Amelia’s Magazine | White Denim

young-and-lost-club

The people who run record labels have traditionally had an image problem. Musicians are cool, visit this obviously; djs are cool; hell, information pills even some music journalists are, price but company execs? Not so much.

Both cynical and prone to hyperbole, they have a reputation for chalking up ounces of coke to their ‘flowers and chocolates’ expense accounts, spouting jargon and inventing spurious music genres in the pub. Indie labels fare better in musical mythology, of course, but with their earnest dedication to the egalitarian principles of Marxism, you can’t escape the feeling that Geoff Travis and his associates at Rough Trade couldn’t make the tea without voting on it. Well, Art and Commerce were always going to have an uneasy relationship. Anyhow, everyone knows that record company execs are frustrated musicians themselves. And they’re all boys.
The Young and Lost Club label is different. Reassuringly, founders Sara Jade and Nadia Dahlawi most emphatically don’t yearn to get up on stage. “We know our limits!” says Sara. This might be a touch disingenuous considering the girls’ status as precocious veterans of the London indie scene – at only 23 apiece, they’ve been fanzine editors, label owners, and club promoters as well as djing as the Pyrrha Girls.

“The first musicians I was into were the Velvet Underground, Jonathan Richman, Television, Richard Hell and Patti Smith and that led me to reading “Please Kill Me”, she says. “The DIY aesthetic and attitude in that book was a big influence on us, everyone just did things for themselves and created their own scene for similar minded people”. The idea of creating a scene seems to hold a continuing magic for Sara and Nadia, for whom the founding of a label seems to be the logical progression of their other interests. Already there’s been a Young and Lost national tour while recent clubnights have seen The Teenagers, Klaxons and Horrors play alongside their own signees.

They are clearly blessed with excellent taste. Currently on the Young and Lost Club roster are the Golden Silvers, who’s glorious Arrows of Eros – an arch disco track about lovelorn boys and girls dwelling in ‘London Town’ that recalls the best of Orange Juice – is getting played loads on 6 Music and looks set to be one of the defining songs of Summer 08. Previous highlights for the label have included the debuts of Vincent Vincent and the Villains, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong and Larrikin Love’s Six Queens – in which Ed Larrikin memorably traded his usual pastorals for a glammy Velvets pastiche. Currently on their books are Pull Tiger Tail, Noah and the Whale (who will be Young and Lost’s first album release), Lord Auch and Naked and the Boys.
And they don’t see the gender thing as an issue: “I don’t think there is a big difference in the way boys and girls approach djing,” says Sara. “Girls are probably approached more for song requests though”.
Oh, and as for that vow not to take up instruments themselves, there is one exception… “Nadia would definitely make a guest appearance on someone’s album playing the harp, if asked”. Bet she’s a really good harpist, too.

Do you remember about 9 years ago when the UK was hit by that huge jelly sandals movement? Gentleman this period might not be as vivid to you, pilule but I clearly recall my twin sis and I owning an identical turquoise pair of these flat jelly numbers purchased by our loving mother who, healing always one to keep up with the latest trends, owned the higher heeled version. I think it’ fair to say most women during this period found themselves squelching their way around in different variations of these coloured jellies which were THE must have summer item. This jelly revolution stuck around for a couple of months and then was gone as quickly as it arrived, which is why I was particularly surprised when we recently received a sky blue pair in the post.

I’ve since been informed that jellies are in fact back for this summer and Gisele Bündchen has jumped on the PVC bandwagon by incorporating the material in her new collection, G2B.

The supermodel has teamed up with Brazilian Footwear Company, Ipenama flip flops, to produce a range of environmentally friendly summer sandals, which include a variety of 6 different styles.

According to the press information, we’ve been sent the classic jellies, which are apparently ideal for ‘trekking up a cliff path’. While I’m not sure I’ll be doing that anytime soon, I’ll agree these sandals would make a cute addition to a casual daytime outfit.

Other designs in the collection include Refresh which are classic Havana style flip flops; Cascade, a glamorous gold strappy Greek style sandal; Agua, a rather peculiar looking flip flop with a slightly irrelevant extra strap, and my favourite, Pure, a trendy T bare style with added diamantes. Gisele can also be seen here modelling the ‘Clear’ sandals in this surprisingly unflattering promotional photograph.

gisele1.jpg

Prices for the sandals range from £12.99 to £19.99, with a portion of the proceeds this year being used to support water preservation projects such as WWF, Y Ikatu Xingu and de olho nos mananciais.

They’re perfect little holiday shoes, so grab a pair online if you’re looking for something that can carry you comfortably from a long beach day to the intoxicated early hours of next morning. If however, like myself, you wont be going away this year, why not just follow our art editor Tanya, and bring them out on the rare occasions that the British sun decides to put in an appearance.

Gisele%20flip%20flop%20range.jpg

White-Denim2.jpg

White Denim’s drummer Joshua Block comes from the same physical gene pool as Will Ferrell, cialis 40mg Tom Waits and Ron Perlman and rides his kit right at the front of the stage. His arms wind milling like a man swimming with meat knives, this site cutting into each wave as it passes with the zeal of a drunk mid remembrance of a favorite song. Straddled either side by guitarist and bass player to make up this year’s Banana Splits. This year’s Magic Band. This year’s Monkees.

Debut album, Workout Holiday just in the shops. A frenetic yet accessible blending of southern wildcat zest and inventive charm that could only derive from a band that are far more clued up that they’d ever let on, a similar trick to that pulled off by prime era Pavement. White Denim have everything going for them this year. Tonight’s appearance at Koko’s Club NME is marred by the kind of volcanic reverb an old theatre style building generates and this ill fits a band you need to see tight and dry as fuck in a sweaty bar to get a full grip on their maniacal moonshine melodies and near math-rock riffage.

White Denim are shape shifters, and tonight the song’s are in mid mutation, arriving somewhere else by the time you grip what they had been playing a moment ago. A short blast of new single Shake, Shake, Shake’s Beasties-esque gang intro gallops into frenetic lashes of wah wah, while the venue’s reverb adds an oddly rockabilly twang to James Petralli’s voice. Losing your grip here is to be encouraged. It’s been a long time since a band came along both so viscerally for-the-kids and yet truly idiosyncratic and White Denim still have some way to go in terms of their name catching on before a song like ‘Don’t Look That Way At It’ is crowned the guitar looped anthem it demands. Judging by the way they blast through tonight, like pirates drunk on loot, the more we have of White Denim, the better.

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | Carve Every Word: An interview with Best Girl Athlete

Best Girl Athlete Cover
Katie Buchan is the Aberdeen based voice behind new talent Best Girl Athlete, delivering indie pop to your ears in one of the finest packages. It is kind of irrelevant that she is fifteen. Her record speaks for itself. If anything her age just makes you more excited about what in God’s name she will produce in the future as life brings her more experience and knowledge. Carve Every Word, released on Fitlike Records, is her debut and she’s nailed it. Layered over delicate guitar pickings and piano arrangements, Katie’s vocals are dreamy and effortless yet nonetheless powerful as she’s infused them with so much emotion. She’s clearly connected to her music, which is exactly what separates the good artists from the exceptional. Her record is radiant and playful but tender and honest too. She’s singing straight at your heart with words every living soul can relate to.

Best Girl Athlete full length
You’re 15 years old and you’ve just released an incredible debut album. How does that make you feel?
Pretty good, I guess… (Laughs) I mean I didn’t really have any expectations from it so it’s just really great that it has received such positive reviews and praise. I suppose it won’t really sink in until we get to play more live shows out of our home city of Aberdeen to see what kind of reaction the songs get. Hopefully people who have never heard of Best Girl Athlete before will come along and end up buying the album. We have shows in Edinburgh and Glasgow coming up and the chance to play in Europe and possibly America at the end of the year so that will be amazing to see what kind of reaction it gets.

Best Girl Athlete with Dad
What has been the response amongst your friends and at school?
All my friends have been really lovely and very supportive of me being Best Girl Athlete. I feel really lucky to have that network of kindness and support. We made a video for the single ‘Hills’ recently and I had some of my friends involved which was great fun and made me much more relaxed about doing the shoot. But not everything is sunshine and rainbows. I also get hassle about it at school. I think this is the reality of anyone who follows an alternative path which I didn’t really expect. Aside from that, it’s actually quite funny as a handful of my teachers have started asking me about it because of blogs or newspaper articles they’ve read. I even saw my English teacher with a Best Girl Athlete badge on, which was weird but cool.


Video for Leave It All Behind.

You work alongside your father, Charley, what’s that like? Has it made you any closer?
I don’t really think of it as working with my Dad, we just do what we do and that’s that. It has definitely made us closer than we would have been if we’d never become involved musically together though. I now spend a lot more time with him and it’s really helpful to work alongside him as he knows me really well and knows when to push me and when to let me take a step back. He’s actually really easy going which has certainly made being in Best Girl Athlete a lot easier for me. He is also surrounded by very talented people that have helped in various ways and given me an education that I wouldn’t otherwise have had. I’m really grateful for that.

Best Girl Athlete portrait
Where did you record the album and what was your personal involvement in the writing and musical arrangements?
The album was mostly recorded in my bedroom or the living room of our flat, although I have to say it sounds pretty good for it. I guess it helped in making me feel more comfortable being able to record in my home. We did have the strings arranged and recorded for us by a guy called Pete Harvey who runs a studio called Pumpkinfield Studios in Perthshire. His arrangements have really taken the music to another level. We live in a high-rise building and I don’t think our neighbours would have tolerated a string section being recorded next door to them, although they don’t seem to mind all the other instruments! Most of the album tracks were written by my Dad although I had input into track arrangements and added all the vocal harmony parts. I only started writing seriously myself some way through the album and ‘Talk’ was only the second song I had ever written. I wrote it on guitar and had my Dad’s friend Chemical Callum arrange it beautifully onto piano. I’ve written more songs since that I’m really happy with and definitely hope to have at least half of my own songs on the next album.


Video for single Hills

Has music always been in you? Is it something you’ve always envisioned doing as a job?
I remember being asked what I wanted to be when I was older and I always either answered with ‘singer’ or ‘vampire’. I always knew I liked singing and music, and as much as I hoped, I never thought being a musician would ever become a reality. It’s a million miles away from becoming a job I should say. It’s obviously helped that my Dad has been in bands and playing music for many years and, as a consequence, music has always been around me really.

What’s the dream? Where do you see yourself in say 5 years from now?
That’s a really difficult question to answer as I’m having to make important decisions about my future right now and I have to balance what I would like to do academically along with anything I might like to achieve in music. In 5 years I’ll be 20, just about to turn 21. So I’m thinking I’d like to be living in Glasgow or Edinburgh, possibly studying Astrophysics at university, and still performing under Best Girl Athlete, with more albums released. Hopefully!

You can catch Best Girl Athlete this Saturday 18th April at The Pipe Factory in Glasgow. Follow Best Girl Athlete on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with upcoming shows and releases.

Categories ,Aberdeen, ,Best Girl Athlete, ,Carve Every Word, ,Chemical Callum, ,Fitlike Records, ,Hills, ,interview, ,Katie Buchan, ,Leave It All Behind, ,Pete Harvey, ,Pumpkinfield Studios, ,Talk, ,The Pipe Factory

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | Piney Gir presents Purple Heart

mR-hYDE'S-wILD-rIDE Piney Gir
The Purple Heart is literally a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed in war. My grandfather was awarded a Purple Heart medal in World War 2, but he never spoke of his time in the war. I was always intrigued by the bravery and scars he must have had (both physical and emotional) from his time spent in the war.

piney-gir-promo

The year I wrote the album mR. hYDE’S wILD rIDE I was having a really difficult year, with things around me spinning out of control, my work, my life, punctuated by death. It was a hard year. I used this song as a metaphor for what I was feeling, the swelling challenges of forging a path, the artists’ walk is a difficult one, a road less travelled, and it’s full of obstacles. I needed to make this song the way that I made it: with me playing guitar in the rough way that I play, singing and layering more and more voices almost random in the way that they join in, like ghosts of past, present and future.

piney-gir-promo
piney-gir-promo
The video takes you to an eerie undersea grotto where I am a mermaid, almost like a prisoner with these beautiful, odd trinkets… items that might empower me, that might give me legs and freedom to run, but only if I use them to cast some kind of witchy spell to get me out of this crazy place. The sea represents that wild freedom, but in my dream what is beautiful and wild is more like a prison, keeping me trapped in this grotto.

mR hYDE’S wILD rIDE is released 29th June 2015 via Damaged Goods. Find out more at www.pineygir.com.

Categories ,Damaged Goods, ,mR. hYDE’S wILD rIDE, ,Piney Gir, ,Purple Heart, ,video

Similar Posts: