Deep in the bowels of The Nexus Art Café in Manchester’s Northern Quarter lies one of the city’s best kept secrets. Every day, multitudes of people meander past this unassuming building on Dale Street unaware of what’s awaiting their discovery inside one of its dusty backrooms.

Visited so rarely that the only indication of its existence is a website and one signpost above a door, The Manchester Zine Library isn’t exactly something you’d find in the tourism guides. So what exactly is this place?

In 1976, Manchester was at the heart of the UK punk explosion. Local bands like Joy Division were thrust into the spotlight on the back of Sex Pistols mania. The city was a sudden swarm of emerging punk and post-punk bands, bringing with them what was effectively their own subculture.

“Punk wasn’t just about music, it was about people participating and there was a lot of energy,” explains Dave Haslam, journalist, DJ and famous face on the Manchester music scene. Some of this new-found energy was channeled into something other than music: fanzines.

Fanzines were independent, handmade publications containing features, reviews, photography, poetry and more. Generally, these fanzines were created by those involved in the scene but not necessarily making music themselves. A lot of the time, these ‘zines’ – as they are now known – were cobbled together innovatively with off-cuts from existing magazines.

‘City Fun’ was one of the first, most notable examples to be found in Manchester, copies of which are still dotted around the zine library today and archived online. That said, City Fun was merely a trendsetter for the huge influx of fanzines that followed. “There were early fanzines like ‘Shy Talk’, ‘Ghast Up’ and ‘Girl Trouble’,” recalls Haslam, “these would be sold at gigs but just ran for a few issues and were mostly about music.”

Haslam himself played a significant role within the movement, running his very own fanzine for a number of years. It is likely that without embarking upon this venture, Haslam would never have landed a journalism job at The NME. “I made precisely no money from it but it was my first cultural intervention,” he recalls, “[my fanzine] ‘Debris’ was both the least financially successful but ironically – in all other ways – most valuable thing I’ve ever done.”

As the years went by, fanzines became much more than just a novel way of capturing the essence of the punk scene. They began to encompass many different cultural areas. Some believe that football and reggae fanzines were being circulated long before punks adopted the idea. No longer were these folded paper treasure troves solely there to feed the appetites of music fans.

A vast number of these publications can now be found strewn around inside the mother of ‘organised mess’ that is The Manchester Zine Library, with new ones being added on a day-to-day basis. Over the past few years the city has seen an increase in the popularity and demand of brand new zines covering more modern aspects of underground culture. But why now?

“The new zines have the same desire to participate as the punk generation but aren’t really music-oriented,” says Haslam, “I think the generation who got into their late teens in the 1990s and early part of this decade got a bit tied up in corporate nonsense and digital design as the best thing ever.”

He believes that those getting involved in the new zine uprising are using them as a way to escape or rebel against the lack of personality in a world of mass production. He continues, “the next generation that came along wanted things a bit more independent and quirky, weren’t so in thrall to online and digital and like the handmade and the limited edition.”

According to Haslam, the most appealing aspect of zine-making is that anyone can do it without the need for money or publishers. “They are very grassrootsy. You don’t need cash or anyone’s permission; you need imagination and desire. Manchester’s a good place for artistic and inspired people to network together and create a bit of an alternative to the mainstream. There’s just enough of us.”

Someone with a slightly different experience of independent publishing and the Manchester zine scene is comic book artist John Allison, who started his career online.

Although not directly linked to the zine world, John attended the Zine Dreams Fair at The Manchester Art Gallery back in 2012. This was an event hosted by Dave Haslam himself which showcased already-established zines alongside other, up-and-coming publications.

“I don’t find the creative community in Manchester particularly go-ahead,” the Sheffield University graduate and well-known ‘webcomic’ creator explains, “the people who succeed – or even try – all seem to be total one-offs and self-starters. There’s a lot more drive behind making artisanal ruddy hamburgers than great comics.”

Allison shares a somewhat less enthusiastic view of the music legacy left behind in the city. “Manchester has a huge chip on its shoulder,” he claims, “it’s still a heritage industry of The Smiths and The Stone Roses and The Hacienda, museum pieces are further away from us now than the Beatles were from World War 2.”

Although holding this slightly controversial opinion of the city’s music culture, there are still plenty of similarities between Allison and zine writers from then and now. “I got into comics because I didn’t want an office job and figured that this was something I was enthusiastic about and could maybe do,” he recalls, “I have no idea why I thought I could do it. At the time, there was very little competition in webcomics and so I was able to develop at my own pace.”

One positive thing he achieved by living in Manchester was being able to afford the upkeep on his home at the same time as trying to make a name for himself. He says, “I was only able to make a career for myself as a comic artist because my overheads were low. I live in north Manchester and the low cost of living meant I could have a house with space for a studio and not starve in the early days. If I lived in London – or really anywhere desirable in the south – I couldn’t have done that.”

Dave Haslam pins the cause of the increase of independent publications and zines partly on the internet, whereas Allison believes that the internet is an essential tool for promoting your work and achieving an audience in this day and age. Many modern zines now have a website accompanying them, some even swapping handmade publications for a purely online presence.

Thanks to his own web presence, Allison is now able to publish printed feature-length comics and sell them in independent book shops both in Manchester and further afield. “My first book was full colour and glossy,” he recalls, “which no one else in small press seemed to be doing at the time, but I had enough readers of my work online to be able to sustain something like that economically.”

Despite being grateful to the internet for it enabling him to fulfill his dream, Allison much prefers having his work published in a physical form. “I don’t like reading on screen,” he reveals, “I think the internet is distracting. There are things about the Internet, about the way people consume things on there, that I don’t like, but I know I wouldn’t have a career without [it].”

Much like zines, the popularity of comics comes and goes in phases. Comics, alongside nerd culture, were prevalent in the eighties, although they seem to be making a comeback in recent years. This may be down to the popularisation of things like internet memes which were once confined to the weird and wonderful corners of the web.

When speaking of comic book trends in general, John Allison believes that although comics lack substantial influence in modern times, there are communities out there working to keep the culture alive. “The comic industry doesn’t have anything like the hold on people’s attention that it did in the 1980s”, he says, “yet there are still proper shops that people can go to to buy these things. I think the sense of community is a big part of that.”

Allison’s full-length book series ‘Scary Go Round’ can be found prevalently in the Traveling Man comic book and board game store in Manchester. Unlike some of the larger chain stores such as Forbidden Planet, Travelling man is more prone to showcasing fringe and underground publications.

So other than the zine library, what places or events can be found in Manchester which are helping to keep these scenes alive? Allison admits that there are not many left, although he does try to get involved as much as he can.

“There was a monthly Manchester Drink And Draw but it was a strange sort of event,” he recalls, “a few artists would turn up but they tended to be put off by other people who came who just wanted to talk about Marvel comics or Transformers. Some months were great, others you’d wonder why you were there. But it was run with the best of intentions.”

To some extent, Allison blames this lack of interest and togetherness on the fact that even the more alternative parts of Manchester have now been overrun with tourism and trends. “There are so few ‘alternative’ areas that haven’t been co-opted by the mainstream,” he explains with displeasure, “comics and zines, at the fringes, are still something most people in the UK don’t like the look of.”

It is questionable as to whether or not the zine and comic scenes can be kept alive in Manchester. Although they are seen by many as countercultures, there is a danger that they could either become too adverse and die out, or suddenly find themselves the ‘in’ thing and be absorbed by the mainstream. Many of those involved would much rather remain on the fringes and continue to go against the grain.

Is it really a bad thing that places like The Manchester Zine Library remain untouched by the masses and act as ‘havens’ to those who are in the know? The answer could go either way. Haslam believes that there are two types of people within these kinds of cultures; those who want to shout it from the rooftops to influence society in any way they can and those who like to keep themselves to themselves.

“People who feel creative and maybe unhappy with the mainstream culture in some way always have a yearning to either hide away or to try to make a difference,” says Haslam, “as I always say, what I like to live by is the idea you make your own culture.”

Despite a distinct shift in content between zines published in the 1970s to now and a decline in the mainstream popularity of comics since the 80s, the reason people create them still remains the same. Haslam sums this up perfectly:

“I think zines start when people are determined to have their voice heard, by creative people willing to put themselves on the line and express themselves and, in the modern era, by people who aren’t bewitched by the internet and see something handmade as being of value.”

Perhaps, then, the fact that places like The Manchester Zine Library are so rarely visited and known to exist by few isn’t such a bad thing after all. “By its very nature,” concludes Haslam, “the [Manchester] zine scene is small, under-capitalised and hidden away, but so many of the best things in the world have to be searched for!”

Twitter during tragedy: a blessing or a curse?

Like many, I was first alerted to the bombing incident in Boston, Massachusetts yesterday thanks to Twitter. The event itself is an undeniably tragic one, the loss of any innocent life often is. The planting of two bombs in order to cause needless death angered me to begin with, but it was the immediate aftermath of social media frenzy that really got my blood boiling.

Less than an hour after the bombs were detonated and the mercifully small – yet understandably devastating - number of fatalities was announced, people took to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in a way which only proved the naivety and lack of accurate information there is to be found on the internet.

The first thing I noticed after the initial wave of breaking news was a large number of people retweeting one image in particular.  A photograph had been taken at the exact moment of one of the explosions in which a lone figure can be seen standing on a distant rooftop. The speculative captions that accompanied this image from random members of the public who weren’t even present at the time were almost too idiotic to comprehended.

“OH MY GOD. THIS MAKES ME SICK.”

Excuse me, what? At first I was unsure as to what people were getting at, until I found more and more comments declaring this anonymous individual responsible for the atrocity. I can’t speak for everyone, but the idea that people were plucking this conclusion from absolutely nowhere was the sickening part. I searched all over for a substantial, trustworthy source from where people might have been fed this idea, but alas, there wasn’t one.

A second wave of despair swept over me when I noticed hundreds of people posting ‘tribute’ images on Instagram. In times of tragedy, it is understandable that people take to the internet in a state of shock to share their grief and support. This, I have no problem with.  What did annoy me, however, was the speed at which heavily edited images of the disaster, accompanied by the hashtag ‘prayforboston’ were being uploaded to the application.

I have never understood the need to instantly log onto you computer, edit together a photograph then hashtag it to the end of time in order to milk something for views and shares. There are plenty out there doing this in good faith, to show their support and encourage solidarity but just by looking at the kind of photographs being posted, it is clear that some people just wait for any excuse.

How, in any way, does a young girl posing in a mirror sporting the infamous ‘duck face’ show any support for the Boston bombing? Oh, I see, she’s captioned it with ‘#prayforboston’, she must be so distraught!

My next bugbear about the whole ‘internet in times of tragedy’ debacle is the use of certain images and false news. At one point yesterday, the world was subjected to the image of a marathon runner being wheeled away with half of his leg completely obliterated.

I don’t know about you but there is something not quite right about that. If we wanted to see images of people’s limbs being blown off we would take to Reddit, not the recently censored world of social networking. In a time where people’s lives have been ruined, do they really need their mangled limbs to be shown off to the world?

False news came in the form of two rumours. One, that a member of a terrorist organisation had been detained following the incident. No, no they had not. Nowhere on earth was there an official statement confirming this and yet far too many were quick to believe it. President Obama was equally quick to dispel this information, declaring that so far, they have no leads.

Sadly, it has now been confirmed by a number of news sites that a boy as young as eight was one of the fatalities. Mere hours before this, a photograph of a little girl running the marathon went viral – particularly on Facebook – accompanied by an explanation of how she was killed. Just another example of the public’s damagingly wrong conclusions.

Finally, I would like to turn everyone’s attention to those who passed comment on the lack of sympathy towards those who were killed in a bombing in Iraq the day before. It is disappointing that something like this had been so under reported in comparison, but at the end of the day, people have to be aware of how the news works.

Atrocities like the one in Iraq are committed all too commonly, eventually so much so that they fade away from the front pages. News works in cycles. At the moment, news from the middle east of ongoing conflict has been somewhat shoved to the back of the pile. Could this be something to do with the lack of English or American people involved? I can only speculate.

Events like the one that happened in Boston yesterday are extremely rare. However bad this may sound, the masses and the media are always going to be drawn towards the more shocking and the more personal. We can only hope that one day, social networking will be a much better place when it comes to providing the world with more accurate,  appropriate sources of ‘news’.

Luke Ferris (third from left) with ME’s original line-up

Following my review of their gig in Manchester last week, I was able to catch up with the lead singer of ME, an Australian band bringing their own style of flamboyant, theatrical rock to Europe.

ME concluded the UK leg of their headline tour in Coventry on Monday with a special club night gig. This was the first time the boys had come over to the UK as a headline act, with the intention of promoting their newly-released, debut album Even The Odd Ones Out.

In the months leading up to the tour, they returned to Australia for the summer season to play alongside big names such as The Killers and Red Hot Chili Peppers at Big Day Out festival.

“We only got to England three days before our tour,” Luke Ferris explained over the phone on Wednesday, “we didn’t have that much time to recover from jet-lag and whatnot. I was fine but the other guys in the band were a bit worse for wear! We went straight out onto the road after being in London for two or three days, we’ve just been trying to get back into a routine.”

At the time of this interview, Luke and his band mates were staying at a friend’s house, where they were in the process of writing new material.

“It’s non-stop at the moment,” he told me, “we’re going to do some demoing and recording pretty soon. I would hope that we’ve written thirty plus songs by the middle of the year so we can start recording our second album later on this year.”

It was no surprise to learn that the band wanted to get stuck into writing their second album as soon as possible, as it took a number of years for them find the perfect conditions under which to record the first.

“We were an independent, self-funded band and we had quite a big vision for ourselves,” Luke said, who has been providing vocals, guitar and keys for the band since they first formed back in 2008, “we didn’t want to do half-arsed recording because we wanted something big and grandiose.”

Eventually, they found what they were looking for and signed a contract with London-based record label Lizard King Records. They spent much of 2011 recording Even The Odd Ones Out in the unlikely location of Kent.

When asked whether or not he found it difficult to adjust to the British way of life, Luke laughed and recalled, “it wasn’t hard at all. We were big, big fans of British music and we thought our sound might go down a bit better in Europe. I love the cold weather as well!”

Relocating to the UK from Melbourne meant that the quintet had to start from scratch in terms of building up a fan base. “We find the further we go north we get a really good response,” Luke revealed, a fact which seemed quite surprising, as the band were predominantly based down south.

He went on, “in Glasgow and Manchester they seem to love their live music. We’ve played a handful of times in Europe and it’s been really good over here.”

Showing fans how much they are appreciated is important to ME, who spend a lot of time before and after shows chatting with them.  “It’s very important to meet people who are supporting our music,” Luke explained sincerely, “they’re the ones who keep us going. They’re the ones buying albums, merch or coming to the shows. I think it’s really important to get out there, say thank you and keep that connection.”

No matter the location or capacity of the venue, ME’s attitude towards their performance always remains the same.  “We don’t really care what size the venue is we just go for it!” exclaimed Ferris. “We’ve had a 25-piece drum troupe on stage with us before, brass orchestras and guest violin players.  We really enjoy sharing the stage.”

Their flamboyancy leaks into their style too; the band are often noticed for their impeccable dress-sense, which I found out is a characteristic present both on and off the stage. Ferris described his suited and booted look as “the way [he] happened to look anyway.” He went on, “it’s my everyday wear really, it works well on stage and goes well with the image of the band.”

It was this comment which prompted me to inquire as to whether or not their hit Rock and Roll Dandy was written ironically about themselves. Ferris admitted this question had cropped up in the past, but explained that the song was written about a band they went on tour with. He insisted, “it’s just a story, there’s no truth behind it or anything. I was just fascinated with dandy culture at that time so I decided to put it down in a song format.”

As if they hadn’t traveled far enough already, Luke revealed to me during the conversation that they were planning to re-locate again before the end of the year.

“We’re actually off to Germany this weekend. We’re going to be living over there. We’ll come back to the UK for festivals and some shows but things are going well in Germany at the moment, there’s some good opportunity for us. We don’t really have anywhere to live at the moment!”

The impression I came away with after my interview with Luke Ferris was that ME are a very ambitious band with a clear sense of adventure. I asked him what advice he would give to bands out there who wanted to broaden their horizons in the same way that they have. In true ME style, these were his dramatic final words:

“I’d hate to get to a point in my life where I had regrets. You’d have to live with that for a long time. You never know what’s going to come up and you never know how things are going to turn out. Just go for it, what’s the worst that can happen?”

Albino Gorilla played well to the small but appreciative crowd

Support: Albino Gorilla + Dead Seas

The minute I set foot in Dry Live I bumped into Luke Ferris, ME’s lead vocalist, whose polite and talkative nature was apparent from the start. I knew from this alone that I wasn’t going to regret trudging into town for this gig without company.

When inside I was pleasantly surprised by the venue. I had never been to Dry Live before, which is effectively a small room with a stage located beneath Dry Bar on the outskirts of the Norther Quarter.

I always enjoy gigs in a more intimate setting and I was quick to realise – as the first band took to the stage – that you couldn’t get much more intimate than this.

Local Manchester band Albino Gorilla hadn’t made much of an impression on me when researching them the previous night. That said, they really proved that seeing a band live can often change your opinion. Their eccentric front man belted out some great rock vocals. There was just the right amount of screaming in there too.

For such a young band, they certainly knew what they were doing – I was particularly drawn to the quality of sound being produced by their lead guitarist. It’s not often that a lesser-known band can get away with playing a set of original material and make such a good impression.

In a room containing no more than sixteen people, they played a mix of ‘regular’ rock and songs “with a bit more bollocks” (as the vocalist put it!). Whilst listening I found it difficult to compare them to other bands out there, but is that really a bad thing?

Next up was another local band who go by the name of Dead Seas. Again,  I can’t say that I had been excited by them when previously venturing onto their SoundCloud.

They had a more traditional indie rock sound and the lead singer seemed to be channeling Noel Gallagher – a typical Mancunian! Weirdly though, a couple of their tunes actually reminded me of The Memory Remains by Metallica, not that that’s a terrible thing for me.

Much like Albino Gorilla they were down-to-earth, fun performers and I particularly liked their closing track Stop The Ship.

The room filled up enough to be at half capacity by the time ME took to the stage. I really felt for all the musicians that night, as all three bands deserved a much bigger turn out. Having said that, a small room of close friends and dedicated fans is always better than a room full of people only there for the sake of it.

ME opened their headline set with one of their most well-known singles, Naked, taken from their newly released album Even The Odd Ones Out:

The first time I saw ME live last year I was struck by their stadium-sized presence. To my relief their showmanship was just as flamboyant and entertaining the second time around.

They were almost theatrical, reminiscent of Queen in style and sometimes in sound. Imagine a dressed-down Panic at the Disco crossed with a less arrogant Muse and you’d be half way there.

The way that Luke Ferris used his mouth to create unique, sometimes eerie sounds and how their bassist Michael Godde strutted about on stage with no shoes on really did it for me.

They have a multitude of hits, including Vampire! Vampire!, which has a real Gothic edge to it. Their single Rock and Roll Dandy is a real indie rock gem and if I had my way it would never be off the radio.

Towards the end of their set they played a couple of slower tunes, which weren’t my favourite. I got over this pretty quickly when the percussion kicked in again and, after all, every band needs a ballad or two in their repertoire!

For their final song they they pulled out all the stops, swapping instruments during ‘Westward Backwards’. By the end of their set they even had a few fans dancing together by the front of the stage.

After the show I picked up a set list which all the members of ME kindly signed when I spoke to them after the show.

These pleasant Melbourne lads thoroughly deserve to make a name for themselves here in the UK and if you ever get the chance to see them live you’ll come away understanding why.

Connor works with elite gaming company Machinima Respawn

“I was just like most teenagers. I was brought up in a nice family, got whatever I wanted and lived in a good area. I took life for granted, but I am not ashamed.” These grounded words came from the mouth of 19-year-old Connor Flintoft as he reflected upon the past four years of his life. Back in 2009 this average, happy, teenage boy received some news which would not only alter his life, but change his entire outlook on it too.

“Around my fifteenth birthday I started having problems in the toilet area,” he described to me in the politest possible way, “I didn’t think anything of the blood in the toilet but there was a lot of it. It was probably because I didn’t want to think anything was wrong.” Despite burying his head in the sand, it was his mother who eventually convinced him to seek medical attention.

After a few weeks, there was no improvement and Connor was referred to hospital for a colonoscopy, with suspected ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease affecting the large intestine, unlike its well-known brother Crohn’s disease, which affects the smaller.

According to Crohn’s and Colitis UK, between 6,000 and 12,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Unfortunately for Connor, that year he was one them.

Crohns.net states that as many as twenty percent of patients with ulcerative colitis will have had a close relative receive the same diagnosis. Although it was horrible news to receive, it didn’t come as too much of a surprise, as Connor’s own mother had suffered similar problems in the past.

Initially, Connor used humour to deal with his diagnosis, but it became harder and harder to ignore the seriousness of his situation as the illness progressed. Connor explained frankly, “when I was first diagnosed I spent a lot of time talking to my consultant and the other doctors, but to be honest I took it all as a joke. I guess I didn’t want to accept that things had to be different.

“It was only when I had my first flare-up that I knew it was serious, I’d never felt pain like it and I was practically bed-bound. This gave me a lot of time to think about my life and what it was truly about.”

One of the treatments offered to Connor was a course of Corticosteroids, a form of steroid tablet commonly used to treat colitis in its early stages. Unfortunately, taking these presented him with a number of new health problems and side-effects. Not only was his health deteriorating but now Connor had to deal with drastic changes to his appearance too.

“Sadly one of the side effects [of the drug] is what is called ‘moon-face’. This is when you get water-retention in your face, so my face became really fat and puffy.” Although Connor’s colitis responded well to this treatment, it wasn’t long before the pain returned and things continued to get worse.

“You can’t be on steroids for a long period of time so once I’d finished my dose, I’d usually have a flare-up as my case was very severe,” he told me, “I’d have to live with ten to fifteen toilet trips a day and terrible agony in the abdominal region.”

As Connor was still losing a lot of blood every time he went to the toilet, he developed anaemia which caused him yet more discomfort. He was left feeling constantly tired and short of breath. “Something as simple as walking up the stairs felt really stressful on my body.”

At his worst, Connor was making regular trips to hospital for blood transfusions, but it wasn’t just his health that was taking a hit. Thanks to the debilitating nature of ulcerative colitis, Connor’s school life also began to suffer.

The more time he spent away from school the lower his grades became, and when he did attend, his lack of ability to concentrate meant that learning anything was almost impossible. Towards the end of year eleven it became clear that he would be unable to complete higher education at his school’s sixth form college.

“I had to miss a lot of school”, he lamented, “It’s a shame because I really liked school and although at first it was awesome to have the time off, it was when I started missing friends and teachers that I got really sad.”

Just when he thought things might have settled down, it was then discovered that he had developed abnormally large polyps in his bowel. It was at this stage that the decision was made for Connor to have surgery – a drastic measure saved only for the most serious cases of ulcerative colitis.

His large intestine was removed and a stoma was created which – as explained to me by Connor – is when “a little of the small intestine is put on the outside of [the] body until the rest of the inside heals.” It is unusual for anyone of Connor’s young age to need surgery of this kind.

If Connor had not had the surgery, however, it is likely that his bowel would have become blocked and subsequently ruptured, leaking the contents into other organs inside his body. This would almost certainly have resulted in death, the prospect of which still scares Connor today.

Thankfully, after the surgery things started looking up. During the worst stages of his ulcerative colitis, Connor found something to help take his mind off his illness and fill some time when he was unable to attend school.

Playing video games is something that most people would see as a common, unproductive way in which many teenage boys spend their time. Connor had always taken an interest in playing games, but it was only in the four years he spent fighting the disease that it became something much more than a hobby. Gaming became his coping mechanism, a way to get him through the boredom he was presented with on a daily basis.

He began making video game commentaries and ‘walk-throughs’, then uploading them onto the video sharing website YouTube. In gaming terms, a walk-through is when you explain to a third party exactly how to complete levels or ‘missions’ within a game, usually by explaining it visually.

Thanks to the amount of time and effort he put in to making these videos, it wasn’t long before he became popular as a YouTube ‘gamer’, receiving his fair share of attention from people all over the world. As of today he has nearly 8,000 subscribers on the website – a number which is growing from day to day – and has uploaded almost 300 videos since joining in 2007.

In the past couple of years Connor has secured a partnership with Machinima, a YouTube network responsible for providing a variety of entertainment videos surrounding the subject of game-play.

Being associated with this company means that he is now earning a commission based on the number of views his videos generate and the number of clicks adverts on his channel receive. He is a member of a growing community of YouTube members who are able to make a small income based on their uploads.

Connor is now a director for Machinima Respawn, an elite online group that produce some of the best gaming videos on YouTube. Arguably, without being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and needing an outlet for his boredom, Connor may never have been presented with this opportunity.

He now has hopes that his growing online status will allow him to continue in his passion for gaming and one day build a career based around it.

As for his illness, at nineteen he is now well on his way to recovery. The disease which had plagued him for so long was finally fully removed in 2010 and it is likely he will only need a further two operations in the future.

Although he still lives at home, was unable to get what he wanted out of school and has spent much of his teenage years in and out of hospital in severe agony, Connor has been able to turn his harrowing experiences into something positive.

Connor concludes the story of his physical and emotional battle against ulcerative colitis with one sentence, he is no longer the naïve young teenager he once was who took his health and happiness for granted. “Because I almost died and had a lot of time to think, I realised that life can be turned around and ruined in the blink of an eye. So now I pretty much just cherish everything.”

Sneak hard at work

MANCHESTER based street artist Sneak is used to dealing with the negative connotations surrounding his work. Specialising in a form of art called Wheatpaste, he risks a criminal record every time he creates something new.

Wheatpaste art involves hand-drawing an image onto craft paper and gluing it onto a wall using a mixture of flour, water and gelatine. Sneak has been practising this form of art for eight years now.

“I’d been doing traditional drawing for years and I thought, what can I do with these drawings that is a bit more interesting? I decided I’d start sticking them outside. It’s fun! It’s accessible as well.”

Much of his work highlights some of the first world problems we face on a daily basis, “It’s a sort of social commentary. I don’t pick a hot topic and think, I better try and do some work on that. The worst thing you can do is trap yourself into a topic you don’t know a lot about.“

Sneak attended college in his home town of Blackburn before enrolling on a visual arts course at Salford University. “It was cracking! We’d make loads of work but it had to go somewhere and [Manchester] was a really good backdrop. When I started, I wasn’t taking it seriously and about five years ago I just thought, this is what I want to do.”

So what was it that appealed to him when it came to displaying his work on the streets? Sneak explains, “the best thing about putting work outside is that for as long as you have it, it’s yours. But as soon as you’re finished and you walk away it doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to everybody.”

Wheatpaste, alongside graffiti and ‘tagging’, can be seen as vandalism in the eyes of the public and the authorities. Sneak agrees with this view to some extent when it comes to certain types of art in the city.

“I was walking up the road today and there was someone’s tag along the wall. Some guy had sprawled his name in a really nice circle and I thought, aesthetically it looks good to me but it’s totally ruined this bank on the side here.”

Like many street artists, Sneak chooses to avoid revealing his identity. He does reveal, however, that he uses his nickname to create a trademark for himself, not just to avoid trouble with the law.

“I’ve had this nickname since I was about thirteen. When you do this kind of thing it’s almost like you’re a brand. It’s not like you want to be, but you’re constantly pushing this name. There’s no secrecy, it’s not exciting enough! It’s not like I’m out fighting crime at night!”

He also enjoys the idea of strangers not being able to pre-judge him, “I do like that if someone doesn’t know who you are then it’s only your work that can be judged.  If you know who somebody is you’ll attach your opinion of that person to their work.”

Despite scattering his work throughout Manchester’s city centre – the Northern Quarter being one of his favourite haunts – Sneak keeps himself to himself when it comes to the Manchester art scene.

Sneak’s art on display in Manchester

“I’m not really that connected with [the Manchester scene] but at the core of it there’s so much great stuff. It’s a bit untapped, Manchester. There’s not really a massive art scene any more. That’s a bit depressing but in the same way, anyone can have a go.”

In the past, Sneak has displayed his work at various venues alongside other groups of artists, but hasn’t done an indoor exhibition in over a year.

“The last one [I did] was in Altrincham. We just assumed that because we’d put loads of effort into it that it would be a really good turn out and loads of fun. We only did one more after that!”

Sneak prefers to display his art out on the streets, but this carries some serious risks. Graffiti artists have been known to pay a hefty price if caught, although this can sometimes heighten their profile rather than quash it.

Sneak recalls one particular example, “Two lads were doing traditional graffiti and got put in prison for two years for it because it cost so much to remove. Apparently that really helped their career!”

Sneak is yet to have been in any serious trouble himself. “I’ve talked my way out of [trouble] a few times, I’ve had a couple of fines but I’ve never been arrested or convicted. I’ve never really got into any major disputes. If you do graffiti it looks a bit antisocial, whereas a bit of paper and a brush doesn’t look as bad.”

Street art is not known for generating its creators a huge amount of money. Many artists have to maintain an additional job to earn a living, something Sneak has struggled with in the past.

“I lost my job recently, I worked in a bar. I went for a call centre job and I really thought I could stick it out. [Art] doesn’t bring me a lot of money. If somebody is interested in buying something, I’ll charge them the fairest price I can. Mostly I’m just grateful.”

In order to help his status grow, Sneak has utilised the internet to get his work further afield, although he’s still a long way off making huge amounts of money.  “Recently, I sent a load of work to Alabama because somebody said, if you send me some of this I will paste it up for you. I’ve done that a few times. I’m not making money on it if I’m sending it over there for free.”

At the time of this interview, Sneak was in process of completing new pieces of work, concerning the issue of smoking.

Despite the fact that street art has a lot of negativity surrounding it, artists like Sneak work extremely hard on what they do, and a criminal record isn’t going to solve any issues councils or the police may have with this particular art form.

The American Idiot tour visited Manchester back in November

Over the past eight years, Green Day have unintentionally established themselves as Marmite in the world of ‘punk rock’. Following the release of their critically-acclaimed album American Idiot in 2004, the trio have been working nonstop to keep their reputation afloat.

It’s fair to say that their follow-up album, 21^st Century Breakdown, was a nonentity in comparison. Over the past few months, the release of their latest album trilogy has been overshadowed by front man Billie Joe Armstrong’s infamous iHeartRadio ‘meltdown’ (see YouTube!).

Long before the pressure became too much for him, Armstrong was one of the masterminds behind a Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of American Idiot. When the musical first opened back in 2009, no one was quite sure what to make of it. Three years on and even those getting involved with the production still had reservations.

“American Idiot is very different from anything else I’ve ever done. I was a little sceptical because I didn’t think I was what they needed,” explained Kennedy Caughell, a cast member performing in the musical’s current UK tour. “I knew that it was Green Day music but I wasn’t a fan until I joined the show. I knew Time of Your Life and a few other songs but I’d never really listened to that kind of genre.”

American Idiot follows the story of Johnny, Will and Tunny – three young men with no real aspirations – as they attempt to break away from their hometown and make a life for themselves. Kennedy plays Heather, Will’s demanding girlfriend. Her story is a great example of the physical and mental hardships the characters face along the way.

“We find out that [Heather] is pregnant with Will’s child and so Will decides to stay home instead of going to New York City with the other boys. I’m not going to give too much away but you see their relationship progress, stuff goes wrong and stuff goes right and it’s just one big whirlwind of punk rock drama!”

Kennedy admits that Heather is not an instantly likeable character, but there are two sides to every story.  “She’s painted as the villain, but if people see both sides of the argument and not just Will’s then I’ve done my job.”

At first, the Oklahoma-born Broadway actress wasn’t sure about taking the part, but after accepting the job she realised she was more than capable. “Heather has to have a huge vocal range and sing in parts of the voice that are a little bit difficult to sing in, so I understand why they cast me for that role.”

Kennedy’s previous stage credits include: Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, Peter Pan in Peter Pan, Belle in Beauty and the Beast and a Cell Block girl in Chicago on a number of occasions. So what was it that made American Idiot so unique?

“There have been rock musicals before, but never punk rock musicals. I think that’s why it’s such a hot item right now. There’s a lot of dancing you would never expect in a punk rock show. You’ve got head banging, but you’ve also got athletic jumping and flipping. What makes this show so special is that it’s not just a rock concert but something that makes you look at life in a new way.”

The album American Idiot deals heavily with political and social issues, so a musical adaptation is bound to be just as hard-hitting, especially for a lunchtime audience.

“We’ve had people come out crying. I think the story that mostly effects people, especially Americans today, is Tunny’s story. He goes into the army because he feels like there is nothing else for him to do. He tries to find a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose, and ends up going to war. It really messes him up.”

When discussing the differences between UK and US audiences, Kennedy tells Q, “there are some parts where we point fingers at George Bush, and everyone over here gets these references a lot better, as well as little jokes that are placed. They’re kind of Monty Python-esque.”

Director of the musical Michael Mayer wanted to give the UK version of the show a unique feel. As well as starting afresh with a whole new cast, he also gave them freedom to put their own stamp on their characters.

“[The production team] haven’t tried to make us like the Broadway cast. We get our own artistic licence from Michael to take this show and make it our own so this is really, really special.”

Kennedy describes the relationship between cast members as being “like a family. Rarely do you find a cast that gets along so well.  The important thing is, on stage you know that they’ve got your back if something goes wrong. I feel completely safe and incredibly lucky to be working with them.”

And it’s not just the present cast that share a connection, as Kennedy explains,  “backstage there are places where people have signed the set, so before my entrance every night I’ll just look at the people who have done this before me. There’s always that connection to production past and the journey that this show has taken, not just the journey that this cast is going on, but the previous journeys that have moulded it into the story that it is today.”

Despite initial doubts that American Idiot would be right for her, Kennedy has learnt a hugely important lesson performing in this groundbreaking piece of musical theatre. “The one thing I’m going to take away from this is learning not to limit myself. I find myself dancing and singing things that are out of my comfort zone but I love it at the same time. There are wonderful experiences in every type of music and in every type of show. And for that I am grateful.”

American Idiot finishes its tour of the UK on December 16^th at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, before heading back to America for its final run in January.

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Green Day isn’t the only band to have had their back catalogue turned into a musical. Here are five other famous examples from past and present:

Tommy: Based on The Who’s concept album of the same title, Tommy follows the story of a boy turned blind, deaf and dumb after witnessing a murder. He goes on to earn fame as the ‘Pinball Wizard’, but this is not enough to stop years of abuse at the hands of his so-called friends and family.

Viva Forever:  This Spice Girls musical tells the tale of an aspiring singer’s battle with moral dilemmas presented to her by fame and fortune. Its written by Ab Fab’s Jennifer Saunders so there’s bound to be some laughs in there too.

Vampires Rock: Although not based on one particular artist, Vampires Rock features a hefty amount of Meat Loaf in its classic rock score. Set in 2030 New York, the plot follows club owner Baron Von Rockula – played by Meat Loaf impersonator Steve Steinman – on his search for love.

We Will Rock You: Based around Queen’s greatest hits, this is perhaps the most famous rock musical. In a world where musical instruments are banned, a group of bohemian rebels search for a hero to bring back the golden age of rock before the cops catch up with him.

Monkee Business: A naive boy band trying to make it big in the music business are unwittingly tricked into performing songs from the Monkees’ back catalogue by their scheming producer.

I got to The Ruby Lounge in Manchester earlier than I usually would to a gig. I’d not been to this venue before and I was pleasantly surprised by it when I got inside – it wasn’t the dive I had been expecting! I had made some friends in the queue outside and we all got right to the front which was great, because the night before I had been subjected to people constantly edging their way forwards in front of me the whole time.

The support band for the night were Morain. They were less like Motion City, more like many other new bands emerging from the alternative scene. Even so, I found them to be very likeable… unlike a lot of similar bands out there. They made a good impression on me despite the fact I rarely listen to their style of music anymore, and it was a really pleasant way to start the evening! They even stayed behind afterwards to hand out free download fliers for their song ‘Islands’. This band reminds me a lot of Canterbury, who I also like. Having said that I do think I prefer this band live.

Motion City Soundtrack were welcomed like heroes into the tiny venue – it was even smaller than XOYO, the venue I saw them in the night before (a review of which you can read here). They wasted no time in opening with Attractive Today, instantly treating me to a song I was yet to hear them play live, from their album Commit This To Memory. Within the first few songs there were some technical difficulties, causing a few silences that were filled with some amusing stories from Justin Pierre about the lack of grapefruit in Britain and why he doesn’t understand rocket salad. We were even treated to a short rendition of his family history.

Their set list contained all the obvious hits and crowd pleasers that you might expect and a good mix of songs from all four albums. Naturally, The Future Freaks Me Out was met with more singing from the crowd than from the band, during which I felt I was part of something really very special.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints they were unable to play A-OK, however during the encore I was delighted to hear Everything is Alright and to my excitement, True Romance, being played live. Despite the fact that the song has only been out for a very short period of time, nearly everyone around me was singing along to at least the chorus.

After the show the band stayed behind to meet fans outside the venue in the freezing cold English weather, which I thought was a really cool thing for them to have done. I waited with the masses to meet Justin Pierre first, because as we all know, he is my ultimate hero and it had been my dream to meet him for a very long time.  I can’t express enough how much of an amazing guy he was when I finally made it to the front of the crowd. Although he was resting his voice and therefore unable to speak to me, he communicated with me using his own special nerd-like sign language, signed something for me, had his picture taken with me and gave me a great big hug too.  He really liked my Motion City Soundtrack bracelet I showed him, which I made myself and is something I wear almost every day.

I was also able to meet the rest of the band – besides guitarist Josh Cain who disappeared before I had the chance to look for him – and they too, were really lovely guys. I chatted to them about how I had seen them the night before, and that I was seeing them again in May at Slam Dunk North, and they all seemed really appreciative of this. They stayed outside chatting away with anyone who wanted to speak to them and it was this, along with their fantastic set, that reinforced the fact that they are my favourite band.

If I had the chance to do this all again, I would, and hopefully one day I will.

Motion City Soundtrack make the most of the small space provided… 

Anyone who knows me knows that Motion City Soundtrack have been my favourite band for some time now. They’ve seen me through a lot of tough times and continue to do so, so when the chance of seeing them perform my two favourite albums in London came up, I disregarded the fact that I had never set foot there in my entire life and got right on it!

Previously, the band had performed in the same ’4 Albums, 2 Nights’ format across 7 US cities, causing me to feel intense jealousy for the whole of America at that time. Now, though, I can call myself one of the lucky ones. Unfortunately I was unable to see both performances in London due to money and travel issues, but I braved the journey for one night, and I’m so glad I did.

The band opened their set at XOYO – a small venue in the heart of Islington – with Fell In Love Without You and ended the first half with Even If It Kills Me from their album of the same name. Even If It Kills Me is my absolute favourite song, therefore it was an amazing feeling to finally hear it played live. Then of course, they played all the way through from Worker Bee to The Weakends. They treated us to Skin and Bones – another of my favourites by them – and many others that I doubt I will ever hear live again, including their acoustic performance of Stand Too Close. This was a real once in a lifetime opportunity for me.

The vocals in the first half of their performance from Justin Pierre were immaculate, despite the fact that memory of his own lyrics might not have been! I suppose a band can be forgiven for not having perfect knowledge of songs they have only played live a handful of times before. For example, in the song Antonia (a song I constantly insist was written about me…) he mixed up the words and sang “I was the bride, she was the groom”… in true awkward JP fashion.

The album My Dinosaur Life carries a slightly angrier, more intense kind of sound, which Justin was able to pull off well, in fact I would say his voice sounds even better with a more rough, deeper edge to it (although nowadays he can do both in equal measures of greatness!). It seems that his voice, and the band in general, only get better as the years go by in terms of live performances. Looking back at past Motion City performances you can see just how much their vocals have improved especially. This is probably down to the ritualistic silence of the band’s lead singer in-between performances to save his vocal chords!

To fill long gaps created by equipment adjustments, Justin would discuss accidental Star Wars references within his song lyrics and tell other, strange annecdotes. Every member of Motion City is great at what they do, I especially enjoyed the intensity at which Jesse Johnson would play his synthesiser and keyboard! I didn’t even know such intensity was possible on an instrument like that! Backing vocals were also good, there was none of this fading into the ether that backing singers often do when on stage!

Unfortunately, I had to leave early to get back on my coach home before I got a chance to hear them play True Romance, a new song from their up-and-coming fifth album Go. Despite this I knew I would be able to catch them play it in Manchester the following night, so it wasn’t too much of a downer! The only thing wrong with Motion City Soundtrack’s 4 Albums, 2 Nights gig was the fact that I was far too knackered to be able to have enjoyed it fully, everything other than that was just as I had always pictured it to be…

Having fun backstage at Fruit, Hull

Before the beginning of this year, The Musgraves were practically unknown. Like many bands, they had been using YouTube to reach the masses; uploading creatively filmed, popular covers and original songs. Despite their clear musical talent and unique delivery, the folk/pop four-piece weren’t getting too many hits (discounting their loyal, hometown followers of course).

On 2nd February, all their hard work paid off when they were invited to play on The Graham Norton Show by the host himself, who had been giving their single Last of Me plenty of airtime on Radio 2. Despite having had their van broken into and all of their instruments stolen the night before their big break (something which they will no-doubt always be remembered for), they soldiered on and proved to the nation on television how talented they are, even in the face of complete disaster.

As a result of this sudden mainstream exposure, the band are now in the middle of a small UK tour, having so far stopped off at Birmingham, London and Hull. Their next stop will be Manchester, followed by another visit to their beloved Birmingham – proving that even with stardom bubbling under the surface, they are far from leaving behind their hometown roots!

I was able to catch up with the band, including their on-tour bassist, for a quick chat to learn more about them and their music after their Hull show on 16th March (My review of which you can read here).