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Editor’s Letter May - June 14 / 15
The “Welike2party Party” is not yet a political organisation available on the ballot paper. If it was, its logo would be a smiley face and its manifesto pledge would include the establishment of a three-day weekend (a notion actually supported by one of Britain’s top doctors. So Shh!). That would get the absent youth vote involved. Tool Academy presenter Rick Edwards speaks to OPEN (page 74) about ‘young voters’ and encourages anybody dissatisfied with the available parties to spoil their vote with “none of the above” scribbled on the paper. But if you had a choice between a stress-free hedonistic party or a fear-mongering money-worshipping party like UKIP (the pound sterling is their logo, Farage should hang one around his neck like a tweed suit wearing pimp), it wouldn’t be hard to pick, would it? In the midst of this General Election it is just a fight between two men: Cameron vs Miliband. Following on a week later from the “Fight of the Century”, we could draw an analogy of Cameron as Mayweather; a purely money orientated man widely unpopular because of bedroom (tax) abuses; and Miliband as Pacqiaou, a man more of the people but maybe a bit too soft to rule (I’m a happy warrior). Nah, comparing politicians to boxers is offensive so I retract the previous. Boxers come from rough areas, widely respected and revered within their own communities. Liverpool has a fine boxing tradition and is currently enjoying a golden period which we take a look at in Home of Champions (page 50). Three Queens may be sailing into Liverpool soon, but that spectacle can be witnessed every night at Garlands, as it reopens in May. We have the confessions of Drag Queen, Candy Star, for you on page 56. We have also teamed up with Croatia Rocks to offer two tickets to its brand new festival for 2015, just because Welike2party.
Editor
Photos
Robbie Muldoon editor@open-mag.co.uk
Mike Brits, Max Loisel
Art Director
Illustrations
Robert May rob@open-mag.co.uk
Will Daw (willdaw.com)
Director & Sales
Cover Artwork
Michael Smith mike@open-mag.co.uk
Robert May rob@open-mag.co.uk
Director
Special Thanks
Adam Duffy adam@open-mag.co.uk
Mike Brits mikebrits.com
Garlands Nightclub, Derry Mathews Boxing Academy, Full Fat, and all those involved in our new Open Messenger project.
Editorial Assistant
Advert Design
Lucy Varley
Mike Brits
Website Development
Words Zoe Yvonne Delaney, Max Loisel, Lucy Varley, Jas Purewal, Liam Riley, Dave Crighton, Kieran Molyneux, Joe Connolly
THIS MAGAZINE OFFERS YOU GREAT DIGITAL EXPERIENCES USING THE LAYAR APP DOWNLOAD THE FREE APP, FIND THE SYMBOL AND SCAN THE PAGE
The 4 day week. I have a dream. For subscription info go to openthecity.co.uk. OPEN Magazine is published six times a year.
Robbie Muldoon editor@open-mag.co.uk
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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.
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CONTENTS Stuff
Club Life
12 / Openers New places to go around town.
23 / Win Tickets to Croatia Rocks 78 / Tipple, Tunes, and Trabs
16 / The People Have Spoken How do people actually feel about the state of Liverpool’s clubs right now? 18 / What’s Happening Some of the main events for May-July 22 / Viral Vidz
Music 62 / The Rise of Sound City The festival is all change this year with a move to the Docklands. 64 / Open Your Ears and Hear... Louis Berry
74 / Two Sides of the Same Arse? 80 / Exit Strategy
Style 26 / VAMP Creative 34 / Men’s Fashion Shoot 42 / Laces Out
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Art & Design 66 / The Silly Side Projects of Scott Duffey 82 / Citygrams People, places. parties 84 / Cartoon Illustration by Will Daw.
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FEATURES 46 / King of the Remix After huge reworkings of HAIM and Lana Del Rey, MK’s star power is definitely lit for 2015. 50 / Home of Champions Liverpool’s boxing pride and pedigree. 56 / Sex, Drag, and Rock n Roll Confessions of a Liverpool drag queen.
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coffee shop | bar | catering events | art exhibitions We provide our customers with high quality, locally sourced food, drink and ambience, a great place to meet, greet and be part of the Baltic Creative community.
0151 708 5265 www.unit51.co.uk Unit 51, Baltic Creative Campus, Jamaica Street, Liverpool l1 0AH unit51coffee unit51coffee 1
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NIKE SB X LOST ART: A SCOUSE SPIN ON A SKATE SHOE “By the way, if anyone here is in marketing or advertising... kill yourself.” So once said the legendary American comedian Bill Hicks. His hatred against targeting markets and putting a dollar sign on everything definitely fits the recent limited edition Nike Air Max 95 “Everton and Liverpool” pack. Obviously, somebody had looked at the amount of ‘110s’ getting sold to North Face clad scallies at JD Sports shops across the city and had the idea to create two
footy themed editions in the colours of Everton and Liverpool just to try and rinse a few more quid out of the ‘market’. But they looked terrible. Nike’s collab with Liverpool skate shop Lost Art - on the other hand - is inspired. As part of Nike’s Support Your Local line of skateboarding shoes it was time to go scouse and the local skate shop which opened in 1999 launched a new footwear collection in April which draws
inspiration from the famous Docklands and the routes along where the Liverpool Overhead Railway once stood and the best skate spots are now found, to create a two-shoe pack titled “The Old and the New of Liverpool City.”
The Nike SB x Lost Art is available through Lost Art Skate Shop on Slater Street and globally through Nike.com and core skate retailers.
TAKE A WALK THROUGH 1970S TOXTETH Back in the 70s, the clearing out of communities within inner city Liverpool to new build developments and overspill areas like Cantril Farm and Kirkby was well underway. An exhibition of photographs taken by Tricia Porter and titled “Liverpool Photographs 1972-74” documents this period and is showcasing at Liverpool’s centre for the contemporary arts, the Bluecoat, until July. Taken a decade before the Toxteth Riots in 1981, the evocative black and white images paint a vivid picture of everyday life in Liverpool 8 at a time when its tight knit communities were being fragmented and dispersed by major
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inner city developments. The images, which will show as part of the LOOK/15 international photography festival, offer a thought-provoking insight into everyday life in L8. With social housing and gentrification still an issue within major inner city areas today, the theme is pertinent. “It was,” says Porter, “an attempt to make a photo documentary which would be a positive and meaningful statement about my neighbours, who had all too often been treated as statistical fodder and sociological phenomena.”
The Bluecoat, Liverpool, ‘til 5 July, 2015: Open daily 10am – 6pm. Free.
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3D PRINTING OF PROSTHETIC HANDS AT FACT By Liam Riley Image courtesy of e-NABLE
A quick glance through tabloid coverage of the development in 3D printing is enough to make you believe the world of Terminator is nearly upon us. Most of the hype surrounding the possibilities of this technology focuses on the terrifying prospect of techsavvy retribution seekers supplying themselves with automatic weapons, so they can set out to exact their revenge. However, a new exhibition at FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) showcases how allowing people free reign to use technology for their own benefits actually results in more altruistic ends. Build Your Own: Tools for Sharing (running from 4th June – 31st August 2015), a collaboration between FACT and the Crafts Council with Norfolk Museums Service, features progressive new work by technologists and collectives, created both in Liverpool and Norwich. Their aim is to highlight how digital technologies can come together with traditional processes to create new ways to work, share and collaborate. One part of the exhibition is a project ran by the hacker and entrepreneur community DoESLiverpool. They’re setting up a production line of 3D printers, which will supply the components necessary to help ten local people who are in need of prosthetic hands. Eight year old Bailey Taylor has already been assisted in printing herself a brand new prosthetic hand, with DoESLiverpool’s support. We asked those involved who else they’ll be looking to help during this project: “By working with Reach, the association for children with upper limb deficiency, we’ll be helping a number of children (primarily) from the North-West and
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East Anglia. In addition, the exhibition will raise awareness within the Reach community and the general public about some of the more practical uses for 3D printing.” Creating an appendage, which has been finely crafted through millions of years of evolution, may be baffling to most but this exhibition demonstrates that it’s not as overwhelmingly complex as first seems. DoESLiverpool’s set up for FACT is a part of the wider Enabling the Future project, initiated by the e-NABLE community. They’ve provided the blueprints for the prosthetics in an open-sourced network, free for anyone to access and use. They have the blueprints, they have the printers – so what material will they be making the prosthetics from? “Generally it’ll be either ABS (the same plastic Lego is made from) or PLA (a plant-based thermoplastic). Enabling the Future recommend printing in PLA, so we’ll be using that for the hands we print in the exhibition. In addition to the plastic parts there are a number of metal screws and nuts, some elastic and cord, foam padding and Velcro used to hold the parts together and attach them to the user’s arm.” With the exhibition running at a limited length, the time constraints on the printing is something that has to be carefully calculated, with a hand they’ve created before taking 47 hours in total to print. However, the exhibition will have a long term effect on the community: “Part of the deal of this project is that DoESLiverpool and Norwich Hackspace can keep the new larger 3D printers, so that if people do need to print more hands in the future we’ll have extended our facilities so that
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they can.” The limits of utilising 3D printing in assisting both individuals and the community are far reaching, of which the organisers are both practical and philosophical: “Like any manufacturing technique, 3D printing has its advantages and disadvantages. As the Enabling the Future project is geared towards democratising access to prosthetics, we’re using printers from the more affordable end of the range, which print in plastic (rather than resin or metal). While the prints are surprisingly robust the printing technique gives the models a sort of grain, where it’s weaker when subject to forces. 3D printing covers a range of different techniques, and possible materials, with the printers ranging in price from a few hundred pounds into tens of thousands of pounds.” The technology to help ourselves and to help others is in our hands. The Enabling the Future project brings to attention how it’s up to us to get together and do something about it.
Build Your Own: Tools for Sharing at FACT, from 4th June - 31st August 2015.
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THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN How do people actually feel about the state of Liverpool’s clubs right now? There was nothing shocking about the recent revelations that there’s a drug culture prevalent within popular Liverpool bars and clubs - as there is in any major city around the world. Clubbers always have and always will take drugs, and it is the job of the Police to stop the supply. But when we consequently begin to see a raft of city venues threatened with closure, you know something is up. We chatted to the people of Liverpool to find out what they actually think about the state of the city’s club scene.
text me to ask if I’ve heard about what’s going on in Liverpool.
Have you ever experienced Liverpool’s drug culture? No. In my opinion, you’d only know where to find them if you were into that scene.
What are your thoughts, Eva?
OPEN: What do you think of Liverpool’s current nightlife scene?
Eva: Drug raids are casting a really bad reputation for Liverpool. I’ve never experienced it or seen drugs being sold. I find it quite upsetting. Garlands is such a well-known club, I go there quite a lot.
John: It’s alright, depends on where you go. If you like music it’s great, if you like going to pissed-up places and taking drugs then you’ve got Concert Square.
Catherine: The nightlife here is brilliant, I absolutely love it. It’s really different to back home (Ireland). I’m from a tiny village so it’s a massive change for me.
What do you think the raids will do for Liverpool’s reputation?
What do you think the recent raids and venue closures say about Liverpool?
Not much, it’s the norm for cities. It’s part of the parcel. When people want drugs, people are going to try and supply them and the coppers are going to try and get rid… but it doesn’t cement the reputation.
Hi Georgia, what do you think of the state of Liverpool’s nightlife? Georgia: Drug raids give us a bad name. I’m from Cardiff and my family back home
It’s giving the city a bad name. So many people say they’ve never seen anything of the apparent drug scene in Liverpool, and I’m one of them, so I think I’ve been quite lucky. Anonymous City Centre busker: There are certain clubs I’m glad to see the back of, like the one on Slater Street that got done. Some clubs are asking for it. For places
like The Lomax to close, where there’s been a select few people that have used drugs and caused a bit of mayhem, it’s a disgrace. It’s a vital part of Liverpool’s music scene. There should be more liaison between Police and club owners to stamp it out but the places that are making it known have themselves to blame. In a music venue, there’s always going to be drug use. It all comes down to policing it right, but I don’t think musicians should be the ones to foot the bill.
What do you think the raids say about our city? It doesn’t do it any favours but it is the North West and it happens all over. I don’t like seeing it in the press, but it’s unavoidable I suppose, it comes with the territory.
What do you think of Liverpool’s nightlife right now? Sara: It’s a good place to be; there are always loads of people here and there’s a great atmosphere.
What do you think of the raids? It’s bad for reputation, but also a good thing. Liverpool’s getting cleared up, which could attract more people because they think it’s a nicer, safer and cleaner place.
L/R: John, Georgia, Eva, Catherine, Sara
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S’APPENING? MAY/JUNE 2015 Some of our favourite upcoming events around the city. UNTIL JULY 5 // XAVIER RIBAS. NITRATE The Bluecoat Tickets: Free An exhibition charting the history of nitrate extraction in the Chilean Atacama Desert presented by the Barcelona-born photographer Xavier Ribas.
MAY 15-31 // LOOK/15 INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL Docklands Tickets: Exhibitions are free, but some events may carry a ticket charge For its third edition, the north’s premier Photographic Festival is unveiling a series of events and exhibitions to explore the notion of “Exchange”.
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MAY 22-24 // SOUND CITY 2015 Docklands Tickets: 3-Day Pass from £65, Single Ticket from £35
MAY 24 // FREEZE PRESENTS: CRAZY P + FRIENDS St Lukes Bombed Out Church Tickets: £25
Sound City Festival returns with a new location... and a lot of local hype.
Joining Crazy P is special guest Tensnake alongside a number of Freeze debuts for Ewan Pearson, Psychemagik and Weval Live.
MAY 23 // FREEZE PRESENTS: YOUNG TURKS SHOWCASE JAMIE XX, JOHN TALABOT.. St Lukes Bombed Out Church Tickets: Sold Out The seminal Young Turks label brings a sublime showcase Liverpool. The prolific and enigmatic producer and remixer Jamie XX headlines, one third of the brilliant XX and one of the UK’s most creative forces as a solo artist.
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MAY 30 // THE UNDERTONES O2 Academy Tickets: £22 The Undertones emerged from Derry in 1977, the result of five friends learning how to play guitar and drums in time with someone singing. Forty years later, they are back on stage.
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JUNE 7 // DE LA SOUL O2 Academy Tickets: £30 The trio from Long Island, NY are respected worldwide after changing the landscape of hip hop as we know it with their 1989 album “3 Feet High and Rising”.
JUNE 7 // YOUNG FATHERS Kazimier Tickets: £12 Wicked hip hop three piece, who won the prestigeous Mercury Music Prize award, was described as “locked somewhere between De La Soul and 3T, but re-imagined for the hipster generation”.
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JUNE 13 // FREEZE PRESENTS: TODD TERJE, GREG WILSON, GERD JANSON & PRINS THOMAS St Lukes Bombed Out Church Tickets: Sold Out Todd Terje, fresh from the success of last year’s acclaimed It’s Album Time, has specially curated this show.
JUNE 13 // ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI District, Liverpool Tickets: £17.60 Ariel Pink is a Los Angeles-based recording artist who is sometimes associated with the freak folk scene.
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JUNE 3 - 27 // THE HUDSUCKER PROXY The Playhouse Tickets: £12 to £25 The Playhouse Theatre will play host to the world premiere of The Hudsucker Proxy, a new stage adaptation of the classic 1994 Coen Brothers’ film. Set in 1958, the plot puts big business and corruption under the microscope, as the board of directors of Hudsucker Industries attempt to take over the company and make a killing on the stock market.
JUNE 20-21 // AFRICA OYE Sefton Park Tickets: £22 The UK’s largest free African music event is taking on Sefton Park, notably welcoming soul legend Omar.
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JUNE 26 - 28 // LIVERPOOL CONTEMPORARY ARTS FAIR 2015 Royal Liver Building Tickets: Adult £11, Concession £8.25 The Royal Liver Building is hosting works from over 50 international galleries, as an important platform for galleries and collectors to trade.
FROM JUNE 30 // JACKSON POLLOCK: BLIND SPOTS Tate Liverpool Tickets: Adult £11, Concession £8.25 This summer, Tate brings the American abstract artist to the Albert Dock for a blockbuster exhibition to run until October.
For full, updated daily events listings for Liverpool go to www. openthecity.co.uk
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VIRAL VIDZ A few videos that made us laugh and some footage from features in the issue.
The Best Fancy Dress Costume Ever Just how much effort is too much effort when it comes to curating your unique fancy dress costume idea, because you are so much more original than everybody else? Well if it turns out like this, it can never be too much.
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. Doesn’t it? view using an iPhone or Android (sorry Blackberry heads). Get it at www. layar.com/download
Liverpool’s Newest Boxing Champ We met up with Derry Mathews just a few days after landing a world title infront of a home crowd at the Echo Arena.
Wines, Beats, and Sneakers We met DJ Pooky in his hip-hop wine shop to discuss his collection of wine, music, and trabs.
One McBackflip Coming Up When you’re drunk and you decide to do a back flip over a fast food counter.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE APP, FIND THE SYMBOL AND SCAN THE PAGE
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WIN TICKETS TO
The world famous Ibiza Rocks takes over the idyllic party beach Zcre, Croatia, for five days and nights of live music, DJs, boat parties and White Isle-inspired revelry. The inaugral line-up includes live sets from Clean Bandit, Jungle, Kate Tempest plus more alongside DJ sets from Rudimental, Fatboy Slim, Hannah Wants and more. Taking place 19th - 23rd July 2015, the festival marks a decade at the forefront of the Ibizan music scene for the group and will push the boundaries and inject a taste of the White Isle to the Adriatic coast with an innovative programme featuring beach parties, boat parties and dancing under the stars with some of the UK and Ibiza’s most credible clubbing institutions
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as well as a myriad of yet to be announced activities. Croatia Rocks is the must attend event of 2015. And we have a pair of tickets to giveaway...
How to win OPEN has a pair of tickets to give away. To be in with a chance of winning these all you have to do is: Visit our website www.openthecity.co.uk Click on the Win Croatia Rocks Festival Tickets slider on the home screen Follow the easy instructions how to enter. It’s that simple.
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A winner will be selected at random on Friday 12th June 2015.
Terms and conditions: All entrants confirm that they are over 18 years of age before entering the competition. The winner will receive two tickets to Croatia Rocks Festival, Zcre, Croatia, 2015 (the “Prize”). The winner’s guest must also be 18 years old or over on the day of the event. FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, THE PRIZE DOES NOT INCLUDE TRAVEL TO/FROM THE EVENT, CAR PARKING, SPENDING MONEY, OR ANY OTHER EXPENSES INCURRED AS A RESULT OF ATTENDANCE AT THE EVENT.
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INDIE CITY: LIVERPOOL LOVES FESTIVAL By Lucy Varley
Liverpool loves to party. Following a successful couple of summers remembered largely by their knockout arts and culture festivals, Orb Events have become a bit of a favourite for the city. This year is no exception. Liverpool Loves is not your typical, drinking-frenzy, paint-your-face kind of festival. Yeah, you can still drink the
thinking. The group director, Debbie, had this in mind since 2012 and a Twitter account that was registered a while back (with no posts) started getting followed by about 15 people a week last summer. Definitely a sign from the gods to get things going.
What does Liverpool Loves offer to our city that your average festival doesn’t? Liverpool Loves is a massive celebration for the people, by the people, that takes place in our most iconic location at the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We’re working with so many great partners, far too many to mention in one interview, but it’s that co-operative approach that truly sets this apart. We’re employing locally and using local businesses to deliver the event, keeping money and work within the city. All profits generated by the festival will go back into a start-up fund for aspiring
independent bars, restaurants and food traders. There’s a programme of activity for kids, art workshops, sports, morning raves and yoga - the lot! It’s definitely something that’s different from anything else in the city and we feel it really represents Liverpool’s charm and unique outlook. Keep your eyes out for programme announcements over the coming weeks.
Liverpool Loves, The People’s Festival, comes to Liverpool’s Pier Head 6th-8th August 2015. Thursday 6th August – Liverpool Loves Business An engaging programme of seminars, networking events and inspirational speeches putting small businesses and entrepreneurs at the heart of the programme. Friday 7th August – Liverpool Loves Ireland
day away whilst grooving to the hottest beats about right now. But this festival is dedicated to the businesses and artists that make the city special; providing them an opportunity to thrust themselves into the spotlight and give something back to the community.
local business people. We like to think of this as a festival of firsts and we’ve had so much great feedback - including Mayor Joe Anderson who’s kindly backing the project.
An evening of traditional Ceilidh music, folk bands, dancing and all the stew and Guinness you could ever need. Tickets available at https://www.ticketquarter.co.uk.
Which element of the festival are you most excited about?
Saturday 8th August – Liverpool Loves Festival
Ahead of the festival, we caught up with Managing Director Josh Boyd to find out what the event is all about and what festival goers can expect this August.
There’s an evening, ticketed event on Friday 7th August in our big top titled “Liverpool Loves Ireland”. Hay bales, Ceilidh music, Irish dancers and all kinds of shenanigans it’s going to be great. Definitely staying away from Guinness though, I’m back on site for Saturday’s festival at 6am!
A celebration of everything that’s great about our city – with a jam packed programme of culture, food, drink and family activities, all free to attend.
OPEN: What originally inspired you to create Liverpool Loves? Who is responsible for the concept? Josh: Liverpool Loves is an event we’ve been hoping to get off the ground for a number of years now. We love our city, and wanted to create a festival that brought together all those things that makes this place so dynamic, individual and forward-
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For more information about the event, visit http://www.liverpoolloves.co.uk/ or Tweet @LiverpoolLoves.
What can festival-goers expect from Liverpool Loves? Well firstly it’s free to attend and offers up something for anyone and everyone to enjoy. From an amazing music programme, comedy and street theatre to the best local
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WANT TO WRITE FOR OPEN? Get published. Get paid. Full details at openthecity.co.uk/jobs-open/
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SHOOTING ANALOGUE IN LIVERPOOL Words: Mike Brits Images: VAMP Creative
I first realised I was passionate about photography in 2010, when I was given a second hand DSLR camera. I started understanding how the camera worked around the same time that I grew a beard, donned a dark red beanie and started listening to Bon Iver on repeat. So naturally it wasn’t long before I bought my first film camera: a Lomography Holga. For those that aren’t aware, a Holga is a plastic lense toy camera; nothing fancy about it. So I did my research on how it was meant to work, and shot a spool. Now you know how your Nan has a photo album filled with pictures that are 1/8th her finger in front of the lens? I had an envelope that was filled with 8/8th’s disappointment. Why was film nothing like digital? How did the olden times people make such beautiful imagery on film? I mean, I got one or two cool shots, but overall it was a massive waste of money. I didn’t develop film again until I heard there was a new dark room opening in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle district: Eclipse Dark Room. Coincidently, I had a band wanting some film shots for artwork, and a few rolls filled with expired film. I felt like I was a better photographer than in 2010, so I took the plunge. I asked around where the best place to get film developed in the city was, and I was surprised how limited my options
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were. Moorfields Photographic are well established and produce quality shots, all done in house. Barring ASDA, most other places outsource their film. So I decided to get one roll developed in Moorfields and one in Eclipse - keeping it local. The results from Moorfields were as expected from a well established company, and I was blown away by the shots; I actually really liked them. Especially seeing as it only cost 7 quid. Eclipse has a far more personal touch, so while the outcome was not as refined as Moorfields, the shots had character as each frame is scanned and developed by hand. A few days later I caught up with the photographer, MUA, and digital designer trio of VAMP Creative - whose studio is also based in the Baltic Triangle - and found that not only did they win a competition to design the new Jefferson Airplane album cover (how cool?), but they were looking to develop some film shots too. So I passed on my findings and a few days later they came back with these stunning, 70s themed, film shots. Modelled by Jessica Conner at Boss Model Management, the idea of the shoot was to create something that embodied the 70s era. They shot on 35mm as they had done for shoots in the past to drag up the nostalgia and rawness of a fashion shoot that wasn’t digitised.
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ABOUT VAMP CREATIVE Concept – Shoot – Print - Promote From Professional Makeup Artistry & Styling to Photography, Graphic Design, Website Design & Professional Report Building, we can do it all. We are a collaboration of a Photographer, MUA and Digital Designer & Marketeer, the team can offer a range of skills making VAMP Creative multifaceted and able to cater for an array of clients. We are a trio of creatives able work together to develop a concept from mood board to print or online publication and circulation. We established ourselves within the creative circle of the Baltic Triangle in 2013 but we have recently undergone some changes. You can learn more about our individual members, what we do and how we do it by visiting our website www. vampcreative.co.uk. Our packages offer a range of services ideal for those thinking of starting a new company or re-branding an existing business as VAMP Creative will help you every step of the way creating Marketing Content from scratch. Front of house & point of sale needs attention? We do the research & deliver the best results. Our packages are designed to meet the needs of several types of client and offer services perfect for the likes of Models/Actors looking for headshots and beginner portfolio images, or even as a refresher session back in front of the camera as well as offering more conceptual package for working models looking to add something to their portfolio or Musicians/ Bands looking for high quality promotional images. For commercial clients looking to create eye catching and professionally produced visual material whether for advertising campaigns or a fashion look book, our premium package gives
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you the chance to work with VAMP on another level. We offer a full consultation with the team beforehand so together we can plan a styled, conceptual project that will add something original to your work. Alternatively if you have an idea yourself and need help bringing to life, VAMP will be able to provide that service for you. A good example of the type of material VAMP Creative can produce is our recent design for Jefferson Airplane’s 50th Anniversary promotional merchandise. Selected by Creative Allies and Jefferson Airplane from many other competitors, the VAMP Creative team worked together to produce original artwork for the band. In fact the band liked the design so much that Jefferson Airplane have given us the opportunity to turn the artwork into a T-Shirt design also, which is very exciting for the team. VAMP Creative are constantly trying out alternative techniques and taking inspiration from current trends. Recently we have been loving the seventies vibe that has been going on in the fashion world as can be seen in our recent shoot ‘Dreams of Farrah’. When deciding to do a retro style shoot we took inspiration just as much from the current catwalk trends as from original photos from the era, and felt that in order to capture that nostalgic feel as well as create something that was authentic and truly faithful to the decade we chose to shoot in 35mm. To learn more about how we researched and built our concept - from hair, makeup and styling through to locations and photography techniques - check out our Pinterest board and follow us online https:// uk.pinterest.com/vampcreative/i-1970s/ .
www.vampcreative.co.uk info@vampcreative.co.uk 07904806523
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CONCEPTS X ASICS GEL LYTE III 25TH ANNIVERSARY “BOSTON TEA PARTY” To celebrate a quarter of a century of the GEL-LYTE III silhouette, Asics are teaming up with Concepts again, and you should be happy, because this time they’re teaming up to bring us the Concepts X Asics GEL-LYTE III 25th Anniversary edition. The street wear store appears to have drawn inspiration from historical events of New-England such as the Boston Tea Party. A patriotic mix of Red White and Blue, is opted for throughout the runners upper, with alternating gold and silver tiger stripes adding a shine to the Asics branding. Nubuck is used on the toe bumper and toe box, hairy suede around the heel and custom foot beds ensure premium materials are used throughout. These are a highly anticipated take on the GEL-LYTE III and not to be missed out on, especially with summer around the corner.
ADIDAS ORIGINALS ISLAND SERIES “HAWAII” Spring Summer 2015 marks the return of a massively anticipated re-issue. Remembering the “Island Series” first introduced in the late 1970’s, which featured a collection of over twenty highly in demand releases, all inspired after islands from around the world. 2015’s Island Series, see’s the Adidas Hawaii return for the first time since its original glory, alongside the Samoa and Tahiti models. A soft sand suede covers the upper of the classic Hawaii silhouette, supported by a gum sole, completed with contrasting brown three stripes branding. Plucked from the Adidas archive, the Island Series legacy lives on, through fine attention to detail, a simple and humble silhouette is reborn again, still looking brilliant with shorts, and more than likely to get the thumbs up from a terrace-talking uncle at a family barbeque.
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LAC OU Current page @Kieranmolyneux Opposite page @JoeMConnolly
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NEW BALANCE MRL996FL Price: £89.00 Availability: Size?, End Clothing and all the other quite good trainer retailers. It’s summer soon, you’re going to be wearing shorts. We all wear shorts. They’re good. We all like shorts don’t we? Yeah. Shorts. Get some black shorts and wear these with them. They’ll honestly look excellent. If you read about these shoes online you’ll read about the 996 being a classic New Balance silhouette (true), the premium nubuck and suede upper, and the Revlite sole. That’s the important bit. Revlite is NBs latest cushioning technology (10% lighter Nike Lunarfoam) and essentially it means that the shoes are suspiciously comfy. If they weren’t so beautiful to look at you might forget you had them on.
NEW BALANCE M576PGT Price: £99 Availability: Hanon, End and all the other really quite good trainer shops. If you’re into quality and the finer detail then these New Balance Made in England 576’s’ll make you happy. New Balance are good at grey trainers, they’ve a knack of doing them very well. The pop of teal on these makes them near irresistible. For best results, wear them with some fitted jogging bottoms and climb a ladder. Trust me.
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TRANSALPINO RETURN After some years of absence Transalpino makes a welcome return to Bold Street with a new shop delivering brand new and restored vintage adidas classics. Upstairs in Soho Vinatge is where you will find owner Jockey and his treasure chest of adidas, all at very reasonable prices. This is the UK’s first adidas only vintage store, which is apt considering Liverpool is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of trainer culture, continuing a tradition that first started over 30 years ago.
Soho’s Vintage (Upstairs) 80 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4HR 0151 707 0880 Instagram @transalpinoadidas Twitter @transalpino
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KING OF THE REMIX After huge reworkings of HAIM and Lana Del Rey, MK’s star power is definitely lit for 2015 By Robbie Muldoon
Everything is a remix. Galaxies are just a remix of elements forged in the furnace of an exploding star; we are all just a remix of our mum and dad’s genes; Marc Kinchen’s success today is just a remix of his early career as a pioneering house producer in the early 90s - shit, this article is just a remix of information available about MK online (with a few chopped quotes added from speaking to the man himself). MK the deephouse don (yes, yes an MK Dons pun) was first releasing music over twenty years ago and helped sculpt the sound of house music as it’s known today. Everybody has heard them - the likes of ‘Burning’, ‘Always’, ‘Love Changes’ and his enduring remixes of the Nightcrawlers ‘Push The Feeling On’ and the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Can You Forgive Her?’ - are all part of the DNA of house music and much loved tracks still to this day. Hailing from Detroit, in the early days MK was a protégé of one of the originators of techno, Kevin Saunderson. His ‘90s production style - distinctive in its chopped vocals, organ basslines and shuffling drums - is the sound in trend at the moment, cycling back around like Calvin Klein jeans. His influence can clearly be heard at the top of the charts, and after Disclosure and Duke Dumont earned number one hits - breaching the gap between the underground and the mainstream - Marc found himself lured out of a self-imposed exile to make it a trio of house music heavy hitters when he took a remix of an underground house track “Look Right Through” by Storm Queen to the top of the UK charts in 2013. This wasn’t new territory for MK having first tasted chart success with a remix in ‘95 when he flipped
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“Push The Feeling On” by the Scottish house group Nightcrawlers, giving it an up-tempo vibe called the “Dub of Doom” that sampled only a few vocals from the original. It blew up, peaking at number three in the UK charts. Many people are surprised to hear that it isn’t in fact the original version. The 12” single first released in ‘92 lives firmly in the shadow of the MK Dub. Is outdoing the original with his remix always the aim? “Yes,” he tells OPEN. “I don’t think I know anyone who ever heard the original version from the group. It was an R&B track, I really did not listen to it myself, I asked for the vocal parts and ad libs and wrote my own music to it, even though they got all the publishing, I wrote the music. I still love that record.” Borrowing very few elements of the original and creating a completely fresh track underneath was unheard of at the time but MK broke the gate down on that technique when his remix fired Nightcrawlers into the charts on both sides of the pond, paving the way for other prolific producers like David Morels, Armand van Helden and Masters At Work. P. Diddy and Bad Boy records released an album in 2002 called We Invented the Remix... but would it actually be more accurate to say MK invented the remix? “With all due respect to P. Diddy and Bad Boy, the actual concept of the remix was invented before Puff was putting out records and to be honest, a lot of people would disagree that I invented the remix,” he explains.
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MK’s Top 5 tunes for Summer 2015 1. A Place Called Home - (MK Remix) 2. Whomp It - Kevin Saunderson 3. Caution You feat Wayne - Tennant 4. Bring Me To Life - MK 5. Battery Park - Andre Hommen 4
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“I didn’t DJ and didn’t like going out that much, so to me this is all still new. If it had not been for the charts back then, it would have been hard to convince me that people were really getting into it.”
mean less remixes? “I am a sucker for a great vocal, so it is hard for me to say no even now… but time is ticking gotta get back to the record… it’s almost Summer!”
“Some people say it was Mark Kamins, others say it was Frankie Knuckles and still others say it was Kevin Saunderson, so I don’t think it was really down to one person. I think it kind of went viral with a small group of the underground guys without the benefit of the internet and then it caught on. I will admit that I created a certain type of remix but it was definitely after being inspired by Mr. Fingers. Diddy definitely switched it up for hip-hop though.”
An article recently claimed the problem with deep house even in this day and age is that it is a predominantly straight white male occupied industry. What are your views on this?
Hip-hop is one of the genres MK abandoned house music for in 1996, when he moved to LA to work for Will Smith and produce pop hits for the likes of Rihanna, Jay-Z, Pitbull [Ed note: Please keep reading on!] and Snoop Dogg. After a decade and a half away he was coaxed back into the house music fold by Jamie Jones, Lee Foss and their Hot Creations crew, the remix king back on his throne, although most of his original audience are now mostly middle-aged, settled, and spending Saturday nights in front of the tele. “You know I never even think about that, while the original crowd was listening to my records, I was in the studio 24/7. I hardly ever got out to see the light of day, I was always producing. I didn’t DJ and didn’t like going out that much, so to me this is all still new. If it had not been for the charts back then, it would have been hard to convince me that people were really getting into it. It was always a “really?” kind of moment, you mean they really like it? Funny.” When we speak, shortly after a massive Coachella performance - notable because his star is much brighter in the UK and Europe than it is in the States and before a headline slot at Cream in Liverpool, he is in the middle of working on his album. “It is really starting to take shape… I am about 6 or 7 tracks in and almost finished. I want it to be really special,” he tells us with excitement. But does this
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There’s a nice thought; chilling next to the pool on holiday with an MK album on play - you better get a move on Marc!
Summer, sex, and life behind the decks So summer is here... Are you single right now? I am by myself in the studio right now. I don’t really talk about my personal life. By nature, I am a really shy person and tend to stay away from those kind of questions. I am planning on enjoying the Summer but I just looked at my schedule and most of my free time looks like Airport lounge connection time.
When did the MK tattoos on girl’s asses first begin appearing? A couple of promoters made these temporary tattoos with MK on them, I actually never suggest for girls to put them there, I guess girls will be girls... they are vey creative don’t you think?
I have to disagree with that, first I don’t think that there is a problem with deep house as long as it is good deep house, as for the boys vs. girls. It’s always changing who is at the front or the predominant gender in the crowd. Girls do love vocals and to be truthful, so do guys. I can always tell when I play vocal tracks though.
How has your point of view on parties changed since becoming a DJ?
It hasn’t really, I didn’t have a point of view before, I am still learning.
Which DJ is the best to party with?
No Comment… I don’t want to answer cause I don’t know if they would be flattered or insulted. I definitely have a bunch of really good DJ friends who tend to be on the same circuits as I am and the best part is we usually end up making music together.
What is the biggest myth about life as a DJ? That it’s all glamour.
What stereotype is actually 100% true? Not a clue… MK will be hosting his own arena at Creamfields on August bank holiday weekend and also Blackpool Pier Jam, Part Two, Cream, Sat 18th July.. Tickets on sale now www.creamfields.com
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HOME OF CHAMPIONS Liverpool’s boxing pride and pedigree By Robbie Muldoon Images by Mike Brits and Jona Frank
Diamonds are formed under pressure. For over 100 years, the working class neighbourhoods of Merseyside have had to fight and survive against crippling levels of unemployment and poverty, climb barriers of social exclusion, rage against authority, and live with significant levels of crime and its fallout. These factors have created fertile grounds within the city for producing a special breed of boxer. Champions. From as far back as the 1860s, Liverpool has written chapters worthy of note in the annals of boxing history. There was Jem “The Gypsy” Mace who became the last Briton to win a world title without gloves (he didn’t actually hail from Liverpool but spent lots of time in the city, and his popularity was such that 10,000 people once greeted his return at Lime Street Station and carried him through the streets on their shoulders, and is buried in Anfield cemetery) and later Ike Bradley - the battling bulldog of the British rings who fought over 400 contests, many in America, and was the first Liverpool boxer to challenge for a world title, losing to the infamous gypsy Digger Stanley, who suffered a long count and two broken hands in the process. Then there was Nel “Nella” Tarleton, the gangly fighter, who, owing to childhood TB, only had one healthy lung but dominated the British boxing inter-war
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years, drawing a 30,000 strong crowd at the first ever boxing promotion held at Anfield; Ernie Roderick, champion pigeon fancier, protégé of Nella, also British and European champion at middleweight and welterweight, who fought unsuccessfully for a world title only to have the rematch scuppered by the outbreak of World War 2; Pat McAteer the British and Empire champion of the ‘50s; Joey “The Jab” Singleton in the ‘70s who became the fastest boxer to win the Lonsdale Light Welterweight belt after just three fights; and then there is the city’s greatest, Kirkby’s WBC World Champion at light heavyweight, John Conteh. In more recent times the roll call continued to grow in the ‘80s and ‘90s with the likes of Andy Holligan, and world title holders Paul Hodkinson and Shea Neary. These are just a few fighters from Liverpool to have left a legacy within the sport. It is with this proud history that every serious boxing head within Liverpool is currently enjoying the professional careers of Tony Bellew, former Team GB boxing captain Tom stalker, heavyweight hope David Price, new WBA lightweight champ Derry Mathews and boxing’s band of brothers, Paul, Liam, Stephen, and Callum Smith. Proof if it was ever needed that boxing is in the genes (plus two Chris Eubanks). The region is also widely acknowledged
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as the capital of the British amateur scene. The scouse scriptwriter Alan Bleasdale once said of his hometown; “It’s a hard city. It stems from the days when 20,000 men would go down to the docks after 6,000 jobs.” For generations, life within Liverpool has meant fighting for survival. These are the tough environments that provide the very hardest, and the very best boxers. In the recent boxing documentary Champs, three of the greats from the sport’s ‘90s halcyon days, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and Bernard Hopkins discuss their lives being raised in America’s toughest ghetto neighbourhoods. At one point in the film Hopkins remarks, “Rich kids don’t go into boxing. Boxing is a way out the ghetto.” Adversity for the fighter, it seems then, is a duality. Just as much in his corner as right there in his face. For a champ, roughened social conditions act as the stick and the gloves act as the carrot, with a successful career looking like the only way of making a better life.
Home of boxing When boxing really took off in Liverpool at the start of the 20th Century, it quickly made its mark. “We had a lot of major fights in Liverpool in the 1910s,” says Gary Shaw, a local boxing historian
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Image from Jona Frank’s The Modern Kids, exhibiting from 15 May as part of LOOK/15 Liverpool International Photography Festival www.lookphotofestival.com
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Image from Jona Frank’s The Modern Kids, exhibiting from 15 May as part of LOOK/15 Liverpool International Photography Festival www.lookphotofestival.com
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and author of The Mersey Fighters series of books. “Within a year of the Liverpool Stadium opening in 1911, straight away it became one of the most important venues in world boxing and all the top stars from all over the world came here because it was the place to go.” The Liverpool Boxing Stadium (to give it its full name) had a capacity of 4,000 and not only hosted blood spattering bouts but also, in its later years, legendary rock shows with The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers and Pink Floyd all performing there. It also served as a site for political rallies and was used for trade union meetings well into the ‘80s before it fell into disrepair and was eventually demolished. Nicknamed the ‘Graveyard of Champions’, the Pudsey Street site garnered a reputation as a venue where fighters would lose their first defence of a title or lose unexpectedly - but it was also actually built on an old graveyard. Before any purposebuilt stadium could be envisaged, boxing first had to emerge from the world of illicit sports. “People would sometimes say the city of Liverpool has always been a centre for boxing. But it hasn’t.” Gary explains.
I have a feeling you would be more likely to find the Mug’s Alley crowd at an MMA show today, draped in Tapout gear and pumped full of creatine. The rise of MMA has eaten away at boxing’s fan base in recent years, it is perhaps the ultimate expression of masculinity within sport, certainly the most brutal legal form. But the history and romanticism of boxing means it is still the number one show at box office level (with the Mayweather v Pacquiao fight underlying that).
Romance, respect and rivalry It isn’t hard to find romanticized boxing tales and myths all over Liverpool, interwoven into the greater story of the sport. Earnie Shavers, a heavyweight hailing from Alabama who famously took Mohammed Ali the distance only to lose on points in a fight, which incidentally featured the first ring entrance music, when Cassius Clay strode into the arena epically backed by the Star Wars theme tune. After the fight, Ali labeled Shavers the hardest puncher he ever faced, brilliantly exclaiming he “hit me so hard, he shook my kinfolk back in Africa!” It’s almost unbelievable, then, that big Earnie ended up working the door on a Yates’ Wine Lodge in Liverpool City Centre, after settling down with a local girl he met when visiting. Shaking his huge hand as you made your entrance to the bar was to make a tangible connection to the greatest boxing story ever told. It could only happen in Liverpool.
“It was valued for people to say they were a fighter - or they knew a fighter - and that then manifests itself in the city you’re from coming after your name. It became a sense of civic pride.”
“During the period when it was illegal you had to be a member of a club that hosted boxing, and working class people were excluded because they couldn’t afford the membership fees.” If a venue was caught by the police taking money on the door it would quickly lose its license at the local magistrates. But once the sport gained legitimacy the crowds grew, and in Liverpool’s new home of boxing they played their part too.
“They weren’t stupid,” says Gary. “If someone won who they thought didn’t deserve to win - even if they were local - the crowd would boo the decision.” This mob morality sat side-by-side with the masculinity (or stupidity) of ‘Mug’s Alley’, a section of the crowd filled with members of the public who had gained free entry to the stadium in return for
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offering to fill the boots of a fighter should one fail to make it to the ring for any reason. The show must go on, even if it meant dragging the audience up to be knocked the fuck out.
A modern venue capable of packing in the crowds and offering the boxers hot water for a shower, unlike the Liverpool Olympia, the city’s home of boxing throughout the ‘90s and 2000s, was needed. The opening of the Liverpool Echo Arena in 2008 has coincided with the emergence of a generation of top quality professional boxers from the city, and in 2014, the highly anticipated rematch between Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverley became the venue’s fastest selling sporting event (and one of the quickest spectacles since its opening), selling out the 10,000 capacity in just 48 hours. Proof that the top fights can pull in the big crowds still.
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The best boxing story put to screen by Hollywood since Rocky and Raging Bull was the real-life telling of “Irish” Micky Ward’s early career in The Fighter, which is a true underdog story of one man’s determination. The defining moment of the film coming as Ward - played by Mark Wahlberg - walks out to the ring for his first title shot, with Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again [on my own]” blaring around the Liverpool Olympia, as he faces - and beats - scouser Shea Neary to claim his world title. The movie logline could have read: “To be the best, Micky Ward had to beat a scouse fighter in his own backyard...” (Luckily I do not write movie synopses for IMDb). The city’s role in just one of boxing’s most inspirational stores forever immortalised. The relationship between fighters and the city they were from became much stronger in the 1910s and 1920s, when boxing switched from being an underground sport to one open to the masses and embraced by the working class. As Gary Shaw explains; “To
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become a fighter and be a professional boxer, it mattered and it had a certain currency. It was valued for people to say they were a fighter - or they knew a fighter - and that then manifests itself in the city you’re from coming after your name. It became a sense of civic pride.” This sense of pride and prestige grew out of the industrial centres and slums where there wasn’t enough work to go around. “In the ‘30s and ‘40s when the economy wasn’t great, it was a sense of pride when there was 50% unemployment in certain areas of the city - it made it matter that much more and to a certain extent you can say that was the same in Liverpool during the ‘70s and ‘80s as well.” In areas of the city dominated by council estates you will always find a boxing gym. Their role in offering youngsters a way off the streets and the confidence to handle themselves on them is a little different to what the Duke of Edinburgh Award has to offer. Liverpool has some famous boxing gyms split between the north and south end of the city: Rotunda; Everton Red Triangle; Salisbury (the Solly) ABC; and North Mersey ABC, all in the north, with the Toxteth based Golden Gloves in the south.
Port’s World Champion Paul Butler. I was intrigued to hear the thoughts of somebody with an outside perspective on boxing and Merseyside. “The history of the sport seems strongly integrated in the fabric of Liverpool and Ellesmere Port,” she tells me. “In Los Angeles, I don’t live far from Dogtown, where the roots of skateboarding started, and boxing seems akin to The North [England] the way surfing and skateboarding is akin to Southern California.” It’s a comparison which also serves as a stark contrast: One place is the home of surf kings riding out the crashing Pacific waves and the other is a gritty industrial town with a Blue Planet Aquarium. Talking to Jona, it was clear she was fond of the boxing clubs she found and their roles within the surrounding communities, and concerned to hear that one ABC she spent so much time
three days previously, Derry Mathews was crowned the new WBA Interim World Lightweight Champion in the Liverpool Echo Arena, becoming the first scouser in 20 years to hold a world belt. It was the completion of a determined comeback by “Dirty” Derry, who had retired in 2009 before putting the gloves back on a year later after the kids he was training in the gym asked when they could get to see him boxing again. Still battered, bruised and recovering from a grueling 12 round slug-fest and the celebrations that obviously followed, I ask Derry how it felt, fighting for a world title in his home city. “Boxing at the moment is booming. Liverpool is the hot-bed of boxing in the world. We’ve had some great champions recently; British, Commonwealth, and European Champions, but to fight for a world title in front of my home fans...” he pauses. “I’ve had some very proud moments in my life, but that tops them all on Saturday night.”
“Boxing at the moment is booming. Liverpool is the hot-bed of boxing in the world.”
“There has been this big north-south end rivalry, definitely,” states Gary. “Going back to the ‘20s and ‘30s when boxing became a working class sport there is this rivalry between the north and the south and if you put a fight on that had certain named fighters from the north end and certain name fighters from the south end you would get a good bill.” This inter-gym rivalry within Liverpool has played a part in raising competitiveness at the grass-roots level over the years, contributing to the city’s renowned amateur level reputation.
Violence, virtue and victory The Modern Kids is a photography exhibit by American Jona Frank displaying as part of the LOOK/15 photography festival in Liverpool. Her series of portraitures looks at boxing communities in Merseyside and also includes a film following Ellesmere
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at is now threatened with closure after 34 years. “I think, given the nature of boxing, it’s seen as simply violent. And, of course, that’s one aspect and some of my photographs show this, but really it’s about so much more.” She says adamantly. “I mean not everyone at the club is going to become Paul Butler, but they are going to find inspiration in watching someone work hard to achieve their dream. And being around Paul is inspirational. He makes you want to work harder, try harder at whatever you are pursuing. At life.” Back in Liverpool, I’d come to a gym that can now also boast a current world champion and inspiration to others working the bags and pads under the same roof of the Derry Mathews Boxing Academy, a gym that sits right next door to a junior school and literally on top of a nursery. Just
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Derry goes into a small room in his gym and comes back out holding the belt he bled for. Everybody in the gym wants to get their hands on it and a picture holding it together with the champ. He has entered Liverpool’s boxing hall of fame.
“Yeah, I go on a shortlist with John Conteh and Paul Hodkinson, so I’m happy about that,” he beams before bringing it back to the scouse rivalries. “I’m even happier I’m the only one from this area, because they’re two Kirkby heads, so I’m over the moon. “It’s about a bit of money now and looking forward in life after boxing, and I’ll always be remembered as one of the greats from the city, hopefully. I’m lucky that I’m on the shortlist of World Champions and now I’m a happy man. “Hopefully in the future many more can follow what I’ve done.” Is it possible to typify a scouse fighter, then? What traits do we find in fighters from a city with a tradition as illustrious as Liverpool’s?
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“It’s alright having all the skill in the world,” says the city’s latest golden boy. “But you’ve gotta have that,” he says gesturing towards his heart. “If you haven’t got that you’re in the wrong sport. You’ve got to have a bit of everything to beat the best and if you haven’t got a heart you’re in the wrong game.” Gary Shaw agrees, “they’ve always had heart but that’s not unusual in a lot of boxers. “I think probably the number of socalled journeymen that people label fighters who lose more than they win, I think that’s not been a facet of Liverpool boxing generally. That’s a sort of scouse pride, that people wouldn’t want to have finished with a career that had more losses than wins.” Of course, nobody likes losing. How vividly it was expressed by the young
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boxers of Merseyside describing their losses to Jona Frank was a notable feature she found them all to have in common. “I kept a list of words I learned, that I never heard anyone use here at home. One of them was “gutted”. There is something so strong in that word - gutted - it seems to perfectly capture how much something hurts and how much it means to them.” Some have said the MayweatherPacquiao fight marks the end of an era in boxing. But in Liverpool, at least, boxing is enjoying a golden period and can look forward to the likes of Liam Vaughan, spar partner of Manny Pacquiao, currently training out of Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym in LA; Toxteth’s girl Tasha Jones may have hung up her gloves this year, but the history she made as the first British woman to box at the Olympics in 2012 will no doubt inspire other girls to follow in her footsteps; there’s
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hope for a heavyweight clash between David Price and Tyson Fury, a fight guaranteed to capture the city and country’s attention; and the progress of the Smith brothers, with the youngest, Callum, tipped to go the furthest, having just broken into the top 10 of the boxing bible The Ring Magazine’s world rankings at super-middleweight with an impressive record of 15 wins, 0 defeats and 11 by KO so far. “I always look back at the ‘30s and ‘40s as being the pinnacle,” Gary Shaw says, weighing up Liverpool’s boxing eras. “Right now, with Derry winning that world title it’s as good as it’s ever been.” How many more Liverpool boxers will reach the levels of world champion, only time will tell. But the state of Liverpool boxing in 2015 is something the city can take pride in - success stories rooted in its rough breeding grounds.
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SEX, DRAGS AND ROCK 'N' ROLL CONFESSIONS OF A LIVERPOOL QUEEN By Lucy Varley
The late 19th Century saw the rise of the underground drag queen and in more recent years, RuPaul’s oh-so sassy Drag Race nurtured an almost unanimous global acceptance, and this year has even led Edge Hill University to become the first educational institution to dedicate a specialist module to the art of drag. We’re all aware of drag and, to some extent, understand the illusion. But according to Candy Star, selfconfessed slut queen of Garlands, there’s far more to drag than tucking your mangina, feigning feminine curves and painting your face. here she offeres her drag queen guide.
Finding your inner queen When you’re soul searching for your inner-queen, you must decide upon your identity. Who are you destined to become? Traditionally, drag queens are either old-school or freaky. When I first started out in the world of Drag fashion, I was told that my Queen was too beautiful to be Drag. I owe the success of Candy to Mr X (Adam Wilson), Bedlam’s gorgeous DJ and Garlands’ PR Manager. He helped me to discover my yellow brick road, a road down which I now sashay in absurdly high heels. When it comes to Candy, Garlands made me do it.
Performer not prostitute It’s unsurprising yet still heartbreaking that drag queens are notoriously identified as sex symbols. And for the first few shitty chat up lines whispered by men claiming they’re not gay whilst practically begging for sexual favours, you feel bizarrely flattered. But soon, you get bored. Pretending to be remotely interested or flattered becomes exhausting. Last summer, a young lad followed me home from Garlands. All the way, he told me he wasn’t gay and that he had a girlfriend. I wasn’t interested. I am professional! He persisted, and eventually offered me £60 to give him a blowjob. Firstly, I like to think I am worth a lot more than £60, how insulting. Secondly, I may be a bit of a slut, but I am nobody’s prostitute. I told him to fuck off and pretended to look for my keys, telling him I was meeting a boyfriend I didn’t even have, just as a deterrent. He followed me anyway, and I got quite scared. Really scared, in fact. People think we’re always the confident person they see sashaying around the stage and forget we’re human beings
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with genuine, normal human instincts. Nightlife is an illusion. It’s all fake. Drag queens provide an almost magical illusion, and in response, men go home and have a wank, even though they’re persistent in telling you they’re straight. It’s sleazy, cheap and undermines our art. And it pisses us all off.
Love life Living the life of a Queen is a beautiful blessing and a hideous curse. We’re a fucking fabulous race, obviously. But when it comes to finding romance the well runs dry. Drag queens find the pursuit of romance challenging. It’s not because we’re too hot to handle or high maintenance (well we are, a bit). It’s because few guys are willing to accept us for who we are and who we become when we paint our faces and put on our wigs mutually. It freaks them out, I think. Fortunately, I am in no rush to find my Prince Charming. My time will come.
Wardrobe economics Darlings, the first rule of Queendom is accepting that you’re going to spend more than you earn, like it or not, especially on makeup and wardrobe. I have spent a killing on the contents of my makeup bag. FYI, aspiring Drags, owning more makeup than all the women in your life collectively is something you’re never prepared for. Neither is teaching your glamorous sister how to apply blusher to emphasise her cheekbones. As a Queen, you discover talents even you didn’t know you had. Costume design and wig-making have fast become regular hobbies of mine. And let me tell you, it’s a damn good job I love it so much, otherwise I’d be forced to take creeps like Mr £60 up on his offer to fund a new pair of tights, eyelashes and wigs. Unless you want to look like a shitty Dolly Parton tribute (her tits were smoking but her wigs? Not so much) you have to learn the art of creation. I can spend anything from £30-100 per outfit, per show. I always spend a lot of money on huge, tacky rings and gaudy necklaces. I love costume jewellery, it’s bold and it’s cheap, but it quickly adds up. When it comes to finances I suppose Drag can be a drag. But you suffer for your art. Carrie Bradshaw chose to buy Vogue over dinner because she felt it fed her more. I suppose I am doing the same.
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“So many find themselves utterly mesmerised by a man who makes a beautiful woman, or a woman who makes a far too convincing man.” Pain is beauty
Long live the Queen
Darlings, wearing a wig might make you feel like Jayne Mansfield, but they make you itch and sweat like a bitch. If you’re a girl, a regular plucking of your brows, shaving your legs and waxing your downstairs may well be quite normal. But I loathe plucking and waxing and shaving until I am almost unrecognisable. I think waxing is a total nightmare. How do you cope? I can’t cope with pain, not an ounce. But I guess pain is beauty. Sometimes, on bad days, it’s all pain and no beauty. As a drag queen I’m required to walk in skyscraper heels (I absolutely can’t) and dance (oh honey, I’m atrocious) for 7 hours. As if dancing my way through the night in excruciating stilettos isn’t enough of a challenge, I have to maintain the ‘I’m having the time of my fucking life, honest, pass me another vodka shot’ face throughout. I should be an actress, really. I absolutely adore what I do; especially doing it at Garlands, but it can be painful.
Between you and me I’m slightly older than a typical Queen. But, darlings, remember that with age comes experience. We throw around the cliché that age is just a number. And to some degree, most clichés are only clichés because they bear a great deal of truth. Age will never hold me back from doing what I love. But let me tell you, recovering from an absolute motherfucker of a hangover at my age takes five times longer after hitting me five times harder. I will never stop doing what I love though, and even though I’m going fucking wild right now, I’m sure that in 30 years I will think: “God, Candy, you should have partied harder!” I’m a bad girl.
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Laugh now, cry later Living with two identities is tough, regardless of the glitz and
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glamour and non-stop partying. Especially when your two identities are so drastically different. Naturally I am quiet, shy and reserved. But Candy? She is a total slut and a regular socialite. She is a naughty, naughty girl. There are times, quite often, when she has a show in a club which starts at 9pm. She finishes at 5am, and by the time she has wiped off her makeup and hung up her feathers, it’s 7am and another day has begun. I have just about enough time to get home, make myself a coffee and shower before getting to work at my day job. I lose many nights’ sleep to Candy, the bitch, and as a result of that caffeine is slowly becoming my best friend; my solace. But what do you do when you’re working two jobs you absolutely adore? Darlings, you must suffer for your art. You simply must.
The drag pack When bold, brash and beautiful girls are left alone together, competition can become ferocious. The world of drag is no exception; claws find their way through fishnet gloves and bitching becomes rife. But here in Liverpool, in Garlands, we’re family. We have each other’s backs. We share makeup tips, help each other into our costumes and occasionally, as our inner-sluts emerge, share bedroom secrets. But I never kiss and tell. The public loves the Queens of Garlands. So many find themselves utterly mesmerised by a man who makes a beautiful woman, or a woman who makes a far too convincing man. But so many forget that Liverpool’s
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Drag community stretches far beyond Garlands. I wish we were more recognised and respected, like the Queens of Manchester. Those girls are on a whole other level. I love them. I admire them. I am extremely close to Lisa Foxcroft, a woman doing drag. How fascinating. The rising culture of Drag encourages not only men to come out as queens, but women to find their inner Drag King – something that was once unheard of. And it’s all thanks to the thriving, inspiring, glowing community in our city.
Drag, not drugs But aside from maintaining vanity and the immeasurable pain that comes with it, the most unglamorous aspect of Drag life is drug life. Too often, we’re associated with drug culture. Garlands brings fun to Liverpool in so many ways. It opens its doors to artists like me, giving them a chance to discover and embrace their true identity. It gives us a home. We are no different to any other nightclub, much less a nightclub in Liverpool. There are drugs everywhere. And if young people don’t find them in nightlife venues, they will find their fix elsewhere. Banning it from clubs isn’t necessarily the answer. Young people will end up taking pills because they are more low-key – pills that could kill them in one night. It’s not worth the risk. We are a safe, homely venue. I am furious that we have been closed for so many months, but the bitch is back with added bite on the 23rd May so watch out, Liverpool! Candy is coming to get you.
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THE RISE OF SOUND CITY Big acts, big venue, big year. By Dave Crighton
Over the last eight years, Liverpool Sound City has grown and developed into one of the biggest and best city centre music festivals on the circuit. It’s been a breeding ground for hot new talent showcasing the likes of Ed Sheeran, The XX, and Florence and the Machine before they exploded on the scene. It’s gained recognition on a national level with nominations for Best Metropolitan Music Festival at the UK Festival Awards. In addition to the great music, it’s been at the forefront of arts, film, sport and culture with various conferences boasting a range of keynote speakers including the likes of John Cale of The Velvet Underground and Liverpool’s very own Peter Hooton. Every year this celebration of music and arts has been underpinned by a host of weird, wonderful and iconic venues but this year things are about to change.
A new home, a fresh approach Given Liverpool Sound City’s growing credentials, people could be forgiven for asking… Why mess with a good thing? The answer is simple, ambition to create something truly iconic! The swell of popularity since the festival began has meant the range of sites used in previous years is no longer an option. The balancing act for organisers has been to keep the ethos of previous years, whilst finding a new home that will carry on supporting breakouts and attracting world class acts too. So, where better than the banks of the Mersey? Bramley Moore Dock is the
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new home of Liverpool Sound City and quite frankly, it’s pretty impressive. It’s located within Liverpool’s World Heritage site for a kick off! Then there’s more than a nod to Liverpool’s history as an industrial powerhouse here, so what better place to show off Liverpool’s status as a growing epicentre for music, arts and culture? In addition to the stage at Bramley Moore, Baltic Stage and The Cargo Stage will feature a range of headline acts. There’ll also be four stages dedicated to the best up and coming music: The North Stage, The Cavern Stage, The Kracken Stage and The Record Store. All will play host to an eclectic range of musical tastiness!
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63 Attracting the big acts Sound City CEO Dave Pichilingi is in no doubt how big the move is in terms of progressing the status of the festival for this year and beyond:
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vibed party in town when The Flaming Lips are in the equation, so what better night than Saturday to get involved with their heady brand of psychedelic rock. They’ve nailed Glastonbury on a few occasions and no doubt they’ll do the same here.
“It’s a really big year for Sound City - with the move to our incredible new industrial home at Bramley Moore Dock, we promised to create a bill that smashed expectations and we’ve delivered on that promise.”
The conference Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips is set for a busy weekend as he balances the headline show with the keynote conference speech. Discussing all things from crowd surfing hamster balls and musical experimentation - this talk is expected to fascinate and entertain in equal measures.
Local Favourites
You know there’s going to be a festival-
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The arts have played a key part in Sound City over the years and this time around there’s a carnival atmosphere in the offing! You can’t have a carnival without the samba beat, and Brazilica Carnival will bring exactly that. Dancing, drums, crazy costumes and a gigantic float what more do you want?
If your street dancing rhythm is as elegant as Chunk from The Goonies executing the ‘Truffle Shuffle’ then you might want to consider a visit to the Screenadelcia exhibition instead. A Sound City staple since 2009, Screenadelica just gets more and more popular every year, with a showcase of some of the coolest gig posters for some of the worlds hottest bands.
“We have brought in some of the biggest names in the business this year from The Flaming Lips, Belle and Sebastian to The Vaccines. We’ve also selected the very best of the scene’s emerging talent.”
The big ones to check out
The arts
Sticking with the theme, Sunday night will see Spark perform a spectacular of drums and lights, which will literally blow minds.
In previous years, Sound City has focussed efforts on giving a spotlight for new talent and, more recently, allowing that talent to perform alongside some big headline acts. Moving towards a bigger venue with more of a traditional festival feel has allowed Pichilingi to attract top acts, whilst still giving the stage to upcoming talent:
As always at Sound City there will be a host of local favourites flying the flag for the Liverpool music scene. Bill Ryder-Jones and Dave McCabe & The Ramifications will both feature on the Sunday. GIT Award nominees, Hooton Tennis Club, can be seen on the main stage on Saturday whilst Sankofa will take to the same stage on Sunday. The Tea Street Band and The Hummingbirds are firm fixtures at Sound City and will be in demand again this year.
the festival and is not to be missed.
Moving forward
Gaz Coombes of Supergrass fame has had something of a renaissance recently, with his latest album ‘Matador’ going down a storm with the critics, diehards and generally anyone who grew up listening to music in the britpop era! His set is on the closing day of
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Sound City was loved and adored in its previous guise but the new look festival is an opportunity to really put Liverpool firmly on the festival map. There’s a whole host of city centre music festivals in the UK but Sound City is unique, it’s always been progressive, innovative and forward thinking. This year’s move is another bold step forward, keeping the heart and ethos of previous years but up-scaling the project into something that the City can get behind and be proud of.
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OPEN YOUR EARS AND HEAR... LOUIS BERRY Who: GIT Award 2015 One to Watch, the Kirkby-born 23-year-old rock and roller Louis Berry. By Liam Riley
Airtime from Zane Lowe, a publishing deal after one gig and a bunch of festival bookings for the summer – things are going in the right direction for scouse songsmith Louis Berry. It only seems right that he now has the GIT Awards 2015 One to Watch accolade in his pocket too. His first single, .45, exhibits an energetic fusion of piercing lyrics struck through with a driving rock and roll riff, as if Johnny Cash never got out of Folsom Prison and ended up getting more pissed off and louder about it.
What comes first for you: the lyrics or the music?
staff at LFCTV were great too, pleasure to be there.
I don’t talk about how I write, I like to keep the secrets of my song writing sealed. All I will say is a lot of people sit down to write a song and try and say something, I listen.
How was performing and rubbing shoulders with all the other acts at the GIT Awards 2015 ceremony at the Kazimier?
We caught up with him after the GIT Awards ceremony at Kazimier:
You were awarded the One to Watch title - what is it that we should be watching for from you in the future?
Did you start out writing songs acoustically before having a full band at your disposal? Yeah I started out writing on my own and still do. The lads are brilliant at coming up with musical parts but I am heavily involved in what they are playing. I have a specific sound that I’m looking for in my music, if it doesn’t cause adrenaline or tears I’m not interested.
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It’s really good to perform in my own city, my next show in Liverpool is not until August at the Liverpool International Music Festival so was good to be here. Peter Guy from the GIT Awards is a good lad and was really accommodating on the night.
You seem to be a big Liverpool FC fan - how was appearing on LFCTV? Yeah it was good, I enjoyed it. Growing up, Jason McAteer and Phil Babb seemed like big red giants in those Liverpool shirts, but they’re just two good lads who you can have a laugh with, it was good to meet them. The
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There’s a lot coming up and there’s going to be a lot of surprises. I’m working on some big things as we speak so keep your eyes open and ears to the ground. Don’t want me sneaking up on you!
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FRESH CONTENT DAILY. WEEKLY GIVEAWAYS. ALL THE EVENTS THAT MATTER. GET ON IT. www.openthecity.co.uk @OPEN_MAGAZINE
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THE SILLY SIDE PROJECTS of Liverpool Designer and Illustrator, Scott Duffey Scott Duffey is a free spirited designer and illustrator whose passion became apparent during the latter days of his high school years. His obvious talent led him to the University of Chester, where he worked alongside inspiring, likeminded individuals to nurture his appetite for design and eye for edgy detail. Now, Scott’s creative impulses are exercised freely through Listen Creative; a specialist branding and strategic design agency based in Liverpool. In the last couple of years, Scott has had his sketchy, bold designs commissioned and published by festivals, clothing brands and even bands in pursuit of the perfect touring poster.
Shop details: http://scottduffey.bigcartel.com/ Social Media contacts: @Scott_Duffey on Instagram or @scott_duffey on Twitter to view more work visit www.listencreative.co.uk
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TWO SIDES OF THE SAME ARSE? The case for why voting should matter to young people in 2015 By Zoe Yvonne Delaney
Sadiq Kahn (Labour MP for Tooting) once admitted that if a politician has a spare hour during a campaign, a visit to a retirement home will win over calling in at a sixth form. It may seem odd to care more about voters who may not even make the next election, but when you learn that only half of 18 – 25 year olds voted in 2010, compared to three quarters of those aged 65 plus, it’s not hard to work out why pensions get plumper and tuition fees treble. This ‘generation gap’ is a seemingly recent development; in 1992 the difference was only 12% between the age groups. Something isn’t right. Are Britain’s youths simply not arsed about political matters? Not according to Rick Edwards. “The view that young people are lazy and apathetic, excuse my language, is absolute bollocks. I just won’t have it.” “I so rarely come across anyone that’s like “No, I have no interest in politics at all” – really rare. So something is going wrong. Is it in school? Is it a lack of political education? Whatever the cause may be, the former T4 presenter is on a mission to change things. The None of the Above author wants the under 25s to get to the polling station on May 7th – even if you want to spoil your ballot with an artistically drawn cock and balls. The 2015 election is shaping up to be an historic one; with more minor parties rising up than ever before, but it still seems like it’s between two men to be our next leader – current Prime Minister, David Cameron and Labour’s Ed Miliband. While Dave may
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be reluctant to debate Red Ed one on one, there’s nothing stopping us putting them head to head. We waded through their manifestos to give you a simple, slightly biased, summary of what their parties have to offer.
The Conservative Party A Brighter, More Secure Future In 2010, the NHS had it’s highest ever public approval ratings. Five years on, it’s the number one election issue. David Cameron may have once declared it a disgrace that ONE single mother had taken a food parcel off the Salvation Army under a Labour government but since then he’s come into power and the number of food banks has increased by 700%. The Chancellor’s budget in March claimed that we’re better off than ever, yet almost half of those in poverty live in working households. So you’ve really got to admire the Prime Minister – it takes some confidence to declare you’re still the right man for the job after 5 years of your leadership has plunged millions into poverty. What have the Tories got up their sleeve then? What are they promising us in exchange for our vote? Let’s have a look. • Remember when Cameron and Co decided that paying three grand a year simply wasn’t enough to go to University and watch poorly designed PowerPoint presentations? Well they still stand by their decision to treble tuition fees, pricing working class kids out of further education, but they will ensure that you won’t have to pay back any of that humongous student debt until you’re earning at least £21,000.
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• According to statistics, half of those living on the streets became homeless before the age of 21. So what do the Conservatives do to help stop this cycle? Axe housing benefit for those aged 18 – 21. The Prime Minister has stated that welfare should no longer be a ‘lifestyle choice’ but hasn’t really addressed the issue of just where do you go if you’re under 21 and don’t have the happy family home he assumes everyone has? Not all are blessed with a mummy and daddy there to loan them a deposit to get on the property ladder, or even help them with their rent. Rather than taking away free TV licences and bus travel from richer pensioners, yet again working class young people will be the ones to suffer at the hands of a Tory government. • They’re a proven failure but a Conservative government promise to open at least 500 more free schools. • The ban of Fox Hunting will be repelled. Because of course, reinstating a cruel ‘sport’ to make posh people happy should be at the top of any to do list when tackling the issues facing this country. • Tax will only begin once you earn at least £12,400. However, 37.5 hours a week at National Minimum Wage (something David Cameron once voted against) brings you in £12,675 a year so this doesn’t mean much to anyone working full time. • Back in the 80’s, Thatcher seemed to think selling off all the social housing on the cheap was a good idea. She believed that a nation of home owners was key to a successful
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“The view that young people are lazy and apathetic, excuse my language, is absolute bollocks. I just won’t have it.”
country. 35 years on and a third of ex council homes are now owned by rich landlords and we’re in the midst of a severe housing crisis. However, this isn’t stopping Thatcherite David Cameron pledging an unabashed extension of the right to buy scheme for 1.3m families in housing association properties. What about the 9m renting in the private sector? Nothing for them. Tough luck. • “We will rebalance our economy and build a Northern Powerhouse.” Does anyone actually know what a Northern Powerhouse is? It sounds like how an Apprentice candidate from Blackburn would describe themselves. Whatever it is, the Conservatives are doing their best to try and convince us that they actually care about anywhere North of Birmingham; with promises of better representation across the country – including a Mayor of Manchester. The Tories may be keen to tell you that we’re better off under them but we’re actually down £1,100 a year since they came into power. By the looks of their manifesto, things can only get worse.
The Labour Party Britain only succeeds when working people succeed. This is a plan to reward hard work, share prosperity and build a better Britain. Whereas The Conservative manifesto basically acts as an 84 page ‘F**k you’ to anyone under the age of 30, Ed Miliband’s Labour actually seem interested in future generations; even if we don’t vote. You can argue that Red Ed doesn’t seem tough enough to lead the country, but your alternative is a man who is scared to debate a
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supposedly weak man. The Labour leader may not look attractive while scoffing a bacon butty (who does?) but let’s look at some policies and promises rather than fall for The S*n’s smear campaign: • As it stands, you’re more than welcome to start paying tax at the age of 16 but you haven’t got the right to vote on which government gets to spend it. If Labour gets back into power they pledge to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 years of age by 2016. • Iain Duncan Smith wants to rebrand brand evil, exploitive zero hour contracts. Fine - Ed Miliband will ban them. And the minimum wage will rise to £8 an hour by October 2019. Still not enough, but much better than the Tories insulting 20p hike in this year’s budget. • Unpaid internships favour kids from middle class backgrounds. Sure, working for free for six months will probably help you break into the industry but you usually need to make sure your parents are rich enough to have you live at home rent free while you complete it. By banning them, Labour will even the playing field up a little bit. • “The Bedroom Tax is cruel and we will abolish it.” *solidarity fist emoji* • Our parents all seemed to have bought houses for the price of a Freddo. Those days are over – we’re Generation Rent. That housing crisis I mentioned earlier, well Labour are looking at building more homes, tackling exploitive private landlords and help give renters more protection and rights.
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• Fairer tax rules under Labour. The Tories may think you should be financially rewarded for making your friend and family sit through a wedding, but Ed promises to scrap the date Marriage Tax Allowance. Getting rid of the insulting tax break for wedded couples (nothing for single parent households for widows etc) will make way for the introduction of a lower 10p starting rate of tax. They’ll also abolish Non Dom status – an old fashioned rule that helps multi-millionaires dodge paying their share of income tax. • David Cameron may say dated, sexist stuff like “Calm down, dear” when a woman dares to speak, but Labour seem to have cottoned on to the fact that females actually make up quite a lot of the electoral and should probably be treated like equal citizens. They want to give more money to refuges and Rape Crisis Centres, create better access for women to get legal aid in cases of domestic violence and ‘appoint a commissioner to set minimum standards to tackle domestic and sexual violence.’ And there we have it. People may want to argue that there is no difference between the two main parties, but as you can tell, when it comes to what they pledge to do for young people, there really is. Just remember, the smallest differences tend to be the ones that make the biggest impact on the vulnerable.
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TIPPLE, TUNES, AND TRABS DJ Pooky and the closure of Adam’s Fine Wines By Lucy Varley
A DJ since 1985, a fine wine merchant and a sneaker junkie rolled into one makes Pooky; The Bohemian B Boy, The Wirral Wonder or The Caucasian Blunder, as he’s wryly known to some. Armed with a motley crew of personalities fit for an awkward ‘3 men walk into a bar’ punchline and enough trainers and vintage wines to sink a ship, Adam Speechly has become notorious to the music loving, sneaker wearing and wine drinking people of the city as a bit of a trailblazing maverick. A hedonistic wonder to behold. Born and bred in Heswall; or the Golden Ghetto, as he has ironically christened it, Pooky realized that with the arrival of hip hop and the freshly emerging dance cultures, he had discovered the ideal path to pave the way for his rebellious methods. Following a series of unfulfilling episodes whilst working at school discos and under-18’s events, he rocked up with an exclusive crew of newly crowned DMC champion DJ Trix (also Pooky’s earliest icon) to the more fitting territory of Birkenhead’s iconic Defhouse and Bassment nights, and Liverpool’s Mardi Gras Club. Embarking upon his own free-spirited path of open policies and scratch DJing, after being booted from Juice FM for delivering some of the most heterogeneous beats of that era (and being ‘too’ creative with his sound), he discovered his own, distinct niche of music, with no genre untouched, every new sound trialled and tested and, even now, he regularly immerses himself back into his vast collection of sounds.
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Pooky is the creative force behind his own operation. During the day, he owns and manages his Aladdin’s Cave of fine wines, sketchily titled “Adam’s Fine Wines”, accommodating its own ‘Beat Bodega’ recording studio, trading in high-end sneakers and retailing tastes of the hippest streetwear. Ask him to describe 17 years of combining his greatest loves (living the distant dream of many) and he will simply reply: “This has been exhausting, it’s been amazing. It’s been 17 years of outright, balls-deep hedonism drinking the finest wine.” Pooky operates with a strong belief system that life is about what’s happening right here, right now; and that life is about having good times with good people. To Pooky, music, wine and trabs compliment each other naturally: “Music makes you feel good, putting trainers on makes you feel good, wine makes you feel good. You’ve gotta fucking keep it in balance, you know? Not too much wine, not too many trainers. But music on the other hand, you can never have enough.” Ask Pooky what his finest bottle of wine stocked is and he’ll tell you this: “I’ve never had a bottle of wine stocked in my life I’ve either had them to sell or I’ve drank them. Financially, a bottle of La Tâche ’85 is worth the money.” However, Adam’s Fine Wines is now locking up for good, so what’s next for Pooky? “You’ll have to wait and see. I don’t know cos that’s tomorrow, and I’m about now, so end of the lesson.”
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EXIT STRATEGY New escape room game opens in Liverpool By Mike Brits
When we heard a puzzle room had opened in Liverpool and OPEN were invited to go and give it a try, it was an opportunity for me to redeem myself after a visit to an Escape the Room game in Berlin - which I had failed to escape. On arrival we were greeted by Jack - the brains behind Exit Strategy - and led down a staircase littered with what looked like a theatre’s boot sale; half mannequins and curtains abound where we were given the brief: ‘You need to get the code to this door. Don’t touch anything with a white sticker on it. You have an hour, good luck.’ The door was locked behind us, and I was determined to get out. There was a typewriter with a page in it that laid out the premise: A conspiracy theorist believes there are aliens using chemtrails and wifi to control humans, the aliens are among us as lizard people - basically a conspiracy theorist’s version of Starmix. I won’t go into details of what the puzzles entailed, but the premise is that everything in the room is locked with a combination lock. Without prompts, you have to figure out what in the room can make a code, and which lock it unlocks. When you unlock one cupboard / box / drawer there is usually some clue in it that
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will help you unlock the next one. Should you get really stuck, there is a screen in the room that will light up and give you a hint. The room was beautifully set up; old bookshelves lined with actual books, genuine antiques and artwork around the room helped establish that critical suspension of disbelief. I found myself quickly immersed in the world cleverly created by Exit Strategy, then quickly brought back to reality when some weird dance / lounge music started playing. The biggest problem with taking a massively popular digital genre (see: The Room, Neutral) is that in a game, if something isn’t important, it won’t do anything. So you know the important things are most likely the books that can open or the switches that can be toggled. In a real life situation, however, you can interact with everything (with the exception of white stickered things) so you don’t know what is important and what is not. I found myself paging through books and looking at decrepit maps trying to find clues that were just not there. But I guess that’s the beauty of a real life escape room game; the challenge is that a story left in a room is not linear, and your logic is
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the only thing that can bring the linearity needed to get that final code. The puzzles were challenging and quite fresh to me. Exit Strategy have put a lot of work into these puzzles and it really isn’t a simple case of join the dots. Sometimes the puzzles required a bit of a cognitive leap, and coming from a gaming / programming background, those leaps didn’t come naturally to me, but they might have come naturally to someone else. As I was trying out a particularly original puzzle, the timer went off, and to my horror I wasn’t out the room. I wasn’t nearly out the room. Jack came back in only to tell us how close we were to actually escaping and showed us the last puzzle. I would not have come close to figuring it out in the allocated time. It’s very clever - that’s all I’m saying. Exit Strategy was great; it was challenging and carefully crafted. It’s refreshing to see something like this in Liverpool and I really hope it stands the test of time. All I can do now is add it to my list of things that keep me awake at night: comebacks to high school bullies, pick-up lines and Berlin.
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CITY GRAMS Some shots of Liverpool we liked whilst stalking your Instagram accounts. Follow us @openmag
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L/R T/B: @gracecherry96, @stephenmark, @jack_mckinleyy, @betarok75, @ordenalfabetix, @makted94, @chibukushakeshake, @krateandco, @fact_liverpool, @terry_bouch, @mookijoe OPEN MAY / JUNE 2015
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L/R T/B: @markmcnulty, @snapperlane, @nathaliesaleh, @karyn777, @rjbattersby, @mdearden, @agent_marketing, @24kitchenstreet, @thecowandcocafe, @thecowandcocafe, @kieeeg, @hazical OPEN MAY / JUNE 2015
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