In The Words Of

I hope you had a lovely June and had the chance to celebrate that special event, Armed Forces Day like I did. As you all know, I served in the Army for many years and had many mates killed in action or injured, much worse than I did.

INTRO RANT

2022: what a time to be alive, hey, men and women, girls and boys? The mainstream media keeps on perpetuating this constant fear that you would think they were controlled by the governments of whatever country they originate from. Who would listen, read, or watch their output if this was a fact? I wonder! Just imagine a world where you had to use your own eyes and ears for what you see/hear and didn’t have to be ‘shown’ what didn’t really affect you or your locality. That’s all I am saying. And let’s think, how do you feel after seeing some event - consistently adverse, naturally - on the news? Did you go away with fear and sleepless nights, or did you go away with some positive outcome that some good may come out of that [always] horrifi c story? Never the latter. Always the former. Case complete.

I seldom peruse live TV anymore. I just can’t abide it. I will watch screeners or links for soon-to-be transmitted shows, but live TV. Nope! [caveat - the World Cup and Euros are the only time] Which leads me to this month’s…

by Carl Marsh

The Boys - Season Three - Amazon Prime

This show stands tall in the dying, shrivelled - but extremely overpopulated - forest that is modern-day Hollywood and the superhero genre. I love a good superhero fi lm and Disney+ Star Wars or Marvel-based series. Yet, so many, too many, and not all hit the mark. The Boys, however, perhaps because it is not a Marvel comic as it was a Wildstorm imprint under the DC Comic umbrella, then from issue 7 to (last issue) 72, under Dynamite Entertainment. It is very much the anti-superhero comic, which is why DC Comics cancelled it at issue six. I am so glad that Amazon Prime picked up the screening rights. The Boys season three is ten times more graphic than season two, which was ten times more graphic than season one. It’s fun. It’s got the language not suitable for anyone under the age of 18 - quality viewing, nonetheless.

REVIEWS Better Call Saul - Season Five - Netfl ix

When watching this fi nal season of a show, that might be a slow burner in the storyline at times, yet I am convinced that every modern scriptwriter needs to watch this show and take some serious notes. This show is a masterclass. It has everything that a show or fi lm needs, whether character development, acting, cinematography, script, or locations - I could go on and on. The series ends on a high, and I am not making any hints about the methamphetamines that Walter White’s storyline in the precursor to this show [Breaking Bad] was all about! If this show is not on your radar, watch Breaking Bad fi rst, then roll onto this epic follow-on.

INTERVIEWS

Nest Jenkins: ITV Wales presenter of Backstage. I had a little chat with Nest about the premise of the show that airs on Thursday nights and is available to binge online.

AViVA: Singer/songwriter/author AViVA is a very respected artist in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK. I chatted to her about the constant releasing of her music. Does she never stop!

Have a great July; see you all next month,

Carl Marsh Twitter - @InTheWordsOf_CM Facebook - @InTheWordsOf YouTube - InTheWordsOf

Australian singer/songwriter and author, AViVA spends most of her time in Los Angeles, yet had been back at home due to the Covid restrictions. I chatted to her about her constant release of music, and also, her novels…

Carl Marsh

It’s not that long ago [October 2021] that your latest album, Volume Two came out, but it feels like you are always releasing new music; regardless of whether they’d made the cut for Volume One or Two?

AViVA

I release a lot of music. And honestly, I like to release a single at least every two months. So, there’ll be a lot more new music by May, there’ll be heaps of music out. I think that for me, as an artist, it’s a lot more interesting to just perform and do all different songs. My albums are not traditional albums in the sense that there are three singles, and then the rest are ‘songs’ - it’s pretty much all singles. And then I sneak on one or two little extra tracks, and stuff like that. So, I find that it’s more interesting as a fan. I don’t really care about albums anymore. I think that the way that people consume music is so different. So, I try to sort of do what I feel like myself (who) as an active music listener would enjoy the most. And that is definitely what I would want. So, that’s what I do. In saying all that, that’s why the tour is AViVA, it’s not AViVA Volume Two, or whatever. It’s just like “AViVA”. Because I’ll play whatever I feel like. [Laughs]

Carl Marsh

But don’t the albums have connections to the books that you have released? So, with that theme going on in tandem with the books and albums; vice versa?

AViVA

All my songs connect to my books and the series. So, there are songs in Volume Two that link to book two, (even though) Volume Two came out in October last year, whereas book two is not coming out until October this year, so be it! [Laughs] It’s kind of in this era of AViVA that it is all about selflessness. It’s all about this story that I’m building. That is why I don’t have to be married to one album because every single song that I’ve released maps back to my book. And this world that I’m developing has characters and the journey that they go on, it’s like all expressed in the songs.

Carl Marsh

The books carry a very dystopian theme in line with the albums, so, would the last two years have led to your creations here as it feels like an escape for you to get your emotions out or were the ideas in place long before this Lockdown stuff in Australia?

AViVA

I started writing the first book towards the end of 2017 and early 2018, and I had no idea any of this stuff was gonna happen! Then it’s just become a little too close to home in some ways. I’ve noticed some people are like, “Oh, it’s eerily like ‘of the times’” and I’m like “Unintended. Completely unintended. It was a work of fiction, that’s accidentally a little bit familiar”. So, that idea of no freedom, or no ability to express yourself and not being allowed to be creative and all this censorship. It’s scary. And the idea of not being able to be creative and do creative things to express myself is genuinely like my worst nightmare, because like you said, creating my art, writing songs and writing these stories is how I get my emotions out. It’s how I process life. I couldn’t imagine being persecuted for that.

Carl Marsh

I’ve seen the first episode of Backstage, and I think the producers have chosen wisely you as the presenter with your experience around the Welsh music scene playing the harp, and also with you presenting Y Byd ar Bedwar on S4C?

Nest Jenkins

Yeah, absolutely. Music has been a part of my life since I was young, and playing the harp. I’ve enjoyed writing all of my life. And so when I saw this opportunity within ITV Wales - I had only started with them since June last year - this programme had been in the making for years before then. So, when I heard about this and the chance to be a presenter, I knew I’d have to go for it because I’ve got so many ideas, and it also offers me the opportunity to meet new people. I want to broaden my horizons. And to have a chance to meet other creative people. So I think it’s well needed at the moment in Wales.

Carl Marsh

So, for those that might be new to the show and could have missed the opening episode on June 16th, although it’s on Catch-up TV and online via other means, what’s the show’s premise?

Nest Jenkins

Well, it showcases the best in our arts scene here in Wales. I’ll be in the studio talking to the studio guests. And then we’ve also got two reporters who have been out and about meeting and chatting to people and hearing about projects that are going on across the country. We’ve got from ballet to blues, to graffiti, illustrators, photographers, DJs… the list goes on - quite a variety. Also, we are looking at the traditional arts; we’ve got a lot of music and a lot of what we probably think of traditionally as being arts in Wales, but also, we’re questioning what the term “Welsh Arts” means today, and celebrating the diverse range we’ve got here in Wales.

Carl Marsh

And I think you’ve touched on that before that last question in that you’re not just there to present. You will aim to be very involved in sourcing some of the talent that appears on the show. Have you been allowed to do that already?

Nest Jenkins

As this series continues, I think I will have more chances to do that. We had so many ideas for the first episode that it was difficult to fit them all into those six episodes! So, hopefully, as time goes on… we’ve already seen people contacting us even before the launch this week. And that’s been quite exciting. So yeah, it’s been a process of picking and choosing because there’s so much we could include, but unfortunately, we’ve only got half an hour every week. So we’re trying to make the most of it and squeeze as many as possible in.

Carl Marsh

It’s undoubtedly less than that if you take out the adverts; you probably only have about 22 minutes or so?

Nest Jenkins

Yeah, it’s 23 [minutes] on record. It’s not a lot of time, especially because I’m in the studio with two guests. We’ve got so much to talk about, but we only have about five minutes. So, trying to be as concise as possible, but it’s just a snapshot and the fact that it will be live online afterwards. We’ve got a TikTok page as well. And hopefully, people can then be very reactive by just having a flavour and then go on their journey to learn more about these artists.