southampton

Amelia’s Magazine | Ejectorseat Arts Festival

by

I always look forward to the Northumbria University BA fashion degree show for two reasons. One, price because it’s always effing good – the innovation, salve technique and creativity on display is second to pretty much nobody at Graduate Fashion Week. Secondly, I studied at the university, so this review might seem like a big fat plate of bias – I assure you, though, that it isn’t.

Nestled on the front row in between Style Savage Steve and the ever wonderful Hilary Alexander (who bopped, sketched and scribbled her way through the show) I was a little concerned that my big lens (baaaooowappp) might block the view of either of these fashion journalists. Neither said anything though, so I think I got away with it…

Opening the show with an explosion of glam-rock-meets-Elvis-meets-Lady-Gaga, Naomi New presented a very polished micro-collection featuring exaggerated shoulders of leather, spikes and studs, and horse-hair tails. Models strutted back and forth with real sex appeal and the quality of Naomi’s craftsmanship looked, from what I could see, incredible.

The key theme in this year’s show was digital prints, and it’s a testament to the late, great Alexander McQueen’s legacy that this is such a mainstay on graduate catwalks. Faye Chamberlain’s was the most striking of collections, owing to its wild neon prints reminiscent of MIA’s Kala album cover, and blingy embellishment. Short, short dresses with spikey hips challenged the traditional constraints of the female form.

Further print patrons included the work of Sophie Dee and Ludmila Maida. Sophie Dee presented a feminine, playful collection of vibrant prints, micro shorts and bubble skirts, accessorised with childlike objects such as candy floss and helium balloons, harping back to the glory days of the seaside. Ludmila Maida’s collection was a slightly more mature one, with elegant maxi dresses in neon, gathered into sections to create flattering asymmetrical shapes.

Gemma Williamson also hopped on the print train, with her slightly eery collection making use of religious iconography.


Illustration by Gemma Williamson from her graduate work

Menswear was, as always, well represented; one of the few menswear graduates to win the prestigious Gold Award in recent years was a Northumbria student. Sara Wilson set the standard with a mixture of soft tailoring and Japanese influence – loose fitting blazers were teamed with skinny trousers and shorts, while snood-like pieces of material attempted to cover the face, giving each outfit a martial-art feel.

Louise Dickinson’s inspired outfits seemed to draw influence from historical Britain and tradition in general. An oversized Barbour-style jacket here and a triangular-shaped cape printed with a vintage map there made for a intriguing and genuinely unique collection.

But it was Caroline Rowland’s eccentric tailoring that captured my imagination the most. A bit Sebastian Flyte, a bit Dries Van Noten, it was the perfect mix of traditional tailoring and quirky design flair. Ill-fitting gingham shirts (I presume on purpose) were teamed with tucked-in waistcoats and patterned bow ties, while cropped blazers looked great with high-waisted tailored trousers. You can never go wrong with a sock suspender either.

And now for a quick round of some of my favourite womesnwear collections. It’ll have to be a whistle-stop tour because I have 3 other shows to write up and I’m having my hair cut in an hour.

One of my absolute faves was Julie Perry, who combined body-concious all-in-ones with Meccano-style leather creations. These outfits had real sex appeal – not one for the supermarket but definitely for the fierce fashionista who isn’t afraid to show off. Julie’s pieces were architectural in shape and hinted at a little bit of kink.


Illustration by Julie Perry from her graduate work

Holly Farrar’s super sleek collection toyed with masculine tailoring and models had structured shoulders with outfits tapering downwards. Defined v-necklines gave the outfits an overall geometric look and were very sophisticated indeed.


Illustration by Holly Farrar from her graduate work

These gemoetric-slash-linear-slash-structured themes ran through many a collection, executed most effectively by Stephanie Price. Her futuristic collection married materials with aesthetic appeal with flattering shapes – mesh covered body-concious shift dresses had a dazzling effect, as did this dynamic jacket…


Illustrations by Stephanie Price, from her graduate work

Closing the show was Victoria Kirby, who had clearly been selected for her fresh innovation and coutourier-like craftsmanship. Elegant floor sweepers made from silk and velour had the appearance of two dresses in one, cut and merged down the middle. Exaggerating the shoulders and synching in at the waist created beautiful feminine shapes that flattered.


Illustration by Victoria Kirby, from her graduate work

All photography by Matt Bramford

Unlike for those who unhappily planned their weddings for last Saturday when it was howling with rain in the south of England, ask Saturday 5 June was a glorious day for a wedding. I caught a glimpse of one such happy couple with their nearest and dearest dressed for best. They were having their pictures taken in the gardens at the entrance to Southampton’s Palmerston Park , about it where I was headed I walked down towards the Ejectorseat Arts Festival.


From The Drawer Show by Centric Collective

As I was admiring Centric Collective’s Drawer Show of recontextualised bedroom furniture, physician I heard a bearded art lover posit “The question is, is that a real wedding being photographed in the park, or is it something staged by the organisers as a piece of art?”

Trust me children, it was a real wedding, and not one of pretentious beardy art lovers either.

Honestly some people should hear themselves. But it’s these varied perspectives and expectations that bring the community into these sorts of events.


Knitty Noras Free Range Knitting

“We’re trying to knit a tree… And get people thinking about knitting in different ways,” a member of Knitty Noras told the camera. Throughout the day anyone could step in and knit to wrap an enormous scarf around the tree under which they were all sitting. Any wool left over will be sent to Knit-A-Square in South Africa, where it will be made into blankets for children orphaned by AIDS. Seems a bit of a convoluted way to help orphans to me, but whatever gets you making I suppose.

Next I met two lovely mature lady artists; Jeanne Mills and Margart Lomer, who had hung pretty melted plastic creations and painted ships in plastic bags – goldfish-at-the-fair style from a tree, referencing Southampton’s naval heritage.

I’m just going to come clean, I don’t really get the current obsession with site specific community interaction art. To get funding for projects these days you seem to have to be responding to local history or seducing minority or underrepresented groups. True, some great art does come out of it (for example Rachael Pengilley’s fabulous stamp birds, inspired by little known local history facts about Henfield) but if your local history is dull, having some arty type make it into a mural, or an abstract sculpture is not going to make it any less boring (even unboring poets like Shelley can be used as the excuse for terrible public art if they happen to be from near somewhere like Horsham), and if you hold arty events and activities the only people who’re going to want to engage are people who are already into that sort of thing. You’re not going to get the chavs – and be honest with yourselves – you don’t actually want them.

But you know what’s a good thing on its own? Good art. And good activities for children. If you make something that’s attractive and interesting, everyone will get something out of it. And if you want to make paper aeroplanes with kids in the park, that’s a good thing, they’ll love it – and the chavs too. But you don’t have to tell them it’s because of the history of the Southampton Hall of Aviation (which by the way, is awesome) therefore art.


Bear in the style of amazing illustrator Emily Harper, who is responsible for designing the artwork for the festival’s branding

The prevailing aesthetic of the art and music areas of the festival was bunting. Can you call bunting of itself an aesthetic? I just decided you can.

There was a DIY bunting tent where visitors were invited to decorate a triangle to be added to the string (That’s community art again – but I’ll forgive it for being a genuinely fun family activity, and for being bunting); beautiful papercut style bunting around the print workshop tent; prints hung like bunting from string in the Johny Toaster tent, not to mention miles and miles of varied bunting besides, twined around the iconic bandstand and the vegan barbecue tent (delicious).

The art market displayed a modest selection of local talent; various local artists and print makers, small record labels, students, t-shirt designers and plenty of activities and workshops including amazing stencilling on skate board decks, lino printing and the unlikely How to set up a record label workshop which I am sad to have missed.


Bottom right you can see the very chill and awesome Gustav Balderdash (Tristan) starting off the collaborative painting that went on into the night.


Image sourced from Etsy

Standout for me was Tomoko Morimoto’s lovely jewellery using fragments of beautiful printed origami paper and glass beads (you can see them on her etsy page, and website she assured me coming soon), and the collaborative drawing on giant boards.


Obviously, no-one had yet seen this flyer at this point.

The art scene in Southampton exists at the intersection of what I perceive as the somewhat old-school-established fine art oriented organisations, such as A Space, behind the exciting ArtVaults projects, which house exhibitions in listed sites including parts of the old City Walls. The John Hansard Gallery and Southampton City Art Gallery always have an impressive selection of international shows and local initiatives. These all rub shoulders rather uncomfortably with the more graphic-oriented live art scene going on at events like monthly Turn Up and Draw – live music and illustration night Log Jam (they put the ART into PARTY). Secret Wars, now an international competitive art phenomenon (London site) where two artists draw live at each event in a sudden death league style competition started here in Southampton about 5 years ago at the same time as Kench, another live drawing event linked with live music performance at the Soul Cellar. Not long after the Art House came into being who organise events and exhibitions year round including the Southampton Zine Fair and who were the driving force behind the Ejectorseat Festival.

These guys are very much in touch with the student graphic art scene coming out of the illustration department at Solent University where there has long been a strong emphasis on drawing, printmaking and hands on activities like bookbinding, all of which were very present at Ejectorseat. Fine art, fashion and graphics students and a growing number of graduate-run local design initiatives were present, too – such as Johny Toaster who had a stall in the art market displaying amazing prints as well as hosting live drawing all day and bookbinding workshops.


Red Hot Press doing extreme lino printing using a road roller with help from Solent art Students, with the results above.


Johnny Toaster stall, Billy Mather in the yellow t-shirt also did live drawing during the performance by Baku Bankai


Haunted Stereo in the Bandstand – lovely art folk sounds.

The musical line-up performed in the Bandstand at the southern end of the park and included as array of local talent. I didn’t see any of the acts after 7pm as I had a prior engagement at a ska punk gig – the kids can’t fly single launch at which I channelled my inner 15 year old in my recently-brought-out-of-retirement Dr. Martens (they’re on trend, you know) and shared my sweat with dozens of half naked teenagers. But that’s another story.


Waking Aida – instrumental/post rock

I did manage to see (and draw) the earlier afternoon delights of Waking Aida and Baku Bankai, who, with a break in the middle for some amazingly energetic collaborative mass drumming performance, set a very atmospheric festival fell with their intense sounds. Baku Bankai performed in wrestling masks, hunched round their ironing boards of knobs and electronic bits whilst live drawing took place as part of the performance. I also enjoyed Haunted Stereo, who had a much more melodic indie thing going on, although I was feeling a bit drawn out by then, so sorry no sketches!


Baku Bankai Minimal/Dance Electronica

One other part of the evenings entertainment I’m sorry to have missed was the Paper Cinema performance in the film tent. I hear that it was amazing: a live theatre storytelling company using intricate papercut illustrations and a live soundtrack.

Events like Ejectorseat are crucial in bringing together disperate artistic populations in towns like Southampton where, as is often the case wherever you are, there is so much going on that people are unaware of. The festival atmosphere brings people together, like a summer fête. I think organisers would do better to allow some parts of this ideal to be what they are, and encourage participation from groups with less artistic credentials – schools for example – to organise more activities and stalls.

I hope the festival will come back next year on an even bigger scale, bringing with it more talent and interest. I have it on good authority from Megan at The Art House that next year there will be even more bunting. HOORAY!


I failed to find out the name of this unusual act, singing music hall numbers with animatronic hats – amazing!

All illustrations and photographs by Jenny Robins

Written by Jenny Robins on Monday June 7th, 2010 6:04 pm

Categories ,A Space, ,Art House, ,ArtVaults, ,Baku Bankai, ,Billy Mather, ,bunting, ,Centric Collective, ,chavs, ,diy, ,Dr. Martens, ,Ejectorseat Festival, ,electronica, ,Emily Harper, ,etsy, ,Gustav Balderdash, ,Haunted Stereo, ,Jeanne Mills, ,Jenny Robins, ,John Harsand Gallery, ,Johnny Toaster, ,Knit-A-Square, ,Knitty Noras, ,Log Jam, ,Margart Lomer, ,Paper Cinema, ,Rachael Pengilley, ,Red Hot Press, ,Solent University, ,Soul Cellar, ,southampton, ,Southampton City Art Gallery, ,Tomoko Morimoto, ,Waking Aida, ,Zine Fair

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Amelia’s Magazine | Ejectorseat Arts Festival

by

Unlike for those who unhappily planned their weddings for last Saturday when it was howling with rain in the south of England, Saturday 5 June was a glorious day for a wedding. I caught a glimpse of one such happy couple with their nearest and dearest dressed for best. They were having their pictures taken in the gardens at the entrance to Southampton’s Palmerston Park , where I was headed I walked down towards the Ejectorseat Arts Festival.


From The Drawer Show by Centric Collective

As I was admiring Centric Collective’s Drawer Show of recontextualised bedroom furniture, I heard a bearded art lover posit “The question is, is that a real wedding being photographed in the park, or is it something staged by the organisers as a piece of art?”

Trust me children, it was a real wedding, and not one of pretentious beardy art lovers either.

Honestly some people should hear themselves. But it’s these varied perspectives and expectations that bring the community into these sorts of events.


Knitty Noras Free Range Knitting

“We’re trying to knit a tree… And get people thinking about knitting in different ways,” a member of Knitty Noras told the camera. Throughout the day anyone could step in and knit to wrap an enormous scarf around the tree under which they were all sitting. Any wool left over will be sent to Knit-A-Square in South Africa, where it will be made into blankets for children orphaned by AIDS. Seems a bit of a convoluted way to help orphans to me, but whatever gets you making I suppose.

Next I met two lovely mature lady artists; Jeanne Mills and Margart Lomer, who had hung pretty melted plastic creations and painted ships in plastic bags – goldfish-at-the-fair style from a tree, referencing Southampton’s naval heritage.

I’m just going to come clean, I don’t really get the current obsession with site specific community interaction art. To get funding for projects these days you seem to have to be responding to local history or seducing minority or underrepresented groups. True, some great art does come out of it (for example Rachael Pengilley’s fabulous stamp birds, inspired by little known local history facts about Henfield) but if your local history is dull, having some arty type make it into a mural, or an abstract sculpture is not going to make it any less boring (even unboring poets like Shelley can be used as the excuse for terrible public art if they happen to be from near somewhere like Horsham), and if you hold arty events and activities the only people who’re going to want to engage are people who are already into that sort of thing. You’re not going to get the chavs – and be honest with yourselves – you don’t actually want them.

But you know what’s a good thing on its own? Good art. And good activities for children. If you make something that’s attractive and interesting, everyone will get something out of it. And if you want to make paper aeroplanes with kids in the park, that’s a good thing, they’ll love it – and the chavs too. But you don’t have to tell them it’s because of the history of the Southampton Hall of Aviation (which by the way, is awesome) therefore art.


Bear in the style of amazing illustrator Emily Harper, who is responsible for designing the artwork for the festival’s branding

The prevailing aesthetic of the art and music areas of the festival was bunting. Can you call bunting of itself an aesthetic? I just decided you can.

There was a DIY bunting tent where visitors were invited to decorate a triangle to be added to the string (That’s community art again – but I’ll forgive it for being a genuinely fun family activity, and for being bunting); beautiful papercut style bunting around the print workshop tent; prints hung like bunting from string in the Johny Toaster tent, not to mention miles and miles of varied bunting besides, twined around the iconic bandstand and the vegan barbecue tent (delicious).

The art market displayed a modest selection of local talent; various local artists and print makers, small record labels, students, t-shirt designers and plenty of activities and workshops including amazing stencilling on skate board decks, lino printing and the unlikely How to set up a record label workshop which I am sad to have missed.


Bottom right you can see the very chill and awesome Gustav Balderdash (Tristan) starting off the collaborative painting that went on into the night.


Image sourced from Etsy

Standout for me was Tomoko Morimoto’s lovely jewellery using fragments of beautiful printed origami paper and glass beads (you can see them on her etsy page, and website she assured me coming soon), and the collaborative drawing on giant boards.


Obviously, no-one had yet seen this flyer at this point.

The art scene in Southampton exists at the intersection of what I perceive as the somewhat old-school-established fine art oriented organisations, such as A Space, behind the exciting ArtVaults projects, which house exhibitions in listed sites including parts of the old City Walls. The John Hansard Gallery and Southampton City Art Gallery always have an impressive selection of international shows and local initiatives. These all rub shoulders rather uncomfortably with the more graphic-oriented live art scene going on at events like monthly Turn Up and Draw – live music and illustration night Log Jam (they put the ART into PARTY). Secret Wars, now an international competitive art phenomenon (London site) where two artists draw live at each event in a sudden death league style competition started here in Southampton about 5 years ago at the same time as Kench, another live drawing event linked with live music performance at the Soul Cellar. Not long after the Art House came into being who organise events and exhibitions year round including the Southampton Zine Fair and who were the driving force behind the Ejectorseat Festival.

These guys are very much in touch with the student graphic art scene coming out of the illustration department at Solent University where there has long been a strong emphasis on drawing, printmaking and hands on activities like bookbinding, all of which were very present at Ejectorseat. Fine art, fashion and graphics students and a growing number of graduate-run local design initiatives were present, too – such as Johny Toaster who had a stall in the art market displaying amazing prints as well as hosting live drawing all day and bookbinding workshops.


Red Hot Press doing extreme lino printing using a road roller with help from Solent art Students, with the results above.


Johnny Toaster stall, Billy Mather in the yellow t-shirt also did live drawing during the performance by Baku Bankai


Haunted Stereo in the Bandstand – lovely art folk sounds.

The musical line-up performed in the Bandstand at the southern end of the park and included as array of local talent. I didn’t see any of the acts after 7pm as I had a prior engagement at a ska punk gig – the kids can’t fly single launch at which I channelled my inner 15 year old in my recently-brought-out-of-retirement Dr. Martens (they’re on trend, you know) and shared my sweat with dozens of half naked teenagers. But that’s another story.


Waking Aida – instrumental/post rock

I did manage to see (and draw) the earlier afternoon delights of Waking Aida and Baku Bankai, who, with a break in the middle for some amazingly energetic collaborative mass drumming performance, set a very atmospheric festival fell with their intense sounds. Baku Bankai performed in wrestling masks, hunched round their ironing boards of knobs and electronic bits whilst live drawing took place as part of the performance. I also enjoyed Haunted Stereo, who had a much more melodic indie thing going on, although I was feeling a bit drawn out by then, so sorry no sketches!


Baku Bankai Minimal/Dance Electronica

One other part of the evenings entertainment I’m sorry to have missed was the Paper Cinema performance in the film tent. I hear that it was amazing: a live theatre storytelling company using intricate papercut illustrations and a live soundtrack.

Events like Ejectorseat are crucial in bringing together disperate artistic populations in towns like Southampton where, as is often the case wherever you are, there is so much going on that people are unaware of. The festival atmosphere brings people together, like a summer fête. I think organisers would do better to allow some parts of this ideal to be what they are, and encourage participation from groups with less artistic credentials – schools for example – to organise more activities and stalls.

I hope the festival will come back next year on an even bigger scale, bringing with it more talent and interest. I have it on good authority from Megan at The Art House that next year there will be even more bunting. HOORAY!


I failed to find out the name of this unusual act, singing music hall numbers with animatronic hats – amazing!

All illustrations and photographs by Jenny Robins

Written by Jenny Robins on Monday June 7th, 2010 6:04 pm

Categories ,A Space, ,Art House, ,ArtVaults, ,Baku Bankai, ,Billy Mather, ,bunting, ,Centric Collective, ,chavs, ,diy, ,Dr. Martens, ,Ejectorseat Festival, ,electronica, ,Emily Harper, ,etsy, ,Gustav Balderdash, ,Haunted Stereo, ,Jeanne Mills, ,Jenny Robins, ,John Harsand Gallery, ,Johnny Toaster, ,Knit-A-Square, ,Knitty Noras, ,Log Jam, ,Margart Lomer, ,Paper Cinema, ,Rachael Pengilley, ,Red Hot Press, ,Solent University, ,Soul Cellar, ,southampton, ,Southampton City Art Gallery, ,Tomoko Morimoto, ,Waking Aida, ,Zine Fair

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Amelia’s Magazine | Little Comets – Live Review

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secret garden party

Photos by Jazzy Lemon

It’s not often that a support band makes your ears prick up and pay attention; too often I’ve been to gigs where sub-standard support acts make the wait for the headliners feel that little bit longer. I doubt in their short career that Little Comets have ever had that problem.

They caught my attention when they supported the Noisettes on their national tour last year, viagra so it was exciting to see the band headline the Joiners in Southampton last week.

Little Comets are already favourites with the music press after a few well publicised stunts such as playing on the Metro, ask or in the bakery isle of the local Marks & Spencer store, diagnosis in their hometown of Newcastle. Their single ‘One Night In October’ reached No. 1 in the independent singles chart, so they’ve already got a relatively huge following.

It was the busiest I’ve seen the Joiners; it was a room full of sweaty, drunk lads who were all pretty excited for the band to start. When Little Comets play live they breathe life into their bouncy, poppy songs. It’s impossible not to get caught up in the fun of their live sets. At such an intimate venue, the gig really felt like we were watching something special.

Yes, Little Comets are a guitar band and that’s nothing new, but their songs and the way they approach them really are. In a genre that’s been done to death already, Little Comets are unexpectedly unique. In half an hour they convinced me that there is a future for guitar bands; something that no one has been able to do for a good year or so.

The audience sang along to pretty much every song as the band bounced their way through their perfectly formed pop-tracks such as ‘Friday Don’t Need It’ and ‘Adultery’, but it was ‘Joanna’ that really stood out. Unlike their other guitar-pop tunes, this a capella track quietened the room. It’s the song that sets them above their contemporaries and proves they’re not just four guys playing poppy lad-rock. They’re not a grown-up version of McFly, they’re a group of proper musicians who write proper lyrics and know how to engage the crowd.

Someone in the crowd shouted up to singer Rob, confessing that his girlfriend loved him. Rob got a lot of love that night; a couple of tracks in someone shouted that they loved him too. His witty responses, which were quicker than a heartbeat, had the crowd laughing throughout the set. Little Comets are the kind of band that will do well during the festival season. The fun they radiate is infectious and I can imagine nothing nicer than dancing in the afternoon to one of their sets.

They won over my friend whose CD collection extends to a collection of Now albums and the Glee soundtrack If they can do that, I have no doubt they’ll charm their audiences on the rest of the tour, and wherever else they get to play this summer.

Written by Laura Nineham on Thursday May 13th, 2010 4:56 pm

Categories ,Adultery, ,Friday Don’t Need It, ,Indie, ,Joanna, ,Joiners, ,Lad, ,Laura Nineham, ,Little Comets, ,McFly, ,rock, ,southampton, ,the Noisettes

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Amelia’s Magazine | Clayton Strange – Interview

by

Illustration by Daniel Almeroth.
Illustration by Daniel Almeroth.

Back in the days when climate change was a vague notion – something for the 22nd century, order a problematical J curve for academics to ponder over – I thought nothing of hopping on a short haul from LA to Las Vegas, online hiring a chevvy and heading out towards Monument Valley, decease cool desert and home of the Navaho. On the way I  would pass the Grand Canyon, a journey that forced me to redefine my concept of size. For this thing, this hole in the ground was absolutely gi-fucking-normous. It just kept on going.  No matter how long you drove, you came round a bend and there it was. Still. So huge was this new huge I even had to redefine my sense of how big infinite space might actually be. At the time is was as mind blowing as taking acid. It changed me forever.

Now I’m not saying the film Dirty Oil has changed me forever. But it has affected my mood. For now I discover a bigger huge. Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. It is – or was – the biggest unspoilt forest in the world.  But just underground it’s the second biggest oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It’s bigger than Florida. Bigger than England. And it is the single biggest emitter of climate change gases in the world. If the oil industry gets the $379 billion investment it’s demanding we’ll get a rise of between 9 and 15 billion parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. And you know what that means? It means the tipping point of runaway climate change. It can do this all on its own without any help from us leaving lights on or driving short journeys to Tesco.

Illustration by Daniel Almeroth.
Illustration by Daniel Almeroth.

This film though isn’t content to be another film about climate change. It brings you the human story of the Beaver Lake Kree – who are having their ancestral lands torn up, their rivers and lakes polluted and their health destroyed. Thanks to the arsenic in their fishstocks, the Kree are 30 % more likely to get cancer, including rare ones,  than other populations. And why are they subjected to this? So that America gets cheap oil without having to bully – er bother –  the Arabs for a decade. That’s it. A decade of cheapish growth. I could weep – except the film left me emotionally stunned. The problem here is capitalism. An unadulterated free market economy where the bottom line profit – the false prophet indeed – over rides all other considerations, including the survival of life on this planet itself, spews  unchecked in Alberta. It’s not just a local pollution issue, it’s a global one. The Co-op, which hosted this week’s screenings across the UK, wants us all to petition companies like RBS and BP through our pension plans. But is that enough? Is it even worth having a pension when the future is governed by this ginormous scrag-heap of crap? “It’s time to start blowing things up,” says a comrade as we leave the cinema a little stunned. “How big?” I jest.

But there is a minute sliver of hope here. They don’t raise this in the film, but it was the Cree Indians who predicted that a time would come when we discovered that we can’t eat our money. I think we’re getting there. And a Cree woman called Eyes of Fire fortold: “A time when trees fall, the rivers are black, fish die in the rivers and birds fall from the sky…

“And when it does a tribe will gather from all the cultures ?of the World who believe in deed and not words. ?They will work to heal it…  they will be known as the “Warriors of the Rainbow.”
Cree Indian Proverb

I assume that’s us. For anyone calling themselves an activist – if we don’t get together and stop Tar Sands, while forcefully overcoming ignorance to promote alternative ways of running economies and energy supplies, we’re doomed. And doomed is just too huge a deal to imagine.

You can read our preview here and find out where to see the film over the next few weeks here.
Back in the days when climate change was a vague notion – something for the 22nd century, buy more about a problematical  J curve for academics to ponder over – I thought nothing of hopping on a short haul from LA to Las Vegas, visit this site hiring a chevvy and heading out towards Monument Valley, medications cool desert and home of the Navaho. On the way I  would pass the Grand Canyon, a journey that forced me to redefine my concept of size. For this thing, this hole in the ground was absolutely gi-fucking-normous. It just kept on going.  No matter how long you drove, you came round a bend and there it was. Still. So huge was this new huge I even had to redefine my sense of how big infinite space might actually be. At the time is was as mind blowing as taking acid. It changed me forever.

Now I’m not saying the film Oil Sands has changed me forever. But it has affected my mood. For now I discover a bigger huge. Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. It is – or was – the biggest unspoilt forest in the world.  But just underground it’s the second biggest oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It’s bigger than Florida. Bigger than England. And it is the single biggest emitter of climate change gases in the world. If the oil industry gets the $379 billion investment it’s demanding we’ll get a rise of between 9 and 15 billion parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. And you know what that means? It means the tipping point of runaway climate change. It can do this all on its own without any help from us leaving lights on or driving short journeys to Tesco.

This film though isn’t content to be another film about climate change. It brings you the human story of the Beaver Lake Kree – who are having their ancestral lands torn up, their rivers and lakes polluted and their health destroyed. Thanks to the arsenic in their fishstocks, the Kree are 30 % more likely to get cancer, including rare ones,  than other populations. And why are they subjected to this? So that America gets cheap oil without having to bully – er bother –  the Arabs for a decade. That’s it. A decade of cheapish growth. I could weep – except the film left me emotionally stunned. The problem here is capitalism. An unadulterated free market economy where the bottom line profit – the false prophet indeed – over rides all other considerations, including the survival of life on this planet itself, spews  unchecked in Alberta. It’s not just a local pollution issue, it’s a global one. The Co-op, which hosted this week’s screenings across the UK, wants us all to petition companies like RBS and BP through our pension plans. But is that enough? Is it even worth having a pension when the future is governed by this ginormous scrag-heap of crap? “It’s time to start blowing things up,” says a comrade as we leave the cinema a little stunned. “How big?” I jest.

But there is a minute sliver of hope here. They don’t raise this in the film, but it was the Cree Indians who predicted that a time would come when we discovered that we can’t eat our money. I think we’re getting there. And a Cree woman called Eyes of Fire fortold: “A time when trees fall, the rivers are black, fish die in the rivers and birds fall from the sky…
“And when it does a tribe will gather from all the cultures ?of the World who believe in deed and not words. ?They will work to heal it…  they will be known as the “Warriors of the Rainbow.”
Cree Indian Proverb

I assume that’s us. For anyone calling themselves an activist – if we don’t get together and stop Tar Sands, while forcefully overcoming ignorance to promote alternative ways of running economies and energy supplies, we’re doomed. And doomed is just too huge a deal to imagine.
Back in the days when climate change was a vague notion – something for the 22nd century, search a problematical  J curve for academics to ponder over – I thought nothing of hopping on a short haul from LA to Las Vegas, viagra 60mg hiring a chevvy and heading out towards Monument Valley, viagra buy cool desert and home of the Navaho. On the way I  would pass the Grand Canyon, a journey that forced me to redefine my concept of size. For this thing, this hole in the ground was absolutely gi-fucking-normous. It just kept on going.  No matter how long you drove, you came round a bend and there it was. Still. So huge was this new huge I even had to redefine my sense of how big infinite space might actually be. At the time is was as mind blowing as taking acid. It changed me forever.

Now I’m not saying the film Oil Sands has changed me forever. But it has affected my mood. For now I discover a bigger huge. Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. It is – or was – the biggest unspoilt forest in the world.  But just underground it’s the second biggest oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It’s bigger than Florida. Bigger than England. And it is the single biggest emitter of climate change gases in the world. If the oil industry gets the $379 billion investment it’s demanding we’ll get a rise of between 9 and 15 billion parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. And you know what that means? It means the tipping point of runaway climate change. It can do this all on its own without any help from us leaving lights on or driving short journeys to Tesco.

This film though isn’t content to be another film about climate change. It brings you the human story of the Beaver Lake Kree – who are having their ancestral lands torn up, their rivers and lakes polluted and their health destroyed. Thanks to the arsenic in their fishstocks, the Kree are 30 % more likely to get cancer, including rare ones,  than other populations. And why are they subjected to this? So that America gets cheap oil without having to bully – er bother –  the Arabs for a decade. That’s it. A decade of cheapish growth. I could weep – except the film left me emotionally stunned. The problem here is capitalism. An unadulterated free market economy where the bottom line profit – the false prophet indeed – over rides all other considerations, including the survival of life on this planet itself, spews  unchecked in Alberta. It’s not just a local pollution issue, it’s a global one. The Co-op, which hosted this week’s screenings across the UK, wants us all to petition companies like RBS and BP through our pension plans. But is that enough? Is it even worth having a pension when the future is governed by this ginormous scrag-heap of crap? “It’s time to start blowing things up,” says a comrade as we leave the cinema a little stunned. “How big?” I jest.

But there is a minute sliver of hope here. They don’t raise this in the film, but it was the Cree Indians who predicted that a time would come when we discovered that we can’t eat our money. I think we’re getting there. And a Cree woman called Eyes of Fire fortold: “A time when trees fall, the rivers are black, fish die in the rivers and birds fall from the sky…
“And when it does a tribe will gather from all the cultures ?of the World who believe in deed and not words. ?They will work to heal it…  they will be known as the “Warriors of the Rainbow.”
Cree Indian Proverb

I assume that’s us. For anyone calling themselves an activist – if we don’t get together and stop Tar Sands, while forcefully overcoming ignorance to promote alternative ways of running economies and energy supplies, we’re doomed. And doomed is just too huge a deal to imagine.
Back in the days when climate change was a vague notion – something for the 22nd century, ambulance a problematical  J curve for academics to ponder over – I thought nothing of hopping on a short haul from LA to Las Vegas, hiring a chevvy and heading out towards Monument Valley, cool desert and home of the Navaho. On the way I  would pass the Grand Canyon, a journey that forced me to redefine my concept of size. For this thing, this hole in the ground was absolutely gi-fucking-normous. It just kept on going.  No matter how long you drove, you came round a bend and there it was. Still. So huge was this new huge I even had to redefine my sense of how big infinite space might actually be. At the time is was as mind blowing as taking acid. It changed me forever.

Now I’m not saying the film Dirty Oil has changed me forever. But it has affected my mood. For now I discover a bigger huge. Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. It is – or was – the biggest unspoilt forest in the world.  But just underground it’s the second biggest oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It’s bigger than Florida. Bigger than England. And it is the single biggest emitter of climate change gases in the world. If the oil industry gets the $379 billion investment it’s demanding we’ll get a rise of between 9 and 15 billion parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. And you know what that means? It means the tipping point of runaway climate change. It can do this all on its own without any help from us leaving lights on or driving short journeys to Tesco.

This film though isn’t content to be another film about climate change. It brings you the human story of the Beaver Lake Kree – who are having their ancestral lands torn up, their rivers and lakes polluted and their health destroyed. Thanks to the arsenic in their fishstocks, the Kree are 30 % more likely to get cancer, including rare ones,  than other populations. And why are they subjected to this? So that America gets cheap oil without having to bully – er bother –  the Arabs for a decade. That’s it. A decade of cheapish growth. I could weep – except the film left me emotionally stunned. The problem here is capitalism. An unadulterated free market economy where the bottom line profit – the false prophet indeed – over rides all other considerations, including the survival of life on this planet itself, spews  unchecked in Alberta. It’s not just a local pollution issue, it’s a global one. The Co-op, which hosted this week’s screenings across the UK, wants us all to petition companies like RBS and BP through our pension plans. But is that enough? Is it even worth having a pension when the future is governed by this ginormous scrag-heap of crap? “It’s time to start blowing things up,” says a comrade as we leave the cinema a little stunned. “How big?” I jest.

But there is a minute sliver of hope here. They don’t raise this in the film, but it was the Cree Indians who predicted that a time would come when we discovered that we can’t eat our money. I think we’re getting there. And a Cree woman called Eyes of Fire fortold: “A time when trees fall, the rivers are black, fish die in the rivers and birds fall from the sky…
“And when it does a tribe will gather from all the cultures ?of the World who believe in deed and not words. ?They will work to heal it…  they will be known as the “Warriors of the Rainbow.”
Cree Indian Proverb

I assume that’s us. For anyone calling themselves an activist – if we don’t get together and stop Tar Sands, while forcefully overcoming ignorance to promote alternative ways of running economies and energy supplies, we’re doomed. And doomed is just too huge a deal to imagine.

Four-piece Clayton Strange have already been heralded as “Portsmouth’s most promising local band at the moment” by the local press, sickness and they’re gaining popularity across the South Coast. I managed to grab a few minutes with drummer Steve Bull to find out why they’re making a name for themselves in the South, and to find out about their first national tour.

“With our sound we are trying to mix fast, sharp guitar, intelligent driving rhythm and heartfelt melodies,” says Steve after I ask him to describe their music. “We draw influence from electronica, rock and pop acts like Foals, Talking Heads and Metronomy. One thing that is keeping us different from a lot of the other bands is that we steer clear of computers and keyboards, and focus on creating interesting sounds in a live setting.”

Straddling Portsmouth and Brighton, Clayton Strange are made up of four lovely lads who formed the band when they were teenagers. Singer Deniz Muharrem, guitarist Rob Dawson and drummer Steve have been playing the local circuit for a few years, under a different guise.

After honing both their instrumental and song writing skills, the band changed direction and became Clayton Strange. “Our songs have always been about life events and experiences, but our sound had evolved to the point where we felt our old name didn’t fit” says Steve. “We tell stories that haven’t been told; some about us, and some about others.”

Clayton Strange have a new bassist to compliment their new name, after their original bassist left “for personal reasons”. Dan Charter joined the band after playing in a few local bands. “He’s always been around the music scene and has already added a lot to our creative process,” says Steve as he tries to pinpoint just how they know each other. Dan couldn’t have joined at a better time; the four lads are set to dominate the world, providing their gigs go as well as those they played last year.

In 2009 Clayton Strange had a couple of really successful support slots. They played with the Virgins and the Joy Formidable, but the highlight was supporting Let’s Wrestle; it was a rare gig where the support act outshone the headliners.

“We’re looking to build on this success with an energetic UK tour and a debut EP release set for the spring,” explains Steve. He thinks part of their success is down to being friends since school and knowing each other so well: “we have a real understanding of each other’s playing which translates into a tight and exciting live sound.”

Clayton Strange will be kicking off their UK tour in March with a gig in Bristol, before making their way up to Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and York, before heading back south to play London.

Steve concluded: “We can’t wait to get on the road, play to more people and have new experiences. Manchester will be really special as we are playing the Night & Day, such a famous venue, and sharing the bill with our friends Run Toto Run.”

Written by Laura Nineham on Thursday March 18th, 2010 5:14 pm

Categories ,brighton, ,clayton strange, ,dance, ,Indie, ,live, ,new wave, ,portsmouth, ,Post Punk, ,punk, ,south coast, ,southampton, ,tour

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with indie band Delays

by

Most bands have a limited shelf life, especially the ones who are hyped. Although a review like: “The first band in a decade to lay serious claim to The Stone Roses throne” (The Guardian) can put you in good stead while you’re starting out, it can also set you en route Destination Doomsville, burdening you with a reputation you simply can’t live up to.

British indie rock band Delays have so far managed to defy the odds. They have gone from strength to strength, following the release of their debut album ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ in 2004. Six years on, the four-piece are set to release their forth record, ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel’ produced by Duncan Lewis.

In a tiny room in the basement of music venue Water Rats in King’s Cross – decorated with blue and white fairy lights, a few old shelves and an enormous brightly coloured abstract painting – I join spiritual frontman Greg Gilbert (GG) and down-to-earth drummer Rowly (R) before they take to the stage at their sold out London gig, to talk about their latest album, town criers and livin’ it up at Glastonbury over lime-flavoured Doritos…

How would you describe your new album in three words?
GG: Rustic, organic and psychedelic
R: I don’t like organic, it sounds a bit vegetably
GG: OK then; rustic, psychedelic and melancholic
R: Yeah, that sounds better – I second that emotion
GG: Or we could say “Our. Best. Album” – three words – succinct and to the point

What has inspired your latest album?
GG: Our last album had a lot of orchestral arrangements and there was a real urge between the four of us to strip the sound back and become a four-piece band again. With that in mind we started to go for long drives at night along the New Forest, making music to soundtrack the journey. We built the record from the ground up and it was just a case of being inspired by the environment opposed to any concerns about writing a single. We banned the words ‘single’ and ‘commercial’ from the studio.
R: We used to do it all the time; we would say: “I think this one’s a single”, which makes you approach making music differently. We spent a lot of time in Southampton, reacquainting ourselves with the city and each other again, which does come through on the record. The result is a much more personal and honest sound.

How have you found the audience’s response to your new material so far?
GG: We’ve found that people who wouldn’t have liked our previous stuff have been positive about the new album. They’re responding to the fact that it’s a more personal record – they’re getting from it more from us as individuals then a commodity. So far, the people who have heard our record think it’s the best one.
R: The new tracks are going down just as well as our old stuff. It’s a great feeling when the roar for a new song is as enthusiastic as for an old song, like ‘Long Time Coming’.

How do you think your sound has evolved over the years?
GG: The first album sounds like a beach, the second album sounds like a club, the third album sounds like a festival and this album sounds like the forest, with the roots growing underneath the city at night making the buildings shake whilst you’re asleep. The first album is quite delicate because we recorded that before we toured so there was a certain amount of discovery. For the second album we worked with Graham Sutton who is genius producer; he brought a real club edge to the record which had a raw but beautiful precision about it.
R: We wrote the third album with the approach that it would be amazing at a festival; it’s big and bombastic and sounds like you’re playing it to 100,000 people rather then making a record for headphones.
GG: This album’s much more abstract; you can hear this on a beach in Scandinavia at two in the morning with mist flowing in the morning. We were trying to create a record which maintained a mood and an atmosphere which carries you into different surroundings. I think the best records take you to different worlds and that’s what we tried to emulate.
R: It’s not necessarily one genre of music. There’s a certain atmosphere which you can’t quite put your finger on, but it works for late night drives with aerial views over the city.

What’s your proudest achievement to date?
GG: To me it’s the fact that we’re about to release our fourth album and our songs are still playing on the radio. Very few bands get to make four albums so that makes me feel very proud. We’ve been around since 2004 and we’ve managed to sustain and grow our fan base in a way that has been pure because there is no hype now around what we do.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
R: I’ve been going to Glastonbury for years so to play there was amazing. I was really ill on the day and I came so close to calling the others to say I couldn’t do it, but by the time it came to going on stage I’d never felt so healthy in all my life – Glastonbury has that effect, it wakes you up. There was another time when we played in Mexico City; we were headlining on one of the nights at a festival called ‘Manifest’ and we had no idea how big it was going to be. There were 6,000 people crammed into a wrestling/bullfighting arena all chanting ‘Delays, Delays!”. We were slightly in shock for the first couple of numbers.

Did you have any ridiculous demands on your rider in the early days that you don’t feel embarrassed about fessing up to now?
R: I don’t think our rider has changed much since the start; just the same stuff: vodka, beer, water bottles. In the beginning we did have one thing that we thought would be great to collect, which was to have a picture of the local mayor from every town where we played. The only one we got in the end was from Gloucester where they gave us a picture of the town crier which they also got signed – that was ace!

Now that you have played with your long-term idols the Manic Street Preachers, who would you most like to support?
GG: I always come back to Prince. I’m also pretty obsessed with Scott Walker at the moment – he’s the musician I most admire. I’m not sure how we’d go down with his audience but he’s awesome.
R: It’s still The (Rolling) Stones for me. Apparently we did get an offer to support them in Vienna about three years ago but we were already booked in for a festival in Wales on the same day.
GG: Keith Richards is pretty much top of the tree when it comes to rock and roll. Hopefully the opportunity will come up again…

Delays release their fourth album ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel on 21st June 2010 on Lookout Mountain Records, preceded by the debut track ‘Unsung’ on 14th June.



Written by Kat Phan on Thursday June 10th, 2010 8:37 pm


Categories ,Delays, ,Doritos, ,glastonbury, ,Graham Sutton, ,Greg Gilbert, ,Kat Phan, ,Keith Richards, ,Long Time Coming, ,Manic Street Preachers, ,Manifest, ,Mexico City, ,New Forest, ,prince, ,Rowly, ,scandinavia, ,Scott Walker, ,southampton, ,The Guardian, ,The Rolling Stones, ,The Stone Roses, ,Vienna, ,Water Rats

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with indie band Delays

by

Most bands have a limited shelf life, information pills especially the ones who are hyped. Although a review like: “The first band in a decade to lay serious claim to The Stone Roses throne” (The Guardian) can put you in good stead while you’re starting out, for sale it can also set you en route Destination Doomsville, burdening you with a reputation you simply can’t live up to.

British indie rock band Delays have so far managed to defy the odds. They have gone from strength to strength, following the release of their debut album ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ in 2004. Six years on, the four-piece are set to release their forth record, ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel’ produced by Duncan Lewis.

In a tiny room in the basement of music venue Water Rats in King’s Cross – decorated with blue and white fairy lights, a few old shelves and an enormous brightly coloured abstract painting – I join spiritual frontman Greg Gilbert (GG) and down-to-earth drummer Rowly (R) before they take to the stage at their sold out London gig, to talk about their latest album, town criers and livin’ it up at Glastonbury over lime-flavoured Doritos…

How would you describe your new album in three words?
GG: Rustic, organic and psychedelic
R: I don’t like organic, it sounds a bit vegetably
GG: OK then; rustic, psychedelic and melancholic
R: Yeah, that sounds better – I second that emotion
GG: Or we could say “Our. Best. Album” – three words – succinct and to the point

What has inspired your latest album?
GG: Our last album had a lot of orchestral arrangements and there was a real urge between the four of us to strip the sound back and become a four-piece band again. With that in mind we started to go for long drives at night along the New Forest, making music to soundtrack the journey. We built the record from the ground up and it was just a case of being inspired by the environment opposed to any concerns about writing a single. We banned the words ‘single’ and ‘commercial’ from the studio.
R: We used to do it all the time; we would say: “I think this one’s a single”, which makes you approach making music differently. We spent a lot of time in Southampton, reacquainting ourselves with the city and each other again, which does come through on the record. The result is a much more personal and honest sound.

How have you found the audience’s response to your new material so far?
GG: We’ve found that people who wouldn’t have liked our previous stuff have been positive about the new album. They’re responding to the fact that it’s a more personal record – they’re getting from it more from us as individuals then a commodity. So far, the people who have heard our record think it’s the best one.
R: The new tracks are going down just as well as our old stuff. It’s a great feeling when the roar for a new song is as enthusiastic as for an old song, like ‘Long Time Coming’.

How do you think your sound has evolved over the years?
GG: The first album sounds like a beach, the second album sounds like a club, the third album sounds like a festival and this album sounds like the forest, with the roots growing underneath the city at night making the buildings shake whilst you’re asleep. The first album is quite delicate because we recorded that before we toured so there was a certain amount of discovery. For the second album we worked with Graham Sutton who is genius producer; he brought a real club edge to the record which had a raw but beautiful precision about it.
R: We wrote the third album with the approach that it would be amazing at a festival; it’s big and bombastic and sounds like you’re playing it to 100,000 people rather then making a record for headphones.
GG: This album’s much more abstract; you can hear this on a beach in Scandinavia at two in the morning with mist flowing in the morning. We were trying to create a record which maintained a mood and an atmosphere which carries you into different surroundings. I think the best records take you to different worlds and that’s what we tried to emulate.
R: It’s not necessarily one genre of music. There’s a certain atmosphere which you can’t quite put your finger on, but it works for late night drives with aerial views over the city.

What’s your proudest achievement to date?
GG: To me it’s the fact that we’re about to release our fourth album and our songs are still playing on the radio. Very few bands get to make four albums so that makes me feel very proud. We’ve been around since 2004 and we’ve managed to sustain and grow our fan base in a way that has been pure because there is no hype now around what we do.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
R: I’ve been going to Glastonbury for years so to play there was amazing. I was really ill on the day and I came so close to calling the others to say I couldn’t do it, but by the time it came to going on stage I’d never felt so healthy in all my life – Glastonbury has that effect, it wakes you up. There was another time when we played in Mexico City; we were headlining on one of the nights at a festival called ‘Manifest’ and we had no idea how big it was going to be. There were 6,000 people crammed into a wrestling/bullfighting arena all chanting ‘Delays, Delays!”. We were slightly in shock for the first couple of numbers.

Did you have any ridiculous demands on your rider in the early days that you don’t feel embarrassed about fessing up to now?
R: I don’t think our rider has changed much since the start; just the same stuff: vodka, beer, water bottles. In the beginning we did have one thing that we thought would be great to collect, which was to have a picture of the local mayor from every town where we played. The only one we got in the end was from Gloucester where they gave us a picture of the town crier which they also got signed – that was ace!

Now that you have played with your long-term idols the Manic Street Preachers, who would you most like to support?
GG: I always come back to Prince. I’m also pretty obsessed with Scott Walker at the moment – he’s the musician I most admire. I’m not sure how we’d go down with his audience but he’s awesome.
R: It’s still The (Rolling) Stones for me. Apparently we did get an offer to support them in Vienna about three years ago but we were already booked in for a festival in Wales on the same day.
GG: Keith Richards is pretty much top of the tree when it comes to rock and roll. Hopefully the opportunity will come up again…

Delays release their fourth album ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel on 21st June 2010 on Lookout Mountain Records, preceded by the debut track ‘Unsung’ on 14th June.

Written by Kat Phan on Thursday June 10th, 2010 8:37 pm

Categories ,Delays, ,Doritos, ,glastonbury, ,Graham Sutton, ,Greg Gilbert, ,Kat Phan, ,Keith Richards, ,Long Time Coming, ,Manic Street Preachers, ,Manifest, ,Mexico City, ,New Forest, ,prince, ,Rowly, ,scandinavia, ,Scott Walker, ,southampton, ,The Guardian, ,The Rolling Stones, ,The Stone Roses, ,Vienna, ,Water Rats

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