Amelia’s Magazine | A Summer Punch Up at Sutton House: Kotki Dwa Staycations Album Launch Party Review

Kotki Dwa Staycations CD bundle by Sam Glynn
Kotki Dwa Staycations CD bundle by Sam Glynn

Staycations. A word us Brits are getting more and more used to: when the sun shines, there is honestly just no place like home. Great Britain has been the centre of attention this summer. After all, if it’s good enough for world record holders and a Queen, it’s good enough for us. The beautiful rolling green hills, still blues lakes and near-empty endless beaches. We’re spoilt for these spots, everywhere. So why not celebrate them? Forget the rain and embrace our terrain right? Right. Amelia’s Magazine music favourites, Kotki Dwa, well and truly do. So much so, Staycations is the title of their follow-up album. But wait… Here comes a very interesting tale.

While fans sat patiently waiting for second record news, the boys Alex, Tom and Tristan, were hatching quite the plan. An idea long in the making, came true this summer on 2nd July, the release date of the album. And this plan? To ask the National Trust to be their record label. They gave a firm yes!

Kotki Dwa Cakes by Abi Renshaw
Kotki Dwa rice paper printed jam cupcakes by Abi Renshaw

So we’ve all been to a National Trust property right? Yes? Well there are over two hundred historic houses open to the public. Your folks probably took you to an endless amount as a kid. Visiting these properties seemed like a staple part of growing up. Now I’ve hopefully got you reminiscing, it’s filled you with fond memories hasn’t it. The pristine gardens (with a maze if you were lucky), the delicious dairy ice cream from the café, the views from high above. Kotki Dwa thought the same. Dreamt up by the boys, which must feel like an awfully long time ago now, was this rather genius idea. Once they secured the all-important ‘yes’, the possibilities became endless. They knew exactly that this would open all kinds of (historic and stately) doors – to be inspired by, write about and record in.

A Summer Punch Up on Saturday 14th July was their big night. The album was out there, glowing reviews were flowing from Pitchfork, the Guardian and the BBC. This launch party was set to go off. Plus, the venue was quite special in it’s own right. Many ran through the doors bang on 7pm into Sutton House, Hackney’s oldest house and a National Trust gem. So much so, Alex spilled they wrote a track based on its ghost. Buried deep in Homerton, 80 lucky people got to party in this property, built in 1535 by a prominent courtier of Henry VIII. WOW. The Summer (it was raining) Punch Up started with the twilight punch picnic.

Cucumber triangle sandwiches, scotch eggs, jam filled cupcakes with their Polish name on rice paper (lovely touch and too pretty to eat) and flower cakes fashioned in plant pots with Oreo ‘soil’. Delicious.

Kotki Dwa Summer Punch by Edie OP
The Summer Punch Up cocktails menu by Edie OP

They even had themed cocktails after three of their songs. Outside in the bunting-filled courtyard was an ice cream cart. Pay a donation for a scrummy pot of Taywell and cover it in their home-made Pimms syrup. Yeah!

Supporting Kotki Dwa were two fantastic bands, Glaciers and Niteflights. Each surrounded by Kotki Dwa’s British holiday themed set of picnic hampers, hay bales and a snorkel. Once the twilight picnic had gone down and the dancing to both bands over, it was to be their finest hour. The first quarter of the hall filled with the 80 strong crowd. I’m pretty small in height so was pleased with my wing position right by the grand piano, oohhh. The room was beautiful, with its red walls and high beams. Sticking to songs solely from Staycations, you could just see it in their faces, how happy they were they’d got to here. The idea had become an album, and it was rattling that ghost upstairs no doubt. I very much enjoyed the heavily loud instrumental ending of The Wolf, and the single Poison required some serious dancing. The absolute highlight for me was during the song Staycations. A girl dressed in a crab costume was throwing beach balls into the crowd to lyrics such as ‘you la la like it when we go away’ and ‘didn’t I read that sunshine repairs your sanity’. A fantastic night ending with a disco hosted by DJs Midnight A-Go-Go and NZCA/LINES.

Kotki Dwa King Crab by Dan Morison
King Crab by Dan Morison

Oh to re-live that night all over again, yes please! I did the next best thing, I quizzed singer Alex about how they bagged the National Trust as their label and where you can see them play live this summer: read my interview with Alex Ostrowski here.

Categories ,A Summer Punch Up, ,Abi Renshaw, ,Alex Ostrowski, ,Bandcamp, ,BBC, ,Beach balls, ,Box Hill, ,bunting, ,Crab costume, ,Dan Morison, ,Edie OP, ,Geoffrey Taylor, ,Ghost, ,Glaciers, ,Great Britain, ,hackney, ,Halloween video, ,Harpsichord, ,Hattie Newman, ,Homerton, ,Ice Cream, ,Kotki Dwa, ,Lake District, ,Limited edition CDs, ,Lunch EP, ,National Trust, ,Niteflights, ,Picnic hampers, ,Pimm’s, ,Pitchfork, ,Polish, ,Queen, ,Recording, ,Robin’s Clogs, ,Sam Glynn, ,Sam Parr, ,Scotch eggs, ,Staycations, ,Sun shine, ,Sutton House, ,Taywell, ,The Guardian, ,Triangle sandwiches, ,Twilight picnic punch, ,World record holder, ,YCN, ,Yorkshire, ,Yorkshire Dales

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Amelia’s Magazine | Kotki Dwa, Still Corners and Twin Sister at the Lexington: Live Review

Since the first protest over two weeks ago -to use a slightly naff cliche- there has been something in the air; occupation, troche malady occupation, buy occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their university halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding received by Universities to aid their research and teaching. At the beginning, in the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never ending barrage of cuts, there have been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent, (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all in perpetuity?!) I was disappointed to see this article from Polly Toynbee, personally we should avoid turning the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of which are more deserving to be saved. Yet the students are proving their opposers wrong, one of the demands of the UCLOccupation is for everyone who works in the university to be paid the London Living Wage, which is to be two pounds higher than the minimum wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee, as they are using their platform not only to campaign for themselves, but to join forces with other groups protesting against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.

Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why there were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little. Which is the inevitable problem when turning education into a market rather than a social right – it becomes about outcomes and fixed measurable points, rather than the continued development and sharing of knowledge. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but a sly cut in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, the loss of workshops and the loss of studio space to the point where people stopped coming to the studios because there was no room. Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.

I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as I am sure all the occupied universities are). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here.
Since the first protest over two weeks ago -to use a slightly naff cliche- there has been something in the air; occupation, illness occupation, approved occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their university halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding received by Universities to aid their research and teaching. At the beginning, in the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never ending barrage of cuts, there have been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent, (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all in perpetuity?!) I was disappointed to see this article from Polly Toynbee, personally we should avoid turning the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of which are more deserving to be saved. Yet the students are proving their opposers wrong, one of the demands of the UCLOccupation is for everyone who works in the university to be paid the London Living Wage, which is to be two pounds higher than the minimum wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee, as they are using their platform not only to campaign for themselves, but to join forces with other groups protesting against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.

Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why there were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little. Which is the inevitable problem when turning education into a market rather than a social right – it becomes about outcomes and fixed measurable points, rather than the continued development and sharing of knowledge. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but a sly cut in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, the loss of workshops and the loss of studio space to the point where people stopped coming to the studios because there was no room. Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.

I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as I am sure all the occupied universities are). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since visiting the protestors marched again on tuesday and there are many excellent accounts of what happened available on the internet, this Saturday sees a national day of action against the cuts and I believe there is another protest happening on the 9th. These occupations matter because the students are using their platform to join forces with other public sectors impacted from the lose of Mental Heath workers to the drastic cuts in legal aids that are happening at the same time as the benefit system is being overhauled. This was a banking crisis, this is a banking crisis, the government bailed out the banks and are still paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails to work, unregulated markets failed. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??

Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students. On the 9th December another day of protest – this time with parents and teachers joining in- will be held to oppose the Government’s to raise tuition fees.

During my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the support of the National Union of Journalists in support of the occupation, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing and Dan Hind discuss the history of capitalism and … It was a rather amazing day and if you are free this weekend or at any time, please check out an occupation near you events and the opportunity to speak to the students.
Since the first protest took place over two weeks ago -to use a slightly naff cliche- there has been something palatable in the air; occupation, capsule occupation, stuff occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their university halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, what is ed the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding received by Universities to aid their research and teaching budgets.

In the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never-ending barrage of cuts targeting every section of the welfare state, there have been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent, (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all, in perpetuity?!) I was disappointed to see the always readable Polly Toynbee state: personally we should avoid turning the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of the most deserving. Yet the students are proving their opposers wrong, one of the demands of the UCLOccupation is for everyone who works in the university to be paid the London Living Wage, which is to be two pounds higher than the minimum wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee, as they are using their platform not only to campaign for themselves, but to join forces with other groups protesting against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.

Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why there were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little. Which is the inevitable problem when turning education into a market rather than a social right – it becomes about outcomes and fixed measurable points, rather than the continued development and sharing of knowledge. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but a sly cut in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, the loss of workshops and the loss of studio space to the point where people stopped coming to the studios because there was no room. Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.

I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as I am sure all the occupied universities are). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since visiting the protestors marched again on tuesday and there are many excellent accounts of what happened available on the internet, this Saturday sees a national day of action against the cuts and I believe there is another protest happening on the 9th. These occupations matter because the students are using their platform to join forces with other public sectors impacted from the lose of Mental Heath workers to the drastic cuts in legal aids that are happening at the same time as the benefit system is being overhauled. This was a banking crisis, this is a banking crisis, the government bailed out the banks and are still paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails to work, unregulated markets failed. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??

Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students. On the 9th December another day of protest – this time with parents and teachers joining in- will be held to oppose the Government’s to raise tuition fees.

During my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the support of the National Union of Journalists in support of the occupation, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing and Dan Hind discuss the history of capitalism and … It was a rather amazing day and if you are free this weekend or at any time, please check out an occupation near you events and the opportunity to speak to the students.
Since the first protest over two weeks ago, buy information pills there has been something palatable in the air; occupation, viagra approved occupation, approved occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their University halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding Universities receive to aid their research and teaching budgets.

In the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never-ending barrage of cuts targeting every section of the welfare state, there has been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all, in perpetuity?!). I was disappointed to see the always readable Polly Toynbee state: personally we should avoid turning the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of the most deserving.

Yet the students are fighting back against charges of indulgency, one of the demands made by the UCLOccupation is for all University employees to be paid the London Living Wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee and her more recent article signaled a change in approach. The Studetns are using their platform of occupation not only to campaign against sweeping changes to the perception of Higher Education, but to join forces with other groups (NHS, Library Workers, Legal Aid etc) to protest against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.

Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why they were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little in return. It made many students question the worth of their courses, which is exactly what this report wants to achieve. Education is not about financial worth, society will quickly become lacking if this thinking becomes the norm.

For me, this is the inevitable problem when turning education into a competitive market rather than an individual’s choice – it becomes about outcomes and fixed measurable points, rather than the continued development and sharing of knowledge. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but the sly cuts in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting against bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, compounded by the loss of workshops and studio space so small, people stopped coming into the studios. Luckily for our third year, we managed to claw back studio space and instigate a system of visiting tutors, but the depth of knowledge we lost with tutors was unmistakable.

Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.

I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as I am sure all the occupied universities are). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since visiting the protestors marched again on tuesday and there are many excellent accounts of what happened available on the internet, this Saturday sees a national day of action against the cuts and I believe there is another protest happening on the 9th. These occupations matter because the students are using their platform to join forces with other public sectors impacted from the lose of Mental Heath workers to the drastic cuts in legal aids that are happening at the same time as the benefit system is being overhauled. This was a banking crisis, this is a banking crisis, the government bailed out the banks and are still paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails to work, unregulated markets failed. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??

Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students. On the 9th December another day of protest – this time with parents and teachers joining in- will be held to oppose the Government’s to raise tuition fees.

During my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the support of the National Union of Journalists in support of the occupation, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing and Dan Hind discuss the history of capitalism and … It was a rather amazing day and if you are free this weekend or at any time, please check out an occupation near you events and the opportunity to speak to the students.
Since the first protest over two weeks ago, store there has been something palatable in the air; occupation, occupation, occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their University halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding Universities receive to aid their research and teaching budgets.

In the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never-ending barrage of cuts targeting every section of the welfare state, there has been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all, in perpetuity?!). I was disappointed to see the always readable Polly Toynbee state: we should be avoiding the desire to turn the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of the most deserving.

Yet the students are fighting back against charges of indulgency, one of the demands made by the UCLOccupation is for all University employees to be paid the London Living Wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee and her more recent article signaled a change in approach. The Students are using their platform of occupation not only to campaign against sweeping changes to the perception of Higher Education, but to join forces -as I learnt whilst visiting UCLOccupation- with other groups (NHS, Library Workers, Legal Aid etc) to protest against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.

Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why they were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little in return. It made many students question the worth of their courses, which is what The Browne report wants to achieve – the commodification of learning. Education is not about financial worth and society will quickly become lacking in innovation and discussion if this thinking becomes the norm.

This is the inevitable problem when turning education into a competitive market rather than an individual choice about whether or not to further their learning. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but the sly cuts in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting against bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, compounded by the loss of workshops and studio space so small, people stopped coming into the studios. Luckily for our third year, we managed to claw back studio space and instigate a system of visiting tutors, but the depth of knowledge we lost with the axed tutors was unmistakable.

Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.

I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as all the occupied universities will be). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since my visit the protestors marched again on tuesday and ran circles around the police’s attempt to kettle them or in the words of newspeak, ‘detain.’ There are many excellent accounts of what happened available across the internet or join twitter for live updates.

Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students, a move being instigated no doubt by all Universities currently occupied. It would be a breath of fresh air for the University bodies to support the students who fill their halls.

Do check out what events are happening at the various spaces, during my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the rousing support of the National Union of Journalists, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s rallying support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing and Dan Hind discuss the history of capitalism and …

For me the Occupation’s summerise Education, the ability to move between disciplines and try out new lectures on whatever subject that interests you. It should not be the continued separation of courses or a separation of thinking between the Humanities and the Sciences. We should strive for a University model in which debate happens across disciplines.

This Saturday (4th) sees a national day of action against ALL cuts proposed by the coalition and another protest with teachers, students and parents is being planned for the 9th. This was originally and remains banking crisis, a crisis of capitalism, we can negotiate a new space if we work together. The government bailed out the banks and populations across the world are paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails as do the unchecked belief in unregulated markets. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??
Since the first protest over two weeks ago, discount there has been something palatable in the air; occupation, sildenafil occupation, occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their University halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding Universities receive to aid their research and teaching budgets.

In the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never-ending barrage of cuts targeting every section of the welfare state, there has been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all, in perpetuity?!). I was disappointed to see the always readable Polly Toynbee state: we should be avoiding the desire to turn the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of the most deserving.

Yet the students are fighting back against charges of indulgency, one of the demands made by the UCLOccupation is for all University employees to be paid the London Living Wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee and her more recent article signaled a change in approach. The Students are using their platform of occupation not only to campaign against sweeping changes to the perception of Higher Education, but to join forces -as I learnt whilst visiting UCLOccupation- with other groups (NHS, Library Workers, Legal Aid etc) to protest against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.

Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why they were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little in return. It made many students question the worth of their courses, which is what The Browne report wants to achieve – the commodification of learning. Education is not about financial worth and society will quickly become lacking in innovation and discussion if this thinking becomes the norm.

This is the inevitable problem when turning education into a competitive market rather than an individual choice about whether or not to further their learning. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but the sly cuts in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting against bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, compounded by the loss of workshops and studio space so small, people stopped coming into the studios. Luckily for our third year, we managed to claw back studio space and instigate a system of visiting tutors, but the depth of knowledge we lost with the axed tutors was unmistakable.

Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.

I visited the UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as all the occupied universities will be). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since my visit the protestors marched again on tuesday and ran circles around the police’s attempt to kettle them or in the words of newspeak, ‘detain.’ There are many excellent accounts of what happened available across the internet or join twitter for live updates.

This Saturday (4th) sees a national day of action against ALL the cuts and another protest with teachers, students and parents is being planned for the 9th. These occupations matter because the students are using their platform to join forces with other public sectors impacted from the lose of Mental Heath workers to the drastic cuts in legal aids that are happening at the same time as the benefit system is being overhauled. This was a banking crisis, this is a banking crisis, the government bailed out the banks and are still paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails to work, unregulated markets failed. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??

Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students, a move being instigated no doubt by all Universities currently occupied. It would be a breath of fresh air for the University bodies to support the students who fill their halls.

Do check out what events are happening at the various spaces, during my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the rousing support of the National Union of Journalists, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s rallying support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing and Dan Hind discuss the history of capitalism and …

For me the Occupation’s summerise Education, the ability to move between disciplines and try out new lectures on whatever subject that interests you. It should not be the continued separation of courses or a separation of thinking between the Humanities and the Sciences. We should strive for a University model in which debate happens across disciplines.
kotkidwa by daria h
Illustration by Daria Hlazatowa

It was a cold Thursday night twixt Angel and Kings Cross, link but about to warm the cockles of our hearts were Kotki Dwa, order opening a sold out RockFeedback night at the Lexington. This was their second “comeback” gig in the space of a week (having appeared at the Hobby Horse the previous Saturday), price after a spot of extra-curricular activity by the trio. I’d never caught Kotki Dwa (so named after a Polish lullaby involving two little kittens) before, though I know that regular readers of Amelia’s Magazine will be familiar with them (they also contributed a song to the Amelia’s Tunes compilation a couple of years ago).

With singer and guitarist Alex Ostrowski bedecked in a decorated waistcoat (possibly homemade, as I believe the guys are a bit partial to the DIY approach), Kotki Dwa kicked off the proceedings in a typically quirky fashion. Musically, they energetically mix up the guitar chops with some beep-tastic synth action, occasionally resulting in some spectacular freakouts, such as on frenetic Kiss and Make Up. I was really impressed by them, and they were cheered on by the faithful who crowded to the front of the stage ahead of the other bands sets. We even got a cordial invitation to a free Wycinanki workshop that they’re running at the Topolski Century Gallery on the South Bank! See our listing here.

still corners singer
Photo courtesy of Still Corners.

Still Corners provided quite a contrast when they took the stage. With the lights down low and myriad images being played behind them, this was a band going for atmosphere with a capital A. And, to be fair, they succeeded. With a lead guitar so drowned in reverb that it sounded like it was coming from another dimension, Still Corners purveyed a woozy kind of 60’s influenced psychedelic pop, like Some Velvet Morning by Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra covered by My Bloody Valentine. Like Kotki Dwa, they too are no strangers to Amelia’s Magazine, having recently been caught supporting Our Broken Garden.

The Lexington had really started to fill up by this point, and the newcomers were treated to the ethereal delights of songs like Don’t Fall In Love and Endless Summer, the latter eerily recalling Joy Division’s Decades. There was even an instrumental number which allowed the band a bit of a Neu! styled workout. Still Corners are being hotly tipped at the moment, and they certainly stand out from the current crop of bands riding the C86 revival. Most definitely worth checking out live, if you get the chance.

Twin Sister by Matilde Sazio
Illustration by Matilde Sazio

Another hotly tipped band are Long Island’s Twin Sister, currently in the midst of a jaunt around Europe. The five-piece took to the stage with breathy-voiced singer Andrea Estella adorned in a voluminous green wig (for reasons never actually explained) and the bass guitar of Gabel D’Amico sporting what looked like a bit of shrubbery.

Twin Sister are a bit more difficult to pigeonhole than a lot of their US contemporaries, navigating a path between the 60’s garage sound of Vivian Girls or Dum Dum Girls and the My Bloody Valentine influenced indie pop of Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Playing a selection of tracks from the EPs Vampires with Dreaming Kids and Color Your Life, they mix up cool guitar pop with an electronic edge though, if anything, they reminded me of the Cardigans (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not!). Current single All Around and Away We Go throws in another stylistic twist, with a New Wave disco beat sounding not unlike Blondie produced by Barry White. A packed out Lexington was certainly getting its collective groove on by this point, whilst onstage guitarist and co-vocalist Eric Cardona proved to be a master of multi-tasking by taking on some electronic drum pads.

I think there were a few doubters in the audience to begin with, and I certainly didn’t know what to expect as I wasn’t that familiar with them, but after seeing Twin Sister in action, I think they can certainly justify the excitement that’s followed them cross the Atlantic.

Categories ,Barry White, ,blondie, ,c86, ,Cardigans, ,Daria Hlazatova, ,disco, ,Dum Dum Girls, ,Hobby Horse, ,Indie Pop, ,joy division, ,Kotki Dwa, ,Lee Hazelwood, ,Lexington, ,Matilde Sazio, ,My Bloody Valentine, ,Nancy Sinatra, ,neu!, ,new wave, ,Our Broken Garden, ,Pains Of Being Pure at Heart, ,psychedelic pop, ,RockFeedback, ,Still Corners, ,Topolski Century Gallery, ,Twin Sister, ,Vivian Girls, ,Wycinanki

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Amelia’s Magazine | Kotki Dwa Staycations Album Launch Interview with Alex Ostrowski

Kotki Dwa at Sutton House by Sam Parr
The band at their Sutton House album launch by Sam Parr

Your 5 track EP ‘Lunch‘ came out in November 2011. Before that, It had been a wee while since you put any music out other than your Halloween video and exclusive Amelia’s Mag song for the USB Issue. Did this help you prepare for writing and recording Staycations, plus getting you back into performing live no doubt?

Yes we tend to leave quite big gaps in between our major projects. This time around it gave us the chance to develop our sound in the ways we’d been wanting to. The Lunch EP was kind of a ‘study’ to try out some new ways of doing things, moving forwards from our first album. We’d been working out how to be more economical with our part writing, so that things slotted together more deftly. Hopefully that comes through on the new album.

Great videos have always featured pretty heavily with your singles. I was locked in when I watched Robin’s Clogs! You all look like you have a lot of fun making them. As the three of you are all a creative bunch, this must be a pretty great extension of making music right?

We do love making videos and tend to have a lot of fun making them, perhaps too much sometimes! It’s good having a different outlet for ideas.

Kotki Dwa tied to their cardboard keyboard
Kotki Dwa tied to their cardboard keyboard

Love the new video directed by Hattie Newman for the song Staycations. Plus she just played flute for a track at your gig. Where did you film this?

It was actually directed by Geoffrey Taylor but art directed by Hattie Newman (she worked with Geoffrey on all the styling and made some cool props). We’re pretty good friends the lot of us, so we all mucked in. To make the video we went on a jaunt around Great Britain, trying to take in the jaw dropping sights of the National Trust’s properties around the country, whilst also changing battery packs, avoiding parking tickets and generally trying to make a music video on the fly with only a few warm scotch eggs to fuel us.

Everyone loves a scotch egg. I’m sure many bands are kicking themselves that they didn’t come up with approaching the National Trust. Are they doing exactly as any other record label would?

We approached the National Trust a long time ago with our ideas. They’ve been great sports and have supported us with many of the resources that a record label might sort out — space to record in, help promoting the album etc. Fundamentally the setup has enabled us to operate very independently and do everything exactly how we’ve wanted to, which is good fun and never disappointing.

All the teapots inside Sutton House
All the teapots inside Sutton House

So, as you started to formulate a plan to approach the National Trust, how did you do it? I imagine no one had ever asked them to be their record label before. Did they sit and think on it or jump at the chance to be involved? You must have been dying to tell everyone…

It was tempting to tell people about it in the early stages but we kept schtum. We approached the National Trust very carefully and very directly as a band. We knew exactly what we wanted to ask, and we knew exactly what the reasons were for them to say yes, so we explained everything with as much clarity as possible so that they would understand what we were on about. They got it pretty quickly and it took a couple of months to put the plan in place, but we got there!

How did this lightning bolt idea arise? I’d love to think you were just in a castle and thought, hey, imagine recording a track in here!

We wanted to partner with somebody other than a label for the release, because we thought it would throw up some interesting challenges. We’d already decided upon the title of our new album – Staycations – which we chose for its bittersweet connotations. And so, the National Trust sprang to mind because they look after so much of the British outdoors and so many weird & wonderful places for us to record in.

Alex from Kotki Dwa at the making of the video for Staycations
Alex from Kotki Dwa at the making of the video for Staycations

How many places did you visit up and down Great Britain in all? Do you have a favourite one? Did you write the album before or after these visits?

I think we’ve lost count. We’ve been to the Yorkshire Dales, Borrowdale and Upper Wharfedale in the Lake District, Heysham Head on the West Coast, Arnside Knott, Box Hill in Surrey, Pulpit Woods, Pitstone Windmill, plenty of the London properties including Fenton House, 2 Willow Road and Sutton House – the oldest house in Hackney! We really enjoyed visiting Malham Tarn in Yorkshire, where we had a relaxing boat ride.

Any plans to do anything further with them? I guess they’re helping you by stocking it in their NT shops now right? How many did you press?

We’ve just done a launch show at Sutton House, which the National Trust look after. We also put on a special exhibition at YCN on Rivington Street which showed some National Trust bits including some amazing old postcards which show some of the places they still look after today. We have stocked the album in a handful of their shops too which is nice, only fifty special physicals in existence.

Yes I have one. It’s hand bound in cloth with a lyric-postcard set and 4-colour risograph poster. Staycations has had good things written about it by the Guardian and Pitchfork. It couldn’t have gone much better!

It’s very flattering and we’re truly delighted by the response. We’ve been working on this for so long so it’s great to hear that people are enjoying the results. Hopefully if people enjoy the album they’ll buy it via our website!

During the making of Staycations video
During the making of Staycations video

Yes, it’s great you are selling it through Bandcamp. You all must be super chuffed with how well it’s all going. Especially as your loyal fans got to snap up just 50 limited edition CDs. Your original artwork or unusual features have been a pretty strong USP for Kotki Dwa. For instance, with the yellow Robin’s Clogs vinyl, I got the CD single, a flower pressed badge and fold out poster with lyrics. You really do think about the whole package, where many bands just don’t. Do you enjoy providing all these touches on the side of your music or is it just as important?

Yeah we enjoy making the whole thing as perfect as we can. We’re a fairly small operation so when we do something we do it wholeheartedly. I work as a designer at YCN so that comes in handy on the packaging front.

For me it makes it more treasured. Plus you obviously want your fans at your gigs to know the lyrics. For instance, with the Staycations MP3 version, I’m shown the lyrics on my iPhone! Don’t think I’ve ever seen this before!

Really? Cool, didn’t know that!

The sold out limited edition Staycations bundle
The sold out limited edition Staycations bundle

Well what a nice surprise! The album launch for Staycations: A Summer Punch Up, how did it go?

We had a really great time! We recorded some of the album at Sutton House so it was nice to revisit for a party. We had some great other bands playing too — Glaciers, fronted by brilliant illustrator Nic Burrows, and Niteflights who are an impressive new 4 piece well worth a listen.

Have you had to abide by a load of restrictions, like no noise after 10pm and you have to wear white cotton gloves?

National Trust visiting hours tend to be from 11 until 5 we’ve found, although we’ve bent a few rules like that over the past year! I did have to audition in order to be allowed to borrow one of the Trust’s oldest harpsichords though. Luckily I passed the audition and got to record with it — it’s on the album!

Inside the limited edition Staycations
Inside the limited edition Staycations

Oh great! Have you pencilled in a UK tour for this year? Any other events planned like your Polish paper-cutting workshop?

Well we’re playing Midnight A-Go-Go in London on 25th August, which will be fun. Let’s see what else comes up…

You can catch Kotki Dwa playing at Midnight A-Go-Go on Saturday 25th August at The Waiting Room (underneath The Three Crowns) on Stoke Newington High Street. 9pm – 4am and tickets are just £5. Read my review of the Staycations launch at Sutton House here.

Categories ,A Summer Punch Up, ,Abi Renshaw, ,Alex Ostrowski, ,Bandcamp, ,BBC, ,Beach balls, ,Box Hill, ,bunting, ,Crab costume, ,Dan Morison, ,Edie OP, ,Geoffrey Taylor, ,Ghost, ,Glaciers, ,Great Britain, ,hackney, ,Halloween video, ,Harpsichord, ,Hattie Newman, ,Homerton, ,Ice Cream, ,Kotki Dwa, ,Lake District, ,Limited edition CDs, ,Lunch EP, ,National Trust, ,Niteflights, ,Picnic hampers, ,Pimm’s, ,Pitchfork, ,Polish, ,Queen, ,Recording, ,Robin’s Clogs, ,Sam Glynn, ,Sam Parr, ,Scotch eggs, ,Staycations, ,Sun shine, ,Sutton House, ,Taywell, ,The Guardian, ,Triangle sandwiches, ,Twilight picnic punch, ,World record holder, ,YCN, ,Yorkshire, ,Yorkshire Dales

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Amelia’s Magazine | Kotki Dwa introduce the video for new single Poison, created with Plastic Horse

Poison_kotki dwa
Poison is typically and beautifully Kotki Dwa – a jaunty, melodic bounce fest of a song based upon the theme of Poison…. I asked singer Alex Ostrowski about the clever video which accompanies their new release.

YouTube Preview Image
What is your poison?
Pineapple Juice.. Ahhhhhhhh

What’s going on in your new video? You’ve overlaid all sorts of interesting images. What effect were you hoping to achieve and how did you do this?
The song is quite all-over-the-place lyrically and we wanted to reflect that somehow. Our friends Plastic Horse made the video with us, they’re pretty bonkers. We looked a lot at the old title sequence for Roald Dahl‘s Tales Of The Unexpected – brilliant. I suppose the video itself is kind of hallucinatory and poisoned, that’s the idea. Bit delusional.

Kotki Dwa poison video lady
Kotki Dwa poison video
Explain: Canaries, mines, breaking waves, clowns, roulette, Saturn’s rings.
They used to take canaries down mines to detect toxic gases like methane and carbon monoxide. Because the little birds are more sensitive than humans, they’d get poisoned first, giving humans enough time to get out of there. Pretty sad. The waves are about a book I read called Night Haunts that explains what goes on at night in the sewers under the city to prevent these giant grease balls from blocking up the place. Imagine. Clowns = weekend leisure (check out Slava’s Snow Show when you have a minute). Roulette wheel is kind of for Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected. And Saturn comes from the Planetarium, a personal favourite. Go.

Kotki Dwa poison video canary
Kotki Dwa poison video saturn
What has Kotki Dwa got planned for 2012?
We’re bursting with excitement about this year. We’ve been working on a new album for the last year and a bit, and we’re currently recording it. But there’s a pretty big twist about how we’re going to release it. All secret for now, but big announcements to make at the end of March! Album due this Summer :)

Kotki Dwa poison video police
Posion by Kotki Dwa was released on the 12th March 2012. Get your copy from bandcamp now!

Categories ,Alex Ostrowski, ,Canaries, ,Clowns, ,Kotki Dwa, ,Night Haunts, ,Planetarium, ,Plastic Horse, ,Poison, ,Polish, ,review, ,Roald Dahl, ,Saturn, ,single, ,Slava’s Snow Show, ,Tales Of The Unexpected, ,video

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Amelia’s Magazine | The Kotki Dwa Comeback: just in time for Halloween

JoeWorricker_by_Sandra Dufour
You’ve just released Finger-waggers. What’s this song about and why the name?
I wrote Finger-Waggers when my hair was so shockingly large people used to pull at it in clubs and take the piss. It’s about the importance of self-love and not letting people tell you how to be. Each of us are only here for a short time and we should be whatever we want to be

What’s the idea behind the video?
It’s set at a tupperware party with posh ladies who are the finger-waggers. The director Lily Smith did a fantastic job, buy she has made it look amazing.

Your sound is a pretty unique combination of pop, purchase indie and soul. How would you describe it and why?
The songs are Beatles, The Marvelettes, Debussy and Kate Bush mixed and the vocal is a weird soul voice I suppose. 

You’ve already been hailed as a new soul sensation – how does this feel? What do your mates mates say to you on the subject?
It’s an amazing feeling when someone appreciates your work. What’s important is how you feel about it. For my first album I’m proud and think I’ve set good starting ground for future things to come. My friends are really supportive and always come to my gigs.

When did you start singing, and how did you end up signed to Rough Trade?
I started singing to Disney songs when I was a baby and haven’t stopped since. When I was gigging round London some music peeps got talking, Rough Trade heard about me and came to watch me in Soho. They then invited me in and offered me a deal

What was it like growing up in Essex – did you live the life of a typical “essex boy”? PS what do you think of the new real life soap The Only Way is Essex – is this the Essex you knew? is it an apt representation of life in Essex?! or not at all….
I probably lived the Essex girl life more. Went out every weekend to binge drink underage with my girl mates and wore and still wear excessive amounts of fake tan. Although I get St Tropez now which is the best in the business, where then it was very cheap rub on tan; I’ve matured. I haven’t seen the show yet, but everyone has been banging on about it. Yes, there are people like the people you see on the programme for sure

X Factor: what’s your opinion? Did you ever enter any talent competitions as a teenager?
Talent competitions can be amazing platforms for people. Jennifer Hudson being the best example, who is totally sensational and may have never been discovered otherwise. I entered the X-Factor when I was 18. I didn’t get through though, I think they were scared of my voice.

Where are you living at the moment and why? 
Fitzrovia. I only live in areas where I can walk to Soho in 5 minutes or less
 
You’re a proactive twitter user – what do you use twitter for?
It’s good for letting people who are interested in your music know about gigs, singles and the generally rubbish you are getting up to. Perfect for potential stalkers.

When can people catch you live? What can they expect from a Joe Worricker live performance and why should they come to see you?
My London headline show at XOYO on 16th November in Old Street. They should come see me coz I’m better live and i’m extra gifted at talking rubbish between the songs

What makes the best kind of party?
Vodka, hilarious music, getting naked in the early hours

When can we expect a debut album, and have you got a name for it yet? go on… give us a bit of a clue…
It is released in the new year. It is the title of the 1st song I wrote for the album. The song is about a moment of profound beauty and clarity when every fear and worry about life fell out of my head and I could see the world clearly

Illustration by Lesley Barnes

Coco Chanel the name synonymous with French fashion, website like this so carefully cultivated by Karl Largerfield, he feels as if a caretaker at the same time as being an innovative fashion designer such is the call of the Chanel Staples. Each catwalk is a reinvention of the tweeds, the stars, the numbers, simplistic beauty is what Chanel conjures and it is what it achieves.

Justine Picardie is a journalist for the Telegraph and an author who produces both fiction and non fiction, for the last 13 years her side project has been researching Coco Chanel. Picard opened her talk on the publication of her Chanel Biography with the statement that the V&A is the heart of Fashion, forget Topshop!

Illustration by Joana Faria

How could I pass up the opportunity to find out more about this ever present, but ever distant fashion designer? Especially as I am yet to watch either of the recent films made about her early life…

It was the perfect talk – full of teasers about what the book contained alongside interesting insights into Coco’s design aesthetic – the monestry where she grew up the walls were embedded with stars, similar to what would later feature in her designs.

A talented speaker, Justine enraptured the audience with tales of Chanel’s rise from rags to riches polevaulting through French Society’s conventions that those born in a certain place – should stay on the rung of society they were born. Luckily, not only for Haute Couture but for women everywhere who wanted to wear trousers, Chanel made ignoring social conventions a habit of a lifetime.

Illustration by Kelly Angood

“Fashion is very dark, what we wear is what we cover up” Coco Chanel

Not for Chanel the corsets of early 1900′s France – no, the most striking thing about Chanel was seeing the pictures of her in a style that has inudated our subconscious – from the wearing of trousers to single handily popularising the Breton Stripe. Most importantly Chanel was an avid wearer of the flat show – not for her the gravity defying, walk preventing spindly heels that seem so popular not only on the catwalk but that shop which nestles within the heart of Oxford Street, Topshop.

Illustration by Maria del Carmen SmithAn aside, notice how Chanel sits on the horse in jodphurs, rather than side saddle, a fairly political statement at a time when most women were bound in corsets.

Chanel was funded by Boy Capell, the man in the above illustration, as soon as the Fashion House produced revenue, Chanel paid every last penny back. From the start Coco was to be an independent women.

Justine Picardie covered the usual ground of Chanel’s relationship with men, starting with Boy Capell and touching upon her life spent fishing in Scotland with the Duke of Westminister. Through whom Coco met Winston Churchill in the early 1920′s. The discovery of a picture of the two together lead Picard to the ministery of war archives, specifically the archives on Winston Churchill to explore Chanel’s reported relationship with a German Soldier may not have been what has so far been reported, the work of a traitor, but a (slightly naive…) plan -devised perhaps by Coco and regaled to Winston Churchill- to bring the war to an early end. This may seem rather glib, but to find out more and the outcome of Picardie trip to the archives? Sadly the author left this announcement within the pages of her book.

Illustration by Abby Wright

Picardie touched upon the inclusions of the number 5 etc and the use of stars… magical numbers were part of Chanel’s magical thinking… Tarot Cards. Chanel was interested in simple beauty. Justine attributes this magical thinking to her time spent as a child growing up in an ancient monastery, suggesting that the epoynmous chanel star was inspired by the mosiac’s made by Medieval Monks…

Illustration by Antonia Parker

Justine Picardie described fashion as “a series of Hauntings” and finished the talk with a wish for a book on the continuation of Chanel by Karl Largerfield, to conclude that such a book could only be written once Largerfield had left Chanel and quite possibly this planet… Coco Chanel, The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie is on my christmas list!

Illustration by Lesley Barnes

Coco Chanel, ampoule the name synonymous with fashion, website like this Paris or otherwise has been so carefully cultivated by Karl Largerfield, he feels at times, as if a gentle caretaker – such is the call of the Chanel Staples. Each season’s Largerfield’s catwalk has produced -whilst channelling his own creative designs- a small reinvention of the tweeds, the stars, the monochrome, the pearls or maintained the simplistic beauty, the word Chanel brings to mind. Chanel is coveted, and her sense of style has embedded itself amongst the designs of the high street, during the talk I found myself playing spot the influence, from the cropped bobs to the presence of stripes on pratically every other member of the audience who found themselves at the V&A that blustery Friday night.

The talk was held by Justine Picardie in celebration of the publication of her new book; Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. Picardie is a journalist for the Telegraph, an author who writes fiction and non fiction and who has spent the last 13 years researching the life of Coco Chanel. This was an opportunity to discover the person behind the label, that was too good too miss.

Illustration by Joana Faria

A talented speaker, Justine enraptured the audience with tales of Chanel’s rise from rags to riches polevaulting through French Society’s conventions that those born in a certain place – should stay on the rung of society they were born. Luckily, not only for Haute Couture but for women everywhere who wanted to wear trousers, Chanel made ignoring social conventions a habit of a lifetime.

Not for Chanel the corsets of early 1900′s France – no, the most striking photographs of Chanel shown at the talk, documented her investment in a shocking departure from the norm, in the form of trousers and the aforementioned Breton top. Importantly (I am speaking here as someone who despises how reliant high heels make me on those I am travelling with) Chanel was an avid wearer of the flat show – not for her the gravity defying, walk preventing spindly heels that are oh so popular not only on the catwalk but that shop nestling within the heart of Oxford Street; Topshop.

Illustration by Kelly Angood

“Fashion is very dark, what we wear is what we cover up” Coco Chanel

Justine Picardie covered the usual ground of Chanel’s relationship with men, starting with Boy Capell and touching upon her life spent fishing in Scotland with the Duke of Westminister. Through whom Coco met Winston Churchill in the early 1920′s. The discovery of a picture of the two together lead Picard to the ministery of war archives, specifically the archives on Winston Churchill to explore Chanel’s reported relationship with a German Soldier may not have been what has so far been reported, the work of a traitor, but a (slightly naive…) plan -devised perhaps by Coco and regaled to Winston Churchill- to bring the war to an early end. This may seem rather glib, but to find out more and the outcome of Picardie trip to the archives? Sadly the author left this announcement within the pages of her book.

Illustration by Maria del Carmen SmithAn aside, notice how Chanel sits on the horse in jodphurs, rather than side saddle, a fairly political statement at a time when most women were bound in corsets.

It was the perfect talk – full of teasers about the book’s contents alongside interesting insights into the development of the identity of Coco Chanel – from the influence of the monestry where she grew up, to her meeting Boy Capel and Duke of Westminister (with whom she travelled to Scotland and discovered the Scottish Mills who produced the now famous Chanel Tweed).

Chanel was funded by Boy Capell, the man seated on the horse in the above illustration, however, as the Fashion House began to produce revenue, Chanel paid back every penny. From the start Coco was to be an independent women – an undeniably lucky, for her connections with Boy helped her attract clients, but a financially independent one nevertheless.

Illustration by Abby Wright

Picardie touched upon the importance to Chanel of the numbers her perfumes were named after (5,19) etc to the constant use and development of the star motif. In a picture of Chanel’s apartment, Picardie touched upon the presence of tarot cards and the importance of magical thinking alongside Chanel’s training as a seamstress in the creation of the House’s style. Justine attributes this ‘magical thinking’ to her time spent as a child growing up in an ancient monastery, suggesting that the epoynmous Chanel star was inspired by the star mosaics made by the Medieval Monks who originally inhabited the monastery. For more detail, I’m afraid you are going to have to read the book!

Illustration by Antonia Parker

During the talk (which occur weekly on a Friday evening) Justine Picardie described fashion as “a series of Hauntings” and finished the talk with a wish for a book on the continuation of Chanel by Karl Largerfield, to conclude that such a book could only be written once Largerfield had left Chanel and quite possibly this planet…

Coco Chanel, The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie is on my christmas list!

Illustration by Lesley Barnes

Coco Chanel, buy more about the name synonymous with fashion, tadalafil Paris or otherwise has been so carefully cultivated by Karl Largerfield, he feels at times, as if a gentle caretaker – such is the call of the Chanel Staples. Each season’s Largerfield’s catwalk has produced -whilst channelling his own creative designs- a small reinvention of the tweeds, the stars, the monochrome, the pearls or maintained the simplistic beauty, the word Chanel brings to mind. Chanel is coveted, and her sense of style has embedded itself amongst the designs of the high street, during the talk I found myself playing spot the influence, from the cropped bobs to the presence of stripes on pratically every other member of the audience who found themselves at the V&A that blustery Friday night.

The talk was held by Justine Picardie in celebration of the publication of her new book; Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. Picardie is a journalist for the Telegraph, an author who writes fiction and non fiction and who has spent the last 13 years researching the life of Coco Chanel. This was an opportunity to discover the person behind the label, that was too good too miss.

Illustration by Joana Faria

A talented speaker, Justine enraptured the audience with tales of Chanel’s rise from rags to riches polevaulting through French Society’s conventions that those born in a certain place – should stay on the rung of society they were born. Luckily, not only for Haute Couture but for women everywhere who wanted to wear trousers, Chanel made ignoring social conventions a habit of a lifetime.

Not for Chanel the corsets of early 1900′s France – no, the most striking photographs of Chanel shown at the talk, documented her investment in a shocking departure from the norm, in the form of trousers and the aforementioned Breton top. Importantly (I am speaking here as someone who despises how reliant high heels make me on those I am travelling with) Chanel was an avid wearer of the flat show – not for her the gravity defying, walk preventing spindly heels that are oh so popular not only on the catwalk but that shop nestling within the heart of Oxford Street; Topshop.

Illustration by Kelly Angood

“Fashion is very dark, what we wear is what we cover up” Coco Chanel

Justine Picardie covered the usual ground of Chanel’s relationship with men, starting with Boy Capell and touching upon her life spent fishing in Scotland with the Duke of Westminister. Through whom Coco met Winston Churchill in the early 1920′s. The discovery of a picture of the two together lead Picard to the ministery of war archives, specifically the archives on Winston Churchill to explore Chanel’s reported relationship with a German Soldier may not have been what has so far been reported, the work of a traitor, but a (slightly naive…) plan -devised perhaps by Coco and regaled to Winston Churchill- to bring the war to an early end. This may seem rather glib, but to find out more and the outcome of Picardie trip to the archives? Sadly the author left this announcement within the pages of her book.

Illustration by Maria del Carmen SmithAn aside, notice how Chanel sits on the horse in jodphurs, rather than side saddle, a fairly political statement at a time when most women were bound in corsets.

It was the perfect talk – full of teasers about the book’s contents alongside interesting insights into the development of the identity of Coco Chanel – from the influence of the monestry where she grew up, to her meeting Boy Capel and Duke of Westminister (with whom she travelled to Scotland and discovered the Scottish Mills who produced the now famous Chanel Tweed).

Chanel was funded by Boy Capell, the man seated on the horse in the above illustration, however, as the Fashion House began to produce revenue, Chanel paid back every penny. From the start Coco was to be an independent women – an undeniably lucky, for her connections with Boy helped her attract clients, but a financially independent one nevertheless.

Illustration by Abby Wright

Picardie touched upon the importance to Chanel of the numbers her perfumes were named after (5,19) etc to the constant use and development of the star motif. In a picture of Chanel’s apartment, Picardie touched upon the presence of tarot cards and the importance of magical thinking alongside Chanel’s training as a seamstress in the creation of the House’s style. Justine attributes this ‘magical thinking’ to her time spent as a child growing up in an ancient monastery, suggesting that the epoynmous Chanel star was inspired by the star mosaics made by the Medieval Monks who originally inhabited the monastery. For more detail, I’m afraid you are going to have to read the book!

Illustration by Antonia Parker

During the talk (which occur weekly on a Friday evening) Justine Picardie described fashion as “a series of Hauntings” and finished the talk with a wish for a book on the continuation of Chanel by Karl Largerfield, to conclude that such a book could only be written once Largerfield had left Chanel and quite possibly this planet…

Coco Chanel, The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie is on my christmas list!

Kotki Dwa by Alex Edouard
Kotki Dwa by Alex Edouard. Set design by Hattie Newman.

As anyone who knows me well will know I get VERY excited about Halloween. And so I was even more excited to discover that the bouncy Kotki Dwa have just released a comeback single and accompanying video titled especially for the occasion. I thought I’d better catch up and get the low down on all this Halloween business…. and anyway what precisely have Kotki Dwa been up to?

So, viagra dosage the first question has to be, where have you been? You’ve been very quiet since we last featured you in Amelia’s Magazine!
We’ve been very busy indeed! Alongside our music we’re passionate about other things – Tom is a zoologically trained ecologist working for The National Trust in Yorkshire, Alex is a graphic designer working in London, and Tristan is studying ‘interdisciplinary design’ in Bristol. Aside from that, we’ve been working on new music together – which we’re now ready to start sharing with people!

Your comeback single is titled Halloween and is cunningly released this week…. just before Halloween. What inspired you to do such a thing?
The song’s lyrics were actually written around last Halloween, but it’s taken us a year to get round to finishing and releasing it! So really, it’s a SPOOKY COINCIDENCE…

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Can you tell us more about the video – it looks really fun. How was it made and by whom?
We had lots of fun making the video with our friends Carmel & Harry aka Loopshapers. Alex met Carmel at Art College and they collaborated on our previous video Robin’s Clogs as well. This time we decided to use this cool old Super 8mm camera to try and get some creepy 1950s B-Movie style results, to go with the Halloween theme! Carmel & Harry carefully processed the film with chemicals by hand, which makes it lovely and scratchy. The people in the video are loads of our friends, most of whom were making their acting debut.

Any funny stories from on set that you can share with us?
There were quite a few silly moments – you get some funny looks walking through Peckham dressed like a zombie in a dicky bow and bright red show jacket! At one point we accidentally stumbled through a Sunday family fairground and scared a few children – we had our guitars over our shoulders and one man even thought we were going to play on the stage! Oh, also some of the footage got ruined during processing. Actually, that wasn’t funny at all.

I love the press photo of you all covered in yarn – who’s behind this? it reminds me of the really fun image we had of you in the bathtub for issue 9 of Amelia’s Magazine.
Thank you! We thought it would be a fun idea – set making extraordinaire Hattie Newman made us magical cardboard keyboard, with all the wool coming out the back like wires. The photo was taken by Alex Edouard in Hattie’s studio.

Kotki Dwa portrait

How will you be celebrating Halloween this year? and what will you be dressing up as?
We won’t be together unfortunately, but separately we’ll but getting up to some ghoulish antics for sure. Alex is going to a bonkers veterinary themed party with live stuffed-critter operations! Also definitely going to be watching a LOT of horror movies this weekend. Developed a bit of an addiction during early teenage years and still love a good bit of fright!

Any top Halloween tips?
Just make the most of it because you only get one chance a year. Do everything – carve a pumpkin, apple bob, turn the lights off, scream, gel your hair so hard that it feels like it could crack, stock up on sweets for the trick-or-treaters, eat them all, watch Hocus Pocus and probably fall asleep in your cape.

And finally… What next for Kotki Dwa?
We’re playing two London gigs in November – Saturday 20th at The Stag’s Head in Dalston, and Thursday 25th at The Lexington in Angel. We’ll have three more new songs up our sleeves to share, so come on down! We’ll also continue to develop our new material and get on with releasing more of it – so stay tuned. Fangs for having us Amelia…

Categories ,Alex Edouard, ,dalston, ,Hallowe’en, ,Hattie Newman, ,Hocus Pocus, ,Kotki Dwa, ,Loopshapers, ,Peckham, ,Robin’s Clogs, ,Super8, ,The Lexington, ,The Stag’s Head

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Amelia’s Magazine | Kotki Dwa introduce the video for new single Poison, created with Plastic Horse

Poison_kotki dwa
Poison is typically and beautifully Kotki Dwa – a jaunty, melodic bounce fest of a song based upon the theme of Poison…. I asked singer Alex Ostrowski about the clever video which accompanies their new release.

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What is your poison?
Pineapple Juice.. Ahhhhhhhh

What’s going on in your new video? You’ve overlaid all sorts of interesting images. What effect were you hoping to achieve and how did you do this?
The song is quite all-over-the-place lyrically and we wanted to reflect that somehow. Our friends Plastic Horse made the video with us, they’re pretty bonkers. We looked a lot at the old title sequence for Roald Dahl‘s Tales Of The Unexpected – brilliant. I suppose the video itself is kind of hallucinatory and poisoned, that’s the idea. Bit delusional.

Kotki Dwa poison video lady
Kotki Dwa poison video
Explain: Canaries, mines, breaking waves, clowns, roulette, Saturn’s rings.
They used to take canaries down mines to detect toxic gases like methane and carbon monoxide. Because the little birds are more sensitive than humans, they’d get poisoned first, giving humans enough time to get out of there. Pretty sad. The waves are about a book I read called Night Haunts that explains what goes on at night in the sewers under the city to prevent these giant grease balls from blocking up the place. Imagine. Clowns = weekend leisure (check out Slava’s Snow Show when you have a minute). Roulette wheel is kind of for Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected. And Saturn comes from the Planetarium, a personal favourite. Go.

Kotki Dwa poison video canary
Kotki Dwa poison video saturn
What has Kotki Dwa got planned for 2012?
We’re bursting with excitement about this year. We’ve been working on a new album for the last year and a bit, and we’re currently recording it. But there’s a pretty big twist about how we’re going to release it. All secret for now, but big announcements to make at the end of March! Album due this Summer :)

Kotki Dwa poison video police
Posion by Kotki Dwa was released on the 12th March 2012. Get your copy from bandcamp now!

Categories ,Alex Ostrowski, ,Canaries, ,Clowns, ,Kotki Dwa, ,Night Haunts, ,Planetarium, ,Plastic Horse, ,Poison, ,Polish, ,review, ,Roald Dahl, ,Saturn, ,single, ,Slava’s Snow Show, ,Tales Of The Unexpected, ,video

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