I moved to Sheffield from London two years ago. I absolutely love being back in the north and being part of the thriving music scenes in Sheffield and nearby cities Leeds, Hull, York, Nottingham and Manchester where I am often shooting gigs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m a music photographer and am currently on maternity leave but hope to be back shooting music after summer or when things resume to normal after the current Covid-19 crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year I worked on some cool projects like the photo book in IDLES \u2018Live at Bataclan\u2019 album and worked as part of the official teams at Latitude and Reading Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AF Gang also keeps me very busy, we started as a space for IDLES fans to meet but it has grown into so much more. With over 25,000 members it has become a safe space for talking openly about mental health and supporting new music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We recently launched a website www.afgang.co.uk which includes a 10 track weekly playlist #KINKYLINKY<\/a> curated by our members, a merch store and we have just started interviewing bands. The first being Sheffield based grunge rock trio Nervous Pills<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been lucky enough to have my hands on a copy of IDLES album number three<\/a> so that is currently on repeat in our house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I discover new music in lots of different ways. Often through shows I\u2019m shooting at indie venues and also through people I know and work with in the new music scene, whether that is fellow photographers Carolina Furolo<\/a> (London), Shitshow Dave<\/a> (LA) and Kevin W Condon<\/a> ( New York) and also promoters such as Bad Vibrations<\/a> and Felix White from Yala Records<\/a>, they always seems to put great bands on so it\u2019s always good to see who they have playing as they always seem to give hot new bands their first shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Especially now I\u2019m at home on maternity leave , Spotify and things like Bandcamp are how I will often first listen to a band, but will always buy records to support bands that I love. We do have a cd player in our car though which is where we listen to all the 00\u2019s indie classics when we driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I\u2019m on maternity leave with a 12 week old baby I am home a lot so that\u2019s where I listen to music. I do go running and listening to music whilst running is one of my faves as you can really lose yourself in an album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I find new music through bands that I work with, through recommendations from AF Gang members and also Steve Lamacq\u2019s 6 Music show<\/a> is key for new music as he seems to champion all the kind of bands that I love! Working in the industry I will often get sent music directly from bands and also form PR\u2019s and managers pre release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I get a lot of links in e-mails and don\u2019t always listen to them, if I get sent a link to something and I have heard of the band through somebody I know I will have a listen, for example two friends of mine who have a similar music taste are Lisa Wright<\/a> at DIY Magazine and Rhianne Thompson<\/a> (BBC Music Introducing), if either of them mention a band I will definitely listen to them as they know their stuff when it comes to new music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For me a link to stream is ideal as it is easy and instant, realistically I never actually download files and add to iTunes, which I probably used to do a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Often just through creating playlists, and for me if I like something new I will often just play it on repeat so there\u2019s no forgetting it! For instance I played Talk Show\u2019s Fast and Loud<\/a> about 500 times when it came out last year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n As a music photographer when I shoot a new band and share photos on Instagram this will be my way of sharing my new faves, also AF Gang is a huge community and if there\u2019s something I love I will share it on there, as will all the other members sharing their new tips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until I went on maternity leave I was managing Yowl from south London, I worked on their latest EP release \u2018Atrophy\u2019 with Scott Lewis from Clue Records<\/a>. He is the biggest champion of new music in Leeds and works with so many great bands. The \u2018Atrophy\u2019 EP is pure genius, they are one of the best bands in the UK right now without a doubt, this EP really shows them for their incredible lyricism and songwriting. Their live shows also are pretty crazy so I can;t wait to see them again live after the current Covid-19 crisis is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat are you listening to?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you discover new music?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What formats do you usually listen to? LP, CD, Cassette, Digital, Streaming Services and why?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Where do you do most of your music listening?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you find and listen to pre-release music?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are your frustrations with listening to music digitally? Any benefits?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you keep track of everything you are listening to?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Do you tip other people off to new music? How?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Anything you want to \u201cpromote\u201d?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n