The Other Side Craft Edition

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welcome to

the craft issue eing inspired to do something is often tricky. What inspires a person can change from one to another. I’m inspired by different things and in different ways. Sometimes it can take a long time to get there.

Making a magazine takes care, thought and inspiration. If we’re not being excited by things then what happens to us... maybe you spent too long in the Aquarium and not enough time exploring the other stuff London has to offer: the supperclubs, jumble sales or farmers’ markets in people’s homes.

The Olympics are only two years away, if you wizz out to Stratford you can watch them building. Take a Boris bike or stop in Soho for a quick game of ping pong.

In other news, Joe McElderry is gay. I’m not big on celeb gossip, but I just wanted to keep you up to date on that, in case you missed The Sun’s massive front page exclusive.

Who’d have thought it? (Cheers Dan) Sorry, off track, but wanted to remind everyone what stares them in the face everyday.

So what are we trying to do, inspire you? We’d love people to start thinking more with their senses.

This edition is crafty, we want you to become a part of it... this is a wake up call and it’s coming faster, harder and more beautifully than you could ever imagine.

We hope you enjoy it. Ed. x

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~ contents ~

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HOMEMADE CARD

TOS GUIDE TO GARDENING

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06

PARTY DECORATIONS

OMNI-ADVERTISING

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ALTERNATIVE CRAFT

INTO THE WILD

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3D FILM FLOPS

THUMB WARS

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DIY FILM MAKING

BIRTHDAY DREAD

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YOUNG & LOST CLUB

PUB CULTURE

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MAKE A TOTE BAG

SEVEN STOPS

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STREET STYLE

GET CRAFTY

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22

FANCY DRESS

MAKE DO AND MEND

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STREET KNITTING

BEST BRUNCH

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SAY NO TO IKEA

THE WAVE PICTURES

Who we are: Editor Sam Lassman Watts (sam@tosmag.co.uk) Creative Director Nathan May (nathan@tosmag.co.uk) Sub Editor Joe Bridal (joe@tosmag.co.uk) Fashion Editor Brenna Duncan (brenna@theothersidemag.co.uk) C ontributing Designers Rebecca Hall & Josh King C ontributing Writers Rick Leaf, Dan Murdoch, Adam Richmond, Chloe George, Tola Ositelu, Edward Valand, Katie Cox, Rebecca Thorpe, Catherine de Lange, Lisa Piercy C ontributing A rtists Kayleigh Ann Witt, Tom Ireland, Adam Bridgland, Fiona Hepburn, Holly Wilson, Matt Mclean Front C over Design Rebecca Hall Become a TOSer : www.theothersidemag.co.uk A dvertising enquiries : advertising@tosmag.co.uk Editorial enquiries : info@tosmag.co.uk (Big up to Matt Owens who wrote the Festival Survival in the previous issue.) Š No reprinting of anything without our permission

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The Other Side

GUIDE How to grow and keep your own herb box

You Will Need A rectangular wooden box.

Acrylic paint (for the lettering).

Thick and thin paintbrushes.

White paint (I used splashproof bathroom paint, but any water resistant wood paint will do).

Lettering stencils, (or letters printed onto card).

Craft knife.

Pencil. by catherine de lange Step 1: Painting the box Paint the wooden box with the white paint. Depending on the paint you use, it might take a few coats.

Step 2: Making the stencil Rather than watching paint dry, use the time to make the stencil (if you don’t have shopbought stencils of the right size.)

I printed the lettering onto card, and then cut it out carefully using a craft knife.

My friend Alice swears she’s had a basil plant for over a year, but fresh herbs only seem to last a few days in my care before they wilt and die a sorry death.

I’m hoping that having a nice window ledge box to keep fresh herbs in will inspire me to look after them better and actually

remember they need a drink and a bit of TLC too once in a while!

This really simple DIY will transform any wooden box into a refreshing indoor herb garden.

I got my box from Ikea, and it works wonderfully as it comes with a metal water-collecting tray inside.

Step 3: Draw around your stencil lightly, with a pencil.

Step 4: Painting the letters The only fiddly bit – carefully paint over your lettering with black acrylic. Now fill with your favourite herbs, and don’t forget to water them!

Advertising

hell

You know where you can stick it

Ever feel like you are spiralling into advertising hell as you descend the escalator to get on the tube these days? Chloe George fights back

illboard, bill-bored.

Londoners and city dwellers the world over are used to the constant visual assault from advertisements as they transfer themselves from work to pub to home and back again. The sides of buses, the wall facing you as you wait for the train, and, perhaps worst of all, the gallery of images as you ascend the escalators into fresh (or descend into foul) air on the tube. The mind-numbing repetition, in case you hadn’t spotted that Adam Garcia is starring in Tap Dogs the first time you passed it. The insult of it. The vigilance of the seller.

They say the same thing: faceless, soulless, less and less

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of anything of importance or originality. They feature people who are clearly twats, grinning like idiots because they have made it to Edinburgh for the weekend on a train like it is some kind of Mecca, when it was probably really easy to get to, then chilly and disappointing when they arrived. Or some woman wearing high heels and straddling an exercise bike like she is a prime piece of prescribed pornstar ass, when they are trying to get you to join a gym.

Cut to the chase But recently I have noticed a nice little trend emerging on these posters. The first one I noticed was over the top of an ad from

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a cosmetic surgery company, a testimonial from a young woman who had just had cosmetic surgery on her breasts. A young, lovely looking woman who now had large breasts instead of small ones, and whose grinning face and ‘story’ held the promise of better fun, better work, better sex with her new improved tits.

A better life. ‘The best decision I ever made!’, she gushes. OMG. Exclamation mark. ‘Sexist shit’, said the printed sticker on it, an imploring call to the idea that – as women but also as people – we don’t need to be beholden to a world that insists we look a certain way. Or even one that promises a better life if we acquiesce. Botox for your wrinkles. Stomach stapling for

your gut. Laser surgery for the unsightly hair that blights you.

Change. Reduce. Improve.

The next one was on a poster for a dreadful looking musical that protested, quite simply in small letters, ‘We are not douchebags.’ No, indeed.

I love these marks, these traces

Mumford and Sons are edgy, the good ones, whose opinion and actions you believe in and admire – adverts seem a million miles away. This stuff only speaks to us if we let it. If we let ourselves think it’s normal to want to violently doctor our bodies, or indeed that this

“this stuff only speaks to us if we let it” of real people. Like the person who had scrawled the whole of W. H. Auden’s ‘Tell me the truth about love’ on the back of a toilet door in a pub I was in recently, and whom I could imagine standing valiantly finishing it, as people desperate for the loo hammered on the door. Like the guerilla gardeners who get up in the night and plant a load of marigolds in a patch of urban pavement and make you smile the next morning on the way to work.

Because, to the people you actually interact with – not the fools at work who think

will fulfil us. Or that we need a 4x4 to drive around Fulham, because our concept of necessity has become so skewed that we think we’re entitled to the things we merely want. Or that we have come to believe that We Will Rock You constitutes a solid afternoon out.

do not believe in an ungenerous view of the world where we are all seen as massive tools. I do believe in the men and women who I come across, who are a mixture of beauty, imperfection and contradiction, overweight and brave, unpredictable and clever and magnificent. I want them represented. I want a world that typifies them, and I like it when they go out and shake things up in this big glorious city, even in a tiny way. When they go out and tell the world that no, we do not sit in your neat category, and we will create something that is cleverer and funnier and more spontaneous than you have made.

Barely legal Of course, it is not strictly legal, and this is where the charm comes in. Some stickers look printed but a lot are amateur – because all you need is a sheet of blank stickers and a marker pen.

And a bit of nerve.

Of course, TOS would not advocate that you make any of these stickers yourself, and it certainly would not recommend that you use them to plaster over London. No, TOS would not say that. TOS would tell you to stay at home, be good and not keep on rockin’ in the free world.

massive tools I am not complex. I do not need the world on a plate. I am quite happy with raspberry jam on toast and the My So Called Life boxset. But I resent being told what I should think, do and buy, Catch up on Chloe’s latest @ because I am not an idiot and edgeoftime.wordpress.com

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travel

Long time, my friends, long time.

How ya been as ya spin around the universe on our sweet smelling sphere? Yer correspondent has been a-travelling and returned home with tales of frozen Alpine Passes and steaming beachside cycle paths, of excruciating pain and excessive luxury, rationed energy bars and wanton obesity.

In short, I have scaled the Alps on a bicycle and been whisked to Lala and the heady comfort of the Beverly Hilton, have felt the solitary ecstasy of a gleaming Col and the heaving tumult that is Walt’s Tawdry Kingdom.

Shall we just say that much has passed betwixt these ears in thought and word and deed and allow me to relate at length and leisure? Come with me please

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or five years a pal has been urging me to join him on a charity ride that he and a likeminded band of nutters had instigated at the turn of the century. I had resisted all of his proddings but finally succumbed and prepared myself as best I could for a trip that was, in retrospect, far beyond my imaginings. 1,000km in nine days and one of them a rest day.

Cycling through snowy heights that occasionally peaked at 3000m, riding at times for over 15 hours a day to cover over 100 miles and the topping of three Cols, riding past the broken limbs of fellow riders and getting lost on ill-travelled byways! There are those who propose the notion that the ‘Tour’ guys have it easy with all their support trucks/ police escorts/ dolly birds/ five hour days (I would not count myself amongst them). And all this in aid of Leuka, a charity committed to uncovering the causes and cures of Leukaemia. 75 riders trying to raise the necessary 200K needed to top the overall sum of £1m.

I had trained myself to the end of one bike and was blessed by the loan of another, a titanium steed that had an insurable value of £3,500! And then I caught the train to Lake Geneva for nine days of cycling in the French Alps, ready for all that the mountain could throw at me. Or not. There is little that can prepare you for the act of cycling through falling snow at the heady height of 2000 metres, of riding through a day in which 249 mm of rain will fall right on top of you and then travel to the south of France where the ensuing

tumult will claim 14 lives. What could prepare you, save extreme military training, for a day that begins at 6am and finishes after 10pm still cranking the pedals up the last Col by moonlight?

But then there is little that can ready you for the dizzy sight of a river in full roar, faster than a speeding bullet and twice as loud, the screech of an eagle on the wing glaring at ya eyeball to eyeball, the pleasures of riding above the tree line in that rarefied air where all is clear and calm. Serene even. The taste of fresh glacial water after you’ve been struggling for hours up a mountain blasted by wind and cold, glaciers and man’s traffic and still standing proud and ready for all comers. And then the glorious descents! Whole minutes spent zooming at ludicrous speeds down ill-paved roads praying for the prevention of puncture/ blowout or oncoming traffic! One can sometimes feel a little mighty.

Oftentimes we delude ourselves into thinking that we have tamed this World. That we are Conquerors and have everything under control. Just as the Tsunami did so the mountains shame us.

They remind us that this Blessed Orb carries us, lifts us up and matches our every step. We are nothing without it. There is little more edifying to a cyclist, of the pedal variety, than reaching the towering summit with lungs and heart on fire, muscles fairly flaming and eyes focussing on some Mo’biker, separated from his steed with its heated handlebars and seat, bent over like a newly cast statue, frozen to the bone and wondering how the breeze got in!

The Warrior Horseman met his

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match on Izeran!

At least they have the gumption to try the ride at all! Having spent two days on the various rides of Disney/Universal, I can only suggest that more inhabitants of Lala get over the pond and try an Alp without the benefit of Disney’s cranking engine. Except “There is little that can prepare you for the act of cycling through falling snow at the heady height of 2,000 metres, of riding through a day in which 249 mm of rain will fall right on top of you and then travel to the south of France where the ensuing tumult will claim 14 lives.” of course that the folk at Walt’s Magic Kingdom aren’t from LA at all, they’re bussed and flown in from all over the Empire with their expanded girths and footslap waddle. Not wanting to sound like one who professes himself fitter than thou (because the ride showed me that in almost every respect I am not) one can only bear witness to the fact that exertions of that variety demands an exercise of will that would benefit the inhabitants of the “Happiest Place on Earth” no end. In fact the whole of LA seemed to need to get out the motor and take a wander. Get out of the Gym and kiss the sky.

Take out the earphones and hear the wind. The inhabitants of that sprawling conurbation seemed utterly separated from the earth »

that holds them and their fellow residents. They make a King of Walt or Tom or Leo, King Kong, The Mummy or Shrek and spurn the beauty of the basin that holds them and will, at some point, destroy them. When San Andreas gets fed up with their indifference and abuse.

You may well ask why I put myself at the mercy of Diz and his horde of rampaging minions and why I didn’t head for the hills or the Ocean blue. Truth is I had my time in the mountains and now was the time for the kids. Although I woulda loved to have taken them up Highway 1 to witness the grand scale wonder of the kissing of Pacific Ocean and American landmass, the thought of 3 kids looking at something they’d rather be in was a nobrainer. That and the fact that I saved myself a trip to Paris and the abomination that is Euro-Diz. And, of course, one cannot decry a whole culture on the basis of a coupla Theme Parx, just as one should not extol the supremacy of another on the fact that it encloses within it’s manmade borders a coupla glorious mountains. But sitting here, home again, back in Blighty, one cannot help but feel the tug of the two cultures and wonder which might serve us best as we struggle with our NotSo-Special Relationship and the trouble and strife that seems to be the EU. The fact that one offers us all you can eat on a shovel, I mean

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plate, and that the other scorns us with a shrug, should not influence our decision at all. Or maybe we should cold shoulder them both and walk a different path.

“Every mountain of sugar-coated food that has been placed before me takes me further away from the newly exercised discipline that has taken me beyond myself. ” The offer of an unending supply of all that you want, but can not possibly need let alone use, seems paltry when placed alongside the cool On-Looker who’s seeming indifference would exhort you to try harder, climb higher and reach further than you had thought yourself capable. And yet one still longs for a little encouragement as the road winds on forever. Up the Alps each turn of a hairpin that revealed itself as Not The End fed a rapacious fatalism within me and yet every climb finished

brought me closer to a realisation of myself that was not always pleasant but undoubtedly true.

Every mountain of sugar-coated food that has been placed before me takes me further away from the newly exercised discipline that has taken me beyond myself.

Seems to me we’re blessed to live this side of our country’s ‘glorious days’ of Empire, when headless strivings and bovine consumption held sway.

From this blessed state we can fire warning missives back across the pond to ears filled with the Sound of Silence before the Fall of Yankee Dog Empire and use the accumulated wisdom of our history to steer our feet into a glorious future remembering that we are perched on a glorious Globe that holds us up and nurtures us, allows us passage and sates our senses, brings forth an abundance far beyond the man-imagined trivialities we seem to be riveted to and asks nothing of us: least of all the price of admission or surrender. Let us bless the ground we walk upon, the water that surrounds us, the air we breathe and keep ‘em clean.

Hear more from Cardorowski @ www.theothersidemag.co.uk Image courtesy of Adam Bridgland & TAG Fine Arts 2010.

Thumb war

Skin.

Now there’s a pretty visible sign of ageing. “Our largest and most visible organ” comes in a variety of colours, all of which can be augmented. I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently, ever since a man mountain of a ‘quick’ planted a snorter into my left thumb in the first over of a low-lit Wednesday evening match. That delicate, finely crafted thumb quickly swelled to a throbbing black jackhammer of a digit, the skin cracking and purpling at the pinch points. “my yes it is fascinating to see what the body looks like when you peel the skin off it like a Wham bar wrapper...”

After a week with no discernible thumb size reduction, I took matters into my own hands and drilled into the cuticle at the corner of the nail. After much squeezing and swearing a blood-watery fluid came out in abundance. The top of the thumb instantly regained shape, and the skin that had been taught, turned to sag and wrinkle, eventually taking up the slack and gaining a vague look of normality.

I have been milking my thumb daily ever since.

With this in thumb, I wandered down to the Wellcome Collection on Euston Road to check out their skin exhibition. Don’t go after you’ve eaten. Or on an empty stomach. Or if you’ve a thumb bigger than the hitcher. Wanna know about my thumb do you

boy? Maybe I’m being squeamish, or maybe I’m a massive pussy, but I found it stomach-fluidcurdlingly revolting.

The huge photos of stitching, the diagrams of degloving – my yes it is fascinating to see what the body looks like when you peel the skin off it like a Wham bar wrapper, please don’t ever show me that again. Instead the curator decisively ups the stakes in the next room with a fascinating – no, make that revolting – display of skin diseases, welts, sores, flesh eating bacteria, and all manner

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of unpleasantness. Oh look, ceramics adorned with “syphilis scars and dripping acne pustules.”

Smashing.

This completely unsympathetic reaction can surely only speed my contraction of all of these afflictions. Letters laced with any of the many bacteria that can cause necrotizing fasciitis should be addressed to The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister please.

Hear more from Murdoch @ www.theothersidemag.co.uk Image courtesy of Tom Ireland.

growing up

BirthdaY Blues I t ’ s mid - summer a n d that ca n o n ly mea n o n e thi n g for T ola O sitelu ; spe n di n g the forthcomi n g weeks wallowi n g i n self - pit y a n d bei n g eve n more i n trospective tha n usual

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es, my getting-old-day is fast approaching; I sometimes wish it came late in the year so I could stave off the inevitable that bit longer.

Although it’s not conventionally a ‘significant’ age – 18 or 21 say – personally it marks the fact my 20s are coming to a swift end. If you’re anything like me, ie ageist, you would have grown up thinking anything past 21 was old. More than 25 and you’re ancient.

I believe I belong to a particular (Western) generation who grew up in the wake of the advent of MTV and the culture of sorts that was birthed from it. One such by-product is the youthas-commodity ethos. Traces of this pernicious mindset have existed for time immemorial but I’d suggest that within the past 25 years or so, with the plethora of teen stars that have peopled popular culture, it has become

even more powerful.

For better or for far, far worse, so much of our worldview is now informed by the media via the entertainment industry and the latest young, fresh/nubile/virile things keep vying for our attention and cling to it with the jaws of life, before our thirst for novelty sees us channel our affection elsewhere.

To boot, these new kids on the block seem to come in even more bland and mediocre models as the years go by. Justin Bieber anyone? And what about the older generation who should know better? For every public figure that grows older gracefully and with a dignity that makes you appreciate their beauty in a new way, for instance Sade, you have those desperate to re-invent themselves as some kind of deflated sex object. We all know of the crimes against humanity committed by Madonna in her attempts to stay

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relevant but what about those who at one time actually had talent, such as queen of the desperados Mariah Carey?

And those creaking rock legends piling back on tour for one last pay cheque makes you think that perhaps it’s time for Mick Jagger to hand back his leather trousers as well.

The complaints Moving away from the shallow world of entertainment I know my reservations about getting older – or more precisely – concerns about not having achieved enough at a young age aren’t just limited to watching too many music videos as a kid. It might have been bred there but it is a different animal now.

I was reading an article from my blog that I wrote on the same topic three years ago. What struck me most was that the reason that I’m panicking at the moment –

namely that I haven’t done all that I wanted to by this age – wasn’t as prominent a factor back then. Yet so many things have happened in the intervening years that have seemingly set me off track.

A month or two ago I read an interview with the former editor of a respected celebrity gossip rag. Even though I don’t care for the publications with which she has been associated, as a writer I couldn’t help but be impressed by her credentials and how early on in life she started to attain them. By the age of 25 she was an Oxbridge alumni who had worked for the Sunday Times, going on to be editor-in-chief of Tatler.

That’s a lot to have on your CV by a quarter of a century and my instinct on reading such things is to feel like a monumental failure.

I somehow got it into my head that if you’re not established in your chosen field by your early 30s, the momentum is lost, never to return. That I constantly encounter young men and women barely in their 20s (if at all) so accomplished, only adds to my feelings of inadequacy.

Well, my preoccupation with planning life to the letter didn’t take into account the many variables thrown our way that can disrupt our carefully planned Life timetables. For a goal-oriented person like me, the unexpected is the worst thing that could occur.

It’s not always about how hard you work or for how long, either. Time and chance happen to us all. And shit; shit happens too. Like many people, I have been temporarily waylaid by the current economic situation and since being made redundant in

2008 have found it extremely hard Malcolm Gladwell. He pondered the early signs of genius shown to secure a job.

by Picasso compared to that of Cezanne who hit his stride much Time remains Still, this won’t last forever. Good later; Gladwell even argues that his or bad, as King Solomon said – best work came at the end of his and I paraphrase – everything career. The article postulated that has its season; a time for every the two masters manifest their purpose. Borrowing further from gifts in different ways, which in one of my favourite portions of turn affected the timing of their the Good Book – Ecclesiastes, my output. While Picasso was more mum frequently tells me that the ‘conceptual’, tending to have a race isn’t for the swift. Yes, some fixed idea that he followed through people are early bloomers for a to execution, Cezanne was more combination of reasons. As one ‘experimental’ – his craft being an exploration that took longer to ripen. The point is they both “Everything has its got there, albeit at vastly different season; a time for every ages. In the scheme of things that purpose.” King Solomon little fact is rather irrelevant.

A talented writer and acquaintance of mine says he is fellow (older and wiser) journalist 50 years away from his best work. once pointed out to me, often the I think that is a fabulous attitude ‘stars’ that burn bright and early to carry through life. Some of the achieve a lot in a short period of best advice I received was actually time because they are not long from a friend of said acquaintance for this world. Or sometimes folk who told me, using a market peak early and live off former analogy, that your 20s should be used for ‘setting up your stall’ glory for the rest of their lives.

Others are late starters... and what in preparation for ‘changing the does it matter if you produce your world’ in your 30s. Besides, as my Magnus Opus at 16 or 60, I should smarter than smart sister recently keep asking myself? All right so admonished, what’s the hurry? It’s being a prodigy has its initial perks, not as if I planned to be dead by but brilliance is brilliance at any 30 she says; indeed I should thank age. I was reminded of this when God that I’m hale and hearty. I just author Marilynne Robinson won need to stay focused and the fruit the Orange Prize 2009 at 60 for the will eventually come forth.

I receive these sagacious nuggets subtle masterpiece ‘Home’, having only written three books in the with relief and enthusiasm... Now space of nearly 30 years and there all I need to do is bear them in being close to a 25 year-gap between mind consistently. Easier said the first two. And she really did get than done. better with each novel.

Another piece comes to mind that I read not long ago in the New Read more from Tola @ Yorker by the refreshingly erudite www.theothersidemag.co.uk

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pub culture

Awkward, stilted conversations… heated arguments about the theme tunes of obscure 1970s sitcoms… shredding your liver on quadruple vodka lemonades because of the £10 credit card minimum… Edward Valand goes down the pub

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ave you ever found yourself in a situation where an unsavoury, slurring stranger who reeks of gin is pointlessly trying to give you advice on how you should be living your life, how things were better in the old days, and how you’d be better off packing it all up and moving abroad?

But you’re too busy worrying about somebody snatching your manbag, wondering where that smell of shit is coming from and listening to the sounds of muffled sobbing in the booth next to you to pay any attention? The Job Centre

Plus is a terrible, terrible place. It’s because of places like this that we have pubs, where everybody can meet up on an equal footing and for a few hours enjoy a convivial and well-earned break from the crushing vicissitudes of London life in the company of their peers, all the while slinging copious amounts of Bitter and pork scratchings down their necks.

Community Pubs are important focal points for communities, providing centres where people can get together and try to make sense of things. In this respect they’re a bit like churches,

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only with less self-loathing, better songs, and drinks and snacks that aren’t a metaphor for medical waste. My favourites are the ones where you are always guaranteed to see at least one comb-over that’s been as carefully constructed as the Clifton Suspension Bridge, the barman’s fingers are stained as yellow as the cakes in the urinals and somebody just within earshot is saying something everso-slightly racist. The kind of pub where buried in amongst the sexual come-ons and football guff scrawled on the walls in the toilet is something so true, funny or sad that you actually wee on your

shoes because it makes you lose concentration. The kind of pub where people are given nicknames based on the most striking aspect of their physical appearance or personality, so that everybody knows who you’re talking about when you mention Fat Steve, Steve the Thief or Steve with the Black Eye and Neck Brace (in my local, all three of these are the same person). Sometimes these nicknames can be inaccurate – a poorly judged joke or avant-garde wardrobe choice can lead to you being branded a paedophile.

Believe me, I know.

Atmosphere On the other hand, you have pubs which ‘put stuff on’. These places generally have all the atmosphere of a branch of the Co-op on a Sunday afternoon, when even Edmond who works behind the cigarette counter just can’t be bothered any more. In a misguided attempt to liven things up, the clientele are offered a distraction in the form of karaoke, quizzes or ludicrously over-sized Jenga. They remind me of the cells they put monkeys in at the zoo; the keepers have lovingly decked them out with brightly coloured swings and plastic slides, but when you walk past all you can see is one monkey sitting in a corner sniffing its fingers and in another corner a monkey rocking itself back and forth and wanking.

I was recently in a pub where a Rolling Stones-themed game of bingo was taking place. The bingo caller was soldiering on with a piss-poor impersonation of Mick Jagger in the face of total indifference from the dozen or

so people in there. Had the real Mick Jagger strutted in, leapt on the bar and lost his shit to the strains of ‘Street Fighting Man’, I suspect that the reaction would have been much the same.

Because people don’t go to the pub to be entertained. That’s what we have 24-hour news channels and cockfighting for. In the best pubs, people are left to themselves, treated like adults and expected to show some basic courtesy towards one another. People go to pubs to talk to their friends, get pissed and “My abiding impression was of frustrated, depressed people who wanted desperately to talk about important things but never had the courage and so just ended up talking bollocks about cars, fishing rods and the pros and cons of different varieties of cheese.” EDWARD VALAND

got the DVD of Blade: Trinity on the ‘to watch’ pile back at their house will know exactly what he’s talking about. My dad was a heavy drinker. He probably still is. My first experience of pubs was when I was about five or six years old.

In those days, he would take me along and sit me up on a barstool next to him with a glass of Coke and a packet of Smoky Bacon crisps. My abiding impression was of frustrated, depressed people who wanted desperately to talk about important things but never had the courage and so just ended up talking bollocks about cars, fishing rods and the pros and cons of different varieties of cheese. I even remember pointing this out to him. It was shortly afterwards that he stopped taking me and started taking the dog instead.

STUFF But pubs can bring out the best in people as well. London’s pubs have served as incredible fulcrums of intellectual radicalism (Thomas Paine wrote parts of The Rights of Man at the Old Red Lion in Angel), artistic endeavour (the interior of The Black Friar in Blackfriars is one of the abiding masterpieces of the arts and crafts movement) and spiritual awakening (Grant Mitchell proposed to Sharon Watts behind the bar of the Queen Victoria in Walford). They are an essential part of London life and fulfil an important community service – after all, without them we’d have to spend a lot more quality time with our families.

relax. If you don’t know that, you shouldn’t be running one.

It’s not all fun though. Pubs can also be some of the saddest, most depressing places in the world outside of the Saturday matinee performance of We Will Rock You. Deluded losers sit around trying to reconnect with the long-lost days of their youth, drinking to forget the fact that drinking is the reason it all went wrong in the first place.

Kris Kristofferson described them as “the lonely men who reach for anything they can to keep from Hear more from Edward Valand going home”, and anyone who’s @ www.theothersidemag.co.uk

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Underground Farmers’ Market Kilburn, September 19th, £5 TOS loves to dip its toes in the water...especially if that water is in Kilburn. That’s exactly what we will be doing when we sell our now legendary pesto at Miss Marmite Lover’s underground farmers’ market. For one day only MML will be turning her house into a full blown food market with some of the best independent produce known to London.

London Design Festival 18 - 26 September 2010, South Kensington

London Fashion Weekend 23 - 26 September, tickets start at £15, Somerset House

Yes Brian You Look Terrific 3 October, 12 - 6pm, free entry Concrete @ Pizza East

London Design Festival is a citywide celebration of design taking place over nine days. The V&A museum is the main hub for the festival, but mini hubs also include the Brompton Design District and Shoreditch. With more than 200 events and most of them free to enter, there really is no excuse to miss it. Check out the website for the various listings. www.londondesignfestival.com

You could bag yourself a designer bargain at London Fashion Weekend…with hundreds of designers including Twenty8Twelve, House of Harlow and Sass & Bide to name a few selling their collections with big discounts, you can also experience the buzz of London Fashion Week even if that means just celeb spotting as the ‘badly’ dressed Taras, Lilys and Peaches wander about splashing the cash. www.londonfashionweekend.co.uk

If you love a good rummage then don’t miss Yes Brian’s monthly jumble sale at Concrete. This treasure trove of vintage menswear, ladieswear, designer items and bric-a-brac attracts an in-the-know crowd of fashion stylists, vintage lovers and the odd celebrity or two.

With stalls manned by fashion insiders and some of London’s cutest vintage shops, walking away empty handed is a near impossibility. yesbrianyoulookterrific.blogspot.com

Crafternoon 11 September, 12pm - 5.30pm, £5 Hanbury Hall, nr. Liverpool St The folk at Crafternoon love recycling, and they implore you to take along an old t-shirt to cut up and create your very own cloth creature. As well as lots of crafty goings on, Hanbury Hall will be filled with the folk inspired sounds from songstress Fiona Bevan and all profits will go towards the Spitalfields Crypt Trust.

The Squat Collective 21-25 September, £10 donation, St John’s Church, Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green

Papered Parlour @The Lambeth Open Studio 2 & 3 October, 11am - 6pm

The Squat Collective invite you to join them at the marriage of their friends Bess Steadman and Mark Johns, at St John’s church in Bethnal Green.

What happens after that remains a mystery. Tickets will sell like gold dust, so get yours now. www.squatcollective.com

The Lambeth Open is designed to showcase a fantastic range of creative talent. The Papered Parlour is a creative paradise packed to the rafters with nimble fingered artists from a diverse range of disciplines.

With a chance to exchange creative ideas, spend a relaxing afternoon buying from local artists. www.thepaperedparlour.co.uk

Find more great places in London @ www.theothersidemag.co.uk

CRAFT

to love craft*

if you’re all thumbs and THINK APPLIQUE IS AN R&B SINGER, DON’T WORRY, THE JOY OF CRAFT IS for EVERYONE It is therapeutic. It is not called art therapy for nothing.

Sink your palms into a lump of playdough or get hypnotised by the muffled train-on-a-track sound of the sewing machine and just try and tell us you do not feel relaxed.

topics of conversation appear that may not have reared their heads in the park. I found out something unspeakable about my friend Delia, for example, but I will not dwell on her sexual deviancy here.

Everyone is doing it. Yes, that also means a load of dicks are doing it, but probability-wise, there’s got to be some people with good taste getting involved, ergo there has to be something in it.

Rich people in olden times did loads of it when they were sitting around waiting for people called Squire Fauntelroy, Farmer Oak and Mr Davenport to Capitalism has stolen it (yes call. Sure, Mary Queen of Shops and Beatles Rock Band were not Cath Kidston I am talking to invented yet so there was less you), so you need to take it competition, but there must have right back. been something good about it to win out over jousting and public The kids do it, and the kids hangings. are alright. We get crafty as children, then we forget about When things like ‘Lee Nelson’s the fun and innocence of splashing Well Good TV Show’ exist in muddy puddles, asking people in the world, you will need to why they are so fat and walking partake in a wholesome activity to the shops wearing only the top to rid you of the feeling of being half of a Spiderman costume and a cowboy hat. soiled by such utter mediocrity.

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a bore (if you are already a bore then it is unlikely to help you).

Cool women do it like Keats’ lover Fanny Brawne (ok that was ages ago) and Winona Ryder in ‘How to Make an American Quilt’ (ok that was fiction), and I bet some cool men do it. But I just can’t think of any right now.

* Yes boys, I am talking to you too!

It is austerity Britain and you You can get involved for but must learn how to whittle a a few pennies – if you don’t hat from a willow branch and believe me, see my guide fashion a dress from a geranium opposite, silly. for when the double dip comes.

When you’re sitting with It is not sexist and it does friends and busying yourself with crafts, a wonderful not make you Martha feeling of calm descends and Stewart, or turn you into

On a shoestring?

Yes alright, some of these chancers are artists trying to make a living, but if you’re as skint as they are, then read our guide to keeping it cheap, DIY and authentiC How-Tos on YouTube There is no reason to leave the house anymore, as you can learn to be a doctor or fly a plane on YouTube. FACT. There are also some fantastic videos teaching you how to take part in every craft imaginable, from casting off your wool (knitting, yeah?) to quilting to making origami stars for your tree at Christmas. Most surreal of all, you can get tutored by an evangelical Christian in Nevada who can teach you how to make a giant cross-stitch pattern of Jesus’ face.

Learn for free Lots of places will charge £50 or so for half-day courses, and professional courses can run into the £1,000s. But there are lots of places where you can learn for free. The wonderful Gallery Cafe in Bethnal Green has a knitting club (every other Monday, 5pm7.30pm) and will teach people to knit for free in between lots of tea drinking and, I’m sorry to say, chattering. You can also learn to knit for free with the chaps at Stitch London (formerly Stitch and Bitch London) at their weekly central London venue (check website for details) if you can get a word in edgeways.

for someone who can show you a variety of skills. You could teach someone to cook or give them a lift somewhere in return for them teaching you a new craft (now obviously don’t be stupid and go to a stranger’s house in the middle of the night or anything. TOS does not want to be sued).

Alternatively, get your granny to show you how to craft, or borrow someone else’s granny. In return you can teach her all about the Internet, the grime scene and the metric system.

machine in the room, people can cut and hand sew and take it in turns to use the machine. Of course, there’s endless options, from making cakes to candles to cards to soaps. It’s basically staying in and getting pissed, with something lovely to show for it at the end of the night.

Head to a craft night The daddy of craft evenings is held at Notting Hill Arts Club and has taken on near-legendary status. For only £5 on the door you can craft all night with great live bands in the background, with options from “sock puppets and pipecleaner monsters to cross stitch, mobiles and canvases”. It often sells out within minutes of the doors opening, but lots of other places run similar events – check out your local Women’s Institute and the Camden Arts Centre.

Get crafty with your pals Invite people round, get Kelly Clarkson/Grizzly Bear on the stereo, open a bottle of Rosé and Swap your skills get crafty. Making a quilt is a great Websites like swapaskill.com let thing to do in a group, or knitting you search by geographical area or sewing – if there’s one sewing

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words: chloe george illustration: kayleigh ann witt

craft

MAKE DO

+

MEND by katie cox

PLATo lead us to believe that it is necessity who is the mother of invention and so need, rather than desire, leads us to our most creative moments rguably, never was this more true than in Britain during World War II where rationing on food and household essentials was implemented on 8 January 1940 and required every household to submit a rations book with food purchases and have coupons deducted.

On 11 June 1941 the Board of Trade extending rationing to include clothing. Women were allocated with 66 coupons a year and with a dress costing 11 coupons and underwear requiring 4 coupons a piece in addition to a price fixed by law, the sartorial options were limited at best. This forced the women of Britain to be innovative and the culture of make do and mending was born.

By 1943, the Board of Trade had commissioned an instructional booklet Make do and Mend: Keeping Family and Home Afloat on War Rations which was distributed across the country.

The booklet provided all sorts of

A

money and resource saving tips from how to rid your kitchen of flies to making your towels smell nice to how to transform your curtains into a hard wearing dress. Great pride was taken in recycled and remodelled clothes with catwalk shows hosted across the country including Harrods’ biannual make do and mend catwalk show showcasing the tailoring skills of regular housewives, mothers and single ladies.

Fastforward almost 70 years and we are all in the midst of a rather depressing recession which has seen most people, myself including, really feeling the pinch.

Having less deposable income but still being a dedicated follower of fashion has been a tricky nut to crack but as my other hero Charles Darwin taught us, evolution is all about diversifying and adapting.

This in mind my old clothes were liberated from their mothballs and mum’s sewing machine descended from the parental attic and I embraced the bastion of my

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grandmother’s youth and began crafting my own sartorial gems.

Whilst I would love to share my customising tips they are very outfit-specific so here are some general make do and mend tips: Instead of throwing odd or holey socks away why not transform them into a unique, personal present and make someone a sock monkey. Once you’ve mastered it a couple of times the basic design can be adapted to be a sock cat, elephant, dog, horse, monster, editor… I would say hand stitch sewn or material eyes on instead of buttons and to double stitch the edges if making for children as I found my three-year-old devil-child cousin spent the first ten minutes trying to pull his new elephant’s trunk off before discarding it. You can follow simple instructions how to create your own sock creature on the TOS website.

If you get a big hole in a jumper or cardigan either slowly pull it apart and keep the wool to knit a

scarf or cut the arms off and sew the edges together to make a cool cushion cover.

This is easier with a cardi as you can then use the buttons as an opening.

Kids’ toys make awesome, original jewellery. Lego men, Barbie accessories or doll’s house furniture all look great when attached to chains as necklaces or on earrings or even on charm bracelets. The Bead Shop in Covent Garden sells a cornucopia of jeweller’s accoutrements to make your own bits. Invest in a couple of pairs of jewellery pliers and then not only can you make new but you can also repair broken favourites.

Skip and street dive – So many people leave unwanted furniture on the street outside their houses, don’t be afraid to get in there before the dustmen and reappropriate it.

I like to do a quick sweep of the neighbourhood the night before rubbish day to see if I can nab any unwanted treasure. On one of my recent nocturnal sojourns I picked up a little Moroccan table from outside a neighbour’s house.

It had a dodgy leg and the brass top was badly tarnished. The leg benefited from a new nail and the top was treated with a mixture of white vinegar, salt and flour mixed into a paste left on for an hour then wiped off and a couple of my friends received a brand

new and most free housewarming present that would have ended up in landfill.

Two of my favourite tools are fabric paint and a lettering stencil. A cheap bright t-shirt or hoodie from UniQlo and a bit of imagination make for a great, personalised birthday present.

The key to make do and mending is to value the life of something. If you can’t think how to transform something yourself

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then please don’t toss it. I went to the Kilburn chapter of Oxjam’s first clothes swap this July where you pay a fiver, bring five items and take five items home which coupled many of life’s great pleasures; shopping, music, gossiping and booze. And best of all, all the cash and any leftover togs went to charity. The clothes swap looks set to become a regular event so head on down and get your elbows out for a forage, check the details by joining the Oxjam Kilburn Facebook group. Another rummaging prospect I am looking forward to is the Capital Car Boot in Pimlico which promises to inject some chic into bargain hunting, as it is the brainchild of London fashionista, Faye Marriott.

thanks to holly wilson for this one www.flic kr.c om/ pho tos/ holl y _wi lson

A new

graffiti

The words ‘knit one, purl two’ will never be the same again. the pastime for grannies has a new fan club by

T

he phenomenon, called Yarn Bombing or Knit Graffiti by some, is thought to have originated in the US by clothes shop owner Magda Sayeg.

She set up the website ‘Knitta Please’, which in its inception was made up of frustrated knitters who didn’t know what to do with their half-finished jumpers and

rebecca thorpe

scarves and so started fashioning them on to fixtures and fittings in their homes.

The craze quickly took off, with knit’s popping up outdoors on lampposts, monuments and road signs. They are then photographed by their creators and posted on various websites, and are viewed by fellow yarn bombers around the

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globe. One of the most extravagant yarn bombs in the US sees a bus covered from head to toe. The movement has made its journey across the pond with examples popping up in towns and cities up and down the county.

The enthusiasm for Yarn Bombing has resulted in the formation of a number of groups who are committed to the cause: Knit the City knitthecity.com Operating from a secret underground bunker in the heart of the city, these London-based yarn bombers work by day and spread woolly joy under the cover of darkness.

Stitch London These lot aren’t just a knitting

see more bombing at artangeloriginalart.blogspot.com

y ar n artis t ma g da sa ye gs’ city o xic me in s bu co ve re d group – they claim to be taking over the world, one stitch at a time. This friendly group teaches knitting skills for free. www.stitchldn.com Stitch ’n Bitch A Stitch ‘n Bitch is just a group of knitters who get together on a regular basis to stitch and, well, you know, bitch! All Stitch ‘n Bitch meetings are open to the public and are free of charge, there are over 100 in the UK alone. Check out the link to find one in your local area. www.stitchnbitch.org The Yarn Bombing movement has been dubbed ‘guerrilla’, as the majority of installations are erected in the dead of night, without claim. To quote one anonymous

yarn bomber, ‘Yarn Bombing is important; it makes me feel unique and anti-establishment. I feel like a ninja.’

Whilst traditionally, graffiti is expressive, socio-political and sometimes territorial, Yarn Bombing makes no such claims.

It’s almost exclusively about recouping and personalising the mundane make up of our public places.

What’s the point? Well, some might think there is something slightly hedonistic about draping a pink glittery knit over a statue of an infamous historical character.

Yarn bombers claim that the aim of their altruistic actions is simply to make us smile, and there’s not much wrong with that! Feeling inspired? Follow our 5 step guide:

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1. Get yourself a pair of knitting needles, they are cheap enough.

Better still, swipe a pair from Nan, then pick the brightest ball of yarn you can find!

2. Tape measures at the ready. Pick a point of attack, be it a lamppost, a tree or whatever takes your fancy and measure surface area.

3. Get knitting. The more creative and colourful the better, the possibilities are endless!

4. Installation: for maximum impact and a personal adrenaline rush, we recommend under the cover of darkness.

5. Post and boast. Check out the sites below, join and upload. www.artyarn.blogspot.com www.ukdiycraft.com www.flickr.com

craft

IKEA D catherine de lange, blogger for ‘the beat that my heart skipped’, guides you lucky tosers away from flat pack crap love IKEA, truly I do. But there comes a point where you look around your flat, and you can’t tell if you came home yet, or whether you’re still in the showroom, and at that point, something needs to be done. The devil’s in the detail, as they say, so the good thing about making your own home furnishings is that, get the balance right, and you can still rely on those IKEA staples, but they’ll feel much less obvious.

So, where to start? A lot of people are put off crafts and DIY because they think it’s doomed to fail before they’ve even begun. Of course, most people who shop at IKEA do it because it’s so cheap.

And that means no commitment – if it doesn’t quite fit/work/suit your place, it’s no big deal. And the same applies to DIY. Give it a go, if it doesn’t work, there’s not a lot to lose (and you might end up with something unexpected, that you

I

like nonetheless). In fact, that’s half the fun – not knowing quite how things will turn out – and it’s pretty satisfying when it works.

If you don’t know what project to tackle first, have a think about the things you’d like or need. Are you lacking bookshelves? Could you do with a chalkboard in the kitchen?

Are your walls looking bare?

There’s no point embarking on a cool project to make something you don’t actually want or need.

Once you have these questions in mind, start looking out for things – both items you like in shops or other peoples houses, and also for materials that are free/cheap – like old furniture chucked out on the street. If you have some ideas in mind, you’ll know whether taking it home might be useful, and your place is less likely to turn into a scrap yard. Try to carry a camera around and take pictures of things that inspire you. At some point, all

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that subconscious thinking about it will result in a bright idea!

Speaking of which, I decided to make these freestanding bookshelves when I came across some old wine crates that someone was throwing out. I’d seen a similar project using shelves from a disused chest of drawers, but there was something about the rustic feel of the crates that made me want to give it a go. You can get crates like these from big wine merchants like Majestic, or just ask around nicely at restaurants and off-licences: they should have some spare crates that you can offer to buy off them on the cheap (and you can probably blag them for free). If you want to try it using drawers, Freecycle is always a winner, and – seriously – keep an eye out on the streets as people chuck a lot out. For forthcoming sales and carboots, there is a great Facebook group called London

Jumble, Markets and Fairs. In the summer, and for smaller items, there are tonnes of car boots around too, but make sure you get there early to get the best pick.

Either way, the following steps should be all you need to get a great new bookshelf in no time:

Step One Carefully pull out any nails left over in the crates. Lay down newspaper and apply one coat of primer. Wash brushes in water.

Leave crates to dry resting on something (like a paint can) so they don’t stick to the newspaper.

Old drawers/ Wine cases Card Wallpaper/ Wrapping paper Craft knife/ Scissors Pencil

YOU WILL NEED

the gloss paint to dry overnight.

Step Three Now it’s time to decorate. For this, you can use wallpaper as I have, or any kind of wrapping paper. For a great range of paper including beautiful Japanese imported designs (though with a hefty price tag) check out Falkiners paper shop in Holborn.

I decided to use card to back the paper, so that it’s easier to get the size right, and it’s also easier to remove if you want to change it at a later date.

Measure out the dimensions of the inside base of the crate and draw out the rectangle on the card using a set square and ruler. Cut out using a craft knife.

Step Two When the primer is dry, it’s time to paint the outer layer. Make sure you use a paint suitable for wood, and I’d recommend gloss. One of the best paint suppliers in London is Leyland – they have stores all around (Camden, Tottenham Court Road, Goodge Street…).

Gloss paint is oil based, so you need to wash the brushes in white spirit when you’re done.

Try not to apply the paint too thickly, so the original detail of the Step Four wine logo shows through. Leave If using pattered paper, choose the

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Ruler Set square Spray glue Wood primer Gloss paint Old newspaper Paint brush White spirit

area that you like best, and cut out a piece that’s slightly larger than your piece of card.

Spray the card with spray glue and stick it on to the back of the paper. Then trim off the excess paper around the edge of the card using the ruler and craft knife.

It should now fit perfectly at the bottom of the crate. If it’s a little big, trim as required.

Step Five Repeat steps three and four for the other two crates, and you’re good to go!

As you can see, I’ve stacked the crates as shelves, or you can hang them individually on the wall.

Voila!

Get more DIY furniture tips @ www.theothersidemag.co.uk

Pop out Card what you will need scissors &glue

Making stuff is fun. It’s more fun when you get someone else to do the hard work. We’ve asked Fiona Hepburn to give us a DIY birthday card design for you to make. All you’ll need is scissors and glue and a print out from our website.

1. cut around the birdhouse, including the circle in the middle.

4. fold all other dotted lines; push the bird away from you, inverting the ‘v’.

2. cut out around the bird and the long tab.

3. fold in the two end sections inward at the dotted lines.

5. go to www.theothersidemag. co.uk/craft and download the base of the card.

6. cut out the card and fold it in half.

7. glue the A & B sections on the inside of the card.

8. with the bird facing out of the card, stick the end sections down to A & B.

9. open the card flat and glue along the bottom edge of the birdhouse.

10. stick the birdhouse down on the long tab, between the dotted lines to the left hand side of the tab.

11. open and close the card a few times, and push the bird back if it gets stuck.

Card design by Fiona Hepburn see more on her website (www.particlepress.com)

2. gold stars 1. Paper & card hats

3. silk & paper bunting

4. Paper Flowers

5. Tissue, balloon, cellophane oversized sweets

6. Papier mâché piñata

»

fiesta mexicana party

Lisa Piercy shows us how to decorate for a party

alternative CRAFT

in a field of dreams BR ENN AD & NATH U NCA N A discoverN M AY to glastomore

lasto is a big deal. It is famous the world over, and there is this ridiculous statistic that always gets bandied around about it becoming the fastest growing city in Europe for one weekend, or something. So it’s definitely pretty big.

You’d be forgiven for thinking this is solely because the event draws some of the biggest bands in the world. It is true that down in the smelly arm pit of Worthy Farm, plenty of folk rush between the Pyramid and the Other stages, hoping the timetable clash has been ironed out by the Scissor Sisters’ unnecessarily drawn-out

G

sound check (remarkably, there was no evidence of this once they started singing).

But this year, with the prospect of a lecture from Prof Bono, and then later, the prospect of Albarn welling up (again), TOS planned its Glasto 2010 exit strategy.

Growing up in Cockinmouth in Cumbria, my mother always taught me that in times of danger, take to high ground. And so with these pearls of wisdom in mind, TOS headed up the hill towards the Green Fields.

We were apprehensive at first.

People were wearing ill-fitting tablecloths where trousers should be, and that was as close to the

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TOS street style we got all day (p44 ;-). One elderly lady was in front of us (the preferred side, we were later informed by the chap behind the counter) in the queue for an organic fruit smoothie, with nothing on at all! Cracking tan mind.

But the point is, there was lots of cool stuff to do up there. We crafted a wooden mushroom using the majesty of pedal power alone, and learnt all about the future based on the cracks in the crap that covered our three-dayswithout-a-wash hands. Craft is alive and kicking, see overleaf for a pictoral journey to the true heart of Glasto.

»

^ Finger print record

v Design by committee

^ Spare room?

v Craft some clay

Find someone special >

Film

odard said all you need to make a good film is a girl and a gun. Now it seems you need a pair of plastic glasses on your face and a planet of blue aliens.

Now, I’m no snob. I haven’t even seen a Godard film but I think the kooky Frenchie was banging on about was simplicity. Some other folk think a good old fashioned yarn will do. Perhaps some cracking dialogue, packed with nuance and pep. Or perhaps a dynamite central performance holding the whole thing together. Any of these would do. They can come as part of a low budget indie like Swimming with Sharks, or an action comedy like Midnight Run. Heck, it could even come in the form of a Greek black comedy about familial abuse like Dogtooth. Films that stay with you for myriad reasons… and none of them because a silly pair of glasses ‘immersed’ you in some 3D world.

3D first made its appearance in the 1950s. Simpler folk in simpler times wowed not just by moving images but by blurry greeny/red 3D ones. The idiots. The fad faded.

It was, everyone agreed, shit. But now it’s back. And this time it’s... still shit.

Not only are they charging more for the experience it’s being heralded as the way forward – just like they did in the 1950s. Even Mark Kermode, that self-important, puffed up, bequiffed, skiffling turd knows it’s the way back – back to the spectacle, of those early films of a moving train or a gun firing at the audience. When it was all about form and little about story.

When cinematic form was still finding its feet, discovering what it could do. Once people got over the

G

IMS ND A F O M CH EAM O M RI ADA THY STR EMA’S IN AL A HE IVE AT C PINNER T S C Y INVE MONE T S E LAT

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notion of actors on a magic screen moving around those crazy cats started telling stories, with plots and everything.

Cut to now and we’re not so impressed by the magic screen.

Cinemas are begging us to watch films legally, to play nice after charging us a fiver for a bag of sawdust and diabetes in a bag, on top of the tenner to see half an hour of ads followed by some reheated Hollywood slopfest. But wait, now, they can all sleep easy because Jim Cameron has saved their bacon with a new and improved shiny shiny turd called 3D. They can charge an extra three quid to see the same shit in 3D. Glory be. “It’s better than the real thing! It’s better than a download! You have to see this at the cinema! you must!”

Just having those flimsy plastic fucks resting on my face immerses me in nothing. The excitement at the depth of vision you get wears off quicker than an erection at a Susan Boyle concert. And you’re left with this dull, lifeless tint between you and the film.

When you can charge idiots to pay more on top of what is already an expensive night out to put stupid glasses on so they can ‘immerse’ themselves into the bloody world of Saw 3D you know something has gone very wrong.

Cameron poured almost a decade into creating the technology to make Pandora come alive, and that’s just swell, but watch it at home, what are you left with? A poorly conceived action film built around a fantastical planet with leaden dialogue added to shift the ‘story’ alone. You might well have enjoyed the lustrous world of the Naa’vi in all its 3D glory, but will

Ones to watch

Aaron ‘you can’t handle the truth’ Sorkin

Scott Pilgrim vs the World of West Wing fame and an offbeat cast Enjoying geek love from all quarters, Spaced director Edgar Wright has been beavering away on the fanboy graphic novel of the same name. Michael Cera leads and while anticipation is frothing, the trailer left me somewhat underwhelmed. Still, it’s got a great cast and Wright makes things with wit, love and dollops of panache. Out now.

The Social Network A film about Facebook, sounds like utter shit, doesn’t it? Well, it does until you factor in director David Fincher, writer

you want to sit down with them in the flat reality of your front room as they spout cod-Mother Earth hippy mumbo jumbo, or will you want to put on Goodfellas?

With Clash of the Titans they took a shit film, sapped it of its rich colour and forced it through a 3D blender, taking away the only thing of note about it – its vibrance. And people lapped up the turgid shit like it was so much Greek gold.

‘Let’s make it 3D’ has now become the Hollywood watchword.

Now, everyone likes a spectacle.

Auntie Jean staggering around at Christmas with her knickers round her ankles is always good for a laugh.

Seeing The White House blown up by aliens grabs the attention. Seeing it in 3D (even Auntie Jean) only adds to the spectacle. But if that’s all you’ve got, if all you want to see is stuff jump out at you, then the film studios are going to continue to feed us this watered down 3D shit until we choke on it.

If this trend continues you won’t see me back at the cinema. You’ll

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and it starts to look interesting. (October)

Let Me In The obligatory Hollywood remake of breakout European films continues and there is already a healthy backlash against this US take on the Swedish vampire surprise Let The Right One In. The director says he is being faithful to the material, but then he directed the cinematic abortion that was Cloverfield.

If he’s being so faithful, why fucking bother? Wait, see and judge…

Out in October.

get me back at the cinema when you euthanise anyone who talks during the film. You’ll get me back to the cinema when you stop selling fucking popcorn to fucking bovine Britain, rustling their cloven hooves in that salty box of disappointment and crunching on the cud of commerce over content.

Of course, cinema is big business, they don’t care about me, and they won’t miss my ill-gotten gains lining their filthy pockets. Hell, they gotta make a dishonest dollar.

But I’d much rather they owned up to their avarice instead of dressing it up as a life-enriching experience.

Like they’re doing me a favour.

They’re not. They’re ruining one of the last havens I have, with their short-sightedness and disgusting grab for more of our money.

If you want a vision of the future, imagine a pretend boot pretending to come out of the screen pretending to stamp on your face. Forever.

Hear more from Adam @ www.theothersidemag.co.uk

FILM

& Action V

ideopia is the brainchild of Harriet Knowles and is enough to make any 80s loving film buff go wobbly at the knees. There’s a prop box filled with ghostbusters proton packs… you can dress as Bill, Ted or Rufus… ever wanted to step into Tom Cruise’s Top Gun boots? Well the Videopia guys can make that happen. You see, for one afternoon you can become the movie star.

TOS caught up with Harriet Sorry, but i have to ask: What is post Big Chill Festival for a chat. your favourite movie ever ?

Again, it could well be ‘E.T’. But Why Videopia? aside from Spielberg classics I I had the opportunity to put on really love Spanish director Pedro a night at Notting Hill Arts Club Almodovar’s films, I just don’t in January 2009 and wanted to do think they’d go down too well at something with a film element that Videopia. Subtitles could be an was unpretentious and silly rather interesting challenge though. than exclusive and overly arty. I just happened to watch ‘Be Kind Bill or Ted ?

Rewind’ the week before and the Ted of course! whole concept of remaking classic movies on a shoestring looked Who makes the costumes ? like a lot of fun. So we cut down My sister Izzy makes a lot of the the script for ‘Back to the Future’, costumes including our uniforms ordered a red body warmer from for this summer’s festival tour ebay, crafted a Delorean out of and the shark for ‘Jaws’, which cardboard and never looked back. was inspired by ‘Eagle Vs Shark’.

Sometimes we cop out and buy What’s your favourite movie to costumes from fancy dress or charity shops, or better still I raid remake ?

Probably ‘E.T’. It’s such a classic people’s wardrobes. and it has a good combination of humour, emotion and special How long did it take to make the effects, all of which can be very marshmallow man? funny to recreate. I challenge you Not as long as it took to make the TOSers to have a go!

E.T head but longer than it took

36

the other side

to make the facehugger for ‘Alien’.

If you ever used papier-mâché as a child you’ll remember that it takes a long time to dry!

What reaction do you get at Festivals ?

It’s been brilliant, people tend to loose their inhibitions at festivals and let themselves do silly things that they might not usually be up for so it’s the perfect environment for us.

What’s next?

We’re going to Electric Picnic festival and Bestival in September and then we’re hoping to be at more events in London, maybe Bristol and further afield too. The kids seemed to love acting in our ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ remake at Camp Bestival, so who knows, maybe kids’ parties could even be on the cards!

See the TOS remake of ET @ www.theothersidemag.co.uk

from fanzine, to club night, to record label... easy. young and lost club show us how it’s done You have

An In Youngterview With &L

by Nath ost Clu an M b ay

met at school, and been

best

friends

ever since . It is always good working with your best friend ?

Be honest.

We both work really well together, but it definitely isn’t always a good idea to work with friends! I think it helped that we shared a dormitory with each other so you just learn to get on.

After

do play the Harp though!

Quite a few of our friends have were you confident jumping asked me to play the harp on from DJing to becoming a record recordings for them but I am to shy to. Also a Harp is a very hard label ?

We started Djing when we were 18, instrument to move around. a good friend taught us at the now closed down Paradise Bar in New Now that you have a host of big Cross. We set up the label when names under the YALC belt, we were 19 and the club night can you reveal your secret to was always a really important side spotting talent? of the label. At the time we felt Although we have mostly released confident but looking back I don’t singles we always look for a whole you have dabbled with a host of know how we managed! We really set of songs from a band.

Also the bands ideas and style different enterprises. Did you did learn as we went along! are as important to us as their enjoy the days photocopying your You obviously understand what music. Its really important for fanzine Pyrrha at school ?

We loved doing our fanzine! Our good music sounds like, did you bands to have a strong identity, school was very strict and we used never fancy trying to make that especially these days now that there are so many to get so bored especially when we music yourselves ? had to stay in all weekend!

We never wanted to be in a band, I bands around. a

string

of

successful nights at

hugely

Push

etc,

»

MUSIC

The ultimate band

sara jade and nadia Dahlawi, the people behind young and lost club, know a thing or two about spotting talent. with the likes of everything everything, bombay bicycle club, noah & the whale and golden silvers having graced their books , it’s time we found out how they do it

What’s in a name ? Do you think

in fits of laughter between songs,

too much is made about band

of let the music do the talking ?

Some bands can get too ambitious with backing singers…triangle names, or is a good name crucial Stage presence is important, a bit players etc!

On the whole straight forward of interaction is important but to the YALC selection process ?

A good band name is important people are there to hear music not is always best, especially when you are playing small venues in the but if the songs are good it doesn’t a stand up comedy show! early day with not great sound. matter what the band’s name is – the name becomes the band!

Guitars can be good, really good, Is it important for bands to have but do you prefer the calming good style ? Would you consider influence of an acoustic ukulele, dressing a band that lacked in the

or the banging riffs of an electric

style department… perhaps in

guitar ?

I love an acoustic ukulele and Sara prefers an electric guitar.

I guess everyone’s taste is different!

matching outfits like Coldplay?

Most of the bands we work with already have a great style, we would never consider dressing them. We are definitely not into ins the matching outfits!

The lyrics are important, but vincent vincent & the villa Vincent Vincent & The Villains would the YALC ultimate band were one the best dressed bands How many is too many? Is there have an angelic vocalist or a we have ever worked with, they all the optimum number of members gruff shouter? made it seem effortless though. for the perfect band, or do you Angelic vocalist!

Although Gabriel the lead singer like bands that incorporate a What about stage presence do quartet of triangle players and a of Loverman was a big shouter but his voice was amazing. you like a band to have the crowd church choir ?

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the other side

Encores, yay or nay?

Yay if you’re playing a big venue!

When Noah & The Whale Nay if you’re playing to 30 people! played the main stage at Reading Festival last summer we were so proud. We used to go to Reading through all our teen years and never ever thought a band from our own record label would play there. Saying that most of the bands we have worked with, we first watched them in a tiny venue in East London. basement in

Dalston,

or on the

main stage at some festival ?

loverman

Choose between a) Conventional set-up of drums, bass guitar, lead A nd then there’s the crowd. guitar (and possible keyboard); Obviously big, but is it best to have or b) Mix it up a bit with maybe a thoughtful leg-shaking bearded synth, piccolo and French horn ? blokes, or slightly mental crowd A please! surfing party people ?

Slightly mental crowd surfing What about a venue, would the party people if they are there for perfect gig be held in a dingy the band!

noah and the whale Get all the latest music news, reviews, gig listings and exclusive tracks online @ www.theothersidemag.co.uk

FASHION

How to make a

TOTE BAG FOLLow this step-by-step guide to making your own tote bag, and stand a chance of winning our special competition

The Pattern

Step 1

This consists of the bag section, facing [an edging to go around the top edge], two straps and the lining section. All seam allowances are 1cm.

Iron your fabric and lay it on a flat surface. Pin the pattern to the fabric in the following order.

what you will need

90cm of medium to heavyweight fabric for the bag, such as cotton, canvas or denim.

35cm of lightweight fabric for the lining.

A sewing machine, dressmaking pins, fabric scissors and a tape measure.

Step 2

Cut out the pieces and remove the pattern from the fabric. *This is the time to add pockets, decorations or trimmings to your bag, before you close the side seams.

D imensions Bag (72x35cm) Strap x2 (96x7cm) Facing (68x6cm) Lining (64x35cm)

Step 3

Take the bag section and fold in half edge to edge with the right side of the fabric on the inside. Pin together with the pins placed horizontally, at right angles to the edges (this way you can sew over the pins).

Step 4

Starting and ending with a reverse stitch, sew up the two sides 1cm away from the raw edges. Press the seams open.

40

the other side

Step 5

Fold the lining section in half edge to edge, with the right side of the fabric on the inside. Pin the edges together and starting and ending with a reverse stitch sew up the sides 1cm away from the raw edges, leaving an 8cm gap in one side. Press the seams open. Turn the lining through so that the right side of the fabric is on the outside and the seams are on the inside.

Step 6

Fold the facing in half with the right side of the fabric on the inside and sew up the short edge starting and ending with a reverse stitch. Press the seam open.

Step 7

Matching the side seam, place the facing around the top open edge of the lining with the right sides of the fabric touching. Pin, then sew all around the upper edge 1cm away from the raw edges. Turn the facing up so that the right sides of the fabrics show.

Step 8

Take the two strap pieces. Fold and iron a 1cm seam allowance over onto the wrong side of the fabric, down the long edges of each strap. Fold in half along the length of the strap and iron again making sure the edges are matching. Pin the long open edges and stitch close to the edge. Stitch along the length close to the folded edge. Iron.

Step 9 overleaf »

COMPETITION TIME !!

Win £100 to spend on a sewing course OF YOUR CHOICE @ fashion antidote We have teamed up with east London fashion school Fashion Antidote (www.fashionantidote.com) to offer one lucky TOS reader £100 of sewing tuition. Fashion Antidote offers a wide range of Learn to Sew and Clothes Making courses. To be in with a chance of winning, upload a picture of your completed tote bag to our website, and we will pick the best. Good luck!

go to:

www.theothersidemag.co.uk

FASHION

Step 9

With raw edges matching pin the short raw edge of each strap onto either side of the lining, 6cm in from both side seams. The straps should be hanging downwards.

Sew across the straps edge to attach to the lining.

Step 10

With the the bag inside out and the lining right side out, place the lining with the straps attached inside the bag section, making sure the right sides of the fabric are facing each other. Pin around the upper edge and sew 1cm from the raw edges all the way around.

Step 11

Pull out the lining and turn the whole bag right side out through the 8cm gap left in the lining.

Step 12

Finally, iron your bag so that all the seams and edges are flat. Sink three or four stitches through the top at the side seams to hold the lining down.

Get top tips for making your own bag, and a list of the best value fabric shops @ www.theothersidemag.co.uk

Don’t forget to enter our competition. Win £100 to spend @ Fashion Antidote www.fashionantidote.com

42

the other side

In the water closet... where better to style spot than the loos in Proud Camden? we found an eclectic mix of lace, polka dots, vintage, sports luxe and even some ‘crafty’ homemade jewellery.

Here’s our pick of the most stylish people going for a wee

»

by brenna duncan & carly temple

FASHION

Venue: Proud Camden Photography: Steve Hutchings, Cdl Creative, www.cdlcreative.me

Dicey, Loebeat ^ Lace body, American Apparel Sequin joggers, Jeremy Scott for Adidas Trainers, Adidas Homemade dice necklace

< Deji, matchmaker at Proud Camden

Smiths tee, Camden Jeans, Cheap Mondays Dr Martens boots Hat, Rokit Homemade cuff > Arthur, musician Cardigan, Unconditional Shirt, Paul Smith Shoes, Jeffery West Jeans, Topman Jewellery, Soho

< Pete, Loebeat / Photographer Pandarama cap, Korea Sunglasses, fishing shop in usa Tee, ctrl Jacket, Jeremy Scott for Adidas Trousers, Jeremy Scott for Ksubi Trainers, Adidas

^ R achel, makeup artist Jacket, Ireland / Playsuit, Pennies / Boots, Aldo / Bag, NYC (far)< Grace, Student Vintage dress, France / Belt, Jungle / Boots, Holloway Road Jo, makeup artist Top, Camden / Jeans, Topshop / Sandals, Office / Bag, Beyond Retro Cecile, Student Jacket and shirt both Topshop /Shorts, Zara / Shoes, Camden / Tights, New Look ^

^

fashion

Final fantasy brenna duncan scours the prangsta vault and picks out a bestival bargain

W

ith Bestival almost upon us, the panic has begun to set in. “What fancy dress outfit am I going to wear?” This year – the year of the fantastic – leaves us with an array of options, but should we go down the Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter or Wizard of Oz route?

Luckily Prangsta Costumiers

can help if you really have nothing to wear and are about to raid the kitchen cupboards for tin foil and a colander for your head, in a vain attempt to transform yourself into the Tin Man. Prangsta has an incredible selection of couture and theatrical costumes and are offering festival goers a cheeky 20 percent

46

the other side

discount when hiring a costume for Bestival. Not only does this include a consultation with a stylist and a fitting, but they will also deliver your costume to and from the festival site!

“Phew!” we hear you cry, that will save you carrying that rubbish papier-mâché tea cup you made all the way to the Isle of Wight!

Competition The Other Side has teamed up with Prangsta to offer one lucky TOS reader the chance to win a FREE costume for Bestival this year, but you better be quick!

Go to our website right now @ www.theothersidemag.co.uk leave a comment on the blog telling us why you need the most help and why you should be the winner.

Good luck!

The Food bit sam lassman sets out on a journey of culinary enlightenment. This issue, he discovers brunch

So.

Here I am. Thinking about food.

It seems to be what I do. Think about food, eat, think about food, cook, eat, think about food some more. Always, Monday to Friday. That’s just me. And I was thinking that it’s always nice to hear something new to cook.

You’re probably reading this and thinking about food right now.

I’m well and truly engrossed in thinking about Sunday Morning.

I’m making brunch. The bit between breakfast and lunch or – as I’m probably going to be corrected – the combination of breakfast and lunch. My gran used to tell me that Breakfast was the most important meal of the day because you never knew when you were going to eat again.

So what does that make brunch apart from a delicious treat? I know it’s coming.

Challah French Toast.

(serves 4) Challah, if you don’t know, is the best bread in the world. It’s an egg based, slightly sweet Jewish bread, a little like brioche (which will also work for this recipe) and can be found in practically any supermarket these days. For the best Challah get yourself down to Golders Green.

Whisk together two eggs, four tbsp of double cream, a vanilla pod and one tbsp of sugar. Dip the sliced challah in to the egg mixture and lightly fry on either side until golden brown. Serve with a spoonful of crème freche and some fruit compote.

The Bacon.

Make it good bacon. And cook it good and proper. How you like it.

Then get some thick slices of bread and butter the slices on both sides.

Get your grill pan out and really hot. We’re talking on fire here.

Char the bread so the grill marks are on both sides. Put the bacon in oil. When the oil shimmers, add with some brown sauce. Do I need the egg mixture and cook to an omelette. Remove the cooked eggs to say anything else? No? Okay. and set aside. Add a touch more oil to the pan and increase the heat to medium/high. Add a tortilla wrap and sprinkle over cheese and (serves 2) Mexican’s are not just gun slinging then cover the cheese with ham or bandits. They also know how to crispy bacon. Add your egg and eat. They are especially good at fold the tortilla before it becomes breakfasts. Try Huevos Rancheros too crispy. Serve warm preferably which is fried eggs served upon with a margarita. heated corn tortillas topped with a tomato-chili sauce, refried beans, slices of avocado, or guacamole and some soured cream. You can What’s brunch without Bagels. tone this down for brunch and go We say – Brick Lane Bagel shop with an egg quesadilla. Here’s how: is better than anything else ever beat two eggs and a dash of milk and you can get a dozen bagels in a small bowl before coating the for about two quid. Who’s gonna bottom of the egg pan with olive argue with that?

A bit of Mexico.

Bagels.

The skilled finale.

Pancakes are a troublesome bunch. Too oily, too flat, too heavy… everyone always encounters a pancake problem. Here’s how to make perfect fluffy pancakes (it’s all about the baking powder).

Do this: Sift together the 12oz plain flour, three tbsp sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ tps salt into a mixing bowl. Then whisk in two eggs, 354ml milk and some vanilla essence.

Finally add two tbsp melted butter.

Get your pan nice and hot and put some butter on the pan til the bottom is coated. Ladle on the batter to the hot surface and when bubbles appear turn over and cook the other side. Serve them warm with maple syrup, lemon and honey, ice cream, strawberries…. You decide.

You see, the great thing about brunch is that you don’t need to coordinate the meal. A good brunch should last three hours and finish with a nice slice of cake and a cup of tea. Read our Victoria Sponge recipe on TOS now!

Thanks to Angela and Andrew from www.greatgrub.com for their quesadilla and pancake recipes.

AN interview with... like and we have fallen into doing it on stage. We’re pretty much ourselves on stage. I find a lot of bands foolish because they act so serious and they dress up to go on stage and act all aloof on stage and so forth. You meet them back stage and they’re just arseholes, those bands.

THE

The lyrics in Wave Pictures songs are often focussed on in reviews, more so than other bands. Does this scrutiny get tiresome ?

Not entirely. I think it’s probably a nathan may good sign. I certainly like to think about the lyrics when I listen to It would largely depend upon the music. But it is sometimes tricky contract and the specific offer. to answer questions about them.

I have always assumed that a major label would not make us I have noticed that David seems a reasonable offer, if one ever to like wearing a shirt, with offered us anything at all (which another shirt underneath (which they never have). It’s certainly not seems like insanity to me), did you something we’re yearning for, but invent that style ? never say never. It would take a lot I copied the idea from my friend for us to give up the freedom we Stanley Brinks. It is a sartorial have to do pretty much whatever homage to him. It’s funny that you we want to do. noticed it. Do you think we could use this as a platform to create a How do you divide your songs whole new style?

WAVE PICTURES

You said making music is something you do if you are ‘scared of hard drugs and useless with women’. Is this still the case ?

That sounds like something I would say. I think it’s less the case now than when we were younger. We definitely used to be loners and we weren’t into drugs.

Nowadays, of course, we live in a perpetual heroin haze, through which glamorous women throw themselves at us.

I think I said that in answer to a question about why we used to between the various side projects make albums when we didn’t have you are involved in? a record label. Maybe I should It’s a combination of writing some have just said we’ve always done specifically and portioning out it for fun, and it never occurred to some others. us to wait to be asked.

What is it that you get out of The You also once said you were Wave Pictures that you don’t get worried about slipping off from the side projects ? the ‘new London bands career We all just love making music treadmill’. Is that treadmill now and there are so many different cool people you can do it with. It’s your friend ?

It’s a strange analogy. I don’t think different with every example. we really fit in with the whole idea of ‘new London bands’. We do love Playing live, you are very what we do though. chatty. Is that important for the audience to relate to the music ?

Would The Wave Pictures sign to I’m not sure necessarily that it is important, but it is what we’re a major label given the chance ?

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the other side

During

a

Wave Pictures

gig,

there tends to be a fair amount of instrument swapping, would you like to have a few more members ?

No, three is enough for the time being. It takes too long to learn songs with more people.

There

isn’t many other

British

bands making music like The Wave

Pictures,

what other bands are

you liking at the mo ?

The WoWz and Turner Cody from New York, Freschard from Dijon and Coming Soon from Paris.

Hear The Wave Pictures @ www.myspace.com/thewavepictures

twelve POUNDS What can you get for £12?

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A t-shirt in Top Man? 4 beers down the local (if you’re lucky), a few Happy Meals, two days worth of tube travel...What about a subscription to TOS? It’s this season’s must have accessory and what’s more you’d be supporting a worthwhile cause at the same time.

For just £12 you can have a years subscription to London’s finest fanzine delivered to your door.

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Subscribe today and become a real TOSer. w w w. t h e o t h e r s i d e m a g . co.uk/subscribe Follow TOS on Twitter for daily tweets telling you everything from what to do in London to where to go on the Interweb.

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