The Book - The Careers Special by The Book

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IGGY at WORK HOW IGGY AZALEA IS CHANGING THE FACE OF RAP CAREERS SPECIAL JOB HUNTING TIPS NO ONE TOLD YOU POWER DRESSING ARE INTERNSHIPS WORTH IT?

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CONTENTS Editor’s Letter

—3

Issue 8 APR-JUNE 2013

Features 4 6 9

14 16 20 50

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he List T Top 10 events The Big Question Internship: pros and cons The Mission 10 job-hunting tips that really work Style Study How to dress for interviews Cover Star: Iggy Azalea Her plan for world domination Photo-story Boutique festivals Inside Job The man with 52 jobs

Cover Interview IGGY AZALEA

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S TA R DU S T Eminem proved white men can rap. Iggy Azalea tells Dominic Wells how she will do the same for girls

ullumbimby in New South Wales, Australia, is a town every bit as small as the name makes it sound. Here it was that a 16-year-old girl named Amethyst Amelia Kelly plotted her escape. She told her mother she was flying to Miami for a holiday with an older female friend. In fact, she was leaving home for good, with the unlikely dream of becoming the first white, female rap superstar. Seven years on, Amethyst now goes by the name of Iggy Azalea (‘Iggy’ after the family dog, ‘Azalea’ after the street she grew up on), and is on the verge of achieving that dream. She’s paid her dues, racking up millions of YouTube hits for her sassy, coloursaturated videos, releasing three mixtapes of songs and becoming the first woman to be included on influential hiphop magazine XXL’s annual Freshmen list. This February she finally bagged a major-label signing, to Mercury Records. She is, in the words of her good friend Rita Ora whom she supported on tour, hot right now. ‘I’ve never really told the whole story,’ Iggy says when asked about her escape to America, ‘but I don’t care anymore, so why not. Prior to me leaving I’d done a string of crazy s**t kid things. Not drugs, just f***ing up your life. I was unhappy, frustrated, it was making me crazy.

‘I used to be friends with a kid on the internet. He lived in the Bahamas, and moved to Miami because his father got a job there so I thought, well, I’ll have to go to some city in America to do what I gotta do, and he was the only kid I knew there. He showed me so many things that I didn’t understand at first: like this movie arcade shaped like an Egyptian pyramid with so many screens, and these donk riders with 40-inch rims, wheels so high you’d have to climb up a ladder to get in.’ You wouldn’t think that a wide-eyed girl from the sticks could be a kindred spirit to inner-city rap, but you’d be wrong. She had posters of Tupac Shakur plastered over her bedroom walls because, she says, ‘It’s the underlying emotion in the songs, that’s what I latch on to. He feels alone because he’s famous and on the road, and I feel alone because I’m in the middle of nowhere. It’s hard to break out of being poor and in the inner-city, and it’s hard to break out of the country. I feel trapped and mad about it too, and there’s just something about the beat of rap and the aggression that I relate to.’ When Iggy started out, people advised her to take up modelling, not music: there was an assumption that ‘white girls can’t rap’. ‘I’m like, how are you any more in the culture than I am? Because you’re black? Because you’ve lived in America longer than I have? That

‘I felt trapped and mad – there’s just something about the beat of rap and the aggression I related to’



Boutique unique — 20

Photo-story FESTIVALS

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Think small. Relax at one of this summer's green, serene festivals

Wilderness, Aug 8-11 Where? Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, £146.50 Who? Empire of the Sun, Noah and the Whale, Rodriguez, Michael Kiwanuka and Tom Odell, plus chefs and theatrical performances. Why? It’s from the producers of two of our favourite festivals, Secret Garden Party and Lovebox, and is for the all-round arts lover, not just the music mosher. Night-time revelry ranges from a Bacchanalian Masked Ball to a roller disco.

s s

Reviews 26 30 34 38 42 45 47 49

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usic: Social media monsters M Film: Spring Breakers Stage: Breakin’ Convention Art: Hume vs. Caulfield Gadgets: PlayStation 4 Fitness: Running London Travel: Working abroad Blogs: Career tips

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER: —Kohinoor Sahota EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: —Dominic Wells ART DIRECTION: —Bb/Teasdale EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: —Emily Newsome MUSIC EDITOR: —Neil Simpson FILM EDITOR: —Neil Clarke

Reviews FILM

— 31

Film If the reboot fits…

If at first you don’t succeed, says Dominic Wells, try again

Environmentalists call it ‘recycling’; creative types call it ‘running out of ideas’; Hollywood calls it a ‘reboot’. A reboot is not a sequel: it is a return to the origin of a popular character or franchise to make it credible – and lucrative – again for a new generation. Man of Steel is the latest. Will it also be the greatest? Man of Steel The 1978 Superman, with its tagline ‘You’ll believe a man can fly’, kick-started Hollywood’s superhero fixation. It made $300m, big bucks in those days, and was nominated for three Oscars. But by the time of Superman IV (1987), the franchise was knackered and it was shot on a shoestring budget. Superman Returns

Girls gone wild

The American Dream turns to a nightmare in Spring Breakers, finds Dominic Wells

Spring break! Skimpy bikinis! Teen idols Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez and Ashley Benson! But now add James Franco as a grill-toothed drug-and-arms-dealing gangsta rapper who tricks these girls into doing exactly what he tells them, and we’re off into much weirder territory. Spring Breakers is one of the most subversive films in years. Possibly since the writer/director’s last film, and the one before that… The man behind it is Harmony Korine, the most interesting film-maker that you may possibly never have heard of. Korine wrote the script for Kids (1995) while still a teenager. An unflinchingly honest depiction of underage sex, drugs and nihilism, it launched the careers of Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson and put the term ‘virginsurgeon’ into the lexicon. Gummo (1997), a disconnected series of stories of alienated youth in smalltown 1970s America, was even weirder. Korine directed as well as wrote it, and though a number of people walked

out of screenings (the cat-drowning sequence usually did it), it also won top festival prizes. I met Korine at a boat party in London to launch the film, and he was insulted by my suggestion that he make a TV series from it. He shouldn’t have been. I was thinking Twin Peaks goes punk. Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) was about a schizophrenic, made under the strict filming rules of the Dogme 95 movement. For his next, Fight Harm, Korine provoked tough-looking strangers into fighting him. It was abandoned when he was hospitalised after six fights.

STAGE EDITOR: —Millie Milliken ART EDITOR: — Joe Davis GADGETS EDITOR: — Adam Vjestica CONTRIBUTORS: — Christian Adofo, Adam Bloodworth, Nora McLeese, Nikos Papanikolaou, Ewan Phillips, Olivia Piepe, Rosy Rickett, Christabel Samuel, Costas Sarkas, Andrew

attempted a reboot in 2006, but failed to take off at the box office: $391m was not a good return on a $270m budget. Master rebooter Christopher Nolan has produced Man of Steel, with action expert Zak Snyder directing; advance word is wildly positive. According to one viewer, presumably not a Sight & Sound critic, ‘there’s tons of action with Superman kicking all kinds of ass in his suit’. Spider-Man This is a strange one. The Sam Raimi trilogy was wildly successful, both critically and commercially. Tobey Maguire became a major heartthrob, the upside-down kiss voted one of the most romantic in

movie history. And yet, only ten years after Spider-Man raked in $820m, they decided to do it all over again. Would the public sit through essentially the same plot? You bet. The film made $752m. Batman The first reboot, by Tim Burton in 1989, spared no expense. Jack Nicholson played The Joker. Prince did a tie-in album. Queues stretched round the block. This was a dark Batman that banished the memory of the camp ‘60s TV show… until Joel Schumacher got his hands on the franchise, dressed Batman and Robin in codpieces and pointy nipples and had Arnold Schwarzenegger making terrible puns as Mr Freeze: ‘Let’s kick some ice!’ Could Batman’s credibility survive? Warner Bros bet $185m that it could. In 2008 they let a hip

from hell’ (and that was a positive review), is an experimental, largely improvised, lo-fi movie shot and edited on VHS. The title, as he warned at the first screening, is meant literally. And so we come to Spring Breakers. This is the closest thing to a mainstream movie Korine has made, largely thanks to the star cast. Korine has said that he wants it to play like a Britney Spears video by way of Gaspar ‘Irréversible’ Noé, and persuading three squeaky-clean teen idols (plus his young wife, Rachel Korine) to upend their image is a masterstroke. More than any other film-maker save perhaps David Lynch, Korine is interested in the dark side of the American Dream, how with a different perspective it can so easily seem a nightmare.

‘Persuading squeakyclean teen idols to upend their image is a master-stroke’

Mister Lonely (2007) was about a Michael Jackson impersonator in Paris who falls in with a commune of other celebrity impersonators. It is without doubt the only film to star Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, the Pope, James Dean and the Queen. Trash Humpers (2009), described by one critic as ‘a home movie

The genesis of the movie was, as with most of Korine’s works, a simple image: he saw girls in bikinis with guns and balaclavas over their faces, and wondered how they would get there. Now admit it. Aren’t you just a teensy bit curious to find out too? Spring Breakers opens on April 5

Editor’s Letter:

young director, most famous for an arty thriller that ran backwards (Memento), loose in the toy shop. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight made over $1bn. Hulk It seemed a great idea: get Oscar-garlanded art movie director Ang Lee to helm a blockbuster about an angry green monster. He was such a perfectionist that he played the part of Hulk himself, leaping around in a motion-capture suit. Sadly, the end result was dull, and it made ‘just’ $245m. So, five years later, they tried again. This time, The Incredible Hulk (2008) was a genuinely exciting film with a credible A-list star (Edward Norton) that made… just $20m more. Oh well. You can’t win them all. Man of Steel opens on June 14

Festivals Let’s All Be Free Film Festival, Apr 5-7 Films of 3-30 mins, all connected to freedom, at the Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Thursday Till Sunday Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Paola Giannini Release: April 5

A Chilean family’s road trip is an unprepossessing premise for a film, so it is deeply impressive that Dominga Sotomayor’s debut wrings such a sublimely perceptive movie out of seemingly slender pickings. In largely allying the audience’s viewpoint with that of

the family’s two young children, she not only renders the tensions in the adults’ relationship as something mysterious and ominous – and as such, far more novel and intriguing than if approached head-on – but also evocatively captures the condition of childhood; of being

ignored, or of having your ignorance assumed, and of perpetual restlessness, always on the cusp of boredom. The car in which much of the film takes place becomes a prism through which to view these characters’ lives in microcosm, which Sotomayer does with an uncommon charm and ease. Beautiful without affectation, this is an unexpected gem which demands to be seen regardless of whether you’d ordinarily go to the cinema to see subtitled films. (NC)

London Independent Film Festival, Apr 11-22 The tenth LIFF gives a platform to creative low-budget films and debuts from around the world. The Roxy and Shortwave cinemas host. Sundance London Film and Music Festival, Apr 25-28 The second Sundance London brings 14 of the best indie films from its US parent to the O2, plus music and Q&As. Sci-Fi-London, Apr 27-May 6 At the Apollo Piccadilly Circus, the festival usually offers a dozen or more premieres, including some big names. So watch this, ahem, space.

Scherer, Eva Stamler ADVERTISE: advertise@thebookmag.com

’ve wanted to do a Careers Special for a while. But not the standard make-sure-there’s-no-mistakes-onyour-CV advice: instead, advice you probably never knew, insider tips mixed with ways you can stand out from the crowd. Take Adam Pacitti, who advertised himself on a billboard with the headline ‘Employ Adam’ (p9), or Matt Frost who’s had a different job a week from working on a farm to being a stuntman (p50). We’ve also got an informative guide to working abroad (p47). For our cover interview we spoke to Iggy Azalea. Her star is on the rise: she’s just toured with Rita Ora and is releasing her new single, incidentally called Work, on April 1, and her album, The New Classic, this summer. She’s had quite some journey: find out why she ran away from home at 16, what she thinks of her feud with Azalea Banks and the reverse racism she’s got from black rappers (p16). There are plenty of cultural events to look forward to. My must-sees are Breakin’ Convention, the hip-hop dance festival, which celebrates its tenth year (p35); Spring Breakers, the film in which Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez shed their Disney image (p30); and (hopefully) seeing Andy Murray win his first Wimbledon. Kohinoor

ERS OFF

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—4

The LIST

4:/ Swim Year round

Now spring has sprung, dive in and make a splash at London’s outdoor pools. Serpentine Lido is open weekends during May, and daily from June 1. Tooting Bec Lido, the largest in England, opens on May 19. The similarly art-deco Parliament Hill Lido opens from May 5, and hardy swimmers can brave Brockwell Lido year-round. Have you got chills multiplying? The Oasis in Covent Garden offers a heated outdoor pool.

1:/ Marathon

2:/ Greenwich

A fun day out? Yes. In a great location? Yes. Raising money for charity? Yes! The Virgin London Marathon shows off the capital’s iconic landmarks and fills the city with fancy dress and thousands of spectators. The entry list has closed but you can still play your part by cheering on the runners.

The Greenwich and Docklands International Festival offers the best in outdoor theatre and dance. With extravagant and dramatic performances, the event intends to ‘recapture the spirit of Olympic London’, giving us an experience of innovative and creative art. All for free.

qApr 21

Jun 21-29

3:/ Market

5:/ Science

The Soho Flea Market once again takes over Dean Street in Soho for the day, offering fashion and crafts stalls, with entertainment from bands and comedy acts. It’s free, but with such an array of stalls even the most frugal will be fidgeting with the purse strings. Last year, the event attracted 10,000 people to the street, which was closed to traffic for the occasion. This year the market will double in size. A proportion of proceeds is donated to Kids Company.

What would it be like to consider human beings from another perspective, to experience the evolution of man as an insect older than the dinosaurs? Don the special suit and take the free Cockroach Tour of the Science Museum (weekends only) to find out, guided by the Professor of Humanology at Cockroach College. Or, on the last Wednesday of every month, try the Science Museum lates, a child-free zone with interactive exhibits, live music and special events.

June 2

Until Aug 4

The LIST

— 5

6:/ Beyoncé

8:/ Udderbelly

10:/ Theatre

The Queen B ascends to the throne – or at least, the stage of the O2 – on the London leg of her 59-date world tour. Beyoncé’s now a mum and is billing herself as Mrs Carter (hubby Jay-Z’s real name), but we needn’t worry: that regal booty will still shake up a storm.

The upended, giant inflatable purple cow is back on the Southbank, hosting an udderly brilliant programme of comedy, music and circus. As if that wasn’t enough, the Udderbelly Festival also offers one of the largest outdoor bars in London.

In Project Colony a special bus transports you from a meeting point in Docklands to an island with a lighthouse (Trinity Buoy Wharf), where you find yourself part of the action, playing a penal colony inspector in Fourth Monkey’s latest immersive performance piece.

7:/ May Day

9:/ Tennis

The Book Club celebrates May Day with a Shoreditch twist, cramming a cider festival, Morris dancers and a bandstand into the Leonard Street Car Park. May 1 is also when workers unite, and this year the big demo assembles at Clerkenwell Green at noon, moving off towards Trafalgar Square at 1pm.

It’s Champagne and strawberries time as Andy Murray competes for the Wimbledon title. Tickets are sold out, but The Queue allows fans to camp out and queue for tickets on the day. Perhaps Cliff Richard won’t be singing in the stalls, but you’ll have a shot at seeing the tennis greats.

Apr 29-May 1, May 3-5

May 1

Apr 12-July 14

Jun 24-Jul 7

Apr 2-27

— 6

The BIG QUESTION

Q: A:

Are internships worth it? By — ANDREW SCHERER & ROSY RICKETT

YES –

Andrew Scherer of Inspiring Interns Internships are a force for good. Even if they’re unpaid. There, I’ve said it. First, let me clarify exactly what an unpaid internship should and shouldn’t be. It should be time-limited: three months max. It should pay (full) travel and lunch expenses. It should be widely advertised and recruited for like a normal position – ensuring it goes to the best candidate. It should be carefully structured to ensure the intern is gaining proper, meaningful experience. It should be closely supervised with regular, constructive feedback. It should offer some potential for permanent employment afterwards. ‘Wait!’ you cry. ‘Surely a good internship should be all of these things

NO –

Rosy Rickett of Interns Anonymous ‘…I wrapped up promotional material, made cups of tea and that was about all. The only thing I learned is that some people take liberties. They also refused to give me a reference unless I worked for free for six months.’ ‘Duties involved sitting on the floor with no chair, in a cupboard, five days a week, hand writing out returns labels.’ Two interns talking about their experiences. And have I told you the one about the intern who had to stay late into the night to hand-squeeze juice for her boss’s birthday party cocktails? I’ve done an unpaid internship. I wanted to gain experience and skills in a crowded job market, instead I gained a

AND paid!’ While this would be nice, it is unfeasible. The economics dictate that enforcing payment would change the nature of many of these opportunities or, worse, see them disappear altogether. Companies, particularly smaller firms, do not have the resources to offer meaningful learning experiences (which cost a lot of time) and offer payment. An internship allows them to recruit on traits such as attitude and raw ability. As soon as payment is required, the emphasis of the placement moves from learning to contributing and the company will expect a paid intern to have some relevant experience – ruling out the majority of people who need an internship the most. The issue of access is another thorny topic, but again is misconstrued in the media. There is financial support for people who wish to do unpaid internships. Jobseeker’s Allowance is available through the Work Experience Programme. Many universities offer bursaries for students and

graduates. No one needs to survive with no income for three months – the help is there. And what of the people who do not live within commutable distance of London? Are they not excluded on the basis of geography? While London is a hub for many industries, there is a world outside of the capital. There are dedicated regional websites for internships. Many companies outside of London complain of not being able to attract graduates. And realistically, is an internship paying national minimum wage going to allow someone from outside the capital to move here (where the living wage is nearly 40% higher than NMW)? Inspiring Interns have placed thousands of students and graduates with hundreds of companies in the four years we have been running. 66% of our internships turn into permanent graduate jobs. We have seen hundreds of well-run internships create jobs that would not have existed otherwise. Unpaid internships are a force for good.∂

healthy scepticism about the number of employers to get rid of entry-level jobs. unscrupulous organisations making money Instead we see rolling three-month out of free labour. The hundreds of stories internships, each intern’s hope of being emailed to the website I set up, www. promoted dashed as the next one comes internsanonymous.co.uk, in. The government admits have convinced us that this is ‘endemic’ – and it’s ‘Everytime unpaid internships lead to about time national nothing more than a hole in you work for minimum wage laws were your bank balance and an enforced (claim back the free you inferiority complex. wage you should have had: www.internsanonymous.co. Some unpaid internships encourage a uk/claim). are better than others; some Plenty of people find will help you get your dream broken system creative ways to earn money job. But remember: every to flourish’ and build a skill set. Work time you work for free you where you can, do shortencourage a broken system term work experience. If you want to to flourish. These ‘valuable opportunities’ are paid for by those who can afford them. write, set up a blog; if you want to work in PR, promote your own club night. Show If you can’t work for free, or don’t live in yourself to be the talented, driven and London where the majority of internships competent person you know you are, and are, then you are effectively cut off from a don’t wait for an exploitative employer to whole range of industries. do it for you.∂ Unpaid internships encourage

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The Mission CAREERS

SCARED YOU WON’T FIND A JOB AFTER UNI?

DON’T PANIC! HERE ARE 10 WAYS TO GET YOUR FOOT IN THE DOOR u

—9

— 10

The Mission CAREERS

3. Get a mentor If you’re lucky, some of the people you contact in Step 2 could become your mentor. The process for finding one is similar. Think of someone in your chosen field who inspires you, is in your dream job, or even a few years above you at university. Twitter and email make it easy for you to get in touch in an informal, friendly manner. Ask for a chat over coffee and then ask about a mentor-mentee relationship. Make sure you set aims for what you want: perhaps it’s meeting once a month, having set tasks to complete, or going to networking events together. The Aspire Foundation (www. aspirefoundation.org), aimed at women, pairs up mentors in business with mentees in charities.

4. Use social media More and more companies use social media to check up on prospective employees: beware of those party pictures on your Facebook. In the US, a strong LinkedIn profile is de rigueur, and increasingly so here. Whenever you meet anyone interesting in your chosen field, try to land them as a contact. Keeping a blog is free, and should be seen as a basic requirement: writing interesting posts about your chosen career demonstrates passion as well as knowledge. Twitter is harder to crack, but impressive when you do. The Book’s previous Music Editor, Laurence Green, amassed 10,000 followers while at university. He’s now Digital Music Assistant at WE7. More than that, finding a job is often about who you know, so make all the virtual contacts you can. Companies may Tweet entry-level positions rather than advertise them. In

4.8%

14.7%

learned a lot to help you in your next meeting or interview.

u 1. Promote yourself

2. Ask for a meeting As soon as a job is advertised, loads of people apply, making

your chances relatively slim. This sounds obvious. What’s less so is the conclusion: find jobs before they are advertised. In creative industries, and especially at entry level (and, perversely, at the highest levels), jobs can be given through recommendation. It costs money to advertise a vacancy. It takes time to read all those applications. If someone knows a candidate who’d be a good fit, it’s easier just to hire them. How can you be that candidate? One way is to write to the top person in a company, the more senior the better. Flatter them. Say you know there are no jobs available, but you would like just ten minutes of their valuable time to get their words of wisdom about the industry. You’d be surprised how rarely they are asked outright, and how often they say yes. Impress them, and they may turn up a job after all. Or they may recommend you to a friend in another company who might have an opening. If nothing else, you will have

38%

99.4%

One of the first writers ever commissioned by The Book was Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski. How did we find out about him? He’d been handing out his business card, complete with his blog URL, outside the offices of national newspapers. He ended up writing for The Telegraph, and is now Deputy Features Editor of Retail Newsagent. Other graduates have found work by walking around in a T-shirt (right), or even sandwich board. Adam Pacitti thought even bigger. Having applied for 250 jobs with no luck, he bought a billboard (above) at the start of 2013, and printed on it, ‘I spent my last £500 on this billboard. Please give me a job,’ complete with his mugshot and URL. It went viral. He is now employed and makes a web series helping people to find jobs (www. employadam.com).

do not find work within six months of graduation! This was the shock headline figure recently. But actually, only 8.6% of graduates in the survey declared themselves unemployed. 8.4% are working and studying at the same time, and 13.1% continue with further study or training.

is the proportion of graduates in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science who land jobs or further study within six months. The next most employable degree subjects are education (94.8%), medicine-related eg neurology (94%), law (91.9%) and agriculture (91.3%).

of graduates are selfemployed. About 2,350 new businesses are started each year by recent graduates.

find work in retail, catering, and as waiting and bar staff. This is the largest professional group for recent graduates. The smallest is the legal profession, at 0.7%.

The Mission CAREERS

March a Dallas marketing firm even conducted its interviews for interns in Q&As of 140 characters. 5. Move location

Margaret Thatcher’s closest adviser, Norman Tebbit, famously told unemployed people that if you can’t find work, you should stop moaning and ‘get on your bike’. So how about it? According to the Office of National Statistics, London actually compares well with other UK cities, with an average of 2.38 jobseekers for every vacancy – though that’s up from 1.5 in July 2012. Hull, the worst, has 51.72. But there are some cities that beat London: Oxford, at 1.1, though graduate competition there might be somewhat tough; Cambridge, at 0.72, ditto. The other best cities near London are Milton Keynes (2.23), Reading (1.04) and Guildford (0.69). You’ll have a long, long ride with a puncture or two before you get to the UK’s top city for job-hunting – that’s Aberdeen, at 0.4. If you want to go even further afield, we’ve got tips on working abroad on p47.

945k

is the disturbing number of economically active young (16-24-year-old) Britons unemployed; 265,000 of those for longer than 12 months. 18.2 per cent of 18-24 year olds are unemployed.

—11

6. Make your CV creative You’ve been told you should spell-check your CV, make sure your telephone number and email are on there. But you may never have been told to make your CV more creative. It doesn’t have to be as wacky as Philippe Dubost, who advertised himself as a product on Amazon (www.phildub. com), just something extra that’s going to stand out from a pile of hundreds of CVs. Make an infographic CV using Adobe Photoshop (below) or InDesign. If you’re not a technology whizz, commission a graphic designer to do it for you: there are several on www. peopleperhour.com, with prices starting at £30. If that’s not creative enough, how about printing your CV on your t-shirt (left) and wearing it to a careers fair? It will be a great conversation starter and you’re bound to be remembered.

7. Start your own business Jamal Edwards founded urban music channel SB.TV at the age of 16. He’s since signed a deal with Richard Branson

(above, with Jamal Edwards), been on the cover of Wired and is worth an estimated £6 million. He’s only 22. Jamal is also an ambassador for Start Up Britain, a national campaign launched by Prime Minister David Cameron to inspire entrepreneurs. He advises: ‘Go for it, because people told me I couldn’t do it and I didn’t listen. I just did it. Chase your dream, not the competition.’ If you have an idea that you think might work, ask the experts. There are sources of funding and support aimed at helping you into selfemployment such as the New Enterprise Allowance and The Prince’s Trust. The latter, incidentally, is what The Book’s Editor and Publisher, Kohinoor Sahota, used two years ago to launch the very magazine u you’re reading.

1,260

50%

20%

is the number of vacancies filled by Teach First last year. It has now become the largest single employer of graduates, just edging out Deloitte and PwC.

of recruiters at the top 100 companies said they would not consider graduates without relevant experience, no matter how good their grades. And showing that internships can work, a third of all their vacancies are filled by graduates who have already spent time in the organisation.

of male graduates earn over £30,000, compared with just 8% of female graduates. In law, female graduates starting out earn 28% less than male graduates; in medicine, 9%.

— 12

The Mission CAREERS

u 8. Give off the right

body language Judi James, author of The Body Language Bible and You’re Hired, offers her tips: ∂Your arrival and greeting rituals are the most important to get right as employers are still massively swayed by the impact of the first impression. ∂Be punctual. Take a moment before you enter an interview and pull up to full height, roll your shoulders back and down, and relax your expression. ∂Keep your bag in your left hand so the right is free to shake; never arrive cluttered. ∂Wait for them to instigate the handshake. Give a firm, dry handshake using eye contact and a smile. ∂Your special display is important. Avoid diminishing, ie making yourself look smaller via self-hugging, although crossing your legs is fine. ∂Avoid ‘leakage’ signals like foot tapping, leg juddering or

71%

of students take on an average of three jobs during their studies.

fiddling with your hair, nails or jewellery. ∂Show you are a good listener by using eye contact and nodding while they talk, and don’t interrupt them. When you want to make your point try leaning forward slightly as it will make you look keen and energetic. ∂Use your hands while you speak but use emphatic gestures and keep your hands below shoulder height as any higher looks like panic. ∂Expect another handshake on the way out.

9. Join a scheme or apprenticeship Get paid whilst you learn. Graduate schemes aren’t just for the likes of Deloitte and Ernst & Young. If you want to get into the media, the BBC (below) offers one-year trainee and apprenticeship schemes in production, design, journalism, business and digital media. Waitrose’s one-year scheme starts you off on a salary of £29,000, and moves you across different branches and departments such as marketing or supply chain. Virgin offers

two-year grad schemes and apprenticeships in areas such as engineering, IT and commercial operations. There are plenty of big companies looking to recruit graduates: Nestlé, Vodafone, Microsoft, the list is endless. Think about who you want to work for and find out if they have a scheme. Chances are they do. 10. Don’t give up It’s easy to get downhearted. The Prince’s Trust found that more than 50% of 18-24 year olds felt disillusioned and desperate in their job search, and that unemployed young people were more prone to depression, insomnia and panic attacks. Keep a sound body and mind; a daily routine and exercise can help. And with our advice, you can only be one step closer to landing your job. Compiled by Emily Newsome and Kohinoor Sahota

£26k

is the average starting salary for a graduate, according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters. But don’t celebrate too soon. This figure is based on larger companies with a solid graduate intake. The true average is more like £20,000.

11%

of UK students have been targeted by the online money mule scam – offering bogus jobs as ‘Money Transfer Agent’ or ‘Payment Processing Agent’. The penalties for money laundering are severe, yet 19% still volunteered.

200

is the number of graduates enrolled each year by Citi into its ten-week internship programme. Citi won the top prize in the National Council for Work Experience Awards in March. Other winners were BP, Fujitsu and Infosys, with Cancer Research as best charity and digital agency Clock as best small firm.

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Style Study POWER DRESSING

Dress For Success Olivia Piepe explains how to be a suit-able candidate for employment

n job interviews, first impressions count. It’s no use bucking the trend; what you wear has always defined how people rate you. In the Renaissance period, colour was a powerful indicator of class: yellow was lower class, whilst red denoted high social status. Colours thereby also became associated with particular professions: prostitutes often in yellow, and judges and high government officials wearing red.

It’s about portraying a confidence that you may not feel internally, but that you will reflect externally. You need to wear an outfit that is so suited to the organisation that the interviewer can visualise you working there, while not wearing something so uncomfortable that you can’t extend your arm to shake their hand.

In the late Victorian period, the suit and tie was the staple attire for the working man. It also took on symbolic importance for women wrestling to demonstrate their worth in the workplace. As Anthea Jarvis, the principal curator at Manchester’s Gallery of Costume explains, ‘In the So what should you wear? You have to 1890s, a suit made women look serious, and capable of doing a man’s job.’ work out the dress code of the company. Corporates such as This reached its apogee in the 1980s with ‘power dressing’, a concept first law firms and banks will expect formal business wear, so suited and booted is key. expounded in the 1975 book Dress for Success. Previously, women in For guys, you can’t go wrong offices occupied mainly with a well-fitting business secretarial roles, whereas in suit in blue, black or grey, ‘Dynasty led the ’80s more women were paired with a non-garish, becoming lawyers, politicians the fashion: well-ironed shirt and a simple and corporate executives. tie. Polish your shoes and men sported Shows such as Dynasty (right) have a shave. led the fashion: men sported pinstripes, pinstripes and perfectly For girls it’s far harder, due to women wore coiffed hair, whilst working the plethora of options. We’d women wore two-piece suits recommend finding an outfit outrageous with outrageous shoulder feel comfortable in, shoulder pads you pads and gigantic perms in whether it is a trouser suit and perms ’ order to make a strong (which, incidentally, style impression. pundits have decreed are hot right now) or skirt suit in Power dressing today may be less of an neutral colours with a blouse or shirt, or a overt display; according to designer Donna formal work dress paired with a tailored Karan, ‘Women are now more jacket. comfortable with themselves and their bodies – they no longer feel they need to As the average height of Fortune 500 hide behind their clothes.’ However, you CEOs is 6ft, it’s no wonder that women still have to show that you mean business. want to make themselves appear taller.

Don’t wear skyscrapers, however; try mid to flat heeled, clean and polished, closedtoe formal shoes. Try not to overdo the make-up or accessories, either, and don’t reveal too much skin. Both sexes should make sure clothes are well ironed and cleaned – they want to interview a prospective employee, not a sloppy student. More tricky are the less formal organisations who may expect less formal attire to show you can fit in. See if the company website has a blog with pictures, or wait outside the office at lunch to see what the staff look like. As Jack Denton, Director and Co-Founder of AllAboutCareers.com explains, ‘Looking the part (and looking good) will give you that crucial boost of confidence to weather whatever they throw at you.’∂ Olivia Piepe works for www.AllAboutCareers.com, which offers jobs and advice on interviews and careers

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— 16

Cover Interview IGGY AZALEA

STA RDU S T Eminem proved white men can rap. Iggy Azalea tells Dominic Wells how she will do the same for girls



Cover Interview IGGY AZALEA

‘I felt trapped and mad – there’s just something about the beat of rap and the aggression I related to’



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Cover Interview IGGY AZALEA



doesn’t make you some special honorary grinds away on some small-town sleazeball’s member, we’re all part of the same generation, crotch, steals his car keys while he’s distracted, and drives off laughing with her friends. The hearing the same f***ing music.’ Even so, she did sign to Wilhelmina Models, song is insanely catchy, and the lyrics take in her and fronted campaigns for Levi’s and the UK’s humble beginnings (‘No money, no family, 16 in House of Holland, though she insists it’s very the middle of Miami’), her battles with the much a sideline to her music. She loves British industry, and her recent signing: ‘All aboard my style: ‘You guys pride yourselves on not taking spaceship to Mercury.’ And you gotta love the your cue from America. Over there they have all wordplay: ‘Valley girls giving blow jobs for Louboutins/ What these rules, these celebrity do you call that? style guides. Here it’s more high-fashion influenced, and ‘Everyone says white Head over heels.’ more individual, piecing girls can’t rap, now Her lyrics are together outfits in an often outrageously sexual, which she unconventional way.’ they have someone to learned from a She herself has an point to’ surprising source – unconventional beauty: wide her father. ‘My dad, mouth, aristocratic nose, long blonde hair, a tiny waist curving out to a hip-hop who was a comic artist, used to play me the booty. Her flow is as unstoppable in conversation blues: he’d point out these lyrics and say, “Do as in song and twice as eloquent, though if you you think this song’s really about a sweet potato? took along a swear-jar to meet her you’d soon be Or is it, like, a vagina really?”’ She laughs a millionaire (most of the F-words have been uproariously. ‘They’d use all kinds of metaphors edited out here). Her videos always cause a stir: for sex, and I like to do the same.’ her first, PU$$Y, went viral after Perez Hilton Iggy likes a good laugh, that’s clear long posted it; Murda Bizness is set in the bizarre world before our allotted 20 minutes turns into close of child beauty pageants; My World is so over- on an hour, and she has thankfully kept that tellthe-top sexual that Iggy intended it as a parody it-like-it-is Australian inability to be two-faced. of ’90s videos, even if not all her fans get the ‘All the girls I ever meet we’re pretty much joke. ‘It doesn’t bother me if they don’t. I’m not friends straight away,’ she says. a comedian, it’s not my job, why would it worry Even Azealia Banks? Their Twitter war is me? Art is subjective, what matters is not what I the stuff of hip-hop legend, after her nearnamesake took exception to Iggy ‘copying’ a intended, but what the listener wants to hear.’ The video for her new single, Work, is song title. ‘That feud will go on for as long as basically a love-letter to Iggy’s backside. She that person feels that way,’ she says dismissively,

— 19

‘because I don’t care. When you start off you feel threatened, like there’s only room for me. Then you realise, we all go through the same s***, get told the same s*** by guys, we all have to fight to get where we are. ‘I’ve always loved Missy Elliott,’ she continues. ‘She’s like the mother of all the girl rappers, so supportive, all the girl rappers are her Twitter background. There’s no granddaddy of male rap that gets them all in line, she doesn’t have to, but she makes everyone feel comfortable. We’re all influenced by her, she is a legend.’ And Iggy, in turn, has her followers, nicknamed ‘Azaleans’. They’ll send her fan art, Tweet their dreams about her. ‘That’s kind of crazy,’ she laughs, ‘but it’s cool. So many of them say to me they never thought they could do this, that everyone says white girls can’t rap and now they have someone to point to. Hip-hop s***s on white women all the time, but they buy the stuff, they support the culture, and they’re going “where do I fit in? Where’s my hero?” I like that now they have me as their champion.’ There’s no stopping her now. ‘I would like to be the biggest f***ing thing in the world,’ she declares. ‘I want to blaze the trail like Eminem did for white male rappers, I want to be the girl that makes it so it’s never a question again whether white girls can rap.’ It can’t be very long till we’re all getting Iggy with it.∂ Work is released on April 1. Iggy Azalea’s debut album, The New Classic, is out this summer. She plays The Great Escape festival in Brighton, May 16-18

Fresh princesses

LITTLE NIKKI She may be ‘little’, but she’s got a lot of talent. Signed at 13, Nikki released her first single at 16: Intro Intro sees her getting high on, er, fizzy drinks and sweets. With a cute face and bags of confidence, Little Nikki sings and raps to bass and techno. She was shortlisted for the MTV Brand New for 2013 poll.

SOSAN FIROOZ This is one rebel with a cause. Most performers receive fan mail; Sosan Firooz is receiving death threats as Afghanistan’s first female rapper. The 23-yearold raps out her political and social views: from her experience as a refugee to frustrations about the role of women in the country.

ANGEL HAZE ‘All I have in common with other female rappers is my genitalia,’ said Angel Haze to NME. She too was shortlisted for the MTV Brand New for 2013 poll. Last year her LP Reservation was given away online; her debut album Dirty Gold is out this summer. She plays the Scala on May 7 and Heaven on May 9.

KREAYSHAWN Kreayshawn has rebellious genes: her mother played in a punk rock band. Expelled for threatening to throw a watermelon at a classmate, she has been criticised for using the N-word. Influences include the Spice Girls and Missy Elliott; her debut Somethin’ ’Bout Kreay came out last September.

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‘Cirque du Soleil without the Disney and the disinfectant’ Guardian

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The Big Three

Reading & Leeds, Richfield Avenue & Bramham Park, Aug 23-25, £202.50 each Reading is the world’s oldest popular music festival going. It shares its mega line-up (including Green Day, Eminem) with sister festival Leeds.

Glastonbury Festival, Somerset, June 26-30, £205 Tickets have sold out, as ever, but a new batch are going on sale on April 21. The Rolling Stones are strongly rumoured to be one of the headline acts.

Bestival, Isle of Wight, Sep 5-8, from £180 Bestival's lineup includes Elton John, Snoop Dogg, M.I.A. Franz Ferdinand and Tom Odell. Bestival is famed for fancy dress; this year's theme is nautical. Tickets on sale now.

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Music

‘Lady Gaga started 2013 with over 32 million followers’

The tweet smell of success

Both fans and artists are going Gaga for social media, says Neil Simpson

As eye-rolling clichés go, ‘I love aaall my fans’ is the music world’s ultimate, but it is a mantra that has never been more shrewdly applied than in the social media age. Leading the charge is Lady Gaga, all guns blazing, a trail of burnt-out bloggers in the wake of her emerging ARTPOP project. Her fervent exclamations about her fan base are unprecedented and her ‘Little Monsters’ reciprocate mightily: in 2010 she became the most followed person on Twitter with 5.7 million and (naturally) vlogged about it immediately; she started 2013 with over 32 million. Others have followed suit in building an identity for their fan bases – Rihanna’s ‘Navy’, Nicki Minaj’s ‘Barbz’, and Iggy Azalea’s ‘Azaleans’ (read our cover interview on p16). They’ve created a sense of community and belonging nurtured through blogs, apps and the alluring chance of real-time interaction with your favourite musician. Sat at the Twitter top table alongside Gaga is, of course, Justin Bieber whose ‘Beliebers’ are particularly fearsome: following February’s Grammy awards, Patrick Carney of The Black Keys mused to reporters that Bieber didn’t get nominated because ‘Grammys are for music, not

for money’, before being battered by abusive tweets. Canny Carney then re-tweeted his favourites, added cutting comments (easy considering the material: ‘I hayte u u are a meneace 2 JBiebz society’), and his followers spiked by 20,000. Notoriously feud-friendly, social media stoked the fires of a Lady Gaga/Kelly Osbourne spat which took place via open letters. Gaga criticised Osbourne’s decision to ‘breed negativity’ as a bitchy fashion commentator for American television and, predictably, Little Monster death threats were not far behind (though were still less scary than an angry Sharon Osbourne defending her young). The sunny side of the digital fan era includes the tale of Ton Do-Nguyen, an American school boy who painstakingly recreated Beyoncé’s Countdown video, twirling around his living room in a blue snuggie. Soon the clip was on Beyoncé’s website, with the lady herself commenting: ‘I think he did this video better than I did.’ Ton received an invitation to the MTV VMA Awards and over 2 million YouTube views. Or take Helen Green:

after having her drawings of Lady Gaga noticed on Tumblr, there were tweets, a meeting at a gig, and a job offer. Green is a now a member of Gaga’s creative team. Embracing technological innovations (alongside prolific messaging) is the lifeblood of any social media star, so of course Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP project will be available as an app, promising full immersion in the Monster milieu. Online sociability pays for itself: former Dresden Dolls singer Amanda Palmer, well known for her social media mogulry, used Kickstarter to ask for $100,000 to fund her new record, Theatre is Evil. She actually raised $1.2 million. She celebrated by letting backers draw on her naked body, and still Couchsurfs in fans’ homes when on tour. Is this the dawn of a new age of connection between fan and artist, unfettered by record company control? Certainly music lovers owe much to the social media juggernaut: the creation and distribution of music has never been more interactive. ARTPOP is released this autumn

Reviews MUSIC

The Video Gossip Get A Job From job hunting to money showers in under four minutes: it’s all in a day’s work for Ditto & Co, says Neil Simpson

Gossip’s pastiche on the joyful art of the job hunt, could have been especially commissioned for our Careers Special. The video to Get A Job features the band in the jobs section of a newspaper, capering among the middle rungs of the career ladder: ‘I’d love to stay and party but I gotta go to work,’ exclaims Beth Ditto, appearing as a grinning waitress, a drill-happy dentist and everything in between. Whilst Get A Job engages with more traditional methods, more and more people are finding acutely ingenious ways of harpooning jobs in a moribund market. New Yorker Alec

Little Green Cars Absolute Zero Release: May 13

Citing Jeff Buckley and The Beach Boys as musical inspirations, the Irish five-piece caused a stir last year with their Harper Lee EP. The unswerving battle march of single The John Wayne followed, trampling the terrain of unrequited love with the aid of seriously soulful harmonising; with their debut LP featuring songs like My Love Took Me Down To The River To Silence Me, you can count on further romancedriven dramatics. Aside from music, the band presides over The Factory, an online gallery of their rather bonkers range of drawings, offering an intriguing insight into individual

Brownstein used Google AdWords to harness the names of five creative directors he wanted to work for: all unpopular Google searches, Brownstein paid hardly anything to pin a link to his CV on the search results, predicting the directors often Googled themselves. It worked: Brownstein got four interviews and two job offers. Parisian Philippe Dubost created his CV based on an Amazon page with himself as the product. Brilliantly executed, the CV exploited the format with ‘Only 1 left in stock – Order soon’ and his profile written underneath ‘Product Description’. members of the group. Having already supported Jake Bugg on tour, Little Green Cars are slated to appear at California’s Coachella festival and have signed with Glassnote, Mumford and Sons’ US label; with UK acts currently heading into the stratosphere upon entering American airspace, now is their time to step up to the plate. (NS)

The Knife Shaking The Habitual Release: April 8

The Swedish electro duo keep a notoriously low profile, so appearing in rapper Peaches’ Free Pussy Riot music video last year suited them perfectly: almost everybody wears a coloured balaclava (you simply have to trust Peaches on the clip’s cameo list, which also includes Kate Nash, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Le Tigre). Since then, The Knife have been at work finishing their fourth studio

Dubost found success in becoming a product but Gossip highlight the possible side-effects: the office drones have glazed expressions, working office tools mechanically while ‘work’ is sung over and over, the vocal becoming mangled until it’s robotic; job hunting is linked with prostitution as Ditto dances amongst raining dollar bills in a call-girl outfit and her client gets a happy ending when she turns her hand to playing a masseuse. It might seem patronising for Gossip to tackle this – what do rock stars know about job hunting? After a poor childhood in Arkansas in which squirrels sporadically provided her protein intake, Ditto was still struggling financially as recently as 2005, despite having released two albums with Gossip. Then came Standing In The Way Of Control. If you’re job hunting, take comfort in the lyrics ‘I know it’s hard but […] you gotta try, try, try’. album having already released single Full of Fire. With a machine-gun beat and the kind of chilling sound effects last heard in 1970s slasher movies, Full of Fire sounds as though We Are The Night-era Chemical Brothers made musical babies with the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The video, by visual artist Marit Östberg, consists of typically enigmatic sequences featuring gender-bending screaming old women, a couple of sexually deviant motorcyclists and frankly dreadful washing-up skills. Challenging, intriguing and provocative, this may not be music for the faint-hearted but it will make everybody else dance all night. (NS)

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The Gig That Changed My Life Former X Factor contestant Misha B on one-woman hurricane Beyoncé Four years ago I was blessed enough to have the opportunity to see Beyoncé as part of her I Am… world tour, which was during her I Am…Sasha Fierce era. I saw her in May 2009 in Manchester with my sister, niece and mum. It was insane: all around me, everybody was up and out of their seats, on their feet for the whole show. As the concert progressed it just exceeded all of my expectations. When you thought she had reached the pinnacle of her performance, she would take it to the next level and then suddenly up another level. Her energy is what inspires me when I perform, because you get back from the audience whatever you put in, and that connection is vital. I remember thinking that I had underestimated just how many hits Beyoncé has had, especially all the old-school numbers which the crowd went wild for. Her performance of Single Ladies was the most memorable for me, because all of the women (and quite a few of the men) in the arena reacted with so much passion. It was just Beyoncé and two back-up dancers but the energy she gave made the song electrifying. As for the Superbowl this year, well I have no words. I was totally dumbfounded by her set and it seemed perfectly understandable that after such a showstopper, the power went out and the show literally stopped. I’m so excited for her next tour and I’m definitely going to be there. I have other performers who inspire me, like Tina Turner, James Brown, Prince and Michael Jackson. In my opinion Beyoncé is of the same calibre. For me, she is Jackson's successor as a live performer; she will go down as one of the greats.

Misha B’s new single Here’s To Everything is out April 28

— 28

Reviews MUSIC

Yeah Yeah Yeahs Mosquito

Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City

Release: April 16

Neil Simpson Music Editor Favourite song about work: The whole of Kanye West’s debut album The College Dropout is a (often hilarious) meditation on further education vs. going straight out to work. Worst Job: The checkout in Netto. Utterly humiliating. Thankfully they got swallowed up by Asda. First Job: I had one very unsuccessful day delivering those free ad papers you get through the door: the wheel fell off my trolley, forcing me to drag it home, the exposed axle scraping a white line in the tarmac all the way.

Having worked on this since 2010, the New York rock heroes are back in a grand way. Single Sacrilege sounds like it was destined for a Tarantino movie: there’s theatrical vocals and high-pitched chanting before a 24-strong gospel choir arrives to catapult the track to a biblical crescendo. Inspirations for Mosquito include roots reggae and minimalist psychedelia. The title track has a deep, throbbing bassline, the lyric ‘suck your blood’ becoming a chant: you wouldn’t want to meet this song in a dark alley. Frontwoman Karen O wants Mosquito to provoke a strong reaction –– with music like this (not to mention a giant baby-biting mosquito on the sleeve), she’ll get her wish. (NS)

Release: May 7

Imagine Dragons Night Visions

The US indie darlings are no strangers to creating a bit of buzz: the story goes that ‘Vampire’ was added to their band name to galvanise internet chatter. In February they stoked the publicity fire for their third album by announcing the title in the classified section of the New York Times. Following up the irrepressibly joyous Contra has led Vampire Weekend on a far more considered journey than ever before: band members Bat Manglij and Ezra Koenig have described working to a less frantic schedule and for the first time, Manglij shares production credits with friend Ariel Rechtshaid. These changes are quantified by a more expansive, grander sound: Unbelievers has a less frenetic quality than, for example, Contra’s Holiday or California English. One of the reported influences on the music was cities at night, and there’s certainly one or two spooky moments here. (NS)

Release: April 1

With influences ranging from hip-hop to folk, expect plenty of heavy beats and hand claps on the Vegas quartet’s debut Night Visions, a title that probably explains the inspiration behind their deliriously fun, puppet-fighting Radioactive video. A listenable, radio-friendly offering, the album veers away from the more alternative pathways that Radioactive may have hinted at. Safe they may be, but their musical choices have already paid dividends in the US, debuting in second place on the Billboard chart. This is a strong introduction with plenty of scope for the future: hopefully their next offering will be a bit more adventurous. (NP)

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Reviews MUSIC

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Nightlife Rum Shack, Floridita, Tue-Sat, W1F 0TN, free Floridita have decked out their bar area like a Cuban paradise, with a dizzying array of rum cocktails and funk, Latin and jazz bands to ensure you’re Havana ball.

Kid Cudi Indicud

Release: April 23

The Cleveland native’s third studio album has had a troubled gestation: at the beginning of the year, dissatisfied with his radio exposure, Cudi Twitter-ranted at his own record label which, while perhaps not entirely advisable, certainly generated publicity. Cudi’s ‘tormented soul’ is conveyed through sparse, beat-heavy soundscapes but with lyrics like ‘I’ve been told that I’m amazing/Gotta keep that fire blazin’’, there’s plenty of peacock-style posturing too. As part of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music collective, a Yeezy sighting on Indicud is a sound bet. (NS)

Guilty Pleasures, KOKO, last Sat of the month, NW1 7JE, £11.25 The BBC London radio show that became a club night, album series, TV show and festival stalwart is on monthly at KOKO. 1,600 people unite under the philosophy that clubbing needn’t be ‘cool’. Cable, Ketoloco: Night Shift, May 26, and Four Years of Cable Weekend, June 14-16, SE1 2EL, from £12 In four years, Cable has become a clubbing force, combining under-the-arches shabby-chic with cuttingedge sound and DJs. Its birthday party brings out the big guns, including super-DJ Gilles Peterson on the Friday. Ketoloco also returns with their biggest set yet across all three rooms.

Hammersmith Apollo Apr 8-9

She had the best-selling album of 2012, performed at both Olympic ceremonies and just about muscled Adele out of the spotlight at this year’s Brits. Sandé has spoken of past struggles with writer’s block – she’s clearly hit her stride now. fun.

Hammersmith Apollo Apr 18

Anthemic We Are Young became the first rock song to top the Billboard Hot 100 in four years. Combining dark lyrics with rip-roaring arrangements and influences including Queen, expect fun. to live up to their name. Two Door Cinema Club

Alexandra Palace Apr 27

Trumpet-loving indie rockers Two Door Cinema Club return to

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More Music Emeli Sandé

23 JUNE – 26 JULY 2013 Cutting Edge Music & Opera in the Heart of the City

Tickets from £12 (student discount available)

London for their biggest headlining UK gig yet. Make sure you check out YouTube for What We See, the Bangor trio’s documentary of last year’s European tour over the summer, a great teaser for ticket-holders.

Max Baillie & Leafcutter John St Lawrence Jewry, EC2 Wednesday 10 July, 6.00pm Experimental recreations of sounds in nature with the innovative pairing of viola & electronics. Tickets £10

Muse

Emirates Stadium May 26

The legendary rockers have struck out on new paths recently with electronic variations and dubstep dynamics, adding fresh juice to their virtuoso live shows. Field Day

Victoria Park May 26

Mercury-nominated Django Django will add their funk-laced world-rock to a hefty bill which also features Solange, Parma Violets, CHVRCHES and Disclosure. Music previews by Nikos Papanikolaou and Neil Simpson. More Music by Ewan Phillips, Nora McLeese and Eva Stamler

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Film

Girls gone wild

The American Dream turns to a nightmare in Spring Breakers, finds Dominic Wells

‘Persuading squeakyclean teen idols to upend their image is a master-stroke’

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If the reboot fits…

If at first you don’t succeed, says Dominic Wells, try again

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Festivals Let’s All Be Free Film Festival, Apr 5-7 Films of 3-30 mins, all connected to freedom, at the Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Thursday Till Sunday Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Paola Giannini Release: April 5

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Reviews FILM

Byzantium Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton, Jonny Lee Miller Release: May 3

Neil Clarke, Film Editor Favourite film about careers: Bent Hamer’s Factotum. Though actually this is more a film about not working, with a fabulously dissolute Matt Dillon playing Charles Bukowski’s washed-up alter ego, Henry Chinaski. First job: Supermarket, natch. Repeatedly being told ‘It might never happen’ by customers didn’t really help. Because it already had. Worst job: Huddled behind the cash desk of a freezing cold antiquarian bookshop in Bath, by myself. Dream job: Writing. In a villa. In South America.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Kate Hudson Release: May 10

The vampire movie still refuses to die (…ahaha); even Jim Jarmusch is having a crack at it, in his upcoming Tilda Swinton-starring Only Lovers Left Alive. Director Neil Jordan at least has form, having previously helmed a solid adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. Byzantium strikes somewhat as a more femininelyinclined take on the same basic

Mira Nair’s much anticipated adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s 2007 novel received a mixed reception at last year’s Venice Film Festival. That was bound to happen considering its tricky subject matter: an Ivy League educated, Wall Street inducted young Pakistani becomes disillusioned with the American dream post 9/11. There has been praise for Riz Ahmed, however, and there’s a lot about this globetrotting tale of love and politics that seems ripe for dissection and discussion. (CS)

OUT NOW WHERE ALL GOOD BOOKS ARE SOLD. www.gollancz.co.uk

premise, with Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan – as a vampiric mother-daughter duo – mirroring the Tom Cruise/Brad Pitt pairing in Interview with the Vampire, albeit with less poncy hair. Nothing in the trailer dispels the notion that this is a serviceable but nonessential outing, especially when you’d probably have more fun watching True Blood anyway. The impressive but not quite A-list cast (Sam Riley, Tom Hollander, Jonny Lee Miller) adds to the sense that this may turn out to be a slight non-event, and you have to question why Jordan’s returning to such familiar territory. Until you remember how dreadful Breakfast on Pluto was. (NC)

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Oblivion Tom Cruise

More Film

World War Z Brad Pitt

This is to the Die Hard franchise as Jason Bourne was to James Bond: in other words, it covers the same territory (lone agent vs terrorists, in this case taking over the White House) but does it way better.

Release: April 12

Release: June 21

This Is The End Seth Rogen Release: June 28

The Place Beyond the Pines Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes Release: April 12

Re-teaming with Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance, Ryan Gosling goes all peroxide blond locks, facial scars and tattooed arms playing a motorcycle stunt driver who robs a bank to provide for his newborn son, which pits him against

ambitious cop Bradley Cooper. On the face of it, there’s not much here plot-wise that we haven’t seen before. Then again, Blue Valentine didn’t look like much on paper either and it ended up being one of the most sensitively drawn and well acted dramas of that year. And advance word from film festivals has been universally positive. Gosling – like him or loathe him – has not put a foot wrong since Drive. Even though he’s racing about on two wheels this time, he seems about to add another interesting, flawed and, dare I say, iconic character to his bio. (CS)

The Great Gatsby Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire Release: May 17

Those of you who thought Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge was an overstuffed sequined corset of a movie creaking at the seams with camp dance routines and romantic platitudes will not have this on your ‘must-see’ list, as his adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s slender classic looks to be in much the same vein. For fans of the director’s ‘red curtain’, operatically grand style of film making, it can’t arrive soon enough.

Crammed full of meticulously costumed and choreographed party scenes, with musical anachronisms galore and more than a light sprinkling of Bollywood glitter (Amitabh Bachchan features in a supporting role), this could either end up being a visually dazzling re-telling of a classic literary love story, or an eye-popping dud like the director’s previous outing, Australia. (CS)

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The end is nigh in, respectively, a CG zombie incursion, a postmodern celebrity comedy, and – well, in Oblivion, it’s already happened. One wonders how much Romerostyle social commentary from the World War Z novel (eg American isolationism), will survive into the cinematic version. (The smart money’s on: none.) Not that it really matters, because director Marc Forster made Quantum of Solace, and on that basis alone, no-one should go to see it. If you do, expect to see lots of the concerned, anguished face Brad Pitt perfected in Babel. Oblivion looks like a more barrenly apocalyptic Matrix, but with the hardware given a shiny, white Apple makeover. The cast’s pretty decent, if you can ignore little Tom, natch: automatic gravitasdisseminator Morgan Freeman and the redoubtable Andrea Riseborough (in her first Big Stupid Hollywood Movie role) lend a touch of actorly credibility. This is the End is a change of gear, starring James Franco, Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen as fictionalised versions of themselves in the aftermath of an apocalypse. The mind boggles as to what godforsaken corporate thoughtshower/hard drugs bender can have produced such a premise. Either that, or they saw Bill Murray do it in Zombieland. (NC) Film previews by Neil Simpson and Costas Sarkas. More Film by Christabel Samuel and Costas Sarkas

Olympus Has Fallen Release: April 17

Me and You (Lo e Te) Release: April 19

Bernardo Bertolucci’s drama follows teen wallflower Lorenzo and his estranged half-sister Olivia. Having skipped a school trip to hide in his basement for a week, Lorenzo meets and bonds with his junkie sister; the two share memories and explore their fragmented family’s past. Evil Dead Release: April 19

Cult video nasty is overhauled, made-over and reloaded. Five young friends lodge in an isolated cabin, discover the Book of Dead and release a cavalcade of dormant demonic action. Let the gore ensue. I’m So Excited Release: May 3

After the somber suspense of The Skin I Live In, Almodóvar comes over all camp for the first time in ages with this high-flying comedy featuring disco-routine performing flight attendants, frisky passengers and cameos from Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas. Star Trek: Into Darkness Release: May 9

Long-awaited sequel to the revamped franchise, with JJ Abrams again at the helm. The crew of the Enterprise tackle a new über villain (Sherlock’s Benedict Cumberbatch) who threatens to unleash a weapon of mass destruction onto the galaxy. Something in the Air Release: May 24

The year: 1968. The place: Paris. Olivier Assayas’s tribute film explores this landmark era when student riots and European politics clashed. Avoiding overly romanticising the protests, Something in the Air is as much about self-discovery as conflict.

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Stage ‘If you are not shocked by it, you have not understood it’

Torturous truths Millie Milliken on two plays that make a stand against brutality With International Day of Support for Victims of Torture making its annual stand on June 26, the theatre is giving a voice to those who cannot always be heard. For those of us lucky enough to live in a country where torture and the death penalty are confined to a distant past, the brutal reality that haunts their victims is shockingly sobering. The four highest populated countries still practise capital punishment, despite it being considered ‘the single worst violation of human rights’. As for torture, the US army’s involvement in the violation of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib has been a disturbing reminder of the abuses of power.

images of an Iraqi prisoner’s treatment lie at the heart of this powerful piece of theatre, making us question: How much do we really know? And is what we are told even the truth?

videos of support by the likes of Stephen Fry and Sir Tim Rice, is racking up donations against the clock, though the show will go on at the Young Vic in May regardless.

Guardians was first performed directly after the publication of the images from the Baghdad Correctional Facility, and won a Fringe First award. Eight years later, the questions it raises still ring true; and its focus on the corruption of the press will leave audiences with a bitter aftertaste. As the physicist Niels Bohr once said, ‘If you are not shocked by it, you have not understood it.’

Corruption in all its forms lies at the heart of Fight and Hope’s revival of Guardians by Peter Morris. A heart-breakingly emotional and intelligent play, it tells the stories of a disgraced American soldier and an English journalist in two interconnecting monologues. Their involvement in the sadistic atrocities of Abu Ghraib and its aftermath, the images of savagery committed in the name of freedom and the fake

The Belarus Free Theatre troupe has itself often been the victim of repression. Founded by Nikolai and Natalia Khalezin in Europe’s last surviving dictatorship, its company members has served time in prison and even been exiled, and performances have to be held in secret locations. They have appealed for crowd-funding to help finance a UK tour of their latest production, Trash Cuisine (above). The campaign, featuring

This critically acclaimed production mixes testimonies from executioners and inmates of Thailand’s Bang Kwang jail with those of the families of men and women taken by the death penalty; the UK’s last victim of capital punishment, Liam Holden; and the noted human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith. Stories of death through injustice and nightmarish realities are told through visually forceful performances that aim to change our perceptions of this practice – in UK polls, a majority have consistently called for the death penalty to be reintroduced. Guardians plays at The Last Refuge, SE15 4ST, June 4-8, www.thelastrefuge.co.uk; Trash Cuisine plays at The Young Vic, SE1 8LZ, May 23-Aug 26, donations can be made at www.sponsume.com/project/trash-cuisine-uktour-2013

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Non-stop hip-hop Kohinoor Sahota on ten years of Breakin’ Convention

Not so long ago street dance was a niche, underground style in the UK. Today it seems you can’t escape it: it’s a staple on TV talent shows, has hit the West End in the form of Into the Hoods and Some Like it Hip Hop, and even the big screen with the StreetDance movies. If you want to see street dancing at its pop and locking best head to Breakin’ Convention’s three-day festival, which also celebrates its tenth year anniversary. Here street dancing comes in all shapes, sizes and styles. Highlights include Next Level Squad and ILL-Abilities (May 5). Not for the squeamish, Next Level Squad have developed bonebreaking choreography where they

basically dislocate their, er, bones. ILL-Abilities return this year and are not to be missed. I never thought street dancing would make me cry, but with this b-boy group of disabled dancers from around the world it’s hard not to be moved. Think Paralympics, but with street dancing. The group includes a dancer with one leg, another on crutches, and another who is a suspected Thalidomide case. Representing the girls (May 4) there is Myself, a UK group who promote self-confidence with the slogan ‘I love myself ’; and Zamounda, a French group who mix African, jazz and old-shool hip-hop. Whilst the festival is known for attracting the best

‘I never thought street dancing would make me cry’

Backstage:

dancers internationally, for the first time one night (May 6) is dedicated to home-grown UK talent, further proving that street dancers here are giving the good old New Yorkers some heat. The whole of Sadler’s Wells is transformed for the occasion. There’s MC-ing in the foyer, But that flying-by-the-seat-of-ourpants approach feels appropriate to the space.

graffiti classes, dance workshops and jerk chicken in the interval. It’s by no means your traditional theatre-going experience, but is all the better for it. Breakin’ Convention plays at Sadler’s Wells, EC1R 4TN, May 4-6, from £15. www.breakinconvention.com

Comedy

Ben Power, What’s exciting about temporary ‘pop-up’ Associate performance spaces? They represent what is so magical Director and unique about theatre: it’s Clare Nicholson

Having been a writer and dramaturg for ten years, Ben Power has worked with the likes of Headlong Theatre Company, commissioning and developing new kinds of theatre, before becoming Associate Director for The National Theatre. He is now programming The Shed, the National’s new pop-up performance space for up-and-coming directors while the Cottesloe is renovated. How did you make The Shed’s programme different? The space is magical, a rough, red wooden box. We wanted to find a programme of work that was as unusual and unexpected as The Shed itself. It’s all about variety, a real range of different types of performances and different kinds of artists. We’ve got writers, musicians, dancers, DJs and a magician, all trying to make theatre in new and unusual ways. The production schedule is rather quirky and eclectic, was this your goal? We’ve tried to do things differently

in The Shed, so some shows are running for a month, some just for a couple of nights. Start times will vary and ticket prices are as low as we can make them. It’s all about offering different kinds of theatrical experiences to as many different kinds of audience as possible. Who is the target audience? Anyone who loves live performance and wants to take a jump into the unknown. We hope that lots of people will come to the National for the first time, but also that people who know and love us will find something new. What has it been like working on The Shed? It’s been fast and furious! We’ve not had long to get everything together.

unrepeatable. Every audience at every show sees something different. In a temporary space – here today, gone tomorrow – that idea of the fleeting transience of performance is even stronger. Also, the way we make theatre is changing all the time, so it’s great that the places we make it in are changing too.

What productions would you recommend? I like them all, obviously! I’m very excited for Mission Drift, an experimental rock musical, which is coming over from New York in June. Keep an eye on the website, there’s something for everyone. What advice would you have for aspiring programmers? Be brave! Not everything is going to work, but take risks, stick to your guns and your instincts, and only programme work that you love. Table plays at The Shed, SE1 9PX, April 9-May 18, from £10. www.theshed.nationaltheatre.org.uk Interview: Millie Milliken

Festival of the Spoken Nerd: Technobabble, Bloomsbury Theatre, Apr 16-18, from £12 The trio are back with a new show that combines comedy with technology. Laugh whilst you learn.

Omid Djalili Live, Leicester Square Theatre, Apr 30-May 25, from £22 The acclaimed actor and comedian is back with his stand-up show, mixing contemporary jokes with slapstick clowning. Eddie Izzard Force Majeure Tour, Wembley Arena, May 11-12, £44.75 Never one to do things by halves (he ran 43 marathons in 51 days in 2009) the ‘sweet transvestite’ is touring 25 countries on four continents. He recently announced he would give up comedy for politics in 2020, though are the two really mutually exclusive? Shazia Mirza: Cuckooland!, Soho Upstairs, at Soho Theatre, May 15-25, from £10 The UK’s only female Muslim stand-up tours with her brand new, bold and brash comedy show.

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My Daughter’s Trial

Soho Elsewhere, Browns Courtrooms, WC2N 4AG, Apr 8-24, £10-£20. www. sohotheatre.com

Millie Milliken, Stage Editor Favourite scene about careers: Thoroughly Modern Millie. I was lucky enough to see this on Broadway, and the scene with the girls typing on moving desks, their legs frantically tapping to the sound of the keys, has stuck in my memory. If only desk jobs were really like that... Worst job: A couple did involve cleaning toilets; that wasn’t very glamorous. First job: Waitressing in a cafe with three of my friends, which I still miss to this day. We were known as ‘The Jo Clark’s Girls’ which was quite the accolade.

Let loose from the boundaries of conventional theatre, Kali Theatre Company continues to champion challenging theatre from talented South Asian women. Jabine Choudhri’s My Daughter’s Trial allows the audience to experience a unique theatrical event, as they witness and judge the play’s characters in the setting of a real courtroom. In the former Westminster County Court in Covent Garden, we find Parveen, a young Muslim barrister, defending her clients with cut-throat ambition. However, when faced with the decision to section her mentally ill mother against her family’s wishes, Parveen finds herself in a battle between her professional and personal lives, and against someone else close to her heart. Emotions run high in this inventive piece of theatre from a company striving to reinvent the theatrical agenda.

Orpheus

Battersea Arts Centre, SW11 5TN, Apr 16-May 11, £10. www.littlebulbtheatre.com

From Little Bulb Theatre comes this epic re-telling of one of the great love stories of all time: Orpheus. The mythological Greek hero was said to have been able to charm all living things with his music, and descended into the Underworld to reclaim his lost love Eurydice. This musical extravaganza will transform BAC’s Grand Hall into a 1930s Parisian music hall, complete

with the dulcet tones of Edith Piaf, a newly refurbished organ and the gypsy swing music of the legendary Django Reinhardt. The conceit is that the digitally challenged guitarist, who is considered one of the jazz greats despite having lost the use of two fingers to a fire, has been cast as Orpheus in a new production. The play-within-a-play scenario is typically inventive of Little Bulb, and is told by an eight-piece ensemble through a live classic score. With late night dancing on Friday and Saturdays, this is set to be a truly transporting production.

Reviews STAGE

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Chimerica

Almeida Theatre, May 20-July 6, £8-£32. www. almeida.co.uk

This world premiere brings together some of the most exciting names in theatre. Starting his journey in 1989 Tiananmen Square, American photojournalist Joe captures a snapshot of history amidst Beijing’s chaos. Thirteen years later, he finds himself in New York, covering a historic presidential election that brings China and America together (hence the title, ‘Chi-merica’) in a controversial debate. It seems that the image he captured over a decade ago holds an unexpected hero, and Jo finds himself on an uncertain trail for the truth behind him. The Almeida’s new Artistic Director, Rupert Goold, has enlisted his acclaimed Headlong company, as well as director Lyndsey Turner (of Posh fame) and Es Devlin, who designed the Olympics closing ceremony. With writer Lucy Kirkwood riding high after the success of NSFW at the Royal Court, this promises to start Goold’s tenure off with a bang.

The Cripple of Inishmaan

Noel Coward, Jun 8-Aug 31, £10. www.delfontmackintosh. co.uk

On a remote western Irish island, the news that a Hollywood film is soon to be filmed there raises eyebrows. Daniel Radcliffe returns to the stage as Billy, a young cripple desperate to join the film and escape the monotony of life in Inishmaan. The Cripple of Inishmaan premiered in 1996; since then the writer Martin McDonagh has achieved success in film with In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. It’s part of a season of five plays with 100,000 tickets at £10, and stars such as Judi Dench, Jude Law and Ben Whishaw.

More Stage Above & Beyond Corinthia Hotel Until Apr 14

Inside one of London’s most prestigious hotels, Look Left Look Right hold fort as The Corinthia Artist in Residence. Audiences will be taken on a thrilling one-on-one journey in the fully operational hotel, participating in 15 unique scenes, with 24 performances a night. The experience lasts 70 minutes and even extends to a penthouse suite. Moby Dick Arcola Theatre Until May 4

Simple8’s bold adaptation of Herman Melville’s weighty novel is an admirable embodiment of their commitment to environmental issues. Strewn with original whaling shanties, lanterns and what looks like a shipwreck, the stage is dramatically set for Ishmael’s story, with storms, whale hunts and the majestic ocean coming to life under the direction of Sebastian Armesto. Poor Theatre at its richest.

Quizoola! Barbican Centre Apr 12-13

This game-like production, which is part of the SPILL Festival of Performance, is an improvisational marathon from Forced Entertainment. Over 24 hours, six cast members ask each other a barrage of philosophical, personal and banal questions. The audience can come and go as they please, submit their own questions and witness the actors battling tiredness and hysteria. Sweet Bird of Youth Old Vic June 1-Aug 3

A tale of drink, drugs and despair, Tennessee Williams’ play stars Sex And The City’s Kim Cattrall as fading Hollywood legend Alexandra del Lago, who travels incognito to flee a badly received premiere of her comeback film. When she finds refuge in the arms of a stardom-seeking gigolo, her dreams are destined for disaster. Stage previews by Millie Milliken

14 May - 1 June Tickets from £10 From Olivier Award nominee Caroline Horton Josephine is putting on a play - Boris and Sistahl help. It’s about anorexia. But don’t let that put you off. Unflinchingly they confront big issues (and extremely tiny ones). Today they will tackle a particularly thin elephant in the room. BOOK NOW Box Office: www.bac.org.uk 020 7223 2223

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Art

Left: Patrick Caulfield’s Selected Grapes 1981, British Council Collection Above: Gary Hume’s Green Nicola 2003 © the artist courtesy of White Cube

Double vision A twin exhibition compares two important modern painters, Patrick Caulfield and Gary Hume, finds Joe Davis Patrick Caulfield is famed for his bold and vibrant paintings that depict the modern life of the 1960s. His work influenced Gary Hume, who came to prominence in the 1990s as part of the Young British Artists. Two parallel exhibitions at Tate Britain offer a unique opportunity to compare their work.

career, maintaining that he was more of a formal artist.

gloss on aluminium to achieve his unmistakably smooth painting style.

His influence on Gary Hume, renowned for paintings suspended between representation and abstraction, is apparent. Hume, like Caulfield, uses block colour in place of detail to iconise his paintings. The decision to run these two exhibitions at the same time allows the viewer to examine this influence and understand the transformation of modern painting over the last 50 years.

As well being fascinated with colour, Hume’s work plays with the idea of celebrity and portrays a range of subjects and images drawn from the world around him such as nature and childhood. The exhibition at Tate Britain includes about 25 of Hume’s works ranging from his early audaciously coloured paintings to the more subdued tones used in his most recent paintings, and includes loans never previously exhibited in England.

‘Caulfield famously reworked Picasso, reversing the nude women to reveal their backsides’

Caulfield incorporated many traditional styles into his work, such as photo-realism and still life, frequently drawing direct inspiration from past masters. He reworked Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, reversing the nude women to reveal their backsides, and humorously renamed it Les Demoiselles d’Avignon vues ‘de derrière’ which translates as ‘from behind’.

As well as being a masterful painter, Caulfield successfully incorporates graphical imagery that has influenced artists such as Michael CraigMartin and Julian Opie. Although his painting style displays aspects of Pop Art, Caulfield remained dismissive of this label throughout his

Hume’s paintings are a beautiful exploration of minimalism and surface. His first distinguished works were his Door Paintings which were life-size representations of hospital doors. His beautiful depiction of the mundane made with household gloss paint quickly secured Hume’s reputation as an important member of the YBAs, a group which includes Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. Hume soon left painting on canvas behind in favour of using household

The Caulfield exhibition will bring together over 30 of his key works, including Braque Curtain, the very last painting he made before his death in 2005. You might be surprised to know that Patrick Caulfield designed his own, very unconventional gravestone which is available for the public to see in Highgate Cemetery. It spells out, in geometric letters, ‘D-E-A-D’. Patrick Caulfield/Gary Hume, Tate Britain, SW1P 4RG, June 4-Sep 8. From £11.30. www.tate.org.uk

Reviews ART

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Joe Davis on two celebrations of outsider art

You might think that all artists are outsiders, but there is a special category reserved for ‘outsider art’. Originally applied to children and the mentally disturbed, it has come to mean anyone self-taught, with no formal artistic education. An Alternative Guide to the Universe at the Hayward is a celebration of outsider art, photography, filmmaking and choreography from the past 25 years. Promising a ‘parallel universe where ingenuity and inventiveness trump received wisdom’, it brings together people from a variety of professions, including scientists, architects and craftspeople, who have alternative ways of perceiving, portraying and moving through the world. Often obsessive and highly driven in their specific subjects, these creatives plot their own unconventional routes of

discovery, resulting in works of startling originality. If The Alternative Guide to the Universe piques your interest, the Wellcome Collection is also displaying work from 46 outsider artists, all of them residents or day attendees at social welfare institutions across Japan’s largest island, Honshu. The exhibition is named Souzou, which means creation and imagination in Japanese. We are promised a diverse array of sculptures, drawings, ceramics, paintings and textiles, each showing the individual personalities of artists at the boundaries of society. An Alternative Guide to the Universe, Hayward, SE1 8XX, June 11-Aug 26. £12.75. www.southbankcentre.co.uk. Souzou, Wellcome Collection, NW1 2BE, Mar 28-June 30. Free. www. wellcomecollection.org

Joe Davis Art Editor Best job: In a bar/ restaurant where everyone goes to have a good time, and I did too. It paid my way through university and travel. Worst job: Whilst searching for jobs under the heading ‘art jobs’ I was inundated with ‘sandwich artist at Subway’. Dream job: Running my own gallery and events company. Being able to work with creative people all day would be very rewarding.

A Walk Through British Artq

qMichael Landy: Saints Alive

Tate Britain, SW1P 4RG, from May 14. Free. www.tate.org.uk

Dulwich Picture Gallery, SE21 7AD, June 12-Sep 22. From £6. www.dulwichpicturegallery. org.uk

The Dulwich Picture Gallery reunites the work of five British artists who all studied together at the Slade School of Art between 1908 and 1912. After parting ways, CRW Nevinson, Stanley Spencer, Mark Gertler, Dora Carrington and David Bomberg all became important figures in different art movements such as Futurism and Vorticism. The exhibition features over 70 works and follows the events and progress of their turbulent lives. It concludes with paintings made during and directly after the First World War.

National Gallery, WC2N 5DN, May 23-Nov 24. Free. www. nationalgallery.org.uk

TRXTR: Dystopia

Signal Gallery, EC2A 4LB, Apr 19-May 11. Free. www. signalgallery.com

Dystopia, subtitled ‘The anatomy of a train crash’, is the second solo show at Signal for TRXTR, whose unique view is expressed through densely detailed and layered drawings. He says: ‘The Genie is out of the bottle and has become so bloated and addictive there is no way it will go back and our wishes are all used up.’ These observations are apparent in his graffiti-stricken, apocalyptic scenes. The end of the world never looked so good.

Michael Landy is famous for destroying everything he owned in an empty former C&A shop on Oxford Street back in 2001. Now the brave people at The National Gallery have invited him to be an artist in residence for two years as part of The Rootstein Hopkins Foundation Associate Artist Scheme. It was set up to remind us of the importance of the Old Master tradition in contemporary artists’ practice. The scheme allows the artist to produce work in response to a collection of pre-1900 paintings. Landy will be producing life-size kinetic sculptures made from recycled materials in a very hands-on experience.

Michael Landy in his studio at the National Gallery, 2012

A Crisis of Brilliance

Take an artistic walk through time with Tate Britain’s new project, a major transformation of its British art collection which is being re-hung in chronological order. The exhibition dates back to 1540 and incorporates all periods up to the present day, with three major figures in British art – JMW Turner, William Blake and Henry Moore – getting their own sections. There’s also a gallery dedicated to photography for the first time ever, while less familiar artists are displayed alongside their more illustrious contemporaries.

Outside in

GRAPHIC ARTS FESTIVAL 18–28 APRIL 2013 OPEN DAILY 10.00–18.00 LATE NIGHT THURSDAYS 18 & 25 APRIL UNTIL 22.00 ADULTS £8, CONC. £6, FESTIVAL PASS £15 SOMERSETHOUSE.ORG.UK/PICKMEUP #PICKMEUPLONDON SOMERSET HOUSE, LONDON WC2R 1LA

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More Art

uEllen Gallagher Tate Modern, SE1 9TG, May 1-Sep 1. From £8.60. www.tate. org.uk

Poster Art 150

London Transport Museum Until Oct 27

American-born artist Ellen Gallagher puts on her first major show in the UK at Tate Modern. Expect mixed-media paintings created using obscure materials such as plasticine and coconut oil. Drawing inspiration from literature, advertising, black popular culture and myth, Gallagher also works with film and mixes creative processes. In addition to pieces from the past 20 years of her career, this will be a chance to view Gallagher’s new work for the first time.

A collection of 150 posters spanning the lifetime of London Underground is on display to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the world’s greatest and oldest underground railway. Chosen by a team of experts from the entire collection of 3,330 posters, this exhibition flies the flag for London and its genius advertising. Rachel Whiteread: Detached

Gagosian Gallery

tFramed The graffiti artist Ronzo had already created a giant sculpture of a cockroach at Village Underground in Shoreditch: ‘The sun rises,’ he told the Vandalog urban art blog, ‘and people on their way to work stop, thinking “WTF – where did this come from?” It’s beautiful.’ Now Ronzo has been filmed adding a vast mural directly behind it.

Apr 11-May 25

Rachel Whiteread’s trademark is to take casts of the negative space within rooms and buildings, and display the casts. The garden shed is an unlikely subject for sculpture, but in Rachel Whiteread’s hands it becomes a thing of beauty. Drawing Biennial 2013

The Drawing Room Apr 18-May 15

This fundraiser for the Drawing Room attracts donations from 200 artists including Susan Hiller, Paul Noble and Mona Hatoum. Artists produce a drawing in any medium on an A4 sheet of paper. A silent auction with a starting price of £250 runs online and in the gallery, with the finale on May 15. 20/21 International Art Fair

Royal College of Art May 9-12

See the work of modern artists including Braque, Matisse, Picasso, Hirst and Hockney. Sixty galleries from all over the world have contributed to this key event. Vermeer & Music

The National Gallery June 26-Sep 8

The National Gallery brings together rare paintings from the 17th-century Dutch painter, displayed alongside musical instruments and songbooks from the same period. The show gives a unique insight into the inspiration behind much of his work, comparing the reality of the objects to his artistic interpretation. Art previews by Joe Davis

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Xperia Z

4 play

Adam Vjestica previews the mighty PlayStation4 Pure, unadulterated, inconceivable amounts of excitement... cut me open during a brand new console reveal and that’s exactly what you’ll find flowing through my veins. Dramatic as that may sound, the arrival of a new console represents a Pandora’s box of opportunities for developers to pry open; one that has the potential to surpass Hollywood’s finest films, rise above the noise of the music industry and turn fantasy into stunning reality. Well, a virtual one at least. Yes, the next generation of video games is coming. And at long last, Sony has lifted the lid on its next home console. It’s called the PlayStation 4, it’s scheduled for release at the end of the year and it’s an absolute monster in the technical department. Just don’t ask me what the console actually looks like, because Sony has decided to save the box for later. As Sony’s Worldwide Studios President, Shuhei Yoshida, so bluntly put it, ‘It’s just a box.’ Sony did reveal a brand new controller, however. It’s a refined and expanded vision of the classic DualShock design, a do-it-all device which ticks a lot of boxes to the detriment of the controller’s timeless style. It features a touchpad, redesigned triggers and a built-in

speaker, and works in tandem with an all new PlayStation Eye. However, it’s the number eight inside the PS4 that will get gamers frothing at the mouth. It packs a whopping 8GBs of GDDR5 ram. To put this technical jargon into perspective, that’s 16 times more memory than the PS3 had available. As another point of comparison, Nvidia’s latest dedicated graphic card, the Titan, only has 6GBs of onboard GDDR5 ram and it retails for $1,000. No price has yet been announced for the PS4, but it’s a safe bet that it will retail for far less. Consider your mind blown. But what about the here and now? Some argue that the PS3 is finally hitting its stride. And I’d have to agree. There’s a stellar lineup of games on the way, the particular stand-out being survival horror exclusive The Last of Us (June 14) from developer Naughty Dog, creators of the Uncharted and Crash Bandicoot series. The Last of Us is set to push the boundaries of what the PS3 is capable of, stepping further into the realms of cinematic entertainment. It will, ultimately, pose the question as to whether we even need the PS4. Regardless of the answer, it’s going to be an enjoyable wait.

Although mobile phones have progressed at a phenomenal rate in recent years, capable of doing almost everything and anything, these beautifully crafted pocket rockets are far less durable than their cheap, plastic predecessors. The Sony Xperia Z (sim free £529) shows that a phone can be tough as well as smart. The Xperia Z is water-resistant (to a depth of 1 metre), dust-resistant, scratchresistant and packed with bleedingedge technology such as a 1080p display so that it’s also future-proof. Now, no matter how messy your night gets, you can wake up knowing that your phone will always look better than you feel.

If there’s one pair of organs which deserve to be spoilt rotten, it’s our eyes. Finally there’s a laptop computer that serves up a visual feast and not just processing power. Google’s new Chromebook Pixel edges past even Apple’s Retina display technology, packing 4.3 million pixels into the 12.85-inch display. It also acts as a fully-fledged touchscreen, letting you tap and swipe when weary of the trackpad. Want one? There are two caveats: an Internet connection is generally a must when using Chromebooks; and the Pixel costs £1,049 (from the Google Play store). If you’re curious about the benefits of Chromebooks – speed, simplicity, security – then the no-thrills Samsung Series 3 Chromebook is a great introduction at £229.

Wii Street U I went on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Tokyo’s famous electric district of Akihabara, courtesy of Nintendo. It’s a haven for video game lovers, otakus and tech junkies alike. It was a magical day. And I never actually left my house! Thanks to Wii Street U, a free app created by Google for Nintendo’s Wii U (available from the Wii U eShop), you can visit almost anywhere in the world using the power of Google Maps. The best part is using the GamePad’s accelerometers that let you take in the sights as if you were standing right there.

Adam Vjestica Gadgets Editor Favourite video games about careers: Football Manager 2013, Theme Hospital, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Best job: While chasing treasure and unravelling ancient mysteries is a common occurrence for Uncharted’s Nathan Drake and Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft, it’s the stuff of envy for everyone else. A dreamy career is made even more desirable by the prospect of fame, fortune and an active lifestyle. I’m pretty sure most of us could get used to that. Dream job: Pokémon master. If you want to be the very best, catching them all is the real test. I’d also settle for being part of Team Rocket.

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Fitness Barefoot running

From Fred Flintstone ‘driving’ his car to infamous Olympian Zola Budd striding around the track, using your feet to get you from A to B has stood the test of time (and technology). Barefoot Running continues the minimalist theme, encouraging runners to forgo designer trainers and free their soles from pedicure props (formerly known as socks). Fans of barefoot running claim it’s actually better for you, as you don’t keep landing on your heel. barefootrunnerslondon.com

The Running Man

Co-founder of Run Dem Crew, Mark Gurney, shares his running tips with Christian Adofo What’s an ideal distance for a beginner? 10km is a nice distance to aim for if you’re starting out. Build up with 5, 6, 7km onwards and it shouldn’t put too much stress on your body. How would you build up the running distance? I’d get a decent training plan from a trusted source. Hal Higdon has a range of plans online tailored to your level of experience. I find it’s important to vary your long runs, so don’t just keep running further incrementally each week, but spike up and down (8, 10, 12, 15, 11, 14, 16) to give your body a rest and keep it interesting. How should you stretch before a run? I never stretch pre-race. You’re lengthening and relaxing the very muscles you’re about to use. Instead I do dynamic stretching which are things like low rep squats, lunges, kick ups, skips to warm and activate the muscles ready for running. Should you have energy drinks or water to keep hydrated? The thing about hydrating is really it’s the day before that matters. On the day, continue to drink. Water is nature’s best, so perfectly fine, but those energy drinks (Lucozade,

Powerade) do provide an extra boost of both hydration and energy which is helpful. Coconut water is good also, full of electrolytes. Is there a technique to help your breathing rhythm? Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth as slow and steadily as you can. If you’re puffing like an old man, go slower and more frequently. It’ll get easier. Run Dem Crew call themselves a family and a community of runners. Is it best to run solo or in a group? Depends what you’re doing. A long run is much better with a wing man or crew. I rarely run solo, unless it’s a quick 10km or hill training. What is the most scenic route you’ve run in London? The classic Run Dem Crew ‘Three Bridges’ run: start on Shoreditch, run down through Liverpool Street, Spitalfields and the City, over Tower Bridge where you get great views of Canary Wharf, St Paul’s and the Thames itself. Then along the Southbank to Westminster Bridge taking in old boats, amazing bridges, ancient theatres, museums and the Houses of Parliament. Pow! www.rundemcrew.com

inevitable lactic acid bursting through your muscles but trawling off and on road at a distance double that of a marathon course. www.extremerunning.org

Scenic running

Running for singletons

Jogging in London’s leafy parks and past iconic buildings can be a romantic backdrop for a date. Let your heart race by running with an active singleton who’ll keep you in shape. Fitness Singles uses your passion for physical activities as a springboard to find a fitness date, exercise friends or just a simple workout partner. www.fitness-singles.com

Extreme running

This one is not for the novice. Unless you’re Mo Farah or Super Hans running to Hastings, tackling long distances is a test of mental and physical endurance. Extreme Running pushes one to the absolute limit not only against the

Ambling around the Big Smoke on your own can be intimidating rather than invigorating. Scenic Running clubs (above and below) can breathe fresh life into your regimented running routine. As the days get longer it’s the perfect time to take a trail across the most picturesque parts of London. From Greenwich Park in the south to Hampstead Heath in the north, there are some interesting and idyllic views that will add variety to your training. www.serpentine.org.uk, www.chaser.me.uk

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Travel

Vacation, Vocation Why save for a holiday when you can be paid whilst travelling? asks Nora McLeese More than half of British under-25s believe their lack of international experience has held them back. According to the British Council, 79% of UK adults have not spent more than six months abroad working or studying. At least a third believe their job prospects would have been better if they had. So, with our handy tips get cracking on filling that CV with foreign gigs. Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan all offer working holiday visas to UK citizens. The basis for a lot of gap years, these visas are usually aimed at allowing 18 and 35 year olds to take up employment in order to fund their travel. You can apply for another visa in any country in which you hold a working holiday visa, so you can continue travelling without having to fly home. Even volunteering abroad requires a permit or visa. While you may be going to sub-Saharan Africa to build a school, there are still restrictions on how long you can stay and whether you’re allowed to enter at all. For example, you need a tourist visa to enter Kenya. This varies per country, but don’t assume that you can come and go freely just because you’re fighting the good fight. However, if you’re working with a reputable volunteer

organisation such as Raleigh Adventure, they will have it covered. BUNAC will be your lifeblood. Originally called the British Universities North America Club, BUNAC (www.bunac.org.uk) encourages students to work and travel abroad, primarily to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. BUNAC offers work and volunteer programmes (above right and below), provides all the visa and travel information you need to set out on your own, and hosts activities and events around the world. You can travel the world for free by crewing on yachts. If you’re looking to be a long-term backpacker, there are few jobs as ideal. Private yachts – both luxury and delivery – need crew, including deckhands and cooks, when they take on a long cross-ocean journey. You can often work in exchange for free travel from and to major sailing hubs around the world. You can get paid to hang out with children for the summer. In the United States, the J-1 visa lets you work as a camp counsellor or au pair. It can be extended to almost any kind of temporary work, as long as you get sponsored and can prove you actually live elsewhere. For details visit www. j1visa.state.gov.

Visas have quotas and cut-offs. To prevent streams of immigrants, most countries have predetermined annual quotas for each type of visa. These come into play particularly with working holiday visas, so make sure you apply early. New Zealand finalises most working holiday visa applications with 48 hours. Through their new online application scheme, the London branch of Immigration New Zealand has an incredibly quick turnover. However, if you apply offline – either by post or in person – it could take up to 30 days. You can go it alone. Services such as HelpX (www. helpx.net) connect you directly to hosts in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, among others, meaning you don’t have to pay organisations to set you up.

Keep in mind that venturing alone means you don’t have a safety net to guarantee housing, a paycheck, or built-in travel companions. Speaking English is a skill. Countries such as China and South Korea are gagging for native English speakers. The demand far outweighs the supply, so this is a practically guaranteed way to go abroad. A TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course usually consists of 100 hours or more with eight hours of observed teaching practice. Peak recruitment is in the spring. Get paid to join a tour group. Backpack through the Himalayas or ride buggies down the dunes of Peru, all while getting paid – as long as you’re leading a tour group. Adventure guides take tourists through amazing landscapes, but they may have to deal with difficult clients and ensure their safety.

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Blogs probably because the regularity makes you more aware of content around you (newspapers, conversations) that relate to your subject matter. I run a CV makeover service too (www. cvmakeoverexpert.com) which allows me to see first-hand some of the mistakes jobseekers are making, which sometimes gives me ideas on what to write about.

www.mildredtalabi.com

Behind the Blog London-based careers expert Mildred Talabi What made you want to start your own blog? I trained as a journalist many years ago and I’ve wanted my own newspaper or magazine column since then. Blogging was the closest I could get to this dream when I started, three years ago, and because I was already involved in careers through CV makeovers and workshops, it made sense that this would be the focus.

What’s your blog routine? I’ve been blogging once a week for about two years. I’ve only recently established a sensible routine – writing a general article twice a month, posting a guest blog another week, and then running a podcast the final week. How do you find new topics? I find that the more you write, the more you have to write about! It’s

What are your tips for promoting your blog? I promote almost entirely on social media – Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and on my Facebook page for my book 7 Keys to a Winning CV. As Twitter is my most effective platform for promoting my blog, I installed a Wordpress plugin called Tweet Old Posts which I have programmed to circulate my old posts on a daily basis – so even when I’m not on the computer my blogs are still being exposed to a new audience. Thank God for technology! How can you use a blog to help land a job? Use it to gain exposure and to showcase your talent – whether it’s in written form or graphics, if

you’re more of a visual person. I would suggest the following steps: find a topic to write about that’s within your field of interest; post at least once a week if you want to build an audience; share it on your social media platforms such as Twitter and the right LinkedIn groups; connect with people in your desired field via social media (especially LinkedIn) and where appropriate, send them a link to read a one-off blog post that might be of interest to them; and don’t become a spammer! The same rules don’t apply to all social networks, so learn what works by testing it out and then focus the majority of your time and energy on only the most effective platforms. What are your essential tips for graduates that are jobseeking? Think outside the box; tap into the hidden job market which involves looking for jobs away from what’s advertised; make sure your CV completely SELLS you! Your CV is not the place to be modest, it’s the place to show why you’re the best person for the job. So whatever you do, make sure you get this right.

Tweets Milkround, the graduate recruitment site, Tweets dates of careers fairs, conversations on political debates, and links to articles such as the top companies to work for and advice from the Milkround Career Guru.

@MilkroundOnline ‘Work to

Jobs on Toast

Guardian careers Give a Grad a Go

Dr Chris Humphrey tells us that PhD’s don’t always have to lead to academic careers. This blog is a comforting cup of cocoa for post-grads stressing about whether they can find a job outside their academic subject. He teaches you to emphasise the four key skills a PhD gives any student: project skills, entrepreneurship, communication skills, and knowledge and information skills.

This comprehensive blog offers how-to guides, such as applying for an apprenticeship, whilst discussing political issues for graduates, such as the use of social media to read between the lines and spy on employees. General rules offered on CV crafting include using keywords that reflect the language of the job subject and sector, and not being shy with the layout.

www.jobsontoast.com

www.careers.guardian.co. uk/careers-blog

www.giveagradago.com/ blog/

This blog comes from a specialist graduate recruitment team, and offers competitions and graduate opportunities, along with less obvious tips such as taking an alternative gap year with City Year (above) where you stay in England and gain volunteering and work experience. Blog reviews by Emily Newsome

live, don’t live to work’ #Mumwordsofwisdom

Prospects, the UK’s offficial graduate careers site, offers tips and links to a dizzying array of employers. Recent job Tweets mixed Imperial Tobacco, Smaller Earth and Civil Engineering.

@Prospects ‘Did you know you don’t have to stick with the standard chronological format for a CV? Which style is right for you? http://ow.ly/ iOvj8’

— 50

Inside Job ONE JOB A WEEK

One Job a Week — MATT FROST

Matt Frost set himself a challenge: to do a different job a week for a year, from a farmer to a stuntman. He is donating all his wages to the Prince’s Trust. Why did you embark on this mission? I was running an electronics store in London and one day some heavy metal brackets fell on my head, and I came back to Cornwall to recover. I started thinking, ‘Is that what I really want to go back to? What I’m passionate about?’ Not really, so I came to the conclusion that 52 jobs is a good idea. I looked online – Sean Aiken in 2007 did something similar in Canada, proving that the concept works. I got in contact for some advice, and he said yes, go for it. I then started to make it happen. ‘It’s easier

to get a job if you’re truly passionate about it’

Is there a job that you are passionate about and want perhaps to continue with? I worked as a guest campaign manager for a crowd funding group, peoplefund.it. It’s such a nice company and culture, I would be happy to go back. I haven’t really found a job that I’m truly passionate about, but I also know that that ‘dream job’ is probably a dream. I want different aspects of different jobs. For example, I enjoyed being outdoors as a farmer. I want to tick lots of boxes. You’ve worked at desk jobs, such as The Sunday Times, and manual trades, such as blacksmith – which do you find most satisfying? I really like the jobs that involve creating something, such as the blacksmith job.

many people is such a privilege. Everyone is so different with their stories. What advice would you give to jobseekers? How can you stand out? It’s easier to get into a job if you’re truly passionate about it. Just speak to people in the jobs you want a taste of. You’re showing passion. The person that you call and chat with may even invite you in. If you ran the country, what would your solution to youth unemployment be? Probably try teaching more skills for the workplace. That’s what employers want.

What’s the furthest out of your comfort zone you’ve been? Probably the farming, getting covered in manure! I was looking to wash after, but then you get used to it and get on with it. I tried being a stuntman too. I’m not cut out to be a stuntman!

Why did you choose to donate your wages to the Prince’s Trust? I always wanted to give away the money, and the Prince’s Trust fits in so well, the way they help young people find jobs or start their own businesses. One of my weeks was spent working with them, and it was a really, really rewarding week. Inspiring! They are such dedicated people, giving their time and effort to helping people. They are creating opportunities. There isn’t really a similar charity. Every figure represents someone who needs something to change in their lives.

What’s the best part? Probably the people. The chance to meet so

www.oneweekjob.com/uk/blog Interview: Emily Newsome

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