OPEN March / April 2015 by OPEN Magazine

OPEN March / April 2015

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OPEN March / April 2015

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OPEN March / April 2015

Editor’s Letter March - April 14/15

We are now well into 2015 and it’s probably a good time to pause and reassess our Liverpool lives so far this year. Mums supposedly launched a backlash after Facebook removed a breastfeeding image from somebody’s account, which in turn gave some intern within the Echo the creepy job of compiling a gallery of 50 - yeah, incase one wasn’t enough - breastfeeding selfies. We’ve learned that in Bootle there is a place where men with a miswiring of the brain can go and pay £75 to wear a big nappy, act like a big baby and enjoy a ‘messy change’ for an extra 25 quid. Then Merseyside Police decided to start shutting down our nightclubs. The only silver lining to these first steps into the year is the man who’s finally done what a million stoners have talked about but never acted upon; set up a delivery service for Maccies and KFC straight to your hangover pit. So, let’s look further ahead now with some optimism; spring is here and summer is on its way. There are a shit-load of festivals you can go where it’s ok to get your breasts out in front of people, where it’s ok (even smart) to wear a big nappy, and where there is no chance of the police shutting things down. But you’re only going to get dodgy burgers that guarantee the shits. In this issue we try to break down the proliferation and spectrum of festivals both home and abroad with our 2015 Festival Guide. (Page 52) One name you are likely to see on any line-up this summer is Hannah Wants. The bass-heavy house DJ won DJ Mag’s Best Breakthrough DJ Award for 2014 and recently tore Chibuku up for its 15th Birthday. She speaks to us about attaining the success she always wanted. (Page46)

Editor

Art Director Robert May rob@open-mag.co.uk

Director & Sales Michael Smith mike@open-mag.co.uk

Director Adam Duffy adam@open-mag.co.uk

Robbie Muldoon editor@open-mag.co.uk

Zoe Yvonne Delaney, Max Loisel, Lucy Varley, Jas Purewal, Laura Fraser, Liam Riley

Photos Chris Bergin, Mike Brits, Max Loisel Molly Carroll

Illustrations Will Daw (willdaw.cofm) Josh Parkin

Sales Manager Alison Quirke alison@open-mag.co.uk

Cover Artwork Robert May rob@open-mag.co.uk

Website Development Mike Brits mikebrits.com

Special Thanks Freya at Listen-Up, Rio at Cream

Editorial Assistant Lucy Varley

Advert Design Mike Brits, Max Loisel

Also, after a year in Liverpool that got the hiphop heads bouncing like never before; we take a look at the city’s homegrown rappers and ask what state the landscape is in after the legends have left town? (Page 60) Thanks for reading,

Words

Robbie Muldoon editor@open-mag.co.uk

THIS MAGAZINE OFFERS YOU GREAT DIGITAL EXPERIENCES USING THE LAYAR APP DOWNLOAD THE FREE APP, FIND THE SYMBOL AND SCAN THE PAGE For subscription info go to openthecity.co.uk. OPEN Magazine is published six times a year. OPEN Magazine, Baltic Triangle, 34 Norfolk Street, L1 0BE Web: www.openthecity.co.uk Phone: 0151 230 8975 Email: info@openthecity.co.uk Twitter: @OPEN_MAGAZINE Facebook: www.facebook.com/openthecity Printed by Custom Print Ltd, Liverpool.

OPEN March / April 2015

Contents

Stuff

Club Life

14 / Openers How to make a cinema and an invisible wind factory.

82 / Win Tickets to Asylum Cream and Freeze have teamed up for a brand new event and you could win a pair of tickets

18 / The People Have Spoken Liverpool is boob-job capital of the UK - discuss. 20 / What’s Happening Some of the main events for March and April 24 / Viral Vidz Unexpected Thug Life don’t stop

Music 64 / Glass Animals The trip-hop band are in Liverpool at the Kazimier 66/ Open Your Ears and Hear... We speak to Liverpool band Sankofa

Style 30 / Men’s Fashion Shoot Spring/Summer styles for the lids 34 / It’s Always Hard in the Morning Spring/Summer looks for her 40 / Laces Out Liverpool’s only trainer festival returns March 7th

Art & Design 68 / Down to a Tee The drawings of Josh Parkin 80 / Group Therapy A new exhibition opening in FACT from March

OPEN March / April 2015

Features

44 / Hannah Wants DJ Mag’s Breakthrough Artist of 2014 speaks to OPEN ahead of a busy festival season which includes her own stage at We Are FSTVL in May. 50 / The OPEN Guide to Festivals 2015 Yes, if you haven’t already got a ticket and you’d like to see what’s going on this festival season we’ve done your homework.

58 / Grow: Cultivating Liverpool’s HipHop Scene Last year we saw loads of top hip-hop acts land in Liverpool from the States but what is the state of the local rap landscape?

OPEN March / April 2015

The Small Cinema Project By Max Loisel

Liverpool is welcoming a new cinema venue. But don’t expect another flagship multiplex as the project is led by an arts collective looking for something different. Dedicated to film connoisseurs, the DIY space will attempt to shake the local ‘film ecosystem’ by screening a selection of indie movies to a 60-seat audience. From its core values to the process of actually building “a small cinema”, we talked to Sam Meech, the craftsman of the project.

OPEN: Who is Re-Dock, the arts collective behind ‘The Small Cinema’ project?

inspired by a trip to a Berlin Kino, itself having only 49 seats. We started creating temporary spaces and events around Liverpool, and the idea itself has been taken and remixed by other artists in Oldham and Rotherham. In general though, the film society movement is growing and there are hundreds of community-based film screenings happening all across the UK. How did you end up in the old courthouse on Victoria Street? The aim of the Liverpool project is to create a permanent screening space in the city centre, in the model of Bristol’s Cube Cinema or Newcastle’s Star and Shadow. The Council has been really kind to provide us with such a fantastic space, and the great thing is that the cinema will compliment the other things going on in the building, such as artists’ spaces and the cafe. You seem a bit disappointed by Liverpool’s indie scene which is nevertheless said to be pretty active. There is not an easily accessible platform for film like there is music, and I think this has an impact on film culture, both in the making and the sharing. If you are a filmmaker, or film programmer, you only have FACT, which, as great as they are, cannot provide screens so easily or affordably to outside use. We need something purpose built, that makes film programming a priority, and that is open enough and flexible enough that it can accommodate the ideas and needs of artists. As far as film programming, I would argue there’s

SAM MEECH: Re-Dock are an arts collective that look at developing creative projects with communities, often exploring technology and developing ideas collaboratively. We make films, host events, run workshops, explore speculative uses of tech, and develop heritage projects. My own practice is mostly working with video as well as being interested in cinemas and how they relate to communities. Tell us a bit more about the aims and values of this new project. The Small Cinema Project is a way to generate a discussion around the importance of cinema to communities as well as practically exploring the restrictions and creative possibilities of making cinema spaces. The project was

room for more in the city - Newcastle has three independent spaces, Bristol has two, London has loads. Your project relies on volunteers and contributors. How is everything shaping up so far? It is coming together. We have collected loads of donations of materials and I am positive we’ll be ready for March. This crowdsourced approach is really vital. It means many people have helped to shape the project, and can feel proud that they helped create it - it belongs to them. In terms of how I want the project to develop - as a volunteer run co-op - then it’s much better that we start the whole thing as a collaboration. If we had the money to buy everything and pay people to build it, that might be easier, but what would be the value in that? What should we expect for the first screenings and following on? The first screenings will probably be part of the Food For Real film festival - I think its going to be a documentary about Gleaners - people who pick up left over crops after the harvest. We also have some great ideas from the BFI back catalogue, as well as a silent film event. It’s all quite open at the minute, but that is the exciting bit - it can be pretty much anything.

Liverpool Small Cinema is located within the former Magistrates Court on Victoria Street, L1, and opens in March

OPEN March / April 2015

Creative Experiments at The Invisible Wind Factory By Jas Purewal

The Invisible Wind Factory opened its doors in December to provide Liverpool with a tantalising new venue. Amongst Liverpool’s northern docks The Kazimier team have developed a new hub capturing unconventional modes of art that are presented and experimented in a space that has embraced its architecture, recapturing the fond memories that nights at The Kazimier have produced since 2008. Introducing the culture of music and creativity to an area that is a canvas of warehouses and factories is progressively improving Liverpool by not only adding to its already infamous nightlife but regenerating the industrial spaces to produce mesmerising visual projections and a series of psychedelic performances unlike anything else in the city. To get an insight into the invention of The Invisible Wind Factory, OPEN spoke to Liam Naughton, one of the exceptional Kazimier team behind this new project.

OPEN: Where did the name Invisible Wind Factory come from? LIAM: We see the space as our engine room/ factory, where we create lots of things. The building is a former warehouse and workshop that used to manufacture wind turbine machinery. It just felt right to the team. What has been the inspiration behind the aesthetics of the new venue? The name Invisible Wind Factory defined how the space would look for us. We worked with the architectural qualities instead of hiding them in order to produce a factory that manufactured intangible products made of light and sound, powered by an

invisible wind - it was an abstract concept but gave rise to the slightly blade-runner-esque cinematic look. And why a big revolving stage? It was part of the wider narrative related to the wind factory - the idea being that the stage was just another part of the manufacturing process, a piece of machinery or fan that was being turned by this invisible wind. Mostly we just wanted Dogshow to be lifted 30ft above the audience with a crane, though. With a bigger capacity venue to allow growth, does this also mean a new direction? Yes, we don’t plan on the space being used as a conventional live music venue, club or bar - its immediate future will be to build, trial and present our own creative experiments. A showroom born out of The Kazimier but a new organisation altogether, and separate from The Kazimier. Its purpose is to realise the group’s artistic dreams, producing experiences. What is planned for 2015 so far? We plan to take December’s show to the next level, to tour it, and expand its production scope. We are also going to begin work on an all-new show, commencing with a period of R&D in the IWF, then towards a season of showcases.

What has been the feedback from the opening? It’s been fantastic. It was great that so many people took a leap of faith to travel to an unknown space in a little travelled area of Liverpool. Do you see the dock location eventually growing into a creative hub? The media was very quick to suggest this with the Baltic area, and as great as its rejuvenation has been the area has been jumped on by property developers hoping to capitalise. The north docks is happening quietly and organically and hopefully we can keep it that way for just a bit longer. Were you surprised by the level of support offered from people when it was announced that the Kaz was at risk of closure? The support was unbelievable; we cannot thank everyone enough really. It was humbling to see the amount of people that cared; we’re in a very supportive city. What’s your take on the current Liverpool music landscape? Dance music and club nights are proving extremely popular... hopefully live music can maintain its presence too. There are a great range of venues now with good music programmes.

OPEN March / April 2015

The People Have Spoken

OPEN: Hi Beth, what are your thoughts on boob jobs?

Liverpool is the boob job capital of the UK, thoughts?

So it’s not something you’d ever consider?

By Lucy Varley

A recent study has revealed that nobody loves boobs like Liverpool does. Statistics publicized in December showed that more women in Liverpool venture under the knife to acquire bigger boobs than anywhere else in the UK, with a total of 644 operations arranged in the first nine months of 2014. With boobs the focal point of many an intense debate, from the outrage reaped by public breastfeeding to the speculation surrounding the future of page 3, you’d think we’d have been over them by now. On the contrary, it seems that more women than ever are splashing out to enhance their own pair. We decided to ask the people on the streets what they really thought of boob jobs…

Beth

Stuart

Beth: Well, it’s not for me but I think it all comes down to personal taste really.

No, never. Is it something that you should only have if you really need it, like for medical reasons? I think for health reasons yes definitely but as far as vanity goes I don’t think it’s something that should be allowed for anyone and everyone. If somebody feels it would better their life and they’d feel happier for it then I guess go for it. Megan: If you want to do it you should, but it depends doesn’t it because people also have breast reductions if it causes them pain. In terms of cosmetic work, if you’re not happy with your appearance you should have the freedom to do what you want. Would you take the plunge? Ha ha, no not at all. I’m gay actually and I tend to go for natural looking girls but that’s just my personal preference I guess.

I have absolutely no regrets because it has made me more confident in my body. I didn’t have them done for other people to see. I did it for me. Stuart: If somebody wants to get one done to help with self-confidence then fair enough, each to their own! What if your partner wanted one? If I had a partner who wanted one I wouldn’t necessarily encourage or discourage it, but I’d make sure they’d given it plenty of thought and it was safe. Remember the scandal with the dangerous breast implants that were exploding? I wouldn’t want them to go through that. Helen and Ben (partners) Helen: There’s nothing wrong with having a boob job. If you want a boob job, go and get a boob job. Ben: I don’t believe in them. I just don’t think you should have them. Fake boobs look horrible. If it’s not for a medical reason then I don’t think you should. Helen: Behave. I’d definitely have one. As a girl, your boob size goes up and down as you lose and gain weight. I reckon it would be nice to have the same size boobs that you have when you’re fat, when you’re skinny!

Rachiel: Every inch of your body is different to everybody else’s. But it’s not like going to the gym. If I could squat for bigger boobs then I would. Would you get yours done? Yes, and I have, after long conversations and sleepless nights because it’s a big step and such a big decision. It’s not just like buying a car.

Megan

Rachiel

Ben & Helen

OPEN March / April 2015

S’appening? March / April

MAR 05 - MAY 17 // GROUP THERAPY: MENTAL DISTRESS IN A DIGITAL AGE

MAR 07 // CREAM

FACT - Tickets: Free

Cream’s March event promises many DJs for the show stopping event, including Erick Morillo, Sander Van Doon and Philip George.

Originating from FACT’s extensive work within mental health and wellbeing, the exhibition explores the complex relationship between technology, society, and mental health.

MAR 06 // ABANDON SILENCE 5.4

Some of our favourite upcoming events around the city.

Kazimier - Tickets: £14 + BF Abandon Silence returns to The Kazimier for the penultimate party of its 5th Birthday Series with Levon Vincent and special guests.

Nation - Tickets: £33 + BF

MAR 07 // LACES OUT! Camp & Furnace - Tickets: £4 (standard), £8 (fast track) The second instalment of Liverpool’s only festival dedicated to trainers will be double the size, taking up the two main rooms in Camp and Furnace which means more stalls, more sellers and more sneakers.

OPEN March / April 2015

MAR 07 // MODU:LAR Haus @ Camp & Furnace - Tickets: £15 / £18 Advance A debut performance in the UK outside of London for a master of minimal techno as Fumiya Tanaka tops the bill of MODU:LAR’s 1st Birthday Party, which continues over at The Magnet for an afterparty.

MAR 14 14 // // CHIBUKU 15TH MAR CHIBUKU 15TH BIRTHDAY PARTY BIRTHDAY PARTY

MAR 19 - 22 // FOOD FOR REAL FILM FESTIVAL

Camp && Furnace, Camp Furnace,Arts ArtsClub Club -- Tickets: Tickets: £10 £10

Various venues

Starting Camp & Furnace Starting at at Camp & Furnace forfor an all all day and evening partymoving dayanand evening party before moving home on to its on before to its spiritual of spiritual the Arts Club, home gathers of the Arts Chibuku Chibuku an Club, impressive line-up, gathers impressive with Annie an Mac and Fourline-up, Tet. with Annie Mac and Four Tet.

MAR 13 // GLASS ANIMALS The Kazimier - Tickets: £10 A four-piece Oxford band that plays electronic music that is somehow fragile but still has enough bass to shake your internal organs.

MAR 14 // FREEZE The Lemon Louge - Tickets: £15 Freeze are back to take over the Lemon Lounge for the final ever time...

UK’s only urban food film festival returns with a wide programme of food-related screenings and talks across the city. For both your brain and belly.

MAR 25 // JOHNNY MARR Arts Club - Tickets: £25 - £31 Seel Street indie venue welcomes The Smiths’ lengendary guitarist for an intimate sold-out show on March 25th.

OPEN March / April 2015

MAR 27 -29 // THRESHOLD FESTIVAL Baltic Triangle - Tickets: £15 Threshold Festival of Music & Arts returns to Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle for it’s fifth consecutive year of putting massive smiles on faces.

APR 04 // FREEZE AND CREAM PRESENT THE ASYLUM Newsham Park, Nation - Tickets: £35 Headlining this unique event is Music On techno titan Marco Carola, who leads the charge for an epic weekend spanning 16 hours across two shows, all with one ticket.

APR 5 // CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN Mountford Hall, Guild Of Students Tickets: £12.50

One of 2014’s most successful breakthrough acts, the Llandudno lads are touring their debut album, The Balcony.

APR 17 // BIPOLAR SUNSHINE The Kazimier - Tickets: £10 Bipolar Sunshine is the solo project of Manchester based Adio Marchant, who since the release of his debut EP ‘Aesthetics’ back in June, continues to impress and carve out his own singular path as one of the most exciting new talents to look out.

APR 18 // GIT AWARD 2015 The Kazimier - Tickets: TBC The GIT Award 2015 shortlist is: All We Are, Circa Waves, D R O H N E, Gulf, Hooton Tennis Club, Roxanne Jones, Låpsley, Esa Shields, Sundowners, Xam Volo, Jane Weaver, We Are Catchers

MAR 14 // CHIBUKU 15TH BIRTHDAY PARTY CAMP AND FURNACE AND ARTS CLUB Tickets: £25 + BF

After 15 years at the forefront of the UK clubbing scene, Chibuku club night are proud to present the gargantuan line up for their huge 15th Birthday celebration on Saturday 14th March 2015 starting at Liverpool’s Camp & Furnace venue, before moving on to the club’s spiritual home at Arts Club, and culminating in the now legendary after party at The Magnet. Featuring performances from big names including Annie Mac, Andy C, David Rodigan MBE, Four Tet, Joy Orbison, George Fitzgerald, Jackmaster, Ben UFO, Benji B , Oneman, EZ and DJ Craze, this one promises to be the biggest and boldest party they’ve hosted to date. Remember: for the official Chibuku 15th Birthday, the After Show Party starts at Arts Club from 11pm – 4am then moves over at 4am - late at The Magnet on Hardman Street.

APR 11 // CIRCA WAVES O2 Academy - Tickets: £10 It’s been a massive twelve months for Circa Waves and things just look set to get bigger for 2015 with a new headline show in their Liverpool hometown.

APR 21 // OF MONTREAL The Kazimier - Tickets: £14 Not Of Montreal at all, but of Georgia, USA, making synthesized pop laced with Beach Boys melodies and Bowieesque melodrama.

APR 27 // PORTICO The Kazimier - Tickets: £10 Portico (formerly Portico Quartet) are three young musicians from South London whose post-jazz sound is like nothing you’ve ever heard before.

OPEN March / April 2015

Viral Vidz Unexpected Thug Life What happens when an online community misappropriates a cultural term and applies it to videos of social trespasses that conclude with gangsta rap? Good times.

Download the Layar app for your smartphone and when you scan this page the videos will literally jump off the page at you. Trust us, it looks boss. It also means the internet has now sort of spread to paper. Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it? view using an iPhone or Android (sorry Blackberry heads). Get it at www. layar.com/download

Thug Compliments Getting caught selling dope is one thing, having the transcript of the wire tap read back to you in court, revealing your chat up lines as you attempt to smooth talk the knickers off the undercover female cop is another.

O.G. Thug Life on the Dancefloor Said my pensioners donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dance, we just pull up our pants and, throw the sticks-away. Now lean back, lean back, lean back, lean back.

Coming Straight Outta Russia

The Dissing of Everything by Stephen Hawking

This thug is completely unimpressed by this 35 person gang attack, just another sunny day in Russia.

Respect da boss.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE APP, FIND THE SYMBOL AND SCAN THE PAGE

OPEN March / April 2015

Indie City: Lantern Theatre Highlighting originality and forward-thinking people and places in Liverpool By Lucy Varley The Lantern Theatre’s unassuming doors utter not even a whisper of the magic lurking within. Yet to Baltic Triangle natives, it is a staple of their creative playground, its charm flushing the streets. In search of adventure, curiosity overcame Siobhan Noble and her family when they learned the theatre was for sale. Upon investigation, they felt that magical feeling that most get when they enter the venue leading Siobhan and her mum, Margaret, to buy the venue in a hopeful leap of faith. OPEN: What inspired you to buy and transform the Lantern Theatre? Siobhan: Theatre has always been pivotal for our family. One of my brothers is currently in Mr. Selfridge and was the lead in an acclaimed West End production. The other has joined us and is developing sensational musical programmes for 2015. We’ve always been involved in a number of theatrical aspects, so I suppose it was inevitable that we would end up running a theatre of our own.

What key element do you think sets it aside as a unique and indie venue? We’re the only converted warehouse-theatre in Liverpool, so I guess that makes us distinctive. We offer an intimate venue where artists can experiment and independent companies can stage performances with minimal financial risk. Our programme is variegated; there’s something for everyone. Our theatre just has a magical essence. We got the feeling the first time we walked through its doors and have watched customers get that same feeling every night since. Do you think that its distinctive edge is what makes it so successful, even in a city abundant with large theatres? We offer thrilling theatrical experiences at grassroots affordable levels, and the shows we host tend to be new and exciting from upand-coming companies. We’re the only venue doing just that. That’s not a knock to other theatres, we love Liverpool’s theatre scene and believe the successes of others serves to benefit us. Two boats in a dock would be almost touching the floor, if those boats are joined by another 5 then they all float, and that’s how we view the theatre scene. What has been the edgiest performance? Last year we hosted Townsend Productions’ United We Stand which told the story of Ricky Tomlinson’s imprisonment following builder’s strikes in Shrewsbury. That was massively popular and struck a chord locally and nationally. Are there any exciting projects that we theatre enthusiasts can jot in our diaries for 2015? Matchbox Comedy Club is going to be ace; everyone should get down to that. We’re working with Merseyside Arts Foundation on a Theatre Development Award, so anybody

interested in performing or producing should stay tuned. Cardboard Citizens are bringing a show called Benefit to us in April which will be brilliant. Shiny New Festival returns in July showcasing local theatre and comedy that is heading up to Edinburgh Fringe. Everything coming up is bloody fantastic! You’re guaranteed a good night for less than the price of a Domino’s and a Netflix film.

What’s new? The Lantern Theatre’s new in-house comedy night launched in February and is curated by Alastair Clark and That Comedy Blog. Tickets are just £3. For a full line up visit www. lanterntheatreliverpool.co.uk What’s coming up? 5th and 6th March - Broken Biscuits (Critically acclaimed show returns to the Lantern Stage prior to its run at the Edinburgh fringe) 21st - 26th April - No Second Bite (Desperate Scousewives star Jaiden Michael’s first stage appearance) 12th - 15th May - Two by Jim Cartwright. (A dark comedy about a local boozer with a cocktail of memorable characters that you won’t forget) 27th June - Lightspeed (Told in reverse order; Lightspeed follows the relationship of Emma and Charlie falling in to each other’s ideological realities) 18th - 25th July - Shiny New Festival (Our annual festival of new work showcasing prior to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival)

OPEN March / April 2015

OPEN / April Adve rMarch t is me nt Fe a t2015 ure

World’s Fastest Growing Watch Brand Daniel Wellington Launches at Mococo

Daniel Wellington is a name in the fashion and style world that is already making waves. The fastest growing watch brand is the brainchild of Swedish entrepreneur Filip Lysander with an intriguing brand story. Whilst traveling in Australia, Tysander met a sharp, unpretentious but impeccably debonair Englishman named Daniel Wellington and was intrigued by his Rolex Submariner watch that sat on a customised weathered NATO strap. Inspired by this effortless styling and seeing a gap in the watch market for both men and women that captures the essence of the preppy trend, Tysander set to work designing his own range of watches. Fusing Scandinavian minimalist design with eccentric British style, the new range of watches was created and the brand named after the memorable man, Daniel Wellington. Since its creation in 2011, Daniel Wellington watches have skyrocketed in popularity, mainly thanks to a loyal social media following and a marketing campaign that remains true to the overall style of the watches themselves minimalist, aspirational and clean. Oliver Hooson, brand development at North West jewellery retailer Mococo, is a self-confessed Instagram addict and first noticed the watches on the photography sharing social platform a couple of years ago. He’s kept a close eye on both the social media and international sales, believing it’s the right time to bring Daniel Wellington to Mococo’s loyal and fashionable male and female shoppers.

in love with the look and versatility of the NATO straps and incorporated them into the overall design. The result is a range of watches named after places around the British Isles, that feature stripes of colour through these interchangeable straps. Straps retail at £25 for the NATO nylon straps and £49 for the leather straps in both tan and black, genuine leather designs. Whilst Daniel Wellington’s ethos is “less is more” the details on the watch face in the ladies Classy collection are accentuated with Swarovski crystal elements, giving the collection an additional feminine and glamorous edge. Oliver added, “I’ve been wearing a couple of the Daniel Wellington watches myself over the last few months and am always asked about them and complimented. Most people can’t believe the price, as they’re really sophisticated. “In one day I’ll wear the Classic York with dark brown crocodile leather strap with my suit for work and then head out later wearing the Classic Oxford with its navy and red strap, teamed with jeans and a jumper for a more casual look. Dressed up or dressed down, they still look stylish.”

“Daniel Wellington sold over a million watches last year and with prices not exceeding the £179 mark, it’s easy to see why these simple, elegant and timeless pieces have gained such a loyal following. They look expensive, they are interchangeable and can be worn for any occasion yet they’re completely affordable” said OIiver. Oliver’s personal favourites in the collection include the Classic Oxford (£149), available in rose gold or silver coloured finish, this thin, wide watch face sits atop of a colourful NATO nylon strap. NATO straps originated from the British Navy, where military divers would use the strong straps over their wetsuits. Originally made to avoid rust, the Daniel Wellington designers fell

To view the full range of Daniel Wellington watches at Mococo, visit the Liverpool store in Metquarter, Birkenhead store in Pyramids Shopping Centre, or shop online with free delivery on all orders at www.mococo.co.uk

OPEN / April Adve rMarch t is me nt Fe at2015 u re

OPEN March / April 2015

Who is Harry Stedman? Photos by Damien Van Der Vlist

They’re a menswear brand based in east London with strong ties to Liverpool and New York. Owner of the brand, Phil is son to the eponymous Harry, the man who’s utilitarianism, adventure and eye for style drives everything they create within their small team today. There’s also Rick in the team who heads up Sales, a third generation of Stedman and helps encapsulate the spirit of his grandfather. Harry himself is an ordinary man who has led an extraordinary life, an archetypal scouser full of determination, passion, grit and quick wit. They look back on his adventures, his working life, the everyday clothes (which he would regularly alter and modify), and his Sunday best. Absorbing everything about his past and how he lived and worked, to then use it to inform their creation of garments for the Harry Stedman men of today. For more visit www.harrystedman.co.uk

OPEN March / April 2015

It’s Always Hard in the Morning Photographer Molly Carroll Stylist Laura Fraser Hair & Make Up Gloria McGlashan

Danielle wears shirt, £38, BDG at Urban Outfitters; skirt, £12.99, H&M; Elephant bracelet, £6; Tribal Ring, £20, both Urban Outfitters.

OPEN March / April 2015

Danielle wears crop top, £40; Skirt, £45, both Lashes of London at ASOS.com Elephant bracelet, £6, Urban Outfitters.

OPEN March / April 2015

Danielle wears jacket, £245; top, £199, jeans, £225, all Manoush at Boudoir Boutique.

OPEN March / April 2015

Danielle wears playsuit, £65, Topshop; Sunglasses, £3, Primark; Oversized ring (right hand), £20, Claudia Pink; Tribal ring (left hand), £20; Elephant bracelet, £6, both Urban Outfitters; Bag (on bed), £79, Kurt Geiger.

OPEN March / April 2015

Danielle wears swimming costume, £195, We Are Handsome at ASOS. com; Summer Jacket, £25, Chelsea Girl at River Island; Necklace, £45; Claudia Pink.

OPEN / April Adve rMarch t is me nt Fe at2015 u re

Five Star Styling with Jane Fullerton Hair and Beauty

What makes Jane Fullerton Hair and Beauty one of the busiest salons in Liverpool? It could be because it is the only salon in the area stocking the very best hair products - with exclusives like L’Oréal Kerastase. Or it could be because of its express beauty bar where clients can relax and have their make-up and nails done to go with their new hairstyle. But quite simply it’s because of the expertise of Jane and her dedicated team of professional staff. Learning under the wing of both Peter and later Andrew Collinge himself, Jane started out as their junior and later became manager of their flagship salon in Liverpool city centre. After 16 loyal years working with Andrew, Jane decided to branch out and set up shop on her own. Within two years her salon in Mill Lane, West Derby was too small for demand and a move to the current two-floor location on Eaton Road was needed, where she has been styling hair for the past 13 years. But don’t just take our word for how fantastic Jane Fullerton Hair and Beauty is, the Good Salon Guide awarded the salon its highest five star rating. If you’d like to make an appointment and put your hair in the hands of people who pride themselves on creative, innovative and exciting looks then contact janefullerton.co.uk, email: janefullertonhairdressing@hotmail. co.uk Call: 0151 228 9444 Twitter: @Jane_Fullerton

Jane’s Favourite: “ My favourite look at the moment is ombre, I think it’s here to stay for a while. It’s great because it has been popular since last summer and the reason it’s stayed so popular is because the variations are endless - you can do anything with it. “ “ I’d also say it’s most popular with today’s clients because of the up keep - it is so easy to manage and it’s a style that is great for hiding and blending in roots. It’s a lot more subtle now than it was in the beginning. “

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Laces Out! March 7, Camp and Furnace By OPEN Staff Photos by Chris bergin

The ‘80s was a decade that spawned Reaganomics, Thatcherism, hip-hop and must-have sneakers. Fast forward 30 years and what do we have? People sleeping rough, outside shops, to be the first to own a pair of £210 trainers designed by Kanye West, that’s what. Thanks Reagan.

open throughout the day. The second installment of Liverpool’s only festival dedicated to trainers will be double the size, taking up the two main rooms in Camp and Furnace which means more stalls, more sellers and more sneakers.

With this level of dedication and desirability existing out there amongst footwear fanatics, it’s no wonder that there is a trickle down effect, a contagion that catches on within society to create the modern sneaker-culture. This is where sneaker/trainer (delete according to preference) festivals come into their own. These places link a community of fans together and also offer something completely different to the high street buying experience, as a place collectors and casual buyers can come together to get their hands on a prized piece of footwear.

In the mix, as well as your next pair of kicks, you can expect to find an exhibition of the Adidas Predator footy boot; every design made since Craig Johnston glued a bit of rubber onto an arl manky boot in the 90s, a timeline curated and displayed by The Pred Collective. You’ll also find stuff as mad as cardboard model trainers. There will also be a book launch on site as 80s Casuals shift a bible on the fashion of an urban, working class culture, with a love of training shoes and designer sportswear. They will also have some limited edition t-shirts on site labelled ‘birth of trainercool’.

The opening Laces Out! event saw over 1000 people get down to the Baltic Triangle and in the mix of the 30 stalls on offer each rammed with sneakers and streetwear over the six hours it was

Scotts are partners with this Laces Out! and will be offering some of their newest stock. Rope Laces will have a load of lace designs to freshen your old kicks up and local retailers Ran and

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Transalpino will be represented on the stalls. Crep Protect will also be onsite, a product developed by Roll Deep rapper J2K - a hydrophobic solution which creates a protective barrier that prevents rain and stains from damaging your favourite footwear. There will also be a swap shop where you can trade your trainers as well as meet some hardcore Adidas collectors. Plus, there will be an all day bar, a barber specialist in the form of Cutthroat Pete, live music with beats supplied by Mighty Mojo, and No Fakinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; DJs plus others, together with tasty street food. Oh and there is no footy on, so what else are you going to do with your Saturday afternoon? Laces Out! Trainer Festival takes place on Saturday 7th March, 12pm - 6pm, in Camp & Furnace. Tickets available at www.lacesout.co.uk

Sole Searching in South America After a tip off about a store stacked high with vintage adidas products, creator

of the adidas Originals x Spezial range Gary Aspden put together a team of fellow adidas fanatics to travel to Buenos Aires. Invitees were musician Ian Brown, notorious adidas collector Robert Brooks and adidas enthusiast Mike Chetcuti â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whilst photographer Neil Bedford and film maker Greg Bond documented the trip. The objective was to find rare archive pieces for research purposes as well as vintage footwear to exhibit in the Manchester SPEZIAL exhibition last year. The full 12 minute documentary will be presented by Aspden and Chetcuti at Laces Out!

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What Hannah Wants By Jas Purewal

Armed with the credentials to mesmerise thousands of people by the intricate skill of DJing, Hannah Wants has encompassed a style of house that has transferred her roots into a form of music on a global platform. Her infinite success in Ibiza after the summer of 2010 has built upon her foundations as a Birmingham raised UK garage and house DJ, attaining the Best Breakthrough DJ title at the DJ Mag awards in 2014. Aligning her music with a range of genres, Hannah has proven herself as a unique individual that has battled through a sea of competitions to shape a remarkable career which is reflected in her sell-out UK tour. With her own stage at We Are FSTVL and a summer of endless performances after her UK and North America tour, Hannah won’t stop until she is the ‘biggest and best’ she can be. With a dream to become an iconic DJ with a legendary sound, Hannah has already dominated the electronic music scene with a Radio 1 residency, bi-monthly mixtape series and music productions and is now preserving original dance music through endorsing newfound talent along her journey to stardom. OPEN had the opportunity to find out What Hannah really Wants….

OPEN : I understand that you started to DJ when you were 16, so who has moulded you into the DJ you are today? Who have been your biggest influences? Hannah Wants: I started to DJ when I was 16 simply because I love the art of DJing. I wasn’t able to go out at 16, so I didn’t necessarily have a particular influence until I began to listen to DJ EZ and Pure Garage compilations. I didn’t see him until a few years after, but DJ EZ is the biggest influence for me, his technical skill behind the decks is second to none, and I aspire to have a legendary career like his. It was originally the passion for music that made me interested in DJing, which was reinforced when I started

going out and saw the DJ behind the decks. It just made me think to myself ‘wow, that’s what I want to be’. Tell us about your DJ battling history over in Ibiza. Was it a bit like 8 Mile minus a mic? I decided to go over in the summer of my university degree as I was only getting a few local gigs, so I went out there in a bid to make a name for myself. There was a bar there called Beaver on the West End, and they regularly put on competitions so I took part in every single one of the competitions. It wasn’t quite like 8 Mile minus the mic but it was an experience where you learn a lot and met a lot of other DJs and promoters that ran boat parties. I won a couple of workers’ boat parties and then I got a gig for an event out there so it was worthwhile doing the competitions. There was a specific night I remember called Glass at Es Paradis, the super club, and I was in bed at the time and somebody rang me saying “I’m the promoter for Glass and our main DJ hasn’t turned up, can you come down and do a set.“ I was in bed and hadn’t mentally or physically prepared any music, so I just took the opportunity and from that I gained my first UK residency. When listening to your set your mixes encompass a vibe that seems to be influenced by many different genres. How has Birmingham - your home-town - influenced the kind of music you like to play? Birmingham has been massively influential as when I started to DJ the sound that was big in Birmingham back then was UK garage and bassline house. I still play all of those kind of elements now. It’s probably slowed down by 10bpm but it’s still bassline stuff that I play and I love to go through my hard drive and pull out some really old tunes that still fit my sound now. If I’m playing a peak time set the majority of stuff is peak time music, music for the dance floor. Whereas my mixtapes can start off slow and progressively hit that peak around the midway part and then take it down to slower tempo music that I never get to play out on the dancefloor, so I really enjoy putting my mixtapes together, because it enables people who are interested in me to see the whole of me as an artist.

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When you are looking to add tracks to your mixes, what do you look for in that track and where do you find them? Anywhere and everywhere. It’s one of my favourite things to do and I think it’s really important if you’re a DJ and you want to be different to sit there for as many hours as possible and go on a journey. You can go on a trail through outputs like YouTube, SoundCloud, and even ordinary MP3 stores. Clicking on different clips and searching through catalogues created by artists and labels or other people’s radio mixes is a good way to find new music. I love to get those tracks in my mixtapes or in my sets,

“ I know that I’m

a minority being a female DJ - but so what?” in fact playing something original helps you stand out as you’re not playing music that is essentially being rinsed at the moment. What do I look for in a track? I don’t know what it is and I have to ask myself this question but what makes people like a track and what makes people not like a track? I don’t know the answer to that, but if I listen to a track and I get that vibe, that feeling inside that I love it then that’s one for the mixtapes. Do you get asked lots of questions about being a female DJ and does it piss you off? I do get asked a lot of questions and it doesn’t piss me off, but it can get repetitive and annoying because it’s something that genuinely does not bother me in any way. I know that I’m a minority being a female DJ - but so what? As long as I don’t receive any prejudice for it then it’s kind of cool to be a minority so I don’t particularly mind, but I do get asked a lot. What was the first festival experience, how did it go? I wasn’t necessarily a big DJ back then and Mixmag put on a competition, where you can send in a 30 minute mix and you get a chance to play at their stage at Creamfields

at the silent disco so I entered that in 2012 and won. My first festival experience DJing was literally playing to thousands of people which was incredible. I didn’t get to play there in 2013 but I got asked to return for Annie Mac’s set in 2014 and I had a really good set time, which was absolutely incredible, so it’s good to look back at the past couple of years and just see the progression. The first time I went to a festival I think it was Global Gathering and I was just old enough to go clubbing so it got pretty messy. I live pretty close to that festival and I’m not one for camping so I was able to get the train down and go party although I wasn’t too well the day after… I understand that you’ve got your own stage at We Are FSTVL, did you honestly envisage a day that you would have your own stage at a festival? No, never. I obviously dreamed about it but I certainly didn’t think that it would happen so soon. When I got that offer through I was so shocked and excited. It was crazy, I’m super excited to do it and we’re actually starting the ‘What Hannah Wants’ brand this year so it just kind of fit into place. I’m doing a ‘What Hannah Wants’ UK tour and it’s going to lead really nicely into that and really nicely into a few ‘What Hannah Wants’ things over summer. It’s also been really nice to get involved in creating the line-up. Looking at the line up there’s some really big names that will be performing on the ‘What Hannah Wants’ stage, why did you choose these acts in particular for your arena? (including Cyril Hahn, Friends Within, Redlight) I wanted a variety, as it’s 12 hours of music. I decided to pick some really different names. Cyril Hahn for example, I’ve seen him DJ a couple of times and he’s not necessarily big booming bass music however his music style is unique and I absolutely love, seriously love, some of his old tracks like his ‘Say My Name’ and ‘Touch My Body’ remixes. It’s an absolute honour to have him on the stage and I think he’ll break up the music and give people the chance to listen to a more chilled out style before we go back into heavy music. Other than that we’ve picked a selection of artists that I think are smashing it at the moment, have a really good sound and that I enjoy listening to.

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I saw you play in Liverpool not long ago and you were incredible, what is usually a good sign to you that the crowd are really into your set? You can tell from their faces whether they’re engaging with you, looking at you, another good one is hands in the air. I love nothing more than seeing people’s hands in the air when the track’s dropping and you can just tell that they’re having a good time. I played at Bournemouth on the weekend and it was one of the best crowds I’ve played to in a long while. When the whole room is engaged in you, you can 100% feel it and it’s one of the best feelings in the world knowing that the crowd’s enjoying it.

“ It is weird because

I feel a lot more comfortable behind the decks than I do in front of the decks”

always looking at the DJ and thinking I want to be doing that. To be honest I don’t really get the time to go out that much and have a night off and in England I definitely don’t want to go out. I guess it’s changed me as I rarely get to go out clubbing anymore and if I do get a day off it’s all about the sofa and a take away for me. What is next for you? Have you got an ultimate aim? My ultimate aim is to be the biggest and the best I can be. I want to be known for my DJ sets. I set out with that kind of goal in 2010 and I’ve just started to achieve that now. I want to keep doing what I’m doing and see where I’m going. Last year was my breakthrough year in terms of playing a lot of festivals that I had dreamt of playing at and now going back to these festivals and playing at new ones the pressure is on to keep the ball rolling so it’s all exciting.

How has touring the world influenced your sets and productions? Touring the world I get to listen to parts of other DJ sets and look at how they are DJing. Sometimes I’ll pick a trick up from the DJ or they’ll drop an absolute banger and I’ll be able to ask them what the ID is. I can pick different music from around the world that’s doing well that I can feed into mine which is really cool. In terms of productions, it’s been hard to get into the studio right now but I will be doing that in the next few months. It inspires you, when you’re sitting in Miami, that summer vibe inspires you with the kind of music you’re searching for and the kind of music you want to make. Spending so much time behind the decks, how has it changed you as a clubber in front of them? I haven’t been a clubber in a very long time. The last time I was a clubber was last year when I went to Ibiza and my mates went over, I went out after DJing. It is weird because I feel a lot more comfortable behind the decks than I do in front of the decks. I’m

Hannah will be hosting her own stage ‘What Hannah Wants’ at We Are FSTVL on Saturday 30th May, 2015. Tickets available from wearefstvl.com

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The OPEN Guide to Festivals 2015 The empty balloon canisters littering fields across Europe, left behind by hippy crack-heads like bullet casings scattered across a vanquished battleground, have hardly had enough time to rust since last summer and here we are, ready for more festival frolics. By Robbie Muldoon Illustrations by Josh Parkin

The hottest festivals according to Google searches The search habits and results we got when using Google analytic software to find out which term is most often searched alongside the keyword ‘festival’ can probably be explained as thus: Reading and Leeds festival is searched for by lots of kids excited to finish college in 2015, looking forward to acting out shortly after collecting their A-Level results, at which time they will know the University they are about to spend valuable years of their life when they could have been learning an actual trade that would earn them a solid living in the real world. Isle of Wight is in here purely for Fleetwood Mac, we would assume. Also, nobody searches for Glastonbury ‘festival’, do they? It’s just Glastonbury, so it didn’t show up in the data but we’ll add it in here anyway.

Isle of Wight Jun 11 - 14 Seaclose Park, Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight festival is one of the OGs. It’s rooted in the 1960s hippy movement, and its first headliners included the legends Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix (at which event a crowd bigger than Woodstock’s turned up). This year the Isle of Wight festival has secured a major coup, signing a contract with headliners Fleetwood Mac so that this will be their only festival appearance in Europe this summer, which is probably why so many people have been searching for these tickets. Line-up highlights: Fleetwood Mac, The Black Keys, The Prodigy, Pharrell Williams, Paolo Nutini Tickets: £195 + BF

For more information on these festivals and to win tickets, visit www.openthecity.co.uk

Download Jun 12 - 14 Donington Park, Derbyshire Calling all you dirty little moshers out there, Download is the place for you to really fuck shit up (but you already knew that). It’s a heavy metal classic which

brought many of the world’s top acts to the UK during the 1980s Heavy Metal golden era, so expect to see some dads and tattooed mums draining out the dwindling supplies of their youth and lots of kids wearing black on ghost-white flesh. Line-up highlights: Slipknot, Muse, Kiss, Faith No More Tickets: From £195 + BF

Glastonbury Jun 24 - 28 Worthy Farm, Somerset It’s the biggest of them all. Glastonbury is the John Holmes of festivals. If society was more like Glastonbury, we would all live a more wonderful existence. Only messing, we would all be wiped out within a month, falling to exhaustion, and a typhoid outbreak caused by poor sanitation. Still, for five days of June it is the best place on the planet. It doesn’t matter who headlines, Glastonbury is so big and diverse that there really will be something going on for you at all times. Line-up highlights: No acts announced yet Tickets: Sold out but a limited amount will be available in the April resale.

V Festival Aug 22 - 23 Hylands Park, Chelmsford / Weston Park, Staffordshire Now, the V in this festival name stands for Virgin Media, so yeah, it’s a little bit over on the commercialised end of the festival scale. No stories of counter culture movements here, just a reminder that the man who owns this festival is so rich that he is building his own spaceship. Which is great news when it comes to booking headline acts, because the wallet is fat enough to get them to play not one but two shows on alternate days. Expect to see the cream of mainstream artists headlining this one. Line-up highlights: TBA Tickets: From £189 + BF

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Reading and Leeds Festival 28th - 30th August 2015, Bank Holiday Weekend Little Johns Farm, Reading Bramham Park, Leeds Reading and Leeds is one of the most popular festivals of the year, attracting a crowd who have just received their A-Level results. It is partnered up with Radio 1 with both festivals taking place over the same weekend and alternating their line-ups on different days for logistical reasons, obviously. This is a rowdy one. Line-up highlights: Jamie T, Metallica, Run The Jewels Tickets: From £205 including £50 instalment plan

OPEN picks These are the festivals that are guaranteed to have somebody you know going on about them on Facebook for months before and weeks after the last portaloo has been desecrated. The amount of scousers at these places compared to groups of people from other parts of the country outside of the region the festival is being held, will be disproportionally high. Why does Glastonbury hate scousers? Is one festival forum post that attracted a load of responses. Well, it’s because they colonise the place, so the chances are you will bump into at least one of them acting a dickhead.

Sound City May 22 - 24 Various venues, Liverpool Liverpool Sound City is growing in stature and reputation. Known for being not

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only the biggest metropolitan festival in the country, but also the first date on the festival season calendar, Sound City traditionally books the names currently flying under-the-radar that everybody will be hearing about by the end of the year, alongside certified legends and home-grown talents. In 2015 the festival will be concentrated at a new location, on Liverpool Docklands, and we can’t wait. Line-up highlights: The Vaccines / The Flaming Lips / Belle & Sebastian Tickets: Day wristbands from £35+BF, weekend wristbands £65+BF

We Are FSTVL May 30 - 31 Upminster, Essex We Are FSTVL is one strictly for the house-heads. Two days (but no camping) of the biggest and hottest names across the genre right now converge on the ‘Field of Dreams’ in Upminster, Essex, to boom out those deep-house sounds to make you feel like a sexy unicorn/minotaur (delete as appropriate). The line up really is impressive if this is your sort of thing. Line-up highlights: Carl Cox, Gorgon City, Seth Troxler, Steve Angello, Jamie Jones, MK, plus loads and loads more... Tickets: Day tickets from £57.50+BF, weekend tickets (no camping) from £110+BF

Field Day Jun 06 - 07 Victoria Park, London This two-day event at Victoria Park in London has pulled in headliners that are currently on fire for its early summer line-up. Three of Pitchfork’s favourite acts from 2014 will be topping the bill in the shape of FKA Twigs, Run the Jewels, and Caribou. Patti Smith and her band will also be performing her 1975 debut Horses for its 40th anniversary. Line-up highlights: Patti Smith, FKA Twigs, Run the Jewels, Caribou Tickets: Day tickets from £38.50+BF, weekend tickets £78

Parklife Weekender Jun 06 - 07 Heaton Park, Manchester Parklife is not just the name of a famous Blur song, it is also Manchester’s contribution to festival season, brought to you by the people behind the Warehouse Project. So you know what to expect, a healthy mix of dance and hip hop vibes. Taking place in a public park - a bit like pitching a festival in Croxteth Park - you’ll need accommodation if you choose to stay the weekend. A hot shower, then? Sound. Line-up highlights: Disclosure, Rudimental, Ben howar, George Ezra, Nas, Mark Ronson, Fatboy Slim, Grace Jones, Wu-Tang Clan Tickets: £54.50 for Single Day, £89.50 for Full Weekend

Creamfields Aug 28 - 30 (BHW) Daresbury, Cheshire It is still the biggest and best UK dance festival and it keeps getting better. Creamfields keep investing in its Cheshire site and always fly in the biggest names in dance from around the world. It’s a fist pumping authentic festival experience that attracts a lively crowd. With 20 years now behind it, Creamfields remains one of the biggest dates on the entire festival calendar. Line-up highlights: No acts announced yet Tickets: TBA

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Bestival Sep 10 - 13 Robin Hill Park, Isle of Wight

Hideout Jun 28 - Jul 02 Novalja, Croatia

Bestival is a multi-award-winning four-day music festival, which has positioned itself as one of the most exciting festivals out there. Coming late in the season it adds the full stop to the summer. The line-up is eclectic, and the crowd is down with the peace and love stuff. A stand out element of Bestival is its fancy dress theme, which changes each year. Who doesn’t love a good party in a mad fancy dress?

Hideout celebrates its fifth year on the island of Pag in Croatia and has already established itself as one of the most popular festivals in Europe, with tickets selling out in minutes after they go on sale (although there will be a March resale). Its reputation has been built on playing the best of the scene’s top underground dance music in an idyllic location on the Mediterranean Sea. Beach parties and boat parties at a festival? That’s what we’re on about.

Line-up highlights: The Chemical Brothers, Tame Impala, Underworld Tickets: £250

Line-up highlights: Duke Dumont, Eats Everything, Gorgon City, Jamie Jones, Loco Dice, MK

Far-out festivals

Tickets: Weekend tickets from: £129 +BF RE-SALE MARCH

If the commercialised festivals aren’t really your thing and you would like to go somewhere a bit different to get into the festival vibe this year, you can. Because this is a crazy world where there has only ever been one sunset that keeps going on forever (think about it), the festivals below offer sun and sand, not slurry and shit; or - to put it another way - more sex, less Gore-Tex.

Annie Mac Presents: Lost and Found Apr 03 - 05 Malta Not content with just her own radio show, compilation albums, or hosting her own stage and big top at festivals, Annie Mac is now presenting her own entire festival. Jetting off to an island in the middle of the Mediterranean is not something you would really be looking to do until after May, traditionally. But the weather is ideal at around 20°C in April and the headliners are blazing hot. Line-up highlights: Annie Mac, Breach, Duke Dumont, Kaytranada, Eats Everything Tickets: From £99+BF (arrange your own accommodation)

The Garden Festival Jul 01 - 08 The Garden, Tisno, Croatia The Garden Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2015. It is also the final installment of the annual event. The final Garden Festival will feature four stages, eight club nights at Barbarella’s Discotheque, 20 boat parties, and one final secret island party. Epic finale. Line-up highlights: Leon Vynehall, John Talabot, Seth Troxler, DJ Harvey, Ben UFO, Joy Orbison Tickets: £120+BF

Benicassim Jul 16 - 19 Benicássim, Spain The Festival Internacional de Benicàssim takes place next to a beach in Spain, for four days of top music and sunshine. Some of the world’s biggest acts have topped the bill at Beni, and this year they have some big guns in the form of The Prodigy, Portishead, and Florence + The Machine. Benicàssim has featured in many of the world’s top festival lists and as a result you can generally find an eclectic audience.

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Line-up highlights: The Prodigy, Portishead, Florence + The Machine, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Tickets: Around £150

Tickets: From: £99 | Packages (including accommodation & transfers) from: £219

Tomorrowland Jul 24 - 26 Boom, Belgium

Croatia Rocks Jul 19 - 23 Pag, Croatia Ibiza Rocks, Mallorca Rocks, and now Croatia Rocks. The ground-breaking event has spread to what is regarded by many as the next Ibiza, Zrce Beach on the island of Pag in Croatia. This will be the first ‘Rocks’ festival in Croatia on an already established party island. The Ibiza spirit will be exported together with live sets by Clean Bandit, Jungle, Kate Tempest, and DJ sets from Rudimental, Fatboy Slim, and Zane Lowe. Line-up highlights: Clean Bandit, Kate Tempest, Rudimental, Fatboy Slim, Zane Lowe

Boom is boomin’ for one weekend in July when one of the biggest dance music festivals in the world rolls up and sets out its astounding main stage that looks like something out of Disneyland - but on drugs. It is organised by Dutch Dance music super-promoters ID&T, so covers all the heavy bass-line spectrum of the genre nicely. Tomorrowland has won the Best Music event for 2012, 2013 and 2014 at the International Dance Music Awards and its tickets sell out minutes after going on sale. Line-up highlights : Alesso, Hardwell, Avicii, Solomun Tickets: Sold Out

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Burning Man Aug 31 - Sep 07 Black Rock Desrert, Nevada The Nevada based festival, which looks like the result of Glastonburyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest hippy getting fucked by somebody out of Mad Max is a crazy place where the value of money is diminished (boo global corporations) and you can barter or trade for drinks simply by giving something away like, say for example, a poem you perform and had laminated on a piece of card. This is a place that is big on eco-friendliness and there is lots of sand, which is bound to get in some nasty places if you go all out and join in the naked Twister sessions. No acts yet announced but even after the line-up is revealed, Burning Man is famous for its surprise guest appearances.

Line-up highlights: No acts confirmed for 2015 yet Tickets: From about ÂŁ260 upwards

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Grow: Cultivating Liverpool’s Hip-Hop Scene The big name rappers got the limelight in 2014 but what about the home-grown talent? By Robbie Muldoon Photos by Jack Thompson

Ever since the US hip-hop golden age of the late 80s and early 90s the underground Liverpool hip-hop scene has been slowly growing - like a crop in the spare room of a council house crying out for more light. But as an embryonic scene composed of fans, wannabes, and B-Boys spent time bopping their heads to cuts like WuTang’s C.R.E.A.M., the rest of Liverpool was actually going to Cream. It was the UK rave era, with the city providing the clubs and the drugs that kept it going. Dance music was the culture that dominated the decade as it does in its more polished form and various branches today. Hip-hop was to sit in the shadows - staying raw - but it wouldn’t remain silent.

The seeds In the late 80s and early 90s Liverpool had some healthy urban talent with a spattering of hip-hop crews with names like First in Command, Lyrical Compact, Live Tribe and Bad Company; who then all joined together to form The Pool Stable. Out of this collective came DJ Olabean who would later spike the vein

For Liverpool’s hip-hop heads it seemed like every month there was a show worth talking about throughout 2014. A stream of genredefining stateside stars stopped off to perform at venues across the city; but after the iconic acts had spat their last verse and swigged their last drop of Courvoisier, where did it leave the homegrown scouse rap scene? And, yes - there is one.

of the early noughties RnB/hip-hop popularity, hosting an award winning music show on Juice FM and producing remixes for the likes of Destiny’s Child, Ja Rule and Mariah Carey. Liverpool could claim to be properly contributing to the scene. These days, there isn’t even a specialised urban music show on either of the city’s major two radio stations, that torch is carried by DJ 2Kind with his StreetBeats Radio Show over on Wirral Radio. He has no doubt what it was that switched things up as the new millennium began: “From the many interviews that I have with current, local urban artists today, most will say that their inspiration came from either two things. Grime or Eminem.” Grime was hip-hop anglicised. Eminem transcended racial barriers without a ‘Vanilla Icing’ appropriation of the culture. A sensitive topic, as can be seen recently with the Azealia Banks/ Iggy Azelia and co. Twitter beefs. DJ 2Kind credits these two factors for opening the gate on the hip-hop scene in Liverpool, with more kids taking the

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step from being just fans of the music to actually making the music.

to the helplessness, anger, and alienation that this audience feels.”

Going beyond skin colour, Aaron Apps tackles early Marshall Mathers and the unparalleled appeal of the best-selling artist of the 21st century beyond colour in his essay The Fanatic Lyric: Eminem as Poet from the book Eminem and Rap, Poetry, Race (2014).

Against the grain

“Eminem appeals to a struggling white audience, and connects to that audience in a strangely personal way that effervesces with a kind of sincere effect. The threads Eminem connects to his audience make his success understandable quantitatively. Simply put: in terms of sheer numbers (not demographic percentages), there are more white than non-white people irking out a living in poor and lowermiddle-class conditions. It’s not just that he’s white, it’s that he presents aspects of that audience’s struggle back to it in ways that are deeply appealing. Eminem is seductive

When we think of the social conditions of America’s black communities within the industrialised cities that cradled the birth of hip-hop and its development from coast to coast, shades of it can be seen in Liverpool society from the 80s onwards. A city on the margins, opposed to central government, a large working-class population living within a metropolis built up around its docks, a centuries old melting-pot for Irish, Chinese, Nigerian and Jamaican immigrants, with a rich culture of creativity and a distinctive verbal identity which translates into witty verse, poetry, and story-telling. When a writer was needed to tell the stories of social conditions faced within the communities they were from, the Bronx could produce Spike Lee. In Liverpool we have Jimmy McGovern. The Liverpool born writer isn’t hip-hop, but like Lee, he writes stories that matter, challenging the mainstream narrative. Scousers have a natural tendency to

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“ Most will say

that their inspiration came from either two things. Grime or Eminem”

be renegades. It’s no surprise then that hip-hop is a genre capable of seducing swathes of Liverpool youngsters who feel they can identify with the tales espoused by American rappers. Simultaneously, the notion of Liverpool hip-hop faces prejudices that prevent it from gaining ground. For a start, outside of Liverpool the accent is still ridiculed and stigmatized throughout the country. How far can it seriously be expected to reach outside of the room it was recorded in? You can get a general feel of the negative perceptions by a few of these YouTube comments and forum posts:

[On a forum in reply to a scouse rap video just posted] Watched about 20 seconds of that... then went into my internet options and deleted my browsing history just in case anybody ever found it. “Cars is whips” yeah, on the streets of fucking Compton but in Liverpool? Only if your (sic) the type of prick to walk a dog through St Johns. Attention British people, do not attempt to rap.

Paddy Quinn is part of Liverpool’s No Fakin’ hip-hop collective of DJs and MCs and also a booker and promoter who had a hand in pretty much all the live shows that made 2014 a significant year for hip-hop in the city. “There was a quality, high profile show almost every month, culminating with Method Man & Redman at the O2, which was one of the biggest shows Liverpool has seen since the Beastie Boys or Cypress Hill in the Royal Court during the late ‘80s early ‘90s,” he says of a calendar of events that also included Dead Prez, M.O.P., Pharoahe Monch, The Game and even saw Action Bronson bouncing around Bold Street scranning bowls of scouse in Maggie Mays. The reason for this spike in hip-hop traffic was a product of a momentum that had built since the Shipping Forecast booked a relatively unknown Joey Bada$$ back in 2012 for his first ever UK show. Tickets for it went through the roof and gave promoters the confidence to go out looking for more acts that would appeal to an audience they now knew was there.

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This is a direction that looks set to continue into 2015 with Blackalicious, Pete Rock and Mobb Deep - to name but a few - already booked for the scouse crowds. Even with the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Kazimier - the place at the epicentre of the shows - the foundations look strong in terms of venues hosting these acts. Paddy states, “We all hope, for Liverpool’s sake, the Kazimier is going nowhere. It’s a special place and very much at the heart of live music in Liverpool, not just live hip-hop in Liverpool. However, it is important to point out there are other great independent music venues who are passionately pushing hip-hop in Liverpool. There are shows coming up at 24 Kitchen Street, Constellations, Camp & Furnace and the Shipping Forecast together with the O2 Academy, who are committed to bringing high quality, high profile hip-hop artists to Liverpool to share the stage with our burgeoning home-grown talent.”

Fertile ground One such pillar of home-grown talent to share the stage with American hip-hop royalty was Tony Lawson, aka Tony Broke, who supported none other than Method Man and Redman at the O2 Academy in December along with No Fakin’ and DJ 2Kind as part of the ‘L100 Cypher’. Tony, who has been involved with the scene since his 90s break-dancing days, feels like 2014 was a milestone year which set a new standard for aspiring artists, with the energy brought about by big bookings feeding into the underground scene. “I think there’s an excitement with the local artists because they’re getting to see and hear artists they grew up listening to. There’s a good scene and I think when international acts come we learn; me personally, I always watch the artist and take something away from their performance that I can then adapt into my own, such as the energy and interaction with the crowd.” From the comedy parody raps of Riuven to Bang On! getting signed to London’s

“ The biggest

shows Liverpool has seen since the Beastie Boys or Cypress Hill in the Royal Court during the late ‘80s early ‘90s” 61

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“ Liverpool’s

hip-hop game is on the brink of something special - but it’s not there yet”

Big Dadda Records, the YouTube generation of scouse rap has received more exposure than any other that went before it. As can be expected with anything found online, the quality varies from shite to; ‘I will share this’. As Tony acknowledges: “There are some great artists from Liverpool and the Northwest in general, to the not-so-good and deluded. But there’s room for everyone and if you don’t like a particular artist don’t listen to their music.” As the highly commercialised forms of hip-hop that dominated the noughties die off and the art form proliferates outside of the concrete ghettos of America, what is the current state of the Liverpool scene as the genre goes through a renaissance period? Peter Guy, editor of Liverpool’s online music website GetIntoThis and founder of the GIT Award - Merseyide’s accolade to the best local music talent - thinks the city is almost ripen. “Liverpool’s hip-hop game is on the brink of something special - but it’s not there yet. There’s enough promoters, artists, MCs and fans out there, it just needs someone to pull it all together and grab the national limelight. Several years ago there were lone enthusiasts like Tony

Lawson, No Fakin’ etc. making it tick in the underground but over the last 18 months there seems to be more of a collaborative spirit with the folks behind Bam!Bam!Bam!, Madnice and Tony and Colin at the Zanzibar providing a solid platform for a new, younger breed of musicians to emerge. What’s best about Liverpool right now is the fringe, real grimy - almost feral - talent that’s being nurtured in a DIY sense through LabTV - somewhere in among the mess lies tomorrow’s talent - they just need a concerted push to make it happen.” A general enmity to hip-hop coming out of Liverpool is already being challenged, as it was in London; the potential to smash it is there, we need look no further than Liverpool’s newest prospect, the media-shy jazz-rap MC that is Nelson. A 19-year-old artist who has dropped a string of tracks laden with poetic lyrical depth and rhyme as he flows over brooding beats that paint twilight streets. It is clear growth, a new shoot within the scene, and we wait to see what will come next from this distinctively promising talent and the rest of Liverpool’s growing crop of emcees and producers rooted in a city dominated by indie bands and DJs. Maybe all these seedlings need is a little more light.

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Glass Mates By Robbie Muldoon

Some people get into new music by Whatsapping their trusted taste-maker mate at 10pm on a lonely Tuesday night with the request: “I need some new tunes that tap into this existential crisis I am currently experiencing, can you help” others just point their phones at the speakers emitting the sounds of an obscure, groovy smooth, donations-reliant digital radio station and hit Shazam. And get Hazey by Glass Animals. So it’s great when you follow up with an album listen and discover a beautifully crafted piece with elements of R&B and hip-hop to electronic and psychedelic rock. That’s what you get with Zaba, the fourtet’s debut effort which Spotify recognised after the band’s breakthrough single “Gooey” landed the No.2 spot on their 2014 Worldwide Viral Chart and occupied the coveted No.1 spot on their 2014 Emerge Chart. With over 8 million streams across YouTube and Vevo and an upcoming appearance on ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’, we caught up with the band’s drummer, Joe Seaward, and talked about how this group of friends who have known each other since teenagers growing up in Oxford feel about their current rise in the modern music landscape.

OPEN: Can you tell us a little bit about the album name, Zaba, and its concept? JOE SEAWARD: Well, I think the idea behind it is that, I think we wanted to choose a name for the record that didn’t mean anything to anyone so it could mean whatever you wanted it to mean as a listener, instead of having connotations attached to it. The name itself came from a children’s book about a jungle, which Dave read when he was a kid. It kind of occupied a similar world to the record in a very roundabout way, in a very simple nutshell that’s how the album name came about. Your music has been described as trip-hop by some, is that a fair description? I don’t know, trip-hop to me sounds like Massive Attack. I would never really put it in the same ball-park as them, weirdly. I’m probably the worst person on the planet to ask what the music sounds like. It’s like me asking you whether you think you are handsome. Slightly strange. I see it every day but I don’t really know what it looks like anymore you might think you’re handsome and you might not be or you might think you’re not and you might be gorgeous. So, I don’t really know how to describe the music because it’s what I’ve heard every day for the last 2 years. I think people use those labels to say ‘so it sounds like this’ and not really sound like that but you’re trying to give someone a vague idea as to why they might want to listen to it and why they hate it, so it’s quite a useful tool. I know you have all been friends together since you were young, but just how young? I met Ed when I was 12, and then Dave came along when we were 14/13 so yes quite a long time. So 10 years. Something like that. Since you were all virgins, then? Basically yes. If you were 14 years old today, what music do you think you would be into right now? I’d probably be listening to similar stuff

that I was listening to then. We were really big into Bloc Party and the Arctic Monkeys, all this crazy guitar stuff. I’m not sure about the equivalent now... I think Royal Blood is a bit too rock and roll, probably that kind of thing is the answer. When you were young everything is fast and hard the kind that you get angry about it. And then we started smoking loads of pot and listening to the opposite kind of music. Would you rather be a kid getting into music now with Shazam in your hand? I absolutely love Shazam, I don’t really understand it, but it is amazing. I use it all the time, I love it. It’s mainly just figuring out, what is this terrible pop song I am listening to.? And then I Shazam it. I read that none of you wanted to be musicians at the beginning. Can I ask what each of you had dreams of becoming? I didn’t really have my head screwed on when I was a kid. If you had said to me you’re going to be a musician later in life and I would have been excited about it and loved it - I just never thought it would be possible. I knew that was mainly why we hadn’t thought about it. This is very weird for me still to this day. I loved the idea of it when I was young. Is it true the ball got rolling for you through MySpace? Do you have a soft spot still for that site? It did before it died a very painful death, we were probably the only ones in the world to upload any music to it. No I don’t think so, I don’t really understand it or like it at the time and it died so quickly it kind of passed me by. I’d sit down and listen to music on MySpace but it was never that great really was it. It was quite difficult to use and not very useful. You say you didn’t know anybody in a band early on, looking back now was that a help or a hindrance? I think it probably helped and hindered, if I had been best friends with a really successful musician It would probably have been really helpful. But I think it really helped because we had no

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and didn’t pretend to so we figured everything out for ourselves, which was quite a difficult process. Do you share any philosophical beliefs that sculpt the music you make?

“ Then we started smoking loads of pot and listening to the opposite kind of music ”

No, the only thing that effects the music we make is that we realised that the only way you can judge your music is to try and listen to it as a fan. So you tailor music you’ve written in the studio you sit down and think would I like this if I heard this on the radio? So the answer is you have to answer it yourself. You have to believe in yourself and not try and second guess what people in Liverpool will think or what people who run a magazine will think about the song I have to just try and decide if I like it and if I like it then it’s good enough. You are all good friends but obviously intense work puts a strain on people. Have you had any stupid arguments with each other at all? The entire time, all the time - well not

all the time - that may be a bit far but you know, it’s like having siblings. I have sisters, I don’t have any brothers but some days I’m very grumpy and everybody knows that so they leave me alone and other days two of us will be grumpy and we’ll shout at each other and then the next day it’s forgotten. We’ve never had any blistering rows where anyone’s been upset for more than about an hour, luckily. But we’ve known each other for such a long time that we probably had that blistering argument when we were 14.

Glass Animals perform at The Kazimier, Liverpool, 13th March as part of their UK Tour.

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Open Your Ears and Hear... Sankofa By Liam Riley

For an unsigned band Sankofa has produced a steady stream of releases that demand the attention of more and more listeners. The release of the ‘Guttermouth EP’ last year boasted a cover designed by 60s legend John Van Hamersveld, of The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ fame. He chose to work for them on the premise of hearing their first composition, ‘Siren Song’ - a testament to their ability to produce material that brings psychedelic rock to the 21st century. The song ‘Grasp’, released in December, is a huge sounding single, featuring a guitar solo as tormenting as the vocals. The lyrics for ‘Grasp’ are clear, conveying a message that cuts to the very core of modern consumer society. Not so much can be said for their responses at interview.

OPEN: How do you all know each other? Sankofa: All we remember is that we met on a full moon. OPEN: The name Sankofa is an interesting choice for a band, derived from the Akan language of Ghana, meaning ‘to reach back and get it’. Is an active recognition of the past a feature of the band’s creative processes? Sankofa: Well it’s better to copy dead people isn’t it?

Who: Progressive blues/rock quartet from Liverpool: Stephen Wall - vocals and guitar, Joel Whitehead - lead guitar, Josh Perry drums, Daniel Allen, bass. Listen to Sankofa with the Layar App

OPEN: In regards to working with Eighties Vinyl Records - is there something about that particular medium that appeals to the band? Sankofa: It was the fact that Eighties Vinyl Records is a non-profit label which was willing to promote Sankofa and get us on vinyl which we’re all into. At least we’ll have something to show the grandkids in 30 years’ time. They don’t actually have contracts, they just want to help promote local music. OPEN: The recently released ‘Grasp’ contains far-reaching sociological lyrics. Was there something in particular that inspired the direction the lyrics had taken? Sankofa: Joel comes up with some amazing lyrics that may be about something that happened in work or what he sees on the tele. ‘Grasp’ was about waste and frivolous lifestyles, plus the general injustices in the world and the impact it can have on us and wild life. We’re not preaching but we all have an interest in what we write about and it’s better to write interesting lyrics.

OPEN: What’s next for Sankofa? Sankofa: We’ve got another single, ‘Slow Killer City/Vanishing Point’, coming out through Eighties Vinyl on Record Store Day, April 18. This one has a design by another 60s legend, Stanley Mouse. He did the iconic Grateful Dead LP covers, plus loads of 60s psychedelic posters. He’s gone back to the early 60s for us by drawing a new cartoon monster in a hot rod which is what he first became famous for on the West Coast. Apparently he’s never done a design for a British band, so what an honour that is for us.

The launch for ‘Slow Killer City/Vanishing Point’ is at The Zanzibar on Saturday April 18 and is only a £1 admission. Guests include: Sunstack Jones, Kindest of Thieves, Silent Sleep [solo] and Little Secrets.

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Down to a Tee Illustrations By Josh Josh Parkin has crafted the art of doodling cool characters in decent clobber down to a tee and a pair of trabs. Josh is a freelance illustrator from Leeds, but studied at University in Liverpool. He has had work commissioned and published by the likes of Complex, Hypebeast, and Highsnobiety amongst others. His illustrations combine playfulness and the latest trends with a love for line work and colours. Recent work celebrated the UK’s best independent fashion stores and included Liverpool’s Weaver’s Door and the skateboarders den Lost Art. He also has some big fans, none bigger than Action Bronson who, after seeing an illustration of himself done by Josh, summoned him to a show for a signed and delivered version of his art as he toured the UK.

Shop details: joshparkyart.bigcartel. com Social Media contacts @joshparkyart on Instagram or @ JoshParkin on Twitter

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Deep South goes urban! Deep South cuisine is becoming trendier than ever on the food scene. This hearty, messy and flavoursome way of cooking is famous for its full aromas, smokiness and stickiness. Meat and seafood form the backbone to some long-standing recipes and Cajun rubs, marinades and sauces have never been so popular, creating a tongue-tingling fusion between grass roots cookery and new found flair. Cajun and Creole recipes are at the heart of the Button Street Smokehouse menu and those eating at this vibrant eatery are encouraged to use their fingers to ‘get down’ and ‘get messy’ with their food, involving themselves in the depths of flavour. Diners get to experience the real Deep South feel of a traditional family feast or a community barbecue. ‘Low and slow’ in-house smoked ribs, such as the ever-popular ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, and the infamous home-made ‘Dirty Burger’ are whipping up enthusiasm amongst diners of all ages. Other favourites such as pulled pork, whole rotisserie chicken (served ‘hot or not’) and “Mac ’n’ cheese”, are a few of the many popular selections going down a treat with the home-brewed ‘Moonshine’ (a “full on whack” of a drink). A first visit will leave you wanting to return and ‘get chaotic’ with your food again and again.

WHAT YOU SMOKIN’? Baker House, Button Street, Cavern Quarter LIVERPOOL 0151 294 3208

Mon-Fri: 12:00-22:00 Sat-Sun: 09:00-22:00

@SmokehouseLpool Button Street Smokehouse

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Capital of Boobs Trying alternatives to going under the knife By Zoe Yvonne Delaney

Kim Kardashian’s oiled up behind attempted to #breaktheinternet earlier this year, and although the web remained intact, the hysteria surrounding her backside certainly reaffirmed our fascination with all things booty related. 2014 saw a 13% increase in Brazilian Bum Lifts across the UK, and no one could escape the 30 Day Squat Challenge. But while it may seem like boobs have taken, ahem, a ‘back seat’ to bums, breast augmentation still remains the most popular form of plastic surgery. Based on last year’s facts and figures, Liverpool is now the boob job capital of the UK; more women across the city are getting silicone implants than anywhere else in the country. While Merseyside is certainly still in love with ballooned boobs, the rest of the country seems to be deflating. Following the lead of the likes of Victoria Beckham and Katie Price, not only has demand for boob jobs dropped by a quarter, many women have actually had their implants removed or reduced. A shift seems to be occurring; glamour model style tits are out, a natural, ‘less is more’ look is in. Are Scousers *gasp* becoming a bit dated with our quest to fill DD bras? Liverpool normally leads the crowd, not lags behind – what is happening? “For me it’s not about fashion, or having massive Pamela Anderson style boobs,” Rachel, 27 argues in defence of meddling with what God gave you. “I’m currently putting every spare penny I have towards my boob job fund. I’m a 32B and I want to go up just a couple of

cup sizes, nothing fake looking. It’s for confidence – nothing to do with trends or fashion. I’ve felt this way for years so this isn’t a flippant decision.” With Rachel adamant that she wants to go ahead with her plan, but the average cost of surgery around £5000, we decided to explore a few cheaper, non-surgical alternatives to going under the knife.

The non-surgical boob job The effects of a boob job without the pain, surgery or scars? With this sounding just too good to be true, Pure Rise on Rodney St (the only place in the UK to offer this procedure) had to be our first port of call.

women about what to look out for,” she explains. “I’d much rather girls come here to boost their breast size rather than risk going under the knife or stick needles in their boobs that can be so damaging to your health.” With Rachel’s 34B’s thoroughly checked, it was time to see if she could become another of Pure Rise’s success stories. The treatment involves a combination of vacuum suction, massage vibration, micro current charge and photo dynamic light therapy. And what does all that entail? Lying back on a bed while some big clear cups vibrate over your breasts, basically. “It feels so weird,” Rachel squirmed as I laughed at her boobs jiggling in clear, cone cups. “It’s a bit uncomfortable at first but it’s quite relaxing, in an odd way.”

A quick look at some amazing before and after pictures had us intrigued; how are such incredible results achieved without even so much as a needle? But before we could start bombarding Caroline, the director of Pure Rise, with questions, she got something more important than increasing a bra size out the way – a breast check.

The whole process takes around 30 – 40 minutes with absolutely no side effects, other than a slight bit of redness straight afterwards. The length of how long the results last varies, but typically one session will last around 7 days and the more you have, the more prolonged the effects are.

“It’s shocking how many girls don’t know how to examine their breasts,” she revealed while feeling Rachel’s breasts for any lumps. “There is a huge history of breast cancer in my family and I want to do as much as I can to help educate

Acting as a temporary alternative to going under the knife, it’s a fantastic way to ‘Try before you buy’ if you’re in the market for bigger boobs. After all, you wouldn’t drop five grand on say, a dress without making sure it was the

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perfect fit, so you need to check you suit larger the plastic surgeons. www.purerise.co.uk Prices start from just £50 Rachel’s verdict: Absolutely amazing. I still can’t get over how instantaneous the results were. Looking in the mirror was like looking at someone else’s boobs! I only wish the results were permanent then I wouldn’t even be looking into surgery. I will certainly be coming here again before my holiday this summer!

Hello Boys… and bras Since the Wonderbra first burst into our lives way back in the 90’s, the underwear industry hasn’t stopped developing and improving bras that boost our assets. The high street has plenty of offerings promising to give the ‘Hello Boys’ effect, but which one out there creates a cleavage that could stop traffic? Well you’ll find it alongside cock rings and nipple tassels – that’s right, Ann Summers boasts the best one on the market with their Triple Boost Plunge Bra. http://www.annsummers.com/p/ triple-boost-red/black-plungebra/01brpgas1256045 Rachel’s verdict: Although it’s fabulous for if I needed boobs to fill out dress, or want a killer cleavage, it’s still just a bra – it’s not really a long term solution for me. However, it is without doubt the best bra I’ve ever tried.

Makeup magic Hollywood blockbusters are praised for their CGI etc, but some of the real special effects you see on screen come from expertly applied bronzer and blending. It’s no secret that in the past, the boobs of flatter chested leading ladies have been boosted in the makeup room, most notably Kiera Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean. “They painted my tits on me for the films, which is extraordinary because it’s kind of a dying art form,” the actress

revealed back when promoting the franchise. “And I loved it, completely loved it. Because it was the first time in my life I had big tits, and I didn’t even need surgery.” This isn’t something reserved for the A List; contouring the chest is becoming increasingly popular across the region. “A lot of smaller chested girls have asked me if I can teach them how to strategically apply a bit of bronzer & shimmer across their chest to create an illusion,” Louise McCole of Hearts & Anchors Makeup divulged. “It’s certainly something a lot of brides look into for their special day.”

“ I’d much rather

girls come here to boost their breast size rather than risk going under the knife” While some in possession of A cups may resent their bee stings, they can’t deny the pro of being able to wear floaty, strappy tops without ugly bra straps on show. Learning how to deceptively blend and bronze is perfect for when you want to ditch the bra filled with more chicken fillets than a Nandos. “The first thing to remember, keep all your products Matte,” Louise wisely advices. “Too much sparkle and glitter all over your chest and everyone will be onto you.” “There’s not much to it really,” she explains as talking us through the steps. “It’s a case of getting a large body brush with some bronzer and running it down the crease of your boobs. Then you need to take a highlight and trace an ‘m’ shape over the top of your breasts. Finish off with a brush of bronzer over the same ‘m’ shape and you should be good to go. This is a very simple guide, you can get some great YouTube tutorials, but this is roughly all

you’ll be doing.” Rachel’s verdict: This is a nice trick to master but ultimately, like the bra, it’s not really a solution. Although, I must admit, I will contour my chest as much as my cheeks now I know what to do. And what’s the overall outcome? Will Rachel be helping Liverpool retain its title as Boob Job Capital of the UK next year or has she been swayed to stay away from the surgeon? “I’m certainly going to carry on saving up,” she admitted. “However, after hearing Caroline talk about breast cancer and her experiences, it definitely made me slightly more reluctant to go down the surgery route and meddle with my breasts. I think I’m going to have a few more sessions at Pure Rise done and see how I get on. Getting my boobs done could end up being a regular appointment; like having your nails or eyebrows done. I’m not promising I won’t go under the knife but I’m really glad I explored a few options.”

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Frederiks Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the busy city, Frederiks boasts a distinct urban charm. A venue that doubles as an intimate olde-worlde cinema, it certainly offers something new to Liverpool’s culinary scene. The length of the bar and restaurant are brought to life by quaint candlelight, strategically positioned around the room. This ardent touch would provide the perfect setting for a romantic meal for two. The offerings of Frederiks’ menu is impressive. Sky, the restaurant’s head chef, is passionate about colour, and when dreaming up her recipes tries to make each dish as unique and as vibrant as possible. For example Gambas Pil Pil; spicy king prawns served in a rich marinade of tomato and chilli oil, partnered with a generous helping of homemade focaccia. The succulent prawns were perfectly complimented by the sauce. A hearty choice. Sky has a unique twist on pigs in blankets – Spanish pigs in blankets. Tasty chorizo wrapped in parma ham and served with honey mustard, a real treat and an exciting change from a traditional favourite. The mustard makes for a unique contribution served in its raw state, simply as seeds. Then there is a beetroot and rhubarb salad; a mixture

of leaves tossed in a syrup and sherry dressing with chunks of gorgonzola. The menu provides delicious and interesting mains. Seriously good pork belly, served with a side order of caramelised apple mash, kudos to Sky and her vivid imagination. Duck pizza, sprinkled with shredded duck breast marinated in spices sat upon a bed of wilted rocket, enhanced by notes of chilli, ginger and spring onion. A richly diverse menu also caters to lovers of fish with Sky’s oven roasted sea bass fillet, cooked in caper butter and served with sticks of chorizo, sweet potato rosti cakes and creatively finished with wilted lemon spinach. All dishes are creatively arranged, alive with colour and kickin’ with gorgeous and flamboyant flavours. And, if you happen to have a tattoo and like a drink, catch Tatty Hour between 5-7pm to get buy one get one half price on all drinks…if you can prove you’ve been inked. Brunch menu and Sunday Roasts coming soon T: 0151 708 9574 E: events@frederikshopestreet.com W: www.frederikshopestreet.com Open Hours: 12 everyday until 4am 32 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BX

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The Digital Age Is Making Us Sick By Zoe Yvonne Delaney

It’s been 10 years since I upgraded my Morgan schoolbag to a little Warehouse number and sauntered off to college; thinking that I looked the height of sophistication. If you’re ever looking for a reminder that you’re now hurtling towards 30, the realisation that nearly a whole decade has passed since you attended your leavers’ prom, dressed like a reluctant bridesmaid, ought to do it. I sat my GCSE’s during a time when Steve Brookstein had a number one album, the Crazy Frog ringtone was very much a thing, and The Sugababes had only so far made their way through two line ups. A lot has changed over the past decade when it comes to technology; MySpace is over (Give it up, Justin – you can bring sexy back but not MySpace); you can check your bank balance online, unlike the quite frankly barbaric days where you had to go to an actual cash machine or local branch; and possibly the most impressive – you can order, and track, your takeaway via your phone. That’s right; the Just Eat app has got your back to ensure you don’t need to go to all that hassle of making a 30 second phone call to Nabzys. Although catering to my desire to reduce my human interactions to an absolute minimum, not all technological developments are positive. I may be the first to roll my eyes when my mum tells me all about the latest ‘Digital Detox’ she’s read about in The Guardian, but when you start to dread the sound of your phone’s notification alerts, it’s hard not to wish you had the willpower to log off everything for a few days.

Group Therapy: Mental distress in a digital age Exhibition at FACT, Liverpool: 5 March - 17 May 2015

Back to the start of my college days all those years ago; the smartphone was in its infancy, and there was no danger of your teacher adding you on Facebook, as half your classmates hadn’t even got an account yet. However, although being ‘tagged’ was still associated with a playground game, not a photo of yourself online, Revenge Porn still managed to make an appearance on campus. One afternoon saw every student in the cafeteria receive grainy footage via Bluetooth (God, I’m old) of a fellow pupil engaging in a sex act. Back in 2005, Revenge Porn wasn’t even a term – let alone illegal. While teenagers (and, rather disgustingly, some lecturers) buzzed off a bit of salacious gossip, and being part of what was to become a local viral

sensation, no one really stopped to think about the mental health implications for the victim of something now dubbed ‘virtual rape’. Sadly, we all know this wasn’t a one off event; the past decade has seen many, celebrities included, become the targets of iCloud hacks, leaked nudes and gross invasions of privacy; with technology lending a hand to the abusers. Whether it’s a teenage girl having her topless one second Snapchat screenshot, or Jennifer Lawerence’s entire camera roll ending up online, the digital age is proving to be problematic. Throw in online abuse; with Twitter’s chief executive recently acknowledging in a leaked memo that the company “sucks at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform, and we’ve sucked at it for years”, and the realisation that we have to have an online personal brand and persona, as well as just, you know, an actual IRL personality, and suddenly that digital detox I roll my eyes at sounds more and more tempting. With all this in mind, the latest exhibition at FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) should be worth a visit for anyone who’s ever felt their head get a bit ‘crowded’ from the modern world. Group Therapy: Mental Distress in a Digital Age (between 5 March – 17 May 2015) explores the complex relationship between technology, society, and mental health. It’s hardly ground-breaking news to learn that today’s society is characterised by a constant use of digital devices. Simultaneously, most of us face some kind of mental health issues during our lifetime, affecting either ourselves, or a friend or family member. But how is our use of technology connected to our wellbeing, and how does it affect our values and the way we see ourselves? Coinciding with Mental Health Awareness Week 2015 (11 - 17 May), works by designers, researchers and artists will encourage visitors to rethink their understanding of mental health and wellbeing, by exploring the past, present and future of mental health and wellbeing in relation to societal values and technology. A variety of digital tools including apps, games and online forums will be displayed, illustrating the diverse ways we

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use technology to manage and mediate our emotions in the 21st Century.

“ It can feel more like a prison which is so messed up. You’ve done nothing wrong, you’re just ill.”

One of the most intriguing aspects of the exhibition is certainly The Vacuum Cleaner’s major new commission Madlove, supported by the Wellcome Trust and The British Psychological Society (BPS). Based on the artist’s own experience of psychiatric hospitals being punishing rather than loving environments, he is inviting members of the public to collaboratively-design a more appropriate asylum. Madlove features advisors from across the health, high education and science as well as design sectors, including principal partner the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool. “I began to struggle with my mental health at the age of 17; suffering from depression and anxiety,” The Vacuum

Cleaner revealed in interviews prior to the exhibition. “By 19 I was admitted into my first mental hospital, for a year, and began to become fully aware that they aren’t conducive with good mental health.”

Just what is it that fails institutions? “Aside from the fact that mental health is dangerously underfunded; there is no consideration for how the space is designed and the impact it has on a patient’s mental health. For me personally, and many people I’ve spoken to, you can often leave these places more traumatised than when you entered. A locked ward, no access to outside space, nothing to do, boredom – it can feel more like a prison which is so messed up. You’ve done nothing wrong, you’re just ill.”

OPEN March / April 2015

use new technologies to enable visitors to explore the feelings of themselves and others. Lauren Moffatt’s 3D stereoscopic film Not Eye deals with the anxiety and paranoia created by a society saturated with images. The common perception that technology distances us from our bodies is challenged in George Khut’s interactive installation The Heart Library, where the user’s heart-rate influences the colour and sound of a large, ceiling mounted video projection - digitally connecting body and mind. Katriona Beales’ new commission - an installation combining sculptural elements with moving image and audio - responds to the emerging field of Internet addiction and has been created in dialogue with Henrietta Bowden-Jones, neuroscience researcher and specialist in Internet addiction. Vanessa Bartlett, who is co-curating the exhibition with FACT’s Director Mike Stubbs, says ‘Group Therapy proposes that art and the creative use of digital devices can challenge dated ideas about mental illness, helping to reduce stigma and encourage open discussion about our personal wellbeing.’

“This project is a test of the research that we’ve done so far – we’ve held seven workshops across the country and worked with people with mental health issues, and other stakeholders, about just what a good space entail.”

And the name – why The Vacuum Cleaner? Cocaine addiction? “No, no. When I began making work, like a lot of street artists, a lot of it was on the boundaries of being illegal so I don’t work under my own name to protect myself. The Vacuum Cleaner comes from an exhibition I did called ‘Cleaning up after Capitalism’ in which I cleaned the streets of Wall Street and the City of London.” Group Therapy: Mental distress in a digital age will also display how artists

Part of the exhibition is also an interactive archive showing 20 years of FACT projects for participants with mental health issues, in which artists have been working closely with the community in creative projects as well as created digital tools that support mental health. These projects have been organised in collaboration with various mental health organisations, including Mersey Care NHS Trust. Other artists include Dora Garcia, Kate Owens & Neeta Madahar, Quintan Ana Wikswo and Katriona Beales.

Group Therapy: Mental distress in a digital age Exhibition at FACT, Liverpool: 5 March - 17 May 2015

OPEN March / April 2015

CityGrams People, places, parties Some shots of Liverpool we liked whilst stalking your Instagram accounts. Follow us @openmag

L/R T/B: @laura_horrocks, @circusmusic, @the5adayproject, @dave_brownlee, @ajkehoe, @kinger8628, @makeupbymikey, @krateandco, @liverbeards, @saltdogslims, @bainesefc 84

OPEN March / April 2015

L/R T/B: @camlucchesi, @lil_mariem_b, @fact_liverpool, @chibukushakeshake, @pagster57, @80scasuals, @willholl09, @mayocustoms, @chris24hart, @neal_fletcher, @bethkweeday, @thecyonproject 85

OPEN March / April 2015

Win Tickets to The Asylum The philosophy underpinning The Asylum is refreshingly simple; to build upon the city’s already immense foundations as one of the world’s true bastions of dance music culture, and then take it to the next level in the UK. The Asylum is the product of two of the cities most revered dance institutions, Cream and Freeze, coming together to jointly create a new musical direction and ‘mini-festival.’ Headlining this unique event will be Music On techno titan Marco Carola who will be part of a bank holiday weekend spanning 16 hours across two shows, all kicking off at 1pm on Saturday 4th April at the old Newsham Park Hospital. This abandoned site has been left relatively untouched since closing in the 90s and once the partying is finished there it then continues at Nation in the night. You get to go to both all on one ticket.

Win Tickets

PART 1 – The Asylum @ Newsham Park Saturday 4th April 2015 Bank Holiday Weekend

PART 2 – The Asylum @ Nation Saturday 4th April 2015 Bank Holiday Weekend

Click on the Win Asylum Tickets slider on the home screen

Marco Carola + More acts to be announced

Line Up Coming Soon

Follow the instructions asking you to like our Facebook page. It’s that simple.

Venue: The Old Newsham Park Hospital, Orphan Drive, Liverpool, L6 7UN

A winner will be selected at random on Friday 27th March 2015.

Times: 13:00hrs – 22:30hrs (last entry 17:00hrs)

OPEN has a pair of tickets to give away. To be in with a chance of winning these you all you have to do is: Visit our website www.openthecity.co.uk

Venue: Nation, Wolstenholme Square, 1-3 Parr Street, Liverpool, L1 4JJ Times: TBA

OPEN March / April 2015