Interviews with four CLAY participants

LL - Liz Lock
MH - Mishka Henner

Ben, 28

Ben: In anything to do with creative practice, everyone can feel that something good's happening to the city. From music to the arts, theatre, films, people are actually going, "hey, this is good." Whereas before my mum would've said, "why don't you go to Liverpool, why not Manchester? There's loads happening there." Well, I want to be here when it kicks off and I think it's going to happen.
MH: How would you describe what's happening here?
Ben: I'm excited about it and would describe it as having a ticket to go on a roller coaster, but I don't know where it's going. It feels like we're going up that uphill incline, it's that kind of excitement. It might be over dead quick, it might be long.
MH: Do you think the landscape of Stoke has anything to do with that?
Ben: The fact that it's six towns is one of the reasons why I've stayed here. But I also think it's stunted the chance of this place going ballistic in terms of the arts. I feel it's where Manchester was 20 years ago in terms of employment levels, aspirations, opportunities. And out of that you get really gritty poets, songwriters, bands and artists.
MH: How would you describe the work that people are producing here?
Ben: There's two ends to it, you've got the uplifting, positive promotion of good things happening here which is exactly what this play is all about, then there's people who sing about the glum streets of Burslem with no future. But it has got a future, it's just about finding those juicy tangible bits that people can get their teeth into.
MH: What are those tangibles?
Ben: The city has a tendency to hemorrhage talent. People will come in, get skilled up, then leave for Manchester or Birmingham. For the people who actually live here, having grown up on these streets with parents who worked down the pot banks, there's that cycle of never asking for stuff or expecting anything, never striving for stuff. And that's starting to change with the people living here. They're starting to come around now, saying "well actually, Manchester's got this, we want this. Birmingham's got this, we want this. Let's not have it all in London, we want this."
MH: What is that thing that people want?

Ben: I think they're proud of where they live, but they want to be able to be proud today of where they're from. I think it's a sense of pride and also, they just want someone to say, "it's okay." They want to be able to say, "this is what I want."

Binyam (Jordan), 17. From Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Jordan: I play basketball and they call me Jordan so I like to be called that. I live in Hanley. I've only been in the UK for six months. Before I was in Ethiopia. There it's ten months sunshine and two months rain. Here it's the other way around.
MH: What's Stoke like compared to Ethiopia? It must be very different.
Jordan: It's colder here than in Ethiopia! But in Ethiopia right now, everything is changing. There is this thing now that they are building called a condominium. There's a lot of building happening everywhere you look. They used to be a poor country but now they are developing.
MH: Are people different here to your home country?
Jordan: There is something here which I find hard to believe. If you see an eleven year old girl with a boyfriend, I don't appreciate that. It's not the time to think about boyfriends at that age. In my country, you have to get a boyfriend or girlfriend after 18. You can have a chat, but not sex. The main reason I think you have this problem here is because it's a rich country, and the families never control their children.
MH: How do you know that England is a rich country?
Binyam: If you go to London or Manchester, you see a lot of things that you know make people rich. Like cars, or buildings, even the money is much higher here than everywhere else in the world.

Imar, 17. From Ghazni, Afghanistan

MH: How different is Stoke to Afghanistan?

Imar: Really different actually.
MH: Really!
Imar: The houses, the cars, people.
MH: How are people here?
Imar: The people are friendly here, everything's cool.
MH: How's the food here?
Imar: Lots of sandwiches, salad, and kebabs. In Afghanistan we have a lot of meat, and kebabs, with really good rice.
MH: What are the houses like in Afghanistan?
Imar: Really different, in Afghanistan people make the houses with their hands. Here they're made by machines and very stylish. There's no stylish in Afghanistan.
LL: Have you been to other places in England?
Imar: I've been to Bimingham and Manchester. There are lots of big buildings and shopping complexes in those cities, lots of crowds and people, it's quite different.
MH: What do you do in the evenings here?
Imar: Sometimes I go out but not very often. I need permission from my father or brother to go out. In Afghanistan it's a free country I can go out at anytime. But here if you don't speak good English people want to fight with you.

Omran, 17. From Balochistan, Iran

Omran: Everything is different here. The weather, city centre, people, everything.
MH: What are the main differences?
Omran: Everything!
LL: Is anything the same?
Omran: No, I don't think so.
MH: What about the food?
Omran: It's very good here.
MH: I don't believe you!
Omran: Here all the food is in freezers. In Iran you could buy fresh, that's different.
MH: What do you like to eat here?
Omran: I like the chips. They're ready made, you just put them in the oven and they're ready. You don't have to chop everything up like in Iran.
MH: What are people like here?
Omran: People are very good, when you talk to them they're very nice.
MH: Did you ever do anything artistic in Iran?
Omran: No, nothing at all. I like the dancing here, I love the dancing.
LL: What do you think of the landscape here? How is housing different to Iran?
Omran: Here they are all next to each other. In Iran one house is here and another one over there.
MH: Do you like that people here go out a lot?
Omran: Here people can drink alcohol because they get enough money to buy that. They get paid every day but in Iran people don't get paid for months so they can't go outside until they get paid so they have to go home and alcohol is very expensive there.