Jacob Banks interview

[Written by Ellen Grant]

[Image Credit: Grace Rivera @__gracerivera]

Jacob Banks is, in his own words, a storyteller. At just 27, he exudes a self-assured wisdom that belies his years. He was the first unsigned artist to perform in Radio 1’s Live Lounge, and has already toured with Emeli Sandé, Sam Smith, and Alicia Keys – but now he is a headline name in his own right. (more…)

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Event Recommendations for the Week

Blondie @ The SSE Hydro

14/11/2017 — 18:00 to 23:00 — £48.25/£53.90

Yes you read right — flippin’ Blondie. Back in the 70s and 80s they produced some unbelievable hits, such as ‘Call Me’, ‘Hanging On The Telephone’, and other songs not related to phones like ‘Atomic’. Some say all of the hits are powered directly by front woman Debbie Harry’s big blonde hair. This may or may not be fictitious. Tickets are a little steep, but come on… it’s heckin’ Blondie!

Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/blondie-glasgow-14-11-2017/event/360052E384881654?brand=uk_ssehydro&camefrom=CFC_UK_HYDRO_blondie_hydro_artist&_ga=2.73874389.617232625.1510561741-1448902490.1510561741&bba=1

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Event Recommendations 6th – 12th November

Photographer: Florence Bridgman

NOTHING BUT THIEVES @O2 Academy, Glasgow.

 07/11/2017 — 19:00 — £21.35

Nothing But Thieves are set for a UK tour after the success of their almighty self-titled debut, an intimate headline show at O2 Academy Birmingham, and an incredible Glastonbury performance. Don’t miss them as they showcase new material from their second album, Broken Machine.

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Nothing-But-Thieves-tickets/artist/1939994?tm_link=edp_Artist_Name

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Poetry @ Inn Deep (#notacult)

By Jen Hughes

If there was anything that could perfectly encapsulate ‘punk’, it was Poetry @ Inn Deep. It was on Tuesday 24th October it celebrated its 5th birthday, and it was a night of intelligent prose and rowdy audience participation. As it was a special occasion, they had a projector up with a social media feed where the audience could post pictures of themselves on Twitter and Instagram at the event under hashtag #spec_books. It filled up pretty quickly, not just of pictures from the event but also with memes and pictures of cute animals.

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Halloween Events Recommendations

Photograph: Silvia Sani

Halloween Movie Drive In @ Riverside Museum

29/10/17- 18:00 - 23:00-  £25 per car.

Give your Halloween in Glasgow an old-school makeover with this drive-in movie night. Taking place at The Riverside Museum, you can catch either Scream (9pm) or Ghostbusters (6pm) and all money raised will go to The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.

Book online here: https://www.princeandprincessofwaleshospice.org.uk/event-article/community/halloween-movie-drive-in

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Event Recommendations 9th – 15th October 2017

Written by: Ruarí MacManus & Alkmini Nikopoulou

The Mackintosh Festival

1/10/2017- 31/10/2017 – Free Entry – (see more information in link below)

Once again, the annual The Mackintosh Festival invites you to celebrate the life of Charles Rennie Mackintosh through a series of exhibitions, events, workshops, talks & tours in venues throughout Glasgow and further afield. We’ve attached a link down below for the full list of events!

More info: http://www.glasgowmackintosh.com/festival

 

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Event Recommendations 2nd – 8th October 2017

The Internet’s Own Boy @ The CCA

2/10/2017 – 19:30 to 22:00 – Free Entry 

The Internet’s Own Boy tells the story of a programming prodigy, information activist, and Reddit founder Aaron Swartz. The filim generates questions about academic freedom, corporate power, and the impact one person can have on society – a personal story about what we lose when we are tone-deaf about technology and its relationship to our civil liberties.

http://www.cca-glasgow.com/programme/open-rights-group-scotland-the-internets-own-boy

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Read more about the article Review: Gray’s School of Art Fashion Show 2013
Debbie Mcleod, Persimmon A Selective Colour

Review: Gray’s School of Art Fashion Show 2013

Debbie Mcleod, Persimmon A Selective Colour
Debbie Mcleod, Persimmon A Selective Colour

For some the degree fashion show feels like the end but last week GUM attended the Gray’s School of Art Fashion Design Runway Show and there was certainly a sense of action and motivation. Only a few days after obtaining their degree, finding out that two of their graduates are nominees for the Scottish fashion awards and many finding out about Masters degrees and jobs, before the show even started there was already a great sense of achievement.

The evening kicked off with a collection from Laura Sherriff. The collection paid great attention to detail and set the tone for the night. The next hour was a display of workmanship and new gen design.

Persimmon, A Selective Colour was the sleek show stopping collection by Debbie Mcleod. Her designs were minimalistic and masculine although the use of mohair knit softened the collection. Her use of colour was most interesting as the oranges against the gray, black and white proved both tasteful and modernist. When asked about her collection McLeod stated it was: “A simplistic outlook…blending each design into the background as if it were its own creation”.

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Istanbul Under Siege

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Gezi Park

The riots that have electrified the city of Istanbul for four days now continue to endure, despite heavy police retaliation. What began as a peaceful protest to prevent the redevelopment of Gezi park in Taksim Square has now escalated into a nation-wide demonstration against the current Government.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been repeatedly criticised for his dogmatic influence over the country based on grassroots Islamic ideals, and his latest staunch refusal to listen to protesters has ignited anger even among those who had voted him into his third term as Prime Minister. In his address to the country on the 2nd June he referred to the protesters as “terrorists” and has been quoted as saying “every four years we hold elections and this nation makes its choice”. Despite the democratic election Erdoğan seems to have forgotten that a democracy constitutes the decisions of several members of a party, yet it is shockingly clear that Erdoğan holds the majority of the power, and indeed earns more than any other politician in the world at $989,000 a month, although Wikileaks claims that his earnings may be far higher. It would not be a far stretch of the imagination to envisage Erdoğan as the next Putin and Turkish President Abdullah Gül serving as Medvedev, however in stark opposition to the Prime Minister, Gül has defended the people’s right to protest stating: “democracy does not mean elections alone. There can be nothing more natural for the expression of various views, various situations and objections through a variety of ways, besides elections.”

 Despite Gül calling for a peaceful end to the violence and a more mature handling of the situation, suggestive of mishandling on both sides, Erdoğan has continued to belittle the extent of the riots claiming that he would not ask permission for the redevelopment plans from “a few looters”. It has emerged that the destruction of Gezi Park is not only to free up valuable real estate for a shopping mall, but also includes the construction of a Mosque, a symbolic representation of Neo-Ottomanism and Turkey’s new incentive under the Justice and Development Party to engage with areas previously under Ottoman rule in the Middle East.

Although the riots are being referred to as the ‘Turkish Spring’ in reference to the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings of 2010, this would be a false representation. The events in Turkey are more an uprising against fascism than an Imperialist fueled uprising against Islam, which in such countries as Egypt were conducted by armed extremist groups. The protests in Istanbul began as a reaction against heavy handed police retaliation in Gezi Park, where peaceful environmental protesters were viciously attacked in their tents during a dawn raid. The nature of the events has magnified into a nationwide protest against an increasingly authoritarian government, with anti-government demonstrations appearing across Turkey including Erdoğan’s hometown Rize.

With cries rising from the crowd of ‘shoulder to shoulder against fascism’ the riots are not as complicated as Erdoğan has suggested. In an address on 3rd June he encouraged the view that the riots have a politically subversive agenda, stating “citizens should not be part of this ‘game’”; a ‘game’ that alleges the opposition party, the People’s Republican Party, are involved in actuating the riots for their own gain.The demonstrations, however, are obviously not instigated by a few extremist “marginalized groups”  as Erdoğan has stated; it is the result of a highly pressurised problem that has finally discovered a fissure out of which to escape. A large part of the population are fearful of being forcibly dragged into a theocratic state run by a “Sunni Islamist tyrant”, as one source expressed. As proudly stated by the men on the streets as well as by Erdoğan himself, albeit with different intent; “this is no longer about trees, it is about ideology”.

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As the fourth night of the demonstrations descend on the city, Taksim Square remains occupied and the streets are a cacophony of clanging pots and pans and car horns which can be heard from the other side of the Bosphorus. Despite heavy police intervention including tear gas canisters and high pressure water jets fired directly at the crowd just a day before, people are still resisting against what is being called a Dictatorship. Although Erdoğan conceded that “there have been some mistakes, extremism in police response” he also insisted that “the police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow.”

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Death Grips @ SWG3 30/4/13

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Death Grips, a band which had eluded me on more than one occasion, finally upheld their promise to Glasgow and played a gig at the versatile SWG3. My first attempt to see Mr. Stefan Burnett- aka MC Ride- and co. was thwarted when they dropped out last minute from 2012’s ATP festival in London, to the great distress of their then label Epic Records, in order to focus on their second album The Money Store.The experimental, aggressive, more than hip-hop sound of Death Grips would have come as an interesting break from the doom and drone dominated ATP, but dropping out of a festival headlined by metal legends Slayer, not to mention cancelling their entire tour, was a ballsy and some might say foolish move.

Nevertheless the Sacremento based trio have been kicking up quite a storm since their 2010 formation, utilising the web to leak several new tracks and whispers of a lawsuit against them, the hype is far from diminished and their sound has continued to develop in interesting and extreme directions. With remixes of Bjork and the Prodigy their punk-drenched sound is shifting in the most contemporary ways, blending genres the way an infuriated Pollock mixes paint. In the heat of exams, I was keen to see what they were made of live.

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Review: Saunt & Sinner “The Broken Doll” AW2013 Collection Launch Night

5bO8SZHNik2j-X2NAzzOHNPE9vh1mTEIpGzI29C4FhI,Fd1t6CbBFGQJ9lf4kAe2C59QVj0a76EWcHHckK-kIXI,rt39E3yKUHMWu7hGSgIEroMrn1jCwIq3w6eJRwoufbYNew kids on the block Saunt & Sinner showed us how it’s done at the launch of their first collection on Friday night. Design duo behind the label, Emma Noble and Toni Roddie, set up the brand after graduating in Fashion Design from Grays School of Art in 2012. “The Broken Doll” capsule collection, inspired by Glasgow-born painter Heather Nevay, showcased a stunning array of luxury womenswear pieces which hinted towards both the sweet and the sinister.

The Corinthian Club set the perfect scene for the show, with fixtures draped with the duo’s limited edition 100% silk scarves. Dolls hung eerily above tables, dressed in mini-versions of the labels designs. A fitting homage to this evening inspired by Nevay’s portrayal of sinister children.

Before the show began the crowd were treated to a beautiful and haunting fashion film produced by Jamie Vincent Gillespie, which again reflected the collections duality as it played with the idea of innocence and purity tainted by a twisted dark side. It had a decidedly wicked edge, and set the mood perfectly for what was about to follow in the show.

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V-Day @ Subclub 14/2/13

This Valentine’s day saw an end to soppy dates and the tugging of jealous heartstrings when our two local clubbing bad boys, Philanthrobeats and Rubix, teamed up to put the ‘V’ back in ‘Valentine’. Supporting the worldwide movement V-Day on their 15th Anniversary, ‘1 Billion Rising’ aimed to raise voices and shake booties in protest that 1 in 5 women will be raped or beaten in their lifetime.

285638_10151279710147984_1810368038_nThe global activist movement aims to raise awareness and support women and girls around the world regardless of age, nationality, or religion, and for fifteen years has been doing just that. With most of the proceeds from V-Day events going to local projects and charities, often shelters and rape crisis centres.

It all began in 1994 when playwright and activist Eve Ensler wrote the groundbreaking piece ‘The Vagina Monologues’, a play based on interviews with women of different ages and nationalities dealing with what it means to be a female. The monologues range in scope from a girls’ first menstruation (‘When I Was Twelve, My Mother Slapped Me’), to the atrocities committed against women in Bosnian Rape Camps, entitled ‘My Vagina Was My Village’. V-Day was consequently established on Valentines Day 1998 when Eve and a group of New York women threw a single benefit; now there are over 5,800 V-Day events per year.

Needless to say one word is not shied away from in this cause, and it’s a word Philanthrobeats×Rubix took to heart, effectively turning the Subclub into a giant womb. Vaginas were everywhere, once down the stairs club-goers and philanthropists were welcomed at the ticket desk with a tunnel of vagina, pink, draping, alluring? There were vagina cupcakes and lollipops being sold by the bar, and over the bar itself an unforgettable painting by Sophie PP. The dance floor was plush and secluded, with a surprising amount of romance going on, and best of all- the ‘hidden alley’ behind the speakers was transformed into a beautiful funnel of love. Whatever names you have for the decorations, they certainly helped in making the night the success it was, with Subclub at capacity before doors closed.

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Interview: Make Do

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With Chambre 69’s out-of-the-blue closure a void was left to be filled in the Glasgow club scene. GUM caught up with Ahsan and Cheesy, one time Chambre booking manager and all round tech wizz respectively, who took it upon themselves to launch a new pop-up club appropriately named Make Do.

Meeting at the new Hope street venue on the evening before their 19th January launch (opposite the seldom noticed grandeur of Central Station), GUM descended into an empty space stacked with monitors and cables that was soon to be morphed into a venue christened by the likes of Offbeat, Cottam, Axel Boman.

“We created Make Do because chambre closed and we had lots of exciting promoters  looking for a space of that size” Ahsan clarified “Glasgows pretty lacking in medium sized venues that can cater to people being able to come in and be encouraged to come up with creative uses of the space.”

The pop-up aims to continue what Chambre was made famous for, namely the diversity of the space that allows promoters to come in and transform it to fit the needs of each individual night.

“One of the main benefits that Chambre had was that you could really make your own night” they explain, “to come in and change it up, and put in whatever production you wanted, flip it around and design it the way you liked. We wanted to offer the same thing with the Make Do space and build upon the Chambre ethos in that sense.”

Flexibility of this nature in a club is often hard to come by, and requires a solid team with enough expertise in their fields to avoid any glitches. “Cheesy is quite renowned for creating really great production in clubs, whether it be light features or visual installations” Ahsan chips in. For those of you who made it to the launch you might have noticed the stack of TV’s playing loops of old film clips next to the speakers, a Cheesy signature. “Having him on board means that promoters know the high level of technical know-how that he brings to the table.” he continues, “which is definitely a key point”.

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Read more about the article The Last Dance @ Chambre 69
from left: Assan, Colin, Tanner

The Last Dance @ Chambre 69

from left: Assan, Colin, Tanner
from left: Ahsan, Colin, Tanner

This past Friday saw Chambre 69 opening its doors to Glasgow clubbers for the last time at its current location at 69 Nelson Mandela Place. The shock closure, announced over Facebook, sent ripples of confusion and a general melancholy over the demise of what has been, for the last 18 months, one of Glasgow’s finest venues.

The Chambre team wrote in their announcement that “this has come totally out of the blue for us and we are not in a position to negotiate staying in the venue any longer.” The shady nature of the closure and the last minute pull-together of the acts gives anyone who wants to put on a packed-out club night a bit of hope. But then we have to remember that these are the Chambre guys, and we could only be so lucky as to have such a hint of scandal to propel a club night into the stratosphere.

Originally billed as Chicago vs. Detroit, the line-up was changed to reflect the times, beginning with Glasgow based collective and electronic label All Caps, to aliOOFT, Void and Tanner. Seasoned regulars mixed with the scene kids for one last night at the soon-to-be notorious venue. That is to say, if it wasn’t before, the half mile queue down Buchanan street certainly made it so.

_MG_5128 Shaun Murphy of Vitamins, was quoted as saying “It’s a genuine loss to the club scene, hopefully whatever fills the void has a similar open, risk taking and supportive ethos.” Luckily for us Cheesy (Chambre Tech) and Ahsan (Deadly Rhythm / Former Chambre booking manager) will be launching a pop-up venue appropriately named Make Do, which will have it’s opening night this Saturday.
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What’s On: Guys and Dolls

The Cecilian Society, Glasgow University’s foremost musical theatre society, proudly present their main show of 2013; Frank Loesser’s hit musical ‘Guys and Dolls’.  The society have previously performed musicals such as ‘Our House’, ‘Anything Goes’, ‘Bugsy Malone’, ‘Oklahoma’ and in September 2012 ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. The society recently celebrated their 60th Anniversary in October, with a fantastic weekend of events including a hit concert packed full of musical classics. Building on the success of this weekend, they now bring this classic American musical to the Mitchell Theatre stage in February. With a cast of over 60 talented people bursting with enthusiasm, it is a must-see event!

Guys and Dolls GUM

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Dauwd @ Rubix 13/12/12

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Just before Christmas the Rubix boys put on the fifth installment of what is becoming one of Glasgow’s staple nights. With past acts including South London Ordnance, Joonipah, Elphino, and staple Point To C; Rubix is the night for those who are particularly enamoured with the cutting edge of electronic music. Subclub was forcefully launched into the festive spirit with lashing of UV lights and rubix cubes hanging from the ceiling, the night proved to be the final assault against those pesky exam blues. GUM caught up with newcomer Dauwd at the afterparty to chat about music, his heritage, and his unwavering obsession with Dylan Thompson.

Interviewing on a sunken sofa surrounded by party goers I begin by asking the inevitable first question; how does Glasgow compare to other cities he’s played in? Without hesitation he says “The Glasgow crowd is really good, they’re boss!”, a statement that reflects the pull the city has on similar musicians, such as James Rand who played at Rubix in May last year. With friendly rivalry in the air at the mention of Rand, Dauwd exclaims “he’s so shit, he’s just like Skrillex”. The musicians met when doing the rounds of the Liverpool club circuit, playing at institutions such as Chibuku Shake Shake, where Dauwd played a supporting act back in October.

A relative newcomer on the electronic music scene Dauwd Al Hilali has taken it by storm, with roots in Iraq, a childhood in Wales, he now oscillates  between London and Liverpool. His first EP ‘What’s There’ was released on Pictures Music in November 2011, while his reputation continues to be solidified by excellent live performances and a few strategic placements on compilations. One such compilation is Adult Swim’s ‘Unclassified’ which includes the likes of Kode9 and Lukid, as well as a recent mix he curated for 22 Tracks, where samples of Andy Stott are used to great success.

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Review: SWANS & Sir Richard Bishop @ The Arches 16/11/12

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Experiencing a band who have retained their musical integrity over a thirty year period is not a daily pleasure; it’s a grand event. Swans’ appearance in Glasgow carried with it high expectations, and with support from Sir Richard Bishop it made for a promising line-up. Ticket price was reasonable for The Arches, and certainly merited by the band’s industrious career: exceeding thirty releases.

The tour follows the release of one of 2012’s more interesting albums: The Seer. The artwork introduces the stark contrast heard in the music, and was in all manners a release concerned with every nuance of the sound. The title-track’s 32-minute duration and bagpipe/percussion introduction brings to mind Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s East Hastings, but soon ascends above and beyond in the moody excitement of Swans’ rich, rolling and diverse constructs. The track is largely representative of Swans live: in the course of a two-hour show we were subjected to only six songs, but each successive track sapped more sanity and drove the sheer weight of the sound into the audience.

The crowd varied in age and well-represented the diverse appeal of Swans’ music. As support, Sir Richard Bishop’s music promised a fine and delicate contrast to the onslaught which followed. What he presented, however, was a dirtier, more convoluted sound. To watch his fingers it was clear that technically his playing was precise, even in its more chaotic motions, yet the sound was dense and reverberated angrily through the venue’s halls.

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Review: Blogger Christmas Party

Last Monday night things took a festive turn as GUM got kitted out in a Christmas jumper and headed down to The Monkey Bar for the Blogger Christmas Party. Greeted with a glass of sparkly on arrival and a warm welcome from the events organisers, the night began with a bang. Headed up by Claire from Bee Waits For No One, Gill from g i l l i a n , e t c . and Roisin from Lost My Heart In Wonderland… , it promised to be a fun-filled evening giving Scottish bloggers the chance to get together and chat over a backdrop of tinsel, crackers and cheesy Christmas tunes.

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Bloggers included Glasgow-girl Wendy from Thankfifi , whose blog about fashion and great personal style has attracted many a follower over the past year and newcomer Iona from Iona Blogs who set up her  blog on fashion, beauty and everything else in between just a few months ago.  We also got chatting to Lynne Anderson of Evil-Lynne loves you…, the multi-talented woman behind Tatty Bon who also doubles as make-up artist. Her blog is stamped with individual, unique style and on it she promises: ‘nothing I feature on here will be very expensive’. Perfect for us students, then!

The night wasn’t just about festive fun and Christmas cheer, the ladies also decided to host a raffle to raise money for Glasgow Women’s Aid, a charity which supports women, children and young people experiencing Domestic Abuse. The raffle raised a fantastic £190, which will go to providing information, support and temporary refuge for those affected by Domestic Abuse.

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Read more about the article Review: Sonica
Robin Fox, photo by Lasse Marhaug

Review: Sonica

Sonica, a festival of sonic arts showcasing both British and International artists, had its world premier in Glasgow this November. The festival was produced by a company called Cryptic, whose goal is to nurture and develop the Scottish visual arts.  Their intentions came to fruition in this two-week festival.  Showcasing a wide variety of work from international artists (including our very own Luke Fowler) Sonica presented a range of interesting shows: including their children’s program, presenting the darker side of ‘Ecstatic Art’, as well as putting on a generous amount of free exhibitions.

Robin Fox, photo by Lasse Marhaug

Sonica utilized a wide range of interesting spaces in Glasgow. This provided not only an artistic experience for the viewers but also an element of adventure, in which  punters must discover the various locations of the shows. However, this may have been a touch too experimental at points- the “pop up festival hub” was a little too spontaneous and on another occasion, a miscommunication led to one of the exhibitions being cut short a day early without any warning.  But, despite this, one must admire the artistic ingenuity of the organizers.  The shows that were presented successfully, on location and on time, were triumphant.

Robin Foxe’s Laser show, for instance, was a particular hit. Upon viewing the show, there was a separate installation as you entered into the performance space which gave you a feel for what you were about to experience. The piece played on the idea of our modern day conception of fun: in the liquid, musical and visual sense. It was an arrangement of glasses catching the light as they rotated on a disk turntable.  A simple idea but one which captivates the viewer and could engage you for hours, as the light cut through the glasses in speckled flecks. The performance space was not a seated floor plan, but just people standing in an open space. There was an unusual element to the show in the sense that there was more than one area which required your attention. I anticipated that I would be concentrating solely in the direction of the light source, but then would entirely miss the actual projection of the light onto the back wall. In between these two displays were the strong beams of green light cutting through the room to create a performance with three spheres of entertainment.

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Review: The Pokey Hat and Jeffrey Campbell Launch

 image by Olivia Vitzakova
image by Olivia Vitzakova

This Tuesday, GUM attended a highly anticipated fashion show organised by online fashion boutique the Pokey Hat to celebrate the arrival of the Jeffrey Campbell shoe collection into the Pokey Hat stores. The fashion show was in trendy new club FabrIQ on Queen Street. After being seated in front of the catwalk, I looked through my goody bag, which featured candy jewellery – my favourite kind. The show started with a bang, dancers with black lace dresses twirling and whirling on the catwalk so close you could touch them. Then came the models wearing Pokey Hat clothes; a collection of both vintage and modern clothing by Scottish fashion designers. The models were wearing Jeffrey Campbell shoes with its characteristic wavy shapes and studs. It was difficult to know where to look as both the clothes and shoes were stunning. Our favourite piece was a woollen hat with spikes which is a must have this winter, making you feel warm and look cool at the same time. Who said fashion can’t be practical?

There was also a raffle to win a pair of Jeffrey Campbell shoes, I bought a ticket but didn’t win. I almost ended up crying in the corner, but the fact that my feet were already bleeding from a pair of ordinary heels almost made me grateful I didn’t win.

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Review: Nightwalk

If you like your fashion dark and sexy with a hint of crazy you’ve come to the right place. Nightwalk is more of an experience than just a fashion show, which is evident from its setting in The Arches, Glasgow’s most charismatic music and club venue.

After this year’s Autumn/Winter Nightwalk was rescheduled due to a blackout we were excited to finally witness what up-and-coming Scottish designers had to offer. From the neatly tailored shirts by the Swedish-born Jennie Lööf, or the entirely white collection of dresses entitled ‘White Noise’ by Betty Spoke, to playful latex creations by Betsabelle, each of the 14 designers had a unique vision. Womenswear clearly dominated the show however admirers of menswear (and male models!) were not disappointed by male design duo Nothing and several colourful designs by Brian Chan and a few other designers.

But how did the participants feel about the fashion show? GUM spoke to  Brian Chan who recently graduated from The Glasgow School of Art about his fashion label and first impressions of Nightwalk. Brian’s exquisite and inventive creations were one of the highlights of the show with his Paper Collage Waistcoat and Handbag Sculptures definitely channeling the avant garde. Brian describes his work as: “bold, daring, edgy, lively and trendy as well as offering an energetic galactic experience.” He focuses on the relationship between Art and Fashion, saying: “I am extending my art onto garments, a mode of direction to exhibit my work in a much broader perspective boosting my imagination and creativity.” His interest in art definitely comes across in his boldly coloured pieces, often decorated with splashes of paint and with paintbrushes used as accessories. My favourite piece was a red not-sure-if-dress or a fashion sculpture. As the model in red turned on the catwalk you could see that all the red stuff was coming from a paint can. Very clever. I’m surprised Lady Gaga hasn’t snapped it up yet.

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Preview: Guilt. Free. Partying. ‘Make Noise’ Glasgow

Love partying?

Hate the guilt?

This is the one for you.

Imagine for a minute you’re the Glaswegian Pinocchio. It’s a Thursday Night and you fancy going clubbing. So you have a few drinks with your mates, head to Subby, and it’s all well and good until you get to the door and you find that instead of the usual bouncers it’s Jiminy Cricket standing there. Then he asks you when was the last time was that you recycled your mobile phone? Lost for words, you just blurt out that you don’t have a phone and before you know it, your nose has gotten so big that you can’t fit through the door.

Don’t be that guy.
Bring your broken electrical goods and exchange them for a night of clubbing goodness.

When: Thurs 22nd Nov

Where: Sub Club

Door tax: FREE with any broken electrical item. NB in the eventuality that you can’t find anything GUM recommends going via Murano/checking the nearest skip. (This is not an excuse to dash your phone out the window/drunkenly drop it down the toilet and claim a new one on insurance.)

Line up: Benji B (Radio 1) DJ Martelo  (NTS) and Conquering Animal Sound (Live set)

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Glasgow Business students create Eventhred

Glasgow University boasts a diverse range of talented and proactive students, and two entrepreneurial Business & Management students are definitely at the forefront of the cavalcade. Renata Pilikinaite and ­­­­Tadas Labudis have created a website which aims to collect information about upcoming events and present them with coherence and clarity.

The website, eventhread.com, gathers information from events scattered across the Internet and congregates them into one coherent, slick, and easy to use website, an online directory of where-to-go and what-to-see. The Alpha version is already live and is well into the swing of streamlining all the goings-on across the UK’s major cities, and the Beta version and iPhone App look ready to be available by mid-January. What Eventhread does is it provides all the necessary information for upcoming events, including directions through a map, links for purchasing tickets, and the option for refining searches according to event type, price, location, and date. This ability for personalized, individual searches of events is definitely rooted in the notions of no-nonsense, quick and easy web browsing, and it won’t only benefit the person browsing the site but also could lead to better exposure for events, particularly if a Facebook invitation somehow has eluded you.

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Bold Souls: Pop-Up Fashion at it’s Best

It’s November. Which can only mean one thing in the shopping world: sharpen your elbows, you’re going to need them. Yes, Christmas fever is almost upon us. But what if we told you that this year there’s no need to sweat it out on the high street, fighting over mass-produced items and spending hours in seemingly endless queus? Bold Souls Stardust has come to save us all.

Bold Souls is a fashion Pop-Up, created two years ago by Glasgow-based designer Silvia Pellegrino and blogger Jonathan Pryce of Les Garçons de Glasgow and Another Garçon. Offering a unique shopping experience the event brings a plethora of local designers together under one roof, and give shoppers the chance to buy one-off items and personalised pieces. GUM spoke to organiser Silvia to find out how Bold Souls was conceived:

“What we wanted to do was to promote local talent and expand the community, meet more people that we could work with, meet more customers. We wanted to have a very seamless, open and fresh place where people could go to find unique fashion instead of buying high street and mass made fashion, that we find a lot of the time doesn’t really have spirit”. It is this community aspect which gives Bold Souls it’s buzzing atmosphere, uniting designers, creatives and customers alike over canapes and complimentary Kopparberg.

One year on from the last Bold Souls, Stardust promises to be bigger, better – and yes – bolder than before. Thursday 22nd November 2012 will see Flat 0/1 and Lucky 7 packed out with more than 20 stalls, where you can pick up one-off pieces from a host of local designers, both up-and-coming and established.  As Pellegrino explains: “We try to keep it colourful and diverse, everybody’s got their own style, we’re trying to have different tastes; the taste of our customers.” With such a variety of designers offering up everything from womenswear and menswear to accessories and jewellery, there really is something for everyone. Plus each item is beautifully crafted, high-quality and totally unique: this is a chance to see independent fashion at it’s best.”

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Spotlight: Valerie June

It’s hard to remember the hazy day’s of summer when you’re holed up in bed, surrounded by various unread books, resisting the urge to put the heating on whilst not quite being able to muster the motivation to haul ass yourself to the library.

That’s right folks, essay season is here; thankfully it’s not here to stay.

If you’re reading this, well done, at least your procrastination is less destructive than my Ebay habit. Let’s face it you’re not going to start reading that book anytime sooner, there’s no way you can ever keep up with your reading list so you may as well put those peepers to good use and have a butchers of Tess Hokin’s interview with up and coming soul sensation Valerie June. Disclaimer: GUM accept no responsibility for you blowing the dregs of your loan on ticket for Bestival 2013…

With Southern Belle charm and an resonating, unexpected voice, Valerie June practically glows in an aura of ‘Next-Big-Thing-ness’. She is staggeringly glamorous, with a head full of massive ringlets of dreadlocks and a beaming white smile, yet completely down to earth, chatting away in a Southern drawl you can’t help but find endearing. After years of menial jobs and selling records out of the back of her car, June is finally about to release her first album for a record label. We caught up with her just before her debut UK performance at Bestival, and can only say that you can expect to hear a whole lot more from this unique and talented musician.

How have you been finding the UK and Bestival so far? 

It’s been great so far, this is my first time here so it’s really different, the people here are so fearless in their fashion sense- I love it! I’ve been travelling all over and [Bestival] is incredible. It’s like some kinda magical fairyland.

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Tim Burton: A Return to Frankenweenie

On the 10th of October GUM were asked to fly down to the heart of London to see the film that would kick off the acclaimed London Film Festival, the 56th year the British Film Institute have thrown the city into movie-mania.


That film was Tim Burtons new 3D stop-motion masterpiece Frankenweenie, a story about a boy and his dog taken to macabre heights by the ex- Disney animators’ notoriously bizarre mind. Heavily based, as the title might suggest, on Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel Frankenstein, it’s modern animated counterpart is a surprising return to the early days of Burton and his 1984 short of the same title. It is interesting to see how the world has changed that Disney are now wholeheartedly endorsing the flick after sacking Burton for the same unconventional animations over twenty years ago.

For those of us who grew up on a staple of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and more recently the likes of Corpse Bride, will not be strangers to the wonders of stop motion animation- but to see it in 3D and in black and white was a new experience altogether. The films plot rotates around Victor, a young, gaunt boy in typical tortured Burton fashion, and his dog Sparky who gets hit by a car and then resurrected by his stricken owner. With the film being cited as a ‘labour of love” with the director working closely with people of his past, such as Winona Ryder and Caherine O’Hara, as well as long-time musical partner Danny Elfman, the film hits a personal chord any Burton aficionado would be proud of.

With a “traveling road show” of actual sets from the film and an Animators Masterclass after the Press Conference (Burton is just how you’d expect him, wild haired and full of impersonations with madly gesticulating hands) the highlight of the film was indeed expounded to be the talent of the animators.

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Africa Express

Damon Albarn’s Africa Express is perhaps the ultimate jam-sesh. The annual event is a clash of cultures and juxtaposition of genres which somehow harmonises into a truly impressive experience and a reminder of music’s overwhelming power.

The concept? Collect 80 musicians from Africa, the UK, and around the world, throw them on a train for a week, and get them to write, make music, and play impromptu sets all over the country. With so many backgrounds, egos and musical styles jumbled onto one moving cylinder, a certain degree of chaos seems inevitable. But while a few technicalities and messy changeovers slipped in during the six hours of music, the result of Albarn’s project involves some seriously moving moments.

Designed as a political statement about unity, togetherness, and living together, Africa Express has been working its way around the country, delivering bongo drums, Baba Maal, Carl Barat, Rizzle Kicks, bagpipes, and more, all as one not-quite-seamless but all together brilliant performance. Each stop on the tour is unique and irreplicable, with the music transforming and changing along the journey and on the stage itself.

At Glasgow’s Arches, audience members were treated to an immense range of musical styles and unheard-of combinations. A bongo-backed karaoke version of ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ later gave way to South African rapper Spoek Mathambo and bagpipes. Later, Albarn himself played a song which he had started writing a few weeks before, and had finished on the train that afternoon. That song might have sounded entirely different at the next show, and it’s this kind of one-off musical spontaneity which makes ‘Afex’ so special.

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Review: Bestival

Bestival brought British Festival Season to a shuddering, sun-bathed climax this September as the summer’s penultimate event. Way down on the Isle of Wight, 55,000 punters clung to their last few days of reckless abandon like babies to their mother’s bosom, stirring up an atmosphere of determined enthusiasm not just for the lineup, but for life in general. A record breaking wildlife-themed fancy dress, mind-blowing musical acts across the board, and peak temperatures of 27 degrees heightened that enthusiasm to delirious euphoria.

British festivals haven’t had an easy time of it this year. With no Glasto, disasters like London’s Bloc, and the public eye focused on the Olympics, ticket sales saw major dips. So Bestival, galloping forward at the end of the season like a knight in shining armour, was a much needed reminder of what those unwashed weekends are all about.

 

The four day extravaganza kicked off with a groovy set from Hot Chip, Gary Numan strutting about the Big Top stage in multiple coats of eyeliner, and an overwhelming sense of relief after the long journey South. With tents, fairy lights, and 4000 meters of bunting stretching as far as the eye could see, the site was a small city, and even boasted an inflatable cathedral to make it official.

Punters woke to 3 dazzling days of sunshine and meandered around the massive arena, finding the weird and the wonderful at every turn. Tightrope walkers, ‘lycra-clad bearded trannies’, a burlesque tea tent, and a make-your-own veggie instrument stand were just a handful of the hidden gems twinkling in the fields. With so much on offer, it would have been easy to while away the weekend without ever visiting a stage, but on Friday afternoon the music was already floating through the airwaves at curator Rob Da Bank’s Replay stage. Jake Bugg played his raspy, bluesy tunes, a massive turn out for humble Mercury Prize nominees Alt-J spilled out onto grass, and the haunting vocals of Norwegian goddess Ane Brun radiated out of the Big Top. Things got sentimental as the sun set and Lianne La Havas told Bestival crowds, ‘you truly are the best…of all’.

All this emotion and things hadn’t even started on the mainstage. The xx pulled in one of the largest crowds in Besti-history for their UK festival exclusive, followed by Florence and the Machine, the ethereal redhead galloping across the stage like some sort of woodland nymph. As the arena wound down for the night, diehard partiers moved to Arcadia, a laser show/mechanical spider/dubstep DJ booth nestled among the campsites, and sleepyheads ventured into the curious ‘slumber disco’ to bob about over their passed-out peers.

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Review: Dimensions Festival

An abandoned Croatian fort, crystal clear waters, good vibes and a whole lot of electronic sounds. A new festival is born.

After having witnessed the rise and (very quick) fall of what was meant to be Bloc Festival in London earlier this summer, I must say that I was a little apprehensive about coming to Dimensions. Sure, this newcomer on the scene was organised by the experienced team behind award-winning Outlook Festival, but could they handle the up-sizing without any major teething problems?

Dimensions take place in the same abandoned fort on the Croatian coastline that has been the home of Outlook for the past five years. I dare to say that the location is one of the best things about this festival. If you’re camping, when you wake up in the morning (if you ever went to sleep, that is) because the sun has risen and is making you sweat through your sleeping bag, you simply roll out of your tent, grab a towel and make your way to the beach. In Glasgow you never get to realise this because we live in constant apocalyptic rain, but there’s nothing to cure a hangover and make you feel human again like crystal clear waters, a gentle sea breeze and some general good vibes. Day-time at Dimensions is all about the boat and beach parties. Six boats left the harbour every day and the music rarely stopped at the beach, with enthusiastic day-time ravers bouncing in the large sandpit under a DJ booth shaped like a large ship. The beach became the place to be in the day, whether you wanted to snooze in the shade, chill with a drink in one of the bars or dance under the hot sun.

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Review: Doune the Rabbit Hole

Surrounded almost entirely by endless fields of sheep, you’d never guess that the independent non-profit music festival, Doune the Rabbit Hole, took place just half an hour from Glasgow. A small collective of artists, hippies, toddlers and music-lovers assembled at Duncarron Medieval fort last weekend for some stellar performances in Scottish music and general good times.

With just 400 attendees (half of which seemed to be either performing or volunteering), the  3 day event had an intimate family vibe, with toddlers sloshing about in the mud and grownups getting sloshed on Thistly Cross Cider. Even at the main venue, the Jabberwocky stage, artists were within spitting distance of their adoring fans, which resulted in some hilarious requests, dedications and interactive antics.

We arrived on Friday afternoon to a laid-back group of happy campers and chilled acoustic music, punctuated by a couple of rollicking rock bands such as The Stagger Rats and the squealy fun of The Lovely Eggs. Wee ones caught raindrops at the Toddler’s Hangout or had a go at moulding clay at the Pottery Caravan while dreadlocked mums and dads chatted to musicians they’d see later onstage. Young folk were busy getting jolly and stumbling over tree-trunks or munching on some of the local nosh on offer- including steamy mugs of tea and hummus wraps from Glasgow’s very own Tchai-Ovna.

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Preview: Dimensions Festival

As mentioned in the GUM Outlook Festival preview, new and exciting things are happening at Fort Punta Christo in Pula, Croatia. This year, once the music from Outlook has gone quiet, it won’t be long until the Croatian coastline comes alive again with tunes from what promises to be one of the most important underground electronic music festivals in Europe this year. Electronic music and sound systems go hand in hand, and Dimensions promises a higher technical specification of sound systems than at any other festivals of its size. It’s definitely one for you techno junkies out there, and we know Glasgow has a few…

If you’re a student at Glasgow University, chances are you’ve discovered just how amazing the Glasgow music and club scene is. If you like your electronic sounds, blip-blop noises, 4×4 basslines and a bit of wubwubwub then you are also more than likely to recognise much of the Dimensions line-up from their Glasgow gigs earlier this year – Andrew Weatherall, Ben UFO, Benji B, Blawan, Eliphino, Four Tet, Joy Orbison, Pinch, Pearson Sound, Theo Parrish and Zed Bias to name a few.

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Bestival: Preview

It ain’t called Bestival for nothing, folks. If acts like Florence + the Machine, Ben Howard, Rizzle Kicks and Stevie Wonder (I repeat, Stevie Wonder) didn’t already have you on your knees, then just a glance at the rest of the lineup will see you begging for a ticket. The sheer variety of musical styles is staggering, but curator Rob da Bank has chosen only the cream of the crop from each genre, making Bestival the be-all-end-all of 2012’s festival circuit.

Reading the lineup has got us just about wetting ourselves with excitement; it features everyone from the ubersuccessful such as Emeli Sande, Nero, Two Door Cinema Club and Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Ros, to the lovely Lucy Rose (whose folksy sound has had crowds falling in love at festivals all over the country this summer) and DJ sets from Bassnectar and Jamie xx. In fact, there are so many heavyweight musical talents being plonked onto the Isle of Wight this September that it’s in danger of sinking.

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Review: Kendal Calling 2012

After a glorious weekend of mud, music and general enjoyment, Kendal Calling organisers Ben Robinson and Andy Smith can sit back and congratulate themselves on another job well done. The 16 areas of the festival were filled to the brim with all kinds of entertainment, and everyone from the teeniest of tots to the greying festival-veteran wore a happy grin. There was no mystery as to why; Kendal Calling has so much to offer, you can’t help but find something special to smile at.

After pitching our camp comfortably close to both the arena and the main gate, we explored the various venues and found ourselves delightfully surrounded by fairy tale touches (a gingerbread house, a wishing tree and a ferris wheel to name a few). We wandered through the magical Woodlands stage, where silent discos were held at night and welly-clad kiddies danced in the mud by day, and tried our best to resist the temptation of a relaxing massage in the Garden of Eden. Laughter was already erupting from the Soapbox; a trend which continued all weekend with performances from mimes, comedians and musicians filling the circus-style marquee. Our exploring gave us quite the appetite, and there was no shortage of delicious options to choose from, even for veggie-vores like us. Tummies happy, we floated over to Chai Wallah’s and got stuck into the musical magic.

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Preview: Outlook Festival 2012

When Fort Punta Christo was built on the Croatian coast in the eighteen hundreds, it was most likely not with the intention of it being turned into a banging party venue every summer hosting one of Europe’s best festivals. Fortunately for us though, this is exactly what happened and since 2010 the abandoned fort has played host to Outlook festival, awarded “Best International Festival” at this year’s UK Festival Awards. The festival itself has been going since 2008, taking place in different locations across the Croatian coastline. With a promise to make 2012 the best year so far, the team behind the growing success have set out to create a festival experience you won’t forget.

Taking place on the 30th of August until the 3rd of September, Outlook is one of the last festivals of the season, perhaps that last bit of summer fun you’ll have before diving head-first back into autumn. Whilst festivals in the UK usually leave you knee-deep in mud, Croatia is a prime location for a summer festival with guaranteed sunny vibes. Pack your bikini; leave the Wellies behind – easy. It’s hard to think of a better combination than sunbathing and going swimming in crystal clear water in the day, and then dancing to some amazing live music all night (and morning) long. To whet your appetite, take a look at the 2011 Highlights – you can almost feel the warmth of the sun on your skin.

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Little Goes a Long Way: Kendal Calling proves that big isn’t always better

Festival Season is upon us, and while the Big Guys like T in the Park, Reading, and Leeds are busy swamping the scene with their high prices and massive crowds, its worth taking look North to a smaller celebration of music and art. Think less cattle-herding between stages, more free-roaming wildlife; less queuing for overpriced Tuborg, more real ale from the hands of the bearded men who make it; less wandering lost amongst leering strangers, more befriending everyone you meet. With so much love to give, Kendall Calling offers festival-goers a breath of fresh Cumbrian air.

Music-lovers have flocked to the deer dappled fields of the Lake District and frolicked in the friendly atmosphere, fantastic music and delicious nosh of Kendal Calling for the past six years. At nearly ten times its initial capacity, the festival has grown into a three-day wonderland involving sixteen unique stages, all bringing a different piece of the magical puzzle to the table. There’s the House Party tent, complete with biscuits and beds to jump on; the Garden of Eden, where you can treat yourself to a massage or simply recover from the night before in the tranquil beauty of the Lake District; and the Ladybird children’s area, giving out free story-telling, mask making and music workshops to the wee-est attendees.

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Read more about the article Take a Nightwalk on the wild side
Designer: Hannah Mitchell, Model: Madeline Harvey-Brown

Take a Nightwalk on the wild side

Designer: Hannah Mitchell, Model: Madeline Harvey-Brown

Creativity and community are two buzz words on the Glasgow fashion scene; bursting at the seams with up-and-coming talent, the city boasts a colourful network of designers, models, make-up artists and hair stylists. With independent events forming a strong backbone, nothing gives fashion a bigger sense of community than a vibrant catwalk event to bring  together people from all ends of the fashion spectrum.

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GSA Fashion Show 2012

In the light of the article featured in the latest issue of GUM  on GU and GSA students interacting (or as it so happens, not interacting), I find it only too fitting that we are being given the chance, on a plate (and a fashionable one to boot), to amend this with the GSA Fashion Show. Last night consequently saw me heading over to SWG3 to have a swatch at what the GSA fashion and textile design students have to offer. (more…)

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GSA and GU – a love story?

As you may have noticed in our latest issue, we suggested that GUM readers head down to the Glasgow School of Art exhibition ‘To Have a Voice’ and make some new, arty friends. We at GUM hope that Glasgow University and Glasgow School of Art students will mix a bit more in the future, and we’re pretty sure we’re not alone.

To make this happen, we suggest that you start off with taking a look at the following pages:

The Art School Union website: http://theartschool.co.uk/, here you will find exciting events and information about what’s going on at the new (temporary) Art School Union.

FOLD – GSA Student Magazine: http://www.facebook.com/pages/FOLD-GSA-Student-Magazine/229732270414538?ref=ts&sk=wall, FOLD is GUM’s new best friend and brings you some inspiring content in an interesting format.

Next, GSA student Sophie Nicoll shares her thoughts on this could-be love story:

Prior to my first week as a fresher at Glasgow School of Art, I expected the stereotypical university experience – fancy dress, pub crawls, student events, drinking games – everything other universities offer. But, while GSA had a few social events within the art school in Freshers week, there were none that mixed with Glasgow University. While GU students were at the Pendulum DJ set, GSA Freshers were experiencing their first ‘Strip the Willow’ – a contrast indeed. To me, it was university life but with the sound turned down. The art school is a very small community and when I applied I didn’t quite realise how insular it really is. I assumed that the university and the art school were more connected than they actually are, but in actual fact each has a very separate social scene.

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Boyroom Blitz

One can but lament the fact the men’s day-to-day fashion mainly restricts itself to the ubiquitous Topman shirts and G-Star jeans: all too little attention is given to making men’s fashion that bit different, original or more outgoing than it actually is.

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Daft Friday Interview/Review 16.12.11

As GUM arrives early in the night of Daft Friday, it is safe to say that the Glasgow University Union looks pretty damn good. Apart from the beautifully dressed crowd, with girls in their cocktail dresses and ball gowns and boys in suits or kilts, the whole union has been covered in some, to say the least, impressive artwork.

Those who have been to Daft Friday in previous years may expect to enter a parallel universe stepping through the doors of the union. Last year, that universe involved elves, hobbits and a rather famous ring. This year, we step into a whole new galaxy – Star Wars.

GUM caught up with the creative team behind this years’ Daft Friday artwork to find out just how much blood, sweat and fun it takes to transform a university union into a different world for one night.

“It is important to pick a theme that students will recognise”, head painter James South tells me. “If somebody comes in and they see something they don’t know well, they won’t get that “wow”-factor that we’re after. Star Wars is such a big and dramatic thing that I think it’s right for this environment”.

James came back to Daft Friday after a gap of a few years. “I thought that the artwork wasn’t what it used to be, we weren’t delivering like we used to”, he says. “People were walking around without really caring, we needed to make people open their eyes and really go “wow”.”

Last year when it was Lord of the Rings that covered the walls, the same idea of recognition was behind it. The artwork needs to be easily recognisable and it needs to be dramatic. So far, every year has also been film themed, the team tells me.

Creating this multiple floor piece of art is, not so surprisingly, a lengthy process. James starts with collecting material and finding iconic moments from the chosen story. It is important to get the scenes right, he explains, as the story of the films is told as you walk up the floors of the building. It starts at the bottom and walking up the stairs, one can follow the story right to the final scenes at the top.

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Review – Frightened Rabbit @ Daft Friday 16.12.11

Putting one of Scotland’s local indie darlings onstage just before midnight at Glasgow University’s annual black tie ball is sure to yield a predictably drunken turnout, and although there’s no abundance of staggering youngsters, who don’t seem to know what room they’ve ended up in tonight, the core of Frightened Rabbit’s audience know exactly what they came here for.

The band have come a long way since sophomore album The Midnight Organ Fight blew up in 2008, and with all the subsequent critical acclaim and overseas touring (not to mention the release of an even more successful follow-up), it feels as if things have come full circle here at their last gig of 2011. There’s a rich sense of homeliness in the room as frontman Scott Hutchison beams around halfway through the set: “Thanks for coming to the Frightened Rabbit office Christmas party”. He later checks up on the crowd: “I hope you’re doing okay out there. We’re having a fucking great time”. The man’s earned the right to be enjoying himself, and, having performed well-received set staples like I Feel Better and Fast Blood, his band have no doubt proved their relevance to any naysayers that may have been present up to this point.

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Market Mania

Brows furrowed, mouths foaming, eyes frantic; Christmas hysteria is about to hit the high street. Want to avoid the blistered feet and broken spirits? Here are GUM’s top pick of markets where you can bag crafts goods, vintage treats and designer pieces to give Santa a run for his money. (more…)

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Review: Pass The Spoon @ Tramway

Pass The Spoon has been described as an opera about food created by artist David Shrigley, composer David Fennessy and director Nicholas Bone of Magnetic North Theatre. This may seem a little intriguing already but take a minute to digest that first name and you can predict it’s going to get a whole lot stranger.

Trying to put the ‘opera’ into some kind of understandable context is challenging so considering Shrigley’s ubiquitous art work should make it slightly clearer. But then you think of the odd little drawings and again you find difficulty in pinning down precisely the bizarre humour and charm that makes his work appeal so widely. Shrigley shows an ability to find the farcical in the mundane and has an inexplicable sense of humour shot through with morbidity. Therefore any concise explanation of Pass the Spoon would always elude me. I can only sum up my pre-performance thoughts as ‘weird shit was going to happen’. (more…)

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