indepen
dent mu sical thr eads
EDITORS LETTER
CONTENTS
“There’s nothing like arriving at your favourite gig venue, waiting impatiently for the music to begin, as the lights go down and the stage lights come up—the atmosphere spills out over the crowd, sending goose bumps down your spine. The bass bouncing off the walls, the euphoria taking over, the feeling that you are part of something, something real, among a crowd of people you have never seen before, you share a special moment—blissfulness.”—anonymous quote from a music lover.
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London calling
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Roadtrip
The beloved band t-shirt has become an emblem to the music lover. In this debut issue, we look at the history of this iconic collectable that we have worn with pride for over 50 years. We speak to Teleman’s synth player Jonny Sanders about creating their brand image; Benin City and their protest against London’s disappearing nightlife and London venues Road Trip in Old Street and Zigfrid Von Underbelly in Hoxton to see the people behind the music. Published by Moshi Moshi Records, 100% Cotton celebrates their 20 years of success in providing a platform to establish independent artists and showcases upcoming talent in all scopes of the music industry.
An interview with Benin City A look inside the Old St divebar
8 If the tee fits
Looking back at the history of the band tee
12 Sound advice
Moshi moshi’s founder Stephen on the labels success
16 Voice of the unheard
Nic Hundreds describes the stigma grime artists face
20 Going underground
Inside the music scene with London producers Prospa
22 Where to draw the line
Jonny Sanders demonstrates true creativity in the digital age
25 Vox Pop
What’s your favourite band tee?
We hope you enjoy this journey with us, see you next time!
26 Shooting star
CONTRIBUTORS
30 Zigfrid von Underbelly
COMMERCIAL Georgia Broughton, Bianca Castillo Field, Ilaria Luca, Maya Jundi, Suzan Liban, Sadia Mohamed, Ndidi Okoye, Diletta Sbrana, Remy Shinmar, Jazmin Turner
An interview with Dennis Morris the man behind the camera Introducing Hoxton Square’s fantastical bar
DESIGN Lucy Chappell, Jamie Cullinan, Sophie Isherwood, Georgie Lillington, Georgie Stone, Freena Tailor, Lucy Timlett, Whitney Virgo PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Cartwright, Eve Cross, Jordan Gale, Nina Janmaat, Kris Kirova, Jez Limjantra, Alicia McGuire, Chelsea Mew, Olivia Rennalls, Gena Tahiri, Lewis Taylor 3
LONDON
CALLING
100% Cotton sits down with the Benin City’s Shanaz, Tom and Josh to find out about pre-gig rituals, working with Moshi Moshi, and their ode to London’s disappearing nightlife
Benin City is in Nigeria, but it is also another place, inhabited by a band of the same name. A tricky place somewhere between alt-rap, inventive pop and electronica, labels which all attest to Benin’s spoken-word feel and the DNA of their 2012 debut, now reinvented in their grime-y, lyrically-cutting 2017 release All Smoke, No Fire.
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Words: Maya Jundi Images: Alicia McGuire, Lewis Taylor
Shanaz Dorsett, Tom Leaper and Joshua Idehen
“We’re both chatterboxes who religiously believe that words are the best part of a song,” say Tom and Josh, two old friends who form the core of the act. Lyrics, it seems, raise their blood to the extent that they row over their meaning: “Yeah we disagree a lot. And agree a lot too.” More like “bickering over metaphors”, explains Shanaz, the band’s most recent female recruit, and the one described as “emotionally smart.” “It’s so great to tell stories with Josh and Shanaz through music,” says Tom. “Each song is a story and these two are the best storytellers I know. “The new record is dedicated to London’s dying nightlife”, he explains,
reflecting how the first-ever venue the band played was recently closed down. All Smoke, No Fire is a “protest against gentrification” and by their own admission, an “aggressive record”, that sets its razor sharp spoken (perhaps more spat) lyrics against its lamenting melody. Its social conscience underlines the capital’s housing and cultural crisis, asking why is “your flat is in my dancehall?” and “If I can’t stay here where will I go?”. London, the band’s hometown, is where vocalist Josh grew up, and spent over 10 years of his life as a bartender. The job allowed him to witness many closures of small venues and clubs. “That’s the London I know the most of. The N38 (night bus) was my chariot to Hackney after a shift in the West End and to be honest 3am is London at its most raw,” reminisces Josh. “I’ve seen a few scenes rise and subsequently disappear faster than a Tequila bottle during happy hour!” This rise and fall has a place in Benin City’s heart, as most of the spaces the band used to perform in throughout their formative years have 5
now closed shop. “We wanted to say a goodbye of sorts to that life,” says Josh, gesturing a wave.
EM H T D EAR IRST H U YO ERE F H
Thankfully, having signed to Moshi Moshi Records, their gigs and venues have moved onwards and upwards in recent years, including playing at the Latitude Festival last year. “Oh, I was nervous at that one. Actually, that’s when I fell during our performance and cut my legs and elbow quite badly,” frowns Shanaz. “I dusted myself off and carried on the show while the audience stared on in completed ‘WTF!?’. Nothing fazes me now.”
If the Americans, like us, say their football is also a ‘game of two halves’, this all-American themed venue fits the bill as a venue in two different places. Uptown and downtown, or more precisely upstairs and downstairs, the Roadtrip and The Workshop, is all-American DJcum-sports bar, with an added subterranean dive bar venue below east London’s Old Street. a hub for up and coming indie music.
VENUES CLOSING DOWN…THE PLACE IS CHANGING. WE WANTED TO SAY A GOODBYE OF SORTS TO THAT LIFE
A hub for up and coming indie music, the venue first opened its doors in the early Noughties and has since become a meeting place for music lovers, artists and east London types who savour good quality ‘liquor’, an array of hipster craft beers, diner style burgers while swaying to proper live music. For a dive bar, it also has the surprising added feature of an outside terrace garden.
Benin City’s other two members may not have such extreme ways of conquering onstage nerves. Tom has mastered the stage through sheer practice. When the instrumentalist is not performing with Benin City he can be found playing live music and earning his living. Being on stage is his new normal: “I always approach any gig with energy and enthusiasm though. I want the audience to have the best time. That’s what it’s all about.”
Where next? Tom gives us a glimpse of his vision, and enthuses about 2018 and beyond: “I’m so excited to eventually tour the conceptual show that we premiered back in May at The Roundhouse.” Conceptual shows…tours? The Roundhouse theatre? Now, that’s a fair way from the night bus to Hackney. 6
Inside, you’ll feel a spacious and authentic atmosphere lavished with vintage posters, framed photographs of music icons and the American Flag draped over the DJ booth. The venue’s website introduces its founder, former Goldsmiths art alumni Paul Daly and tells of his obsession with Stateside beatnik culture that captivated the imagination of an outgoing 1970s teenager.
Words and images: Alicia McGuire
Asking the trio about Moshi Moshi, a label renowned as a stepping stone for artists such as Florence + the Machine, Disclosure, Hot Chip and Bloc Party, Josh cites both the label and its management as being influential on many of the sounds we have heard coming out of Benin City. In that kind of creative atmosphere—“rubbing shoulders with Anna Meredith, Summer Camp, Metronomy and Slow Club”—inspiration and ambition come easily, it seems.
ROAD TRIP AND THE WORKSHOP
Show-stopping acts and enthusiastic customers fill the popular bar from midday to 5am, brought together by their shared passion for good drink and alternative rock, pop, soul and jazz music. God Bless this little pocket of Americana in Hoxton. roadtripbar.com
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IF T
S T I F E HE TE
1960S
1950S
Band T-shirts were born in the 1950s along with rock’n’roll. Plain tees had been worn by the military and farm workers, but were now adopted as casual wear for young people. In 1956 Elvis Presley created printed T-shirts to sell at concerts to promote his singles. According to The Ideal Man, a blog by Tom Courcey, at this stage of his career he always tried “keeping a traditional, working class, almost laid back attitude to his style,” starting a trend that continues to this day. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s that the band T-shirt would become a fan’s must-have item.
IIn 1964 the Beatles commemorated a US tour with a special tee for fans. “The band T-shirt really started with the Beatles touring in America. They produced every kind of merchandise, from lunch boxes to toys, but the T-shirt stuck around to make history,” says Sam, owner of Wow Retro, a vintage clothing shop in Covent Garden. By the late 1960s the rock concert T-shirt was a viable commercial product and the first manufacturer, Winterland Production, launched in 1968 in San Francisco. With mass production making clothing more affordable and screen printing becoming more popular, T-shirts were great for advertising and helping to fund tours. Craig Burston, course leader of the Graphic and Media Design at London College of Communication and an avid collector of band tees said, “band T-shirts were usually overpriced, the record company was taking the majority of the profits from the music and lots of bands were subsidising their tours by selling merchandise. Production of T-shirts cost about £2 each and they were sold at a hugely inflated price.” The 1960s was also a decade of huge economic and political change in America, when hippies used the T-shirt as a perfect white canvas for self expression and protest against the Vietnam draft with their Make Love Not War slogan. Their tie-dyed and acid-rock band tees became a major trend.
Words: Bianca Castillo Field, Georgie Stone, Nina Janmaat 8
Since the days when Elvis was shaking, rattling and rolling, band T-shirts have been an enduring symbol of music fandom, adored by everyone from diehard aficionados to trend conscious teenagers—and the bands who sell them 9
labels. The late 1970s saw bands including Joy Division and Sonic Youth forming the indie scene as we know it today. Joy Division’s album artwork for Unknown Pleasures, a graphic interpretation of signals emitted from pulsar stars, embodies this freedom and is still loved and worn by old and new indie fans.
1980S 1970S
For the youth of the 1970s, music became their identity. The band tee was the perfect way to display which musical tribe they belonged to, and the decade saw how rich a sub culture could become with the dawn of punk rock. Henry Oliver, author of The Art of the Band T-Shirt, explains: “The Sex Pistols, who formed in 1975, transformed British music and fashion with the artwork for their single God Save the Queen.” The image, by the artist Jamie Reid, features a photo of the Queen defaced with cut up newspaper letters. “This is still one of the most recognisable band T-shirts,” Oliver says, and punks still have a powerful connection to this anti-establishment tee. The Ramones, an American punk band, were immortalised by the popularity of their tees. A design created by Arturo Vega in 1978 satirised the USA president’s seal, changing it to display the band members’ names alongside baseball bats. Punk influenced the DIY movement in music as smaller bands found more creative freedom by staying independent from the main record 10
The 1980s saw the rise of dance music and the shift to new wave over punk, with rock and heavy metal music continuing to grow in popularity. Rock and metal bands are known for their cult followings, and their T-shirts are no exception, Oliver says: “Fans could easily integrate with the band’s aesthetic, as well as the clothes giving smaller bands additional income. Groups such as Metallica, Motorhead and Guns N’ Roses, have been sustained by their dedicated fanbase, who would still be proud to wear their authentic band tee.”
By the end of the decade, hip-hop and rap began to enter mainstream particularly in large metropolitan cities. Both genres were inspired by black Americans’ tribal chants and created in the poorest districts of New York by African American and Latino teenagers. American hip hop artists RUN-DMC’s band T-shirts has stood the test of time for nearly 40 years. Designed by Stephanie Nash, it displays clear typography in white, with bold red underlines to create a symbol which embodies the scene. The bold text in the logo draws inspiration for the hard hitting, powerful lyrics often found in rap music. “The RUN-DMC band T-shirt is firmly entrenched in both music and fashion culture,” says Oliver. Their logo is still on official merchandise from headphones to Christmas decorations, but the T-shirt remains the most recognisable.
1990S
The early 1990s were an important period for the music industry, with the emergence of bands from Green Day and Nirvana to the Spice Girls, TLC and Weezer. According to Burston, “the idea of the T-shirt became less about the band and more about the scene.” Nirvana, for example, created a new T-shirt cult among angst-ridden teens—and grunge style in the process. The smiley-face logo created by an insurance company in the 1960s was reinvented by lead singer Kurt Cobain for their Nevermind album, to become a global symbol in itself. In the late 90s, however, says Burston, “the scene changed, people wanted to dress well, some bands were too old or members of the band were simply no longer together. The band T-shirt just became something uncool. People would show their style through a brand of sneakers, or a type of haircut and tattoos.”
TODAY
The vogue for nostalgia has fuelled demand for vintage band tees, a recent example of an original Nirvana tee on eBay fetched $224.99 (£170). Reacting to this, fashion retailers have got in on the act in a big way, making licensed reproductions of classic tees. For example, a mass-produced Nirvana T-shirt will cost as little as a tenner at Primark. If that all sounds either too rich or too cheap and obvious, try a vintage or second hand store: “French and Italian girls are the main buyers nowadays, although you can still find the odd old nostalgic guy who collects them,” says Sam at Wow Retro. He adds that “it’s only when a band is having a big concert or when someone famous dies, that we can observe the real fans. For example, when David Bowie passed away, we had so many people coming to the shop to find Bowie’s T-shirts. We sold all of them, and now we can’t find any more. People keep them as a precious, nostalgic item.” Yet most people wearing a band tee wouldn’t be able to name even one of their songs, let alone claim to have been at one of their concerts. “There is always an awkward moment when you meet someone wearing a band T-shirt, give them the nod of the legion and they just stare at you like you were a creep,” says Burston. “Every high-street shop with enough money can buy the licence to print their own take on the band tee, even though the quality will never match the original.” 11
Words: Georgie Lillington Images: Lewis Taylor, Moshi Moshi’s archive
SOUND ADVICE
Moshi Moshi Records has been championing London’s grass roots talent since 1998. 100% Cotton talks to one of its founders, Stephen Bass, who brought us bands like Hot Chip and Florence and the Machine
It all began as a passion project. Founded by Stephen Bass, Michael McClatchey and Adrian Pike in October 1998, Moshi Moshi was an antidote to their corporate roles in the music industry, a project that allowed the three of them to indulge in the music that they enjoy. “In a way it was an exercise in making an effort, saying we were going to do something and then actually doing it,” confesses Bass, head honcho and A&R man of the label named after the Japanese phone greeting for “hello”, but based in the hipster heart of Hackney.
“helped establish the name of the label, it gives us a story to tell people,” says Bass. But Moshi’s priority is working with music that they enjoy, and seeing potential rather than focusing on big name acts for revenue. The success of previous singles prompted the launch of the Moshi Moshi Singles Club in 2006. It features a monthly release by an up-and-coming artist, with cover artwork designed by the bands themselves, available as limited editions in selected music stores such as Rough Trade.
L-R: Digging deep: the Moshi Moshi archive. Greatest hits: They’ve had a few
“From the beginning, rather than being amateur, we tried to do everything a proper label would do,” he continues. In a small group on a low budget they persuaded a band called Sukpatch to do a single that was to be the first of many for the label. Although scraped together financially, Sukpatch’s Hey Jolie set Moshi Moshi Records afloat and was later recognised by the Beastie Boys’ label Grand Royal, who signed Sukpatch the following year. In its first decade, Moshi Moshi brought us a range of sounds from the likes of Hot Chip, Bloc Party, Florence + the Machine, Kate Nash and Lykke Li, as well as many memorable 7 inch singles. Working with these big name acts 12
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you can listen to them within a few minutes,” Bass says. “You have to take every advantage of the facilities the modern world has, but bands themselves are still the best resource for finding new artists.”
L-R: Slow Club, Bloc Party
As Moshi moved past their 10 year anniversary landmark, they continued to throw parties at some of London’s unique venues including the Shacklewell Arms, Moth Club, Paper Club Vintage, Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, and Servant Jazz Quarters, as well as spending a year or two at one venue to establish a monthly night for fans of their music. Moshi have also continued to focus on signing artists they enjoy listening to rather than one exclusive genre. But as Bass points out, “it’s made it hard to build a loyal following of people that buy every record. If we were starting again we might do it differently.” With a mix of sounds across the label, however, he adds, “If you listen to them they are pretty palatable, the label isn’t niche – in fact I’d call most of them left-field pop bands.” When Moshi first launched, talent scouting consisted of “writing letters and listening to cassettes,” Bass recalls. But now with digital technology, studios are cheaper and bands can record their music in many ways, making the work a lot faster and easier. Talent is much easier to find, too. “If you overhear someone talking about a band,
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Technology isn’t always an advantage however. With countless ways to listen to artist and platforms like Spotify and YouTube to find new music, fewer people are listening to the radio, while airtime is still a significant part of success. “Some bands have been frustrated with how they’ve not done so well. You need to get the radio support, and we haven’t always been able to get that for everyone,” Bass admits. Moshi are based in Dalston in a great location for the east London music scene, though Bass insists that Hackney hasn’t had any influence on the label: “It’s useful because a lot of the people we work with live around here, but we work with music from all over the world—from Malawi and with a lot of American and Australian bands.” Moshi’s most exciting artists of the moment include three-piece, Girl Ray,
“a really wonderful band, who are flourishing creatively, and building a great solid fan base—I think people have really understood them and taken them to heart,” Stephen claims. Also at the forefront of Moshi are Teleman; a four-piece vocal band who have developed from subtle melodic guitar pop into more electronic sounds with their recent EP release, Fünf. As Moshi has grown, so has their management role, with Bass in charge of bands including Metronomy, who he was on tour with in America last year, and Slow Club, who released their debut album Yeah So on Moshi in 2009, with three more albums following that. In addition to the Dalston office, Moshi Moshi also operates out of Margate, where McClatchey is based. The town is home of By the Sea, a late-summer festival set up by Moshi in conjunction with Rockfeedback Concerts at the recently re-opened Dreamland fairground.
Festivals have always been a huge part of Moshi’s calendar. The summer months cram-in as many performances as possible: “They are important for the growth of the bands,” says Bass. “It’s something we always enjoy—it’s the fun part, it’s nice to just hang out with them.” Introduced to each other at Reading Festival 1996, Bass and co-founder Michael McClatchey got on like a festival tent on fire. They continue to work alongside each other today, split in a pretty traditional way, “Michael looks after the money and runs the campaigns, whilst I focus on the bands and finding new music,” Stephen explains. Adrian Pike has moved on to other things. With a year of new music from Benin City, solo material from Charles Watson (Slow Club) and Teleman, Moshi Moshi are set to celebrate their 20th anniversary in truly independent style. 15
VOIC E OF THE U
Gri on me ar and social tist N bei just ic Hu ng a g ice, m ndrds ood usi ’ dad c, th spits e in bar ter s net …
THE ‘STIGMA’ IS BASED ON REALITY
NHEA
On the surface indie and grime music are worlds apart, but they both originate from homemade backgrounds and use the internet for exposure. Synonymous with independence, pride and culture, grime is British music of the unheard and a genre that is growing in the same way as indie music a decade ago. Artists like Dizzee Rascal, Wiley and Lethal Bizzle are hailed as the cornerstones of grime. These performers, among others, have set the stage and inspired upcoming artists who share the same lyrical talent and raw expression. We spoke to Nic Hundrds, a 23-year-old rapper from east London, about his music, the grime community and the stigma he felt growing up.
Words: Freena Tailor, Kris Kirova, Sadia Mohamed, Olivia Rennalls Images: Kris Kirova 16
anytime soon, I’m trying to get a life. It opened my eyes to life and it taught me that it’s precious. How did your background influence your music? My background and upbringing in east London has constantly influenced my music—it’s filled with real stories, experiences and descriptions of growing up in a corrupt society. Corrupt? Expand… Being expelled from school has definitely influenced my music content as it allowed me to experience life as a young adult from an early age. Life as a school student is very different to the life of a young person growing up with no routine or restrictions.
So you don’t feel like a grime artist? I feel like anyone can fit into our scene as originality is key; there is no norm. The less you fit in with the average, the better.
Describe the grime scene in your own words Like a seed that’s slowly growing, UK artists are finally starting to get millions of views regularly which is amazing. They can now be independent, make money and reach great heights, and the internet is probably one of the main reasons why. On the internet you can distribute your own music, build a fanbase and easily expose yourself. Independent artists don’t need a record label to do that for them, when they can do it themselves.
What inspires you? The streets and prison are my inspiration. I’m not trying go back to prison
How do you deal with the stigma around grime? I don’t, I feel like the negative stigma
Would you describe yourself as a grime artist? I wouldn’t box myself into a category, I just make music. I chose to rap as it came naturally, I began by writing poems in primary school and I slowly progressed.
Lydia, can you look to see if we can get a bit more tonal variety on this?
RD
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THE GLASS CEILING IS MAINSTREAM
is just fear. The “stigma” is based on reality. Guns, drugs, violence. These are all things that stigmatise grime, but what’s misunderstood is that they are real life issues. I don’t wish to go against the stigma and change myself to cater to those with a soft ear, that would be going against reality. Do you risk glorifying the volence? No, I believe we make music based on things that relate to our lives. People who don’t understand might be shocked and be like “why are they speaking about this stuff?”, but there’s nothing else to speak about because that’s real life. Is grime crossing over to the mainstream? Yes, as people are being forced to listen, because as fans we are supporting our own artists and making them more powerful and known in the industry. We are getting them mainstream radio play, which is where stars are really made. What is powerful about mainstream radio play? When a song is played on the mainstream radio you can’t stereotype and discriminate as you can’t see who you’re listening to. There is a general expectation that mainstream radio stations only play what needs to be heard, so by getting more radio play, our artists will change the expectations for becoming mainstream. Is there a glass ceiling? The glass ceiling is mainstream. We’re fighting the mainstream record label hierarchy from claiming independent artists, but they can’t anymore because we’re supporting them ourselves through social media. Is racism also part of this glass ceiling? Yes, black youths are normally stereotyped as violent. Since there are a lot of young black people in our scene, that
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leaves certain people misunderstanding and fearing something before they’ve even heard it, just by judging a book by its cover. Why are you concealing your identity? Most grime artists conceal their identity because they get banned from making music. This isn’t the case for me, it’s just that since I first released my music on SoundCloud, there’s been a lot of mystery about my name, what I look like and who I am. I want to maintain that mystery. Have you experienced any injustice? Personally I haven’t, but it goes on with current artists such as 67 who had a tour shut down this year, preventing them from performing in the UK and countries in Europe. This type of thing happens regularly. Police prevent artists from performing by claiming gang violence is likely to occur, but artists themselves have said the type of audience at their shows are generally young white teenage girls and boys. What is your advice for upcoming artists? Staying true to themselves by not compromising their content to make it into the charts and the radio. I believe grime artists today are making powerful moves and representing our culture without changing just to please senior people in the industry, who create the “stigma” in the first place. Anything we should be looking out for from you? I will be releasing the sequel to my project Blood Cry I, and another surprise project in early 2018. What’s your end goal? To go to heaven and die a legend. No, seriously. [laughs] I want my own record label to pass down to my son. “3 my bros” 19
artist if they are faceless. H: In some cases it does work well for electronic acts to show their face, but being faceless definitely adds a sense of mystique to the music. One of our favourite producers, Burial, fits that mould. He has released a few pictures of himself now but the unknown elements of his character fit the ethos of his music perfectly. Some people are breaking this tradition. Artists like Tiësto, Calvin Harris and Martin Garrix are like household names in dance music now, what’s the significance of this? H: When you break into the mainstream, the stylistic choices of the music may not have the same underground character that fits the faceless image. G: I think there will always be a clear distinction between the underground and mainstream in dance music. Being underground does not necessarily mean you aren’t a popular name and face.
GOING UNDERGROUND “Super producers” aside, electronic knob-twiddlers behind the scenes aren’t famous. But does fame mean success or vice versa? What pushes music-school duo Prospa’s buttons? Gosha Smith, Harvey Blumler
Words: Lucy Chappell, Images: Daniel Cartright and Gena Tahiri 20
Tell us a little about yourselves? H: We are Gosha and Harvey, known together as Prospa, we are both 20 years old, from Leeds and now living in London. We are both passionate about music and we study it full time.
current big names in house and techno we love to take influences from the underground scene, old jazz and soul. Some of our favourite current acts are The Martinez Brothers, Stephan Bodzin, Djrum, Lone and Jon Hopkins.
How did making music come about for you guys? Who are your biggest influences? G: We both used to dabble in rock bands, but as we got older we became more interested in producing. Finally in summer 2011, while at the Leeds Festival, we decided to do it for real together. H: Our influences vary. As well as all the
Names from the electronic and dance scene, apart from those in the mainstream, are often “faceless”, what is the benefit of this? G: I think often in electronic music the producer prefers to let the music do the talking. It’s not like other genres where the face becomes a huge part of the brand. Often it actually works better for the image surrounding an electronic
SoundCloud provides a platform for anyone to share their music with the world. Is it just for amateur beat makers or is there real talent there? G: It was where we both made our beginnings as producers. It’s an amazing sharing platform that has spawned a community for all kinds of creative and talented electronic artists. There are genres of instrumental beats that exist solely on SoundCloud. It’s definitely not just for amateurs. H: SoundCloud is a revolutionary platform that gives a voice to the bedroom musician. We hope that there will always be a place for it among the other streaming platforms.
It’s not like other genres where the face becomes a huge part of the brand. It works better for the image surrounding an electronic artist if they are faceless
What advice do you have for other budding producers ? H: For anyone who’s just starting out, work on your sound design. When a sound
is perfect in the mix it will make it much easier to write the music. Try being as original as possible when you are developing your sound. Even if someone heavily inspires you, don’t try and copy them directly. It is all a skill acquired over time, so keep making as much music as possible! G: When starting a track ask yourself if the musical idea that’s forming the basis of the entire track is really the best it could be. Always stay creative. Good music doesn’t need lots of layers crammed together. Think carefully about where elements go within a track. All you need is strong ideas and the right choices of sounds that complement each other. Do you want to be famous? And in what way? Its not about the fame for us, making music is what we love and enjoy. As long as we can support ourselves, that’s all we really need. What happens to quality if producers become famous or commercially successful? G: I think the quality of the music can actually improve. It depends what kind of commercial success. Success means money which can also mean more and better equipment, studios etc. Not that you need these things to make great music, but it can help. H: Stylistically it might change but I wouldn’t describe it as “worse”. Would you consider becoming the “people behind the people?” G: Yes we would love to get into behindthe-scenes song writing and production for other artists. That is something we can come to later on though as we are focused on building our own musical identity as Prospa at the moment. Can we get your top five records of all time? Burial’s Untrue Pink. Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Slum Village’s Fantastic Volume II. Jon Hopkins’ Immunity and Basement Jaxx’ Remedy. 21
L-R: Rising to the challenge: Jonny Sanders at work in his studio. Sanders’ artwork for Teleman’s second album
to work in both ways. Tiny text is never really an option which is frustrating because tiny text always looks quite nice. It’s nice on print when you see something little, but on a screen it doesn’t work so restrictions are definitely a massive consideration.
IN THE BEGINNING IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A 12 INCH OR 7 INCH SLEEVE, BUT NOW YOU HAVE TO DESIGN SOMETHING THAT IN SOME CASES WON’T BE SEEN MUCH LARGER THAN A PHONE SCREEN
WHERE TO DRAW THE LINE?
Is album art dying a death? We speak to polymath Jonny Sanders, Teleman band member, graphic designer and music video director about designing for sound
Words: Chelsea Mew Images: Alicia McGuire 22
As a designer and member of the band Teleman, do you get complete creative control over the artwork? I run it by the band because obviously we all have a say. However I’m in quite a good place where I am a member of the band and working on the design so I have a vote. I’m going to like what I design but it’s a bit of a democracy in that sense. Same if you were working for a client, the client would have the final say.
What’s different about album art today? In the beginning of artwork for music, it would have been a 12 inch piece of cardboard or a 7 inch sleeve, but now you have to design something that in some cases won’t be seen much larger than a phone screen. Have these size restrictions limited your freedom? Not completely, in some cases the artwork will still be printed large so it has
Where does your inspiration stem? All over the place. There is no particular movement but it is probably more of an arts background from paintings and early abstract artists or painters like Miró or Kandinsky, who did simple lines and colours. When you combine that with typography you get really beautiful designs. I try to keep my designs super simple, but sometimes they go a little crazy.
How do you find the link between music and the visuals? I don’t usually. A lot of the music from our first album, for example, was quite simple. There are just three or four elements going on at a time, like a drum, a bass, a vocal. So the artwork is quite simple. I’m not going to do a heavy metal logo type face, so I guess it does tie in. It just needs to be appropriate. You mentioned clients, who have you been working with recently? Um, I do a lot of work for a company called Intelligence Squared. They’re a bit like TED Talks but instead of it being a presentation it’s more a debate between two famous people. So I do little event designs for them and that’s an on-going thing which I’ve been doing for a few years now. Back onto the artwork. Does music truly needs the contribution of an album/single cover? Sometimes I feel like they’re not important. I really like that sort of white label ethos they used to do with dance
music. You get a white label and it’ll be all about the music that’s underneath. But in a way that is design, no design is design in a weird way. The music should speak for itself. Do you think album artwork will ever die out? I don’t think it will ever die out because platforms like iTunes and Spotify still need visuals. We’ve got platforms now like Instagram which is huge and it’s in the format of a square, so in a way Instagram is like that original artwork idea. Bands can still use Instagram to show off beautiful designs and promote their records. Do you think the future of music is digital? Yeah totally. I think producing physical print for music is going to become… not niche but not as common. It’ll still be brought by collectors and “uber” fans of the band or whatever. Say for instance, you were going to buy a Taylor Swift album or something, your first thought isn’t “I can’t wait to buy her vinyl” or “I wonder what her cover is going to look like,” you don’t really care. People just want to see the video. What do you see yourself doing in 5 years’ time? Increasing my graphic design portfolio. I never studied graphic design, that passion evolved quite naturally for me. I specialised in Moving Image Design at 23
, ERE RT? H T I N BEE E T-SH TH GOT
You’ve previously directed music videos, is finding inspiration for these very different to designing an album cover? Yes, I have. I’ve helped direct videos for the band and several other artists, which you can see on my website. I think I like videos to just be quite weird. I wouldn’t say they were quirky, that isn’t the word. Quirky is kind of a bit silly, they’re just a bit weird.
What’s your advice be for anyone trying to break into the graphic design scene? My advice is to do it. If you feel like your work isn’t very good or you don’t have any ideas, just look at stuff you like that 24
inspires you. Like I said earlier, Miró and Kandinsky are my inspirations. Don’t copy their work, but see what’s nice about theirs and figure out how you can incorporate that into your own. Just totally do it.
L-R: Examples of Sanders’ work in design and sound
Words: Ndidi Okoye, Jez Limjantra Images: Alicia McGuire
PUTTING A VIDEO TOGETHER NEEDS A LOT OF PRODUCTION, WHEREAS GRAPHIC DESIGN IS MORE CHILLED. SAT DOWN, SKETCHING OUT IDEAS, PLANNING. IT’S QUITE ZEN
Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication so I was focused on video before. I find graphic design more pleasing and a lot less work, not in a lazy way but if you have to put a video together there’s a lot of production involved whereas graphic design is more chilled. Sat down, sketching out ideas, planning. It’s quite zen.
Sylvana I love getting band T-shirts from concerts, I got my Alice Cooper one when I saw him in The SSE Arena back in November. My favourite band tee is my Black Sabbath one, I got it for £25 when I saw them at Download Festival.
John My favourite band tees are by Motorhead. I got my favourite one in Johannesburg, South Africa for about £5
Julajuck I got my MCR tee from Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, Thailand, for super cheap. But when it comes to band t-shirts Pink Floyd is classic. The prism from Dark Side of the Moon, to me, is the most iconic design.
Jessica I grew up listening to Iron Maiden because of my parents, and I’ve loved them ever since! My favourite tee is my AC/DC one, an aunt gave it to me a few years back. Don’t know how much she paid for it, but it was free for me!
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SHOOTIN
G S TA R
He’s ca in mus ptured some i Legend c, from reggaof the greate s his ext ary photogra e to rock’n’ro t names raordin pher D ll and p en ary life u and wo nis Morris di nk. scus rk
ses
Whether he was in a studio “blind drunk” with Marianne Faithfull, in a bedsit in Clapton with Sid Vicious or snapping a sleeping Bob Marley, Dennis Morris has always lived the life of his subjects. The result is a body of work that has won international recognition, gracing the covers of albums by Marley, Faithfull and XTC. He’s shot the front pages of magazines and his images have been displayed in museums and galleries around the world. That’s not all. He designed the “PiL” logo for post-punk band Public Image Limited, has published several books of his work and in 1981 released his own music as lead vocalist in afropunk band Basement 5, who took reference from punk, reggae and dub—hence Morris’s self-styled “godfather of Afropunk” title. More recently he has married his art with fashion to produce T-shirts for hipster labels and high street retailers. It all started in Hackney in the 1960s and early 1970s, where Morris was brought up and became mesmerised
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by the “magic” of photography when he met the photographic equipment manufacturer and keen amateur photographer Donald Paterson. Paterson was also the director of a choir that young Morris belonged to, and when he founded a photography club he encouraged the boy to join.
Words: Eve Cross Images: Lewis Taylor, Dennis Morris
“He saw my enthusiasm and potential, took me under his wing and taught me everything,” Morris explains. “If it moved, I took a picture of it.” And so he became “Mad Dennis”, nonplussed by football but obsessed with his camera, to the confusion of his East End friends, early years that are documented in his book Growing Up Black. If his subjects were mundane—neighbours and Hackney’s street people, with christenings and parties to earn a few bob—his fierce instinct and sensitivity revealed the seismic social and political shifts of the 60s and 70s. He sold his first picture—of a Palestinian Liberation Organisation demonstration—to the Daily Mirror while he was still at school.
L-R: Dennis Morris, Sex Pistols backstage at Penzance 1977 © Dennis Morris – all rights reserved
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“In-depth realism” was, and continues to be the centre of his commercial work. After the mentor came the muse—in the shape of Bob Marley, who first he snapped at a gig at the Lyceum in London. This was the moment, he says, when he became “a rock photographer”. An encounter with Marley outside a Soho music club led to him accompanying the reggae artist and his band the Wailers on tour. The pictures appeared on the cover of Time Out and Melody Maker while Morris was just 16 years old.
Still a teenager, Dennis was uncovering significant moments in rock history solely through the eye of his camera. His relationship with his subjects and muses allowed his reportage-style images to depict these moments with a sense of rawness and honesty. His pictures of Marley caught the eye of John Lydon—aka Johnny Rotten. Soon Morris spent a year documenting the Sex Pistols and found himself at the centre of a musical revolution, with a highly sought-after body of work. When the band split he travelled to Jamaica with Lydon and Richard Branson, who was on the lookout for talent for his new record label. A job as art director at Island Records came next, as well as his role in designing the logo for PiL— Lydon’s next project. Dennis was always behind the camera, but living through an era of political upheaval, nuclear protest, immigration and Thatcherism. “There was mass unemployment, people were on strike. There were days when you walked down a street like Oxford Street and there were rubbish piles 10-feet tall. “So that’s what really created punk. We all came out of school and we didn’t
L-R: Vivienne Westwood with assistant in her shop SEX. Basement 5 © Dennis Morris – all rights reserved. Morris: shining example four decades on
really want to be doing those mundane jobs our parents were doing. We wanted more. I always say that creativity is created out of poverty or angst. And it was a very horrible time. “Back in the early days of punk, Vivienne Westwood had her shop. Very few of us could afford the clothes anyway. It wasn’t really punks who were wearing her clothes, it was people who wanted to look trendy and cool. So we made our own clothes. Now everyone has stylists, even the stylists have stylists. In the beginning of punk, the media and the fashion industry didn’t really tap into it. But then they realised its massive influence and potential so they jumped on it. The music industry is now accepted worldwide as a money maker. Before, in the days of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles it was like ‘Oh well, you get on with that’. Now they see at is part of the economy.” Now every band is a brand, although merchandising is something Morris has always tried to keep at arm’s length. He has collaborated with fashion labels such as Undercover and Lad Musician, as well as retailers like Urban Outfitters, but he has always been “selective and guarded” about his work. “I have had my images printed on band T-shirts, but at the beginning it wasn’t about the merchandise,” he explains. It was about the photography and the art: “I wasn’t interested in the clothing side of it. In the beginning there wasn’t really a link between music and fashion,” he continues. “You would write slogans all over your clothes and cut the sleeves off. You’d get in a really hot bath in your jeans and they’d be drainpipes. But now music, fashion and art are very much entwined. “A few years ago I had a sale of clothing I had done and I approached it as if it was a photographic exhibition. I framed T-shirts and hung them on the wall. People would see them and ask for their size. But funnily enough what
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most people wanted were the ones that were framed. They saw it as a work of art which really pleased me. Basically what people were asking was ‘could I frame it and could I sign it?’”. Morris explains that the success of the band tee is because people want an edge. Take Motorhead. “It’s such a striking image. You would see somebody who is a very middle-class housewife wearing a Motorhead T-shirt. They can have that ‘yeah I’m rock’n’roll’ moment. “With something like that I would normally add a swing tag which explains who or what the photograph is of, and where it was taken. So that’s for the clueless who may be wearing the T-shirt without knowing who the band or person are. Essentially what I’m doing is promoting my work as a photographer and giving them a bit of a history lesson.” 29
EM H T D EAR IRST H U YO ERE F H
ZIGFRID VON UNDERBELLY Zigfrid von Underbelly: a mythical renegade, a man who shunned his blue-blood heritage and eventual billions in inheritance to search for something “a little more... punk,” or so it says in the spiel on the website. Somewhere between Berlin and New York, this Hoxton venue is naturally where he found a home. A bar opened in 2005, it now carries both his name and his legend, that of the unknown ‘man’ behind the nearly all the stardust of the 70s and 80s put together. Inside, the decor is just as fantastical, it’s fun and undeniably punk-ish—a bar dotted with seemingly no rhyme or reason with oddities found over the years by Zigfrid himself, or better known in real life as art school alumnus and entrepreneur behind the Roadtrip and Workshop venues. A man who likes vintage rock ‘n’ roll and vintage….sofas. In particular Chesterfields, lots of Chesterfields, par for the course in a fabricated dive-bar grunge kind of way—except you needn’t wash your hands upon departure.
Words: Jordan Gale Images: Alicia McGuire 30
Downstairs is where the music happens. Most nights—and certainly at the weekend—there will be some sort of live music on the handsome, curtain-draped stage. Not just for the indie-rockers either, expect jazz, blues, soul and more. If that isn’t what you’re after, head back upstairs for some guilt-free, pop pleasures. No one will judge you for singing along to Britney on a Saturday night in this corner of Shoreditch, of that we can assure you. zigfridvonunderbelly.com
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