Join The Soaring Twenties Social Club

Become a Patron of the Arts and helps us change the face of online art

Imagine an Oasis of art in a vast desert of ‘content’. 

Imagine a place without likes and metrics where everybody talks about literature, culture, art, movies, real life away from screens and click bait. 

Imagine a place where people have a laugh AND are able to thrive in their own creative work. 

Imagine a place that offers support rather than snark, hard won advice on the craft rather than second hand platitudes. Humanity rather than false fellowship for engagement.

Just imagine.

The Crumbling Old Empire

The Internet is Boring

Social media is the single biggest distraction facing creators today.

I speak from bitter experience.

You sign up with pure intentions- to share and collaborate and meet like-minded people. To have fun and showcase your work and to improve in your craft.

But it doesn’t turn out that way.

What happens is you either get ignored and become discouraged or even worse you become successful and along the way you not only become addicted to the platform but the quality of your work massively diminishes.

You develop content-brain as each day you spend you peak creative energy feeding the algorithm the bite sized chunks of easily digestible nonsense that it craves.

You degenerate from essays and paragraphs down to fortune cookies and quotations.

Rather than actually writing you merely write about writing. You become a commentator rather than a practitioner.

This is why there are seemingly no great new voices emerging in the written or visual arts. The environment doesn’t allow for it. The conditions aren’t there on these platforms for artists to thrive.

We have all been seduced by them into making a terrible bargain.

Every one of us have sold our time, our energy, our creativity to these platforms, just for the possibility of gaining some online clout.

I fell for this too. I wasted untold hours on this nonsense.

But I’ve had enough. And so I’ve decided to do something about it. 

The Revolution Will Not Be Centralised

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to be a writer. I spent my teens and twenties entirely offline, working day jobs, living life, work on my writing skills in the hours I could snatch away.

I honed my skills in true autodidact style.

But words without eyes to read them are pointless. So I chose to play the online game. And I was good at it, given the years of private practice I had put into honing my prose skills.

I grew a twitter account, I grew an email last. I became known as a writers writer in my little corner of the Internet.

But the frustration with the cultural environment was always there. 

Silicon Valley clearly turns you into your own unpaid publicist. Centralised web2 has clearly reduced people’s attention spans, their ability to handle depth and nuance and thoughts that do not fit into some pre-delineated ideological camp.

People are siloed by algorithms. People are lonely. People are bored to death.

The problem is scale. The problem is centralisation.

See, all of the great art of the past was created by small groups. It was created in pubs and cafes and salons where artists would band together and conspire and collaborate on making the kind of art that they wanted to see in the world. Not on merely copying what was already popular in the mainstream.

This is what we need to bring back. We need online spaces that are exclusive, that are limited in number, that are designed to attract people who can bring the New World beyond the stale Monoculture into being.

Well, I have created such a place.

And this is your invitation to join us.

Our Paris is The Internet

I’ve decide to build a way out for those of us who are tired of the distractions and want to actually create, collaborate and have some fun. 

I’ve decide to create a space where we can talk with other people who are also tired of the metrics and the vapid way people act when under the influence of algorithms.

I have decided to open the doors to The Soaring Twenties Social Club.

This is a private, invite only Discord group, an online bohemian cafe for the new Lost Generation. An online pub where we can get feedback on our works in progress, where we can talk about great books, cinema, music and how we are all digging our way out of the rat race via our creativity and wit. 

We can talk freely without algorithms, metrics or character counts.

It’s in a place like this that art and culture can thrive. It’s in a place like this that we can thrive.

That is, if we choose to participate in the New World and leave the old Monoculture with it’s fear-mongering and lazy and derivative art behind.

We released The Code- our bold and unique editorial policy. An intentionally provocative and innovative statement of intent that demonstrates that we mean business and that we are serious about changing the nature of online creativity.

I receive numerous emails of support along with enquiries as to how people can strengthen our efforts. Several individuals have pledged to become paid subscribers if this were available as an option.

So now it is.

Our ethos is established, our audience is growing and there are people keen to become patrons of the arts and offer our worldwide roster of artists their support.

Entering The Soaring Twenties

In the Soaring Twenties Social Club there are

• Poets

• Designers

• Programmers

• Lawyers (but the good kind)

• Marketers (but the good kind)

• Business owners

• Gamblers

• Essayists

• Musicians

• Storytellers

• Rat Race abandoners

• Idlers

• Bohemians

And every other kind of interesting, weird and unique type of character you would hope to find in a literary salon.

There are people from Britain, the US, Australia, and all over Europe. It’s always 5pm somewhere.

There are people who know how to create books, create websites, create visuals, create furniture, create apps, create mischief.

There’s one guy who really likes scythes.

The energy is transformative in there. My own recent increase in both the quantity and quality of my output is down to this group and their encouragement, feedback and expertise.

And you are invited to join us.

To maintain the vibe we have built over the past six months the numbers will be capped at 300.

But- at the risk of using bullshit scarcity tactics- there are still some stools left at the bar. There are still some tables that are reserved if you want to join us and come and claim them.

The cover charge is just $7 per month or $70 per year. There is also the option to become a Founder member for $180 per year.

What the membership gives you:

• An exclusive access to our private Discord server where you can chat about your craft, ask for feedback, or engage in meaningful human conversations with like-minded people from all around the world about anything you like.

• A regular slot in the STSC Substack for your new original work, be that an essay, a piece of fiction, art, poetry or something else (subject to our editorial policy).

• A unique opportunity to be published in the our monthly magazine Symposium.

• A chance to become a part of the community and the Soaring Twenties optimistic artistic renaissance.

Alternatively you can click the ‘Donations and Memberships’ below to either make a one time donation or to find a monthly tier that suits you, should you be looking for something between the monthly and founder tiers offered on Substack.

Every penny of your money will go towards funding future STSC ventures and projects and every penny will be accounted for. As well as creating great art across all mediums we are also aiming to have this group act as a beacon and a blueprint for other collectives and so transparency is critical. As The Code says- The money goes back in.

We will never paywall any of our work and create a separation between the readers and the patrons of our art- just because you are short of money shouldn’t exclude you from being able to access our work. What we are offering is a chance for you to support us- whether it be with a monthly pledge, a one time donation, or even a kind comment or word of encouragement- and help us bring our projects to life.

The Soaring Twenties Social Club is flashing in red neon. You can hear the music and conversation coming from inside. You can hear the laughter and the banter.

The entrance is right here.

All you have to do is click below to gain access: