Category: CULTURE (2022)

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Daisy Richardson

Speaking to Jamahl (Jam) Augustine in one of those healthy, overpriced cafés on a side road just off Pigeon Park, I’m curious to find out about his experiences of playing the Birmingham music scene and how they’ve changed since Jamahl started working as a musician.

“First stepping-out and being 18 and playing venues it was like… I’m the youngest here,” explains Jamahl, “In terms of now, you see more familiar faces and get to know the environment. Just getting to know people as well – locals and people I used to gig with back then.”

He adds: “It’s nice to feel that sense of development that’s come from the past five years. I’m no longer a timid 18-year-old.”

I quickly do the maths and realise Jamahl is only 23 which surprises me. There’s a clear maturity in the way he handles himself and the way he speaks – maybe it’s because Jamahl’s been at work since he was 18 rather than getting pissed-up in student digs.

What’s more, half a decade of playing professionally has given Jamahl some insights into how Brum’s music scene develops.

“It used to be that you could easily go around for a few years and not get to know someone who’s been on the same circuit. Now, everyone’s more integrated in terms of working together, even if it’s just about being at the same jam nights.’

“There’s a lot more new collaborations, not necessarily just myself, but people are out and about and it’s led to a better development of the music scene as well – because everyone’s chipping in and doing their bit.”

Jamahl takes some time to shout out people on the scene he’s personally enjoyed collaborating with like Call Me Unique, Czafari, and Lucien Moon where Jamahl plays mostly RnB, hip-hop, soul and occasionally pop. He says, “It’s the most fun to play on bass, music that’s always rhythmical or harmonically moving. There’s lots of free reign.”

Jamahl has been playing bass for a total of 10 years (five years professionally), but he also plays the guitar and picked-up production over various past lockdowns.

He explains, “they bring out different sides of each other so to speak. If I’m thinking of an idea on bass first, then I might add guitar to it, and then be like ‘oh I like this guitar part’ so I can improve the bass part.

“It’s nice to have those different creative outlets – switching up brings more opportunities as well.”

As our conversation begins to come to a close, Jamahl and I discuss working in the creative industry more abstractly. “We all have human needs in terms of how we need to look after ourselves,” remarks Jamahl, talking about the way in which musicians and other creatives care for their mental health.

“A lot of people I know personally struggle in the creative industry, they don’t have a reference point to how they should be feeling because everyone’s about the grind. But you can’t put in as much work if you’re not looking after yourself.”

I couldn’t agree more, hustle culture without respect for rest results in burnout.

Jamahl continues, “I think if people had a bit more stability in terms of having somewhere to go to work good habits into their life, and look after themselves a bit more, it’s only going to be better for the industry as well.

“People will put out better music, and be in better places to work. We need to improve the foundations that we’re building on.”

For more from Jamahl (Jam) Augustine check out: www.soundbetter.com/profiles/268604-jamahl-augustine

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographers Paul Stringer, Golden Tie

Birmingham based singer-songwriter Indigo Marshall, 25, will be stepping up to perform to hundreds of millions of people as part of the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games 2022.

The local soul and RnB star has been sparking conversation in recent months, after the release of her emotionally raw EP The Fall, which reached number one on the Amazon RnB charts back in March.

After Indigo sold out her debut show at the Hare and Hounds, featured on DJ Target’s ‘Notice Board’ on BBC 1XTRA, released an R&B ‘One Take’ with DJ Ace – as well as her interview with British rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer Lady Leshurr BEM – it’s exciting but not entirely unexpected to see Indigo Marshall on the line up for such a significant event.

The Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 opening ceremony, produced by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, is set to take place at Alexander Stadium at 7pm on 28 July, and will showcase a host of Brummie talent to an expected live audience of 30000 people and a further 1.5 billion across the world.

The opening cermony line up includes Duran Duran, a ‘dream sequence’ from Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Birmingham Saxophanist Soweto Kinch, Birmingham Conservatoire graduate and mezzo-soprano Samantha Oxborough, Joshua ‘RTKal’ Holness, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and musicians from the Royal Marines.

There will also be a special performance from a choir of over 700 voices –  featuring 15 choirs from across the West Midlands, led by Carol Pemberton and the award winning acapella quintet Black Voices.

With hundreds of millions expected to tune in to the globally televised event from the comfort of their homes around the world, Birmingham Review was keen to catch up with Indigo and find out more about her feelings surrounding performing as part of the games.

After a dress rehearsal on 25 July which was attended by a crowd of around 7000, Indigo told Birmingham Review: “Birmingham is a city full of creativity.

“People are fearless and shameless to express how they feel and do that beautifully through art,” she continued, explaining what has inspired her honest lyrics.

“My art is my music and Birmingham is my home and safe place, and those two things allow me to release my music to the best of my ability.”

It’s clear that Indigo is very proud of her community and being part of the Commonwealth Games 2022 gives her the chance to broaden her following on a massive scale.

“This is an amazing opportunity to be heard internationally,” Indigo added.

“Global reach has always been a dream of mine, and this is my opportunity. I hope and pray that I make enough impact for people to check out my music after my performance and feel that connection.”

Indigo is steadfast about taking her new platform seriously and reaching out to connect with people in her local and in global communities who are overlooked – a commitment she emphasised with her support of the Black Lives Matter movement via SB.TV in 2020.

“I get to sing to [potentially] 1 billion hearts,” said Indigo, commenting on the truly massive scale of the Games, “representing my city, women, black women, little girls, anyone with a dream, all the children I used to teach and most importantly myself.

“It’s exciting to share the stage with all the dancers, volunteers, the huge choir, and legendary musicians.

“I don’t want this moment to end.”

For more from the Commonwealth Games 2022 go to: www.birmingham2022.com

For more from Indigo Marshall go to: www.indigomarshall.com

Writer Emily Doyle / Photographers Matt Gale & Cal Westbrook

A new arts festival is coming to various independent venues around Birmingham next month. On 8 – 12 August, Bio Arts Birmingham will present BAB Lab 2022 – a week long series of workshops and talks inviting you to experiment, play, and appreciate the living world together with a range of artists, designers, and scientists in the West Midlands and abroad.

Bio Arts Birmingham is the brainchild of Laurie Ramsell, an artist who explores, cultivates, and creates living artworks using bacteria, yeasts, and slime moulds. Ramsell wants to demystify the world of bio art and build on pillars of accessibility, lifelong learning, and ‘kitchen science’.

As part of the programme a host of creatives are delivering workshops to explore these themes, and so I had to ask – what exactly is ‘bio art’’?

“Bio art is quite a challenging word,” explains Trixiebella Suen, one of BAB Lab’s workshop leaders.

“To me, it’s anything related to biology and art incorporated together. Whether it’s to create new ideas and views or to show differing ways of research and innovation working with both science and art. I’m a believer that in every type of career out there, needing to have some sort of creativity and artistic views plays a role.”

Suen is a multidisciplinary artist who questions the need to create a difference between living and non-living objects. Her practice is centred on filming and installation work including the use of plants, and at BAB Lab 2022 she will be showing participants how to make natural dyes from vegetables, flowers, and other plant material.

Biologist and artist Matt Gale comes to BAB Lab 2022 from a background as a science graduate. “I’m still very interested in biological research, so I guess it’s inevitable that it creeps into my artistic practice.”

Gale’s work spans installation and sculpture and examines queer perceptions of what is natural or normal, frequently exploring hybrid and entangled states.

I wonder what he would consider to be ‘bio art?’

“I think it was just described as ‘wet’ work originally – so art that included living or real biological materials. Feels like it’s broader now, including more conceptual work too,” Gale muses.

For BAB Lab 2022 Gale will be talking about his practice cloning, and culturing wild-collected fungi. Sounds hi-tech, but it’s not all lab coats and flow hoods; “I currently do most of my lab work in my kitchen, although STEAMhouse has some great facilities in their new building so I’m hoping to work there more now.”

Also taking the week in a fungal direction is illustrator and model maker Cal Westbrook.

“When I was at school, I enjoyed biology but was not a ‘science person’,” Cal explains, “however, my venture into the world of fungi has become an evolving body of work; the delicate, transient quality lends itself to fabric manipulation. It’s a vast subject. The link between modern science, historical knowledge and folkloric tradition is very interesting.”

“I have always worked with soft sculpture, manipulating fabric into 3D pieces. This has manifested in puppets, dolls, objects, and natural forms. I love using the technique to create ‘fake’ specimen forms such as fungi, plants and veg…”

“I started making fabric fungi after finding an unusual clump of saffron yellow fungi in my garden. Since then, I have been spotting fungi in all sorts of places – not only woodland and natural settings but more urban environments, creating drawings and 3D pieces. Fleeting, delicate forms pushing through into the urban landscape.”

For BAB Lab 2022, Cal will be demonstrating craft techniques to create a menagerie of fungi as wearable soft sculpted art. Participants will have the chance to try their hands at making parasol mushrooms, fly agaric or amethyst deceiver from fabrics and natural dyes.

Over the week of 8 – 12 August there will be five days of workshops and talks celebrating yeast, clay, fungi, plants, and the human body.

For more on Laurie Ramsell visit: www.laurieramsell.wordpress.com
For more on Trixiebella Suen visit: www.trixiebellasuen.com
For more on Matt Gale visit: www.mattgale.co.uk
For more on Cal Westbrook visit:  www.calwestbrook.com

For more on Bio Arts Birmingham visit: www.bioartsbrum.notion.site or click here to go directly to the full festival programme and links to all tickets

Writer Beth Exley / Photographer Connor Pope

For their 25^th anniversary festival, Fierce has pulled out all the stops. You may have walked past the New Street Station Key Exchange for their Key to the City Project with artist Paul Ramírez Jonas or seen projections by Clube Até on the façade of BMAG. I’m about to attend one of many workshops Fierce Festival is running for their Healing Gardens of Bab project: Duckie’s ‘Princess Picnic Promenade.’

Fierce Festival has long been a staple of Birmingham’s vibrant art scene. Every two years since 1998, Fierce transforms Birmingham with a series of performances and interactive experiences that challenge our perceptions of the city, promote intersectional politics, and celebrate queer identities.

Arriving at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, I’m a little bit stressed out. We’re running late because I had a last-minute change of heart about my outfit – the information page says to ‘dress posh’ and I don’t want to disappoint. However, as soon as we get to the gates, we’re greeted by a lovely steward who eagerly jogs over to check our tickets and show us where to go.

Forcing my partner to power walk has paid off. The evening is yet to begin and I can start to chill out for a moment.

Walking down onto the grass, I look around – I’m glad I changed into a slightly more extravagant outfit. This is one of the best dressed groups of people that I have ever seen. We take a seat close to the front and open up our classic picnic snacks, volunteers produce accessories, hand out maps and chat with us about the evening ahead – I’m particularly inspired by one’s beetroot necklace.

Also, I’m amazed by how tame the roaming peacocks are as one tries to pinch a bit of bread from the group sat next to us, they really add an air of elegance to the location.

Without warning, an open-sided truck arrives and slowly drives around the side of the crowd. Within sits Bird la Bird in a fabulous regency look. Her face is painted white and her hair is piled high as she sits atop a London bus with the slogan ‘Make Britain Georgian Again’ printed on the side.

She’s surrounded by stacks of scrunched up toilet paper and a comically large loo seat, whilst wielding a toilet brush – clearly visually laying out her thoughts on Britain’s royal history.

Bird’s act sets the tone for the whole event. It is one of the two specifically scheduled performances that the audience has to see, and she does a great job of getting us up to speed and in the mood. Deftly explaining complex topics such as colonialism and intersectionality in a way that is both fun and accessible, and completely accurate, Bird ensures we all understand the context for the evening’s performances.

Racing through a history lesson on the botanical gardens, queerness, and the British Empire (cracking some hilarious jokes as she goes) Bird explains the way that working class, queer, and non-white individuals have been excluded from places such as the Botanical Gardens in the past. So tonight, the aim is to allow everyone to have the full, Georgian experience of the space.

Before sending us off to explore the gardens, Bird finishes her set with a switched-up version of Rule Britannia, and has us all singing “Cruel Britannia/ Britannia hates the gays/ especially the inconvenient ones who misbehave.” After this, we are free to roam the gardens for the next two hours and discover all the different acts.

I walk past the bandstand and see part of Jaivant Patel’s act. They’re veiled and dancing to songs from Indian Cinema. The veil speaks to the hidden nature of queer histories, and specifically the way Queer South Asian people have been erased from history, despite having such a rich and vibrant culture pre British Empire.

I decided to make my way down to the rock pool and Cameron Walk at the bottom of the gardens. Walking through the space there’s a man dressed in a vegetable embellished courtier’s outfit playing the cello, and mysterious ‘frisky’ soldiers wander around, seductively glancing at you but never speaking.

There’s a level of absurdity woven into the fabric of the event, emboldening it’s queer charm, which is heightened by the fact a sixth-form prom is simultaneously happening in the Botanical Gardens.

I keep giggling, thinking about how the whole affair must look to a secretly drunk 17-year-old who doesn’t know anything about the event.

Down at Cameron’s Walk we arrive just in time to see Kieron Jina’s performance. Dressed in an incredible white leather ensemble with generously fringed sleeves, a mask, and some of the tallest platform shoes I’ve ever seen, Kieron struts down the makeshift runway dancing and brandishing their fringed sleeves towards the onlookers. They make eye contact with me, stop (right in front of me) and drop down into a squat.

I’m struck by the artistry and call them beautiful, they then ask if they can give me a hug and instruct me to stand before embracing me. It’s intense but a really special moment, and it’s an honour to be involved in some small way in the art.

After Kieron’s performance ends, I wander off to find my next sight and find E-J Scott in the bamboo maze. I’m handed a Georgian themed Wank Mag which contain jokey magazine segments about history, interviews with cast members, and a whole range of joyful erotic images of queer people, presenting their bodies on their own terms.

It is an exceptionally aesthetic publication, and as we wait for the crowd to filter in, Scott explains that the Wank Mag is the product of two years of historical research, in which he and many others went into public collections in British museums and libraries to attempt to uncover objects and texts relating to queer identities, of which they found a whole lot.

Scott takes to a ladder to tell us about one historical figure he has researched – Princess Seraphina, an 18 Century woman who was assigned male-at birth, and attempted to sue a man who robbed her of her clothes after an amorous encounter in some bushes behind a pub.

In the court documents, she was referred to as Princess throughout and addressed using her preferred pronouns. It’s an amazing story about the earliest known British transgender person, and Scott uses it to illustrate that we can confidently talk about queer historical identities, because they did and do clearly exist.

E-J Scott is a fantastic and captivating speaker, and the talk comes to an end with him encouraging us to go have a shag in the bushes.

It’s about 9.20pm and I begin to realise I’m not going to have time to see all of the remaining acts (timing is clearly an issue for me this evening.) It’s not long until we come across Tamir Amar Petter and Felix Mufti, who are erotically fencing with each other whilst wearing jock straps and sheer shirts to a hauntingly ethereal cover of Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl.’

Finally, I get to Francesca Millican-Slater who is hidden away in the herb garden. We heard big laughs coming from this way whilst watching the fencers, so I’m expecting big things.

Francesca sings about plants and flowers whilst we sit on the grass, then they launch into an incredibly powerful speech about plants, trees, and female pleasure – exploring the links between them, breaking it up with some audience participation with one audience member crawling under their large skirt to find the clitoris.

In my second act of audience participation of the evening, I am invited to the front to hold Francesca’s skirt up, exposing the clitoris to the crowd, whilst they explain it to the crowd.

It’s truly bizarre, but also hysterical.

I’m gutted the evening is coming to a close, as I think this is the most I’ve ever enjoyed an event.

For the final act, Ginny Lemon (one of my all-time favourite drag performers) takes to the stage in a Queen Victoria inspired get up and sings the mournful ‘Heaven Have Mercy’ by Édith Piaf, using loop pedals.

It’s quite different from anything I’ve seen Ginny Lemon do before, it’s an absurd way to wrap up the performances. Which makes perfect sense for this event.

The truck returns to close the show, this time it is filled not with toilet paper, but the entire cast of Duckie’s ‘Princess Picnic Promenade’. Bottles of prosecco are handed round and sprayed into the crowd whilst music blasts and everyone dances. It is a joyful and communal way to end a unique evening, and I’m grateful I got to share in the experience.

Fierce is evidently a brave and exciting organisation with a vibrant and provocative programme; the ‘Princess Picnic’ Promenade, and indeed the Hanging Gardens of Bab project as a whole has illustrated to me that they are one of the most important features of Birmingham’s art scene.

It is the perfect way to create and present art alongside the upcoming Commonwealth Games, raising questions of empire and colonialism that are intrinsic to the existence of the Commonwealth, but that aren’t likely to be raised in any great depth within the games themselves.

Bravo, Fierce Festival, I can’t wait to see what you do next.

To find out more about Duckie see their website here: www.duckie.co.uk
For more from Bird la Bird go to: www.birdlabird.co.uk
For more from Jaivant Patel go to: www.jaivantpateldance.com
For more from Kierson Jina go to: www.kieronjina.com 
For more from Francesca Millican-Slater: www.francescamillicanslater.co.uk
For more from Ginny Lemon go to their Instagram @ginnylemon69

For more from the Birmingham Botanical Gardens go to their website: www.birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk

For more information about Fierce Festival visit their website here: www.wearefierce.org

Writer Beth Exley / Photographer Sarah Maiden

The upstairs room at Missing Bar is a small but sparkling gem in the heart of Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ community. A baroque style ceiling covered with cherubs and sunset-hued clouds arches over my head and a pink, glittering ruched curtain hangs behind the stage in a nod to traditional theatre spaces, but much more camp.

It feels like the perfect space to host Not Just A Gentleman’s Club – an evening of drag, striptease, and comedy built around the theme of gender, sexuality, and empowering identity.

I arrive quite early, but the room is already packed and buzzing, the performers are mingling amongst the crowd allowing glimpses of the gorgeous outfits we’re about to see on stage, building the excitement and anticipation for the show which is due to begin. The crowd is also surprisingly varied, with attendees of all ages and identities sat around the tables reflecting the wonderfully inclusive make up of tonight’s cast.

Shortly after taking our seats, we are greeted by Dominus Von Vexo, the creative powerhouse behind House Of Allure (the acclaimed burlesque, cabaret and drag Birmingham based collective founded in 2017) who co-produced tonight’s show with Locques La Roux.

They immediately offer us a free glass of prosecco and I happily accept, appreciating something to sip whilst having a little shoulder boogie to the sexy noughties bops and 60s classics playing through the speakers.

A short while later, the host, Locques La Roux takes to the stage with assistance from performers Mimi and Penny Dreadful to give us a rendition of ‘Friend Like Me’. As a host, Locques is incredible right off the bat.

Dressed in a sailor’s hat, white trousers, and nipple covers, he gets the crowd warmed up and comfortable with a little bit of audience participation and some silly one liners that set the tone for the night ahead. He then welcomes the first act, Ashanti Gold, to the stage for a 1960s themed burlesque performance.

Ashanti is electric and her costume is great. As she performs her striptease, she exudes confidence and fully embraces her sexuality in a way that is truly captivating.

She is followed by the brilliant Lolita Lash, who performs a lip sync and dance number to ‘Dance Ten, Looks Three’ from A Chorus Line, thrusting their balloon breasts at the audience and gaining big laughs.

Next to take to the stage is Manly Mannington from Bristol. The look is impeccable. One half of his body is dressed hyper-femininely in a carnival outfit, whilst the other side is incredibly masculine.

Manly deftly explores gender identities, shifting his mannerisms perfectly to embody the masculine and feminine roles, illustrating the performative nature of gender expression– it’s a one-man duet.

In the final performance of Act One, Peaches Munroe treats us to a deeply funny song entitled ‘Yes All Men’, which has both me and my boyfriend in absolute stitches due to the lyrics and Peaches’ hilarious facial expressions which really sell the performance.

I don’t have to wait too long before Vinca De Fleur mounts the stage dressed as a teapot and I know off the bat that this is going to be one of my favourite performances of the night. Spinning a narrative about a teapot that isn’t sure if it wants to be a teapot whilst stripping off layers of the costume to reveal more and more surreal undergarments. The teapot’s dilemma is silly on a surface level but, once again, speaks perfectly to the show’s overarching theme of gender identity.

At about the half-way point, Locques La Roux returns to get the audience a bit more involved. He moves through the crowd, selecting three pairs to come up on the stage. I’m avoiding eye contact as I’m a bit too shy for individual audience participation, but honestly, I wish I’d volunteered because the game looked like so much fun. The pairs are given a loo roll and two minutes to create a wedding dress look; some attempts were better than others, but each couple looked like they were having an absolute blast.

After the excitement of the wedding dress game, Penny Dreadful is back at the front of the room with a burlesque number as the aging Vegas showgirl Lola, from Barry Manilow’s ‘Copacabana’. Penny is a delight to watch on stage, she’s energetic, funny, and sexy – three words which seem to describe House Of Allure perfectly. Peaches Monroe closes the second act with more powerful burlesque which also plays with and questions gender through their brilliant makeup artistry and compelling dance moves.

I grab another glass of red wine in this intermission, and before I know it Locques is performing to MARINA’s ‘Bubblegum Bitch’, dressed as Violet Beauregarde from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, wielding a can of whipped cream. It is every bit as amazing as it sounds. Locques is quickly followed by second striptease performances by Ashanti Gold and Vinca De Fleur, both of which were equally as fantastic as their first appearances.

The show is coming towards its end and the audience are merry; you can tell by the increased volume of the cheering for every act. Dominus appears on stage dressed as Yzma from The Emperor’s New Groove, complete with a full face of purple makeup and towering hair feathers. I am blown away by the artistry of the look.

They then launch into a wild medley of scenes from the film, Eartha Kitt’s ‘Want to Be Evil’, and Nancy Sinatra’s ‘These Boots are Made for Walking’. As a huge fan of The Emperor’s New Groove (one of the most underrated cartoon films in my opinion) this performance blows me away.

To close the show, Manly Mannington comes back to the stage to perform his award winning Black Girl Magic burlesque routine, which sees him mounting Locques for a lap dance and appearing as a superhero. The act is unapologetically black, sexy, and powerful.

It is a really incredible way to close for one of the best shows I’ve been to this year.

Not Just A Gentleman’s Club is such a positive, welcoming and free flowing space that it feels amazing to spend an evening in the company of its brilliant cast. After the show ends, I feel warm and full of love and admiration for these performers and the audience who have been so supportive throughout the night.

I truly can’t wait to get to another House Of Allure production.

Not Just A Gentleman’s Club – Sarah Maiden

For more information on House Of Allure visit www.instagram.com/_houseofallure_ 

For more events at Missing Bar visit www.missingbar.co.uk