L'ART Issue 9, August 2012

L’ART Be Creative ISSUE 9

CONTENTS

EDITOR’S LETTER

1 - D&L Style: We bring a personal element to L’ART Magazine by showing you some of our favourite fashion pieces that are out at the moment. Our styles are very different and we want to show you what we love each season.

Hi and welcome to the ninth issue of L’ART; the ‘New Look’ issue.

5 - Azealia Banks & Shystie: With two hot collaborations now under their belts and the UK rapper being the only female feature on Banks’ mixtape, L’ART talk all things music and future projects with Shystie.

9 - KC’s Fundraising: With chances for their dancers to represent the school and Great Britain in the World Championships, KC’s School of Dance reveal how you can help their dreams come true.

The Olympics are in full swing and although the British summer weather hasn’t perked up, we’ve got plenty events, treats and updates to keep you going to make the last months of Summer 2012 an enjoyable one.

We’d like to take this moment to introduce you to a new member of our team! Graphic designer Laura ParkerJohns joined us last month and L’ART’s re-vamped pages are down to her. We hope you like it as much as we do so feel free to let us know what you think.

11 - Precious lil’ Angel: Looking for special momento’s for your special loved ones? Precious lil’ Angel supplies you with keepsakes that will last and you can even customize to your own style. Check it out…

As well as a new look, we have interviews with the UK’s rapper and actor Shystie, revealing all on her upcoming work and her feature on Azealia Banks’ Fantasea mixtape, plus Anthony Q formerly of Day26 opens up about life after the band.

13 - Miss P Fundraiser: Now going into its fourth year, The Miss P Foundation are gearing up to put on another memorable show.

Read on to find what the team and many dance schools have in store for you this year.

You can also find out how you can support a local festival whose dedicated work is for a great cause, catch the fourth instalment of The Miss P Fundraiser and plenty more.

15 - Word on the Street: Festival season is still ongoing but what did you guys think of Wireless 2012? We ask you who your best performances were for the three day weekender.

Enjoy!

16 - Anthony Q: Once part of Platinum selling American boy group Day26, Anthony Q talks to L’ART about life after the band, his personal achievements and plans for his solo career.

19 - Molly: Beautician Molly Walls has just started her new business and we get to see how she made this step, how her love for beauty developed and just how successful a sisterlybond can work when business is involved.

21- Troika Theatre Company: Following well received stage productions of some Shakespeare and Wilde classics, Troika are fastly making a name for themselves in their quest to modernise and popularise theatre on stage. Read their story here.

23 - Oxjam: The sound of local music is set to light up the city of Oxford with the Oxjam Oxford Takeover. Live bands and fundraising activities will be right on your doorstep for you to enjoy. Find out who is on the full line-up…

Daniella & Letisha

D&L STY LE

“White London Bus Print” River Island - £16

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Dorothy Perkins £29.99

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Miss Selfridge £12

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Miss Selfridge £29

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Following her feature on Azealia Banks’ Fantasea mixtape, L’ART speak to UK rapper and actor Shystie.

SHYSTIE

Image Source; Christian Alvez

The Gold Dust mixtape came out in April, would you say the working process for a mixtape differs to an album?

With a mixtape, I can jump on other people’s beats, there’s more freedom and you just get creative and do your thing. With an album you’ve got to think what your fanbase is going to want, what you want your album to sound like to represent you.

Everyone’s loving you on Azealia Banks’ ‘Neptune’ track. How did the opportunity come to work with her?

It was crazy. A friend of hers/supporters tweeted me about an interview Azealia had done and they asked her who her favourite rappers were; she said Styles P and me. She messaged me on Twitter and emailed me a track. I wrote it in a day, sent it back to her, she messaged me back and that was it.

I really love what she’s doing, her ‘212’ track is massive. It’s really nice that someone overseas knows Shystie, got nothing but love for her.

She’s actually performing here in Oxford in October…

I need to go. I heard she’s going to tour, I’d love to be a part of it.

Azealia Banks has been getting lots of attention here in the UK, particularly since the NY artist’s debut track ‘212’ was released back in December.

Banks has come a long way since her 1991 EP and has her upcoming mini UK tour coming to Oxford this October and featuring on the Fantasea mixtape is London born Shystie.

You’ve been performing with Vince Kidd on his tour…

I’ve been with him on tour. I love Vince’s music, I love him, his fanbase is crazy.

How did the opportunity come about? And will Shystie have any surprise features on her upcoming EP, Pink Mist?

Here’s what she said in her talk with L’ART… 5

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Image Source; Christian Alvez

We’ve seen your talents in music, TV and film, do you prefer one to the others?

I like being an actor because it’s really different to music. You’re around actors and they’re helping you progress as an artist. I like it but my love is with music.

Is there anyone you would like to work with?

Denzel Washington, musically MIA, Santagold, Kanye West, DipLo & Azealia Banks (again).

You have your EP Pink Mist in production, how’s it going?

That’s going to come out after Summer, my sound’s progressed a lot since 2004. I’m dabbling in different kinds of genres, a new sound. I’m working with my producer L.Z. Beats. He done ‘Feel It’ too, working really hard with him at the minute.

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Check out my twitter, www.iamshystie.com and download mixtapes for free and check video ‘Feel It’ out on YouTube.

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KC’s School of Dance: Fundraising Fun For The Worlds

This year the International Dance Organisation (IDO) are hosting the world street dance championships in Germany and local dance school KC’s School of Dance are working hard to make it there.

Categories include every style from breakdance, electric boogie, hip-hop, and hip-hop battles and members of KC’s school have been training for years in these selected categories so whenever these chances arise, they jump at the chance.

However, this year they need a little bit of help from the community, as well as members of KC’s to get that last bit of money to sign up.

Image Source; Ashleigh Vass

A fun run has already been set up for August 12th by one of the supporting mothers of the group where she has encouraged the dancers to get sponsored for running their preferred distance.

So if you see a group of guys and girls running near you, be sure to show them your support with the odd cheer and you’re certain to get a smile back. Everyone is so enthusiastic about raising money.

You can also get involved with their upcoming dance party, raffles, cake sales, table-top sales and quiz night!

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The Miss P Foundation donated £200 to the school which Kelly Chandler (founder and principal of the school) was thrilled about. She said: “I can’t tell you how thankful I am to you. We have always loved what you do and hope we can make you proud of us.”

Black Mamba Tattoo Studio and Gavin Jones have also given sums of money to help towards the cause as well as companies like Bisoux jewellery who is hosting a jewellery party and presenting 25% of the proceedings to the dancers.

Ashleigh Vass, a Zumba instructor and teacher at KC’s is one of 10 dancers hoping to attend the worlds and here’s what this opportunity means to her.

“It’s such an achievement for the dancers to make it to the worlds,” said Ashleigh. “Everyone should be celebrating!

“Not many people can say they’ve represented their country by doing something they love. It’s important for the community to get involved.”

So there you have it, a school of dancers who wish to achieve their dreams and are pulling together to do so. We here at L’ART Magazine would like to wish them the very best and hope the community spirit they have created, continues to rise in their favour.

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Precious lil’ Angel “Precious lil' Angel is a customized printing service. I supply top quality personal gifts, for all those precious lil' moments. The name is actually my first name and the meaning of my middle name and it does go so well with what I’m doing.

“It all started from me doing little bits and bobs for my son at home. I would bring them into playgroup and the other mums would see and ask where I got them from. From there I started taking orders for tote bags and keyrings just for the local mums. They started wanting things made for people they know so it all started there really.

“I have always been into fashion from a young age. I feel I’m a creative person and am always thinking of fresh ideas. From school I went onto study fashion at college where I learnt how to sew and make my own patterns. I then went on to study the same thing at De Montfort University where I got more confident and better at my skills. I was also taught how to use Photoshop, which plays a big part in designing all my products.

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Image Source; Precious Bryan

With a love for all things fashion related and a huge love for motherhood and incorporating her skills, Precious Bryan set out to create a business where all could shine through. Here’s her story:

“All the products are hand made by myself. I take an order and design an image, logo or just writing for the customer, then I sublimate the design onto the requested item. A customer can tell me exactly what they want, from little trimmings to a specific size.

“What sets me apart from other companies is that it is all done at home, so a lot of care and consideration goes into every item I make. I’m a bit of a perfectionist so if I complete an item and not happy with it, I start it again until it’s perfect, even if it sets me back.

“I would love to build a high client base and make a website where people can order. I would also like to try new products. I supply pillow cases, mugs, puzzles, tote bags, keyrings, and 100% polyester tops and because I’m starting out, all my products are at a cheaper price making them affordable to everyone.”

You can support this upcoming business by joining the following groups and seeing what Precious lil’ Angel has in stock for you. Everyone appreciates little momento’s in life right?

HYPERLINK “http://www.facebook.com/ PreciousLilAngels” \t “_blank” http://www. facebook.com/PreciousLilAngels Group@ Precious lil’ Angel.

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The Miss P Fundraiser returns for its fourth year running They’ve covered the big hits of Motown, the legacy of Michael Jackson, Broadway and the disco era to name a few and now as the team get well underway with preparations for the fourth annual show, the Miss P Foundation are once again counting down the days to what is becoming one of Oxford’s most enjoyable night’s out.

In true Miss P Fundraiser tradition, acts are perfecting their acting, dancing and singing skills for a stage production of The Wiz and tributes for the late Whitney Houston; all of which you can be a part of witnessing first hand on Saturday October 13th.

Image Source; Miss P Foundation

Having successfully chosen the key figures for the play and singers and performers already getting their requests in for dibs on their favourite Whitney tracks, it’s set to be yet another great night at the Foundation’s new home of Oxford’s New Theatre.

Coming a long way since its debut back in 2009, this year the team welcome new faces in the form of performers, eager

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wanting to help behind the scenes. The reception continues to be welcomed by the committee and in particular founder Beverley Harry, who has happily seen her daughter Portia graduate from Urdang Academy; the inspiration and namesake behind the want to nurture visions in the arts.

Now Portia is a graduate, this means there are more funds available, essentially helping more of you who are also serious about pursuing a career in the arts. Visit the Miss P website to find out how you can apply HYPERLINK "http://www. misspfoundation.com/" http:// www.misspfoundation.com/.

Tickets for the event can be purchased via Ticketmaster or in person at the Oxford New Theatre and you can also find them in the New Theatre brochure.

With your continued support, you can help the team beat last year’s audience of 600 plus people. We’ll see you there!

Wireless Festival proved to be a great weekend for ticketholders, as music lovers and annual festival goers got into the party spirit despite the regular rain showers and enjoyed the live music by the great artist’s on stage.

But the question is, who was the best performer of the weekend and what were the highlights? Lets see what you and your personal shout outs decided…

“Rihanna might run this town tonight, but she owns the city!”

“Rita Ora’s set at Wireless was so fresh, loved it. And she looked hot!”

“Nicki Minaj smashed it at Wireless Festival especially the Bashment. Queen of Rap!” “Drake and Nicki Minaj perform live together…what an amazing and beautiful moment that I’ll never ever forget.”

“Rihanna, Drake and Nicki Minaj killed it!”

“I loved the crowd when Example was on.”

“Labrinth was amazing!”

“Listening to Drake…loving the crew!”

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ANTHONY Q “Jessie J you were everything and so much more… you make me proud to be British.”

WORD ON THE STREET

Today, Qwanell ‘Que’ Anthony Mosley is a star in his own right. His musical journey may involve being part of the successful band Day26 who were signed to Bad Boy/Atlantic Records and part of music mogul’s Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ quest to put a group together, but that experience has opened up new doors for this hardworking talent.

Going by the name of Anthony Q, he is now focused on becoming a successful solo artist in the genre of R&B and Pop. Fans who have followed Que since his debut on ‘Making The Band’ haven’t lost faith in the singer as they have continued to stay loyal to his work and the results of Guitar Her prove this.

Guitar Her is Que’s ‘uniquely titled, acoustic guitarinspired project’ and it received 250,000 downloads in its first week. Since then the EP has a total of 723,000 downloads and hits.

Now this EP was released exactly one year after he moved on from Day26 and was promoted exclusively through social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter so can you imagine what the response will be once Que’s work starts hitting the stores?

So what is next on Que’s agenda? He is currently working on an ‘acoustic guitar inspired unplugged’ EP titled Guitar Her. When asked about this second part of the project he said: “It allows my fans to see and hear my artistry; for the guitar is like a woman, her body is my instrument, and I am her muse.”

After catching up on Que’s work for the past year and a half we wanted to dig a little deeper into the man behind the music. Here’s what he had to say about future collaborations, his ideal place to tour his music and the number one goal in his career 16

Do you have any tours in mind for the future?

First I would love to put together a classic album, then a world tour if the album does phenomenal.

Musically, what plans do you have for the

rest of the year?

Studying new sounds and different eras of music.

Once I find the right production, I want to record an album, then go on a world tour.

Where is your ideal place to tour?

I would love to be a part of a world tour. I want to share my music with everyone.

Which artists are you listening to right now?

I love listening to different genres of music. It’s therapy.

Which female or male star would you like to

collaborate on a track with?

When it’s time to record the album, I want to work with artists that are passionate about their talent.

Lastly, now that you’re a solo artist, what is your number one goal in your career?

Image Source; Kia J

To make incredible music and timeless tunes.

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BEAUTY Molly Walls has always been into beauty. Taking care of herself and her appearance is important to her and being able to help other people feel good about themselves is something she thrives in.

Image Source; Molly Walls

Since completing her studies in beauty therapy at college, Molly has already gone on to setting up her own business.

Now she has her own beauty salon right inside her home where she offers everything from manicures, pedicures, spray tans and more.

But it takes a lot to start your own business especially when trying to build a rapport with new clients in your area. So how has Molly overcome these trials and what else has she planned for her beauty empire?

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The Early Years

your clients feel more comfortable. If they don’t feel comfortable they probably won’t come back.

“Since I was a little girl I’ve loved getting my hands on my mum & sisters makeup bags,” said Molly. She continues: “And experimenting on myself and my poor dolls!

“Lastly, is time-keeping.

Clients should not be kept waiting for their appointment and neither should a treatment be rushed because your last appointment over ran. You have to treat every client equally by giving them your full care and attention.

“It was my sister who first went on and studied beauty therapy & she would need me to come into the college to be her guinea pig. I knew then that this is exactly what I wanted to do. So I also went to college to study Beauty Therapy.

Family Business “As I also work elsewhere my sister helps out in the salon. We share clients and recommend one another to people as there are some treatments I can’t perform & she can, others I can do but she can’t, so it works both ways.

“I’ve started a mini salon up in my house, so now I’m trying really hard to get the word around & build up some regular clients. I’ve started off with low prices to draw people’s attention. That way I can show them what I can do & hopefully they will come back and recommend me.

“We help & support each other. If we have a big party of clients we both go together & it makes it a lot easier & more speedy for the clients!

We work extremely well together.

A beautician should be…

“A good listener and at all times they should protect a client’s privacy. Also, I think it’s essential that beauty therapists maintain a high degree of professionalism but at the same time a little bit of humour always helps. I find it

“We can sit down & talk about what’s working well, what’s not working as well, & are hoping in a few years’ time that we can move the salon to a busy area & become really successful.”

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After 11 performances of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, Troika Theatre company are enjoying the positive feedback and successes of their third production to date.

In fact they were invited to Italy by an agency to perform their interpretation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for 1,200 school children.

“We did workshops in local schools and it’s just such a good one to do. Even though you’re overseas, they all know the story. They can really get involved.”

Troika, (meaning the power of three and a spectacular event), founded the company in the pursuit of a dream in December 2010 and today, close friends Rachel, Jenni and Nathan continue to enjoy the benefits that come from being actively involved in the performing arts field.

The efforts of the three as well as the great team behind them, allows Troika, in their eyes to produce work of the highest quality, as they aim to change the perception of amateur theatre in and around Oxford.

Image Source; Rachel Johnson

As Artistic Director, it is Rachel’s responsibility to direct, along with assistance from Nathan, plus Jenni’s choreography skills (you will remember her from Raw Diva’s issue 7).

“We worked with the students to teach them the language and get them to do a bit of acting,” Rachel continued. “At the end, they all came to do the production. Hopefully we’ll go back.

“We’ve done three productions so far,” Rachel began. “The first one was ‘Romeo and Juliet’; Jenni and Nathan both acted in it as well.”

“Working in the schools was quite extraordinary.

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My highlight was a few weeks after we came back. I was at work and this great big package came in the post out of the blue and it had an Italian stamp on it. All of the students had hand written letters to us saying what a difference it had made, how it changed their life, they loved it; that was really moving.”

We can’t stay too long without doing a show.

“We’re just brainstorming at the moment. We’d like to do something modern.”

Want to join the Troika cast? Keep an eye out for updates on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

“We’re having a very busy next year.” Watch this space.

Praising their good system and relations with local schools, Troika were even funded by the agency, giving the guys a great boost in the importance of their roles, with future plans for a trip to Brazil!

HYPERLINK “http:// www.troikatheatre. co.uk” www. troikatheatre.co.uk @TroikaTheatre

So what’s next on the list, following two Shakespeare classics and an Oscar Wilde?

“All three of us have full time jobs so it’s very busy. At the end of a show, we end up missing it.

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OXJAM

Image Source; Oxjam Oxford/Jessica Dollard

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July 2012: Oxjam Oxford is pleased to announce the line-up for this year’s Takeover event on 13th October 2012 as well as the opening of early bird ticket sales.

Headlining the event will be five-piece experimental music/psychedelic band ‘Fixers’. Other acts confirmed to play include: 'Dubwiser', 'Kill Murray', 'Secret Rivals', 'The Grinding Young', 'We Aeronauts', 'Family Machine', 'Black Hats', 'Grudle Bay', 'The Yarns', 'The Wooden Sky', 'Evening Hymns', 'Flights of Helios', 'Cat Matador', 'ToLiesel', 'Empty White Circles', 'Robots With Souls', 'ArtClassSink', 'We Are Goose', 'Ragged Claws', 'Dropout' and 'Ioneye'. The event will also see an exciting ‘Blessing Force’ takeover, for which the line-up is still to be announced.

The takeover event will take place in several music venues across the City Centre, including: Modern Art Oxford, Purple Turtle, The Cellar and Turl Street Kitchen and early bird tickets will go on sale on Monday 30 July at 9am.

The tickets will be priced at £7 and will be available on We Got Tickets.

This year will be Oxford’s second Oxjam Takeover and the Oxjam Oxford Takeoever team will be organising a number of exciting fundraising activities throughout the summer including a roof top gig at the SAID business school. The main event in October will be the climax of the Takeover, where ticket holders will get the chance to listen to as many bands as they wish in the multi-venue one-wristbandgives-access-to-all style event.

Since the first festival in 2006, Oxjam has raised more than £1.75 million in total for Oxfam’s work. That’s enough to buy 15,000 emergency shelters; 70,000 goats or 1,050 classrooms. The money raised from Oxjam helps Oxfam fight poverty in three ways: emergency response, development work and campaigning for change.

The Oxjam Takeover event is only made possible by the support of local businesses and through various fundraising events being held throughout the summer.

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Founder and Journalist - Daniella Jones- Ellis Founder and Journalist - Letisha Jones- Ellis Graphic design - Laura Parker- Johns (http://cargocollective.com/parkerj)