Saturday, 18 July 2009

Fat Chat: hip hop's rising star.....Kobi Onyame



Fresh off the back of his Glastonbury debut, we get the lowdown on emerging hip hop sensation 'Kobi Onyame'.....remember the name as you'll be hearing plenty of it.

In 2008, he released his first CD album "Unsigned & Hungry Vol. 1" (released under his initial stage name "Jae P") through his 8182 Recordings imprint, before rebranding himself "Kobi Onyame" later the same year (Kobi being an acronym for his real name and "Onyame" being the Akan word for "God").

Kobi will be gracing the 'Fat Talent' stage on Fri 14th Aug so don't miss that one...this is what the man himself had to say....


Welcome Mr Onyame....tell us about your background and how it all started for you....


I was born in Ghana, West Africa and moved at a very young age to England. Since the age of 6 I have moved between the UK and Ghana regularly and thus been able to learn and use to my advantage the different cultures. I apply my multicultural upbringing to my music a lot.

I started making beats from about age 14 on a program called Cool Edit. I then started to write my own raps and record them on my tape recorder. I have always been interested in music but didn't take an active interest in it until during my undergrad studies in Ghana. I was part of a crew called the Haatsville Project and we recorded a couple of mix-tapes and albums that were never released.

Returning to the UK, I started to put my solo stuff out there (under the name Jae P initially) and then released my first album "Unsignd & Hungry Vol. 1" independently in 2008.



Listening to your music, you appear to have a love for positive and inspiring lyrics.
Who Inspires you the most musically?

I get asked this question a lot and I've only recently been able to give a definite answer. Growing up, I've listened to many emcees and music styles. They each inspire me in their own way. I loved the way Jay-Z would rhyme and play with words. The conscious and thought provoking lyrics or Talib Kweli and Common would always make me step my game up. I would however say that the one rapper who has influenced me the most would be Kanye West. This is because I feel of all the rappers and artists I've listened to, I feel I can relate to him the most. He has never been afraid to speak for the common man. I remember listening to his record "Spaceship" on his first album and feeling like - there must be so many people out there who will be able to relate to this mans concept of hating your job and wanting to just fly away to another place and time. I didn't get that from any other rapper.


What are your short and long term goals?

My short term goals. Well I have a new single "He Said She Said" which features Sway. I want to give it the promotion it deserves and then go on to continue recording my next album Green Green Grasses which I want to put out next year. I also want to increase my awareness by doing more shows across the country.



One of my favourite tracks of yours is "who you no" and it appears to be getting radio play on some high profile stations... What's the story behind this track?

Who You Know is a club record. I was listening to a Jay-Z record "Encore" and decided to cut and loop a line he says "who you know fresher..." I just liked it. The funny this was, i made the beat with the idea of pitching it to a few other UK artists but wanted to record a verse to give people an idea of what it could sound like. DJ SHortee Blitz at Kiss was first to jump on that track and supported it from late 2008 on his show and blog. It was the first single from the free mixtape I put out recently called "Kobi Onyame Stories... The Best & The Worst"


If you could collaborate with any artist UK or international who would it be and why?

UK artist would be Sway. I have done that with my new single "He Said She Said" and I'm well happy with that! I'd say Kanye West on the international scene because I've always been a fan first and would love to see what him and I could come up with in the studio!


And finally we always like to end on a random note so here goes..... If you could have three super powers what would they be and how would you use them?

BIG question. I'd have 3 of the powers from the Captain Planet kids! Heart, Earth and maybe Water? With heart i could heal the world and we can all be friends. With earth and water I could feed the world?????????


Thanks for your time Kobi and really looking forward to following your career....checkout the Kobi Onyame links below:

MYSPACE
TWITTER
BLOG


Interview: Emily J Harrison






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Friday, 17 July 2009

5 Twitter Tips For Bands From Co-Founder Biz Stone

Make Your @username Your Calling Card

Attracting followers is an important part of maintaining a high profile on Twitter. One of its biggest advantages is the simplicity of its username system and the ease of following and communicating with a user once you know how he or she identifies him- or herself. So promoting your @username in an e-mail signature, in fan correspondence and anywhere you'd normally mention a Web presence is helpful. (Sean Combs walks around wearing a black T-shirt with white text that says "@iamdiddy.") Also, interacting with fans through Replies (where you reply directly to the tweets of fans and followers) displays a certain level of engagement that can be attractive to folks considering following your account.


Twitter Spontaneously

Unlike an artist's blog or other online presence, where it makes some sense to share only the most important news or entertaining posts, on Twitter waiting for something really important isn't necessary-if folks are following you, then they want to know anything and everything. Twitter is an easy, lightweight way for artists to get involved themselves, and most artists are in fact Twittering themselves-so these anytime tweets have a very immediate and authentic voice that can be a powerful tool from a promotional perspective.


Find Music's Tweet Spot

There are ways that musicians can use Twitter that no other kind of user could take advantage of. Releasing exclusive tracks through Twitter is interesting. Twitter really shines during shared experiences like concerts because people are communicating in real time among a group. If an artist became similarly involved, that would be awesome. We've seen a few artists experiment with displaying live tweets from fans during a show, which is very cool because it makes the audience part of the show.


Establish Your Rules of Engagement

While direct back-and-forth contact with fans is easy with Twitter, the simple nature of it allows artists to invent their own boundaries. Although Replies are possible on Twitter, they're not expected. This means artists can be as engaged as they want-some are very engaged and others are more reserved. Artists can connect with their fans on a personal, meaningful level but they can also use Twitter to promote a spontaneous concert or share a new track.


Use the Platform Commitment-Free

Fans don't need to have a Twitter account to start following a band right away through mobile texting-Twitter can create new accounts over SMS on the fly. For example, anyone can text "follow biz" to 40404 in the United States and start receiving my updates. This means that a fan who wants to get an artist's updates through text but isn't using the service regularly can easily do so. Bands and musicians can simply tell this to folks during a concert or an interview.

Thursday, 16 July 2009

Slicker than your average......

Stay tuned to Fat Talent friend and talented lyricist ....Slickmouth. Check out his latest video diary and our interview from earlier on in the year. Enjoy:)





CLICK to check out the interview

Band/Artist of the week

“Rock and Pop lovers it is time for you to rock out to Fiction Plane

Fiction Plane can be described in one word: AWESOME! Whether its their firey lyrics or hard-hitting beats......this band will go all the long way. The songs are inspiring, powerful, entertaining and credible.

It may come as a surprise to many that Fiction Plane's Joe Sumner is determined not to cling onto the success of his famous dad.

Allegedly, the Fiction Plane press camp are banned from even mentioning a certain superstar dad - Sting - to the media.

Although Sumner’s vocals are evocative of daddy, Fiction Plane are getting on nicely doing things the proper way; becoming stars in their own right.

With cited rockier influences Nirvana and Pavement, don’t expect to be soothed by calm acoustic.

The guys are already, gathering a firm fanbase and this year they will be attending the ‘Rock en Nord’ festival in Nieppe, where they will be showcasing their skills.

Check out the links and see what makes them my band/artist of the week...
ladies and gentlemen....Give it up for FICTION PLANE!!

MySpace

Band Website



Words:
Rhian Chodak




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Mon 20th July / Dance Auditions


DANCERS WANTED (commercial). Chocolate Blonde is auditioning for dancers for up -coming shows (incl. live performance @ this years Nottinghill Carnival!) and in preparation for a mini UK tour later this year. If you are a gifted dancer and looking to increase you profile put this date in your diary!!


Date: Mon 20th July


MALE: 10:30 – 1:00pm


FEMALE: 1:00-3:30pm


Venue: Inn on the Green

3-5 Thorpe Close

London

W10 5XL Nr. Tube Ladbroke Grove


Contact: mgmt@fattalent.com


Monday, 13 July 2009

Get into the mix with DJ CHEF!



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‘The Music Maestro’
…….

DJ, host, presenter, Producer….introducing DJ Chef!

This talented young ‘virtuoso’ has his fingers in a few pies....all music orientated of course...

By day..... a freelance commercial producer, making music for advertising, film and new media. Credits include BMW, EA sports, Match of the day theme tune and Eastender to name a few.


By night......He is a regular on the club circuit and his skills have seen him grace many prestigious venues & festivals up and down the country incl. the legendary Glastonbury.


He is known for his ‘mass appeal’ and style clash of genres ranging from Electro House, Hip Hop to Funky & RNB. He also specialises in playing rare re-mixes and take’s inspiration from the infamous duo ‘Two Many Dj’s....


His own remixes go by the name of ‘Eriki-Ma’ (stands for Dirty Electro boy in Japanese). They take on all genres including electro, dubstep, funky, and rnb and fuse them together for an innovative musical experience. Recently he has been causing a storm on YouTube with his version of the Black Eyed Peas ‘I got a feeling’ receiving over 22,000 hits in just two weeks.


Aside from producing and spinning tunes; he is dedicated to raising the profile of new & emerging artists and hosts several live music nights, and produces and presents his own weekly radio show.


As well as his UK activities, he has had regular spots in France & Croatia and as far afield as Tokyo and Okinawa...so keep your ears open, DJ Chef’s the name & music is his game


For further information, press & gig bookings please contact

Fat Talent Management E: mgmt@fattalent.com



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Sunday, 12 July 2009

Chocolate Blonde World

Starting from next week, you will be able to follow 'Chocolate Blonde world', each and every Monday exclusively on the 'The Fat Blog'.

It's guaranteed to be an interesting read, as we document her rise up the ladder of fame, its not to be missed!! Are you interested in some background info on this budding starlet? of course you are...


‘Chocolate’ never sounded so good…….


After causing quite a storm on MySpace & YouTube with her promo tracks ‘Role Play’ and ‘say something’ this versatile songstress is set to notch it up a gear with her refreshing take on Pop / RNB.

‘Versatile’, ‘fun’, ‘lyrically gifted ‘are just some of the words that have been used to describe the 24 year old singer/songwriting talent from East London.

The debut single 1.30am (*ick on my forehead) is due for digital release 31.08.09. Currently in promo stage having already caught the attention of main stream music journalists such as Simon Price from The Independent on Sunday.

With widespread recognition on her mind ‘Chocolate Blonde’ is fast gaining an enviable reputation for her energetic live performances and is currently tearing up numerous music venues up & down the country.

An accomplished dancer and choreographer she has shared the stage with chart topping international acts Kylie, Usher, Robbie Williams, Beverly Knight, Sean Kingston and the Arctic Monkeys to name a few.

As an artist in her own right ‘Chocolate Blonde’ has supported US artist Mario on his UK tour and appeared on Nokia Green Room on channel 4. She also won the prestigious MP3 Music Award in 2007

As well as her UK activities she is gaining attention internationally after having had extensive air play on MTV Africa with the ‘Say Something’ video.

The delectable ‘Chocolate Blonde’ is ditching the urban stereotypes and bringing fun & diversity back to the music industry….WATCH THIS SPACE !

For further information, press & bookings contact
Fat Talent Mgmt E: mgmt@fattalent.com

Saturday, 11 July 2009

If i build it will they come? Episode Four


Aside from creature heads & prosthetics I've never made a full body suit for someone to wear & do quite a lot of acting in. If I was doing this for a film or client with a budget then the chances are they would already have someone to go inside the thing - and about 5 or more other people working on it including sculptors, fabricators, mould makers, technicians, painters etc etc. I have none of these luxuries at my disposal. In the "real" world we would have a bodycast of the person wearing the thing. That way you can be pretty certain that it will fit the person properly.

As of yet theres no one to go in it so I was given a mannequin to work on. Not ideal. Have you ever really properly looked at a mannequin? They're weird. It would provide the basic shape to get started.

Enter Paul Lewis - Prop Maker & general worrier. Paul was brought onboard by Joey & Robin to help me out with the technical side of things. He has experience.......but not alot. Not to worry though. I met up with Paul one night to discuss possibilities of how this thing would actually work. Let's just say I left the meeting slightly more nervous than I had been before it.

Basically in the real world special fx people have a kind of unwritten rule/motto of "Thats impossible!! Lets get on it & do it!". Paul's motto would be along the lines of "Thats impossible! I'm going home". Not really what we look for but hey!...fuck it, he can watch & hopefully learn & get some confidence sorted.

Anyway I digress. It was decided that I would handle the art side of stuff & Paul would chip in & help with moulding & casting & all the fiddly bits that I'd need a hand with. On top of this he also had a workspace for us to do all the smelly chemically things in & access to mannequins. I would have never have guessed that asking for an average sized male mannequin would lead to hours of discussion between Joey, Robin & Paul as they debated the finer points of "what is average?". Believe me when I say that these guys have a knack for taking the simplest thing & turning it into an epic of biblical proportions. (A bit like my blogs really.......) Most of it pointless, as was the case this time as it turned out that he only had two to choose from & we couldnt have them yet anyway. Plus there was nowhere to do it all. I presented my plan that went a bit like this - "RIGHT!! I'll go home & sculpt the helmet. By the time I've done that you'll have had time to get all the materials for moulding it & Pauls workspace will be available to mould it & cast one out. Also by then we'll have a mannequin to work on & I can sculpt the body at Pauls - cos theres no way I'm going to do a life sized clay sculpture of an armoured warrior in my bedroom, it'd fuck my room right up & we'd never get it out of the house! - using the helmet as a scale reference ok?" Good. Let it begin.

I went to town on the helmet sculpt. I got nicely carried away with detail & complexity as Joey had asked for it to be full of detail. The basic shape of it was the same as the maquette I had done but it was far more complex looking with lots of little vents & things. It does look really cool but I wasnt really sure about it as there was something about the simplicity of the maquette that I thought made it better. This new helmet was nifty looking but deviated a little too much from the overall design. As a piece on it's own it was fine but when put with the rest of the armour it would look odd. It took me about 3 days to sculpt & I could have probably spent another day or so making it really flash & tighter but there was only a small window of moulding time so I had to do it now or risk waiting around for a week or so. Joey & Robin loved it though so I prepared it for moulding & took it over to Pauls workspace.

I'll keep it simple. We had decided to do a one piece silicone mould with a fibreglass jacket. Get that? Simply put, silicone was to be poured over the sculpture which when dry would provide us with a flexible mould to cast out several helmets with "ease". It is given a fibreglass "jacket" to keep the silicone in shape. Without it you'd just have a flappy bit of rubber. When your casting material has been put in the mould & is set you remove the jacket which then allows you to get the helmet out of the flexible silicone. Thats pretty much it. Well it's not but theres no way I'm going to sit here for the rest of my life talking about mould making. All I will say is that it's usually a good idea to have enough materials to do the job. I had asked Robin the Producer if he had got hold of everything we needed. "Yep it's all at Paul's". "Everything?". "Errrrrrrrrr........yep I think so.....errrrrrr yeah everything's there". Hmmm - he didn't sound too sure but I'd gone through it with him enough times now for him to know what I needed. Still I couldnt stop myself from wondering - was everything I needed really there waiting for me? Was it fuck. And on top of that music for the day was to be provided by the local radio station.

Long story short - there was nowhere near enough silicone to do the job. Unfortunatly this was only made clear to me once i had already used the silicone we had & asked for the new tub. Which didnt exsist. We did the best we could & ended up with something vaguely resembling a mould. But not the masterwork of moulding prowess I had envisioned. Not that it would ever have been that anyway - mould making is a dark art that people spend their lives perfecting & experimenting with to produce moulds that are art in their own right. For the rest of us & me especially, it's a battle with patience & frustration that unfortunatly we have to be good at. Oh well, not to worry. The God's were smiling on us later on in the day though & we managed to get a couple of casts out. Cool - a cool looking sci-fi helmet to wear......if only it didnt rip your ears off when you tried to take it off again! I had miscalculated the size by a fraction of a milimetre. Just enough to cause traumatic ear injury if not handled in the special way that we had figured out in a race against mild suffocation & inhalation of the noxious fumes of the still fresh helmet. It could be sorted out though, it would just require some tweaking that Paul was more than happy to do. Once again Joey & Robin were pleased so the day had turned out well in a sore ears kind of way. Ok, so now I could start thinking about the body.

Enter the quadroplegic mannequin. "It's got no arms or legs" i observed rather obviously. And he looked a wee bit small to me - regardless of the absense of limbs. I expressed concern over the smallness of the mannequin but Joey was certain that this was the correct size for his armour. Paul's full bodied mannequin was still unavailable for now so this would have to do. Fine, i'd just sculpt the torso & groin armour. It was then that Paul told me i couldnt use the workspace for reasons long forgotten so I had to take it home. Trouble is I probably want this thing made more than they do so I quickly gave into the idea of turning my bedroom into a f**king pottery of sorts. F**kers.

Next time:

  • I keep forgetting that there's a mannequin in my room & shit myself everytime I go in there.

Take it easy, Michael

Wednesday, 8 July 2009

If i build it will they come? Episode 9

Yep....I'm still here. This could take a while. I didnt make that Skeleton by the way!
Last time round my head was hurting after watching various people scratch their heads & slowly skulk into a corner hoping that no one noticed after trying to take measurements from the Frankenquin with, of all things, a broken retractable tape measure that had been stuck back together with gaffa tape.

Then for some unknown reason Joey asked me if we should do a lifecast. Thank god. If this was being done properly with a suitable budget then the first thing we'd have done is a lifecast of the people who have got to wear this stuff. That way we could ensure that each suit would fit its respective wearer perfectly. That idea had been abondoned very early on due to lack of funds & actors to wear the armour. Recently Jobin has seemed to gain access to more money. Right at the start their whole budget was £500 now they just seem to be buying stuff all the time. I dont know where its coming from & I probably dont want to.

So lifecasting then. Theres loads of different casts you can do depending on what you want. If you want a detailed cast of someones head then you basically cover their whole head in dental alginate & then put a plaster bandage jacket on it. When its removed you fill it with plaster & when thats set you remove the bandages & the alginate & piff paff poof you have a plaster head of the person. Theres a bit more to it obviously but nows not the time to be typing out step by step guides.

We would require a full body cast. We didn't want all the skin detail as we just wanted a body shape for me to sculpt onto. Therefore we just needed some plaster bandage. OK deep breath. This is the jist of how it works. The person to be cast gets given a skin tight lycra suit to wear. This is then coated with vaseline to help take the bandages off at the end. The person then stands with their arms out to either side (you have them hold onto supports that are at the right height - the pose is slightly different for creature suit casts but fuck that - theres no time to explain). Mod-roc plaster bandage (what they use at hospital to wrap your broken limbs) is applied to the front & back butting together centrally down either side.

When its set you seperate the two halves & then usually fibreglass into these to get a cast of the body. Thats it really. Kind of. For a full body cast you would usually have as many as 5 or 6 people doing it to make it quicker. Some people really dont like it. It can be claustrophobic especially if your head is encased & panic attacks are not uncommon. Most people dont mind it though & find it relaxing. Anyway I only had Paul & Robin to help me. With 3 people that know what theyre doing its still a bit tight. We had 1 guy who knew what he was doing but hadn't done a lifecast for a couple of years (me) 1 guy who kind of knew the basics but had never done a full body (Paul) & 1 guy who had no idea what we were saying (Robin). We had a volunteer for the process too. Some dude who was keen to experience being encased in plaster. He was the right kind of build that Joey was looking for so I carefuly explained the process to him ensuring that he knew what he was letting himself in for. He was fine with it. We arranged for him to come in the next day & we went to hobbycraft to get some shit.

The next day I arrived in high spirits pleased to be getting an actual human body to cast & thus work on. I prepared the materials with Robins help. This consisted of him opening the box & getting out some bandage strips & then just buggering off. Not a problem, it'd be quicker without him anyway! Then I was informed that Paul couldnt make it in due to some doctors appointment or something. Fuck. It was just me & Robin now. Not good. Right fuck it he's just going to have to learn stuff really quickly. Our "subject" Dave arrived. Everything was ready so I asked him to put the lycra suit on. "Can I keep my clothes on?" Eh? He had suddenly become shy & refused to put the lycra suit on. He insisted that he remained clothed. I explained that A) his clothes would get fucked B) he would bake to death C) it would be virtually impossible to get a decent cast done D) he said he was alright with it yesterday.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONGGGGGG negotiations finally led to him agreeing to wearing his shorts (not proper shorts. Those 3/4 length pirate ones. Whats the point?) his t-shirt & a vest over that (fuck knows). The look was completed with a vigourous wrapping of the subject in cling film. Holy fucking jesus. Everything about this was wrong. I cant believe we did it. Clothes & cling film & a nice plaster suit. He'd be lucky to not have a stroke from the temperature. Anyway we began what we should have never started. I'll be brief. About half way through Dave started feeling woozy which was hardly surprising. He asked for a drink so I asked Robin to get him some water. Dave demanded pepsi which isn't really what you need. I watched in horror as Robin poured the fizzy piss down Dave's gullet. I knew what was coming. Two slight convulsions heralded the tsunami of frothy bile as it spewed forth as if from the wretched arse of Satan himself. Luckily most of it went into the bucket of water we'd been using to wet the bandages. Obviously the action of spewing had caused him to lurch out of the half finished mould rendering it useless. Tut. Theres nothing you can do though. At the end of the day the comfort & needs of the person youre casting overide everything. If they want to get out you get them out fast. Not to worry. We've got another volunteer - Mike! from Romania who doesnt really speak english but wanted a go. I made sure he fully understood what we needed to do. He was cool with it & besides...... he had just seen his mate barf himself inside out onto the floor so I took his word for it. Tomorrow then!

Half the trick to a decent life cast is making sure the person is totally at ease. Anything you can do to make them as comfortable as possible is a benefit. Music is the easiest method. I'd asked Joey to hook his increasingly dusty laptop up to some speakers. Mike had no preferences so it was left on shuffle. Today I had Paul helping me & I must say that everything was running perfectly. I've done a few life casts at proffessional companies before but the one we were doing now was better than any of them. Wicked. Mike was loving it & all was well. The music was a bit annoying due to Joeys tinny little speakers. It then shuffled to the theme of the new Star Trek film & Joey turned it up. The music itself was fine but it was to loud for his shitty speakers & it sounded awful. I asked him to turn it down at which point his phone rang & he left the room. Mike was pulling faces & asked for the music to stop. Paul was closest but hesitant to touch the laptop with his soaking, plaster encrusted hands for a fraction of a second. All the time that was needed for Mike to suddenly turn from the worlds nicest guy into a possesed beast of chaos. He ripped himself out of the mould. He looked like fucking Mumm-Ra in mid transformation. For a brief moment I wondered if I was about to get my head kicked in by a mad Romanian in his pants with wet bandages sloughing off him. He didnt though. Instead he stumbled over to a chair & sat down. Guess he doesnt like Star Trek.

He doesnt know what happened. One minute he was fine then all of a sudden he thought he was going to black out & freaked out. He was very apologetic but I told him not to worry about it. Shame though as we would have been finished in 5 more minutes. Joey had decided that Mike had the perfect proportions for the suit but understandably Mike wasnt keen on another life cast, lest Mumm-Ra be unleashed once again. Robin came up with drawing round him with a pen & then I would use the measurements to sculpt from. I let him do it so he could be made to see for himself why it was silly. And I could do with some light relief for a moment. I sat back & watched. The resulting piece has been entitled by myself as "Fucked up Morph". Some drunken expert would probably pay handsomely for such a work. " I love how youve become embarrased upon approaching his testicles & left them out. It really speaks to hetrosexual man.......you could probably gauge a mans attitude towards other male genetalia by seeing how far up the inside of the thighs the pen mark reaches... challenging the taboo whil..... more wine? Thankyou I will"

We were back where we started. Frankenquin loomed in the corner. If he had a head he might have looked worried.......or been able to locate the door so he could escape.

Next time:

  • Workshop becomes casting couch, interview room, commitee hall, board room & youth club
  • I finally show you some photos of cool new armour sculpture



See ya later,

Michael

The Teaches Of Peaches.....













Last Friday I was privy to one of the best dj performances I have probably ever heard.

I saw Peaches – AKA – Merrill Beth Nisker perform a hard core, get up and dance, mash up set in Elephant and Castle.

Outside the electro gender bending world she inhabits, few have heard of PEACHES. This is a damn shame and the principle reason in which I am blogging about her today and spreading the word of the importance of empowered rock stars!

She put on an amazing set, complete with a re-mix of the all-time classic: Edge of 17. The raw vocals of Stevie Nicks was accompanied by pumping fists and a brilliant lip synching from PEACHES herself.

She was wasting no time in getting down and dirty – even attempting a moon walk – and enticing the crowd to bust out their moves. Such fun she was, few could resist her, including my friend who decided to break the barriers and climb up on stage alongside her.

I was gutted when her set ended, and was on such a subsequent high all weekend having witnessed such a legend in performance. The world is crying out for more female djs – and more women who are not afraid to voice their opinions and say whatever vulgar thing enters in their mind. She is truly an inspiration.

She is as bold as a the front man in an 80’s rock band, her songs are as catchy as any manufactured pop group and she is brazen like no-body else. She will not be constrained by her femininity, and blasts through the shackles of sexism with lyrics and antics that can even illicit a raised eyebrow (and gasp) from those who have seen it all!

That fact that she is pushing 40 , was a former pre-school teacher and not marketed as the next ‘hottest’ singer, makes her even more of an anomaly in an industry dominated by pre-pubescent, insipid flakes.

She is a woman with balls – and she is not afraid to flash them about, play with her gender and deliver an unforgettable performance in the process!

Review: Katie Cowell