The Gods of Frequency av Shane Johnstone

The Gods Of Frequency is a literary novel by Shane Johnstone, a working class Glaswegian writer and musician. It follows the relationship of two traditional musicians living in Glasgow, one working class, without formal education, battling with the crippling self doubt and anxiety that can be observed in all working class musicians, the other privately educated. Written in flowing Glasgwegian dialect and standard English, we follow the protagonists consciousness directly and vividly as he struggles with the insecurity and jealousy of the seemingly entirely upper middle class Scottish folk scene, their £10,000 instruments, their perceived confidence, their education and their contacts. We follow his and his partners journey through a relatively successful career and nervous breakdown through alcohol abuse and denial, and reconciliation through accidental pregnancy. Our protagonist, deeply ashamed of his previously appalling behaviour and selfishness, attempts to turn it all round and go straight, til his best friends funding application is accepted. He is invited onboard the creative opportunity of a lifetime, but tension between his historically at odds musical collaborators threatens the return of the drink and anxiety as his partners birth inches closer. We strain and hope for him to hold it together through the creative process as the album is made, on which he experiences a deeply fulfilling musical experience, and follow on as his life’s purpose is reached, with the confusion and lack of direction that follows.This book deals with a majorepidemics of the moderngeneration, identity crisis, disturbed mental health and Britain’s once again growing class divide. It was written in real time, and is semi biographical, and though semi fictionalised, is as honest an account a failed musician could possibly give of the much romanticised Scottish music world.