WJ49 by Who's Jack

FOR THE REST OF US

ISS 49/JUNE

/ ABOUT Who’s Jack Magazine is part of a range of platforms that all come under the company Who’s Jack Ltd. This is the magazine and it is a monthly glossy both in print and online that covers art, fashion, film, music and general London and life. We aim to be attainable just as much as we are aspirational and never to talk down to our reader, you. We are what you’ve been waiting for. Jack Loves You More.

/ HOW TO GET INVOLVED Whether you are a band, a brand, a designer or simply want to tell us about something, get in touch. General enquiries can be sent to: press@whos-jack.co.uk, contributions can be sent to: contributions.jack @googlemail.com, finally, advertising enquiries can be sent to: magazine@whos-jack.co.uk. Who’s Jack also likes a good collaboration, event or campaign. We can work with you or for you. Get in touch.

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/ FROM JACK

/ ISSUE 49 . JUNE / 2011 FASHION

MUSIC

8. Fashion For The Boys Espadrilles 10. Hearts and Flowers Sugar colours for the summer 24. Jack Loves Wellies and man shorts. 26. Summer Shades What frames should you be looking for? 29. Old Mater Style Florals. 30. A Darker Shade of Grey Masculine tailoring for a feminine look. 40. Fashion Pick Of The Month

42. Introducing Francis Neve. 43. Review One Liners / Lesser Knowns 44. Ed Sheeran : Dizzy Hieghts The singer songwriter on everyone’s lips talks singing, sofa surfing and LA. 49. London’s Music Venues Their secret histories. 51. Akira The Don Adam talks artistic talent and drugs at the Edinboro Castle. 55. Charlie’s band Picks 56. Music Pick Of The Month

FILM

ART & DESIGN

58. Mark’s June Film Round Up The films you want to spend your money on this month. 62. Attack The Block We have a chat with the films stars and director. 66. DVD’s and 10 Films With.. This month it’s a look at 10 films with chat up lines. 67. So You Think You Know Film? Take our quizz to see how much you do indeed know. 69. Krysten Ritter The actress with the world at her feet talks new projects. 74. Film Pick of The Month

LIFE & LONDON 86. Beauty The best of Drugstore makeup. 88. London Love It can be hard in the capital. 90. I’m New Here Column from our resident Londoner, Esme. 91. Dating The keen guy. 92. Perks and Perils Tamlin talks life. 93. Rumour Has It What happens when a celeb death rumour is wrong? 95. Life and London Pick Of The Month

76. Artist Introductions Alex Turvey 79. Art Spotter Eleanor looks at this months gallery, The Red Project. 80. Amazing Rare Thing The artwork of Rose de Borman 83. The Process Hayden Kays 84. Art Pick Of The Month

/ TEAM JACK / CONTRIBUTORS

Editor : Louise O-F louise@whos-jack.co.uk

Dept Editor : Laura Hills laura@whos-jack.co.uk

Film : Mark Williams mark@whos-jack.co.uk

Illustrator: Avril Kelly

Fashion: Terry James Lynch tjl@whos-jack.co.uk

Comment : Adam Roan Henderson adam@whos-jack.co.uk

Music : James Lynch james@whos-jack.co.uk

Film Online : Matt Hamm matt@whos-jack.co.uk

Photographer: Boyd Alexander

Stylist: Natalie Dale

Dating : Georgina Childs

Make Up: Luke Stephens

Music : Charlie Allen

Styling : Faye Heran faye@whos-jack.co.uk

Art: Eleanor Davidson

Styling : Jo Bevis jackstylist@gmail.com

Music: Rory Broadfoot

Columnist : Tamlin Magee

Columnist: Esme Riley

Contributor : Lara Piras

Contributor : Martha alexander

Contributor : Matt Bass

Photographer : Tom Bunning

Photographer: James Lincoln

Cover Image : Eric Luc // Want to see your work in Jack? Contributions : contributions.jack@googlemail.com The Jack-Father : Edward Fitzpatrick // Who’s Jack Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part with out the permission of Who’s Jack. The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the opinions of Who’s Jack. Who’s Jack Ltd can not be held responsible for any breach of copyright arising from any material supplied. Who’s Jack, 93 Barker Drive, Camden, London, NW1 0JG

Photographer: Lorna Roach

jack / STOCKISTS NORTH

WEST

Camden Blues Kitchen: 111 - 113 Camden High Street, NW1 7JN www.theblueskitchen.com The Old Queens Head: 44 Essex Road, Islington, N1 8LN www.theoldqueenshead.com The Hawley Arms: 2 Castlehaven Road, NW1 8QU www.thehawleyarms.co.uk The Lexington: 96-98 Pentonville Road, N1 9JB www.thelexington.co.uk The Keston Lodge: 131 Upper Street, N1 1QP www.kestonlodge.com The Lock Tavern: 35 Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AJ www.lock-tavern.co.uk Shock and Soul: 46 Essex Road, Islington, N1 8LN www.shockandsoul.co.uk The Westbury: 34 Kilburn High Street, NW6 5UA www.westburybar.com Rokit: 225 Camden HIgh Street, NW1 7BU www.rokit.co.uk LCB Surf Store : 23 Chalk Farm Road, NW1 7RU www.lcbsurfstore.co.uk Edinboro Castle: 57 Mornington Terrace, NW1 7RU www.edinborocastlepub.co.uk Joy: 21-22 Upper Street, N1 0PQ www.joythestore.com

Rough Trade: 130 Talbot Road, W11 1JA www.roughtrade.com The Electric Brasserie: 191 Portobello Road, W11 2ED www.electricbrasserie.com Mau Mau Bar: 265 Portobello Road, W11 1LR www.myspace.com/maumaubar Portobello Music: 13 Allsaints Road, W11 1HA www.portobellomusic.net Smash: 268 Portobello Road www.sandmcafe.co.uk Defectors Weld : 170 Uxbridge Road, W12 8AA www.defectors-weld.com Size? - (in London stores): 200 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, W11 1LB www.size.co.uk

SOUTH Bar Story: 213 Blenheim Grove, Peckham, SE15 4QL Bullfrog: 20 Greenwich Church Street, SE10 9BJ www.bullfrogs.co.uk The Rest Is Noise: 442 Brixton Road, Brixton, SW9 8EJ www.therestisnoisebrixton.com Joy: Clapham Junction Station, SW11 1RU www.joythestore.com Banquet Records: 52 Eden Street, Kingston, KT1 1EE www.banquetrecords.com

EAST Paper Dress: 114-116 Curtain Road, EC2A 3AY www.paperdressboutique.blogspot.com Vintage Store: 182 Brick Lane, E1 6SA The Lazy Ones: 102m Sclater Street, E1 6HR www.thelazyones.blogspot.com Beyond Retro: 110-112 Cheshire Street, E2 6EJ 58-59 Great Marlborough Street, W1F 7JY www.beyondretro.com The Book Club: 100 Lenard Street, EC2A 4RH www.wearetbc.com Beyond Retro: 110-112 Cheshire Street, E2 6EJ 58-59 Great Marlborough Street, W1F 7JY www.beyondretro.com Behave: 14 Hanbury Street, E1 6QR LCB Surf Store: 121 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 7DG www.lcbsurfstore.co.uk Rough Trade East: Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL www.roughtrade.com The Victoria: 110 Grove Road, Mile End, E3 5TH www.thevictoriae3.com Junk: Old Truman Brewery, Grey Eagle Street, E1 6QL Elbow Rooms: 97-113 Curtain Road, EC2A 3BS theelbowroom.co.uk Bar Music Hall: 134 Curtain Road, EC2A 3AR www.barmusichall.co.uk Rokit: 101 Brick Lane, E1 6SE www.rokit.co.uk Rough Trade: Old Truman Brewery, Grey Eagle Street, E1 6QL www.roughtrade.com Absolute Vintage: 15 Hanbury Street, E1 6QR www.absolutevintage.co.uk GShock Shop: Old Truman Brewery, Grey Eagle Street, E1 6QL www.g-shock.co.uk Smiths of Smithfield: 67-77 Charterhouse Street, EC1M 6HJ www.smithsofsmithfield.co.uk (weekends only)

CENTRAL Beyond the Valley: 2 Newburgh Street, W1F 7RD www.beyondthevalley.com 55 DSL: 10A Newburgh St, W1F 7RN www.55dsl.com Chateau Roux: 17 Newburgh Street, W1F 7RZ www.chateauroux.co.uk Tatty Devine: 44 Monmouth Street, WC2H 9EP www.tattydevine.com The Sun and 13 Cantons: 21 Great Pulteney Street, W1F 9NG Candy Cakes: Monmouth Street, WC2H 9EP www.candycakes.com Size? - (in London stores): Carnaby Street, Soho, W1F 7DW www.size.co.uk Size? - (in London stores): 37a Neal Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9PR www.size.co.uk Fopp: 1 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LL www.foppreturns.com Mint: 20 Earlham Street, WC2 H9LN www.mintvintage.co.uk Sanctum Hotel: 20 Warwick Street Soho, W1B 5NF www.sanctumsoho.com The Hospital Club: 24 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9HQ www.thehospitalclub.com Beyond Retro: 58-59 Great Malborough Street, W1F 7JY www.beyondretro.com Sanctum Hotel: 20 Warwick Street, W1B 5NF www.sanctumsoho.com Joy: 1620170 Wardour Street, W1F8AB www.joythestore.com Volcom: 7 Earlham Street, WC2 9LL www.volcom.com Joy: 11 The Market Building, Covent Garden www.joythestore.com Rokit: 42 Shelton Street, WC2 9HZ www.rokit.co.uk Wesc: 53 Neal Street, WC2H 9PR wesc.com Miyson: 3 Lowndes Court, off Carnaby, W1F 7HD www.miyson.com

Also with online orders of Urban Outfitters : www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk See an up to the minute list of stockists online, if you would like to stock Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jack contact: press@whos-jack.co.uk All stockists have magazines delivered once a month in the first week of each month. We would advise getting to stockists early as they go quick.

Photo: Vincent Skoglund

Featured colorway

ORANGE

PLATTAN TANTO &

BAGIS MEDIS

Available in 14 colors:

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Fashion.

James Lynch

FASHION FOR THE BOYS James tries to dress the male and this month attempts to solve the age-old conundrum of Heat + Feet x (Sock) = Hot, Smelly Feet & (Sock).

As a man, dressing for hot weather can be a troublesome task. For most men out there, it is enough to whack on some shorts and a t-shirt, which is fine and I would definitely rather they did that instead of some of the other options you see scattered up and down any given high street. For a start, wearing a t-shirt is a lot better than wearing a vest but wearing a vest is far better than wearing nothing at all apart from your tan lines and a tattoo of a bulldog swathed in a Union Jack. It is also definitely not ok to wear white three-quarter length shorts/trousers with this or any other outfit. Ever. There is also no need to wear combat shorts unless you are an actual soldier or Ray Mears. How much stuff do you need to put in your pockets at once?! Get a bag or cut some old jeans up and wear them if you want some pockets. Also socks… I have quite a problem with shorts, socks and shoes, although there is a way to do it I can confidently say that no one can pull this off except Andre 3000. I have a bigger problem, however, with the classic socks and sandals… no ones feet should smell so bad they need to cover them up when only wearing straps around their ankles. And thankfully talking about feet has rescued us from this summer-clothing based rant and brought me neatly to what I was supposed to talk about: espadrilles. These wicker-soled beauties are the perfect solution to what to wear on your feet during the (hopefully) hot coming months. They are surprisingly comfortable and light enough to be worn without socks and are also remarkably durable for something that is essentially a material pouch for your foot. Espadrilles are also relatively inexpensive and can cost you little more than £15 a pair. ASOS are even selling theirs for a tenner and Office have

a deal to buy two pairs for £20. Of course, if you go further up the market they will start to cost you more, I even managed to find some by D&G for £145! However, not all brands are this ridiculous, Havianas do a hard-wearing espadrille with rubber soles for about thirty quid and TOMS will sell you a pair and donate another to a child in need for about the same price. Espadrilles are widely available in a variety of different colours and patterns but the sensible choice would be a couple of pairs in navy blue, black and white, you don’t need to get any more complicated than that and have it look like you are wearing a rolled down pair of novelty Christmas socks on your hot trotters. The drawbacks to wearing espadrilles should really be obvious; they offer no protection for your toes and so if you have anything more strenuous planned than a saunter to the park and an ice cream, you might want to try something a bit more sturdy. Also, if you go for the classic ‘jute’ soled espadrilles, which look like they are made from rope, then if you get them even just a little bit wet the sole will warp and eventually start to rot. It is a natural twine after all. You may also experience the tedious problem of your parents and old people telling you that they used to wear them when they were young but unfortunately there is nothing I can suggest to solve this, other than to just be as polite as possible. Just remember, we are all young with sweaty feet at some point in our lives…

Hearts and Flowers

WILLOW WEARS : BLUE KNIT JUMPER – ZARA | SUEDE PINK SHOTS – TOPSHOP | BEIGE BROGUES – MISS SELFRIDGE | HEART SHAPED SUNGLASSES – URBAN OUTFITTERS

EMMA WEARS | DENIM SHORTS – ROKIT | HEART LILAC T-SHIRT – WILDFOX | TRAINERS – CONVERSE

WILLOW WEARS : BLACK & WHITE STRIPED JUMPER – AMERICAN APPAREL | PINK SKIRT – AMERICAN APPAREL | HEART RING – FAIRYTALES AND HIDDEN NOTES EMMA WEARS : WHITE SHIRT – ZARA | GREEN SHORTS – AMERICAN APPAREL | TRAINERS – CONVERSE

WILLOW WEARS : WHITE TSHIRT – ZOE KARSSEN | BLUE SHIRT – ZARA

EMMA WEARS : RED CAMSIOLE – H&M | JEANS – TOPSHOP | RED WEDGES – KURT GEIGER | HEART SHAPED | BAG - URBAN OUTFITTERS

WILLOW WEARS: : MINT TSHIRT- AMERICAN APPAREL | JEANS – MISS SELFRIDGE | WHITE PUMPS – TOPSHOP | HEART NECKLACE – FAIRYTALES AND HIDDEN NOTES | PINK WATCH – OLD ENGLAND

JACK Loves

s e i l Wel

1 4 5

It’s June which means two things in life are certain. Firstly it’s the start of festival season and secondly, that means it’ll probably rain for the whole month so just inc ase the second proves to be true we’ve put together our favourite pairs of wellies to make sure your feet stay dry even if the weather doesn’t. 1. Hunter Welly Sock : www.like.co.uk £16 2. Joules Posh Wellington Boots, Navy www.johnlewis.com £59. 3/4. Joules Stripe Wellington Boots, Imperial Blue johnlewis. com : £35 5. Marc by Marc Jacobs Curvy sole Wellington boots : net-a-porter.com : £108 6. Rambler Cropped Welly : www.allsaints.com : £90.00 7. A range of colours from Hunter : www.hunter-boot.com : £85

8 9

SHORTS The summer months are always tough for guys what with pin rolls, turn ups, socks or no socks and all that so we thought it best to remind you of the short. The short is versatile this summer allowing a style or length for any man whether he be a die hard hipster or a casual I’m-just-too-hot variety. 1. Kill City Salton Vintage Wash Short : revolveclothing.com : £80 2. Classic Bulldog Black Swim Shorts : V : £129 3. Howick Flat front shorts : www.houseoffraser.co.uk : £39 4. Soul Cal Hula Shorts : fashionbeans.com : £25.00 5. Opening Ceremony Suit Shorts : openingceremony.us : £300 6. COMUNE David Staple Five Pocket Denim Short in Dark Stone : revolveclothing.com : £50 7. Opening Ceremony Suede Tab Shorts : openingceremony.us : £900 8. Pinstripe Short - Graphite : www.aetherapparel.com 9. Stussy x PAM Luca Dot Shorts : www.endclothing.co.uk : £75

2 4

JACK Loves

Oi! You there. Let me guess… you’ve already pulled out last year’s sunnies. Right? Stop! Unless of course they’re vintage Armanis, YSLs or (if you’re lucky enough) Chanels. Yes, the summer is officially upon us and this year you don’t have to go all silly and spend stupid amounts on your frames because there is so much choice out there right now, too much choice even. So let me (a self confessed sunglass obsessive) guide you through this year’s must haves. Not in the sense of, if you’re not wearing this particular style you will spontaneously combust with ‘uncoolness’, just a mere thought on which ones have caught my eye and are too pretty to leave sat all alone on those oh so lonely racks. Oh and there’s also a few on our wish list, just for you to gaze at.

URBAN OUTFITTERS BLACK WINGED £16.00, credit urbanoutfitters.co.uk. These beauts are on the top of our list. They’re very Tom Ford and ooze that 1940s kind of sex appeal once placed on top of your pretty little noses. The shapes that we are being graced with this season are as follows; circular, circular, circular! Circular with full frames, half frames and bar tops, wing shaped, wayfarers we just can’t ‘re-frame’ (get it? As in refrain? I can hear you chuckling, just) from them. Aviators too are still here yet more square shaped, and with pretty little vintage style frames, in any print you could care to imagine. Perfect!

H&M TORTOISE SHELL ROUNDS £6.99, credit H&M in store. A huge trend we’ve seeked out for this summer is top bars, or what I like to call ‘brow bars’ as they sit just below your (perfectly shaped) eyebrows. These give your outfit that instant ‘in your face-ness’ but are also look uber cool and can be toned down if you ever so wanted. They are ‘John Lennons’ revisited, with that extra ‘helter skelter’ shall we say. Also known as ‘tea shades’ they seriously will give your style that extra oomph, trust me, you’ll end up like Howard Stern and refuse to ever take them off.

TOPSHOP UNIQUE TOP BARS £22.00, credit topshop.com. And how’s about a little history? Sunglasses are a necessity of course, to protect those your eyes. Used primarily to cancel out the harmful UV rays that are out to get you, they have been around for the past century and were originally made from quartz. They had slits in them, reducing the exposure as opposed to protecting the eye. You learn something new everyday, right? They were later brought to mainstream used by the stars of the moment. Think Hepburn, Garbo and Ginger. They made them multifunctional – firstly to assist an outfit as we do today but also to ‘hide’ their identity from hysterical fans and the gruesome media. With similar uses today, styles have been transformed, re-lived and re-used. Which brings me on to my next find. It wasn’t as difficult as one could imagine but it has to be said, this trend just isn’t going away - the dreaded wayfarers. Yes you may well be seeing less of the ‘fashionistas’ wearing them, but we folk like to stand our ground and wear what we think is cool and what we see fit so all hail the Ray-Bans. Their new style for this steamy summer is slightly (‘slightly’ being the central word there) smaller. And best of all they’ll fit just swell with your festival gear.

Sunglasses: Shade away!

words: Lara Piras

RAY BANS £120, credit sunglasses hut So we’ve covered the must haves. Now let’s cover the wish list. Or rather, the eccentricities we’d like to frame and hang on the wall and stare at every now and then as opposed to actually wear. I say go all out with Jeremy Scott’s new on trend winged beasts. They really are beastly (if sunglasses ever could be), but upon trying them on you automatically turn into Wonder Woman/Superman (depending on your sex/ preferred past times) and acquire the ability to fly. Yes the wings actually begin to flap and you genuinely take off, in extreme style. What more could you want? Joking aside these are beauties and you can just imagine all the cool kids wearing them. No?

JEREMY SCOTT WINGED £191.00, credit urbanoutfitters.co.uk And finally, a little birdy told me about this intelligent and really quite exciting collaboration. Thierry Lasry for Acne. Lasry’s brand ethos is ‘Futuristic Vintage.’ You know what that means right? If not, he gets his inspiration from the past and throws it into the future, full throttle and makes his designs reach farther than current, into futuristic futurism. Clever. He boasts Paris, Madge and B as some of his clients and what I like most is his patient naming of each style. He takes a word he likes and sticks a ‘y’ on the end, ‘mimicking his name and last name’. So we end up with named frames such as ‘Pimpy’, ‘Porny’, ‘Hooky’ and ‘Obsessy’. I like. A lot. I could definitely get ‘obsessy’ over Thierry.

THIERRY LASRY FOR ACNE £290.00, credit acnestudios.com So, that proves it, we can do on trend. No probs. Just remember to do it with confidence and an air of ‘I don’t care.’ Always works that little bit better when you don’t seem to be trying as hard as you did when you were 14, at school and desperate. Fair dos we don’t want to look like Ga Ga, but a little sunglasses va va voom in our lives would go down an absolute treat.

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OLD MASTER STYLE

Florals

How to wear it like the oldies.

e all know spring equals florals but herein lie many pitfalls. Florals can make you look like Lolita, an ageing hippy or yet another granny chic ambassador which frankly we could all do without. So keep it grown up and sophisticated; adopt an indomitable air like Ingres’ Madame Moitessier or failing that pull on some masculine brogues and a tailored jacket. Avoid Mary Janes, pink cardis and pigtails unless you want the lollipop lady to help you cross the road.

Mink Pink

The best floral looks around are often concentrated in small doses, a liberty shirt or a pair of shorts, but if you long to stand out there’s always the floral maxi dress, a firm favourite of the high street year after year. Make like it’s Woodstock and embrace sandals and a daft floral hair accessory but please, please, please do not be tempted by the now ubiquitous straw hat that, come June, so many women seem to think are both flattering and cool. Old master image: Ingres Madame Moitessier 1856

Mango

Minkpink ‘Liberty Blues’ Floral Maxi Dress £42.00 from Asos

Urban Outfitters

A DARKER SHADE OF GREY

photographer : Fiona Garden styling : Victoria Sekrier make up : OscarAlexander Lundberg

OLIVE HIGH WAISTED PLEATED PANT : AMERICAN APPAREL LACE CAMI : H&M

CABLE KNIT PULLOVER : AMERICAN APPAREL / HIGH WAISTED PLEAT PANT : AMERICAN APPAREL / BRACES : BEYOND RETRO

CREAM POLO NECK TEE SHIRT : URBAN OUTFITTERS / NAVY CHIFFON SKIRT : AMERICAN APPAREL

JUMPSUIT - TATA-NAKA| BANGLES - TORY BURCH | BRACELETS - DANNIJO | STACKING RINGS - DAISY | BROGUES - TOPSHOP

ORANGE CARDIGAN : URBAN OUTFITTERS / NAVY POLKA DOT PLAYSUIT : TOPSHOP

YELLOW BLOUSE : BEYOND RETRO / COLLAR BROOCH : FAIRYTALES AND HIDDEN NOTES

PICK OF THE MONTH

FASHION

Graduate Fashion Week Every June Graduate Fashion Week puts on an exhibition to show the work of approx 50 universities and 52 courses at Earls Court. There are over 20 university fashion shows put on over the static exhibition too with a Gala Show and Awards presentation on the last night of the exhibition. Graduate Fashion Week consitantly promotes and nurtures today’s young talent and creative innovators. www.gfw.org.uk

Bell & Ross BR M&T 01 Concept Watch Sadly these watches don’t exhist quite yet and are just in concept stage. However the idea is so cool that it deserved a bit of a write up. AchellDesign have collaborated with Bell & Ross to make a concept watch that partners the design aesthetic of a high end watch brand with the technology of the iPod Nano. The watches act as a strap that you are able to click your Nano into on your wrist. Bell & Ross would create a line of themed watch apps essentially enabling the user to switch the look of their watch easily

Fred Perry Re-issues Fred Perry have released four Polo shirts that represent the key points in history for the famous style of shirt. Pieces range from the 1957 football culture inspired cut from the late 70’s to the 1997 polo that draws inspiration from the Perry Boys of Manchester and Salford. This highly limited Black Canvas series is available now. www.fredperry.com

JOBS House of Harlow Sunglasses are coming to the UK This month House of Harlow will launch their sunglasses range in the UK following the successful launch of their 1960 jewelry and shoe lines. Nicole Richie, designer of the brand plans for the sunglasses to be vintage yet classic, created in partnership wtih the brand owner and manufacturer Majestic Mills. There will be 40 diffferent sets inspired by timeless frames and shapes and you will be able to find them from mid June onwards at Very. co.uk and 11 Boundary boutique in London

Head of PR - French Connection & Great Plains French Connection group PLC is looking for a vivacious, hard working and well connected Head of Public Relations. presstemp@frenchconnection.com Fashion Account Manager Dust PR Dust PR is seeking a unique and charismatic Fashion account manager / SAM to join our focused, passionate team. lucy@dustpr.com Senior Photographers agent Martin Media A leading agency in London is looking to recruit a senior agent, the candidate must have extensive agent experience in London. tonymartin@martinmedia.co.uk

Saint Martins Must Burn London Label, Orphan Arms has brought out this T-shirt as a reaction to the designers dislike to the way Saint Martins runs itself. With sentiments that are shared by many who went to creative London courses, Josh Wilkin says of his expierence at the university : ‘If I had listened to the advice I got from Saint Martins, I wouldn’t be doing what I am now. You couldn’t reference anything that an audience wouldn’t understand, nor could you leave anything up to the imagination. When I didn’t go draw ducks at a park on an observation trip, I was formally warned’ www.theorphansarms.com

Music.

INTRODUCING Francis Neve

words & pictures : Nick Clark

Francis Neve’s debut mini album ‘The Second Time We First Met’ came out last year – a lo-fi story charting the birth and death of a relationship. If you haven’t heard it yet, it’s about time you gave it a listen. Who’s Jack caught up with the melancholy songsmiths for a few pints to talk aliases, fucked relationships and Burt Bacharach... Francis Neve - it’s the band, but it’s also your name right? No, actually I’m Steve. When I started the project, I didn’t want to do it under my own name, but I didn’t have a band either. I couldn’t really have a band name, and I didn’t want to be a solo artist - I wanted it open and ambiguous. Francis Neve could be anything. When I got to it, it felt right - it could be a man, it could be a woman, it could be a band. There was someone in history called that, but that’s not why I used the name. It comes from a few names that have a certain value to me, and together they make this kind of character. I never knew then that I was going to end up with a band. It’s turned out to be the perfect thing. And it sort of stuck. You started as a singer songwriter - how has it developed into this? Well I play a lot of the instruments on the album. I also got Tom Maxwell in to play drums, and a guy called Paul Finney plays the keyboards, I’d come up with a lot of parts, and so would he. And we have Lucy Randell singing too. So there’s a bit of collaboration there as well. For people who’ve not heard Francis Neve before, how would you describe the sound? The sound is quite sparse and atmospheric, but it’s also quite dry and in your face. I wanted it to have a lot of space, but equally be deep enough that you can get lost in it. There’s lots going on deep in the background. I’m not summing it up in a very concise way am I?! I suppose the sound of it is quite lo-fi, but also quite sweet and tuneful. It’s melancholy pop - although every song’s so different that the genre shifts. The single Winterbury is very sad - what’s the story behind it? Well the album is a concept album - it’s a story of a relationship that’s played out between these two characters, and Winterbury is the point in the tale where they confront the fact that it’s fucked. It gave me an opportunity to bring in another voice, and have this conversation. It is quite sad, but it only tells one part of the whole story.

Is it based on a relationship that you’ve had?

Is this now what you do full time, or do you still have a day job?

It’s not based on a specific relationship, but the storyline is something that I think we can almost all relate to, and that’s what I set out to do when I started writing the lyrics - I wanted it to be something that anyone can listen to and think, ‘I know how that feels’. Because I love songs like that. So it’s based a bit on what I’ve experienced, and a bit on what my friends have gone through. And the last song, which is really dark, talks about feelings that I don’t ever have, but I read about in the paper, or hear on the news. I try to adopt a mentality when I write to give these people a voice within the story - because there are a lot of people like that, the dark people...

We’re all working to survive while doing our music - I have a studio and I mix and produce other bands. I also look after quite a few artists’ live sound. That’s my thing... I rent the studio space, and it’s taken me a good few years to get together the kit. I got to a point where I felt I could start making an album about 3 years ago, and that’s where all this started. So it’s been 3 years in the making - I made the album, I made the studio, I made the label. In other words it’s completely self-produced. We make the videos on a Flip camera, we take the photos, it’s completely done on our own. And it’s been good. I feel we’ve got some good feeling back because of that.

What music are you listening to at the moment?

What’s the aim? Do you have any goals that you want to achieve?

One of the best bands we’ve played with is The Spokes. They’re brilliant – I loved meeting them, loved playing with them. Their music just does it for me. I’ve had Beirut on in the car a lot lately too as well as The Flying Club Cup album, which is just stunning, love it. Also Fleet Foxes, and I had a Burt Bacharach morning the other day. Matt Berry, the comedian - he’s got this amazing creamy deep voice, and his comedy’s brilliant. So nothing that new really... although I do really like The XX. When their album came out, it was after I’d finished putting our album together and I felt like I could relate to it. It was a nice feeling for me, the synchronicity with other people that you don’t even know. But their album flows more throughout the whole album whereas ours deviates and goes off in some other directions.

The aim for me is to be able to continue making music... to immerse myself in what I love. I’m never happier than when I’m leaving the studio after a hard day’s work with a tune that’s coming together ringing in my ears. That’s what makes me tick. I love performing as well, but I just want to be able to make music. And finally – what’s next? We’ve actually cooled off a bit now. We did a lot of live shows in London at the start of the year, and it was really good to get out there and do it. We played a lot of nice, niche venues, that have a really good following. But I want to concentrate on writing now, so we’ve not got any festivals lined up or anything. We’re keeping a chunk of space free to start writing a follow up. If the right gig comes in we’ll do it, but otherwise it’s back to the writing! Francis Neve’s new single I Won’t Make You Better is out on July the 4th.

MUSIC

LINERS REVIEWONE BIN

BIN: Wonderland Wonderland

I know it’s an obvious choice but there should really be some kind of Trading Standards action taken against Wonderland, who are definitely NOT a land full of wonder but are instead a bland five-piece Irish girl group whose only really discernable talent is being able to survive while being managed by excitable human ventriloquist’s dummy Louis Walsh and the one with a fringe from Westlife. www.wonderlandofficial.com

Apparently what rock and roll looks like is an extremely pale girl wearing ‘leather and lace’, sporting the haircut of a badger and striding through an American high school, knocking lunch trays out of students hands and being loud and raucous in the library, before ending up in the school gym and dancing like Lady Gaga in leg braces… It makes you wonder what Ozzy Osbourne would say to her and her partner in ‘crime’ Weezy, if he could still speak. www.porcelainblack.com

Funeral Suits Hoping to fill the void that Editors or White Lies leave gaping between album releases come this Irish three-piece. Armed with a truckload of distorted guitars, volts of electronic and epic, harmony lead vocals; the trio follow the path of Echo & the Bunnyman or Teardrop Explodes, with a modern spin reminiscent of Two Door Cinema Club and Bombay Bicycle Club. Download: ‘Colour Fade’ www.myspace.com/thefuneralsuits

BURN: Holy Other With You EP

Continuing in the same vain as The Weeknd and Burial, murky and mysterious Manchester-based producer Holy Other delivers his debut EP of gothic-infused, slowly sexy, RnB electro-garage. Yeah, I just made up my own sub genre of a barely existing sub genre but when these gently building and stunningly atmospheric tracks sample Grace Jones and sound like what everyone hoped James Blake would be, how else am I supposed to describe this?! www.myspace.com/holyother

BURN: Childish Gambino Break (All Of The Lights)

BOOM

Matt Hamm

James Lynch

BIN: Porcelain Black (Feat. Lil’ Wayne) This Is What Rock N Roll Looks Like

BURN

LESSER KNOWN

Steadily becoming a big name thanks to his EPs and remixes/covers of Adele and Grizzly Bear, the stupidly talented Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino is not slowing down and has reworked another high profile tune, turning Kanye’s overdramatic cameo orgy, All Of The Lights, into a stripped back, guitar driven collection of witty remarks and warped metaphors that even touches on The Smurfs; “These girls I’m kissin’ chase the blues away like Gargamel.” Quite literally magic. www.iamdonald.com

Bleeding Knees Club Originate from Australia, but fall in love with punk music and you’ll probably sound like this young twosome as well. Thrashing guitars and smash- 43 ing drums are the order of the day, as the energy of The Ramones and New York City Dolls is reborn through long scruffy surfer hair, that appears to add its own dirty lo-fi surf rock edge to proceedings. Download: ‘Bad Guy’ www.myspace.com/thebleedingkneesclub

BOOM: WU LYF Go Tell Fire To The Mountain

This Manchester band might not have a consistent name, a steady line up of members or any real media presence other than a website and beautifully retro fan club but World Unite/Lucifer Youth Foundation are the most interesting and exciting thing to happen to British guitar music since ever. More may become clear with this album release but even if not, the mournful yet soulful organdriven beats and raw emotional lyricism should stir the loins of even the most jaded of music fans. www.wulyf.org

BOOM: Timothy Bloom The Budding Rose EP

Soul man and singer/songwriter Bloom has stopped making tunes for the likes of Ne-Yo and Smokey Robinson, signed up with Interscope and Timbaland and recorded his debut solo EP. Before you worry that Timbo might have got his large hands involved here you can breathe a sigh of relief, Budding Rose is a thing of neosoul beauty, powered by guitars and guided by Blooms clear voice it successfully steers clear of drum machines and beeps and is soo much the better for it. www.timothybloom.com

The Jezabels Long gone are the days where being labelled a jezebel was seen as an offence, and with this Aussie band, if could soon be no higher praise. Channelling Fleetwood Mac through the vocal chords of Siouxsie & the Banshees and Florence Welch, lead singer Hayley has quite an instrument in her throat. If your ears revel in whiskey gargling huskiness, then you’re in for a rather smooth treat. Download: ‘Hurt Me’ www.myspace.com/jezabelsband

Ed Sheeran. - Dizzy New Heights

It’s not often that I arrive at an interview feeling like I already know everything about the artist I’m about to meet and yet, that was exactly what it felt like before meeting Ed Sheeran. My first encounter with the flame haired singer/song writer came last September when he joined Example (who he was supporting on tour at the time) at a night put on by Who’s Jack. It was on Example’s insistence that, ‘this guy will be huge’, that I decided to give him a listen. At the time Ed had been making music for a pretty long time and had already released five albums and EPs to reasonable success. Shortly after our original meeting his name was everywhere due to the immense popularity of his self-release grime collaborations EP, No.5 Collaborations Project, which featured the top dogs of the British grime scene including JME, Wretch 32, P Money and Devlin as well as several others. The EP was an over night success and shot to the top of the iTunes chart selling 7,000 copies in the first week of release and out selling the likes of Rihanna and Kings of Leon. It wasn’t too long before you couldn’t turn on the radio or look at Twitter without seeing/hearing someone talk about Ed Sheeran. words : Laura Hills : Images : Jim Lincoln

After a quick downloading session it became apparent that grime wasn’t the only thing that Ed had mastered. On his previous releases I came across songs that married guitar playing with loop pedals, beat-boxing and the type of melodies that would leave most singer/ song writers quacking in their boots with inferiority. Each of his releases were rammed full of autobiographical songs documenting break ups and make ups with his girlfriend, teenage sex, moving to London and his relationship with the music industry showing a lyrical maturity beyond his 19 years of age. So far, all very impressive for an unsigned act. What followed was a quick signing to Atlantic Records, more media attention than he’d ever been used to, 36,000 new Twitter followers in just a few days and the start of what looks to be a very promising career. Ahead of the release of his debut single, The A Team, we dragged Ed on to a (very windy) London roof-top in Canary Wharf to find out about how things have changed over the past six months, his hugely fanatical fans, sofa surfing and why he doesn’t think his success will change him… We meet Ed just a few hours before he is due to play the first of two sold out shows at London’s Borderline venue as part of the UK tour he is currently in the middle of. He has also been busy putting the finishing touches to his first album, +, as well as getting ready to record a live session for Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show and from what I can tell it looks like everything is finally on track for the singer who has been trying to get into the industry for some nine years. ‘What a lot of people might not realise is that I’ve been doing this since I was 11 years old,’ says the now 20-year-old. ‘That was when I got my first guitar and started writing my own songs then when I was old enough I started gigging around where I grew up in Suffolk. I was doing gigs all throughout school and built up a nice fan base there so when I turned 16 I moved to London to try and make a career of it.’

After making the move to the Big Smoke Ed immersed himself in the singer/song writer scene contacting as many live music promoters as possible and playing all around the city. ‘There was a website which had a list of all the promoters so I contacted every single one of them and within a few days I’d been booked to play over 100 gigs,’ remembers Ed. From then on he became a one-man-playing machine and in 2009 alone he played no less than 312 gigs, an impressive feat for a young guy with no record label or management to speak of. Perhaps even more impressive is that one of Ed’s first ‘big breaks’ came in 2010 when, after releasing several EPs here in the UK, he visited LA to play open mic nights and was spotted by Hollywood actor Jamie Foxx. Foxx took an immediate liking to Ed and invited him round to his mansion to write and record songs, he also played some of Ed’s music on his popular, US based, radio show. What followed was an invite to support Just Jack on tour, a management deal with Elton John and Lily Allen’s management company and the promise that he might finally be on the right track. ‘I’ve always paid to make my own music,’ he says. ‘The first few albums I made didn’t cost very much to make and when I moved to London I’d sell them at my gigs out of my rucksack getting a tenner here and there for them and I’d save all the money I made and put it towards recording my next release. I recorded my EP, You Need Me for £1000 and sold it on the Just Jack tour. Luckily people would lend me their studios and my friend Jake [Gosling] produced a lot of them for me so I’ve always been able to put out music. Ironically the Collaborations EP cost me next to nothing to make but was the highest grossing of them all.’ As well as making him a fair bit of money the EP also grabbed the attention of Atlantic Records who had, for a while, been keen keeping an eye on the singer and immediately signed Ed to their label imprint Asylum. ‘I had quite a few labels approach me after the EP did so well but I wanted to go with Asylum because they’d been there for a while and it made sense to go with someone who had understood me and my music before all the hype began.’ To celebrate signing the deal Ed did what any self-respecting male would do, went to his mates house, ate dough balls and

watched Sex in the City. ‘Whenever I’m in London I stay on my friends sofas. I have a list of people I can call in the day and get a bed for the night and I have a list of people I can ring at 4am and sleep on their sofa so I jumped on straight on the train to my mate Chris’ house. I’d stopped drinking and smoking just before I got the deal and it’s made my life pretty boring so we just watched Sex and the City on TV and then I went to bed, woke up the next day and went on with my day.’ As far as changes to his life since signing the record deal go, Ed says they’ve been minimal. That’s if you don’t count appearances on Jools Holland, bookings for some of the summer’s biggest festivals and sold out tours as minimal. ‘My whole career has been a pretty gradual thing so it hasn’t been too mental for me, my life hasn’t really changed that much,’ says Ed. ‘I still have the same friends and girlfriend as I’ve always had and I’m still on the same sofas I’ve always stayed on, I’m just playing bigger gigs and more people are listening to my music. I have to be honest, people do care a bit more about me now, that’s not to say that people didn’t care about me before, but there’s just more of them now.’ And care they do. Just a few weeks before we meet Ed for this interview we went down a free gig he was playing at the Barfly in Camden. The gig was such a success that fans queued as Ed played full set before clearing the venue then started all over again until the venue told him he had to stop (a mixture of it approaching mid 47 night and the police riot vans that had turned up to keep the peace as his fans lost patience) and so to try and keep everyone happy he moved outside on to the street and gave an impromptu performance on the venues door steps. Surely he could never have expected such a good response? ‘I did actually,’ he laughs. ‘I don’t mean that in an arrogant way but it was a free gig in Camden, it was a summers day and it was during the school holidays of course quite a few people were going to turn up. I said to the gig bookers that we should get a bigger venue but they weren’t keen and wanted to see how it went… and then 1000 people turned up and we couldn’t get them all in. I wasn’t expecting it to be quite as nuts as that but I was expecting more than 250 people to turn up and that’s what the Barfly’s capacity is.’

‘There was a roadblock

because of the police turning up’

That backlash of such an over subscribed event was a fair few angry fans who felt disappointed that they hadn’t made it inside for the proper shows. ‘I got quite a lot of angry messages from fans afterwards but there wasn’t much more I could do for people. It did annoy me a bit because I wanted to do it in a bigger venue but I wasn’t allowed. Having said that, I suppose it worked out OK in the end, at least people wrote about the fact there was a roadblock because of the police turning up, if I’d done it in a big venue where everyone could attend then people might not have heard about it afterwards.’ But, as the saying says, for everyone up there is a down and one of the (very few) downs for Ed is that now he is on the brink of ‘making it’ he is experiencing some backlash from those people that he used to call his peers. A few days before we’re sat with him Wiley (who Ed had previously supported on tour) had launched a tirade of angry abuse at Ed on Twitter because Ed’s label apparently wanted to delay the release of their song, If I Could, to allow Ed to put out his first solo single, The A Team, first. Wiley was not a happy man and sent a series of very public messages to Ed with one blasting, ‘Hold tight Ed Sheeran this is why bro next time I see you we could end up fighting cos you cant tell ya label what I’ve done for u,’ before going on to leak the single as a free download on Sendspace. ‘Any time you move from the position you’re in you’re obviously going to get the people that are really happy for you and the people who are less than happy for you. The last few months have definitely been a learning curb for me in that respect,’ he says of those who have now express their annoyance at his

success. ‘Growing up my favourite band was Nizlopi and I remember their singer, Luke, saying that a lot of things change when you become successful and you just have to be prepared for that to happen and that’s what I’m trying to accept now. Having people being horrible about me is all part of the process and I think it’s made me more human to have to go through it,’ he says before looking down at his iPad to show me a Twitter someone has sent him which purely states that listening to Ed’s music made this one particular user want to ‘slit his wrists’. However for every bad, negative comment Ed receives he seems to be getting 100 good things said about him from music critics and fans alike. ‘I have some really great, dedicated fans. In fact there’s been a couple of people who have had my signature or name tattooed on them!,’ he laughs. ‘I don’t think that’s weird though, I was a fanatical fan of Damian Rice and Nizlopi when I was growing up and I even contemplated getting a tattoo dedicated to them myself so if my fans want to get one about me then that’s absolutely fine.’ Creeping in amongst his fans are a couple of celebrity fans including Elton John, Rio Ferdinand and James Cordon who have all got in touch to express their love of his music. ‘The weirdest people pop up and tell me they like my music, James Cordon was a random one but it’s pretty fucking cool that they take the time out to big me up. Mark Feehily from Westlife twittered about me the other day too, he’s such a lad. He has nearly 90,000 followers, he’s been in the industry for 11 years as a member of one of the biggest boy bands ever, so he doesn’t have to promote me but the fact he did was so nice.’ With Ed’s twitter followers now standing at just over 67,000 (although by the time you read this that number will be higher) I put to him that there isn’t much difference between himself and Feehily in the Twitter follower stakes. He contemplates before answering, ‘I genuinely think that the amount of followers I have at the moment is purely down to hype. People are interested in what I’m going to do next but that wont last forever, I’m sure a few followers will drop off when the hype around me has died down.’ Although with presales of his first single and debut album already placing him in the charts I imagine it’ll be a very long time before any of them are clicking the ‘unfollow’ button.

The Secret History of London’s Music Venues words: Matt Bass

It cannot be denied that our dear capital is a thriving cultural centre. It doesn’t matter what you are looking for, London will have something to suit your entertainment needs. Catch a show in the world-famous West End, lose yourself for hours on end in a gallery, show your colours and support for one of the many football teams or simply take a stroll in any one of it’s beautiful parks. London’s music scene however, is not quite as celebrated as others. Think of British music and you might consider the emergence of The Beatles from Liverpool and the Cavern Club, the Manchester scene of the eighties, or the more recent indie revival, lead in part by a collection of artists from Sheffield. What London can boast is a host of fine venues, each in it’s own way unique and worthy of the finest musical talent the world can offer. In many ways, the venue itself can make a gig, bringing not just a physical entity on which a band might perform, but also an individual sound and an intimacy which makes each and every gig held in the capital that little bit different from the last. Here, we look at the lesser-known histories of some of these cherished places and the stories that regular gig-goers may not be aware of.

The Roundhouse

A quick glance at the capital’s music venues will show a clear trend of sorts. With near no exceptions, the stage for the pros is to be found in a club or theatre style venue. While all encompass a unique charm, the vast majority follow the successful, tried and tested format of either a bar, or grand venue, perhaps once hosting the latest offerings from Hollywood. The Roundhouse breaks this mould. Few could have foreseen it’s present use, with it’s story coming via gin, the industrial revolution, and tea at 10 Downing Street. The Chalk Farm venue has stood part of the North London skyline for over 150 years, yet it is only recently that it has become a firm fixture on the music circuit. Indeed, when originally constructed, the domineering structure served a purpose completely off-key from it’s current

function. George Stephenson, famous for designing the Rocket steam engine, was responsible for the construction in 1846. Initially used as a railway engine shed, the venue was cast aside a mere decade after completion owing to the extension of the standard length locomotive. From 1869, it stood as a warehouse for Gilbey’s Gin for fifty years before again being left redundant, a vast empty spectre. It was a century after it’s original construction that the venue started to take on a form for which we might today recognise it. The lease was taken on in the sixties by Centre 42, an arts forum linked to the Trades Union Congress. The forum’s focus was that art should be subsidised and made available to all, hence the group’s name, being taken from Article 42 of the trade union movement stating exactly the same. From this stemmed the Round House Trust, an initiative to raise funds. Indeed, fundraising proved a key problem for Centre 42 as they continued to drive forward with their vision. Such was their plight, even Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s wife, Mary, hosted a tea party at Downing Street in a bid to top up the bank and ease the strain on the purse strings. It’s hard to imagine Samantha Cameron doing likewise today. Where

was Cherie Blair when the Astoria was forced to shut it’s doors to make way for Cross Rail? It was their attempts to boost the coffers however that led to the development of the venue we know today. Centre 42 reaped great rewards from the rental of the Roundhouse as a music venue for concerts. Pink Floyd, The Doors and Jimi Hendrix all graced the venue in the late sixties while theatrical performances were also on offer. With music and drama working alongside each other, it became an established fixture in London’s entertainment scene. The seventies saw a shift in the direction of the venue as Thelma Holt was appointed Artistic Director. In the face of crippling debts and in order to combat a growing reputation for the venue as a fulcrum of the drug culture, theatre productions were prioritised. Indeed some big names were to tread the boards before the arrival of the eighties – the likes of Vanessa Redgrave, Helen Mirren and Bob Hoskins all starring. However, the big names could mask the troubles backstage for only so long, and in 1983 the venue closed due to lack of funds, while the Round House Trust was wound up. It would be 13 years of near

misses before the iconic site would reopen. Performances from Suede and Elvis Costello heralded a new era while a new Roundhouse Trust was formed in 1998 and took on management of the venue at the turn of the new millennium. The beloved yet antiquated hotspot closed in 2004 for a £30m refurbishment and reopened two years later, bringing us completely up-to-date with this historic London treasure.

The 100 club

brixton academy

KOKO

We all have moments where we like to say, ‘I was there’. Nirvana’s headline performance at Reading Festival, Oasis at Knebworth, any Arctic Monkeys show before they stormed into the public’s conscious in 2005 to name just a few - all were special occasions, moments that all who bore witness to will remember for eternity. Koko was the chosen one for one such moment in 1983. In the seventies, it was known as the Music Machine and had become a home for punk music. The Clash and the Sex Pistols both took to the stage in this time. As the new romantic era was echoed in, it was renamed the Camden Palace and a new genre found it’s home. However, it was the first UK show of a mega-star that will live long in the memory of those in attendance. Far from her unquestionable current status of music royalty, a young, self-confident girl from Detroit arrived in the UK in a bid to recreate the stir she had begun to cause back in the States. Madonna’s first UK show was used to promote her single, Everybody. It may not have been a roaring success, but as we all now know, it was to prove a minor hiccup in her long and winding path to super stardom. Madge had a homecoming of sorts when she returned in 2005 but she was far from the first legend of the silver screen to grace the venue. Opened in 1900 as the Camden Theatre, Koko was renamed the Camden Hippodrome in 1909. Following this move, Charlie Chaplin became a regular performer, but it was ultimately as a music venue that Koko has made it’s modern name.

Known as a home for punk music during the seventies, the 100 Club remains as special a venue today as it was back then. The arrival of music at the 100 Club was almost by accident, as the central London venue stood merely as a restaurant until 1942. Mack’s, as it was known, was hired by jazz drummer Victor Feldmann as the setting to showcase his sons’ band regularly on Sundays. It was from these humble beginnings that the club grew to hosting major names in jazz and blues, with a guest list including names such as Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday, BB King and Muddy Waters. Pivotal in the early career of an infinite number of artists, it is perhaps the punk scene that owes the greatest debt to the Oxford Street venue though. In September 1976, the nation’s first ever punk festival was held in central London, offering a previously unavailable platform for a wealth of bands to rage against the machine. The two night festival saw the first London shows for the Buzzcocks, the Sex Pistols and the Clash amongst others, ensuring not only were these monumental moments in the band’s careers, but given the take-off of the punk era, seminal nights in the movement as well as the club. Punk bands then, today and in years to come owe a debt of gratitude to the club in the heart of the city. It is not held merely a Mecca in the hearts and minds of the punk scene exclusively however. With the arrival of the nineties came a beautiful marriage of convenience, as the struggling venue took a chance on a an up-and-coming indie band by the name of Suede. The London four-piece of course went on to great things, but their appearance on Oxford Street both reinvigorated the establishment and kick-started a successful period, where indie reigned supreme. These are of course just a handful of magical moments which have played a part in the history of London’s music scene. With thousands attending gigs every week in our capital, there will surely be a vast collection of great stories to come, adding to a rich and healthy history.

Flying the flag for music lovers and gig-goers in south London, Brixton Academy has stood a proud and prominent feature of the area for longer than many would care to remember. Famous for it’s decorative arch encompassing a stage fronted by a renowned sloping floor, the venue was built in 1929 at a cost of £250,000. Loved still today for it’s grand features, careful consideration was put into it’s planning. The theatre was one of four constructed by the Astoria group, although Brixton was chosen as the flagship venue of the quartet. It is, therefore, no surprise that it was constructed with such grand designs – the aforementioned arch over the stage is not alone in making this an eye-catching home for music, as it comes complete with a vast entrance hall boasting a double staircase, fit for the formal ball rather than the dingy rock and roll it today so often calls it’s friend. What many may not be so aware of is that this is a venue held in similarly high regard by the artists who perform there. Consequently, Brixton is able to attract some top talent when the tour bus makes it’s scheduled stop in the capital. The love the artists feel for the Academy is shown through the fact many select it to record a live CD. Whether it is the acoustics, the atmosphere or something unique and unknown, Brixton is a popular choice for the live album, with artists including Dido, Stiff Little Fingers, Groove Armada and Mötorhead all releasing live tracks from their shows south of the Thames. Such is it’s popularity, it has even be used to shoot a music video. In 1985, Billy Ocean’s “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going” was used as the theme song to the Michael Douglas film, The Jewel in the Nile, sequel to another classic, Romancing the Stone. The video was shot in the venue with Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito all in attendance.

words : Laura Hills | images : Tom Bunning

AKIRA THE DON

Akira The Don (or ATD as he shall be known for the purpose of this interview) is in a bit of an odd position. A huge amount of people have been following his career for years now, they’re the fans who will remember that he was the first person to put a free mix tape out online back in XXX, they are also the ones who will understand why he was once described as the ‘Briut-Hops saviour’ and yet, on the other hand, there are still a large amount of people who are reading this thinking, ‘Akira the who?!’. So before we carry on here’s what you need to know. ATD (or Adam Narkiewicz to give him his birth name) has been in the music industry for the past 10 years, he is a rapper and also a producer who has worked with everyone from Lethal Bizzle to Gruff Rhys, he was born in North Wales but currently resides in Hackney Wick and over the past few years has released over 30 albums, EPs and singles as well as finding time to play sell out shows and pursue his other passion, being an artist. And so, after years of hiding just behind the spot light he is back and about to release his next album, The Life Equation, he is now ready to conquer the charts and the hearts of music lovers everywhere with a statement on his website boldly claiming that ‘2011 is the year of Akira the Don’ we decided it was about time that we met with the man himself to find out just what he’s got up his sleeve… ‘I decided I wanted to be a rapper on the morning of the Millennium,’ explains ATD over a JD and coke in Camden’s Edinboro Castle

‘I was on Upper Street with a load of champagne and drugs piled around me and that’s when I realised. I wanted to make rap.’ And so, at the age of 19, that’s exactly what he did. What followed were a few weeks locking himself his basement while he ‘spat really loud lyrics over backing music’ and perfected the art. ‘It was just me, a load of weed and some music soft wear for a few weeks. I wrote a couple of songs, stuck one of them online and had a really good response,’ he says. ‘Some guy ended up getting in touch with me because he wanted to put my single out on his record but first he wanted to hear some more songs, so I lied, told him I had loads and spent the next few days writing and recording seven extra songs.’ ATD didn’t end up signing with the man in question but carried on making hip-hop infused tunes regardless and began booking himself gigs. ‘I always believed that hip hop was the ultimate musical form because there are no boundaries. A rapper can tell a story over the top of any kind of music and you can’t do that with other genres, they all have limits,’ he says of his choice of genre. ‘You don’t even need a beat to make a rap record, you could literally spit lyrics over a violin if you really wanted to.’ In 2004 ATD set up his website, www.akirathedon.com, and uploaded a mix tape named ATD1 which proved to be more popular than he could have imagined. At the time the music industry were battling the likes of Napster and while they spend time worrying about the industry collapsing ATD saw a whole in the market for free music and jumped on the idea. The mix tape was downloaded by over 100,000 people in the first month. ‘That was great, I had no idea I’d get that response,’ says ATD. It was around this time that he found inspiration from a fairly unlikely source… The Strokes. The American indie band had just come over to the UK gaining them massive success both here and in the US when they finally returned home. ‘I saw that happen and I thought to myself that maybe it would be the same for me, I was pretty cool at the time and I thought the US market would understand me and I knew if I got a name for myself there when I got back I’d be massive here too. So I went to my bank, got a loan and off I went.’ The gamble paid off and within a few months of being over there he had signed a record deal with Interscope Records who also boasted names such as Eminem and 50 Cent on their roster. ‘The most ironic thing about it was a few months before I went to the US I’d written a feature for Tank Magazine about how musicians don’t need big record deals to be successful, I’d heard stories of how everything can go wrong for an act when they get signed by a big company and unfortunately everything I had said in the article came true.’ Ignoring his own advise and signing to Interscope opened doors for the rapper that had previously seemed closed to him, the label brought him a studio,

dragged in a bunch of the industries biggest producers and provided him with all the limos, money and riders he could ever hope for. He began work on his debut album and all seemed to be going as planned until he recorded the track, Thanks For All The Aids, which included lyrics such as, ‘thanks for all the aids / and the bums / and the nuns / and the guns / and the bombs on the trains’, needless to say the label weren’t impressed and he was quickly dropped. ‘Of course what I didn’t realise at the time was all the limos, all the drinks and all the parties were being charged to me so I left the label owing them a load of money. I don’t regret it though, it was the perfect situation at the time and I met a lot of cool people who I still work with to this day.’ Moving forward to the present day and ATD has just released his second album, The Life Equation, an album he describes as a ‘pop masterpiece that will still be listened to in 1000 years time. The follow up to his first album, When We Were Young, looks at ATD’s perceptions of love, drugs, religion, terrorism and society as a whole and has been described as, ‘a must have for those who value musical inventiveness and uniqueness’. ‘People will listen to this song in the future when they want to know what it was like to live during our times,’ says ATD. ‘I’ve always seen my albums as a trilogy. When We Were Young was about being young and our right as humans to be an individual and my latest album is moving on from that. It’s about realising that there is more to life than just being an individual and I have to say, I think it’s a really good album,’ he says before looking me in the eye and says very seriously, ‘it makes people cry.’ Unlike when ATD first came on the musical scene he is now competing with an ever growing list of peers (aka British white males who rap along to samples). ‘When I first came out there wasn’t really anyone in the UK doing what I was doing, now there’s a fair few,’ he says. ‘Example is one of the people who is does it best I think. He’s a friend of mine and I remember a few years ago him sitting down with me and telling me his master plan. He’s done everything he said he was going to do which is fucking awesome.’ Perhaps something that gives ATD the edge is the driving force behind him… his mother. Who, after getting rid of all of his management, ATD employed to look after getting clearance of the samples he wanted to use on his songs. ‘I got rid of all the people around me a while ago. They were too stuck in the past and didn’t understand the way the music industry was changing so I figured I’d do it all myself so I employed my mum to look after my samples.’ Leaving her job at the Council to take up her new role mother ATD set about battle

industry big wigs to make sure her sons music was the best it could be. ‘She spends her time shouting down the phone at American record labels and she’s amazing at it. She also likes to fill me in on how all the labels are run… she says that Universal are very badly organised because they only have woman running the entire sample clearance department, my mum reckons she’s a very unhappy lady. She literally makes them all her best friend. I plan to buy her a house with the money I make from the new album as a thank you for her hard work.’ As well as having an obvious talent for making his own songs ATD also has a few other strings to his creative bow including being a producer who works with the likes of Lethal Bizzle and Envy who ATD has regularly worked with over the past few years. ‘I get bored of these rappers who’s songs are all about showing off about how much money they have. That’s why I like working with people like Bizzle and Envy because they make statements. As far as I’m concerned, Envy is one of the best MCs in the world, it’s been great working with her over the years and seeing her blossom.’ As any follower of ATD will know one of his greatest pride and joys is his website which is updated daily (often several times) with blog posts and updates. Now-a-days this is something that plenty of artists employ to gain a connection with their fans but just like his free online mix tape back in 2004 the concept was something that ATD has been running with for over seven years. ‘When I started out no one was using their website for things like that. When Interscope saw what I was doing their head of New Media called me up and told me they thought it was genius and so they decided to roll it out with all their artists including Eminem. And now that’s what everyone does. I’m pretty proud of that,’ he smiles. ‘It’s weird to see the way the music industry’s changed over the past ten years. It’s so much easier for bands to get noticed today because we all have the same access to technology. Now anyone can have access to the same technical equipment, the same ability to make videos and the same distribution as people who are signed to big labels. Anyone who tells you that it’s harder to be a successful musician now is a liar and clearly working for the scum.’ Luckily for ATD his place in the industry is already set in stone and right now it seem that he has his heart set on one thing… chart domination. ‘I’ve got some pretty awesome plans for the rest of this year. I’m lucky because I’ve learnt how to make proper music and I’ve learnt how to spend time in my house bumming around but still make enough money to live,’ he says before downing the rest of his drink and saying ‘Now’s the time to take things to the next level.’

CHARLIE’s Band Picks

(terrible title for a column.) words: Charlie Allen

Films of Colour:

Worship: Now I’m a sucker for synth pop but sometimes it can go a little overboard, take the entire 1980s for example; thankfully this Reading based lot manage to produce a delightfully dreamy brand of the stuff, which has had me hooked for months. There’s an obvious Radiohead influence here and the songs all have a fantastic hypnotic infectiousness, to coin a gloriously pretentious phrase. It’s all very poignant and powerful and from what I understand, they produce everything themselves, which is lovely. As is very common nowadays, (it worked for Hurts), they appear to be going down the “lets be mysterious online” route so there’s not a great deal of info on them available, however, I can say first hand that their live show is exquisite and from what I’ve heard, there’s a whole bunch of label interest bubbling up in the background. They’ve also got a great team behind them at Scruffy Bird Management (Foals, Everything Everything) so hopefully we’ll be seeing them a lot more in the upcoming months. There’s nothing quite like a band who you can enjoy at bath-time and disco-time! www.myspace.com/worshipuk

This lot, for me, are the quintessentially perfect band. They encompass everything (everything) I enjoy in music. Ok so I’m basing this on one song, but that one song completely sold me, to the extent that I made a half an hour journey’s worth of effort to go to one of their gigs in Hoxton, only to be told that the entry fee was £10. TEN POUNDS!!!? Are you actually joking, I’d pay that for a band with three songs that I knew at least, otherwise massively piss off Mr. Promoter Man. Safe to say I’m yet to see them live. Anyway, I like them because: They have a good drummer, the songs have really good sing-a-long choruses, they like David Bowie, they have a good name, they’re not afraid of being pop, I like the singers voice and I can remember the words (to the song I like). I may actually just like them because they sound a bit like my old band, but anyway, Actions is a massive tune and you must listen. I’m not really sure what’s going on with them industry wise, they played at Music Week’s club night a few months ago but I’ve heard nothing since, hope things are taking off though since they’re ace. www.myspace.com/filmsofcolour

Cloud Control: Clock Opera: The moniker of self-styled king of “chop pop” Guy Connelly, Clock Opera is basically brilliant. Quite clearly a Pro-Tools wizard, he chops and changes all kinds of material in order to create elaborately complex pop songs, which flow effortlessly from section to section without sounding at all jumpy or irritating. His voice is quite reminiscent of Elbow’s Guy Garvey but…less northern? I’m not really sure where to place the music itself, but it falls somewhere in-between Steve Reich and well…Elbow. Once and For All is particularly worth listening to for the gist of what I mean. The next single is out on Moshi Moshi, which defiantly gets a big thumb’s up from me, trendy labels are always a positive. I managed to catch him live supporting Everything Everything at the Barfly (I’ve mentioned them twice now and probably will again), and was very impressed, he’s got a few sets coming up around the country, including Hop Farm Festival where I’ll certainly be watching, when I’m not tattooing Morrissey’s face onto my face of course. As a short aside, apparently he’s a fan of chopping up words from stories, so as a tribute I thought I’d do the same: Presently, longer, mortal, deposited, caution, singularly, ears. www.myspace.com/clockopera

Cloud Control is by no means a new band, but as far as the UK is concerned, they basically are. Hailing from Australia, they’ve already got a handful of awards under their collective belt and this is quite clearly well deserved, as their music is very pretty indeed. They recently signed to Infectious Records in the UK and Korda Marshall, the MD of said company, is basically a music industry badass (he signed The Darkness and Foals amongst others) so they’ve got great things ahead of them with this guy on their side. He’s also looking after The Temper Trap (they’re also from Australia you see, and have sold lots of records). For me they sound like a less tedious Fleet Foxes and a more accessible Yeasayer, lots of nice layered harmonies and folksy instrumentation and they’ve even got a girl! Granted they look like angry students in their press photos, but that doesn’t really bother me, I think they’d provide a very happy, smiley soundtrack to anybody’s summer picnic. I’m listening now and some distorted guitars just came in, that’s a good sign, perhaps the picnic could also involve some aggressive lovemaking. Hugs all round www.myspace.com/cloudcontrol

PICK OF THE MONTH

MUSIC A RETURN FOR 90S RAP…

Lucozade Hit UK Festivals

Envy 14 Beats HP Laptop This special edition laptop is one of the sexiest things we have seen (that hasn’t come from Apple) with its black velvet finish and glowing red keys, it’s almost like an evil mac. And even more evil will the be the sound that comes from it (in a good way) as it has Beats audio installed. The music playback on this beauty is something special and won’t be anywhere near the tinny sounds you are used to hearing off a PC laptop.

This summer Lucozade will be bringing their YES campaign to some of the UKs biggest festivals to give revellers a bit of a pick-me-up. Lucozade will be at Beach Break Live, Wakestock, Kendal Calling and The Big Chill as well as a few others to be on hand to give you a much needed energy boost in the form of some free drinks. From the chance to win VIP tickets to waking up to chilled bottles of Lucozade Original in the morning, Lucozade is committed to giving your weekend added energy. There will be a Lucozade YES installation at every festival, where teams will be giving out bottles of Lucozade Energy to keep everyone refreshed for the weekend. Rumour has it they’ll even be leaving bottles of Lucozade in the festivals campsites so you wont even have to stumble too far to get your hands on something to drink. Sounds pretty good to us. www.lucozade.com

www.hp.com

Boiler Room Turns One A whole host of electro DJs are going to be taking to the decks on 9th June to help celebrate the first birthday of Boiler Rooms at Corsica Studios. The event will kick off at 8pm and run through until 1am but at the moment they’re keeping the names of most of the DJs playing closely under wraps, however we do know that they are supposed to be very, very impressive indeed. For the past year Boiler Room have been bringing us the best in dance and electro music via their online seminal ustream music show and if the acts they’ve got in to do live sets (think Jamie xx, Jamie Woon, Seb Chew and Dark Star) already are anything to go by then we’re pretty sure they’re still going to be around for quite a few years to come. Tickets for the party cost £11. Head to www.boilerroom.tv for more information.

New Wurlitzer Lyra Jukebox Wurlitzer are long time makers of musical insturments and juke boxes and this is their latest model. This jukebox has been designed for modern living and would be bang at home in any batchelor pad anywhere across the capital. Using touch screen technology and an inbuilt audio system incoporateing two external speakers users can imput any music they so desire through CDs, DVDs or USBs. The jukebox has 320GB of memory connects to the internet and can also becuase of this play the radio. Murlitzer really have brought the jukebox into the 20th Century. The Wurlitzer Lyra is priced at £2995.00 www.wurlitzer.co.uk

Like LL Cool J and Will Smith before them, there seems to be a whole host of male rappers easing their way in to the music scene at the moment and they all seem to be jumping on the same bandwagon… 90s sounding rap. Two of our favourites at the moment come in the form of Mac Miller and Cities Aviv who are putting their rhymes to the type of tunes that make the Will Smiths of the 90s wish they were still making music. If, like us, you’re welcoming this return then here’s our guide to two of the best… Mac Miller The Jewish-American rapper was formerly a member of the rap group, The III Spoken, but has now embarked on working on his solo projects. He sites Lauryn Hill, Outkast and A Tribe Called Quest amongst his influences and released his 6-track EP, On And On And Beyond, produced by Rostrum Records back in March. Expect a mix of down-tempo, reflective music and party songs about booze, easy women and sleeping. Cities Aviv Hailing straight from Memphis, Cities Aviv, is somewhat of an elusive rapper. A quick google will reveal barely anything about him other than the fact that Cities Aviv was created ‘out of a lack of interest for breathing’ and claim that his music is ‘pop music for the unpopular’. And sadly that’s about all we can tell you but trust us when we say that on the next avaliable Sunday afternoon you need to stick this guy in to Youtube, sit back with a cold beer and relax to the sound of his songs. You wont regret it.

JOBS Product Manager - Music Club Deluxe Demon Music Group DMG is now looking to recruit a Product Manager – Music Club Deluxe to product manage Music Club Deluxe and other labels and releases when required and ensure they achieve budgeted turnover and P&L. 2erecruitment@2entertain.co.uk UK PR Manager Warp Records is looking for a new UK inhouse PR manager to work across Press, Online, Radio and TV. jobs@warprecords.com

Film.

FILM JUNE words : Mark Williams

As hairy songsters Grandaddy once said ‘Summer’s here kids’ and it is the time of year that things start to get blockbusterrific. But fear not, if those flashy tarts of the cinema world, also known as franchises, sequels, reboots and all-star-casts aren’t your thing perhaps you need a little more substance behind the shiny surface? We know how you feel. We don’t always need something to get our teeth into, to nourish our brains as well as our eyes and ears, but the suits of Hollywood consistently have the idea that the only films that will succeed are those that have about as much brain-nourishment as a conversation with Fearne Cotton. A film like Sucker Punch sure was pretty to look at, but if you just scratch away, ever so lightly, at the thin veneer of special effects and scantily clad, sexy ladies what were you really left with? Absolutely bugger all. Much like Oliver, we cry out for more! If Sucker Punch was supposed to be a cinematic meal, then it barely constituted a watery-soup served in a shot glass, with light celery garnish. We want a feast!

Mothers Day

Luckily for all you gourmands of the big screen, Who’s Jack can recommend some three Michelin star treats and for considerably less wallet-ache than a meal at one of Heston Blumenthal’s restaurants will set you back.

A Screaming Man

The Beaver (10th June) www.thebeaver-movie.com

Mother’s Day (10th June) www.mothersdaythemovie.com

Strange one this. Firstly because it’s a Jodie Foster directing her first film for fifteen years and casting actor and parttime anti-Semite Mel Gibson in the lead role. Secondly, it’s about a man who is falling apart mentally until he discovers a discarded beaver hand puppet, through which he begins to communicate and reconnect with his family. Despite the bizarre premise, this does actually look like a touching psychological drama-comedy, following a father’s attempt to regain a grip on his life.

If the bank robbers in Reservoir Dogs had been using a family home as their postbank-heist hideout, only to discover that there were some people having a dinner party there, then it could have turned out a little like the plot of Mother’s Day. Only, they were bright enough to use a warehouse on the outskirts of town, and not a recently repossessed suburban house. Neither were they led by a calmly psychotic matriarch, who insists on being called only Mother.

The First Grader (10th June) www.thefirstgrader-themovie.com Based on a true story, The First Grader is set in Kenya and centres upon Maruga, an eighty-four year-old Kenyan man who wishes to take advantage of the free education his country is now offering. It is something he fought for, when fighting for the liberation of his country as a younger man, and he is determined to learn to read, even though it means being in a classroom of six year-olds. He faces opposition to his plans from those who believe he is wasting valuable class-room space, but the head teacher Jane Obinchu (played by Naomi Harris) is willing to give him the opportunity he never had as a child. More than just an unconventional feel-good film set in Africa, it explores the lasting legacy of oppressive colonial rule, something we British were experts at not too long ago. Maruga is played by a Kenyan actor named Oliver Litondo, in his first leading film role at what some might call a fairly senior age, and all of the children who play his colleagues are local children.

No matter though regarding the unexpected house guests, as now they have hostages whom they can use as bargaining chips should the police turn up. Or they can just while away the hours of the evening by terrorising them. Being as this is a horror film, it seems probable that the second option might get more of a look in... The Peddler (17th June) www.imdb.com/title/tt1636454 The Peddler is an Argentinian documentary which follows veteran film-maker Daniel Burmeister. Mr Burmeister goes from town to town and village to village making films starring the inhabitants of wherever he happens to be staying. Each film must usually be completed within 30 days and generally has no tangible budget. It’s a study of one man’s love of film and film-making and the life he has chosen, which is getting as many people involved in the film making process as possible, who are unlikely to otherwise even see a camera, let alone be in front of one. You can imagine his projects return results of varying quality, and he isn’t going to be troubling the Oscars panel any time soon,

but it is somehow wonderful just to know that Daniel Burmeister is out there, in South America, travelling from one place to the next and sharing his passion and enthusiasm with the world. Potiche (17th June) www.potichelefilm.fr Potiche is a charming looking French comedy, with Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve. The title Potiche translates into English as Trophy Wife, which is exactly what Suzanne (Deneuve) feels she is, married to a rich, chauvinistic businessman with some rather archaic views on women. But one day he has a heart attack, brought on by his employees rebelling against their boss, and Suzanne is put in charge of her husband’s umbrella factory. The film is set in 1977, so provides an opportunity for a comical retrospective look at sexual equality, or the lack of it in those days, especially in France. Countdown to Zero (24th June) www.globalzero.org Without getting too heavy or morbid on you, if just a fraction of the active nuclear weapons in the world were launched and detonated, there would be a massive nuclear apocalypse, and life might be reminiscent of the film The Road. Countdown to Zero is a documentary, featuring an impressive roster of past and present world leaders among it’s scientists and various experts, who all seem to advocate the idea that a world free of nuclear weapons is the way to go. Quite why Tony Blair couldn’t have managed that in all the time he was Prime Minister is anyone’s guess, but he pops up here, among the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev and expresident Jimmy Carter, who all say that zero is the optimum number of nuclear weapons that the world should aim for.

Potiche Mothers Day

First Grader

It’s quite a powerful film, and in many ways scarier than your average horror flick, as this is a danger that is very much a reality, which mankind has foisted upon itself after years of Cold War posturing and building up ridiculous stockpiles of incredibly dangerous weapons. But hey, there’s always hope that one day world leaders might actually learn from past mistakes, before the only thing that has

The Beaver

survived a series of global mushroom clouds are cockroaches and Keith Richards. Incendies (24th June) www.incendies-thefilm.com This French-Canadian story of two siblings trying to fulfil their mother’s last wishes as written in her will has more for-

eign film awards under it’s belt than you could shake a stick at. It is a gripping drama that unfolds as an adult brother and sister need to travel to the Middle-East in order to uncover their mother’s roots, and discover the not-always-pleasant past that shaped her as a person. Stunning cinematography abounds in a compelling drama.

ATTACK ATTACK THE THE BLOCK BLOCK

John Boyega, 19, Peckham.

How did you get the role? I got a call from my agent asking me to audition. I had been in a play before but Attack the Block was only my second job. Favourite day on set? All of the action sequences because it gave us all a chance to show off our skills and it’s loads of fun. Worst day on set? When we were in Ron’s weed room because it was proper dusty and I couldn’t stop coughing. What would you do if an alien turned up at your front door? Go to Nigeria. I’d get a plane to come and pick me up from my estate.

Simon Howard, 18, Elephant and Castle

How did you get the role? I was at college one day and there were open auditions. I’ve wanted to be an actor since I was about 14 but this is the first proper thing I’ve done. Favourite day on set? When we filmed in a car park but it wasn’t any ordinary car park. There was slime and dark corridors and it was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Worst day on set? I had one day when I wasn’t used until late evening and I’d been sitting around since the morning. What would you do if an alien turned up at your front door? I’d close the door, run to my bank account, draw out everything I had and get the first flight to Trinidad and Tobago so I could play with my granddad.

Alex Esmail, 17, Tufnell Park

How did you get the role? I was at 6th form studying drama and one of the people from the production company came in and asked me to come to an audition. Favourite day on set? The last day when myself and John shot a scene in the back of a van, there were jokes flying and everyone was cracking up at us. Worst day on set? In the underground garage. It was shot in the Isle of Dogs and there were rats everywhere and they’d filled it with smoke which made us feel sick. What would you do if an alien turned up at your front door? Kick it in the face then run upstairs and grab one of the many martial arts weapons which are in our house.

Leeon Jones, 17, Kent

How did you get the role? I was at a workshop with the Mayhem Drama Company and the casting director for the film came down and did some workshop bits with us, she took my details and called me up to audition properly. I think I have about 8 in total. Favourite day on set? There were loads. I liked the days when none of us were needed on set so we all hung out and played games together. It was like being a kid again. Worst day on set? All the cold nights. Some evenings I couldn’t feel my toes and it rained a lot but it was all worth it in the end. What would you do if an alien turned up at your front door? Shut that door again! Then I’d just run as far in the opposite direction as I can.

Franz Drameh, 18, Hackney

How did you get the role? I’d done some acting before so my agent gave me a call and said they had a project about aliens in South London so I gave the script a read and decided to go for it. Favourite day on set? Chilling with the guys and mucking about. Worst day on set? The scene in the underground garage, it was too smokey and the scene took forever. It made us all sick. What would you do if an alien turned up at your front door? Run to the nearest airport and get the first plane out of the country.

Joe Cornish Comedian-turned-actor-turned-film-maker, Joe Cornish, must be on top of the world at the moment. Not only has he just finished a stint back on air with his comedy partner in crime Adam Buxton with their own show on BBC Radio 6 but he has also just let his directing debut loose on the world. And guess what? The world loved it. Attack The Block follows a group of teenagers on a South London estate as they battle an invasion. The films release has been met by rave reviews for both the actors and Joe’s directing efforts with The Guardian proclaiming that Joe ‘excels’ as the films director and Time Out gushed that in a decades time no one will even remember that Joe was originally a comedian because his film-making skills now over shadow that part. We caught up with Joe (as well as some of the cast) just a few days after the films first press screening when, at the time, Joe had no idea quite how well the film was going to go down… words: Laura Hills | pictures: James Parsons

For a young Joe Cornish growing up in Stockwell in South London it would appear that his future would always lie in film. Growing up with his siblings and a primary school mother and PR father Joe would split his time between making super 8 style films with his best friend, Adam [Buxton] and watching films at his local cinema, hobbies that he says, are fairly typical of all future film makers. ‘I think that anyone who grows up to be a film maker probably had the same sort of childhood as I did, all I wanted to do was watch films and learn how their made and then try to do it myself. It was like the most exciting game ever invented for me as a kid,’ explains Joe. Despite moving to being in front of the camera in later life Joe says that being an actor never really appealed to him, ‘I was always more preoccupied in the making of films than I was in ever being in front of the camera. When I did finally get a stint on TV I accepted it more out of necessity and that was because I was offered the chance to do it with my best friend and it seemed kind of silly to say no.’ The TV program in question was the Channel 4 show, Take Over TV, which came about after Adam replied to an advert in NME looking for footage for a new show, sending in footage that the two had filmed together on their weekends away from school. ‘We were always messing around together making silly films and sketch shows but weirdly we never thought it was possible to make a living out of doing that sort of thing so when we got a bit older, and after our parents had told us it was time to grow up, he went off to be a DJ and I went to film school,’ remembers Joe. ‘It wasn’t until Adam decided to reply to the advert and we were offered the job on Take Over TV that it occurred to us that we could really make a career out doing something fun together.’ And make a career they did.

After the success of their stint on the TV show the Religion and Features Commissioning Editor at Channel 4 asked them to create their own show which would later be given the title, The Adam and Joe Show. The series ran for four series between 1996 and 2001 and also lead to the twosome releasing DVDs and even albums. ‘I don’t think anyone was as delighted about the success of the show as our mums and dads, it was like all the years of us messing around had finally paid off,’ laughs Joe. ‘We spent months putting together the first series and when it was finally broadcast we went to Adam’s tiny flat with all our friends to watch it and it was the weirdest experience of my life. It was a real Alice in Wonderland moment, I couldn’t get my head around the fact that people all over the country were seeing it. The next five years went past in a complete blur because we were doing so much work, I can barely remember any of it. I guess that’s the downside to a little show like ours taking off in such a big way, you’re almost too busy to enjoy it.’ The next few years were spent working on projects such as roles in Hot Fuzz and Sean of The Dead and making a move in to his first passions, script writing and film making. The by-product of which is his debut film, Attack the Block, which stars a handful of young acting talent, some of which have acted before and others who were plucked from local South London drama groups and colleges. ‘I came up with the concept for Attack The Block because I wanted to make the kind of movie I enjoyed growing up. Growing up in Stockwell in the 80s I was watching these brilliant monster movies like ET, The Gremlins and Critters and it struck me that we don’t really have anything like that around anymore,’ says Joe. ‘Like any other guy who’s ever existed I’ve fantasized about what it would be like if something like an

alien invasion happened where I lived but it never did in the films, it was always in the suburbs of America and I wanted to change that.’ Despite living in the same area that the film was set, Joe, unlike most of the characters in the film, didn’t grow up on a council estate and so, in order to make sure the film was authentic, he spent months talking to teenagers and kids who lived in the area. ‘After spending a few months talking to these kids I began to build characters out of the people I was meeting while doing the research. 65 The best thing about it for me was learn- 65 ing the language that these kids speak. To me it sounds a bit like something out of Avatar so it was like learning an entirely new language,’ he laughs. ‘The problem is, if this film is a success then the young people of London will have to change the way they speak because people will be imitating it.’ At the end of 2010, after locking down the characters and script, filming began with a selection of handpick teen actors in tow. ‘We had a pretty generous filming schedule but we were trying to do really complicated stuff so we used every last second of the time we had. Not only was I a first time director trying to find the ropes but I was working with 11 actors, who were all under the age of 18 and most of them had never acted on camera before so that’s was pretty hard work. It was made even hard because we shot it in the middle of winter, we were filming mainly at night and there were lots of action scenes to get right on quite a small budget. I just had no idea quite how tough it would be.’ It would appear, however, that all the hard work was worth it, Attack The Block, has so gained heaps of praise from film goers and industry insiders and has left everyone wondering what’s next for Joe Cornish? Another film? A return for the Adam and Joe Show? More acting? ‘I’m afraid I can’t tell you what’s next just yet but lets just say, I have a plan and I think it’s going to be pretty cool.’

10 Films : DVD Roundup words : Mark Williams

127 Hours (6th June) A lot more to it than just a man trapped by a rock, forced to slowly hack his own arm off. Although that’s the bit we’ll all remember... Inside Job (13th June) Informative and shocking documentary about the 2008 global economic crash, narrated by Matt Damon. Brighton Rock (20th June) Sam Riley plays Pinkie Brown, in this Mods and Rockers Brighton remake of the 1947 original. The Fighter (20th June) Mark Wahlberg is a boxer, Christian Bale is his brother, he trains, he fights, he gets one last shot at the big time. Does sound ever so slightly like Rocky. Howl (20th June) Wonderfully poetic film about the obscenity trial of the poem Howl, by Allen Ginsberg. Starring James “Handsome talented git” Franco.

With 10 Of the best chat up lines words : Matt Hamm

Wedding Crashers Rare would it be that either Owen Wilson or Vince Vaughn would actually need a chat up line to strike up a conversation with a human of the female persuasion, but the 2005 film featured this beaut - “You know people say we only use 10% of our minds? Well I think we only use 10% of our hearts”... brilliant and very, very true. From Russia With Love “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” 007 tells a random Russian beauty called Tatiana. “Thanks, but I think my mouth’s too big,” she sighs modestly. “No, it’s the right size,” he smiles as he goes in for the kill. “For me, that is...”. An effin’ nob gag? Who knew Bond was actually just a lewd pervert?! As Good As It Gets Less a joke, more a moment of cinematic magic as Jack Nicholson’s arrogant, rude and unpleasant lead character admits to Helen Hunt nine words that melt the heart of even the stoniest bitch...“You make me want to be a better man”. Jack’s still got it ladies. The Departed Matt Damon is a bit of a smooth mother at the best of times but in Scorsese’s masterpiece manages out do himself but telling Vera Farmiga’s Police Shrink that in order to get some time with her he’d “stab someone in heart with a fucking ice pick” – Try using that on the tube late at night and see how far it gets you. Bram Stoker’s Dracula Gary Oldman is a slick bastard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so put him in a cape and slip-in some sharp incisors and we’re pretty much spent. Which is a very similar reaction to Winona Ryder’s character as the head vampire tells the young vixen; “I have crossed oceans of time to find you”. Natural Born Killers Tarantino’s penned Oliver Stone bloodfest features many a killing and buckets of claret; but it also plays host to Woody Harrelson’s ultra smooth opening on meeting Juliette Lewis’ tortured soul. Quite simply put: “Who are you?” - “I’m Mallory” - “They ought to change your name to beautiful”. He shoots, he scores. Top Gun Rather unlikely would it be for an Englishman to break into song in the middle of a packed bar in front of hundreds of drunk soldiers, but hey if you’re Tom Cruise, you can get away with anything. Hence why when he sang The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” to Kerry McGillis; she might as well have dropped to her knees after just one verse. Anchorman Without doubt Will Ferrell’s best role as the legendary Ron Burgundy, as the man with the killer moustache rolls out one after another brilliant pick up line to his new co-presenter Veronica Cornerstone - “I have many leather bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany” or “Ok, so I’m going to suggest something and if you don’t like it, just throw it right back...I wanna be on you” and “You have a simply breathtaking heiny”. None of which actually work. Can’t blame a man for trying...especially with magnificent facial hair. Good Will Hunting Another entry for Mr Damon, as his Oscar winning boy genius quips a fantastically funny line after Minnie Driver’s asks him “You were hoping for a goodnight kiss?” Matt quickly replies “No, you know. I’ll tell ya, I was hoping to get goodnight laid...” – Bloody brilliant...and it worked. High five Matt? Austin Powers OK so maybe a little obvious but the man’s a ginger pick up machine from the year sex-thousand. Mike Myer’s comic creation reels off many a line in his 3 movies but our favourite has to be “shall we shag now or shag later?” – Simple, direct and saves you time if you’re a tad busy baby.

Big film fan? Good memory for otherwise useless trivia? Excellent, then you’ll enjoy having a crack at the Who’s Jack film quiz, designed to test your cinematic knowledge to it’s limits. There’s a mixture of questions, some easy, some harder, but then as Chris Tarrant always says, it’s only easy if you know the answer... 1. Name the film from the quote: “You want a toe? I can get you a toe, believe me”. 2. The ____ Amigos + The Magnificent _____ + Ocean’s _____ + _____ Leagues Under the Sea = ? 3.

So You Think You Know Your Films? words : Mark Williams 8.

18.

In which eighties classic does a young Charlie Sheen briefly appear as a drug addict in a police station and offer some words of advice?

True or false: Nicolas Cage claimed this year to have invented his own method of acting, called ‘Nouveau Shamanic’.

19.

What is the full title of the fifth Star Trek film, made in 1989?

Jason Statham first came to prominence in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. What was the name of his character?

10.

20.

In which film does a small girl utter the line “They mostly come at night... mostly”.

Who directed The Shawshank Redemption?

11. Name the X-Men character whose power enables her to absorb other people’s powers and memories through skin contact. 12.

21.

What are the clique of popular girls known as in Lindsay Lohan’s high-school comedy Mean Girls? From which Alfred Hitchcock film is the following poster fragment? 4. Richard Ayoade plays Moss in TV series the I.T. Crowd, but has also directed which recent coming-of-age film? 5.

13. Who is this lady? (Other than my future wife...)

And who wrote the short story upon which the Shawshank Redemption is based?

22.

14.

Who is this?

“Surely you can’t be serious?”

23.

15.

In the film Back to The Future Part II, what year is the future part? (give or take one year) 24.

In which film does Arnold Schwarzenegger play the one-man army John Matrix? 25.

Who is this? 6. How many Shots of Rum feature in the title of the 2008 Clare Denis film about a French widower? 7. How old is Eddie Murphy? (within 1 year either side)

“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley!” Which film is this from? 16. Name the film with the poster image: 17. In which film does Vince Vaughan play a character who repeatedly uses the word ‘money’ as an adjective?

Which classical composer does Malcom Macdowell’s character Alex have a particular liking for in A Clockwork Orange? 26. In Four Weddings and a Funeral, what is the name of Andie MacDowell’s character?

Answers : The Big Lebowski / 2. 0021 / 3. Vertigo / 4. Submarine / 5. Gregory Peck / 6. Thirty-five / 7. Fifty / 8. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off / 9. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier / 10. Aliens / 11. Rogue / 12. The Plastics / 13. Audrey Tatou / 14. Airplane! / 15. The Deer Hunter / 16. Swingers / 17. True / 18. Bacon / 19. Frank Darabont / 20. Stephen King / 21. Steve Martin / 22. 2015 / 23. Commando / 24. Ludwig van Beethoven / 25. Carrie / 26. James Caan /

Answers : 27. Moon / 28. Ron Burgundy / 29. Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb / 30. 42 / 31. Brian Blessed / 32. Emma Thompson / 33. David Hasselhoff / 34. Hayao Miyazaki / 35. Old Boy / 36. 1970s / 37. Jesse Eisenberg / 38. Thelma and Louise / 39. 62 / 40. Happy Gilmore / 41. The Seven Samurai / 42. Toy Story 3 / 43. Pulp Fiction / 44. Keith Richards / 45. The Lost Boys / 46. Infernal Affairs / 47. Mr Miyage / 48. True / 49. Mr T. / 50. Sean Bean

27.

37.

44.

In which decade was Disney’s Robin Hood released?

For which Quentin Tarantino film is the song ‘Misirlou’ by Dick Dale and his DelTones most associated?

38.

45. Upon whom did Johnny Depp base the mannerisms of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean?

Who plays Santino ‘Sonny’ Corleone in The Godfather?

46.

28. Identify the film poster with the words removed.

Who played Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network?

29.

39.

“I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of a big deal.” Who said that?

Name the film.

40.

Name the film.

Another maths question: _____ Angry Men + ____ Things I Hate About You + The ____ Year Old Virgin = ?

47.

What is the full title of the 1964 Peter Sellers film Dr Strangelove? 31.

41.

30.

The Departed, starring Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon was based on which Hong Kong crime thriller? 48. “Wax on... wax off. Wax on... wax off” are instructions originally given by who, in an iconic 1984 film? 49. True or false: The actor Cary Grant was born in Bristol.

32.

“During high school, I played junior hockey and still hold two league records: most time spent in the penalty box; and I was the only guy to ever take off his skate and try to stab somebody”. Who said that?

Name this veteran British actor.

42.

33.

Which Akira Kurosawa film is this Japanese film poster for?

According to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy, what is the answer to life the universe and everything?

In the Harry Potter series, who plays Professor Sybil Trelawney, professor of Divination? 34. In Spongebob Squarepants: The Movie, what do Spongebob and Patrick ride in order to get back to Bikini Bottom?

50. Who plays the boxer Clubber Lang in Rocky III? 51.

43. What was highest grossing film released in 2010?

Who is this?

35. Which legendary Japanese animé director was at the helm for Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke. 36. Which 2004 South Korean revenge thriller tells the story of Oh Dae-Su, a man who is inexplicably imprisoned for several years before being released to seek those who put him there?

What did you score? 45-50 The force is strong with this one! 35-44 The force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet. 25-34 How ya feeling kid? You don’t look so bad to me. You look strong enough to pull the ears off a gundark. 15-24 You may have been a good smuggler, but now you’re Bantha fodder. 0-15 Mesa called Jar-Jar Binks. Mesa your humble servant.

Krysten Ritter Krysten Ritter, 29, is one of those actresses with an instantly recognisable face. Having appeaed in several movies and TV shows (as well as being a model for a while) she has earned her acting stripes starring alongside some of Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest names including Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher and Katerine Heigl to name just a few. We caught up with Krysten in New York, just a few months ahead of the release of BFF & Baby, a film which Krysten has co-written to find out a little more about how she became one of films most recognisable names, directing and writing her own film scripts, working with Hollywood A Listers and why she always gets cast as everyones best friend...

69 69

Where do you call home? Right now I live in LA but I feel most at home in Brooklyn baby! That’s where I have spent the most time and love to live. It’s where I feel like me.

You grew up on a farm, what was that like? It was quiet. Boring at times. I had a lot of chores. I had a cow that I taught to ride like a horse. His name was Jake. I loved having the connection with animals but there isn’t much to do in rural PA other than fishing and hunting and drinking Natty Ice beer. I’m a city girl at heart that’s for sure. I stuck out like a sore thumb where I grew up.

Did you always want to be an actress? I never knew it was a reality! But the second I found it I grabbed the opportunity and decided I would never let go.

Were you encouraged by your family? Were any of them in the same industry? Absolutely not. I don’t know anyone in the industry and neither did any family member. Or distant family member... Or friends of a friend of a friend. No one knew anyone remotely related to the entertainment world. I’m the first in my small town. So because of that, I wasn’t really encouraged to become an actress. My mother would drive me to New York for modeling jobs when I was 16 but beyond that I’ve been totally on my own with no support whatsoever. When I told my friends and family that I wasn’t going to be a model anymore and I was going to be an actress I was pretty sure my mum and stepfather thought I would fail miserably. Which probably helped to fuel fire! I never felt support until I started having some success. My dad thought I should join the service. Can you imagine? Me? I’m such a wimp.

Do you remember your first audition? What was it for and what was it like? It was for a Dr. Pepper commercial and I remember going in and standing in a line waiting for my turn. They asked me questions and wanted to hear where I was from and get a little sense of my personality. Coming from modeling it was a totally different experience. In modeling you’re encouraged not to speak and just look pretty. So this was amazing, I goofed around and did a funny dance… basically made a fool of myself. And I got the job! This changed the course of my life. and I was only 18 years old.

How have auditions changed now that you’re an established actress? It’s so much better walking into a room where people have seen you work but it’s still just as scary as ever. Auditions are fun and I love them but they are also very hard on your nerves. Now that I have been on the other side of the casting table and had to cast my own movie I get that they want you to be great. They want you to walk in and get the part so they can get on with their lives. So I try to have fun with it now.

How did you get scouted to be a model? I was at the mall with my mom and so was Elite. That was crazy.

What was your career as a model like? Did it last a long time? I was a teenager with a healthy dose of angst and a not great home life. So I enjoyed that it got me out of the house and out of my small town. I thank my lucky stars for that. I actually did pretty well for myself and I worked consistently. I also got to travel the world. Which is amazing and was so great for me. I never thought modeling was like, my calling or whatever. though A job where you have to stand still and shut up is not really a good fit for my personality. I can barely sit still. But I’m so lucky to have had that experience.

Did it open any doors for you to get in to acting? Absolutely. My agency had an acting division- which led to me getting a manager- which led to going out for commercials- and so on and so on. Most actors start with commercials, so for me modeling was like one extra step. Then my manager made me train before sending me out on legit work. It was a steady progression.

Would you go back to modeling? I do photo shoots now as an actress. So the fact that I was a model was like boot camp training for that side of the film and tv biz. I know how to pose. But I like it much better now that I’m not a model for hire.

If you hadn’t succeeded in acting what would you be doing? I would probably be dead on the side of the road. Ha, ha. I have no idea. I don’t like to think about it. It gives me hives.

You’ve done a lot of commercial films as well as independents, what do you look for when choosing the roles to play? I love a good character arc. And proper scenes with a good scene partne, there is nothing better than that but there are always different reasons for taking every job.

What’s the first rule of being an actress? First rule for acting, for me, is listening. And then there are obviously a lot of other sides to the business. Be smart with your money, be gracious, feel lucky to be here, work hard and always strive to be better and have a good coach.

Was there a point when you thought, ‘I’ve made it as an actress now’? I’ve had a few highlights for sure. You know, moments when I could just fall to my knees with gratitude. When I think about how far I’ve come… from a little farm girl in Pennsylvania from a broken home... and then I think about how differently things could have gone for me. That thought literally well up with tears. Other moments that make me realise how lucky I am have been when I was asked to speak at my high school, that was pretty amazing. I got to tell the kids 71 what else is out there. And that is so important to me because no one told me when I was their age. It’s a nice feeling to send the elevator back down so to speak. And then of course there are little silly moments ike the first time I had a meeting at Happy Madison and I used to watch Adam Sandler movies on repeat as a kid. Or working with Amy Heckerling who did Clueless, or seeing Julia Roberts in the flesh. Or getting recognized when I go out. It’s a surreal thing.

Do you prefer working on films like 27 Dresses and What Happens in Vegas or the smaller independent films and why? I like it all because I love to work. I love making movies so much. I love being on set. Each supplements the other in different ways.

You appear as the ‘best friend’ to the lead character in quite a few films, do you enjoy this role? It’s so funny that people think of me that way because I’ve only played the “best friend” twice. Shopaholic and She’s Out of My League. But hey, work is work.

Are you ever worried about getting type cast? Because I’m weird looking and off beat or whatever, I’m so lucky that I get to play all kinds of characters. So I don’t worry about things like that.

How do you avoid that? By changing it up. I like to do a drama and then a comedy and then a little indie and then a TV thing and hopefully a big giant movie next and I really want to do another play. I love it all.

You recently starred in Killing Bono along side a whole host of actors from the UK, what was that like? I thought I would come home with a perfect Irish accent. However, Ben Barnes was a Brit, my hair gal was from Austrailia, the director was a transplant from Belfast to LA and the make up girl was from Germany. So that didn’t happen.

How did filming it compare to filming American films you’ve worked on? They have completely different union rules so they don’t break for lunch. The crew would be gobbling down food while we stood there doing a scene and starving to death - not literally of course, I’m being a bit dramatic - but I do remember some tummy grummbling which made it impossible for me to eat healthily. You know when you get so hungry you make bad choices? Well, I was shoveling pie and stew into my face when ever I could. And they didn’t have salads because lettuce wasn’t in season. Rhey had the cutest little trailers for the actors roo. Like little winnebagos from the 70’s or something. It was a fun time. I also drank a lot of Guiness—which is just so much better in Ireland. It’s like a beer milk-shake.

In the film you play the manager of a band, did you take inspiration from anyone in particular? Well, I’m sort of playing a real person. But they changed her quite a bit to be more like me. They made her a tough chick who used to be in a band of her own. In the book, the real Gloria had a kid.

You’re in a band yourself aren’t you? I am indeed. Can you tell us a bit about the type of music you make? People describe it as like, lo-fi PJ Harvey or Mazzy Star. I love them both so much that I would have to say a crappier version of Mazzy Star and so on. I started writing songs when I was 18 and it’s been such an amazing and truthful outlet for

me. When you write a song there is no hiding behind a character or a page. It’s all you my friend. But it’s exciting that I’ve gotten placements in my movies and TV shows, that’s a sign that sometimes preparation meets opportunity!

Would you ever want to make singing your full time career? I sort of always thought I would be a rock star but then realised I was a baby when it came to performing live.

You’ve played some pretty dark roles in the past, like your part in Breaking Bad in which you play a drug addict, how do you prepare for roles like these? I did a lot of research to play a drug addict. Not actual drug abuse of course but that riveting show on A&E Intervention was helpful, Youtube videos, actual people I’ve known in my life too. On Breaking Bad we had a real ex-junky teach us the ins and outs and he helped me so much. I wanted to look like a surgeon cooking up dope so I practiced over and over and over with this fake concoction they came up with made of rock candy and water. It was pretty intense.

What role haven’t you played yet that you’d really like to and why? I want to play a murderer or someone totally insane. And maybe an action hero. And I’d like to be in a period piece. I want to do it all. I’m totally obsessed with every Winona Rider movie from the 90’s. All of her roles would be nice.

What’s the one moment from your career that you wish you could forget? I can’t think of one. Maybe because I’ve already blocked it out!

You’ve co-written BFF & Baby – is this your first writing project? I’ve written a few things and continue to do so. I’m working on a YA novel and a few TV specs too. I also have two other feature scripts that I wrote with my BFF & BABY co-writer. I love it.

How does it differ to acting? Was it an easy transition? It kind of feels like the same thing. Both involve hours and hours of work and character development so that feels the same. I think it’s important to expand and self generate. I like doing both and they feed each other. I’m self-aware enough to know that no one would have read BFF if I wasn’t an actress and had the resources to give it to people. We actually might be changing the title of the film though to L!fe Happens. They do focus groups and things like that and that’s out of my control.

Rachel Bilson and Kate Bosworth are both playing characters in BFF & Baby, were they friends of yours before and if not how did you pick them for the roles? Rachel actually chemistry read with me for Vamps, another film I’ve done that’s out later this year, and the second she opened her mouth I knew she was perfect for the role of Laura in BFF. Her and I had a connection through the amazing television producer, Josh Schwartz [who created The OC] so afterwards I hit him up and begged him for her number. She was the first person we attached to the movie!.She is so amazing and funny and adorable. Kat (my co-writer and the director of the film) would pick on me saying Rachel was my set crush! Which was sort of true I guess. She’s just so damn cute! Geoff Stults also stars in it and I had worked with on She’s Out of My League so I was able to get him on board. Kat’s hubby worked with Jason Biggs and Kate Bosworth so that’s how we met the two of them and then things just started falling into place. We were so thrilled when Kate Bosworth told us that she loved the script. She was the first person we offered the role to and I cannot imagine anyone else in the role now. She is heaven.

You also play a character in the fil, how easy is it to act in a role with a script that you’ve written yourself? Before shooting I stopped looking at the script as a writer and just worked on it like I would any other acting role. It was interesting because I found things in my char- 73 acter that I didn’t even know were there. It was an amazing experience seeing it and feeling it come to life.

Do you have any plans to get in to any other areas of the film industry – directing or producing perhaps? I co-produced BFF and am attached to a few other projects that I will also produce. I absolutely want to direct in the next year or two.

What other projects are you working on at the moment? I just finished an amazing movie called REFUGE based on Jessica Goldbergs play. Jessica also directed it. It was a heavy little role and probably my favourite acting experience to date. Because it was a play the scenes were just so rewarding to do. It’s about a girl whose dreams are basically over because she has to raise her two younger siblings when their parents abandon them. It had an amazing cast too including Brian Geraghty, Madeliene Martin and Logan Huffman. A small quiet movie. I also just did a pilot for ABC called Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apt 23- and yeah, I’m playing the bitch. Whether it gets picked up or not I have no idea but it’s hilarious and such a fun show that I’m proud of.

PICK OF THE MONTH

THE GOOD NEWS Harry-fucking-Potter

The Queen of Hoxton has had its rooftop open for a little while now and this seems the perfect addition to its event line up.

Monkey Business Gets Rather Cool

40 years after A Clockwork Orange shocked audiences everywhere it is coming back to the big screen in association with Volkswagen to be screened it the original film location.

An outdoor film screening night.

The four time Oscar nominated cult hit will be shown on Thursday 2nd June at Brunel University in west London.

The new outdoor film club will show classic, cult and recent releases from the 1st June until September this year. The usual Queen of Hoxton menu will be available as well as a bar and a big screen that comes on when the sun goes down as the blankets come out.

As A Clockwork Orange celebrates it’s 40th anniversary this year the film will be shown in Brunel lecture theatre on 2nd June the setting for the scene in which Alex (Malcom McDowell) is subjected to experimental aversion therapy.

June sees films such as E.T, Ghostbusters, The Lost Boys, Labyrinth, Reservoir Dogs, Dirty Dancing and an American Werewolf in London. There are also ‘chick flick’ Tuesdays showing films such as When Harry Met Sally and Bridget Jone’s Diary throughout the month.

There will also be a one off exhibition of original stills and memorabilia from the film provided by the Stanley Kubrick Estate and TASCHEN. In addition attendees can take advantage of the ‘cinema’s’ food at the ‘Moloko Bar’ a specially themed exhibition space taking its lead form Alex’s favourite drink, Milk.

Wireless headphones and big fat comfy chairs ensure this will be a pretty good film watching experience. To see full listings and dates go to the Rooftop Film Club website.

Tickets are free and you can get them by signing up to a ticket draw here.

www.rooftopfilmclub.com

So far Volkswagon has screened An American Werewolf in London Zoo, Get Carter at Newcastle Racecourse and Trainspotting at the Royal Scottish Academy. Find out more about this screening and what’s next on their Facebook. www.seefilmdifferently.com

Our Favourite Cinema of The Month The Lexi is relatively new to the cinema scene opening in ‘08 with it’s one screen in Kensal Rise. They have a small but great selection of drinks (alcoholic and soft), coffee, sweets and ice cream. Cleverly for the Lexi it has also arranged a 2-for-1 deal at nearby restaurant, The Diner every Thursday. With a hugely cosy atmosphere and friendly staff the Lexi is one of our favourite smaller, independent cinemas - easy. www.thelexicinema.co.uk

Matt Hamm

The official trailer for the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is now alive and sizzling online, treating fans, muggles and mud-bloods to a veritable feast of awesomeness. Explosions, Wands, He Who Should Not Be Named...and a fire breathing Dragon – Merlin’s beard... excuse us a minute whilst we take a private minute.

A Clockwork Orange Screening Rooftop Film Club

FILM

Bored we were with the thought of yet another Planet of the Apes flick... that was until we saw the pretty frickin’ rocking trailer. With Peter Jackson’s WETA geniuses creating the apes and Oscar nominee James Franco as the scientist, Rise of the Planet of the Apes might actually bring some respect back to the franchise.

Geeks Aren’t Always Right

We were lucky enough to be present at a screening of never before seen footage from much criticised Green Lantern at April’s Kapow! Comic Con (yes, we’re showing off). But we’re also rather happy to announce that the Ryan Reynolds vehicle looks pretty damn epic. Put July 17th in your diaries, quick sharp Jackers.

One Video Diary to Rule Them All

The very first of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit Video diaries aired online and boy was it literally the best thing we’ve ever seen ever. The Kiwi director showed fans exclusive access to sets from the film, sneak peeks in wardrobe and even weapons training; with more coming over the next 2 years. Pssst it’s on the Jack website, so why not check it out?!

THE BAD NEWS Cooper Could Be The Crow...hell no.

Firstly, no one is massively keen on remaking Brandon Lee’s final movie The Crow. But when you then add Bradley Cooper into the mix for the role of the back from the dead rock-star hell bent on violent and bloody revenge, you get angry geeks. Terrible idea. Terrible casting... unless of course Cooper meets the same fate as Lee, and accidentally gets shot on set.

JOBS Tom Cruise Will Break Your Funny Bone. Screenwriter Sidebar Films Sidebar Films is looking for low budget sci-fi scripts to option. daria@sidebarfilms.com Storyboard Artist / Illustrator Storyboard Artist Needed for Feature. Artist needed to create storyboard for low budget, independent arthouse feature currently in pre-production. Great opportunity for new artist and/or student and work closely with screenwriter / director of feature. heavenlostanangel@gmail.com

As much as we enjoyed Tom Cruise’s surprise role in Tropic Thunder as the arrogantly laugh-out-loud Les Grossman, we most definitely don’t need a spin off film about the movie executive. Does that mean they haven’t gone and greenlit the movie? Does it fuck.

Johnny English Is Back, Quick Run.

Now don’t get us wrong – Rowan Atkinson is a legend, but Johnny English wasn’t his finest hour. So quite why the powers that be decided that a sequel was needed 8 years after the limp original, is really rather beyond us. Watch the trailer for yourself and make up your own mind. Warning: You may die inside a little.

Art.

This Month : Alex Turvey Where do you live: East London. Tell us about yourself : I was recently hailed as one of ‘Fashions New Generation’ by Vogue, as well as one of the fifteen ‘Creatives Who Will Define The Future of British Arts’ by The Independent. I am a director and designer and I’m based in London. My work has been used for music promos, fashion films, commercials and installations and has led to me being named as one of London’s key Creative Craftsmen by Levi’s, a Young Creative Entrepreneur by Dazed & Confused Magazine and as a Leading Young Director by Boards and Shots Magazines. I also sat as a jury member for the D&AD Awards. What inspires you? : Growing up by the sea, Cornish folklore had a huge effect on my creative thinking as a child and it’s still with me today. The theatrical, macabre, ritualistic and often sexual performances that I witnessed being paraded through the streets of local villages have definitely left their mark on my work. One particular favourite is the Obby Oss festival. Each May, a horse-like chap, the ‘Oss’, dons a gruesome mask and a huge black cape under which he tries to catch young maidens as they pass through town. Powerful stuff when you’re a young boy in a small town with a lucid imagination. Other than this, I like Edgar Alan Poe, Twin Peaks and Alejandro Jodorowsky. Do you have any notable fans? : I have a wonderful fan in Tokyo who sends me the most incredible Christmas presents. A personal favourite being an edamame bean toilet roll holder! Tell us a fact no one knows about you : I’m a major dog botherer. Website: www.alexturvey.com

ARTIST INTRODUCTIONS

TER T O P ART S Davidson r Eleano

The Red Project: Cultural Since

Housesitting

London’s

East End.

Nathan Barley graced our screens in 2005, thanks to Charlie Brooker’s comedy genius, what started as a joke has become the reality of Shoreditch. The result is an unbelievable numbing of a sense of surprise, be it jumpers worn upside down as nappy pants, pet ferrets on a leash in gimp costumes or suspect street stalls selling anything from peaches to prosthetic limbs. This, coupled with an abundance of large disused factories and warehouses courtesy of the economic climate, has created the perfect setting for innovative new ventures. With nothing to lose, more risks are being taken, resulting in a sense of freedom and experimentation. From this current situation has grown The Red Project: Cultural Housesitting in London’s East End.

depths of the building, with kaleidoscopic projections and dj sets from mighty maestros such as Caribou. Last month GDR Art from the City of Schwedt exhibited a series of East German communist Party posters dating back to the 1950s and was accompanied by a Berlin techno themed party.

Currently inhabiting an old factory just off Old Street, the Red Project is hosting a number of events involving an integration of art, music, food, skateboarding, you name it. In the past this has included an exhibition by Le Gun, where its many international collaborators splattered its walls with psychedelic murals, as well as creating a weird and wonderful life size drawing in a three dimensional space, based on the briefcase of George Melly. Mind boggling monochrome prints covered a range of paraphernalia ranging from gramophones to maps of ‘LeGundon’, complete with cheeky digs at David Cameron. This was then accompanied by a Rough Trade warehouse party in the deep, murky

And don’t go thinking you’ve missed out on all the fun. Coming up this month is Dystopia: Dr. D and Friends. This will be the debut exhibition of Dr. D who is more accustomed to doctoring (ha) billboards and notices around Hackney, manipulating their commercial messages into comments on mass advertising with a humorous twist. The show will exhibit visions of a dystopian society, along with a back catalogue of Dr. D’s previous work. As if this isn’t enough to whet your appetite, the Red Market, held every Saturday and Sunday in the abandoned car park behind the gallery will consist of a tantalising range of food stalls, chosen by Monica Woolf who previously sourced food traders for the Big Chill festival. The

Events listings: Red Market Saturdays, 7pm - 3am, Sundays 12 - 12 Dystopia - Dr. D and Friends 22 July - 5 August Shoreditch Unplugged every second Friday of the month until 9 September Skateboard Exhibition 9 - 10 July www.redgallerylondon.com combination of food coupled with an array of artworks along the exterior walls, a temporarily unveiled Banksy and a half-pipe, you’d be pushed to find a better way to nurse that hideous hangover on an alcoholic-sweat-inducing summer’s day. As if that wasn’t enough, Shoreditch Unplugged will run on the second Friday of every month, presenting a series of live outdoor gigs in association with Rough Trade and NME, combining record labels with fashion labels to add to the summer frolics. With countless inviting projects happening at the Red Gallery it’s the perfect opportunity to sample the products of what is essentially an ambitious experiment. Dominic Cools-Lartigue, the director of the Red Project describes the venture as an engagement of social entrepreneurship, supporting cultural projects at a time when arts funding is being cut. The aspirations are high, with plans to occupy a permanent space some time in the near future, making this the perfect time to support such an exciting amalgamation of ideas in its early stages.

She sells designs to fashion powerhouses, sets up pop-up shops and travels around the world sourcing fabric, but most of her time is spent in her Shoreditch studio researching folklore and drawing animals for work in her own name. Meet Rose de Borman.

Amazing Rare Thing

When we were kids, Rose de Borman and I used to raid a dressing up box of mildewed, itchy leftovers from the 1970s and put on peculiar make-believe performances for our parents. But, things have changed and while I’d probably be quite happy to don a polyester shirtwaister and perform a two-man musical to a small crowd of inebriates, de Borman is now a fully functioning adult with better taste in fabrics; a painter and textile designer whose work has been bought by the likes of Louis Vuitton, Liberty and Anthropology. I hadn’t seen her for years but watched as her career burgeoned – I was even given a wash bag featuring one of her designs as a present. I knew that no one who dressed up in boiled wool tank tops for fun as a nipper could grow up without some interesting things to say about her work so I went down to meet her at her studio a stone’s throw from Columbia Road flower market. Throughout childhood, Rose de Borman wanted to be a vet and although her degree in Printed Textile Design at Brighton more or less put pay to that, she remains almost dependent on animals in order

to work: ‘If I don’t like a painting and cannot find a way to make it work then I will just put an animal in it,’ she tells me. That said, a lot of de Borman’s animals are indistinguishable and she likes them that way. ‘I don’t care if people don’t know what they are, they are little beasts and in that way they are mythical creatures,’ she says. ‘I love it when you get animals that could be somewhere between a dog and a pig.’ She opens a book and finds an example of a pig/dog hybrid. She’s keen on opening books to demonstrate exactly what she means. Although perfectly articulate, it’s clear de Borman prefers to be supported by a battalion of visuals. These days using animal motifs can be touch-and-go for a young, contemporary artist; heaven forbid you are perceived as twee and sugary. However, de Borman has managed to navigate this stylistic conundrum so far thanks to her choice and use of colour, and of course her designs themselves. ‘I hope my work looks new,’ she says. ‘I try hard not to make it look referential because I think that can be a trap you can fall into. There is a market for things that look handmade or vintage at the moment but although I love artists like

Eric Ravilious and I’m pleased to see a current renewed interest in their work, I try to not to make something that looks like a version of them, or other works I admire.’ She’s careful not to dismiss modern methods, but time-honoured hand making is where her strengths lie. It’s an ideal shared by fellow designer Caitlin Hinshelwood, her business partner and co-founder of the east London pop-up shop, Field Work. The pair met at university and discovered a mutual taste and style as well as an idea of what printmaking should be. ‘We share a love of the proper process of printing and textiles. A lot of people did digital work but we thought, ‘why don’t people just get in there’’, she says gesticulating with multi-coloured hands that have certainly been in ink, dye and paint. ‘We always thought that people should print properly – or at least, we definitely would.’ It was with Hinshelwood that she first visited Louis Vuitton with their joint portfolio. ‘We decided that we’d probably be [cast as] the English eccentrics,’ she remembers.

words: Martha Alexander

‘We went to Louis Vuitton – their hallway is bigger than this whole floor,’ -where you could simultaneously swing a clowder of cats. ‘You have to hand in your passport when you go in. It’s unbelievable.’ While she’s respectful of these fashion grande fromages, she doesn’t venerate them. This is probably because it doesn’t matter who de Borman makes for, she just wants to make. And it isn’t just the likes of Louis Vuitton that she’s been impressing. The strongest theme that runs through her work is folklore. There are endless emblems of flora and fauna evident in her work, and it was this that caught the eye of Simon Costin, director of the Museum of British Folklore. He commissioned her to make some work for an exhibition in Northumberland last year. ‘I had just started glass painting made some pieces drawn from the mourning practices and folklore associated with death, such as the practice of leaving the window open when someone dies to let the soul out,’ she says. ‘A nurse friend of mine told me they actually still do in that some hospitals.’ From this work, de Borman sought out connections to the modern day, such as ‘ghost bicycles’ where a white bike is placed where a cyclist has died as homage. ‘It struck me as a modern expression in the same vein as the kind of mourning folk art I find so interesting, however, as hard as I tried these bicycles were still too new to be anything other than frightening to me. I tried to represent them as a something beautiful and sweet as they were done with the same sentiments as the historic pieces I love, but of which I am distanced enough to only see the sentiment not the dead person.’ Aside from death – ‘I particularly liked the idea of having to tell the bees when someone died otherwise they leave their nest’ - general folkloric customs have also featured in de Borman’s paintings and it’s clear she is fascinated by them. ‘Rolling cheeses down hills, fire festivals, elaborate May Day festivities, marking the boundaries of a district by beating sticks along the outskirts of town and, my favourite, the burry man,’ she lists. ‘Google them!’ She describes the ignition of her interest in such traditions at the BFI where she saw the films of Doc Rowe for the first time. ‘I’ve never grinned so much in my life,’ she recalls. ‘There’s a film from the 80s of the marking of the boundaries which shows people having to go into what is now the local M&S and beating the ground of the lingerie section. It’s hilarious.’ From designs for shops like Nicholas Herbert Ltd in Chelsea to a poster for Friends of Homerton Station Wildflower Society, who plant flowers along the bare banks next to the station, you get the sense that the project itself is the most important

part. De Borman was born and raised in London; although she tries to get away, there’s no bucolic bolthole that she relies upon for her fill of wild animals in their natural habitats, but she does like pottering in her garden. ‘Maybe I long for something else; the country and the wildlife but I am in Hackney, and this is where I live,’ she says, later admitting that central London feels as faraway and alien as a different country to her. ‘People always think I am from the country but I am from London even if I don’t really feel like a city girl.’ However, it comes as no surprise to hear that de Borman not only has her own garden but also has commandeered a few others – namely the unused shop gardens that back onto hers. ‘We have ladders going into them from ours, like guerilla gardening but with permission,’ she says. ‘I am very proud of our garden, I have some very green-fingered flat mates too. If I’m ever feeling uninspired I go and spend an hour or two drawing out there. It’s amazing at the moment: I did two drawing sessions a week apart and whole new sections of the plants had appeared. It’s magic.’ And this little jungle even comes complete with some wild things. ‘We have some very scruffy and quite ugly cats that seem to live in our garden, Squashy Face and Squashie’s Sister are two of the most regular,’ she says. ‘They already look like one of my wonky mixtures of animals.’ She says that while working on a commission makes her work faster, working for herself makes her feel much freer, and allows her keep her personal style entirely intact. ‘I can work anonymously for someone else under their name,’ she explains. ‘But I would be very bad at working for a large company with an already established style, and having to work towards that aesthetic. I don’t want to sound egocentric, but I have a distinct style and it’s really important to me that I don’t feel watered down.’ She seems to be conscious of ego, mocking herself for ‘blabbering on’ as if what she is saying is no more interesting than the background rumble of a mid-range lawnmower on a summer’s day. This is a lovely quality, especially from someone who not only works with such commitment to every aspect of her career but whose work is successful. And she works bloody hard at the more basic parts of her job too telling me, ‘Tomorrow might be difficult,’ she had said when arranging to meet. ‘Got some dying to do and I’ll be racing between hob and bath…’ She loves talking about what she actually does when she is in her studio, making. She is positively joyful, and it’s a little bit contagious, like it always is when you watch someone totally immersed in something they’re good at. It makes you want to grab hold of whatever apparatus is in reaching distance and have a go yourself. Unfortunately I am not a professional printmaker – I peaked at potato

stamping - and would not have got very far and was at times rather bamboozled at some of the processes she was describing but didn’t want to stop her flow with elementary lines of enquiry. She gets out Codatrace (photographic tracing paper) - and draws on it in black ink, adding to a menagerie of creatures that already live there. The painted parts of the paper will be used to expose the printing screen with. ‘I might like this little bird so I’ll cut him out,’ she says. ‘It’s hard to know what it’ll be like when it’s done so it’s very much a…’ (Clears her throat and drawls with a giggle loads her voice with inverted commas) ‘…organic process. Ha, ha!’ One of the great things about de Borman is that she can laugh at herself when she uses hackneyed buzzwords. She’s eccentric but it’s not a forced idiosyncrasy – she’s not working on her own image, ever. She doesn’t say silly things that are designed for effect or to be impressive or weird or demonstrate how far out of ‘the box’ she is. However, a lot of thought has gone into her work; there are myriad strands influence running through every single thing she makes – she’s not into aesthetics for the sake of them – this is as much about substance as it is about style. On her windowsills are amongst others a book about African textiles and David Attenborough’s Amazing Rare Things, with multi-coloured fingerprints all over them. She likes Byzantine churches and twentieth century painters, but best of all she loves work by people who aren’t properly trained, who make paintings for joy of it. Her inspirations, she tells me, range from all over the place historically, as well as geographically. ‘I love funny Victorian folky bits,’ she says. ‘You know, the things women used to do like make crafts out of folded up paper. There’s something heartbreakingly beautiful about how much work has gone into these funny little objects that, to our modern eyes, seem quite odd and useless.’ Such is her understanding of textiles, de Borman now has a well-deserved but no less sweet deal of going around the world sourcing textiles for a fabric dealer, Helena Gavshon. This work is helpful for de Borman in terms of inspiration and no matter how busy she gets she says she will always want to work with Gavshon. ‘Seeing the laboriously hand-dyed tie and dye lahariya turbans, the silk ikat kimono fabrics, Manchester printed chintzes, as well as all the stuff I see while sourcing that is not relevant to her but still incredibly beautiful, are all like little hits of inspiration to me,’ she says. ‘It’s like being paid to go to a museum for a couple of days. I love the challenge of seeing things where I think ‘blimey I would never be able to do that’.’ But what she might not realise is that she is doing it. Making her own mark in the rich and textured tapestry of world textiles. www.rdeborman.blogspot.com

CESS THE PRO

ays K n e d y a :H

Each month we talk to an artist about how they create their work. What processes are gone through to create it and how they ultimately achieve their goal and a finished piece.

My production process requires an enormous amount of procrastination and several strong mugs of tea. Once this ritual has all taken place I tend to work extremely quickly. I find if I don’t work rapidly I lose belief in the quality of some of my ideas if they are not made tangible within moments of being conceived. This is why I’m in love with typewriters, silkscreen printing and letter stamps. I’m a big fan of instant gratification; I’m not into this whole taking months to produce one painting thing. I think this may be because I have a constant stream of ideas flowing and I have an urgency to make them exist. I have sketchbook after sketchbook full of ideas, I am hopeful that one day they will all exist. Perhaps when I’m dead someone will want to make them on my behalf. I like the idea that I’ll be leaving blueprints of my mind and thoughts behind. I’ve never allowed myself the time to learn how to draw properly, so the majority of my sketchbooks are loaded with a few poor doodles, ‘trademark’ face after face & piles of

notes. One-liners, limericks, poems, rhymes and most importantly advertising text. Text has been a tediously repetitive theme throughout my work for several years now, but I can’t stop. I’m totally addicted to words. I enjoy the convulsive response text has upon a literate English speaking person. I find much of the art I see produces little to no response in me; you can’t help but read a word though. I think I also use text because I see text everywhere and on everything so I have a hugely regular font of inspiration to work out of. I love the vocal dance you can manufacture with words. I see my work as a kind of diary of my existence; I make work out of things - and about things - that surround me. I want my work to exist and to exist for a very long time which is why I choose to use text, you have to work within the current culture’s acceptance, its understanding, concerns and ultimately its vocabulary. www.haydenkays.co.uk

PICK OF THE MONTH

ART

KEEP YOUR BEADY EYE ON..

Love Is.... At David Gill Gallery Barnaby Barford uses sweet faced, porcelain figures in his work with this exhibition showing the ‘tricky space between lust and love and the pleasure and problems inherent in pornography.’ Each piece in this exhibition is a narrative sculpture addressing just that and all can of course be purchased.

Robert Montgomery Robert works with type, poetry and light to create a number of text based art pieces that span subjects to do with religion, death, advertising and celebrity. According to his website - ‘Robert Montgomery works in a poetic and melancholic post-situationist tradition.’ The work takes several forms including drawings, billboards and recycled light pieces like the one above that uses solar power to illuminate the text. You can also find Montgomery’s work on large billboards and at bus stations around London.

David Gills Gallery, 3 Loughborough St 27 May 2011 – 30 June 2011 FREE

www.robertmontgomery.org

Clowns: Hot Codlins and a Quartern of Gin

JOBS Caroline Robert You will recognise Caroline Robert’s work from the part she played in creating Arcade Fire’s, The Suburbs cover artwork. Caroline is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Montreal who creates a large range of work. As well as having worked on video, album artwork and several publications she has now turned her hand to these bags which we love. www.caroline-robert.com

Web/Digital designer Glowlabs We are a growing award wining London based digital agency, specialising in digital production. We are looking for a creative digital designer to join our production team. www.glowlabs.co.uk Looking for artists and dealers Cielo Gallery Scouting for emerging and established contemporary artists to exhibit in a gallery space in Mayfair. lease contact me with a link to your works or send images to leeni@luxx-london.com

Great Western Studios puts on this exhibition ideal for anyone looking to get over a clown phobia or for any of those rare people that actually like clowns. Claire Newman-Williams shows a collection of wet-plate collodion portraits that show a brutal deconstruction of clowning. The portraits are of working clowns around the world and taken with a brass lens that first started out life in 1860’s Paris. ‘Spend enough years photographing beautiful people, and the idea of perfection becomes loathsome. Old photographic processes, like wet-plate collodion, for all their mess and chemical quirk, are cleansingly low-definition,’ says Newman-Williams.’ www.greatwesternstudios.com 1st - 24th June 2011 Gallery & Project Space 65 Alfred Road, W2 5EU Open: 10-6pm Monday to Friday, weekends by request FREE

Life & London.

HIGH STREEET

Luke Stephens, our favourite make up artist, keeps us in the know when it comes to beauty

I was at a party recently, and when I was asked what my job is, as always, I broke into a cold sweat because I knew, when they heard that I am a make-up artist, exactly what the next four questions were to be. It normally goes something like this: 1. Have you done anyone famous? 2. What could you do for me? 3. Which make-up brand is the best? 4. *uncontrollable sobbing* Why didn’t you stay at university and get a proper job? (OK that last one is normally my mother after a few too many gin and tonics but you get the idea). Now all of these are perfectly valid questions, (save for the proper job one), but I have to say that when I mention that one of my favourite places to shop for make-up is not Selfridges, or specialist beauty boutiques like Space.NK but Superdrug, there is a moment of raised eyebrows and loud ‘really?!’ issued. Over the last 10 years, high street make-up has lost its reputation as substandard and slightly nasty tat you pick up with your pocket money when you are 12. Given the sheer level of competition out there is was only a matter of time before the companies stepped up their game and introduced some brands with some great products that are useable, accessible and ultimately affordable. With your average make-up consumer becoming ever more knowledgeable about not only technique, but ingredients, and technology surrounding the cosmetics industry, and all becoming more fashion trend savvy, the high street had no choice but to meet the exacting demands placed on them by their customers. And now, boy oh boy what a choice you have. Walk into any Boots, or Superdrug, or even some of your favourite high street fashion stores and there is a superb selection of beauty bargains to be had. Fact is most of your standard high street make-up has taken a leap into the 21st century. Old favourites like Boots, No 7, and Max Factor most notably have two of the industry’s most influential and talented make-up artists, Lisa Eldridge and Pat McGrath respectively, on board to help them develop and shape their collections. This is amazing! They get the colour trends as they occur and deliver them in store for your wearing pleasure. It is not uncommon now to see the odd bit of either of these brands in any make-up artist’s kit. I am a HUGE fan of the Max Factor’s Lipfinity, and the No 7 mascaras are absolutely amazing. Here are some other excellent high street choices.

Websites : www.mememecosmetics.co.uk, www.superdrug.co.uk. www.thebodyshop. com, www.sleekmakeup.com, www.barrym. com, www.boots.com

12.

10. 1.

2. 5.

11. 5b.

5a. Revlon: Available at: Boots, Superdrug online and in store. Best for: Foundation I have long had a love affair with Revlon - of course famous for their superb Nail Enamel £6.49. Their most famous colour being All Fired Up a true red stunner! [1] Revlon were also the first to invent the longwear foundation category. Colorstay foundation £12.49, which is an excellent long wearing foundation. Use it with a brush as mistakes are easily made if you don’t have a level of control. [2] Famous by Sue Moxley: Available at: Exclusive to Superdrug online and in store. Best For: Eyeshadow Famous, by celeb Make-up artist, Sue Moxley, has taken the best bits of professional brands and created an accessible collection for the High Street with great packaging. The eye palettes and glitter pots are out of this world [3/4] and prices start at £8, which is a bargain for the quality. I love their new Merged Baked Eyeshadows, £4. Use them dry for a soft natural finish, and go for glam by using them wet to intensify the look. The Body Shop: Avaialble at: Body Shop outlets, and online. Best For: Everything! A great place for super smells, cruelty free and conscientious cosmetics. The Body Shop make-up selection seems to improve year on year, and never fails to keep bang on trend with colours, textures, and products. I have always had their Shimmer Cubes, £16,[5] to hand. They are so versatile. You can use them wet or dry, on the eyes, on the face, over the top of lipstick... I

could go on. The Body Shop have now teamed up with the London College of Fashion to produce an amazing collection of cutting edge products including an incredible Illuminating Face Base, £14 [5a] Use this on its own or underneath foundation for a seriously flawless and glowy complexion. Also their Tailored Cheek Tint £10, [5B] is one of those magic little tubes that looks like a clear gel, but when it hits the skin will turn into the perfect tailored cheek colour! ME ME ME: Available at: Exclusive to Superdrug, online and in store. Best For: Dupes Superb brand, Me Me Me is available exclusively in Superdrug and has everything you could want, beautifully packaged with a little cherub representing romance, love, peace and prosperity. Eyeshadows come in a collection of three, as well as the individuals and are fantastic at staying in place. My favourite product is the Cheek Tint in Pussycat £5.25 [6]. So similar to Benefit’s Benetint, it’s unreal and a fraction of the cost. This can be used a pretty stain on the lips also, and looks great for non lippy wearers. The other steal is the amazing Shimmy Shimmers Compact [7]. This is almost identical to Bobbi Brown’s Shimmer Brick and is again a bargain at just £7.25. It even comes with its own mirror. MUA Make-Up Academy: Avaialble at: Superdrug, online and in store. Best For: Bargains! Earlier this year, Superdrug introduced MUA Make-up Academy. The range has over 100 lip colours, eye colours, Nail colours, mascaras, and all for just £1! I

road tested one of the lipsticks on an assistant of mine who was going out on a first date. She happily reported that even after her burger (really? a burger on a first date?) and her Pinot, the lipstick was still in place, and even garnered a comment from said romantic interest. Barry M: Available at: Superdrug, Boots Best for: Choice of colour A British brand apparently started on a market stall, Barry M has been around for eons. It never fails to disappoint in terms of its extensive range of colours variety. Barry M’s chip resistant Nail Paint is its best seller, selling over one million a year [9]. Barry M recently launched a Nail Effect £3.99. Paint it over your base colour and stripes and different patterns will appear. Magic! Perhaps most famous for its Dazzle Dust £4.59 [10]. Sleek MakeUP: Available at: Sueprdrug online and in store. Best for: Palettes Sleek MakeUP, never fails to disappoint. It was often found in specialist cosmetic stores, and a good few years ago made the leap into Superdrug. Sleek MakeUp always produces innovative, fashion forward products without the high end price tag. Their I-DIVINE palette of eyeshadows are highly pigmented, and a superb value addition to any make-up bag. My favourite is the Storm Palette £6.49 [11], a darkly sexy collection of smoky hues to suit almost anyone. Sleek are also one of the only high street brands to sell over 17 different shades of foundation , leading the way in terms of darker colours [12].

London Love I wasn’t initially thrilled with my decision to move to London. Before I fell in love with the capital I thought it was a bit of a tourist trap where everyone wears a suit whilst looking harassed, or knifes you in Cost Cutters for looking at them funny. I grew up in the country (read: Essex) closely followed by spending my secondary education in Cambridge, the largest thing to a town I’d ever seen, so London seemed a far away, magical and quite frankly bizarre place. Things are done very differently in the Capital. No one walks here, instead we all run at an orderly pace, if you want to proclaim your love for Jesus you go and stand outside a tube station rather than go to Church, and no one seems to mind about being in the minority to a large over-sexed rat population. words: Anna Sanders

However, after moving to Brixton and muttering about how much of a rip off the rent was and that there’s-no-way-that’s-a-garden-it’s-just-apatio-with-weeds, I begrudgingly began to settle in. My first few weeks were spent getting used to London’s quirks. Like why does the Waterloo and City line only go to those two stops? And why do all cyclists dress like they’re racing in the Tour de France? Luckily I have since discovered the answers to these questions, and have also started referring to the tube lines by their legitimate names and not by their colour. Yet one thing I’m still getting my head around is your average Londoner’s approach to dating. Before moving here my friends and I met people the good old-fashioned way, by getting really drunk in a club. Having been in a relationship for the majority of the time I’ve lived in London I wouldn’t know where to start on the dating scene. The last man to approach me was a tramp asking for money and men flirting with me has so far been a terrifying experience that comes a bit too close to unwanted physical contact for my liking.

Where’s the romance gone? I was never a flowers and chocolates kind of girl but I’d happily take that over being molested on the Piccadilly line and having to fob your male friends off after one too many happy hour cocktails. A university friend recently moved here from Edinburgh and on updating me on her love life remarked, ‘no one’s monogamous in London, it’s just not en vogue’. Whilst some of my friends were looking for a meaningful relationship through any means possible, it would seem others were exposed to the casual dating scene where people prefer the lifestyle of earning a few more notches on their already whittled down bed posts. Perhaps the big city with all the opportunities it has to offer potentially divides people into two camps; those making the most of the endless people to date and endless places to take them and those looking for that special someone in the sea of people crowding the tube. However, in retrospect the majority of the individuals I’ve met with the slightly more casual attitude to meeting people have been bankers, and since it seems we can’t even

trust them with financial advice I certainly don’t want relationship advice from them either. So disregarding that time honoured tradition of desperately hitting on anything with a pulse so you have something to brag about with the boys the next day, this article will instead look at how dating has evolved around the average Londoner’s lifestyle and what affect this could have on our attitude to sex and relationships for better or worse. In my short time here the most popular methods I’ve noticed to wooing the opposite sex have been internet dating, speed dating or trying it on with friends of friends. Whilst approaching your mates’ other friendship circles like a freeloader at a wedding buffet may be the best way of making doubly sure you’re not inviting a serial killer into your flatshare in zone two, this runs the risk of potentially becoming incestuous within your social group. When you do meet the person of your dreams it would be much nicer to invite all your friends to the wedding without knowing you’ve slept with half

the people at the reception. Playing matchmaker to your various friendship circles may give you that warm glow to begin with; but when you’re playing third wheel to a socially inappropriate couple who use the ‘we’ word too frequently, the smug look might be quickly wiped from your face. A charming notion as it is, this slightly restricted practice of only dating people who come with references is not quite as exciting as the world of speed dating and internet dating where you get to meet people outside of your Facebook friends of friends. I used to think of speed dating as several awkward looking divorcees down the local village hall, but the reality can be a far more elegant affair including black tie balls at the Hilton and wine tasting in the city. When I researched speed dating I managed to find an event for every day over the next month in London alone, most of which take place in chic West End bars after the working day is done. Events such as these mimic situations where you would normally approach people or be approached, but removes the awkwardness of not knowing if either party is single and looking. Internet dating, however, is the ultimate no frills approach to meeting people that cuts out the getting ready, going out, striking up a conversation, arranging a date, and then realising you have nothing in common. Within several minutes of registering online you can be browsing people for potential dates without having to change out of your pyjamas; any unwanted contact can be blocked or ignored - unfortunately not yet an option available in public places. As my experiences of being chatted up in London are what most people would call sexual harassment in other areas of the country, I’m beginning to appreciate why meeting someone has taken such a formal approach. London is the only place where within ten minutes of getting off the tube in Bethnal Green I was offered money for sex and wolf whistled at by fifteen TFL maintenance workers whose attitude to women is clearly as impressive as their work ethic. After incidents like these I started to realise why people view the internet as a much safer and less hostile environment than putting yourself out there in real life - or not putting yourself out there and being followed down the street anyway. Speed dating and internet dating are providing new and varied ways of spicing up our love lives (and are definitely a lot more interesting than playing Cilla Black to your unlucky in love mates) so let’s delve into the murky depths of sex and the internet shall we? When first having a discussion about love online I was fairly naive; several friends have met long term partners through sites such as MySingleFriend and I began to think the world of internet dating was all hand holding and walks in

the park. Then I heard about ‘Killing Kittens’, a not-so-underground membership club for the sexual elite boasting 6,500 members, 70% of which are women. Having previously written off looking for sexual gratification online as a depraved act for the desperate, sites such as these seem a far cry from my previous conceptions of seedy encounters and dirty old men. ‘Killing Kittens’ derives its name from the slogan, ‘Every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten’ and so aims to counteract previous stereotypes of a woman’s sexuality being sinful or purely for a mans entertainment, allowing female sexuality to flourish in an environment where girls are in control. It has not though, despite its seemingly good intentions, been immune from criticism and is viewed by some as promoting roman style orgies and commercialising sex. Whilst it would be easy to demonise sites such as these, with dating sites making a profit from people’s loneliness and need for companionship, the internet has created a grey area in dating and sexuality. It can be appreciated for allowing people to fulfil their fantasies and meeting like minded people in safe environments, or criticised for seeming to place a price on love and turning sex into a profitable commodity. Despite the risks involved, I feel finding love and exploring your sexuality on the internet is showing signs of moving away from its seedy beginnings, marking a turning point in sexual expression in what is meant to be a progressive and liberated society. The realm of online sexuality is wriggling free of negative labels and saying you met someone online is no longer a taboo; the reaction now is normally a positive one. Meeting someone this way often shows an honest approach to what you are looking for, an acceptance of the obstacles in everyday life and can result in the more traditional ideals of long term relationships and meaningful encounters more so than a unintended drunken liaison on a Saturday night. But by allowing speed dating and internet dating to become the norm are we creating new opportunities for sex and relationships to keep up with the demand of our busy modern day lives, or are we cheapening the idea of romance and intimacy? The idea of casual sex has become commonplace, accepted and at times deemed a necessary and healthy approach to modern day living, but perhaps an increase in sexual freedom shows a move away from the typical ideals of meeting ‘the one’, being monogamous and settling down. Whilst a return to more stricter ideals is unrealistic (and let’s face it, where would be the fun in that?), are we taking things a step too far and risking our ability to connect, commit and experience more than a loveless fumble?

The very concept of speed dating is to spend only a few minutes with one person before moving onto the next and I wonder how many people continue this ethos outside of the events. Perhaps it is more the attitude than the method of dating with a certain few serial philanderers taking advantage. Two friends recently attended a singles party hoping for a room of suave eligible bachelors and found themselves cowering in the corner with the rest of the single girls being pawed by sexually frustrated drunk men. We may have to rush for everything else in London; to be in work before the boss, to get the last tube, but maybe our love life is one area that requires some time and patience. Lovestruck.com ‘where busy people click’ is an example of how Londoners have had to adjust certain aspects of their life around busy work schedules in a large city. Their ethos is that of simplified and flexible dating taking into account where you live and work; a concept that makes the possibility of flirting over coffee a welcome relief from an otherwise hectic day. Yet to a newbie Londoner the idea of dating someone based on whether or not they are on the same tube line or work in a similar area seems to take the spontaneity and passion out of meeting someone. If you meet the man of your dreams but he’s Wimbledon and you’re Hackney, is the relationship doomed to failure? Sadly, however, this view may be impracticable and outdated. The romantic’s idea of a chance encounter is bumping into someone in the street, and as your coffee soaks through his Metro whilst you both bend down to pick up your Oyster cards your eyes meet and time stands still. The reality is even if Brad Pitt spilt my coffee down me I’d probably mutter about ‘bloody tourists’ whilst throwing him a dirty look and a dry cleaning bill. So Londoners, next time someone approaches you on the tube to chat there’s a possibility they’re just looking for love rather than your wallet, and when you’ve run out of friends to be set up with there’s always hope online. The internet doesn’t have to be a seedy place when it comes to love and sex but you may have to look further than hornymatches.com to find that out.

WIN Win A Nokia N8 With Pre-installed Glastonbury App

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No less than 48% of Britons believe they’re turning into their mother and I think I can safely count myself a part of this group. I remember the first time my brothers told me I looked like my mum. They were both engrossed in some crappy football match on the television when I entered the room, hands on hips. I was not impressed. I have no idea what I was unamused about – living with those two, it could have been a whole host of things. An empty packet of cereal left on the side/the disgusting state of the bathroom/their sheer laziness… I’m already giving off mum vibes, aren’t I? Anyway, back to my stance. Hands on hips, feet shoulder width apart. No, I wasn’t about to get down to a Davina McCall workout DVD, but a much less good for my health full-on rant. They’d peed me off, and they were going to know about it. But just as I opened my mouth (I’d been standing there for a few seconds to enable maximum impact), they turned to me in shock. ‘I thought you were mum then! You look so much like her!’ brother number one mocked. ‘Yeah… you’ve got the same expression, the same stance – everything!’ contributed number two. I must’ve been about 13. This is not what a 13-year-old wants to hear. I found myself in a predicament. Carry on with my mood and prove my point – but be forced to face their smirks, knowing they think I’m just like mum - or get over it and therefore put the mum thing to rest? I went with the first and ended up in tears. Standard. Since that momentous day, the comparisons have kept on coming. These include comments from family friends, cards from relatives with ‘however hard you try, you always end up like your mother’ scrawled across the front, and - perhaps most scarily of all - realising in my own head that my current actions are exactly what mum would be doing. According to the survey*, the top five indicators of you morphing into the woman who gave birth to you are: 1. Worrying more. 2. Stocking up on groceries. 3. Going to bed early. 4. Being more outspoken. 5. Watching soaps and dramas. I definitely worry a lot, but surely that’s just a natural part of growing up? There’s more to think and get concerned about… such as running out of food and thus stocking up on groceries. In fact, I Facebooked my mum just the other day to share with her my opinion that food shopping is one of the dullest must-do jobs around. She agreed. Funny that. Yep, I go to bed early, but I put that down to my silly hours – I get into work for about 7.30am – and I am no way yet at the stage where I’m matching my mum’s

Hi, I’m new here… Esme Riley gets to grips with the city

sleeping patterns. That is, falling asleep absolutely anywhere she possibly can and taking daily afternoon naps like a granny. I’m not sure I’m more outspoken, that’s for others to judge I guess. And number five – I’m sceptical. As I grow up, I’m going off soaps and television in general. I will never be a massive fan of Coronation Street like mum. It’s too horribly depressing. A programme about a family called Grimshaw living on a dull northern street with a little depressing pub, a corner shop and lots of ugly men? No thanks. Those five points aside, now, at 23, the most worrying similarity between my mother and I has reared its ugly head. That post-work feeling that wine is an absolute must. It began with the odd cheeky glass on a Friday. It moved on to a bottle, every Friday, pretty much without fail. Now the mid-week wine sessions are paying me a visit, and I admit it… I’m a massive hypocrite. I’ve basically spent the last five years or so moaning to mum - and dad, actually…he’s not getting away scot free - that they drink too much, I’m concerned for them, etc. ‘Oh give us a break, we just want a few glasses after a hard day at work,’ was always their response. ‘It’s one of our few joys in life.’ Ummm, how about the pure happiness you get from raising three children, hey? So the arguments would go round like this for a bit, and generally get nowhere. And now, I’ll admit it, when it comes to a cheeky glass of vino or four, I actually am my parents. As I get given more responsibility at work and everything therefore becomes a bit stressful, a swift drink in the local bar (about 10 steps from the office, conveniently) is the first thing I think of when I’ve had a hard day. A few hours later, I’m heading home under an alcohol haze, and everything’s feeling a little better. Temporarily. So 48% of us – me included – think we’re morphing into mumma. But there’s also another group I’d consider myself a part of. Apparently, 37% of the population say our mum is the most inspirational person in our life. My dear mother is a successful journalist, a great writer, the BEST mum, and a fantastic listener. So I think I’m pretty happy to be heading in this direction, thanks. *Conducted by Hallmark Esme Riley

DATING ‘The Keen Guy’

Where: The Star and Garter, Putney Length: 4.5 hours Score: 5/10 when sober, 7/10 when drunk words : Georgina Childs

I’ve

, always said that there is only one thing less attractive than an overly keen woman. And that’s an overly keen man. And this month, I was lucky enough to meet my very own one.

I met the Keen Bean quite randomly (it’s a fairly boring story, so I won’t go in to detail). We swapped numbers and agreed to meet up the following weekend. I wasn’t expecting to hear from him until maybe two days before because – in my experience – that’s what boys do. However, he text me the very next day asking me where I wanted to go and how I had been. I’d only met him the day before, I’m not sure how eventful he expected my life to be during those 24 hours. Anyway, I dutifully text back (he was quite fit, and well dressed) suggesting SW London and saying we could choose somewhere more specific at the time. It was what I call a ‘cut off text’ where you cut the other person off and don’t expect them to reply. But reply he did. Asking the ins and outs of my life such as where I lived, who with, what hours I worked and where. Looking back, it was a little bit stalkerish. Between that day and the date, he text me every day but one. I couldn’t decide if it was endearing or annoying, so I went with endearing and sat it out. I had a column to write, after all. The day before the date he text me saying how excited he was, bless. Then the morning of the date he text again saying how he was looking forward to seeing me. Then he text me when he was setting off. Someone really needed to tell him to just PUT THE PHONE DOWN for a while. Anyway, I kept telling myself it was endearing. Endearing. Endearing. When I arrived, he looked pretty nice and was wearing Kurt Geiger shoes, and

being the shallow, materialistic person I am, that was enough to sway me that he was okay. I had a get-out clause for the date, being that I had a party to go to that night. So I only planned to stay for a couple of hours. Four glasses of wine later and I was still there, STILL trying to decide if he was endearing, or annoying. He talked quite a lot for a man. After we’d covered small talk, it was apparent that he was an over-sharer… He told me how he’d once cheated on someone (way to reel me in, mate), how he’d been cheated on and how much it hurt – seriously why was he still talking? And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, he told me how he’d once been dumped in bed. I feigned interest, because if there’s one thing this column has taught me, it’s to do exactly that. He also told me about ‘funny’ childhood memories, none of which were cute. It was all very bizarre. Kind of like a ‘be my girlfriend so you can be a part of this’ advert. But it was coming across more as ‘you’ll never want to be a part of my life once you’ve heard all this’ warning sign. I don’t think he realised that though. While I’m all for a chatty man, he was telling me far too much stuff I just didn’t need to know. He barely stopped short of telling me his inside leg measurement. Then it dawned on me, that there are probably a lot of women who like this kind of ‘be my girlfriend’ advert. Women who want to know the ins and outs of what his favourite books were at primary school and what play he studied in GCSE English.

There are some girls who would love this shit! He’s erased the need for dates 2 -8, because he’s already sharing all this info. I don’t doubt if I’d asked about his relationship history, he’d have happily given me a blow-by-blow account of how he lost his virginity, how many times he’d been in love and what his favourite position was. Despite all the wine, which, to give him his dues, he paid for, it didn’t make me like him more. He went on with his advertising scheme while I people-watched, nodded occasionally and thought about how wrong I’d been to think that good shoes equals a good date. The Keen Bean walked me back to the station (he’d have probably walked me back to Essex if I’d asked) and off I went to the party. When I got back above ground, 25 minutes later, I already had a text from him saying how much of a good time he’d had and how he was looking forward to seeing me again. This guy literally had no game. And so sadly, it was game over, with one valuable lesson learnt; never judge a man by his shoes.

Perks Perils

Now I’m no expert, but I’ve read enough Wikis to know that in the 1960s, the American people were rightly pissed off about a war its government could not win in a country most knew little about. Jefferson Airplane songstress Grace Slick, took issue against Tricky Dick Nixon and hatched a plot to feed him lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD-25, LSD, the chemical that powered free love, Hendrix, the Beatles, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and the unforgivable tie-dye. Plans to spike Nixon’s teapot were naive and it’s doubtful it would have changed America for the better or had the troops called back from Vietnam, but I guess there’s some merit in the thinking behind it. Hippies will argue that an intense psychedelic experience forces you to learn empathy for your fellow man whether his skin colour is white, black, brown, yellow or a kaleidoscopic mosaic of pulsating rainbows which shine with the intensity of a thousand suns, though the latter usually wears off after the seventh hour. It’s hard to commission napalm strikes and Agent Orange when you stop to think about the horror of someone’s son bleeding his lungs out, they’d say. That particular counter-culture had its fair share of burn-out degenerates but at least ideas were breeding like bunnies denied contraception. Plus a quick look on Youtube reveals public proponents of the drug often flapped about like total morons in mud pits at festivals. Besides growing long gross hair, a fatal flaw was in how some ideas were executed: some experts in the field have described the original wave of hippy as the first major milestone for individual consumerism. That is - image became everything. You’d buy your flares and build your personal brand. Baby boomers were making a stand by spending money. All far-out except they spent all of ours too, and now we’re all fucking skint. Apart from the faithful that still think they’re following the Grateful Dead on tour - but are actually in a shed somewhere in Cardiff - people woke up and realised that their quick-hit fix that changed a generation didn’t really change a thing. Students gradually swapped their art courses for business management and made money instead of love or war. The baby-boomers kept booming but they weren’t very far out any more.

Nowadays, as far as drugs go in the UK, skunk is breeding a paranoid underclass of men who are awesome at FIFA, ketamine makes going out to clubs like being in the world’s most boring flooded submarine, coke is for the rich, crack is for the poor and heroin is for the rich and the poor but eventually kills you. Acid is already making a comeback in the UK - that’s fact. As with everything in the digital age, with some careful Googling it’s possible to order it online and there are even websites that will verify vendors for you. There will probably be, like, an app for that or something - which is kind of against the point. True fact: Steve Jobs used to take acid. Every generation seems to have had its “thing” but ours has so far been a mishmash of the best and worst parts from every other one, all at once. Even the late 80s had the new romantics, all the Noughties (ugh) got was Justin Timberlake talking about his sexy back. It would be kind of cool if the new thing was BlackBloc listening to The Doors. It’s about time something exciting happened. Direct action in London proves that there’s a growing minority who want the times to be a changin’. Paired with a healthy cynicism, maybe real counterculture is just what the UK needs. Free of fashion brands capitalising on bondage trousers and instead united by exciting ideas. Not a shot in the arm but a microdot down the throat. An acid redux wouldn’t be a watereddown 60s, it’d be, to distort a lousy cliché, the 60s on acid, on acid. Until whatever emerged eventually saw big business try to swallow it whole. As a friend recently said to me: ‘If a counter-culture emerged where nobody wore clothes and opted to cake themselves in shit, if there was money to be made, labels would start selling their own brands of designer shit.’ If there’s any lesson to take from the 60s counter-culture it would be that thinking outside the box and acting with empathy has the potential to be great for the world. Another five-year drug orgy could be fun, but then again it could go either way. More Manson families writing bloodied Beatles lyrics on the walls or a couple more Dylans? Even he got shitty in the end.

words : Vandana Gupta

Rumour has it When rumours of international icon Jackie Chan’s death surfaced on Twitter not too long ago, millions of fans across the globe were knocked for six. It was only when his representatives released a statement on his Facebook page confirming ‘Jackie is alive and well’, that the martial arts film star’s admirers heaved a sigh of relief.

Celebrity death hoaxes such as these have become all too common in the social media age. A dozen celebrities including Will Smith, Justin Bieber and Lindsay Lohan have been subject to death hoaxes in the recent past. The Internet has made spreading gossip like wildfire all the more effortless. With news going online through multiple sources at lightning speed, verification of all the idle talk is getting increasingly difficult. Here’s a look at some more celebrity death hoaxes that have taken the world by storm: The death hoax is not exclusively a postY2K phenomenon. One of the first rumours to have created a major stir dates back over four decades! When false reports about Paul McCartney’s fatal car accident first came out in 1966, ridiculous claims started doing the rounds; one of which stated he’d been replaced by an equally gifted lookalike! What’s most intriguing is that this piece of news was fabricated by a couple of University students for a satirical piece in their college publication. Little did they know they would be taken seriously by reputable papers… However, Life Magazine put all to rest with its interview with the then-Beatle titled “Paul is still with us”. There have been numerous Eminem death hoaxes over the past decade; but the most prominent one occurred in late 2000 when word spread that the rapper had died in an early-morning car crash while drunk and high on drugs. Although the rumour was quickly denied on the master rapper’s official website, it reappeared in the same form in September of 2008 and December of 2009. One must take note of the master rapper’s neardeath experience in late 2007 when he had in fact overdosed on prescription drugs, an incident he acknowledges as a turn-around event, as he has been off

drugs ever since. In 2001, a Dallas radio station announced Britney Spears had died in a car crash, while her companion Justin Timberlake survived but had gone into a coma. Reports were seemingly legitimized when a fake story was circulated from what ‘appeared to be’ the BBC News website. Hundreds of her fans frantically rang the police and fire departments, only to find out they were worrying for naught – Spears’ publicist declared there was no truth to the stories they had been hearing. A user of a prank site stated in 2006 that Tom Hanks had plunged to his death from a cliff while filming a movie in New Zealand. As it turned out, he was actually filming Charlie Wilson’s War in California at the time! The story of Hanks’ fake death was so realistic that it was reused for several other celebrities such as Tom Cruise and Natalie Portman in the future. While there have been countless such death hoaxes, there have also been a handful of death denial rumours. These are instances when diehard fans are convinced they have sighted their favourite idols despite confirmations that they have indeed passed away. The late Elvis Presley is one such example. He has been ‘sighted’ thousands of times since his death. Father Vernon added further fuel to the conspiracy when at Elvis’ funeral he accepted the corpse inside the coffin didn’t even look like his son. He said his kid was ‘upstairs’ and ‘we had to show the people something’. The King of rock n’ roll was also known to be fascinated with Hugh Schoenfield’s The Passover Plot. Hence fans believed he might have faked his own death with the help of a drug that made him appear dead temporarily, just as the writer speculated Jesus’ resurrection took place.

Perhaps a death that has created paranoia like no other was Michael Jackson’s fans failing to come to terms with his passing. Countless websites like michaeljacksonsightings.com have been launched since his tragic last day in 2009. Admirers post pictures, video and any news related to the deceased King of Pop and his ‘latest whereabouts’. While death hoaxes are undoubtedly the 93 most extreme of rumours, these tales are testimony to the fact that there truly is no end to the imagination of minds working overtime! While in jail, Paris Hilton was rumoured to have been stabbed multiple times by an angry fellow inmate, after being yelled at by the hotel heiress. In another false report, she was believed to have committed suicide in prison. Of course, both outrageous claims were completely false. As was the case with the Britney Spears death hoax in 2001, both stories were planted by pranksters on what looked like trusted websites. The former appeared on a fake CNN webpage while the latter showed up on a phony ABC page. Another bizarre piece of hearsay that once did the rounds was that Clint Eastwood was actually the son of Stan Laurel (of Laurel and Hardy fame). Two publications poked fun at Eastwood’s resemblance to Laurel. The fact that the former’s birthday fell in the same month and year as the latter’s real son didn’t seem to help either. Although most hoaxes that have come into being are attributed to random pranksters, they cannot be blamed entirely. Oftentimes it’s unscrupulous spin doctors and celebrity agents that are the yarnspinners. What one can conclude, however, is that as long as there are famous people and the internet exists hoaxes like these will always exist.

PICK OF THE MONTH Up On The Roof

London has some amazing views and we all know the best way to enjoy a good view is, of course, from a rooftop. As rooftops are pretty hard to both see and make an opinion on at street level we thought it may be useful now that we are in the full throws of summer to alert you to come of our favourites.

Aqua Bar Don’t be daunted by Aqua’s huge doors just off Great Malborough Street and the fact that it could be mistook for an office once inside and before you are in a lift. Once you get upstiars walk straight through the main bar/resturant and out through the floor to ceiling doors and there you will find a comfortable, brilliantly placed roof terrace with table service and comfy seats.

Franks Situated at the top of a multi-storey car park in Peckham is Franks. Started up as a pop up bar sponsored by Campari and now only operating on sunny days in the summer. The menu is limited as there is not much of a kitchen on the roof of a car park but drinks are good and the atmosphere and view is breathtaking. It can get windy though so wrap up if you are planning a visit in the evening. There is also art at the other end of the car park roof (it’s huge) that is always being changed, added to and adapted.

Coq d’Argent Restuarant The Coq d’Argent, found at No.1 Poultry is a very smart rooftop garden only able to be visited by those eating in the restuarant. However lunch options are good value and you want to make full use of the garden rooftop whilst the sun is in the sky. You can see pretty much everything from here, St Pauls Cathedral, Mansion House, Monument and the Bank of England. www.coqdargent.co.uk

The Folly

www.frankscafe.org.uk

Inamo

Queen Of Hoxton In, belive it or not, Hoxton and looking very much like something from a vicars garden party the Queen of Hoxton’s roof has a number of selling points. Firstly, there is also a lot of roomdownstairs to utilise when the sun goes in, secondly not that many people know the rooftop is there and thirdly, each weeknight at 9pm they screen a film on the roof, with earphones and blankets. We don’t really feel that much more needs to be said. www.thequeenofhoxton.co.uk

www.aqua.com

The ultimate in novelty dining, Inamo offers great sushi and Aisian fusion dishes that offer you something small if you’re there for lunch or bigger plates for an evening feast. The baby crispy prawns are certainly worth a mention as well as the black bean cod both of which are amazing. The main wow factor of this restuarant however comes from the interactive tables. No need to talk to waiters and waitresses in this restaurant, oh no. Instead you can play battleships on the tables as well as ordering your food, looking for your next destination and viewing the ‘chef cam’, a camera placed in the kitchen so you can watch the food being cooked. Genius. Inamo have just opened a new resturant on Regent Street to cater for the growing demand for their smaller soho resturant that fills up in no time. www.inamo-restaurant.com

Considering that it’s based right in the heart of the City you wouldn’t expect The Folly to be anywhere near as relaxed, quirky and inventive as it actually is. Stepping in to The Folly is a bit like stumbling across a secret garden and makes for the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life for a drink or dinner. Situated right in the heart of the restaurant is an 8m-high Norwegian Spruce tree trunk which appears to be growing from the basement, the rest of the décor involves a mix of wooden benches, modern bar stools and an open plan set up which allows you to watch the food you order being made. The menu at The Folly boasts a decent range of modern European food which champions local and seasonal produce. When we went seafood was fully in season so we started with a squid sharing platter before moving on to the seafood risotto and the linguine vongole the portions were huge with generous helpings of seafood however it left little room for a desert. The restaurant is also open for lunch and dinner and it also has a florist and deli attached to it so even if you don’t have time to sit down for a proper meal you can still take some of their produce away with you. Well worth a visit in to the City for. Www.thefollybar.co.uk

Nice Places For The Summer Months

Camden Lock

London Green Fair In Regents Park Everyone likes to feel like they’re doing our bit and so with that in mind head down to the Green Fair in Regents Park this weekend (4-5 June). Full of both serious and suggestive takes on being green the festival has doubled in size this year, last year it was only on for one day and was previously called Camden Green Fair. There will be 10 different ecological zones that will house fashion shows, swap shops, a speakers tent and health and healing areas. With the whole event being powered by wind, solar and hydrogen energy sources this is a purely green affair.

Bar Story Hidden just behind Peckham High Street (it’s all about Peckham this month it seems) is Bar Story. A great summer bar with its large and airy interiour and exterior that’s all made up of found objects so you will need to excuse any sharp edges or ratty corners that you might stumble across. The outside has huge logs to sit on as well as large metal bin fires for when the evenings get chilly. They do a top coffee as well. 213 Blenheim Grove London SE15 4QL

A lovely walk along the lock is always a good idea for the summer months. You can walk all the way from Kings Cross through to Little Venice by following the lock and on your journey come across lots of stuff to keep you entertained. For example, near Regents Park you can see part of the London Zoo enclosures for free and further along the river is a great resturant with lovely wine and burgers. After this you come to a whole community of barge boats and then Little Venice where you can have yet more wine on the boat cafe at the far end. This way there is no need to remember your route back as you just follow the river, and try not to fall in.

Highlight Comedy Highlight takes over Jongluers every Friday and Sat with a few weekdays thrown in between (check the website for dates) and brings you a collection of stand up comics and a choice of chicken and chips with wine or beer for £18. A bargain when you realise that the callibre of these acts are really good and the surroundings are relaxed and intimate. An ideal place if you are looking for a night out with a difference but not one where you are confined to your seats (though be warned, you move at the wrong time and you’ll get picked on). www.thehighlight.co.uk

The Southbank A great option for a day trip now that the sun is here. Plus throughout this month and next month there is the Udderbelly festival down there that consists of a big purple cow offering comedy and general entertainment. There is also a free to enter lovely pop up bar from Magners with cider, table football, games and astro grass. www.underbelly.co.uk

Parliment Hill Fields Garden and Grill Cafe Hidden away behind a side door and some very steep steps is the Garden and Grill Cafe on Portobello Road. Easy to miss with only a small sign and an equally small dining area but this place is still worth remembering. This cafe has been here for years and you can expect things like omlettes and of course grills from the menu. A perfect people watching spot for the busy Portobello Road at the weekends or simply to get away and above the hustle and bustle for a few hours. The upstairs terrace also have an abundance of heatlamps and we all know how important they are in our changeable, God-love-it weather. 253a Portobello Road, London. W11 1LR www.thairiver.co.uk/portobello.html

Board of simply ‘going to the park’ when the sun comes out? Bored of only finding one small piece of un-dried up grass and dodging children, frisbies and slobbery dogs? Then Parliment Hill Fields is your answer. Far more spacious and never as packed as more central parks Parliment Hill Fields is always one to keep in mind. The added bonus of this place is that it comes complete with Lido and for those that don’t know what a Lido is, it’s a public swiming pool. Some of them can be pretty gross but the one at Parliment Hill Fields is clean and hidden away from prying eyes behind a lovely bush. Parliment Hills Fields Off Highgate Road Nearest station: Gospel Oak overground or Kentish Town tube

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