s o u n d l a u n c h i s s u e

CONTRIBUTORSPhill occasionally gets mistaken for an elderly gen-tleman on account of his long earlobes and has been seen giving children Worther’s Originals

Phil uses Indonesian coconut oil on his hair - it glis-tens like the sun and is as soft as silk - but it comes at the princely sum of £4750 per 100ml

Gemma’s claim to fame is that she met Eastenders’ Ian Beale when she was 9 and he offered her his chip butty. She declined

Miggi likes horses and often smells of hay. She is re-lated to Frankie Dettori and has competed against him in the Grand National 7 times

Lauren has metal plates in her head. She was rugby tackled by a crazed fan whilst practicing rhythmic gymnastics in the park

Emily enjoys the smell of pot pourri and sometimes has trouble with the pronounciation. Her life motto is “eggs is eggs, int it”

PHILL BROWN

PHIL DAWSON

MIGGI NESFIELD

GEMMA RICHARDSON

LAUREN MYERS

EMILY CRESSEY

CONTENTS

Tinariwen//On My Honor//The Rookie League//Release The Kraken///Heart In Hand//Mark Lane-

gan//Ben Kweller//The Macabees

Featured Artists

CultureNo Glasto No Problem! Live At Leeds 2012A Reflecive Journey Through Music And FilmMusics Top 3 Films

Film ReviewsMartha Macy May MarleneThe Artist

ProfilesDaniel CliffeThe DeratasJita BukMazria

Men In Music:Toyan St Hilaire - Ghostfest FounderBen Ray - Director of Slam Dunk

FeaturesLast Gig At The WellCuture ShockStyle In LeedsTattoo Hot SpotsTattoos - Artistic Acceptance?

Band PagesThe Macabees - ReviewOn My Honor - InterviewThe Rookie League- InterviewMark Lanegan @ Live At Leeds - Gig ReviewBen Kweller - Album Review

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ACCEPTED BY THE WILD

Take Note, The Maccabees just keep getting better & better.There’s nowhere to hide from this South London lot.

Below I review the gig & chat to them about their upcoming voyage across the seas and their general love of all things art & music.

onight’s gig takes The Mac-cabees back

to the O2 Academy, their usual venue in Leeds after

their jaunt to the Cockpit for an intimate show in Oc-tober. The play list of the venue (courtesy of Maccabee guitarist Felix White) got the crowd ready for the gig ahead with songs from soul legends like Otis Redding & Wanda Jack son to classic rock songs from The Walkmen & The Band. “Everyone loves a bit of soul music y’know, I think it gets you in the mood, I hope the crowd liked it anyway” comments Felix on his offerings of an insight into his musical taste buds.

It is now time for The Maccabees. A wave of silence fills the room as Will White (keyboardist & unofficial mem-ber; but for me, he deserves full fledged membership) positions himself for the Intro off their third album ‘Given to the Wild’, which has only been released for two months, and acts as a poignant mo-ment for the band to emerge not unlike music from a nature programme. Never has a title been so fitting. Following two new songs from their recent record, both go down beautifully with the audi-ence; with almost every word sung back to them, it’s back to an old favourite, ‘Wall of Arms’ taken from the second

album with the same title.The energy that ends this song is unbelievable and

no one quite wants it to end with the instrumental finish being stretched as much as it can. This is a pat-tern of theirs while on tour as ‘William Powers’ goes the same way later on in the set with Hugo’s guitar playing getting better & better.

Rupert’s hip-hop baseline & Sam’s drums combo on ‘No Kind Words’ is felt throughout your whole body and seems to control your heartbeat.

It really is a powerful driving force behind the song as it ends with high-pitched guitars in comparison to Orlando’s deep vocals. New track ‘Glimmer’ was note perfect and saw Orlando take his voice where he has never before ventured. Track s ‘First Love’ & ‘X-Ray’ confirm that the crowd can never tire from the beloved debut album, with Felix bouncing around

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The ‘Leeds’ Stencil

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on stage, urging the frantic audience at every op-portunity. ‘Pelican’, first single off midweek No.1 album ‘Given to the Wild’ is met with an outburst of boos due to it being the last song of the set. Towards the end of the song, we see Orlando pull-ing a face and shaking his head before covering his face with a towel. No one seems to notice the reason why, and later I ask him what went wrong.

“You know the voice control pedals that give the third vocal, well I pressed it at the wrong time and throughout the last 40 seconds or whatever it was, all I could hear was someone was throwing up inside my head.(Cue the front man doing im-pressions of someone being sick). “Six guys man-aged to get through a whole set hung-over and then I just mess it up at the end, it was terrible”. The charismatic vocalist seems to be overcome with slight paranoia and this clarifies that he is a perfectionist as it was indeed unnoticable and not ‘terrible’.

The encore consisted of three songs from a selection from their body of work. A favourite of mine from the whole performance was ‘Unknow’ with Orlando’s voice carrying through the venue with elegance while a catchy bass line is constant. His velvet toned vocals replace Catherine Pock-son’s who is heard on the album track.

Next stop, a few drink s with Orlando, Hugo & Felix at Nation of Shopkeepers with Gin & Tonics and a few beers all round. When asked about the daily drawings on their blog, Orlando modestly reveals he’s the talented hand that creates them. “They’re little stamps that I do for every date on the tour and they take about half an hour, not long. If I have an interview that day or even just the gig, it takes my mind off it and I can relax”.

Talk evolved into love of Photography and in particular a Nan Goldin exhibition that the band visited in Stockholm last month. “Art’s like music, you can look at it if you’re feeling in a particular

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mood. There’s no point in look-ing at Nan Goldin if you’re feel-ing down just like I can’t listen to Nick Drake for the same rea-son. I think music & art is only successful if you can only listen when you’re feeling a certain emotion, muses the lyricist. “Fe-lix really loves cricket and you know the theme song for the test match, that song is summer. It wouldn’t work in winter”. The song referred to is of course ‘Soul Limbo’ by Booker T & The MG’s.

The Maccabees are halfway through their March UK Tour run and the night before saw them in Brighton, which can be seen as their 2nd hometown gig. “A load of our friends came to it and it’s nice but it can be weird

Last month saw them headlining a European tour with dates in Holland, Sweden & Denmark in addition to the more frequently visited Germany & France. When talking about the frozen canals in Am-sterdam Felix interjects “Yeah we walked on them, it was so cold in Europe. You’d wake up in your bunk and look out the window and you’d be in Brussels and they’d be mountains all around. It was beautiful but freezing!”

Knowing Hugo to be a new fan of Leonard Cohen, I ask his thoughts on the new album. “I only just got it yesterday so I’ll be listening to it later. I’ve got one of his book s ‘Beautiful Losers’ but I only got half way, it’s so strange. He is a poet and you don’t get many of them now, he writes beautifully”.

Tom Petty is his newly found favourite with songs titled ‘Freefallin’ & ‘Learning to Fly’ as recommenda-tions. “They’re great songs but don’t watch the videos, they’re a bit cheesy”.

I leave them to go back to the O2 Academy where they are to do a DJ set for the regular club night that has followed their gig where “we can play what we want, just not obscure stuff” says Hugo, that’s Leon-ard Cohen out of the question then.

march uk tour poster

y’know. There’s some pressure on it” says Hugo, as it was a Birthday show for him too. This is also the rea-son why Orlando has exchanged his usual glass of red wine for a gin & tonic. Past, present & future touring seems to be on everyone’s minds. Since touring start-ed at the beginning of the year, it has been non-stop.

ailed from the seaside town of Grimsby, Daniel Cliffe now finds his stage in the great bars of Nottingham. A beautiful voice resonates with charming lyrics such

as in ‘Me & You’; “I’ve come to think that dreams don’t come true, especially for people like me and you”, there’s sharp catchy melodies throughout and a meaningful presence that

hoists him above other singer/songwriters. Support slots have included Exlovers, Kai Fish & Stephen Fretwell in addition to an afternoon slot at Camden Proud Gallery. There is a touch of naivety in ‘Should’ve Listened to my Friends’ that is refresh-ing to hear and I don’t think it’s been seen in British music since the early Libertine days dreaming of Arcadia.

DANIEL CLIFFE

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amed after poem The Desiderata by Max Ehrmann this Leeds quintet deliver a postpunk/alternative sound that is unmatched. The raspy vocals of Oli Ross

sit perfectly over the powerful rhythmic guitars reminiscent of early Joy Division. An extremely hard working band playing as many shows across Leeds as they can and every one with

conviction and passion that makes them one of the acts that are going to make 2012 an extremely interesting year for the Leeds and hopefully UK music scenes.

THE DERATAS

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riginally from the Isle of Man, Jita Buk aka Tim Power is an understated, yet eccentric soloist. He is a little-known sitar, guitar and foot percussionist, who is

making quite a name for himself as a live performer around the north of the UK.

“I just want to play music, play whatever comes to me at the time and feed off of the crowd I’m playing to” - maybe the reason why his shows can vary from melancholy to mad-ness hitting every base in between. Reserved and unassum-ing, you wouldn’t pick him out of a crowd as a meditating musician. “It’s all a bit of fun really, I just want everyone to

feel involved, but maybe someone will come along and learn something about yoga too. Maybe they’ll discover a new hobby as well as some interesting tunes”.

Buk’s sound is a mix of sixties guitars, soulful vocals and a traditional oriental twist. The combination may sound some-what bizarre, but it genuinely work s, coming together to cre-ate a captivating fusion of melodic peak s and troughs.

Jita Buk will be touring throughout Scotland in summer 2012 before heading into the studio. He hopes to release an EP before the end of the year. We are already anticipating something incredibly interesting and infinitely more unique.

JITA BUK

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his German beauty has caught the eye and ear of many since she began gigging at the age of 14. 8 years later, Mazria has made her way from the tiny pubs of

Gutersloh, across to the UK and onto our popular radio sta-tions. Her outlandish dress sense and quirky personality are the perfect backdrop for her smooth vocals to surprise an unsuspecting listener.

A melodic mix of light harmonies, Mazria’s a cappella

sounds are spine tingling and refreshing – her debut album, Squeeze, is a blend of soothing tunes and upbeat chorus but Mazria is even more impressive on stage. Using only hand per-cussion and a loop pedal to create her beats, she captures the breath of all she plays to. It took her 8 years to get to where she is today, but Mazria is guaranteed to be around for even longer. Catch Mazria at The Wardrobe, Leeds on 27th May on the final leg of her UK tour.

MAZRIA

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MAN IN MUSIC: toyan st hilaire

TOYAN ST HILAIRE

D I R E C T O R & F O U N D E R O F G H O S T F E S T & G H O S T M U S I C

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Ghostfest was founded in 2005, in Leeds when Toyan was only 16 years old. Origi-nally it wasn’t created as a festival but as

a DVD of the best UK metal bands. It became ex-tremely popular and in high demand to be made again the following year so Toyan decided to carry on and expand from there. In 2008 he has the first official Ghostfest at Rios in Leeds and was an instant hit for everyone who enjoyed Eng-lish metal as it grew he added international bands from Europe and America to line-ups and even moved to a bigger venue up at Leeds University Union when Rio’s closed down in 2010. Every year the festival gets bigger and Toyan organizes and runs the company single handedly which doesn’t leave much time for much else he says; “I get to meet a lot of people watch great bands, travel etc., but the music business isn’t a job it’s a lifestyle and its hard to juggle with normal life” Toyan also runs a company along side Ghostfest called Ghost Music which consists of other shows he puts on around Leeds and Manchester as well as taking over managing rising UK metal band Silent Screams in September last year. As for expanding the company into other cities, there are no imme-diate plans to move it out of Leeds but with the market for what people want constantly changing you never know.

lam Dunk has very much become a brand since it first started back in 2001. Put-ting on live shows and club nights here

in Leeds, Slam Dunk is well known for its Pop Punk/ Emo and Alternative sound and most fa-mous for creating the ever popular Slam Dunk Festival - now in its 7th year - and Slam Dunk club night at The Cockpit held every Tuesday as well as various other places around the country. Slam Dunk Records also operates intimately and back in 2007 launched the career of a one You Me At Six, that have since had phenomenal suc-cess and are very much a household name.

Ben Ray started out in Birmingham putting on shows with his band at the time and also with other artists of the Pop Punk/Ska Punk genre. During university Ben was part of the Leeds Met-ropolitan University Student Union events depart-ment and after getting a taste for events, he began working in Leeds.

As the Metropolitan was too big a venue he de-cided to create his own gigs, putting on the first European show for Ska Punk band Reel Big Fish which sold out at The Cockpit and was a huge success. With Pop Punk and Ska so popular at the time, The Cockpit were looking for someone to start a club night. After so much success Ben de-

cided to take it on board and launched the night, naming it Slam Dunk. Not realising it was going to be such a success Ben, still working with the Un-ion at the time, went to work for the owners of The Cockpit ‘Futuresound Music’ full time and began work on increasing the number of gigs held at the venue along with the club night. From then, Slam Dunk Limited became a company within it-self, still very much attached to Future Sound but working independently with Ben as the Director.

With the company growing Ben discovered a band down South known as You Me At Six, which he took on as Manager and signed to his new re-cord label, Slam Dunk Records, but have since parted ways. The first Slam Dunk Festival took place in 2006, which Ben admittedly describes as a complete accident.

Promoting and putting on shows for the band Fall Out Boy, who at the time were starting out with their first few albums and had gained huge success in the UK, decided to put on a headline show for the band. Because of their popularity it was obvious that a bigger venue other than The Cockpit or The University was needed. This left the only other possible venue, Millennium Square in Leeds City Centre. With it being a bigger ca-pacity than originally intended, it was decided

BEN RAY

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D I R E C T O R A T S L A M D U N K

S that a few more bands should be added to the bill. Bands such as The Academy Is, Thursday, Hundred Reasons, HelloGoodbye and Capdown. Along with the added earlier opening time, the event became the first official Slam Dunk Festival. With Ska Punk influencing Pop Punk, which was very much blowing up at the time, it was obvi-ously a huge sold out success.

The following years saw the Festival move from Millennium Square to Leeds University Union, as the first festival in the UK to add multiple stages.

Slam Dunk Festival has since become a mas-sive hit. The 10th anniversary show last year paid tribute to its Ska Punk roots by playing host to headliners Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish as well as a range of other favourites such as May-day Parade, The Starting Line, Cartel and Hit The Lights. With this years Slam Dunk Festival only a month away and spreading across the country with dates added in Scotland and Wales, it’s very obvious why it’s such a highly anticipated date on the Pop Punk lovers calendar.

As for the future, Slam Dunk is working on continuing to build on the huge success Ben has created, knowing everyone, including himself, will be looking forward to what is next to come.

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CATCH SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL: 26th May, Leeds University, Leeds27th May, Herts University, Hatfield28th May, Cardiff University, Cardiff29th May, Glasgow O2, Glasgow

MAN IN MUSIC: bEN RAY

THE ROOKIE LEAGUE

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So guys, first things first. How did you all get started?

Sam Hague: Basically I started the band in 2009, I am The Rookie League! Me and Shane are the only original members we either kicked others out or they just left.

How many line up changes have you actually had then?

Phil Charlesworth: (laughing) How long have you got?

Nick Allott: We’ve actually had about 13 or 14 different members

Sam: No no it’s 16, I’m gonna name them all...

Nick: People have just been phased in and out.

Sam: Nope, I give up!

How come they’ve been so many dif-ferent members?

Shane Lloyd: People have tried to be better looking than me and failed.

Nick: Some people just couldn’t com-mit, they had to do other shit or go on other tours with their other bands.

Shane: Some people were just too old!Nick: Some people just couldn’t stay

in the band they couldn’t do tours and so they had to leave so we had to find people that actually wanted to be in a

band. So is this line up for definite now

then?

Nick: Yes!Shane: It just depends on the people

really (looking at the newest member Brett)

Nick: Yeah if Brett doesn’t death star us all too much! (explains it’s an inside tour joke)

What are your influences?

Shane: Well I used to like Travis Barker, then I met Trey, (other tour-ing band In Our Honour’s drummer) but who needs Travis Barker when you know him!

Sam: Nick s favourite band is Green Day

Nick: No fuck that shit man, it’s Fall Out Boy!

In the middle of their UK tour fresh from their recent Leeds tour date we caught up with new and upcom-

ing Pop Punk- tastic Chesterfield based five piece ‘The Rookie League’. Signed to Hang Tight Records they have been lucky enough to share the stage with the likes of Mayday Parade, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, We Are The Ocean, Madina Lake, Polar Bear Club and Futures and many more. Helping them to build a strong fan base throughout the UK and further afield.

Nick Allott - Lead VocalsSamuel Hague - Guitar/VocalsPhil Charlesworth - Bass/VocalsShane Lloyd - Drums/VocalsBrett Holmes - Guitar/Vocals

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with my old band there was this time when I got fed a load of laxatives...yeah that was embarrassing. (everyone laughs)

Shane: So nothing embarrassing you just shit yourself.

Nick: Literally Shane’s been on anti-biotics so nothing really has happened.

If you could kick anyone out who would it be?

Shane: Mine’s New Found GlorySam: Yeah that’s actually mine aswellBrett: I don’t really have a favourite

band, I guess it used to be Blink 182, so yeah I’ll say Blink is mine

How is the tour going so far?

Nick: Yeah brilliant.Shane: Yeah brilliant if you like play-

ing to each other...Brett: No it has been goodNick: Yeah we’ve had some good

crowds

Most embarrassing things that have happened on tour?

Nick: The Death Star!Brett: That’s not embarrassing that’s

class!Nick: So far I’ve ended up with my

head down the toilet most nightsShane: He ended up stroking a wall for

about twenty minutes after I checked his pulse to see if he was alive. We just get drunk really.

Sam: Yeah nothing really that embar-rassing has happened on this tour but

Everyone: Brett!Shane: I’d kick Sam out nextSam: Yeah but I’d have to kick myself

out because I’m always the one that gets stuck with that job

Nick: I’d personally kick Shane out because he’s too good looking and he’s such a cool bastard.

What do you all do on the side as day jobs or is this your only commitment?

Shane: I wipe old peoples bums for a living, I work in a care home

Nick: I would like to say I work in freelance that’s the proper way to put it

Brett: I’ve got two jobs bitch! Yeah one’s a managing director and then I work with Shane and wipe old people too

Phil: I attempt to not kill people with electricity, I’m an electrician.

And finally, where would you like to tour if you could go anywhere in the world?

Nick: America! Or Japan

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longside touring band The Rookie League BSS managed to grab an interview with head-

lining band On My Honor from Knox-ville, Tennessee on the UK leg of their European Tour. Signed to Little Heart Records with their album on sale in 4 continents and having the chance to play Vans Warped Tour in 2009 On My Honour are on top of their game and don’t appear to be slowing down any-time soon.

So guys how long have you been here in the UK?

Lucas: We’ve been in the UK now for like 4 or 5 days

Drew: Yeah, 4 daysTrey: I lose count because every day

here is just awesome!How’s the tour going so far?Drew: SwimminglyTrey: Brilliant!Drew: Yeah it’s been good, every-

body’s been really kind and we can read signs again now which we couldn’t do whilst we were in Europe and can un-derstand everyone again except for the York shire accent! (everyone laughs)

Lucas: Yeah we’ve had some good crowds and had the chance to play with awesome bands so I feel so lucky and blessed right now.

And what other dates have you played other than the UK?

Lucas: Err Germany, Poland, Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic,

Jordan: HungaryTrey: SloveniaDrew: Italy and FranceLucas: We’ve pretty much been eve-

rywhere!

Definitely. What was your favourite place to play?

Drew: Italy definitelyTrey: The MoonLucas: I’m gonna say BelgiumJordan: Yeah I liked Belgium a lot tooDrew: They have amazing food, I

think I ate my weight in waffles.

When did you form as a band?Drew: The band started in 2007 ,

we’ve had some line up changes but the three of us me, Lucas and David have

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From left to right:

David - Bass Jordan - Guitar

Trey - Drums Drew – VocalsLucas - Guitar

“We Toured with mayday parade when they

started which was a real boost for us”

T E N N E S S E E P O P P U N K International introduction

been playing together the whole time and Trey and ... have been with us a cou-ple of years

Lucas: Yeah me and Drew went to school together and were friends and we decided to put together a Pop Punk band

Drew: Would have been shit out for us if we couldn’t play instruments (every-one laughs)

Lucas: Yeah luckily enough we could play something at least so we were okay there!

What are your influences as a band?Lucas: We were all pretty influenced

by the Pop Punk scene in Tennessee and America in general there was always a lot going on from gigs to festivals and we

“I peed myself in my sleep, actually that’s happened like three times”

built and that really.Drew: We toured with Mayday Pa-

rade back when they started which was a real boost for us as we looked up to them as a band and their music so i’d say that was a big influence on us really, but since then we’ve made our sound our own.

What’s the Pop Punk scene like in Knoxville?

Drew: Yeah it’s pretty good, the same as any small town really, you’ve got your small time bands trying to make it put-ting on gigs at venues which are really good to go to and check out what’s go-ing down

Trey: We just feel lucky to be able to have made it this far really, we just do what we love for a living I don’t think any of us could ask for anything more. It’s fucking amazing!

Okay, most embarrassing moment on tour?

Trey: I peed myself in my sleep, actu-ally that’s happened like 3 times (every-one laughs)

David: Yeah he kept changing his underwear so many times that i didn’t know what was going on so i just went back to sleep

Lucas: The funny thing was, he’s been talking the whole time about how he couldn’t understand how someone could pee themselves and then did it himself!

Trey: Yeah that was pretty embarass-ing man, never gonna live that down.

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Check out On My Honor on Facebook and Myspace.

O N M Y H O N O R

TINARIWEN S O U N D S F R O M T H E D E S E R T

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rebel leaders began rebellions thrusting

the men onto South Saharan battlefields

at home in Africa, they have contin-ued to unleash a steady stream of well-received albums for the world’s enjoy-ment. In 2004 they released Amassakoul, in 2007 Aman Iman, 2009 Imidiwan and last year (2011) saw the release of Tassili - winner of the Best World Mu-sic Album award at this year’s Grammys.

Aman Iman is the album you absolutely must get for the perfect introduction to Tinariwen. If you can only listen to one track, make it Matadjem Yinmixan - an energetic and uplifting fusion of springy guitar riffs, euphoric harmonies and pit-ter-patter percussion - surely Tinariwen at their tantalising best.

Tinariwen are a band with an incred-ible story, sound and back catalogue. You need them in your life!Catch Tinariwen live in Liverpool on April 11th at the iconic Philharmonic Hall. Info: www.liverpoolphil.com

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springy guitar riffs, euphoric harmonies

and pitter-patter percussion

Roskilde festivals. They had also re-leased their first work outside of North Africa, named Radio Tisdas Sessions - af-ter the radio station in Mali where it was recorded.

Since the release of The Radio Tisdas Sessions, Tinariwen have played at more than 700 worldwide concerts on some of

the worlds largest stages; including Glas-tonbury, Coachella and the aforemen-tioned WOMAD. They now count many of the worlds biggest musical artists as fans, with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke ad-mitting that The Clock, from his album The Eraser, was massively influenced by Tinariwen and their style. The band have recently collaborated with mem-bers of Tv on the Radio, Wilco and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band for track s on Tassili, released last year, showing a fur-ther willingness to embrace western in-struments and their musical peers.

Despite heavy political involvement

herds dying out as subsequent droughts made their nomadic lifestyles increas-ingly difficult. Throughout time, as has always been the case, great distress has caused people to come together, to unify, and to create inspiring, thought provoking and emotional music. From war and injustice throughout Africa came Bob Marley’s reggae, and from the slave trade and later racial inequality came american blues music. All have a common melancholic hopeful quality, which overcomes the grief and torment and provides an escape for musician and listener. Tinariwen have this quality in abundance and the world quickly cot-toned on to how special they were, in both performance and sound.

1998 saw Tinariwen recognised on the international stage when French world music ensemble Lo’Jo played at a music festival in Bamako. The two groups collaborated in France the fol-lowing year before Tinariwen hit the in-ternational festival circuit. By the end of 2001 the band had played at London’s South Bank, as well as the WOMAD (World Of Music, Arts and Dance) and

forces in a bid to claim territory in areas such as Chad and Niger. Keddou Ag Os-sade, Japonais, Sweiloum, Abouhadid, and Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni joined the collective during this time after meet-ing Ibrahaim at a Libyan military camp. The group spent years training together in Libya before, in 1985, Touareg rebel leaders began rebellions in Mali and Niger thrusting the men onto South Sa-haran battlefields, guitar in one hand, AK-47 in the other. From there they would record music on cassettes, which would spread throughout the Touareg people, broadcasting messages of the rebel movement and their fight against repressive governments.

Peace came for the Touareg people and Tinariwen finally put down their weapons. All of their energy became fo-

cussed on creating music and continu-ing to highlight the current plight of their tribes. Crops were failing and their

People of The Desert. In 1979 the group acquired their first genuine acoustic guitar and embraced the unique sound that defines them today.

As well as acoustic guitars, the Tina-riwen collective use electric guitars and basses, and various traditional Touareg instruments, such as tindé drums, im-zad - a one-string fiddle - and teherdent - a lute-like instrument. The sound they produce is pure, hypnotic and mesmer-ising, and despite the obvious language barrier, the listener can’t help but be-come enthralled in the narrative and emotion. Political situations away from music were the basis for this strength in feeling and with war on the horizon Ibrahaim and his fellow musicians took a leap of faith that would make Tinari-wen who they are now.

The early 80s saw Ibrahaim and his band answer Muammar al-Gaddafi’s call for all young Touareg men to join his

hen you think of the Saha-ran desert, you likely think of sandstorms blowing

across sand hills covered in lots of sand and the odd camel. You would likely go on to wonder who on earth would live out there in that baking heat and how they would pass the time in one of the most inhospitable places on earth.

Well, in fact, there are roughly four million people living in the Saharan re-gion, which spans more than 10 coun-tries and 3.5 million miles. Most of these people do not live in cities, instead they travel throughout the region as nomad-ic tribes, like the Touareg, from which Tinariwen - one of world music’s most critically acclaimed offerings - come.

Tinariwen formed in the late 1970s when Ibrahim Ag Alhabib began play-ing with Inteyeden Ag Ablil, his brother Liya Ag Ablil, and Hassan Ag Touhami. They would perform at parties and wed-dings around the town of Tamanrasset, Algeria, singing their traditional style of desert blues and people came to know them as Kel Tinariwen, which translates from the Tamanshek language as The

T H E W E L L ?The well is an amazing venue just outside the Centre of Leeds that had a bril-liant range of gigs for people who are into the alternative music scene. Unlike the big music venues in Leeds such as cockpit and the O2 academy, the well put on unsigned and local bands and was a great bar and hangout for people to meet and watch live music.

LAST GIG AT

E N D O F A N E R AUnfortunately after many years of bril-liant live music coming into the well, many fundraisers such and the all day festival a couple of months back, hell in the well where all the bands played for free in attempt to raise money, the owners have lost the fight to be able to keep this venue open. Many peo-ple are obviously disappointed and its a shame to loose such place that holds so many memories for people and bands who have been going and playing there for years.

G O I N G O U T W I T H A B A N GAlthough it was going to be a sad occasion to close the venue, the owners and promot-ers decided if they have to close then they were going to go out with a bang! Putting on the Acacia Strain’s UK tour with sup-port from TRC, Brutality will Prevail & Martyr Defiled which would bring in a fantastic crowd for the send off. As well as the tour the gig was turned into an all day event with well-known UK bands such as demoraliser and desolated playing during the day before the main gig started. And I have to say; I’ve never seen the well so packed out.

L E T S P A R T Y !So as well as a full day of amazing music and bands, there was also an after show party, as the bar and staff wanted to have a party to celebrate the amazing times that have been spent at the venue. With a brilliant DJ set from promoter Antony Mortimer full of music from many of the bands who have graced the four walls of the Leeds venue, heart felt speeches from the owners and live music from a Leeds based band preformed in the seating area near the bar instead of the usual stage that was used for all the other bands throughout the day.All and all it was a great send off, full of people who will be sad to see the venue go.

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l a s t g i g a t t h e w e l l

www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

R E L E A S E T H E K R A K E NLocal metal band Release the Kraken did the venue justice with a half hour set performed throughout the after show party, it was an insane performance full of energy and antics which included the band climbing on the furniture and the bar. with a fantastic crowd joining in andwanting to get one last mosh in before the venues doors closed for good. Release the Kraken lead vocalist Daneel Jonstone said that it was a pleasure and an honor to be asked to be the last band ever to perform at the well. Gui-tarist Adam Beaumont added, ‘I will miss playing here, ive made a lot of friends and we have gained a lot of fans it is a awful shame about this place closing, we will all miss it.

W H A T D O E S T H E F U T U R E H O L D ?The future of the well has been determined that it will be transformed into a restaurant (name isn’t confirmed) and all future gigs that were planned for the well have been moved to other venues across Leeds such as Cockpit, Em-pire and Santiago’s, so the alternative unsigned bands will still be able to play Leeds in the future, even without the much loved favorite venue.

R O R Y S A Y S :“I will miss that it is the only venue in Leeds that put on small bands all the time, bands that normally wouldn’t be able to play bigger venues such as cockpit. I played my first gig here with my first band I was so nervous and I’m glad I got to do it here where I felt at home. The Thirty days of night records all dayer 2010 is the best gig I went to here”.Release the Kraken lead vocalist Daneel Jonstone said that it was a pleasure and an honor to be asked to be the last band ever to perform at The Well. Guitarist Adam Beaumont added, “I will miss playing here, I’ve made a lot of friends and we have gained a lot of fans it is a awful shame about this place closing, we will all miss it”.

J A M I E S A Y S :“There were so many decent bands that played here, and the price for gigs was so reasonable, unlike pay-ing stupid amounts to see bands at the o2 academy or cockpit. Gold Kids in 2007 was amazing”.

E M I L Y S A Y S :“I will miss being able to hang out with friends, I’ve been coming here since I was 14, I met so many of my friends here plus I met Jess my best friend here, such a good night as well my best gig would have to be Sick of it all in 2011”.

I N T H E I R O W N W O R D S . . .l a s t g i g a t t h e w e l l

I decided to ask what there best memories of the well were, I asked people attending, people who grew up with the venue and bands who had played the venue what they would miss about the well, there favorite memory and what the best gig they had seen at the venue was and also take some of their photos.

M A T T S A Y S :“I will miss the small stage, its always been one of my favourites, its not too big and not too small. I love it! My best memory has to be TDON festival 2010. We killed it at that show and the Jagar train. Man I love that shit.i will miss this place as it has been 6 years of my life, partying, meeting friends, drinking plus listening, seeing and putting on amazing music. my Favorite memory is that my band played its first show here in 2008and the best gig would be send more paramedics last show 2007”.

M E L S A Y S :“I will miss drinking, drinking and more drinking In a great place, surrounded by great people all interested in the same things as I am. My favorite memory is passing out in the Loo one night. Tonight has been awesome so I would have to say it would be voted my best gig that I have been too here.”.

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LEEDS26

LEEDS’ ALTERNATIVE NIGHTS OUT

T H E F A V E R S H A M The Independently run faversham is a place for people who don’t follow any rules. Mous-tache: Party Hard Every Tuesday, is the regular night on a Tuesday that appears in 3 cities across the UK, playing its famous blend of pop, rock and party anthems, the weekly party in the tiny basement be sure to expect a blow out along with cheep drink s and weekly give always. Or try the new night, KUSH the monthly unique event that combines music, art and fashion and brings hip-hop to the four walls of The Faversham with different events held there each month; it is most defiantly a unique party.

Earlybird £2 / £3 Badge / £4 OTD

N A T I O N O F S H O P K E E P E R SThere is an exclusive night on the first Friday of every month called Game Time which is an amazing hip-hop party that offers cheep drink s and free fried chicken and Kool-Aid with a great atmosphere and interesting people within this unique bar.

Free Entry

O 2 a c a d e m y Propaganda is the Uk’s most popular indie night bringing a audio-visual extravaganza to Leeds with cheep drink s and a friendly atmosphere it is defiantly the place to be on a Saturday if you’re a indie fan. Crisis is the other night that is at the O2, which is exclusive to Leeds, although this night is only open from June- September every year it is a rock and metal party that is open every Friday throughout these months.

Propaganda 11PM-3AM £5 OTD

Crisis 11PM - 3AM £5 OTD / Guestlist with badge £2

O N T H E T I L E S

www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

H i - f i Hi-Fi club is definitely the club with the most variety as it has many differ-ent club nights with different genres of music such as soul, funk, jazz, indie rock and hip-hop, as well as a comedy night on a Saturday evening. The club nights include Boogaloo on a Saturday night that has dancefloor anthems from around the globe, Funk soulnation on a Friday, and Sunday joint on a Sunday night that plays soul, latin and hip-hop and has been famous for the last 15 years. Hi-Fi Club can also be hired out for private parties and even a private club night. There is definitely something for everyone.

£5.00 / £4.00 Members / Free NUS before midnight

t h e m e t b a r Although the Met Bar is most famous for the live music it puts on it also has a great club night on a Friday called FUEL. This unique night at the student union is pretty different to any others. Room one playing new and old metal to mosh along to and room two playing everything from LIMP BISKIT to LIL WANYE so there is always something for everyone. Along with the music and cheep drink s there is also the show put on 4 times a night by the FUEL Girls who dance, do acrobatics and breathe fire for the entertainment of everyone attending the night. Its is defiantly a sight to see.

11PM - 3AM £4 With free shot from Carpe Diem / £5 OTD

t h e c o c k p i t The cockpit offers many nights throughout the week, so there is most differently something there to fit everyone’s taste. Slam Dunk on a Tuesday although it is advertised as a pop punk night it offers 3 varied rooms for people to dance and mosh to. Southern Chicken on a Wednesday is the night filling two rooms full of hip-hop, RnB & crunk juice with badass visuals includ-ing the fresh prince of bel air. On a Friday its time for SESSON the nortious Indie, Hip-hop night with three rooms of the best music from them genres. Last but not least Saturday night brings you GARAGE, the most popular night that offers a different themed room 3 each week of the month, Pinky swear, Live, Club Ghostfest & SKA rage, so pick your favorite night or get to them all, there is always something for everyone at The cockpit.

Slam Dunk 11PM - 3AM £2 Pimplist / £4 OTD

Session 11PM – 3AM £4 OTD

Garage 11PM – 3AM £5 OTD

Music and film have been partners in crime since the time of the Lumiere Brothers who were re-sponsible for the origin of silent film, so it’s no surprise that musicians and rock stars alike were com-peting for movie stardom. Music videos and TV appearances weren’t enough; documentary style films were and still are used to showcase the crème de la crème of rock stars either during their height of fame, to show reverence towards a great musical career or as an epitaph to a band never forgotten.

This is a guide of the history of music documentary films and glimpses into some guilty pleasures that we have all may taken witness to.

A REFLECTIVE JOURNEY THROUGH MUSIC FILM

The godfather of music films Live concert films are a regular occurrence these days

with a majority of bands having one under their belt but for me and many others, there isn’t one that resonates quite as loudly as ‘The Last Waltz’ by the widely acclaimed simply ti-tled The Band, and this isn’t because we are given the firm instruction ‘THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD!’ at the beginning of the film. There have been plenty of years for another concert film to surpass it but none quite reach up to its standards. The Last Waltz is a film about the end of an era for a generation and that’s what makes it such an iconic film and such a beauty to watch. Martin Scorsese’s role as di-rector work s wonders; never has an ending to a film been so beautiful and haunting in equal measures. It shows The Band playing the title track, which rings out in a melancholy state. The music is not unlike that of an old carnival with only their shadows for an audience. The fact that they reformed for a few years in the 1980s ruins the moment slightly, I must admit.

Another gem by Scorsese is the 2005 Bob Dylan film, ‘No Direction Home’. Featuring the first interview by Dylan in 20 years it’s an eye opener into his thoughts on the past and specifically the moment where it all changed for him. Unusual for a Dylan film there are some funny scenes with the audi-ence commenting pretty harshly in England ’66, “Bob Dylan was a bastard in the second half” and the ever more comical statement, “He was prostituting himself”. This was all down to him bringing a backing band on halfway through the set and becoming more electric. It even shows one scene back stage where it’s rumoured that someone is going to shoot him, Dy-lan brushes this off and seems to have a bit of a joke about it. Despite this humorous side it is a deep and intense film totalling three & a half hours with rare live performances and even an appearance by Andy Warhol taking a screen test in ’65 for one of his pop art pieces.

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Scorsese is never one to shy away from lengthy films and George Harrison: Living in the material world is one of them. A new release as of last year it features interviews with close friends & family 10 years after his death. The second part seemed to highlight George whereas the first was about The Beatles; it would be impossible not to include them. For many George is their favourite Beatle and after watching this, I too am reconsid-ering my number one spot. With a heavy focus on his spirituality and frequent trips to India, it reinforces his humble attitude as when Eric Clapton talk s about Harrison’s reaction to him taking Patti away from George, “Take her” – he basically said’. George said about his friend ‘I’d rather she was with him then some dope’. ‘60s free love has never been so true. It takes a more emotional turn with Ringo reminiscing about the last time he saw him, it just shows that John, Paul, George & Ringo are impossible to replace for those who knew them and for us mere fans.

The Beatles’ Second Career?

With the amount of films featur-ing the fab four; it look s like The Beatles could add actor to their re-sume (however kooky and trivial they appear to be). One of these is a documentary that showed them catapulted into super stardom in America entitled ‘The Beatles First US Visit’. About halfway through, one finally gets used to the ever-present screeches of teenage girls. The jour-ney takes us through the arrival at NYC and Miami on the profound Ed Sullivan Show.

It’s hard not to dedicate an entire chapter to The Beatles; with the ar-rival of every new album came a new film premiering at the big screen. That racked up to a respectable number of 5 Beatle induced films not including ones they appeared in individually.

A classic favourite & first film is ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ from 1964. De-scribed as a ‘mockumentary’ due to the film like narrative and use of a script, yet never shying away from the infectious personalities of the boys showcases them at the height of ‘Beatlemania’.

A MISH-MASH OF FILM?Another ‘mockumentary’ that was highly

popular during the mid to late ‘90s is ‘Spice-world’. The height of girl power worldwide became the result of this much-loved film. Whether people want to admit it or not, it has been watched by everyone, The Spice Girls became a phenomenon for a generation and for me at least (being a ‘90s kid and right there in the midst of platforms & union jack s) there will be always be a copy at the back of the cupboard.

Some films never get to see the light of day, as is the reason behind 1972 Rob-ert Frank’s Rolling Stones film ‘Cock sucker Blues’ for the sheer reason of its content and the band’s embarrassment about their actions. Supporting their album ‘Exile on Main Street’ and chronicling their tour of the album, the film was prohibited for the vulgarity and lewd-ness shown including debauched scenes with groupies and noticeable drug use. No surprise there when it comes to The Stones, you would expect not much else. There has since been a brief copy that surfaced on the Internet but sadly it’s no longer available. I myself have never seen a scene and am rather intrigued. The rule still stands that the film can only be viewed if director Frank is present.

A NEW ERAThese days it seems that music films are go-

ing back to the cinema after decades of being made for TV or straight to video/DVD. Both Kings of Leon film ‘Talihina Sky’ and Foo Fighters ‘Back And Forth’ both arrived last year for one night only on the big screen with a live broadcast Q&A afterwards.

This seems to be new age of music films with The Libertines film ‘There Are No Inno-cent Bystanders’ tour being postponed due to Roger Sergeant’s (the director) illness. It is set to show in 02 Academy’s throughout the coun-try with a Q&A by members of the band and the director, but with Peter Doherty living in Paris, I can’t see him attending any. Although with Doherty, you never can be sure.

00www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

#2 A Hard Day’s Night – The BeatlesA kooky black and white 1964 ‘mockumentary’

following the fab four as they travel from Liver-pool to a TV show in London featuring songs from the album that shares the same name. It may be scripted and not the traditional documentary style but it’s still very much significant in the way these young & handsome chaps were. They are por-trayed as down to earth, funny lads who always like to have a laugh and that’s refreshing to see with a band of that height in fame. A favourite scene of mine is the press conference where they are all seen to answer in a comical & amusing tone. One interviewer ask s Ringo “Are you a Mod or a Rocker?”, in which he replies “Ah no, I’m a mock-er” with all the seriousness he could muster. Paul’s fictional Grandfather plays a big part that appears to terrorize the group throughout their journey and stay in London. This film is an archaic beauty in the world of The Beatles and will never cease to be unloved & unwatched.

#1 The Last Waltz – The BandBeginning with a blank screen with the words

‘THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD!’ and with good reason too. It is a 1976 concert record-ing the last show of The Band, it shows their per-formance in San Francisco in which they were joined by some of the most influential musicians of the century, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell etc in a bid to say farewell to the rock & roll scene in a beautiful and endearing way. It’s an emotional film with an intimate interview interwoven with the live performance. It becomes a celebration of musical geniuses and when watching it, you can only wish you were there in the thick of it. Di-rected by Martin Scorsese who is one of the finest directors around, it can’t help but be the finest rock film ever made.

#3 No Direction Home – Bob DylanAnother film directed by Martin Scorsese sees the legendary direc-

tor focusing on the early years of Dylan. It begins in the folk scene in Greenwich Village in 1960 up until 1965 when he became somewhat of a recluse after a motorcycle accident. This is the first interview done by Dylan in 20 years in which he talk s about growing up in a small town in America and the years to follow that were his most poignant years in music. Featuring unseen & rare live performances from his 1966 European tour where all the audience seem to do is complain and shout ‘Go Home!’, it’s a wonder the footage hasn’t done the rounds before 2005.

MUSIC’S TOP 3 FILMSCall yourself a music lover? Then these are three films you have to see. Throughout the history of music and film, these names are whispered in reverent tones.

A classic concert movie, a groundbreaking band caught fresh faced and the moment it all changed for a folk icon.

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LIVE AT LEEDS 2012L E E D S I S A B O U T T O G E T LOUD

www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

I t’s time again one of the best weekends of the year. On May bank holiday weekend for the sixth time since it began in 2007 bands will be coming from far and wide to fill the streets of

Leeds with music.

Over the last 5 years many big names have played, includ-ing White Lies, Lightspeed Champion and The Bronx. As well as established bands you’re also guaranteed to stumble across some awesome unknown talent on your travels.

This year’s line-up is already shaping up quite nicely with headline slots from Coventry indie boys The Enemy and Welsh pop indie band Los Campesinos! who I can say for certain should not be missed.

The local scene is well represented by Leeds bands. Re-turning from an awesome performance at last year’s festival will be Blacklisters and they’ll be joined by newcomers Post War Glamour Girls who’ll be playing track s from their forthcoming EP.

B l a c k l i s t e r sHardcore band Blacklisters, with a sound reminiscent of The Jesus Lizard and a touch of Glassjaw thrown in for good measure are a familiar face in Leeds now. Since playing the BBC Introducing Stage at Leeds Festival there has been no stopping them. Fresh from sup-porting the likes of Pelican and Pulled apart by Horses and a new EP, they are definitely a must see this year.

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WHERE TO GO

p o s t w a r g l a m o u r g i r l sSome more hometown talent in the form of Post War Glamour Girls, since forming in 2010 they have taken the Leeds music scene by storm. With a fresh sound with oozes the attitude of indie tunes gone by; with phenom-enal track s like “Suburban Barbarian” and “Ode to Harry Dean” they must not be missed!

B r u d e n e l l

s o c i a l c l u bA contender for the best venue in Leeds, it wouldn’t be Live at Leeds without mention-ing Brudenell Social Club - a hub for new talent from the Leeds scene to established artists playing intimate shows. A particu-lar highlight in the history of Live at Leeds weekend was the phenomenal performance by Mariachi El Bronx closing the festival in 2010, mere hours after rocking the Leeds Uni refectory as their alter ego The Bronx.

c o c k p i tWhat is the Leeds music scene without the Cockpit? This is one place that’s a must visit during Live at Leeds since, year after year, it delivers! From 2010 came a performance from the then unknown Vessels with some mind blowing instrumental traps that drowned the crowd in absolution. Last year’s highlight was an incredible performance from Leeds metal newcomers Kong who blew the crowd away with their roaring riffs and screaming vocals.

www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

OTHER ACTIVITIES

So make sure that this May bank holiday you hit the streets of Leeds because they are truly going to paved with sound , whether you like your bands big, small, happy, sad, heavy or light, this is definitely not to be missed. Tickets can be bought from Jumbo Re-cords or Crash in the city centre or online @ www.lunatickets.co.uk

Live at Leeds doesn’t just stop with the music! Before any band takes to the stage, The Unconference will be held on Friday for the third year running, bringing some of the most knowledgeable from all over the UK to discuss the role of digital media in music promotion, distribution and marketing. So if you’re an aspiring music journalist or a band wanting get tips on breaking out!

Not to hungover on Sunday? Then get yourself down to Goals! on Kirk stall Road for the annual Live at Leeds five a side football tournament and watch 32 teams do battle to be crowned this year’s champions!

Or if you just wanna keep the party going, get yourself down to Brudenell So-cial Club for The Hangover! Featuring Dan Sartain, Matadors, The McGowns, The Reacharounds, with more acts still to be confirmed.

l o s c a m p e s i n o sAfter meeting at Cardiff Uni in 2006, Los Campesinos! have taken the UK indie scene by storm with their unique sound which has evolved from their early twee pop roots to a darker more cynical sound. Now 6 years on and 4 albums later here they are headlining Live at Leeds. Just make sure you still have the energy to keep the party going as these guys require full audience participation so get your dancing shoes on!

NO GLASTO?NO PROBLEM !

5.I ’ l l B e Y o u r M i r r o r ( c u r a t e d b y M o g w a i & A T P )

Alexandra Palace, London

25th – 27th May

What better way to kick the festival season off than with an ATP weekender?

With metal gods Slayer headlining the opening night playing their seminal album Reign in Blood in its entirety, this festival literally has everything for everyone. With Mogwai giving their only UK performance in 2012 on Saturday, followed by The Afghan Whigs reuniting for the first time since 2006 to close the festival and kick their festival season.

All in all definitely not to be missed, honestly this festival could be host to some of the best performance’s your likely to see this year!

O U R G U I D E T O T H E B E S T A L T E R N A T I V E ST O F I L L T H E V O I D L E F T I N S O M E R S E T

As the ground settles at Glastonbury, festival goers worldwide scratch their heads and ponder is there anything to save them from a summer of silence. Well I’m here to say don’t worry, because there’s nothing to worry about! Some of the best festival line-ups we’ve seen in a very long time have emerged this year. 2012 is going to be a massive summer for music, with iconic bands reforming, established bands and emerging new talent all together making it a festival season to remember.

So where to go you say? I’ve searched far and wide to get the most comprehensive guide to the summer ahead, from Blackpool to Barcelona, from Camden to Croatia. So here is my countdown of the top 5 festivals announced this year!

r o s k i l d e f e s t i v a l

Roskilde, Denmark

5th – 8th July

Since 1972 music has echoed through the fairgrounds south of the city of Roskilde, playing host to some of the biggest names in music, and this year is no exception.

Now we all can admit that we all love at least one song by “The Boss”! So, who better to kick off the legendry Danish festival than Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band? Also gracing the stage will be Icelandic pixie Bjork, famous for her mind blowing live shows. As well as performance from this year’s best new artist from the Grammy’s Bon Iver, and with a vast line up before the headliners even take to the stage, who knows you might discover your new favourite band?

4.

34 www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

b e s t i v a l

Isle of Wight

6th – 9th September

Next stop the Isle of Wight with the best British offering this year!

Since 2004 Bestival has offered one of the most alternative festival environments, set in the backdrop of the Robin Hill County Park. Aiming to be a completely carbon neutral festival, this is an eco friendly

music lovers dream.

This year has arguably got the best line up the festival has ever seen with headliners The XX, Sigor Ros and Madchester founders, New Order! So expect to hear some of the most influential songs from the last 30 years.

With sets from 2 Many DJ’s and Caribou to name but two, you just know this is one weekend where sleep is definitely going to be optional, as the party will not let up!

3.

b e r l i n f e s t i v a l

Flughaven, Tempelhof

8th-9th September

Now it’s time to take off to the German capital for one of the most innovative festivals in the world.

Based in the abandoned Tempelhof airport, this is definitely as much about the location as the music. From collecting your wristbands from the check in desk to checking band times on the departure boards this is an experience not to be missed!

With yet another headlining slot Sigor Ros are truly going to make this festival. You may wonder why this is going to be better than any other? Well I honestly can’t think of a better venue than an old air hanger surrounded by planes to host the ethereal sound of one of Iceland’s best exports. So if you want an alternative take on the whole festival experience this definitely is the festival for you!

2.

s a n m i g u e l p r i m a v e r a s o u n d

Barcelona, Spain

30th of May – 3rd of June

Here we are at number one with the best festival of this year, 5 days of awesome music in the one of most exciting cities in the world!

One of the biggest festivals in Europe, Primavera has everything sun, sea, great music and great people. Unlike English festivals this is not about how much you can drink between bands, it’s purely about the music. Running from 3 in the afternoon till 5 the next morning each day it is a true fiesta.

This year will be no exception with headlining performances from Bjork, The Cure and the return of Franz Ferdinand; you may overlook the array of awesome acts throughout the line-up, which would be a grave mistake because that is exactly what makes this festival stand out.

The bands shining through the line-up for me are, Death Cab for Cutie with their sometime haunting always captivating sound and newcomers I Break Horses who have been likened to sigor ros with their own unique celestial sound. So if you’re looking for a festival with everything, then this is the one for you and you’d be a fool to miss out!

1.

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L I V E A T T H E W E L L , L E E D S

Even though the room wasn’t as full as the band would have hoped for heart in hand proved that they don’t need a packed out room to show they can shine, tonight the band as always were on fire and as full of energy as they would have been at a sold out show.

Hyperactive front man Charlie Holmes spent the half hour set all over the stage, jumping about on anything he managed to climb on, screaming in the faces of the fans who

got close too the stage to sing along. The set left your ears ringing as the band signed off with the incredible track that is ‘only memories’ and you

couldn’t help being drawn into the melodic hardcore sounds that come from the south coasters. I know I can’t wait

to see what they have to being next.

Et i m e we play,

whether it is we head-

lining or us supporting. Charlie: We like

the venue as well, the stage is a great size, and when

the room is packed out it’s a great atmosphere, plus I like the nightlife

here too, and we always have a great night!

So how has tonight compared to oth-er shows here?

Charlie: its been great, like I said we love playing here and there is always a great response, it wasn’t quite the crowd we were hoping for but great non the less.

So, ‘only memories’ what’s your fa-vorite track off the album?

Charlie: photographs would have to be my choice, it means a lot to us.

Ed: yeah Andy (*guest vocalist from

So guys, I hear the tour is going well, what has the reception been like?

Charlie: it has indeed, the atmosphere has been amazing, and it has been off the hook since the album came out last year, we’ve got such a better reception.

Ed: people have got to know us since the album came out and you can see the different. It’s been insane!

I know you guys said you enjoy play-ing Leeds, what makes it so special?

Ed: The people here are so nice and we always get a great response every

t’s always a pleasure

to play in Leeds” says Charlie Holmes lead singer of Melodic hardcore band Heart In Hand, a few minutes after coming off stage of their first headline tour of the year. Af-ter releasing their debut album ‘Only memories’ last year, the band have only been heading upwards as they go into their third headline tour in the last 18 months and with support from English up and coming band Departures, the tour will definitely be one to remem-ber for the south coasters and I have the lowdown from singer Charlie Holmes and guitarist Ed Hartwell on what has been and what will be.

“I

HEART INHAND

burn the fleet) did an amazing job on clean vocals, topped it off to be an amaz-ing track

Charlie: we smashed it out so quickly, I hardly even sing on that track that much, no one likes me *laughs*

Favorite track to play live as well then?

Ed: We will only play it live with Andy, so it’s a special one.

HIH have taken off massively these last 18 months, your name is everywhere. Do you feel it’s been a steady progres-sion or a whirlwind?

Ed: there has not been a point where we are like ‘woah!’

Charlie: well people keep turning up to our shows so we must be doing some-thing right

Talk me through a day in the life of being in heart in hand....

Both: DRINKING! Charlie: we seem to party ALOT this

morning we didn’t go to bed until 5am and tonight we plan of doing the same all over again, the tour is really good as well and we are all enjoying it and push-

www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

gig review & interview: heart in hand

ing it more. We put more into shows when we are all tipsy anyway, then after we get fucked up.

So overall what do you hope from this tour?

Ed: we just enjoy playing to our fans and people who take time out to come see us play and we hope so get some more fans along the way

Charlie: we just want to enjoy our-selves and make some new friends, get some new fans and just do what we love to do, play fucking awesome music!

The band are really proving themselves on the current music scene and I know the fans and I am looking forward to seeing more from them in the near and distant future.

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MARK LANEGAN

IL I V E A T L E E D S M E T S T U D E N T U N I O N

t’s been a while since former Screaming Trees frontman and part time Queens of the Stone Age mem-

ber Mark Lanegan has hit Leeds. Two years in fact since he played a sell-out show at Brudnell Social Club in April 2010 and you could tell by the way his army of fans were crammed around the low lit stage in Leeds Met student union they couldn’t wait any longer.

Everyone was itching with antici-pation as roadies rushed around the stage setting up and sound checking, then finally the wait was finally over; with a flash of a torch from back stage the lights dimmed and out stepped the band, sharply followed by the grunge legend Lanegan himself.

Breaking into “When your number isn’t up” from his 2004 release Bub-blegum, you could tell this show was go-

ing to be something special. His raspy vocals echoed out from the stage, in-stantly everyone seemed mesmerized by the sheer power of his voice.

Moving swiftly on to opening track “The Gravediggers Song” from new re-cord ‘Blues Funeral’ which was released earlier this month, Lanegan showed there’s still a place in this world for raw unadulterated rock. Firing through songs new and old with unrelenting en-ergy never stopping to talk to the crowd, this was a show all about the music and I loved it.

Then came for me the best song of the night, a new track “Grey goes Black”, also from Blues Funeral. Honestly the most sing along song of the night and that’s just what happened, the full audi-ence singing in chorus. Considering the record was released less than a month

ago, this is a testament to his fans and how they have instantly embraced the new record.

Next came two personal highlights for me, a welcome return to his grunge roots with a rousing performance of Screaming Trees song “Crawlspace” and an awesome cover of Leaving Trains track “Creeping Coastline of Lights”.

After powering through the remain-der of the set, he left the stage after a haunting performance of new track “Tiny Grain of Truth”, and seemed to return almost instantly. Lanegan’s set culminated in the epic “Methampheta-mine Blues” which left everyone want-ing more, but sadly that was it. There was still an air of excitement from eve-ryone as they left; we can only hope he doesn’t wait another 2 years to come back to Leeds.

gig review : Mark lanegan album review : go fly a kite

BEN KWELLERG O F L Y A K I T E

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He’s finally back with his pop folk sound Texas’ own Ben Kweller has done it again with Go Fly a Kite, released on his own label The Noise Company.

It’s hard to think that it’s been nearly 3 years since he brought us Changing Horses, but from the outset this new offering delivers. Opening track “Mean to Me”, a full of energy folk anthem, reminiscent of early Beck sets the tone for the entire record. With track s such as “Jealous Girl” and “The Rainbow” the energy keeps flowing as the album honestly goes from strength to strength with each track. This is the first record of the year cement its place in my stereo and in my opinion the bench mark for albums this year. So here’s hoping this is the start of a fantastic year of music in 2012.

Ben is currently touring Australia and Japan, but hopefully he will be gracing the UK sometime soon.

www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

THE SHINSPor t o f Morrow

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It’s a mouthful to say but a beautiful & captivating acting debut from Eliza-beth Olsen who plays a young woman called Martha whose life slowly and psychologically unravels in the harmful environment of a cult in upstate New York. The film is shown in two separate time zones, one being the heroine’s journey in the cult & the other as her paranoia sets in, back in reality with her sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson). The cult is reminiscent of the Manson-era with the patriarchal leader, Patrick (John Hawkes) shown as a shady character with a lingering gaze. Patrick cunningly names her ‘Marcy May’ as the title suggests. It displays his posses-sive power over her and even dedicates a song perfectly called ‘Marcy’s Song’, the Jack son C. Frank song, it’s a poign-ant moment of the film and performed beautifully by John Hawkes who plays Patrick with such an honest convic-tion. Olsen never look s so fragile and delicate as she does here. For me, it was a spine chilling scene and the strange-ness doesn’t stop, even in the familial surroundings because of her brother in law’s peculiar behaviour. Even though the ending seems slightly abrupt, it is a must see film for anyone who enjoys a psychological thriller and it’s refreshing from the romantic comedies that are usually shown by the dozen.

*****

film review : martha marcy may marlene

M a r t h a m a r c y m a y m a r l e n e

shrugged another before leading onto the significance in the lack of vocals. I personally didn’t notice how ‘silent’ the film was until my attention began to dwindle, which I have heard many people mention, but then Film Stu-dent Housemate began her spiel; she believed that it was a beautiful film, so different to anything else and aimed at such a specific demographic (some-thing I do agree with). It isn’t a film to see, it’s a film to watch. You have to want to see it, not to mention be in the right mood – due to it being silent, it’s not exactly something you can dip in and out of. Film Student Housemate agreed with this, however days later, it came to light that she had fallen asleep a third of the way through and had only regained consciousness when the elderly woman in the top balcony of Hyde Park Picture house began to ap-plaud the credits.

So to summarize, is The Artist a worthwhile watch? Yes. But did it deserve it’s billion and one Oscars and reams of publicity? No. Admittedly it is unusual to see something so left field so popular in cinemas but dig a little deeper, scratch beneath the surface of popular film making - without a doubt there will be a hidden gem, a real alter-native movie with far more substance and worth just waiting to be discovered. It’s a mouthful to say but a beautiful.

film analysis : the artist

www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

t h e a r t i s tThe Artist – Did it really deserve so

much glory?

Best Picture, Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), Best Director (Michel Hazanavicius), Best Original ScoreBest Costume Design

If it had vocals would it have been any different? If it had colour would it have been any different? BSS investi-gated this after questioning whether The Artist really deserved five Oscars.

Many have said the storyline was ‘beautiful’ and ‘powerful’ but in my opinion, The Artist’s plot is as thin as Pete Doherty’s septum. How many times have we seen the boy-meets-girl, girl-screws-guy-over, guy-gets-sad scenario? Answer; too many. Every chick flick has this element without doubt and many action blockbusters aren’t too far away. Hailed an ‘alterna-tive’ film, it really makes you wonder if there is room for true alternative in the mainstream bracket, or does this label immediately cancel out any attempt at being different or original?

Can anybody legitimately tell me that no silent movies have been made since the 1920s? No art house or graduate company has made a silent film for so many years yet 2011 was the final year that brought such a fantastic one off? Sorry, but I’m afraid I’m not buying that one either.

We’ve all watched a lot of films in our time but one significant advantage I have when viewing this movie, is that I live with a film student. Like many she was so keen to see the film, nag-ging and pleading with the rest of the household until we agreed to see it. Of course as a student night goes, this lead to a pub session post-cinema where we very merrily entered a discussion on this particular topic. ‘Refreshing!’ cried one (and in response gained some very raised eyebrows), ‘ehh it was alright,”

Lambs are a’cryin’, bulbs are a’bloomin’ and summer is most definitely on its way. Soon enough we’ll be frying ourselves in the toasty glow of that fireball in the sky, but until then I’m sure you’ll want to know just what you can be doing with your free time.Once again we’ve scoured the city for its most wondrous treats and we’re offering them up to you on the silver platter that is Culture Shock. Here is our guide to what’s hot in Leeds this Spring.

G L A M O U R I EA Glamourie, in Celtic magic, transforms an everyday object into something of splendour and maj-esty. Aptly then, Glamourie is also the name of the current contemporary art exhibition at Project Space Leeds curated by artist David Steans. You’ll find work s, such as Simeon Barclay’s haunting cupboard named ‘Everyone has upped their game’, alongside work s from more than 20 other artists. + Leeds Gallery, Leeds + Free + www.leedsgallery.com

P I P D I C K E N S : N E W W O R KLeeds University features New Work from Pip Dickens, which focuses on the ‘boteh’ motif found in the University’s Kashmir Shawl collection. In a host of large oil paintings Dickens explores the motif as an often lost and lonely figure in a desolate landscape of extraterrestrial colours and textures – a thought provoking examination of the motif’s downfall in the textile industry.+ The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds University + Free + www.leeds.ac.uk/gallery

G A R Y H U M E : F L A S H B A C KGary Hume is one of Britain’s most important contemporary artists. He rose to international fame in the nineties with abstract paintings of doors from London’s St Bartholomews Hospital. In 1996 he was shortlisted for the Turner Prize and went on to create paintings and sculptures of cheerleaders, birds, flowers and nudes. Flashback is a fantastic overview of Hume’s career to date.+ Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds + Free + www.leeds.gov.uk/artgallery

L E E D S B E E R , C I D E R A N D P E R R Y F E S T I V A LIf you like to whet your whistle, then the Leeds Beer, Cider and Perry Festival could be the ideal early start to your summer. Over 150 real ales will be on offer, as well as many beers, ciders and per-ries from across the globe. Keep an eye out for the ‘Great Inventions’ themed treasure trail, where solving riddles could lead to a fantastic beery prize.+ Pudsey Civic Hall, Leeds + Free or up to £5 + www.leedsbeerfestival.co.uk

T I T L E T O B E D E C I D E DTitle To Be Decided brings together contemporary artwork from current artists and displays these alongside historical pieces. The aim is to provide a platform for the work s to be a part of the same conversation and to break down the limiting boundaries of space and time - this is definitely one for the thinkers out there.+ Mexico, Leeds + Free + www.ttbd.info

CULTURE SHOCK

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T H E Y O R K S H I R E A R T I S T S 2Spring sees the second band of York shire Artists strut their stuff at Leeds Gallery. The exhibition offers a platform for York shire’s latest artistic talents to showcase their work and presents Helen Peyton’s monoprints, Colin Halliday’s landscapes and Tom Wood’s studies into the human and avian form. All artwork s on display are available for purchase.+ Leeds Gallery, Leeds + Free + www.leedsgallery.com

J O U S T I N G T O U R N A M E N TEaster is here again, but if you can’t figure out how to commemorate the resurrection of the big man’s favourite son, don’t worry. We’ve got three words for you: Medieval. Jousting. Contest. The worlds most fearsome knights will be battling it out for the Queen’s Jubilee Trophy. What better way to spend your Easter weekend!+ Royal Armouries, Leeds + £5 + www.royalarmouries.org

L E E D S T H R O U G H A L E N SLeeds Gallery’s Leeds Through A Lens exhibition is a captivating exploration of the City of Leeds through the eyes of 15 different photographers. The work s celebrate all that is Leeds and cover all manner of subjects, from underground viaducts to everyday shop-workers. Interestingly, the oldest images show the city more than 30 years ago, whilst the most recent were shot just week s before the opening of the exhibition.+ Leeds Gallery, Leeds + Free + www.leedsgallery.com

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T H E Q U A Y B R O T H E R S : O V E R W O R L D S & U N D E R W O R L D SThe highly acclaimed Quay Brothers are presenting four of their most mesmerising animated short films at Leeds’ quaintest cinema. If you love eerie stop-motion puppets in moody, atmospheric worlds, then you must see this. Maska (2010), Street of Crocodiles (1987), In Absentia (2000) and Stille Nacht I: Dramolet (1988) will be followed by a Q&A session with the brothers.+ Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds + £5.80 / £4.50 student + www.hydeparkpicturehouse.co.uk

H A R E W O O D H O U S E K I T E F E S T I V A LGet down to the exquisite Harewood house for their renowned annual kite festival where a whole host of flying wonders will be taking to the skies. Expect a dazzling aerial display full colour, trick-ery and giant inflatable animals. You’ll even be able to try your hand at making your own colourful sky-traversing creation.+ Harewood House, Leeds + £10 / £6 for students + www.harewood.org

17/3 - 1/6

M I R Ó : S C U L P T O RAnybody with an appreciation of art, imagination and the warped human form would do well to visit this, the first major UK exhibition of Joan Miró’s sculpture work. The 20th century Catalan artist is one of Europe’s most important and in this exhibition you’ll discover his sculpted masterpieces in the open air, as intended, set against the breathtaking York shire countryside.+ York shire Sculpture Park, Wakefield + Free (£5 Parking) + www.ysp.co.uk

- TATTOOS -ARTISTIC ACCEPTANCE?I can almost guarantee at some point in your life, you will have heard this question - whether you’re tattooed

or not, you’ll have heard it and probably even taken part in this war of words. Now I could sit here and make a thou-sand sarcastic comments (starting with ‘maybe the clue is in the name of the profession, tattoo artist’) but instead I decided to dig a little deeper, visit some tattooists to get their opinions and then mix that in with the original sarky quips.

There are a few viewpoints on tat-toos but there tend to be two very dif-f e r e n t

sides to the spectrum, they’re a love or hate thing with the hate side seeming so prominent in day to day professional life. People that take the view of tattoos not being art tend to be the ones who dislike them, and openly so, including major companies who are quick to dis-criminate (though they’ll call it by any other name). Even I have been a victim of this, at the age of 20 after quitting U n i v e r - sity, I was

invited for a job inter-view with a famous s e l f - p ro -

claimed ‘alternative’ make up company that shall remain nameless. I had lots of experience in this field so I was fairly confident that the interview had gone well and I was right. A phone call from the manager a mere 15 minutes later confirmed this, “You’d be perfect for the job!” before bluntly following it with ‘…but you have a tattoo on your hand and we…well, we just can’t.”

“What is this unsightly mark?!” I hear you cry! What terrible tattoo prevented me from getting a job I was so perfect for. (Well it’s not phallic if that’s what you’re thinking, although almost every man that has read it aloud can’t help

himself but make a crude remark…) It is tiny, delicate old English script of my favourite lyrics (We forget the little things) on the side of my hand. Not offen-sive or garish, but any obvious marking was deemed wrong by this company.

By all means some

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like a lot of folk art, a lot of artists that don’t class themselves artists” With the walls of the new studio adorned in clas-sic and traditional flash, it’s easy to see that this style is a huge hit at the mo-ment, and the five tattooists there share a mutual love it, but it was one name made me wonder whether art is much

more of a materialistic thing. We’ve all heard

of Ed Hardy, the clothing label, and while it’s not up my street there are many who adore it and spend huge wads from their pay packet on the newest hoody. Hardy

is an artist who, on the alternative scene, is best known for his tattooing, but any-body else will know the name from his clothing collection which just goes to show that whilst his style his adored all over the world, only a small portion are willing to permanently have his art on

motion, but is this down to personal taste? Is it the Director of a company whose opinion decides the fate of all tattooed potential employees? Do these

people recognise beauty and draw in-spiration from it as much

as the next

person but let it influence them in different ways?

Netty Bates from Nala Tattoo, Tam-worth was a punk in the 1980s and feels that this fashion and culture has shaped her as a person, and in turn, her work. “It’s just something I’ve always been in-terested in, I liked underground, sub-versive arts.” She speak s of get-ting into the profession, “I’m drawn to different cultures and iconography from that culture…I prefer large Asian pieces, I like to be influenced by Ti-betan, Indian, Japanese, Chi-

nese culture. Even the contemporary tattoos now, sort of Don Ed Hardy style, that kind of traditional work is influenced by Japanese work.” And she’s not the only one to mention this famous man - BSS went to the opening launch of a new tattoo studio in Swansea and spoke to some of the artists about their styles, where some familiar names were bat-ted about. “Don Ed Hardy, Dan-iel Higgs are pretty much my two favourite tattoo artists,” mentioned Bradley Tompkins of Swansea Tattoo Company “but I

companies are truly terrified to dis-criminate yet this appears to be in

relation to ethnicity, disabil-

ities and the like – perhaps some feel that discrimination based upon appearance (or “lookism” as some ex-tremely imaginative people have la-beled it) is an untruth. One area of life that bases almost their entire business on just this, however, is the nightclub scene. Whilst nightclubs are no strangers to turning people away based on their appearance; perhaps the partygoer is wearing trainers or a certain brand, but more and more often people are being turned away due to having tattoos. For a long while there have been petitions for tattoo acceptance in the workplace, a few click s of a button and you’ll find groups and hashtags all over social net-working sites in hopes of further pro-

MIGGI’S TATTOO THAT PREVENTED A CAREER MOVE

Swansea Tattoo Company’s living canvas’ get into the spirit of things at their new studios opening launch party

www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

hand – no lines, no stencils, just straight away ink and needles – he was famed by

so many and people clearly trusted him without reservation. Unfortunately in 2011, Rob Donaldson passed away after a short battle with cancer but his work will be around for so many years, doing an amazing job at commemorating him. Sam Durrant, a student from Leeds Uni, has an unfinished tattoo by Rob, “In a way I don’t mind that it’s unfinished, he was a wicked guy so it’s just an honour to have any part of his work on my body. It was truly upsetting to hear of Rob’s death as he was such a great man, but I feel so privileged to have had a part in his work”.

So whilst so many are turning their nose up at body modification, body adornment, body art, whichever you like to call it, there are a select few doing what they can - consciously or not - to change the current and negative per-ception. For me, tattooing is art – you could get several people standing in a line with tattoos all over their body, you may not like them all but they’re art. It’s the same as walking into a gallery full of paintings, again, you may not like them all but they’re art too. It’s about time people stopped being so judgey-judgey and took a while longer to really see what they’re looking at.

started painting when I was younger and then began looking at flash.” But while his Grand-father was a huge part of his life, like many others, Steve grabbed inspiration from the most famous names in tradi-tional tattooing - Sailor Jerry and once again, Ed Hardy.

Whilst you’d sort of expect this background from a tattoo art-ist, it’s rare that you come across someone who has flipped the experience on it’s head, becoming an artist from a tattooist, yet one man did just that. We could all be very judgmental around such a topic but it takes a certain type of person to break the stereotype, HRH The Queen was just the woman to do that by commis-sioning sculptures from tattooist Rob Donaldson. Donaldson had been tattoo-ing for many years before The Queen came across him and he even continued to do so despite gaining much public-ity from this piece and also from Prince Phillip’s commission around 10 years later. Almost all of his work was free-

their skin. Speak to any tattooist and it’s clear to

see that many make the transition into being a tattoo artist from being an il-lustrator or a graphic designer, and the boys at Swansea Tattoo Company are no different. Tompkins studied Graphic

Design at Uni before dropping out once he had secured himself an apprentice-ship under Lee Hadfield (also a STC resident). Steve Jenkins, STC’s current apprentice is in the process of making this transition, “My grandfather was a painter and he got me into the art, I

Sam showing off some of his tattoos,

including one by Rob Donaldson

Our very own Emily recently tattooed her bicep

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U L T I M A T E S K I N T A T T O O29a New Briggate, Leeds, LS2 8JD

(Up the road from Primark, tucked between two takeaways on the left)

5 tattooists2 rooms1 piercer

Don’t jump ahead and judge this studio based on it’s location. Yes it’s between two takeaways,and yes it look s abit shabby from the outside but don’t let that fool you. Proffessional décor interior in this upstairs studio and the tattooists take so much

pride in their work it’s d i s played on their walls.

Interested in tattoos but would rather spend the money on ink rather than the travel? Fear not! We’ve come up with some info on studios in and around Leeds so you can get amazing art without the hassle. From the very centre of Leeds to the outskirts of Morley, there’s a place for everybody.

B L A C K C R O W N T A T T O O59 Great George Street, Leeds, LS1 3BB (Round the corner from The Well, over the little bridge and you’ll find it on the right opposite LGI)

4 tattooists 4 rooms Dave Bewick, Fil Wood, Chris Lambert, Gareth Miller are the four artists that make up this edgy but classy tattoo studio – interior décor focusing on flocked wallpaper, ornate furniture and taxidermy with tattooing styles to match.

Tattoo Hot Spots

01132 444940

R U D E S T U D I O S29 North Lane, Headingely, Leeds, LS6 3HW(Turn left at the traffic lights before Sainsburys, on the left before The Ark)

3 Tattooists1 ApprenticeScarification and Piercing available

Headingley Tattoo Studio may not receive merit on it’s interior but with it’s minimalist vibe and uber clean reception room, the studio really puts your mind at ease with what to expect. Slightly more experimental than your average studio and definitely worth a look in.

01133 180451

01132 432150 F I N E L I N E T A T T O O S T U D I O

101 Middleton park road, middleton, Leeds, LS10 4LS(on the right hand crescent of Middleton Circus)

2 Tattooists2 rooms

Extremely shabby chic, is the best way to describe the exterior of this studio but don’tbe so quick to judge. Fine Line’s tattooists each have a specialist subject, so if you’re

looking for a niche tattoo, these guys will probably have the skills to sort you out.

I N S P I R A T I O N T A T T O O SAckroyd Street, Morley,LS27 8PZ(On the main road between a church and a garage, parking available opposite.)

3 Tattooists1 Piercer

Award winning tattoo artists, slick interior and sterile environments – this studio has to be one of the best around. All these guys have incredibly different but brilliant styles so which makes it so easy to find the right guy for you. It may be a little further out than you were expecting but it is seriously worth it.

www.blacksheepsound.co.uk

01132 525111

01132 71766

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R E D T A T T O O A N D P I E R C I N GBalcony, Corn Exchange, Call Lane, Leeds, LS1 7BR(Above all the bars on Call Lane, between Jakes Bar and Oporto)

1 Tattooist1 Piercer2 Rooms

Located in the style end of Leeds, Red Tattoo&Piercing is a top spot for gettingtattooed. It’s tucked away and hard to find, but definitely worth it. This clean,retro studio with it’s kitschy lights and décor are a refreshing change from theold school studios filled with taxidermy. Drop in any time to book an appointmentbut don’t forget your ID – this lot are very strict!

01132 420413

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ersonal style is everything whether we like to admit it or not. It’s the first thing people notice about you when you walk down the street, the first impression you give when meeting someone for the first time, shows your personality in general and in some cases even your music taste. Most of us like to fit in with what’s in fashion and feel like we belong

within the world of style, however others want to make style their own and be a trendsetter, it’s what makes us all different and unique. It’s this desire to be different that makes us stand out in a crowd and makes people want to stop and know more about someone, right? This on a sunny day in Leeds is exactly what BSS decided to do, with a camera and notepad we hit the streets of Leeds City Centre to scope out that essence of personal style among the crowds of avid shoppers.

B i l l yFrom? CheltnamAge? 21Favourite Shopping Destination? PulpOutfit?Jacket: RollersnakesTee: Imperial Merch onlineJeans: Big and TallShoes: DC store

We liked Billy’s rugged skater style, fresh from the runway that is the student skate park. The red and white combination is a nice touch and matched with a nice fitted pair of jeans, we think this skate lad has it down to a tee.

FULL LENGTH PHOTO HERE

D a n i e l l eAge? 17Made in? Leeds Born and BredFavourite Shop? Anything VintageOutfit?Shorts: Pop Boutique Top: From my work weirdly enough, Northern Guitars UKBag: I got my bag from Spain in a little marketShoes: Vans

What made us stop at Danielle were those fantastic leather shorts, so in fashion right now we want a pair for ourselves. Red lipstick is always a show stopper in the daytime, teamed with this vintage chic outfit it screams ‘look at me’ in the best kind of way.

! ! S T A N D O U T F R O M T H E C R O W D T H I S S U M M E R ! !

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Billy

STYLE IN LEEDS

Danielle

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FULL LENGTH PHOTO HERE

F i o n aMade in? NottinghamAge? 18Favourite shop? TopshopOutfit?Jacket: Was my dads from back in the 80’s so very vintageTee: Cancer Bats tour merchSkirt: Nottingham WildTights: PrimarkSocks: Topshop Shoes: Internet (Ebay)Bag: My mums from TescoBelt: From a Pirate Dress Up Set

It’s not hard to see why Fiona made a stop-ping impression on us. The cute fairy girl on the bottom mixed with the vintage denim and metal look top half has personal style written all over it. We love the mix and match sense of outgoingness, and it goes to show there’s noth-ing wrong with a mixing it up a little, why stop at shops when the best bits of gear are hidden in dressing up sets!

FULL LENGTH PHOTO HERE

b e c c aMade in? Leeds Age? 16Favourite Shop? TopshopOutfit? Headscarf: PrimarkJacket: Vintage shopLeggings: ArkBag: PrimarkShoes: Limited edition Vans

Becca stood out from the crowd in these black and white stripy leggings, so retro and so in right now it would be a crime not to own a pair. They can be worn daytime to night time with the right attire and Becca pulls it off perfectly with the denim and leather bag combo. Those Vans are a definite show stopper, there’s noth-ing wrong with a bit of sparkle to brighten up the day!

S t y l e i n L e e d s

Fiona

Becca