Lewis LouLou Maynard x Glass Boutique

A few images from a shoot with Lewis Loulou Maynard from LA SHARK, taken for online store Glass Boutique. Lewis is the guest blogger until Tuesday 11th December.

Vicky Grout x Glass Boutique

I took a few photos of super-blogger Vicky Grout for online store Glass Boutique. Vicky's blog and Tumblr are amongst my favourites and are definitely worth checking out!

PORTHCAWL ELVIS FESTIVAL.

Contrary to what MTV would have most people believe, there is more to South Wales than valley louts hoping to 'make it big in Caaar-diff' and sheep. What MTV omitted from The Valleys (probably due to a lack of vulgarity) was the gem that is Porthcawl's annual Elvis Festival aka The Elvies.

I have no idea why or how this festival came to be but it's a pretty big deal when it rolls around each year. The festival claims to be the largest of its kind in the world and attracts quite a crowd. According to the BBC, this year's event broke the world record for the biggest gathering of Elvis impersonators (800, in case you were wondering). The festival takes place over a long weekend every Autumn and spans various Porthcawl venues. Elvis tribute acts perform, people get dressed up as Elvis and generally have a good time. At the end of it a 'Best Elvis Impersonator' award is given out and the sequin jumpsuits and stick-on sideburns are stored away for another year. 

Never one to miss out on a photo opportunity as golden as this, I went along with my sister to see what the Portcawl Elvis Festival was really all about. 



elvies.co.uk 

DYLAN THOMAS.

For my August post I decided to mix things up a bit and post about something other than bands, music photography and the cat camera. Last week it was my birthday and in order to avoid all things birthday related I decided to pop along to Laugharne (pronounced Larn), the hometown of my favourite poet Dylan Thomas. It is pretty well known that I have a borderline preternatural love for Thomas, who is said to have been one of the main inspirations for beat generation writers Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. It is also widely believed that Bob Dylan appropriated his last name from the writer. Above are photos of his final resting place and writing shed, which has been left in the original state. Enjoy.

ELVIRA T-SHIRTS AND STAGE INVASIONS.

Just when I thought that my days of being a blog-posting flake were long behind me, I have managed to let three months pass by without so much as even a photo post. I would use the excuse that I’ve been pretty cut-up by Christopher Owens’ departure from Girls, but that only happened last week so excuses aside, here's what I've been up to.

Things have been pretty quiet on the gig front lately, but last month a few friends and I went to the Sexbeat 5^th Birthday Cruise on the Thames. This was supposed to be a tribute/re-creation of sorts of the Sex Pistols Silver Jubilee boat cruise 30 years previous. Musical delights were provided by Crocodiles, who I have seen play several times and always look forward to watching. The band playing before them was Weird Dreams https://www.facebook.com/weirddreams, who I was aware of but have never properly listened to. I decided to watch their set out of curiosity (their singer was wearing an Elvira t-shirt, which may have influenced this decision was pretty neat) and am glad that I did so. I might be a little late to the party in getting into them, given that they supported Girls at The Forum in May, but their song ‘Little Girl’ has been on repeat in my head for what feels like forever. I would really recommend them as a live act and their album ‘Choreography’. I unfortunately didn’t take any photos of the night as I forgot my camera but for those interested there are some on the Sexbeat website.

It’s a bit early to do a July post but I had been looking forward to going to watch east London metal band Throne https://www.facebook.com/thronemusic (big love for their music/merch/hair) play in Camden last Thursday for a while when Lewis from LA SHARK invited me to their single launch for Modern Man at new Dalston bar Birthdays. The above photo was taken a few minutes before the band went on stage. As I haven’t seen the LA SHARK boys in a while, and was already in Hackney that evening having a look around Australian graffiti artist LUSH’s show, I decided that I would catch Throne again at a later date. As is typical of a LA SHARK show, the place was packed and the crowd were really into it. The show ended with a stage invasion and remainder of the night was spent dancing to 90s RnB in a snooker hall with Australian boys that are apparently members of a band called Foxx on Fire.

After rattling on about my love of the Holga cat camera in previous posts, it died last week after being used a grand total of five times. I am now convinced that I am a camera curse. On the plus side, no more getting weird looks from strangers on the tube when my bag lets out an inappropriately loud ‘miiaaaooow’ after accidentally knocking the talk button. R.I.P cat camera. It was fun while it lasted.

MYSTERY JETS + YOUNG COLOSSUS.

Last week I caught the Mystery Jets tour at a venue in Cardiff called The Gate, which is a converted church. Knowing this, I still wasn’t prepared for the completely surreal experience of walking into a gig only to see the majority of people sitting and watching transfixed from the pews. I unfortunately only caught half of support band Peace’s set but the remainder of the show that I did see has encouraged me to try to catch them in their entirety when they tour next.

Mystery Jets opened their set with their new song ‘Someone Purer’, a beautifully infectious number from their new album. Having since found out that the lyrics are inspired by the Jack Kerouac book ‘Big Sur’ has only added to my current infatuation with it. I’m not going to go into a whole gig review but overall it was a strong show which featured a mix of old and new material. I might not be a die-hard fan but I am intrigued to hear what the rest of the new album ‘Radlands’ sounds like, when it is released at the end of the month.

Something else that I have been listening to repeatedly is ‘Young Colossus’, a collaboration led by Orlando Weeks of The Maccabees, with the help of Alessi Laurent-Marke from Alessi’s Ark and producer Nic Nell. The CD is accompanied by an illustrated book, courtesy of the talented Rob Hunter. Having very kindly been given a copy of YC by Orlando several weeks ago, I have been won over by the haunting melodies and beautiful illustrations that compliment them. As a collector of zines/ independent publications and a zine maker, I definitely appreciate the thought that has been given to every detail of the tangible presentation of the music. This is reflected in everything from the paper stock to the black staples and the envelopes that have been hand stamped with a silhouette of the characters. I’m not sure if any copies are still available, but the Young Colossus Facebook page www.facebook.com/YoungColossus is definitely worth checking out. A few of the songs are also available to listen to on YouTube. Something that I would love to see transpire from this collaborative effort is a moving image piece that combines the songs with the illustrations, similar to Where The Wild Things Are or The Snowman.

In March’s post I mentioned that Kit Neale’s tumblr was my favourite, but this month I have been compulsively reading ‘Bring Me The World’ - www.bringmetheworld.tumblr.com. In the words of Rory the creator, it is ‘The story of how I met five punk rockers from Wales, bought a ticket to England and toured Europe for 30 days.’ The blog follows Rory’s swift departure from his hometown of Toronto, Canada after meeting Ssssnakes/ The Arteries and drunkenly asking if he could tag along on their European tour. Through ‘Bring Me The World’, he documents the chaos that ensued on their travels. Laugh out loud tour anecdotes about Chicken McNugget birthday cakes and unintentionally eating moldy bread are only a few of the reasons why BMTW has become my current blog crush.

THE MACCABEES.

The Maccabees, Cardiff Great Hall, March 17th 2012

LA SHARK + THE MACCABEES.

Last Saturday I went to watch/ photograph my main men LA SHARK supporting The Maccabees in Cardiff. As it had been too long since I last saw the LA SHARK boys together, I took them a few boxes of welsh cakes and tie-dye cupcakes with their logo on. Said cakes are modelled beautifully by Sami in the photo above, which was taken on the Holga cat camera that I mentioned in my last post.

I took a few photos of the night with my favourite Olympus 35mm SLR, only to have the winder fall apart when I went to wind the film. Devastated. I then had to take it to a camera shop to get it removed, resulting in dust and light leaks galore over most of the images taken of The Maccabees in the above post. Still, there is something other-worldly about them that I prefer to the more typical gig photos that were salvaged.

After the gig we walked (or skated in Lewis' case) in to Cardiff for a few drinks, which soon proved to be a bad decision. Being a match night, it was chaos and everywhere had queues to get in. The evening quickly turned into a tour of Wetherspoons, culminating in dancing to reggae surrounded by drunk French men and trying to teach various members of both bands Welsh insults. The first photo above pretty much sums up the whole night.

Highlights of the night include: Welsh transfer tattoos, Samuel's Wayne's World hat, Nick giving his sock to a fan after the show (no-one could figure out why or how this happened) and Sam from The Maccabees' apparent knowledge of Welsh.

Aside from the camera drama, a good night was had by all.

CITIZENS!

I am well aware that my I have neglected my blog over the past few months so I will try my hardest to update it a little more from now on. I have been so busy doing various things that I have instead been posting to my tumblr. That aside, here is what I got up to during February.

Last week I went to watch Kitsuné's newest signing CITIZENS! in Cardiff and took a few snaps, half of which I have still yet to get developed. Aside from being five very charming guys who put on a great show, they also have pretty impeccable style. Think tailored trousers, buttoned up shirts paired with denim jackets and brightly coloured socks and you're halfway there. Their style credibility has already been verified by directional menswear website MR PORTER and music-loving fashion house Mulberry. Always one to have their finger on the pulse of the next big thing, Mulberry invited the band to perform an acoustic cover of David Bowie's 'Prettiest Star' as part of their Valentine's Day celebrations. It is definitely worth checking out on YouTube, as is the Jamie N Commons cover of "Wish You Were Here".

I recently bought a Holga Shironeko cat camera that I have been lusting after for ages but have been putting off getting. Aside from looking adorable, there is a button that when pushed makes a meowing noise and flashes. Always a bonus. I have yet to try it out but will give it a test at The Maccabees/ LA SHARK gig this weekend and post a few photos if they turn out well.

The skate/ music/ fashion magazine is really starting to come together and should hopefully be finished by the beginning of summer. There is a pretty diverse mix of people featured but all of who I am really pleased to include. It feels really long overdue but great to be researching for and art directing a new project, as it has been nearly a year since my collaboration with LA SHARK was released.

This month’s obsessions include: Kit Neale’s A/W12 collection (Kit’s Tumblr is also one of my favourites and most visited - http://kitneale.tumblr.com/), 80s Thrasher Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rebecca', Fluff Magazine and Keith Bayliss' paintings/ sculptures.

Most listened to include: A Grave With No Name, Blood Orange, James Taylor, Holy Shit and TLC.