Amelia’s Magazine | In conversation with Little Fish

Little-Fish-by-Octavi-Navarro
Little Fish by Octavi Navarro

I saw you guys at the Royal Albert Hall, advice supporting Them Crooked Vultures, clinic and was completely blown away when I saw you play and by your sound, but what was it like for you to play a venue of that size?
I don’t think I realised how big it was until we got on stage-I knew it was big, but I don’t really think about it until I’m on stage and then I go, ‘shit there’s loads of people and lights, and there’s a huge screen behind me, a huge screen!’ It felt a huge privilege to support Them Crooked Vultures as they’re such a great band, it was nerve wracking, and it’s a big prestigious venue to play.

Are you fans of the Vultures?
Definitely. We met them briefly, and Dave Grohl was really lovely. He’s got the reputation of being one of the nicest men in rock and roll and he really was. It was for the Teenage Cancer Trust, [a trust founded by The Who’s Roger Daltrey to raise funds and awareness for teenage cancer] and there were loads of kids backstage and he was really nice to them.

I’ve unashamedly had a crush on Dave Grohl for years, have you ever had any rock crushes like that?
Ha! I have had a couple of rock crushes, I even wrote a fan letter to someone once, and that was probably the hardest letter I’ve ever written! Trying to write a letter to someone you don’t know is pretty hard. It was to someone who had written a song with ‘devil’ in it, and it was the first time I’d ever heard a dark song and I was so inspired by it, it kind of changed my whole way of writing. I used to write really happy songs and I realised you can be dark and angry. So I wrote a letter, and said thank you for inspiring me. I wrote an answer to them in one of our songs called ‘Devils Eyes’, which is a response to their song ‘The Devil’s Song’.

Little Fish

Your debut album, Baffled and Beat, was produced by Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes fame, I hear it was at times a gruelling experience and recording process, was it quite intense? Or was it a good way to progress further as a band?
It was a big learning curve because we’d gone from just doing a demo in a garage to recording in a big LA studio with a big producer, and it was really shocking. It made me question what I was doing and why I was doing it. Was I doing music because I wanted to be a rock star? No was the answer. I was doing music because I loved it and I found that hard because when you’re thrown into that situation, automatically you’re in a position where you’re supposed to be a rock star and I felt like that wasn’t why I was doing music. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in that situation, but then I realised actually I love writing and I love doing music and it’s what comes with it so I carried on. But it was hard to realise.

How long did it take to record?
We recorded the album really quickly, over three weeks, pretty much live, and what took a bit of time was choosing the songs. We didn’t do any pre-production really, I think that was the hard thing, it would have been nice to have a bit more time, but it was the first proper experience and we learnt so much, and Linda Perry makes you work very hard, so we really learnt how to work hard, and that was great because now I think we’ve stepped up a big gear and we’d like to record our next album.

When I listened to your EP and your album, I heard a definite change, but it still sounds like you kept the rawness there, but it’s slicked up. Is that your take on it?
Yeah, I think we’ve also developed as a band, as we got signed as a two piece and now we have our Hammond player [Ben Walker] as a three piece, so now we’ve evolved as a band. We were in LA as a two piece, and now we’re three, and creating different sounds and writing different songs so we’re evolving and that’s magical.

Have you had pressure to add more instruments or do you want to keep the sound as stripped as possible?
We’re quite purist in that way, and we like to stay true to the challenge of staying pure. A lot of bands have got their five or six pieces, a wall of sound, but I like the human side of things, I like the calamity, and I don’t like things to be perfect. I like that struggle, and I think you’ve got to keep things with a little bit of a challenge and stay small.

With the garage sound, it doesn’t stay that way for many bands, and it’s good to see as a band gets bigger, you’ve still kept that sound.
I don’t know if that works against us in this industry- I think a lot of people like the instant, big, quick and simple sound, but it’s a bit more challenging with us. We’re definitely going to stay true to [our sound] for a while.

Back to the album, many artists see their work as their babies; do you have a favourite baby on the album? Or is the whole album one big baby for you?
I think I’d like to give birth all over again. The baby is good, but I think that because we were so inexperienced in a way, I’d like to have that opportunity to really record an album that is exactly what I’d like. We were learning with the recording process, so I think that album is a discovery album, I think there are some bits we will take and some we will leave for the next one. I’m really happy with it, to have had the opportunity to record an album is amazing, and to have someone like Linda Perry support you is amazing, I just want the opportunity to keep going.

Little Fish by Little Fish

You guys picked up music at different ages (Nez started drumming at five, whereas Juju began playing the guitar much later), do you think that’s helped create the distinctive sound of Little Fish?
Probably! Nez and Ben are really proficient, well taught, trained and naturally amazing musicians, I’m a bit of an eclectic, self taught manic person, who jumbles songs together. I think that mix helps it because Nez really helps ground the songs, and I think if we were both too calamity we would be a real, calamity sound! To have the privilege to play with such great musicians is really grounding and they’re so good they allow me to explore things, which is great. It makes us who we are.

What’s the writing process like? Is it difficult, or do you have to be in the right mood?
I used to think I had to be in the right mood, but when we did the album with Linda she would just send me off in the morning to write a song, and that was a lot of pressure, obviously everybody’s waiting for a song! You realise that you can write, you’ve just got to apply yourself. It’s more about applying yourself then being in the mood! I tend to brew, and maybe not write for a month, because I’m brewing, and then I get really depressed, and just write!

Have you written a lot of songs waiting to come out?
Yeah we’ve recorded a few new demos, and we’ll be recording a few more in a few weeks. So that’s really exciting. We’ve no idea when a second album will come out, but not too long. It’s going to be called ‘Re-baffled and beaten’!

What do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t doing this?
I don’t think I’d ever go down a different path until I’d have to, but whatever I do I just apply myself 100%, this is more like a compulsion. I love writing and singing and I think it would break me if I had to do something else. I’ve always written, I love writing little stories, poems, I’ll always write songs whether I’m in a band or not, whether I’m a mother with lots of kids running around-I have to do it, if I don’t I just don’t feel well, it’s kind of like therapy. The best advice for anybody in a band is to not have a plan B.

There’s a bit of buzz recently about the position of women in rock today (see the recent Elle article on Elle honouring women in the music industry). Do you see yourself as one of the woman in rock?
I never thought about it before, it’s only now that I’ve started to realise it since I felt, dare I say it, a bit of sexism for being a woman in a band. You realise how much you actually have to step up a little, and it’s only recently, I never thought about it before and didn’t care, and you realise the women [in rock] today are already big icons, but how did they get there? It’s not impossible for a woman to be the forefront of a band, but it’s hard. That’s why I want to make people aware of it, to dip into people’s consciousness.

Little Fish’s video, Whiplash

Categories ,4 Non Blondes, ,Ben Walker, ,Dave Grohl, ,Elle Magazine, ,Juju Sophie, ,Linda Perry, ,Little Fish, ,Nez Greenaway, ,Old Blue Last, ,Roger Daltrey, ,Royal Albert Hall, ,Teenage Cancer Trust, ,the who, ,Them Crooked Vultures

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Amelia’s Magazine | In conversation with Little Fish

Little-Fish-by-Octavi-Navarro
Little Fish by Octavi Navarro

I saw you guys at the Royal Albert Hall, advice supporting Them Crooked Vultures, clinic and was completely blown away when I saw you play and by your sound, but what was it like for you to play a venue of that size?
I don’t think I realised how big it was until we got on stage-I knew it was big, but I don’t really think about it until I’m on stage and then I go, ‘shit there’s loads of people and lights, and there’s a huge screen behind me, a huge screen!’ It felt a huge privilege to support Them Crooked Vultures as they’re such a great band, it was nerve wracking, and it’s a big prestigious venue to play.

Are you fans of the Vultures?
Definitely. We met them briefly, and Dave Grohl was really lovely. He’s got the reputation of being one of the nicest men in rock and roll and he really was. It was for the Teenage Cancer Trust, [a trust founded by The Who’s Roger Daltrey to raise funds and awareness for teenage cancer] and there were loads of kids backstage and he was really nice to them.

I’ve unashamedly had a crush on Dave Grohl for years, have you ever had any rock crushes like that?
Ha! I have had a couple of rock crushes, I even wrote a fan letter to someone once, and that was probably the hardest letter I’ve ever written! Trying to write a letter to someone you don’t know is pretty hard. It was to someone who had written a song with ‘devil’ in it, and it was the first time I’d ever heard a dark song and I was so inspired by it, it kind of changed my whole way of writing. I used to write really happy songs and I realised you can be dark and angry. So I wrote a letter, and said thank you for inspiring me. I wrote an answer to them in one of our songs called ‘Devils Eyes’, which is a response to their song ‘The Devil’s Song’.

Little Fish

Your debut album, Baffled and Beat, was produced by Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes fame, I hear it was at times a gruelling experience and recording process, was it quite intense? Or was it a good way to progress further as a band?
It was a big learning curve because we’d gone from just doing a demo in a garage to recording in a big LA studio with a big producer, and it was really shocking. It made me question what I was doing and why I was doing it. Was I doing music because I wanted to be a rock star? No was the answer. I was doing music because I loved it and I found that hard because when you’re thrown into that situation, automatically you’re in a position where you’re supposed to be a rock star and I felt like that wasn’t why I was doing music. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in that situation, but then I realised actually I love writing and I love doing music and it’s what comes with it so I carried on. But it was hard to realise.

How long did it take to record?
We recorded the album really quickly, over three weeks, pretty much live, and what took a bit of time was choosing the songs. We didn’t do any pre-production really, I think that was the hard thing, it would have been nice to have a bit more time, but it was the first proper experience and we learnt so much, and Linda Perry makes you work very hard, so we really learnt how to work hard, and that was great because now I think we’ve stepped up a big gear and we’d like to record our next album.

When I listened to your EP and your album, I heard a definite change, but it still sounds like you kept the rawness there, but it’s slicked up. Is that your take on it?
Yeah, I think we’ve also developed as a band, as we got signed as a two piece and now we have our Hammond player [Ben Walker] as a three piece, so now we’ve evolved as a band. We were in LA as a two piece, and now we’re three, and creating different sounds and writing different songs so we’re evolving and that’s magical.

Have you had pressure to add more instruments or do you want to keep the sound as stripped as possible?
We’re quite purist in that way, and we like to stay true to the challenge of staying pure. A lot of bands have got their five or six pieces, a wall of sound, but I like the human side of things, I like the calamity, and I don’t like things to be perfect. I like that struggle, and I think you’ve got to keep things with a little bit of a challenge and stay small.

With the garage sound, it doesn’t stay that way for many bands, and it’s good to see as a band gets bigger, you’ve still kept that sound.
I don’t know if that works against us in this industry- I think a lot of people like the instant, big, quick and simple sound, but it’s a bit more challenging with us. We’re definitely going to stay true to [our sound] for a while.

Back to the album, many artists see their work as their babies; do you have a favourite baby on the album? Or is the whole album one big baby for you?
I think I’d like to give birth all over again. The baby is good, but I think that because we were so inexperienced in a way, I’d like to have that opportunity to really record an album that is exactly what I’d like. We were learning with the recording process, so I think that album is a discovery album, I think there are some bits we will take and some we will leave for the next one. I’m really happy with it, to have had the opportunity to record an album is amazing, and to have someone like Linda Perry support you is amazing, I just want the opportunity to keep going.

Little Fish by Little Fish

You guys picked up music at different ages (Nez started drumming at five, whereas Juju began playing the guitar much later), do you think that’s helped create the distinctive sound of Little Fish?
Probably! Nez and Ben are really proficient, well taught, trained and naturally amazing musicians, I’m a bit of an eclectic, self taught manic person, who jumbles songs together. I think that mix helps it because Nez really helps ground the songs, and I think if we were both too calamity we would be a real, calamity sound! To have the privilege to play with such great musicians is really grounding and they’re so good they allow me to explore things, which is great. It makes us who we are.

What’s the writing process like? Is it difficult, or do you have to be in the right mood?
I used to think I had to be in the right mood, but when we did the album with Linda she would just send me off in the morning to write a song, and that was a lot of pressure, obviously everybody’s waiting for a song! You realise that you can write, you’ve just got to apply yourself. It’s more about applying yourself then being in the mood! I tend to brew, and maybe not write for a month, because I’m brewing, and then I get really depressed, and just write!

Have you written a lot of songs waiting to come out?
Yeah we’ve recorded a few new demos, and we’ll be recording a few more in a few weeks. So that’s really exciting. We’ve no idea when a second album will come out, but not too long. It’s going to be called ‘Re-baffled and beaten’!

What do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t doing this?
I don’t think I’d ever go down a different path until I’d have to, but whatever I do I just apply myself 100%, this is more like a compulsion. I love writing and singing and I think it would break me if I had to do something else. I’ve always written, I love writing little stories, poems, I’ll always write songs whether I’m in a band or not, whether I’m a mother with lots of kids running around-I have to do it, if I don’t I just don’t feel well, it’s kind of like therapy. The best advice for anybody in a band is to not have a plan B.

There’s a bit of buzz recently about the position of women in rock today (see the recent Elle article on Elle honouring women in the music industry). Do you see yourself as one of the woman in rock?
I never thought about it before, it’s only now that I’ve started to realise it since I felt, dare I say it, a bit of sexism for being a woman in a band. You realise how much you actually have to step up a little, and it’s only recently, I never thought about it before and didn’t care, and you realise the women [in rock] today are already big icons, but how did they get there? It’s not impossible for a woman to be the forefront of a band, but it’s hard. That’s why I want to make people aware of it, to dip into people’s consciousness.

Little Fish’s video, Whiplash

Categories ,4 Non Blondes, ,Ben Walker, ,Dave Grohl, ,Elle Magazine, ,Juju Sophie, ,Linda Perry, ,Little Fish, ,Nez Greenaway, ,Old Blue Last, ,Roger Daltrey, ,Royal Albert Hall, ,Teenage Cancer Trust, ,the who, ,Them Crooked Vultures

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Amelia’s Magazine | Alain Johannes: Spark (2010) Album Review

Andrew Curtis’s photography expose the fallacy of normality on which the construct of British Suburbia survives aided and abetted by local newspapers and the tabloids. In a time where British Suburbia has become the hotspot for floating voters. Where was Boris Johnson accredited with visiting in his challenge to become London Mayor, nurse buy which Ken Livingstone was chastened for neglecting and it was subsequently claimed lost Ken the election? Why, no rx it was the outer zones of Suburban London.

Suburbs have provided ample fodder for British writers, price the most famous being a resident of Suburban London, JG Ballard and the photographs of Curtis continue to emphaise that not all is as it seems.

Continuing a British tradition of romanticising the life outside the city, potentially epitomised in Constable’s Haywain, (whose idyll removed all traces of the countryside’s unrest) life in the suburbs has been idealised. It being the world behind the facade, Curtis’ photographs aims to expose, potently the precise suburbia the artist, himself inhabits.

Walking into the gallery, the viewer is greeted with large monochrome photographs, each (apart from a photograph documenting a crash) image dominated by the imposing presence of a tree picked out in heavy black gloss. On closer examination the surface of Curtis’ prints are dotted with printing errors, the type of which professional printers (the Artist’s day job –therefore we can assume these marks to be intentional) painstakingly iron out. These marks, are another layer added to Curtis’ undermining of the idyll, so painstakingly cultivated by the residents of Suburbia.

A role of the photographer, it could be argued is to challenge what it is we see on a daily basis, develop our visual language and challenge visual associations. In Curtis’ photographs, the unfamiliar is accentuated, the work that goes into maintenance is exaggerated. Never noticed monkey puzzle trees? which dominate suburban Britain? After visiting PayneShurvell, you will not fail to notice them. These remnants left over from the colonial plundering of Victorian Britain dominate the picture plane. Their forced presence in the British Landscape our a constant remainder of our less than spotless past are enhanced via tcareful application of dripped gloss paint .

Curtis’ photographs are an exploration into the psyche of modern suburbia fitting of Ballard, (whose words head the press release and introduce this article) and Amelia’s Magazine throughly recommend a trip to PayneShurvell before the exhibition closes on the 6th November.

This week as part of First Thursday, PayneShurvell are delighted (as are we) that Andrew Curtis will be hosting a talk on “Wild England”.

Andrew Curtis’s photography expose the fallacy of normality on which the construct of British Suburbia survives aided and abetted by local newspapers and the tabloids. In a time where British Suburbia has become the hotspot for floating voters. Where was Boris Johnson accredited with visiting in his challenge to become London Mayor, ampoule which Ken Livingstone was chastened for neglecting and it was subsequently claimed lost Ken the election? Why, for sale it was the outer zones of Suburban London.

Suburbs have provided ample fodder for British writers, here the most famous being a resident of Suburban London, JG Ballard and the photographs of Curtis continue to emphaise that not all is as it seems.

Continuing a British tradition of romanticising the life outside the city, potentially epitomised in Constable’s Haywain, (whose idyll removed all traces of the countryside’s unrest) life in the suburbs has been idealised. It being the world behind the facade, Curtis’ photographs aims to expose, potently the precise suburbia the artist, himself inhabits.

Walking into the gallery, the viewer is greeted with large monochrome photographs, each (apart from a photograph documenting a crash) image dominated by the imposing presence of a tree picked out in heavy black gloss. On closer examination the surface of Curtis’ prints are dotted with printing errors, the type of which professional printers (the Artist’s day job –therefore we can assume these marks to be intentional) painstakingly iron out. These marks, are another layer added to Curtis’ undermining of the idyll, so painstakingly cultivated by the residents of Suburbia.

A role of the photographer, it could be argued is to challenge what it is we see on a daily basis, develop our visual language and challenge visual associations. In Curtis’ photographs, the unfamiliar is accentuated, the work that goes into maintenance is exaggerated. Never noticed monkey puzzle trees? which dominate suburban Britain? After visiting PayneShurvell, you will not fail to notice them. These remnants left over from the colonial plundering of Victorian Britain dominate the picture plane. Their forced presence in the British Landscape our a constant remainder of our less than spotless past are enhanced via tcareful application of dripped gloss paint .

Curtis’ photographs are an exploration into the psyche of modern suburbia fitting of Ballard, (whose words head the press release and introduce this article) and Amelia’s Magazine throughly recommend a trip to PayneShurvell before the exhibition closes on the 6th November.

This week as part of First Thursday, PayneShurvell are delighted (as are we) that Andrew Curtis will be hosting a talk on “Wild England”.

PayneShurvell opening hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm.

Andrew Curtis’s photography expose the fallacy of normality on which the construct of British Suburbia survives aided and abetted by local newspapers and the tabloids. In a time where British Suburbia has become the hotspot for floating voters. Where was Boris Johnson accredited with visiting in his challenge to become London Mayor, viagra which Ken Livingstone was chastened for neglecting and it was subsequently claimed lost Ken the election? Why, it was the outer zones of Suburban London.

Suburbs have provided ample fodder for British writers, the most famous being a resident of Suburban London, JG Ballard and the photographs of Curtis continue to emphaise that not all is as it seems.

Continuing a British tradition of romanticising the life outside the city, potentially epitomised in Constable’s Haywain, (whose idyll removed all traces of the countryside’s unrest) life in the suburbs has been idealised. It being the world behind the facade, Curtis’ photographs aims to expose, potently the precise suburbia the artist, himself inhabits.

Walking into the gallery, the viewer is greeted with large monochrome photographs, each (apart from a photograph documenting a crash) image dominated by the imposing presence of a tree picked out in heavy black gloss. On closer examination the surface of Curtis’ prints are dotted with printing errors, the type of which professional printers (the Artist’s day job –therefore we can assume these marks to be intentional) painstakingly iron out. These marks, are another layer added to Curtis’ undermining of the idyll, so painstakingly cultivated by the residents of Suburbia.

A role of the photographer, it could be argued is to challenge what it is we see on a daily basis, develop our visual language and challenge visual associations. In Curtis’ photographs, the unfamiliar is accentuated, the work that goes into maintenance is exaggerated. Never noticed monkey puzzle trees? which dominate suburban Britain? After visiting PayneShurvell, you will not fail to notice them. These remnants left over from the colonial plundering of Victorian Britain dominate the picture plane. Their forced presence in the British Landscape our a constant remainder of our less than spotless past are enhanced via tcareful application of dripped gloss paint .

Curtis’ photographs are an exploration into the psyche of modern suburbia fitting of Ballard, (whose words head the press release and introduce this article) and Amelia’s Magazine throughly recommend a trip to PayneShurvell before the exhibition closes on the 6th November.

This week as part of First Thursday, PayneShurvell are delighted (as are we) that Andrew Curtis will be hosting a talk on “Wild England”.

PayneShurvell opening hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm.

Andrew Curtis’s photography expose the fallacy of normality on which the construct of British Suburbia survives aided and abetted by local newspapers and the tabloids. In a time where British Suburbia has become the hotspot for floating voters. Where was Boris Johnson accredited with visiting in his challenge to become London Mayor, ask which Ken Livingstone was chastened for neglecting and it was subsequently claimed lost Ken the election? Why, view it was the outer zones of Suburban London.

Suburbs have provided ample fodder for British writers, the most famous being a resident of Suburban London, JG Ballard and the photographs of Curtis continue to emphaise that not all is as it seems.

Continuing a British tradition of romanticising the life outside the city, potentially epitomised in Constable’s Haywain, (whose idyll removed all traces of the countryside’s unrest) life in the suburbs has been idealised. It being the world behind the facade, Curtis’ photographs aims to expose, potently the precise suburbia the artist, himself inhabits.

Walking into the gallery, the viewer is greeted with large monochrome photographs, each (apart from a photograph documenting a crash) image dominated by the imposing presence of a tree picked out in heavy black gloss. On closer examination the surface of Curtis’ prints are dotted with printing errors, the type of which professional printers (the Artist’s day job –therefore we can assume these marks to be intentional) painstakingly iron out. These marks, are another layer added to Curtis’ undermining of the idyll, so painstakingly cultivated by the residents of Suburbia.

A role of the photographer, it could be argued is to challenge what it is we see on a daily basis, develop our visual language and challenge visual associations. In Curtis’ photographs, the unfamiliar is accentuated, the work that goes into maintenance is exaggerated. Never noticed monkey puzzle trees? which dominate suburban Britain? After visiting PayneShurvell, you will not fail to notice them. These remnants left over from the colonial plundering of Victorian Britain dominate the picture plane. Their forced presence in the British Landscape our a constant remainder of our less than spotless past are enhanced via tcareful application of dripped gloss paint .

Curtis’ photographs are an exploration into the psyche of modern suburbia fitting of Ballard, (whose words head the press release and introduce this article) and Amelia’s Magazine throughly recommend a trip to PayneShurvell before the exhibition closes on the 6th November.

This week as part of First Thursday, PayneShurvell are delighted (as are we) that Andrew Curtis will be hosting a talk on “Wild England”.

PayneShurvell opening hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm.
Modern Times

Andrew Curtis’s photography expose the fallacy of normality on which the construct of British Suburbia survives aided and abetted by local newspapers and the tabloids. In a time where British Suburbia has become the hotspot for floating voters. Where was Boris Johnson accredited with visiting in his challenge to become London Mayor, viagra which Ken Livingstone was chastened for neglecting and it was subsequently claimed lost Ken the election? Why, pill it was the outer zones of Suburban London.

Suburbs have provided ample fodder for British writers, the most famous being a resident of Suburban London, JG Ballard and the photographs of Curtis continue to emphaise that not all is as it seems.

Continuing a British tradition of romanticising the life outside the city, potentially epitomised in Constable’s Haywain, (whose idyll removed all traces of the countryside’s unrest) life in the suburbs has been idealised. It being the world behind the facade, Curtis’ photographs aims to expose, potently the precise suburbia the artist, himself inhabits.

New Empire (How Crooked Are Your Branches)

Walking into the gallery, the viewer is greeted with large monochrome photographs, each (apart from a photograph documenting a crash) image dominated by the imposing presence of a tree picked out in heavy black gloss. On closer examination the surface of Curtis’ prints are dotted with printing errors, the type of which professional printers (the Artist’s day job –therefore we can assume these marks to be intentional) painstakingly iron out. These marks, are another layer added to Curtis’ undermining of the idyll, so painstakingly cultivated by the residents of Suburbia.

New Empire Amnesia

A role of the photographer, it could be argued is to challenge what it is we see on a daily basis, develop our visual language and challenge visual associations. In Curtis’ photographs, the unfamiliar is accentuated, the work that goes into maintenance is exaggerated. Never noticed monkey puzzle trees? which dominate suburban Britain? After visiting PayneShurvell, you will not fail to notice them. These remnants left over from the colonial plundering of Victorian Britain dominate the picture plane. Their forced presence in the British Landscape our a constant remainder of our less than spotless past are enhanced via tcareful application of dripped gloss paint .

Curtis’ photographs are an exploration into the psyche of modern suburbia fitting of Ballard, (whose words head the press release and introduce this article) and Amelia’s Magazine throughly recommend a trip to PayneShurvell before the exhibition closes on the 6th November.

This week as part of First Thursday, PayneShurvell are delighted (as are we) that Andrew Curtis will be hosting a talk on “Wild England”.

PayneShurvell opening hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm.
Modern Times

Andrew Curtis’s photography expose the fallacy of normality on which the construct of British Suburbia survives aided and abetted by local newspapers and the tabloids. In a time where British Suburbia has become the hotspot for floating voters. Where was Boris Johnson accredited with visiting in his challenge to become London Mayor, approved which Ken Livingstone was chastened for neglecting and it was subsequently claimed lost Ken the election? Why, it was the outer zones of Suburban London.

Suburbs have provided ample fodder for British writers, the most famous being a resident of Suburban London, JG Ballard and the photographs of Curtis continue to emphaise that not all is as it seems.

Continuing a British tradition of romanticising the life outside the city, potentially epitomised in Constable’s Haywain, (whose idyll removed all traces of the countryside’s unrest) life in the suburbs has been idealised. It being the world behind the facade, Curtis’ photographs aims to expose, potently the precise suburbia the artist, himself inhabits.

New Empire (How Crooked Are Your Branches)

Walking into the gallery, the viewer is greeted with large monochrome photographs, each (apart from a photograph documenting a crash) image dominated by the imposing presence of a tree picked out in heavy black gloss. On closer examination the surface of Curtis’ prints are dotted with printing errors, the type of which professional printers (the Artist’s day job –therefore we can assume these marks to be intentional) painstakingly iron out. These marks, are another layer added to Curtis’ undermining of the idyll, so painstakingly cultivated by the residents of Suburbia.

New Empire Amnesia

A role of the photographer, it could be argued is to challenge what it is we see on a daily basis, develop our visual language and challenge visual associations. In Curtis’ photographs, the unfamiliar is accentuated, the work that goes into maintenance is exaggerated. Never noticed monkey puzzle trees? which dominate suburban Britain? After visiting PayneShurvell, you will not fail to notice them. These remnants left over from the colonial plundering of Victorian Britain dominate the picture plane. Their forced presence in the British Landscape our a constant remainder of our less than spotless past are enhanced via tcareful application of dripped gloss paint .

Curtis’ photographs are an exploration into the psyche of modern suburbia fitting of Ballard, (whose words head the press release and introduce this article) and Amelia’s Magazine throughly recommend a trip to PayneShurvell before the exhibition closes on the 6th November.

This week as part of First Thursday, PayneShurvell are delighted (as are we) that Andrew Curtis will be hosting a talk on “Wild England”.

PayneShurvell opening hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm.
Alain Johannes Spark

You might not know it, healing but you know Alain Johannes. Producer and artist extraordinaire, click having previously produced and collaborated with the infamous Queens of the Stone Age; No Doubt, PJ Harvey, Eleven, and toured with the super group Them Crooked Vultures earlier this year, Johannes is renowned throughout many rock circles for his mesmerising guitar skills, which in March of this year had me caught in a spell during a musical intermission of the Crooked Vultures’ intense set. Thinking Johannes was a brave man to compete with the likes of Grohl, Homme and Jones, I was left blown away by his talent and unequivocal sound.

Johannes Alain Tim Norris
Photograph by Tim Norris.

Making a stand in his own right, Johannes recently released his debut record Spark, co released with Dangerbird Records and Rekords Rekords, the latter label set up by fellow musical maestro Josh Homme of QOTSA and Them Crooked Vultures fame. This is definitely a family affair, and what an awesome family. Dedicating his debut record to his late wife and producing partner Natasha Shneider, fellow Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal collaborator, there is a great sense of magnitude, of heartfelt pain and strength that breathes through the tracks. First track and single Endless Eyes is a beautifully and eloquent tribute to Natasha, and sets the tone for the entire record. Johannes’ signature cigar box guitar creates such a definitive sound it’s refreshing to describe as innovative and enchanting. However stand out tracks include Return to You, which has an unashamed Beatles-esque tone to it, bringing an air of nostalgia and warmth to the record, which can’t be a bad thing.

The record stealing guitar crescendo of a masterpiece to my ears is the incredible Speechless, which builds with such classical and flamenco ferocity; it’s topped by Johannes’ elegant vocals that beautifully complete the ghostly track. Gentle Ghosts draws the record toward its close, but not without a trek through a sensory mind field that awakes the goose bumps scheduled for truly remarkable artists. There’s so much passion and raw emotion surging through Spark, its hard not to feel a greater sense of appreciation. Closing with Unfinished Plan, a classical guitar led cathartic and heartbreaking end to a brilliant debut. Spark shines and splinters through Johannes’ incredibly personal journey, and I’m pretty stoked to be along for the ride.

Alain Johannes’ Spark is for those who likes a bit of substance sprinkled over their desert rock desserts, a treat of a record that won’t turn sour the more you listen. Johannes brings light to the desert rock scene, which, though never fading, has now taken a new and brilliant direction.

Categories ,Alain Johannes, ,Dangerbird Records, ,Dave Grohl, ,Desert Rock, ,Eagles of Death Metal, ,Eleven, ,John Paul Jones, ,Josh Homme, ,Natasha Shneider, ,No Doubt, ,PJ Harvey, ,queens of the stone age, ,Rekords Rekords, ,Spark, ,the beatles, ,Them Crooked Vultures, ,Tim Norris

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