Amaze Magazine - March Edition by Tim Knight

AMAZE

March 2012: First Edition

MAGAZINE Featuring: Chasing Friday Carly Dee Stella Perret Tim Knight Susan Dingle Melissa Vanfleet Nicky Haldenby Russell Payne Chris Coulter And many more...

Cover Star

Do you want to be our next Cover Star?

Gordon Breckenridge Make a Star Jamie Lenman

Amaze Magazine www.fivewaysjunction.co.uk

Welcome to the very first edition of Amaze Magazine created for students/creative types looking to break into the creative media industry. Packed full of interviews from your peers, industry professionals, hints & tips, tutorials, competitions, projects and so much more, this is the very best creative magazine on the market and best of all itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s totally free!! This magazine has been designed by people just like you and every month we will not only feature great articles that you have sent us, but we will give YOU the chance to come and create the magazine itself, all you need to do is read the April edition to find out more. This month we introduce you to several new artists and we showcase our interview with Gordon Breckenridge, we also showcase the Make A Star website where you can win cash for your musical talents, and so much more, we hope you enjoy reading it as much as we have enjoyed making it.

TIM ALAN

The Tuscany artist talks exclusively to Amaze Magazine

RUSSELL

SARAH

DAVID

CHRIS

DAN MARIA

The worldwide music competition is here

Former Reuben front-man turned illustrator talks to Amaze Magazine

CHRISTOPHER

SIMON

FRANK

EMMA

Inside:

MUSIC CHRIS COULTER NICKY HALDENBY CARLY DEE JAMIE LENMAN LETTERS MAKE A STAR ART GORDAN BRECKENRIDGE GWC ILLUSTRATOR CHALLENGE STELLA PERRETT SUSAN DINGLE LITERATURE TIM KNIGHT RUSSELL PAYNE FRANK CHUENG FILM THE WORCHESTERSHIRE FILM FESTIVAL BAD FEELING FILM 5WAYS FEATURES Tony Briggs Interview DEFEATING THE DRAGONS NHS CHALLENGE PRIZES

Cover Star

The brand new competition by 5ways Media The team at 5ways are proud to announce our brand new regulary competition - Cover Star The idea is that we want YOUR pictures to use on the front cover of Amaze Magazine and so all you need to do is get your camera out and take some photos, then send them to us and you could win!

May cover and will be open until May 20th 2012. Send all entries to timknight81@gmail.com by midnight May 20th 2012. For full terms and conditions go to: www.fivewaysjunction.co.uk

We are looking for either images of people or artistic pictures so the guidance is pretty broad. All entries need to be hi-res photos and without any kind of watermark. The opening Cover Star competition is for our

Don’t worry if your images don’t win either, as we may still use them within the magazine so either way you could get featured. ALL winners get a feature interview in Amaze Magazine within their chosen month as well.

Discover the best new music & industry opinion

VOICE

FOR

THE

GENERATION MARCH 2012

We interview the best new upcoming talent from around the UK, including musicians, sound engineers, & illustrators?

CHRIS COULTER Talks to us about his career. Website: www.homelessmusic.co.uk

What is it like to be someone self-employed within the music industry? There are pros and cons like there are with most jobs, but the pros outweight the cons. Freedom to work where and when I like is awesome but it can sometimes be hard to get enough work in.

There are so many people trying to get into the music industry these days and most of them coming through college or university. Although you can learn a lot from these courses you just canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t beat experiences. So I would say try and get as much experience as you can with other producers, engineers and bands.

Why did you leave Stakeout Studios to go on your own?

What would you say are your greatest achievements to date?

It was a mutual decision as I was collecting all of my own equipment and using the studio wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessary for my everyday work as a lot of it could be done at other locations.

My greatest achievement is probably running my own successful business in an industry that I love, other then working with some amazing bands.

What would you say to anyone looking to break into the music industry?

Who are your favourite bands at the moment?

different favourites from day to day but a few artists that are on my ipod at the moment are Everything Everything, Worship, Knife Party, and Lana Del Rey. What do you have coming up? I have a full diary of bands from all over the country. I am also going on tour doing the live sound with Arcane Roots as well as finishing their album that is due out later this year. Give us your top tips for students studying music production. Learn everything! Read every book you can get hold of. Use your knowledge to record everyone you can find, over and over until you are the best!

As a producer I have to be interested in every style of music so I have

Nicky Haldenby The Young Rising Star Are you in a band or are you a musician? If so then we would love to hear from you and you could be featured in an upcoming edition of Amaze Magazine (AM) just like Nicky. All you have to do is get in contact via the website which you can do so by going too: www.fivewaysjunction.co.uk and if we like what we read then you could be featured in our next edition. Ensure that all content is sent to us by the 20th of the month the magazine is due to be released.

LINKS: http://nickyhaldenby.bandcamp.com/ https://twitter.com/#!/NickyHaldenby http://www.facebook.com/NickyHaldenbyMusic

In 2011 Nick released his first release ‘Beautiful Moment’ a collection of pop/indie/acoustic pieces. His song ‘We can Change The World’ was made by him & earned him over 17,000 views. In 2011, Nicky attended a songwriting course at his local library where he was able to improve further not only with his writing, but also as a performer.

I think it is going pretty well so far. Since February 2011 I’ve had over 20,000 views on Youtube and a healthy number of visits to my website since August with many plays of my current albu. I’ve got a fan base on Twitter who I enjoy tweeting with and I have a good relationship with my fans on Facebook.

As Nicky explains, “Before the start of this year, I hadn’t really performed in front of a big audience before yet somehow I didn’t really get nervous before a gig, I think that has a lot to do with being guided in gently, rather then forcing myself upon stage before I was ready.”

What would be your dream gig?

In June, Nicky was invited to perform at Cultureshock, the worlds largest youth arts festival, where he performed two of his latest songs.

What equipment/set up do you use?

Nicky is currently starting work on ‘the difficult second album’ of which, he say “The songs I’ve been writing are quite different to what I have done before. They seem to be a lot happier too. I think whatever I do with the songs this year they will make up a very diverse project which I am excited to be working on.” Nick has agreed to answer some questions from readers who wanted to know more about his thoughts on the industry. Your obviously very young, but have taken on the task of getting yourself noticed, how is it

going?

What problems have you aced with trying to get noticed? Every artist when they are starting out feel overlooked I think that’s natural. For me, I’ve had to work hard to promote myself, even to the fan base that I already have. It’s difficult to make sure everyone knows about your latest release or the latest piece of news. Who would you duet with if you could?

Any musician would say the biggies like Glastonbury but as long as I’m performing to people who like my music then I don’t really mind. I like more intimate gigs too, it’s easier to connect with the audience.

I record in my bedroom using Cakewalk’s Music Creator 5 to record instruments with my Yamaha keyboard and I use Audacity to record and mix vocals with a Shure C606 Microphone. It’s a pretty cheap set-up but it does the job fine. What advice would you give others?

I absoloutely love the writing style of Mika, I think writing with him would be fun. I really like Coldplay’s new album too. Writing or doing a duet with anyone for me ould be an exciting experience bringing two creative minds together can only be a good thing. What are your future plans? Well I am currently in the middle of writing songs for a new album which I hope to release in the late of summer. When I releae it, I’ll be trying new ways of promoting myself, hopefully spreading the word further and gaining a few new fans along the way. Then who knows?!

You’ve got to be good at writing songs because it’s what you love doing, not because of the possible end results. I think you’ve got to stay true to yourself as a writer not changing because some people don’t like what you’re doing but at the same time you shouldn’t be afraid to take risks to help your music evolve .

Carly Dee

The singer/songwriter who has captured 5ways heart

Carly is a Worcester based singer/ songwriter who is currently working alongside song writers Dean Muscat and David Mackeeg, she has recorded 3 studio tracks with more written and ready to go. So far in her short career Carly has appeared at several music festivals including Droitwich Music Festival and Worcester Music Festival, as well as having her music regularly aired on the Friday Session on BBC’s Hereford & Worcester radio. Can’t Take It Anymore is also getting regular airplay on DAB’s Amazing Radio where the track also spent some time at the top of

the their weekly chart. Carly’s debut single ‘Crazy Baby, Insane’ was released on November 22nd and has received lots of airplay around the country being listed at several local radio stations. The song was also featured in issue 11 of X Factor magazine where the song was selected in the Top 50 Must Haves at number 13 above the likes of Kylie Minogue. Carly is currently on the look-out for recording and publishing deals and knows this is just the start. You can buy ‘Crazy Baby Insane’ at HMV right now or on itunes.

What got you into music? I have always had a secret passion for singing from an early age, my parents listened to music a lot and I loved to listen and sing along to the likes of Celine Dion, Beverly Craven & Mariah Carey. My real passion for music really began when I joined my first band where I experienced a greater understanding and appreciation for instruments and recording. What is it like to know people are listening to your music?

It is an amazing feeling, I never thought I would get the opportunity for my friends and family to even hear my voice as I never had much confidence growing up and never sang in front of people! Now people I have never met have heard my songs and send me incrediable feedback - it is one of the best feelings in the world!!! Any advice for musicians?

What is the best thing about writing music? When I write, I have to be in the right frame of mind, depending on the subject that is being written about. I work with two other talented song writers, we work so well together. The best thing about writing is the end result of course, being able to share your experiences with others so expressively through music.

Don’t let nerves or lack of confidence get in the way of pursuing your dreams - don’t be scared of being criticised.

Jamie Lenman

Former lead-singer of Reuben turned illustrator for the Guardian You were in a band, why did you move into the world of illustration? I think we made it appear more successful then it was - we certainly didn’t make any money or sell many records, which was part of the the reason that it stopped. I’d been drawing for years before I picked up a guitar and when the band happend the graphical side of my work took a back seat but I kept it bubbling away with various project and in fact within the band we started needing things like flyers and websites and CD sleeves designed so those skills came to the fore at that point and the music took a back seat, and the graphical stuff took over. How did you end up working for the Guardian? I was very lucky, I’d been showing my work to everyone I could because I wanted (and still want) to illustrate children’s books. Someone from the Guardian

happened to be at Frankfurt book fair and got hold of my portfolio, and asked me to come and work for a digital agency based on the strength of those few drawings. What I didn’t know was that they also needed me to be an animator and a designer so I had to learn those very quickly but it worked out well and I’ve been there for four years. So it was a bit of luck, and a lot of hard work before that. Most really brilliant things are usually a combination of the two.

my pencil lines on a finished drawing. I don’t like things to be too shiny, I like for people to be able to see where they came from. I hope that makes some kind of sense. What advice would you give to anyone else looking to break into illustration?

I’m not really sure how to answer that question, but if you’re asking what I look for in art or what makes me want to create art, I suppose you could say that I’m always interested in a slightly grotesque take on things, both visually and musically. Like a horrible wrong chord in the middle of a beautiful song or a huge smudge on a delicate line drawing.

I think the biggest thing is just to show your work to as many people as possible, and before long, someone will remember it or call you up or something. It sounds obvious, but if people can’t see it they don’t know its there. Draw lots, and lots even if you have to force yourself, and you’ll get streaks better even though you may think you’re at the top of your game. Also - ask people you admire how they do their thing. I’ve spoken to lots of my heroes about their art and they’ve almost always been generous with their time and their secrets and I’ve learnt tonnes from all of them.

When we made records I was always keen to keep the fluffs and the mic checks in the mix, and I never rub out

We did notice the music on your site for Peugeot, how did that come about?

What inspires you as an artist?

That was a funny one. I had a chum who’d left the Guardian job and was making that game for Peugeot and he asked me if I knew any free music libraries and I said I had this little musical doodle lying about that he could have for free as long as they came back to me if they needed any more. Still waiting for the call! But you never know, it still might come. It didn’t cost me anything!

for various educational websites that get used in schools - they sent us back some little ‘I’ve been reading’ stickers for well behaved kids with characters I’d drawn on them. When you get proof it’s reaching people, you can’t ask for more than that. I’m very proud and flattered to be the subject of this interview.

What are your proudest moments in your career so far?

Well there’s another big project coming up at work that’s going to go into schools, and I just spent a few months animating some staff training videos for video rental shops across the UK, which was hard work. I’m

I’m always proud when I see people on youtube playing one of my songs. I was proud to have done a lot of work

What else are you doing?

also working on an ipad book with some colleagues and at time of typing I’m doing artwork for my old band Caretaker’s album. Then there’s a few more illustration projects in the pipeline - it’s been an unusually busy year for me, work wise, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing. Cripes! If you could change anything what would it be? What a huge question. If you’re asking serious, I’d get rid of the media entirely. If you’re asking silly, I’d make it so pizza made you thin.

LETTERS

This little singing star sent us a letter Tim Knight’s niece Demi is a little singing star and she wrote this for us. Hi my name’s Demi Reynolds-Knight, 12yrs old, and I go to a singing group called Rock Choir. We often do performances at places like Wembly Arena and the Hexagon. We have also performed at many festivals. There are lots of rehearsal places in Wales, Scotland & England.... Some of them are in Gwent, Glamorgan, Glashow, Essex & London. For details go to their site rockchoir.com.

Rock Choir supports two charities, missing people & refugees. At Wembley Arena 2011, every choir member was given a picture of a child who is or was missing; Madeline McCaan was amongst the 5+ children who were held up as a photo. In rehearsal, we practice loads of songs for performances which are really fun. Every time I go to practice I always have fun and I wish I could go to one of the other rehearsals during the week. Glen Harvey my leader is brilliant (as

are the other leaders) and makes everyone feel welcome.

National Urban Development C entre O . f the state of flordia inc

He doesn’t just teach us songs; he also makes practicing the same verse over & over again endurable. If you like the sound of Rock Choir, go thier site, click on the link that says careers and select the option that says Rock Choir application form. Once the page has loaded, fill out the form and submit it. I love being in Rock Choir and would recommend joining to anyone who likes a laugh and who would like to perform.

Find out more at:

www.nudcentre.org

National Urban Development Center of the State of Florida, Inc. (NUDCSF) sole purpose is to engage our donors, volunteers, supporters, the communities we serve, and other collaborators to improve the physical health, mental health, and living standard of the homeless, those living below the poverty level, the elderly, the mentally ill and those suffering with chronic illnesses. This is accomplished through ensuring that people with chronic physical such as HIV/AIDS, high cholesterol, diabetes etc… and mental illnesses are provided with the information and tools and care to make a change in their lifestyle that would reduce medication dependency, hospital visits and doctor’s visits. Further, the organization’s mission is accomplished by ensuring that those citizens that are homeless or living at or below poverty level receive access to affordable housing.

What do you look for when deciding on artists for your label? It sounds ridiculously over-simplified, but the songs just have to make us sit up and take notice. Image, branding, YouTube views all come second to that - if there's any part of the music which is underwhelming, then it's onto the next one. I hope that doesn't come across as brash - but if you're working a record for 18 months or more, it's not a great sign if it fails to excite you after 2 listens. That aside, artists who understand that despite the fact they may have a full team (manager, label, lawyer, booking agent, PR) in place, they will still have to hustle themselves. It has to be an 'all hands on deck' type attitude. How do you think the music industry has changed in the last five years and where do you see it going? Clearly iTunes and YouTube has had a huge impact. It still blows my mind to think that YouTube didn't exist a little over seven years ago - such is its power today. The demise of the physical product is something that has been talked about again and again - but it still saddens me - one of my first big highlights since starting the label was seeing our releases on the shop floor.

to work hard. Would you advise your artists to run their band as a band or as a business? Definitely. If they want to do it for a good amount of time, or make any money from it - they have to treat every decision like a business one. Some artists take to that better than others - who feel like it gets in the way of their primary job - to be creative and write great music. I understand that to a point - you just have to hope there is a little of each type of character in each band. When did you set the label up and how have you found the industry? I set up the label at the end of 2007 and for two years ran it out of my University dorm room. At that point it was totally a hobby - but in 2009, more by luck than judgement, we enjoyed some success and that allowed LAB to become more serious, to become a business. I think the industry is what you make of it - you'll always come across some people who adhere to the stereotypical arrogant, flashy industry type - but I think they're being replaced by a bunch of young guys who want to do best by their artists, and care about reputation as well as a big pay day. What advice would you give to someone interested in setting up a record label?!

What is the biggest turn-off for you as a label? Artists that clearly rip-off parts of another (almost always more successful) band's melody or video or style. Also, artists who subscribe so much to the 'rock n roll' or 'urban' stereotype that they don't think they have

Definitely do it - but do it because you want to, not because you think it's a great career choice. If you want to get rich quick, you'd be just as well going to your local casino and sticking everything you have on red.

Blessed with a stunning, distinctive vocal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bristol native Katie Sky launches her solo material after spending the past 12 months guesting on numerous dance and drum & bass tracks. Her music is sincere, but still pop â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and her instantly likeable character shines through in her music.

A platinum artist in the States with a top 3 UK single to their name, Hellogoodbye return in 2011 with a very different – but no less infectious – sound. A deluxe version of their new record ‘Would It Kill You?’ is available via LAB now.

20-year-old Oxford singer/songwriter Adam Barnes has wisdom far beyond his years. Travelling the globe in the process of playing more than 400 shows (yes, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still only 20), he spins epic stories â&#x20AC;&#x201C; some beautiful, some sad. But all uplifting.

Make A Star

Introducing the worldwide singing competition

MakeAStar.com has its origins in the early days of the web as a site for new artists to help build their careers by connecting with new fans and the music industry. Founded on a mission to provide artists with a platform to help grow their musical careers though monthly music competitions, Make A Star is a place where quality talent can gain large scale exposure - regardless of location or musical genre. MakeAStar holds monthly music and music video contests in bracket formats with $100 (£63) cash prizes given to the winners in several categories, totaling over $32,000 (£20,159) awarded. Current monthly categories are Music Video, Song by a Duo or Band, Song by Male or Female Solo Artist, Instrumental, Sing in 30 Seconds (a cappella), Rap Battle and Stand Up comedy. Artists first upload their performances to contender rounds where 100% fan votes determines who qualifies for each monthly bracket. At the start of each month, the songs and videos with the most votes advance to the bracket, where a mix of fan votes and the discerning scores of music industry judges determines who wins. Recent winners include Turkish rock singer Aydilge, Canadian electro act Connekt, Brooklyn’s Dinosaur Feathers, Chilean singer Yael Meyer and young pop-country singer Killian – all of whom have large online followings on Facebook, Twitter,YouTube and/or Last.fm. Recent British winners include Solo Artists Cherie Morgan and Charlee Drew, and the music video for The Disablists featuring

Foreign Beggars. Other recent winners of note with great potential for success include LA rapper Dayda Bass, female vocalist Melissa VanFleet and South African rock band Chasing Friday. In 2008 Make A Star TV launched a weekly half-hour show in the states on Fuse. Make A Star TV ran for 13 episodes gaining thousands of fans and new artists culminating in a $10,000 (£6,300) grand prize on the final episode of the series. http://www.makeastar.com/MakeAStarTV.asp To earn a spot on the show, performers uploaded their music video directly to MakeAStar.com and competed in bracket style matches with a mixture of fan votes and judge scores. Each week, MAS TV highlighted the best videos from the web competition, giving many artists an instant rise from web obscurity to national TV stardom. 29 artists advanced to the final phase of the contest, and included several names that have gone on to achieve measureable success: Authority Zero, Sick of Sarah and Friends For Hire to name a few. The final match featured Fools & Horses vs Zen Vendetta, and with a strong fan voting score, Zen Vendetta won the $10,000 (£6,300) grand prize. MakeAStar is currently preparing for a second season of TV in 2012 which will prove to be another exciting contest with prize limits exceeding the first season’s grand prize of $10,000 (£6,300). You can enter your audio or video performances and be competing on MakeAStar.com today!

AYDİLGE Aydilge is one of the most prominent names in the Turkish rock music scene of late, with very distinctive songs and a unique voice. In fact, Aydilge manages to get herself talked about in many arenas, not just in relation to her music. The young singer-songwriter has already written three books, reaching out to an important group of readers. Aydilge is also active in a number of social responsibility projects, as well as acting as an editor for a music magazine and hosting a weekly radio show on the İstanbul-based radio station Rock FM. Busy in all these different arenas, Aydilge's album, “Kilit” (The Lock), was also launched recently.

CHASING FRIDAY After being kicked out of their rehearsal space, guitarist Adrian ‘Oz’ James Gregory and bassist Nico Mouissie had hit a brick wall in chasing their dream of being in a kick-ass rock band. Little did they know that Andrew ‘The Mule’ Mellish was just as desperate to form a band. After searching tirelessly on the internet it was fate that they crossed paths. Three months of solid jamming followed with many songs being written, all this new 3-piece needed was a vocalist to complete their line-up. After many awkward moments trying to get rid of super-keen yet not so super-talented candidates, Mule suggested an old school buddy, Phill Black who fronted his first band, to try crack the nod. A week later Chasing Friday was born. What does Chasing Friday mean? Have you ever worked a boring 9-5 job? Are you still at school? If you can relate to this then you already know what Chasing Friday means. Chasing Friday is not just a band, its a way of life. Formed in late 2007, an unusually long Cape Town winter (carrying on into summer) couldn't stop this band from exploding onto the Cape Town music scene. The band writes catchy, groovable, interesting rock songs. It’s the kind of music that makes you want to ‘pump up the volume’ and roll down the windows when you hit a red robot. www.chasingfriday.com

KILLIAN About two years ago, at the age of twenty, Killian turned in her well-worn ballet pointe shoes for a pair of cowboy boots and a guitar. She spent her entire life in ballet studios all over the United States grooming herself for a professional ballet career. The result was two-fold: a contract with a professional ballet company at Ballet Arizona AND the distinct realization that she was much happier playing her guitar and singing in her hot car during daily lunch breaks. The lunch breaks in the car turned into cathartic songwriting sessions, often times making Killian late to ballet rehearsal. It was a difficult decision for Killian to turn her back on a lifetime of dance training and ballet performance, but while she appreciated the numerous opportunities and lessons learned during her life as a professional ballerina, Killian learned that dance did not feed her soul: music did. www.killiansmusic.com

Melissa Vanfleet

Say hello to this wonderful singer.

Raised with an appreciation for all types of music, award-winning pop artist/songwriter/pianist Melissa VanFleet has the ability to perform all genres effortlessly, combining influences from soul, rock, jazz standards and blues. She began to take music seriously upon completion of her first studio recording at age 12 and immediately fell in love with the art of creating music. A self-taught vocalist from a very early age, Melissa is also an accomplished dancer and credits her 20+ years of extensive dance training in all styles and competing experience for the acquisition of stage presence and audience connection during music performances. Her unique, strong and consistent voice, ability to play piano by ear, ever-expanding repertoire, and humble personality has earned her much appraisal among listeners. In February 2008, she was recruited from Pennsylvania to Nashville to pursue her music dreams further. From New York City's oldest rock club The Bitter End to Nashville's most preeminent listening room The Bluebird Cafe, Melissa is currently performing her original material in popular and legendary venues all over the United States. A regular performer at Ellendale's, an upscale restaurant located near Nashville International Airport, she also entertains crowds at the Drake Hotel's notorious Coq d'Or when she is in the Chicago area and was dubbed a "stellar chanteuse" by Chicago's Modern Luxury magazine. Melissa has shared the stage with many of her idols and inspirations, including the world-famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, and had the honor of being featured by one of her favorite multi-platinum rock groups Incubus on their online presence for her cover video of their hit single "Promises, Promises". As she prepares the release of her brand new EP, produced and engineered by Nashville-based producer Joel Schwamburger, her acoustic piano songs are garnering radio airplay in the UK and are streaming worldwide on Internet radio shows to millions of listeners. In her spare time, she records demos for publishers, is constantly writing new songs, and is available to perform at private parties and special events. For more information or booking enquiries, please contact: info@melissavanfleet.com

Gordon Breckenridge

Seasons of Tuscany

Gordon Breckenridge Our BIG Inspire interview with

The Tuscany artist came to Webbs Fine Art Gallery in London to showcase his work and the team at Amaze Magazine got to meet him. Tim Knight was invited down to London to meet Gordon Breckenridge thanks to Webbs Fine Art Gallery in London, who were holding an exhibition of his work and thought that he could help guide some students who were interested in art. It was a great day, and the gallery itself was a wonderful place to visit just a few minutes away from Clapham Junction. The owners have had over 30 years experience in the retail field, ten years more specifically on art, and it was clear that they not only knew what fine art was, but also how to sell and market it. Tim said ‘I had come along on the last day of the exhibition to meet this talented artist and get to know a little more about him, I had seen his work

online and thought the paintings were beautiful. I got to meet the owners too and have a little chat with them about the business. Liz said ‘We have held the exhibition for Gordon Breckenridge who has visited from Tuscany, we also did a lot more then just the exhibition too, last evening at Webbs for example we were using Farrow & Ball paints as a finish on walls and they were labelled, like an exhibition within an exhibition to do with their theme of exteriors and exterior paint themes, the colour talk was presented by a member of Farrow & Ball and we also touched on the subject of garden design and front doors, also on the subject of how colour changes under light and exposure according to the saturation of light

coming in from the north, south, in sun or daylight and so it was a very packed audience and most informative.

I know does a restaurant picture or something and they work from a picture to complete their work, I don’t...

Gordon said: Gordon enthused: during the audience with the Farrow & Balls presentation I was inspired by their colour talk of pigments and tones, light and shade.

With the Tuscan Country House painting, I drove around for six hours and eventually I found this spot and thought to myself ‘I have to paint that, I love it’ and so I went back to the same spot every morning for about a week at 7.30am until about 11.30am and then I would close up as it was getting too hot (due to being during the summer)...

After viewing the exhibition I got chance to sit down and talk with Gordon, there is a podcast available online which features the conversation. In the meantime I also wrote a few things down that I feel could help others get to know Gordon and learn about his style. Gordon Said ‘I completed my training and then started to develop my own style where I paint from life, everyone

I was working in the strong heat, it was 40 degrees when I finished this painting so it was really warm. With the strong heat of the summer the light was incredibly brilliant and when I look at this picture I can see I caught the light of the strong summer heat and that is

something that is very, very pleasing. This is the most expensive in the exhibition, its from my own collection so I believe it is around £8000, but its something that I don’t even know if I could reproduce.’ I got Gordon to answer some questions relating to helping students too, as someone who is an excellent artist, we felt it would be of great benefit. If you could give a student some advice about doing these kinds of paintings what is the advice you could give them? Paint something that you like, when your younger you won’t dance with a woman that you don’t like, and doing a painting, its the same thing, you have to have

some sort of appeal for that image and then the image will flow through your fingers if you have an attraction. I also think one of the most important things to think about is the preparations, to become professional you have to have a good base, and good artists work on good preparations, it takes years and you may not like my preparations, you may have your own, but you have to research and it can take years, one of the best ways is to start with watercolour paper. Take a 600 gram watercolour paper and if you put different colours on different papers, see how the colour is responds, with some papers 60% of the colour will disappear as the paper dries and with other paper only 10% will disappear, so

Farrow&Ball History.

painted in oil based paint require a minimum of two weeks drying time before water based paint is applied on top.

From small beginnings, the company rapidly established a reputation for quality which won it important contracts for the supply of paint to the Admiralty and the War Office. During the post-war period, while virtually all other paint manufacturers abandoned traditional formulations and switched to cheaper acrylic paints with a high plastic content, this privately owned company stuck to its craft and continued making paint to its original formulations, using the finest raw materials. Farrow & Ball was always appreciated by a loyal group of customers, and with the revival of interest in restoration and historic colours twenty years ago, its reputation began to spread. Since the turn of the century,

The range has been enhanced over the years and now offers customers an unrivalled range of elegant decorative and architectural paint finishes, along with an extraordinary collection of artisanal wallpapers made using real Farrow & Ball paints.

Farrow & Ball has been discovered by discerning customers in countries across the world, all of whom appreciate the unique Farrow & Ball look.

Farrow & Ball paints grace the walls of some of the most beautiful homes across the world. The colours and finishes are historically rooted, meticulously researched, and reflect our unique heritage. The same distinctive approach applies to our wallpaper: we are unique in using our own paints and traditional printing methods to create wallpapers of exceptional texture and beauty.

The depth and beauty of our paint colours are unmatched by other paints. We use more high quality pigments and resins and no low quality ‘fillers’, which gives our colours visibly greater depth and purity often referred to as the ‘Farrow & Ball look’. Unlike many other manufacturers we use naturally occurring pigments, such as Umbers in their purest form, and we continue to use natural ingredients such as Chalk, Lime Putty and China Clay.

Farrow & Ball painted wallpapers are quite unique as they are produced using our own environmentally friendly water based paints and traditional manufacturing methods. Our patterned wallpapers are block printed and our stripes and stries are trough printed. All our wallpapers are made to order in our factory in Dorset, home to Farrow & Ball for the past sixty years.

Our colour accuracy and quality is second to none as we have complete control over every tin of paint. All our paints are water based, eco friendly and comply with the latest EU environmental legislation regarding the VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) content of paints. Our finishes are all low in odour and classified as either low or minimal VOC. These water based paints can be applied to surfaces previously painted in an oil based finish. However, surfaces

Each wallpaper design has a unique texture which is achieved by using a hand brushing technique to apply the ‘ground’ colour. This, coupled with the application of the pattern or stripe using another layer of paint, creates wallpaper of great distinction and beauty.

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so you learn how to work with the papers and then you say ‘ok so now I want to have a canvas where it permits me to do the same thing, so my tip is to start with some good watercolour papers and learn to feel colour. Another one of the things that really helps is that you need some form of meditation when working, that means silence and some people are afraid of the silence and they have to put music on or they have to do this, or that but learn to accept the silence and when your in the silence let your hand paint. If you don’t have silence you push your hand to paint I think of it like the painting is your companion and I work that way. I understand you prepare the canvas yourself?

I only work on prepared canvas that I prepare, this painting is a double level canvas and I do a preparation on it because I feel like the colours need a tweed underneath, not that plastic kind of canvas, the colours need something to sit on and its taken me years to devise my own. Is it expensive to create the canvas yourself? Not really, but its the work behind it, the canvas preparation underneath has one level for gluing the burlap underneath and then another level of glue, and then another level of glue, and then your whitish materials that I have taken years to perfect so that when you look at it the white doesn’t just look like a white wall,

most artists are forced to use the normal canvas but it is going to look plastic afterwards if you do, with this you can see the textures, you can work on top of it, and it makes your work look like a good watercolour.

And I only work with calcium glue, it was quite difficult to find but they use it in wineries, most people work with rabbit skin glue, but it can crack, but I read in a book many years ago by a very good german restorer that the calcium glue was used in the tombs of the Egyptians , first they would put down the burlap then they would use the calcium glue with other materials so after 4000 years it was still holding out the humidity. So I thought I have to try that and I have

been using it ever since. People often come painting with me and they are amazed by how I work as I work with large pallet knives, and I do little things with large pallet knives. They ask me why I do it, but if you work with little brushes you can’t mix your colours, they get sticky, so to me a pallet knife is better. And behind any artist you must have knowledge of technique, this is another important thing, when I paint I have my steps to completing a painting.

be on the canvas, for example I don’t work with store-purchased oranges, I make my own orange by mixing colours as I feel it brings the colour to life, and this is something that again takes years to learn, its all down to experience, and there is only one person who can give you this experience, and that person is you. So basically you either draw abstract or real, but as long as you put feeling into it, and care and you don’t just throw the paint on then you will do well.

Step 1 is your values, step two is your tone, step three is your colds and warms, and then the last step is the brilliancy of that colour. What I mean by this is to consider how the colour should

Film

Where to find us: Address: 1 Burland Road Battersea London SW11 6SA Telephone: 0207 223 1733 email: gallery@webbsfineartgallery.co.uk

www.webbsfineartgallery.co.uk

Webbs Fine Art Gallery

Learn a little about the gallery and the services it can offer. Webbs Fine Art Gallery is located in South London in the picturesque area of Clapham. We have an exhibition space of 3 floors within a Victorian building. The room settings are designed to represent a real home environment. We represent on average 65 artists in rotation giving us a stock amount of around 700 original pieces of art. These range from large oil and acrylic canvases of British and European seascapes and landscapes and London, Paris and New York cityscapes. Webbs also represents artists skilled in printmaking techniques, including engravings, etchings and silk-screen, depicting subjects from still-life to landscapes and interiors. Our gallery style can be referred to as contemporary impressionism. Our selected artists are exclusive to us in London and in some cases to our gallery in England .Webbs Fine Art has built up a long established reputation of only showing full-time professional artists, with recognised qualifications and a detailed career history. We also offer a gift range including jewellery, glass and ceramics. We have over 30 years experience in framing styles, conservation and restoration techniques working with several experts in this field. Webbs Fine Art is recognised by the Fine Art Trade Guild.

Other Services

Check out the other services on offer from Webbs Fine Art Gallery Art for businesses Visit the gallery, discuss your requirements with our art consultant and make the perfect selection for your Boardroom, Offices, Restaurants, Cafe, or Bar. View at home service Our free preview service allows you to view art work in the privacy of your home before deciding upon the right piece for you. Terms and conditions apply.

GWC Illustrator Challenge We take a look back at the GWC Illustrator Challenge. In 2009 the 5ways team launched the Get Writing Challenge. The idea was to find the best new authors to write a childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book that would be released by an American Publisher called Pill Hill Press. There were over 50 entries to the Get Writing Challenge, so a shortlist was created based on the quality of the stories and how they would appeal to different age ranges. It took a while to decide upon, and it was during this time we sadly found out that one of the winners Robert Stock had passed away. Roberts entry was one of our favourites and we had hoped to build a strong relationship with him, but it was good to know we had helped to furfil a dream of his - to become a publisher author, and we were not only able to dedicate the book to him, but also his individual story to his grandchildren (who he had written the story for).

GWC IC 2012

The GWC will return later in the year and this time it will be bigger and better then ever before with a brand new management team taking over made up of our winners from last year, so if you want to get a heads up on who will be judging you then these interviews will be very important indeed! You can find out more in Edition 2 of Amaze Magazine which will be released in April 2012.

Once the winners were decided, then came the issue of how to present the stories, as the team felt something was missing and it was David Jacks who suggest getting illustrations for the stories and introduced Sushil Shrestha to the 5ways project. The Get Writing Challenge then launched the GWC Illustrator Challenge (imaginative right?) to find illustrations to go with the wonderful stories they had chosen for the book. Instantly the response was great, with some real talent shining through and over the next two editions of Amaze Magazine we will introduce you to some of the great illustrators we have found starting this month with Stella Perrett & Susan Dingle.

STELLA PERRETT

Q&A With the GWC IC Winner 2011

Do you still have any of your early work? Yes, I still have the stuff I did as a teenager. The only difference is my eyes were better in those days. I could do very detailed B&W illustrations on A4, ow I am doing \bigger work in full colour.

The piece I put into last years civil service competition is my favourite piece so far, it even won the ‘Peoples Choice Award.’ Do you like to going to exhibitions? And who inspires you?

What inspires you as an artist? Everything - nature, sights, sounds, books.

I do, the most recent was the Norman Rockwell exhibition in Feb 2011. I wouldn’t want to ‘be’ any artist, but I hugely admire people like Rockwell, Gustave Dore, and Hockney.

I specialise in book illustration. Does artistic flair run in your family? And how old were you when you discovered you had a talent? Yes, my mother was a talented artist. I knew at about 6 - I did a chalk drawing of our mad old primary school head teacher looking like a witch. I was often stood in the corner - I wonder why? Do you ever get writers block? Definitely. A drawing can sit on my board for weeks. You have to think about it all day long to figure out that one little bit that is not working for you.

What has been your favorite piece of art and why?

If you could design anything - what would it be and why? I take other peoples ideas or specifications and illustrate them, so I wouldn’t design anything myself. In 50 words describe yourself. I can’t help want to draw. I don’t always have the time, but I always have a queue of ideas waiting to get their turn on the drawing board. I am 50 now and lucky enough to be living with someone who encourages me as an artist and doesn’t mind the drawing board in the living room.

SUSAN DINGLE GWC IC Winner 2011

Susan Dingle was born in Liverpool and has lived since childhood in Wigan. She studied Graphic Design at Wigan College for two years, then Bolton Unversity of Art & Design for a further two years. “Coming out of college during the last recession meant I applied for a job in the civil service, here I am nearly eighteen years later only to now find myself working in a Contact Centre! Over the years I have kept my interests in art alive by creating portraits of animals and people, in both water colour and graphite pencil. I have also painted images of Cheshire Landmarks for a series of Christmas cards for Cheshire Council and Cheshire County Police.” Do you still have any of your early work?

No, I don’t know where it went, that’s why every little scrawl either of my two sons’ produce, I keep!

farewell dinner a few months ago at the club. He plays for Salford now. What is your ambition?

What inspires you to draw? If I’m getting paid! I love to draw organic matter, that’s what inspires me. I”m not a technical artist by any stretch. Do you ever get artists block, like writers? Constantly, I’m always searching for my mojo! What do you feel is your greatest piece of art to date?

To become a portrait artist and have a piece exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery. If you could design anything, what would it be and why? I am a qualified Graphic Designer, but I found the rigidity stiffling and prosaic. I would love to redesign the London Olympic Logo, though I’m sure I am probably not alone on that one. Do you have any other talents?

It was a piece I did recently, a portrait of a Wigan Warriors Rugby player. It was an action scene of him diving over the touchline in a match against Widnes. It was presented to him at a

I love cooking! I can make a great Egg Benedict!ple like Rockwell, Gustave Dore, and Hockney,

Next month you get to meet Emma Wallis and Sushil Shrestha

There is a train of thought that society is broken, that the economy will continue to shrink and that good jobs will become harder to find and even harder to keep. Startacus does not accept this philosophy. We believe there are thousands of hard-working & self-starting individuals coming up with innovative and exciting ways that they can create jobs for themselves, and

others. Startacus will bring self starters together, to empower, celebrate & encourage the idea maker, innovator & thinker; to help, motivate and develop a creative community & culture. When Startacus rises, you will be able to join a community that will give you the inspiration, support & motivation

to help your ideas, grow, walk & then run... You will be joining a community that bridges the gap between you, the self starter & the resources you need to flourish, where you can collaborate with other community members to make your ideas and projects, an actual reality.

Links: www.startacus.com http://theemployable.com/2012/03/12/the-rise-of-startacus-the-online-community-celebrating-the-self-starter-coming-soon/

Affordable Canvas Printing

5ways are proud to introduce you to this great service.

Introducing Affordable Printing by Tim Messon.

Canvas

They have generously donated a free canvas print to the 5ways team and we couldn’t be happier, in return we are letting you know about his services and hopefully you might like to take him up on the special offers, or simply check him out. “Affordable Canvas Printing does exactly as it says, it brings you, the customer a high quality yet affordable photo to canvas print service. The website was set up to exploit the gap in the ever growing UK print to canvas industry for high end work at a realistic price, the service we offer isn’t the typical and sometimes scary faceless upload-your-image-and-hope service, but a personal one, where all images are check for quality before printing and dvice offered every step

of the way, this means you will never get a dissapointing result. For eight years I had the luxury of printing nothing but my father Ken Messons work, see http:www.kmca. co.uk He has exhibited at the Royal Academy and we sold into very high end shops that demanded good quality print, John Lewis are a prime example of the kind of customer we supplied. Sales at our other outlets dropped as the credit crunch hit and in a moment of desperation I launched Save Tim From Bankruptcy (mates rates large canvas prints of your photos) on the social network Facebook. We can offer this service to members of the civil service at a further discount, email me direct through the website and use the code number to

receive a 10% discount off your order or simply join my Facebook page. Due to the quality of the product, a whole load of media attention and the personal service, the group now has 16000 members. It was customers desire for quality at the right price and the reassurance my approach gave them that made me see the gap in the market. We can also supply large canvas prints for corporate events, please ask via email, all contact details on the next page.. All our block canvas prints come on 2 inch deep warp resistant timber, light fast inks and 100% cotton bright white canvas.

Standard Sizes & Prices (add £10 courier delivery & packaging costs). 40x30 inches £65.00 35x25 inches £60.00 28x20 inches £55.00 21x15 inches £50.00 Telephone 0115 8440033/0115 8780589 email: tim@affordablecanvasprinting.co.uk Website: http:www.affordablecanvasprinting.co.uk Facebook: savetimfbcanvas Discount Code: Amaze536

Fighting Fit

A great way to excercise and learn focus Tim Knight was invited by the Korean Martial Arts Academy to train with them It appealed to him because it would help get him fit and it was very local indeed, in fact it was just around the corner. Having never tried martial arts before it was an experience he was looking forward to, but he was also very sceptical as he was not very fit and didn’t think he would have the commitment to continue going as he was also pretty busy, it turns out though he didn’t need to worry as it

was so much fun. The classes were small so he could get expert instruction and the rest of the class were also very friendly. There are several classes and lots of different styles of martial arts to choose from and if your willing to put in the time then you can most defiantly get yourself a black belt in no time whilst having fun along the way. Although local to Torquay, Devon, which may make it difficult for some, they can help point you in the

direction of other groups around the country. Currently you can sign up now and get a free month, plus a free uniform so it’s really great value for money. If you are local to Torquay, then why not call 01803 857197 and speak to Dave.

This Month in Literature We ihave some great interviews especially for you. This month in the literature section you will meet some very interesting people. 5ways launched the Get Writing Challenge last year which looked to find the best writing to complete a book of children’s suspense & adventure stories which would be published by an american publishing company called Pill Hill Press and released to online retailers.

From Russell Payne who is a published author & creative type, to Tim Knight, an Emmy Award winning Broadcast Journalist...

Pill Hill Press bought a “haunted house” in 2007 in Western Nebraska and decided to convert part of the old, spooky Victorian into a small press that celebrates speculative fiction and now have a variety of open submissions available for people to take part in and books to buy from their excellent authors.

You also get to learn more about one of our team members Frank Chueng, and find out about the Get Writing Challenge Season 2, and the What’s my Story? project which we hope to launch next year as our biggest project to date.

Specialising in horror, suspense, dark fantasy and science fiction the GWC was a first for them too but they have been excellent in helping us create a wonderful challenge for our creative community and to thank them we have given them this special feature in the first edition of our magazine.

If you want to be featured in the Literature section of Amaze Magazine all you need to do is send us your

article via the website and a member of our team will come back to you. We are open to most kinds of articles and you don’t need to worry about designing it as long as you have it in written form then that is enough as we will work with you to design the layout of your article should you be chosen. Also don’t forget you will need at least two hi-res photographs and the word limit should not exceed 1000 words. You can also visit the website where you will find more details on upcoming articles we already have planned. We are looking for articles that give students/creative types a chance to

learn about the literature industry, from what it is like to work in the industry, to your understanding of how to do things and/or perhaps you have a certain project you would like to highight to our readers so that they can possibly help you out a little? You can also choose to advertise within the literature section and you can find out how on our website under the advertising FAQ or BUY tab, we offer a wide range of advertising services to suit any budget and you can also find that we will provide you with lots of rewards from getting a free feature article written about you or your service, to gaining a free 5star logo and/or placement in our Friends of 5ways page or Sponsors page.

After her mother's death, sixteen-year-old Carly Morneau is uprooted from the Twin Cities to the shoreside town of Sterling, Minnesota, but it is only after meeting mysterious Gabriel that she realizes why. She soon discovers her lineage as a full-blood shapeshifter, and the vampire-like creatures intent on taking her life. Carly is forced to rely on her father and new friends until she is able to fulfill her destiny and shift into her primary form-a small, white fox for the very first time.

www.pillhillpress.com

Books available from Pill Hill Press:

Another Inspire Interview! Tim Knight

No... This isn’t the 5ways founder, but a rather more interesting person, it’s an Emmy Award Winning Broadcast Journalist Tim Knight is an Emmy Award winning broadcast journalist. He’s been a journalist, film-maker, writer, on-air performer, interviewer and communications coach for some 40 years. He’s led broadcast Journalism training workshops for thousands of journalists at hundreds of workshops in more than a dozen countries. Now he’s using his unique writing, performing and interviewing expertise to offer workshops for non-journalists on how to write and deliver power speeches and give great interview. The 5ways team will have a lot of projects that will involve people getting up in front of a camera and talking to the audience. Is there any advice you could give to those who would perhaps feel a little nervous about doing it?

The most important thing I can suggest is to focus your speech so there is one — and only one — main message running like a river throughout. Write down the focus. It should be a tight, taught, vivid single sentence containing cause and effect, driving the entire speech. Layout should follow the classic storytelling structure. First, context, then foreshadowing, followed by dramatic development, the ever-popular climax and, if necessary, denouement. Don’t read it. Reading aloud is the least effective way of passing on information that humankind has ever invented. Write it down, rehearse it, then use the written words as a guide, not holy script. My second suggestion is to buy my book Storytelling and the Anima Factor (Amazon, www.lulu.com) which is about journalism but has a lot of brilliant stuff covering performance.

Third suggestion is, perhaps, a wee dram of the strong stuff to loosen the tongue and tighten the sinews. Is there anyone who really stands out for you as an excellent Journalist? Don’t know enough about British journalism any more to answer safely although I have great respect for such as John Pilger. However, if you get Fox News remember that its “journalists” are actually no more than rather garish entertainers in debt to the U.S. Republican party and Rupert Murdoch. Among the best from the U.S. are Christiane Amanpour, now of ABC, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper. There is a changing mind set within the civil service where innovation and creativity is coming into it’s own, but it is going to be difficult to merge those innovative and creative ideas with the rigid

boundaries of the civil service, if someone had to try and persuade others to come on board their project was deemed a little out there) is there any advice about how someone should present themselves? I was codswalloped when you told me there’s actually such a wind of change wafting through Whitehall’s stultified corridors of power. Sir Humphrey Appleby of Yes, Prime Minister would be appalled at such heresy. Certainly no self-respecting Canadian civil servant would harbour these traitorous thoughts. Have you British civil servants no shame? However, to answer the question, I believe the key to bringing about real change in any organization is to walk softly and hide the big stick. Keep in mind that even civil servants want to do the best they can, under the circumstances, at the time. Which means you have to give to get if you

want to successfully introduce threatening change (and all change is threatening). Suggest that innovation and creativity will actually be good for your people. It will bring about a much needed respect for the instittions of governance and — more particularly — for themselves. That their own self-respect will be enhanced and they’ll sleep better at night. That, for a change, their spouses and children will look up at them with awe and reverence. That public service is, in fact, among the most honourable of all careers. And that institutions that don’t change with the times will surely die. You have had a fantastic career, are there any highlights that really stand out? Aw shucks! When you judge my career you merely read my résumé...

What’s left out, of course, is all the screwups along the way. Highlights … there’ve been a few. Like being invited to Nelson Mandela’s 81st birthday party. And being captured by rebels in the Congo, a somewhat less salubrious occasion. And winning Emmy and Sigma Delta Chi awards. Overall though, the single highlight has been the opportunity to spread my concept of journalism as public service to peers and colleagues in a dozen or so countries. It’s a cause eerily like your own. Has there ever been a time when you have not succeeded? Or pulled back a broadcast from the brink of disaster? back from the brink of disaster, that’s what a TV producer/director does. Rather often. My theory is that if

MEETING NELSON MANDELLA

if you’re successful at that more than half the time, you’re doing rather well. Where do you think your creativity comes from? Any creativity I have springs from necessity and desperation. I failed matric because I was utterly unable to master even the most udimentary elements of algebra or French irregular verbs, but could actually write simple English. Which meant I didn’t have to dig ditches for the rest of my life but could qualify for the Fourth Estate which I joined at the tender age of 17. Being able to write also disqualified me from a career in anybody’s civil service. Creativity itself, I think, comes out of having a curious andbloody-minded nature and not being satisfied with whatever is the conventional wisdom or status quo. Why did you choose to become a

broadcast journalist? And how do you feel now that you’re in the position to teach others? As I explained earlier, journalism chose me. For which I’m eternally grateful. Which, I guess,is part of the reason I’ve spent so many years trying to give something back to journalism. I’ve been granted a great gift (some skills in journalism and the practice and training thereof) and it would be at the peril of my immortal soul for me to merely accept that gift and not reciprocate. I truly believe that as journalism goes, so goes democracy is that if you’re successful at that more than half the time, you’re doing rather well. What are your plans for the future? Outside my window the Canadian snow is falling and everything’s white. The white I desire is white sand on a beach ringed with palm trees next to

a warm sea, 100 feet under which I glide and blow bubbles while hoping/ fearing to meet sharks. When back on that white sand, I would dearly love to receive requests for my training and/or film-making services so I can eat and drink in a manner to which I would like to become accustomed. Have you ever considered moving to England? Actually, I was born in Amersham, Bucks, and delight in re-visiting this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. But England is curiously bereft of palm trees, white sands and sharks. However, if offered obscene amounts of money, anything’s possible.

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To place an order by check or money order, please email pillhillpress@ gmail.com for details. 59

Russell Payne

Is a published author, filmmaker, and all round creative type, he also works for the government & helps out 5ways on various aspects of running the website.

available second-hand or on ebay. I also have some copies in my loft. Russell is a great friend of 5ways & a talented writer. Can you introduce yourself to our readers? Let us know a little more about your career within the creative industry and what your passions are? I’m Russell Payne. I’m a writer, that’s probably what I’m best known for, but I’m also an artist, filmaker & musician. I’ve written under several different pseudonyms over the years, sometimes out of a desire to keep my work fresh, but often just out of mild embarrassment at the end product.

I like to write humour, but you can find humour in just about anything, except possibly breakfast television, so I’ve writtn for all sorts of genres. I’m probably best known for the BBC Blog I used to write “Morris Telford’s Salopian Odyssey” and the subsequent novel. I’ve written fictional blogs, novels, comics, screenplays, poetry, magazine, newspaper and online articles and the occasional get

well soon card. I’m co-founder of the production company Tiny Lapel, I’ve spent the last three years working on a government communications team making films and designing posters and animations as a day job and writing in the evenings & weekends.

Adams meets Button Moon” which I was very happy with as I’m a massive fan of the works of both Douglas & Mr Spoon.

What has been your favourite piece of work?

For filming? At work I use a Sony HVR-VE digital camcorder, recording in HD on DVCAM tapes, boom mic and a three light rig. I’d just recommend using the best kit you can afford, you can film in digital HD now at a fraction of what it used to cost, make sure you have good lighting and sound, the rest is the really important bit though, what you put into it of yourself, I’d rather watch an original & clever movie on low-fi film than a predictable & dull HD movie.

That’s a really hard question; I’m a fan of all my work. I did a government film where I got to dress up as a bear. We shot the whole thing in single frames, like live stop motion and set it to music. A bear in a business suit and tie. It really doesn’t get much better then that. I wrote a book quite a few years ago that I’m very found of called “American Spoon Indigo”. It was a hard-boiled detective noir thriller where all the main characters were items of cutlery. One review cleverly described it as “Douglas

What equipment do you use? And what would you recommend?

Who are your heroes? Jack Kirby. He was probably the most creative mind that’s ever lived, and yet inexplicably he’s not all that well known. He died 18yrs ago and yet still his imagination resonates with people, some of the biggest movies this year are based on his ideas. He didn’t just create stories, he filled universes.

Where can we buy your books?

I’m giving some talks and hosting panels this year looking at the enormous impact of Jack Kirby on modern culture and supporting the work of Jack Kirby Museum and Research Centre. I’m a guest at the 2012 Cardiff International Film & Animation Expo, signing and giving talks, come over and say hello if you see me. I’ll sign something for you, even if I didn’t write it.

I’m available at all good bookshops. Morris Telford is on Amazon in hardback, paperback, and on Kindle and some of my other out-of-print stuff is

I’m also an admirer of the life and works of performance poet Jim Erasmus Lime Templeton, which isn’t all that well known and actively

avoids media exposure, but if you get the chance to see him live, he is the absolute best at what he does. Who else? I know this is cheese, but my wife & kids, they can always be trusted to give me honest, sometimes brutal feedback. And Batman obviously. What advice would you give someone looking to break into your industry? Create a product, a finished package, make something you’re proud of that reflects your talents, and put it out there so people can see what you’re capable of. You’d be amazed how many people say “I’m an artist” or “I want to be a writer” but have never actually finished a single thing. Meet people. Most aspects of the creative industry don’t really advertise at jobcentres, put yourself out there, go to conventions, get to know people, make friends, be nice, eventually one of them will think of your name when work comes along and once your foot is in the door, you find out if your talent is worth

anything. Get involved with creative communities like DeviantART or 5ways, open yourself up to collaboration, bouncing off other people can enhance your work. I like to work alone, but I’ve also been fortunate enough to collaborate with some very talented people over the years. Remember there’s a world full of very talented creative artists out there who struggle to make a living, so don’t think just because you’re struggling you’re no good. I mean you might well be completely terrible, but commercial failure is not necessarily artistic failure, at least that’s what I tell myself when I’m sat in my bedsit eating an out-of-date Pot Noodle as my only meal of the day. Whatever medium you work in, try to find space to do what you enjoy doing, it will come across in your art, the harsh reality of commercial art is that you often end up doing things you’re not all that enthusiastic about. It’s better to produce work you’re proud of, than work that pays well.

BUY

And never listen to advice you read in interviews, you’ll starve. How do you juggle your filming and other passions with your work?

Our brand new book created by the winners of the Get Writing You can order our brand new book from all good online retailers including Amazon & Pill Hill Press.

I work smart, not hard and I haven’t slept since 1993

‘A Collection of Children’s Adventure & Suspense Stories’ showcases the best new writing talent from around the UK thanks to our competition that was launched last year.

LINKSRussell Payne official website – http:///www.rabid.oneuk.com Russell Payne’s books on Amazon – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Payne/e/B004Q441R4 TinyLapel on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/tinylapelstudios/videos Cardiff International Film and Animation Expo http://www.fantasyevents.org/cicae/index.html The Jack Kirby Museum - http://kirbymuseum.org/

Advertise with us Reach a new audience with an advert in Amaze Magazine. 5ways are proud to announce your chance to advertise with us and we have a variety of great options for you that will be good for your wallet and good for your business in general. You can choose between a double a4 page, a single a4 page, a small banner, or even product placement or advertising on our website. The prices can be as low as just £75 and you can get a complete design service from our team. EVERY advertiser can even take advantage of a great range of extra benefits including being placed on our Friends of 5ways page, and

being awarded our special 5star logo, just to name a few... Our friendly team offer a personalised service and we even include a late entry service at no extra cost. Adverts should be placed by the 20th of the month you wish to advertise, and the advert should be sent as a jpg file to: timknight81@gmail.com You can also call 01803 459689 but please be aware our team are out the office quite a lot so don’t be offended if we don’t answer.

Look our in our April edition for news relating to the brand new GWC launchings soon.

FAST 5 interview

Frank Chueng

Meet our IT volunteer who has helped 5ways reach new heights.

Basically who are you? Tell us more about what you do. I am a Dutch-born Chinese software developer. Having lived in Netherlands and UK in the past. I have been resident in the UK for over 15yrs now. I am interested in all aspects of software development (mobile, web, databases) because I like variety in my work. In my spare time I enjoy swimming, tennis and spending time with family & friends. What has been your proudest career moment? Not really a career moment, but when I was about 15 I entered and won a joint school game programming competition. This memory stuck in my mind because I remember staying up many nights to finish my entry.

What do you like about 5ways? Platforms like 5ways can provide great opportunities for young people to showcase their talents and motivate them towards doing what they love. What has been your greatest challenge? (relating to your career). I managed a team of software developers for a number of years. Although I found it easy at first, when problems start developing in the project your skills as a manager are really tested. You need to be on top of your game. What advice can you give to people who want to do something similar to you?

Life is too short so make sure you love what you do. Contributing to open source projects to build up a profile and getting some certified accreditations can help you get your foot in the door I recommend reading ‘The Clean Codes’by Robert C. Martin for a great insight in what it takes to be a professional developer. What are the pitfalls of your industry? As Robert C. Martin highlights in his book, you have to take a certain responsibility for your own career. That means above all else keeping your skills up-to-date and marketable. Subscribing to podcasts, blogs, video tutorials, newsgroups and attending regular developer events all help.

Worcestershire Film Festival is the countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first ever celebration of film created by members of the 5ways team as their special film project. With events running throughout 2012, the festival is all about placing Worcestershire on the film-making map. 5ways decided to do an article about the project so that our readers could think about what they could do in thier local area to generate interest in film-making & creative media in general. If your an aspiring artist, film-maker, musician, etc... then promoting events like these and/or creating events only serve to further your chances of finding employment or making a living out of the thing you love to do the most, so when reading this article think about the journey the team have taken and ask yourself if you could do the same thing or something similar?

2012 will be a year of film, not just because there will be some exciting releases, but because Worcestershire is going to have its first ever film festival. It all came about last year, Wocester City Council held a public conversation about developing the city, called Future Plan. One of the questions asked was about arts amenities and what was missing. Several people mentioned film, saying that there were festivals in neighbouring areas such as Cheltenham & Herefordshire but nothing local. There was also talk of a lack of film screening venues other than for the mainstream releases. One of the responsdents, Simon Munn, decided to begin bringing ideas together, there was a newspaper article and Worcestershire Film Festival was born.

Since then, there have been some consultations held, a public survey and a lot of conversations, Simon quickly set up a website and linked to the online communities that had been discussing film. In the summer, a public survey was held both online and in real life. the survery set out to research the publicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cinema going experience and a huge 98% were in favour of a film festival. Because more than half were asked in person, there was a good cross section of people and what really came over was teh passion and nostalgia we all have for cinema. In August, there was a collaboration with Worcester Music Festival where the art of soundtracks was explored. There was a challenge inviting musicians to submit scores to four film scenes. the response was fantastic and culminated to a workshop where attendees brought in instuments and wrote two original soundtracks to a ficticious film. Both recordings can be listened to on the website.

Looking to 2012, the Festival has three key aims. To celebrate the art of film & film-making in Worcestershre (and beyond)

during the war, the ‘golden era’ and its demise in the 70’s by running this intergenerational project.

To gauge public interest in the potential for an indepedent cinema in Worcestershire City

From January to March 2012, there will be an interesting exhibition held at the Worcester Arts Gallery & Museum that will depict cinema heritage with photographs of old buildings, a projector, kindly donated by the Odeon Cinema, ticket stubbs & old film-making equipment.

A cinema heritage project has just begun, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. This project will look at trends and the changes that have taken place over the last century. It will examine, by looking at records and capturing oral histories, the films people watched at the cinema, the picture houses themselves, and the expreiences of the way the businesses were run compared to now. Simon adds. ‘We will take the journey of the rise of cinema, its importance for news coverage

Afterwards, the festical will leave Worcester and begin a tour around the country. Cinema Heritage worker Lisa Buckley, says ‘We really want to engage with people across the country and collect a rounded history of cinema for the area and taking the Film Festival outside is a fantastic opportunity to do this. The local events will bring together film-makers and offer them a chance to show their pictures on a public screen, whilst promoting the main event.

To ignite participant’s interest in local film-making & insipre them to create

The main event will be over a weekend in November. This will collate everything that has happened, the best from the local events, music from the soundtrack project, a gallery, a short film competition and much, much, much more. Simon adds ‘We’re working with a variety of partners to celebrate film, and it is very exciting. I’m overwhelmed by all the offers of support from everyone and I hope people are inspired by the festival. Worcestershire Film Festival is coming in 2012 and all events will be free to attend. For more details check: www.worcestershirefilmfestival.co.uk

For more specific information please contact Simon on: simon@worcestershirefilmfesitval.co.uk

http://www.indiegogo.com/I-Have-a-Bad-Feeling-About-This I have a GOOD feeling about this

The film trying to gain IndieGoGo funding asks for help in March 2012 If you have seen the promo then you have seen what we can do with just £300.00. We’re asking for $16000 (£10000) to make a micro-budget feature to promote through contacts we have made at Hurricane Films and get the film screened at as many events and festivals as possible. We’ve chosen the fixed 30 day option for our IndieGoGo campaign because in order o complete the film and furfil our perks, we would need at least $16000. We don’t want to waste anybodies time or money, so if you donate and we don’t meet our target in 30days, you get a full refund. Simple as that. In order for the film to be cost-effective we need to shoot it through the summer months. We expect the shoot (including second unit) to take about 32 days. Depending on how quickly we move through pre-production, we hope to have everything for the film shot by September 2012, and have the film completed and ready to find a distributor by the end of Summer 2013.

Rewards for YOU The team behind the film are offering a variety of rewards for helping to fund the project which you can find on their IndieGoGo page and there is a lot to gain from supporting this great film, from getting a DVD to actually filming on location with them whilst the shoot the full feature length film. You can find out more by visiting their page on IndieGoGo and we will be catching up with them in April.

Tony Briggs

We speak to the world famous photographer thanks to the Red Gallery.

Another Inspire Interview!

You have worked with some amazing people, how does it feel to look back and say 'I did this' when thinking about them? I don't really think back too much as I see all my favourite pictures pretty regularly, through producing my books and my website. Looking at them today I think they're all self portraits, just taken through other people. What advice could you give to students looking to go freelance? Don't. Do something else. There are too many photographers. I'm quite cynical about it these days, to me photography has been totally devalued by the digital revolution and is a completely different art form and business than it used to be only a decade ago. The way photographers take pictures (digitally & photoshoped) and promote their work (through websites and social media) is incomparable to lighting something beautifully, shooting it on film, processing and producing your own work by hand and showing a hand made book of prints to real people face to face. But its early days I'm sure it will even out in time. There will obviously always be great photographers. What equipment do you use? What equipment would you avoid? I still use the same Hasselblad i have used for 20years with the same handful of Carl Zeiss lenses. Admittedly for day to day work, I use my Nikon digital kit but i spend time making the shots look as unique and as 'like film' as possible. I avoid everything else. If there was one person you could do a shoot with who would it be and why?

Originally shot for the FACE Magazine in 1992, these pictures of Kate Moss were shot as part of a hair fashion piece ‘Haute Coiffure’ for Fish Hairdressing in Soho. They were forgotten and lost in storage until found and printed for the first time for Tony’s FORTY exhibition in 2007. These shots, taken when Kate was still only 17 and ‘unknown’, marked the beginning of her meteoric career, and were the first to feature full studio make up and hair styling.

Ricky Gervais until recently so no one really. Oh actually, Tilda Swinton. How has the recession hit the industry from your standpoint? I have worked for the same agencies and artists for many years so I haven't noticed much of difference but I have always tried to pick and choose who I work with.....but I’ve noticed that it is becoming a luxury. What are your plans for the future? To eat something then walk the dogs.

www.tonybiggs.com 79

Film

Defeating the Dragons

Allies in Innovation Our first face-to-face

The 5ways founder teams up with Tactix4 to create the award winning Open Me Project.

The journey was an unexpected one for the 5ways team when they started Open Me. Easily one of the biggest success stories so far for the team, the Open Me project captured the interest of Tactix4 and together as one they slayed the NHS Dragons Den. The DotGovLabs website launched a competition in 2011 to find new ways to help people & reduce costs within the NHS on behalf of the NHS Institute for Innovation & their Healthcare Challenges. Tim Knight put forward his idea, which was to find a way to make software within the NHS open-source so that they could literally save millions of pounds per year and instant-

An interesting fact is that the team behind 5ways have never actually met, they do everything online with each other, but the Dragons Den event in London gave Russell & Tim their first chance to come face-to-face where they also got to meet Robert Dyke who was an integral part of the Open Me project and has long-given advice to the 5ways project.

ly Rob Dyke from Tactix4 stepped forward and together they worked out an answer, a codeforge which Tactix4 had been developing with the CFH eHealth Open Source Group.

Russell Payne met Tim Knight through the DWP Idea Street platform and they have been firm online friends ever since, so it was great that they finally got to meet in person.

It became a runaway hit on the DotGovLabs website hitting the top spot of the leaderboard where it remained until just before the shortlist announcement. John Pophams ‘Free Internet for Patients’ just pipped the Open Me project to the top spot at the last moment, but none the less it was shortlisted for the live Dragons Den where Tim Knight & Rob Dyke would face a panel of experts made up of NHS & DotGovLabs members.

They were invited to London where they would have to battle it out with the other shortlisted entries and what was really impressive was the fact that until that point Rob Dyke & Tim Knight had never actually met and had used the power of social media to stay in contact and work together. The event itself was hosted at the RSA in London and the idea was that each of the shortlisted entries would have a ten minute pitch/Q&A session to showcase what their project could achieve should it win and the Dragons would

decide upon their favourite entry based upon what project they felt would have the most promise. Tim & Rob waited for what seemed like forever before finally being told they had won, recieving a certificate and £5000.00 for their efforts. The project was featured in the Guardian Professional, and all over the internet with several hospitals signing up to the service.

Get Involved. If your a hospital and think you could benefit from the Open ME project then you can contact Tactix4 who will happily help you to get involved with the project. Maybe your a developer and think you can lend your skills to the pre-existing or new projects, if you are then you can contact Tactix4 via email: info@tactix4.com