Motley Volume 13 Issue 1 September 2019

Volume 13 Issue 1 September 2019

Welcome Back!

Dublin Comic Con -Motley goes to Comic Con! -Sitting down with Shaun Hartigan, Gary Moloney & David Keegan

-How to survive First Year -The fire in the Amazon -Interview with Billy Winn ...and MORE!

Rosie Carney -Discusses her debut album BARE, -Prepping for SOUNDS FROM A SAFE HARBOUR

Le Boom -Talks life on and off their tour -PLUS their upcoming gig at CYPRUS AVENUE

MASTHEAD Editorial Staff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Dan Webb

DESIGNGER

Tim Caruso

CURRENT AFFAIRS EDITOR

Maeve McTaggart

DEPUTY CURRENT AFFAIRS EDITOR

Molly Kavanagh

DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Laurie Shelly

FEATURES & OPINION EDITOR

Méabh Lonergan FASHION EDITOR

Paul McLauchlan

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Andrew Burke

DEPUTY ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Cathal Donovan O’Neill

ONLINE EDITOR

Grace Byers

Staff Writers Alana Daly Mulligan

Sadhbh Sullivan

Kane Geary O’Keaffe

Contributors KAYLA MAHER | TADHG MACCIONNAITH | AISLING O’LEARY | BEN RYAN | MATTHEW MOYNIHAN ELIZA SABBADIN | ATAKAN UZUN | SARAH JANE COLLINS | RICHARD KELLY | EMMA PRICE COVER PHOTO BY

Peter Fleming

Motley welcomes letters from readers, emailed to editor@motley.ie. Motley is published by Motley Magazine, 23 Sheraton Court, Glasheen Road, The Lough, Cork. Printed by City Print Limited, Victoria Cross, Cork. Copyright 2019 Motley Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. All efforts have been made to ensure that details and pricing are correct at time of print. Motley magazine does not take responsibility for any errors incurred. This magazine can be recycled either in your green bin kerbside collection or at a local recycling point.

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FROM THE

Editor’s Desk...

Small steps are only the beginning...

I

always find just how much one can learn and experience in a short period of time surprising. Over the space of one summer, one can learn so much about themselves, and can have their eyes opened to a whole world of possibilities they could never have imagined. I have had my eyes opened in such a way, not just to my own endeavours, but to those in the wider community around me.

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of campaigning with my fellow members of the UCC Student Journalism community to make the future of media in UCC brighter not just for us, but for those who will come to study here in future years. The UCC community (that’s all of you) came out in droves, and showed their support not just in spirit, but with their voices.

That is the point I want to drive across here as I sit on my bed penning my first editorial of the year; those students made their voices heard very clearly. They showed their support for student media, for freedom of thought and expression, and most importantly, they stood up for every person’s right to have their say. In my opinion, as an editor it is my responsibility, no, my pleasure, to treat every person with the respect they deserve, and ensure that their voice can be heard by the wider community.

Photo Credit: Ronan O’Shea

DAN WEBB,

Editor-In-Chief

I feel that this brand new issue of Motley is representative of everything unique and special about the students of UCC. In our Current Affairs section, find students discussing and debating contemporary events such as the impact of gun ownership in the USA, and the merits of the Good Friday Agreement. In Features and Opinions, you will be treated to a unique behind the scenes perspective of a volunteer at Electric Picnic 2019, a key event of the year for many. In Entertainment, find out what our team thought of Dublin Comic Con this year, and read our interview with Christy Leech from everybody’s favourite, Le Boom. Finally, in our Fashion section, continue to enjoy the rich visual experience that is our monthly fashion shoot.

This is only scratching the surface of what we have on offer this month in Motley.

If you enjoy what you are reading and have something you want to say, then I encourage you to get involved! If you have an idea for an article or piece, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at editor@motley.ie. Remember, all it takes is the courage to take that first step. After that, the world is your audience!

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ISSUE No1 - SEPTEMBER 2019 MOTLEY.IE

CURRENT AFFAIRS

FEATURES

ENTERTAINMENT

FASHION

A Rainforest On Fire: How are politics responsible for the on-going blaze

Sitting down with Rosie Carney about her new album Bare

LeBoom: Christie Leech talks life in the Irish indie scene

Autumn’s fashion trends and the true cost of clothing manufaturing

P. 18

P. 30

P. 40

P. 12

[SECTION]

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SURVIVING FIRST YEAR Motley Staff Writer SADHBH SULLIVAN gives advice to all new members of the UCC community on settling into university life

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tarting university for the first time, or even starting a new year of your course, brings with it a whole host of ups and downs. It draws the summer to an end, and begins a new chapter, dedicated to fresh starts, unlimited opportunities and a whole host of challenges associated with student life. Finding your feet in a new routine, full of new faces, places, and living arrangements can be daunting at the best of times, but thankfully, here at UCC there are so many resources available to you to help make the transition to student life as seamless as possible.

Make every week a golden week (at least at the start)

If you’re moving to university with a group of your school friends, it can seem a little too easy to skip a few lectures here and there without even batting an eyelid. While this might seem like a great idea in the moment, it’s best to try to attend as many of your lectures as possible. Not only will this help you stay on top of your workload, but attending classes, lectures and tutorials is also a great way to meet new people and make new friends. Unlike secondary school, most of your lectures won’t be concerned about your attendance, so try to concern yourself about it instead.

Get involved in UCC life

Although everyone has probably told you the benefits of getting involved with different clubs and societies, this can often be easier said than done. Thankfully, there’s something for everyone here at UCC; whether you’re interested in meeting like-minded people or taking up a new hobby. Get in touch with your favourite clubs (sport.ucc.ie) and societies (societies.ucc.ie), to find out how you can get involved.

If joining a club or society seems like a step too far into the deep end, don’t forget that you don’t have to do it right away. In January, UCC will see another clubs and Societies Day, which will offer you another chance to get involved.

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Mind your body

If you’re living on your own for the first time, it can be a little bit difficult to adjust to life without parents, siblings, or any other adult that may have offered you guidance in the past. Simple tasks such as cooking your dinner or even washing your own clothes can seem impossible some days, but go easy on yourself. Try to plan out your meals ahead of your weekly shop to avoid overspending on things you don’t need, and to make sure that all your meals are somewhat balanced and healthy. If you can’t find the time or energy to cook, don’t worry, the main rest serve dinner at a great price.

As UCC students, we’re also fortunate enough to have membership to the Mardyke Arena Health and Leisure Centre.

Try to find time to check out the centre’s facilities and classes you might be interested in.

Ask for help when you need it

You’re never alone. Especially here in UCC. If you’re feeling low, make sure to talk to a friend, family member or make an appointment to see a counsellor by calling 4903565, or emailing counselling@ucc.ie. If you need help with some of your course content, ask your lecturers; after all, that’s what they’re paid for! Try to lean on your peers for advice too. If all else fails, book an appointment with one of UCC’s career guidance counsellors, and they’ll be sure to put you on the right track.

Stay safe

With living in a new city comes a whole host of new experiences, good and bad. Cork is a beautiful city, and the best place to spend your early twenties, but that doesn’t mean that it’s without flaws. Be mindful of your drinks on nights out, point out unusual behaviour to bouncers, and never be afraid to speak out about any incident that affects you or your friends negatively.

CURRENT AFFAIRS Edit SEPTEMBER

Current Affairs Editor and Deputy MAEVE MCTAGGART and MOLLY KAVANAGH atempt to find the silver lining in the September headlines Because one wasn’t enough…

It was like looking in a mirror for President Donald Trump and PM Boris Johnson at the G7 Summit in France this month. Johnson was hailed as “Britain Trump” by the President after his election in July and at the Summit, Donald and his minime were practically performing heart-eyes to each other across the conference tables.

Talk about unnecessary purchases…

We all know Donald Trump is a millionaire, but just because you can afford to buy Greenland doesn’t mean you should - or that anybody living there wants you to. Thankfully, the Danish Prime Minister saved the residents of Greenland from a truly terrifying fate.

404 Not Found: Brexit The newscycle went into overdrive the day the Leave campaign won in 2016. We don’t want to say anything rash - the facts change within minutes. Deal or no deal? Backstop or hard border?

Will it ever end? Your guess is as good as ours.

If you’re rescued by Boris Johnson, is it really a rescue?

The newest addition to the chaos that is 10 Downing Street has arrived - Dilyn, the new rescue dog of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Oh, to be a Brexiteer…

Bali, Boole or the British parliament? Does it matter? Despite it being during a vital debate, Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg decided to lounge in the front benches eerily similar to how people position themselves in lectures mid-Freshers week.

CURRENT AFFAIRS

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We N eed T o Talk About A New Good F r iday Agreement MATTHEW MOYNIHAN highlights the need for a revised agreement in the threat of a no-deal Brexit. Tongue-in-cheek, he bluntly concludes that the cabinet of Boris Johnson is as bizarre as the man himself.

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ith Boris Johnson’s government performing what can only be described as diplomatic ‘flexing’ and the EU sticking resolutely to its position that the Withdrawal Agreement cannot be renegotiated, one thing is becoming abundantly clear – the United Kingdom is increasingly likely to crash out of the European Union on October 31st without a deal. In the absence of a deal, the re-emergence of a hard border is becoming a stark reality, a reality that is almost guaranteed to reignite the violence which predated the hard-fought peace achieved by the Belfast Agreement of 1998.

Research published in February 2018 by Fianna Fáil Senator Mark Daly and two UNESCO Chairmen argues that “There will be a return to violence in Northern Ireland in the event of the installation of infrastructure, custom checks and security on the Irish border as a result of a no deal Brexit. The only issue is the scale of the violence.

A large proportion of the readers of this article did not live through the pain and misery attached to the generations of spilt blood in Ulster, but we need only ask a parent or grandparent to understand the magnitude of what we could be facing. The brutal murder of journalist Lyra McKee by dissident republicans in April and an attempted murder of PSNI officers in Fermanagh earlier this month should be ringing alarm bells North and South of the border. Brexiteers can no longer claim this is Project Fear. This is a reality check. So, what to do? In semi-archaic terms, this is the $64m question.

Scrapping the backstop is a non-starter as the Irish government has a responsibility to maintain the integrity of the single market as members of the European Union and no realistic alternative to the controversial insurance policy has been offered by our UK partners. It is currently the only means of doing so without the implementation of a physical border for customs checks. Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, tweeted his frustration with the cavalier attitude of Number 10 this week claiming “Those against the backstop and not proposing realistic alternatives in fact support re-establishing a border. Even if they do not admit it.”

Our European Union membership also means that we cannot pursue a bilateral side-deal with the United Kingdom as it could potentially undermine our status within the union. We must conduct negotiations as part of the EU27 or run the risk of breeding frustration in Brussels and ultimately isolating ourselves from our allies.

Further to this, the Good Friday agree-

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ment in its current iteration does not explicitly state that there shouldn’t be a hard border; it merely committed to “as early a return as possible to normal security arrangements in Northern Ireland, consistent with the level of threat” and following on from this “the removal of security installations”.

The result of all this is the creation of a political clusterf*ck. In my most academic tone – let’s try to unf*ck it.

One pragmatic but refreshing approach would be a revision of the Good Friday Agreement, separate to the Brexit talks. One that is ratified by the EU, UK and the Republic of Ireland in a sort of trilateral agreement. A modern Belfast Agreement, not only for a modern Brussels and a modern Dublin but most importantly for a modern Belfast. This diplomatic exercise would spark the necessary impetus to restore the assembly in Stormont, to revitalise the Anglo-Irish relations which have become frayed throughout the Brexit process and, most importantly, to maintain peace.

The Good Friday Agreement remains a landmark document and the purpose of this article is not to undermine what is still considered one of the most impressive documents for peace in recent history. However, we need an agreement that guarantees no return to the borders of the past because the cost of not doing so is a return to the violence of the past.

As much as Boris Johnson and his cabinet of bullied schoolchildren wish to urinate on the ashes of the Belfast Agreement in their callous pursuit of Conservative political survival, we must hold onto hope and fight with fresh impetus to maintain the peace process. The cost of inaction is likely to be blood. The price of peace is painstaking but palpable. All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for men of good will to stand by and do nothing.

C H I N A’ S C H E QU E B O O K D I P LO M AC Y Having spent time in Malawi, BEN DALY draws from personal observation and global patterns in Chinese foreign investment to illustrate the diplomatic favour the state is currently inspiring with financial aid.

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he United States has retired into isolationism from being the world’s most overzealous policeman and now, China has begun to fill the void. The US and other nations have long been unwilling to provide large amounts of money to the IMF, and other institutions that would typically lend huge amounts of money (for better or worse) to developing states. Due to mass loan-defaulting in the 1980s, reduced cash pool and stricter conditions, it became harder for developing states (many of whom rely on foreign funding or loans as a large percentage of their GDP) to access this money. China had been involved in some Cold War infrastructure and military projects, but usually established merely a trading relationship with many states, until now.

In 1998, China had lent $0 in the African Continent. In 2018 they lent $700 billion dollars (over twice the Irish 2017 GDP of $334billion). By lending such vast amounts of money to African nations, the Chinese gained goodwill and influence in these rapidly expanding economies. Simultaneously, they have positioned themselves closer to natural commodities which are essential for the rapidly expanding Chinese economy. In 1980, China’s urban population was 19% but it rapidly increased to 58% in 2017. The rapidly growing middle class jumped from 29 million people in the early 2000s to 531 million in 2013. This middle class are looking to buy a larger variety of goods with their expanding incomes.

But where did China, a historically poor country with a huge population, get such vast amounts of cash to loan to Africa? We ask “why aren’t they reinvesting this into their own economy?” instead of “why would they?”

This is a western way of thinking about state capital; we’re either looking for it, or, if we have it, we’re looking to spend it. The extra cash was the result of a trade surplus with the US. In Western states, it would likely be spent quickly since governments control the money and their main goal is always to get re-elected, so they spend all the money flirting with voters demands.

Since the Chinese Communist Party are unaffected by re-election, they instead used the money as an investment to accrue long-term influence in developing countries.

For the Chinese, these bi-lateral loans to developing nations are a win-win because if the developing nation is paying back the loan with interest, it’s a successful investment and the recipient is appreciative of the money it might not have gotten from elsewhere. If the developing nation defaults on the loan, the Chinese will get access to the commodities or infrastructure used as collateral - good for China but bad for their relationship with that state if they seize the collateral. Instead, the Chinese renegotiate the loan thus maintaining or even improving the relationship. On a macro-level, the Chinese are securing their access to commodities so they can ensure Chinese growth in the future. Current global markets seem like they’re beginning to contract. For most states this is bad, but it’s great for China. If global markets contract, commodity prices will fall and the African nations using their commodities as collateral on a Chinese loan will not be able to repay the loan. This leaves China in a very strong position. They can sustain a number of loan defaults, so if states default on the loan China are at liberty to decide what will come of them

However, the Chinese need to be careful how they navigate this. If they seize too many commodities or infrastructure, they will risk jeopardizing future relationships as they will be accused of becoming another neo-colonial power. They are hoping that African markets will grow rapidly and have a much better relationship with the East than the West. If this happens, the Chinese know they will have good access to markets in the continent and to commodities, ensuring they will be able to sell goods into the future.

I lived in Malawi for a number of months last year, and Mzuzu, the nearest city, has quite a noticeable Chinese community who own/run many businesses. Despite Malawi being the world’s seventh poorest country and having a weak consumer market, the Chinese have stepped in and tailored their products to the local economy and are slowly gaining a foothold in the market. As an economy grows, the Chinese can scale the quality and volumes of products available in these markets to reflect the spending power of the population.

The Chinese are using their trade, loans and influence to develop a huge amount of soft-power and are securing their good relationships with emerging markets. I’m sure within the next decade we’ll not see a pivot, but a lurch of global power from West to East.

Trigger Happy Gun Culture in Trump’s America In the aftermath of recent mass shootings in the US, MAEVE MCTAGGART explores why America is still holding onto guns.

A

painting of George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States, belittled the nation’s 45th President as he delivered a press conference before the portrait on Monday August 5th.

“My fellow Americans, this morning, [we are] overcome with shock, horror, and sorrow,” he said, smacking his lips uncomfortably before detailing the mass shootings which took eighty lives in the weekend prior. On Saturday, in a Walmart which sits just three miles from the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, a twenty-one-year-old killed twenty in what he described as a counter-strike to “the Hispanic invasion of Texas”. A day later, one thousand miles away in Dayton, Ohio, another bullet-proof vest-clad shooter shot nine people dead before he was killed by the police himself.

“Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart, and devours the soul,” President Trump surmised in a first-time condemnation of white supremacy - he vaguely swatted at the notion of increased gun controls before slapping down on a call for a decisive death penalty. Often criticised for incitement to hatred and cited as a ‘prisoner to the gun lobby’ by opposition, Donald Trump has become the cultural catalyst for yet another debate: why won’t Americans drop their guns?

The right to bear arms has been enshrined in the US Constitution since 1791. Intended to defend against the tyrannical power of colonialism in revolutionary times, it was maintained that gun-wielding citizens were protected citizens. Two-hundredand-eighty-eight years later, 2019 has seen more mass shootings than it has seen days - as of March 6th, more Americans died by gun violence than were killed in the WWII invasion of Normandy, and yet some still warn of a D-Day from which citizens must arm

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themselves against. In 2017, National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne Le Pierre illustrated an apocalypse of lost freedom at the leading gun lobby’s annual conference. “There are terrorists and home invaders and drug cartels and carjackers and knockout gamers and rapers, haters, campus killers, airport killers…do you trust the government to protect you?” Le Pierre bellowed, “we are on our own … it’s why more and more Americans are buying firearms and ammunition!”

Google’s first hit in the search for ‘NRA’ is The National Rifle Association’s official website. Almost a parody of Trumpian patriotism, the website describes itself as “America’s longest-standing civil rights organisation.” The homepage is decorated subtly in Republican-red as visitors are urged to donate to protect their threatened rights. Of the annual $250 million spend, the NRA expenses $3 million dollars yearly to influence gun laws (otherwise known as ‘lobbying’).

In 2016, the organisation made an investment of $30 million to the Trump campaign - a rainy day favour saved for the storm that was the aftermath of

Dayton and El Paso.

Two hours out from dabbling in the idea of increased background checks on gun purchases, Donald J. Trump received a phone call from Wayne LePierre. Thirty minutes later, he hung up believing that the current system of checks were not only good, but they could not possibly be improved upon. For a comparatively small price of $30 million, the NRA had bought both time and the President.

Where it once stood for hope and progress, the American Dream has evolved into a lavish fetishisation of self-sustenance and individualism - a fever dream of utopian independence expressed with rifles in both hands. It is difficult to pinpoint why so many Americans refuse to drop their weapons, why, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, NRA membership soared to five million strong. Understood to be encoded into the DNA of the quintessential American identity, the want for guns seems to transcend words and reason.

Gun culture, financed by the NRA and the patriots of a Trump presidency, positions itself as one of the biggest enigmas of the Free World.

While more regulation means less guns, it means identity loss for many citizens, funding loss for legislators, financial loss for manufacturers - oh, the fragility of the military-industrial complex.

While the 45th President delivered a speech of non-committal and NRA-influence beneath the likeness of George Washington on August 5th, a quote of his comes to mind. In the case of the President’s $30 million political allegiance to the NRA at the expense of American lives, Trump should take his oldest predecessors advice: “It is far better to be alone than to be in bad company.”

The Luxury of Decency GAEL CRONIN looks at the depth to which humanity can stoop when we prioritise wealth, turning a blind eye to suffering in the process.

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ifty years ago, when people would be asked on the streets about what the post-2000 world would look like, many were very optimistic. The rapid evolution of science made us think that our cars would be flying and that no disease wouldn’t have its cure. Hell, we had gotten to the Moon in the 60s, was it so crazy to think we would be able to treat cancer and feed everybody forty years later?

The world has come a great way since the mid-century madness of hatred and we have put everything into place for the devil to stay in hiding: international human rights treaties, investments in making our planet better fed, healthier, safer and greener. We put a focus on happiness rather than twisted definitions of success and the media, as it is free, holds the elite accountable. It seems we have gone full circle - now it is time to repeat everything from the start.

Elections, across the world, show a very worrying trend of nationalistic sentiments. It started before the Trump era and is only getting worse as the “leader of the free world” is setting a dangerous example. He encourages “Send Her Back” chants about congresswomen who dare to stand for their voters rather than their donors. He talks about consent as if it were only a detail, and, in his administration pulling out of the 2015 Paris Agreement, denies the worst threat humanity has ever had to face: climate change.

But Trump is not the only bully in office. The LGBT+ community is losing rights across the planet.

In Brunei in 2019, the death penalty against the community was both instituted and then, thankfully, suppressed.

Italian Minister Lorenzo Fontana has been quoted saying “rainbow families do not exist as far as the law is concerned”, implying that in many places the most dangerous thing you can be is a minority. Wherever we are, the men

and women we voted for are yet to lift a finger to stop the agony of the Syrian people which have been seeking refuge since 2011. Oftentimes, their plight is almost intended to serve as a reminder that we are lucky to live in a country where we are not targeted by state officials for daring to demand decent living conditions.

As we read senseless articles about the record amount of air balloons in one place because reading the actual news is just too much for us, we cannot deny that history is repeating itself. When, in the aftermath of World War Two, we could say that we didn’t know what was happening in camps, now we know. It is of public knowledge that our favourite clothes brands are exploiters with Forbes reporting in 2018 that “Bangladesh is burning and sweatshops are the fuel.” We know that the people we voted for do far less to save us from climate change than Greta Thunberg, an actual teenager.

In Ireland, we perform 49th out of 59 countries in the EU Climate Change Performance Index.

How do we break the cycle?

By starting to hold politicians accountable for the deals they make in hiding with the people who have the actual, financial power. It is not enough that we just sit back and watch and do nothing. It is certainly not enough that we slowly, collectively, shift our vote to the extremes. It is not enough that American citizens can still keep guns in their night tables.

Decency has become a luxury - and one of the reasons is that few of us know our rights.

We need to be taught what is legally unacceptable, whether it

is being underpaid, evicted under false

pretences or exiled from a country under racism. Often the

thieves of basic liberties are the very people we voted for. Our enemy is not that immigrant that set up a kebab shop down the road, that woman who covers her hair with silk or the young black man, it is the men who point at them as responsible for our troubles.

Despite the words of Trump or Nigel Farage, we cannot forget that if every asylum seeker in Europe was granted asylum and they legally “invaded” us, they would make up for a mere 0.5% of the EU population.

We are under no threat from outside our borders, but we should worry about who we allow to dictate our own. Those people, the Trumps of the world, will be gone when climate change really starts decimating us, but for us, the younger generation, whether we are rich or poor won’t matter when we are facing gigantic waves on our shores. Thus, we need to take back what is ours: our rights to live decently and to hope.

CURRENT AFFAIRS

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THE

AMAZON

The Amazon rainforest is burning, and it’s not a tragic accident.

BY MOLLY KAVANAGH

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he massive ecosystem spans nine South American countries, home to over one-tenth of the Earth’s species and hundreds of indigenous tribal communities. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsanaro, is following through on promises he made in January— promises to scale back environmental protection laws, promises to reallocate land that rightfully belongs to Brazil’s indigenous people, and promises to support Brazil’s growing agricultural industry by clearing thousands of acres of potential farmland.

Environmental activists have long feared that Jair Bolsanaro’s aggressive opposition to anti-deforestation organizations would worsen the already dire situation in the Amazon rainforest. In support of loggers and ranchers who directly profit from deforestation, Bolsanaro’s administration has made it difficult for Brazil’s environmental protection agency (the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, or IBAMA) to continue handing out fines and enforcing the law.

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IBAMA’s budget has been reduced by twenty-five percent since Bolsanaro took office in January, and the president has publicly criticised IBAMA as a barrier to Brazilian economic development. Despite deforestation being illegal in Brazil, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to the many fires raging within the world’s largest rainforest, with approximately 74,000 blazes of varying levels of severity occurring in Brazil this year alone. Bolsanaro even suggested that certain environmental NGOs started the fires in order to harm his reputation, but has provided no evidence in support of this claim. Nonetheless, his unbridled disdain for these organisations has done little to dissuade those who profit from circumventing environmental regulations.

But the international community is well aware of the issue. French President Emmanuel Macron referred to the Amazon rainforest as the ‘lungs’ of the Earth. This followed an announcement that the G7 would be pledging twenty million dollars to help reduce the already catastrophic impact of the fire. Meanwhile, countries such as Norway and Germany have halted donations to the Amazon Fund, which was established in 2008 to raise money to combat deforestation and fund sustainable agriculture, over fears that the money was not being put to good use.

While opinion polls have clearly shown that the majority of Brazilians do not support the

IS

BURNING …but who can stop it?

destruction of the Amazon rainforest, their voices are being ignored, so scientists and activists are now hoping that the mounting international pressure will be enough to galvanize Bolsanaro into taking action.

Jair Bolsanaro’s rhetoric of supporting economic development no matter the cost might do Brazil’s agricultural sector more harm than good, particularly if countries within the European Union decide to no longer buy Brazilian produce. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, for instance, is threatening to vote against the recent Mercourser trade deal, which was brokered between Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and the European Union. The deal would reduce the significant tariffs on South American beef imports, but remains a cause for concern considering many farmers in Brazil are clearing the Amazon rainforest in order to use the land for cattle grazing.

However, Brazil still has the support of two international super powers- Great Britain and the United States. Great Britain did pledge twelve million dollars in aid, which President Bolsanaro accepted (as opposed to the aid offered by the G7, which is rejected).

However, the nation, which is due to leave the European Union in October, still has incentives to maintain good business relations with Brazil. Meanwhile, Donald Trump didn’t even attend the crucial G7 summit in which the seven countries - America, Great Britain,

Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan - discussed the Amazon rainforest fires and climate change as a whole. Trump went on to Tweet: “Just spoke with President @JairBolsonaro of Brazil. Our future Trade prospects are very exciting and our relationship is strong, perhaps stronger than ever before.

I told him if the United States can help with the Amazon Rainforest fires, we stand ready to assist!”

Jair Bolsanaro has been dubbed “Trump of the Tropics” and is known to have an amicable relationship with the U.S president. While the Trump Administration isn’t denying the existence or severity of the fire, they are helping Jair Bolsanaro to deflect the blame. And if Donald Trump would be willing to hold Bolsanaro accountable and leverage his friendship with the Brazilian president, it could pressure Bolsanaro into taking immediate action. Instead, he’s going to continue engaging in trade deals that will allow for Brazilian politicians and farmers to hold the Amazon rainforest hostage, and ultimately destroy it. With the vast majority of the rainforest being located within Brazil’s borders, led by a stubborn and seemingly apathetic president, there’s unfortunately not much we can do besides hope that our government takes a firm stance, and that other governments follow suit.

CURRENT AFFAIRS

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Cap ita lis m an d C li m a te Acti on Can We Have Both?

Is it possible to see successful and sustainable climate action under capitalism? Can individual effort save our planet?

AISLING O’LEARY explores the fact that perhaps neither is possible, that we need change - big, sometimes inconveniencing, change.

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he future that climate change has forced us to visualise is a bleak one, and bleaker again when you remember we can only point the finger of blame at ourselves. With this burden and burgeoning panic among the general populace, many have looked towards their lifestyle to do something, anything, to reverse the impact ecological disaster will have on our lives. Yet, much of green activism is conflicting. How much is enough?

When are we absolved of our crimes to the earth? Are metal straws enough or is raw veganism the only way? Furthermore, will individual action even be enough, or are we just inviting the blame for climate change onto suburban moms who don’t sort their rubbish and not the Fortune 500 CEO who has a bigger carbon footprint than an island in the Pacific?

According to the European Commission, “humans are increasingly influencing the climate and the earth’s temperature by burning fossil fuels, cutting down rainforests and farming livestock.” The meat industry is a major contributor to climate change, contributing to 13-18% of greenhouse gases as livestock produce a large amount of methane. We all tend to bristle at the gentle and sometimes not so gentle prods from vegans and vegetarians to stop eating meat to save the planet, but being honest, they’re right. No amount of reusable straws and boycotting PrettyLittleThing will make up for the incredible damage our demand for meat does to the environment. It is no longer sustainable or possible for us all to eat meat 7 days a week.

Transport is another contributor to greenhouse gases. No one needs to be reminded of how bad cars are for the environment, yet after all this time, in cities across the world, proper alternatives to cars are not available. Cycle

14 | SEPTEMBER 2019

and public transport frameworks are heavily underdeveloped in Ireland and transport is an area that is overlooked when it comes to individual action to fight climate change. Pressuring our TD’s to revise our transport networks and cyclist framework would empower people to find alternative, environmentally-friendly ways to move around.

However, even still, bicycles and veganism are not the answer. While individual action must be stressed in the context of the meat industry and political pressure, we must place equal pressure on multinationals, large corporations and the ruling class. We must recognize how we have allowed the earth to be beholden to the actions of a few members of the ruling class and their businesses. Our economic system, driven by profit and demand above all else, will always push people to prioritise profit over sustainability and the environment. In a world where capital dictates politics and what “matters”, merely asking companies to be environmentally friendly is only a temporary fix. Truly unselfish politics

and ways of life that prioritise the earth will never be fully realised under an economic system that centres around selfishness and profit. Green politics and truly prioritising the earth and our future can no longer be reconciled with capitalism.

It is not just big companies who are driving climate change. If the United States military was a country, it would be the 47th largest polluter in the world. The advanced weaponry, artillery and vehicles used by militaries consume a huge amount of oil and fossil fuels. For a military so heavily married with the capitalistic drive for profit, the US military exists almost more as a large imperialist business than a protecting force.

Often, in discussions surrounding resistance to climate change and individual action, the line “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” is thrown around as a cop-out.

While it is true due to the inherent exploitation of labour under capitalism, it is not a pass to do nothing to fight climate change and blame it on “the big guys”. While we as individuals may not have all the power, we still have some responsibility, and we can challenge the damaging nature of the current status quo while also using bamboo toothbrushes.

The answer to who is to blame for climate change is a multi-layered one. From the individual to the world as a whole, huge reformation is necessary to save our planet. While it is imperative we all do our part when it comes to climate change and the selfish, lecherous nature of capitalism, meatless Mondays just won’t be enough.

An Enter tainment Revolution

TADHG MACCIONNAITH explains the rapid evolution of entertainment. From YouTube to Netflix to the upcoming MEANS TV, Tadhg wonders how radical this revolution will get.

A

s you are all aware, streaming seems to be the direction in which entertainment is going at the moment.

First there was Youtube, which has gone from hosting amateur to professional videos. The likes of Twitch mean we can observe and engage with our favourite internet personalities, communities and content in real time. Spotify has reshaped the music industry, whether for better or for worse is an argument still being had. Then there’s the likes of Netflix which, along with the digitisation of media, is responsible for the crushing of franchises like Xtra-Vision and BlockBuster. Soon, with the advent of Google Stadia, it is possible we will be streaming video-games instead of downloading them and owning them.

But let’s back up a second. Netflix. Film and TV. What was once a monopoly for the near-ubiquitous entertainment company is fast becoming a hotly contested field, with competitors including Amazon with their Prime Video service and Disney with their upcoming Disney+. This subdivision has arguably become a real issue, with show exclusivity policies tearing consumers between subscription platforms, occasionally driving people to piracy to watch what they cannot afford.

This can be seen nowhere more clearly than with HBO and their treatment of the recently deceased Game of Thrones. Less overt, but equally impactful, is the possibility that Disney cancelled the Netflix-Marvel originals such as DareDevil and The Punisher in order to

reduce competition for their own nascet platform. A brutal, cold and anti-consumer move; but an unsurprising one.

It’s clear that streaming is a corporate warzone, with industry titans engaging in proxy wars through their acquired subsidiaries. Wading into this capitalist deluge is a small co-operative, unknown to the vast majority, called Means of Production. Hailing from Detroit, this production

company is a co-operative, meaning the control of the company is in the democratic hands of the employees as opposed to executive officers and boards of investors.

Determined to not be financed off of ad revenue, MEANS TV will be taking subscriptions to support it’s supplying of left-wing content from existing media and personalities, as well as producing their own original shows.

The commitment to not using advertising runs deep in the company itself, which is peculiar for an enterprise in the field of media, even more so when it is realised that they are the firm hired

by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as her

campaign agency for 2018. This is because there is another heritage Means of Production has - viral videos, using Twitter as a vector to spread the now congresswoman’s message. The original creator of the infamous viral clip Nyan Cat being friends with Naomi Burton and Nick Hayes, the two founders of Means of Production and MEANS TV, led to the co-operative being gifted the old Nyan Cat YouTube channel from which to grow their following.

Continuing their unorthodox policy of no advertising, the company is constantly flexing their social media muscles to ensure their project finds traction. In what they hope is just an inkling of things to come, MEANS TV has started publishing content over YouTube, including current affairs, comedy and original drama ahead of the service’s anticipated launch in 2020.

With such unorthodox practices entering what is an established dog-eat-dog world, how the co-operative will fare remains to be seen. But it cannot be denied that what they provide will occupy an as of yet derelict niche that may see increasing demand in an increasingly class-conscious USA. Interested in this co-operative and what it MEANS for the future?

Check them out on YouTube or at: www.means.media

CURRENT AFFAIRS

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INTERVIEW WITH

Rosie Carney LAURIE SHELLY talks to singer-songwriter ROSIE CARNEY about her debut album, growing up in Donegal, overcoming difficulties and working with her idols ahead of her gig at Cork’s Sounds from a Safe Harbour festival.

Credit: Daniel Alexander Harris

R

osie Carney wrote her; debut album’s opening track when she was 14. Most people would probably like for their 14-year-old self ’s writings to stay in diaries and boxes under the bed but Carney, now 22, knew “What You’ve Been Looking For” would work excellently on her LP Bare, which was released this past January. Its lyrics are chant-like and affirmative (“I will find what I’ve been looking for, it won’t hide, it won’t hide anymore, I will find what I’ve been looking for”) and it’s a testament to her skill as a songwriter that the song sounds as if was written by someone a good few years older. Bare received glowing reviews and is being called one of the best Irish albums of the year.

Comparisons to Joni Mitchell abound.

It’s late summer when I catch up with Carney.

She is back home in London after a few months of touring. Putting “What You’ve Been Looking For” on Bare was a way of honouring her 14-year-old self, she says, as well as a way of telling a cohesive story and accurately

16 | SEPTEMBER 2019

charting the personal experiences that had led up to the album’s release. “I feel like I had to include that younger self to really get an honest message across,” she explains.

When she was 15, Carney found herself performing in St. James’ Church at the fabled Other Voices festival in Dingle. It was the stuff of daydreams— the church had seen performances from the likes of Amy Winehouse and The National at previous iterations of the festival. Carney soon landed a record deal with Polydor, a label owned by the Universal Music Group, but was unexpectedly dropped from the label a couple of years later.

It was a setback that likely would have deterred most aspiring musicians from continuing to pursue music.

“It really shattered my confidence for a little while,” she says, “and then I started writing music for the wrong reasons.” A slew of co-writing sessions with Polydor had gotten her into a bad routine of trying to engineer a “hit” every time she sat down at the piano, “trying to create the perfect track.” Carney has been open about the depression and eating disorder she struggled with in her teenage years; she hit a low in the months after she was let go from Polydor and says she felt hopeless and lost. She took a short break from writing, and distanced from it, remembered it was so important to her.

“I thought, well, instead of trying to focus on writing music for other people, why don’t I just try to write for myself?”

The result is the wonderful Bare, a collection of confessional songs she wrote without any co-writers, released via the independent London label Akira Records.

The album doesn’t feel like it’s trying to win over or impress the listener at any point and it’s all the more captivating for it. Carney says she wanted it to be a cathartic listen that would let people “go into themselves and find the parts that were hurting and slowly heal them.” She listens to a lot of ambient music and drones, and in her own music she layers muted, meditative sounds under moments that feel epiphanic. Her writing is delicate and

stark and shot through with a quiet strength. “Zoey” sketches a sleepless night with painterly details, “Your Love is Holy” documents something precious and impermanent and “7” sees her learn to be okay on her own, and it’s all understatedly sophisticated and immensely beautiful. I tell her I really like that line about the trees growing upside down in “Awake Me.” “Yeah, I wanted that kind of distorted imagery,” she laughs.

Carney was born in Hampshire to Irish parents. Her family moved to Donegal, where her grandfather had grown up, when she was 10, and her writing is very much informed by the music and art she became immersed in there. “Every second person where I lived was a poet or a songwriter or artist, and it was really hard to not be inspired and influenced by that,” she says. “My parents would bring Irish traditional musicians back to our house and they’d have a session and I would just sit there and listen.” She was quite taken with sean-nós, and describes being completely enchanted by “An Mhaighdean Mhara” when she first heard it.

She’s still getting used to the weirdness that comes along with putting your art out there for consumption and being a person in the public eye. “Blogs can really twist certain things,” she says somewhat darkly.

“I hate being made out to be a victim and I found that some blogs really did do that.” What she has been most struck by, however, are the count-

Credit: Daniel Alexander Harris

less messages she has received from people saying her music helps them to calm down and breathe when they are anxious or going through difficult things. Has she felt any sense of pressure, knowing people are looking to her music for solace? “I definitely did, and, you know, it’s very important that I protect myself because I’m a really sensitive person and I absorb energy like a sponge; if somebody’s sad, I become sad.” But she says it doesn’t nearly outweigh the “incredible feeling” of knowing that songs she wrote have made their way into people’s hearts and playlists.

When we speak, Carney is really looking forward to playing Coughlan’s in Cork as part of the biennial Sounds from a Safe Harbour festival. She also played SFSH in 2017 and declares it her “favourite festival for sure.” The Leeside festival, the first incarnation of which was held in 2015, is curated

by The National’s Bryce and Aaron Dessner, former Cork Opera House CEO Mary Hickson, Cillian Murphy and Enda Walsh. Every second September, it takes over venues all over Cork, from Dali and the Kino to the Opera House, with the 2019 programme including performances from Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Thomas Bartlett of The Gloaming, Damien Rice and Canadian pop artist Feist. It is a festival of secret shows, surprise appearances, hidden gems, never-before-heard music and spontaneous collaborations, tied together with the charm that only the unassuming haven that is Cork city could provide.

Emblazoned across the festival’s programme and social media pages is a line Bon Iver uttered during his SFSH 2017 show: “this is not entertainment, this is a spiritual f**king thing.” According to Carney, the festival really is the unique, almost otherworldly experience it bills itself as. It doesn’t have the kind of “hierarchy” other festivals have, she says. “As soon as I got there, I felt like I was on the same level as everyone else...

“I did this amazing gig where me and a few other artists sat around these sofas and it went around in a circle and we all played a song each. It had such a homely feeling, the entire weekend.”

True to its collaborative spirit, Sounds from a Safe Harbour is actually what led to her working with one of the most eminent figures in Irish music, Lisa Hannigan. They were staying in the same hotel during the 2017 festival. She was back at the hotel after seeing Hannigan’s headline show in the Opera House when the singer-songwriter walked in and came over to say hi— Carney was stunned. “She came up to me and said ‘I love your music, let me know if you ever need backing vocals or anything!’”

Carney followed up on that.

She had written “Thousand,” an affecting song about her grandmother’s battle with dementia, and liked the idea of featuring a female artist she really looked up to on the track. “I messaged her on Twitter and sent her the song and she replied saying ‘I love it, let’s do it, I’d love to be a part of it!’” Carney then had the surreal experience of listening to vocal takes that had been sent to her by one of her favourite musicians to put on her debut album.

We are chatting away about artists and writers she admires (Lizzo, W. B. Yeats and Billie Eilish are named) and other music she likes when she brings up the new projects she is working on. “With my new music now,” she says, “I’ve completely made a transition to a different genre.” I had been planning to try to work her future plans into our conversation but she’s a few steps ahead of me.

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| 17

“I want to experiment more and I want to push my sound as much as I can,”

she says. “When I first started writing songs, I was really limited; I didn’t know how to create a demo or a drum beat or anything like that. It was really just me and the guitar, and I guess that’s why this album Bare is very minimal.” She has been teaching herself how to fully produce her own tracks and she is so excited to see what shapes her songs will take as she evolves as a person.

This comes in tandem with a growing confidence about performing live. Carney tells me she dealt with terrible stage fright at the beginning of her career and used to “hyperventilate” before going on stage, but she finds it much easier these days. “I’ve kind of put the acoustic guitar down… [the songs on Bare] are such honest, vulner-

able songs and I’ve always hidden behind my guitar. But with my new sound, I feel like there’s a whole new part of me that I’m about to show everyone.” “What You’ve Been Looking For” was prophetic— this is just the beginning for Rosie Carney.

Rosie Carney’s debut album Bare is out now.

Credit: Daniel Alexander Harris

18 | SEPTEMBER 2019

Spider-Man: Leaving Home Motley Editor DAN WEBB looks at the factors that led up to the recent breakdown in negotiations between Disney and Sony Pictures, and what this means for the future of Spider-Man, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe

I

find myself sitting here writing an article I hoped I wouldn’t have to even think about, for a long time. Five years ago, in 2014, news broke that Sony Pictures had brokered a deal with Disney, which would effectively allow Marvel to use Spider-Man in the upcoming film slate of their Marvel Cinematic Universe. This announcement was coming hot off the tail of the cancellation of Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man film franchise.

This announcement was a dream for many Marvel fans at the time, as no one could ever have predicted that such a deal would ever come to fruition. That feeling of utter joy and delight was further cemented when Tom Holland leapt onto the stage in 2015’s Captain America: Civil War. However, five years and several successful films later, we have found ourselves back where we started. The recent breakdown in the deal between Sony Pictures and Disney is an absolute tragedy, and a major loss for the fans. However can all the blame solely be placed on one party? Is this really a case of good versus evil?

When investigating such events one must always keep in mind that a complete breakdown in communication and negotiations between studios is a sad but highly probable scenario. The deal in question here was understandable to say the least. Sony, after several failures with the intellectual property over the past few years, entered a deal with Marvel Studios that in the public eye saw Spider-Man finally coming home. However, behind the scenes a financial cut was agreed upon that reportedly saw a 95/5 share, with

Disney claiming 100 per cent of profits from toys and merchandising.

It is this fact that I believe to be the primary cause for breakdown in this case. Whilst the official reason that has been given by Sony so far is that Disney and the President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, are just too busy to focus on Spider-Man, personally this stinks of PR camoflauge to me. Many news outlets have reported that Disney attempted to renegotiate the financial deal, and that unfortunately Sony could not accept this.

The popular thing to do at this point would be to place all the blame on Sony as the guilty party in this case, but I don’t think it’s that simple. Although the film profits deal does seem to favour Sony at a first glance, one cannot forget the amount of money to be made from merchandise and toys, all of which have reportedly gone straight into Disney’s bank account. So when I read that Disney were apparently demanding a 50/50 cut I was a little shocked. Sure, Disney have the means of distribution with the successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, and an already built-in fanbase. Personally, however, I do feel that asking for 50 per cent of all profits is a case of The House of Mouse getting a little too big for its boots.

Likewise, I also think that the initial deal should have been fairer to both parties, perhaps with Sony maintaining a 70/30 split as owners of the property.

Whilst both parties have split, they will continue to reap financial success in the future. The real people affected by this news was always going to be the fanbase. The breakdown of

this deal effectively means that Marvel can no longer use Spider-Man in the MCU, and Sony cannot continue to use Marvel-owned characters in their Spider-Man films. Of course, this immediately sets off alarm bells for the future of Tom Holland in the role.

Sony have indicated their intention to continue on with Holland in the role, but I have to deeply question how they intend to pull this off? This incarnation of Spider-Man has seen his entire character arc being built around the MCU like a tightly-wound web.

The deep father-son surrogate relationship between Tony Stark and Peter Parker was integral to his character development, all culminating in last summer’s blockbuster success, Spider-Man: Far From Home. That begs the question, how does Sony intend to go forwards with Holland when half of his character arc has effectively been nixed? Although there probably are creative ways around this issue, after seeing Sony’s track record in past years, if they can’t come up with a viable solution to this problem I wouldn’t be surprised if unfortunately we saw the fourth reboot of Spider-Man in under twenty years.

To conclude, while this news is an absolute slap in the face to many fans around the world, I am not surprised at all. With the recent success of Far From Home, and the chilling twist ending it provided us with, only time will tell where Spider-Man goes next. For now, sadly, only one thing is certain… to paraphrase The Beatles “He’s leaving home, bye bye.”

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ERASMUS COLUMN

The Not So Lonely Planet

BY ALANA DALY MULLIGAN

JANICE TO JETLAG: ADJUSTING TO THE USA

I

kneeled on the hardwood floor ones (without being stopped at border of my room sobbing, looking at control for concealing bodies). But I’m the cold body lying in front of trying not to think about the negatives, me. She had been split into two halves, which is a struggle. Organising this her dark-lined repository gutted and year abroad has been a willing isolation open; ready to be embalmed for our chamber both in the sense that, more next life. Let’s talk about Janice. often than not, you are on your own

Janice caught my eye with her when it comes to organising visas and bargain price and offensively tacky apflights, but also physically. I’ve spent pearance from the top shelf in Penneys. the summer trundling through emails I wasn’t out of the shop a hot minute and paperwork to ensure that every when I realised I had to trawl her monstrosity through town— Janice the suitcase seemed to be a mistake.

Filling Janice was the next order of business as I slowly but surely realised that I had a lot more baggage to carry across the Atlantic than 23kg could hold.

I’d been warned that my clothes wouldn’t survive the snow-globing of the northern states come Credit: Alana Daly Mulligan November, that my mannerisms would be two decades behind, and the aspect of this trip that I can control only thing worth holding onto was is *perfect*. Any time my trip was my Irish accent. I have always been brought up, people assured me the obsessed with America and her infoAtlantic distance would swallow my mercial-like opportunities. It’s the land problems and I’d bounce back boldwhere southern drawls dampen the er and better. Jump to me hurtling rising dry dust of both poles of Carolithrough the air at 598 kilometres per na and draws distance between the east hour, tears Niagara-falling down my and west. I’m bound North East, where cheeks, panicking about connecting accents are amber leaves that thaw the flights, a snoring roommate, potential cold. I keep telling the folks back home Twinkie addiction (followed by diabeI’m going to Stephen King country— tes) as every little insecurity whispers Orono, Maine. It might just be one of in my ear; I don’t think the ocean can the only places left where the original hold all of your fears about this year.

American Dream has enough space to

The Pine Tree State doesn’t spread its wings. disappoint as I swoop into Bangor

Despite the postcard descripAirport. She flashes her boastful forests tion of this New England fantasy, it’s and wide open highways that chase the hard to fill suitcases with home and banks of the Penobscot and Stillwaeven harder to fill them with loved ter. A friendly group of international

20 | SEPTEMBER 2019

Credit: Alana Daly Mulligan students greet me—- all of us equally nervous as we inhale this new world.

They too circumnavigated the globe over the last 48 hours with baggage hanging from their eyes and smiles, as well as from their tired arms. Weary as we are, we are all here for the same reason, though, then, that reason was foggy.

It wasn’t until my third day, after getting mauled by mosquitoes the size of Skittles, rowing a ten-person Indian War Canoe at high speed through the Stillwater river, chasing a hawk that flew above us in the cerise-painted sky that I remembered why I came.

The romantic adventure of it all.

It was the American Dream that here you can be and do anything.

Like Janice, America stands out while probably tipping the scales at the baggage check in. She is a little bit nuts (can confirm, having ran across an American Football Field screaming “Go Bears”). But America offers the chance to change your stars, or at least see them differently— much like a year abroad in general. And the thing about stars is, no matter where you are in the world, there is always another person staring and hoping that they aren’t the only lonely ones trying to find familiarity in the rearranged face of night.

Credit: Alana Daly Mulligan

Charity Shopping

TADGH MACCIONNATH writes about the fantastic work local charity shops do every day, and presents food for thought on why you should consider the benefits of shopping with them more often.

C

harity shops are great places to find a whole manner of things very cheaply, especially when you’re a student who may need to pinch a few pennies, be it on clothes or crockery. They’re also a great way of recycling clothes and bric-a-brac for further use, while also giving to a worthy cause of your choice. The following are some tips and tricks to help you out when donating to or buying from your local charity shop.

WHEN DONATING:

When it comes to donating, there are two really important facts to keep in mind: 1 - Charity shops have standards 2 - Charity shops don’t have the means to clean clothes.

It might sound like common sense, but do keep these in mind if you ever need to clear things out and move them on: If it has even a tiny tear? It will be sent to recycling rather than put on sale. Stretch damage? Also recycling. Missing buttons? You guessed it, straight to recycling. Customised (name label, etc.)? Won’t sell, and so into the recycling it goes. Stains unfortunately aren’t any different, even if the clothes are otherwise immaculate. All manners of clothes go through charity shops each day, with the volunteers being in no position to differentiate between ketchup and blood stains, or even trust that buyers would purchase something grubby, so it goes straight to recycling.

Even something smelling strange is enough to ensure that it never sees the shop floor, so keep that in mind if you’re ever clearing clothes from attic storage. Charity shops simply don’t have the resources to wash clothes, so be sure to wash and dry them before handing them in. Some types of clothes are always disposed of unless they are still in their unopened original packaging, namely all types of underwear and socks.

Having your clothes condemned to recycling isn’t all bad, with charity shops earning a couple of euro per bag of clothes needing to be disposed of. But this means they are often earning less on each bag full of waste clothes than they are on a single pair of pants. So if you do want to get rid of damaged clothes, but still help out a charity, you can put together a separate bag marked recycling to hand in along with your bag of donations. This saves the volunteers from having to root through them.

What some charity shops do have are steamers, which are essentially huge irons used to remove creases and sterilise donations, but not all do. If you want to further increase the value of your donations when donating to a shop without a steamer, iron them beforehand, and be sure to pack them carefully. If the shop does have a steamer, there’s no need to iron them.

WHEN BUYING:

Two of the many charity shops in Cork

On charity shop tags, the date that the clothes were put out on the floor will always be written. This is handy to keep track of if you are between two minds about buying something, or simply don’t have the money to buy it on you at the time. This varies from charity to charity, but items that haven’t sold are removed to be sent to other shops after a period of about two weeks, giving you a timeframe to make your decision.

Most charity shops are also very accommodating and are happy to notify people who want certain items when they are in stock, so you could have up to two weeks notice to get money together to buy something you really want if you play your cards right, and engage with the shop in question.

In the event that a damaged item is being bought, the store owner will refuse the sale, as this would be a breach of the charity’s standards. This also stops people breaking or damaging the wares to get a discount on the marked price.

If you do see damaged goods for sale, let a volunteer know immediately, it will be greatly appreciated.

Finally if you feel like you have too much spare time on your hands (unlikely) or need retail experience (more likely), charity shops are on the lookout for new volunteers as much as they are donations, with some shops offering price reductions for staff on available goods. What makes this even better is that charity shop hours can count towards earning you that UCC Works award (if you decide to take part this year!).

If you recognise the rising need for recycling and thrift, or just want to give back to the community, look no farther than your nearest charity shop this academic year.

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POETRY

The Painter MATTHEW MOYNIHAN

A brief canvas of obsession and compulsion Etched blackened veins in strokes Of leaden paint.

The painter in his madness portrayed chaos.

What he thought were masterpieces were merely the manipulations of the claws that trickled up his spine, sending signals to his ailing wrists.

One day he stood back, stooped in calmed breath, the lights turned mellow in his studio observing yet another tragic artwork of melancholic self-preoccupation.

At this point rays of sunshine splintered through his cobwebbed studio windows.

In through the letterbox came a new paintbrush, a bucket of cream paint with which to whitewash his canvass, acrylics and instructions from his Professor.

“Paint with these”, he rallied, in his memo, “paint yourself, your imperfections, your strengths, paint this Earth’s splendours, and a brighter world beckons.”

That day he painted furiously, sketching out a canvas where the skies bled light.

The masterpiece for the artist was not to fight.

ADVERTISE WITH MOTLEY! YOUR AD HERE CONACT EDITOR@MOTLEY.IE FOR DETAILS FEATURES & OPINIONS

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BEHIND THE SCENES AT E.P. A Volunteer’s View of Electric Picnic

W

BY MÉABH LONERGAN

here do we pick up our bedding?”

“I’m sorry?”

The question, shouted to me over the cacanophy of funfair music by a middle-aged lady in pressed jeans and a spotless crêpe shirt, took a few seconds to fully register. I leaned in closer, and she yelled again in my ear.

“Where - is - Pamper - The - Camper? We - need our - bedding.”

Slightly confused, I pointed her and her party - a similarly dressed woman and two young children - in the direction of the stall selling small tents, sleeping bags, and little necessities, and waited till we were further away from the blaring music to turn to my friend Orla and say “so people actually do just buy their tents when they arrive?”

“Apparently so.”

“Chances that they’re the same people who leave them behind when they’re done?”

It was only a few hours into our first shift at Electric Picnic, and already we were both feeling rather disenchanted about the festival at large. Our first day, from arriving without knowing where to go, to finally falling asleep, had been a rather haphazard mess. We had seemed to be the first of the Irish Girl Guide contingent to arrive, and were

Credit: Méabh Lonergan

told to set up camp and wait for the others to arrive before we could register. Eventually, we found the rest of our group, and were given our hi-vis and wristbands - both of which drunken attendees would soon be offering to buy from us. We headed to the main arena in search of food, only to find that the food trucks were closed. Some campers had already arrived, however, and many of the stages and stalls were lit up and pretty against the sunset. We watched Hozier’s soundcheck for a bit, before heading into Stradbally town in search of hot, fatty fast food. Rows of headlights stretched in every direction, and Gardaí had taken over from traffic lights.

This weekend, all roads led to Stradbally. Due to the crowds in the chip shop (one person making a €76 order), the food took nearly an hour, and was eaten in record time. I’d never been happier to see curry chips in my life.

Our role for the next three days would be simple: to walk around the various campsites, and look friendly in the hopes someone would ask us for help. We managed a step-count of over 63,00 on those three days. On the first day, we managed to help out with the pitching of a few tents: a fellow UCC student asked for help with her 6-man just as it began to lash, and we directed a gang of Carlow

Credit: Méabh Lonergan

lads who were erecting a shaky marquee, which had disappeared by the time we made our next round.

We gave campers directions to campsites, gates and blow-drys, and managed to collect a fair bit of coin for our charity partners, Womens Aid and Focus Ireland. I also got catcalled more that weekend than in my entire life (must’ve been the alcohol flowing, I doubt the baggy pink hi-viz had much to do with it).

One thing that struck me walking around the site was the litter. Even on day one, the grass around each clump of tents was strewn with cans, and a few tents lay smashed in skips and against trees. I had seen the pictures of previous events, sure, but seeing it myself was quite the shock. For a while now, I’ve surrounded myself with climate activists and environmentalists in a nice little bubble, and seeing piles of trash only feet away from the bins confused me more than anything else. Where were the echoes of protests, the green mantras I knew we’d all grown up with? Young and old people alike sprawled out in a sea of litter like none I’d ever seen at any

camp before, and I couldn’t help but feel sickened.

I don’t drink much to start with, and as I was working I stayed sober for the weekend. I had expected to see lots of drunken gangs and antics, but I wasn’t prepared to see every second person with a can in hand at 11am. Maybe the festival’s allowed limit of 48 cans wasn’t so difficult to get through after all.

We had drunks by 3pm, and by 5pm on Day Two we had to fetch the Red Cross for a girl who could barely even sit up. Her friends told us that she’d drank nearly a litre of vodka.

And so, tipsy teens mixed with young families, the contrast growing ever clearer as our shifts went on. With bruised feet at the end of each one, we hurried to see bands and talks and spend time at Global Green and Mindfield.

We saw Hozier and Metronomy

and Pillow Queens and Billie Eilish and more, we danced and yelled and signed petitions and took photos, and ate the cheapest veggie meals sold in the food trucks. It was an incredible (and incredibly tiring) weekend, but I couldn’t help but worry for those stumbling around in the dark. I couldn’t help but think of the animals who graze on those fields swallowing tent pegs. I couldn’t help but wish that the children weren’t there, so they wouldn’t see the drunken fights, that every girl would make it back to her tent safely, that the whole thing could be run the same way the Greta campsite was. I couldn’t help but wish that it was a different type of festivity. Maybe then it’d be better for everyone involved.

Credit: Méabh Lonergan

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My Diagnosis wit ATAKAN UZUN talks about the struggles he faced as a secondary school student, culminating on the 12th of May 2017 with the diagnosis of a rare disease.

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s a young teenager, I struggled with fatigue every day, even in the morning, and I would frequently fall asleep. I would often fall asleep at home around 9pm. I also had a tough childhood, getting constant stomach bugs and missing lots of school. As I finished primary school, things began to worsen as I began to develop into puberty (we found out after my eventual diagnosis that my condition meant I had never really hit puberty). In secondary school, my condition gradually became even worse, but I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

During the summer of 2016, I started vomiting quite a lot every time I ate dinner. I decided to go to the doctor to get a blood test. The blood results came back with a diagnosis of lactose intolerance. I would have to stay away from all dairy products which included lactose for a few months, to see

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if that solved my health issues.

I decided to go back to South Doc in November 2016, because I was also suffering from a stomach bug. After the doctor in South Doc tested me, he concluded with one interesting point. He said he didn’t think I was lactose intolerant and that he believed there was something underlying my symptoms that he couldn’t get to the bottom of. A few weeks later, I went back to my own doctor and he referred me to the Mercy Hospital to get tested for tuberculosis (TB).

This test also came back clear.

Despite countless blood tests, we still didn’t know what was wrong with me.

Because of all of this, I had missed around four weeks of school. It was clear that I was already falling behind with my academic work. Despite this, I still did well in my Christmas exams. Then came the most crucial year of my life, 2017.

I managed to not miss any school in January, but I missed some in February because of a head cold and a chesty cough. When I came back, I was not operating anywhere near a level good enough to pay attention to my academic

work, and to pay attention in class. At this time, I started to vomit after eating again. Due to this, I began to stop eating my breakfast and the deputy principal used to ask me every morning why I wasn’t eating.

A dilemma I had was that if I went long periods without eating, I would vomit bile.

This happened one day in April 2017, during a family trip to Fota Wildlife Park.

As April came to a close, the most critical month of my life approached. It was in the first few weeks of this month that I began to finally figure out what was wrong with me.

The 5th of May 2017 was meant to have been the day I went into the city library to start my Leaving Cert History project. Instead, I went to the doctor in order to get yet another blood test. On my way there, my vision blurred, and I began to vomit on Washington Street. I couldn’t prevent myself from vomiting further and almost fell to the ground as I was so low in energy, but I managed to get to the doctor.

I was so underweight that the doctor had to turn me on my side to get blood out of me. I was told that I was naturally

th a Rare Disease thin. Yet again, I was given a simple response to an extremely complicated problem.

On Monday, the 8th of May, I returned to school. I struggled to stay awake in class. Even in my favourite subject, Business Studies, I couldn’t stop myself from falling asleep. I decided to go home from school early that day and I went straight to bed. I went to the doctor to get tested for an underactive thyroid, and was put on medication for this. However, once again, this was an overly simple answer to something very complex.

That same week, on the 11th of May, my mother told me that the week after, I would be going to the doctor to get tested for a rare disease called Addison’s disease. Addison’s disease disease only affects about 104 people in Ireland.

Famously, the US president John F. Kennedy had Addison’s disease throughout his life.

The day after, the 12th of May, was the scariest day in my life. I woke up as normal in the morning, feeling very fatigued. I went into town with my mother and as I was walking down Oliver Plunkett Street, I fell to the ground and

was vomiting once again. We went to the Mercy Hospital A&E, which turned out to be the best choice we could have made. Luckily, there was an endocrinologist practising that day, who specialised in conditions such as Addison’s disease and diabetes, and I got tested for Addison’s disease on that same day. Finally, I found out what was wrong with me after almost twelve months struggling to find out what was the issue. It was Addison’s disease.

Addison’s disease is a condition which affects a very small number of people. There are meant to be two hormones that sit on top of a human’s kidneys which people with Addison’s disease don’t have.

These hormones control your sweat glands and allow you to sweat, so in some ways, Addisonians are like volcanoes; they don’t sweat massively as it stays inside their bodies. Symptoms of Addison’s disease include fatigue, bloating, nausea, anxiety, muscle or joint pains, unexplained weight loss, salt cravings and darkening areas of skin. Strangely enough, people with Addison’s disease must follow a diet that is heavily rich in salt. They must have

almost three times the intake of salt of the average person.

This meant I would have to adapt my diet. When people with Addison’s disease reach crisis period, it is referred to as an ‘adrenal crisis’. This is what I experienced on both the 5th and 12th of May 2017. This could have led to me going into a coma, or even dying.

I stayed in hospital for almost an entire week in order to fully recover from my adrenal crisis.

I was signed off for the rest of fifth year, missing almost ten weeks of school. Later, I would take about four weeks off at the end of sixth year to catch up on the work I missed in fifth year, to prepare for my Leaving Cert. I got 349 points, and despite missing almost sixteen weeks of both fifth and sixth year, I made it into UCC by the skin of my teeth.

My journey to getting diagnosed with Addison’s disease was, without a doubt, a tough experience, but it was worth it, as it got me to where I am in my life now. I am a happy person studying BSc Government and Politics in University College Cork. I appreciate waking up every day and being alive and healthy.

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ENTERTAINMENT Edit SEPTEMBER

Entertainment Editor and Deputy ANDREW BURKE & CATHAL DONOVAN O’NEILL share their top picks for September Andrew’s Picks:

THE COCO COMEDY CLUB: The Coco is one of the best comedy clubs in Cork. Located upstairs in The Roundy, it is almost ten years old and houses some of the best comedians in the country as regulars. It is the heart of Cork comedy. Whether you are an aspiring comedian who wants to try out stand up or a lover of all forms of comedy who just wants to sit down and have a laugh, the Coco is the place for you. Open at 8:30pm every Monday for open mics and every Wednesday for the professional shows.

JOKER: Part of DC Black, movies separate from DC’s connected universe, Joker is a standalone origin film of one of the greatest, most iconic villains in entertainment history. Directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix, the movie takes place in Gotham City in 1981 and has been described as a psychological thriller. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival to astounding reception and reviews, some saying that Phoenix’s performance as Arthur Fleck/Joker is “Oscar-worthy.”

Joker is out in Irish cinemas on October 4th.

WET PAINT: Wet Paint is a play written and starring Shane Casey (Billy Murphy from Young Offenders). Set during the Celtic Tiger era, it is a story about two painters and their boss on a house job and a regular day they have at work. It is funny, captivating, has a lot of twists and turns and is a commentary on masculinity. The play is at its greatest when the actors’ imagination is allowed to soar and the setting is no longer constrained to the house they are working in. You can see Wet Paint from October 14th19th in Fr. Matthew Hall.

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Cathal’s Picks:

CORK PODCASTING FESTIVAL (October 11th-13th) If there’s an Irish podcast you like, chances are that you’ll find them in town during the inaugural Cork Podcasting Festival. Venues throughout the city will be hosting live podcasts on everything from true crime to comedy, selected

by Blindboy of Rubberbandits fame. Cork’s Opera House will be hosting the star features like The Blindboy Podcast and Audible’s West Cork. We at Motley have not yet been contacted by Blindboy, but assume it’s only a matter of time.

Please Mister Blindboy. We’re really very funny when you get to know us. Tickets for The Blindboy Podcast at the Opera House are now on sale. For more information go to @CorkPodcastFest on Twitter.

IRELAND MUSIC WEEK 2019 (Dublin, October 1st-5th) It can be difficult to get a handle on the different factions of music in Ireland, but they’re all flocking to the capital for Ireland Music Week. There’s an absolute cornucopia of fantastic acts playing across the city centre, including Cork-based (and highly recommended) musicians such as Alex Gough, Elaine Malone and Happyalone. Motley would never encourage you to skip lectures, but if you’ve a free day and somewhere to crash? Well worth a trip up.

For more information or tickets to the musicians’ conference go to irelandmusicweek.com.

PRETTY HAPPY WITH ELAINE MALONE AND LAURIE SHAW (Winthrop Avenue, September 26th 9:00pm) Pretty Happy are Cork punk royalty. Elaine Malone is spellbinding live. Laurie Shaw’s music is the ideal of badassery.

Highly recommended, especially for fans of rock or hard-hitting folk n’ blues. If you’re a fresher looking for some good Cork tunes, there’s no better place to start.

And if that’s the case we might have an article just for you in this very issue…

Tickets are available now for €6 through Eventbrite. For more information check out the gig’s Facebook event.

Faked Out and Freaked Out

Motley Staff Writer KANE GEARY O KEEFFE tries to answer the question of why movie audiences are growing tired of the overuse of CGI.

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ince its release on July 18 of this year, Universal’s deeply unsettling trailer for its upcoming film adaptation of popular musical Cats has been bombarded with equal parts ridicule and horrified curiosity. Audiences all over the world found themselves unable to make heads or tails of the baffling use of computer-generated imagery to impose feline bodies and features onto its star-studded cast.

The overwhelmingly negative response to this furry fiasco (296k YouTube dislikes as of this writing) brings to light the question of whether audiences are beginning to reject the overwhelming and sometimes morally ambiguous use of CGI in Hollywood productions.

CGI is in a tricky spot in 2019. It seems that for every visually dazzling blockbuster like Avengers Endgame that is released in theatres, audiences are left scratching their heads over a terribly animated Sonic the Hedgehog trailer or Will Smith’s enormous blue CGI muscles in the recent Aladdin remake. Why is it there is such an inconsistent level of quality effects in our day and age when films like Avatar were released over a decade ago? With today’s resources at production crews’ fingertips, public backlash such as that seen with Sonic and Cats shouldn’t be happening. It seems that as the use of CGI has become the norm for movie-going audiences, major studios are taking these expectations for granted, producing products that greatly vary in quality in the hopes that fans will just accept with open eyes.

However, as CGI has continued to develop, although seemingly backwards at times, so have its many uses for presenting life-like imagery onto our screens. Many of these are now starting to cause very real arguments over the moral validity of CGI as a substitute for the real thing. CGI has enabled studios the ability to ‘resurrect’ deceased actors through imposing their likeness onto a living double. This is not a particularly new practice, seen as far back as the nineties to

allow the production team of The Crow to complete scenes after the tragic on-set death of star Brandon Lee. These days allow for more advanced effects and applications. This controversial use of computerised effects came to the fore upon the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in 2016.

The film used this digital process of imposition to ‘resurrect’ long dead actor Peter Cushing to bring back his character of Grand Moff Tarkin for a number of scenes. While the effect was undoubtedly impressive, many viewers found this application to be disrespectful to the late actor’s memory, while simultaneously being unnerved by the ‘uncanny valley’ effect of seeing a digital recreation of a deceased human being that seemed ever so slightly off being lifelike. More debates arose after the release of a 2014 ad for Galaxy chocolate that featured a digitally recreated Audrey Hepburn as the star. The use of resurrected stars in advertisement opens a whole new question about non-consenting endorsement: How are we to know if the late Ms Hepburn would in fact have endorsed Galaxy chocolate, were she alive?

As CGI continues to develop, it will be fascinating to see in coming years if this rising trend of audience scrutiny and rejection of computer effects and their applications starts to impact its use and quality in major Hollywood productions. The backlash to the Sonic The Hedgehog trailer has already pushed the creative team back to the drawing board for an effects redesign. While this can be seen as a landmark moment in audience input affecting a film’s creative control, it also leads us to wonder if other studios will take heed and start to give us more consistent, high-quality computer effects more in line with what 2019 has to offer. Hopefully that means less furry Jason Derulo cats in the future.

CGI Modeling Proccess

by Digital Arts Online

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Credit: Peter Fleming

INTERVIEW WITH

In anticipation of their October gig in Cyprus Avenue, Motley Editor DAN WEBB sits down with Christy Leech, half of Irish musical duo Le Boom.

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hroughout the history of our country, something that has always defined us as a nation has been our music. Throughout many generations, we have so much passed to us by our ancestors; strong will, a rebellious nature and also a love of music. Our ancestors didn’t have all of the technological marvels that we are graced with ourselves today. Instead, they sat around the campfire sharing stories told through a very unique form, song. This strong tradition of spreading a message to your audience via song is still present in the Irish music scene today. One band that has taken a unique approach to this medium is Le Boom, an electro-dance band founded in 2016. In the lead-up to their upcoming gig in Cyprus Avenue on October 12th, I sat down with Christy Leech to have a chat about the band’s roots, successes and where they are going next.

Le Boom are, in their own words, an electricindie-house-pop duo act. The band consists of Christy Leech and Aimie Mallon, both hailing from Navan, Co. Meath. Interestingly enough, they didn’t actually meet for many years despite living in the same town. Ironically, it took a large-scale move away from home for the pair to meet. Christy tells me that he spent a few years living in New York working in the dance music scene there, eventually deciding to return home to try to start his own band.

Christy met Aimie after a group of people he had been booked to play alongside were unable to do so.

Christy told me that following an impromptu jam session

with Aimie, he asked her to play a gig with him. The pair were still in that awkward polite phase even right up the night of the gig, but as soon as they stepped onto the stage, everything changed. Christy tells me “it was about halfway through the set, and the crowd were really going for it.” The pair soon realised that there was something special— in Christy’s’ own words, “shit this is great, the energy is on a whole different level.” This focus on eclectic live performances led to the group’s move away from indie music to electro-dance pop.

Something that has always fascinated me, both as a writer but also as a consumer of music, is how artists find inspiration when creating new songs. I asked Christy where he and Aimie usually start when writing a new song. He says initially they just wrote songs with a listening audience in mind, however as Le Boom’s strong focus on elaborate, colourful live performances persisted this too bled into the songwriting process.

“WE WERE GETTING BOOKED FOR HOUR LONG SLOTS, AND WE ONLY HAD LIKE 20 MINUTES OF TUNES,”

Christy says as he talks about how little time they had between gigs to write material. The band decided to take a few weeks ahead of their Irish tour in October to rest and to spend more time in the studio actually writing songs.

Christy says that having time off is very rare for

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them, and even when they do have a little bit of downtime they spend most of it in the studio getting ready for the weekend ahead. Christy also talks about keeping the music fresh even while gigging so much, saying “our setlist changes every three, four to five days, and our manager always kills us.” This, of course, would be very taxing on any individual involved in such a time-intensive activity. The band has decided to take a bit of an extended break following the end of their tour in October to recuperate mentally and to try and spend more time actually writing music and getting back to their roots.

Le Boom, being a band with a strong focus on live performances, are, not surprisingly, quite a big hit amongst the Irish festival scene. I asked Christy if there was something about the festival scene in particular that appealed to him.“Festivals are a great way [to start] out, for getting the confidence going on big stages, without the risk associated with the more intimate venues and having to draw a crowd.”

However, for Christy, the real appeal of playing festivals is being able to get close to your audience, to reach out and actually touch them with your music.

In recent years, as a side-effect of Le Boom’s effect, Christy says “the stages are definitely getting way bigger, and we are definitely a bit further away from the crowd, compared to the more intimate low ceiling venues.” This year alone, Le Boom

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have played to packed stages at both Indiependence back in August, and more recently, Electric Picnic a couple of weeks ago, a fantastic achievement for any homegrown band.

Le Boom are set to grace the senses of the people of Cork again when they play their headline gig at Cyprus Avenue on October 12th. Christy was really enthusiastic about returning to Cork; “Anytime we are down there we get an amazing response.” He remembers the first few years of the bands career when they were focusing mainly on Dublin gigs, and then arriving in Cork. The pair were amazed to find an already existing fanbase. “I was like shit how did this happen?” Christy also comments on just how much energy people in Cork have, which helps to create an amazing atmosphere at the gigs. I asked Christy if we could convince himself and Aimie to bring the Le Boom experience to UCC Rag Week, an invitation which he replied to by simply saying “yeah, you can convince us.”

As our conversation was coming to a close, I decided to ask Christy if he had any advice to give to members of the UCC community who are interested in getting

Credit: Instagram @weareleboom

involved in the Irish music scene.

At first, being the humble person he is, Christy was hesitant to answer, but eventually he left me with two pieces of advice: “if you are doing it, make sure you aren’t doing it just to break out.” Christy feels that if you are only doing it for fame or fortune then you aren’t writing for enjoyment or for yourself. Christy closed by saying

“AVOID TRYING TO BE BETTER THAN OTHER PEOPLE, TRY TO BE DIFFERENT AND BE THE BEST THAT YOU CAN BE.”

Le Boom will be playing Cyprus Avenue on Saturday October 12th.

Tickets are still available via Cyprus Avenue, and Eventbrite. Thank you very much to Christy for taking the time to sit down and talk to me.

The Town’s Tunes

Deputy Entertainment Editor CATHAL DONOVAN O’NEILL jams with Mike McGrath-Bryan to find out why you should check out Cork music

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usic coming out of Cork has never been this good. There’s something for everyone, with bands running the gamut from black metal to finger-snapping pop, all within a fifteen minutes’ walk from UCC. That level of variety is exciting, but when I arrived in UCC it was difficult to find out where I stood with Cork’s music scene. Credit: Shane Horan That’s why I sat down Mike Mcgrath-Bryan behind tions and their stagemanship, with Mike McGrath-Bry- the mic on Red on Red it’s incredible. Also Coroza, an to ask the questions Parthenon, there’s such a that I had in first year. great metal scene here. In terms of

Mike has written about hip-hop, I always say that one of the Cork’s music scene for just about every mainstays of modern Irish hip-hop is place that covers Irish music. The man Speculative Fiction…

In terms of bedknows music, Cork music in particular, room-pop stuff, the Hausu collective and isn’t shy about it. He’s a born-again guys like Ghostking Is Dead, Automatevangelist for the city’s sounds. ic Blue have such wild ideas.”

Irish music made a comeback “For an idea of where Cork this past year. Acts like Jafaris have bro- music is coming from overall, check ken the airplay barrier. Dublin producout Kaught At The Kampus on Spotify es pop and hip-hop bangers, Limerick’s because you will easily recognise some a haven for weird electronica. What part of your local listening in there.” makes Cork’s music special? “There’s

One problem I found was not been a sustained music industry gathering information.

Social media presence here, ever. The traditional music industry was always based in Dublin diffusions made it a difficult task. It’s a topic that Mike’s given some thought and was always making the majority to. With the death of print journalism of signings in Dublin. Because Cork there’s no longer one place with the bands have had that breathing space to town’s seal of approval. “Cheap plug, do what they want and develop their I do the Nialler9 Cork Gig Guide own ideas away from the spotlight of on Fridays. The G-Man does a more magazines and of much radio, you saw people coming up with their own ideas generalised gig guide at thegmanworld. com. His coverage leans somewhat and being very fearless with how they more in a folk-y direction. covered everyday things. That quirki “GoldenPlec does more ness has stayed in the water.” after-the-fact reviews, but it’s a pretty

Creative freedom means good place to go for physical coverage weird and wonderful things, and fans or photography…

Red on Red [Mike’s of metal, hip-hop, pop and techno are podcast for RedFM] is more long-term spoiled for choice. “At present, in terms interviews, where we talk about one of metal, God Alone are my favourite. particular gig that’s coming up in the Black metal fusionists, having put so coming weeks and why somebody lismuch groundwork into their composi-

tening with zero knowledge would or should care.”

An easy way to find good music is through a good venue. Regular genre nights are helpful: a quality gig every month, same time, same venue. “With metal my recommendation is “The Paranoid Pit” in Fred Zeppelins on the last Saturday of every month.

We’ll be running out some live gigs through the Red on Red podcast in the coming weeks and they’ll also be uploading all the video to YouTube. For hip-hop, the “Cuttin’ Heads Collective” do a regular enough aul session in the Vicarstown bar, and have started running gigs in the Roundy now as well... Dali is always a good place to go for techno and house of the Corkonian variety.”

To finish up, a simple question: Why should you seek out Cork music? “The Cork music scene is like nothing else in the world... It’s all in your backyard, all you have to do is go down the main drag from UCC into the town centre. Why should people go to Cork and check out Cork music?

Because there’s something in the water!”

To follow Mike check out The Red on Red Podcast. See you in the pit!

(This is an abridged version of a longer interview. To read about Limerick’s music, a gauntlet thrown down to freshers and Nirvana in Cork, go to motley.ie!)

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DUBLIN COMIC CON 2019 Motley Entertainment Editors ANDREW BURKE and CATHAL DONOVAN O’NEILL discuss their thoughts following their recent visit to Dublin Comic Con in August.

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athal Donovan O’Neill, our Deputy Entertainment Editor, was captivated by the art stalls upstairs. There were big queues for the star guests, but the cacophony of sound and colour from artists selling their prints and comics was his biggest attraction. There was a sense of real community between fan and creator.

Andrew Burke, our Entertainment Editor, particularly enjoyed the Voice Over: Weird and Wonderful panel hosted by David Keegan and Steven Lynch. It was casual, laid back and funny, yet extremely educational about the world of voice-over work and how to get started in the business.

But don’t just take it from us. We wanted to find out what Dublin Comic Con means to people from different perspectives. The one thing these people have in common: they’re all fans of DCC and what it brings out in people.

INTERVIEW 1 - GARY MOLONEY:

Comic book writer and Motley alum Gary Moloney was behind the stand for Limit Break Comics. To him, it’s a valuable opportunity for Irish comics, both to catch up and reach out to new audiences: “It’s a great opportunity for the average punter to discover local talent and for us to show our stuff to new readers… It provides a useful launch point for new books which for us this year was the Plexus anthology [Black Mirror-esque sci-fi] and the first chapter of Lens [crime noir by Moloney & Raquel Kusiak Burgos].”

“Not only did we get a lot of positive feedback but we got the opportunity to connect and meet with a number of incredibly talented writers and artists who we hadn’t met before. That’s what I love most about these events, meeting new people who are as passionate about creating as I am, and reconnecting with old friends at the same time.”

You can check out Gary Moloney’s

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photojournalism noir Lens in Bun & Tea, coming soon at www.gumroad.com/bleatingheartpress.

Motley’s Dan Webb, Andrew Burke and Cathal Donovan O’Neil at DCC

INTERVIEW 2 - DAVID KEEGAN:

Voice actor David Keegan held a panel about the world of voice-over work and is a massive fan of DCC. He believes it is the fans that make the convention what it is today: “Dublin Comic Con is an experience like no other. It’s an event surrounding geek and pop culture that brings out the best in people. Love and Support are the pillars that keep Dublin Comic Con alive. Discrimination doesn’t exist at Comic Con, judgement doesn’t exist at Comic Con, we are all accepted for who we are, and that’s rare.” Holding

a panel was a fantastic, new experience for David.

He was thankful for the opportunity for those looking to get started in voice-over.

INTERVIEW 3 - SHAUN HARTIGAN:

Finally, UCC student and cosplayer Shaun Hartigan talks about his first experience at Dublin Comic Con: “I attended DCC 2016 and immediately fell in love with the place. The cosplays, the guests and, most importantly, the atmosphere. My first cosplay was a knockoff Anakin Skywalker, I had a Darth Maul Halloween costume from Toymaster. I spoke to a few cosplayers and they spend hundreds, I was not ready for that yet.”

It was the starting point for Shaun’s cosplay career, and later on he discovered his go-to cosplay that would garner him attention. “Two years later I went to DCC 2018 as Wolverine from Days of Future Past 1973. The praise I got from others was immense, so many people wanting to get pictures with me. It was unbelievable. It was then I discovered that this is home. This is somewhere where I fit in. In all my years of attempting sport, music, this was my new favourite hobby.

What I love about conventions and cosplay is there is no judgement. No negativity, no toxicity, no competitiveness. Nothing. It’s the friendliest

Shaun Hartigan cosplaying atmosphere I’ve ever expeas Wolverine rienced.” Shaun has many other cosplays in store, including Matt Murdock, Neo and Doctor Strange.

CONCLUSION:

With every year that goes by, the magic of DCC never seems to fade. No matter who you speak to about Dublin Comic Con, they will always say the same thing: it is a welcoming environment for people from any background. No matter who you are or what you are into, you will always feel like you belong at DCC. Whether you want to browse the merch hall, meet and talk to fellow geeks, or go to the panels and see your favourite celebrities, there will always be something for you there.

We would like to thank Olivia Fahy and all of the Dublin Comic Con team for organising the event, and inviting us to attend.

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INTERVIEW WITH

Billy Winn The Making of Dreamland Editor Méabh Lonergan interviews Billy Winn, a Billboard-charting artist who is celebrating the success of his second EP, Dreamland II: an emotionally-charged EDM record telling the story of a young gay kid of colour who had his heart broken.

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reamland was your first EP. How does Dreamland II compare to it?

“Dreamland was originally recorded as a full-length album. I split it into two EPs because, as an indie artist, it can be difficult to promote one song, let alone twelve songs, and I thought the best thing to do was to split it into two. In that process, Dreamland I became its own thing, and Dreamland II became its own thing because I was able to live with those songs in private for a lot longer, to develop them more, and to think about the stories that I was living in real time.

Now, I think they are related, as opposed to being exactly the same. Dreamland II sort of sees the other side of a lot of what Dreamland I was talking about.”

Were there any life experiences in particular that influenced these EPs? “I write from a very personal place, even though I try to, lyrically, make it very broad and easy for a lot of people to relate to. But both EPs are definitely reflective of the last six years of my life, like turning 21, turning 25, trying to figure out life from the perspective of being black and gay, and trying to understand what this thing called “love” is… so that’s really what the projects are about; that experience as a person.

We’re all, at the end of the day, pretty much looking for the same thing, the same kind of acceptance, the same kind of warm feeling that you get when you really care about someone.”

The EP has quite a 90s feel. Were you listening to many artists from that time when you were writing it?

“When I started Dreamland II, I was listening to specific artists and specific sounds that then would’ve changed, or shifted when I was working on Dreamland II… I was listening to a lot of 90s, so a lot of TLC, a

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lot of girl groups from the 90s, a lot of Janet Jackson.

That was just what I wanted to hear, not realising that it was ultimately having an influence over what I was doing with my own music. So you get a lot of 90s vibes in the music.”

Do you have any personal favourite songs or lyrics from your work?

“The one song that has been a favourite of mine since I wrote it, and it continues to be, is actually the last song on Dreamland II, and it pretty much sums up the entire sentiment of Dreamland as a whole. The name of the song is “Long For This Love,” and the title and the idea takes from that old-timey saying “he’s not long for this world,’’ as if someone is about to die, or pass, and I changed it to “Long For This Love,” basically saying that this situation is killing me emotionally. For me personally, and for people that I know who told me very personal situations about themselves, that is such a real feeling - to be involved with someone, or in a situation which you know is bad for you, but not being able to pull yourself away from it. In a lot of ways it completely sums up Dreamland as a whole and the whole idea of the story I was telling.”

A lot of your music videos are very dance-orientated.

What is the process behind creating these videos?

“Dance music, in a lot of ways, is where it first started for us. At the time I was just trying to figure out what I wanted my sound to be, and what I want to be known for, and I hadn’t considered dance music in the way that I ended up making. But one of the producers I was working with at the time took it literally when I said that I wanted to make people dance… I just sort of ran with it. So, when I do records like ‘Seal It With A Kiss’ and ‘Another Broken Heart’ I feel like I’m in my element the most.

How the videos come out just depends on where I’m feeling the most creative visually. With ‘Seal It With A Kiss’ I didn’t do it as a dance video because it was a timing issue. Then we decided to bring it back around for ‘Another Broken Heart’ where it had been a little while since people had seen me dance, and with that being a bigger dance record, in terms of the way

that it feels, than ‘Seal It With A Kiss’ we wanted to definitely do a dance video just to emphasise that.”

Have you had many “pinch me I’m dreaming” moments?

“What’s been happening lately, which is still a riot, is people coming up to me, and introducing themselves to me, and telling me how much they love my work. It started in April, in LA, I was at a party, and someone came up to me from behind and gave me a tap on the shoulder. I turned around, and he was like ‘oh my God, I thought that was you, I recognised your hair, I really love-’ and he started singing the melody from one of my records. I was standing there, trying to reconcile, like ‘I have to know this person, because this isn’t something that happens to me, he must just be someone that I know.’ I was in shock after that happened for a week.

At the end of the day, I consider myself to be a songwriter above most things, just because, like as a person more than as an artist, I’m a very solitary type of guy, and writing is my expression to the world, as a solitary person. So when people recognise what I’ve written, that means so much to me.”

I’m still performing, and still acting, and still making music, that’s what’s important to me.”

Thank you so much for your time. I’m sure you now have a few more fans in Cork!

“Yeah, hopefully!

Thank you!”

What do you hope to be doing in 20 years time?

“Hopefully just doing this, you know what I mean? This is what I would love to do for the rest of my life, obviously on a much larger scale. In five years, I would hope to be a huge name around the world, so that in twenty years, or fifteen years after that, everybody knows who I am, and it’s just sort of common to hear my name in the media and to see me doing something spectacular… As long as

Credit: Tim Coburn

FASHION TRENDS 2019 AUTUMN & WINTER

SARAH COLLINS reveals the top trends of the autumn/winter season. From silhouette to colours, this is your comprehensive guide to the season.

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othing beats winter dressing. On cold mornings, there’s nothing better than being snuggled up in woolly jumpers, big coats and boots. As we all know, with a new season comes new fashion trends and whether you want to update your wardrobe or look for a little bit of outfit inspiration with items you already own, these are the top 4 trends of the season.

Neon

Why not brighten up those dull cold days on campus by adding a pop of colour to your outfit? Neon is set to be a big trend once again this season, seen at Balenciaga and newcomer Marine Serre. Neon is as daring as it comes for your day-to-day look but can definitely be pulled off by everyone!

You might ask, if it’s so easy, how do I pull off this bright trend? For daytime, pair a neon jumper with some trainers and you’re set and ready to go! At night, why not throw on a bright slip dress to dance the night away! Can it get any easier?

Beige

This season, the classic beige colour was seen all over the runway. The first thing that springs to mind with beige is stylish Parisian women. People often think beige is quite a boring color, but in fact it’s the opposite. Both women and men are not looking for clothes with big logos across them in today’s world, it’s more about looking chic and sophisticated. There are copious amounts of neutral tones in trench coats, jackets, and shirts this autumn/ winter on the high street and from highend designers. There are endless possibilities when it comes to incorporating beige into your wardrobe this season so you can easily emulate Parisian style.

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Suits

That’s right ladies: power suits are not going anywhere at all this season. When suits first emerged as a fashion trend for women in the 1980s, they were worn to mirror the men in male-dominated workplaces. But today, as women are assuming high positions in the workplace, they undoubtedly redefine the suit in their own image. The best thing about a suit? They’re functional. They can be styled in so many ways, whether that’s with a t-shirt and trainers, or a camisole and heels.

We have seen some badass women pull off the suit trend, from The Duchess of Sussex to Victoria Beckham.

Why not join in?

Lace

Lace is the definitive fabric of the season.

Loved by many for its feminine, romantic and chic qualities, just like the other trends, lace is easy to incorporate into your look and can be worn by everyone. Best paired with a black oversized lace shirt and some leather leggings, or jeans and white trainers. Almost every woman reading this has at least one lace piece in their wardrobe, and if you don’t, get out into town and get yourself one.

FASHION COLUMN

A WEEK IN MY WADROBE BIRKENSTOCKS

Fashion editor PAUL MCLAUCHLAN wears Birkenstocks to campus for a week revealing how people respond to polarising footwear and how longevity is more fashionable than hype

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elcome to “A Week in My Wardrobe,” a monthly column in which I wear a certain item or outfit to college for a week. The purpose of the column is to look at the ways people interact with and respond to fashion that mightn’t be as convenient as the ease of our traditional jeans and t-shirts or simplicity of comfortable tracksuits.

The overarching idea is to look at fashion movements and their relevancy in a larger cultural conversation in hopes that you, the reader, will engage with it in new ways.

Ugly shoes have become sexy.

Birkenstocks in all their orthopaedic glory and style agnostic culture have become fashionable options for the style-conscious. I, for one, love them.

I wore my black pair to college for Freshers Week to see how people respond to the divisive pair of shoes. The responses were intriguing but not as eye-opening as you might think.

As I said, ugly shoes have become sexy shoes. In the span of a few short years, I’ve noticed chunky, 90s-inspired dad shoes, socks, and sandals, and flip-flop high heels have won the favour of young people around the globe. From the firsthand experience of seeing Corkonians and tourists on the streets to the global reach of Instagram, it’s evident that simplicity is out the window - replaced with something stylistically abstract.

Perhaps it was the Balenciaga

Triple S shoe, designed by Georgian man Demna Gvasalia. Priced at over €800, evoking the design of a chunky layer cake, the shoes sparked a movement of luxury labels like Gucci and Prada producing iterations. Perhaps it was the Fila Disruptor, a lug-heeled, endlessly-memed trainer which skyrocketed to social media fame.

But nothing tops the Birkenstock. The brand traces its roots to Johann Adam Birkenstock, a company which in 1774 was known as ‘vassal and shoemaker.’ Now, they’re a summer essential, the shoe that Oscar winner Frances McDormand wore to accept her Best Actress Award for her turn in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and my favourite source of comfort for an active lifestyle.

Produced in Görlitz, Germany, by the Polish border, 70,000 pairs are made daily. In terms of sales, growth has increased by over 150 per cent since 2014.

What Birkenstock prove with their business model is that hype can’t stand to compete with the power of longevity. Where will the current hero shoes be in a few short years? Maybe on a 70% discount in the sale section.

In a fashion industry built on the temporality of trends, Birkenstock stands tall and proud. Here to stay, here to comfort.

Klaus Baumann, Birkenstock’s chief sales officer, commented on Supreme, the much-loved streetwear brand’s approach to the world of

hypebeasts and buzzy product drops, in the Financial Times: ‘It was never about function for them, just logos.

These were not product people. If I put a bouncer outside our doors on Saturday and regulate letting people in, I too could have a queue outside.’

To me, it’s what made the reactions to me wearing them unsurprising.

‘Ah, comfort I guess,’ I presumed most people thought when they took a slightly-longer-than-usual look at my outfit. To be fair, I dressed them with black woolly socks and wore the same outfits I usually would. A simple mix of tailored jackets and t-shirts and jeans. Nothing too wild, just slightly unconventional. Just comfortable clothes perfect for long college days.

There was no sniggering; no, ‘oh my God, did you see him wearing sandals.’

People didn’t care because, for one, nobody really cares what anyone else wears, and secondly, because comfort is practical and what judgement is there to be passed if that’s the mentality.

With jeans and a jacket, and of course the all-important socks (it’s getting colder, after all), they’re transported from their beach connotations to a viable streetwise choice. They provide the same level of comfort as runners and they’re less expensive. Get your sandals out. There’s nothing sexier than comfort.

FASHION

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M OT L EY F E AT U R E

Autumn Song Photography by EMMA PRICE

Fashion Editor

PAUL MCLAUCHLAN

Model

KATHERINE VEECKMAN JUMPER - € 52, Topshop Special Thanks SLIP DRESS - €52, Topshop Topshop | Opera Lane | New Look SHOES - €27.99, New Look 40 | SEPTEMBER 2019

42 | SEPTEMBER 2019

JUMPER - € 52, Topshop SLIP DRESS - €52, Topshop SHOES - €27.99, New Look

SKIRT - € 40, Topshop

BLOUSE - € 40, Topshop PANTS - €29 Topshop SHOES - €27.99, New Look

BLOUSE - € 40, IDOL at Topshop

DRESS - € 76, IDOL at Topshop SHOES - €27.99, New Look

The True Cost RICHARD KELLY exposes the consequences of our relationship with clothing consumption and what we can do to change them before it’s too late.

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ave you ever asked ‘how do our fashion choices affect the planet? Are we subconsciously doing more damage than good by way of our clothing consumption?’

Unfortunately, the answer seems to be yes.

In the digital age, it’s difficult to avoid being bombarded by influencers, advertisements or new deals enticing you to buy more clothing.

Take one look through your Instagram explore page and you will find post after post showcasing the newest trends and hottest styles – an incentive for you to spend and consume more, but how often do we think about the effect it has on our consumption?

The status quo for environmental improvement usually encompasses buying less frivolously and shopping locally – both of which are valuable cultural changes – but is there more we could be doing?

In a 2011 study, Mark Browne from UCD found that a single synthetic garment has the potential to expel 1,900 microfibres into their environment, most of which will end up in our oceans. This poses an important and unsettling question: Where is the demand for synthetic fabrics such as polyester, nylon or synthetic-blend garments coming from, and how do we stop it?

The appeal of stylish outerwear with a more minimal effect on one’s bank account has an obvious appeal but these adverse consequences have long gone unspoken. Mark Browne’s study attested that 85% of these microfibres were the product of human creation. One solution would be to involve ourselves less with fast fashion.

Fast fashion serves a tempo-

48 | SEPTEMBER 2019

rary purpose but with little regard for its direct and indirect consequences on our environment. The damage from harmful dying techniques, shipping emissions, and discarded clothing is never a talking point. Until now.

The first step anyone could take would be to research what you’re buying. Where are the materials sourced? How are they made? Organically harvested materials promote soil longevity as well as reduce the monetary strain on farms due to the removal of purchasing costly fertilisers and pesticides which also take a toll on the land. Jute, hemp, and cotton are not only more sustainable but they are proving to be a powerful force in couture and the artistic direction of fashion.

consumerist culture necessary?

Feeding the machine enables the textile industry to pump out ridiculously harmful products that don’t have the environment, or even the consumer, in mind. The most effective combatant? Stop buying clothes you don’t need. Frequenting thrift stores cuts off the direct demand to corporate giants and saves you money. There’s nothing more stylish than tailoring your clothes to your identity. Why not create bespoke pieces from finds at your local charity shop. Play with silhouette and turn trash into treasure.

As e-commerce continues to gain traction, this poses a plethora of environmental issues including emissions, unfair labour wages and damaging materials. It is as if every step we take against unsound practices is met with a shiny new convenience for only €7. The fight against fashion pollution begins with you. Where you put your money matters now more than ever. Our ten-year limit before it's too late, a line repeated so often by environmental activists such as Greta Thunberg, is made shorter every time we choose ‘synthetic’ and feed the corporate machine. In layman’s terms: eco-chic is the new bohemian and is having more than just a Harvested jute drying by a ‘moment.’ road in India

Guo Pei’s Fall 2019 Credit: National Jute Board Couture showcased the diverse utilitarian nature of Jute: a plant commonly used to make burlap or hessian. A testament to just how far a brilliant mind can push fashion’s limits without piling onto the waste already discarded across our Earth.

But is it enough to keep consuming as much as we do even if the components are environmentally sound? Is a cultural shift away from our

SOCIETIES COLUMN

Societies Spotlight

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i everyone! A huge welcome to the first Societies Spotlight. My name is Kayla Maher and I’m the Societies President for the year. We have 106 societies here in UCC so be sure to check out our societies list on our website and our social media! With really diverse societies, there’s definitely something here for you, and if not, you can set up your own society!

Don’t be afraid to get involved with our societies here in UCC, it’s never too late! Now that we’re into October and everyone is settled back into college, try something new. Time flies so quickly once your college so it’s important to make the most of it while you can!

If you ever have any questions about societies don’t hesitate to email me at president@uccsocieties.ie and I’ll help you as best I can!

Societies Training or Chairperson’s Training on the 1st of October in Boole 1. We’ll have more trainings coming up over the course of the month so check out our social media to see what’s going on!

Socs & Scones:

We’ll be holding our monthly Socs & Scones event in the Architecture Building on the 21st of October from 12pm2pm. We’d love to see as many of you as possible!

Societies Week:

Our first ever Societies Week will be taking place from the 14th-18th of October! We’ll have every society on campus holding and event or campaign so be sure to check out the week’s timetable in the UCC Insider and on the UCC Societies Social Media. With 106 societies having events that week, no doubt campus will be very exciting!

Social Media:

Be sure to follow us on our social media pages! Just search for UCC Societies!

Trainings:

We have many trainings taking place in October that are open for all to attend so if you’d like to attend them, don’t hesitate to come along! We’ll be having Ball Training in Kane G02 on the 2nd of October, and our Leadership of

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POETRY

From the Morning OR, DIFFERENT WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE SOUND THAT THE WOODEN BOARDS OF THE FLOOR MAKE IN THE MORNING WHEN YOU STEP OUT OF YOUR BED TO START THE DAY

ELISA SABBADIN i The crack sounds painful. Your floorboard is a dying man on which arm you stepped. You snapped his bone.

It was an accident, and you’re terrified.

But you deserve the shock, the impossible shock, because you hurt it, whatever it was, because you broke something.

You shouldn’t have moved.

You cracked it because you existed. And it was still dark, and you didn’t really want to, didn’t really mean to. ii The crack sounds painful. Good morning!

You prevailed on the world. Your floorboard is one of the infinite mysterious fibers of reality, and You, You played it like the string of a harp, and it replied, melodic. You are its master, you the creator.

The foot commands, the wood obeys.

You’re about to eat the day raw, You are the lion and it’s your gazelle. iii The crack sounds painful. There’s a degree of necessary violence in every beginning. Your day is hatching.

Very well then, let’s let it all crack it’s still early and the violence still innocent 50 | SEPTEMBER 2019

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