Tom Connick
London
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Articles by Tom Connick
The streetwise chef inspiring a new generation to go vegan
Posted Tuesday 27th March 2018 / Text By Tom Connick Photography © Theo McInnes As a high-end chef slogging through 18-hour shifts, Bounsou Senathit was on the fast-track to burn out. Then he got stabbed on the streets of East London, forcing him to start over. Now he’s leading a vegan revolution. At a pair of converted shipping containers in Shoreditch, East London, queues are snaking out the door of CookDaily – a vegan restaurant that’s as unconventional as it is unlikely.
The Studio That Changed the Musical Landscape Forever
From David Bowie to Iggy Pop and Nick Cave, Berlin’s Hansa Studios captured the spirit and darkness of its hometown in each one of its records Recording studios rarely get a namecheck. Little more than a footnote on most albums’ record sleeves, from Abbey Road to Hollywood’s Sunset Sound, there’s a romance to the recording booth that often goes unchecked in this era of bedroom production.
The Larry Clark Muse Turning His Hand to Music
All clothing and accessories from the S/S18 Coach 1941 collectionPhotography Sarah Piantadosi, Styling Ellie Grace Cumming Skater, actor and singer Lukas Ionesco speaks to Another Man as he releases his debut solo EP Born and raised in the shadows of Paris’ Montmartre church, in an area otherwise known for its bustling nightlife, Lukas Ionesco was always defined by contrast.
Sam Fender - Notion
At just 23, Sam Fender is already being hailed as one of British guitar music's next greats. It's all down to honesty, he explains for his cover feature for Notion 84! Tucked away behind a hedgerow, just off one of South East London’s main thoroughfares, Sam Fender is barrelling around Brockley Social Club. Skipping, jumping, and beaming ear-to-ear, he breaks into near-deafening sing-song at every opportunity. You can hear his voice echoing down the hallway, bouncing off the walls.
Stormzy - Gang Signs & Prayer
“First things first, I’ve been putting in the work,” spits Stormzy on the opener to ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’. Few could deny it – from “fire in the park” to a full-on blaze of glory, the road to Michael Omari’s debut album has seen him apply that hard graft, miner’s mentality of his pre-fame days on an oil rig to the music game like few could rival. The results of his diligence are nothing short of stunning.
slowthai – 'Nothing Great About Britain' review
slowthai Nothing Great About Britain Method Records Buoyed by that cheeky, gold-plated grin, boundary-pushing stage antics and his self-appointed title of “Brexit Bandit”, slowthai has quickly established himself as a figurehead for a new chapter of Broken Britain. His debut album, the knowingly-titled Nothing Great About Britain, succinctly captures the mental state of that fractured nation, and the fizzing energy of an exasperated youth. Britain’s been fucked for quite some time now, of course.
Fat White Family – 'Serf's Up' review
For some, Fat White Family are a much-needed breath of toxic air. They’re pinned as a band of revolution; a wilfully controversial spanner in the works of all things slick and soft. The last true bastion of rebellious punk, they claim. But then again, for some, Ricky Gervais is a seer. In many ways, Fat White Family share thematic DNA with that one-time comedy genius turned transphobic waffler.
Dublin’s Rising Guitar Bands Are Too Loud to Ignore
It’s fitting that, when I arrive in Dublin to meet Fontaines D.C., it’s absolutely pouring. After all, frontman Grian Chatte squawks "Dublin in the rain is mine,” on the Irish punks’ album opener “Big”—a confident assertion from a band who’ve quickly soared to the top of their home city’s new punk scene.
Trudy & The Romance Are Dragging Doo-Wop into the Present Day
Fresh off a flight from Austin, Texas, bleary-eyed musician Oliver Taylor steps through the door of his Liverpool home. He answers the phone as he settles in at home, a whirlwind week at SXSW behind him, and admits the whole thing’s a bit hazy. To some extent, though, that’s his own fault. “I was watching too many shit films on the flight, when I should have been sleeping, really,” he says with a laugh.
The Best Podcasts to Listen to This Spring
Photography Gareth Powell Mental health memoirs, cultural critiques and fictional feminist dramas – here are nine podcasts we’re loving right now While aural storytelling is a tradition as old as time, podcasting has breathed new life into the spoken word. Here we shortlist our favourites for spring, from memoirs about mental health, to documentary anthologies, cultural critiques to fictional feminist dramas about art and attraction. 1.
How The Japanese House’s Walls Came Tumbling Down
There are countless moments in The Japanese House’s “Lilo” video where, were the song stripped away, you’d swear you could hear a pin drop. A silent, shared shower between two lovers; a turn away from a sleeping partner in the dead of night; a wordless early-morning embrace. It’s a clip which captures the silent misery of dissolving love in all its agonizing intimacies.
Metronomy’s Joe Mount talks us through
With Nights Out, Metronomy painted a blueprint for British indie’s weird and wonderful late-00s era. Cramming in odd sampled sounds and a groove more befitting of east London’s underground clubland than the guitar-led indie discos of the time, Metronomy’s second full-length found figurehead Joe Mount exploring vocals for the first time after the instrumental sounds of debut album Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 You Owe).
BbyMutha is the architect of her own success
“I’ve been busy on Twitter arguing with people because everybody knows that’s what I do. I go out for people disrespecting me,” Brittnee Moore tells me over the phone. It’s late afternoon in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the rapper, better known as BbyMutha, has just woken up with a story to tell. Specifically, the story of how she parted ways with her soon-to-be former manager. After finding out that she was being shopped to record labels, BbyMutha put her foot down and fired her.
Metronomy's ‘Nights Out’ was a refreshing oddity in the era of indie landfill
Original release: September 2008 Reissue: February 2019 Label: Because Music The late 00s indie scene was topped off by a trilby. An era now not-so-lovingly dubbed ‘indie landfill’, cookie-cutter, Camden-based calamities flooded the airwaves and the pages of NME. Even Razorlight mouthpiece Johnny Borrell was a regular TV fixture. In this scene, Joe Mount, the man behind Metronomy, was an outlier.
HEALTH – 'VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR' review
HEALTH VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR Lorna Vista 2019 marks the year Blade Runner warned us about. Synthetic humanoids, flying cars, outer space colonies. In that same sci-fi dystopia, we’d surely all be listening to music like HEALTH. The LA bruisers’ digitised take on heavy music has always held a future-facing appeal. On VOL 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR, that approach takes over.
How Oli Burslem’s Homelessness and Hedonism Led to Yak’s New Album
Tom Connick catches up with the former Another Man cover star to discuss the long road to Yak’s latest album, Pursuit Of Momentary Happiness. Plus, get your first look at the band’s new video, Fried Oli Burslem is recharging his batteries. After yet another long weekend of booze and beyond, the former Another Man cover star is holed up in a flash café off London’s bougie Broadway Market.
Matty Healy Interview: The 1975 Frontman on The Band’s New Stage Show
You’ll have seen it all over Instagram. The 1975 made their long-awaited return to arena stages this month, with the impossibly ambitious A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships tour. Capturing the wondrous essence of their latest record, it’s a stage show like no other.
Yxng Bane - Notion
The Mask You Live In: Read the full cover feature with Yxng Bane from Notion 82. From eBay searching for supervillain masks to hitting the top ten, Yxng Bane’s rise has been warp-speed. Meet the man behind the mask as he tries to keep his feet on family turf in the face of rising public stature. A few days ago, Yxng Bane went home. Parked up by Custom House, his old Canning Town estate in east London, he watched the world go by.
Inside the buzz of Black Midi
© Yis Kid Think of the Brit School, and balladry is surely the soundtrack. The Croydon creative hub is famed for its alumni: a who’s who of supermarket shelf-filling big hitters like Adele, Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis; a major label A&R’s Christmas bonus in waiting. Any big-shots sniffing around the school last summer, though, may have been in for a surprise.
24 Hours in Chernobyl – and Its First-Ever Art Installation
Few destinations garner reactions quite like Chernobyl. The site of the infamous nuclear reactor explosion in April 1986, the power station itself – as well as the surrounding, largely abandoned area, known as the ‘nuclear exclusion zone’ – is an intrinsic part of cultural and political lore.
Why The 1975’s Matty Healy Is the Perfect Popstar for Today
In focussing on real-life interaction in an increasingly digital and disconnected world, The 1975’s new album ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ is an powerful document of humanity It could have all gone a bit Banksy. The 1975’s new album – once named Music For Cars, now titled A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships – could so easily have fallen into the same trappings of a thousand Black Mirror-lite art projects before it: endless whinging about technology, but offering nothing.
Juvenile's ‘400 Degreez’ encapsulated Cash Money's first wave of inventiveness
Original release date: 3 November, 1998 Label: Cash Money/Universal As it turned out, 400 Degreez is the temperature at which Southern rap percolates.
Meet Westerman, the London Artist Producing Beautifully Warped Pop
Plus, get your first look at the rising star’s latest music video, Outside Sublime Westerman’s warped, weird and wonderful take on pop has been the soundtrack of the 2018 underground. His breakout single Confirmation, released back in January, was an oddball cut of lyrical electronica, and the perfect introduction to the 27-year-old singer-songwriter’s electronic alternative world.
The Aussie Music Scene Blowing up in the UK Right Now
While it might boast a musical heritage that stretches from the louche sounds of Nick Cave to the blistering riff-rock of AC/DC, Australia’s music scene is no has-been legacy act. Half a world away from the British fans that are currently lapping them up, there’s a huge number of emerging Australian acts, all musically diverse, who are working on solidifying their home country’s musical reputation for decades to come.
Bobby Gillespie on the Making of Primal Scream’s Latest Release
Screamadelica was a show-stopper. The third studio album of Scottish rockers Primal Scream, its day-glo, sunshine-daubed artwork remains one of British music’s most iconic visuals. Big, brash and with over three million sales under its belt, the record won the first-ever Mercury Prize, and came to define the rollicking, anything-goes pace of the 90s. But how do you follow an album like that?
How One Record Label Helped Unite a Divided 1970s Britain
A new documentary tells the story of Trojan Records, which introduced Jamaican music to the UK – here, we speak with DJ and radio host Don Letts who experienced it first hand Launched in 1968, Trojan Records felt alien. An Island Records offshoot which pushed rocksteady, reggae and dub into the realms of British popular music, it was a huge risk, and one of Britain’s first steps towards multiculturalism.
Singer John Grant: My Mental Health Journey
The John Grant of 2018 is a testament to change. Raised by a devout Christian family in a strictly Methodist household, the now flamboyant and deliciously sarcastic singer-songwriter’s history is wracked with conflict and compromise. From denying his own sexuality, to longstanding problems with addiction, anxiety and a wilful lack of self-care, the unlikely star of baroque, left-field pop comes from a background which couldn’t be further removed from his playful output.
Dismantling Dance Music’s Boys Club
As more doors unlock for women and marginalised groups in electronic music, it’s important to keep them wedged open. After all, what good is success if you can’t offer others a leg-up on your way to the top? For The Black Madonna, a fervent advocate for inclusivity in the scene, this strategy is essential in levelling the playing field. “Mentorship is something I was always passionate about,” the DJ says.
Fucked Up – 'Dose Your Dreams' review
Fucked Up have always brimmed with ideas. The Canadian group’s eclectic tastes have often defied the catch-all term ‘punk’, packing in flute solos alongside furious screams. Fifth album Dose Your Dreams may be their most experimental effort to date. Dose Your Dreams changes tack at every juncture. House of Keys is a doomy midpoint lament, which argues into the title track’s space-funk odyssey without coming off all Jamiroquai.
alt-J - 'Reduxer' review
And lo, Britain’s whitest band wades into hip-hop. A reworking of last year’s Relaxer LP, Reduxer finds alt-J enlisting a who’s-who of trendy modern rappers throughout. As such, it veers far too close to a ‘fellow kids’ meme on multiple occasions; a jarring, Little Simz-featuring opening rework of 3WW makes for a stumbling start.
Paul Weller’s Guide to Songwriting
Though his ‘Modfather’ nickname might precede him, Paul Weller has long since left those days behind. A musical polymath, no two Weller records are the same: from the punchy punk of The Jam, through the soulful Style Council, and multiple solo albums since, he’s proven himself a master of songwriting over a near half-century-long career. True Meanings, Weller’s newly-released solo album, is yet more evidence of evolution from the icon.
Johny, Papa and the dark potential future of memes
He adds: “It’s also driven by features like Autoplay, which makes videos so easy to watch. This trend is dark and sinister because it exploits how social media platforms run, making us feel like the internet itself has a kind of agency and it means us harm. We’re not in control and it’s coming for our kids – maybe not by intention, but partially by design.” Dark remakes of children’s videos are easy to find; a few clicks and you can watch videos where the cast of Peppa Pig commit suicide.
Why American Honey Director Andrea Arnold Is The Blaze’s Biggest Influence
In a few short years, two cousins have become one of music’s most talked about acts, lauded for their beautiful and profoundly moving videos and their unique brand of electronic music that has been known to reduce its listeners to tears. Today, Guillaume and Jonathan Alric – better known by their stage name, The Blaze – release their highly-anticipated debut album, Dancehall.
The Inside Story of The Blaze’s Amazing Music Videos
In a few short years, two cousins have become one of music’s most talked about acts, lauded for their beautiful and profoundly moving videos and their unique brand of electronic music that has been known to reduce its listeners to tears. Today, Guillaume and Jonathan Alric – better known by their stage name, The Blaze – release their highly-anticipated debut album, Dancehall.
The French Photographers Who Inspired The Blaze’s Approach to Film
In a few short years, two cousins have become one of music’s most talked about acts, lauded for their beautiful and profoundly moving videos and their unique brand of electronic music that has been known to reduce its listeners to tears. Today, Guillaume and Jonathan Alric – better known by their stage name, The Blaze – release their highly-anticipated debut album, Dancehall.
The Blaze: ‘We Want People to Feel What It Is to Be Human’
In a few short years, two cousins have become one of music’s most talked about acts, lauded for their beautiful and profoundly moving videos and their unique brand of electronic music that has been known to reduce its listeners to tears. Today, Guillaume and Jonathan Alric – better known by their stage name, The Blaze – release their highly-anticipated debut album, Dancehall.
Fearing the Fembot
Take a look at Lil Miquela’s Instagram page and you’d be forgiven for mistaking her for a run-of-the-mill influencer. A pretty, well-dressed 19-year-old model and musician, Miquela’s page is full of outfit shots, pictures of her with friends and celebrities, memes and posts on social justice. When her debut single Not Mine – a slow, downbeat R&B track – was released in 2017, Billboard said it would “fit perfectly on a Tinashe or Kehlani album”. It even made Spotify’s Top Ten viral chart.
IDLES – 'Joy as An Act of Resistance' review
IDLES Joy as An Act of Resistance Partisan Records IDLES’ 2017 breakthrough record Brutalism established the Bristol outfit as contenders to Britain’s long-rusted punk throne. Their missives on Tory rule and the destruction of socialist ideals makes for unlikely hooks – hit up any European festival field last summer and you’d surely have heard Mother’s left-leaning chorus “the best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich” echoing around the site.
The importance of being earnest: Todd Terje
As the notion of ‘fun’ becomes more and more marginalised in the world of dance music – potentially a byproduct of the fear that emerges when ‘normal people’ access sites that were previously thought of as subcultural zones of positive exclusion – Terje’s seriousness about fun, his refusal to step into the dreaded worlds of schlock and parody, along with his impeccable sense of melody, make It’s Album Time as refreshing as a gin and Fanta Limon on a Balearic rooftop in early August.
‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ transcended gender qualifiers, genre and time
The album’s lyricism was razor-sharp, the singing soul-churning, the instrumentation warm and enveloping. As we got older, we came to understand the holiness of Ms. Hill’s purge – an everywoman bringing the blues to the hip-hop era. The way she could lick her wounds and praise love in the same breath or wield her tongue as a dagger and an elixir was stunning. And in setting the most intimate details of her life to music, she found an appeal that transcended gender qualifiers, genre and time itself.
Interpol - 'Marauder' review
Nostalgia is a killer – and Interpol should know more than most. Last year they took their iconic debut album Turn On the Bright Lights for a 15th anniversary victory lap around the globe, celebrating their position as one-time leaders of NYC’s indie rock scene. The record’s success has dogged them ever since, and following up a return to the glory days such as those is no mean feat – a pitfall Marauder is testament to. For what it’s worth, Interpol’s sixth full-length is not a total flop.
In London, Brockhampton Prove They’re a Boyband for a New Era
90s nostalgia has hit saturation point. From the oversized aesthetic of its fashion, to a return to analogue cameras and pre-internet mobile phones, the decade’s influence is as wide-reaching as it is needlessly retro. But for every oh-so-trendy remodelled Nokia 3310 and wide-legged trouser, there’s another 90s trope that’s best left to memory. Case in point: the boyband. The 90s was undoubtedly the era of the boyband.
The Story of The Lemon Twigs: from Les Mis to Indie Rock Royalty
Musical lore is packed full of brotherly love. From the on-again-off-again soap opera of the Gallaghers to the Jackson 5, AC/DC’s Angus and Malcolm Young, and Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb (better known as The Bee Gees), countless groups have thrived off the boisterous bond only siblings can muster. None of them, however, are as off-the-wall as The Lemon Twigs.
Sports Team are the Kitsch British Indie Kids Finding Beauty in the Banal
Margate is as kitsch as they come. A quintessential British seaside town, everything from donkey rides to dodgems, seafood shacks to tidal pools comes crammed into its tiny, beachside town centre. It’s so very British – and, as such, the perfect setting for indie band Sports Team. Formed in Cambridge and currently residing in West London’s Harlesden, Sports Team are an oddball bunch.
Dear Nakhane: Spiritual guidance on life, looks and problematic faves
Looking for wisdom on sex, self-love and navigating your way through the world? The South African actor and musician has been there, done that and has the emotional literacy to prove it. This month, the South African actor, musician and icon covers the important stuff: from suspect relationship behaviour to offering practical tips on how to be “that bitch”. Want your questions answered next month? Email them to agonyaunt@crackmagazine.net. My bf and I recently went out for a weekend getaway.
"As a new generation, we need to take the power into our own hands"
What would you say radicalised you as an activist? Were there any defining moments that made you think, ‘I need to fill this role, I need to be this activist now’? It really was a reaction to the way that the world has always been. I think police brutality and the way that the police treat black and brown bodies around the world has been a factor. Our bodies are being treated like animals to uphold a system of white domination. With the advancement of [camera] phones we just see it a lot more.
Remembering Sam Mehran of Test Icicles
For a generation of left-of-centre indie kids, the strained chords that ring in Test Icicles’ Circle. Square. Triangle. will be forever embedded in their skull. The London trio brought excitement and experimentalism to sweaty indie-disco dancefloors across the country, soundtracking a lurid teenagehood of glow sticks and alcopops.
Mahalia's confident attitude powers her vibrant sounds and style
Thankfully, the songwriter is happy with the results, even if she is convinced that her friends only like the video because they’re impressed that she managed to do it at all. But the rising 19-year-old singer has been impressing plenty of people outside her friendship circle, too. For Crack Magazine’s shoot, Mahalia glides through looks, including a gloriously pink fluffy jacket matched with some high-waisted jeans which she later, rather gleefully, gets to keep.
Flohio is tearing up grime's template
“Growing up in South London, I don’t think I could have escaped listening to grime,” says Flohio, the Bermondsey MC whose recent single, SE16, was a murky dissection of her surroundings set against the visceral productions of beat-making duo God Colony. The fittingly lo-fi video for the track was directed by London-based Mixpak-signed artist GAIKA. “He’s such a boss,” she told us over email.
Dirty Projectors – 'Lamp Lit Prose' review
A far cry from the morose, post-breakup ditties of last year’s self-titled record, Dirty Projectors’ latest is a return to the tectonic shifts of their late 00s breakthrough. Switching tempo and texture on the fly, and framed by hypnotic, hocketed vocals, it’s a twisted listen, with the likes of lead single Break-Thru and the Empress Of-featuring Zombie Conqueror tying themselves in knots from the off, while always retaining their pop nous.
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