SONGBIRDS

Thanks to a certain person in a certain big white building in the USA, women’s rights have never been more precarious.

At the recent Women’s Marches following the inauguration of Donald Trump the message, by both male and female demonstrators, was that women’s rights are human rights and that “women won’t be Trumped”.

Sadly though, it appears it's still a man's man's man's world within the music industry. Artists including Bjork, Lady Gaga and Laura Mvula have been vocal about sexism in the industry, with Gaga speaking out about sexual assault and the desire to be taken more seriously as an intelligent and talented musician rather than being associated just with body image. A recent Guardian article reported that although women make up 59% of entry-level business roles, only 30% of women hold senior executive roles. 

But, there could be a change on the horizon. Music experts and celebrities alike are calling for women to be recognised in all aspects of the industry and Madonna's acceptance speech at the Billboard Women in Music 2016 event last year may have been deeply moving but was also rousing.

PRS for Music have previously reported that their membership of over 95,000 songwriters and composers is only 13% female and allegedly, there have been cases of female writers pitching songs under a male pseudonym to give themselves a better chance (very 19th century female author, don’t you think?). So, Laid Bare founder Rami Radi has started a campaign via 38 Degrees called #takehername to coincide with International Women’s Day on 8 March 2017. 

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The campaign is a call for action to encourage male artists to change their name across their social media platforms on IWD - to a female version of their name, in support of female musicians and songwriters in the industry. For IWD this year, women are being asked to ‘be bold for change’ but Rami wants to go one extra and encourage men to ‘change to be bold’.

You can be part of this amazing movement too. On Thursday 23 February 2017, Laid Bare will be staging an exciting event called Songbirds at London’s 93 Feet East on Brick Lanein support of this campaign and to challenge attitudes towards female musicians.

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It’s not just about activism on the night though - the event is also, importantly, about showcasing and celebrating technically gifted women in music who are excelling in their field. The all female line up will comprise of five London based musicians, and celebrated DJ, Jenn Crothers will playsome great tunes late into the night.

Laid Bare’s newest signing Sula Mae will launch her excellent new single, “Blind” on the evening. East London singer-songwriter Sula cites Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin as vocal influences. Her EP of the same name is largely influenced by the Bristol-bred Trip Hop sounds of Portishead, Massive Attack and Tricky. 

Also featuring are Cornish musician Polly Money who will showcase her melodious, sun-kissed voice and cheeky blend of pop and Bee Bakare whose upbeat, heartfelt tracks have earned her winner of the Future Music Songwriting Competition 2017. Completing the Songbirds all-female line up will be Brixton born and bred Elisa Imperilee whose debut EP is a melting pot of soul, R&B, jazz and hip-hop, and AutumnMusic who builds intricately-layered vocal loops live on stage, weaving her stories and experiences into songs that make her part singer, part producer, part poet.

It’s set to be an amazing evening - but with a purpose. “With almost 90% of the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame being made up of male musicians we need to move on from pigeon-holing female musicians by image and understand that good musicianship is all that counts” says Rami. 

Closing, with Madonna. In her BillBoard acceptance speech she called on women to “start appreciating our own worth, and each others worth” and encouraged them to “…seek out strong women to befriend, to align yourself with, to learn from, to be inspired by. To collaborate with. To support. To be enlightened by.

Songbirds is a very good place to start.

Songbirds takes place on Thursday 23 February 2017 at 93 Feet East, 150 Brick Lane, E1 6QL.

Doors: 19.00. FREE ENTRY

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We're Raving, We're Raving

Since our baby Evan was born life has been inevitably tumbled upside down. Late nights and bar hopping may have been replaced with even later nights and hopping from his bedroom to ours as we pray sleep will come soon, but I’ve thrown myself into parenthood head first and love every minute of it.

Yet since weathering the storm of the insane newborn days and finally mastering the introduction of solid foods (I NEVER WANT TO SEE A SWEET POTATO AGAIN), I’ve been relieved to discover it’s just about possible to do some of the old stuff we love to do with our little man in tow - just a slightly pared down version of it.

We’ve viewed some Bourgeois at the Tate Modern. We’ve pelted around breathlessly at Buggy Fit. We’ve perfected our downward facing dogs at Mums and Babies Yoga. Evan has even accompanied me to an interview on assignment for music magazine RockShot, for which I’m a contributing writer. But we’re yet to combine our love of raving/dancing/going to NIGHTCLUBS* with our love of Evan assuming, quite reasonably, that the two did not mix. (*I’m pretty certain they’re not called that any more).

Until now that is. A few weeks back we were invited to a Big Fish Little Fish event in my original ‘hood, South London, and we literally jumped at the chance. 

BFLF is an award-winning event that gives adults the opportunity to take a break from the norm and ‘rave on’ with their family. It’s a creative and exciting music and dance party for the post-rave generation of parents with children aged between 0-8 years old. Not only can you expect big name DJs, fancy dress themes, a licensed bar and club visuals, there’s free glowsticks and transfer tattoos, a licensed bar and baby chill out areas. Oh, there’s also a licensed bar. Did I say that already?

It’s the brainchild of founder Hannah Saunders who realised there was nothing to take her children to that would be relaxing, entertaining and daft but also where the adults could enjoy themselves as much as the kids. Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely love taking Evan to the Toy Library but sometimes there’s only so much Five Little Ducks you can take in one week. By blending their experience of being seasoned clubbers and parents, the BFLF team have grown the event from a monthly party in Brixton in 2013 to a major player on the family arts scene and an expanding force to be reckoned with. It takes place in large cities all across the UK, at special events such as at Selfridges on London’s Oxford Street and this year will see them take their mini-festival experience to Camp Bestival.

BFLF is always held in interesting and quirky venues and for our Sunday afternoon rave, we headed off to The Bedford in Balham, an old haunt of mine known for comedy and live music as well as booze. The main gig took place in The Globe Theatre, shaped “in the round” which is a remarkable space and the perfect setting for a party.

On arrival and once we’d made use of the baby change available (Evan makes me work for my free time), I literally could not believe my ears and eyes. The dance floor was illuminated and the room decorated spectacularly with technicolour balloons and glitter. There were bubble machines, glitter cannons and club visuals as a backdrop, including the BFLF logo which is a cheery, lime-green take on the discernible smiley icon. The glitter cannon spurted out a mass of sparkly ticker tape with one big bang and this elicited a huge cheer from the baby rave massive, and me, as I nearly cried with excitement at the sheer joy of BEING OUT SOMEWHERE WITH BEER AND MUSIC.

Ah, the music. BFLF don’t mess about with the tunes. There’s no iPod on shuffle or muffled Spotify playlists from a tinny device here. The heartbeat of a BFLF event is a live DJ spinning an eclectic mix of dance music - like house, rave, hip hop, ska, techno, disco, UK garage, drum’n’bass, dubstep, grime - and big names such as J Food, Mixmaster Morris, Hatcha and Slipmatt to name many. At The Bedford, it was DJ Eddy Temple-Morris who treated us to deep baselines and whose highlights for me personally included  Origin Unknown’s Valley of the Shadows and Dead Prez’s It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop. I got a little too excited by NRG’s I Need Your Lovin and if Evan was old enough he definitely would have been embarrassed.

Taking a break from dancing and embarrassing myself so my husband could glide through the bustling crowd and let loose on the dance floor, I went for a mooch around. I discovered a craft area with themed crafts, a giant colouring mural and play-doh table, a homemade cake stall with delights from Captain Cookie and a Villa Pia baby chillout with soft mats beanbags and ball-pool. I also stopped by the bar where two Dads had their daughters propped up on said bar, a baby in one hand and a beer in another, and were reminiscing about Bagleys in Kings Cross before Granary Square and gentrification arrived. As Eddie played another cracker, an overexcited Dad yelled ‘TUNE!' enthusiastically to his friend and I fought the urge to shout back in agreement.

When I was a 20-something I hated it when the night was over and I’m no different now as a 30-something. Sadly it was nearly time to go home. We used to be 24-hour party people but now we must adapt and, thanks to BFLF, we’re 2-4 hour people. As the last tune played out, a marvellous parachute dance took place on the dance floor as Evan chewed on his glowstick and a bunch of scarily-cool young girls attempted to flog me a glowstick for one pound, the entrepreneurs of the future right there.

We put on our raving shoes and boarded the car, and miraculously my little fish slept all the way home back to E17. Me and my big fish Alex reminisced about our clubbing days and played Ratpack at a volume so as to be frivolous but not wake the baby.

BFLF work tirelessly to make sure each event is unique and this party was no different. It’s been described as ‘responsible irresponsibility’ and I think this is a fitting portrayal. It was quirky, loud-enough-to-be-fun-but-still-at-safe-volume-levels and a massive great heap of fun. I‘d read some reviews of the event for blog research and a 6-year old BFLF first-timer said it was, simply, “the best day of my whole life”.  I’m with the 6-year old on this one.

There were so many things I loved about Big Fish Little Fish; the music, seeing Evan grinning and looking around in wonder and dancing to old rave tunes. On reflection though, what I really loved the most was the opportunity to be out-out with my husband. To be like our old selves again, to be people as well as parents. Being sleep-deprived and passing like ships in the night, it’s so hard to carve out time for ourselves to laugh, dance and feel liberated. BFLF let us do that on a Sunday February afternoon in Balham and we had a blast.

I highly recommend it. Go get your rave on. 

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BORN AT DAWN: FOCUSED, EFFORTLESS, PERSONAL STYLE.

I’m an adopted East Londoner, having lived in Walthamstow since 2008 (when I announced to my long-suffering husband, then-boyfriend, that I would be moving in with him for two weeks until I found my own place and NOT A WEEK MORE).

Fortunately for me, I never left and eight years later I’m still rinsing the life out of E17 and discovering exciting new things. Spaces including The William Morris Gallery, Central Parade and The Mill E17 have created a hub for creative thinking and working, and with the continued expansion and redevelopment it looks like the innovation just keeps on coming.

I thought I knew the ‘Stow quite well but I didn’t realise just how many creatively-minded folk actually hung out here. By the power of Instagram and my love of all things sartorial, I recently stumbled across womenswear website BORN AT DAWN and was excited to discover that (a) its founder, Lucy Knights (@magpie_fashion), is based in Walthamstow after migrating from the North of England (b) there were so many things about her style, her creative outlook and the impressive way she balances motherhood, work and general life that I could relate / aspire to and (c) the concept and thinking behind the brand is right up my street.

So what is BORN AT DAWN? It’s a multi-brand e-commerce website launching in early 2017 that promises to offer rising fashion and accessible luxury. With the current deluge of womenswear websites available - but with differing and sometimes questionable price, quality and style - BORN AT DAWN heralds the beginning of a new way to shop.

There’s lots of things that made Lucy’s brand stand out for me and piqued my interest in its launch next year…

• It will be focused. As a busy working parent herself with limited time but a desire to be on trend, Lucy knows all about the importance of maximising the time available to you. So BORN AT DAWN will be carefully curated to ensure only desirable, must-have items are stocked and align with women’s busy lifestyles.

• It will be effortless and represent go-to, easy to wear pieces that we all want hanging proudly in our wardrobe. Lucy promises to hunt down pieces that are beautiful but versatile, and also allow us to glide effortlessly from day to night - always a winner. The collection promises items that can be worn ten times or more which in turn helps to decrease the cost per wear and justify the investment. Plus, they’ll match many of the staples most women already have lurking in their closets -  a huge bonus.

• It will be personal. Lucy is offering a personal shopping element to the collection (available in selected areas) where customers will have the opportunity to book an evening to view the collection and receive expert saying advice, and host a trunk show in the luxury of their own home with friends round for a ‘Born at Dawn Night In’. (I hear prosecco corks popping).

Lucy has spent the majority of her career specialising in luxury fashion retail, and having worked with Harrods on their womenswear sales and strategy prior to conceiving BORN AT DAWN, it’s safe to say she’s an authority on all things elegant.

So it comes as no surprise that one of the most exciting elements of BORN AT DAWN is the range of brands that feature as part of the collection, many of which are Scandinavian and French inspired and so naturally exude that timeless, effortless look.

Brands include Samsoe & Samsoe, Selected Femme and Mads Norgaard and the very cool Maison Scotch - based in Amsterdam and known for scouring the globe to discover unique pieces - which has me particularly animated. Eager shoppers can expect beautiful shirts, soft sweatshirts, easy embroidered kaftans and summer dresses when the brand launches for SS17. Also, 2NDDAY, the Danish progressive womenswear label whose foundation is denim, leather and tailoring and part of the Day Birger et Mikkelsen group features as part of the BORN AT DAWN collection for SS17 and will offer special leather pieces, jumpsuits and perfect boyfriend jeans. Simply heavenly.

BORN AT DAWN and what it stands for spoke to me on many levels. I've reached a point where in my *ahem* mid-late 30s, I seem to be busier than ever and juggling a huge mound of stuff. This doesn’t mean my enthusiasm for fashion has dissipated, quite the opposite, but I simply don’t have time to embark on long shopping trips or spend hours browsing loads of websites. Sometimes, I’m lucky if I can have a wee.

I still want to be on trend but sometimes outfits need to be versatile as I mostly have a wriggly, dribbly baby attached to me and dash around at full pelt. I’ve always had a preference for the experimental and as I’ve got older and wiser my sartorial choices are (hopefully) a little more refined. I’ve never been a fan of the over-done look and favour a minimalist, clean aesthetic that labels like The Finery London and & Other Stories offer, or Jenna Lyons and those super cool Scandi girls radiate. Crucially, on a maternity leave budget I need mid-range prices but with undiluted quality and need to feel that by dipping into my savings to buy the odd piece it’s at a price and quality I can justify.

Lucy explained that the brand's woman is “…a strong, down to earth, creative, social individual. She is confident, accomplished and successfully balances the many different roles she has in her life”. It’s like someone has tapped into my brain and discovered what I’m aspiring to be.

BORN AT DAWN and Lucy’s vision could not have come at a better time for me. My little baby boy is now six months old and whilst he keeps me completely on my toes, I think I’m...gulp...ready to fully embrace fashion again. Yes! Bloggers like Dress Like A Mum and Mother Pukka have realised that many new Mums, like myself, struggle with their identify after having children and are striving to change the bad reputation of Mum dressing. The struggle is real - I’ve lost my nerve and am stuck in a uniform of feeding-functional, easy-to-fling on garb but I'm starting to rebel.

So, here’s to the power of creativity and accessible luxury. Wishing you all the best Lucy and I can’t wait to experience BORN AT DAWN when it launches next year.

I’m excited to dress like me again.

BORN AT DAWN LAUNCHES IN FEBRUARY 2017

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Don Letts at Punk London and a very special trip on the London Eye...

Punk.London has crashed noisily into London, bringing with it a year of events, gigs, films, talks, exhibits and more. All in celebration of 40 years of punk, the genre-busting cultural phenomenon that allowed a whole generation to speak up without submission.

The capital’s cultural organisations will tell the story of punk through art, design, film, fashion, literature, photography and, of course, music - fantastic.

Fittingly, it's not without controversy; Joe Corré, son of late Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and Designer and Businesswoman Dame Vivienne Westwood is planning to burn his collection of punk memorabilia, estimated to be worth around £5m, in protest that Punk.London has been backed by The Queen. “The Queen giving 2016, the year of punk, her official blessing is the most frightening thing I’ve ever heard. Talk about alternative and punk culture being appropriated by the mainstream". A true demonstration of anarchy or a bit of a spoilsport? You decide.

One of the many features that intrigues me the most is Don Letts Presents Punk on Film at the BFI on 1 August 2016. Director, DJ and musician Letts will host his curated season of exciting films that highlight the diversity of the punk movement, including the intersections between the Jamaican music scene and punk. Not to be missed.

Last summer I took a captivating trip on the London Eye to hear him open his mind (and heart) about the iconic Joe Strummer, co-f0under of The Clash, as part of the 32 Londoners series on assignment for RockShot Magazine.

It seemed a good time to revisit my exciting trip...

I’m ashamed to admit a mild fear of heights. On a supposedly ordinary Tuesday evening, as I gazed up at the gigantic Ferris wheel looming on London’s Southbank, all 135m of it framed by a glorious blue sky, I started to wonder if I had the stomach for it.

I needn’t have worried. Any acrophobic fears evaporated as I hopped on board The Eye just as the capsule doors closed and the sight of the indelible Don Letts came into view. It was clear this was no ordinary Tuesday evening.

I was embarking on a very special rotation for a preview of 32 Londoners, returning following last year’s sell out programme. The prestigious event features 32 talks held in each of the London Eye’s 32 capsules on 32 extraordinary Londoners. This year’s subject is Adopted Londoners, with expert speakers celebrating iconic figures, past and present, who were born outside of the city but came to be associated with it.

With its great history of cultural diversity, London has long been a beacon, attracting the great and the good to its streets. No more fitting a subject than the fascinating Joe Strummer of The Clash, punk rock’s most political vocal outfit, and whose story remains a permanent feature in London’s rich tapestry. Who better to captivate the audience with his story than British musician, DJ and film director Don Letts, born and bred in the city, and a strong influence on the band.

As we orbited, Letts opened his story with references to his Grammy Award winning film The Clash: Westway to the World and Julien Temple’s film Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten. We were introduced to Strummer’s exotic childhood spent in several different countries thanks to his British Diplomat father, a strained relationship with his non-musical parents and feelings of abandonment.

We got a sense of what built Strummer’s character – exposure to multifarious cultures from a young age, the rebellious streak caused by a loss of faith in formal education and subsequent immersion into music and a ruthless desire for reinvention inspired by the sounds of rock and roll and American folk hero Woody Guthrie. Letts asked the captive audience to draw our own conclusions from life-changing events in the musician’s life; like the correlation between the suicide of his National Front supporting older brother and Strummer’s lifelong fight against racism.

London didn’t disappoint with its magnificent views (as standard) and neither did the orator as he gave us a musical history lesson, bringing the lecture to life with vivid imagery. Strummer listening to Big Youth’s Screaming Target (supposedly on acid one Christmas in Wales) and his first proper band the 101ers, so called after the address of the squat they were living in, 101 Walterton Road.

We went back to 1976; the 101ers playing at the Nashville Room, supported by an unknown new band, the Sex Pistols, where Strummer first caught the eye of Mick Jones and Paul Simonon. History in the making right there and then, as they realised Strummer had the makings of a dynamic frontman and was possibly their missing link. We learnt about Strummer’s radical and ruthless move to join The Clash, including cutting off friends, band members and girlfriends and undertaking a legendary 200 plus drummer auditions to find the vehicle that would make him famous.

With an obvious interest in style (his London clothing store Acme Attractions enticed the likes of the Clash, Sex Pistols and Chrissie Hynde in the mid-1970s), Letts remarked how Simonon was responsible for the most part with the look of the Clash which, to his mind, was inseparable from their sound in a very English way; ‘they looked like they sounded, they sounded like they looked and with Mick Jones, Joe had found his McCartney, his Richards’.

Letts had an articulate and thespian delivery; it was impossible not to be enthused as he referred to The Clash as ‘four sticks of dynamite. They looked good, oozed attitude, sounded f*cking awesome and importantly their songs were about stuff’. With songs like White Riot and London’s Burning, their music seemed like the soundtrack for the climate of the times; ‘music of the people, by the people, for the people’.

There was a noticeable twinkle in his eye as he talked about songs that dealt with politics, social injustice, cultural apathy. As The Eye sliced through the London skyline, Letts took us through important milestones in the Clash’s rich history; signing for CBS in January 1977 which the punk rock purists thought signified the death of punk, the eponymous debut studio album for the label which included a cover of Junior Murvin’s Police & Thieves) and the influence behind one of their most enduring songs (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais; written by Strummer after Letts took him to the infamous venue.

He reminisced about their third album London Calling with lyrics he described as having a ‘musical reportage quality about it’ and their fourth triple album, Sandinista!, which they promoted in 1981 with a historic and exhausting 17-night back to back stint at Bond International Casino in New York. They were supported by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, who the audience welcomed with boos, but Strummer and the band were quick to run out and defend theirs guests. They were way ahead of their game before the explosion of hip hop and rap a few years later.

By 1982, America was under their spell with the release of the last proper Clash album, Combat Rock but when Letts talked about cracks showing in the band’s exterior – drug habits, a relentless work rate, Strummer going into hiding and the eventual disbanding in 1986, he drew from his own personal experiences and appeared genuinely sombre. We heard about the formation of the Mescaleros in the 1990s and releasing Rock Art and the X-Ray Style and Global a Go-Go, and Strummer finding his mojo again by the end of the 20th century; something, Letts noted, he didn’t think he’d ever really seen.

Inevitably, the magic had to end. Strummer’s last stage performance in 2002 was a benefit for the striking fireman, at the Acton Town Hall in London, the show that would also see him play with Mick Jones for the first time in almost 20 years. Sadly, Strummer passed away a few months later with an undiagnosed heart defect at the age of 50. At his funeral, attended by two dozen firemen in full uniform who he had played for earlier that month, a stetson sat on top of the coffin adorned with the words Question Authority. Ask me Anything.

The event was undeniably informative, but it was the way Letts peppered the talk with anecdotes and personal memories delivered with a smile in that rich, distinctive London accent (like when Strummer ran off with his girlfriend) that made it so endearing. He gave us a unique insight into the real Joe; someone who spent all night after gigs talking to anybody that wanted to speak to him with a ‘never ending source of relentless energy that was absolutely infectious’. An interest in what punk rock could be, as opposed to what it was. Someone who was far from perfect but that was OK to Letts; that meant keeping Strummer’s memory alive in a practical and very real way – something to aspire to.

Most powerfully for me was how Letts presented Strummer’s legacy as a constant inspiration. ‘Because he believed in music as a tool for social change, not just a soundtrack to passive consumerism. Because he was living proof that music didn’t just reflect change, it could affect change too’. The audience enthralled, he asked us, to consider ‘…in this cultural climate that feels like punk rock that didn’t happen where are the Joe Strummer’s of today?’

As our very special rotation drew to a close and we touched back down again in 2015, Letts ended his speech with a simple denouement, gazing out at the city surrounding us in all its glory. ‘Strummer, The Don salutes you’.

As do we, Don Letts, as do we. Thanks for the memories.

This feature first appeared on RockShot here.

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London Event - Launch of Anatomy of a Soldier

"It's marvellously told and this way of telling it ... giving the inanimate a voice ... is both engrossing and distancing and I know of nothing quite like it". (Alan Bennett)

Last night I braved the Leicester Square hordes (and swiftly ducked down Cecil Court to elude them), and joined Faber & Faber and Goldsboro Books for the launch of Harry Parker's Anatomy of a Soldier, Goldsboro's March Book of the Month.

Anatomy of a Soldier has gained recognition over the past few weeks, with deservedly glowing reviews, tweets and features on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Breakfast News to name a few. I had been lucky to read a preview at the end of 2015 and was deeply moved by this astonishing novel. I was waiting for it to be Parker’s time and with a US publishing deal and the book being translated into other languages, it looks like that time is now.

Former Rifles Captain Harry Parker was on foot patrol in Afghanistan when he stepped on an IED (improvised explosive device) and lost his left leg. A subsequent infection later claimed his right leg and despite life-changing injuries, extensive operations and having to learn to walk again, he now moves confidently on prosthetics.

His debut novel is a work of fiction, rather than personal memoir, but draws on his own experiences in the conflict zone. It introduces us to Captain Tom Barnes, mostly known as BA5799, who is blown up by an IED while returning from patrol. We learn of the lead up to his injury, the aftermath, the local people and insurgents who planted the bomb and the friends and family that rally around him.

Yet, what makes Anatomy of a Soldier so extraordinary is the way Parker has chosen to narrate it - rather than offering us straightforward characters, instead forty-five inanimate objects provide the novel’s voice. These objects, including surgical equipment, his mother’s handbag and a pair of trainers worn by an insurgent cleverly show us the complexities and barbarity of war.

It’s unusual, I know, but it has to be read to be believed.

“It is a novel of concentrated ferocity and chilling accomplishments, tense and unflinching but alive to every nuance of feeling" (Hilary Mantel)

Generally speaking, I don’t tend to choose books about conflict, finding them a little too brutal and I can’t deny I had preconceptions when I started Anatomy of a Soldier. These assumptions dissipated by the end of the first chapter - Parker is a terrifically skilled writer, and his portrayal has great empathy and intelligence. Chapters seamlessly switch between the battlefield, the hospitals and treatment rooms, his family home and the pub with great effect.

Undoubtedly, the descriptions of Barnes’ injuries are shocking (‘the green blankets were flat where limbs should have been’) and there are heart-in-mouth moments throughout; exchanges between Barnes and other injured patients, when friends come to visit his family home to share a beer and he falls out of his wheelchair, and England, with its beauty, its tantalising familiarities and normality being so far away - surely none of us can imagine how that feels.

Parker’s depiction of the detonation (recounted by the bomb itself) creates a sad juxtaposition for the reader - the sky a dome of stars as the dry mud about the bomb flexes, cracks down and pushes its metal strips together, creating a circuit that filled its wires. It functions, and all thoughts of glimmering stars are forgotten.

The objects themselves allow you to get close to the action, but at the same time you remain comfortably distant; numbly removed from the horror. At times they sound hostile and dangerous.  The ending genuinely had me in tears. It reminded me that war is senseless - there are no real winners.

Surrounded by beautifully preserved first editions in Goldsboro’s bookshop, and after being introduced by Faber & Faber Editor Lee Brackstone, Parker spoke a few words of appreciation for those who had helped Anatomy of a Soldier come to life. He seemed visibly moved by the attention.

Afterwards I took the plunge and introduced myself to the author while I could; understandably everyone wanted to snatch a few words with him. I found Parker to be humble and self-deprecating; honestly, if I had even an ounce of his intelligence and modesty and had been able to transform an unthinkable experience into a moving, inspiring and unique novel I'd basically be a massive show off. Anatomy of a Soldier is an extraordinary, imaginative debut that draws on great humanity and heroism, about surviving the unsurvivable.

During his short speech, Parker said ‘I wish the book could talk, not me’. ‘It does’ said a representative from Goldsboro Books and I couldn't agree more.

Read this book, please.

Anatomy of a Soldier by Harry Parker is out now. (Faber & Faber)

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Laid Bare Live - Winter Rooftop Vibes

A few weeks back (ARGH, WHERE DID JANUARY GO?) I had the pleasure of spending the night at Century, a members club hidden behind a inconspicuous door on London's Shaftesbury Avenue.

I was there not just to revel in the swish surroundings but specifically for Laid Bare Live, a brilliant live music night offering up the best unsigned musicians, singers and poets this great city has produced and providing a platform for up-and-coming talent to play to the masses. Luckily for the music heads, it's a regular monthly event and I think you should check it out.

Firstly, some history. Laid Bare Live began as an open mic night in 2013 at The Ritzy in Brixton, South London organised by the polymathic Rami Radi - a Brixton-based musician, producer and mixer, editor, podcast host and cameraman. Rami was inspired by his time organising music nights at university and participating in open mic nights in London. With drive and passion, in time he developed the event into an acoustic night called Laid Bare Live, sourcing and securing a multifarious group of talented acts along the way.

Laid Bare has been going strong for two years and in January Rami built on its strong foundations with the creation of a record label called Laid Bare Records. The label recently celebrated its first EP release from singer-songwriter Chris Belson, the exquisite Moon Songs, with a sound being compared to Radiohead.

Laid Bare Live now boasts additional residencies at eclectic venues such as Brixton East, Fu Manchu Bar and Hackney Attic. Each show is carefully curated by Rami with quality performances from local artists showcasing their talent.

My first Laid Bare experience was memorable. Century club is beautiful in its own right, boasting four floors including a cocktail lounge, two restaurants, a screening bar and a performance stage but Rami’s decision to host his event up on the covered roof terrace, apparently Soho’s largest, was inspired. 

With exposed brickwork chimneys, a scattering of fairy lights and unbeatable views of London Town in all its glory, when you reach the top you have to stop and take it all in for a minute before even thinking about the bar. It's intimate without being poky and with lanterns emanating a warm wintry glow it creates the perfect setting for great live music. 

With the quality of musicians on offer, a guest list available at just £3 upon request and THAT venue it’s easy to see why Rami draws a crowd - and a friendly, unpretentious one at that, happily chatting in between acts and grabbing a beer. 

On the night all the artists and their acoustic sets were brilliant, but it was Daniel Greenwood whose music seemed to stay with me afterwards. He has a lovely Dylan-esque sound, plays the harmonica like a pro, and his cover of Ryan Adams’ Come Pick Me Up had me scrambling around on YouTube to hunt it down.

The next Laid Bare event is at Century on Thursday 18 February 2016 and will feature Harry Pane (catch him before he plays at Glastonbury this year) William Poyer, Archie Sylvester and Days are Done.  

Doors open at 7pm, don’t be late now…

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Walthamstow Rock'n'Roll Book Club: David Cavanagh bids Good Night to John Peel

Saturday 31 October 2015, Waterstones, Walthamstow, London

Please don’t hate me, but the truth is I didn’t listen to the John Peel Show.

In fear of retribution I present my defence. His entire Radio 1 career spans my life on earth so far. When I was born in 1978, John had already broadcast 11 years of his Top Gear programme and was 3 years into the John Peel Show. I have no idea what I was doing in my teenage years either, probably piddling about on Capital Radio, and I’m disappointed my all-consuming love for music and the fact I chomped through Smash Hits on a regular basis didn’t naturally fling me in his direction.

I am, though, old enough and curious enough to know exactly who John Peel is. To recognise his warm and distinctive tones in the rare moments they are revived, to remember him presenting the occasional Top of the Pops and to resolutely understand why he was, and remains, so fundamentally important to music.

My husband, a Senior Designer at Faber & Faber, gave me the heads up about David Cavanagh’s book Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to Shape Modern Life. I immediately added it to my Social Media Diet booklist, where it currently waits in the wings. My interest in John had already been piqued a few months back on holiday where I devoured Caitlin Moran’s smashing How to Build a Girl in one greedy sitting. The protagonist, inquisitive music-head and coming-of-age heroine Johanna Morrigan, reads about the legendary John Peel and his illustrious sessions on Radio 1 at her local library. The description of Johanna plugging in her Dad’s huge headphones in the radio when the rest of the house is asleep, using the Radio Times tuning information to find Radio 1 and finally, at 97.2 FM, finding a Liverpudlian drawl is so delightful it made me want to weep and laugh in equal amounts. 'This is it' Johanna says 'I’m in the door! This is Uncle Peel, of whom they all speak! I am, finally, going to hear the counter-culture of 1990 for the first time! This is where it all hangs out!’.

So when I stumbled across Walthamstow Rock'n'Roll Book Club's event on Twitter that would feature David Cavanagh’s book, and realised the author would be present (and red wine would be served), well, it was a no-brainer. The creation of Mark Hart, fellow Stow resident and self-proclaimed music-head, Saturday’s rollicking book club took place at Waterstones, on the toasty upper level that contrasted beautifully with a misty and crisp Halloween evening outside.

Being in a bookshop at night, after-hours, for me is the equivalent of being a kid in a sweet shop. I listened keenly at the front as Mark introduced David with a fitting preface before the author read the first of four extracts from the book.

He effortlessly whooshed us back through time. To 1969, where John Peel was playing the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revival, David Bowie, Elton John and Marc Bolan. While Radio 1 concentrated on playing chart hits, John was playing album tracks on a Sunday afternoon like a renegade. Onto 1979 and Neil Young has released his album On the Beach. Labelled by Rolling Stone Magazine as “one of the most despairing albums of the decade.” John heard re-birth, not despair and, using what David affectionately described as a ‘Peelian term’, appraised it as ‘a handsome work’.

To 1987 where John’s show has been shamefully reduced from five days a week to three. Rough Trade Records has announced that Johnny Marr has left The Smiths today and, in John’s world, this is a huge crisis (he did bring The Smiths to Radio 1 after all). He said ‘…how this is going to work out frankly I can’t imagine, I’d prefer not to try and imagine it, I must confess but it seems to have been determined and that’s the way things are going to be and we just have to sit back and see what happens’. For him, it wasn't simply the departure of a key band member, it was a bereavement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QYu9yzr0Ao

Lastly to 1993, where a poll reveals the country is dissatisfied with a John Major-led Tory government, and it is the heyday of dance music. A young and enterprising Pete Tong has first dibs of all the new tracks, like the latest New Order, before Peel, and wears the sharpest suits. John stubbornly wears t-shirts of indie bands who had split in 1991 and plays Radiohead, Pulp, Cornershop and Therapy.

I found David's session instructive as well as compelling. I learnt new stuff, and stuff I thought I knew and then had validated. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of John Peel (I guess that’s what close listening to circa 600 shows does for you; 260 were selected to feature in the book) and could proudly recite Peelian morsels off the top of his head with a warm and assured delivery, and cracking sense of humour to boot.

This is what I learnt. John was an independent thinker which did not always coincide with the thoughts and opinions of the music press. He would play Billy Bragg in direct support of the miner’s strike. He loved all genres of music and brought punk, post-punk and indie as well as African, Hip Hop and Dancehall to the masses. He had no favourite ‘era’ and wanted to avoid appearing anachronistic. He believed music belonged to women as much as it did to men. He was the first to play Grandmaster Flash’s The Message on UK radio in 1981. He liked rap. For the students, the school kids who wanted to make sense of the world he would treat them with intelligence and give them the chance to hear what was underground. His approach to the microphone was warm, discursive, self-deprecating and his delivery created a unique relationship with the audience. His rueful digressions were as entertaining as some of the records he played, like when he apologised for leaving his glasses on the train. The Fall were his favourite band of all time.

John Peel died 11 years ago, in 2004, at the age of 65. ‘The day the music died’ was how his untimely death was described by the Evening Standard that afternoon. The artists he had played, one by one, came forward which signified just how important he was.

When pressed by Mark why he had written the book, David said the question wasn’t necessarily why, but why it had taken him so long. A friend, in the hazy Olympian Summer of 2012, had sent him an email with a link to a John Peel show in 1980. He found it not just nostalgic, but significant. It was a two hour piece of radio history. He talked about sentences forming in his head without him helping it and rather than writing a short piece for a newspaper, he wanted to write tens of thousands of words. He noted that when viewing the song list for the Olympic's Opening Ceremony, Danny Boyle and Underworld had gone not for obvious Brian May, or George Michael, but instead Pink Floyd and Tubular Bells. It was in effect a John Peel show. It was for the mavericks.

David thanked the audience for listening and Mark invited them to share their Peel moments. An eclectic bunch and clearly music-heads themselves, there were mixed experiences and fond memories. One guy had been jabbed with a pen by John at a record fair while another remembers fondly voting in The Festive Fifty. One man’s mother listened to John Peel’s Home Truths religiously, one lady wrote John’s obituary and Mark himself had a gem - he was in a band and had the honour of having their record played on the John Peel Show, but sadly John was sick so his stand in, Steve Lamacq, did the honours instead.  Crushing.

Despite the tantalising suggestion of a lock-in, sadly Waterstones had to shut and the night was over; the spell was broken. I considered what I’d heard on the walk home. John Peel was clearly a key post-war British cultural figure and his contribution was immeasurable. He came from a mythical era where DJs wielded the power, had the influence to change young kids' lives and set a band on the right trajectory before their music crossed over to the national mainstream. When it was vital for a song to be played on the radio, rather than becoming pervasive on social media in a matter of seconds.

I may not have been there in the glory days, I may not have really understood the relevance of The Festive Fifty until that night, but I have a greater appreciation of John Peel’s influence and an appetite to learn more. His show went beyond the music played - it reflected how the nation felt at the time, was a chronicle of social history and demonstrated how his tastes and thinking changed over the years to keep him at the cutting edge.

Quite simply, John Peel helped to shape modern life.

Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to Shape Modern Life

WALTHAMSTOW ROCK N ROLL BOOK CLUB 

JOHN PEEL WIKI

Bradley Theodore exhibits in London

One of the things I love, and always have loved about this majestic city is how day turns seamlessly into evening with fascinating consequences. London's inky nights often throw something your way you couldn't have predicted in a sleepy haze at 6am that morning.

Last night was a case in point. I thought post-work Thursday would serve up a long overdue dinner in Granary Square with two of my very special friends. Instead, I found myself gazing up at the work of celebrated New York City street artist Bradley Theodore and his bold, vibrant images at Old Brompton Gallery, SW5.

Hobnobbing with a medley of photographers, artists and curious art lovers (and some RIDICULOUSLY good looking people may I add) I cursed myself for (a) not giving my overall appearance a bit more thought as I tugged at my Whistles skirt nervously and (b) my self-inflicted participation in Dry October.

So, the artist. Described as 'Jean-Michel Basquiat meets Banksy', Bradley Theodore is already well known in the US for his unique murals in the heart of New York that match key elements of art and fashion, and popular with fashion bloggers who understand the benefits a good 'wall scout' can bring. He is particularly eminent for his murals of fashion heavyweights Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour rendered as skeletons, and has also turned his hand to cover art for albums from the likes of Wu Tang Clan.

The purpose of last night's exhibition was to provide London with a re-creation of all the murals Theodore has produced in NYC. I really loved the vibrancy and boldness of his work, the brilliantly thick strokes and the cobalt blue, navy and primary colours that popped and projected from the canvas. The cadaverous appearance of his subjects is both sinister and beautiful. Using the skeleton as the inner life force of his subjects is his signature and he explains, “There is no deeper delving into your psyche than the very structure of your body”.

My highlights were murals of Kate Moss, Grace Coddington and Diana Vreeland although really I couldn't take my eyes off any of them.

Theodore believes his audience themselves should be the reviewers of his art and so he goes out of his way to make his art available for all to see in the streets of international cities. He demonstrates his commitment to bringing art to the public by inviting people into his art studio to immerse themselves in the creative process. He also conducts live paintings in cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Paris. We had the pleasure of chatting to him last night, and he was charming and down to earth.

As I made my way back to the East End, I reflected on what an interesting, inspiring, if not completely sober, night it had been. Thank you Bradley Theodore for bringing your fashion-influenced work into my life. Thank you London for coming up trumps again.

(Oh and next time Nicola, as you carelessly fling on something for work don't forget you never know what a London night will bring... )

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*Theodore Bradley's solo exhibition is at Old Brompton Gallery from 15-30 October 2015.