Bones is a gorgeous and trendy looking new all day restaurant from Joff and Simeon Goodman, the guys behind the organic and fairtrade store, The Grocery. Situated in East London, it has two floors and is busy. We sit by the window and it has beautiful light, and is great for people-watching.
We start with a Burrata with basil oil, chilli flakes and sourdough bread and Beetroot and also Vodka cured salmon with rye bread and horseradish cream. Both are great. I love my vodka cured salmon, it tastes great and the horseradish cream and rye bread are both top-notch and work well together. The Burrata is also great and works well with the other ingredients. We thought it should have come on a bigger plate but other than that: we had no complaints. We also have some cocktails, they are a little watery but the food makes up for it.
Next up is a sharing dish of Roasted rack of lamb with herb crust and braised baby gem, along with Tuscan Panzanella salad with tomato, roasted red onions, croutons and garlic, and a side of Purple sprouting broccoli with chilli oil and lemon. The lamb is delicious, the herb crust and braised baby gem really add to the dish, the salad is wonderful and the broccoli is good, if a little bit too spicy for me. The food is excellent and the ingredients are a great, unique mix.
We were pretty stuffed so for dessert I have some ice-cream and sorbet and my colleague has the Raspberry and black cherry cheesecake. The ice cream is very good and so is the cheesecake.
We had some good English Breakfast Tea to finish. The food at Bones is great and the staff are passionate. A great restaurant with brilliant food. Recommended.
The setting is an old East London Boozer, the décor, menu and booze, new East London. The transformation of what used to be The Bacchus was noticeable from 100 feet down the road with the most striking artwork by talented artist Ali Hamish Campbell. En route to Made in the Shade I felt like I had walked down these streets many a time but the frontage was completely unrecognisable. What used to be a dreary old watering hole, has now been turned into an Electric Blue Odyssey. Made in the Shade is the brainchild of Jeremy Thompson Jewitt, Jim Wrigley and Peter Lewis based on their idea of the ‘absolute ultimate bar’ and it shows through their well thought out and varied cocktails, their exotic Caribbean influenced menu and the totally eclectic décor inside and out of the joint.
First impression is that they’ve done a great job with the place. The Kitchen has been opened up which I always love about eateries as you can always see the chefs working hard and that they’ve made great use of the space, enough space to chill out in an intimate crowd and some great sofas for larger groups to fill. Oh and lots of space at the bar, always a good thing in my book.
Jim Wrigley serves up Shady Maid Lemonade
We tried 3 cocktails on offer first up was the Shady Maid Lemonade. This was unlike any cocktail I had ever had. The Gin based cocktail was served up with Lime Juice, Citrus Syrup and Cucumber juice. It’s the ultimate refresher… dangerous too as I felt like I could sip on these all night after a session at the gym!
The Pink One
Next Up was The Pink One also a healthy and refreshing cocktail. Very easy to drink and pleasing on the eye, The Pink One is a vodka based pomegranate infusion mixed with apple juice, bergamot syrup and lime juice. What I loved about this cocktail is that it was served with pomegranate seeds on top of a slice of lime and served up with a mini spoon to scoop up all the pomegranate goodness. Again, the flavours were so well balanced and fresh I could have happily sipped on these all night.
Then we got to the more serious Ultimate F**king Cocktail aka the UFC a mix of Whisky, Rum, Ginseng liqueur and ahem Guinness Liqueur. There was nothing fruity about this one we were told by the PR team, this was one manly drink. So manly in fact is that it is served up with a an WWE Figurine and a bunch of props are offered to re-enact your fighting fantasies. The ice is hand-cut for all of the drinks according to what you have but what I loved especially about the UFC was that the ice is a big huge block in the centre of the tumbler so it doesn’t melt into all that lovely Whiskey booze.
Drink of Champions
If the idea was to create an experience for customers to have the perfect mix of everything, then I certainly felt transported out of the busyness of London when tasting what Chef Patrick Williams had cooked up. His menu is a mash up of English plates with Caribbean influences. Anyone who serves up rice pudding arancini is a culinary wizard in my book. Move over bangers and mash and make way for plantain fritters and oxtail spring rolls. If traditional bar snacks is what you’re after don’t bother but once you’ve tasted the tasty and tantalising soul food on offer here, I guarantee you won’t be lusting after chips and mayo. The curry mutton was delicious and tender and passion fruit parfait for afters was the perfect ending. It’s no wonder when you see Chef Patrick Williams’ impressive career that the food is so darn tasty and with the carefully thought out cocktail and food menu I certainly was Made in the Shade.
A sample of what’s cooking.
Made in the Shade is open Wednesday to Saturday 5pm-12am and Sundays 1pm-12am and is located opposite The Hoxton Hall on Hoxton Street. There is a games room upstairs to play pool and Ping-Pong and from this Sunday they will be hosting a wicked-awesome BBQ in the Made in the Shade garden. If there is any truth in the weather report for tomorrow grab onto your BBQ hats and go!
I Heart Studios unveil their next collaboration for Week Two of their Shoreditch Art Wall Takeover
Kicking off week two of I Heart Studios’ takeover of the Shoreditch Art Wall, is British heritage brand – Ben Sherman.
From January 29th, the 60 square metre space will showcase the Ben Sherman S/S14 Parachute Collection as portrayed by the creative and conceptual photography of I Heart Studios.
The East London street canvas exhibits the experimental use of product photography that enhances the geometric fabrics and prints used throughout the Ben Sherman Parachute Collection. I Heart Studios have showcased the lightweight and transparent style of the fabric to create an abstract quality to the product range.
I Heart Studios Creative Director Martin Winslade comments:- “We’re always inspired by the way product photography can be highly conceptual and experimental so it tells an interesting brand story. We loved the Ben Sherman Parachute collection because of the way it was inspired by fabric and geometric pattern, so we wanted to create images that represented the essence of the product and embodied the contemporary feel of this collection”
Following on from the Spitfire Sunglasses collaboration, which showcased their new S/S 2014 collection, I Heart Studios will continue to display their curated selection of collaborations until February 19th 2014 with Underated London and Fault Magazine.
The collaborations not only illustrate the strong brand relationships held by I Heart Studios, but also the diversity of what the Studios offer. From conceptual and creative product shots to lifestyle and studio based editorial photography, I Heart Studios are pioneers of digital visual content with an instinctive understanding of the market and the rich variety of brands within it.
The British Craft Beer Challenge is the ultimate beer test that will bring brews from around the world together in a head to head challenge. The search will be far reaching to all corners of the globe bringing the best beer from around the world to one spot in East London, the culturally vibrant Hackney.
That’s why we will be recruiting all beer lovers, occasional fans and total geeks – to assist in our search at a series of events held at The Brewhouse across the summer of 2013. We’re selling just 500 tickets per day to this event which promises to be a modern celebration about all that is great about contemporary British craft beer.
Unlike other international beer and brewing awards the British Craft Beer Challenge will invite the opinion of the most important beer fanatics of all – you, the everyday drinker – to cast their your on your favourite beer.
In case that is not enough reason to bring the family and friends along each event will see an array of local food producers and musicians ready to provide the perfect accompaniment to a challenging day!
You’re local British brew needs you this Saturday!
Christmas may be a mere memory now but some of us are still in need of a spring clean for our body. I know I certainly do. So with spring on the way I started to finally detox myself and get in the best shape of my life. Here are some of the things I kick-started the spring clean with.
Pukka Wheatgrass Juice Powder
Wheatgrass?! Yes, I know it is very LA, but not only did it make me feel energised and healthy, but I also liked the taste. Wheatgrass is one of the most nourishing foods in the world and you can tell when you are drinking it. It just makes you feel instantly better. It is health in a glass.
Wheat Grass Juice naturally supports the body’s ability to cleanse itself due to its high chlorophyll content. It is one of the most nourishing foods in the world containing an easy to digest broad spectrum of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins and antioxidants, but daily juicing can be a real pain – who really has time to pick and juice fresh Wheat Grass every day!?
Why not try Pukka Herb’s easy-to-use Wheat Grass Juice Powder instead? Unlike many other wheat grass products available, to ensure optimum potency, we use only concentrated fresh cold dried organic wheat grass juice, and now, for the first time, it is even available in a hand handbag friendly sachet for juicing on the go!
Pukka Herbs’ Fibre Plus
The fibre plus, like the wheatgrass, is in a handy sachet. You just add it to 250ml to water and you are good to go. It doesn’t taste as good as the wheatgrass but still leaves you feeling cleansed. It is a brilliant idea and has a lot of goodness in a condensed form.
Overindulging rich foods and alcohol can often result in indigestion. Pukka’s powerful new Fibre Plus sachets can help alleviate your digestive dramas. Containing a powerful blend of soluble and insoluble organic fibre blended to support and maintain a healthy and regular digestive system, its high fibre content lubricates the bowels, heals inflammation, and replenishes gut flora.
Clean Greens
Drinking this just gave me energy. Instantly. It made me feel healthy. I am inspired to buy these in bulk along with the wheatgrass. You can read below to find out exactly what it does, but I swear by these now. They just leaves you feeling cleansed and healthy. I have been trying to find a natural way to get more energy and I really think I have found it. They get the Frost thumbs up.
Alkalises & Oxygenates: Helps carry oxygen to the blood.
Mineralises: Minerals in these super-green foods help reduce food cravings.
Detoxifies: Removes unwanted substances causing stagnation, congestion from the body channels, organs, tissues and cells.
Reduces inflammation: Reduces inflammation throughout the digestive tract and liver.
The chlorophyll rich ingredients in Clean Greens helps carry out all of these vital functions and acts as a potent food based antioxidant that is intended to reduce premature ageing and bring you lasting vitality.
Pukka Herbs are available from Amazon UK and health stores.
After looking after your insides it is time to give your skin some attention.
As Jameela Jamil lands her dream job presenting the Radio One chart show, she also reveals the secret to her glowing skin and guess what?… It doesn’t cost a bomb!
Jameela credits the Dr Organic Manuka Honey Skincare range to her glowing skin and when asked what her top beauty tip is, she describes how “I throw on my Dr Organic Manuka Honey Rescue Cream, and go about my day”. She also loves the Dr Organic Manuka Honey Skin Lotion stating: “It smells so delicious I could eat my face!”
Dr Organic’s Manuka Honey Rescue Cream provides deep nourishment to skin leaving it feeling protected and intensely hydrated. Apply a small amount to the face, gently work into the skin and enjoy the gorgeous scent of Manuka Honey that will leave your skin silky and soft. Available from Holland & Barrett.
White Tea
Super healthy white tea is best brew for 2013 detox
Health-conscious shoppers have began searching for healthier alternatives to the morning caffeine hit or post-work pint.
This ‘detox January’ trend has driven brands like Tetley to launch green tea ranges, plugging the health benefits that the lower-caffeine and antioxidant-rich alternative to black tea is known to possess.
But east London tea entrepreneur Joe Kinch is backing a different, whiter horse – he knows that white tea is the perfect way to kick-start a healthy 2013.
Packed with antioxidants that boost the immune system, improve brain function, and can help prevent diseases like cancer and heart disease, and with very little caffeine, white tea is green tea’s healthier younger brother.
Both white and green teas come from the same tea plant, Camellia sinensis, but white tealeaves are harvested at a younger age than green tea leaves.
Because white and green teas are treated gently and not overly processed, they retain most of their beneficial antioxidants. White tea is the least processed of the two, as it isn’t fermented at all, but is simply steamed and dried. Since white tea is less processed, it retains a higher amount of antioxidants.
The antioxidants found in white tea have many health promoting properties from boosting cardiovascular health, helping to lower cholesterol, and enhancing weight loss.
In fact, a 2009 study by Kingston University and Neal’s Yard Remedies, found that white tea not only boosts health but can also combat age-associated wrinkles and other signs of ageing.
While green tea contains around 20g of caffeine, white has around 15g, making it perfect for people trying to avoid the less pleasant side effects of too much caffeinated stimulation.
White tea is considered rare and is usually more expensive than green, as it can only be hand picked during a few days of early spring and has to be handled with such care. But Joe’s Tea Co’s is set be the first tea company to make the health benefits of white tea available to the average Joe. Health-conscious shoppers can get a box of ‘Whiter than White’ online or in Harvey Nichols’ stores across the UK for less than a fiver.
Joe Kinch, owner of Joe’s Tea Co, said:
“I’ve been drinking white tea this January as I returned to work after a few days of over-indulgence – I hope people embrace it for its great flavour and super health benefits!”
Pharmacy-assured bespoke vitamins at the click of a mouse
A new way of taking vitamins has been launched which will change the way millions of people can access this important part of the health market, using innovative new daily vitamin pouches.
thrivevitamins.co.uk tailors the supply of vitamins to the user’s own lifestyle and brings pharmacy assured service to the online marketplace.
The service, established by retail expert Alan Beesley and pharmacist Brian Duggan, with support from Peter Batty, the chief executive of one of the North of England’s largest pharmacy groups, provides a personalised 28 day supply of vitamins unique to the customer’s own lifestyle and health and wellbeing needs.
The daily pouches instil a regimented approach to taking vitamins, which is both convenient and portable.
Using state of the art robotics, alongside the company’s professional experience in pharmacy and e-commerce, the vitamins are sealed in convenient teabag sized daily pouches, each printed with the customer’s name and the contents.
Brian Duggan said: “Prior to the launch of Thrive Vitamins, the marketplace could not cope with the requirements for individualised vitamin programmes, but we have developed a system which learns about the customer and recommends vitamin plans to suit their lifestyle.
“Rather than a bottle of one specific supplement, such as Zinc, the bespoke packs contain the mix of vitamins needed at regular intervals, meaning the service is efficient, removing the over-selling of products, which are in excess of the customer’s needs.”
Alan Beesley, who created the Thrive Vitamins brand, said: “We wanted to provide a more convenient, personalised service to compliment a customers lifestyle. So, we created an easy way to ensure customers receive the supplements they need, when they need them and in handy daily dose pouches.
“Our team includes pharmacists, retailers and even has a former member of the Royal Logistics Corps, whose organisation skills were utilised for 13 years ensuring the British Army had the equipment it needs. All together, we have developed an unique, professional and simple system which we believe will be popular with individuals and families alike.”
I met Vanessa in the City. She is fashionable, warm, friendly and passionate. I came to interview her about her amazing site for women in the City: wearethecity.com. A place where women can find help and advice with their work, life and careers.
Vanessa Vallely: “There are three core values that I had in mind when I set it up that hold true. One, that we provide a platform for female entrepreneurs to get their products to market on the basis that it fits into our members’ demographic. We do that by taking away hefty advertising fees for them and to give female entrepreneurs a bit of a leg up. We are also a conduit to charities to get to high net worth women. We will actively promote any network or any organisation that is free that will develop skills for women. So probably 40% of what we do on the website falls into that value set, that is really important to me.”
Frost: First of all, what are you wearing? You look great.
VV: “I am wearing a Britt Lintner dress with my normal Gucci shoes and scarf. She is a fantastic designer. She set herself up a couple of years ago doing dresses and managed to get her collection into Harrods, although she’s taking some time out because she’s raising some small children.”
When did you know you wanted to go into business?
“I left school at 16 with just a couple of GSCEs and headed out into the city with 15 pence and a bag of ambition because I wanted to change my lifestyle and my mum’s as well. We come from a very socially and economically-challenged background, so I knew that I wanted to be successful, I knew that the financial district was two miles away from where I lived and that was where I was going to start.
“I actually realised I wanted to develop the website three years ago due to my frustration with not having a site that covered everything in my life. There needs to be a bit of lifestyle in there because let’s not hide it, I am a woman. I need to eat, I need to have my hair done, I need to find a dentist. But I also wanted to upskill myself outside of my corporate environment, so how was I going to that?
“Women’s networks, courses I could go on – for me it’s frustrating. If I Googled that information, I would spend hours on the internet. I wanted to find it all on one site so my husband said, ‘Why don’t you create a website for women?’ and we built it together.
“So that’s when I knew that I wanted to work for myself. I love my corporate job and run the website outside of work.
“My aspirations in 10 years time are to be the CEO of a charity, because I do a lot for charity still.”
Tell me about being a Pearly Queen?
“It has been in my family for 100 years. The Pearly Kings and Queens were started by an Orphan called Henry Croft and he used to sew buttons on his suit, he was a rat-catcher in the markets.
“If you think about London 100-odd years ago it was still markets, no superstores or anything. So he used to hang around the markets with the costermongers who were the apple sellers. They used to sew buttons on their suits and were called flash boys.
“If the costermongers were down on their luck, their entire family was affected if someone was ill. There was no social security then, so he used to raise money in the markets for his fellow orphans. Eventually he was so much in demand, he couldn’t be at all the markets, so he made head Pearly Kings and Queens of each of the 20 boroughs of the London of the time and they’d raise money for individuals in that borough. My granddad was pearly King of East London and he passed that title to my father and my father passed it to me.
“I have been a Pearly Queen since I was three years old. I was Pearly Queen of Hoxton until this year when I gave that title to my 11-year-old daughter and I have taken the City of London from my dad. So we still go out and put our buttons on for various charities. I don’t quite sing and dance the way I used to, but it is a lovely part of London heritage and we are as famous as the Chelsea Pensioners, so why not do it? The fact that I have a profile in the City helps because it could die out with people getting old.”
I read that you could see the city from….
“I could, from my tower block window. I lived on the 18th floor and could see NatWest tower. I used to say to my mum, ‘I am going to work there one day and I am going to change how we live’. My first job was in that building.
I drive past there now and I look up at that tower block and I think, That’s where it all began’. We were broke half the time. There were lots of people with challenges and me and my mum were one of them, but bit-by-bit we made it out through sheer hard work. Most of my childhood was spent going to school and then cleaning betting shops until 11 pm. I don’t know if my mum still has it, but I think there’s a picture where I am holding a mop that is bigger than I am. I still love to clean – mopping and stuff like that.”
Was it hard getting to where you are now? Any reinforced ceilings?
“Yes, in the City I was different in a time when diversity wasn’t really appreciated. I didn’t speak the right way, I didn’t look right, and had a bit of an attitude. I was quite precocious and quite a forceful individual because I wanted to get ahead. I never had a college network to back me up, I never knew anyone, so I had to fight my corner a little bit harder.
“There were individuals who I worked for along the way who told me I can’t do what I have done. They said I’ll never succeed or I’ll never cut it or I’ll never get that job. I love people like that because they fuel my fire and I love to say to them, ‘Well, actually, you were wrong’.”
It’s all connections isn’t it?
“Absolutely. And I spent the past six years building those connections, not just for me, but for other people. I find people jobs, I mentor, I connect businesses, source providers. I spend probably 30% of my week connecting people to others. That’s why my strapline is ‘Make The Magic Happen’. They can go off and do stuff together. They call me a ‘contentpreneur’. I enjoy doing that and enjoy hearing about what other people have done as a result, because I feel like I was part of it.”
I heard that you were the most connected women in London….
“I do know a lot of people. I do agree that there are only three degrees of separation. I can get to most people if I need to. But I don’t call on favours often. I only call on them when I need them. I am more likely to be found giving favours or doing stuff for other people. That’s my model and I enjoy doing it.”
What do you think made you successful?
“Passion and drive. But also I open most conversations with, ‘what can I do for that person?’ and I think what you end up with is thanks. You are good to other people and they want to help you back. Also volunteering for things other people didn’t want to do. People would say, ‘oh, I don’t want to do that’ if there was a project that was really messy. I was the first one with my hands up, because I think you learn so much as a consequence of being in a mess, fixing it, and getting yourself out of that mess.
“I have always volunteered for projects that other people don’t want and for things I don’t necessarily have the expertise for. There are things I have worked on when I’d have to come home and study. I would read books and call on my network, saying, ‘Can you help me understand this stuff?’. I am not a hugely academic person, but I get things done and I have people skills. I get along so well with people. I think if you approach it a certain way, then people will help you.”
What do you think about the global economy?
“I think we’re in a tight space. I think we have been in a tight space since 2008. You look at what happened with the banks out there, Northern Rock and stuff, it has had a knock-on effect. It’s wider now, it’s countrywide, Portugal, Greece, Ireland.
“I think it’s a tough place to be. I think it’s a tough time for businesses, but I also think tough times are the best place to grow sometimes. You are starting from a very low point. I think there are people who will thrive as a consequence, but we have to watch what we are doing. It’s difficult. It’s difficult for public services, schools, I mean I do a lot of work within charities who have had their funding cut. I think the whole world is feeling the pinch. It’s a scary place to be.”
What was the original idea behind Wearethecity.com?
“It was my frustration that there wasn’t really a website for women. There wasn’t something that showed me a one-stop shop where I could make a change. There are now 20-30 charities that we promote and we have over 200 writers.
“These are girls that have never written for publications before and are amazingly talented. Some of them want to share their experiences and they are writing about a myriad of things, those problems that women face in their careers, life, childcare, elderly care, career aspirations, setting up a business. We are giving them the opportunity.
Wearethecity has grown from being a website that was built on an £8 a month web builder tool that anyone can get off the internet to a website that gets a million and a half hits every single month.
“Let it be noted that I have not done it on my own. There wouldn’t be a me without my husband. He built the website, he is the technical person, he has a full-time job, he believes in the power of women, he believes in me and it is a very supportive partnership. That enables me to do what I do. It is shared responsibility. Yes, when the kids are away we have an argument about whose week was more important, but he is a massive support, I couldn’t do it without him.”
How do you juggle kids with a career?
“Again, it’s a tough one. The kids come first. They have to come first. You have to spend quality time with them and it is quality time. I get up at 5:30 in the morning, generally I am pulling letters out of school bags, I write a few cheques, and I get prepared. I have a childminder that comes at 6:30, I literally hand over as I am walking out of the door. I get into work at 8:45 and I do my full day job. I see people, I do work on wearethecity on lunch breaks or after work, so I don’t mix the two.
When I am here in work, I am here in work. I do my emails on the train. I get home at 7. I see the children, the childminder goes. We tend to do a lot of quality stuff. We go to the theatre and we travel a lot because we live in quite a middle class white area and I grew up in the culturally mixing pot that is Hackney. I don’t want my kids growing up thinking the world is flat or white. I want them to have an appreciation of different religions and cultures. We cook a meal from the culture that we are visiting and then we travel there.
“My kids have a huge world map, probably three feet by two feet, that I bought them a few years ago. Every year, we choose two countries and then we go through a process. They do a little project, we talk about it, we cook a meal and we go. My kids can navigate Heathrow airport, Gatwick, Stansted like you would not believe. It has helped them to grow up. I want them to be the kind of individual who would see a person properly, for what they are, not what they look like or what their beliefs are. That is very important to me.”
Do you think the City is a good environment for women?
If you think of where we came from in the last 40 years, from being able to vote and stuff like that, I still think it is sad that we have to celebrate en masse when a women gets a board position. I would rather that was the norm.
“I also think women in my position should be role models and mentor these women because we need to build the next generation – that next pool of talent – or we’ll never get women who are ambitious enough to get onto boards.
It’s a good spot for women. The young girls that I talk to are coming out with different dreams and aspirations, with a ‘why can’t I?’ attitude, which I like because I think women should continue to push boundaries and I fully support that.”
What advice would you give to other women in business?
“Don’t take no for an answer. Try to remove the emotion. With some things that happen, it’s very easy to get a bit deflated. They just have to dust themselves off, get up and keep trying.
“Networking is one of the most important tools. Meet people, even if you can’t see an immediate need for your business. You never know when that person’s name is going to come up, so spend a lot of time networking with the right peer group. Keep those relationships warm, don’t be transactional, keep in touch even if it’s not a close contact. If it’s a peripheral contact, keep in touch every six months. Drop them an email saying. ‘I thought of you’, that sort of thing. That is massively important.
“Don’t give up. If you have a dream in your head, think about, ‘How do I get there?’. You may be back at the start and your dream is two miles ahead, so how do we get to mile one? Who do we need to help us to get there? What do I need to learn?
“Visualise that short-term goal, but keep the long-term one in mind as well. You just have to keep pushing on. It’s not always easy. I’m not perfect. I had times when I put my head in my hands and thought, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Or when I want to give up, that network around me are the ones that give me the push. You need to push on. That is what I give to my network now.”
I know what you mean, I have times when I think, ‘I can’t do this’.
“But then one of your friends will be strong and they will say, ‘Yes you can’. Then they might have a moment. I think it’s a fantastic time for women, and again, if you hang out with the right set of women who support women, it’s a fantastic place to be.”
It was Madeleine Albright who said there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women [Vanessa finishes the quote with me]
Absolutely. And she’s spot on. She said a lot of profound things. She is one of my women that I aspire to. She’s amazing.”
It is an annoying myth that women don’t help other women.
“I can honestly say 99% of women I associate with are absolutely supportive. If we don’t make a difference, if we don’t support other women, if we don’t tell young girls that they can do it, and influence and navigate….
“I don’t think a woman should ever change her make up. I look back at the pictures of me early in my career and I look like a guy, I have a pinstripe suit on. The only thing that says I am feminine is my hair and a bit of make up, because that’s how I thought I needed to be. In order to succeed, I needed to be one of them. I needed to be a ball breaker, I needed to be, ‘I don’t care. I’ll sack that one and I don’t care’.
But you know what? I am absolutely proud to be a woman. Unfortunately, women get labelled very easily, so if you are outspoken about something, you are having an emotional breakdown. If you react to something in a certain way: you’re sensitive, so it is very easy to slap a label on women, and I am like, ‘Why can’t my outburst be described the same as yours? I have a label and you are just being seen as being passionate. There is no difference.”
It’s like that quote: a women who has an opinion is a bitch, but a man with an opinion is strong.
“Exactly. A man and women can say the same statement and people will go ‘Ooh!!’ to the woman and with a man they just say, ‘Alright’. They see things how they are and won’t bat an eyelid. It is easy for women to be labeled and it’s a shame, it shouldn’t be that way.”
The 10th anniversary of Lovebox at Victoria Park, East London was a bloody amazing day. I went on Sunday and here are my highlights.
Chic
Nile Rodger’s is responsible for most of the greatest songs since the 1970’s and Chic had all of Victoria Park dancing and singing. At one point thousands of muddy, tipsy Londoners were all singing ‘Like a Virgin’ in unison. A moment I will always remember.
Sam Sparro
Performed with a peacock headpiece and wearing a black suit. He took the blazer off to show a corset. He was an amazing performer. Brilliant songs, great stage performance and during his rendition of his classic ‘Black & Gold’ he jumped into the crowd and rocked out to his own music. Possibly the coolest person EVER.
The Rapture
Brilliant live.They do the Misfits theme tune. You will know their songs even if you don’t know them. Everybody loved them.
Chrystal Fighters
I have never heard of this band before but they ROCKED. Search them out. They are brilliant live. When they came our and started drumming everyone was grooving.
Chaka Khan
Was amazing and had the whole crowd singing ‘I’m Every Women”. She had the most powerful amazing voice and came out singing into a gold diamante microphone. In my short-sightedness I thought it looked like an ice-cream initially.
Lana Del Rey.
I have no idea why Lana Del Rey was on the second stage. She is a stunning and original performer and pretty much everyone made their way to the stage to see her sing. She captivated the entire audience and even came off the stage to shake hands with festival goers. She is just as beautiful and stylish up close. A true superstar who has been unfairly attacked for being wooden and not being able to sing in the past: none of that is true. She has style and substance.
Grace Jones
Was Grace Jones. She gave an amazing, out of this world performance and brought the house down.
My only gripe is that you cannot bring food or drink into LoveBox with you. There is also no re-admission. The food can be quite pricey but there is everything from salads to Ostrich burgers. Lovebox is the full festival experience without the camping.
A lot of people on Twitter said that they were not at Lovebox because they couldn’t afford to. Hopefully next year the economy will pick up and all of London can experience a music festival without leaving the greatest city on earth. Luckily I won tickets at the Sure Maximum/Handpicked Media event.
In the film Payback Season, actor, director, writer and BAFTA-Orange Rising Star award winner Adam Deacon plays the lead role of Jerome Davies, a young man who has risen above his harsh beginnings of life on a council estate to achieve celebrity status as a premier league footballer.
Adam describes the role: “Jerome is living the high life, he’s got the lovely car, the penthouse flat, but fundamentally his family are still living on a council estate, and he has to go back there. I think Jerome’s dilemma is trying to balance his old life with the new life. Old friends start appearing and before you know it he’s involved in extortion. Jerome has tried to leave that life behind him. For me, it was really nice to play a ‘normal’ character; I wouldn’t call Jerome humble, but he’s just trying to do his thing. I also enjoyed playing a character who spoke proper English,” he laughs. “I am not playing the typical ‘d’you get me Blud’ thing, we were actually asked to tone it down.”
“I think it’s a great story as well, you don’t often get to hear about what happens to people on the other side, and I am sure this sort of thing goes on…it’s a great part to play especially after Anuvahood. It’s also nice to get a romantic role, in some of my films I get a girl, it all goes wrong and I’m gone, so it was really good to have a proper romance for once, and Nichola is a lovely girl as well,” he says.
“I definitely believe it’s a story that needs to be told; I am strong believer in films having a proper story, it’s no good just having a kid running round with guns and knives, we have to start thinking out of the box”
Deacon is currently writing another comedy film. “I made a lot of films last year for other people, and this year I have kind of got my heart set on an Adam Deacon film,” he laughs. “These are exciting times.”
Deacon has come a long way from his Stoke Newington School where he was deemed “a joker”, his natural antipathy to academia exacerbated by the “madness” at home. At 12, noticing his enjoyment of music and drama classes, his head of year suggested he apply for the weekly after-school course at the nearby Anna Scher School. He took a Saturday job to pay for a preparatory summer school and was immediately fast-tracked on to the course by Scher herself, who he portrays as a cross between a mentor and a fairy godmother.
“She’d get the rowdiest London street kids – who were in trouble with the police and stuff – and get them to read scripts properly,” he says. “There were kids there with jobs on EastEnders but she never let anyone act starry, or do stuff for money: she wouldn’t let kids do adverts before they were 16, in case they didn’t know what they were selling. I owe everything to that woman. If that opportunity hadn’t been there for me at a young age, I might have ended up inside,” he says ruefully.
Deacon, from Hackney, East London, began acting at the age of 12. His early career included work with Y Touring Theatre Company, with which he appeared in a number of tours including Cracked by Nicola Baldwin.
Deacon made his name as the lead in Noel Clarke’s Adulthood and co-starred in West 10 LDN, a Kidulthood-like TV program made by Noel Clarke. He has also starred as ‘Bones’ in an MTV show called Dubplate Drama. His next role was in 4.3.2.1, a heist movie, released in June 2010 which also starred Tamsin Egerton, Emma Roberts and Noel Clarke, who directed the film.
Recently Adam co-wrote, co-directed and played the lead role in Anuvahood, which was released on March 18, 2011. The film is described as, ‘A pulls-no-punches, coming-of-age story centering on one directionless hopeless shotter, who finds his true worth in the face of urban adversity.’
Adam has featured in various music videos including; Bashy’s “Who wants to be a Millionaire” and Chipmunk’s Chip Diddy Chip. He is also a musician and musical performer most noted for his two tracks on the soundtrack to Adulthood. The tracks are: ‘Adamhood’ and ‘On It 08’.
His television roles include The Boarding School Bomber and more recently The Royal Bodyguard starring David Jason.
