JOSHUA ZERO / LONDON

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH LONDON, ENGLAND

WITH THE JOSHUA ZERO

INTRODUCTION

My name is Joshua, I’m nonbinary and you may know me from playing with my art-rock project Joshua Zero on various tours around the country. You may also know me from my punk-centric side projects and features with Long Legged Creatures, Burning Bones, and Horspit. I live in London, you may have heard of it. It’s big, colourful, multi-cultural and chaotic. It's full of history and promise and it's the city I was born in.

I haven’t lived there my whole life, when I was 11 my parents moved from Wembley to Harpenden, a middle-class suburb in Hertfordshire. My school changed from being mostly black and Asian to being all white and the conservative values of the place strengthened my need to be different. This is where my need to play the guitar very very loudly began. In 2015 I moved to Leeds to study music, my only passion and success in school. It was here I learned that there were plenty more musicians like me in the world and I drank, drugged and played with them.

However, in 2020, Leeds began to feel small so I decided to move back to the capital. And since my family have moved to Bristol, it’s the only place that I can consider to be my roots.

THE SHIP, SOHO

So that’s enough about me, time to talk about London. The first place I’d like to talk about is in the black heart of Soho. The Ship branches off from Piccadilly like a third arm or a sixth finger. It’s a punk bar with a rock’n’roll history that would make your face melt. Positioned next to the old Marquee Club (RIP), it frequently hosted the likes of The Who, David Bowie, The Clash, Jimi Hendrix, and a plethora of others. It's been referenced in songs like ‘Born Slippy’ (Underworld) and ‘A-Bomb on Wardour Street’

(`The Jam) and it was a stop for the late Taylor Hawkins in between UK shows. I’ve met and partied with some incredible people there, from original punks who squatted with the Sex Pistols to megastar celebrities in search of a good time. The Ship is a safe place for any marginalised community and it’s a landmark in the history of rock’n’roll.

THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS, DALSTON

The next place I’d like to talk about is The Shacklewell Arms. It’s based in Dalston and has been host to some incredible bands, including local bands like AV Dummy and Fightmilk. It has hosted out of town bands like Mamilah and Gordian Stimm with great success and it will soon host me on the 20th of April supporting The Golden Age of TV. The Shacklewell Arms is an honest, well-run venue with a cool stage and decent sound. It's a great place to hear what’s going on in the London music scene and you should definitely check it out (on the 20th of April, to see me).

Words by Joshua Zero

GREENWICH PARK

Finally, the last place I’d like to talk about is a more personal spot. It's just a park. And that park is Greenwich Park. Because holy cow it has the most incredible view. Its were I spent my last birthday and it’s where I celebrated the release of my latest single ’12 Inch Alcoholics’. If the tides are out you can go onto the beach, we had a fire there but maybe watch out for the police before you do that.

These are some of my favourite spots in London, visit them if you can. You can see me live in London on the 20th at The Shacklewell Arms and if you’re not from Joshua Zero will be in Bristol (21/04), Manchester (27/04), Leeds (28/04) and Brighton (17/05).

My new single ’12 Inch Alcoholics’ is out on all streaming platforms with an accompanying session video by Rockwood Sessions that can be found on Youtube.

Main photograph by Ellie Slorick