The Red Bulletin March 2017 - UK

UK EDITION

BEYOND THE ORDINARY

METALLICA

LOUDER, PROUDER AND FIRED UP FOR THE FUTURE THE GREAT ADVENTURE How to conquer seven peaks and both poles

BOYD HOLBROOK

How the Logan star found his X-factor

16

essential gadgets to give you the edge

MARCH 2017 £2.50

FOLLOW US O N FAC E B O O K FACEBOOK.COM/THEREDBULLETIN

Two Twomavericks mavericksononyour yourwavelength, wavelength,Andrew AndrewCotton, Cotton,big bigwave wavesurfer surferand andthe theJeep JeepRenegade.

Renegade.

With Withtouchscreen touchscreenSat SatNav, Nav,Bluetooth Bluetoothand anda a5 5Star StarEuro EuroNCAP NCAPsafety safetyrating, rating,nothing nothingcan can stop stopyou youseeking seekingout outthe thebest bestsurf surfspots. spots.Our Ouruniquely uniquelydesigned designedspacious spaciousinterior interiorinspired inspired bybyextreme extremesports sportsgear gearhas hasingenious ingeniousstorage storageand androof roofrails railsfor forallallofofyour youradventure adventure equipment. equipment.With With17” 17”alloy alloywheels wheelsand andcruise cruisecontrol, control,you youcan cangogofrom fromcoast coasttotocoast coastininstyle style and andcomfort comfort– –bring bringononthe theride. ride.Check Checkout outJeep.co.uk Jeep.co.ukfor formore moredetails. details.

Jeep JeepRenegade Renegade ** £239 £239per permonth month plus plusinitial initialrental rental

MODEL SHOWN JEEP RENEGADE 2.0 Longitude 4WD AT £24,595 OTR EXCLUDING OPTIONAL ROOF RACKS. OFFICIAL FUEL CONSUMPTION FIGURES FOR JEEP RENEGADE RANGE MPG (L/100KM): EXTRA URBAN 47.9 (5.9) – 70.6 (4.0), not be representative of real-life driving conditions. *Personal Contract Hire. Jeep Renegade 2.0 MultiJet II 140 hp Longitude 6 Speed Manual 4WD. Initial rental of £5,736, followed by 41 monthly rentals of £239, incl. VAT & exclude illustrative purposes only and includes the optional roof rack, which incurs an additional cost. Subject to status. Guarantees may be required. Ts&Cs apply. Jeep Contract Hire, SL1 0WU. Jeep ® is a registered trademark of FCA US LLC.

Jeep JeepAmbassador AmbassadorAndrew AndrewCotton Cotton Big Big wave wave surfer surfer

URBAN 32.5 (8.7) – 55.4 (5.1), COMBINED 40.9 (6.9) – 64.2 (4.4), CO 2 EMISSIONS: 160 – 115 G/KM. Fuel consumption and CO 2 fi gures are obtained for comparative purposes in accordance with EC directives/regulations and may maintenance. Based on 10,000 miles p.a. Excess mileage charges apply. Vehicles must be registered between 05/01/17 and 31/03/17. Vehicle image is for

JE S PJE E RS TJÄ P E RDE TJÄ R DE R

VIDEO VIDEO STABILIZATION STABILIZATIONWATERPROOF WATERPROOFVOICE VOICE CONTROL CONTROL

THE WORLD OF RED BULL

32 GREAT SCOT

All of the seven summits, both the North and South Poles – Newall Hunter has been there, done that

An arena-shaking metal monster, a group of underground motorsport nuts and a middleaged IT engineer. On the surface, there’s little to link three of our big stories this month, but there is a commonality: all have challenged established thinking. From their roots as Bay Area teens obsessed with British hard rock, Metallica have become one of the world’s most successful and durable bands simply by talent and force of will. Meanwhile, the racers of South Africa’s burgeoning spinning scene refuse to be defined by rules, and are intent on carving a place for their passion on the sporting stage. Finally, there’s adventurer Newall Hunter Hunter, who chose to believe that the biggest challenges are not the preserve of professionals. Enjoy the issue.

06

“Guts, soul and fire are invaluable weapons” JAMES HETFIELD, PAGE 24

SHAMIL TANNA (COVER), HENRY HUNT/NEWALL HUNTER

WELCOME

MARCH 2017

44 PARTY ANIMAL

For sheer joie de vivre, vivre nothing beats spectacular club night Elrow at the legendary Space Ibiza

AT A GLANCE GALLERY 10

GOOD SHOTS! Photos of the month

BULLEVARD 17

INSPIRATIONS Unique talents

FEATURES

22

24 Metallica

The rock legends on taking risks, staying together and keeping control

32 Newall Hunter

FARIS VILLENA, HENRY HUNT, JASON BUSH, SAROYAN HUMPHREY, TYRONE BRADLEY

50 WINNER’S ROW

Becoming a two-time Olympic gold medallist takes dedication – rowing ace Alex Gregory reveals his fitness regime

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

From bringing down Pablo Escobar to battling Wolverine: Logan star Boyd Holbrook is on a voyage of discovery

How a 53-year-old IT engineer from Scotland joined the exploring elite

44 Elrow

Welcome to the club night to end all club nights – Viking longboat included

50 Heroes of the month

Actor Boyd Holbrook, film composer Junkie XL, ultrarunner Dylan Bowman and author Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

56 Spinning in Soweto

Inside the daredevil motorsport that’s taking over the townships

ACTION!

54 EASY DOES IT

Futurologist Alex Soojung-Kim Pang can make you more productive in your working life. His solution: take a rest THE RED BULLETIN

56 GET THE DRIFT

Wake up and smell the scorched rubber: The Red Bulletin gets wild with the stars of Soweto’s hellraising spinning scene

69 SEE IT. GET IT. DO IT. The best travel, gadgets, films, games, music, wheels, watches and events. Plus what’s on Red Bull TV this month, and how to row across an ocean 91 TECH IT TO THE LIMIT Next-level gear 98 FLASHBACK Motocross goes massive

07

CONTRIBUTORS INSIDE THIS ISSUE MARCH 2017

WHO’S ON BOARD

KHRIS COWLEY

Newall Hunter on our shoot in the Scottish Highlands

Everyday peak performer Conquering the Adventurers Grand Slam – climbing the highest peak on seven continents and reaching both poles – is the sort of challenge that is usually the preserve of seasoned, professional explorers. But the 15th person to do it has bucked the trend. Newall Hunter, a 53-year-old IT engineer from Scotland, ploughed his life savings and the best part of the past 13 years into his epic quest. Why? “It’s the challenge,” he smiles. “I just really love the challenge.” Explore the most testing moments of his journey on page 32.

The British nightlife photographer documents parties across the globe.

On his visit to legendary club night Elrow at Space Ibiza, he shot a Viking longboat gliding through the crowd, alongside other crazy stuff. Page 44.

THE RED BULLETIN AROUND THE WORLD

TYRONE BRADLEY

The Cape Town-based photojournalist and former freestyle BMX rider is happiest when shooting images with a strong sense of narrative, so he was in his element documenting the sport known as spinning. Page 56.

The Red Bulletin is available in eight countries. This feature on Olympic fencing phenomenon Max Heinzer is from the Swiss edition.

Read more: redbulletin.com

IN FOCUS BEHIND THE LENS

“The shoot was as dynamic as a Metallica live gig” SHAMIL TANNA, PHOTOGRAPHER The London-based snapper has shot celebrity rockers such as Iggy Pop, Muse and Robert Plant for international magazines.

At our exclusive cover shoot with the legendary Metallica, he was amazed by the band’s energy. See the outcome on page 24.

8

Enter lensman: Shamil Tanna joins rock gods Metallica

THE RED BULLETIN

footwear in stores nationwide

www.dare2b.com

GALLERY

MUD WORLD

WENATCHEE, WASHINGTON, USA PHOTO: STEVE GNAM Washington State residents have a name for the period after the thaw, when unpaved roads become expanses of wet sludge: they call it ‘mud season’. It’s a difficult time for drivers, but hardened cyclists such as Caleb Ambrose love it. Here, he ploughs along a fresh dirt track at the foot of the Cascade Mountains.

For more outdoor action: gnam.photo

11

MOON LANDING VEGARD AASEN/RED BULL ILLUME

HAKUBA, JAPAN PHOTO: VEGARD AASEN

“I wanted a relaxed ride, so I left my camera at home,” says Norwegian photographer Vegard Aasen. “But when I saw these ski tourers, I regretted my decision – the scene looked amazing. So I took a photo with my Huawei P8.” The result is a smartphone snap that looks like a painting, which was named the winner in the Mobile category of Red Bull Illume, the world’s leading competition for adventure photography.

See the other winners at: redbullillume.com

13

SPIDER-MAN SQUAMISH, CANADA PHOTO: DAN KRAUSS

The Cacodemon boulder in British Columbia has attracted top rock climbers from across the world since the 1970s. In 2005, US climbing legend Chris Sharma was the first to complete an extremely difficult granite route, which he named Dreamcatcher. Pictured is his fellow countryman Keenan Waeschle on Permanent Waves, a route that clearly pushes back muscles to their limit.

For more shots: instagram.com/dankrauss

14

LAUGAVEGUR, ICELAND Goal Zero team member Philipp Tenius crossing the volcanic highlands completely unsupported, relying solely on the Nomad 20 and Sherpa 100 kit.

Photo by Andres Beregovich.

ROUGH RUGGED READY

There is more to the world than what the grid has to offer. Our products are built to help you rethink the way you venture into the world.

Learn more at GOALZERO.COM

BULLEVARD THE HOME OF PEOPLE WHO INSPIRE, ENTERTAIN, EDUCATE, INNOVATE

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

RAMONA ROSALES/AUGUST

TOM HIDDLESTON MADE A SPLASH OFF SCREEN IN 2016. NOW, HIS ACTING IS DOING THE TALKING AGAIN Tom Hiddleston will hope this year is better than last. Aside from an excellent starring role in TV mini-series The Night Manager, his 2016 was notable for two movies that largely failed to connect with filmgoers (I Saw The Light and HighRise), and a bizarre three months when he grabbed headlines as Taylor Swift’s boyfriend. Within weeks, the actor who had earned plaudits playing Loki, the best villain in the Marvel cinematic universe, went from being tipped as the next 007 to trending on Instagram as he frolicked in the surf with Ms Swift – dismissed by some as a PR stunt. “Haters never win,” he said of Loki. “[And] I just think that’s true about life, because negative energy always costs in the end.” Look out for positive turns in Kong: Skull Island this month and Thor: Ragnarok in the autumn.

THE RED BULLETIN

17

BULLEVARD 2016 A section of Tesla’s Gigafactory opens in Nevada. The world’s largest building, it will be fully operational in 2020, making batteries and power storage devices for Tesla cars, home and industry.

Also: the Tesla Model X SUV goes on sale, and SpaceX announces a trip to Mars for 2022. Forbes magazine calculates Musk’s net worth as $10.7 billion.

1971 Elon Reeve Musk is born in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 28. When Musk is eight, his parents divorce and he lives with his mother, brother and sister. But at 11 he goes to live with his dad – an electrical engineer – telling his mum, “You have three kids and Dad has no kids.”

Elon’s free time is spent programming his computer, a Commodore VIC-20.

2015 Becomes co-chair of OpenAI, a self-proclaimed “nonprofit artificial intelligence research company” that hopes to promote beneficial AI of the kind that won’t take all our jobs and then end the human race. “It’s really just trying to increase the probability that the future will be good,” he says later.

HOW I GOT HERE FROM PRETORIA TO THE PLANETS: ELON MUSK, THE BILLIONAIRE ENTREPRENEUR AND GREEN EVANGELIST WHO’S REACHING FOR THE STARS

2004

1995 After attending university in Ontario and Pennsylvania, and achieving degrees in physics and economics, Musk begins a PhD at Stanford University – but quits two days later. “I didn’t even go to classes, actually,” Musk says later. “I was sort of forced to choose. You know, it’s either start the grad programme or, you know, do my internet company.” He ‘does’ Zip2, a web software company.

18

2002 Three years after selling Zip2 and pocketing $22m, Musk earns $165m when eBay buys PayPal, the company born from the merger of his financial services firm X.com with another, Confinity.

Next venture: interplanetary innovation with SpaceX. Not everyone gets behind his vision of human life beyond Earth: during a visit to buy rockets, Musk and his team are spat on by a Russian chief designer who thinks they’re “full of shit”.

Musk becomes chairman of Tesla, an electric carmaker in which he has invested heavily. Four years on, he takes the reigns as CEO and the firm launches its Roadster, the first massproduction car to run on lithium-ion batteries not dissimilar to those found in laptops and mobile phones. Around 2,500 Roadsters are sold.

2013 Hyperloop – perhaps Musk’s most audacious future transport idea – proposes a 35-minute, 600mph journey between LA and San Francisco, inside pods propelled along tubes.

Critics say it’s impractical and expensive; Musk counters by making the tech open-source so that anyone (rich enough) can have a go.

2008 Quite the summer: Tesla announces the five-door Model S (launches 2012; more than 150,000 sold to date) while a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket containing some of the ashes of James Doohan, the actor who played Scotty in Star Trek, fails two minutes after launch.

“Technically, Scotty’s ashes did get to space; they just didn’t stay there,” Musk notes.

TIM MÖLLER-KAYA

A nerd decades before it’s fashionable, the bookish youngster earns the nickname ‘Muskrat’. His computing skills are such that, at just 12, he creates Blastar – a Space Invaders clone – and sells it to a PC magazine for US$500.

(Years later, a biography of Musk prints the mag page with the game code, and, of course, someone codes it to be played online.)

GETTY IMAGES

1984

BULLEVARD

REACHING NEW PEAKS

“I TRY TO LIVE IN THE MOMENT. I HATE THE IDEA OF LIVING IN THE FUTURE”

AMANDA SEYFRIED THE FORMER MEAN GIRL IS DETERMINED TO BANISH FEAR AND SEIZE THE DAY

ART PARTNER/BLAUBLUT-EDITION.COM

By the end of 2017, Amanda Seyfried will have another bunch of wide-ranging credits for her CV. She’s in the rebooted Twin Peaks (along with half of Hollywood), a comedy movie (The Clapper), a sci-fi flick (Anon), an as-yetuntitled kidnap dramedy and, out in March, The Last Word, in which she plays a journalist uncovering the secrets of a woman who wants to write her own obituary. Such variation is hardly surprising: the 31-year-old has never been typecast since making her debut alongside Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams in Mean Girls. She is also atypical in her honesty in interviews, talking as matterof-factly about video-calling her pets as she does about tackling her depression. “You can project your fears into a fantasy that would never happen,” she said recently.

“That’s not a positive way to think. It’s important to seize the day because we don’t know what will happen in 10 minutes. I try to live in the moment. I hate the idea of living in the future.” She’s being modest, because with her forthcoming projects, we can see at least a year’s worth of success ahead.

THE RED BULLETIN

19

BULLEVARD

EXPAND YOUR NETWORK

SAY WHAT?

FOLLOW, LIKE AND RETWEET YOUR WAY TO A SMARTER MONTH

“Survival can be summed up in three words: never give up. That’s the heart of it, really. Just keep trying” BEAR GRYLLS, ADVENTURER

“Any of my answers always have to do with: I stopped worrying about fixing things and just dealt with what was right in front of me. The bouncing ball of the moment”

“I’ve learned that it’s not a straight road to the top and there are going to be setbacks along the way. You have to be patient and you have to keep believing in what you’re doing.

And keep believing in yourself, no matter what is happening.

And then eventually, you’ll get there” EUGENIE BOUCHARD, 2014 WIMBLEDON FINALIST; CURRENT WORLD RANKING: 46

ROBERT DOWNEY JR, RIDER OF FAME’S ROLLERCOASTER

“My friends, as I have discovered myself, there are no disasters, only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters”

“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life… You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity”

BORIS JOHNSON, UK FOREIGN SECRETARY

JK ROWLING, FORMER SINGLE MOTHER ON BENEFITS

“You build on failure.

You use it as a stepping stone.

Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space” JOHNNY CASH, MAN IN BLACK

20

“I distance myself, because I feel everything…

Just because there’s a hurricane going on around you doesn’t mean you have to open the window and look at it” TAYLOR SWIFT, QUEEN OF POP

WORLD PRESS PHOTO twitter.com/ worldpressphoto The international foundation was championing ‘visual journalism’ – important and astonishing images captured by brave, intrepid photographers around the world – before that term even existed. This feed has the pick of the pics, plus links to deeper stories.

HODINKEE instagram.com/ hodinkee If you’re looking to buy a statement watch to last you the rest of your life (or blow your bonus on another for your collection), this is the only account to follow. It offers amazing access to new releases from the world’s great watchmakers – just click through for authoritative reviews.

DEN OF GEEK facebook.com/ denofgeek There are numerous websites, Twitter feeds and Facebook pages that feature trailers, news, reviews and analysis at the nerdy end of TV and film, but only Den Of Geek (also a website and Twitter feed) manages to do it in such an upto-the minute, smart and insightful way.

THE RED BULLETIN

GETTY IMAGES (7)

NO MATTER HOW GOOD LIFE GETS, THERE WILL BE TIMES WHEN YOU FACE SETBACKS. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO STAY STRONG AND BOUNCE BACK

WINNING. WITH. TECHNOLOGY.

+

GREG CALLAGHAN WINS IRELAND EWS 2016 AND TWEEDLOVE INTERNATIONAL 2016

RIDING A CUBE STEREO 140 29’ER

BULLEVARD

ALEX GREGORY

THE TWO-TIME OLYMPIC ROWING GOLD MEDALLIST REVEALS THE HOURS OF EFFORT NEEDED TO FORGE AN ELITE ATHLETE

25 0

KM ROWED PER WEEK IN THE WINTER “It’s a mix of on the water and the rowing machine. We do this week in, week out whatever the weather – the only time we won’t go out on the river is if the ice is too thick for the boats to break through it!”

6

WORLD OR OLYMPIC CHAMPIONSHIPS WON IN A ROW. “I’m one of only three people in the world of rowing to win six consecutive World or Olympic titles and I’m really proud of that – the others are the guys in the Kiwi rowing pair. Crossing the line at the London Olympics was pure relief that it had all been worth it. Part of it in 2016 was proving to myself that I could do it again – that it wasn’t a fluke. Jürgen Gröbler, my coach, said to me after London, 'Alex, it's easy to do it once. It's hard to do it again.'"

384,000

KILOS LIFTED IN THE GYM EVERY YEAR. “We do four weights workouts a week in addition to the rowing training over the Olympic cycle. We do a lot of power cleans because they are similar to the movements you do in rowing. I can power clean 115kg, bench press 120kg, bench pull 115kg and squat 150kg.”

6,000

CALORIES A DAY IN NORMAL TRAINING. “It boils down to eating as much as possible! I struggle with it and have to battle to hold my weight – healthy stuff and then a McDonald's or a protein shake on top of that. We eat about 25 per cent protein to 75 per cent carbs – carbs are massive. I get to the end of the evening and have a 500calorie protein shake to help me be ready for the next day’s training.”

22

5:52

MINUTES TO ROW 2,000M ON THE ERGO. “Rowing is a power endurance sport. We’re not especially strong, comparatively, but we have to generate the power over a six-minute race, for every stroke, consistently. My strength comes from my technique and my aerobic capacity. I’m not naturally that strong, so I needed to adjust the way I trained.”

100

KILOS OF MUSCLE GAINED IN ORDER TO WIN GOLD. “I was watching from the sidelines in Beijing in 2008 and it was like a lightbulb going off – I realised I was not strong enough and would need to take three months out in order to hit the gym, do no aerobic training, pile on a few pounds and get stronger. I did five weights sessions a week and I had to double my intake of calories with four protein shakes a day – it was horrendous!”

3500

DAYS OF TRAINING PER YEAR DURING AN OLYMPIC CYCLE ‘We'd train three times a day, seven days a week – it’s what I’ve done for the last 16 years. A couple of hours on the water, an hour on the rowing machine and then weights.

We had time off after the World Championships, but that was it. There’s no flexibility – if you don’t do it, you don’t make the team.”

VITAL STATISTICS

Discipline: Coxless Four and Eights Rowing Age: 32 Height: 198cm Weight: 98kg Achievements: World Championship rowing golds in 2009 (Poland), 2011 (Slovenia), 2013 Eights (South Korea), 2014 (Netherlands), 2015 (France), Olympic gold medals in coxless four – London 2012, Rio 2016

FITNESS TRACKER WHAT’S HOT IN HEALTH THIS MONTH

THE APP FITMO

This coaching app has a real-life coach as an ingredient: via messages and video calls, a human personal trainer, matched to your needs, will encourage, inform, help, advise and guide you to your goals. fitmo.com

THE TECH PATH FAT BAND

A two-part fitness tracker, with a band and a breath device that, after analysing exhalations during exercise, can measure your metabolism and rate of burning fat.

Pre-order for delivery this summer. thefatband.com

THE FUEL YOGHURT

Enjoy it as a late-night snack to work out better the next day. A 250g serving of full-fat live natural yoghurt has protein you’ll use slowly overnight, to help muscle growth, while the bacteria boost your gut’s uptake of the nutrients you need for exercise. acsm.org HENRY HUNT

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

THE RED BULLETIN

METAL GURUS After a career that spans four decades, you might expect rock legends METALLICA to be running on empty. But, having overcome every hurdle that life – and the music industry – could throw at them, it seems they have only just begun WORDS Nick Amies PHOTOGRAPHY Shamil Tanna 24

THE RED BULLETIN

Metallica, London, November 2016

D

eath, addiction, lawsuits… Through all the trials and tribulations, Metallica have somehow survived more than 35 years on hard rock’s relentless road.

The youthful fire that scorched a blazing path through the metal scene back in the early 1980s still burns brightly, despite all four members now being in their 50s. Here, vocalist/guitarist james hetfield and drummer lars ulrich trace the evolution of Metallica from wild-eyed thrash punks to one of the biggest bands on the planet. the red bulletin: You celebrated your sixth number one album last November when your latest record, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, topped the charts around the world. After all your success, do you still get a kick when that happens? james: Oh man… for sure! But you know, it’s bizarre, and very surprising. The older we get, the more special getting a number one album is going to get. After 35 years, that this can still happen, it’s great. It’s the oxygen we need! lars: The fact that Metallica can still release records that matter to people is a great thing; that hard music still matters to people is a great thing. I feel like rock groups are becoming a minority. There are fewer and fewer bands doing well on a global scale, so being one of them is a privilege. It’s a good time to be in Metallica.

Hardwired… was the first album to be released on your own label, Blackened Recordings. How different was this experience compared with others? james: It wasn’t that different. What I would say is that as it was on our own label – which is only our own label in the US; we’re still on Universal in the rest of the world – we were able to take our time and write without deadlines. No one was saying, “Hey, we need it by this time.” lars: When we entered into contract negotiations, the aim was always to eventually own our own back catalogue.

Any disassociation and dynamic that releases you is a great thing because you are truly free to do what you want.

The main difference was not in the recording, but in what happened the day after we finished, because we now have to do 90 per cent of the work ourselves, whereas 10 or 20 years ago other people did most of the work. We have a much bigger infrastructure now.

You’re a band that has often worn its heart on its sleeve. Looking at your 26

“It’s good to learn from others… but deep down we’re still rebels, risk-takers. We like being challenged by life and being faced with the question ‘What do we do next with this gift we have?’

Planning and preparation is only part of it. Guts, soul and fire are also invaluable weapons” James Hetfield

back catalogue, are there any periods where you now think, “What the hell were we thinking?” james: There are things I would like to change on some of the records, but it gives them so much character that you can’t change them. I find it a little frustrating when bands re-record classic albums with pretty much the same songs and have it replace the original. It erases that piece of history. These records are a product of a certain time in life; they’re snapshots of history and they’re part of our story. OK, so …And Justice for All [1988] could use a little more low end and St. Anger [2003] could use a little less tin snare drum, but those things are what make those records part of our history.

Metallica started out in another age, when vinyl was king. You now have your own vinyl printing plant in Germany. Why is that? james: We grew up with and love vinyl.

It’s an experience, an event. It’s tangible: you hold the record, take it from the sleeve; place the needle in the groove.

About six months ago, I was in LA, visiting some old high-school buddies and we just sat around listening to vinyl... stuff like Kansas. Just the act of flicking through the boxes, smelling the cardboard, reading the sleeve notes and listening to that warm sound – it’s very immersive.

So, you’re essentially your own bosses now. Would you say it’s been a natural progression from crazy kids with a dream to rock moguls/businessmen? lars: I’d like to think that we’re still crazy adults, still trying to figure it all out. When I look in the mirror, I don’t see a businessman, but obviously when you have a bunch of people who work for you, there’s a point where you at least have to act mature. I’m 53 now, but I still feel like

that crazy kid trying to work out what’s going on at times, so to have a trusted team behind us, with our own set-up, and being fiercely independent like Metallica is… that’s really a cool thing of which we’re very proud.

You don’t look like businessmen, but isn’t it also true that Lars has been very active in that side of things since you started out? james: Lars is the more business-savvy guy. He followed Motörhead, he followed Diamond Head, and he learned from them and other bands how they did things, why they made the decisions they made, why one manager is better than another… He’s very inquisitive when it comes to business.

Me? I just… didn’t want a job! I wanted to play music, create and have my therapy and career wrapped into one! It’s good to learn from others and apply that to your own life, but deep down we’re still rebels, risk-takers. We like being challenged by life and being faced with the question “What do we do next with this gift we have?” Planning and preparation is only part of it. Guts, soul and fire are also invaluable weapons.

I find it hard to imagine Metallica sitting around in glass-walled offices, shouting into phones, with ties askew… james: There are no ties, man, and we’re very rarely in an office. As for shouting into phones, we pay people to do that!

I think the bigger picture is about who’s in control, who’s running the ship and who’s just having a good time being in the band.

THE RED BULLETIN

James Hetfield, vocals/guitar

Rob Trujillo, bass

“I’d like to think that we’re still crazy adults, still trying to figure it all out.

When I look in the mirror, I don’t see a businessman” Lars Ulrich

Lars Ulrich, drums

“Kirk [pictured] and Rob are always ready to go with us, wherever this ride takes us�

James Hetfield

Kirk Hammett, lead guitar

It might be fairly obvious, but Lars and I are the two guys who put this band together; we formed this thing from day one and had this vision. We’ve been in the driving seat, but Kirk [Hammett, lead guitarist] and Rob [Trujillo, bass player] are always ready to go with us, wherever this ride takes us.

You talk a lot about achieving independence. How important is that in having a long and successful career? james: For us, yes, it has been important, but for other people? I don’t know. When we were starting out, getting signed by a label was huge. I don’t think that’s such a huge thing now. The fact that you can make your own music in your basement, press it and put it out yourself is wonderful, but how far do you get with that? Do you eventually sign up with someone who’s bigger? These are the business decisions you need to make. You have to ask yourself, “What is it we want to do?” Do you want to tour the world, stay local? You should do what makes you happy. lars: We’ve always felt we were outsiders.

I guess we never really felt the need to play the game. The best thing about our success is that it has afforded us the opportunity to carve our own creative path. Primarily, independence for us means that we’ve never really taken money from anybody; we’ve never owed anybody anything. james: We’ve always been control freaks.

As artists, we’ve always felt the need to have at least some control over how our art is presented. Whether you’re an artist or a sculptor, you’re going to have a strong opinion on how your art is hung or where it’s placed – that’s part of the artistic vision.

But wouldn’t you agree that you have to adapt and be flexible in any career? james: When the floodgates opened and music was all over the internet for free, it scared us and we didn’t know what to think about that. But obviously now it’s a great, convenient way to get your music, so adapting is the only way to survive.

I think that’s true in any walk of life.

You mentioned free music online. Do you regret the way you were represented during the Napster case where you opposed illegal downloads? james: What people think about us, about me, is none of my business. I knew it was the right thing to do. We were an easy target. Someone who is established and who is concerned about their art is there to be shot at. lars: It was a street fight, and the other guys painted this picture that it was between Metallica and their fans, and Metallica against downloading, which it really wasn’t. It wasn’t about downloading; THE RED BULLETIN

it was about choice. If I want to give away my music for free, whose choice is that?

Is it my choice, or someone else’s? It was a strange summer.

That strange summer included a South Park episode portraying you, Lars, crying by your pool because you couldn’t afford to have a gold-plated shark-tank bar installed due to illegal downloads… lars: That has floated across my eyeballs.

But I’m pretty thick-skinned. We took a lot of hits that summer; that was one of them.

So you never fancied having a goldplated shark tank bar, then? james: We’re practical people. We’ll put our money into a stage set or a good production or making a movie. As far

HOW TO BECOME A ROCK STAR IN 2017: THREE TIPS

BY LARS ULRICH

1 Find like-minded people who are as passionate as you are “We’re all very different characters, but at the core we’re a band that have moved forward together. James and I are perhaps at the steering wheel, with Kirk and Rob sitting in the back, but we all get a say in where we’re heading. We’ve seen band members come and go, but even those who are not with us now have shared the passion of being in Metallica. Passion means you’ll fight about stuff from time to time, but you’ll be fighting for the good of the band.

Finding people ready to do that – to get in the trenches with you and go the distance – that’s the solid base you need.”

2 Stay true to your own vision and ideals

“We’ve made choices and music that have not always been popular with everyone, but you know, that’s not really why we make these choices. We’ve done what we’ve done because we’ve believed in every single part of it. If we always made music to a template of what has brought us success in the past, we would sound the same and never progress, and that would be like a kind of creative death. We could just slip the same record into a different sleeve and take the rest of the year off. We welcome challenges and set ourselves new ones to keep things interesting for everyone involved. People will try to tell you to go another way, and they’ll sell it as the best thing for the band, but you – the band – should be the only ones making those decisions. Don’t let anybody talk you out of them. Listen to those you trust, but stand firm together.”

3 Remain committed “Stay the course. Hang in there. If you’re talented, someone will find you.”

as decadence goes, there’s none of that.

We’d kick each other’s asses. That doesn’t fit the Metallica mould.

That wasn’t the only dark period: your 2004 documentary film Some Kind Of Monster showed the band at its lowest ebb, going through a lot of personal struggles. How did you keep the band together during that time? lars: When James came back from a year away [from the band] with a new set of tools for interacting with us, I wasn’t sure for the first six months how that was going to work out. I wasn’t sure I could adhere to those ways. It all fell back into place around 2005 and 2006, but it was pretty ropey there for a while. We weren’t quite sure what was going to happen. I’m not a big fan of ‘what if’ questions, because who knows what would have happened if we had split. But we’re here, talking to you.

Trying to imagine a world where Metallica split 10 years or so ago is a waste of energy.

Let’s waste a bit: if you had split, could you see Metallica jumping on the reformation bandwagon now? lars: There are lot of bands that reform for a lot of different reasons. There could be someone who says, “I’m reforming this band for $20 million,” and I’d say, “Good on ya!” Who the hell am I to say that you shouldn’t do that? I can barely keep my own shit together!

On the subject of touring, you’ve made it clear that from now on you won’t be going out on a long haul; instead, you’ll play for two weeks, then have two weeks off to spend with your families.

Does it get easier to juggle family life with a music career as you get older? james: We’re extremely fortunate to be where we are. To be able to do two weeks on, two weeks off is great – not only for our families, but for our own sanity, our physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

We can’t go on tour like we did when we were in our 20s. It needs to be ageappropriate touring these days!

The new regime also means you get a bit of downtime. Maybe to do a little skateboarding, James? james: It’s been a while since I’ve been on a board. We played the House of Vans in London at the end of last year, and some of our crew had a go, but those days are done for me. I’ve got other passions now.

We all need ‘you’ time. You need to get away. There’s still a lone wolf in me who loves solitude, loves going solo whether it’s music, hunting, hiking or camping, whatever. Or getting in the garage and tinkering with something, getting really lost in a project… I love doing that. metallica.com

31

A LIFE

L O ER D SI N ASR Y The Adventurers Grand Slam, climbing seven of the world’s highest mountains and trekking to both Poles, is an exceptionally rare feat – just 15 people have done it. So how come one of the latest to join this exclusive club is a 53-year-old IT engineer and amateur adventurer from Scotland?

Words: Justin Hynes

HENRY HUNT

Newall Hunter: the 15th person in the world to complete the Adventurers Grand Slam

33

S 1 ANTARCTICA THE SOUTH POLE (2014/2015) COST: £60,000

trolling through the corridors of the Royal Geographic Society in London is to be subtly reminded of the exceptional exploits of exceptional adventurers. On the walls are archive photographs of historic expeditions by legendary explorers – Robert Falcon Scott’s doomed quest to reach the South Pole, Ernest Shackleton’s heroic return from his failed Antarctic crossing, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s historic ascent of Everest.

Amazing achievements all and undertaken, for the most part, by what might be termed ‘professional’ adventurers, men whose journeys to the world’s highest, wildest, most remote places were the work of a lifetime.

Leading the way past these explorer heroes on this occasion, however, is an adventurer of a different stripe. Newall Hunter is what might loosely be termed a ‘regular Joe’, a softly spoken 53-year-old Scot. Clad in a light fleece, hiking pants and sturdy boots, he’s the sort of guy you might meet in a waypoint pub on a day out hill-walking.

Hunter’s story, though, is as remarkable as those whose company he keeps at the RGS. For last year, Hunter, who spends the bulk of his time working as a communications contractor and IT engineer, became just the 15th person to conquer the Adventurers Grand Slam – climbing seven of the world’s highest and most treacherous peaks and reaching the North and South Poles.

“I didn’t set out with a goal, I’m not a professional explorer,” he smiles. “I haven’t sold out to TV companies who follow me around all the time. They’re not paying for it. I’m just an ordinary bloke doing this.”

Hunter’s ordinary path to extraordinary

“I decided to do the South Pole solo. I thought ‘Let’s do it all the way from the sea to the South Pole,’ so I chose a route that only two people had done before – the Messner route. Weight is everything. You’ve got to get the minimum amount.

I was skiing and pulling for 12 hours a day. That varied from 18km to 28km, depending on the terrain and the conditions. I was burning 10,000 calories a day, but only eating 6,500.

I lost 18.5kg in 41 days.”

34

DANI CASTILLO LOFTHOUSE

“Going solo required huge amounts of preparation.

It was hard”

2 “From the summit of Elbrus, you’ve got Georgia to the south, Ukraine to the west and Chechnya to the east. It’s a great place to be! Everybody climbs it from the south. It’s a very easy mountain to climb from the south. I decided not to do that. I went in from the north. It’s a 90km drive from the nearest town on dirt-track roads with a big four-wheel drive. In winter, the last 20km of that involves getting out and skiing to get to the foot of the mountain. We skied all the way to the summit. It was the first time it had ever been done.”

EUROPE

MT ELBRUS (2016) COST: £5,000

“We were first people to ski from base to summit and down again on the north side of Elbrus in winter. There’s no way I’d go up it on foot. On skis it was fine”

36

NEWALL HUNTER

“There’s a whole life built around this, but it is my life. I’ve sacrificed having a family and fancy house, but I don’t think I ever really wanted those things anyway” Hunter conquered Everest in 2011

3 NORTH AMERICA

MT DENALI, ALASKA, USA (2010/2016) COST: £10,000

“The chances of frostbite if you don’t know what you’re doing are high”

4 OCEANIA

CARSTENSZ PYRAMID, INDONESIA (2015) COST: £20,000

“It’s hard to climb, hard to get to, as it’s politically unstable, and bloody expensive” “Some people choose to climb a mountain in Australia as an alternative, but it’s only 2,228m high – this one is 4,884m high, it’s a proper mountain.

The world’s largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine are there. The Indonesian government don’t want you near the mine, so you fly over the it with a helicopter and land on the foothills and then climb from there.”

38

accomplishment began in his native Scotland.

Born in the tiny village of Leadhills, the second highest in Scotland, Hunter’s youth was spent clambering up the surrounding hills.

In his teens the passion for mountaineering extended to climbing all of Scotland’s Munros – peaks over 3,000ft (914m).

Over the next two decades, he transferred his climbing to the Alps – “Mont Blanc, the Monte Rosa, the Matterhorn” – but life was getting in the way. “When I was 18 I trained in aerospace communications systems,” he explains. “I worked in air traffic control engineering for 18 years.”

Then, in 2003, aged 40, Hunter targeted a new challenge. “I quite fancied one of the big ones,” he says. “But before going off to

“When I really got into the idea of doing the seven summits I thought I’d test my ability by starting the next phase the hard way – with Denali, reputed to be the coldest mountain in the world. The cold was the scariest thing. Trying to do things at -30˚C, -36˚C, having to put tents up, take tents down, dress yourself, put skis on, take skis off... You need a strategy and a process.

The key is not to waste energy. You are at the mercy of the elements, but your strategy should cope with that.”

try something in the Himalayas, I thought I should find something else to practise on, mostly to see how I would perform at altitude rather than the technical side of it.

“The highest peak you can find outside the Himalayas is Aconcagua in South America – 6,961m. There were three or four of us climbing it and a guide. They didn’t make the summit, so I carried on without them. They had altitude sickness, but I had no issues.

I got to the summit, did the photograph, sat around, ate some food and went back down.

I jogged from the summit to the high camp.

“For me, the best aspect was on the mental side, finding out that I performed well, that I could do it. It was a stepping stone and it gave me the confidence to do something bigger.”

It was the start of Hunter’s epic 13-year quest, though at the time there was no ambition for it to be so. “There was no real goal at that point,” he says. “I just wanted to see if I could climb a big mountain and then maybe go out to the Himalayas.

“Aconcagua probably cost me £6,000, plus time off work – about a month to climb – so not ridiculous. You’ve got a guide and people supplying food, so you turn up and it’s all there for you. I didn’t do the planning for it. It’s doable for anyone.”

A year later, though, Hunter found himself chalking off a second of the seven peaks, Kilimanjaro. There was little enjoyment in the achievement, however.

“The problem with Kilimanjaro is you can’t go unguided,” he says. “You have to have a local guide and you go way too fast.

You’re up and down the mountain in six days. They churn through people. People are getting headaches, altitude problems and all the rest of it, really suffering. It’s horrible.

It’s my least favourite of all of them.”

And then, for six years, Hunter took a THE RED BULLETIN

North Pole

Mt Denali

Mt Elbrus Mt Everest

The Adventurers Grand Slam To complete this challenge, adventurers have to reach both the north and south poles and climb the seven summits – the highest mountains on the seven continents.

Carstensz Pyramid Kilimanjaro

Aconcagua

Mt Vinson

SCOTT GILMOUR

South Pole

break from his quest. Not because of the disappointment of Kilimanjaro, but simply because, once again, life got in the way.

“Loads of other things were happening in my life at that point. I’d quit my career and went off contracting to try and earn some money. There was a plan. Whether it was a thought-out plan or just me thinking ‘this is easier’, I don’t know, but it was certainly coming to the point of saying: ‘I don’t really want the career. I would rather have the flexibility to do more of this.’”

In 2010 what had been a vague idea began to coalesce around Alaska’s 6,194m Denali and an expedition that could have been his last.

Hunter signed up for a pre-season climb, in April, when the mountain is still shrouded in long hours of darkness and when conditions are at their most unpredictable. “It’s the cold,” he says simply. “If you’ve never experienced the cold and the isolation... Because rescue on Denali at that time of year, it’s nonexistent. Nobody’s coming to get you.”

After a gruelling climb to 5,180m that began with his ski plane almost crashing onto a glacier at 3,350m and continued through 10 debilitating days of slow upward crawl, Hunter and his fellow climbers paused for a rest day before an attempt on the summit.

“Then the storm hit – a massive one, to the point where you’re lying on the ground in your tent and the wind is flattening the tent so that it’s smacking you in the face. It was THE RED BULLETIN

5

ARCTIC

THE NORTH POLE (2013) COST: £30,000

“It’s tough. It’s cold, it’s damp and it’s horrible. It gets into your bones.

You can’t get anything dry”

“Now I’m thinking, ‘You’ve done the big one, you’re going to have to finish this [the Seven Summits]’. But then I thought, ‘I fancy the North Pole’: a different challenge. You don’t need to be able to ski; you’re just walking. You’ve got a pulk, a sledge, behind you with your tent, food and fuel in it. You walk along on skis dragging your pulk. Then you stop at the end of the day, put your tent up. I call it extreme camping with good administration!”

39

6 ASIA

MT EVEREST, NEPAL (2011) COST: £60,000

NEWALL HUNTER

“A real serenity came over me at the summit, but then you remember that you’re only halfway”

“The only way I can describe reaching the summit is that it felt like that Rutger Hauer speech at the end of Blade Runner.

I don’t mean the quote about ‘I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe’, because loads of people have seen these things, but it’s the emotion he had when he said it. There was a peace in the achievement in that I hadn’t let myself think I would make it until I stepped on the summit.

There’s a video of me there.

The team are saying, ‘Congratulations. What do you think?’ and my comment is: ‘Yeah, let’s get back down safe.’ More people die on the road down than up, because they get careless.”

40

7 ANTARCTICA

MT VINSON, ANTARCTICA (2015) COST: £15,000 Normally, Vinson would cost you £45,000, but it cost me £15,000 because I was already there and the logistics company cut me a nice deal. Vinson is similar to Denali. The approach isn’t as hard, but the headwall is the same.

That ice climb for five, six hours. Up and down, camp at the top. Then a summit day, so it’s very like Denali.”

8 AFRICA

KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA (2004) COST: £5,000

“Except for the summit, you never notice you’re climbing” “There’s nothing particularly difficult about Kilimanjaro, it’s just a long, gentle climb. But still, lots of people have trouble – headaches, loss of appetite, altitude sickness – and it’s because they go too fast. It’s a 6,000m mountain. It’s not to be underestimated.

But that’s what happens.”

42

“Doing the South Pole and Vinson was the one expedition that really cut into my working life. It ate up a lot of my savings, but it was what I had been saving for” -47˚C inside the tent. We were there for six days and six nights.”

When the storm eventually cleared, the team made an attempt at the summit, but the climbers were eventually turned back through sheer exhaustion.

“I learned a lot about myself then,” Hunter admits. “I learned I had the ability to turn around, and that it was the right thing to do.

People talk about getting the red mist, saying, ‘It’s not that far, it’s not that far.’ If it doesn’t feel right, you should turn around. You can come back and do it again. If you get it wrong, you won’t be coming back.”

Six years later, Hunter would return to Denali to complete his Grand Slam, this time taking on the climb “in the easiest way

possible” with a summer ascent, but the mountain still ranks as the most fearsome of the nine challenges.

Between the two Alaskan climbs, Hunter’s pace gathered, fuelled by a growing desire to adventure further, and faster. “I came down from Denali thinking, ‘we got away with that’, but after a few weeks, I started to think, ‘There’s an empty hole here. I need something.’”

He dug deep and ploughed a large proportion of his savings into conquering Everest. He then trekked 450km across the Arctic from the Canadian side to reach the North Pole and followed it with a marathon 911km solo march from the Filchner Ice Shelf, on the edge of the Antarctic continent, to the Geographic South Pole. Here, disaster almost struck again – when he narrowly escaped plummeting into a crevasse.

“I was on it before I knew it. I looked down and there was a black hole below me. My ski tips were on the snow on the far side of it, the tails were on the other side and there was nothing below me. If I’d gone down, I wasn’t getting out. If I had been at any other angle to it than 90 degrees, I’d have been in. That’s probably the closest I’ve ever come to disaster.”

Hunter’s reaction was to simply plant his sticks on the far side and haul himself to safety. “It was just bad luck. There was THE RED BULLETIN

NEWALL HUNTER, HENRY HUNT

nothing I could do about it. I was on it; I had to get off it, so I just stepped over it.”

It’s an example of the matter-of-fact calm with which Hunter details all of the trials his 13-year quest have presented. Be it week-long blizzards on Denali, bridging stretches of Arctic sea by slithering across an opaque, thin skin of new-formed ice to reach the North Pole or embarking on a 13-hour climb of Indonesia’s 4,884m Carstensz Pyramid armed with “a litre of water and a bag of chilli peanuts”, Hunter insists that it is all simply process and preparation.

“Loads of people say, ‘Everest, it’s massive.

How the hell am I going to climb that?’ But once you break it down into bits – ‘What am I going to eat? How am I going to sleep?’

– it’s achievable. It takes 40 days to climb Everest. Don’t worry about the 40 days. All you’ve got to do is worry about today and tomorrow and the next day. My climbing is all process. It’s breaking the whole thing down into manageable chunks.

“My girlfriend calls it my lack of imagination, because I don’t seem to worry.

That’s not true. Before I go on an expedition, I look at everything. You mitigate, identify all the things that can go wrong and you work out how you’re going to manage those eventualities. And the ones you can’t manage, THE RED BULLETIN

9

SOUTH AMERICA

ACONCAGUA, ARGENTINA (2003) COST: £6,000

“The last 300m to the summit is a scree slope – absolute hell” “Technically it’s not at all difficult, but it’s steep. The walk to the base of the mountain, about three or four days, is incredibly hot, but then once you get away from base camp, it’s freezing. The last 300m is two steps forward, one back, for three hours.”

the ones you can’t do anything about, you either accept them or you don’t go.”

While the execution of each increasingly quickfire expedition – Hunter rattled off the South Pole and Antarctica’s Mount Vinson in an epic 52-day burst before summiting Indonesia’s Carstensz Pyramid, Russia’s Mount Elbrus and eventually beating Denali in just nine months – provides the much-needed ‘something’ he craves it’s the meticulous planning and preparation that provide the longer-term satisfaction, and the knowledge that it has all been done by a ‘regular guy’.

“It is the ordinary bloke thing,” he says.

“I actively decided I didn’t want sponsorship or anybody else involved with this. When I went to the South Pole, people wanted to sponsor me, but I didn’t want anything to do with it. I wanted to do this myself.

“Selfish? Yes. But at the end of the day, I can say, ‘I did that’. The enjoyment is mine.

It’s just for me.”

And in June of 2016, the plan was complete. Hunter stood on the summit of Denali having accomplished a feat just 14 other men and women had mastered. Thirteen years of effort, commitment, obsession and sacrifice were over. The only way, both literally and metaphorically, was down.

“I am drifting,” he says. “Nothing’s working properly at the moment. I should be finding work to earn money and I haven’t really done that. Nothing seems worth the bother. I need to find something. Once I get something, I’ll be back on track. ” The obvious void at the end of the road begs the question of whether the journey has been worth the sacrifice – of career, family, material comforts. Did the quest take over his life?

“People around me would say yes, but it is my life,” he insists. “You can do it but there’s going to be a sacrifice. You’re going to be working to pay for this and when you’re not working you’re going to be training. It’s like the Olympics: you look at people winning gold medals and they all say, it’s dedication, sacrifice and hard work. It’s not anything else.

There is no trick. There’s no magic wand.”

And right now, the hard work is focused on the next horizon. Ask him when the drift will end and Hunter immediately brightens.

“If I stick to the mountains, the obvious thing is to go and climb K2, the big bad one, but I’m not sure. I might fancy doing something completely different. Maybe attempt to cross the Gobi Desert in winter.

That’s further than Antarctica and about as cold. It’s 2,400km in 55 days or something.

Minus 45. Nobody’s done that one.

“That’s the phase I’m in at the moment: “Where do I go next?” Because I’m not going to give this up, I’m going to do something else. It is the challenge. I love the challenge.” newallhunter.com

43

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Julius Caesar dances with Genghis Khan. A Chinese dragon watches over a crowd of ravers.

A Viking boat glides across the packed d a n c e f l o o r. W e l c o m e t o E l r o w, t h e world ’s craziest club night, at Space Ibiza. The Red Bulletin travelled to La Isla Blanca to relive the Great Migration with 8,000 other party animals Wo r d s : F l o r i a n O b k i r c h e r P h o t o g r a p h y: K h r i s C o w l e y

44

Space is the place: the legendary Elrow parties are known for their joie de vivre

11:30pm

Nights in Playa d’en Bossa are not for the faint of heart.

Taxis sound their horns and clog the streets. Young people run wild as the night-time pitchmen try to entice them into their establishments. There’s a smell of frying meat, and the glare from the enormous neon signs on the fronts of the bars and clubs makes the street lights redundant. This 2km beachfront resort on the edge of Ibiza Town may look like a sleepy holiday destination during the day, but when the sun goes down it’s transformed into one of the hottest party strips in Europe; nowhere else will you find such a high concentration of mega-clubs. Tens of thousands of party people gather here at the weekend, and Space Ibiza has become the epicentre of this nightlife Mecca. Converted from a conference centre into a nightclub in 1989, this Ibizan legend has won Best Global Club five times at the annual International Dance Music Awards. (When The Red Bulletin visits, the club is in a state of transition: it’s the final season for Space Ibiza in its current form, with plans for a revamp by its new owners.)

12:10 a m

A taxi pulls up in front of Space and two well-built men get out: a bare-chested pharaoh with a long beard and a green neon nemes (a striped Egyptian headcloth), and a Viking with a horned helmet, bright red tunic, and a plastic sword in a full-grain leather belt. When quizzed about their choice of outfit, they reply, “We don’t stand out at all here!” Javier, 24, and Mario, 27, both from Madrid, are working as waiters in Ibiza Town for the summer. At the weekend, they migrate to the other side of the bar and immerse themselves in the craziest club night anywhere in the world.

Elrow began life in Barcelona in 2010, as a small party with 200 guests, then became a daytime, open-air gathering for the extended social circle of its organiser, Juan Arnau Jr. His vision was to create a playground for grown-ups, with fancy-dress themes, crazy performances and a throbbing techno soundtrack. Over the past two years, Elrow has transformed into a travelling rave circus which tours the world’s best clubs, with thousands of revellers attending each event. It has taken up residence in Ibiza during the summer months – or, to be more precise, Saturdays at Space.

“Elrow is the Studio 54 of our generation,” gushes Mario.

“It’s a place where you can leave your daily worries behind.”

The 50m-long queue is testament to this, with crusader knights lining up alongside Martians, who jostle for space with black-clad ninjas. Each night’s dress code sees Elrow fans trying to outdo each other – more so than ever for this, the end-of-summer party. Tonight’s theme is ‘Nomads, New World’ and more than 8,000 crazies are expected.

12:50am

Andres, an actor by trade, is dressed as the Mad Hatter from Alice In Wonderland in a huge, blue top hat, enormous sunglasses and a shiny orange suit; he’s playing resident doorman at the entrance to party heaven. “Come on in, come on in!” he bellows, suitably theatrical and stentorian.

Andres poses for selfies with an insane grin, and offers some revellers an inside tip: “Be in the middle of the dancefloor at 2am exactly, preferably without a drink in your hand.”

46

1:20am

La Discoteca is the centrepiece at Space. In this, the main area at the club, there will be 2,000 people dancing at its peak.

Every Saturday, the Elrow crew transform the space into a psychedelic dreamland in less than 12 hours. A massive blue and white sequoia at the side of the dancefloor stretches up to the ceiling, which is covered with branches and jellyfish garlands that glow under a black light. A Chinese dragon with a 2m-long head floats above the dancefloor. The DJ lords it up atop an Aztec pyramid. Behind him is a round LED screen that resembles a time portal from some sci-fi film.

1:40am

Juan Arnau Jr is propping up the VIP bar by the stage. The Elrow boss has his hair cut short and is wearing a black T-shirt and black jeans. At just 30, he’s the youngest member of a Spanish party dynasty.

Arnau Jr’s family have been involved in the nightlife business for six generations; his ancestors ran nightclubs in his hometown of Fraga as far back as 1870. In 2010, Arnau Jr and his sister, Cruz, went out on their own with Elrow. To ensure their club night stood out from all the others, they bought masks, confetti cannons and inflatable animals at party stores. This simple idea quickly took on a momentum all of its own. “Guests started showing up at the club in crazy costumes, and they brought street artists with them, who would perform spontaneous performances on the dancefloor,” he explains. “That was when Elrow really came to life.”

In London and Berlin, dark warehouse parties are currently all the rage: clubbers dressed in black, monotonous sounds, no decoration. Elrow is the polar opposite, and that’s precisely why it’s successful, because this party offers a home to all those ravers who want more from a club night than just the music.

Elrow is now known for its crazy nights around the world; it hosts more than 70 parties a year across five continents. Sixty designers in three warehouses work full-time on new party decor and outfits for the acrobats who appear at each event.

“But our confetti is made in China,” says Arnau Jr, “because you can’t buy confetti the size we use anywhere else. We’ve shot four tonnes of the stuff on Ibiza this summer alone.”

This summer, Elrow also managed to sell out Space on 10 consecutive occasions; no one else manages that. Arnau Jr’s recipe for success? “You have to surprise your guests. Our parties have different themes. The only thing you can be sure of at Elrow is that your jaw will hit the floor during the show.”

THE RED BULLETIN

With a bang, confetti rains down on the dancers.

There’s so much of the stuff that you can’t see more than a few metres in front of you. It’s a riot of colour

Top: The Great Migration in full force – 30 costumed performers on stilts take to the dancefloor Above: Canadian DJ Art Department, known for his high-octane deep-house style, is tonight’s star guest

Left: It takes the Elrow crew less than 12 hours to transform Space into a vast playground for adults. The theme of the party is different every week Below: A ticker-tape boxing match – four tonnes of confetti were dropped in total at Elrow parties in Ibiza last summer

“If you’re DJing at an Elrow party, you have to soft-pedal your ego. It’s not about you. Like everyone else, you’re part of this huge, wonderful madhouse”

1:58am

Things are getting snug in La Discoteca, with guests streaming in from all the side entrances. Everyone is looking straight ahead, transfixed. The DJ slows down the beat and the lights go out. Then, bang on 2am, there’s a whoosh…

Smoke spews from four huge cannons and fills the dancefloor as strobe lights flash. Suddenly, figures – each on stilts, standing about 3m tall – enter the auditorium from each side of the stage: there’s Genghis Kahn, followed by Julius Caesar, then an alien from the film Avatar. A fully crewed Viking longboat descends from the ceiling. A man-sized cockatoo dances in a cage.

Alexander the Great, cackling theatrically, abseils into the room wearing upper-body armour and lands on the shoulders of Moses, who is biting off chunks of the stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments and spitting them into the crowd. Next to him, a jungle explorer rides through the crowd on an inflatable banana. It’s easy to tell the Elrow regulars apart from the novices at times like these: while some dance exuberantly around the stilted performers, others stare upwards in disbelief. One guy, dressed as a priest, exclaims with joy, “Oh man, this is crazier than being on acid!”

2:20am

The 30 performers on stilts are still hustling on the dancefloor. The scene is completely insane – total sensory overload.

Then the DJ cuts the bass. You could slice through the atmosphere with a knife.

Suddenly, with a bang, confetti rains down on the dancers. There’s so much of the stuff that you can’t see more than a few metres in front of you. It’s a riot of colour. This is the grand finale of the first of four shows tonight, each beginning on the hour.

3:30am

The oldest raver on the dancefloor is 60 years old, 2m tall, bald-headed, wears glasses and sports a hearty smile. In Spain, Juan Arnau Sr is well-known as the padre of party culture. He has known nightlife since birth – “I was born in my grandfather’s casino,” he says. Today, he runs Florida 135 – the legendary Fraga nightclub opened by his father in 1942 – and also helps his son with his party. He’s been there for Juan Arnau Jr since the very first Elrow party – in the role of bouncer.

“You can only be successful as a club owner if you’re part of the party yourself. My father drummed that into me,” he says. Many clubs fail because the boss retreats into their office after the first wave of success, more interested in turnover than the atmosphere they’re providing. Arnau Sr says the secret of the family’s success after so many years of nightlife experience is simple: “You have to talk to your guests and watch people dancing. Or, to cut a long story short, you have to make sure that people are having fun the whole time. That’s the only way they’ll come back.”

Can one really live out that attitude at 60 with a clear conscience? “Do you want to know how long I’ll be staying here today?” he says. “I’ll be here to the very end!”

THE RED BULLETIN

3:45am

When three female clowns wearing colourful wigs appear and push five white boxes onto the stage, those in the know begin to cheer and surge forwards. It’s time for an Elrow ritual: the costume hand-out, affectionately known by some regulars as ‘the feeding of the vultures’.

“Over here! Over here!” roars a guy dressed as a Roman in the front row hysterically, and gets a red sombrero thrown at him for his efforts. Other flying objects of the costume kind include baby bottles, clown noses, Afro wigs, hard hats, hippy sunglasses, horse-head masks and Smurf caps. By the end of the feeding frenzy, even the stoical security guy by the side of the stage is wearing a green wig.

5:10 a m

There are huge pieces of cardboard cheese hanging from the walls outside, alongside pictures of the Matterhorn. It’s all in honour of Andrea Oliva. The Swiss minimal house specialist has had the DJ booth of the Terrace floor to himself at Elrow parties many times throughout the season in Ibiza. This has meant marathon shifts from midnight to 6am, often even longer.

Although the DJ is totally worn out – this is his fourth consecutive night shift – he couldn’t be happier. “When you’re a top DJ, most clubs will book you for a two-hour set and then the next DJ will come on,” he says. “At Elrow, I can take the dancers with me on a long journey. That’s why I love playing here.”

Many other Ibiza club nights try to outdo each other with the number of star DJs they hire, but Elrow takes a different path.

“If you’re DJing at an Elrow party, you have to soft-pedal your ego,” says Oliva. “It’s not about you. Like everyone else, you’re part of this huge, wonderful madhouse. Which is exactly why people love Elrow.“

6:15 a m

Oliva drops the pounding Patrick Topping remix of Raumakustik’s house track Dem A Pree and everyone’s hands go up in the air.

Right in the thick of it are Mario and Javier. Both look as if they’ve had fun dancing the night away. Mario has lost his tunic – “Where? No idea!” – and is dancing in green Calvin Klein shorts. Javier has confetti in his hair and beard.

What do they make of Nomads, New World? “The best party of the summer. Mind you...” It’s hard to choose one highlight, as there have been so many during the course of the season: at the Psychedelic Trip party, they were married on the dancefloor; at the Rowlympic Games, they got other freaks to take part in a football match and practised penalties with an inflatable globe.

7:10 a m

Another of the club’s DJ regulars, De La Swing, plays the final track of the night: Theo Kottis’ euphoric tech-house anthem Running Nowhere. Crusader knights and nuns mobilise all their remaining strength to bid a proper goodbye to the party.

Five minutes later, the DJ shuts down the decks. The beat gets slower and ends with a muffled rumble. The lights go up.

The ravers protest loudly, but the security men are not to be messed with: “You know the rules. Be off with you!”

One of the last men on the dancefloor is Juan Arnau Jr. When he spots his father on the stage, the youngster calls out to him. “Dad, are you ready for the afterparty?” elrowfamily.com

49

Boyd Holbrook, 35, says “it’s important to be proud of yourself and where you’ve come from”

HEROES

“I DON’T CRAVE FAME, I SEEK KNOWLEDGE” BOYD HOLBROOK He calls Hugh Jackman “a beast”, but the man playing Wolverine’s final nemesis says that’s not an insult, but a valuable lesson

JASON BUSH

K

Terry and we started a couple of months later.

Fortuitous encounters seem crucial to your progress.

I’m blessed, but also, I make my own luck. That’s why I started a production company. But I’m the biggest fan of Michael Shannon and Christian Bale. Rather than seeing this as some sort of Hollywood competition or craving fame, I want to work.

I think those two gentleman share the same attitude.

How do you stay grounded?

It’s important to be proud of yourself and where you’ve come from. I used to have insecurities of being from Kentucky, being around kids in New York City who

entucky-born actor Boyd Holbrook is best known as Steve Murphy, the DEA agent who brought down Pablo Escobar in the hit series Narcos. But after this month, everyone will know him as the man who faced down Wolverine in Logan – Hugh Jackman’s final stand as the legendary X-Man. In real life, however, Holbrook doesn’t want to beat his rivals, but learn from them. It’s a wisdom he’s applied with increasing success, beginning with a chance encounter that set him on the path to Hollywood stardom.

“HAVING JUST THREE LINES WITH MORGAN FREEMAN IS KIND OF WORSE THAN TRYING TO CARRY AN ENTIRE FILM”

the red bulletin: In Narcos you played the hero.

In Logan, you’re the villain.

Which suits you best? boyd holbrook: The villain’s always the funnest, isn’t it? And this guy, Donald Pierce, he’s a little cheeky, he likes a good time, and he’s a fan of Logan. He’s an admirer.

Are there parallels to you?

Are you a fan of Jackman?

That’s an easy correlation to make. The guy’s a machine, no joke. I heard going into the

I recognised him from Vanilla Sky. He had a couple of lines, if any, in that movie, but it was astonishing for me to meet a person who’d navigated a world like that. He said, “Get into theatre.” I quit my job that week and became a carpenter at a theatre. Ten years later, I went backstage at one of Michael’s plays in New York.

Of course, he didn’t remember, but it goes to show that if someone gives you something, it’s what you make of it.

THE RED BULLETIN

project, “Oh, he’s such a great guy,” but the director and the number one actor on the call sheet, they set the tone. And listen, if Hugh is busting his ass, you’d better bust your ass.

We had a couple of personal talks, but I learned the most from him by action. He’s prepared, focused, loose, he’s got humility. Good ingredients.

You learned from another actor, right at the beginning your career.

I dropped out of college, got a job at a department store in Lexington, Kentucky, and Michael Shannon came in.

Initially, you made it as a successful fashion model.

I did that so I could get to New York. I’d written a script, a friend had put me in contact with Gus Van Sant and I naively thought he would direct it, but he gave me a ‘Where’s Waldo’ part in Milk – a couple of lines here and there. Three lines with Morgan Freeman [in The Magic Of Belle Isle], that’s worse than trying to carry an entire film.

In what way?

Because you’re putting so much importance on Morgan Freeman, on those three lines.

There’s a learning curve that everyone who’s ever made a film is going to have – if you’ve made three films you

haven’t made five films. Being a younger actor you could drive yourself crazy over something like that.

Surely all experiences count?

Absolutely. There’s so much you can learn through osmosis of being on set. I worked with Christian Bale on Out Of The Furnace. Christian was going on to a Terence Malick film about the music industry (the upcoming Song to Song) and I play a little music. That’s how the conversation started. I met

had a deeper educational background than me, or didn’t have an accent like mine.

Those were big obstacles.

Did attitudes change towards you after Narcos?

Absolutely. I can’t walk around with a moustache.

But you have a moustache in Logan.

It’s a full beard.

Tom Guise Logan is in cinemas from March 2; facebook.com/WolverineMoviesUK

51

Junkie XL has written scores for two 2017 movies: The Dark Tower and Justice League

“DON’T BE AFRAID TO START AGAIN” JUNKIE XL Following global chart success with an Elvis remix, Tom Holkenborg took a risk, shifted gear and set off in a new direction

C

DIRK KIKSTRA, CAMERON BAIRD/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

hances are that at some point you’ve danced to, driven to or watched the video of the 2002 remix of Elvis Presley’s A Little Less Conversation. The bigbeat hit was the last piece of dance music that Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL, made before opting for a more precarious career path – as a film composer.

Guided by a self-destructive streak and a willingness to become a student all over again, the Dutchman climbed that mountain. Today, his composing credits include Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool and Black Mass.

the red bulletin: After a successful career in music production which culminated in that big hit single, you moved to LA in 2003. Was it hard to start at the beginning again? junkie xl: No, it was fine.

I have this tendency to be self-destructive, but usually good things come out of it.

Even in my artist days, I would make 10 songs and people would say, “You’re almost there!” but I’d say, “No, this is shit!” and throw everything away and start over again, climbing up that mountain. It’s a good feeling, you know. From here, it can only get better.

But so many live in fear of hitting rock bottom…

It’s fine! You never die… unless you do. I have this constant desire to search for something new. Not because THE RED BULLETIN

I’m dissatisfied with what I have, but because I start losing that external incentive to keep the creativity going.

So the radical shift from artist to film composer…

I can’t stress how different those things are.

What about the instincts you had to rely on in your new career. Were they different?

Well, there were none.

I mean, yes, I could make music, and I had an identity and knew what I was all about as an artist, but I had to develop it for a different medium, a different culture.

Then I hit rock bottom again in 2008. It wasn’t happening for me in LA, which was really rough. I had bought a house and it was in escrow, but it fell through and the whole studio was in storage, so I just went back to Holland. I was willing to stay there, and I thought, “Let’s give this up, this adventure.”

But eventually I came back to LA and everything started turning around. It was a 180 from the previous six years, and I’m happy I found the energy to pursue it again.

What do you attribute the turnaround to?

I think it has something to do with who I am as a person. If I pursue something I really want, for some reason I can never pull it off, but if I maintain a little bit of distance, for whatever reason, stuff comes to me.

Andreas Tzortzis For the full interview with Junkie XL, subscribe to The Red Bulletin podcast on iTunes

Dylan Bowman took up ultrarunning after his lacrosse career ended

“ENJOY THE SILENCE” DYLAN BOWMAN The champion ultrarunner

doesn’t chase competitors or split times. When he runs 160km, he pursues peace and quiet

the red bulletin: What do you think about during those long hours on the trail? dylan bowman: A lot of the time, you think about nothing.

Those are the moments you cherish. Other times, you can be lost in thought, thinking of something that’s stressed you out.

But there really are moments when you achieve silence.

How do those moments help you in other aspects of life?

They make everything seem less hard, less important, and help you to stress less about the little things. And obviously the belief in yourself that you can get through things is greatly enhanced when you can prove to yourself that you can do it.

But how can a runner’s high last 160km?

I have a handful of runs a year that are magical, and I run almost every day. When they happen at the right time, they’re a transcendental experience. It’s almost something you crave, an addiction. Andreas Tzortzis Twitter: @dylanbo

53

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang does research into our leisure time: “We’re proud of being stressed. It’s crazy!”

“STEP AWAY FROM YOUR DESK” ALEX SOOJUNG-KIM PANG is a futurologist.

He tells us here how to be more productive.

His motto is less work and more rest

C SAROYAN HUMPHREY

elebrated as one of Silicon Valley’s leading lateral thinkers, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang teaches overstretched managers how to work more efficiently. In this interview, the bestselling US author reveals how you can apply his do less and achieve more approach to your own working life. the red bulletin: In your new book, Rest, you claim we achieve more by working less. How come? alex soojung-kim pang: The key is how you organise your leisure time.

What do you mean?

Look at Charles Darwin. He wrote more than 20 books in his lifetime. Yet he routinely worked no more than four hours a day. If he was working in an office today he’d be fired, because it would seem like he wasn’t showing up. That’s because we believe there’s a direct correlation between work time and productivity.

But that would appear to be logical, wouldn’t it?

I’ve given talks about rest in many different cities all over THE RED BULLETIN

the world. And do you know what almost all the attendees have in common?

Tell us!

When I ask them how they are, they answer, “I’m so busy.”

We think there’s something wrong with us if we’re not overworked. It’s crazy!

But how was it different for Darwin?

If Charles Darwin wasn’t at his desk, he would go on walks for hours at a time. The same was true of Charles Dickens.

He would write four hours in the morning and then go for a 10-mile walk in the afternoon.

unconscious is even better at solving problems than the conscious! That’s why your best ideas often come to you at exactly those times you aren’t at your desk.

OK, but what if we’re not a genius? How do we have a brainwave while resting?

Obviously you’re not going to have a physics eureka moment if you’re not a physicist. You have to be intensively engaged with your area of work to stimulate your unconscious.

But working less doesn’t automatically make you more productive, does it?

Just as athletes give their muscles a work-out, resting is something you can train. But you have to make a conscious

concentrate on it. Don’t let yourself get distracted.

That’s not always easy in an open-plan office...

There’s no perfect solution to that problem. It’s helpful if you have noise-reduction headphones, use empty meeting rooms or work from home some days if you can.

But how do we explain to our boss that it’s better for him if he sees less of us?

Even Silicon Valley is currently having a rethink, the Samsung scandal is a great cautionary lesson. Basically the engineers were told, “No one is going home for the next six months until Galaxy S7 is ready!”

And you ended up with a complex hi-tech phone that

“CHARLES DARWIN ONLY WORKED FOR FOUR HOURS A DAY. IF HE WAS WORKING IN AN OFFICE TODAY, HE’D BE FIRED” Friedrich Nietzsche said that all great philosophical ideas come in walking.

Because they all discovered a relationship between their working lives and their resting lives. The two things are not competitors, but rather they’re two sides of the same coin.

How do you mean?

Neuroscience research has shown that our brain is still active even when we appear to be doing nothing. And on top of that, apparently the

decision to rest properly.

How do you rest properly?

Start small. Set aside 10 minutes a day where you make a conscious effort not to do anything. Let your mind wander. Don’t interfere. Do it outdoors. Make a habit of it.

Go for a walk every day. Take a notebook with you – so you can jot down your new ideas.

How can we organise our work-time better?

Set yourself a certain amount of work to do and then

had one tiny flaw: it might explode when you charge it.

What lesson should we take away from that?

That it’s no use showing off what an overtime martyr you are or getting your co-workers to be. My advice is turn off your phone and step away from your desk – and go outside and get some fresh air.

Florian Obkircher Follow Alex Soojung-Kim Pang at contemplativecomputing.org

55

Westside Crew get up close and personal with fans at Wheelz N Smoke

KINGS OF

SPIN The daredevil sport of spinning has its roots in the gangster culture of South African townships. But now it’s shaking off the stigma of the past and giving rise to a whole new form of self-expression Words: Louis Raubenheimer  Photography: Tyrone Bradley 56

Smoke fills the air as another BMW 3-Series shreds its tyres to smoking ruins

58

Squealing rubber, locked in a violent battle with unforgiving tarmac, sends thick plumes of potent, throat-burning smoke into the cool Highveld air over Johannesburg.

At first, it’s nigh on impossible to see what’s causing the ferocious noise.

The growling V8 beneath the hood – an engine upgrade – is accompanied by wolf-whistles and loud cheers, adding to the raw energy of the moment. It’s a visceral, pungent, dizzying explosion of speed and sound. Welcome to South Africa’s spinning scene…

As the smoke lifts, the spinning BMW 3-Series – a box-shaped E30 model, as

made in the 1980s and early ’90s – becomes visible again. In and around the car are four occupants: Bradleigh “Skopas” McGregor is behind the wheel, Mckeenan “Troubles” du Plessis hangs out of the rear window, while Riaaz “Rizzo” Davies hangs out of the back window, his clenched fist pumping the air and psyching the crowd. The fourth member of the crew, Anele “Muzi” Mbuqe, sits on the roof of the car, his long dreadlocks matching the vehicle’s movements. Suddenly, three of them, including Skopas, are hanging out of the windows on the driver’s side by their legs, the tops of their heads just centimetres from the ground. In fact, they’re so close that the thick gold chain Skopas wears around his neck is throwing bright yellow sparks as it drags along the tarmac. This trick is fittingly known as a “suicide slide”.

“The crowd don’t know what’s going to happen next – it’s just amazing”

Risk-taking tricksters hanging out of cars are a common sight in spinning – the scene is all about selfexpression and innovation

60

Spinning crew Bad Company hang out with Kiwi drift sensation Mad Mike Whiddett (in T-shirt and shorts)

“Spinning isn’t about gangsterism; it’s just a sport”

Bad Company in full flight: (right) up on the car roof, Anele “Muzi” Mbuqe’s dreads dance in the Johannesburg night air

“I learned how to spin on street corners, being chased by cops�

63

Female spinner Stacey-Lee May says the sport has helped her to find her voice and stand up for herself

“Spinning gives me a different feeling. It’s an adrenalin rush” 64

THE RED BULLETIN

S

kopas, Troubles, Rizzo and Muzi are members of a spinning crew named Bad Company, who show their skills at events all over the country. Tonight, they’re burning rubber at Wheelz N Smoke, a bespoke spinning arena in the south of Johannesburg.

The crew, who – quite rightly – consider themselves athletes, are fighting a stigma against their sport that has endured for more than 30 years.

“In the ’80s and ’90s, thugs would steal these cars and take them into the townships,” explains Skopas. “From ’83 onwards, when the box-shaped BMW came out, they would spin, spin, spin.

And if someone died, they would line these cars up and burn them all. As time went on, people would say, ‘Hey, man, we like this thing, this spinning.’ It was primarily out of Soweto, especially in the early days. It was a trend.”

In the townships of South Africa, pre1993 3-Series BMWs became known as gusheshes, and those who drove and spun them were heroes, celebrities. In the decades that followed, gusheshes became notorious, being used as the getaway car of choice in many a heist. Often, before these illegally used vehicles were destroyed, they would first be spun to within an inch of their lives on the dusty streets, with people streaming out of their homes to cheer the action. “Even today, if you go to the township and start spinning, within minutes there will be hundreds, even thousands of people coming out to see what’s happening,” says Skopas.

The cult of the gusheshe has infiltrated all aspects of South African popular culture, featuring in countless movies, TV shows and music videos; home-grown rappers AKA, Cassper Nyovest and Sheen Skaiz have all had hit tunes referencing the sport. Today, this cultural phenomenon is so much more than the pastime of gangsters, and venues like Wheelz N Smoke are fighting for spinning to be recognised, sponsored and regulated.

Its owner is Monde Hashe, a land surveyor by profession, and a spinner himself. He’s not here at Wheelz N Smoke tonight; instead, marketing man Nduzo Ngwenya is keeping an eye on things.

“This is just the beginning,” he explains.

“We want to develop the sport, bring in sponsors, have bigger events. We don’t always get the exposure we deserve, especially from the local media. The foreign guys come here and are amazed – they’re out there, telling our stories.”

Wheelz N Smoke is one of around a dozen spinning arenas in Gauteng, South Africa’s most densely populated province.

THE RED BULLETIN

However, speaking to those involved in the sport, one gets the impression that there’s more jostling for domination than any kind of co-operation. “It’s true,” says Ngwenya. “But it’s so small, still a fringe sport. That’s just the way it often is with these kinds of things in the beginning.”

While it’s now recognised by Motorsport South Africa, spinning is still battling for a proper, unified identity.

“But I don’t see us all coming together and having a governing body,” muses Skopas. “There’s just too much politics,” Rizzo adds.

As the sun sets over the Highveld, the crowd rock up in their thousands; some arrived hours earlier to ensure they got a good viewing spot. The excitement is palpable: there hasn’t been any spinning for a few weeks, due to flash floods.

A kid of around three years old plays with his draadkar (a wire-framed toy car built from scrap) on the tarmac, his dad egging him on. Further across the arena, a guy does a dance as the crowd eagerly claps along to the beat of the music. The DJ drops a fat bassline as another BMW, bearing the name “Sparky” and filled with its own bunch of tricksters, starts tearing it up – literally – on the tarmac.

The pile of shredded tyres by the side of the circuit grows ever bigger.

Wheelz N Smoke provides the spinners with free fuel and second-hand tyres that they can drive to absolute ruin – and they do. No car leaves the tarmac without its back wheels spinning on their rims. And the whole thing is lapped up by the crowd, which comprises a huge cross-section of South African society. Black, white, Asian, young and old, male and female: they’re all here, getting into a frenzy; all unmistakably petrolheads.

There are some 15 cars on display tonight; some only make the occasional appearance on the tarmac, while others perform numerous runs. Informal pit crews are scattered around the open car park, peering under hoods and hoping their magic touch will bring a failing engine back to life for another dizzying run.

Earlier in the day, at his suburban home in Edenvale in the east of Johannesburg, Skopas changes his shirt, revealing some nasty scarring on his back. “This is what spinning does,” he says. “I landed under the car five years ago.”

He started spinning with a Volkswagen Golf in 2007 and then began “properly”, as he puts it, with BMWs in 2010. His is a tale of finding your identity through sport – no matter how on the fringes that sport is. “I learned how to spin on 65

It’s about doing the wildest tricks at the highest speed

A “suicide slide” involves hanging out of a rapidly spinning car, your head dangling centimetres from the tarmac

street corners, being chased by cops, getting arrested by cops,” Skopas explains. “I learned in a place called Vosloorus [a large township in the south-east of Johannesburg].”

Skopas moved to Joburg from the small coastal city of East London in the Eastern Cape to live with his father. He didn’t know anyone in the city and didn’t have any friends. Unusually for a white kid, he started hanging out at the minibus taxi ranks and making friends there. “Because of that, I grew up in Soweto. I was driving taxis as a teenager. I speak Zulu, Sotho, everything. I grew up in the townships and decided to learn the language.”

More than 20 years after the end of apartheid and South Africa’s subsequent transition into a multiracial democracy, it’s still relatively unusual for the country’s white population to speak indigenous African languages. For them, English remains the lingua franca of business and everyday discourse.

Skopas, though, was immersing himself in a different experience. His heroes were people such as Sibusiso “Terminator” Mthimunye – the so-called “King of Spin” who died in 2012 – and fellow spinning pioneer Eric Maswaya.

These, along with others like them, are household names in the communities in which Skopas was hanging out; localities in which the sport has long reached cult status. He vividly remembers the first time he saw them spin on street corners in the townships. “[Terminator] taught me everything I know; he’s the reason that I got a grip on spinning,” says Skopas. “He died in an accident on the way back from a spinning event. We were coming back when he had a blowout, went onto the grass and got flung 100m from the car.

“He’s a legend, the greatest spinner ever,” continues Skopas, pointing to the poster of his late friend that hangs on his wall. “To this day, his is the biggest funeral I’ve ever seen. Townships were shut down, and there was 15km of traffic heading into Kwa-Temba, which is where he was from.”

Behind the bar at Wheelz N Smoke later that day, I spot a guy whose shirt pays homage to another spinner who has passed away. It seems that this sport has had its share of fallen heroes.

The obvious risks are no deterrent, however, and the sport continues to grow in popularity. “I’ve been to Swaziland for at least a hundred shows so far,” Skopas reveals. “I’ve been to Botswana, Namibia, Dundee, Madadeni, Vryheid, Durban, Kimberley, Kuruman, Bloemfontein…”

THE RED BULLETIN

Another one bites the dust: more than a hundred tyres were left shredded at the end of a night’s spinning delight at Wheelz N Smoke

The ultimate goal is to do these kinds of exhibitions all over the world. But, to do that, spinning will first have to decide exactly what it is. There’s no scoring system and no race against the clock: this is freestyle drifting, plain and simple, although it actually pre-dates drifting.

It’s about doing the wildest tricks at the highest possible speed.

There are distinct types of drivers, too. On one side, there are the guys who get out there purely to spin and drift the car; those who are trying to get as tight to the safety barricades as is humanly possible and who aren’t satisfied unless the spectators sitting with legs dangling over those barricades have to rapidly lift them out of the way in order for the back end of the BMW to sweep past without them losing a limb.

On the other side are those who are more into doing their tricks outside the confines of the car. These are the drivers, co-pilots and tricksters who, like Bad Company, leap out of and onto the car while it’s spinning. In Skopas’ opinion, these are the entertainers.

“There are forms of what we do all over the world – there are burnouts in America and various forms of drifting all over – but nothing is quite like what we

This sport has had its share of fallen heroes

do. What person in their right mind is going to jump out of a car window and do tricks while it’s spinning?”

Another of these entertainers is StaceyLee May, a seemingly timid 20-year-old student in corporate law and finance from Eldorado Park, near Soweto. She’s one of the very few women in spinning – the only one at Wheelz N Smoke this evening – and her pink Beemer stands out from the other cars. Her support crew is her family: mum, dad, brother, brother’s friend, sister, sister’s boyfriend and her own boyfriend. They scurry around fetching and changing tyres, and loading the vehicle on and off her trailer.

“It’s my hobby and my sport, and there aren’t a lot of females involved,” May says. “I want to be involved in something that’s unique, and spinning is unique.

“About two years ago, my dad’s friend asked him if they could borrow me to come and spin,” May recalls. Luckily for the young girl, her father said yes. “It was like a bug that bit me, and I’ve been spinning ever since,” she adds. “I love it – it’s different, it gives me a different feeling, it’s an adrenalin rush.”

Like Skopas, May considers the stunts to be a big part of the sport, helping to keep up the interest level. “It keeps the crowd on their toes,” she says. “They don’t know what’s going to happen next – it’s just amazing.

“I enjoy interacting with the crowd,” she adds, “though I’m also a very shy person and I don’t really see the crowd when I’m spinning; I’m just being myself.

But when I get out of the car and people are coming up to me and taking pictures, I actually enjoy that. I’m definitely becoming more open as a person.”

The sport has had a more profound effect on her confidence, too, she says.

“When I was in high school, I was a nerd, and people used to walk all over me and push me around. Now people don’t get that chance. If you tell me something wrong, I’m going to tell you back.”

There’s a theme among all these young daredevils: the need for acceptance.

Spinning has become an outlet for these youngsters – kids who have lived tough lives, who couldn’t make friends, or who were previously too meek to stand up for themselves.

“This sport used to be associated with gangsterism,” says May, “and people would say that spinners steal people’s cars, but look at me: I’m not even capable of stealing a car. I’m here to help people see that spinning isn’t about gangsterism; it’s just a sport, and we’re trying to make a name for ourselves.”

67

See it. Get it. Do it.

AC T I O N !

TRAVEL

LEAP OF FAITH

Bungee jump into an active volcano

MARTIN RIETZE/BARCROFT MEDIA

MCKENZIE DALE

“Until you’ve been inside a volcano, it’s difficult to describe. It’s violent in there: bubbling, exploding rock the size of a city block all around you.” Casey Dale knows – in Pucón, Chile he runs the world’s only volcano heli-bungee experience, and yes, that’s exactly what it sounds like. “Get it wrong and you’re a piece of popcorn. But what a way to go – not sitting on the couch, but jumping out of helicopters into volcanoes. I’d rather have that on my epitaph.”

69

71

76

80

88

89

TRAVEL

GEAR

WHEELS

CULTURE

EVENTS

HOW TO 69

ACTION

TRAVEL ROPE TRICKS

Hang loose with these premier plunges

All-time high

Dale is part of the original lineage there is an extreme drop in temperature.

Villarrica, of US bungee jumpers. He wrote its Fortunately, it will soon get considerably CHILE first code of safe practice when the hotter: Villarrica is among the few volcanoes Pucón Airport sport took off in the early ’90s “and we in the world with an active lava lake.

To join possibly the started having fatalities”. But it was in 1999, “Our amazing pilot, Eduardo Boisset, last volcano heliwhile filming the world’s highest tower enters the caldera and drops to about bungee ever, drop jump for MTV in Vegas, that he devised the 350m above the lava pool,” says Dale. “He into bungee.com ultimate jump. “‘Over the Strip with all the watches for volcanic gas; you don’t want lights is cool,’ I said, ‘but if you want really that sucked into the engines. You don’t cool, you should jump out of a helicopter want to be breathing it either; it tastes like into an active volcano.’” On February 13, sulphur. But we’re only exposed for 60 2004, he became the first person to do seconds – if we have the window, we jump. just that – but not the last. For just under “You bottom out at 200m above the US$16,000, he’ll arrange for you to do it, too. lava – you can feel the heat, but it’s quick.

Villarrica, one of Chile’s largest active volcanoes, Then we crest the rim into clean air. The caldera, the lies just over 30km west of Pucón Airport, and anyone lava pool, that’s sheer terror. But going at 120 knots doing the jump must first ride this distance at 130kph, down the face of the glacier, over the ridge tops and tethered to the outside of the helicopter. The peak back to the airport, dangling behind the helicopter stands 2,860m high and is highly glaciated, which – that’s the best part of the whole experience.” immediately becomes apparent as the chopper Of course, there’s an obvious risk to playing with approaches – not only is the view spectacular, but active volcanoes. “A few days after our jump last year, we got a text from Eduardo. Some climbers had filmed the lava pool, and it was fountaining. They were yelling, ‘Get out of here!’ The volcano had erupted.”

However, the greatest threat to Dale’s escapades isn’t lava or sulphurous gases, but bureaucracy. “The government’s going to shut us down,” he says. “Last time we went viral, the governor of the province got involved. He said all our paperwork was in order, but I think we’ve got one more go before we wear out our welcome. March 2018 will be our last jump.”

Dale hopes to find a new volcano. That sense of discovery is, after all, what got him here in the first THE INSIDER place. “On our final trip last year, we found a 100m“Bungee isn’t about athleticism,” says Dale. “I tell long lava tube, all jungly with a waterfall inside,” he people not to do flips, because you won’t absorb says. “Eduardo flew the chopper into it and we jumped the awe-inspiring spectacle of looking into the down the face of the waterfall. It was just beautiful.” lava. All you need are the balls to leave the skid.”

70

Origin story New Zealander AJ Hackett famously started the first commercial bungee jumps. Experience the legendary one that kicked it off – a 43m plunge from Queenstown’s Kawarau Bridge. bungy.co.nz

Optic nerve Prohodna, Bulgaria’s largest cave passage, is famous for two equal-sized holes in its ceiling, known as the Eyes of God. Stare your maker in the face as you drop 45m at the entrance. bulgariatravel.org

THE RED BULLETIN

BUNGEE.COM, KATE MARCHIO PHOTOGRAPHY

Peaky blinder: nothing beats a heli-bungee into Villarrica

The tallest commercial jump in North America takes the form of a 76m descent from Oregon’s aptly named High Bridge, which towers over the Crooked River below. oregonbungee.com

ACTION

GEAR

DOING THE ROBOT

One day, our mechanical offspring will inherit the Earth. Until then, let these bots do your bidding

Pepper interacts using gestures and speech, but his chest tablet also displays useful information, apps and web pages

Kano kits Connecting the digital world to the physical, these kits – Camera (above), Pixel and Speaker – can be coded to react to your apps: taking photos, displaying images and playing sounds. kano.me

Dyson 360 Eye

Cozmo

Pepper

Robot vacuum cleaners are our proto-robobutlers. This eschews the laser guidance of lesser cleaning droids in favour of all-round vision that identifies and maps its surroundings. dyson.co.uk

Built by robotics experts, this palm-sized ‘toy’ can recognise faces, express emotions and learn from its interactions. The consumer robotics revolution quietly and playfully starts here. anki.com

Created as a Japanese store greeter capable of advanced emotional response, this child-sized android is now available as a family companion. ald.softbankrobotics.com

THE RED BULLETIN

Parrot Disco FPV

Sphero SPRK+

FPV stands for First Person View. This 80kph fixed-wing drone lets you see and record the world in 1080p Full HD through its eyes, via VR headsetstyle ‘Cockpitglasses’. parrot.com

While Sphero’s BB-8 is a sci-fi toy, this is pure science – a programmable bot that teaches our next generation of scientists (aged four and above) how to master complex robotics. sphero.com

71

ACTION

GEAR

WATCHES

Edited by Gisbert L Brunner

FINELY TUNED Classic Fusion Tourbillon Cathedral Minute Repeater Carbon Lang Lang

Adding to the watch’s reputation for precision is its second complication, the tourbillon – a rotating mechanism that counters the effects of gravity on its accuracy

Precision is key to any timepiece, and there’s no complication on a mechanical watch more precise than the minute repeater. With a touch, it chimes the time to the minute in a series of high and low tones played out by tiny hammers striking a delicate wire gong coiled around the movement. Invented at the end of the 17th century, before man’s mastery of electricity, the repeater was a grand solution to the problem of how to tell the time at night without lighting a candle. Today, it’s a demonstration of craft and showmanship, which is why Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang is the perfect collaborator for Swiss watchmaker Hublot’s latest minute repeater.

The 34-year-old maestro is known for both qualities and referred to in equal measures as a classical prodigy and rock star. The hammers bear his name, the ‘3’ and ‘9’ on the dial are a bass and treble clef respectively, and the ’12’ represents Lang Lang’s initials as semiquavers. The low-density carbon case provides an optimal sound chamber so light that, says the virtuoso, “I can thunder out Rachmaninov 3 on my Steinway while wearing it.” Precisely. hublot.com

SUPER SONICS Three more wrist-worn metronomes Bulgari Octo Finissimo Répétition Minute The world’s thinnest (6.85mm) minute repeater is made from sandblasted titanium – precious metals like gold don’t provide great acoustics – while cut-out numerals allow crisp sound to spill out. bulgari.com

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie This minute repeater has a voice as unique as a prized Stradivarius. Hand-tuned steel gongs are attached to a copper membrane, and apertures in the titanium case release the sound. audemarspiguet.com

72

Chopard LUC Full Strike Chopard’s first-ever minute repeater is a masterpiece built from 533 components.

The watch has a rare, crystal-clear melody – crystal clear because the gongs are sapphire crystal, and rare because only 20 timepieces have been made. chopard.com

THE RED BULLETIN

The best mountain shirts in the world.

Our clever, enhanced merino regulates temperature naturally. It turns a biting wind into a cooling breeze and a snow storm into a white outer coat. It will keep you more comfortable, in more variable conditions, for longer than anything else on the mountain.

All McNair shirts are numbered and signed by the seamstress. Made proper in Yorkshire. w: mcnairshirts.com tw / inst: @mcnairshirts fb: mcnairshirts | Photo by Melody Sky

ACTION

GEAR

INNOV NOVA NOV VAT ATIONS: AFTERBURNING AMBITION Boom! That’s the sound of supersonic passenger flight, making a comeback thanks to one man’s vision

“Concorde was developed in a wind tunnel, where each design takes six months to test. Today, we can simulate wind-tunnel tests with software in half an hour, so you can test way more ideas and come up with a more fluid, dynamic shape.”

“Concorde was the only commercial aircraft with an afterburner. To an airplane guy like me, they’re cool, but airlines hate them: they’re loud, scare passengers, and guzzle fuel. We use a mediumbypass turbofan engine, which is quiet and efficient.”

Blake Scholl, 36 “We’ve been flying at the same speeds for 50 years. Getting from New York to London takes the same time it did half a century ago, and that’s crazy,” says Scholl, an aviator and entrepreneur based in Denver. So he founded aerospace company Boom Technology to solve the problem. “We found that thanks to advances in materials and aerodynamics, supersonic flight at affordable prices is no longer science fiction.” His prototype – the XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator, or ‘Baby Boom’ – will take flight this year. It has already caught the attention of Richard Branson, who’s optioned 10 airliners, and provided R&D from his own Virgin Galactic.

“Carbon fibre is a huge deal for supersonic. You can mould it into whatever shape you want, which makes that aerodynamic shape easy to create. Carbon also handles high temperatures very well.”

Concorde was too inefficient. A round trip from New York to London would set you back $20K in today’s currency. That’s a bucket-list item, not transportation. We can create a new generation of supersonic aircraft so efficient you can fly for $5,000 – business-class prices. That’s a huge market. We’re starting with 45 seats, and soon it’ll be 60, 80, 100. Make the plane bigger and you make it more efficient, then ticket prices come down. Our goal is to get it to where the fastest ticket is the cheapest.

How fast, exactly?

Ten per cent faster than Concorde, or 2.6 times faster than anything from Boeing or Airbus today.

That’s saving an entire day off a round trip. Let’s say I was travelling from New York to London on business… instead of seven hours, it’s three hours, 15 minutes. The flight gets me there late afternoon, we go out to dinner, and I can be back in New York in time to tuck my kids into bed.

74

So is this the dawn of a new age of supersonic flight?

I think so. It has been promised for decades, but never delivered. Today, we have the technology – not just in a lab, but out there in other aircraft. We have a lot of ideas that go beyond current tech, but we’re not doing that; we’re taking the best off-the-shelf technology from other airplanes. Because if you use that, you’re able to get to market much faster, which allows you to build up the company and then do the harder tech.

What about the aerospace giants?

The big guys aren’t really doing anything. When we look back, the narrative isn’t going to be: ‘Boeing, after 60 years of not doing it, suddenly did it.’ It’s going to be that somebody came in from the outside, was more entrepreneurial, and disrupted things. Why do we have a new generation of rockets? Because we’ve got internet guys who built rocket companies.

What does this mean for the future?

Before the jet age, crossing the Atlantic took 18 hours, so you wouldn’t go unless it was really important. We had a speed-up with jets – 18 hours was reduced to seven – and transatlantic travel increased by a factor of six over the next decade. When New Zealand becomes as accessible as New York, all of a sudden you start vacationing in different places, doing business in different places, and you can commute across the Atlantic. What global changes are going to happen? We’re looking into a crystal ball here, but it’s not going to be small.

THE RED BULLETIN

HERI IRAWAN

Hasn’t Concorde already been here?

Android Wear and other marks are trademarks of Google Inc.

CONNER COFFIN

Ultra-Rugged 100 Meter / 10 ATM Water Resistant Smartwatch Customize yours on nixon.com

ACTION

WHEELS MOTOR MERCH

LAP OF LUXURY

For the driver who demands everything, a car that apparently does it all. Shmee meets the Mercedes-AMG E63 S

Adding acceleration to your accessories Elegant driver As gentlemanly pursuits go, Bentley and the game of golf have much in common. Now that connection is physical with a Bentleybranded golf collection of clubs, luggage and accessories, perfect for the boot of your Continental. bentleygolf.com

TIM BURTON, AKA SHMEE150, is one of social media’s mostfollowed supercar connoisseurs.

Now he brings that expertise to The Red Bulletin.

Watch Shmee’s full video review of this month’s cars at redbulletin.com

Performance car or luxury saloon? As a clever kid once asked in an ad about tacos: why not both? Car makers clearly thought the same, and the solution was the super-saloon – a performance version of an executive car. Luxurious but lightning fast, dynamic yet practical, it takes more than simply fitting a more powerful engine, stiffer suspension and a body kit. Mercedes understands this and, in the new 600hp E63 S, has produced something close to the ultimate car. Seriously, it’s that good.

The E63 S sets out its stall in the styling.

It’s a butch, aggressive car, but it has the performance to back that up. The 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine covers 0-100kph in 3.4 seconds – impressive for a car weighing

nearly 2 tonnes – while inside there are plenty of options to channel and control all that power. But what sets the E63 S apart is the fun stuff that a brand as solemn as Mercedes really should frown upon.

The valve-controlled exhaust system is amazing. It isn’t intrusive in Comfort mode, but dial it up to Sport, Sport+ or Race and it sounds nuts. The real X-factor, however, comes courtesy of Mercedes’ 4matic+ 4WD system. It usually splits power delivery 50:50, but on demand moves that around.

Press the right sequence of buttons and you can put it into full RWD drift mode.

You expect speed, luxury and practicality, but fun? Now that’s ticking all the boxes. mercedes-amg.com

Gear shifter

GET LUCKY

Fortune smiles on Shmee as he tests Alfa’s M3-beater

The Giulia Quadrifoglio: advantage Alfa

76

Engine blocks You haven’t made it in this world until Lego has immortalised you in brick form. Now, Ford’s 1966 and 2016 Le Mans-winning GT40 and GT join that elite group. It’s the perfect desk toy. shop.lego.com

In Italian, Quadrifoglio means four-leaf clover.

And in Alfa Romeo’s gamble to bust up the performance-saloon cabal of BMW’s M3, Mercedes-AMG’s C63 and the Audi RS4, the 500hp Giulia Quadrifoglio hits the jackpot… with a bit of help from Ferrari. From a design point of view you can’t fault it – the Quadrifoglio’s styling is awesome. You expect this from Alfa, but it has the driving chops

to match. The Ferrari input into this car is far more that an exercise in cross-branding – it has a hint of prancing horse in the way it lets you have fun. It’s a stiff car with the tightest steering ratio in its class, which makes for a pointy, direct, involved drive. Fortune favours the brave, and the Quadrifoglio is the result of a courageous play.

Mission accomplished. alfaromeo.com

The kind of stylish motorcycle boot the Terminator would target on his arrival from the future. TCX’s Drifter WP has a brown leather upper with gear-change protection, waterproof lining and heatshielding suede. tcxboots.com

THE RED BULLETIN

THE RED BULLETIN PROMOTION

LIFE OFF THE TRACK CARMEN JORDÁ is a rising name in motorsport – and she’s now become the new face of adidas by Stella McCartney. As one of the few female racing drivers in Formula One, the 28-year-old Spaniard continually defies and redefines the expectations of her industry.

Jordá’s dynamic lifestyle and vigorous training regime do not only prepare her for her career as a world-renowned female racing driver – they also inspire women around the world to accomplish more by taking on new challenges

What’s your exercise regime like?

I work out twice a day. In the morning, I‘ll do yoga or Pilates, then in the afternoon I focus on strength and conditioning training that helps me particularly in motorsport. Driving requires very specific muscle management, so it‘s important I have core strength and a foundation of flexibility and mobility. I also drive as much as possible in go-karts and in the simulator to improve my reactions and driving style.

Do you have any unique training drills?

I have lots of drills designed to prepare me for the specific challenges that motorsport puts on the body. For example, I do a lot of neck-strengthening exercises. The level of G-force that you experience, combined with the weight of our helmets, can put your neck under huge pressure, so I try to mix up a variety of stretches and drills that work on this.

Your job means you’re often moving at extreme speeds – aside from on the racing track, do you live a fast-paced life?

In motorsport, you don’t have much of a choice! Formula One is always on the move from one country to the next, so naturally things move at a fast pace. But I’m used to

it by now; I‘ve been driving since a very young age, go-karting since I was 11, so I’ve learnt to love the fast-paced life.

How important is it to you to have time for yourself?

It‘s really important, particularly in a career where you’re so often in the public eye. The good thing is that travelling and also training gives me time to myself. Yoga and Pilates, both being centred in mindfulness, hugely help me to unwind. Other than that, because I’m on the road so much, I try to see my friends and family as much as I can when I’m at home. With my training, I can go weeks and months at a time without seeing them, so I really value that time to be just Carmen, rather than Carmen the driver.

You’ve just become part of the adidas

by Stella McCartney team – what does this collaboration mean to you?

A huge amount. Having the support of such an incredible brand and such talented people means a lot to me as an athlete. I‘ll be working with them to support marketing initiatives and provide input into the product design that will be central to my training and wider life. There is then, of course, my role as an adidas ambassador, working closely with the brand’s audience, which I always find really inspiring.

How would you describe your style?

Generally, I love to combine sporty and chic in any outfit I wear, given that I work in F1 and this suits that sport. Also, given the amount of travel I have to do, I like to always have something comfortable to wear that I can

really relax in. All that said, I don’t see myself as having a defined style – I just wear what I like, which makes me feel confident. If other people like it, too, then even better.

What are your experiences as a woman in a male-dominated sport?

It‘s positive overall: I‘m well supported and there are lots of great people in Formula One. There are, of course, people who question you and criticise you along the way, but I just see that as part of what we do. I‘m sure male drivers experience the same. I use any negatives as motivation to prove people wrong and stay focused on my goals.

As one of the few prominent women in your particular sport, do you have any specific female role models who you look to for inspiration?

Throughout my whole life, I’ve always been inspired by Danica Patrick and Serena Williams. More recently, when I was watching the Olympics last year, I was really inspired

by Nicola Adams, the female boxer in Team GB who won gold medals at two consecutive Games. I really respect the mark she has made in boxing – a traditionally male, “macho” sport – through hard work and a positive attitude.

You seem to be keeping very busy at the moment, so what’s next for Carmen Jordá?

This year is set to be an exciting one, with lots planned, so watch this space.

ADIDAS.COM/STELLA

ADIDAS BY STELLA MCCARTNEY SPRING SUMMER 2017

At the moment, you work as a development racing driver. But when you’re not racing, what does a typical day in the life of Carmen Jordá look like?

I’m a total training addict! Whenever I can, I’m at the gym or out for a run or cycle. It helps me in my day job, but I also just love the feeling I get when working out.

“I’VE LEARNT TO LOVE THE FAST-PACED LIFE”

CARMEN JORDÁ, 28, constantly has to prove herself in the male-dominated motorsport industry: “I love the challenges, because when I do succeed, it’s so much more rewarding”

ACTION

CULTURE

THE GREAT ESCAPE

Red Bull Mind Gamers has set a challenge to find the world’s quickest puzzle solvers

MINIMAL GAMES, MAXIMUM RETURN Think with your fingers! Three of our favourite Mind Gamers challenges…

Initial Conditions Place towns on rivers as directed, while also observing certain stipulations such as, “A town must be the size of two fields but can’t border another town.”

Teams must tackle complex problems in the Game Cube

80

Tiny Monsters An old computer game classic that’s been reinvented: cut an area down to a fifth of its size as quickly as you can, while making sure you don’t release the monsters.

Quantumlights Something like a cross between a Rubik’s Cube and Reversi: your aim is to turn off the light on every counter, but each move affects the lights on neighbouring counters, too.

THE RED BULLETIN

LEO FRANCIS/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, NICK WONG

Whether you’re a tactical gamer that reach the Finals will then have SCOTT NICHOLSON or an occasional problem solver, to deal with an Escape Room the there’s one type of puzzle we all likes of which they’ll have never The 45-year-old Canadian, a Professor of Game Design love: clever little conundrums that seen. Escape Rooms are games in and Development, devised the bring our brains to boiling point. which teams have to solve multiple final level: “The idea is that Red Bull Mind Gamers, developed riddles to get out of a locked room.

Enoch is the gaming version by a group of gaming experts But in a gaming environment that’s of a quantum computer. The only way to win is to apply headed by Austrian Konstantin half-analogue, half-digital, the Red what you’ve just learned to Mitgutsch, is the ultimate Bull Mind Gamers finalists won’t the game straight away.” expression of that passion – an only have logic puzzles to deal with. online platform exclusively for Enoch – the brainchild of Canadian strategy and mind games.

Scott Nicholson, Professor of Game Most are minimalistic, some Design and Development at Wilfrid fanciful, but all are gripping and Laurier University, Ontario – will actively dangerously addictive. What sets the manipulate them and drive them crazy. redbullmindgamers.com community “Nicholson is a real guru for Escape apart from other gaming platforms is that Room gamers,” Konstantin Mitgutsch its participants have been going headexplains. “He and 100 students to-head in a tournament that has at the Massachusetts Institute called at more than 70 cities of Technology designed the worldwide since last autumn. concept for Red Bull Mind In a specially designed Game Gamers together. It will be Cube, teams of four solve mind exciting to see if Enoch games on separate screens. can be beaten.”

Only the quickest team from RED BULL MIND GAMERS each country will qualify for the MISSION: UNLOCK ENOCH Mission: Unlock Enoch World WORLD FINALS Finals, which will take place in Budapest, March 23-25, 2017; Budapest in March. The teams redbullmindgamers.com

CULTURE

PLAYLIST JOHN LEGEND

ACTION

IT’S A COVER-UP A year on from the release of David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, fans are still finding hidden messages in the vinyl artwork. Bowie wasn’t the first to hide Easter eggs on his album cover – here are three more…

Ten Grammys, one Academy Award, one Golden Globe, and more than seven million albums sold – in just over a decade, John Legend has risen from talented soul singer to one of entertainment’s big players. Last year, Fortune magazine ranked him sixth in its World’s Greatest Leaders list – right behind Pope Francis and Apple CEO Tim Cook – for his advocacy of education and human rights programmes. Legend’s fifth album, Darkness And Light, released in December, is a nod to the music of his heroes, such as Marvin Gaye, with a modern pop spin. Here, the 38-year-old reveals five soul classics he can’t live without. johnlegend.com

THE ROLLING STONES THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST

Marvin Gaye

Aretha Franklin

Got To Give It Up

Day Dreaming

“This is one of my favourite songs in the whole world. It always puts me in a good mood. It’s like my party-starter song: as soon as someone puts it on, the night is good. Me and my wife, we love to go out and have a blast. We’re both night people, and we go out to clubs and the movies a lot.

I guess we try to create a balance to the busy lives we live, and good music is an important part of that.”

“Aretha is the queen. If you want to listen to proper soul, you’ve got to play her music. This song creates the perfect start to your day. Just the way the music rolls in: ‘Doo doo doo, daydreaming and I’m thinking of you…’ Also, it’s perfect for cooking to. My wife [model Chrissy Teigen] is writing cookbooks, so I’m the sous chef and her guinea pig. I’ll be a few pounds heavier the next time you see me.”

Stevie Wonder

Al Green

Visions

Let’s Stay Together

“I used to cover this song, because I just love it so much. It’s kind of eerie, a little bit dark and almost sad. But it envisions a better world, too, which is very important – especially right now. Politics feels very dark at the moment. It makes me a little bit worried for the future of my country. Honestly, I still think Hillary [Clinton] would have been the right choice, particularly given the choices we had.”

“This one was played at my wedding. It’s perfect for that occasion, because it just makes you feel great. I wish I’d written it, because once you write a wedding song or a strip-club anthem, you’re never short of royalties, it’ll last for ever; it’s perennial.

But I don’t think I’ve got one in me, and I probably won’t get any more famous than I already am. It’ll probably only go downhill from here. [Laughs.]”

After The Beatles included a doll wearing a ‘Welcome The Rolling Stones’ jumper on the Sgt Pepper cover, Jagger and co responded.

Look closely at the Satanic Majesties cover and you’ll spot the four Beatles’ faces.

SANTANA SANTANA Originally designed for a Santana concert poster, Lee Conklin’s pen-and-ink illustration impressed the guitar hero so much he used it for the cover of his 1969 debut album. No wonder: closer inspection reveals that the lion’s head is made up of several human faces and other body parts.

Nina Simone Sinnerman

SONY

“This is such an epic recording.

Her piano playing is incredible – it’s just got this raw energy that I love. When my daughter was born last spring, we had quite a few names we were thinking about, and I was really into the idea of Simone being her middle name, because I’m a big Nina Simone fan.

In the end, we settled on Luna [as her first name], because we love how it sounds in conjunction with Simone.”

THE RED BULLETIN

THE GADGET MAG-LEV Audio Last year, we were impressed with the world’s first levitating speaker (by OM/ONE). This year, a turntable – or, more precisely, its platter – has learnt to fly. As well as the visual effect, its Slovenian makers claim their innovative drive system, which enables the levitation, improves the listening experience. Why? Air creates minimal friction, providing the smoothest rotation. Preorder now for a September delivery. maglevaudio.com

KATE BUSH AERIAL At first glance, the cover of Bush’s 2005 album seems to show rocks reflected in water. In fact, it’s the waveform of a blackbird’s song, superimposed over a photo. The image references the album’s last track, which features blackbirds chirping.

81

ACTION

“I want to be the number one and that’s what I have been working hard for. It’s very tough, but I feel that’s the path to the dream” Yuki Kadono, 2015 Slopestyle final winner

Corking action at the Burton US Open in Vail, Colorado

WHAT’S ON IN MARCH

MEN ON A MISSION

From snowboarding superstars and mountaineering masters, to groundbreaking gamers and a man trying to end the global water crisis, it’s all on Red Bull TV this month…

82

THE RED BULLETIN

CULTURE RED BULL TV HIGHLIGHTS

RED BULL MIND GAMERS LIVE MARCH 25

Following qualifier events in over 20 countries, the best teams will battle it out at the Mission: Unlock Enoch World Finals, where they will enter a never-before-seen Escape Room based on quantum logic.

MOUNT ST ELIAS DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES MARCH 26

BURTON US OPEN LIVE MARCH 3-4 Join Red Bull TV live from the world’s most prestigious and longest-running snowboard event. Taking place in Vail, Colorado, the Burton US Open is known as the place to be when it comes to performing fresh, groundbreaking tricks at the renowned Slopestyle and Halfpipe competitions.

Make sure you tune in to watch the world’s best snowboard athletes at this epic live event.

THE RED BULLETIN

WATCH RED BULL TV ANYWHERE Red Bull TV is a global digital entertainment destination featuring programming that is beyond the ordinary and is available any time, anywhere.

Go online at redbull.tv, download the app, or connect via your Smart TV.

To find out more, visit redbull.tv

ZACH HOOPER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, DEAN BLOTTO GRAY, BURTON/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, ÁDÁM BERTALAN/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, VITEK LUDVIK/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, MAXIMILIAN HAIDBAUER, LINCOLN ELSE/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

A dramatic and awe-inspiring feature documentary following three of the world’s greatest ski mountaineers to Mount St Elias, Alaska, in their attempt to realise the longest ski descent in the world.

WAVES FOR WATER DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES MARCH 22

Pro surfer Jon Rose is on a mission to bring clean water to everyone who needs it. Accompany him as he surfs, motorcycles, sails and treks his way around the globe on his quest to end the water crisis.

CERRO TORRE FEATURE FILM PREMIERES MARCH 19

Climbing ace David Lama, heads to breathtaking Patagonia to tackle the infamous south-east face of Cerro Torre, a mountain once said to be the most difficult in the world.

83

ACTION

CULTURE WOLVERINE VERSUS…

Power Rangers: if Daft Punk did flash mobs…

To commemorate Hugh Jackman’s last hurrah as Logan, here are the X-Man’s finest melees

The Hulk (The Incredible Hulk #340, 1988) Two of Marvel’s angriest titans clash in a battle that counts among the greatest in both characters’ history.

Insults are thrown, blood is spilt, and while the fight is eventually broken up, it’s a visceral superhero smackdown.

STAYING POWER

As Power Rangers returns, original Green Ranger Jason David Frank reveals what it takes to be in that mighty morphin’ crew How does one become a Power Ranger?

I was 18 when I got the audition. It was the perfect role: a teenager who knew karate. I did martial arts and won a lot, so I had this mindset of, “Hey, I’m going to treat this like a tournament.” The next day, I was booked as the Green Ranger. I was hired for 10 episodes [from 1993], but ended up part of the show for years.

You’re a skydiver, a MMA fighter, and a seventh-dan black belt in karate. Does that help?

For action, yes – filming a fight scene is easy for me; real fights are a lot harder. Skydiving and martial arts teach you to relax and manage pressure, too. You don’t crack, you become a diamond.

What was it like being a Power Ranger at the show’s peak?

I look back now and think what a big achievement. We were the number one kids’ show in the world. This was before Google, Facebook, Instagram – we’re talking old-fashioned interviews written on a typewriter. It was like being in a rock band. I remember going to Hawaii and there were thousands of people at the airport.

I looked at Dave Yost (Blue Ranger) and said, “Who are all these people here for?” He said, “Us.” At a show in Florida, we needed a police escort to get through the crowds. It was amazing.

How do you feel about the new film? Are you involved?

I feel great. I’m always part of the franchise. I know all the people involved: the producers, the actors. I feel honoured – and old. As far as whether I’m involved, you’ll have to wait until March to see.

What advice do you have for the new cast?

Don’t try to duplicate the characters, because there’s nothing better than the originals. Yes, you’re using the names and the concept, but bring yourself to the film. And if you’re playing me, you better kick butt! Power Rangers is in UK cinemas from March 24; powerrangers.movie

84

BACK TO LIFE

Power Rangers isn’t the only past hit returning to screens this year…

Jumanji The Robin Williams classic gets a hip new look as an actioncomedy with teens sucked into the mysterious board game.

Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan star in what looks like a cross between the 1995 original and Avatar.

Tales From The Crypt The creepy late ’80s/early ’90s TV horror series returns with The Sixth Sense director M Night Shyamalan at the helm.

Little is yet known about the 10-episode revamp, but expect stories with a shocking twist.

Baywatch At one point in the ’90s, this swimsuited US drama series starring Pamela Anderson (below) was reportedly watched by a billion people worldwide.

The cast of the revival includes Zac Efron, Dwayne Johnson (again) and True Detective’s Alexandra Daddario.

Mr Spock (Star Trek/X-Men, 1996) Yes, you read that right. In an otherwise forgettable one-off comic where the X-Men and Star Trek universes cross paths, Wolverine charges at our favourite Vulcan. It’s not exactly an epic battle, however, as Spock takes down his opponent with a swift Vulcan nerve pinch.

Aunt May (The Amazing Spider-Man #520, 2005) Technically not a fight, but a surprising confrontation, if only because of who comes out on top.

The grizzly Canadian gets a scolding from Spider-Man’s aunt for smoking in the kitchen of Avengers Tower.

When May puts out his trademark cigar in his drink, Wolverine is egged on by Luke Cage, but ends up leaving, shirtless, to buy some doughnuts.

THE RED BULLETIN

FOX, MARVEL, GETTY IMAGES

FILM

ACTION

CULTURE

MY LIFE IN GAMES DAN AYOUB

GAME OF TONES The famous voices of videogame characters

In Halo Wars 2 , bad battlefield strategy could spell defeat for the human race.

The game’s executive producer reveals the smart tactics that aided his career THE GAME I’D TAKE TO A DESERT ISLAND: THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM

MY LATEST GAME: HALO WARS 2

Real-time strategy, 2017, Xbox One, PC “’I’ve been a real-time strategy fan my whole life, and I loved the original Halo Wars. I was fortunate enough to be the one to pitch Halo Wars 2 here at 343 Industries, and to build the team and find our development partner, Creative Assembly, so it’s been rewarding from day one. Working on the game has been amazing – there’s a great chemistry within the team, and everyone really dove into building not only an incredible RTS, but one that’s accessible to new players through game modes like the card-collecting Blitz.” Out February 21

MY FIRST GAME: SHADOW COMPANY: LEFT FOR DEAD

AYOUB’S TOP TIP: “Adapt your strategy to your personal style of play, and take time to learn how units can work together. I like to set up units to harass enemy troops as they move towards my base. I’ll set up snipers to soften up an enemy force before it gets to me.”

86

Real-time tactics, 1999, PC “This makes me sound old, but the first video game I played was Pong. I remember my dad bringing home this console with wheels on it – I was immediately hooked.

But the first one I worked on was Shadow Company, a tactical action game where you’re in charge of a squad of mercenaries. All these years later, I still remember it.”

THE GAME THAT MOST INSPIRED ME: SUPER MARIO 64

3D platformer, 1996, N64 “That game was so fresh and groundbreaking. It was magical to me. It really made me want to create worlds and be a part of this incredible industry.

The 3D gameplay was just so jaw-droppingly amazing.”

MY CURRENT FAVOURITE GAME: TITANFALL 2

First-person shooter, 2016, PS4, Xbox One, PC “Considering we’re in the final stages for Halo Wars 2, it’s hard to find time to play, but I just picked up Skyrim for the Xbox One, so I’m diving back in.

However, I picked that as my desert island choice, so my other favourite is Titanfall 2.

That’s my go-to right now.”

The Battle Arena Announcer in Lego Dimensions The starter pack and its expansions feature a cast of thousands including, recently, Fantastic Beasts’ Eddie Redmayne and The Hoff in Knight Rider.

But the biggest voice, literally, is Brian Blessed.

Ghost in Destiny Peter Dinklage is known for his eloquent delivery as Tyrion Lannister in Game Of Thrones, but his voiceover in 2014’s Destiny was famously wooden, spawning a meme based on just one line: “That wizard came from the moon!”

Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid V The stealthy hero was, until recently, voiced by X-Men screenwriter David Hayter, although Kurt Russell (whose character Snake Plissken in the 1981 film Escape From New York was the inspiration) was allegedly up for the job. However, in 2015, Kiefer Sutherland took over the fabled role.

THE RED BULLETIN

GETTY IMAGES (3)

Action role-playing, 2011, PS3, Xbox 360, PC “This feels like a trick question as I’d have no source of power on a desert island. But assuming I could actually find a way to make a game work… Skyrim has consumed so many hours of my life that I feel like it’d be the best way to pass the time.”

THE ONLY RACE WHERE THE FINISH LINE CATCHES YOU £35 EARLY BIRD OFFER UNTIL 25TH MARCH

IN CAMBRIDGE OR WITH THE APP WHEREVER YOU ARE

7TH MAY, 2017, 12:00 P.M. 100% OF ALL MONEY RAISED GOES TO SPINAL CORD RESEARCH

WINGSFORLIFEWORLDRUN.COM

ACTION

EVENTS SAVE THE DATE

The only way is up at Red Bull Neptune Steps

Spring is in the air. Warm up with these blossoming events

17

March Top of the morning Springtime sees the greenery returning, but never more so than on St Patrick’s Day. London’s three-day celebration kicks off on the Friday culminating in a street parade on Sunday winding to a festival in Trafalgar Square. london.gov.uk

March 8-10 Drinkers’ delight

March 25-26 Wild night

Camden Centre, London

It takes more than drinking your own pee out of a snake’s skin to be a true survivor, as Bear Grylls’ 24-hour Adult Survival Course will show you. More bushcraft than military training, this 16-person day and nighter teaches you to navigate the wilderness, build shelters, survive an attack, and hunt, skin and gut animals. With limited food and water and no tent provided, you’ll have to adapt quickly. beargryllssurvivalacademy.com

Brecon Beacons, South Downs & Dartmoor

Looking for the best selection of beer in London? For three days it’s at the London Beer & Cider Festival – 150 craft beers, plus imported US tipples and wines and ciders. Plus a pop-up kitchen to line your stomach. northlondon.camra.org.uk/

March 5-14 Star-buoyed Various venues across UK In 2010, The Weeknd was the mysterious name behind a series of amazing R&B tunes posted to YouTube. In 2017, he’s a Grammy-award-winner whose latest album, Starboy, features collaborations with Daft Punk, Lana Del Rey and Kendrick Lamar. Now he’s riding that success with the Starboy: Legend of the Fall 2017 world tour, hitting Manchester, Newcastle, London and Glasgow. theweeknd.com

88

21

March Get the party started We’re a few months shy of the summer festival season, but if you want to get an early start, Convergence is a five-day music, arts and technology event at venues all across the capital. convergencelondon.com

30

March Rocking on They’re no spring chickens, but if well-seasoned rock turkeys are more your thing, The Who’s eternal final world tour (it’s been going on for three years now) ‘kicks off’ again with two nights at the Albert Hall. thewho.com

THE RED BULLETIN

ADAM KLINGETEG/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, GETTY IMAGES, UNIVERSAL

March 18 The big freeze Maryhill Locks, Glasgow The UK’s toughest open-water endurance swim, Red Bull Neptune Steps, returns with a splash. A 420m uphill race through the freezing waters of the Forth and Clyde Canal, it features 18m of lock gates to be scaled and canal boats to clamber over. Last year 200 competitors punished themselves for the crown; this year 400 are taking the plunge, including British Olympic triathlete Gordon Benson. redbull.co.uk/neptunesteps

ACTION

HOW TO

ROW ACROSS AN OCEAN Stuck in a rowboat in the middle of the Atlantic?

Great job, that means you’re halfway there…

Some things you wouldn’t choose to do.

Say, rowing across the world’s second largest ocean. But you’re not extreme environment athlete Gavan Hennigan.

On December 15, he set off to break the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge solo record, paddling from the Canary Island of La Gomera to the Caribbean Island of Antigua – a 5,000km trip with potential for hurricanes and 30m-high waves. “I’m 100 per cent prepared to suffer,” Hennigan told us the week before, and he knows all about that. At age 21 he was suicidal and in rehab for substance addiction. “Coming from such a dark place, I want to embrace the here and now. I want to be the fastest Irishman to ever cross the Atlantic.” taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com

yourself 1 Pace

naked 4 Get

yourself 3 Stuff

on to your butt 5 Hold

“Have waypoints that you’re aiming for. I set targets of about 250 or 500 miles that I tick off along the way. Winds can push you in all directions. Sometimes it might be worth going with the wind in the wrong direction if you know it’ll push you the right way in a few days’ time. The sailing term for this is ‘velocity made good’.”

“I’ve put on an extra 10kg over the last six months and I’m aiming to eat 5,000 calories a day during the journey – which is the lower limit of what’s recommended.

I have freeze-dried expedition meals and MCT oil, which is similar to coconut oil, but more potent. It’s odourless and tasteless, but calorie dense. A teaspoon on top of meals is an extra load of fat and around 300-400 calories.”

“Wear shorts and you’ll get a lot of rubbing, because of the salt and the fact that you’re constantly wet. Calluses on your bum and your hands are a perpetual battle, so getting naked is the easiest way to go. I’ve also got a piece of sheepskin to sit on as it contains natural oils that are meant to be good for your skin.”

“I’ve got a few buckets on board and a toilet seat to throw on top when I need to go. I’ve coined a little phrase for that called ‘bucket and chuck it’. Everything on the boat has to be tied on – including yourself – so you need lots of lanyards.

It’s amazing how quickly a boat can get away from you. If you turn into the waves there’s a high chance it’ll capsize, so keep downwind or into the wind, not in-between. My boat is designed to selfright, the cabin serves as a massive air pocket, so I keep the hatch doors shut.”

MARK THOMAS

“I’ve worked out that I’ll need to do about 1.5 million strokes, but I can’t set off by counting them or I’ll be mentally exhausted. Instead, break the day into manageable chunks. Row for two hours, then do a job on the boat, be it navigation, communication, or checking on the solar panels. I’ve been training to do very low heart-rate stuff. I haven’t rowed over 125 beats per minute, so it’s very low impact and stress on the body.”

necessarily go in a straight line 2 Don’t

THE RED BULLETIN

89

ADVENTURE ISN’T A REHEARSAL. PREPARE ACCORDINGLY. FindMeSPOT.com/RB

YOUR MOMENT OF A LIFETIME IS WAITING. Challenge a piste. Conquer a valley. Or get as far away as you want. The SPOT GEN3TM will keep you connected with family, friends and emergency assistance when you’re outside cellular coverage. Even share your location via GPS in real time.

Start your adventure at FindMeSPOT.com/RB.

A

I

S

E

Y

O

U

R

G

A

M

E

WI

NN

GE

AR

TO I N G YO G I V ED U A E GE

T EC HN AD OLO TH VA GI E N T CA AG L E

R

BECOME UNSTOPPABLE RUNGU ELECTRIC JUGGERNAUT Is it a fat bike with three wheels or a back-to-front trike with fat tyres? The Rungu is much more.

Think of it as a Hummer with pedals. Mounted on high-carbon steel forks, those 26in front wheels wrapped in 4.8in tyres prevent this bike toppling even at a standstill, and it’s difficult to tip over even when turning on rough terrain. Disc brakes on all three wheels have enough power to stop this rhinoceros in its tracks even when hurtling downhill, which is a good thing because its 2,000W motor can power it to 32kph – faster with added pedal power. Great for off-roading, beach touring, ski resorting and total showponying. riderungu.com THE RED BULLETIN

91

R

A

I

S

E

Y

O

CONTROL THE PARTY PHILIPS NTX400 There are bluetooth speakers and then there’s this wireless totem pole of noise. At 82cm tall and weighing 13kg, you can technically lug this tower to the beach, but you may need a hand. And that’s OK, because this isn‘t the kind of smartphonestreaming sound system you listen to on your own. With 1,000W of power, two woofers and a dynamic bass booster, the NTX400 is a fullblown party boombox. Adding to the portable nightclub experience, the woofers are surrounded by a dazzling LED light system that delivers pulsating visuals in time to your tunes and goes into overdrive when you hit that bass. philips.com

TOUGHEN UP GEAR S3 FRONTIER Proving you can be rugged and clever, Samsung’s smartwatch lets you interact with your apps via an ingenious rotating bezel, while the built-in GPS, four-day battery life and water and dust resistance mean you can take it to places where a classic survival watch is better suited. samsung.com

TAKE COMMAND GOOGLE HOME This intelligent speaker system is the closest thing you can get to Tony Stark’s AI-controlled apartment, and you don’t even need to be a billionaire playboy to afford it. Use your voice to call up music, personal reminders, Google search results, weather or traffic reports, or command all kinds of smart devices around your home. And because it uses Google’s natural language processing, it even understands what you’re saying. madeby.google.com

92

LOSE YOUR EDGE XIAOMI MI MIX This is the year that bezels, those ugly black bars around the edge of your smartphone screen, go the way of the dinosaur. Designed

by Philippe Starck, this 6.4in beast has a screen-to-body percentage of 91.3. A good thing, because that body is made of seamless, and very expensive, ceramic. mi.com

THE RED BULLETIN

U

R

G

A

M

E

BRING YOUR BEST GAME NINTENDO SWITCH Did you know Nintendo invented the familiar ‘crosshair’ direction pad on games controllers? Doesn’t really matter, since they’ve dumped it for their latest console along with almost everything else that’s familiar. Switch is a home games console, except you can remove it from its dock, turning it into a portable games tablet. Detach both sides and each becomes a mini-controller for two-player games. One thing that is familiar are the games – Zelda and Mariokart to name two. It also uses cartridges, which is almost as retro as the old D-pad. nintendo.com

STAY CLASSY TAG HEUER CONNECTED Styled after TAG’s Carrera line of watches, this collaboration between the Swiss watchmaker, Google and Intel is a smartwatch that fits the description in all regards. TAG Heuer also realises digital innards can’t last as long as mechanical parts and offers owners the chance to upgrade to a real Carrera after the two-year warranty is up. Smart. tagheuer.com

SHAPE THE FUTURE MICROSOFT SURFACE STUDIO The desktop computer has been reinvented and it looks a lot like... an analogue drawing board of yore. Reclining almost flat to the desk (but not quite – Microsoft doesn’t want you putting a cup of coffee on that 28in touchscreen), you can draw in pixel-precise detail using its pressuresensitive pen. But the real revolution is the Surface Dial, a physical puck that when placed on the screen reveals a contextual menu of whatever you need. Twist it as you work, to change colours, nib sizes, etc. microsoft.com THE RED BULLETIN

RIDE THE CURRENT BOOSTED BOARD 2.0 If 2016 was the year of dorky hoverboards, this is the year electric rideables get seriously cool. The dual-drive motor of Boosted’s powered skateboard allows it to hit 35kph, power you up 25 per cent grade inclines, and bring you to a swift, smooth halt while regenerating power at the same time. Get the longer-life batteries and each one is swappable with enough juice to take you 22km, and it’s waterproof so you won’t fry the Loaded Vanguard bamboo deck if you plough the 80mm Orangatang Kegel Wheels through deep puddles. boostedboards.com

R

A

I

S

E

Y

O

SEIZE THE MOMENT KODAK EKTRA Throughout most of the 20th century, Kodak was photography. Then we went digital, the iPhone arrived and, well, the rest is history. After selling off its patent portfolio in 2012 (for an estimated US$525 million – a bargain at one-fifth of the apparent value), it looked as if Kodak was history too. Now the company is bringing the fight back to its upstart rivals with this photography-first smartphone sporting a 21MP, f/2.0 aperture camera capable of shooting 4K video. Modelled after the vintage shooter of the same name, it even has a leather case that makes it look exactly like a classic camera. This really is a Kodak moment. kodakphones.com

DOMINATE THE SKIES DJI INSPIRE 2 If DJI’s Phantom 4 is the iPhone of drones – a well-specced hobby-copter – this is the DSLR of the fleet: a pro-tool for serious sky-filmers. It has two cameras: one watches where the craft is headed, the other captures footage in blistering 5.2K. Its legs raise on take-off to keep out of shot and avoid snagging as it hurtles along at up to 94kph for nearly 30 minutes, plus there’s a sense-and-avoid system that detects obstacles up to 30m ahead. dji.com

94

TRAIN HARDER HUAWEI FIT Fitness trackers can be surprisingly inaccurate when it comes to gauging your heartbeat, often rendering the data useless or, worse, dangerous.

This smartwatch measures your heart rate at high signal strength, with 24/7 monitoring, building what the company boasts is an extremely detailed and accurate profile of your health, whether at rest or during aerobic exercise. It’s also water-resistant to 5ATM. consumer.huawei.com

UNCHAIN YOURSELF APPLE AIRPODS Wireless earbuds have existed for a while, but when Apple removed the headphone jack from the iPhone 7s, you knew things just got real. Airpods intelligently connect to your iCloud devices: switch from your iPhone to your Mac and they do, too. They even know when they’re in your ear – remove one and it turns off. apple.com

THE RED BULLETIN

U

R

G

A

M

E

SEE YOURSELF FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE AIR SELFIE It took 200,000 years of human evolution before we came up with the selfie stick.

Now, a mere of blink of existence’s eye later, we’ve reached the singularity – the selfie drone. Powered by four propellers, it can levitate up to 20m into the air, shooting 5MP images and video before landing gently in the palm of your hand. After which it can be stored in its holster, which doubles as a smartphone case. airselfiecamera.com

TUNE OUT THE NOISE SONY MDR-1000X Contrary to misguided belief, wearing overthe-ear headphones in public doesn’t look cool. You wear them because they shut out extraneous sound and serve up the best listening experience outside of your home theatre. These wireless cans go a step further, delivering digital noise cancellation akin to floating in an isolation tank. To prevent you shouting at other people, cup one side to activate an ambient mode that uses an external microphone to let just voices enter your head space. Useful for finding out if people are mocking you. sony.com

LEARN NEW MOVES APPLE MACBOOK PRO It wasn’t until IBM’s Model M in 1984 that the unstandardised mess of computer keyboards became today’s familiar set-up. Thirty-two years later, Apple has thrown a spanner in the works, or rather a ‘Touch Bar’, a touchscreen strip that brings up whatever functions you need most – the search bar, editable video clippings, emojis, you can even drag shortcuts from the main display onto it. And there’s a fingerprint scanner for impulse shopping. apple.com THE RED BULLETIN

95

Editorial Director Robert Sperl Editor-in-Chief Alexander Macheck Creative Director Erik Turek Art Directors Kasimir Reimann, Miles English Photo Director Fritz Schuster Production Editor Marion Wildmann Managing Editor Daniel Kudernatsch Editors Stefan Wagner (Chief Copy Editor), Ulrich Corazza, Arek Piatek, Andreas Rottenschlager Web Kurt Vierthaler (Senior Web Editor), Christian Eberle, Vanda Gyuris, Inmaculada Sánchez Trejo, Andrew Swann, Christine Vitel

THE RED BULLETIN United Kingdom, ISSN 2308-5894 Editor Justin Hynes Associate Editor Tom Guise Music Editor Florian Obkircher Chief Sub-Editor Nancy James Deputy Chief Sub-Editor Davydd Chong Country Project and Sales Management Sam Warriner Advertisement Sales Mark Bishop Tel: +44 (0) 7720 088588, mark.bishop@uk.redbull.com Printed by Prinovis Ltd & Co KG, 90471 Nuremberg, Germany UK Office 155-171 Tooley Street, London SE1 2JP Tel: +44 (0) 20 3117 2000

Design Marco Arcangeli, Marion Bernert-Thomann, Martina de Carvalho-Hutter, Kevin Goll, Carita Najewitz Photo Editors Rudi Übelhör (Deputy Photo Director), Marion Batty, Susie Forman, Ellen Haas, Eva Kerschbaum, Tahira Mirza Illustrator Dietmar Kainrath Publisher Franz Renkin Advertising Placement Andrea Tamás-Loprais Creative Solutions Eva Locker (manager), Verena Schörkhuber Country Management and Marketing Stefan Ebner (manager), Magdalena Bonecker, Thomas Dorer, Manuel Otto, Kristina Trefil, Sara Varming Marketing Design Peter Knehtl (manager), Simone Fischer, Alexandra Hundsdorfer, Mathias Schwarz

THE RED BULLETIN Austria, ISSN 1995-8838 Editor Ulrich Corazza Proof Reading Hans Fleißner Country Project Management Thomas Dorer Advertisement Sales Alfred Vrej Minassian (Ltg.), Thomas Hutterer, Corinna Laure, Bernhard Schmied, anzeigen@at.redbulletin.com

Head of Production Michael Bergmeister Production Wolfgang Stecher (manager), Walter O Sádaba, Friedrich Indich, Michael Menitz (digital) Repro Clemens Ragotzky (manager), Claudia Heis, Maximilian Kment, Karsten Lehmann Office Management Kristina Krizmanic, Petra Kupec IT Systems Engineer Michael Thaler Subscriptions and Distribution Peter Schiffer (manager), Klaus Pleninger (distribution), Nicole Glaser (distribution), Yoldas Yarar (subscriptions) General Manager and Publisher Wolfgang Winter

THE RED BULLETIN France, ISSN 2225-4722 Editor Pierre-Henri Camy Country Co-ordinator Christine Vitel Proof Reading Audrey Plaza Country Project and Sales Management Leila Domas Partnership Management Yoann Aubry, yoann.aubry@fr.redbull.com

Global Editorial Office Heinrich-Collin-Strasse 1, A-1140 Vienna Phone +43 1 90221-28800 Fax +43 1 90221-28809 Web redbulletin.com Red Bull Media House GmbH Oberst-Lepperdinger-Straße 11–15, A-5071 Wals bei Salzburg, FN 297115i, Landesgericht Salzburg, ATU63611700 Directors Christopher Reindl, Andreas Gall

96

THE RED BULLETIN Germany, ISSN 2079-4258 Editor Arek Piatek Proof Reading Hans Fleißner Country Channel Management Christian Baur Advertisement Sales Martin Olesch, martin.olesch@de.redbulletin.com

THE RED BULLETIN Mexico, ISSN 2308-5924 Editor Luis Alejandro Serrano Associate Editors Marco Payán, Inmaculada Sánchez Trejo Proof Reading Alma Rosa Guerrero Country Project and Sales Management Helena Campos, Giovana Mollona Advertisement Sales Humberto Amaya Bernard, humberto.amayabernard@mx.redbull.com

THE RED BULLETIN South Africa, ISSN 2079-4282 Editor Louis Raubenheimer Chief Sub-Editor Nancy James Deputy Chief Sub-Editor Davydd Chong Country Project and Sales Management Andrew Gillett Advertisement Sales Andrew Gillett, andrew.gillett@za.redbull.com Dustin Martin, dustin.martin@za.redbull.com

THE RED BULLETIN Switzerland, ISSN 2308-5886 Editor Arek Piatek Proof Reading Hans Fleißner Country Channel Management Antonio Gasser Product Management Melissa Stutz Advertisement Sales Marcel Bannwart, marcel.bannwart@ch.redbull.com

THE RED BULLETIN USA, ISSN 2308-586X Editor Andreas Tzortzis Deputy Editor Nora O’Donnell Copy Chief David Caplan Country Project Management Melissa Thompson Advertisement Sales Los Angeles: Dave Szych, dave.szych@us.redbull.com New York: Regina Dvorin, reggie.dvorin@us.redbullmediahouse.com

THE RED BULLETIN

SUBSCRIBE NOW!

12 copies for £12 – only £1 per issue SUBSCRIBE NOW to the men’s active lifestyle magazine

getredbulletin.com

MAKES YOU FLY

One thousand off-road bikers turned The Hague’s beach into a motocross arena at Red Bull Knock Out. In the final heat, the best 750 riders battled each other for an hour and 45 minutes on a track with 80 obstacles.

And how did the winner, home favourite Jeffrey Herlings, celebrate his triumph?

“After a race like this, you collapse into bed.”

Video highlights: redbull.com

JARNO SCHURGERS/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS

“The more starters, the more you can overtake” Red Bull Knock Out 2016 winner Jeffrey Herlings, 22, who beat 999 competitors

THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE RED BULLETIN IS OUT ON MARCH 17 98

THE RED BULLETIN

p: Tim Zimmerman

BRANDON REIS 154 OG SKATE BANANA lib-tech.com

£169 PER MONTH

1

PLUS DEPOSIT AND FINAL PAYMENT

THE NEW MITSUBISHI ASX ESCAPE YOUR VIRTUAL LIFE

With 3 years 0% APR finance1, owning a new Mitsubishi ASX is now more of a reality than ever. An SUV which crosses affordability with agility and stylish practicality.

We call this Intelligent Motion.

Take a test drive | Visit mitsubishi-cars.co.uk to find your nearest dealer 1. The offer relates to an ASX 2 and requires a minimum 20% deposit. 0% APR Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) only available on a new ASX 2 registered between 29th December 2016 and 29th March 2017. Retail sales only. 0% APR PCP offer shown is for an ASX 2 petrol with metallic paint (OTR price £16,709) and requires a £4,825 Deposit and a £5,800 Optional Final Payment. With PCP you have the option at the end of the agreement to: (a) return the vehicle and not pay the Optional Final Payment. If the vehicle has exceeded the maximum agreed mileage a charge per excess mile will apply. In this example, 6p plus VAT per excess mile above the maximum agreed mileage. If the vehicle is in good condition (fair wear and tear) and has not exceeded the maximum agreed mileage you will have nothing further to pay; (b) pay the Optional Final Payment to own the vehicle or (c) part exchange the vehicle subject to settlement of your existing credit agreement; new credit agreements are subject to status. The example is based upon an annual mileage of 10,000 miles. Credit is subject to status and only available to UK residents aged 18 and over resident in Mainland UK and N. Ireland. This credit offer is only available through Shogun Finance Ltd T/A Finance Mitsubishi, 116 Cockfosters Rd, Barnet, EN4 0DY. Finance Mitsubishi is part of Lloyds Banking Group. Offer not available in conjunction with any other offer, subject to availability, whilst stocks last and may be amended or withdrawn at any time. Fuel figures shown are official EU test figures, to be used as a guide for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results.

ASX 2 fuel consumption in mpg (ltrs/100km): Urban 38.2 (7.4), Extra Urban 57.6 (4.9), Combined 48.7 (5.8), CO2 emissions 135 g/km.