The Essence of Cool

"I started singing because I wanted to be the Little Mermaid"

The first time I saw Sarah Beth-Brown perform was at the Glasgow Film Festival earlier this year and I was immediately blown away. Maybe it's just me but new(ish) performers these days just don't seem to have that same ability to stun me into silence anymore, so when Sarah did just that, I was hooked.

Sarah is the lead singer and bassist of Glasgow band Hot Water Ponies and also has her own solo thing going on with her act Born By Wires. She's worked with musical legend Craig Armstrong and hung out with Scottish actor Allan Cummings. All round I'd say she's a pretty cool person. But what is 'cool'? Who decides if we are 'cool' or not and to what end?

Michel de Montaigne (1533-92) wrote of the necessity of people to have the capability of self-control and self-invention as only with such skills could one be considered 'cool' within society. So if society dictates whether or not we merit the label of 'cool' by way of the trends we follow or by the way in which we present ourselves in public as who we are, to what extent can the construction of identity truly be genuine? We all want to be considered as cool by someone at some point or another in our lives; it is human nature to crave acceptance so if we are constructed on the need for acceptance, how can we ever show who we truly are?

I'm reminded once again of the story of Batman and Bruce Wayne - two entites; one man. Our need to be considered as cool a front to protect who we really are inside. 

I once read somewhere that through the close-up camera shot, thoughts are made visible and I truly believe that through this image of Sarah Beth-Brown we can see into her memories back to the beginning, sitting in her grandmothers bin-shed singing Disney songs at the top of her voice. Some may not think of that as very 'cool' but hey, at least it's true.

Love EllieMac x