 "YOU GUYS CAN CALL ME IAN" Forget film. Forget books. Forget fashion. Art is the new black…and Ian Hughes is to blame.  Ian, explain yourself…? I love creating things. Comics, music, commotions. Anything. It's like a legacy you can see yourself building. Sometimes I feel like I don't want to sleep because that's valuable creation time wasted. Seriously. But I do sleep, only to have some fantastic dream which I decide I must base a comic on. I am Ian's rampant caffeine addiction. When did you start drawing? I liked record covers. The first record I ever bought with my own money was the 7" of some Iron Maiden song. I played the song a few times, but tried to copy the cover art countless times more. I'd never been that interested in comics, so these weird images opened up a world of ghoulish possibilities. I'm guessing it was about 1990 when I eventually started drawing comics properly. There was a kind of specially dedicated club run by the 'You guys can call me Paul' type of Art teacher that I'm sure every school has. He used to play us The Clash on the ragged tape player in the corner. I still know a lot of people that I met there, basically being a lunchtime geek. What inspires you? I don't like the cosy Americana of the "I am superior, so I shall now save you all" superheroes. I just look for different avenues of storytelling. I watch a lot of films. Filmmakers who generally know how to tell a good story with odd people, like Tarantino or Kubrick or Aronofsky or whoever. And my stories do score pretty high on the weird scale.  Is there a name for your kind of art? I'm sure there is, but I'm a little out of the loop within the Art establishment. Most of my art is equally influenced by record covers or movies or comics, but very rarely by the art world. I'm not sure what I do follows any path or trend, it's just how my jumbled thoughts transfer onto the paper. I'm not deliberately trying to sound like an 'outsider' or anything The word on the street is that you live in a log cabin, in the forest, with no electricity. Is that true? I lived in a place that was like a scale model of the Paper Street Soap Company in 'Fight Club', complete with sparking light fittings and everything. It was absolutely fantastic. We had a recording studio there, so the bombs we made were much more metaphorical. I don't live there anymore. I've returned to civilisation, living in The Care Home for Recovering 90s DJs in deepest Surrey. Where can we look at your work? The inky sick that comes from my imagination is always available to look at for FREE, all be it in very grainy quality, at: toyrevolvers.deviantart.com. And that's just for the post-modern Myspace haters. Everyone else can get their fix on the MySpace (link below). But don't get too excited just yet, I've only just started the accounts up. A lot of my work I've given away, so only if you're a burglar in one of many homes across the South East will you see my commissioned stuff. Also, I have been known to design flyers for club-nights like Derailed, Submariners and the truly legendary Drum N Bass @ The Agincourt. I have to pay the bills, y'know. Interested in comissioning Ian to draw something for you? Email toyrevolvers@live.com www.myspace.com/toyrevolvers |
  Schism is a bit like a cult. They don’t really advertise, most people have never heard of it, but yet it gets busier and busier with every passing month. I have come to the belief that you don’t discover Schism…. It discovers you. Once you’ve been recruited to the ranks of dedicated Schism-goers, you’re hooked- it’s a ‘life-cycle’ that has been replicating quietly for over six years now (it’s their 7th Birthday event on 6th February) and is still going strong. It’s no wonder really. Schism are always coming up with superiorly inventive ways to draw a crowd- from pyrotechnics and theme nights, to a membership scheme which offers discounted entry and a free shot all for just a tenner. There is always something new and exciting going on each month- it’s never just the same old same old. To be fair though, if it was boring you wouldn’t notice, because the drinks are so cheap you’ll barely remember your own name by the end of the night, let alone anything else.  Schism is run by Tom, Steve and Chris, who between them list Stevie Wonder, Samurai Jack and Prison Break as some of their interests, so you know you’re in for a varied and interesting night. Seriously though, music at Schism is a bit of everything- anything from Incubus to Slipknot, Tool to Pendulum, Blur to NIN, and much more. You won’t be disappointed. Membership information, the forum and galleries are at www.clubschism.com, and any other information can be found on their Facebook page (search Schism Rockclub) or the group (gid=2228711079) |
  Kenelis in HMV!!!!!! Remember How It Felt? If you’ve had your head up your bottom for the past month (or simply just hadn’t subscribed to the EZine yet, either of which is completely unacceptable behaviour) you won’t be aware of our log-sized broner for Kenelis. Truth be told, we do rather like them, and although we featured them in the last issue, we want to do it again, because the clever buggers have gone and got themselves into HMV. We dragged frontwoman Mel Sanson into a bog in Charing Cross by her chin and made her answer some questions. We didn’t even give her a real pen, just a wax crayon. Here’s what she said….. Mel, why should we care about Kenelis? Go on, give us a good reason. If you love rock music you have to at least check us out! We don't conform to what is popular at the time, we don't copy other styles, we are original and hold full control of our creativity. If you care about rock, you MUST care about Kenelis! Haha! What's the most rock'n'roll thing you've ever done? I can't reveal details but it involved a stripper in Vegas! How does it feel to release an album? It's the most exciting feeling ever!! To have something to show for years of writing and recording and gigging is like reaching the top of a mountain, only to know that there's so many more heights you can get to! It's also incredibly humbling because releasing an album is not just about the band, but the support we've had from friends, family and fans. So you're a woman innit. Does that help with the quest for fame, or put you at a disadvantage? To start with it was a major disadvantage. I'm not talking about feminist crap but female fronted has a stigma attached to it. I think you have to prove yourself more when you're a girl ‘cos you get judged more. I feel like we've finally got to the stage now where we are respected as a band, and I just so happen to be a girl. What's up your wizard's sleeve for 2009? Well now the album is out then the best part is going to be playing our songs to an audience that know them! I love going to gigs but it’s always better when you know the songs. So gigs, gigs, gigs and gigs! We listened to ‘Remember How It Felt’ and it was fab. We're greedy though... are you doing a second one??? Thank you, and ooh yessss. We will be recording the second album this year. I love the creative aspect of writing music and there's lots more to get out of our system. This is just the start of Kenelis *evil grin* You can listen to Kenelis at www.myspace.com/kenelis or on YouTube Or download them on iTunes or HMV.com Their new album, ‘Remember How It Felt’ can be found available to pre-order for £6.99 at HMV.com, or click here. The album will be available to buy in the Guildford HMV store from Monday 26th Jan. It doesn’t really matter if you’ve heard of Kenelis before. You don’t have to have followed them to every back-room gig from the gutter to the glowing stages of Guilfest to appreciate what they’re doing. Sure it’s nice to have a rags-to-riches story (although Kenelis are still largely in rags out of personal choice) but with Kenelis, that story is just a little anecdote that you can take or leave. The album stands up on its own. Turn it on and you can hear the journey- from the feverish, heart wrenching sound of ‘Nobody Sees Me But You’ to the quiet, contemplative ‘Drained’. Here, on a shiny round thing, five lives and thousands of experiences converge to give you a unique listening experience. If you want it to be, ‘Remember How It Felt’ is like a thinking space; an album you can put on and clear your head with. If you’re more technically minded, however, the unique mix of catchy riffs, punchy lyrics and pulse-altering drum beats will work your earflaps into a frenzy. Give it a listen. You know it’s girl fronted rock and you think you know what that means...but you haven’t heard anything yet. READ THE GIG REVIEW FROM LAST ISSUE…..   Friday 12th December If you're looking for something a little different to brighten your music collection, look no further than Kenelis. The fearsome fivesome from Farnborough (ha! Put that in your pipe and smoke it) rocked the Remix in Woking this month with their brand new single, Drained. This is the second single released by the band on indie label 'Black Grass Records' and the bands growing popularity certainly showed as they played to a packed out remix with support from Draven and PilotX. Frontwoman Mel Sanson reminded everyone to support the band and the local music scene by getting onto iTunes and purchasing the single. KENELIS VIDEOS FRIDAY 23rd JAN West End Centre, Aldershot SUNDAY 15th FEB D2, Nottingham SATURDAY 21st FEB The Live and Loud Bar, Guildford SUNDAY 8th MARCH Brighton Student Pride FRIDAY 24th APRIL Cobden Club, London Visit www.kenelis.com for more info  Click here for Essex club listings LONDON! Click here for London club listings SURREY & BERKS! Click here for Surrey/Berkshire club listings  THE BAR ACADEMY ISLINGTON THURSDAY 22ND JANUARY, 7PM PROJECTS BIER KELLER BRACKNELL FRIDAY 23RD JANUARY, 8:30PM BURN WINKFIELD ARMS ASCOT FRIDAY 23RD JANUARY, 9PM AFTER HOURS BLUES MR BUMBLES CAMBERLEY SATURDAY 24TH JANUARY, 9PM DELAYED REACTION MADDENS EAST FINCHLEY SATURDAY 24TH JANUARY, 9:30PM THE CHEVRONS LAURELS HARROW WEALD SATURDAY 24TH JANUARY, 9PM SPOTLIGHT CANNIBAL THE BOILEROOM GUILDFORD FRIDAY 6TH FEBRUARY, 7PM LIVE BANDS THE PHOENIX STAINES EVERY SUNDAY |