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DJ Ironik DJ AbranteeDamien O’brien

Hackney’s Youth Magazine

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Contents6 You ask the questions,

you give the answers

8 In the Mix Choice fm DJ

16 DJ Ironik

24Summer PlannerWhere to be this Summer

28 Damien O’Brien

ContributorsChristian JensenEsther Ezegbe Selina MeadenDivine KutuyaElla BonsuTinesha AdamsElesha SmithFatou MboweTehya HeymanKasey BishopPhoebe Ryan-faalBria Patel Rachel EriemoRhasan BrunnerAbi OyéwumiDurelle StevensElsa MampuyaLara AkinnawoGordon AdeyemiMerzan RoudetteMia Pernaud

Your Say

Man with a plan

Magician to the stars

Editorial Team

News

Hackney’s Youth Opportunity Fund Panel is recruiting for

young people to join the Grant Makers Panel. You could be responsible for deciding how real money should be spent on projects that benefit young people in Hackney.

The Youth Opportunity Fund (YOF) is a special fund run by young people for young people. It provides money (grants) to groups of two or more young people to do a project that will benefit young people. So far, over 150 projects have been funded, from arts,

theatre, film-making, music, sports, residentials and events.

The Panel is made up of 15 young people from Hackney who look at applications from young people for projects and decide which ones to fund. The Panel meet every 1-2 weeks on a Monday or Wednesday evening (5:30 - 7:30) in Central Hackney. They also meet on a Saturday every 3-4 months.

To register your interest, please contact Cat Garrett on 07527 385664 or email cat.garrett@hackney.gov.uk.

Spending wisely

Thousands of young people will be able to swim for free at Hackney’s

leisure centres this summer. Young people aged 18 and under now have access to free swimming during school holidays.

Local pools participating in the scheme are Kings Hall Leisure Centre, Britannia Leisure Centre, and Clissold Leisure Centre. GLL, a not-for-profit leisure operator, manage the centres for Hackney Council.

Mark Sesnan, GLL Managing Director, said: “The scheme will impact on everyone from non-swimmers dipping their toe into the water for the first time, to competitive club swimmers. Not only is swimming an essential life skill but also a social and

healthy recreational activity that can be enjoyed by all members of the family.”

If you are already a leisure centre member, you don’t need to register, just come along at one of the advertised free swimming times. If you are not yet a member, registration can be done online or at participating leisure centres. Registration will be free of charge before Easter and £1 thereafter. Proof of age will be required. Once successfully registered, applicants will receive a membership card entitling them to free swims.

For more information visit the Hackney Council website: www.hackney.gov.uk or the GLL website: www.gll.org

Swim for free in Hackney

Your Say

“I believe Hackney can change, as in everyone would say the same postcode. However, the post-code wars would still go on but wouldn’t be called

postcode wars, they would be called something else.”

“If Hackney changed into one postcode it would have a negative impact on the public. I think that the gangs that are caught up in postcode wars will find other reasons to fight with each other, based on race, religion or culture. Per- sonally I think that abolishing postcodes would only increase

the amount of violence.”

“I think the people living in Hackney would join more together as a fam-ily instead of fighting as postcodes that the government made up. But then again, there would still be a bit of violence and drama.”

“There would still be ‘beef ’ because some people don’t care about post-codes, they would just want to be recruited to a certain gang even if it has nothing to do with endz.”

“If Hackney was one postcode, it may be one family.”

How would people react if Hackney was one postcode?

Ella

Divine

Will Obama be a good president?

“Obama has the potential to be a great presi-dent but Obama must realise that he holds

a great position in society, because those who hold great power can either use it

the right way or the wrong way.”

“I think he will be because he is determined to do anything to help the public and the people of America.”

“Obama will be a good president because he will get good attention from all races of people.”

“I think Obama will be a good president be-cause he is the first black president

of America and everyone will follow him.”

“I think Obama will be a good president for all the wrong reasons because people will follow

him just because he’s the first black president of America.”

Esther

Fatou

Elisha

Tinesha

Selina

In the mixOne of the many great things about DJs is they love to talk. DJ Abrantee tells all to Merzan Roudette and Gordon AdeymiHow did you get into DJing?I started out in a street group of DJs and organisers called 90% - I used to carry boxes for them, roll with them and just learn the trade from them. We started an event called House Party and that’s exactly what it was: we would just get a house, charge people to come in and put on the music. Then we started playing at christenings and weddings, bought a sound system and speakers and started putting on major events like Ghana Independence. At first it only attracted about 500 to 600 people. Then we did it again and it attracted about 1500, then 2000, then 3000, then 4000. Then other people started booking us for their events.

How did you get to work for Choice FM?I believe that you’ve got to put in 80% hard work and then get maybe 20% luck. Choice was about being in the right place at the right time. We’d done a lot of events with them, and when they launched 107.1 they were looking for DJs, and you can imagine, 101 million DJs all handed in their R&B mix tapes. A guy who was working for Choice said to us, look, you guys are from Africa (I’m from Ghana and all of the other guys in 90% were from

Ghana as well) hand in an African beats tape so you stand out. So we went to our parents and dug out some African music, put it together and submitted it, and that’s what got us into Choice. So always look for a unique approach to whatever you’re doing.

What UK artists do you like?The UK scene is so lively at the moment. We’ve got all the funky house artists coming out left, right and centre. We’ve got grime artists like

We embrace American musicbut we need to embrace our own as well. If you’ve got a flower in your back garden and you don’t give water, it’s never gonna grow.

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Dizzee. We’ve got Sway, Kano, Neo’s good, Lethal Bizzle. It’s good for the UK because it’s important that we have our own. It’s all good the Americans coming over and we embrace their music but we need to embrace our own as well. If you’ve got a flower in your back garden and you don’t give water, it’s never gonna grow.

What advice would you give to young people?Don’t give up on your dream and don’t think it’s gonna come overnight. All of the DJs, whether it’s Westwood or Trevor Nelson, they have done so much hard work. I know Trevor very well and he hasn’t always been Trevor Nelson, MTV, Radio 1. There was a time when Trevor was broke and standing at the bus stop trying to find his next 10p. But he’s continued the hard work and now he’s where he is. You don’t go from success to success. Dizzee Rascal

hasn’t always been number one and he hasn’t always had hits. I remember when Dizzee first started and he was begging to come on the stage; for us to give him a mic. Now look, you can’t even call him! You look back and think, yeah, it’s all been worth it. But it doesn’t stop. Whatever level you reach, you’ve got to still keep it moving.

Do you prefer DJing in clubs or on the radio?I enjoy both of them but I think I get more of a buzz from the club because it’s live, there are people there, you can talk to them, whereas on radio, you just have to hope people are listening. As a radio presenter you have to visualise one person you’re talking to because people are listening all around the world and they could be doing anything. But in a club you can actually feel the people and there’s a different atmosphere altogether.

What happens if you’re late for work?I’m never late for work. You remember when it was snowing really, really bad? Even that day I made it into work. It was crazy. I came out and there was this snow, I was like, what’s going on? I had to drive my car five miles per hour just to get to work on time. If it was any other job I would have phoned in sick. I mean, I’ve done a nine to five before and believe me, phoning in sick was very easy. But I just love the job so much, so anything to get there. If I’ve got a DJ booking and I know that my set is from 1 till 3, I plan on getting there for 12 because you can’t be late for your set. You just can’t be late.

We heard you do a bit of acting?Before I got into being a DJ and a radio presenter, I wanted to be a TV presenter and an actor. I always wanted to act as a detective in a cop story. I had this thing about being a plain clothes detective, like in an action movie. I’ve always wanted to do that. So I’ve done a couple of short films, which have been up for some awards, which is quite cool.

What is your ultimate ambition?I’m actually a qualified chef. My dad wanted me to be a hotel manager, that was his dream for me, so I studied hotel management, so my ultimate aim is to own my own club and restaurant. One here and probably one back home in Ghana as well.

First recordOh my days, this is gonna be so embarrassing. The first record I bought was Wham - Bad Boys, because I was a little bit of a rebel.

Favourite songI’m a crazy Michael Jackson fan, so probably Thriller.

Famous peopleOh, so many. I’ve done a Jay-Z tour in Ghana, Missy Elliot, Ja Rule, Kanye, the list goes on.

BlaggingI don’t want to pay to go anywhere. I’m Abrantee from Choice! Come on, let me in!

Dancefloor fillersJamie Foxx’s Blame it on the Alcohol, all Neo’s tunes and Dizzee’s Bonkers.

DJ with the biggest egoMe. Nah, only joking. We’ve all got big egos.

DJ heroShortee Blitz is phenomenal.

Getting freebiesI try and get as much free stuff as possible. I kid you not.

Quick Bits

Meeting Michelle Obama

On April 2nd Michelle Obama visited Elizabeth Garrett Anderson school in Islington. It was the First Lady’s only public speech whilst she was in England. Students were first told they would have a VIP visit a week before, however they weren’t told who it would be. 100 students were chosen based on the contribution they had made to the school. Hackney resident, Bria Patel was one of the lucky 100. She says: “I was chosen because I have 100% attendance and I have done a lot of fundraising for the school. After receiving the letter there was a rumour going round that it was Michelle Obama, but I didn’t believe it.”

“When the day came for her visit we waited for two hours. We could see police officers and guard dogs – it felt like we were in jail and we couldn’t get

Bria Patel tells Contrast what it was like when the First Lady of America came to visit her school

Michelle Obama said that each and every one of us were like jewels and that we can create our own destiny

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out, there were police cars everywhere and the whole road was closed off. Before we went into the hall we were all scanned and checked, it felt like I was in an airport. There was a real mix of excitement and anxiety. Excitement because we still didn’t know who we were going to meet and anxiety due to all the security.”

“Michelle Obama said that each and every one of us were like jewels and that we can create our own destiny and pursue it. Towards the end of the speech, the majority of the girls had started crying but some people didn’t, including me. Afterwards she knelt down to shake our hands. Her four bodyguards surrounded her protectively, as if we had weapons. Then finally, I was face to face with the First Lady and I shook her hand. I felt excited and privileged that she had come to my school.”

Home’s CoolEver wondered what it would be like to learn in your front room? Phoebe Ryan-Faal tells Contrast what an average week is like for her and why it’s cool to learn at homeHomeschooling is more interesting than mainstream education: you can stick to the subjects that you enjoy most, tell your teacher what kind of work you would like to learn and best of all; you can build a relationship with your teacher.

I start each week doing voluntary work with a community that grows organic vegetables. We sell them on Saturday at a market and I get a box of organic food to take home! On Monday afternoons, I go swimming and learn first aid and how to be a lifeguard. On Tuesdays I attend a homeschooling group in Shoreditch, we go on loads of trips with other young people, some of the places we’ve been to are Paddington farm, Kew gardens and the Science museum. In the evenings on Tuesday, I learn photography and journalism at the Blue Hut. On Wednesdays, I do maths and do lots of interactive online

tests and exercises. In the afternoon, I learn languages. I learn French, Wolof (a Ghanaian language)and about hieroglyphics. Thursdays I do drama at the Arcola theatre and also learn about Gambian history, fashion, arts and crafts. On Fridays, I do maths again and learn music, then on Saturday I work at the Arts Factory producing props and costumes. There’s so much free stuff to get involved in Hackney.

When you are homeschooled, there are no other students distracting you, so you can concentrate properly. Sometimes in mainstream education when you’re enjoying something, the teacher might say that you have to move on or finish the lesson, but when you are homeschooled you can go on and on learning. Also, you can learn things that you may not be taught in school, like Wolof or hieroglyphics.

“I miss friends and certain teachers. That’s about it. I would go back to school without certain people there. I left school because of one girl who spread rumours about me to everyone. I’ve sorted things out with those people but not her. It’s easier to learn at home than at school because you have one-to-one time with the person teaching you. You don’t get a couple of minutes and then go and do it by your-self. Out of the six lessons a day at school, I remember about two. I do two and a half hours a day at home but I remember more.”

“We moved to Spain when I was 10 and I went to school there. When we moved back there weren’t any places for me in school. You get more freedom and less hours of schooling at home. One bad thing is that the police can stop you if they see you because they think you’re bunking off school.”

“I’m homeschooled because I was tired all the time and had no time for my mum with homework and activities. With all the stabbings, she wanted me in a safe environment. It’s quiet so you can concen-trate and you don’t get homework. However, I miss my friends, a few teachers and my cousins at the school. I still see some of them but not all of them.”

Tehya

Mia

Kasey

“Man with a Plan

DJ Ironik is quieter than you might imagine. Many performers need to be at the centre of the action, but DJ Ironik commands your attention and has presence without needing to shout about that fact that he has arrived. 21-year-old Ironik is a rapper,

DJ and producer. He co-produced most of his new album, including his single Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer) featuring Chipmunk and Elton John, which reached number 3 in the UK charts. He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2008 MOBO Awards and Best Newcomer and Best Music Video for Stay with Me at the 2008 Urban Music Awards.

The single was inspired by listening to a sample of Elton

DJ Ironik does not want much from life – just the small matter of world domination. Merzan Roudette, Gordon Adeyemi and Rachel Eriemo found out about his new single and how he plans to take over the world

Grime music doesn’t get me to where I want my music to get me. Where I want to get to is worldwide domination”

John’s song Tiny Dancer. “I listened to the original Elton John song and it was absolutely crazy. It didn’t make sense. I’m not sure whether he was drunk or what not, because I didn’t get what he was talking about. He was talking about so much different stuff so I focused on the one line ‘hold me closer dancer’ and that sample inspired me to write the track. I haven’t met Elton John yet. Hopefully I’ll get to meet him soon. He’s a legend. I’ve spoken to him on the phone and he said he likes the song.”

The single also features Chipmunk. After both Chipmunk and DJ Ironik were nominated for best newcomer at the MOBO Awards there have been rumours that there is a rivalry between them. However, the pair have known each other since Chipmunk was 15

“I think music is in me: whether I’m good or not, whether people like me or not, it’s in me. I’ll never stop making music

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DJ I

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CompetitionYou could win a signed copy of DJ Ironik’s single Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer) featuring Elton John and Chip-munk. Simply answer the question below.

What number in the charts did DJ Ironik’s single Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer) get to? A. 5B. 3C. 1

Email your answer to contrast@socialspider.com or post it to Contrast Magazine, 5 Hatherley Mews, Walthamstow E17 4QP, before 31st August 2009 and you could receive your very own signed copy of the single.

and “came together on the new single to show that we’re friends” and dispel the rumours of a rift.

Ironik started out as a DJ when he was only 13 years old, began producing grime music when he was 15 and started writing his own lyrics when he was 18. He says: “I think music is in me: whether I’m good or not, whether people like me or not, it’s in me. I’ll never stop making music.”

Ironik’s music doesn’t fit into one genre. If you go to one shop and it will be in pop, go into another and it is in Hip hop. It is part of a wave of new music people are calling Post Grime Pop (PGP). Ironik says: “It’s pop music but not like the Saturdays or Girls Aloud. It’s pop music in a cool way, the same thing Tinchy or N-Dubz are doing.”

In terms of Ironik’s own music tastes,

he started off “listening to a lot of grime, like Dizzee Rascal and Wiley. I didn’t even like R&B and Hip Hop until I was 18 or 19. It wasn’t until I was older that I started listening to different types of music.” Although a fan of Grime music he says: “Grime music doesn’t get me to where I want my music to get me. It gets somewhere but within that genre. It’s not as wide as I want to get to. Where I want to get to is worldwide domination.”

Ironik is already on his way to achieving his dream. When we caught up with him in May, he was touring the UK and had already clocked up over 30 events. He has also performed all over the world and last year his single Stay With Me charted in the top 5 of most European countries. It’s clear that even at 21 years old Ironik may not be too far off achieving his life’s ambition.

What got you into writing?The first writing I did, I was quite young, maybe 12 years old. I was really into computer games and I used to make text games. They had no graphics, it was just ‘You are in a room’, ‘You can see a chair’, and you could type in instructions for the characters to do things. ‘Put on a hat’. ‘Go out of the room’. I don’t really know why but my game was called Depression and the only possible outcomes of the game were different kinds of suicide. An uplifting game. Upbeat. Then I was in a band with my friend Dave. We were called Peanuts Are Bad, named after my nut allergy. Very edgy. He wouldn’t do lyrics, so he told me to do them and that kind of morphed into poetry.

What do you enjoy about writing?When you start writing, you don’t really know where it’s going and you get to discover something, maybe not about yourself, but about your mind. You’re just running with a thought and that’s what I enjoy, the kind of splurging bit of writing. I love the editing too. I really enjoy spending ages on a word or a sentence or an image.

How many redrafts did Submarine go through?The first chapter must have gone through about 30, the later chapters, maybe only seven or eight. The first chapter you think is much more important so you spend the most time on it, and it was the oldest too so I’d retried it a million different ways with a million different first sentences. But it was always in Oliver’s voice. His voice was the first thing that came and that was the thing that held it.

What sort of language do you like to use?I like my prose and poetry to be quite familiar with swearing and all the fun, weird bits of language. I’ve got a really fun 10-year-old character in the book I’m writing at the moment. He is obsessed with swearing. It’s set on a commune and they have tons and tons of international visitors, and he learns all the different swear words of the people that come through so he can say disgusting things in Swedish and all these different languages. There is so much great linguistic invention that comes through playground language.

Paperback WriterHackney-based writer Joe Dunthorne talks to Lara Akinnawo in his converted tube train office about prose, poetry and peanuts

What are the differences between writing poetry and writing a novel?Prose can be a bit more dull in a way. You can’t completely throw out the rule book in prose as much as you can in poetry. You can’t decide to just cut the sentence in the middle and skip to a different thought, so you’re a bit more restricted and it can be a slightly more arduous process: those really dull connecting sentences that you need in a novel like ‘he walked over there to do this’. You’ve got to get your character to a place, you’ve got to describe the things in the place to make something happen. Whereas in poetry, you can be lucky and write a poem in half an hour and it’s quite good.

What things influence your writing?Music, films, football, snooker, food! Food’s probably my biggest influence. It’s very good to write about: two

people are having a conversation while they are eating, so you’ve got all these cool little details like how they’re mopping up the gravy and the bread and the different things they’re doing. And everyone is going to relate to food. Is it difficult to write funny material?I really don’t know how it’s done. I never thought of myself as a funny writer. I knew there were jokes in Submarine, and people told me it was quite funny but I don’t know how you make something funny. I think it helps having a funny family - being forced to have banter your whole life because you’ve got no choice if you want to survive in the dining room.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?Probably the most boring advice

Submarine is being turned into a film. The script has already been written and Michael Sheen has been cast as the father and Ben Stiller is executive producer

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possible: read and write as much as they can. Read things that they like, discover writers they like, read outside of their normal reading habits. Try and read challenging, weird, different things, and write. Try and write, find friends who like writing, write with your friends, write on your own, write on the bus. Think of any spare time as an opportunity to churn out another crap poem and eventually one of those crap poems will be a good poem.

Is hearing live poetry as important as reading it?Hearing poetry is great. Everyone should get to hear poetry read out and going to see live poetry is brilliant. But to say that performance poetry is equally as important as reading poetry is to say that hearing someone read a poem is as important as learning how to understand thousands of years of

history, which is not true. Whenever you learn to read poetry, generally people hate it. But reading poems is really important. The ideal process for me is to hear performance poets - they’re young, exciting people doing fun, lively, funny poems – and slowly work your way back rather than going straight in with Chaucer. Performance poetry is the key to the exciting world of boring old poetry.

What next?Submarine is being turned into a film. The script has already been written and Michael Sheen has been cast as the father – amazing! Paddy Considine, he’s a really good character actor, he’s playing Graham. Ben Stiller is executive producer and I think they’re shooting in October. It’s all kicking off. It’s going nuts! It’s still sketchy, so don’t get too excited but it’s going well.

Summer PlannerSport & Performing Arts

Summer School at Circus Space

Spend an action-packed summer learning new skills taught by professional circus artists. Try out a range of exciting disciplines within our world-class facilities and have the opportunity to show off your new skills at the end of the week in an informal performance. When: 3rd - 7th August, 10am - 3pmWho: 11-18 year oldsCosts: £200 full price, £135 concessionWhere: Circus Space, Coronet St. N1 6HD Contact: Lydia on 020 7729 9522

Teenage Kicks, Summer football tournament

Sign up for the annual Teenage Kicks football tournament as from now.

When: AugustWho: 10-19 year oldsCosts: FreeWhere: Haggerston Park, Hackney, E2 8QH

Spread over four Fridays between August 7th - 28th from 3.30pm – 8.00pm, boys and girls aged 10 - 14 years will compete in 7-a-side competitions whilst older boys and girls, aged 15 - 19 years, will compete in 6-a-side competitions. In addition to the usual off-pitch entertainment, there will be exciting new attractions including a street art workshop and food stalls. SkyWay will once again be supported in the organisation and facilitation of this massive event by a team of young Event Managers, as well as the invaluable support of its volunteers.If you are interested in entering a team, volunteering, running a stall or any other aspects of the event then please contact Daniel Mussie on 020 7729 6970, email daniel@skyway.uk.com or visit www.skyway.uk.com.

Athletic Wheelchair racing

Saturdays, 10.30 - 11.30am – Children and adults who can self propel themselves train to improve stamina and fitness. Can meet new people and have the opportunity to compete in such events as the Adidas Mini London Marathon, London Youth Games and many other events. Mile End Stadium, Rhodeswell Rd, E14 7TW. Call Marianne on 07984 815760.

Theatre & Dance

Drop in for Drama

Come and act with ATC on a 2-week acting course. When: Monday 3rd - Friday 7th August and Monday 10th - Friday 14th AugustWho: Local young people aged 14-25Where: The Tab Centre, Godfrey Place, E2 7NTHow to book: Contact Kendall or Gemma at ATC atc@atctheatre.com or 020 7033 7360 www.atctheatre.com

Krumping Masterclass

Monday, 31st July 15.00pm - 16.30pm Krumping is a new urban street dance-form that began in South Central Los Angeles and has become a major part of Hip hop dance culture. It is characterized by free, expressive, and highly energetic moves involving the arms and chest. Come along to this class and learn how to twist, spin and flip! This masterclass will be preceded by a screening of Rize £5 (joint ticket for Film and Masterclass). Age group: young people. Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road. London, E1 6LA. Disabled access: yes. Contact: Box Office. Email: info@richmix.org.uk Telephone: 020 7613 7498

Nemesis Street Dance project

Runs throughout the summer at the following venues:

Tue: 5-7pm Fellows Court Community Centre, Weymouth Terrace E2 8LJFri: 5-6pm (8-12 yrs old)

6-8pm (13-19 years old) Queensbridge Sports, Centre Holly St E8 3XW

6-8pm New Kingshold Community Centre, 49 Ainsworth Street E9 7JE For more information contact Sonia Bradley, 020 8356 6128 or email sonia.bradley@hackneyhomes.org.uk

Marc Brenner

Summer PlannerActivities

Parkside youth centresummer programme

Learn new skills, have experiences and make friends. Our programme will challenge you in every way possible from designing video games, to learning self-defence, there’s something for everyone. There is a five-week programme running starting on Tuesday 21st July and finishing on Friday 21st August.

Opening hours are Monday – Friday 12.00pm – 8.00pm

For more information and program timetable contact Parkside youth centre on 020 8800 6814.

Domino Challenge

Performance company Station House Opera is seeking 1,000 volunteers to build a 10-mile long giant domino rally made from thousands of breeze blocks for its project ‘Dominoes’. The domino line will topple over on streets, through parks and even on water throughout the five host Boroughs on 26th July - exactly three years before the start of the 2012 Olympics. Find out more about becoming a volunteer for Dominoes at: www.dominoes2009.com

Hackney Summer University

For those interested in trying something different, BSix, Brookhouse Sixth Form College, is hosting the ever-popular Hackney Summer University for 11 to 25-year-olds. The university is putting on a new range of courses and workshops this year - including dance, fashion, Caribbean cookery, science, public speaking and music production.For more information and enrolment forms ring 020 7249 4542 or check out the website: www.hackneysummeruniversity.org

Music & Media

Festivals

Victoria Park is host to some of the biggest and best festivals in London this Summer: Lovebox, DJ uberlegend Tiesto and, would you believe it, Madstock (see press for details on how to buy tickets). There’s also Biggafish, and the Bigga Bloco at the Underage Festival, which takes place on Sunday 2nd August 11am - 10.30pm and is for ages 14 to 18. A carnival float will be created by working with street and graffiti artists. There is disabled access.

Young London: Into Music

Into Music is a new urban youth festival aimed at developing the next generation of talent in east London. There will be a series of five events in the five Olympic and Paralympic Host Boroughs.

When: 26th June, 7pm, 14-17 July, 9am-5pm, 16th July, 7pm, 23rd July, 7.30pm, 2nd August, 11am-10.30pm.

Age group: 14 - 25

Email: Letitia@outpostmedia.co.uk or telephone: 020 7684 5635 or view the website for more details www.createlondon.org/younglondonintomusic

CYM Xtra!

New project that gives young instrumentalists the chance to create music together and to work alongside professional artists. If you play an instrument, are Grade 4 and above, and want to join the orchestra, choir and ensemble groups. Call 020 8820 7410 or visit www.hmdt.org.uk

What was your first trick?The first trick I learnt drove my mum crazy! I’d take a card out of the deck, show it to everyone and then put it back. I’d take a rubber band, wrap it around the deck, then throw it and the card

would end up stuck to the wall. One day when I was practising that trick, my mum came home and there were cards stuck to the walls all over the house, and she was like: ‘what’ve you done to my living room?!’

Pick a cardRhasan Brunner finds out what street magician to the stars, Damien O’Brien, has up his sleeve and what it’s like performing for celebrities like Kano and 50 Cent

Do you have a favourite trick?I have a lot of favourite tricks! I could never pick just one, but one I really like is where I take a crushed-up drink can, rub the top and shake it, and all the dents come out, it seals up and then I open it and it’s full again!

When you were younger and your friend Richard Bellers introduced you to magic, did it change your life?It changed my life completely. I didn’t grow up in the nicest area, a lot of people were getting into trouble: fighting, steal-ing cars and that sort of thing. Magic helped me to steer clear of all that. It captivated me. I just wanted to do magic all the time, I loved the responses and the reaction I got. I don’t know where I would be now without magic, I might be in trouble, like some of the other kids from my area, I certainly wouldn’t have the great life I have.

You earned your first break by blagging your way into a VIP event, what was it? The first VIP party I blagged my way into was a friend’s party, a celebrity thing for charity up in the West End. I walked up to the bouncers and said, ‘hey, I’m the magician for the night!’ They asked me to show them a trick if I was a magician. So I did! They told me if I did one more I could get in, so I did, and I asked, ‘where do I pick up my VIP pass from?’ and the bouncer said ‘I’ve got a spare one here’ – and he just gave it to me! I wandered around all night doing magic tricks for people, and then loads of people started asking me to come and

perform at their events.

What is the gig you have most enjoyed?I really enjoyed the first time I went to the Brits, in 2006. It was the first time I ever did a big event, and it got me thinking, ‘yes, I really can make it’. It was crazily exciting. I remember seeing Kelly Clarkson and Dizzee Rascal and entertaining them all.

It sounds like a cool job, are there any downsides?There were more downsides when I first started. I’d go through dry patches of not having many gigs. Sometimes I don’t get to spend as much time at home or with my girlfriend as I’d like to. Hav-ing to come up with new tricks all the time could be hard – but I think that if you’re a creative person then it hap-pens, I love coming up with new stuff. Sometimes it can be hard when I just want to have a normal night out with my friends – people will come up to me and recognise me and try to get me to do tricks, when I just want a night off! It’s the same when people ask me what I do for a living and I say ‘I’m a magician’

it’s great to look back and think that I had my moment and I didn’t waste it

“

”

– they always want tricks! It comes with the job, I guess.

When you look back at what you’ve achieved, how does it feel?Incredible. It was a really big struggle to get where I am today and I’m still achieving now. I feel really grateful, be-cause I know there’s a lot of people who haven’t had the opportunities I’ve had – but it’s great to look back and think that I had my moment and I didn’t waste it.

Do you have any tips for young magi-cians?Control your nerves. If you control your nerves, you can control your audience. Be absolutely confident, just go in there and believe in yourself, believe that you’re a performer and the best magician in the world, and you’ll be fine.

What’s one of the best things about mag-ic?One of the best things is that you can talk to anyone, they just get drawn in. They could be a superstar or an 8-year-old kid – it doesn’t matter, once you start doing magic for them you’ve got them hooked. You just learn to treat everyone like a normal person.

Who inspires you?I get a lot of inspiration from my mum. She always has the theory that you should never give up and always keep trying your hardest. She was a single mum and she never gave up.

In terms of magicians, I’d love to be one of the world’s most popular ma-gicians but I don’t look at people like

David Blaine and idolise them. I’m trying to be the world’s first Damien O’Brien, not a copy of someone else!

What’s next for you?The DVD – my biggest ambition has al-ways been to show the whole world what I can do. I truly believe that if you’ve got a talent, you should show the world.I’ve also got the O2 wireless festival lined up and a lot of other awards cer-emonies.

How long did it take you to teach youself?At the beginning, it used to take quite a while to work on new tricks but now it’s quicker ‘cause a lot of tricks are variants of other ones – similar hand movements. I’ve always been quick at picking things up. I’m actually doing hypnosis now and I learnt it in one day!

I learnt street hypnosis, which is what Derren Brown does. You can make peo-ple forget their name, or feel like they’ve had ten shots of vodka – it’s an amazing feeling of power and my friends some-times get jealous!

One of the key things with magic is that you’ve got to have patience. Some people will learn a trick and then try to perform it straight away – and they’ll mess it up, people will think it’s rubbish and they’ll be put off. But with me I kept practising, and kept practicing, and kept practising, and for ages the only person I ever showed was my mum.

To find out more about Damien O’Brien and see him in action visit his website www.damienobrien.com or MySpace page at www.myspace.com/damiensmagic

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