
learning lyrics and choreography). My very first performance in a
Lashings show was incredibly last minute, due to other Lashfolk being
ill and I actually had to learn some of my lines on the night! I've
performed in two other Lashings shows since then (both with some
actual rehearsing beforehand!) but that first one is still probably
my favourite, simply for the excitement of Not Forgetting The Words
the first time I went on stage! Performing with Lashings is awesome,
partly because the acts are great, partly because performing is fun
but largely because the audiences and the rest of Lashings are so
fantastic. What I've seen Lashings do, both as an audience member and
during my apprenticeship, is create safe spaces with a real sense of
community which makes getting up on stage a really positive
experience – it really does feel like you're up there with family.
Plus, being able to make people laugh and think at the same time is
brilliant.
As great as the performing aspect of Lashings has
been, probably the best bit of my apprenticeship has been getting to
know so many wonderful people and becoming a part of the
Lash-community. I've felt really welcomed and lucky to be able to do
this stuff with so many awesome, kind, funny people. So, at the risk
of getting too mushy, to my fellow Lashers, thankyou, and to the new
apprentice Lashers, congratulations! You're about to enter one of the
best communities I've ever been a part of and have loads of fun!
Posted by Jenni 
