Under City Lights Summer 2015

UNDER CITY LIGHTS

Vol. 7 #2

Rare FM's Music & Entertainment Magazine

ALEX ADAIR Exclusive Interview

PEACE • KANYE WEST • RARE FEST

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#2 “Without music, life would be a mistake.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

As I close the magazine chapter of my university life, it is not without nostalgia that I look back on the adventure...

Being the designer in a team of four editors means a whole lot more than assembling words on an InDesign spread and “making it pretty” (Flowers! Pastels! Frank Zappa!). In fact, it’s really more of a mad juggle of words and images, sourcing, editing, and waiting. After these last hyper-caffeineted hours spent inspecting the alignment of all the margins and columns, I could quote every article of this issue in my sleep (and yes, it is as creepy as it sounds).

We have come a long way since my first day as a wide-eyed fresher, giving a much needed aesthetics tour de force to our online platform.

While I will miss the 3am design sessions, I can only be proud of all our hard-work. Scrolling through exclusive interviews and talent-infused features, I have no doubt the glory days of Under City Lights are only ahead of us.

The cliché question: 'what type of music are you into?' Despite, admittedly, incessantly asking that question, I’m yet to be equipped with an answer.

As different genres of music collaborate with one another, the spectrum of my music taste keeps changing, and the decision of my music preferences still remains open. Unable to identify my exact niche, I flick through my playlist, discovering I have an eclectic mix of music from The Beatles to Ben Klock.

Even though I can’t establish the music I predominantly listen to, it seems to determine me. But can music really define who we are? Or rather do we define what music is? Let’s find out in our second issue of Under City Lights 14-15...

For this issue, I have had the chance to meet Alex Adair for his very first interview and photoshoot.

Check it out p.14!

Mayanne Soret Design/Director of Publication

Jessica Rogers Co-Editor in Chief/Director of Publication

(DREAM) TEAM

UnCL {the Rare FM magazine}

Director of publication: Mayanne Soret Jessica Rogers

Editors-in-Chief: Jessica Rogers Marnie Wood

Design & Photo Editor: Mayanne Soret

Junior Editor & Musical Saviour: Sam Birkett

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T New Music p.4 The Listening Edge by Sam Birkett

p.6 Artist Profiles by Jessica Rogers

Live Reviews p.8 Sivu, Peace & Bombay Bicycle Club by Poppy Facer p.10 Fat White Family by Joe Thompson

p.11 The Orwells by Amy Gwinett p.12 Kanye West by Charlie MacKeith

Under City Ligths Meets

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p.14 Alex Adair by Jessica Rogers p.20 Thieves by Ieva Matulaityte p.24 Rich Reason by Jessica Rogers

Features p.26 The Rise of Vinyls by

Hannah Amies

p.27 Teet; Bodily Fluids in Punk Rock by Owen Neve

Front and Back Cover: Alex Adair by Morgane Moss.

Music for the Eyes p.28 Rare Fest by Alja Podgornik

Contributors p.31

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THE

LISTENING EDGE Words by Sam Birkett

The illusion of ‘newness’ in music is one I feel particularly strongly when I do these playlists. Unless I get really lucky hanging out in bars (in a musical sense, get your minds out of the gutter) almost every act I hear of for the first time will not be the tender offspring of 2015. They will have have been sweating their arse(s) out for years, only to get to the position where some university student with delusions of importance will catch a glimpse of their name on some wordpress blog or other. Whether you read on at all or flick ahead after this paragraph, that’s all I want you to take away. Music is a bloody slog of passion, don’t take it for granted. On with the lineup!

Vision Fortune

Vision Fortune’s second LP, Country Music, is not an album to take for tea: it’s jagged, unsettling, and would probably curdle the milk. If you like to feel slightly threatened by your music, however, it is a thrilling work of drone-pop to have clatter around your cranium.

For fans of: Hookworms, Stars of the Lid, guitar bands that sound like electronic bands

Malthusian

Extreme metal is a field that can find itself stuck in clichéd ruts miles deep, but Ireland’s Malthusian are gloriously, brutally above those trenches. Making monstrous metal that builds on the very best of death, black and doom sounds, they’ve already found themselves lauded in the underground despite only having a demo and an EP to their name.

For fans of: Behemoth, Primordial, the apocalypse

Hop Along

Hop Along are your favourite band’s favourite band. The very first Hop Along songs date all the way back to 2005, when singer / mouthpiece of the human soul Frances Quinlan released a solo freak-folk LP as Hop Along, Queen Ansleis. In the intervening years the subordinate clause has been dropped, three new members picked up, and my faith in the potential of music with guitars made completely airtight. Their second record since they released 2012’s stealth-album-of-the-year is out on the 5th of May. Listen to it.

For fans of: Laura Marling, Neutral Milk Hotel, feeling emotions

Hannah Lou Clark

Singer-songwriters may be a dime a dozen, but that doesn’t prevent brilliance from shining through. Hannah Lou Clark, though undeniably a singer-songwriter, proves that we really ought to invent some exciting, unpredictably original new words for the genre and label them ‘in case of Hannah Lou Clark.’

For fans of: PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, really good singer-songwriters

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Joules

North Carolina experimental noise rock duo Joules make swirling, rattling, brain-melting lo-fi psych-outs. They’re relentless, and sound like they’ve been soaked in kerosene, set alight and dropped into a wormhole.

For fans of: A Place to Bury Strangers, Wolf Eyes, everything sounding like it’s on fire

Trust Fund

Lo-fi, hi-fun indie pop from Bristol, and the fuzzy embodiment of sad youth. Remember having fun being a sad sack to a band that “just gets you?” Yeah, you haven’t outgrown that. Embrace it.

For fans of: Joanna Gruesome, Speedy Ortiz, fun with dogs

Keith Ape

I don’t actually know how new Keith Ape is, since I lack the language to be truly up on my Korean hip hop. But Ape and a crew of Korean and Japanese rappers kicked the New Year off on a whole new plane of hype, releasing the video for It G Ma, a monster posse cut that will have you in a Premier Inn shouting “KILLER WHALE KILLER WHALE KILLER WHALE” before you can say “I don’t speak Korean.”

For fans of: OG Maco, trap, sea life

Wicket

The Cardiff band’s debut LP A Way to Leave Their World Behind is unafraid to plunge into lush instrumental crescendos that could easily make them a post-rock cliché, but executed with their passion and talent ends up just wonderful.

For fans of: Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You, more emotions

Klassik

I first heard this Milwaukee emcee on Group of the Altos newest record, where his wild and vital flow was as surprising as it was welcome. His solo work is marked out by deft raps and jazzy, soulful instrumentals, and always feels on the brink of breaking.

Board this bandwagon early, stay smug.

For fans of: Chance the Rapper, Capital STEEZ, raps about something other than money

Beatrice Dillon

A producer of infectious house that she labels ‘mutant shuffle,’ Dillon is a prolific DJ and hotly tipped producer for 2015. With her debut LP a little further up the tracks and the inspired Blues Dances EP stoking the hype, she’s a name you’d do well to remember.

For fans of: Actress, Holly Herndon, weird grooves UnCL {the Rare FM magazine}

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ARTIST PROFILES Words by Jessica Rogers Picture : Andre Schone

Renowned for hosting the world’s top DJs, what does it take to make it in the Berlin scene? Under City Lights talks to André Schöne, freshly thrown into the DJ scene, and we find out all about starting up in the electro scene and the artist’s own music.

Under City Lights: When did you first start DJing?

Andre: I started to DJ four years ago. My first gig was a party where there was only one turntable and I played records borrowed from a friend.

UnCL: How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

Andre: Happy, sad, passionate. (laugh) UnCL: Now try and describe your music in 3 words.

Andre: Raw, deep, soulful (although the mix I recently recorded is more influenced by pop-music...)

UnCL: What makes the electro scene in Berlin so different?

Andre: The amount of clubs, DJs, producers and record shops, the cheap prices. But most importantly the lack of a closing time, that means that you can basically party everyday. This makes the city so special.

UnCL: Favourite DJs? Andre: My favourite DJ is Zip. His selection of records is just great! What I like about him is that he is always able to surprise me. Besides him I really like Ricardo not only as a DJ, but as a producer, too! What he does is just amazing.

UnCL: How hard is it to gain recognition in Berlin?

Andre: Very hard, because, like a said before, in Berlin there are so many DJs. But I think that actual good quality music will always win recognition in the end. But it is very important to know people organizing parties and are a part of the scene as well.

UnCL: What makes you different from other DJs? Andre: As I started with music by playing bass guitar, I am influenced by a lot of different genres. Jazz, Rock, Soul&Funk, classical music, old-school and modern RnB and so on. In my DJ sets you will hear an eclectic mix of the music I love. That can be a house mix of Hip Hop, 80s soul or even a cheesy remix of a Pop song.

UnCL: What are your favourite places to hangout in Berlin?

Andre: I like to go for a walk at the canal in Kreuzkölln, hang out at Club der Visionäre in the summer and my apartment, I guess. Contrary to the loud city, it’s a place where I have the silence to think, read, relax and listen to music.

UnCL: Where do you see you and your music in a year’s time?

Andre: I hope that I can show you a couple of my own productions fresh from my studio!

UnCL: If you were left on a desert island and you could only have one item, what would it be and why?

Andre: A grand piano would be great, although I think a machete would be a better idea. I am not a pianist but I started playing piano a few years ago. I just think it is a beautiful instrument! So I would have enough time to improve my piano skills.

Listen to André Schöne on https://soundcloud.com/andreschoene

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ARTIST PROFILES

Words by Jessica Rogers Picture: Ben Synz

Despite starting only two years ago, Ben Synz, an upcoming DJ, has already gained residencies in Reading and Wycombe, and is booked around Europe, playing festivals such as Outlook and The Royal Ascot Tea Party. Proud of such impressive debuts, he also has had the opportunity to collaborate with a range of popular artists, and being co-produced by T.Bunts. Yet, the man still carries on with his full-time job at … Dulux, making paint. I had to find out more!

‘Does anyone at work know about what you do?’ I asked. Apparently, no. Of course, if he had the choice, he’d love to do music all the time, but he does admit he’d be tempted to teach them how to play at work despite being the youngest there.

How did Ben’s rapid success occurr, then? After a day at Outlook Festival, he walked onto the beach bar and was invited to try out the decks. He was asked to play the following year. ‘It was a good feeling and I managed myself for now, but I’m hoping to get signed next year to a record label and hopefully then I’ll be managed!’

Finding contacts has not been as difficult as expected. Sending music clips via social media has been Ben’s trick so far, although, admittedly: ’it can be a waiting game, you do have to push it quite hard and I do have to do a lot of my own work’.

It’s not all just restless efforts. At Outlook Ben admits having had one of his most embarrassing moments. While performing at a bar, one of the staff members, obviously excited about this bottle of moonshine he had made at home, one of those things that contains more than 70 per cent of alcohol, was responsible for his most memorable anecdote. ‘He brings out these shots for me and my friends and he was like: “in an hour, you won’t be able to walk.” We had a set that evening at 10. Everything was fine until after the set. The second I got off stage I hit a brick wall’. He ended up being sick backstage and for the first time in his life, spent 24 hours in bed due to Alcohol poisoning. The next day he was offered another one of the same shots. Surprisingly, he refused. ‘Looking back at it, it is a funny story! ‘ Glad he still stays optimistic!

Meanwhile music is where Ben

keeps his focus. His ideal would be to: ‘live comfortably, have a studio, and make music and not have to work’. He first listened to dance music from the age of 13, despite being first into metal beforehand; ’I was slightly grungy’. What keeps him going now on stage is a friend that he can laugh with and an apple cider. (no strawberry cider!)

Additionally, he often finds that ‘a lot of people are surprised when I say that I don’t listen to the radio and I don’t watch TV,’ instead he just works on his music.

However, he does find that he receives some really funny requests - ‘People ask for Fleetwood mac.

I’m a dubstep artist’.

As our coffee cups are nearly finished, I learnt about the best advice he has received so far: ‘stick with it, stick with what you love’.

And with that, I’m sure you’re going to be hearing a lot more from this upcoming talent!

Listen to Ben’s tracks on https://soundcloud.com/bensynz

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“.... The home of Bowie, Queen and Led Zeppelin would soon be bull-dozered and replaced by council flats...”

For me it marked the end of my first term, the real start of Christmas celebrations. What none of us realised when we arrived at Earls Court to see Sivu, Peace and Bombay Bicycle Club, on the 13th of December, was that this was to be the final show in this iconic London venue.

As we followed the crowd out of the tube station and across the road, we overheard a member of security explaining that this was going to be the last ever show at Earls Court and that the home of Bowie, Queen and Led Zeppelin would soon be bull-dozered and replaced by council flats.

This news seemed to act as another rude awakening to something that is becoming increasingly obvious: that the importance of live music is under severe danger of being forgotten.

I know I am by no means the first to complain that the sweaty joy of real live music is being lost in favour of perfect, polished club-tunes and I am not really someone who can properly reminisce about “the good old days”, ‘cause frankly I’m not old enough.

Despite this however, I am aware of what I’m missing, I envy those who got to see the music greats before Justin Bieber and 1 Direction took over.

More crucially, I fear that if we stand by and let buildings such as this be destroyed without protest there really won’t be any going back.

Anyway, I digress…. this gig itself was spectacular, although this was not wholly due to the bands we actually came to see. Whilst the bold new sounds of Bombay Bicycle Club were certainly fitting for a vast venue like Earls Court and their performance was electric, this was not their venue to close.

As if acknowledging this, halfway through their set, Jack Steadman introduced to us a man who did have that right, a man who played one of Earls Court’s first gigs and was to return over 20 times, a man who even gave bassist Jamie MacColl his first guitar. That man was David Gilmour, guitarist and legendary lead vocalist of Pink Floyd. David Gilmour’s powerful acoustic rendition of Wish you were here filled the vast hall with tension as the stunned crowd sung out in a fitting farewell to Earls Court.

I only hope that this small taster was not my only chance to experience how music used to be. Regardless, we left satisfied that whilst the powers that be seem to have forgotten how special this venue was, there were a few thousand people there that night who will always remember.

“... This news seemed to act as another rude awakening to something that is becoming increasingly obvious: that the importance of live music is under severe danger of being forgotten.”

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SIVU, PEACE & BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB @EARL’S COURT

Writer: Poppy Facer Illustration: Emma Louise Rixhon

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It may look like the shed your dad put together on his mid-life crisis allotment out of offcuts he found in a skip but The Windmill, tucked away in a quiet Brixton backstreet, was host to one of the most bizarre and enjoyable Wednesday nights I’ve ever experienced. Now I’m sure many of you have heard of Fat White Family; of their on stage nudity, of their bluesy, politically charged, brand of lo-fi punk, and I’m sure a good proportion of you have seen them live on their 2014 festival circuit, during which they played Reading, Field Day and Latitude among others, to less than enthusiastic, often rather confused crowds, but on Wednesday 28th of January Fat White Family left behind the crowds of thousands and returned to their spiritual home.

Independent Venue Week (26th January – 1st February) seeks to recognise the venues that gave bands their break and to celebrate those who run them on a daily basis. The Fat Whites first played at The Windmill in 2011 and despite having graced the stag-

es of SXSW and Glastonbury, the band were indistinguishable from the punters. Sitting at the bar chatting to the barmaids, pushing their way through the gathering mass of bodies, pint in hand, cigarette behind the ear, trying to catch a glimpse of their friends and support act Meatraffle.

As soon as they broke from the crowd and stepped onto the stage, however, it was clear who we were here to see.

Two songs in, the entire crowd was just as sweaty, beer-covered and topless as Lias, the lead singer. With eyes rolled back in his head, phlegm dripping down his gaunt, stick-andpoke tattoo covered body and his microphone cable wrapped tightly round his neck, Lias commanded the small crowd, through the band’s music, to join the Fat White’s hostile, stinking, unpleasant but inspiring revolt against the sickening commercialisation of the music industry and this country’s regressive politics. Undeterred by the constant and unavoidable invasions of the stage by fans willingly shoved forward by the

chaos behind, the crowd’s excitement was echoed by the band’s eagerness to get stuck in.

The Fat Whites lumber towards the hoard of fans whose sweat steams in the unheated air, with a refreshing and twisted lyrical nastiness that undermines and subverts the sickly, impotent escapist anthems that have become so synonymous with indie nights, replacing them with a physical, grotesquely sexual rawness that modern music is so desperately lacking. If Kasabian or the Arctic Monkeys are the honey and lemon to smooth the throats of the music industry, then Fat White Family are a festering 4-chan jar of spunk and razorblades.

There is no doubt that Independent Venue Week allowed bands to give their fans a genuine and personal performance that success and large venues tends to destroy. Long live IVW! Long live Fat White Family!

Long live the revolution!

Writer: Joe Thompson

“The Fat Whites lumber towards the hoard of fans whose sweat steams in the unheated air, with a refreshing and twisted lyrical nastiness that undermines and subverts the sickly, impotent escapist anthems that have become so synonymous with indie nights”

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“It’s total carnage, moshpits the size of roundabouts popping up left right and centre, limbs flying everywhere… The Orwells are real punks.”

Camden’s good old Electric Ballroom is already heaving in preparation for Chicago’s finest The Orwells when first support band Golding take to the stage, and from the off there are signs that this is not going to be your average gig.

The response to the band is massive, and unless this reviewer is missing something, it’s more from the excitement of what’s to come than the average indie fumblings of the band themselves. They do a passable cover of Bowie’s “Heroes”, but it’s an otherwise uninspiring set that really doesn’t warrant the moshing and crowd surfing it inspires.

ing for fucks sake - when the crowd feel the need to literally limber up you know you’re in for a wild ride.

The lights soon dim, and we’re off.

Singer Mario Cuomo, through some unknowable punk rock wizardry, doesn’t walk on stage but somehow seems to appear in the middle of the crowd and crowd-surf his way on. It’s quite an entrance. They rip straight into Southern Comfort from their excellent second album Disgraceland, and it immediately becomes impossible to keep your friends in sight, or stand up, or stay in one place, and other overrated things like that.

Not even the most rabid and hardcore of Orwells fans can muster any enthusiasm for Kid Wave however, possibly the most boring band to ever grow their hair long and listen to Nuggets. They’ve recently signed to Heavenly, a rare misstep for a label doing brilliant things right now, and myself and the crowd spend the set impatiently waiting for them to fuck off.

It’s total carnage, moshpits the size of roundabouts popping up left right and centre, limbs flying everywhere. You get the impression the band is used to it, although they are moved to giving some cautionary words half way through the set when security are looking particularly done. However, it is somewhat self defeating for the band to follow the admonishment not to crowd surf with a song so riotous, so obviously and unrepentantly a call to anarchy as, for example, Gotta Get Down or Let It Burn and unsurprisingly it doesn’t do much good.

By the time we get to the double whammy of first single Mallrats (La La La) (which Mario doesn’t bother

Things quickly get lively again as we wait for the main act. The Orwells have created an atmosphere like nothing this reviewer has ever seen. There’s crowd surfing and moshing in the gap between sets.

There’s not even any music play-

singing about half of, not that anyone notices or cares) and Who Needs You the crowd is a strung out wild eyed mess, sporting that lovely second skin of other people’s sweat and beer.

The Orwells are real punks. There’s something a bit feral, a bit frightening about Mario Cuomo. It makes him a scintillating front man to watch, and renders him about 50 times hotter than he should be.

Some have called him the new Iggy Pop, and they’re not wrong. Guitarist Matt O'Keefe patiently explains that Who Needs You will be their last song, so everyone should do whatever they want without fear of getting kicked out and missing the show. Mario is more succinct.

“FIGHT EVERYONE” he shouts repeatedly. Well, okay. He walks off stage some way through the middle eight, and returns with a fire hydrant that he sprays all over the hysteric crowd, while a security guard tries valiantly to wrestle it off him. It’s how we’ll all remember the gig, a genuine show of rebellion that can’t be faked, from a band who honestly, actually, no really, do not give a fuck. Absolutely thrilling.

Writer: Amy Gwinnett

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“Hopefully you’ll just be very jealous when I say that it was marvelous, breathtaking, and yes, very possibly, the G.O.A.T. If you stand in the latter camp, beg, borrow or steal a ticket to see Kanye at Glastonbury.”

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KANYE WEST @ KOKO All I have to show for seeing Kanye’s surprise gig in Camden last month is a two second video of Meridian Dan and JME doing ‘German Whip’ before my phone decided it wouldn’t be documenting any more of the evening’s proceedings and called it a night. I thought I’d refer to that video before sitting down to write this review, wondering in what way, if at all, it could possibly help me.

Quite a lot, it turns out.

The video was very clear because I’m 6”8 and get a marvelous view at gigs. I enjoyed direct eye contact with Yeezy all night, but managed to annoy the short person behind me so much that he thought it appropriate to jab me in the kidney, expecting me to make my apologies and shuffle away to a pen at the back reserved for me and my ilk. I thought he’d rather spoiled his chance at a ride on my shoulders, and so simply ignored him. The video was two seconds long because it was 1 am before Kanye made his entrance and my phone’s battery life leaves much to be desired. The doors themselves were earlier, but still far too late for the queue of twitter-savvy fans that had got

their hands on tickets, and they made their feelings well-known. There was murmuring, foot-stomping, tutting.

My friend was so cold he threatened to leave. I had to go into a Mexican restaurant for a wee at the cost of a tequila shot that had a caterpillar in it. The wait got out of hand in a very reserved, English kind of way.

Most importantly though, my video showed two grime MCs occupying the stage, Kanye himself nowhere to be seen. In fact, when we finally got in from the cold, the first thing to be heard emanating from Koko’s stage was the chorus of Skepta’s ‘That’s Not Me’. All ill will was forgotten and we scurried in to find that everyone who was anyone was there: Will.i.am leant on a balustrade, no doubt thinking about who would go on to win the thrill ride that was this year’s The Voice. One of the Avengers was there, probably thinking about The Voice as well. Even Tim Westwood was there, just thinking.

Later I discovered I was wrong though, when I looked a little closer at my video. Behold, there Kanye was in the background, stood behind a curtain and grinning like an idiot.

Here was the world’s most celebrated rapper gleefully giving over half his set to watch Boy Better Know play to a crowd who knew their songs as well as they knew his. In fact, ‘Shutdown’ proved one of the night’s highlights, Kanye plonking himself on a speaker for the duration and nodding along approvingly.

So maybe Kanye was serious when he told the Oxford Union he was trying to bottle his ego. And more excitingly, Skepta wasn’t spitting hot air when he suggested grime’s time had come on the international rap scene.

It was Kanye we’d all waited in the cold for though, and while Big Sean’s interruptions with bangers like ‘Blessings’ and ‘I.D.F.W.Y’ went down well, it was the acerbic, pulsating offerings from Yeezus that really sent the crowd into a frenzy. Should I say more, though? As a recent and alarming petition showed, you might be angry and bitter to hear how great the double encore of ‘All Day’ was, how intense ‘Black Skinhead’ was with Kanye alone under strobe lights, or how hard ‘Jesus Walks’ still hits.

But hopefully you’ll just be very jealous when I say that it was marvelous, breathtaking, and yes, very possibly, the G.O.A.T. If you stand in the latter camp, beg, borrow or steal a ticket to see Kanye at Glastonbury. But make sure you go for a wee beforehand.

Writer: Charlie MacKeith Illustration: Emma Louise Rixhon

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We have all heard his feel-good track ”Make Me Feel Better”, but would you recognise the face behind it? Despite his entrance in the Itunes top charts, and over 4 millions views on YouTube, the 22-year old sensation kept away from the spotlight… until now. Alex Adair offers Under City Lights his first ever interview and an exclusive photoshoot at Trapeze Bar.

An Afternoon with Alex Adair Words by Jessica Rogers Photographer: Morgane Moss, Stylist: Sam Hampson.

With his relaxed demeanour, glinting eyes and charming smile, Alex Adair makes for a great coffee date, indeed. Orignially from West Chiltington, the British DJ and producer started his musical career with hit Make Me Feel Better, but how did it all really begin? “I've always been around music. I started playing piano when I was very young, and have studied music in one form or another throughout all tiers of education. So it's always been there really!”.

It was actually after a mishap that Adair took on music to a more professional level: “In college I was studying to go into mechanical engineering. But I actually got disqualified from one of my exams (not for cheating!) and then chose to do Music Technology instead. So, if I wasn’t doing music now, that’s what I would be doing now!”

Despite his young age it is obvious that Alex is well immersed in his industry. As we arrive at the Trapeze Bar, our stylist hands him a trench coat and the meeting goes from a shy music feature to a Burberry inspired hangout. Alex transformed into Jon Kortajarena, charismatic and photogenic, I’m left to wonder how much of himself he recognizes in this, and how does he feel about his first photoshoot… Is the artist’s image essential? “I think it's something that is important. It's something that can set you apart from other people, and help you build a brand. But I wouldn’t get too fussed

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about an artist’s image. At the end of the day, it's the music that really matters.”

So far, Alex’s attempt to make a good impression is definitely working. With music playing in the background, this was the perfect opportunity to ask what inspired him to produce his top track Make me feel better: “I was starting to listen to a lot of chilled out/summer tracks right at the beginning of 2014. I got really into TheSoundYouNeed and all the tracks they were

putting up on their YouTube channel at the time. So I wanted to make a track like that, and Make Me Feel Better was that track”. Does he listen to his own music in his free time?

“Ha, No, I listen to it enough when I'm making the tracks”, he replies.

How does Alex distinguish his music from the many different producers out there?

“I think the 'feel good' vibe is apparent in my music, and something that listeners might

associate me with. In terms of percussion there's some African influences as well, and I think that might make it sound different as well.” Alex’s musical influences includes artists like Chris Malinchak, Klingande, Bakermat, Kygo, Duke Dumont “I Just love that feel good/summer vibe that you get from their tracks! I also draw inspiration from Motown tracks, because they have that aspect a lot too.”

Currently the producer is listening to ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah -

Jax Jones’, ’The Girl Is Mine - 99 Souls’. ‘Booka Shake Thomas Jack’...

As our interview comes to an end, it’s clear that Alex’s success is only just starting. With a new single and a couple of remixes on the way, I am looking forward to what he brings out next! I can cornily say, this afternoon with Alex Adair made me feel exactly like his track does: Better.

•••

“At the end of the day, it's the music that really matters.”

Special thanks to James Harwood and Bay Sisouphanh for their help, and to the Trapeze Bar, Shoreditch for hosting our photoshoot.

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Portfolio by Ieva Matulaityte

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Under City Lights Meets:

RICH REASON

Words collected by Jessica Rogers Pictures courtesy of Gary Brown.

Under City Lights: You were absolutely incredible at Outlook! How did your prepare for your set?

Rich Reason: To be honest, this is one of the few times of the year I do go for a serious tune hunt the weeks before the event so I have a few special things in there. It’s a knowledgeable and passionate crowd.

I don’t practice mixes though, I just see how it flows on the night.

UnCL: Favourite act/moment at Outlook this year?

RR: Can’t choose between Manchester, as always, or Chimpo and the Mouse Outfit - they smashed it. I know Dub Phizix and Strategy closed the festival in style, but I was on the way home by then.

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HIT&RUN nights in Manchester, York and Preston; featured on BBC 1 Xtra and playing world-wide at major festivals, as well as Warehouse project resident DJ, and manager of LEVELZ.... With such an impressive CV, Under City Lights had to meet up with DJ Rich Reason.

main room at Warehouse Project once. Andy C was late and I ended up playing for an hour and a half with my bro Tonn Piper on the mic.

That was a special one!

And the boat parties at UnCL: You have played in so Soundwave and Outlook, many legendary venues in LA obviously. Always amazing! and Sao Paolo, and sets on BBC 1Xtra. What has been UnCL: How did you first get into music? your best festival so far?

RR: Well playing Glaston- RR: I’ve played instruments, bury was special, I see it as especially the Trumpet, and the mother and father of sung since an early age. My all festivals, and I’ve had Mum and Dad are Classiso many special experienc- cal and Jazz enthusiasts, but es there! One time I was it was my sister who had a playing there and someone huge influence. She is nine broke the smoke machine, so years older, so when I was it was just steaming for ages. about eight, she would make Even though it was packed me mix tapes with loads of I couldn’t see anyone for 2 Jamiroquai, Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, or Stevie hours.

I remember playing between Wonder, all sorts... I wasn’t Skream and Andy C at the the coolest kid at school but UnCL: First thing you did after Outlook?

RR: A long sleep! Then straight into the madness of gearing up for the start of the year!

I definitely had the coolest mix tapes! She also gave me a double CD called “The Incredible Sound of Gilles Peterson.” He was a massive influence, and the reason I became a DJ.

UnCL: Biggest challenges so far?

RR: Being self-employed.

Doing something you love will always be tough, I suppose, but the up-and-down nature of the ol’finances are the toughest. Also the fact that being a musician can be fairly anti-social… I am always working when everyone else is partying, so it makes it challenging to catch up with friends who work normal hours.

UnCL: You have produced music with leading artists such

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as Fantastic Mr Fox. If you had to collaborate with one other artist next festival, who would it be?

RR: Flying Lotus…. His new album is amazing. That isn’t going to happen any time soon, though!

UnCL: You run nights called HIT&RUN. (Manchester, Leeds, Glossop) How did these nights started?

RR: Well HIT&RUN started in Oxford back in 2001, actually. It was started by my best mate Riz MC (also known as actor Riz Ahmed), and 2 other lads called Tom and Rowan. I was their first resident. I then ran it from 2002-2004 with Riz and another great friend of mine, Craig, when it really took off.

When I moved to Manchester, I started a Manchester wing and that has grown over the years, gaining a reputation for bringing the best new talent to the city as well as developing local artists. I sort of fell into it really,

it was by-product of wanting to DJ as much as possible…

It has ended up being a massive part of my life, for better or worse!

UnCL: How do you compare the Manchester Music scene to that of London, Berlin and LA? RR: Smaller and friendlier! The different scenes are much closer to each other, so it means there is more cross-pollination. It is very healthy creatively.

Living as an artist, the cheapness gives the opportunity to experiment and evolve. The “hustle” of earning enough to live isn’t as much of a pressing concern as it is in London or LA. Berlin is good in that respect. The music always comes first in Manchester, the look or aesthetic of the artist is a secondary concern….

Which I like! I do think Manchester can learn from London in terms of diligence and professionalism at times.

Mancs are too good at en-

joying themselves!

UnCL: You also have a residency at Fabric and Warehouse Project. How did you get offered that?

RR: I used to be the D’n’B and Hip-Hop resident at Sankeys Soap, when a large part of their team broke off to create the Warehouse Project.

They asked me to join them and be one of their residents. I played the very first set at WHP back in 2006. I had to warm up for my heroes Public Enemy for about 3 hours before they came on … One of the only times my friends have seen me look nervous before a set apparently! I got a hug off Flava Flav when I came off stage, so that was a blessing!

Fabric’s team started to book a lot of the Manchester MCs: Chunky, Strategy, Tonn Piper and Fox… Who did a great job flying the Mancunian Flag. Hit&Run was where they were playing their trade, mainly in their hometown, so they asked us to

come down as well and host a room three or four times a year. We have a great time down there, and we are always very happy to go back.

UnCL: Finally, what’s next on your to-do-list?

RR: My energy is largely being poured into the LEVELZ project at the minute, a collective consisting of many of Manchester’s leading creative lights.

It felt that there was a special generation of Producers, DJs and MCs, so we wanted to come together and produce something that represented this to the world. We really do all have a special chemistry, not just as musicians, but as people.

We’ve created a 16 track mix tape of original material, Zed Bias is mixing the tape down, and we will put that out early in 2015. So I have a promo-campaign to organize and more music videos to shoot….

•••

https://soundcloud.com/richreason

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THE RISE OF VINYL “The grooves yield a warmth and depth that CD’s digital code could not match.”

Bullshit.

With Urban Outfitter’s now the U.K number one vinyl seller, I’m temped to write the whole thing off as a hipster fad (polaroid cameras anyone?). I received a record player for my birthday earlier this year so, in a bid to discover the magic of vinyl for myself, I raided the loft for my parents old record collection.

“The grooves yield a warmth and depth that CD’s digital code could not match”. Bullshit. There is no way anybody can notice the alleged enhanced music quality. I hear the odd crackle but that, quite literally, isn’t music to my ears. Those who say they can hear a difference are just inadvertently claiming they have supersonic hearing; they are humans, not bats.

If not for music quality then why has their popularity increased so much? Pink Floyd’s The Endless River smashed sales in early 2014; it was the fastest selling record since 1997. To be honest it’s probably just another fad, records are likely to remain a niche purchase with the ease of illegal downloading and the popularity of streaming services.

Despite my initial negativity, I feel the real magic for me is vinyl’s ability to bring people together in a way that Spotify never could. When my housemates gather in my room to listen to a record, despite squabbling over which one we should play, it’s harmony. The surge in sales from 3million to 20 million pounds in the last five years has encouraged companies to produce and re-master more vinyl records. All these exciting new records for us to buy! (N.B. All the Led Zeppelin re-mastered albums were released in 2014…) Even if you have no friends, I say fuck the digital age and all this illegal file sharing; there is a great sense of pride that comes with owning such a beautiful artefact.

So next time you are perusing through someone’s record collection, don’t be hasty to judge them and label them as a pretentious music snob. Although, if they have [insert some famously lame artist here] on vinyl, please give them as much grief as possible.

Be it another Urban Outfitter’s fad, or a rejection of the lack of personal interaction in a Facebook generation, I hope my record collection grows with me, as a reminder of the social life I had before the world of work!

Writer: Hannah Amies

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Teet; Bodily Fluids in Punk and Grunge Music “ Two and a half minutes of neat pain.�

On one day, far back in the dim history of the human race, the body became repulsed by itself.

The existence of natural functions key to life was rejected. To spit, thenceforth, became a repugnant act. Vomit and faeces were sin. But ignorance implodes, and through punk and grunge music we learned the value of each drop of saliva. These genres spat back at a situation that the pomp of their predecessors in prog, glam, and stadium rock did nothing but exacerbate.

Punk and grunge are not concerned with death – at least not the sepulchral pantomime that metal and harder rock engage with so dourly and reverently. The Black Sabbath tritone (diabolus in musica) is the voice of those souls that feel they are staring up from the abyss, mourning themselves, beckoning to the rest. But there is nothing so spectacular in a punk song. Someone may contract a yeast infection (Mexican Seafood, Nirvana) or have persistently putrid-smelling genitals (Fish, The Damned) but no one ever dies.

And this understatement of reality makes it so much sadder. There is no poignancy in death, since the idea is ultimate, and one cannot take it any further. Punk and grunge songs are situated in the midst of existence, and spitting, shitting and vomiting are the grim signs of it: bodily functions that simultaneously perpetuate life and repulse it. They are the evidence of being, full of the DNA of the human from whom they were so gracelessly ejected. One need only watch a video of GG Allin to see how terrifying and vicious the human condition is. He performs in an existential trance, using the stage to execute horrendous rituals to the mortality of the body. Death seems nothing in comparison.

A punk song, then, is a process of purification. It is two and a half minutes of neat pain, during which you expel all dirt from your body and all anger from your mind, be this through actions or through words. It is a process of self-flagellation, of intense hatred of the ego, in the hope that you will arrive at something clean.

Writer: Owen Neve Picture: Alja Podgornik

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R

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F E S T

On 25th of January 2015, Rare FM put together the very first music festival of the station’s history.

Proud of collaborations with UCLU Music Society, UCLU Jazz Society, UCLU Folk and World Society, UCLU Electronic Music Society, and many more acts including the Devious Funk Collective, and issue #1 cover boys Matt Grocott and the Shrives, the night hosted at the Star of Kings sure was a blast.

Portfolio by Alja Podgornik.

UnCL {the Rare FM magazine}

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UnCL {the Rare FM magazine}

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CONTRIBUTORS: ALJA PODGORNIK • ALIX CHAUME • AMY GWINETT • CHARLIE MACKEITH • EMMA LOUISE RIXHON • HANNAH AMIES • IEVA MATULAITYTE • JESSICA ROGERS • JOE THOMPSON • OWEN NEVE • POPPY FACER • SAM BIRKETT

UnCL {the Rare FM magazine}