Bido Lito! Magazine | Issue 116 | August 2021

ISSUE 116 / AUGUST 2021
NEW MUSIC + CREATIVE CULTURE
LIVERPOOL
FREE!
KOJ
Out there and
ascending
WYNDOW
KELLY LEE
OWENS
ANDY
McCLUSKEY
LOVE,
LIVERPOOL

In Liverpool
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ALL DAYERS ALL DAYERS ALL DAYERS ALL DAYER ALL
EVOL presents
FESTEVOL
ALL DAYERS
INVISIBLE
WIND FACTORY
LIVERPOOL
PART 1
SATURDAY 7TH AUGUST 2021
KELLY LEE OWENS • WORKING MEN'S CLUB
STEALING SHEEP • TEA STREET BAND • IST IST
THE NINTH WAVE • WALT DISCO • BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD • ODD MORRIS • PIXEY
WHITE FLOWERS • SKIA • HAARM • THE DSM IV • EYESORE & THE JINX • SILENT-K • PSYCHO COMEDY
HONEY MOTEL • ORANJ SON
MAIN ROOM DJS: JADE LI • BEAR GROWLS
GARDEN DJS: KATIE OWEN • MRPAUL • LIQUIDATION SOUNDSYSTEM
PART 2
SATURDAY 14TH AUGUST 2021
THE BIG MOON • THE ORIELLES • BLACK HONEY
SELF ESTEEM • LUCIA & THE BEST BOYS • BIG JOANIE
PINS • PHOEBE GREEN • TRUDY & THE ROMANCE • HOLY YOUTH MOVEMENT • AVERAGE SEX
THE PEACH FUZZ • ALI HORN • GEN AND THE DEGENERATES • BOBBY WEST • ZEE DAVINE
BEIJA FLO • MICHAEL ROBERT MURPHY • SKY VALLEY MISTRESS • SPILT • RONGO RONGO
THE MERCHANTS • HANNAH'S LITTLE SISTER MAIN ROOM DJS: JADE LI • BEAR GROWLS
GARDEN DJS: JAGZ KOONER • KATIE OWEN • TOKKY HORROR • LIQUIDATION SOUNDSYSTEM • JIMMY ALLEN
ALL DAYERS ALL DAYERS ALL DAYERS ALL DAYERS ALL DAYERS
Tickets £25 Advance On Sale Now via Seetickets.com & Skiddle.com
Follow @ClubEvol @iwfactory @seetickets @skiddle

GIG HIGHLIGHTS
DREAM WIFE
06•08
THE ORIELLES
13•08
(FILM SCREENING)
DEMOB HAPPY
02•09
BY THE SEA
04•09
THE WENDY
JAMES BAND
17•09
THE STAVES
29•09
SOLD OUT • SOLD OUT • SOLD OUT
FONTAINES D.C
02•10
INHALER
09•10
OCTOBER DRIFT
09•10
CARIBOU
20•10
SHE DREW
THE GUN
22•10
RED RUM CLUB
23•10
THE MYSTERINES
30•10
JARV IS...
05•11
PILLOW QUEENS
10•11
THE HOWLERS
11•11
CHUBBY &
THE GANG
18•11
FRANK CARTER &
THE RATTLESNAKES
24•11
GLASS ANIMALS
26•11
METRONOMY
27•04
FOLLOW @CLUBEVOL
ALL TICKETS AVAILABLE AT SEETICKETS.COM & SKIDDLE.COM

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38 SLATER STREET

FEATURES
14 / KOJ
Out there and evolving, Iona Fazer speaks to the rapper
formerly known as Wavy Joe.
19 / DORCAS SEB
The workaholic polymath sits down with Mia O’Hare to
talk about her ascent and breathless progression.
22 / WYNDOW
Laura J Martin and Lavinia Blackwall bridge Liverpool to
Clydebank with a psych folk collaboration born out of
locked down communication.
24 / NATALIE AND THE
MONARCHY
Lily Blakeney-Edwards catches up with the effervescent
rocker to talk femininity, expression and the power in
vulnerability.
26 / LOVE, LIVERPOOL
A new theatre production looks to make us see our city
from different perspectives.
30 / ANDY McCLUSKEY
The OMD star speaks to Craig G Pennington about
DIY beginnings, his trajectory from the Wirral and the
importance of place.
34 / HUSHTONES
The nostalgic indie-pop group tell David Roskin about the
journey to their debut album.
36 / DANCING TO
ARCHITECTURE
Traversing novelty to deliver quality with Joel Goldberg.
REGULARS
10 / NEWS
Horses on plinths, art in mansions and other goings on
across the Mersey culture sphere.
12 / LONG PLAYER SHORT
INTERVIEW
Balcony Boy Ali Horn introduces us to his debut album.
13 / HOT PINK!
The best new tunes dropping across the city region
courtesy of an array of next generation talent. The
hottest tracks to make our Hot Pink! playlist.
38 / SPOTLIGHTS
A familiar face with a new project in Dead Nature, the
wonderful Jessica Luise and the unstoppable Derrick
Nenzo.
40 / PREVIEWS
Kelly Lee Owens speaks to David Weir before her
FestEVOL appearance plus more gigs, events and
exhibitions due to take place in our fully-open world.
44 / REVIEWS
Y’MAM, Black Country, New Road and more in our live
reports.
52 / ARTISTIC LICENCE
Starkey the Messenger with powerful prose on the
right to protest.
54 / FINAL SAY
Jennifer John talks about the importance of LCR Music
Board’s Black Lives Matter Manifesto and how it’s only
the beginning.
8

E D I T O R I A L
This issue of Bido Lito! went off to print in the week we saw the
final lifting of restrictions which have been in place since 23rd
March 2020. It’s a fittingly confusing time to match the out and
out chaos of the previous 15 months. It’s difficult not to be drawn
into reflecting on this time but it’s even more difficult to comprehend how
we are supposed to go about living our lives now.
There are wildly differing schools of thought on this and most of
them are coming from a place of compassion or should be treated with
compassion. We were already divided as a society going into this thing and
long stints of introspection or echo chamber conjecture means a lot of our
thoughts and outlooks are more divergent than ever. However, above the
debates over Covid passports, mask wearing and whether table service is
better than going to the bar, we shouldn’t lose sight of some of the more
constructive dialogue which arose during lockdown.
One of the most heartening things to come out of our enforced
isolation was the near dissipation of stigma surrounding talking about
mental health. It was accepted that lots of people will be struggling due
to the oppressive circumstances and all the uncertainty which came with
them, and we were all encouraged to check in on each other. This shouldn’t
stop now. With our new freedom comes anxiety, for many there’s still lots
of uncertainty and mental health isn’t confined to times of global pandemic.
There was a resurgence of community as people were not just thinking
about getting ahead but getting to know those they shared streets,
interests or other situations with. This is something else to hold on to,
despite perhaps having less time and more on our plates. There’s lots to
be gained from nurturing these connections and relationships and it is
the opposite route to the division and culture wars which we are getting
further engulfed in.
We spoke lots in
these pages about the
importance of the creatives
who helped us through
those harder weeks
and months. Without
the albums, podcasts,
TV shows and books,
the previous year and
a bit would have been
tedious to say the least.
Now we’re able to repay
them by supporting
them through buying
gig tickets, subscribing
to Patreons and making
recommendations to those
neighbours we’re now bezzies with. We should make sure we don’t forget
the artists whose livelihoods have taken such a hit and received such little
support. This also goes for the supermarket workers, nurses, delivery
drivers and other key workers who selflessly helped us through and will
continue to work hard without even pan bashing to keep up morale. Show
your appreciation where you can and don’t forget them in the rush to the
dancefloor.
Talking of appreciation, I want to place on record my thanks to our
departing editor Elliot who has left Bido Lito! in rude health and whose
fingerprints can be seen on this edition. His legacy will be felt on many
issues to come. !
Sam Turner / sam@bidolito.co.uk
Executive Publisher
“Mental health
isn’t confined to
times of global
pandemic”
New Music + Creative Culture | Liverpool
Issue 116 / August 2021
bidolito.co.uk | @bidolito
Second Floor, The Merchant
40-42 Slater Street, Liverpool L1 4BX
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Craig G Pennington
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El Gray - el@bidolito.co.uk
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Shannon Garner
Design
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Cover Photography
Anthony Wilde
Words
Elliot Ryder, Sam Turner, Matthew Berks, El Gray,
Cath Holland, Lily Blakeney-Edwards, Richard
Lewis, Alannah Williams, Iona Fazer, Mia O’Hare,
Orla Foster, Julia Johnson, Craig G Pennington,
David Roskin, Sanna King, Shannon Garner, Jeanna
Colhoun, Paul Fitzgerald, Luke Furlonger-Copeland,
Samuel Lasley, Georgi Cheers-Aslanian, Clare
Dodd, Bryony Large, Starkey the Messenger,
Jennifer John.
Photography, Illustration and Layout
Mark McKellier, Anthony Wilde, Robin Clewley,
Rosa Brown, Jenn Wilcock, Jen Hollis, Michelle
Roberts, Khalil Musa, Matchbox Productions,
Kim Hiorthøy, Lucy MacLachlan, Brian Roberts,
Alexander Monkhouse, Sane Seven.
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EDITORIAL 9

NEWS
ART IN THE MANSION
“We are all craving physical experiences,
and viewing art is always better in person,”
says Lucy Byrne, managing director of
dot-art, on the motive behind a new art
exhibition and submission programme at
Calderstones Park’s refurbished Mansion
House. A partnership between South
Liverpool charity The Reader and social
enterprise dot-art is facilitating the
programme, with a joint venture to provide
a platform for local artists to promote and
sell their work, while also enabling visitors
to engage with visual art in new and
different ways. The programme will follow
a rolling process, with exhibitions lasting
between one and six weeks. Artists from
across the Merseyside region are invited to
apply through the Reader website.
Mansion House
thereader.org.uk
PROPELLER
“The old music industry is dead”, Future Yard declare. PROPELLER is here to take its place. The venue’s
new artist membership scheme will empower a new generation of musicians and promising established
artists with the skills, knowledge and support necessary to embrace the modern music industry. Propeller
members are provided with access to high quality rehearsal space, a professional and dedicated industry
mentor, a personalised development plan, regular workshops and masterclasses from leading music
minds, and immersion within a vibrant artistic community. Propeller looks to foster and support embryonic
talent to build an audience, develop their work and transform the music scene. Applications are open until
2nd August.
propeller.futureyard.org
Propeller
BRIDGING THE GAP
In an effort to build bridges between communities and cultures, a three-day series
of outdoor pop-up events and happenings are set to play out beneath the bridge at
Liverpool’s Breeze Hill Millennium Green. Hosted by Culture Liverpool in partnership
with Imagineer, the event aims to connect people in new, exciting and unexpected ways,
through a host of diverse daytime acts and late-night performance extravaganzas.
Featuring an eclectic programme of collaborations between communities and arts
organisations from across Merseyside, you can expect a wide array of dance, comedy,
theatre, live music and acrobatics. Free to attend for all ages, the event will be ticketed
with limited availability.
cultureliverpool.co.uk/bridge
HOUSE OF SUAREZ WORLD TAKEOVER
A formal invitation into a cultural vortex of time and space, the annual House of Suarez
Vogue Ball returns this Autumn. A much-celebrated event in Liverpool’s cultural calendar,
the ball has seen immense success since its debut in 2008, after forming part of the
European Capital of Culture Homotopia LGBTQ+ programme. Set to take over the World
Museum on 23rd October, this year’s exhibition – Night at the Poseum – will take inspiration
from the venue’s own collections, in a showcase that covers all things costume, dance and
drama. With costume and performance contributions from Houses across the UK, the 2021
competition for catwalk supremacy will be judged by a group of local panellists, to include
BBC Radio Merseyside personality Ngunan Adamu and actor Nathan Sussex.
House Of Suarez
liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
10

GIVE A HOOF FOR HISTORY
The eager-eyed among you will have recently spotted a new neighbour
atop The Liverpool Plinth at Liverpool Parish Church. Sculpted
using recycled plastic milk bottles and wire frames, Faith Bebbington’s
installation of Jimmy the horse takes inspiration from the horse she
rode as a child and acknowledges the city’s dependence on horsepower
for its historic waterways. As Liverpool’s answer to Trafalgar
Square’s Fourth Plinth, the dedicated site platforms sculptors in the
north of England and will proudly display Jimmy for 12 months.
Jimmy
BALTIC SOUND SUMMIT
To educate, inspire and connect – the overall aim of Liverpool Audio Network’s annual Electric
Sound Summit conference, which returns to the Baltic Triangle this September. Featuring
masterclass seminars, panel discussions, live music workshops and keynote talks, ESS is the first
and only event of its kind in the region, offering electronic artists an opportunity to grow both
creatively and professionally. As part of the crucial road-to-recovery for both the wider industry
and the electronic music scenes within it, the conference will play out across multiple venues on
3rd and 4th September. Limited tickets available.
electronicsoundsummit.co.uk
Sound Summit
IVORY POWER
If you’re in the mood for melody, Liverpool One will get you feeling alright.
This is what Piano Man Billy Joel would surely coo upon the news that
Tickle The Ivories – our city centre shopping emporium’s public music
initiative – is to be extended to 30th August. Music ensembles, circus
performers, dancers and artists of any stripe are invited to book a slot at
the annual festival of street performance. The best way to seal your spot
is to email Tickle Music Programmer chris@culture.org.uk and then get
warming up those fingers.
liverpool-one.com/events/tickle
BREAKING BREAD
The Bread Streets Group have been busy coordinating
a special event to raise money for their local area.
Taking place at the Herculaneum and Grafton Park on
21st August, the community fête will host music, arts
and crafts, games and more as the area looks to come
together after a tough 18 months. The event is an
initiative by residents, for residents and is receiving help
from all corners of the community, including the brilliant
Park Palace Ponies and Granby Toxteth Development
Trust. Go along to show your support.
ALTERNATIVE SPACES
For many in the UK’s live music industry, embracing the new normal is the last thing
that needs to happen. Informed by research around the needs of local gig-goers and
sound-seekers, Where Are The Girl Bands’ Alternative Spaces event programme
at Bloom Building aims to challenge the conventional gig space with a series of
events foregrounding safety and the representation of more diverse artist line-ups.
Following a range of artist-led workshops in July, including photography, songwriting
and art development days, 8th August will see an open mic and poetry development
day with more events to follow.
@wherearethegirlbands
NEWS 11

LONG PLAYER
SHORT INTERVIEW
In our new series of concise chats, artists
talk about their album releases. In this issue,
ALI HORN discusses Balcony Boys.
How was the experience recording the album?
It was a way of working that I’ve never done before.
Usually, I go into a studio with a band and share the
experience and create with other people. This time, I
made a record in my spare room on my own, tracking
every instrument myself, apart from some extra keys on
one song and the drums. I also moved house three times
while recording this album. It was weird packing up all
my worldly possessions into boxes, moving, unpacking
and then starting to record again. I was strangely very
focused. I remember one of the first things I did after
moving into a house-share just off Lodge Lane was
record a four-part vocal harmony section. My housemates
must have thought I was a right loon.
Which track is the best intro to Ali Horn?
I would say the title track, Balcony Boys. It’s where
I’ve been wanting to land musically for a while. It’s a
throwback to the early years of garage rock with a whole
load of 90s baggy thrown in and a long and swirly outro.
When did you write these songs?
I wrote everything over a six-month period while
making the album. I purposefully didn’t want to use any
previously written songs. I wanted to capture the feelings
of the time as we were/are living in a weird dream.
Are there overriding influences on the album?
There’s the classic big life and death acid flashback
stuff, the universe in a grain of sand thinking. Lots of
comedown tracks without being too druggy. Overall, I just
think there are lots of love songs to the world in it.
Describe Balcony Boys in eight words.
Hopefully it fits in your record collection nicely.
Balcony Boys is available now via Rooftop Records. Ali
Horn plays FestEVOL on Saturday 14th August.
1 0 - 5
W E D
1 0 - 9 T H U / F R I / S A T
1 0 - 5 S U N
NEW BRIGHTON
@WEARESUPSHOP
12

HOT PINK!
Words: Richard Lewis, Matthew Berks,
Jeanna Colhoun and Alannah Williams
Swirls of psychedelia, RnB, pop, electronica and punk provide a frenzied distillation of the best
new sounds being concocted across Merseyside. Hot szn is here. Dig in.
Sunzoom
The Garden Birds Of India
Inspired by a book of the same title sourced from a
bric-a-brac and antique shop in Liverpool (certain to
be wonderful Renshaw Street establishment 69A),
SUNZOOM offer up a sliver of sun-baked psychedelia. A
woozy ode to the ornithology featured in the book and
some species invented by the band, The Garden Birds Of
India evokes Super Furry Animals and Odelay-era Beck.
Released through cult label Colorama Records, owned
and operated by psych indie notables The Moons. RL
Cola Museum
Back Around
God only knows we’re in desperate need of an auditory
elixir to uplift our sore souls, and COLA MUSEUM’s Back
Around is just the fix we’ve been craving. Featuring
signature flows from BLUE SAINT and DAYZY, this
track finds a natural home in blending soulful RnB with
overdriven guitars and glittering pulses of synth where
it ascends into a feel-good, almost psychedelic buffet to
see you on your journey of self-discovery. MB
Katy Alex
Sucker For Love
Pop music innovator KATY ALEX breathes new life into
the genre with her edgy take on a classic pop sound.
The Liverpool singer has already made waves with her
previous releases, establishing herself as one of the most
exciting upcoming young pop artists in the city. Taken
from her debut EP, her latest release features a playful,
beat-hopping bassline, complimented by colourful use of
electronic drums and heavy synths. A memorable chorus
with strong vocal hooks which will have you a sucker for
this track again and again… and again. JC
Broken Down Golf Cart
In Centre Fold
BROKEN DOWN GOLF CART have a knack for producing
haunting tracks that captivate from the offset. Operating
under the cocktail-inspired moniker, Canadian Jen
Baranick is providing a quirky slice of goodness to the
indie-rock genre with her lush vocal performances and
exuberant electric guitar slides. With sultry bass drops
and almost-hidden backing screams and cackles, the
track is accompanied by a self-produced horror-inspired
music video that is a cinematic feat of its own accord. AW
James Neal
Paint The Dark
Formerly of indie-rock notables The Stamp, Paint The
Dark sees singer-songwriter JAMES NEAL change gear
to focus on Americana for his new output. An energetic,
country-infused hoedown, the cut doffs its cap (or should
that be Stetson?) to The Band and Gram Parsons with
maybe a smidgen of Gerry Cinnamon’s storytelling
thrown in. RL
Boom Dice x Sola
Embers
Pop powerhouse SOLA is back with a collaboration with
the enigmatic Boom Dice. With Raspy and sultry vocals
aplenty, along with a pummelling bassline and electronic
backing, Embers could make Billie Eilish blush. Backed
by insistent percussion, the instrumentation allows Sola’s
vocals to shine through and display the prowess she
possesses as a performer. The track offers a delightful
insight into what’s yet to come from Sola, and we can’t
wait. AW
Louie Miles
Another Blue
Its creator describes the suitably reverie-like Another
Blue as being about “how you can become unknowingly
addicted to your imagination, and the warmth and feeling
it can produce”. A mosaic of medicated sounding guitars
and wispy vocal melodies, the newest offering from the
alt-pop auteur brings 80s synth mystiques The Blue Nile
to mind. RL
Yammerer
Tell Me What The Ancient
Astronaut Theorists Believe
One of the best live bands on the Liverpool circuit at
present, psych punks YAMMERER blast back with the
bracing rush of Tell Me What The Ancient Astronaut
Theorists Believe. Led by frontman Jason Corbett’s sungspoken
narrative of a character called Jon Vertigo, the
scene begins in Panama with a ceiling fan rotating above
his bed, conjuring up images of Apocalypse Now. An
excellent new addition to the quintet’s stockpile of spiky
missives. RL
Loris and the Lion
Eat Me Alice
A subtle yet elusive questioning of gender identity, which
takes the age-old tale of Alice in Wonderland to new
narrative heights. Framed by ethereal vocal tones, the
lyrical depth of Eat Me Alice is unmissable. A gentle and
tasteful musical probing about concepts of not fitting in,
finding yourself lost and attempting to reshape your own
identity, in line with the presets and expectations of our
current society and culture. JC
Photography from left to right: Louie Buckley-King, Sola,
Cola Museum, Katy Alex
FEATURE
13

14

Joseph Kojo is never far from a change of
scenery. As the renaissance chameleon
continues to chew and spit out a
resuscitated post-Covid environment,
Iona Fazer gets to grips with the vocal
acrobat as he heads into a new era.
Lounging on the sun-kissed grass of Stanley Park,
I laugh as KOJ recounts an attempt to leave a
Liverpool match while on crutches. He points to
the mountainous Anfield Stadium behind as he
describes the perilous trip downstairs towards the exit.
“All the way to the 96th minute, you just see Suarez score
making it 2-2. My crutches went in the air,” he narrates
with playful gestures.
It’s therefore somewhat bewildering to hear he’s now
a newly converted Everton fan. But much like his music
career, Koj is a rapper who’s constantly evolving. He has
no fear of change – however significant it might appear
to others.
Formerly known as ‘Wavy Joe’ due to knocking
around Wavertree all his life, the Anfield emcee Joseph
Kojo has cultivated a new era of artistry under the
moniker of Koj. As part of networks Wavy Gang and
Grime of the Earth (GOTE), the Greenbank-born rapper
has made notable appearances on Red Bull Music’s
Grime Clash quarter final and, more recently, BBC Three’s
Rap Trip: Underground Scenes Uncovered. Not solely
turning heads in Liverpool, his vocal acrobatics have been
called upon by Manchester’s The Mouse Outfit for his
latest high-profile collaboration on Didgeridoo.
Koj’s current work is a manifestation of the life
and sound of Liverpool. With the idiolect of a young
Black man, he twists language to create extraordinary
connotations, referring to money as “bread” or
“GWOP”. His sound is one full of poise and intensity.
It’s like listening to a clock ticking over silence, pensive,
considered, then a white flash of energy erupts from the
scene. Beats run alongside lyrics that are laid down like
commandments. Lows and highs, thick and thin – Koj
raps with acrobatic verve and flexibility.
The first time I met Koj was in 2016 at a photoshoot
for GOTE’s new T-shirt collection. At that point he was
about to head off to New Zealand to become a kids’
football coach. Though the coaching sadly fell through,
the trip became heavily influenced by older rapper Resk,
who introduced him to the concept of OzMOB.
Now some years on, OzMOB names the umbrella
of individuals uniting alongside Koj with the artistic
mission to create a new type of sound, expressive of the
collaboration with the producers. There’s conviction in
Koj’s voice as he speaks of OzMOB being about “trusting
in oneself – working on the flow and the repeat of energy
that bounces between us. This is working more than
anything I’ve tried before.”
Koj begins to reflect on his experiences of the past
year while I pick at some blades of grass beneath my feet.
“I am in the business of looking after myself right now. I’m
ready for all the experiences again,” he says, “but not only
has it been a while, it’s been different, hasn’t it? We’ve
been alone or in small groups. I can’t complain about it. I
FEATURE
think it’s been testing, but it’s been good to have time to
work on what I want to have going on.”
Back in 2020, Koj was interviewed by The Rap Game
UK contestants, FOS and Ransom as part of BBC Three’s
Rap Trip, which uncovered the UK’s underground scene
focusing on Liverpool rap, drill and trap. Introduced by
GOTE’s Gully Man Dred as one of the “freshest new guys
coming through”, the short documentary captures a
telling moment from Koj.
“I’m only 22 but I feel like I’ve lived at least 35 years,”
he says as he meanders around L8. “I lost my mum
when I was six and I’ve been living through some shit,
you know what I mean? So, I am a real product of my
environment, I’m really out here.”
Koj’s experiences from a young age, and as Wavy
Joe, are something he’s had to deal with on top of the
struggles that so many young Black males in Liverpool
are plagued with: the perpetual fear of legal jeopardy.
More evident in his earlier lyrics under the alias Wavy Joe,
he describes life experiences dominated by police chases
and dodging prison.
Koj used to collaborate with other rappers, such as
Wavy Gang member Rico Don, who in contrast is more
guttural and off-centre. On Set Back, one of their songs
released earlier this year, Koj reminds us of his journey:
“I grew up in darkness, I’m living in light. I’m tryna get it
regardless, I put in so much work, but the risk and return
15

16

got me back where I started.”
On his new track, Busy, Koj uses his bars to reminisce
about him and his girlfriend at the time. Being chased
by the police and having to “change up script”, he recalls
being arrested along with his friend and then clarifies:
“But still I’m out here with packs and a whip. I don’t
wanna’ do it but it’s gotta’ get done”. The track features
samples that act like warning signs, an eerie feeling
of impending doom over the pace of a ticking clock;
reflecting the fact that Koj has recognised that it’s time
to change.
Now working a job alongside colleagues who he
describes as being supportive of his music, Koj is often
accompanied by his girlfriend, Kate Hillion, who is also
the talent behind the cover art for all his single releases
following Blue Notes. “Kate is smashing the artwork,
coming with newer concepts and variety... I think it’s just
the tip of the iceberg at the moment,” he commends.
Koj’s past year has been one of physical ascent.
After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, he found
himself feeling angry and cut deep. Looking for a way to
turn the energy into positive outcomes, he sought advice
from a friend who suggested doing a marathon to raise
money for charity.
It was an idea which began as creating a beacon
for everyone who wanted to contribute in some way
but didn’t know how. His involvement helped establish
anEQUALrace, an organisation with the aim of using
sport to promote equality. This created a running club
which included the members of OzMOB. “It was so
inspirational to have those people there every week,”
Koj says, “it gave me a new outlook on things, I thought
everything moving forwards we do it with a level head.”
For Koj, collaboration has been the key to success
in his solo work. “Honesty is what I find the most
important thing. If we’re gonna’ talk about doing this
thing I’ve got to know if it’s secretly rubbish, otherwise
what’s the point?”
Key players in OzMOB have been instrumental in his
development. Beige, a budding London rapper/producer,
started off running event nights called Soundsystem4 in
Handyman’s Brewery on Smithdown Road with Tomas
Brown, who’s also spearheading OzMOB and sits next
to Koj on the grass. “I do my thing,” he starts, “but
there behind the scenes is where we’re pushing it to
the right ear, to people who might be able to push it to
somewhere else.”
Released just a year ago and produced by Jakebob,
debut single Blue Notes marked something of a new
era in his life. “A tune like Blue Notes came out of my
experiences over the last few years,” he notes. “I had
to put it into words for stress relief and that was like
a transition into the now.” The track was followed up
quickly with features on Capital Xtra via Rob Bruce’s
First Play in the UK, 1Xtra’s playlist via BBC Introducing
Merseyside and Mixtape Madness’ Suburban Spotlight.
It’s clear that Koj has started settling down and is
considering the meaning of his life. It’s relatable in the
sense that we all try out things that are negative when
we are young and learn that not everyone who surrounds
us are good role models. “I was OT with a fidgety dude”,
as he says in Didgeridoo. Hearing it first from Koj, “OT”
is short for “out there” and has since frequented my
vocabulary, such is his influence and quotability.
Since I first met him in 2016, I have known Koj to
have the power to impact people – easy to spot in a
crowd and with a personality that shines brighter than
most. Since then, Koj has always been smiling; he was
never dismissive and forever courteous, but yet I found
him hard to read. Now it feels as though the struggles
were all underneath that, the pain was and is evident,
but for the first time it really feels like the healing
process has begun.
Lockdown has meant replacing the audience with
friends and family, and Koj has flourished as a part of
OzMOB. The sun is shining bright over our faces and he
tips his hat over his eyes. “In the first place I was always
performing for myself,” he says with a philosophical air.
“But I think a bit too much. I’ve managed to put a spin on
it where I can kind of make it more palatable.”
You could describe Koj’s approach to music as a
chance encounter as, like many of us, he found himself
with free time to spend in lockdown. But crossing paths
with influential characters means it’s been far from
sluggish. Now, with restrictions easing, it seems there’s
more potential for the outlining future prospects. “I’m
looking to do more, my fire is lit for that,” he responds as
he details plans for merchandise and music videos which
are starting to get in motion.
The encouragement he gets is from OzMOB telling
him that there are no restrictions, believing that there
is more than one tunnel to travel down and keeping it
broad spread. “I didn’t know I could rap on beats like this,
I didn’t even know that those types of beats existed,”
Koj admits matter-of-factly. Sitting directly in line with
a tree behind him in the distance, I see the spindled
arms of twigs growing as if from either side of his head
as he talks of branching out into a new sound; his own
expansion into this unknown area of music like those
newly forming arms of a tree.
“My new sound moving forwards is more a product
of what’s going on now. People will be able to tell the
difference,” he says with a conviction characteristic of
his music and everything that bears the OzMOB imprint.
“The knowing of self-worth, the belief of what we are
doing,” he exhorts. There’s so much assurance in his
voice, I imagine travelling with him through a desert of
music and him being unscathed by the wasteland, certain
that the oasis ahead is real. !
Words: Iona Fazer / @ionafazer97
Photography: Anthony Wilde / @evolving_necessary
Gwop is available now.
“My new sound
moving forwards
is more a product
of what’s going
on now”
FEATURE
17

the everyday stories that
make our city extraordinary
Created by Chloë Moss
With original material by
Amina Atiq, Luke Barnes,
Roy, Aron Julius,
Rhiannon Jones,
Mandy Redvers-Rowe,
and the people of Liverpool
THU SAT 531 AUG Jul TO to
SAT Sat 14 AUG Aug 2021
Book online at:
everymanplayhouse.com
Directed by Nathan Powell
Video & Projection Design by Tracey Gibbs
Costume & Props Design by Kirsty Barlow
Lighting Design by Jack Coleman
Sound Design by Xenia Bayer
Cast: Helen Carter, Chloë Clarke, Aron Julius,
Nathan McMullen and Jennifer Varda
Williamson Square, Liverpool, L1 1EL

DORCAS
The creative all-rounder and self-confessed
workaholic refracts the sociopolitical zeitgeist
through spoken word, gospel and rap.
SEB
FEATURE
19

After just half an hour of speaking on the
phone, it feels as if I have heard DORCAS
SEB’s whole life story. At just 24, the
multidisciplinary artist has made a name
for herself through poetry and theatre productions and
releasing a debut album for good measure. A selfconfessed
workaholic with a story to tell, the story we
bear witness to today is a story of how one young Black
female creative announced herself onto Liverpool’s
creative scene to address societal issues through a
kaleidoscope of artistic output.
“I guess I just sometimes react to what’s going on in
the world,” she announces casually, before admitting it
runs deeper. “I think that these are political conversations
that I have in general; I think it’s in me already. By the
time I go to write, it’s already there bubbling within me
waiting to get pushed out.”
Such politically charged soliloquies eventually
escaped and reformed into a debut album, Vice Versa,
released in 2018, which explores streams of political
consciousness. Her original plan was to release a few
feel-good songs, but as soon as she began writing, she
knew she needed to expand the concept into an album
which speaks to the bellwether moments that hallmarked
2020. “I couldn’t help but highlight some of the division
going on; political tension, what that means and what it
means to be a Black woman in the world.”
Over lockdown, the Congo-born artist released
Deep Calleth Unto Deep, an eight-track investigation
into racial injustice through a package of gospel, song,
poetry and thought – the title taking its name from Psalm
42. Here was Dorcas responding to the external living
environment: the global Black Lives Matter protests were
at their apogee while she was working on the spoken
word album, to which she found it difficult to react. “I
didn’t want to be in a space which was going to tempt
me to be really angry. I felt angry and I feel like I have the
right to be angry, but I just didn’t want that anger to go
to the place of hatred.” Poetry and protest are so often
entangled, but she decided to turn to the former to help
her come to terms with the emotions inside her.
But if Dorcas’ poetry and songwriting has enabled
her to react to the here and now, acting has allowed her
to explore and amplify the voices of those she is yet to
encounter in the physical realm. One of her most recent
acting projects includes the BBC commission, Buttercup.
Co-produced with local theatre company 20 Stories High,
the solo performance weaves spoken word, poems and
memories to share the story of a young woman finally
making her story heard after being subjected to sexual
abuse as a child in Kinshasa. Although Dorcas was
enthusiastic about the project, in the beginning she
held reservations about taking it on. But after
meeting with the theatre company and
seeing the extent of their research, she
just couldn’t say no to giving the
story a platform.
If so much of Dorcas’
output has been shaped
by her individual
experiences, an
equally large part of
her consciousness
has been influenced
by an upbringing
surrounded by five
other siblings active
in the creative world.
“I remember my
siblings always going
to these sort of projects
and me being like, ‘What
the hell, why am I staying
at home?’” she laughs, before
sharing a juxtaposing memory
of sitting at home with her sister
braiding her hair while writing poetry.
“It was about the First World War and
how sad it was for this one guy to come
home to nothing. See? Even at 10 I was
political!”
At that time, Dorcas’ brother and sisters were
attending the Liverpool Young Writers Project, run by
literary festival Writing on the Wall, and invited her along.
Despite being too young to attend, she was nevertheless
welcomed with open arms. But it wasn’t just the
opportunity to share her creative vocation with others
that made her time so memorable. “I think, mainly, the
reason I actually wanted to be there was because one, I
got to write and socialise and meet new people but two,
they always gave us biscuits!”
As the writing cohort grew up together, they
developed a collective passion for music, with Dorcas
opting to explore rap and spoken word as well as singing.
“I kind of got worried about the music industry and how
that was going to affect me because nobody I saw on TV
looked like me. The people on TV were quite sensual and
I didn’t want that pressure on myself.” Although finding
impressive success in music – supporting Akala, Lady
Leshurr, Sway and Lowkey – the constraints the industry
brought forced a return to dancing, something she had
always wanted to pursue before she started writing.
After taking a short break from music, dance and
writing altogether, Dorcas joined the youth theatre aged
15, a decision that gave her licence to probe a range of
creative exploits. “What I liked about 20 Stories High was
that they allowed me to be musical without it being like a
musical. They allowed me to just sing, rap, or do poetry,
which is everything that I do already. So, I was like, ‘Oh,
this is cool’.” At 17, she dabbled in acting for the first time
in her sister’s show and was fully committed to it after
feeling empowered sharing other people’s stories.
The result is an artist confident in her arsenal of
creative communication which both shapes, and is
shaped by, her external environment. “It’s just like I
can’t run away. I feel like I can’t
get away from any of them,
they just always follow me.
If I’m not doing one thing,
I’m doing the other, and
if I’m not doing that
then I’m doing the
other.”
Like so
many creatives
managing
several
projects
at once,
lockdown
came as
a blow
to Dorcas. But it also brought something of a revelation
about her working habits. “I was a self-proclaimed
workaholic, but I didn’t realise that until lockdown came.”
In the end, she realised she needed to take advantage
of spare time. “I was trying to understand who I am
when I’m not working because the lines are so blurred
within the creative industries because you love your job.
There were times when I hadn’t visited my mum in ages
because I was working, but I didn’t see it as a problem. I
was like, I will see my mum at Christmas or at church on
Sunday. I learned the beauty of saying no in lockdown, so
I grew in that way.”
During lockdown, Dorcas balanced her time between
working a customer service role and writing Buttercup.
“Sometimes I had my work stuff in front of me and
then my laptop so every time I didn’t get a call, I would
quickly write on it. I sometimes think, ‘How did I actually
do that?’ It was stressful.” But by understanding how
to say no to projects, Dorcas was able to reflect on how
much she was just saying yes for the sake of it. “When
I get approached with a project, what I tend to do now
is ask myself, ‘Is it too much for me right now? Does
it fit my values? How important is it to me
and is somebody else pushing this
message already? Is there
something we can
try to be actively
speaking
about so
that
20

one subject doesn’t get saturated?’”
One thing Dorcas feels passionate speaking about
is the value and opportunities community projects bring
to young and disadvantaged children. “I feel like I have
a responsibility because I grew up in spaces where I
was mentored in writing from 10 years of age, and I
had the opportunity to perform and make music. Those
opportunities have helped me have the voice I have and be
the creative person I am today.”
Alongside her album, Vice Versa, Dorcas launched
the #MicWorthy community project, which helped young
people from Liverpool come together to discuss problems
within society and to create and perform pieces from
the discussions. “When I look at the opportunities that
are in Liverpool, there aren’t as many compared to other
cities. [But] I’m starting to see the growth in the number
of opportunities for young people to develop their skills.
Especially at the time when I made [#MicWorthy], I
worked really hard so that they could develop the skills to
perform and have their work documented because I had
that growing up. I feel like we should step in since what
happened with the funding for youth services and act
where the government can’t be bothered.”
As our conversation nears to an end, I can’t help but
feel inspired by Dorcas’ passion for her work and the sheer
amount of creativity she holds. Her joyous personality
is rubbing off on me as we joke about the
future and her plans to help develop
artists and discover more stories
based in Africa. “I’m intrigued
about things like age because I
change my mind all the time,
but I definitely do see myself
doing that, not in the near
future but in the future. We
can do a reunion when I’m
40!” she laughs. Let’s see
if she has the time to fit it
all in. !
Words: Mia O’Hare /
@mia_ohare
Photography:
Robin Clewley /
robinclewley.co.uk
Buttercup is
available to
download on
BBC iPlayer.
@DorcasSeb
“I couldn’t help but
highlight some of the
divisions: political
tension, what that
means and what it
means to be a Black
woman in the world”
FEATURE
21

WYNDOW
Between Liverpool and Clydebank, a charged electrical current of collaboration is powering
Wyndow’s remote musical postcards. Orla Foster enters the chat with the pair who find ethereal
coexistence in the virtual cosmos.
are your thoughts on castration,
people? Are you for or against?”
asks Laura J Martin, one-half of
“What
WYNDOW, briskly as a plaintive
howl floats up from behind the door. Her dog, Eno, has
been banished from the room she’s speaking from and
he’s taking it badly. “He’s chewing everything up. He’s
becoming a teenager and I think he needs to calm down,”
she says with mild despair.
While Laura does her best to tune out the whimpers,
the other half, Lavinia Blackwall (formerly of folk-rock
outfit Trembling Bells), joins us fresh from the Scottish
22
countryside where she’s just bought a hut. We’re meeting
over Zoom to talk about their brand-new project, a
psychedelic pop adventure which sprung from the
shadows of lockdown. Given the band’s timeline, grappling
with domestic distractions has become par for the course.
Unlike most bands, Laura and Lavinia have barely
clapped eyes on each other since forming. Their
collaboration has taken place entirely online, with
various snippets of audio flitting back and forth between
Liverpool and Clydebank for months on end. It’s an
approach they describe as “musical postcards”.
“Some people could see the difficulty of recording
separately as a negative thing, but I put a different spin
on it,” Laura assures. “Having access to different rooms
and environments can add up to a different character, or
texture, which you don’t get when you’re defined by just
one space. It would have been lovely to be in the same
room with Vinnie but having those limitations can make
you more creative in some ways.”
Lavinia nods on-screen. “And I also think that,
because you’re not in the same room, you’re very free.
You think, well, this other person’s not here, I’m just
going to try something out because I know they won’t
be offended. You know? It’s not that I’d be setting out to

offend anyone, but you just feel much less constricted,
or watched. So, you’re trying out lots of ideas, which is
liberating.”
It all started with Robert Wyatt. After meeting at
Moseley Folk Festival in 2017, a shared love of his music
led to them covering his Free Will and Testament together.
And then, like all the best friendships, things escalated
to trading mixtapes over wine, uncovering more mutual
influences and highlighting the artists they wanted to
draw on next, like Judee Sill and Virginia Astley.
While both are seasoned singer-songwriters
with plenty of releases behind them, the music they
have been working on for Wyndow takes a different
approach. It’s a tableau of restless, interlocking rhythms,
tightly orchestrated harmonies, haunting refrains, and
the lingering sensation of trying to stay afloat as time
marches ruthlessly by.
“One of the key sounds we kept coming back to
was the two voices singing in unison,” Laura says. “I’ve
always loved The Roches and was struck by those tight
harmonies, so I wanted to explore that.”
Not that either artist began the project knowing
what to expect. This wasn’t the kind of collaboration
where they could bounce ideas off each other in realtime.
Instead of holing up in a studio, they worked from
home: each experimenting with a section, adding layer
upon layer until one of them was happy with it before
sending it over to the other to build on.
By January, they had a first single, Take My Picture,
with its delicate, ethereal vocals and a spectral piano
melody burrowing its way into your head. Next came
Two Strong Legs, which, in the words of their Bandcamp,
is “a tune for whacked out worriers lifting weights in
the worry gym”. Finally, their latest release, Pulling On
A String, is just as stirring with its slight undertone of
dread set against mellifluous, almost fragile, harmonies.
When Laura and Lavinia discuss what went into
the songs, their dialogue is as careful and reciprocal as
the recording process itself. If one comes out with an
observation, she gently runs it by the other, giving her
the chance to add her own spin. And if one tries to say
something self-deprecating, she can count on being
told off. It comes across as a really supportive working
relationship, playing to both of their strengths. Laura
agrees: “I’ve really enjoyed being able to work with
another female, and one of the things I love about Vinnie
is that she’s so decisive. I struggle to come to decisions,
and she’s a no-mess kind of lady.”
You can tell that both are pretty intuitive about each
other’s tastes and creative approaches, but let’s not skim
over the amount of trust it must have taken to work
like this. With both musicians already established in
their solo careers, did it ever feel like a gamble to hand
over creative control to another person, even if only
temporarily? “There is an element of chance in sending
off something like a sketch, and then getting an angle
on it from Lavinia that I hadn’t even imagined being
possible,” Laura says. “But it meant we had the chance
to live with an idea and then craft a response, rather than
worrying about how people were going to play it live.”
Although they worked together to arrange the
songs, the songwriting was often a more solitary
process. Lavinia, for example, describes a song she found
herself writing in Italy, based on the memory of a man
who once lived in her dad’s basement. The lyrics became
a kind of ghost story inspired by the eerie image of him
out in the fields nearby. As well as this, she says, some
of the ideas came from “thinking about time passing,
and about mortality, and the way things come and go”.
Laura, meanwhile, focused on internal discourses and
minimalism.
“I didn’t realise this at the time, but looking back
at the lyrics, there seems to be a theme of how
introspective thoughts change when they’re externalised
and put against the outside world,” she says. “The initial
spark came from listening to Japanese environmental
music and Philip Glass’ Koyaanisqatsi. I’m not sure that
it’s particularly obvious in the sound of the record now,
but it informed the feel of the early demos which were
sent back and forth and developed in their own ways.”
With so many influences lurking beneath the surface
of their work, did they mostly agree on the direction they
wanted their sound to take? Who called the shots? “I’m
quite disorganised, and Laura’s very organised,” Lavinia
begins. “Oh, don’t write that!” Laura interjects. “I’m rock
‘n’ roll, Vinnie. Don’t say I’m organised.” Lavinia counters:
“It’s actually more rock ‘n’ roll to be organised, because
it means you get shit done. That’s what’s brilliant about
you, Laura, you’ve got this analytical and very precise
way of looking at things. That’s the benefit of having
your capabilities and input: the precision. Total stickler for
detail, in a really good way.”
“But then when someone gives me options,” Laura
replies, “I run with them, and I can’t put that full stop
on things.” She goes on to recount a radio session they
once did together, where she would have agonised over
the final mix until dawn had it not been for Lavinia firmly
drawing a line under it. “Vinnie, you stop my twitches.”
By now, Zoom has rendered my voice tiny and faint,
Lavinia’s battery life has nosedived and Laura doesn’t
know how long she has until Eno’s incisors sever a
cable. As Lavinia mentions heading off to work on her
vegetable garden – plans she immediately dismisses as
“cliché and annoying” – Laura becomes captivated by
the tranquil bucolic existence being conjured up here.
We wrap up the call dreaming about huts in far-flung
locations, with Laura quizzing Lavinia on the brass tacks
of remote living.
As normality returns with all its promises of inperson
collaboration, Wyndow have no plans to call time
on the project. They’ve found a cadence that really works
for them, a back-and-forth of ideas that goes against the
grain of more traditional songwriting. There are plans for
a full-length album, a tour and, of course, some future
cameos on each other’s solo work.
But if the hut thing works out and both musicians
wind up in splendid woodland seclusion, disturbed
only by the occasional breeze rippling through the
bluebells, at least you know their music won’t take
a hit. Just pray for a strong internet connection
so that those fragments of songs can keep on
zipping through the ether. Wyndow have made
long distance work. !
Words: Orla Foster
Illustration: Rosa Brown / @rosa.illo
Wyndow is slated for release this
autumn.
FEATURE
“There seems to
be a theme of how
introspective thoughts
change when they’re
externalised and
put against the
outside world”
23

24

NATALIE AND
THE MONARCHY
Embracing myriad personas and alter egos, Natalie and
The Monarchy find a voice in the vulnerabilities of power.
“I
grew up in the theatre, so I always wanted
to incorporate it into my work,” Natalie Papa
of NATALIE AND THE MONARCHY reveals.
We’re sitting outside Café Tabac a few days
after the country’s grand re-opening. Naturally, Bold
Street is bustling with faces. But even among the array of
people, her flair for the dramatics is obvious, decorating
herself with pins, jewellery trinkets and a discernible
punk style. “My dad’s a playwright and was obsessed
with directing horror-filled, dark plays. So, I grew up in
that experimental, scar-you-for-life kind of world. If the
play ever required a child, there I was!” As we chat, she
remains effortlessly captivating, and yet, what could be
an otherwise intimidating feature of the young artist is
dulled by the welcoming gleam in her eyes that seems
to suggest that wherever
she’s going, there’s an open
invite for you. “I’m obsessed
with dark cabaret as well,”
she continues. “All my
friends call it clown music,
but it’s just what makes me
happy.”
Despite her decadent
origins, the artist felt
constrained by her New
Jersey surroundings before
coming to Liverpool in
2018 to start her musical
career. “Who I am as an
artist didn’t really exist
before I moved here,” she
confesses. “I was 18 and
desperate to get out of
the US because of Trump.
Gigging in the US under
the drinking age is very
difficult, so it’s almost
impossible for younger artists to start out. It was so
weird being able to play at bars and clubs here, and then
go back home where we would have to secretly drink in
my parents’ basement.” There’s an obvious humour in
the disconnect between her identity as an artist and the
image of youth this confession conjures. “I had a friend
in Berlin who basically told me coming to the UK was the
best way to make a name for yourself,” she continues.
And what of the name’s regal origins? “Natalie and The
Monarchy sounds like this really political name, I know.
But it’s really because all my bandmates are British, and
I like the word monarchy – it gives off a very powerful
vibe!” she announces giddily.
With her journey for independence and musical
exploration underway as soon as she reached UK soil, the
artist’s image quickly emerged as one tethered to gothic
decadence. Through a blend of Riot Grrrl influences and
her own celestial vocals, the persona of Natalie and The
Monarchy is one that ties brooding punk soundscapes
with celebrations of sexuality, power and the nature
of femininity that carry across the full breadth of the
artist’s catalogue. “I’m involved in sex work full-time, and
that identity really ties into my music,” she spills. “I was
always really interested in that world, but as I got more
into it, I found so many people who cared about me, and
“So often in the media,
when you see a persona
rooted in femininity
and sensuality, it’s
either a figure that
is untouchable and
dominant, or someone
who’s very vulnerable.
It’s never both”
who could help me realise my goals. Now, I realise that
it goes both ways: I can use sex work as a way to help
people with their problems as well. I never thought I
would have another career outside of music, but they’re
both passions of mine, so why not combine them?” She
pauses before weighing it up. “Although, sex work is
such an emotionally exhausting job. You need to have
time away from it otherwise it just consumes you.”
The topic of overindulgence soon served as
inspiration for the artist’s recent single, Envy The Villain,
a riotous punk ballad that cuts to the core of forming
alter egos and the reality-inducing feelings they can
conjure, with the artist’s own confession-like lyricism
quickly climaxing into an explosion of biting vulnerability.
“I wanted to be this character that I was in my work
full-time because it’s a
type of fantasy. So, trying
to separate myself from
this persona I created in
my sessions and how I am
in real life caused some
massive friction. It really
made me hate myself
for a time,” she admits.
“That’s where the track’s
inspiration really comes
from; it’s about having a
glorified idea of sex work
and how that can backfire
massively.” Alongside the
track came a music video
rooted in twisted campery,
designed to build on the
all-encompassing duality
previously established.
Throughout, she plays the
role of a villain and a victim,
flashing between images
of her as a demon and those of a vulnerable individual. “I
wanted the music video to really have an impact, so it’s
set up almost as a Faustian exchange. It’s pretty corny,”
she grins.
However, alongside the mind-altering visuals and
unabashed punk displays, comes an emotional call
for conversation. As we delve into her candidness
surrounding vulnerability and power, it becomes
clear that the vocalist hopes to encourage a wider
conversation around the shortfalls in the depictions of
sex work in both public and private spaces. “So often in
the media, when you see a persona rooted in femininity
and sensuality, it’s either a figure that is untouchable and
dominant, or someone who’s very vulnerable. It’s never
both,” she explains. “That’s what I’m really exploring,
those two sides and how they work in tandem.” It’s a
mantra that doesn’t need to force itself into the artist’s
persona, but instead seeps throughout it, working handin-hand
with her domineering musical style. “I wanted
the track to be as sincere as possible,” she admits, before
pausing slightly. “A lot of friends I have are involved in
sex work, and they experience very similar things. No
media was really speaking about this issue, no one
was expressing it, and it’s such a common feeling! So,
I wanted to be the one to capture it, so others could
FEATURE
use my work to help figure their own problems. That,
and to let people know it’s OK to have those two sides of
yourself and embrace both.”
Despite her insight into sex work and the ability to
speak for its unheard masses, the artist’s personal drive
remains at the core of her ability to create. “When I put
something out, I always forget that other people can
relate to my music,” she admits. “I’m very new to both of
these industries, and so I want to use music to capture
my own beginning period,” she tells me. “But in terms
of the future, I think I’ll try and focus on my identity as a
dominatrix more. That mindset of authority really works
with my music in general. I think that, regardless of where
my music takes me, it’ll always remain a big part of it.”
It’s a statement that hangs with certainty, that no
matter her future plans, her two passions will continue to
grow with her, forever intertwining, while helping others
in the process. But, true to fashion, her closing statement
is one of high dramatics. “I will be filming a bunch of
music videos,” she concludes. “The first thing I want to do
is hire a fire-breather!” !
Words: Lily Blakeney-Edwards / @lilyhbee
Photography: Jenn Wilcock / @lens_of_a_wool
Envy the Villain is available now.
25

After months of fractured connection, a podcast-turned-theatre-production asks:
how well do we really know Liverpool?
A
lot can change in a year. New buildings rise
up as favourite businesses close. The river still
flows, but the bustle of summer events which
would usually fill the Waterfront is absent.
As we reconnect with Liverpool, how we move through
it may not be quite the same as it has been before. No
better time, then, to question what else it could be – or
more accurately, what it already is to some.
Love, Liverpool originated as an Everyman Theatre
podcast series created and released over lockdown. Each
episode is a collection of poems, stories and memories
of Liverpool, which all seemed so far away during
those first difficult months of the pandemic. Featuring
contributions from local writers including Amina Atiq and
Roy, and famous names such as David Morrissey and
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the series provides glimpses into
the many lives played out across the city’s streets. Now
the podcast has been adapted for the stage. The hours
of recorded material – and subsequent public response
submissions which the Everyman published alongside
each episode on their website – have been condensed
into a single show, directed by Nathan Powell and written
by Chloë Moss.
In doing so, specific challenges arise. How do you
26
turn such a long and episodic project into a narrative
which works in the theatre? “We’ve tried to unify it a
little bit,” explains Moss. “Obviously we didn’t want to
crowbar in a narrative which felt like it was shoved in. But
we looked at it as a sort of big celebratory piece about
Liverpool. There’s a rough framework of a day in the life;
it kind of covers a 24-hour period. Different voices come
in and out that don’t necessarily all fit together – but there
are crossovers, little moments of connection.”
Precisely what stories have made it into the show
is still being kept under wraps when we speak, but
director Nathan Powell backs up Moss’ implication that
Love, Liverpool is not so concerned with the specificity of
place so much as what it means to the people who move
through it. “It was just about telling the story of Liverpool
through these little snapshots that feel really particular
and detailed and small – and then that told a much bigger
story. It feels lovely to have these small little moments.”
After all, this was one of the things that makes the
podcast series such a delight to listen to. You may not
be personally familiar with the streets of Norris Green,
but you can connect to Kay Nicholson’s description
of intimate familiarity and association with a place. In
this way, it makes you recognise the everyday magic in
ordinary places. Perhaps this was a necessary skill to
develop in lockdown, when many of us found ourselves
suddenly moving through a smaller world. Being confined
to a locality meant becoming familiar with its details in
a different way, a world where the small little moments
became more significant.
How individual memories become part of a bigger
story is covered particularly well in actor Aron Julius’
contribution to the project. Detailing his relationship to
Livermore Court – an apartment building just off Lodge
Lane – his narrative is, in one way, one of personal
memories about a building. But Julius also manages to
capture how this one place, and his experiences within it,
intertwines with the much bigger story of what Toxteth is.
It’s also one of the stories which most convincingly
addresses the notion that there’s more than one side to
Liverpool. That for all that many of us love this city and
will stand up for it against all detractors, its reality is far
from perfect. As he explains: “I love where I’m from. But
the reality of where I’m from is that it can be all good,
then it can be all bad. There are two sides to that coin.”
Julius is now in the cast of the stage production, and
it was the opportunity to take this approach to telling
the city’s story which inspired his involvement. “What

affirmed that I wanted to be a part of the project was
that it’s not just a rose-tinted look at Liverpool. Actually,
it’s asking how we really shine the spotlight on what
Liverpool is.”
It’s another challenge of the adaptation process:
what does the production need to say about Liverpool
now? “If you come to it with the view of, ‘I’m definitely
going to hear about The Beatles, there’s going to be
loads of football’, or all those things that are synonymous
with Liverpool – it’s not that,” promises Moss. But Love,
Liverpool ran the risk of falling into sentiment in other
ways. After all, the project was born at a time when we
almost needed that. In those months of 2020 when the
world was almost entirely inaccessible, we pined for
Liverpool. To fall into nostalgia for the good times – and
only the good times – was understandable.
Of course, the stage production of Love, Liverpool
needs to maintain some of what audiences enjoyed about
the podcast series. The focus is still on the voices, and
although they’re giving away little about the staging,
Powell reveals that less is more: “It’s a really bare stage,
a beautiful thing, because we’ve got five really amazing
performers. So, the job becomes quite simple: five people
telling us a story.” Meanwhile, projections from designer
Tracy Gibbs featuring contributions from members of the
public will offer visual cues to the city.
At the same time, Love, Liverpool must also consider
the question of how those of us who exist within this city
are relating to it in this present moment. Romanticism no
longer serves the same purpose now that we’re back in a
living place, with all the complexities that brings. Instead,
it becomes a dangerous safety blanket, a prop to a
particular strain of Scouse Exceptionalism which believes
that problems such as racism and homophobia aren’t
native to Liverpool. Sadly, recent events have reminded
us what a farce this idealism is.
Treading the line between honesty and celebration
is something that the team seem to have been very
conscious of throughout the development process. “The
hope is to offer, firstly, some pride,” explains Powell. “You
want people to walk away feeling proud of the city, but
also to really think about what normal is going to become
as the city starts to open back up. What does that look
like? And how is that going to shift from getting to hear
and see different people’s perspectives?”
This is something the collective experience of the
theatre production can offer that the podcast format
rarely can. To listen to a story through headphones is
“It’s not just a
rose-tinted look at
Liverpool. Actually,
it’s asking how we
really shine the
spotlight on what
Liverpool is”
FEATURE
27

to imbue it purely with your own opinions. To attend
a production, meanwhile, offers a different context for
considering what is being said by and to whom. Powell
sees it as “an opportunity for you to take it in and then
process it, rather than needing to manage it next to your
opinions, thoughts or political beliefs”. It’s a powerful
context in which to be honest, and Julius thinks it’s a
stronger production for not shying away from this. “If
you give [audiences] both sides of the coin, there’s a
deeper connection to what you’re trying to do. The
challenge is how do we get that across on stage... but
there’s an opportunity to say this is all of Liverpool – the
good and the bad.” Though whether audiences think
they’ve hit the right note is down to them. “We don’t get
to decide that,” says Powell. “But take it all in, and let’s
come out of this and be a bit kinder and gentler with
each other.”
Although beginning in May 2020, Moss is very
clear that the stage production of Love, Liverpool is “not
about the pandemic, which people will hopefully be a bit
relieved by!” Indeed, the very occasion of the production
is a sign of things having moved on from this phase of
origin. For most of the team, stage preparations for Love,
Liverpool mark the return to theatre in over a year. When
we speak, it’s a matter of days until rehearsals begin,
and when asked what about Love, Liverpool they’re
28
most looking forward to, Julius, Moss and Powell all
agree on the return to collaboration. “It’s the exploration
of the rehearsal,” says Julius. “Being in the room of
people and being able to really unpack it and find new
things. Using the text to create something special for an
audience to consume.”
Indeed, it’s this space for evolution which is the
very purpose of this production. While the podcast
opened an inaccessible world, now we are each once
again creating our own stories of place. We will perhaps
arrive at the Playhouse via the sites we’ll re-visit in its
seats: from the train, down Hope Street, or past Thomas
Rigby’s. We no longer need to take another’s word for
what these places are to us, but we can still learn so
much about them. “It’s the things you know, but from
different perspectives,” explains Powell. “Amina [Atiq]’s
perspective of Hope Street is going to be completely
different to mine. I think it’s really useful and interesting
to say that there’s a shared belonging in all of these
spaces.”
And if there’s anything we’re ready for right now,
surely it is this shared belonging. Isn’t that what we’ve all
been looking forward to over the last 18 months? Maybe
that’s why one of the recurring themes of the podcast
series was pubs and bars – hubs where we gather and
share experiences. Writer Chloë Moss examined what a
pub can be in her tale of The Volly in Waterloo, a venue
often used to mark life’s big events and savouring its
smaller joys. A place “[not] just for laughter and babies
being born, it’s also for drunk men with sorrows”. A place
where neither joy nor solace are found in the bottom of a
glass, but in being with a community of others.
Of course, the theatre can be such a place, too. Just
like it is for the team onstage and behind the scenes,
Love, Liverpool might be a return to a theatre seat in
over a year for most of the audience, too. For some it will
forever become the answer to the question: ‘What did
you see first when the world reopened?’ It’s a collective
experience, but one to which we will each have our own
response. We will connect with different stories and
share feelings we relate to, all while having different
experiences of life. And it’s this diversity of enjoyment
which Moss believes makes it work: “It’s all the more
universal because there’s not any particular group that’s
going to have that exact same experience. And that’s
great, isn’t it?” !
Words: Julia Johnson / @messylines_
Photography: Robin Clewley / robinclewley.co.uk
Love, Liverpool is at the Playhouse from 5th until 14th
August.

FEATURE
29

Ahead of a forthcoming sitespecific
audio walking tour,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in
the Dark’s Andy McCluskey
talks Wirral, Eric’s and DIY
beginnings.
ANDY
Something is stirring on the Leisure Peninsula.
The Wirral has long been a hotbed of creative
talent with a roll call of pop culture legends
which include Malcolm Lowry, Elvis Costello
and Eric Idle all hailing from over the water. But few
have stayed to make their name plying their artistic
trade within the CH postcode. With more and more
organisations establishing themselves to nurture local
talent, that may be changing. What won’t change is how
the region has moulded creative outliers for generations.
With a new sound installation exploring the Wirral’s
artistic legacy and more artists speaking up about their
Wirralian roots, the oblong of dreams is finally being
celebrated. Quickly claimed by Liverpool but born-andbread
on the Wirral, ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN
THE DARK embody the area’s idiosyncratic worldview.
Frontman Andy McCluskey recently contributed to the
Leftbank Soundtrack, a walking audio tour of Birkenhead
with new pieces of music responding to the environment
and landmarks. The 80s icon spoke to Craig Pennington
about the importance of local spaces generating the
worldwide sounds of tomorrow as well as OMD’s DIY
origins on the other side of the water.
It was clearly vital for artists from the Wirral to make
the trip to Liverpool for the opportunities there in the
days of punk and post-punk, but just how important
was Eric’s in OMD’s story?
[Eric’s] was a big step up for us to go from youth clubs
on the Wirral to actually playing a named venue on
the rock circuit. I mean, The Clash played there, the
Sex Pistols played there. You know, I saw the first ever
UK Devo gig there. Pere Ubu, XTC, The Cure, it was a
name place. So, it was like, ‘Can I really play in a place
30
that’s actually in the gig guide in [weekly music mag]
Sounds?’ I can remember making a call from a phone box
to the Sounds gig guide guide going, ‘Hi, I’m in a band.
We’re playing Eric’s in Liverpool, can you put us in your
gig guide?’ He went, ‘Yes, Eric’s? Yes, OK, yes, yes, we
do them, yes. What date is it? Right, OK. What are you
called?’ ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’. He just went,
‘Fuck off, you’ll never get anywhere with a name like that’.
But yes, we felt very much like outsiders in Eric’s because
we looked different, we played different music, because it
was all guitar bands. I liked the Bunnymen because they
had a drum machine to begin with. There was something
a bit different about them.
Everybody in Eric’s was an alternative. It really was a case
of, like, they built it and all the strange people came. It was
an escape for all the outcasts and the people who didn’t
fit gender-wise, or sex-wise, or artistic-wise, or lookswise.
I mean, as I say, Paul and I just looked like hippies.
Everybody else looked so cool. I mean Jayne Casey looked
amazing. I’ve never seen such a beautiful girl. Shaved
head and jet-black lipstick. Tears painted on. Everybody
was in love with Jayne Casey. And Holly Johnson and Paul
Rutherford. Everybody was just cool looking, except for
us. And there was Roger Eagle, who was, like, 10 feet tall
and smoked like a chimney. Terrifying.
I never met Roger, but you get the impression of what
a shaping force he must have been.
You know, he’d been a promoter in Manchester and
Liverpool. I mean, I didn’t know all of this. All I knew
was that he was running this club. This was the club
we went to. If you see those flyers from Eric’s, ‘77, ‘78,
‘79, ’80, every month there were three or four bands
who are world famous now. We went there three, four
times a month. You had to keep up. There was always
something on that was really amazing. To get to play
there was amazing. But of course, there was about 15
of our family and friends in the crowd, and about 15 of
the locals who were all the same people you always saw
all the time. Like the [Echo & the Bunnymen frontman]
Ian McCullochs and everybody. Everybody just leaning
against the pillar, trying to feign no interest whatsoever.
I’m always interested in how musicians used to make
music compared to now, with the world of technology
that’s available. Are the core of ideas still the same,
it’s just that it’s much, much easier to make it happen
now?
It cuts both ways. The technology now is unbelievable.
Back then, we were trying to be the future with
equipment salvaged out of a skip. We did six gigs before
we owned a synthesizer. We had to borrow one off
friends. We could only be a band because our mate Paul
Collister, who lived in West Kirby, had aspirations to
work in sound and had built a home studio in his garage.
He had a four-track and a two-track and a little desk.
And we put together our backing tracks on this fourtrack
table TEAC called Winston after Winston Smith
from Orwell’s 1984. And so the band was me and Paul,
with Winston playing everything else.
What kind of records do you think you would have
made if you’d been making those for the first time
now? Do you think it would have changed what you
were?
One of the reasons we had a distinctive sound was
because of the shit gear we had. I mean, I remember
reading an article by Brian Eno that said: ‘If all you’ve
got is a pile of junk, you’re probably the only people
who’ve got that specific pile of junk. That’s your sound’.

McCLUSKEY
And we went, ‘Phew, OK. Thanks, Brian’. The organ
was the electric piano and the cheap synth that we
finally bought off my mother’s catalogue for £7.76 a
week for 36 weeks taken out of our dole money. That
was it. And that was our sound. It was a very simple,
primitive sound that was on the first album. It was
garage synthpunk. We had a pile of crap, and we built
our own studio where the hotel now is on Stanley
Street, looking out over the back of where Probe and
the White Star pub is on Rainford Gardens. We rented
the back half of one empty flat on one of five empty
floors above Curly Music. Built our own studio and
recorded the album in three weeks and that was it,
handed it to the record company. It went gold. Just like
that. So easy…
That quote from Eno is absolutely right, that
necessity shapes the parameters that you’ve got to
work within. But is a world of infinite possibilities
and not having those boundaries a good thing
creatively?
No, because the more possibilities you have, the more
difficult it becomes. Paul and I have this phrase, ‘the
tyranny of choice’. I think Electricity is 11 tracks, and
five of them are kicks in air and white noise. With
more and more technology you end up with the
big stodgy thing that’s got far too many tracks in it.
And it’s usually so many tracks because you haven’t
actually got one little diamond gold nugget in there.
It’s actually lots of averageness. One of our sayings is,
‘You don’t need a million quid of varnish if you don’t
start with a turd and try and polish it’. Electricity is
just words, driving bass, end. No backwards cymbals,
no splashes, no dynamics. That’s it, that’s all you get.
‘Is it good enough?’ Yes. That’ll do then’.
That’s not even a conversation about the production
values, that’s just asking yourself is that idea, is that
lick, is that hook, is that melody as strong as it can be.
That’s what we didn’t realise when we first started out,
because we were experimental, in the sense that we
didn’t have anything we could play a melody on, to begin
with, other than my bass. We were just making ambient
noise. So gradually, and totally unconsciously, we
refined our desire to be different into a melodic version
of a desire to be different. We had no idea. Electricity is
basically a punk version of Radioactivity by Kraftwerk.
I admitted it to Kraftwerk years later and they all went,
‘Yes, we know’. We hadn’t realised we’d unconsciously
taken all that glam rock from when we were 12 watching
Top Of The Pops – Slade, T. Rex – added it to the German
electric of Neu! and Kraftwerk and a bit of punk, and
somehow accidentally we
distilled this into these little
three-and-a-half minute, like,
catchy tunes. We had no idea
what we were doing.
You mentioned before that
if it wasn’t for Eric’s then
OMD wouldn’t have been a
thing because you formed
effectively to play that show.
Reflecting on the shaping
influence that Eric’s had on
the band and your career,
how important are places like that, that give people
license to experiment, test themselves, challenge
themselves?
I think it’s very simple. Without people opening doors
for you and giving you encouragement and saying,
“It’s very simple. Without
people opening doors
for you and giving you
encouragement, it
doesn’t happen”
‘Yes, come and do it, do your thing’, it doesn’t happen.
You’ve got to have a place to play, you’ve got to have
people who will let you play, you’ve got to have people
who will give you the PA and people who will lend
you some equipment. We did six gigs without even
owning a synth. You have to borrow a bit. It’s just you
need other people. One of the reasons why I said yes
to being a mentor at Future Yard was because without
Eric’s my band wouldn’t exist. Without Birkenhead Art
College in Whetstone Lane owning the Roland SH-
1000, we wouldn’t have had a synthesizer to borrow
when Dalek I Love You wouldn’t lend us theirs. These
places had a vision of being creative and would let
two loonies borrow their very expensive synthesizer
for the night, and trust that they were going to return
it so that we could go and play our weird songs –
that even our best friends
thought were shit – in a club
that, you know, the night
before, Blondie had played
at, or something. I think
that, particularly because
we are from Wirral, nothing
grows in a vacuum, nothing
blossoms. I think that you
have to provide the place,
you have to provide the
encouragement. I’m hoping
the Future Yard project will
be something that offers an
opportunity for creative kids on Wirral – like we were
41 years ago – to dream and try their dream out in
reality. !
Craig G Pennington
FEATURE
31

Birkenhead. A small shipbuilding town on
the banks of the River Mersey, nestled on a
peninsula of land called the Wirral, tucked
between Liverpool and North Wales. The
conurbation populated the world’s oceans with great liners.
It also populated the world’s radio waves and stages with
some of the most fabulous and gloriously eccentric music
you’ve heard: Bill Ryder-Jones, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the
Dark, Half Man Half Biscuit, Elvis Costello, Forest Swords,
Queen Zee, Hooton Tennis Club.
The Leftbank Soundtrack takes listeners on a personal
audio adventure, a voyage of sonic discovery through the back
alleys and boulevards of Birkenhead to uncover tales of past
glories and future stories. The tour is interpreted through the
musical minds of the borough’s greatest noisemakers.
The animated music walk, using newly commissioned
compositions from Birkenhead’s musical talent, threads together
stories of music, movements, history and change. It takes you
through Birkenhead, the old music venues and sounds, cultural
heritage and hopes for the future.
“It’s a fascinating and interesting concept for Birkenhead and,
as a Wirral boy born and bred, I am delighted to be a part of the
Leftbank project,” said soundtrack contributor ANDY MCCLUSKEY,
who has composed a piece which responds to Birkenhead’s iconic
ventilation tower. “It’s a really exciting challenge to create a musical
piece for it. I stood next to the tower doors in early July and recorded the
sound of the wind whistling through them. These recordings became my
inspiration and bed track for the music. For those who are curious, the
tower whistles in the key of A.”
Andy is joined by a roll call of high-profile artists who have produced
music with the sights and sounds of Birkenhead as their muse. Those
donning headphones to take in the tour with the Leftbank Soundtrack
augmenting their experience will hear pieces by LOUISA ROACH (She Drew
The Gun), FOREST SWORDS, NIGEL BLACKWELL (Half Man Half Biscuit),
BILL RYDER-JONES and ANDREW PM HUNT (Dialect, formerly Outfit).
A QR Code will take the sonic explorer to a piece of commissioned music,
telling the story of the spot they are standing in. There are seven stops on
the excursion, with Hamilton Square, the Ventilation Tower, Ferry Terminal,
Birkenhead Priory and Cammell Laird, Futureyard and Argyle Street, St
Werburgh’s Square and Birkenhead Central all providing a plethora of history
and inspiration. Listen, walk, think and reflect. !
Photography: Robin Clewley / robinclewley.co.uk
THE LEFTBANK
SOUNDTRACK
32

liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ai
#aimorethanhuman
Exhibition curated and organised by Barbican International
Enterprises. The City of London Corporation is the founder
and principal funder of the Barbican Centre. Co-produced
by Forum Groningen, Netherlands.

HUSHTONES
Resilience, nostalgia and navigating unchartered waters. David Roskin enters the steadfast
world of Hushtones as they pick up the pieces ahead of live music’s return.
Three out of five HUSHTONES arrive at Hope
Street’s Liverpool Arts Bar where they
immediately greet bar staff before ordering
drinks and seeing to the order of the day:
reminiscing about recording acoustic sessions in this
very space. It’s clear that this is a home away from home
for the Scouse indie-pop band, and quite possibly one of
few haunts bravely eschewing the screening of England
v Germany in favour of airing classic indie tunes to
soundtrack our interview.
Kicking off in late 2017, Hushtones combine melodic,
nostalgic indie sounds with soulful vocals and big beats.
Hearing them now, you’d think their polished sound
comes from a perfectly constructed quintet, but a series
of coincidences and chance encounters is what brought
the group together. Martha Goddard and Mick Campbell
met while working in a restaurant on Bold Street. “We
kind of realised that we were both songwriters and
decided to have a jam,” Mick tells me, casually. The two
continue to play regular cover nights, with one confirmed
at Liverpool Arts Bar right before we sit down.
Mick then bumped into Caitlin McPaul on Christmas
Eve in 2017, having known her from their school days,
and brought her into the fold. The three began to perfect
their sound together, doing the rounds with Fleetwood
Mac at open mic nights. At a regular pub, they soon
met Abe Tesfachristos, a keen-eared bar manager who
recognised their potential and continued to book the
three-piece before stepping aboard as their drummer.
“He was such a perfect fit because we had drummed
34
with other people before, but it just didn’t work,” Martha
reflects. “When it just gels, it’s so good and drummers
are so hard to come by as well. So, we do feel hashtag
blessed,” Martha laughs, and Abe reflects on his selftitled
musical sabbatical for a few years before meeting
the band, only interrupted due to how incredible he
found the then three-piece.
After a period of window shopping for a suitable
guitarist, there came something of a eureka moment for
the group. “We went through a couple of guitarists and
stuff until we found Joe [Dillon],” Mick says. “And that’s
when it started to feel like this is gonna work, now we’ve
got the last jigsaw piece.”
At this point, Mick, Martha and Abe recognise
what a difference completing the quintet made, and
although we’re missing Cailtin and Joe today (due to
work commitments and a Pfizer-induced day of rest), it’s
clear how together they’re a force to be reckoned with.
Teaming up with BBC Introducing’s Dave Monks and
producer Steve Levine, the band began to really find their
rhythm complimented by the much more professional
edge they had once dreamed of.
“Thanks for coming to our TED Talk,” Martha
jokes, but hearing their story provides a fascinating
educational resource. Whether crying out for a change
in circumstances (I’ve Got Time) or sharing their origin
story over a couple of pints in the back of a bar on an
uncharacteristically sunny day, Hushtones thrive in
evocative imagery. Their charm is continually captivating
and entirely true to themselves, it feels effortless.
Hushtones know who they are, who they’re going to be
and what they’re going to do.
But, like most of us in the creative sector, much of
Hushtones’ livelihoods was destroyed by continued
lockdowns. Blighted by the misfortunes of the
hospitality industry, the band were left to sign on and
remained isolated from any studio set-up, let alone a
stage and a crowd.
Mick, in particular, struggled in 2020. “Me and
Martha got into this rhythm: I’d write a little bit of a song
or she’d write a little bit of a song. We were on sort of
separate sleeping patterns throughout each lockdown
and obviously we couldn’t see each other. We spoke
on the phone, but I’ve become really nocturnal. I was
so worried about everything at the beginning of the
pandemic.” He turns to face Martha. “You were sleeping
normally. So what happened is, I’ve written a bit of a
song, and I’d send it over, and I went to bed at about four
or five. She’d wake up, start working on it, get it back to
me by the time I woke up, and we got this dead weird
rhythm down, and we’d be writing songs around the
clock. There was just like, 24 hours a day where we’d be
working, it was bizarre, but we’d compile it into this little
folder. We got about five or six songs and then sent it to
Steve who was like, ‘This would make a great LP!’”
Abe, on the other hand, relished some time away
from manic work in hospitality to focus on music. He
speaks fondly about this creative process. “They were
constantly writing music. I had all this time on my hands
so they would send me tracks and they could just work

on, you know, a new laptop or whatever but I didn’t play
drums for the whole of lockdown! I was literally writing
them on my computer. It didn’t stop just because I didn’t
have access to drums, we still managed to put the songs
together somehow.”
Despite the pandemic forcing a precarious hand onto
the group, Martha offers a concession. “It just goes to
show what you can do when you have music to help two
people moving, rather than having to spend time working
in a job that you’ve been doing to get by, alongside
working around everybody else’s schedules. Most of the
time we work out a way around it, but in an ideal world,
everyone would be working part-time. But, you know,
that was the compromise of lockdown. It’s like, ‘Oh, we
finally got this time, but we can’t do anything with it’.
Again, we found a way to kind of work around it.”
Their resilience in the face of adversity is consistently
inspiring, and their debut record, Greetings From The
Other Side, landing 6th August, is a true testament to this
Covid era. Wild wishes to live on the wild side eventually
– something simply impossible as of late – while I’ve Got
Time looks deeply at how we feel we’ve lost so much of
our lives and focuses on the future; how we can enjoy our
lives again, even if that feels out of reach. Mick describes
his thinking in the depths of the first lockdown: “Well,
you know, we don’t really have much money, but we’ve
got this great thing that we can do.” And they continue
to do it with tracks including their latest single, Sinking,
recorded between national lockdowns with two members
at a time. With an accomplished smile a world away
from fear, they reflect almost fondly on this time as just
another struggle they’ve had to overcome together as a
band.
As we hurtle in earnest towards the so-called
summer firebreak, the band and I lament the cancellation
of further gigs and another year of waiting for Michael
Eavis to open up Worthy Farm. And it’s at this moment
– just when a roar of cheers nearby could only mean
another England goal in a packed Wembley Stadium –
when our attention quickly turns to the disappointing
display of government support for the music and
hospitality industries.
Hushtones are facing continuous delays to their first
gig back. “We were supposed to have our first proper gig
as a band this Saturday,” Mick explains. “And that’s being
moved now. The guy who booked those sent us an email
the other day, saying at the moment this is a gamble.
We don’t know whether this is going to be happening.
But that’s the best you can do at this point.” The anxiety
caused by this is palpable. But it’s old news and, quite
frankly, the sort of thing we have come to expect from a
government that looks to have muddled their priorities
over the last 18 months.
“This is obviously a multi-billion-pound industry,
which is different to football, but that’s all allowed to go
on. You know, music’s being left behind,” Mick shouts
over the cheers of England fans. The recent botched
government campaign urging creatives to explore
alternative employment – embodied by Fatima the
ballet dancer encouraged to retrain in cyber security –
ultimately fell on deaf ears with those who continue
to view the government as one that is out of touch
with those it purports to help. “That’s the thing
about being an artist or a musician. It’s not for
everyone, but it is for a lot of people. That’s your
passion. And not only that, it’s a massive part
of your identity. So, you can’t just suddenly be
like, ‘Do you know what, I’m going to go into
fucking cyber’.” The passion the band have for
their industry and local music scene lends itself
equally to the frustrations they share at feeling
powerless. They’re continually championing
this sector and pushing on, but this never
translates into more than the hopeful
glimmer they present for want of structural
change from above.
“It’s absolutely comical,” Martha notes
in disbelief. “So, if you were to flip it on
the football industry and say, ‘Well, just
stop what you’re doing there and go on
to something else’. As if any of those
people are going to just stop what they
like doing!”
Nevertheless, all remain hopeful
for their record launch party at EBGBs.
As far as coincidences go, Greetings From The Other
Side is truly an apt title to ring in what will, hopefully, be
the first of many reintroductions to a normal live music
environment. I ask the band to imagine it’s definitely
happening, and Mick immediately lights up: “We’re gonna
play as long as we want. It’s like a reward for what we’ve
all been through. And you know what? Let’s have some
fun.” !
Words: David Roskin / @daverosk
Photography: Jen Hollis / @jencreative_
Greetings From The Other Side is available 6th August
via Hubris Records. Hushtones play EBGBs on 20th
August.
@Hushtonesmusic
“This is obviously a
multi-billion-pound
industry which is
different to football,
but that’s all allowed
to go on. Music’s
being left behind”
FEATURE
35

36

DANCING TO
ARCHITECTURE
The sonosphere of Joel Goldberg’s alter ego thrives in experimentation and straddling the line
between foolhardiness and look-again substance. Ahead of an album live stream, Sanna King
uncovers the figure behind the personalities.
Hey Frenzy, the debut album from DANCING
TO ARCHITECTURE, was born in isolation.
Differentiated only by their barnets, the band
at the time consisted of three members, all
called Jeff, who looked remarkably similar. Picture a
fucked-up version of Hanson and you’d not be far off.
However, the electro-prog-funk ‘trio’ were really just the
brainchildren of Joel Goldberg.
Part of the locally legendary Goldberg clan, he
has been on the Liverpool scene since the mid-90s.
Joel seemed to be a musical gun for hire who was
permanently on call, reachable only by pager, carrier
pigeon, or email. Not only a versatile musician playing
all the instruments, he mixed and produced the tracks,
before getting it mastered at Igloo Studios. He also
made videos for each track, which morphed into a film,
designed all the artwork and a range of merch. No
wonder he needed to clone himself a few times.
Since then, the band have doubled in numbers, and
I don’t mean Joel has just gained more personalities.
To take the vision from his living room to the live stage,
he’s gathered together a motley crew of real friends to
replace his imaginary ones. But in the meantime, they’ll
be coming to your living rooms, when they unleash brand
new footage this month. Recorded at Coastal Studios,
Transmit Groove is a live recording of the album to give
you a little teaser of what you can expect from their gigs
in the not-too-distant future. When I caught up with Joel
back in May, it was still only officially him at the helm, so
I found out more about what had inspired him to create
Dancing To Architecture in the first place.
Hey Frenzy was released on CD and digitally, in
March, a year after the start of lockdown. “I had time
to get those ideas out that had been building up,” says
Goldberg over Zoom. “I had a list of song names in my
phone stockpiled over the years, so I grabbed a riff, fit one
of the titles to it, arranged it, recorded it, did a little video
and put it online.”
He described it as a mix of different sounds with
a dance music sensibility of a hook line that repeats,
without having to stay in the verse-chorus-middle-eight
format. “I’ve always written songs and music and always
tried to be, you know, a serious songwriter. All this, ‘You
didn’t say this, and I didn’t say that’ and all that crap.
And you end up going, ‘This is miserable to listen to and
miserable to play, what am I doing this for?!’ So out of
that, DTA is like the phoenix from the ashes of all the
shite heartbreak songs I’ve written in my lifetime.”
Joel realised that he had something else under his skin.
It seemed natural to add more humour because comedy
had been such a big part of his life, noting childhood
heroes such as The Young Ones, Bill Murray and Chevy
Chase. “Then Vic and Bob came along,” he continues. “I
think they were a nuclear blast in terms of British comedy,
and as individuals now I think they’re still two of the
funniest people on the planet.”
I asked him if he was worried that some of the sillier
lyrics and videos might make it come across as a novelty
album – “I eat grapes like a motherfucker” and “went to
bed ugly and I woke up handsome” being refrains two
songs are built around. “Not really,” he contends. “A
couple of tracks are TV theme tune homages, like Mike
Post scores. Some of the others are just funny titles that
I tried to write good music to. I tried very hard to keep
it light and to try and stay funny, almost disguising the
work I’d put into writing the music.”
The name Dancing to Architecture originates from
a quote often attributed to Frank Zappa: “Writing about
music is like dancing about architecture.” His influence
is also apparent in the content, too. “When I was a kid,
I heard a Zappa album and just laughed my head off,
’cos he was singing, ‘Don’t eat the yellow snow’. Me
and my brother were like, ‘Isn’t this fella funny with his
muzzy and beard’. And then on the next listen, you’re still
laughing but you’re like, ‘Hang on a minute,’ and then in
the end you realise, ‘Jesus Christ, this is amazing!’ Not
comparing myself to Zappa or nothin’. But like everyone
has a certain style on the surface which can catch
people’s eyes, but it needs substance behind it. And I
think I’ve worked hard enough for it to have that and not
be just a novelty style.”
There is a real 80s feel to the
album and the overall stylings
of the artwork are also inspired
by his childhood memories.
“The imprint of whatever time
and cultural movement you just
happen to be born into. I was
always aware of Talking Heads,
The Clash, The Stranglers and The
Police when I was a kid and that
colour of music just stayed with
me,” he reveals. “I’m a massive fan
of Dutch Uncles, too, who have a
sound that incorporates a lot of
that style, with the sequencers
and that naked bass sound
and a lack of clanging guitars
everywhere.”
Joel’s dad, Dave, is also a big role model, having
spent the majority of his life in bands. With an upbringing
revolving around music, it was inevitable it would become
a family trade. “One brother’s been a drummer since he
was three, the other two both played guitar, and so they
needed a bass player.” But Joel didn’t always want to be
a musician. Setting his sights on becoming an artist or
architect, he attended art college to follow his dreams, as
well as his cousin who he’d “followed around like a beaut”
since their school days.
Unfortunately, that dream was short-lived when
he was diagnosed with kidney disease at 19 and knew
that he had to return to Liverpool because he’d be in
and out of hospital. “Being back in Liverpool, I thought,
‘Maybe there’s a reason I’m here’. And things just started
getting better and better here, like the Capital of Culture
happened and I met so many brilliant people. The music
community in Liverpool is just so welcoming and rich.
Everyone’s great, there are so many characters, and
everyone helps each other out. I love being in the middle
of it, it’s such an amazing place.”
He talks passionately about Liverpool having a strong
sense of community, which some of his friends from
Manchester have said that they don’t see in their own
city. I get the impression that having this community
around him when he needed it most has made him more
resilient and self-sufficient? “I’ve been through some
dark stuff, and I’ve cultivated a habit of trying to outrun
the darker times,” he replies. “If you feel something bad
coming, you flick a switch and try your best to get back,
get your energy levels up. And I’ve tried to transfer that
into my music.”
Knowing that it isn’t always as simple as just trying
harder, he talks about a friend who might never be the
same after lockdown, and how he and his other fellow
bandmates have felt powerless to help him. However,
that’s the beauty of music: it can take those struggles and
“Dancing to
Architecture is the
phoenix from the
ashes of all the
shite heartbreak
songs I’ve written
in my lifetime”
turn them into something positive, and potentially help
someone else when they hear it. Either by cheering them
up or by making them feel less alone in their sadness.
Even the strongest and most independent of people crave
that connection, and music has the power to do that. And
for that reason, for the moment he’s focusing on more
upbeat music. “It’s a conscious thing to write something
positive. I’ve always loved celebratory type music like
Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. These people are putting on
a big show, they’re going out of their way to make you
feel good. The kind of gig that you want to go to on a hot
summer’s night and have a pure laugh, be buzzin’ and
screaming yer head off at!”
Joel admits he’s enjoyed the
break from gigging over the past
16 months, but as music finally
gets back on track, he can’t wait
to play live again. The dream
team he’s assembled includes
Scott Arthur and Luke Heague
on guitars, Stuart Hardcastle on
percussion and, of course, another
Goldberg in tow – this time
it’s Adam, the aforementioned
‘drummer boy’. “We had the first
rehearsal recently and it was
great. More raw, more space to
it. We all played around with the
arrangements and the energy is
right up there. I’m made up.”
As the conversation continues, I get the sense
Joel’s illness is a bit of an elephant in the room and not
something I want to press him on. Not because of his
unwillingness to open up about it, but because it doesn’t
feel entirely relevant to this project. However, it does
come up in relation to another film he has been working
on with James Slater about his nightly dialysis sessions.
“James got in touch about making a documentary about
me being on dialysis and dealing with illness in the way
I do, through the music and stuff. He’s great at what he
does, and he’s pulled the stops out in terms of getting
a crew on-board and getting backing from some big
hitters like Kodak, so it’s gonna’ look amazing. Whether
or not my bits will be any good is another thing. I think
as I get older the thought of leaving something behind
of myself, something which may help people who are ill,
has grown bigger in my mind. People with kidney failure
don’t live forever, so James choosing to make this is quite
fortuitous. You never know… I might just live forever. You
lucky bastards.”
I ask him if he sees his album in the same way as
he does the film, as a way of leaving a legacy behind?
“Yeah, I’m trying my best to make it the best it can be, so
yeah I’m pretty proud of it in that sense. I hope people
enjoy it and I hope it lasts. I hope my nieces like it and still
listen to it when they’re older. That’s all I want, really!”
It’s likely they will, as Jazz and Toots, aged 10 and eight
respectively, have already started their own band, Sutn
Notn. So we better look out for the next generation of the
Goldberg dynasty coming over the hill and continuing the
musical bloodline. !
Words: Sanna King / @sanna_king
Photography: Michelle Roberts / @_sheshoots_
Transmit Groove will debut 5th August live on Facebook.
@dancingtoarchitecture
FEATURE
37

SPOTLIGHT
“I describe myself
as someone
who’s always
chasing chaos”
DEAD NATURE
A seeker of disorder within the ordinary, Tarek Musa is comfortable and sure of his own path.
Shannon Garner sits down with the factotum to discuss his latest solo project.
Resorting to a phone interview only a few hours
before our long-awaited face-to-face interview due
to self-isolation reasons, it’s evident that Tarek Musa is
extremely punctual in everything he approaches. Incredibly
understanding over the situation, and a few jokes later
about the bizarre world Covid has created, it’s clear that
this was going to be a full interview, despite the distance.
Following the split of Macclesfield quartet Spring King
in 2018, the dynamic former frontman and drummer
emerged seemingly unfazed. Between discussing his roller
coaster of a career and his new project DEAD NATURE,
the producer is nothing short of a ravenous thrill-seeker.
“I describe myself as someone who’s always chasing
chaos,” Musa begins. “I always get myself the most chaotic
projects and I’m always steering away from the classic
kind of songwriting and recording set-ups,” he continues.
“In terms of sound, I’m always trying to write really uptempo
energetic songs, but songs that you want to cry and
dance to at the same time. It’s kind of like sad dancefloor
indie hits.” The sad dancefloor indie vibe evidently shows
in his music: sad through the vulnerable, relatable lyrics yet
danceable through the feel-good tone of the tracks.
Listening to his work, it’s easy to assume Musa relies
on an army of musos when crafting his projects, but this
couldn’t be further from the truth. Musa plays every role –
from songwriting to press releases. He even lends his hand
to producing for other bands and hosting masterclasses to
help upcoming musicians work on their craft.
“I’m very, very fortunate that I can work with loads
of other artists. It’s kind of like an anchor for me,” Musa
says. “I always have my solo project and then, whenever
a band wants to work with me, I’ll work with them before
reverting back to my solo project for the weeks I’ve got off.
It’s a good balance. I’m always trying to keep my musical
hands in every single pie possible.”
During Spring King’s time, the band crafted two
albums and gathered a cult following in Britain’s indierock
heartlands but, during those years, everything was
a whirlwind. “When I was on tour with my last band, we
would do crazy journeys like Dublin to Paris in a day. That
would consist of two ferries in-between the gigs and it
would kind of send you a bit crazy,” he recalls. “I think
by the end of that project my mental health was not the
best because it was such an intense ride. I was constantly
exhausted. That’s why having this balance now where I
can be an artist and release my own music, but also work
with other people when I’m not feeling 100 per cent is
good for me.”
However, the roller coaster of a journey and pressure
did not start with his previous band. There are pressures
from the industry that Musa has felt since the beginning
of his career. “I studied at LIPA in Liverpool and finished in
2011,” he begins. “I studied Sound Technology which is
very physics and mathematics based, but there was one
module where we could write an EP, so I was like, ‘I’m going
to try and write some songs’. At this point, I’d never wrote
songs in my life and one of the songs that I wrote for that
project ended up going worldwide and became the Skins
soundtrack for the third generation,” he reminisces. “Every
major label was emailing me trying to figure out if I had a
band and it was just coursework. With that, I felt like there
was huge pressure from the industry to jump on-board and
kickstart my career, but it didn’t feel natural. I didn’t even
have the money really to do it or the means. A year or so
later is when I started Spring King and now, I’ve got Dead
Nature. I’m always doing music; it’s just always evolving.”
Pressing further on all the pressure received, Musa is
not one to leap at just any opportunity. “I’m one of those
people who kind of pushes back on things that are kind
of forced on me. I always try and create my own path,”
he admits. “Back in 2011, don’t get me wrong it was an
amazing opportunity, but in my head, I couldn’t make it
work. I didn’t have the experience to feel comfortable
jumping into the fast lane. I’m one of those people who
want to learn to walk before I run, and the Skins thing
happened so quickly that I wasn’t mentally prepared,” he
admits. “I really believe artists should go down the most
organic route possible and that’s exactly what I did with
Spring King. I think that way, it aligns with your mental
understanding of the process a lot better, and you won’t be
overwhelmed by any sudden hype.”
After spending the last two years focusing on his new
solo project, Musa reveals that his debut album, Watch
Me Break Apart, has actually been finished since the
beginning of the pandemic. “I actually finished the album
on 28th March 2020, and all the lyrics came about from
the way I feel about the world,” he says. “There’s a track
called Ladlands which is about losing control. I wrote it
from the angle of both politicians who are trying to keep
control of everything, yet still feel like they’re losing control
to the opposing sides,” he continues. “Then there’s Watch
Me Break Apart which is about someone completely
breaking apart from their old self and trying to rebuild
themselves into something new, better and hopefully more
in-line with who they are now. It’s an album of stories I’ve
heard from my friends or experienced myself where people
have needed to rebuild themselves or society having to
rebuild itself. It’s just this amalgamation of everything
falling apart.”
Nevertheless, while an immense amount of music
contains overt political sentiment, it’s a route Musa doesn’t
want to focus too much on with Dead Nature, choosing
only to sing about it when it connects with him and his
music. “I’m one of those people that never want to be a
political artist in the sense of, I don’t wear politics on my
sleeve,” he admits. “I only sing about it when it connects
with me and my music and I don’t ever try and say it
directly. I don’t want to shove anything down anyone’s
throat. It’s up to the listener to take what they want from it
and interpret it as they want. I do it in such a nuanced way
because we can’t be on a high horse about politics, and I
still get my opinions across. The line is constantly moving,
and I hope it continues that way.”
We’ve been speaking for over an hour now, time
disappearing into Musa’s political sidetracks and industry
anecdotes. Time enough to prise a memorable moment
from inside that busy head. “One of my favourite things was
playing Later… with Jools Holland with my old band,” he tells
me with an audible glint of nostalgia in his eyes as he recites
the tale. “I was the drummer and lead singer at the time
because our drummer had just left and it was easier to find
a bass player at such short notice compared to a drummer.
It was a weird set-up. I actually used to throw up when I
first started doing both at the same time because it was so
intense, and that show was one of the hardest shows I’ve
ever played in my life. I had never sung and played at the
same time until then,” Musa recalls. “Elton John was also
on the show and he was really, really into our performance.
After we played, he came up to me asking for a CD, so I ran
backstage, got a vinyl and gave it to him. Then he just got
off in his helicopter.” Can we expect something of a similar
ascent? “This is just the start of Dead Nature for sure. I feel
like it’s only going to grow from here.” !
Words: Shannon Garner / @shannonmayy_
Photography: Khalil Musa / @khalilmusa
Watch Me Break Apart is available now.
38

JESSICA LUISE
The introspective storyteller finds truth in the present.
JESSICA LUISE is not one to shy away from her
emotions, especially when it comes to songwriting.
The indie-folk singer shares tales of love, loss and hope
through her tracks after emerging onto the North West
music scene in 2019. Stories of teenage romance, angst
and the awkwardness which fill those adolescent years
make her songs the ideal soundtrack to any indie romcom
binge. Yet, for her, music is more than just catchy
lyrics and heavenly melodies – it’s a form of therapy.
“I use writing as a way of getting my thoughts and
feelings out into a physical form,” says Jessica. She
is open about her mental health and reveals that she
often finds it hard to rationalise thoughts due to having
generalised anxiety disorder. “Writing it down helps me
to be raw but also balance out the overthinking.”
From an early age, Jessica knew she wanted
to perform after watching Jools Holland’s Annual
Hootenanny. Those starry-eyed nights spent watching
performers in their natural habitat resulted in Jessica
immersing herself in musical theatre before she finally
decided to become a singer-songwriter at the end of her
educational tenure – a process that arrived naturally from
introspective storytelling. “I used to write little stories
about how I was feeling and then they just became
songs,” she admits.
Influences on her songwriting come from an array of
situations, including previous relationships or something
as simple as passing a random person in the street. Her
latest single, Nice Try – a blend of acoustic and dreampop
tones underneath the raw lyricism – was written as a
form of closure from a personal experience.
Due to the intimate nature of her songs, it can often
leave her feeling vulnerable, especially when performing
live. “I write a lot of music about my situation at the time,”
she continues. “Some songs can change from being my
favourite to actually being quite hard and emotional to
sing live.”
Although lockdown measures have prevented Jessica
from performing live, they haven’t stopped her from
getting her name out there and collaborating with other
musicians. In 2020 she organised Rock the Breadline,
a virtual charity concert bringing together 24 artists to
raise funds following the free school meals debate.
Music plays a huge role in Jessica’s everyday life,
admitting she “can’t go a day without listening to music
or writing a little riff or a little verse”. Her love affair with
music cannot be underestimated and runs deep. “There is
a song out there for every mood. It knows how I feel, and
it knows how to help.”
Jessica’s passion shines through the breezy warmth
in her voice as she sails through the narrative of each of
her songs, set against the traditional blissfulness of indiepop
hits. “The response you get when you have worked
so hard on something, that moment when someone
understands you because your words relate to them
is magic. If you could bottle that up, you would make
millions.” !
Words: Mia O’Hare / @mia_ohare
Photography: Matchbox Productions
Going In Blind is available now.
@iamjessicaluise
DERRICK NENZO
The rhythmic globetrotter emerges from a spectrum
of emotion.
Derrick Nenzo (Harry Peach)
Describe your music style in one sentence.
One-man boy band with an 808.
How did you get into creating music?
I was in a band when I was like 13. I played guitar and
sang, but we were bad. When I was 16, I got an old
version of Logic from my sister’s hard drive and started
making beats every day for three years until I released my
first song.
Can you pinpoint a live gig or a piece of music that
initially inspired you?
Buzzin by Mann ft. 50 Cent. I heard it when I was like
nine years old and loved the sound of it. It didn’t take long
until I was neck deep in 90s hip-hop before eventually
getting into the more modern stuff throughout my
teenage years. I also got into a bunch of bands as well.
Do you have a favourite song or piece of music to
perform?
I haven’t done much performing to be honest. I would
have liked to last year but, unfortunately, we were in a
panoramic, weren’t we? However, there’s an unreleased
song I’m sitting on which I know is going to go off when I
do start performing. In fact, there are a few like that…
What do you think is the overriding influence on your
songwriting: other art, emotions, current affairs, or a
mixture of all of these?
Emotions, really. I look inwards more than anything when
dealing with personal problems. I try not to get swayed
by the media and world events because I think there’s
always something to be angry at if you go looking for it.
My criteria for a good song is it has to evoke emotions in
the listener. It doesn’t matter which emotions just as long
as they feel something.
If you could support any artist in the future, who would
it be?
I like lots of artists across different genres and moods, but
I think if I was to keep it in line with my current sound
then probably Slowthai or Brockhampton.
Do you have a favourite venue you’ve performed in?
Well, the only time I have really performed was in an
Apple Music pop-up DJ booth with Charlie Sloth and, like,
50 students. I did a freestyle and everyone seemed to like
it, so I guess that was cool.
Why is music important to you?
It’s such a challenge and it pisses me off a lot, but the
feeling of one good song out of 50 bad ones is worth it to
me. I always find myself going back to it even when I’m
fed up, so there must be something there.
Can you recommend an artist, band or album that Bido
Lito! readers might not have heard?
Yes, Derrick Nenzo. He raps, I think.
human made is available now via Swell Head Inc.
@DerrickNenzo
SPOTLIGHT
39

PREVIEWS
GIG
KELLY LEE
OWENS
FestEVOL @ Invisible Wind Factory
07/08
The revolution will be
synthesised as the Welsh
techno-pop provocateur
makes her grand return.
In these uncertain times with so much doubt
surrounding the future of live music, any tour or festival
getting the green light feels like a significant victory
for gig-goers. And here at Bido HQ, nothing has given
us more reason to rejoice than FestEvol announcing the
upcoming August all-dayers at the Invisible Wind Factory.
Topping the bill of the first instalment is a boundaryblurring
artist truly hitting her creative stride. Riding high
on the success of her critically acclaimed second album,
Inner Song, KELLY LEE OWENS is also quickly becoming
known as one of the most vocal acts in the fight for a fairer
industry. Following the five-year anniversary of Brexit and
what should’ve been the opening night of Glasto, David
Weir catches up with Owens to discuss her North Walian
roots, soundtracking the Anthropocene and her eagerlyanticipated
headline date.
So, we caught your interview on Newsnight. There’s
been an amazing response to the #LetTheMusicMove
campaign from many acts – any stirrings from the
government?
Yeah, crazy, both of the interviews were very last minute,
but we made it happen. We’re currently still waiting.
But appearing on a platform like the BBC, that’s a huge
step up for everyone in regard to officials taking notice
and making the public aware of what’s actually going
on. There’s been so much happening, everyone’s been in
survival mode. Music’s definitely been in the background,
but it’s been in the forefront of many people’s minds in
terms of helping them cope. We need to show people
this is already affecting an entire industry. When we have
the public’s support, then it’s more pressure again for the
government to have to do something about it.
We’ve also been hearing from Music Declares
Emergency and the #BrokenRecord campaign recently
– is now the time for an industry overhaul?
Totally. As I mentioned yesterday, it’s this toxic
concoction of the pandemic, Brexit, the streaming
services that don’t pay us correctly; the music industry
is broken. The artistry of it has been so downplayed
consistently, where really without artists it wouldn’t
fucking exist. It’s time to rip up the narrative and have
things work for us. We’re obviously trying to support our
crews the best we can, but it’s interesting that the last
people to be spoken about in the whole thing are often
the artists themselves. Maybe artists are just expected
to have another job. I’ve worked since I was 14. I was
working a full-time job alongside writing my first record; I
worked part-time while doing some of my second. I know
what hard work is and this is the hardest thing I’ve ever
done. I’ve had to dedicate my entire life, my savings, all
my energy and sacrifice relationships. This is not a joke.
The way people perceive it is a joke. There are petitions,
but this is what we’re discussing at the moment, how to
actively engage. I think, as an artist, using our platforms
to really speak to our fans directly is one way. Fans
can also put pressure on their representatives and the
government. Behind the scenes we’ve been trying to
pressurise them and we’ve been largely ignored. So,
having these conversations and making it more public is
the next step.
FestEvol’s your first UK gig lined up then?
Yeah. In fact, it’ll actually be the first time Inner Song is
performed live! I mean, the irony of calling an album that
and it’s never been played out. I’ve gigged in Liverpool
before with the Immix Ensemble. That was a very
beautiful night for other reasons. See, I come from North
Wales originally; we’re not that far away. In my late teens
I went to a lot of shows in Liverpool, they were kind
of my formative years in terms of getting involved in a
live music scene and falling in love with that. So, for me
personally, to have my first show in the North West is
really special. We’re all going to be so grateful that we
can be there together in that space now.
Let’s talk about your collaboration with John Cale on
Corner Of My Sky. What did it mean to explore your
Welsh heritage together on this track?
It was such an honour because I wanted to explore the
connection with it, but I didn’t want it to be in a false
sense. People like Gwenno are amazing because she
speaks fluent Welsh. For me to make a whole Welsh
language album wouldn’t be authentic. So, it was more
about bringing other people in. I’d already recorded with
John. To be in a studio with him, he produced me in just
this old-school way and it was total magic. I remember
hitting this high note that I’ve never reached before in my
vocal range. He’s that kind of producer, where he doesn’t
touch anything but he touches everything. I’m actually
still working towards learning Welsh at the moment.
There’s something quite painful for me about going home
and visiting relatives in Glan Conwy, knowing that they
all speak it but not being able to have conversations
properly with them. Something about that loss has felt
quite poignant to me in the last few years, as I’ve grown
older. There’s something about those roots that are
calling me.
There’s a strong movement at the moment to reclaim
Welsh place names, isn’t there? Like the motion calling
for Snowdon to go by Yr Wyddfa?
There certainly is. That was the thing growing up, it was
normal to have the conductor on the train pronounce it
‘LAN-dudno’, which when you think about it is absolutely
diabolical. That would never happen anywhere else. So,
we’re rectifying a lot, which other people on the outside
might not see, but it really does stand for something.
Apparently ‘Wales’ is even an Anglo-Saxon word that
means foreigner. The resonance of words, we know how
“I was asking
as the planet is
dying, what does
the grief of nature
sound like?”
powerful they are and I believe that they carry magic.
Spells and spelling – you’re casting spells as you speak.
‘Cymru’ means more neighbours, kinfolk. It’s about a
bond between certain groups of people, togetherness.
Wales needs foreigners. We’re talking about the
mountain, that’s one thing, but we’re also talking about
the name of the entire country. Michael Sheen did a
lecture and he taught me more about Welsh history than
I’ve known in my entire life. My god, it’s impassioned, I’d
encourage anyone to watch it. I’m lucky to be working
closely with the Welsh government quite a lot in regard
to the arts. I’m currently creating soundscapes for Welsh
NHS staff on their breaks to meditate or just wind down
to. So, when they do go for a break, they are able to break
away from their reality.
You’ve already touched on how the landscape
influences your music. This relationship and contrast
between digital and industrial sounds, and more
natural and organic sounds feels like a key component
on Inner Song.
I’m just always inspired basically by what I call everyday
sounds. Perhaps that makes it sound boring, but it’s not
to me. Melt for example was very direct. I couldn’t go
to the Antarctic; it would’ve been pretty ironic to fly out
there. So, I thought I’d use free samples for the first time
in my whole career. This was a different one. I was asking
as the planet is dying, what does the grief of nature
sound like? As climate breakdown is happening what
are the sounds that come with that? I was interested in
finding those and placing them into modern tracks in
a space that is actually healing for people. But I’m still
bringing it into people’s consciousness, having them
connect to that, rather than dissociating from reality.
The Inner Song Remix Series also dropped earlier this
month – how was it hearing what other artists did with
your songs?
Incredible. I knew I could easily ask my mates, names
that people might naturally expect, but then I thought,
actually, I want to work with people who are more
underground. I want to walk the walk and give any small
platform I have to others and uplift them. I think there
are more women than men on the remix album, there’s
certainly artists of colour, the diversity and inclusivity
aspect was really important. The fundamental part,
though, is they’re all fucking amazing producers and
artists. That was really exciting to me, having this fresh
take. They’re all so different, which I love. I look at people
like Björk and she’s always doing that. Offering her work
to emerging talent. When I remixed her, she’d personally
emailed her label to ask them to get me to do it. That’s
the highest honour, really. Another thing that I’ve wanted
to do is remix more women. There’s been St. Vincent
and Jenny Hval, and one more coming out that I can’t
mention. But that should be landing soon. It’s been a bit
of a boys’ club; we can do better than that. !
Interview: David Weir / @betweenseeds
Photography: Kim Hiorthøy
40

FESTIVAL
FUTURE NOW
27-28/08 - Future Yard
Future Yard are hosting a celebration over the bank holiday
weekend, giving us a taste of what’s to come from
the Birkenhead venue over the next few months and
years. Future Now will be a two-day live music event
showcasing a whole range of acts across an array of genres.
Friday 27th will see trio MARIE DAVIDSON & L’ŒIL NU headline
with their latest project seeing them turn from their dancefloor
experimentalism to more classic pop writing. The French-Canadian
band offer a tribute to the genres that inspired their electro-pop,
jazz moments and romantic ballads through a fusion of 70s and
80s sounds and electronica. The first night also welcomes back
Bristol’s techno-come-post-punk four-piece SCALPING, who
played the Future Yard festival in 2019. East London’s avant-punk
queen NUHA RUBY RA also joins the lead heavy line-up.
The final day (Saturday) will host DJ and tastemaker TOM
RAVENSCROFT, who’ll be on hand to provide a sample of his
genre-hopping music taste while paying homage to the region
which his iconic father John Peel called home. YARD ACT have
caught the attention since the release of their Dark Days EP. The
Leeds-based quartet’s coruscating, narrative driven, spoken word
dance-punk is the perfect addition to a line-up that reflects music’s
latest hip trends. Both days will be kicked off by local artists. Rustic
indie slackers STORES open Friday’s event while cosmonauts
SAMURAI KIP will bring their blend of jazz, funk and soul to
Saturday’s proceedings. The full programme of live performances
and DJs will be split across the venue’s indoor live room and
outdoor garden space.
Nuha Ruby Ra
Alicai Harley
FESTIVAL
JAMAICA STREET
CARNIVAL PARTY
29/08 - 24 Kitchen Street
As live music makes its long-awaited comeback, this August will see the
celebration of the sorely missed Liverpool Carnival, set to fill 24 Kitchen
Street with the best of bass, dancehall, old skool, rap and reggae. An
outdoor stage, sound system vibes and a variety of food pop-ups will
cater the all-day affair, supporting a diverse showcase of local and global Caribbeaninfluenced
talent.
Organising and presenting the event are Culture Deck, a collaborative media
platform who seek to celebrate and provide scope for emerging artists and creative
talent. Founded in Liverpool, Culture Deck engage with local artists from across the
North West, through both live events as well as projects in artist development and
creative media. Girls on Deck is among one of their newest ventures, a project which
aspires to nurture and celebrate the next generation of local female DJs.
Carnival headliners includes Jamaican reggae and dancehall singer KRANIUM,
this year embarking on his first global tour after establishing his distinct reggae
sound, heard in his collaborations with artists like Bebe Rexha and Wizkid. Joining
the headliner is DAVID ‘RAM JAM’ RODIGAN, famous for his musical showcases,
particularly in the reggae and dancehall genres, who was added to England’s Radio
Academy Hall of Fame in 2006. Jamaican born and South London-raised ALICAI
HARLEY, will take the event to new heights with party anthems from her new debut
EP The Red Room Intro (Yard Gyal Inna Britain), a homage to both her young, female
Black British and Jamaican heritage. Other artists announced for the line-up include
DJ CHAISE, MIC LOWRY, FARL, GIRLS DON’T SYNC and KENNEDY TAYLOR, with
limited tickets remaining.
PREVIEWS
41

PREVIEWS
GIG
The Wonder Pot: Helena Hauff
27/08 - 24 Kitchen Street
Helena Hauff
HELENA HAUFF will be kicking off the August Bank Holiday weekend at
24 Kitchen Street with an intimate late-night affair. The German DJ and
producer returns to Liverpool with the intense, futuristic sound which has
won over dancefloors across Europe and beyond. She has released tracks
on notable record labels Werkdiscs, Ninja Tune, PAN and Blackest Ever
Black with hits including Spur and c45p. Hauff will be bringing her sharp
acid sounds, cold rhythmics and minimalist atmospherics to the Baltic
Triangle venue courtesy of club promoter par excellence Wonder Pot.
GIG
By The Sea
04/09 - Arts Club Loft
A highly welcome return for one of Merseyside’s finest crew of guitar wranglers, dream-pop ensemble BY THE SEA resurface for their first shows since 2014. Pursuing other
projects since the appearance of their excellent second album, Endless Days, Crystal Sky, lead singer Liam Power is a long-standing member of fellow Wirralian Bill Ryder-Jones’
band. The quartet is putting the finishing touches to new LP Heaven Knows Magnolia, with a release date pencilled in for later this year. Expect cuts from their first two albums and
a slew of new material at their Arts Club Loft date in early September.
GIG
Laurent Garnier
28/08 - Invisible Wind Factory
Laurent Garnier
French producer and DJ LAURENT GARNIER will be taking to the North
Dock’s stage for a night of house music. Garnier began DJing in Manchester
during the 1980s and has since created a broad sound of classic house and
Detroit techno. He embraces acid, trance and jazzy tracks with a harder
edge and is best known for his hits The Man With the Red Face and Crispy
Bacon. The Frenchman will play to the Liverpool audience with support from
stalwart of the underground house scene LEWIS BOARDMAN.
FILM
The Orielles’ La Vita Olistica
13/08 - Leaf
Indie-funk sweethearts THE ORIELLES make their directorial debut with short film La
Vita Olistica. Taking over Leaf’s tranquil space, the premiere will be hosted by the band
followed by a Q&A with John Robb of The Membranes and Louder Than War. Sisters
and band members Sidonie and Esmé Hand-Halford have created this short film as an
extension of their second album, Disco Volador. Inspired by the transition to life online
during lockdown and the need to do something different to the live streams many other
bands were doing, the film explores themes of time and space.
The Orielles
42

GIG
Crack Cloud
26/08 - District
Vancouver-based art-punk band CRACK CLOUD are bringing their 2020
second album Pain Olympics to District this month. Having garnered top
reviews across the board, the multimedia collective straddle the art-rock
and post-punk genres, while utilising the combined talents of various artists,
filmmakers, musicians and designers to deliver striking visuals. The epic
project comprised over 20 members, with seven going on the road to tour
the piece. Pain Olympics cultivates self-betterment and collectivism with a
strong focus on visual storytelling – just the type of show we longed for in
those endless locked down months.
THEATRE
Young Homotopia: We’re Queer for It
20-22/08 - Unity Theatre and online
Pride is a protest. Creativity speaks truth to power. Young Homotopia are
serving up activism, cabaret, spoken word and theatre this Pride season
which will be available to watch live at Unity Theatre and online. Presented
by Homotopia and in association with GYRO LGBTQIA Youth (YPAS), WE’RE
QUEER FOR IT explores the political and social issues that are most important
to young queer people growing up today. On a pay-what-you-can scheme, the
production’s online recording will be available for three days starting on 20th
August, where audiences will receive a unique password, protected viewing link
and can watch multiple times.
FESTIVAL
Crapfest
29/08 - EBGBs
Following a successful inaugural outing in 2019 and a pandemic-era virtual edition last year, CRAPFEST makes a fully-fledged return this August Bank Holiday. Held across a host
of city centre venues including EBGBs, The Jacaranda and Phase One, the all-dayer showcases the best DIY and underground talent around, while raising funds for charity along
the way. With 16 acts already confirmed, junk-punk Birkenhead duo and event organisers CRAPSONS appear alongside alt-rockers GEN AND THE DEGENERATES, sludge riff
doyens SALT THE SNAIL, screamo trio KIN, Belfast feminist punks PROBLEM PATTERNS, heavy rockers ELEVANT with more groups TBA before showtime.
FESTIVAL
Loud And Local
29/08 - Alexander’s Live Chester
Rufus Court Chester will see the return of the Loud And Local Festival for the fifth time
this August, boasting the best of alternative music in the North West region. Stages in
both the venue garden and hidden courtyard will play host to a wide-ranging line-up
of alternative creatives. From the garden stage, experience indie/psych performances
from local names like YAMMERER, SEAZOO and ANTI HONEY, while a more acoustic/
folk flavour permeates the courtyard, with CAMPFIRE SOCIAL, SAM LYON and SARA
WOLFF. Hosted by Alexander’s Live, the midday to midnight event has seen great
success year on year, as a means of paying a special homage to the alternative talent that
emanates from our very doorstep.
Sara Wolff
FESTIVAL
Baltic Weekender
13-15/08 - Baltic Triangle
As the August sun seeps through the Baltic Triangle’s industrial streets, the three-day
Baltic Weekender returns boasting its most ambitious line-up yet. Presented by 24
Kitchen Street and Abandon Silence, the multi-genre dance festival will see a sizzling
selection of house, techno, grime, bass and everything in-between. Taking place over
eight stages across the Triangle, the weekend sound banquet will be stocked with
offerings from international headliners including DANIEL AVERY and SPFDJ, as well as
local talent including NUTRIBE and NIKKI CHONG.
Nikki Chong
PREVIEWS 43

REVIEWS
Y’MAM (Brian Roberts)
Y’MAM: Young Man’s Angry
Movements
Everyman Theatre – 17/06
Fist clenched, jaw set and eyes wide, Luke Jerdy
holds us for a moment, teetering on the edge of an
attack. It’s the deadly calm before a storm. He’s built the
tension, describing the thick
black tar rising from his gut, his
arm pulled back ready to swing
and there, he stops, looks up
and addresses us with a manic
glint: “I’ve been triggered.”
Y’MAM is a one-man tour
de force taking us for a ride
through the unadulterated
highs and uncontrollable
depths of male violence,
bravado and challenges of
identity. Written and acted by
Majid Mehdizadeh, with the performance credited to
his stage name, Luke Jerdy, this confessional is at once
deeply personal and painfully universal.
Grainy footage of a group of jeering, laughing
teenage lads beams above the stage. Mehdizadeh
swaggers on in a hooded tracksuit, mirroring the jerky,
fronting movements of one boy preparing to spit lines to
“Rap and spoken word
serve throughout as
an acceptable male art
form for the expression
of vulnerability”
the building beat. He bursts forth, laying out the premise
of his work: “There has to be an intro to the problem, or
the problem wouldn’t exist.”
The problem – toxic masculinity – is something he
wants to dissect so that he can gain control over his
own violence-driven existence. The challenge, however,
is seeing the problem in the first place. And it’s the raw
reality of how slow and unwilling Mehdizadeh’s own
process of waking up to this problem was that makes
this production truly arresting.
We are swept into
Mehdizadeh’s masculine
world of noise, hype and
banter through a combination
of audio, visual and physical
immersion. He regales us with
stories of alcohol, drugs and
fights: found fights, looked-for
fights, defensive fights. He
claims his sense of justice,
self-sufficiency and protective
instinct towards his girlfriend
are central to his identity and
are why people love him. The absurdity is obvious and
grating; but that’s the point. Mehdizadeh wants us to see
and feel the power of his self-deception as self-protection.
Flashing back and forth between snippets of therapy
and vignettes of adolescent incidents, young man’s fury
and self-destruction – as well as very funny moments
of inflated hubris – Mehdizadeh reveals to himself and
his audience the importance of allowing ourselves to be
flawed and multifaceted. In his self-discovery, he builds
a rhyme about his inner, aggression-led ape: “The art of
me is to catch my chimpanzee and give him sympathy.”
This kind of rap and spoken word serve throughout
as an acceptable male art form for the expression of
vulnerability, feelings and revelations. Adam Welsh and
Zee Musiq support with perfectly pitched sound design,
evoking environments and emotions alike, moving this
one-man show through place and mind.
Revelation doesn’t truly hit, however, until
Mehdizadeh confronts his trigger. It’s a playful and
powerful term, with male violence so often being the
trigger for others’ trauma. Yet here violence is the
devastating outcome of Mehdizadeh suppressing his
own trauma. It isn’t until he acknowledges the damage
that other damaged males have passed on to him that he
finally unlocks the possibility of change.
And this possibility is an ideal he offers up to all of
us. Young men may need to hear it the most, but the
damage, the fear, the noise we create to drown out our
own traumas – this performance speaks to anyone who
needs to hear it.
Following a short, widely acclaimed run at the
Everyman, it’s hoped this production will go on tour
next year. Keep an eye out and catch it if you can – it’s
unexpectedly special and will strike a chord no matter
who you are.
Clare Dodd / @Claredodd
44

Black Country, New Road (Lucy McLachlan)
“We’re lucky to
be in such intimate
confines with this
year’s bona fide
buzz band”
Black Country, New Road (Lucy McLachlan)
Black Country, New Road
Future Yard – 20/06
In a fallow year for live music, the momentum BLACK
COUNTRY, NEW ROAD built with their early singles and
acclaimed live shows has been under threat of grinding to
a halt. The chorus of plaudits risked echoing in an anti-bac
wiped vacuum through no fault of the Cambridgeshire
septet. This afternoon, however, we do not need to dwell
on this scenario. The band have returned to the same soil
on which they played when first riding that initial wave
of hype. Their set at 2019’s Future Yard festival, on the
grounds of Birkenhead Priory, was to an audience largely
unintroduced to their klezmer-infused jazz and spoken
word stylings. At this matinée performance, the sold-out
congregation greets the tracks from this year’s debut
album For the first time with knowing excitement and
there’s a sense that we’re lucky to be in such intimate
confines with this year’s bona fide buzz band.
Clearly not a unit to rest on their laurels,
the band make an announcement ahead of the
performance via drummer Charlie Wayne. There’ll be
new material tonight, so please don’t video, “it could
be disco, we don’t know what it’ll be.” The first track
is not disco but it’s unfamiliar. A recent interview
with the band alluding to their new sound being
akin to Arcade Fire is not actually far off the mark.
There’s an epic folk feel to the track which swaps the
frantic chaos of the album for mandolin and swelling
emotion.
Athens, France reassures us that the songs
that gave cause for celebration in the darkness of
lockdown 2.0 will get a run-out. The band don’t
really deal with exuberance, but they don’t seem
bored of playing the hits. Clearly proficient musicians
(much has been made of three of their number
being classically trained), it’s perhaps by design that
there are so many directions to go within the song
structures that tracks like Sunglasses and Track X
will always feel fresh to player and consumer alike.
Another newbie with a start-stop signature and
wacky drum solo causes smirks to develop into full-on
LOLs among the band just as things threaten to get too
serious. The track offers something different and hints
at the experimentation Wayne pointed to in his pre-set
announcement.
Weeks after For the first time garnered five-star
ratings and heralded a new unique talent, the band
performed a streamed gig consisting of zero tracks from
the debut and a cover of MGMT’s Time To Pretend. This
matinée performance was followed by an evening gig
which featured the band producing a rendition of Abba’s
Mamma Mia. Lots of people got bored in lockdown, other
people challenged themselves to explore their boundaries
and have fun under the limitations. The seven people on
stage this afternoon presumably fit the latter category
and that behaviour is going to extend way beyond sating
critics and socially distanced gigs.
Sam Turner / @samturner1984
REVIEWS
45

REVIEWS
Augustus John (Gareth Jones)
The Last Bohemian:
Augustus John
Lady Lever Art Gallery - 01/06
On a sunlit day in early June, the Lady Lever Art
Gallery in the sleepy model village of Port Sunlight –
Wirral’s pristine enclave lost in a pre-war time-warp – is
shining in all its Beaux-Arts glory. Equal parts eerily
perfect and stunningly out of place with its surrounds,
the expansive gallery is hushed in quiet surprise. Stuffed
full of John Everett Millais and Singer Sargents, yet safely
tucked away in an unsuspecting place, perhaps it is the
perfect home to host the works of one of the country’s
most surreptitiously infamous artists.
A touring retrospective of his work showcasing
around 40 paintings, etchings and drawings, The Last
Bohemian: Augustus John at the Lady Lever Art Gallery
offers an insight into the life of one of the most searingly
honest portrait painters of the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
Shuffling across the chalk white floors, the exhibition
is neatly withdrawn to three small antechambers, and I
find myself at once confronted with the brooding oil of
a cloak-clad youth: the young, boyish John by his friend
William Rothenstein. At 21, this is undoubtedly the image
of an enviably young man strapped with unbound talent,
on the cusp of accomplishment, although the exhibition is
loath to call him a genius. Instead, it chooses to highlight
his vigour for friends, knowledge and art. It is helpfully
chopped up into the seminal parts of his life – his time
at the Slade School, his appointment as art lecturer at
Liverpool University, his marriage to his artist wife, Ida,
and the ménage à trois with his partner, Dorelia.
It presents John as an unflinchingly candid painter – it
hosts the renowned portrait of Lord Leverhulme, who
famously cut out his own face upon seeing its honesty.
But squeezed between exquisitely depicted bodies and
colourful portraits, I sense
a muted undoing of the
artist-as-hero. The exhibition
makes a point of calling
John’s work with the Gypsy
Law Society patronising, and
they’d be right. Adopting
their lifestyle as ‘bohemian’,
it feels like the equivalent of
Oxbridge educated hockey
players cavorting around
Newcastle costumed as
This Country characters.
Although many of his fine
first etchings were made in
Liverpool (the most famous
being Man from Barbados,
1901-2), his sitters found
in the back streets and
brothel houses of Scotland
Road, it leaves me questioning whether this was an
artist feverishly capturing the cosmopolitan hubbub of a
booming port city, or a man trying to impose himself on an
exotic working class culture he’d never truly inhabit.
“An enviably young man
strapped with unbound
talent, on the cusp
of accomplishment,
although the
exhibition is loath to
call him a genius”
In the last room, I find myself standing face to face
with the comically disgusted carrot-flopped portrait
of the poet Dylan Thomas – a portrait I feel I’ve seen a
thousand times over, without ever having seen before.
Such is the surprising reach and magnetism of John’s
work. This is the refreshing curatorial perspective the
Lady Lever has taken; it refrains from tainting us too
much with John’s celebrity and instead attempts to keep
a subtle balance between
revering his precocious
talent and offsetting it
for the eyes of a modern
audience. In a life that
appears pitted with
riotous drama and artistic
integrity, the exhibition
does not shy away from
exposing John’s flaws.
Dylan’s portrait is arresting
and honest, but so is the
placard of information
below it – that John,
nearing 50, abused Dylan’s
young wife Caitlin over
the many times she sat for
him. The uncompromising
integrity towards art and
lifestyle suddenly starts to
feel compromised. So please, go for the art, but stay for
the portrait of the man himself.
Georgi Aslanian
46

Angel Field Festival
Hope University Campus – 24/06-03/07
Chartreuse
+ Memorial
+ Astles
Future Yard – 06/07
Angel Field Festival (Alexander Monkhouse)
After so, so many months of inertia and social stasis, it’s our first time back. Our first gig proper
after the dreadful storm of a virus left us with nothing but innumerable online acoustic performances
from couches across the nations. All wonky angles, dodgy sound and far too many under-nourished
Yucca plants.
No, this is what we used to call ‘live music’. It feels important. A moment of comfort and relief,
like the feeling you get when the London train crosses the chocolate swell of the Mersey on its way to
Lime Street. A homecoming.
Scan QR code to order. The Future Yard stage is bathed in that familiar pink hue we’ve long come
to know and trust as ASTLES arrives, tonight a three-piece with a cello and keyboard player. Here is
an artist who seems only ever to get better with time, he seems more at home with himself, dare we
say more confident? It’s in the voice, the soul he puts in. And it’s reflected in new, soon-to-drop Bill
Ryder-Jones-produced single Like A Child, where Astles shows his worth, he’s a wizard of melodic
melancholia draped in minor chords and tenderness and this is perhaps his best work yet. Love
In November is plaintive and pleading somebody, or maybe nobody, to “come home to warm your
bones”. Finishing with another new song, Whatever That Means, means a lot, it turns out, because it
shows Astles for the ever-growing force he is.
Some things just work. They’re so obviously bound to be together it may be why they exist
in the first place. Life’s natural harmonies, acutely balanced in favour of all. In the moments when
MEMORIAL sing together there can be fewer better examples of this. Perfectly pitched soaring
harmonies sweep through the room, soft and sweet, fondly reminiscent of local adoptees The Lost
Brothers. They confess that this is only their seventh gig, their first tour, as though it’s a bad thing.
Their songs and sheer musicality belie the fact that they’re a relatively new act. Latchkey feels like it
willed itself to be written in 1971, and Elliott Smith-flavoured Moth To A Flame could be as old as the
Appalachians.
Scan QR code to order. When CHARTREUSE begin, the first sensation is in the pit of the stomach,
and the joyous realisation that this is the first time we’ve heard a rhythm section play live for the worst
part of two years. And when we say rhythm section, drummer Rory Wagstaff’s pin-sharp, jazz-tinged
rhythms are crisper than a Kettle Chip (the sea salt and balsamic ones – we’re not animals), and his
colleague in rhythm, the delightfully named Perry Lovering’s basslines aren’t a mere underpinning of
the Chartreuse sound. They’re what makes the sense of imagination in it all feel so addictive.
Hailing from Birmingham, but with a distinct Bristolian sound, Chartreuse is a revelatory
convergence of folk, jazz, drum and bass, poetry, soul and lilting – or, more accurately, brooding –
melody. There’s something in the space of their sound, something in the empty moments, something
dark and wonderful. Harriet Wilson and Michael Wagstaff sing together like they have been for years
which, of course, they have. Theirs is another natural balance, at once both delicate and powerful.
They’re here with new material, too. Future releases like Only You, with its urgent, desperate to be
heard feel, as Michael Wagstaff charges up the through the key changes taking us who knows where?
Or Deep Fat, jazzy with dark, half-spoken vocals and the stark crack of snare. Keep Checking Up On Me
is a veritable modern classic in our view. A haunted introspective, looking for answers, its electric piano
more soothing than Mogadon, and Michael Wagstaff’s vocal edged with beautiful burnt soul.
The verses of Woman, I’m Crazy, is stripped back to rimshot sparseness with Harriet Wilson’s
folk-jazz vocals floating way above, before the slam of the choruses, all big chords and crashing
rhythm. It’s angry, but in a good way. Three Days talks of the confusion of love, words we all know,
feelings we’ve all felt, it’s a dreamy swirl of a song, laden with moments. Chartreuse as the first gig
back is good by us and, as we head back underground, we reflect.
Finally, live music has a future, and that future may well be in Birkenhead. And not a Yucca plant
in sight.
Paul Fitzgerald / @NothingvilleM
Deserted public spaces simulating the aftermath of a zombie
apocalypse have unfortunately been no foreign sight in Merseyside since
the pandemic began, and Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus
hasn’t been an exception. No students leisurely strolling through the
leafy grounds with notepads in hand, or busy lecturers pacing to give
their next seminar. At least that was until the annual ANGEL FIELD
FESTIVAL rocked up and blew any sense of creative vacancy out of
the water. From musical performances and film screenings to sound
installations and a comedy show, the 10-day arts festival has everything
you could possibly want.
Angel Field is beloved for weaving together artistic talent from
across the globe while commemorating local Liverpudlian culture, and
musician John Lowndes has nailed the brief to a tee with his communitybased
sound installation, About Us – For Us. Using a juxtaposing
combination of field recordings from West Everton, voices of three
community members and phone calls from people in the area during
the pandemic, Lowndes’ participatory piece attempts to capture the
experiences of local residents over the last 15 months. The audience is
invited into a gloomy studio where five solitary speakers stand uniformly
apart; their intimidating glare is enough to draw you to the chairs sitting
sheepishly facing them so that you’re unavoidably eye-to-eye and
preparing to be confronted. An array of overwhelming and aleatory
noises fills every last space of the four walls, from conversational voices
and birds chirping to the startling alarm of sirens. The setting is minimal,
leaving relatively no visual experience which streamlines the auditory
senses, making this soundscape even more impactful.
Keeping with the regional theme, Liverpool-based feminist
performance company, Bite! Theatre grace the festival with their
politically humorous yet emotive presence as with their debut comedy
show, Pucker Up. Witty depictions of gender inequality, internalised
misogyny and oppressive stereotypes are on the menu for spectators
to lap up, and oh, how they do. This two-woman show is continuously
immersive and interactive, encouraging individuals in the audience to
participate and question their own role in upholding the patriarchal
systems we live in. It’s a rare occurrence to find a comedy performance
that successfully has you both laughing at your own deep-rooted
oppression to tearing up about the exact same subject in minutes, and
Bite! Theatre does it with flawless ease.
Continuing to satiate our hunger for female empowerment,
Michelle Yim showcases her powerful acting abilities as she brings
the legendary Chinese warrior, Hua Mulan, to life in solo theatre piece
The Ballad of Mulan. Performing an iconic Chinese legend by oneself
would undoubtedly be a challenging task for any actor, but Michelle
Yim effortlessly brings vigour, animation and passion to this unique
tale through an intensive monologue, reminiscing on some of the more
electrifying parts of Mulan’s story from gruesome battle scenes to
childhood memoirs. Positioned centre-stage and ready for war, Yim
takes the audience alongside her to re-enact one of Mulan’s more
heinous fights: gripping furiously at her spear, the actress begins an
increasingly fast stream of consciousness where she spills out her
monstrous views of corpses, the smells of smoke and perspiration,
and the sounds of whimpering from her fallen soldiers, occasionally
interrupted by a deafening war cry. It’s tense. It’s uncomfortable. It feels
slightly claustrophobic. But it most definitely leaves you feeling more
enlightened by Mulan’s courage, bravery and loyalty than the Disney
classic.
Liverpool Hope University has the award-winning theatre company,
Teatro Pomodoro to thank for drawing in one of the biggest audiences
to the Capstone Theatre since the pandemic began. With their sell-out
show, Sirens, Men and Crabs, spectators could be certain they were in
for a treat, and they weren’t wrong. Making the audience cripple with
laughter every 30 seconds, performers Carmen Arquelladas, Miwa
Nagai and Simone Tani execute a lively display that plays on blunt satire,
surrealism and Greek tragedy. Breaking the fourth wall is certainly a
common tactic demonstrated throughout the show, emphasising how
much both actors and audiences have missed those nostalgic, cordial
interactions. For a solid hour-and-a-half, the trio are able to keep a crowd
blissfully amused with their clowning brilliance and performative zeal.
The Creative Campus may have appeared soulless and lonesome
for the first half of 2021, but Angel Field Festival has unapologetically
burst through the doors with colour and vibrancy to ensure that the
second half doesn’t receive the same fate. Showcasing an array of talent
across a multitude of disciplines with pride and commitment, this year’s
rendition of the annual arts festival provides yet another example of how
creativity and culture in the city of Liverpool can revitalise any sombre
setting.
Bryony Large / @confessionsofanartjunkie
REVIEWS 47

REVIEWS
Domingo Higuan (Brian Roberts)
Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Online - 29/06
Liverpool Philharmonic’s end of June offering serves up an evening of ruthless
neo-classicism from Stravinsky, Ravel and Prokofiev. Despite the conceptual strand
throughout the programme being neo-classicism, by the end of the concert ‘contrast’
becomes the word to summarise the evening. But first, we delve straight into the deep
end with the ominous and quirky brass chirpings of Stravinsky’s Octet. Within the scope
of the evening, the piece marks itself as a more intense and agile take on the neoclassical
tradition. However, the intense interplay of brass motifs beckoning the galactic
presence of John Williams isn’t all that Stravinsky has to offer for the evening. For every
wide and dense climactic section, come thinner and more intimate sections hinting at
the sombre moments to come.
This is largely owing to the impactful premiere of DANI HOWARD’S trombone
concerto, which relentlessly alienates itself from the rest of the neo-classical musings,
but by doing so it becomes the emotional peak of the evening. It achieves this by
offering a three-movement depiction of the last 18 months we’ve all had to endure:
Realisation, Rumination, and Illumination, Dani explains in an interview with conductor
DOMINGO HINDOYAN, included in the on-demand package of the concert. Dani
focuses purely on the psychological impact of isolation, with the reflective pool of
rich sighing string motifs and PETER MOORE’s trombone calling each spectator to a
personal memory from the past troubled year. The three movements outline a deeply
personal journey for Dani, but its consistently vague and dreamy nature allows the
composition to resonate with anyone who hears it. Like a symbolist piece, it makes
the isolation of lockdown its object, a stroke of ambiguity that in turn encapsulates the
emotional journey of every musician and concert goer enduring the tides of isolation.
The ever-increasing intensity throughout each of the movements until the climactic
close of the final movement, brilliantly displays the desire for release we’ve all been
anticipating, and it’s only fitting we hear this piece now just as we might be getting it.
This transitions nicely to the serene woodwind swirls that glide us into Ravel’s
Le Tombeau De Couperin. This is a piece born out of its own darkened time, as each
movement is dedicated to a friend of Ravel who died during the First World War.
Despite being very much a part of the neo-classical tradition, in the context of the
evening, the piece stands as a sibling to Howard’s trombone concerto, as side by
side they are connected through their comparatively subtle approach and meditative
effect. Such dreamy and reflective music could have risked drifting off into the deepest
moments of lockdown isolation, but as Liverpool slowly but surely makes its way back
to normal, the contrast between the resurfaced casual chaos of our everyday lives and
the reflective music at the centre of the evening, starts to make its true impact and
meaning realised. The meditative and calming effect takes us out of our stressful lives
and brings us to a still and personal place that exists only within ourselves, and as the
world continues to open up, the strength of such cathartic and introspective orchestral
works will be further revealed.
To complete the cycle of neo-classicism though, we find ourselves back in the
deep end, with the grandiose finisher that is Prokofiev’s first symphony Classical. Short
and sweet as symphonies go, but by maintaining the animated flourishes of orchestral
interplay consistently throughout, the piece certainly puts a strong bow on the entire
proceedings. We’re left then with the consistent theme of neo-classicism, strongly
imprinted in the intro and outro, but with a core of comparatively pensive but cathartic
orchestrations that effortlessly reflect the audience’s lockdown journey back at them.
Luke Furlonger-Copeland
Domingo Higuan (Brian Roberts)
48

Max Cooper
Grand Central Hall – 03/07
Our eyes face forward. Two translucent vanilla canvases (one in front and one behind) stretch themselves
wide. MAX COOPER is nested in between them, his head illuminated with laptop light. Darkened figures sit
two by two on the marked fold-out seats around the hall of this former Methodist church. A gentle tide of
ambience laps our solitary shores as cream and blue coloured air pockets bubble and merge across the screens.
As images are traded between them, the projected light draws straight dimensions around Cooper’s desk
enclosing him. The first round of applause: and now he’s hidden.
Cooper has orbited around abstract themes for some time. His PhD in computational biology a blueprint
for his approach to music: methodical and structured – personal experiments conducted onstage with AV
apparatus.
Patterns keep transforming over beats with an ancient sensibility, an Aphex-like detachment which soothes
anticipation, and the screens unveil a stack of images dissolving to reveal the next. Masks unveil masks in a
feedback loop or a microcosmic flow chart: a rabbit hole into Euclidian space and its haunting fractals. The beat
spurs ahead.
Each performance is designed to echo similarities with the others, more like vignettes from a series than
chapters of a story. Now, riding the troughs and peaks, other faces look like they could be expecting a flare or
switch up. As serene visuals float onscreen, pinballing pulses glide across a softer four on the floor beat. As
it picks up there are claps of encouragement, but I’m fading out; what’s intentionally cyclical and repetitive is
turning stale. Maybe I expected too much.
What we get is a palette of sensory textures, a wider array of visual ones than sonic. The music grows
from ambient landscapes to more driving, mechanical, first-person propulsions but both sides employ variations
of formulae as they near their respective ends, not that this audience seems fazed. One member stands up to
enjoy a solitary but spirited pogo (take your opportunities where you find them).
An anthology tied together by ideas of the subliminal rhythms and patterns that occur across biology,
mathematics, art and design; it culminates in one large cycle of movement. It’s an attempt to represent the
simultaneously occurring movements and cycles that happen quicker than can be comprehended: death,
rebirth, ageing and transformation. For fans, this is a great show – enough of them here have snatched a video
for their memories – for the uninitiated though, it could turn tedious.
But then... there are these scattered points of total harmony. Moments when the spectral sound echoing
through the church chamber encircles you, ropes you back into the moment, emanating not from the speakers
anymore but the hall itself; walls and objects harmonise as select frequencies find their place to sing. Was this
planned? We’ll never know as our conductor-conduit vanishes under the last round of applause, leaving to
draw more schematics of his universe.
Samuel Lasley
30th September
IAMKYAMI
Seagoth
Furry Hug
Kazimier Stockroom
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Torture and the Desert Spiders
Future Yard
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REVIEWS 49

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THURSDAY 19TH AUGUST
ACADEMY 2
BILLIE MARTEN
WEDNESDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER
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JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR
SUNDAY 7TH NOVEMBER
ACADEMY 3
WE ARE SCIENTISTS
SATURDAY 27TH NOVEMBER
ACADEMY 2
NIRVANA TRIBUTE
SATURDAY 28TH AUGUST
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CRAZY P
FRIDAY 12TH NOVEMBER
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SATURDAY 2ND OCTOBER
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ARTISTIC
LICENCE
This month’s creative writing comes from Starkey the
Messenger, whose rallying poem champions the right to
protest amid the creeping retreat of individual liberties.
I’d risk everything for my freedom,
because the people that are
supposed to be protecting me
would risk my freedom to
protect their supremacy.
how many pence do we
spend on defence
for the sake of
risk
how many pens do they
build to cage our
citizens in the name of
risk
but couldn’t
risk a single
penny, couldn’t
write a single cheque
to save our future.
as i grow i’m learning that
in this world i’m equally
inevitable and inessential
but risk has
never been equitable.
freedom, protest and community
growth, progress and unity
have aged with history
like a timeless oak tree, and
the state wish to
rip its roots under
these sinister pretences and
national falsehoods...
but still we
spite our lives to
bite our tongue and
scream deafening silences to
cut our voices short of
calling them terrorists.
our freedom as we know it,
burning under our feet
as we’re rendered breathless by this
asphyxiating paradox of risk, and
still people risk everything to
jump from the
bleak cliffs of their fiction,
six feet deep into the
dark waters underneath,
sixfold over a thousand weeks
they’ve steepened...
so once more i pray
for my freedom to
gods i don’t believe in,
cause how else can i
find faith in a
world so fake?
a riot is a mindset.
because peace is a goal our
society can’t seem to
find yet.
good and evil,
love and war,
joy and sorrow,
peace and violence
will all tug relentlessly at each other
forever
until something gives
in the equilibrium of risk,
but what will we risk,
what will we
sacrifice to
save ourselves,
or when will we
have the guts to
sacrifice ourselves to
save what’s left.
a riot is a mindset.
because peace is a goal
we can’t rely on
anyone else to find but
us.
so i used to be
afraid of revolution,
but now I realise
it only means
risking everything
for a solution.
Words: Gabriel Starkey / @starkeymusic
52

THE FINAL
SAY
Liverpool City Region Music Board recently
produced their Black Lives Matter Manifesto,
a document with specific objectives to enact
impactful changes to increase diversity and
inclusion in the city’s music sector. In last
month’s Bido Lito!, artist iamkyami spoke of
her own experiences as a woman of colour and
the expectations and lack of opportunity which
came with that in this city. At a time when racism
has again hit the headlines, LCR Music Board’s
BLM subgroup chair Jennifer John sets out the
importance of the manifesto and the changes which
need to be made.
Everyone had a reaction to what happened in
America last year. We saw lots of positive
reactions, globally, to the horrific murder of
George Floyd. People were marching, calling for
zero tolerance and saying enough is enough. However,
the outrageous behaviour which happened as a result
of England’s defeat at the Euros final is a reminder that
racism hasn’t gone away. It’s still here for everyone to
see and we need to do something about it.
From the point of view of LCR Music Board, there
was never any doubt that we also needed to act for
our music sector. Since May 2020, there have been
many long conversations, which has led to the Black
Lives Matter Manifesto. But, for me, the creation of the
manifesto is just the beginning.
The manifesto sets out a set of intentions. Now the
work of the subgroup – and the partnerships that we
develop – begins and the proof will be in the pudding. It’s
in what we do next where we’ll see the changes. Within
the document there are timelines we are following to
demonstrate our commitment to effecting real change for
our music communities.
We’ve created a subgroup of 12 people that are
prominent Black professionals working within the sector.
We talk about how as a collective we need to be more
visible and show a united front to those who wish to
carve secure, respected and sustainable careers within
the music sector. We want to say to all people with
Black and brown skin that, actually, there is room for you
within this industry by making ourselves visible. This
way you can see yourselves reflected back. When you
look at us, we do represent you. You have a right to be
here and to excel in your chosen path and we are here
to give support, guidance and to reassure you that you
can be, do and have anything that your ambition and
creativity desires. It’s your human right.
One thing that needs to be recognised more is
that Black people exist in all genres of music. We can’t
marginalise ourselves further by the idea that Black
music is only certain genres. This is something which
chimes with the words of iamkyami in this magazine
last month. We exist in all musical forms and let’s talk
about that. We need to be seen to be as expansive
as we actually are; how we present ourselves needs
to reflect our contribution within all genres of music.
Not the commercial music sector only, for example. It
encompasses the worlds of classical, jazz, all the obvious
genres that you would expect and so much more if we’re
going to be truly representative. For me, it’s having a
breadth of understanding that Black contribution is
everywhere.
I know from personal experience how this
marginalised representation manifests itself. People see
my choir and presume, because there are more than two
Black faces, that we’re a gospel choir. We’re not. We can
turn our voices to everything and
have done. From our collaborations
with Damon Albarn in his opera
Monkey: Journey To The West,
when we sang operatic Cantonese
repertoire, through to our
imitations of insect life as a very
rare breed in Flies alongside Phil
Minton’s desire to create a Feral
Choir at the Southbank in London,
to strutting the stage singing
backing vocals for Take That at
Anfield and everything in between.
That is actually who we are, but
the assumption is always that
we are gospel singers. It’s really important that visibility
means visibility across all genres. My choir shouldn’t only
be asked to an event only because it’s a ‘Black event’ and
it shouldn’t be presumed that iamkyami can only play on
an RnB line-up.
In the manifesto, the Board sets out objectives such
as recognising the importance of Black people and Black
music in the city’s heritage. This may take the form of
a statue. For me, that’s a no-brainer. Why, on Mathew
Street, for example, is there no representation and no
“For me, it’s having
a breadth of
understanding that
Black contribution
is everywhere”
Black faces? Why are there still places where there’s
been no acknowledgement of the contributions of Black
people? We have to go to the powers that be and ask,
‘Why not?’. As a board, we should be looking at how we
can make that happen and we will.
The Board was put together with the support of
[Liverpool Metro Mayor] Steve Rotheram and is one of
the first independent boards of its kind in the country.
It’s industry-led rather than only bureaucratically-led.
The members all work professionally within the music
industry, in lots of different roles. It’s a very grassroots
approach, which means we’re proactive and we really
care. It’s not just ticking boxes. I am confident, based
on the conversations that we’ve been having for the
last two years, that there are real intentions to make
these changes and it’s not just lip
service. The next thing we’re going
to look at is gender equality. We’ve
got a whole programme of things
that have to do with creating
parity for people and getting rid of
the idea that there are those that
don’t have and those that have.
But this is just the start.
It’s about trying to create that
level playing field and being the
innovators. Liverpool has a great
reputation for being the first at so
many things and I wish to ensure
that we follow that tradition as
the trailblazers. The ones who have the courage and
conviction to stand up and be counted as the collective
who fought for change and won. !
As told to Sam Turner.
Photography: Sane Seven
Find the LCR Music Board’s Black Lives Matter Manifesto
at lcrmusicboard.co.uk/lcr-music-boards-black-livesmatter-manifesto
54

FUTURE YARD
75 ARGYLE STREET
TEAL, PORTAMENTO, RACHEL NICHOLAS, TORTURE AND THE DESERT SPIDERS | NATALIE AND THE MONARCHY, FOXEN CYN,
PERSIAN FURS, AMELIA WALLACE | THE CAUSEWAYS, AMBER JAY, RUBY WALVIN, MICKEY CALLISTO
DIVINITY
NEW CLUB NIGHT
BLANKETMAN
ZEE DAVINE + FRIENDS
SHIPWRECKED
SEAMUS FOGARTY
ALL-DAYER
FUTURE NOW
FEATURING MARIE DAVIDSON & L’ŒIL NU SCALPING
MELT TWO-D YOURSELF A DOWN Y FESTIVAL TOM RAVENSCROFT A S IN (DJ) DOOR + MORE AND
SONIC BOOM ELIJAH WOLF
MR BEN & THE BENS
PENELOPE TRAPPES
PETER BRODERICK SCOTT LAVENE
NUBIYAN TWIST VIRGINIA WING
CAROLINE MARLOWE ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES
IN THE DARK DEATHCRASH LAZARUS KANE
VANISHING TWIN HENGE BDRMM
HANYA NIHILOXICA MANU DELAGO
ISLANDMAN ATHLETIC PROGRESSION TOKKY
HORROR PONGO THE ALTERED HOURS
WESLEY GONZALEZ J. ZUNZ LEIFUR
JAMES SAM BROOKES BIG LAD
SPQR KEEP DANCING INC BIRKENHEAD
SOLD-OUT
FUTUREYARD.ORG

SUMMER 2021
Fri 23rd July - elrow at Bramley-Moore Dock - last few tickets
Jamie Jones, Skream, Detlef b2b Latmun
Purple Disco Machine, Tini Gessler, Amyelle
Sat 24th July - elrow at Bramley-Moore Dock - sold out
Jamie Jones, Paul Woolford, Richy Ahmed, Yousef
Tini Gessler, Amyelle
Fri 30th July - COCO Beats at 24 Kitchen Street - sold out
Sosa, Wheats
Sat 31st July - CIRCUS presents Black Box at Exhibition Centre - last few tickets
Marco Carola, Luciano, Yousef, Jaden Thompson
Cici, Lewis Boardman
Sat 14th Aug - CIRCUS at Bramley-Moore Dock - just announced
Carl Cox, Deborah De Luca, Yousef, East End Dubs
Syreeta, James Organ
Sat 21st Aug - CIRCUS at Invisible Wind Factory - resale tickets available
Sasha, James Organ, Lauren Lo Sung, Sian Bennett
Sat 28th Aug CIRCUS at Invisible Wind Factory
Laurent Garnier, Lewis Boardman
TICKETS ONLINE: SKIDDLE.COM