Josephine Howard, 23, Kent. Spatial Designer.

 josephinehoward

About Josephine
“I moved back to London last week after living in Copenhagen for the past five years studying spatial design. My interest all started, embarrassingly enough, because of my love for musicals and how performing can be so transcendental! But soon enough I realised I lacked the singing gene and I guess I thought, if I can’t be in a musical I can still be a part of it through set design – and that’s what drew me to spatial design! The idea that you can tell stories through spaces, paint backdrops for people to experience and to forever remember, is why my dream is to design exhibitions and installations.”

And after that you’re hooked. So it’s good and bad you know, because then there’s no going back, you get addicted.

“I started music when I was 6. It’s been in my family for generations: my grandad was big into classical music, and my dad too

I think I wrote my first piece of music when i was about 16 or 17, yeah that really was a big moment for me. It’s that kick you get when you make that first break. Whether a t-shirt print designer who makes their first t-shirt, or a journalists first published article, or writing your first song, there’s this rush of achievement you feel. And after that you’re hooked. So it’s good and bad you know, because then there’s no going back, you get addicted.

My mum had been sick on and off for years, and this really put things into perspective about doing what you really want because you never know when it will be too late. I know a lot of people say it, but I strongly believe you should do what you love. And I think not enough people live this way.”

 

Talos – the music of Eoin French

The music always helps me to express my emotions, pain and anger about this world imperfections

“I became an animal welfare activist about a year ago. I have my own cat, who I adore, but I love all animals in general. I became a vegetarian too as I can’t say that I care for animals but then go around eating them. Nothing against the taste or health, but I couldn’t support it with my love for all creatures. So I help charities to market their causes; and even though I cannot go along to these places a lot, I give my financial and online support where I can.

Outside of my job I’m also in two music bands – the music always helps me to express my emotions, pain and anger about the world’s imperfections and the more people know me and my views the more they could possibly understand and start thinking in more compassionate direction.”

Check out Atashi Tada’s Instagram pages for more on her music:
 @dicepeople and @elysiandivide

My Dream… Find the next Nigerian Spike Lee and make films with him all over Africa

“I am camera technician. I work in the film industry. I am from Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean. I spent the last few years working between the Caribbean, Paris and London but I needed to settle somewhere. That’s how I ended up in London.

At home, in Guadeloupe, we have a small film industry who is growing very fast but we don’t have the opportunities yet to do a proper career in the camera department. I came to London to grow and become a Director of Photography. I am here to get experience, learn as much as possible. Living oversea is a great life experience.

My Dream is to reach my goal, travel the world to make films, settle in a hot country and have a family….Find the next Nigerian Spike Lee and make films with him all over Africa, or something like that 🙂

My turning point was my high school diploma. I passed my exam, turned 18 and moved to Paris the following week. I remember my mom asking me confirmation on my plans for Uni. At that point, I think that she understood that I was determined, so my uncle took me ticket to Paris. I became independent. When you are 18, it’s feels like having two wings growing on your back.

My parents would prefer me to stay in the Caribbeans and become an accountant or a doctor, but they trusted me enough to let me go and follow my dreams. I think it’s important that parents trust their children vision. It build their confidence and ambition. The society need confident and ambitious people and the world will always need storytellers.”

The key thing I’ve experienced and learned is that there’s ups and downs, a lot of them.

“London has the music vibe. It’s the big music scene, for any type you’re into. So I always  knew that’s what I wanted to do, and that I needed to come here if I wanted to seriously get somewhere with it. The key thing I’ve experienced and learned is that there’s ups and downs, a lot of them. And when I hit the downs it really makes me think about if I want to be here much longer. But somehow I find my way to the Up, and then I stay and keep working on it. Im a guitarist and a singer too – so would I like to make it big? Yeh man.”

Music is my life, my theme of life

“I came here first with the idea to stay for one year; that was 7 years ago. Back home in South of France, there’s beaches, weather is good, food is good and… that is it, nothing else to do.

Music is my life, my theme of life – I’m a DJ, producer, I do events, parties, record music, radio shows, it is all I do and it’s what I have. And over all these years I have seen that with music, it really does change lives, it can open people up and reveal their inner thoughts and desires to them”.

We first met the way that all couples meet.. at a dingy rock club(!). You did the whole chase your dreams and come to London, right?

Yeh I’ve always thought London was a place I had to see, and there’s so much going on here for me. I’ve been here for a while now and sometimes I think I am ready to move away. But once you leave and stay somewhere else for a while, you realise how accessible London is  – you can walk around and find a corner shop open at midnight if you need to buy something

We met on the Wednesday after Christmas. No wait, it was the Wednesday before Christmas. So that was 5 years ago.. so it’s our 5 year anniversary of our first meet.

What’s my tip of the day… here’s one: Growing old is inevitable, feeling old is optional

POST OF THE WEEK: The story of Christopher Jones, ex-member of Euphonic

“Years ago, I was part of a band called Euphonic, you may have heard of them. After a while I began writing a book – but one where each chapter had a backing music track and a poem. So while people were reading they could listen to the music, which set a certain mood for them. I uploaded the progress onto MySpace, and then, well… my work was stolen by one of the band members. He started his own page with it and mine had been shut down. So I had lost most of what I’d worked on. And through the frustration, I actually ended up burning what I had written. I didn’t see the justice in what had happened and was left with nothing.

There were some tough years for me but eventually I realised I needed to get back on my feet. Now I’ve gone online and apparently they are looking to reopen the old MySpace, I don’t know how it was shut down in the first place. So I’ve just sent a letter, well I’ve sent it a few now, and I’ve had some good news that they will open this up again. And I know all my old stuff was on there – so there is hope, that it is all still on there, and I collect all my stories together, you know, and have some basis to focus on. Because at the moment… I sleep outside. But I’m still quite positive, I feel quite spiritual, which helps when it gets quite overwhelming

I wasn’t really angry, I was more frustrated over the years… what was it, 16 years ago. So now, I’m trying to get organised, and making more effort to get the work that I want. I know they say life isn’t fair, but when you try and still manage to keep a positive mind, and these things set you back, it can make me feel quite angry thinking about it. It could get me quite angry now, but it’s really good to actually see some people, like yourself, you know with a camera and a project, it’s nice seeing people doing something positive.

London is really diverse and really cultural. But I think that some people seem to lack a bit of spirituality. Especially coming from Newham, my next door neighbour was muslim, the neighbour of him was Sikh, and my neighbour on the other side was English. I really liked growing up in that cultured atmosphere. It does get a bit disappointing that over the time I’ve spent in the underground scenes, I’ve met a broad spectrum of people and they tend to lack some spirituality, or a confidence in themselves or where they’re from. It’s almost seen as selfish to actually look at yourself.

I was working on a documentary, on homeless people, it was based on a spin-off from one in New York – you can look up ‘Dark Days’, it will be online. And also the band Euphonic – look up and listen to the music, see if it’s something you like.

The relationship with the band is ongoing, I’m still positive about that and I’m quite confident I’ll be able to get something from it and start recording again. It was really one person in the band, and he was the first to leave. So I’ve got faith now and I can see things working out, I’ll hopefully be able to pick up where I left off.

Check out the music at:
https://euphonic1.bandcamp.com/album/euphonic