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Amelia’s Magazine | New Designers 2011 Part One: Jewellery Graduate Show Review

New Designers review 2011-Michelle Scicluna Me Me Jewellery
Me Me Jewellery by Michelle Scicluna.

The jewellery section of New Designers also really brought home to me how important it is to see a university’s individual show where possible: when the work is crammed into such small stands it’s easy to miss the impact of an individual collection. I’ll be skipping those I’ve already covered in more detail: read about Central Saint Martins and Middlesex University in previous blogs (just click on the links).

New Designers review 2011-William Huynh
Having said everything above, viagra 100mg I did discover one jeweller that I missed at the Middlesex University Free Range show: William Huynh presented a great domed crystal in a gold winged bangle.

New Designers review 2011-Muireann Walshe
Muireann Walshe from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin won the Future Makers award for her unique broaches, inspired by historical finds from Ireland’s ancient history. Her jewellery is an echo of the famous Tara Brooch discovered at county Meath in 1850 and much copied in design. Muireann Walshe incorporates contemporary colour and pattern partly inspired by the Memphis School of design. Instead of a pin, these brooches are attached with magnets. I liked the fact that they were vaguely 80s, and also unlike anything else in the show. I’m always attracted to those designers who go out on a limb and don’t just follow trends.

New Designers review 2011-Hayley Lamb

At Truro College Hayley Lamb embedded fabric in her bold rings.

Emma Louise Simmonds, UCA, SGJ, crystallise necklace

From UCA Rochester Emma Louise Simmonds held centre stage with her stunning gems. She has developed a special new technique that challenges the usual methods of holding gemstones; using laser welding technology she traps cubic zirconia within metal casing without damaging the crystals, there by taking full advantage of the shape and cut of the gemstones.

New Designers review 2011-Emma Louise Simmonds
She has recently won a Goldsmith’s Craft and Design Council Award as well as Graduate Rising Star 2011 and I was most impressed with the press pack she pressed into my hands. Follow Emma Louise Simmonds on Twitter. Highly unusual and clever.

New Designers review 2011-Jong Bin Kim
Also from UCA Rochester Jong Bin Kim showed curvy jewellery that echoed the shapes of underwater sealife.

New Designers review 2011-Lucy Seddon's Paper Memories
At Sheffield Hallam Lucy Seddon‘s Paper Memories took a more ecological approach: material was sourced from old newspapers, maps and envelopes.

New Designers review 2011-Bucks New University Niti Khanna
Moving on to Bucks New University Niti Khanna was inspired by Indian architecture – the domed shapes created in modern forms out of metals and acrylic using CAD design. Super cool, I’d love some of this jewellery for myself. Niti has recently accepted a job as a jewellery consultant and plans to head back to India shortly, but I hope that she does continue to design herself as she’s got something special.

New Designers review 2011-Duncan of Jordanstone Jessica Ruth Howarth
At Duncan of Jordanstone Jessica Ruth Howarth‘s friend demonstrated how to lift her jewellery out of bespoke enamelled mini sculptures. Very sweet and different. I love enamelling, but there was barely a whisper of it at this show. I can’t think why it is so out of favour – other than it is extremely hard to do well. I studied enamelling at my local adult education college for a year and became totally hooked – after all, what’s not to like? Plenty of colour, infinite possibilities for pattern…

New Designers review 2011-Michelle Scicluna Me Me Jewellery
Michelle Scicluna of Sir John Cass London Metropolitan University had run out of cards – always a good sign! I was told to check out their website, which was emblazoned across the stand and yet is curiously uninhabited, so not sure why they would advertise it so widely. Fortunately Michelle herself is more savvy. She has a website and she’s also on Twitter. Go check her out. The Dhana Collection is made up of reinforced paper and metal, with shapes inspired by many years spent living in the ashrams of Thailand and practicing Buddhism. Really quite special.

New Designers review 2011-One Year On Li-Chu Wu
One Year On Li-Chu Wu of Birmingham City University drew me in with her multiple layer papercut jewellery. Particularly loved this nature inspired piece in sultry yellow. Follow Li-Chu Wu on Twitter.

Overall there was an awful lot of wonderful jewellery to look at but it does make me wonder, and worry, how on earth all these graduates will make a living: jewellery is an amazing addition to any girl’s life (and some boy’s…) but jewellery is not a necessity as clothing is. Expensive pieces are bought only seldomly, which is just as well because precious jewellery is incredibly carbon intensive to produce as well as desperately in need of an ethical practice overhaul. Fairtrade gold will only go so far… but I really do hope that this new generation of designers will fly the flag for ethical practice as well as good craft practice.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday July 8th, 2011 12:24 am

Categories ,80s, ,Birmingham City University, ,Bucks New University, ,CAD design, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Dublin, ,Duncan of Jordanstone, ,ecological, ,Emma Louise Simmonds, ,Enamelling, ,Fairtrade gold, ,Free Range, ,Future Makers Award, ,Goldsmith’s Craft and Design Council Award, ,Graduate Rising Star 2011, ,Hayley Lamb, ,India, ,Jessica Ruth Howarth, ,Jong Bin Kim, ,Laser Welding Technology, ,Li-Chu Wu, ,Lucy Seddon, ,Me Me Jewellery, ,Memphis School, ,Michelle Scicluna, ,Middlesex, ,Muireann Walshe, ,National College of Art and Design, ,Niti Khanna, ,One Year On, ,paper, ,Paper Memories, ,Sheffield Hallam, ,Sir John Cass. London Metropolitan University, ,Tara Broach, ,Tara Brooch, ,Thailand, ,The Dhana Collection, ,Truro College, ,UCA Rochester, ,William Huynh

Amelia’s Magazine | Butterflies, Swans, Stars and Tiaras: An interview with beaded jewellery designer Clara Francis

Clara Francis Necklace by Rebecca May Ilustration

Clara Francis Necklace by Rebecca May Illustration.

Clara Francis and I first spoke about doing an interview when she had just given birth to her youngest and I was pregnant with Snarfle… but somehow life as a new mum got in the way and it’s only now, two years later, that I have finally been able to catch up with this super talented jewellery designer. Clara is self taught in the virtually lost art of beading, producing beautifully intricate but bold pieces that seem to take on a life of their own. Here she talks candidly about the swap from acting to making, how motherhood has changed her life, and her excitement about the production of a new bridal collection. She’s a total inspiration.

Clara Francis by N. Sukandiwirya

Clara Francis by N. Sukandiwirya.

Can you tell us a little about your early life, where did you grow up and what was it like?
I was born in miserable suburb of North West London in a street right next door to Brent Cross Shopping Centre. Spent the majority of my youth there pilfering and gobbing on peoples heads walking on the floor below… went to the local comprehensive where I proceeded to only be interested in art and squandered what little brain I had. Decided pretty early on that I wanted to be an actress and went to The Central School of Speech and Drama and studied there for three years. During my 20′s I worked pretty much solidly as an actress, mainly theatre and a little bit of tv and film. But I found the periods of unemployment deeply depressing and hated that I was solely reliant on other people to give me work. I was too thin skinned to be an actress…

Clara Francis beaded jewellery butterfly headband

All photography of model wearing Clara Francis jewellery by Matilda Hill Jenkins.

Clara Francis BUG_BUTTERFLY_FLOWER bead necklace

What were the first crafts you got involved with as a child in the 80s?
My cousin Marion in Paris has a jewellery business called Françoise Montagne and she would send me over boxes of these beautiful vintage French beads – all the ones lying about in her studio that she didn’t need anymore… how lucky was I? So I would fashion my own jewellery even then. Also my mum was very crafty and taught me to knit and crochet very young. She was always making me clothes and I remember girls laughing at me on the bus on the way to school in my very obvious home knit jumper and scarf combo… this was the 80’s and it was all about the label and the bling!!!

Clara Francis beaded jewellery white butterfly headband

Clara Francis necklace by Lucy Eves

Clara Francis necklace by Lucy Eves.

Where and how did you first discover the art of beadwork?
In the bead shop in Kentish Town I saw racks of tiny japanese glass beads in hundreds of incredible colours and finishes. I enquired as to what one does with them and then went to the library and took out any book I could find on beadweaving and taught myself. Once I had taught myself the basic beading stitches I decided I wanted to created my own rather than work with other peoples’ designs. I absolutely love blending all the colours together… it’s like painting with beads.

Clara Francis by Stella Pong

Clara Francis by Stella Pong.

What experience did you have of market stalls before you set up shop in Spitalfields market?
My step father had market stalls all over London selling make up and cosmetics and often things that fell off the back of a lorry (once we had to sell 3 legged tights and umbrellas that you wore on your head!??) so I would work for him at Wembley Market every Sunday all through my teenage years. I couldn’t have hated it more but in retrospect I feel it taught me loads about how to sell to the public, people skills and even how to dress for cold weather!!! And most importantly I learnt the art of a good display… his mantra was ‘flash means cash‘!!!

Clara Francis beaded jewellery red choker

Clara Francis by Maia Fjord

Clara Francis by Maia Fjord.

How did the switch from acting to jewellery designer happen?
I always carried on crafting and decided that in between acting jobs rather than work in a call centre I would see if I could earn some money making and selling jewellery. I made a small collection and took it to the buyer at Harvey Nichols… and they bought everything I had there and then. I then got my stall at Spitalfields market which I had for about 8 years, and as my jewellery got more popular my acting career got LESS popular so I decided to knock the acting on the head. This was also around the time my partner and I decided to start a family.

Clara Francis beaded jewellery butterfly necklace

How does each design evolve?
I’m always ALWAYS thinking about jewellery and beads and all the possibilities that go with them. When I get an idea I sit in my studio and just play around with beads and various stitches (flat and three dimensional) until I get the effect I had pictured in my head. Some pieces will take weeks to get right as the beading process itself is so slow. I can spend an entire week making something and it’s only when I finish it and take a step back that I realise it hasn’t worked, so I have to start all over again.

Clara Francis wedding portrait

Wedding tiara bessie funny face

I believe you recently made your own bridal headpiece, what did it look like and where did the inspiration come from?
Yes, I got married a couple of months ago. I knew that I wanted to make my own headpiece and five more for my little bridesmaids. I based my entire wedding on these incredible gold glitter brogues I found for all the bridesmaids AND the film Paper Moon which I’m currently obsessed with. So a celestial theme appeared quite organically. I beaded with 24 carat gold plated beads to make 3D stars for my headdress and flat stars for the girls’ ones. I also beaded wedding favours for all my female guests; a beaded butterfly ring or brooch or forget-me-not flower. It was a massive labour of love but worth it whan I saw everyone wildly dancing and butterflies and bees sparkling on everyones fingers and lapels. (A: what a beautiful beautiful idea!)

Clara Francis by Melissa Angelik

Clara Francis by Melissa Angelik.

How did the experience of becoming a mother affect your business?
I had my two girls, Bessie and Maude very close together and continued to build my business whilst changing nappies and breastfeeding, doing lots of wholesale. I exhibited at LFW, selling all over the world particularly in the US, Japan and Korea… plus I was working freelance for Topshop and River Island making jewellery ranges for them. I collaborated with Tracey Boyd for a season plus I did a collaboration with the V&A museum.

In January 2011 Maude died very suddenly from a flu virus and my whole life changed in that instant. I couldn’t work for a long time. Simply couldn’t concentrate on anything. My perspective on life changed completely, and when I did tentatively start working again after many months it was in a very different way to the way I worked before. The creation of two collections a year and everything that went with it was too demanding… I live more simply now. I want to keep my business small and manageable and not travel too much. I want to take and collect my daughter from school most days. I’m so much less ambitious. I have also had another child since losing Maude: my son Gilbert who has just turned 2. It is such a joy to be with him everyday and watch him grow, and I want to savour every second of him as before I know it he will be at school…

Clara Francis stars

How do you run your business now and what designs do you have in the pipeline for 2014?
I currently have 3 beaders who work from home and I send them patterns and beads and they do piecework for me. All of their work gets sent back to me and Fiona (who works with me part time) and we sew everything together and finish pieces off in my studio, which is at the bottom of my garden. It is very hard juggling young children with running your own business and I am constantly berating myself for not having enough time to do anything properly (parent or business) but I am doing the best that I can and that is all I can do at present. I often have to work into the night when everyone else is asleep as that is the only way things will get finished, it’s not ideal but not forever… I’m definitely going to bring out a bespoke bridal collection in the near future as there is a definite gap in the market for the more quirky bride and I enjoyed the whole process of making mine for my wedding so much I want to share it with the world!

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday March 27th, 2014 3:17 pm

Categories ,80s, ,Beading, ,Bridal, ,Butterflies, ,Clara Francis, ,Françoise Montagne, ,Harvey Nichols, ,interview, ,japan, ,jewellery, ,Kentish Town, ,korea, ,Lucy Eves, ,Maia Fjord, ,Matilda Hill Jenkins, ,Melissa Angelik, ,N. Sukandiwirya, ,Paper Moon, ,Rebecca May Illustration, ,River Island, ,Snarfle, ,stars, ,Stella Pong, ,swans, ,The Central School of Speech and Drama, ,Tiaras, ,topshop, ,Tracey Boyd, ,US, ,Wedding, ,Wembley Market, ,Wholesale

Amelia’s Magazine | Life Cycles: an interview with cyclist, world record breaker and author Julian Sayarer

We have been following the adventures of Julian Sayarer for several years, since I first met him in the now defunct (and much missed) Foundry Pub in Old Street. This week sees the official launch of his debut travelogue Life Cycles at cult cafe Look Mum No Hands, so we caught up with him to find out more about cycling, breaking records and writing books.

It’s been a while since you cycled around the world – would you do it again? And what would you do differently if you set off on a similarly long cycle ride?
I’ll definitely be cycling a long way again sometime in the future. There are vague plans for riding to Beijing in 2015, and Latin America still has a really strong appeal. The chances are that, if I set out again, there wouldn’t be a world record involved. Once you get into a routine, riding 110 miles a day isn’t quite as daunting as it sounds, the element of a race did add some fun, and I really like the intensity of all those fleeting impressions, but that said, I wouldn’t mind going a bit slower… it’d be nice to stop for longer in the really amazing places, and not having to cut short some of the encounters.

How did you find a publisher for your book, and what would you recommend to other would be travel writers looking for a deal?
I went for the Writers & Artists yearbook, which includes a directory of agents, and submitted the standard first thirty pages to those that sounded suitable. A handful offered to represent me, and I went with my instinct, and the advice that most people in the industry had given: to go with whichever agency I felt most comfortable with. I’ve got a good relationship/friendship with my agent now… he’s really helped me to develop my writing, and gives me a lot of time of day, and feedback, that I don’t think the bigger agencies I turned down would’ve had much interest in helping with.

In retrospect, I potentially could have got a publisher with just a sample chapter and a covering letter of what I’d done, but that isn’t always the case. Although the agent takes a cut, they certainly open up options that quite probably wouldn’t otherwise exist, and allow you to focus on the creative side of the work.

I think the main thing, with any sort of writing, and however cliché, is just to do it for the love of it. It’s a slow and poorly paid world, and unless you simply love the act of writing, it’d soon get a bit dispiriting.

What is the book about and who do you think it will appeal most to?
Human scenery… the politics of the world at 12mph? I’d like to think it would appeal to anyone with an interest in the world or writing, really. There are a lot of cycle touring books that just describe headwinds and hills and mechanical problems… it ends up a bit of a list of everything that happened (with a dash of self-help and motivational stuff thrown in) and that’s really off-putting to me. I try and create places and experiences with the words, and only really mention the bicycle when it’s really necessary. I always loved writing, and storytelling in particular, so it was always my intention to go for something that tried to be a bit literary, creative, experimental. I’m not sure how much that’s been done before, on this subject.

What do you love most about the act of writing?
The absolute freedom of a page, the fact that it’s mine to create anything I want with. The fact that I can put all of my thoughts into words and then, for good or bad, they lose their weightiness and become only a form upon a piece of paper. My writing has become a really good friend to me, it’s helped me through a lot.

You are also making films and I believe that you recently spent time living with the Moken sea gypsies – can you tell us more about this particular adventure?
I’d written a series on the EU financial crisis, for the New Statesman, as I cycled through Europe to Istanbul in 2012. A producer had read the articles, really liked them, and got in touch in search of a writer for a documentary project in Asia and the Pacific. The Moken are an indigenous people of southeast asia, they live on the water, but that life, and the islands they move between, are all being threatened by the usual advances of modernity: land speculation, overfishing, mass tourism, oil exploration, border disputes between Myanmar and Thailand.

The documentary is still in post production, but Aeon Magazine commissioned an article from the trip. I looked a lot at indigenous culture, the way that economically developed countries can fetishise it. The Moken lead a hard life, many of them would perhaps like it to be easier, many young Moken are abandoning their traditional ways of life to move to the mainland, but often experience a lot more difficulties than they do on the water. It’s not to say that anything or anyone is timeless, Moken included, but development and change should be sensitive to culture, and too often it isn’t.

You have also been involved with arts projects – have you got anymore of these in the pipeline and if so what?
I’ve exhibited photography, and am a trustee with a charity that does participatory arts workshops with youngsters who are marginalised by either poverty or social stigma. I don’t know really, I think writing is more my natural calling, and it probably helps to focus on one thing. I’ve got a few ideas for exhibitions, but they’re kept company by lots of other ideas, most of which are unlikely to come to fruition, or will crystallise into something that right now I don’t see coming!

How much do you cycle today and what kind of bike do you ride?
How much I cycle depends a lot on where I am. Sometimes I’m cycling somewhere and working on a piece of travel writing, sometimes commuting on a bicycle in London, sometimes in a city without a bicycle and just walking around a lot. To be honest, I do miss it when I don’t ride at all for a while… cycling really gets me thinking, somehow looking at the world differently, and I think the exercise is good for the brain as much as the body.

I have a steel frame touring bicycle which was given to me as sponsorship, and I generally find too expensive to leave anywhere. I also find it hard to get attached to things that are worth a lot of money. I cycle around London on a shabby old fixed gear that must have done just as many miles, on the streets of the city.. I find that one much more charming.

I hear there is a second book in the wings… can you tell us more about it?
I spent three years working as a cycle courier in London, and if I see the first book as the story of the world on a bicycle, the second is the story of the city, plus a bit of me adjusting to standing around with strangers in lifts, while I could still remember riding through deserts in central Asia.

It’s a bit of an unseen London really; my brother delivered flowers to the MP who was stabbed by a young constituent in Whitechapel, I had the painful experience of delivering flowers to congratulate Cameron and his wife when they formed the government in 2010. I delivered administration notices to Lehman Brothers in 2008. There’s a really strong subculture to the couriers, I wouldn’t say I’m one of them as such, but there’s a really tender sense of kin there, and it’s valuable to work with the sort of people that it’s all too easy not to come into contact with in society… bicycles are good for that in general.

I know a courier who occasionally rode around with a beer can, with pierced holes in the side, where normally you keep a water bottle. He used the can to smoke crack, clear as day, off a fairly busy street in Soho. There are a few riders who’ve done time in jail, a lot of them have perhaps made their lives harder than they needed to be, and a lot of them were probably just born into lives that were always going to be difficult. They’re all incredibly good, tender people, and the job and the culture of London’s roads is hard enough that it can really harden your soul. I don’t know, I think we live inside a system that doesn’t honour human beings as it should, and I want to make some small mark against that, by chronicling a lot of the realities of cities, poverty, class. It’s probably quite ambitious, but you’ve gotta try.

You can buy Life Cycles from Hive here, and help support independent bookshops. Julian will launch the book at Look Mum No Hands at 49 Old Street, London on Thursday 5th June at 7.30pm and all are welcome, join the facebook event here. He will be on tour in the autumn too, so look out for him then!

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday June 4th, 2014 9:10 am

Categories ,Aeon Magazine, ,Album Launch, ,Author, ,beijing, ,book, ,Cycle Courier, ,cycling, ,Foundry Pub, ,Hive, ,interview, ,Istanbul, ,Julian Sayarer, ,Latin America, ,Launch, ,Life Cycles, ,london, ,Look Mum No Hands, ,Moken, ,Myanmar, ,New Statesman, ,Record Breaker, ,review, ,Thailand, ,travel, ,Travelogue, ,Writers & Artists

Amelia’s Magazine | Central Saint Martins MA in Communication Design Graduate Show 2011: Review

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Su Kyung Lee's The Imaginative Battle
Detail from Su Kyung Lee’s The Imaginative Battle.

The Central Saint Martins MA in Communication Design graduate show was held earlier this summer in the spacious rooms of the high ceilinged Rochelle School. The quality was of an exceptional standard throughout, site and there were informative descriptions helpfully placed next to all the work.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Su Kyung Lee's The Imaginative Battle

Su Kyung Lee‘s The Imaginative Battle explored patterns of protection and destruction, website focusing on the visual aesthetics of destruction and chaos through patterns. Cells and germs became the camouflage, web splattered across and fired from tanks, rendered in glorious neon brights. An apt subject in these difficult times.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Matt Nicholson
Matt Nicholson showed his work half spat out of a digital printer. Inspired by his desire for high status objects he can’t afford Matt reproduced them for free, using printed paper patterns to create giant wall sculptures. They even retain functionality: the Lieca camera takes photos via a pinhole. Follow Matt Nicholson on Twitter.

Kanitta Meechubot six feet under yew tree Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Kanitta Meechubot Kanitta Meechubot searching

I was totally enraptured by Kanitta Meechubot‘s enchanting collages. A Garden of Illuminating Existence repeated and matched the branching nerves and veins of the body in trees and natural forms: merging memories and landscape. ‘To produce a map of experience through the internal landscape which changes with the seasons, is to capture the beauty of the illimitable renewals and decays of our existence.’ The real beauty of these pieces, with names like Six Feet Under Yew Tree and The Season of The Soul, was the fine detail used to build delicate pictures in 3D, including not only old photos and engravings, but real dried flowers and paint splats.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Sarah Langford
Sarah Langford was inspired by the movement of water, it’s necessity and destructive capabilities. Using scientific measurements she created beautiful textures to produce abstracts: parts and fragments of rock formations, shells, glimpses of the landscape being ripped and shredded by the passage of time.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Gareth Barnett
Gareth Barnett was inspired by Brutalist architecture (my favourite, though not to live in myself…) and the hellish writings of the Marquis de Sade to create an investigation into the power structures and systems of control within an urban environment. The resulting 20 pictures were splayed across the wall, interlaced with projections. With names like Climax in Concrete and Fuck Me Building there was no escaping the ruptured baseness of his conclusions.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Carl Partridge
Carl Partridge looked to a place he’s never visited: America, believing that it’s easier to buy into the idealisation of America if you’ve never been. Using tiny shreds of paper and stickers, holographic beads, parts of adverts and marbled plastic he created delicate collages that seemed to question our love of consumerism. Follow Carl Partridge on Twitter.

Beth Salter CSM Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Beth Salter CSM
For marvellous hand done typography look no further than Beth Salter. She was inspired by private conversations overheard in public surroundings. Me too, I love them! But mainly her bright letters were just a lot of fun. Follow Beth Salter on Twitter.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Ann-Kathrin Schubert
For The Fear of Life Ann-Kathrin Schubert had decorated discarded plastic bottles to become the most tropical of fish, tribal in their boldness.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Jesus Madrinan
Jesus Madrinan had taken a series of portraits in London nightclubs: Good Night London featured some suitably inebriated yet oddly disillusioned creatures.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Golbanou Moghaddas

Golbanou Moghaddas was influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer‘s philosophy of existence typified by unrest. Strange fattened figures tumbled from a bony etched pelvis filled with birds. Painterley strokes combined with fine etching skills.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Alexa Galea
Alexa Galea was inspired by human desire to control and tame nature and the wild, particular with reference to European folk art and ritual.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Oat Montien

Oat Montien explored the relation between ritual and identity in contemporary interpretations of Thai traditions.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Paraskevi Ferentinou
Paraskevi Ferentinou explored the ‘agency of furniture‘ in the role of children’s growth.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Ying-Chen Lu

Ying-Chen Lu worked with 3D papercutting to create exploding type and depth in landscapes.

Central Saint Martins Communication Design Degree Show 2011 Aindri Chakraborty

I could easily have missed Aindri Chakraborty‘s work which was nestled in a grimy corner, but I’m glad I didn’t as it was really rather wonderful: Heritage through Glass explored how the glass cabinets in museums separate the tangible object from the intangible visitor, and how stories are passed down the generations. People Tree and Conversations with Baba featured frantic truncated shapes, fire people and vomiting heads.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday August 11th, 2011 12:12 pm

Categories ,3D Papercutting, ,A Garden of Illuminating Existence, ,Agency of Furniture, ,Alexa Galea, ,America, ,Ann-Kathrin Schubert, ,Arthur Schopenhauer, ,Beth Salter, ,Brutalism, ,Camera, ,Carl Partridge, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Climax in Concrete, ,collage, ,Communication Design, ,consumerism, ,Conversations with Baba, ,Folk Art, ,Fuck Me Building, ,Gareth Barnett, ,Golbanou Moghaddas, ,Good Night London, ,Graduate Shows, ,Heritage through Glass, ,illustration, ,Jesus Madrinan, ,Kanitta Meechubot, ,Last and Found, ,Leica, ,ma, ,Marquis de Sade, ,Matt Makes Stuff, ,Matt Nicholson, ,Oat Montien, ,Paraskevi Ferentinou, ,People Tree, ,Ritual, ,Rochelle School, ,Sarah Langford, ,Six Feet Under Yew Tree, ,Su Kyung Lee, ,Thailand, ,The Fear of Life, ,The Imaginative Battle, ,The Season of The Soul, ,typography, ,Ying-Chen Lu

Amelia’s Magazine | Album review: Lymes – Goodbye Bangkok, and interview with Richard Gilbert

Voodoo Doll - Lymes by Janneke de Jong
Lymes – Voodoo Doll by Janneke de Jong.

Goodbye Bangkok was one of those wonderful surprises that landed in my musical inbox late last year. From first single Train to Penang – a mournful tune backed by a full orchestra – to the twinkling horns and swooping cellos of Welcome, the album is an elegiac treasure chest of unusual tunes inspired by Richard Gilbert‘s occasionally difficult time in Thailand. Despite harrowing subject matter there is real beauty in this collection; highlights include the duelling banjos that introduce love song The Fool, and a husky male voice submerged by honeyed female vocals in Voodoo Doll. Every song is an unexpected delight. A real find of 2011.

Lymes single cover
Your debut album came out last September, what has been the reaction? Any pleasant or unusual surprises?
Well, it has all been pleasant really in that it reached a couple of places I never expected it would – BBC 6 Music has played tracks off it a few times and Clint Boon of XFM made it his featured album of the day, which was very nice, as is he. It was a pleasure to simply be in touch with a pop star that features in my own record collection! I originally intended to record this album with my musical ‘other half’, Simon Andrew, and not promote it at all. It was just for our own enjoyment. It was intended to be a download only release with no marketing at all. We were artists in the purest sense! No bullshit, just the music. I still don’t feel comfortable pairing the 2 activities together. So it was my intention to leave it sitting there in cyberspace, ready for any random passersby to enjoy or not enjoy. Anyway, in the 11th hour, my arm was twisted, partly by me, into doing more of the promo work. And I started to enjoy it because it gave birth to Mollusc Records that I set up with a few mates and off we went. There is more to nurture now than just Lymes. The most pleasing thing for me is that, for those that have bought / received a copy of the album, they talk about the lyrics first of all. I was very anxious about the lyrics. They needed to be interesting and not vague because I knew I wanted to explore songs with upfront vocals and in a talking style.

Lymes - The Fool by Abi Hall
Lymes – The Fool by Abi Hall.

What was the name of the band that you were in during the 90s? And why did you decide to go it alone for awhile?
I was in a noisy band called The Mandelbrot Set. Loads of wah wah and distortion. I packed it in because we had not written any good songs for a few months. I was too impatient. And when I left the band, I realised I had a huge void in my life. I had no job, no degree. So off I went to get the quickest degree I could and then to Thailand, which certainly filled my life with colour.

Be My Dead Wife

The subject matter was inspired by your personal encounters whilst living in Thailand…. how did these find their way into a musical format?
This was a key concern for me. The music was writing itself nicely, with my multi-instrumentalist partner Simon and me with the recording gear. The songs were stockpiling with mumbled vocal takes and no finished lyrics. I needed a theme for inspiration and when I wrote one set of lyrics about Thailand, Be My Dead Wife, I was really happy with them. And I was able to write a set of lyrics very quickly. Often in one sitting. I was also very keen on storytelling in music as opposed to nebulous lyrical imagery, where the singer is another instrument…..I spent a lot of time listening to Johnny Cash whilst out there. This probably opened my mind to storytelling.

Lymes Goodbye Bangkok cover
What prompted the move to Thailand in the first place? You were there for 6 years which is a long time… can you tell us about some of your more interesting experiences? How did you stay alive, ie what was your work during that time?
As I said above, the big void left by not being in a band led me out of the country. It was supposed to be Argentina but I followed a mate to Bangkok after we did a TEFL course. I started off teaching English but quickly moved into market research in the grocery industry. Zzzzz. Some stories are in the album and the lyrics are all printed in the cover sheet. And there is no flowery stuff going on. Very direct I think. In addition to these? I have written a few things down here and deleted them. Sorry! It’s the usual stuff you would expect to see in Thailand; drugs, corruption, passport dealing, working without work permits, vehicle smuggling and ringing, prostitution, tourists and fresh expats getting duped, loutish behaviour, boiler rooms, grotesque sex shows (anybody care to see a go-go dancer shaking a coke bottle, sticking it up her bum, bending over and spraying the audience? No, thought not.), endless road traffic accidents and most sadly, child trading /smuggling. This is something that I could not put on the album. Although the lyrics are observational. the delivery and music add the appropriate vibe. I doubt I’d ever finish it if that were the story. To summarise, a sleezy English chap ran an English Language school but was also allegedly buying children from Orphanages on spec and selling them to Chinese people that were not able to have their own children. At least that is what I was told by others that knew him better than I. To just know the face and name of someone that might get involved in that troubles me. Writing songs about how great the food is and how lovely the people are doesn’t seem to work as well lyrically. But the food is amazing and the people are lovely!

Lymes by Rosemary Cunningham.

You have said that songs start life in your phone voicemail at about 6am in the morning. Is that because you phone yourself in a half asleep slumber? Has this occurred under any strange circumstances, or in a strange place?
Kind of! I often wake up with song parts going through my head. I am usually convinced they are someone else’s. I sing them into my own voicemail before I forget them, so yes I am barely awake when it happens and then I ask everyone later if they recognise it…… the cellos on Welcome, for example, came about in this way, as did the violins on Voodoo Doll.

Welcome

Voodoo Doll

Lymes_WindChimes By Jardley Jean-Louis
Lymes – Wind Chimes by Jardley Jean-Louis.

Your first live performance was with the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra in October, which is quite a major deal! How did that come about? Any special things you had to adapt when performing with such a large amount of musicians?
That was the hardest gig I ever did. First gig with Lymes and my first gig since the 90s. I wanted to do something special, not just play the local clubs. And several Lymes songs had orchestral parts in them that would have left the song bare without orchestral instruments. We started planning this show 3 years ago. It is really tough getting people to come together for your music when you have hardly any money. But the Hull Phil were really nice people to work with and it certainly opened everyone’s eyes seeing the 2 genres coming together when no one had done anything like it before. We ended up with a chamber orchestra of around 22 players. It was a great success in the end. Amazing really, because we had to manage the show ourselves and many things were going wrong, increasingly so on gig day….. and we were trying to focus on the music.

Lymes_by_Geiko_Louve
Lymes by Geiko Louve.

Who else is Lymes?
Ah. I’m glad you asked about that. Simon is the other one and the musical backbone to this album. He has a lever arch file with hundreds of songs in it and we still have not gone through them all to see which ones need to be worked on. The 2 best songs on the album are The Fool and Train To Penang. He wrote the music for both of them. He is a very good drummer, a good keyboard player and a competent guitarist. There is also musical pedigree in his family. His brother is perhaps my favourite drummer of all time and had some success with Kingmaker in the early 90s.

The Fool

Train To Penang

My favourite story about Simon is that, while watching his brother having a really good time in Kingmaker, opportunity knocked on his door in the shape of an invitation to a drumming audition for a World Party tour in America. And he turned it down because he thought their music was boring!

Lymes
When can people next see you live, and are you doing any festivals next summer?
We are planning another big show, this time with a gospel choir. We just need to find one that will not be too concerned about the lyrical content and lack of Jesus worship in our songs. We are also waiting to hear if we are on the bill for the Great Escape festival in Brighton in May. Fingers crossed on that one.

Goodbye Bangkok is out now on Mollusc Records.

Goodbye Bangkok

Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday January 9th, 2012 9:58 am

Categories ,Abi Hall, ,Clint Boon, ,English Language, ,Geiko Louve, ,Goodbye Bangkok, ,gospel, ,Great Escape, ,Hull Philharmonic Orchestra, ,interview, ,Janneke de Jong, ,Jardley Jean-Louis, ,Johnny Cash, ,Kingmaker, ,Lymes, ,Mollusc Records, ,review, ,Richard Gilbert, ,Rosemary Cunningham, ,Simon Andrew, ,Thailand, ,Thailand Be My Dead Wife, ,The Fool, ,The Mandelbrot Set, ,Train To Penang, ,Voodoo Doll, ,Wind Chimes, ,World Party, ,XFM

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