The Zine Chapter 2

the ZINE #TheZineUK

Chapter 2 Some times, all you can afford to do is sing and dance

ZINE

the

Once Upon Another Time . . .

The Zine Chapter 002 Fashion, Art, Music, Entertainment adventures. On and Off Stage.

The views expressed in our portal as words are individual opinion and sometimes contradictory to others. The views expressed visually unite us with the thousands of words that a picture says #TheZineUK team and our extending family have been living a musical magical mystery tour, and documenting some of it since Chapter 001.

Connecting with us for the next chapter?

/thezineuk

Real life news begs quality escapism.

Creators, dreamers, performers feel it in their veins as if nature kissed it into them on a windy day. Their tapestry weaves ancient, playful, self expressive talents for a good looking and sounding 速evolution, into future designs for life Year 014:

#TheZineUK - CHAPTER 2 TEAM PHOTOGRAPHY Rupert Hitchcox Duncan Stafford, Mike Burnell Daniela Fleckenstein David Joseph Gilkinson No images or copy in The Zine maybe reproduced unless written authorisation is given by the individual photographers.

MUSIC and STYLE Chenaii Crawford Corri Dizzy Spell Sam Grant Briggs Ben Dodd Destiny Madhoo Rhiannon Long Mary O Meara Richard Rose Caffy St Luce SUPPORT. Thank You: All of the friends involved and featured, Casey Hawker at House PR, Mark Charles / Charles Of London, Joe Parry and Dave Palmer at Division PR, Kelly Munroe at End Of The Trail, Simon Price + LOVE 2 Hall Or Nothing

Hear. See. Connect.

Click n Surf #TheZineUK Pictures & Pages

Front cover image, Lias Saoudi of Fat White Family at Leeds Festival photographed by The Zine’s Duncan Stafford) that shot explains a facet of this publication articulately: Passionately steaming under radar is pure freakin’ funshine.

Community culture degentrifcation led to peace breaking out at PITPNXD 014, another irie style festival. We need our venues to nurture the talent for their stages and our escapism. This publication is inspired by what happens in small venues. Not just their music genre variety show but all manner of affordable outings; Film, word, theatre… you name it.

Comedians all call in on a regular basis. They’re having a laugh. #SaveMusicVenues If Bedlam had a brothel with a bar for sleazy intergalactic travellers, the ground /

mind-set breaking debut album, ‘Champagne

Holocaust’ would be the sound track and Fat

White Family would be the house band.

#TheZineUK Chapter 002 CONTENTS Uniqulture Roadshow and Manic Street Preaching weaves through Chapter 2 (including contributions from reknown MSP zine editors Mary O Meara and Richard Rose.

Mostly in pictures: DeLooze, Adam Ant, Shintaro Mizuno, The Featherz, CuT, exit calm, deux furieuses, The Great Escape, Green Man Festival, Leeds Festival, Party In The Park with reviews for This Will Destroy You, Carthage and The House Of Vans.

Style; Scotch & Soda, Ann Sophie Madsen and theatre revolutionaries, Enola Productions.

“Yes it (music) needs a kick up the arse.

But were that to occur, I imagine they would end up outside of the building” Lias Saoudi Who? The above is an excerpt from a 2+ minutes video Fat White Family interview with NME, summer 2014. (clue, the band he’s talking about is not U2)

In a chapter of The Zine connected by The Manics, incedental mention that Fat White Family won the Philip Hall Radar award for best new up and coming band at the 2014 NME Awards.

Also connected by summer at independent festivals, the acceptance speech by Patrick Lyons was considered this year’s weirdest at the event. He compered at the aforementioned Party In The Park (snapshots elsewhere in this issue) where mythical normality is probably gonna feel weird when it gets to those parts.

Our low (?) lives may often be held together by gaffer tape and protests but don’t mess with our dandy selves or we will (we will ) frack you.

The following pages continue from Chapter 1. Just for the internet, some pictures and words about some (cool) cats

“Something will grow.” (Patrick Jones)…

Why is it in chapters? #TheZineUK diary of unpredictability. Underground wave length of fighting injustice, standing up for people and planet. Many of the unsigned musicians are in the poverty bracket that fuels dynamic political creativity to soundtrack these “interesting” times. (click? Chapter 1 cover by Rupert Hitchcox) “Once Upon Another Time…” and the rest is future. The Zine is in “Chapters” because we, also, would like to know what happens next! You couldn’t make our collective colliding stories up. Music editor, Dizzy, Spell calls it “The New Whimsical Express”, ha ha. Quite right.

January started a road show on London’s Tin Pan Alley. Our travelling circus hasn’t had cabaret, jugglers or dancers so far. Though there has been a lot of comedy, drama, stress and laughter. Poetry and situationism from brighter young things kicked things off. Music industry and media, grass roots or otherwise in the mix. The Allecyat basement bar of Regent House Studios, which is where Stones, Kinks and Sabbath classics were recorded.

2014 feels like London could swing again. Fur Cough, Mourning Birds, Freewheelin’ Troubadour, Stella+ and Hall Of Strangers played scorchers with in demand party maker, Jean Genie’s Massive Hugs, on the decks. Sharp style was in abundance on and off stage. I was envious of Richey Ostrowski’s fake fur ensemble. Another roadshow instigator, he graced the stage at the next event.

Iconic photographer, David Montgomery gave the evening the thumbs up. Honoured. Just been one of thos yeears of positivity as small music venue promoting is as more of a gam ble in the recession years. Luckily the bands are so good that by the time that the last note of the first road show gig had been played, there was an offer of an official stage for this kind of shenanigans at a main UK music festival. Its been that kind of summer. We have been out playing. Some of that is in here.

Some of our first pictures were from the debut Party In The Park free music festival. One September later, we returned to the (now doubled in size Fordham Park festivity), to round off this issue. Yes that is a horse and cart. Welcome to South East London. One of our HQ locations.

We don’t have a format for The Zine other than “keep creating laughing arguing improving”.

Dizzy Spell (photographed by David Joseph Gilkinson). at Uniqulture 1 We returned there in September to catch deux furieuses, Mourning Birds, Dana Jade tear the place up with three game changer sets.

Get behind the on line scenes with a click of our pictures.

As a team, #TheZineUK communal learning course creaked up a notch after six months DIY soap opera life. As always, it was musical. @TheZineUK

#Uniqulture 2014 Pop-Up Radio Station (Earwax return in the green room of New Cross Inn at Uniqulture 2, Feb 2014) Uniqulture 3 14+ matinee show at Amersham Arms before some of us hot footed it across South London to see The Manics that evening.

Declan and Leah Stay Beautiful in Latest Music Bar when our road show went to the seaside for The Great Escape Festival in May. June 21st, the mid summer’s day public protest (up yours, corrupt ones) before our Camden Crawl Festival stage, a mile or so away. …on arrival, the venue is next to the 99p shop. Yeah, we are HOME. Uniqulture 8: the kids are drawn to Jean Genie’s Massive Hugs, playing the Stage Bus at People’s Day Festival (July) Snap shots by Caffy. What you need is some real photography. In that case, Turn the opposite page and begin…

Spring And Summer 2014 Photography - Stage / Street Style Stars in London DeLooze (opposite page) Stacey DeLooze holds court at the magnificent ‘Glass Army’ album https://www.musicglue.com/delooze/ launch in Electrowerkz , April

Adam Ant personally requested these images that Rupert took of him. A music and art icon, eternally. http://www.adam-ant.net/contents.html

CuT One of the bands from Chapter 1 that have helped make the uniqulture roadshow both rock AND roll, they have been prolific with a succession of space punk ready made classic releases, picking up new friends along the way. By the end of Summer, they played a BBC Maida Vale session for Steve Lamacq, and have also sessioned and played a show for another music guru, John Kennedy of Xfm Radio, as well as featuring in a succession of national music press and hitting the UK festival circuit.https://www.facebook.com/cuttheband

Exit Calm played a low key acoustic set at the musicians / industry / media gathering, Playhard which they headlined the launch of in 2012. This year they are going from strength to strength with their album, ‘The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be’ http://www.exitcalm.co.uk/

All photographed by Rupert Hitchcox http://ruperthitchcox.co.uk

minimal line up, maximum impact, deux furieuses are the intelligent epitome of politicised impassioned and articulated guitar n drums fury.

deuxfurieuses.com

they arrive with a hard hitting, pulse racing anthem of a debut produced by rob ellis who has also worked with pj harvey and we are magnetised by their music so find out more in Chapter 003

Musical seaside adventures at The Great Escape Festival @AltEscape The road show was happy to rep some tips to music fans and industry alike.

Europe's leading festival for new music #TGE show cases over 400 up and coming global artists across thirty-five walk-able venues, along side a multi day conference, every May in Brighton http://greatescapefestival.com/ Appreciation to the formidable friends that won the day, on and off the Rocklands Stage that The Zine was part of. A special thanks also to our nautical, rock n roll friend, Sailor Jerry for supporting home grown talent. http://sailorjerry.com/uk Rocklands Stage #TGE14 was a rum do!

setting up to soundcheck at Latest Music Bar #TGE14

#Uniqulture CuT, Mourning Birds, Bad Wolf and Weatherbird (now Hyena) played Latest Music Bar then Jean Genie’s Massive Hugs and Rhiannon The Nightmare at The Black Lion on Saturday 10th May at The Great Escape Festival, Brighton. #TGE14 @AltEscape -TheZineUK team were pinching ourselves at being a media partner for a stage this year and especially at being part of the massive gang of friends and acquaintances who made it an extra special weekend to start a very hot summer.

In association with Rocklands Stage were newer wave allies; The Preservation Society Presents label, End Of The Trail Records, Playhard, Irresponsible Recordings and The Vinyls.

“I guess being a Manic Street Preachers fan is an asset when you are a DIY promoter.Probably why we were so chuffed that Simon Price made our TGE show even more of a party by doing a DJ set” (Rocklands ArtBeat)

CuT Dan Fatel and (this page) Jimmy Johnson, photographed by Rupert Hitchcox.

Bad Wolf Mathias Upton Hansen (drums) and Simon Harris (guitar/vocals) enjoy a quiet moment before their set with Ed Batchelor (bass/backing vox) at The Great Escape Festival.

The band were about to self release their huge aural adventure of a debut album, ‘False Conscience’.

Pic; Rupert Hitchcox

Rhiannon Carr of

Rhiannon The Nightmare at The Great Escape by Rupert Hitchcox

Hyena

Jacob Ball of by Rupert Hitchcox

Mourning Birds Left to right: Bill Williams, Jimmy Gilder and Sam Mitchell.

After their Great Escape Festival set, then a BBC Introducing interview with Abbie McCarthy and an acoustic session set for 7 Digital, The zine nabbed the band for a quick photo. It was reeeeally windy, but for about 30 seconds, there was calm, and Rupert Hitchcox got this momento of the day.

LET’S GO (To the seaside) We’re A Stickler for stars. The extended family of talented friends + massive Brighton weekend, made #TGE14 something very special and unique.

Many thanks to Rupert Hitchcox for the documentary photos.

Seaside revolution. Musicians and friends, after SMASHING it live at The Great Escape festival, Brighton, May 2014

John McCullagh “Really fantastic to see somebody playing primal music with such energy and enthusiasm - watch this space!"(Josh McClorey of The Strypes)

#TheZineUK’s tream of photographers have shot art work for some of 2014’s year’s most exciting key new music releases. This being one of them (read more about it, click here) https://facebook.com/JohnMcCullaghOfficial

‘Box Of Tricks’ single release (October 2014) image by Duncan Stafford

BritainIreland/ ChannelIslands

GREEN MAN FESTIVAL, August 2014 Duncan Stafford, spent three days taking in the vibes

Alongside a yellow sub-marine, we live in a small (still mostly) green ‘n’ pleasant land with (still mostly) temperate weather.

at the sellout, award winning, contemporary music and arts festival. Magic times and people in the stunning Brecon Beacons of Wales.

Eccentricity as (inter)national authenticity we are a world leading music festival nation.

http://duncanstaffordphotography.com/ for the full collection of images.

#TheZineUK photographers captured some of the moments they lived, Summer 20114, over the next LOAD of pages!

The one man peace festival that is Kosmic Troubadour playing in aid Teenage Cancer Trust in Camden by Rupert Hitchcox ruperthitchcox.co.uk

Green Man Festival http://greenman.net/

All images - this and following pages Š Duncan Stafford @StaffordDuncan

LEEDS FESTIVAL August 2014

A few images by Duncan Stafford from the full collection at http://duncanstaffordphotography.com/festivals/

Opposite page:

Fat White Family

Live review; This Will Destroy You and Thought Forms September 2014, The Deaf Institute, Manchester.

In current climes, and especially at the end of festival season, it warms any music lovers’ heart to hear a gig is sold out. It restored my faith in the touring of live music to see The Deaf Institute say there’d be no tickets on the door for this gig on a seemingly uneventful Tuesday night.

The Deaf Institute, for those who don’t have the pleasure of frequenting it, is a lovely little venue. A balcony on one side and an annex at the back with seating, really opens up the intimate space. The wall of old speakers behind the bar certainly catches the eye.

As I arrived, Thought Forms had just taken to the stage to showcase their noise rock. I first heard of the three piece after listening to their split 7” with Esben and The Witch and was suitably impressed, so I was eager to see how their sound transposed to a live environment.

The trio shared the front of the stage which at first I thought was a show of unity but I soon realised the array of equipment belonging to the headliners probably influenced their positioning.

Thought Forms are certainly peddlers of intelligent music, their set dictated by droning guitars that dodged bleakness and instead sat closer to bitter euphoria.

Both singers vocals held up well over the rheumy torrents of noise but, for me, it was the drummer who impressed the most. The absence of a bass player would scupper most bands before they were little more than an idea, but the man behind the kit not only held time but attention too.

I was pretty certain I saw members of 65daysofstatic looking on attentively during Thought Forms set and a glance at Twitter proved those suspicions correct; @65dos tweeting ; “What can you say about @thoughtf0rms that doesn't sound like gushing....fucking cool band, loud and louder and ace.”

I realised I hadn't quite readied myself properly for This Will Destroy You when I saw Donovan Jones tuning a five string bass and a goofy grin pinned itself to my face. (cont/…)

TWDY are a rare breed of band.

Not only was their timing perfect but there seemed an implicit understanding between members, like their music was a shared secret that the audience would never quite fully understand.

Again it was drummer Alex Bhore who shone, his floor tom and bass drum both effortlessly mimicking a leviathan’s heartbeat. He played with an urgency that propelled the rest of TWDY. A fan of their oldest LP, ‘Young Mountain’, I was pleasantly surprised that they played three songs from the record. In fact, their set covered their whole career effortlessly.

As impressive as the band’s output ,was the silence in between their tomes. A silent crowd - no matter how brief - is a rarity in my experience, and spoke volumes of the abundance of talent that graced the stage.

The band broke their silence only once with a quick thank you to the fans and with news that their new album was for sale at the merch stall. If ‘Another Language’ is half the record that previous outings have been, then it will be a worthy and palatable investment.

Looking around at the satisfied faces leaving the gig, I noticed the crowd was a mix of gender, age and race. I saw one kid leaving with a man I could only assume was his Grandad.

Post rock music, it would seem, has the unswerving ability to draw people together. That certainly happened tonight under The Deaf Institute’s steadily revolving disco ball.

Sam Grant Briggs

Shintaro Mizuno “Tractor-beam style” (Ben Dodd) We know a star when we see one. Some of The Zine team were enjoying a Sunday afternoon at Camden Lock when a beautiful man of sartorial elegance walked by.

Right then and there we quite cheekily asked if our photographer, Duncan Stafford, could take a quick picture on his phone and Shintaro Mizuno (for it was he) very kindly said yes and took the time to make a quick session around Lock 17.

Not just a style icon but a multi talent who had just returned from Edinburgh Festival as we discovered when we checked out his YouTube.

Undoubtedly one of the most noticeable people, even at London Fashion Week #TheZineUK will be keeping an eye and ear on what he does next. See future chapters… http://shintaromizunojapan.com/

Party In The Park

#PITPNXD Greetings from #SELondon free, one love community and music festival New Cross/Deptford.

Snapshots of lovely folks (and a horse, of course) ; Caffy

@HouseOfVansLDN : “Open to all, and always free, this is your house” You don’t have to be a skateboarder to enjoy The House Of Vans.

There is a wealth of educational and sporting potential.

It is already the European mecca for big names from many fields of talent and culture.

Embracing skateboarding, BMX and street culture/style, its a platform to engage and express.

Waterloo, London SE1 - #SkateBank A short walk from the original South Bank skate park at The Undercroft, The House Of Vans is a destination for athletes, creators and aural/visual enthusiasms.

The concrete bowl is skater built. It is lit, excitingly; taking this sport as both enjoyable and valuable. “Off The Wall� and on the pulse in spirit, there is a VansLab artist incubator space, events, cinema, a live music venue, creative courses, good and bars.

The House Of Vans is for and of the people and helping to spread positivity.

We need all we can get right now. http://houseofvanslondon.com/

“Basically you are stepping into another world�.

Ben and Caffy of #TheZineUK attended The House Of Vans opening welcome day on Saturday 9th August 2014. The full story and more snap shots http://thezineuk.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/van-tastic-london-loves-the-house-of-vans-within-one-week/

Vans. An iconic history and future.

Who The Flock Are

THE FEATHERZ? Words: Dizzy Photos: Rupert

Spell

Hitchcox

The Featherz are the glam-punk band every girl wants to be in.

Danie Cox (lead vocals/guitar) is every inch the love child of David Bowie & Beki Bondage (Oh, to be a fly on that wall!) with her stylish Ziggy Stardust hair and make-up, Charles of London attire, plus a stage presence that makes you think the Camden Barfly is the 100 Club circa 1976, and everything is possible.

Both Danie and bassist Molly are former members of the Adam Ant mentored Georgie Girl And Her Poussez Posse (Georgina Baillie’s - yes THAT Georgina #Sachsgate)- band but left to form their own with Extreme Noise Terror’s Dazzle Monroe… and thank god they did!

I first saw The Featherz at Madame Jojo’s in Soho for their single launch, it was my friend’s birthday and we were a little whiskey high and dazed at the point they took over the stage. I knew I loved them though, and proceeded to spend a good few hours begging my friend to buy me their single before I went home. (He did, thanks Jake!)

So when I got the chance to see them (sober) at the Camden Barfly, I was not going to miss them. Not only is the Barfly a scene of many of my most defining (read: embarrassing) teenage moments, but also I knew exactly how to muscle down to the front to experience The Featherz properly.

The set was one of high energy and every tune was a jump inducing pogothon and not one would have sounded out of place on one of those amazing 70’s Punk Compilation CD’s you find in ASDA for a fiver, and are always impressed by.

My favourite song “When Was the Last Time You Had Sex?” had the crowd giggling and me feeling a little smug that I could sing along to it.

Included in the set was just about the best cover of Ziggy Stardust you’ll ever hear – one that you can tell the band has spent hours in the rooms perfecting into their hairbrushes.

The Featherz can be found on Facebook and in various Boy George music videos.

Their sublime single ‘R’n’R’/ ‘When Was The Last Time You Had Sex?’ Can be brought from innovative stage style outlet, Charles Of London http://charlesoflondon.com/

Arts and Styles Chasing The Myth, Scotch & Soda, Ann Sophie Madsen, Charles Of London and Enola Productions - a design for working class theatre life

Chasing The Myth Nick Cave Images Exhibition Proud Gallery, London.

An exhibition dedicated to one of modern music’s most revered. Word and pictures ; Daniela Fleckenstein (Fleckenstein Photography)

“When I received the invitation to the launch after Party at Proud Gallery, my heart made a jump and my mind started to wander. recalling early days in my life listening to Nick Cave.

One of his albums that provided the soundtrack to my troubled teenage times, was ‘Let Love In’, and gosh did his sombre mood resonate with me at that time.

To visit a photographic Exhibition spanning his whole career up to now, followed by some live music, oh I couldn’t imagine a nicer way to spend an evening.

Making tracks into good old Camden town, I was also stepping in to the shadows of my past, something that suddenly seemed all so long ago, but yet not far. I followed the cobbled stones into the grand venue.

Proud Gallery is nestled in The Stables of Camden. There, I found myself n the right mood to contemplate a musicians career.

A main piece is the coloured Portrait of Nick Cave taken during 2013 in his office. He gazes at us, surrounded by towers of books, drowned by what seems to be a study of the intellectual kind. To some, unimaginable that this is a musicians office, but an insight into what makes Nick Cave’s music so powerful, with message and meaning beyond the sound. His career started in the eighties and is still as strong.

Photographs of early years; his barely lived teenage status revealing glimpses of a heavy narrative, a rich tapestry of possibly struggle, rebellion, self expression and all that is unspoken; but channelled in his deeply emotional, motivated music. It struck a chord, transporting me back.

One set of pictures (by David Corio), portray Nick Cave in his PR Office, posing for the camera - both the image and style easy to categorise and place in the eighties subculture.

The musician is young, seemingly unsure and ever so slightly playing up to the camera. A contrast to the other shots, where he is portrayed by ... lying on the sofa, though looking at the camera. It seems a candid moment. Nick Cave, nothing but himself.

The exhibition showcases a iconic sets of pictures in grainy black and white. Some of which are taken without much intervention, like the photographer stepped into Nick's shadow. Cave, allowing us the onlooker to share the moment that had been. Allowing us to witness his great consistency as an Artist.

Present and just as recognisable in the final shoots (black and white, behind the scenes taken on set for his film, ‘20,000 Days On Earth’, as recently as last year. (This visionary docupic on artistic prowess portrays a fictionalized 24 hours in the eclectic life of Nick Cave and celebrates creativity. It was inspired by a calculation Nick had made in his songwriting notebook working out his time on earth).

Most of the work in this Exhibition is by a handful of different photographers, taken in monochrome and spanning thirty years. It sets an instant flavour of looking back into someone's memory, whilst entertaining ones own.

There is Early work taken on 35 mm film (with evidence of this on the print) and even contemporary behind the scenes shots – all exuding the mood of holding onto the memory of the person known to us as Nick Cave - still pursuing an outlet for all that he is, Musician and Artist currently applying himself to an acting career.

A clear mood was set for looking at his career. Truthful to his passion, and with great integrity throughout. I felt myself transported back to the times when I was a teenager, which happened to coincide with my favourite portrait of him taken in Whitechapel in 1993 by Steve Double; Although set up for the Camera, the authentic nature of Nick Cave is captured, with what seems to be a trademark cigarette. Portrayal at its best.

I was tempted to make a purchase from the limited editions of fifty prints. At fairly

reasonable prices, they seemed worth an investment in this slice of memory.

While contemplating that, I saw people shared my sentiment, with sales being made this evening. I did not make that purchase, but I was enriched by realising how important an artist’s life is.

Remaining constantly truthful to himself reminding us, the onlooker to just do the same... to be who we are.

In that vein, soon enough the light dimmed and the live bands began playing.

Its what makes Proud Gallery such an applaudable events venue; a brand providing rounded entertainment and joining a few more dots of where images and music go hand in hand so well.

Daniela Fleckenstein @exposed4real

Scotch and Soda‘s Amsterdam Blauw incorporates a range of beautifully crafted denim essentials along with cool print pieces, such as the Hawaiian print jacket and shorts, with a variety of washes and finishes, including distressed or dark denim jeans, jackets, shirts and accessories. The emphasis is on detail, quality construction and extraordinary washes.

New! Their next collection is WOW-some @ http://webstore-uk.scotch-soda.com/ !

Kayla of Youth Man http://ruperthitchcox.smugmug.com/Gigs-andConcerts/CC14/i-6SGtb6t/A Marcus of Youth Man http://ruperthitchcox.smugmug.com/Gigs-andConcerts/CC14/i-cfw37QF/A Megan Carr http://ruperthitchcox.smugmug.com/Gigs-andConcerts/CC14/i-FHmCmkN/A July : Peoples Day http://ruperthitchcox.smugmug.com/Lewisham-PeoplesDay-2014/i-SfwKbDt/A Rocklands Stage at People's Day Festival (Uniqulture 8) Claudia Mansaray of Cat Bear Tree and t shirt,

Marshall "Monitor" Headphones.

The first over-ear product to be added to their range embody all the power and quality we have come to expect from this iconic amp manufacturer, along with some other nice little touches, to boot.

Features include superior noise isolation and heavy duty construction (with equally heavy duty metal hinges) and a detachable double ended coil that also allow you to plug in to either the left or right ear.

The F.T.F (Felt Treble Filter) system lets you change the sound for a different high-end response.

There is, additionally, an extra 3.5mm socket, so that you can playback and share your music.

When you need to hit the road, fold them up and stow them away. Job done.

Available now from http://marshallheadphones.com/product/monitor-black

Ann Sophie Madsen Creator and Innovator

by Chenaii A. Madhoo

In fashion, it is easy to view each season’s collections with ennui: the element of déjà vu playing a great part in having already visited a particular look / style / silhouette /pattern/ block colour conurbation.

However, once in a while, someone comes crashing through the glazed-eyed looks of the front-row glitterati and fashionistas, that makes each one sit up taller in their seats, in order to actually see the ‘tour-de-creative-force’ displayed in front of their unbelieving eyes.

In the past we have been privy to the theatrical, flamboyance of John Galliano; the controversial ‘hooliganism’ of l’enfant terrible, Alexander McQueen, and the austere deconstructivism of Rei Kawakubo (Commes des Garcons) to name but a few.

Nowadays, it is a rare thing to ‘discover’ a designer whose creations ‘replace the body with something abstract.’

Enter, Anne Sofie Madsen, the Danish designer, whose desire is to shake-up our familiarity and complacency with Fashion as a creative medium, and replace it instead with the idea of the ‘unknown’.

Having graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Art in 2009, Anne Sofie Madsen went on to train under John Galliano at Dior Paris before landing a role as Junior Designer at Alexander McQueen.

Her first collection, which was couture-inspired, debuted at London Fashion Week in February 2011. She has since shown her collection twice a year at Danish Fashion Week.

Not content with settling for design as the only feather in her hat, Anne Sofie has honed her skill as an illustrator –writing and illustrating graphic novels - and is now published in her home country of Denmark, and internationally.

Taking inspiration from contrasts and diametrically oppositional ideologies, Anne Sofie Madsen marries: ‘the barbaric with the elegant; the exotic with the classic; the primitive with the civilised; the futuristic with the historical’.

The resulting 2014 collections - Post Human Speed, and A Journey That Wasn’t feature Madsen’s penchant for rendering what is familiar to the unfamiliar.

In Post Human Speed, inspiration came from three seemingly disparate sources: Chris Cunningham’s “Rubber Johnny” a short film set to a dissonant Aphex Twin track about a shapeshifting mutant child locked in the family basement; artist, Takashi Murakami’s “Inochi” (robot boy); the controversial and mysterious, Kaspar Hauser, a German youth from the early 19th century who claimed to have spent his formative years locked in a dark cell.

The thread which ties the three sources together is the idea of containment and restraint; whether it’s the physical retention of the mutant child in “Rubber Johnny” and “Kaspar Hauser” (in Hauser’s case, there is also the retention of a child-like mind in a young adult’s body) and “Inochi”, where the robot is a boy as opposed to an adult.

Masden succeeds in replacing the human silhouette with ‘something abstract’. Looking closely at the structure of the thick monochrome leather of the jackets with their abnormal bulk and excess on the arms –inspired by the body armour worn in Motocross- is more synonymous with the torso and wings of a bug than that of the human shape.

Likewise, sleeveless micro dresses with its moulded leather, laceups stitching and belt restraints give the impression of something being contained or restrained.

In using a range of techniques which include: paper, patent mosaic, moulded leather, prints and illustrations inspired by Romantic portraiture, and late 90s Japanese Pop Art, Madsen has managed to create a ‘redefinition of beauty’ in her work through the employment of technological materials replacing natural fibres and the re-treatment of organic materials to look artificial.

In A Journey That Wasn’t, Anne Sofie took her inspiration from French artist, Pierre Huyghe’s video installation of the same name, whose journey began in the icy wilderness of Antarctica in search of a rare Albino penguin, and ended in the creation of a musical in NYC’s Central Park.

The correlation between ‘humankind’s simultaneous search for utopia whilst destroying nature, wild nature and the fast, mechanic pace of the city was not lost on Madsen.

Taking these themes as a cue, Masden approached her collection focusing on form and surfaces utilising materials such as silk, microfibres, cotton and neoprene as a contrast with metallic Drings, chains and thick leathers to produce accessible and wearable clothing in stark blue, black and white, softened by the use of fur: Masden collaborated with leather Scandinavian manufacturer, ECCO, to create ‘challenging, yet beautiful surfaces that pushes the boundaries of modern fashion’ in this collection.

Having viewed Anne SofieMasden’s collections, and seeing how hard she works at not only challenging herself with the ideals of the human body and form, I am also impressed and inspired by her exploration of the silhouette, and how it informs the body and its surrounding space.

Masden’s conclusion as a result of her research is the use of materials, shapes, and proportions to ‘generate a [new] body language’.

Regarding her work, Masden says that her intention is to ‘capture a couture finish and an attention to detail within ready-to-wear’.

Her aim is to re-interpret the traditions of handiwork and the use of techniques within couture into contemporary materials and silhouettes; something that she has definitely achieved through her creative work. http://www.annesofiemadsen.com Chenaii A. Madhoo

From Despair To Futurology.

Manic Street Preachers flavour the future of both culture alienation, and culture itself.

Image: Dizzy Spell. One of the few female art directors in theatre wears Charles Of London for The Zine’s interview with working class theatre revolutionaries, Enola Productions.

Enola Productions interview article by Chenaii A. Madhoo Photography; Rupert Hitchcox. Styling; Ben Dodd. Co-styling, Chenaii A. Madhoo. Stylist / Photography assistants: Destiny Madhoo and Rhiannon Long. Thank you Mark Charles A group of young people got together from their performance art course in order to challenge our perceptions of both the established and contemporary theatre world.

Describing themselves as a ‘Molotov cocktail of short films, plays, and conceptual video pieces’, their aim is to give ‘a voice to the ignored’...

The Zine UK caught up with co-Artistic Director, Jake Castle, to get the skinny on proceedings.

Who are Enola Productions and where did the name come from? “Enola Productions create fresh, interesting and often controversial art.

We were formed after a small module of a college project excited the minds of the more daring theatre makers among us.

We were sick and tired of the same boring theatre being made not for the love but for the revenue it could produce.

From different cultural and economical backgrounds, run by young people with the aim to give a voice to young people, we united to share how we really felt through theatre: bonding over the overwhelming feeling of being fed up with men in suits telling us how to think, feel and be.

The name comes from the B-29 bomber responsible for dropping the ‘little boy’ bomb on Hiroshima.

In a philosophical sense we wanted to create an everlasting impact in the same way as Enola Gay whilst still paying tribute to such a terrible part of our history – in a more realistic sense.

The first major project was going to be the staging of our version of “Everything Must Go” by Patrick Jones, paying homage to Manic Street Preachers: the band’s 1996 album, ‘Everything Must Go‘ features the song ‘Enola Alone‘. It all just seemed too perfect. Even from this point it was clear our work was rooted in music.”

I read somewhere that Enola Productions is inspired by The Theatre of the Oppressed, popularised by Brazilian theatre director, Augusto Boal. How did you discover his work?

“Certainly! If you look at what Enola Productions is trying to do it is difficult not to spot the clear influence of the Theatre of the Oppressed, as it is clear we’re influenced by the French-inspired, Theatre of The Absurd and others as well. We wanted to take the best things from our favourite theatre movements to promote change. We want to make our audiences think.

In terms of Boal there are differences. Also his period had different problems to the ones we face today. We want to apply his theories to what we do, but update them for a modern audience. Due to technology and the world moving so fast, in order to make the audience think we have to engage their attention in a different way, using different media.

I personally came across Boal in my theatre studies at college, ironically the week after doing classical Greek theatre which made its audience think in an alternative way. The Greeks made their audience think in an appropriate way for

that time, and Boal did the same for his audience of his time. It is now the duty of Enola to create that next generation of thinking in a new way.”

I noticed that Revolution is a recurrent theme when reading literature about E.P.: what does it mean to you?

“Revolution is the act of creating change in today’s society. This change can be instigated by violence if we look at the French Revolution, or can be intellectually fought through words. “The verb is more important than the noun.” It is a mantra we truly believe in at Enola Productions. Malcolm X or MLK can have as lasting an impression on the global consciousness as a war can, and that’s what we want to tap into. We want to play on people’s subconscious wandering, daydreaming mind. People won’t instantly change their views and ways of thinking but will think about it later. This may come a few hours or even a few years later but we want to plant a small seed in their minds.”

Earlier this year, you posted on social media that you were going to hit the streets to do vox pops as research on the general populace regarding their views on politics, socialism, and revolution: how did that go?

“Well the people certainly didn’t disappoint. Without a doubt we learnt a lot about the general public. Considering my background I haven’t always been subjected to such extreme views. The stories people have behind their views caught my attention dramatically in the very British-ness of keeping the stiff upper lip.

Through traumatic experiences regarding Government cuts in funding and its consequences – especially in the arts and the knock on effect it has had on

individuals – people still continue to find new and creative ways to get through it. I found it truly humbling and deeply moving.”

Did you produce Generation XYZ (Everything Must Go) as a result of your findings?

“Interestingly Generation XYZ/everything must go (or whatever title we finally decide on after several pints and some onion rings and hash browns), was the love child of anguish at the current way people are being treated in society, alongside wanting to bring the great, yet relatively unknown Welsh poet and playwright, Patrick Jones’ writing to the forefront of the theatre revolution; reworking our performances to make them relevant for today’s audience.

The findings from our vox pop were simply research into gaining a better insight into the context of the play. So no it was not a result, more a necessity in order to do the play justice.”

Speaking of Generation XYZ… who was the character of ‘A’ based on?

“In our version….He is basically a manifestation of the way the Manic Street Preachers felt and what would have become of them if they didn’t have the release of the band. He is the manifestation of what would happen if armchair revolutionaries did what they planned to, whilst sitting in their armchairs.”

As with The Theatre Of The Oppressed, do you use the medium of forum theatre in your work?

“Forum theatre was very specific to Boal’s way of working and thus we personally don’t use it during our performances. That said, it doesn’t mean we don’t apply this technique while in business meetings with each other. The dynamics of male and female partnership ensure there is always someone calling up on, and referring to, the oppression of the other. This may be down to gender difference or simply the amount of gossip one has on the other.”

How do you engage the audience as Spect-actor in your own productions?

“As mentioned it is usually not the audience that takes on this spect-actor role in the conventional form of forum theatre in our productions.

In terms of invisible theatre also heavily attributed to Boal, our productions and especially “Generation XYZ” rely strongly on this wonderful idea of the audience both consciously and subconsciously seeing themselves in the characters portrayed before them.

If our plan is to get the audience to think and play an active role in the production then it is vital for them to be able to relate to the piece on a level right for them.”

The topics of your plays are wildly divergent: Generation XYZ… and The Bright Young Man: The Stephen Tennant Story comes to mind. How do you choose the themes/topics for your plays?

“I would love to say we have devised a formula and checklist of the criteria needed to be eligible for the Enola treatment but the reality is Enola is one of the most well-read production companies.

We have read scripts, novels, short stories and everything in between, even the backs of cereal boxes if the maze isn’t too hard. We often delve into our large repertoire of things we once read while our friends were trying to be rebellious with paper airplanes.

There is no formal way of discussing our next project, it will usually involve a late night facebook message that will get instantly categorised into either a “no” or a “what would Oscar Wilde say”. So much of the Enola spirit comes from Wilde and his infamous quotes. We also take great inspiration from the Youtube channel “thug notes”. Their modernising and easy understanding of such classics is something we really enjoy.

There is only one thing we do require from our potential next projects and that is they have to excite us and make us have no idea how we are going to afford it but know we have to do it.”

Speaking of The Bright Young Man…, when are you planning to cast and go into production with the play?

“This is simply a subject of finding the correct time and place to perform it. We are always on the look-out for potential castings, contacting various individuals

when we see fit and very politely bribing them with alcohol to get them on board.

Coffee dates and pub outings with people that interest us have become a regular feature.

We have been to The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama to watch a showcase performance there with some of their actors to see if any of them would be suitable. We would like to cast people who have the same drive and goal as us, making the project the best it can be. The play is all set in our minds we just need to find the perfect location to perform, secure the correct funding and we are set to go into production.”

Finally, how bright is the future for Enola Productions?

“With one half of Enola Productions hailing from Essex the future is always going to be bright for us even if it is just from the glow of fake tan.

We are constantly thriving off each others’ energy and discussing how we would stage various ideas.

Napkins have become regular quotation and idea pads when we are out. We just can’t stop the creativity flowing from within our veins.

With very little money and several changes of residence Enola is going strong against all odds, sowing the seeds for theatre of tomorrow.” http://enolaproductions.co.uk and http://facebook.com/enolaproductions

We write this alone in our beds (a glimpse into the world of MSP fanzine culture) I can still see my box room in student halls in 1995 - the wafer-thin curtains and threadbare carpet. It was here that I sat on my skinny-mattressed bed cutting up flyers that I’d photocopied in the University library that featured four sets of eyes – one pair in each corner.

Two sets of eyes were mascara and kohl-smudged – two weren’t – these were the windows to the souls of the Manic Street Preachers and these were flyers I created to send out far and wide to announce a new fanzine was percolating and it would called Terrible Beauty – a nod to the band’s track She is Suffering and WB Yeats’s Easter 1916 poem about the Irish revolution (“a terrible beauty is born”) And it was born there in that shabby room and it grew up in a community that had no name.

It consisted of people who somehow occupied the margins, the outsiders who weren’t willing to play the game, the people who on shoestring budgets managed to have the time of their lives,

loving the bands they loved, travelling north, south, east and west to join forces with others who felt the same, finding beauty in unlikely places, showering the world with (cheap) glitter and dancing in the puddles, shivering at stations waiting for trains that never came but the music always kept them warm, and the warmth was something that could spread, holding another’s hand, telling stories, singing songs, swapping tapes, swapping time.

The fanzines I remember from this time were Assassinated Beauty, Cultural Apocalypse, Stay Beautiful. R*E*P*E*A*T (still going strong) had also recently emerged.

It was in that same room that I learned Richey Edwards had gone missing on a Radio One news bulletin. I was knocked for six. That was the real impetus to start the ‘zine. This band really mattered and I felt the need to reach out and share what they meant to me, to keep that warmth circulating.

“We love the winter, it brings us closer together”.

(Manic Street Preachers ‘Masses Against the Classes’) I met some wonderful people through this fanzine, too many to mention and I don’t want to single anyone out but my three co-editors (Sarah, Jennifer and Vivienne) need to be mentioned as they were such a big part of it.

Although I started solo it was never my intention to be a lone wolf. Fanzines tend to work on the notion that the sum is bigger than the parts, like true socialism.

Manics fans from all round the globe sent letters, articles, poems and collages and Terrible Beauty blossomed into a collective with a conscious, a voice that refused to either parrot or be silenced or follow the herd led by the corporate monsters that lurked on every corner – and they lurk there still.

It was a sad day when we folded the fanzine in the January 2003 but Viv and I had other projects we wanted to devote our energies to – and we did. Sometimes you just need a change.

We started a record label called Urban Foxx that put out records we adored. There was Small Victories (featuring James Chant) as well as artists such as the mysterious, ethereal Desolation Angels and 50HZ. We compressed our scribblings into another ‘zine called Urban Scrawl, and I ended up writing a book about Manchester band Haven, who happened to hang in our hood.

All this time the energy was still bubbling and finding ways of challenging the status quo. Records still came along that blew me away. I worked in Blue Cat Cafe, a quirky little venue in Stockport as a promoter and managed a brilliant band called Outsider. Rock and roll was still my staple diet. Music was still my refuge and I found many ways to keep the torch burning, writing reviews for webzines,

press releases for bands, anything that kept the message coming through....this matters, this is magical. Let’s celebrate it. Let’s make a difference.

Last year and this year, Manic Street Preachers released two albums in quick succession that suggested they’d been whisked into some intense creative whirlpool. Two extraordinary albums emerged almost back to back.

I’d smelt the aroma of the whirlpool long distance. I’d felt the energy swirling and something told me it was time to resurrect the fanzine.

There’s so much more out there than what the dumbed-down drivel channels try to swamp us with. There’s sometimes so much more life in dead-end towns that nobody talks about. That’s where a lot of this magic is actually born.

The beauty of a fanzine is that anyone can do one – anywhere, anytime, about anything. There are no limits or censorship, you can spill your heart onto those pages and say what you really mean.

It took a band as special as Manic Sreet Preachers to open me up enough to do this.

They not only had something to say but they also had eloquence – they had poetry as well as polemic. So, in a nutshell, we’re back. Happily Viv is still my co-pilot and the next issue of Terrible Beauty is about to take flight. The vibes are good and they’re spreading far and wide, connecting with people who share the love of music

that matters. Connection is what it’s all about. I still remember at the peak of the fanzine’s popularity coming home after a short break away to find I could barely push in my front door due to the amount of post piled up behind it.

That’s because fanzines can unite, inform and empower us and that spirit will only die if we allow it.

Mary O Meara

snapshot Early Manics gig at Cambridge Junction, James’ head protected by a “pilot’s hat” from the missiles that often came onstage.

By Caffy

20 years after The Holy Bible, Manic Street Preachers are not just a national treasure, but a counter culture and education course. Futurology is one of 2014’s landmark albums.

http://futurology.manicstreetpreachers.com/

Manic Street Preachers – Walk Me to the Bridge Brighton Centre, April 2014 Words : Dizzy Spell.

Photograhy : © Mike Burnell http://ISO400.com Leopard print cat suit – check, Kohl smeared eyes – check, ridiculously uncomfortable shoes – check… and we’re off to see Manic Street Preachers in Brighton.

Arriving ten minutes after doors, we rushed into The Brighton Centre and blagged our way to the barrier. (Nicky side, naturally.) The lights dimmed and we were treated to a Manics short film and David Bowie pouring from the PA and the air full of a mixture of concentration and an easy impatience to see Nicky Wire’s legs.

It is but a few tense seconds before James, Nicky and Sean arrive on the stage and burst into ‘A Design for Life’ – a song usually more at home mid-set but none the less welcomed by a chorus of faithful, devoted voices in the front row.

‘You Stole the Sun from My Heart’ starts the crowd dancing and jumping from the die-hard devoted fans that have been to every gig since the early 90’s to the teenagers who have only just found their own National Treasures.

What follows is an onslaught of the Manics hits and fan favourites all watched over by Richey Edwards who appears every so often on a screen behind them.

Screen or no screen, Richey is a presence which is always with the crowd. “I can still see him carrying his typewriter…” Wire states as he waves at the televised image of his best friend before ‘Die in the Summer Time’ is served as a bittersweet reminder of the missing boy genius.

James brings a level of pure sincerity to the night with a heartfelt apology for ruining the band’s reputation…. For wearing a Fila tracksuit on stage - but is soon forgiven as he delivers a haunting acoustic set of ‘This is Yesterday’, ‘From Despair to Where’ and Rewind the Film’s ‘This Sullen Welsh Heart’.

The crowd are brought back from this beautiful melancholia with a welcome punch from ‘Archives of Pain’ followed by new title track ‘Futurology’, which excites everyone about the upcoming album.

‘The Masses against the Classes’ and ‘Motown Junk’ follow, ensuring that I will need to be carried home after pogoing in six inch heels.

The band end on If You Tolerate This, demonstrating that in a time of Tory cuts, housing crisis’s and desperation, the Manic Street Preachers can still stand up for the underdog whilst making incredible chart music.

"The Manics inspired - as the Pistols and Clash before them an upsurge in creativity, self activity and general bloody-minded Bolshie thinking for yourself.

Fanzines, bands, books, art work and badges all erupted in a heady mess of highlighter and Pritt Stick.

And many people had their lives changed forever.�

Rosey R*E*P*E*A*T"

Carthage Promo EP

by Dizzy Spell

“I’m bored and dissatisfied with everything” comes a female a voice as you press play on the Carthage’s debut EP ‘Carthage Must Die’ Somewhat fitting for a band whose founding members met on the infamous Manic Street Preacher’s fan forum Forever Delayed five years ago. The remarkable thing about them - aside from their crashing punk guitars and intelligent lyrics - is that one half of this founding partnership lives in America. Despite this Carthage have managed to write and record something that sounds like it took weeks in a studio to create and master. With samples of beat poetry, situationist ideology and things that will make you want to read books - this is the band that Nicky Wire has been waiting for to come after the Manics and you’re going to love them.

Get ready to get ready http://carthageuk.bandcamp.com/releases

The sublime and beautiful

Patrick Duff

sound of (photographed here by Duncan Stafford, is proving to be one of this year’s must-see/hear shows. We catch up more next issue http://patrickduff.com/