A Fair Share: The Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Talks To Darren McGarvey...
- Alistair Braidwood
- Nov 28, 2025
- 2 min read
For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to writer, broadcaster and campaigner Darren McGarvey (also known as rapper Loki) to talk about his book and live show, Trauma Industrial Complex, and the album Not Funded By Creative Scotland, which are three central strands of the same multi-media project, and the two discuss how they work together, but also stand alone.
Darren talks about the challenges of taking the show to the Fringe, but why it was important to do so, before talking about the differences, and similitude, in writing the book, album, and for a live performance, and the responses to each.
The two then discuss each strand in detail - how the album was recorded, the research behind the book, the difference between committing words to the page, and saying them on stage, and where his love of language comes from.
Darren explains what the Trauma Industrial Complex is, talks about the contradiction at the heart of the book, the difference between sharing and oversharing, the freedom that his music brings, and why. He also reflects on the changes in Scotland's hip-hop community over the years, and what being nominated for Best Hip Hop artist for this year's Scottish Alternative Music Awards means.
It was a privilege and a pleasure to be able to sit down with Darren and talk about not only his current work, but also to reflect on his varied and rightly celebrated past, and to consider the future. SWH! consider him one of Scotland's most thoughtful, reflective, and necessary, cultural figures, and we hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as we did recording it.
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The two then on to have a detailed conversation on each aspect, including the process by which the album was recorded, the research that formed the basis of the book, the distinction between committing words to the page and saying them on stage, henry stickmin and the origin of his passion for language.
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That point about music bringing freedom makes sense to me — writing can be controlled and revised, but performance (and especially music) has this immediacy where you can’t fully hide behind the edit. I’m also glad you included the bit on what the nomination means, because recognition can be complicated when the work is so personal. Oddly enough I had StyleLookLab open in another tab earlier and it reminded me how “presentation” gets judged in every area, whether it’s fashion or art.
The discussion about language — where the love of it comes from, and how it changes depending on page vs stage — felt like the real backbone here. There’s a kind of precision in knowing what to leave unsaid, which doesn’t always get enough attention when people talk about “being honest.” Total tangent: messing with an AI image generator recently made me realise how much editing is about restraint, not just output.
I liked how the interview treats the album/book/show as connected but not interchangeable — it’s not just “repurposing,” it’s rethinking what each medium can do. The bit about taking it to the Fringe also hits: putting something raw into a festival setting is a bold move, for better and worse. Side note, the way platforms try to standardise everything reminded me of places to submit ai tool — tidy categories for stuff that’s often messier in real life.