SED*8 Magazine

Growing Up Hackney is part of a collaboration between Iniva, Discover Young Hackney, and the Hackney Museum, who ran a 5-week course where a group of young people from 17-21 had the opportunity to explore and rediscover their domicile of Hackney – the music and arts venues and its vibrant community.
Taking inspiration from photographer Dennis Morris’ photographs of the community he grew up in, they collaborated with artists Othello de’Souza and Obinna Nwosu.  Their work was on show as part of the Growing Up Black exhibition at the Hackney Museum throughout January 2010.

ALVIN CARPIO
Pr…Pr… Pleease Draw Me
“This guy is a character. The 30-second photo-shoot and the 2 minutes trying to convince him to take the shot were unforgettable. He wouldn’t let us take the photo unless I gave him a toke of my cigarette. If I didn’t sacrifice my cigarette, I wouldn’t have got this shot. What makes it so powerful to me is, not only the way he’s desperately smoking, but the hint of his eye-ball through his glasses.”

ALVIN CARPIO
A Rare Show of Teeth
“It’s funny how photography can bring laughter to life. This man was sitting with an intimidating, if not, protective stare. He sat very still while smoking. But once I started taking photos of him, he lifted his hand to cover his face. Then out of no where he began to chuckle almost crazily creating a hilarious spectacle! It really brightened my day to capture this moment. Everyone else enjoyed it too.”

NICOLETTE MILLER
New Approach

CYNTHIA EDO
Two Girls
Hackney’s got taste and style.

INTERVIEW BY  Thiago Nunes Correa

Holly Walsh, 28, is a stand up comedian, tv presenter and badger enthusiast. She spent the summer presenting Channel 4’s cult comedy and entertainment programme The TNT Show, with Jack Whitehall, and is now gigging on the UK’s stand up circuit. She lives in south London.

What were you like when you were growing up?
I was obsessed with badgers. I’m pretty sure I would have liked to have been a professional badger watcher. I was actually featured on a wildlife show about being a badger obsessive.

We hear you were educated in a secondary school where you dressed in Tudor costume. How was that?

It was awesome! It’s this really weird school in Sussex. It’s a charity called Christ’s Hospital funded by companies in London. I loved it. There was a really good idea behind the uniform – it was a charity school so not a lot of people had money, and if everybody wore the same ridiculous outfit then there was no competition. We’d have discos on a Saturday night, and you could wear your own top but you had to wear the skirt and the boys had to wear breeches. Whenever the teachers went out everyone would take off their skirts and reveal horrendous hot pants, and we were only 14. Then when they came back in we’d have to put our skirts back on. But everybody listened to Cypress Hill. That was quite weird: loads of 14-year-olds in full Tudor costume going crazy for Cypress Hill.
Sounds pretty unique.
Yeah, it was kinda like a historical rap school disco.
You then went on to study art. Was that big passion of yours?
Yeah. I wanted to get into art school but I got a place in Cambridge so I went there and it was amazing. I did Art History rather than Art, but I loved it. I worked in the art world for about five years before I got into comedy. I’ve spent more of my life working in art than I have in comedy.
What spurred the shift into comedy?
I used to work for private art galleries, I learnt so much but – and this sounds really awful – I got a bit bored of organising other people to make the things they wanted to make. I thought I’d love it if someone else did it for me and I could spend my time writing and doing stand up. When I started doing stand up I just knew in my heart of hearts that’s what I wanted to do.
In 2008, two years after starting stand up, you won the Chortle Award for Best Newcomer, and this year you became presenter of The TNT Show. How did it all happen?
I got involved with this TV channel called Current TV which is a really brilliant digital channel started by Al Gore. I was commissioned to make a couple of little films which I put on the internet. The CBBC Broom Cupboard called me and asked if I wanted to go in and have a meeting. So I went in and had a meeting, and they asked if I wanted to present. I was like, “Course!” So for a year on and off I did kids’ TV, and I absolutely loved it. I then gave it up and went back to stand up. I did bits and bobs for Switch on BBC, then came to TNT for an interview and they gave me the job. So it’s a combination of fluke and… fluke.

You’ve also done the Edinburgh Fringe Festival a couple of times.
I’ve done it twice but I’ve always done a package show. That’s where there’s a group of us and we do a set each, rather than doing my own hour. In Edinburgh the industry standard is that you do an hour-long show. Like Jack (Whitehall, Holly’s co-host on the TNT show) is doing this year. I haven’t done one yet. I was going to do one this year but then I got this job and I couldn’t do both.
Your role in The TNT Show involves some presenting as well as comedy, as did CBBC. How do the two compare?
Both CBBC and The TNT Show are sketchy with a lot of gags. For kids’ TV you can never really do straight presenting. I used to talk to a puppet for a living, which was pretty cool, and then it was Jack Whitehall, which was similar!
Do you miss stand up?
I didn’t do that much over the summer because TNT took up so much time, but I did write a lot of new stuff and for the last month I’ve been doing two or three gigs a week. Stand up is how I make a living, which is a great job to fall back on.
Do you prefer screen or stand up?
Stand up, I love stand up. You can try out more stuff, there’s no crew and you don’t have to run it past anyone. You just have to make it funny. And there’s only one take – if you mess it up it can be the funniest thing as well.
What’s next for you then?
I just wrote a sitcom pilot. And I guess a lot more stand up.

image: Hitomi Soeda

What’s your name.. age.. where are you from?

The Name is Maximilliano Samuel Dillon-Tordecilla.
I’m mostly known as Kilo or Remixx and in some cases, because of my dress sense and personality, people call me The Urban Geek.
I am 20 years of age. I was born in the 80′s and still living it baby.!
I’m Chilean, Jamaican and Chinese, born and bred in Camden.

What do you do?
I’m a model, dancer, actor and a presenter but I tell you now, there are more talents to be exposed from me!

How did you get into it?
I was told many times to go and model by others because in every picture I took, I naturally took a pose.
True say what do they expect, if I don’t pose I would just look like a lost baby-faced bogie! Haha but yeah.. I’ve been told I’m really photogenic and seeing as I have a passion for fashion I just thought why not?

Whats you dream job?
My dream job would be to model for all the top designers from known legends to all the best of our time and to be my own boss and EARN EARN EARN!

Whats the slickest thing you’ve ever done?
Too explicit for public use.! Lol

In the movie of your life, who plays you?
I would have to say Dante Basco. That dude has got many talents And he is like what.. 40?? LOL and STILL plays a young homie! LOL Talk about a baby-face or WHAT? LOL

Who’s your number one icon?
I don’t really have an icon you see.. I’ve always just been after being a character of my own.. Have people saying to themselves in questions like these.. ‘My favourite icon would have to be Kilo’

Five years from now where will you be?
In the fashion and music industry working my brown but off.

image: Eoghan Hanrahan

What do you do?

I’m a lyricist, as people say I rap but I do all different types of music. I work with the violinist Adaggio and we make a different kind of sound.

How did you get into it?

I didn’t get into to it I was born for it.

What’s you dream job?

To own my own label in the music industry

What’s the slickest thing you’ve ever done?

Too many to think of in my 19 years.. haha. Well, I performed at I Love Live with Adaggio.

In the movie of your life, who plays you?

Mekhi Phifer.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a mixtape with Adaggio, a promo to show people what I’m about.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Hopefully heard by then, it should be a lot quicker than that!

Who’s your number one icon?

2pac Shakur

What do you do?

I’m a model/singer and work for a management company that looks after footballers and models.

How did you end up doing this?

I got scouted to model a year and half ago on myspace by a model agent. With music I new that I always wanted to be a singer. From the age of nine I would sing all the time to friends and family, and I guess that music was really my first love. I got the job in the management company through my little brother Medy Elito who is a professional football player. NVA management wanted to sign him to the football side of the company so I went to a meeting with him and got offered a job. Thanks li’l bro!

What’s you dream job?

My dream job hmmm I would love to be a international singer that would be my dream job singing for a living,

What’s the slickest thing you’ve ever done?

I bought £350 shoes and only wore them once. I think that makes a bit slick slicker then the average anyway.. Ha.

In the movie of your life, who plays you?
Will smith or the guy from one on one, because I think I have a similar personality to them and look like them a bit.. in my dreams lol.. but I think that they are both very talented actors!

Who’s your number one icon?

This is a hard one! OK with fashion it has to be Vivienne Westwood. I think she’s a amazing and makes fashion her own. She doesn’t conform like other designers. In music I would say P Diddy because I admire that fact that he has taken bad boy and turned it into something that’s off the Richter scale.

Five years from now where will you be?

Maybe in New York somewhere waking up in my hotel room getting ready to perform in front of 50,000 people at Madison Square Garden. Or on the runways of Milan and Paris.

Anything else?

I work at NVA management and we are always looking for new talent or give people the right opportunities that they need to get where they need to be, so if you see me don’t be afraid to say ‘sup.