BOON Magazine issue 5 by BOON Magazine

A TALE FROM THE DEPTHS Words & Illustration: Daniel Rumsey

It was mid summer, the day I lost my crew. As the only survivor, people around here believe it was my fault, that I murdered them. But I’ve let them think that because how could anyone believe the real truth? It all took place about six miles off the coast of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. I’d heard all the stories told in so many different ways before that new stories began to evolve from them, like Chinese whispers. However, I’d never seen anything monstrous with these old eyes. I got onboard as usual at 5AM and met the crew who were already there prepping the boat for the day’s trip. They were a good bunch; Ralph Wallace, my trusted deckhand helped me aboard. Then there was Joe Fletcher, a scrawny but fairly strong lad and Nikolaus Clausen, both fairly young fellows, Nikolaus was from Norway. He’d heard the stories too and he believed them, he was pretty superstitious and I had to calm him every morning. But this trip he was white as a sheet, he didn’t want to step onboard, I gave him a sip from my coffee flask and told him he was safe with us. Nikolaus was the newest recruit to our crew and Ralph had expressed his concerns about him quite verbally. “That crying baby will slow us down, you mark my words, we’ll be bringing

home half the catch with him onboard.” But I saw something in Nikolaus, he knew the sea, he could read the waves. I trusted him. Actually, he reminded me of a younger version of myself. I asked Joe to take him under his reliable wing for this trip, the ever trustworthy Joe Fletcher. He always kept himself to himself. He nodded and guided Nikolaus inside, he set him up a small job of arranging the nets. They had become tangled in last night’s storm. The storm had brought up a lot of unwanted debris from the sea bed, like secrets that people had tried to bury, they rose to the surface and were washed upon the shore. We had a good catch that morning, Nikolaus surpassed himself with his navigational skills and he was starting to perk up, even Ralph patted him on the back. “Aye, I was wrong about you boy, I think you’ve got a future on this ol’ boat,” Ralph announced. I noticed that Joe was more quiet than usual that morning, just tossing the fish into the barrels not muttering a single word. “Fletcher, throw me my flask,” Ralph shouted across the deck. It was lunch time and we’d thrown out the anchor for an hour to rest before the afternoon catch. “Get yer own flask you lazy trout,” muttered Joe in disgust. Now these two had never really seen eye to eye and it was mostly up to me to calm

things down when they got heated. “Lads, simmer down, Ralph get yer own flask and go sit back down. Joe are you alright, son?” “Aye, I’m fine, soon as I get off this boat I’ll be fine,” he replied. I sat him down firmly with two hands placed upon his shoulders away from the other two. “Now is this about Daisy? Because if it is then I need you to sort it when you’re off my boat, do you hear me?” “Aye,” Joe muttered with his head lowered, “I’m sorry, Mr Bailey.” As we rocked side to side finishing up our lunch, I could see Ralph and Joe glaring at each other. Ralph broke the silence and started to lark around. “Have you seen that busty wee lass behind the bar at the Octopus & Tentacle? She’s a looker, I’m telling you.” He yelped as he hopped around the deck like a horse trapped in it’s box. Joe piped up, “You need to learn some respect you fucking animal.” “You what match stick boy?” Raplh replied. “What gives you the right to talk about women like that?” Joe spat, “You’re not a gift, you’re the unwanted crap everybody tries to get rid of, that people sell on cos they have know use for it.” Ralph’s tone lowered as he breathed in through his teeth and jerked his mus-

cular neck.“Funny. Daisy didn’t wanna throw me away, sell me on. In fact she begged that I stayed the whole night. What do you think of that, matchstick boy?” Joe’s eyes became wide and red, he grabbed the nearest hook he could find, ran at Ralph and plunged the hook deep into his lower neck. Ralph screamed out in pain. “You’re a psycho, Fletcher, what the fuck have you done?” Nikolaus ran for Joe and pushed him to the ground but Joe was cold and stiff as a board, staring into the distance at what he had done. I rushed to Ralph’s aid and went to grab the hook but he screamed even more. If I had tried to remove it, the barb would have torn his flesh more so than it already was. I called for Nikolaus to fetch the first aid kit. The best I could do was to bandage around the area to reduce the blood flow. He continued to scream as I wrapped tighter. “Nikolaus call this in,” I ordered. “Yes Mr Bailey” replied a nervous Nikolaus. He ran to the radio but as he did he caught the panicked eyes of Joe, “Mr Bailey, what about Joe? He’ll be strung up for this?” I paused to think, “No, Ralph’s life is in danger we need to get him aid, now.” “Yes Mr Bailey, ” Nikolaus ran on to pick up the radio. As he picked it up and screamed for help an almighty force struck the under side of the boat, it toppled us all over. “What the hell

was that?” cried Ralph now writhing around in pain as the fall caused his wound to worsen, the deck was filling with blood now. I gazed over by where Nikolaus had fallen and my heart sank at the sight of a small crack in the boat. Water gushed in. “Nikolaus, Joe the life raft” I knew we had to get off the boat fast. I looked up at Joe in amazement as he continued staring into the distance, looking at Ralph vacantly whilst murmuring. He slowly walked towards him and what I saw next shook me to the bone. A large tentacle arose from behind Joe out the water and grew taller and taller. The myth was true. The Kraken. I shuddered helplessly. I was preparing for the end. Nikolaus was white and began to vomit. Ralph was crying, he feebly rose to his feet and looked into the dead eyes of Joe as he walked towards him. “Fletcher what are you doing? Stop, Fletcher,” he begged. But Joe twisted the hooked and pushed Ralph with force over the side of the boat where he was picked up by the terrifying beast’s tentacle. I couldn’t look any longer, I turned as the screams pierced the cold sea air. Grabbing Nikolaus I threw out the life raft. Within seconds a further two tentacles arose and came down on top of our boat and they destroyed it completely. Joe had remained still through-

out. He was surely done for. We were tossed like unwanted food far out away from the wreckage. I awoke I don’t know how many hours later floating on a calm ocean on a piece of driftwood. Bleary eyed I spotted something in the distance, it was Joe’s bag. I slowly opened the leather satchel. Inside was a letter from Daisy, confessing that she had been unfaithful to him with Ralph. Inside the bag the letter had sat upon an old and now sodden book. It’s title: ‘Mythological Creatures of the Sea’. “Summoning the beasts that dwell below.” A deep sickness turned in my stomach. That’s it. I fish alone now. Like my father always said, “once a fisherman, always a fisherman”. I’ll always be on the waves. If you want to find me, I’ll be out here. Please, if anyone asks, bury me at sea. Creighton Bailey.

Creative Directors Timothy Hampson & Antony Day timothy@boon-magazine.co.uk antony@boon-magazine.co.uk

Editors James Halling & Matthew Watson james@boon-magazine.co.uk matthew@boon-magazine.co.uk

Head Of Marketing ChloĂŠ Harwood chloe@boon-magazine.co.uk

Photography Laura Brown, Steve Brown, Nima Elm, Steve Glashier, Tess Hill, Nini Noel & Jessica Solomons laura@boon-magazine.co.uk steve@boon-magazine.co.uk

Writers Sara Harman-Clarke, Will Godfrey, Dominic Knight, Matthew Marcantonio, Daniel Rumsey & Joe Walker Illustrators Stephen Bush, Sam Gull, Daniel Rumsey & Ludovica Zallot Contributors & a special thank you to Kent Andreasen, Alice Ash Austen, Symon Back, Jeff Barrett, Tine Bek, Jenny Brown, Robbie Canale, Martin Currie, Andrew Day, Alison Day, Audrey Day, Julian Deane, Jika Edstrom, Hannah Gleeson, Marilyn Hampson, Ben Huggins, Harvey Hyltoft, Julie Grace Immink, Nadia Lee, Kelsey Leigh-Walker, Sam James Levine, Ian R. Lewandowski, Mike Lord, Joe McCarty, Danny Mitchell, Kevin Novales, Sally Oakenfold, Tatyana Palyga, Thales Pessoa, Izzy Bee-Phillips, Dan Rumsey, Veiga Sanchez, Natassja Shiner, Christoph Skirl, Pauliina Talvensaari, Ruby Taylor, Matt Walker, Gemma Wheatcroft, Luke Wyeth, Ziggy www.boon-magazine.co.uk

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EIGHTEEN HOURS O F DAY L I G H T Words & Photography: Timothy Hampson

BOON travelled to South By South West (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas. In what seemed like eternal sunshine, we followed the bands representing Brighton at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event: TRAAMS, The Wytches and Royal Blood. With a Diana Mini and a Polaroid camera we photographed the festival and bands, from backstage to stage. We experienced a festival not to dissimilar to our very own The Great Escape. However, the host city, Austin, makes even the most outlandish in the UK look like the proverbial shrinking violet. This is our snapshot of SXSW 2014.

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Photography: Music For Listeners

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BLOOD RED SHOES

Words: Will Godfrey | Photography: Steve Glashier & Nima Elm

Following the release of their self-titled fourth record, Will Godfrey catches up with Blood Red Shoes in the middle of their European tour to talk about music, gender and head injuries. “We’re 10 years old this year”, explains Steven Ansell, “which I think is testament to the fact that something very special exists between me and Laura-Mary, and it’s not gone away.” It’s never been plain sailing, however: “I don’t know how many times we’ve felt like we can’t do it any more,” Steven continues. “We’ve broken up on stage and loads of ridiculous stuff. But we always get pulled back together. It’s just incredibly intense and that works in both ways, positive and negative.” He’s in an understandably reflective mood – their new album ‘Blood Red Shoes’ feels like a signature, it’s full of the distinctive male/female shared vocals, overdriven riff-tastic guitar and relentless drumbeats that Steven and Laura-Mary Carter been creating for a decade. They also recorded the album themselves over an extended period in Berlin, as Steven explains:

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“The process was much more freeform than previous albums, usually you write a batch of songs then go into a studio and record them. This time it was all part of the same cohesive process, there was really no separation. We had the freedom to use our makeshift studio space twenty-four hours a day for months on end so we could come and go as we pleased. For us that meant it was by far the most productive and creative session we’ve ever had. Being able to run with an idea when you have one, but also being able to fuck off out into Berlin if the magic isn’t happening.”

ration to us is our own history, in the sense that we’re constantly looking at what we’ve made on a previous album, and trying to find ways to improve it or change it.” The frustrations have been as frequent as successes for the pair, particularly so for Laura-Mary, whose position as one of the relatively few female rock guitarists has been both a help and a hindrance. “I often think how our band would be perceived if it was two males. I think being a female in the start of our band definitely was distinctive, and probably helped in someway to be noticed out of the million four-piece male bands that were about at the time. But as our career has gone on I do think that it is really hard being a woman in the rock world. It’s not because I experience blatant sexism everyday because I don’t...but I think there is this undercurrent that people don’t even really realise. I noticed it a lot recently in our album reviews, it was obvious people have made assumptions based on gender, which is sad. Basically I still feel I have a lot to prove to people. You have to be better than the average musician being a girl in a rock band, otherwise you just get mocked. You have to have thick skin.”

Their unorthodox recording process sounds like an artist’s dream – without the constraints of time, A&R opinions and an outside producer they have been able to entirely control their output. It’s taken an age of hard work and experience to get to a point where this is possible, where Steven and Laura-Mary can be left to get on with their job. “These days I don’t have any idea what our inspiration is...”, he says honestly, “We’ve been doing it so long it’s almost like we have our own internal momentum. When you start out you have things which inspire and influence you but now I just feel like I’m constantly absorbing everything around me and that somehow goes into the next music we make. If anything the biggest inspi-

Steven too is conscious of the double standards displayed regarding female rock musicians. “For Laura-Mary to

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do what she does,” he explains, “in the kind of musical landscape we operate in, is fucking tough and not a lot of women could do it. Take a look at any of our videos on Youtube and you’ll see people commenting about my voice or my drumming, and laura’s looks. She’s always a pretty face first and a musician second, it’s total bullshit.”

Scout Niblett, Marnie Stern, Anna Calvi, St. Vincent and so on. I mean everyone has their own style but there is something in that...I was not encouraged to play guitar at school, that was the boys instrument. So I learnt some piano and it was only until I was a teenager that I found bands that had women totally rocking out that I realised I could try that too. I didn’t own a guitar when I met Steve I just borrowed his and learnt as we went along. I never was that aware that being a women who taught herself to play guitar was sculpting my sound, but actually it really did, and now I know what people mean when they come up to me after shows and say that I play weird.”

Steven’s mention of sexist Youtube comments recalls the disgust voiced by Lauren Mayberry of electronicpop act Chvrches in an impressive article written last year and published in The Guardian, in which she discussed the barrage of sexually explicit abuse directed at her on Chvrches social media pages. It’s a particular shame that such negative gender bias exists within rock music when so much can also be added musically through feminine dynamics.

She laughs, and continues, “Maybe it is, but whatever gender I do think it’s important to find your own way and sound.” It’s a pertinent thought to conclude on, and an idea that LauraMary and Steven themselves have built a successful career on. Their distinctive sound is what enables them to embark on world tours, and their live show is so entertaining that, at The Great Escape Festival in 2010 according to Steven, “one crowdsurfer smashed his head open and bled everywhere, and then refused to get into an ambulance until we’d finished our set.” Sadly, that’s also the only time Blood Red Shoes have played at their Hometown’s legendary festival.

Laura-Mary muses about this, when asked about the influence of her gender on her music she responds, “yeah for sure, I think being a woman has sculpted my sound in some way. I always remember Courtney Love once saying she wanted Eric [Erlandson, lead guitarist of American rock band Hole] in her band because he played like a girl. I always thought that was funny, but I kinda get what she means. Women have this brutal way of playing. If I think to some of my peers Kat Bjelland, Brody Dalle, Chelsea Wolfe,

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W hen T he G ods T a k e Y our H ead Words: Matthew Marcantonio | Illustration: Stephen Bush

I first heard about the conference when a grey haired man by the name of Bob Langdon introduced me to the idea of sound as a psychoactive drug in pre-history. He’d been studying Stonehenge like all the rest, but recognised that the stones unique arrangement amplified sound like a pagan boombox. A bygone MC waxing lyrical in it’s core sent their good vibrations spewing out at ten-fold its natural volume. “ You see” he said, “I think they meant it for healing.” He pointed to an outer-circle where the effects would have been felt most. “Anybody stood here would have been awash with sound.” Like an ayhuascan shaman singing soft melody to guide you through transcendence. “The effects on the brain and body are magnificent,” he gestured “you just need to hit the right notes!” This idea that the long-dead architects of yesteryear manipulated sound to alter their states of mind stirred a curiosity inside me. Conventional wisdom dictates that these people stumbled blindly across their achievements. Yet the thought of accidentally building a 330 foot wide speaker system seemed absurd beyond my common sense. Feeling I had something to learn, and unsatisfied with any orthodox explanation, Bob directed me to archaeoacoustics, the study of sound behaviour in ancient places, and to the upcoming February conference in Malta. What better place could there be to understand the anomaly?

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So I came to be, late as usual, on the first morning of the conference, hastily correcting my sweat dampened hair. An unusually hot February took my wintered English frame by surprise, as I looked naively around the Maltese natural history museum for anyone I deemed ‘sciencelike’. Not sure where to begin, I did my best impression of an intellectual and mused quietly amongst the exhibits, taking notes on anything vaguely related to my cause until finally I recognised Linda Eneix, co-coordinator of the event. She welcomed me and her American nature soothed my inexperience.

establishment can’t easily allow the assigning of advanced acoustic intellect to people it has itself deemed simplistic. The sort of advanced intellect required to manipulate sound. So the monuments left behind by our ancestors, instead of standing as testament to their ability in every way, are given over-simplistic explanations and their complexities cast aside as mere coincidence, despite their blinding technicality. Anyone championing notions to the contrary open themselves up to academic ridicule. A refusal to alter world-view, despite evidence, is pandemic in science. Its a fallacy to believe facts can’t lie —they are always interpreted according to a belief system.

I quickly made a friend in Prof. Fernando Coimbra, of the University of Portugal. A drummer in his youth and a fan of psychedelia, he seemed to be a lucky first encounter - a fine archaeologist, but with persuasions towards the intellectually ‘illegitimate’. The conference and its guests had every chance of being wary of my quizing.

But the more I mingled I found Fernando no special case. Archeaoacoustics, it seems, attracts a willing mind both faithful to protocol, yet open to suggestion. Each new scientist met my ideas with enthusiastic familiarity, not the polite laugh and scepticism I’d become so accustomed to.

Until fairly recently, without a knowledge or appreciation of sound, an interdisciplinary science like Archaeoacoustics wasn’t awarded credibility by more recognised sciences like Archaeology. With it still being burdeoned by a “New Age” label - like so many ideas that defy explanation or understanding - the dogmatic science

Seemed to me, this was the place to be. Temples all over the world resonate to certain mind-altering frequencies, and Malta’s own Hypogeum, resonates at around 111hz. A similar feeling if you’ve ever had it, to singing in the shower and hearing certain

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notes sounding louder. A curious thing, and not easy to achieve, even by our standards.

believed the temple was a religious initiation chamber, that the Hypogeum had been built specifically to heighten emotional intensity through sound. In this context, fear was their goal.

So, Flinton Chalk, thumbs wet in many pies, was presenting his research on the effects of 111Hz on the psyche. 111hz screws with your brain, stupefying your tongue and quickening your emotions. It can heal the sick, increase your creativity, or make you fear or love someone. It has a simple drug-like effect on your mind – and with a bad trip, it depends entirely on context.

Like the scare-mongering of Hell in the Bible – putting the fear of God in someone forces their subservience to your domination. So, initiation begins, and when you’re at the point of debilitation, they offer you relief and you thank them with eternal servitude. Like every profitable religion knows, if you provide someone with a good enough reason to follow your “light” and the alternative is staying in the “dark”, they usually will.

Like looking for a fight and getting one, I was invited to participate in a group experiment in the Hypogeum, and experience this strange effect first hand.

And that’s what my hosts did – turning off the lights without warning and reducing the whole space into an impenetrable blackness, doing their very best impressions of the dying screams of disemboweling and the chanting of a ritualistic sacrifice.

Discovered accidentally in 1902, the tiny necropolis housed the unorganised remains of 7000 long forgotten friends, squashed deep into its labyrinth. Plagued by rumours of missing school children, extra terrestrial encounters, and the academically uncomfortable discovery of elongated skulls, the tight tunnels oozed with death, and that bad gut feeling you sometimes get. The context had indeed, set itself.

Now I wouldn’t claim cowardice in most situations, but with the aforementioned context so inescapably seared into my cortex, and those ever important subtle sonic vibrations ringing through my body, the effects were dramatic - and I was sent spiralling towards the deepest doom I’d ever known. Not quite the rosetinted idea of the past I’d ventured to discover.

The experiment I was to be a part of, unknown to myself, was to test the Hypogeums influence on decision making. Ezra and Toril Langestrom

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You could argue that context was the only defining factor here, that you’d be scared in any underground pitch black death chamber, but you’d be missing the point, because context is the defining factor.

Theories abound on how they were built. Some theories even get chosen to fill our text books as fact - with self-bestowed impunity through selfelected honesty - but still no one really knows how they did what they did, and why we couldn’t do it now, and most people just don’t give a shit – deeply unaware of the implications.

The acoustics of the room were always a neutral player in the outcome. I could have easily felt the opposite, and been induced into a lullaby, basking in the calmness of a safe haven, but you can’t escape the fact that the chamber sonically induced heightened emotion in me, and it did so with great ease. However you dress it up, I find it hard to believe they didn’t do that on purpose. For good, or for bad. Nowadays we have the access to computer modelling to sculpt a room to our needs, as far as its accepted this technology just was not available in the past. Unfortunately I believe this raises too many questions for the orthodox scientific community and the evolution of our species. It would indicate a great knowledge lost, and theres too much riding on the opposite. Yet still, mathematically precise constructions that align with the building blocks of existence lie in unwavering abundance across every continent on earth.

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N orthern L ights Words: Will Godfrey | Illustration: Ludovica Zallot www.ludovicazallot.com

NORTHERN LIGHTS

First founded by Fins, who realised that if they wanted to watch ice hockey in Brighton they were going to have to open their own pub, Northern Lights has become a glowing gem of eccentricity and adventure in the heart of Brighton.

it was 3am and in panic trying to get a full house of lunchers to leave the establishment, are in no short supply. Nor should they be; Northern Lights is one of those rare treasures, an independent pub brimming with character and a commitment to the thing so often overlooked in a business: fun.

Northern Lights is only 6 years old, but has already notched up enough amazing stories to be regarded as one of the great, unique establishments of what is a famously diverse city. The staff and clientele are equally eclectic, with Finn ish ice hockey fanatics rubbing shoulders merrily with Norwegian metalheads, Swedish filmmakers, Icelandic musicians, and even the local ghost tour guide Rob, complete with his top-hat and cape.

The Great Escape Festival is a time when Northern Lights really gets a chance to come into it’s own. They have taken part in the Alternative Escape on a number of occasions, once playing host to a full day of female Icelandic musicians, who had to play their sets hanging half out of the windows so that the enormous crowd, which had expanded out of the pub and onto the streets outside, could all hear them.

The pub has definitely crafted a reputation for good, if unusual, times. The upstairs was so crowded when Finland defeated Sweden in the ice hockey world championship final that the floor nearly collapsed, with a chunk of plaster landing in a commiserating Swedish fan’s pint downstairs! Rather than shy away from the good times, Northern Lights honours and immortalises moments like these; that piece of plaster is now framed behind the bar. Other stories of a staff birthday cake leading to a full on food fight both inside and out of the pub, or of an ex-manager waking at 3pm from a particularly heavy night, thinking

As the economy continues to struggle, the police tighten up on late event licenses, and more and more often only chain pubs have the resources and capital to turn a profit, we should look to establishments like Northern Lights, which offer something authentic, charming and unforgettable. We shape the future of Brighton’s venues, bars and pubs by where we choose to spend our time and our money, and I certainly hope Northern Lights continues to be a generator of wonderful experiences for everyone who goes there, long into the future.

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PAS TEL PROM PART Y

Words: Sara Harman-Clarke | Photography & Styling: Corrine Noel Hair & Make-up: Gemma Wheatcroft & Kelsey Leigh-Walker

Bouncing from Brighton to London with a camera round her neck, Corrine Noel has her fingers in all the pies. An experienced photographer in fashion, music, portraiture, events and as picture editor for Noctis – nothing is too much trouble for this emerging young talent. This season’s Fashion Week saw Corrine capturing the hedonistic plethora of eye candy drifting around backstage at top shows, as well as papping her way down the runway in the glitz and glam of the stage lights. And she’s not going unnoticed either, with big names such as Diesel and Dazed and Confused paying her well deserved attention. Taking some time away from the big smoke Corrine calls round to see if BOON are allowed out to play. And yessir indeed we are. Donning our finest retro party outfits we follow the prom King and Queen and join in the celebrations for the class of Brighton 2014. From models to musicians, artists to photographers, we certainly have a lot to celebrate. Capturing the playful essence of the festivities, Corrine takes us into her world behind the lens, then leads us out the other side into a bright and beautiful picture.

www.nininoel.tumblr.com

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Model: Nadia Lee

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Model: Joe McCarty

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Model: Izzy Bee Phillips

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Models: Hannah Gleeson, Harvey Hyltoft & Jika Edstrom

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Models: Hannah Gleeson & Jika Edstrom

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Models: Joe McCarty & Nadia Lee

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THE SHAPE OF WHAT’S TO COME Words: Dominic Knight | Illustration: Sam Gull | Photography: Steve Brown

Sometimes the stupidest, most unattainable ideas are the best; the ideas that question your own sanity and test the bounds of your imagination. Squashed between logic, reason and the fear of failure, is the stubbornness and determination of those that don’t believe in word’s such as; ‘no’ and ‘impossible’. There is always something about the odds stacked against you that makes the success of its completion even sweeter. The original idea for BOON was always to create something that raised the bar to a level that we were happy with, and when the idea for the record was proposed, it seemed just mad enough to be a reality.

THE SHAPE OF WHAT’S TO COME

Releasing a compilation of local bands hasn’t been a new thing for a very long time, neither have collections of similar sounding bands from across the globe. Our idea was to do the same, the only difference being there would not be a hint of a profit from us, only maximum pleasure for the recipient, and even more importantly, for the bands involved.

what it does capture, if anything, is that spirit of determination that strikes sparks on a cold winters night. Now if you are aware of the reputation of bands as units of people, at times they can be comparable to goldfish, so you can imagine what it was like to persuade a few dozen of these individuals to stay up way past their bedtime and go hell for leather without even the tiniest allowance of perfectionism.

The overall turn around from the plan laid on the table, to it’s completion, was a matter of weeks. The studio, Brighton Electric, was booked. The bands were dragged out of bed in the wee hours of the morning, and Mike Lord, engineer extraordinaire, gazed tirelessly into the deep dark realms of pro tools.

Though that last part was slightly untrue, it certainly wasn’t the smoothest of journeys, and by the end of the last night the fatigue had well and truly turned us into beings devoid of any positivity whatsoever, save for the confides of our beds. That being said, it could have gone so much worse, and if it wasn’t for the delightfully impish enthusiasm of Christoph Skirl, the Assistant Engineer.

The blueprint was simple. Record our favourite bands from the last few issues, including some new ones we had discovered along the way, give them an hour and a half to set up, record and pack down and then repeat the process until there were eleven songs. The end result being a purely live, unadulterated blast of sonic emissions to make you stand up, sit down or fuck; the record you may or may not be in possession of right now.

Each band featured on the record brings something completely different to the table, be it through style, sound or experience, but within that, they each feel they fall under a similar banner, that of the underground community. When we spoke to Kill Moon, Izzy had this to say: “Everyone can be in charge of their own music, people have had to take control and are doing it for the right reasons. No one’s really in it for the money anymore.”

It isn’t a punk record. It isn’t a psyche record. None of the bands really fit together in a nice little genre, and it may not even be up your street. But

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A true union of all musical strands will always be difficult in Brighton because it is swamped with so much variety, and I’m sure in certain circles there are other exciting projects being undertaken with a huge amount of love and dedication. In a relatively short amount of time the idea was formed, put into process and completed, with the sole goal in mind of bringing people together, no strings attached.

People came, laid down their tracks and hightailed it off into the night, with only a few braving mean old father time to wax lyrical in the control booth, whilst the next band repeated the process. There were glimmers of a community; enthusiastic hand shakes, howls of laughter and long lost hugs, but maybe hoping for such an instant coterie was punching above our possible weight. Lessons have been learnt, duly noted and stored away, ready for the next grandiose idiotic idea that comes our way. You just have to pay attention to what’s going on around you, we can’t make it too easy. It wouldn’t be fitting to end this article with anything other than thanks for those that have truly helped turn this bar room scheme into the beast it is now.

Though it’s still early days, people are starting to realise that the dreams of the last ten years have all been for nothing. The skin is starting to peel from the reanimated corpses of prefabricated monetary backed hype and bands the world over are taking their lives and music into their own hands. Which is not to say that being on a label is a negative thing, but Demob Happy sum it up: “It’s not so much as being DIY to the end, it’s about reaching a point of maturity, maintaining yourself, and manipulating the business to your creative advantage.”

Hats off and pants on to Mike Lord for engineering and putting up with the ridiculous schedule, and Christoph Skirl for assisting his ass off. Nick Lewis for a set of masters the Thunderdome would be proud of. Sam Gilbert at Hate Hate Hate. Julian Deane, Matt Walker and Will Godfrey at Raygun and Jeff Barrett and Danny Mitchell at Heavenly Records, all for just saying yes to this crazy idea.

Recording an album at the best of times can be a tiresome process, and for some of the bands, it was a completely new experience being in a fully functioning studio - as opposed to perched on a bed trying to get a decent level balance on a Tascam four track with only one mic to play with, no stand and reams of gaffa tape.

THE SHAPE OF WHAT’S TO COME

BOON

L ess T estosterone , M ore M usic Words: Matthew Watson | Photography: Tess Hill & Jessica Solomons

There is a certain effervescents that coats Brighton each May as the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly regarded music festival, The Great Escape lands. Brighton takes prides in its rich, diverse and encapsulating local music industry where a plethora of artists, across a broad spectrum of genres and stylistic direction come together and celebrate what is fantastic about music. Nationalities, borders and languages are simply swept aside. The event is a perfect opportunity to make an impression on baying alcohol-fuelled crowds, critical journalists and hidden record label scouts. It is a simple formula but it works and The Great Escape epitomises this. So what about if you are a woman performing at The Great Escape? How does it feel in this contemporary musical age to compete in a world predominantly dictated by patriarchal opinions, socio-cultural perceptions and the ever present shadow of misogyny? BOON magazine has brought together three musicians: Natassja Shiner, front woman of Fickle Friends, Veiga Sanchez of Salt Ashes and Ruby Taylor of Yumi And The Weather. We wanted to see what it really means to be a woman in an androcentric industry and to discover the importance of The Great Escape to them and to Brighton.

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Ruby Taylor, Yumi And The Weather

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As with many artists it can take time to cultivate your own sound and identify what feels ‘right’. Natassja Shiner tells us, “I moved down from Liverpool. I was studying song-writing and moved to Brighton to find a band.” Fickle Friends have had a monumental year topped off with an Abbey Road recording session. For Veiga Sanchez, it is a much more unequivocal affair. “There was no real ‘beginning’ point. I unknowingly always felt pulled towards music and never knew why exactly, almost as if I didn’t have a choice.” Whereas for Yumi And The Weather’s Ruby Taylor, it was about exploring music genres. “I was in my old band playing reggae music and I started to get quite frustrated as what I wanted to write was more pop. Then I heard stuff by Little Dragon and Grimes and I was like “This is what I want to be doing!”

what is often interpreted as a male orientated industry. From sifting through academic literature it is clear that there seems to be two standpoints: women as performers who utilise their very selves, their physical body, the connotations associated with this and the registered perception amongst a given audience whilst playing music. And the other point, women as working professionals who maximise their potential through music alone without the matter of stereotypical gendered norms coming into effect; simply put, it doesn’t matter if you are a male or female, music is music. Good music can be made by either. To say that now, it can feel and seem so ostensibly obvious, yet many indirectly fall by the wayside. We have all heard subtle sexism and lurid humour whilst at a gig; an inebriated ‘lad’ carelessly saying “she has got fucking awesome tits!” It happens a lot now you are actively thinking about it, yet the music isn’t critiqued or recognised as something of primary value. Why? When you casually read a review of a female artist, descriptive words such as “sultry” or “vixen” get bandied around without a substantiated thought. When do you ever read an article about a male lead involving words such as “hunk” or “nice abs?” Never. Women are unfortunately susceptible to objectification.

What is interesting to note from the three is that there was no obvious prejudice or exclusionary malpractice in their fledgling music careers as a consequence to them being women. No closed doors. No cruel jibs. It is clear that the music industry wants women. It welcomes them just as favourably as men. So why are there still difficulties for women? Though it may seem obvious to some, women and their position in music is still a hotly contested issue within

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Veiga Sanchez, Salt Ashes

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So what should women do? Should female musicians embrace this objectifying notion? Does it empower women to use their bodies to further their career whether the music in question is good or not? So many theories and methodological ideas can arise from such questions.

band with a female singer; they might be so set in their ways that they won’t accept it.” Veiga interestingly shares similar views to those of Natassja. “I guess there’s more scrutiny with women compared to men. I hate to say it as we are in a culture of equality and empowered women but I still think there’s a lot more judgement towards female artists. There’s competition from all over, I hope gender doesn’t come into play and it is more about the artist’s own talent and abilities.”

Natassja tells us about her thoughts and the reality of being a woman in music. “Some people are like, “Oh wow you’re a woman in the industry.” I front a band with four boys in it, it makes me feel more powerful because it was my band, my project. But obviously it’s a combined effort now. I’m quite a self-assured person and I’ve studied the music industry for years now. I can talk quite confidently to people about it and take my initiative, I delegate a lot and I’ve always had a very strong role and vision of what I wanted to do. I guess some girls are literally the face of the band with no kind of creative input. As it happens, yes, I am the singer but I also write a lot of the music and play instruments. Sometimes people just assume that you don’t do anything but sing and its all the guys who are doing the work. You have to justify your position.

In response to whether being a woman has sculpted her sound, Sanchez explains, “I am not really conscious of it, I just tend to create whatever I’m feeling at the time. All my lyrics come from my own emotions and others around me, maybe they are feminised but I don’t usually analyse my songs to think about it.” Ruby raises the point rather nicely that now is a great time for female musicians. With the emergence of bands like Haim and CHVRCHES, females have a growing presence in the industry for the right, artistically gifted reasons. “I think that because it is such a male dominated industry women need to gain respect in a way for writing good material and show people that women are capable of making music. Women are less

A girl in a band can completely change the band’s image, even if they’re stylistically exactly the same. People maybe wouldn’t like an indie

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threatened and pressured now and it is now historically better for women to make a stand against sexism. With the help of journalism and the internet, women’s confidence has been boosted as the information is now there on how to deal with it.”

Vally and Syron perform. From experience, if you ask someone who they are most excited to see, the usual answer will be that of a female artist. The nature of The Great Escape and the inquisitive attitudes towards new music actively demonstrated by those attending means new female artists and bands are readily consumed. This year’s billing thankfully continued that trend, relishing in diversity and charisma whilst underpinning the importance of female performers at such a festival.

It certainly seems that women are continually at the forefront of new music, of being able to professionally create pieces of music characterised by diverse harmonies, multiple instrumental ease and emotive lyrical inputs. Indeed it is those with archaic views, regardless of their gender, who need to play catch up.

These three women had the envious privilege of performing this year, showcasing brand new music that feels incredibly fresh and stands at the forefront of creativity and experimentalism. Natassja explains that music which has gestated over a small time period can only be accurately described as ‘newer than new’, in a general sense and that Brighton has an established reputation for driving such directive trends. “It’s really nice at the moment: IYES, Beautiful Boy, Fickle Friends. They are all my mates and it is like the next generation of music where it feels like this is 2015’s sound. The year ‘above’ are doing really well but then next year is your turn to do well, it is weird.”

And what about festivals? Where do women stand when it comes to large live events and an influx of differentiating crowds? The Great Escape in itself is Europe’s largest multi-venue new music event which brings with it swathes of festival-goers and appreciated income to bolster a thriving local music scene. Talent scouts and experts diligently flock to pop up gigs and packed halls to cast a keen eye over new music artists; it is a fantastic chance for musicians reveal their professional guile and honed craft before the establishment. The Great Escape is noted for having a significant proportion of female musicians; last year saw the likes of Iggy Azalea, Nina Nesbitt, Deap

Veiga also perfectly emphasises the above point and the significance that The Great Escape holds not only

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N ATAS S JA S H I N E R FI C K L E FR I E N DS

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for those performing, but also for Brighton itself, “Brighton has an undoubtedly great music scene. What I love about The Great Escape is the variety of music you can jump to and from and the festival-like atmosphere that is brought to the place that I live in. All that creativity and love for music in one place at one time is sexy and exciting. It’s a big event and Brighton needs it.”

Women, music and The Great Escape Festival are symbiotically linked. They all need each other and that, is a succinct matter of fact perhaps inimitably summed up by Veiga, “It is very important to have women at The Great Escape. Who would want a festival full of testosterone?”

The Great Escape continues to entertain and underline its reputation as a purveyor of all things new, intriguing and exploratory. It places Brighton firmly on the festival calendar and ensures that the local music industry remains buoyant and enriched with new artists and talent. Amongst those, women will always be present, standing defiantly alongside their male counterparts. “As long as you love what you are doing it doesn’t matter” Natassja reaffirms.

BOON

THE MUCKY DUCK Words: Joe Walker | Illustration: Ludovica Zallot www.ludovicazallot.com

THE MUCKY DUCK

Placed neatly between St James Street and Brighton seafront, The Mucky Duck continues to impose itself on Brighton’s pub scene. With an increasing number of pubs struggling to pull in the punters, The Mucky Duck is going from strength to strength. We recently visited to find out more about the success of one of BOON’s favourite places to hang out.

Three years on from their aptly named launch night on Friday 13th, ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ (“turns out everything,” Laura reveals), The Mucky Duck continues to grow. DJ sets each weekend offer something for the more lively pub goers, whereas ‘Quiz on your Face’ turns the traditional pub quiz on its head, with an eating round and proceeds going to a different charity each time.

Owners Laura Karim and Jimmy Milonas harboured separate dreams of owning and running their own pub when chance brought them together and they turned up working behind the same bar. Less than three months after meeting, they had found the new home of The Mucky Duck.

The pub also acts as a platform for local artists. Along with the live music and weekly open mic nights, the majority of artwork found on the walls inside The Mucky Duck is up for sale and has been contributed by local artists. Shortly after opening, an internet ad found them several local artists willing to hang their artwork on the walls of the pub, and with the artwork that sells going to new homes, the walls are ever changing.

The Mucky Duck has successfully created an atmosphere where everyone feels welcome. There is no preconception on who should be the next person through the door. “People always ask us who are set customer are, we don’t really have that, it changes.” Laura explains. Families, couples, students and board game enthusiasts all regularly frequent the free house for a pint, or possibly a nibble from The Moog Cook Book.

Still somewhat in it’s infancy, there is no telling what is next for The Mucky Duck, perhaps a sister, “The Dirty Bird” Jimmy jokingly suggests. So if you fancy an afternoon board game, a great bite to eat, a quiet drink or even a loud one, you’ll find The Mucky Duck on Manchester Street, we’ll see you in there.

Classic pub grub is served Wednesday through Sunday. Thursday night is Burger Night and Sunday is all about their traditional Sunday Roasts, which are served all day.

BOON

HOME

Words: Antony Day | Collation: Steve Brown, Laura Brown & Antony Day

Home, backdrop to our childhood memories; a place where we once played, argued and perhaps marked the door with pencil lines as we grew taller and wiser. The true essence of what makes home ‘home’, cannot be identified by the mere expression of a dwelling where one resides and plays out their life. For many, it’s the organic connection we form with our surroundings, the comforts we find, the good, the bad and the ugly. All of those strange, wonderful and often frustrating things we somehow treasure, exemplified by the clichéd phrase ‘Home is where the heart is.’ The concept for BOON’s global call for submissions comes from our collective interest in Brighton’s wonderfully diverse population. Native Brightonians are a rare breed it seems. Stretching out from all corners of the UK and beyond, this City has become home for thousands. Its appeal as a unique, interesting and delightfully strange city on the coastline offers so much to so many. However finding a place we call home goes far deeper. It seems we all have our own story, our own experiences. Beautiful and intricate moments are continuously in motion, and many pass by without a moment’s notice, but for some, the camera is only a second away. Enjoy these exceptional responses to the theme ‘Home’ and an insight into a world away.

HOME

Photographer: Kevin Novales

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Photographer: Julie Grace Immink

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Photographer: Tatyana Palyga 65

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Photographer: Kent Andreasen

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Photographer: Georges Salameh

Photographer: Sam James Levine

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Photographer: Ian R. Lewandowski

Photographer: Tine Bek

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Photographer: Thales Pessoa

HOME