Dazed is putting on a festival next month, and you’re invited. Celebrating our 30th anniversary, we’re opening up our HQ at London’s 180 The Strand for Dazed Live, where we’ll bring the magazine to life with events hosted by some of the most exciting voices in the creative industries. From fashion workshops with Fashion East’s Conner Ives and live performances by Anaiis and Pa Salieu to a life drawing class with a twist courtesy of Michaela Stark, the programme is packed with live performances, DJ sets, screenings, exhibitions, talks, and workshops, which are bound to give you the post-lockdown creative fix you’ve been waiting for. “We are creating a communal space – in real life – for young people to be together and to exchange ideas and express themselves,” says Dazed’s editor-in-chief Ibrahim Kamara. “Dazed Live is a chance for the future generation to meet, create, and accelerate.” To be in with a chance to attend, you can sign up to the Dazed Live ticket draw here. Tickets are £10, with 100 per cent of proceeds going to homeless charity Centrepoint. In the meantime, we go behind-the-scenes with some of the artists, creators, and makers showing up for Dazed Live for their tips, tricks, and advice before the Big Event.

John Allan is a hair stylist whose clients include Beabadoobee and Mowalola. He will be running a sculptural wig tutorial What are you most excited about at Dazed Live? Why do you think workshops and collective event series for creative people to gather like this are important and worthwhile? John Allan: I’m nervous to be honest. But I see some familiar faces on the schedule who I love and support and can’t wait to see what they pull out the bag. Who are your role models, and who are the peers and contemporaries you look to? And is there anyone on the Dazed Live line-up you’re excited to see too? John Allan: Eugene, Guido, Julian, and Anthony Turner are probably my biggest role models like most hair stylists. Outside of hair Nan Goldin, Peter Berlin, Ron Athey, Bruce La Bruce to name a few. What’s a good piece of advice someone gave you? What’s your piece of advice for young creatives? John Allan: Work through the shit, keep practising. If you weren’t doing what you do, what career or lifestyle would you be living out? John Allan: I studied menswear for a term and got thrown off the course then became a hair stylist by accident. It’s hard to say because probably not that, and I’m not qualified to do anything else. I always wish I’d become a ballet dancer or something but I don’t have the poise or patience for anything that meticulous. What’s been inspiring you recently? Where do you look for inspiration outside of your creative medium? John Allan: I’ve been really frustrated recently, over worked and uninspired but actually that drives me, the mundane aspects of live in a world that is actually falling down around us gives me constant ideas then I remember why I love doing what I do. Also the Chaos of work I think I really thrive on. How important is community to you, and why?  John Allan: It’s incredibly important, to know you aren’t alone. To know that people love you and support you and believe in what you’re doing means a lot. Especially in those times you don’t believe in yourself. Why is mentorship and skills sharing important to you? John Allan: To build a positive community where we help each other and learn from each other will hopefully change the make-up of our industry to make it a little kinder and help us all become experts in what we do. At the end of the day we do this because we love it and we want to have fun.

Emily Frances Barrett is an artist and jeweller working from her studio in East London. She will be running an experimental badge-making workshop What are you most excited about at Dazed Live? Why do you think workshops and collective event series for creative people to gather like this are important and worthwhile? Emily Frances Barrett: Like everyone, I think people are really craving real life, in-person experiences. The thought of a two day event full of actual people, workshops, music still sounds like a novelty right now. In the age of social media, I think it’s more important than ever to have a physical space where likeminded people can come together and share ideas and inspiration via a multi sensory experience. Physical time and spaces offers so much more than a screen ever will!  Who are your role models, and who are the peers and contemporaries you look to? And is there anyone on the Dazed Live line-up you’re excited to see too? Emily Frances Barrett: I’ve always been drawn to artists that don’t stick to one medium or discipline and make up they’re own rules and ways of working. I love the work of Alexander Calder, Peter Beard, Judy Blame, Dave Baby, and Carlo Mollino to name a few.  There are so many talented people involved in Dazed Live, but I can’t wait to see Michaela Stark’s life drawing workshop, as well as Ib Kamara and Gareth Wrighton’s styling workshop – they both sound super special and inspiring. What‘s a good piece of advice someone gave you? What‘s your piece of advice for young creatives? ‘Do you!’ It’s easy to compare yourself and be distracted by what other people are or aren’t doing. The only way you’ll ever make your best work is to channel your authentic self and to not give a shit what other people think. Care Less and Do More! If you weren’t doing what you do, what career or lifestyle would you be living out? Emily Frances Barrett: I’d probably be a hoarder living in a beach shack somewhere hot! What’s been inspiring you recently? Where do you look for inspiration outside of your creative medium? Emily Frances Barrett: I love to surround myself with objects and things that inspire me. Recently I’ve been digging for gems at boot fairs and markets now they’re back on. This weekend I also went to all the antique/ junk shops back home where I grew up, I always find weird and wonderful bits there too. Recent finds include some 1960s hair clips with road signs on, a surreal Swarovski Brooch in the shape of eye, some Wedgewood sample side plates with codes to be deciphered on the front, and a brass and aluminium 1970s brutalist cocktail tray with faux bamboo edging! How important is community to you, and why? Emily Frances Barrett: So many creatives like myself work in isolation so I think it’s especially important to meet and mix with other creatives for the sake of our sanity if nothing else! Why is mentorship and skills sharing important to you? Emily Frances Barrett: I’m so lucky I get to do what I do everyday, if I can infect a few people with my enthusiasm and love of making things then that’s a great use of my time. The learning process if often long and hard, and I’m sure most of us would love to have known the things we know now when we were younger. If there’s a chance to encourage, inspire and pass on some things I’ve learnt along the way to the next generation then it’s a privilege to do so.

CSM graduate and LVMH finalist Conner Ives is a fashion designer based in London. He will be running a t-shirt customisation workshop What are you most excited about at Dazed Live? Why do you think workshops and collective event series for creative people to gather like this are important and worthwhile? Conner Ives: I think these types of events serve as a reminder to the larger purpose fashion can play. While I am not one to make something into a grand-standing gesture that it is not, I think it can be a reminder of the sense of community that fashion inspires. We all love this and it brings us together.  Who are your role models, and who are the peers and contemporaries you look to? And is there anyone on the Dazed Live line-up you’re excited to see too? Conner Ives: Over the last few week I have been able to meet many of my role models. I think a role model to me is anyone that loves what they do as much as I do. It was such a pleasure getting to meet Christopher John Rogers and getting to know him as a friend. So down to earth; so humble. More of that please!  What’s a good piece of advice someone gave you? What’s your piece of advice for young creatives? Conner Ives: Don’t you ever give up. I think this industry has a really unique way of making things that are no issue into a big issue. And you shouldn’t let them. Life’s too short and fashion is too frivolous for that. I am all for caring about what you do, but I do not endorse letting it have the better part of you. Keep your peace, you’ll need it.  If you weren’t doing what you do, what career or lifestyle would you be living out? Conner Ives: I ask myself that everyday and i still do not have an answer for it.  What’s been inspiring you recently? Where do you look for inspiration outside of your creative medium? Conner Ives: I always get inspiration from my childhood memories. It’s like a rose-tinted VCR that changes every time you watch it. I love how memories aren’t rooted in reality; I love how one can pull and push a memory into what they want it to be. I do that over and over again and it always leads me somewhere new. You have so much inspiration inside of you; you just need to look at it correctly.  How important is community to you, and why?  Conner Ives: I feel community has gotten me so far in my very short career thus far. I cannot tell you the amount of times i have had to call on a friend to help me realise a  concept, or collaborate with someone who will looks at something a different way. I used to think that being a designer meant you had to do it all. But I’m slowly learning a good designer is good at assembling a team, which is just another word for a small community. I would be nowhere without my friends and collaborators.

Zooey Gleaves AKA Lagoon is a DJ and member of Prestige Pak, London's renegade nightlife collective. They will be running a hands-on DJ workshop, presented by Dazed's music editor at-large Natty Kasambala What are you most excited about at Dazed Live? Why do you think workshops and collective event series for creative people to gather like this are important and worthwhile? Zooey Gleaves: I think styling 101 with Gareth Wrighton and Ib Kamara is gonna be fascinating! They’re two of the best stylists around who can tell stories with clothes in a way that few others can, so it will be interesting to understand how they pack so much detail and nuance into what they do. I think being democratic and generous with information and ideas is really important to creating a healthy creative community, and especially as a young person who feels creative in any way, to listen and learn from those you admire is key in forming your own practice. Who are your role models, and who are the peers and contemporaries you look to? And is there anyone on the Dazed Live line-up you’re excited to see too? Zooey Gleaves: My role models have always been people who’ve approached their work with a mixture of humour and style, like Leigh Bowery, Juliana Huxtable, Nigella Lawson, Max Allen, Kerwin Frost. Gagging to see Awhora talk about drag and Lynski do some body painting too! What’s a good piece of advice someone gave you? What’s your piece of advice for young creatives? Zooey Gleaves: The best advice I‘ve been given is the same advice I give to other young creatives. Regardless of how much people have helped you get to where you are, you are ultimately responsible for your own success. You have to be ready for those important moments, those introductions or those leg ups, and people do those for you when you‘re ready and when you‘re at a certain level. Acknowledge the contribution others have had in helping you get to where you are, but own the fact that you will be successful ultimately because of your own talent, drive, and hard work. If you don‘t have that, it ultimately doesn‘t matter how much help you have from others. If you weren‘t doing what you do, what career or lifestyle would you be living out? Zooey Gleaves: Can you be a professional alcoholic? What‘s been inspiring you recently? Where do you look for inspiration outside of your creative medium? Zooey Gleaves: Inspiration comes from everywhere at all times! I watched Fatal Attraction the other day and every line Glenn Close says in that movie made me want to sample and make a mix. I think Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is some of the most dynamic and awe inspiring creativity I've seen in a long time, and the HBO series of Angel's In America is heavenly, especially the conversations between Roy Cohn and Belize played by Al Pacino and Geoffrey Wright.  How important is community to you, and why? Zooey Gleaves: Community is key in the creative industry because when it works it keeps people looked after. Open communication about everything from rates to treatment, hours, contracts, and co-workers ensure that we as freelance creatives can keep paying the bills and looking after ourselves, as well as making space for those to come up and join us. When community also means dialogue and communication, it's strong! Why is mentorship and skills sharing important to you? Zooey Gleaves: I’ve had amazing mentors and older/wise people point me in the right direction and give me great advice, and it’s important to pay it forward wherever possible. When I think about moments when I was floundering and confused about my future, I know that others must experience that too. Anything you can do to ease that burden and shed light on things that seem exclusive or confusing is enormously helpful and important!

Michaela Stark is an artist and couturier who specialises in lingerie. She will be putting on a subversive life drawing class with artist Robert George Sanders, Dodo Potato, Jade O'Belle, and Kevin Cordo What are you most excited about at Dazed Live? Why do you think workshops and collective event series for creative people to gather like this are important and worthwhile? Michaela Stark: I see Dazed Live as like a music festival but for all kinds of creative voices and disciplines, which is really cool. It’s a great line up, filled with so many people that have such strong voices in the online sphere. Having the opportunity to meet these people, share ideas and learn from them in real life is amazing. It’s like all the benefits of instagram but... real life. And uncensored! Events like this make our community of creatives so much stronger. It’s so important

to form these real life bonds, and bounce off the people around you, in person! I

thrive off this kind of connection, so I am really looking forward to the event. As for what I am most excited about… is it egotistical to say that I am most excited

about our life drawing class? Coz otherwise I would be lying. I am not sure

about anyone else on the line up, but this will be the first time I have ever had the

opportunity to bring my art into such a performative environment, or into a class of

any kind. It could be the beginning of a whole new avenue for my art! Exciting! Who are your role models, and who are the peers and contemporaries you look to? And is there anyone on the Dazed Live line-up you’re excited to see too? Michaela Stark: I actually think my biggest role models at the moment are really skilled seamstresses and couturiers. Not just the designers, but the actual seamstresses and tailors. Couture is an amazing craft, which is both intensely technical and creative. It’s a skill that you can’t develop over night, and takes years of experience and mentorship to get there. This is a really big focus of my art at the moment, as I am working on showing my

couture lingerie in Paris at the end of the year. In this process, I am learning so much

more much about technical garment making from the amazing makers around me,

which is helping me to develop and refine my own skills. I’ll be showing off some of my new corsets at our life drawing class at Dazed Live,

where all the models will be wearing made-to-measure garments for them. The shapes of the body are looking really interesting, and I am really excited to show how I have

been developing my couturier skills to morph and distort each unique body! One a completely different note, at Dazed Live I am excited to see the Beauty with

John Allen because who doesn’t need to learn how to style a sculptural wig! And

when I have the wig, I think I’ll go to the body painting with Lynski to complete the

look! Then obvs I’ll go to A’Whora and Vanity Milan’s talk on getting into drag. What’s a good piece of advice someone gave you? What’s your piece of advice for young creatives? Michaela Stark: One piece of advice that I always have in my head is from my grandpa. He used to always tell me, “what other people think of you is none of your business”. He would say it in a in a very stern and matter of fact way, as if he is making it a house rule hahah. And it’s true. Fuck it, who cares. Let them think what they want. I think my piece of advice for young creatives is to really think about how you can

add to the cultural discourse and the conversations that are happening within your

community. I think its great to share similar ideas with other people within your

community, as that is what builds an artistic movement. But it’s also important to

look inwards, and draw from your own experiences and personal taste as much as you

can. That’s what will really make your work stand out, and make your voice uniquely

yours. If you weren’t doing what you do, what career or lifestyle would you be living out? Michaela Stark: I don’t even know how to answer that! Since I was a kid, people have always told me I need a plan B, or that my ambition is unrealistic. People actually still tell me that. But honestly, I can’t imagine doing anything else. What I do is so honest and integral to who I am, and I am so lucky to be in a place and time where I can make the kind of art that I do! Why would I give that up? What‘s been inspiring you recently? Where do you look for inspiration outside of your creative medium? Michaela Stark: The first place I always look for inspiration is from my own body – the textures, lines, folds, squish, shapes, the way that clothes sit on the body, and how they might move around throughout the day. I like to focus on things I feel insecure about and things that I feel really proud of. Sometimes I literally will lie in bed, and just watch my body in the mirror for like an hour, slowly moving around, seeing how the shapes change. I also love to have long conversations with my models and the people I collaborate

with in general, discussing topics and the body, sex, and other experiences. I can get a

lot of inspiration from this, as I learn about how similar and how different we are, and

how someone else might navigate the world based off how they see themselves or

would like to see themselves. How important is community to you, and why? Michaela Stark: This is a hard question to answer because community is so important to me. I really thrive off the small community of artists around me. Not only are we constantly sharing creative ideas between each other, but we also have a lot of really beautiful conversations about our bodies, sex, life experiences, aspirations, and the list goes on. A good community builds you up and supports you. Without it, being an artist would

be very difficult as it would be lonely but also there would be no one to bounce off,

no movements to be a part off. I think this is because art, of all genres, is grown from community. We create in unison, and art as part of a community can give us support and validation. Why is mentorship and skills sharing important to you? Michaela Stark: I mean…. I wouldn’t be where I am without mentorship and skill sharing!! I am lucky enough to have had a few key incredible mentors in my life, in both Paris from when I worked there, and here in London, that have guided me and taught me the essential skills, not for my career, but in my life in general.

French-Senegalese musician anaiis will be performing an intimate set at Dazed’s Studios What are you most excited about at Dazed Live? Why do you think workshops and collective event series for creative people to gather like this are important and worthwhile? Anaiis: I feel so honoured to be a part of this lineup. I admire everyone involved, the levels of creativity are just beyond so it’s just a pleasure to be involved. I love that we are focusing on strengthening this creative community and sharing space and art together. These are the moments in which great bonds are forged and new collaborations are born. It will be magical to have everyone sharing energy with one another. Who are your role models, and who are the peers and contemporaries you look to? And is there anyone on the Dazed Live line-up you’re excited to see too? Anaiis: I look up to Frank Ocean a lot, really admire his work and the discretion in his career. I also love Moses Sumney, he’s a visionary and incredibly inspiring to me. I am really keen to get into these workshops and definitely watch Pa Salieu, CKTRL, and Azekel’s sets! What‘s a good piece of advice someone gave you? What‘s your piece of advice for young creatives? Anaiis: As basic as it may sound ‘be yourself’. I truly believe the best thing we can offer ourselves and others is our authentic self. It can be tempting to try and meet other’s expectations or standards but the more you lean into your truth the more you step into your power. The advice I’d give to young creatives is to not be afraid of failure, always keep creating and pushing yourself. Yet do so at your own pace.  If you weren’t doing what you do, what career or lifestyle would you be living out? Anaiis: VERY hard to imagine but I think I would try to be some sort of food critic or filmmaker maybe. Not sure if I have any talent in these areas but they are of interest. Or I’d be living out some quiet life in the mountains.  What‘s been inspiring you recently? Where do you look for inspiration outside of your creative medium? Anaiis: I get a lot of inspiration from conversations with friends and strangers, I also gain inspiration from books, art films, and exhibitions. I always seek a soul-stirring or thought provoking exchange. Lately, I have been inspired by adrienne maree brown’s work, her books on emergent strategy and pleasure activism have made me think about sharing more joy to my circle of friends and thinking of ways to be progressive and mindful.  How important is community to you, and why?  Anaiis: Community is everything! I grew up moving about every two years, constantly being separated from people I’d grow close to, so I’ve really learned to cherish and value my community in London. I believe we are stronger in numbers and that it’s through kinship that we heal, we grow, we support one another and we love.  Why is mentorship and skills sharing important to you? Anaiis: Mentorship is essential, I think that knowledge is for everyone and that the more we can be open with our experiences the more we can empower one another. The passing down and sharing of information is at the root of building strong community.  Sign up to the Dazed Live ticket draw here

Source: Dazed

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