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.

TWITTER FAIL.

I have tried and given up on Twitter more times than I can remember. This is due to a combination of not being quite committed enough to tweet regularly, forgetting my password and wondering who actually cares that my new pair of JC Lita Spikes have just arrived. So I have decided therefore to leave Twitter to those with patience and stick to updating www.gemmalouisewilson.tumblr.com and this blog instead. Rather than listing current music/ style/ art obsessions and work updates in sporadic Twitter updates, it is far easier to collate them into one blog post. I haven’t updated my blog because I finally got around to creating my website www.gemmalouisewilson.com. So here goes.

This year I spent seven months collaborating with South London wonder-band LA SHARK to produce a zine about their world. I have recently uploaded it online so if you fancy having a flick through go to: http://issuu.com/glwilson/docs/la_shark_anti_zine. Since finishing that, I have been wanting to create a new publication. After deliberating for what feels like forever I have finally started work on a new skate/ music zine. It’s still pretty early days but I will keep posting updates as and when I do a shoot/ interview. The main inspiration for this has been a re-kindled love of Dazed and Confused, the film not the magazine (although the magazine is great also). Cue an unhealthy obsession with tie dye/ acid wash denim and an appreciation of boys with long hair that I haven’t had since I was seven years old and Hanson were considered heartthrobs.

This month I have been mostly listening to The Grateful Dead, Ssssnakes (the photo at the top of this blog was taken at a gig of theirs in Swansea), Slayer, Kutosis, Crushed Beaks and Girls. I have also developed an unhealthy obsession with watching Criminal Minds and wanting to visit San Franciso, which has probably only been exacerbated by excessive listening to The Dead/ Girls.

THE END.

On|Off x TUULI FANZINE.

I was recently invited to design the limited edition On|Off x Tuuli fanzine that was distributed during London Fashion Week. On|Off is constantly at the forefront of emerging British and international fashion, and since 2003 has provided significant help to innovative and directional designers. They have given designers including JW Anderson, Mark Fast, Hannah Marshall and Charlie Le Mindu a platform to showcase their work. This season, rather than producing their usual four day event, On|Off and Tuuli decided to host an intimate catwalk dinner for 30 exclusive people in fashion. This was held at Rankin's studio in North London and coincided with the release of the fanzine, which was art directed by Tuuli. Also included is a feature about young photographic talent, personally selected by Tuuli and Rankin. For more information about On|Off and to download a full copy of the publication please visit www.onoff.tv.