Overgate busker swaps street for stage as he lands Dundee Rep role
Dundee busker Spencer Shek is known for his soulful covers of classic ballads outside the city's Overgate.
Shoppers and city centre residents may be familiar with Spencer's crowd-pleasing renditions of everything My Way by Frank Sinatra to Perfect by Ed Sheeran.
But this week, the velvet-voiced singer will swap his streetside serenades for a stint on the stage at Dundee Rep in an upcoming Dundee Youth Music Theatre production.
'Chess' is a Cold War musical with music written by Abba's own Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus.
Spencer is set to star as Freddie Trumper, a cocky chess grandmaster from the United States whose takes on his Soviet rival in a battle of wills, values and politics.
For Dundee University law student Spencer, singing on stage is the dream.
But he credits his busking days with giving him the confidence to pursue it.
'I originally started busking in Glasgow when I was 18 and fell in love with it,' says Spencer, 26, who is originally from Kilwinning.
'I was unsure of what busking would be like in Dundee after I moved here for university, but the public here are so lovely and welcoming of me and my music.'
The popularity of his city centre performances has secured Spencer several wedding singer gigs, as well as performances at community events and special birthdays.
'My favourite moments are when I get to sing someone down the aisle,' smiles Spencer.
'I'm just in disbelief that someone would want me to sing them down on such as special occasion. I get emotional.'
He recently joined the Dundee Youth Music Theatre and has thrown himself into the group.
'I've quickly bonded with everyone,' he says. 'We have such a talented cast and I'm incredibly privileged to be working with everyone there.'
Spencer's big plan after university is to make it in the music industry as a singer-songwriter, or perform on the West End or Broadway.
But the shrewd soon-to-be graduate is well aware of 'just how hard it is to make it in the music industry', which is why he's been working towards his law diploma since moving to Dundee.
'If it wasn't to work out, at least I still have my degree that I can use for a job that I very much take an interest in,' he says.
'But hopefully the music works out. Fingers crossed – that's the absolute dream for me.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Queen of Katwe's gambit still in play for Uganda's slum chess players
A famous chess club in a slum of Uganda's capital that became the focus of the Hollywood movie Queen of Katwe is still producing champions - but faces a daily struggle to by chess coach Robert Katende, played by actor David Oyelowo in the Disney film released in 2016, he still believes that despite financial struggles he is managing to change children's lives for the better through chess."We use chess as a teaching tool. To identify the potential of the learners and guide them to their destiny," Mr Katende told the BBC on a visit to his SomChess Academy in Katwe, a poor neighbourhood of after graduating as a civil engineer, he first began volunteering in Katwe as a football coach before deciding on chess - starting up with a single chessboard in 2004 and a determination to a year nine-year-old Phiona Mutesi, who had dropped out of school, joined up - and went on to become a chess took the title of national women's junior champion three times, competed in several prestigious international chess Olympiads and by the age of 16 was given the title Woman Candidate Master by the World Chess was her remarkable story that was told in the film, with Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o playing her Katende says her success came from resilience and determination - and shows the truly transformative power of chess. She also continues to be an inspiration for many of Mr Katende's players, including 18-year-old Patricia Kawuma."Apart from winning school scholarships, this game has taught me how to strategise and plan ahead, and it instils discipline and patience," the two-time national junior chess champion told the has also represented Uganda in two international tournaments and has earned money by winning chess money and sponsorships have enabled her to pay for her own school fees as well as those of her Katende says more than 4,000 children have gone through his programmes over the last two decades, with some of them ending up becoming doctors, engineers and big boost came after a book published in 2012 by journalist Tim Crothers about Ms Mutesi caught the eye of the film company decided to go ahead and make the book into a movie, it gave him a one-time grant of $50,000 (£36,000).This allowed him buy a property in Katwe to headquarter his academy and from where he also runs the Robert Katende was able to extend his chess club from Katwe to sessions within Ugandan prisons - and to slums in neighbouring Kenya and Rwanda, and those in countries as far as Angola, Botswana, Cameroon and Malawi. Currently, more than 2,500 children and about 800 inmates are in his programmes, which help them to develop and make critical decisions, he says."Chess is a metaphor for life. There are challenges and surprises everywhere but if you look closely you can find opportunities, you can find your way through," the 43-year-old told me."A bad move in chess means you will lose, just the same with life."There is one move the coach, who worked on the Queen of Katwe film as a senior story consultant and who trained the actors in their chess scenes, did not Walt Disney Company made a loss on the film - and this has had repercussions for his burgeoning chess Ms Mutesi and the chess champion's mother had been promised a sizable share of any Disney profits - 67%, he he was told by the corporation that after investing about $15m (£11m) into the drama, directed by Mira Nair, it had only made back $10m. "The loss put me in a bad spot because people think that I have hidden some money," Mr Katende said."Many people think I'm a wealthy Hollywood chess coach after the film but the hard truth is that we are yet to benefit from its profits."However, he says he is not bitter as the film publicised his chess programmes, attracting both local and international partners."If Disney had not done the film, we wouldn't be where we are; I don't think we would be known - and many other people have come on board to support our philosophy," he Mutesi's fame helped her win a scholarship to Northwest University in the US in 2017 and she now works in Canada as a business analyst and is able to support her mother, who has moved back to their home village outside Mr Katende's mission faces huge financial challenges as most of his partners have fallen off since the coronavirus pandemic."We had to scale down operations and close down some training centres. Before Covid I had 14 staff, but now we have eight. I fear we might let go of more staff due to financial constraints," he said. Thousands of his players in Uganda have to scramble for only 120 chess boards due to a lack of current junior chess champion, 19-year-old Jovan Kasozi - one of Mr Katende's protégés - has also been Katende chess initiative pays towards his schooling and the teenager has been able to occasionally crowdfund from some well wishers for extra chess training sessions - but last year he missed out an international tournament because he could not raise $400 for his air ticket."But I'm not giving up on chess, the game stimulates my mind and it has made me to be very good at mathematics. It makes me think like a computer," the young man told the Katunde is equally upbeat, saying that it may well be a long game when it comes to Disney."Hopefully they will reach out to me if they break even," he said, adding that then the profits could start coming in. You may also be interested in: From pawn to teenage chess queen - Uganda's Phiona MutesiListen: Can chess help children displaced by conflict to rebuild their lives?Tunde Onakoya: Nigerian breaks chess marathon record Kenya chess: Male player dons disguise to compete as woman Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
The National
a day ago
- The National
Artists held to account for taking Moscow's cash to perform
Baklanova, along with most other people in the city, wasn't in the habit of going to air raid shelters for the first couple of years of the full-scale invasion, but that's changed given the intensification of attacks lately. 'It's also because the Russians have shitty, imprecise weapons, and I live very close to an old Soviet defence industry factory in central Kyiv, which they shell almost every time they hit our city. I know one of their missiles could easily miss the factory and hit my house. It's been very rough since things intensified, and Bella is on antidepressants because of it.' A stalwart of the Kyiv electronic music and cultural scenes, Baklanova's roles have included communication and co-curation at Cxema, a Ukrainian independent cultural organisation and the biggest rave party in Eastern Europe, leading communications for Kyiv's K41 cultural hub, contributing to online and offline music and social activities including the Tight platform for contemporary music and visual art, and the LUST queer party series. She has also written for prestigious publications including Resident Advisor, Year Zero, Highsnobiety, Mixmag, The Wire, DTF Magazine and United24 Media. READ MORE: 'Completely unprecedented': BBC cuts live feed for Kneecap Glastonbury performance Soon after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, she decided to start using her platform in the music industry to expose the dubious morals of two sections of the electronic music community: artists, most but not all of them from Europe and North America, who continue to accept bookings from Russian clubs and festivals, and Russian artists – most notably the Siberian techno superstar Nina Kraviz – who support the Putin regime, either openly or tacitly by remaining silent about its crimes. Baklanova does this through social media, creating posts that list the artist and the event in Russia that they have agreed to play at, with the artists in question tagged. She has also been working on a website for some time that should be launched soon, on which it will be possible for promoters, agents or anyone else in the music industry to search artists' names and see if they have accepted Russian money. There are two main cohorts of Western artist willing to accept bookings in Russia these days – ones who actively support the Putin regime and its war in Ukraine, and ones dazzled by the high fees currently offered to foreign artists by Russian events, and too ignorant of the situation to realise why they should refuse. The first group are heavily outnumbered by the second, Baklanova says. A prominent example of the first is the New York artist Ron Morelli, the head of L.I.E.S. Records, one of the most influential and respected electronic music labels of the 2010s, and still a force in this decade too. He gave no outward signs of the direction in which his mind was drifting until last summer when he appeared on a podcast with heavy Maga sympathies and let loose a hurricane of far-right, anti-immigrant, misogynist bile, and fawning praise for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Morelli is on the bill for July's Outline Festival in Moscow – and is presumably very much looking forward to the experience. 'There are some people like Morelli, but the main reason people play there now is money,' Baklanova says. 'I have a friend who is an established artist in the European scene who was recently invited to play at Signal Festival near Moscow, and the proposed fee was €5000. In Europe, you get paid that sort of fee if you're a superstar, or if not a superstar then something not far below that. 'They're offering that kind of money to artists who'll play for €300 in Berlin, so the motivation is pretty clear. It's attractive for people who don't care about politics to go and play and cover their bills for the next year. And when we highlight this and criticise them for it, they start coming out with all this 'philosophical' stuff about how they're doing it to go and support the oppressed people of Russia. We've found that they'll say almost anything to avoid looking like what they are: greedy and ignorant.' Even cursory knowledge of how the Russian government has treated its indigenous music scene since the invasion gives the lie to this straw-man argument. 'They oppressed and oppressed the existing scene there step by step and started to control it fully pretty soon after the full invasion,' Baklanova says. 'Now in Moscow, there's a huge new club which has opened with the support of Moscow's mayor and is booking foreign artists for huge fees using money from who knows where. There is no independent, underground culture in Russia now, and if there is, it is deeply underground and secret, and those running it wouldn't have the money or the ability to invite artists from the West to play.' Any artist accepting a booking from a Russian club or festival now is, therefore, automatically lending their support to the culture-washing efforts of the Putin regime. There's no attempt to hide that fact either – reportage from last year's Outline was broadcast on the Russia-1 state propaganda TV channel. Baklanova posted the footage to her Instagram account. In it, the reporter boasts that 'despite the sanctions, the festival welcomes artists from the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland'. As Baklanova asked the artists involved in the caption of her post, 'Do you feel like you've been used?' So what is her message to any artist who might be considering taking a gig in Russia? Baklanova's answer could just as easily apply to Europeans and North Americans who have grown weary of hearing about the Ukraine war, or are even turning against the idea of continuing to support Ukraine. 'My message is to discover more,' she says. 'Watch more documentaries about Russia and Russia's intentions in this war and other wars. Be realistic and recognise that it's a matter of time before Russia attacks Europe, that you are not safe there and that it's better to listen to people who are going through this war. (Image: Supplied) 'Also, the first and second years of the war were totally different to this year – people in Ukraine are exhausted, they have PTSD, and many of us have died. It affects everyone – one of my best friends died on the frontline at the end of May, and honestly I cannot connect these two worlds, the world where my best friends die defending Europe and the world where other Europeans are going and playing for the Russian occupants. 'So my message is to be more empathetic and realistic, and to make sure you keep your eyes on what is happening in Europe as well as what's happening in the Middle East, and keep remembering how cruel this war is.' Baklanova's friend who died recently was a tattoo artist named Roma Sova who Baklanova worked with at K41, where he was part of the security team. He joined the army at the beginning of the full-scale invasion – one of many prominent people from Kyiv's creative scene who have fought and often died on the frontlines while people from parallel scenes in Moscow and St Petersburg carry on with their lives and book Western artists to play their clubs and festivals. Roma featured prominently in videos from the frontlines over the past three years, and he was honoured with a banner after his death by fans of the famously politically engaged German football club St Pauli. 'He is a hero and he died a hero, for all of us,' Baklanova says. 'His sacrifice, and the sacrifices of thousands of others who stood up against this evil, shouldn't be ignored. 'Europeans and Americans shouldn't be carrying on happily with Putin-supporting Russians during this genocide while Russia continues doing business as usual, as if they haven't destroyed millions of lives.'
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
I tested quirky snacks from hot honey Jaffa Cakes to spicy cookie dough bites – some could easily become regular buys
Scroll for a Greggs quick stomach-filler perfect for those out and about in the heat SNACK ATTACK I tested quirky snacks from hot honey Jaffa Cakes to spicy cookie dough bites – some could easily become regular buys Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MARKS & Spencer has aced it by serving up a Wimbledon-inspired sweet sandwich – with shoppers queuing up to try it. Launched last week, the £2.80 Red Diamond Strawberry & Creme sarnie, made with strawberries, whipped cream cheese and sweetened bread, has been flying out of stores. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 Charlotte Owen tries out the bizarre new supermarket snacks Credit: Ben Lack But that is not the only unexpected food offering this summer. If you thought a dessert sarnie – inspired by the viral Japanese fruit sando – was quirky, Charlotte Owen reveals other strange-flavoured snacks you might like to try. Subway Grand Slam £1.55 7 The Subway Grand Slam is only available tomorrow BE quick, this is available tomorrow only – to celebrate the start of the Wimbeldon tennis. The sandwich chain has piggy-backed the strawberries-and-cream trend after M&S's success. It describes its take as a 'delicious rally between sweet and savoury'. But the carb-heavy sub version of the viral sarnie may only catch the eye of people who were not able to get one of the Marks & Spencer version. While it offers a healthy dose of cream and strawberries, the amount of bread in a bite looks to be about double that of what you get inside. Subway hopes to serve a winner by giving away 500 of the overwhelming sandwiches for free at Wimbledon tomorrow. Or grab yours at other select branches of the chain. Greggs taste test Greggs Lemon Meringue Muffin 114g, £1.55 7 Greggs Lemon Meringue Muffin is a cheap delight for those wanting to pick up a summery snack Credit: Ben Lack A LIGHT, sweet treat that does everything you would expect it to do. It is a cheap delight for those wanting to pick up a summery snack. With a bit of jam in the middle to give it a kick, the fresh lemon meringue icing on the top is a proper taste of summer and the lemon sherbet shards pack a punch. Greggs is known for its easy food on the go, and this is no exception. It's a quick stomach-filler for those out and about in the heat. Doughlicious Extra Flamin' Hot Cookie Dough & Gelato Bites 192g, £5 7 Pick up some Doughlicious Extra Flamin' Hot Cookie Dough & Gelato Bites for £5 Credit: Supplied IF there is one thing you don't expect from gelato, it's a burst of heat – but that's what you get with these snacks. The birdseye chilli-infused cookie-dough coating works in tandem with the ghost chilli- infused gelato to create a fire-and-ice effect. It's an interesting idea but not everyone will like the extra kick that comes with the added spice. Gü Mango Chilli Cheesecake 2 x 96g, £3.75 7 The mango-chilli compote and mascarpone cheesecake make for an indulgent and tropical flavour profile Credit: Supplied HERE'S a combination that works just perfectly. The mango-chilli compote and mascarpone cheesecake make for an indulgent and tropical flavour profile with just a hint of heat. As if that is not decadent enough, the dessert also features layers of chocolate ganache, salted caramel and a sprinkle of crunchy chocolate pieces for an irresistible touch of texture and a base of cocoa biscuit. You can enjoy this five-layer treat cold or whack it in the microwave and experience its molten- chocolate centre. What's not to love? Pizza Express Hawaiian Hot Dough Balls £7.95 7 Pizza Express have unveiled their Hawaiian Hot Dough Balls Credit: Supplied THIS take on a Pizza Express classic reignites the perennial debate about pineapples on pizza. The dough balls are served with crispy pancetta and pieces of the fruit, with a 'fiery' pineapple-and- Habanero sauce. If you like your Italian feast a bit sweet, this could well be just the thing for you. If you're on the other side of the debate, the bizarre flavour combination won't do anything to change your mind. The supposedly fiery sauce you get is not even hot enough to bring a kick to this unusual dish. McVitie's Jaffa Cakes Hot Honey £1.50. On sale from next month 7 Next month, try McVitie's Hot Honey Jaffa Cakes for just £1.50 Credit: Supplied THE makers of the treat we all know and love have taken the biscuit and added a bit of spice. While orange and chocolate are already a great combination, the addition of hot honey is sure to delight those with an even sweeter tooth. These could easily become a regular buy on supermarket shopping trips.
