Category Archives: The City

The City

Four Canton businesses that give back

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Journalist Ben Newman explores four sustainable businesses on the west side of town.

Cardiff, in our (sort of) biased view, is full of businesses that give back to the city, community, and the entire cultural fabric of the Welsh capital. From cafés to corner shops, many of the people and businesses of Cardiff are charitable and utilitarian, so to celebrate that, we’ve collated four Canton-based business that have been giving back in a big way recently.

Hey Clay! At Cardiff Pottery Workshops

Everyone, at some point in their lives, has said to themselves that they want to try pottery “one day”. Who knows what it is that attracts so many people to ceramics, but for some reason, the discipline feels oddly impenetrable, reserved for arty types and the creatively-inclined. However, Hey Clay!, an event at Cardiff Pottery Workshops, is an attempt to bridge the gap between ceramics and the people. Essentially, the event is a free lesson to allow anyone, especially those who are disabled, to have a chance at pottery and learn a thing or two. Hey Clay! is a Crafts Council national celebration of clay which aims to give people across the UK the chance to unleash their inner potter, so Cardiff Pottery Workshops deserve commendation for providing an insight into a tough industry that’s open for anyone.

Bee & Honey

Just off Cowbridge Road, in the heart of Canton, you’ll find Bee & Honey, a café that, on the surface, looks like a quaint place to eat. However, under the surface, Bee & Honey provides some of the best food in Cardiff, as well as acting as a support for other businesses in Cardiff. You’ll only find Bee & Honey goods here, but goods from other Cardiff-based businesses, including Canton Tea Co. and Riverside Sourdough. Additionally, the café has recently staged meditation lessons, diversifying its appeal beyond cuisine. Bee & Honey are an example that businesses in Cardiff, however small, do their best to support their neighbours financially and mindfully, as well as making a pretty banging dish along the way.

Lufkins Coffee

Lufkin Coffee is a little hard to find, located down a small alley near the Co-Op in Pontcanna (where they have the Pipes Beer Festival). It joins a cluster of local, wonderfully small business (Canna Deli, etc.) The owners along with the rest of the staff are always open for conversation, lending to the comfortable and pastoral feel of the entire business. After recently hosting a small ceramics exhibition for Frances Lufkin, a student at Cardiff Met, the business has showed that its small location has a wide reach. However, this is not the reason why this small café is on the list. Lufkin deserves this place, quite simply, because of the quality of its roasted coffee beans and product. It’s not the only the best quality coffee in Cardiff, but it’s also, according to Brian’s Coffee Spot, one of the best roasters in the entire United Kingdom. It may not be flashy, but Lufkin has all that’s needed to succeed as a community coffee shop: excellent coffee, even better conversation, and a cruelty-free product.

Green City Events/Green Squirrel

This one may be cheating (a little bit) as they’re not strictly Canton-based, but they deserve a mention anyway! Green Squirrel, as part of Green City Events, brings together a myriad of different practices underpinned by an environmentally-friendly ethos. Essentially, these events range from Wasteless Kitchens, which involves the cooking of food with no waste, to food foraging, to carpentry and yarn spinning. By bringing together the multiple skills of Cardiff-based professionals and tutors, the events help form links between vastly different businesses in the city. The skilled local tutors teach practical sustainable living skills that benefit people and communities, and bring rural and traditional skills to the heart of Cardiff. Loads more info can be found on the Green Squirrel workshops page, with events that span the entirety of the city. Green Squirrel not only give back to Cardiff communities, but to nature.

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Whats on

Cardiff events preview, Saturday 19 May: Publish Cardiff, TEDxCanton, The Offline Project Launch

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There are three MASSIVE events taking place today in Cardiff for the alternative arts scene – Publish Cardiff (full preview below courtesy of Ben Newman), TEDxCanton which is being organised by our very own Hana, and “friend-of-the-blog” Dan Tyte having a launch party for his new novel, The Offline Project. Hopefully we’ll see you at one of these things!!

TEDXCANTON

Follow @TEDx_Canton for updates throughout the day! You’ve got @HeliaPhoenix doing the social updates, so gawd knows what will pop up on there.

THE OFFLINE PROJECT LAUNCH 

We published an interview with author Dan Tyte yesterday on the site – be sure to pop along to The Offline Project launch party for his new novel at the Transport Club TONIGHT from 7-10pm; plus music from John Mouse, Adwaith and Simon Love and The Old Romantics.

PUBLISH CARDIFF

Now, to the main event – a preview of the wonderful Publish Cardiff event at Little Man Coffee, 11am – 7pm. Take it away, Ben!

Publish Cardiff, NO LIVE SPORTS HERE

The forever hard working Publish Cardiff has arranged another series of talks following the group’s immensely popular events last year. Featuring 1-hour talks by industry experts and social stalwarts BRICKS Magazine, Polyester Zine, Gal-Dem, Cheer Up Luv, amongst others, the catalogue of speaking arrangements hopes to shed a light on magazine culture and the surrounding industry.

At its core, Publish Cardiff is a reaction against the lack of representation in the magazine industry. The group champion alternative education and support methods for creatives outside the London bubble, as well as shedding light on all degrees of societal inequality. The event is also a chance to network, communicate and share a drink or two with like-minded individuals.

The event opens with a talk by Polyester Zine editors Ione Gamble and Gina Tonic, who will discuss zine culture, the representation of marginalised bodies, as well as the feasibility of alternative publishing as a career. This talk is followed by Eliza Hatch, the creator of Cheer Up Luv, who retells the sociological normalisation of street harassment on women, as well as how Cheer Up Luv came to be.

Chief sub-editor of Gal-dem Kuba Shand-Baptiste will then provide an introduction to Gal-dem, as well as contextualising some of the challenges of working in media spaces. The talks themselves will end with Tori West of BRICKS magazine, which will be an unmissable primer on how to pitch, prepare and submit work to publications.

Afterwards, between 17:30 and 19:00, there will be an opportunity to have free drinks and a networking session, with tea and coffee provided throughout the day. Buy tickets for Publish Cardiff, or see a full timetable of the events below:

11:00 Polyester Zine Editors Ione Gamble and Gina Tonic

12:30 Creator of Cheer Up Luv, Eliza Hatch

14:30 Chief sub-editor of Gal-dem, Kuba Shand-Baptiste

16:00 How to Submit to Magazines by Tori West of BRICKS magazine

17:30 – 19:00 FREE drinks and networking session

The event will be taking place at Little Man Coffee, on Bridge Street (you know the place, near the Motorpoint, just opposite St. David’s, where all the cool kids skate).

More information, as well as pricing, can be found on the Publish Cardiff Eventbrite page. The networking session between 17:30 – 19:00 will be free, group and individual event tickets can be bought if you only want to attend one talk.

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The People, Whats on

TEDxCanton speakers announced!

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As we (very excitedly) announced a few weeks ago, TEDxCanton is happening on 19 May! We’ve been announcing our AMAZING speakers and performers all week on Twitter, but here’s a roundup. The event is sold out, but tickets for the viewing party at Printhaus will be on sale next week!

Lia Moutselou and Becca Clark

Becca and Lia are community food waste trailblazers. Together they run Wasteless Suppers, which bring together local food businesses, food lovers and passionate people to create positive change and reduce food waste.
Lia is a self-taught chef and the director of Lia’s Kitchen, running pop-up food events, cooking classes and social enterprise projects around the world.
Becca is the director of Green City, a community of local green experts who are passionate about sustainable living and the environment, which offers fun, affordable and practical workshops, events and activities.

Follow them: @greencityevents @liaskitchen @moutselia

Stepheni Kays

Stepheni is an integration officer for the Swansea City of Sanctuary project. After leaving her home country in 2008, she was granted asylum and began studying a degree alongside her full-time job. She graduated in 2016, and began a Master’s in human rights shortly after.

Stepheni passionately believes that the effective integration of refugees and asylum seekers can make communities better for everyone, not just for new residents.

Follow her @madamekays

Sabrina Cohen-Hatton

Sabrina is an experimental psychologist and deputy assistant commissioner in the London Fire Brigade. Her unique perspective allowed her to research decision-making in places where most psychologists can’t – actual emergency incidents – from the viewpoint of the operational commander.
Sabrina’s work included fitting helmet-mounted cameras to capture incidents from commanders’ point of view, followed by cognitive debriefs afterwards to analyse their decision-making process. Her findings changed the way that rescuers respond to incidents.

Follow her @sab_cohenhatton / sabrinacohenhatton.com

Matt Callanan

Matt is a former worldwide DJ and music producer turned filmmaker. He is also the founder of kindness project We Make Good Happen.
The project started after meeting Bill Murray in George Clooney’s house (yep), and now he hides £10 notes in public places (#Tenner4Good), encouraging people to use the money for a random act of kindness.

Follow him @matt_4_good / @wemakegoodhappn / mattcallanan.co.uk

John Parker

John is the chair of the London Tree Officers Association, and an arboriculture and landscape manager. He promotes urban forests and the benefits of green spaces, from better social cohesion to improved child development.

Follow the London Tree Officers Association @LTOA33

 

Josh Doughty

Josh is a kora player, which is a 21-string lute-bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa.

He started learning the instrument from age 8, and was spotted by the Master Kora musician, Toumani Diabate. In 2007 Josh was invited to Bamako, the capital of Mali, to study under Toumani in his home.

During this time Toumani became Josh’s teacher, mentor and friend. Josh would spend hours playing Kora with him, improving his skills and immersing himself in Mali culture.

Follow him @joshdoughtykora / joshdoughtykora.co.uk

Jon Vaughan-Davies

Jon is a lifelong magic fan. When a friend invited him to perform his fun blend of psychological illusion at an event in a pub one night, it led to many more pubs and many more nights. From predicting people’s choices to future headlines, he has a keen interest in why we want what we want and how understanding that can help us all to make better and more informed choices.

 

Lorna Prichard

Lorna, who will be hosting TEDxCanton, is a former TV news reporter now focusing on comedy. In the last year she has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, established her own comedy night ‘Howl’ in Tramshed and started a regular all-female comedy night – ‘Howling Women’ – thought to be the only one outside of London.

She’s also bilingual and also technically a world record holder having taken part in a 96-hour comedy marathon in Banbury.

Follow her @lorna_corner / @howlcomedy1

You can read more about the team of volunteers behind the organisation of TEDxCanton here!

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The Arts, Whats on

Cardiff Animation Festival 2018 – preview

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Chapter Arts Centre are doing something special for the Cardiff community once again by hosting this year’s Cardiff Animation Festival, right after the end of their successful art festival Experimentica. The festival, which looks to cover all types of animation from student pieces to Isle of Dogs, will take place between April 19 – 22nd at Chapter. A full schedule has already been released, detailing a bunch of fun stuff, including a live Q&A workshop with Isle of Dogs animators, over 90 short films, workshops, and industry sessions for those trying to break into the competitive world of animation.

The multi-day festival appears to have lots to offer everyone, regardless of animation ability. The first day, known as the “Industry Day”, is more catered towards those who have a professional interest in animation and the surrounding industry. Passes for the Industry Day are available, with sessions including Afternoon Tea with the Children’s Commissioners, giving delegates the rare opportunity to learn how to pitch to TV networks and how to market independent short-form content, as well as a chance to sign up for a one-to-one sessions. The Industry Day will kick off with a keynote from Bob Ayres, the head of TrueTube, which received a record-breaking seven awards nominations at the most recent BAFTA Children’s Awards. Panels also include a talk on Licensing and Distribution, featuring speakers such as Alison Taylor (Aardman Rights) and Helen Howells (HoHo Entertainment). The rest of the festival will take a slightly less serious tone for hobbyists and watchers, but the first day is incredibly useful for those with even a cursory knowledge of the animation sector.

Friday will celebrate new Welsh stop-motion animated feature Chuck Steel: Night Of The Trampires. Director Mike Mort, Art Director Bridget Phelan, Executive Producer Randhir Singh, and animator Laura Tofarides will give an exciting look behind the scenes, as well as a chance to see a few deleted scenes. The film is almost the centrepiece of the entire festival, as it will also be the basis of a four-day exhibition based on the film’s sets, props, puppets, etc.

Masterclasses will also be available, including one from Cartoon Saloon’s Mark Mullery who will treat audiences to behind the scenes of Oscar-nominated feature film The Breadwinner, a stunning animated drama about a little girl living under Taliban rule. The film will also be screened ahead of its UK release, which is a nice touch.

Another highlight appears to be the workshop by internationally-renowned artist Jac Saorsa, who will lead a Life Drawing for Animators workshop. The workshop is tailored to hone drawing skills crucial to animation. Suitable for animators, students, hobbyists and anyone looking to develop their drawing skills for animation.

The major highlight for We Are Cardiff who are, self-admittedly, a little too dog-obsessed, is the Isle of Dogs feature. For those who haven’t seen it yet (WHY HAVEN’T YOU SEEN IT?), the film is directed and written by Wes Anderson, and features some gloriously detailed stop-motion of talking dogs. A workshop based around the film, involving Lead Animator Kim Kong, Model Maker Josh Flynn, and Kerry Dyer, head of the Isle of Dogs Puppet Hospital, will be put on show, detailing some props, methods, and insights into the making of the film.

The festival will also be screening 99 short films, which will be assessed by The Jury, who are tasked with selecting the winners of the animation programme from films on display. The Jury, who are named rather ominously, will be made up of independent director Rhiannon Evans (Heartstrings, Fulfilament), Manchester Animation Festival producer Jen Hall, author and Skwigly Animation Magazine Managing Director Ben Mitchell, Aardman animation director Will Becher, and independent producer, Director of Animation UK, and newly-appointed director of the British Animation Awards, Helen Brunsdon.

Sadly, all passes excluding the Industry Day pass have now sold out, but there are tickets for sale on the Cardiff Animation Festival website for individual events. Further details, including the timetable for the entire festival, can be found there, too.

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Whats on

Record Store Day 2018 in Cardiff – events and happenings!

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How is it already time for Record Store Day again?? If you’re looking to go join the queues or catch some of your favourite musical heroes in town, we’ve got the skinny on all the events – from Lauren Laverne broadcasting her BBC 6Music show, to Gruff Rhys and Charlotte Church djing! Don’t forget to check the full list of RSD 2018 releases…

Get out and about and support your local independent music scene, this Saturday 21 April, 2018!

Record Store Day 2018 at Spillers Records

9am – 6pm, Spillers Records, Morgan Arcade

The annual celebration of independent record shops and all things vinyl is happening on Saturday the 21st of April – and alongside the armfuls of exclusive releases, Spillers  will be hosting their usual range of DJs and live music to keep you entertained throughout the day – and this year, they’ve got SPECIAL GUEST Lauren Laverne broadcasting her BBC 6 Music show from the store! She’ll be joined by guests Gwenno and Gruff Rhys.

And Lauren’s excited about her visit to Cardiff! She says: “I love taking my show on the road for Record Store Day, but to be going to Spillers in Cardiff – the world’s oldest record store – this year is something really special. We’ll be chatting to the team there and will be joined by Gwenno and Gruff Rhys, with music from Haley. It’s going to be a fantastic show and I’m so looking forward to be heading to Wales’ capital city!”

A Record Store Party That’s Not A Record Store Party

9am – 6pm at RIP Outpost, in the Castle Emporium (Womanby Street)

Come and join us at The Castle Emporium for a right old knees up to celebrate all things vinyl! Come join the Official-Unofficial Record Store Day 2018 All-Dayer, where there will be :

  • *BRUNCH SPECIAL
  • *RIVAL BREWERY BOTTLE BAR
  • *BANGIN TUNES FROM CRUSH DJS / DRUNK YOGA / ROTARY CLUB / BAN LAB
  • *DEALS DEALS DEALS
  • *PRIZES PRIZES PRIZES
  • *HAIRY BABES + SLIMEY HUNKS
  • *PUPPY PARTY PETTING ZOO
  • *DISCOUNT CROC SHOP
  • *POSI PARTY VIBES
  • *THE SUPER LIMITED UNOFFICIAL RSD LIST

NO DIVING IN THE SHALLOW END!

Record Store Day at Kellys Records

9am- 6pm, Kellys Records in Cardiff Indoor Market

A Cardiff institution, Kellys has all your second-hand music needs – and a great line up of DJs on the day!

DJs on rotation at Kellys through the day:

  • 9-11am – Kellys staff
  • 11-12pm – Sarah Sweeney
  • 12-1pm – Don Leisure
  • 1-2pm – Gruff Rhys
  • 2-3pm – Ani Glass
  • 3-4pm – Charlotte Church & Esther
  • 4-5pm – Boy Azooga

Record Store Day After Party hosted by Vinyl Cruisers and Spillers Records

6-11pm, The Andrew Buchan Bar, Albany Road

Vinyl Cruisers and Spillers Records present The Record Store Day After Party! Besides the normal crew there will be Spillers regulars manning the decks. Expect some exclusive tunes for your delight!

If you’re out and about over Record Store Day 2018 be sure to tag us in your pics and we’ll reshare the best! Enjoy! #shoplocal #independentcardiff.

Also shout out to woke Record Store Day sponsor, Friels Cider! Supporting independent music! Give them a big up and tag em in, #FrielsRSD.

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Whats on

Global Gardens needs your vote!

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Global Gardens, a wonderful Cardiff project that supports intercultural exchange through gardening, cooking and eating, is one of five Welsh projects in the running for a share of up to £150,000 of funding.

But they need your vote! Now in its 13th year, the Big Lottery Fund, ITV Wales and The National Lottery are teaming up to give the public a chance to decide how National Lottery funding should be put to good use in their local area.

The Global Gardens Project runs weekly garden sessions at the allotment site and monthly suppers at the Embassy Café in Cardiff. If successful, this funding will help Global Gardens Project to develop the gardening and cooking activities offered and facilities on site. This includes development of a small kitchen so that dishes from the garden can be cooked on site. Their aim is to make the site more welcoming and accessible to people.  

Please take a minute to vote for this lovely project at www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk.

Fancy getting involved with their work?

The Garden also won funding from Grow Wild to to deliver a series of practical workshops and identification walks, with the aim of inspiring and educating a future generation of seed-savers and fungi enthusiasts.

The Seeds and Spores Project will start on 21 April (10.30am-4.30pm) at the Global Gardens site, with a workshop on outdoor fungi cultivation with fungi enthusiast Rich Wright.

In June, Annwen Jones (Rhizome Clinic) will be leading a workshop on a range of healing native plants found. They will also be hosting a seed-saving workshop with Green City.
There will also be opportunities to develop identification skills later this year-Rich Wright (Feed Bristol) will be leading a fungi identification walk, and Julian Woodman (Glamorgan Botanical Group) will lead a walk on native plants in the local area.

International fungi expert Prof Lynne Body will talk about the good, the bad and the ugly (in fungi terms).

The workshops and walks are free but places are limited so book a place to avoid disappointment.

Throughout the project they will be creating a zine and various artwork, and the project will culminate with an exhibition in the Global Gardens Greenhouse. So, if you are an artist who would like to get involved, they also want to hear from you!

To find out more and keep up to date with activities, follow the Global Gardens Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/globalgardensproject/

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Whats on

Cardiff haze pop trio XYandO announce Big Top residency!

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To support the release of their new single ‘Shades of You’ on May 4 – and in celebration of surpassing 32 MILLION STREAMS on Spotify alone – Cardiff haze poppers XY&O have announced a spring residency of live shows at The Big Top!

Entry to all shows is FREE, and each gig features support from different artists (including Safari Gold, Jack Ellis, Sønder Choir and rising stars Hvnter and The Dead Method).

WATCH: XY&O – Low Tide

XY&O’s Big Top residency shows are:

  • April 19th: XY&O + Safari Gold
  • May 4th: XY&O + Jack Ellis + Blue Honey DJ Set [single launch show]
  • May 17th: XY&O + Sønder Choir [semi acoustic show]
  • June 1st: XY&O + Hvnter + The Dead Method [presented in association with the Forte&Project]

We caught up Skip, Nick and Tudor for a mini interview before their residency kicks off!

Q. Where and how did the band form? Introduce all the members and maybe tell us a bit about your musical influences

Skip. We met in Cardiff, I was at University there. Me and Tudor crossed paths down at a little studio in Cardiff Bay and almost immediately decided that we should write some songs together. Our tastes are styles when it came to writing where similar, but also different enough so that we could spin off each other. He yinged, I yanged.

I knew Nick because I was recording and producing some tracks for a band he was in at the time, he was only about 16/17 and had an amazingly original style of playing guitar and writing even then. I thought it would be interesting to rope him in and see how his musicality fitted with the songs me and Tude had started.

My musical tastes are pretty broad. I can usually find something I like about a track or genre. Some of my biggest influences would be artists like Prince, John Martyn The Cure, Sting, stuff my Dad was listening too as I grew up. When I hit early teens and started finding my own music, then it was all about Jimmy Eat World, Alkaline Trio and Blink 182 for a couple of years. I like heavy music, soft music and everything in between. Atreyu to Arianna Grande.

Nick. My influences constantly change, at the minute I’m listening to a lot of electronic soul type stuff as well as artists such as Mt. Joy and Jordan Mackampa.

Tudor. My musical influences are pretty broad and always changing. I love haunting and spacey music like Daughter, RY X and Sigur Ros. I’m also a massive Coldplay fan (saw them in Cardiff for the first time not so long ago and it only confirmed my obsession). I’m currently listening to a lot of traditional Colombian music (probably due to watching all of Narcos on Netflix in three days).

Q. Where are you all from originally? How did you end up in Cardiff?

Skip. I’m originally from the valleys, a little town called Abercarn. I came to Cardiff University though so lived in the city for 3/4 years at that time.

Tudor is from Barry and Nick from Whitchurch so they’re both Cardiff boys.

Q. What are your musical memories from being younger? What made you all decide to get into making music?

Skip. Most of my musical memories just revolve around listening to it. I sang in school and stuff like that but the most vivid memories for the first times I heard certain artists. I remember listening to REM, Led Zeppelin and Sting CDs in the car with my parents. I remember the first time I heard Youth & Young Manhood by Kings of Leon and amazing records like that. I used to sing and make up songs as a kid, and I guess I just never really stopped…

Tudor. Family BBQs that went late into the night with Bob Marley albums being played back to back. I’ve always been obsessed with how music makes people feel and I suppose I wanted to be a part of that process.

Nick. Listening to Jimi Hendrix in my dad’s car was a big one, I remember being pretty mind blown that those kinds of sounds existed (especially the solos in All Along the Watchtower). I think it’s that curiosity that got me into music

Q. What are your favourite music- related spots around Cardiff – venues / shops etc?

Tudor. We’re big fans of The Full Moon, Clwb Ifor Bach, Womanby Street as a whole really. Gwdihw is a pretty cool place and The Big Top of course. That’s a great venue for intimate gigs.

We’re also looking for a New York Deli sponsorship so will give them a shout out too!

Skip. Also, Bomber’s Deli…un-related to music, but if you’re in Cardiff and it’s lunch time then you need to check that place out.

Q. Tell us about the Ten Feet Tall/Big Top residency

It’s going to be a chance for us to experiment with all of our new lights, equipment and music. Our live show has evolved massively and we’re keen to show it to people in an intimate setting. We’re using the gigs to try out new songs, experiment with arrangements and just generally play some fun local shows because we haven’t really played in the city that much. We’ve made all the gigs free entry because we’d rather people just come and enjoy, critique or just listen to our new music

Q. What’s been the best gig you’ve played to date?

We actually played at Glastonbury 2016 on the BBC Introducing Stage. It was obviously pretty amazing so that always ranks highly. It was only out 10th gig as a band so very strange and looking back on it, it almost feels like a different band. Our live set up then was very different to what it is now. We played an amazing gig at The Phoenix in Exeter in the run-up to Glastonbury. It was a BBC show at a big sold out theater and the crowd were amazingly receptive to us.

Q. What are your plans and hopes for the future?

Our new single ‘Shades of You’ is scheduled to come out on May 4th so we’re excited for that. We’re shooting the music video for it next week actually.
We’ve just been picked up by the live agents Primary Talent so we’re keen to get out playing live much more. We’re hoping to use the residency to fine tune our live set too.

Tudor. We want to go over to the US and play for all the Americans that have been streaming our music for the last two years!

XY&O is the creative amalgamation of songwriters Skip Curtis, Nick Kelly and Tudor Davies.

It began in early 2015 – Skip (from the Valleys) and Tudor (from Cardiff) began writing music and songs with the intention of pitching them to other artists to use. Skip quickly roped in another Cardiff native Nick Kelly in hopes of bringing another dimension to the music. After posting some early demos online under the moniker ‘XY&O’ the trio started seeing their play count rise. They started receiving airplay on US Radio stations as well as gig offers from US promoters, some of whom assumed the band were from Cardiff, San Diego.

Early on, the boys wrote what would become ‘Low Tide’ – bringing with it the genesis of their unique style, coined by Skip as haze pop. ‘Low Tide’ was self-released and went straight into Spotify’s Global Viral Chart at number 7, reaching an audience worldwide, but was particularly well received in the US. The track has since gone on to accumulate over 20 million streams. The trio gained huge popularity on all online platforms, it was at this point the three had discovered that XY&O had somewhat unintentionally become a band.

The band slowed things down the second half of 2016 and early 2017, allowing Nick to finish his final year studies at University but have now re-focused their efforts into their live show and have recently been taken on by live agents Primary Talent. The boy’s story was picked up by the Wales Online in late 2017 which led to them being featured live on the ITV News at 6pm talking about their unusual story of being a little known Welsh band with an audience in the USA.

They hope to expand their live following over 2018 as well as release plenty of new music. New single ‘Shades of You’ is set for release on May 4th, 2018.

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Whats on

Introducing TEDxCanton: the tiny event with BIG ideas

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On Saturday 19 May, a specially curated event will bring inspirational speakers and performers to the heart of Canton to share exciting new ideas and discussion.

Speakers include a firefighter who changed the way emergency services make decisions, and a man who believes trees can solve social problems. The talks aim to challenge, inspire and motivate the audience, and give them ideas to improve their lives and the world they live in.

Only 30 tickets will be available for the main event in local micropub St Canna’s, and there will be a viewing party down the road in the Printhaus with some extra community-led events. The talks will also be streamed online.

Event organiser James Karran said:

I opened St Canna’s to help create a place where people could meet, talk and drink great beer. Running an event licensed by the world-famous TED conferences is a fantastic way of bringing new ideas to our little community.

The three organisers and our team of volunteers have worked really hard to find the most inspiring speakers and amazing performers, and we can’t wait to reveal our full plans for the afternoon’s event!

Tickets will be released at midday on Tuesday 3 April. The price is £15, which includes four talks, two performances, two videos, a goody bag and a snack. Follow @tedx_canton for updates on ticket sales, speaker announcements and more exciting news!

About us

TEDxCanton is being organised by James, Hannah and Sara.


James Karran is the owner of St Canna’s and the holder of the TEDx license. He is a Baptist minister with a history of arranging unusual events, once running a ‘pub church’ project around Cardiff city centre. He opened St Canna’s in April 2017 with the intention of creating a space for the local community to meet, chat and drink great beer.

Hannah Johnson co-runs We Are Cardiff, an award winning volunteer-run blog that celebrates Cardiff’s alternative culture, arts scene and diverse communities. In her day job she’s a parliamentary researcher specialising in equality, human rights and poverty. She also writes for a human rights public education project, and works as a consultant for the UN Development Programme.

Sara Williams has managed corporate partnerships between businesses and the third sector for six years. She is incredibly passionate about bring local community and businesses together, and has led on sponsorship for the TEDxCanton.

About TEDx

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organised events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.

At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organised events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organised TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organised.

Sponsors

TEDxCanton is kindly supported by the Waterloo Foundation, and sponsored by a range of very generous local businesses and organisations:

Notes for editors

Contact
For more information about the event, contact tedxcantoncf@gmail.com.

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organisation devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today’s leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED’s annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

TED’s open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a “wish,” or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED or Instagram at https://instagram.com/ted.

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The City

The first signs of spring!

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Okay, so it’s official – spring has sprung! No lambs or fluffy chicks in the city centre, but plenty of colour. Photojournalist Ben Rice went on the hunt …

Fingers crossed for warmer weather!

Follow Ben Rice at The Cardiff Tribune and Ben Rice Photography.

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Whats on

What’s on in Cardiff – Easter weekend 2018 special

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Okay, so the sun is FINALLY out, hopefully everyone’s bank accounts have recovered slightly from the Christmas mash up, and you’re all revved up and you want to go out! Also, in case you’re visiting Cardiff for the Joshua fight and looking for something else to do around watching grown men slowly beat each other to a bloody pulp, LOOK! There’s loads on!

Or maybe you’re a local, suffering from event overload – after all – maybe there is TOO much on, and you’re having trouble deciding what to do? Don’t fear, the We Are Cardiff What’s On – Easter Special Guide is here to haaaaalp!

There are two music festivals taking place across the whole of the weekend – Wales Goes Pop! at The Gate in Roath, and The Moon’s Easter Bank Holiday Weekend (which is F R E E!), which explains why you’ll see multiple entries for those. Other than that, we’ve got art exhibitions, yoga for runners, litter picks, as well as ALL SORTS of live music you can enjoy at gigs and club nights.

So don’t delay – read on and book your tickets where you can, a bunch of these are approaching BEING SOLD OUT!

What’s on in Cardiff – Thursday 29 March

STAR PICK! Cardiff Music Awards 2018
Thurs, 29 Mar · Tramshed Cardiff, 6pm – 11.30pm

YES YES! The Cardiff Music Awards are bringing the noise (and the party) with this rather smashing line up at the Tramshed. The event celebrates the BEST of our city’s musical talents, from bands to producers to promoters. The line up includes some of our fav Cardiff acts – Afro Cluster, HMS Morris, Rainbow Maniac, and DJs GRL TLK. TUNE IN TO SEE WHO GONNA WIN! Yagetme. Etc.

Cardiff Music Awards – tickets / Cardiff Music Awards – website

OTHER EVENTS IN CARDIFF ON THURSDAY 29 MARCH:

Kicking off the Moon’s weekend of epic tunes is Blowout Presents – No Violet + Support, Esuna, Cult of Hands and DJs til late. Grunge / Alt-Rock / Fuzz – FREE ENTRY!

Cardiff’s longest running club night (we’re nearly at its 19th birthday, people!!!) returns with its standard mix of twisted rock, indie, Britpop and all manner of things in between. Free entry til 11pm, get your shuffle on.

If you want to shake your thing to a wild cocktail of UK Funky, Bass, House and Afro Disco, we suggest you take yourselves down the steps to Undertone for this Rough’n’Tumble. Buy Rough n Tumble tickets

What’s on in Cardiff – Friday 30 March

Star pick! Astroid Boys | Y Plas, Cardiff Students’ Union
Fri, 30 Mar · Y PLAS, 7.30pm – 10.30pm

Our very own local grime punks are bringing their super lively style to the big stage! Astroid Boys have been all over your doink recently, with superstyle collabs with Adidas, and having their track Dusted chosen as the theme song for the WWE UK Championship Tournament. And DON’T MISS THE AFTERPARTY AT METROS!

Astroid Boys – website / Astroid Boys at Y Plas – buy tickets / Astroid Boys afterparty

OTHER EVENTS IN CARDIFF ON FRIDAY 30 MARCH:

It’s the first day of Wales Goes Pop! Celebrate with the best indie pop around: Sweet Baboo + Jeffrey Lewis + Peaness + Drahla +Charmpit + PURS + The Echo and The Always / cafe sets: Jemma Roper +Thee Manatees + Private World / DJs til 1am

Wales Goes Pop! website / Buy Wales Goes Pop! tickets

If you happen to be in town for cheeky drinks before you go out, make time to head into Queens Arcade to visit the Three Doors Up gallery with their latest exhibition, ‘Lomography’. Free entry plus culturally induced smugness.

If you’re an old raver (like I am), then let me let YOU into a little secret: Tramshed host all sorts of wicked house music nights that START EARLY AND END EARLY. So you can party like it’s your birthday until midnight, and then leave all the kids to go on to the afterparty. Anyway, this is one of those events – with Knee Deep In Sound head honcho, Hot Since 82. Expect house music all night long! (until midnight). Also there’s the Hot Since 82 afterparty, with Mella Dee headlining at infamous Cardiff venue, The Vaults!

If you’re indie, indie, all night long, then you’ll probably appreciate everything on the Nice Swan roster. Supported by Cardiff band, Sock! Buy Nice Swan tickets

The Moon continue their free music festival with headliners The Audio Pirates
& support! There will also be DJs playing alt rock indie punk psych til 4am. Head to Womanby Street and feel the beating pulse of Cardiff’s alternative music scene!

For those ragga enthusiasts in the building, make sure you grab tickets now for General Levy! We’ll be skanking by the left speaker at this one, make sure you come and say hi! Buy General Levy tickets

What’s on in Cardiff – Saturday 31 March

If by some miracle your hangover’s not that bad on Saturday, there are a bunch of great daytime events happening this Easter Saturday. To get your shop on, head for the Vintage Kilo Sale (10am, Canton) or the Boutique Gift Market at the Norwegian Church (10.30am, Cardiff Bay). For those of you that need to move, you could try the Welsh Hula Hoop Convention (10.30am, Cardiff Bay),  Yoga for Runners (10.45am, Pontcanna), B-Girl Dance Workshop (2.30pm, Cardiff Bay), or an Adults Roller Skating Session at Cardiff House of Sport (5pm, Leckwith).

Oh, and if you’ve been naughty, you can always attempt to atone by attending the Keep Splott Tidy litterpick (10am, Adamsdown), and if you’re hungry, head to the third in the Wasteless Supper series (7.30pm, city centre), where you can get fed and feel smug at the same time.

Don’t forget, Saturday is the day of the Joshua vs Parker fight in Cardiff, so town is likely to be a carnival of epic proportions!

Now, onto the main events …

Star pick! Wales Goes Pop! 2018, 1.30pm – midnight
Sat, 31 Mar · The Gate, 1.30pm – late

Although Wales Goes Pop! is carrying on all weekend, for us the Saturday line up is The One: just check this out …

Dream Wife + Kero Kero Bonito + Desperate Journalist + Personal Best + Axolotes Mexicanos + She Makes War + The School / cafe sets: Buzzard + The Yearning + Rafa Skam (THE YELLOW MELODIES) / plus DJs til 1am.

Wales Goes Pop! website / Buy Wales Goes Pop! tickets

OTHER EVENTS IN CARDIFF ON SATURDAY 31 MARCH:

If normal clubs melt your mind and you yearn for something a bit less beaty, how about checking this – the first Ambient Afternoon, which aims to create a relaxed listening environment where anyone can have a cup of tea and wind down. The music will be non invasive, cross many genres and will soothe your soul. How good does that sound? In case you have no idea what we’re talking about, listen to this: Aquarium – Rainy Night in Shibuya. Vibes.

If you like your beats reggae based and dubby, head to the Moon for The Barefoot Bandit & support! Reggae / Dub all night long, plus DJs playing reggae funk soul dub punk hip-hop til 4am!

Our favourite night cafe bring the noise with Studio 89 -New Beat | EBM | Italo | HiNRG | Industrial. Come prepared to dance (and also potentially eat some of the amazing food they make at this place…)

Signor Funk does what he says on the tin – expect to hear from the likes of Northern Soul favourites Dobie Gray, Al Wilson, Jimmy Radcliffe and Epitome of Sound to more obscure rarities, all mixed in with cool dirty disco tunes. Also there’s 50 per cent OFF ALL DRINKS between 9-10pm! Get the party STARTED already!

If your idea of a good night starts late and finishes when most people are still fast asleep – oh, and takes place in a bank vault – then grab your dancing daps and head to The Vaults for the biggest d’n’b lineup to hit the city so far this year. Basslayerz, MC Fatman D, Grime Minister, MC Juiceman, AAA Badboy and MC Comma Dee will be performing for your pleasure (and no, we didn’t make up any of those names). Buy tickets for Concept vs Circle 8

What’s on in Cardiff – Sunday 1 April

Seriously?? You’re still looking for things to do? You’re not tired yet? For those of you with the stamina to keep going, you’re in luck! Daytime events taking place on Easter Sunday include an Easter Egg hunt on Flatholm Island (6.30am, Flatholm), a circus convention with workshops at Up Side Down Circus (10am, Tremorfa), you can watch Donnie Darko in a Victorian arcade (6pm, city centre), or join Cardiff’s unicycle club (8pm, Leckwith).

If it’s music you’re after, then read on for other events …

Star pick! Blue Honey Bank Holiday w/ Awesome Tapes From Africa
Sun 1 April · Gwdihŵ Café Bar, 3pm – 2am

Yes yes! It’s Blue Honey’s fourth annual day/night party at Gwdihŵ Café Bar car park. And they’ve got a pucker headliner – AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA making his Cardiff debut! Support comes from the untouchable Darkhouse Family, Esther, Rotary Club and Blue Honey DJs.

Blue Honey event page / Buy tickets for Blue Honey present Awesome Tapes from Africa

OTHER EVENTS IN CARDIFF ON SUNDAY 1 APRIL:

Wales Goes Pop! brings out the big guns for the Sunday line up –  Shonen Knife + Brix & The Extricated + Goat Girl + Colour Me Wednesday + Bad Parents + El Goodo / cafe sets: Adwaith + Perfect Body + Think Pretty. Plus DJs til 11pm!

If house music all night long in a secret warehouse is your thing, be sure to grab your tickets NOW for the Delete Warehouse residents party – featuring Matt Owen, Marc Parsons, Lee Graves, Kofi Tarris, Owain Kimber, Gerrard and Aled Wynne. Location TBC direct to each ticket buyer! Buy Delete Warehouse Party tickets

On Sunday, the Moon wrap up their weekend festivities with CVC, Mike Dennis, Hash-Hann (Beatbox Hann), Papa Jupe’s Taurus Club, Anonymous Iconoclasts, Luke Bennett Music + DJs playing alt rock punk reggae funk soul dub hip-hop til 4am!

We don’t talk much about metal on this blog. Which is a shame, because in terms of subgenre descriptions, metal is probably the most inventive genre out there. Don’t believe me? Well, this line up that contains the following: Dutch grind / death /  sludge / crust / black metal; Swedish death metal fused with UK hardcore; Scouse hardcore; London grind / powerviolence / mathcore; and finally, my favourite of all, London nutella grind.

No I didn’t know they were still going EITHER. Buy Embrace tickets

If you’re in need of a lovely sit down jazz gig, make sure you get your tickets to this – she’s hotly tipped by Jamie Cullen and Michael Ball. More jazz please vicar! Buy Sarah Munro tickets.

I hope they’ve got decent cleaning staff in the Vaults for this mega bonanza heavy tuneage weekend. Sunday’s party brings you techno – in a bank vault – all night long! Buy High-Fi 002 tickets

If you’re gagging for some d’n’b, then back down the stairs you go to the warm, sweaty embrace of Undertone. Rising stars on this line up – Apollo, Hoodfellaz Hoodfella development, Shanny Shan and Obsidian, with the night hosted by Hoodfellaz, Slim Teng, MC XL. Buy XL Invites – Critical Impact tickets

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Well I don’t know about you, but I’m absolutely exhausted just going through those. Might invoke the concept of JOMO and lock myself in my house …
Nah! We’ll be out all weekend, and we can’t wait. See you on the dancefloor (or, potentially, at a litter pick or in an art gallery)

Peas

WAC
x

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The City

Riverside Market Garden – behind the scenes

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If you’ve ever been to the Riverside Market, you’ll have noticed the Riverside Market Community Garden stall. They sell fresh produce and also provide veg boxes for very reasonable prices for local folks. The produce comes from a little further afield than Riverside though – to trace these leaves and roots back to … well, their roots … you’ll have to travel over to St Hilary. Veronika Merkova headed over there to take some snaps (pre snow!) to show you where those green bits come from.

To see the full album, visit the We Are Cardiff Facebook photo album: Riverside Market Community Garden

Find out more about the Riverside Market Garden on Facebook

There is a very lovely feature on Veronika here on Together and Sunspell – Veronika Merkova

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The City

Snowmageddon: an update from the Cardiff streets

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So, it wasn’t quite the St David’s Day most of us were expecting, but who cares with this much joyous white stuff everywhere? Cardiff has been transformed over the past few days, but if you’ve been stuck in your hood, don’t fear – we’ve gathered together the best bits and pieces from around the city!

So here’s what happened …

IT SNOWED INSIDE THE ARCADES…

By Sion Tudur on Instagram

WE BUILT SNOW PEOPLE

By Amy Silva
By Melissa Mizzi
By Peter Benbow
By Chris Marshall

WE SAW HELL (aka The Taff) FREEZE OVER

By Ailura Photography

THEN WE SAW ROATH LAKE FREEZE OVER, BUT WEREN’T AS IMPRESSED AS WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN 

By Liam Ellis

WE HELPED PUSH CARS (and realised in the process that boys really like pushing cars)

WE SAW EERIE VIEWS OF THE CITY …

By Joy Collective
Rhys Tranter documented his wandering around a snowy Cardiff Bay …

By Sarah
By Joshua Pook
By Deemah

WE HAD RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES

By Nathan Wyburn

WE FLEW DOWN HILLS …

WE GOT SMASHED AT OUR FAVOURITE LOCAL BOOZER

https://twitter.com/StCannas/status/969332132752646144

SOME OF OUR PETS ENJOYED IT

SOME OF OUR PETS DID NOT

WE FREAKED OUT AND BOUGHT ALL THE FRUIT

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf3TbElhII4/?taken-at=219323

WE GOT CREATIVE WITH IT

By Max Higgins

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf3yaelnDZw/?taken-at=219323

Big BIG ups to all you 4×4 drivers offering lifts, and emergency service people, and nurses, and other essential services where you can’t afford to have a snow day. Also to all the neighbours helping shovel snow and doing small shop runs and pushing cars. The beast from the east got us all doing community service!

Stay warm, Cardiff

Peas
x

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