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ithinkilikeit-reactions · 4 years

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Favs of 2020 (Guys edition)

A/N: This is just personal opinion, everyone has the right to disagree. Also all title tracks are linked!

Girl’s Version

TOP 10 of 2020:

1. Spin off - ONF (Sukhumvit Swimming)

All the songs on ONF’s ‘Spin off’ album are really fun. But ‘Sukhumvit Swimming’ is definitely my song of 2020. ‘Cactus’ is my favorite b-side though. The amount of happiness this song brings me is absolutely insane. Even though I severly misheard what they were saying (I LIKE IT STUPIDDDD SWIMMING) the first time, I love the song and the mv concept. Very fresh, very happy, sparks a lot of joy and very Onf.

Onf is one of my favorite discoveries of 2020.

2. Treasure Epilogue: Action to Answer - Ateez (Answer)

The end of Treasure era and well one of my favorite title tracks like ever. ‘Answer’ hits a nostalgic nerve in me and I love it so much. The ending always makes me emotional and I think this was the era everyone served their best looks too. My favorite b-side was most definitely ‘Horizon’ because it also hits that nostalgic nerve.

Ateez hits different and I was supposed to see them live this year so in the words of Hwasa: “Corona... fuck you.”

3. So, 通 - N.Flying (Oh Really)

Okay, N.Flying has really become my favorite band this year so I couldn’t not mention this album. Especially not with how many times I have played it. This whole album is really good but ‘Flower Fantasy’ definitely takes the cake for me. I love a good power rock ballad. Also Kim Jaehyun has made his way to share Johnny’s ult bias position.

I love N.flying so much.

4. Hey, Go Smile - Bloo (When I smoke)

(this is a gif from Nae Tat, I’m aware. Couldn’t find one from the actual mv)

Bloo’s song ‘Downtown Baby’ blew up this year and rightfully so. However the song he released this year is sooooooooooooo much better (in my opinion) The way ‘When I smoke’ starts remind me of a movie, the song is so good throughout and also makes me weirdly emotional alot like ‘Answer’ does. ‘Let it Go’ is also such a good b-side.

I am even considering getting ‘Go smile, it’s your time’ tattooed.

I hope Bloo returns soon.

5. So Beautiful - DPR Ian (So Beautiful)

A piece of art from a man I deeply, deeply respect. Christian Yu created an absolute masterpiece with this one, not only visually but also for the ears. The classic music and jazz elements in it make it such a fun trip to listen too. I’m so glad this was his long awaited “debut” I can’t wait to see what else he brings out.

I’m also painfully whipped for him but that’s besides the point.

6. From Home - NCT U (From Home)

This song on their 2020 compilation album is by far my favorite. I love the mixing of Korean, Japanese and Chinese in the track. The lyrics are phenomonal and their voices are absolutely lovely. I’ve listened to this every day since it came out and it’s just so pretty. It gives me a lovely comforting feeling and makes me all warm and gushy.

Maybe my favorite NCT U unit and I want another song like this.

7. Mayday - Victon (Mayday)

Victon is also one of my favorite finds of 2020. When I tell you I listened to this song daily since it came out. It’s just such a good track and I love the build up and also how the music demonstrates the chaos around like a mayday. Very good song also, all of them looked phenomonal. So this definitely made my top 10 this year, I preferred it over ‘Howling’ immensly.

8. Neozone: The Final Round (Punch)

The song that gave everyone temporary memory loss. I loved ‘Punch’ so much, from the concept to the styling, to the song. It was soooo good. It made me kind of regret not waiting for the repackage and buying the ‘Neozone’ album. But it seemed my man’s is slowly getting his time to shine and it was about time. This song gives me those nostalgic future vibes. Like what people in the 70′s thought the year 2020 would be like.

9. Chocolate - MAX (Chocolate)

The legend who dropped an album and got married. Changmin’s album is absolutely amazing and the title track ‘Chocolate’ makes me feel like I stepped into a luxurious ceo’s office. I fully, fully love this album as well. ‘Piano’ is definitely my favorite b-side and I hope to own this album some day.

Also congratulations getting married Changmin! You deserve the very best.

10. Zero: Fever Part 1 - Ateez (Inception Thanxx)

The start of Fever era. Although this era is bittersweet, the songs are absolutely amazing and I have listened to them nonstop. Aside from the double title tracks, I loved ‘Good little boy’. I remember when the tracklist was released and the fandom was like “the fuck is ‘good little boy’” But yes this album the diary film, the music videos. It was grand.

Favorite boygroup debut:

TOO and DKB

Now ‘Magnolia’ was a song I didn’t quite like at first. I thought it was just another dark concept boy group and it didn’t really speak to me. But then they released ‘Count 1,2′ and they got me. They really got me. That song and album were both contendors for my top 10 this year. BEcause of that song I revisited ‘Magnolia’ and ended up really enjoying it.But still I hope they do more songs like that ‘Count 1,2′ in the future.

Okay... another group I didn’t enjoy the song from at first. But ‘Sorry Mama’ got back on my radar recently and I really, really, really enjoy it. But their most recent release ‘Work hard’ is soooooo good. Look I’m completely here for concepts other than dark lately. The world is dark enough so let’s bring cute and happy concepts back please. ‘Work Hard’ is just sooooo much fun.

Favorite solo debut:

It’s a tie between Wonho and Seungwoo from Victon

This whole album was really good and I’m just really proud of Wonho and I don’t have much else to say about that. (Open mind)

I love Seungwoo’s album so much surprisingly! I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did but it really caught me by surprise. I loved ‘Child’ and ‘Sacrifice’ is also just so good.

A/N: Keep in mind these are just my favorites, your favorites may differ as they should! Let me know what your top faves are this year!

#onf #ateez #n.flying #christian yu #nct u #victon #nct 127 #bloo #changmin #max #seungwoo #too #ten oriented orchestra #DKB

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dprdabin · 6 years

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dpr live is the most creative rapper in south korea

Military service is mandatory in South Korea for all males from 18 to 35 years old. The conscription lasts two years, a period of time when your normal life stops and you dedicate yourself to your country. Well known artists, from idols to actors, from rappers to producers, everyone puts their artistic careers on pause while they prepare for the worst case scenario — war. Everyone in the music industry in South Korea takes precautions so that this absence is the least harmful as possible to their careers. Hong Da Bin, however, used this time to become an artist. “During that time I had grown an interest in writing and I continued to do it even after my discharge — eventually it grew into a natural passion for music”, he tells i-D.

Nowadays he is known as DPR LIVE, a musical force to be reckoned with. In part, that's thanks to his impeccable talent for writing and rapping, and because of the DPR Crew, a creative collective that manages him and produces all of his music and visuals. Originally from the city of Pocheon, the 25-year-old rising rapper and the DPR team (stands for Dream Perfect Regime) have been working together since the very beginning, when they used to have meetings in coffee places or karaoke rooms. The Seoul-based crew creates some of the most hallucinatory and cutting edge music videos that you’ll see coming out of South Korea — not an easy accomplishment when you look at the quality of current productions — by combining their talent for high impact visuals with the sophisticated sounds of R&B and rap from their main artist.

With sold-out shows, and outstanding collaborations with the royalty of Korean rap and hip-hop scene, gone are the days when DPR LIVE was just a new face in the music industry in South Korea. This past couple of years have seen his fame grow exponentially with the release of his amazing first album Coming To You Live in 2017, the sultry following EP Her, his appearance in this year’s SXSW, and now his upcoming world tour starting next week in Vancouver, Canada. We talked to DPR LIVE to know more about the dream he believes in so passionately, the importance of family, not caring about charts, and what can we expect from his first ever North American tour.

Being featured in Eung Freestyle was a turning point in your career. How has your style changed since then? That was a really surreal moment. Eung Freestyle was a passion project started by us, and to see the response it got definitely fueled my desire as an artist and a member of the DPR collective. I believe that the project pushed me to really start exploring my own lane of artistry.

2017’s Coming To You Live was an impressive debut for a new artist, how long did you and the DPR team work on it? The team and I spent, I’d say a solid year preparing that album. Every song we took our time with, because this was the introduction for us, so we really made sure to give it our best effort. As for the collaborations, the team and I just envisioned who would fit the overall vibe of the song and went from there. Thankfully, all the artists we wanted to work with ended up believing in the vision, and really, the rest was history.

The DPR collective looks live a very effective creative machine, how did you meet each other? This is a really long story, to be honest, but just to give a short, sweet summary — DPR IAN and I go way back. We met each other a long time ago in Korea and were friends ever since. Fast forward a couple years, IAN and REM met each other and we became the new trio. From there, the rest of the members came along gradually — CREAM being one of the last members to officially be a part of our team. I can honestly say everyone on this team is family to me, and I’m sure they would say the same. We eat together, work together, party together, and do it all over again every day. But, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Through highs and lows, these are and forever will be my brothers.

DPR stands out so much from the South Korean music industry, why do you think that is? In my opinion, I really think it stems from the teamwork we have and the collective passion we all share. For us, this isn’t really a 'business'. Yeah, we want to be successful and all that, but more so, we want to do anything and everything we can think of to the highest quality. If it were just for the money or fame, we would of went about things really differently. However, I think its more about the history — the legacy we can build with all of our efforts combined. That’s the dream.

You had a performance in SXSW early this year, and now you are doing a solo tour in the US, what do the American audiences can expect from your show? SXSW is wild, and for it to be my first ever show in the US, I'm so glad I was able to perform on that stage. Now that my solo US tour is around the corner, I can honestly say I have way more things I’m going to do this time around because it's OUR show. We’re in full control, and thus, I want to deliver my best to the fans. Because every person showing up is an extension of my family, and just that alone deserves more appreciation than just a 'live performance'. For all the attending members, just know, we have a bunch of things in the works to deliver a MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE. Like REM said before, it's not only a show were going to give, this is a family reunion.

Usually, success in the music industry is measure on how well you do in the American charts, for an Asian R&B and rap artist, do you feel pressure to break in the American music market? No, I think that exact mentality is what kills your creativity/inspiration as an artist. Always pressuring yourself with making it into charts or getting millions of views — I think that’s a waste of effort and time. I'd rather just to make sure I can satisfy my fans –- because they are the ones that matter most. I remember when we first started and we’d get hyped off of a couple thousand views. Always being thankful and grateful for where you currently are — that’s the type of mentality I’m working on these days. I just want to live in the present and deliver to the people I care about. The rest will follow — at least that’s what I believe.

How do you want 2018 to end? Well, I’ll be on tour for around two or three months — basically till the end of this year– so I just hope I can deliver my best to each and every city. I also hope to stay healthy, both physically and mentally. I hope to keep pushing out our movement to the world. If those three things happen, there’s not much to complain about.

The DPR LIVE Coming To You Live Tour starts next week, you can buy tickets here.

#dpr live #dabin #hong dabin #dpr #article #180919 #id

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theplaguezine · 6 years

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S.O.D.

Interview with Dan Lilker by Daniel Hinds

(conducted June 1999)

In the mid-80s, when extreme music of all sorts was coming together in bizarre new combinations, one band was right there applying their own wrecking ball to the walls between hardcore punk and metal: S.O.D., the Stormtroopers of Death. A side project consisting of Anthrax's Charlie Benante (drums) and Scott Ian (guitar), Nuclear Assault's Dan Lilker (bass) and Billy Milano (shouts), S.O.D. unleashed their tongue-in-cheek brand of crossover on the unsuspecting world in the guise of the album Speak English or Die! The effect was immediate and the impact was considerably deeper than anyone would have guessed, least of all the band themselves.

Due to various other commitments, a follow-up record was not forthcoming, though the four did manage to get together in '92 to record a live disc for their well-starved fans. Eventually, things fell into place and this summer sees the release of the band's second album - a full 14 years after the debut. Dan Lilker fills in the details between sips of coffee one recent morning…

Where did you record the new album and who produced it? Well, we recorded at a studio called Big Blue Meanee in Jersey City, New Jersey. It's a place that is run by some really good friends of Billy's. The actual recording was done there and produced by the band and Tim Gilles and he's like the main honcho there. Then it was mixed by the band and Vince Wojno.

Are you pretty happy with the results? Oh yeah, totally. I've done a lot of records and this is definitely one, like Sounds of the Animal Kingdom by Brutal Truth, where I go, 'God, I couldn't think of much more I'd want to do to that record.' Sometimes it's like, 'Fuck, we should have done this or that or that,' or more personal things like, 'I should have done this note' or whatever. But we rehearsed more for this record than the first S.O.D. record, so it's a little more thought-out.

What possessed you guys to do another album? Well, we've intended to for a long time. When I'd be out on the road with Brutal Truth, I'd always hear, 'Is there ever going to be any more S.O.D.?' and I know the other guys heard that all the time, too. There was going to be an S.O.D. tribute a year or so back and that fell through because a lot of bigger bands couldn't get permission from their labels, one of the nastier aspects of the music business. I think at that point we were like, 'Screw it, let's just do a record.' We had to stop back in '85 because a couple of the other guys in Anthrax were getting quite pissed off about it, but not all the same people are in the band now. Some of the people in the band now grew up on that stuff, so it's a little easier to do it now.

How does Bigger Than the Devil compare to Speak English or Die? When we were writing this record, at least for me personally, we had to walk a thin line. We had to maintain the integrity of the old stuff, but make it sound modern, not make it sound dated. It has a lot of the aspects of the first album, but lyrically and at some points musically, it has a lot of modern stuff, too. But not to the point where it sounds like something else. We injected a little black or death metal here that we might not have had on the first one, or a couple of blast-beats, but it is still S.O.D. you know?

What is the S.O.D. song-writing process like? A few of the songs, like "We All Bleed Red," "Kill the Assholes" and "Free Dirty Needles" are Billy's songs, ones he'd written and brought to the band. The rest of them was a process of Scott, Charlie and I sitting down in the rehearsal space, looking at each other and going, 'Okay…' The first song we had written together was "Make Room, Make Room," where Scott's like, 'I got a riff,' and I'm like, 'Okay, I've got some notes that fit really good after that,' and Charlie's like, 'Well, why don't you do it like this,' and the next thing you know, we've got like 20 songs. I guess maybe they relied on me a tiny bit to write some more extreme, more modern, more death-oriented stuff, because they know I'm the person who's been listening to and playing that all this time, but it's obvious that everyone was in on it. Like with Charlie, he puts his own stamp on everything, just the way he plays, it's amazing.

How did you respond to critics who were offended by some of the lyrics on the first album and do you think you'll have that problem this time out, too? Well, when we wrote the lyrics for the first album, we were a little younger than we are now and I can see how people would take them the wrong way if they weren't seeing our sense of humor. We tried to explain patiently to people that, you know, there might be a song on there called "Speak English or Die" but there's also a song on there called "Milk," which is completely silly, and people have to understand that both those songs have pretty much the same meaning. With this album, the lyrics are still nihilistic and offensive, but they're a little more mature and articulate. We don't go after nationalities because we realized that that is kinda tasteless. There's still tasteless stuff, but maybe it's more social stuff, like picking on crack-heads, I don't know. As far as criticism goes, well…whatever. You gotta weather shit like that. We're not gonna tone down our stuff to the point where it's not S.O.D., you know - it has to be rude and obnoxious. If people don't realize by now that there is a sense of humor underlying all that stuff, then they probably don't want to. It's probably extreme P.C. people who are dead-set against us from the start and don't want to hear anything different. If we go, 'Well, it's not serious,' then they'll go, 'Oh yeah, sure…' If people are like that, I'm just like, whatever, and throw my hands in the air.- think whatever you want.

How did you come up with the title Bigger Than the Devil? I think Scott came up with that. That has to do with the fact that metal is always identified with Satan and The Number of the Beast ties in with the album cover. By calling our album Bigger Than the Devil, it's just typical S.O.D. obnoxiousness. It's like, all these bands like Slayer and these black metal bands - we're bigger than that! Your god is just a little, puny piece of shit compared to Sergeant D. and the power of S.O.D. It's just an arrogant, S.O.D.-type statement. Meaningless as usual, but cool looking.

How did you get in touch with Nuclear Blast? They got in touch with us. I've known about the label for years, been friends with the people in the States and in Europe for years. So, when it all came around, everyone looked at me and said, 'Are these guys good?' and I went, 'Yep!' We had been taking to a couple other labels and I don't how much of that's gone now - I'm not gonna be like Scott and insult the other labels (laughs). They got in touch with us, we'd been talking with a couple other labels and going 'Ahhhh…..' - I don't know how you want to write 'Ahhh….' but… - Nuclear Blast called us up and said, 'We're totally into it and here's what we've got.' We were like, 'Wow, it's a really good offer," and that was it. I'm psyched about it, if that was your next question. So far, they are doing a totally awesome job because they're psyched, too. It's people who grew up with that shit. It's like if you were a kid, your favorite wrestler, if you got to manage him later, you'd be like, 'Oh, wow!'

I saw that you are going to be touring Japan soon… Yeah, we're going to Japan at the beginning of June for a week.

When was the last time you were there? Well, S.O.D. has never played there. We did a few shows in the States and that one show in Europe in '97, but before all those shows in '97, we'd only played New York and New Jersey. We've got more coming up in Europe, too, so it's gonna be pretty interesting.

I understand that Billy has been working as a manager. Yeah, for Agnostic Front and a few other bands that I should know of the names of, but I don't. A few other bands in the New York/New Jersey area. He's good at that, Billy's a go-getter and doesn't take any shit, so he makes a good manager.

What are your plans now that Brutal Truth has split? I'm in another band called Hemlock that plays black metal. We don't have all the trappings, like paint and spikes, because that is very old and tired. That's not the most active band in the world because you've got me doing this [S.O.D.] stuff and our drummer is in another band and then, just being a black metal band anyway, we've only done like 8 shows in the last three years. We have an album and an EP out, both on Head Not Found, and our next stuff when it comes out eventually will be on Full Moon Productions. Since I got a computer in December, I've been messing around a lot with graphics. I'm basically a creative person anyway, so I mess around in Photoshop and I come up with stuff and people look at it and go, 'Wow!' So, I might get into free-lance graphics stuff eventually, because I've definitely got a taste for it. Basically, I just sit there, take a couple hits, and do some crazy stuff, but it does look pretty cool.

What do you make of the current black metal scene? I still think there are too many bands running around with keyboards and violins and stuff like that. For me, black metal was Venom and Hellhammer, shit like that. However, if a band does it really good, like Emperor, I can get into it. I'm glad to see that black metal kids, Norwegian kids, don't have the same stupid attitude they did five years ago, when they had to be snobby and say that everything other than black metal sucked, especially death metal. I don't know how much you want to get into it, but the reason all those kids were saying that is because they saw something on the back of a live Mayhem record, a quote from Euronymous, where he said how much he hated death metal. But, that is because he was speaking from the point of someone being disillusioned, because he used to love it and it got all trendy and political. These kids didn't understand that and said, 'All death metal that ever existed sucks,' because that's what they read out of it because they weren't old enough. I'm glad to see that people are growing up a little bit. I prefer the more brutal bands like Gorgoroth, shit like that. I don't know if you've heard my band, but that's kind of the vein we're in. We like Darkthrone a lot.

I've heard the name, but I haven't heard Hemlock yet. Well, it's definitely no frills. It's straight-up, punishing type shit. I mean, I'm friends with guys like Dimmu Borgir and everything, but personally, it gets just a little too, I don't know… If I want to listen to something nice and ambient, I'll listen to something directly like that. If I listen to black metal, it should be pretty much in-your-face, but that's just my unholy opinion.

How long do you think you'll be working with S.O.D.? Is it kind of open-ended right now? Yeah, it's definitely open-ended. We could conceivably do another record in a couple years, we wouldn't wait 14 years - we'd be too fucking old by then. Right now, there's a huge, tremendous buzz on the record, a lot of good shit coming up, and if we do a whole bunch of stuff and at the time other people's schedules are open - I mean, I'm not sure what Anthrax's schedule is gonna be. My personal schedule is more open that it used to be. The whole time I was in S.O.D., I was in Nuclear Assault and then in Brutal Truth and that even overlapped a couple of years, so I'm always in more than 2 bands at the same time. To answer your original question, yeah, it's open-ended, but I'd be into more if there was a reason for it.

You've been in the business for a number of years now and I was wondering if your opinion of it has changed any over the years. There's a lot of down stuff, but then again… When we signed to Relapse, that gave me a lot of faith because we'd had a lot of problems with Earache before that. There are some labels, like Relapse and Nuclear Blast, that shine through as people that are totally committed. There are other labels out there, I'm not going to mention them, that were big in the early 90s for a lot of metal bands and their names start with 'E' and 'R' - you can figure that out later - that make it really hard to do stuff, because eventually you just become a product and they don't care about you and it's very frustrating. As far as how it has changed since I first got into it, I don't think it has - it's all just a cycle. Something gets popular, everyone else tries to do it, all the labels sign all these bands that are trying to do something to get in on it. Then, it's like a ship that takes on too much water and it just sinks. It happened with thrash metal, it happened with death metal, it happened with black metal. As far as all this Korn stuff, I really don't like any of that shit at all so I shouldn't really comment on it too much, but it definitely seems to be happening with that. As much as I don't like Korn, I'll give them credit for being one of the first bands to do that, but I don't like what they're doing so, whatever.

All the copycat bands are just that much worse. For me, I wouldn't want to play in a band that sounds just like someone else. I mean, how many interviews have you read where one of the first lines is, 'Oh, well we're influenced by a combination of Korn, Pantera and Machine Head,' and you're just like, 'Oh, crap, not again…' It's like, what are you contributing? Absolutely nothing.

Outside of the graphic art work, what else do you do in your spare time? Umm… I live at home with my parents because it is too expensive to live around here in New York. Besides that, I've got my digital studio here in my room. I've got these boxes that Roland makes, these hard-disk recorders. One is a 16-track and one is an 8-track, but I've been real neglectful since I got my computer because I've been messing around online, learning Photoshop and all this other stuff. If I wanted to, I could make album-quality stuff in my room, which I used to - weird ambient stuff. Other than that, just a normal laugh: go out with my friends, have a few drinks, a few laughs. Pretty much normal shit, you know, I don't go out and kill people or anything.

Do you spend much time on the Internet? Yeah, I mess around, I'll look at certain sites and stuff, but after a while it gets boring. It comes in very handy like, let's say, I want a book for my computer - I mean, this isn't very interesting in the scope of metal, but… - let's say I want to learn about Adobe Illustrator and I've got a pirated version. So, I can go on the Internet to Barnes & Noble or something, find the book I want, order it and it comes in a week later. I go on some black and death metal web-sites, look around, say 'hi' to people, shit like that.

#S.O.D.#interview #jun1999

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goldendream-s · 7 years

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decisions (pt. 2)

summary; shawn and you see each other after weeks and months of missed phone calls and unanswered texts, but when they finally find a time to talk, hearts only continue to get broken.

PART ONE || PART THREE

MASTERLIST || REQUEST

It had felt like a stab in the back, but you couldn’t seem to pull the knife out. Shawn had chosen his girlfriend over you, and you couldn’t deny the obvious: you felt betrayed. You so badly wanted all of this to be a nightmare and to run into the arms of your bestfriend, but you knew that was no longer an option.

The past three days have had you consumed with trying to get a hold of Shawn, begging for him to hear you out. Your heart told you to leave him be and to hate Shawn, but you couldn’t even will a finger to do so. The six going on seven year friendship between you and Shawn was too valuable to give up without a fight, but it was hard fighting a battle single-handedly. You might’ve been mad at the moment, but as much as you hated to admit it, you couldn’t ever get yourself to fully hate Shawn.

Luckily for you, Ian, Geoff, and Matt had been over at your house trying to comfort you since the night that everything blew over. You were initially surprised how they sided with you knowing how close they were to Shawn, but you were grateful for their support nonetheless. They’d check up on you, bring you food, and gave you the company that your heart so badly needed. The three were like the older brothers you never had.

“Seriously, thank you guys so much for doing all of this,” you gestured to all of the snacks, drinks, and games they brought over to you face.

“Anytime,” Ian said while throwing an M&M at you.

Flinching, you were quick to toss one back.

“You don’t have to thank us, bud. This is what friends are for,” Matt added.

The four of you were in your living room with you listening to the tour stories that your three friends had to share. You loved hearing of their adventures as it took your mind off of the situation in front of you.

“Holy crap, remember when we had like hundreds of fans swarming the tour bus?” Geoff recalled while asking Ian and Matt to confirm the fond memory.

“Who wouldn’t?” Ian laughed, “I can still hear all of those screams in my nightmares sometimes,” he joked as the four of you broke into a fit of laughter.

The conversation began shifting to the topic of Shawn’s band, and you knew what was coming up next.

“What if I told you that Charlie was flying out here to Toronto for a week and wanted to meet you?” Matt wiggled his eyebrows as you buried your face in the pillow sitting in your lap.

You regretted telling them about your mini celebrity crush on the popstar knowing the teasing was inevitable.

“What if I told you that you guys were crazy and that I was just joking about you guys hooking me up with him,” you shot back. You weren’t a huge fan of Charlie, but you definitely loved the songs you heard on the radio from him.

“We might be crazy, but we aren’t kidding. He’s coming to town next week to do some interviews for his next album. Figured we’d do something to help you to get your mind off of things,” Geoff explained to you.

“Thank you guys, but I think I’m gonna have to pass. I don’t wanna embarrass myself and look stupid or anything,” You tried convincing them.

“If you ask me, you’re one of the coolest people I know,” Ian chuckled.

“C’mon, just do it. How often do you get to say that you got to hang out with Charlie Puth?” Geoff added.

“Okay, but what if I fangirl and creep him out, huh?”

“Please, you’ve been bestfriends with a world sensation for six years, if your fan girl antics haven’t freaked out Shawn, I doubt it will Charlie,” Matt said.

Ian quickly nudged Matt in the ribs knowing that the mention of Shawn made you slightly uncomfortable. You laughed at the gesture, but quickly brushed it off.

“Okay, let’s do it,” you smirked.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” you asked timidly through your phone screen.

“Yes, baby, I’m positive. What has it been? Like two and a half months? I’m ready if you are,” he enthusiastically said through the other line. The facetime call did no justice when it came to showing how excited he looked.

As cliche as everything sounded and turned out, you still weren’t sure how you landed yourself in the position you were in right now. After Matt, Ian, and Geoff’s little stunt that they put together to set you and Charlie up, the two of you immediately hit it off. Of course, it wouldn’t be a date if you didn’t spend it trying to awkwardly break the ice and get to know each other, but you were glad when Charlie asked for your number and texted you about a second date three days later.

In that time, you had still been trying to get a hold of Shawn, which was no use. Don’t get it wrong, you were head over heels for Charlie and only Charlie, but your life felt empty with Shawn. You genuinely missed your bestfriend, but the feeling must’ve not been reciprocated. Half of you wanted to stay angry at Shawn but the other half wanted to run back into his arms. He might’ve done you wrong, but you wanted to think that it was all just some twisted nightmare.

“Charlie, you know I’m fine with people knowing that we’re dating, but are you sure that your album release party is the right place? The nights supposed to be about you and your music. We can always wait for another time,” you suggested.

“Darling, I’m very sure. I just want the world to know that I’m with the most gorgeous and amazing girl out there,” he chuckled.

You laughed at the name. Shawn used to always call you that.

“You’re all the way in L.A. and you still know how to make a girl blush, huh?” You half joke.

“Only for you, bub,” his laughed joined yours.

“Hey, I gotta go for an interview, but everything’s set okay? Everyone practically knows that we’re dating so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Bye, love. See you in 12 hours!”

You quickly said your goodbye, turning off your phone and crashing onto your bed. You still couldn’t fathom how an average girl from Toronto like you would catch someone like Charlie’s eyes, but you were grateful nonetheless. He treated you like a princess and lifted some of the sadness and betrayal that you had felt for past few months. Now here you were, about to fly out to Los Angeles to celebrate your boyfriend’s album drop.

Without a doubt, you knew Shawn would be there, but you were learning not to care. If he didn’t want anything to do with you, you figured it was about time for you to do the same.

“You must be Charlie’s girl! He has told me so many good things about you!” The man that looked a year or two older than Charlie said to you.

You couldn’t help but blush, especially since Charlie’s hands were around your waist, gripping you tightly to his side. The past thirty minutes have consisted of meeting his friends as a mix of his new songs and other chart toppers blasted through his condo. It was a little smaller compared to the release parties that Shawn has had for his two albums, but the low-key atmosphere eased your nerves.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” you greeted back, sticking your hand out but quickly receiving a hug from the guy instead.

“Hey Charlie, ‘grats on the album, man!” Another person called from the opposite side of the room.

Both of your heads turned to the call, and your boyfriend turned back to give you a knowing look, asking to go greet what must’ve been a friend.

“Babe, it’s your party. I’ll be fine on my own for a lil’ bit,” you promised while eyeing the mini bar.

“Okay… you know where to find me if you need me,” Charlie gave you a side hug before heading over to the growing group of people.

As soon as he went, you stopped to take in your surroundings – something you haven’t been able to do since arriving. The wall to your left was lined with vinyl records while the ceilings were adorned with streamers. His condo was as simple as they came, but you liked the cozy vibe it gave off.

In the middle of your little look-around, your head immediately stopped and you almost had to do a double take to make sure you weren’t hallucinating.

You’d recognize that head of soft brown curls anywhere. From the guitar tattoo to the awkward stance, you knew you weren’t seeing wrong.

Turning around it hopes that he didn’t notice your stare, you were too late. You felt footsteps near you and another warm body approach yours. Your efforts of heading to the mini bar failed as a hand clutching a shoulder stopped any further movement.

Suddenly, all of the pain, hurt, and betrayal you had pent up these past months turned into icy bitterness. Your fists clenched and your veins seemed to be pumping your blood at an incredible speed.

Taking a deep breath, you whipped your head around to be faced with none other than Shawn.

“What do you want?” you impatiently tapped your foot, hoping that Charlie would come to the rescue and save you from exploding in front of your ex-bestfriend at this party.

“Please don’t be like this. I just need to talk to you. I swear if you just give me five minutes I can explain everything to you,” he begged.

It didn’t take you time to give in. You might’ve been mad, but you wanted answers. You wanted to know why you were the second choice.

“Fine, follow me,” you didn’t turn back as you tested your memory. You’ve only been in this condo one other time, but you knew the only way the two of you could have a productive conversation would be in the quiet confines of the guest room.

Finding the room, you opened the door gesturing for Shawn to enter before closing it again.

“You have five minutes, Mendes.”

“Look, I don’t know where else to start but to say sorry,” Shawn started, “so, so, fucking sorry. I chose a girl over my bestfriend and I-I don’t know why I’d do that,” his gaze moved everywhere around the room until they met your furious eyes.

Your intense glare almost softened for a moment until you snapped back into the reality of the situation. You could only nod your head, not satisfied with his half apology. Shawn’s anxious pacing told you he had more to say.

“I broke up with her a week after it all happened, I can’t believe I stayed with her for that long. I should’ve known that when she made me choose between the two of you that she was with me for all of the wrong reasons. Fuck, I should’ve known the moment she started talking shit about all my friends,” Shawn crashed his face into his palms.

Walking over to the window watching the busy cityscape outside, you finally opened your mouth to speak.

“So what about all of the times I tried to call you? All of the times my texts went unanswered and calls got sent straight to voicemail, huh?” You said as you thought of the hundreds of times you tried to reach Shawn before you eventually gave up on the nearly impossible task.

“Rylen blocked your number from my phone. I didn’t know you were trying to get a hold of me until Geoff and Matt told me,” He explained.

The sound of Shawn’s ex-girlfriend alone sent shivers up your back, but you stood your ground.

“Things will never be the same as they were before that, and you know that, right?” You asked all while trying to hold in your building anger.

“Of course I know it’s not! You don’t have to rub in how stupid I was for ruining our friendship. Please, let me have at least one chance to fix this. I can’t lose you,” He begged without skipping a beat.

The uneasiness of this confrontation was beginning to weigh down on your shoulders, pushing to you to go straight to the questions you’ve been wanting answers for.

“Why though, Shawn? What’d I do to be the second decision? The back-up plan?” you bitterly questioned.

“Hey, what? No! You know you’re anything but a bac-”

“Cut the bullshit, Shawn. Just tell me what I did to deserve being ditched and cut off by who I thought was my bestfriend. You left me in the dust for that girl, I’m pretty sure I’m the back-up person” Your harsh words that you were spitting startled yourself as much as it did Shawn, but you couldn’t bring yourself to regret your tone.

“Do you really wanna know?” Shawn huffed. You weren’t facing him, but you could feel the aggravation beginning to lace in his usually chirpy and bright voice.

“Well that’s why we’re here, right?”

You were so close to getting your answer, but the door swung wide open before either of you had another second to speak.

“Babe, there you are! Andrew wanted to mee- oh, uhh… I’ll let the two of you talk,” you were greeted by your searching boyfriend.

You quickly ran to the door to assure Charlie that you could handle it all by yourself, but from the already heated conversation that was lingering in the air, Charlie seemed to understand what was happening.

“Oh my go-. Shawn’s the asshole that you were talking about? He’s the one that left you for his girlfriend?” Charlie frantically realized as his fist and jaw were beginning to clench.

Surprised by how he figured out so quickly, you were quick to hush him, crossing your fingers that Shawn hadn’t heard that. “Babe, I got it. Don’t worry about it.”

He nodded his head before telling you where to find him if you needed any help, closing the room’s door to leave.

You silently thanked the heavens for having a boyfriend as understanding as Charlie because you knew how wrong the scene looked. You and Shawn alone in a dimly lit room together, who wouldn’t have mistaken it to be something else? You shot a smile to Charlie before he closed the door, resuming the dreaded conversation between you and Shawn.

“An asshole that left my bestfriend, huh?” your head turned back to Shawn, who’d obviously heard Charlie’s words.

You were about to object, but Shawn cut you cut.

“Holy shit, I should’ve known,” you heard Shawn murmur under his breath again. Your eyebrows perked up, unaware of what Shawn was getting at.

“You’re dating him, aren’t you?” he quickly searched for your eyes before turning his back away from you.

You reached for Shawn’s shoulder to turn him around, but it looked like he had other plans. As he made his way to the door, you knew exactly what he was trying to do.

“Shawn, where are you going? I thought we were gonna talk this out?” you frantically questioned.

“I-I’m sorry, I have to go,” Shawn replied without even looking back once again. Before you had any time to react to his sudden flea, Shawn was already making his way through the door. You called for his name, but you knew he wasn’t going to turn back. Now here you were again, alone and full of questions.

If there was one thing that Shawn was good at, it was leaving you.

Shawn didn’t want to admit it, but he knew that he was slowly losing you like sand slipping through his fingers. Yet despite all of his regret, Shawn knew that he had messed up big time, and he was getting what he deserved. The feeling in the pit of his stomach only got worsened by the fact that Shawn knew he hadn’t made any efforts to talk to you besides making a few phone calls that you never answered. After the night of Charlie’s party, he knew he’d probably ruin any shot of getting your forgiveness.

It seemed like the seconds turned into hours as hours turned into days without seeing you. Shawn was finally getting time off from tour, but he was instead spending his break wondering how to get you to forgive him.

He lost his bestfriend because he chose some girl over you, and he didn’t know how to fix his mistakes. Shawn didn’t know how to explain it any other way but to say that he lost his other half. You had always been there for him, and he had let you down.

Everything surrounding him reminded you of him. From the pool in his backyard that the two of you would always swim in during the summers to the sheets on the bed that you helped him pick, he couldn’t escape your presence. Music, which would always be Shawn’s way of escaping his troubles was something he had to avoid, too. His favorite guitar hanging from his wall along with six other acoustics was gifted from you on his 17th birthday, and he would be lying if most of his songs were secretly about you.

No matter how much he didn’t want to acknowledge it, you would always find a way to creep back into his thoughts and actions. The butterflies in his stomach when a friend would ask about you and the way his heart would beat faster by the simple mention of your name drove him crazy. He missed your touch, he missed the friendship the two of you shared, and he missed having you be one call away.

“Come in,” Shawn tried to shout through his door as a knock sounded through his room.

“When are you gonna get out of your room? We haven’t had your bestie come over in a while so can we ask her to come over for dinner? I miss her,” Aaliyah asked while walking closer to his bed, finally seeing Shawn in the state he was in.

“That makes the two of us,” he barely whispered under his breath, burying his head into his plush pillows.

“Holy crap, what happened?” Aaliyah hurried to pull Shawn into a hug as he finally let go of the tears he’s been trying to hold in since you walked through the door the other night.

“I-I messed up,” Shawn shakily answered, trying to stead his breathing.

Shawn wasn’t one to cry so easily, but he couldn’t stop the constant wave of tears streaming down his face. He didn’t even try to hide is regret and cries from his younger sister who was trying to piece together everything that was unraveling before her eyes.

“What do you mean?” Aaliyah tried her best to stay calm for the sake of her brother, but the underlying feeling in her bones and stomach told her you wouldn’t be coming over anytime soon.

“I-I think I love her,” Shawn mustered to say through his emotional state.

Aaliyah was now beyond confused. Why would he be crying over the fact that he loved someone? She knew Shawn had gotten a girlfriend recently, but it wasn’t something she worried too much about.

“Isn’t that a good thing? Her name was Rylen, right?”

Aaliyah tried moving the conversation along, “Shawn, I know as little about love as you do, but aren’t you supposed to be happy? I mean, I dunno, but those don’t look like tears of joy to me,” she tried her best to make her older brother smile, but it was no use.

In fact, instead of bringing bringing a smile to Shawn’s face, her comments only seemed to make his sobs louder and stronger.

“N-No, I think I love my bestfriend.”

#shawn mendes #shawn peter raul mendes #shawn mendes angst #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes blurbs #shawn mendes oneshot #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes blog #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes oneshots #shawn mendes writing #shawn mendes stories #my story #my writing #shawn mendes ictures #illuminate #handwritten #mendes army

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toyahinterviews · 3 years

Text

TOYAH ON RADIO BORDERS WITH HUGH BROWN 8.10.2009

HUGH: What did a young Toyah Willcox want to do when she left school? TOYAH: The young Toyah Willcox wanted to dominate the world and be like Julie Andrews and then punk came along and I very happily became a punk rocker. I always wanted to act and sing but I never wanted to do them together. I wasn’t interested in stage musicals, even though I have ended up doing those. I wanted to keep them separate, I wanted two very solid but diverse careers and I've managed to have about five diverse careers. But I did want world domination. But the glory about growing older as you get more experienced, you become more enriched as an artist and you get little more realistic about your ambitions. HUGH: Tell us how you came into the punk mode then? How did you fall into punk music? Was it was a band at school or …?

TOYAH: No, I left school when I was 17 and I moved to London to be the youngest member of the Royal Theatre Company when I was about 18. And that happened because I got spotted on the streets of Birmingham and I ended up in a BBC2 play with another actor called Phil Daniels, who about four years later I made “Quadrophenia” with. Punk kind of embraced me, I was an oddball from Birmingham. I didn’t really fit into any of the compartments women were supposed to fit into. I wasn't very ladylike, I was very tomboyish. I was small, dumpy, I just didn't fit the Farrah Fawcett-Majors kind of mould. And punk came along and made way for women like me and it also embraced women like me who are articulate but not necessarily academic. So I was very, very grateful for punk rock. And then I ended up in Derek Jarman's movie “Jubilee”, which was a punk rock movie. Ian Charleson, the actor from "Chariots Of Fire" introduced me to Derek Jarman and Derek was very, very open about his casting technique. He threw me script over a cup of tea and said “choose whichever part you want” and that's how I got the role. And Derek kind of fell in love with me for a bit and cast me as Miranda in “The Tempest” (below) which was an award winning film of Shakespeare's “The Tempest” and that was really it for me. That kind of set me off around the world.

HUGH: We'll talk about the musical you're touring with in a moment, “Vampire’s Rock” but in that you've got a lot of heavy stage make-up. The punk era was like that as well. In fact, I have to tell you as a teenager I found you scary . . . TOYAH: I'm glad you found me scary! I've always wanted to be sightly provocative. Not a hate figure, but definitely provocative and definitely questioning that whole thing of see the person, not the age, not the gender. It's always been incredibly important to me and I've always been provocative of that issue. HUGH: And the whole punk thing obviously had a limited life span and it would come to a natural end - TOYAH: Noooo … HUGH: Is it coming back again?

TOYAH: I played, about five years ago, Wasted Festival (below), which is a punk festival that plays around the world. 20,000 punk rockers of all age groups. What I'd say is that I've moved on with my natural age. I've never stayed a punk rocker. I've always moved on with each decade, but there's plenty of punks out there and there's plenty of people out there that want their punk music. HUGH: Do you think women in music are treated any better or worse than men in music? Because if you think again of the punk era - that was very male dominated ...

TOYAH: Ooh no no … I've got to tell it from my point of view. It's a very good question, a really superb question. Thank you. When I came into the music business, as a punk rocker, it was male dominated. The music industry now thanks to punk rock, new wave and New Romanticism is probably today run by 80% women. The executives are women and that is thanks to punk rock. But when I started, yeah, it was male dominated but it allowed women like me who were very voicy and very opinionated to come into the business and to change it. And I think music now is still 80% about women, but you have still got sexism and you still got ageism. And I think again it's down to people like me who have been around for 32 years or longer to say, well, actually we're still creative. We still got something to say. We're still pushing out the boundaries and we're not going to go away. And that's how we fight our revolution. HUGH: You mentioned “Quadrophenia”. It's an iconic film, still very highly regarded even all these years later. Was that a turning point for you and your career? Do you look back on that and think I'm glad I did that?

TOYAH: (I'm) Very glad I did “Quadrophenia”, but when it came out it was critically panned. And I don't know why it was panned because as far as I can see it was always great movie. I don't think it was released too early or too late. It was released at the right time but people really attacked Franc Roddam (the director), they attacked The Who, they attacked the script writer, they attacked the cast and it was really odd. I don't know why. And then the audience voted with its feet. Which is the best way to have a hit. And every generation has rediscovered that film and made it their own. So I'm more than glad I did that movie and yes, it has done very well for me. Probably not as well as having hit singles in the 80’s and being part of the 80’s musical genre, but I'm certainly very, very proud of having done it. HUGH: Can we look for a second at your music because thinking of your 13 Top 40 singles and umpteen albums, songs like “It’s A Mystery”. They were unique. It was so different I think even at that time, which was, as we've mentioned, dominated a lot by punk rock, although I think towards the end of the 70’s almost anything went and we look at the Top 40, it was so eclectic -

TOYAH: It was a revolution, we needed revolution. The young people of the late 1970’s had to find a voice. We were politically in quite a bad place. There was a lot of unemployment. There was a lot of the "Winter of Discontent" going on. There were riots and England breeds phenomenal people - let me resay that - the UK breeds phenomenal people. With great history, great culture, great attitudes, fantastic ideas and there was no outlet in the late 70’s and punk came along and let the stop valve go. We let off steam but also we recreated the culture of the youth because nothing had been happening since the 1960’s. And I think you know this is what young people do, and they do it so well, they create their own islands by which to stand on and go na na na to the rest of the world. And thank goodness it happened. HUGH: The big breakthrough single is “It's A Mystery.” Tell us about it?

TOYAH: Well, “It's A Mystery.” written by Keith Hale and it was mainly an instrumental for a band called Blood Donor and it was written in about 1979. An my record company heard it and asked if I’d buy demo it so myself and (producer) Nick Tauber rearranged it and I wrote the second verse and we made it into a song. So we demoed it. I wasn't particularly fond of it because I felt it was too feminine for what I wanted to stand for. I was very bombastic and wanted my music to be very kind very out there and very powerful. Ironically Girl Power about 20 years before Girl Power came along. But “It's A Mystery” … was massive. Absolutely massive. It sold 75,000 units a week, I think even a day on some days, it was selling that many. I remember the vinyl printing factories had to stay open 24 hours a day to reach demand, which was incredible when you think some people get to n:o1 today, in the present climate, selling 2000 units a week. So “It's A Mystery” sold and sold and sold.

HUGH: I was in a very well known record shop in the High Street the other day, and Cliff and The Shadows are back together and made an album and there was the CD single and a 7 inch vinyl single - TOYAH: Yeah. Vinyl is coming back. I think that's good news. People want for their money, they want something they can have a relationship with, something in their hand. It's a collectors piece. And I think what people forget about vinyl is people collected it. It wasn't just about the quality of the song, the quality of the album cover and the artist, it was actually about having a collection. And I think vinyl will come back. HUGH: The 80’s, is funny how things, you know, what "goes around comes around" because you yourself have been involved in some some 80’s revival tours and things with other artists, and they seem to be huge. The Rick Astley's, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, they’re all back and back in fashion again. Do you think that's because music just goes in circles and comes back again?

TOYAH: I think there's an element of we’re still alive, and I say that with respect, because I do think that because of the way media is at the moment, when someone passes away, there is incredible media about it and I've noticed since Michael Jackson's passed away that people of far nicer to me than they ever have been. (whispers) Thank you Michael! There is that element there, that Spndau are still alive and to put that into perspective about the size of audiences were getting ... The week Oasis disbanded in Paris, on that night they were playing to 30,000 people. I opened the Rewind festival ... 30,000 people. We're getting the same amount of people as the current acts, and that never gets featured. No one ever puts their hand up and say "OK, you’re old rockers, but actually you're drawing bigger crowds than the younger people and we are". Its phenomenally popular.

HUGH: And I think it's interesting because my daughter is just coming up on 8 and I've introduced her to late 70’s and 80’s music and although she likes the current stuff too, it's amazing - she just loves that kind of stuff and I think it is probably a lot of sons and daughters of those who came first time round -

TOYAH: Oh yeah! For me I love Cream in The Yard Birds. Early Stones, I mean magnificent songs that resonate in the part of me that had no worries and had no insecurities. Therefore when I hear those songs, I remember a time which was a really happy time. I would have been about 8 or 9 so I imagine with a lot of the 80’s stuff they allow people to kind of forget the present. And experience the fantasy of being truly truly happy, because I do think we live in phenomenally difficult times for everyone. Difficult times for the family, difficult times for teenagers thinking about the future, and I think because of that music has so much more power.

HUGH: I want to ask you about one of your recent roles, about “The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl”, working with Billie Piper (below). That must have been pretty special, I would think?

TOYAH: I love that. I mean, I've done very few days filming on it, but I love the fact that they cast me, a singer, as Billie Piper's mother. I think it's so clever because Billie, she's had a singing career. She might revisit it. But I just thought that was great. Really great. She's a tall girl. She spent most of the time kissing me on top of the head, but I'm very very fond of her. She's a very brilliant and talented actress.

HUGH: Let's talk about your tour now and tell us a bit about about the musical. What it actually involves and what the storyline is? TOYAH: “Vampires Rock” (below) is a cult musical. It's been going for about five years and I joined it last year. Has little elements of the Rocky Horror Picture Show about it, but it's not as scripted. And basically it takes the genre of classic rock. If you look at songs by Bon Jovi, AC/DC Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, they're all featured in the show and the lyrics of these songs are used very loosely to tell the story of a nightclub owner in 2020 in New York who wants to get rid of his 2000 year old vampire wife and everyone on stage are vampires. Beautiful band on stage called The Lost Boys, they are stunningly beautiful and the girls scream after them every night. Fabulous musicians, beautiful dancers, and then you got quirky characters like me playing the Devil Queen. So it's basically a rock show that has an incredibly strong sense of theatre about it. A little bit Bowie-esque, Mott The Hoople and Alice Cooper in its visualisation. And a lot of comedy as well, but it rocks. It's really, really good. HUGH: Sort of bouncing in the aisles?

TOYAH: Yeah! Screaming in the aisles, rioting in the aisles. It’s great! HUGH: And you’re touring with that in fact through to next year? TOYAH: Yeah, I'm touring with that until mid-February of next year and then I join it again in September and we tour right through again

HUGH: I'm not trying to write your obituary in anyway, but what's left for Toyah Willcox to do? I mean, you've done so much and we've only been able to touch on a fraction of it in this interview. What else would you like to do? TOYAH: Well, I’ve got my band The Humans, which is incredibly important to me, which is myself, the drummer from REM Bill Riefling. My husband Robert Fripp is guesting with us at the moment and we start touring in February. I created The Humans for the President of Estonia, who invited my husband to play in Estonia, but he couldn't make it so I said "well, I'll come over. I'll put band together and we will write songs in Estonia for Estonia". This took off and the only way I can explain it's like European film noir. It's two electric basses and my voice and a lot of very weird loops and we deconstruct the pop song. So we've got a single out out at the moment called “These Boots Are Made For Walking” and all I can say is it's very New York - Seattle because it slightly deconstructed

HUGH: It’s the old Nancy Sinatra song - TOYAH: Yes, the old Nancy Sinatra song, which is a brilliant classic song. But we've brought the darkness of that song into this millennium. So I'll be working on that band for most of next year. HUGH: I think that's quite brave because it's one of those songs that you wouldn't really expect anyone to cover. Its one of those you think you'd leave well alone? TOYAH: But it's got so many connotations to it. It's a woman singing about the infidelities of a man. The song was written well before the AIDS scare. It was written well before the culture of sadomasochism, yet when you perform it in this day and age it really has quite a dark undertone to it, which is what The Humans is about. The Humans is about the face we wear behind our heads, it's about the dark nature of the human race, so it's perfect for us. HUGH: Tell us what this movie is then?

TOYAH: Yeah, I’ve just starred in a very low budget British movie called “Three To Tango”. And at the moment they're having their press showings and audience showings, which means they get test audience in and the audience kind of write reports. So it might become “Power Of Three” (below). There's two titles at the moment, and it's going to all the festivals next year and I star in it. And it's a British comedy made for £80,000 which is an absolute feat. But the reason I'm telling you about it, the press are saying it's one of the best movies of next year. Apparently it looks as though it has £100 million budget, which is very very clever because it was filmed on high definition around Belsize Park in London. And they've used all the music off an album I wrote with my partner, Simon Darlow, called “In The Court Of The Crimson Queen”, which was out last year, went to number 6 in the iTunes Rock chart. And this is due for release next year and apparently it's wonderful HUGH: We look forward to seeing it. Will it be on general release do you think?

TOYAH: I think it’ll get a limited general release. It’s definitely written for the “Sex An The City” generation and the kind of 50 year olds upwards. It's a very pro film about women in their 50’s reinventing their lives and becoming business women . It's very, very kind of “go girl! You go out and get the life you want. It's never too late”! So I think we'll have a limited release in the cinemas. Then it'll have a TV distribution and then to DVD. But hey, who cares? You know. These films kind of like “Quadrophenia” build and build and build. HUGH: You know, I interviewed Lulu a few years ago, and you remind me a lot of her in that you are looking fantastic! If I may say so -

TOYAH: Oh, thank you! HUGH: You’re looking absolutely brilliant! TOYAH: Thank you! HUGH: How do you keep yourself looking so well? TOYAH:Well, I don't party very much and people get very cross with me because I don't drink and I'm with a team of people at the moment who do nothing but drink (they both laugh) I only allow water and green tea to pass my lips and people can’t handle that at all! And very boringly 1500 calories a day. That's it. It's so important if you want to kind of keep in show business, you just have to live that really boring routine. It’s is not rock’n’roll at all. HUGH: You mentioned about calories ... As you can see, I don't worry about them at all but … (they both burst out laughing) TOYAH: I would like to wake up in the morning and eat a bar of chocolate and then I'd like to go out and have a fried Mars Bar and then I'd like to go out and have fish and chips and then I'd like a bottle of Bourbon and then stay up all night. I mean, if I did that for one night I would not make the show the next day.

So that gives my age away. I really live a military regime when it comes to my health, it's ridiculousbecause when I walk on stage is the Devil Queen. Spitting at the audience. If they knew I have to be in bed by 11 o'clock with a carrot stick and hummus dip and lots of water … I mean they be so disappointed. HUGH: Well, it certainly works. Toyah, been lovely to speak to you. Wish you well with the single, the album and indeed the tour as well TOYAH: Thank you very much

#toyah #toyha willcox #toyahwillcox #toyah2009 #toyah 2009 #toyah interview #toyahinterview #toyah radio #toyahradio #thetoyahwillcoxinterviewarchive #the toyah willcox interview archive

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h-styles-babes · 7 years

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From your prompt list: "scoot over a little bit please" Aaand btw i love your fic😍😍

Thank you so much for the request and your kind words, lovely. Hope you like it :)

18. “Scoot over a little bit, please.”

Y/N and Harry were sat on the love seat in the Winston’s home in LA, watching a film with Ben, Meredith, Lou and Lux, having taken a break from promo for just the day. Harry was due back on set for The Late Late show in a few hours, so they had all taken to the Winston’s house for their down time.

Y/N was cuddled up to Harry’s side, her legs curled up in his lap, nearly completely on top of him. She was glad to have been able to fly out with him for his week in America to promote the new album that he had worked tirelessly on for the better part of a year. She was incredibly proud of him, and although she knew the traveling back and forth and the time spent in Jamaica were necessary to get everything squared away, she had missed him terribly. She was afraid her work wasn’t going to let her have time off in order to come out with him, but they’d happily granted her the week off, so long as she came back, hitting the ground running when she was due back.

They were on day three of their trip—day two of his week long stint at the night time show, and Y/N had greatly enjoyed watching Harry in his element the night before. She’d been his friend long enough to have seen several of his shows while he was touring with One Direction, and they’d been dating long enough for her to catch the tail end of his final tour—mostly the promo for their last album. She’d been with him through his much needed break at the beginning of the previous year, and she was there when he’d gotten the role for Dunkirk. She visited him a few times while he was on location for filming, and she’d made sure to see him as frequently as possible while they were set up in London. She had visited him for a week when he was recording and writing in Jamaica. She had attended the launch party for his magazine shoot, proudly stood by his side as they viewed all the amazing photos that had been taken of him back toward the first part of the year.

The only part that she had really missed was his first few performances, which she hated, but she knew there was no way around them. She wasn’t able to jet off from her job any time she pleased, which weighed heavily on both Harry and her, but they made it work. She was there in studio when Harry went on Grimmy’s show to play Sign of the Times for the first time, and she beamed proudly when she first heard the notes play out through the room. She’d heard the track before, but that didn’t take away from her excitement at all.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t go with him to New York when he did SNL, but she made sure she was up in time to catch it on a live stream. She called him as soon as she knew he was done and squealed and cried while she gushed to him about how amazing he did. And she watched just as dutifully when he played on the Today Show, cringing only slightly when she heard Carolina, but quickly brushing it off. She never wanted to be that girlfriend, and he’d already warned her that there would be a few songs from girls from his past on the album. Being his friend for so long, she knew exactly who he was crooning about, and she honestly couldn’t be that mad. She’d liked the girl well enough, though she hadn’t been more than a brief fixture in Harry’s life. She was probably the most genuine of his flings, and she could appreciate that.

It had been about a month since then, and now promo for the album was in full swing. She’d been there when it debuted of The Breakfast Show, yet again. She enjoyed watching Harry and Nick rib each other back and forth. They’d been friends nearly as long as Y/N and Harry had been, and she considered herself close to the radio DJ as well, so the atmosphere was relaxed but buzzing with energy as they went through the album.

Being there with Harry for a full week as he did his residency on James Corden’s show was pretty exciting, though. She didn’t know what his full participation in the show would be, because he had specifically kept it a secret from her—kind of like how he’d kept the entire album a secret from her until it’s release (except for the first single, because he was just too giddy to not have her listen before the rest of the world). She’d almost been expecting the first night’s run, though. Harry sitting and chatting on the couch to someone she had only ever seen on screen was something she was nearly used to (barre that time they were sat next to Ian McKellen on Graham Norton. That had been a trip), and she had enjoyed watching them play Flinch. She cringed as Harry cursed on live television, but she hadn’t really expected anything less of him. He played by his own rules a lot now that he had the freedom to. Jeff scolded him lightly during a break, and Ben and James took the piss out on him for not going more than a few minutes without having to be bleeped out, but it was fine.

For that night, she knew Harry had something else planned for the show, because he’d disappear with Ben a few times throughout the day for nearly an hour at a time into Ben’s office, and they’d both emerge with cheeky grins and little chuckles being shared between them. When Y/N would raise her eyebrows in question, Harry would just shrug and say, “Yeh’ll find out tonight, love.” She remained curious, but she wasn’t about to ruin her boyfriend’s fun.

So, around five that evening, they all headed off to the studio where the show was recorded, all of them piling into Ben’s Range Rover so as not to have to take separate vehicles. They were all headed to the same place anyway. When they got there, James greeted Y/N with a kiss to the cheek before whisking Harry away with a shouted, half-arsed apology over his shoulder, not sounding at all apologetic or sincere. Y/N just rolled her eyes and headed back to Harry’s dressing room, since the men seemed to be heading in a different direction.

Lou already had her things set up in the room from the day before, all of the products she used on Harry piled on the vanity. Y/N took up the bottle of cologne she had become familiar with over the years and took a little whiff, smiling at the potent scent that was a bit more diluted on Harry’s skin. The scent of the laundry detergent they used and the mint that was typically on his breath mingled a bit more with the cologne, but it was still the most prominent thing on his person. She’d jerk her head up any time she smelled the scent in public, anticipating seeing Harry, and be sorely disappointed when it was some businessman or something, standing in front of her in line at Starbuck’s. She wanted to be ridiculous and request that Tom Ford discontinue the scent for public consumption and only send it to Harry from now on, but she knew that was out of the question. She was in no position to be asking for things like that, and she really didn’t want her boyfriend to become more of a diva than he already was sometimes.

After a bit, Y/N could hear the sounds of music playing out in the studio, though she couldn’t hear much more than the bass, so she couldn’t tell what song it was. She knew they’d run through the song a few times for their rehearsal, so she took to sitting on the couch, scrolling through her phone and listening to Lux chatter about her visit with her dad last week. Y/N had known Lux very nearly since she was born, and they were as close as could be thanks to Y/N’s close relationship to Harry, who was basically Lux’s family at this point. Y/N saw Lux like a niece, and Lou was thankful for the loving people that surrounded her daughter.

Lux hopped up when the dressing room door opened. Harry stepped through in his jeans and a Harley Davidson t-shirt, his sunnies pushed into his hair, though he hadn’t been outside in nearly two hours. He smiled as Lux launched herself at his legs, swooping herself up in his arms to settle on his hip. She was nearly six, but she was still tiny compared to Harry, and seeing them together was one of the most precious things Y/N had ever seen. She had been teased many times over the years—mostly by Lou—about the stars she got in her eyes when she saw Harry with children. She brushed off comments like, “Just wait ‘til it’s him with your guys’s babies,” with a chuckle and a shake of her head, but the pinging in her heart at the longing she knew she harbored happened every time. She knew they were a long way from settling down like that and having kids—hell, they weren’t even close to being anything more than boyfriend and girlfriend—but she couldn’t help the way her ovaries ached. Damn biology and hormones.

“Yeh’ve got about an hour before I gotta start gettin’ yeh all pretty,” Lou announced, briefly looking up from her own phone. “Do yeh need a shower?” Harry shook his head as he placed Lux back on the floor. “Took one this mornin’.”

“Alright. Relax for a bit. Love on yeh girl,” Lou suggested. “I’m gonna go find James. Gotta have a chat with him.”

The statement sounded a bit cryptic to Y/N, but she shrugged it off as Lou left the room, throwing out that she’d be back in about twenty and to keep an eye on Lux, as if Harry or Y/N would ever really let the child out of their sight. Harry plopped himself down on the sofa beside Y/N, immediately dropping his head onto her shoulder and slinging an arm across her lap. Y/N chuckled as he nuzzled his head into her neck. She reached up to run her fingers through her hair, enjoying the fluffiness of it having been washed earlier in the day, and a content little grin stretching across his face. He hummed as she scratched her nails lightly over his scalp.

“Missed yeh,” he murmured, turning his face in to press a kiss to her shoulder.

Y/N couldn’t help but smile at his little affections. “Yeh’ve only been gone about two hours.”

“That means I can’t miss yeh pretty face?” he questioned indignantly, peeking one eye open up at her.

Y/N shook her head. “Not what I’m saying. Just mean we’ve been in the same building this entire time.”

He shrugged. “Still missed yeh.”

She dropped a kiss to his temple. “Missed yeh, too, babe. Can’t wait to see yeh perform tonight.”

Harry popped his head up and grinned cheekily at her, her favorite grin of his. It was a little cocky but also a little goofy, and his dimples pressed deep into his cheeks. She thought it brought out the youth in his face, like she was stepping back into 2011 when they met for the first time and she had been instantly taken with his charm and playfulness.

“Think you’re gonna like it,” he said excitedly, the hand resting on her opposite hip squeezing slightly. “And I’ve got a few surprises, so yeh’ve gotta be in the audience tonight.”

She reared back a little, instantly suspicious of his demand. “What for?”

“Yeh’ll see. Just go with it.”

“Yeh know I hate hearing that phrase just as much as you do,” she reminded him, her eyes squinting at him.

“Promise it’s good,” he pleaded.

She was about to respond, but Lux came up to them, her iPad gripped in her hands, headphones already plugged into the jack. Both Y/N and Harry made the correct assumption that a Peppa Pig marathon was about to begin until show time. She stood between Harry and Y/N’s legs, looking back and forth of them expectantly, like she was waiting for them to do something without any type of verbal communication. When they both just looked at her in curious anticipation, she sighed.

“Scoot over a little bit, please,” she said, looking at Harry, since Y/N was the one pinned to the arm of the couch.

“Yeh can sit on the other side of me, Lux,” Harry offered, patting the free space next to him.

She cocked her hip out as she looked at him. “I wanna sit next t’ Aunt Y/N, Uncle Haz, not you.”

Harry’s mouth dropped open in faux offense—or what Y/N was assuming was faux, but Harry was slightly offended at the girl’s demand. Y/N couldn’t keep in her giggle at Harry being slighted by a girl that was essentially his niece, who was usually attached to his hip. He wasn’t used to playing second fiddle to anyone, not even her parents.

“Yeah, Uncle Haz, scoot over,” Y/N teased, pushing at his chest to get him to back up.

“See how much I’m loved ‘round here,” he mumbled as he shifted over on the couch, opening up a sliver of space for Lux to wedge into.

She settled herself between them with a little wiggle and a satisfied smile before pushing the little buds into her ear and beginning her episode. Y/N couldn’t stop giggling as Lux leaned her head into her side and Harry pouted.

“Put that lip away, Styles.”

“She just kicked me out of my spot!” he protested.

Y/N’s giggles turned into chuckles. “Yeh can tell her ‘no.’ Yeh know that, right?”

“Her pout is more adorable than mine; I don’t stand a chance.”

Y/N reached over and flicked at his bottom lip that was still stuck out. “You’re gonna give her a complex. Gotta tell her ‘no’ every once in a while.”

“That’s what her parents are for,” he shrugged. “And have yeh seen her throw a tantrum? Never wanna experience that again.”

“Kids throw tantrums, H. Just a part of life.”

“Yeah, an annoyin’ one.”

If you want, you can make a request from this post :)

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles blurb

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idthellyeah-blog · 4 years

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A totally timely and significant review of Rancid’s “...And Out Come The Wolves”

(I honestly don’t remember when I wrote this, maybe 2015. Definitely just got jacked up on something and decided that I needed to write a track by track review of an album I loved when I was a cool punk teen. It has just been sitting in my Google Drive patiently waiting to be posted.)

I remember the first time I ever heard/saw Rancid was when the video for “Salvation” off of their second album “Let’s Go” premiered on MTV. Such an 80’s/90’s kid thing to do, discovering a new band by seeing a music video on TV, ugh. I thought the leather clad mohawked bad boys were amazing and perfect and so cool...that I immediately tried to spike my hair using gelatin (tru punx only) and got a leather jacket (did not look that cool and was very sweaty). When “...And Out Come The Wolves” came out the next year (1995, I’m old AF) I was totally enamored and had found my #1 favorite album of all time (that lasted for like a year until music got better). I was supposed to go see Rancid at a big show in Omaha, I lived in a small town called Columbus that was roughly 90 minutes away from the big city...but the day of my mom didn’t let me go because I had bad math grades. I reacted the way any entitled white teen did, by laying in the garage and crying and playing their album. That show wound up being a huge to-do when fans tore up seats in the venue and threw cushions at the band leading to Rancid not playing Omaha for a long time. I missed out on some cool bad-ass punk rock shit, first world problems. Fast forward to today when I decided that I, Ian Douglas Terry, needed to write out a song-by-song review of this quintessential punk album. I’m a real music nut, and obviously very good at structured writing...so here we go! (Rock on)

1. Maxwell Murder - Oh boy, this one starts with like a subway train sound and then the beginning of a killer/complicated Matt Freeman bass line. That dude SHREDS the bass, and even has a wild solo in this song. That’s tight. Why did they stop letting him sing? He sounded like a fun Muppet on their first album and I loved his songs. Maybe he wanted to focus on just shredding the bass and using tons of pomade.

2. The 11th Hour - This song is great. It is poppy and upbeat and about a woman having dreams and demanding answers. Hell yeah. I love good punk music that supports women and feminism and figuring out where the power lies (spoiler alert, it starts and ends with you). Remember how Brody from The Distillers left Tim Armstrong for the dude from Queens of the Stone Age? And then he got all fat and got a beard? I can completely relate to that, and have been there sans beard.

3. Roots Radicals - This song RULES. I had to look up what “Moonstompers” were and who “Desmond Dekker” was. I remember trying to relate to this like it could somehow compare to living in a town with 20,000 people and the nicest Wal-Mart in the tri-county area. Remember how there was that Spanish language cover of this on one of those “Give Em The Boot” comps that Hellcat put out? That was real tight.

4. Time Bomb - Hit single baby! This had a huge hand in getting punk kids into reggae/ska for sure. Killer organ solo, lots of rude boy shit going, I loved it so much. Tim Armstrong totally re-used lyrics from the song “Motorcycle Ride” from the previous album...which is hilarious. Like c’mon dawg...you should know your own lyrics. I learned how to do the solo from this and felt like a guitar god (it is a very easy solo, like almost too easy).

5. Olympia, WA - I love songs like this that are about cities that the band isn’t from...so you have to fire up your imagination (or just read the lyrics) and be like, “What went down in Olympia, Washington????”. Turns out it was mostly hanging out on different streets in New York and playing pinball with Puerto Ricans while wishing you were with a person who you were sleeping with in Washington. Hell yeah, just like Shakespeare.

6. Lock, Step & Gone - Songs about docks were HUGE in my youth. Dropkick Murphy’s had like eight songs about boys on them, and this Rancid song alludes to them. I loved all of the blue collar, working class ideology that had nothing to remotely do with my comfortable upper middle class (not sure if that’s accurate because my parents were teachers, and like is there even a middle class any more?) life. This song definitely sums itself up at then end when it says “There’s a whole lot of nothin”.

7. Junky Man - Another theme that I could definitely relate to in a town of 20,000 people with like ten people who did meth...Junkies! This song is pretty great because the dude from the Basketball Diaries does some sick poetry in it...that movie was nuts. I like that song that he later wrote/sang about all the people he knew who died. The only way poetry can be cool is if the person is an insane drug addict with cool/sad stories to tell. Otherwise it is just loud diary reading.

8. Listed MIA - At this point I wholeheartedly agree with this song, “I’m checking out”. I don’t know if I ever really liked this song or if this was just part of the “I accidentally left it playing after the first four songs that I liked were over”. Lars says the derogatory f-word for homosexuals in it, because people called him that word...that doesn’t seem cool man. I get that it rhymes with “maggots”, but maybe give white dudes in the Midwest less reasons to sing that word out loud.

9. Ruby Soho - This is one of the best songs ever, hands down. It is beautiful and you can barely understand what Tim Armstrong is saying but it is wonderful. I feel like deciphering his lyrics led me to be able to understand most speech impediments, so hell yeah. This song is about loving someone a lot but having to leave them because it isn’t working out. This song was the blueprint for every romantic relationship I’ve ever had in my entire life so it might be a gypsy curse.

10. Daly City Train - Oh hell yeah, fun Reggae drums! Through punk and ska I grew to appreciate Reggae, but through being bummed out about that culture’s deep seated homophobia and the fact that most of it is super repetitive and boring and for dad’s on vacation. I’m just glad that 311 taught me to love those smooth Caribbean sounds again (oh god am I joking or am I serious, I can’t tell any more please save me).

11. Journey to the End of the Easy Bay - I can still play this bass line and was very proud of myself the first time I half-way pulled it off. It doesn’t sound as smooth and nuanced as the way Matt Freeman plays it, but goddamn it I think that was the height of my skill as a musician. This song rules themes about needing to belong and finding a place with people who thought and felt the same as you...and then losing it as everyone grows out of it. This was most of my early 20’s. I grew up in a scene with similarly minded people, it eventually ended and I still have contact with some of those people but that point in my life will never be replicated. I finally belonged somewhere and was part of something bigger than me. Now I do comedy and it is bleak, entitled, and sad and mostly alcoholics talking about their dicks. Please take me back.

12. She’s Automatic - This is not a bad song but a very confusing way to describe a woman. I get that it means she is effortless in “the way that she moves” but maybe I’m not giving Lars any poetic license because he looks like a guy who punched books. This woman sounds great though, and I’m sure they dated for three months. Revisiting this and that era reminds me that I almost had sex with a girl at the first X-men movie...man, being punk ruled.

13. Old Friend - Back to the Raggae! This song is pretty great, but they really missed an opportunity of selling this to a heartburn medicine company. “Good morning heartache, you’re like an old friend come and see me again”...that would be perfect for a commercial of a guy eating a giant plate of lasagna and making a “Oh boy, I did it again!” face. The Transplants sold a song to that fruit shampoo, maybe this is something I can retroactively help negotiate.

14. Disorder and Disarray - I love when punk bands have songs about “business men” being evil and the industry being bad. Like when Against Me were part of an Anarchist collective and then on a major label putting out really bad music. Rancid was at least on Epitaph, which while arguably not “cool” it was at least run by a kind of punk dude who is responsible for the biggest/shittiest corporate garbage of a festival, The Warped Tour. This song has a part towards the end where they talk to each other like David Lee Roth would do in Van Halen songs, that rules.

15. The Wars End - I get that this is a song about little Sammy being a punk rocker but at this point I think they should have admitted this album was fine with 10-12 songs and maybe some of these were super repetitive and unnecessary. It's like you’re forcing it. I can’t imagine the dude who recorded it had a lot of fun and he probably fell asleep and was startled awake and had to pretend like he’d been paying attention the whole time.

16. You Don’t Care Nothin - This starts out with the exact chord progression from Journey To The End Of The East Bay….c’mon guys. You Don’t Care Nothin about being succinct and making your songs individual expressions of art! The themes even seem like something they’ve already gone over. I’m going to eat some soup, brb.

17. As Wicked - Is this a different song or a weird breakdown? Oh, it’s a different song. Well...this soup is pretty good. Chicken Noodle, but the chunky kind. It isn’t amazing but it is good. I should really cook more. Maybe I’ll order Chinese later.

18. Avenues & Alleyways - I don’t really have a problem with this song because it has the “Oi oi oi” chant that the bands I was in during High School would do and we had no idea why other than popular bands doing it. It is very catchy. It sounds like the other two songs were just building up to finally getting your attention back. Plus it has a breakdown with people clapping, that is always fun. This has to be the last song right? It is the perfect last song on an album!

19. The Way I Feel - FUUUUUUUCK! What? Really should have ended the album on that last song, it had a good “anthem” vibe and at least wrapped this up into a somewhat sensible endeavor. This song could have been stuck in the middle somewhere, or maybe just not recorded with about seven others? The Way I Feel about this album is that there are some parts that hold up and are still fun to listen to, but the rest of it just seems like I’m being forced to read my own teenage diary and it is boring and sad. Nostalgia is a bummer, I can’t imagine having Rancid still be my favorite band. I’d probably still wear a chain wallet and spiky bracelet and be one of those obnoxious old drunk weirdos I see at shows that stick out like crazy sore thumbs. Bummer dude.

Oh wow, what a journey (to the end of the east bay, am I right?)...I’m glad I was finally able to get this review out so people could finally know what this album means to me and my generation of lazy weirdos. This took me six months to write and I should be congratulated for being a journalist with tons of integrity and great taste. True punks never die, they just eventually chill out and shop at Kohl’s.

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spaceorphan18 · 7 years

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TDB Rewatch: Duets

I had a brilliant steak fajita dinner tonight made from scratch. That has nothing to do with Glee, I just wanted to share, because it was super enjoyable to eat while watching such a brilliant episode.

I’m a little surprised it’s an Ian Brennan episode - because for the most part, he writes the episodes from RIB I don’t like at all - but TV is a collaborative thing, so maybe he had helped. The thing that just blows me away about this episode every time I come to it is that all the story lines are so nicely weaved all together. This is great writing - and they’re able to balance their very huge cast in a fantastic way. This is so much Glee at its very best.

I’m also noticing a trend, too, with season two that I want to watch closely. Sue was completely absent in this one, and Will was a minor character - pushing along the narrative via the competition, but his drama is not around for this one. This story is solely about the kids and their interactions with each other, and I think because of all of that it really shines, as there’s so many interesting things going on within the dynamic of this group. So far, the weaker episodes have been ones that have heavily featured Will (and kinda Sue) - hence the lopsided nature of season two.

Anyway, thoughts:

Really, I can’t say enough the writing is so brilliant in this one (with the exception of the ridiculous narrative surrounding Finchel and why they should lose). The thing is, all of the kids have something to do, and all of their plots are connected in this big web, and it’s just so cool to look at.

Let’s start with Kurt, whom I love and have talked much about his story. This episode is so hard for him, the angst over Sam!!, caring for his dad, trying to go on even when people are beating him down -- I just love it, and I’m bouncing on the edge of my seat waiting to get to Never Been Kissed. You’re almost there sweetie!!

Le Jazz Hot is an amazing performance, and I grin every time I watch it.

I love Rachel watching Kurt throughout this episode (and earlier ones). One nice thing about Hummelberry (tbh) is that I do think it lets Rachel care for someone other than herself. I mean, she still sees a lot of Kurt in herself (and they are alike). But there’s a kind, kindred spirit thing going on here. (I kind of like this dynamic more than the “platonic souldmates” thing we get later on - yes there is a difference.)

Happy Days/Get Happy is one of my favorite duets on the show - it’s just so amazing. I can’t gush about it enough.

Finchel was entertaining! Their reason for throwing the competition was a bit ridiculous, and made no sense but at least they were entertaining.

Even the Finchel duets were stronger than in season 1 - probably because there’s been less of them, and also because Cory grew as a singer. Still -- they were my least favorite duets of the episode. Sorry guys.

Finn still feels a little out of line telling Kurt essentially that he’s an awful choice of partner because of who he is. I realize this stems from criticisms of Kurt’s S1 story line, but it still rubs me the wrong way. I’m glad Sam called him out on being shitty.

SAM! He’s really utterly delightful and sweet here. He and Quinn really don’t make any sense, and I can see why it fizzled out quickly, but they do have a nice musical quality to them. Lucky was sweet. (and oh the Kurt looks)

Quinn is such a smart cookie. She’s very good in her intuition. Shame the narrative never really knew what to do with her.

Puck’s in Juvie for the episode (because Mark was being punished for releasing an album not on Fox’s (or whoevers) term). The show was fine without him.

It’s funny to me that Brittana really starts up here - only to be dropped for about ten episodes. Their scenes work well and are a bit racy for as ‘gay’ as they are. I’m surprised they were allowed it (though if you watch, they never actually kiss).

Santana as an angry, closeted woman makes sense.

Brittany has more feelings than she’s given credit for. She does care about Santana, and she does care about Artie. And I think sex means something to her, actually, even if it’s in a different way than others.

It’s Brittany and Artie time folks. I should have an opinion. But I kinda don’t.

There’s this weird little subplot in the beginning of season 2 about Artie trying to get over Tina. I never really noticed it before. Huh. The show cared more than I thought it did.

Mike and Tina! Tina still has slight feelings for Artie. Mike and Tina are having issues that will eventually be what breaks them up. (The show could have really done something other than put an “they’re Asian” label on them and forget about it - because that’s a little what it feels like here.) But they have a great duet in Sing! - and it’s a nice little moment for them since they don’t get a lot of them.

Santana’s having a hard time in this episode, too, interestingly.

My god Santana and her love of Breadstix is totally hilarious.

Mercedes is really sad at the beginning of this episode - which I think stems a little from the previous episode, and the fact that Kurt seems preoccupied with his own issues. It makes me sad for her.

I wish Mercedes and Santana had been allowed to form a stronger friendship while they were in high school. It would have made the Treble Tones stuff in s3 feel a little stronger.

I think I got everyone, right?

Anyway - this episode is just. so. good. Are we at Blaine yet? Do we really need to watch Rocky Horror?!? Ug.

#tdb rewatch #todaydreambelievers

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hmel78 · 5 years

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In conversation with John Hackett ...

Whilst John Hackett is probably best known for his work with his brother Steve Hackett (former Genesis guitarist), there is no shortage of other high profile artists with whom John has worked, and in addition he has also enjoyed a relatively successful solo career as a Flautist, guitarist, singer and composer.

John collaborated with Steve on his early albums, “Voyage of the Acolyte” and “Please Don’t Touch” , which led to further recordings and tours of the UK, USA and Europe playing flute, guitar and bass pedals in Steve’s live band ; also extensive tours of Japan and the USA as part of the Steve Hackett Acoustic Trio. Inbetween touring, back home in the UK, you will find a variety of incredible projects which John has been involved in ; as a composer of flute music for relaxation, he has recorded a number of solo and duo albums, plus several albums with Clive Williamson and the ambient group “Symbiosis” which has led to commissions for the BBC. John has performed concerts with international organist Marco Lo Muscio and performs regularly in a duo with classical guitar virtuoso Nick Fletcher with whom he has recorded two albums: “Overnight Snow” and “Hills of Andalucia”. 2005 saw a change of direction with John releasing, to critical acclaim, a rock album of his own songs called “Checking Out of London”, the lyrics for which were written by Nick Clabburn ; An experimental flute/dance album - “Red Planet Rhythm”- with Moodi Drury followed, and then another album of John’s compositions for flute and guitar - “Prelude to Summer”- which featured brother Steve, and Chris Glassfield. It was 10 years before John released his next solo album “Another Life”, in 2015 - which was essentially the rock follow up to “Checking Out ...” with Nick Clabburn once again providing the lyrics. Thankfully we haven’t had to wait just as long for something else new! It’s September 2017 as I write, and I have just been handed the very first John Hackett Band album in which we see another avenue open up, on the musical map of John Hackett! For this album, John has gone beyond his usual boundary and written the lyrics, as well as the music - and it’s really very good! John is joined by Nick Fletcher on guitar, drummer Duncan Parsons, and bass player Jeremy Richardson - who contribute their own compositions to the album, which presents us with a deluxe 2 CD album containing the new collaborative studio recording - “We Are Not Alone” - and a live recording - “Another Live” - of their 2016 Classic Rock Society gig. We were incredibly lucky to grab a rare chance to catch up with John about the latest release, and find out a little bit about how he arrived at this current stop on his musical journey ...

HR : I read an interview that you did some time ago, in which you describe your creative self as a bit like “Jekyll and Hyde” - in the sense that despite your focus on the classical side of music, you’ve always hung on to your inner rocker - is that still the case? “We Are Not Alone” sounds to me like you’ve found the balance...

Johh Hackett : I think you have gone straight to the heart of what I used to consider a problem … I started out from the age of 12 playing blues guitar, listening to all those amazing guitarists like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimi Hendrix. Then after hearing Ian McDonald play flute with King Crimson I started flute lessons and learned the classical repertoire. I used to think that one day I would have to choose between the two worlds but actually I now see that they can feed off each other. It is like light and shade. If you have played electric guitar you know how powerful a sound it can be. So that influences my flute playing - I don’t like it to sound weak.

On the new album there is a track called “Blue skies of Marazion” which features guitar and alto flute. It has quite an impressionistic vibe. It is then followed by “Summer Lightning” which starts as a ballad but then Nick’s electric guitar takes it to a much heavier place. It is quite a contrast, and good of you to say that I have found a balance. I have Nick to thank for pushing me to include more flute on this rock album than my previous two.

HR : I’m glad he pushed you to, because it does work! Do you have a preference when writing and performing? Are you more comfortable with classical or rock ; with vocal tracks or instrumentals?

JH : There is no question that having spent most of my life whizzing up and down scales and doing all the daily technical exercises you have to do if you want to play the difficult classical repertoire, I have in the past been more comfortable with the flute. But there is nothing as exciting as being on stage with a rock band. I have never forgotten the buzz I got from my first ever rock gig with my brother’s band in Oslo in 1978. I took a conscious decision some years back to devote much more time to rock, improving my keyboard playing and learning to sing - I say learning to sing as it has been a painful process (both for me and my poor family who have had to put up with all the shrieking and wailing, not just when I am looking at my bank statements …). In all honesty I enjoy all of it, though at 62 it seems ridiculously late in life to be finding your feet. But having spent a good 90 per cent of my working life playing flute, it is frankly liberating and great fun to be starting a second career as a singer/songwriter with my own band.

HR : Well age is just a number, and I think if you’re creative you strive eternally to cover new ground ... which of course for you just now, is The John Hackett band. You’re essentially a quartet and all 4 of you write your own material; correct me if I’m wrong but none of the songs appear to have been written together for the recording - so who decided what was going to be included? Were any of the pieces written specifically for the album?

JH : The strength of the album is that, with only a couple of exceptions, we had performed all the pieces live before recording them. The way it worked is that we would bring suggestions to the rehearsal room and the band would try them out. As everyone in the band has considerable experience writing and recording this inevitably meant bringing fairly complete compositions. It was soon obvious if a new piece could slot into our current live set or if best kept for a solo project. With “Never Gonna Make A Dime” for example I had written this as a fairly slow song. I didn’t think it was particularly good. I played it to the guys in a simple piano and vocal arrangement and within a few minutes, like in some cheesy movie, they were rocking it up. It soon became a no-brainer for inclusion in our shows and the album.

“Castles” was a song I had written some time ago and similarly didn’t think it was anything special. I imagined it as a blues number with the kind of energy of that John Mayall’s “Bluesbreakers” album with the young fiery Eric Clapton reading the Beano on the front cover. I had recorded a demo with me playing the guitar solo on a Les Paul I had borrowed from my brother Steve. But when we tried it as a band with Nick playing a blistering guitar solo it was exactly as I had wanted it to sound. So unfortunately there is a sad end to the story –I didn’t get to play the solo, and Steve asked for his Les Paul back!

Similarly Duncan’s piece “Queenie and Elmo’s Perfect Day” was a flute melody I had always liked and wanted to record. So when we got the band together it fitted in perfectly, especially as it gave the band free reign for improvisation.

“Take Control”, the opening track, I wrote specifically for the band and the album. I wanted something that would go through a number of changes . It is really in two parts the lyric being the link so there is plenty of scope for time signature changes, guitar solos and changes of texture ...

HR : It does have that, in fact the whole album is quite eclectic, which is what I love about it. It crosses genres and has a good balance of vocal and instrumental tracks. 2 out of 3 of the instrumental numbers were written by guitarist Nick Fletcher ; the 3rd in collaboration with yourself - how did you two meet and subsequently begin performing and writing together? He’s quite phenomenal ...

JH : I first heard Nick playing solo classical guitar without the aid of a microphone or Marshall stack in the fantastic acoustics of Sheffield Cathedral . I thought his playing was absolutely wonderful and wondered that day, as you do, if we might ever work together. Like myself, Nick started out in rock, then studied classical guitar so maybe I heard a kindred spirit. We did some concerts together as a guitar and flute duo, but it wasn’t until the release of my previous album “Another Life” that I found out what a fabulous electric player he is. I had decided to play some of the songs solo at the album launch with just me singing and playing piano but as it got closer to the time I wasn’t so sure if I could make it work. Anthony Phillips had played on one track of the album called “Satellite”. I knew he was going to be there that night so I felt a little nervous ... Nick was round at my house, I played him a few songs, he picked up a Stratocaster and suddenly it was so much easier. Duncan joined us on percussion, so we performed as a trio for the launch. And then it was simply, “Well, where’s the bass player? We could form a band!” Duncan immediately suggested his old school friend Jeremy. So that’s how we all got together - quite by accident really.

HR : The song “Jericho”, which was written by Jeremy Richardson, changes the vibe of the album a little - given that you sing lead vocal on the other 4 tracks, why didn’t you sing this one too?

JH : Yes “Jericho” was written by Jeremy and sung by him, with Duncan, as part of our live set. It really suits his voice so there was never any question who would sing the lead vocal on the album. On stage Jeremy and I take a fairly equal share of the vocals which comes over particularly on the second CD (it is a double album package) “Another Live” recorded live at the Classic Rock Society in Maltby in 2016. He is a terrific singer with a harder edge to his voice when he needs it, which contrasts well with my sound.

HR : The second track on the album interested me too ; “Never Gonna Make A Dime” tells of your family’s move to Canada - you must only have been a baby at the time, but do you remember it at all? What prompted you to pen the song?

JH : The song is based on our short stay in Canada in 1957. I was only 2 years old so unfortunately I cannot remember it but Steve was 7 and has good memories of our time there. Our dad had gone on ahead to Vancouver to find work while mum, her sister Betty, Steve and I followed by ship. Our mother missed London so much that after just 4 months we came back to London. I have always admired them for taking the risk of going in the first place and then having the courage to return.

HR : Sure, it’s big life stuff! The track features Steve on Harmonica - which isn’t the first instrument that most people would associate with him ... JH : Ah well , Steve used to disappear for long periods on board ship only to return with loads of cash. My mother asked him what on earth was going on - apparently he had been playing his harmonica to the crew and they had dug into their pockets for him. This must have given him an early taste for the music business. HR : Clearly! Haha. You’re both multi-instrumentalists - were your parents musical at all? Who / what inspired you become musicians?

JH : It was our dad Peter Hackett who sparked our interest in music. We came back from Canada while dad stayed on for a while to work. He arrived back with an enormous black box which looked more like a coffin but actually contained a guitar. He had played bugle as a boy, then clarinet, and harmonica - though his main interest was painting. Mum didn’t play anything but always showed a great love of music. She is 87 now and still comes to our rock concerts. Steve and I have been blessed to have parents who have always supported us in our music careers.

HR : And your careers have seen you spend quite a great deal of time together over the years. It seems to be the way with brothers in bands together, that it inevitably results in some sort of falling out, and attracts an ensuing media circus! I thankfully don’t see much evidence of that with yourself and Steve - onstage, or offstage - is there a secret to getting on?

JH : Steve in his role as the older brother has always been kind enough to include me. I used to sit in on rehearsals with his first recording band ‘Quiet World’ ; I was there when he did his audition for Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks at our little flat in London - I even got to play a bit of flute for them that day. I don’t think there has ever been any rivalry between us. I took the decision in my teens to concentrate on the flute, which has taken me in a different direction from him. So although we do work together from time to time, we are mostly involved in our own projects - But when we do get together inevitably we talk music, with all the enthusiasm as when we shared a bedroom as teenagers!

HR : You’re taking the JHB on the road with a handful of shows coming up - do you enjoy playing the more intimate venues?

JH : We currently have dates every few weeks for up until this time next year. Certainly regarding venues it is always much nicer to play places where you can talk to the audience after. Their enthusiasm is what it is all about.

HR : What’s your most memorable show to date?

The most memorable gig is perhaps the one for the Classic Rock Society captured on our live CD. It was only about the fourth gig we had done as a band and it felt great that we were being taken seriously by the Society who have always championed new progressive music. More importantly it was the last John Hackett Band gig our friend Steph Kennedy was able to come to - she travelled all over the country with the help of husband Dave and brother-in-law Glen in her final year. A humble reminder in this sometimes brutal world of how music can bring us together.

HR : Absolutely ... And if you could bring together anyone, living or deceased, to perform with you on stage - a dream line-up - who would it be?

JH : If we were talking football I would probably start with Pavarotti in goal.

Of course, I would have to say my current band - But I wouldn’t mind having J.S. Bach on keyboards as long as he didn’t get any powder from his wig on my synths!

#steve hackett #flute #john hackett #genesis

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emma-what-son · 8 years

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Emma Watson: I've always said, 'forget the engagement ring, build me a library!'

From Independent.ie March 2017: She's playing "a Disney princess gone rogue", but after the backlash to that photo shoot, actress Emma Watson is walking a carefully plotted line between art and politics. Here, our reporter meets the guarded Beauty and the Beast star.

"Dan brought such a tenderness and dry humour to Beast, which made him all the more relatable," she gushes. He responds with an equally fawning: "Emma's chief motivation was being able to tell the kind of messages that are pertinent across generations. Not just about wearing Belle's yellow dress."

The largely sycophantic back and forth continues with words on Emma's immeasurable kindness and Dan's boundless generosity. There are tales of Steven's "hair-raising" adventures on stilts to achieve Beast's height, and Emma comparing her singing to legendary off-key chanteuse Florence Foster Jenkins, played by Meryl Streep in last year's eponymous biopic. How watching Katharine Hepburn screwball comedies provided huge inspiration for their characters.

Altogether, it's a perfect puff exercise in promotional Hollywood chit-chat orchestrated by Watson's team of rigid representatives.

Before today's audience with the former Harry Potter graduate, journalists had to sign a clause-filled contract. The immovable interview terms demanded no personal questions of any kind; no questions about her background; no mention of La La Land (Watson reportedly turned down Emma Stone's Oscar-winning role). Basically nothing beyond the fairy tale.

There were no such conditions for talking to former Downton Abbey star Stevens.

Now, "no personal questions" is a frequent request delivered by the movie PR folk but usually comes as a verbal, quiet warning not to venture down the path of messy divorce or criminal activity.

A binding contract this inflexible, however, is something else entirely - something I have never encountered before.

'Brand Watson' is a carefully master- minded machine: one which boasts nearly 50million social media followers. Unfortunately for the 26-year-old star, a grey area exists between her unrelenting, admirable crusade for gender equality and her acting career.

In playing Belle in the €150million live-action revamp of the childhood classic, Watson has intentionally blended her politics with her art. The feminist campaigner has become a Disney princess. Which, in promotional discussion, invariably forces her to reveal herself, just a little.

"Innately at the centre of Beauty and the Beast was this heroine who went against the crowd, marched to the beat of her own drum," Watson tells me. "Fearlessly independent-minded, defiant. Nothing around her is affirming her choices. She's incredibly curious and learned and does things her own way. And I connected with her sense of defiance. She's a Disney princess gone rogue.

"I watched a lot of films as a young woman that I felt gave me less choices and constricted me, as opposed to making me feel that the world was limitless and possibilities were endless. And I also knew how important Belle is as a symbol because of how important she was to me as a young girl. She was my idol - my own personal heroine - so I know how important it was to get it right."

Getting Belle right in 2017 is indeed important, lest it jeopardise the work that Watson has done - and the reputation she has built as an intellectual and feminist crusader - previously.

Her public campaign for equality began with an impassioned address in front of the UN in the summer of 2014, heralding the HeForShe campaign, which calls for men to advocate for gender equality. In speaking out, the actor became both a symbol and a target. And her words and actions are now microscopically scrutinised as a result. For example, that same year, her criticism of fellow feminist Beyoncé's music videos for the Lemonade album - which Watson said in an interview exhibited a "very male voyeuristic experience" - was met with overwhelming backlash. Those quotes were resurrected this month when Watson's own shoot for Vanity Fair featured a photo (below) of her with her breasts partly exposed.

In the furore that followed, Watson was forced to defend the photograph. "It just always reveals to me how many misconceptions and what a misunderstanding there is about what feminism is," she said in an interview with news agency Reuters.

"Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women. It's about freedom; it's about liberation; it's about equality. I really don't know what my t**s have to do with it. It's very confusing." It's left Watson wedged firmly between a rock and a hard place. And today, when I push her on that difficult position (and much to the horror of her stern publicist), she delivers an uncharacteristically human response.

"To be that public about my opinions and feelings, you can't say something like that and not walk the walk. If you're going to do that, well, I have to live by this. And taking a stance on things doesn't make life easier - it definitely makes things more complicated."

She pauses for thought, perhaps sensing a vulnerability to her words that she then attempts to counter. "You know, the battles I fought and I fight make what I do feel much more worthwhile and it gives me much more of a sense of purpose. And I'm glad that I get actively involved. But it's not easy. Ultimately, I follow my heart because that's all I can do."

There's no doubting that Beauty and the Beast is a passion project for Watson. Directed by Bill Condon - the man behind Dreamgirls and Chicago - the lavish epic is a beautiful spectacle, largely modelled on the 1992 classic, the first animation to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination. Alongside Stevens and a starry cast including Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts and Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Watson shimmers as Belle, the wayward outsider, stifled by her insular village surrounds.

When she stumbles on the Beast's castle where her father, played by Kevin Kline, is imprisoned, she sacrifices herself and takes his place. She soon learns that Beast and his servants are cursed by a spell which can only be broken by true love.

"It's literally your childhood fantasy," Watson explains, in her signature clipped tones. "I watched that film with a sense of wonderment probably a thousand times, much to the annoyance of my parents. And to actually be in that dress, riding Philippe [the horse], to be wandering around that beautiful castle set, it was amazing. I also felt an immense responsibility. While it was me playing the role, there's a huge pressure because Belle - she's an archetype, she's a symbol, she's every girl. If I do my job well, she belongs to everyone, not just to me."

Watson claims that much modernisation was needed to bring the new version up to date. "The original was released in 1992; now it's 2017: things have moved on a lot from then. I think the film would fall flat if they didn't speak to the times we're in now."

Director Bill Condon says Watson (who today is clad in a monochrome bustier and trousers by Carmen March, one of the many ethically sourced outfits worn for the Beauty promotional tour and documented on her new Instagram page, @the_press_tour) was at the heart of Belle's feminist reinvention.

"She was involved in everything having to do with Belle's environment and costumes. She was so meticulous in the meaning of every costume change, about wearing the appropriate boots and about the dress she wears in the village having pockets.

"Also, Belle was as much an inventor as her father, which was hinted at in the animation. Here we have her doing her own calculations. Emma suggested we could do more with her alone in her own specific world, which led to a washing machine in a well. That was all Emma."

Belle's love of literature is something Watson was also keen to play up. And small wonder, since she founded an online feminist book club, Our Shared Shelf, which boasts nearly 175,000 members. "When Belle enters Beast's library, that's not just her dream - that's mine," Watson says. "I love how she swings along on those wheelie ladders, climbing these elevated storeys of books. And, you know, I've always said, stuff the engagement ring! Just build me a really big library."

For both Stevens and Watson, Beauty and the Beast marks an opportunity to finally eclipse their signature roles in Downton and Harry Potter, respectively. Do they relish that thought?

Her publicist's nostrils flare slightly, while Watson shyly squirms in her seat. Stevens, however, gratefully responds.

"It's certainly not a burden," he says. "Downton changed my life and I know [Harry Potter] changed Emma's. The privilege of that and to carry forward with roles like this adds to the canon."

"And Emma?" I ask. She hesitates slightly. It's a perplexing display for a question so tame. "I think that I just feel really lucky. For me, Belle was my childhood heroine; [the film] came out two days after I was born. And then, in my early teens, it was about idolising Hermione. So to be given the chance to play my two childhood idols is probably a very unique and rare experience for an actress.

"And I think," she continues, "I think I came out of this with more confidence, with more skills. And more belief in myself. Because when I came off Potter and decided to go to university, that wasn't a career decision the people I worked with were pleased about. But I kind of… I try to stay true to whatever whisper I'm getting from myself and I hope that will see me through. That's all I can do really. Otherwise, if I don't listen to myself, I'd feel a bit lost in it all."

Difficult to imagine Emma Watson, the twentysomething movie mogul and ambassador for human rights, feeling lost. And given the rigorous conditions attached to today's interview, one could easily question whether these humble claims are just part of the act.

Meeting the star today, however, it seems that, under the shiny veneer and terse brand control, lies a grounded spirit and decent human being trying to do some good. Hopefully, she'll stay the course as a campaigner and not become a total princess.

#interview

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