An Interview with George Cosby

Lauren Edwards sat down with London based singer-songwriter George Cosby, and talked about his latest E.P, touring, and plans for the upcoming year.

Cosby released his second E.P, the rich and haunting, A Savage Kiss back on October 14th with Yucatan Records. He then joined Travis is a Tourist on Benjamin Francis Leftwich’s European Tour, before heading back to London for a few headline shows of his own. “Playing and touring with both those guys was a pleasure. I’m so happy I got to meet Travis on that tour, he’s a wonderful songwriter and a fantastic person. I can’t wait to see what he does next.” When I caught sight of them just under a month ago in Munich, the three shared a bond that even as an audience member was clearly visible, but speaking about Ben in particular, Cosby continues: “I’ve been lucky enough to get to know Ben in London and to be there watching him, night in, night out was an inspiring experience. When he’s on stage he has a magical quality to create a truly personal connection with the audience.” Carrying on to talk about the individual qualities each of them brought to the tour Cosby expresses “We’re all different in style, providing different shades across the evening” however, he continues to add their shared similarities in the way they create music: “I think we all approach writing from the same place and our outlook on music and art generally has a lot in common.”

I tell Cosby his music reminds me of the projective voice you’d usually find on stage singing the solos of a hit musical mixed with an element of 80’s ballads. He laughs, “I do love a good 80’s tune.” It’s this mix of deep vocals and soothing melodies that makes Cosby distinct in comparison to contemporary artists, so when I asked where his musical influences stemmed from he said: ” I try and draw influences from a wide variety of different era’s and genres. What’s so lovely about music and writing is you learn every day. I have discovered so many amazing artists recently who you pick up little bits and pieces from.” In a similar way that he complimented Ben he carries on to explain: “Every tour I do I come back having learned and had my eyes opened, I hope it always continues in the same vain!” Although, he’s inspired by those around him, Cosby gets stuck in picking out just one favourite artist: “Oh wow too many artists I admire. From a lyricism viewpoint Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen are up there. I love just reading through their writing. Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of Scott Walker and Serge Gainsborough. Some of the production on those records was quite fantastic.”

From artistic influences we moved on to talk about the aspirations behind the beautiful, A Savage Kiss and how creating this one differed from Human Touch: “I’ve been using these early E. P’s to experiment and really explore who I could be as an artist and Savage Kiss was an extension of the first E.P in that sense.” At this moment in time Cosby seems to be in no rush to push a debut album, but instead concentrates on grounding himself as an artist: “Through each release I want to push what I am doing and when I feel ready and confortable I hope there will be an album to release.” The majority of the time E.P’s tend to be a short glimpse of what’s to come, and for those who were a fan of Cosby’s first E.P another release with only three tracks comes as a bit of a blow: “I choose to do the 3 tracks for those two E. P’s I think purely just because it felt right at the time. I might change it up for the next….” Let’s hope by this Cosby means a full album.

If you’re lucky enough to catch Cosby in concert, you won’t be surprised that the powerful vocals you get on record are conducted just as good live, the stillness of the gig back in early October shows the degree in which Cosby’s voice draws audiences in. I asked him if he aims to make his listeners feel something in a similar way he takes some thing from listening to musicians like Leonard Cohen: “Most definitely, my favourite artists, and the ones who I truly form a long lasting connection with, are the ones who have really made me feel something, whether that’s happy or sad.” It was almost as if this statement trigged his own nostalgia, as he adds: “I’ll never forget Bon Iver’s first record. I can even remember exactly where I was when I first listened from start to finish. It’s quite special when that happens.”

Through the interview it’s obvious that Cosby is perfectly happy in taking his time in developing as a musician, and finding his own individual sound through those who inspire him. He mentions: “Finding a sound and your voice is by no means an easy thing to achieve, and yes I think its very important to take the time to feel comfortable with your direction as an artist, especially if you are more independently led.” Cosby points out the importance of taking it slow, even if this does mean gradually gaining a fan base “Just like any other career it takes a lot of hard work to develop and grow your abilities.” Through touring with other musicians with a similar sound, and progressively working on his own Cosby says: “What is fantastic and exciting is that during this time you’re able to play live and start to pick up a fan base. Hopefully this early bunch will be excited to follow you as your career progresses.” It’s this humble approach to his music that makes Cosby so likeable and his music so enticing. As a listener you feel a sense of understanding of the creation process and the hard work that has gone into creating each piece.

To round off our chat, influenced mostly by legendary musicians who’s lyrics are basically poetry, I was eager to find out who Cosby if he could choose from anybody would co-write a song with. To this he answered almost immediately: “Paul Simon. Just an unbelievable writer who has penned classics which are as relevant now as they were when released and I’m sure they’ll remain so for all of time. To me that is true artistry.”

With 2017 soon around the corner I was hoping for a preview of what Cosby’s New Year was going to look like, but instead he leaves fans with the vague statement: “I’m very excited about next year and releasing new music. I don’t have too much to tell you just yet but it should be busy!”

You can listen to George Cosby’s new E.P A Savage Kiss over on iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud.

Freshers is finally here!

**We’re going to be doing a TWO WEEK FRESHER SPECIAL from Wednesday 7th!! So if you’re a newbie or a returner we have all the tips and stories to guide you through your freshers week!!!! There’s load to come on recipes, drinks, packing playlists and alternatives to a night out! So check it out, it’s going to be an exciting two weeks!!**

 

TYC LOVE

x

The Modern Day Wise Men: 3 Dressing Gowns, 3 Crates of beer and a Roast Chicken

When I was asked if I could write a piece on my festival experiences I was initially overwhelmed by the wealth of stories I could’ve drawn upon to contribute. I’ve been going to festivals since I was 17 way back in 2009, during those years I have been fortunate enough to attend various festivals around the UK with some of my best friends and enjoy some of the funniest moments of my entire life during those dirty weekends away. Some of my personal moments at festivals include being crowned campsite wrestling champion at Sonisphere in Knebworth, participating in a VIP focus group at Download Festival dressed as a giraffe and performing live at Y Not Festival this summer as part of the definitely legitimate band: The Steak Baguettes. But as far as complete festival experiences go, there is one that stands head and shoulders above the rest as simply: the most ridiculous.

When I first heard about Tywyn festival from my friend, he spoke enthusiastically about the fact his mates band were playing and that it was only an hour away on the train from us. Having come back from my first festival just weeks before, I’d got the bug for it and agreed it was a good idea that we attend, imagining something on a similar scale to Donington Park being the venue of choice.

It wasn’t.

We arrived in Tywyn around midday. For those that don’t know what or where Tywyn is, it is a small Welsh town in the middle of nowhere. We got off the train and immediately headed to the nearest shop to buy beers. With four cans each in hand, we followed the festival signs and arrived at Tywyn’s version of Donington Park. We were greeted at the entrance by an elderly gentlemen who looked a bit like Bruce Forsythe without the chin. He charged us five pounds each and then we were finally allowed into the hollowed grounds of Tywyn Secondary School.

Shortly after we arrived, our well connected friend bumped into the band that we had come to see at the festival. It’s in my nature to be wary of meeting new people but they soon bypassed my inhibitions by inviting us to the VIP buffet that only performing artists and event staff were allowed to enter. To say we took liberties with our the amenities would be an understatement. After polishing off half our body weight in bread sticks and egg cress sandwiches, we began showing off to our new friends by putting snack size sausage rolls into plastic cups of juice and drinking the contents to rapturous applause from our easily pleased audience.

By now the event staff had tired of us taking liberties with the VIP buffet. We’d pushed our luck with the complimentary silverskin onions and party rings and, not for the last time in this story, were asked to leave the vicinity. We left with minimum fuss, the request timing perfectly with us running out of beer for the first time in the day. We retreated to Co-Op to stock up, with the only member of our trio old enough to buy alcohol inconspicuously purchasing three crates of lager and a bottle of Jack Daniels. I suggested buying a ready meal for one to make the facade look more genuine but he declined and, inexplicably, bought a whole roast chicken to keep us fed for the day.

We returned to the school field, beer and chicken in hand, and settled on a nice piece of grass right in the middle of the festivities. We sat blissfully unaware of the obvious ill feelings of everyone around us, until we decided to visit the nearest stall to us that was selling second hand clothes. We browsed the terrible selection until we decided that we should all buy a dressing gown to really get into those ‘festival vibes’ and, after successfully haggling with the bemused stall owner, we retreated to our area dressed in uniformal robes to finish our impressively greasy chicken. At some point some girls also preyed upon our drunken state to sell us some straw hats but the details on this particular transaction are a little hazy.

Fortunately these were simpler times. Like carrying a bag through an airport was much simpler before 9/11, three intoxicated men wearing used dressing gowns at a school fun day barely warranted a second glance before the posthumous Jimmy Saville revelations came to light. Had Sir Jimmy died in the spring of 2009, I may be justifying this occasion in a prison shower rather than ‘confessing’ it in a guest blog slot on a community website.

We finally advanced upon the main stage which was situated in the school gymnasium. Shamelessly carrying a half drunk crate of 24 lagers and half a roast chicken, we ambled up to the entrance of the school, clad in our matching dressing gowns and hats looking like a cross between the three wise men in a low budget school nativity and Paul Gascoine going to visit a police stand off.

After having our crate of beer confiscated, we sat down at the back of the gym and waited with glazed eyes for the band to come on. After a short while, the band took to the stage. We spent the first two songs sat nodding politely to the their heavy rock music until one of my companions pointed out that there were two school pupils on the dancefloor head banging.

Without a seconds thought, we advanced to the front of the stage and began possibly the worlds most tragic mosh pit, consisting of two school kids and three pissed up teenagers dressed in bath robes. To their credit, I remember the band being pretty good, but by this point it could’ve been David Attenborough lecturing advanced mathematics and we’d still have insisted on having a lairy jump around in front of the parents and teachers in attendance. The band mercifully finished playing probably the most awkward gig they’d ever played and we retrieved our half finished crate from the entrance desk and headed back out to our spot on the school field, which was now obviously highlighted by a circle of discarded cans.

After five hours of loitering around a school fete dressed in male nightwear, covered in chicken fat and thirty cans deep into an all day session, a man in charge of the event politely asked us to vacate the premises. The request was so inevitable we offered precious little in terms of resistance and wearily evacuated the area, relocating to a bench less than a hundred yards from where we were sat before but, importantly, just outside the school boundaries where we couldn’t easily ruin their well intended fun day any longer.

As the afternoon segued into the evening, the band and assorted relatives invited us to join them in a nearby alleyway to get away from the ‘hustle and bustle’ of the festival. I was apprehensive at first and it proved to be a justified instinct as the break from the ‘carnage’ of Tywyn Festival quickly descended into a group of long haired youths passing around what I can only legally describe as an aromatic cigarette in an alleyway, just yards away from the hugely anticipated raffle results draw in the adjacent playing field.

After that it all becomes a little blurry. I remember seeing the organiser of this blog on the train home, the three of us getting back to my house and eating bolognese, one of the three of us passing out in the hallway downstairs while me and the remaining one sang AC/DC on the Xbox, and then it was all over. Without doubt the most ridiculous festival I’ve ever been to took place at Tywyn Secondary School.

To this day I don’t know what happened to the dressing gown.

By Harry Freebre

Feature: My Life Through Dating

The way I see it there are two types of people: “Omg you’re gay?!”; and “I knew it!”. I mean we know there is a third type, but let’s keep this a happy article and not get into that…

I come from Estonia where gays are accepted by just about 33% of the population, so for me, naturally, it’s important to hit the criteria of an “Omg you’re gay??” type. Not because I’m ashamed but it’s what I’m used to.

When I was in primary school I was envied by my peers – predominately male – because I was popular with the girls. I just couldn’t understand what was so hard about talking to a girl, they don’t bite… (Well some might, wink wink). As I grew older I developed this fear not for girls, but for boys. That’s when I took a step back and was like “wait, what?”. I didn’t know how to act, I didn’t know if it was normal, I was confused and mortified. I remember trying to “fix” myself by getting a girlfriend, that in itself is funny let alone the fact she then left me for another boy who also turned out to be gay and she turned out to be a lesbian. Love triangles nowadays.

Anyway, nothing really happened in secondary school or college apart from my realisation of my love for males grew stronger and I finally got the courage to come out to some of my friends. So, the real story starts at university…

In the first few months of university, I was full-on feeling the freedom of being a teenager. Nobody knew just how much I was taking advantage of this freedom, I always tell people a different story because they won’t be able to swallow the truth. But you have to understand that it was a whole new world to me. I could do anything I wanted when I wanted and for how long I wanted. And I did.

That isn’t even the best bit, this was all before my discovery of Grindr. Grindr transformed my life, it taught me lessons, it was like the big brother that I never had. You know, that app finds you, friends, for life – in all shapes and sizes. But it all got repetitive and boring after a while. At the end of my first year, I was no longer interested in the Grindr-type men. I wanted to find someone who could understand me and I didn’t want to use the internet to do that.

Yet because of modern-day socialising, it was like playing hide and seek, but without the find. So, as expected, I was left with no choice but to download Tinder. Tinder is more sophisticated than Grindr, but it was full of the same people. But I’ll tell you something, Tinder had some of the best specimens out there. And it didn’t take many “meets and greets” until I found one lucky guy to be my boyfriend.

I was over the moon at that point, I mean I never thought I’d have a boyfriend. It was an experience, to say the least. He was older, more mature and had his life in order. I was younger, a child at heart and had no idea what I wanted to do with mine. But that gave me hope because as people say “opposites attract”. All we did was pretty much walk. I think we might have walked around the whole of London. And I loved it. How could I not? My Fitbit steps were through the roof and I was winning competitions left, right and centre! However, the relationship ended as quickly as it had begun and I was back to being the Captain of the single ship once again.

I wanted to sail on my own for a bit. I needed time to reflect on my past decisions and how they changed me as a person. I became wiser and more careful. I wasn’t that teenager on a sexual rampage anymore. To put it in corporate language: I wanted to show my ex-employee that he was wrong leaving me for another firm.

I had sailed and sailed and finally ended up in Liverpool. Take my advice – if you are single, Liverpool is the place to be. Their Tinder game was on point. I think I was talking to about 15 guys at the same time! And I’m surprised I managed to keep that going.

However, the hardest thing was telling someone that I wasn’t interested anymore. It’s selfish and arrogant but it needed to be done. I simply didn’t want to waste their time or mine. If someone wasn’t interested in me they would gradually stop replying and that is how I dealt with the situation.

Although there was one lad that I couldn’t stop talking to. When we matched, the first thing he said was “Am I going to get lucky tonight? ;)”, I mean how was I supposed to respond to that? In his defence, it was probably a reference to my bio,  which said “If you get lucky, I might show you my six-pack”. Spoiler alert, I had no six-pack. Don’t trust what you read on the internet, kids.

By the time we met face to face, I think he’d lost interest in my six-pack. For some bizarre reason, he found me fascinating. He used to send me coded letters with cute messages. That was it for me. I knew that he was the one. He was ready to be promoted to a boyfriend. This time around I was older and he was younger, but it was the way he managed to convey himself as a very mature young man that won me over. I used to think I was good at Maths until I met him. His brain is probably robotic because nobody is that good at Maths, the guy can calculate any bloody logarithm in his head.

Nine months on he is still working full time as my boyfriend and I couldn’t be happier. I want to thank the wind from the Atlantic that directed my ship to Liverpool because I always thought London produced the best employees.

By Julian Kisselevits

Is Ignorance the Root of Today’s Problems?

I’d be lying if I didn’t think our world was crumbling apart. Every morning we wake up to news notifications telling us about a shooting, a stabbing or a suicide bombing. We wake up to diplomats giving their condolences to allies worldwide. We hear and watch the vigils set up by citizens who want to give back to those who have lost their lives and offer support to the families who have to live with the tragedy. Each day we are hearing about the deaths of innocent people who are targeted because of fuelled hatred. We live in a world where hatred is ruling over us and we’re currently letting that get the best of our society.

All these events work in conjunction to polarize the global community. But if we let that divide the world then we limit the extent of knowledge citizens can have about everything and everyone that surrounds them. And without knowledge we are nothing but vulnerable.

In this article I’d like to tackle a few of the concerns that have risen from all these events, which in my opinion are the driving points for polarisation. To a few people this may seem absurd, but I’m only asking for a place to display my thoughts on our world’s biggest misconceptions.

Number 1: Muslims are not terrorists.

Islam is not a religion built around killing others of other religions. I have lived in a Muslim country for half of my life, and being a catholic person, I will reassure you that I have never been treated with disrespect nor have I at any time felt threatened by them.

Islam is not some sort of alien, malicious religion. Muslim individuals are like any other individual- their headscarves do not make them any different than any of us. In fact, we must keep in mind that the mass worshippers of a religion cannot be blamed for the actions of selected individuals, especially individuals that are mentally unstable. Terrorism isn’t a Muslim thing; lunatics are everywhere.

Number 2: Terrorists = Radicalism.

The so called IS (Islamic State) is not a random group of Muslims who have decided to stand up for the entire Muslim community and attack others who they feel threaten their religion. This is a misconception of caused by those who only use the media as a reliable source for personal judgments.

This terrorist group, just like any other, completely twists what a religion is based on. The words by which it guides are changed so that a completely different meaning is conveyed so they can use it as a basis for their malice.

Terrorists are just like any group of bullies we all have come across in school. They pick on a particular point and hold on to it so they can use it against other innocent people, just for personal advancement; in IS’s case, world dominance. But we can never forget that how bullies treat their victims is a production of a twisted, cruel mind.

Number 3: Immigrants are not the cause of your problems.

The majority of migrants want a degree so they are able to find a job, raise money and support their families. They are willing to work hours and hours to get a decent salary just so they have something to repatriate back into their own, poorer home countries. It helps to keep in mind that many of these individuals tend to become highly qualified and dedicated persons. Think of the biggest inventions in the US to the UK: they have come from very talented migrants whose inspiration has stemmed from an urge to succeed, wherever they have been given the opportunity to.

I am a Venezuelan migrant in the UK and the UAE, I have been a migrant in Singapore and I will be that in the Netherlands, all because I strive to be internationally educated so I can have more opportunities. I’d like to clarify that people don’t migrate to developed countries to plot their next attack against Westerners; immigrants are solely looking for a better tomorrow. We all go to educate ourselves in places where we know the education is of better quality, not because we want to take-over schools and destroy the system. This is a massive misconception and a very grand discriminatory perspective of the international community, especially the Muslim community.

And additionally, we must not forget that thanks to these immigrants, developed economies have larger workforces, greater innovation, more productive labor and most importantly, that it opens up the minds of individuals and helps people understand diversity. This last point, is what glues societies all together.

Number 4: #BlackLivesMatter

I am white, but I am Latino. And I’d be ignorant to say Latinos were not largely discriminated against in the US. But the most persistent issue even in the 21^st century, is that black people are seen as a threat and ultimately it’s a truly despicable way of seeing a race. This view has been embedded in the minds of several citizens because racism has been built in the minds of many white individuals. White supremacy, as I always say, has always been around and there is no justification for such perception.

Black people are not any less important than white people, they are as equally smart, valuable and worthy. No, they are not dirty, revengeful people- they are perfectly normal and beautiful just like any other individual in this world. But many seem to be oblivious to that.

The years of oppression were never over, black people have had to abide by the rules of white people so they could live in less fear. Racist view points are still persistent in our societies, the only difference being that people don’t want to be called out on it as they care way too much about their reputations. But the underlying racist thoughts still remain, and until we change those thoughts they will continue to be destructive.

I have made my 4 claims, but now I’d like to convey my own view of the overall picture.

We live in the 21^st century, and those that have been oppressed, be it because of racism, religion, gender, sexual orientation or heritage, are sick of living suppressed lives for all these years. Just like any other person, we all have the right to have our rights respected- and oppressed communities are sick of having theirs taken away.

People need to stop calling others out for speaking their minds, because freedom for an individual stems from having freedom of speech; you wouldn’t like to have your opinion ignored, so why should any other have theirs?  And that I believe is the main issue: as many of us are beginning to partake in protests and become activists about issues that concern us, some individuals respond to it with walls, physically and metaphorically.

The issue with walls is that they don’t solve problems, they only hide them; we cannot expect to go back to an un-globalised world because cultures have mixed, people have travelled and we have opened our minds. Society can’t expect to be better off if we divide; because once we divide we are a less powerful force.

Radicalism only sucks in those who are in vulnerable positions, not those who have a more accepting view of the world’s reality. If we educate people enough about differences in culture, traditions and religions, think of what our world could be instead.

We can say our society is falling apart at the moment, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t change what has occurred or can occur. The world has to unite to fight the larger forces. It is only by uniting that our societies and communities can fight radicalism and groups who are guided by hatred, so that we can live in a world where we don’t feel threatened, but rather accepted.

By Astrid Sofia Flores Maya

Feature: Taking a trip – Podcast Style

19 year-old-student Thomas Rofe discusses his favourite podcasts, that help keep him awake on those long journeys back and forth from university. 

Podcasts are the most underrated form of media. I mean there’s rarely a bad time to be listening to one, a podcast has the capacity to make any menial task a great joy, from just washing the dishes to those 5-hour car journeys. Since its rise in 2008, podcasts are growing stronger and stronger attracting millions of listeners across a wide range of topics and themes. The raw and accessible outlet for creators means the podcast world has many emerging personalities a medium that doesn’t just consist of already household names but also aspiring amateurs. There is no better time than now to immerse yourself in the world of podcasting and in this blog (in no particular order) I’ll run through a selection of my favourites.

If I Were You

After a near-decade run of creating the Webby award-winning web series ‘Jake and Amir’, the natural next step for these comedic titans was an advice podcast. Obviously not your average advice series, the duo do a magnificent job of combining what could be described as genuine advice with a comedic twist. The lads are often joined by a guest, be it a Collegehumor alumni, one of Jakes family members or a comedy pal in which they’ll manage to answer about three to four questions. It feels like the shortest hour of my week but always leaves me anxious for the next episode to be released.

Recommended Episode – Episode 123: Best of 2014 – An episode I’ve personally listened to many times. A great highlight reel of what to expect from ‘If I Were You’.

Serial

Serial has by far been one of the biggest successes of the podcast world, even if you don’t personally listen to podcasts you’re likely to of heard of it. The buzz around its first series swept across the USA and quickly went worldwide. It captures the imagination of everyone’s inner amateur detective, this is helped by Sarah Koenig gift for storytelling and pushing the boundaries of a given story to find the hidden truths. Season 1 explored the murder of high schooler Hae Min Lee in Baltimore 1999 in which Adnan Syed has spent over a decade in jail for her murder, but is the case as clear as it seemed? (I still don’t even know). Season 2 deals with the case of Bowe Bergdahl, unravelling the truth behind him leaving his post and finding himself in Taliban captivity for five years. Whilst it’s gripping, Serial often leaves you underwhelmed with many unanswered questions, but definitely due to the nature of the podcast and is a symptom of the cases that are being explored.

Recommend Episode – All of Season 1

Twinnovation

A podcast for your inner schemer and dreamer. Mama Bear Mike Karnell hosts the show alongside the identical Rosenberg twins. The trio take turns pitching their ideas to the world, searching for customers and investors. Some are potential multi-million-pound ideas, others are on a smaller scale including hustles to help you save money day-to-day. Idea highlights have included the Bowieja Board, Pocket Guac and the Bwonzie (You’ll have to listen to the podcasts for the details). The boys fill out the podcast with great segments like ‘Beef of the Week’, ‘Catch of the Day’ and schemes from the Twinnovation Nation. It’s a podcast that gets more and more enjoyable the more you listen and like I have you’ll fall in love with the in-jokes between the boys. #SleuthCrewth

Recommended Episode – 8 Pocket Guac

Final Games Podcast 

Final Games is the Desert Island Discs of the video game world. Host Liam Edwards is an example of the podcast world allowing people to talk about the things they love. From his small house in Japan Liam does a fantastic job of taking you on a nostalgia trip each week where the games you love or loved can be someone’s chosen ‘disc’. With guests stopping by to discuss the eight games they would take with them you get a real range from the modern era blockbuster to old school niche titles. Guests tend to be in the thick of the Gaming industry, so while bringing a highly knowledgeable approach to their final games Liam’s personality helps to create a friendly atmosphere. Each episode feels like you and your friends are sitting around talking about all the games you used to play.

Recommended Epsiode – Episode 24 – Peer Schneider

By Thomas Rofe

Feature: A Patriot’s view of Brexit

The night before Britain headed to the polls in potentially the most infamous referendum of our time, I tweeted an aggressively pro-remain message to the world which gained over 10,000 interactions. The popularity of such a tweet left me bubbling with confidence; not only had I achieved Twitter-famous status for a couple of hours, but the countless retweets and likes left me thinking that there were thousands of others who shared a similar opinion.

Even despite my best efforts to avoid the news on Friday 24th June such that it would not distract me from my Further Maths exam that same morning, I was awoken by the legendary BBC News headline chime resonating from my phone, explaining that the British people had decided by the thinnest of margins that the country would be better off outside of the European Union. I’ll skip the jibber-jabber; I was angry, and the adverse economic effects of Brexit immediately came into light. But I am not here to repeat stone-cold facts, nor am I here to express my disappointment.  I am simply here to explain my top three most important things to note in light of the biggest decision of our generation.

The media must stop throwing all pro-Brexit supporters under the same bus. After the vote concluded, most of the pro-remain crowd resorted to blaming the disillusioned elderly, claiming that it was their ‘old-fashioned’, xenophobic views which led them to vote to, as Floundering Farage or Jocular Johnson would say, ‘take our country back’, a phrase frighteningly easy to confuse with the baffoon across the pond’s slogan, ‘make America great again’. While it may be true that number of Brexiteers increased as the age increased, it is important not to label them all under the same umbrella.

Wales, for example, is an example of a country which decided as a whole that Brexit was the best option; and while it may be true that many voted out of fear of immigrants and the rise in Islamic terrorism, entirely ignoring the advice of security chiefs of GCHQ, MI6 and MI5, there remained many Welsh men and women who placed their vote to leave simply as a protest against the higher powers in Westminster and Brussels pretending to allow the Welsh Government freedom yet seemingly overshadowing them and dictating their every move. Despite the country receiving such a heavy amount of EU funding, there were still those, especially on the farms and in the countryside, who believed that they had never seen a single penny of this ‘beneficial’ EU funding, despite being members of the taxpaying crowdfunding the money our Government sends over to Brussels.

Furthermore, the elderly are more aware of life before the EU in the United Kingdom, and it is probably safe to say that entering the EU in the first place was not a particularly wise decision for the country, given that I am yet to speak to anyone who believes that this is the case. For those who can remember the country beforehand, a country they thought was ‘better’, ‘stronger’ and more ‘independent’, it seems obvious that the choice would be to get the hell out of the EU and return to the ‘independent’ nation we used to be. Perhaps this was a very gullible approach to take given how much the economic climate of the world has changed since we joined, but nevertheless, it goes to show that while the vast majority of Brexiteers voted out of fear of the people who may be coming into the country, it is unfair to drag others of different opinions under the same ‘xenophobe’ label. In fact, as a whole, I believe that Brexit has shown how much fear is harvested in the British people. Be it for political, personal or logical reasons, the number of people voting to leave the EU just came to show how unhappy the British people are with the current system.

Secondly, as the vote crept closer and closer, the arguments being made on either side of the public became more and more about immigrants and terrorism and open borders etc. rather than focusing on the effects which I believe are actually relevant; trade, the economy and funding for new projects and buildings in the country. Whilst the free trade movement does involve free movement of EU residents into the country, I personally feel as though the EU argument should always have been based on the economy and trade. Despite its occasionally ludicrous laws and sanctions, the free trade movement has evolved into being one of the most vital components of business in our country, and to see it cease would, in my opinion, cause a great deal of hassle for businesses who use it frequently and put a strain on those who have been using the movement to import and export products, who will, if we do eventually trigger Article 50, have to deal with much more paperwork and fees with which they are not accustomed to dealing with.

Moreover, for those wishing to have rid of the free trade movement because of the free movement of workers involved, if the UK is to continue being a strong economic power then a future deal with the countries of the EU and maybe even the EU itself will have to be struck regardless, which heavily implies that the free movement of workers will have to be negotiated in the future either way. In my humble opinion, it seems unintelligible to think that the UK could possess the power to pick and choose what they want and don’t want from trade deals, and even more unintelligible to think that we will be able to negotiate future trade deals with the EU without giving any leeway for the movement of its workers into the country. Thus, my second note on so-called Brexit would be a resolution that must be made for the future; let’s focus on the economy from now on rather than continuing the argument over immigration, an issue which from my perspective is completely negligible.

Speaking of ‘if we do eventually trigger Article 50’, my third note is that despite the fact that the referendum is now over a month gone, I wouldn’t expect to hear the conversations about it faltering any time soon. Considering the fact that as of yet we have managed to change Prime Minister without negotiating a date for triggering the Article, it seems uncertain if and when Brexit talks will go ahead, even with Theresa May insisting that ‘Brexit means Brexit’. Moreover, with parliament holding a debate on 5th September to discuss the possibility of a second referendum supported by over four million petition-signers, only God knows when on earth the whole ordeal will come to an end. Certainly not soon, by any means. The ‘two years’ between triggering Article 50 and actually leaving the EU that vote remain supporters used to calm themselves down after the votes were counted hasn’t even begun yet, and with Theresa May looking determined to get her role in Office off to a superb start, who knows when she will even consider running the risk of finally triggering Article 50.

This is not the end, and with Brexit leading to the most right-wing cabinet of my time being put in charge of the country I adore so much, I can see signs of a changing Britain over the horizon. A fearful Britain scared of interacting with the rest of the world whose largest companies are considering emptying their headquarters and shifting them over to some other country who may not gamble with their profits so much. In such a time of personal faith loss in the people I have come to call my own, I can only remain optimistic and hope for a better future. By the words of the old man Churchill; “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

By Jordan Edwards

Is Today’s Media having a damaging impact on 21st-Century beauty?

21st-century beauty standards are portrayed as quite straightforward: tall, long-legged, white-skinned, all in an athletic-looking body. It’s amazing how for many women this has become the prime definition of beautiful. Worryingly, it’s young girls who have come to believe that a Victoria Secret Model’s body is the ultimate goal when it comes to aesthetics.  In reality, these hopeful body goals are down to what we call media: Hollywood star Instagram accounts, magazines headlines “how to achieve that summer bod!”, and model pictures with the caption: #goals, all of which are being used by the younger generation to compare and depict all their flaws.

It saddens me to think that many young women will put themselves down for not looking a certain way, instead of embracing who they are, they will criticise themselves,a habit we’re all guilty of doing. They think they’re unattractive, ugly and go as far as using words like ‘disgusting’. I’m sure you’re thinking “that’s a harsh word to describe yourself” but, the reality is it is these types of personal judgements that lead girls to drastic measures to be ‘beautiful’. This ugly turn causes young girls to forget to value themselves and can lead to threatening health issues.

As a victim of Anorexia, I googled perfect bodies, pointed at them, and said “I want to look like that.” I would look through magazine articles which told you what eating/exercising regimes stars use to look the way they do. I was obsessed. Many praised me for my quick weight-loss, and at the time I enjoyed everybody praising and complimenting me for my quick achievements. But, it’s impressive how people find a 16-year-old obsessing to lose 10 kilos to be a success, a body which I realise now is perfectly fine.

It was only when I began to look sick that people worried. And this, like it did for me, happens to so many girls, actually 1 in 5 women struggle with an eating disorder or disordered eating. I believe this all comes from the stigma of what the perfect body is created by the media. It is an extremely easy trap to fall into, when you are naturally critical of yourself, you are therefore, already placing yourself into a vulnerable position.

Not everyone falls into the category of having a disorder but, frighteningly many do live thinking they’re not good enough, oblivious to their true self-worth. Here is the important part: humans are all built differently, we all have different metabolisms, different body types, and come from completely different heritages. We fail to forget that genes play a massive role in how we look, and the issue is that these givens just can’t be changed. It is so much easier and less self-destructive when we learn to embrace our personal traits. You would never taunt the people who gave you your body, the people you love, so why do it to yourself?

Being curvy is not being fat, having an athletic body is not looking like a boy, being flat-chested doesn’t mean you’re an 8-year-old girl. Most importantly not looking like your favourite celebrity does not under any circumstances mean you’re any less beautiful. Our society needs to understand that girls are spending so much time on achieving something unattainable. Celebrities dedicate their lives to the way they look but, young girls have futures to aspire to. 90 % of people with eating disorders are women between the ages of 12 and 25, the peak ages whereas young adults we are trying to figure who we are, what we want to do, and who we want to be. How can anybody live to their full potential when they can’t find self-confidence within themselves? How will girls be the best they can be if they personally don’t believe that they’re worthy enough?

21st-century beauty standards are slowly changing and people are starting to not shy away from who they are. We’re now seeing more curvy models setting their own standards and a variety of celebrities speaking out on body positivity. However, this is just the beginning there is still a lot of work left in convincing our younger generation to start loving themselves, before putting their energy into looking like someone else.

Feature Contributor, Astrid Sofia Flores Moya