CONTENT

SPORT - 05 06 07 08 09 10

MUSIC - 11 12 13 14 15 16

FASHION - 17 18 19 20 21 22

ART - 23 24 25 26 27 28

FOOD - 29 30 31 32 33 34

RAV - ANNIMATION10

MELITA - GRAPHICS, ILLUSTRATION

JESS - PHOTOGRAPHY

LIBBY - GRAPHICS

JACK - PHOTOGRAPHY, GRAPHICS

Made to concentrate on some of the hidden personas that make Birmingham the city that it is and what separates it from others. Fresh views on the new and the old hidden treasures as well as exclusive interviews on sport, music, art, food and fashion related topics.

MANIFESTO

BIRMINGHAMSPORT

MUSIC

FASHION

ART

FOOD

Vintage is becoming increasingly popular, mainly with young adults. Buying vintage fashion allows you to wear something unique; depending on the era of certain clothes it is unlikely anyone will be spotted wearing the same garment! It allows you to embrace history with a variety of styles and stories behind the clothes.

P. 5 & 6

Wearing vintage is like recycling history, and Birmingham is the place to do it! It is a city that thrives on its vintage fashion, various shops all over Birmingham sell clothing of a vin-tage fashion such as Cow, Urban village and Mr Birds. All located in Digbeth. After taking the time to visit some of the most popular shops for vintage clothing you can see what well established, competitive vintage stores are like, and why you should shop there instead of the Bullring.

5/6

JOEY

Saturdays are when the shop is at its busiest, and according to the staff, the best day to shop! The custard factory itself is more vibrant, and full of vintage hunters!

I asked Joey if he had any interesting facts about himself, in relation to vintage clothes. His response was...

‘I’m ashamed to say it, but I own over 175 shirts and 80 pairs of trousers’,

which just goes to show his appreciation for vintage clothing! From his attire it was clear that he had a flare for 60’s fashion, he stated that his style was ‘psychedelic’

URBAN VILLAGE

7/8

“IMPORTED AS FAR AS AMERICA AND

ALL ACROSS EUROPE“

On the very outskirts of The Custard Factory is another store which has highly rated reputation for its vintage fashion, called ‘Cow’, which has been there for 7 years. Just like at Urban village I got speaking to a staff member of Cow to find out exactly why it was different to other vintage shops and why people should shop there.

“Cow is an established brand with 4 shops all based in the United Kingdom. Their clothes are not just picked at random, imported from as far as America and all across Europe. Cow allows you to shop for unique vintage items that can’t be found in your typical high street stores”

9/10

With time music has been categorised in many genres and sub-genres and Birmingham is offering an awful lot of choice to explore them all. In this case my concentration was on the

people. On the people who ‘LOVE music, live and BREATH music’ as they would say. These people are the ones who make Birmingham stand out from other as they embrace music with all their being.

MUSIC like it was

Urban Village is a 2 floor high store based on Gibb Street, amazingly colourful and artistic area called Digbeth. The shop was founded 15 years ago by Frankie Johns and now managed by Joey Smith, who you could not miss. Urban Village offers a range of clothing, badges, and camera’s, accessories and of course lots and lots of vinyl and Joey

uses full advantage of everything

you can find in the store.

CHAOTIC, MOD, EASYGOING

Urban Village in 3 words? We got 6! ‘CHAOTIC, mod, EASYGOING (Yes, we made it into one word!), funky, fun, vintage and colourful.’ As for the staff, they would describe themselves as friendly, individual and knowledgeable.

Going to Urban Village is a must, especially on Saturdays when the whole front of the store has been filled with scooters, inside bustling with masses of friendly faces with the 60’s vibe carried throughout the store as the music gets louder. It doesn’t stop there. Joey caries on at 78 BAR where he holds a 50’s-80’s night called ‘The Exploding Bubble Club’.

URBAN VILLAGE IN THREE WORKS?

11/12

Urban Village in 3 words? We got 6! ‘CHAOTIC, mod, EASYGOING (Yes, we made it into one word!), funky, fun, vintage and colourful.’ As for the staff, they would describe themselves as friendly, individual and knowledgeable.

Going to Urban Village is a must, especially on Saturdays when the whole front of the store has been filled with scooters, inside bustling with masses of friendly faces with the 60’s vibe carried throughout the store as the music gets louder. It doesn’t stop there. Joey caries on at 78 BAR where he holds a 50’s-80’s night called ‘The Exploding Bubble Club’.

With more than 10 years of experience for some of the staff members, we asked the head manager Joey Smith to explain how Urban Village separates themselves from others and we got just what we were looking for: ‘We are not stuffy old men, we actually enjoy music instead of being here because we have to.’

In Joey’s words the shop was created as a front for drugs, which we later on found out is not actually true as the goal was to create a cool store where people could hang out. He also explained the value and love that goes in this store and our team had the best time interviewing his charismatic character.

We asked Joey to name his all-time favourite albums which can be located in the store. The collection included Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones as for the shoppers choice Beatles, Velvet Underground and Pink Floyd comes first.

When asked where the records in the store come from ‘old people do not lock their doors’ was the answer, which, please don’t worry, is not true! The staff members research and bring in the records as it has become their hobby.

When asked about the funny accidents in the store apparently customers believing that the manikins are alive is an ordinary situation, but when asked about the humorous situations at work, every member stood there with a smirk on their face with only one individual who admitted falling of the ladder, which was funny for everyone else except him.

EXCLUSIVEUrban Village is currently working on having a record label behind them. The fact that Joey is a vocalist and guitarist for The Exploding Sound Machine has a close connection to this.

13/14

WHERE OLD MEETS THE NEW ERA Collections from The Beatles,

URBAN VILLAGE

The Who, Pink Floyd and many more. The oportunity to listen to any of the old timefavourite vinyls and CD’s.

URBAN VILLAGE

15/16

Birmingham is slowly but surely gaining a larger art scene, so weather you’re a painter, sprayer and sticker addict it certainty has a place for you. Its artists like Anntomix, Hoaskor and Tom Omeza that are quietly, but vibrantly keeping Digbeth a unique place. One place that always has open arms for artistic people is The Custard Factory, here you can check out new art work by local artists and go to exhibitions held by independent people

If you’re a graffiti artist or just have an interest, a must go see, being the only spray shop in Brum Bench 504. Bench 504 allows you to grab whatever you need to let your creative mind flow.

So next time your wondering the deep streets of Digbeth, really take in the beautiful talent from Born and Raise Birmingham artists.

Annatomix, also known as Anna Atomic is a born and raised Birmingham graffiti artist. At the age of 29, Annatomix has set a high standard for the new urban upcoming artists. Her work, although beautiful is not just for show its more a reflective insight to how her creative mind functions. Her work is carefully constructed, with each finished piece looking bold, clean and sharp. It’s very clear that her inspiration of science and philosophy is demonstrated within her work; making each piece very unusual and unique. So if you’re ever walking through the streets of Digbeth look for the closest signpost or street lamp and you might just be able to catch a glimpse of an Annatomix piece.

BIRMINGHAMART SCENE

17 /18

ANNATOMIXANNATOMIX

So many things. The big one’s would be the subjects that I’ve always studied closely -

Religion, Science, Philosophy and History.

I also get a lot of inspiration from science fiction. I read a

lot of books and watch a lot of films.

WHAT INFLUENCES YOUR WORK?

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19/20

ANNATOMIXANNATOMIX The work I am currently cre-ating is centred on the na-ture of science and its con-nection with spirituality. I am using sacred geometry as the starting point to explore a broad range of themes that include; the creation of the universe, evolution and extinction, rep-etition and cycles in history and the illusion of reality. If I can create some-thing that makes people think/

My street work is general-ly pretty quick, by my stan-dards anyway. All my paste-up’s are hand drawn and depending on size, can take from 30 mins up to 5-6 hrs. Putting them up can take seconds but some of my largest ones have a taken around an hour.Murals and canvases etc vary a lot depending on size and complexity. I can get an 18ft wall painted within a 10hr day but a 5ft painting on canvas might take months.

HOW

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TO C

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FIN

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WHERE DID THE OVERALL IDEA AND CONCEPT COME FROM?

WHERE WOULD YOU RECOMEND PEOPLE TO GO WHO ARE INTO THIS STYLE OF ART? LIKE GALLERIES, SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND GRAFFITI ALONG THE STREET

By members of the general public - frequently. Sometimes people will stand and watch, then congratulate you. I don’t mind it. Never been caught by the police.

Bristol is covered in paint these days and packed with galleries. London’s Brick Lane, Leak Street Tunnel and the Shorditch area are just as messy. Every city has it spots, part of the fun of street art is finding out where those spots are for yourself!

In Birmingham, Digbeth High Street and the surrounding area is where you’ll find the highest concentration of ur-ban art. The Custard Facto-ry on Gibb Street has some good galleries but I don’t know of any gallery that sells specifically ‘urban’ art. If you want to see what the British Urban Art scene really has to offer, go to Bristol or Lon-don

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CAUGHT PUTTING UP YOUR WORK?

21/22

I think things have improved somewhat for the urban artists as Birmingham seems to be a bit more open to street art these days and there are more and more artists putting stuff out there. But our work still gets buffed and there is a hugeshortage of legal walls. Other cities like Bristol, London, Manchester etc seem to have embraced their urban art scenes and there are far more opportunities for artists in those areas - from walls to galleries. Birmingham hasn’t caught up yet. The artists from Birmingham are certainly ‘known’ elsewhere but that’s mostly thanks to social media and a handful of great photographers. It’s quite depressing how little the City of Birmingham does for it’s art scene. There’s so much talent here but we all find ourselves having to go elsewhere to get a wall to paint or a gallery to exhibit in.

My first job after leaving college was at a recording studio working as a sound Engineer. I went to 3 different colleges, studied English, Psychology, Biology, Critical Thinking, Art and Music but never completed any of the courses. I got tired of education and started working and travelling. Travelling was way more interesting.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST OFFICAL JOB AND DID YOU GO TO HIGHER EDUCATION?

“BIRMINGHAM ARIST, BORN AND RAISED”

DO YOU THINK BIRMINGHAMS ART SCENE IS GETTING BIGGER AND MORE

KNOWN AND HOW HAS THIS BENIFITED YOUR WORK?

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CAUGHT PUTTING UP YOUR WORK?

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST OFFICAL JOB AND DID YOU GO TO HIGHER EDUCATION?

23/24

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST OFFICAL JOB AND DID YOU GO TO HIGHER EDUCATION?

25/26

27/28

There are sporting activities available all over the city for people of all ages. Birmingham house some real sporting names Including West Bromwich Albion Football Club, Warwickshire Cricket Country Club and Moseley Rugby Club and these are only a few of the many major sporting names.

SPO

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IN B

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AM

Birmingham is a sporting city with a vide variety of sports that you can play, that are known locally and internationally. This city was the first city to be awarded The National City Of Sports by the sporting council.

Sports and other activities are not only available at clubs and leisure centers. Most schools in Birmingham offer sport as an extra curricular activity, and because Birmingham is such a sporting city most schools invest in top of the line faculties like, basketball courts, football pitches, cricket fields and some even have gyms .

Even if your not into Football or Rugby there are still many venues and leisure centers which offer other sports you can take part in such as tennis, golf, boxing or even hockey.

29/30

SAIDO BERAHINO

Saido Berahino is a Future England superstar who is taking the premier league by storm this year. The West Brom youngster is on an incredible first premier league season scoring 6 goals in just 9 matches, including a hat trick against Newport in the League Cup.

It hasn’t been all glory and fame for Saido, he was born in a war-torn Burundi and he eventually es-caped the country 10 years later where he came to England, he found life hard and scary in England not knowing the language or the area, but he did have something in common with the other kids and that was his love for football. This made life for Saido a lot easier and enjoyable.

West Brom spotted his talents early and scouted his at the age of 11 and then eventually signed his to the under-12s squad. He then progressed through the Baggies youth system and officially signed his first professional contract in 2011.

Since then Saido has been loaned out to different teams and has a pretty impressive record of 12 goals 22 games. It is hard to believe that Saido Berahino is only 20 years old.

31/32

Whats life like at West Bromwich Albion?Its brilliant. The players, coaches and staff are really friendly and helpful, but the fans really make West Brom feel like home and I’m blessed to be playing for them.

What was it like when you first moved to Birmingham?It was scary at first, not knowing the language or the area. I only had a few friends when growing up, but playing football really helped build my confidence and to make new friends.

How did it feel to score the winning goal against Man United?The greatest moment of my career so far. It’s rare to score at Old Trafford, but to score winning goal is just unbelievable.