13 minute read
NEIGHBOURHOOD COFFEE // 38-43 ARLO PARKS
A PERK OF THE JOB
While employees continue to drink in the joys of working from home, landlords and employers are exploring new ways of bring the workers back to the office... Move over water-cooler, there's a new kid in town.
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WORDS NEIGHBOURHOOD COFFEE
Ah coffee. The catalyst for the competent Monday morning. Well okay, every morning. Coffee culture has remained a central tenet of society for centuries now, yet, in recent years, the emergence of accessible specialty coffee has changed the way in which people think of and consume a good brew.
In a post-covid world, offices have downsized as people have warmed to working from home, meaning employers have had to improve their working environment in order to encourage people back into the office. Speaking to Dave Roche from Relish Concessions Ltd, he explained that, “Post pandemic landlords and employers are looking for reasons to get people back in the office and not working from home. Having a food and beverage offering within the office space is a big part of their plans.” With thanks to manufacturers, quality coffee machines are now widely accessible, meaning the specialty coffee world has stepped out of the specialty coffee space and replaced the office water-cooler.
The accessibility of quality coffee and coffee machines has demystified any preconceptions surrounding the black art of coffee creation. The bean-to-cup machine has found its way into the home, into work spaces, and communal areas. Ultimately, the idea that we at Neighbourhood Coffee and others are pushing is very simple; nobody wants bad coffee, so let’s make good coffee accessible.
“Previously, only working in the events sector, coffee was always a bit of an afterthought for clients.” explains Dave Roche, “Since opening in The Royal Liver Building and securing two further sites in iconic buildings in Liverpool, coffee, local coffee at that, has become a huge part of our business.” Ultimately, Dave managed to perfectly encapsulate the increasingly important role specialty coffee is playing in the adaptation of office and home life; “Coffee has become a massive part of what we do.”
For us, this certainly rings true; Coffee is what we do. There are few pleasures in life that rank above the morning coffee, the start of the shift coffee, and the long night coffee. The goal is to improve this experience by creating accessible channels for discovering a specialty coffee that suits you.
@neighbourhoodcoffee
FUELLED BY DREAMS
FUELLED BY DREAMS
One of Britain's finest emerging artists of the 2020s, Arlo Parks has enlightened and delighted fans throughout the last few years. With a US tour about to kick-off and plenty of awards being won, we thought it was time for a catch up.
Arlo Parks has emerged onto the British music scene as a wave of literary and considerate fresh air, capable of captivating audiences with her delicately woven yet strong lyrics and soothing melodies. Having stepped into the contemporary music foreground throughout the lockdown period, Arlo Parks has developed into one of Britain’s most exciting new artists.
Having won the Mercury Prize, Best New Artist at the Brits, and receiving two Grammy nominations in the last 12 months, it is clear that Arlo’s star is perpetually rising. Speaking to Arlo backstage as she gets ready to support Harry Styles on his world tour, you can sense a wave of calm emanating from her despite knowing she is about to play one of her biggest shows to date. JAI First of all, you’re currently backstage getting ready to support Harry Styles in Dublin, how are you feeling?
ARLO I am super excited, I don’t think I have ever been in a stadium like this before–it's great! I feel like when you approach shows like this, you just have to be yourself, albeit in front of a lot of people, but just being myself, that's what I hold on to in these moments.
Hearing all those voices singing the words louder than the artist is mind-blowing and the fact that this happens in every venue all over the world, it is wild. It is about happiness, and that is really nice, I’m looking forward to it.
JAI Ostensibly, you remain relatively unfazed at the rapidity with which success has found you. Do you think your literary influences have helped you maintain a sense of calm throughout the last few years?
ARLO Two things. The first thing is that I am definitely fazed but I just can't wrap my head around the enormity of everything (laughs). I am quite a restless person, I think it is more a lack of processing and just powering forward, playing shows, making music. It still hasn't sunk in yet. It helps that I still have the same friends and support system, so they keep me grounded. I think reading, spending time by yourself absorbing things, can make you feel small and feel as though there is still plenty to learn, there is still plenty to learn. I am at the beginning of everything, and reading often reminds me of that.
JAI Mercury Prize winner, Best New Artist at the Brits, as well as Grammy nomina-
I am definitely fazed but I just can't wrap my head around the enormity of everything. I think reading can make you feel small and feel as though there is still plenty to learn. I am at the beginning of everything, and reading often reminds me of that.
tions and a myriad of other award wins and nominations. Does winning awards reaffirm a sense of doing something right with your music or do you find winning awards slightly overwhelming and odd?
ARLO It really is a bit of both. I think you should never get to a point where you feel blasé about winning or being nominated for big things, but at the same time, placing all your sense of self worth on winning that, you know. It is kind of nebulous how it even gets judged and music is so subjective. I think it is great to be acknowledged but also it is important to remain a little confused still.
For me, the Mercury Prize was a meaningful one for me. That was something that I kept up with and made a point to listen to nominated artists, it feels so genuine and always celebrates such a diverse range of music rather than being geared towards things more commercially palatable. It was a big deal to me, like, one of the biggest deals ever (laughs).
JAI You have spoken previously about 'the expansion of your sonic palettes and tastes' leading to a slight change in music you want to make. Is your new single, Softly, partly or entirely a result of this?
ARLO I am constantly changing. Softly was definitely a step slightly away from Collapsed In Sunbeams, I still think they share the same DNA in terms of having that thread of having quite a nineties sensibility, and the storytelling, and the observational sociographic writing style, but there is a lot of growth to do. I am still young and I feel as though I am discovering things every day. I always talk about the fact that I want to make weird little side projects just for myself such as making an ambient album and not showing anyone but keeping it for myself.
JAI When discussing your writing and subjects, you explained “the way that I write is about taking the mundane or the little things and transforming them into a more beautiful whole.” What is it about the little things that inspire you?
ARLO When you’re focusing on the little things there is a sense of being present; it means you’re noticing, you’re awake. I think when you start to gloss over the smaller beautiful things or moments, when your mind is focused on the big picture and you can’t zoom in, maybe it means you’re not sharp and aware of the world. I noticed that a lot during lockdown whenever I went on a walk, looking at the sun and the sky. It is something I have always
had, that sense of wanting to capture and describe the little things, which is why I think my songwriting is detail oriented. I feel like I am present when I am talking about the little nuggets of detail within the bigger picture.
JAI Throughout various interviews you repeatedly mention your love of collectivity and community. Having written and recorded Collapsed In Sunbeams almost entirely during lockdown, how were you able to manage your desire to engage with people and the process of isolated creativity?
ARLO I did a lot. In terms of personally, my friends and my personal community, we wrote a lot of letters and conducted a lot of phone calls, just checking in in small, consistent and meaningful ways. When it came to other artists or people whose work I admired, the internet was the best tool for that, even though I am not very good at it. I spent a lot of time messaging people on social media, talking to people, which is a shared experience for a lot of artists in terms of lockdown, having everything stop, and not being able to do what we do which is perform. So yeah, I spent a lot of time on the internet, for better or for worse (laughs).
JAI Consistently you have championed mental health awareness and done so through creativity. Was it a mixture of personal experience and lockdown craziness en masse that encouraged you to start working with Calm?
ARLO Yeah definitely. It is something close to my heart in terms of my own experiences and people who mean a lot to me. It is something that a lot of people deal with and there is still a stigma of shame around it, a feeling of isolation and that you're the only person in this dark sludge when actually everyone struggles. Everyone has a mind to take care of. It has always been at the forefront of my mind, so I thought I could use my experiences, my empathy, and my platform to try and encourage conversations. The aim is to get people to be good to themselves and to each other, it naturally happened.
JAI In keeping with the mental health conversation, which part of your creative process do you find the most cathartic and helpful?
ARLO Writing, for sure. It is the words. I grew up listening to audiobooks and being obsessed with words. My dad always used to play me these audiobooks which enabled me to discover how much I enjoy distilling complicated feelings into one phrase, word or idea and then I get to the point where I think “that’s how I felt!”
I was speaking to Ocean Vuong for Dream Fuel, and we were talking about those particular feelings you can spend a lifetime trying to explain, such as riding a bike as a kid, approaching your friends house, throwing the bike down, and running to your friends door. Like, how do you describe those feelings? When I work that out, it gives me a sense of release and I feel like I understand the world more.
JAI Having emerged into the collective consciousness of the quasi-mainstream throughout lockdown, how has your festival experience been so far as a performer?
ARLO It has been, ugh, I can’t even explain it. The festivals I had played before, I was accustomed to a couple hundred people who didn't know who I was. It was fun, but circumstantial and I could see I was at the start of things. Now, the first festival we had back was Live at Leeds and the crowd knew my songs and were singing along, it
was crazy. The idea of collective celebration, being at a festival or a concert feels like the most present you really can be because it is loud, you are removed from daily struggles, there is something magical about it. It has been one of my favourite experiences to engage with that collective presence.
JAI Are there any festivals that you are yet to visit/perform that are on the bucket list?
ARLO Primavera for sure. Lollapalooza would also be amazing, those are the two I really want to perform at, it would be amazing.
JAI Like many others, I have been enjoying Dream Fuel. The conversations and music are of course excellent, but how have you processed the on-going experience of having your own show?
ARLO It has been a formative experience for me, actually. I have always been interested in conversation and curation at the same time. I guess there are two halves of the programme, there is the part where I am digging for music and I get to play whatever I like for a lot of people, and that taps into why I got into music in the first place, getting lost on Youtube and MTS, finding gems along the way. Then there is the conversation idea of things which is really interesting as well. I get to talk to people outside of the music world, people who are in fashion or acting, people who are interested in music but come from different fields. I think recording on the road, it was this little part of time where I could just sit with someone completely outside of my world about something we have in common, it's really wonderful actually. It’s been a journey.
JAI There is a strange sense that you have of being aware of the journey you are on from an early age. Has it always been music as the priority or were you considering other avenues?
ARLO Well, I really wanted to write. I thought for a while I would be a journalist, maybe. I wanted to just write and talk to people. I knew that music would always be a part of my life but it felt like making it happen was such a rare thing, I didn’t even know how to tell people how much I wanted to do music, I couldn’t even tell myself. I thought I would do it for myself and do something in writing for my job. I couldn’t have imagined the way things have gone so quickly!
JAI Do you have any plans to expand your oeuvre beyond music and poetry into other creative worlds? If so, what would you like to try?
ARLO Loads of things, mate (laughs). I am doing a fair bit of foraying into acting and film. I think eventually I would like to do some things in music supervision, sound-checking, and scoring for movies. Also writing prose, poetry. I am just interested! My main interests are film and writing, and fashion too. I would love to make clothes or jewellery but I have to focus on one thing at a time so I am giving myself a lifetime to get it all done.
JAI You have a seriously busy second half of 2022, what have you got on?
ARLO Okay, I need to visualise this one in my head. So I am with Harry Styles tonight, festival season including Glastonbury, I am supporting Billie Eilish at the O2. I am also going to Japan, Australia and New Zealand. I am doing a headline tour in the US and I am doing a couple of shows with Florence Welch out in Canada and then just working on a few tunes. Not that much on (laughs).
@arlo.parks
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