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 major epidemics of the modern generation,
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.
