Issue # 4 of White Paint magazine by sean purdy

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Balam Acab FC St Pauli, The Punk Band of Football Barney’s Wonder Years Photography by Freddie Foot Double Denim Blue Suede Shoes Something Borrowed Illustration by Henry Boon Paint (Part 2) Never Mind The Pollocks, Here’s Sea Punk Photography by Urahara Kisuke Photography by Alice Martineau Sex Sold The Body Warmer The Reasons Why Babysitting is Rubbish

Photography on this page by Declan Anderson Designed and edited by Sean Purdy

Contributors/Thanks Robin Baker-Gibbs Alex Throssell Liam Knight Barney Horner Freddie Foot Melissa Taylor Felix Clarke Molly McGeachin Hockley Raven-Spare Annie Kelly Angeline Dresser EmilyJane Morgan Henry Boon Sammi Gale Alex Kassab Urahara Kisuke Alice Martineau Danny Michaux Leo Hunt Zoe Meeken Joe Sloane Craig Robertson Declan Anderson

alking home, inebriated, the twilight of the early hours slowly illuminating the puddles on the city pavement, the night buses serenely floating past the ravers. The party and the beats are far off but keep drumming. Echoes ring in your ears from the heinous night before: the girls, the drugs, the music, the voices. The memories are hazy, but the feelings are still palpable… Very few artists have captured this darkly scene as well as Burial, The XX and The Weeknd. Music which not only tries to sounds like the urban nightscape, but becomes an inherent part of it; music which almost becomes more immersive than being there yourself. Up until now though, it has strictly been the urban world of the night dwelling youths which has been explored in such records, through an amalgam of sub genres which could only be fully appreciated by a select

group of people. This world of artists gained huge respect from those initiated within the scene, but there was always that feeling of exclusivity which prevented truly great acclaim. This is not to say that Balam Acab’s Wander/ Wonder is any more mainstream. It’s never going to be heard by the masses, but it feels like its themes are further reaching, grander, and more majestic than its antecedents. Listen to the album alone, through headphones, and you feel as if you’re a modern day Wordsworth, sitting above a babbling brook, marvelling at the wonder of the world, but with the shadowy bassy undertones reminding you that buildings and parties and violence still exist. It’s an album that captures the very essence of night, not just in the city, but across the whole rolling landscape. When Foals were writing Total Life Forever,

by Alex Throssel they crafted their album around the shade of blue found on their album cover; a deep azure, a peaceful cerulean darkness, mystery and beauty entwined. Balam Acab’s album works on such a level too; the crack of light on the cover artwork, that rip in the darkness and the faint sounds of rain falling into a cavernous space evoke all the same emotions and senses as Burial’s atmospherics, but on a far wider scale. It’s a record that brings mood and artistic license to the forefront, leaving conventionality behind; what Balam Acab has written here is a beautiful album, and its deep themes, airy vocal production and watery samples, along with the delicate strings and rich bass truly gives Wander/ Wonder the merits of a whole new Romanticism.

The B aF n d

f o o t ball

owners to please. St. impressive merchandise Pauli’s fans are overtly sales increased their anti-fascist, anti-racist tendency to “sell-out”. and anti-sexist, and boast Corporate moves away the highest proportion from the traditional ties of female fans in Germany. The club embraced this new fan culture that was emerging and drew up a set of Fundamental Principles, that ensured that fans had a majority share in the club, being able to veto moves the club made if it was seen as going against prior principles. Adverts for lads mag Maxim were banned after the fans wrote to the club in outrage. They were also the first German club to ban rightwing activities in and around their stadium. The official fan symbol, the Jolly Roger, became between the fans and the club the club’s second has led to many fan protests, now emblem, and the flying a red version of the Jolly team started to Roger named the “Jolly Rouge”, enter to the chilling along with the slogan “Bring Back into of AC/DC’s St. Pauli”. There will always be “Hells Bells”. this fantastic left wing support for Inevitably, St. Hamburg’s underdog, but what Pauli’s media remains to be seen is how the club attention and can adapt into the modern game, whilst also keeping alive their traditional love affair with their politically enlightened fans.

by Liam Knight

C St. Pauli was formed in Hamburg’s Red Light District in 1901 and swiftly became the essence of mediocrity in German football, yoyoing between divisions without winning any silverware or gaining any continental recognition. Yet during the 1980s, a huge influx of students, punks and squatters came into the local area, resulting in a whole new crowd and culture at St. Pauli’s MillerntorStadion, which was labelled by the German media as a “Kult” culture. St. Pauli became the cheaper alternative to their cross-city (and politically conservative) rivals HSV Hamburg, and fans soon began to incorporate left-sided politics into the club: St. Pauli became the symbolic two fingers up to HSV Hamburg’s control over the area and the establishment as a whole. As a result, St.Pauli started to gain more attention from the footballing world, which cast the club as both a breath of fresh air in the largely apolitical climate and a throwback to when clubs didn’t have shareholders and foreign

Punk of

he ‘Roaring Twenties’ was the golden age of jazz, when the phenomenon finally reached the keen ears of youthful white middle-class Americans who took the genre beyond the dusty blackonly segregated theatres to their own nouveau riche elitist culture. For elder contemporaries the music of 1924 was symbolic of depravity, of sexual liberation, of a generation immorally wallowing in the economic boom that followed the First World War; retrospectively it was the year that the American Dream was closest to reality. 1924 itself featured the breakup of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band; led by Joe ‘King’ Oliver, a talented bandleader and cornet player, they imprinted their legacy by blazing a trail for similar jazz bands to leave their native New Orleans and head for pastures new, commonly Chicago or New York City. And yet the

by Barney Horner

most important role Oliver played in the jazz narrative was the instruction of his protégé Louis Armstrong. Armstrong, prodigious soloist and inventor of scat singing that he was, spent the year charming white patrons in Fletcher Henderson’s African-American New York based band, integrating a more bluesy style with resonances of danceable swing into the group. During this period he inspired other black artists as

successful as Duke Ellington and singer Bessie Smith, another mainstay of the New York scene. The success of those few black musicians led to a sudden increase in white trumpeters and pianists forming bands. Bix Beiderbecke’s sophisticated trumpet sequences were popular in Chicago, though it was George Gershwin who wrote the most familiar tune of the Roaring Twenties, ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, which debuted at Aeolian Hall in February to great commercial acclaim. The instantly recognisable swooning brass introduction is emblematic of New York, as demonstrated by the eponymous film it spawned - though distressingly ill-used on the Glee group’s arrival on Broadway (season two, episode twenty-two if the reader is so inclined). ‘Rhapsody’ was originally com-

missioned by white bandleader Paul Whiteman, who was experimenting in the type of high class symphonic jazz that was opulently featured by Gatsby, though a far cry from the complicated and bewildering black ‘real jazz’ back in New Orleans. Gatsby’s parties are also notorious for the importance of dancing. 1924 saw the advent of the most famous: the Charleston epitomised the ‘dancing on a dime’ philosophy by moving at a breathtaking pace, incorporating sudden shifts in rhythm, and allowing for small floor space on a busy dance floor. Spectacular and exciting though 1924 and the Roaring Twenties were the spectre of racism was perpetually hanging maliciously over the Jazz Age which, despite providing a unique escape for the suppressed, taints the music.

Photography by Freddie Foot

or a long time, wearing denim for both the top and bottom components of your outfit was considered a sort of fashion sin, a social suicide. It was weird; it was taboo. Every now and then an example of it would bubble up into society’s consciousness. However, more often than not, the brave wearer was then vilified and their photo ended up in Heat or the Sun, in a feature titled “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?! LOL”. The world just wasn’t ready, and for far too long the concept of Double Denim dwelled in the lonely sartorial puddle of neglected trends, with those butterfly hairclips of the nineties and shoulder pads (R.I.P.). However, then came Spring/Summer 2010; Double Denim’s D-day. Not only did Vogue declare Double Denim to be no longer freakish, they decided it was now to be actively cool. The world was thrown into a state of shock; 30+ years of bullying were now redundant at this dawning of the age of Levi’s. Allow me to now clarify that I really really really like Double Denim. However, I love it in the same way that I love Heart fm, East Enders and that orange plastic burger cheese; it’s so bad it’s good. Vogue may have given it the all-clear but let’s be honest, wearing more than one article of jeansinspired clothing at once is not the most becoming way to dress. As much as you may argue that you are being ironic in choosing deliberately questionable attire, realistically, it does betray your total lack of class. Sorry. However, if Double Denim is wrong, who wants to be right? It’s this proclamation of trashiness which epitomizes the beauty of blue jean

overload (it does have to be blue denim, by the way, or it doesn’t count). Embrace the aesthetically unappealing; you may not look sophisticated but you do look fun (read: cheesy), isn’t that more important? The path of the Double Denim wearer has always been one fraught with danger. Though the days of public shaming in Heat magazine may be gone, prejudice for purveyors of all things Levi still remains. The world probably won’t understand your perfect recreation of Hackney Hipster and you might be greeted with confusion and concerned questions. “Do you know that it’s 2012?” “Was there a terrible fire at your house in which you lost all your clothes apart from this freakishly resilient denim?” At worst, some heckling may occur. I had been intending to write a list of pros and cons seeking to aid all those considering taking the plunge into the world of Double Denim. However, it’s just not possible; all the negative connotations associated with Double Denim are just what makes it so wonderful. The cons = the pros. So yes, there may be a slight possibility that the previous insults may be shouted at you. Just keep reminding yourself that it is probably because most people are jealous that they couldn’t get away with dressing like a gay cow boy.

D e n i m by Melissa Taylor

Blue

Suede

Shoes

By Felix Clarke

uck Elvis, this is the return of sole. By that I mean the thick-heeled retro trainer comeback, without falling into the Nike Dunks trap The Cool Kids tricked us all into a few years ago. After all, this is the ‘90s isn’t it? I mean I know it’s 2012, but it’s the ‘90s really – we all love garage again, hi-top fade haircuts have us looking like Kid ‘n’ Play and the BBC just ended Shooting Stars for the third time in 20 years. The only difference is doubledenim has stretched a little further than B*Witched and Absolutely Fabulous was a bit shit this time around. Remember Clarissa Explains It All? Me too – turns out Clarissa didn’t explain jack shit and I have to do it for her. What I’m trying to say is ugly vintage trainers make up at least half of what I want to spend my money on right now. So long as they’re reissues of course – I don’t want any scuff marks on my Puma TX-3s. Way back in 2007 I would visit the Primark shoe section and scoff at the long-neglected New Balances that filled the shelves. Now there is nothing I want more than the 30th birthday Schuh limited edition of their 577 model. As a self-confessed sneaker-head I never thought there would come a day I would press my nose against the window of Schuh for a coveted exclusive. Having spent hours hunting the internet for evermore tasteless colourways, I am starting to think this garish shoe obsession is getting a little out of hand. Google the Nike Air Max 90 Current Huarache Bacon customs at your peril – never have I desired something quite so hideous quite so badly. The unique selling point of the oftenoverlooked Nike Air 180s was that they ‘contained 50 percent more air than previous Air Max models’ – this fact alone caused me to go weak at the knees, and they’re visually offensive at best. Then again it’s the ‘90s – by the next Jay-Z album we’ll all be back in Vans Authentics, brushing the dust off our neglected Twin Peaks box-sets. George Clooney’s hairline hasn’t even changed.

Photography by EmilyJane Morgan. Clothes made by Angeline Dresser. Clothes modelled by Annie Kelly, Molly McGeachin and Hockley Raven Spare. If you are interested in purchasing any of the clothes modelled, contact Angeline Dresser through facebook.

S B

O M E T H I N O R R O W E

G D

by Henry Boon hbillustration.4ormat.com hb87.tumblr.com

Part 2 by Sammi Gale

e had refreshed the internet too many times. He abandoned his washing in the machine and left the house. He knew he’d end up at her place, despite the fact she was working. A house on her road was being decorated. There was off-white paint smeared on the decorator’s hand. He approached; such was his conviction that it was the same paint that had been on her cheek. ‘Can I help you?’ The painter’s look dismissed him. ‘Where did you get that paint?’ ‘It’s standard paint, mate.’ ‘Did you give any to a girl recently?’ The painter scowled and shook his head as if he’d discovered a bad case of damp. Matt stalked off down the road. He hoped the paint would wriggle free from his consciousness. He rang the doorbell but there was no answer. He let himself in and went upstairs to the studio. Everything was white. The painting of the dog rolling back into itself; the thick globules of grey, pecking at grains in the park; the umbrella and the tendril trees: gone. The portraits as well: Mrs. Blake, creased hands in lap; two nuns, glasses poking out of oily black wimples, and of course his own stupid smile: not there either. He had seen all the pictures a couple days ago. Now he could only guess at them by the canvas sizes. The room was blank; the curtains brown

with crusted black marks left by a heater. Why hadn’t she said something? As if in reply to this thought a retch rolled around the toilet down the hall. Matt rushed to her side. ‘I didn’t know you were in. Are you OK?’ She squeezed his hand. A line of white rolled down her chin. ‘Jesus Christ! Did you drink it? Hey,’ he said, rubbing her back, ‘answer me.’ ‘Drink what? What are you talking about?’ She grabbed the sink and he helped her up to wash her face. ‘The paint.’ ‘No, you idiot.’ ‘What happened to the paintings?’ ‘I painted over them.’ ‘I thought it was no surrender,’ he said. ‘It is.’ Her thumb, tinged with white, tugged at his shirt. He hugged her. ‘Why did you do it? They were good paintings.’ He could feel her breathing. She was quiet and still. ‘I need to do something new,’ she said. She took him back in the studio and gestured to the dust sheet on the easel. He pulled it off. ‘I don’t understand,’ he said. It was another blank canvas. She stood by the window, rubbing her stomach. ‘We’ll have to buy new curtains,’ she said.

NEVER MIND

The Pollocks

HERE’S 24

to the fact that the main proponents of the genre are based in California. The aptly named Coral Records have this quote on a music forum released 3 EPs, a single and the whilst researching a compilation mix to date ridiculous sounding genre, and are pretty much solely when age ‘Seapunk’. In an responsible for the seapunk’s music is so readily and growing popularity. the s acros widely available It seems that “kids” form internet, a lot of artists feel tives and genres as the collec elves thems the need to align easiest way to gain notoriety: with a new genre that The hype surrounding artists as such – sets them apart who are believed to be Seapunk. creating a new movement far ively Seapunk is effect outstrips what a single artist just hyped up house music, is capable of. The success ncies tende with discordant and exposure gained by that, to some extent, could Tyler, the Creator, Salem and Top ish. be labelled punknow Unicorn Kid would be that off with a splattering nothing without the scenes s, effect of bubble sound that backed them. What dolphin-centric cover art, usually then follows is the the ing and EP titles includ disintegration of the hype, amazingly punny ‘Tidal leaving just one artist as the elf yours got Rave’ and you’ve sole benefactor from the a ‘scene’. The whole thing death of their scene. If this letely comp s looks and sound trend repeats itself Unicorn absurd, and is almost a Kid will no doubt come out ins expla this parody of itself; on top, even if there are more why it has drawn so many deserving artists, such as e’ Hous ‘Witch connections to Teams and Fire for Effect, – the joke genre of 09/10. further down the Seapunk thing whole To make this pecking order. even weirder it is being The power of a scene has 20 urgh’s fronted by Edinb always existed since the year old Unicorn Kid (Oliver birth of pop music, but it is as off d Sabin). Sabin starte the ease with which these an 8-bit, chiptune producer modern sub-genres come the when about 5 years ago, and go which suggest that genre was going through they are in fact just hollow, d shape s a Crystal Castle meaningless terms - Seapunk revival. After this trend died may seem like the most vapid under went out Unicorn Kid thing since witch house but if the radar, up until the end you can get past the aesthetic d altere he of last year when then you may see that there his image from ‘Gameboy is more to it than bubbles with ’ nk-er raver’ to ‘seapu and irony; there are actually the release of his ‘Tidal Rave’ some talented producers who t emen EP. Sabin’s involv fall under this category. is strange mainly due

anymore, they make “K genres.” I stumbled across ids don’t make songs

by Alex Kassab

Photography by Urahara Kisuke

Photography by Alice Martineau

by Danny Michaux

wo years ago it seemed as though I’d slowed to a halt, entered a kind of living limbo. I had just dropped out of university and into the dole queue at a time when shops all over my home city of London had begun closing by the dozen. If you’ve ever listened to any of the Smiths’ bigger hits you’ll have some idea of the effect this has on the psyche, and I won’t waste any space on it here.

I would walk around every major area I could think of, handing in my CV at shop after shop and being disheartened every time to see it put on top of a pile of the 60 others they’d received that day. The only places I ignored in my job search were the Adult Video stores I encountered as I got deeper into the seedier areas of Soho; ignored them that is until I realised that if I was too prudish to go into them, my competition would be too. I put aside my preconceptions, took the plunge and left CVs at some of the larger outlets. Within two weeks I was asked to come in for an interview. I was to meet with the manager at the main branch on Old Compton Street. Getting out of Leicester Square station and realising that I was running late, I sprinted while wearing several thermal layers to get there on time. When the manager came out of his office to greet me, I was red in the face and breathing heavily. Seeming to take this as a sign of enthusiasm for the merchandise, he gave me the job on the spot. My first shift was from 5pm until 1am and I was working in the back section of the main shop. This was the area that I came to know as ‘The Zone of Triple Threat’ as sitting at the counter meant that my field of vision contained - in addition to the skin mags, DVDs, blow up dolls and dildos – three television screens showing gay, bondage and transsexual porn respectively. The gay porn I could usually handle seeing as it basically showed scenes of natural if slightly distractedlooking sex; and the bondage stuff was mostly so alien that it seemed too abstract to take offence to. However, ‘Chicks with Dicks 5’ did give me some trouble holding down my microwaved dinner after my break. As the night wore on I got used to the stale atmosphere and the slightly deadened

31 look of some of the customers, stopped noticing the fact that everywhere I let my eyes rest displayed bare skin and scenes of degradation. I even learned some new terminology: towards the end of my shift a man came to the counter asking if we had any ‘water sports’ films. Thinking that he was referring to jet skiing or water polo, I told him that I didn’t think we were that sort of shop. After his repeated assurance that he’d bought some from us last week, I called over the floor manager, who swiftly brought over copies ‘All Pissed Off’ and ‘Pissing Caravan Girls of Devon’. My knowledge expanded, I was glad to get on the night bus home. Drifting off at 3am with images of rutting bodies burned into my eyes, I began to wonder what I’d got myself in for. Despite my initial wariness, I adjusted to my new job with surprising speed. At first I struggled to stifle laughter when giving customers the hard sell on sex toys that resembled mining equipment, or exchanging their notes for pound coins to operate the private viewing booths – curtained off machines that showed blue movies at a rate of £1 for five minutes. This second task in particular would often create moments of tension if I ever met the eyes of the patron emerging from behind the curtains; eyes that just eight short minutes ago had seemed so full of expectation, now inexplicably drained. However, I quickly learned to suspend judgement and cater to customers’ needs without being too freaked out. Even so, it was hard not to raise an eyebrow at some of the requests. I vividly remember a small Asian man who would come in about twice a week asking, perhaps optimistically, for videos of ‘the animals and the celebrities’. I also began receiving unwanted attention. The creepiest example of this was probably the time that

a sweaty bald man came to purchase a DVD, the cover of which displayed a ‘twink’ (industry term for a particular type of fresh-faced young gay porn star – imagine teen heartthrobs One Direction with balls on their chins) who I admit did bare a passing resemblance to me. As I entered the price into the till, he leered: “I’ll resist the temptation to ask for an autograph.” It’s hard to come up with a witty rejoinder when someone has just told you that you look like the sort of guy they’d like to self-abuse to the image of.

by Zoe Meeken Illustration by Joe Sloane

7KH NLGV DOZD\V FKHDW DW 3RS 8S 3LUDWH The kids always cheat at Pop Up Pirate.

7KH\ WDON GXULQJ WKH µ6ZDQ 3ULQFHVV¶ They talk during the ‘Swan Princess’.

7KH\ PLVV WKHLU SDUHQWV DQG FU\ DERXW LW <DZQ They miss their parents and cry about it. Yawn.

7KHLU QDSV DUH QHYHU ORQJ HQRXJK IRU P\ VOHHSLQJ UHTXLUHPHQWV Their naps are never long enough for my sleeping requirements.

, DP PHDQW WR ZRUU\ DERXW WKH WHPSHUDWXUH RI PLON I am meant to worry about the temperature of milk.

, VSHQG D ORW RI WLPH ZRQGHULQJ ZKDW ZHQW ZURQJ LQ WKH OLYHV RI &%HHELHV SUHVHQWHUV I spend a lot of time wondering what went wrong in the lives of CBeebies presenters.

, VSHQG DQ HTXDO DPRXQW RI WLPH ZRQGHULQJ KRZ ZHOO WKH MRE SD\V I spend an equal amount of time wondering how well the job pays.

7KH\ FDQ¶W FRXQW SDVW IRXU DQG WKURZ WKLQJV DW PH They can’t count past four and throw things at me.

2FFDVLRQDOO\ WKH\ FDOO PH µ'XFN *LUO¶ Occasionally they call me ‘Duck Girl’.

, FDQ¶W UHPHPEHU WKH ZRUGV WR WKH QXUVHU\ UK\PHV DQG WKH\ JHW DQJU\ I can’t remember the words to the nursery rhymes and they get angry.

'RXEOH EXJJLHV DUH WKH 'HYLO¶V ZRUN Double buggies are the Devil’s work.

:KHQ , GURS WKHP RII DW SOD\ VFKRRO WKH\ GRQ¶W VD\ µE\H¶ When I drop them off at play school they don’t say ‘bye’.

7KH DOO FRQVXPLQJ IHDU , PLJKW DFFLGHQWDOO\ NLOO WKHP The all-consuming fear I might accidentally kill them.

March

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