Issue 69 - Liv Hewson

LAURENCE GUY

FILM FESTIVAL TO SXSW

ON THE EXPLOSIVE BUZZ OF AMERICA'S FAVOURITE HORROR SHOW PAGE 44

7 THE EDITOR'S NOTE // 8-15 THE PRIMER // 17 ON THE SHELF

18-19 AN ESSENTIAL INTRODUCTION: HEAVENLY CREATURE RECORDS

20-21 COLUMN: LOUIS BENEVENTI // 22-23 LAKE MANYARA TREE LODGE

24-25 LAND ROVER DEFENDER // 30-31 COLUMN: ROHIN JOHAL

32-36 GUCCI: ENVIRONMENTAL ENDEAVORS // 37 DEAD MAN'S SHOES

38-39 DAVID M. ROBINSON X OMEGA // 40-42 ACNE STUDIOS

44-55 LIV HEWSON: INTO THE WOODS // 57-63 ON THE ROAD: FROM GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL TO SXSW // 64-65 POLITE SOCIETY

66-67 SUCCESSION: HBO PLAYS THE PRESTIGE

68-71 LAURENCE GUY // 72 PORTRAYING THE LOSERS

73-78 BCNMCR: A TALE OF TWO CITIES // 79-81 WILL ELWORTHY

82-83 COLUMN: EMMY HALLAHAN // 84-85 ESSENTIAL PANTRY

87 NOTES FROM THE NEIGHBOURHOOD: WYLDE

88-90 TAM NAN // 91 FAMILY TREE AT THE TABLE

92 JOE OTWAY // 94-95 LA MARZOCCO'S BARISTA HEROES

96-97 ONE MORE DRINK

THE ESSENTIAL JOURNAL STAFF

editor-in-chief

BETH BENNETT b.bennett@essentialstudio.co.uk

business

JULIA AUCHEY

j.auchey@essentialstudio.co.uk

THOMAS SUMNER t.sumner@essentialstudio.co.uk

JAMES DOUGLAS j.douglas@essentialstudio.co.uk

EVIE

LEAH MAGEE l.magee@essentialstudio.co.uk

illustrator

EMILY MENZIES e.menzies@essentialstudio.co.uk

director

RICHARD SINGLETON r.singleton@essentialstudio.co.uk

ESSENTIALJOURNAL.CO.UK // @ESSENTIALJOURNAL published by ESSENTIAL STUDIO // ESSENTIALSTUDIO.CO.UK

WRITERS

CONTENTS

director

THOMAS SINGLETON tom@essentialstudio.co.uk

Rosie Barker, Louis Beneventi, Alejandra Cardona-Mayorga, Emmy Hallahan, Rohin Johal, Jamie McIlhatton, Joe Otway, Cal Smith, Freya Yeldham

contributor

project manager

web and social media assistant

lead designer

FRIAR evie.friar@essentialstudio.co.uk

creative director

THE EDITOR'S NOTE

When the time came to conceptualise this issue, I originally set out to do something attuned to nature. It’s Spring, though the weather here in England may disagree, and it’s a time of refreshment, regeneration, and rebirth. The trees start to flower and everything looks a little less like the set of a 1920s Weimar expressionist film. However, what I came to realise, as I started to collate little tidbits for consideration, was that whatever I could write about, whatever I could explore that related to the great outdoors, felt quite disingenuous. There’s a film – you’ll find our coverage of it just past halfway in this issue – that explores radical action against climate change through engaging in a loud act of violence towards oil corporations that mirrors the violence they're committing to the environment each day. They denounce peaceful protests as inaction. It’s a good film, really good, because it doesn’t equate environmentalism to far off rainforests or distant weather phenomena, no, it equates it to the human life affected by severe climate change. Cancer. Natural disasters. Homelessness and displacement. And while I was able to understand the message of the film, I couldn’t allow myself to be all that hopeful about its existence. Because, well, empathy to others feels all at once everything we need and a lost cause for many.

At a time of crisis, the world was quick to divide, then countries were fractured further. Like a piece of shattered glass with razor sharp edges, the world and all its ideologies have continue to attacked itself until we’ve all been left tinged red from the blood. And there’s no aftercare, no, instead it’s a survival instinct of rugged individualism that pushes those who are more cut up to the side and waits eagerly for them to bleed out. Waste away. Die. All from incisions made by a fractured nation. Those responsible for the divisions are never held accountable. Instead, they stoke the flames of fury and encourage the vox populi to villainise refugees, transgender people, people of colour, and they tell them that it'll keep them safe, that it'll preserve their comforts, that it'll save them from the inevitable cull.

It’s despicable, what this culture of fear has done, not only to the so-called United Kingdom but so many other nations across the world. That blasted empathy, it’s now become political, and those who stretch it too much are weak or woke, and those who shrug off the despair of others are confident and assured. Myself and my colleagues detest this attitude, that care for others has become a campaign call.

So we’ve revolted against it.

This issue isn’t about nature, no, it’s about it's about defiance. It's about looking beyond what you're told. It’s about finding new lands and new philosophies. It’s about human connection. It’s about love. It’s about goddamn empathy.

So if we're going to save the fucking world, let's save everyone in it too.

BETH BENNETT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

“AS YOU PASS FROM THE SOFT YEARS OF YOUTH INTO HARSH, HARDENING MANHOOD, BE SURE YOU TAKE WITH YOU ON THE WAY ALL THE HUMANE EMOTIONS, DO NOT LEAVE THEM ON THE ROAD: YOU WILL NOT PICK THEM UP AGAIN AFTERWARDS.”

Nikolai Gogol

pictured

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING DEAD RINGERS

Rachel Weisz stuns in this seductively slick revisit of David Cronenberg’s 80s psycho-thriller, refreshed for the modern audience - and all the more twisted than the horror icon’s original step. Dead Ringers drops us into the world of Elliot and Beverly, identical twins working in the gynaecological ward of a bustling New York hospital, and who are making moves to open their own birthing centre that puts women’s care at the heart of it. However, from the opening episode alone, it becomes clear that there’s something a little more unusual about the Mantle twins than it seems. Weisz embodies the erratic Elliot, and the meek Beverly with wicked fun, her role as dual lead firmly established as a stand-out in her oeuvre, and the chemistry between the two is as natural as it is scintillating. With a profound style and tremendous tension, Dead Ringers is certainly your next horror show obsession.

Dead Ringers is now streaming exclusively on Prime.

WHERE WE'RE DRINKING MR FOGG'S SOCIETY OF EXPLORATION

Mr Fogg’s boasts a wide array of locations across London. Although each has its own Victorian era charm - from pawnbrokers, to apothecaries - our favourite is Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration, a travel themed - well, to call it a bar or a pub feels like a disservice. The entire venue is decked out as though it were a nineteenth century train. Transported back in time, curios line every wall. Named after the protagonist of Jules Verne’s Around The World In Eighty Days, the charmingly themed menu mimics his journey. The drinks take us across the channel, on board the Orient Express, through the spice route, and on a transatlantic journey to the Amazon rainforest. What’s more, every single one of them is delicious.

THE PRIMER

Imagery courtesy of Inception Group

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO BOYGENIUS - THE RECORD

the record, the long awaited full length release from boygenius, conjures up snapshots of life that are perfectly accompanied by the simultaneously released music video. The songs are split amongst the trio, with the other two offering beautiful supporting vocals when not leading. A carefully curated selection of the aching, apologetic tone of Phoebe Bridgers, the nostalgic yearning of Lucy Dacus, and the moody confessionals of Julien Baker, this is a slow, introspective collection that, at times, is a direct recall to their first EP, and how they have grown as people since.

WHAT'S ON OUR FEET NEW BALANCE | MADE IN USA 990V1 (KELLY GREEN)

You don’t need us to tell you that New Balance’s Made in USA Collection is a sound, slick, and styleforward investment. But this month, we’re repping the latest release of the 990v1, this time in a bright Kelly Green, and letting our outfits be a little louder as Spring gets started.

WHAT WE'RE READING SURREALISTS OF NEW YORK

BY CHARLES DARWENT

As war ravaged Europe in the 1940s, a group of exiled French radicals fled Paris and found solace within the United States. It was this gang of eccentric artists that imported the Parisian abstract and laid the foundations to establish New York as the centre for the modern art world. Charles Darwent’s absorbing biography brings to life Max Ernst, André Masson, Louise Bourgeois and their contemporaries, revealing the astounding effect they had on some of America’s most prolific artists like Rothko and Pollock, whilst opening up a wholly new perspective on the 20th Century art movement.

Thames & Hudson £25.00 hardback

WHERE WE'RE GOING NEXT SNEAKERTOPIA, ARTSCIENCE MUSEUM, MARINA BAY SANDS, SINGAPORE

Created by Emmy-winning producer Steve Harris, and Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Steve Brown, Sneakertopia is a pop-up exhibition that celebrates the artistic and cultural world surrounding sneakers. Following a successful run in Los Angeles, Sneakertopia is making its Asian premiere at the ArtScience Museum in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore - and promises to deliver a unique, creative experience, spread across 10 immersive and dynamic zones. Featuring over 100 limited-edition sneakers and close to 70 murals, installations, designs, and original artworks, this iteration of the exhibition shines a spotlight on 16 Singaporean and locally-based creatives, who all offer an insight into the significance of sneaker culture in Asia, specifically. Sounds like the perfect antidote to that unescapable jet lag - count us in!

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ON THE SHELF

I’m Thinking Of Ending Things by Iain Reid

Compared to the other books on my shelf, Iain Reid’s debut novel is a much more recent dalliance than the torrid tomes of Tolstoy or Twain. Released in 2016, and then popularised in Charlie Kauffman’s 2020 adaptation, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a bold and original thriller that details a young woman joining her boyfriend on a road-trip to meet his parents. But it’s so much more than that. An enigmatic rampage of dry philosophical wit, masterful tension, and difficult questions, Reid plucks apart the twisting tendons of romance and desire, and puppeteers his characters to perform the most scathing of evaluations on the essence of human want.

WORDS

BETH BENNETT

A BRIEF RETURN TO THE MEDIA THAT MADE US.

AN ESSENTIAL INTRODUCTION

WORDS

BETH BENNETT

In the height of the Covid pandemic, with gigs cancelled and independent musicians struggling to find opportunities to get their art out there, Lauren Thomson had an idea. In her bedroom up in Aberdeen, surrounded by an eclectic collection of cassettes, vinyls, and string instruments, she reached out to her contacts and contemporaries, and asked them a very simple question: ‘Do you want to make music together?’

And thus, Heavenly Creature Records was born. Named, of course, after the Kate Winslet/Melanie Lynskey 90s thriller film, Heavenly Creature Records is a Scottish non-profit record label and community that provides a platform for independent musicians to come together, and share their work up and down the country - and even abroad. Catching up with founder Lauren Thomson at her new home in Glasgow, she shares with us the ethos of the DIY label.

“Immediately, as soon as I had the idea, I knew that this wasn’t going to be about making money for myself - it’s just going to be a platform for putting other people’s art out there, and letting them be heard. From the get go, it was always going to be about that community, and that shared space to promote art and platform new music.”

The label is Bandcamp based, an alternative streamer to Spotify, which was created by artists to ensure fair terms in financial reimbursement. Similarly, Heavenly Creature doesn’t request or retain any copyright of an artist’s work. If a band releases with the label, they still own the music fully, and aren’t obligated to give a cut of payment to the label.

“It’s very DIY - for me, it’s been about finding the simplest way to put a musician’s or a group of musicians’ work out there

in a way that honours the process, the production, and time that they’ve invested. I’m still figuring things out as the label grows, and we involve more artists and put on more shows, but the core belief of Heavenly Creature and the community aspect to it will stay the same.”

Heavenly Creature’s first release was an 80s compilation that the label released to raise for the charity No More Dysphoria, a US based organisation that works to help those who need funding for gender affirmation surgery. The first contributors

responded to an open call Lauren put out on social media and it snowballed from there.

“It got the label in front of people, told them what it was about. After that comp, I had people getting in touch saying ‘oh I’ve got an EP, will you put this out?’.”

Since then, Heavenly Creature Records has released the work of twelve separate artists from Scotland, England, and the United States. The label has also put on a number of shows to help promote artists’ releases.

"

From the get go, it was always going to be about that community and that shared space to promote

“For the bands in Scotland, in particular, we’ve been able to put on a few gigs, usually in collaboration with my friend Gary, who has a record label called Gold Mold Records and Steven, from Struggletown Records. Even the bands in the States, I’ll work on the promotion for their gigs - although I’m not putting them on, I’ll still make sure the word is getting out and advertising them.”

And where will Heavenly Creature go next?

“Ideally, I’d love to do the label full-time, but as it’s non-profit, I think it’s a bit of a pipe dream at the moment. But even still, working on it has really given me the confidence to know I want to be working in music full-time, and carry on promoting the independent music community in Scotland and internationally.”

@heavenlycrecs

@laurenmooset

HEAVENLY CREATURE RECORDS

"

From the get go, it was always going to be about that community and that shared space to promote art and platform new music.

THE BALANCING ACT OF A BARBER

WORDS LOUIS BENEVENTI

@louisbeneventi

‘I don’t love her anymore man, I don’t know what to do. What should I say to her?’ A hush comes over the barber shop. It’s my last client before close, and he’d popped in at the last minute, hoping I had a free slot - which to his glee, I did. I was planning on being a bit cheeky, and slipping away early, but he’s a regular. Nice fella, simple trim with a short back and sides with a skin-taper, and we’re often chatting about the football. But god, damn that sport for being a gateway to conversation.

My mate was to my left, and gave me a knowing glance. He briskly swept the hair on the floor around us up into the vacuum, and scurried out the back for a cigarette. He’d been back to back for hours and clearly wasn’t ready for the conversation. I don’t blame him, because I certainly wasn’t either. Not because of the emotion attached to it, but because, if I’m being honest, I’d only semi-heard the conversation after I’d been admiring my handiwork. I’d been dropping in the ‘uh-huh’s, and the ‘mhmm’s. Don’t give me evils. It was a fucking naughty taper. Anyway, I digress. Whilst I was focused on getting out the door, I glanced up, and I saw the guy looking at me for an answer. I was stumped. I just wanted to go to 5-a-side and break in my Mundials. Mentally planning my celebration when I scored my one goal a season, and deliberating if I was brave enough to knee-slide on the astroturf - and then remembering I’m not a psychopath. I took a deep breath, put my hands on his shoulders, and asked him to run it back. Think the groupchat might have to find a last minute ringer, because I might need a pint after this.

Now, I’m not going to divulge the rest of that conversation. It’s not my place. But with this issue being on nature and human interaction, it makes sense to talk to you guys about some of the things barbers are happy to deal with, and the peeves, as well as the enjoyments barbers face in customer service. Now, bear in mind I don’t speak for everyone here, but as much as I appreciate the oracle status that myself and my colleagues seem to be held in, it’s moments like this where I find myself a bit stumped sometimes. I love helping people and I love talking shit, it’s kind-of my thing. But I seem to find myself in the deep end sometimes and panic. My natural deflection once was to tell a guy to buy a dog. He did it. Fortunately, this wasn’t one of those situations.

With big personal issues, first off, I am always happy to help. And, as we have spoken about in these columns before, I always want people to be confident enough to feel that they can be open and have that rapport. But, as with everything, you need to build that trust. Big thing I’ve experienced is that after one haircut, some people seem to think we’re best mates. I cannot stress enough that this isn’t the case. Like every walk of life, you need to build those relationships, and when people are asking for discounts after a couple of haircuts, and following you round the local pub, it can be a bit… strange. Let’s build that relationship and go from there. It’s not Marriage at First Sight, lads, and barber wages in the UK, in comparison to the US, aren’t great. But as much as I find that side of barber customer service a bit strange, building to this sort of relationship, and being held in that regard is great though. Come in and have a chat about the footie, music, film, whatever tickles your fancy. But, I’d recommend going to see an accountant about your taxes. I can’t do that one on the side.

But as much as you do get some ridiculous situations, this guy was a regular, didn’t follow me round pubs and clubs chewing my ear off about what to do for his next fade at 3am, and was a good egg. Proper Chels. So, we had a chat while I cut his hair. We did get too close to the topic, and if it gets really tough, lads, like accountancy, please go and see the right people. Happy to help point in the right direction. We’re here to build a community more and more in shops, and I do love building a Premier League all-time XI every week. Hell, we did one with unlikely winners last month. Had to fight tooth and nail for Nathan Dyers on the right. Once we’re comfortable with each other, we can have chats like I did with this guy.

By the way, they patched it up and are getting married next month. I expect a healthy tip next time he comes in because I’ve basically assisted him to score at the back post. Djemba-Djemba to Macheda style.

And if you’re wondering, the other guy still hasn’t trained the dog to not shit on the floor. Swing and a miss some might say. I’m not a top draw oracle, but happy to point you in the directions of ones who might help.

LAKE MANYARA TREE LODGE

WORDS BETH BENNETT

IMAGERY COURTESY OF ANDBEYOND

South of the Serengeti, in the valleys of Northern Tanzania, a suite of lodges lie cradled in the boughs of ancient mahogany trees, cast before the deep, dramatic backdrop of the African safari. Oh, and whilst there, you’ll spot lions lazing in the trees beside you.

Immersed in the diverse woodscape of the Lake Manyara region, andBeyond’s Tree Lodge suites are the pinnacle of experiential holidaymaking. The buildings, grandiose tree houses that vary from family suites to independent apartments, are blended so astutely within the environment that you, all at once upon arrival, feel an intimate connection with the area.

A stay at the lodge includes catered meals from local chefs, twice-daily activities into the safari - with optional add-ons - and a vast pool for your own leisure. It’s a 360 stay that encourages adventure as much as it does relaxation, and with elephants passing through and tree-climbing lions lazing around, the multiple facets of the wild have never been so approachable.

However, what’s more important is andBeyond’s commitment to the local community. Designed to exert minimal impact on the surrounding area, the Lodge also ensures that the people who live within the nearby regions are afforded the opportunity of employment that honours their cultural traditions. At Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, you’re afforded the insights of the true faces of the country, gifted their expertise into the area, the wildlife, and traditions. It’s not a resort or a compound, it’s part of the community and, whilst staying here, you can’t help but feel that sense of belonging. andbeyond.com

LAND ROVER DEFENDER

WORDS

BETH BENNETT

The Land Rover Defender has, for the last 75 years, always been the first to answer the call to adventure. A vehicle synonymous with deep exploration, the resilience of the Defender has seen it tear through all kinds of difficult environments - from the British countryside to the wilderness of the Amazon. It was the car that launched Land Rover, and now, to honour its legacy, the company has released an all new anniversary edition as they continue to challenge what’s possible.

landrover.co.uk

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HOLY SMOKES: HOW HEMP IN FASHION IS SAVING THE PLANET

WORDS

ROHIN JOHAL

@br0hin

As the education around climate change increases year on year, people are now trying to be more sustainable in their habits and purchases moving forward. The need to be more environmentally conscious has come to the forefront recently, kickstarting back in 2006 with Al Gores ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. The world has followed in these green tracks, and we are now seeing every industry promote more sustainable practices.

The world of fashion (mainly fast fashion) is one of the worst offenders in terms of waste and pollution, only coming second to the oil and gas industry.

Due to how bad fashion as a whole is for the environment, more and more steps have been taken to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry. With this, we have seen a boom in subcultures - such as vintage shopping and thrifting - which in turn, allows people to be more creative with how they style themselves, while also having a unique and individual look. We have also seen bigger companies try to turn a sustainable new leaf, like when G Star collaborated with Pharrell to design a denim collection that incorporated ocean plastics into the fabric. This came out at around the same time Adidas started their ocean plastics range with Parely, hinting at more of a greenwashing campaign - as since then, ocean plastics haven’t been used en masse since. Additionally, there has been a wave of new designers making clothes out of sustainable materials, ranging from upcycling old materials to using fabrics like hemp.

Hemp was first used in ancient China, where it then spread around the globe before being stopped for a while - as it was outlawed, due to the plant it comes from. However, now it is being used again. Hemp is a naturally occurring fibre that, when woven, will create beautiful garments. Being naturally renewable, it won’t contaminate the environment it is grown in, or pollute any natural resources (synthetic fabrics can contaminate water supplies) giving it an overall thumbs up when being spoken about, as it does make the whole process more environmentally friendly. We are now seeing some designers exclusively use hemp, with a larger number of people deciding to wear it. We are also seeing it pop up on the catwalk, with some designers choosing it as a material for their runway collections - as seen in Berlin Fashion Week for Spring 2015, where Rosie Assoulin’s ready-to-wear line incorporated hemp garments into her looks.

Looking at the fashion world as a whole, there are still leaps and bounds to be made to the industry to make it more sustainable. However, we are moving closer to this sustainable future. With each year and collection, the world will keep looking towards more green practices to help combat the current climate emergency - whilst also creating a new space for designers to experiment with a wider range of non-traditional fabrics, allowing for a wider range of looks, textures, and outcomes.

ENVIRONENDEAVORS

MENTAL

WITH GUCCI’S NEW CIRCULAR MANUFACTURING PUSH

In partnership with parent company, Kering, Italian fashion house Gucci has launched a new production hub that centres on propagating sustainable practice by turning the concept of a circular economy into a viable, functioning financial ethos for high-end Italian manufacturing.

In this endeavour, Gucci and Kering have the potential to usher in a new mode of fashion production that sees companies taking on more responsibility than they currently do when it comes to the waste involved in luxury garment creation. Inevitably, the hub will improve their own sustainability performance through this promotion of natural resources, and reducing pollution, emissions, and overall waste; however, Gucci also hopes the hub will serve as a figurehead for the ‘circular Made In Italy’ movement.

Antonella Centra, executive vice president, general counsel, corporate affairs and sustainability at Gucci says: “The hub will enable the entire luxury supply chain and especially the small and medium-sized enterprises — the beating heart of our country’s industry — to play an active role, with the innovative spirit that makes Italian know-how unique in the world.”

@gucci

DEAD MAN'S SHOES

WORDS

FREYA YELDHAM

There is something so cold and stiff about all of the fast fashion sitting in charity shops today. Sifting through mountains of soulless fabric, it’s the dead people's clothes that really feel alive to me. When you can tell they’re more than a few months old, and they’re worn in - to someone else - but not yet falling apart, you can really feel the life they lived.

My favourite shirt, which cost me £1, is a muted pastel collarless shirt, which in my mind was worn by a geography teacher. They'd travelled the world in their youth, and come back to tell the adolescents of the UK about the mountains and rivers and oxbow lakes they’d seen. But they still wanted to seem hip, so a collar wasn’t necessary for their shirt, that would be far too uptight.

My massively impractical cowboy boots were sold to me by a woman who claims they were handmade for her grandmother by a Spanish bootmaker. Perhaps this is just a pretty story, but I like to imagine her grandmother in her youth, winking at the boys as she skipped down the street in her brand new cowboy boots.

Sometimes my second hand clothes don’t remind me of dead people but living ones. My dad’s old shirt, the perfect fit to wear around the house and be cosy and comfy and feel right at home. My mum’s little black dress, which I think of frequently when she teases me for owning so many little black dresses - as if she didn’t start the collection. And when I am gone, if these clothes are high enough quality to still exist, perhaps someone new will wear them, and make up their own stories, and feel connected to the dead girl who’s clothes they wear. @freyaaaclare

DAVID M. ROBINSON X OMEGA

A DEEP DIVE INTO THE OMEGA SEAMASTER COLLECTION

For those keen enthusiasts, Omega’s impact on the watch world is as flagrant as it is historic. Omega have been as intrinsic a part of the evolution of the personal timepiece as the very cogs that work beneath the face. From their founding in Switzerland over one hundred years ago, to the future forward engineering of today, the name Omega has become synonymous with precise craftsmanship, innovative development, and functional style. However, it was the advent of one particular watch that propelled Omega forward and helped to further cement them, as the name exemplifies, as the ultimate final word of watchmaking: The Seamaster.

In the 1930s, Omega began developing their research into waterresistant watches and in 1932 released the first qualified dive-

IMAGERY COURTESY OF OMEGA

WORDS

BETH BENNETT & NEIL BAXANDALL

watch, the Omega Marine. This was the first watch that was tested and qualified for diving specifically and was worn by naval divers, soldiers, and explorers internationally. Omega continued to develop the technology behind the Marine and, in the advent of the Second World War, looked to the engineering of submarines and other military armour to further the possibilities of their water-resistant offerings. Omega utilised such technology as an o-ring gasket, a form of seal within the watch, that allowed it to be water-tight. From this, in 1948, the Omega Seamaster was launched.

Each watch in the current collection is a celebration of Omega’s history, heritage, and passion.

The Omega Seamaster Diver is the pinnacle of professional dive watches and has been for decades. The latest iteration has a ceramic bezel, which means it’s resistant to scratches and will remain that colour for the life of the watch. This Seamaster boasts 300 metres of water-resistancy as well as bright super luminova indexes, meaning unrivalled visibility in darkness, or underwater. The clasp itself comes with an extension and also a diver’s extension to fit over a professional diver’s wetsuit. When this model was released, people noticed the return of the waves, a feature that was lost in previous models but well missed by aficionados alike.

The Omega Seamaster 300 Heritage Edition is the perfect blend of honouring history and utilising modern technology. The design choices for the Seamaster 300 have been sensitive to the original; a nod to the heritage with a lollipop hand, a curved dome sapphire crystal, and a flat link bracelet. This ensures that it is as true to the original but with modern features like our fold-over clasp and our push pin and racket microadjustment.

The Omega Planet Ocean boasts 600 metres of water resistance, pushing the boundaries of diving capability. It has a modern aesthetic that differs somewhat to the Seamaster 300 and the Seamaster diver with its clean lines and broad arrow hands. It also has a ceramic bezel, and a microadjustment.

Shop the collection at davidmrobinson.co.uk

AU NATURALE

Emerging from a fantasy fauna of tangled roots and exploding flora is Acne Studios’ FW23 collection. A catwalk show deep in the forest, creative director

Jonny Johansson stuns with scintillating Scandinavian style.

Deeply rooted in the symbolism and mysticism of nature, Swedish fashion house Acne Studios’ Fall/ Winter 2023 collection is a study in contrasts, weaving organic flowing lines that drape over the body with skin-tight silhouettes that appear to have grown like ivy. Seemingly an extension of the forest itself, these pieces wouldn’t look out of place on some woods-dwelling creature. Yet, in moments, it is firmly reminiscent of the slick urbanism of the cityscape.

Inspired by the topography of a forest, it feels both brutal and magical, but firmly rooted in nature. A celebration of growth and evolution - with views to the future - Acne Studios’ latest offering transports the viewer to a fantasy forest, where the beauty of the world around us is enhanced and reflected back in sparkling tree sap and exploding flora. The textures are inspired by flowers, plants, and tree bark. This is made visible in the earthy tones of green and brown, inspired by decaying leaves and tree roots, that are the building blocks of these creations, juxtaposed with poisonous shades of acid yellow, toxic pink, rusty orange, and bright blue.

ACNE STUDIOS FW23

Imagery courtesy of Acne Studios

“I wanted to capture the beauty of the darkness in both the collection and the set. Sweden is the kind of place where the city ends abruptly and then the pine forest begins. I’ve always enjoyed the contrast between urban life and nature, the idea that an infinite forest is just around the corner.”

– JONNY JOHANSSON CREATIVE DIRECTOR, ACNE STUDIOS

LIV HEWSON

WORDS

EMMY HALLAHAN

PHOTOGRAPHY AMELIA DOWD

One of Australia’s most exciting new talents, actor Liv Hewson had already cut their teeth in the company of Drew Barrymore, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie before crashing onto our screens with Showtime’s critically-acclaimed Yellowjackets. So we thought it was time for a kick about with their #1…

Liv Hewson is trapped in the 90s. The non-binary actor plays the teenage version of Van Palmer in Showtime’s Yellowjackets – a sensational show about an all girls soccer team whose plane crashes into the Canadian wilderness en route to the 1996 national finals. The first season, a gripping invite into a traumatic horror, drew mass acclaim as the dual timelines of Then and Now began to unfurl a complex portrait of what we would do to survive, and how, twenty-five years later, we struggle to truly reconcile with it. With a stellar cast featuring acting legends Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, Tawny Cypress, and Cristina Ricci as the 2020s counterparts of Sophie Nélisse, Sophie Thatcher, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Samantha Hanratty, the dual timeline keeps a buzzing mystery that is as addictive as it is haunting.

Now, as the second season currently grips the world, we caught up with Liv and talk about being part of the hive, acting in the winter of discontent, and their road to the character that was never meant to be a lead…

EH So, take us right back to the beginning, when was it that you really knew acting was for you?

LH It’s something that I felt so strongly so early. I was in a school play when I was nine, and I was like, ‘yeah, this is it’. It’s hard for me now to really think about exactly what it was that appealed to me so much about it. I think there’s something cathartic and exploratory about performing. It just scratches an itch that nothing else does. It was very clear to me very early that this was what I was going to do with my life. Everything else needed to fall into place around me, but I knew I was going to be an actor.

I trained and performed with a theatre company in my hometown. I really think of that as the place where I cut my teeth. I had friends that were in film school, so in my teens, I was in their student productions - because they knew I could act, and they didn’t have to pay me! I was just sort of plugging away and doing my own thing, and then I finished high school - and knew with a lot of clarity that I didn’t want to go to university. If you go to drama school they don’t let you perform in anything while you’re there, and I was just so hungry to start working. I started just looking for resources around me, identifying arts organisations that were running, and

workshops that were more industry based, and trying to wrap my head around how the business worked, and what my place there would be. An opportunity came up for me to do a workshop that took place in the States, so I did that, visited here for the first time, and from there I met and signed with representation in the US and in Australia. Then I started auditioning in both places. So, it was just a lot of making it work, and just following any opportunity that came up in front of me. Thankfully, I had the support to do that.

It’s funny to think now. I’m 27 now, and it’s come up for me lately thinking - moving halfway across the planet on your own at 20 to be an actor is insane! It’s absolute madness, what were you thinking? I’m just so fond of, and so grateful for my younger self, who was not only determined, but determined to the point of not even thinking about how high stakes or serious something was. Everything was quite matter of fact - I wanted to do this, and this opportunity is over here, so I must go! I didn’t really think about what that meant until later. It’s so strange to think about this intrepid little 20 year old. I’m just like oh wow, bless, thank you.

EH I know some actors often struggle with watching themselves back, is that something you struggle with?

LH For me, watching it is part of the joy of finishing it. Film in particular, and TV, is so collaborative - it takes hundreds of people to make something like Yellowjackets, to make anything. So, watching it at the end is a real sense of group satisfaction for me. It’s almost not even about me, when I watch something, and it’s finished. It’s like, "Oh wow, everybody pulled this off, isn’t that exciting."

EH Have there been any scenes in your career that have been particularly difficult to film?

LH I don’t know that I would say difficult necessarily, but there’s definitely scenes that have been challenging. I love that shit, you know? I love being challenged, I love being able to surprise myself. I really love not quite knowing what something is going to look like, or doing something new, doing something hard. There have absolutely been scenes where I’ve gone, "Man, I don’t know how we’re going to do this. This is going to be a challenging big day," but those are the days that I get really excited about.

EH So, tell us about your process, how do you prepare for the roles you take?

LH I’m quite flexible in terms of how I prepare, it’s different depending on what

Liv Hewson wears A.W.A.K.E MODE top and pants: Bottega Veneta shoes.

I THINK IT’S SUCH A RARE AND SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY, TO BE IN A GROUP OF PERFORMERS THIS SIZE, WHO ARE ALL AT A SIMILAR STAGE OF OUR LIVES.

I THINK THAT’S A REAL BLESSING.

the role or the job is. For Yellowjackets and crafting the character of Van, making a playlist for her every season felt kind of intuitive because our bit of the show is set in a specific time, and has a very specific tone. It was beneficial to me, not only as an actor, but also just for fun, to be like, let’s do a bit of a deep dive into women musicians from the mid 90s, who this character might be listening to, and also what kind of music builds the colour and shape of the experience this character is having in this show. Music is such a big part of the show, point blank. It felt natural to me to use music to explore what’s happening for her. It’s research in a lot of ways - what would this teenage girl from New Jersey be listening to? What, also, would she maybe not be listening to, but what describes what’s going on with her? I’m finding a lot of stuff that I like, which is exciting. For other characters that I’ve played, sometimes it’s a matter of reading different kinds of books, or getting into a different kind of exercise. I think, in my experience, everybody needs something different and I just try to stay open to what feels right when I’m getting ready to do something, like - what approach makes sense here?

EH Moving onto Yellowjackets then, what was your first impression of the script?

LH I just remember feeling really strongly

that I really hope this gets picked up. I think this show could be fucking incredible. So, in the early days, getting to be in it was almost kind of a bonus. I just thought the show was such an exciting concept. We shot the pilot and it was just like, "Okay, cool, I guess we’ll see what happens," and then the pandemic happened immediately, so we waited like a year and a half to make the rest of it. So, I’m just so grateful that the experience has unfolded in the way that it has - not just that the show is made, but also that I’m in it and it’s happening, and it truly is the best case scenario.

EH Now you’re playing someone who’s literally trapped in the woods. How was it filming outdoors so much - does it feel as isolated as it looks?

LH It’s funny that you bring that up, because season one was shot almost exclusively outdoors. If it looked like it was night time, it was, if it looked like it was cold, it was, if we looked like we were in a lake, we were! Then, season two, because it’s all winter, they actually built a lot of fake wilderness on sound stages for us, because it turns out that it’s actually easier to navigate fake snow, than to get us out to where the real snow is. There were a couple of pieces that we went and shot on location, but this time around, us being out on location was the exception rather than

the rule. I remember at the beginning of season two, I was worried, is it going to be hard for us to pretend to be outside? Last time it was so easy - we literally were, so we didn’t have to worry about it! I didn’t need to worry about it all, because the crew did such an amazing job building these sets indoors, that sometimes you would forget that you weren’t outside. The only problem was sometimes we would forget how cold we were supposed to be. Right before a take it would be like, "And you’re freezingaction!", and we’d have to remember to shake.

EH So you’re this all-girls football team, trapped in this terrible situation together – how does it feel to be working as part of this group?

LH I love being part of an ensemble. That’s something I really treasure. I love being part of a team, and I love an ensemble cast - both as a viewer and as an actor. I think it’s such a rare and special opportunity, to be in a group of performers this size, who are all at a similar stage of our lives. I think that’s a real blessing, it’s very cool. It’s something that I really don’t take for granted, and it is lovely to be working on a job like this with a group of people who I admire and trust and really respect. It’s awesome.

Liv Hewson wears Strateas Carlucci coat; 16ARLINGTON pants; Balenciaga shoes.

EH Yellowjackets has a lot of mystery to it, is that something you love? Or are you on the edge of your seat like we are?

LH This is my first experience with a show that airs week to week. It’s great, I love it, it’s awesome! I really think it allows people time to sit with, and think about, the ideas that the show is kicking around. The suspense is a massive part of that - they don’t tell us anything! So, it’s fun to watch audience members have the same questions that we do. We’ll be on set like, "What do you guys think is going to happen?", and then the show will come out and audience members will be asking the same questions, and that’s fun and exciting.

EH Obviously who survives the wilderness is a big mystery too! How did you feel when you found out that they were planning on bringing Adult Van into season 2?

LH I found out earlier than everyone else, but not by much. I found out that Adult Van was being written at the GLAAD Awards last year, so maybe about a year ago, I think? I just remember feeling superstitious before that - "I think they’re keeping me on … But, that doesn’t mean I survive the whole time, they could still kill me off if they felt like it, it just means I’m there for another year," - and then I found out that Van made it into the present. Then some

more time passed before I found out that Lauren Ambrose had come onboard. So, it was this real sense of finding out by increments that everything was going to be okay. At every stage it was just - I think it’s going to be fine, but I don’t want to rock the boat, so I’m just going to sit here very carefully until I know it’s going to be fine.

EH You and Courtney Eaton (who plays Lottie Matthews) were in a unique situation coming into the second season in which you were introducing a new actor into a character that, up until that point, had been your own. How was that process?

LH I mean, it was amazing - Lauren’s so good. It’s interesting to be somebody else’s point of reference. It was cool, it’s been such a treat talking to Lauren about this character, and watching her work, and watching what she brings to this person and this story. I’m so excited for people to see it.

EH There’s a lot of iconography, and cultlike imagery in the show - obviously, the symbol, the woods. How do you respond to the aesthetics of the show? Do they impact how you approach the role - obviously, Van seems to be leaning a bit more into the more spiritual elements this season?

LH There’s this real feeling of well, something’s going on here, you know? This isn’t normal. Things are weird, something is wrong. So, she clings to the closest thing that makes sense, to the closest person who’s willing to engage with the fact that something is very clearly, seriously wrong. The woods are spooky and mysterious and twisted. You know, in a lot of ways, I think it’s only natural.

EH If you were stranded in the wilderness, how well do you think you’d cope - would you get onboard with all the cult stuff? This isn’t me asking if you’d eat someone!

LH I feel like I would find the meditation helpful, but I would probably leave the rest. If we found a mysterious looking symbol somewhere, I probably wouldn’t start drawing it, and wearing it, and keeping it around - I’d probably leave that where it is!

EH Where do you see yourself in the future, are you still keen to stay in screen work, or would you like to branch out?

LH I want to do everything! I want variety, and challenge, and I love to be surprised. I love that I don’t quite know exactly what the future holds, I think that’s exciting! I know that I want to work a lot, and I want to travel, and just sink my teeth into the world a little bit.

VAN'S PLAYLIST

My Little Corner of the World Yo La Tengo

‘At the very beginning of season two there is this kind of weird domesticity that the girls have settled into, in the cabin. It’s like, well we live here, this is it and everything’s fine… question mark, before they start to go bananas.’

Come To Me

Bjork

‘A real Van and Taissa - let me protect you, let me love you, type thing.’

Victrola Veruca Salt

‘Which is a bit more of a Van and Lottie, hero worship-y, latching onto this saviour figure in the wilderness.’

EH You’ve mentioned before that you also do writing - do you think that helps, to have something that you’re creating that’s output just from yourself?

LH Writing is something that is still quite personal for me, I’m tapping away at stuff, but I haven’t made anything public in a long time. I’m still figuring out what that looks like for me. Writing is very individual, and performing is inherently very collaborative. You need a lot of other people around you and with you to do it, whereas writing is just me in a room and that’s it! Sometimes, that’s what’s hard about it. I find that the writing is something that I really care about in my work as an actor, and on a show like Yellowjackets, it’s one of the earliest things that I really valued about this project and one of the things that got me so excited about it, was how well written it was. That is at the core of everything for me - how is this written? What are we trying to say? What’s the tone? What’s the atmosphere we’re trying to create? And, as an actor, how can I help with that? I think there’s probably some overlap there.

EH How important is it for you to play queer roles, is it something you actively seek out?

LH Yes, not to the exclusion of anything else, but it is something that is important to me. I see that as part of my job, or as part of my calling - that’s so cheesy! It means a lot to me, that that’s something that I’m able to do actively and on purpose, in a way that’s really involved and deliberate, and conscious. I would love as many opportunities to do that as possible.

EH How does your own life philosophy or lived experience inform the roles you takeor vice versa?

LH That stuff is two mirrors facing each other, just reflecting back and back and back forever. What’s going on for me influences the things that I do, and the things that I do, I take with me, and then that becomes a part of my life, which then becomes a part of my work. It’s symbiotic, in a way. I feel like I’m always learning about myself and about my work, and about the other people I’m working with, and what’s possible, and what I want to do. I just feel

like a sponge a lot of the time, taking in as much information and experience as I can.

EH A lot of productions today are a lot more globalised, but are still kind of lacking in terms of representation of a lot of people, aren’t they?

LH For me, when I think about representation and inclusion, I just keep coming back to - well, it’s weird not to! You know, it’s actually deeply strange to make stories that veer away from the amount of kinds of people that there are in the world. That’s bizarre. Why would you, as a storyteller, have an opportunity to explore the world and the people in it, and then not take it? That’s odd. That’s what I always come back to. If we just make stories about the same kinds of people over and over again, there’s something a little bit pathological about that. Why? What are we doing? What is the avoidance of that? What is that about?

Season 2 of Yellowjackets is now streaming on Paramount+ @liv.hewson

WORDS

BETH BENNETT

When one door closes, another one opens. Or something slightly less cliche. As Everything Everywhere All At Once’s historic sweep at the Oscars signals the end of the 2022 year of film, there’s minimal reprieve for the industry as the next bout of releases line-up for their turn along the festival parade. Some festivals springboard new talent, independent cinema, or obscure niches, whilst others are for the big name stars and filmmakers to showcase their latest, or for distributors to cherry pick their yearly release slate. Regardless of their reason, film festivals are as constant as they are important to the grandiose film industry circus and with so many cities across the globe serving as the charismatic ringleaders, it means, for the likes of us and other opportunistic audiences, that we get to hit the road and feel apart of something magic.

We were extremely fortunate to be invited to two remarkably different festivals this side of summer. We joined Carol Morley’s Typist Artist Pirate King’s UK premiere up in Glasgow whilst gluttonously seeking out all that GFF’s line-up had to offer from supporting acts to the mammoth headliners. Then, with nothing but a few fresh outfits, notebooks, and cameras, we caught a flight all the way out to the Deep American South, and the iconic SXSW.

Imagery courtesy of SXSW and Eoin Carey.

GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL glasgow, scotland

Glasgow has, over the past twenty or so years, positioned itself as a true epicentre for Scottish film. Even edging out the heritage and stature of the country’s capital, filmmakers haveestablished a real sense of community, connection, and creativity in the city along the River Clyde that, under the art deco canopy of GFT, you really can’t help but be absolutely taken in by. People Make Glasgow, after all.

Founded in 2005, Glasgow Film Festival has become a staple of the UK festival circuit - one of the largest in the country - with the sole focus of positioning the audience experience as paramount. This year, GFF boasted 70 UK Premieres and 6 World Premieres, with a slew of industry events designed to give young or up-and-coming filmmakers the opportunity to meet with professionals.

For us, the atmosphere was electric – not just at Glasgow Film Theatre, but all over the city, with audiences and filmmakers coming from all over to experience the festivities in true Glaswegian style. We were fortunate enough to attend a slew of screenings, panels, and premieres that introduced us to a world of new perspectives and life-altering insights. GFF is definitely now a permanent annual fixture in our calendar.

PHOTOGRAPHY

BETH BENNETT

OUR TOP FILMS

RICEBOY SLEEPS

Directed by Anthony Shim, a Lonesome Heroes Productions Film.

This semi-autobiographical outing from writer/director Anthony Shim invites us into the world of So-Young, a single mother from Korea who is struggling to raise her teenage son Dong-Hyun, after moving to Canada to give him a better life. Riceboy Sleeps is personal and it is critical and Shim handles each step these characters take with a masterful hand. The long takes drag you into the story in a voyeuristic manner, keeping you locked in for all that becomes of them. A stellar piece of film.

Riceboy Sleeps was the winner of Glasgow Film Festival’s Audience Award, sponsored by Belhaven Brewery.

GIRL

Directed by Adura Onashile, a BFI/BBC/Screen Scotland Film.

The opening gala film, Girl, is a testament to the talent in modern filmmaking. A tender mediation into the advent of unexpected motherhood and the seeping generational trauma, Adura Onashile’s feature debut is an evocative and explorative film that invites you into the musings of Grace (Déborah Lukumuena), a Nigeria emigre, who worries over her daughter Ama (Le'Shantey Bonsu) as she approaches puberty and yearns for the normality of her British-born peers. The familiar landscape of Glasgow, all at once in this film, feels daunting, and the dynamics of dependency are criticised as they are understood. A beautiful picture.

LAKELANDS

Directed by Patrick McGivney and Robert Higgins, a Harp Media Film.

Lakelands introduces us to Éanna Hardwicke as Cian, a local GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) footballer from a small town in Ireland, who, on a night out, suffers a traumatic injury that impacts his ability to play. The film itself trundles on in a quiet and personal manner, feeling, at times, like a series of diary entries that explore Cian’s recovery more so than a concise and progressing narrative. However, this works in favour for this style of film, an intimate portrait of a directionless man, and easily permits you to understand Cian’s turmoil.

Image courtesy of New Europe Film Sales.

Image courtesy of Wildcard

GOD’S CREATURES

Directed by Anna Rose Holmer and Saela Davis, an A24/Screen Ireland Film.

Emily Watson and Paul Mescal lead this timid track into the limits of a mother’s trust. Though the plot itself is faulted by being altogether too simplistic, and oftentimes predictable, the rugged cinematography and nuanced performances from Watson and Mescal allow for a fairly immersive picture. Watson, in particular, stands out as a testament to the quiet acting that works well within these social realist pieces - the subtle movements with her expression work more wonder than the words on the page initially allow.

HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE

Directed by Daniel Goldhaber, a Spacemaker Productions Film.

Andreas Malm’s manifesto sent ripples throughout the world when it was released in 2021, dismantling the social doctrine of strategic nonviolence that permeated the environmentalist movement until that point. Daniel Goldhaber, along with Ariela Barer and Jordan Sjol, have brought this manifesto to life with a fiercely gripping, thrilling narrative about a group of individuals who come together to make a stand against climate change. Small in production but grand in scope, the film recognises its importance but doesn’t fall victim to ego or self aggrandising, instead remaining entirely focused on the human element that often becomes lost in political spiel. A landmark film, How To Blow Up A Pipeline is a postcard of human potential.

Image courtesy of Neon

Image courtesy of A24 and Element Pictures

SXSWaustin, tx

SXSW has a particular mythos to it. For those interested in film, TV, or the festival circuit, it’s afamiliar name most recently cited as a springboard for Oscar contenders, or where the first dregs of cult following surface for a new indie film. However, the festival itself boasts so much more than this. With conferences on creating, direction, new industries and tech, alongside immersive experiences with brands and media, SXSW is a two-week long journey into the very roots of American creativity and, for us, it was an honour just to be invited.

Taking over the Austin Convention Center, SXSW is a celebration of innovation that entrances you into a realm of possibility. An environment designed to immerse and engage, the potential beats hard and fast and you’ll find yourself often overwhelmed by inspiration.

PHOTOGRAPHY JULIA AUCHEY

OUR TOP FILMS

BOTTOMS

Directed by Emma Seligman, a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film.

Rachel Sennott, in the company of the addictive Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), reunites with Shiva Baby director Emma Seligman in this raucous, weird, and wild satire. The heavyweight stardom of its leads kick up a storm in a brutal parable of victimisation, violence and vapidness that follows two lesbian teenagers who set up a female fight-club on their quest to hook up with cheerleaders. Bottoms spins the high-school dramedy on its head and, although occasionally bumpy and heavy-handed in its approach, the film is charismatic and, most of all, fucking hilarious.

I USED TO BE FUNNY

Directed by Ally Pankiw, a Barn 12/Ontario Creates Film.

Another appearance from festival favourite Rachel Sennott as she leads this complex and confrontational debut from writer/ director Ally Pankiw. Sam, an au pair and struggling stand-up, is all at once a textbook presentation of Sennott’s type but also a deeply layered and traumatised individual that allows the performer a chance to solidify herself as a true star entertainer. The sometimes harrowing plot is handled with deep care and sensibility while balanced, with tonal perfection, with fun and breezy moments.

Image courtesy of ORION Pictures Inc. © 2023 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.

SWARM

Directed by Donald Glover and Adamma Ebo, an Amazon Studios Series.

One of the most prolific voices in entertainment serving cultural criticism, Donald Glover (AKA Childish Gambino) partners with Adamma Ebo to explore the potential extremes of online ‘stan’ culture in this horrifically addictive series. Dominique Fishback is captivating as music star obsessive Dre who slowly and tragically becomes entangled in a web of violence and murder as a parasocial relationship with her favourite artist pulls her from reality. Though sometimes clunky in delivery, Swarm is an enticing series that welcomes you into the darker consequences of social media communities and shows you the damage that online discourse has the power to enact.

EVIL DEAD RISE

Directed by Lee Cronin, a New Line Cinema Film.

An Evil Dead film should be two things: self-aware and gory. This new instalment in the franchise achieves both with perfect grace. Fresh, modern, and featuring stand out performances from young queer actors, the film adopts the conventions of Evil Dead but doesn’t try, unlike most recent horror reboots, to twist them or elevate them. No, Evil Dead Rise honours The Book of the Dead and all it has to offer with true dedication. This is a franchise built on overt horror that, at times, can seem slightly ridiculous and this latest addition doesn’t shy away from it, making the experience all the more hauntingly familiar. Alyssa Sutherland, in particular, is deserving of all the accolades being sent her way.

AMERICANA

Directed by Tony Tost, a Bron Studios Film.

A new-age western that shakes up small town America led by Sydney Sweeney that reinvents a classic genre in a charmingly surreal and effortlessly enjoyable way. Americana is exciting and rapid and darkly humorous while honouring the themes and style of Westerns of the past.

Glasgow Film Festival and SXSW will return in March 2024.

Image courtesy of Warrick Page/Prime Video

Image courtesy of Ursula Coyote

film debut.

The phrase ‘Polite Society’ is one that denotes pristine presentation, grand, manor-like houses, and all the lifted pinkies and inheritance tax you can possibly imagine. It’s a soft masquerade of upper-class making that parades a pageantry of a certain way of life. It’s Downton Abbey. It’s Conservative. It’s judgemental snobbery and…well, frankly, it’s something that feels extremely British.

So when Nida Manzoor opens her feature debut with the words in vibrant yellow across the entire screen, only to follow them with Ritu Arya’s Lena in a slobbish wardrobe as she walks down the street, eating a rotisserie chicken like an apple, you know that what you’re about to witness is absolute subversion of just that.

The film explores the trials and tribulations of Ria Khan (Priya Kansara), a school age girl who years to be a professional stuntwoman much to the chagrin of her teachers and parents. She’s a feisty, dedicated teen who creates videos of her progress and sends rampant emails to her hero. However, when her sister, an art school dropout caught in the vice of existentialism, becomes engaged to an all too perfect man and retracts her dream of being an artist, Ria must put her skills to the test to save Lena…who doesn’t seem to want to saving at all.

With martial arts training, all the tropes of an honest to god spy feature, and the help of her best friends Alba (Ella Bruccoleri) and Clara (Seraphina Beh), Ria’s dedication – though often misguided but still addictively inspired – and hopeful energy surges from the page to screen with a masterful THUNK! The combined will of Priya Kansara and the evocative filmmaking of Nida Manzoor is a one-two punch experience of total action enjoyment. Polite Society is one of those rare

POLITE SOCIETY POLITE

films that beats with the perfect synchronicity of all hearts involved, where every actor and crew member was clearly having an absolute ball during production. The life and joy permeates each sequence and allows, when the story itself turns a touch dark, the film to say something important but without taking itself too seriously.

And that’s why Polite Society is one of the best films

I’ve seen this year, in a long time if I’m being perfectly honest. It has the charm of an instant sleepover cultclassic because while it’s lighthearted and downright hilarious, with quirky camerawork that Edgar Wright himself would be proud of, it also has a poignancy to its existence. Manzoor’s much acclaimed We Are Lady Parts was heralded for its presentation of the variety in the Pakistani-British Muslim female experience, and Polite Society is another example of that. Though the film itself may seem cartoonish in moments, it is never caricaturish. It’s like a comic-book style reflection of a part of Manzoor’s own community and though the villains become flagrant in their devilishness, the film never reduces its characters down to a Good vs Evil or White vs Black binary, instead it presents their ludicrousness and criticises them while wholly understanding the circumstances that manufactured them.

This film is a stand-out bit of entertainment that I simply couldn’t recommend more. Manzoor’s place in the canon of great British filmmakers is made certain with Polite Society and, considering its a debut, I think that’s a pretty big achievement.

Polite Society is in UK cinemas now.

Nida Manzoor, the multi award-winning creator of hit sitcom We Are Lady Parts, invites us into a triumphant, one-two punch feature

BIG TROUBLE. LITTLE SISTER.

WORDS BETH BENNETT IMAGERY COURTESY OF FOCUS FEATURES

SUCCESSION: HBO PLAYS THE PRESTIGE

As HBO’s much-lauded Succession nears its climactic end, the final bell tolls on the coda of television’s golden era.

In magic, a trick is split into three acts: The Pledge, The Turn, and The Prestige. This knowledge hit the mainstream in Christopher Nolan’s 2009 thriller, The Prestige, which details Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman’s turn as illusionists who compete in a spirally one-upmanship to achieve total infamy. The Pledge, the first part, is when a magician will show you something relatively ordinary, innocuous. This is followed by The Turn, when this ordinary subject is made extraordinary. And then, The Prestige, when the magician subverts the turn and astonishes further. Like a plain and simple rabbit that suddenly disappears only to reappear at the drop of a hat.

When HBO launched back in the early seventies and, in an effort to maintain consistent subscriptions, it soon began developing its own programming, establishing itself as a new contender in the broadcast television game.

And that was HBO’s Pledge, to make television. Plain and simple. However, when the broadcaster released The Soprano’s in 1999 and The Wire shortly after, in 2002, HBO astonished audiences with the reveal of its Turn. HBO was making ordinary television something extraordinary.

With that hand, The Golden Era of television was launched to salivating audiences, hungrily devouring all they offered like True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, and Game of Thrones. Other channels tossed their hat in the ring too: AMC with Mad Men and Breaking Bad, FX with The Americans, and NBC with The West Wing Even British programmers were suddenly infatuated with the notion, with the arrival of Peaky Blinders and Black Mirror. Yet, as the advent of streamers oversaturated the market with their expensive, a-list starring turns at television, it seemed as though The Golden Era, and HBO’s marvellous magic trick along with it, staggered out of favour along with the anticlimactic demise of Game of Thrones

That said, there were remnants of this era that persisted, some sort of coda to the original shimmering glory; The White Lotus, Mare of Easttown, and Lovecraft Country to name a few. Yet, as critically acclaimed they may have been, none truly encapsulated

the sensationalism of those true Golden Era shows. Nothing, it seemed, could grip the world in the same way that they had. And then HBO, under the guidance of Jesse Armstrong and Mark Myloyd, has finally played its Prestige.

Succession was a slow burn in the realm of cultural zeitgeist. The first season arrived with little fanfare, and the second only slightly more so. However, when the third season premiered in 2021, momentum had ignited and now, as the fourth season rattles around TV boxes worldwide, Succession has become the biggest show on air. But why? What is it about a family of reviled millionaires clambering for the crown of their ailing father’s media business that has us all so intoxicated?

It’s good storytelling. Plain and simple. HBO’s eternal promise. Succession is the unique type of show that doesn’t overly complicate it’s plot with a needless hankerings for dramatic events; it allows the characters to breathe, to become themselves and establish their roles on the chessboard of the Roy dynasty. Business chatter isn’t translated for the ‘common folk’ who watch, instead it’s said with a trust in the intelligence of its audience, and in the delivery of its cast that evoke every necessary emotion around the corporate jargon that even if you don’t understand the technicalities, you do understand the consequences. Tension is built around relationships and interactions, not extraneous events, and it solely relies on the strength of character to do so. This

is why the final season is so outrageously riveting - this is the endgame, this is the culmination, this is what everything has been for, and, ultimately, each part of it feels earned.

What’s more is the artistry behind the style of it. Filmed on 35mm on location in New York, Succession has remained firmly focused on presenting its characters in photo-reality. The actors aren’t tucked away in some studio lot, with wooden fascias of skyscrapers setting the scene. No, they’re present in the world the characters live in. They’re captured on grainy rolls of film that allow the audience to know, wholeheartedly, this is not a glossy, clean retelling of someone else’s story.

Maybe it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, as this excellent show bows out, that the final scene of the final act of HBO’s greatest achievement is a dog-eat-dog contest to take over a company that neither of the contenders actually seem to like. A group of deplorable individuals that, through well-articulated nuances, have managed to redeem themselves so that audiences root for at least one of them. What becomes of the formidable Waystar Royco when the final credits toll? Will it sink into oblivion or re-invent itself to acclaim? Does anyone actually even care? And is that not, with streaming wars and mergers and mass layoffs, the final state of television itself?

The final season of Succession is now streaming on Sky Atlantic.

LIVING LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW BUT KILLING YOURSELF IN THE PROCESS

WORDS

& INTERVIEW

Fresh off a sold-out show at Fabric in London, we caught up with Bristol born DJ and producer Laurence Guy to get an exclusive insight into his new album.

BB I’ve been listening to your album, it’s very very good. It’s somehow relaxing, but very haunting at the same time.

LG Yeah, that’s a good way to describe it, to be fair. It’s kind of almost like cathartic making it, but that also means it’s fairly emotional at the same time. Comforting, but also a little bit melancholy.

BB Yeah. It’s sort of familiarly disconcerting, like a walk home in the dark. Is that how it feels releasing new music? This is your second album, right?

LG It’s the second album. I released one in 2017. I’m feeling good - it’s been done for quite a while, about a year. It’s taken quite a long time to find the right label, and find the right way to release it, but I’m really excited to get it out there. It still feels just as relevant to me as it did when I made it.

BB When you’re talking about finding the right label, and finding the right way to release it, what hurdles did you have with that?

ourselves releasing it with some backing from a label. Fairer split of the royalties, and you get a bit more autonomy on how you do it and stuff like that. It’s a really nice way to release it.

BB I’ve always been very much in awe of people who are able to encapsulate feelings through music alone, without lyrics. So can you explain to me a bit about your process?

LG It’s something that I’ve done since I was like thirteen, so it’s sort of like a private coping mechanism that I’ve created to deal with everything. I was never really very good at expressing my emotions, or talking in general, so I had to find some kind of outlet to do that, and through the years, music’s been the way to do it, really. So, I would probably be more honest and

authentic through music than I would be in day to day life, really. I find it quite hard to talk about things, so I put all of that into my music. Now, because I’ve been doing it for so long it’s a direct link between what I’m thinking, how I’m feeling, and what comes out. I don’t really have to think about it anymore. It’s not a conscious thing of ‘I feel sad, I’m going to write a sad song’, it’s more just like however I’m feeling and whatever’s happening at the moment I make it just comes straight out in how it sounds naturally.

BB You say you’ve been doing it since you were thirteen, have you been into making music since then?

LG I started really young, when I was about twelve, on a really basic programme called Fruity Loops. I was really into drum and

bass and dubstep back then - that was the big thing when I was at school. I just never stopped, it kind of naturally progressed. I was experimenting with that kind of sound, and then I started making more stuff, and as I got more proficient, it was more about expressing emotions. I was DJing a lot at house parties from thirteen to eighteen, and then started to DJ in clubs. I’ve never really thought about doing anything else - luckily it’s working! It’s always been what I wanted to do since forever. I did lots of random jobs in between, obviously. I worked as a gardener, as a labourer, I worked at a factory where you cut chains to different lengths, I worked at DFS warehouse. I worked loads of different warehouses, and then the longest job I had was when I worked at a rock climbing centre - which is something else that I’m really into. I worked in a shop selling climbing equipment.

BB Are you into rock climbing in the sense of in a wall or a building, or do you go out on the cliffs?

LG Both, both, yeah.

BB Do you find that sort of a therapeutic thing for you as well?

LG Yeah, a hundred percent. It’s kind of the same as music. Anything you can do that gets you into that state where you’re not thinking about anything else is perfect. Climbing and music are really similar. You have to focus completely on what you’re doing - with climbing it’s a bit more like, if you don’t, there’s danger, so you have to concentrate extra hard. Music’s the same thing, it’s just about finding something to take you out of yourself and forget about everything.

BB Do you find that being outdoors, being in nature, really helps or are you more of a city guy?

LG Yeah, for sure. Nah, I like being out. Especially if you climb by the sea, you can climb up and be above the sea, it’s one of the best feelings. It’s amazing.

BB You’ve DJed here, there and everywhere - do you have any favourite places you’ve been? Places you’d love to go?

LG I think my favourite place to play is probably Australia, I reckon. Perth, specifically. It’s the furthest place I’ve been to DJ, and I did it quite early. Even early on, they were just really receptive, there was a big scene for it out there. Everyone was really welcoming, and it’s just a really

nice place. The crowds out there are just more excited and happy that you’re there - they’re just really nice. It felt like home, basically. Australia’s definitely my favourite place to go.

BB Do you have any bucket-list places that you’d really love to perform?

LG America’s the big thing for me at the moment, I really want to go and tour over there. Hopefully, this year. New York, mainly. I think in terms of DJing, New York’s the epicentre of everything. There’s so many legends from there. I’ve been there once, and it’s just an amazing place. It felt like being in a movie - I’d love to perform there.

"CLIMBING AND MUSIC ARE REALLY SIMILAR. ANYTHING YOU CAN DO THAT GETS YOU INTO THAT STATE WHERE YOU’RE NOT THINKING ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE IS PERFECT."

PORTRAYING THE LOSERS: A REVIEW OF TWO COLOMBIAN, LATIN AMERICAN FILMMAKERS

WORDS ALEJANDRA CARDONA-MAYORGA

The interest in diasporic knowledge about filmmaking, and how cinema can connect people across borders and cultures has grown in recent years. Colombian Latin American filmmakers Laura Mora and Carlos Osuna have contributed significantly to this movement. Both have a unique focus on portraying the lives of everyday people, particularly those situated on the periphery of society. Their work offers a unique insight into the microcosmic life stories of their subjects, exploring the more universal realities of the everyman. It is a testament to the power of filmmaking to capture the essence of everyday life and make the ordinary extraordinary.

Laura Mora's "Kings of the World" tells the story of Rá, Culebro, Sere, Winny, and Nano - five children living on the streets of Medellín, with no contact with their families. They form a brotherhood through living on the streets, navigating a world without laws. Maintaining friendship and dignified rage, they display disobedience and resistance. Their journey takes them into the depths of the Colombian interior, seeking a piece of land that Rá inherited from his late grandmother, who was a victim of violence.

In "Job Interview", Osuna takes us on a journey with a young man facing the daunting task of preparing for a job interview in English. Osuna immerses us in the world of his protagonist and the obstacles he faces on the road to employment in an inhospitable city landscape. Through this peculiar and engaging viewing experience, we're reminded of the humanity behind every job application, and the struggles and irony that so many people face in today's economy. Osuna's film is a poignant and timely commentary on the challenges of the modern job market, and a celebration of the resilience and perseverance of the human spirit.

What sets these films apart is their commitment to conveying the microcosmic life stories of their subjects, and the more universal realities of the everyman. This is especially evident in the filmmakers' use of transcendental style cinema, auteur cinema, and haptics, to create works of art that resonate with audiences on a deeper level.

Transcendental style cinema emphasizes the contemplative aspects of cinema. It seeks to capture the essence of a character's inner life, often using long takes, natural light, and minimal editing. In Mora's "Kings of the World", we see this approach in the film's use of extended shots that allow the audience to be lost in the constant grief of the characters.

In Osuna's "Job Interview", we see this approach in the film's use of naturalistic dialogue that we can barely hear because of the noise of the outside world. In addition, the cinematography uses one shot for each scene, always in a wide shot, creating an intimate but separated viewing experience, bringing the audience into the world of the characters as if we were spies in their lives, highlighting the director's unique vision.

The two filmmakers have a common interest in portraying the everyday life of ordinary young people in Latin America, and how they are affected by the socio-political and economic circumstances that surround them. They aim to create films that are not only entertaining, but also serve as a form of social commentary that sheds light on the struggles of the marginalized and underrepresented communities in the region.

BCNMCR: A TALE OF TWO CITIES

StudioDBD's Dave Sedgwick talks us through the history of his design event BCNMCR and why he's bringing the best of Barcelona's design scene over to Manchester for one last time.

A TALE OF

WORDS & INTERVIEW EVIE FRIAR

Imagery courtesy of all studios featured.

EF What inspired you to hold the first BCNMCR and why was Barcelona your city of choice?

DS I went to Barcelona on my first ever college trip as an art student back in the nineties. I’d only been abroad once before and it took us hours to get there. I remember waking up in the morning and being free to explore Barcelona with a camera and a sketchbook. It was all so different to what I was used to. I fell in love with everything about it and was completely obsessed by it; I think I have been ever since really.

Then, my wife’s a translator, and she was working there for about six weeks in 2012. She suggested that I came out and joined her but said she’d be working during the day. So I thought, “Why don't I get in touch with some design studios and actually go and see them?”

I remember emailing quite a few of them before I left and a few of them responded. The first one was Lo Siento Studio; a guy called Borja Martinez. I went out to see him in his studio; it was a massive design studio with loads of really cool work. We were just chatting and then the conversation slowly got to a point where we didn’t really have anything to say to each other and I

was thinking I have to fill this silence with something. I literally had no plans to do this. I just went, “How about an exhibition of your design work in Manchester?” And he was like, “Yeah, absolutely. I'm well up for that. I love Manchester!” I went to see a few other agencies and they all agreed to do it as well. So I came back to England in 2012 with this idea and I was like, “Right, I'm going to do a design event. I have to do it now. I have to follow through with it.”

EF What was the first event like and why do you feel like now is the time to bring it back?

DS It was brilliant. I think about 500 people came to the launch. There was work on display; we printed it all so there was actual physical design objects like wine bottles, books and packaging. Then, the next night, we had the talks. I'd charged about £9 for a ticket, which is just madness. There were four speakers; Lo Siento, Hey Studio, Mucho and Mayuscula Brands. Hey Studio were just starting to take off; they’d done some stuff in Monocle magazine. I think I had about 110 tickets and they sold out in 25 minutes, which was brilliant but I should've charged a bit more for them!

That was in 2013. The exhibition was on for two weeks in a bar TwentyTwentyTwo

and we did the talks there too. Loads of people came and it got picked up on lots of design blogs, so it wasn't just people from Manchester; people came from all over the country.

I really enjoyed it so I decided to do it again in 2014. I think we had about ten design agencies from Barcelona involved in the 2014 event and about six came over to actually speak at the event. We still did the exhibition at TwentyTwentyTwo, but we did the talks at the Hallé St Peters, which is where this final event is going to be at. It’s a big venue, and it's a really impressive space; it's where the Hallé Orchestra performs so acoustically, it’s amazing. I still kept the price really reasonable; I wanted to make it accessible for students and young designers, not just have creative directors and business owners there.

2014 was the last one, then in 2015, my daughter was born, I got busy with being a dad and I got busy with my own business. Then I got asked to organise design events for a client of mine, a company called Foilco, and I ran those events twice a year. The years went by and Covid came along and it made me re-evaluate my job and what I was doing. I felt like I needed a bit of a challenge again. I realised it had been ten years since that first BCNMCR and I

remembered how much adrenaline and excitement that had provided and I thought maybe we should bring it back for one final ten year anniversary of the project.

EF You keep calling this the “final one”. Are you sticking with that?

DS Oh absolutely. It 100% is the final one for this concept, in terms of Barcelona and Manchester. I’m really conscious of the fact that I’ve absolutely done everything I can with the Barcelona-Manchester connection. Everybody will ask me why we’ve not done a Manchester event over in Barcelona. I think the main answer to that is that it's a lot easier to organise an event in your own city. As much as I’ve made loads of connections with Barcelona agencies, no one's ever said, “Oh, we should do the same thing over here.” I think you just need a bit of help to do it over there. You need more support.

I'm not going to say never in terms of the concept of two cities coming together. Maybe a design event in Manchester that features speakers from another city, whether that’s Paris, New York, Milan, Copenhagen. I still think it's a good concept and it's got potential to grow. For this event, I’ve designed a book including interviews with all the speakers, their designs, articles, things like that. It features 60 creators from Barcelona. To be honest, I think that book draws a line under that particular concept.

EF What was the process like curating all the content for the book and then ultimately designing it as well?

DS BCNMCR has always been about an exhibition of work and some talks. The two have always gone hand-in-hand. Because I'm ten years older and I'm more tired [laughs], I was like, let’s just do the actual talks this time. Then I went to see a hotel in Manchester about rooms for the speakers and I met this young guy who loved the idea and suggested having an exhibition there too, in exchange for free rooms. So I went away and contacted all these designers in Barcelona about the exhibition. Lots of them replied saying that they’d love to be part of it. And then the guy left. He didn’t tell me he was going and he hadn’t organised it at all even though we’d met two or three times and exchanged emails. Nobody else at the hotel knew about it so it left me a bit

high and dry, having already contacted all these designers about an exhibition.

So then I thought about doing a book. An exhibition, once it’s been up, it’s gone. A book has a bit more legacy to it. All the people that I had asked to be in the exhibition; they supplied work for the book. I decided that because it's ten years since the first event, I would ask them all where they imagine themselves to be in ten years, like in 2033. They've given me a response to that and I interviewed about 15 of them as well. It’s being printed now by Team Impression in Leeds and the paper’s all been supplied by Winter & Company; they’re sponsoring the event. Foilco have kindly supplied some foil for the front cover.

I guess the moral of the story is I didn't think at that point, “Right, fuck it! We're not going to do it.” I just changed up the idea and I'm glad I did because I think a book is more tangible and people can take it home and own it. It's a nice way to end the project.

EF Do you find there's more pressure on you as a designer to do the event branding and to create the book when you know that your audience is mainly going to be other designers and creatives?

DS Absolutely. I think that's one of the hardest things because I’ve had to fit in the book and the branding around client work. I didn't know where to start in terms of creating the brand because I was so restrained by that fear of what it looks like for other creatives. Then I was reading a book by James Brown, who was the editor of Loaded Magazine back in the nineties. He’d written an autobiography and he said back then, there was this “get on with it” sort of attitude. We just did it and we didn't care so much about what it looked like or what people thought.

I thought, “I just need to have more of that. Like, just do it, as opposed to like worrying about it so much. I could be doing this for six months if I don't just get on with it.” So I

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEFT Drew Forsyth BELOW Steve Longbottom

just started designing something and put it out there. I would do it differently, of course I would, but I've kept it quite minimal. The book itself is also quite minimal in terms of design input; I’ve let the pictures do the talking.

EF Lo Siento are coming to speak back this year. Who else is joining them in the line-up?

DS Yes, Lo Siento were the first people I asked in 2012. Without them, it wouldn't have happened. Borja's a great guy and the talk was really interesting in 2013they made some live art on stage - so I thought it'd be right to have those guys back. One of the things that's changed a little bit since the first is that it was very much about people I wanted to hear from. Of course that still is the case but I’ve also realised that times have moved on. For example, Cabeza Patata, who are coming; they work more in 3D character animation and illustration. It's not necessarily my kind of field, but I thought that might be really interesting to have those guys as part of the event because it's not traditional graphic design.

I curated it a bit more this time and felt it's only right that we have a wider variety of people. We’ve got Ingrid Picanyol, who is a female designer who works for herself and is producing some fantastic design work. There aren’t many female-led creative agencies, as we know, so I think it's really important to support that. Anna is coming from Pràctica, who are another design agency. She's one of the co-founders but there’s a team of about six of them. Javier Jaén is obviously a creative powerhouse on his own; I think his talk is going to completely blow your mind. He’s a genius. But again, he works more in art direction and editorial design for newspapers and magazines. This year it's a bit more of a wider selection of different types of disciplines and not just graphic design.

EF What do you hope people take away from the event?

DS We've not had many design events in Manchester for a while because of the pandemic. I'm not sure about the rest of the UK, but there doesn’t seem to be as many design events in general now. For me, there's still something really important

about getting a group of creative people together in one space and the energy that provides. We are sociable people and Covid taught us that people work better together. BCNMCR is a celebration of that connectivity, not only between Barcelona and Manchester but between people in general.

Obviously I know these speakers a little bit now. They're just genuinely, really nice people and I hope that the people welcome them in the way that we should welcome people speaking it in our country and in our city. In terms of what they take away, I think people will take away whatever they choose to take away from a design talk. I'm sure there'll be some knowledge; they’ll learn something; they'll be inspired. Hopefully they take away a book as well so I can pay for the printing! [laughs]

EF Do you have a dream designer who you'd like to see a talk from that you haven't seen one from before?

DS Oh, that's a great question. I started design in the late nineties and, at that time, there was a designer called Dave Carson

IMAGERY COURTESY OF LEFT Javier Jaén RIGHT Cabeza Patata

who worked on Raygun magazine; that was my inspiration as a designer when I was growing up. I'd never heard him talk, but I went to OFFF Festival a couple of weeks ago and he was speaking at the event. He was also in the hotel bar so I was able to meet him, then obviously I made sure to hear his talk.

I've been fortunate because doing the events for Folico have allowed me to book speakers myself. I got Graham Wood - who was a designer at an agency called Tomato back in the nineties - to talk one of the Foilco Multiplicity events. I also really like Brian Collins; Collins is an New York agency. He was speaking at OFFF but I'd left by then, unfortunately.

EF What’s currently inspiring you in your own work?

DS I find that question really difficult to answer because I'm not really one for being inspired by something individual. It sounds really corny, but I'm inspired by everything that goes on around me. I get as much inspiration from going down the pub with my mates or playing with my daughter than I do on a design blog desperately trying to get inspiration. That doesn’t work for me. Inspiration has to come from being involved in the world and being interested in things like film, music, literature, podcasts, museums, art galleries...

Inspiration’s a difficult one. It can take over your world if you're not careful. You can be overly inspired if you spend your time on Pinterest and Instagram and Twitter. We all do it but it can stifle you and make you feel quite insecure. I think, for me, inspiration is about living life really, which sounds like some kind of shitty quote - “Dave Sedgwick is inspired by life” [laughs]. But it's everything that's good and bad about life, that’s what inspires me in general.

EF You do seem to really value the research side of your client work. That’s probably where life comes into it; just being curious about other people’s stories in a way.

DS Absolutely. You hit the nail on the head. Although, I have done plenty of

design where it just looks good. If you’re a designer and you don’t say that then you’re lying. But fundamentally, 85% of the time, I really try and have an idea. I find it a lot easier designing when there’s an idea. I think clients find it a lot harder to dismiss ideas too. People like to feel like they’ve seen something clever or to see that there's a reason for it.

We’ve got AI now and clients have things like Canva. The ability to create graphic design now is more accessible and easier than ever. For me, the one thing that I've got that I value is the ability to come up with an idea for my designs, as opposed to them just looking good. AI can make it look good but it misses that spark; that soul. For me, that's still really important in graphic design.

I know that AI is just a tool the same way Photoshop or Illustrator is, but to create something in Photoshop or Illustrator, you have to craft it and dedicate your time to it. AI is so instantaneous that it loses that integrity. I think what will possibly happen in the next few years is that there'll be some clients who are quite happy to let AI do the design for them and they don't care. But there’ll be some people who believe in a more traditional form of communication and creativity. I don’t think we should ever lose that ability to create with the human touch. Everything will look the same if we're not careful.

It's interesting and it’s scary. I've been doing this for 20 years and I'm 44 this year. You can blink and suddenly lose a grasp of your career and the industry you work in.

It’s really easy to miss the boat on things. I saw that happen to a lot of older designers when I was in my twenties who refused to move with the times. You have to be prepared to embrace it to some extent, but also know that we will never be able to beat the system so you have to find a way to make it work, I guess.

EF In a way, that brings us back to BCNMCR because design events are a great way to help people keep up with what’s going on in the industry.

DS Yeah, and you can’t replicate BCNMCR with AI, as a concept and a physical event with real people. You just can’t. Because of that, I think certain things will always stay and I hope that design events and networking and connecting people will always be there. I don’t think AI can change that. Not yet anyway.

EF I’ve always remembered your ‘yes to/ no to’ slides from your talk at Birmingham Design Festival a few years back. What are some things you’re saying yes to and no to in 2023?

DS When I wrote that list, I didn’t overthink it but I think that stuff really resonates with people because you've got to be honest as much as possible in this world. When I started out as a young designer, I felt like it was all untouchable, like there was this amazing community and creative world going on and I was like, “Oh God, I don’t understand it. I don’t get it.” I guess one of the main things was this idea that you had to work all the fucking time and stay late in agencies and refuse to go home at 5pm

IMAGERY COURTESY OF RIGHT Lo Siento Studio

because that was seen as you being half arsed about working there. I think it's really dangerous, especially for young designers who are just employed by the company and they're not on a profit share or bonus. They have their salary whether they go at 5pm or they stay till 5am.

To answer your question, I would say yes to giving things a go and to allowing yourself to fail. I thought when I did this final BCNMCR, I was like, “Oh God, what if nobody

wants to come? What if that moment should have been left in the past? What if I only sell like 50 tickets and it's really awkward?” But I just did it anyway. So yes to taking a chance but definitely no to overworking and to promoting the exhaustive concept of working all the time.

Don’t get me wrong, I work hard but I do take time off as well. I don't work late, I get home about 6pm and I put my daughter to bed. I don't work in the evenings. I don't

work at weekends. I’m just quite good at managing my time during the working day. I think when you're constantly overworking, constantly staying late, constantly working weekends, then you've made a mistake somewhere along the way. You’ve fucked up.

So, yes to giving things a go but no to putting pressure on yourself all the time. @studiodbd

BCNMCR: THE EVENT

Having spoken to Dave and hearing all about the trials and tribulations involved in its planning, it was only natural that we checked out BCNMCR for ourselves. So we headed over to Manchester, took our seats and prepared to take note from some of Barcelona's finest creatives.

Following a brief introduction from Dave himself, as well as event host Patrick Burgoyne, BCNMCR kicked off with couplerun studio Cabeza Patata. Studio founders, Katie and Abel, talked us through their entire journey from meeting at university to enlisting the best in the industry to help them out with a huge animation campaign for Spotify. Their talk really encapsulated the spirit of their studio; one that centres around playful curiosity and sharing their knowledge with others, most notably through their 3D, animation and digital art course, Patata School. To round off, they addressed the topic of AI by posing the question, "Do we really need more imagery in the world?" It's an interesting point and one that speaks to the act of creating with purpose, rather than digitally generating images that no longer resonate.

Next up, Anna, co-founder of Pràctica, took to the stage, running us through a number of projects from the Barcelona/New York based studio. One stand-out case study used a school crossing sign for the back of a record sleeve that, when tilted, emulated the traffic sign's shape perfectly. It was an idea that the client unfortunately didn't go for but definitely went down a storm

amongst the audience of fellow creatives in Manchester.

Ingrid Picanyol followed Anna, delivering a master class on refreshing a film festival's identity year after year and demonstrating how a lack of wifi signal can act as inspiration for blurry wine labels. Lo Siento then brought live art to the stage, with Borja heading up the talk, while his colleague, Gerard, created an intricate, 3D paper structure that combined the letters M and B; a gift for Dave to mark the occassion. Javier Jaén closed the show with a talk that

involved a pre-recorded, disguised Javier interviewing his live self onstage. Mixing this sense of humour with issues close to his heart, Javier's work demonstrates that thinking outside of the box sometimes lands you in trouble but is also necessary to create conversation.

As a whole, BCNMCR '23 was jam-packed full of inspiration and really captured that connective energy Dave was after. It feels like a shame to end such a galvanising project but it's safe to say, it has definitely gone out with a bang.

WORDS BETH BENNETT

Will Elworthy used to work in TV. Now, he works with wood. Crafting unique, tactile items, Will turns wood like a marble artist and builds beautiful pieces of bespoke furniture that we here at EJ are absolutely besotted with. So, we hitched a ride down to his workshop and got chatting to him over a brew…

WORDS BETH BENNETT

BB Take me back to the beginning, when did your interest in woodworking and furniture making begin?

WE Well, I actually went to film school and had a job in TV production, working on those comedy panel shows. And as much as I was enjoying that, I really wanted to do something a little more practical in my spare time so I started an evening course in carpentry. Then, I fell in love with it. So, I looked into a local college in East London that was running a furniture making course, enrolled, quit my job in TV and switched over to making furniture full time.

BB So you could say it went from a hobby to a calling?

WE Yeah, it’s strange. I just wanted to make something a bit more tangible. TV was great but I wanted to do something creative that you could stand on, sit on, or have your dinner on at the end of the day, rather than some nebulous thing where your ideas are pulled apart and amalgamated with other things. It’s the tangible nature of it, how with just a pile of wood you can make something. It’s produced by your hand, by yourself, in a space of time.

BB Do you remember what the first thing you made was?

WE I made some stuff on the evening course - these sort of crude and quite naive pieces. But when I was in college I really started to have a consideration for design. The first thing I made was a coffee table - which would take two people to move, it was built like a tank.

BB You have a very crisp, distinct style and it’s quite unique in terms of the handcrafted nature of it all. What is it that guides your style?

WE I think with woodwork there’s always a temptation to put loads of flourishes on it, but I always like to keep things simple. There’s this quote, I think it was Coco Chanel who said, “Before you go out, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” That’s what I keep in mind when I’m designing, I never want to over-do it. I try and concentrate on having a simple silhouette, focusing on the function of the piece. I find that the biggest part of designing is having that restraint.

BB How does your journey of design, production, and then finished product go?

WE With the bespoke work, they’re all different. Sometimes someone will come to me and say, "I need a table," but they say they don’t know what they’d like, and I sort of have freedom to go and cook it up myself and then I get to go back to the client and go, "How’s this?"

Other times, clients will come in with much more of an idea of what they want, sometimes to the point of a granule of detail. You create a relationship with them, and you work it out. So, with bespoke works, it’s often the case that they’ll come to you, you get a read of them - Is it for a particular place? Do they want something that’s large, imposing, strong? Or something that’s a bit more playful, lighter? This room can take that design, or no, it can’t. There are a myriad of factors when you’re designing for someone. As I said, it’s not a one fits all

approach, you’re often taking many things into account.

BB When you’ve made a product and it gets delivered to your client, how does it make you feel to see people putting it in their homes, sending you pictures, seeing something that you’ve created - one of a kind - actually in their homes?

WE I think it’s great! I think it is - it’s a lovely feeling when someone’s got something. The thing that you forget dealing with wood every day, is how tactile it can be. Often, I’ll forget that I’ve made something for someone and they’ll get back in contact and tell me that they love the table and use it every day. I like that I’ve created a useful thing. As much as it is to create something that’s just appreciated for its beauty, I think it’s just as fulfilling and just as much of a noble endeavour to make something that’s beautiful and used.

BB It kind of nicely circles back to what we were talking about in the beginning, that feeling of making something tangible. You could make a table that will last for a child’s whole entire life, until they’re an adult and in their own house, and they might end up with that table passed down from their parents.

WE Yeah, exactly. I’ve definitely sold bits of furniture to people that are going to outlive the client. I mean, it’s nice to think that they’ll be around after I’ve gone.

BB Have you found that working with wood has changed or altered your relationship with nature and the natural world?

WE I don’t know if it’s me just slightly getting old and stuff, but I think before, I never really gave it much thought. Now, I do. I have a huge appreciation for trees. It’s definitely something that I think about. More, it’s just my appreciation for timber. Something growing from a tree, spending its life being a tree, collecting carbon, producing oxygen, supporting life, supporting the ecosystem, and then when it dies, and you plant another tree, it’ll then be produced to make something that’s non-toxic - it’s an infinite source of materials that we can then build out of.

That furniture can also be mended and fixed. When it does get disposed of, it’s not a hazardous thing. Wood is a wonderful material. You can build bridges out of wood, you can build buildings out of wood, you can get species of wood that are incredibly bendy, you can get species of wood that don’t rot and sink in water - they used to build bearings for submarines out of a particularly dense kind of wood called lignum. You know, that’s what I’m fascinated by. These are just trees that everyone walks past and don’t give two thoughts about.

ABHORRENCE OF THE MACHINE

WORDS EMMY HALLAHAN

@emmyhallahan

Everybody’s so creative! If you read that in the exact tone of the woman who reviews people’s insane recipes (tanaradoublechocolate on TikTok), then you’re my soulmate. No take backs. Here’s the thing; everybody is so creative. Inherently, the act of creation is deeply embedded into human nature. Give a kid a crayon and no paper, and they’ll draw on the walls. In fact, even if you give them paper they might draw on the walls. This definitely has no inspiration from my own childhood, and when I may or may not have written my name behind the fridge (and then tried to pin it on my sister, who could not yet write her own name, let alone mine). None whatsoever. Besides my own childhood mishaps, I feel like most children are creative. Art for art’s sake. You don’t start feeling shit about your creations until later. I know when I was six writing ‘Mr Nobody’ stories, I wasn’t worried about every potential critic and every single way my thoughts could be misconstrued. Granted, I was writing a ripoff of the Mr Men series, and I’m sure that hadn’t really crossed my mind either. Six year olds, in my experience, aren’t too familiar with copyright law.

When you get older, however, you do realise that some people are better at things than others. Obviously, you can always learn. I’m a big believer in learning, and improving your skills. Not to sound like a self help guru - I am in fact, the opposite - I make people worse. Realistically, if you put in the hours of practising art, writing, dance, music, whatever kind of creative outlet takes your fancy, you’ll become more skilled. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should never start learning, but more realistically, that you need to put in time to be good.

The problem is, nobody has time anymore. Our culture of immediacy - worsened by late stage capitalism squeezing every last minute out of us - has led to us all wanting to instantly be good at things. This is also due to the culture of competition that we’ve cultivated, but I digress. People want to create without putting the time in, and they are filling those gaps - be it visual media, or the written word - by getting AI to do it for them.

AI freaks me out a little bit anyway. It’s weird enough knowing that everyone else has lived a whole life you know nothing about. We don’t need to bring machines into that. I’m aware I sound a bit of a conspiracy theorist here, but I do worry about the sort of future we’re writing for ourselves, the path we’re setting ourselves on. However, this sort of machine creation is majorly unsettling. It’s one thing to use AI to auto generate something for fun, or to chat to it to see how much machines can learn, or whatever. It’s entirely another to get it to create something for you and then slap your name on. And that’s even before we get into the fact AI is stealing from people across the web.

I didn’t consider myself ‘a creative’ until recently. Probably because it felt deeply unserious, and also because I didn’t consider myself someone who creates. But - yes I am about to sound like a wanker- as a creative (whatever that means), I am actually a bit terrified of the state of the world that I’m meant to be finding my feet in.

Anyway, cheers. I’m off to badly play the only song I can sort of manage on the guitar. I don’t think AI can recreate my awkward gaps between notes just yet. That’s authenticity, baby!

CHRIS SHAW PANTRY

This is the recipe for the braise. It is lovely on its own but also great with either a green sauce, chimichurri or aioli.

INGREDIENTS

BRAISE

For Paste:

1kg of cleaned cuttlefish (your fishmonger will do this for you)

1kg of cherry tomatoes

2 medium size onions

1 head of fennel

4 cloves of garlic

4 anchovy fillets

2 tbsp of fennel seeds

4 tsp of chilli flakes

2 tbsp tomato paste

500 ml white wine

2 400g tins of cooked butter beans

1 lemon

METHOD

PORK

Prep the cuttlefish first. Slice it up into bite sized pieces, the shape is not too important. Once the cuttlefish is prepped, give it a really good clean under cold water. Drain in a colander once cleaned.

Season the cherry tomatoes with some salt and olive oil and roast in a 200°c oven until slightly brown and caramelised. This should take about 25-30 minutes.

Place a large pan onto a medium heat. Slice up the onions and fennel as thinly as possible. Begin sweating them down gently with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Slice the garlic thinly and add this to the pan. Also add the anchovies, chilli flakes, fennel seeds and a good pinch of salt.

Add the tomato paste to the pan and cook out for 10 minutes, this will give some body to the dish. Once cooked out add the white wine and cook for a further 10 minutes.

At this point the tomatoes should be cooked. Add them to the pan along with all the roasting juices. Now add your cuttlefish along with 1L of water. Simmer gently for 1 hour. The cuttlefish should be really tender, if it feels a little bit chewy, cook for another 10-20 minutes or so.

Season with salt and a little lemon juice. Drain the butter beans of their stock and add into the braise. The beans are already cooked so this is just to get them hot.

TO SERVE

Ladle into bowls and finish with a little olive oil and lemon zest.

@chriseshaw

"This is a lovely braise of cuttlefish which works all year round. In the summer I would use fresh tomatoes and in the winter tinned tomatoes work well. If you are struggling to find cuttlefish you can also use squid. I would serve this dish with a nice crusty loaf, great for mopping up any leftover sauce."

BRAISED CUTTLEFISH STEW BY CHRIS SHAW

15% OFF ALL COFFEE WITH THE CODE: EJ15

Deep in the Wirral Peninsula, Jamie and his buddy Warren wanted to combine their love of the outdoors with their passion for specialty coffee. Here’s what they told us about their foray into the WYLDE…

Myself and co-owner Warren were both born on the Wirral, and went to school together. After leaving for uni and experiencing other cities throughout the UK, it confirmed our feelings about our hometown. There just wasn’t enough to shout about for such a beautiful place! Once we graduated, we ended up working in a local coffee shop in 2017, whilst thinking of a project to work on together. We fell on creating a doorstep delivery service and magazine called ‘Wild Coffee Club’;

JAMIE MCILHATTON

from which we would work with local coffee roasters, and host events to reconnect people with the outdoors - introducing them to specialty coffee.

Fast forward to November 2019, after a lot of planning, we opened WYLDE Coffee in Heswall. With all the same values, we wanted to make people feel truly at home, and provide that feeling of peace we all get when immersed in nature.

We’re in the thick of tough times at the moment, so the discussion around choosing and buying better is unlikely to be a priority for many people. However, when we feel we can, buying a bag of specialty coffee is so much more than just buying a premium product. You’re supporting entire industries of people; from the producers in Brazil - for example, the women’s cooperatives - all the way through

to the roasteries here in the UK, and the Baristas serving your drink. On top of this, you’re using the power of money to vote for a more sustainable approach to coffee. We want to make this process as accessible as possible; we do this through stocking select, amazing roasters and offering a free coffee with every purchase, and grinding for you to suit how you drink your coffee at home.

So many customers now have given bags of specialty coffee a go at home, and we’ve seen a clear shift in approach to coffee here on the Wirral over the past few years. It’s been pretty cool to see.

Wylde Coffee is found on Telegraph Road in Heswall.

Tam Nan - inside La Résidence Phou Vao, A Belmond Hotel, Luang Prabang - translates as "legend". It is, therefore, appropriate that the restaurant, under the direction and influence of Chef Larisa Vesterbacka, pays unambiguous homage to the region's traditional cooking methods. However, this is only part of the story.

Larisa Vesterbacka brings a wealth of experience to Tam Nan. Once a trained scientist and chemistry teacher, Larisa's enjoyment of cooking for friends and family suggested she consider a change of direction - but it was her exposure to, and a deep love for Asian cuisine, its techniques, flavours, textures, and spicing, that inspired her subsequent career.

Having worked in and helped create several acclaimed Asian restaurants in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Larisa's understanding of food science, her training in other cuisines, and a childhood that taught her how to preserve and pickle homegrown fruit and vegetables, are all elements and influences she brings to Tam Nan.

Executive Chef Larisa Vesterbacka

SOCIAL @belmondresidencephouvao WEB belmond.com LOCATION Luang Prabang, Laos.

A stone’s throw away from the Mekong River, in the bustling metropolitan of Luang Prabang in Laos, resides a true gem of fine-dining.

The menu at Tam Nan mixes Larisa's knowledge and experience with a selection of authentic Laotian recipes, as well as new dishes made using traditional Laotian methods, such as sun-drying, fermentation, grilling over charcoal, cooking in banana leaves, bamboo, and fresh coconut, and slow cooking in clay pots. Dine in the stylish interior, or head outside for superb views of Mount Phousi. By night, tree-hanging candles and lanterns bathe the gardens in an enchanting glow.

Ingredients come from within 100 kilometres of the hotel. By their very nature, all such products are organic, local, and seasonal. As a chef averse to frozen food of any description, it's the perfect scenario for Larisa, as besides having access to the very best produce, it's also an ideal way of celebrating and supporting the local community.

It's also very much in line with Tam Nam's devotion to sustainability and zero waste. Larisa already brings her experience and creativity to such endeavours as composting and sun drying grilled aubergine skin, blending it to create "pollen" that can then be used to add smoky depth to other dishes, and using fruit pulp and peel to make pastilla and marmalades.

Signature dishes include the classic Laotian Orlam, a slow-cooked soup of buffalo meat. In Larisa's interpretation, however, the meat is first sun-dried, mixed with spices, sun-dried for a further two days, and grilled lightly over charcoal for an additional hint of smoke. The soup is then slow-cooked for around 20 hours, resulting in a richness of flavour that the more traditional recipe can't achieve. It's rooted in tradition, but has been taken a few steps further.

belmond.com

FAMILY TREE AT THE TABLE

WORDS ROSIE BARKER

People often talk about being ‘adventurous’ in the kitchenbut what does that really mean? I felt adventurous trying sushi for the first time, but it's par for the course in Japan. EscargotI’m not bold enough to go there, but it’s not considered daring in France. The concept of ‘adventurous’ food is just as diverse as we are as humans. Last year, however, I learned something that I think gives everyone a shared claim to adventure in the kitchen when using mushrooms.

Did you know mushrooms have more in common with humans than they do with plants? I know: if someone asked ‘what do a human and a mushroom have in common?’, you’d expect the follow-up to be a fun-guy/fungi-related punchline. But humans and fungi actually share nearly 50 percent of our DNA. So, believe it or not, those squishy little things you fry with garlic have more in common with you than the tomato sitting next to them on your fried breakfast.

I’m no scientist, so I’ll paraphrase Neil deGrasse Tyson to explain why this is: “The common ancestor between humans and mushrooms split [genetically] later [in evolution] than its own common ancestors split with green plants”. Essentially, the organism that would become plants branched away on their own evolutionary journey before the organisms that would become humans and fungi evolved their separate ways.

As a result, we have more in common than is immediately obvious. We both breathe oxygen and absorb vitamin D from sunlight,

whereas plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy. Scientists have even gone so far as to compare parts of the physiological structure of fungi to that of the human brain.

In the Netflix documentary Fantastic Fungi, mycologist Paul Stamets explains that mushrooms are the above-ground portion of a fungus’ anatomy, but most of the action goes on underground. Beneath the surface, a network of thread-like strands called mycelium stretches for miles collecting water and nutrients for the mushroom.

The theory goes that fungi send and receive electrical impulses via the mycelium, allowing them to communicate with their environment, respond to nature’s conditions and adapt to survive. This behaviour has been compared to the human brain sending and receiving electrical signals that tell us we’re in danger, in pain, dehydrated, or need a doughnut, in order to survive our environment.

This is a crude attempt at explaining a vast, intricate topic - so, why am I telling you this? Firstly, because I found it fascinating. Secondly, because we’re talking about inviting adventure into your mealtimes, and it’s too subjective for me to suggest any ‘outside the box’ ideas to try - I don’t know what’s in your box. So, I’ve opted to tell you the exciting culinary adventure of our human and fungal ancestors who separated to pursue different evolutionary journeys for millions of years, only to find their way back to each other in the kitchen.

JOE OTWAY

ON THE GROUND AT HIGHER GROUND

WORDS JOE OTWAY

PHOTOGRAPHY WITH LOVE

A chef’s philosophy extends beyond themselves and into the very formation of the dishes they construct; from the fields of produce they select to the accompanying drink - how a chef treats his ingredients is a markable signifier of their belief systems.

No one knows this more than chef Joe Otway who approaches his ingredients through a lens dictated by the British seasons. Joe’s latest restaurant, Higher Ground, in Manchester, is the pinnacle of his environmental philosophy. So we asked him to write about it…

Higher Ground started as a pop-up three years ago - with the mindset that we wanted to break into the food system in the North West and Greater Manchester, because at the time, there was fairly low access to really high quality produce. Our first step was to start Cinderwood Market Garden, and grow produce there to aid both ourselves and others in the community.

If you work with largely British produce, the hungry gap is always tough to navigate - you’re very much limited as to what you can use. You have to work with what you have, and also be forward thinking, and start preserving items for when you get to gaps like this. In the summer, we might just be able to make a tomato salsa with some sardines, because we’ve got loads of fresh tomatoes around. We don’t have that option in winter, so we have to look around for other things with that acidity – what we’d call an activator – something that’s going to bring it to life. In this instance, it was the preserved green tomatoes from last summer.

I’m not keen on the thought process of fermenting for experimentation, and trying to create a new flavour, or make

things taste really interesting, I only like to preserve things that need to be preserved. Preserving it with a purpose, you're providing an additional economy for the farmer, and you’re giving yourself a supply for when times are tough, like now, which is when we need these preserves the most.

When we started Cinderwood, it was built to grow local produce for the greater food community of Manchester, in restaurants, in delis, in bakeries. We’ve achieved that, but at the time, we didn’t have our own restaurant, we were just doing pop ups. Then we opened Flawd, the wine bar, to give ourselves a small platform to be able to support Cinderwood Market Garden, to be able to put some business through that way, and also for us to have somewhere to use this produce, to create a life raft at the timethis was just after Covid.

Eighteen months later, we’ve been able to open Higher Ground.

Our mission is, essentially, to be an agriculturally focused bistro that is appealing and accessible to a wider audience of people. We wish to work with a level of understanding and flexibility that benefits the farmer, and showcases local produce in a bistro environment. You can have a bistro with everything sourced from England and organic.

Although, we don’t shout about it too much. It’s not necessarily fun to listen to somebody preaching about sustainability and waste, it’s not for this environment. It’s not what you want to hear when you’re going out with your friends for a good time, to get drunk! We want the guests to have a really great time, and then under the surface, everything is sourced meticulously and carefully.

" OUR MISSION IS, ESSENTIALLY, TO BE AN AGRICULTURALLY FOCUSED BISTRO THAT IS APPEALING AND ACCESSIBLE TO A WIDER AUDIENCE OF PEOPLE.

"

AN AGRICULTURALLY FOCUSED BISTRO THAT IS APPEALING AND ACCESSIBLE TO A WIDER AUDIENCE OF PEOPLE. "

la marzocco presents

A national competition that celebrates the dedication and service of baristas up and down the country, Barista Hero 2023 launched at London Coffee Festival this year.

APPLAUD COFFEE, IPSWICH

BARISTA: BETH

‘Our customers are very much on the journey with us, so celebrating by having a garden party with live music every year is a really fun way to do it.’

DAISY GREEN, LONDON

Originally initiated in 2021, back when baristas were often the only faces many people had the chance to speak to on a daily basis throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Barista Hero was developed to give back to the front-line workers of hospitality. Fast forward to 2023, this sentiment still rings true, and La Marzocco aim to highlight the integral and invaluable part that baristas play within their industry.

All six cafes featured took part on the True Artisan Café stand at London Coffee Festival 2023.

BARISTA: MATTY

‘You can have the best roasters, you can feature the best beans, you can have the best baristas, but if there’s no customer service there, then it will always be limited. Whereas if you can fuse the two together, that will always lead to the best outcome, in my opinion.’

DISTRICT, LONDON

BARISTA: LUKE

‘Baristas in general are awesome at what they do, the early mornings, the late nights, constantly engaging with a plethora of different people, from city workers to cleaners, and everybody in-between.’

PRESS BROS, LIVERPOOL

BARISTA: TITO

‘I realised hospitality has a lot of meaning, you meet the same people every day and become a part of their life, you might change someone’s day just with a little convo, it makes you feel alive every day.’

NAGARE, LONDON

BARISTA: ADAM

'Coffee is a worldwide language. It doesn’t matter your nationality, your race, it doesn’t matter your skin colour. It’s just a language. That’s why I’ve fallen in love with this industry, because I can use coffee as a tool to communicate with every person in the world.'

EZRA & GIL, MANCHESTER

BARISTA: ALEX

‘We see people in all kinds of transitions of life and it helps everybody who comes in. They know that they’re going to get someone who’s serving them who understands them no matter what they’re going through - at least one of us has been through that, or is going through that, and it’s so helpful to everybody.'

Watch the full Barista Heroes video on Instagram @lamarzoccouk uk.lamarzocco.com

ONE MORE DRINK

WORDS CAL SMITH

@calsmiff

Based in London, Cal is a connoisseur of the finer things in life; in particular, good grub and good drinks. With an optimistic, but realistic outlook, Cal's here to close us out with an insightful coda. Until next time...

...AND AN ACCOMPANYING TWO CENTS

It’s the time of the year when drab winter months, colours and minutiae seem to have lasted too long. The yearning for warm, welcoming, and cosy pubs of an evening is coming to an end - it’s time for some sun. It's a very familiar feeling, like thinking your night should probably be coming to an end, whilst still being sat in the same pub, on the same day of the week, likely drinking the same drink, and even more likely - surrounded by the same faces. Clockwork. I am not meaning to sound pejorative, the opposite in fact. Contrary to popular belief through all the cynicism, I do actually like people and even more so, my friends, maybe even some of you dear readers. Yet, once again, and again, and maybe again, too many drinks have been drunk, and too many conversations have led us to a singular nightcap. One last push into late-night debauchery, one which is rarely disagreed with.

Why do we do it? I am not sure you’d find Hemingway or Shane MacGowan asking these hard-hitting journalistic questions, but for my narrative, I shall. Why do we stick to routines, maintain structured days, or do things habitually? Isn’t the definition of insanity to repeat the same thing over and over, expecting a different result? I believe an equally revered fellow said this.

However, I know a secret. A secret you would all like to know. As hard as it is

to believe, we as humans are a species of habit, routine, and nature. My mate Sir Dave told me. He’s Britain’s ethereal grandfather, former President of the Royal Society for Nature Conservation and will potentially have a larger funeral than the queen. I trust his opinion; he told me on the tele. Very few people dislike my mate Sir Dave, bar Old Testament creationists and if you truly are that way inclined to revere an interventionist God, could you do me a favour and point them/it in Suella Braverman’s direction? Just an (my) opinion. I promised myself this piece would be devoid of politics…although some subjects should not be left alone. Some human’s nature has a lot to answer for.

Alas, the issue at hand, we’re in this scenario again. We’ve been here before and know the outcome. A stumble home and an attempt to reconcile the evening. We’re told to regard those who take the plunge, or try new things out of their comfort zone, as pioneers, rebels or trendsetters. To a lesser extent, a lesser detrimental extent, routine and habit can be helpful. Sustaining a healthy diet or regular exercise has kept our little old species alive. Or at least funded the Instagram trainers of tomorrow for the next 10 years. Same thing, right?

I don’t think there is anything wrong with repetition - for many it is the key to keeping sane. There is however, a thin

teetering line on which boredom and ennui sit dangerously close to excitement and thrill. Maybe we should push the boat out, cross the chasm, try new things or even, dare I say it, make new friends. Many of us thrive on this, but many don’t. Are those who don’t inherently so scared of stepping out of their comfort zones that they don’t believe everything will still be here when we get back? Will everything have irrevocably changed so much by going against our better nature? Having a limoncello to finish your night might just be the thing you’ve been missing. There must be a point where we decide the new things we’ve tried are accepted as something we want to do again. Food for thought.

If you’ve come this far then you’re certainly nearing the end of your evening, and that is certainly for the best. I’m rambling, raving and ranting. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, there was a point to this, somewhere. If you are as caught up in this as much as I am then I pity you. You may well just like the same pub, with the same people and you can’t change the fucking weather. Have another drink and look forward to many more days, nights, and years of the same. Cheerio.

WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DRINKING

Blackfords Limoncello

April is averaging 19°C in Amalfi; the lemon harvest is in full flow. Brilliantly yellow and acerbic fruit grown in the volcanic shadow of Vesuvius dot the hills. This is the heartland of Limoncello, where it is poured like water. Much like the Cotswolds. You’ve not heard? The exquisite Gloucestershire-based Blackfords Limoncello is in, and hails from very much closer to home. Digestif or final drink of the night, save yourself a flight.

drinkblackfords.com

CONTRIBUTORS

LEWIS ASHES // PRIME VIDEO // INCEPTION GROUP

SHANGRI-LA RECORDS // NEW BALANCE // THAMES & HUDSON

MARINA BAY SANDS // HEAVENLY CREATURE RECORDS

LAUREN THOMSON // &BEYOND // JAGUAR LAND ROVER

AFIG // ADVANTAGE // GUCCI // DAVID M. ROBINSON

OMEGA // ACNE STUDIOS // LIV HEWSON // AMELIA DOWD

EMMA BOSELEY // PHOENIX LY // WYNONA STOCK

BELLA LOKE// ALL TIME STUDIOS // NARRATIVE PR

SHOWTIME // PARAMOUNT+ // GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL

SXSW // PREMIER PR // FOCUS FEATURES // SKY TV

HBO // LAURENCE GUY // ALL STRIPES PR // DAVE SEDGWICK

WILL ELWORTHY // CHRIS SHAW // TOWNSEND RESTAURANT

NEIGHBOURHOOD COFFEE // WYLDE COFFEE

LARISA VESTERBACKA // TAM NAN

HIGHERGROUND MCR // LA MARZOCCO

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