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Phil Turner (MD) phil@exposedmagazine.co.uk Nick Hallam (Sales Director) nick@exposedmagazine.co.uk
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Lis Ellis (Accounts) accounts@exposedmagazine.co.uk 16 SETTLING THE SCORE
Sheffield folk artist Jim Ghedi recently made the leap from South Yorkshire to Hollywood, scoring Michael Sarnoski’s The Death of Robin Hood. He tells Exposed about battling imposter syndrome, keeping the score firmly rooted in Sheff and and why a darker, stranger take on the folk legend felt right up his street.
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24 A PLACE IN THE SUN
The Rising Sun has been pulling pints in Fulwood for well over a century, but there’s plenty new brewing at this Abbeydale-owned boozer. We headed to S10 to see how former Juke & Loe chef Joe Grayson is putting his stamp on the menu – and found a community pub in seriously good nick.
38 THE NEXT CHAPTER
New album, new baby and a return to the road – life’s moving fast for singer-songwriter Kat Eaton. Ahead of her homecoming gig, Kat spoke to Isabel Butler about touring after becoming a mum and the personal stories behind latest album What Happens Now.
64 A NOVEL IDEA
Sheffield’s indie book scene is booming – and its sellers are doing things differently. Ruby Deakin explores the city’s growing network of independent bookshops, where collaboration trumps competition and a shared love of good reads is turning shops into thriving community spaces.
GRAFTERS
Joe Food (Editor) joe@exposedmagazine.co.uk Ash Birch (Online Editor) ash@exposedmagazine.co.uk Lizzy Capps (Content Creator) lizzy@exposedmagazine.co.uk Marc Barker (Design Dogsbody)
GI’ US A HAND PLZ
Ruby Deakin, Heather Paterson, Isabel Butler
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THE BUSINESS STUFF
Exposed is published monthly by Blind Mice Media Ltd Unit 1b, 2 Kelham square Kelham Riverside Sheffield S3 8SD The views contained herein are not necessarily those of Blind Mice Media Ltd and while every effort is made to ensure information throughout Exposed is correct, changes prior to distribution may take place which can affect the accuracy of copy, therefore Blind Mice Media Ltd cannot take responsibility for contributors’ views or specific entertainment listings.
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WELL, WELL, WELL…
The Rock N Roll Circus rolled into town last month, with opening night seeing local indie faves Milburn take to the Big Top stage. The lads celebrated the 20th anniversary of their seminal debut album by playing it in full, while a late-August storm (in a teacup?) battered Don Valley Bowl outside. Photo: Errol Edwards
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SKYLINE’S THE LIMIT? Plans to breathe new life into Sheffield’s long-abandoned Ski Village site are gathering pace, with proposals for downhill luge tracks, a zipline and even a surf wave among the attractions on the table.
New Zealand adventure tourism company Skyline Enterprises is working up plans for the Parkwood Springs site, around a mile north of the city centre, with a public consultation due to launch this month and a planning application expected later this year. It’s the latest attempt to revive a site that has seen more than its fair share of false starts since the former Ski Village was destroyed by fire in 2012. This time, Skyline has agreed a strategic framework with Sheffield City Council as the two sides look to finally bring the hillside back into use. The plans would be rolled out in phases. First up is Skyline’s signature Luge – a gravitypowered downhill karting attraction – alongside a family playground, food and drink spots and an indoor attraction. Further down the line, things could get even more 8 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
ambitious. A zipline and surf wave experience are part of the longer-term vision, while the possibility of bringing dry ski slopes back to Parkwood Springs is also being explored. The development would form part of wider work to improve Parkwood Springs and its links with neighbouring Neepsend and Kelham Island. Sheffield City Council is investing in infrastructure around the site using £19 million of government Levelling Up funding, including a new
access road and junction improvements. Geoff McDonald, CEO of Skyline Enterprises, described Sheffield as the “ideal city” for the company’s next UK development. “Our adventure and experience brand aligns perfectly with Sheffield’s renowned ‘Outdoor City’ ethos,” he said. “We know that Parkwood Springs has been a challenging site to bring forward over the years, but with strong support
IT’S SNOW JOKE. Sheffield Ski Village opened at Parkwood Springs in 1988 and grew into one of Europe’s biggest artificial ski resorts. Then, in April 2012, a huge fire destroyed its main building. That blaze was ruled accidental, but plenty more followed. By 2016, the site had reportedly suffered around 50 arson attacks, with further fires in subsequent years. It became such a Sheffield running joke that it inspired ‘the ski village is on fire again’ T-shirts and the website Is the Ski Village on Fire?, whose answer was, naturally: “Probably.”
from Sheffield City Council and an experienced project team on board, the pieces are now in place to deliver something truly special for the city.” Council leader Cllr Fran Belbin acknowledged the site’s chequered redevelopment history, saying it had experienced “many false starts over the years”. She added: “Alongside the wider investment into Parkwood Springs, this project has the potential to create jobs, boost tourism and support economic growth, while providing a new attraction for residents and visitors to enjoy for generations to come.” There’s plenty still to happen before Sheffielders are hurtling downhill in luge carts, but September’s consultation will give residents and businesses a chance to get a proper look at the proposals and have their say before the planning process. skylineenterprises.co.nz
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COLE BROTHERS GOES INTERACTIVE
READ ALL ABOUT IT
From Lee Child and Marina Hyde to Sir Bradley Wiggins and Sheffield’s own musical history, more than 50 events will take over the city as Off the Shelf Festival of Words celebrates its 35th edition. One of the UK’s longest-running literary festivals returns to Sheffield this autumn, with Olympic champions, bestselling authors, broadcasters and political figures joining a packed month-long programme. Off the Shelf Festival of Words will run from 28 September to 25 October, bringing more than 50 live and online events to venues across the city for its 35th edition. Among the headline names is five-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Bradley Wiggins, who will discuss The Chain, his memoir exploring his life and career beyond cycling. Guardian columnist Marina Hyde brings her trademark political satire to Sheffield with What a Time to Be Alive! Scenes from a Strange Age, while bestselling author Lee Child will appear alongside his brother Andrew Child to discuss Chain Reaction, the latest instalment in the Jack Reacher series. Comedian and writer Lucy Porter joins the bill with Middle-Aged Women Get Sht Done*, while Doctor Who and Broadchurch writer Chris Chibnall will discuss his second crime thriller. Elsewhere, Bradford West MP Naz Shah will reflect on her journey from a traumatic childhood to Westminster, while Booker prize-winning author Ben Okri presents Waking the Warriors, which tackles invading armies, refugees and tyranny in a dystopian world. The programme stretches beyond traditional literary territory. The Great Pottery Throw Down judge Keith Brymer Jones will explore the history of ceramics through his book Firing Earth, leading
forensic scientist Professor Lady Sue Black will examine landmark criminal cases and geopolitical expert Arthur Snell will consider the impact of the climate crisis. Sheffield itself also takes centre stage. Journalist Daniel Dylan Wray will delve into the city’s musical past with Groovy, Laidback and Nasty, built from 150 interviews with figures including Pulp, Cabaret Voltaire and Self Esteem. Sheffield Poet Laureate Beth Davies will premiere a specially commissioned poem marking the end of her tenure, as well as revealing the city’s next poet laureate. From 18 to 21 October, the Winter Garden will host the free Roots and Futures interactive exhibition, exploring diversity through history, heritage and storytelling. This year’s festival will also be the last under director Professor Vanessa Toulmin, who will step down in December after more than a decade working on the event through the University of Sheffield. “I am immensely proud of the role the University has played in saving, investing in and enabling the Festival to grow since taking it on over ten years ago,” she said. “We take equal delight in the role Off the Shelf plays in the city’s cultural vibrancy, bringing tens of thousands of people to venues across Sheffield to celebrate their love of the written and spoken word.” Off the Shelf Festival of Words runs from 28 September to 25 October. Tickets and the full programme are available at offtheshelforg.uk.
Sheffield’s Sensoria Festival will return this October, with the former Cole Brothers building set to host six large-scale interactive plant sculptures as part of this year’s programme. Running from 22–25 October, the 2026 edition of the music, film and digital arts festival will take Plantasia as its theme, with live performances, screenings, installations and industry events taking place across the city. Among the centrepieces will be Hot House, a free installation inside the former Cole Brothers building featuring six interactive plant sculptures brought to life through movement, light and air. Created using robotic technology from creative studio Air Giants, the installation will invite visitors of all ages to interact with its collection of other-worldly botanical specimens. The festival will also see Plantasia Collective, led by Lou Barnell and Zebedee C. Budworth, reimagine Mort Garson’s cult 1976 album Mother Earth’s Plantasia. The performance will combine synths, choreography and botanical inspiration. On Friday 23 October, Warp Records ambient electronica duo Plaid will present a live audiovisual performance. The same day will see the return of SensoriaPro, the festival’s industryfocused programme, bringing together composers, filmmakers, music publishers and agents for a day of panels, discussions and collaborative events centred on music and moving image.
Sensoria Festival takes place across Sheffield from 22–25 October 2026. More information is available at sensoria.org.uk.
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ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW 1 THERE’S TO LEARN
There’s always a new way to make a scenic effect or a skill to learn in order to create unique objects. I use a wide variety of materials, from resin or clear silicone for water to metal film for a lead roof, plywood for walls, doors and windows, plastic for windows or gutters and wooden dowel to make a barrel or flower pot. I’ve had to learn how to use polymer clay, 3D printers and laser cutters, as well as the programs needed to run these tools.
THE FIRST BUILD 2 OCCASIONALLY, GETS BINNED
I do a lot of bespoke builds for people and, although I try to avoid this at the design stage, occasionally I can build something up to the point of painting and realise, now that all the components are together, that it looks off in some way. The dimensions might be wrong, the proportions might not look like the real thing or a window on a house might be out of line. Unfortunately, however frustrating it is, if it can’t be rectified with a simple modification, the whole miniature has been known to get binned and the build starts all over again. Thankfully this is a rare occurrence, but it has happened a few times.
BIGGER THE MINIATURE, THE 3 THE BETTER THE DETAIL
Well, that sounds wrong when you say it out loud, but it’s true. I’ve discovered after years of making miniatures that the larger the scale, the better the detail. This might be obvious to some, but it does throw people when you mention it. Basically, if I build the facade of a house and the whole frontage measures 10cm wide, that makes the front door a maximum of 2cm wide. Then, when you’re getting down to smaller details like the house number on the front
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MINIATURIST
door, for example, the number is going to be 2–3mm in height. When you’re getting down to things that small, it’s not possible to make them unless you’re going to look at the miniature through a microscope.
DROPPING SOMETHING CAN BE 4 CATASTROPHIC
Typically, it’s something that has taken a good amount of time to make and that I’m really pleased with. You’re just holding it with the tweezers to glue it in place when it pings off in a random direction and on to the floor. At this point, after a bit of muttering, the torch comes out and the search begins on hands and knees. This can be hampered further if the floor is messy with offcuts. There are many times when I have to give up searching and simply resign myself to starting again, only to occasionally find it months later under a cupboard.
5 MINIATURES CAN MEAN A LOT TO PEOPLE
I’ve built childhood homes as they were at the time, family-owned shops that are now long gone, a narrowboat that someone’s father used to own and live on, a favourite fairground ride that was run by the owner’s family, a wedding venue and even a D-Day landing scene made in memory of the owner’s father, who was a landing craft operator. When discussing a commission, it always comes across how much the build means to someone. Their positive and emotional reactions when they receive the miniatures make it all feel incredibly worthwhile. You can see more of Lee Smithson’s work by heading to sheffieldminiatures.co.uk or following @sheffieldminiatures on Instagram.
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SPILLING THE BEANS
Sheffield’s independent coffee scene is getting a festival of its own this autumn, with a week of events planned across the city before a major weekend takeover at Trafalgar Warehouse. Sip Fest will run from Monday 28 September to Sunday 4 October 2026, bringing together cafés, roasters, baristas, makers, traders and coffee drinkers for a mix of free fringe events and a ticketed Saturday festival. The new event has been founded by Matt Cottrill of Steam Yard and Corner Store and Neil Midgley of Motore Cafe, with creative direction and illustration from Steam Yard’s Molly Kirk. Organisers say the idea is to give Sheffield’s growing coffee community a shared platform while encouraging people to explore independent venues across the city. For the first part of the week, more than 40 coffee shops, cafés, brunch spots, bars, roasteries and other spaces are expected to take part in a free citywide fringe programme. Details of individual events are still to be announced, but the focus will be on getting people through the doors of Sheffield independents and showing the breadth of the city’s café culture beyond the usual handful of familiar names.
SHEFFIELD HAS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING INDEPENDENT COFFEE SCENES IN THE COUNTRY AND WE WANT TO SHOWCASE THIS TO THE CITY AND BEYOND.” MATT COTTRILL, SIP FEST CO-FOUNDER
The festival then moves to Trafalgar Warehouse for the weekend. On Friday 2 October, the venue will host a free industry party open to people working across coffee, hospitality, food, drink, events and Sheffield’s wider independent business community. The following day, Saturday 3 October, Trafalgar Warehouse will become the main Sip Fest hub for a ticketed public event split across morning and afternoon sessions.
DOES THA KNOW? Sheffield has developed one of the strongest independent coffee cultures in the country. More than 72% of the city’s coffee shops are independently run, according to a 2026 study, placing Sheffield fifth among UK cities for the strength of its independent scene. The city has 28.7 independent coffee shops for every 100,000 residents, alongside a growing network of local speciality roasters. Source: UK Coffee Report 2026
More than 30 stalls are planned, alongside talks, tastings, Coffee School sessions, street food and DJs. There will also be a large-scale latte art competition and what organisers are billing as the UK’s biggest coffee run. Early bird tickets for the Saturday event are currently priced at £5. For the organisers, the festival is as much about the people behind Sheffield’s cafés as it is about what ends up in the cup. “Sheffield has one of the most exciting independent coffee scenes in the country and we want to showcase this to the city and beyond,” said Cottrill. “Sip Fest is about celebrating the places, people and energy that make Sheffield’s coffee culture what it is. We want it to feel like something people genuinely look forward to every year, with a sense of fun but also something meaningful behind it.” Coffee has become an increasingly visible part of Sheffield’s independent culture over the past decade, with speciality cafés and roasters spreading well beyond the city centre and into neighbourhoods including Kelham Island,
Nether Edge, Crookes and Hillsborough. Sip Fest is looking to bring some of that activity together for the first time, mixing Sheffield businesses with national coffee brands while keeping the wider fringe rooted in local venues. The organisers are also pitching the festival beyond committed coffee obsessives. Alongside home brewers and speciality coffee fans, they hope to attract students, freelancers, families and people looking for a daytime social event that does not revolve around alcohol. Cafés, roasteries, makers, brands, venues and traders are now being invited to take part in both the Trafalgar Warehouse programme and the fringe. Sip Fest runs from 28 September to 4 October 2026. The industry party at Trafalgar Warehouse on 2 October is free, while early bird tickets for the public festival on 3 October cost £5 via sipcoffeefestival.com.
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COVER: JIM GHEDI
When Sheffield folk artist Jim Ghedi was approached by director Michael Sarnoski to score The Death of Robin Hood, starring Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer, he was stepping into unfamiliar territory. With his first major film score now heading to UK cinemas, he speaks to Exposed about overcoming imposter syndrome, bringing a local flavour to the project and embracing a darker side to one of England’s most enduring folk legends. WORDS: JOSEPH FOOD
Last time we caught up was around a year and a half ago, just after Wasteland came out. What’s happened since then? Yeah, it’s been a bit of a mad one, really. Last time we chatted, Wasteland had just been released and we’d done the album launch tour, which went really well. Off the back of Wasteland, things have just been really busy. You never really know how it’s going to go, but it seems to have done really well. We’re still touring off the back of it now, which is great. Right in the middle of that, in the summer, I started working on the film score. That was a mad one that came in. The reason we couldn’t really continue touring Wasteland in the way that we were was because I had to work on the film score for a good few months during that summer.
14 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
How did the offer to work on The Death of Robin Hood first come about? We'd just released ‘Wasteland’, the single, with the music video and album announcement. Almost straight off the back of that, the director Michael Sarnoski sent me a DM and basically said, ‘I’m just reaching out on a personal basis. I want you to do my next film score.’ I thought it might fall through, but before I knew it, I was having calls with producers, then me and Michael had a Zoom call and really got on. That was it, really. I had to keep it under wraps. I couldn’t say anything to anyone because you’re under strict confidentiality, NDAs and all kinds of stuff like that. So I was working away and no one really knew what I was doing. That lasted for about four and a half months.
PHOTO: MARC BARKER
Do you think Wasteland opened the gate to that opportunity? Had Michael heard the album and thought, ‘That’s the sound’? I think the timing was really fortunate, to be honest. Michael said he was playing a few tracks while they were on reccies, going out to locations where they were filming. Then the announcement of the next album and the ‘Wasteland’ music video in particular had a couple of themes that tied in with the film. I think the timing of that maybe helped – here’s a new album, here’s a new music video with similar ideas. It all kind of helped. I think I’m quite lucky in that respect. But there was one track in particular that he loved, ‘Lamentations of Round-Oak Water’, which is based on a John Clare poem and ended up making it into the film. He said he was playing it on reccies and everyone was like, ‘Oh, this is it. This is the sound.’ Folk narratives have always been part of your music and folk legends don’t come much bigger than Robin Hood. What did you make of the idea when you first heard it? When they sent the script, I wasn’t sure what I thought about Hollywood or big film names doing English mythology. I wasn’t really sure how it was going to look or how it was going to land. But the script made a lot of sense because Michael’s approach ran parallel to how I look into folk music and traditional stuff, where I’m really digging at something deeper and more alternative, trying to bring out the darker human side of it. I really connected to it.
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28 Sep–25 Oct
COVER: JIM GHEDI
COVER: STEVE EDWARDS I know and who I’ve worked with.’ We recorded at Tecna Studios. David Glover, who’s the engineer there, is a good pal of mine. I’ve worked with him for years and he’s amazing at what he does. Doing it that way was really important. Another local guy, Sam Proctor, mastered it here in Sheff as well.
It’s that classic thing of: ‘Well, you called me.’ You’ve got to back yourself rather than trying to fit into what you think a modern film audience wants. They were really encouraging of that. For me, there was massive imposter syndrome because I’ve never done anything like this before, especially at this scale. But I was really lucky with them and the whole team because they kept bringing it back to: ‘We just want you to do what you do.’ I think it would have been a harder task if I hadn’t been so supported by the director, producers and editors in that way. How did the process actually work after receiving the script? They started sending visuals. They’d have first edits, so they might send me reel one, which would be 20 minutes of the first bit of the film. They put temp music in there to give you an idea of when they want and what the theme or feel is, then you have to start writing something for it. That was a lot of trial and error because I would just throw in loads of stuff. I was being quite unconventional in the way the process worked for me. A lot of composers nowadays work with MIDI. They’ll knock something up on programmes and MIDI keyboards, then for the final recording the real musicians
PHOTO: SCOTT HUKINS
Were there nerves in tackling something as culturally weighty as Robin Hood? The mythology around it was an easy thing to get distracted by – the weight of what that legend and myth is. The more I got nerdy with it and went, ‘Oh, there’s these ballads and this is set in this time and this is Robin Hood…’, it got into my head and started to become academic or something. But as soon as I started going, ‘Right, what’s the emotion here? What’s the person going through?’ and just trusted what I do and what I can bring out, that helped a lot.
IF YOU’RE SITTING IN FAGANS OR THE GRAPES AND YOU HEAR A STORY – MY GRANDAD’S GOT TONNES OF THEM FROM SHEFFIELD – AS TIME GOES ON, THEY ALL SLIGHTLY CHANGE. THEY’RE ALTERED.”
come together in the studio and start making it sound like a piece of music. But I don’t work like that. One of the music editors, Tony Lewis, was like, ‘Your approach is how it was done 30 or 40 years ago.’ I was actually working with musicians in real time and working on ideas from the demo stages. They’d send me visuals and, because it was all done here in Sheffield with a lot of musicians I know from the scene, I just started doing stuff with them. They’d either come round to mine or we’d go to a studio and start working on these ideas with instruments, doing it live. It’s great that you were able to bring other Sheffield artists into it too. It was really important to me. I made a conscious effort early on in the Zooms because I could have flown out and gone elsewhere, but it was like, ‘Nah, if you want what I do, it needs to be in Sheff and it needs to be with people who are here, who
There’s something fitting about that with story of Robin of Locksley – which, some argue, is an old spelling of Loxley. There’s that tug of war between South Yorkshire and Nottingham now, so it feels like you’ve managed to do your bit to stake our claim on a Hollywood production. I mentioned that to someone yesterday. The whole Sheffield connection and the Peak District itself is so heavily steeped in the myth. It’s only in recent years that we’ve started to reclaim it – various people like Jo and Nigel at Sensoria and the Reclaiming Robin Hood book by Dr David Clarke. There’s been that movement of trying to reclaim it back into Sheffield and South Yorkshire culture and it was nice for me to have that link in my head. The myth and the legend was supposedly based here and around these areas. If you go for a walk in the Peaks, it’s so easy to let your imagination roam free. You can walk up to Hathersage and literally stop by Little John’s grave. It really helps creatively. Have you been plunged into the world of glitzy film premieres yet? No. They had a couple of previews down in London. I went to one of them early on and it was an interesting world to be dropped into when you’ve never been around any of that. You don’t strike me as somebody who’d feel completely at home rubbing shoulders with film industry types and movie stars. Ha! Don’t I? Yeah, I’m not my most comfortable in those situations, for sure. I’m at my most comfortable when I’m WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK | 17
COVER: JIM GHEDI in the studio or working on something. That’s where I’m at my best. But it was important for me to get the Sheffield premiere at the Showroom. I really wanted that.
Maybe you underestimated what happens when people hear ‘Robin Hood’ around these parts. Yeah, right! It’s already been released in America, so all that was happening over there in June. I think the UK and Ireland release is going to be really interesting because it’s obviously so steeped in English mythology, especially around parts like this in Sheff. It’s going to be interesting to see people’s reactions to it. It’s quite a gritty take. If you go in with the idea of Robin Hood being this giver to the poor, I think it’s going to divide a bit of the audience because it’s not that. It’s a completely different take on it, but it’s healthy to have different interpretations. It’s healthy to have different sides of the story. That’s what makes it interesting, though. It’s a story that’s been told so many times, so how do you find something new to say with it? I find stuff like that fascinating 18 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
PHOTO: MARC BARKER
Of course. You used to work at the Showroom, didn’t you? Yeah, I used to work at the Showroom for years. We had a meeting there with Sam, who’s involved in programming there, trying to be all professional and that, and I were like, ‘Come on, I used to clean the popcorn machines!’ There’s going to be a Q&A talking about certain bits of the process, then obviously the film screening. Then I’m going to do a few tracks live with a fiddle player who I work with. It’s just a little thing to make it a special event. It was more about having a bit of a sendoff in Sheffield for family and friends. I didn’t really expect it to sell out as quickly as it did. The original plan’s kind of gone to shit because loads of pals obviously waited a bit before getting tickets. with folk music anyway – that’s kind of what I do. The idea of stripping things down a little bit and having different takes on material like that is needed because, a lot of the time, we are dealing with myth. If you’re sitting in Fagans or the Grapes and you hear a story – my grandad’s got tonnes of them from Sheffield – as time goes on, they all slightly change. They’re altered. The fact that you can’t pinpoint it, that it’s not 100 per cent certain or certified, is part of the beauty of it. It’s the mysticism around it. It’s the what-ifs. Since the film came out in the US, has your phone been blowing up? Ha! Not quite. There’s been a couple of interesting things and conversations, but I wouldn’t say it’s been blowing up. It has been overwhelmingly positive in terms of messages from people in the States. People have been getting in touch saying how blown away
they were by the score, which has been really nice to hear. I really struggle with stuff like that because I think it’s a really Sheffield thing. Basically, I don’t think we take praise very well. We don’t really know what to do with it, do we? But it is nice and I think I’m trying to get better at that. I’m trying to be like, ‘Look, this is a mad opportunity. I have to be able to accept and enjoy that’, so I'm trying not to be too Sheff about it. What was it like finally sitting down and hearing your score alongside the finished film on a big screen? How does that compare to the feeling of perorming live? It’s really different. We did the final mix in London, you’re in these mad studios, the monitor screen is huge, and you’re sat back listening and watching. You’re seeing Jodie Comer, you’re seeing Hugh Jackman, and it doesn’t really feel real. Funnily enough, when
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COVER: JIM GHEDI
Now you’ve done it once, is film scoring something you’d like to explore further? Definitely. It’s something I’ve been thinking about because I haven’t come into this as a jobbing composer. I’ve come into it as a musician and artist first. So I think if I’m creatively connected to something – and not to sound picky or diva-like – but as long as that’s creatively there, then yeah, man, I’d love to do more. In an ideal world, are there any directors or types of film you’d particularly like to work on? Definitely Robert Eggers. I love Robert Eggers’ stuff. And Ben Wheatley – I’ve been a massive fan of all of his stuff. Anything that's digging into the same sort of world or with the same themes, I guess. Any dark mythology wherethere’s a real vibe of something there to tap into, below the surface. That's what excites me creatively.
we can really feel the intensity of a nuclear fallout.
THERE WAS MASSIVE IMPOSTER SYNDROME BECAUSE I’VE NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE, ESPECIALLY AT THIS SCALE.” There’s a Threads remake in the offing. Maybe give Warp a bell? Oh, I’ve heard about this! I’d have to shout up Dean Honer straight away on that one if it comes in. You could lock yourselves in a nuclear fallout shelter for a month and just jam. One hundred per cent. We'll get some dried crackers and minimal water supplies in, so
Finally, September sounds fairly manic. What have you got coming up? Yeah, September’s a busy one. The film’s being released on 2 September, we’ve got the Sheffield premiere at the Showroom on the third, then there's a film Q&A in Derby and Nottingham’s doing a film Q&A in the same month. So the first few weeks are tied up with the film stuff, then we’re on tour off the back of that. And I’m trying to finish off the next album too. So yeah, it’s busy, busy, but I'm not complaining. It feels really good to occupied with a bunch of stuff at the moment. The Death of Robin Hood releases in UK cinemas on 2 September and the soundtrack is available to stream and purchase online now. Follow @jimghedi on Insta for upcoming tour dates and new releases.
PHOTO: SCOTT HUKINS
I was touring in June, a lot of the bandmates hadn’t heard the final mix. We listened to the soundtrack and I got a bit emotional at the end. I think it was because I’d had so much time and space away from it and there was something about showing it to the bandmates. It got to the last piece and I got quite emotional. That’s why I think the Sheffield premiere is going to hit me. Now there’s been enough time and space away from it, I’m actually starting to realise what it is. A gig’s very different. When you’re on tour, these little routines start setting in. You get in a car, load in, soundcheck, go for something to eat, gig, get the buzz, sell merch, feel good and then go off and do the same thing again. With the film I didn’t have any of that. You’re not getting that same immediate response. You’re very much solitary and you’re just going, ‘Shit, is this going to work? I hope this is all right.’
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FIGUE™ BRINGS LunchBrunch® TO SHEFFIELD Sheffield’s oldest Indian restaurant Ashoka is now opening its doors during the day for something completely new. Launched on Thursday 27 August, FIGUE™ is a new LunchBrunch® concept built around the food owner Rahul Amin grew up eating. FIGUE stands for “Food I Grew Up Eating”, but don’t expect a cliched tour through traditional Indian cooking. This is personal, playful food shaped by a Gujarati Indian home, a Sheffield upbringing and the glorious chaos that happens when the corner shop, the family kitchen and the morning after all collide. The result is LunchBrunch®: not breakfast, not quite lunch, and definitely not another predictable parade of smashed avocado. FIGUE takes over Ashoka every Thursday to Sunday between 11am and 2pm, serving a hotchpotch of breakfast, lunch and all-day snacks. Some dishes are rooted firmly in the food Rahul remembers; others have been made up through necessity, curiosity or the simple belief that they would taste delicious. The menu moves from Gujarati street-food favourites to unapologetically Sheffield born inventions. There’s khaman: soft, savoury steamed chickpea cake finished with a fragrant tempering. Vada pav brings spiced potato, chutneys and chilli together inside a soft bun, while papdi no lot offers a comforting Gujarati rice-flour dish rarely spotted on British Indian restaurant menus. Then things take a turn. The Corner Shop Chaat transforms familiar
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snack-aisle flavours with various chutneys and crispy bits. The [Mc]Chicken Keema Egg & Cheese Muffin is exactly the kind of crosscultural breakfast engineering its name suggests: chicken keema, egg and melted cheese bundled into a muffin to create what may be Sheffield’s newest hangover cure. Rahul explains: “This is food that’s Indian without being trapped by tradition, British without trying too hard to prove it, and Sheffield through and through.” FIGUE also marks a new chapter for Ashoka, the Ecclesall Road institution that has been feeding the city since 1967. The last lunch service was in 1976 - they thought 50 years was enough of a wait to bring it back. Rather than simply opening for a conventional lunch service, the team has created a separate identity with its own menu, mood and point of view, one that connects the restaurant’s history with the way Sheffield wants to eat now. Come hungry, slightly hungover or simply curious. FIGUE™ runs every Thursday to Sunday, from 11am until 2pm.Reservations can be made at www.ashoka1967.com. Follow @ figue_shf for menus, dishes and updates.
FOOD AND DRINK FOOD & DRINK SPONSORED BY
THE RISING SUN
This year, Sheffield stalwart Abbeydale Brewery celebrates its 30th anniversary. Last month, we headed to its home on Aizlewood Road, getting an up-close look at the brewing process before rounding things off with a pint at its latest venture, the Abbeydale Beerworks taproom. As someone who’s long been a fan of its output – whether cask, keg or can – it wasn’t a bad assignment to land. But, as many seasoned beer lovers and pub-goers in the city will no doubt be aware, there’s a third string to the Abbeydale bow. Situated in leafy Fulwood, a few miles west of central Sheffield, the Rising Sun completes the hoppy holy trinity on offer, adding a bustling community pub to the mix. Naturally, we thought that if we were to have the full Abbeydale experience, we’d need to get ourselves out to S10 for a teatime visit – something only reinforced when we heard that Joe Grayson, formerly one half of the award-winning Juke & Loe restaurant, was now at the helm in the kitchen. Abbeydale took over the Rising Sun in 2005, but its history as a public house on the same site stretches back to 1860. The building you see today dates back to the early 1900s, where according to research undertaken by local beer historians, an early newspaper report mentioned it being a popular teatime venue, particularly renowned for its Bovril, teas 24 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
and meat sandwiches. While hot mugs of beef and yeast extract are no longer on the menu, one thing has remained much the same: people flock here for the food. As Exposed arrives at 5pm on a weeknight, there’s already a good number of tables filled with diners and a distinct bustle to proceedings. A quick scan of the room and you can see the pub’s broad appeal. Groups of students mingle with old boys nursing pints of cask at the bar, families settle on the larger tables for a midweek meal, while those looking for a slightly elevated dining experience are shown to a separate, recently refurbed dining room to the right of the bar. Sticking to our natural habitat, Exposed chooses a table in the bar side of the building, where GM of eight years Garry Raynes joins us for a chat. “It’s very much a community pub,” he says. “We’re really proud of the team we’ve got in and what we offer – from the food and drink to the events we put on, to the fact that we’re now employee-owned. A lot goes into making the experience a friendly one for our customers – a place they can feel instantly relaxed.” Clearly, it’s working. The Rising Sun was named CAMRA Sheffield & District Pub of the Year in 2024, while Abbeydale picked up SIBA’s Employer of the Year award in 2025. The pub also currently holds the CAMRA Pub of the Year title for Sheffield West – recognition
PHOTO: MARK NEWTON PHOTOGRAPHY
WORDS: JOSEPH FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY: MARC BARKER
that suggests they’re getting plenty right. The beer offering certainly helps: across the bar there are 22 lines in total, including 11 handpulls pouring a mix of Abbeydale favourites, lagers, ciders, stouts and rotating guest beers. There’s been a particularly exciting addition on the food side, with the arrival of Joe Grayson, formerly coowner of the Michelin-recommended and much-missed Juke & Loe restaurant. The brief, Garry explains, was to give Joe room to bring some of that pedigree to the kitchen without losing sight of what people want from a pub meal. “We want to stick to a traditional food offering, but Joe has been able to put his stamp on the menu as well,” he says. “There’s things on there that can’t come off, like the burgers and the fish and chips – the stuff you expect to find. But everything’s been elevated towards the high standard he works at.” Furnished with pints of Abbeydale OG Moonshine – when in Rome, etc – we placed our order. We started conventionally by sharing an awardwinning Owen Taylor Huntsman pork pie – a handsome slab of well-seasoned pork and sage stuffing encased in golden pastry – alongside freshly baked focaccia that was light, chewy and ideal for tearing apart at the table. Veering slightly from the expected was a Koreanstyle skewer of corn-fed chicken, served
with sharp pickled onions, a tasty lime and garlic mayo and fresh coriander. It was a neat snapshot of what had been described: recognisable pub food done well, with room around the edges for some fun. Continuing that classic-versuscreative theme with the mains, my dining partner flew the culinary Union Jack with the ever-popular fish and chips – Cornish hake battered with the brewery’s Heresy Lager and nori seaweed, which arrived looking suitably resplendent and at home in its settings, served with healthy side portions of crayfish tartare, mushy peas and chips. I opted for the cottage pie, which intriguingly swerved the usual minced beef filling in favour of confit duck leg and chorizo, topped with cheddar and onion mash and served with pickled red cabbage. Rich and comforting, the duck and chorizo chunks brought plenty of savoury depth, while the creamy, cheesy mash came with a perfectly crisped top – all in all, a winning spin on a pub classic. There’s no skimping on portions here and, as such, we decided a shared dessert could just about be managed – and thank goodness greed got the better of us. The chocolate and Black Mass dark IPA cake was delicious: a dense, deeply chocolatey slab sitting in a pool of glossy brown sugar sauce, topped with a generous dollop of fresh clotted WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK | 25
FOOD & DRINK SPONSORED BY
THE RISING SUN
IT’S VERY MUCH A COMMUNITY PUB … WE’RE REALLY PROUD OF THE TEAM WE’VE GOT IN AND WHAT WE OFFER.” cream and a crisp tuile. It was just the ticket – combined with another round of Moonshines – to put us out for the count and round off the perfect pub tea. If there’s one thing that sticks with me as we finish up for the night, it’s what an all-rounder the Rising Sun is. Perhaps local pubs have to be these days, in a world of supermarket beers, changing drinking habits and the rising costs of – well, everything. But more than that, it feels like the perfect bricks-and-mortar 26 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
representative of a much-loved local brand entering its fourth decade – broad in appeal, proudly independent and respectful of its heritage, but still willing to experiment and improve the offer. So, in less than two months, Exposed has ticked off visits to Abbeydale's longstanding brewery, modern taproom and thriving community pub. 30 years into their story, they’re proving that the best things really do come in threes. FIND ‘EM
The Rising Sun 471 Fulwood Rd Sheffield S10 3QA 0114 230 3855 risingsunsheffield.co.uk @risingsunsheff
PHOTO: ABBIE ROSE PHOTOGRAPHY
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4 hand pulled ales and 8 keg lines including Abbeydale Brewery’s latest releases
Find us at: 298 Abbeydale Road - just 200 steps from the brewery!
FOOD AND DRINK
SPOTLIGHT ON:
CELEBRATING SHEFFIELD’S COOLEST INDEPENDENT VENUES, NEIGHBOURHOOD HANGOUTS AND HIDDEN GEMS.
RĀSA
Brothers Sam and Sunny Sharma are blending serious coffee, playful matcha and the flavours they grew up with at their new Sharrow Vale spot.
Sheffield isn’t exactly crying out for more coffee shops. Sam and Sunny Sharma knew that when they opened RĀSA on Sharrow Vale Road earlier this year. The city’s independent coffee scene is already bustling and, seemingly every few months, another espresso machine starts hissing into life somewhere. So the brothers weren’t interested in arriving with claims of reinventing Sheffield coffee culture. “We knew Sheffield already had a brilliant independent coffee scene,” says Sam. “There are great coffee shops everywhere, and more opening all the time. We weren’t coming here thinking Sheffield desperately needed another one. We just wanted to do our own thing well, stay consistent and hopefully add something a little different.” RĀSA’s Sheffield opening follows the success of the brothers’ original site in Buxton. They’re also behind Chakra Lounge, their Indian-inspired fusion café concept, but this venture was always intended to have a different focus. Here, coffee comes first. The brothers’ Indian heritage is present, but more often in the details – a spice here, a flavour combination there, occasionally something considerably less expected. Even the name carries a family connection. RA comes from their father’s name and SA from their mother’s, although it’s not something the brothers have particularly shouted about. “It’s quite personal to us,” says Sam. “We never really wanted to make a big thing of it. It was just something from our family that could quietly sit behind the name.” At the centre of RĀSA’s coffee offering are two contrasting house options, 28 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
Surya and Chandra. Surya, meaning sun, is the lighter of the pair, centred around Ethiopian coffee with a brighter, softer profile. Chandra, meaning moon, comes from Central America and heads in the opposite direction – darker, fuller and considerably stronger. Sam sees Chandra as the one for mornings when consciousness requires a helping hand. Surya is better suited to those 3pm moments when another heavy coffee might be tempting fate. “It sounds slightly ridiculous giving coffees different times of day,” he laughs. “But somehow it makes sense.” Coffee might provide the foundation, but since arriving in Sheffield another drink has become an increasingly important part of RĀSA: matcha. Sourced from Uji in Kyoto, an area with a long history of tea production, it has become the starting point for some of the café’s more playful drinks. An early favourite was the tropical mango matcha. More recently, the team has been experimenting with homemade banana cream and subtle Indian spices, while the Chai Biscuit Matcha brings chai, matcha and Biscoff together in one glass. That Indian influence runs through the food too, though rarely for the sake of sticking a ‘fusion’ label on something. Chicken tikka turns up in a croissant sandwich. A roasted vegetable and pesto croissant gets an extra hit of warmth and spice. Chai and mango cinnamon buns have both found their way onto the counter and become regular favourites. RĀSA also works with bakeries in Sheffield and Buxton rather than attempting to produce an enormous food menu itself.
“We don’t want to put Indian flavours into something just because we can,” says Sam. “It has to make sense. These are flavours Sunny and I grew up around, so they naturally find their way into things.” Alongside the flat whites, americanos and other coffee-shop standards are creations such as the Rose Époque whipped coffee and Ube Tiramisu whipped coffee, the latter proving particularly popular. Then, somewhat less conspicuously, there’s the hot chocolate. Made with 70% dark chocolate, it has become one of RĀSA’s best-reviewed drinks despite lacking the vivid colours and layers of some of its neighbours on the menu. That contrast gets fairly close to what the brothers are trying to do with the place. They clearly enjoy experimenting, but they’re wary of building a menu
entirely around whatever happens to be performing well on social media that month. “There is always another trend,” says Sam. “Another drink, another flavour, another thing everyone suddenly needs on the menu. “We’d rather get the basics right, keep them consistent and then occasionally do something a bit different around them.” It means RĀSA can be two slightly different coffee shops depending on what you’re after. You can come in for a flat white and cinnamon bun without giving it much more thought. Equally, you might find yourself walking down Sharrow Vale Road carrying an Ube Tiramisu whipped coffee, Chai Biscuit Matcha and chicken tikka croissant. And in a city where opening a coffee shop is one thing but giving people a reason to return is quite another,
consistency matters to the brothers more than novelty. They’ve already learned through Chakra Lounge that adding another venue is the relatively straightforward part of growing a hospitality business. Maintaining its personality when there are more doors, staff and customers involved is harder. “Coffee shops are popping up everywhere, and that’s actually a good thing,” says Sam. “It keeps everyone pushing themselves. “But for us, growth isn’t about trying to be everywhere. It’s about making sure that wherever RĀSA is, it still feels like RĀSA.” FIND US RASA 384 Sharrow Vale Road S11 8ZP @rasakoffee WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK | 29
FOOD & DRINK NEWS
FOOD & DRINK SPONSORED BY
GROWING THE FAMIGLIA
Popular micro bakery Bakers Yard has announced plans to expand into the premises next door, paving the way for a larger bakery and a new French-inspired neighbourhood bistro. The independent bakery, which opened almost three years ago, in Little Kelham revealed the expansion following growing demand from customers and said the additional space, formerly Isabella’s Bar and Restaurant, will allow the team to increase its range of bakes, breads, pastries and cakes. The expanded offering will also include bespoke celebration and wedding cakes through new business Bakers Yard Bespoke Cakes. Once up and running, the team plans to extend the concept into the evening with the launch of Bakers Yard Bistro, described as a French-inspired neighbourhood eatery. In a statement posted online, the Bakers Yard owners said: “We have been so overwhelmed by the support shown for our little micro bakery since opening almost three years ago. So much so that ‘micro’ doesn’t really cut it anymore. So, in exciting news, our bakery is growing into next door! “You can expect a greater variety of bakes, breads, pastries and cakes, including bespoke celebration and wedding cakes. A little further down the line, and into the evening, we’ll also be launching Bakers Yard Bistro, a French-inspired neighbourhood eatery.” The owners also paid tribute to their team, whose “enduring hard work and commitment” they said had helped take the bakery “far beyond what we ever imagined”. They added that the expansion would provide an opportunity to create more lasting roles for Sheffield hospitality professionals, while thanking customers and staff for their continued support.
From fresh pasta and homemade gelato to focaccia sandwiches and Sardinian wine, the team behind one of Sheffield’s most popular restaurants is preparing to launch an exciting new addition to Kelham Island. Mercato, the latest venture from DOMO founders Sarah and Raffaele, is set to open towards the end of September, bringing a new production kitchen, deli and neighbourhood café to the area. Located just a stone’s throw from DOMO, the daytime venue will operate from 8am until 6pm and will specialise in freshly made Sardinian produce, much of which will be created on site before being supplied to the group’s restaurants in both Sheffield and Leeds. The couple say the idea for Mercato emerged following DOMO’s recent expansion into West Yorkshire, creating a need for a dedicated production space capable of supporting both locations. “With the expansion of DOMO from Sheffield into Leeds, we wanted a space specifically used for the production of all our homemade products,” Domo’s founders Sarah and Raffaele told Exposed. “We saw an opportunity for Mercato to become a neighbourhood space with its own rhythm and purpose, bringing together food, retail and community. We want it to be a warm, bustling place full of life.” Visitors can expect a menu built around many of the dishes and ingredients that have helped establish DOMO’s reputation, including fresh pasta, artisan breads, Sardinian desserts, homemade gelato and carefully selected deli items. Coffee, drinks and generously filled focaccia sandwiches will also be available throughout the day.
@bakersyardbistro
@domo.mercato
THE FRENCH CONNECTION
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FOOD AND DRINK FOOD & DRINK SPONSORED BY
PROOF BAR
Two of Crookes’s most-loved indie businesses have come together to launch a brand-new, first-of-its-kind venture on School Road. Named Proof, the bookshop bar is the latest addition to Sheffield’s thriving small business scene, bringing a unique ‘drink and browse’ experience to book lovers in the area. WORDS: RUBY DEAKIN
Novel Books and Cloud Coffee Co have been at the heart of Crookes’s community since they opened. Their new collaborative project brings the owners’ dreams of creating a relaxed bar space to life within an alreadyfamiliar culture of supportive locals. The premises of Novel’s bookshop on School Road, which closed in January, has now been reopened as a cosy, transformed new space. “I have been really interested in seeing how neighbourhood spaces have grown in other cities, and recognising how great the community is in Crookes,” Connor from Cloud Coffee tells Exposed. “I think it makes sense to try and create a great neighbourhood bar space in such a beautiful building!” Proof ’s drink range includes a wide range of German and other European lagers alongside a carefully selected lineup of UK craft beers from the owners’ 32 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
favourite breweries. Their selection also boasts a small range of wine by the glass and takeout bottles, as well as fresh coffee. As for food, a variety of savoury and sweet bakes are on offer from Meersbrook favourites I Said Bread and Daughters deli, as well as classic bar snacks. If you’ve not caught it yet, the bar’s name is a double entendre on the barmeets-bookshop concept, referring to both book proofs checked for errors before printing and alcoholic ‘proof ’, a measure of a drink’s alcohol content. Originally set up as a travelling bookshop in 2022 by owners Kate and Joe, Novel’s literary collection combines bestselling contemporary fiction and non-fiction titles with their own handpicked favourites. They have run countless book clubs and events alongside other indie
booksellers in Sheffield, and their community-led approach means much of their collection consists of books recommended directly by customers. “It will be Novel, but it’ll be slightly different,” explains Kate. “There is still the exposed brick, the creaky wooden floor and, of course, the books! Just expect more fridges – and booze!” Cloud Coffee Co are no strangers to bringing an after-hours experience to a daytime hangout. They regularly team up with other local coffee roasters, wine vendors and brewers alongside DJs and creatives, hosting everything from hands-on craft workshops to music-filled coffee tasting sessions. Their famous Gilet Sundays offer 10% off coffees to customers wearing a gilet (or vest, waistcoat or sleeveless jacket) on Sundays, purely for the daftness of the bit. “I think we are noticing a shift towards a slightly more casual drinking style, and the ability to offer that in the bookshop setting feels really cool,” says Connor. “It would be great to see people buy a book and grab a beer or a glass of wine and sit to read the first few pages of their new novel!” Proof bar is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 12 midday to 10.30pm. To stay tuned with all the latest updates, check out @proofsheffield. on Instagram.
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WE ARE OPEN FOR LUNCH/ ® BRUNCH Ashoka Sheffield
FOOD & DRINK: WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
The much-anticipated café-bar offers a varied selection of European beer, wines and top-quality coffee, taking inspiration from family ties in the wider Catalan region and team member Sam’s time living in Barcelona. Cats has been gradually coming to life over the past nine months, with cofounders Sam, Tom, Nicky and Jenny gutting the vacant former takeaway and transforming it into a homely hotspot in one of Sheffield’s most bustling neighbourhoods. The site is drenched in a rich, wine-red colour both inside and out. Décor-wise, they’ve gone for “warm, worn-in materials” – think exposed brick, raw plaster, wood, brass and concrete that “age well rather than fall apart”. Designed for comfort, the space lends itself to lazy afternoons and relaxed evenings spent whiling away a few hours with friends. While the interior is stripped back with unfinished plaster walls and the use of reclaimed materials, it’s got a uniquely cosy vibe that makes you feel right at home.
Credit: Matt Bell (Make it Matte Black)
Taking over the old site of Nibbles takeaway pizza on the corner of Ashdell Road and Glossop Road, Cats café-bar has brought a taste of Catalonia to the heart of Broomhill after opening its doors last month.
With big plans for future events, the team will also be opening up the basement space, equipped with comfy sofas and cosy lighting for intimate live music nights. “We’ve spent months stripping tiles and plaster, dealing with flooding and a lack of electricity, and it’s starting to feel like the building can breathe again,” said Sam. “It was the much-loved Nibbles Pizza but had sat empty for years. What we’re putting in its place is closer to a café-bar you’d find in a square in Europe, just dropped on Glossop Road Instead.” A quality drinks offering is a big part of the appeal, with the menu featuring an array of sommelier-sourced wines from small producers in the south of France. Every bottle is rubber-stamped by Carcassonne’s Michelin chef, who is dedicated to keeping the range unusual and exciting. As well as wine, you can enjoy a pint of Moritz on draught, an authentic Catalan lager imported all the way from Barcelona.
Cats’ coffee selection uses beans from Sheffield roaster Cuppers Choice, and locally-sourced croissants, baguettes and sourdough are served fresh every day. They have also launched The Irregulars Club, a members’ tab that gets you one free drink per month for six months. For £27, a limited number of customers can get a glass of house wine, a draught beer or a cup of coffee on the house, with additional perks thrown in from time to time, including discounted prices and early event access. “If you’re planning to visit Cats, the Irregulars Club pays for itself,” Sam added. Opening hours are 8am–3pm Monday to Wednesday, extending to 11.30pm from Thursday to Saturday, while Sundays run from 9am–9pm. To stay in the loop with all the latest updates, check out @cats. sheffield on Instagram. WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK | 35
FOOD AND DRINK FOOD & DRINK SPONSORED BY
MAVI RUYA
Mavi Ruya brings a taste of Turkey to the banks of the Sheaf, with a new all-day brunch menu built for long lunches by the water. WORDS: ASHLEY BIRCH PHOTOGRAPHY: MARC BARKER
If you time it right, a summer afternoon on Mavi Ruya’s riverside terrace can play a pleasant trick on the senses. The chatter from neighbouring tables drifts across the water, dappled sunlight glints through the trees and the scent of meat grilling over an open flame hangs in the air. Squint a little and, for a moment at least, you could almost convince yourself that you’ve been transported from Abbeydale Road to the Aegean coast. I’ve known Leo and the team at Mavi Ruya for several years now and every visit leaves much the same impression. There is, of course, the food, but it is the warmth, generosity and sense of hospitality that lingers longest. Spend five minutes in their company and it becomes clear that the atmosphere here isn’t an accident, but the product of thousands of small gestures repeated day after day. That approach has helped Mavi Ruya establish itself as one of Sheffield’s bestloved independent restaurants over
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the last four and a half years. Now, the team have unveiled a new brunch menu designed to encourage people to slow down and make the most of the space. “We always had a breakfast menu,” Leo explains, “but a lot of our guests said, ‘We love the à la carte menu, but we wanted something a bit lighter.’” Rather than squeezing breakfast into a narrow morning window, the team decided to take a different approach. “We thought we’d do something from Monday to Friday, from when we open until four o’clock. If people want to have that light lunch because they’ve got plans later, it’s perfect.” The result blends familiar favourites with more traditional Turkish dishes, including the serpme breakfast – a generous sharing spread of breads, cheeses, jams, pastries and tea. “Traditionally, it’s something you serve when guests come to your house,” says Leo. “It’s a very communal thing, similar
to the big platters we do. We thought it worked really well because people can sit by the riverside, relax and enjoy themselves.” That sense of generosity runs throughout the menu and the restaurant itself. As Leo explains, the aim has always been to create something that feels simultaneously Turkish and unmistakably Yorkshire. “Since day one, we always said we wanted to do something that represents Turkish culture, but also Yorkshire. At the core of it, it’s about bringing families together.” He adds that, in many ways, the restaurant’s story has become intertwined with those of the people who pass through its doors. “I was having a funny conversation
the other day. A family met here for their first date. Then they got married, then they came back for their wedding meal and now they have a child. We recently celebrated the child’s first birthday here.” For Leo and the team, those moments mean more than any glowing review. “To be a part of moments like that really makes us feel proud. Now they’ll come in and say, ‘Uncle Leo!’, and run around. We want to make sure that for the next four or five years we continue that process of bringing families together.” Stories like that crop up repeatedly during our conversation. Customers disappear for a few months, only to return carrying newborn babies. Others celebrate engagements, anniversaries and milestone birthdays. Over time, familiar faces become friends.
The terrace itself is another part of that story. Long before Mavi Ruya opened its doors, the river was almost entirely hidden from view. As Leo’s uncle Dennis explains, the team were determined to reveal something that had been overlooked for years. “There’s a Portuguese lady who has lived across the road for more than 40 years,” he says. “When she saw it, she said, ‘I never knew there was a river here.’” That said, bringing the space back to life took some effort. “I pulled 21 Tesco trolleys out of that river!” laughs Dennis. Today, fairy lights illuminate the terrace, greenery lines the water’s edge and the so-called hidden garden has become one of the restaurant’s defining
features. For all the changes that have taken place, Leo is still looking ahead. “We want to keep doing things differently,” he says firmly. That much is evident from the new menu and the steady changes around the restaurant. And if whispers of future plans are anything to go by, the team aren’t finished yet. For now, though, the focus remains firmly on the place that started it all – a little corner of Abbeydale Road where Turkish hospitality, Yorkshire warmth and delicious Anatolian dishes continue to bring people together. @MAVIRUYATURKISH MAVIRUYA.CO.UK 593 ABBEYDALE RD, S7 1TA
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Sheffield singer-songwriter Kat Eaton is back with her third solo album, What Happens Now, and a run of shows taking her across the UK, Ireland and Europe. Ahead of a homecoming gig at Crookes Social Club on 3 October, Exposed caught up with Kat to talk getting back onstage, the stories behind the new record and taking tour life in her stride with four-month-old Ada June along for the ride.
WORDS: ISABEL BUTLER PHOTOGRAPHY: ROSS JARMAN
Hi Kat! First of all, congratulations on the arrival of Ada June. Have the last four months flown by? They really have. She seems to be touching all those milestones, which is amazing to watch. She's a long-awaited baby, an IVF baby, so we feel incredibly grateful she is here. This touring schedule coming up is gonna be hard work, but also very exciting, and I’m really pleased to be taking her on the road with my parents. We started in London on Saturday and then we're going to Ireland in three weeks' time, so that's gonna be pretty exciting. Then we’re off to Europe. Busy Busy! How are you feeling about the upcoming tour? To be honest, I've been a bit nervous about it. As a new mother, you struggle with identity as it is, so it's quite nerve-wracking to find the confidence to be able to jump up on stage and say, "Here I am!" There are themes of found family behind your song ‘Kings and Queens’, as well as that connection to northern soul and the north of England as a whole. Does that feel more relevant than ever on this tour? Yeah, and it’s a wonderful thing to be able to share it with the fans that come along. I always make a point in every show to express how grateful I am for the people that come out to support me; they are part of something that is a live event. There's a song that we do often called ‘Come On Up to the House’ by Tom Waits, which celebrates that. ▶
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▶ Joe Glossop plays a toy piano on ‘Better Left Unsaid’. How did that come about? It's simply that we were at Konk Studios and the toy piano was just there on the side. I wonder how many tracks it's been used on. We wanted to use it because I thought it was fun. I think a lot of people look at production of music as a dark art. And it is a dark art, I have to say. Mixing especially is a dark art, but sometimes [production] is really fun and silly. And that part was particularly fun and silly. Are there any stories from making What Happens Now that came out of those smaller, quieter moments? We wrote a lovely song called ‘Humming Low’, which is a lullaby for Ada. It's all about nostalgia and a simpler time before technology, when there wasn’t as much noise and you could hear nature more. Apparently, if you go to the centre of the earth, and you put a microphone there, you can hear the sound of the earth turning on its axis and it's a really low hum. There's also ‘By Now’, which is about struggling with my identity and with who I was as a woman – and societal expectations of that. I wrote that before we had Ada and after our second attempt at IVF had failed. One of the lines in the middle eight is about the timeline that society expects from you as a woman. It’s refreshing to hear you talk about the work behind building a career, rather than that social media idea of becoming an overnight success. Yeah, I think you have to be clear about why you are doing it. It’s an amazing job, but it’s a very hard industry to be in. I just love writing and performing music, and that’s my focus rather than being famous or anything like that. I have worked very hard over a long period of time to get to where I am, and there have
been some very difficult moments as well as lots of incredible ones. But if you are passionate about it, you just keep doing it. For me, control is very important as well. I want to be able to make choices that are right for me, which has meant turning down some offers along the way that may have looked great, but I didn’t feel they would take me where I wanted to go ultimately. So rather than work with a big label, Nick and I have built my own team of people so I can have control over my career, which is really important to me.
I ALWAYS MAKE A POINT IN EVERY SHOW TO EXPRESS HOW GRATEFUL I AM FOR THE PEOPLE WHO COME OUT TO SUPPORT ME.” 40 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
How does it feel having fresh eyes on a project you’ve been working on for so long? It’s a strange feeling when you release a new album, as I finished this one almost a year before it was released and there’s a lot of anticipation about how it will be received. It’s been amazing so far, though, so I am very pleased. Have you got a song from What Happens Now that you’re most excited to perform live? I'm really looking forward to performing
‘By Now’. I'm going to be doing a solo performance of that song and it'll feel totally different to the original. How have you found balancing it with your career, both during pregnancy and since having Ada? I was touring up until I was seven months pregnant, which was hard work but actually felt great. In the first months, I was throwing up pretty much until I got on stage, but then, weirdly, something kicks in and your body knows it’s show time! Since she’s been born, it’s been an adjustment and difficult for sure, but we are figuring out how to work and look after Ada at the same time. Finally, what’s one non-negotiable album Ada June will grow up listening to? Joni Mitchell’s Clouds. Kat Eaton plays Crookes Social Club on 3 October. Tickets are £20+bf and available via kateaton.com.
There’s no exact English translation for ‘saudade’, but Monqi’s new single gets pretty close. The rising Sheffield artist chats to Exposed about songwriting as therapy, finding her groove and what’s coming next on the gig front. WORDS: JOSEPH FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY: BENJI WILSON @JAMBURRITO1
First of all, thank you for teaching me a new word: saudade. How did you come across it? I had the song written and didn’t have a name for it for ages. I was describing how it felt and what it was about to a friend of mine who’s Brazilian, and he was like, "Oh, I have a word for that – it’s saudade." It fitted the song perfectly. Do you know what came into my head while I was listening to it? I thought it should be playing during a late-summer golden hour in Crookes Valley Park, with the sun glinting off the water. It has that dreamy, hazy summer nostalgia to it. Where were you in your head when you wrote it? I wrote it maybe two or three years ago now. The whole song is me remembering this romance I had. I was with this person during lockdown, so it was a really weird time and very transformational for me. Everything was different. There was a lot of freedom and a lot of restriction all at the same time. But in amongst all of that, I fell in love. We met at the start of the summer, in late spring, and then had this beautiful romance throughout the summer. I feel like the song is just capturing that feeling of being in love, 42 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
when the days are so long and it always feels like golden hour. There’s a mixture of that warm, summery nostalgia with something more melancholic underneath. Were you conscious of making sure it didn’t lean too far one way or the other? I think it just came out naturally that way. After the relationship ended, I was yearning for a long time. It was perfect for what it was and maybe the beauty of it is that it was just a snapshot. But afterwards I was very heartbroken and I couldn’t really go near that heartbreak for a while. Writing the song was actually very healing because it allowed me to revisit it and turn that really bittersweet feeling into something I could interact with – a world I could step into where that feeling is embodied. That’s key to moving on, isn’t it? Getting to a point where you can look back and be grateful for the experience while still moving forward. Yeah. When I realised, ‘Oh, I think I’m actually ready to write about this,’ I wanted to capture the feeling of a love song, but a love song in hindsight.
That idea of vulnerability and working through complicated emotions is a recurring thread in your music. Is that conscious, or is it simply what comes out when you write? Writing is so therapeutic for me. A lot of the poetry and music I write comes from sitting and being very present with how I feel. I think storytelling is such a powerful healing tool as well. There is a conscious part of it. It’s like: how do I really get to the heart of what I’m feeling right now? Then how do I share that in a way where I’m being very vulnerable, but it still feels safe to do so? I think you can do that through music and poetry, through metaphor and different ways of writing. Ultimately, what I usually want to achieve when I write something is connection, and I think connecting requires a lot of vulnerability. Is this single building towards a wider body of work? I’ve got so much music that we’re formulating into a larger body. I’m still figuring out exactly what that’s going to look like, but there’s a lot of it. I think it’s just about making those decisions around what we’re working towards right now. I’m really enjoying being in this place where it’s all just manifesting. When we last caught up in December 2024, you were still finding your feet as an artist. Looking at the last 12 months, it feels like there’s been a lot of development. Do you feel like you’re really finding your groove now? It does feel like it. When I first decided, ‘I’m an artist and I want to be an artist,’ I think I thought, 'Right, well, I need to do something then. I need to release loads of stuff. I need to prove something.’ I realised that maybe that was jumping the gun a bit. There’s been a lot of very quiet, behind-the-scenes work going into building a foundation, but I feel like that foundation is really strong now. The fruits of all that work are coming together and it’s so exciting.
I WANTED TO CAPTURE THE FEELING OF A LOVE SONG, BUT A LOVE SONG IN HINDSIGHT.”
I saw you speaking on the news recently about the City of Culture bid. What would winning that mean to you as a member of the artistic community? It could be huge and I think we really deserve it as well. I love what Sheffield has to offer. I love the culture and the community feeling across all the different creative worlds, and how collaborative they all feel. Shining a spotlight on that would be amazing. When I was talking to ITV, they were asking me, ‘What brought you to Sheffield? Was it all the legacy bands and these big artists?’ Honestly, no. It’s amazing that there is so much history here, but what we’ve actually got right now is this thriving scene with some insane talent that could easily get to that level. My favourite bands ever are local bands right now. What else is on the agenda musically? We’ve been recording, so there is new music on the way. We’re also headlining a show at Alder Bar on 14 November, with support from Lou Gold. Then we’re doing a show on 25 September at St Catherine’s Scout Hut as part of the Strange Folk Club gigs put on by the Verbal Gerbil guys, so there are some really exciting live events coming up in Sheffield. Me and my favourite photographer and videographer, Benji Wilson have filmed a music video for ‘Saudade’, which will be out soon. So that’s something else to look out for. Finally, who do you think connects most with your music? People who want to feel something. Follow @_monqi_ for gig updates and releases
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From the team behind Gills & Co. and The Gillmont, Gillson’s brings the spirit of the traditional brasserie to Ecclesall Road, serving classic dishes, quality ingredients, and warm hospitality from lunch through to the evening.
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Before influencers, TikTok and ring lights, there was a heavily pixelated Devvo riding around in shopping trolleys and causing mayhem. Twenty years after becoming an unlikely internet phenomenon, the Doncaster delinquent is back on the road. Hamish Yewdall spoke with him about growing older, getting nostalgic and why Uncle Devvo still has unfinished business. Words: Hamish Yewdall Devvo! Where have you been? Ey up! I’ve had an 8-year hiatus. I was up in the loft, waiting until the world needed me most. The biq question: what's made you come back? It’s been 20 years! I shouldn’t have had one year, never mind twenty! I got big on the internet before it was a thing! There’s still a warmth out there for Uncle Devvo. And why do you think that is? I’ve made people laugh and brought friends together. In 2006, they were little schneckbags, riding bikes and doing paper rounds. They’ve grown up now. It’s all got a bit real and they need some nostalgia – a reminder of life before the worries. And I’m 69 years old now and have a thirst for live crowds. How's the tour going? It’s accidental, really. Over the years, I’ve ignored offers. This year, I bit. We booked a show in Mexborough. It sold out. We booked another. Sold out. A Doncaster show. Sold out, MATE! Before I knew it, a 50-plus-date tour of the finest towns and cities had begun. I’ve had some scrapes. The majority of promoters are amazing, but I got ripped off by one. For up-and-coming acts, this is their world. I’m just borrowing a quick go on their timeline. Support those local acts, bosses.
What can people expect from an MC Devvo gig? A solid 10/10 nostalgic evening. I greet people as the doors open. Quite rightly, people want a picture and a chat – and I’m not charging for that either. Grab a drink and join the queue. The show is a nod to the past. Expect plenty of stories with classic Devvo tunes mixed in. Tune-wise, what’s going down well? ‘Yorkshire ’til I Die’ is the anthem of the tour. But the highlight is hearing people’s stories. Two lads hadn’t met up in 18 years, saw I was touring and are now chatting again. Another fella had never been to anything live before. I’ve had people saying I’ve helped them through tough times. It’s mad. I’m here for it. The impressions, the stories… all of it. I’m promoting the arts and filling your hearts. When can people see you in Sheffield? Corporation on Saturday 19 December – it’s the final stop on the tour and a proper full stop on Devvo touring. You could say the year is building to these gigs. I’m genuinely looking forward to drawing a line under it all with those two shows. I’ve got a sold-out evening show and a matinee performance. If you haven’t already, get tickets for that matinee. I’ll be on stage 4.30ish, so you’ll be home for teatime.
The day after Mad Friday seems a fitting date. What does a Devvo Christmas look like? Everyone’s getting new Burberry gear. Advent calendars for days. I’m coming round yours for my Christmas dinner. Then we’re out getting secret trolley pounds from the supermarkets while everyone sleeps in front of the telly. I’ve been thinking… did Devvo help create the modern-day influencer? I was definitely part of the first wave of internet people. Back then, if you wanted to do something, you needed TV connections. Doors were locked. These days, it’s great. Someone can have an idea and share it with everyone in 10 minutes. But it can be problematic – some people pop up and just piss people off to promote themselves. I hear ya. Finally, any words of wisdom? If it makes sense and feels fun, go for it. One day, you’ll be too old and there won’t be another chance. Be alright with each other. The boomers are on their way out, so one day soon, you’ll be the boss. What’s your legacy going to be? Remember, your Uncle Devvo is always watching… And on that rather disturbing thought, we’ll just reaffirm that MC Devvo is playing Corp on Sat 19 December. Tickets and more info can be found at corporation.org.uk.
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SHEFFIELD’S EXCITING LIVE MUSIC COLLAB POWERED BY EXPOSED AND JOE GREEN EACH MONTH, WE INVITE LOCAL ARTISTS TO LAY DOWN A STRIPPED-BACK LIVE SESSION. ONE TAKE. NO DO-OVERS. THIS MONTH FEATURES LAUREN HOUSLEY AND THE NORTHERN COWBOYS, WHO HEADED TO THE FOUNDRY STUDIOS FOR A ONE-TAKE PERFORMANCE BEFORE JOINING US A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER AT THEIR OWN STUDIO SPACE AT YELLOW ARCH TO TALK ABOUT THE LONG ROAD FROM ROTHERHAM TO NASHVILLE, MUSCLE SHOALS AND BACK TO SHEFFIELD.
PHOTO: LINDSAY MELBOURNE
LAUREN HOUSLEY AND THE NORTHERN COWBOYS For a band that has spent much of its musical life chasing the magic that happens when good musicians get in a room together, the Red Light Sessions format was always likely to suit Lauren Housley and the Northern Cowboys. Recorded live with Chris Wilkinson at the controls, the session saw the band tackle an original alongside Joe Cocker’s version of 'With a Little Help from My Friends' – a song Lauren had previously performed with Red Light co-founder Joe Green at the Joe Carnall Christmas show. “I’ve wanted to do that for ages,” says Lauren. “Backing vocals are a big part of what we do, and I like the sentiment of 'With a Little Help from My Friends'. This is such a collaborative process that it just felt like a great one to do.” Rather than being fazed by the onetake nature of the session, Lauren’s partner and band member Thomas Dibb found being able to concentrate solely on playing something of a luxury. “When we record, we’ve normally got the production brain going as well,” he explains. “With this, you just need to focus on playing and delivering. We love live recording anyway.” For Mark Lewis, the pressure is part of the attraction. “As soon as you hit that record button, there’s that pressure. For me, it brings out the best in people. There’s that little moment of, ‘Right, I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to perform.’” It’s an approach with some serious precedent in the Northern Cowboys story. Several years ago, the trio travelled through Alabama while making music documentary I’ll Take You There, including a day at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. “We recorded about 14 tunes in one day,” Lauren remembers. “Everyone was throwing backing vocals in and jumping on different instruments. We love that collaboration.” “It was really similar to what we’ve just done,” adds Thomas. “As soon as we got asked to do Red Light, it was right up our
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street. Sometimes it takes you by surprise. You finish and think, ‘Whoa, that really gelled quickly.’” The trip also brought them into contact with David Hood, bassist with the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, AKA The Swampers. “That studio was all about recording live together,” says Mark. “Artists would come in and record with this incredible session band.” There’s a neat local connection, too. Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is in Sheffield, Alabama – a city named in reference to its South Yorkshire counterpart. For three musicians now embedded in Sheffield’s music community, the Sheffield-toSheffield journey feels almost too perfect. Their own journey began much earlier. Lauren and Thomas met aged 16 in an art class at Thomas Rotherham College, bonding over Queen and Freddie Mercury. Thomas was already trying to convince Lauren to sing, although she was less certain. “I loved singing, but I’d not done much of it in public,” says Lauren. “I’d done musical theatre and drama, but singing was still a bit of, ‘How do I get into this?’” “I’d been asking her for about two years,” laughs Thomas. “Nothing if not persistent.” The penny dropped when Thomas heard Lauren perform At Last at a jazz night. “I knew she could act and thought there was probably a bit of singing in there, then I heard her and thought, ‘Oh my God.’ She got up and the whole place gave her a standing ovation.” The pair eventually moved to Newcastle, where they began writing and playing together, before relocating to Manchester. It was there, while making their first album, Sweet Surrender, that Mark entered the picture following a recommendation and coffee-shop meeting. “We’ve always been independent and we’ve always recorded our own music,” says Lauren. “We worked on that album
together and we’ve been working together ever since.” They later began co-writing, with 'High Time' winning UK Song of the Year at the UK Americana Awards. Around the same time, they discovered a name for the musical territory they occupied. “We didn’t really know what Americana was,” says Thomas. “What we were doing wasn’t country, it wasn’t soul and it wasn’t folk. Then we saw this thing called Americana and went, ‘Oh, OK. Cool.’” That discovery eventually took them to Nashville. Trips to AmericanaFest as fans led to official showcases and performances at Nashville’s City Winery, including a gospel brunch where Alabama Shakes singer Brittany Howard was in the audience. “You do have that moment of thinking, we’re just a couple of kids from Rotherham and we’ve ended up in Nashville, the music capital,” says Thomas. These days, however, the centre of that conversation is Sheffield. Lauren and Thomas returned around six years ago and, along with Mark, established the Northern Cowboy studio at Yellow Arch. “I’m proper in love with Sheffield at the minute,” says Lauren. “I feel like it’s welcomed us with open arms. We’ve been lucky that everywhere we’ve been, we’ve met people with that same collaborative mindset.” From Rotherham to Newcastle, Manchester, Nashville, Muscle Shoals and back to South Yorkshire, it’s been quite the journey – and there’s plenty more to come. “Something’s bubbling,” Lauren smiles. “We’ve got a lot of stuff that we’re all really excited about and eager to get out.” Lauren Housley & Thomas Dibb play an intimate duo show at Café #9 on4 October. Tickets are available via laurenhousley.com. Their latest single, 'Built To Last', is a perfect slice of Yorkshire Soul and is out now. Their next single, 'Catch 22', drops on 23 October.
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MUSIC: REVIEW
POVEY FEST
There’s a brand-new boutique festival in town – or, more accurately, a few miles outside it, on a working farm among the rolling hills of Moss Valley. Exposed popped down to see if Povey could be another hot date on the city’s evergrowing events calendar WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: HAMISH YEWDALL
I get off the bus. Taking a turn off the main road, I begin wandering down a country lane. The sound of cars fades, replaced by birdsong as I walk past cottages, campsites and hayfields. I may only be a mile from the city, but it feels like I am in the middle of nowhere. I keep walking until I find Povey Farm, which this weekend is hosting a very different kind of music festival. Povey Fest is small by design, keeping its capacity to only 500 people. Despite the small size, the event is completely stacked with a range of music and activities. I arrive at the festival in time to join in with musical bingo, a take on the classic game that replaces numbers with songs. It is just one of many social happenings taking place across the festival site. Off the top of my head there are free archery lessons, a sauna, a Mad Hatter’s tea party, film showings and even a dog competition – and that's only scratching the surface. The music on the main stage begins with DJ Squid, who is celebrating their 15th birthday by playing the heaviest 48 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
drum and bass imaginable. Despite their youthful age, DJ Squid is already an experienced and skilled DJ. With sets as good as this, they are going to be tearing up dancefloors for years to come. Povey Festival’s lineup goes from up-and-coming artists like Squid to absolute icons, with Steve Edwards
giving a beautiful performance on Friday night featuring classic songs like ‘World, Hold On (Children of the Sky)’. The sun begins to set over the festival field, turning the sky a beautiful amber and complementing Steve’s soulful music perfectly. The entire thing warms your heart. The moment isn't lost on the main man either. He ends his set by saying: “This is a moment. I couldn't wish for anything more.” Another icon performing at the festival is Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip. Artist, singer, comedian, poet – whatever you want to call him, he delivers a hilarious festival set, spending much of his time walking among the crowd, throwing straws in the air, joking with people and improvising songs on the spot. He has the entire crowd laughing out loud and grinning. A truly unique talent. The second stage of the festival plays host to DJs throughout the weekend and is the place to go to show off your dance moves, with dance music playing throughout. As it gets dark, the dance music makes its way up the hill and onto the main stage. Amen Sage delivers an energetic set with live drum and bass and jungle drumming, while Sheffield's Speed for Lovers transforms the tent into a dancefloor on Saturday night with plenty of electro funk and strobe lighting. Bob Worm, and the rest of the team at Events Collective, have organised something really special with Povey Fest. Key to the success was focusing on creating a truly family-friendly festival – and it worked. It’s a very different kind of event to what you may be used to on the Sheffield events calendar, but, honestly, that's what makes it so good!
other nights we’ve got planned are a bit more bluesy, with other artists more under the country music banner. So yeah, it is a broad church, but that’s good because it allows us to put on interesting gigs and not be tied to a certain niche.
From Nashville to Neepsend, musicians Ed Cosens and Samuel Taylor are putting great songwriting centre stage with their Northern Nights series. Exposed caught up with Ed ahead of the inaugural event this month.
WORDS: JOSEPH FOOD
This all sounds pretty good, Ed. Where did the idea for Northern Nights first come from? Sam and I had been talking for a while about starting up a night in Sheffield, in the north, that was a really laidback live night focused on quality songwriting. Similar to the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, where you know if you go there, it’s going to be amazing songwriters and artists performing. We wanted to recreate that kind of thing in the north of England, hence the Northern Nights name – a play on ‘Southern Nights’, the classic American country song. What was missing from the live music scene that made you think, ‘We should probably just do this ourselves’? A lot of people are doing songwriters’ rounds these days, but sometimes they can feel slightly ad hoc or not particularly focused on building a real brand around them. Going back to the Bluebird Cafe example, we can get anybody on – whether they’re high-profile or not – but the main thing is that if the songs are great and we believe in 50 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
them as artists, we’ll get them on. People will hopefully be able to discover some new music and listen to music they already love. We also wanted to showcase some of the unique venue spaces in the city. It’s not going to be in just one place – we’re going to move it around and put on different kinds of events. We thought that’d be a nice fit for the local music scene. Americana, blues, folk and roots is quite a broad church – what ties it all together for you? Well, the Americana label as a whole is very broad. It covers a lot of bases and doesn’t really mean a huge amount on its own, but for me it’s more about the community and the group of artists who aren’t just country or blues or folk – a bit like myself, in a way. I’ve moved into that world as an artist, but I wouldn’t call myself blues or soul or folk. It’s a bit of a catch-all term. But what it definitely is is brilliant storytelling and songwriting at the heart of it. Songs that touch people lyrically and melodically – that’s the thing that ties it all together. The first night that we’re putting on is what you’d class as Americana, a bit folkier, but
The intimate setting seems like a big part of the idea. What do you get from seeing songwriters in a room like that which you don’t necessarily get from a standard gig? Both myself and Sam have played many gigs in intimate settings. It’s a kind of ‘listening room’ idea, where people can come and listen and focus on the songs, lyrics and stories behind them. Being in a more intimate setting allows artists to really tell their stories. Bigger rooms are often not suited to that style of gig, whether you’ve got people talking over it or you’re having to fight against the room to get what you want to say across. So the idea behind a more intimate setting is quite key to the whole series of gigs. It’s a night where people know they’re going to get good music, good songs and interesting stories from interesting people. You’re kicking things off with a songwriters’ round. For anyone who’s never been to one before, what can they expect from the night? The first gig will be more of a traditional songwriters’ round. The musicians will be on stage at the same time and they might play a couple of songs each, then it’ll just go around between them. It’s a nice, laidback way of doing things – everyone can chip in and conversations can start. There might be a bit of collaboration. It’s a slightly different way of watching music, the audience can get a bit more involved if they want to and it becomes a much more inclusive environment. It’s a case of ‘come down, hear a few songs, have a few drinks and feel part of the night itself ’. How did Robert Vincent and Michele Stodart end up being
PHOTOS: SAM TAYLOR BY REBECCA VAN CLEAVE / ED COSENS BY SAM TAYLOR
the people you brought in for the first one? I’ve known Robert for a few years now and I’ve known Michele for a little while. We’ve all written together and, in fact, on my upcoming album there are songs with both of them on there. They’re both fantastic songwriters, so to have them on for this first night is a bit of a coup. Anybody who watches them play their songs goes away thinking, ‘Wow!’ I don’t think they’ve actually got the credit they deserve, but I love them both and think they’re incredible songwriters. And hopefully, I can add a little bit to the night myself! Away from Northern Nights, what have you been up to recently? What’s been taking up most of your time musically – any new releases or projects brewing that you can tell us about? I’ve been working on a new album, which I’m so excited about, and I genuinely believe it’s the best work I’ve ever done. That statement includes all the Reverend and the Makers back catalogue – so I'm saying the best stuff I’ve done… ever. I’m working on the final bits now – I’ve got some brass coming in, plus a choir and some strings. I recorded it mostly live with Northern Cowboys at Yellow Arch Studios. That will hopefully be released next year. In the meantime, I’ve got new releases from the covers EP coming out and I’m working as musical director on the How Could I Forget? musical with Joe Carnall, which will be showing in October. Personally, I feel like I’ve reached the place I’d like to be as a songwriter now, so I’m just looking forward to really getting cracking and getting the music out there. The first Northern Nights takes place on 12 September at Merchants Court, featuring Michele Stodart, Robert Vincent and Ed Cosens. Tickets are £20+bf and available from wegottickets.com. @northernightsofficial
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MUSIC: CORPORATION
Backstage Pass BIG NEWS!
Right. We’ve been up to A LOT, and for once, we’ve actually managed to keep things hush-hush until we were ready to shout about it – very unlike us, really. We get far too excited about giving you the best that Sheffield deserves out of its venues, and we’re stepping it up even more. First things first, some of you may have noticed that our upstairs has been closed over the summer. Well, that’s because we’ve been putting in the blood, sweat and tears to create a brand-new space for live music in Sheffield. From 29 August, Corporation will officially be not only a four-room club night venue, but a four-room live music venue too! We’re so proud of the team and can’t wait for you to check it out. The icons at Rough Justice will be officially launching this new room, and we know you’re in for an absolute treat. We haven’t just been adding things to the live music side of the venue – that wouldn’t be fair. We’re here for the gig-goers and the night owls. Starting this freshers’ week, we’ll officially be home to five club nights every single week, with Hallam Nation joining us on Wednesdays at its new official home. We also noticed something: Sheffield doesn’t seem to have its own dedicated indie night. This is atrocious, so we’re fixing that. Shit Indie Disco launches in Sheffield this September. We didn’t just spend this summer plotting; we also headed out for Tramlines weekend and spoke to some of you lot at the festival, as well as chatting with some of the weekend’s performers. You may have seen us gallivanting around or trying to convince you to tell us your festival essentials. If you want to see whether you made the cut, keep an eye on the Tramlines social media accounts – you might see some familiar faces. Basically, we’ve been busy – and we can’t wait for you to see just what we’ve been up to! Love
WHAT’S ON?
FROM METALCORE MARATHONS AND INDUSTRIAL-METAL THEATRICS TO INDIE ALL-DAYERS AND RETURNING POP-PUNK FAVOURITES, SEPTEMBER IS SHAPING UP LOUD AND PROUD AT CORPORATION. HERE’S WHAT’S HITTING THE STAGE THIS MONTH... SLAM DUNK PRESENTS… AS IT IS 9 SEP / £20+BF Transatlantic pop-rock from Brighton via Minneapolis, As It Is have been packing out venues since 2012. Across four albums, the band have honed their collision of pop, punk and rock, culminating in 2022’s I WENT TO HELL AND BACK. Now Patty, Ben, Ali and Foley are back together and hitting the road under the banner ‘Lose Your Way & Find Yourself ’. Alternative emo-rock duo Greywind provide support. GENITORTURERS 18 SEP / £22+BF Industrial-metal provocateurs Genitorturers have been raising hell since the early 90s, welding grinding riffs and mechanical beats to a notorious live spectacle. Led by commanding frontwoman Gen, expect dark theatrics, fetish-inspired visuals and tracks including ‘Lecher Bitch’ and ‘Devil in a Bottle’. Part gig, part performance art, entirely unapologetic. AMPLIFIED FESTIVAL 2026 19 SEP / £30+BF Amplified Festival takes over Corporation for a full day of metalcore mayhem, with 12 bands across two stages and, crucially, zero clashes. Bringing rising UK acts together with established names and an exclusive European guest, expect hefty riffs and breakdowns aplenty. Doors open at 1pm for an all-day heavy music marathon. FLOAT ALONG FESTIVAL 26 SEP / £61.75+BF Float Along Festival returns this month for its fifth instalment, transforming the city centre into a multivenue celebration of postpunk, psychedelic rock, indie and alternative music. Corp is one of the key venues and will be hosting the likes of Sprints, Warmduscher, Your Mate’s Ex, Opus Kink and Oslo Twins across two stages. See the full lineup at floatalong.co.uk. Get your tickets online at corporation.org.uk
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THINGS TO DO
Cosy Joes
Fancy yourself as a bit of a crooner? Does your rendition of I Wanna Dance with Somebody have your local boozer on its feet? Well, Cosy Joes is searching for Sheffield’s karaoke champion, with £1,500 in prize money up for grabs, and you could be in with a shout. Sheffield karaoke bar Cosy Joes is putting the city’s singers to the test this autumn with the launch of its inaugural karaoke competition – giving contestants the chance to battle it out for cash prizes and, more importantly, serious bragging rights. The competition will take place across four heats on 25 September, 2 October, 9 October and 16 October, before culminating in a grand final on 23 October. Each entrant gets one song to show what they can do, with the five best singers from each heat progressing to the final. Miss out first time around? All is not lost, as unsuccessful entrants can come back and try their luck again at a different heat. Cosy Joes said the idea came after seeing the quality of singers regularly taking to the venue’s stage.
“We are putting on our inaugural karaoke competition to showcase the talented singers of the area! We have already seen the wonderfully talented people walking in on a weekly basis and have decided it’s time to see who is the cream of the crop! “There is no pressure and it is a fun event, so if in doubt then give it a go!” There’s plenty to play for, too. Every singer who reaches the final will receive £25, while third place takes home £100, the runner-up receives £300 and the eventual winner walks away with £500. There’s also an additional £100 prize for the competition’s most entertaining performer. The grand final will be independently decided by a panel of three judges. Entrants already plotting their winning song can also contact Cosy Joes ahead of their heat to check whether a particular track is available. Whether you’re a seasoned karaoke regular, a secret shower singer or simply fancy seeing how your vocals stack up against the rest of Sheffield, Cosy Joes is encouraging people to get involved and give it a go.
THE HEATS TAKE PLACE ON 25 SEPTEMBER, 2, 9 AND 16 OCTOBER, WITH THE GRAND FINAL ON 23 OCTOBER 2026. TO REGISTER, EMAIL TIFFANY@COSYJOES.CO.UK. 54 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
WHAT’S ON AT PERFORMANCE VENUES: SEPTEMBER ONWARD SEP
NOV
7 SPELL SONGS 12 ORCHESTRA BAOBAB 8PM | OCTAGON CENTRE
M O N SEP‘26
28 OCT
M O N SEP‘26
Renowned for their enthralling live performances that expertly blend musical and linguistic influences spanning from Orkney to Senegal.
AMBLE 8PM | OCTAGON CENTRE Formed in 2022 with the intention ofobtaining free pints by performing cover songs in pubs, the Irish folk band Amble now have acclaimed material all of their own!
M O N OCT‘26
6
18 S U N OCT‘26
8PM | OCTAGON CENTRE
5
MARIAM SINGS AMADOU & MARIAM
T H U NOV‘26
8PM | OCTAGON CENTRE
12
YARD ACT
Founded in 1970 in Dakar, Orchestra Baobab is a cornerstone of African music. See you at the Octagon for a deep dive into the soul of Senegal!
HEAVEN 17 8PM | OCTAGON CENTRE Synth-pop pioneers Heaven 17 have announced an exciting new hometown show! Give into the TEMPTATION and book a ticket! VIP booking option available.
T H U NOV‘26
Vibrant, Malian, worldbeat music! Music from the duo Amadou & Mariam, and new works by Mariam.
8PM | OCTAGON CENTRE Since first steering their golden rover into swift public acclaim back in 2020, Leeds quartet Yard Act have become one of the great UK indie success stories of the decade so far.
6 THE BEAT
T U E OCT‘26
10 S A T OCT‘26
8PM | OCTAGON CENTRE See the legendary 2-Tone group on tour with support from The Selecter and a special DJ set from Rhoda Dakar.
EDDI READER 8PM | OCTAGON CENTRE With her work in song, from the traditional to the contemporary, Eddi Reader extinguishes the preordained boundaries of genre, bringing joyous life to all forms.
MARY 19 THE WALLOPERS M O N OCT‘26
8PM | OCTAGON CENTRE
Don’t miss The Mary Wallopers as they return to bring their iconic twist on Irish folk music to The Octagon stage!
Bongo’s Bingo is THE definitive bingo experience. It’s a wild shared social extravaganza. Expect big cash prizes, dance-offs, rave intervals and more all here at the Octagon Centre!
UPCOMING DATES
12 SS E PA ‘ 2 T6 6PM doors | 7:30PM last entry
19 SS E PA ‘ 2 T6
6PM doors | 7:30PM last entry
SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR FULL LISTINGS THROUGH TO 2027: PERFORMANCEVENUES.GROUP.SHEF.AC.UK
NIGHTLIFE: PREVIEW
SACRED SOUNDS A DJ SET IN SHEFF CATHEDRAL ISN’T EXACTLY YOUR STANDARD SATURDAY NIGHT OUT, BUT THIS OCTOBER THE HISTORIC CITYCENTRE VENUE WILL WELCOME ONE OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC’S BEST-KNOWN NAMES. WELSH ARTIST SASHA IS SET TO PLAY A THREE-HOUR SET BENEATH THE CATHEDRAL’S VAULTED CEILINGS, WITH LOCAL PROGRESSIVE HOUSE AND TECHNO BRAND ANOTHER LIFE BEHIND THE SOLD-OUT SHOW. AHEAD OF THE NIGHT, RUBY DEAKIN CAUGHT UP WITH CO-FOUNDER DAVE LAZENBY TO FIND OUT HOW IT ALL CAME TOGETHER.
First off, how did you pull off such a huge gig with one of the UK’s most influential electronic artists? With a lot of hard work! Joking aside, we’ve already hosted some of the biggest names in the Progressive House scene in Sheffield, including Anthony Pappa, Danny Howells and Dave Seaman – all globally respected DJs. When we started talking to Sasha’s team, they knew we were serious promoters. I also think the chance to play somewhere as iconic and unique as Sheffield Cathedral made it an opportunity that really stood out. On that note, what made a centuries-old cathedral the perfect venue? I'd attended both Sasha and John Digweed events at Manchester Cathedral and as a Sheffield lad I could just picture it taking place there. Sheffield Cathedral is such a beautiful building, full of history and character, but it's also surprisingly versatile. We wanted to create something that felt truly special rather than just another night in a club, and the cathedral
gives us the opportunity to do just that. This is bucket list moment for me and I can’t wait. What can visitors expect from the event, and how will it be a different vibe from a classic club night? This definitely isn't your typical club night. We’re working on a combination of one of the greatest DJs in the world, stunning architecture, great sound and subtle lighting to create an atmosphere you simply couldn't recreate in a conventional venue. We want people to lose themselves in the music while experiencing one of Sheffield's most iconic buildings in a
SHEFFIELD CATHEDRAL IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL BUILDING, FULL OF HISTORY AND CHARACTER, BUT IT'S ALSO SURPRISINGLY VERSATILE.”
completely different way. Sheffield is becoming hugely popular for electronic and dance events, with some massive names selling out big venues – what do you think this says about the city’s changing music scene? I think it's a really exciting time for Sheffield and it’s got a new lease of life. Over the last few years we've seen some amazing new venues open, and promoters and audiences have really embraced electronic music again hand in hand. The fact that so many major artists are now appearing here proves there's a genuine appetite for quality events. Sheffielders don’t need to go to Manchester, Liverpool or Leeds to see the big DJs now, they’re coming here again! What makes Sasha’s music so unique? Most of my mates will tell you I've bored them to tears over the years talking about how good I think Sasha is! I’ve genuinely never seen anyone be able to craft sets that capture the dancefloor and play with emotions so incredibly well. It’s an art form, and he’s simply the very best I’ve ever seen at it. After all these years, he's also still evolving as an artist, and that's why people keep coming back to see him time and time again. He’s a genius. Sasha plays Sheffield Cathedral on 10 October. Head to another-life.uk for more information on that show and other upcoming events.
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CULTURE
PRIDE OF YORKSHIRE RYAN MOSLEY
But I was worried about people not thinking I’d painted familiar characters well. It's a bit like doing your laundry in public! Also - I'd never bought red glitter before either... but Jamie's sparkly shoes from Everybody’s Talking about Jamie left me with very little choice.
AS SEEN ON SCREEN
This summer, 300 lions are prowling the streets of South Yorkshire as Pride of Yorkshire transforms Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster in support of Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity.
One of them, As Seen On Screen, can be found on Paternoster Row in Sheffield. Created in collaboration with Warp Films to celebrate the production company's 25th anniversary, the sculpture brings together characters, costumes and iconic moments from some of its best-loved productions, including This Is England, Four Lions, Everybody's Talking About Jamie and Adolescence. The artist behind the lion is Sheffieldbased painter Ryan Mosley, fresh from his acclaimed solo exhibition When the Day is Done at Graves Gallery.
characters could sit across the flank of the lion. Then came Little Birds, Dead Man's Shoes and Combo from This Is England. It's been 20 years since This Is England, so that absolutely needed to be celebrated. Once Combo was there, he needed Woody. I liked the idea of Woody riding away on his scooter before appearing again behind Combo. Then there's Park Hill, where Warp are based and where so many of their productions have been filmed. So from that starting point of the crow, everything gradually built itself.
How do you even begin creating a lion that celebrates 25 years of Warp Films? With scissors and a glue stick! Warp had already gone through their archives and picked the moments they wanted to celebrate, so I had good selection of production stills to work through. I started really crudely, cutting everything out and moving it around until it began to make sense. The first thing I painted was Brother Crow from Four Lions. From there I started thinking about how all the major
How different was it working with characters that people already recognise? Completely different. I don't paint things that are familiar. I paint things that are vague. Usually there's room for interpretation because the characters are mine. Here, people already know them. When I started painting, I hoped people would stand in front of the lion and spend time discovering the different characters, almost like a Where's Wally.
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This isn't your first sculpture for Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity. Why did you want to get involved again? The first one I did was the bear a few years ago, just after Covid. The kids had come home from school and drawn rainbows, so it naturally became a rainbow bear. Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity is something I'm greatly aware of. We've got four kids and we've needed to use the hospital ourselves, so this was something I wanted to do to say thank you. What’s great about these trails is that you don't have to know anything about art. It’s great to have my work outside of a gallery sometimes. I think every child can access art in some way, and that's something I wanted this sculpture to reflect. So what advice would you give to young artists? Don't think too hard. Obviously think about what you want to paint or draw, but it's easy to think yourself out of things. The hardest part is to start. When I look back at my original concept, we're so far away from where we ended up. Things have been shifted around, sanded out and repainted. If you don't paint every day, you might not realise how much these things change. It's a painting, not a photograph! At the ripe old age of 45, I'm still learning. As Seen On Screen will remain on the Pride of Yorkshire trail until Monday 7 September. After this, fans of the trail can see all 300 lions, lionesses and cubs on display at the Farewell Event from 2-4 October, before all lion and lioness sculptures head to auction on 11 and 18 October. For more information about Pride of Yorkshire, visit prideofyorkshire.org or follow @prideofyorkshiretrail
www.theladybower.co.uk
Sheffield’s LGBTQ+ calendar is packed this September, with everything from queer raves, book launches and film nights to community cafés, creative workshops, pub quizzes and spaces to simply meet, chat and feel part of things.
Let’s start with the regular community spaces that keep the city’s queer scene ticking over week by week. LGBTQ+ Inclusive Football Sessions (every Mon) continue at Leisure United Woodbourn Road, offering LGBTQ+ people and allies a welcoming, nojudgement way to enjoy football/ Rainbow Minds (every Wed) is also back at the Wellbeing Centre, 110 Sharrow Lane, from 5.30–7.30pm, offering a friendly LGBTQ+ café for adults who may be isolated, lonely, dealing with mental health issues or simply keen to meet new people. Gut Level is once again a major home for September’s socials, workshops and community gatherings. FLAW Collective: DJ workshop and social for LGBTQ+ people, women and marginalised genders (Tue 1 Sep) opens the month with a welcoming session for anyone who wants to learn DJ skills, share music or hang out with like-minded people, whether they have mixed before or not. Gut Pleasers: Communal Meal (Wed 2 Sep) brings people together around vegan and veggie food, with a gluten-free option and the usual promise that feasting with friends is one of life’s great pleasures. 60 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
PUB WORLD: Folk Session (Thu 3 Sep) keeps things musical and relaxed, with Lucy and Rosie Huzzard hosting an inclusive traditional tunes and singing session that centres women, marginalised genders and LGBTQ+ people, while welcoming anyone who wants to play, sing or just listen with a drink. If you are after something lowerkey, Breathe Easy (Tue 8 Sep) at Gut Level is designed for people who enjoy socialising but remain cautious about crowded indoor spaces since the Covid pandemic, especially clinically vulnerable people or anyone wanting events with enhanced safety measures. Craft Social (Wed 9 Sep), also at Gut Level, invites people to bring craft, art or mending projects and get creative in good company, with Peak Queer Adventures involved and a relaxed bar setting for those who just want to chat and take inspiration from others. The Over 50s LGBTQ+ Group (Thu 10 Sep) meets at Weston Park Museum, offering a dementia and neurodivergent-friendly peer support space led by people from the LGBT community. Later in the month, Kweer after work drinks (Thu 24 Sep) at Hideaway offers a casual, friendly social for LGBTQ+ people and
allies. There are plenty of silly and gently competitive socials too. PUBWORLD: Pub Quiz with Church (Thu 10 Sep) at Gut Level promises general knowledge, pop culture, daft challenges and silly prizes, with the quiz kicking off at 7.30pm. Trans Safety Net: Board Game Social (Mon 7 Sep) at Gut Level offers peer support and social time for transidentifying people, with one-to-one drop-ins for trans-related questions available throughout. Rainbow Gamers (Sun 27 Sep) at Treehouse brings the month to a relaxed close with its friendly monthly board game social for the LGBT+ community, offering a low-stress way to meet new people, try out games and enjoy a fully accessible venue with a gender-neutral bathroom. September also brings a strong run of arts, books and conversation. The Queer Bookshelf with Layla McCay (Tue 15 Sep) at Juno Books is a deep dive into queer books, from literary fiction and memoir to crime, fantasy, young adult and cowboy romance, celebrating the stories that have helped generations of LGBTQ+ people find themselves on the page. The evening includes a conversation, audience questions, book signing and time to browse and chat afterwards. To close the month, Heap Earth Upon It: Chloe Michelle Howarth in conversation with Gab Torr (Wed 30 Sep) at The Mowbray brings a Gothic literary turn, as the author of sapphic sensation Sunburn discusses her latest novel, full of dark secrets, sibling tensions, longing and rural Irish suspense. Film lovers are well served too. KWR Film Night: Moulin Rouge (Fri 4 Sep) at Showroom offers a private screening of the beloved camp classic, with friends, family and allies welcome and the film starting at 8.30pm. QTIBPOC Cinema Club (Tue 15 Sep) at Gut Level continues its monthly gathering for Queer, Trans, Intersex, Black and People of Colour, with bring-and-share food at 6pm, a film at 7pm, subtitles, discussion space and a focus on stories that disrupt colonial and straight narratives or uplift QTIBPOC experiences. On the visual art and making side, Out Sheffield: Art In The Garden (Sat 5 Sep) brings members and allies together at Sheffield Botanical Gardens for a colourful afternoon of art, crafts, sculpture, exhibitions and demonstrations, with food and drink available. It is followed by Out Sheffield: Social Meet Up (Sat 5 Sep) at The Francis Newton from 4pm, where people can join for drinks, tea, coffee, soft drinks or food, whether or not they attended the gardens first. We’re
not Going Shopping: a Queer DIY Clothing Workshop (Sat 12 Sep) at 108 The Moor offers practical techniques for tailoring and customising clothes to affirm your gender, with support around sewing, patches, embellishments and creative changes. Degenerate Art Club: Trans & Non-binary Life Drawing (Wed 16 Sep) at Gut Level offers a trans and non-binary-focused life-drawing session from 6–9pm, with no one turned away for lack of funds. Memory Dance Exhibition Launch Party: Shaun Bloodworth, Photographs & Films & Things (Thu 17 Sep) launches a retrospective of the Sheffield-based photographer and filmmaker, with rare prints, little-seen images, record sleeves and documentaries spanning early dubstep, electronic music, industrial Sheffield and beyond. For those who want live music, club sounds and late-night energy, September is looking seriously busy. Kitchen Radio Fundraiser with MAEVE, 0PM, RAE, Sam J and Algorhythm (Fri 4 Sep) at Gut Level raises money for Sheffield’s volunteer-run DIY radio station, with residents bringing a wide range of sounds and free entry with donations encouraged. Gut Level x
Float: Queer Experimental Music Exchange with Bláthanna, Graceful Degredation and more (Sat 5 Sep) brings queer experimental sound into the space, with further details still to come. Takin’ Liberties Presents HVL, FM Arlo B2B Jacksa, Sleepsang and Chris Jackson (Fri 11 Sep) at Gut Level offers a rare chance to catch Bassiani resident HVL in an intimate Sheffield setting, bringing techno, electro and acid with support from some of the city’s finest techno-adjacent DJs. Private Regcords: Crimewave, Kiosk and Vera Sacra (Wed 23 Sep) at Gut Level brings Crimewave’s Northern headline tour to town, celebrating a new remix EP connected to SCENES, a shoegaze-dance record inspired by the nightclubs of Northern England. Gut Level Presents: Shackleton live and support (Fri 25 Sep) will see the psychedelic ritualtrance maestro bring mind-bending, leg-wobbling sounds shaped by dubstep, drone, folk, prog and heavy experimental dance music. The party calendar gets even bigger with Queers For Beers: My Big Fat Queer Wedding (Sat 12 Sep) at Peddler Warehouse, a gloriously silly, sexy and dramatic celebration of
queer love and history, complete with a wedding ceremony, cake, bands, drag performances, DJs, dancing and a wedding guest dress code. Trash Haus presents Volume 5: Night of 1000 Divines (Sat 26 Sep) at The Lughole is an alt-drag horror and filth cabaret paying tribute to the one and only Divine, with bad taste, camp, dirt, disgust and a best-dressed contest all very much encouraged. The Lughole is membersonly, so sort that in advance. Also that night, Fast and Bi-Furious (Sat 26 Sep) returns to Gut Level, promising a premium bisexual rave situation with boys, girls and bass in very good supply. All told, September is giving Sheffield a proper mixed bag of queer brilliance, from football and folk sessions to book talks, DIY clothes, experimental music, queer weddings, life drawing, board games and bass-heavy nights out. That's all from me. As always, make sure to check out the latest event announcements at facebook.com/ sheffieldlgbtevents.
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Come along and check out the new menu at Caffè Tucci – same passion, fresh Neapolitan flavours and the kind of big-hearted hospitality that comes through in every single mouthful Come and see us at 49 Surrey street or 655 Ecclesall road Find us on Insta: caffe_tucci_sheffield Facebook: Caffè Tucci | Sheffield
From launching their own festival to championing marginalised voices, Sheffield’s indie booksellers have found strength in working together. Ruby Deakin meets the people putting community before competition. WORDS: RUBY DEAKIN PHOTOGRAPHY: MARC BARKER
Sheffield wouldn’t be Sheffield without its independent businesses. Across the city, our local shops, cafés, pubs and community hubs are fighting to keep the streets busy and bustling, adapting to new challenges and building resilience year on year. It’s no shock that Sheffield is now listed as one of the best places in the country to grow a business in 2026, with its supportive communities known for nurturing new ventures and making every start-up feel at home. When it comes to bookshops, there’s a lot to learn from the city’s unique approach. While competition is often rife between ‘rival’ local sellers across many UK high streets, Sheffield’s indie bookshops couldn’t be more different in their style. Instead of battling over shoppers or racing to snatch up events with touring writers, our sellers are committed to a collaborative model that works for the mutual benefit of everyone. Made up of La Biblioteka, Juno Books, Novel, and Hillsborough Bookshop, as well as partner groups and event collaborators, the Steel City’s evolving indie bookshop collective is reinventing 64 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
how small businesses can work together to bring people together in the process. They are united by a shared goal of putting diverse representation and local stories into the hands of every visitor, all while preserving their own distinct identities and personal styles of bookselling. Back in April, the group launched the first Sheffield Indie Book Festival (SIB Fest), which brought together thousands of visitors to explore the enormous variety of voices championed by the community. The weekend kicked off with a programme of fringe events at each bookshop on the Saturday, followed by a day of workshops, speaker talks and a makers’ market on the Sunday, hosted by The Mowbray and Victoria in Neepsend. “Collaboratively, we all agreed to represent the people it’s aimed at in our approach,” said Sophie from Hillsborough Bookshop. “You can get a big corporate festival, you can get big names in, but we wanted to create a festival that was meeting people where they actually are, bringing independent bookshops, publishers and authors all under one roof.”
“When others said, ‘you must have a nightmare in Sheffield because there are so many of you,’ I was like, ‘we’re actually putting on a festival together!’” Novel’s Kate noted. “There’s just such camaraderie in it – it was really cool to work on a project with everyone.” SIB Fest’s success is testament to how collaboration can foster new relationships, with each shop working to ensure that the bookselling community is open and accessible to as many people as possible. The group have secured its renewal for a second installation in 2027, with dates still to be confirmed. “We’re very lucky for it to feel so collaborative,” said Sarah from Juno Books. “I love the fact that I don’t feel like I’m in competition with anyone. They’re our peers and our friends and we ask each other for advice and support. We all bring something slightly different – it’s like we’re all wee bits of a jigsaw coming together.” Juno Books on Chapel Walk opened in 2022 with an unwavering commitment to championing the voices and stories of marginalised people. Its curated selection of feminist and queer literature alongside local and self-published books has made it a revolutionary space for hope and positive change, and its programme of events and writer talks has established it as a vital cultural hub in the city centre. Sarah continued: “We want people to come in and be like, ‘I can see myself here’ or be able to understand someone else’s perspective through what they are reading, perhaps one that they might not necessarily have encountered before. It’s so important that these voices have a space to exist.” Not only does each shop bring its distinct flavour of books and events to its local area, but these spaces have quickly become hearts of their communities.▶
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▶Sophie explained how they bring together other small businesses, from coffee shops to pubs and makers’ markets, transforming areas into lively indie ecosystems. “One of the things I find nicest is working with other businesses. You go out a bit into the suburbs, and you see these little pockets where there’s hustle and bustle. Hillsborough is one of those places; we’re all singing each other’s praises and checking in on each other, and we want that to come through in the shop. If we feel safe in our areas, then we can do that for our customers. I think having a bookshop is a catalyst for those spaces to naturally come to be.” The indie bookshops of Sheffield also serve another vital purpose. In an increasingly digital world, the social aspect of in-person shopping is quickly being lost in favour of at-home browsing. But by getting to know sellers, exploring their hand-picked collections and chatting with other booklovers, visiting these small spaces is crucial for keeping Sheffield’s sociable, community spirit alive. “People are seeking community in a world where we’re so isolated. Yes, you’ve got everyone at your fingertips, but do you feel like you’re actually connected to them in a deeper way? That in-person connection is really missing in the world,” said Sophie. She continued: “Most often, especially in an indie, it’s the curation, it’s the note underneath a book that says how much the person loved it, it’s those little moments that you can give someone. It really takes something to get someone off their chair, out their door, in their car or walking down the street and into your shop. We wanted to create a space that serves a purpose, putting the right book in the right person’s hand and having those important conversations.”
WE WANTED TO CREATE A SPACE THAT SERVES A PURPOSE, PUTTING THE RIGHT BOOK IN THE RIGHT PERSON’S HAND.” 66 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
Kate, who closed the doors of Novel’s bookshop back in January, is taking the social side of reading to a new level. Collaborating with the minds behind Cloud Coffee Co, she has now reopened the bookshop’s premises in Crookes as Proof, a first-of-its-kind bookshop bar in Sheffield. “Reading is a very solitary hobby, but also it can be one of the most impactful experiences we have,” Kate said. “It can be really transformative, and yet you don’t really talk to anyone about it, so I love having those conversations with people.” Sheffield’s indie bookshops are demonstrating every day that partnerships and solidarity are key to their success, and local businesses everywhere should take note. “There are just so many wonderful people,” Sarah added. “In Sheffield, there’s such an appetite to use independent shops, and people make the most of what we’ve got here. It’s very special.” @junobookssheff @novelsheffield @hillsboroughbookshop @labiblioteka
CULTURE: THEATRE PREVIEW
HEAVY LIES THE CROWN Shakespeare’s bleakest family drama takes over the Crucible this autumn as Ian McDiarmid returns to Sheffield to tackle one of theatre’s great roles in a new production of King Lear.
PHOTOS BY JOHAN PERSSON.
Running from 29 August to 19 September, the production is directed by Donmar Warehouse associate artistic director Titas Halder, whose previous credits include The Dance of Death. At its centre is McDiarmid, the Olivier and Tony award-winning actor familiar to millions as Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars films. Here, he swaps the Galactic Empire for a kingdom already beginning to fracture. Looking to enjoy his remaining years without the burden of the crown, Lear divides his realm between his three daughters according to how convincingly they can declare their love for him. When Cordelia refuses to flatter her father, she is cast out. What follows is a brutal unravelling of family, power and identity as Lear discovers just how little authority remains once he has given his kingdom away. McDiarmid is joined by a company including Katie Wimpenny as Goneril, Justina Kehinde as Regan and Bebe Sanders as Cordelia. David Birrell plays Gloucester, Fode Simbo takes on Edmund, Harry Redding plays Edgar and Max Revell appears as the Fool. The production also marks the beginning of an unusual Shakespeare season at Sheffield Theatres. Rather than assembling separate casts, the same company will return to the Crucible in October for Twelfth Night, directed by Jamie Glover and starring Gavin & Stacey’s Mathew Horne. It means actors will move between radically different Shakespearean worlds, taking on new roles as tragedy gives way to mistaken identities, romance and comedy. Birrell, for example, follows Gloucester with Feste, while Kehinde moves from Regan to Olivia and Sanders swaps Cordelia for Viola. First, though, comes King Lear – a play of collapsing families, political chaos and a ruler forced to confront what remains when status and control disappear. King Lear runs at the Crucible Theatre from 29 August to 19 September 2026. Tickets (£15£43) and more info available from sheffieldtheatres.org.uk.
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MATHEW GIBSON
MICHELLE USSHER
PIPPA GATTY
CULTURE: EXHIBTION
EYES ON THE PRIZE Hosted by Yorkshire Artspace (YAS) at Persistence Works, the exhibition will bring together work selected by Contemporary British Painting (CBP), an artist-led organisation dedicated to exploring and promoting current painting through exhibitions, talks and publications. CBP is run entirely by volunteers from its membership and describes the prize as being ‘by painters, for painters’. That peer-led approach extends from organising the exhibition and producing its catalogue to the judging process itself. This year’s shortlist brings together Andrew Bryant, Christopher Cook, Gwen Evans, Pippa Gatty, Mathew Gibson, Caroline Gorick, Melanie Guatelli, Christopher Hanlon, Jinyong Park, Ben Sadler, Katy Shepherd, Robert Sherratt, Michelle Ussher, Haijie Wang and Kate Wilson. Rather than representing a single school or direction in contemporary painting, the 70 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
exhibition is intended to reflect the breadth of work currently being produced. With each shortlisted artist showing three paintings, there’s plenty of room for those differences to emerge across Persistence Works’ walls. There’s also £10,000 in prize money on offer. The overall winner receives £8,000, a catalogue essay, membership of CBP and an invitation to join the selection panel for the next prize, while a Highly Commended artist receives £2,000. For the Sheffield edition, however, there’s another opportunity on the table. The inaugural YAS Exhibition Award will see one artist selected by Yorkshire Artspace director Georgina Kettlewell for a solo exhibition at Persistence Works in spring 2027, coinciding with the organisation’s 50th anniversary year. The Contemporary British Painting Prize is at Yorkshire Artspace’s Persistence Works from 19 September to 17 October. Entry is free.
KATY SHEPHERD
More than 1,200 applications, 15 shortlisted artists and 45 paintings – this autumn, the Contemporary British Painting Prize returns to Sheffield with an exhibition offering a snapshot of what painters across the country are making right now.
CAROLINE GORICK
ANDREW BRYANT
We have established a great platform to showcase some of the incredible talent that’s out there.” We spoke to artist and CBP Prize organising committee member Phil Illingworth about the thinking behind the prize and how you go from 1,200 applications to 15 exhibiting artists. Can you tell us a little about the Contemporary British Painting Prize and what it sets out to do? Contemporary British Painting is an artist-led group, and we run the prize as part of our mission to promote the best of painting produced in the British Isles today. The prize is open to painters of all nationalities, of all backgrounds, and at all stages of their careers. We have established a great platform to showcase some of the incredible talent that’s out there. What does the idea of the prize being ‘by painters, for painters’ mean in practice? The small team that organises and runs the prize is composed of members of CBP, so it is quite literally peer-driven and peerfocussed. This includes all aspects of the operation, from the early planning of each prize through to the production of catalogues and publicity material, our social media team, and the selectors. It is a professional ethos as well as a practical reality. This is very important to us, and is widely recognised as one of the things that sets us apart. This year you received more than 1,200 applications. What was the process of narrowing those down to the final 15? This is a two-stage process. First, we ask our selectors to independently draw up their own list of 15 painters, plus reserves. The reserves are there mostly because selectors often choose a few of the same artists – we aim for a longlist of around 60. The second stage involves the selectors meeting in person to create the shortlist, each arguing the case for their choices. We expect a minimum of 12 for the exhibition, but reaching a consensus is inevitably challenging, hence this year's shortlist of 15. What were you looking for when selecting the shortlisted artists? Our selectors are new each year, drawn from the CBP membership together with the winner of the previous prize. We look for selectors working in different areas to one another, and with the experience and willingness to take on such a difficult and timeconsuming task. Whilst personal taste plays a part, in practice our selectors are objective and open-minded, looking for who they each believe are potential winners. There’s a real variety of approaches among the 15 artists. How important is it for the exhibition to reflect that breadth? Interestingly, this tacitly acknowledges the effectiveness of the selection process and reflects the diligence of our selectors. They are asked not to curate an exhibition, but to focus on the standalone merits of each entry. The range of entries is as broad as it can be, and this combination leads to the breadth of work you see in every prize exhibition we have produced. What can visitors expect from the exhibition when they come along? 45 paintings by 15 artists in a wonderful venue, providing an insight into just how vibrant and exciting contemporary British painting is today.
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CULTURE: THEATRE
ACTING STRANGE
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: ANTOINE BILLET
When you’re thinking of what makes a typical theatre show, a few things may come to mind – a defined script, a clear storyline, realistic characters brought to life on stage by a team of actors. For the Sheffieldbased collective Forced Entertainment, all of the above is something to avoid. They’ve spent over four decades questioning our understanding of theatre and creating playful, improvisational performances that are anything but typical.
Following their major 40th anniversary celebrations in 2024, the company is returning for a UK tour this autumn, including stops in Sheffield, London, Lancaster and beyond, premiering two very different works – the surreal performance Cold Sweat, where performers lip-sync to AI-generated performances, and the homemade experience of Selected Works, where the stories of Shakespeare plays are retold with the help of ordinary household objects. AI is something on many of our minds at the moment, and it’s become a core theme in Forced Entertainment’s recent work. Their 2024 production Signal to Noise featured the familiar monotone of an AI text-to-speech voice as its soundtrack, with the on-stage performers lip-syncing along. A lot has changed in the world of AI in two years, and Cold Sweat is the next step in that journey. Tim Etchells, co-founder and artistic director of Forced Entertainment, explained: “In previous works, we viewed AI as a tool. But Cold Sweat feels like it’s set on the ground we are standing on. We are living in a world where we 72 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
are increasingly surrounded by voices, images and texts that aren't human. The piece asks: what are we in that context?” The production explores a scenario in which a party has just ended and common sense seems to be breaking down. Three performers who regularly appear in Forced Entertainment’s shows – Richard Lowdon, Claire Marshall and Terry O'Connor – lip-sync along to the unpredictable and often inhuman AI voice that dictates all of their actions. The overall effect is to capture an experience that has become very familiar to all of us – technology taking control of human behaviour, even when its actions don’t seem to make sense. Etchells compares the effect to the work of David Lynch, which explored often confusing feelings of alienation with a mix of humour and dread. “I’m frankly quite frightened by AI,” Tim admits, “but not because of what it does to the creative industry. I fear what it does to us as human, social, and political animals. Surrounded by content that isn't coming from a human perspective, but from a farmed, recycled algorithmic one... at this moment of global crisis, we need human vectors –
people with skin in the game. That’s why the project feels entirely necessary.” The company’s other touring work this autumn, on the other hand, celebrates the simple everyday world of objects. Selected Works: Tabletop Shakespeare has been a project over 10 years in the making, in which Forced Entertainment aimed to tell the stories of all 36 Shakespeare plays, using ordinary objects from salt and pepper pots to jam jars, plastic jugs and sponges as the actors, and a simple table as the stage. “It’s about the magical transformation that occurs when the audience invests in these objects as characters,” Tim says. “Whether it’s red and green objects for the Montagues and Capulets, or items scavenged from a shed to give Macbeth a brutal feel, it relies on that direct, lo-fi storytelling. You don't need fancy period text. You need someone in the room, creating a world with what's at hand.” Shakespeare can often be difficult to access, with the original verse a barrier for many audiences. With Selected Works, Forced Entertainment aims to knock that barrier down. The performers use language to describe the events of the plays, condensing epic narratives into fun, accessible, hour-long performances. “It’s an intimate, playful celebration of what theatre can be using minimal resources,” Tim notes. “Audiences don't need prior knowledge of Shakespeare to engage with it.” Forced Entertainment’s Cold Sweat visits Sheffield Theatres’ Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse on 2 and 3 October, while Selected Works tours arrives at Sheffield Theatres from 10–12 November.
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JOY
EMILY REDFEARN
Joy is your first solo exhibition – how does it feel to have your own show? It feels so surreal! I have been to so many other artists’ exhibitions over the years. It was very satisfying to curate my own with things I have wanted to do for a while. After being self-employed for over six years, it felt like the right time to do something like this! What does ‘joy’ mean to you personally and how do you try to capture it in your work? The theme really resonated with me – especially as my personality is very much to look on the bright side of things and find the enjoyment in everyday moments as much as the bigger things in life. This, combined with the busy scenes I have been enjoying creating this last year, made me feel like making my interpretation of ‘joy’ an explosion of all the things, big and small, that I enjoy in life. This was through topics inspired by dogs, walking and foods I love, as well as making everything vibrant and colourful, which is how I like my work to be. The exhibition brings together older pieces and previously unseen work – how did you decide what made the cut? It was a selective process when it came to incorporating some of the older pieces – the ones that made it to the show were ones that I still resonated with or that linked to the theme of the exhibition. For example, one of the larger pieces I had on display was an illustration from a year or two ago of a breakfast table with boiled eggs. This felt so sunny to me, and I love the feeling of having the day ahead of you with a delish brekkie. So, for me, it made sense to have it in there.
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You work across prints, posters, physical pieces and animation. Do you approach each medium differently or does it all come from the same creative process? In a way, they do come from similar origins. For static pieces, I begin the process by sketching thumbnails and different designs. For animation, I similarly make thumbnails but in sequences as storyboard roughs or animatics. It saves a lot of time in the long run and helps form the idea fully, being able to sketch it out in the beginning and not spend too long brain-dumping ideas. It also really helps stop you from being too precious about concepts and allows flexibility for other ideas to be made that may be better than the first thing you think of. Why did Hop Hideout feel like the right place to host Joy? I had worked with Hop Hideout and Jules, who owns it, for the last several years, and we have always had a similar mindset and ambition in both of our businesses. So, when we come together to work on something, it has always been great. It was initially Jules’ idea to do something together to kick off Tramlines weekend, which is how the exhibition came about! We didn’t want it to be too pretentious, which is not either of our vibes at all. We wanted it to be casual and relaxed but full of personality and good work. We knew how we could present the pieces in the venue and some of the fun ideas, like the CRT TV, that we could add in. Has putting together your first solo exhibition changed how you think about your own work? It has in a few ways. For one, the new
PHOTO: @HELLO.SANPO
We meet the Sheffield illustrator and animator spreading positive vibes with her debut show.
PHOTO: @HELLO.SANPO
PHOTO: @HELLO.SANPO
PHOTO: @HELLO.SANPO
work I created for the exhibition, including merch and branding – which is my background – made me think about my work in another context that was really fun to make. Then, also, I made a small number of original paintings for sale, which I very rarely do. They were received really well and this definitely encouraged me to do more like this again. What advice do you have for any aspiring creatives who might be reading this interview? If you have an idea you want to pursue or a creative career you want to get into – completely go for it! This doesn’t mean quit your job straight away – realistically, there are so many creatives who are freelance who begin with part-time jobs or work around their full-time ones. There is a little dream of mine that I would love to happen, but I have been working on it for the last year or two. Many things take time and don’t happen even the first few times you give them a go. You have to have a bit of delusion that literally whatever you’re working towards will happen, as it keeps driving you. Even if you don’t get it, you will get something more than if you didn’t try. Joy is available to view at Hop Hideout until 30 September. Free entry but be sure to enjoy a delicious craft beverage while you’re there.
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LeT’S meet At the charleston
Bakewell’s most exciting new arrival. The Charleston is an Art Deco cocktail bar and restaurant housed in a beautifully restored bank, bringing a dash of 1920s glamour to the heart of the Peak District. Brunch from 9am till 4pm, evening dining until late and Sunday roasts to linger over. You’ll also find Afternoon Tea, coffee and cake and a bar menu made for grazing from morning until late. When the sun is out, our outdoor courtyard is the place to be. And as the evening draws in, live music played on our baby grand piano fills the room every single night, from smooth jazz and soulful grooves to toe-tapping swing. Whether you’re here for cocktails at the bar, a long leisurely brunch with fizz or a night out with friends, there’s always a reason to stay a little longer. If you’re looking for something truly special, our private dining room, The Speakeasy, is tucked away in the original bank vault beneath the restaurant. Intimate, full of character and unlike anywhere else in the Peak District.
Bookings welcome. Walk-ins too. Come and see what all the fuss is about.
Rutland Square, Bakewell, DE45 1BT 01629 692 892 • letsmeet@the-charleston.com @thecharlestonbakewell
CULTURE: PREVIEWS
A SPIRITED RETURN Spirit of Independence Film Festival is back this month for its seventh edition, bringing three days of independent filmmaking to Sheffield. Edited by Ruby Deakin
COMMON THREADS 9 – 12 SEPT // 108 THE MOOR // VARIOUS PRICES Sheffield’s annual weaving and arts festival returns, with live performances, food, music and workshops showcasing textile crafts and stories from around the world. The four-day programme features the live creation of a ‘living room’ on the Moor, hosted by The Bare Project, as well as panel discussions, film screenings and creative activities like basket weaving, dyeing, clothing alterations and wool spinning. thebareproject.co.uk
SHEFFIELD FILM FESTIVAL
Spirit of Independence Film Festival is back this month for its seventh edition, bringing three days of independent filmmaking to Sheffield. Running from 25–27 September at The Light, this year’s festival will feature international indie films, UK premieres and work from emerging filmmakers alongside a packed programme of shorts. Among the headline screenings is the premiere of ‘The Lock In’, a kung fu thriller shot in Rotherham by awardwinning writer and director Nathan Geering. Austrian film ‘Haunted’ and Icelandic feature ‘Á Huldu – The Hidden Ones’ will also receive their UK premieres at the festival. Spirit of Independence has grown considerably since its early days as a small platform for local indie filmmakers to meet and share their work. It has since become a regular fixture for Sheffield’s filmmaking community, giving creatives the chance to connect, collaborate and get their work onto the big screen. Festival director Ben Wilkinson said of the event: “It’s been really amazing to see how the local filmmaking community has developed – new connections made, projects developed and just a general willingness to support each other amongst the community. I like to think that we’ve helped influence that change across Sheffield.” Alongside eight feature-length films, the festival will screen 38 shorts from filmmakers based both locally and further afield, ranging from established names to first-time creatives. Its Youthful Spirit shorts programme returns on 26 September, showcasing work made by students from schools, colleges and universities across the region. 78 | WWW.EXPOSEDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
10 – 28 SEPT // SHOWROOM // VARIOUS PRICES The Showroom Cinema’s annual celebration of local film heritage and culture is back for 2026 with a programme of new and old films. The ‘Protest!’ strand will feature a programme of activist films to commemorate 100 years since the UK General Strike, ‘Misshapes, Mistakes, Misfits’ will shed light on Sheffield’s musical expression and youth counterculture, and the ‘Yorkshire Connection’ list will highlight the best of local cinema. showroomcinema.org.uk
THE TEMPEST 14 SEPT – 19 SEPT // LANTERN THEATRE // VARIOUS PRICES Nick Tait’s new adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays will transport audiences to the distant and eerie world of mystical beings and strange enchantments. When a storm transports a ship to a remote island, what ensues is a tragic and comic tale of mistaken identity and a struggle for power. lantherntheatre.org.uk
MAMMA MIA!
The strand gives young filmmakers an opportunity to screen their work as part of the wider festival programme and connect with Sheffield’s filmmaking community. There will also be post-screening Q&As with filmmakers, offering a look at the process behind the films, alongside industry networking events and roundtable discussions. Tickets are on sale now, with the full programme available at soifilmfestival.com.
15 SEPT – 26 SEPT // LYCEUM // £15-87 The feel-good musical extravaganza told through ABBA’s classic discography takes to the Lyceum stage this autumn. Set on a Greek island, Sophie’s journey to discover her father’s identity brings a whirlwind adventure of love and friendship, with audiences sure to be dancing in their seats. sheffieldtheatres.co.uk