Heck Yeah Magazine by Alex O'Brien

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Photo by Jake Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien Adamson

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INTRODUCTION

How many times have you stood gormless at a magazine shelf, picking which one of the same-old magazines to buy this month? Although, in 2012 it’s quite possible that some of you have never even bought a magazine of your own. Boys have many benefits in life, but a wide range of reading material tailored to you, hasn’t exactly been made a priority – which is where we come barging in. Heck Yeah is a magazine all about you; whether you’re the loudest and coolest kid in your school or whether you’re a quiet soul, reading away the days in your bedroom. This is a magazine with teenage guys interests in mind, whether it’s photography or writing – we want you to be part of something new. Submit your work or even just let us know what you want to see from us, and we’ll do our best to make it a reality. We want to hear your thoughts, ideas and your feedback via our Twitter (@heckyeahmag) or in an email (contact@heckyeahmagazine.com). We also want to see where you stick your free Heck Yeah stickers, with the best tags going up on our World Tour section of the website, where you’ll be immortalised in 72dpi. Issue One is dedicated to the young people making things happen all over the country, with even a few international goings-on in Germany and California, too. The people we’ve interviewed here havn’t all been chosen by us, some have been recommended by each other, as well! So, if you have any good tip-offs on worthy content, then we’re all ears (and eyes). Enough rambling on, go ahead and meet this months collection of talent, show your mates, then slap your free sticker somewhere cool. Enjoy!

The Editor

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Heck Yeah Magazine © Issue One – June 2012 All editing, design and photography by Alex O’Brien, unless stated otherwise. Printed by Principal Colour, England Thanks to: Ma & Pa O’B, Hywel Davies, Kay Barron, Ian R Webb, Christopher Simmonds, Henry, Kate Swingler, Lindsay May, Jet Jett, Claire Robertson, Martin Andersen, Jet Swan, Karl Askill, Dan Powell, Tom Beete, Rachel Hollands, Nic Powley @ Vans, Justin Hobson, Rob Meyers, Rokas Rachlevicius, Rosie @ Merch Asylum HECKYEAH

CONTENTS

RADAR 10

MOST WANTED

ALL EYEZ ON YOU

Menswear 2012

22 24

JOSH PETTINGER’s SHADY CHARACTERS

you didn’t know you needed THESE GOODS IN YOUR LIFE taking to the streets to find our great audience our picks from the fancy world of men’s high-end fashion the summer’s coolest shades from the view of one cool cartoonist

KEMISTRY

showing our love for East london’s most accessible young gallery

THE ECO WARRIORS: 28

FELIX FINKBEINER

ALEC LOORZ

casually saving the planet tree by tree, and telling us all about it. FIGHTING climate change and suing the U.S government, as you do.

YOUNG MONEY 38

14:01 SKATEBOARDS

Salar Kooshki – SKATE ON, MY SON

46 50 54

Keeping british skateboarding alive with a fresh new company an introduction to Vans U.K’s youngest signing

SAVE OUR SOUTH BANK

forever on the verge of closure, we look at the famous skate spot

ROLLING DEEP: PRE-O

london’s young multimedia talent group

TIN CAN-DO

talking graffiti, ocd and gardening with jordan richardson

PHOTO STORY 58

PACKED PUNCHES

INSIDE THE Boxing Club

FASHION 69 78

UTILITY SUMMER GIVE A SHIRT

MUSIC 90 Basement

TALKING TRAVELS AND FOOD AFTER THEIR AMERICAN TOUR

GENRE-EVADING WITH THE SOUTH LONDON TRIO

94 96 98 100

Dead Red Sun HOWL

calm & collected with soundcloud’s MAVERICK TALENT

MNEK & BARTOVEN

TALENT RUNNING IN THE FAMILY

DEAD SWANS

THIS MONTHS SHOW FROM THE ARCHIVES

Entrepreneurial MUSIC with YUNG SHEZZ & BUBBLES

106 108 110

WATCH THE WEB NEW RELEASES

A SELECTION OF RECORD REVIEWS

GUESTLIST

YOUR SUBMITTED SUMMER PLAYLISTS

LIVE REVIEW FROM TOY’S XOYO SET AND SUMMER LISTINGS

112

LIVE

girl TALK 116

Q+A WITH RAINY

WE MEET WITH THE SIXTEEN YEAR OLD SINGER/BLOGGER

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10 1. SUPPLY AND DEMAND HERSHCEL SUPPLY CO. Utility summer is in full effect. Herschel feels like a much older brand than it actually is, officially launched in 2008, the luggage label have a diverse range of seasonal bags to suit every style. The featured camouflage set is high on the ‘saving-for’ list here at Heck Yeah. The massive duffle bag has it’s very own shoe section! Perfect for storing those muddy war torn Nike’s after a Saturday kickabout. h t t p : / / h e r s c h e l s u p p l y. c o m

2. SO FRESH, SO CLEAN RETAW FRAGRANCE TAGS

EACH MONTH WE BRING YOU A SELECTION OF THINGS THAT YOU DIDN’T EVEN KNOW YOU HAD TO HAVE. You’re welcome.

New from Japanese lifestyle brand retaW for Spring/Summer 2012 is this set of Fragrance Room Tags. Following from the brand’s prior releases last year, the newest tags come in the brand’s signature scents including “Evelyn” and “Fiona.” The scents feature a classy blend of bergamot and champagne, and apple and cinnamon. Impress your mothers and get your bedrooms smelling fresh before the real Evelyn and Fiona come on over! http://www.retaw-tokyo.com

3. DOWNSTAIRS MIX-UP VANS AUTHENTICS Size? have once again teamed up with the Vans crew for a limited release of their Old Skool authentic model. Ready to skate the shoe is a blend of navy coloured canvas and a bold ginger suede upper section, with the standard white vulcanized sole and single lined sidewall. Complete with a cushioned ankle collar, white leather lining and thin canvas tongue, you can pick up a pair online and in selected stores for a reasonable £53. h t t p : / / w w w . v a n s . c o . u k

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11 4. RUNNING AHEAD ADIDAS SLVR S-M-L CONCEPT Available in an Olympic colorway for S/S12, the SLVR S-M-L Concept is a lightweight running shoe that weighs just 200 grams! Featuring a four-way stretch mesh upper for breathability and comfort, the design suits both the novice and pro-runner, or just looks great with a pair of crisp jeans. Available for a cool £115 from Adidas online.

h t t p : / / w w w . a d i d a s . c o . u k 5. WATCH THIS CASIO GB-6900 The GB-6900 from Casio’s G-Shock range has been eagerly anticipated for months. Featuring the latest Bluetooth 4.0 technology, it’s the first of it’s kind to take full advantage of Bluetooth’s ability to maximize battery life. It synchronizes with your Bluetooth-equipped phone, enabling you to set alarms, view incoming calls and read SMS or emails. Available in three colours, the watch costs around £145. h t t p : / / w w w . c a s i o . c o . u k

6. FUTURE SNAPS LOMO LC-A+ SILVER LAKE Dressed in chrome and genuine leather, this limited edition LC-A+ Silver Lake Camera comes with a Minitar 1 lens (32/2.8) and is even packaged in a special wooden box. Expanded settings allow you to pick ISO anywhere from 100 to 1600 and you can now attach multiple flashes! Grab one at Lomo’s site for around £250. http://www.lomography.com

7. MOBILE SIMPLICITY JOHN’S PHONE BY JOHN DOE AMSTERDAM Sick of smartphones? Sick of picture messages? Sick of texting? Then you’ll probably love John’s Phone, the world’s most basic mobile. Call and hang-up are it’s only two functions, and they’ll charge you around £100 to own one. But nobody would ever mug you for it! Attractively mental. h t t p : / / j o h n s p h o n e s . o r g

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TO THE STREETS JAMES (15) from BASINGSTOKE

WE took to the streets to look at WHO WAS AROUND, what THEY were up to, and AT what THEY were ALL wearing! SO HERE’S WHAT WE GOT WHEN IT WASN’T CHUCKING IT DOWN. If you HAPPEN TO look like one of these lads, then this mag MIGHT JUST BE for you

FELIPE (16) from CAMDEN HECKYEAH

TO THE STREETS

LUCAS, JAMIE, JACK, SCOTT, LIAM and JAMIE (all 14) from MANCHESTER

JAKE (14) from CRICKLEWOOD

ROSS (17) from BEDFORD

LUKE (15) from LETCHWORTH

BEN (14) from BELSIZE PARK HECKYEAH

RADAR

Leaving his home in Liverpool following a scholarship for the famously difficult MA course at Central St. Martins, was never going to be easy. Brilliantly in 2010, Christopher Shannon graduated as a homegrown talent who is guaranteed to get you and your mates noticed. His bold, sportswear-directed garments were evident right from his first collection, with reversible, northern scally themes, but sponsored by big names such as Eastpak and Levis. The success led to support from Topman, whose MAN panel (a joint venture between the store and London’s Fashion East) put him on the London Fashion Week roster for three seasons. He was then duly promoted to join the New Gen Men initiative for Autumn/Winter 2010. Shannon is gaining great press and even greater momentum, as his collections continue to please those in the shows and those in the stores. The spring/summer collection stayed true to Shannon’s staple sportswear inspired looks, using plenty of nylon, and a lot of grey bases. Coloured patches of fabric were layered on top of each other and sewn across shirts, jackets and shorts – giving a slight Hispanic/Americana feel to the collection. But it was the slicked hair and casual track jackets and bottoms that brought the Northern scally feel back home. The bright hi-vis orange accents reminded us of construction-site bomber jackets and overalls, surely a friendly nod to the working class. Handmade hair-comb headpieces were propped on top of some of the models heads, too, but that might not work for you on your walk down the local high street...If it does then we want to see it!

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‘America’ was the theme of the day for Band Of Outsiders’ Scott Sternberg, after being appointed as guest designer at the 80th edition of menswear showcase, Pitti Uomo in Florence. Sternberg took the chance to display his patriotism and to celebrate the good ol’ USA’s great love of showmanship. Preppy sport looks from the Resort (pre-A/W) collection were sent down the walkway, alongside his main menswear line, as well as some pieces for the women. Hoodies and cutoff shorts were paired with ice-cream coloured shoes, to give that Los Angeles summer-feel to the Italian warehouse where they actually were. There was a hint of cooler weather, with hoods being popped up, and jackets at the ready – perhaps something the U.K customer can understand, for there’s nothing quite like the British summer tradition of rain on even the sunniest of days. What was best was the sheer ease and application of the designs – the biggest sighs of relief came from our way, when we realised that we too can adopt this look without having to feel like we’re actually on a catwalk, ourselves. Phew!

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Denmark’s most freethinking son, HENRIK VIBSKOV, dropped his latest collection in Paris, where he said goodbye to shocking sickly shades and hello to spaced-out calm. Whilst still looking utterly mental, of course. OK, so these looks are noticeably a touch on the unusual side, but bear with us. Henrik Vibskov is one of those designers that you should make yourself aware of this summer. Regarded as one of menswear’s most forward-thinking and exciting designers, the Dane’s flare for bright and playful design has appealed to the likes of the Artic Monkeys and even Kanye West. The theme of ‘outsider cool’ is always apparent in Vibskov’s designs, which have their own distinct identity and are always so easily recognisable amongst many of the dull suit-and-boot collections during menswear season. Take note of the inky pastel prints, applied to both shirts and shorts alike. Spattered light shades are much more ideal than sickly block colours, which were done to death last summer. Teamed with big-shouldered blazers and evening knitwear, the application is less scary than you’d first think. If you cant afford Vibskov’s clothes, then why not take some coloured paint to an old tee or pair of plain shorts? Splat it about and see what you come up with. If you can get your hands on a beret as well, then 10 points to you – and do send us a photo if you do have a go!

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Suicidal prints and a mournfull black and white summer from Fashion East’s latest rising star, William Richard Green. Walking through Selfridges menswear department is enough to drive most guys insane – the endless rails of similar looking garments, and it being stuffed with a tonne of tourists means you’re more than likely to skip over some of the best bits and head straight for the more familiar, and safer, brands, or maybe just the exit. But stop yourself from dashing out and make a note of visiting the new designers section (usually by the escalators) where you’ll be pleasantly introduced to some of the coolest new threads. ‘I Hope I Die Soon’ is the glum titled collection from William Richard Green. In what’s normally a season of bright colours, Green sticks his fingers up and gives us a duotone palette. A silk shirt covered with illustrations by Martin Wollerstam, familiar-styled photographic print tees and cotton windbreakers make for a wholly appealing lads wardrobe with a bit of bite. Just make sure that you leave with a smile, eh?!

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Advertisement RADAR #01

Menswear First Floor 400 Oxford Street London W1A 1AB www.selfridges.com HECKYEAH

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WE WANTED TO SHOW YOU SOME REALLY NICE SUNGLASSES. AT THE SAME TIME WE WANTED YOU TO MEET A GREAT ILLUSTRATOR. SO IT WASN’T EXACTLY ROCKET SCIENCE...ET VOILA! “After some self-reflection, I don’t really like what I see.” reads the speech bubble one of Josh Pettinger’s illustrations. An artist whose characters seem to have a crisis of confidence, is carving a career for himself in the difficult world of comics. The young illustrator currently living between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Chicago in the U.S, has been drawing since early childhood. He recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Animation from Westminster University, where he developed a unique style of illustration; creating obscure characters and showcasing them all via his blog Drawing On A Screen With Crayons. We got hold of Josh, who was in Chicago at the time, to give us a look at some of his latest creations, and asked him to throw on some of this summer’s most covetable shades for you to spend your hard earned cash on – from the high end savers to the cheap “that’ll-do’s”. Oh, and if you like what Josh has drawn, then follow his blog and keep your eyes peeled for issue 1 of Goiter – his upcoming debut comic. Something we’ll be sure feature whenever it comes around! SUNGLASSES: (Top row L-R) H&M £6.99 Ray Ban £145 Shipley Halmos ‘Tesla’ £190 (Bottom row L-R) Fendi’s Blue/Red £225 Jeepers Peepers at ASOS £16 Mykita ‘Woody’s £250 Topman ‘Marjus’ £14 h

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Tucked away in London’s creative east-end, THERE’s a gallery that exhibits the best new graphic talent from all over the WORLD and sticks it in the heart of the city Open and welcoming really isn’t something that you hear all too often when talking about galleries. Kemistry defies the snobbery and hauls in the biggest, and the smallest, talents in the graphic world. The best part is that you can have a go, too!

Next month, designer Anthony Burril will be displaying some of the work he did in Brazil with Mesa & Cadeira. Following that, there will be a showing of Olympic posters, designed by fifteen artists. Initially having been displayed this May, they will then be put up again in July and August, during the games. So no matter when you make your visit, you are guaranteed something fresh and inspiring to look at.

Probably the greatest attribute of Kemistry, is the their openness to new talent; they’re constantly on the look-out for designers to show and reasons to do so. This isn’t all one-way, either, there is a submission form, online, for exhibition proposals. You could send them a portfolio or a show concept that you want to see happen. Of course, they get a fair few requests, and only one space to show it in, but the ethos behind the place is something to admire.

KEMISTRY GALLERY 43 Charlotte Road Shoreditch London EC2A 3PD

Regularly curated and with packed out opening nights, there is an understanding between the young artists and the gallery, which is a rare connection to have in such a busy city. Here, we’ve shown a few pieces from Melvin Galapon, an illustrator/designer from London, who himself had sent an email proposal to the gallery. He is now in the process of sorting a show and it’ll definitely be one to look out for later this summer.

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TWO BOYS TAKING ON THE WORLD, FOR THE FUTURE OF MANKIND.

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THE ECO WARRIORS Image from Frankfurt Allgemeine (2nd January 2010)

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THE ECO WARRIORS

At the age of nine, Felix Finkbeiner followed a dream to plant one million trees across the planet; he did that by the time he was ten. Four years later, there are over twelve billion trees planted to help save the planet! Here’s to the BOY who dared to dream biG There is the age old saying that children should ‘be seen and not heard’, and in previous generations, this was the rule that many youths were raised by, at least until they hit their teenage years. Thankfully, a nine year old FELIX FINKBEINER ignored this age old rule and spoke up for his generation against climate change. The simple solution has gone on to reach millions, and might just save the earth. Not bad! Raised in the small, picturesque village of Pähl, southern Germany, an area populated by little more than two thousand people, Felix wasn’t your typical model for an action hero. When we say this, we mean it quite literally, as Finkbeiner’s passionate approach to climate change and assertive, positive action, has placed him in plain view of some of the most influential decision-makers in the world. Aged just ten years old, Finkbeiner gained financial backing from motoring giants, Toyota, who saw a spark in Felix’s enthusiasm, giving him forty thousand euros to back his foundation, Plant For The Planet. For someone with English as his second language, Felix speaks clearly and concisely and most passionately when asked about his project – a subject which he has been promoting for almost half a decade. After a few emails back and forth, a Skype meeting was arranged for after school hours, where we managed to sit and have a

chat with Felix, who is now fourteen, about his incredible foundation, speaking up and about moving forward.

You would have been about nine or ten at the time, right? Exactly, I was nine when it took off.

So, Felix, how did the project begin?

The project actually started in school, nearly five years ago, during a class project about the climate crisis. I found out about Wangara Mathai, a lady from Kenya who planted thirty million trees in thirty years. She sadly passed away last year, but she inspired me that we children could also plant one million trees in each country of the world. You were taking your homework very seriously. How did appeal to the other children in your class? I told my friends about the project idea and after a short time there were many other children, in both my school other schools, that were wanting to participate and help to start the project. About two months later, we planted the first tree. We invited many other schools to join in, which they seemed enthusiastic about and with that, the number continued to grow. Eventually, there were children in many other parts of the world that had started to plant trees and thus help the project to literally grow. That’s how it all started. Did it freak you out just how quickly the idea snowballed into the realisation of the project? Yeah [Laughs], I never thought it would grow that fast and go to other countries, I was very happy.

That’s a lot to take on for someone so young – how did your family react initially to the project proposal? At the beginning they were hesitant to let me go along with it, most of the support was from the other children who were presenting, like me. My father had founded an organisation, seven years ago called Global Marshall Plan; we found out a year after we had started PTFP that they were organising a press conference, so we decided to join on and do one for ourselves two weeks afterwards.

And did it go well?

Well, my father returned from his conference and told us that there wasn’t a single person from the media in attendance. Although there were many prominent people, there was nobody that would be of interest to us. Two weeks later it was our turn. We had to travel out of our city for it. On the train to the press conference, my father told me that if nobody comes, not to worry and that it’s not that bad. He assured us that at least we would still get to learn something. However, at the press conference, we had an attendance of around 500 media personnel, word had gotten around, which was fantastic! After that, I had guaranteed my parent’s full support. [Laughs] HECKYEAH

THE ECO WARRIORS

It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel as bad standing up in front of 500 strangers and speaking to them HECKYEAH

THE ECO WARRIORS How did you feel when speaking publicly for the first time?

advice and do whatever works best for that area. So yeah, there’s some consultation going on.

My first presentation was actually in front 1,200 people, so it was a bit scary! But it doesn’t feel as tough as it does to give a presentation to my class, because I know those people. It doesn’t feel as bad standing up in front of 500 strangers and speaking to them.

You’re often asked to speak across the globe, do you enjoy the flying and moving around?

Do you take on a different persona on stage, compared to how you are normally? Yeah, I think there’s a difference. The ‘speaking’ Felix is bolder, but I think that has just formed from getting more and more experience.

Yeah, I think that it’s a lot of fun. I’ve spoken in Norway, Korea, Cancun and Durban. When I spoke in Cancun, we didn’t have much time during the actual conference, because it was during school time, too. Luckily, we had visited about half a year before to prepare for the same conference. That previous visit was when I had time to go to the beach and just hang out, which was cool! Who travels with you when you go? In most cases, it’s my father who travels with me. How are the school grades holding up right now? [Laughs] Well, they’re doing fine at the moment! What music do you have on your iPod for when you travel?

Do the travelling talks exhaust you?

They’re not as bad as they seem! I only had like 20 absence days last year. I suppose that it seems much worse than it is, because really I’m not the only one that is active and giving these presentations, there are many other kids that are doing the same. We educate these children at the PFTP academies, too. So, there are lots of other children doing exactly the same as me. So I guess I can’t say that it’s too hard! You manage to make it all sound so casual! What are the Plant For The Planet academies like? Well, when I say academies, it’s not like a single place where they continuously happen; they take place in company buildings, schools and so on. These are day-events, with around 100 participants. At each academy, we want the participants to be from as many schools in that specific area as possible, so that the word is much more widespread and that will then reach other schools a lot more easily. How do you go about researching where you can plant around the world? Do you have help and suggestions for specific places? Most of activities that we do are organised in groups, across the PFTP audience. These groups are situated in various areas of the world. When a group organises a planting activity, they will generally talk to the foresters in that region, because they know best as to what should be planted there. They will then go along with the

In Germany there’s this group called The Wise Guys, they’re an acapella group. I got to be the moderator at one of their shows, so that was quite cool! I guess I listen to them a lot. I’m not specific with music, I’m open to a lot of things!

31 Are there a lot of emails for you to work through, do you have an overheating Blackberry or iPhone? I’ll normally read them on my computer, as there are quite a few to go through. Sometimes it’s around thirty a day. But we have a lot of the emails answered by adults, as there are twelve employees who are paid to work full time for the foundation. The adults are the ones who deal with the majority of the correspondence. When the time comes, how do you feel about passing on the leadership at Plant For The Planet? Is it very formal? It’s very fluid and open, I’m very prepared for it. With what we’re doing, we have a global board; this year I am the president, but next year we will have somebody else to take the position. Each year there’s a new president, there’s no possible re-election. This keeps to the idea that we have as many children as possible to be able to participate in taking the lead. I don’t mind at all that I won’t be president again, I’m happy for somebody else to take that step. Do you think that sharing the role of responsibility will bring a new angle to the organisation? Yes, but I think the strength lies in that there are many children, there can’t be just one leader, it has to be all of the children. It will always be a group effort, and that’s what makes it work.

And do you get to eat much on your travels, what’s your favourite dish? There’s a Turkish food called dürüm, which is this baked flatbread; it’s like a street-food but you can get it all around. They fill the bread up with falafels, hummus or meat. That’s probably my favourite thing that I eat when I’m away. OK, back to business – where is Plant For The Planet at now, statistically, with it’s tree planting efforts? Well, last year it reached over four million trees planted, but the numbers on the website are often a smaller amount than what we actually have! We have been working with the Billion Tree campaign set up by the UN and we want to keep working with them to plant even more. The current number is an incredible 12,598,694,866 trees registered as planted. And there are around 14 billion trees pledged, too! But on the site its hard to keep track of the numbers, because people who pledge and plant don’t always put it on the website. It’s a lot to keep organised! How quickly does this all move along online, is it weekly or daily updates? There are daily updates! Some days bigger than others, but there is always something going on! We send out newsletters, Facebook and email updates. These keep people informed of progress.

Do you think you’ll ever tire of all this?

Well, of course it’s totally possible; I still have a way to go with school and such, so anything could happen with my future. But honestly, I’m not so sure, because although I may not always be in charge of Plant For The Planet, I know deep down that I will always be involved, somehow. It’s too important to walk away from, there are more and more people getting involved and it shows no sign of slowing down. I don’t think I will tire from all of this just yet.

[If you would like to make a tree-pledge, log on to the PFTP website and follow the simple steps – you will need a credit/debit card to make a minimum donation of £13 – so perhaps ask your teachers or parents to join in, too, and do your bit to help Felix save the planet!] HECKYEAH

THE ECO WARRIORS

When you’re seventeen, it’s QUITE RARE that you will have ever even stepped inside of a courtroom, let alone filed a lawsuit. But that’s exactly what Alec Loorz did last year. This is the GUY that decided to take on the U.S. government Arranging a meeting with a seventeen year old, across the Atlantic, was never going to be straightforward – but determination and persistence paid off in the form of a long Skype call; the modern boardroom. Alec Loorz is a resident of Oak View, California – an area surrounded with surfer stereotypes, artists and some neo-hippies, too. And he’s here to fight for our future.

after watching Al Gore’s two-time Oscar winning documentary film An Inconvenient Truth. It was a wake up call that Alec hadn’t expected, and kick started his belief that he had a weight on his shoulders and that he not only should, but could, make a difference.

Tell us about your first presentation?

The first presentation I went to, I was meant to be speaking in Los Angeles to a hundred or so students who were activists or something, and I was meant to be on the side, like a workshop. The keynote speaker couldn’t make the event, so

WE WERE BORN TO SOLVE THIS CRISIS! By immediate appearance, Alec comes across as a smart looking guy. The thick rimmed glasses, thickly chopped dark hair and understated, plain clothing, all suggest someone who has a lot going on inside his head. What you might overlook, however, is that he is also someone with extreme might. His power lies within his sheer drive to do what he sees is right, and bring justice to a cause that he, and several millions of others, so rightly believe in.

they just threw me up there and I had to speak. I didn’t even know what a keynote speaker was, I had to ask my mom. But once I started speaking, I realised I was entirely comfortable and I really started going for it. [Laughs] Have you always been so environmentally aware? Well, I’ve moved around a lot. But now I live in Ventura, which is quite a surfer-esque town. It’s fairly relaxed and it’s filled with a fairly active environmentally conscious community, but it’s right next to a town, Ojai, which is full of rich old hippies and artist types. For me, it hit when I saw An Inconvenient Truth. After that I had this realisation, like a wake up call, that I totally wasn’t expecting. It was just a calling and I went with it.

Climate change is a term we have been earbashed with for the last decade, whether it be in school geography lessons, or on the news. The scare mongering of Global Warming is much more a reality than some are willing to admit; those in positions of power make promises they scarcely manage to keep. The failure to deliver on these promises has been too much for the young Loorz to simply sit back and accept, he has decided to take a stand, and not just by writing a blog about it, but by taking on these powers headfirst in a court room.

It’s not a conscious feeling, or something that I can put into words – it’s a feeling that you can’t go back to how you were before. I mean I’ve tried to go back, but it’s just impossible to ignore. If I ever think it’s impossible, then I know it will still

Loorz founded Kids vs. Global Warming aged just twelve years old. It came about, he says, h

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What does a calling feel like?

THE ECO WARRIORS

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THE ECO WARRIORS get done, even if I have to pass it on. It’s not like I have to save the world. it’s not some sort of superiority complex, I’m part of something that is bigger than me. You say you live in quite a hippy area of California, are you a spiritual person?

This will almost definitely take my whole life. I know that, and it’s okay

I guess I kind of am, but not a defined sort. My parents met whilst training as pastors, my mom wanted to change the church from the inside out. It changed drastically over the course of time, my parents split and it led to them getting kicked out of this church! But as for me, I feel like the church and everything has changed it’s values, and it’s not what I’m into. I have tried Buddhism, though, the chants and everything. We spent a week in the Amazon, and the Andes, it was crazy, we tried Shamanic chants and awesome stuff... [Laughs]. I feel like a mash up of everything! Isn’t it terrifying giving these huge speeches to thousands of people? Well there has to be death before resurrection, there has to be dark before light, and all of that stuff. Every time before a speech there’s always darkness, but every time there’s something that saves it, right up until the night before or the morning of the speech, I’m saved, somewhat. There’s always the question of ‘am I actually making a difference?’ and that gets me, but I can’t measure what sort of impact I’ve had. It must be tough getting people your age on-board with your ideas, how does it work? It’s all about getting the youth involved and ultimately interested – whether you’re a Bieber fan or a tree-hugging activist, you have a sense of responsibility – you know something’s wrong. But you also know that we can do something about it and be the ones to change it, we were born to solve this crisis! These people just need to activate the shift within and wake up. I try to get through to them on an emotional level. I like the way music has the ability to shift people and get to them on a deeper level. That’s what I’m trying to achieve with my presentations, to get that shift, because once you start there’s no going back – there’s a momentum.

35 sentence in, and afterward I was really annoyed that I had forgotten to say this fact or that line. But I managed to get over that and carry on. Can you expand on the suing of the U.S government? We filed a preliminary injunction, stating that ‘We Are In Danger’, it’s like what people file when they might get murdered – but we will be in danger!

We’re asking them to commit to a plan, Dr. James Hansen (top guy at NASA) has worked to develop. The plan helps get us out of this mess, reducing carbon by 6% every year, to get to a safe level by 2100. We want them to commit to it. If we succeed, they have to make that happen. This is what science says needs to happen, not just us. It’s a bit of a foreign concept to live beyond your lifetime, and I know this will almost definitely take my whole life. I know that, and it’s okay. Did you been follow the Occupy case, it must’ve been your type of thing?! Totally! Under 18’s make up over 30% of the planet, so we urged everyone to get involved, to occupy the Occupy movement, if you will! I went to visit Washington for a talk, and there were several people from the Occupy D.C movement. As we were walking on the sidewalk, more people took to the street, so I joined in and wandered around for a few hours! The movement is what we need, I mean, the message seems scattered, but what they’re doing is just what’s needed right now. There’s 80 million under-18’s here in the States, so hijacking the Occupy movement was a good way to wake people up and be heard. What would you say is the most fun aspect of what you do? The travelling is fun, but after a while it becomes exhausting. Knowing that this is what I’m supposed to be doing, being in a role, it feels pretty amazing. The most inspiring part is seeing it click, like the realisation in peoples eyes, when you actually see it in the crowds when you speak – I think that’s my favourite part of it all.

Momentum’s a good word, so you don’t expect us just to wake up one morning and change? Not at all, even if you don’t start immediately, you know it’s the next step, what you’re aiming towards. I mean, I still drink coffee from Starbucks and wear clothing that is most probably made in sweatshops... but I’m working on that shift. No more excuses!

How do you meet opposition?

In the U.S, the scepticism is much worse than anywhere else – it’s crazy, I mean something like half of the people here seem to think that global warming doesn’t even exist. I was on Fox News at sixteen, against the news reader and some sort of lobbyist, but they crushed me. I barely got a

What are your demands?

Where are you going next?

I’m in the process of making a book, the really early stages. It revolves around the idea of the apocalypse, which is a word we are terrified of, but it’s meaning has been manipulated – the true meaning of apocalypse is change and starting over. When I started looking into it and all these phrases stuck out to me, ‘rebirth’ and ‘lifting the veil on age of falsehood’, it blew me away! I want to address where we are going. Writing about it in stages; ending with the revelation that we belong to the earth and that we need to think of the future generations, beyond ourselves. I’m trying to get this done before I’m eighteen, but that’s in a matter of months, so I think that maybe I’ll head for the first draft, at least! Keep your eyes peeled, it will happen! HECKYEAH

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HERE’S SOME LADS TAKING ON THE FUTURE THEIR OWN WAY; THROUGH HARD WORK, BIG IDEAS AND JUST A LITTLE BIT OF DEDICATION – AND THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

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Skateboarding is hard. Business is hardER. Starting your own skateboard business? DEFINITELY HARD. BUT according to Lloyd Davies, it’s just a way of keeping what you love, JUST how you like it The dream is to keep British skateboarding on top. Whether it be through new decks, top quality garments or regularly updated video footage – Lloyd is a guy who lives and breathes his hobby. Now, with 14:01 SKATEBOARDS, we see his fledgling British brand sprout it’s wings. We met through a mutual friend, all of six years ago. At the time, Lloyd was a young skater, mixed with a bit of a townie wardrobe – Lacoste, McKenzie, Nike and Adidas tracksuits and shaggy hair. Today, the hair is pretty much the same, his clothing has changed to a more skaterecognisable aesthetic, but his ideas and passion for skateboarding have expanded, tenfold. In just a few months, what had started off as a pipedream, to set up a skate company (something that most skateboarders will have wanted to do at some point) to actually having a series of customised decks, tees and beanies, stocked in stores and selling out of an online store, has actually come true. And how does it all come to life? Well, we had a word with the boss man and asked him ourselves, as well as where British skateboarding is now. So, Lloyd, how did you get yourself into skateboarding? It all started with Tony Hawks Pro skater, I used to be amazed by it and being a kid playing the game I used to think “yeah I could do that”. My grandad bought me my first set up (a cheap £50 thing with plastic wheels and the worst trucks imaginable!) but the struggle of learning how to ollie just got me hooked. I used to skate a lot outside my house from the age of twelve but it wasn’t until I was sixteen that I really got into it. That’s when I got my first real set up and got forced by my friends on my first street skate to ollie a 5-stair set. That’s when I realised it’s better than football! [Laughs] h HECKYEAH

What made you go and start your own company?

Who’s your dream signing to 14:01?

Lucas Puig, the man is unstoppable! Since picking up a skateboard, I’ve always wanted to be involved in the skateboard industry. I felt like I wanted to put out whatever I want, so after months of planning and thinking about it, I just did it! I’m not doing it to be the richest man in skateboarding, I’m doing it for skateboarding. I just want to put out good products, have good riders on the team, put out good footage and get people stoked on skateboarding.

You run a weekly trick post called ‘One Trick Phony’, what’s that all about? It’s just a bit of fun, it’s a weekly update of a trick I’ve filmed or footage that someone has submitted in to me. Anyone can get involved, just drop me a email at Lloyd@1401.co (not com!) with the raw footage and if I have to rewind it more that twice, I’ll use it. I’ll always watch anything that is sent in!

Where did the 14:01 name come from?

I used to meet my friends at the weekends at the local skate park at 14:00. So 14:01 means the first minute of skateboarding as I was growing up. It was the first name that I came up with and it’s the one that stuck. I only had a handful of brand names but none of the others meant anything to me. You pronounce it “fourteen oh one” but I’ve had friends call it “one minute past two” or “two oh one” as a joke. It all means the same thing! And how did you get things rolling with the brand from the ideas to realised designs? I felt like challenging myself, after all, I set up 14:01 as just a bit of fun. I’ve had so much help from friends with designs which I appreciate more than the people involved realise. I couldn’t of got the ball rolling without them so thanks guys for all your help! Oh, and cheers to my nan for sewing on all the labels/buttons on all the soft goods! What sort of feedback have you been getting on the brand as a British newcomer? Really good to be honest, considering it’s only been around for a few months. It’s been selling well online. We’re also currently stocked in SS20 in Oxford and Reskue in Southampton. It will be in a few more shops around the UK this year. /

Are there any plans to make a video?

Yes there is! I’ve just got myself a Canon 600D with a few lenses. I’m just getting a team together now, the riders aren’t big names; I’m picking my weapons wisely. I’ve got a few boys that smash it and have so much potential to be big names in British skateboarding. I want to give product to skateboarders that deserve it and will rep hard. The team will be announced one by one with a welcome edit. I’ve just put on Isaac Blease from Truro in Cornwall and Dale Starkie from Leeds. I’m stoked to have them on the team! What’s your favourite brand/video out right now? Altamont is my favourite brand, everything they put out, I want in my wardrobe. My favourite video right now is City Of Rats, a film by Henry EdwardsWood; the cinematography is incredible and the skateboarding is intense. Every skateboarder should own this DVD. As well as running the brand, you still skate – so, what’s the next trick you want to nail? I’ve always had this mental block with nollie 360 flips. I can flip them 8/10 times, I just can’t put my feet on them. I’ve spent hours skating flatland, 0

just trying, but my feet just won’t land over those bolts. I’ll be in my thirties before I get one, I swear.

Finally, what’s next for 14:01?

A new series of boards, five-panel caps and an assortment of different tee’s and hood’s. There’ll be a full team and then a video in the next couple of years. I’m trying not to have too much of a rigid game plan, so I’ll take every day as it comes. 14:01 was started as a bit of fun and for my love of skateboarding, any progression is a winner.

THE CURRENT 14:01 STOCK. AVAILABLE ONLINE, AT RESKUE AND SS20. HECKYEAH

YOUNG MONEY

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MEET SALAR KOOSHKI, ONE OF THE LATEST, and youngest, ADDITIONS TO THE VANS U.k. SKATE TEAM. TO DO THIS, WE HAD TO GO AND HIT SOME SKATE SPOTS in london...QUEUE GRAZED palms, SPLIT-CROTCH jeans and some FACEPLANTS

Being fourteen is tough, right? School, exams, paper rounds for pocket money and keeping your moaning parents happy –all tasks in the daily life of the modern teenager. Hobbies come and go, too. Some more serious than others. Skateboarding, the reserve of the outsider for more than forty years, is one of the cooler hobbies. There is no two ways about it – jumping down a huge set of concrete steps on a piece of wood, and not breaking your back, is cool. Now imagine getting given the tools you need, to do what you want. Cool, right? Salar Kooshki is one of the latest additions to Vans’ notorious team. A distinctly confident young teenager, Salar had been snapped up by the Creature skate team not long before the big, waffle-shoe toting team came calling for his skills. Often found with his friends, a small group of young skaters who meet up at the Three Amigos skate shop on Camden Road. An independent store that is packed full of skate goods, from tees and hoodies, DVD’s and accessories, through to fully set-up boards – the Three Amigos also seems to serve as a hangout for the young skaters between sessions. When I first meet Salar, we pop in to the store to pick up some supplies – then it’s off to skate the concrete park just up the road. Later, before a local competition, we stop and have a chat about the ups and downs of getting known.

and then had a go for myself. I was hooked pretty much straight away. And how long did it take to get to where you are now? Well, I sucked for the first year or so, but then I picked up pretty quick and it all got mad! Now I just try to progress and add more and more tricks. You’re sponsored by Creature and Vans U.K, how did they get hold of you? Pete from Three Amigos has been the biggest help, he was in contact with the guys at Creature, who ended up being my first proper sponsor. Then last year I was in touch with Nic Powley at Vans, and I ended up going with them, too, they’re nice and give me shoes! You must be happy being sponsored so young – do you tell many people? I’m definitely happy but I don’t brag about it, there’s no point in being arrogant. My main sponsor is Three Amigos, and I’ll happily tell people it’s easily the best sponsor I’ve had. Are you going to get your hands dirty at the shop? I wanna do work experience here, I’ve been asking Pete when I can come help out. I think

Kooshki’s a cool surname, where do you hail from? I was born in Iran, but I didn’t live there very long. I’ve been in England since I was three. What was your introduction to skateboarding? I had friends who were properly into skating, so I just got eased into it, HECKYEAH

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when I’m sixteen I can have a go and learn the business side of things, instead of just hanging out all the time. What’s the best thing about being a sponsored skater? The whole feeling is just good, it’s all about the vibe. I know that sounds a bit vague but it’s really how it is, it’s a buzz that you can’t really explain. I guess the free stuff helps a lot, too! But with the freebies comes some pressure, right? Yeah, there’s a pressure to keep at this level, ideally better! It comes with the territory, I just have to keep on it and skate as much as possible. I’m doing okay, but now I’m trying new things, like bowl skating, which is cool. I just want to expand my skills, so I’m not just a street skater. A lot of the bowl guys are older than me, but they’re all pretty nice, I just don’t get their jokes sometimes!

Are you known in your school?

[Laughs] Yeah, I think everyone knows me. I hate school, though; it’s never a place that I want to be at. I’ll always try and get out of having to go in, and then skate instead of going to my lessons. I guess school is okay for me though, none of the older lot tend to say or do anything, I don’t get hassle from them. They don’t really phase me, though, because I know that I would just fight them if they did! HECKYEAH

What do your parents think of your skateboarding?

Do you listen to a specific music before you skate to hype you up?

Well, my mum’s just always told me to wear a helmet! My dad’s supportive, too. I have to clear it with them if I wanna go on a trip – but now I’m sponsored they pay more attention to it all. Dad’s happy enough with it because I hook him up with the stuff that’s too big for me, it keeps him sweet!

Yeah, I have a different playlist for each situation. When I skate bowl, I listen to Black Sabbath, or anything with big riffs. When I do street, it’s more Tyler The Creator and hip-hop. Then when I’m at home, it’s all just chilled out music like Lana Del Rey and stuff like that.

What’s the worst injury you’ve had and/or the worst that you’ve seen?

Do you skate outside of London much?

Yeah, I manage to get around for competitions a fair bit. Off the top of my head, I’ve been to Skegness, Manchester, Leeds, Blackpool – that was really fun, and some around Essex.

Who do you look up to?

I keep it tight with my homies, Felipe, Maro, Aref and Tim – they’re the ones I’m with the most, and they’re the ones I look to when I’m skating. If it’s pro, then it’s got to be Ben Raybourn.

Luckily, the most I’ve had is just a broken little toe and that’s it. My mate broke his hand, which I saw, and that really was not nice at all! You skate with other lads that are pretty good, is there a friendly competition going on all the time?

What’s your favourite skate film and favourite section?

Nah, it’s more like helping each other out. Some of them are sponsored, like Felipe is sponsored by Three Amigos, too, he’s really good. We all just want to get better together and progress at the same time.

Flip’s 2009 video, Extremely Sorry. Louie Lopez’s section in that video is just ridiculous.

What’s next on the sponsor list after Vans? Or the dream sponsor?

Indie would be a great sponsor. The biggest one I could ask for is Bones Wheels, that hook up would be incredible. But I’m good with what I have, I guess that the rest we’ll just have to see about!

And the best skating spot in London?

In and around St. Paul’s is the best that I can think of right now. I guess the ledges at London Bridge are a pretty good spot to hit, as well.

I Hook MY DAD up with the stuff thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s too big for me, it keeps him sweet!

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After 30 years of playing host to some of the capital’s best skateboarders, South Bank’s infamous flat spot was hit with threat of closure. What was originally an architectural dead-space, was adopted by skaters as a place to meet up, hang out and ride. It became so popular, that it was (and still is) widely regarded as the busiest skate park in the city. Located underneath the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the River Thames in London, the concrete spot has been threatened with closure for the last decade, but time is getting thin and the bastard planners at city hall aren’t messing around. Over time, the boring grey concrete walls have been tagged with the marks of previous visitors, then more regularly by local graffiti artists. Three decades on, and the walls are covered. Perhaps the best thing about visiting South Bank on more than one occasion, is the constantly changing artwork. The photo’s here and over the page are of relatively new work, but we can guarantee that at the time of this getting into your hands, the whole place will look completely different. This is all part of South Bank’s charm, it is a blank canvas not just for skateboarders, but for everyone. When you want to look for skateboarders, bladers, or any extreme riders, you can instantly head on down, and be spoilt for choice. In a city that boasts such welcoming to cultural diversity, we support South Bank in it’s fight to stay home to some of the most diverse talent in the capital, if not the country. We’ve slapped some stickers around there, too, and it’d be a shame to see them go!

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A SELECTION OF ARTWORK THAT CAN BE FOUND (OR PERHAPS NOT) ACROSS THE WALLS OF SOUTH BANK SKATE SPOT HECKYEAH

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BIG PLANS FROM SOME OF THE MOST ACTIVE MINDS SOUTH OF THE RIVER, MEET THE GUYS WHO ARE TRYING TO MAKE THE WORLD SEE THINGS THEIR WAY Take three young south London boys, give them a video camera and some internet access – doesn’t sound too ridiculous, right? Well, when they decide that they’re going to create a business combining photography, film, drama and clothing, whilst still studying – they become a little bit more interesting. Oh and they get around on rollerskates, too. The first time I met Pre-O, they were clad in Adidas shellsuits, filming tricks for a little short. There was nothing particularly unusual about these guys, skating South Bank on their blades – until I noticed that they weren’t blades, they were skates; two by two set wheels, all very retro.

You all live in London now, but you all have different heritages, right?

Pre-O is a bit of an unusual name, how did you think of it? Well we were originally known as a ‘circle’; I know three friends form a triangle, but it was because we were very unique, whatever was said or done stayed between just the three of us. When it came to a name, we threw in the first initial of our names and got the ‘PRE’ part, then we added the ‘O’ at the end which represents the original circle.

How did the group form?

Well, we’d always played football together, did most of the same things together socially and we only lived 2 minutes away from each other. We all went to the same school, we were in the same classes, it was just unavoidable. One way or another, we always got to hang out. This is when we started thinking about branching out. HECKYEAH

Where do you look to for ideas?

Yeah, we’re are all from different areas across the world. Ervis is from Albania, Pierre is from the Ivory Coast and Rhys is from Tunisia, it’s a pretty varied mix and is what makes us unique.

Mainly from everyday lives, it’s almost like things just come naturally that way. We always have Pre-O in our minds, with whatever we’re doing, so it shapes our ideas and gives us something to bring to the table when we meet up.

Where did the rollerskating come from?

We actually only started it last summer – it was good for us because we’re all energetic and like trying new things out, so we thought ‘why not?’ and gave it a go. We got into a habit where we would skate to school and everywhere else, rather than use public transport. All of this is because we had so much adrenaline, and it’s just stayed.

Formed in 2009 by three close friends who were looking to expand their own interests and give a little bit of themselves to the world, the boys took to launching their own multimedia entertainment company. Today, it’s still in formative stages, but things are looking good for Ervis, Pierre and Rhys, as they take to getting everyone on their side.

Is it a part of Pre-O, too?

Yeah, definitely! Rollerskating is part of Pre-O because it shows who we are normally, it’s what we genuinely like doing. We’re honest with that, and it’s an extension of our personalities. That being said, our group is not just based on one specific thing, it’s based on a variety of things like sports, academic talent and multimedia stuff.

Yeah, you could say that. Although, SBTV focuses a lot more on exposing and almost exploiting other peoples talents. The difference with us is that, although we are a media company, we are also working as ourselves, and each of us is exposing some form of talent. Within us we have a singer/ actor/comedian, a presenter and a director – so really we are using Pre-O as a platform to show off our talents, and showing off other peoples talents, as we go. We just want to entertain. Does anyone else that you know do something similar, is there competition? We have friends that have their own small media company, but they’re involved more in filming things like raves and parties – so I don’t really think that it’s a proper competition.

So it’s kind of like showing off a bit?

Hopefully by showing our skills in each thing puts out the message that we’re passionate about what we do. Each of these skills represents us, and is the focus of Pre-O.

What you do is sort of like SBTV, right?

Who inspires what you do?

It’s very internal. Although we all study different subjects in college, we all have the same media interests, like creating comedy sketches. We bounce off of each other really well and look within ourselves a lot of the time. We’ve seen some other independent companies that create similar things and, well, we personally think that we could do way better. So, in a way, it’s the disappointing companies that inspire us to push on and be better.

Have you guys got any collaborations lined up? We have some interviews with some very familiar underground and newly signed artists, but before we drop any of this, we need to properly introduce ourselves. Where do you see yourselves in a decade? With or without Pre-O? Ideally, as a major company selling products and entertainment to the public. However, if for some reason Pre-O doesn’t work out, individually we want to be along the lines of actors, singers and maybe even legit pilots! We just all have a constant passion to make a difference one day, whatever we end up doing.

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DISAPPOINTING companies inspire us to push on and be better

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53 (l-R) Rhys wears bodywarmer by Adidas, tee and cardigan by H&M and jeans by Levis Pierre wearS Bodywarmer by SuperDry, tee by H&M and jeans by Levis. Bracelet is his own Ervis wears Bodywarmer by Armani, tee by H&M and jeans by Dsquared2

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JORDAN WEARS HAT BY SUPREME, HOODY BY AMERICAN APPAREL, JACKET BY THE NORTH FACE

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WHETHER ON CANVAS OR CONCRETE, ONE YOUNG BRITISH ARTIST WANTS HIS WORK TO BE FOR EVERYONE Jordan Richardson is a bit of a mess of a character – nothing is quite as simple as it looks with him. Family ties to Wu Tang, an obsession with hip hop and The Doors, a fetish for streetwear and sneakers; he’s often found online asking people to give him something to do, like a canvas he can sell for cheaper than it cost him to make. Some people just love keeping busy, y’know. During our first Skype chat, seventeen year old Jordan is in the middle of college work. He speaks quickly and comfortably, and answers with enthusiasm – which is great when you’ve only ever seen him speak in two lines or less, via his blog ‘Since 1994’. In person, he is much more chatty, even if you do have to ask what the hell he’s saying through his vivid Geordie accent.

How did all this drawing on things start?

At school, I hated art – they really sucked the fun out of it. I remember when I was younger we had to draw a Battenburg cake, [sighs] then colour it with paint; it was the worst. I hated it. But then I moved up to college, and I was looking at contemporary work, drawing with Sharpies and such. That progressed to photography, which evolved and moved to graphics. I knew that this is what I wanted to do, like, all the time and it pushed me to doing art even more.

peoples perceptions of me used to get me down, but I’ve learnt not to give a shit

Do you come from an arty background?

Well, my dad was always really arty, I grew up looking at the pictures he drew, he was pretty encouraging. My uncle had done art work for Wu Tang, which is really cool, I’d love to get to that level at some point.

Does music play a role in your work?

Well, I was really obsessed with the late sixties and stuff, it was gnarly back then. Everything was good, The Doors played festivals, and they’re one of my favourite bands ever. People are always really shocked about that for some reason!

it’s just moved on I guess. It was more like what my parents were into. What do your parents think of your art work, on and off the canvas? My parents are cool, I don’t know how they ended up together, actually. My dad used to own a record label, back in the day, so he was always into music and the artwork side of things, and my mum sells houses! My friend has to hide his paintings from his parents, he doesn’t do big stencils because they’ll see it and he’ll get in trouble. I’m grateful that my parents are super supportive – it’s cool making them proud, really. So, you moved from street art to canvasses, what caused the shift? Well, I started with canvas after doing tests on cardboard. I found some 50 × 70 cm canvasses for dead cheap, so I bought a couple. I still do stuff on the street but I can share the canvas work; there’s a big buzz in that.

My sister had grabbed this picture of Pharrell from Facebook, and then someone sent me a request to do it as a proper canvas for him, so I whipped it up pretty quickly, and he really liked it!

Do you prefer the canvas or the street?

I can’t really decide because I like doing canvas’ for people and making them happy, but I like doing it on the streets because that’s for me, and I get to see it more often. I like the rush of doing street art, and even thought of someone maybe taking a photo of one that I had done.

Have you been caught graffing?

No, not yet! I always get proper cautious when I’m out – I just throw on my North Face jacket and cover up my face. Some girl that I know was caught recently and she got a £300 fine! I’m definitely not into that, so I might have to move to stickers or something less dangerous! [Laughs]

What was the first canvas that you did?

Stickers can be cool! Right?

It’s because you always blog hip-hop!

Well yeah, but when I started the blog, it was more about The Doors and The Beatles and that,

Yeah, it worked for Obey didn’t it! They just started slapping them everywhere. Up here there are spots where people put stickers, like this club HECKYEAH

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called The Cut, where people put up tonnes of stickers. There’s a whole area just messed with logos and colours – it’s great! Does the illegality of street art still manage to excite you? Yeah, I mean I’d rather just get out there and get it done, y’know. Too many people sit and wonder about whether they’ll get in trouble and don’t do anything, ever. At the end of the day it’s just paint, right?!

I have a routine which is hard to explain, but I have to tap things and stuff like that. I couldn’t write properly for ages, it would take me hours to read a single page. If I was in the bath, I would have a routine, like a certain playlist, and a song would mean to get out of the bath. I would skitz out in Asda, because there’s words everywhere and I’d have to read them all, I’d have to just leave or I’d go crazy.

How did you cope with it?

Tell that to the police!

Well, I don’t really see what I do as graffiti... [Pauses] I mean that there’s always people who say they do graffiti and it’s just gang tags, that’s what I think of when I hear the word. I work with iconography, it’s beyond graffiti. What about murals – they have a bit of a darkness to them, being resigned for the dead, is there an appeal in that?

The biggest thing I loved was gardening, that chilled me out, it calmed me down and I really loved it. George Harrison is my favourite person ever, I’d play that out loud when I was gardening, or my mum would read me his book to me whilst I was doing it, because I’d just take too long to read it myself. The whole of our back garden is basically done by me!

At the end of the day it’s just paint, right?!

Definitely, I have this weird obsession with dead people. I guess that sounds messed up, but yeah, I do love it. I’ve read into the ‘27 Club’ far too much. (The 27 Club is an unofficial title for popular musicians who all died at the age of twenty-seven.) I did a Jim Morrisson stencil, for some girl, but it’s something I’ve wanted to put up for myself for ages. But don’t call it a mural, because when I hear that word, I think of something shit and overly pretty. What other dead people would you like to stencil? Icons like Ian Curtis and Bob Marley, those two would look cool, I think. What do your friends think of your canvas work? My friends seem to be into what I do. Like, when I go out they often want me to do stuff for them. Although a lot of their ideas of art is different, but I like doing my own thing. I wouldn’t do something that isn’t good. Then again, I’m a perfectionist from the start. I actually have OCD, legitimately!

What’s it like living with OCD?

And how does OCD affect your art?

Basically, I just cant be around my work too long, I’d wanna change it all. I’ve got an anxiety order and peoples perceptions of me used to get me down, but I’ve learnt not to give a shit That’s a good thing! Your current canvas works have a similar theme, all hip hop and the colourways are the same, is this part of a plan? I think of the work as a series, I’m always pushing to change. Next I want to try typography, I got an A-grade in typography, but I missed the exam because I had glandular fever. I spent a whole year off of school because of it. I used the time getting to work on art and photography, I managed to have a good break. Do you feel like you missed out by not going to school at all? Well not exactly. Like, when I was in Year 9, I was really into fashion and different types of magazines. For months my mates at the time took the piss out of me for it, they just called me poof and what not. Now they’re the ones following like sheep, looking like One Direction... [Sighs] That’s school for you!

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Everything changes after school, don’t you think? Yeah, like I’d be waiting around in town and see the bitchy girls from school, and now we’re no longer in school, they’re nothing. They grow up thinking that they’re all that, but then situations change and roles reverse. I can’t stand bitchy people. Some people think I look down on them, but it always turns out that it’s someone I’ve never met, who’s looked at me and made up their mind. Safe to say you’re not into the typical ‘lad’ style then? Not really, I cant stand people who are an exact copy of their dad, and their dad’s dad, and so on. Just like the ones who read those lads mags and shit like that. I’d much rather hang out with people with crazy ideas. They can be hard to find, but I know some good people, they manage to look cool, too!

How do you find ‘good’ people?

I think you have to go to college to find other people who are into cool things and who dress well, it doesn’t always come out of your normal street. You need to get out and try other things, and meet people, and change, grow up, like. You’re into streetwear now, what are you into? Lately, I’ve been into the Ralph Lauren and the new Lacoste stuff. I’m into North Face, and then the hip hop stuff like BAPE and Billionaire Boys Club. Air Jordan’s or Air Max for footwear. I used to hate Converse, but now I love the low ones, they’re pretty alright. Your blog suggests you’re a bit of a sneaker-head. Yeah, I’m really into sneakers, and books on sneakers. I really like hunting for stuff. At the moment I’m looking out for some original Nike Huaraches and the Infrared AM90’s. But that blog is an extension of everything, it’s where I put my work and where I find inspiration. For now it’s sneakers but later it will be something else! You’ll just have to wait and see!

HAT BY SUPREME, Sunglasses by Ray Ban, Shirt by Cheap Monday, tee by A Bathing Ape, WATCH BY G-SHOCK, JEANS BY LEVI’s, trainers are nike air jordan

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Basement • Dead Red Sun • HOWL • MNEK & BARTOVEN • Dead Swans WATCH THE WEB • REVIEWS • SUMMER PLAYLISTS

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Touring, food and t-shirts – the Ipswich FIVE PIECE talk about life on the road, home and away

English bands touring America is always a big deal. Breaking the States is something that even The Beatles had trouble with. So when BASEMENT, from Ipswich, bucked the musical trend of their hardcore peers and decided to do their own thing, America actually paid attention – not bad going for a band barely in their twenties.

The band is composed of two brothers, vocalist Andrew and drummer James, along with bassist Duncan and guitarists Alex and Ronan. As well as guitar duties, Alex records everything the band get up to, his camera is always switched on for photographs or for filming. We spoke to him to find out as much as we could get to know about being in Basement, from their roots through to the food stops.

Last winter, a free show at the Old Blue Last in London’s Shoreditch saw the floor fill in minutes. The room swelled with the voices of almost everyone in attendance, chiming along to the lyrics. There was even a bit of fevered crowd surfing. Earlier this year, Basement sealed their current success with a live recorded session for Radio One at their studios in Maida Vale. All of this topping off a completed, and well documented, brief tour of the United States.

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I remember thinking ‘are we really in America playing shows to kids who actually know who we are?

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91 Basement: (left to right) Duncan, Ronan, Andrew, Alex, James [Photo: Ariel LeBeau]

When and where did the band begin?

How many bands had you guys been in before?

The band started in late 2009 or early 2010, I think. We all lived in the same area and we had all been in other bands. All of us wanted to do something different to what we had done before. We started recording rough demo’s in my basement and eventually recorded a 4 track demo and started playing some shows. It just went from there really.

Not many, really. I’d been in a band during high school – we just did punk covers and jammed. The only ‘show’ we played was our school prom. [Laughs] The rest of the guys had been in local punk/ska bands, but again nothing major, just local shows, playing to friends and whoever was at the bar that night.

What’s the collective age of the band?

106. The youngest of us 18, and the oldest is 23.

Any specific reason for the name?

Well, I live in the basement of our house and all

my friends used to come over and just hang out down there. We wanted a name that didn’t mean anything, like just a word, a blank canvas for the music. But it’s cool to know it has a personal meaning to me. Who are the biggest influences on the band? I’m not sure there is a direct influence, really. The main thing is us just being friends and honestly enjoying writing music. Obviously bands we like influence us, but even that changes constantly. I think just seeing bands as a kid, HECKYEAH

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growing up and thinking “I want to release a record”, or “I want to design a T-shirt” was just something that I have always wanted to do. You were all pretty young for such a big step overseas. How did the America tour come around? We’d always wanted to go to the States; it was something we thought about since we started and it still blows my mind that it’s happened. We’re luckily enough to have an amazing U.S label (Run For Cover) and they really helped push us and get people listening Stateside. We then went on tour with a band called Daylight in Europe and we got on so well with them that we said we would have to do a tour together in America. Through us keeping in contact with them and the help of our manager and best friend, Justin Collier, a tour was booked. We are so grateful to everyone who made it possible, because we had the best time.

What was the best show there?

There were so many awesome shows but I think Long Island was my favourite as I have a lot of friends out there and the show was insane. It was such a great vibe and loads of kids turned up to check out the bands. Virginia Beach and Philly were crazy, Ohio was amazing. There were so many moments that just felt surreal to us, I remember thinking ‘are we really in America playing shows to kids who actually know who we are?’.

Where had the best food?

We all had our favourites, but Cook Out is an amazing southern eat out place for super cheap. I personally swear by Chik Fil A, but we did try and go to as many locally run or independent places to eat. Dog Town in Rochester was a great place to get hot dogs, we all ordered a meal called ‘Garbage Plates’ you get sausages with chili sauce, fries, and a load of other think all piled on top of each other, it looked crazy but it tasted amazing!

And the best pit-stops?

I’d say Sheetz and WaWa were the best for stocking up on snacks for the van drives!

What’s been your favourite show so far?

I think one of my favourites was our show at the

Old Blue Last. It was a really great turn out and people we’re singing along, it was an awesome vibe the whole night. I’ll never forget the set at Hevy fest last year, either. Hevy was our first ever festival experience and it was mad. Our friend Sykes filmed it, and it’s something that I’ll always look back on and watch as something to be really proud that I was a part of.

Do you guys design all the band merch? How do you get your ideas? Between myself and James we design all the merch – we have only ever had two guest designers and both have been our friends. Most of the time I just think of what I would want on a shirt but other times I draw something and go from there. I take a lot of influence from skateboarding and artists such as Travis Millard, Michael Sieben and Mark Gonzales. Recently we have been doing a lot of illustrative shirt designs and I think they are coming out pretty cool. I like making designs that I would want to wear. James’ illustrations are pretty wild – what do you think influences him? James is one of my favourite artists. He’s so talented and I really love making the zines with him. It’s awesome being creative with your friends and making something that other people are willing to spend their money on, it’s crazy when I think about it. Loads of things influence James’ drawings, mainly food, music, people all the key things! He’s very good at trying new mediums and different techniques – one day he will be screenprinting the next he might go and make an awesome collage – it’s rad!

Is everyone now comfortable with you having the camera on all of the time? Yeah pretty much; I don’t tend to film people if they don’t want me to. I usually get to know the people before I film them, so that they feel comfortable. It’s all about getting footage of people when they are relaxed and when they feel safe to talk to the camera – that’s when you get the best footage and that can sometimes be a really hard task.

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93 What was it like for you being on tour with New Found Glory? Awesome! I went away with a band called The Wonder Years in 2010 and I was a guitar tech for their tour with New Found and Lemuria. They are all really nice people and everyone got on so well. Crazily enough, the next year I went out to the States and I was working for Man Overboard doing their music video. The tour they were on was with New Found Glory, so it was cool to see them all again. I ended up filming for them and even worked with them on their D.I.Y music video for their single, Anthem of the Unwanted. It’s really surreal when you get to work with bands that you have been listening to since a kid. In your head, as kid, you think everyone is a rock star but really they’re just regular people like everyone else. Have you had any trouble with filming whilst you’ve been on tour? Only ever at venues. Some venues in America particularly the House of Blues chain, require you to have a media pass and you have to sign a bunch of forms, that sucks. Other than that, everything has been plain sailing when it comes to filming. Plus I film on a DSLR so most people just think I’m just taking a photo.

Manipulated Stills taken from ‘Basement & america’ A video DocumentarY by Alex Henery

What’s the plan for this summer?

We’re really pushing to tour America again and we’re going to Australia for the first time in June! As for recording, we have a bunch of songs, it’s just finding the right place to record at. We should have a full length out by the end of the year, though.

What records should we look out for?

The new Title Fight will be awesome as always, and the same with Tigers Jaw, I can’t wait to hear their new material. Always look out for new Run For Cover releases, they always have great bands releasing new music.

Favourite piece of merch?

Sebadoh have some awesome old shirts, they have a cool doodle style to their designs, which I love. Even though I don’t listen to much Sonic Youth, I’ve always admired the artistic direction in their merch and albums. But any old tour shirt from the 90’s works, really! Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine, Green Day – that’s my jam. HECKYEAH

Dead Red Sun In Paris (L-R) Ollie, Tom & Mike

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SIX-minute, space warped instrumental epics, the South London post-rock trio are set to step up their sound this summer, with the reCORDING of their new E.P

New Cross is famous for several reasons: it’s the home of Goldsmiths university, of Millwall F.C, the birthplace of Bloc Party and Blur, and of the now defunct New Rave genre. It’s even home to the Venue night club. Now there’s also a chance that it will be honoured in years to come with the conception of another great band, Dead Red Sun. Having racked up stage time with Tubelord, Tall Ships, Pharaohs, and even Babyshambles, Dead Red Sun have been pushing their sound across the city for a little while now. Sweat fuelled sets at established nights such as Clinic Presents, Fuck The Whiteboard at the Old Blue Last, Bangers & Mash and Oxjam Kilburn are seeing the trio get to grips with an ever growing fan base. Playing six-minute tracks can get a little tedious it seems, long sets and no vocals means the band have to work harder to keep fans excited, both on record and when playing live; something that so far hasn’t been much of a problem. But it’s all about to change... The guys took some time out of their practice to have a word about where they came from and where they’re going. Dead Red Sun is such an epic name, were there any other contenders? Tom: There was a book called The Sun People that we were reading at the time, so there were things like 100 Suns and Sun People. The final name was ultimately Mikes idea, though. How many times has it been typo’d since you started? All: More than ten, at least! We’ve had Red Dead Sun, Red Dead Sea, Dead Red Sons, Dead Red Dud – it’s the same ones again and again, nobody ever gets it right! Your sound is quite varied – how many genres have you been squeezed into since forming? All: Indie, Experimental Rock, Math Rock, Post Rock... Mike: We’d just say it’s Modern Rock, that’s all it really is, but we don’t really like being tied down.

So how did you guys start out – who knew who from where etc? T: We met whilst in university halls, in New Cross. M: I gave up guitar before halls, as I didn’t really think I’d be playing whilst I was there, but a year later I’d started up again. Ollie: Initially it was us just jamming Kings Of Leon... What’s different about this upcoming E.P then? T: The songs are shorter! M: It’s like the triple-distilled Smirnoff version of the last record, it’s been refined.

O: If it felt like it belonged, then we’d be up for it. M: It would have to be someone we know already, we wouldn’t seek it out, it’d have to be natural. T: I think if we had a singer now, we’d feel trapped to have to write to fit the lyrics. But it’s not something that we would rule out. You’re notorious for your tightly-packed house-shows in London. How does a stage compare to a kitchen? T: Stage shows are realistic, as that’s what you’d normally play, but house shows are so much fun. O: There’s that barrier, where with a stage, people will watch you and take it in properly, whereas at a house show, people just go nuts a bit more.

What’s the song writing process? Does one lay the foundations down and the other two build around it? O: Mike cocoons himself away in his room, then comes out two hours later with a bit for us. T: We usually have the skeleton of it recorded and then go and build on that. Do you refine the music for recording, or is it always left open for improvisation? M: Lately there’s been a lot of playing with polyrhythms. The sound I’ve developed is based from looping, it’s how my mind works now. I think I’d find it quite hard to play in a more ‘regular’ or simplified band. Your songs are named after computer game levels, so what’s your favourite video game?

Do you get to play house shows still?

O: They don’t really come up as much as we’d like them to. You have to know the person who’s holding it, so they’re a bit few and far between.

M: Right now it’s probably Super Smash Bros. T: Baldurs Gate II, but that’s really, really lame! O: I’d say Medievil, which was on Playstation.

T: [Laughs] Not a chance, our neighbours would kick off, there would probably be a bloodletting. O: Yeah, there would definitely be an actual fight.

Who has influenced you, musically?

T: Slipknot! They are all that I listened to at school. M: My musical heritage is pretty much ‘dad-rock’. But then, before uni, I got into electronic stuff. When Radiohead’s In Rainbows album came out and I was just mindblown. O: At school I was pretty much just into Linkin Park, Alien Ant Farm and a small phase of Papa Roach...[Laughs] Your songs don’t really use any vocals, the occasional shout or sample, maybe, but there’s no lyrics – is there any scope for a singer?

What about one at your house?

So, where else are you at this summer?

We’re sorting out the upcoming shows, now. You can always check on our website and Twitter and then come along and watch us! Do you think you’ll still play when you’re 30? T: I don’t know about the others, but I will be. Probably in some wedding band, but yeah! HECKYEAH

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TALKING INFLUENCE AND INTERNET WITH SOUNDCLOUD’S LATEST SOMBRE-MIX CHAMPION

Eighteen year old producer, singer and songwriter, Josh Banham, goes by the musical alias, Howl. His consistent barrage of music uploads has seen his name beging to grab the attention of influential music press. We caught up with him in his hometown of Bromley to talk about work and play, online.

Well I used to be called Black Cat White Cat and that was a bit lame. [Laughs] By the time I’d moved on to more electronic and ambient type stuff, I started to think of new names, and Howl was one of the ones that was brainstormed. I was thinking along the lines of animals and stuff like that, it was one of the ones that really stuck with me. I like the way it looks, too – because aesthetic is really important in music.

When I say ‘pop’ – it’s a broad term. Pop isn’t just stuff like JLS, pop is everything right now; hip-hop is pop now. People like Azealia Banks and A$AP Rocky, that is pop and it’s cool!

Kanye West is one of my biggest influences, a lot of kids will roll their eyes at that, but I really like how his mind works. Plus he’s a lot more genuine than other rappers. He’s never pretended to be anyone else, he’s never said that he had a hard upbringing in ‘the projects’ or anything like that. t

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How about Twitter?

I used to talk about the Howl stuff on my personal twitter but I think it got a bit much for people to handle. So I started again and made a Howl d

But isn’t it hard being nice?

I think it can be hard being nice in the music business, some things are just there to test you. I know of some people that are at Brit School, who won a songwriting award, aged sixteen, for writing a song about writing songs – if you’ve got to that stage already, you’re fucked. It was the same stuff you’ve heard before and they’re wearing shit from Claire’s Accessories. They’re eighteen and making the mistakes we all got out of our systems at fourteen. Stuff like that is tough to be nice about. So you’re not a fan of Brit School?

If there’s no good major labels in the U.K and you’re anti-Brit School, then where can you go? With me, it’s about getting on to blogs, as much as I spend time moaning about them, you have the best chances of getting heard as much as possible. The recent Fader article about me seemed to attract around a thousand more plays on the Howl page, because people would read it and give it a listen – just because Fader had said so – they’re very influential. If everything kicked off this summer, I’d defer for a year. But if it doesn’t hit just yet, I’ll embrace university and work on my writing. Really, I think I’d have to defer, because I’d hate to become bitter and only be able to write about other people, without having a good stab at it first.

So you’re not a fan of Tumblr?

[Sighs] I keep saying I’ll delete it, but it’s a necessary evil. When I post an online mix via Soundcloud, it gets listened to a lot quicker than through any other medium. People reblog my posts via Tumblr, and then I get feedback.

Who influences your production?

Which Tweeter’s annoy you?

I wouldn’t have a problem if they were making proper pop music, I just wish they’d stop trying to manufacture ‘alternative’ music. There’s no way you can teach that, it just doesn’t work!

Do you use other sites?

Well, Bandcamp is better than Soundcloud, because it’s much more customisable. As much as I use it, there’s something with Soundcloud that is oversaturated, it’s becoming less about the music, and more about getting followed, like Tumblr.

Is pop hard to do?

I unfollowed Kreayshawn recently, she was too much. She’d just talk about getting high and white-girl swag, which is pretty racist in it’s own way. Some people can use it well, and some are really genuine. The biggest rule, like all of the internet, is don’t be bitchy, because a lot of the time it’s baseless.

How do you keep things fresh?

Neil Young said that music piracy is the new radio, and I definitely agree. I only really ever listen to radio when I’m getting ready in the morning. XFM played a Yeah Yeah Yeah’s song which I’d never heard before – so I got it online and now I’d definitely go and see them. That’s the sort of thing that pirate radio used to do back in the day. In the right hands, music piracy is the future more than something like Soundcloud.

I think it’s because hip-hop has taken over, massively. But because barely anyone can rap, everyone’s having a go at the production side of things, instead. Although, to say you ‘produce’ covers a lot, it’s a bit of a blanket term. Really, I’m a singer, and the only one doing it out of everyone that I know, plus I’m more pop-orientated. I guess that if you can say ‘Yeah man, I’m a producer...’ that sounds a lot cooler than me saying ‘Yeah, I do electronic-y, sing-y music’, so I just generalise.

Do you think that downloading has taken the place of pirate radio?

Everyone’s doing production nowadays; what’s up with that?

account (@hxxxwl). Now, I can talk about it and people can’t have a go at me for being annoying!

Generally, a lot of the beats are sent to me by people who are into a lot of good music, and really diverse styles. I take influences from everything; I’ll hear a guitar riff and want to have a go at it, but then change it because I don’t really play guitar. Then I’ll listen to Aaliyah and want to play a bit more r’n’b. I want to keep it organic and do as much as of it myself, because then I know where I’m actually coming from when I release it online.

Why the name Howl?

He’s privileged and he knows it. People like A$AP Rocky sound cool, but the whole guns/drugs/bitches thing just feels tacky. Bjork is another big influence, which I guess is classed as a bit out-there.

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IF YOU’VE GOT TO THE STAGE OF WRITING SONGS ABOUT WRITING SONGS...YOU’RE FUCKED

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Everyone knows that having a Facebook or a Twitter is the best way to promote what you do – in many cases you can directly get hold of people that are normally unapproachable or just too damn busy. In Heck Yeah’s case, we’d managed to speak directly to two very talented young musicians – but their management stopped us going any further... Of course we wouldn’t let a little thing like agencies and managers stop us from introducing you to the best brother act since top geezers, Phil and Grant Mitchell. So allow us to present MNEK and BARTOVEN – keeping it in the family and taking over your radio this summer. MNEK, whose real name, Uzo Osisioma Emenike (read the surname phonetically as em-en-ee-kay) is one of the most talented young producers in British music right now. Last year, he was marked by The Guardian newspaper as one-to-watch, and more recently, NME were granted permission to speak with him. But why is he so special? Well, aged just sixteen, he scored his first U.K Top 5 hit writing a track for The Saturdays called “All Fired Up” which became their fastest selling track, moving over 75,000 units in the first week! With this, the music world took notice. In November of last year he released his first track, “If Truth Be Told”, which was put out by the independent label, Moshi Moshi Records, who have helped the likes of Bloc Party, Florence & The Machine, Hot Chip and several others. Things just kept rolling on for Uzo, and this summer his infectious pop spirit has given us the song “City Lights”. Performed by a pretty young lady known as A*M*E, the track has already seen good airtime on morning T4 and daytime Radio One. When he’s not creating new beats for others, he can be found remixing hits to suit his own upbeat, soulful pop style. So far, he’s created quite the remixography for artists such as Tinie Tempah, Frankmusic, CocknBullKid and even Olly Murs. This makes it pretty safe to say that MNEK is going to blow up sometime soon. His persistent twittering (@MNEK) suggests he’s constantly in the studio or watching Eastenders – with the studio time being spent on his upcoming release, pencilled in for early next year. His bright, digital look is hard to miss, and his sound is even brighter – it’s kind of like walking into a pop disco in the early 1980s, and leaving high on E-numbers and covered in neon warpaint. MNEK’s voice is deep and catchy, and his melodies sound like a computer on it’s summer holidays. All things considered, he is your man for some sun-drenched, feel-good beats, and there is absolutely no shame in that.

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Next up is bigger-brother, Bartoven. Born Chimezie Bartholomew Emenike, he’s a nineteen year old rapper, singer-songwriter and producer who puts out more video projects, updates, promos and previews than anyone else we can think of right now. Tova is a busy guy. The name Bartoven is a clever play on words, fusing the name of one of history’s most famous composers, Beethoven, with the lyrical writing slang, “bars”. Again, an artist with a very active Twitter account (@Bartoven), we were pointed in his direction on MNEK’s recommendation. Perhaps a clever bit of bro’s-helping-bro’s, the two are both on the aforementioned “City Lights” track, but we’re just glad for the tip off. It appears Bart has a long history of songwriting, claiming penmanship since the age of nine. He aimed to put out his first release in 2004, but held out until ‘06, when he released “Dear Summer”, a rework of one of JayZ’s beats. Through continued efforts, he scored opening slots for N-Dubz, Aloe Blacc, Professor Green and Skepta; whilst also working with the likes of mainstream favourites Tinie Tempah and Tinchy Stryder. He gave away his last E.P, I Am Not Road, for free and through several Youtube and website comments, he has had a lot of underground praise. With videos for tracks such as “Blue World Order”, “Love Is For Girls” and “Above The Law”, Bartoven pushes his artistic output more than just relying on mp3 releases. He speaks sincerely and differently to most nineteen year old male urban artists, whilst still surrounded by a lot of the south London grime-crew in his videos. It feels like Bartoven is trying to give his listeners something more to think about.

Images supplied by respective agencies.

Although, by his own admission, he’s been rather quiet the last few months. He’s taking a conscious step back from releasing too much. But why? Well, it’s something to do with a new venture, one that he’s told us all to hold on for, and it’s something that we’re already excited for. He’s already put word out of a summer release called “The Raggedy Tape”, but if there’s something else, too, then we’re anticipating it’s going to be something big! We expect to see more of this unofficial brother act throughout the next year, and suggest you hold tight and prepare.

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THIS MONTH WE LOOK BACK TO A SHOW THAT SAW THESE SOUTHERN DESTROYERS TEAR UP MANCHESTER, WITH STAGE PRESENCE LIKE NO OTHER SINCE 2006, WE SHOW YOU WHAT YOU MISSED

Six years, one split record and two full lengths later, Brighton’s hardcore sons hurtled out a two of their greatest live shows in London and Manchester late last year. It’s been a triumphant, if not testing, time for the five piece. After touring their debut L.P, Sleepwalkers, a year of absence passed by throughout the end of 2010 and the majority of 2011. However, a show at Manchester’s MOHO venue slapped everyone around upside their ears and woke us all up. Born from the ashes of revered hardcore outfits Turn Cold, Nervous Wreck and The Legacy, signing to Thirty Days of Night and then releasing Sleepwalkers on the beefier name of Bridge 9 in America. The following absence, combined with personal travels was never the best setting for making the ‘difficult’ second album. Time spent between Vienna and Brighton for some, touring with other bands, a tonne of merch printing and maintaining a top-end hairdressers on London’s Curtain Road for the others – the guys had day jobs and bills to pay. From the outside it looked like getting back into the studio was going to be one hell of a task, but it bloody well happened. Anxiety And Everything Else is a release that sees the band successfully apply their live sound and energy to record. A set at Maida Vale studios for Radio One last month again harnessed their raw live power into the famously tight restraints of the famous studio. But lets not forget why we love the band; the electric live shows. This selection of shots from the Manchester MOHO show just about capture the band in their element, sadly not the ridiculous drumming, but you have two albums for that. Long live.

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EVERY MONTH WE’RE SCOURING THE WEB FOR YOUNG Musical TALENT; SOMETIMES WE FIND IT, SOMETIMES WE REALLY, REALLY DON’T Entrepreneurial spirit can be found in even the toughest post codes. And with the global, all-access platform of Youtube – young talent have no limit to their possible exposure. Meet YUNG SHEZZ and BUBBLES, whose lo-fi, E7-park rap video has seen over 64,000 views and is taking the internet by storm...sort of. Well, you’ve got to start somewhere! A lot can happen in a year, for some it can make or break a career, and in the case of Yung Shezz and Bubbles, they managed to rack up over sixtythree thousand views on Youtube. OK, we can choose to overlook the ratio of dislikes to likes, over one-thousand people clicked the thumbdown button and only two hundred have been positive, but everyone knows there’s no such thing as bad press; we’re proving that now! Uploaded in the summer of last year, the two lads took to having their mate record them ‘spitting some bars’ in a park (from a bit of Googling, we think it was probably around the West Ham area.)

Here, Shezz and Bubbles are emulating their grime heroes. The likes of Tempa-T, JME and Wiley are all famous for being able to upload a freestyle to Youtube and receive praise, criticism and ultimately notoriety. It was no wonder why our guys in E7 thought it would be a good idea to share their talent with the rest of the web, but it seems to have backfired. The video was pulled down by the boys; unable to deal with the harsh words of grime-fans across the U.K. The duo have been quiet since, we speculate that they’ve gone ‘dark’ and have been spending this last year hiding away, perhaps crafting their debut Soundcloud release, as well as revising for their GCSE mock exams, ready to silence the naysayers once and for all... Luckily for us all, the video was re-uploaded by one of Shezz and Bubs’ critics, for us all to form an opinion. So we leave it to you to go and log on, and fill their ego’s before 2012’s big drop!

Transcript of untitled bars. performed by y. Shezz ft. Bubbles Nicki Minaj wants this moment for life, But fuck you, bitch, I want this moment to be mine, But this moment could be the last, So end it on a high. LEMON! I’m gonna write with my true guys, Billy and Curtis, ‘til the day I die. You only live once, so live your life right, Get all the girl-girls, with the big boobs, Katie Price, la-la-la-la. Yeah, yeah. All the crackheads ‘round my area, I sniff blocks, I don’t rep ends, Except blue blocks. [gang sign] I’m not Johnny, but I got all the guns, Always making ‘P’, Chat shit, aim it on your fuckin’ mum. BOOM! CHEESE! Yeah! Come to ya ends, watch niggas run, I’ll leave your head splattered, No ketchup. Wood Grange is the hardest gang, I’ll come to ya ends, you don’t talk slang, PUSSY! Yeah. I’m a dreamer, my dreams come true. I’ve got, ‘nuff love for you. When I’m older, I’ll get ‘nuff ‘P’, and I’ll buy anything for you. ‘Cause you know, I’ve got so much love for you. MUMSY! Yeah. BANG BANG, E7 WHAT L.S think they’re hard [FUCK L.S] But Blue Gang will fully make them get parred Yeah And I’m trouble, no L.S, I’ll come to ya head, Leave ya fuckin’ top red. BANG! CHEESE! HECKYEAH

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OUR SPRING/SUMMER RECORD-RELEASE ADVICE THAT YOU’D HAVE TO BE CLINICALLY MAD TO IGNORE White Fence Family Perfume Vol. I •••

The Shins Port Of Morrow ••••

Your Demise The Golden Age •••

White Fence is the lovechild of Tim Presley, who is a bit of a punk/ hardcore legend – hailing from Darker My Love and The Nerve Agents, both also really worth checking out. Family Perfume is his third fulllength record, which has been put into two parts, Volumes 1 & 2 – here we are concentrating solely on part one.

There are some bands that you can go years without listening to, but still class them as your favourites. You know that they’re not going to churn out a rubbish record and live in confidence that they won’t break up before releasing another great album. Such is the case with The Shins, and Port Of Morrow. This is the fourth record from Albuquerque’s indie heroes, and it’s a big step up from the sombre songs that first brought them fame. Initially sounding so simple and pop, it gave us a bit of a scare, but as the minutes pass, you find yourself getting hooked. By the time you’ve hit “Bait And Switch” you’ve hopefully pushed the volume up high, wailing along without even knowing the lyrics. We are then instantly chilled out and cast back to the old style with acoustic “September”, which has a slow driving pace, but it’s background wailing slide guitar gives it a Hawaiian beach vibe.

In the last few years, there has been a slow but noticeable warming to British hardcore by ‘mainstream’ media. Radio One’s ‘Lock-Up’ and ‘Rock Show’ with Daniel P. Carter, have given airtime to some of the best U.K. talent, albeit at a later slot than the nation tunes in. Then earlier this year, at around 10am on prime-time, Your Demise was played to an audience of millions. This was a change that polarised opinion – was it acceptable? Was it ‘selling out’? Was it even hardcore that you were hearing? Did it matter?! The general answer was ‘no’, it wasn’t hardcore, they knew it and no, it didn’t really matter.

The thing with White Fence is that they sound very familiar, so familiar in fact that they sound just like The Beatles; but during a heavy binge of drugs and alcohol on a beach, when the sun gets in your eyes and stings a bit, y’know? There’s something so feverishly catchy about the psychedelic sound that Perfume is giving off, we just can’t seem to pull our ears away. It’s a really quite ‘different’ record to what you’d probably find yourself listening to, but let that be the reason that you pick it up. There are parts during which your ears might feel like they’re going to bleed from the sheer feedback and high-end guitar, but bear with it and you’ll find yourself getting into the catchy guitar licks before you can say ‘incense sticks’; it’s a new take on a retro sound, and we can totally get behind, here. Perhaps the album’s biggest success is the way that it takes you on a journey; albeit through hell and back. With hectic, punkier moments like “Soaring Pique Daily Number 2” that fall straight into an upbeat organ/acoustic “A Hermes Blues”, Presley has brought you the workings of a busy brain and given a sound that has long since been forgotten, but returns to an unexpected welcome. Download – Swagger Vets and Double Moon HECKYEAH

This album hasn’t pleased all Shins’ fans, though. Sadly, for the dreary indie crowd, this was the happy album that they didn’t want to hear. This is always the problem with bands who release something that doesn’t sound like a repeat of their old stuff, but here we respect bands’ decision to tweak their sound as they see fit, especially after four years of absence. They must be tired of just playing all the old hits and with Port Of Morrow, there is promise for some exciting live shows. Even as this is being typed, the sound of “Fall ‘82” is making us wish we were driving with a topdown Cadillac along a stretch of beach; and if the old fans can’t get behind this, then we say good riddance. This is now a summer essential!

Your Demise had changed their sound even more since their third full-length release in 2010, the first to have featured vocalist Ed McRae. They now play to new strengths; offering hooks, upbeat melodies, moderate mosh and shit loads of fun. Debut singles “Forget About Me” and “These Lights” (with a video seeing more costume changes than a Mariah Carey feature) are shamefully infectious. “Push Me Under” and new single “Born A Snake” will keep the young hardcore crowd satisfied live. Although sadly, “Never A Dull Moment” really is a bit dull and closer track “Worthless” has the most mismatched verse/chorus we’ve heard in ages.

Download – Bait And Switch As a whole, this album does exactly what it set out to do, to have a good time. Whilst it won’t really reach the ears of true hardcore fans, there will be plenty of new ears to welcome it in. “The golden age is coming and there’s nothing you can do.” well for this summer at least, they’re quite right. Download – Born A Snake

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Kanye West Theraflu ••••• It is with great applause that Yeezy has reignited his “G.O.O.D Fridays” playlist giveaways on his website. It’s even better, however, that before he dropped a new G.O.O.D track, he gave us Theraflu. Alright, so it’s not actually a record, it’s a single, but through sheer play count alone, we’ve probably eclipsed an LP’s playcount anyway. Produced by Hit-Boy, the track is named after the U.S anti-flu medicine of the same name. In just three minutes and forty seconds, ‘Ye manages to piss off PETA, American pharmaceutical makers and even Roc Nation records, to whom he says he’d be so cold, they’d need the drug to deal with the symptoms. This is a straight shot to the haters. And of course, the Internet went into a frenzy as soon as this dropped. From it’s lyrics, rumours spread and confirmed Kanye’s dating bigbottomed reality show rich girl, Kim Kardashian. Find yourself an mp3, as this is a short, urgent hit for the summer mix tapes for sure. Lostprophets Weapons • We’d like to formally apologise on behalf of Lostprophets for the recording of this album. It’s with great displeasure to see that the band who were once absolute champions of U.K. rock music, have now become pop-poster boys clad in shiny leather, all in the name of ‘alternative rock’. No doubt someone you know will like this album, it might even be you, but we’d like to suggest an audio intervention. We suggest that you pick up Lostprophets’ incredible debut Thefakesoundofprogress or even the admirable follow-up record, Start Something. Both of these will give you more than enough to bang your head to and very little to complain about, unlike this. Don’t bother downloading.

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M. Ward A Wasteleand Companion •••

Alabama Shakes Boys & Girls •••••

M. Ward may have dated Hollywood babe Zooey Deschanel, but don’t hold your jealousy against him. With A Wasteland Companion he lets out twelve tracks of smooth, dark and soulfull music to win you over. This is an unexpected gem, and despite most preconceptions of it being a bit dull, it’s genuinely a grower. “Watch The Show” is noticeably haunting, but in a weird carnival way that makes it also manage to seem upbeat throughout it’s three and a half minutes. Piano-led “Crawl After You” actually sounds like it’s sung by somebody else at times, but then you realise its just your man, Ward, in a bit of a dark place.

Tell us of a smoother sound than a female soul vocalist and we’ll eat our five-panel. For years the music press has cried out that rock’n’roll is dead, almost willing it to be so. As pop/dance/electronic music continues to take over the airwaves, it seems more and more likely that we should be mourning the loss of the rock that came before. This is where we offer your ears some salvation, with Boys & Girls, the fantastic first L.P from Alabama Shakes, a band who refuse to let rock die out, and bring in a kick to the music press’ collective balls, with an additional sorrowful, but warming soulful blues sound.

You can put the record on whilst you’re busy doing anything else, and we promise that you’ll find yourself tapping along until it’s played through and then catch yourself coming back for more. Download – Primitive Girl

Moonface – With Siinai Heartbreaking Bravery •••• The second L.P going under Spencer Krug’s alias of Moonface, sees him him collaborating with Siinai, a Finnish group usually concerned with retro krautrock sounds. Brilliantly, the result is something fuelled with mini-epics and swirling synths. The lyrical theme of heartbreak is explored fully, but don’t let it drag you down, because Krug’s love of pop and melody has kept this away from being mournfull. Admittedly, if you’re not aware of Krug’s other outputs, then you might not have much else to base your opinion on, but we can assure you that this record is something of a triumph, and should you like it, we recommend checking out his other band, Wolf Parade, too. Download – I’m Not The Phoenix Yet

Opener and first single, “Hold On”, feels like a vintage piece, like you’ve heard it before, but not in a negative way, more like a reminiscent old favourite. Whilst other tracks such as “I Ain’t The Same”, a more upbeat piece, and the soulful “You Ain’t Alone” give the whole thing a nice mixed depth. The only real negative to this album would be the super-swift running time of just 36 minutes, which makes the whole record feel a bit rushed, but that’s the only bad thing we can think of, we just want more! All in all, this is a solid record, and when they hit the U.K, you’d be well advised to head on over to a show and remind yourself why this sort of rock and roll was once so essential, and hopefully will be once again. Download – I Ain’t The Same

COMING SOON INSANE CLOWN POSSE – MIGHTY DEATH POP! SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO – UNPATTERNS SIGUR ROS – VALTARI LIARS – WIXIW HOT CHIP – IN OUR HEADS METRIC – SYNTHETICA WACKA FLOCKA FLAME – TRIPLE F LIFE SMASHING PUMPKINS – OCEANA WINTERSLEEP – HELLO HUM WHITE ARROWS – DRY LAND IS NOT A MYTH HECKYEAH

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EVERY MONTH, WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. WHAT YOU’RE LISTENING TO IS KNOWLEDGE WORTH SHARING – SO WE’RE GIVING YOU A SPACE TO VENT YOUR FAVOURITE RECORDS. THIS MONTH WE ASKED about YOUR all-time TOP 5 SUMMER RECORDS HECK YEAH’S RECOMMENDED PLAYLIST OF THE MONTH! Phil Collins – Greatest Hits There’s no actual way of choosing a single album and so the Greatest Hits does the job. Phil has the songs for when you want to cry over a woman who has stomped on your heart, and he has the songs for when you just want to dance in your four inch heels with a glass of wine. “Another Day In Paradise” is apparently written about the Third World and how people should be grateful for what they have – but in my mind, the song is written just for me and reminds me that I’m not starving, but instead just really good looking and blessed with Netflix. Phil relates to the common western male throughout all his songs, a true messiah of music. A$AP Rocky – Live, Love A$AP I wasn’t going to include hip-hop albums as they’re rather cliche in regards to summer music, but this was a must. The entire album is banger after banger. It doesn’t have to rely on heavy marketing of Supreme and really ‘out – there-maaan’ music videos like Odd Future do. My personal favourite is ‘Wassup’ as it is class and is also my favourite phrase. Wassup. I recently sunbathed with this album on repeat for three hours and not once did I get bored and think about the problems in my life, because with A$AP, there are no problems, just tunes. HECKYEAH

Drake – Take Care Drake may well resemble a weird man-child in an expensive Rolex, but the lad knows how to assemble a cast of good musicians and producers, all to create an album that delivers a kick in the arse of every male in existence – forcing them to join a gym, ditch the sofa and please their women in a manner that they have never done before. When I listen to the track “Marvins Room” which from what I can gather is about Drizzy missing a ferociously independent bitch, I can’t help but feel his suffering. Top album, would recommend.

The Weeknd – Echoes of Silence. My final choice for the summer playlist, I believe, is a perfect one. This album delivers so much love and sex appeal that it can be be almost too hard to bear. The “Dirty Diana” cover is OK, but don’t let that steal the glory that the rest of the tracks deserve. Every single song this man has created is the music that you instinctively choose to play when you first try hooking up with a girl. I think you’ll find that this album in particular is very slow paced compared to his past work and is fitting for the upcoming tropical rain storm of a summer that we enjoy in the good old U.K.

Justin Timberlake – Justified What is there to say about the debut album from my man, J.T? Well, for a start it’s the most influential album ever written. Many people will argue that bands such as Queen or The Beatles were more influential but no, Justin sits atop the throne of music. I once got thrown out of a night club for dancing topless to the track “Take It From Here” and then proceeding to fight a really sinister looking man when he rubbed up against me. It’s a memory-making album at it’s best. I do firmly believe that Justified will be the most fitting of musical choices when you’re strolling to work during the summer and the sun is shining down on you, approving of your musical taste.

by JOE LATHAM from WALES

AMPLIFIED Title Fight – Shed Title Fight have been my favourite band for a while now, and when they released this record, I listened to it non-stop in the summer whilst I was on holiday. My top track is “You Can’t Say Kingston Doesn’t Love You” – that song just puts me in the mood to go hang out with my friends and go for a skate! Balance & Composure – Separation B&C are pretty much the perfect summer band in my opinion. It’s a 10 track record that I often find myself listening to a lot when I’m riding my bike or when I’m on the train. The song “Quake” stands out to me the most because it makes me feel like I should be doing something out in the sun, instead of sitting inside and watching really bad reality TV shows. Copeland – In Motion The genre of music that Copeland play isn’t something that I would usually listen to, but this record is so catchy and great that I make an exception. It’s something I would listen to while sitting on a beach or in a park, after having a long, tiring day. My top track is probably “You Have My Attention”, the song is just really nice and relaxing to listen to! Basement – I Wish I Could Stay Here I listened to this record a bunch when I went on holiday last summer; there were a bunch of car journeys that took ages and this record seemed to suit the mood that I was in most of the time. It’s one of those records that you could listen to any time of the year, each song kinda fits the vibe of a season. My recommended track has to be “Grayscale”, I’ve been listening to that song a lot lately.

Don Broco – Big Fat Smile I saw Don Broco as a support act and they were awesome. The next day I rushed out to buy this album and it was all I listened to for weeks and weeks. I love every song on there, but my favourite track is “Beautiful Morning” which just makes me want summer to hurry up and get here! The best thing is that the song is even better live, so I’m always happy when I go and see them. Plain White T’s – All That We Needed I got this album after I heard “Hey There Delilah” on the radio when I was really young. It was probably one of my first CD’s and it’s still one of my favourites. “Lazy Day Afternoon” always makes me think of summer afternoons with my friends doing nothing in the sun. Boys Like Girls – Boys Like Girls I bought this after I heard my sister playing it in her car. I loved it and listened to it constantly when I was on holiday in America, so every time I put it on, I’m reminded of then. I think the best track is the summery “Thunder”. Paramore – Riot! This album was possibly my favourite thing about 2007 and is still my favourite Paramore album, it’s fast beat and catchy choruses always put me in a good mood and have me sing along. My favourite Paramore song is “Born For This”, it always makes me feel good and makes me want to be out doing stuff with my friends. Lower Than Atlantis – World Record

Man, this record is insane! I listened to it a lot last summer when I was doing best to try and exercise and ride my bike more. My favourite track off this record is the opening track “The Bottom”. If you don’t like that riff then you must be mental!

LTA were my favourite band for a long time and are still close to the top, when this album came out I was as excited as a seven year old on Christmas eve. I listened to it for months. It’s so hard to pick a favourite song, but I choose “Marilyn’s Mansion”, as it reminds me of when I was younger and had a tree house and with it’s mentions of summers before, you can’t stop yourself being excited for the time of year.

by NIALL O’REILLy from LEIGHTON BUZZARD

BY JAMES SOMERVILLE FROM FARNHAM

War Hungry – S/T

111 The Beach Boys – Surfin’ USA The Beach Boys make it into my list because they’re a total summertime band. Probably a favourite of millions of people, too, they’re one of the most famous bands ever. My top track would have to be the album title-track, ‘Surfin’ USA’, because its a perfect summer song to jam to and an undeniable, absolute classic! Jack Johnson – In Between Dreams Jack Johnson is probably the most chilled out musician in my playlist. This record just suits a day doing nothing. I’d put ‘“Better Together” as my favourite track because it has that laid-back summer vibe in it’s lyrics and melody. Tyler The Creator – GOBLIN Tyler the Creator and Odd Future became an instant favourite of mine over last summer. They’ve released quite a bit, now, but I still think that Tyler’s track “Yonkers” is still my favourite. This is one of those records that is perfect to put on when you’re hanging out with mates, or just to skate around to in the sunshine. Earl Sweatshirt – EARL Earl is another one of the Odd Future crew. I picked up the release last year and took to it immediately, it’s a pretty short record so it’s easy to get into and make an opinion. “Pigeons” would be my stand-out track from this record, because this is again one of the first Earl songs that I heard, and for the fact that I sometimes catch myself singing along. The Strokes – Is This It? Finally, the record that has my favourite summer song. The Strokes first album is really famous and has been out for over a decade now, but it still stands the test of time. Even now, I’d still have to say that “Someday” is my ideal summer track, because it’s so chilled out, it doesn’t matter whether you’re lying on some field or at a skate park with the homies!

by MICHAEL STOJ from LONDON HECKYEAH

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LIVE REVIEW

As the red lights dimmed, on walked TOY – a band whose four boys and one girl line-up looked impressively comfortable upon the stage. After a slight hiccup with an amplifier, the band launched into a swarming set of chords and so began their set. Lead vocalist Tom Dougall sings into the microphone in a monotone drawl, it’s pretty hard to distinguish what he’s saying throughout, but the lack of passion in his delivery suggests that it probably isn’t much to sympathise with. That said, their upcoming single ‘Motoring’ went down well, it’s pace seemed much more upbeat than at any other point, and despite being wrongly deemed ‘anthemic’ by the bloke stood next to us, it is certainly one of their stronger tracks. The biggest feeling, whilst stood in the crowd, was that had The Horrors never existed, this would have been ten times more exciting to see. Sadly, as we cannot change history, things felt a little too familiar. It’s a comparison that has and will be thrown about a lot and might be deemed lazy journalism, but when a lot of the songs sound rather samey, we think we’re probably in the right. Out of a set of nine songs, seven sounded very alike, and at least four of them seemed to finish with an extra long, repetitive outro.

SAVAGES are your new band crush. Four young women from London, whose storming post-punkinto-dark-disco set left the crowd almost literally drooling for more. Lead vocalist Jehnny Beth commanded the attention from of the audience. Looking serious business with her short slick hair and jacket, she channelled some sort of dark cabaret siren but gave it a kick of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis with her stiff but intensive dancing, often gyrating her hips and raising her arms to the lights, whilst all the while sporting a pair of heels. The rest of the band hardly went unnoticed either, with resonant, swirling scratches of guitar, hard hitting basslines and impressive drumming – Savages are not without real talent. Tonight it felt genuinely exciting to hear what they had to play, and hopefully this year will see them go on to bigger and better things. h

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When you see their album hit probable ravereviews in rags like the NME and Q (if anyone still reads it...) think twice about what you’re paying for, we’d suggest a cheeky download beforehand to make up your minds. However, should you see Savages on any line-ups this summer or later, then we cannot recommend them enough. Tonight it was a nice surprise to see the supporting ‘underdogs’ come out on top. /

LIVE LISTINGS

JUNE A$AP ROCKY 05 & 06 @ LONDON Electric Ballroom, 07 @ BIRMINGHAM HMV Institute, 08 @ MANCHESTER HMV Ritz. BEST COAST 16 @ GLASGOW o2 A.B.C, 17 @ MANCHESTER HMV Ritz, 18 @ BIRMINGHAM o2 Academy 2, 20 @ LONDON Shepherd’s Bush Empire, 21 @ BRIGHTON Coalition BLINK 182 07 @ BIRMINGHAM National Indoor Arena, 08 & 09 LONDON o2 Arena, 15 @ MANCHESTER M.E.N Arena, 16 @ BIRMINGHAM L.G.Arena, 17 @ SHEFFIELD Motorpoint Arena, 19 @ NEWCASTLE Metro Radio Arena, 20 @ GLASGOW S.E.C.C BLOC PARTY 19 @ GLASGOW Garage, 20 @ MANCHESTER HMV Ritz, 21 @ LONDON Koko CURSIVE 1 @ BRIGHTON Audio, 2 @ LONDON Cargo, 4 @ MANCHESTER The Ruby Lounge, 8 @ LEEDS Brudenell Social Club, 9 @ BIRMINGHAM o2 Academy, 11 @ NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 08, 09 & 10 @ CASTLE DONNINGTON

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LESS THAN JAKE 18 @ WREXHAM Central Station, 19 @ LEAMINGTON SPA The Assembly, 20 @ BOURNEMOUTH The Old Fire Station, 21 @ BRIGHTON Concorde 2 LIARS 1 @ BRIGHTON Green Door Store, 12 @ LONDON XOYO, 15 @ MANCHESTER Ruby Lounge MUMFORD AND SONS 4 @ BURY ST. EDMUNDS The Apex, 5 @ LOWESTOFT Marina Theatre, 6 @ GATESHEAD The Sage, 8 @ SCOTLAND Rockness

THE VIEW 10 @ STOCKTON ON TEES Ku Bar, 12 @ LEEDS Cockpit, 13 @ HULL The Welly, 14 @ YORK The Duchess, 16 @ SHEFFIELD The Leadmill, 17 @ LIVERPOOL o2 Academy, 18 @ NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms, 19 @ CARDIFF The Great Hall 2, 20 @ BRISTOL The Fleece, 22 @ NORTHAMPTON The Roadmender, 23 @ OXFORD o2 Academy, 24 @ BRIGHTON Concorde 2, 25 @ PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms, 26 @ LONDON Koko, 28 @ CAMBRIDGE Junction, 29 @ WOLVERHAMPTON Wulfrun Hall

NOFX 05 @ BOURNEMOUTH o2 Academy, 07 @ BRISTOL o2 Academy, 12 MANCHESTER HMV Ritz, 13 @ NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Academy, 14 @ LEEDS Academy, 16 & 17 @ LONDON Sheperd’s Bush Empire LUCY ROSE 05 @ SHEFFIELD Plug, 14 @BIRMINGHAM Kings Heath Hare & Hounds, 17 @ BATH Moles Club, 18 @ OXFORD The Jericho, 20 @ LONDON Heaven PLAN B 15 @ SUFFOLK High Lodge, 16 @ NOTTINGHAM Sherwood Pines, 22 @ KENT Bedgebury Pinetum, 23 @, TETBURY Westonbirt Arboretum, 29 @ STAFFORD Cannock Chase Forest, 30 @ THORNTON LEDALE Dalby Forest

HOT CHIP

WAVVES 06 JUNE @ LONDON Hoxton Bar & Grill

EARLY JULY T4 ON THE BEACH 01 @ WESTON SUPER MARE Beach BLINK 182 (cont’d) 07 @ BOURNEMOUTH International Centre, 10 @ CARDIFF Motorpoint Arena, 11 @ NOTTINGHAM Capital FM Arena, 12 @ LIVERPOOL Echo Arena DEFEATER 01 @ LEEDS (GHOSTFEST) Leeds University Union, 03 @ NOTTINGHAM Rock City, 05 @ SOUTHAMPTON Joiners, 06 @ LONDON Camden Underworld

SUNN O))) 10 @ SHEFFIELD The Leadmill, 11 @ CAMBRIDGE Junction One, 13 @ LONDON Heaven

FUTURES 10 @ BRIGHTON Coalition, 11 @ MANCHESTER HMV Ritz, 12 @ LONDON Koko

INTEGRITY TENACIOUS D 20 @ MANCHESTER Moho, 21 @ WREXHAM Central Station, 24 @LONDON Underworld ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL 22, 23 & 24 ISLE OF WIGHT Seaclose Park

05 & 06 @ LONDON o2 Academy Brixton, 10 @ MANCHESTER o2 Apollo, 12 @ GLASGOW S.E.C.C THE PROMISE

2 @ NEWCASTLE o2 Academy, 3 @ GLASGOW o2 ABC, 6 @ BIRMINGHAM HMV Institute, 7 @ LEEDS Cockpit, 8 @ MANCHESTER Club Academy, 10 @ LONDON XOYO, 11 @ BRIGHTON The Haunt, 12 @ PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms, 13 @ OXFORD o2 Academy LATITUDE FESTIVAL 12, 13, 14 & 15 @ SUFFOLK Henham Park

JAY Z & KANYE WEST (W.T.T. TOUR) 11 @ MANCHESTER Arena, 13 @ BIRMINGHAM L.G. Arena

18 @ NEWCASTLE The Cluny 2, 19 @ LONDON The Garage, 20 @ BIRMINGHAM The Rainbow, 21 @ MANCHESTER Dry Bar

MARILYN MANSON w/ LACUNA COIL 05 @LONDON o2 Academy Brixton

HECKYEAH

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STOCKISTS

London Covent Garden 020 7379 4042 www.adidas.co.uk

www.asos.com

WWW.CASIO.CO.UK

London Regent St. 020 7479 7760 www.armani.com/gb

www.bandofoutsiders.com

THENOTORIOUSBXP.BIGCARTEL.COM

WWW.CHRISTOPHERSHANNON.CO.UK

WWW.HM.COM/GB

www.henrikvibskov.com

www.imperial-clothing.com

www.herschelsupply.com

WWW.LOUDCLOTHING.COM

London Oxford St 020 7612 0800 store.nike.com

London Peter Street: 020 7437 0493 WWW.supremenewyork.com

London Oxford St. 020 7636 7700 WWW.TOPMAN.COM

HECKYEAH

London Shoreditch High St. 020 77399040 WWW.CARHARTT.COM

London Carnaby St. 0207 734 0300 WWW.EASTPAK.COM

LASTWITNESS.BIGCARTEL.COM

London Oxford St. 020 7907 0800 www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk

London Carnaby Street 020 7734 4477 store.americanapparel.co.uk

WWW.EBAY.CO.UK

www.hufsf.com

London Newburgh St. 020 7434 1466 www.lomography.com

www.retaw-tokyo.com/english

London Carnaby St. 020 7287 9235 WWW.VANS.CO.UK

Available at London Selfridges www.williamrichardgreen.com

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So, everyone’s a blogger now; but it takes something special to have over 10,000 followers bite into everything you offer, send you fan mail and fall in love with your first, self-released track. Meet Rainy, the sharply dressed sixteen year old singer from London, with the face of an angel and a bright vision for her future. Where were you born, and where do you live now? I was born in South East London and still live here – but I don’t know how I feel about dying here, though! [Laughs] How did you get yourself into blogging via Tumblr? A friend of mine recommended Tumblr to me. So I joined and quickly became addicted. Slowly my blog gained more and more attention – which I’m really grateful for. I love how Tumblr is almost like a preview of what’s in and what’s isn’t, you can tell when something is going to blow by how popular it is on Tumblr. Where do you hang out when you’re not at home? If I’m not at home I’m usually out recording songs. I spent a lot of last summer in East London in and around the Shoreditch area. I usually hit up Brick Lane on a Sunday – just for cheap vintage and good food, which is perfect.

Favourite brand that you buy from?

have it. The most frequent lie I tell myself is that I will remember it later! You have to write it down.

It’s definitely American Apparel, I know literally the entire contents of the store, but I still can’t stop myself from going in when I see one. I love how everything I have bought from there can be so easily mixed and matched.

Which new record releases are you looking forward to this summer? I’m desperate to hear something from N.E.R.D, as soon as I hear something new from them, I always want to hear more. Pharrell and Chad are genius’, oh and Shae too, of course!

You recorded a track called ‘Bout You’ and its received a lot of positive feedback on your blog, so what’s up next for you?

Do you customise your own clothes?

What’s your favourite piece of denim?

HECKYEAH

Wow, I can’t even remember the last gig that I went to! But the last film that I went to see was In Time [with Justin Timberlake]; my friends and I sang Cry Me A River anytime something sad happened in the film – I’m sure everyone in the audience hated us for it!

How do you write your music?

A lot of the time it’s whilst I’m travelling; I think of lyrics and save them on my phone. Producers within my team approach me with beats or I go about finding beats myself. When I find something I like, I get to writing to the track and often I bring in lyrics I’ve previously jotted down. It’s always a good thing to write down an idea as soon as you

It would probably be a jacket that I bought in a local Salvation Army; it’s oversized, dark blue denim with lots of hidden pockets which I keep rediscovering! It paid a pound for it, so I couldn’t have gone wrong really. t

What was the last gig you went to, and the last film that you saw?

I was due to release my E.P in January – but I’m really critical of myself and have decided to spend more time on it. After a few more track releases Nimbus will be here!

Actually, I co-own and run a streetwear brand called Bait Shit. (Baitshit.tumblr.com) We will be officially launching the brand this summer! I would say what they look like but it’s still a secret! Just keep your eyes peeled!

Are you getting to go away anywhere cool this summer? I’m planning to save up and go to New York but at this rate it’s going to take me years to save! u

T W I T T E R – @ H E C K Y E A H M A G C O N T A C T @ H E C K Y E A H M A G A Z I N E . C O M H

W .

HECKYEAH