BeExposed Issue#8: Digital Jungle by BeExposed

Issue 8

featuring Jakwob

Editor’s Note Where are you going this summer? Are you jetting off to Ibiza, exploring the exotic in Asia or doing a staycation and festivals in the UK. No matter where you go, we bet you will be sharing your experiences on social media? We aren’t judging, we love the #traveltuesday, but are we really making the most of our meticulously planned ‘adventures?’ Or are we working through a virtual tick list to write home about? Harriet Dixon has been wondering how her news feed shapes her holiday decisions. Ellie Matthews has discovered another side effect of social media, she has been getting hungry stalking food-stagramers and discovering the current backlash from World class restaurants against diners who consider themselves ‘food critics’. With the #food accumulating over 181,023,901 posts on Instagram do the chefs have a point about their food being devalued or are they just getting hangry? Meanwhile, we have been on the move, we have refreshed our website to bring you more of the best creative talent, stories and beautiful imagery. And Editor Helen has moved to Hong Kong to expand our team into Asia and discover new trends and talking points. You can pick up on our exotic flavours in our beautifully dark and mysterious editorials with Heavy Petal fashion and What lies beneath beauty. And don’t forget to prepare your tunes for beach time chilling, with our issue 8 ‘digital jungle’ playlist. Download the whole issue to your iPad to get up close and personal with our cover star Jakwob as he discusses the future of electronic music, his record label and the direction of the music industry. Enjoy your adventures and explorations this summer.

Tiffany & Helen xxx 3

Contents

Contributors

Gap Yah

BeInstyle: Get the look

Heavy Petal: Fashion editorial

Meet the designers

Jungle Fever: Accessories editorial

Interview with an artist: Tom Sewell

beBeautiful: What lies beneath

BeHeard: An interview with Jakwob

Top European festivals

One to Watch: Young Wonders

Digital jungle playlist

BeGourmet: Rise of the Food-stagrammer 76 H2-g0

Contributors 01 Francesca McKay - BeGourmet Think beyond standard Evian, in this issue Francesca explores an array of tempting H2o so you will never grow bored of rehydration again. 02 Harriet Dixon - Features Writer Has technology made the world smaller and less exciting? Features writer Harriet explores the interferences technology and social media has on our so called “get away” holidays. 03 Ellie Matthews - BeGourmet Does being a serial food-stagrammer instantly make you a food critic? Our new food writer Ellie explores our addiction to documenting every mouthful and the frustrations this causes our co-diners. 04 Jemma Pearson - Still Life Photographer Jemma is fast becoming one of our favorite still life photographers, so we invited her back to shoot our alluring summer accessories. 05 Rob Parfitt - Photographer Rob is known for his skills in portraiture photography so who best to shoot our cover star Jakwob and our Beauty series “What lies beneath”. 06 Lawrence Linnell - Music Editor Lawrence caught up with one of our favorite producers (and it’s not only because we envy his long glossy hair) to get low down on successes and next steps in the industry. 07 Will Harper - Co Stylist Always a ray of sunshine at our shoots so we had to get Will back to contribute to the styling and production of our fashion editorial. 08 Rachel Evans - Music Editor Still not letting go of the festival season? Rachael tells us about her top 3 European festivals that cannot be missed! She also interviewed Young Wonders who we are supporting in our “One to watch” this issue. 09 Jolanda Coetzer - Beauty Editor Jolanda never fails to amaze us with her skilled makeup hand. She beautifully transformed our models in both our Beauty and Fashion editorials. 10 Ugne Pouwell - Phtographer Ugnes work cannot be ignored, she is the skilled eye behind our rich and atmospheric fashion editorial. Still studying at the University of Westminster, we feel Ugnes talent will take her very far, watch her space.

Gap Yah! Has technology made the World smaller and less exciting? And travelling a mere tick list with a ‘been there done that’ attitude to brag about on social media? Or does being able o share images and stories from far flung places inspire others to go, see and do?

Text: Harriet Dixon

around West Europe, covering 6 cities and 4 countries. At the beginning of the trip we made a vow that we wouldn’t go to any chain restaurants or coffee shops. It sounds like an easy thing to do but faced with the familiarity of a Starbucks on every corner, it took a conscious effort to resist our habits. The whole point of holidays is to escape the familiarity and mania of our lives, but ironically, with all the booking, budgeting and itinerary-planning, they can very easily become stressful. Travelling can become one long ‘tick-list’; covered in neon body paint at a Full Moon Party (tick), tubing in Cambodia (tick), bungeejumping in New Zealand (tick), road trip down the Gold Coast (tick). Are we merely following a welltrodden path of clichés that we think we ‘should’ do instead of treasuring every step, mode of transport and conversation with a stranger that gets us to our destination? Dan Kieran, the author of ‘The Idle Traveller’, has discovered what (he thinks) it really means to ‘travel’. His fear of flying has forced him to find weird and wonderful ways to see the world and, whilst travelling across Europe by train, bus, and donkey (I imagine), he came to the conclusion that “now we can move so quickly around the world, most of us don’t actually travel any more, we only arrive”. I can certainly concur with this; during my inter-railing holiday, I came to realise how magical train travel can be. There is something so romantic and nostalgic about it; in those 2 weeks I felt like I really ‘saw’ the countries, not just the big cities we were visiting, but the outer-city areas, the countryside, the middle

Gap year. Or should I say, gap YAH, as it has universally become known since the (hilarious) video of ‘Orlando’, a stereotype of a toff, appeared on YouTube a few years ago. A glance at the satirical oracle for all 20-somethings, Urban Dictionary, perfectly epitomises the disparaging way in which they have become to be viewed in a typically British cynical way: “Gap yah: The name given to the year that posh kids spend travelling the world using daddy’s money after leaving their expensive private school”. As it happens, I was lucky enough (or rather, worked my arse off doing 3 jobs with no financial help from my ‘rich daddy’) to have a completely magical, beautiful, ridiculously fun 2 months travelling from Kenya to Cape Town on a big yellow bus with my best friend (and meeting a whole host of amazing people en route). It’s amazing to think Facebook was in its infancy during my trip; the world has become a dramatically smaller place since then: social media has eroded time zones; everything is instantaneous. With this shift comes the unnerving question: is there anything new to do anymore? Is there anywhere someone on your Facebook feed HASN’T been? Should we just stay at home and stalk strangers on Instagram instead? The sense that the world is shrinking and becoming increasingly homogenous is palpable. McDonalds and Starbucks are not only global institutions but have become the barometer of how developed (i.e. Westernised) a nation or city is. Last summer my dear friend and I spent 2 brilliant weeks inter-railing

‘Are we merely following a welltrodden path of clichés that we think we ‘should’ do?’

‘Is there anywhere somewhere on your Facebook feed HASN’T been? Should we just stay at home and stalk strangers on Instagram instead?’

of nowhere. It made me realise how isolating and blinkered travelling by air can be; instead of being transported from one Western airport to another, I was seeing the unseen chapters of the guide books. Clearly, Western Europe is hardly remote, but it was exhilarating to climb on board a decrepit old train and not really know where I was until we arrived at our destination. Travelling is as much about exploring your own mind as it is the country you are in. I’ve discovered recently that actually, it doesn’t really matter WHERE you go, as long as you DO. A weekend anywhere away from where you live and all the stresses and strains associated with daily life, whether it’s Bristol or Bangladesh, it is enough (for me anyway) to reset and refresh my mindset. I can’t promise that I’ll never have a ‘cliché’ holiday again, clearly these beautiful places are popular for a reason! But the words in ‘The Idle Traveller’ have really made me think about why I’m going on holiday and what I do when I’m there. In no way can I hold a moral highground on typical holiday behaviour; do I ‘check in’ with Facebook at airports? Hell yeh! Do I Instagram sunsets? Guilty! Have I got a photo of myself wrestling a tiger in Asia? Oh no wait, that’s what EVERY GUY on Tinder has on their profile. But maybe I need to stop being such a smug show-off and log out of Facebook, turn my phone off and actually live in the moment and really see the place I’ve spent a month’s salary and 7 days’ annual leave on.

Mawi The namesake of this brand Mawi Keivom was born in Manipur, India, where a creatively rich upbringing and globetrotting childhood inspired her eclectic style. After studying fashion design and moving to London the brand started with a charm necklace, a customised piece of her own jewels and baubles, creating a high end costume jewellery look. Alongside her husband Tim the Mawi brand has grown to be an international brand for those looking for a dynamic, luxury piece with a fun element. mawi.co.uk

COMPETITION: We are giving away this beautiful Mawi necklace shot by our talented still life photographer Jemma Pearson. To win the necklace all you need to do is follow our Instagram page @BeExposed_ or find us through our hashtag #beexposed_ then simply repost this photo making sure you include the hashtages #BeInStyle #BeExposed #Mawi . The lucky winner will be chosen 10 at random and contacted on Instagram so get posting!

House of Hackney House of Hackney takes the ‘beige out of interiors’. Husband and wife duo Javvy M Royle and Frieda Gormley launched the brand in 2010 and it has expanded into a mecca of print, luxury and quirky cool all in an East End townhouse. Their latest collaboration is with super brand Puma; combining classic elements from each brand to bring a newness to the humble trainer (or in this case the Becker OG shoes that saw Boris Becker win at Wimbledon in 85). houseofhackney.com

Mona Mona is a luxury swimwear brand from Irish print designer Carla Johnson, all made in the UK. The brand draws inspiration from Carla’s love to travel and she creates the swimwear through the eyes of her enigmatic alter ego Mona, a dark siren borne of Irish folklore. The latest collection comprises seriously flattering bikinis, swimwear, kimonos, sarongs and leggings which are by no means shy with their bold, statement prints. monaswims.com

Aranaz Aranaz is a fashion accessories label based in Manila and run by a family trio (Becky Aranaz and her two daughters). The company celebrates the familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Philippino heritage and uses traditional hand craftsmanship to make modern and fun accessories, a perfect blend between polished and artisanal. We particularly love the beautifully shaped Pina bag which comes in carved wood or colourful and patterned tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nalak, both with a brass leaf top. aranaz.ph

Lisa King Lisa King is a London based print designer know best for her unique prints and scarf collections. Launching in 2013 Lisa brings influences from her childhood in Thailand, using fabrics, prints and shapes that evoke the beach lifestyle of her home. There is a great variety of prints in the collection which now also features swimwear and they are like wearable pieces of art. We particularly love this scarf which features the Betta or plakad (biting fish) from the waters of the Mekhong Riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s floodplains and rice paddies since the 19th century. Beautiful but deadly the breeding of these carnivorous fish for gambling is now illegal. lisakinglondon.com

Luxe City guides If you are off on a summer escape donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to pack your LUXE city guide. These guides get straight to the point talking about the hottest hotels, bar, restaurants, shops and places to visit without pretending you want a history lesson on every single ancient building you pass. There is also a handy app with topics updated monthly, so you can carry all the essential info in your pocket as you roam the streets in search of adventure. luxecityguides.com

RachelAlex Established by sisters Rachel and Alex, this Sydney based, contemporary womenswear label launched at Fashion week Australia 2014, where they were noticed as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;designers to watchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Alex was also awarded the Vogue award for her graduate collection and then showed at Pret a Porter in Paris. Bold digitally engineered prints are created from their own illustrations and photos and the aesthetic is structured yet feminine. rachelalex.net

Finlay&Co Finlay & Co was launched in 2012 by four friends who wanted to create unique, desirable and wearable eyewear. This brand first caught our eye with their unusual and beautiful wooden frames. The frames are super high quality using only the best materials and with polarised lenses as standard, providing full UVA and UVB protection. The brand have now added acetate frames to their collection in their Draycott, Hudson and Pembroke styles; we love the mirrored lenses in a variety of hues. finlayandco.com

Aloha from Deer Aloha from Deer is a crazy, riot of pattern and colour. Using mainly sublimation printing they apply pictures of pretty much anything from Pandas to cupcakes and forests to all kinds of apparel and accessories, such as swimwear, jumpers, leggings. This is one for the bold and the brave, perfect for festival season. alohafromdeer.com

Alexander White Originally starting off in fashion design Alexander worked with top brands such as Erdem and Giles Deacon. However his passion lay in footwear and so after attending the prestigious Cordwainers college he set up his own label in 2014. Alexander believes that a pair of beautiful shoes changes the way a woman presents herself and his passion is to make women feel special. Well, we will feel very special with these high shine, pink, pointed beauties on! alexanderwhitelondon.com

Heavy Petal Production and art direction: Helen Butcher and Tiffany Baron Photographer: Ugne Pouwell Photographers assistant: Riccardo Branca MUA and hair, beauty editor: Jolanda Coetzer Stylist: Will Harper Models: Billie Jean@Nevâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s model management and Sofia Adamson

Sunglasses: This page and opposite, both Quay, Hat: Ashley Isham, Swimsuit: Rosa Frances Silva

Sofia wears: Visor: Stylists own, Swimsuit: Ella Henry. Billie Jean wears: Sunglasses: Quay, Bikini: Ella Henry

Head scarf and bikini: Ella Henry, Sunglasses: Quay

Sofia wears: Bikini top: Escada, Shirt: Eleanor Proctor, Culottes: Elena Occidente, sliders: stylists own. Billie Jean wears: Suit: Eleanor Proctor, Vest: Topshop.

Billie Jean wears: Suit: Eleanor Proctor, Vest: Topshop, Sliders: Stylists own Opposite, Sofia wears dress: Mimi Tran, Hat: Ashley Isham

Billie Jean wears: Dress: Grace Weller, Turban: Rosa Frances Silva Sofia wears: Top and trousers: Grace Weller.

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Elena Occidente

Place of study: Central St Martin’s

What are you doing now you have graduated? Is it what you expected you would be doing?

Who do you most admire as an entrepreneur? Or who is your favourite designer and why?

I am currently working as a designer in Agnona within the Ermenegildo Zegna Group in Milan. I feel very satisfied with my job and my achievements. It is a lot of work and a daily challenge but it stimulates my imagination and makes me want to create more every day.

I think a modern entrepreneur has to be able to reflect the time in which we live and yet produce something timeless. There are a lot of designers that make beautifully constructed clothes but among them I think Phoebe Philo is one of the pioneers of modern fashion. She led women to a more classic and practical way of dressing and she understood that comfort is the true new luxury.

If you had one wish for your career what would it be? My biggest wish is that one day I will be in a higher position and I will have people working with me that can trust, and I could pass on my passion and my experience in fashion. I think that the role of the leader is crucial. To keep the entire group cohesive and enthusiastic is a key point to create a product of success.

Where are you going and what are you doing this summer? Are there places you have been or want to go as inspiration to you as a designer? I planned a three weeks journey to Indonesia for this summer. Travelling is fundamental for me as a person and of course it is an incredible source of inspiration as a designer. In every new place there is something attractive and interesting to discover, to live and to translate into my work. When I travel I take lots of pictures, notes, I collect objects that attract my imagination and I organically introduce all these details into my work.

Tell us about the inspiration behind your collection? When I think about my collection I think about movement, elegant silhouettes and sense of humour. Big volumes in block colours walking down the catwalk, which are folding into the model’s body and giving her a great confidence. In my collection I wanted to depict Italian women. Women with a strong character, who like to have fun, be ‘loud’, but also graceful, refined and care about details and quality. 28

Eleanor Proctor

Place of study: Colchester School of Art

I have no regrets about the decisions I have made however I believe there is also always room for improvement.

What are you doing now you have graduated? Is it what you expected you would be doing? Now that my degree has come to an end, I am constantly reviewing what I should do next. I’m going to carry on being creative and making my own things, good things come to those who work for it.

What’s your favourite cocktail? Passion fruit martini. I love anything Passion fruit or pineapple!

If you had one wish for your career what would it be? To be able to be creative everyday. People say that if you enjoy what you do, you will never have to work a day. Tell us about the inspiration behind your collection? I love crafts and colour, so the inspiration for my final collection was ‘Folk Art’ as I felt it was relevant to my style. Who do you most admire as an entrepreneur? Or who is your favourite designer and why? I most admire ‘Chanel’ there is not one collection that I dislike. I love everything, from colours, processes, presentation, fabrics. Just everything! If you could do your degree again would you do anything differently? What have you learnt? From my degree I have learnt a lot of important life skills, and also established my desired career path. 30

Ella Henry

Place of study:University of creative arts: Rochester

www.ella-henry.com Instagram: ellahenrydesign Facebook.com/ellahenrydesign Twitter: @ellahenrydesign

natural and my initial work itself involves a lot of hand painting. To then transcribe that through to digital design is really exciting, as I always want to keep the hand painted elements the focus of my prints.

What are you doing now you have graduated? Is it what you expected you would be doing? I’m currently working on developing my collection of swim and beach wear, it’s an exciting time graduating and it has opened up a lot of opportunities to me. I’ve spent the last year working on the creative side of my collection, so now it is time to develop the business side of it all and this is definitely what I hoped I would be doing.

Who do you most admire as an entrepreneur? Or who is your favourite designer and why? I love Camilla Franks, the Australian beachwear designer; her pieces are beautiful with amazing prints and show a lot of inspiration from different cultures. Matthew Williamson has been my favourite designer for years; I love the colour and the bohemian style that runs throughout his collections.

If you had one wish for your career what would it be? To simultaneously be able to travel the world and create my work. Tell us about the inspiration behind your collection?

Where are you going and what are you doing this summer? Are there places you have been or want to go as inspiration?

My collection was inspired by a trip to Bali, I spent a month in the town of Ubud and I was really fascinated with meditation and Balinese culture. So it was a mix of my interpretation of spirituality in Bali, with the amazing natural, tropical surroundings. In the end it created a feeling of abstract tropical prints and vivid colour.

I have a big trip to Asia coming up where I’ll spend some time in Vietnam, so I definitely plan on looking for inspiration whilst I’m there, I want to explore some of the many Islands and see some of the more rural landscapes.

Did technology play a part in developing your collection? How?

Passion fruit mojito.

What is your favourite cocktail?

Definitely as all of my pieces are digitally printed and designed in Photoshop. For me it’s good to have a balance, I’m always inspired by something that is very 32

Rosa Frances Silva Place of study: De MontFort

What are you doing now you have graduated? Is it what you expected you would be doing?

drawn prints and realise the full potential of them. I would stay up most nights on my loyal Mac. I was also familiar with print machinery, an amazing industrial technology that makes your print fantasies a reality.

Since graduating I’ve had the opportunity to work with some amazing companies, George at Asda was my first taste of the industry and what an impressive and accomplished company it is. I learnt a ridiculous amount whilst being there, I was able to develop my skill set and really put my love for swimwear to practice. Then worked for Missguided and most recently, I have decided to go freelance, designing and making swimwear as well as intimate apparel. I can’t tell you how hysterically passionate and excited I am to get going.

Who do you most admire as an entrepreneur? Or who is your favourite designer and why? I’d have to say I most admire Mara Hoffman as a designer, she’s an incredibly talented woman, every collection is crammed with colour and energetic prints that captivate you. Her swimwear pieces inspire me more than any swimwear I’ve probably ever seen. I just wish I owned one! Where are you going and what are you doing this summer? Are there places you have been or want to go an inspiration to you as a designer?

Tell us about the inspiration behind your collection? The collection is based on a country which is very sentimental to me, Sri Lanka. My Grandad is Sri Lankan and sadly passed away a few years ago, so I guess when my lecturer asked me ‘pick a theme that you’re passionate about’ it had to be ‘Sri Lankan Spice’. When I visit this beautiful country I’m immediately drawn in by the colour, food, scenery and animals, it’s hard not to be inspired. I tried to imagine cramming all of these aspects in to a swimsuit and ‘hey presto’

I love street style, so if I could jet off to anywhere in the world right now it would have to be Africa. The collection I am currently working on is based on African fashion incorporating vivid dynamic prints and colour, with bold striking shapes.

Did technology play a part in developing your collection? Yes, I believe it did! Without Photoshop or illustrator I wouldn’t have been able to manipulate my hand34

Grace Weller

Place of study: Bath Spa and now MA at Central St Martin’s Grace was the winner of Graduate Fashion Week’s gold award in 2014 What are you doing now you have graduated? Is it what you expected you would be doing?

Who do you most admire as an entrepreneur? Or who is your favourite designer and why?

I am currently doing an MA at Central Saint Martins which I am really enjoying. I have been given complete freedom to really experiment with textiles and embroidery and develop my signature DNA which has been a great process.

I’ve always loved Valentino Couture.

If you had one wish for your career what would it be?

I will start to develop my final collection for my MA course over the summer, which I am really excited about. I’ve booked a trip to Paris next week for some research and inspiration. A lot of my ideas start from little nicknacks and antiques I find in various antique fairs and markets, and I have heard that Paris flea markets are the best around. I also want to visit the Jeanne Lanvin exhibition which looks amazing.

Where are you going and what are you doing this summer? Are there places you have been or want to go an inspiration to you as a designer?

I really hope to work for a couturier Tell us about the inspiration behind your collection? My collection was inspired by the ideas and beliefs behind the work of 18th century romantic artists and writers. I applied the themes portrayed throughout their work to my design process, such as the exotic and the power of nature. I wanted to capture the drama and power of the romantic period within my embroidery and textures, using bold, bright colours to evoke emotion.

If you could do your degree again would you do anything differently? What have you learnt? I think I would have tried to do more internships during my summers off as I think these are a great way to learn about the industry and to find out what it is you really want to do. I learnt that it is so important to find your creative view point and aesthetic and have your niche thing that makes your work personal to stand out.

Did technology play a part in developing your collection? Yes I had to use an industrial ZSK digital embroidery machine to create the detail and texture in my collection. Experimenting with different fabrics, threads and designs was a vital part to the development process. 36

Jungle Fever

Art direction, styling and photography: Jemma Pearson Necklace: Mawi

Shoes: Both Alexander White, Clutch bags: Both Lemiena, Yellow glasses: Transitions Optical lenses with ic! Berlin frames, Pink glasses: Transitions Optical lenses with Face-Ă -Face frames

An interview with artist

content; digital work leads more often to dense, brightly coloured, psychedelic work, because you’re using a screen made of light. Whereas drawing is going to make things slower, calmer and more considered, at least the way I draw does. I suppose I just get different things from doing different things, I imagine everyone does.

Tom Sewell

We love your use of colour, how does it impact your work?

Which is your favourite collaborative piece?

Colour is such a beautiful and rich element of the human experience it’s impossible to ignore. Everywhere there is colour, everything should be colour. Everything is colour. Colour is everything. And digital media allows such freedom to manipulate, create and push colours that it begins to feel like an inevitable consequence of working that way.

Any of my work with Landfill Editions. Principally because Hugh who runs it is one of my very best friends and working with your friends is the best thing you can do. How would you describe your style? A quasi-scientific psychedelic investigation into what the world looks like and how weird places and things are.

Where is the most interesting place your work has taken you? And did technology aid your trip and/or artistic process?

What inspires you as an artist? We’ve noticed food and space as themes.

A friend once told me that he thought that travel is the 21st century’s biggest privilege, I’m inclined to agree. To be able to fly cheaply and to have seen all the things and been to all the places that people a generation or two ago could only have imagined is an enormous opportunity. A camera goes everywhere with me when I’m away and records the landscape I’m in, providing me with an archive of source material to make work from; to try and understand how odd, how unknowable, how overwhelming, how beautiful, how confusing and how sublime the world is. The act of moving through the world, separating yourself from routine and just being in transit is one of the best states of being.

Nature, science and the landscape are really important to me in terms of inspiration and finding ways to understand the world. The universe and the natural world are inexhaustible sources of wonder for me. There is a huge psychedelic influence and this comes in part from things like Aldous Huxley’s ‘Doors of Perception’ and Oliver Sacks’ writings on neuroscience and visual perception, things which show that a kind of visual strangeness is bound up in how we see the world. You work with a lot of different types of media, which is your favourite?

What’s the best thing about summer?

I guess it feels natural to try and do everything. There are so many interesting things to do and see and ways to work that you might as well attempt to do it all, if you can. I’m not sure I have a favourite, different ways of working fit different things that I make. There’s a dialogue between medium and

The light and the heat. The sun. Being outside. Camping with friends. Climbing Trees. Being in water. Which artists are you influenced by or do you admire? Norman Ackroyd for his incredible investigation 42

Scotoma

into the outlying edges of our archipelago. Sigmar Polke’s playfulness, diversity of approach and serious involvement in medium and process. William Blake for being a true visionary. Bill Drummond for being in the KLF and not giving a shit. Julian Cope for making amazing music, dressing like a lunatic and becoming an authority on prehistory. EYヨ for being the best and most far out of collage artists and for creating the most amazing sonic experiences with Boredoms. Eduardo Paolozzi for making the greatest of screen prints.

of windows for a new bar Bompas & Parr are opening soon where you get drunk on air. I’m working towards a show at Landfill’s ‘Site Office’ gallery in Nottingham of my Imaginary Standing Stones project. And I’m about to start a Masters in printmaking at Camberwell to explore, investigate, deepen and enjoy my artistic practice.

What’s next for you, any new collaborations or exhibitions you can tell us about? I’ve just finished a stained glass-style backlit triptych 43

What lies beneath Styling and art direction: Helen Butcher and Tiffany Baron Photographer: Rob Parfitt Photographers assistant: Charlotte Froud MUA and hair, beauty editor: Jolanda Coetzer Models: Simone@Bookings models and Fernanda@Leniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s model management Still life art direction, styling and photography: Jemma Pearson

Lipsticks: A selection from MAC

Jakwob An interview with Words: Lawrence Linnell Photography: Rob Parfitt MUA and hair: Jolanda Coetzer Styling and production: BeExposed Clothing: House of Hackney

Last month we caught up with multiinstrumentalist and versatile electronic producer/ DJ, James Edward Jacob AKA Jakwob. We discussed his movements in music before and after his 2009 successes, the future of electronic music, the industry and it’s current direction and the relationship between acoustic and electronic music.

L: James, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Going back to your roots, you were born and raised in Hereford. How did your upbringing affect and develop you and your style? J: I don’t know, Hereford’s not exactly the epicentre of dance music. L: Good cider though?

Since a prominent rise to fame in 2009 with his breakthrough Dubstep remixes of Ellie Goulding, his own acclaimed release ‘Fade’ and his remixes of Jessie J and Lana Del Ray; Jakwob now runs his own label, ‘Boom Ting Recordings’ and works his magic on Shy FX’s ‘Digital Soundboy’ label. Taking a step back from DJing, Jakwob now focuses his efforts on production, releasing a new track each month and working on a new album for late 2015/early 2016. Currently working with a diverse roster of artists ranging from Kate Stewert to Simon Neil from Biffy Clyro, and with his latest tracks ‘Footwork’ and ‘Deeper’ available on Beatport, we very much look forward to Jakwob’s ever brightening future.

J: Great cider, great beef, great countryside, it’s all very quaint. Then I moved to Lincoln and then to London. But then I got more into it at Uni when I started going out, so Hereford’s not got a big influence on my music…although I worked with Ellie Goulding, and she’s from Hereford. So I did think at one point Hereford had absolutely no kind of output in the music world, but apparently it does. L: When you started making music for yourself, what or who were your concurrent inspirations or the things you drew from? J: They’re pretty wide and random to be honest, and there are only a few people within my social circle that I listen to. It’s more trusting recommendations for new stuff. I don’t really 56

‘It’s still early days for my label, but it’s taught me to do your own thing on every level, don’t follow a trend or follow anybody else, there is no set path, everyone has got a different take on it.’

out on Last Gang Records in America. It’s pretty electronic but also band based and aggressive as well. We started that inspired by the Indie scene in the early 2000s, albums from The Klaxons and Late of the Pier, stuff like that. There’s no way I could have done a band without having some sort of electronic elements in there, a lot of the drums are processed, we’ll always try and have some sort of electronic elements in there.

ask, I just overhear things, it’s very random. At the moment I’m listening to John Wizards, love them, a South African band. I’m still into Sigor Ros, Jónsi and Bjork, loads of Icelandic music. A lot of Tech also. L: You mention that things kicked off production wise when you went to Uni. How was that transition into electronic music and how did your musical perspective change?

L: What artists or tracks have you got on repeat at the moment?

J: When I got into Leicester Uni there was barely anyone doing the same things, it was pretty cut off in terms of the musical scene. It wasn’t like Manchester or Leeds or Nottingham, where my mates were, where there was always something going on. At the time Dubstep was kicking off, it was a bit of a grime scene in Leicester. I just got to Uni and couldn’t jam with anybody, so I ended up just making music on my own and it all started from there.

J: This man called Benjamin Clementine. I got his album the other day and it’s absolutely amazing, I had that on repeat; I don’t really know anything else like it and I’m trying to place it. Almost every record sounds like something from an unwritten musical, it’s a bit like Les Miserables; it’s stripped down, almost like he’s busking, it’s poetry, it’s cool. I don’t really get it yet, but it’s brilliant. The new Four Tet track is really cool, it’s a morning and evening two sided album, 20 minutes on each side. I’m a massive fan of Ludovico Einaudi as well for his minimalist compositions.

L: In terms of music you’re making, can you describe the basis of your production for your tracks? How do you bring it together and kick things off? J: Well, I’m working with various people at the moment, so there’s not really one consistent style, but with most of them I like to start with as little as possible. Starting from absolute scratch or ambiance. I sit at the piano and just twiddle about, but I also like to spend a whole day listening to references, music that inspires the artist. Or when I’m trying to figure out what I’m trying to make, I’ll listen to all the stuff I like and research one genre or one artist for inspiration.

L: Still got his music on top of my piano. Every time I’m stressed out I’ve got it there waiting to be played. J: I got to meet him when he was doing these shows at the Barbican last summer. The most chilled out man, and he’s got a crazy manager who manages Chilli Gonzalez and him; the two foremost contemporary pianists. This guy’s like a really aggressive gangster and he’s got those two kind of floating about. He barely speaks English either.

L: Like motifs or the melodies or beats or what? J: It depends, recently I worked with Katy Stewert. It’s all really poppy, it’s the poppiest thing I’ve ever worked on, but the cool thing about it is it’s all a throw back to the 90s and naughties. I listen to Ashanti, Maria Carey, she likes that nostalgic aspect of it and it’s like ‘cool I can hone in on that if I listen to enough of it.’ It’s all very dependent on situation and on the artist really, I adapt accordingly.

L: You broke through in 2009. What has been your experience of the music Industry? J: It’s treated me pretty well. I feel like I’ve been through the mill now in terms of majors, working with majors on my stuff and other people’s records, and now I’m releasing material independently and distributing through big distributors. It’s still early days for my label, but it’s taught me to do your own thing on every level, whether it’s the style of music you’re making or what software you use or whose money you use to release it. Don’t follow a trend or follow anybody else, there’s no

L: Coming from an instrumental background do you ever find yourself phasing from the instrumental to the electronic side? J: It usually just comes together. I have a side project called Get Hot, which has an album coming 60

but no actual Dubstep. I’ve a few rare Pinch vinyl; things from Bristol. DJ wise I didn’t play vinyl, I was playing CDs, and no one plays CDs any more. That’s ridiculous, that’s happened in the space of time when I’ve been doing it.

set path, everyone has got a different take on it. L: What advice do you have for new artists or producers? J: It’s super easy to get stuff heard and to make it. As long as your closest friends and people you trust like what you’re doing and you like it, then everyone else will. I remember when I was first putting tunes out, remixes and bootlegs; Facebook had just started, I was putting stuff out on Mediafire for people to download, like all free tunes. They weren’t mixed or finished, I was just excited. I just figured something out and put it on a track, and that was really healthy then because there was less to the tracks and people could see progression. I wasn’t giving anything away that was precious, but it was important, and I felt people engaged in that and it was a journey.

I love the stuff that Skrillex has been doing as a pioneer of that sound, it’s like moving in a really cool space, like metal. I love metal. L: On that note, Skream now makes House and Disco, Loefah makes techno, Pinch has completely altered his sound to minimal stuff sometimes still around the 140 tempo but minimal. J: *laughs* Basically everyone’s moved to techno. L: Tell me a bit about what you’ve been up to over the past year. J: We’re working on a few of other people’s records. The first album last year was the craziest album, and now we’re doing four singles. I’m working with a few bands: Zebra, Jackel and I signed a publishing deal with Sony ATV just before Christmas, so I’ve been doing a lot of song writing and working on my record, the first few tracks of which will be coming out the beginning of next year. This year is all about once a month doing a club track with no real target audience, just making something that sounds right and putting it out.

L: Quick off topic question re DJing and live performance, what’s your experience been of that? And as a DJ what’s been the most annoying thing that’s happened? J: I stopped DJing this year because of the general annoyance of it being so hectic. If you are trying to do studio sessions and all sorts of other things, it just won’t work, you can’t put 100% into each. Hopefully I plan to do it in blocks: studio, then a year of touring. DJing is a very exhausting life style, it’s not glamorous.

Apart from that I’ve been in the studio every single day. I’ve been working with a range of people from Kate Stewart, Neena Nesbitt to Bring the Horizon. I’ve just started working with Simon Neil from Biffy Clyro and we’re doing a side project called ZZC, kind of Postal Service vibes, so yeah it’s just constant working, with all types of people. A lot of it is very pop stuff and I want to move into the heavier world. Just trying to spin as many musical plates as possible.

L: On to Dubstep now. It’s come quite a long way since the original bass nights like DMZ with Coki, Skream, Benga Etc. What’s your personal insight into Dubstep and its future? J: Wow (pause for thought) for me it all started with the DMZ stuff with Mala and Coki and then Skream and Hatcha and people like that. It was mental at the time as in the first few years of me liking the scene, I was involved but I was catching a wave at the end. I was the same age as Skream so we were playing a lot of shows together and it was really influential at that time. As a result of technology getting better over the space of 5 or 8 years, the sound has completely changed. I loved the beginning and the rawness and the whole mentality of it.

One other thing is my friend Billy Kate, he’s made most of my music videos, and he’s got his first feature film out imminently. It’s called ‘More Hate Than Fear’ and I’ve just been scoring that, so I’ve been film scoring and game scoring as well. L: So you’ve been busy busy. Your label Boom Ting Recordings hosts a pretty decent roster with Hybrid Minds, Little Sims, Ghostpoet, Young Man, Kano to name a few. What do you look for

L: Do you have a decent collection yourself? J: I’ve got lots of reggae singles, dub reggae stuff, 62

J: That’s a tricky one. Just to hang around, even have nothing to do musically but in any capacity, with Bjork or to go and be Roots Manuva’s driver for the day. Someone that’s done some time, but then there are tons of new people that would be equally cool to hang out with.

‘I would like to hang out with Bjork or to go and be Roots Manuva’s driver for the day.’

L: You’re also signed to Shy FX’s label Digital Sound Boy. How do you balance working with both labels and how have things been since signing up with them last year? J: It’s always a challenge with shared releases or when a lot of cooks, it gets hard to decide on one thing, one tune, but it’s good. DSB has the outlook for more club stuff, slightly more UK sounding things. L: So I guess you’ve worked with some pretty cool people. How have they influenced you?

in people for your label and how have you gone about building such a strong, solid roster of artists?

J: B Traits is next door to me and Breakage I see quite often, I played with them the other week, and Shy FX. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from them it’s that there’s no way you can spend too long mixing a record. We spent 4 months on one drum loop and 6 hours on the relationship between the bass line and the kick drum. They’re like scientists when it comes to it, I don’t know whether I’m lazy or uneducated? Or it’s that they are like super brainy and OCD with their productions. They use ridiculous gear I’ve never even heard of, beyond trend with all the tech stuff, reading all the magazines and blogs, and I’m ‘Come on guys lets make Drum & Bass.’

J: It literally comes from two streams: one is from the people I’ve worked with and close friends, otherwise we just stumble across somebody online or they come into our social circles and we get to know them. Both end up coming down to the studio and we work on a track together. It’s usually something I’ve produced that comes out on the label, as opposed to someone we just randomly sign. There are two sides to the label, it’s still very early days but one side is electronic beats and the other is album projects; artist’s projects rather than DJ producer projects, which I’m looking forward to getting into.

L : To wrap things up, if you could be asked any question in an interview what would it be?

L: Our Editor recently caught up with Little Sims. What are you guys working on at the moment?

J: Can I go yet? *laughs* No, I like being asked questions that are nothing to do with music. My girlfriend’s always asking what can I ask this person? Don’t ask them anything about what they do. Catch them off guard.

J: I just worked on some of her album, at the beginning of the year we did Time Capsule and Devour. Devour we put up for free and that ended up being the front page of Sound Cloud. We were just jamming one afternoon and now there’s 2 million views, which is cool. The Beat was actually meant for Miss Dynamite, but she didn’t record it. I’m always wondering what that would have sounded like. Little Sims is all over America now, I saw her at Great Escape a few weeks ago and she is doing really well independently.

L: What’s your favourite spot in London? J: That’s a good one. There’s a garden in Regents Park which is really cool because there’s a secret Garden there near Primrose Hill. Stoke Newington cemetery’s cool as well. L : Thanks James, it’s been an absolute pleasure.

L: Who would you most like to work with if you could choose anyone on the world? 63

Top 3 European

FESTIVALS Words: Rachael Evans & Lawrence Linnell

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that time of year again, where many of us declare an end to the wind, the rain, dancing in the mud, and losing a welly on the laborious hike back to an already elementally soiled tent. We warmly welcome parties on the beach, parties in the woods, parties on secluded islands and abandoned fortresses. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never tried a European festival before, we have some great options for you in our top picks. Although we are already into August we have three of our favourite festivals still on the horizon to look forward to.

Have a beautiful summer!

Mysteryland: Netherlands 29/30th August Started in ’93 Mysteryland is the oldest electronic music festival in the world and this year it grows from a oneday event to a full weekend of mischief. Although music plays the lead role the festival also focuses on culture, arts, talent and sustainability and is famed for creating an inspiring alternative world for festivalgoers to lose themselves in. Run by Dutch promotion company ID&T the festival will have over 40 stages and sees them joining forces with curators such as Beatport, Spinnin’ Sessions and Kris Kross covering all aspects of electronic music and playing everything from house and techno to hip-hop and old-school disco. Along the way punters will get the chance to see a host of dance music’s hottest stars; from the mainstream appeal of local boy and headline act Martin Garrix, or other major names such as Nicky Romero, Steve Angello, Hercules & Love Affair, Dillon Francis and Netsky to turntable legends such as Fresh Prince collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff and more leftfield acts like Jeff Mills. Based in the Harlemeer district the festival is a little way out of Amsterdam to the west, but with camping on site and shuttle busses running for those coming for just the one day or staying off site getting there really shouldn’t be a problem. Add to this the fact that pretty much every Dutch person speaks near perfect English and that they are renowned for being able to party harder and longer than most, plus you’ll be able spend time in the marvel that is Amsterdam, if you so wish. Mysteryland has got be up there as one of the alternative picks of festival season.

Oasis: Morrocco 11-13th September Although not strictly (or at all) in Europe, we couldn’t help but mention this hidden gem at #5! Now this is a new one for us too, the festival experience in a beautiful Moroccan hotel ground. Relax, unwind and refresh from that summer of slogging it in your wellies underneath the olive trees jamming out in the backdrop of the stunning views of Atlas Mountain. This one is for those of us who like to party with a little more of the home comforts available – or just like full on VIP’s! With tickets starting at €125, everyone can afford to party in style. With an impressive line-up including the likes of Âme, Ellen Alien, DJ Harvey and Eli & Fur; Oasis brings you the ultimate house, techno and electronica soundtrack to enjoy whilst soaking up some September Moroccan sun. As well as the line-up, Oasis has a range of non-musical delights in store for its guests. A selection of wellness activities will be found on-site to nourish the mind, body and soul including daily yoga sessions, to fill the intervals between dancing to the beats of some great household names. You can enjoy all these activities to the backdrop of the stunning views of Atlas Mountain. Seeing as the festival takes place in such a culture rich area, with Marrakesh just 10 minutes from the festival site, we encourage you to branch out and immerse yourself in the full Moroccan experience.

Now we all know that in recent years, festival food has been getting more exotic and luxurious, but I wonder whether any other festival will be able to boast a wide selection of locally sourced aromatic and authentic street food, organic and locally produced products and more North African delights yet to be discovered. This festival is definitely one to watch for us this summer. 68

Dimensions Festival: Croatia 26-30th August Starting off with a bang with an opening concert of Four-Tet, Little Dragon and Floating Points in Pula’s 2000 year-old Amphitheatre, (not to dissimilar to Rome’s coliseum but perhaps in better nick) Dimensions features Chilled-out sessions on the beach by day, and top notch underground parties by night. The line up for this festival sells itself with some of the most prominent electronic and underground artists in the world today playing in incredible settings including floating clubs on the Adriatic Sea. Dimensions Festival stands out to us as one of the most finely curated festivals you’ll find in Europe Notable artists include Floating Points, Âme, Moodyman, John Talabot, Blawan and Max Graef, though in all honesty every act on the line up gives us little tingles of excited anticipation. Dimensions prides itself on it’s impeccably high quality levels of sound production, and its beautiful beach location with what Alfred Hitchcock quoted as the country with the best sunsets in the world, leaves a lot of other festivals trailing behind. Idyllic coastlines and ancient architectures combine to create an intimate, relaxed setting where the best in bass – from dubstep and drum & bass to deep house and techno – can find room to breathe.

One to watch

YOUNG WONDER Words: Rachael Evans

Cork, Ireland has served up a dynamic electro-pop duo under the alias Young Wonder. Producer Ian Ring and vocalist Rachel Koeman have been efficaciously gracing online music platforms since 2012. Their debut, self-released and self-titled EP has been snapped up by major music blogs including Pitchfork, The Line of Best Fit, Wonderland and Clash.

Shining a light on ardent emerging creatives is at the very core of BeExposed and every now and then a new talent comes around with a sound that simply cant be ignored. BeExposed Music Editor Rachel Evans chats to Young Wonder about their new album ‘Birth’.

Luckily for us, their new 12-track album ‘Birth’ which they have been working on for over 18 months has recently been released to outstanding acclaim both online and in press. Their songs are beautifully crafted electro-pop, which exude not only dream-like melodies, but also lyrics akin to that of musical poetry. Rachel Koeman describes her lyrical inspirations as: “I like to take influence from different things such as nature, suffering, existence and experiences”. Nylon Magazine, who premiered one of the much awaited tracks form the album ‘Sweet Dreaming’, described the album as having “lush, sparkling soundscapes, and unpretentiously catchy melodies”. With State Magazine giving it five stars and hailing it “practically perfect in every way”. The LP uses collaborations with Sacred Animals; another Irish musical all rounder and Marce Reazon, the producing collaborator of Kanye West and John Legend. Birth was released on the 22nd June 2015 and although the band have been successfully recording and releasing music since 2012, Ian Ring notes that: “In a weird way, this feels like the start for us because the first releases were really just us experimenting. It feels like we have found it now and the simple but beautiful word ‘birth’ made sense for us”.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I like to take influence from different things such as nature, suffering, existence and experiencesâ&#x20AC;?.

My favourite piece of equipment I have at the moment in the studio, is my Neve 1073LB. Pre that, I run stuff from the digital world through to give it some warmth. I also use it when recording vocals, guitars and synths too.

We caught up with Ian Ring, to get to know him a bit better and attain his opinion on how things were developing thus far: What is your biggest musical inspiration?

How do you develop the lyrics for your songs?

I don’t have one, but I grew up listening to a lot of Michael Jackson. As a producer I try and listen to everything and learn from everyone. Inspirations can come in any form I feel, it doesn’t always have to be musical; it could be a book, being in a certain place or meeting someone.

Rachel writes all the lyrics for our songs. I help with some vocal melodies now and again but I leave her to do her thing usually. A lot of the stuff she writes is about people’s experiences and how they deal with certain things.

Do you have any pre-performance rituals?

What’s coming up that you are looking most forward to?

I know Rachel has some honey and lemon before performing, and doesn’t wear shoes on stage, but they are pretty normal things I think, as singers go. I just sit down, relax and don’t think about it, no matter how big or small the show is. With anything, I think if you start thinking about something too much, you end up over-complicating it in your head and it makes you nervous, which leads to mistakes.

We can’t wait to play Longitude again this year! It’s a really well run festival and we hope to get a packed tent again this year. If there was a bartender here, right now, who could make you any drink, what would you order? All depends on the weather I think. I’d love an old Tia Maria and milk though. I’m so rock and roll aren’t I?

What are your aspirations for Young Wonder? What is the dream?

If you could be asked any question in an interview, what would it be and why?

The main thing for us is to try to make music that lasts and that people can become close to. In this industry, I find that you never know what’s going to happen next, so it’s best to never expect anything, but to be grateful when good things happen.

It would be one on the technical side of things in the studio as I never get to usually talk about that stuff and it’s the reason all this stuff comes together.

What is the best gig you have ever done, why was it so memorable?

Coupled with the insightful chitchat, Young Wonder also put a Survival Playlist together for our readers, which contains the bands musical inspirations, personal favorites and some essential jams. Check it out here:

The last show we did in Longitude was incredible. The UCD Choral Scholars performed with us and we just didn’t want to leave the stage. Where would you most like to play a gig? I’d like to play in Japan. A record label called Plancha released our EP over there and it got to No 4 in the iTunes charts, so it would be cool to make the trip over. What are your favourite pieces of equipment to use for production or performances? 72

Playlist This issue has inspired our travelling ears, as we fill up yet another playlist of top sounds. Finding inspiration from the likes of Bradley Zeroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unexpected all vinyl mix, right the way through to Bebel Gilbertoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Samba vibes. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it. 74

Rise of the Food-Stagrammer Words: Ellie Matthews

I recently visited the beautiful city of Lisbon, Portugal, and although tourists were avidly snapping away at the monuments and beaches the city offers, very few people were taking photos inside restaurants. Whipping out my phone to snap my amazing tapas in a small family restaurant felt awfully rude and even a bit awkward, despite it being so normal in the UK.

I’m a self-confessed Instagram addict. I can barely go an hour or two without swiping through beautiful images of holidays, fashion, fitness and most importantly food. I regularly stalk my favourite chefs, vegan health bunnies and French pâtisseries on Instagram, pouring over their images with a sense of wonder. I wonder if perhaps people who follow me are doing the same, or using my words to influence their thoughts on a certain restaurant or cuisine.

So does being a serial Instagrammer, and more specifically a food-stagramer, make you an instant food critic? Sharing images of your food and drink choices at a dinner is not only free marketing for the restaurant, but also an opportunity for you to share opinions on those choices. Whether the avocado on toast was delicious or appalling, Instagram gives users a free, easy to use and easy to abuse platform to share their thoughts. This can be seen as either incredibly vulgar or even insulting to old-school journalists and critics. But what gives me any stool to stand on above the ‘normal’ crowd when it comes to my opinion? Just because the average diner doesn’t have a journalism degree and 5* palette honed at the world’s best restaurants doesn’t mean they don’t know when something tastes bad or not. Should we embrace these opinions or reject them on behalf of the official food journalism community?

I am a food writer and blogger, which these days means I too post food snaps on social media. The trend #food has accumulated over 181,023,901 posts on Instagram and #foodies over 2 million. Despite this, there has recently been backlash from restaurants about the number of people taking photos of their food in restaurants, with some banning it completely. According to Giles Coren it is one of the rudest things you can do at the table, and as a food blogger I know it can certainly annoy my co-diners.

‘The trend #food has accumulated over 181,023,901 posts on Instagram and #foodies over 2 million’

These new-age foodies spam users with images of their dinner, whether it’s at home or a restaurant, giving a minute-by-minute update of how amazing their steak is or how terrible the creme brulee was. Don’t even get me started on Periscope! Those who are bored of the 10 second delay in getting their Instagram photos or videos posted can use Periscope to literally live-stream their supper whilst they eat it. What happened to actually enjoying the food we are eating without feeling the need to document every single grain of rice or lettuce leaf?

A recent survey found that over 61% of people look at customer reviews before purchasing a product or service. This encompasses choosing your restaurant for dinner tonight. Try it now: you’re hungry, don’t want to cook or get a take away what do you do? Hit 76

‘So does being a serial Instagrammer, and more specifically a food-stagramer, make you an instant food critic?’ up Google to find a restaurant. But how do you know it’s good? A little more digging on social media comes up with a few answers, but you want to actually SEE the food. So, we’re back to Instagram. Regardless of shot quality or the standing that the particular Instagrammer has to share their opinions online, we are all subconsciously influenced by their words and images. So here’s the question: if you post photos of food on Instagram are you a food critic too?

H2-g0

Your guide to health water Words: Francesca McKay

We all know that we need to be drinking a daily minimum of 1.5 litres of water to benefit from the myriad health properties that include, improved heart and kidney function, increased brain power and concentration, weight loss, glossy hair and clear, beautiful skin. The brain is 75% water and the body overall is made up of approximately 60% H2O so it’s vital to keep topped up. This is especially important when travelling; unfamiliar geography and climate (goodbye rainy Britain!) mean that you can dehydrate quicker, don’t be caught short, be prepared and keep a bottle of water with you when on the move. Happily for us, the variety of water on offer is wider than ever, as more companies think outside the box on a mission to make it easier to hit the daily target, not to mention far more interesting. Here are five of the best from the latest wave of waters:

SEVA Maple Water

TAPPED Birch Water

Pure sap extracted directly from the maple tree, this water is bursting with minerals, electrolytes and phytonutrients. Refreshing and moreish with a natural, slightly sweet taste, it is free of any additives or nasties. You’re guaranteed to expect the first sip to taste like maple syrup. It doesn’t.

Similar to maple water, birch water is extracted directly from the birch tree and contains no hidden additives or preservatives. It has a slightly earthier flavour and doesn’t have any sweetness to it; drawn from nature, birch water is delicious.

OR TEA Matcha Water

Matcha green tea; usually imbibed as a hot beverage, one serving is said to ‘matcha’ the equivalent of 10 cups of regular green tea. Normally the result of a complex tea ‘ceremony’ preparation, Or Tea have found an easier way to get your antioxidant fix. Twist the cap 360° to release the matcha tea, give the bottle a shake and watch the crystal clear water turn a vibrant green hue as the ground up leaves dissolve. A powerhouse of nutrients and thirst quenching to boot with none of the bitterness of regular green tea.

UNOCO Raw Coconut Water

Nuva Water

Reinventing the original template for flavoured waters, Nuva are committed to bringing new flavours that are enjoyable to drink with no compromise on health. Using only natural flavourings they have created cucumber & mint, ginger & lemon and melon & jasmine options. They’re light and refreshing, you forget it’s water and completely virtuous.

You might say that coconut water is the founding father of all health waters, but with so many on the coconut wagon, it’s harder to know that you’re getting the promised benefits, without added sugar and preservatives. With Unoco, you know you’re getting the real deal; it’s raw coconut water which means that it hasn’t been pasteurised (heattreated), a process which removes a lot of the health benefits leaving behind nothing more than a sugary soft drink. Unoco’s coconut water is so fresh and brimming with goodness that it (naturally) turns pink in the bottle.