July - the month of food.

Eva's fabulous sushi and prawn rice rolls xxx

This (was) going to be a fairly short entry because I have SO much work to do at the moment. You know those times when sleeping feels like a waste of hours...

But before I forgot I wanted to put up a foodie blog post because I'm really excited about food again.

First up is a huge thank you to the diva don, Eva Lazarus for showing me the basics in Japanese food - I watched her whip up a feast in under an hour. What witchery is this...?

I had to try.

WaterSky in Eastville is good for sushi rice and seaweed wraps.

Sushi rice is easy to cook - (1 cup rice washed, top with 1.5 cups water, splash of rice vinegar and salt, bring to boil and turn heat down till all the waters absorbed. Turn off and leave stand for 10 mins)

While the rice was doing its thing I prepped far too much veg - be warned.

Mine aren't perfect but I was happy as a first attempt!
Dipped in duck sauce- NOM!

Then I put down a dishcloth, topped with a layer of clingfilm, and then the seaweed wrap. Spread on the rice evenly leaving roughly 1cm around the edges (in hindsight as you can see from the pics I got a wee bit over-excited with the filling, you really don't need much)

Then, wrap! The good thing about the cling film and dishcloth is it makes the rolling easier and leaves you with less clearing up after because the towel catches it all!

The next weekend I was craving pizza, which is rare but I know when it comes to wheat it's a slippery slope.

Enter... Sweet Potato Pizza crust (click link for the recipe) Oh. My. God. I can't actually explain how much I love this. I would go so far as to say I prefer it to regular pizza.

I got the recipe from Blissful Basil and adapte by using spelt flour instead of gluten free flour (because I didn't have any) and cornmeal instead of almond meal - but the results were still amazing.

Finally, a fabulous friend of mine gave me tickets for Grillstock. I wish I could say I tried the best pulled pork in the land...but in honesty I was only there for De La Soul .

I wasn't in the best of moods, but the energy they brought to the stage was infectious. I don't think anyone could have left feeling down. When you see performers who are there, not for money, but because they enjoy what they do it shows hard work and dedication can get you anywhere xxx

Song For Sandra

I would be surprised if you haven't heard the name Sandra Bland over the last few days.

Facebook has been rife with youtube videos, first of a clearly edited video of her 'arrest'.

Then an unedited version that showed just how unnecessary the whole ordeal was in the first place.

And then, possibly the most heartbreaking, her videos.

I can't express with words how deeply this has cut me, and people everywhere. This woman was not a racist, she was not aggressive, she was not a yob, she was an activist.

And she spoke the truth. And then on her way to a job interview she was pulled over, treated like shit, and reported dead three days later.

I have cried for her. Since the coroners inquest came back confirming a 'suicide', I haven't been able to think about much else.

So I wrote this for her. I wrote this song for Sandra because her life mattered. All life matters.

Rest in Peace Sista xxx

Friday Fuckery

White or Black?

Something happened this morning which has the high ability of ruining my day. I do not want it to ruin my day because it's just another occurance of every day racism. Normally I would brush it off, use it as an anecdote to laugh about ignorance - and not let in the hurt that comes with having to define and defend my heritage in regular day to day life... But I'm not going to do that this time. Because it's these small, insignificant, thoughtless acts that make it blindingly obvious that everyone is NOT seen the same.

Today I was filling out a form and I was working my way through it when I saw the ethnicity box. Tick whichever applies. I didn't tick any, because I don't feel like declaring my ethnicity is ever relevant. The woman behind the desk comes over to me and says she can't register me until I tick a box, so I tick White British and Black African. She comes back again and says in a very slow voice, "Yeah, you can't be both." 

I look at her. Avoiding my eyes she starts stuttering, "Well, what are you? I guess you'd be more black wouldn't you. I suppose you could tick white... But what are you, half and half?" and with that she signals towards a tiny box at the very bottom of the form that says 'other ethnic background'.

Now, some people will read that story and be filled with immediate rage (which I personally am still trying to shake off) whilst others will think, 'what's her problem? It's just a form, fill it out properly and she wouldn't have to ask you twice. Stop making a fuss'. So I'm going to break down that story from my point of view.

Firstly, I have been reading a book called The Pigment of Your Imagination: Mixed Race in Global Society (follow the link to Amazon - it's only £2!) which is one of the most relevant books I've read in an incredibly long time. An American woman travels to Britain, Kenya, Nairobi and Jamaica to talk to interracial couples and their mixed raced children about what race they consider themselves to be. I could talk about this book for days but for the sake of not rabbiting on I'll highlight one part. Joy Zarembka, the author, speaks to someone about what race they consider themselves and the woman says, (paraphrasing) "I do not define myself as a race, as an act of defiance whenever I get a form where I have to declare my race, I either tick no box or two, because I am not half of anything. And what business is it of theirs?"

As soon as I saw the registration form - this came to the forefront of my mind and I thought, what business is it of theirs? Will they treat me differently or file me differently if I declare myself white or black? I don't want to categorise myself for other people anymore, why can't I just be a human being? It may seem like a small activist act but, we all have a part to play. So I didn't tick the box.

When she came back and told me I had to tick a box I was annoyed because I always thought those boxes were voluntary but apparently I was not going to be given the service until I told them what ethnicity I was so I ticked White British and Black African because that is what I am. Not even going into the long list of White options that were listed - six in total - before the two options of Black African and Black Carribbean and how highly dismissive of culture that is, I thought OK. I caved. But at least I tried.

Then for her to come back a third time and tell me that I couldn't be both. I couldn't be both?

My hilarious parents

Just take a minute to think about what that means to me, or any mixed heritage person, for a second. This was a registration form that has to be filled out for help and I've been told that I cannot get a service unless I disregard one side of my heritage. And then for her to suggest and almost tick the Black African box for me (because I'm too stupid to do that myself) just showed her complete lack of understanding of what she was asking me to do. Eventually after a frankly embarrassing interaction where I stared at her and she made herself look even more foolish, she decided I would be better put in the 'other ethnic background' which was right at the bottom of the page. I didn't even see it when I first looked at the form.

As a 'race' us mixed folk are the fastest growing group in the world. Shock horror, it's true. Now as far as I'm concerned, unless you're an incest baby EVERYONE is mixed race. But for the sake of this, we'll consider mixed race as coming from two different racial backgrounds. So WHY is 'my' box at the very bottom of the list, why does it have no acknowledgment of my culture and why is it named other?

Like some reject spawn.

I am not an other. No-one is an 'other'. 

It may seem like making a mountain out of a molehill to some but the time is now. The time to start climbing that mountain is now. Because things are going to get worse before they get better, and by pretending a problem doesn't exist we are only prolonging the damage that is being done every day through casual racism.

LSTD 2015

I cannot believe how long it's taken me to write about Love Saves The Day. In my defence, I was up in Birmingham getting job training for the  month and only managed to shoot back for the long weekend before going back again - the fun never stops!

I have to say, I didn't manage to reach nearly enough on Saturday purely because I was working/knackered, but I did go down to get a lay of the land and prep my bearings. Had I of been attending as a punter, I wouldn't have bought a ticket for Saturday...and that would have been a mistake. Although Sunday had more of my kind of music in the billing, the vibe was undoubtedly better on the Saturday.

People generally felt a lot more willing to talk to strangers, possibly because a lot of the people I spoke to were from out of town and were there just to get involved and see where the day took them. Many a wedding was had at the inflatable circus.

Sunday was the one though, I can't lie. Sunday was Bristol's day - maybe that's why the vibe wasn't quite so happy/hype - because everyone knew each other! For me Sunday standardly started with a 'shit/fuck/bollocks' moment from myself. I'd been invited to back Eva Lazarus with fellow Afronaught Naomi Jeremy (keep your eye out for an Afronaught dedicated blog post in September...) as part of the Jus Now set.

For anyone that knows me, I am late to everything. So I arrive with twenty minutes until Jus Now takes the stage and I'm standing in the guestlist que which is NOT moving. Now, I only have myself to blame so I can't get toooo pissy about it but what upset me was that the general tickets que was speeeeeding past. When I shout conversed with friend much further up the que than me and explained I had to be on stage in what had ticked down to twelve minutes, she grabbed the first steward she saw and I was in! Thank you Gillian McKenzie - you are my saviour!

So, I ran to main stage and arrived sweaty and breathless - PERFECT conditions for singing. It was SO much fun though. The audience swelled from 40 to 200 at least in the space of ten minutes. On. Point.

After that I pretty much ran around catching people to interview and taking notes on all the different
acts I was seeing. It was exhaustingly exhilerating and I had no idea I was knackered until I hit a wall at 3am in the middle of motion. Body. Spent.

Here were my general notes for anyone that cares...

LoveSpecs:

Introduced to them by Eva, they are AMAZING. Even better, Miss Jess Farley glittered me up proper festival stylleeee - Blue Avatar vibes. Babe. Check her Instagram: @jessfarley

Raleigh Ritchie:

Haven't seen this guy in a hot minute apart from when I'm watching Game of Thrones with new people and happen to 'causually' drop into conversation, 'Oh yeah that's Jake, I went to school with him'. He is kicking ass, taking names and still an absolute sweetheart. The energy he gave on stage was wicked, when a musician also manages to be a performer the audience connects with it so much more and woiii - peeps were going ape. Girls screamed like their lives depended on it when he jumped off the stage. Lols.

DJ EZ:

You know there are those DJ's and you know you must have seen them before but you've got no idea when/why/what music they played, you just remember it was a good time. This can be due to overindulgence... Well, I know about this guy now, soon as he started playing I was like Oh yeeeeah, he's fucking siiiick. It's all coming back to me! Banger after banger got dropped on the old skl garage/grime/erryting worth listening to spectrum. Bossed it. That was the hardest I skanked out all day until I was shuffled out of backstage for the arrival of Skepta. Peak.

Skepta:

Now I can't lie, I didn't watch Skepta live because the crowd was SO TIGHT I chose oxygen instead. But I did see him before the show when we were all skanking to DJ EZ and he looked in high spirits. Gun fingers, smiles and laughter from his crew - it's always nice to see someone genuinely enjoying the vibe.

Redlight:

This is who I chose as my nights headliner and didn't he disappoint. The bangers that you expect executed well. There was a variety of genres and the crowd was as responsive as you'd expect. I've been a fan of Redlight from long time so there's not a whole lot I can say except, he's wicked. The set was live and it prepped me well for the next chapter of Motion.

Motion passed in a wave. Don't ask me about that. So yeah, LSTD essay in it's fullest! Can't wait for next year - Eastville park is a perfect place for it, I only hope the residents weren't kept up too late and all the hippy crack got cleared away before it went back to being family friendly.

'General vibe' interviews/discussions to come. I'm collecting over the summer and will be putting them up as a a series as remembrance to get us through those winter months...

13.5 Minute YouTube binge

I can't lie, this is a somewhat lazy blog post because I've got SO MUCH TO SAY and I can't be bothered to say it right now... BUT

I'm loving life, things are going well, and I have discovered some full-blown awesomeness over the past month+

I've started tentatively dipping my toe in spoken word, found a web series that I've fallen in love with, and eventually got wise to Little Simz.

All can be viewed below...

RBMA: Lonnie Liston Smith at The Planetarium

That would be me at the entrance...Eager Beaver.

Lonnie Liston Smith. In the At-Bristol Planetarium. Literally four rows in front of me. Being interviewed by Gilles Peterson about his life in music and casually talking about working with Ray Charles and John Coltrane and so many others... What? Is this my life?

That was what kept going through my mind as I sat there bathed in inspiration and awe. The whole evening felt like a dream. You don't even know the meaning of 'intimate gig' until you're within spitting distance of Lonnie Liston. Madness.

The evening started off with a discussion between Gilles Peterson and Lonnie Liston Smith about Lonnie's career and the journey that he's been on which as a musician was fascinating in itself. He spoke about the constant need to be able to improvise because Ray never wanted him to play the same thing twice. Apparently he never really wanted to have a band but was forced to when people wanted him to start releasing his music - he had to have people to play it!

Most memorable for me though was how he painted a picture of New York in the 1960s. The evolution of jazz and funk into this new genre that was all about mind expansion and taking yourself into a new reality.

He spoke of walking into his regular record/book shop and seeing his friends in there where they would all recommend books to each other from philosophy to astral projection and how that influenced his sound.

Now I know Lonnie Liston from hearing him as a child but I haven't listened to his albums from start to finish and in some ways I was so happy of that when him and his band began to play because my God.

Having Lonnie Liston Smith and his band playing my songs that I recognized from being sampled in so many songs for the very first time in a Planetarium is something I am unlikely to forget.

I was sat right in the middle so that when I looked up all the projections felt like they were breaking on top of my head whilst this music transported me into the images.

The whole thing was a trip - even the band were looking at the projections and the build up of every song seemed to partner perfectly with the ever changing images. Sometimes intergalactic, sometimes text, sometimes shapes moving in and out of each other with 'expand your mind' being sung in the background. It was hypnotic.

When it ended and we all made our way out of the Planetarium there was not one face that did not look blissfully changed. We really had experienced Lonnie Liston Smith in a way that can't really be described (despite me trying right now) and when I went to sleep that night all I could see was stars.

For everyone screaming in frustration at missing a pow wow of epic proportions, fear not. View below for words of wisdom and an insight into Mr Lonnit Liston Smith.... Cheers then RB.

There was, of course, a standing ovation

RBMA: Kings Weston House

If you have an over-active imagination like me, you could imagine pulling up to Kings Weston Hosue, built in the early 18th century, in a horse drawn carriage and stepping out in layers of unnecessary fabric for a civilized cup of Afternoon Tea. Olde English traditional beauty, perfect for wedding receptions or filming for period dramas.

When it got billed as one of the venue's for the Red Bull Music Academy where Novelist, Mumdance and Danny Brown would be playing to name but a few I was shocked. Grime rave in a Manor House? WHAT?! Are you NUTS??

The Square

Obviously it sold out. I think everyone was interested to see how the house would end up by the end of it.

Would there be sick on the nice carpet? Graffiti on the walls? Slashed leather sofas? That's what I was picturing in my worst case scenario.

Thankfully there was none of that, everyone was incredibly well behaved.

Mumdance

I can imagine this was mainly because the rooms hadn't been overfilled and there were security everywhere. Red Bull - 1 Carnage - 0

The atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed, maybe because of this. Everyone was smiling wandering around and generally soaking up the good vibes. 

I personally didn't see any altercations which is always nice because there is a common misconception that surrounds grime. That is always comes with aggression. And it doesn't. It comes with ENERGY.

There was a lot of that in the main room (can't say I really ventured into the other room so there may have been bucket loads in there too) from the audience and the performers.

You can't stand still watching Novelist and The Square getting hyped up on stage. The energy was high to the point that the floor had to be practically mopped after every song because of drinks flying about from the room bumping.

No-one saw Danny Brown before his set. He had a pimped out caravan out the back of back stage (VVVIP) and a personal portaloo - that's when you know you've made it kids.

The tension as he walked onto stage was palpable, all the people who had nipped out for 'just one more fag before Danny' were left pissed when the bouncers blocked the door once the room was full (but still with dancing room for us inside - win). 

Understandably the room erupted as soon as Danny kicked off and the bass blasted. I tried to take videos longer than 15 seconds but the excitement levels were too high.

As was to be expected as soon as Danny left, most people left. For the ones that did stay; we were treated to some old school jams. We got some Missy, OutKast, Dr Dre - all them classics. 

Overall I'd say raving in an 18th century Manor House was one of the more bizarre concepts I've heard in a while, but definitely worth the trek.

I also remembered as soon as I got there that it was where I'd had my prom almost a decade ago!


Thankfully I didn't fall down the front steps this time...