heygirlheyboy

oy yb he irl yg he Issue 1:June 2008

£3.50 EURO 4.50

heygirlheyboy Editor-in-Chief/Art Direction Sinikka Heden

Design Neus Rodriguez

Contributors Stephen Fingleton, Nicola Castelow, Sophie Walker, Simona Sikimic Tomi [www.tomi-hair.com] and Ken [www.kennakano.com], Darrell Berry [www.darrell-berry.com], David Fairweather [www.davidfairweather.co.uk], Anna Schwamborn, John Tahtinen, Linus Ricard [www.linusricard.com], Venetia van Horn Alkama, Leah Carmen Walker [www.flickr.com/photos/leahcarmenwalker]

Print & Production Tower Printing

Special Thanks Blow PR, Four Marketing —

Contact

info@heygirlheyboymagazine.com www.heygirlheyboymagazine.com

Copyright heygirlheyboy Š 2008, the authors and the photographers.

Reproduction without permission prohibited

Distribution / Subscription enquiries 47 Hanbury Street London E1 5JP UK

hey

contributors

Gorgeous girls and sexy boys, welcome to the very first issue of heygirlheyboy! Are you excited? I am! And I know a lot of people who I have contributed with their awesome work and ideas along the way are too.

When I first started thinking about the concept of this magazine, I was very focused on filling the lack of a female perspective on the dance scene as I was annoyed with the laddish tone of existing dance magazines and the neglect of all the talented DJ girls out there (unless you happened to be Miss Kitten or Dollz at Play, etc.)

But then I thought, we can’t really afford to exclude the boys - after all the club scene is still pretty male dominated and I didn’t want a girlie mag either – we’re way past gender divisions in my opinion.

So then, like my dear friend Claire pointed out when brainstorming in my flat ‘A nice house is for everybody but has the female touch only a woman can bring’ And that is what heygirlheyboy is– for everybody, but hopefully more inviting for the girls and essentially without the latex bikinis.

Anyway, DJ’s aside it seems to me that the new stars of the clubs are- yes you guessed it-you! A new breed of club photographers are helping to give ya’all your deserved 15 minutes of fame (go to page x for an article on this)– London’s clubs have always been exciting fashion wise –but perhaps now more than ever. Check out the Studio Neon photo reportage by the talented Darrel Barry who leads the way for a new way of club photography, who also captured the colourful Kubi-kids on page 22.

Now the summer’s here and clubbing becomes easier (less queuing in the cold), prettier (tanned legs, prints and bright colours) and the sun makes it increasingly harder to go to bed when you should’veIsn’t the summer so deliciously irresponsible?

See you on all the hidden backyards, terraces and beaches (for those of you who are coming to Ibiza or elsewhere…someone said Croatia?)

Sinikka Heden Editor-in-chief

hey from the editor

hey girl!

La Gosse likes the underground scene in London. Marseilles in Southern France, where she comes from and Ibiza are too commercial.

People will move on to party in Eastern Europe, she reckons – she likes Croatia - but ‘London is better than anywhere.’

We meet in the back room of Café 1001 where a jazz band – unexpectedly- is about to play. ‘I don’t like jazz’ says Gaelle aka La Gosse. ‘I don’t like hip-hop either – I don’t understand it’. What she does understand though is tech-house and she has had a fair amount of time to practice, as she fell in love with dance music at a very early age.

While most 8-year old girls in 1985 were mimicking Madonna or Wham! in front of their mirrors, little Gaelle was sitting by her tape recorder waiting for the new sounds of dance music to come on the radio. ‘I was taping every dance track that came on, like ‘Pump up the Jam’, one of the first ones to come out in France’, she remembers. She then got out to the clubs as quick as she could, and managed to get in despite her mere 16 years, because she looked older – although it appears she stopped ageing around this time.

La Gosse, means ‘the kid’ in French and you’ll understand why her girlfriend of 4 years gave her that nickname. She looks like a 13-year old kid - a little boy, in fact, with her shaved head, baggy jeans and hoodie, one of her trainers pending off the floor as we sit on the sofa. Her voice is like a little girl’s though, and her music sounds like it’s coming from a much more grown up place than a playground.

By the time commercial dance music developed into house music, she was hooked, buying her first decks and enough vinyl to practice. Her first gig came a year later at a birthday party – ‘the best day of my life’, that led to job offers around Marseilles; Le Bazar, Le trolley bus, and Le Metal Café. In 2004, she felt it was time to find a new audience and London was the right place to go.

Influenced by new tech-house like Circo Loco and Deep Dish, her sound fits in very well with the London underground scene in which she’s becoming one of the fastest rising stars.

Her breakthrough after slaving for 3 years in a bar to pay the rent came after she saw an ad in ‘One Week to Live’ announcing a DJ competition at the Egg – in which she played out all the guys and won residency, recently followed by Sosho and Aquarium.

She gave up her ‘normal’ job two months ago, she tells me with a smile and is now working with Justin Drake, one half of Peace Division (the other half producing for Circoloco) with who she has produced two tracks ‘We Don’t Know Yet’ and ‘Lemon Cake’.

Does she like baking? She doesn’t understand this joke, and with that it’s time for me to go. www.myspace.com/

hey boy!

Rob from Mulletover knew exactly who to pick to host the opening night of his new pub the Star on Bethnal Green road.

Kubicle - currently the most talked about after party, where fresh underground sounds are dominating, and with it’s own raising star; FB Julian.

Julian is a busy boy. Besides running the monthly party ‘French connection’ at the Star, We:kids; ‘run by the same people but with a different aspect on music’ is soon kicking off in T-bar. He also recently bought a club in the booming Cable studios alongside producing tracks to be released this summer under Alex Jones ‘future house and techno’ label Hyper Colour.

If that wasn’t enough to keep this French boy busy he is working on yet another France based project - a classical/ electronic production; ‘It’s interesting to do things differently, you know?’Inspiration comes from his friends :Terry:, Mattew styles and Jamie Jones – because they push ideas to the maximum’, something he’s doing pretty successfully himself.

He moved to London from Paris when he was 19, partly due to the declining club scene, partly to get a job.‘The club scene in Paris was good about one or two years before I left, but it all changed and the police raided every other club, making it really hard for Djs and parties to carry on.’Even if he wasn’t dj:ing at the time, he was very much into clubbing, and moving to London was the beginning of a long lasting, passionate love story.‘When I arrived here it was amazing, so different – parties everywhere, warehouses, after parties... you’d see an open door as you’re walking down the street and just walk in and there’s a party there’, he remembers.

It took three years of working in restaurants while secretly learning how to master the decks belonging to flat mate and producer friend David Beiger’s, before his friends managed to lure him out from playing in the living room. ‘I never wanted to play out but then I went back to Paris for a few weeks and when I came back there was club flyers everywhere with my name on them.’

The ‘trick’ was successful and he carried on putting on various, having his friends flying in to DJ with him at Exit bar, Grand Central, (now Favela chic) and it was after playing a set at a party they called Plug in he wisely decided not to go home. ‘One day after Plug in I arrived at an after party with all my records and it turned out that I knew half of the people there, and they let me play for an hour. They liked it so much that they asked me to come back to play again’

The after party happened to be Kubicle in the toilet, and the rest we say is history.

Now, two years on they will even let him have his own Kubicle night, where he can experiment and push his music to new levels.

‘I want to bring the groove back to minimal’ I like minimal, but it gets to a point when it become a bit boring. For me, I like groves, I like house music – so I’m doing a mix of both.’ www.myspace.com/ fbjulian

:sound play___ ground Egg dressed to impress when the spectacular Studio Neon put on a dazzling show to wrap up London Fashion week. We knew that nu-rave threw the fashion rulebook out of the window, but as the invitation states - these are frocks for the not so shy…or perhaps those who see dressing up as an art form– quite literally.

It’s showtime!

Photography by Darrell Barry

One after the other they’re closing their doors – London’s club scene is changing as the big businesses are creeping in.

Sinikka Heden talks to two of the city’s biggest club players about the closure of their precious venues. What will happen when shiny walls of skyscrapers, champagne bars and shopping complexes replace the lovable grittiness that is so characteristic of our city?

culture worth fighting for?

Memories of the past Dec 31st 2007

The Cross 1993-2007 Initially a wine bar as a pre –hangout to the opposite Bangley’s soon became one of the most popular clubs for London’s in-crowd.

They brought glamour to its intimate arches becoming loved for its unique vibe and location – an outdoor garden in a industrial area, even hosting after parties in a dubbel decker bus in the backyard.

I’m walking up a filthy street, littered with beer cans and cigarette stubs - awaiting the rain to flush away the signs of homelessness and riotous partying.

York Way is a street most people have avoided at night - assuming one is not attracted to council blocks, empty factories or hangouts for drug dealers.

That is if you are not a dedicated clubber, in which case you would happily staggered and stumbled up it numerous times, knowing that the troubled route to a Victorian good’s yard would be worth it.

S

omehow it is the ‘mission’ of getting there, combined with the skanky state of King’s Cross that makes the clubbing experience so exciting and is arguably as characteristic to London as fish’n’chips. That is why feelings of nostalgia are grasping me as I am heading for the very last party at the Cross, wondering where there will ever be such a inimitable spot to open a nightclub.

The area has begun its regeneration plan , probably the biggest physical change London has ever seen. Good news for frequent Eurostar travellers who will have 20 minutes cut off their journey to Paris, or tourists who will be provided with the longest champagne bar in Europe. Not so good news for The Cross, the Key and the Canvas warehouse - the golden clubbing triangle who have to close their doors for good.

“Let’s never come here again, because it will never be as much fun” was Scarlett Johanson’s earnest

words, lying on a Japanese hotel bed in Lost in Translation.

Cross director Billy Reilly couldn’t agree more – regret doesn’t seem to be a word in his vocalbury as he is happy to ‘leave on a high’. Truthfully, in most cases it is better to stop while you are having fun than to carry on until the bitter hangover is slowly creeping up on you.

‘If we would have carried on, we’d probably end up like a cheesy old disco- you know, go there, get the t-shirt,’ says Billy and points out that the Cross wouldn’t fit within the framework of the regeneration anyway. And he might be right – glossy shopping piazzas and new property developments would kind of eliminate the magic of the madness not to mention the harmony of the areas future, presumably posher residents.

Pre- closing I am asking Billy if he could ever imagine the success that his club has seen? “The Cross never started out as a proper business, we just stumbled over this amazing space and decided to open a

Canvas 2003-2007 A warehouse style club – the biggest in London, retaining a personal touch with an Ibizian style roof terrace that made the ideal place to dance summer days away, watching the sun go down.

club, a place for us and our friends really’ he remembers. It managed to attract the right crowds; hip media types and creatives, combined with some successful promoters – sending the popularity through the skies - becoming a ‘second home’ to of its regulars, loved for its vibe and friendly atmosphere.

The Key 2003-2007 Lavishly decorated with giant, gold framed mirrors and chandelles it had an intimate atmosphere, known for its forward thinking music and clubs including All in your face, Veryverywrong indeed and Bugged Out. The TDK Festival Over the August bank holiday weekend the three clubs merged together into the wonderful clubbing playground The Cross Central festival - the perfect festival for stubborn urbanizes who refused wellies and mud. Sadly, urban festivals will most likely be a phenomenon we’ll tell our grandchildren about.

‘I put The Cross up there

with various clubs like the Hacienda and studio 54 - it means so much to a special group of people but I don’t believe in re-branding, you see the nostalgia with various car brands like Jaguar being bought up by the cooperates but it’s never the same.

For me, the cross has done what it has done and it’s over.’

I’m quite stunned at the lack

of emotion when having to let go of something he has built up over the past twelve years. Interestingly, only two years ago, Billy said in a book that celebrated its 10th anniversary that ‘he would do anything to protect the Cross’.

The Light 2000 - ???

A historic landmark in Shoreditch – Most famous for hosting the Secret Sundaze parties for the past two summers in the spacious and sunny back garden.

To support the campaign launched to stop it being demolished visit savethelight.co.uk

Today, he seems much more positive about it all and sees the closing as an opportunity to develop new ideas. ‘There is still so much to come, we’re still not in Roman amphitheatres we’re still not Victorian music halls - that is what needs to happen,’ he says.

Maybe he’s right or maybe a handy lump of cash helped to get positive about the change.

Business at least is expanding as he plans to open not one but three new venues at the end of the year; a private members lounge in King’s cross, a pub, and a club in Camden that he describes as the closest that Cross fans can hope for.

The timing couldn’t have been better as it seems; having absorbed the dance scene for over a decade, Billy has recognized a change in London over the past few years – people seem to be quite happy with the extended opening hours of pubs and bars that came with the 24 hour drinking law and people now seem less keen to pay entry to a bigger clubs.

‘The number of clubs have definitely got less and less; today there’s only 6 dance clubs in London worth going to and they will be even fewer coming 2008.’

London it seems is undoubtedly up for a big change overall – local businesses are slowly but surely being replaced by Tescos and Starbucks, and coming the Olympics in 2012 you can be sure that the streets will be a great deal cleaner than they are now.

‘Inner London is becoming less gritty, less urban and it has been sterilized to a degree, but then that has happened to most cities in the world - look at New York – they killed the club scene, so perhaps London is going the same way,’ says Billy with no sign of resentment.

One man that is less happy about new developments is James Goff, owner of the Light bar in

Shoreditch, the other sprawling area that still retains filthy streets and run down warehouses, offering the perfect clubbing playground.

Sitting on a sofa inside the impressive space – a Victorian power station built in 1893 with arches, brick walls and high ceilings - he’s rapidly working his way through uncountable glasses of rose while furiously telling me that the building is threatened to be demolished for the second time.

The building he spent one million pounds refurbishing eight years ago is to be turned into another officeskyscraper block, costing a mere 550 million pounds if the property developer have their way. But it’s not just about the money, Goff is also concerned with the damage the development will mean to the areas unique character.

‘It’s the beginning of the end of Shoreditch’

he says with a dejected sigh.

Having earned the nick name, ”Sheriff of Shoreditch” over his ten working years in the area, he is one of the original rave and party organizers and is also a rather unusual businessman – staking on non -corporate events and actually considering the value of the area to its residents. With its spacious and sunny back garden the Light is the second home ground for Secretsundaze, and its closing would make Priestly and Co pretty stuck for venues suitable to host this summer’s SS parties.

But the war has not been lost yet. In 2004, the Light was saved with the help of 1500 friends and customers, a fact proving that standing in the way sometimes helps. If luck is on their side, the same could happen again as James has started a campaign called ‘save the Light’ against property developer Hammerson. Already in the1960s the area suffered from ill-considered residential tower blocks, dominating and destroying communities. James is determined that the same mistake is not repeated, ‘I think a key

point is that most people who are working on this scheme don’t live or go out in this area. They have to realize that The Light can sit alongside modern development and balance out the street scene to connect local people to their heritage’. Justin Malett, a former Londoner who is has now emmigrated to Ibiza still has his memories of the ‘old’ London; “What is happening here now happened to soho and carnaby street a long time ago, but I think Shoreditch is so unique – with its edginess between the arts and the business’s interests it makes an incredible story that hasn’t been anywhere else in London”.

James considers this, taking another gulp of wine, suddenly blazing with emotion again. ‘If they start chipping away like this, it will be bloody terrible! “Look at this”, he says showing me a map of the planning drawings. ‘You see the size of this,’ he points at a picture of a view of Shoreditch cluttered with small boxes illustrating building blocks. ‘We’re talking about a wall that is stretching across the whole area, including Brick lane. It’s not bloody appealing, is it? If one wall is successful, they are just going to keep pushing it.’‘It becomes boring, says Justin. ‘That is why I turn to Berlin, that is what people do now. Advertising agencies like Tomato go there because there is more inspiration and that is kind

the really crucial people are not choosing London anymore.’

For what will the capital of of scary –

cultural innovation be without its creative soul? I’ve never been of a conservative nature but it is truly upsetting that corporate business must expand at the cost of loved and celebrated pieces of culture.

Let’s just hope the big men realize the beauty of balance before it’s all too late.

Meet the Kubi kids: I

meet Mia in Old Blue Last, a traditional English pub and Kubicle’s current venue since the ‘original’, Public Life aka the toilet which is experiencing licensing problems. Greeting me with a warm embrace and kisses on the cheeks, she feels like an old friend despite only just meeting her this early Sunday morning.

All tanned, smooth skin, (‘I hate to be pale!’) platinum blonde bob, slim and tall she’s the Australian beach babe personified. Dressed in a bright blue pencil skirt, gold patterned halter neck and red patent heels, she is exactly how glamorous only the Kubicle girls know how to be at 8am with little, or no sleep.

She tells me she’s only staying until 10 am this time as she’s off to Jaded to promote a friend’s jewellery collection by simply wearing it to the club.

“She got the idea when everyone was wearing Jaded dog tags and they ended up selling loads for £6.’

She likes Jaded but her favourite after party is doubtlessly Kubicle, because ‘I can’t stop smiling when I’m here - everyone is smiling.’

‘Even if people are messed up from the night before, it’s always a good 24

text and photography by Sinikka Heden

atmosphere.

Yo u k no w how after parties can be quite scary?’ she says, white teeth shining in the dim pub light.

But not Kubicle. The vibe is happy, friendly and welcoming and most of the people here are regulars who already know each other, yet the feeling of stepping in as an ‘outsider’ is exactly how Mia describes her first time – ‘like coming home’.

Since she has her family in Australia, Kubicle has become extremely important to her; she’s met most of her friends here and they really have become like a little family. ‘ It’s very personal – if it’s someone’s birthday we make it a birthday party and sometimes we agree to a dress theme for the next party and everyone dresses up.’

Liz and Sonia are the pair behind Kubicle that soon is to celebrate its third birthday. They are determined to keep the ‘family’ the way they want it to be and always have been. ‘I’d rather not make another £10 than risk letting in the wrong people. It only takes one ‘wrong’ person to spoil the whole party and the vibe,’ Liz says.

Despite the door policy, it

lacks the pretentiousness of Boombox and it’s not so much about what you wear, but ‘whoever looks like they’re gonna have a good party’, Bex, the door girl tells me.

With, pink blonde hair, freckled sheer skin and a polka dot dress, she’s doll-like and not your ordinary and-who-do-you-think-you-are- door –bitch.

She has got increasingly involved in the London scene lately and now she’s networking, hoping to get into the music industry. ‘I used to go out a lot and I realized that it wasn’t just about going clubbing – I wanted to be more involved.’ She’s also doing the doors at Black Rabbit, Filthy gorgeous and D-late – but ‘they are more like jobs – this is definitely one of my favorites job. ‘Here, it’s not like the promoters are separate from the guests – it’s everyone together like a big family.’

Two people are coming to the door leading up to the party that is on the top floor of the pub. Bex halts them. ‘Are you on the list? No ‘Do you normally go Kubicle? No. Ok, but they look the part so it’s £10 each says Bex with her sweet smile.

They happily oblige and rush up

the stairs. Two new potential family members?

The intimacy and relaxed atmosphere makes it resemble a house party rather than a club.

Which makes sense as Kubicle is in fact a house-party- turned -club. ‘ We were fed up having people around our house all the time – it was a bit of a joke having neighbours and landlords knocking on our doors on sunday mornings,’ remembers Sonia. Also bored with the rubbish music and no good people in the clubs (‘all the good ones were at our house!’) it was a natural progression to turn it into a club.

Liz was promoting anyway, doing after parties - now they just needed a suitable venue. After driving around night after night trying to find a venue intimate enough they stumbled across Public Life a converted public toilet, literally underground and barely legal - exactly what they were looking for.

Even if the venue, fun-ness and special group of people very much define what Kubicle is all about, Liz points out that the music is paramount. And they’ve been lucky here too finding such suitable

DJs. Mr C played at the first party ever. ‘ We owe him a big thank you, he introduced us to lots of people- we have had solid residents from the start. DJ’s liked it because it was a bit different,’ says Liz.

Most kubi-kids have taken to the dance floor, some observing, conserving and drinking in the corners. The tequila and wine is going as quickly as any afternoon despite the fact the clock has just passed 9am. The music is deep, minimal tech-house, played by resident and upcoming star FB Julian. He instantly fell in love with the unique vibe and tight group of people. ‘ I want make sure it stays it way it is, it’s all about music and its small group of friends.

‘For me there’s nothing more rewarding than coming to the toilet sometimes and play a really good set to a group people who give back so much,’ he tells me.

To avoid too many people finding out about it, it’s not advertised and they keep swapping venues, making one draw pararels to the early days of Secret Sundaze, which also was one of the main inspirations behind the concept of Kubicle. (‘when it was in the Poet’).

W hile S ecret Sundaze doesn’t seem to care so much about the secrecy or intimacy anymore, seemingly caring more about money and selling as many tickets as possible, Kubicle has kept a low profile, even after three years. ‘We could go on to do a big warehouse parties, but I don’t want to do that’ says Liz.

“Obviously we have aspirations – we want to take Kubicle to the beach, but it has to be done in the right way.’ Meaning, it would be held on a private beach rather than Ibiza’s BoraBora. ‘Kubicle in the sunshine! She exclaims ‘’Good food and great music -we’re off to the sun soon and hope that everyone will follow us’ Which they will do – their loyalty and determination to the club is touching, and they are right – it goes beyond just being another after party.

So keep your eyes open for Ibiza parties and festivals – another thing they are hoping to do this year. ‘But for now we just deal with east end grotty pubs and toilets.’ www.myspace.com/kubicle

25

reportage by Darrell Berry

cubicle

SEX

PLUGS

ROCK

ROLL Text and photography by Sinikka Heden

Imagine you are getting ready for a night out of dancing, drinking maybe some flirting. What are the essentials? Killer heels, lipgloss,, a fancy pair of new jeans and a final touch of that perfume that’s going to turn you into a human magnet. Ready to go, you grab your money, keys, cigarettes…and, of course - your new hot earplugs.

Er…? Rewind that last bit…those yellow, spongy, off-putting little things that make you look like have been contaminated with some pensioner’s ear disease?

T

his seems to be the way many of us think about earplugs today. A survey done by MTV showed that hearing loss is far from a major concern among kids today. Despite a whopping 61 per cent had hearing loss or ringing in their ears after concerts, and 43 percent after being in clubs, only 8 per cent rated hearing loss as a significant health problem, falling far behind sexually transmitted diseases (50 per cent), alcohol and drug use (47 per cent), depression (44 per cent) smoking (45 per cent) and weight issues – yet these figures alone speak of the possibility that there are too many things to worry about already.

A minority said they had worn earplugs, with most not even considering the possibility.

Interestingly, the smart-apples claimed that if they knew noise, such as music, could cause permanent hearing loss, they would try earplugs.

So perhaps you should know that there are 4.7 million people in the UK suffering from tinnitus, (permanent ringing in the ears) the incurable condition that can not only drive you nuts or have a devastating effect on your life but has drawn some people to such despairs as suicide.

Death and vanity have been closely linked since the time began, but if that isn’t the case, then what is the reason we won’t protect our most treasured sense, especially if you love music? ‘It doesn’t seem so rock’n’roll to wear earplugs but it is a change of attitude that is necessary’ says DJ Brad Finlay. And the sooner that happens the better, before we end up banging our heads against the wall feeling like it’s all gone a bit Pete Tong.

This is an issue that has now been recognized. Criticism is pressuring giants like Apple to put warning signs on mp3 players (just when you thought there wasn’t anything left to be labeled “this is fun but will harm you”). Furthermore, RNID- the organization for deaf and hard hearing people has begun a hunt for a revolutionary earplug idea that will turn our attitudes positive about wearing them; ‘like sun block and sunglasses,’ says the campaigns chairman. With the right design and marketing trick it might even make them the ‘must-have’ item for music lovers. Matilda Wigg Erixon, a product design student at Central St Martins is pondering around an idea.

‘Maybe it doesn’t have to be a earplug in a traditional sense, I think that you have to think beyond the original shape and form’ she says. ‘It’s easier to think of a design for women - I think a piece of jewellery instantly; it could be an earring that fits in and around

‘To make it a commercial hit you have to make something that could work for everyone.’ the ear.

Clubbers are particularly at risk - a recent study found that it is the length of time you’re exposed to the music that counts (assuming that you would go clubbing for more than two hours, the maximum time to avoid hearing damage). But it’s not only when we’re out partying our ears are endangered.

Most of us turn up our I-pods far too high, but future versions are clever enough to calculate for how long you have been listening, reducing the sound level, or turn down the volume when music is played too loud. At present some mp3 players can reach up to 120dB, which is louder than a pneumatic drill and can cause hearing damage after just 15 minutes.

But what if it was possible to ride the hype of Apple, one of the most powerful brands of the moment? Remember the white headphones spreading like a fashionable disease when I-Pods were first brought out?

‘If there was a new design of headphones on which it was possible to simply clip off the wire when you got into the club and functioned as earplugs, people wouldn’t even have to remember bringing them because people take their iPods everywhere’, speculates Matilda. ‘Convenience and simplicity are important elements in making any design commercially viable.’ It wouldn’t be such an alien trend after all. We live in a society obsessed with protection; if we look after ourselves we’ll live longer lives and are happier. When magazines announced that white legs were hot in mid July, we immediately thought of it as acceptable and nothing weird – it was HEALTHY!

Sunglasses protect our eyes from harmful UV-light and are more fashionable than ever.

Obviously, earplugs are never going to reach the same status - imagine Kate Mossearplugs, but they should be a natural companion to your condoms and shades in the clubbing-kit. dontlosethemusic.com

32

//you guys are the next level shit// Grandmaster Flash -

Sound and visuals have gone hand in hand since the birth of the music video. But the synchronizing of visuals and music – Audio Visual art - is still in its early days and has yet to grow into a scene in its own right. UK’s leading AV artists Addictive TV tell Sinikka Heden just why.

Photography: Addictive TV

T

he “art of DJ:ing” might be dead if the ‘art’ here meant scratching old 12” records instead of putting up your laptop. I’ve been one of the biggest moaners myself over the death of vinyl, but I have come to terms wit h the fact that it’s just evolving like everything else - technology was never going to let us keep carrying around awkward cases with dusty records for that much longer anyway.

Now it seems like the next big thing on the club scene is something to keep ones eyes (rather than ears) open for.

A few years ago, who would ever think Bestival and dance music could be linked to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai?

Well so has it been with Addictive TV that tours the art world with live cinema projects as well as performing audio-visual club sets, taking Vj:ing to the next level.

The London based DJ/ producer duo are best known for their mash-ups of films, and putting themselves 36

in the history books with their remix of the Italian job - the first ever remix of a Hollywood movie.

2008 is the third year they are contributing to Optronica - their brainchild exhibition presenting trends in contemporary visual music including video scratching, audiovisual remixing and video installations.

For this year’s exhibition held at Le Cube in Paris, Addictive TV have been digging deep into Adidas archive to create the three minute audio-visual mix Sportive , also the only UK contribution to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Graham Daniels, a VJ back in 1992, teamed up with Tolly who was DJ:ing and they started to integrate the two mediums and developed the unique artistic voice of Addictive TV. The itch for a challenge led them into start mixing more complex sampling and remixing of films (as opposed to just making music videos). An opportunity to try out Pioneers ‘dream-machine’ DVJ- X1, that

crosses the boundaries between the once-separate audio and video domains and makes them stay in perfect sync was the missing piece that made the jigsaw compete, or at least easier to work out.

Inspiration comes from ‘anywhere and everywhere’, but naturally as a creative the line between work and leisure has become blurred.

“I don’t watch films in the same way I used to” says Graham. “ Now I watch them and think –that’s a good sample, making mental notes. Or you read about a band getting back together and you start thinking of ways to mix old footage with them.”

An increasing number of Djs are experimenting with visuals and music, but AV remixes is not about abstract visuals or simply adding video clips to music.

In AV, video samples are used to create music from scratch, reworking them to creating something completely new. “ It offers so much more to audiences – what you are seeing is literally what you are hearing and

that can lift the vibe and the mood of a party so much, and I think that is what really interests us.” Graham explains.

“Some acts include amazing visuals in their sets, like the Chemical Brothers, but the difference is that their visuals can be separated from the music” Many people are still confused about what Addictive TV is all about; even producers ask if they can “just have the music “ to cut the price. But they refuse to do separated DJ sets - they are an AV act and they want to push that. By making their work very detailed and layered they hope to create mixes that you can re-discover every time you watch them, in the same way as good music can be listen to again and again.

While playing at a festival, Grandmaster Flash turned up, loved what he saw exclaiming; “You guys are the next level shit – you’re really making music from the visuals” That is a review to boast but while artists as well as audiences have praised their work, there are few people who have cought on. Graham believes that progress is going to take a while, considering how time consuming creating AV work is - it’s not really comparable to “having a

go at the weekend – bedroom Dj:ing.”

“99.9 percent of all Djs don’t have a passion for visuals and it takes blood, sweat and tears - it’s like any artistic pursuit, you’ve got to have a passion for it; like a rock climber, or a painter,” he says.

We are still in early days talking about a scene.

“People ask me what the future of the AV scene but I would say there is a lack of a scene at the moment.”

Says Graham. “We’re only a handful of people doing it in the UK and a couple in America and Germany.”

First when artists move on from just playing music with abstract visuals, (“because then you could just book a really good DJ and a really good VJ instead”) or make material that can hold an audience interest for a couple of hours, not just 15 minutes and then fall apart is when we could see a scene starting to take shape. “I think that is what is missing at the moment -the understanding for visual composition.”

But Graham is positive it will happen.

“Slowly artists will appear and as they do, more festivals will start looking at this area, more music festivals

finally

start

programming

acts.”

Technology, as always plays a vital part in the developmentlikewise cheaper and more accessible video and editing equipment resulted in the music video boom and MTV-era in the 1980s.

Before you start mashing and chopping away, remember not to get too carried away with the video part in the mix.

“Visuals will definitely be an important part of the clubbing experience in the future but you have to remember why people go to clubs – to listen to music and dance, not watch video installations - there are museums for that. The music will always be the most important thing.”

Optronica will run in Le Cube until July 26 in Paris, Admission free. www.optronica.org Addictive TV will play at Liverpool – the European capital of culture in October and play an open air set in South bank in July. www.addictive.tv

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Images by Venitia van Horn Alkana Text by Simona Sikimic

I

Paris by Light From graffiti to catwalk – the growing versatility of an art form.

f it had begun to seem as through Paris might be loosing its edgy appeal and Ed Banger was as passé as yesterdays patisseries, think again. The ‘City of Light’ is finding new ways of illuminating its club and social scene by combining art, music and urban cool.

‘Light Painting’ was first created by Picasso in 1924 when he was photographed drawing a sketch in mid air using a torch.

It was revived in the 1970’s by US artist Eric Staller, who inspired by the excessive sensibilities of the disco generation began lighting up urban landscapes to create dramatic other worldly visuals. While the concept has always been considered to be cutting edge, it has recently been redefined into a performance style format which is emerging as a new party phenomena.

This new incarnation of light art was conceived in 1999 when a prominent Parisian graffiti artist, known as Marko 93, saw a long exposure photograph taken of a moving car and started enquiring about the technique involved in capturing

moving light images. He quickly realised that he could combine his love of graffiti with light, photography, and film to create something new with the potential to attract a much wider audience.

Traditional graffiti, despite becoming increasingly trendy, still of course remains very much illegal. This causes many people to have a bad predisposition towards it which forces graffiti to be largely done in secret. Graffiti is also heavily associated with Hip Hop, something which doesn’t bode well in a city that is still dominated by social snobbery and quartier division; the inner city tends to favour Electro and Punk, while the suburbs remain dedicated to Hip Hop and Rap.

As Marko 93 points out, unlike London which ‘is the best place for creativity in Europe at the moment because of its willingness to embrace new ideas and experiment,’ Paris can occasionally feel more traditional.

For example, graffiti by Banksy and Neckface was generally slow to make an impact.

The transition from graffiti to light however (which obviously leaves no permanent marks

and therefore does not invite prohibition) has created a unique opportunity for combining street art with the main stream. It has also crucially transformed graffiti from an underground activity into a night spectacle which is helping to revamp clubs and outdoor festivals by adding an awe inspiring visual dimension to their repertoires.

Light art of this form can be created in three different ways. Most simply, a string of long exposure photographs, often using a DJ, artist, or even members of the crowd, are taken in a dark room while a light artist makes three-dimensional movements around the subject using light sources of varying colour and intensity. More intricately, video footage is shot of a light art performance which includes other moving objects or people and the results are then post-produced to a high standard.

Alternatively a live light art performance can be conducted in a club or even on the street, filmed in real time and edited instantaneously using specialist technology. In all cases the images are projected onto a large 39

screen, often as accompanying visuals to music and dance.

At first glance, one can be forgiven for reminiscing back to the 1990’s and the era of glowsticks and gurns. Elements of it can, and do appear garish, but the live light graffiti of today has taken on a decisively more sophisticated feel.

‘The Queen’ off the Champse-Élysées, host of Headcandy, includes regular live light art performances to promote some of its top DJs, while Bataclan, the oldest and one of the best respected Parisian show venues and the infamous L’Elysée Montmartre have both played key roles in propelling the modern light art trend. Being used by the biggest clubs ensures that light art and artists are coming into constant contact with some of the finest new names in Electro and Rap which allows them to stay fresh. The necessity of performing and creating images at nigh also helps light artists maintain originality. As Marko 93 explains, ‘people are simply more open at night, they lose their inhibitions which in turn allow us to lose ours.

As our work is influenced by the 40

interesting people we meet, the more individual they are, the more individual our work becomes.’

For now, the main celebrity endorsers remain interlinked with Hip Hop; Joey Starr of NTM, France’s biggest Rap group, is an avid fan and has commissioned portraits, as have Moodyman and Rim’K. But the trend is quickly spreading further a field, not only to different music genres but also towards international recognition.

Palais de Tokyo, the Parisian Modern Art hothouse has hosted light art performances, John Galliano drew inspiration from Marko 93 for his Spring/ Summer 2008 collection and more recently Dolce and Gabbana used light art to promote a jewellery campaign. The advertising world is hot on their heels with Ford, Sony and several French telecommunication houses all borrowing the idea.

Like art in general, Marko 93 believes that contemporary light art has become ‘a key which opens the doors to all social classes; I have painted for those on the margins of society and for millionaires.’ In this way light art

is creating a display of ‘egalite’ on the otherwise divided Paris night scene by recruiting unconventional fans to Hip Hop while promoting the spread of Electro to the suburbs.

Undoubtedly this transformation from graffiti to a more sophisticated media is part of the allure of modern light art.

The other part however must be attributed to the relative simplicity and accessibility of the idea.

Anyone with a digital camera and some imagination can recreate light photography, something which is evident from the sheer abundance of light graffiti that can be found online. People see it in a club, are blown away by and by researching light graffiti find out not only about new music, venues and artists but also about the history of light art in general.

Paradoxically, by transitioning into a format which is only visible for a split second, modern light graffiti art is making a much longer lasting impression on the cultural and social makeup of the Parisian club scene and is promising to do so elsewhere.

Blue berry Nights Photography by Linus Ricard Styling by Sinikka Heden

Previous page: Dress by Afshin Feiz; This page: Grey high=waisted skirt by Christopher Kane for Topshop £80; Opposite page: Slip by topshop £28

This page: Dress by Topshop Unique £110; Opposit epage: Grey shorts by Disaya £26, white silk top by Topshop £30

This page: Grey skirt as before, black platform heels by All Saints ÂŁ110; Opposite page: White bodice by SteveJ & Yonip

This page: White/pink strapless dress

by Disaya £98; Tutu stylist’s own.

Opposite: Dress by SteveJ & Yonip

holm!

Stockholm; the city built on islands, the city of beautiful blondes or the city of long summer nights there are plenty of reasons to visit the capital of Sweden.

You’ll be surprised by the amount of shops, bars and coffee shops that can be squeezed into such a small city - many of them pretty touristy and not so exciting – so here’s a guide told by a Stockholm born and bred who knows where the good parties and treasures are.

Text by Sinikka Heden Photography John Tahtinen

I

n London, fashionistas and trendies turn to East for the most fabulous shopping and exciting nightlife. In Stockholm, you should head south, also called SoFo – where Sodermannagatan and Folkungagatan meet.

We start out quite unexpectedly in the suburbs.

Since Konstfack – Stockholm’s most exciting and talent-packed art school moved here in 2005 the nearby restaurant/ club Landet has become a popular hangout for ung creatives as well as and food lovers – it also offers a high quality, but quite expensive restaurant.

The bar however is more student friendly and entry to tonight’s club -Bring all your friends- proves that you can do exactly that– entry is 50 SEK ($4) including a live performance. What’s more - a ‘Jarn’ – the old fashioned straight up alcohol, and best way to get wasted the Swedish way costs a mere 25 SEK

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($1,50). Who said Stockholm is expensive?

The Swedes start out their night quite late, as people ‘forfestar’ - drink as much as possible in their homes before they hit the clubs. They are well known for their heavy drinking habits - but only on Friday and Saturday when they make sure they do it properly to make up for a week spent in the TV sofa.

However, Landet has a pretty good vibe at 11pm when we decide to carry on to the more central parts of the city (as much as we would have loved to stay for the lovely and warming blankets provided outside for the smokers in the freezing cold).

Next stop is Gotgatsbacken, a street located next to Stockholm’s port of which you can get a spectacular view if you board Katarinahissen – an elevator transporting you to the top of a mountain.

(Yes! In the middle of the city.)

Instead, we decide to climb the stairs to Sodra bar – an impressive building containing a theatre, a concert venue, restaurant, bar and club - not to forget the city’s best outdoor terrace from where you get the same beautiful view (highly recommended at night).

We enter the bar, the popular and cheaper alternative to the next door Mosebacke club that kicks off a bit later and is also well worth a visit.

Don’t be fooled by its extravagant entrance, art works on the walls and red carpets – it’s not posh in any way. Despite the bar being rather empty at this early hour, we can see the potential and as one regular reassures me, it will later be ‘roj plus moms’, ‘rave plus VAT’. Unfortunately for us it will be particularly late this evening as the grand finale of the Swedish Eurovison Song Contest is on TV tonight (watched by 4 million Swedes – out of a population of 9 million….) Obviously a large part of this country has yet to learn what good music means.

The massive balcony even has a (currently closed) small bar that in the summer will be handy. But now it’s not exactly ‘sipping frozen margaritas kind of weather’ and we had enough beauty for tonight – we want some fun!

A stone throw away, or two stops with the underground is Marie Lavou, that tonight hosts club Happy Nation. If that sounds like a name for an old rave club then you won’t be disappointed – this is a rave in the traditional green-laser–glow-stick–and-sweaty dancing-kind of way. The greatest surprise is the ice cream for sale in the bar next to the self-service jugs of water in colorful plastic cups. Whoever had the impression that the Swedes were stiff or reserved will after the Happy nation experience go back to tell a different story. This is the Boombox crowd minus the attitude.

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Landet LM Ericssons vag 27 Mon-Thu 17-00, Fri 16-01, Sat 17-01 (club Fri-Sat) Sodra Bar/ Mosebacke Mosebacke torg 3 Sun-Thu 11am-1am; Fri & Sat 11am-2am

Full of joy and hopes of a better club Stockholm we head for our last destination, Olssons video.

Located in the west it promises to be one of the trendiest and hippest clubs with a young and fashionable crowd. At 2.30 am it is a bitter contrast to the joy of the previous club, and the reserved coolness make me wish I never left the south.

Don’t get me wrong, Olssons has got everything right – stylish interior, the right lighting, hip electronic music and a good looking crowd – but it’s still so…wrong, lacking the excited vibe that a Saturday night should imply. This is a place to have a cosmopolitan with your girlfriends rather than any kind of madness, meaning, don’t come drunk- you’ll be sneered at.

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Marie Lavou Hornsgatan 66 Thu-Sat 17-03 (club Fri-Sat) Olssons video Odengatan 41 Wed-Thu 21-03, Fre 18-03, Sat 21-03.

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Emma, 21, Fashion Assistant Best hangout is Landet because of its cozy ambience and nice people and best shop is Grandpa.

Oskar Hoberg, 23, makes music. He listens to Spacemen 3 right now.

Klara Gustin, 25, Science Student She likes the club Debaser because of the many fresh bands performances and music and listens to Tennis Coats from Japan. The best shop is Myrornas secondhand on Hornsgatan.

Joel Rundquist, 22, ‘does anything and everything! ‘ Likes Acne jeans and pshycadelic music and like Stockholm for its suburbs and cheap housing close to the city.

Dan Malmer, Dancer Moved to Sweden from England with his girlfriend and will never return! He loves Marie Lavou because its mix of wonderful people but says the best thing about Sweden is the girls!

People of Stockholm

The perfect day after activity – jazz brunch What is the ultimate hangover cure? Soothing jazz of course! Teamed with a three hour indulgence of a first class brunch buffet, including meatballs, homemade bread and pancakes it is a clear winner. All this at the bargain price of 150 SEK (£10) makes you forget any overpriced drinks from the night before.

The Snus Machine Snus is a widely used substitue for cigarettes; here at Mosebacke it is brought into the 21st Century through the convenience of a vending machine.

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Shops SoFo is also the best area for shopping and ‘fika’the Swedes favorite activity which equals spending ours in coffe shops, sipping endless lattes and tea ( a health alternative to the English daily pints in the pub) Grandpa Sodermannagatan 21 www.grandpa.se Mon-Fri 12-18, Sat 12-16 Well recommended, cute shop mixing fashion and interior and has a ‘homely’ atmosphere with art on the walls.

Tjallamalla Bondegatan 46 www.tjallamalla.com Mon-Fri 12-18, Sat 12-16 Mixing new designers, vintage and also own label Scene by tjallamalla, at varied prices.

Monki Gotgatan 19 www.monkigirl.se Mon- Fri 11-20, Sat 12-17 Stocks trendy and cheap street fashion with some interesting design collaborations.

Monki is the sister company to the next door Weekday, that also is worth a visit (here, Cheap Monday jeans are actually cheap!

The store also sells Acne jeans and a range of interesting brands.

Cafes Louie Louie Bondegatan 13 Shop vintage vinyl while sipping lattes in this cute 50-s jukebox style café.

Café String Nytorgsgatan 38 The best café in town! In this retro café everything is for sale, including the furniture you sit on. A hot tip – go for the soderblandning tea – a delicious blend exclusive to the south of Stockholm.

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G

Something has happened to Stockholm’s club scene. Groundbreaking clubs are leading the way for a new era in the city’s previously segregated club land, possibly even measurable to international standards.

Today, electronic music has taken a firm grip and people can actually name the DJ. Sinikka Heden reports from her hometown.

rowing up in the small but beautiful capital of Sweden I got used to going out to clubs where brats were jumping on the sofas to the latest Britney hit, spraying champagne on each other -or playing cool; don’t speak to anyone outside your gang was the golden rule. This was the accepted climate of the Stockholm’s clubbing centre, Stureplan.

You could always head to the south for the indie, beer drinking scene but it all shuts at midnight and was more about sitting around getting drunk than any kind of rigorous partying. Dressed for one or the other, (sexy glam vs. Converse/ Palestine scarf combo) made a spontaneous change of destination half way through the night rather impossible– the two ‘camps’ loathed each other; be aware if you end up on the ‘wrong’ side. Electronic music was practically nonexistent overall (apart from the - spare me - Euro techno.)

In other words, fun wasn’t exactly the word I would associate with my teenage clubbing years. Especially not compared to the contrasting club heaven of London that (luckily) has been the reality of my twenties.

From what I can remember, the people of Stockholm wouldn’t generally go out to see a particular DJ play - in fact, most people wouldn’t even be able to name the guy who was most likely to be the current C- list celebrity anyway (happily accepting drunken requests.)

Music was obviously not the reason to pay entry to a club, and a trainer ban spoke of the fact that dancing wasn’t going to be a primary aim of the night either. Of course it did happen - sometime after 2am when one was intoxicated enough not to care so much about image (if it was done earlier, it would be something like waving your hand over the head, standing on the spot while looking around, pouting/ flashing cleavages, Rolexes, etc.)

This picture probably seems a little hard to visualize if you have never visited Stockholm; after all, Sweden can brag about international Djs/ producers such as Adam Bayer, Eric Prydz,

Axwell and Mike Shiver who all have well known floor-filling capabilities. Yet the harsh reality for serious music-loving Swedes have always been to follow their heroes around the world to experience them live as they would rarely choose to play on the home ground.

Until now that is - Stockholm’s club scene seems to have gone through a quite exciting transformation over the past years.

A crucial step in the right direction came from an initiative by Spybar, a club with a strict door policy, previously favoring silicon-bimbos and E-list celebrities - bad taste of the 80s impersonated. But after being overtaken in 2006 by a completely new management coming from Stockholm’s more alternative corner of culture, things began to change. Not only were the contradictions between the posher residents of Stureplan and the ‘culture snobs’ of the south about to be dissolved, but new music and ideas started to flow. Sebastian Suarez Golborne, Spy bar’s new music manager explains the simple method when getting rid of the club’s tacky reputation. ‘What we did was simply stop letting Linda Rosing ( Big brother contestant etc) and let in, well, an artist from Vasastan instead.’

The unexpected initiative seemed to kick a whole army of club organizers up the butt, awakening from a long coma. Esque is a club who had ambitions to create a ‘mini Fabric’. First with Function One sound and recently booked minimal hero Luciano as well as managed to lure back Swedish born Beyer to play on the home ground. With current collaborations with one of Stockholm’s most eminent art galleries Jonas Kleerup, it has managed to attract the right

‘Esque books quality Djs, but also offers more than just music. crowds.

Events and exhibitions gives the club credit and I think many clubs will go in the same direction as clubbers are becoming more savvy, hence the competition. I have friends who are totally into the club scene and DJ names, who didn’t even listened to electronic music a couple of years ago; it’s really a fast moving industry,”

:Better than a new Berlin?

says Ruben Brundell, editor in chief of Kalendarium.se –a magazine turned website which has grown in popularity on the club scene.

He has seen Stockholm’s DJ scene explode over

‘The new competitive club climate has forced party promoters to rethink what the concept ‘club’ entails, significantly raising the bar. It’s not enough to simply put up some record players anymore.’ the past five years.

The music is now a focal point, which of course is a great thing but international super Djs will hardly create an exciting club scene alone - it needs something more to be interesting. It is rather fresh talents who dare doing something new that can be modifying.

Brundell has seen this happen alongside Esque’s input. ‘As an increasingly number of Swedes are becoming more knowledgeable and skilled in music, gaining inspiration from traveling, bringing back influences from clubs they visited abroad. There are so many up and coming, talented DJs; Kornel, Vemdetta, Carli, Dahlback, Sandro Monte, Pjotr and Le Chroix to name a few.’

Le Chroix Boys club is a new, small club that has introduced playing live techno next to various non-electronic bands. Lisa Bergman, the club editor for the website, sees the electronic influence as vital to the developments of the

‘The most vital change that has happened is that Djs and artists have started to explore electronic music. Previously, rock and pop club scene.

– a uniformity, dominated the music.’

This stream of new talent, and a genuine interest in music seems to be key to the positive changes. ‘It is obviously exciting when we have international stars guest playing, but I think

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what is more important to keep the spirit of the club scene exciting is to have a broad record of our own, unique clubs’, says Ruben.

As much as Stockholm has taken a huge step in the right directions it still seems to suffer from a parrot syndrome. It’s like that kind of friend who secretly admires your style and even more discretely copies it, in hopes of being liked and accepted by the peer group.

In short, a follower rather than a leader. What further happens is, once a trend emerges, it spreads like wildfire. Clara Bergstrom, another club editor explains the danger with this. ‘When people are becoming increasingly ambitious, the scene easily becomes inflated, de -filtrating what was good. It is simply not room for everything, especially not in a small city like Stockholm. The good thing is though that the music becomes fundamental as a result of this “boom”.’

So if the city tries to be a little bit less Berlin, or London or whatever, and a lot more - well, Stockholm, we can have something really exciting here. Small is fine – the secret to a good club lies in forward thinking and a unique vibe.

Trying to copy something is always just going to be second best. Clara feels positive about the future.

‘I hope for less of a Berlin complex and trend homogenity. If club promoters

and Djs do what they are good at without trying too hard to create something it’s not – that is when Stockholm can see a future of an inspiring and creative club scene with an international appeal’. I am sure we have plenty to look forward to.

Text by Nicola Castelow Photography by John Tahtinen

W

hat hairstyle shall I go for tonight? Perhaps an up-do, although I have been told Monroe-esque curls suit. Hell, chop it all! I ask my hairdresser for advice. That is, after he’s come back from the bar.

No, this isn’t the latest scene from Sweeny Todd but a typical state of affairs for the mashed-up, riotous parties of Girlcore, a 10-strong allgirl collective intent on rousing nearhysteria whenever they resurface. Their once-monthly themed bash, tonight ‘Scissor me Girlcore’ (with working hairdresser included), has been making waves with an array of dirty pretty things in the confines of Catch, a tooclose-for-comfort space with brash ideas. Having all started by a gang of girl friends partying hardcore, throw in an East End venue and a hoard of dressed-up media darlings and the result is startling. Isabel GonzalezToro, Girlcore’s music curator and DJ, pins their success onto the group’s diversity: “Because we are all so different, in terms of backgrounds, styles and jobs – from Columbian to Parisian to Editor to Photographer – it’s just a great mixture of people hanging out with no particular style, so you get a bit of everything! I like the fact we are not defined; we don’t agree in guestlists and we make a lot of effort in props. It’s not about being serious; people can loose themselves and forget about looking at other people.”

On the latter remark, I beg to differ. As the night looms further into

obscurity, I cannot deter my eyes from noticing that the outfits follow suit.

From a cardboard headpiece to neon wigs rebounding off the electro-beats, Girlcore has seen it all. “I loved the Diva night,” says Gonzalez-Toro, “what is a party without Marilyn Monroe and Karl Lagerfeld?!” Equally is the setting of make-shift beauty parlour, complete with styling services that add charm and that extra feminine touch.

“It’s all in the details,” emphasises Gonzalez-Toro, “we are crafty and customize everything! It’s all about the dressing up; going out and seriously not worrying about what you wear is such a novelty these days.”

Novelty it may be, but you can be sure to rely on these alterna-chicks to provide you with an unrivalled night.

And there is a lot more where that came from. Gone are the days of male infused, money –making merriment, but a revival of the feminine. We have the likes of celebrated female DJ duos Queens of Noize and Daughters of Kaos to thank for paving the way in establishing clubland as a femalefriendly franchise, and with it has unleashed more Girl Power than the Spice Girls could ever muster.

Making their mark is threesome Lorna Bean, Gabi Woo Byder and Lucy Fitzgerald, who collaborated in creating Neverland, which as Bean puts it, is “an unplugged and organic night in a swanky venue minus the pretentious bollocks.” Hosted monthly in the Soho Revue Bar

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with an added electro night launched this month at the Old Queens Head, I wonder if it was ever hard to break into the industry. “I’m a drummer in a band,” Byder muses, “so I’ve always had to deal with the male environment that the music industry expects. Most people assume girls are into that scene for the popularity, but I think it provides an innovative take on a night.” And she’s right too. Neverland is the amusement arcade of club nights – burlesque live acts, musicians, DJs, not to mention the grand piano. “We just happen to be meticulously anal about providing something extra,” cites Bean, “like with the burlesque element or the mistletoe we had hanging from the ceilings at our Xmas special. We just want people to have a truly fucking great night. For men it does seem to be ‘get the girls in and get wasted,’ not that there is anything wrong with that, it’s just not want we want.” With its top priority in showcasing true talent and an incredibly loyal following in tow, Neverland is on the right track in never growing old.

If music is what you’re in to, PR gals-about-town Daisy Quinn and Anne Kapronas are dedicated to the cause. Their ‘Happy Accident Loves…’ bi-monthly soiree at newly-refurbished Proud next month, is enigineered in supplying us with tip-top acts: “We completely stick to our guns on the music we like and want to hear played,” says Quinn, “never compromising to 72

become more commercial.” Although never denying a quick ogle at the ‘talent’, Quinn admits, “you take the testosterone out and you get a more organic and free-flowing night.”

Taking out the testosterone completely, for Julie Fogarty, was the catalyst for her success as a burgeoning promoter; now co-founder of Fist-Fite Promotions. Feisty night Dirty Ticket at Madame Jo Jo’s provided a platform solely for female artists, “a breath of fresh air in an otherwise Indie-boy saturated environment,” comments Fogarty. Currently working on a series of one-off parties each month, Fist-Fite Promotion’s ethos lies in providing us with an alternative choice, whilst simultaneously championing performers and DJs not necessarily on a NME platform.

On reflection, what you get when attending these female orchestrated nights is a sense of occasion, an experience.

Something in which seems like a beacon of strobe-lighting in an otherwise alcoholfuelled, stick on a few chart-toppers environment. And it’s not like the lads aren’t getting involved; most men attending Girlcore did their bit to outshine their dolled-up counterparts, fake eyelashes never looked so good. So it’s never been a better time to let your hair down – you can always get it cut when you hit the club.

Welcome to

Crystal Fighters have successfully been bringing their epic, live Techno Basque Opera and DJ sets across the country, despite walking from London to Bristol – no one told them about the trains apparently….

Sinikka Heden tells their story.

C

rystal Fighters are quite a hard bunch to grasp – they are not like anybody else. They don’t sound like anybody else either What is certain is that they should really be experienced live. Their high-energy shows goes beyond music - a provocative, even aggressive and emotional drama for all involved, telling their story in a self -invented style of performance; ‘A modern Basque techno opera’.

Often when you go to see a band you end up watching them and not dancing. Alternatively you go to see a Dj, ending up dancing and not watching. Crystal Fighters seem to want you to do both.

I’m at the front; sweat is dripping from their quite terrifying masques. One could assume they are IRA’s representatives here to win back their independency, possibly even blow up the stage in the end.

The idea, they explain is that you can feel engaged in the show, regardless of whether you’re killing it at the front 74

or are at the bar downing the ciders– the energy of the music flowing, penetrating every corner.

Be ready for their weird sound; incorporating the eerie flavor of traditional Basque instruments such as the txalparta and the txistu, with modern dance music.

The result is a jumpy and shouty, jubilant and uplifting sound, a faster kind of music comparable to bassline music- heavy garage, punk and elements of electro and dub step.

It was no small task getting an interview with the band in their musty Hackney warehouse. CF have vanished into another room, leaving me alone on the sofa for a good hour after I arrive. Waiting, I examine the obscure surroundings; planks of wood lying around, the space is apparently under construction – they’re building more bedrooms I later find out, unsure of how many of them actually live there.

Finally ‘Elazar’ emerges from the studio set up; glassy-eyed and humming, surrounded by wires, sitting

London!

All photos by Leah Carmen Walker

down to hopefully give me some answers. So they came here in November last year because ‘one of our friends had lots of spare rooms’ and have apparently been beset with a culture shock ever since, juxtaposed to the modernity of the city. Yet they were so delighted by London’s music culture that they ended up dedicating their first and forthcoming single to it.

Elazar, Agostes, Mimi and Tello were totally blown away by London’s strong sense of community and the flow of new music and genres, especially on the dance scene. Which they would – having very little musical influence to speak of- rumors have it that the only foreign music they ever listen to growing up was Crystal Castles and the Foo Fighters, hence the name.

This summer they are planning to play festivals across the UK and Europe with hopes to return to their home country. But right now it is in

London where it’s at, as it is all starting to happen big time. They are currently collaborating with London based artists such as Serge Santiago and Zombie Disco squad who are doing the remix of the first single ‘ I love London’ and are also remixing Colouring in’s (Tom Nevilles band) forthcoming digital single – Robot Restroom on techno label Love minus zero. More collaborations are in sight - they’re currently talking to many artists, which is proving to be quite difficult –to be honest, their odd Basqueness can be quite hard to deal with. I’m leaving slightly unsure of how Spanish they really are – yet the passion for their alleged heritage is certainly true. Anyhow, it might just be worth the struggle to see the outcome; this is certainly something we haven’t heard – or experienced before. www.myspace.com/crystalfighters 75

Finding new and emerging talents has never been easier - MySpace has for a long time been record companies gold mine.

However, now there are other exciting places to look for more exciting music than Virgin and HMV have to offer….

Beyond Myspace Text by Stephen Fingleton Photography by Sinikka Heden

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dam and Tamon are self-confessed ‘sound enthusiasts’. Whether they’re deconstructing Fisher Price musical instruments, or exploring the nether regions of a pure sine wave, they are interested in the cutting edge of electronica. From their studio in North London, they broadcast cult internet radio station ILLFM. It’s a weekly fives hour fix of live music from likeminded musicians.

The atmosphere is laid back and geeky - it’s half-radio show, halfparty in a studio cum flat complete with arcade machine and bar.

Musicians show up with a variety of gear – from effects pedals to an Apple Mac. The sounds emerging are as strange as they are varied; from drill’n’bass to ambient noise, the act are uniform in their peculiarity.

ILLFM has reached an audience of thousands over the net. It has no commercial backers or advertisers - just some pocketchange capital and a DIY attitude that defines the scene. To avoid hassle from the copyright police, 76

they only play live music by artists in the studio – ensuring everything you hear is cutting edge new talent.

Adam got the idea when he was putting our music for nights and parties. While playing for a large audience was great, music policy had to fit the crowd. The ability to play what he wanted was the idea behind setting up a radio station. Having set up his own record company that turned out a few 12’s at cost price, the DIY approach came naturally. Quickly enlisting Tamon as presenter and co-conspirator, preparations were so swift they didn’t price the cost of streaming content over the net until the last moment. It almost proved disastrous.

‘The cost of streaming would have been very high,’ says Adam. Luckily, they were able to piggyback on a subsidised stream for free before the show went out.

The arrangement worked so well ILLFM only recently switched to a commercial provider.

The station was a success, with a niche but dedicated group

of listeners Since its inception in April 2006, there have been 31,000 unique visitors, but what is surprising is how few listeners actually listen live. People listening to the podcast can outnumber live listeners by 25 to 1. Ironically, Tamon reckons it is the live streaming that allows the station to attract some big leftfield names to do a set.

ILLFM is part of a movement of thousands of net radio stations that have sprung up to cater niche markets mainstream channels ignore.

Accessible either through their own website or through giant ‘portal’ sites, they offer a real alternative to the likes Kiss and Radio 1. Despite a recent hike in copyright royalties rates, sites are still proliferating across the net.

With the right streaming package, anyone can set up a station from their bedroom.

‘The thing about internet radio is you can listen to anything,’ says Adam. ‘It doesn’t matter where you are geographically or what time it is, you can find what you want.’

Where else to look to find fresh and unpublished music – for free.

FILESHARING RANKINGS Mininova.org and Piratebay.org have browsable categories for every music genre, so by ranking results according to the number of people downloading, you can find out what is being downloaded around the world right now. Filesharing sites has already killed off the live mix album - why listen to a six month old mix when you can download an all-night set from last night recorded in one of top clubs in the world? Mixes means you can hear what’s cutting it on the dancefloor right now, and there are plenty of nerdy fanboys posting the full tracklisting for every set you can download. Luckily, filesharing music is still a legal blessing.

BLEEP.COM While there are some terrific specialist download sites on the net such as Beatport and Boomkat, Bleep.com offer hip, slick, and editorialised content. A subsidiary of Warp Records, but boasting a wide range of smaller labels, music is a mix of dance with a smattering

of indie rock. Files come in high quality 320 kps MP3 or CD-perfect FLAC files. All are without nasty DRM that stops you doing what you want with your music. The site’s best feature? You can preview the entire track before you buy. If only relationships had that feature.

THE FORUMS Many DJs tend to hone their beats home alone on a laptop rather on than the dancefloor. For these bedroom broadband junkies, web forums are a vital link with the latest music, equipment and techniques. For the listener, these forums are fantastic for finding out who’s influential at the bleeding edge of the industry. Alongside exchanging music-maker jargon, you get great leads. Top hardcore forums include.em411.com and idmforums.com - but we warned, they can be a nerdy as a Dungeons and Dragons sessions. Checking out the forums of record labels you like is another fantastic place to pick up leads. For seriously experimental fare, Planet Mu’s forum ( forums. planet-mu.com/communicate/ ) is a good place to start.

IMEEM Ever since Myspace replaced the demo CD, loads of social networking sites to find a new formula for helping people find new music. The most popular is Imeem – a sort of splice between Bebo and LiveFM that created the ‘playlist’ feature that dominates media sites today.

You can create your own playlists, add friends – but its all based on the sort music you like. You can add Facebook style widgets to remix tunes, upload photos and add tags to music for your and your friend (or the general public) to read. Recent copyright snags mean you only get a thirty second of some major artist’s music, but up and coming musicians are fully available. Download quality is excellent. Labelmates and sounda-likes will be highly ranked, so you can discover a daisy-chain of great music. If you don’t know to look for, you can create a random playlist.

With total convenience, comes total choice. If an artist doesn’t do it for you in thirty seconds, you can move onto the next one. It’s like speeddating without the guilt trip.

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I’m with the ....photographer!

Text by Sophie Walker Images by Billa and Alistair Allan

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nihilistically titled Shoreditch club-night flyer, with pointedly crappy graphics appeared so far so generic when it popped into my facebook inbox a few weeks ago. But, idly scanning the offering, I noticed the name of a photographer and his website had beat the DJ line-up as the headline attraction. It turns out that now, working within the most sartorially avant-garde and experimental club nights which London is so rapidly proliferating, there are a handful of photographers who have AAA passes and have gained scene-celebrity status documenting the orgy of fashion, performance and art that is currently impacting the dance music scene to opulently decorative effect.

And now, everyone wants to have their picture taken by them.

Its 9.30pm on Thursday night at Bar Music Hall on Shoreditch’s Curtain Road and the opening hours of notoriously stylish club night Film Noir. The fashion-forward outfits on display in the queue outside are

being disdainfully monitored by the 6ft tall gender indeterminate door bitch wearing a gold lamé jumpsuit and ‘fuck you’ high heels.

Slinking deftly in and out of a few half pissed and frankly bewildered City workers who have overstayed their welcome by an after-work pint or two, an outrageously coiffed Jodie Harsh is running rings around some hanger-on trying to catch her attention. London club photographer Darrell Berry suddenly sticks an arm up above the grey heads and snaps the shutter of his heavy Nikon. Unobtrusively, he captures the moment, the rude glamour of the infamous drag queen… and surveys the result in his viewing screen. Darrell was emphatically (deliberately?) not looking for a posed mug-shot, and he points out to me that the results of this evening’s shooting will be heavily edited before he streams a selection on Flickr. These are without fail beautiful and evocative, even inspiring images which have

a feeling of authentic witness and incredible intimacy. Last time he uploaded pictures, the subject of said photographs (a man wearing nothing but some strategically placed Cds) contacted him in a matter of minutes to ask permission to use it as his Myspace profile picture.

It could be said that club photography has entered a new age of sophistication (maybe move to end of paragraph?). In the days of disco, the high-octane glamour and celebrity stellar decadence of Studio 54 created a number of iconic images; the man in the moon with the cocaine spoon, Bianca Jagger riding in on a white horse, and in 70’s and 80’ s London the likes of Paul Hartnett avidly documented the apocalyptic (rise of punk?) street fashion of punk. In the 90’s, dance music clubs seemed to promote a door policy of sludge coloured t-shirts or fairy outfits and photographs of the scene were many, mostly characterised by guerning

sweaty maniacs ‘avin’ it. But with the ever expanding Long Tail effect of the web, the noble new century turned clubbing into a market with delicious niches. Fashion and performance art are now integrated with dance music events and the results are visually inspiring.

Now, pictures and picturesharing are a necessary part of every successful social life of the Myspace generation. To the fashion crowd, and to the creative culture of young London, the peacock potential of publishing on social networking sites has class A appeal. It’s practically free - which is number one as everyone seems to be perpetually skint, and its instantaneously publicly accessible, which like a sugar hit is immensely gratifying.

Photographing inside nights like Smash and Grab, Trailer Trash and Issue, Alistair Allan launched his website dirtydirtydancing.com in recent years, pioneering the technique now aped by sites such as copycat iknowwhatyoudidlastnight. com, of posting his pictures only hours after chucking out time.

Having such clever marketing ideas (more charitably interpreted as instinctively knowing what it is your audience wants) is critical to their success. Being a willing slave to the scene, or a self-professed martyr as with Super Super and i-D magazine contributor Billa is essential, as his Myspace says “I’m jus doin it for the kids”.

Access, says Darrell Berry, who takes most of his inspiration from the crowds of Horsemeat Disco and Disco Bloodbath, is the holy grail to getting the shots you want.

‘If the guys who run these nights didn’t like the pictures I take and get the OK with the militant door people, I probably wouldn’t be let in, I don’t look like your average club kid’’ (Darrell is in his 40’s) ‘’and my camera is a big bloody thing...people don’t always like it when you stick a long lens in their face - I know I wouldn’t!” Darrell’s work is, in a literal sense- Art – with a creative integrity to match the ruthlessly experimental work of his other favourite subjects – the immensely talented tranny burlesque performance artists whose scabrous

high camp acts may be seen in venues such as Bistroteque in the East End. Many of the clubs Darrell does his work in are promoted by these same performers; Scottee, the out-size chanteuse who runs Sunday club night and online blog Issue with (alongside?) Jodie Harsh being a case in point. Having utter commitment to his own aesthetic, which happily compliments that of his subjects, is both his personal USP and ticket to getting the shots he wants.

Next time you design your outfit for a night out at an uber cool club in the environs of the East End, you might want to slink past the door whore without a hitch but aim to catch the eye of the celebrity photographers who are immortalising the most compelling scene’s of London’s fashionorientated nightlife. Good luck....

for the LOVE of youth text and photo: Sinikka Heden

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t’s not a good sign when mum and granddad wants to tag along when you’re off to get wasted at a festival. It means that the music has got a little tired and it might be time to move on.

That is exactly what Lovebox didn’t want to happen -enter Lovebox Cult parties. This is the second year they are putting up events leading up to the festival, targeting a younger audience in order to keeping the youth edge. The plan includes a pre- mini-love box festival in 93 Feet East that will focus on the up and coming Djs of the festival.

Also in the mix is a DJ competition that is open to everyone, reflecting Lovebox’s crossover of genres. The only requirement is that you are young, meaning between 18-24.

The final will be held on the 18th of June at Shoreditch’s East Village, judged by Groove Armada’s Tom Findlay( also the founder of the festival) Defected Records and Last FM. The winner’s career will certainly be taken to the skies as

the lucky one gets to play a set at Lovebox weekender, DJ sets at other Lovebox and Club Cult Parties including a monthly party at the End where they team up with Horsemeat.

‘Lovebox want to give something back, remembering how they started out and get young people more involved in the festival’ says Rick Bennet who is planning the events.

Last year the Lovebox cult party events were exclusively targeted at students, based around student venues and was a huge success so this year they want to extend it, making it bigger and better.

‘They [the Lovebox organizers] didn’t want a situation where they kept their audience happy where the same people ending up coming every year, meaning they just get older and older,’ explains Rick.

‘A lot of festivals have fallen into that trap, Glastonbury for example.’

Another reason to keep Lovebox alive is the fact that urban festivals will perhaps soon

be a memory of the past - ‘ I heard someone saying 6 years’ says Rick.

Well, that is an interesting figure, but not impossible- with the regeneration that is rapidly happening across London it is very likely that they won’t fit.

So embrace the love while you can and bring your youthful blessing to the party.

The Lovebox Weekender 19th and 20th July. To register for an exclusive 10% student discount please visit: www.ticketmaster.co.uk/ To enter DJ-competition: DJs must be aged 18-24. Format: thirty minute mix. Send digitally via megaupload.com to dj@cultoflovebox. net or a CD to Lovebox DJ Comp, 59-65 Worship Street, London, EC2A 2DU. Closing date: Thursday 5th June. All genres welcome. cultoflovebox.net