Gavin Clark

Gavin Clark is a multidisciplinary artist that specialises in audio, music and film. He holds an HND in Sound Production from Glasgow Clyde College and has recently graduated with a Bachelors degree in Sound for Moving Image at the Glasgow School of Art. Born and bred in Glasgow City, his work heavily touches on urbanisation, street culture, and mental health.

From a young age Gavin has been heavily influenced by rap music, UK Grime, skateboarding and UK Rave culture. A DJ and producer under the moniker as Dvsty music, he made a heavy mark on the Glasgow club scene known for rapid-fire sets, percolated with Grime, early Dubstep, Funky, Gqom, Rap, and Drill. Along with hosting the seminal Subcity grime show – Digital Dust – and putting on various raves including Turfed at Stereo and The Hotboyz in the legendary Art School Vic Bar. Having produced for over a decade, he has various releases, including Astral Black’s Frass FM Tape series, and took part in Red Bull’s Riddim Rally in 2017. This direct affiliation to street music and culture influences many aspects of his audio and filming style.

Having grown up in-between two realities of Glasgow, a city deeply scarred by multigenerational poverty, sat shoulder to shoulder with leafy enclaves of the middle class, Gavin’s work also explores the impact that these stark contrasts have on the mental health of himself and communities across the city. He is particularly interested in the inequalities of sound, where ambient noise and quiet is heavily drawn upon regional and class lines. And how this influences mental well-being, creativity and music across city-scapes.

Everything about Gavin’s work is informed by his own experience of living and surviving in the city. This no-frills, no-bullshit approach casts a light on the intersecting struggles of urban life. Along with the unrelenting, innovations of beauty and creativity we find in all our cities across the globe: from Glasgow to NYC to Johannesburg and beyond. This contradiction of struggle and beauty are what define Gavin as an artist and a creative, inviting us all to see the city scape through lived authentic experience.