Yo,
so what is it like to live in London? It's strange speaking from that perspective - the outsider one - whereas ideally one wants to be an 'insider'. Yeah, London has heaps of tubes, different ethnicities, can feel crowded, but not really, yes it expensive, yes there's loads to do, never boring.
Music
To me, London is music. I've been to EMA's here, a couple of concerts, a couple of local shows, a few clubnights, a few houseparties (and to the contrast I have been to 1 museum, 1 gallery and 1 art show so far...and museum are free). Bro, everywhere I meet musicians and they are all thriving and they are all PUTTING OUT MUSIC NOW. Like RIGHT now. Like, I met Donae'o who dropped a tune a week before I met him which reached a mil in what, 3 days? I saw the Lotto Boyz perform at MTV music week and one of my classmates was singing it the day after. I heard IAMDDB drop a tune a month ago (Shade) and seen the crowd go WILD on it. I mean hearing Mans Not Hot (and the video dropped last month or something) in every club and evvvverryyyone going wild. It's pace is so damn fast. Everyone is in tune. I went to a random clubnight last week and it was super nice bashment and soca music and EVERYONE was dancing. The rhythm is so deep in these people, I don't understand it, but it's really real.
21 year old J hus won a Mobo with this song a few weeks ago
Food
Where London is sick with music, it fails with food. Sydney's such a food haven so it's easy to compare. Almost every (Asian) restaurant in London. I have had the opportunity to dine in has been disappointing. Bland, not really fresh, a bit boring really. I had Pakistani food in Southall, the hub of all South Asians, and it was 'meh'. I had Japanese food in Soho, near Chinatown, apparantly an establishment and it was mediocre. I had Thai food today and the papaya salad was literaly just sugar. Ive had Vietnamese food in Shoreditch, where there supposed to be really good and it was just normal bro. I had Korean beef soup in a well rated Korean streetfood joint and it tasted as if it was straight outta a noodle pack. I don't understand it, but they don't do food properly, except for Fried Chicken.
welcome to sam's, may I take your order?
Fashion
London and fashion, I am not sure. London and thriftstore is a definite no no, its easy to compare as I've lived in Antwerp (!!). They don't understand they can't simply resell really bad looking hip jackets (not even designer!) for that much. I think the fashion sense of people is sick, though, Asians and Blacks are looking fly!!! When I get on the tube and see young Asian and black people ready to go somewhere they are looking FRREESSHHHHH. Girls and boys are not shy to dye their hair, wear fresh kicks, wear crazy coats, flashy pants. There's no sense of feeling apologetic about what they want to express. It's so nice. Though this city is ridden with Primarkesque stores and the designer stuff has little soul.
Art
Shamingly, I cant write about art because I havent been to museums or galleries. To be honest, I have only had a short period of my life that I was into going to galleries and that was in Sydney where I always went with my mate Mukesh. Obv the little things I have seen are grand, like Ed Atkins lecture at CSM, the free exhibition at Tate Modern which includes bloody every big name, you know what I mean, Frieze art fair which includes all the big flashy galleries (like the Brazilian one in Brussels). I think after Frieze I was just done seeing old white men and young sassy gallery white assistents. There was also just one work that I truly liked and I realised that performance art is not hot. Mans not hot.
Instead I have actually been interested in the crossover space between music and art, it's so tiny but it exists and its fragile and dominated by identity politics cause its "lowbrow" but it is actually finally in a demographic that I like! Its like people that I know and hang out with back home and here would appreciate it and like fck with it basically. I mean people in art dont understand that they cant just be the only people looking at my work. I am fed up with my work being receptive to just middle class fine art students, I have nothing to say to you. I want to express myself but please in the right space. So frustrating. But hopefully I will be getting there and I think London is really great for this. Anyyway
Whats next 4 me?
Trying to survive London. Christmas, NYE, I've an exhibition at school in the second week of Jan and another one at Tate straight after. I am trying to get into this one called Young Green Shoots. I want to sell some work.
I think my main thing is to do my thing as much as possible. That means battling self doubt every single day and stop using excuses that I cant do the things I want to do. So far its been really good really BELIEVING in myself, my potential, my being and my art. Its been soo easy to do the things I want to do in this city and celebrate it :)
Wish me luck on my journey.
Lots of love
Sam