Motley Magazine February 2016 by Motley Magazine

Mary Crilly on Cork Porn Scandal Sundance Stylings

Greek Refugee Camp Experience

i n t e rv i e w s w i t h

HEATHERS talks about HER second studio album, which is released this month I S S U E N o6

FEBRUARY 2016

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VOLUNTEERING

Laura Hussey discusses the change in the Irish literary scene with author, Rob Doyle.

Robbie Byrne catches up with Wolf Alice, ahead of their upcoming Grammy performance.

Mary Crilly talks with Eoin McSweeney on the recent Cork Porn Scandal.

Eoghan Scott recalls his time volunteering in a Greek refugee camp.

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After 2014’s 12 Years a Slave swept the board with nominations, the past two years have been incredibly disappointing in regards to nominations for POC films, actors and filmmakers. With films such as Creed, Beasts of No Nation and Straight Outta Compton gaining good reviews, potentially worthy of Oscar attention last year, one would think that at least one of them would get a couple of nods. Unfortunately however, they only managed two nominations between them, Best Original Screenplay for Straight Outta Compton, and Best Supporting Actor for Sylvester Stallone in Creed, and yes, he is the film’s one white star. The uproar over the lack of diversity has gained even greater tracks than it did last year, with prominent figures such as Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith and Spike Lee calling for boycott and refusing to attend this year’s ceremony. Numerous civil rights organisations are also calling for meetings with the Academy in order to discuss the issue.

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here are only two major things being discussed in regards to the 2016 Academy Awards: whether or not Leo will finally get his Oscar and the blatantly obvious lack of people of colour in the nominations list. Following the 2015 nominations, when Ava DuVernay was snubbed for a Best Director nomination, and David Oyelowo was snubbed for Best Actor, both for the African American civil rights drama Selma, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite took social media by storm. Instigated by a blogger named April Reign on Twitter, it wasn’t long before the blogosphere was in an uproar, with everyone asking why so few nominees were POC. The hashtag was so popular, and made such an impact, that one could be forgiven for thinking that change was imminent. Surely this year would be better? Surely there would be a greater variety of 2016 nominees? The short answer is no. Absolutely nothing has changed, and Twitter is very, very angry. The anger and contempt towards the nominations can be summed up in one tweet which reads, “#OscarsSoWhite I guess the Academy figured after 12 Years a Slave, they were good for a decade or two.” This sounds a bit harsh, maybe, but very true when you look at the facts.

A H E A D O F T HIS AWA R DS S E AS O N A MY O’ CA L L AGH A N TA KES A LO O K AT O N E O F T H E F IL M IN DUST RY ’S G R E AT EST DOW N FA L LS

W H I T E

S O

Day in the Life of 2006 - Leah Driscoll Travel: Crossing the Camino Hannah Kingston tries a very personal self-challenge in her monthly colum Movement in Time: A photographic sequence by James Delaney Are the new social media eroding the effectiveness of traditional media on campus? Afterword with Heathers

O S C A R S

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HALLE BERRY

In a statement released by the organisations, they declare that “if the academy cannot break this vicious circle, it risks its own irrelevancy.” To give credit to the Academy, a unanimous decision was made that would enact a number of policy changes that would ultimately diversify and double the number of women and minority members within its ranks by 2020.

Three new seats are planned to be established within the Board of Governors, and beginning later this year, every new member’s voting status will last 10 years, and will only be renewed if the member is active within the film industry during that decade. These standards will also be retroactively applied to the Academy’s current members. Granted, it did also take a two year campaign and a few

prominent Hollywood figures threatening a boycott to actually cause some change, but at least something is being done. One could be quick to blame the Academy for the absolute lack of POC nominations and, for a large part, they do show a distinct amount of bias and prejudice. However, it also points to the fact that there’s hardly any films being made with major POC leads or directors, which isn’t an Academy problem, but rather, a Hollywood problem. Awards nominations only serve to further emphasise the fact that the mainstream film industry treats white as “the norm,” and the only place for minorities, specifically black filmmakers and actors, is often in historical dramas, for example about either slavery or the civil rights movement. Following the news that major changes were being made, even the Academy President, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, noted that “the Academy is going to lead and not wait for the industry to catch up.” The major problem with the rest of the industry being that there’s still hardly any POC actors being cast or any POC directors being considered for work. This year, there was a huge number of notable white performances to consider for nominations, but the only black actors and actresses being spoken about were the likes of Idris Elba, Will Smith and Mya Taylor. This isn’t because of a lack of talent, it’s because black people in Hollywood don’t get the opportunity in the first place, and even though the Academy is implementing changes, they will have to look further into the world of indie films in order to find POC performers, directors and screenwriters because mainstream Hollywood is still having none of it. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

welcomes letters from readers, emailed to editor@motley.ie. is published by Motley Magazine, G.06 Áras Windle, University College Cork, Cork. Printed by Walsh Colour Print, Tralee Road, Co. Kerry. Copyright 2016 Motley Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. All efforts have been made to ensure that details and pricing are correct at time of print. Motley magazine does not take responsibility for any errors incurrred. This magazine can be recyled either in your green bin kerbside collection or at a local recycling point.

OSCARS CONTOVERSY 18 Amy O’ Callaghan examines one of the film industry’s greatest downfalls

Mary Crilly on Cork Porn Scandal Sundance Stylings

Greek Refugee Camp Experience

ON THE COVER 26 “I do think this album is a bit more straight-forward pop. The first one was definitely the younger album, but I feel in this one I find myself as an artist more. I think it’s a bit experimental pop, it’s emotional and raw this time round but also warmer, I think, than Glorious.” -FOXES

I N T E RV I E WS W I T H

HEATHERS

ON THIS MONTH’S BIGGEST ALBUM RELEASE, ALL I NEED

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ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

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FOREWORD

EDITORIAL TEAM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLEN DESMOND DEPUTY EDITOR HANNAH KINGSTON

ART DIRECTOR CATHAL O’GARA

CURRENT AFFAIRS FEATURES & OPINION ENTERTAINMENT & CULTURE FASHION & BEAUTY

EDITOR-AT-LARGE CLAIRE FOX

ELLEN DESMOND EDITOR

Dion Davis Rachel O’Shea Adam O’Reilly Rachel Muckley

HEAD STAFF WRITER Eoghan Scott STAFF WRITERS Hassan Baker Robert Byrne Leah Driscoll Sorcha Lanigan Anna McCarthy Eoin McSweeney ONLINE TEAM Colm Cahalane Maria Hennigan

CONTRIBUTORS Max Farrell Laura Hussey Kyle Malone Amy O’ Callaghan Nathalie Tobin

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Illustration Emily Horgan

Everyone makes questionable decisions from time to time. It’s a given that we won’t be proud of our every moment, especially of time spent as a student. However, with unprecedented frequency, we are beginning to preserve our every move online. For the majority, there’s now a significant amount of ourselves distorted and saved on the internet. On page 11 of this issue, Leah Driscoll recalls “a day in the life of 2006.” Even then, a decade ago, social media was present as a backdrop to our lives. Since then, it has stopped being a backdrop and has become instead an extension of our everyday selves. Social media has sucked up part of our souls and, often, it captures us in very unfortunate ways. When considering the online image or persona we’ve created, the first thing we’re usually supposed to worry about is the impact it may have on our employment opportunities. It’s a bit of a disaster, really, if a potential employer searches your name on Google to discover images of you black out drunk and caked in vomit on College Road. While I’d personally like to think the worst thing an employer could discover about me online is my regretfully committed Green Day fanaticism on Bebo circa 2008, there’s surely much worst out there in that mass of cyber space. In fact, as I write this, I recall a very unfortunate video clip of me belting Stevie Nicks songs at a karaoke party last September.

Mary Crilly on Cork Porn Scandal Sundance Stylings

Greek Refugee Camp Experience

I N T E RV I E WS W I T H

HEATHERS ON THIS MONTH’S BIGGEST ALBUM RELEASE, ALL I NEED

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It’s not all about work though, is it? The most obvious downside to living in an online world is the opportunity for bullying and other dangers that come with it. Everyone gets very brave altogether when hidden behind a screen. We’ve seen that very clearly in UCC these past few weeks. The Students’ Union have been getting slapped in the face with accusations over on Yik Yak, while UCC Societies have been ripped was to pieces on Facebook. accused by an online commentator of being a communist propaganda tool (for the femi-communists, I gather).

It’s interesting to realise that the entire January of what should have been intelligent student debate (if you could call that tacky spiral of madness a debate) seems to have taken place via technology. Sorcha Lanigan writes more about the pros and cons of wearing a mask online on page 13, and I’ve written about social media backlash to the Feminist Society in another editorial on motley.ie Arguably, the darkest side of the internet comes out of the shadows, though, when we pause to consider not what we put of ourselves online, but that others may do with it. It’s dark indeed when innocent young people upload harmless photographs, and find themselves unwittingly caught up in pornographic scandals. In this issue, Eoin McSweeney speaks to Mary Crilly of the Cork Sexual Violence Centre about the laws and rights surrounding the “blame game” that played out after it was discovered that a porn site had been stealing young women’s Facebook photos. The recent coverage of this terrible scandal affecting Cork students has shaken most of my peers, pretty much because it could have been any of them, and it was some of them. When thinking about employment or personal image, we should all be more careful about what we put online, sure. But real world rights and respect should be expected to cross the barriers of our screens too. Whatever about how we treat ourselves, it really seems that online behaviour hasn’t quite caught up to how we should treat one another in a civilised 21st Century. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

ja nua ry 3 1

2016

HI MAX,

fiction O P - E D

JUST WONDERING IF

YOU GOT THAT REQUEST TO JOIN THE MAG’S FACEBOOK & WHATSAPP

GROUP?

- WE’RE DECIDING ON PANCAKE TUESDAY PLANS EDITOR, ELLEN DESMOND

digital eating disorder is rampant on campus. Between my five e-mail accounts, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Whatsapp and Tumblr, it’s hard not to struggle with information overload on a daily basis. It’s neverending. We try to do the impossible - we try to consume everything, and in doing so spread ourselves too thin. Playwright Richard Foreman notedly warned that with modern technology we are playing with fire and risk being pounded into ‘pancakes’: “But today, I see within us all (myself included) the replacement of complex inner density with a new kind of self-evolving under the pressure of information overload and the technology of the “instantly available”. A new self that needs to contain less and less of an inner repertory of dense cultural inheritance as we all become pancake people -spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button.” I feel spread too thin. The ability we have through digital media to communicate instantly and access new information through a simple tap of the phone is making me intellectually gaunt. Since the rise in popularity of social media and smartphones I’ve had a growing presentiment; 06

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it’s not that my mind is failing me -but the effect of growing up during a technological revolution has certainly left its mark. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I’m not reading the way I used to read. Diving headfirst into a lengthy novel is a rarity as my mind begins to wander and my eyes flicker down the page in order to get the ‘gist’ of the narrative, as if I am scanning through a Wikipedia entry. Don’t get me wrong, I love my smartpone more than my least-favourite sibling. It’s always within reach -even during sleep (just in case I wake up in the middle of the night with an intense feeling of FOMO). But this fear comes at a price: I’m 99.9% sure that I’m going to die as a result of a car striking my sleep-deprived self at a pedestrian crossing as I scroll through other people’s lives on InstaSnapBook. I’m also worried that, when the afformentioned crash takes place, no one will notice my flailing body as they too will will be busy checking their e-mails on the way to work -just in case some indiscriminate e-mail emergency occurs that needs to be dealt with at 8.50am rather than 9.00am. One of Google’s aims as a company is ‘to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.’ Balderdash. The only thing Google is useful for is analyzing dreams and confirming through WebMD that you have indeed contracted a deadly virus from a country you’ve never visited. We seem to have become fluent in mediums and inarticulate in communication.When’s the last time you met someone for coffee and not ended up scrolling through your news feed or refreshing your Gmail? When’s the last time you couldn’t think of something and found yourself automatically googling the answer without a moment’s thought. When’s the last time you truely paused to think about the way in which you consume and share information? The accessibility of vast quantities of information has reduced its usefulness as the way we now absorb this information is selective and curated by a want of immediacy. We’ve become pancakes.

F E B R U A R Y

BARGAIN BUYS

F E E L I N G

ACCESSORIES

M&S CHOCOLATES We’re on to something great here, but we’re willing to share it with you, our many, many readers. Do you find yourself lurking in the isles of M&S before Valentine’s Day, wondering how obvious it will be that you’re buying the overpriced chocolatey goodies for yourself? So do we. The secret is to hit up M&S on February 15th and not a moment before. On February 15th, not only are the leftover V Day chocolates discounted by 50%-75%, it’s also suddenly socially acceptable to buy them in bulk. You can claim you’re either beating the commercialised holiday or you’ve been so flippantly in love for so long you entirely forgot to even address Valentine’s beforehand. Whatever the case, try the pink coloured chocolates. They don’t look like they’ll taste like chocolate, but they somehow do…

Matching Cat and Human Best Friend Collars Relationship goals reach peak when you and your furry friend sit back to enjoy a Netflix marathon in these fine best friend bracelet adaptations. They can only be purchased from the dark depths of the internet, but if your cookies are all in bitter enough order, they’ll soon be advertised on your Facebook newsfeed in no time at all. (Also available in dog. Terms and conditions apply).

CLASSIC ROMANCE TINA FEY - BOSSYPANTS

CUISINE A Tesco Value Pack of Cheese Because nothing screams Valentine’s Day like eating a block of cheese straight from the packet. At only €1.74, it would be rude to forgo an easy singles best friend. Dreams really can come true.

B I T T E R

HOME FASHION

This one is a bit of a #throwback, but everybody loves a classic romance. Reading Tina Fey’s autobiography should be a rite of passage for us all. She teaches us to say “yes” more often, and is of great comfort to the commitmentphobes or the more socially awkward among us. “Yes to love,” she declares. “Yes to life. Yes to staying in more!”

ONESIES The singleton’s best friend. It’s like a hug made of fleece and if you’ve lost interest in your appearance because you’re going to be alone forever anyway, they’re just the ticket to spinster village/bachelor pad, whatever you wish to call it. Economical adult onsies can be found in local Cork boutique Penneys, from nine euro. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

F E B R U ARY C U R R E N T

A F F A I R S

What we’ll be talking about in

Current Affairs Editor Dion Davis has some suggestions for When You Need to Sound Knowledgeable During The Upcoming General Election Campaign

The “Magic” number

are you registered to vote?

This number is 79. Why is it magic you ask? Because it’s the amount of TDs a party must have to hold a majority in government. Will Fine Gael have this magic number? According to recent opinion polls their support has dropped since the 2011 election but they might still be the largest party. The question on everyone’s mind is who they will go into coalition with. Tight lipped politicians and speculation from the media is going to make for an interesting outcome in this election.

This will be a common question and conversation for the next month. This election matters – as does your vote. If you are not registered you can do so online or get a form from your local representative. The registrar of electors increased dramatically after the Marriage Equality referendum and the governing of this country for the next five years is in your hands so take careful consideration with your vote.

POLICIES & PROMISES “Isn’t that what you tend to do during an election?” is a quote from Labour TD Pat Rabbitte, regarding broken promises around election time. Each party release their manifestos and policy documents outlining what they will do if elected to government – these usually have an executive summary if you are not into reading pages upon pages of literature. Most of these documents have also been uploaded online if you have a few minutes to spare to check them out. 08

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INDEPENDENT TDS Ireland has a significantly high percentage of Independent TDs compared to other democracies. There are currently 19 Independent TDs as of January 2016; this number is expected to rise after the election. Deputies Michael Healy Rae and Michael Lowry have been in the media recently over speculation that they will do a deal with the next government if they cannot make that “magic” number.

G E N E R A L

E L E C T I O N

Student Matters “Era no I couldn’t be arsed voting.” Get out and vote. You will complain about the next Government raising tuition fees or cutting grants, when the energy it takes could be used to vote for people/parties/policies that will benefit students. Stances on student loans and capping third level entrance fees are hot topics being thrown around by politicians trying to gain the student vote recently. A party or politician’s stance on education is an important one to investigate. The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) have released a manifesto and SmartVote app (the “Tinder of Politics”) which may help to point you in the right direction with this.

Newcomers 2016 GE will be one of fresh faces and parties. With the emergence of Renua, The Social Democrats and the Independent Alliance there will be a huge choice. Seventy-five candidates are in the bracket of 21-35 years old around the country, which is unheard of in Irish elections prior to this. Past and present UCC students will be among some of the constituencies so keep an eye out for some alumni.

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Repealing The 8th Amendment Some parties and TDs have taken a definitive stance on the matter, others have given the topic careful consideration and decided on a freedom of conscience vote. Labour and Sinn Féin are among the parties that are in favour of repealing the 8th amendment with Independent TD Clare Daly and Renua candidate Mary Ann O’Brien also in favour.

Gender Quotas

After all of the controversy that this topic was embroiled in over the course of the campaign, it will be interesting to see if more women actually get elected as a result of it. If anything it has encouraged more women to put their names forward which is a step in the right direction; however it is still up to the Irish voter whether or not those quotas will pay off and lead to more female representation. Only 16% of TDs in the current Dáil are female, and this is the highest record of female representation since the foundation of the State. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

H U M O U R

RAG WEEK: THE MUSICAL Words: Kyle Malone his month, UCC celebrates RAG Week, a term which literally is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as: “An act of ragging; an extensive display of noisy disorderly conduct, carried on in defiance of authority or discipline.” Though most students will look forward to RAG Week as a time to relax and unwind with friends, others are busy at work, as UCC is set to host the first ever RAG Week: The Musical. I went undercover to investigate just what we can expect. “I founded the RAG musical myself,” boasted 22 year old Music student, Alice Kearney. “After seeing Les Misérables over Christmas, I thought much of the story was mirrored on campus. I mean, after all, when was the last time any of us had some proper food around here? And if I have to get asked about SmartCard one more time, I’ll build my own bloody barricade.” The musical, to be performed in the Aula Maxima (which loosely translates as “fancy fancy room”) will hope to compete with whatever else students might be attending that week, such as lectures and tutorials. In a strange move, the musical production team are taking suggestions for casting, with the bookies already tipping the Students’ Union to appear in a villainous role. Meanwhile, the team have denied that George Boole will appear as Townsperson #3, as not only is he dead, but he also lacks the “desired vocal range.” Fans of the musical behind Alice’s inspired production will be happy to know that she has adapted much of the well-known songs to fit the UCC backdrop. “Oh don’t worry about singing along. We’d be happy to hear you belt out a chorus or two of Do you hear the New Bar sing? or join in for the spine tingling finale of One Drink More.” 10

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“After seeing Les Misérables over Christmas, I thought much of the story was mirrored on campus. I mean, after all, when was the last time any of us had some proper food around here? But not all is well with the musical. Adam O’Connor, of the Engineering Faculty, who plays the memorable student number 24601, says they’ve had their fair share of controversy. “It’s silly really. This is a brand new show, obviously it isn’t perfect,” he said, in response to claims the opening song goes something like: “Look down, look down, you’ll always be in Arts.” Lecturers have also hotly denied rumours they will join the show to sing songs such as Empty Chairs at Empty Lectures or the well renowned On My Own. Meanwhile, the latest announcement is that Cork City bouncers are also set to be involved, though will only be for a rendition of the famous Bring Him Home. Thematically, it looks this Les Misérables adaptation will indeed aptly portray RAG Week. That is to say, at the start everyone is very hopeful, about halfway through everyone is shouting over each other for some reason, and by the end everyone is either dead or surely poorer than when they started.

H U M O U R

a day in the life of 2006 Leah Driscoll pens a #TBT to a lifestyle gone by. icture this time ten years ago; you have just told 2005 to talk to the hand ‘cause the face ain’t home, and moved on to greet the fresh face of 2006. The word noughties has most likely not yet been invented, but here you are in the very midst of it. If you identify as a millennial, then this is one of your prime tween years, and a typical day in 2006 went a little something like this. It’s Monday morning. The alarm of your Motorola Razr phone has just cut short your dream: Chris Brown had invited you up on stage at his concert and was serenading you with an acoustic rendition of Yo! Excuse Me Miss. God, will that guy ever stop being cool? It’s doubtful. A quick glance at the time shows that you’re running late for school, so you throw on your uniform, roll up your skirt and rush out of the house in a Lacoste ‘Touch of Pink’-scented flash. The GAA disco was last Saturday night, and it’s all anyone can talk about this morning. Your friends ask if anyone “topped” you and you’re not entirely sure what they mean, so you nod slowly and hope no more questions are asked. Thankfully the conversation moves swiftly on, as your friend whips out her digital camera so you can all look at the photos from the night. Tara wore the same Swamp dress as you, but it’s okay because in the pictures your legwarmers looked way better with it than hers. You can’t decide whether you look nicer in the photo where you’re pointing at your pouted lips, or the one in which you’re making a peace sign and looking away from the camera. Either way, you definitely have a new Bebo profile picture there somewhere. Speaking of Bebo, you remember you have to add that private joke you and Sarah had to the description of your friendship on your profile; no one else will find it funny, HTBT. You also need to change all the 2k5s to 2k6s- ugh, the New Year

is such effort. Your flashbox also needs to be updated to the hilarious Crazy Frog tune that everyone’s playing these days. That ringtone is never going to get old. Of course, all of this has to wait until you get home from school, because even thinking about using the very limited Internet on your phone would be sure to devour your credit in seconds. Later, your Mum picks you up from school and reminds you that you’re getting your braces tightened tomorrow. Unable to deal with the thought, you drown out your mother’s reminders with your iPod Nano. Last night you spent hours downloading the latest songs from Limewire and right now Bad Day by Daniel Powter is the perfect track choice. You jump as Never Gonna Give You Up blares through your earphones instead and, yet again, you experience the pain of being rickrolled. Your aunt comes over for dinner and boasts about the house in Cyprus she has bought after taking out a 3rd mortgage on her home. “House prices are only going to keep climbing and banks are practically throwing money at people- now is the time to invest in property,” she advises your parents. They consider this for the next few hours until you grow tired of the Celtic Tiger talk and head to sleep - something the Celtic Tiger will also be doing quite soon. Another day is done, and as you bury yourself under your High School Musical-themed duvet, you begin to wonder what the future has to offer. Hovercrafts? Robots? Michael Jackson’s comeback? All of these things are looking more likely than your crush replying to you on MSN, even though you’ve nudged him twice. No harm done though, the future is sure to hold many more adventures in store and as you drift off to sleep, 2016 becomes closer than ever. For now, gtgttylilylolxoxoXxX ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

T R AV E L

crossing the camino Hannah Kingston reflects on her time spent on the Camino De Santiago, a 791 km pilgrimage from the Pyrenees to Galicia. hen you envision a cheap holiday, you think about booze cruises, scarily inexpensive alcohol and crisping skin by a pool that has too much chlorine in it. Holidays should be about fleeing the daily grind and escaping into a totally different routine and culture. Surprisingly, this can still be achieved on a budget minus fluorescent lighting and late nights. The Camino De Santiago is a pilgrimage originating from St. James. Leading from the foothills of the Pyrenees in France and stretching 791 km over Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Three things can be expected from this type of trip: 1) An envelopment into Spanish culture. 2) A mental de-cluttering and 3) Dodgy tan lines. At the start of the Camino way, each pilgrim is given a passport and must collect stamps along their path to ensure their certificate at the end of the trip. It also acts as proof of your “Pellegrino” status and allows you to avail of cheap hostels precisely for that cause. I think a common misconception about a trip like this is that you need to be religious. This is not the case. Most people that I came across were in it for the culture and the beautiful views from the top of those knee buckling hills. If you had said “Hiking holiday with your Mother” to me a year ago, there is absolutely no way I would have jumped at the opportunity. However, this is the type of trip which requires a well-known companion who has seen you at your most horrific, both physically and mentally. When the sun comes out in force and the blisters start to arise, you need to be in the company of someone you can shout at. And who’ll shout back at you. The only negative aspect of this trip is that you really get inside your own head. Some could see that as a blessing; others a curse. Without a constant source of WiFi, you begin to forget about everything that’s going on at home within days. Shortly you even get 12

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sick of your iPod and start to actually look around at the beauty you’re surrounded in. Walking 25-30 km seems daunting at first but everyday is new. You’re walking through grapevines, cherry trees, roads that haven’t seen attention in years to the side of the Spanish equivalent of the M50. Every night is different as you sleep in a new bunk bed and forget about your previous 25 kilometres. Each hostel has something new to offer. My least favourite was the one that smelled like something died under by bed and only had one bath between forty people. My favourite was one nestled among the trees at the top of a hill, a vegetarian commune offering hammocks, herbal teas and a baby owl. One of the greatest parts of this holiday is meeting new people that you would never have talked to at home. You begin your day bleary eyed and sore and end it talking to a 60-yearold, recent divorcee over cheap wine and tapas. There is this undying sense of solidarity from start to finish, it really isn’t about the end line, it’s about the journey. Everyday you see people ahead of you with the sea shell hanging off their bagpacks, and you know there’s people behind you with the same. Everyone is rooting for one another. This is a holiday I would recommend to the twenty-something. It’s so unbelievably underrated but offers so many things to so many different people. For those that don’t want to go on a grand expedition every day, there is usually some form of hostel every 5-10 kilometres, there’s cheap wine, delicious food (if you know where to go, steer clear from the pulpo; octopus), sun and people all around the world to chat to while you attempt to de-crisp your shoulders and dodgy back-pack lines. I would recommend staying two nights in the big cities as the atmosphere can bring you back to life having wandered through the wilderness for days on end. Yes, it is the road less travelled but it’s one I will always highly acclaim and, for the first time in my life I’m going to tell you, for the love of all that is holy, wear sensible shoes.

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“Long time yikker, first time yakker…” Following recent UCC-themed “ups and downs” on social media, Sorcha Lanigan considers the pros and cons of anonymous social media apps. scar Wilde once said “Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth.” Such a truism can be applied to today’s online anonymous apps and websites such as Yik Yak and Askfm. The benefits of being masked are twofold. The advantage mainly being that people can now express themselves without fear of judgment or backlash. Inhibitions are removed and a voice is given to those who might be afraid of making themselves heard. A random scroll through Yik Yak’s clean white homepage reveals a variety of grisly confessions lurking under the “Yak Karma Score.” It includes everything from “I EAT MEAT,” to “In love with my best friend’s boyfriend…wwjd??,” to “My whole life is like that bit at the end of the news when they pretend to talk to each other.” People can verbalise their innermost thoughts and feelings, which of course can be gloriously cathartic as, although Facebook enables users to post whatever they like, sometimes you’d really prefer those closest to you not being subject to your “shit-posting.” While it is often an advantage on Yik Yak is that people can just about say whatever they’re thinking, the drawback is also the same: people can just about say whatever they’re thinking. This has given rise to a curious, motley assembled hotbed of the anxious, the whiny, the bored, even the budding entrepreneurs (“A bath bomb that tans you would be the best invention ever”) and of course agony-aunt style commentators that are just tryna help a brotha out. During the day the app can be viewed in terms of practicality.

People can bitch and gossip about current events taking place within a five-mile radius of other users, usually on campus, (depending on where your “herd” is). Students can ask for Ramen’s 6 before 6 menu, and enquire as to the identity of the “absolute beasht of a feen in the baggy fatmans by door in the Fishbowl.” Past midnight though trawling through Yik Yak’s feed becomes analogous to sitting in a bar at a lonely hearts special, watching the miserable and lonely drown their sorrows as they cry about exes, the lovers that went wrong, how sometimes they drink in order to “forget about the time I waved at someone who was waving to a person behind me.” Not to mention a whole host of other regrets put on anonymous display. As someone who suffers from insomnia (read: a tendency towards having approximately 27 founders Buffington naps during the day), I’ve learned and Droll holding a to judge the time of night from cutout of the Yik Yak logo. the gradually fading tones of “Sarah, why did you leave me? Please come back. The fact that you can possibly braid your armpit hair is inconsequential to me now,” as they develop into the more irritable Yaks of those getting up to begin their work shifts at 6am. Some would summarise Yik Yak as a truly horrifying insight into the human condition. Others would describe it as a commendably irritating waste of time, as frustrating as it is addictive. Either way, it is short-lived entertainment and a fleeting glimpse into another person’s thoughts, feelings, hopes and worries. So, perhaps, you could just call it life. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

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Tries Love Hannah Kingston’s February column sees her take on a very different sort of challenge: an eating disorder. ’m not talking about Colin Firth or Keira Knightley running through meadows. This is all about the most important kind of love: self-love. People will most likely roll their eyes at this article. I know I probably would if I hadn’t written it myself. However, with UCC’s Body Image Week just behind us, I think it’s a topic that will never be exhausted, as body image issues will never truly go away (a pity for us mere mortals). The Department of Health estimates that 200,000 people suffer from an eating disorder. Each year, 400 cases emerge and there are roughly 80 deaths annually. Fuelled by the media’s idea of perfection, it’s almost impossible to accept yourself just the way you are. I know this was the case for me when I first came to college, during my second year of college, today, probably tomorrow, and most certainly in the future. Tries was a very personal one as it chalThis month’s lenged me to ditch old habits and try to seek that cringey word: “acceptance.” So there were three little steps I had to take; 1) Throw out all my magazines and unfollow the elite on Instagram. 2) Leave my weighing scales at home. 3) Refrain from making myself sick, even on the worst of days. All of these things seem pretty remedial but for someone who has been battling Veronica (the name I’ve chosen to give my eating disorder) it’s not an easy case. The first week was the hardest and I yearned to scroll and flick through images of the glossy version of life because I think, deep down, we’re all a bit masochistic. Not weighing myself everyday almost killed me, and the last one was just hell. I knew, however, that if I could get through one week, I could get through two, then maybe three, possibly even a month. With the help of a therapist, happy pills and a mother who loves to feed, I became physically healthy by the end of First Year. Now I’m in Final Year. Mentally, it’s another story because wherever you look, wherever you go, you will constantly be bombarded with glaring messages that we should fear carbohydrates, fats,and don’t even get me started on sugar. “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels,” they say. I’m sorry, love, but most things do. Nonetheless, it’s exhausting. Running miles and vomiting piles won’t make you happy in yourself. Six stone me and ten stone me still feel shitty about all of the same things. Looking to others for validation won’t make you happy, the end of the bottle won’t, the last slice of pizza won’t. In all honesty, your cat probably can’t even offer you everlasting happiness and that’s saying something. 14

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1) Throw out all my magazines and unfollow the elite on Instagram. 2) Leave my weighing scales at home. 3) Refrain from making myself sick, even on the worst of days. You are the only person that can truly make yourself feel loved and until you find a way to love yourself, you can’t expect anyone else to. I started with what could be done from my very bedroom and moved on to see a body image professional, who wishes to remain anonymous. It was the most interesting interview I’ve ever done as every word that came out of the beam of sunshine resonated with me in so many different ways: “All those models you’re looking at probably get out of bed, look at their emaciated arms, believe they’re fat and skip breakfast for the fourth time that week. Do you want to stop eating breakfast again? Do you want your periods to disappear like they did before? Would you feel happier if the nerves in your left foot started dying so the walk to college was a struggle again?” No, no, no. Goddamnit, she was right. Every single one of us wake up some days and genuinely make ourselves believe that we’re hideous, stupid, lack charisma, whatever it is. Two weeks into giving up my bad habits and I genuinely started to gain respect for what the body coach was saying. If we can make ourselves insist within our conscious that we are infact disgusting creatures, can’t the same be said for coming to terms with the fact that we may too be glorious looking beings? Who wrote the book on what’s beautiful? Who decided what was clever or funny, or worthwhile? Today, I’m only following people on Instagram with a healthy BMI and I’m no longer buying those magazines that scream: “Let me tell you how to be a woman.” I don’t need to be told. I’ve made it to 21, with a lot of baggage, true, some yoghurt spilled, and it was crap at times but in the end I found a fiver at the bottom of it and now I’m victorious. Yes, that is a metaphor for coming to terms with the fact that someday, somehow, just maybe I’ll look in the mirror and be like, you know what? You’re you and you’re perfect in your own way. Now say it with me everyone. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article you can contact the UCC Student Counselling Service on 021 490 3565.

BEFORE WE BEGIn

EVERYTHING MUST GO: Art and the Market

At the Lewis Glucksman Gallery

VALUE ADDED ART Everything Must Go explores the relationship between contemporary art, economics and value. Featuring works by both Irish and international artists, the exhibition emphasises the ways in which monetary and historical value accrues through qualities that might appear peripheral to the artwork itself: context and display, provenance and ownership, reputation and rarity. Curated by Chris Clarke and Declan Jordan, Everything Must Go exhibits until 6th March 2016. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

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EDITED BY RILEY @Adamm_Rileyy

Lady Gaga Vs Leo DiCaprio

Nicki Minaj Vs Farrah Abraham

The world watched and rewatched the moment when the American Horror Story actress unapologetically bumped a sneering DiCaprio as she made her way to accept her Golden Globe award. While it remains unsure if The Revenant star was actually throwing shade at the Pop Queen, it is Hollywood after all, so it’s fair to presume that he was. We imagine DiCaprio’s laughter quickly turned to tears after hearing the news that Gaga may well get an Oscar before him as last Thursday’s nominations list included the singer who was nominated for best original song ‘Til It Happens To You with Diane Warren.

The Anaconda singer and the Teen Mom OG star are going head-to-head online because, of course they are. The feud between the two divas started after Minaj called the 24 year old mother out for being disrespectful to her parents during the filming of MTV’s Teen Mom OG. This lead to a free-for-all with both ladies spilling some boiling hot tea which lead to Farrah filming a video of her daughter calling the rapper a “loser.” Now rumours are circulating that Minaj is currently recording a diss track which can be expected to drop soon.

Charlie Sheen Vs Denise Richards While the former Two And A Half Men star’s life is never far from controversy, Sheen has reached new heights as of late with a heartbreaking HIV diagnosis and an extremely turbulent relationship with ex-Denise Richards and their children. Sheen recently texted his daughter Lola calling her a “pig whore,” to which Charlie tried to rectify the situation by explaining the message was meant for her mother. Insiders report that the children are afraid to see their Dad and Richards refuses to let the three get together. Can you blame her?

Justin Bieber Vs Ariana Grande While most couldn’t possibly resist the bad boy image, the Canadian accent with a hint of a 1980s pornstar’s mustache, Ariana Grande has shut down the Bieb’s advances. Justin tried his hardest to slide into Ariana’s DMs posting “Damn Ariana you look so good” under one of the popstar’s Instagram videos. The Scream Queen’s alumna took to Twitter to shut down the advances, tweeting:“not today satan! Gtg finish this music & live my cute, drama free life!” Justin needs to Focus his energy on someone else because Ariana thinks he’s a Problem and they certainly won’t Bang Bang anytime soon.

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Half Japanese Perfect Words: Hassan Baker From the few seconds long static synth intro on the first song That Is That, it’s evident that Perfect is not a pop album. However, it does have all the combinations of a good album, fast songs, slow songs, weird songs, and sappy love songs. Half Japanese combines a punk sound with 60s psychedelic melodies, accompanied by some very garage rock sounding vocals. Almost like how it would sound if a young Jack White played with Ray Manzarek, and I’m talking about The Upholsterers era Jack White, or some fine tangent between The Stranglers and The Stooges. For a rock album, the guitar plays a surprisingly small role. The majority of the tone is set by the synthesizer, along with the drums, while the bass plays a weird, yet appealing, lead-rhythm style throughout. In contrast, for a lo-fi album, the drums play a very large role, such as on songs like Perfect, which is filled with very tribal percussions, almost reminiscent of the outro to The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever. Overall, a great album if you want something that feels recognizable, but yet still new and different.

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Grimes Kill V Maim Words: Amy O’Callaghan Coming hot on the heels of the bubbly, energetic track which was Flesh Without Blood, Canadian born singer-songwriter Grimes is back with another single from her 2015 album, Art Angels. Kill V. Maim is written from the perspective of Michael Corleone from the Godfather trilogy, except according to Grimes, he’s now a gender-bending vampire who can travel through space. Eccentric background aside, Kill V. Maim shows us a different side to Grimes as she presents us with a song that is distinctly more aggressive and angry compared to her previous work. Grimes’ iconic ethereal vocals quickly shift to enraged roars throughout the song, and are accompanied with a noise pop beat that shows off her new-found focus on using real instruments over electronic. The video for Kill V. Maim is suitably bonkers, considering it’s for a song about a time traveling Italian mobster. Throughout, we witness everything from a cyber-punk girl gang, to a Mad Max-esque car chase, to a blood rave. The video is absolutely crazy and extremely colourful as Grimes takes inspiration from video games, Japan and her own artwork, which is also littered throughout the video. It’s the perfect accompaniment to Kill V. Maim and is truly worth watching.

Lana Del Rey Freak Words: Riley Freak subtly continues the vibes of High By The Beach, a king of a hypnotic and psychedelic track, that switches between Del Rey’s usual siren sounds and a R&B influence. Freak is the latest track to receive a video from the blues queen’s 2015 record Honeymoon. Del Rey took to Instagram to announce that fans can expect the music video to drop soon with a cameo from Father John Misty. The track itself often gets lost amongst the rest of the cinematic record, but a music video could provide it with the recognition it deserves. The slow-paced trance ballad is definitely one to add to your ‘I’m sad but still know how to work it’ Spotify playlist.

We’re Alive Podcast Words: Riley Something we do not review frequently enough are audiobooks and podcasts and I take full responsibility for that as the Entertainment Editor. Reading isn’t for everyone, but I really can’t recommend podcasts enough. For those of you with an iPhone, the podcast app should come automatically on your phone and for those of you without an iPhone, go take a walk or something. To pop your podcast cherries, I can’t stress how great the radio drama We’re Alive truly is. The story follows a group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic zombie ridden world. It’s similar to The Walking Dead but with a much more likable cast and We’re Alive explores the zombies on a greater level, something which TWD fails to do. With nearly 50 chapters, the podcast is essential for all of you joggers and night owls.

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wi th JUST W E E KS TO GO UNTIL T H E 2 0 16 A my O ’ Callaghan ta k es a lo o k at o n e o f the fi lm i n d ustry’s gre atest FLAWS : A R ACIAL P R EJUDIC E here are only two major things being discussed in regard to the 2016 Academy Awards: whether or not Leo will finally get his Oscar and the blatantly obvious lack of people of colour in the nominations list. Following the 2015 nominations, when Ava DuVernay was snubbed for a Best Director nomination, and David Oyelowo was snubbed for Best Actor, both for the African American civil rights drama Selma, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite took social media by storm. Instigated by a blogger named April Reign on Twitter, it wasn’t long before the blogosphere was in an uproar, with everyone asking why so few nominees were POC. The hashtag was so popular, and made such an impact, that one could be forgiven for thinking that change was imminent. Surely this year would be better? Surely there would be a greater variety of 2016 nominees? The short answer is no. Absolutely nothing has changed, and Twitter is very, very angry. The anger and contempt towards the nominations can be summed up in one tweet which reads, “#OscarsSoWhite I guess the Academy figured after 12 Years a Slave, they were good for a decade or two.” This sounds a bit harsh, maybe, but very true when you look at the facts.

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Rituals: An Interview

with Rob Doyle

L aura H ussey d i s c u s s e s t he c h a n ge o f m o m e n t u m i n t he Ir i s h l i t er a ry s c e n e w i t h D u b l i n b a s e d a u t h o r , R o b D o y l e . ob Doyle has just released his second book This is the Ritual, the first of his published by Bloomsbury. I let him know that This is the Ritual is placed on the shelf in Waterstones Cork next to Edna O’Brien’s latest novel The Little Red Chairs. He considers it a placement of “honour.” This is the Ritual is a “collection of short fiction, tied together in various ways.” When discussing the writing process of This is the Ritual in comparison with his first novel, Doyle noted that: “it’s somewhat novelistic in the ways the stories are tied together. See, my first novel took about four or five years to write, really, so it was quite arduous. I had to go back and to change it. But This is the Ritual kind of evolved more naturally or organically, in the sense that when I was writing between the drafts of my first novel, I’d take a break. I would get so tired with that novel and I would need to breathe so I would go and write short stories, kind 20

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of faux essays and pseudo autobiographical pieces. I would do this as a way to relieve the pressures of writing a novel.” Doyle has been writing for several years, having published his first novel Here are the Young Men in 2014. The novel tells the story of a group of boys who finish their Leaving Cert in the summer of 2003. Hailed as “the Irish Trainspotting,” the novel went on to be named Book of the Year by The Irish Times. “So after my first book came out I just kept writing short fiction for a while and then eventually I had a fairy large amount of material. I took what I thought was the best stuff but also the stuff that came together most succinctly and I put them together in a collection that felt right.” A collection that went on to be 2016’s This is the Ritual. I was interested in hearing what Doyle would define as his version of a good short story: “I suppose to strip it right down to the very basics

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is, if it’s interesting; if the material is interesting. For me there are certain topics that I come back to, maybe you could call it an obsession, maybe I’m obsessional in the stories that I write often. Like in This is the Ritual, a lot of the themes are repetitive and so you get a lot of obsessional characters; you get sexual obsession; you get a lot of infidelity. These are just things that I find myself writing about again and again because on some level they fascinate me. As do such things as human isolation, human distress, madness or the threat of madness, or people who are adrift, people who are alone, people who are on the edge either psychologically or socially.” It’s a particularly interesting time to have a discussion with someone like Rob Doyle. This is because the past year has been described as the beginnings of an Irish literary renaissance, as it has seen an obvious increase in relatively new Irish authors, like Doyle, appearing with fresh titles in bookshops. He weighs in on this claim, agreeing that there is noticeably a sudden momentum of change in the Irish literary scene. “There is something going on in the sense that there really are an awful lot of people putting out their first book or their second book and there’s a lot of vibrancy and a sense of a buzz. Whereas, from what I gather, seven or eight years ago when the Celtic tiger was still a thing, there were only a

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handful of writers who were, apart from these established authors, who had written ten books. There were very few people trying to do something new.” The Irish short story in particular has gained a new sense of potency with anthologies such as The Long Gaze Back having been released last year, as well as Doyle’s new book. While Doyle explains that he sees himself as a writer who is “almost primarily a book lover” his latest offering proves him as a short story craftsman of considerable skill: “Whenever I’m writing short fiction it’s almost like an act of homage for the books that I’ve read and have prompted me to write.” As with every new turn in a culture’s literary development, that “something new” is an ABOVE: ROB DOYLE’S LATEST NOVEL, intriguing thing to pick at and ‘THIS IS THE RITUAL’, unravel. Doyle is of the opinion TELLS A TALE OF that new writers are bringing ideas THE ECSTATIC, THE DESPERATE AND that people in 2016 find easier to THE UNCERTAIN. connect with than ever before. IMMERSIVE, AT “Years ago, I would have TIMES DREAMLIKE, AND FRANK IN ITS felt alienated from a lot of DEPICTION OF SEX, contemporary Irish literature and IT INTRODUCES AN I found it hard to connect with. UNMISTAKABLE NEW LITERARY VOICE. Now, suddenly, there are a lot of writers out there at the moment doing such interesting and cool stuff and they’re making it new. Whether or not this adds up to what you would call an Irish literary renaissance, the fact is it’s creating a buzz and more people seem to be paying attention to Irish writing and international publishers are keeping an eye on it, so that can’t be a bad thing.” But getting books on shelves is difficult, and the world of publishing is a competitive one. Rob Doyle stands out from the crowd of new voices, and seems to have gathered popularity among university students in particular. Doyle believes it’s an intensity in his work that makes it what it is. “I suppose I like to think that my short fiction and, in fact, most of the stuff I write has a quality of intensity, so hopefully it’s an intense experience for the reader. A lot of the stuff I love as a reader has that quality of intensity. Risk becomes more and more an aesthetic for me when I look at a writer and I read their book and I think they’ve risked a lot be that, in terms of honesty or emotion, or in terms of formal risk in terms of structure. When something is at stake that’s when I get really interested as a reader. When nothing is at stake I get a little bit bored as a reader, so hopefully my own stuff lives up to that.” Rob Doyle’s collection of short stories, This is the Ritual, is available now. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

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SOMETHING A LITTLE bit different Eoghan Scott s i ts d own fo r a q ui c k catc h up wi th The Academ ic, befo re they per fo r m at UCC ’s R AG Wee k . e love playing Cork, especially Cyprus Avenue. We’ve always had great shows there – the crowds are always crazy, so I’m looking forward to more of the same in a few weeks’ time!” So says Dean Gavin, drummer of fast-rising Mullingar band The Academic. The Cyprus Avenue date in question is the band’s upcoming show UCC Rag Week show, only a few months after their last visit to the city during the final leg of their autumn tour.

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Barely out of their teens (for the most part), the four lads have come a long way in the few short years they’ve been together. Matt Murtagh, lead guitarist for the band, explained their formation as such: “We formed in school, we were in the same class with the exception of Stephen (Murtagh, bass guitar) who at the time was a couple of years below us. We had been playing since we were about 12 or 13, but by the time we were in 6th year we started to take things a bit more seriously and that’s when we actually began to write and place a more heavy emphasis on live performance.”

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Matt went on to describe how the band’s shared influences brought them together: “Collectively we all share a love for The Beatles… However, we actually all have pretty different tastes musically, which I think really helps our songwriting process.” Dean also refers to the local acts that have piqued their interest right now. “There’s a lot of great Irish acts out there at the moment. We’ve got the likes of All Tvvins, Otherkin, Gavin James and more on our playlists.” In recent times, the band have played a variety of gigs, from small venues to some of the country’s biggest festivals, to supporting the likes of The Pixies and Noel Gallagher Live at the Marquee. Craig (Fitzgerald, Lead Singer) explained that the band don’t really have any particular preference when it comes to the size of their gigs: “Any venue that’s full of people who want to hear our music is what we want. It doesn’t really matter if the place is big or small, as long as the people there are interested.” Not content to be seen as another Strypes-like group of punky adolescents, The Academic have managed to carve out their own niche in fast-paced indie pop bolstered by the success of recent single Different. Having racked up almost a million plays on Spotify, as well as an abundance of radio play, they must surely be pleased with the song’s reaction. Craig admits: “we were pretty surprised alright… It was recorded a couple of weeks after being written: so it all happened pretty quickly. People seem to connect a lot with it, which is what you want as a songwriter.” Different and Bear Claws, with their obviously romantic lyrics,

suggest a thread throughout The Academic’s songwriting, focusing on the nuance and fragility of personal relationships. Speaking about their lyrical process, Matt explains that this isn’t exactly a conscious decision on their part. “A lot of our songs are based around everyday life, the various relationships you have when you’re growing up and what you see and what you hear day-to-day.” After whetting fans’ appetites with the release of Different, it would appear that the pressure is now on for the band to follow up this effort. Can we expect an album release from The Academic anytime soon? Matt is positive. “Hopefully within the next year. We’re on the road quite a bit across Europe for the next 6 months, but we’re constantly writing and already have tons of material so it’s definitely something we are working towards.” Whatever is next for The Academic though, it’s clear that touring and performing their music live is a top priority right now. LAST YEAR SAW “We’re going to be heading out on THE BAND SIGN A the road across the UK and Europe for DEAL WITH GLOBAL a bunch of shows and festivals, so there’s PUBLISHING gonna be plenty of gigs on our plate at the moment! After this college tour around the country, we’ll then play our biggest headline show to date at Vicar Street on March 11th,” explains Dean. “You should go!” he added, (though I’m still sitting here waiting on those free tickets). Right now, Mullingar’s most famous export Niall Horan may currently be on an indefinite hiatus with One Direction, but it’s looking from here like there’s four more musicians on the rise… The Academic play Cyprus Avenue on the 17th February. ‘Different’ is available to download now. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

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Running with

Sorry man.” “No. No, I’m sorry, mate.” Ten miss-calls later, I’m not sure who’s more apologetic. Blame it on watching Spinal Tap one too many times, but I’ve lived with this hair-brained belief that rock stars spend the AM in a skagged-out haze, after one too many the night before. So when Wolf Alice’s stickman Joel Amey fails to answer for an early morning interview, I revert to presumption. Joel does eventually pick up, and a Monty Python-esque battle for apologetic top dog follows: “Sorry mate, I answered another phone thinking it was you, but my parents were on the end of the line.” Not so rock and roll, eh? Lob any rock cliché at the London-based quintet and it will hurtle back at you. Miley Cyrus fans, avid bookworms and Simpsons nuts, this is a nineties-aping band that went to a

Ahead of their Grammy performance on February 15 th , Robbie Byrne talks to Wolf Alice stickman and songwriter Joel Amey about his prolific songwriting ethic, scotch egg fracas, and 80s horror. nineties music quiz and walked out with zero points—hardly the stuff of a Rolling Stones biography. But joining the Wolf Alice family way back when was a pretty standard affair for the then session musician. “I knew the guy that was managing them through a mutual friend,” Joel says. “They just needed someone to stand in and play for a few weeks while their drummer recovered from a wrist injury. Honestly, drumming was never really my thing, but the connection between us all was so instantaneous that they never asked me to leave—who knows why.” Today, Joel finds himself on the descending wave of My Love Is Cool’s runaway success. A sold-out US tour, a Mercury nomination and several US TV appearances followed the release of their alt-rock debut. But all this has done little to blur memories of Wolf Alice’s earliest days.

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W O L F He recalls about the difficulties in earning his crust around the time of Blush. “Others in the band were able to cope a little better,” he notes. “It’s catch-22 really, because when we gave the music 101%, we couldn’t commit to the standard nine to five. The only exception was Josh, who hung onto his day job, jammed with us, and earned his degree all at the same time. I have some serious admiration for him after achieving that.” Past poverty still ignites the odd fracas. Having infamously told DIY Magazine that he stole scotch eggs from a M&S petrol station to stay alive, fellow band mate and lead vocalist, Ellie Roswell, subtly gave him a piece of her mind. “She turned to me and said ‘I don’t ever want you to say that dumb shit in an interview ever again.’ It was a bit of a joke, but the early days were very much hand to mouth.” Scotch eggs. What sane mind enjoys scotch eggs? He pauses. “You’re missing out, mate. M&S, if you’re reading this, I swear, I paid for those scotch eggs.” Penniless, Joel, Ellie, Theo and Joff threw everything at Wolf Alice. Setting out to write one song every day, it was all or nothing. “When we were starting out it was literally something else to do rather than rehearse. You just try and get into that routine—say to yourself: right it’s 9am, you need to get up and write something new—It’s always a new track, I never try to build on something I made the day before. The strongest material is the stuff you write within a day. It doesn’t matter if it’s ten seconds long and shit or if it’s twenty minutes long and far out. It’s new music you’ve created that didn’t exist the day before.” It’s a staggeringly prolific approach to songcraft, and perhaps one that lends to the sound of the band’s debut effort. A haberdashery of rock’s eclectic past, My Love Is Cool playfully shifts between the loud/soft dynamics of The Smashing Pumpkins and Deftones. An album that is as acutely aware of its maker’s ear for the alt-pop hook, as it is for their unalloyed love for rock. Away from the band’s stellar sonic output, the thought of a successful rock band being fronted by a woman has turned heads in the press industry’s dimmest corners, with one hack asking Ellie if she “ever used her sexuality on stage.” Sure, there’s an off-kilter beauty to the Wolf Alice vocalist that makes such claims—regressive as they seem—inevitable, but it’s an attitude that Joel believes is rampant across the music industry. “Obviously, I don’t want to say something that wouldn’t reflect Ellie’s feelings on the matter. It’s hard for me to say if she’s treated differently, because Ellie makes who she is what she is,” says Joel. “But outside Wolf Alice, there are so many all-female bands out there, like Skinny Girl Diet and Potty

A L I C E Mouth, that digging up backward notions of sexuality in rock shouldn’t be an issue. There’s this ingrained perception that girls in rock tend to be token members. But more than the lack of having girls in rock music, we should be shining a light on the ones that are out there. Granted, there should be more, but the ones that are there are bloody incredible.” The questionable attitudes of some interviewers did little to dampen spirits during a Winter US and UK tour, one that Joel claims was the band’s best yet. “We were with Friends in the US for the US leg who are literally our bestmates—no pun intended,” he laughs. “So here we were in these amazing cities for the first time, you’re playing sold out shows to incredible audiences—the album’s out, the pressure’s off, and you’re standing on stage doing what you always wanted to do. I look around and here I am with my best friends. It’s whirlwind of celebration.” ABOVE: THE MERCURY It was during this tour that the North NOMINATED BAND Londoners shot the video for You’re a STRIKE A POSE FOR Germ, a VHS ode to the glory days of DIY MAGAZINE DIY horror. “We went through a phase of watching horror films in the van, like Texas Lost Boys, The Evil Dead and whatnot. Just freaking ourselves out during the long drives from town to town. We thought it’d be cool to expose the ridiculous premises and awful acting that these movies have. We usually don’t like performing for music videos and all that bullshit, so we used the opportunity to do stupid things for the day. It was filmed it in a mansion two hours outside LA—it’s just bonkers that the label allowed us make the thing.” In spite of the quality on offer in My Love Is Cool, it is an earlier offering from the band that got the nod from Grammy judges. In mid-February, the band will be pitched against rock royalty The Foo Fighters and Alabama Shakes in the Best Rock Performance category for Mona Lisa Smile. It’s a nod to the sweetest Simpsons nonconformist that seems apt in a ceremony as showy as the Grammys. “We never started a band to see what awards we’d win,” says Joel. “But when you consider the absolute ridiculousness of what’s happening, you need to appreciate being appreciated. Obviously, we can’t let it go to our heads, but neither will we pretend that we’re too cool for it all.” As our conversation closes, Joel finds himself even closer to the end of what My Love Is Cool generated. “It’s going to be sad seeing it go, but I’m pumped to start a new phase.” He stalls for a moment, eeking out what he can. “But it’s not over yet, we’ve still got that date in Dublin.” Wolf Alice will play at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin on Saturday 5 March 2016 at 7pm. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

I N T E R V I E W

CHASING Claire Fox chases down Grammy Award winning popstar, Foxes, to talk about her second studio album, which is released this month.

Is your surname actually Fox or is that a typo on my diary?” asks Louisa Rose Allen, as our muffled phone conversation gets underway. Sitting in a signature black London taxi cab, the Grammy Award winning pop artist, better known to you and me as Foxes, is more than amused that my surname matches her stage-name. Upon answering with an affirmative, yet starstruck “yes” to the singer’s question, Foxes goes on to exclaim a fascinated and child-like: “No way, that is funny!” Foxes. Seemingly an unlikely choice in name for a female pop vocalist and perhaps more fitting of an indie electronic outfit, Louisa feels that Foxes was a natural name to associate her music with. Not wanting her surname to get confused with the already established UK singer, Lily Allen, and with a little guidance from her mother, she felt Foxes was the perfect title for her. >> 26

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F O X E S

Pict ured: EX P ERIMENTAL POP ART IST louisa rose allen, aka foxes, WH OSE L ATEST album ‘AL L I N EED ’ I S DR O PPING TH IS MONTH ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

I N T E R V I E W “I guess originally I didn’t want to be labelled under the tag of ‘female artist.’ I wanted everyone to listen to my music. I’m not really sure how it came about, but very early on I wrote a song called Like Foxes Do, so it turned into a nickname growing up. “I told my Mum that I’d like to have the stage name Foxes and she said that she had a really weird dream the night before that there were foxes running around our house and they were making a beautiful, howling noise and she woke up thinking it reminded her of my music. So kind of an odd thing but I remember thinking that my Mum is usually right about most things,” laughs the Southampton native. Citing her mother as a huge influence on her music and career, Louisa believes that without her she would not have had the self-belief to view music as a viable profession to pursue. “She was someone who really inspired me to pursue singing and keep at it and work hard and keep creating. She really believed in me. From very early on I was always interested in singing and listened to jazz music growing up. It wasn’t always something I thought I could do as a job so it did take a while for me to believe that was possible and my mother was a huge part of that.” Although Foxes’ first record Youth was released in January 2012, her first big break into the music industry came in the form of an unexpected collaboration with Electro/House influenced producer, Zedd. Not originally attracted to the EDM/ Dance genre of music, Louisa admits that the call from the German musician to feature on his track came as a shock. “It was strange and kind of surprised me in a way, too, how that came about, because I never set out to do a song in that genre. I think Zedd approached me very, very early on and shared a song with me on SoundCloud saying that he was looking for a female artist to collaborate with on his new track.” The collaboration culminated in a Best Dance Recording Grammy Award win for the pair for the song Clarity which was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, catapulting Foxes to international fame. So while the song may not have been an original choice for the singer, she admits that the lyrics are what made the track an enticing choice, not ruling out another dance collaboration if the “right song” came about. “When you take away the dance stuff and the EDM, the core of the track and the lyrics are really beautiful when you strip all the added stuff away. That’s why I decided to go with the song because that side of it really enticed me. “If it was the right song and the right DJ and the right time I’d defi28

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nitely consider another collaboration. I did a lot of writing with Rudimental and some of my music is actually inspired by dance so I wouldn’t rule it out by any means at all.” Speaking of collaborations, Foxes’ second album contains a track co-written with one of her closest friends, Dan Smith, frontman of electronic quintet, Bastille. While Smith’s focus lies with the lyrical side and Louisa’s with vocal embellishment, the pair’s musical partnership resulted in the achingly beautiful, Better Love, a track Louisa is extremely proud of. “Dan’s a really good friend of mine so it was really nice just to work and jam with him. It came FOXES IS ALSO SIGNED TO about very naturally, we just met PREMIER MODELS, AND HAS up one day and popped into the APPEARED IN SHOOTS FOR studio and messed about. He’s VOGUE AND YLON very, very talented and you don’t always know how you’ll work with a friend, it could be a disaster. “He’s super focused on strong, powerful songs, which I like. Dan is very focused on starting at the piano and writing about the very core of what a song is about and the lyrics, whereas I start with vocals, but it’s important to explore different styles and that’s how Better Love came about.” Characterised by her strikingly enchanting vocal abilities, some of Foxes’ favourite tracks from All I Need are, of course, the more “vocally challenging” numbers. “There are tracks like Devil Side and On My Way that are quite stripped back so I do sort of feel these are the type of songs I enjoy writing and performing the most and exploring with.” While the construction of debut album, Glorious, took up a great chunk of Foxes’ early twenties, the writing and recording of her follow-up effort was a much speedier process. “It was a lot quicker this time round. I started writing it about a year ago and wrote it quite quickly in the space of three months. I moved around from LA to London to Wales so there was a lot of running around. I guess I had this vision of who I’d like to work with, so I reached out to them and a lot of opportunities popped up. I sent a lot of emails myself and got in touch so, yeah, it all started to work.” A natural born songwriter, Foxes described her first album as “experimental pop.” Two years later I ask the bubbly singer whether this description holds true for her second album and whether the concept of the “make or break” second album worries her. “I do think this album is a bit more straight-forward pop. The first one was definitely the younger album, but I feel in this one I find

F O X E S

myself as an artist more. I think it’s a bit experimental pop, it’s emotional and raw this time round but also warmer, I think, than Glorious.” “I think you always worry wherever you are in your career,” continues the 26 year old, in a more reflective mood. “It’s all a journey of trying things and looking back at failures in past albums and things like that. I guess the first album will be one that stands out in my career. The second album in a way feels like the piece of a bigger story. I am worried, obviously. But I am happy and I do feel this is the right album for me. You just have to put it out and hope for the best.” With music being the main focus of Foxes’ career, the Louisa side of Foxes has always experienced a fabulous flirtation with the fashion industry, regularly visible from the front row seats at London Fashion Weeks and chosen as the brand face of H&M in 2015. With devastatingly bold brown eyes, luscious brunette hair and a style sense to die for, what better muse to have as the face of the international store. Just as modest in her style credentials as she is about her vocals, Louisa views her mother once more as her very own style icon, also gaining inspiration from characters in films and actresses. “I really like creating outfits. I think I got this trait from my Mum who was a big fashion influence and what she wore, like late 90s stuff and, of course, I stole a lot of her clothes. I love that element of dress up and creating that fashion allows. I get transfixed with characters in films

and have always loved Jane Birkin as well.” Although a bright and welcome face to a bittersweet fashion industry, Louisa admits that there are aspects of the industry and media that she highly dislikes, which was partly the reason for her 2013 release Beauty Queen. Beauty Queen documents the dangerous consequences of living a life too concerned with image. “I wrote that song about four years ago now. I remember being outraged after seeing the cover of a magazine. There was a picture of a woman one labelled ‘fat’ and the other labelled ‘skinny’ and I just remember feeling how that was such a bad, negative message to be sending young women. I felt really disappointed in society and the media that day.” On a lighter note, the electro pop singer BELOW: ARTWORK feels that the music industry is in a good FOR FOXES’ place as far as female vocalists are conLATEST release, ‘all i need’ cerned and even though she herself didn’t want the “female artist” tagline, she is proud to be a member of the prestigious group of women taking the world by a storm at the moment. “I think it’s a good place for female vocalists with Adele coming back. I think there’s a lot of space for indie vocalists who can make something really unique in terms of soul. There’s gaps out there.” Finishing on this high note, I say goodbye to the spirited singer, no doubt leaving her to pick up another PR/media phone call, as her taxi slopes though the busy London streets, like a fox in the night. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

S T Y L E

Sundance Style

Every year, Sundance Film Festival graces the world with brand new spectacles. From the submission of highly anticipated feature length films, to brand new style found on the red carpets at the festival. Anna McCarthy looks at some of the best style moments that have gone down a real treat at this year’s Sundance.

Lush is in the Air Nathalie Tobin stops off at LUSH to stock up on latest Valentine’s Day Collection

he minute you walk into the shop, the aroma of all the different soaps and gels fill up the room. With each product neatly positioned, one’s eye is quickly drawn to the beautiful array of colourful displays. It is all so tempting that it is difficult not to pick up the bright colourful soap to smell it; it almost looks good enough to eat. If the products weren’t cute enough visually, LUSH products are also dedicated to supporting and helping the environment by using organic ingredients such as fresh fruit, vegetables and plant products. They also refuse to carry out animal testing. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, LUSH have just launched their Valentine’s Day products. This luscious limited edition collection contains some of the most desired LUSH products, and I can see why. I payed a visit to LUSH on Oliver Plunkett Street and noticed that not only do the products adhere to the ‘love’ theme, they also create a feel good factor. These products are a nice choice to give as gifts, but are equally a good option to treat oneself at this time of year. My top picks include ‘The Unicorn Horn’, which is quite a cute and very colourful bubble bar. From the shimmery sparkles to all the colours of the rainbow, what’s not to love about this bar? Due to their popularity, the old favourites have also returned such as ‘The Kiss Lip Gloss’, Prince Charming Shower Gel’, ‘The Kiss Lip Scrub’ and ‘Roses All The Way’ soap. The 2016 collection also includes four gift sets: ‘In Your Dreams’, ‘Lots of Love’, ‘Love And Kisses’, and ‘Two Hearts’. While I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day itself, these LUSH Valentine’s Day 2016 products are some of my favourites when it comes to LUSH’s vast array of limited edition collections. This collection is only around at this time of year and come highly recommended. PICTURED ABOVE:

1: Roses All The Way: €5.75 2: The Kiss Lip Scrub: €6.95 3: Unicorn Horn €4.25 4: Prince Charming: €6.50 (100g) | €12.95 (250g) | €21.95 (600g) 5: In Your Dreams Gift Box: €13.75 30

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Lily Rose Depp is the latest ‘it girl’ to grace the exploding scene of Hollywood. Attending Sundance due to her appearance in the film Yoga Hosers, an American comedy horror directed by Kevin Smith. Johnny Depp’s daughter has found fame by becoming Chanel’s latest muse, channeling her model mother Vanessa Paradis in both her acting and modeling career. Here she models an androgynous look evocative of the style made iconic by her father, by wearing loose fitted trousers paired with an open style jacket and plain white top to mellow out the look. Zoe Kravitz is a woman whose style is always impeccable. After cropping up on the big screen last year in Mad Max, and later appearing in Dope alongside Shameik Moore, Kravitz never fails to present herself in an individual manner. With minimal makeup and a risqué one-piece with a knee length camel waist coat, Zoe Kravitz delivers a daring look.

Kristen Stewart appeared at Sundance Film Festival for the premiere of her new film Certain Women true to form in a casual baggy shirt, black cigarette pants paired with Adidas superstars. Branching out from her Twilight era, Certain Women sees Kristen Stewart taking on a dramatic role about three women in small-town America.

American model and actress Brooklyn Decker attended the Lovesong premiere rocking a cape-like overthrow with a midnight blue dress and army style boots. With her golden length tresses framing her all American smile, the actress certainly made her impact on the Sundance red carpet.

Chloe Sevigny deposited her winter fashion inspiration with a statement sheepskin coat, high waisted jeans and a vintage style blouse. Sevigny graced the red carpet in this smart casual look at the premiere of Love & Friendship. Chloe Sevigny also starred in last year’s American Horror Story: Hotel.

F A S H I O N

The Movement and Her Mirror Rachel Muckley considers the impact of Vivienne Westwood’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection and campaign

n late 2015, Dame Vivienne Westwood launched the ‘Mirror the World’ campaign. Demonstrated with and alongside her Spring/Summer 2016 collection, it is a modern day movement to tackle the issue of climate change. It’s primary focus is put first on the city of Venice and, subsequently, on the world. It is a venture the fashion industry are proclaiming as a unique and great cause undertaken by a unique and great designer. The campaign was shot on location in Venice, showcasing the melancholy of the city through “its beauty and its decay,” as stated on the brand’s website, “and the urgent need to save it.” It is perhaps the case that not many top designers would brave using this spellbinding yet deconstructing city in the promotion of their work, because of the problematic relationship between the fashion world and the natural world, but Westwood’s not like that. Instead, she takes the initiative to give a voice to this complex topic and urges society to see the world as it truly is. “ To mirror the world, to be beautiful as the world,” she claims “you must engage with the world.” Previewing in both London’s and Paris’s Fashion Week under the ‘Red Label,’ and ‘Gold Label’ respectively, the designs boast elements of the culturally and visually inspiring city, such as the Venetian mask, an item which the designer says reflects “a time of altered states,” something very fitting to the campaign and the natural disorder it seeks to dissolve. The movement was again addressed in a people’s march that took place in London on November 29th for climate, justice and jobs and with #ClimateRevolution acting as a hugely effective medium for its circulation within the grand scope of social media.

Having been inspired by Contessa Jane de Mosto, a scientist also campaigning to save Venice and the implications of its expanding lagoon, Westwood refers to the operation as a crucial adventure we must all partake in. Reigniting her disgust for world politicians or “criminals,” as she calls them, the designer believes their worst trait lies in their insistence that nothing has changed, when the designer explains that the opposite is true: “Everything’s changed because the human race faces mass extinction … It’s a matter of life and death.” Following on from a long list of activist campaigns, such as the fight against terrorism, issues surrounding migration and occupational injustice, this latest war against the harrowing and unforeseeable results of climate change is one which looks to engage Westwood as passionately as ever before. Of course, any difficult subject encourages a challenging and varied response. Very expectant of a critical view to ‘Mirror the World,’ Westwood is both understanding and yet flabbergasted at such opposing outlooks: “I’m here, to sort of say something like a crazy person, because people aren’t saying it!” However, it’s not surprising that the general reaction to the campaign has been positive. The only shred of doubt cast on it comes from highlighting Westwood herself and, as the Guardian puts it, her merging of political and fashion interests as “sometimes confusing.” This sentiment may be insulting or just plain logical; one wonders if the campaign is hypocritical and ignorant of the fact that the fashion industry, after agriculture, is the second greatest contributor to greenhouse gases. For example, is Westwood’s clothing collection even eco-friendly? While it is true that in the past the Vivienne Westwood lines have been promoted as such, strangely, this detail has seemed to have been ironically glossed over in this SS 2016 collection. There’s no hard-hitting evidence to suggest it is. Those who have noted this fault the designer as a ‘Queen of the Greenwash,’ a person who speaks wonderfully of the action needed to combat global warming but does nothing personally to help it along. Defending herself, the head of the iconic label is unapologetic about loving her industry and the planet equally and, yes, she does acknowledge the fundamental problems of the industry’s by-products. Her advice? Be choosier, buy less, don’t over-wash, recycle. In essence, the designer’s aesthetic encourages that we don’t perceive fashion as an enemy of our consciousness, that is, if we go about it in the right way. Moving forward, it is hoped that the campaign, along with others like it, will bring about as much change as humanly possible. It’s a worthy cause and, by all means, one taken on by an influential humanitarian activist. Dame Westwood is much more than her fashion industry caricature and certainly no stranger to challenging our perception of political and environmental exploits. Her reasons for doing this are simple. She insists: “A good life is one which mirrors the world. That means that you understand the world through art and culture, you understand the genius of the human race and you understand yourself in relation to it … and you want to do your best.” The ‘Mirror the World’ SS 16 campaign can be viewed at viviennewestwood.com ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

F A S H I O N

NOVEM & KNIGHT and the fashion blogger making her way to the top Words: Nathalie Tobin

f you are in any way familiar with the blogging world, then the name Samantha Maria or Beauty Crush won’t be unfamiliar territory to you. Samantha, herself a fashion graduate and a London-based blogger, posts daily outfit photos on her blog page Samanthamaria.com as well as ‘Outfit of the Day’ Lookbooks/ vlogs on her YouTube page, which are exceedingly popular. Having initially started her blogging journey in 2009, her personal style is continually changing and evolving, yet her key look has retained its pure minimalistic value; simple yet versatile. Demonstrating her growing love for fashion, the auteur recently established her own clothing line called Novem & Knight. Her partner Jason Davis is also involved in this new adventure. Davis is heavily featured elsewhere in her work too, often appearing in her videos for example. Novem and Knight design philosophy is based on Samantha’s style, that of incorporating the aim of avoiding an over-elaborate aesthetic while ensuring adaptability for women in every environment. The objective of these high quality garments is that each item can be worn on their own or by adding layers. The latter allows for the creation of an individual but quirky look from the clean cut silhouettes and strong lines. The collection contributes strong pieces of modern design alongside key staples to complete any wardrobe. As well as the clothing line, various other products have been added to the market. A collection of leather products, which includes a card holder and a key chain, have also recently been launched, alongside a selection of knitted beanies with the N&K branding embellished on the front. Palettes of grey and black, which are used in the colour scheme of their hats, are also predominant throughout the brand’s clothing line. The marketing in terms of the labelling is kept consistent with the 32

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overall feel of the chic brand. Each piece from N&K is cut and sewn in London which gives the collection the authenticity of being home grown. The quality of the garments and service provided are, Samantha hopes, as high as possible: “including an ethical working environment for all London factories,” a top priority for all manufacturers, designer and consumers in this modern age. A year and a half after establishing Novem and Knight, and with the positive response of months of promoting the new clothing brand, they decided to launch a pop up store for bloggers and press to come and view the collection. The minimal, industrial materials of the interior compliment the pieces, whilst the shelving areas holding the smaller pieces helped to add detail and variety to the minimal space. The area was further enhanced with the infusion and aroma of festive Diptyque candles, making the display an overall visual and marketing success. Since the initial triumph of the launch of Novem & Knight, the brand and its production heads are currently working on their second collection which is set to continue on the values and accomplishments of its predecessor. Novem and Knight is finally now available online and can be viewed at: novemknight.com

P H O T O G R A P H Y

Movement in T i m e Photography by JAMES DELANEY James Delaney is a final year Computer Science student at UCC. James’ photography often portrays the beauty of European cities and landscapes, both organic and structural. He also has a talent of capturing people’s natural emotions, with one of his portraits going internationally viral during the Irish Marriage Equality referendum.

The present sequence focuses on movements through time. To see more you can visit the ‘James Delaney Photography’ page on Facebook.

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FREQUENCIES C olm C ahalane a s k s i f t he n e w s o c i a l m e d i a i s er o d i n g t he e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f t r a d i t i o n a l m e d i a o n c a m p u s he campus radio station stays tucked away on the top floor of Áras Na Mac Leinn, and on the ground floor the staff behind the reception desk have decided they’d rather listen to something else instead. The DJ on air is joking about the four listeners that they can see have tuned in online; the numbers who listen in on FM aren’t known to them, but I’m not sure if they’d inspire much confidence either. It’s a common occurrence and a true shame. UCC’s student radio inspires unique, dynamic shows. Its music choices are bolder and more rewarding. It can inform students in great detail about happenings on campus, and it has a relaxed, casual tone that gives it a sense of unpredictability and wonder. It is a great first step for students considering getting involved in media and journalism, enabling them to get involved in a constantly-moving station, and it has been doing so for quite some time, too; providing many full-time broadcasters with their first introductions to the industry and setting them on their career paths. I’m involved in UCC 98.3FM myself and I’ve spoken to the station manager, Kieran Hurley, who describes this year’s offerings as some of the strongest the station has ever had. Yet, recent discussions about “UCC TV” were shot down with the claim that UCC 98.3FM’s listenership figures fail to show demand for it. However, in Dublin, DCUfm moves from strength to strength, having won every single one of the radio awards at last year’s KBC National Student Media Awards. CIT has just recently formed a Radio Society which is already gathering interest. International tech giant Apple went as far as to poach BBC staff to found their own radio station, Beats 1 Radio, while popular podcast Serial hit 68 million downloads last year and proved there’s gigantic storytelling value in audio. There’s even an online radio project Room 101 broadcasting from Cork’s Camden Palace Hotel. 42

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So if people are still tuning in to radio, and increasingly through unconventional sources, why is it that 98.3FM’s listener count is so disappointing? Some of it is simply a matter of students’ expectations and the role of student media. As attention shifts towards the internet, students predominantly seem to hear about goings-on through social media outlets such as Facebook; and will check these sites for news rather than checking into a student-run source. For instance, Motley.ie picks up most of its views from its Facebook audience, rather than it being a destination of its own. If I forget to schedule social media posts before I go on air on 98.3FM, I can be guaranteed people will forget to tune in; it’s just not a habit people keep. It’s not something people even think about. It brings us back to the beginning; an issue of visibility still maintains a great readership on campus. After all, is alive and well on (no seriously, you’re great) because campus; appearing in beautiful batches every month. 98.3FM feels locked up and lost. While we await the construction of the new Student Hub, a building that will certainly achieve the goal of increasing the radio station’s visibility by literally placing it in front of a giant window, visibility for the radio station is hard to achieve. Facebook deliberately weakens the reach it offers to make room for paying customers, and Twitter continues to march towards its death, raising the question; what’s left to promote student media? Radio lives in the moment, and it doesn’t work well to promote with Facebook (where your post will be seen hours late, if it’ll be seen at all), or Twitter, which is crowded and losing its edge. In fact, Yik Yak seems like it’d be the best option: with no identities, self-moderated feeds, and Snapchat-like information decay, Yik Yak would be a really cool way for student media and organisations to promote themselves. However, they don’t support links, so it doesn’t work getting people to tune into radio,

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Turn the dial Five Great Reasons to Listen to UCC 98.3FM Sharp - Friday Mornings 8-11am Sharp started out as an indie/alternative music show and ended up becoming something else; turning into a place to tell stories celebrating college life and the oddities of this world. Music fans will appreciate the attention to detail in picking out music, others will stay for the odd flavour of banter – one that led to an episode where the hosts unboxed a spider live on air. Nominated for the KBC Student Media Awards in 2015, Sharp, now in its fourth season promises to “bless your little hearts with music.”

“Web content has to be dynamic; it has to reward people for coming back. It has to be moving, and often UCC sites don’t. UCC 98.3FM suffers from this problem... UCC’s own website especially suffers from this problem” and problems start arising when you give people a platform to say things they know are terrible without consequence. Some say we should burn Yik Yak to the ground and start over - I don’t quite agree yet. But I think we can agree it’s far from its best potential. How did we get to needing social media, though? It’s simple: web content has to be dynamic; it has to reward people for coming back. It has to be moving, and often UCC sites don’t. UCC 98.3FM suffers from this problem. Societies websites suffer from this problem. UCC’s own website especially suffers from this problem – navigating to the “Societies” section gives you a generic “What Are Societies?” page with nothing students don’t already know, and I don’t actually know how a student could even find themselves on the UCC 98.3FM page. But while social media does work both to erase and erode the roles of traditional media, there’s enough great media on campus to prove that we’re more than dead air – let’s look at who’s leading the charge to keep the airwaves busy.

Life Between Headphones with Mairead Horgan – Thursday Afternoons 4-5pm Perfect note for note, Life Between Headphones comes with a themed playlist every week combined with sharp and witty observations from the host, Mairead Horgan. Wonderfully absurd at times – a teen angst week came complete with readings of diary entries, while January opened with a summer vibes playlist called Can Yeh Taste Dem Coconuts – Life Between Headphones is too good to miss. Single in the City with Hannah Kingston & Eilis Cleary – Thursday Mornings 11-12am Single in the City is an outlet for all things fun and flirty with strong undertones of attempted activism. An internship drove one single girl in the city to seek out her own show; her own voice. Now she’s a producer, editor and presenter along with another single gal in the city, Eilis Cleary. The show could be described as an array of interesting interviews, strong innuendos and banging tunes from both the 90s and what we’re hearing in the clubs these days. It’s show for the twenty-something student trying to figure life out. The Underground of Happiness with Conor O’Toole – Tuesday Mornings 11-12am Conor’s promise of “uplifting pop music of every creed” comes true every week. Keeping a promise like that only becomes more impressive when you realise he’s been making it for over 380 episodes. A consistently surprising show with its encyclopaedic eye on the alternative music scene, it comes with meticulously kept notes on the Twitter and The Underground of Happiness blog, ensuring that when you find one of its hidden gems, you’ll find a million more where it came from. Express On Air – Tuesdays 12am-1pm Credit where credit is due to our rivals on the college newsstands, UCC Express has backed up their print content with a weekly current events, news and discussion show that makes a pretty strong argument for student radio as a news source.

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ILLUSTRATION: EMILY HORGAN

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PLAYNG THE BLAME GAME E oin M c S weeney m ee t s w i t h M a ry Cr i l ly, d i re c t o r o f t he C o r k Se x u a l V i o l e n c e Ce n t re , t o d i s c u s s t he i s s u e o f v i c t i m b l a m i n g i n t he wa k e o f t he s c a n d a l w h i c h i n v o lv e d y o u n g C o r k w o m e n ’ s Fa c e b o o k ph o t o s b e i n g p l a c e d o n a p o r n o gr a ph i c w e b s i t e . Here’s a girl I fucking hate, she thinks she’s better than everyone and I want to see her taken down a bit. I can think of no better way than getting her faked nudes and cumming all over them.” “Teasing slut who thinks I’m her friend. Would a friend empty his balls all over your pics? Fuck you, whore.” “New on this site and love it. Love seeing all the sexy sluts who have no idea their pics are on here.” These were just some of the comments made recently about young Cork women on an international pornographic website, www.cumonprintedpics.com. The women’s pictures had been taken from various social media accounts (mostly Facebook) and placed on the site without their consent or knowledge. Users of the site could then comment whatever they wanted on the pictures and could also request fake nudes, which involved superimposing the women’s faces onto naked female bodies. These edited photos would also 44

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be posted onto the website, also unbeknownst to the women involved. Shockingly, names, phone numbers and places of work were all posted on the site. One of the women involved received a call from a prison in Dublin because a prisoner had somehow managed to obtain her number from the site and pretended that she was his girlfriend. What was even more horrifying about the incident, was that some of the pictures that were posted depicted girls in their school uniform and had been taken 5 or 6 years previously. Even some of these photos had requests for nudes on them and the comments continued unabated. Once the women involved discovered the photos they were promptly removed from the site, but there has been a public outcry of ‘how’ and ‘what next?’ Who’s to blame? Is it Facebook’s fault? The largest social networking site in the world has said that it will investigate how

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the pictures managed to end up on the site despite its privacy settings. One of the victims said that the perpetrators obtained her pictures even though she had enabled these security settings to be as strict as possible. It’s possible that whoever gained access to the pictures made a fake profile and befriended the girls, thus letting them access all their photos. However, once the media had reported this incident, it shed light on an arguably bigger problem in Cork and Ireland; victim blaming. Within minutes of The Irish Independent, The Irish Times and Cork’s Red FM posting the story on Facebook, social media users had already begun to blame those who had been victimised, rather than the true perpetrators. “The cabbage has her tits all over Facebook, what does she expect? Big eejit.” “Why did her mother even let her go on social media sites, is her mother a fool? Does she not know there are paedophiles online?!” “And yet she still has dozens of photos publicly available on Facebook. Some people never learn.” This behaviour is not exclusive to this particular incident and it commonly happens to those who have been sexually spoke to Mary Crilly, director of the Sexual abused. Violence Centre in Cork, about the problems that can occur when you blame victims rather than the true perpetrators: “Victim blaming is alive and well in Ireland, but is not limited to here. Victims of sexual assault and rape have internalised the culture they live in. Victims blame themselves. This leads to shaming and silencing and the environment for sexual violence remains unchanged and unchallenged. Sexual violence ruins lives.” A history of a safe haven The Sexual Violence Centre in Cork opened its doors in 1983 and gives crisis support, counselling, psychotherapy and art therapy to victims of sexual violence. The centre sees clients from the age of 14 upwards, male and female, who have recently or in the past, been victims of rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking or sex trafficking, among other things. A huge problem for the centre is the culture of victim blaming in Ireland, which can make it difficult for a victim of a sexual attack to come forward. Why would someone blame a victim of sexual harassment? There are two theories; The Just-World Model and the SelfProtection Theory. The former suggests that individuals perceive the world as largely just and “good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.” So this point of view puts blame on the victim because their previous ‘bad behaviour’ warranted it.

The Self-Protection theory suggests that individuals may seek to attribute blame to a victim of rape to maintain a sense to their own invincibility. As Ms Crilly put it: “It can be best explained within the context of and by the concept of rape culture. Somehow, we find it easier to blame the victim, as if the victim was in control, rather than the perpetrator. The existence of perpetrators makes the world an unsafe, uncontrollable, ugly world. If it is the victim’s fault, then it will not happen to me. If it’s the perpetrators fault, it can happen to anyone.” You shouldn’t have drank so much… Ireland’s drinking culture does little to help those who have been victims of sexual violence. When alcohol is involved, people may think that its consumption will increase a person’s sexual availability which heightens the level of victim blaming. These blaming attitudes will suggest that the victim caused their rape by giving their consent through alcohol consumption or that they facilitated the attack by not taking the precaution of staying sober. “The drinking culture in Ireland is used by rape culture to deflect blame from perpetrators on to victims. It is used to blame victims and excuse perpetrators. If she hadn’t worn… If she hadn’t been drinking… If she didn’t post on Facebook…” says Crilly. This leads to a number of problems. The first is selfblaming. Evidence from Rape and Justice in Ireland (RAJI) suggests that women who were intoxicated at the time of their rape are more likely to self-blame and less likely to report the attack. Secondly, juries are more likely to assign blame to the victims if they had consume alcohol when the attack occurred. Finally, RAJI suggests that the Gardaí treat intoxicated victims with less respect. This culture has not been helped by Diageo’s recent advertising campaign. Last year the UK company launched its Stop-Out-of-Control Drinking campaign and one of the adverts depicted a young woman who has returned from a night out sitting on her bed. The woman had make-up smeared across her face and it read: “Who’s following in your footsteps? Out-of-control drinking has consequences.” The Rape Crisis Network Ireland slammed the advertising, labelling it as a “sinister reference” that the young woman had been attacked on her way home and that her drinking was the cause. This type of behaviour from companies does nothing to help the culture of victim blaming that has fostered in Ireland. Social Media takes over Social media has now given a platform for people to assign ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

C U R R E N T blame from afar, as can be seen from the comments above. Facebook, Twitter, and the anonymous posting app Yik Yak gives people the opportunity to shame victims without really thinking of the damage that they may be causing. It has also allowed wouldbe perpetrators to harass victims online, and this is how incidents, such as the one in Cork, happen. One of the victims of the attack was quoted as saying: “Unless you never upload a picture to the internet, ever… you’re not safe. Even then, someone can take a photo of you… you’re never safe. So don’t comfort yourself by saying it’s our own fault.” Young women shouldn’t have to worry about an online attack every time that they put up a picture. However, Ms Crilly had some preventative actions that you can take to help stop such an incident occurring. “There are steps that people can take such as being mindful of privacy settings and being aware that whatever is put on Facebook or other forms of social media, is essentially in the public realm and can currently be put to any use. These steps may make the difference between it happening to you and it happening to someone else, but it doesn’t affect the perpetrator. This is a case where people’s rights need to be debated and action taken.” Even if the culprits are found, what can be done? Unfortunately a source within the Gardaí was not reassuring when they spoke to the media about the matter. Due to the legislation that’s there, it can be difficult to assess whether the offender can be charged criminally. While it’s clearly a breach of the women’s privacy, this is not a criminal offence and only civil proceedings may be brought on that charge. A lack of any real remedy in the Irish legal system is another reason for victims to be wary of coming forward with their story. Ms Crilly felt that there needs to be serious changes made to the legislation. “As the law currently stands, there was no violation of the law. The law needs to be amended to reflect these offences. It strikes that it boils down to property rights. Who owns an image? Who can use an image? In my opinion, a person should be the sole owner of their image. In cases such as the one currently under discussion, a theft would have incurred. This is a criminal offence. There may be many detractors to this view. “What is central to the issue is the lack of rights that social media account holders have. If a Facebook user owned their own images and / or had the right to have them deleted or not used without their permission, this issue would be a very different one. “As I write there are children, adolescents and adults whose photographs are swimming around social media, without their permission. These images may be pornographic, in content or in context. If it happens to you, tell someone that you trust. Seek 46

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ABOVE: MARY CRILLY , DIRECTOR OF THE CORK SEXUAL VIOLENCE CENTRE

help, because it is available.” At the moment, for there to be a criminal charge, it may need to involve some sort of harassment under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. The perpetrators may be criminally charged for child abuse if it was found they had superimposed images of girls under 17 years of age onto sexually explicit pictures. However, for the women that were affected it seems as if there is no recourse for them to bring criminal proceedings against a person who has grossly violated their privacy. While they may be able to sue the culprits for the distress caused or for breach of copyright and privacy, this remains scant consolation.

Only the educated are truly free Can we tackle this victim blaming culture? Many are advocates of an educational based approach, where we teach men and women the importance of consent and the harm that victim blaming can cause. There is a level of ignorance in Ireland that we must alleviate. Ms Crilly felt that Third Level Institutions in Ireland weren’t pulling their weight in this regard. “I am of the opinion that Third Level Institutions in Ireland lag behind their international peers in recognising a thriving rape culture within their institutions, on the extent of sexual assaults and on its impact. I am particularly concerned about misconceptions and myths surrounding consent. For example, there was a recently a campaign run by Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and the Union of Students in Ireland on the issue of consent. I am dubious of its effectiveness as I didn’t detect that it really took off or was adopted outside of Dublin or within many Third Level Institutions in Dublin. However, UCC has had success with its Know Consent Campaign.” In the past week, Trinity College Dublin has taken a huge step in the right direction. In the first move of its kind in Ireland, new students living at Trinity Hall will be expected to attend sexual consent workshops. These classes have been compulsory for students in Oxford and Cambridge and the workshops will be modelled on the work that those universities have done. Education is the key to moving forward on the taboos surrounding sexual violence and Trinity have taken a great leap in this regard. Seeing the use of Facebook photographs on a pornographic site is a disturbing sign that Ireland still has a lot to do to protect young people in Ireland from sexual attacks. However, seeing some of the comments that appeared online after the incident had been reported was arguably more harrowing. The importance of ending a victim blaming culture is indescribable, and until we begin to educate the nation’s youth on these topics, ignorance will continue to be our worst enemy.

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the chimes of

freedom flashing E oghan S cott re f l e c t s u p o n h i s t i m e s pe n t v o l u n t eer i n g i n t he G ree k re f u gee c a m p ‘ M o r i a .’

s I sit here writing this, I find that it becomes difficult to condense such an experience into words. Since returning from Greece, this is actually the most that I’ve thought about it. It’s taking me back right now, a bit more than I would like, to be honest. Volunteering in ‘Moria’ refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos is something that I’ll never forget, and I never want to forget it; but right now, as I sit at my desk with a cup of coffee in front of me, with the heating turned on to combat the chill of winter, with my music playing in the background - well, it’s difficult to reconcile my current situation with those days in the camp. Our trip began in earnest on the 1st of January 2016. The fundraising, however, began long before this, due to the high cost of travelling to Greece over this period. Along with three other UCC students (Jerome Wholihane, Conor Dolan and Jill Kingston), I would travel to Lesvos and volunteer at the refugee camps. In truth, we really had no idea what exactly we would be doing – anything from sorting clothes and food, to helping refugees off the boats, or even just being there to lend a comforting hand at the right moment. We weren’t certain how we were going to help, but we knew without a doubt that help was desperately needed. A night and several flights later, we arrived at our apartment in Lesvos. With a distinct lack of proper heating, less-thanfavourable facilities, and beds that left a lot to be desired, nobody was singing the praises of our living conditions on that first night. The very next morning, when we arrived in Moria for volunteers’ orientation, our own living situation seemed sublime by contrast. On the Greek island of Lesvos, there are several registration camps attempting to cope with the current influx of refugees coming in every day from across the Aegean Sea. Of these, Moria is just like one might imagine a refugee camp to be. It’s not a pleasant place to set foot in. In contrast, Lesvos itself is beautiful, at certain points during the day the

place is beholden to some of the most arresting sights I have ever seen. The city of Mytilene is one of the most beautiful in Greece, surrounded by hills and adorned with neoclassical buildings. In any other context, the area would be the consummate tourist destination. But I had done my research, and I understood what was to be expected from the camp and we were all prepared. That said, nothing can quite prepare you for witnessing the conditions these innocent people were forced to live in. Perhaps most distressing, however, was the sight of children playing throughout the camp, with seemingly not a care in the world. Just like any of our brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, sons and daughters, they played. It was a particularly troublesome image to take in, one that never quite settled itself for me. Within hours of our arrival, the weather worsened. Gale force winds and torrential rain took over the camp, turning what were already barely livable conditions on their head; reminiscent of a music festival at its very worst – the cold, the wet and the mud, but without any of the benefits. We were thrown in the deep end in our first few hours at the camp. It was a baptism of fire for the four of us, everything seemed to be happening at once and everything was going to shit before my very eyes. And we’d only been there for three hours. I was glad to hear from some of the other volunteers that this was, in fact, a particularly bad storm and not some sort of regular occurrence. Moria appeared to be a difficult enough place to have to stay in at the best of times, let alone in frequent weather conditions such as these. By the end of the night, the camp was devastated and I personally felt drained, emotionally and physically. That evening, we arrived home at about 1am, soaked to our skins, tired and overwhelmed. It had been a difficult day to process. We made dinner in our apartment, grateful to be inside, to have had access to warm showers, to be able to sit down and relax. Finally, at about 3am, we went to bed. Whether we were all ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

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able to sleep that night, I cannot tell; for myself, I was out like a light that night, so worn out from that first day. Following on from our first day in the camp, I wouldn’t necessarily say that things got easier; however, we began to settle into our roles quite well. Within days our group became particularly well versed in the manner in which the camp was run. With the exception of the few long-term volunteers, many of those who arrived in Moria to help stayed for just a few days at a time. Given the transient nature of the volunteers arriving in Lesvos, the days that we were there for seemed almost an age in comparison; and so, as a result, we took on more responsibility as time went by. Along with Jill, I became quite involved with the role of clothes distribution in the camp. As the refugees would arrive in of the boats, they would frequently be soaking wet, oftentimes dangerously so, potentially suffering from hypothermia. Once arriving at the camp, they would be led to the clothes tent wherein we could fit them with new, dry clothes. The clothes tent relied heavily on the donations that came in regularly, but despite the many kind contributions of clothes often received, we always appeared to be running short in different areas, such was the high inflow of refugees coming in daily. Thus, it was imperative to be economical with supplies in this area. Difficult as it was, oftentimes I found myself having to refuse an item of clothing to somebody based on the condition of the clothes they were already wearing. It’s a difficult judgment call to make; it makes you the bad guy whether you want to be or not and it was never fun. I remember being surprised by the amount of clothes that had been donated when I first saw them, and I recall with much greater clarity being shocked by how quickly we ran through most of them, always needing more. Following that first night, the weather had improved substantially which helped, in many ways. However, there was always work that needed doing. On the days following that first storm, the bell-tents that reside upon Afghan Hill, an informal campsite that has arisen around the main camp area (as a direct result of the overcrowding within the main campsite), were in desperate need of reinforcement. Several had been damaged beyond repair; most were displaced by the storm. Many of the single-person tents around these were completely destroyed. It was not an uncommon site to figure upon a man sleeping in a tent fallen down around him during the night. And to think that I had thought my own sleeping arrangements left a lot to be desired just days before. 48

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For his own part, Conor spent much of his time receiving people as they arrived straight off the buses, coordinating large groups sometimes consisting of up to 50 people to take to registration. Trying to coordinate such large groups of people, many of whom had been traumatized by their experiences, so soon after they had arrived off the boats, was a daunting, difficult and, at times, particularly heartbreaking task. In his own words, “one of the most frustrating things was showing the lucky few, that can actually avail of the official facilities provided, the muddy, cold floor that they will get to sleep on for the night, while the people in government who make these decisions are back ONE OF THE MAIN TASKS in Athens living comfortably; they’re OF FRONTEX, THE not the ones who have to show them EUROPEAN BORDER where to sleep for the night, it’s not AGENCY, IS TO SPEED UP THE ‘RETURN PROCESS’ their problem. There are about 1000 FOR THOSE THEY IDENTIFY people dealing with those horrendous AS NOT HAVING VALID floor conditions. And in the summer, GROUNDS FOR ASYLUM when there’s ten or twelve thousand people coming in…you won’t even have a floor to offer them.” All this, despite the presence of willing NGOs in the area, desperate to help but unable to do everything they can, because they are being blocked from doing so by the Greek government. After it was all over, Conor summed up his time volunteering thusly: “It was both the best and worst experience of my life.” Jerome, who acted as our driver while there, also put his name down to do deliveries across the island from the warehouses to the beaches and to and from camps, sometimes driving for hours at a time on an island unknown to him, delivering muchneeded supplies to their various drop-off points. Moria itself is a registration camp; this means, that, for the most part, refugees don’t stay there permanently. If all goes well, most people stay for two, three days max during the winter (seven or eight days during summer). Nationality is an important factor in registration camps such as this one - as per the registration process each refugee is divided due to their nationality. So, in this instance, Syrians and Iraqis go one way, Afghans and everyone else another. Some, though, are not so lucky. The vast majority of people who find themselves in the camps are seeking refuge to escape their war-torn countries; others, however, are simply desperate for work. A number of the people we encountered were Moroccan or Algerian, making that hazardous journey in search of honest work but unfortunately, for this reason, they are not granted asylum and are forced to remain on the island for the foreseeable future.

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Moria is a registration camp; it is not suited for long-term inhabitants. Sooner or later, they will attempt to get off the island and go to mainland Greece, Spain, or wherever they will find work. They will attempt such journeys by any means, whether legal or not, and risking whatever consequences they may face. The saddest thing about this is knowing that you are powerless to help them, powerless to have any say in the bureaucracy of it all. It’s funny, after a few days we almost seemed to find ourselves speaking in a different language entirely, bits and phrases of Farsi and Arabic intermingled with a homemade sign language developed as we attempted to communicate with so many diverse groups of people; it’s strange how in such a situation language sometimes simply doesn’t matter anymore, how you can understand one another instinctively when the situation calls for it. Of course, you can only get so far without speaking the same language, and it still stood in the way on many occasions; for this reason translators were obviously a godsend when they were available. Being there, I felt at times a twinge of guilt and helplessness for not speaking the language and letting a situation get the better of me for it. The diversity of the volunteers there was also interesting in itself. Many Americans had made the journey over, quite a few groups were there from England and, obviously, there were a lot of Europeans. We even came across a few fellow Irishmen while we were there. Doctors, nurses, translators, drivers; any and all help is welcome in the camps and all is more than needed. On our fourth day at the camp, everything, for once, was quiet. Alongside Jerome, I set about laying down new tracks of gravel on THE NO BORDER NETWORK SUPPORT FReEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND RESIST HUMAN MIGRATION CONTROL BY COORDINATING INTERNATIONAL BORDER CAMPS, DIRECT ACTION, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND ANTI-DEPORTATION CAMPAIGNS. gROUPS FROM NO BORDERS CAMPS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN ORGANISING PROTEST CAMPS, INCLUDING LESVOS IN 2009.

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the paths throughout the camp that had been damaged from the aforementioned storm and had been become muddy and dangerous as a result. We poured gravel down sparingly on the areas that most needed it, as word was that there was to be another storm that night, which would likely dislodge much of our work. As we did this, several of the refugees joined in and helped us wheeling the gravel and laying it down, unwilling to simply stand back and watch as we worked. They were men, forced to flee their home through no fault of their own, who in that instance just wanted to help. If there were ever to have been a moment of self-doubt or second thoughts about why we were doing what we did, then this simple act of nobility would have assuaged any doubts in my mind. On this note, I’m reminded of one of the volunteers that I met while in Moria, Shahrukh Rind, who himself had originally come to Lesvos as a refugee. Originally from Pakistan, Shah had endured the journey over the sea to Lesvos but has chosen to remain at the Moria camp as a volunteer, helping others. I had been working with him several days before discovering this. The people I met constantly amazed me, and the things I heard there I don’t think I’ve ever heard the like of before. The next day, we arrived back to the camp having all been kept awake at points during the night by the forecasted storm. Once again, much of the camp was a wreck and it was business as usual at that stage. Time to pick up the pieces, yet again, and continue on as we had learned. That’s one of the things with Moria – the work is always there to be done; for now, there is no clear end in sight. It was an exhausting experience in many ways, mentally and physically certainly; emotionally, though I don’t think I realized it at the time. Towards the end I was more than ready to go home. I wasn’t there for very long, all things considered, yet it took its toll; and I think that says a lot as it is. I’m not ashamed to say that I missed many of the comforts of home. I missed my family. I missed my friends. I missed being back in Ireland where places like Moria were nothing more than a news article you might scroll past on Facebook – a distant reality. It is reality though, and it is something that cannot be ignored. I think I knew that before, but now it is inescapable. I’ve been home for several weeks now. It’s been nice, nice to wake up in the morning and go into college, nice to stay in and watch a movie or go out with friends. But I’ve been following the situation in Lesvos online as it continues, and continue it does. It never ends. They are always in need of more volunteers. I hope to return there someday, but I realize that I can’t do it just yet. I realize that I need more time. I’d like to do more, and I really hope one day I can. I hope others can too. Perhaps then, someday, things might get better. ISSUE No6 FEBRUARY 2016

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HEATHERS (BAND) WORDS: Claire Fox

The video from your latest single, November is quite an emotional watch, did you have a lot of involvement in the production of the video? The man behind it was a guy called Simon Eustace. He was the video director. The lead actor is a man called Brian Murphy; he’s in Game of Thrones, and the actress is Olga Wehrly. We didn’t want to be in this video ourselves, we wanted to have a story to go along with the vision and the line of the song. We were very lucky with the weather too. There was snow up the mountains which was all real. The two actors had great chemistry on camera together which was great, we’re really proud of it. Are you happy with the reaction November has been getting? It seems to be doing really well which is great because we haven’t released anything in a while. We released our second album in 2012 and then we took a year off. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves with the last album and toured from 2012-2014. We did the States and Canada. So this time round we decided to write new music and really take our time and focus on our song writing craft. So it was literally just writing, writing, writing. Your second album Kingdom was released in 2012, can we expect a new album on the way? We’ve decided to do things a little differently this time. In the past we put out albums and then toured the songs. It’s just this constant cycle of break then busy, break/ busy. We decided now just to keep putting out music and keep busy for the time being. We are going to release another single around March and the start of the summer. I think nowadays less people are putting out albums and it seems to be more singles and EPs . What’s it like being in a band with your sister, do you ever argue with each other? It’s a mixture. I mean certainly we have our disagreements from time to time but that’s completely normal, it would be really strange if we didn’t. It’s nice having Ellie on the road. There’s different aspects to it. There’s the writing side which is great because if I don’t like something or she doesn’t like something we can be

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completely honest with each other. It’s nice to have someone from your family on the road. But we have breaks away from each other even just to have our own independence and our own space. David Guetta expressed interest in working with you in the past, did anything ever come from this? Yeah that was in 2012 when we released Kingdom. His people spotted us. We’d never experienced anything like that before. It was completely new to us. So it’s kind of an ongoing relationship. We’re still in contact with him, you never know with these things, but we’ll see.

ABOVE: LOUISE AND ELLIE MCNAMARA

Your now well-known song Remember When featured on Discover Ireland’s TV advert in 2010, were you surprised by the positive reaction the track received? Yeah, when we started off, we were in bands, our friends were in bands, we were playing gigs, so we were just doing it for the fun. We still do that but back then we didn’t necessarily envisage ourselves making a career out of it. It was absolutely incredible. It brought our music to such a wider audience and gave us so many opportunities that we may not have gotten.

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