'What You Do...'
Diane Scarlet Wallace
I first met Diane at a Some Bizarre record label party, which I was invited to by my good friend Michelle Olley. (I think we're all ex Cell Mates)
Diane, I'm right about Cell Mates?
Diane, I'm right about Cell Mates?
Yes, Marc Almond is a life-long obsession! In fact, seeing Marc Almond for the first time was a seismic event in my life (I think it was for a lot of us). And that voice! On a good day, Marc can have you weeping on the floor.
That was a great night in the canal bar at the 'Some Bizarre' party. Stevo was on the decks and I was dancing to a gorgeous Marc Almond song with Michelle Olley. You're old friends? (although I swear Michelle knows everyone!)
I think I first met Michelle when she was in Salon Kitty and I was in a band with my future husband Mik (Scarlet) called Erotics.
That was a great night in the canal bar at the 'Some Bizarre' party. Stevo was on the decks and I was dancing to a gorgeous Marc Almond song with Michelle Olley. You're old friends? (although I swear Michelle knows everyone!)
I think I first met Michelle when she was in Salon Kitty and I was in a band with my future husband Mik (Scarlet) called Erotics.
Music's important! ( I just remembered we bumped into you & Mik at the 'MORGAN STANLEY Friday Late' ..)
Music has always been important to me. When I was younger I was a dancer. And I earned enough from that to keep me in waitressing. Only joking, (made me laugh..) but I’ve always chased happiness rather than wealth (which is lucky, as I’m not likely to be rich any time soon).
My music taste is quite eclectic; I love (of course) Marc Almond and Soft Cell, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Virgin Prunes, but I also love the Kinks, Bowie, Bolan and I adore Jazz. Two of my favourite singers are Ivie Anderson and Ella Fitzgerald. Mik has a pained expression he uses when I play my Jazz records, but I point out when I listen to Stravinsky (not Jazz, but a composer I enjoy, who provokes strong responses!) it’s usually on my headphones (haha!).
Duke Ellington (a genius all day long) used to say, “There been no new music since Stravinsky”, who, of course, caused a near riot when he unveiled The Rites of Spring. I’m not saying that artist should strive to start a riot with their work, but I do think great art is often not appreciated in its own time.
I wonder what Duke Ellington would have made of the Virgin Prunes?
"I always tell people, what you put in you get back 10-fold."
About 'What You Do' Diane?
I’m an Open Source Web Developer and Designer. I design and build custom websites, themes and plugins. I’ve been a Web designer for about 15 years and in open source for about the last 10 years.
Web design is self explanatory, but, 'Open Source'?
A friend recently asked me what Open Source Development means, I’m very passionate about this; it’s not just sharing your code, it’s actually a self-organising community. We share our code back to the community and we can contribute to each other’s work. In this way, not only does the software improve, but we improve as developers too. I also talk a lot at events and I’m a co-organiser of WordPress London (https://wpldn.uk/).
You clearly enjoy what you do?
I always tell people, what you put in you get back 10-fold. I think it could be a great model for other industries and communities. Lot’s of people say that self-organisation can’t work in the real world, but it’s actually been so successful in Software development, that open-source is under threat from corporations trying to own open-source projects!
I’m also really lucky that I can choose who I work with. I like design when it’s collaborative. I decided that I would be happier if I worked with people that were interesting and also shared some of my ideals. It means turning down work, but it’s worked out really well for me.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’ve actually got two projects coming out this week that I’m really excited about, the new Holy Dotage Records website (https://holydotage.co.uk/) and Spizz Energi’s new website (http://www.spizzenergi.com/), that should be online later this week. I’ll post about that on Twiter when it’s live (https://twitter.com/digidiane)!
Thank you so much Diane. Best pp x
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