COME PL AY WITH BRODK A JOY CROOKES
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WHAT'S INSIDE
NEWS 04 JULY 2021
MANAGEMENT Tony Ereira tony@cpwm.co MAGAZINE Andrew Benge andy@cpwm.co LABEL Scott Lewis scott@cpwm.co DIVERSITY EVENTS Emily Marlow emily@cpwm.co
LONG READ 06 BRODKA 18 JOY CROOKES 28 BILLIE MARTEN NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH 34 REBECCA LOU / COPENHAGEN TOOLBOX 14 CLEAN CUT KID / FINDING YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS
BRODKA COVER
AWAY FROM THE NOISE 13 LUKE LA VOLPE 21 SILLY BOY BLUE 25 MICHAEL GALLAGHER 33 MARTHA HILL
Marcin Kempski / I LIKE PHOTO
JOY CROOKES COVER Andrew Benge
DIGGING DEEPER 12 CHLOE FOY 16 EVANN MCINTOSH 24 GEORGE O’HANLON 32 RUNNNER
SPECIAL THANKS
in no particular order... Lily, Katie, Liv, Gordon, Joy, Charlie, Katrina, Jamie, Abi, James, Zoya, Warren, Jenny, Christian, Louisa, Paddy, Chloe, Tasha, Nisa, all of the artists, contributors and everyone else who took the time to tell their stories and helped make this happen.
PHOTO BOOTH & ART WALL 22 ADA LEA / ONE HAND ON THE STEERING WHEEL THE OTHER SEWING A GARDEN 26 CHERYM / RETURNING TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD 36 SPOKEN:HEARD / WITH INDEPENDENT VENUE WEEK & COME PLAY WITH ME 5 QUESTIONS 11 KOLEŻANKA 17 THE LIARS CLUB
SMALL PRINT
Come Play With is printed by Mixam. Copyright © 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher at andy@cpwm.co. Printed in the UK.
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NEWS
JULY 2021 Hi everyone from all at CPWM HQ - welcome to a new magazine. Excitingly, we’ve just moved to a new studio space in Leeds as we outgrew the last shared space. We’re sharing with brilliant record label Clue Records, who are doing good things (and who I - Tony - also co-run but CPWM’s Scott makes everything happen) Check them out as there is some incredible music coming from there. We had our first tentative steps back into the live world in June with 3 socially distanced gigs - Spoken:Heard, a commission of 3 LGBTQIA+ spoken word artists with the amazing Shauna (from our Side By Side comp), partnering with Independent Venue week... and sold out events with Polo/Dilettante and Supriya Nagarajan. Lots more to come now that restrictions have lifted... keep an eye on our socials (and please take a lateral flow test before you attend any gigs to protect everyone else). The first single from our new Boundless compilation premiered in Clash last week from the amazingly talented Laeeqa... we’re very excited to share the rest of the album with you too soon. Sadly you may have heard that vinyl pressings plants are having big problems this year... a perfect storm of COVID issues mixed with external factors like Brexit, a fire in an acetate factory in North America and even the Suez Canal blockage. It’s all meant that singles we had lined up for Autumn/Winter will now be dropping in early 2022 - but look out for a whole series of new digital releases from us later in the year to make up for that. It’s exciting times and we’re all cautiously optimistic as we emerge from this difficult period. This presumably won’t be a linear recovery from here- there’ll be setbacks for all of us. So as always, please look out, and be there for, each other. Tony To support CPWM please see PATREON.COM/CPWM
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BRODKA 6
Bleaching your eyebrows, curating a dystopian city, going against gender stereotypes, and creating a new personality with each release is all a part of making an album when you are Brodka – and with the release of BRUT, Brodka defies all expectations. 7
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Since returning to the scene with ‘BRUT’ her first studio album in 4 years, just two months ago, Brodka now is the strongest she has ever been, working against societal norms, gender roles and the position of a woman in the music industry whilst sitting safely in her self-created dystopian city tokened by the same name, ‘BRUT’. There’s something within Polish people that is naturally very melancholic’, says Monika Brodka, on Zoom, on a gloomy Monday afternoon, ‘we grow up and we experience adverse weather conditions, the sun will go down one day, and we don’t know when it’ll reappear again. That worked hand in hand with being locked inside where restrictions changed every other day, made BRUT the dystopian album it is today’. ‘It’s crazy you know,’ she laughs, ‘I wanted to create an album made for dancing in nightclubs with big disco beats, however I found myself isolated and listening to sad songs and uncovered so much emotion within them, I’ve always known that music does not work within me at a basic level, I found beauty within this sadness, and I created BRUT. The world around me took control of this album, I’m grateful for that’. BRUT has been heavily influenced by brutalist architecture which emerged in the UK in the 1950’s. Brutalist architecture finds itself both hated and adored, featuring unusual shapes and unfinished surfaces, small windows, and harsh materials that
showcased the structural elements instead of the decorative.
"I DON’T LOOK AT MYSELF IN THE MIRROR AND JUDGE MYSELF ON WHETHER I LOOK PRETTY OR NOT, I DON’T FOLLOW THE STEREOTYPES OF A WOMAN IN POP MUSIC, AND THAT SCARES PEOPLE." ‘Architecture deserved to have a place within BRUT,’ chimes Brodka, ‘I found myself entranced by brutalist architecture, huge buildings that some may deem ugly – whilst others find them breathtakingly beautiful. From there I felt there was a distinct link between brutalism and gender expression, these unique, striking features found within these giant buildings link to masculine and feminine features upon ourselves, you don’t love every feature – but they all contribute to a piece of art.’ BRUT sees Brodka explore the stereotypes linked with gender, reversing them, and switching them up as a symbol of power and defiance. The era sees her take the role of Lola, a hyper-sexual blonde heroine that enabled Brodka to find the beauty within herself and other beings. ‘People have problems with me playing these characters’ Brodka explains, ‘This time, I decided to bleach my 9
eyebrows, the press here in Poland made a huge fuss and were posting articles about how ugly and weird I looked. I don’t think people understand that this is a character of my own album. I don’t wish to follow the stereotypes for this album, I don’t want to always be pretty and wear specific make-up. People feel uncomfortable around me because I don’t fit in with their stereotypes.’ Brodka has been in the music business since 2004, when she was crowned the winner of the third season of Poland’s Pop Idol. Her previous albums have received critical acclaim, with her third studio album, Granda, being the first exhibition of a change in musical direction, with critics saying that the record held ‘adventurousness that puts most of Poland’s altrock acts to shame’. Since then, Brodka further worked against the conventions of women within the music industry and has found herself by taking total control of her releases and catching the eyes of music lovers across the globe with her striking visuals. ‘When I was younger, I always felt like I had to act strong and tough to appeal to the men, who were gatekeepers of the music industry, because I’m a woman.’ States Brodka, ‘I had to be okay with just being a singer who puts songs out for people to enjoy – all to get the respect from men. Over the past few years something has really changed for me. I’ve found myself working with people who give me creative freedom, I’ve took control of
virtually every element of my assumes the role of her music.’ dead husband and is more of a short film than a music ‘My music didn’t fit my video. As the video unfolds, personality’ she continues, Brodka meets more women ‘from there I started to write who have took on masculine my own songs and I feel as roles whilst keeping their if my career has changed feminine names, they dance since then, for the better. together before watching My music, because of this, a film about a feminine has become more personal superhero and question – I enjoy what I am releasing, their femininity. and I am proud of it, and it was then easy for me ‘That music video wasn’t to start expressing myself planned, you know?’ she visually too.’ laughs, talking about ‘Game Change’, ‘the setting that BRUT feels to be as much of we chose, combined with a cinematic masterpiece as the costumes on offer made it is a musical masterpiece, the ‘Game Change’ music with the accompanying video what we see today. I music videos for ‘Game wanted to create something Change’ and ‘Hey Man’ of relevance to the current being prime examples of situation around women in that. The latter of the two, Poland, it’s 2021, why are directed by Brodka herself men still deciding what we and Przemek Dzienis, is a can, or cannot do, with our sensual spy story set within bodies?’ the city of BRUT. It sees Brodka play her alter-ego, ‘Everyone finds something Lola, in a homage to classic new within that music spy movies. video, it is special.’ ‘People who don’t agree with my ‘Living in Poland as a woman, message and the things you’re constantly having that I believe in have told to fight for your rights. The me that they have found political situation has really something within the ‘Game influenced my visuals, I want Change’ video. I’ve had to help women (through people who are right-wing, the embodiment of her anti-vaccine, tell me that alter-ego, Lola) realise the queue’s displayed within that they can be dominant that video mimic that of the beings whilst men can be vaccine queue – that isn’t submissive.’ intentional, that’s because it has been left open to ‘My visuals, weirdly, say so interpretation.’ much more than my music’, With the release of BRUT, Brodka explains, ‘they allow Brodka wishes to challenge me to open my music up to people’s thoughts of her, interpretation, where my and those who feel as if music says one thing, my they do not fit in. Every visuals can say another.’ part of this album and the cinematography attached The aforementioned music to it allow Brodka to force a video for BRUT’s lead reaction from her fans, but single, ‘Game Change’, also those who are typically is unmissable, it sees against her. Brodka play a woman who Words by Katie Macbeth
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‘BRUT is personal to me and my experiences’, she explains, ‘I am a tiny woman who has got masculine features – both displayed physically but also within my personality. This album has allowed me to get to grips with people’s perceptions of me, allowing me to reflect on the way people see me and how these feelings would change if I was a man.’ ‘I have to break those boundaries,’ she continues, ‘I want to get a reaction and this album has really enabled that. The reinvention of my character with each album is a way to do that, and with the invention of Lola and BRUT, I feel like I’ve built something new on the ashes of the old.’ With the release of BRUT, Brodka has done exactly that. Each song stands as an anthem of defiance, uniqueness, and power. In a time where societal norms and political rulings of Poland seem to have a hold over women’s bodies – Brodka has provided an album both for the present, and the future, whilst taking aim at the past. Let Brodka take your hand and throw you into the chaos of BRUT, a whirlwind of chaos and acceptance that will forever hold you safe and sound. BRUT is available now via PIAS on all streaming services, with physical copies available from all good retailers and independent record stores. For more information on Brodka www.brodkamusic.com.
Photography by Marcin Kempski / I LIKE PHOTO
5 QUESTIONS
KOLEŻANKA WHO ARE YOU?
I am Kristina Moore, I am a maker and player of music and perform as “koleżanka”, I am the 1999 summer speed champion at the Peoria Boys and Girls Club, I am a lover, I am a fighter, etc...
WHAT DO YOU DO?
I play multiple instruments, I write and perform music with myself and with others. I notoriously and obnoxiously create twenty tracks in a song for backing vocals alone. I enthusiastically enjoy eating potatoes in all of their beautiful and unique preparations. I knit bucket hats over and over again because I have yet to make one that fits my very small head. I stare at dogs often and have probably stared at your dog. I read alone in a bar because I like being in proximity to people noise. I send long-winded, caffeine-induced texts about Words by Kristina Moore
thoughts and ideas to friends in the early morning, despite that they often live across the country in a different time zone
WHY DO YOU DO IT?
It's compulsive! If I don’t do it I fear I will simply disappear!
WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?
I’ve been waiting to play shows and be on the road again for so long, and have been waiting to put this record out even longer! I truly can’t believe it's finally happening, and I feel so lucky, so fulfilled, so relieved, so ready for wherever I go next. I am already making plans for record #2 and have a mountain of new material waiting to be sifted through. But for now, I am so ready for the immediacy of sharing things live again, and for this record to live outside of my brain and my computer. 11
WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC?
I think the hot topic in music right now is listening to Haha Sound by Broadcast and other records you heard when you were twenty over and over in unwavering awe and feeling completely amiss in conversations about new artists and bands because you’re not emotionally prepared to accept someone new into your life We are playing our first live band show since pre-pandemic at The Sultan Room in Brooklyn with Nation of Language on August 19th. We have some other shows in the works, and you may find us over on the west coast this early winter... koleżanka’s debut record “Place Is” comes out July 30!
Photography by Michael Fuller
DIGGING DEEPER
CHLOE FOY FEELING AND INSTINCT
When I think of music that moves me, it also tends to soothe me. I think the ability of music to erode away our troubles is magical. But if it doesn’t just make them vanish into thin air, it allows us to sit with things and confront them and to feel things that we may otherwise be hiding under the surface. I’ve long been interested in mindfulness and how it can mould our brains for the better. Music has many similarities. When you sit and meditate, you notice how you’re really feeling, away from the noise and business of our lives that is consistently thrust upon us. Through meditation, it’s possible to realise that maybe you’re not okay and that you need some self-care. I think music does the same, it can bring up emotions that you didn’t Words by Chloe Foy
realise were under the surface all along. Really that’s all I’m trying to do when I write - to make music that makes you feel. I love songs that can leave you feeling euphoric or heartbroken in equal measure, indeed, anything that gives an outlet for some kind of catharsis, whether explosive and purifying or more introspective and admissive. It’s these kinds of cathartic songs that always spoke to me the most as a child and teenager, though I could never put into words why. There’s likely musicaltheoretical reasons as to why certain chords/harmonies/ textures make you feel a certain way, but in my writing, I’m wary of developing too formulaic an approach and feel like the best results are often borne of intuition - I’m often content just going with 12
my gut instead. I take my ‘gut’ very seriously. It’s always been apparent to me how various forms of emotional disquiet manifest in the stomach. So listening to my gut is a hugely important part of my creative practice, but also with regards to other related things such as building a team around you, or creating a visual identity to go with your music. Too many times I’ve ignored my gut, owing to my lack of self-confidence and often deferring to other people for their opinion, only to regret my choice further down the line. So listen to your gut, a lot of feeling, and instinct, happens in there.. The debut album "Where Shall We Begin" is out now. Photography by Andrew Benge
AWAY FROM THE NOISE
LUKE LA VOLPE BEATING MY BROTHERS AT SPORT
I’m from Bathgate in Scotland and I’ve been singing and playing since I was 9 years old. My grandad played the trumpet and sang when he was in the army and he got me into all the old classics – Sinatra, Elvis, Johnny Cash. He taught me to sing ‘the right way’. I’ve just played my first gig back at Latitude festival, which was incredible after not playing any gigs for eighteen months. Lockdown did my head in with not being able to play, so I tried to stay active as much as possible. I have three brothers and we’re all really competitive with each other, so I’ll try any sport if there’s a chance of taking their scalps. Golf’s always a good one with Words by Luke La Volpe
them and we played tennis the other week, which was an absolute killer. It was a scorching day and it looked like my head had inflated afterwards. But I won, so it was worth it. I used to box and I still love to get into the gym for a bit of training or go for a swim. There have been periods over the last months where the whole thing has really got me down, but if I can get out for a run or any physical activity then I instantly feel better. You’ve got to keep active or the whole mess can seem impossible. On the more sedate side of things, I get out and go fishing whenever I get the chance. I can sit there all day, preferably with a mate but I’m quite happy to go on my own. 13
It’s great if you catch one or two, but just being out in the fresh air and quiet works for me. I like going out for a bit of good food and I’ll occasionally have a go at cooking. My mate’s dad’s a fishmonger and he sent me over some lovely stuff for free so I tried my hand at a cooking video to give him some promo. The food was great but I’m not sure there’s a new career in it for me. For everyone’s sake, I think it’s better that I get back to singing full time.. I’m playing TRNSMT, Live at Leeds and Liverpool Sound City this year, and supporting a great band in Sheffield in October, which will be announced soon.
Photography by Steph Nicol
TOOLBOX
FINDING YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS WITH CLEAN CUT KID
For this month’s edition of Artist Toolbox, we had the pleasure of talking with Mike Halls, front man of Liverpool’s Clean Cut Kid. A band with an expansive way of recording, writing and producing their music, we asked Hall all about his creative process, and the recent success of their documentary debut in support of their album Mother’s Milk. YOUR ALBUM MOTHER’S MILK JUST HAD ITS DOCUMENTARY DEBUT THIS MONTH- HOW DID YOU FIND THE PROCESS OF CREATING A DOCUMENTARY THAT FELT REPRESENTATIVE OF YOU AS A BAND? The process was kind of governed by a couple of things.
We had lots of footage of writing, recording and our trip to Nashville, but most of this footage was never going to be visually sufficient to carry the narrative- mainly because a lot of the album’s composition and creation was done in our little flat and tiny studio, plus I don’t find digital film or music very inspiring at all and all the footage was shot on iPhone.
"FINDING A UNIQUE APPROACH TO RECORDING AND ARRANGING A RECORD IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING AFTER THE SONGS..." 14
So I knew from the start that this was going to have be something very unique. The formula was to use hand drawn animation to give the images some dimension, and then heavily lean on foley and sound design to inject all the emotion into the story. What emerged was something much more akin to the way we make records.
YOU’VE JUST SIGNED TO ALCOPOP! RECORDS FOR YOUR NEW ALBUM, TELL US ABOUT YOUR PLANS FOR THIS. The 4th record was a very different process to Mother’s Milk. MM is about 50% recorded on tape, and 50% digital; but this one is completely tracked on 8 track 1/4” mastering tape. What that translates to is a much
more lo-fi record, completely built from live performances of every part in every track. The new record is also only written by me and doesn’t feature Evelyn in the writing, unlike our last few records. If you want a picture in your head for album 4, it’s me, alone in a tiny studio for months, painstakingly doing hundreds of takes of every single part until they were all perfect. It’s devastatingly personal.
HOW WOULD YOU ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO EXPLORE A DIFFERENT CREATIVE PROCESS THAT ALLOWS THEM TO CREATE SOMETHING NEW? I’d say finding a unique approach to recording and arranging a record is the single most important thing after the songs themselves. Sonics don’t matter at all. Something sounding ‘good’ or ‘right’ or ‘well recorded’ is completely irrelevant. You must focus on performance first and foremost in my opinion. World class playing can be recorded on an iPhone and it will move people regardless. What’s happened in our industry is we used to have thousands of world class players and a handful of incredible producers. And slowly we’ve shifted to thousands of incredible producers with so few people out there who you’d ever want to even capture raw. My advice is don’t ‘fix anything later’, capture all the magic when it happens and if it’s not happening; go fucking practice until it does. Oh, and fuck digital. Tape for the win.
WHAT EQUIPMENT AND PROCESSES HELP YOU EXPLORE YOUR IDEAS WHEN MAKING MUSIC? I have a 1” 8 track tape machine, a lovely ex-BBC little side car desk, and a purposely limited compliment of gear that I know Words by Abi Whistance
inside out. I use a Valve U47, into a Valve REDD pre-amp, into an old 60s Pultec EQ, into a Valve RS124 limiter. 90% of everything you’ll ever hear on our records comes along that chain. On top of that I use 100% analogue effects: an Echoplex EP3 tape delay, a real plate reverb and real springs and Moogerfooger units. It’s hard to make a ‘generic’ or ‘cold’ record when you’re dealing with those tools.
"I JUST CAN’T EVER SEE HOW I’D BE ABLE TO GET MY VISION RIGHT IN A COMMERCIAL STUDIO."
is a learning curve to truly master. I realise that one big factor in building our studio was having the privilege of a great budget for some of our dream equipment; not all home studios are created equally.
IN THE DOCUMENTARY YOU SPOKE ABOUT FEELING LONELY RECORDING MOTHERS MILK ALONE INITIALLYHOW DID THIS FUNCTION OVER THE PAST YEAR IN A HOME STUDIO SETTING?
With record 4 I decided to embrace the loneliness. In our home studio I’m never more than a few feet away from my wife Ev, but it’s the creative solitude that kind of sets the scene on the new recording. I’m writing all the songs myself, and playing 90% I can’t stress enough that this gear and the analogue approach of all the parts live to tape. I was lost in a little world for months, to recording actively shapes and even though [my wife] Ev every creative move I make. was there physically; she kind of Adding a tape plug in is nothing like recording on tape in any way. had no part in that world until it came to tracking her vocals and Not because of the sound of it, but because when you record on cello parts. It was hard work and tape you carefully plan every part I had a mini breakdown where I almost erased the tapes, but I’m and every bounce down. Then you work on those parts for days so glad I persevered because I’ve never been prouder of anything. on end until you can play them in your sleep. Our gear makes every stage much more time consuming, but you can hear that care in the recordings.
WE’VE SPOKEN TO VARIOUS PEOPLE ABOUT HOME STUDIOS, ESPECIALLY OVER LOCKDOWN, BUT TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THEM AND HOW YOU UTILISE YOURS? Our last few records were recorded in ‘home studios’ and I just can’t ever see how I’d be able to get my vision right in a commercial studio. Regardless of the pressures of being ‘on the clock’, it’s also the fact that each new room, microphone and piece of recording gear 15
You can watch Clean Cut Kid’s new documentary, Curdled: A Mother’s Milk Story, on their YouTube channel now.
Main photograph by Alec Brits
DIGGING DEEPER
EVANN MCINTOSH UPCOMING PROJECT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
I am 17 years old and I am a musical artist. I live in Kansas and my producer and friend, Jesty Beats, lives out in Ohio and we have been remotely making music for about 5 years now. I use music as an outlet, it’s very therapeutic. It’s much easier to convey emotion that way and it’s always been something that has allowed me to be able to genuinely be myself. I started writing and co-producing my second musical project, Character Development, about a year and a half ago. It’s coming out in late August. I've been very impatient about it because I’m always very eager to release things before I can’t relate to them anymore. I cannot write the way I did then because I’ll never be in that mindset again, and I will never be who I was in that period of time ever again. What’s really beautiful, and why I like to make projects as opposed to singles (which I have nothing against at all), is that there’s more space to completely encapsulate that time of my life and what it felt like and Words by Evann McIntosh
what I was thinking in a series of songs. It’s also been beneficial to me now because I’ve sat on this project for so long and I’ve had so much time to listen to it again every few months with a new perspective and I can understand who I am better and really hear what I didn’t know I was trying to say. I wrote this project at the beginning of my sophomore year of high school, which was my last year in high school because I dropped out and got my GED two weeks into my junior year. I don’t think I realized how unhappy with myself and with my surroundings I really was at the time compared to reflecting on it now. I wanna say it had a lot to do with being a queer creative in a small town in Kansas. I had several identity crises and numerous false guidances and I couldn’t even begin to understand or digest anything about it until months after I’d left high school. During all of that confusion, I wrote this project and it felt like a series of questions then, when I wrote it, and now it feels like answers for somebody else. I think that’s cool, in a way I was capable of giving 16
those answers to myself. I think it’s still a process though, I keep writing albums about the quest for love. Not exactly romantic love or platonic, just something, I don’t know what yet. Whether it’s to be satisfied with myself or my work, or comfort, or to be understood, I don’t know. I was looking for acceptance and validation in high school, I was looking for something to live for. That’s the kind of love I was looking for when I was writing Character Development. But it keeps me writing and making stuff. I get closer and closer with every Barbra Streisand romcom, I can feel it. I watched The Mirror has Two Faces a couple of nights ago and I have no shame, it was very very nice. I will be a professor at Columbia and find love with a college lecturer who specializes in romantic literature. That college lecturer will be Barbra Streisand. Then I will retire from music. Because there will be no point anymore. Barbra Streisand and I will be in love.. The upcoming project 'Character Development' is out on the 27th August.
5 QUESTIONS
THE LIARS CLUB WHO ARE YOU?
We are The Liars Club, a 4-piece punk band/polyamorous relationship from Barrow-inFurness, Cumbria.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
We are professional actors, comedians, legends, music makers and beer-drinkers.
WHY DO YOU DO IT?
We are currently being held in a hostage scenario where we are forced to make punk music on a huge scale. If we don’t make new music our manager dresses up like Elmer Fudd and chases us all with a giant butterfly net until we come up with a new song.
WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?
Outside of the music, Noah’s Words by The Liars Club
on the tools, Dan’s making submarines, Matt’s driving trains and Frank’s living that sweet, sweet university life. Like most other bands at the moment, we are eager to get gigging again after making new music over the last year of lockdown. Gigging is what we do and can’t wait to be back out there again. We’re starting to crave the energy of playing live again after being idle for far too long. We think this pent-up energy will result in some good first gigs back.
WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC?
We think the hot topic in music is the post-punk revival that’s been happening over the last few years, with bands like Squid, Black Midi, Shame, Viagra Boys and Dry Cleaning all making the mainstream. To us, this means 17
that there’s a pathway for more guitar-based bands like ourselves to hit the big-time jackpot and play alongside the greats, such as Creed, Limp Bizkit and Coldplay. We’re currently in the process of getting ready to play shows again so we’re putting more time into practising. We have a gig scheduled for the 21st of August at The Castle, Manchester. We also have a few songs in the pipeline so it’s likely that there are a few more releases on the horizon. We recently released a new EP titled ‘Of Self’ last month which is available everywhere now.
Photography by A Supreme Shot
JOY CROOKES After months of solitude, the machine is finally restarting for Joy Crookes. When she was initially nominated as a BRITs Rising Star in 2019, she asked her manager “are you sure it’s me?”. Fast forward to now, and she has outgrown the ‘one to watch’ label and is ready to become an established artist. 18
Joy requested we meet in her ends, which happen to be Elephant and Castle. “My mum went to university there”, she said pointing to the London College of Communication. Despite growing up in the multi-cultural South London borough, Joy still stands out from the crowd. She came dressed in all black, and her fingers and ears were decorated with plenty of traditional South Asian gold jewellery. It is a look that has become somewhat signature for her over time. I watched her pose for a series of quick press shots, and she darted around the rugged backstreets, guiding the photographer as she dropped into various poses. “Make sure you don’t get the gentrified newbuilds in the background”, she added. Like many others, Crookes is saddened to have watched the place she knows well slowly morph into a gentrified stranger. To finish, she runs up the steps of a Baptist church and stands tall for one final image. A woman popped her head out of the window and told Joy off for trespassing, but that doesn’t phase her.“God gave me permission”, she replied with a cheeky smile.
a tan and that she should try to stay out of the sun from now on. “I’m used to comments like that. My mum has dark skin”, she tells me. Crookes is half Bangladeshi and half Irish. Her nonchalant reaction tells me she’s experienced her fair share of colourism from the South Asian community.
"I WAS LIKE, I'M GOING TO INTERACT WITH YOU AS A HUMAN BEING AND NOT PRETEND THAT MY LIFE IS DANDY AND ROSY..." Although Crookes is used to being alone, the pandemic wasn’t particularly easy for her. “In the height of lockdown I would just be sitting at home with my cat and my ex. It gave me time to sit with my emotions, and I also become a woman”.
Like all of us, she spent a great deal of time on social media. This ignited a slight anger, as Joy began to see the numerous false narratives that filled her timeline. “I wanted to see people be honest in this time. So that's why I did”. “I remember in March last Joy invited me into her new year, I felt really, really shit, and I had this like, apartment to chat more existential crises. I was like about her journey. “I have oh, my goodness, what's lived alone since I was 17”, next? I guess everyone had she tells me. the feeling of oblivion, but it felt so overnight at that As we walk through the point. I remember just front door, she greets her putting up an Instagram neighbour with a friendly post being really honest ‘Salam’. They conversed about it. I looked like shit, for a bit, and he jokingly and I felt like shit, and I was told her that she’s caught 19
really honest about it. I was like, I'm going to interact with you as a human being and not pretend that my life is dandy and rosy, because no one else’s is right now.” Thankfully she managed to keep herself busy with music, and that quickly turned into an opportunity to connect with others through the world of new social media platforms and live streaming. The 22-year-old is no stranger to the world of internet fame. She gained attention covering songs on Youtube so It’s no surprise that she was quick to invite a new crowd of international fans when she started creating content on Tik Tok. Joy took a deep dive back into the artists that first inspired her to play music, and she treated her new followers to covers, casual jams and stripped back versions of her own songs. In a cyclical turn of events, she even stumbled across others covering her music. “I got back into Kate Nash, Laura Marling and Lily Allen. People often talk about how there weren’t any South Asians in the music industry at that time which is true, but I feel like listening to those women be brutally honest was a representation in itself.” Her lockdown single Feet Don’t Fail Me Now went on to be an instant anthem and it was written during the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement. “I didn't have any answers, but I felt like it was important as an artist to use my voice in such a crucial time.” Crookes noticed resistance from people when it came to the topic of race and
she wanted to highlight the performative nature of people using social media around the time of the movement. “Put my name on petitions, but I won't change my mind/I'm keeping up appearances/ The dark side of my privilege”, she sings in the first verse of the song. A common theme in Joy’s music is a powerful narrative. With this attitude in mind combined with her soulful voice, she’s is constantly getting compared to Amy Winehouse by fans and critics alike. “I think I can speak for a lot of young women that are around my age. I think we all love Amy. It's that same thing with the brutal conversational honesty and unforgiving nature. I think that I naturally gravitate towards writers like that so the comparison is really complimentary for me”. On the flip side, Crookes wants to remind people where the true root of her jazz inspiration comes from, and give credit to the founders who inspired newer singers such as Amy Winehouse.
in.” To top it off, if you listen to the music, Crookes is not bound to one single genre. “My sound isn’t just jazz. I experiment with a lot of electronic stuff and even some desi rhythms. I think because of the way I sing people tend to make those comparisons”.
"FOR ME, IT WAS WATCHING FROM A POLITICAL ANGLE AND FROM A BROWNSKINNED ANGLE, WATCHING THESE BLACK WOMEN BE UNFORGIVING AND UNAPOLOGETIC..."
Having taught herself the guitar and written her own songs, Crookes is careful to nurture her songs into the wider creative process. Despite the industry moving forward, it has still taken advantage of many talented young women, causing them to lose control over their own work, Taylor Swift being “When I was at school, I a prime example. “I'm was in this jazz band. My involved in everything, piano teacher would be and I have full creative like, you need to go home ownership because it's and learn Ella Fitzgerald my narrative. Everyone and study Nina Simone. It was all strong black female that works with me knows artists, and I think that it's that I go through the entire process, to the obvious that Amy has very point where I go into the similar influences as well, but for me, it was watching mixing room and into mastering. Even if I don't from a political angle and know what I'm necessarily from a brown-skinned angle, watching these black talking about, I have the women be unforgiving and ability to explain myself with confidence, and then unapologetic, in a time provide a solution.” when they weren't even allowed to walk into some It turns out, this is another of the bars that they sang Words by Katrina Mirpuri
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self-taught skill of Joy’s. “Unfortunately, I shouldn't have to learn how to be overly polite, but I think that this was born out of me being in a very maledominated industry, and needing to take ownership. I shouldn't have had to go through the process I went through to get there, but I'm really proud.” This is an important time for South Asian musicians across the globe, and Crookes is privileged enough to bring her talent and rich culture to a mainstream audience with the support from a major label. She talks excitedly about future ideas, and shares the excitement of the current South Asian music scene listing off Raveena, Priya Ragu, Nayana Iz, Jai Paul and many more as her favourites. She also name drops some huge artists and hints that she’s open to musical collaborations later down the line. There’s never been a better time to jump on the Joy wagon, as the singer is bubbling with eclectic ideas after being released from the constraints of lockdown. Her debut album, which is due to release at some point this year, is forecasted to blow her up into an established musician, but until then, she’ll be settling into her new flat, practising her cooking and chilling with her cat Diego.
Photography by Andrew Benge
AWAY FROM THE NOISE
SILLY BOY BLUE TEEN MOVIES...
My name is Silly Boy Blue, I’m a French singer-songwriter. I’m about to release my first album, "Breakup Songs", on the 18th of June. I write pop songs, with synths, guitars or piano. I’ve been writing since I was a kid, mainly helped by strong female figures: Joan Jett, Lorde, Joni Mitchell, Lady Gaga, Weyes Blood, Aldous Harding, Angel Olsen… I’ve borrowed my stage name from one of the first songs by David Bowie, who I have admired since I was a kid. Words by Silly Boy Blue
Apart from music, I’m doing a lot of things because 1/ I don’t sleep much 2/ I need to be occupied most of the time. It’s kinda hard to pick one thing I do, because I tend to transform new hobbies into obsessions real quick, and some of them disappear as quickly as they came into my life
those and read some feminist analyses, for example, to understand the best and the worst parts of those movies, and get how it empowered us or f*cked up our vision of love and friendship. And I love digging into the meaning of certain scenes, schemes and links between the characters. And then I read all the biographies, and careers of the actors. And then I go to bed because it’s kinda too much haha...
But one that sticks through the years is Teen Movies. I can’t get enough of cafeteria scenes, and drama love stories. "10 things I hate about The debut album "Breakup you", "Mean Girls", "Clueless", Songs" is out now. "Jawbreaker", "Heathers"… I could watch those movies forever and ever. Now that I’m a bit older, I love re-watching 21
ART WALL
ADA LEA
It feels like I'm only just beginning the process of getting to know myself - and every version of myself, how these versions exist in succession and change over time and depending on who I'm with.
At the moment, I'd say I'm mostly seen as a singer-songwriter, but I do have bucket list dreams of bringing the craft of painting and drawing to a strong level, as well as writing, going back to school to study literature, with the goal of each discipline informing the other to create longer works where ideas and narratives have the potential to be fully explored.
I'm between Montreal and the Quebec countryside at the moment. I rent a 24x24 foot wood cabin tucked away in the forest, far from the main road, in a town with a population of just over 1000 people. I moved early in the pandemic and it has pretty much become my entire identity. I’d be curious to hear how my neighbour/ landlord would introduce me though. In relation to him, I'm the "jeune fille" from Montreal that in the summer sits outside (inappropriately) dressed for most of the day, reading, painting, pacing... chit-chatting with friends - always working on the tan - and in the winter, that needs to be checked up on because there's been no visible activity for days at a time and the porch needs to be shovelled. No one quite understands what I'm doing out there, especially me - but I truly love the experience and the space and quiet it provides. 22
I've chosen some drawings I'm working on that will be included in "the songbook" - a small book I've been working on for (too many) months, featuring lyrics, chords and drawings to accompany my upcoming [second] album one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden. Magic, Montreal, drinking, music, parties, smoking, friends, memories, animals, calling, rooms,
I'm really really looking forward to releasing the songbook and the new album "One hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden", on September 24th through Saddle Creek. Can't wait for everyone to hear it!
working, cities, LA, books, imagination, growth, Ferrante, neighbourhoods, reading, New York, cab, bus, being out of control, driving, being in control, being in motion and especially, the great mystery of memory and the passage of time, forgetting, and if you're lucky, stumbling into remembering - are themes of the songs on the album :-)
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DIGGING DEEPER
GEORGE O’HANLON NEVER GIVE UP...
I am songwriter, and musician. Keep playing, keep writing and don’t over think it. I never did too well in school, having tried and failed to do ‘real A levels’ I spent two years at a music college in Guildford. Music was my back up plan and if all else was to fail then I’d just keep working at the shop down the road, write songs that I might end up playing down the pub a couple nights a month to people who’d probably didn’t care. It was really the only thing I actually enjoyed. I met my manager (Lee) through my mate's band during my time at college and in January 2019 I played my first show in London at The Troubadour. We started to put a plan together and I went into a couple of writing sessions one of which I came out with “The Storm”. Words by George O'Hanlon
Then college finished and I was done with education I was back in a place of indecision. My mum said to me “keep at it with the music. Do it for 18 months and see what happens.” A lot of what I do ad how I’ve ended up here tends to be a result of seeing what might happen rather than having a desired outcome. September of that year my manager got me in touch with a producer (Charlie) at Dean Street in Soho. I remember walking in there the first time not sure what to expect, but we clicked and I was there every week from then onwards. I was working two jobs and the rest of the time I would spend in London recording or at home writing and by January we were ready to get them recorded with a band. Me, Charlie and my band went into the Fish Factory and worked flat out for two days we came out with 8 songs. 24
By that point we were ready to start playing gigs and got a few booked in, but of course coronavirus struck and we were left unsure of what was going to happen. I was 6 months into my year and a half of giving it a go, and I didn’t have a clue how I was going to make it work. I just kept writing and recording on my own sending my ideas out to Lee and Charlie. In July Lee called me to say that EMI wanted to have a chat which ended up with me signing with them in September. Since then I’ve finished two EPs and continue to work on new songs. This year I’ll be playing a bunch of UK gigs including Live at Leeds, plus London Calling in Amsterdam and the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg. My debut 4 song EP is out now (30th July).
AWAY FROM THE NOISE
MICHAEL GALLAGHER PUBS AND CYCLING... Hello my name is Michael Gallagher I am a musician from Hartlepool in the North East of England and I have been releasing music over the past few years. When I’m not gigging or working on music I usually keep my self active to pass the time and keep myself sane. During the pandemic as my main hobbies of music and visiting the pub had been taken away from me I decided to take up running. At first I started out with short distances but after a few months I was able to run Words by Michael Gallagher
for longer and was able to complete 3 half marathons. I also bought myself a bike and have cycled all over Teesside. Now that the beer gardens have opened back up my running and cycling have taken a back seat and Guinness is the main staple of my diet. Now all I need is for Music Venues to open up and normal service will be resumed. 2021 is certainly looking a lot brighter than 2020 and I can’t wait for the year ahead. I have several more releases planned this year after already releasing 2 singles. The next is one came on 28th May and it 25
is called Time. I also had my first ‘proper’ show back after 15 months on Friday 25th June @ KU in Stockton-on-Tees! There will be lots more exciting things happening this summer, some festivals, new music & maybe even a little tour, so keep your eyes peeled. Thanks for reading and hopefully see you at a show soon. The latest single "Time" is out now.
PHOTO BOOTH
CHERYM
RETURNING TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD Hi, we're CHERYM! We are a bubblegum punk band from Derry! Our band consists of Hannah Richardson (lead singer and guitarist), Alannagh Doherty (backing vocalist and drums) and Nyree Porter (backing vocalist and bassist). We write about our experiences, growing up, friends, relationships, everything and anything. We've played gigs all over the world, from Berlin City right to our front door in Derry!
01 THIS IS A PHOTO WE TOOK IN JANUARY 2020, IT’S CRAZY TO THINK THAT 2 MONTHS LATER THE WORLD WOULD BE COMPLETELY FLIPPED ON ITS HEAD. NOW THAT WE’VE MADE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE I FEEL LIKE THIS HAS A DIFFERENT KIND OF CELEBRATORY FEEL TO IT LOL - GIGS ARE BACK YEYYYYY
When the pandemic hit we didn’t know what to do with ourselves, our lives came to a complete halt, of course the same goes for literally the entire world. We were constantly on the road doing shows every week or even every fortnight and it was a lot but when COVID came along, everything stopped. This theme is more about coming out the other side of that, trying to get back into a routine
without feeling so burnt out, knowing your limits and what you can take on in the outside world and getting back to some sense of normality, but this time with all the knowledge and understanding of everything we have learnt while in lockdown. This is our debut returning to the outside world and re-adapting to the world as it is now, completely changed yet so familiar to what we knew before.
02 THIS IS A PIC WE TOOK WHEN WE PLAYED THE TRAILER PARK STAGE AT LATITUDE IN JULY!!! IT WAS OUR SECOND GIG BACK IN ACTION AND THE CROWD WERE ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. IT FELT AMAZING TO TRY OUT SOME OF THE NEW SONGS TO A LIVE AUDIENCE
03 THIS WAS A PIC WE TOOK AT THE END OF THE SECOND LOCKDOWN. WE HADN’T SEEN EACH OTHER IN 3 MONTHS AND WE WERE UNDER PRESSURE TO MAKE SOME COVER ART FOR OUR UPCOMING EP ‘HEY TORI’ WE ENDED UP MESSING ABOUT AND TAKING POLAROIDS OBVIOUSLY.
04 THIS PIC WAS TAKEN AT LATITUDE THIS SUMMER. IT FELT SO GOOD TO BE BACK IN ACTION AGAIN, EAT OUR WEIGHT IN FOOD AT THE FOOD TRUCKS AND BE COMPLETELY IMMERSED IN MUSIC FOR FOUR DAYS. IT’S THE FIRST TIME IN AGES WE’VE FELT A REAL SENSE OF NORMALITY AGAIN AND WE WILL NEVER FORGET IT!
Here is the link to all of our social media platforms if you’re looking to give us a wee follow and the links to our FIRST EVER UK tour this OCTOBER!!! www.linktr.ee/Cherymofficial Also our brand new EP “Hey Tori” is being released on September 30th so be sure to keep up to date and don’t miss out.
BILLIE MARTEN In her latest record, Billie Marten pours herself into a loose, free-flowing body of work that confidently outlines her growing artistic exploration. 28
Billie Marten is undeniably on the fast track as a breakout British artist, but, right now, the acclaimed writer is gracefully slipping into a softer pace of creativity. “It was beautifully serendipitous and accidental,” Marten says, reflecting on her rise to fame. “I'm not a natural extroverted performer, I find it really hard, so when I was seven or eight, I was kind of oblivious to it all.” Marten, now 22-years-old, blossomed into the music world as a teen and has released three records, including her first independent work titled album Flora Fauna; an intelligent collection of tracks couched in bold, thoughtful experimentalism.
same level, but if we did do that we wouldn't be human and we wouldn't do the jobs that we did.” That feeling of being “human” is neatly threaded throughout much of Marten’s work. The singer weaves in the complexities of oneself with inexplicable ease — the reason, the artist later reveals, is an affinity with nature: “The natural world is one thing I can most empathise with. I can do that much better than I can people,” she admits. “I've realised that that's my method.”
alternative artists Aurora and Birdy, saw themselves unforgivingly bound to aesthetic associations that have trailed their flourishing careers. “There are certain elements coming into play here. If I was male, I don’t think would get this much focus on being this nymph character. I don't want people to assume that I'm naive and that I don't know how the world works. I'm very ensconced in that way of modern living. I love nature and I will always talk about it.”
And talk about it we do, but as Flora Fauna digs its roots "I'M DEFINITELY NOT in the conversation, we ask Marten what movie she A SMALL PRAIRIE would liken her impressive GIRL WHO WANDERS album to. “I thought of the running scene in Forrest THE WHEAT FIELDS Gump,” she laughs lightly. Now with a new album to EVERY MORNING “Both running scenes. First her name, the singer has when he takes his braces leg AND GETS BUCKETS been bidding her time as she braces off and he's sort of overcomes “a horrible” runOF WATER FROM this free boy that's part of in with COVID-19, and has THE WELL AND SHIT humanity again. Then, also, spent the last few weeks the miles across each state mulling over future LIKE THAT." with one goal. Imagery and premonitions and past cinematography wise, that is events. Marten, who rose to not what I would put the fame online, found a album with. I don't know, Marten’s musical portraits connection with music through her family, who took may capture vivid sceneries hard question.” Difficult questions aren’t an easy her to her first gigs, including or sun-drenched yellow visions, but the artist’s well- feat, but that doesn’t stop P!nk who she describes as Marten from “dwelling on fitting attachment to a “fucking great”. Since then, the artist has become a tour nature-led aesthetic has left the past and future” as she admits to entertaining her her occasionally feeling de force cultivating cramped by the assumptions own speculative thoughts. “I emotionally tactical songs do wonder how much would adorned with sweet nods to that followed. “Lots of be different if I waited pictures have been painted nature. As a blooming another four or five years to about my upbringing that musical figure, Marten is do music?” she muses. isn’t necessarily true,” she self-aware of the “Sonically, what would be says mildly frustrated. “I'm responsibilities and definitely not a small prairie different? How my sacrifices of a writer. “We personality would have girl who wanders the wheat are writers. We have our changed? But, to be honest, fields every morning and own narrative and we I'm really glad that it gets buckets of water from publish that publicly and happened when it did. It that's our lives, so we really the well and shit like that. showed me what I was I'm from the second are just sharing bits of our smallest city in England, but comfortable with and what I brain every day,” she says, wasn't and what I needed to we were dotted around gazing away from the frame learn. I was in the industry villages outside of a town of the Zoom call. “To us, it that's technically a city.” As from being a mid-teen and can seem so unbelievably now I'm at the point where Marten continued to grow, unstable and it's really hard I'm more knowledgeable and to continue each day on the the singer, much like fellow 29
I can look after myself better. I'm glad I'm doing that now and not in 10 years.”
"NO ONE EVER ASKED VAN GOUGH TO REPAINT THE STARRY NIGHT AND SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE THAT. OTHER TIMES, I FEEL LIKE THIS IS MY JOB AND THIS IS WHAT COMES WITH IT." After snagging a record deal with Sony aged 16, Marten’s path as an artist continued to unfold with two standout albums. But, as the dynamic shifted, the singer opted to leave the big label in 2019 after her second release, Feeding Seahorses by Hand. “There were a lot of cooks the first time around,” Marten recalls. “I still very much got the album I wanted to make, and there was kind of no way that wouldn't happen. But, as you grow older and do this for a longer amount of time then people tend to leave you alone a bit more.” When it comes to music she likes to create and humanly experience, Marten leans towards “honest” music. “I like unassuming songs that are really beautiful. I used to say sad songs were the best, but that's not true,” she explains over the Zoom call. “It's that feeling you get when you hear something in a film or on the street and it makes you have that human connection and that's what speaks to me. I become really obsessed with that feeling. It's like a drug. Some people don't have that human connection to music, Words by Zoya Raza-Sheikh
but that makes me sad because it's the best feeling in the world.” Sincere music is exactly what Martin pulls off. In Flora Fauna, we witness the singer self-reflecting on tranquil moments: I'm in the kitchen / I am free, pouring / No destination / Liquid love under my skin”, which are soon juxtaposed with grittier realisations as she edges closer to darker feelings. “Got a war with my body / Never win, never lose / Evidence in the feeling” she candidly sings to the springy beats of ‘Ruin’. In hindsight of her mature musical mosaic, the singer has opted to steer away from labelling its creative process as “healing” one. “The whole catharsis label has been pummeled to death,” she says. For Marten, the creation and concept of the album were instinctive. “It has just a natural response. It's like brushing your teeth or getting changed into your clothes. It feels like that. I get the sudden urge to write and that formulates into an album and that's sort of the nice part. After that, it’s months of repetition and toil.” No matter how seamless Marten’s work may seem, the artist still struggles with being front and centre and commercialising her work. “The performance element and the selling yourself part is another realm of difficulty,” she admits. “It's hard being so fickle so commercial and the whole thing.” Pausing, she adds: “No one ever asked Van Gough to repaint The Starry Night and sometimes I feel like that. Other times, I feel like this is my job and this is what comes with it. One must get on with it, essentially. The healing 30
comes from the very beginning part where you have some words and you need to say them.” Our conversation goes full circle as Marten ruminates on her next steps as she finds herself in her selfdescribed “dread zone”. “I’ve put an album out and I’ve done no gigs. I haven't met anyone yet and I had to cancel every gig last week,” she sighs, frustrated at the creative gridlock. “I'm trying to write as much as I can and I think I'm really leaning into my lifestyle, which I've made for myself, which I used to try and escape.” As industries slowly grind back into action, Marten has found a gentle rhythmic pace that works best for her. “Lockdown and COVID have taught me that I am quite at peace with taking everything very slowly,” she smiles, self-assured. “I will never do a 9-5 and I will never be tenacious with my work, and that's fine.” Unwavering and determined, Marten has journeyed a long way from YouTube to the fresh-faced success of her shimmering third record. Simply put, Flora Fauna sits as a homage to her new strength as a young musician, and we can’t wait to see what she does next. The album "Flora Fauna" is out now via Fiction Records and Billie tours the UK this September and October.
Photography by Katie Silvester
A SERIES OF PODCASTS FEATURING KINDNESS QUINN CHRISTOPHERSON CHARDINE TAYLOR-STONE SELF ESTEEM DENAI MOORE ERIN RAE TOM ASPAUL
CLICK OR SCAN TO ORDER THIS RECORD DAY 2021 EXCLUSIVE SATURDAY 12TH JUNE 2021
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DIGGING DEEPER
RUNNNER COOKING AND KITCHENS
I think of making music like cooking a lot of the time. It could be why there’s so much food imagery in my lyrics, though this example mostly applies to recording and production. I used to struggle with feeling like there was a right way to make records, but that I couldn’t seem to make what I wanted. I remember watching a cooking show one night and someone said “a good dish is a dish you like,” and I thought, “yea!” Simple, almost completely obvious, but still very resonant. Some cooks like the kitchen - the faster pace, the wide array of available ingredients, the high-quality equipment, and that seems to be what many consider as the professional way to make food, but I think I liked the slower pace Words by Runnner
of just tossing something together with what I had at home, and I learned to see the value in that. I had been sort of sketching out demos in my garage thinking I would adapt them into final versions in the studio, but now I was wondering “why can’t the ‘demo’ be the song?” This shift in mindset really helped me come into my own as a songwriter/ producer. I wasn’t the most skilled engineer or a crazy virtuoso, but I felt decent enough and I was finally making recordings I liked Take my first two singles from this year: “Awash” & “Urgent Care.” They both mix stock Ableton drum samples with some (pretty poorly played) isolated snare (big thanks to quantization). Then there’s bass, piano, synth, & banjo: all instruments I would not consider myself especially skilled at - but it 32
didn’t matter. I could play a simple part I liked and that worked well with the song. They’re also both mixed by me using almost exclusively stock plug-ins. I really don’t have a lot of experience mixing, but I wanted to lean into myself here. To trust my ear and know that I could still make something I liked even if it wasn’t done the ‘right way.’ They might be more of a rustic chop than a fine julienne, but it’s how I like it. "Always Repeating" is a collection of 10 songs I had written between 2016 and 2019. Some re-recorded for this album, and some just as they were, with a handful of food references. It came out July 16th on Run for Cover records.
AWAY FROM THE NOISE
MARTHA HILL CYCLE TOURING...
Hey, I'm Martha Hill and I'm a musician from Newcastle Upon Tyne. This is my "away from the noise" feature for Come Play With Me. I'm gonna be talking about cycle touring. I've done a few over the years, mostly around the UK, but also down into Europe. I like to try get away in the winters and switch my brain off. A few years ago me and a bunch of mates cycled from Santander in Spain down to Lagos in Portugal, through the Picos mountains. It was beaut. I love packing all my shit into my panniers and missioning about, sleeping whenever you get tired in whatever weird Words by Martha Hill
place seems most suitable (parks, construction sites, forests, whatever). One night we set up camp in a tiny bit of field, the only flat bit of land we could find running along the Douro River in Portugal. We'd noticed a few cowpats as we were setting up, but there were no fences or anything so thought nothing of it. Just as we'd sat down to cook, a herd of cows started running past, about a metre from where we were sat, followed by a massive bull and a tiny skinny Portuguese lad with a stick! My mate Spud grabbed a stick and stopped them from trampling all our stuff, but I just shit myself and jumped up the nearest tree... I'm no hero haha. 33
Anyway, I love whizzing down hills singing to myself and being in my own head and watching the world fly by. It's the best. My latest EP "Dog Hearted Man" was written in part about the yearning to go travelling and have that space of mind and freedom to daydream. I'm hoping 2021 will bring some of that for me. Hope you like the EP, and if you do then come see me on tour this October!
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
COPENHAGEN WITH REBECCA LOU
of Copenhagen in this little piece.
HOME IS A POSTAL CODE
I’ve lived in Copenhagen since 2011, but before I moved here I used to take the local train to Copenhagen more or less every weekend since I was a teenager. I grew up in the countryside, and being INTRODUCTION the messy misfit weirdos we My name is Rebecca Lou and were, my friends and I always I’m a young musician living in took every chance we got to CPH. My cultural roots are ‘escape’ our hometown. There very much in the alternative used to be a youth house and the following interview in an area in Copenhagen, will show my eternal love Nørrebro 2200 ,where we for counter culture. Very recently I released the second frequently went to punk shows and hung out and drank single “The Destroyer” from beer and met new people. my upcoming album , out in October 2021. I’m an essential A Lot of my best teenage memories are from this time sucker for city life and I’m gonna take you through some and it made my connection of my favorite parts of the city to this particular part of 34
Copenhagen very strong and in some ways very homey a long time before I even moved to the city. Nørrebro is very multifaceted with many different mixed cultures and people and it always felt warm and welcoming. I live in this area now, and can't imagine living in any other parts of this city. I love it here.
BEST VENUES
Being the queer kid that I am, you’ll often see me at venues that embraces punk rock and
queer culture. A rock show needs to be a safe space and I feel comfort in joining friends at venues where I feel that we have each other's backs. There's an underground venue in the area of Valby, called ‘Underwerket’ which I love. International touring band's visit often and the venue is small and shitty, but I totally love the vibe. The beers are cheap, the music is loud and if you behave like a sexist, racist or classist jerk of some kind, you get kicked out.
BEST BARS
Making my way through the rock n roll bizz, I can't help but come across a few dirty bars from time to time. Not being a club kid, my way to enjoy a night out is usually going to a bar or a show as an evening out. There is a local classical Danish styled bodega right next to where I lived called ‘Fuglereden’ (in English ‘The Birdsnest’) I often go once or twice a week with my husband or on a date with someone nice and spend all my money on the jukebox and their chilled beers. The vibe is local and loving. Also in my neighborhood you find the bar ‘Lygtens Kro’ that is a German inspired ‘Inn’ with all the wheat beer your heart desires and a stereo with the punk rock volume turned to eleven. Many activists from the youth house frequent here and shit gets rowdy from time to time. They have music quiz nights, heavy metal karaoke and dogs running around. The perfect place to get a heavy buzz and a wet kiss. Don’t cheat yourself for this! Words by Rebecca Lou
atmosphere, great food, great people and great cocktails.
BEST FASHION/SHOPPING
I love shopping for vintage outfits and customizing old leather jackets, denim and 90’s style clothes. There's a lovely street in the center of CPH called LarsBjørnStræde, that has everything the alternative shopper desires. Cool vintage shops, dirty bars and piercing parlors if you wanna pimp up your cute face. I come here a lot to shop and eat a spicy pizza slice in between my shopping cardio. Would definitely recommend checking this street out if you're looking for a cool punk style outfit.
BEST FOOD
CPH is a cornucopia of great, great food. For great food at a fair price , I would recommend these 4 places:
01 Morgenstedet - Christiania. A great chilled out cafe, located in legendary Christiania. It is a great place to start your day with a healthy vegan breakfast, as well as a soft introduction to the fascinating world of Christiania.
03 Oysters And Grill , Nørrebro. A classic French inspired seafood restaurant. I am in love with oysters and champagne and I love eating at this place every chance I get. 04 DØP, Købmagergade, CPH K. The concept of “Pølsevognen” is quintessentially Danish. A “Pølsevogn” is basically a hotdog stand, but in Danish culture it ( at least historically) holds the same place as Pubs in the UK. DØP is the hotdog stand for a new generation. Organic, high quality, homemade bread and vegan options, etc. A must see when you are in the city center doing the obligatory tourist run.
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02 Behov Pizza - Nordvest. An amazing build your own pizza place. It’s located in the heart of my beloved Nordvest quarter. Behov Pizza is all I love about Nordvest, Relaxed 35
Main photograph by Tue Blichfeldt
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