Live Magazine Vol2 Issue 9

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Winter 2012 VOL 2 ISSUE 9 #VOICEOFYOUTH

D K N AWA E N G E U R

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STEPPING UP WITH RUDIMENTAL

COUCH SURFING

STOOSHE

legal high dealers

olympic heroes

Androgyny

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Ed’s Letter The Crew / Key Playaz Big Ask & SOMEWHERETO_ Loves & Loathes Dummies Guide to Working Abroad For and Against International Aid We Love… Muted Tones Gadgets World in Focus: USA Inside Job: Michael Neto Around the World in 80 Words Cooking With Stooshe Live Challenge: Revision OurTube

Amazing Illustration by the award-winning Corban Wilkin; from his upcoming graphic novel ‘Breaker’s End’

Features 24 26 28 33 38 40 42 44 46 48 55

Legal Highs: Online and on Drugs Young Creatives in Hollywood couch Surfing: Home is Where the Sofa is Rudimental Youth Enterprise Live Androgyny Single Mums: To the power of one 2012 roundup Sport: Olympic Heights Fashion Self Publishing: Do it yourself

entertainment 58 61 62 64 65

Sound Advice Fully Booked Front Row Games Culture Club

Ed’s Letter I guess you’re expecting me to talk about a great year gone, how we should look forward to the future, yadA yadA yada. all true, of course, but I don’t want to follow the norm. Who wants another column on New Year’s resolutions? this issue we’re all about breaking stereotypes and upsetting expectations (oooh look at me!). I even tried to do something different with my picture, but nearly fell over posing for it!

At this time of year, people rightly pull out their violins and play a sad tune for the homeless – but who’s conducting a sympathetic symphony for the person sleeping from one floor to the next, carting their clothes around in bags once they’ve outstayed their welcome at a mate’s house? You don’t have to be sleeping rough to be homeless: couch-surfing is a common phenomenon that can affect anyone at any age, but particularly the young, and we’ve got to the bottom of it on page 28. Stand up for the undercover homeless!

Now ring the alarm for the androgynous tribe! We’ve all had that whiplash moment when we’ve spotted someone who dresses like the opposite sex. Who are they and why do they do it? Some might mock because they don’t share society’s conventional image, but I commend them on their confidence. We take a deeper look at why girls want to look like boys and boys want to look like girls on page 40.

Some still think drug use means meeting strangers in dark alleys, but these days it’s more likely to be your friends selling to you. Deaths from legal highs have soared. To meet the new breed of dealer, and to discover why people are putting their drug experiences online: flick to page 24.

Background image by www.regularjane.tk

Ever heard the term pram-face? Young parents get a bad rep, being made to look like irresponsible people who’ve committed the worst crime on earth – having a child they can’t really take care of. But most parents just want to do right, no matter what their age. We’ve spoken to three young women who, despite the ‘single mum = bad mum’ label, are thriving in their studies, business and career on page 42.

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And finally one stereotype that doesn’t need debunking is London being home to the best music.

Further proof comes in the shape of our cover stars, Rudimental! LIVE loves them. I love them. You’re going to love them – feel the love here, people! If there’s one album you need to buy in 2013, it’ll be their debut, due out late February. We’ve gone under the skin of the quartet on page 33 to see how it’s shaping up and why they’re set to be the sound of tomorrow. Make sure you watch the behindthe-scenes footage on our YouTube channel, too.

So, incredible London music aside, there’s no more stereotypes this year. Break the mould! It’s a new year, so go ahead and make it genuinely fresh. And if you must make a resolution, resolve to do things differently. @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 photographers 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, 21

Deputy Features Editor Eli Anguelova, 17

GadgeTS EDITOR Alex Shickell, 16

Online Editor Monique Todd, 20

Fashion Editor Fiona Aber-Taurnona, 19

Film Editor Jacob Stolworthy, 21

Art Director Henry Houdini 24

Music Editors Leanne Joseph, 17 Robbie Wojciechowski, 18 Emma Hitchens, 22

books editor Aida Gugsa, 17

Senior Designer Louis Harris, 22

politics editor Omar Shahid, 21

Deputy Editor Iram Sarwar, 21

culture editor Verity Nelson, 23

Designers Kerrie Braithwaite, 21 Whitley Weston, 24 Sholape Akinnawo, 20 Jenai Edwards, 17

Games editor Jamal Wright, 22

social media strategist Robbie Wojciechowski, 18

SportS editor Christian Adofo, 23

Deputy online Editor Keisha-Monique Joseph, 21 Kamara Bennett, 20 EdiTORIAL aSISSTANT Shineze Henry, 17

YouTube editors Eve-Yasmine Saoud-Easton, 18 Moses Ssebandeke, 21

Senior Mentors Emma Warren Steve Yates Ali Rafi Production Manager Kay Daylami Advertising and Business Development Andrea Gamson Sam Andrews Live Mentors Jason Page Naomi Brown Callum McGeoch Caspar Llewellyn-Smith Ruth Saxelby Patrick Kingsley Mark Calderbank Zoe Roberts Aisha Siddiq Nadia Gilani Graham Peace

Features Editor Zindzi Rocque-Drayton, 22 Contributors Thalita Rodriguez, 15; Kamilla Baiden, 21; Darcy Thomas, 24; Teju Adeleye, 23; Hari Mountford, 19; Suraiya Mukith, 16; Margaret Zawedde, 15; Lily Reueul,

15, Josh Correia, 15; Caroline Wilson, 19; Meera Sharma, 24; Clarissa Pabi, 21; Dermot Neligan, 16; Jack Brennan, 14; Hannah McKellar-Ricketts, 19; Jasmyn McNamara, 16; Charlene Russell, 15; Nimisha Dudakia, 15; Victoria Lawall, 21; Gold Mokwe, 22; Lashelle McDonald, 15; Christina Lai, 24; Snehal Shah, 18; Monwar Hussain, 17; Kerrie Braithwaite, 21; Stephanie Saldanha, 22; Jodie-Ann Gayle, 24; Alice Carder, 22; Ayshia Armani, 20; Omari Okwulu, 20; Myles Warwood, 22; Winnie Arhin, 21; Jonnell Rowe, 21; Helene Richardson, 21; Nazeem Francis, 16; James Burrows, 22; Uche Amako, 23; Daniel Icha, 21; Ahmed Abokar, 24; Temi Omotosho, 23; Isobel Williams, 23; Ruweyda Dool, 22; Sophie Bright, 17; Sarah Gbamboi, 17; Yolanda Walker, 17; Nazeem Francis, 16; Laura Dawson, 19; Salome Williams, 20; Aurelie Malanda, 21; Kay Lima 22, Amar Seipal 22; Whitley Weston, 23; Ade Onibada, 20; Jermaine Ghartey, 19; Ajaun Riley, 20; Ned Powley, 17; RIa Dwyer, 18; Elias Wachenje, 13.

thanks to The Guardian, Kath Viner, Alan Rusbridger, Mudassar Mian, Stuart Morrison, Hannah Freeman, Andrew Mccreadie, Tanya Alden, Dave Kirwan David McCoy, Dave Kirwan, Alistair Lee, Monique Thomas, somewhereto_, Ben Ferguson, Deborah Orr, Geffrye Museum, Centrepoint, Frank, Michael Whitaker, Tapi, House PR, Jim Powell, Fiona McKellar, Karen Chambers and last but never least ZoOm.

Key Playaz

Keisha - Monique Joseph

Moses Ssebandeke

Yara Shaikh

Campbell Kenny

Eve-Yasmine Saoud-Easton

Keisha-Monique, 21, has been LIVE’s deputy online editor since July. A final year Modern History and Journalism student, this girl loves travelling, eating and being by the sea (but not in it!).

Right now she’s writing a 10,000-word dissertation at Uni in Leicester (and staying sane by listening to pumpin’ old Kanye) but has ambitions to become a travel journalist – and to live on every continent!

After deciding a degree in Film Studies wasn’t for him Moses, 21, took his career into his own hands and went freelance. He joined LIVE’s YouTube team in January and has already filmed interviews with the likes of A$AP Rocky and Misha B and has big plans for our online channel. With hopes to go into music video direction and work with Kanye West, this guy is one to watch.

Yara first found LIVE on a work experience placement; now two years later she’s returned, more passionate about writing than ever. The Journalism student dreams of working for the Guardian and the United Nations and there’s no doubt Yara’s work will be read internationally. For now check her interview Rob with filmmaker Savage and her tips on our OurTube page.

Landscape gardener turned journalist, 22-yearold Campbell strutted into our office four months ago after interviewing our art director and is now a key member of the LIVE familia.

Forever buzzing with new ideas and deep thoughts, he’s written for blogs, including Ruby Pseudo, and travelled to Athens in the name of journalism.

With hopes of writing books, expect to see him at a Waterstones near you!

Eve joined our YouTube team nine months ago as a presenter and video content editor. At only 18 she’s worked for Superstar Magazine and as a Britain’s Next Top Model blogger.

As LIVE presenter, she’s gone and interviewed everyone from Cover Drive to Kat Von D. Ambitious, determined and talented, you’ll be seeing a lot of this girl. But for now check out her interviews all over our YouTube page.

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Big

Ask

What’s good, people? Let me start in typical Mr Darcy fashion. Bah humbug! I mean this with every fibre of my being.

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Words Suraiya Mukith 16

Where I’m from, it’s said that when a black cat passes you, it’s good luck.

But I don’t have too many superstitions.

To avoid them, I don’t put myself into dangerous situations such as walking under a ladder or opening an umbrella inside a building.

Alimah 21 I used to be because my background has a lot of superstition, but then I realised that it’s not true and it’s kind of a silly thing to believe in. Before I used to think that people who are superstitious are right, but now I just try and make them see beyond it.

Photography Daniel Icha 21

lydia

I’m not really superstitious, I don’t believe in those type of things. Everything that happens, if it happens it happens, there’s nothing we can do to change it.

But everybody has their own opinions and different beliefs, so I’m no-one to say they’re wrong.

Words Yara Shaikh 18

would you be freaked out if you broke a mirror?

And do you do that weird thing of saluting magpies?

LIVE asks readers where they stand on the topical subject of superstitions

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elle

15

I’m superstitious about certain things, such as walking under a ladder or black cats, so I would try to avoid them by crossing the road and walking on the other side. My superstitions have come from movies and the way that they’re portrayed.

pia

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Leaving keys on the kitchen table is bad luck. I think I’m going to end up losing them. I always put my keys on a piece of paper so that they are never touching the table. When I was a kid I would always lose my keys, I thought it was because I left them touching the table.

Photography Henry Houdini 24

andre

I won’t bore you with the clichéd Christmas and New Year chat, because it’s all a bunch of cherries. I’m fed up of being sold images of an obese man who flies around the world in one night to give us gifts we have no use for. This year I’ve been asking for a house. Let’s see him fit that in his bag.

Did you know Santa Claus used to wear green until Coca Cola changed his attire for commercial reasons during the 1950s?

Keep it real, yeah!

We’ve all been in the position where a relative gets you a present you have no use for. The infamous home-made jumper and scarf ensemble from Nana; a book you’ll never read based on a subject you have no interest in; and the beloved sentimental “I didn’t know what to get you, I hope you like it” gift from the girl/boyfriend. If you’re out of work and out of money, how do you get through this depressing period? I have one idea that will help.

After receiving all these gifts that have no purpose in your life, you’re now prepared for 2013. You have gifts for birthdays, Valentine’s and next Christmas. This initiative is called re-gifting, an ingenious method passed down from generation to generation, and in these hard times one has to be creative. Make that jumper the perfect gift for a cousin on his birthday; surprise Nan with a quiet night’s read with that book you’ve no interest in and give your girlfriend that homemade ‘vintage’ scarf Nan made for Valentine’s. Don’t forget to save wrapping paper!

So last thing peoples: New Year. Write a list for what you need, want to achieve and how you will reach these targets.

Resolutions are made to be broken but a promise to yourself is something you must follow through. After all, you’ll only be lying to yourself. Do you in 2013!

This space was given to Mr Darcy by somewhereto_. If you’ve got a passion in arts, sports or culture, www.somewhereto.com has hundreds more spaces. Sign up now!

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7-11 DECEMBER 2012

NEC BIRMINGHAM

01/11/2012 12:11

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Live Loves Pyjamas They’re the most comfortable form of clothing in the world. You can wear them when you’re chilling on the sofa, doing a bit of homework or watching movies. Who says they’re only for sleeping? (ND)

Finding money That feeling when you haven’t worn a hoodie for months and you dig your hands in the pockets and find a tenner. Best thing ever!

Feels like Christmas. (HR) School’s closed for snow The happiest moment is when it’s been snowing all night and you wake up to see the whole street covered in snow. Even better when you check the school website and it says “No school today due to snow”. All you think is SNOWBALL FIGHT. (LR)

Music I think we can all agree that music is life. Music’s there with us through rough times and in our everyday lives.

It can calm you, make you wanna bounce around like crazy, and sometimes it’s just the reason why we breathe. I HAVE to listen to music everywhere I go; it’s a habit. (TR)

Plantain Has anyone tried plantain?

If not, then KMT! You need to try this out. This banana-like fruit is different because you fry it and eat it with the main meal, not as a dessert. To all the people that dislike plantain, shame on you, you clearly do not know what good food tastes like. (LM) Singing It’s a great way to free yourself of all your troubles and build up your confidence. I love spontaneously bursting into song, at home doing the washing-up, maybe even just walking down the street.

Mum tells me to shut up but that just makes me sing louder. (LM)

Daydreaming Those few minutes when you block out the world and your imagination takes you on an adventure. Whether you’re thinking about being chased by a giant or which animal you could have been in your past life, daydreaming sets your mind free. (ND)

Live Loathes

Words Christina Lai 24

Words Gold Mokwe 22

Words Thalita Rodriguez 15

Words Victoria Lawal 21

Words Nimisha Dudakia 15

Comparing people to me I absolutely hate it when somebody compares me to another person, it’s so frustrating! I am my own person, not them and I never will be them. Even if we do similar things we are not alike! (CR)

Words Charlene Russell 15

Social Network Spammers Ever logged into Facebook or Twitter to find someone or something has hacked your profile in order to flood other people’s newsfeeds with advertisements? I don’t know what’s worse, that or being tagged in a random photo with 50 random people commenting utter randomness. *disables notifications* (GM)

Words Jasmyn McNamara 16

Awkward silences These should be abolished from existence. Someone either says something inappropriate or conversation just runs dry and there it is hanging in the air being all awkward like. Everyone feels incredibly uncomfortable and stupid.

Let’s not even go there. (JM)

Words Lily Reueul 15

Yolo Everyone is on about Yolo this and Yolo that. All these youths do crazy things like the cinnamon challenge, and when they’re finished they say ‘Yolo’. Of course you only live once, because you’re only born once! And before that terrible word came along you all knew that already. Go read a book instead. (LM)

Words Hannah Ricketts 19

Receiving change When cashiers in shops return my change to me on top of the receipt it can be very irritating. I struggle to put the money away as the coins slide on the paper and I have to make sure it’s carefully held so I don’t drop it. Why not hand over the coins and receipt separately? Then everybody’s happy!

(VL)

Words Lashelle McDonald 15

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Mummy Porn Fifty Shades, Bared To You, The Dark Garden (yes really!)... aren’t we sick of black novels with ghostly slithers of inanimate objects already? The thought of mum’s stashed copy and leather dusters makes Twilight seem CBeebies-friendly. No more mummy porn please, we’re British! (CL)

regulars

Dummies guide to

Working Abroad

savings, I don’t think I would have managed because internships aren’t paid well.” If you want to make it abroad you have to prove you’re a valuable asset to your new employer. “You have to be aware that you not only compete with people from all over the world, but also with national applicants for whom the employer doesn’t need to fill in any complicated visa files.” But for Tatjana fitting in was fine: “I just kept following UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) news so I had an idea of what they were working on when I started there.”

We are in a jobs crisis, turfed from internships to work experience and forced to sell our souls for the price of travel expenses. looking for A solution? why not Take our skills where they’re appreciated: abroad Roughly 100,000 young people are moving abroad every year.

And that’s not all: one-third of young people in the UK have considered doing so, according to a survey by Post Office International Payments. It’s not hard to imagine why: there are over a million 16-24-year-olds currently claiming benefits; property prices have risen, meaning you’ll probably be squatting at Mum and Dad’s until you’re 40; and if you’ve actually got a degree it’s only at the cost of years of crippling debt. Combine these toxic circumstances with a desire to travel and see the world and you can see why more and more young people are following their dreams and making the leap across the seas. But is it really that easy? How realistic is it to find a job or to find new friends and to fit into a new culture? The world is your oyster, they say, but if it’s everyone else’s too, then what are your chances of finding a job abroad?

According to Susan Griffith, author of Work Your Way Around The World, “anyone can find temporary work anywhere in the world”.

Anyone with a sense of adventure and an ounce of nerve has the ability to explore the corners of the world on little money, but if you want more than the standard gap year job then you’ve got to know where to look.

As well as Camp America type jobs with BUNAC or CCUSA, there are sites like playawayabroad.com that recruit workers for clubs

For 24-year-old Tatjana it took a lot of research and pestering. The masters student is currently doing her second internship abroad at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland after a stint in the American capital, Washington DC. She’s a believer: “Working abroad is incredibly rewarding, it broadens your horizons and challenges you to leave your comfort zone.”

Having looked for jobs at home she realised she wasn’t going to get it here. “You can’t find a job like this at home” she insists.

“You need to have international and intercultural experience for so many jobs, especially if you want to work in an international organisation.”

Illustration Isobel Williams 23

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Words Iram Sarwar 21

If you’re planning to leave the European Union it does take a lot of planning and paperwork. You need to start early to make the deadlines and moving will always cost time and money. “Without

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regulars

So where to work in the world?

LIVE picks the top five spots Australia

You can apply for a 12-month working holiday visa, £190 online at immi.gov.au, though you may be asked to prove sufficient funds. Under £2K may be deemed too risky, as the cost of living has rocketed recently.

New Zealand

You can get a 12-month or a 23-month visa if you’re under 30 at immigration.govt.nz. There are certain requirements, one being having access to £180 for every month of your stay. Food and drink expensive.

USA

America is one of the hardest countries to get into. Try the J-1 visa that allows 18-26 year olds to work as an au pair for 12 months.

You’ll be provided with food and accommodation but may have to complete certain courses. A one-bed apartment in suburban New York may cost you £1,000 a month.

Canada

and bars in places such as Malia and Ibiza. If you’re looking for something more, ahem, sober, then the British Council have a long list of apprenticeships and resources for people who want to find a job abroad. It’s relatively easy to get work anywhere in the world teaching English, especially if you’ve got a TEFL qualification, and there’s also the option of working holidays in places like Australia through websites like taw.com.acu. Keep your eye on Facebook or Twitter and find accounts that aggregate job opportunities or keep searching for #jobs posts.

With non-European countries you’ll have to get a visa and a work permit. To get a job you have to be the best of the best because they’re not going to let just anyone come and work. Find out exactly what you need and stay organised. Some jobs will provide accommodation but with others it’s up to you. There are loads of great websites out there that can hook you up with a place to stay whether it’s long-term or just for a few months. When it actually comes to moving, unfortunately there’s no book that will tell you what to do so try and talk to someone you know who’s already made the leap or someone at your workplace.

Working abroad sounds amazing: a dream job in some hot foreign country, chilling with your new hot friends and making some serious hot money. But it doesn’t always work out quite like that.

Hussain, 21, worked as an executive assistant for an actor in both Capetown and Hollywood after some productive networking on a film set in London. He thought it was a dream come true, though he soon learnt that things weren’t all they were cracked up to be. “It was the first time I’d moved out of home and I was homesick.” After three weeks in Capetown and six in LA, Hussain decided to call time on his ‘dream’. “I missed the food. Food is a big thing. When you’re working abroad you use all your energy, you don’t have time to eat because you’re trying to adapt. It wasn’t how I imagined.”

If you move to a brand new country, you’re not instantly going to find a new bunch of mates and you will miss your friends and family. It’ll be the little things that make you realise. “The worst thing for me was when my friends sent me a video of them outside a club and I was like ‘I wish I was there!’ I was wishing I was outside

18-35-year-olds can apply for a working visa under the International Experience Canada Programme at international. gc.ca/experience for £90. You will need to demonstrate cleared funds of £1,600 and probably quite a bit of French. Generally cheaper than the UK but the doom and gloom of the world economy means the cost of living has risen.

Singapore

Graduates under 30 will have to secure a place on the Work Holiday Programme for £75, which allows them to work for six months. More than 7,000 multinational companies hire through ContactSingapore.sg. Singapore is cheap for food and living but accommodation could set you back £2,000 a month.

Leicester Square when I was in Hollywood and that was a weird thing for me to experience.” Even coping with the currency can be hard: “Everywhere I went I was just constantly converting money in my head to figure out if I was getting bumped or not.”

The stress of work and its reliability can also be difficult. “You’ve got to be on your guard 24/7 because you’re the foreigner and you’ve got to make people like you if you want to stay,” he says. “They can get rid of you at any minute.” But if everyone’s relying on you to give them hope at home then you’ve got to act like you’re having a good time.

“It’s embarrassing coming back home, facing your friends and family who’ve celebrated you leaving and then you’ve failed.”

But even Hussain accepts it wasn’t all bad. “It was amazing,” he admits, “because you never experience stuff like that until you’re out there. You learn so much about yourself, meet so many people and give your friends back home a sense of hope.” Would he do it again though? ”Definitely. Just maybe not America this time.”

For a lot of people working abroad just isn’t possible, like the 13% of people in the Post Office survey who claim they couldn’t leave because they had too many debts. And there’s another question, too. What if this new wave of young people leaving the UK has another implication: are we going to be the migrant workers of the future, with all the troubles that suggests? Who knows. But right now, working aboard looks like a positive alternative to unemployment.

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@vinspired #vcashpoint

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For How can anyone be against foreign aid? It’s a necessity in eradicating third world poverty. Aid is crucial for developing countries and can make a huge difference to the lives of poor people.

It is because of foreign aid that poorer countries can have things that we take for granted in the West. Aid helps to train teachers, buy textbooks for schools and medical equipment for clinics. It pays doctors’ salaries and builds hospitals.

Every two hours one woman dies during pregnancy and childbirth in Nepal. Foreign aid from the UK has helped to reduce this and Nepal is now set to reach its Millennium Development Goal on child mortality before 2015. Can you imagine the repercussions for Nepal if aid was to stop?

Foreign aid isn’t just about donating money – much of it is to do with educating poorer countries to prevent the spread of diseases such

as AIDS. Every eight seconds someone is infected with the HIV virus. This can be reduced with the right education, well-trained doctors, nurses and effective medicines, which all comes from foreign aid.

Aid makes the West feel good because we are doing good by donating. It is a moral duty to help those less fortunate than you. I am not ignoring the fact the West is going through an economic decline, but at the end of the day we are still better off than many third world countries where an estimated 1.345 billion people live on $1.25 a day or less and eight million people go to bed hungry every night. It is only right to help them out.

Say what you want about aid but at its core the issue is simple: it is a matter of life and death. Foreign aid can help poor people have the things that we take for granted and more importantly help people live. There’s nothing wrong with that. (MS)

For & Against:

international Aid The UK gives £12.6 billion a year in international aid. Not everyone thinks we should – and not for the reasons you might expect. Let battle commence

If you think aid actually works you’ve got to be kidding yourself.

Think about it. In the aid trade’s 50-year history what has it actually achieved? Apart from a few small gains, human rights are still being violated, climate change has not been stopped and poverty has not been eradicated. Aid has done nothing but help the poor get poorer, make long-term growth even slower and exists only to ease our moral conscience.

Words Iram Sarwar 21

Words Meera Sharma 24

The main problem aid countries face is bad governance and no matter how many conditions the West puts on aid it’s a problem that is impossible for us to fix. Look at a country like Zimbabwe: in 2009 the US stopped aid, demanding they saw a better democracy. Three years later nothing’s changed and Zimbabwe is still getting aid even though it’s still rife with corruption. So what difference does it make if you donate £3 a week to feed a starving African child? It might be a good thing, but it doesn’t mean it’s actually going to change anything.

Aid agreements actually just link the economies of the developing countries into the donor countries – that undermines domestic savings and investment. Every 30 seconds a child is killed by malaria, something that can be prevented with a simple mosquito net. It costs just £5 to buy and hang a net that will save two people (madness). So everyone rushes to buy one of these nets. But who manufactures them? NGOs based in the West. So what happens to the mosquito net manufacturer in the developing country? They get put out of business.

If no one’s actually teaching these countries what to do and instead bombarding them with money nothing will change.

We are two years away from the target of the Millennium Development Goals and nothing has been achieved. One last point: how is it decided who gets the most aid? It must be a coincidence that the countries getting the most from the UK’s aid budget are the ones that Britain once colonised. Just saying. (IS)

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Photography by Piers Brown

against

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Manikinn Le Coffee and Cream necklace £19.95 Perfect for winter parties this monochrome necklace can dress up any simple LBD.

we love muted tones Not everybody wants to walk around like a rainbow, so we’ve toned things down with a dose of muted colour. Check out our cherry-picked choices this issue

Manikinn Le Moustache Cuff £15.95 Nothing like a bit of quirky jewellery to jazz up your look.

Misguided Gold Jacket £34.99 This versatile jacket can be worn with a number of pieces; throw it over some leggings or smarten up a simple dress.

Own the Runway Red Metallic trousers £25.99 Metallic trousers are as versatile as they come: add some heels to dress them up or pair with flats for a casual look.

Duffer Of St George Miller backpack £25.00 Backpacks are not going anywhere soon so embrace this trend with this striking blue and brown one.

Crooks & Castles CRKS snapback £30.00 Add some casual attitude to your look with this snapback. Best thing is both men and women can wear it.

Crooks & Castles Airguns belt £30.00 A great way to accessorise a simple look is to add a belt, so why not do it with this quirky choice.

Bass Buds headphones £34.95 We all love to listen to music so add some bling to your tunes with these diamante headphones.

Friend or Faux Chimpin crew t-shirt £44.95 Everyone loves a chimp; inject a dash of attitude into your wardrobe with this t-shirt. Layer up the look for the colder nights.

Photography Temi Omotosho 23

Styling Fiona Aber 19

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Words and styling Meera Sharma 24

Kennett Altitude watch £180.00 A blinged-out watch that tops the edge of our spending power but hey, that’s what saving is for.

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Gadgets

Our tech team bring you the latest from the electronic world to keep you entertained during those long winter nights Smart Gloves iwantoneofthose.com, £8.99

Tech Talk

Finally, a way to type on your phone without taking off your gloves! These hi-tech gloves won’t scratch or damage your screen and can still be washed (by hand). Look forward to keeping your fingers nice and toasty this winter! (AG)

Merry Christmas everyone!

AppCopter prezzybox.com, £39.95

At this time of year everyone’s hoping for the clouds to open up and give us a good dusting of seasonal snow, but now there’s a new kind of cloud for us to get excited about.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No. It’s the AppCopter. This cheeky little gadget is bound to wreak havoc in your domestic airspace, as you try to navigate every turn from your iPhone. (DN)

I’m talking about the concept of cloud storage which, following a low-key start, is now very much a reality in the technology market and is set to make its first big appearance this Christmas.

Nintendo Wii U 8GB Amazon, £248 This new controller boasts a 6.2-inch touchscreen, full HD graphics and an inward-facing camera. Players are able to use dual-screen on the consoles and the TV, making for a more interactive and competitive gaming experience. (HM)

Cloud storage is basically storing data an off-site server maintained by a third party, and using the Internet to provide the connection between your computer and the database. This could make the need to buy external hard drives for extra storage space completely redundant.

APP attack

The Sims is back and this time it’s mobile. As with previous versions, you can create a cool virtual life, but this time there’s a twist as everything occurs in real time! Be prepared to get hooked. (AG)

Words Hari Mountford 19

Words Alex Shickell 16

Despite this, cloud storage will feature heavily in the top gadget gifts this Christmas. And with rumours already circulating about which devices will be completely reliant on the technology, it seems the sky is quite literally the limit for this new concept.

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we cast our eye over the most happening new apps for your phones and tablets

The Sims FreePlay Bad Piggies Free, App Store and Google Play Free, App Store and Google Play Angry Birds addict? Well I certainly used to be. Then this came out and I soon got hooked. Once you’ve killed those devilish piggies, you now are the piggies! Forget those birds, it’s all about the pigs. (DN)

Words Dermot Neligan 16

Fortunately, unlike an actual cloud, this new storage method isn’t going to just open up and spill your data everywhere, but there have been concerns which have slowed its progress in the tech market – mainly regarding security, and who has access to your data when you store it on a server.

Opening up a new world for photographers, this camera captures the entire light field, meaning you can change the focus after you’ve taken a picture – great news if something hilarious happened in the background. (AS)

Words Aida Gugsa 17

Almost all the big players in the technology market have already given their seal of approval to cloud storage – from Microsoft’s new SkyDrive system on Xbox consoles and Outlook email, to Apple’s iCloud system across all their platforms.

Lytro Light Field Camera 8GB Amazon, £250

TripIt £0.69, App Store The ultimate organiser for any traveller, TripIt coordinates all your plans and reservations in one app. Users can share plans with family, friends and even maps. A no brainer if you’re jetting-off. (HM)

regulars Player 1: 0075643

Four

major world sports were invented in the USA: volleyball, skateboarding, snowboarding and cheerleading.

76%

of Americans are Christian. That’s 239 million Christians, more than any other country in the world.

C

The USA doesn’t have an NHS, so Americans buy health insurance – but it’s very expensive and 48,000 die each year because they don’t have it. Obama’s reforms made health insurance compulsory and affordable for everyone and stopped insurance companies finding loopholes to avoid paying up.

Player 2: 0065643

F

vs

Metric vs Imperial: The USA measures in the imperial system, using feet, miles, pints and Fahrenheit, one of only three countries that doesn’t use metric.

The average American watches

5

hours of TV a day. Altogether, that’s

250 billion hours of TV watched in America every year.

Loved and loathed in equal measure and with the worst chant in all of sport, You-Ess-Ay is still the richest, most powerful nation on earth. So you better get to know

The USA won, taking over almost 1 million square miles of land from Mexico as well as Texas’s $10m debt.

Slavery lasted for 246 years in America.

The slaves were sent from Africa to America to work on sugar or cotton

plantations. It all ended when Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation.

Illustrations Ahmed Abokor 24

Illustrations Louis Harris 22

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Words Snehal Shah 18

37 out of the 50 American states still have the death penalty.

After USA took over Texas in 1845, war broke out between them and Mexico over who owned the surrounding land.

blog, view, comment, debate, share, tweet, attend, act, create www.live-magazine.cO.UK youtube.com/livemaguk @livemaguk

inside job regulars

Inside Job

michael Neto

It’s no illusion. Michael Neto reveals the tricky business of being a magician Forget Harry Potter and meet the UK’s real wizard, Michael Neto, who spends his days mastering illusions and trickery and performing for sold-out shows. if anyone can give us insight into the career of a magician, it’s Portuguese-born Michael Neto A magician is a very unusual career: how did you get into it?

I started as a teenager. It was mainly a way to get chatting to girls – a sort of icebreaker.

I then began to take it more seriously, and to consider magic as a job.

Do you have to go to magic school to learn the profession?

There are several ways of learning how to be a magician. There’s a lot of working on your own and studying from books and DVDs. I joined a magic circle and so attend lectures with other magicians.

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Words Hari Mountford 19

Could you describe an average day in the life of a magician?

I usually get up early as there’s always a lot to do. I check emails, respond to clients and get on top of paperwork in the morning. I currently have a one-man show, so that involves a lot of promotion; contacting theatres and venues about potential performances. I have to do a lot of practising and studying as well, and sometimes visit magic

conventions, which normally last a few days, to meet other magicians and learn new skills. Every day is different, though.

develop your skills and knowledge. You have to keep on learning.

Is it possible to make a living out of magic?

It’s not easy. There is a lot of competition from very talented magicians so it’s important to be unique and to think ahead.

I am from a scientific background and am a part-time pharmacist, so I like to think I have a balanced life. I could eventually be a full-time magician, but it’s a very difficult career to make a living out of by itself.

Do you think that Harry Potter and the mania for wizards has affected the magic industry?

Harry Potter has brought magic into the limelight for kids, but more important is magic on TV and people like Dynamo and David Blaine – they have all helped make magic trendy again. There is definitely more interest and all of this is good for the industry.

What advice would you give to young aspiring magicians?

It’s very important to read books and study.

There are classics which all magicians should read. Nowadays there are lots of tricks on YouTube, but often people are just repeating tricks as they see them and it takes more hard work than that. I’d strongly advise seeing as many professionals as possible, and join a magic club or circle where you can attend lectures and really

And finally, is it true that a magician never reveals his secrets?

Yes – we can’t reveal our secrets. Magic is like a clock: if you look inside and take the pieces out it doesn’t work. It’s important for a magician never to reveal the secrets, but also for the audience not to go looking for them. If people try to find out how the tricks work, they don’t enjoy it – and in this business it’s all about putting smiles on people’s faces.

regulars

around the world in 80 words

Ashleigh Davids, Cape Town, South Africa

is it a picture on the wall or a song in your heart? maybe it’s a shark in a tank, adding your signature to an old toilet or even a film you don’t really understand? Live travels the globe to find out what art means to young people from europe to africa to the caribbean

Art knows no face, race, class or shape. It is allencompassing and may not be to me what it is to you. South Africa boasts beautiful landscapes, urban developments, 11 official languages and even more cultural groups.

Art lives in our differences, and it thrives in our ability to appreciate the uniqueness of our preferences and heritage. For me personally, art is music, expression, my voice and womanhood as well as the ability to grow and learn.

Kalina Taseva Sofia, Bulgaria

Madea Ghaussy, Kassel, Germany

Lara Nicod, Allaman, Switzerland

Art is anything that can inspire you and what I find inspiring are automobiles, viewing them as a combination of the outside aesthetics and the underlying technology.

Some cars simply look good at any angle, which is a true accomplishment.

A car is also a statement, it reflects your personality through the outside design and the technological concept shows the driver’s love of travel and being free, whether they’re going fast or cruising comfortably.

Art is the most beautiful expression of the human soul, a person’s natural talents, a connection between the ordinary and the divine. In Bulgaria, different forms of art are often intertwined with our culture. Painters portray landscapes in their paintings or pictures of Bulgarian lifestyle in the villages from the 19th century. When it comes to dancing, we have rich traditional dances with costumes which capture our spirit in their rhythm.

Art is anything I can connect with. I believe there is no good or bad art: it is all in the eye of the observer. Art can be anything from music to painting, film, dance – anything that comes from the heart and touches the soul. Most famous artists painted because they loved putting their emotions out. I tend to be drawn to weird or strange art like Julie Heffernan, or a picture that can say more than a thousand words.

Coming from a ‘third culture kid’ background, I have learned much about art in the various countries I’ve lived in. Art could be a physical representation of the gods, like in India, which ranges from kitschy objects to beautiful paintings. In Africa, art is sometimes a physical representation of their gods; a testimony to their way of life. Art is a representation of the people, the culture that transcends boundaries such as language and physical barriers.

Words Hari Mountford 19

Zacharie Caudeiron, George Town, Cayman Islands

www.live-magazine.co.uk across the globe: live south africa On mobile Livemag.co.za

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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 _

Somewhereto_rio

TriN3rgy are Francis, Troy & Krrishna (pictured with Adam Deacon) AGE: all 17 LOCATION: South East London

@TriN3rgy95

TriN3rgy ARE the champs of nationwide talent competition somewhereto_ show off. The dance trio won a trip to rio with actor adam deacon

inspiration but support from friends and family has been our true drive.

Tell us about your talent and how it all began.

Dance is our form of stress relief. Without dance, our academic life would just be a bore. We go to school together and it was a school talent show that linked us up. And when we heard about somewhereto_ show off, we decided to bring creative dance to the competition.

Tell us about Rio! What were the best bits?

The Rio experience changed our lives, from the moment we flew over the city and saw the beautiful lights and landscape for the first time, to dancing in favela Rocinha with it’s breathtaking views, to doing our routines on the famous Selaron Stairs (where Snoop Dogg and Pharrell shot ‘Beautiful’). Working with Adam Deacon was also cool, he listened to our ideas and made us feel comfortable in front of the camera. We never thought we’d get to work with such a great director.

Who inspired you to start dancing?

Michael Jackson was a childhood

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How did it feel to perform and win at the somewhereto_ Show Off final at the Olympic Park?

No matter how impressive the surroundings, the thing we were all looking forward to most was getting the business done and giving our best performance. We’re still shocked we won though!

“the rio experience changed our lives”

SOMEWHERETO_ CAN FIND YOU THE SPACE YOU NEED TO DO THE THINGS YOU LOVE! VISIT www.somewhereto.com twitter: @somewhereto_

What can we expect from the Rio film?

Without giving away too much, there’ll be a lot of jokes, on-point routines and the most amazing locations.

What plans do you have for the future? Any more competitions or performances?

We take it as it comes. Every opportunity we have received is due to us as a group keeping our arms open for opportunities and also attempting new styles of dance to build on our unique style. Other than that, we want to give a shout out to everyone at somewhereto_ without them none of this would have happened. We just can’t wait to see the final cut of the Rio film now. We’ve seen a few edits already, and it looks sick! You’ll have to wait and see.

TriN3rgy have rocked it in Rio with somewhereto_ and Adam Deacon. The film is COMING SOON at somewhereto.com/Rio somewhereto_ is a Cultural Olympiad legacy project creating a lasting impact from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by funding local ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK.

The best of the rest from the somewhereto_ show off competition

FESTA, 17, LONDON “I am a wordsmith and musician fusing the old school and new school.

I spit every Saturday on 104.4fm at 2:30pm.”

ANTON SIMPSONTIDY, 18, SHEFFIELD “I practice karatedo and kickbox. I am going to start training for the Stunt Register to be a qualified stunt man.”

SAM GOODBURN, 18, DORSET “Next year I’m going to tour with a traditional circus for a year, then hopefully do a circus degree in France, Montreal or London”

FLITE, SHEFFIELD “We are a parkour, free running dance crew between the ages of 15-19 who train and perform our tricks on the industrial rooftops of our Steel City.”

LEE TINNION, 21, CARDIFF “I just returned from performing in France and am now about to spend the winter working for a new circus show.”

EMMA FAY DAWES 25, LEICESTER “I am an unconventional costume maker, creative hair and body artist. I create concept videos and will be opening my new studio.”

FERGUS ANDERSONPORTER, 17, ACCRINGTON “I love the simplicity of magic and how something so simple can create a reaction or connection that’s huge.”

JAMES THOMPSON, singer. SNATCHY, rapper. RONSON, rapper. NSK, dancers. SBD, musician. KIRSTY MARQUIS, singer.

FRAZER, musician. JERUSHA FRIMPONG, singer. MORGAN DAVY/MORGAZMIK, graffiti artist.

PATTI-LOUISE, 17, BELFAST “I’m a singer and songwriter and I will stop at nothing until I achieve my dream!”

MERKI, 23, LIVERPOOL “Since 2010 I have performed acoustically in and around the Liverpool area.”

Special mentions:

hna

TOP 10_ runners up

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Photo Henry Houdini 24

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Words Zindzi RocqueDrayton, 22

Online and On Drugs?

The availability of legal highs means you no longer need a dealer on speed dial – and with the drugs being so cheap, some people are selling what’s left. Zindzi Meets the new breed of legal high users and dealers

Legal highs have changed the way people take drugs – and the type of people who take them. Take Jody, who decided she wanted to try some drugs, but didn’t know how to get hold of any weed. She went down to Camden Market to see if she could get some legal highs and came out with salvia, one of the most powerful natural hallucinogenics on the planet, despite the fact that it’s illegal to sell for human consumption.

“I felt like a piece of wood and I ended up planking on the floor shouting ‘I’m a piece of wood!” the 20-year-old recalls, describing her first experience with a legal high. “My flatmate was running around thinking she was going to die.” What followed was a 20-minute out-ofbody experience and, crucially for her, a story to tell. “It was definitely a strange experience,” she admits, “but it’s fun because you’re with others. The way you feel is real, but you know that it will wear off.”

Although only 7% of under-25s have taken Class As, the communal aspect of drug taking has an increasing appeal for the minority who do. Out in the open, accessible and cheap, legal highs are being used to enhance a range of social events regardless of the risks.

Davina, 22, who’d previously had no encounter with drugs, now sells balloons of laughing gas at house parties. “I first got introduced to laughing gas at Brighton Pride, 2010,” she says. “We were sitting in this field and everyone was blowing these balloons. There were lots of police there and they didn’t say anything. I was thinking, ‘well if the police aren’t stopping them, there must be nothing wrong’.”

Laughing gas, more accurately known as nitrous oxide, is sold online at less than 50p a canister; not as a drug, though, which would be illegal, but for its original use, to create the necessary cold pressure to whip cream. The high sensation you experience when inhaling it is the feeling of your brain temporarily being starved of oxygen and lasts all of 30 seconds. But being only a click away means that empty metal canisters now litter the floor of many house parties – despite recent deaths like 17-year-old Joseph Bennett, who died from a heart attack and severe brain damage after inhaling the gas with friends this summer.

“It’s not like illegal drugs where you have to know someone. I bought it online, and watched videos on how to do it” Realising how easy it would be to buy her own, Davina slipped into the role of dealer. “I bought the equipment for last New Year’s. I realised how cheap it was and it felt good.” The ability to enhance the euphoria of a night out for just a just a few quid means that Davina is never short of customers and, at £2 a balloon, is quadrupling her outlay. She has no qualms about joining the increasing trend of house party dealers. “To me it isn’t as dangerous as a ‘normal’ drug and it’s easy to get hold of. It’s not like illegal drugs where you have to know someone and deal with a middleman. I literally bought it online, and watched YouTube videos on how to do it.” The reality is that while laughing gas isn’t illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act, it is illegal to sell it for recreational use. The maximum sentence is two years in prison and an unlimited fine.

Francis, a London law graduate, also told me how his recreational use of then-legal meow meow or mephedrone, led to him selling the legal drug for some extra cash to fund more drug buying. “I would buy it online, ten grams for £60. It lasted every weekend for four months,” he recalls. “It was disguised as plant fertiliser so it was quite exciting at the time. I would put it into smaller bags and sell a bit to friends, for profit on the side. Then the money can be used to buy the next instalment.

Use your own high and get your money back,” he laughs.

Legal highs mimic the effects of controlled drugs like cocaine, speed and ecstasy, although it’s their altered chemical structure that allows them to slip through legal loop holes. For some users it makes them feel like they’re escaping the stigma of Class As, which is particularly attractive to users who’d otherwise avoid illegal substances for fear of how they might affect their career. “When meow meow was legal everyone in my law class was taking it,” says would-be lawyer Francis.

“With legal highs like bath salts sensationalised in the news, people are creating videos of their own excited delirium to attract high views” “You’d go to a house party and everyone was on it.” It’s worth pointing out that Francis could easily be mistaken: drugs move quickly from legal to banned – meow meow and mexxy are both now Class B, with other drugs including ivory Wave already controlled as the substances in it are generally Class B drugs, and Annihilation about to be reclassified as Class B as LIVE went to press.

The negative side of legal highs is obvious to see. the internet is filled with videos of people experimenting with legal highs, adding a new meaning to the term ‘social smoker’. Videos with titles like ‘Worst Salvia Trip Ever’ show people dangerously out of their minds.

With bath salts sensationalised in the American news, including one report that they made a guy eat a homeless man’s face, people are creating videos of their own excited delirium to attract high views.

The inability to predict how people will react – and the possibility of getting a mad video recording out of it – seems to be a big part of the attraction. It’s also worth pointing out that teachers have the power to search any students suspected of carrying legal highs – and if your video is on YouTube, who knows who’ll see you?

Although Jody didn’t video her trip on salvia, she tends to bring it up in every conversation. “When we smoke it you know it is going to end up being a good story and you are just waiting to see what happens next, although my flatmate is a bit wary of trying it again.”

While drugs have always been a big part of youth culture, crazes in legal highs are muddying the legal risk that comes with drugs while rocketing the potential health risk. “The only reason they are legal is because they are new substances for which we don’t yet have enough research to ban. However, because they have similar effects to illegal drugs like ecstasy they are likely to be harmful. More and more ‘legal highs’ are being researched to see what the dangers are and if they should be made illegal,” says a spokesperson from FRANK, the confidential drugs information service. “It’s important to remember that just because they are legal, it doesn’t mean that they are safe.” The recorded risks of legal highs include paranoia, coma, seizures and death. Scottish student Alex Heriot, 19, died at RockNess after taking speed-like Benzo Fury and the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has linked mephedrone to a massive 98 deaths.

Cheaper, accessible and just as powerful as hard drugs, the buzz around legal highs is not coming down anytime soon. So it’s up to you to remember that legal does not mean safe.

For friendly information and advice call FRANK for free and in confidence 24 hours a day on 0800 77 66 00 or visit www.talktofrank.com. You can also text FRANK a question to 82111.

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california love Monique Todd GOES to hollywood for a glimpse into film’s future – and learns how brands are helping push young creatives into the spotlight

Los Angeles is on the other side of the world. It’s sunny most of the year. And when you step off the plane, stroll past anorexic palm trees, Scientology churches, liquor stores and psychic shops, you’ll feel great because you’re where dreams are made.

• The city has maintained the charm that we see on our screens, but the film industry that lies behind it has been edited, cut and re-shot.

The story about the democratisation of content isn’t new – we know things are faster, cheaper and easier to make. But does that leave legendary landmarks like Hollywood redundant when anyone can shoot films in the street and edit them in their bedroom?

LIVE is in LA to report on a Chevrolet-sponsored competition that aims to start squaring that circle by supporting young creatives. YCC is an art and design contest with a 5,000 euros top prize (and a trip to Hollywood) that gets students from Europe to submit their creations in response to a brief.

Kenny Van Mierlo, a London-based film graduate from the Netherlands, came second in the film category. Despite having benefited from higher education himself, Kenny is aware that the structure of learning and doing has changed. His avid use of the internet played a large part in where he is now. “I honestly think you don’t need an education anymore. Although I did study something, it was more of an arty school where they didn’t really teach you any techniques – so most of it I got from YouTube, from the internet and tutorials. I think it’s really easy now.”

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Words & main photo Monique Todd 20

There is something about LA, he says, that retains the ultimate prestige. Yes, you can learn film anywhere and potentially make it anywhere, but he has no doubts that this is the promised land.

“I want to make it in Hollywood. I don’t know if you have to, but Hollywood is the place where everything gets together. It doesn’t

mean you can’t make a professional film in a different city – I believe you can do that – but for me, this is the film Mecca.”

And so it gets a tad religious, with the trip standing as both a prize and a kind of pilgrimage, the climax of which is a panel discussion in Paramount studios featuring producers Jon Landau (Avatar, Titanic) and Ian Bryce (Spider-Man, Transformers series) and directors Rob Cohen (xXx, The Fast And The Furious) and F Gary Gray (Law Abiding Citizen, The Italian Job). The four film gods stroll onto the stage, welcomed by thunderous applause, screams and a few wolf whistles (Gray is quite a good-looking fella). Unphased by the location and excessive appreciation, the four perch on the director chairs under a literal and metaphorical spotlight.

The audience, a mix of American film students, actors, actresses and YCC winners, wait patiently for some kind of life-changing enlightenment.

Our film prophets are not blinded by their own success. In fact, discussing the state of the industry, they display an unexpected acceptance of the modern creative landscape. Speaking with bags of passion and gusto, accompanied by animated hand gestures, Landau says: “You know what’s so exciting for everyone out here? It’s that the distribution avenues are there, they exist! The studio system is one thing, but as film makers, go out there and do; as artists, go out there and create; as fashion designers go out there and actually build.”

Their passionate championing of the young creative underlines the freedom we have to push what we want at whomever we want. But that’s where things get sticky. With freedom, Landau says, comes a challenge. “Don’t do it in a vacuum. Don’t just do it for yourself. You need to preach to a full church and you need to get responses from people early in your career. Get feedback,

see what’s working, what’s not. Take the criticism. You then have to funnel it and you make the final decision.”

When you tear away the YouTube views, the likes, the followers and the sharing, things haven’t really altered that dramatically. The core of what a film is, the art and the passion, still unites the panel in enthusiasm. An assertive Rob Cohen takes the mic and with a deep bellowing voice says: “This whole industry can be bent by the force, the magnetic gravitational pull, of a good script!”

“There is an opportunity for you young folks,” says Englishman Ian Bryce, an unassuming bald guy whose quiet additions to the conversation barely hint at his enormous successes with the Transformers franchise. The residue of his English accent comes through when carefully articulating what we young’uns have going for us. “There are movies being made that are within the major movie system but are being made with a couple of million bucks. When you look at the Paranormal Activity movies, there is a real opportunity for a great story with good themes and characters to get made. The studios are looking for breakout potential.”

As much as LA retains its image as the place to be in cinema, it feels like more of a landmark representing film’s rich history and not necessarily its future. In fact, its monopoly arguably died as soon as viral films embedded themselves in consumer culture. Hard as it is to predict the success of any online creation, there is now the guarantee that an audience is never more than a click away.

From left: Ian Bryce, Rob Cohen, F Gary Gray, Jon Landau

This is where YCC and other brand-sponsored creativity projects come in. The world is but a huge tub of creative recycling and grey matter ruled by trolls and self-assigned authorities. How does the young creative manage to stay afloat? Michael Gove’s trumpeted new EBacc has even deemed art GCSE an irrelevance and most schools and art colleges are yet to fully connect with new technology, despite their social necessity. Almost a third of visual and applied artists earn less than £5,000 a year from their art, according to a survey conducted by Artists’ Interaction and Representation (AIR), and it was announced in late October that more than 100 staff are to be axed from Arts Council England (ACE), with its annual budget set to plummet from £449m to £349m by 2015.

But many brands seem to be successfully connecting key influencers with budding talent on a global platform. Dr Karin Kirchner, Head of Corporate and Internal Communications, Chevrolet Europe, insists they can play a large part in altering the dim future landscape for young artists. Calm yet enthusiastic, Karin confidently declares with her soft Swiss accent the enormous influence brands can have on creativity. “Brands like Chevrolet can be facilitators that bring together young creative talents with established artists, designers or experts in applied arts.“ Alongside YCC, the Converse/Dazed award is a competition for future art stars with a prize of £6,000, while the Creators Project, backed by Vice magazine, has successfully supported visual artists for nearly three years.

Kenny Van Mierlo collects his award.

As the trip comes to a close, clouds start to create darkness and it rains for the first time in ages. LA seems to have been transformed from a bright shiny city to an eerily familiar landscape – at least to a Londoner. A stroll away from the Walk of Fame and legendary studios’ expos there’s a netherworld of struggling art hustlers and homeless stargazers. As much as the palm trees hint at paradise, the struggle here is as real as in any other city. Kenny still feels that LA will be the key to his career, and has even used some of his winnings to spend an extra month looking for jobs and experience in the city.

His hunger seems to weigh as much as his promising talent and, with YCC accreditation, a list of new contacts and the knowledge that the likes of Jon Landau viewed his film, he’s feeling good.

So long as the likes of Kenny and the next generation feel this way, maybe Hollywood will rule the next century of film the way it ruled the last. www. youngcreativechevrolet.eu

On the Paramount lot

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Home is where the sofa is Homelessness is on the rise – and so are the numbers of hidden homeless. Tej Adeleye goes where authorities won’t to find out how the forgotten young survive

A flustered social worker answers the phone. It’s the second time I’ve called the hostel in 20 minutes, trying to track down Rachel, 17. The social worker apologises and Rachel comes to the phone. There’s further delay, as she has to use the office phone. It’ll cut into staff time and Rachel won’t have any privacy, but she doesn’t mind – when you’ve spent years living in other people’s space, compromise is a survival technique.

“It’s tough when you’re sleeping on someone else’s couch, they’re feeding you and you don’t have much money,” she says. “You don’t feel like yourself anymore. You’re depending on other people so much, for your life. If you haven’t got their couch, you’ve got the streets and that’s it.” Rachel is engaging, friendly enough, but guarded, with an undercurrent of defensiveness that never quite subsides. For some of the estimated 80,000 young people who became homeless in the UK last year, couch-surfing, though seldom recognised as such, is a final defence against sleeping rough.

Rachel was forced to leave home after her relationship with her mother broke down. “Basically me and my mum were having lots of arguments. Something tragic happened and we just didn’t get on, so she kicked me out. It had been building up for a year and we’d argue over everything: my brothers, things at home I didn’t agree with. It just reached a point where I had to leave.”

Illustration James Burrows 22

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Words Tej Adeleye 23

Relationship breakdowns are the primary reason for youth homelessness in the UK. But the government, in an effort to reduce the state’s role, presumes all young people have a stable family home to live in. The recession isn’t helping, either. Kay Verity, from Nottingham’s Broxstowe Youth Homelessness project, says, “Parents are seeing their unemployed children at home not bringing anything in, and that causes tensions, too.” The changes to Local Housing Allowance (LHA), a benefit aimed at people renting on low income, could have a

significantly negative impact: families will have their LHA reduced for every over-16 not in education living in the family home, something many agencies believe will cause rocketing homelessness.

Some parts of her story Rachel refuses to revisit. But after her stepfather passed away when she was 14, her relationship with her mum worsened and grew violent. She was continuously being thrown out, until she finally left to stay with her aunt, who acted as mediator.

It worked temporarily, but she was thrown out again last Christmas, returning to her aunt’s Rochdale house, dividing time between there and friends in Manchester. Her education, already suffering from poor attendance, became impossible: her sole priority was ensuring she had somewhere to sleep every night. “Eventually, I did end up sleeping rough three or four times over a period of three months. I’d fallen out with one of my friends, and I’d lost contact with my aunt.”

Many young couch-surfers are unaware of their homelessness, like Joe, 24, who’s been floating between sofas and hostels for eight years, since his mother threw him out at 16. Nowhere has felt like home.

“I didn’t realise I was homeless when I was sofa-surfing, because I thought if you’ve got a roof over your head then you aren’t really”.

Kay Verity points to the need for more preventative measures before relationships reach breaking point. Her project runs workshops and seminars in schools to raise awareness. “Homelessness isn’t selective,” she says. “There’s an image in the minds of young people that exists

rough sleeping has doubled. But the most frightening stat is left unsaid: it doesn’t include the ‘hidden homeless’, those who, according to James Hall, Policy and Research Assistant at Centrepoint, are surviving by “sleeping on night buses, squatting, sofa-surfing or living in insecure accommodation”.

James shares Rachel’s concerns about the cuts to services. “A lot of people don’t realise the Connexions services weren’t just about careers advice – many of the young people we’ve supported were referred to us through Connexions. There’s been a huge increase in rough sleeping and youth homelessness in recent times and it’s a direct effect of the cuts,” says James. “Young people are often low paid, and with [cuts to] the LHA, there are fewer areas young people can afford to live in.”

of the homeless as old bearded men in doorways. We are finding that more young people are ending up homeless, and it’s more likely they will be 16 to 17. The key thing [with domestic problems] is to bring in mediation before things reach tipping point.”

Rachel is convinced that would’ve helped her relationship with her mother. So what was her eventual saving grace? “Connexions.

They gave me a referral to a local housing project and helped me with food, then I got referrals for hostels and food packages, too.”

Rachel is now living in a De Paul UK youth hostel, studying health and social care, with her eyes set on university and qualifying as a social worker. She hopes to start programmes to help young people in her situation – an idea unimaginable only a few months ago. Equally unimaginable to her is the fact that, since coming to power, this government has dissolved 75% of Connexions Centres and George Osborne has proposed scrapping housing benefit for the under-25s.

“Homelessness means not just diminished prospects, but an eroding sense of self” “I think it’s awful. With benefits and housing, things are so strict and you don’t know what to do when you are in that situation. I had my benefits, so that helped, but other people who are homeless sometimes can’t receive them – obviously they will be far worse off than I was. You just need to find the right services. I didn’t realise how many young kids were homeless until I started going to the City Centre Project and seeing it wasn’t just me.”

In the past year, figures for youth homelessness, which only includes those that authorities are aware of, have risen alarmingly. The number of young people classified as statutory homeless has increased by 9% this year and by 27% since 2010. In London alone,

He says reduced benefits mean young people are cutting into living allowances and having to make the “shocking choice between eating or paying their rent”. These are the daily difficulties that young people are already facing; both Kay and James are certain that the proposed changes will see an increase in young people, employed and unemployed, struggling to cope with living costs and ending up homeless.

Journalist Deborah Orr, herself a squatter when she first moved to London, points to the cuts as being a “good way of promoting youth homelessness.

It’s stressful couch-surfing, and can only be sustained for a short time. All the difficulties around young people point to one single problem: the lack of homes within their price range.”

The image of us as dependent out of choice is flawed and insulting to a generation already branded as lost. Homelessness means not just diminished prospects, but an eroding sense of self. An identity can disappear without a space of its own, being dependent and unable to plan for the future. Joe understands the feeling well. “It can be hard if you’re in different hostels, the not knowing where you’ll be next. I’m seeing a lot of young people who lack motivation because they feel so bad, that there’s no point. Everything starts from where you wake up and how you are feeling.”

Sofa-surfing is challenging. Rachel found it “embarrassing” to admit to, and difficult when friends ran out of empathy. For all the young people – employed, unemployed, graduates, non-graduates – having to couch-surf to survive, home is where the sofa is because times are hard.

“It’s better than being on the street, but its not easy, it’s a real mad lifestyle,” says Joe. Perhaps it’s better to say this nomadic lifestyle, wandering between the winds of available hospitality, is no life at all.

If you are at risk of becoming homeless, contact the housing department at your local council or, for telephone advice, call Shelter’s free housing advice helpline on 0808 800 4444 from 8am-8pm MondayFriday, 8am-5pm Saturday-Sunday.

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in association with spirit of london awards

sola power LIVE Magazine takes a deeper look at the SOLA foundation, celebrating the young bright sparks behind it all and how they’re set on building a better future

Aren’t you tired of hearing that young people lack responsibility?

Trust me, I am. So how do we change that perception? By taking responsibility and becoming community leaders. Corny as it sounds, being a community leader is cool. We’ve always had leaders “represent” us on our behalf, but aren’t we strong enough to represent our own? Having young leaders gives communities a greater stake: if a person makes something, they’ll never break it.

Give a young person a leadership role, they’ll do their very best to sustain a safe and proactive community.

The Spirit Of London Awards (SOLA) understands this. Having run a successful awards ceremony for three years, they’re now establishing the SOLA Foundation to encourage youth leadership across the capital in the shape of a team of young ambassadors who help organise the awards ceremony and the SOLA road show. SOLA Foundation stemmed from a desire to see “young people of London positively invested in”, but its roots were in something darker. “We set up SOLA as a legacy project for all the young people lost to youth violence,” says Gary Trowsdale, who was Managing Director of the Damilola Taylor Trust and formed the SOLA Foundation.

“In 2008 when we started developing there had been 29 deaths of teenagers, tragically, on the streets of London,” he says. “We are so proud now of the way the SOLA Foundation has developed out of the awards itself. We invest heavily in the way we stage the awards because we felt that the problem we were faced with was a BIG problem – and big problems need big solutions. We did not see enough of that from government or local authorities. We might be a tiny charity but we felt it was a challenge worth taking on.”

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Words Yara Shaikh 18

One of SOLA’s principal platforms for talent is through their annual Road Shows. This involves visiting schools, colleges and universities, where the young ambassadors of the SOLA Foundation speak directly to the youth of London and inspire them to get out and follow their dreams. Having successful, confident young people speaking candidly to their own generation automatically results in a much more powerful message.

Says Gary: “The young high achievers we now have on the SOLA Foundation board have the chance to bring real change to some of the negative issues facing their communities and this is the greatest legacy we could have imagined for the young people we’ve lost and their families. This is what everyone wants to see. Who better to develop policies and engagement strategies to tackle the negative issues than the young people who come from the areas most affected but who make the right choices?”

SOLA differs from many other schemes that purport it to “help the youth”. The team behind SOLA are all inspirational young people with minds that move mountains. We’re still a long way from giving the youth of our generation enough platforms to elevate those from vulnerable backgrounds to realise their potential, but with schemes like SOLA, we’re in good hands. Every young person who has gone through SOLA, whether behind the stage or at the forefront receiving an award, all benefit greatly from what this foundation has to offer – which is hands-on involvement in their own world.

The SOLA Foundation can only reach so many people, so don’t feel like this is your only way to be a successful young leader. Start by making a stand in your community on something you feel passionately about. Or run for youth mayor if you feel you can represent your peers! It takes less than you might think to make a positive change.

This has been a huge year for the youth of London. During the Olympic Games, we have seen first hand what it means to inspire a generation. But what’s your future looking like? “We believe that the young leaders of tomorrow can be the leaders of today if given the support and the confidence that comes from being believed in,” says Gary. “The SOLA School Road Show is being called a game changer by leading head teachers and it is entirely scoped out and managed by our young team.” What better place to start?

The SOLA ceremony takes place at O2 Arena on Monday 10 December. For tickets and info: spiritoflondonawards.com/sola-2012

meet the ambassadors DENNIS GYAMFI, 23

Dennis Gyamfi is a media partner for SOLA. His home-built online media platform Endz2Endz pushes SOLA winners into communities spreading the word and enhancing the recognition of their amazing talents and inspirational stories. Dennis won an award in 2010 in the media category and has continued to immerse himself in the role of community leadership. Having grown up on an estate in Brixton, Dennis is convinced that he knows people in vulnerable circumstances who deperately want to do well, but who don’t know where to go or who to ask. Being a young leader, he’s been able to go into schools and see a “sparkle in the eyes” of the young people who can relate to such a successful, confident and powerful leader.

OMAR CHOUDHRY, 20

Omar Choudhry started his own full-time business at the age of 18, winning a 2010 SOLA award in the Young Business Entrepreneur category. Since then, he has been an ambassador for the Foundation, one of many finalists who’ve gone on to become inspirations, taking their leadership to the wider world, especially their own communities. Omar describes being part of SOLA’s road shows as “invaluable” and an experience that means a lot and has helped him grow, both professionally and personally.

CHELSEY TROWSDALE, 20

Known as baby SOLA, Chelsey has already done events at 10 Downing Street, The Royal Albert Hall, City Hall and Ministry of Sound.

The Events Manager has hosted and organised many events. In her own words, she “flopped” her A-Levels and was left without a clear vision of her future. But Chelsey soon elevated her expectations, holding face-to-face talks with everyone from the Prime Minister to hundreds of schoolkids across the four corners of London. “It was hard work and so much pressure but I fell in love with it.” Chelsey now goes into schools with her team to inspire young people to never give up.

Leadership is all about making a difference to communities around you, and Chelsey does that every day.

JOANNA ABEYIE, 25

Joanna was recruited for her amazing PR and journalistic abilities and has been working for the Foundation for a couple of months now. She runs her own business, which trains young people, setting them up for careers in the media industry, and her leadership skills are truly inspiring. Through her own business, she has had huge involvement with young people, so she knows what motivates them, and what’ll make them feel like they have a purpose and a goal in life.

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A head Of The Game Four Tet’s all-night £5 rave at Brixton Academy sold out in ten minutes. But LIVE was iiiiiiinnnnnnnvolved. We had tickets for readers, a competition to find a warm-up DJ and exclusive photographic access. More pics and full review at www.live-magazine.co.uk. Photography: Jesse Olu

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e u o s H p ar t

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Rudimental are poised to blow. Christian Adofo finds out about horses, spoons and why they’re planning a Rudimental Academy

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Musical statues: Piers Agget, Leon ‘Locksmith’ Rolle, Amir Amor and Kesi Dryden

Rudimental are perched on a bench in the historic grounds of Hackney’s Geffrye Museum. It’s a cold and damp Monday morning, or at least it was until hypeman Leon Rolle, looking mad fresh in green bomber jacket and crisp white Converse Chucks, unveils his Michael Jackson tribute act – a rock of the head and a gentle swing of the hips – and starts shouting “swagger don!” at the pigeons, who flee to high canopies faster than you can say Usain Bolt.

The hip and hyper crossover productions of songwriter and producer Piers Agget, 25, producer Leon Rolle, aka DJ Locksmith, songwriter Kesi Dryden (both 26) and all-round music man Amir Amor, 27, have revised the rulebook and they’re set to smash charts and hearts over the next 12 months.

The east Londoners, who started out back in 2009, have flexed their musical muscle on rampant remixes for fellow home-grown acts Wretch 32, Labrinth and Ed Sheeran, and masqueraded as rabbits in the video for the bouncing 8-bit bass-inspired Deep In The Valley, featuring Rinse FM’s MC Shantie. But it was the demure seduction of underground club house hit Spoons that captivated a wider audience earlier this year.

They might be a bit reserved in unfamiliar company but halfway through the photo shoot they’re swaying and singing in unison on the museum’s concrete steps, belting out Take That (and Bee Gees) classic How Deep Is Your Love? It’s a scene which mirrors the journey of their slow-burning soul ‘n’ bass formula from the boiling cauldron of London’s underground to a major label deal with Asylum/Atlantic Records earlier this year, and their subsequent success with one of the year’s biggest hits in the anthemic Feel The Love – a number one hit in June that’s also Triple Platinum in Australia.

So what’s the major label change been like? “We’re still making the music that we’ve always made,” says baby-faced Kesi. “The only thing that’s changed is that every now and again we have press coming down to ask us to do interviews.”

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It’s a couple of hours after the shoot and we’re hanging out at Premises, an east London rehearsal studio, where the band are preparing for their forthcoming UK tour. Rudimental enter the dimly lit studio after taking a brief break for some grub and coffee in the adjoining café. Kesi, Piers and Amir are huddled next to each other on the stage scrolling through smartphones and prepping their garments for the camera. Locksmith is the last to sit down, after concluding a deep conversation with a sound engineer about the upcoming rehearsal session.

“We found Piers on the street,” jokes Amir, the usually mature and wise character of the group, in a dry dulcet tone. “We were like looking for an organ player and we thought...” As his witty trail of thought runs empty, the zestful urban harlequin that is Locksmith takes up the mantle, in surrealist style: “Yeah, it was a bit like Kung Fu Panda II.” It’s down to Piers to assume the role of official group spokesman and to tell the real story: “Me and Leon grew up on the same road together in Clapton, went nursery together. I met Kesi in college making music a good five to six years ago. We met Amir a year ago and we formed Rudimental. Started making music together as a foursome from about a year and a half ago.” Piers takes a pause, looks back up at the camera, “Foursome? Nah. We’re a quartet! That sounds better than foursome.”

The candid camaraderie and jovial chemistry among the foursome... sorry, quartet is mirrored in their eclectic tastes, with acts from bluesman Buddy Guy, house producer George Morel, hip hop legends The Fugees and ‘70s New York art-punks Television all getting props. Piers, the deadpan deep thinker of the band, is noticeably shattered from a hectic mini-tour in Australia, weighed down further by his recovery from a recent bout of tonsilitis. He takes gentle sips of his coffee, in between occasional glances at the Premises café walls, which are adorned with autographed pictures of famous musicians who’ve recorded in the studios above.

I borrowed vinyls off my brother then destroyed them by leaving them against a radiator

”

“We’re really close,” says Piers. “We get to go on tour with our mates and rehearse and play live gigs with our mates.” Like the rest of his bandmates, Agget come across as humble, focused and funny.

Asked whether there’s any beef in the group over who gets the ultimate creative control, he’s honest. “Yeah we do have the odd argument but it’s all healthy and we enjoy making music together.

None of us are too fussy and none of us try to throw our weight around, it’s more like a democracy of vibes.” He cringes. “That sounds really cheesy, I can’t believe I just said that. But it’s not like a band that’s been put together by X-Factor, so it makes it more enjoyable.

We go way back.”

The sound goes way back, too. Rudimental’s beat is an organic progression of London music, which has been the epicentre of a myriad of sounds including drum ‘n’ bass, jungle, garage, grime and, most recently, dubstep. They’ve made a bass canvas sprayed with an effervescent amalgamation of melting pot colour that includes shades of Ganja Kru’s junglist anthem Super Sharp Shooter, the garage-sampling Has It Come To This? by The Streets and Dizzee’s early grime classic I Luv U. In short, this is the logical progression of the past 20 years of London music and consequently it sounds both massive and large.

Locksmith, who “puts the mental into Rudimental” according to Piers, cites an early meeting with a garage group that ignited his passion for the world of turntables and records. “When I was around 12 or 13 Heartless Crew came to my secondary school to do a musical workshop. That was the start of my career. MC Bushkin and DJ Fonti. It was really big.” For a minute, he’s back there, transformed by the thrill of that moment of musical conception. “I saw the way they mixed, beatmatched, did a little bit of scratching and did some production work in there, too. I went home and begged my mum for a pair of decks for my birthday. I ended up getting a pair of Numarks and then the birthday after that I got a pair of Technics 1200 decks and I’ve never looked back.”

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So what’s his garage riddim of choice? “Let’s Groove by New Yorker George Morel is my favourite garage track. I remember nicking the vinyl off my brother and then actually destroying it by leaving it against a radiator.”

Luckily, they’ve moved on to melting dancefloors, not vinyls. They’ve played all over the world in the last year, including one particularly memorable weekend. “One of the favourites has to be Hackney Weekender,” says Kesi. “I can see Hackney Marshes from my window and to be playing in our back garden was big.” Piers chips in: “Playing to 8,000 people where we used to play football as little kids was crazy.”

Anticipation is slowly building for their “diverse and eclectic” self-titled debut album, due out in February. “It’s kinda mad because off the back of Feel The Love everyone expects you to come out with a drum ‘n’ bass album, but saying that you’ve got Spoons, which is a deep house track.” Locksmith says. “I think that will follow through the album where it won’t just be one element and we hope to draw in people of different ages into it.” There’s a track with rapper Angel Haze and some other big names, some of whom are being kept under wraps. “Emeli Sande came down too, and we did a writing session with her, so we’ll see what happens with the music and whether it features on the album.”

Success has happened through a combination of hard work and happy accident. “We were doing sessions in the studio together and it was kind of unplanned. MNEK (who sings on the track along with Syron) worked across in the next studio and he came over on his lunch break and started thinking of ideas over a beat.

“We didn’t really think too much of it,” Piers says. “MNEK actually stopped by to say hello and literally within ten minutes he was humming this melody and he wrote down some lyrics and we just put him on the mic and it sounded beautiful,“ says the group’s Yoda figure, Amir. “We made this beat while me and Kesi were eating our lunch and I started using the spoons on the track as a sort of hi-hat.

So it kinda came from that percussion sound you hear on the track and it’s actually me playing spoons. That’s why we do it live as well.”

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Who knows, one day we may be able to build and open up our own Rudimental Academy

”

With an experimental aesthetic akin to Timbaland and Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins, they became immersed in scouting unique home-grown talent, writing with the aforementioned MNEK as well Syron (last issue’s One To Watch) and Disclosure vocalist Sinead Harnett. Rudimental found their niche via a blend of soulful harmonies birthed from Yorkshire boy John Newman, along with the brass blasts and subterranean breakbeats that have become ubiquitous in their production.

Summer smash Feel The Love and forthcoming single Not Giving In (which again features Newman, this time alongside Alex Clare) sound like customary dancefloor hedonism, but their videos tell a different, and deeper, story. Instead of the usual rave visuals, they show kids from the Fletcher Street Project in Philadelphia riding downtown on horses, or going for a trim in Philly, or dancing their way out of poverty in the Philippines (via the true story of World Champion B-Boy, Mouse, who learned to dance on the streets of Manila and left at 16 to live in Birmingham).

The images they’ve selected to complement their songs have a sense of struggle merged with an uplifting undercurrent that matches the music – and takes it to a new dimension.

These are themes that resonate deeply with Rudimental, who have grown up in the inner-city and previously worked with young people in schools and youth clubs. “We all come from rough areas and we’ve had friends who’ve come across some of the issues in inner-city London,” Piers says. “I used to be involved with a community studio in Tottenham called Wordplay where Wretch 32 and a lot of other people used to go through and it’s quite an important part of our upbringing. The videos [show] a heartfelt community. There’s a lot of poverty and bad stuff happening, but there’s amazing stuff happening too. There’s a horse stable for kids to race horses rather than running around doing illegal things.

It’s a similar vibe to how we grew up around community centres and it’s very close to home.”

“There is a definite connection between our working background and the way it’s been implemented in our videos,” Locksmith adds. “[With Feel The Love] you’re looking at deprived children using horses

as a mentoring scheme. They use their horses in the same way they would use BMXs over here. They’d go to the café and tie up their horses outside and have a responsibility to look after them, clean ‘em up and make sure they’re healthy.” I tell them it almost sounds like a real-life version of a Tamagotchi and the whole group burst into hysterics.

Laughter aside, the group are mindful of the impact that community has had on them. They still find their popularity surreal despite the years of hard graft. Says Kesi: “For me, growing up as a kid, it was either music or football and it’s taken me a while to get here. It hasn’t just happened overnight. We’ve been making music for a long time. I was doing a day job and I was working hard on doing music on the side. So I think it will inspire a lot of young people at the school I was working at to see that if you work hard, there’s always a chance.”

Piers picks up the conversation: “It’s massively important and when you’re young you have to be able to express yourself creatively and the problem these days is a lot of young people don’t get that opportunity. Who knows, one day we may be able to build and open up our own Rudimental academy.

Kesi and Leon used to work as mentors in schools, me and Amir used to work in a community centre in Camden, so it’s quite important to us. If you don’t have a place where you can express yourself, you end up doing stupid stuff. It’s definitely an important part of a London environment and it’s definitely underlooked.”

After the red recording glow of the camera evaporates, Piers clutches his head in his hands and queries whether anyone’s got any Paracetamol. Locksmith spreads his back across the stage and raises his arms to the sky, yawning “I neeeeeed my beeeeed!” It looks like the natural outcome of hard work and partying. And yet, as Amir reminds them of their duty, the quartet pull themselves together and march back towards the café for a tiny refreshment resurrection.

Then onwards for another day and another night in the life of Britain’s hottest new property.

The Geffrye Museum explores the home over the past 400 years through a series of period rooms and gardens. Admission free. www.geffrye-museum.org.uk. Nearest station: Hoxton.

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in association with youth enterprise live

Youth Enterprise: Live Gets started want to get into work or even start your own business? Get reading now!

When it comes to talking about young people and opportunities, one phrase is always quickly out of a person’s mouth: youth enterprise. In the last year the government and various large organisations have been promoting youth enterprise around schools, on the telly, and at colleges and universities as a way of thriving in what seems like a jobless society.

Amid this blizzard of buzzwords and schemes is Youth Enterprise Live, the nation’s biggest youth exhibition, designed to equip 1530-year-olds with skills in employment, enterprise and education.

The two-day expo, held at Earls Court in October, was filled with seminars, workshops and stands bursting with information for the eager job hunter, budding entrepreneur and motivated student.

LIVE Magazine was there, with a workshop on breaking into the creative industries.

It was an enlightening two days with lots of networking and skill building and visits from the country’s favourite business faces, including independent mayor candidate Siobhan Benita, Melody Hossaini and Justice Williams.

he had five different market stalls across Birmingham, racking up an impressive profit of £400 per week.

But it’s not just these business cats who had a lot to say: so did the younger generation of enterprising leaders. We caught up with Jamie Dunn, who began his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 12. Eight years later he’s now ranked as one of the world’s top 20 young people.

Jamie’s big break came after dropping out of college aged 16. Instead he won a place at the Peter ‘Dragons’ Den’ Jones’s National Enterprise Academy. Ad-printing company Made By Young People was the first commercial venture he co-founded.

“We bought the equipment ourselves to print leaflets, banners, hoodies and t-shirts. Soon Asda, IKEA and Aston Villa started ordering from us“

Dunn is a straight-talking Brummie and co-founder of the A-fund, a Birmingham-based, £10 million investment project for business start-ups by young people (aged 16-25). His freshest venture, The Founder’s Hive, Birmingham, is an open business network, providing advice and a platform for entrepreneurs to share ideas.

Much of his time is spent as a professional speaker inspiring young entrepreneurs at events.

Running the business he discovered youths were particularly interested in the idea of setting up their own fashion labels. The result? Jamie went back to school, offering Made By Young People workshops, challenging pupils to design and produce an item of clothing, then sell and keep the profits, all just in one day.

The workshops were hugely successful and grew into a six-figure business.

He’s down at Youth Enterprise Live, telling us about how he got started. “Living with my parents and four other siblings in a council house, money was always tight. I was 12 when I woke up one morning, filled a box with old books, CDs, DVDs and started selling to classmates at school. Teachers got me into trouble for it, but I came home with a pocketful of change, which Mum and Dad took off me. That’s when I realised I could make money myself.”

“I don’t have any plans to make billions of pounds. Freedom and happiness are what motivates me,” he says. “I don’t need to prove myself to anyone. School, friends and family never expected much from me. Everything I do now is a bonus.”

Following his early taste of success, he began holding sales at home and running a local Saturday market stall. By the age of 15

Youth Enterprise Live will be coming to a city near you on their national Youth Enterprise Nation tour from April.

Feeling inspired to start up your venture? Check out Youth Enterprise Live’s Ketan Makwana’s tips on the next page.

Words Christina Lai 24

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Words Celeste Houlker 21

www.youthenterprise-live.co.uk

Top Career and Business tips Thinking of starting a business or looking for a job? Ketan Makwana, Commercial Director of Youth Enterprise Live, has got some wise nuggets Be professional, polite and precise

These are three things that have served me well in my career. Show a professional mentality by researching and understanding your potential employer or client. Be polite, always acknowledge compliments and feedback and smile. Finally, be precise with what you are saying. If you make a claim back it up with evidence.

Be clear on your idea

Starting a business should be an exciting time, but in the pure excitement and energy, you can lose sight of what your business is about. Having a clear vision for your business and what issue it is resolving ensures that you can deliver your objective and communicate it effectively.

Stay active in experience

The job market is very challenging at the moment especially for young people.

While looking for work, make sure you’re still involved in other activities that demonstrate your skills. Volunteering or working on small projects is ideal as they show your resourcefulness. Sometimes it’s your volunteering or project that lands you a job.

Network to increase your net worth

No matter what environment you’re in, the more you network, build contacts and relationships, the stronger your opportunities of finding work and new business will be. When networking, understand it’s not always what you offer people, but more understanding what people do or are interested in and how you add value to this.

Be passionate: people buy people

Often when I meet people who want to start up a business they talk about their business rather than what it does and how it serves a purpose. This often leads to a generic overview. Instil passion by really talking about what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you believe the business is going to make an impact.

Only 20% of jobs are advertised so be creative when looking

Many jobs are not listed, some are only listed with the employer, and others are simply word-of-mouth. You need to instil the right mentality, so you’re not shy about approaching companies directly, even if they do not have vacancies listed. Utilise social networks such as LinkedIn and Twitter.

Spend the money wisely

When you begin to earn, or your business starts to generate money, it’s a great feeling. However this is also one of the times you are at your most vulnerable. Managing your cash flow and budget is important. Encourage a bootstrap mentality; pay for the necessities and make sure when you are invoicing clients that they pay on time.

Don’t try to make it perfect, just make it happen

There is no need to have the best-looking website or the most automated processes within the business. The test for any successful business is sales. Most people who start a company actually fear this process, whether it’s rejection or the lack of confidence to get new business. If someone buys what you are offering then you know there is a business.

Dangers of Facebook

Statistics suggest that nearly 90% of employers will now look you up on the internet before they even read your CV. Nearly 78% of people with poor Facebook profiles have never been called forward to interview. Maintain your online brand to reflect you as person. A simple search of your name will bring up information about you which they will use as a part of their decision-making.

Have fun and enjoy the work you do

When you enjoy what you do the work becomes easier and more productive. Running a business and working in a company can be tough but rewarding. Richard Branson often says if you don’t enjoy what you are doing get someone else to do it. The principle is true: if you enjoy the work you do, you’re engaged and will deliver more.

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Model: Monika Kalytyte

same difference

Photography Henry Houdini 24

Words Kamilla Baiden 20

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From supermodels to high streets, girls look like boys look like girls look like boys. Kamilla Baiden asks why androgyny’s in the air‌ or is it the water?

Piercing green eyes. Chiselled features. Long, white-blonde hair.

Andrej Pejic is the top-tier catwalk candy blessed with the rare ability to model both male and female clothing and still look stunning. He’s been hailed as the archangel of androgyny. Female stars such as Agyness Deyn, Grace Jones and Annie Lennox and male singers Prince, Michael Jackson and Boy George have all been famed for bending the gender rules. But next time you gaze into the incredibly handsome Pejic and envy his magical ability to appear feminine yet masculine at the same time, turn your attention nearer home. Pejic is not alone: many of us do it without realising.

It’s not unusual for a girl to steal her boyfriend’s clothing, be it a loosefitting shirt or oversize jumper. But this girlfriend-stealing-boyfriendswag has become so popular it has launched a fashion trend in itself.

Women’s clothes shops are flooded with a new male aesthetic. Jeans, cardigans, anything baggy and shapeless is thrown into the infamous “boyfriend fit” line. But we have yet to see something generated for the guys out there who wear female-inspired clothing, be it your skinny jeans, ultra-fitted tops or ‘manscara’.

Androgyny is growing, but it’s not new. Arguably it was first seen in the 1920s, when Coco Chanel introduced the signature suit for women, hinting at a new sense of freedom and autonomy. In 1966, Yves Saint Laurent launched “le smoking”, a minimalist, tailored suit for women, with models donning slicked-back hair, a new look that coincided with the dawn of the contraceptive pill. Despite changing times and fashions, androgyny’s essential message remains the same – rejecting gender stereotypes.

Sam, a 24-year-old fashion stylist and visual merchandiser based in London, describes their (yes, their) style as “residing in the murky waters between femininity and masculinity”. But has Sam always preferred wearing ‘genderless’ clothing or was it a conscious and more recent choice? “The one memory which will forever stick in my mind is one mufti-day, where you could wear your own clothes at school. I was dreading it. I liked wearing school uniform – it was a lot easier, I could blend, no one can really judge you on your fashion sense or how you view yourself from uniform. But on mufti-days I would normally not come in, just because I would spend hours staring at my wardrobe deciding if I should be uncomfortable for the day just to blend in, or be myself and deal with idiot girls and guys sniggering at me.”

What started as a natural preference became more of a conscious choice while growing up. Sam says: “By the time I got to Year 11, both the guys and girls had accepted I was different. Because I dressed like a guy, people just assumed I was a lesbian – like what I wore was my way of saying I wish I was a guy. But I didn’t. After college, I was definitely a tomboy or a stud. I simply preferred wearing guy’s clothes.

But after dressing like that through most of my school and college years, I realised that I didn’t then like the way society perceived me as a male. When I was rocking snapbacks, baggy white tees and baggy jeans with Air Forces all the time, everyone thought I was a 15-year-old boy. I even got stopped and searched by the police a couple of times, and then I was getting screwface off dudes on the bus.”

Androgyny is often linked with sexual ambiguity, but aligning sexual orientation with how someone dresses is not that simple. For some, androgyny is simply a question of style. Gita, 22, from London, embraces unisex fashion. Describing her style as “comfortable, unexpected and creative”, she prefers to wear clothing that represents how she feels. “I like sportish, yet elegant clothing… I just want to feel really comfortable,

“because i dressed like a guy, people just assumed i was a lesbian” yet girly at the same time. I don’t shop for what I need, I tend to pick up stuff that reflects my mood. At the moment life is not about male and female any more, it’s much deeper. Male styles influence me more than female things.”

For young people living in an era of academic and financial uncertainty, this refusal to stick to preconceived notions of gender styles could be a means to control at least one aspect of an increasingly constricted future. Female androgyny, in particular, can be seen as a rejection of the overt sexualisation of women’s clothing, a step beyond the era of Page 3 models and hip hop honeyz.

But there could be other reasons at play for the growth in androgynous fashion. A 2012 report found that 80% of the male fish in Washington’s major river were exhibiting female traits because of a “toxic stew” of pollutants. Although no evidence has been found of natural androgynous shifts in humans, it would be interesting to know if it’s possible. Robin McKie, science editor of the Guardian, believes that although there are evident differences in gender roles “the differences between men and women are made out to be bigger than they are, when they are quite biologically similar. For example, women have slightly bigger hips than men; in certain areas, like running, this limits women to not being able to run as fast as men. But outside that the differences are actually slight. I don’t believe in that ‘men are from Mars, women are from Venus’ crap – that’s more an environmental thing, more prominent in some cultures.”

As a fashion trend, though, androgyny has its limits. Not everyone can pull off the look. Some women can’t shape-shift their hips away however hard they try. Some men’s shoulders will never look right in that blouse. But as a fashion trend and lifestyle, androgyny will continue to grow. And the bundles of money people can save sharing wardrobes with their brother, sister, boyfriend or girlfriend: that’s really something we can all relate to.

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to the power of one

Forget the insulting ‘pramface’ cliché.

Most single mothers are battling the odds to build for the future Sixty years ago, unmarried pregnant women in this country were sent to special hostels to have their babies adopted. Things have changed a lot since then.

Today, single-parent families make up the majority of households in some of our biggest cities and Britain has the highest percentage of single mothers in any major European country.

It’s common for the media to stereotype single mums, depicting them as workshy and unambitious. In May 2012, BBC’s Newsnight humiliated Shanene Thorpe, wrongly depicting her as a benefits scrounger, even though she was in a full-time job (they later apologised). But Shanene isn’t alone in disproving the Vicki Pollard stereotype.

Jahmila Connage, 23, is one of many who are pushing onwards. Outside Buxlow Prep School, Wembley, Connage is talking to parents and their primary school children about the various health-conscious packed lunches her business, Kidz Lunch Co, provides. Before her are an assortment of sandwiches, small, delicate pieces of chicken and crispy spring rolls. Connage, dressed in a cerise shirt, black skirt and tights, is seamlessly moving from one parent to another, answering their questions.

“We do a non-dairy alternative, vegetarian and halal.

Our food is convenient, healthy and affordable,” she reassures one curious parent.

“This business is a great idea, the food smells fresh and it’s ideal because they deliver straight to the school,” says Mrs Gordon-Brown, whose four-year-old is a pupil there.

As Connage waves goodbye to the final parent, she rests on a bench in front of the school, squinting slightly against the sun. “Ah, I’m tired. Today went well I think,” she says. Connage is a single mum who’s not sitting at home, relying on benefits. She’s actively pursuing a successful career while studying business at Westminster University.

Photography Temi Omotosho 23

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Words Omar Shahid 21

Connage was 19 when she had her daughter, Saffiyah, now three, and had to drop out of uni. “When Saffi was younger, I was finding it challenging to get the right food for her. Because of the issues of childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes, I thought starting this business would be beneficial,” she says. “Stress is a big thing these days and eating the right

food can help mental and physical health. School dinners have really improved but packed lunches haven’t really been addressed.”

Her dream of starting her own business may not have come true had it not been for a £5,000 grant from Unltd, an organisation that supports social entrepreneurs. But across the country all isn’t rosy. The UK’s 2 million single parents and their 3 million children are, statistically, the poorest in the country, with 46% sitting below the poverty line. And it’s women, who form 92% of single parents, who bear the brunt. But the notion that they’re lazy and eager to live off the state is a gross misrepresentation: 57% work, an increase of 12% since 1997, and this figure rises to 71% for those with children aged 12 or over. What’s more, 55% had their children within marriage and less than 3% of single mothers are teenagers.

So why is there such negativity on the issue? “People resent the help single parents get from the government,” says Connage.

“You do get a lot of help. It’s like another door of opportunities.

Some people see single mums taking the money [from the government] and not appreciating it.”

Michael Lamb, a Cambridge academic who’s spent 30 years studying what happens to children raised by single parents, told the BBC: “Most single mothers are raising their children as well as most two-parent or married or cohabiting mothers.”

Connage echoes the point: “Single mums don’t get enough credit, it takes a lot to raise a child by yourself. A lot of successful people have been raised by single parents.”

There are, though, organisations out there to help. Gingerbread, a charity that provides advice and practical support for single parents, is one. They are growing fast, too: visits to their website have jumped by 76% from last year. Not only do they provide “expert support” but they also campaign and lobby the government.

“Despite the government making some progress, single parents are being hit by multiple cuts. The government are damaging development and rushing reforms through,” says Caroline Davey, Gingerbread’s Director of Policy, Advice and Communications.

“Single mums don’t get enough credit, it takes a lot to raise a child by yourself” Since the Coalition came to power in 2010, they’ve made cuts to many services, including income support, which have affected single parents. They have also made it mandatory for them to be available for work or lose benefits (previously mothers with children under seven were exempt). But Connage believes the government does a lot of good for single parents.

“I think they help out. But I wouldn’t be happy with the money they give,” she jokes.

Connage has won plaudits from David Cameron and she was nominated for the prestigious Spirit Of London Awards in 2011. But how does she manage it all and what tips would she give to other young single mums? “Sometimes it’s stressful but you have to keep going, you know that it will be alright in the end,” she says. “My advice would be to think very carefully about what it is you want, plan how you’re going to get there and stick to it.”

She adds: “All the people who are rich, they’re not all born rich, some had to start at the bottom. So if they can do that, what’s to say we can’t?”

Christinah Adegasoye, 24, had her son two years ago. She’s currently on a one-year contract with film company Hatch as a trainee producer.

Tell us about your upbringing?

My brothers and I grew up in Stratford with my single mum. I wasn’t ambitious at uni but my little boy motivated me. I wanted to prove a point to myself and others. I wouldn’t promote having a child early but I’m slowly overcoming the difficulty.

What sort of difficulties?

If I have to stay after work, I have to think about who’s going to have him. Going out socialising you have to be organised. On the plus side, I’m more reliable and efficient. You mature quicker.

How did you find out about your current job?

Twitter. I had to beat 500 applicants. I’m hoping to move within the parent company, Shine TV; start off as a junior researcher, then hopefully go into factual enterta inment like TOWIE or The Undateables. Ultimately I’d like to become a well-respected producer.

Why are single mums stereotyped in the media?

I don’t like the term. When you label someone a single mum you think she lives off benefits and might not have any morals. Being a single mum can make you or break you. For me, I’d like to say it has made me.

Do you think the government help too much or too little?

I think they allow you to fall into the routine of dependence, as if the government want you to be, so you don’t pick yourself up. People need to be determined. Social media can help you find a lot of opportunities.

Is it really that easy?

Look how many apprenticeships there are. True, there needs to be more awareness. But it’s down to wanting it. Persistence pays.

Madelena Da Costa is a 28-year-old single mum in her final year studying history at King’s College.

She had her daughter at 22, but soon split up with her boyfriend of seven years.

Why did you decide to go to university?

I dropped out of school at 15. After I had my daughter, I wanted to be a role model more than anything, otherwise I would have resigned myself to a life of benefits or a £6-per-hour job, which wouldn’t cover the rent. I felt the only thing I could do was find a profession where I could be independent. I did my GCSEs again, applied for an access course and then went to uni.

How do you balance university life and looking after your daughter?

It’s really hard. My course is very intense and I need a lot of library time. I have a child minder, who I rely on a lot. As a mum you feel guilty about not being with your child but in the long run you know it will be worth it.

What has the support been like?

Uni has been really supportive and I have a very close-knit family.

But because I had no qualifications, [when I had my daughter] the job centre said I couldn’t do anything. They don’t give you any encouragement. They were implying I should stay on benefits. I don’t think there’s any encouragement for single mums who want to go back into education. Being a single mum can be isolating and lonely. You need to know where the help is.

What stereotypes have you encountered and do you think the media plays on them?

Absolutely. They’re happy to keep those stereotypes, they need a scapegoat. The majority of single mums aren’t in that situation by choice, it’s the result of men who’ve refused to take responsibility.

Most single mums do the best they can.

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It’s the The Aung San Suu Kyi Bravery Award In 2012 there were no spaceships inna di air like the Jetsons (ask your old man) and the only millennium bugs wreaking havoc were cockroaches underneath your sink. But Frank Ocean revealing his affection for another male in the sleeve notes of his Channel Orange debut in July exploded a bomb underneath the ‘urban’ scene’s attitude to sexuality. For that, Frank, we salute you.

Socially Conscious Social Media Award Forget journalistic balance.

YouTube’s now a primary source of info as per Kony 2012. The film spread fast with 70 million people watching it in a week.

It soon transpired that Invisible Children was funded by some questionable people, while founder Jason Russell went AWOL, streaking down a San Diego street.

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LIVE 20 The Tweedledum and Tweedledee Award

The Why Does It Always Rain On Me Travis Tribute Award We had the wettest April on record, the wettest June on record and the wettest whatever on record. This year was as soggy as a bus-load of digestives dunked into gallons of Earl Grey. All this tumultuous precipitation caused indignation among the Great British public, who were feeling poor enough without being robbed of their summer. The sun eventually made a cameo, inevitably causing a hullabaloo about it being too hot, proving you just can’t win, whatever the weather.

The Max Clifford Award for Most Desperate PR London 2012 was the crown jewel which overshadowed all other events this year. But the runup to Euro 2012 was darkened by a Panorama documentary which went into covert mode to film racist violence and anti-Semitism in the host countries of Poland and Ukraine. Widespread condemnation followed, but the Polish government attempted to claw back some dignity via the nearest brother they could find in their homeland.

Cue former NBA star, now a Polish-based coach, Mike Ansley to step in and proclaim “this country welcomes everybody”. Sol Campbell begged to differ.

If you’re on public transport and you spew racist bile at another passenger, you’ve a very good chance of being captured on camera phone and held accountable by the feds. For one reason or another, it’s different on a rectangular grassy area. The Terry/Ferdinand saga dragged on and on with Terry being found not guilty by the courts and guilty by the FA, while his Chelsea teammate Ashley Cole tweeted indignantly against an organisation who were set to award him the captain’s armband for his 100th cap.

These two clowns exemplify the arrogant side of the beautiful game and should both do one.

2012 roundup

oh my gosh, that was quite a year. 2012 brought us tram lady, the olympics, The Diamond Jubilee and dench. christian adofo hands out the medals

The Chuckle Like A Brother Award In the last two years, a mockumentary which follows the lives of people connected to west London pirate radio station Kurupt FM has come to the fore, with MC Sniper and DJ Beats putting TW8, aka Brentford, on the map. Originally on YouTube, People Just Do Nothing recently had a pilot debut on BBC Three, which was met with rich acclaim. 2013 should see a full series commission which will be enough to get you hyper.

Services to Colloquialism Award Dizzee Rascal and Noel Clarke have both contributed to London slang over the last decade with their words of wisdom, YGM? This year Lethal Bizzle and footballer Emmanuel Frimpong became synonymous with the word ‘dench’ and phrase ‘leave it yeah’. You’ll now find dench merchandise in Premiership football stores and dench parties in Mediterranean resorts. But Team GB’s Andrew Osagie wins this one for proclaiming ‘leeeeave it’ to an interviewer after qualifying for the 800m Olympic final.

We all made use of the extended holiday provided

by Queen Lizzie to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee weekend. Another eternally eccentric, yet enthralling, OAP (allow dashing a stiletto at me) stepped up with a ‘hip’ performance which, more than the regal pomp and pageantry, is now synonymous with the whole event. Grace Jones is her name. singing and hulahooping for nearly five minutes is her game.

Olympic Memory Award

The Unity Award One Saturday last March we put aside thoughts of footballers’ excessive weekly wage and their habit of taking Instagram snaps with teammates in their local Piri-Piri outlet. Why? Fabrice Muamba. The Bolton midfielder collapsed at White Hart Lane in severe distress and his heart stopped on the pitch. We feared the worst, but he made a miraculous recovery and even ran with the Olympic flame in his hometown of Walthamstow in July. He has since been forced into retirement but his tale put the rest of the game into perspective.

London 2012 was the best sporting event since Euro 96.

Those four Olympic weeks were hypnotic, breathtaking and life-changing (and that’s just from the spectators’ view). From Glover and Stanning’s first Gold for Team GB at Eton Dorney to David Weir’s recurring ‘rip-roaring’ success at the Paralympics, the Games showcased how sport could rejuvenate passion in an age of austerity.

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PIC CREDIT: BILLY ROWLINSON

The Sir Roger Bannister Stamina Award

SPORT

olympic heights Three top olympians recall the golden glow of London 2012

Endless hours of gridlock, jam-packed Tube carriages and pricy white elephants. We’re a pessimistic bunch at the best of times, yet the run-up saw the Olympics and Paralympics painted as a living nightmare bordering on new-age Armageddon. But some time during the opening ceremony, the negative brigade underwent a miraculous transformation, cheering… YES, cheering nations they’d only heard of on University Challenge (I’ve never heard Papua New Guinea greeted so boisterously even if it was several hours into a thirsty pub evening). It brought out a feel-good humanitarian quality we’d never witnessed in London before. No doubt we’re still suffering the post-Olympic comedown, but the capital, maybe even the whole country, will remember it forever. (CA)

Zoe Smith,18, Greenwich

Words Uche Amako 23

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Words Christian Adofo 24

Set new British record in weightlifting, finished 12th How was 2012 for you?

Obviously it’s been the best year of my career so far. I competed in my first Olympics, which was a massive step at 18, broke a senior national record and had a really fantastic year all round. It’s not finished yet but fingers crossed the rest goes as well.

Have you had time to reflect and take it all in yet?

I had a bit of a break after the Games, took a few weeks off training and chilled. It sank in properly over those weeks about how much I’ve achieved and it’s quite unbelievable. I’m the same girl that went into the gym when I was 12 just to give it a go. It doesn’t feel like much time has passed at all between now and then.

Is success something that comes naturally and does it make you hungrier?

Absolutely. I don’t think I’ll be happy until I’ve won a major Olympic medal. Having people tell you how well you’ve done is great but I’m not satisfied yet.

What’s a good age to take up weightlifting?

I started at 12, which is quite young but it’s a good age. The first level for international competition is under-17 and you’re eligible from 13 to compete.

You broke the UK record at London 2012. Can you still close your eyes and take yourself back there with all the noise?

It was crazy. It was my last attempt for the British record and I just remember feeling exhausted. It was actually quite horrendous and then there was this wall of noise. It drove me throughout the competition. When I competed at the British Championships about 60 people were there – contrast that to 6,000 in the Excel!

Have you got a recording of it that makes you go goose-pimply?

It does a bit. Watching the last attempt, hearing that massive cheer, did make me go all goose-pimply.

What’s your funniest memory from the Games?

I was walking to Charing Cross from the beach volleyball with a few

friends who were GamesMakers and some girl points in my direction and starts crying! I thought “did that really happen?” [laughs] Did you whack out some Kleenex and comfort her or just let her cry in a corner? [laughs] I started chatting to her. “Don’t worry I won’t bite!” It was like people were making out we were dead famous but we are just athletes.

Who have you been starstruck by?

I was sitting with my nutritionist having a chat and Usain Bolt sauntered past being cool with the Jamaican team. We just sat there in silence with our mouths open like “Oh My God!” It was like being in high school, like some sort of clique, where the cool kids walked past.

What banned food did you tuck into after the competition?

I had a cookie and sandwich before, but straight after I got the bus back to the village and had a McDonald’s. I don’t eat it in everyday life, but it was there, it was free and it was unhealthy. So I was like sod it!

How far has this summer gone to dispelling gender stereotypes in sport?

A long way. People can see weightlifters aren’t just massive men and beach volleyball is taken a bit more seriously and not just a sport where men would go to ogle women. People realise they are professional sportswomen too.

Have you had fanmail from people inspired by watching you?

A huge number of girls, and boys, actually. A lot of people on Twitter have asked me how to get into weightlifting, which is a crazy question to me as I didn’t go to weightlifting clubs or anything.

I imagine someone watching you at the Games and it being turned into a biopic. Who do you reckon would play you? I’d say Halle Berry.

I was gonna say that. It’s because she’s brown – and she’s pretty, so I’d have her play me!

Describe London 2012 in three words?

Revolutionary. Successful. Wild. (CA)

SPORT What’s the one memory that stands out since winning the Junior World Championship to competing at the Olympics?

Achieving 10.05s at the Juniors and breaking the Championship record. You can’t believe you’ve just put yourself in the record books. I don’t see myself as being big or famous, it was just a great feeling.

Have you had time to reflect and take it all in?

I go to University of East London so I go past the Olympic Stadium every day, I can even see the apartment where I stayed.

Growing up, how important was sport as a focus for your energies?

It’s been the most important thing in my life. It keeps you fit and moulds you into the person you are. It taught me a lot about discipline and values.

How are you adjusting to uni life?

It’s so different from anything I’ve done before – and harder as you have to be much more independent.

How do your course mates react to having an Olympian beside them?

At first they were in awe: “Wow, you’re the Olympics guy!” But now they’ve got to know me and know that I’m down to earth.

What’s the funniest thing to happen to you since the Games?

I was on a packed train and this guy on the opposite train went to the windows and started shouting “Sprinter!”, pointing at me and banging the windows. One old guy next to me asked if I was a pop star.

Are you looking forward to doing more Diamond League events?

I’ve had quite a good year and been invited to a couple in great locations, such as Barcelona.

Next year I’ll hopefully have the opportunity to travel more.

What’s your music taste like?

I’m the most chilled-out person. I listen to R&B like Drake, but then I also listen to Mumford And Sons.

Describe your year in three words?

Unexpected. Honour. Amazing.

(CA)

Adam Gemili,19, Dartford

Ran 10.06 in 100m, just missing the final

Anthony Joshua, 23, Watford

Won gold in super heavyweight boxing How has life been since the Olympics?

I spent a while chilling in Barbados, it’s such a good place to relax and eat whatever I want.

The Excel Arena looked incredible. How was it performing there?

Unbelievable! Sitting in the changing rooms waiting to fight – I’m always last on – all I could hear was the noise from the crowd. It felt like I was about to walk into a scene from 300. I was shocked the first time, but after that I was prepared and used it to my advantage.

Tell us about the journey from starting boxing in 2007 to competing at your home Olympics.

It started when my cousin gave me £25 to buy a skipping rope and cheap boxing boots. I’ve never looked back since. I didn’t have a goal in mind, but I completely dedicated myself and was so disciplined every time in the gym.

With success comes fame; what has it been like?

Not much has changed. I’ve met some cool people and got involved in

things I wouldn’t usually do. And I get recognised down my local launderette now.

If you could take one memory away from London 2012, what would it be?

Seeing my mum after the final. I gave her a hug and the flowers I was given for my medal presentation. That meant a lot.

You’ve said you want to stay amateur and compete in Rio 2016. Is it difficult to say no to the offers?

No, I’ve heard it all before, but I have a lot to learn and I’m just taking my time.

You were recently in Brazil with [fellow boxing gold medallist] Nicola Adams.

What cause were you supporting?

The charity is Fight For Peace. It was an amazing experience, I got to meet loads of the kids in the favelas, got in the ring and did some pad work with them. I took t-shirts, sweets and toys out there. They loved that. (UA)

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RADIOACTI RA DIOACTIVE DIOACTI VE Ready to glow

Opposite page Claudia wears red turtle neck £28, oversized grey jacket £154 by American Apparel; mustard pinstripe trousers £18 by Beyond Retro; burgundy shiny brogues £22 by Simmi Reece wears grey flannel shirt £53, blue long jacket £156 by American Apparel; navy cable jumper, chinos £80 by Pepe Jeans; shoes £52 by Riviera

Claudia wears printed crop top £22, jeans £18, gloves £12 Beyond Retro; shoes £84.99 by Chinese Laundry; clutch bag £75 by Sam Edelman; watch £145 by LTD RXTR Reece shirt £27 by Crooks and Castles; leather trousers £45 by Jeff Banks; tee £24.95 by Friend or Faux; pendant necklace £240 by Swarovski, watch £220 by LTD Ceramic XL collection; snapback £30 by starterblacklabel. co.uk; bracelet £50 by Shimla; shoes £20 by Duffer.

Claudia wears sheer white shirt with a studded collar £22.99 Own The Runway; black leather jacket £35 by Matalan; jeans by Pepe Jeans; shoes £150 by Sam Edelman Reece wears blue checked shirt £28

by Beyond Retro; paper bag chinos £61 by American Apparel; military jacket, shoes by Duffer

Stylist Fiona Aber Art Director Henry Houdini Photographer Temi Omotosho Project Manager Celeste Houlker Assistant Stylist Meera Sharma Hair and Make-up Christelle Macintosh Models Claudia Ornelas, Reece Noonan, D1 Models

Claudia wears Bralet £23.99 by Misguided.co.uk; skirt £40 by American Apparel; two tone pastel green shoes £27 by Simmi; Ring by B Public Relation Reece wears ’Pirate Radio’ jumper £30 by Friend or Faux; jeans £84 by Crooks and Castle; two tone hoodie £42 by American Apparel; bomber jacket by Pepe Jeans; black leather strap watch £129 by Police; shoes £29.99 by Dunlop

regulars

cooking with STOOSHE They’re the bad girls of pop, but when it comes to baking cookies Stooshe really don’t take the biscuit.

“Oh no! We’re wearing white!” exclaims a red-haired Karis, worried that the chocolate chip cookies she and her bandmates are about to bake will ruin their gorgeous outfits. Karis, Alex and Courtney who make up Stooshe, the UK’s coolest new girl group, are more glamour queens than domestic goddesses, as we soon find out when they enter the central London student flat LIVE has commandeered for the occasion. While they squeal with excitement at the idea of baking, the reality is they’re more at risk of breaking their beautiful talon-shaped nails than an egg. “It’s not that I can’t cook, I just don’t cook,” insists Courtney. “But my mum does.”

That’s all right, then!

It’s easy to forget they’re still just in their early twenties as their energy and confidence fills the tiny kitchen. Not to mention the big, grown-up boots they’ve filled with their most recent release, a cover of TLC’s classic Waterfalls. In the kitchen, though, they’re still beginners, none of the group having baked cookies before. But with sleeves rolled up and nails drawn, they’re ready for the challenge.

Armed with the recipe, Karis takes charge, looking studiedly at all of the ingredients while the cameras start to roll. But they’re stumbling at the first hurdle as confusion sets in over converting

“the biscuits have morphed into one giant cookie” measurements. “How much is 200g in ounces?” Cut! The camera stops rolling so the girls can measure the ingredients out safe in the knowledge they’re not supplying LIVE with a cheeky entry for You’ve Been Framed. They’re taking things seriously and preparation is key, in baking as in music.

Two-thirds of Stooshe were scouted for the group by manager Jo Perry (a former girl-grouper herself) while browsing in Topshop, but since then they’ve left nothing to chance. Having worked on material for eight months before they were signed, their debut album has been almost two years in the making and, with nothing but Top 10 hits under their belt, it seems the hard work is paying off. “It means a lot to know that we did it ourselves organically and worked our way up there,” Alex says.

Photography Helena Richardson 21

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Words Zindzi Roque-Drayton 22

But now it’s back to the cookie business. “Is that too much chocolate?” the girls wonder, as the mixture starts to resemble a chocolate chip milkshake rather than dough.

But they’re sure they’ve followed the recipe, so once Courtney scrapes the mixture onto the cramped baking

regulars tray, into the oven it goes, and the girls cross their wellmanicured fingers.

Currently supporting Jenifer Lopez on the UK leg of her tour, the girls are overwhelmed with the progress they’ve already made and boast proudly that they now travel in a tour bus with beds, complete with kitchenette and all. Alex and Karis insist they’re both confident cooks so what, I wonder, would someone have to cook to impress them? “Curry goat and rice,” says Alex. “It’s very important that a guy knows how to cook that.” “Lobster,” Karis grins, “because I’ve never had it before.”

It’s Karis’ birthday the next day, so will this inspire Alex and Courtney to bake her a cake? Karis insists she’s happy for the cookies to be christened her birthday cookies, assuming they come out as delicious as those big Millie ones. But as the sweet scent of chocolate chip emerges from the oven and engulfs the flat, it turns out the biscuits have morphed into one giant cookie, with barely any outline to show where one starts and the next stops.

Breaking off squares, the girls are ready to give their verdict.

“It’s like toffee!” Courtney states, screwing her face as she tries to chew. “I don’t like them.” The other two put on a brave face and nibble gingerly. “Umm, I like it, it’s nice and sweet,” Karis decides. The LIVE crew join the cookie feast but have to admit it tastes like it could cause diabetes, the brown sugar having crystallised the cookies into a sheet of chocolate chips. But we can’t get enough and end up hovering around the pan well after the girls have left.

Proud of their creation regardless, the girls pose for the cameras. Having broken the cookies up and packed them into tupperware, they promise to hand them out to friends and fans. Be afraid, Stooshe fans, be very afraid.

against

putting a brave face on it. [from left] Alex, Courtney and Karis don’t let a little cookie cock-up wipe the smiles off their faces Watch stooshe turn many cookies into one ON our Youtube channel www.youtube.com/livemaguk

53

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c L Lambeth

College

Do It Yourself

Back in the day if you wanted to be read, you had to get a book deal. Now millions can rea d you online and for some it’s the road to fam e, discovers Monwar Hussain

There’s been a growing trend amo ng young people to publish their writing online. With the onset of the internet, increasing numbers are disc overing it’s the most widely accessible road, connecting their stories with hundreds, thousands and even millions of others of the same age around the world. Does this mean that the literary world has embraced the technological age and, finally, given young people the chance to be accepte d into the adultdominated wordy world?

The conventional method of getting your book published was time-consuming and , more often than not, a heartbreaking fail. So it’s no surprise that people are self-publishing inste ad, by printing physical books through one of the many sites like Blurb or Inky Little Fingers, or via teen -run book communities like spinebreakers.co m. Then there’s the big daddy of online lit, Movella, which is filled with stunning reads with a never-end ing range of story plots. From boy-band fan fiction to social realism, young people are writing whatever they feel passionate about. It’s a literary library of future potential.

Words Monwar Hussain 17

But what’s causing this trend to grow so rapidly?

Well, according to Andre ‘ZoOm’ Anderson, who has self-published four books, it is because of one instrument that we use in our daily lives: the internet. “The web has allowed us to distribute content on a worldwide scale and be successful in a shor t space of time. Instead of waiting a year for my book to come out, I wrote ULTR A in eight days and released it the next mon th. It’s that speed that ordinary publishers can not compete against. You also have creative free dom to express whatever you want without anyone asking you to water it down.”

For some young people, this trend has allowed them to grab the attention of big publishers. Emily Baker is one such : at 16, following the success of her One Direction fan-book on Movella, she was app roached

by Penguin to write a book about a girl having a relationship with a boy ban d.

“Self-publishing is a good way of finding out if people would actually pay money to read your book. But on the dow nside I think that some people aren’t reall y open to the idea of buying a book whe n it hasn’t been published, since they may feel that the book isn’t any good! This obvious ly isn’t the case, as there are lots of amazing undiscovered authors out there who are busy self-publishing.”

But does she think that self-published online books will over take paperbacks in this new future? “Personally, I prefer read ing a paperback, but that’s just because I’m sort of old-fashioned in that sense. But I think that other young people like to read each other’s work online because it’s a great way to swap feedback and also get insp iration and advice from other young and aspiring authors.”

It’s funny that adults keep going on about the youth not reading. From where I’m standing, it looks like we’re reading – and writing – like no generation before.

55

regulars

live challenge

Revision Swotting up is hell, but what’s the best way to make it stick? Eli bravely tries them all to find out Have you ever found yourself staring at a blank page, scrabbling around the back end of your brain in an attempt to remember what you learned last week? Of course you have – it’s called exam time. I have always dreaded revision, not because I don’t enjoy learning, but because I feel it doesn’t allow me to express my creativity in any way.

So, with a few constructive ideas in mind, I decided to explore the various methods, using a bit more imagination and originality.

Day 1Everyone is familiar with the

“My friends didn’t take my attempt to revise from my phone very seriously - they swore I was just texting” Day 2 The next step of my learning

challenge was to experiment with various revision apps, which I downloaded to my phone. Surprisingly, given that the apps market is growing like crazy, I didn’t find many that were genuinely useful – indeed, the majority were difficult to figure out and, frankly, useless. First on the test-list was Flashcard Revision. Here the user enters

Photography Henry Houdini 24

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Words Eli Anguelova 17

traditional and, for many of us almost painful, way of revising: reading and rereading a text over and over again until it eventually sinks into your brain. Say the word ‘revision’ and that’s the picture that instantly comes to mind. It’s how most students practise for exams, even though it’s so dull it makes watching paint dry sound like a holiday in comparison. Even so, I thought I’d give it a go in the spirit of my LIVE Challenge.

I picked up a psychology textbook, flicked through it and stopped at a random page, which, ironically, turned out to be about memory. I began reading the text over and over again, keenly aware that while

the material was sinking in, so too was the tedium. A few days later, I was surprised to realise I was able to remember most of what I’d read. There’s a downside, though, which is that information learned that way doesn’t stick in our mind for very long due to the monotonous, unemotional and impersonal way it goes in. Although this method does sort of work, it’s surely not the most interactive way of learning.

words and their definitions, which brings up a display so you can read and learn them by rote. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s just the standard revision technique given a technological makeover. It doesn’t make much difference whether you’re reading the information from your phone or a piece of paper – it’s fundamentally the same strategy. I also found most revision apps to be extremely limited. There weren’t many options, which admittedly discouraged me from using them. Nor did my friends seem to take my attempt to revise from my phone very seriously (they thought I was just texting).

To sum up, despite the fact that apps allow a more interactive style of learning, they feel more ‘bells and whistles’ than the full orchestra.

Day 3 Of all the learning methods on my

experiment list, I was most doubtful about the next one. But I was also quite excited, as it felt like it could be something out of a sci-fi film. Learning while you’re sleeping simply by listening to a recording? It sounds too good to be true and, as I found out, that’s because it really was! I downloaded an audio recording from a French learning

building with a contrastingly modern interior, I couldn’t help hearing the cynical voice in my head telling me it’s going to be just another useless method. He promised by the end I’d be able to recall the first ten elements of the periodic table. I doubted that: I’ve always seen myself as having a weak memory, especially for things I have no interest in. So how does Ed’s technique work? “Memory techniques involve things like making stuff emotional and vivid, linking it together with things you already know,” he says, “and just making sure that you’re passionate about what you’re learning.” It sounded good as a starting point.

He began by naming the first element and asking me what came to mind. They were all simple images. Helium, for example, I associate with a helium balloon floating around the room. For Beryllium, I thought of a forest with a lot of really colourful berries growing on bushes. For each element I created a vivid image in my mind, which helped me absorb a larger amount of information. Despite not having great knowledge of the order of the elements, I found it relatively easy to remember them,

website with a few unfamiliar words, put it on repeat and went to bed. Eight hours later, I awoke with a headache and the feeling that I hadn’t slept at all. Not only did I not remember what I’d listened to during the night, but I also felt hideously tired due to the discomfort of sleeping with headphones while a loud voice repeated the same words over and over again. Maybe it works for certain people, but it certainly wasn’t the method for me. Non, merci.

Day 4 Lastly, it was time to try out something completely different. I was off to meet Ed Cooke, author of Remember: Learn The Stuff You Thought You Never Could, a book that focuses on unique and productive ways to store more information in our memory.

As I entered Ed’s office, a very old-looking

associating each with a particular object or emotion, almost as if they created a story in my head. Now I was able to put the pieces together. I finally understood why just reading information over and over again doesn’t work and why I’d eventually forget all my hard labour. It’s because I hadn’t been able to make it relevant to myself in any way, nor associate any feelings (other than boredom) with it. Since trying out Ed’s technique, every time I hear someone being really boring, I found myself thinking straight back to the periodic table and Boron (that’s number five in the periodic table, in case you were wondering).

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from Ed, it’s that thinking you have a naturally bad memory is merely a mindset. “Everybody thinks they’ve

got a bad memory, including me,” he says.

“But really, you remember some things and you don’t remember others, so the trick of memory techniques is to work out ways to put everything into the category of stuff that is easy to remember.”

“Learning while you’re sleeping was too good to be true” Perhaps all the methods work differently for different people. For me, Ed’s technique was one of the best as it was fun and made information more memorable. It was intriguing to try out all these different methods, although I was disappointed the audio recording, aka the sleep learning, was such a disaster because that would have made my life much simpler.

What works for me may not work for you. But imaginative approaches do seem to be the answer – it’s now proven to be an easier and more enjoyable way of storing information in our long-term memory.

Despite all the research carried out, it seems even with today’s advanced technology, only a minority of people are using more interactive and productive studying techniques. But who’s to blame for that? With an education system that focuses solely on learning a syllabus word for word rather than encouraging young people’s creativity, the outcomes aren’t surprising at all.

My LIVE Challenge showed me that even though we can’t do anything to change our exam system, we can change our approach to learning. I’ve enjoyed the challenge – it taught me some fun and creative methods to revise, which will surely be useful in the future. Revision will never be my favourite thing, but at least I’ll always know what Beryllium is. www.memrise.com

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Music

Sound Advice Albums

Tulisa

= essential music = Good Stuff = Worth a listen = I’ll Pass = Meh...

Album

Of The Issue

The Female Boss

Tulisa’s solo debut covers everything you’d expect, from raving in Ibiza to a quiet night of reflection with a hot cocoa. Live It Up features Tyga and a huge urban flow that’ll make you break out dancing, so beware listening to it on the bus. Jumping from bass-pumping beats to sugar-sweet melodies, Tulisa hits back with vengeance and attitude while showing a softer side to her usual hard exterior. Love or hate her, you’ve gotta rate this LP. The-Dream worked on it so it should be great! (YS)

SATELLITES

Little Mix

Satellites 01

The eagerly anticipated debut from X-Factor winners Little Mix begins with their hit, Wings, an instant standout in comparison to the remaining songs, which might charitably be called ‘growers’. DNA reveals the vocals and talents of the young singers with Turn Your Face, in particular, showing off their powerful voices and personalities. But the album doesn’t sustain your attention, tailoring off towards the end and becoming less and less memorable. For the moment there’s just not enough variety in their mix. (JG)

The work of Brit-turnedCopenhagener Johnny Vic, Satellites’ debut is a soaring masterpiece, both grand and touchingly personal. Satellites 01 charts a journey through struggles and triumphs, through loves, losses and loneliness, through paranoia, despair and, ultimately, hope. It’s a rollercoaster sound, switching from sparse guitar to crashing waves of orchestration. Don’t ask what it is – instead sit back in stunned admiration at the scope and vision of a man who has hit the nail very much on the head. (CK)

Press Play

Ne-yo

DNA

R.E.D

By the sounds of his most recent hit, Let Me Love You, many would believe Ne-Yo has left his R&B roots for the bright lights of pop and dance. That couldn’t be further from the truth. With R&B melodies left, right and centre, Ne-Yo has delivered a heartfelt album to please the masses and his dedicated fanbase, whereas tracks Don’t Make ‘Em Like You, featuring Wiz Khalifa and Miss Right, have an added hip hop edge. But there’s still something for the dancers, the collaboration with Calvin Harris on Let’s Go solidifying Ne-Yo’s effortlessly chameleonic approach on this album. (LJ)

Devlin’s been buried so deep in the studio making his album he’s not had time for any music – except his own What have you been listening to recently?

To be honest I’ve just been listening to my own album a million times. I’ve been focusing on my own music, giving it finishing touches because obviously it’s coming out in the new year.

Do you have a song on your iPod that you always skip?

I think there are different moods, do you know what I mean?

Maybe some of the slower tempo ones sometimes.

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

What forthcoming track or album are you most excited about having?

Words Robbie Wojciechowski 18

Words Leanne Joseph 17

Words Stephanie Saldanha 22

Words Kerrie Braithwaite 21

Words Jodie-Ann Gayle 24

Words Campbell Kenny 22

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Words Yara Shaikh 18

Who’s coming out? I don’t know if there’s any new rap coming out, there’s not that many rappers about. I like Wretch obviously, he’s part of the album. If Giggs is bringing anything out it’ll be interesting to hear. (KB)

Devlin photography by John Wright

The track I did with Wretch (It’s Venomous): no chorus, its all grime-rap.

inside word Give a kid a sampler for Christmas and by next year they’ll have made their own dance anthem. At least, that seems to be what’s happening with a group of young, internetsavvy musicians conquering the airwaves both here and Stateside. From the 18-year-old duo Bondax, who’ve booked tour dates in New York and Europe and are in the process of setting up a record label, to Leedsbased 14-year-old Zadeh, who’s already found a fan in Four Tet, there’s a trend emerging among today’s teenagers that anything is possible with a keyboard in front of you.

EP. But at the moment, this young audacity to make do and mend is grabbing the industry by its cuffs and shaking it for answers.

Soon, these artists will become part of the major label crowd, and who’s to say that we aren’t already looking at the next Flying Lotus or Calvin Harris?

blog circuit. They’re making their careers off one decent track hitting the right people. The world is these kids’ oyster and with dance music in a state of upsurge, things are looking very bright.

From the deadpan, industrydefiant sound of Jamie Isaac, King Krule et al to the old-school rave grooves of DANCE and the Blank Mind Records crew, this mindset that anything is possible with an internet connection is

catching on. “It doesn’t matter what age or where you come from anymore,” say Bondax, “only the quality of the music really matters. If you make music you enjoy and believe in and put it out to the world through the internet, it’s bound to get some following.”

So what’s the longevity of all this?

Many of these artists don’t yet have the breadth of material to produce anything more than an

This wave seems permanent.

As access grows, more people will look to the internet as the stepping stone to their career.

These may be the standout acts to date, but the prospects are endless. Times are hard, and there’s no money. The music industry must realise that to move forward, it needs to capitalise on the people who do it quicker and cheaper, but who still generate myriads of new ideas.

It’s time to take a voyage into the era of the digital pioneers.

Tw

ot

ow at c

h

They’ve been picking out accessible software since before they were choosing their GCSEs. Posting the results of their home tinkering on Soundcloud and finding traction through the

young producers are reshaping the music world in a break before homework, says Robbie wojcIEchowski

Glass Animals

Rascals

It’s not often that you find neuroscience alongside the thick drone of clicking beats and heavy bass. But with London fourpiece, Glass Animals, that’s exactly what you get. After forming at uni and over fuzzy nights out in south London, the band have found their own beautiful blend of the organic and electronic. “Throughout my whole university career I was listening to Burial and Joy Orbison,” says medicine graduate David Bayley. “Foals, Animal Collective, Four Tet and Caribou formed this hybrid that was Glass Animals.” Having just released their debut EP Leaflings on Kaya Kaya Records, the band have already attracted attention. But what does the future hold? “We’re a long way off making an album,” says David. “It could just end up being mindnumbing, tedious drones for 40 minutes. But we’re excited.” Keep it locked. (RW)

With over 472,000 hits for the the video of What’s Going Down, the Rascals (formerly Lil Rascals) are certainly ready for the big league. The track is filled with cheeky, intelligent lyrics and a catchy chorus, topped off with a neo-jungle feel that captures the zeitgeist and makes you want to skank out. The Rascals first burst onto the grime scene at the tender ages of 12 and 13, with single Bang Your Headz earning the adolescents underground recognition. Coming from east London allowed the boys to fraternise with local grime legends Dizzee and Wiley.

According to Merkz, 18, one of three Rascals MCs, music has been their saving grace: “Growing up we were just writing lyrics every day; if you weren’t doing music you weren’t cool. There was a lot of crime going on and music allowed us to dodge that.” (SS)

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I n A s s o c i at i o n w i t h u n d e r c o v e r

book club On Earth, people are all given brain implants known as ‘the feed’ at birth. But holidaying on the moon, a group of friends come across a girl who’s different.

No wonder Titus falls in love. But can it last in outer space?

Margaret This is unique; I’ve never read a book

like it before. It gets me imagining the various things that could happen in space. I also find it very dark and futuristic, with an almost Star Trek feel.

Meet the author Feed author M.T.

Lily I found it a little long at first. But the further in I read the better it got. I thought it was really good.

What do you think of the moon after reading this? Not so boring now, is it?

I had a bit of a cry at one point.

What was the most emotional part for you?

Would you like to live in a world where ‘the feed’ dictates how you live?

Anderson has been around the world.

Next stop the moon

of those people who takes life negatively – a typical teenager.

Yolanda He’s a confused coward, he just needs to

grow up.

Lily I don’t have any favourite characters because they all seemed weird and unpredictable.

Margaret Link has to be my favourite. I find it

amusing how he seems to be a clone of Abraham Lincoln.

Josh Violet, because she seems to be the only person there unaffected by The Feed. She’s the character you can relate to most.

Margaret The moon definitely isn’t what I, or

any of the characters, expected. It’s dangerous yet adventurous and got me thinking about the vision of “our” future planet.

Yolanda Mad. They are all mad.

Margaret The most emotional part for me has to

be when Titus finds Violet. I can’t give away any more, but it makes the book really effective.

Josh When Titus got taken to hospital. You feel kind

of sympathetic towards him because he is separated from everyone else.

What inspires you when writing?

All sorts of things! Snippets of conversation; the news; oddities I read about; dreams; jazz hits; sci-fi movies gone wrong; crooked houses; beached whales; bats behind the curtains; tombstone inscriptions. All these things.

Are you an adventurous person?

I guess so. I’ve travelled the world, trekked into the desert to discover the temple of a rat god, been picked up in a huge ceramic pot and juggled on the feet of a Chinese giantess. Not with food, though. No feet, no noses, no brains.

I had this weird feeling of guilt about Violet, like she was presented as one thing, when in reality she was something else. It felt like you were deliberately provoking us. Is that true?

I didn’t want Violet to be a simple, onedimensional character. To some extent, she’s the character most readers identify with, but she’s not perfect. Which one of us is?

Is technology a blessing or a curse?

I don’t have problems with technology itself.

What worries me is the way all these networks of communication, servers as well as social media, are controlled by corporations that don’t make their goals clear. There’s a price for everything.

Lily I would but with fewer side-effects, less craziness.

Why did you set your book on the moon?

Josh Yes, look at the world we live in now and

What advice have you got for future authors?

But it would also be cool to have all this information in your mind to use whenever you need.

compare it to theirs. It seems more exciting as they do have the feed inside them.

The VERDICTS!

Words Yolanda Walker 17

so what star rating would our readers give this issue’s book club read? over to you...

lily JOSH Margaret yolanda

We’ll get our tourists there sooner or later. I want to claim a piece of that action. Maybe a crater named after me, or a lunar 100 SPF suncream.

First, just write. It doesn’t matter if you like it when it’s done. You can always go back to fix it.

Secondly, read widely, read everything: how-to books, ancient prayers, epic poems, romance novels, political blogs, lists of ingredients. The more you know about the richness and variety in the world and the more you understand its pulsating language, the better a writer you’ll be. @WalkerBooksUK mt-anderson.com

Words Lilly Reuel 15

So I didn’t like Titus, but Violet was great, despite her issues. Who was your favourite character?

Josh He seems really irritable and bored, like one

Words Josh Correia 15

Titus acts all cool, but when it comes down to it he’s a coward. What did you think?

Words Margaret Zawedde 15

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the book had a real emotional kick to it. What did you feel?

Words Aida Gugsa 17

head over to www.undercoverreads.com to discover more

Aida: I found

Entertainment

Fully Booked

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

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

mal peet

(Walker)

FICKLING THE LAST MINUTE (DAVIDBOOKS )

Words Lily Ruel 15

Words Aida Gugsa 17

ELEANOR UPDALE

The Last Minute is a book full of ordinary people’s ordinary stories. We go through a second-by-second journey until their street (literally) explodes into action. We see the stories and lives of several people, not just as a journey but as an investigation, trying to figure out clues to what happened. We become the detectives.

Was it a terrorist attack? Was it the plane with its suspicious passenger or was it a gas leak?

Eleanor Updale’s pacy thriller throws you into a situation that’s preposterous, yet plausible and completely unpredictable. (LR)

Words Jasmyn McNamara 16

exposure

Mal Peet casts himself as a 21st-century Shakespeare using the plot of Othello to tell a modern story. Set in Brazil, Exposure is a tale about a black footballer called Othello who falls for Desmeralda, a beautiful white pop star.

Set between penthouses and favelas, this is about celebrity, corruption, racism and poverty, and the inextricable links between them. The compelling characters (a football journalist, teen favela investigators, agents) carry the story, but really this is about the possibility of exposing what’s real and what isn’t, and ultimately whether we can escape reality. (CP)

Words Yara Shaikh 18

Nothing Is Impossible Dynamo (Ebury)

This autobiography takes you on a magical journey from Steven Frayne’s youth on the notorious Delph Hill in Bradford to global success.

Frayne, now known as Dynamo, recounts being pushed around in a bin by bullies, but he broke past the taunts, going on to wow people from Jay-Z to Prince Charles. Magic has been his passion ever since his gramps showed him his first trick. He writes conversationally but not chronologically, so you never know what you’ll read next or where you’ll be. His most iconic magic trick, walking across the Thames, shows incredible skill, proving that the impossible need not exist. (YS)

Words Clarisa Pabi 21

Winter Games (Penguin) Rachel Johnson

la ss eC Liv

This is a compassionate story of a woman learning about her grandmother’s life. What she discovers helps her see the reason for her luxurious lifestyle. We read the story both from her grandmother’s point of view, in 1936 in Nazi Germany, and her own in 2006. Johnson’s dedication to her grandmother and motherin-law tells us that they spent time in Bavaria in the 1930s. From this, I became interested in the process and sentiment of discovering family history, feeling like I wanted to do so myself. I invested more emotion in the main characters, adding to my appreciation of the story. (AG)

ic

Book

Of The Issue

Dracula

bram stoker (penguin classics)

Vampires may be all the rage now, but it all began back in 1897 with Dracula – the most renowned vampire story of all time. This gothic novel unfolds as a collection of journals and letters telling the tale of lawyer Jonathan Harker as he travels to Transylvania to assist Count Dracula in finding a place to live in England. However, on arrival Harker finds himself trapped in the castle. He learns that his client isn’t all that he seems and discovers that the Count possesses supernatural powers and diabolical ambitions.

The fascination with this story comes from the way that Stoker delves into the darker side of society, exploring the connection between desire and death. Probing at identity, sexuality and lust, this book was so audacious for its time and yet remains so accessible. (JMN)

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Entertainment

Front Row Review

Review

Film

Of The Issue

ARGO

Seven Psychopaths

Ben Affleck’s third directorial stint is ambitious and consistent, bringing Washington politics, Hollywood glamour and war in Iran together - and shining all the brighter for being based on fact. In 1979, six members of the US Embassy are forced into hiding in Iran. To get them out, CIA ‘exfiltration’ specialist Tony Mendez (Affleck) becomes film producer of fake sci-fi adventure Argo. Scouting for Tehran locations, he smuggles the six Americans into the (fake) film. Affleck nails political drama, Hollywood comedy and nail-biting tension but struggles to develop the characters, because, absurdly, all that seems to matter is that they get home safely. (JS)

Scriptwriter Marty (Colin Farrell) becomes embroiled in LA’s underworld when best pal Sam Rockwell kidnaps a Shih Tzu from psychopathic gangster Woody Harrelson. The situation proves life-endangering yet perfect for Marty, whose Seven Psychopaths script is running short of characters.

Martin McDonagh’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to 2008’s In Bruges is like a more frenetic Coen brothers yarn, both more ambitious and crazier than its predecessor. Balancing laughs with drama, it embraces story over character, crafting an exciting, razor-sharp script for a rollicking romp that demands a re-watch, if only to catch all the quips you missed first time. (JS)

5 December

Liv

eC

la

ss

ic

OUT NOW

Beetlejuice

Words Yara Shaikh 18

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Words Jacob Stolworthy 21

1988

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

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

Screen Life Rob Savage, 20 year old director of intimate, Raindance-nominated drama Strings, charts his industry path “Strings was my first real film.

I’d done a couple of shorts, but [this time] I took what was around me: 18 year olds about to go to uni. We went to the council for funding, but didn’t get the money. The producer and I worked a bunch of jobs and put together £1,000. A short film I’d made won £1,500 at a Canadian festival, so we went back to the council, proved ourselves, and they gave us another £1,000.

The money went on keeping people happy; important, as we weren’t paying them. We rented a house for the actors,

Forget Batman Returns, disregard Edward Scissorhands, and don’t even mention Planet of the Apes.

1988 should be known as the year Tim Burton directed his finest film - Beetlejuice. The film pits Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin as a deceased couple whose house is intruded by the Deetzes, a vulgar New York family (led

by Catherine O’Hara and featuring a younger Winona Ryder). They are forced to call the name of eccentriccum-psychotic bio-exorcist Beetlejuice three times to learn the tricks to scare them out.

Played by Michael Keaton, the

paid for some locations and gave the crew expenses. I studied film production at uni, but it wasn’t that beneficial.

Everything has come from experiences outside of that.

You put yourself out there and strive to make something better and to reach an audience.

I took a break from Strings for the Sci-Fi London 48 Hour Film competition. In two days, we made this film Sit In Silence, which came second out of 500 and won the BFI Future Film award. At that point I thought ‘I can do this’. That’s when I felt I’d achieved something.” (YS) BFI Future Film Festival, 16-18 Feb. See www.live-magazine.co.uk for full details and extended submissions deadline for LIVE readers.

character of Beetlejuice is rib-ticklingly hilarious.

Spouting lines of dialogue you’ll be quoting long afterwards, Keaton nails it as the ghost with the most.

There’s all you can expect from a Burton film: gothic layering, a jubilant Danny Elfman score and memorable set pieces (this film boasts arguably the greatest dinner scene ever.)

With an unnecessary but wholly welcome sequel in the works, this is a film you have to see to believe. All together now: “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!” (JS)

More Film content on youtube www.youtube.com/livemaguk

Live Mag / Full Page_FP 30/10/2012 10:23 Page 28

SJM CONCERTS PRESENT SJM Concerts, Kilimanjaro and DF by arrangement with Coda presents

Sun Mon Tue Wed Fri Sat Mon tue Thu Fri Sat sun tue wed Thu Fri

02 03 04 05 07 08 10 11 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 21

NEWCASTLE O2 ACADEMY MANCHESTER ACADEMY GLASGOW O2 ACADEMY* EDINBURGH PICTURE HOUSE* SHEFFIELD O2 ACADEMY LEEDS O2 ACADEMY LIVERPOOL O2 ACADEMY IPSWICH REGENT NORWICH UEA NOTTINGHAM ROCK CITY BIRMINGHAM O2 ACADEMY OXFORD O2 ACADEMY BOURNEMOUTH O2 ACADEMY BRISTOL O2 ACADEMY LONDON HMV HAMMERSMITH APOLLO FOLKESTONE LEAS CLIFF HALL

~

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(11/2 & 23/2-1/3)

DJ MICKY SLIM

(11/2-18/2)

(12/2–18/2)

DJ BALLER B

February | March 2013 Bournemouth BIC Mon 11 Nottingham Capital FM Arena 12 Tue Liverpool Echo Arena Wed 13 Sheffield Motorpoint Arena 15 Fri Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 16 Sat Glasgow SECC Sun 17 Aberdeen AECC Mon 18 London Earls Court 23 Sat Cardiff Motorpoint Arena Mon 25 Brighton Centre 26 Tue Birmingham LG Arena Thu 28 Manchester Arena 01 Fri

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(23/2-1/3)

0844 576 3000 0843 373 3000 0844 800 0400 0114 256 5656 0844 493 6666 0844 499 9990 0844 499 9990 0870 903 9033 029 2022 4488 0844 847 1515 0844 388 8000 0844 847 8000

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“THE EVOLUTION OF MAN” out now featuring the singles “SAY NOTHING” and “CLOSE ENEMIES” /leadingbyexample

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NICE TO MEET YOU TOUR 2013

February T Tue 26 SOLD OU

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Nottingham Capital FM Arena Brighton Centre

March T SOLD OU Fri 01 T Sat 02 SOLD OU T Sun 03 SOLD OU T SOLD OU Tue 05

JANUARY 2013 MON 28 NOTTINGHAM ROYAL CONCERT HALL TUE 29 EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE WED 30 NEWCASTLE CITY HALL FEBRUARY 2013 FRI 01 GLASGOW CLYDE AUDITORIUM SAT 02 SHEFFIELD CITY HALL SUN 03 LIVERPOOL ECHO ARENA TUE 05 WOLVERHAMPTON CIVIC HALL WED 06 MANCHESTER O2 APOLLO FRI 08 YORK BARBICAN SAT 09 BLACKPOOL OPERA HOUSE MON 11 PLYMOUTH PAVILIONS TUE 12 OXFORD NEW THEATRE WED 13 LONDON HAMMERSMITH APOLLO FRI 15 BRIGHTON CENTRE SAT 16 BOURNEMOUTH INT. CENTRE MON 18 BRISTOL COLSTON HALL TUE 19 CARDIFF MOTORPOINT ARENA THU 21 IPSWICH REGENT

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T Wed 06 SOLD OU

0115 989 5555 0844 499 9990

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Entertainment

Game On deep down

Downloadable content, yes, but not at the cost of loaded-up prices Anyone who enjoys a game is sad when it comes to the end and there’s nothing left for them to do. Or, in the case of multiplayer gamers, if they have to stick with the same weapons or fighters for over a year. So in some respects, downloadable content (aka DLC) is the best thing to happen to gamers since consoles went online. This can mean extra tracks on music games, additional characters in fighting games or even up to three hours more play time in a single-player experience.

DLC is an evolution from the expansion packs PC gamers are used to. But as with PC expansion packs, there’s the good, the bad and the just plain ugly. We can all agree free DLC is awesome, but some companies have received a lot of negative attention for their

DLC free if you bought the Collector’s Edition for another £10. That didn’t go down so well, especially as it was such a key part of the story. If it could be released at launch, why wasn’t it in the full game to begin with?

DLC practices (I’m looking at you Capcom).

the ending, so why do some game companies try this?

If you’re going to be charged for DLC it has to be new, not on the disc I’ve already paid for.

Locking out some content on a game and then charging me £5-10 to unlock it is just plain wrong. You wouldn’t accept a cinema experience where someone comes around asking for an extra £3 for you to see

Also unpopular is ‘day one DLC’ that’s out on the day of the game’s release. Batman Arkham City and Mass Effect 3 both had DLC at launch, both were free to customers who bought a specific copy of the game and both their DLCs really helped shape the story. But Mass Effect offered

DLC is still new, so it’s about finding out what’s acceptable.

Not all DLC should be free as anyone putting time and effort into something deserves to make money and developers want to combat pre-owned games. But the charge should reflect the quality of the content. A costume change shouldn’t cost £2 if you can get over an hour’s extra play for £3. Not getting DLC right could leave many gamers waiting for special editions incorporating all released DLC. That could end up hurting gamers and developers alike.

Game Previews Sonic Racing

Big Bang theory: the party game

Release date: November 2012 Age: 12+ PS3

Release date: Out now Age: 18+ PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Windows

Release date: November 2012 Age: 7+ PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Nintendo

Release date: Out now Age: 15+ Board Game

All-Stars Battle Royale is an all-out fighting game featuring the best and most fearsome Sony characters. Sweet Tooth, Sly Cooper and the wonderfully named Parappa the Rapper all slug it out to establish who’s the hardest. Made with the expertise of Street Fighter advisor Seth Killian, Battle Royale is as good as a fighting game can get. Just don’t let it get too personal. (JB)

Part III of Assassins Creed promises to be bigger and better than ever. The game is set in the 1700s, and focuses on new ancestor, Connor, who fought at the height of the American Revolution. He’s a warrior with a Native American mother and a British father, who goes through the story changing into an eagle and fighting wolves. This could be the game of the year. (JB)

Sonic and friends return in this latest karting adventure and this time you’re not limited to the road. We see a return of Sonic and other iconic Sega characters (and even a cameo from Disney’s Wreck-It-Ralph) battling it out on land, sea and in the sky to find out who’s the fastest. This game is Kart Racer for those who don’t want to be an Italian plumber. (JW)

Calling all geniuses, geeks and comedy fans looking for something to enjoy without a controller. This board game is a celebration of all things Big Bang. Your goal is to earn points based on card combinations and rankings. All cards include pictures and quotes from the show, letting you relive classic moments. One game any fan would be crazy to miss. (JW)

64

Words Jack Brennan 14

Assassins Creed III

Words Jamal Wright 22

Battle Royale

Entertainment

CULTURE CLUB b-boy style

At first sight, Sunni may seem a typical sixthformer. He studies psychology, film studies, sociology and PE, but he’s also a world-class b-boy and has travelled much of the world, all before turning 18.

He reels them off: “America, Brazil, Canada, China, Vietnam, South Africa, France, Spain, Italy, Finland and Germany… I think that’s it.

The biggest upside is I like travelling. Usually it’s straight for training, hotel, battle, afterparty, then back home. But I’m not going on a school trip, I’m going with my crew.”

Sunni recently won the 1 vs 1 battle for the Funkin Stylez category at the UK Championship. His crew Soul Mavericks, coached by the inspirational DJ Renegade, is credited with putting UK b-boying back on the international map. Some appeared in this summer’s Olympic ceremony, while Sunni has guested on Russell Howard’s BBC3 show.

But it’s not just about crew. The Penang-born, Bristol-raised Sunni acknowledges the role of his school and their dance studios (“a free accessible place is difficult to find when

you need it”), as well as his mum. “She used to teach circus and physical theatre – quite physical stuff. B-boying was the only thing that kept my interest.”

The passion for his craft is evident when he speaks on where b-boying belongs. “It’s an artform and a sport,” he says. “Some people have creativity and there are others that don’t listen to music and do power-turns, just like a sport. It’s crazy to watch.”

With street dance’s recent national success (Flawless, Diversity) there have been questions about b-boying’s enduring underground appeal. But Sunni disagrees: “From a business perspective it can only be positive. If you’re a real b-boy you’ll do it right. Flawless did it right.”

Eyeing his future, Sunni is open-minded. “I make money out of it, I’m semi-professional, but there are things I want to pursue outside, like physiotherapy and acupuncture. I’ve still got a little while to think but I want to do something related to dance. It does take away from your social life, but you gain a whole new social life through b-boying.

Everywhere you travel you make friends.” (CN)

LIVERPOOL MANCHESTER

Jonas Mekas @ Serpentine Gallery

A Life Of Galileo @ Royal Shakespeare Company, Swan Theatre

Sky Arts Ignition: Doug Aitken @ Tate liverpool

The First Cut @ Manchester Art Gallery

5 December–20 January 2013 FREE Lithuanian poet, filmmaker and artist Jonas Mekas is going solo for this exhibition, boasting an extensive collection of new film, video and photographs curated

by Mekas himself. As a leading figure in avant-garde cinema, his remarkable career has spanned over 60 years, encompassing work with such artists as Warhol, Dali and John and Yoko. The exhibition will include a series of special events nicely coinciding with a retrospective at BFI Southbank.

31 January–30 March 2013 £5-16 A Life Of Galileo is a timeless play about the troubled relationship between science and religion in 17th-century Italy. Galileo’s discovery that the earth orbits the sun, not vice versa, angered the Catholic Church, who accused him of heresy. Bertolt Brecht draws out the tension between the unstoppable scientist and the immovable church in this classic play. The church won this round – but apologised in 1992, exactly 350 years after Galileo’s death.

Until January 2013 FREE Musicians, artists and actors all live a life of creativity. In this Liverpool Biennial installation, Jack White talks to contemporary artist Doug Aitken about the root of his own artistry, as well as demonstrating his approach to visual art in the public forum.

Expect to see contributions from Beck, Devendra Banhart, and actress Tilda Swinton. It’s an indoor project, but the exhibits will be projected outside at night, so there’s no time limit for viewers.

Until 27 January Free In which 31 international artists prove paper isn’t just for writing.

The Manchester Gallery hosts First Cut, with 3D artwork consisting entirely of paper. Expect to see giant sculptures of galaxies spiralling off the wall, a walkthrough forest of paper trees, and miniature worlds in boxes. For those into historical fashion, there will also be paper dresses and shoes fashioned out of maps and money to complement the grand Georgian setting.

Words Caroline Nelson 19

BIRMInGHAM

Words Verity Nelson 23

LONDON

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entertainment

YOUTUBE CHANNEL OF THE ISSUE

scotty unfamous (sd.tv)

1.8 iew

mv

GlOZEll “What’s so challenging about cinnamon?”says GloZell, as she attempts to swallow a ladle’s worth. Set in her oh-so-famous kitchen, GloZell isn’t ready for what’s about to come over her throat, her top and her kitchen surface. Best described as acting as if she possessed by a holy spirit, GloZell’s reaction is beyond hilarious. Even guzzling litres of water can’t save her.

s

s

iew

When I was younger, it was just about me being the class clown, but once I did Swear Down TV (SD.TV) it became the ‘thing’ at that time to be awkward and loud. The conversations I have with the camera is how I’d talk to my friends. I’d describe myself as candid, not necessarily rude, just outspoken. One day in 2009 me and a friend decided to make a YouTube show called What Defines A Wasteman. A lot of people responded to it, so I thought I’d do more. There’s no point letting an opportunity pass you by.

mv

who is scotty and how did you get started?

Who’d have known having a challenge that results in people gasping for breath and spitting out explosions of cinnamon would make for millions of views on YouTube? We’ve selected our favourite Cinnamon Challenges so you don’t have to 21

Swear Down’s Scotty Unfamous graces LIVE HQ to tell us all about her hilarious, larger-thanlife Vlogging antics and how it all began

OURtube

Black Man Beats!

After placing a $20 bet, D’Andre Siggers and his friend Sefus takes on the mighty cinnamon challenge. Sefus goes first and huge amounts of LOLs follow.

Siggers goes next, drinking half a bottle of water before taking the challenge and showing his pal how it’s really done. Victory is his and he becomes the first man to complete the challenge, well on YouTube anyway.

what have been your highlights? iew s

ws

vie

mv

4.6

3m

Fighting Temptations was a highlight. I watch it back sometimes and laugh about myself like a loser. Also there was one that Jigz did last year called Winter Wonderland, and I was filming it and I actually died! I put bloopers at the end to show where I messed up, you would hear me screaming and rolling around the floor.

How much do you feel YouTube has helped your career?

Without YouTube my career would be a lot slower. The videos opened doors for me. From it I’ve done music and my radio show, Unfamous. I’ve also been featured in a lot of stuff, been a guest panellist and hosted events.

What’s the future for Scotty?

Photography Henry Houdini 24

66

Words Yara Shaikh 18

After Swear Down, people want to know who you are. So I wrote my first book in 2010, which was on Facebook originally, and it kind of gathered momentum. I was approached by a drama company that wanted to make it into a play. They actually did it!

It became the first production to ever sell out Wandsworth’s Lost Theatre. I was gassed! Then I wrote book two. Unfamous was kind of sitting there and I was like ‘I wanna do something’. The idea of making an online series was being chucked around, and bam, here we are now, creating an online series for Unfamous! (YS)

The Slow Mo Guys

Fwbproductions

Take a hi-tech camera and a challenge that consists of choking and coughing cinnamon out of your throat.

What do you get? Slowed-down shots of epic fails. Gav and Dan watch each other suffer at the hands of the spraying cinnamon dust in ultra-slow fashion. This video is Discovery Channel meets crazy YouTube craze! Every single ounce of pain shown so very clearly.

This last video encompasses a kind of unity of the foolish as 12 Americans brave this infamous challenge. We witness the journey of these Yanks, accompanied by ‘hero’ music, as they follow in the footsteps of every crazy person who’s ever attempted this throat-closing, agonising spoonful of pain. None of them succeed.

Why? Because it’s practically impossible. But hey, they did it, so you don’t have to.

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