LT: Let’s talk about music and performances. Where did you start at uni, and what are some of your highlights?

DW: I was in The Manglers in 1st year, though I kind of dipped out of it in 2nd year because I had too much other music going on. I think the highlight would probably be Live on the Hill. I’ve been involved in some capacity in all four of them; though I only actually played in it this last year. In first and second year, I was on the tech desk. Then in 2nd year, I was co-Music Rep with Lyn, and we did it together; co-produced and co-MD’d it. In third year, I was assistant producer to Oli Matthews, and then in fourth year I co-produced it with Oli again. I think my personal highlight of Live on the Hill, full stop, would be ‘Bat out of Hell’ from this year because it’s one of my favourite pieces of music, and to get to do the whole 10 minutes as the opening for Live on the Hill was quite special, though ‘Skyfall’ last year definitely comes close.

“I got some gorgeous photos of JCS, so it was all made worth it. That was my favourite one”

TCMS is something I’ve been involved with in some capacity every single year. Of the four big shows, I’ve been in the programme of two of them, and the other two have been the week of performance: ‘Dan the tech’s all going wrong.’ Both first year in the dining hall using the new sound system doing Gypsy, and then Jesus Christ, Superstar (JCS), having issues with the sound system again, so I got roped in. I got some gorgeous photos of JCS, so it was all made worth it. That was my favourite one. JCS was just the brainchild of Ben Cawood; I haven’t seen theatre like that in Durham other than under his direction. 
It won massively at the D’Oscars because of Ben’s genius.

LT: How did you end up doing tech? It seems like a thankless task, but it is one that you are known for throughout Trevs.

DW: I came into uni, and that was the one thing I wanted to learn a bit more about because I’ve got the engineering background to understand roughly how it works, and the musical mind to go with it. It just made sense to me. The tech manager in my first year was a guy called Tomas Pickford. He was brilliant, and he was teeing me up to be the next tech manager going into second year, back when the next tech manager was appointed by the outgoing one. Then I ran for Music Rep and scuppered hishis plans but it worked out. I became tech manager eventually after it got moved on to the exec. I enjoyed it in first year; when I go into events, the part I want to work on is the music, I don’t really care about the rest of the event, if I’m going there to enjoy it. So tech is a great way to go to an event and do the bit I want without having to pay to be there, and I get to make it sound how I want it to. It’s really quite selfish, when you boil it down; I just want to hear the music the way I like it!

LT: What about photography? When did that start?

DW: I have had a proper camera since COVID. I got it about a month before COVID for my birthday. I didn’t really use it in first year, but I brought it up for second year. I remember Freshers’ Bop, we’d got Northern Lights, and they brought their own tech person, so I took a few photos and discovered that I found it quite fun though very different from the birds and scenery I’d used it for up to that point, but then just kind of moved on with life. Then it wasn’t until it was Trevs Night, I got a text from George Little, the JCR president at the time, saying, ‘have you got a camera? We’ve forgotten to book a photographer.’ So, I brought it, and then it kind of just spiralled from there. There are always messages going up and Overhead being like, ‘We need a photographer.’ Now it’s got to the point where I’ll get messages going, ‘Can you come and take photos of this event?’ Which is great, and it’s generally the music societies because I know what to look out for. When I’m taking a photo of a concert, I try to make sure that every single person in the ensemble has a photo of themselves. I’ve been in concerts where you’re flipping through the photos afterwards, and it’s like, ‘great, there’s none of me.’ Or there are a few where I’m in the background, blurry and out of focus, or where you’ve got me looking bored out of my skin because we’re in the middle of a big patch of rest, which happens quite a bit for a trombone player.

Image: Dan Wattis

LT: It sounds like a lot of the stuff that you’ve done here, the things that people would associate you with, you kind of fell into them?

DW: I can remember thinking the summer before uni, ‘what do I want to do in the way of extracurriculars?’ At school, I did all kinds of music and theatre. And I remember thinking, ‘at uni I need to knuckle down, do more work, do less music.’ That may or may not have just been totally ignored! But I did cut out some things; I’ve not been in a choir since I was at school, and I’ve not been on stage since school. You wouldn’t catch me dead on stage these days! I’m much happier behind the scenes. But yeah, I came into first year like, ‘I’m going to do DUBB, and I’m going to do DUOS, and that’s going to be it.’ Then I came to Trevs Freshers’ fair and signed up for The Manglers, TCMS, tech committee, and got roped into the board game society and so on; all these extra things which I haven’t planned on doing and just fell into. I think it’s all because Trevs is such a great community. Board games have always been quite a big part of who I am but I wasn’t planning on joining any of the board game societies here, but then one of the guys from Game Soc, Edward, who was absolutely lovely, was just like, ‘come play board games with us on the Saturday night’ at the end of Freshers’ Week and we went along and I had a great time. Then I ended up as president, treasurer, and vice president.

“Screw it, we’ll run for Music Rep”

LT: You’ve been heavily involved in the JCR across your four years in Trevs. Let’s talk about that journey.

DW: I applied for Steering Committee in first year and didn’t get it. I wasn’t the only person. That’s how the committees have changed since then, because every single committee was filled on the first go when I was a first year. Then I went for Music Rep. I remember walking back from a rehearsal for DULOG’s Hello Dolly, with one of the then co-Music Reps, Lyn, and it was snowy. We were in the music department and the heating had broken, and we were walking back from rehearsal in the dark at the end of a six-hour day of rehearsals, and we were just like, ‘screw it, we’ll run for Music Rep. We had a great time, ran too many Unpluggeds and all kinds of other shenanigans. Then I moved on to Clubs and Societies Officer in third year. It was a substantial drop in workload, but then I did end up doing the job of tech manager for most of the year as well! Then fourth year, this year, I was Tech Manager as well as sitting on Finance Committee independently.

LT: I think that underplays it – you’ve had a hand in practically every role and everything that goes on here. I was speaking to Andrew [JCR Chair] a minute ago, and he was like, ‘If I don’t know something about governance or the constitution, I’ll just ask Dan.’

DW: Andrew came to me the other day and said, James Gowers [former JCR Chair] has put you in his handover notes, saying, ‘don’t do Steering in the bar or Dan Wattis will wheedle their way into it!’ I found that quite funny. Yeah, I mean, there are aspects where I’ve been involved with everything. I try (unsuccessfully) to keep as far away from Canva as possible. It’s been the event side of things in the last couple of years, and that came about because one of the jobs that Music Rep has to do is book bands for events, and then that means that I sit on Events Committee, and it just kind of fell into me doing more and more, so that’s been a slippery slope. I’ve ended up running Stressless this year. I’ve been here for long enough, we don’t have a welfare officer, and I’m fully welfare trained and everything and can just use ideas from previous campaigns, put them all together and hope that Harry [JCR President] posts them correctly on Instagram.

LT: What does Trevs mean to you and what will you take with you from Trevs?

I think it boils down to how friendly the community here is. I’ve met people here who I know will be lifelong friends; it’s just such an inviting place. What drew me to Trevs was one of myfriends, Jonny, from back home, who is in the year above, got allocated Trevs, and he was like, ‘yeah, Trevs is fun.’ I didn’t really put too much thought into it. He was like, ‘It’s got music, your musical, you’ll like it.’ It has really embraced that kind of just friendly, welcoming community. What I’ll want to take with me is the friendships I’ve made with people. But, honestly, many of the opportunities I’ve had here too. It’s just a shame the degree gets in the way sometimes. Why can’t we just do university for the fun bits and leave the degree? I suppose most people don’t really do much of their degree at Durham if you’re in the right extracurriculars. I’d much rather have fun. That’s what I was here for. I’ve got a job, and they wanted me to start as soon as possible, but I want to do the summer events here because that’s what I’ll remember in fifty years’ time. I won’t remember researching how to make sustainable RFID tags, but I will remember the fun that I had in my final summer of uni with all of my friends.

LT: What would you say to the next generation of Trevelyanites who are breaking through and starting to leave their own mark on Trevs?

Just get involved. Just say yes. You can get a good degree and still get involved with so many things. If you want a first, do a bit more work, but you can still say yes to pretty much everything. Also, there is something here for all of you. I’m not sporty, so I’ve only been involved with that side of it as Clubs and Societies Officer. I know there’s about 30 different sports societies at the moment, and that’s at Trevs, pretty much the smallest college. So there’s a sport for you, there’s music for you, there’s something for you. 
There’s writing for HEX. In my first and second years, there was even a nail painting society; there is always going to be something for you. And if there isn’t, make it! I’ve seen quite a lot of that; there’s been quite a lot of new societies this year because of gaps: Karaoke Soc, the Allotment Society, and the Law Society. They’ve all gone, ‘right, I want to do this thing. How do I do it?’ Be the change you want to see. That’s been one of the things I live by. If I want something to happen, I’ll just do it. Because that’s the way that it happens. There will always be something for you, and if there’s not, then you make it, and you have fun, and that’s just how to go through life.

LT: What would you say to people who don’t think involvement with the JCR is for them, or that the JCR or even Trevs doesn’t represent their interests?

I get it. I know people who don’t really engage with their colleges. There always seems to be this big divide between the JCR and everything else. And in fact, the JCR is just the people. For example, I know that music societies typically have much stronger ties to the JCR than sports societies do. There’s a big rift with the sports societies, but I don’t really get it because the JCR is just the people, and if the JCR is just the sports societies to you, then that’s fine. That’s still the JCR. It’s still the community of people in Trevs and you are still getting involved. You might not, and it’s about what you want. You don’t have to. Nobody’s forcing you. You’ll probably go to Summer Ball anyway, though. And if being involved in the JCR helps make Summer Ball cheaper and better, then I’ll do that. Your levy goes towards subsidising events to make the events slightly cheaper, and it goes towards the societies. If you’re part of societies, you will make a return on that investment because so many people pay the money and then do nothing with it. But if you get involved, you will see the benefit of having paid that money: badminton has enough shuttlecocks, football has enough balls when they’ve kicked them all into the river at Maiden Castle, Game Soc has more board games, and TCMS has more stuff for their shows. You will see the benefit of being part of the JCR if you’re just doing stuff, and it can be anything. Just get involved.

Image: Dan Wattis