Live Magazine Vol2 Isssue 5 by Livity Ltd

free music. culture. life.

winter 2011 vol 2 issue 5

live explores the future for our generation

Regulars 04 05 06 08 10 12 13 14 18 20 24 52 54

Ed’s Letter The Crew / Key Playaz News Live Loves & Loathes Dummies Guide To feminism ourtube For And Against We Love... Retro Winter Inside Job olympics Gadgets – Xmas Wishlist Cooking With Angel Live Challenge

ENTERTAINMENT 58 61 62 63 64 66

Sound Advice Culture Club Game On Front Row Fully Booked Live Asks Cher Lloyd

16 26 30 32 40 50 64

Live south africa launch Domestic Violence TOP BOY The Year Of Unrest Fashion: Trading Places 2011 Round-Up Shock on the block

Photography taken by Jendlla Hallam

Features

Ed’s Letter I can’t believe Live is national! I found out about our UK takeover when I got back from South Africa, where I was helping kick-start our sister publication Live SA. The first word out of my mouth was “shuttup”, TOWIE style. we were London only, but now we’re in Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester, making us the largest youth-run national publication! So a big hello to our new readers and if you’d like to get involved, turn to page 57. I was so happy to know we were expanding in our own country, I went home that night and baked chocolate cupcakes for the Live team to celebrate, which went down a treat. In fact, they went down so well that I’m thinking of introducing a regular ofﬁce bake-off. We love eating cake at Live; we even had Jason White, the youngest contestant on the hit BBC2 show The Great British Bake Off, cook us some special mint chocolate cakes to share. That’s the spirit of Live Magazine; we’re always celebrating the lives of young people. This issue is all about the voice of youth and what the future holds for us. We hold nothing back when we delve into the year of unrest and look at how the world acknowledges what our generation has to say. Read our seven-page cover story from page 32. As a media brand we’ve achieved so much these last three months. We’ve had record numbers of contributors signing up; we’ve produced a spin-off publication called Deadline with the Guardian; we’ve put on events at advertising agencies and we’re taking over the entertainment section on a national paper in December. Our revamped website has grown to become the number one spot for all things music, culture, life thanks to our much-loved, now departed online editorial team of Daniel and his deputy, Patrick. It’s not the same without them, but they’ve left a great legacy. Congratulations are due to our art director Andre and designer Louis on their fantastic makeover. Tell us what you think by emailing live@live-magazinel.co.uk.

Photography Jendlla Hallam

To wrap up this issue we’ve spoken to our favourite celebs about their 2011 highlights on page 50. We’ve also got interviews with the Top Boy cast and Cher Lloyd, and make sure you head over to our YouTube channel to watch the Cooking With Angel video. I’ve been very lucky this year to travel with Live to different countries and in December I’ll be in Oman for the Muscat Youth Media Summit, hosting a workshop on youth journalism with Live’s senior mentor Emma Warren. Look out for the articles that will be appearing at www.live-magazine.co.uk. Until the New Year, this is bye from us and a very merry Christmas!

Follow me @CelesteLiveMag

Copyright Livity. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in part or in full without prior written permission from the publisher. Live Magazine endeavours to ensure that all information enclosed is correct and true. All efforts are made to ensure non-copyright images are used and photoghraphers are credited. Prices and details are subject to change. The views expressed in the magazine are those of the writers and not necessarily the publisher or editorial staff.

Live Magazine, Unit 11, Piano House, 9 Brighton Terrace, Brixton, London, SW9 8DJ Tel: 0207 326 5979

The Crew

LIVEMAGUK Editor

Celeste Houlker, 20

Online Editor

Daniel Onyia, 23

Art Director

Andre ‘ZoOm’ Anderson, 19

Designer

Louis Harris, 21 Rodney Gold,15

Deputy Editor

Features Editors

Iram Sarwar, 20 Samson Pharoh, 23

Fashion Editor Jermaine Robinson, 17

Music Editors

Leanne Joseph, 16; Emma Hitchens, 21 Robbie Wojciechowski, 17

Jacqueline Eyewe, 18

politics editor

Deputy Online Editor

Photography and illustration

Patrick Opoosun, 23

Omar Shahid, 20

Monique Todd,19 Jendella Hallam,

22; Gino Cullen, 24; Bertie Simpson 23; Emma Chinnery, 21; Corban Wilkin, 21; Samuel Sasiharan,18; Lorena Martínez Acha, 23; Jennifer Olayinka,18

Steve Yates Ben Ferguson

Production Manager

Kay Daylami

Advertising and Business Development

Andrea Gamson

COVER ILLUSTRATION Live Mentors Corban Wilkin, 21

Ad Sales

Bejjy Mulenga, 16

Peer Mentors Kieran Yates

Senior Mentors Emma Warren Rahul Verma

Camelia Muldermans, Jason Page, Naomi Brown, Callum McGeoch, Caspar Llewellyn Smith, Ruth Saxelby

Contributors Manu Le Gal, 21; Aida Gugsa, 16; Imani McEwen, 15; Sabian Muhammad, 22; Amal Dahoum, 14; Shanice Aggrey, 18 ; Oyin Raufu, 17;

Ellen Wilkie, 16; Bolade Banjo, 17; Kwaku Manu, 22; Shanice Junaid 16; Zindzi Rocque-Drayton 21; Titilopemi Wete 15; Becky Olaniyi 15; Laura McCarthy 15; Shay Westlake 13; Stephanie Owusu 20; Kamillahm Baah 19; Taylah Douglas 18; Nicola Daniels 21; Christian Adofo 23; Deanna Junaid 22; Wesley Washington 17; Hollie Sturgess 17; Ophee Marino 15; Michelle Tiwo 21; Seana Thomas 16; Rizwan Syed 22; Ria Dwyer 17; Alaina Thomas 21; Shineze Henry 16; Brooke Stubley 23; Wesley Cox 19; Ayman Ramsey Al-Juzi 20; Edwina Mukasa 21; Lucy Kernick 15; Noah Jackson 17; Emine Nectorio 21; Rob Stenhrenberger 15; Ravae Richardson 19; Channara Agoro-Burns 15; Zach Cayenne-Elliott 16; Shani Anderson-Campbell 20; James Rotimi 18; Mark Wood 25 ; Seana Thomas 16, Chloe Dee, 17; Chantelle Stafford,18; Annabel Adabie, 17; Sienna Nugent, 18; Shaneice Aggrey, 18; Kira Hartley-Davis, 15; Eli Angueloval, 15; Lakeisha Goedluck, 19; Talia Augustine, 16

thanks to Lizzie at Photo Fusion, Amit and Maroop, Monique Wallace, Michael Hann, Duncan Bartlett, Fiona McKellar, Trimaan Lamba, Asmara Cammock, Audrey Djidan, Earl King, Taysha Fergsuon, Albert Harvey, Sheryl James, Fashion Team, Tea Films, Christian Newell, Stoked PR

Key Playaz Taylah

17-year-old Taylah has proved to be an incredible force since she became a member of the Live team back in August. She regularly contributes with fresh ideas both for the new website and the magazine and is a real team player in the ofﬁce by welcoming every new recruit with an enormous smile and lots of support. With interests in music and fashion there’s no way this girl wont go a long way.

Omar

Zindzi

Second-year journalism student and Live’s political editor, Omar has been with us since June. He has written for the Hufﬁngton Post, The Independent, and is editor of the current affairs site Spin. Omar hopes to travel to the Middle East and stretch his journalistic experiences upon graduation. If you’re wondering why this issue has embraced the youth politics of the year, Omar’s the answer! He blogs at mindfulloﬁnsights.com

22-year-old Zindzi recently graduated from Leicester university with a degree in English and has since turned her talent for writing into delivering amazing features. Watch out for her Dummies Guide To Feminism feature and Inside Job interview in this issue. With a love of music and ﬁlm, Zindzi hopes to go into TV production while keeping up her career in journalism. No doubt she’ll be brilliant.

Regulars

news

UNLOCKED Hi guys, I’m Sabian and I currently sit on the youth panel for London 2012. I’m here to bring you the latest happenings around the Olympics and somewhereto_.

Dirty Digest

Fashion icon Michelle de Swart is bringing us a new show devised with comedy and celebrity gossip. E4’s Dirty Digest kicks off in early November and runs on to December, featuring a panel of comedians such as Dan Schreiber, Joe Lycett and one of our favourite’s Eddie Kadi. The show will be recorded weekly in front of a live audience. Dirty Digest picks out a selection of the most cringeworthy outfits, celebrity style and laugh-out-loud moments of the week and raps it up into a comedy show that’ll have you in stitches in a matter of seconds. If you love fashion and comedy, this is a show you cannot miss. (ML-G)

In September I attended the marking of one year to go until the Paralympics games held at Trafalgar Square. It was a sunny day and a great atmosphere with many Team GB paralympians showing off their skills. I had the chance to try rowing and I did 2,000 metres in 7.38 minutes. One of the biggest attractions was Boris Johnson playing the Prime Minister in a game of tennis – in a SUIT!

Live Goes NationWide and Is Looking For New Writers

Live Magazine is now publishing nationwide! It’s taken 10 years of hard work from our humble roots as a south London publication to becoming Londonwide and now we’re up and down the country, in Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. This also means we’re looking for writers in these cities, so please get in touch. The first ever issue of our sister publication Live South Africa is out this November as well. We’re going global! We are proud of our new magazine and we hope you enjoy our first national issue. (AG)

Model Search at Clothes Show Live

In December, the organisers of London 2012 will be holding one of their many Games Makers selection events. Volunteers who make the games happen will get their first experience of being involved in the games and showing what they are made of. If you’re one of the potential Games Makers, I’ll see you there.

Select Model management is the official model scouts for the UK’s biggest fashion and beauty event, Clothes Show Live. They will be searching for new faces to be signed to the agency in order to transform the lives of young hopefuls and propel them into campaigns for big brands such as Burberry, Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Vogue magazine. Since being established 30 years ago Select Models have had a major influence in launching supermodels. The major event will be happening in Birmingham NEC during 2-7 December. (IM)

Live and Unsigned Lastly, an amazing space we have discovered here at somewhereto_ is 10 Downing Street! Yes, the Prime Minister’s home! We filmed an astounding video with a spoken-word collective, free runners and boxers showing off their skills in and around the house. This video was shown at the Conservative Party conference and BBC London News. To learn about how somewhereto_ can unlock a space for you, read page 22.

Words Iram Sarwar 20

Words Imani McEwen 15

Words Aida Gugsa 16

Words Manu Le Gal 21

Are you an artist looking for your break into the music industry? Live and Unsigned, the UK’s biggest musical competition for original unsigned acts, could be the opportunity you need. Brought to you by the makers of Live Fest, the competition provides the chance to win £10,000 and perform in countries all over the world. Enter now to audition in January live in front of a team of industry judges and go on to perform in front of music biz heavyweights and celebrity guests. Over 10,000 acts enter every year, are you going to be one of them? www.liveandunsigned.uk.com/ (IS)

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live loves

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Photography Monique Todd 19

Words Shanice Junaid 16

Words Kwaku Manu 22

Words Ellen Wilkie 16

Words Oyin Raufu 17

Words Shanice Aggrey 18

Words Amal Dahoum 14

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Xmas '11 Ad (Live Magazine).indd 1

25/10/2011 15:21

Regulars

DUMMIES GUIDE TO

FEMINISM

Do girls run the world or are they still under the thumb? Live looks back in time to see how far females have come

For many, the term feminism is masked in mystery, conjuring up images of bras being burnt by men-hating women who refuse A brief history of women’s rights to shave their legs. Despite all the negative stereotypes, the dictionary definition of feminism is actually quite straightforward: “Feminism is simply the idea that men and women are equal and this should be evident throughout politics, the economy and society.”

Feminist campaigns are aimed at gaining equality, which doesn’t, of course, mean being the same. Jamaicans aren’t the same as Nigerians, but no one would seriously argue that one group was inferior to another. So, if you believe women should have equal rights as men then – surprise! – you are a feminist.

It’s easy for modern women to forget, but throughout history, women have had fewer rights than men. Nowadays all these gender restrictions seem crazy, but if it weren’t for three waves of feminist activity, Britain today would look very different. The ﬁrst began in the 19th and early 20th century, headed by the Suffragettes, whose aim was to gain women the right to vote. Nowadays we vote for everything from Big Brother to X Factor, but until 1919 women couldn’t even vote for the people who governed their lives. The Suffragettes adopted radical and militant tactics – vandalism, hunger strikes – in order to make an impact. The second wave, which began in the 1960s and became known as the Women’s Liberation Movement, focused on a range of issues, with the aim of abolishing sexism in all areas of society, from equal pay to reproductive rights. In 1970, the Equal Pay Act made it illegal to pay women less than men for the same job. The third wave of feminism started in the 1980s and is continuing to this day. Confusingly, though, there is no single motive, but it aims to embrace all the contradicting views of what female equality means, catering to female diversity. So Beyoncé sings that “girls run the world”, but do women even have equality, let alone world domination?

Illustration Jendella Hallam 22

Words Zindzi RocqueDrayton 21

feminism facts

140m – estimated number of girls who have undergone FGM worldwide

Regulars

Do we still need feminism? The media plays a huge part in the representation of women. In pop videos, women are often reduced to butts and boobs. The most successful women in the music industry, such as Rihanna, Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj, are highly sexualised, appearing in skimpy outfits and performing provocative dance moves in a manner rarely required of men. Some women view this flaunting of sexuality as empowering. Others point out that there is a huge value placed on female attractiveness and point to figures showing that of the 1.5 million people in the UK who have an eating disorder, around 90% are female. Although the Equal Pay act was passed 40 years ago, in England women working full time are paid on average of 17% less than men, the largest gender pay gap in the European Union. Despite having equal opportunities in the workplace there is still a limited number of women in the boardrooms, with 22 of the FTSE 100 companies having no women in their upper echelons at all. The Daily Mail – which has the highest percentage of female readers of any paper – rather than encouraging women to aim for the top, idolises domesticity, motherhood and traditional gender roles as the route to fulfilment in life, while offering constant criticism of women’s cellulite and wrinkles, frumpy dress sense or sex lives. Even girls put themselves under a lot of pressure and are constantly policing other girls’ appearance and behaviour.

3,000 – number of forced marriages of British girls every year

The position of women in countries across the world shows why some still regard the movement as so necessary. Many countries, in East and West Africa, as well as parts of Asia, practise FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), the unnecessary removal of the external female genitalia (men, imagine having your penis removed in the name of “culture”). Although it is illegal in the UK, some girls are taken abroad to undergo this procedure. In some Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, women still don’t have the vote and are only now becoming free to drive. All women, no matter how old, must have a male guardian, usually a father or husband, who can make the decisions on all aspects of her life, from opening a bank account to whom she marries. I don’t even like my dad choosing what TV station I watch, let alone a husband. Campaigns for female equality are difﬁcult in Saudi Arabia as they are portrayed as a scheme to westernise the country, threatening cultural and religious traditions. Debates over whether women should wear the full burqa are put down to westerners not understanding Islamic tradition. Forced marriage is another issue that affects women globally. Even in the UK it is not illegal. Girls as young as 14, are taken out of school to marry men they have not even met, often to spend the rest of their lives doing domestic chores and raising children, under the control of their husband’s family. Feminism has clearly done a lot for women in Britain. But many women are put off adopting the term feminist. Unlike racism, sexism is so normalised in our society, it is difﬁcult to even recognise.

17% – the amount women are on average paid less than men in the UK Visit the website to see the Feminists who have made history. www.live-magazine.co.uk

regulars

ourtube

in association with

We all love a bit of fantasy every now again and since Youtube is the home of all things weird and wacky, we’ve decided to pick out our favourite tricks and super skills shown on camera

David and Karen on BGT

Mini Dude Perfect

David and Karen, a magic double act, managed to wow the judges in Britain’s Got Talent 2011 with their use of illusions. Their style is dangerous and mysterious and even managed to impress the judges who are known to hate magic acts. Our chosen performance is when they switched places within a small Perspex box filled with water after Karen had been chained inside it. Seconds later the curtains revealed David in the box and Karen on stage. Mindboggling magic. (TW)

Forget Michael Jordan, the school children in this video are slam-dunking basketballs from the tops of houses. This video is a small compilation of amazing basketball trick shots in which the boys attempt to score a basket from awkward heights and places. They bounce the ball from the rooftops, over their houses, from near impossible distances and off buildings. Our favourite shot is of them throwing the ball from the window onto a trampoline and then into the hoop! (TW)

YOUTUBE CHANNEL OF THE ISSUE FOR this issue we’re spotlighting singing sisters Ivana and Jessica who foundED the popular Youtube channel VanJess24. Their videos showcase their talent and originality while putting a fresh new spin on popular songs

what is it? Ivana, 19, and Jessica, 18, are a famous duo on YouTube. Known for their creative ways of singing, they’ve gained recognition for their out-of-the-box interpretations of popular mainstream music.

why is it so popular? This talented twosome do everything from 90s RnB medley covers, to beat boxing, to their own originally composed songs. Ivana, who is multitalented, showcases her beat boxing alongside her piano playing and vocal skills.

top videos to check

Celeste Houlker 20

Words

Becky Olaniyi 15

This video is a compilation of pool tricks shot in clips and perfected by a man called Mr Massacare. This deserves to be on OurTube because of the talented shots which include shooting a ball through a moving tyre, a spinning pool triangle, and shooting a ball with two pool cues. Our favourite trick is when he uses his golf club to shoot one of the balls into one of the holes. A must-watch video if you are a fan of pool and trick shots. (BO)

Words

Dynamo the Magician, best known for his jaw dropping illusions such as walking on the river Thames, amazes Tinie Tempah and his crew with his magic tricks. In this clip he lifts the glasses Tinie is wearing on his Disc-Overy album cover to reveal his face. As he pulls up the glasses and shocked by his talent, Tinie runs from Dynamo and says, “that photo does not even exist!” There’s no telling how he did it, but it truly is mesmerising. (CH)

Titilopemi Wete 15

Yow’s Trick shot Madness

Words

A Tinie (Tempah) bit of magic - Dynamo TV

The most popular video is the Bad Romance beatboxing video, but my personal favourite is the 90s RnB video medley, which features a mix of popular 90s songs including Blackstreet’s No Diggity, TLC’s Creep and 2Pac’s California Love.

how’s the future looking? With ever increasing views and subscriber counts, Ivana and Jessica seem set for stardom. Their videos have gained increased notoriety across the Internet over time, reaching the ears of many industry insiders, meaning the sisters are generating a nice little buzz of their own. (BO)

Make sure you check out and subscribe to our Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/livemaguk

regulars

for Doing your mandatory two-week work placement gives you a clear insight into the world of work. It’s an eye-opening experience in what people do and the roles they have in the working world. When you’re given this opportunity, you shouldn’t waste it. Trying new skills and meeting new people is all really helpful when you’re growing up – it will help you to make some crucial decisions about what you want to do later in life. People always say it’s hard to get a work experience placement, but if you are dedicated when looking for the job you want, the opportunity will arise and someone will have you. Don’t give up, because if you don’t find a placement for yourself, you may be given a rubbish one from your school, doing something you’ve no interest in. So don’t leave it to someone else to find. This opportunity motivates you to want to do well, so you can get the

job you want. Having a placement in the field that you would like to work at in the future will encourage you to do well in school and get the right grades you need for your ideal job. If you prove yourself on a good placement, your opinion is valued and colleagues will take you seriously. You never know, you could be invited to meetings and brainstorms if you show your true worth. Work experience gives you a chance to meet new people who work within the company or who are also on their work placement. Getting to meet them will help you to build up your confidence when talking to new people. You shouldn’t waste this opportunity. You can only get one chance for this, so don’t throw it all away. You should take on the challenge with both hands, have a positive attitude and it will pay off. (LM)

For & Against:

Working To The Bone

We all have to do work experience at some point and to some people it’s very useful, but to others it can be a waste of time. Laura and Imani discuss

against To even find work experience in the first place is hard because the big city places don’t want you if you haven’t got a degree or are under 18 because of the Employers Liability Insurance. It costs so much to have you there in the first place, most would rather not fork out that expense.

Illustration Gino Cullen 24

Some of the work that placement students are lumbered with is just plain unfair, such as dealing with difficult customers, making the teas and doing the post. All of that has nothing to do with what your actual jobs will be like in the future. When you enter into the world of work, you expect to be treated like a member of the team and not the tea, coffee or admin person. Unless you ticked the box marked “office dogsbody” – but that’s not what what you’ve signed up for, of course.

Words Imani McEwen 15

The whole concept of work experience is for companies to gain free labour from students who can’t protest, as the company and school seem to be doing them a favour. However, work experience students are not their top priority as no money is being generated from them during the one or two weeks that they are there for.

Words Laura McCarthy 15

You’ve woken up nice and early to get down to your work experience placement. The sun is shining, the office is buzzing, the staff are in a meeting, and you’re over in the corner making tea, and getting biscuits in a tiny, cramped and untidy room. Welcome to work experience.

So you don’t really want to be there and they don’t really want you there, It’s enough to make daytime TV look enticing. (IM)

www.live-magazine.co.uk

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We Love...

Retro Winter

The days are short, the air is cold, but warm up this winter with these six 70s -inspired must-haves

Poncho

Mens Mac

Jumper

Topman www.topman.com £75

Acessorize www.acessorize.co.uk £35

Topman www.topman.com £38

Be dapper this winter in this new urban take on the classic mac. Works well for business or pleasure.

Wrap up and work the fringe look with this printed poncho. Earthy colours are perfect for this season.

Keep snug and stay on point with the trends. Colour block this season in this 70s-inspired jumper.

Topshop www.topshop.com £40

H&M www.hm.com/gb £9.99

Get some height with these leather-look wedges. The buckles are a must-have detail that gives your look some edge.

70s trend is back this season. Be a head-turner in these vintage-inspired velvet shorts.

Another year brings back the standard men’s winter hat. A recurring trend that can’t be missed.

Words Celeste Houlker 20

Words Taylah Douglas 18

Shorts

Words Kamillah Baah 19

Words Stephanie Owusu 20

BOOTs Barratts www.barratts.co.uk £85

Fur Hat

f e at u r e s

Howzit? A big hey from Getting into the action-packed media industry is hard for an up-and-coming. So what better way than having our own magazine to kick off our youth media empire? Live South Africa editor Nicola DANIELS tells the story From the first day I walked into the office I could feel that something new and different was about to happen. Twenty young people in an office, being called the “team”: how official is that? And official is not easy to come by these days. You’ve gotta hustle hard to come remotely close to any kind of status in the magazine world. But Live Magazine represents something special, like a voice saying, “We believe you can do it. We know only you know how to speak to your peers, so here are the tools, open your young minds, access your creativity and make it happen”.

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Summer 11 Issue One

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The kwaaiest mag for all SA youth

FRESH VOICE FRESH LOOK FRESH ATTITUDE

We were also about to embark on a journey that would force us to face our own issues of race and identity as South Africans, working together and creating a ﬁnished product that we were all happy with.

“From the first day I walked into the office I could feel that something new and different was about to happen” Now let’s get to making it happen. Amped as we all were, none of us had a clue what was about to go down, where to start and what it really takes to put a magazine together. That was until we were graced with the energetic presence of Cosmopolitan South Africa’s deputy editor, Cathy Lund, who spent three rigorous days with us sharing her experience. We also had some inspirational people come in and chat to us about their careers and life in media. Gavin Weale came out from Live Magazine in the UK and Dazed And Confused editor Rod Stanley helped us with the ﬁnal production push, as well as the planning stages for Issue 2. The major problem we have experienced though, is deciding on a cover star. If there’s one negative thing about South Africa, it is the fact that we are a very complicated nation, due to the racial divides caused by apartheid. It has left us with a deep scar and a slow process of healing, where people are still categorised as “black”, “white” and “coloured” instead of just South African. To you it might sound odd, but to us it’s a part of our everyday lives, a part most people have become oblivious to. Which is why we as the Live team, were so adamant about having a cover that would bridge the gap between races and appeal to everybody – a star that could bring us all together, have us all talking the same talk for a change. Finally we came up with a combo of JR and Jack Parow, a singer and a rapper, one black and one white, which in itself is great. Plus they both have hits that simply appeal to everyone. All that was left to focus on was the ﬁnal layout and then our launch, for which we’re going to “go big or go home”.

Words Nicola Daniels 21

So that pretty much wraps up the journey of Live South Africa, issue 1. And one of the best things about being a part of Live is knowing that I’m part of a truly global movement!

A NEW FLAVA! SWITCH UP YOUR SWAG WITH JR AND JACK PAROW • MUSIC

• MONEY TIPS

• GET INVOLVED

• STREET STYLE

• CAREERS

@livemagsa @missnikkidee

Read the first Live South Africa on our website now! www.live-magazine.co.uk

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INSIDE JOB

Paul Lewis

Leading Investigative Journalist

Special Projects Editor for The Guardian We spoke to the man who breaks the biggest stories in the news about his view on the journalism industry What does being an investigative journalist involve? Every day is different for every journalist. You might have days where you get up as normal in the morning, but by the afternoon you’ll be in a different part of the country, sometimes in another country all together. Deadlines can be really stressful; you have to squeeze a lot of work into a short amount of time. It is part of the job to try and get to the bottom of the story, and it is all the more satisfying when you finally do, but that process can be excruciating.

What are the key skills needed to be an investigative journalist? There are no rules to the type of person that will make a good investigative journalist. The great thing about the job is that people can play to their strengths. For example, if you are a quiet person who enjoys reading, you may be the type of journalist that spends hours going through documents. Or if you are a sociable person, you may be good at gaining people’s confidence to create sources. It is best to use your existing personality traits and exploit them.

What advice do you have for anyone that wants to be an investigative journalist? Every journalist should want to be investigative; it just means looking beyond what appears to be the case on the surface. Digging that bit deeper makes the journalism investigative.

In what ways has social media transformed journalism? Social media has fundamentally transformed journalism. Before information was broadcasted through TV, radio and newspapers. There are now many more methods, such as tweets, to get across information. A news day used to be 24 hours, but now because of the internet, readers can be updated instantly as soon as an event has happened. Social media has also changed the way journalists research. Through means such as Twitter, not only can journalists find sources easily, but anyone with a story can also find you.

For anyone who wants to be a journalist, I would say you are a journalist as soon as you start doing journalism. Anyone can be a journalist, and lots of people do journalism even if they aren’t paid by a newspaper. If you want to be a journalist, don’t think when am I going to do it, just do it, because from when you start journalism that is the role that you occupy.

Words Zindzi Drayton 22 14

What inspires you as a journalist? I feel that I have the responsibility to do a good job. It is really satisfying to uncover a good story. Journalists hold the world’s most powerful people to account.

What are the best and worst things about your job? The best thing about being a journalist is the adrenaline rush of breaking through a big story. The worst thing about the job is the frustration of dealing with some of the bureaucrats and press officers, who are meant to inform the public but instead try and conceal a lot of information. The hardest thing is cutting through all the crap to get the real story.

YOUNG DESIGNERS WANTED LIVE MAG HAS TEAMED UP WITH CIRCLE SPORTS, A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE FOCUSSING ON GETTING PEOPLE BACK IN TO WORK.

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circlesports.org CS Ad Live.indd 1

28/10/11 12:19:23

sport

London 2012

Routes To The Olympics as london bulldozes its way to 2012, live investigates what each athlete has to go through to make it to the olympics. Live’s Kwaku Manu takes a look at the routes many talented individuals take to get to the world’s largest sporting event

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With the Olympics around the corner this is your chance to pick up almost any sport of your choice. However, once you’ve decided that clay pigeon shooting is the one for you, the real question is how you turn an often unknown talent into a career and get the opportunity to join Team GB’s Olympic squad.

UKSport run the World-Class Performance Programme, an initiative to ensure the most talented athletes in the UK receive all the help they need to ease their path to Olympic success. It works on three levels:

sport

The Talent level – designed to support and confirm the identification of athletes deemed capable of progressing through the World-Class programme, it works in raising athletes’ profiles. The Development level – aimed at athletes who show signs of being ready to compete by 2012 and supports them in their training and funding. The Podium level – for athletes deemed to be within four years of an Olympic medal position. they are given access to the best facilities the country, and often the world, has to offer. Harry Aikines Aryeetey rose to the ranks of Team GB after entering the World-Class Performance Programme at Podium level. But the sprinter discovered his talent by chance when he ran away from a dog as a child. His ﬁrst major tournament medal came at the age of 16 at the Commonwealth Youth Games where he won a silver. Aryeetey was selected to represent Team GB after competing in the 2009 World Championships in the 4x100m relay with Britain’s best sprinters.

Profile: Lawrence Okoye Fourteen months ago Lawrence Okoye had just started training full time in the discus. In July this year, the Croydon-born 19-year-old broke the British record, with the longest throw by a teenager anywhere in history. Records have tumbled with the ease of a hot knife through butter but the well-spoken 6ft 6in Okoye has a mature outlook which belies his tender years. “I’ve had loads of times to reflect and obviously I’ve done well but I’m not satisfied with that… Let’s see what I can achieve in two (years) and hopefully I can do something special again” In his debut season on the senior circuit, the former rugby union winger has already picked up a gold at the u23 European Championships in the Czech Republic this Summer. Asked whether he’s hoping for similar success at London 2012, he responds in a typically stoical fashion. “I don’t feel any pressure. I just take every day as it comes and don’t really focus on the long term. I could break my leg tomorrow, so I look at the here and now,” Okoye says. The impression I’m left with is one of an unruffled and calm male, whose ascension into adulthood has arrived simultaneously with his soaring stock. Yet, when I query his music playlist for training, he lists South London Grime as his genre of preference; he refers to Peckham road rapper Giggs and rising duo Krept and Konan [Play Dirty] who hail from his hometown. “I like to listen to aggressive music when I train,” he remarks enthusiastically down the intermittent phone line. It throws me, as it doesn’t fit the BFG image I’ve built of him in my head. But finding out one factor which fuels his fire gives a better indication of what makes up his down-to-earth persona. It could yet lift him to the podium come August next year.

Lawrence is a client of Mission Sports Management

Since the inception of UKSport’s programme in 2006, the Talent team has signed up over 7,000 people from all over the country and has so far introduced 50 into Olympic and Paralympic training programs aimed at London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016. The team has produced 54 international medalists. Feeding off the buzz generated by the Olympics next year, UKSport is currently running a series of assessment events all over the country. They are already recruiting athletes via the Power to Podium programme, which seeks to help athletes transfer their skills from their current sports into other ﬁelds that may not be as competitive as their favoured events.

Photo: Tony Margiocchi

The London Youth Games, held every summer, features some of the best sporting talent from all over London. Held in the Crystal Palace sports arena, the games feature athletes from all 33 London boroughs who compete across many sporting disciplines.

Photos Jendella Hallam 22

Words Christian Adofo 23

Words Kwaku Kyei-Manu, 22

During these games many coaches and representatives from clubs and academies keep an eye out for talented athletes or those with potential who might beneﬁt from coaching and supervision. Should an athlete catch a coach’s eye, they are sent a letter inviting them to try out or to join a club or academy outright.

More about the Olympics and other sports online. www.live-magazine.co.uk

i n a s s o c i at i o n w i t h s o m e w h e r e t o _

space invaders Deanna Rodger

Age: 22 Based: London My dream is to have a space to perform my one-woman spoken-word show at the Royal Albert Hall, and after somewhereto_ set me and some other young people up with a space at Number 10 Downing Street, who knows – it might just happen! I’m a part of Rubix Collective, who are artistic associates of the Roundhouse in north London. A group of us were asked to write a series of poems that we got to perform at Number 10. If that weren’t enough, some of us were then invited to the Conservative Party Conference to showcase our Number 10 footage, which received very warm applause. The experience has completely changed my outlook on things. People can be very conservative with their ideas, but somewhereto_ shows us we can and should be more free-thinking about space. I’m telling all my friends about this inspiring, valuable and necessary resource that says ‘break down the barriers and think well outside the box!’ A space to create, perform, practice of any kind is a blessing, but free, great spaces for young people can bring communities together. So let’s keep breaking down the barriers with somewhereto_.

somewhereto_ helps young people find the spaces they need to do the things they love. We spoke to four young people about their success with somewhereto_

Wesley Washington

Age: 17 Based: Royston, Hertfordshire I found out about somewhereto_ after seeing their awesome Street Summer advert on Channel 4 that showed some young people street dancing in Westminster Hall. I thought it was a great idea and decided to get in touch via the website after talking to my boxing gym about needing to find a new place to train. I didn’t expect much and thought it was a long shot when I registered my interest, but I ended up being offered Number 10 Downing Street to showcase my boxing! It was the best thing I’ve ever done. It was surreal being in the Prime Minister’s house, but I really loved it, and so did David Cameron, I think. somewhereto_ is still trying to find a space for me to train. It’s not about finding somewhere perfect or better, we just need options in our community. There are a lot of young people complaining about having nothing to do and places to do things, but I think somewhereto_ will open doors and minds across the country. I’ve got my heart set on a space at the MGM Grand.

Do you love to dance, but need a space to perform? Or are you part of a band needing a space to rehearse... or Paint, debate, write or play sport?

Inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, somewhereto_ aims to bring together young people with space-holders. It might be a physical space that you need – a sports hall, piece of land, darkroom or recording studio, or maybe you need magazine column inches, online space or even screen time in a cinema. somewhereto_ can help you find that perfect place. This is a nationwide project and there are regional co-ordinators based all around the UK to help you find the space you need. Visit our website www.somewhereto.com and get in touch!

@somewhereto_ somewhereto_ is funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games across the UK.

You could be in the next issue of Live, if you challenge somewhereto_ to find you a space and fulfil your vision.

top spaces up for grabs 6. Watermans Cinema – London

1. Followers of Fashion gallery space – Northampton

This is a wonderful opportunity for young designers to have their work shown to the public. There is space to display your work at the Followers of Fashion gallery at Northampton museum.

A delightful cinema space that can seat 120 people. The perfect space to show your film or to get a film club together.

2. Goodmayes New Parkour Park – London

Brand new parkour park just waiting for your free running and practising.

7. Action Factory Dance Space – Blackburn

A huge dance space with full-length mirrors and hardwood flooring, perfect for rehearsing.

8. Outlet Art Studio – Glasgow

3. The Hoop Garden – London

A beautiful, mobile and creative garden, made up of individual garden spaces in skips.

A brilliant, large studio space available for lots of different activities.

9. Powerleauge – Birmingham

4. Eurocultured Legal Graffiti Wall – Manchester.

Brilliant football surfaces, an ideal space for training and much

Legal wall space as part of Eurocultured festival activity.

better than Astro Turf!

5. The Bussey Building Warehouse Space – London

10. Newstyle Radio 98.7FM – Birmingham.

A large warehouse space, if you need somewhereto_ rehearse, film, exhibit or even sculpt, then get in touch.

Hollie Sturgess

Ophee Marino

Age: 17 Based: New Parks, Leicester

Age: 15 Based: Smethwick, Birmingham My friends and I always need something to do in our spare time. We all have our interests, but I love football, and would like to pass the hours doing something I love doing, but then there’s always the next question – where to do it? So I got in touch with somewhereto_ who set me up with the guys at A Sporting Chance Laurel Road Community and Sports Centre. Sporting facilities in my area are OK, but the ASC were so helpful, they donated multiple Astro Turf pitches for us to use, and it was all free space. That’s why somewhereto_ is such a great project! I had a great experience, and didn’t have to pay for it! My mates had a solid session too, and I’d say to any others interested in spaces to train for football or any other sports, definitely check out somewhereto_. In the long term, I think the project will help to keep bored and jobless young people off the streets, as more people in our communities open up their doors and look out for each other. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll get a space to play at Old Trafford.

Words Ophee Marino 15

Words Hollie Sturgess 17

Words Wesley Washington 17

Words Deanna Junaid 22

I knew somewhereto_ would be something that I wanted to get involved with and began thinking about how I could benefit from it after being introduced to the project by Tina, a regional coordinator. After some careful thought and planning I decided one year ago to put on a London Paralympics 2012 event, because I think that the Paralympics doesn’t fully receive the attention that it deserves. I chose to use somewhereto_ as it was easier for me to find a space for my event, without the hassle of contacting venues and then being disappointment of not being able to use a space; especially as a young person we are not always welcomed by lease holders. Yet somewhereto_ helped my vision come alive and secured Phoenix Square’s café. My experience was amazing, everything ran incredibly smooth, the staff at Phoenix gave me a lot of freedom knowing my plans in advance, and overall I couldn’t have asked for anything more. somewhereto_ makes dreams come true. Let’s spread the word about somewhereto_ and really make use of the spaces in our city.

Words Becky Olaniyi 15

This provides a good opportunity to get into radio and provides an outlet and platform for local artists.

Regulars

Gadget Xmas Wish list The three wise men trekked for an age to bear gifts, but this Christmas we can’t do without these six chosen ones

Kodak Playback by: shop.kodak.co.uk £129.99

Want a camcorder which is HD ready, reasonably priced and can drown in water and be resurrected? This gadget is the one for all you budding Spielbergs and Spike Lees.

Casio Baby-G Watch by: Goldsmiths £150

Popular with the cool kids and celebrities, Baby-G watches are a favourite for the wrist. We’ve picked this classic white one for an Xmas stocking filler.

Words Celeste Houlker 20

Urbanears headphones were a big deal at this year’s Lovebox Festival and we think they deserve a space for the clean design and dual listening capabilities.

Words Christian Adofo 23

Once upon a time, walking around the ends with a portable sound system was the in thing. This retro homage has a 6-inch subwoofer and volume control which you can whack up to 11!

Pentax Optio S1 by: www.jessops.com £129.99

Great for capturing all your Christmas party snaps, this camera is compact but powerful. Featuring a stabilised 14 megapixels sensor and a 5x wide-angle optical zoom, as well as a HD compatible video recording.

Profile USB Turntable by: www.firebox.com £69.99

Urbanears Plattan Plus by: www.urbanears.com £60

TDK 3 Speaker Boombox by: HMV £299.99

Blow the dust off from your dad’s vinyl collection and convert some old-skool rhythms to your MP3 player using special software. Also compatible with your home stereo, so you can spin 12-inches smoothly.

www.marshallartist.co.uk

Available at select retailers throughout the U.K. For further information contact Mark@HaddonPR.com Brand Design & Art Direction by Neil Maloney Design Associates Ltd. For further information contact neilmaloney@rocketmail.com

MA AW11 AD live mag.indd 1

20/10/11 09:47:15

f e at u r e s

no place

like home it’s something too many live with but too few talk about. here a live writer tells her own real-life story of domestic violence

When I met him I was me, I was confident in myself, I loved life, I loved me. But slowly the real me disappeared and I became someone I had never met before. To be honest I was flattered when he first approached me. I had seen him around a few times, but I never thought he knew who I was. He was hot, so when he asked to take me to the cinema a few weeks after we started chatting on Facebook and Blackberry messenger, I jumped at the chance. It was perfect. He picked me up and paid for my ticket and he even bought me food after the film. He walked me home and we talked about everything from the weather to family issues. He made me feel so at ease.

“I thought if I changed myself he wouldn’t do it anymore” I really opened myself up to him and told him how my family life was confusing, how I wasn’t really getting along with my mum and I wasn’t enjoying school. Little did I know that the vulnerability that I had shown him was the ammunition he would later use to break me down. Over the next few weeks everything was great. I felt special in his company and he was so protective about me. At the time I really believed it was a good thing that he didn’t like other boys looking at me – he asked me to stop wearing skirts and vest tops because I was his. Our relationship was all-consuming. I started to skip school, all I could think about was being with him. I couldn’t concentrate in class anyway so what was the point of me going in?

Illustration Bertie Simpson 23

Words Anonymous

The first indication that something was wrong came when I got my school report and it was BAD! My attendance was below fifty

percent and my grades had dropped. My mum went crazy at me, she said that I wasn’t allowed to see him and grounded me for the weekend. I was so angry I didn’t know what to do. I went upstairs to call him and explained what had happened. He told me not to worry and to pack a bag full of clothes and jump on the next train. He said he would meet me at the station and he would take care of me. He said I wouldn’t have to worry about school or my mum. According to him he was my life now and I was his. So I packed up all the bags I could carry and put on all the jumpers I could wear and left. I still remember the look on my mum’s face when I slammed the door and struggled down the drive with all the belongings I could carry. I thought it was going to be great. I’d grown up and thought this new life would mean freedom! But the reality was completely different and freedom felt further away than ever. I was living out of my bags and sharing a room with his little brother. It was cramped and I lay in a small bed imagining I was back at home in my own bed with my mum, just lying there chatting and reading the Sunday papers. About a month after I moved in he started to change. He started to get short tempered and would shout at me and pull me about the house. He made me feel like it was my fault he lost his temper and that it was my fault when he got angry. I thought if I changed myself he wouldn’t do it anymore. At the same time I felt trapped. I had no one to turn to, and too much pride to run

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back to my mum and tell her. At this point there were still benefits to this new life, or at least that’s what I told myself. I felt like a responsible grown-up, I didn’t have anyone moaning to me about school or going out with my friends and what time to go to bed.

from the beating he had given me the previous night. But all of a sudden, as I lay there, a calm feeling filled me. At that exact moment I knew I had to leave him before he killed me. I didn’t pack any bags or take anything with me, I just got up, put my clothes on from the day before and told him I was going to the shop.

However, I missed home and I realised I hadn’t even seen my friends at all since I moved in with him. In fact I hadn’t actually spoken to them much either. He would complain that my friends were bad news and they would lead me astray. He said I was too good for them, he said he was my best friend and I didn’t need anyone else. I was lonely and this obviously sounded good.

I walked for two hours and ended up at the council office. I sat there all day until they finally gave me a place to stay. I felt so embarrassed explaining why I needed the accommodation. I felt as if they were looking at me thinking ‘what must her mum think?’

Then it got worse. The first few times he hit me I didn’t know what to think. I would make excuses for him. “It’s not like he hit me hard”, “he was tired and I was winding him up”, “I deserved it”. I felt like this because he would always hit me and then cry. He’d say sorry and I would end up comforting him. When I questioned him about it he said he didn’t like doing it, but he couldn’t control himself.

“I knew I had to leave him before he killed me”

It took me at least seven months to build my confidence back up. It was even hard to face my family again. Finally I plucked up the courage to visit my mum, but it felt like I was meeting her for the first time. I was a new, mature and strong person. But this didn’t come from moving out of my mum’s house. Rather it was a result of realising that I had the courage to leave him. In fact, by not leaving when the violence started, I was hurting not only myself, but the people around me. The people who loved me most.

A few weeks later it started to get worse. He was hitting me harder, he would black my eyes and swell my lips. Sometimes it would be so bad he would say that I couldn’t go outside because the other people on the estate would see and start talking and he didn’t want people in his business.

It would be a lie if I said I don’t have any regrets from this period. I guess everyone has a few throughout their life, but I use these regrets to make me stronger. They push me to be better and they remind me that I will never allow myself to be treated that way again by anyone.

I thought about running away, but I didn’t know where to run to. I had no phone, no money and I felt as if my friends had forgotten me. While they where all getting ready for college life I was stuck in this house. It felt like a dead end.

I now know I’m worth more than any man can make me feel and I want all young girls to read my story. Please don’t rush to grow up and, if you have one, don’t choose anyone over your mother.

After five months I awoke one morning with my whole body aching

If you’re in a similar situation, for help contact rrefuge.org.uk 0808 2000 247

www.live-magazine.co.uk

i n a s s o c i at i o n w i t h b a r c l ay s m o n e y s k i l l s

PLANNING AHEAD www.barclaysmoneyskills.com We’ve teamed up with Barclays to help you get your spending sorted, using the Barclays Money Skills programme. Barclays Money Skills is a national money management programme, designed to help young people to manage their money more effectively. The programme provides independent information on a range of topics such as budgeting, saving and spending, opening a bank account, as well as providing practical guidance on what to do when something goes wrong. We are kicking off this partnership with some ideas to help you survive the silly season. The festive season can be an expensive time of year - it can help to plan ahead and avoid a financial headache come January! While gift giving is often an important part of celebrating with family and friends, there are some handy tips and tricks that will ensure that spending doesn’t bust your budget. Some ideas include: • Start with a budget and have a clear idea of who you need to buy for and how much you have to spend for each person. • Spend time brainstorming low cost gift ideas so that you are not tempted to spend more than planned. Consider a ‘back up’ idea for each person in case a gift idea is not available. • Look out for sales and be prepared to shop around, including searching online. While this can take extra time there are some great savings to be made.

Words Christian Adofo 23

• Consider alternatives, such as opting for a Secret Santa or Lucky Dip as a fun way to keep costs low.

Ways To Save

A new calendar year often brings with it resolutions and improving your money situation is a popular aim. Making a plan for the year with a few set goals in mind will help – whether you’re looking to buy a new car, get some equipment for a music studio or thinking of going on holiday with your friends in the summer, you won’t reach your goals without some planning. Write down what often stops you from making small changes, jot down that amount of money you can save and set yourself a review date to save by. Setting aside some Christmas money is a good starting point and from there build on how much you put into your piggy bank. Moreover, if you’re in a job, saving about £10 from your wages each week into a savings account may be another viable option. January is a month synonymous with sales. Some websites that will help to cut costs further are: www.myvouchercodes.co.uk is a site which has regular deals with restaurants, high street shops and retailers online to name a few. Helpful bargain for those on a budget. www.studentbeans.com has a wide range offers from discounts on eating out to travelling, for those at university or colleges across the country. www.seefilmfirst.com offers tickets for preview screenings of new films. When you sign up, you’ll receive a code in your email and you can collect tickets for each screening.

questions £100 £90 £80 £70 £60 £50 £40 £30 £20 £10 £0

HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND ON NIGHTS OUT ON THE TOWN? iNCLUDING DRINKS, TAXI, ENTRANCE TO CLUBS? HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND A MONTH ON GOING TO THE CINEMA? HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND EACH MONTH GOING OUT FOR DINNER WITH YOUR MATES? HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND PER MONTH ON GETTING YOUR HAIR CUT? HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND EVERY WEEK BUYING LUNCH? HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND ON GETTING THE BUS EVERY WEEK?

Small Sacrifices, Big Rewards Spending that £2 daily on chicken and chips may not seem like a big expense. But ultimately it’s a small area of spending that adds up over time. If you think about saving that money rather than going to the chicken shop after school you can set yourself a monthly goal for a bigger prize. Like the latest video game, new dress or football boots. It’s important to find those non-essential areas where you can save some cheese for a rainy day and make those pipedreams a reality. Also, finally being able to spend it on larger items which you’ve saved in an online shopping bag for five months now! Here are our 5 top tips to help you save money: 1. If you’re going for a night out, try to get into a club before they start charging an entrance fee. Also, share a taxi with your mates on the way home for a cheaper fare. 2. Make a packed lunch for work or school rather than buying out, you’ll save at least £3 a day. 3. Most hairdressers offer haircuts from trainees for free. Just ask around where to go. 4. Find out beforehand where cash machines that don’t charge are and put the down details of their location, so you don’t get hit with an expensive charge – when you’re heading out. 5. Use the sites mentioned in ‘Ways to Save’ for eating out or entertainment and split the saving between friends.

Barclays has launched a new website to help young people deal with their money. For more information on how to be financially savvy check out

www.barclaysmoneyskills.com

F e at u r e s

crews control Channel 4’s top boy is a cut above your average crime drama. actors Kano and Shone romulus explain why

A British Wire? Another Adulthood? If you’ve seen the latest gritty UK urban TV show, you’ll know Top Boy is neither. In fact, the four-part Channel 4 drama captured a side to London that’s rarely ever seen on screen, giving viewers a real sense of life in London. Aired during one week in early November, but still available to view on 4OD, Top Boy not only brings with it a cast of fresh faces but also an entirely fresh look at the lives of east London residents. Director Yann Demange establishes from the start that this is not your usual run-of-the-mill urban youth programme. London looks magical shot from rooftops at night. The city scenery rushes by through car windows and his photography of streets and markets encapsulates a real sense of east London. Top Boy manages to make the UK’s capital look more than just the grey, dirty, gritty place it’s been shown as in previous dramas. Demange explains his style: “London’s beautiful. Even if you live on an estate it can still be very beautiful. I didn’t want to emphasise poverty, which I don’t even think needs to look miserable. Complex lives with choppy waters are still very colourful and I think there’s a lot of beauty to be captured. I wanted the images to look beautiful.” Top Boy is a complex web of stories within stories. It’s based in Summerhouse estate, where wannabe top boys Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane ‘Kano’ Robinson) run their own little gang. But they’re unsatisﬁed with their status. We watch as they seek out power and money and the consequences that follow, not just for them but everyone around them.

Words Seana Thomas 16

Words Laura McCarthy 15

Words Michelle Tiwo 21

Demange, who was born in Paris and raised in London, says, “I wasn’t referencing the urban genre, I wanted to get as far away from that as I could. But in the same breath I was still after a young

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“The majority of the people I cast and gave a shot to were non-actors, they just had a certain energy, a certain rawness and that’s what I wanted. They hadn’t polished it.”

- director Yann Dermage on Top boy cast

audience. I was looking more at Mexican ﬁlms like Amores Perros that had an energy that felt real and truthful while not trying too hard to be exciting.” But for young viewers in Surrey or Scotland, don’t worry that this is just another London show about London people. “It is really important that young people everywhere own this,” says Demange.

Since Top Boy the acting ﬂoodgates have opened for Romulus and he’s willing to take on everything and anything, even letting slip that he’d like a stab at BBC’s top soap. “I like EastEnders and you just never know, maybe,” he says cheekily.

Out of a cast of 68 only about seven actors were professional. “The majority of the people I cast and gave a shot to were non-actors, they just had a certain energy, a certain rawness and that’s what I wanted. They hadn’t polished it.”

Another new face to our screens was grime artist Kano, who has spent almost 10 years making records. About his debut role, Kano said, “The script was so real to me and it was a background that I’m familiar with, that I grew up around. It was just like reading a book where I was desperate to read the next page and the next page. The story is made up, but similar stories are happening in reality every day.”

One of these Hackney-born newbies is Shone Romulus, although you might know him as Dris now. His powerful performance in Top Boy proves that you don’t need to attend drama school to get a shot at your dream.

Kano, describes his character as a live wire, a loose cannon. “He’s violent, very aggressive at times, but also very loyal, he’s a friend, and he believes in what he believes in and the way he wants to do things.”

Admittedly, he was never really interested in acting until Top Boy came along, but he now told Live it’s a dream he didn’t even know he had.

Since ﬁlming on Top Boy came to an end, Kano has been busy carving out a career in acting. “I shot another movie called Tower Block. It’s different to Top Boy and I found it hard to act in at ﬁrst. Top Boy was so real for me. But in Tower Block I had to make a real effort, to really try and be realistic since my character was so completely different to me.”

The young star was discovered through street casting in Hackney when the Top Boy writers were still only carrying out research for the script. “My uncle Gerry is friends with the writer, Ronan Bennett. He asked me to come in and answer some questions for his research on the streets, so I did. A week later they called and told me they wanted me to play Dris.” Shone plays the character of Dris, in his words ‘the money man’. “Dris is weary and just trying to make money. He looks after the little ones in the block, listens to Sully most of the time and tries to make money basically.” In real life his shy manner is unexpected, but he slowly relaxes and lets out an easy laugh as he explains that as the show goes on Dris “starts making more money and gets better clothes”.

When it came to the “lights, camera, action” both boys seemed to ﬁnd it easy to slip into character. Kano adds, “The most important thing for me was creating a real friendship with Ashley and Shone, and making that come across real on camera.” “Above all,” he adds, “we just wanted to tell it how it is.”

Top Boy is available on 4oD. Go to channel4.com for details.

the year o f e at u r e s

introduction

Young people are leaders. Throughout history it’s been our responsibility to change the world and pave a new future.

Birmingham and Liverpool as young people around the country manifested their disquiet.

But the history books couldn’t have prepared anyone for 2011, as the actions of young people have sent shockwaves across the world and tremors to the top of Government.

After the student demonstrations, subversive groups such as UKUncut rallied troops of young people to disrupt Top Shop and other taxavoiding corporations, as conscious questions were asked about their ethical behavior.

In Britain, a tense youth was put on course for breaking point when the Conservative Party took power in 2010. The scrapping of EMA and extortionate university fees tightened the screw and limited our options. Meanwhile, elements within the police force systematically abused their powers to intimidate groups of young people with stop and search powers that are, undoubtedly, out of control. At the turn of 2011, in a quiet corner of the internet, someone predicted something else: “The youth of the world will unite,” said Gerald Celente, a trend forecaster.

Illustration Emma Chinnery 21

Words Omar Shahid 20

August’s riots saw many young people abandon postcode feuds for a week and unite in their anger towards the police. The riots (in which all demographics played their part) spread to Manchester,

And so it continues, as protestors camp in the City of London to ensure the capitalists and greedy bankers who plunged us into this financial mess aren’t forgotten. Whether your take on all this disorder meant the participants were opportunistic thugs, victims of our society’s egoism and materialism, or simply angry protesters, the undeniable truth is that it was history made by young people. As the voice of the youth, Live Magazine has decided to spend our final issue of the year reflecting on a momentous 12 months: Our Year of Unrest. We have questioned the dominant narrative, looking at what triggered it all, asking whether the youth have become more politicised in the process and what we, collectively, have achieved....Enjoy!

of unrest revolting youths!

Young people have caused a real stir this year; but according to the history books this is only to be expected. Young people have been at the forefront of protest and rebellion for generations, often spurred on by a tug-of-war relationship between themselves and authorities.

1968 A year of protest on a global scale started in Paris on 22 March that

year. A small-scale occupation of the University of Paris at Nanterre against its administration ended peacefully but galvanised hope and support for what was to come in May. On 30th May that year half a million protestors marched in Paris against the president, Second World War hero Charles de Gaulle. The protests rocked the government and served to undermine the legitimacy of General de Gaulle, who stood down the following year. The same spirit of youthful rebellion shook Berlin in April 1968. Young students laid siege to the right-wing Springer Press organisation following the attempted assassination of left-wing figurehead Rudi Dutschke. Outside the Springer building, students fought with police. Let’s not forget the anti-Vietnam War protests in the USA. In 1968, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organised a peace march that drew 20,000 people. However, the year before, over 70 anti-war protests were held on university campuses in October and November. Such protests became commonplace, escalating to the point that four students were killed and nine were wounded by the Ohio National Guard at a protest against the US invasion of Cambodia at Kent State University in 1970. President Nixon and Vice President Agnew had referred to student demonstrators as “bums”.

1970 But as we’ve seen this year, rebellions are not always peaceful. The

Red Brigade in Italy and Baader-Meinhof group in Germany resorted to terrorism in an attempt to provoke governments into brutal crackdowns. Renato Curcio, a student at the University of Trento, founded the Italian Red Brigade. With roots in the Communist Youth movement in Italy, the organisation carried out bank robberies, arms trafficking and kidnappings to fund their terrorist activities. The extremist left-wing youthful rebellions of the 70s also occurred on our own shores. The organisation was called The Angry Brigade and a series of 25 bombings were attributed to them in a campaign that started in 1970 and was sustained for a year until arrests were made the following summer.

1989 When riot police crushed a peaceful student demonstration in Prague

Illustration Emma Chinnery 21

Words Rizwan Syed 22

The 1968 protests, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989, all point to a culture of protest led by young people. Will 2011 enter the history books alongside these momentous years of unrest? Live Mag looks back to see how this year shapes up against the rest…

on 17 November, their brutality sparked a series of popular demonstrations. Within three days, half a million protestors shook Prague. On December 10, the first noncommunist government since 1948 took office in Prague. Young people have always rebelled and the riots and demonstrations of the past 12 months across the world have continued to support this reputation. The problem lies in the depiction of young people with a vicious brush. If there is one thing we can learn from the past, it is that only by addressing the needs and concerns of young people can governments really tackle these rebellions.

testing times

In November 2010, exactly one year ago, 30,000 young people found themselves on the streets of west London, shivering in the cool winter’s air, fighting for their right to affordable education. I was among them. Many of us were first time protesters, hesitant and unsure of our politics, but we all knew one thing: we were fuelled with anger at politicians’ disregard for our interests.

Late last year the government broke manifesto pledges and tripled the cost of university tuition fees. the anger was predictable, the scale and fury of the demonstrations weren’t. live’s robbie was there at the beginning of the year of protest and looks back on an afternoon that may have been the catalyst for much of what followed

Twleve months later – with university applications dropping by 12% this year - we look back on that freezing night with varying attitudes. “This was a cause that would directly affect us,” says 17-year-old Ellen Wilkie from Newcastle, who found herself protesting for the first time. I spoke to one 12-year-old who came to the demonstration because she’d always wanted to go university. Her dreams were being threatened, so she got involved in trying to make a change. At this moment, the importance of our education dawned on me. Ellen summarises her reasons for protesting: “The cuts to education were targeted at people who aren’t even old enough to vote against the government who are instating them.”

Illustration Corban Wilkin 21

Words Robbie Wojciechowski 17

Words Omar Shahid 20

It seems our government is limiting the already thin opportunities of

INTERNATIONAL INSURRECTION The last 12 months have been a year of turmoil at home. In Britain, the student demonstrations in London over the trebling of tuition fees were one of the first signs of young people voicing their concerns. But this year, the youth have stood up worldwide. The nexus of events dates back to late last year in Tunisia: a young man called Mohammed Bouazizi set himself alight after being harassed and humiliated by municipal officials. This acted as a catalyst for protests in the country and, ultimately, led to the downfall of President Ben Ali, who’d ruled the country for decades. The success in Tunisia in January led to similar protests in other North African and Arab countries. Tens of thousands of young people have led from the front in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain et al, calling for freedom and democracy. Alas, those regimes clamped down viciously, exacerbating the problem and murdering scores of children in the process. Egypt is one of many Arab countries experiencing a “youth bulge” in their population. High youth unemployment was, inevitably, a key reason for the demonstrations in Cairo that toppled the autocratic regime of Hosni Mubarak. Indeed, young people have been the biggest victims of the jobs crisis. In 2007, the youth unemployment rate in the OECD (an international economic organisation of 34 countries) was 14.2% compared with 4.9% for older workers. In the first quarter of this year, the figures were 19.7% and 7.3% respectively, according to The Economist. Banking deregulation measures – which had nothing to do with young people – have left many youths financially worse off and jobless. In July, thousands of unemployed young Spaniards, known as los indignados (‘the indignant’), protested across the country to draw attention to the astonishingly high youth jobless rate of over 40%.

unprecedented scale since the shooting of a 15-year-old schoolboy, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, in 2008, with fresh outbreaks taking place as recently as September. The death of Alexandros at the hands of Greek police draws stark parallels with the shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham: young people of different racial and class divisions have come together to fight perceived authoritarian brutality. Vlasis, a young Greek boy who knew Alexandros, told Al Jazeera: “It’s spontaneous when you are wronged… you either react or you shut up. I don’t like the second.” While Basilis, who heard the gunshots that killed Alexandros, said: “The death [of Alexandros] was not the main cause for the December ‘08 uprisings. It was the last straw.” Students in Chile have tirelessly protested this year against the exorbitant cost of for-profit universities. Chile “has one of the world’s lowest levels of public funding for higher education, some of the longest degrees and no comprehensive system of student grants or subsidised loans,” according to The Economist. In Angola, the youth – many of whom have no party affiliation, articulated political vision or civic background – are leading the way to unseat President Dos Santos, who has ruled the country since 1979. Recently, thousands of college students around the US have demonstrated against the social inequalities in the financial system, occupying ground near Wall Street. These protests have now spread to Europe. One thing the youth today are not is ignorant. In this age of technological access, young people are able to keep tabs on their governments’ affairs. With the aid of Facebook and Twitter, young people were able to heighten the Arab revolutions by mobilising each other.

In Greece, young anarchists have caused havoc on an

A UN report last month revealed that a lack of jobs, education and infrastructure will mean billions of young people’s economically productive years will be wasted. We are facing the biggest crisis in modern history – we can no longer afford to be ignored. (OS)

a generation. The blow to our hopes was stinging. A backlash was inevitable. From milling around outside Parliament, we sped towards Tory HQ, Millbank. The glass-fronted building bore the brunt.

In retrospect, Millbank was the most seminal moment of all the education demos. People around the world saw that this was to be a movement of direct action.

Initially the plan was for students to occupy the building’s grounds until we saw some kind of response. But people got restless. Patrick Lawrie, 20, was only 100m from Millbank and recalls the moment when students piled through: “It felt good, but it scared me.”

There were eight further demonstrations. Each spread over two months, and after each one, students seemed more educated and involved in speaking out. Students battled to find ways of staging effective yet peaceful protests, while circumventing police tactics. They also learnt that the media isn’t always right in their reports.

Patrick is unsure where he stands on the violence that ensued. For many, though, this was the first time we witnessed how the media can distort real events. “It was only a very small number of people during a very big moment that caused the violence, but the moment things got ugly was used to illustrate the whole protest.”

The student movements will be remembered for something else as well. They played a pivotal part in the activation of social media as a tool for protest. Events were organised through Facebook, leading to grand numbers being able to follow demonstrations easily.

2011 was also the year in which Britain’s youth also became familiar with ‘kettling’, the controversial police tactic that holds large groups of people in a confined area indefinitely.

They could also be tracked online through the use of platforms such as Twitter. People worldwide could engage with what we were doing, and could see what was happening inside the kettles.

Kettling featured in every demonstration this year – unless you include August’s riots – with people as young as 11 finding themselves trapped for up to 10 hours. As the name suggests, boiling point was reached sooner while being penned in.

Our anger brought us together, out onto the streets, and led to each of us taking our own steps. We as students had a voice, and it inspired many to have their chance to speak. We set ourselves a clear goal – that we could change things. (RW)

“The government is taking away most things that youth get free – travel, EMA, connexions and other resources that we need”

“Life’s hard, the only choice you have is to be harder than life”

“I’ve been stopped and searched 200 times this year, just for wearing a hoodie. It was our time to have the upper hand” “I was mad bored and I heard that the police wasn’t around because they was trying to control other areas, so I would have been stupid not to”

Illustration Emma Chinnery, 21

Words Ria Dwyer 17

Words Christian Adofo 23

“ Looting is just a normal thing, everyone done it. obviously if there’s free stuff going we’re going to grab it … everything’s so expensive nowadays”

“For one day only, any beef you had with other people was put aside. It was weird”

STOP AND SEARCH THIS Conkers hatch from spiked cocoons, crispy leaves are crushed and the clocks reward us with an extra hour. It’s safe to say that autumn has wrapped a dark seasonal cloak over the UK. Yet, the temperature still remains at boiling point when discussing one of 2011’s biggest events – the August riots. The riots left a bitter aftertaste, one which was bred from a Thatcherite government marked with high unemployment and consequent social unrest. The parallels between that administration and the present Con-Dem coalition are plain to witness. The trend of reducing expenditure on social services such as housing and education has further polarised the housing of the poor into a state of disrepair in deprived communities. Council housing across the UK, most notably estates, are socially excluded and a large proportion of the young involved in rioting sought solidarity with others in rioting and looting. In the aftermath, the Prime Minster vehemently sought to pinpoint gang culture as a cause for the riots, calling it a “major criminal disease”. While his deputy Nick Clegg was more inclined to use restorative justice as a means to neutralise the issue. But, typically, the response has been a swift diagnosis rather than looking to cure the symptoms which were long apparent. The youth are tuned into a passionate frequency and this unity has seen many take part in more demonstrations than ever in the last year. Protests against rising tuition fees and the recent Occupy movement against ‘corporate greed’ for real democracy. Yet, it took rioting on a large scale to occur before the mass media took notice of a powerful voice that was at risk of being tarnished. Social media is another factor which had a role in empowering

all quotes taken from interviews conducted in oct0ber by live contributor

young people, as the real-time updates on Twitter gripped people with information and potent images about affected areas and those that were going to be targeted. Haunting but inescapable. It built momentum and showed the power of galvanizing the masses, even if the primary motivation had an overtly consumerist undertone. The increased politicisation of young people and factors surrounding the riots raises the question: could unrest on such a wide scale occur again? Recent unemployment figures are at their highest for 17 years and Haringey (one of the boroughs deeply affected by the riots) has become the hardest place in Britain to find a job. An employment black spot where 30% of young people are unemployed and every available vacancy has 25 dole claimants seeking that particular job. It’s no coincidence that other London boroughs affected by rioting (Hackney and Lewisham) appear in the top ten for employment blackspots too. Dialogue between police and communities needs to have an air of urgency and regularity to defrost an often icy relationship in the inner city. Rebuilding trust is imperative. Renowned scholar Noam Chomsky recently remarked in an interview with the Huffington Post that “institutionally-created robbery is extending the extreme inequality”. 2011 has seen a political hot potato brought to the national agenda, by a group whose voices are often unheard in the halls of Westminster. If a ‘slap on the wrist’ is the only punishment meted out to government figures and bankers who’ve habitually acted unlawfully...with 2012 (an Olympic year when the world’s focus will be on the UK) on the horizon, there could be further reprisals... ”Blurt when you hear the sirens coming.”

“I just wanted some new crepps”

Image illustrated by Corban Wilkin

Creative Riot the academy of 2011 This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crop of creative talent have formed their own uprising. In the face of recent suggestions that they lack the ambition to achieve in this ever challenging industry they are designing and directing a blazing trail. It is not a lack of passion that stops them, and they are not looking for handouts but what they will gratefully accept, as others have before, is the offer of support. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s us, the people who are bringing you this page; Becky Fuller[words], Chris Dillon [graphics & illustration] and Rahul Ramanuj [graphics]. We all won 2011 D&AD accolades and we have just been on the pilot year of the D&AD Graduate Academy. With the support of HP, the academy has set out to prepare the most talented for the transition from education to industry. D&AD has focused on finding proactive and enthused creatives and giving them the boost they need to unlock their true potential. The intense boot camp week resulted in an aspiring group of creatives being unleashed into the industry. Since our D&AD experience we have all found our way into paid placements and will continue to use our talent and proactive attitudes to make our imprints within the industry. Get the chance to take our place next year at: www.dandad.org/studentawards aandbcreatives.blogspot.com

cargocollective.com/therealdill

rahulramanuj.com

Trading Places Creative Director: Jermaine Robinson Project Manger: Celeste Houlker Stylist: Jermaine Robinson Stylist assistant: Alaina Thomas Photographer: Samuel Sasiharan Photography assistant: Lorena MartĂnez Acha Models: Ellie Sian and Richard Kolapo Ajala Thanks to Photo Fusion

s Page opposite Eille wears Adidas Original ski poncho, £150; Jeremy Scott for Adidas track dress, £80; Rokit boots, £35

Page Opposite Richard wears Topman scarf, £14, Nike 6.0 Proost Down jacket, £190 Aqua shirt with panel on the shoulders, £60; NikeWomen Ultimatium backpack, £60; NikeWomen Field Mesh short, £20; Nike 6.0 Chia pants, £160; Nike Sportswear Air Force One Hyperfuse, £100

Page Opposite Ellie wears Rokit knitwear, £25; Rokit casual long sleeve dress, £25; Nike 6.0 Vapen snowbroad boots, £160 Richard wears Aqua padded jumper, £105; Jeremy Scott for Adidas joggers, £90; Jeremy Scott for Adidas JS Mega Torison trainers, £125

7 Use these pages for your inspiration

46 2

Words Aida Gugsa 16

Words Becky Olaniyi 15

Newcastle: The north-east branch of Truth About Youth is managed by young people aged 11-25 in Tyne and Wear. As part of the project they produce DVDs and campaign hard all to attack and breakdown youth stereotypes www.rywu.org.uk www.truthaboutyouth. org.uk

www.youngscot.org twitter.com/thepatter

Glasgow: Young Scot targets people aged 11-26 using blogging and media partnerships such as The Sunday Mail, which ensures that supplements are seen all over Glasgow with the content produced by teens themselves.

www.royalexchange.org.uk

The project also includes a wide range of adults – media partners, community partnership groups, audience members and the general public.

Manchester: a two-year programme led by 1,000 14-19-year-olds. These creative teenagers will organise a fortnight-long festival, working as a team – which could include you. They’ve written six plays and directed a film.

As a young person, do you ever feel like we’re given a bad image by the media? Now there’s an organisation trying to shine a light on all the good things we do. The Co-operative Foundation is enabling seven projects around the UK to bring a new perspective on young people with their Truth About Youth programme. These projects are run by young people who work with adults and influential media while staying connected to the community. These Truth About Youth projects bridge the communication gap between young people and adults and dispel the negative stereotypes about young people in the media and beyond. The Truth About Youth programme is a step in the right direction towards changing how people perceive teenagers and young adults. Live Magazine has partnered with the Cooperative Foundation to bring you the truth about youth.

youth united

i n a s s o c i at i o n w i t h T R U T H A B O U T Y O U T H

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www.platform51.org

www.princes-trust.org.uk/ truthaboutyouth

Bristol: The Prince’s Trust targets 16-25 year-olds who face a lack of opportunity. With programmes like the Pump It Up scheme, they volunteer to pump up people’s car tyres for free to help environment and community - as well as slamming youth stereotypes.

Cardiff: Platform 51 challenges negative perceptions to help young people feel valued and respected. They form Truth Teams, identify the most important subjects in their area and devise a cooperative project to tackle them.

www.co-operative.coop/truthaboutyouth

Sick of being treated like a thug just because you wear a comfy hoody? Constantly being asked to sacriﬁce fashion for the sake of freedom? Ring any bells? Then put this magazine down and log onto the websites above. Whether your thing is art, drama or media get involved, make a change and tell the TRUTH ABOUT YOUTH!

London: too much to say in one bubble so turn over to ﬁnd out why!

www.envision.org.uk

Birmingham: targeting 16-19-year-olds and challenging stereotypes of young people – enabling them to work with the wider community. One of the students organised a fashion show to celebrate human diversity rather than stick-ﬁgure fashion. Collectively young participants have raised over £5500 for various charities and causes. Envision organised the Truth About Youth Awards Ceremony – which helped showcase the positive achievements of the 1700 young people who have taken part in the 10 month programme to date.

48 4

Photography Jennifer Olayinka 18

Words Shineze Henry 16

Words Zindzi RocqueDrayton 22

Beat-boxer Faith SFX had the audience skanking. Soulful singer Dionne Reid blew them away with acoustic performances of her original songs. The night ended with Conrad the Scoundral performing his new song This Is England, which had the crowd singing along to “This’ll be our country one day/Hopefully we won’t eff it up the same way”.

Other performances included dancing, poetry and music. Young TAY members Dani and Tolu came onto the stage to a recording of David Starkey’s riot comments. With their mouths taped shut they expressed their frustration with the negative stereotyping through high-energy dance.

Firstly, Ovalhouse Drama Company performed a series of improvisations. The audience were clearly taken by surprise, especially when the actors displayed emotion beyond their youth in acting out monologues about the riots. Camilla de Oliviera, 17, (pictured bottom left) delivered a spine-shivering performance, written by Sade Banks, 19, demonstrating that while most people could empathise with the dissatisfaction of London’s youth, it did not mean that they joined in with or supported the riots.

The night was full of energy and from the introduction of the hilarious hosts, Justin Chinyere and Nick Ako, aka Jcx & Slick, it was evident that the event would be one of creativity and talent in the most unpredictable forms. The intimate setting of south London’s Ovalhouse theatre made for easy crowd participation.

After all the recent misrepresentation of youth culture in the media, it was a perfect time for London’s Truth about Youth (TAY) project at Ovalhouse to stage Give me a voice not a label, a talent showcase and riots debate. The night aimed to tackle the negative perceptions – prevalent anyway, but increasingly so since the riots – and to celebrate the amazing talent and maturity of the majority of young people within our communities.

Give me a voice not a label

i n a s s o c i at i o n w i t h O va l h o u s e

49 5

www.ovalhouse.com @TAYLondon1 youtube.com/TruthAboutYouth

self-worth. Whitney, 17, a TaY apprentice, put it simply: “Give young people something to do that’s positive and we’ll do it.” Paul, 24, said, “Young people need to be encouraged. Most of the rioters have their own talents, and could even have been on the stage tonight.”

But more important than discovering the cause of the riots was the idea of finding a solution to the problems in society that the riots highlighted. Events such as ‘Give me a voice not a label’ are essential as there’s a feeling that young people don’t have enough opportunities to discover their

Then the spotlight was on the audience and a debate was held discussing why the riots happened and how society can ensure they don’t happen again. The debates really highlighted the complexity of the London riots, as everyone had an opinion. Issues were raised around the vilification of young people and the distance between young people and government was also stressed, with one guy claiming, “government can’t engage with young people because they don’t understand them.” Editor of Time Out, Tim Arthur, addressed the belief that young people don’t have enough role models arguing that, “A generation ago celebrities weren’t hailed as role models, morals were found and installed by family and those in the community around us. We have lost our sense of collective responsibility, for each other and our areas.”

Do you think the government had a part to play in the riots? Yes I think they had a massive part to play, but I believe they couldn’t have done anything to prevent it all that much.

What about the immediate future for young people in the aftermath of the riots? I hope that more events like this take place and will do something positive to make those in authority understand how important it is for the youth to have a voice. I think that it’s demonstrated that if you put people in cages, they are going to fight back.

What do you think the future for youth will be? We’re going to run the world. Eventually the older generation will have to step down and we’ll take over.

What inspired you to write this poem? The feeling of being trapped and seeing people I’ve grown up with being pointed at for rioting and looting, understanding their story, but knowing it was morally wrong.

Playwright

sade banks

Camilla de Oliviera

Why are events like this important? Events like this are very important, they should be on TV, it’s entertainment with a message related to the event. Both young and older people are able to talk together.

Why is it important for events like tonight’s ‘Give me a voice not a label’ to happen? In communities they are a creative way to show a positive image of young people. Events like this are able to have a crucial balance of being both entertaining and thought provoking. You can experience the talent of the youth in a way you can’t by reading the Daily Mail.

Do you think there could ever be a solution? If the right people get together and create something. Maybe if those like Sade or those who organised the event today get the right people together and protest.

What do you think was behind the riots? Like the monologue said, they just felt trapped. I believe that young people had enough of what was going on around them and just needed a way of letting it out.

How did you feel about the riots? I was scared because it happened close to my home near Camden Town, and was afraid that it could have gotten worse. I thought the rioters had lost their minds, going everywhere and not stopping.

editor in chief of Time Out ACTRESS

Tim Arthur

opinion

- conrad the scoundral

“This’ll be our country one day, Hopefully we won’t eff it up the same way”

GOODBYE 2011

WHAT A YEAR THAT WAS! AS THE WORLD SHOOK AND OLD ORDERS CRUMBLED, LIVE MOVED ONWARDS, UPWARDS AND OUTWARDS, GOING BOTH NATIONWIDE AND GLOBAL IN THE SAME MONTH. WE ALSO INTRODUCED A NEW LOOK TO THE MAGAZINE, SO ON THESE PAGES WE WAVE A SPECIAL FAREWELL TO THE OLD ONE...AND IN WITH THE NEW

Ed Sheeran No one would‘ve expected the young Ed Sheeran from Suffolk to be part of pop’s changing face. But he worked with Wiley, Wretch 32, P-Money, and Devlin on The No.5 Collaborations project, en route to his No.1 album. (AA)

Steve Jobs RIP One of the era’s most successful innovators, Steve Jobs died in October. As Apple co-founder and CEO, Jobs was a pioneer who set technological trends rather than follow them. His leadership saw the rise of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, cementing his visionary status. (CA)

Amy Winehouse’s long battle with drugs and alcohol climaxed when she died in July. The talented soul singer was just 27. A posthumous album will be released this year.

The Royal Wedding

Phone hacking scandal

Sway Dasafo

Amy Winehouse RIP

Prince William married Kate Middleton in the biggest royal occasion since Will’s parents wed in 1981. Kate Middleton is now formally known as HRH Duchess of Cambridge and is the future Queen of England, as William is second in line to become King.

The phone-hacking scandal exploded onto our screens as journalists were accused of invading the privacy, not just of celebrities, but of murdered schoolgirl Millie Dowler, among others. An embattled Murdoch family closed down News Of The World and senior staff and police officers resigned.

Highlight and lowlight? Pushing out my new single, great experience! No low points. Biggest surprise of the year? Not winning the Mobo award. Predictions for the New Year? A new album and looking out for Lady Leshurr. (WC)

Beyoncé

at Glastonbury Beyoncé’s performance at Glastonbury 2011 underlined that Queen B can do no wrong. Sasha at her fiercest opened with Crazy In Love and impeccable dance routines, hurtling into Single Ladies and Destiny’s hits, never putting a foot wrong. (BS)

Words Ayman Ramsey Al-Juzi 20

Words Wesley Cox 19

Words Brooke Stubley 23

Words Christian Adofo 23

FEATURES

The year in Boris Georgia La (SBTV)

David Starkey

Highlight of 2011 Loads but I would have to say, leaving uni, having a fun job and watching SBTV grow. Lowlight: No lowlights, don’t have time for lowlights. Surprise of 2011 That this is my job. Aspirations for 2012 We’re going to get bigger and better. New Year’s Resolution Say yes more and go out more. (WC)

What was the highlight of 2011?

The aftermath of the riots witnessed many conflicting opinions. But historian David Starkey’s “whites have become black” comment during Newsnight ignited a fiery climate further. Amazing ignorance from a supposedly intelligent man. 2011 saw the launch of new hit reality (CA) TV series Made In Chelsea, Channel 4’s riposte to ITV’s popular – and populist – The Only Way Is Essex, a soap opera-style reality series following a group of spraytanned exhibitionist twenty-somethings. This new series mimics the format but swaps Brentwood and vajazzling for the extortionate environs of Sloane Square. Although the levels of human stupidity remain the same, they both keep us glued and wanting more. (BS)

Reality soaps

Having already mobilised almost 60,000 volunteers across the capital just months after the launch of Team London. There’s an amazing volunteering spirit among young Londoners, so find out how you can get involved at www.london.gov.uk/teamlondon.

What was the lowlight of 2011?

The violent disturbances in August were definitely the lowlight. I felt sickened that such mindless violence could take place in our city. London can and will come back from this. But it will take more than just repairing the physical damage done, which is why we’re also redoubling our efforts to deal with the root causes and making sure we understand what happened so we never see that kind of violence on our streets again.

What was the biggest surprise of 2011?

The incredible way Londoners responded to the riots. Brandishing nothing more than brooms and a huge sense of disgust, they came out and reclaimed their streets, cleaned up their neighbourhoods and worked hand in hand with the police to make the capital safe again.

What’s your prediction for 2012?

That London is going to host the best Olympics the world has ever seen. Visitors and Londoners alike will enjoy a cacophony of cultural, sporting and visual delights that will burn in their memories long after the games have ended.

Nicholas Pinnock (Top Boy) Highlight and lowlight? Working on Top Boy was absolutely fantastic. My lowlight…I don’t want to go into that. What is your New Year’s Resolution? I don’t really make resolutions, I just take the times as they come and flow with it. (WC)

What’s your New Year’s Resolution?

To make sure the games deliver the lasting legacy London deserves. With millions of pounds being pumped into grassroots sports, the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs as well as massive infrastructure improvements to the transport network, the capital has already seen some huge benefits. But more is yet to come.

FEATURES

regulars

cooking with: angel With the edgy street style that he brings to RnB – together with heartfelt lyrics and originally composed beats on singles such as Ride Out and Popstar – Sirach ‘Angel’ Charles is now recognised as a recording artist after two years of being a songwriter

Angel popped into the Live offices for Cooking With and showed us to our surprise that he knows his way around a burger grill. In fact, it was just another day in the kitchen for the 22-year-old Londonbased singer-songwriter, even if he was a bit squeamish about actually touching raw meat... When you were growing up what kind of food was being cooked in the kitchen? Caribbean food, rice, peas and chicken, fish soup, spag bol... You grew up in a musical household. Did it give you a clearer path than everyone else out there on the street? Basically, my dad use to play with all the top reggae artists that came over to England in the late 80s, early 90s. Growing up around instruments and working with my dad, I got the passion for music. And it had a big effect on the street because I was grinding to get to a stage that I’ve tried to get to. I definitely had a clearer path, because I knew what I wanted to do. Apart from your dad, who else inspires you? Growing up? The mains like Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson and Brandy. Did you inherit your talent naturally or did you have to work at it? For anything you’ve got to put work into it. I’ve been blessed with talent but I had to nurture it. Did you have any musical guilty pleasures? Oh definitely... people like the Beatles. I could listen to Rick Ross then put on Mick Jagger straight after. You’ve been referred to as one of a kind in the UK – the closest thing to a US-style street RnB act such as Jaheim. Is this the route to mainstream recognition for UK street music? Definitely. What I love most is RnB, edgy urban music. I don’t think that there’s anyone out there doing what I’m doing, period!

Photography Jendella Hallam 22

Words Wesley Cox 19

You’ve been signed as a solo artist. Why do you continue to make hood videos? It’s where I come from. I’ve been working with people with good energy so I want to show the mainstream that this is where I’m from. The world’s going to see me anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.

Are you ever worried that record companies are using the hardship of the streets as an opportunity to make money? Yes and no. Both are benefiting from it. More importantly, it’s painting a picture of the reality, which is something that we couldn’t really do before. It’s a good opportunity for the public to see what’s really going on. A video like Ride Out is very commercial but transforms into a hood video. How does that work? It just depends on how you want to perceive it. The riding out thing is not just about me and a girl riding out, but riding out in every aspect. It can mean you rather ride out before it gets sticky. How do you make a video that is commercial and still represents where you’ve come from? That’s the team and them feeding off me as a character. I just represent myself and they work it. It’s the way it’s shot that makes it commercial. As a producer, how long did it take to make your first beat that you would say was release-worthy? The greater part of 10 years. You always think your work is good enough to go out but you learn with experience. Things that I thought I could put out five years ago, I would never dream of putting them out today. If a budding artist handed you a CD and you saw some potential, what would you do? I’d hook up with them and do something, definitely. It doesn’t matter how high or low you are in the game. Back to food: would you consider taking up cookery if music doesn’t work out? Definitely not! I’d do it for the love of it in my own time, but it can never replace the love of music. Angel ended up making three giant hamburgers with bacon from scratch. Worried about food poisoning, he cooked them well done. A kind of well done that earned a round of applause from everyone in the office, relieved that all the grill smoke hadn’t set the alarm off and thankful for the fry performance given by Angel before he went on his way.

regulars

Bruv.... I swear this is plasticine I flip my bacon with a spoon.

say nothin!

Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gotta drop dat bbq for a peng finish

dench Watch how Angel made his burgers on our Youtube channel: http://bit.ly/fCroT6

regulars

Challenge!!.... A DAY WITHOUT ADORNMENT: NO MAKE-UP, NO EARRINGS

BEFORe AFTER For Live’s, Ria Dwyer, this particular challenge was a full-frontal attack on everything: her routine, her confidence, her life. However, in the words of Aretha Franklin, now the moment she wakes up, before she puts on her make-up, she says a little prayer for everyone who hides behind the beauty products and paints over how they really feel... Each day my routine is as follows: first I use facial wash to clean my entire face. I rinse it off with warm water then make sure my face is completely dry before the real work begins. Recipe for MY beauty success: (approx.1 hour – serves 1 person)

Squeeze a reasonable amount of foundation out on make-up pad, dab a tad of the foundation around your face and rub in evenly.

Draw a thick/thin line on your upper eyelid using liquid eyeliner. On the lower lid, do it in pencil eyeliner. This brings out the shape of your eyes.

On the day of the challenge, habit woke me up at the same time as usual, at about 9.00am. It was probably because I was tired, but robotically I started the usual routine. In fact, the same routine I’d been doing for the past six years. But then I remembered, today was LIVE CHALLENGE day. As I buried my urge to paste products on my face, I pottered around the house, trying to busy myself in order to conceal the concealer.

Photography Lewis Harris 21

Words Ria Dwyer 17

After I’d exhausted everything there was to do in the house, I left. Already I couldn’t bear it. I wrapped my face up in a scarf and pulled a giant hat over my head. I was a fugitive on my own street. From behind the sunglasses, I spotted the bus, dashed to make it and hid at the back on the top floor during the journey to the office. But why? I was still me, the same Ria who came out of my mum’s

Apply mascara to the top and bottom lashes to the thickness you require.

Apply lipstick, and then use lip gloss to give lips a shine.

stomach, the same girl who gets this very bus every day, the same young woman that walks on road. Yet I felt different. I felt…NAKED!

“But why? I was still me, the same Ria who came out of my mum’s stomach, the same girl who gets this very bus every day, the same young woman that walks on road” From a very young age I have been wearing make-up. Being one of five female siblings I always looked up to my sisters, so everything I saw them do, I decided to do too. My mother never used to wear it but she always had it and when I was young I presumed it was there for me to use instead of her.

Check out some interesting facts about Make-Up online. www.live-magazine.co.uk

regulars I arrived at the ofﬁce early. Well, on time for a change. That hour saved waking up, not making up, was working out well. But I still couldn’t resolve the fact that my bare skin was on show for everyone.

batted a (mascara-drizzled or not) eyelid and it was actually a relief when the usual male hassle outside the bus stop didn’t come on so strong. I was holding it down and I was even enjoying myself.

Nervously I approached my desk, head down, waiting for someone to shout out, “Butterz”, but it didn’t come. In fact it was the opposite. A voice ﬂoated over from behind my shoulder: “Ree, no woman needs make-up and you are seriously beautiful without it. The only time that a woman should ever wear make-up, or feel like she needs to wear it, is if she had a really bad skin condition and feels uncomfortable without covering it.”

As the day went on I reﬂected on life with and without make-up. I realised how much I hide behind it, I was feeling good and everyone could see it since I wasn’t concealing my feelings. Does this mean that make-up masks misery?

Hmmm, I wasn’t too sure about whether I should believe this. But then Louis, one of the Live designers, said, “Make-up’s a cover-up, it’s just like piercings and tattoos. All kinds of people are obsessed with changing themselves but it doesn’t change who you are. You don’t need to cover up who you are using make-up as you are pretty without it.”

“I realise how much I hide behind it, I was feeling good and everyone could see it”

Was this just that Live’s design team like the natural look? I still needed to be convinced. It was getting towards lunchtime and I was dreading leaving the ofﬁce. My options were starvation or ridicule. 2pm rolled by and I was famished. I braved it and, to my surprise, I received no funny looks, nobody

The beneﬁts of this new me kept on coming as I lay on a mascarasmeared pillow back at home. I felt clean, clear and fresh.

Was this really a new me that I was seeing? Not completely it wasn’t. The Live Challenge has made me notice people’s natural beauty more, and bad make-up has never been so obvious to me. But a sixyear habit is a hard one to break and I was straight back into my old routine the following day. But I’m now wearing much less make-up, and much less often, than before. Is no make-up an advert for conﬁdence or does conﬁdence come from the bravery of not hiding behind these products at all?

arts page

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;siblingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; by christian newell

call to action

needs you! Live is calling on talented individuals across the UK to get involved with the magazine, website and YouTube channel. We want to hear your opinion, so tell us what’s happening in your area.

Are you aged14-24 and passionate about journalism, photography, film making, illustration or web content creation? Fancy interviewing celebrities, blogging, reviewing, fashion styling and making your ideas come alive while making friends and future professional contacts? You can by getting in touch.

To join Live, Londoners should come down to our induction, held in our Brixton ofﬁce every Wednesday at 4pm. If you live in Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham, get in touch on Tel: 0207 326 5979 Or send us an email: live@live-magazine.co.uk Live is a youth lifestyle media brand working across Britain and covering music, culture, real life, politics, fashion, sport and technology. We spot trends before they become mainstream. We dig deep into serious issues, and deal with them in a way that makes sense to our readers. We are the #voiceofyouth. We work with industry professionals, who provide mentoring and support at every step of the content creation process at our Brixton ofﬁce. Our mentors are ex-editors and regular contributors to the Guardian, Observer, Dazed and Confused and Word Magazine and include well-respected experts from a broad range of print, online and broadcast.

So what are you waiting for? Email us at live@live-magazine.co.uk

Music

Sound Advice Ben Howard

Every Kingdom

Even on his first single Old Pine, it was evident that Ben Howard was capable of producing intricately beautiful acoustic music that would melt the heart of every wideeyed listener out there. With the release of his first album, Every Kingdom, he hasn’t lost one bit of that gorgeous talent. Each song has individuality and an alluring, sultry charm, strengthened by the deeply personal lyrics. Promise brings the album to a tender close and you’ll be left in complete love as our very welcome Mr Howard strikes the final chord. (EW)

Cher Lloyd

Sticks & Stones

For good reason Lloyd has been on everyone’s lips since leaving X Factor. Fusing rapping and singing, the 18-year-old is a fresh talent beyond her years. Displaying her confidence on this debut album, Sticks & Stones. Grow Up featuring Busta Rhymes sets a fierce tone and Lloyd also touches on her urban side with the hard-hitting Dub On The Track, featuring grime artists including Ghetts. In fact, there are no fillers – each song is as fun as the next and there’s an eclectic set of influences from hip-hop, RnB, to dancehall and pop. (EM)

Press Play

Summer Camp

Albums

Welcome To Condale

About a year after their acclaimed first release, Young EP, Summer Camp’s debut album arrives with a haze of familiar memories. The duo have coated everything about teenage life in their rich sound (and more 80s film samples) to create a dreamlike record. That is not to say it lacks emotion. Welcome to Condale captures perfectly the tempestuous lows, the yearning, the lusting, and the dizzy heights of being young, yet is never overwhelmingly sentimental. Nothing could be better to soundtrack the fading summer. (LK)

Rizzle Kicks

Stereotypical

The Brighton-bred duo’s first album, Stereotypical, is a mixture of Britpop anthems and crazy rap antics. The message is I-don’t-take-myself-too-seriously. With indie twangs, hip-hop riddims, catchy choruses and reggae influences, Rizzle Kicks have managed to make commercial pop music that’s not just something to shout about, but something that will also continue the festival season for just that bit longer. This album may not be the most meaningful or pull at your heartstrings but it’lll get you Down With The Trumpets. (LJ)

we caught up with cover drive, the hottest new bajan band, to find out what’s pon de replay on thier ipod What have you been listening to recently on your iPods?

We can’t get enough of No Regrets by Dappy at the moment, he’s so amazing!

Do you have a song that you always skip?

Not really, if we don’t like a song, we just won’t put it on our iPods man.

What track do you love but don’t want people to know that you love?

I don’t think think anyone should feel that way man. All music has a purpose and I love it all.

What track have you always played since you first heard it?

We’re hooked on I Need by Maverick Sabre. The melodies… it reminds us of home, man. He’s so blessed with those vocals.

What’s the track or album that you are most excited to have on your iPod?

Words Ramon Agu-Bello 17

Words Lucy Kernick 15

Words Leanne Joseph 16

Words Edwina Mukasa 21

Words Ellen Wilkie 16

Ed Sheeran’s album, +! It’s amazing! I love him, he’s a ginger pot of gold [laughs]. We love all UK music...Tinchy, Tinie, Chipmunk, Skepta. Everybody’s killing it right now. (RA-B)

Music

Four 2 Watch ETTA BOND

With a voice that ranges from neo-soul to dubstep, 21-year-old north London singer/songwriter Etta Bond is the latest UK female sure to stir up the British music scene. After meeting a Labrinth at Wood Green station in her early teens, Etta and the producer/singer/songwriter formed an immediate musical bond which later lead to her signing to his record label, Odd Child. “It just happens, he knows everything about me, it’s just natural to be in the studio together”. R&B/pop vocals mix with bass and dubstep which set her apart from other UK female artists. After working with the likes of Davinche, Master Shortie and, most recently, Wretch 32, Etta is serving up a plate full of “honest music, good music, music with creativity”. (LJ)

Josh OHSO When one of his mum’s friends threw out her guitar it was the beginning of south London-born singer/songwriter Josh Osho’s musical journey. With an innate talent for the instrument and a natural flow of words, Josh began singing and writing about his life experiences. These included Josh leaving home at a very young age, resulting in many nights sleeping rough. Signed to Island in 2010, his life has shaped who he is as an artist. Now, Josh is set to take his expressive words and perfect vocals across the UK with his debut album L.I.F.E. With RZA and Ghostface Killa as executive producers, the album is set to be a heavy mix of “everything...accordions, ukulele and the Royal Philharmonic orchestra”. (LJ)

Alt-J These days simply being linear is so old school. You need an edge. Or three, to be exact. And luckily ∆ – or Alt-J if you really want to know what to call them – hold these properties. Their clever three-faced bluesy sentimental indie pop or ‘trip-folk’, as they call it, blends clever upbeat hooks and intricately laced harmonies to create impeccably catchy tunes. And all this seems only to be captured from a few online demos. With their first release planned on Loud and Quiet, the same publication/label that gave the band their first feature, their uprising feels like something of a full circle for the band. These four lads know how to make waves, just make sure you’re throwing some shapes to them soon, too. (RW)

Cities Aviv

Words Leanne Joseph 16

Words Robbie Wojciechowsk i 17

Words Noah Jackson 17

Saviour of electro-hop, Gavin Mays – aka Cities Aviv, from Memphis – combines a variety of styles from lush electronica (check the washed-out chillwave synths on Float On) to almost jazzy trip-hop on his collabs with fellow Memphian Fille Catatonique. His off-kilter pop sensibility, reflected in his Shirley Bassey and Depeche Mode samples, complements his RZA-like flow. Bursting out of nowhere with a scattering of singles, Aviv released his debut album Digital Lows for free. If you’re down for some forward-thinking hip-hop that gets you chill as, head over to Bandcamp. Hipster or not, you won’t regret it. (NJ)

Interviews, Reviews, New Music & more online. www.live-magazine.co.uk

Illustration ÂŠ 2007 Cliff Nielson

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E N T E R TA I N M E N T

culture club Been there, seen it, done it

profile: Jack Thorne Who is he? A talented Bristol-born screenwriter and playwright for radio, theatre and film. Why we care? He has written for TV shows Skins and Shameless, and co-wrote This Is England ’86 with BAFTA-winning director Shane Meadows. Moreover, he won a Fringe First award at the world-renowned Edinburgh Festival for his play Bunny in 2010. Why should we lookout for him? His supernatural drama The Fades was shown on BBC3 and the Guardian praised the series, commenting, “It is difficult not to watch BBC3 and E4 and think channels which target the under-35s are emerging as among the best places for boldness and innovation in UK TV drama”. Did you know? Jack is currently Pearson Writer-in-Residence at London’s Bush Theatre and is part of a new production, Sixty Six Books, for which he has written part of a play based on a chapter of the King James Bible to coincide with its historic 400th anniversary. He is also working on a film version of Skins for Film 4. (CA)

LONDON

BIRMInGHAM LIVERPOOL MANCHESTER 42 Women of Sierra Leone @ International Slavery Museum

Speechless @ The Lowry

Date: Until January 2012 Admission: £8.00-£11.00

Date: 10 December Admission: £5.00-£7.00

Date: Until April 2012 Admission: FREE

Date: 22-26 November Admission: £10.00-£18.00

This exhibition aims to explore the radical and influential ideas that changed Modernism. It will look at how Postmodernism – one of the most misunderstood art movements in history – evolved throughout the 1970s to influence all areas of popular culture including film, music, art, design and fashion, on into the 1980s and beyond. There will also be workshops and lectures running alongside the exhibition until December. (EM)

A unique showcase of spoken word developed by Mac Birmingham and the UK’s leading organisation for poetry and spoken word, Apples and Snakes. With Lit Fuse, they are looking to push the boundaries with some spoken word poets and discover what happens when they get taken out of their comfort zones. This is the first in a series of events. An enjoyable and unpredictable experience is to be expected. (EM)

This is an exhibition of 42 portraits of the women of Sierra Leone by British photojournalist and writer Lee Karen Stow, showing in Liverpool. It’s being held at the thought-provoking International Slavery Museum, which explores the history of the slave trade and Liverpool’s long involvement with it. The various exhibitions held at the museum address issues such as identity, freedom, racial discrimination and cultural change. (EM)

From the director Polly Teale, who won the 2003 Evening Standard’s Best Director award, Speechless is the powerful portrayal of the twins’ secret world and their struggle to find a voice against all odds. Refusing to speak to adults, the twins communicate in a private language, their only relationship being the intense and stormy bond with each other. The play is being staged at Manchester’s world-famous Lowry. (EM)

Words Edwina Mukasa 21

Lit Fuse @ MAC Birmingham

Words Christian Adofo 23

Postmodernism Exhibition @ The Victoria & Albert Museum

E n t e r ta i n m e n t

Game On Winter Systems Revealed

We’ve brought you the top games to get your mitts on this winter. Live would rather finger bash than brace the cold any day

Nintendo 3ds

OnLive

Pros

Graphical powers near PS3 A lot of AAA titles on the way

3D without the need for glasses Streetpass effortlessly adds 3DS users just by passing each other

Instant gaming Can be played on multiple platforms, with the micro console very portable

Cons

High price point Not backwards compatible with PSP games

AAA titles at launch are remastered older games Extra peripherals are going to add extra costs to play some titles

Powerful internet connection needed (min 2MB) Can get lag due to it being all online which can slow or spoil a game

Verdict

The PS Vita is shaping up to be one powerhouse that seems to rival the Wii U. The battery lasts for three to ﬁve hours; with its many features, there’s no surprise there. It comes in two ﬂavours: a WiFi and a 3G model. This is more for the hardcore gamers who like their gaming full sized. With abilities such as remote play of PS3 games and high-quality screen abilities akin to a tablet, there are rumours that Skype chat and Flash will be available. The console could be a gaming alternative to owning a tablet.

3DS is certainly an upgrade to its sibling, but it may not be the console it’s aiming to be. With a new thumb stick attachment already announced and game developers saying their titles will be using it, it’s another slap to early adopters. But don’t let that deter you. The 3DS is after all a Nintendo system, so you are bound to have those fun games you know and love with new features, including the ability to take 3D pictures with the system, which is not something to scoff at.

OnLive is an amazing bit of tech that is the future. Right now some people may not be ready for it since the major factor is having a strong internet connection with no download limit. With the ability to trial 30mins of any game before purchase, you can really gauge what you think of a game before forking out. You can use it on PC, Mac, iPad and soon Android tablets. Regardless of hardware, this is something for the casual gamer.

PS Vita

Assassins Creed Revelations

Words Jamal Wright 20

Release date: 15 November Age: 16+ Platform: PS3, X360, iPhone, iPad, PC RRP: £45.99 The last of the Assassins Creed trilogy is here, wrapping up Ezio’s story seeing him discover the truth about the Assassins and Templars. You can expect the same great gameplay, and online modes from Brotherhood to make an appearance for those of you seeking something special.

GamePreviews

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Release date: 11 November Age: 15+ Platform: PS3, PC RRP: £38.90 Skyrim is the latest game in a series known for giving gamers their money’s worth, for those fed up of games lasting forever Skyrim offers gamers around 200 hours of play. Set in a world ﬁlled with danger and adventure, you can postpone the main story to explore and quest.

Need for Speed: The Run

Release date: 18 November Age: 16+ Platform: PS3, 3DS, X360, PC, RRP: £39.89 The Run brings the street style of N4S, but with a new Hollywood sheen to it. Using racing backdrops from the good old U.S of A, The Run has really upped the franchise. The Autolog system also returns, letting you track friends and allowing you to break records. This is one for those looking for some good arcade driving fun.

Uncharted 3

Release date: 2 November Age: 16+ Platform: PS3 RRP: £44.99 Uncharted 3 is the third in the PlayStation series that has set a standard for cinematic storytelling and solid game play. Following Nathan Drake in the desert to ﬁnd “Atlantis of the Sands”, players will be engaged with a story full of humour and twists. This is one game not to miss.

E n t e r ta i n m e n t

Front Row

Reviews and previews of what’s coming and what’s already here

Preview

review

Preview

review

The Muppets

Coriolanus

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Take Shelter

Feb 10, 2012

The Muppets return in a new film set to revive these legendary and iconic figures. Split up for years, the Muppets reunite to save their theatre from a greedy oil tycoon with the help of some fans. After plenty of excitement-building spoof trailers on the internet, The Muppets has become a highly anticipated film of 2012. The human stars are Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams), a couple staging a Muppets telethon to save the theatre. But it wouldn’t be a Muppets show without guest stars and they oblige with Lady Gaga, Ricky Gervais and Selena Gomez. (JW)

Jan 20, 2012

In Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut, he plays Coriolanus, a banished soldier who joins forces with his enemy, Aufidius (Gerard Butler), to destroy Rome. It is a Shakespearean war story set in modernday Rome, but presented with the original dialogue, reportedly in protest against the dumbing down of the English language. Yet the film is full of gripping action and excellent performances – particularly a talismanic turn from Fiennes himself – which heighten a great story and overall intelligent film. Fiennes’ future as a director should be interesting. (JW)

Live Classic

Dec 26, 2011

Based on the bestselling novel by the Swedish writer Stieg Larsson, this is an American remake of the orginal film. It follows the protagonist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) while he tries to investigate a murder of a young female 40 years ago. He enlists help from a young, brilliant but antisocial hacker, Lisbeth Sander (Rooney Mara). Following Fincher’s The Social Network and with an exciting soundtrack by Nine Inch Nail’s Oscar-winning Trent Reznor, this looks to deliver another exciting thriller for this winter. For fans of both the original book and newcomers alike. (EM)

Nov 25, 2011

Take Shelter is a drama centred on a man plagued by apocalyptic visions. He, his family and friends struggle with the consequences. The film is driven by fear and builds on the confusion and uncertainty of the modern day as Curtis (Michael Shannon) and his family decide whether he has inherited his mother’s paranoid schizophrenia or whether his visions are true and they should get ready for it. Atmospheric and moody, great performances build the ‘fear of the storm’ up to a finale that goes off like a shotgun in the dark. (JW)

Unbreakable

It has earned cult status, grossing £60 million in DVD sales and being listed in Time’s superhero top 10. Decribed as a “quiet, subtle and realistic look at the pressures that come with being a superhero,” it failed at the box office, but there’s talk of a sequel. Watch this space. (EM)

Words Emine Nectorio 21

It’s a tale of two men with an unusual identity crisis. One day David Dunn (Bruce Willis) finds himself the only uninjured survivor of a terrible train crash. From that day on, he has a lot of questions about himself. Elijah Price (Samuel L Jackson), a man with a disease that causes his

Words Edwina Mukasa 21

bones to break like glass, offers David answers, but something dark is afoot. Passionate about comic books, he believes that somewhere there’s a superhero and deduces that his condition isn’t an error from nature, but a higher calling.

Words Jhenelle White 19

Unbreakable is a supernatural thriller produced by M. Night Shyamalan in 2000, one year before he made it big with The Sixth Sense. The story is original and the theme of superheroes is approached from a different angle.

More Film Reviews, Interviews and Previews online. www.live-magazine.co.uk

E n t e r ta i n m e n t

Fully Booked

= Just Read It!! = Good Stuff = Worth a Read = I’ll Pass = Meh...

Love Books? Go To spinebreakers.co.uk Naked Kevin Brooks (Publisher)

With a jacket that reads ‘Live Fast, Play Dirty, Get Naked’, you might not expect Naked’s narrator to be a public schoolgirl called Lilibet who lives in Hampstead. Set in 1976, Lili is asked by the rebellious Curtis Ray, the coolest boy in school, to join his band, Naked. We are thrown into the 70s music scene, when the Sex Pistols were setting the agenda. It may start as a clichéd teen novel, but the backdrop of IRA activity adds edge and its engaging narrator and characters will make this book a success in the market it’s aimed for. (RS)

Exile Jakob Ejersbo (Quercus) The first in a trilogy exploring the relationship between first world expats and the third world country they live in. This story focuses on disaffected youths in Tanzania – the children of former mercenaries, drug dealers and burntout farmers. Over-privileged, misplaced and lacking direction, sex is the order of the day for these hormonal youths. The story is largely about 15-year-old Samantha, who being white and having lived in Tanzania since the age of three feels like a misfit. Neglected by her English family, she delves into a world of sex and drugs in a bid to find someone to identify with. (KW)

Glow Amy Kathleen Ryan (Macmillan) Ryan’s boundless imagination depicts an amazing artificial world created inside a spaceship. She describes a community of people destined to take humankind to another planet, leaving the flaws and anguish of earth behind. The action begins immediately and maintains the fast pace. Thought-provoking topics such as religion, friendship and fertility are woven into the space adventure. They are carefully handled to show human nature at its best and worst. Readers will identify with the insecurities facing the teenagers as they question their destiny. Glow is the first of a trilogy. (RR)

Steampunk! Various Writers (Walkerbooks)

Words Channara Agoro-Burns 15

Words Ravae Richardson 19

Words Rob Stenhrenberger 15

Words Kwaku Manu 22

Steampunk! is a truly remarkable avant-garde anthology of enchanting tales of delirious adventure complete with voyages through time. All 14 visionary authors contribute splendidly to this quirky mix of sci-fi and history. Each dark, witty tale delves into the hypnotic realms of clockwork robots and industrial triumph, far exceeding our technological capabilities. Mainly geared towards young adults, Steampunk! can act as the gateway to this genre for a whole new generation of readers. Not to mention two magnificently crafted graphic novels. (CA-B)

Live Classic

A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens (Wordworth’s Children’s Classics) A literary classic with a moral, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a timeless cautionary tale about the dangers of greed. The protagonist is Ebenezer Scrooge, a man whose primary personality traits are selfishness and a cold heart. One Xmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his business partner, who warns him to change his ways. Then three further ghosts appear (of Christmas Past, Present and Future) showing Scrooge how miserable his meanness has made him. The books thirdperson narrative gives the reader a fly-on-thewall perspective of his transportations while still demonstrating the impact it has on him. Despite the contrast with the 19th century, when this was written, and today, A Christmas Carol teaches some good lessons that can be put to use in the modern world. (BO)

e n t e r ta i n m e n t

Culture Shock on the Block

Nominated for a Man Booker Prize for his first novel Pigeon English, We chatted to Stephen Kelman about his latest release

What was the inspiration for the story? The case of Damilola Taylor and those similar to his. Where I lived, there were a lot of potential Damilolas around me, I went to school with them all over the world. I remember thinking it was such an important story because here was a kid who came to England with his family looking for a better life, he had dreams and they were taken from him in such a senseless way. It struck me as really tragic when that potential was taken away. I found it frustrating that nothing was being done and no one had written about it in fiction.

Photo Credit: Jonathan RIng

Did your decision to base the story on a Ghanaian family come from you having been around a lot of Ghanaians? There were a lot of Ghanaian families living in the neighbourhood where I grew up and they were still living there when I wrote the book. There’s also a carnival in Luton in which the Ghana Society is heavily involved. Being around them gave me an insight into their lives, which I wanted to pay tribute to. Did you have any outside help with the actual Pidgin English used in the book? Living on the estate brought me into contact with people who used it and I was able to get a sense of how they used it in context. I also listened to kids banter with each other on their way to school;

then I found a really useful Ghanaian-English dictionary online that filled in any gaps in my knowledge. Just having nieces and nephews of that age helped as well. I know the slang they use and the way they all interact with each other. Which part of the book was the hardest to write? The part where Harrison (Harri) remembers life in Ghana since I’ve never been to Ghana, but I went online and looked at some pictures and imagined the places where he would’ve lived. I also spoke to people within the Ghanaian community about what they missed the most back home. These make up Harri’s memories of home and they give the reader a taste of the values he left behind that we don’t have so strongly over here.

“I think it’s really interesting and an inevitable side-effect of living in such a diverse society and is something that should be celebrated” The story seems to be written in the style of a stream of consciousness. Was that hard to maintain? It was quite tricky, but his character engaged with me so well, I was always on his side and could put myself in his shoes and try to imagine how he would have behaved. I was able to divorce myself from the process and

be in his skin entirely. By the end I was thinking like I was Harri and that meant the story flowed naturally. It seems you were touching on domestic abuse and human trafficking with his aunt and her male companion? Her story touches on people trafficking, she’s come to England trying to better her life, although she does so illegally. She’s had to use desperate measures, hence her contact with the Julius character and his negative impact on her. Harri sees their relationship as odd and senses that Julius is an unsavoury character, yet he can’t express this to his aunt. What do you make of the belief that the English language is succumbing to African, Caribbean and Asian influences? I think it’s really interesting and an inevitable side effect of living in such a diverse society and is something that should be celebrated. I think culture is always shifting and absorbing new influences. It certainly makes language more interesting because language is the first indicator of how a society evolves. Do you have any advice for any would-be writers out there? The most important thing I would say is: don’t give up. Start with a story that moves you that you feel personally connected to.

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Asks...

Cher Lloyd

Live Asks is where readers get to ask the questions. This month it’s the turn of the swaggerificant Cher Lloyd and we got Music Ed Leanne to put her under the spotlight Cher rose to fame on the 2010 X Factor on iTV. She was particularly known for being one of the first contestants to mix urban pop and rap together. At only 18, she is one of the show’s most successful acts. Currently signed to Simon Cowell’s record label Syco, Cher is to release her first album on 21st November. Since the X Factor you’ve had a number one hit and an album on the way. How does it feel to have achieved that all at once? It’s really good, a bit of a shock obviously from leaving such a big show like that and it all kicking off, but it’s been really good. Do you have any favourite 2011 X Factor contestants? I really like Craig and Sammy. What do you prefer, rapping or singing? No definitely singing. Rapping isn’t my main thing, I’m not a rap artist, but I do it for a bit of fun.

Swagger Jagger was initially leaked. Where were you when you found that out? I don’t really know, I just got a lot of tweets through and it was on YouTube. It was upsetting, but you need to learn to get over those things because at the end of the day, if it’s being leaked, there’s a high demand for it. You’ve named your album Sticks And Stones. Why is that? Because it’s an old saying my mum used to say to me when things weren’t going too well and when people used to say nasty things. She’d always say “sticks and stones”.

Words Leanne Joseph 16

Have your team given you any advice on how to handle certain situations in the industry? No, I prefer to do everything pretty much myself. When things get chucked at me it’s good to deal with it yourself because you learn

more. I don’t need people to back me up on whatever I say or whatever I do, but I just need advising, not to be demanded to. Why did you decide to work with artists such as Mic Righteous, Ghetts and Dot Rotten? I did it as a sort of respect thing. Growing up in Worcestershire, I always wanted to get in with that sort of crowd. But being from a show like the X Factor, it separates you from being in that. It’s basically me trying to do something I really wanted to do and I did it. If you didn’t go on the show what would you be doing right now? Would you have gone to university? [laughs] I never really pictured myself going to uni, I’m not a uni person, I was never that good at school. I’d probably have a job in a shop somewhere – I like fashion. You’re very flamboyant with your style. Do you think you’ve influenced other girls to take risks with fashion? Yeah I’m a bit of a risk taker. Sometimes I choose outfits that look absolutely disgusting, but it’s all right to have a laugh with what you wear. It brings your character out, so I think people should just wear what they want and not worry about it. As long as you’re covered, you’re good. What artists are you listening to right now? I’m listening to a bit of everything. I really like Emeli Sande. You refer to your fans as “brats”: why is that? I’ve never directly named them; it just came about because of me as a person some people call me a bit bratty. It’s funny, its just a fun name, so that’s what they call themselves. What do you hope to achieve in your career? I want to have lots of videos out, I want my music to be here and everywhere and for people to enjoy it. I can’t wait to do more live performances because that’s why I’m in this industry, because I really like to perform.

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31/10/2011 15:30