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#was my first time flying on my own and my first UK Sparks show
missmouse25 · 1 year
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Ask and thou shalt receive ✨❤️ hope you enjoy it!
Our Story - Max Fewtrell
gender neutral first person pov // 912 words // quadrant core being chaotic; just fluff
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“Wait, Max, are you lying in bed?”
“Yeah? What of it?”
“Lazy sod!”
“Oi! It’s Sunday afternoon, I’m allowed to be lazy!”
The bickering continued next to me. Max was, in fact, lying on his bed with his phone stretched out in front of him, watching his friends faces on the screen. It was always nice when they did social calls - I got a good giggle out of whatever stories the core Quadrant members had to share.
Even though they didn’t know I existed.
My boyfriend looked over from his spot, to see me smiling as I lay next to him and I watched his eyes turn to hearts in front of me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one.
“Max! What are you looking at?” Ria’s voice was heard.
“Nothing.”
“Lies! He’s gone all gooey.” Niran. “Who’s with you?”
“No one, it’s just me.” Max tried to defend himself.
Even though I couldn’t see them, I could imagine the faces of everyone on the call as more chaos ensued.
I couldn’t stop myself: I laughed.
“Oh my god there is something with you!” Lando nearly yelled.
It became impossible to hear anyone clearly for a few seconds as they all spoke over each other. Max’s face scrunched up at all the voices, clearly regretting his life choices.
“Hello random person!”
“Is it someone we know?”
“Let’s see them then!”
Gently, I patted Max’s leg to get his attention and he moved closer.
“It’s ok, you can tell them,” I whispered in his ear.
“Are you sure?” He whispered back.
I nodded, to which Max smiled and got back in front of the camera.
“Ok, ok! All of you shut up!”
The silence came thick and fast.
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
~ It had started just like any other day. The sun baked the streets and made buildings glitter as it hit windows far above my head. I had planned my day ahead of time and knew exactly what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go.
And then everything went sideways when I saw him. He was standing by himself on the pavement, a confused expression on his face and a map in his hand. Normally, I would leave tourists to their own devices – there were plenty of places to get help if one needed it. But there was something about him; maybe it was the spark of kindness that I saw in his eyes as he moved out of an elderly man’s way.
“Excuse me?”
He turned, looking as bewildered as I felt by this interaction.
“Do you need some help?” I asked, and watched his entire body relax.
“Yeah. Yes, please. I’m so lost.” He said in a British accent and smiled, almost nervously.
On the map, he pointed out where he was wanted to go and much to his luck, I was going the same way.
“We can walk together,” I suggested. “Make sure that you don’t get lost again.”
“I would very much appreciate that.”
And so, we walked. He told me his name was Max and then I told him mine. He explained to me about how he had wanted to be a normal tourist for the day, get out onto the streets and experience Dubai for himself. And how with that experience had come with getting lost within the first five minutes of leaving his hotel.
Although I felt bad, I was also amused. Max seemed so genuine in his efforts and the way he spoke about things. It didn’t hurt either that he was kind of cute.
- “When’s your flight landing?”
“It should be 4pm UK time.”
The airport was grand and it seemed that the stream of people moving about never seemed to end. But soon enough I would be in the air and on my way to England, and this would be a memory.
“Ok, send me a message when you land,” Max’s voice was soft through the phone.
“Yes, Max. You’ve already asked me to do that.”
“Sorry, I just want to make sure that I’m there.” He paused. “I’ve really missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too. But we’ll see each other soon.”
I looked up and saw the sign change, showing that it was time to board.
“Max, I have to go, we’re boarding.”
“Fly safe, please.”
I laughed a little at that. “I’m not the one flying the plane.”
“I know but… just… Be safe, I love you.”
~ Max finished telling our story and waited with baited breath.
“You’ve been in a relationship for a year and we didn’t know about it!?” Lando finally said.
“Yeah.”
“Can we meet them?” Steve.
Max seemed hesitant. Despite having told them the whole story, a year of keeping everything on the downlow was about to officially end. I could see that Max didn’t want to give it up just yet.
“Max,” I said quietly. “Give me the phone.”
Slowly, Max passed the phone over as I sat up properly.
“Hello, everyone.”
Yet again that afternoon, chaos erupted as everyone on the call tried to be the first to say ‘hello’ or ask questions.
The smile was on my face without even thinking. I felt Max slip his arm around my shoulders and pull me closer.
“It’s nice to finally meet you all,” I said, though I doubted they could even hear me.
And so I started the next chapter of my story with Max.
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Your Call’s Very Important To Us. Please Hold.
The Revenge of Two Hands One Mouth Tour, O2 Academy Bristol, November 27 2013.
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twenty-sixumbrellas · 5 years
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Sworn Enemies
Pairing: Five Hargreeves x Fem! Reader
Prompt: “Hey! If you’re still taking requests could you maybe do a five x fem reader where five and the reader kinda hate each other but then end up as soulmates? And the siblings always knew they would end up together and all. Please make it cute and fluffy. Thank you 🥰” -an anon whom I love
A/N: I am likely going to keep this account closed but I didn’t think it was fair not to finish this. So sorry anon.
(Y/m/n)- your mom’s name
Flashbacks are in italics.
( Gif by @umbrellaacademy-uk )
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Your mom stopped the car suddenly and you catch yourself from hitting the dashboard. You scowl at her, “You nearly killed me.”
“That’d be the dream. Get out.” You hop out of your once family car and she speeds away. Guess you’re on your own now.
You look at the sky. In a year and two months you would be turning 15, which is when that fateful tattoo which has your soulmate’s name would appear on your wrist.
Turning around, you see the massive Hargreeves manor looming over you. “Time to shine,” you muse. You go to open the door, when it turns out to be locked. “Great.”
It opens suddenly and a very young woman dressed from the 50s opens the door. “May I help you?” You knew at that instant. She was robotic. You could almost feel the electricity coursing through her.
You snap out of your haze before replying, “Uh, y-yeah. My mom- uh (y/m/n) dropped me off here because I have powers?”
She falters for a quick second, before saying, “Follow me.” You do. The inside is even nicer and you quickly notice a girl and boy your age, with brown curly hair and blonde straight hair, respectively. “This way,” she leads you to an office door. Knocking, she smiles.
“What is it?”
“(Y/m/n) has given up her child.”
“Send her in.” You walk in and that woman shuts the door behind you. “Sit.” You do. Looking around, your eyes land on his cold, unfeeling ones. “Why are you here?”
You chuckle. “I got kicked out. So here I am.”
“Indeed. Well, as you are 14 years of age, you are quite behind. Depending on how well you do in a test will determine if you stay,” he says coldly.
“Oh cool.”
He stands up. “Follow me.”
Walking through, he whispers to the woman who calls, “Children!” Seven kids around your age file in and all share curious looks.
“Number One, step forward.” The blonde you saw earlier steps forwards and you already knew. You hate this guy. He looks around proudly, and you feel the sparks warm up. “Well,” the old man snaps. “Show me what you have to offer.”
You weren’t going to do anything rash, that is, until he took a running start and reach out to hit you. You shoot a large spark out of your hand and he flies back, hits the couch and flips over it. Oops.
“Enough!” You turn to the old man who looks suspiciously pleased. “Welcome to the Umbrella Academy, Number Eight.”
And that’s when things got weird.
Every day, before dawn, you would have to charge the house with energy and wake everyone up. You ate with them, trained with them, and lived with them. Needless to say, you knew who was who.
Number One, Luther. You two obviously don’t like eachother, but you don’t care enough to do anything, and he’s too obedient. Number Two, Diego. He doesn’t seem to love you, per say, but you get along and sometimes you help him practice his enunciation. Number Three, Allison. She’s alright. Mostly, you see her with Number One. Weird. Number Four, Klaus. Your best friend. You’re powers are very different and you never train together, but any other time, you can count that you’re together. Same with Number Six, Ben, and Number Seven, Vanya.
Now for Number Five. What a piece of- nevermind. Ever since you first exchanged words, you were destined to be sworn enemies.
You had mostly met everyone on your own time, but not Five. He was standing a good distance away, with his arms crossed. You walk up and jokingly say, “What’s with the pout?”
To which he snaps, “I have better things to do than to meet useless people.”
It had just gotten worse with time.
He teleported in front of you whenever you were walking, or tried frequently to mess you up during missions. He didn’t even know why he was so mean.
He doesn’t like you, he thinks. Or maybe he likes you too much for his comfort, and pushes back his feelings with anger and rudeness. Maybe.
You, on the other hand, can’t stand him. The jerk had to ruin everything he could for you, and constantly was in your way. He would even go out of his way to take your attention off of important tasks. And! He had the nerve to make you like him. The jerk.
So, naturally, the entire Academy wanted you two to get together.
“They are SO soulmates!” Klaus throws himself onto Ben’s bed. He huffs, “They’re both just too prideful to admit it!”
Ben sighs and looks at Klaus. He was deep in thought. “Klaus.” Klaus’ eyes look toward Ben. “We’ll find out in three days, remember? Our birthdays?”
“I can’t wait that long!”
“Well,” Ben laughs before continuing, “you’ll just have to.”
Too bad it would happen at such a bad time.
You were sleeping when Reginald’s loud voice is heard throughout the manor. “Umbrella Academy! We have an emergency! A robbery at the bank across town! I expect you to be ready at 11:00 am sharp!”
“Crap.” You begin to pull on your dumb uniform and tie up your hair. Freezing, you say, “My mask. Where is it?” Searching around, you start to panic when the clock reached 10:58.
“Looking for something?” And sure enough, there Five is, in all of his jerk-iness, holding your Academy mask.
“Seriously?!”
“You really need to learn how to keep track of your stuff,” he says before swallowing. Why did you make him so nervous?
“Jerk,” you say, grabbing the mask and rushing out before he can see your blush at the contact.
“File out Umbrella Academy!”
The plan was simple. Klaus would stay and keep watch while Allison and Luther took the lead into the building. Diego would flank from the emergency doors and you and Five were to secure the perimeter. Simple enough.
You follow Five quickly through an alley, and you part to cover more ground. You take off your rubber gloves and stay low to the ground while still moving quickly.
You hear the crunch of glass, and quickly turn around, to be greeted with a hand to the throat. Trying to send shocks through his entire body was to no avail, as he had picked up your rubber gloves.
Eventually things start to become blurry, and you make one last attempt at attacking him, and you send enough electricity to fry the gloves and send the man flying.
Falling, you hear Five’s distant shouts. “(Y/n)! Are you okay?!” You look at him as he materializes in front of you.
“Yeah I’m alright. Just got caught off guard,” you say, rubbing your throat.
“Well, don’t do it again. I don’t need to have to go through another partner.” He reaches his hand out, but freezes once he sees the name on your wrist. As you look, sure enough, ‘Five Hargreeves’ had been written.
Sneaking a glance at his wrist, his name also had yours neatly written in his handwriting. “Well,” you awkwardly say.
He pulls you up and looks hesitant for a moment before, he leans in for a kiss. Moving apart, he chuckles. “I may have liked you more than I led on.”
“Ditto.”
You two stare at eachother smiling, until you hear Klaus’ distinct voice, “Guys! Help! Who’s Dave?”
You both laugh.
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obserfdom · 4 years
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False God, Kaylor's New Anthem
False God - the sexiest part of the album, Lover, (similar to the flirtatious Dress in Reputation) to me personally, has a intriguing meaning. I have searched the web to see what analyses so far regarding the lyrics. Nothing much, mostly saying that it is about Joe Alwyn. Okay, let's debunk this one. 'Cause I also know that Kaylors have an interpretation from the gay's angle.
I think, I can speak on both perspectives, since I've been in both. I once married, however my biggest love life relationship was with woman. So, I am really curious to know, in what angle did Taylor actually write this song.
***
We were crazy to think. Crazy to think that "this" could work -> okay, since almost everyone out there agree that FG about love/relationship, so "this" referring to Taylor relationship (lover).
Now, don't you think it kinda strange that Taylor having a doubt about her relationship with Joe? I mean, she was 27th when she first met Joe & with enough experiences in relationship already, not to mention Joe is also coming from almost the same background, apart from different country and Joe gained celebrity status from the cinematic industry, but still I mean, what is so crazy about starting a "heteronormative" relationship like that?
Unless... she was talking about a "different kind" of relationship - something, which in general, still being perceived as 'abnormal'...
Hmmm, interesting.
But wait, there's another way to translate it, that somehow during that moment she was having an existential crisis. She questioned a lot of thing: the meaning of being celebrity i.e. she worked so hard to pursue her dream whilst at the same time she was devastated by the facts that people whom she thought once friends, stabbed her from the back - or that strangers would start to belittle & mocking her for everything - she had trust issue, she started losing confidence, she hold grudge, she was in emotional turbulance (these loosely translation based on her interviews).
Hence: she thought to drag someone to her "crazy" world would be tenacious.
Remember how I said I'd die for you? --> seems like she was really madly in love here
We were stupid to jump --> yet they've decided to taste the water anyhow
In the ocean separating us. Remember how I'd fly to you?
--> ok, again, this does fit Joe. Cause taking it in literal sense, then it probably about her had to fly back n forth US-UK.
However, Karlie still fits the role as well, I think, since they both doing a busy life, mostly continental apart.
Whoever it was for, metaphorically speaking it is about how she was making a sacrifice for the relationship to work.
And I can't talk to you when you're like this
--> later we would comprehend that Taylor was talking about a moment when her and lover had some feud. When she restrospected how during the couple-fight, her beau would:
Staring out the window
(I imagine her beau stood still, in silence, gazed through the window) avoiding to look her in the face, thus she thought:
like I'm not your favorite town
!!! What is her beau fave town?
I'm New York City
(yeah, baby!) And whose fav city is New York? Karlie Kloss!
"Well, Joe can also regard NYC as his fave city..." True - but, Taylor wouldn't be writing something that has no common reference to it. I've googled Joe's city preference and came out with null results. While as for Karlie Kloss, almost everywhere - you can find her boasting around about how much she loves NYC. As a matter of fact - she was the one who convinced Taylor to move to NYC in 2014 (and Taylor has been in love to the city, since).
Furthermore the next lyrics kinda congruent to the above speculation:
I still do it for you, babe
--> "I moved to NYC still staying here to date because of you." See, it still a close referrence to Karlie.
Can you come out with different translation that lead to Joe, instead? If you do, please let me know in the comment.
They all warned us about times like this. They say the road gets hard and you get lost
--> this one is really interesting. We all know Joe and Taylor still together and that Taylor somehow bragging about how happy in relationship she is now. But here as if like her saying that 'something happened to the couple' in FG story. Something big and terrible - something that might cause them to split/break apart.
And she kinda blame, the reason why it happened cause:
When you're led by blind faith. Blind faith
--> what is the meaning of "blind faith" in term of falling in love? Yes, when you are so in love that you are willing to do anything to retain or to be in it. You disregard everything, cause you are so drunk inside the pool of love, lust, altogether. You become 'blind'.
Ok, let's speak in het point a view, first - do you think, you see a magical spark when seeing Joe with Taylor out and about? Hard to tell? Okay, fair enough.
But here, an excerpt from Rolling Stone interview:
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Her paused after accentuated the word "if"... to me is her showing hesitation even doubt to the idea of having a family.
Kinda weird coming from her current public image in Lover Era where she continue asserting how happy she is and how seems like, she has found the love of her life.
Further in FG she asserted that she is madly in love with someone whom she willing to die for - to fly across ocean for - so much intoxicated by love as if like having a blind faith!
Unless... the love of her life which she depicted in FG is...
in which because of that, for her to think of the ideas of: 'to be together, be a family'; would be a crazy notion and hard to imagine.
***
Yet, she also made it clear in FG, despite the odd, she was not ready to release the idea of 'stick together for good', because she thought there is still possibility that:
(But) we might just get away with it
***
The following lyrics to me, kinda raw and blatant:
Religion's in your lips. Even if it's a false god. We'd still worship.
(We might just get away with it)
The altar is my hips.
Lips & hips -> you imagine anything? (Lol).
Why False God? Clearly, she still talking about love:
Even if it's a false god. We'd still worship this love.
So in another word, Taylor using False God as a metaphor for passionate love she was experiencing with someone.
But why False God?
My take using gay perspective: is because we know how most religions condemn homosexuality. So with probably her involved in the same sex relationship, which would be considered sin or false by many, this probably her way of saying: "I don't care. I have all the rights to love whomever I want to love, regardless what society in heterenormative world would think!"
Next:
I know heaven's a thing. I go there when you touch me, honey. Hell is when I fight with you. But we can patch it up good. Make confessions and we're begging for forgiveness. Got the wine for you.
In general sense, the narrative here is about normal things happen in relationship. It's about having differences inside romance - a fight, a quarrel- then "kiss and make up".
But again, it is interesting how she chose the religious term like 'hell' and 'heaven' to equate her romantic endeavours.
This can't stop me from thinking that she actually is talking about sacred-secret love which against religious belief.
(Again, her way in saying: "I don't care your heaven or hell! I have my own, in this love-life story of mine!").
I would also like to re-iterate: "Got the wine for you" - seemingly her 'make up' sentence for her beau. But it is interesting to think about her chosen word "wine" there. It could mean literally that they both do love wine or...
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"intimate love" - ok very much correlated. Yet further from the same source (wiki), wine (alcohol in general) often perceived as "evil".
So in which way, Taylor denoted "wine"? If its in devilish way, yes, then it is another mockery from her to religious dogma as if like saying: "I don't mind being perceived as evil. Me and lover will continue doing what we are doing!"
And you can't talk to me when I'm like this. Daring you to leave me just so I can try and scare you.
Hehe, so woman, don't you think? ;)
You're the West Village. You still do it for me, babe.
A shout out to Kaylors on this. Cause west village in literal meaning is a place where Karlie once lived.
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Is there any other meaning for West Village? Yes, a big maybe. But unfortunately, I couldn't find any. Perhaps, you can dig on that and tell me later?
Finally, when come back to:
They all warned us about times like this. They say the road gets hard and you get lost
--> if we persevere with Karlie's scenario - then one could imagine this depiction is perfectly suitable to the Kaylors conspiracy theory.
How we speculated that their relationship in trouble - they chose to beard for their career sake - beside continue "behind the scene" with their LOVE that worthy eternal worshipping.
Sounds too delusional?
Perhaps. But since it is still a blank space, one owns a prerogative to write things accordingly. And False God is a love letter from Taylor Swift to Karlie Kloss? I'd say ameen to that!
xxx
Update: Joe Alwyn Fave City (thank you @dodsdmr for this info)
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liam-93-productions · 5 years
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Liam Payne is on the cover of Esquire Middle East's June 2019 issue
The One Direction star was photographed on a rainy day in London
During the shoot, Payne opens up about the media's obsession with romance rumours
"Most of what you read online about me is straight BS" says Payne
It’s raining in West London. Every weather man, woman, and app had forecast that sunshine would be on the agenda for the day. But no. It’s raining. So, we’re stuck inside instead.
Alternating between balancing on a set of dumbbells (...) Liam Payne doesn’t seem to mind all that much about the weather. He’s used to plans changing pretty quickly.
“I’ve found in my life at the moment, because of the way things have happened, that everything’s kind of fast-forwarded,” says Payne, his dark eyes lighting up like those of a prospector that’s just panned a nugget of gold, “everything has fast-forwarded.”
Payne’s lived pretty much his entire life on fast-forward. He had his first X-Factortelevision appearance at the age of fourteen. He embarked on his first world tour with a little band named One Direction—you might have heard of them—only four years later. The band sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and had four albums debut at number one in the US charts. (...)
As Payne ambles about the studio, it’s hard not to notice that even the tattoo on his forearm bears a striking resemblance to the fast-forward button on a television remote. Or a Spotify skip button.
Having recently performed alongside Rita Ora at the Global Teacher Prize concert in Dubai, Payne looks healthy and tanned, kissed by the sun even though his visit to the region was greeted by weather not dissimilar to today’s overcast conditions. “I think the weather’s just following me around at the minute,” he says with a laugh as abrupt as the first half of a hiccup. “There’s an air of something almost Vegas-y about Dubai,” adds Payne, “everything’s a little bit of a show there.”
Payne is no stranger to bit of a show. As well as having spent the better part of a decade touring the world with One Direction (the band is currently on a definitely indefinite hiatus) Payne helped break a concert attendance record in the Middle East last year by performing in front of 110,000 people. “I didn’t eat anything at dinner beforehand because I was thinking no-one’s going to turn up,” he admits.
To make Liam Payne nervous certainly takes some doing. Back in 2009—when ambitions of winning X-Factor as a solo performer were still very much at the forefront of his mind—Payne sang in front of over 29,000 fans as part of the pre-match entertainment of a game between his local football team Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United. A pretty heady experience for a boy not yet old enough to drive a car.
Now 25, Payne knew from an early age that he could “hold a tune”. What it took him longer to realise was that others couldn’t. “I think I thought it was just a normal thing that people could get on with,” he says with a shrug. That may well have been the case when it came to his local theatre group, but when considering most of the “normal things”that people “get on with”, we’d hazard a guess that the majority don’t involve amassing over two billion streams on Spotify.
But that’s Liam Payne for you: unassuming, self-effacing, and—for the most part—a guy who seems just genuinely happy to be here. It’s easy to forget when deliberating the merits of Linkin Park’s nu-metal masterpiece ‘Meteora’ with Payne that his face was once plastered on the bedroom walls of millions of tweens the world over.
Payne’s achieved extraordinary success in the quarter of a century he’s exhausted so far. So much so that you’d expect the moment that sparked off his passion for music to be equally spectacular. A real spontaneous Kevin Bacon dancing-in-an-abandoned-warehouse sort of epiphany. The reality is that it wasn’t romantic or sexy in the slightest. It was karaoke. “I used to go out to Cornwall and see my grandad and we’d always go to this karaoke bar and we’d sing a load of different stuff,” says Payne.
What sort of “stuff” does a future pop-star sing in a karaoke bar in a small town on the west coast of the UK? Well, the same oeuvre that you or I are have probably crooned into a microphone at midnight at Lucky Voice: ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams.
While Payne isn’t ashamed to admit that he was listening to Williams pretty much 24/7 as a youngster (“No, I really was”), one of the first CDs he bought with his own money was an Eminem record. Growing up with both Robbie Williams and Marshall Mathers as his idols, he places his own sound as “somewhere in-between the two”.
A little bit Slim Shady and a little bit Rock DJ, that intersection of pop and rap is reflected in Payne’s solo career so far. His debut single, the catchy-as-the-plague earworm ‘Strip That Down’, featured Migos alum Quavo and went on to be certified platinum in both the US and the UK. The title track of his First Time EP also saw Payne join forces with rapper French Montana. Payne’s certainly not the first popstar to align themselves with a more urban sound in an attempt to appeal to an older demographic. Nor will he be the last. The transition from squeaky-clean boyband member to fullyfledged solo artist is, after all, anything but easy. To use a Take That comparison: for every one Robbie Williams, there are a hundred Mark Owens.
When it comes to One Direction, it’s still a bit too soon to tell who the Robbies and the Marks of the bunch are going to be. “When we did the band stuff it was very—not exactly scripted—but let’s just say you kind of knew your audience very well,” says Payne. “We’d usually sell a tour out before we’d even done an album. And then they [the record producers] would go: ‘Right, you’re doing stadiums’. And then you’d go: ‘Okay, so we need longer choruses—the kind of songs that people can chant in a stadium’. You had to kind of write around the tour.”
If that process sounds a bit paint-by-numbers, that’s because—by Payne’s own admission—it was. “It’s a very backwards way to do it,” he admits, “obviously people don’t really tend to write like that. But we just had no time, so it was like: ‘Quick! We need another hit and another and another!’ It was actually easier to write in that scenario because there were so many hoops you had to jump through. It wouldn’t necessarily be my choice of music now—it wasn’t something that I would listen to—but I just knew how to make it, if that makes sense?”
Going from such a canned bop formula to a world of complete creative freedom is a daunting prospect for anyone looking to make it as a solo act. But that was far from the only challenge Payne faced. Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music have drastically altered the music industry since the phone-to-vote days that launched One Direction. “The way that the industry kind of works now is kind of a difficult one because of the way albums are and the introduction of Spotify,” says Payne. “When I was in the band, Spotify wasn’t really a thing for us, we didn’t really care. We used to sell a lot of albums and physical copies, so it was different for us. As I got more into the solo stuff it was a kind of, like, a bit f**king confusing.”
All you need to do is look at the chains that Payne draped around his neck during the releases of a series of sophomore singles to see a man adopting a kabuki mask that didn’t quite fit. A man who was, in his words, a bit f**king confused. “‘Strip That Down’ was amazing and I was really happy with the success of it—but it didn’t necessarily paint the right picture of me and who I actually am,” he says, “I always found, to start off with, that with a lot of the chains and the clothes and the fashion, I was kind of hiding behind something. We did a billion streams for ‘Strip That Down’ but it still all gets a bit heady and at a certain point you’re like: ‘what the f**k am I doing here?’ It’s a bit like being stuck out in deep water and you’re just going ‘well, it would be really nice to get back now.’”
Payne might still be far from the shore, but he seems to be treading water at a more comfortable pace nowadays. “It took me a long to get my head around it,” he says (...)
And where is Liam Payne now? Well, he’s sat in front of me looking comparatively anxiety-free: comfortable and relaxed in a plain black tee and pair of tailored HUGO trousers. “My style and my fashion sense are all quite laid back now because that’s kind of the way I am as well. I don’t feel the need to hide behind the clothes anymore. I feel I can finally be who I am and enjoy myself.”
The last few years have witnessed a real boy-to-man transition for the ex-boy band squaddie. A coming-of-age moment came when he arrived at Frank Sinatra’s house in Palm Springs to record his part of ‘For You’ with Rita Ora. A crooning, finger-snapping, rather embarrassingly-waist-coated rendition of ‘Fly Me to The Moon’ was what Payne sang to get through his first ever X-Factor audition. Walking into Old Blue Eyes’ home, for Payne, came with the realisation that he’d “made that complete full-circle journey”.
Suffice it to say there’s no turning around for Payne in that journey when it comes to the fame front; he’s well in the thickets of the tabloid jungle. Headlines about who’s “breaking silence on romance rumours” with the popstar are a daily occurrence in the British papers. So too are accompanying photographs of his face. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Payne has, after all, got a rather nice face. The latest use of which has seen it become the face of Hugo Boss’s latest HUGO menswear line.
“To be honest, they called me and it just seemed to make a lot of sense at the time. It was a direction that I knew I’d love to go down,” says Payne on how his partnership with the brand first came about. “It’s very rare that a big company like Hugo Bosscomes around asking for you to be the face of it. It’s a bit of a dream come true actually.”
Previous Hugo Boss ambassadors include the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Jamie Dornan and Gerard Butler. Handsome faces. Familiar faces. Faces that are now forever immortalised in the public conscience. A fact that Payne is all-too conscious of himself. “I was looking through the different people that they’ve had on their roster over the years and they’re all people that I look up to,” says Payne, “So, I’m obviously quite excited but it’s also a bit daunting because these things,” he spreads his arms in a gesture that aptly sums up the rigmarole of press junkets and interviews, “are literally around for forever now.”
Moving from location to location and outfit to outfit, it becomes evident that dressing to hide who he is, is no longer on Payne’s agenda. As he’s grown (both figuratively and literally) in the public eye, and Payne’s now come to accept the lane he’s in. “I’ve become more in tune with things now,” he says, “as the years go by, I think you gain a different level of confidence and find out what works for you and what doesn’t, rather than constantly trying to be something that you’re not. If that makes sense?” It does.
What makes less sense is why Payne decided to go with chains in the first place “It was quite funny at the time when everyone used to get really mad about it,” he says referencing outraged headlines like: Sleepy Liam Payne leaves a London studio wearing a HUGE gold chain. “It just didn’t really matter to me.”
What matters to Payne is when those stories affect the lives of those around him. One particular article published in the British newspaper, The Daily Mail, last year that attempted to insinuate he was romantically linked with a member of his team irked Payne so much that the usually apolitical Twitterer took to social media to criticising the newspaper.
“The difference with that story was that the people that they were putting me with have families, boyfriends, girlfriends,” explains Payne, “I go home every night and know that people write horses**t about me daily. I won’t worry about it because I know it’s f**king bulls**t. But for someone who’s never had a story written about them before? If they go home and their partner’s reading the paper going like: ‘what the f**k is this?’ It’s difficult for them to be able to explain that.” Payne’s voice ratchets up a few decibels when he says this. He uses more than a few words we’re not legally allowed to print. I can tell that he cares about this. That it needles him. That it’s not something he has to say, but rather something that he needs to say. So, I let him.“I asked for this, I get paid very handsomely to be here and it’s part of my life and I get it. It’s alright. You can write what the f**k you want about me but when it comes to other people who work with me? That is not on.”
The only way for Payne to cut through that noise is by doing the thing he knows best: making music. “Everything I do is very, very public a lot of the time. I get reported on a lot for different things. I just think there’s a certain line where I have to have my say. And that there’s only one way for me to do that—which is through my music.”
(...)
Communicating as a public figure becomes increasingly difficult when navigating the glut of information that exists online. Do a quick Google search for ‘Liam Payne’ and you’ll be greeted by countless fan sites with a never-ending litany of “facts” about the man. Facts like:
“Liam Payne prefers showers over baths” “Liam Payne sleeps naked” “Liam Payne has a phobia of spoons”
While Payne is quick to assure me that most of what you’ll read online is straight B.S., one fact did keep cropping up again and again. And I mean, c’mon, I couldn’t not ask him about the spoons, could I?
“Yeah, I did have a fear of spoons,” he groans with the weariness of a man who’s been pelted with countless pieces of cutlery, “but it wasn’t so much a fear as something that’s now turned into a thing because of the internet. I was forced in detention once to wash up dirty plates and spoons and I think it just put me off looking at how dirty some of these spoons came back. But people used to throw spoons at me in concerts! I should have said I had a fear of pillows—that would have been comfier.”
All things considered, a fear of spoons is a fairly harmless rumour to spread. But rumours rarely ever are. Most are vicious; spreading like wildfire and burning all of those they touch. “I’ve been dead,” says Payne abruptly. “People I love have been dead.”
The non-stop 24-hour nature of the news cycles can be overwhelming to read, let alone to be involved in via the announcement of your own death. “You have to learn fast and we [One Direction] had to grow up pretty quick in the circumstances that we were under or else you kind of f**k it a little bit,” he says. If you’ve ever seen clips of The Beatles or BTS getting mobbed on the streets, you know the kind of hysteria that can ensue when boyband members are seen out in public.
“I don’t think I struggle in the sense of what you would naturally think of when I’m walking down the street with every person stopping me,” says Payne, “I mean, it happens sometimes but it’s mainly mentally where you struggle with it. It’s the getting ready and always knowing that you might be photographed.” From elaborate airport fits to the loungewear he puts on to pick up a pint of semiskimmed milk from the shop down the road, there’s never a moment where Payne and his clothing aren’t in danger of becoming front page news.
One of the ways that Payne combats that simmering anxiety is by going for a run at 5am every morning. It’s probably why he’s been able to maintain his sanity so far. And probably why he’s in—as evidenced by his numerous topless Instagram photos—such great nick.
“I love it. I get myself outside and into the day and get past that fear of ‘what if this happens?’ or ‘what if that happens?’. Because, for a long time, I became—what’s the word?” says Payne, gesticulating wildly as if he’ll catch the phrase careening around his head like a runaway wasp, “there’s a word for this condition where you stay inside and never leave, it’s in Ocean’s Twelve…”
I saw Ocean’s Twelve last week. The word he’s looking for is agoraphobia.
“Yeah, that’s it. I developed a bit of agoraphobia. I would never leave the house. And I do sometimes suffer with it a bit in the sense that I’ll get days where I just don’t want to leave my house. Even if it’s just going to the shop. I’d be going i to order a coffee at Starbucks and I would sweat because I wouldn’t know whether I was doing the right thing or not. I would be thinking: ‘f**k, I don’t want to be here’.”
I worry for a moment whether Payne is feeling that same feeling today but decide instead to take likely misplaced solace that my innate knowledge of the Ocean’s film franchise has won him over.  “I even used to have a really bad problem with going to petrol stations and paying for petrol. I can feel it now—it was like this horrible anxiety where I’d be sweating buckets in the car thinking ‘I don’t want to do this’.”
Many people suffer from moments of panic and instances where we feel crushed by the weight of  the world’s expectations and Payne is all-too aware that his specific anxieties stem from a position of privilege. “Unfortunately, it does happen to everybody in this industry,” he says, “I think at a certain point you just have to get over it as quickly as you can.”
There we are once again: back to doing things quickly. Back to being on fast-forward. Back to doing countless interviews in specifically allotted time slots. Back to that constant pressure where “everything happens a little bit quicker in my world than it does in everyone else’s”.
Everything might be happening a hell of a lot quicker for Liam Payne than me, but I’m still interested to know: what’s next for the man? What does he want to achieve in the not-yet fast-forwarded future? “I’m hoping for something a lot more than what I’ve done so far, if that makes sense?” Having listened to Payne’s solo discography in preparation for this interview, it really does.
Sure, Payne’s produced a spate of bonafide bangers—songs that will have you singing along as you whip down Emirates Road—but they’re also songs that are, for the most part, still formulaic. They’re catchy, glossily well-produced, yet contain something of an air of inauthenticity about them.
And, having met Payne, I can’t help but feel they seem at odds with his unabashedly authentic self. As he tells me: “People can see right through that s**t and it’s difficult for you to then go and say ‘buy this record!’ if you don’t really believe in what’s going on.”
So, what does a man who’s (sort of) afraid of spoons actually believe in? Moreover, what does a man who eats ice cream with a fork want to be remembered as having believed in? “I’m obviously really happy with some of the stuff I’ve done. Like breaking world records with the band and all sorts of amazing stuff. But in the recent years, it’s been a bit topsy-turvy with me kind of finding my way. And I’d rather not be remembered for a lot of those things. I want to make a really amazing album that’s not, like,” and he air-quotes here, “important, but something that people really get into. Something that makes certain people feel a couple things. I think that would be the best thing for me. I just want to make people move, if that makes sense?”
In case you haven’t already noticed, that question (‘if that makes sense?”) is practically punctuation to Payne. It’s a caveat that ends many of his statements; an interrogation of his own beliefs and a moment where his PR armour reveals its chinks and offers a glimpse of the man beneath the surface. A man that is equal parts cocksure and uncertain—a man who’s very rarely both and almost never neither.
While he might be living on fast-forward—and shows no signs of slowing anytime soon—Liam Payne, for the moment at least, might just be in the midst of the most interesting time of his life. His legacy is currently being written, awaiting the day we’ll eventually look back with a clearer idea of whether he’s a Robbie Williams or a Mark Owen. As for me, I’m just hoping that the next evolution of Liam Payne’s career is a lot more Liam Payne than the last. If that makes sense?
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The road to independence: How Covid and Brexit pushed Scotland from the Union
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By Chaminda Jayanetti
At least they've noticed. Boris Johnson's flying visit to Scotland late last month wasn't much of a response to rising support for Scottish independence - but it was, at least, a response.
Johnson's desperation not to be the prime minister who 'lost the union' might be the only thing motivating him to try and hold it together, given that, like David Cameron, he instinctively sucks at electoral teat of English nationalism, casually alienating Scottish voters with the insouciance of a man for whom everything in his life has been cleaned up after him.
The recent turn in the polls towards independence is much more dangerous for unionists than the Yes campaign surge in 2014. During the referendum campaign, the surge in support for independence came from undecided voters rather than supporters of the union. But 2019 and 2020 have seen a much more direct shift of opinion from No to Yes.
The shift has had two big drivers - the first of which is Brexit.
"If you go back to the 2014 referendum, there was no relationship at that referendum between people's attitudes towards Europe, and whether or not they voted Yes or No," says polling expert John Curtice.
The Brexit vote then sparked a movement of pro-union Remain voters towards Yes, but one that was balanced out by pro-independence Leave voters shifting towards No - initially at least.
"Last year it became clear that the group of people who were moving from No to Yes because they voted Remain was now larger than the group moving in the other direction," says Curtice. "So by the end of 2019 and by the time Boris Johnson gets his majority, it's very clear that the pursuit of Brexit is beginning to undermine support for the Union, such that we were getting close to but were not quite at the 50-50 mark."
And then came the coronavirus.
"When the pandemic started, I briefly thought 'well, this could be curtains [for independence], at least for a good few years'," says James Kelly of pro-independence website Scot Goes Pop! "The fact that it's gone completely the other way demonstrates how catastrophic Westminster's handling of the crisis has been."
Critics of the SNP argue the Scottish government has overstated the extent to which it has deviated from the decision-making at Westminster in handling the pandemic, and Scotland has endured many of the same problems as the rest of the UK, most notably with outbreaks in care homes.
"It is really interesting that at a point where two governments are following a similar path in policy terms to a crisis, they are getting very different responses from the public for what is essentially a very similar response," says Edinburgh-based political consultant Mark Diffley.
First minister Nicola Sturgeon has enjoyed sky-high popularity in Scotland during the pandemic - the complete reverse of Johnson's subterranean personal ratings. And this support is not limited to SNP voters.
"The really striking thing was that the cohort of 2014 No voters, which of course would include lots of Leave voters as well, rate the first minister's handling of the crisis more positively than the prime minister's handling," says Diffley.
"Which is quite something when you sit and think about it - a Conservative prime minister against an SNP first minister coming off worse amongst unionists."
While survey data has long shown Scottish voters have more trust in the devolved government than in Westminster, Sturgeon's style - and her visibility fronting most of the ongoing daily press conferences - contrasts with that of the prime minister.
"There's been a sense in which basically she's just levelled with people," says Curtice, "and she's kind of said, 'this is difficult, I'm probably going to worry about some of these decisions I've made for the rest of my life'. There is no promise of 'sunny uplands'."
Her focus on enabling people to reunite with loved ones when easing lockdown, in contrast to Johnson's focus on reopening the economy, also gives her leadership a more empathetic tone than the prime minister's, while steering away from the tub-thumping partisanship of the Tory leader.
"It's certainly possible to construct a case that would argue that perhaps Nicola Sturgeon has got the tone correct and given the impression that she knows what she's doing," says Curtice.
By contrast, Johnson is a "liability" for the unionist cause, says Kelly.
Scotland is now pursuing a 'zero Covid' strategy, with no deaths from one day to the next, whereas the Tories appear ready to tolerate an ongoing level of communal infection as they try and reopen the economy.
"The feeling is that things were going badly when Scotland was following Westminster's lead, and then improved markedly when Nicola Sturgeon went her own way," says Kelly. "It's not that what happened in care homes is directly Westminster's fault, but Scotland at that point had locked itself into a Westminster-led 'four nations' strategy that was hopelessly misconceived."
Diffley points to a basic communications problem for the UK government: "Stuff that goes wrong - UK's fault. Stuff that goes right - plaudits to the Scottish government."
All this feeds through to the independence debate. Just as Brexit proved that Scotland's wishes could be overruled by the UK government, many Scots increasingly feel the pandemic shows they are better off governing themselves.
But with rising support for independence among Leave voters since the pandemic started, does that make an explicitly pro-EU Yes campaign risky in a second referendum?
"Insofar as Brexit becomes an essential part of the story, Yes support will fall further among Leave voters," says Curtice. "But it doesn't have to gain at the same rate amongst Remain voters in order to for it to match its losses."
Instead, the big challenge Brexit poses to the Yes campaign is the wearily familiar issue of the border. If Yes promises to pave the way for Scotland to rejoin the EU, we could see a repeat of the wrangling over the Northern Irish border after the 2016 Brexit vote - although that would also leave the UK government adopting the very same logic to argue against independence that it previously rejected in arguing for a hard Brexit.
The independence debate still has years left to run. But Kelly is confident that Brexit and the pandemic mean that voters will no longer see the union as the safe option.
"My guess is the pandemic may have shifted opinion to the point where that's less likely to happen.  There's a feeling now that we're being run by a bunch of clowns in London, and that things won't get any better, and will probably keep getting worse, unless we do something about that."
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Pharrell Williams
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Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (born April 5, 1973) is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. Williams and Chad Hugo formed the record production duo The Neptunes in 1994, producing hip hop and R&B music. He is the lead vocalist of the band N*E*R*D, which he formed with Hugo and childhood friend Shay Haley. Williams also owns I Am Other, a multimedia creative collective that serves as an umbrella for all of Pharrell Williams' endeavors, including Billionaire Boys Club.
Williams released his first solo single, "Frontin'", in 2003 and followed it with his debut solo album, In My Mind, in 2006. His second album, Girl, was released in March 2014 and included the commercially successful single "Happy". As part of the Neptunes, Williams has produced numerous singles for various recording artists. Williams featured on Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" which reached the top ten in the music charts of over 32 countries, and has sold more than 9.3 million copies, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The song won Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 56th Grammy Awards.
Williams has received numerous accolades and nominations; he has won 13 Grammy Awards, including three as Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (one came as a member of The Neptunes). He is also a two-time Academy Award nominee, receiving a 2014 Best Original Song nomination for "Happy" (which was featured in Despicable Me 2) and a 2017 Best Picture nomination as one of the producers of Hidden Figures.
Early life
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams was born on April 5, 1973, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the oldest of three sons of Pharaoh Williams, a handyman, and his wife Carolyn, a teacher. His roots extend for generations in Virginia and North Carolina, and one of his ancestors journeyed to West Africa in 1831, prompting other relatives to emigrate from America to Liberia in 1832.
Williams met Chad Hugo in a seventh-grade summer band camp where Williams played the keyboards and drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone. They were also both members of a marching band; Williams played the snare drum while Hugo was drum major. Williams and Hugo attended Princess Anne High School where he played in the school band; there Pharrell got the name Skateboard P. Hugo attended Kempsville High School. In the MTV show When I Was 17, Williams stated that he was a nerd and often did things that made him stand out from most of his peers. Williams attended Northwestern University for two years before dropping out.
In the early 1990s, Hugo and Williams formed a four-piece "R&B-type" group, the Neptunes, with friends Shay Haley and Mike Etheridge. They later entered a high school talent show where they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was next to Princess Anne High School. After graduating from high school, the group signed with Riley.
Career
1992–97: Early career
Through working with Riley, Williams went on to write a verse and help produce for Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 hit "Rump Shaker". That same year, he also performed a small rap solo on SWV's second hit, "Right Here (UK Remix)". Williams and Hugo met rap duo Clipse in Virginia Beach in 1993, where they later signed to Arista Records through Williams' Star Trak Entertainment imprint in 2002. In 1994, Hugo and Williams had established themselves as a production duo under their old name "The Neptunes", and assistant-produced "Tonight's The Night" from Blackstreet's self-titled album. Over the next three years they continued to produce occasionally, and some of the results had little resemblance to the Neptunes' sound later. However, some like Mase's 1997 song "Lookin' at Me" from his album Harlem World, and the most definite beginning of the distinctive "Neptunes sound", came with N.O.R.E's "Superthug" in 1998, reaching number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, and gaining them widespread attention for the first time.
1998–2004: The Neptunes
In 2000, they produced the song "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)" (featuring a chorus by Pharrell himself) for Jay Z's album The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, which released as the album's first single. The song's sound and success sparked the interest of maturing pop artistBritney Spears.
In 2001, Britney Spears released her third studio album, Britney, featuring the lead single "I'm a Slave 4 U", which was produced by The Neptunes. The song was a defining hit in both of their careers, and it was The Neptunes' first time having helped create an album that debuted number one in the Billboard 200. The same year, N.E.R.D, consisting of Williams, Hugo and Haley, released their first album, In Search of..., in Europe, where the first Kelis album was better received. The album sounded very much like their previous production work; the group decided that they should make their work as N.E.R.D sound different, and re-recorded the album with the rock band Spymob.
In 2002 their re-produced album was released worldwide, and the Neptunes reached number one in the U.S. with Nelly's single, "Hot in Herre". In August of the same year, the Neptunes were named "Producers of the Year" at both the Source Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. Clipse released their commercial debut album Lord Willin' in August 2002. The album started at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number four on the Billboard 200, fueled by its first two singles, "Grindin'" and "When the Last Time", which peaked at number 34 and number 19 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Neptunes released a self-credited album called The Neptunes Present... Clones in 2003, with songs and remixes from various artists. This topped the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart. The Neptunes and Williams specifically were also kept in public eye largely due to ties with Jay Z, producing several hit singles for him and two tracks on his The Black Album. The track "Frontin'" was a big hit. A survey in August 2003 found the Neptunes produced almost 20 percent of songs played on British radio at the time, and a survey in the US had them at 43 percent. The same year, the Neptunes remixed the Daft Punk song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" for the duo's poorly received remix album Daft Club. The track also had a brief rap section performed by Williams.
N.E.R.D's second studio album, Fly or Die, was released in March 2004. Williams's rock credentials were further bolstered by his appearance at the 2004 Grammy Awards, performing the Beatles's "I Saw Her Standing There" on drums with Sting, Dave Matthews, and Vince Gill. Williams received two Grammy Awards that night, one for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, and another for Best Pop Vocal Album for his work on Justin Timberlake's hit album Justified. They also gained their first UK number one, again with Nelly, and "Flap Your Wings".
In September 2004, Williams was featured on the Snoop Dogg single "Drop It Like It's Hot." The song would eventually peak at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 two months later, marking Williams's first number one single in the United States. The song was named "Rap Song of the Decade" by Billboard in 2009.
In November 2004, Gwen Stefani released her first debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. which featured the song Hollaback Girl, which was also produced by The Neptunes. "Hollaback Girl" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 82 on the issue dated April 2, 2005, and within six weeks of its release, it had reached the top of the chart, becoming Stefani's first US number one.
2005–09: In My Mind
On September 9, 2005, Williams performed the opening single from his first solo album In My Mind, "Can I Have It Like That", featuring Gwen Stefani. The single did poorly in the US, reaching only number 48. It fared better in the UK, reaching number three. Between then and the July 25, 2006 release of In My Mind, he released "Angel" (in Europe only), and later "Number One" with Kanye West. Several songs leaked to the internet before the album release, most notably "Mamacita" featuring Daddy Yankee, which was subsequently cut from the final version. "That Girl" featuring Snoop Dogg was the final single.
In 2006, the Neptunes produced Clipse's second album, Hell Hath No Fury. Most critics labeled the album the Neptunes best production in years, and put the duo back in the charts. A year later, Williams collaborated with Madonna, on the song "Hey You", which was available for download on the MSN website. 25 cents for each of the first one million downloads was donated to the Alliance for Climate Protection, in support of Live Earth. Later that year, Williams performed songs at the Concert for Diana on July 1, 2007. On July 7, he performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro.
A remix album of Williams's solo debut, In My Mind, titled Out of My Mind, was recorded with his newly formed band "The Yessirs" featuring Questlove of the Roots, and was produced by Questlove and keyboardist James Poyser. However, Williams's record label Interscope Records did not think that the album would sell well and subsequently was shelved. The album has built up a strong fanbase asking for its release. The tracks started appearing on Questlove's MySpace, and with every 10,000 plays, a new song was made available. As of July 4, 2007, the full CD has leaked onto the internet along with two songs not featured on In My Mind: a remix of "Mamacita" and "Creamsickle".
Williams produced Beyoncé's version of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend". He then wrote the Neptunes-produced "Why Should I Be Sad" on Britney Spears' fifth studio album, Blackout. He also produced two songs from the Hives' album, The Black and White Album, titled "Well All Right!" and "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.".
In April 2008, Madonna released her eleventh album, Hard Candy, which featured vocals from Williams and production from the Neptunes on several tracks. In June, an article in NME revealed that Williams was very interested in producing the Strokes' fourth album. Later that year, Williams worked on a remix album for Maroon 5's Call & Response.
Williams continued working with a variety of artists, including Shakira on the songs 'Did It Again', 'Why Wait', 'Good Stuff' and 'Long Time' for her sixth studio album, She Wolf. In September 2009, Williams was credited as a co-writer and producer of the song "Fresh Out the Oven" for Jennifer Lopez. It was released as a buzz single from Lopez's seventh studio album Love?. The following month, Williams made a guest appearance on French rapper Uffie's first album, which arrived in early 2010. In late 2009, Williams worked with the rapper Game on his fourth studio album, The R.E.D. Album.
2010–12: Despicable Me and collaborations
In July 2010, Williams composed the soundtrack to the movie Despicable Me, produced by Hans Zimmer and recorded with the Hollywood Studio Symphony. In October 2010, Williams and his group N.E.R.D supported Gorillaz on their Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour. On the tour, Damon Albarn recorded a song with Williams but this was not featured on Gorillaz's album, The Fall. The following month, N.E.R.D released their fourth studio album Nothing through Williams' label Star Trak. In late 2011, Williams worked on three tracks for Mike Posner's second album Sky High.
In 2011, Williams collaborated with singer Adam Lambert, co-writing two tracks for Lambert's album Trespassing, which was released in May 2012, including the title track and "Kickin' In".
Williams collaborated with Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller on the Pink Slime EP. The first track, "Onaroll" was followed by "Glow". It was produced by Williams, with vocals from Mac Miller.
Williams composed and produced the music for the 84th Academy Awards alongside composer Hans Zimmer. He also collaborated with Miley Cyrus on her album Bangerz and composed the new intro music for Chelsea Lately in 2012. He later contributed four tracks to The Game's California Republic mixtape called "When My Niggas Come Home" and "It Must be Tough"; produced two tracks on Usher's 2012 seventh studio album, Looking 4 Myself, titled "Twisted" and "Hot Thing"; collaborated with Mika on his new track "Celebrate"; co-produced the tracks "Sweet Life" and "Golden Girl" from Frank Ocean's debut album Channel Orange; and is working with Solange Knowles on her third studio album.
2013–14: Despicable Me 2, "Blurred Lines", "Get Lucky", Girl and international fame
Williams was featured on Daft Punk's fourth studio album, Random Access Memories, on the songs "Get Lucky" and "Lose Yourself to Dance." In addition, Williams contributed to Azealia Banks's debut studio album Broke with Expensive Taste, featuring on the song "ATM Jam". Williams penned three new original songs, included alongside composer Heitor Pereira's score, for the sequel Despicable Me 2. These were "Just a Cloud Away", "Happy", and "Scream" (featuring CeeLo Green). His two original songs from the first film were also reprised on the soundtrack – "Despicable Me" and "Fun, Fun, Fun". He also participated in the drummer sessions of the soundtrack of Man of Steel by Hans Zimmer.
In March 2013, Robin Thicke's single "Blurred Lines" – written and produced by Williams – was released. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom and Germany. It was Williams's third Billboard Hot 100 number one single. On June 29, 2013, Williams became the 12th artist in the chart's history to simultaneously hold the number one and two positions with "Blurred Lines" and "Get Lucky", respectively.
As of July 2013 there had been only 137 singles in UK chart history to have sold more than 1 million copies; that month, Williams scored two million-sellers with "Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines". In August 2013, Busta Rhymes talked about an unreleased "documentary album" by Williams where he talks about "inner-city strife and hardship". In November 2013, Williams released the first 24-hour music video to his Despicable Me 2 collaboration song, "Happy". Guest appearances included Magic Johnson, Steve Carell, Jimmy Kimmel, Jamie Foxx, Odd Future, Miranda Cosgrove, Janelle Monáe, and many others. It has received approximately 5.5 million views as of Christmas Day, 2013. The music video for the song is nominated for Best Male Video and Video of the Year at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.
It was announced in December 2013 that Williams had been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year. In the same month, a press release from Columbia Records announced that Williams had signed a contract with the label and would be releasing an album in 2014, entitled Girl, featuring the single "Happy" from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack. For "Happy", Williams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In February 2014, Major Lazer announced they would be releasing a five-track EP titled Apocalypse Soon on the 25th of that month. The EP, released via Mad Decent and Secretly Canadian, features Williams and Sean Paul, among others. The first single off the EP, which features Williams, is titled "Aerosol Can". Williams contributed a verse to Future's February 2014 single "Move That Dope", which also featured Pusha T and Casino over production from Mike Will Made It.
On February 18, Williams announced via Twitter that his second album, Girl would be released on March 3, 2014. At the 86th Academy Awards on March 2, 2014, Williams's song "Happy" lost to "Let It Go" from Frozen. Afterwards, when GQ magazine asked Williams "how badly" did he want the Oscar, he responded: "When they read the results, my face was...frozen. But then I thought about it, and I just decided just to...let it go." At the Oscar Awards that same year, he wore a controversial outfit consisting of a tuxedo with shorts.
The Dear Girl Tour was a European concert tour, in support of his second studio album, Girl. It was Williams's first solo tour since 2006. In May 2014, Williams received an Innovator Award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
2014–present: The Voice, Something in the Water and other ventures
On March 31, 2014, Williams was announced as a new coach for the seventh season of The Voice, replacing CeeLo Green. On May 18, 2015, Team Pharrell had 16-year-old Sawyer Fredericks win the eighth season of The Voice. In June 2014, it was announced that Williams would make a guest appearance on the docu-series Sisterhood of Hip Hop. Williams was the executive producer of Atlanta rapper T.I.'s ninth studio album, Paperwork, which was released on October 21, 2014 by Grand Hustle and Columbia Records. In May 2014, Williams curated an art show named after his album, Girl, at the Galerie Perrotin in Paris, France. The show included 37 artists including Takashi Murakami, JR, Daniel Arsham, and Marina Abramovic among others." Comme des Garçons developed a unisex fragrance with Williams scheduled for release in late 2014. Kaws designed the bottle artwork.
In January 2015, Williams and Al Gore announced that they are teaming up to create a 7-continent "Live Earth" concert on June 18 to raise awareness about and pressure governments to act on climate change. He is the musical director. On February 8, 2015, Williams made a cameo in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Walking Big & Tall" where he comes to Springfield to write a new anthem for the town. Williams recorded three songs for the soundtrack to the animated film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. He also recorded a song "Shine" with Gwen Stefani for the Paddington movie. At the 2015 Grammy Awards Williams performed an orchestral rendition of "Happy" with composer Hans Zimmer and pianist Lang Lang that included a tribute to the Black Lives Matter "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" movement inspired by Eric Garner's death and the events in Ferguson, Missouri. In 2015, a unanimous jury determined that Williams's 2013 hit song "Blurred Lines" was an infringement of the 1977 Marvin Gaye song "Got to Give It Up". The jury awarded the Gaye family $7.4 million in damages for the copyright infringement based on profits generated.
In October 2015, the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University named Williams as their artist-in-residence. He gave the 2017 commencement address at NYU and received an honorary degree on May 17, 2017.
Also in October 2015, Williams announced that he will perform with a gospel choir on Sunday, November 1, at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine black parishioners were shot and killed on June 17, 2013. This is part of a program on race relations being produced by A+E Networks and iHeartMedia. Williams plans to speak with community leaders and others affected by the shooting, which dominated the U.S. news media for several days. The two-hour Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America program is scheduled to air November 20, and will also feature a concert to be filmed November 18 in Los Angeles. A goal of the program is to raise money for the victims of racial violence and for organizations around the country working to promote racial equity.
In March 2019, Williams and the city of Virginia Beach announced the launch of a three-day music and cultural festival titled Something in the Water, to be held during College Beach Weekend, April 26–28, on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. The festival, created by Williams as a solution to years of violence on the Oceanfront associated with the aforementioned College Beach Weekend, also featured activities such as an Adidas Creator Park; conferences on technology, racial equality, and the music industry; and a pop-up church service featuring 20 local churches and performances by nationally renowned Gospel artists such as Kirk Franklin and Mary Mary. The festival featured solo performances by Travis Scott, SZA, J Balvin, Chris Brown, Anderson .Paak, Jhené Aiko, Kaytranada, Pusha T, Charlie Wilson, Teddy Riley, D.R.A.M., Rosalía, A$AP Ferg, and Mac DeMarco, in addition to the "Pharrell and Friends" set that closed the festival's second day, featuring Williams and a lineup of guests, including Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Diddy, Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Usher, N.E.R.D., Busta Rhymes, and Tyler, the Creator. Additional guest appearances during the festival's final day included Trey Songz, Fabolous, Lil Duval and members of SWV and BLACKstreet. Acts such as the Dave Matthews Band, Migos, Janelle Monáe, and Lil Uzi Vert were slated to perform on Friday, August 26, but were cancelled due to severe thunderstorms.
Williams produced five songs for Walt Disney Pictures's The Lion King, marking his third collaboration with composer Hans Zimmer.
Influences
In the past, Williams has stated that he does not have any direct musical influences, but he has expressed his admiration for several musicians, including Michael Jackson, J Dilla, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Rakim, Q-Tip and David Bowie. Williams explained that A Tribe Called Quest's debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, caused a "turning point" in his life, which "made him see that music was art".
Business ventures
In May 2012, Williams launched I am OTHER, a multimedia creative collective and record label. I am OTHER also serves as an umbrella for his additional business endeavors, including a dedicated YouTube channel and apparel/textile lines.
In 2005, Williams partnered with Japanese fashion icon Nigo to create the streetwear brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream footwear. Billionaire Boys Club has flagship store in SoHo, New York City and an official Ice Cream store in Tokyo, Japan. Several stores that retail Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream clothing exist across North America, the United Kingdom and Europe, as well as Asia and the Middle East. Pharrell and Nigo went on to launch the Billionaire Girls Club.
In 2008, Williams co-designed a series of jewelry ("Blason") and glasses for Louis Vuitton. He has also worked on furniture with Emmanuel Perrotin and a French manufacturer, Domeau & Pérès. One of his works, a molded plastic seat with human legs, was created because he "wanted to know what it was like to be in love." The chair depicts a sexual scene with a pair of female legs and male legs.
In 2009, Williams unveiled a collaborative sculpture with Takashi Murakami at Art Basel, which spoke to the metaphor of value.
In May 2011, it was announced that Williams would serve as Creative Director of KarmaloopTV alongside founder and CEO Greg Selkoe and former AMC president Katie McEnroe.
On August 1, 2011, Williams launched his new YouTube channel, "i am OTHER" as part of YouTube's $100 million original channel initiative.
In August 2013, Williams created a line of sunglasses for Moncler called "Moncler Lunettes". In 2014, Williams entered a long-term partnership with Adidas. His Adidas NMD "Human Race" collection was released on July 23, 2016. In February 2014, Williams announced a collaboration between G-Star Raw and his textile company Bionic Yarn called "RAW for the Oceans," a collection of denim made from recycled plastic that is found in the ocean. The project was presented at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.Williams later appeared on a cover designed by French artist Grégoire Guillemin of New York-based men fashion magazine Adon, covering the collaboration. Williams released a collection for retail giant Uniqlo in April 2014 entitled "i am OTHER". It was created with Nigo, creative director of UT, the company's T-shirt division.
In June 2014, artist collective Rizzoli published a book by FriendsWithYou, We Are Friends With You, that featured contributions from Williams, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Peter Doroshenko.
Williams was the executive producer of the 2015 crime comedy-drama film Dope.
Williams co-composed the score for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with Hans Zimmer, Johnny Marr, Michael Einziger and David A. Stewart.
Williams owns a non-profit organization called "From One Hand To AnOTHER" (FOHTA). FOHTA is an educational foundation. According to its website, its mission is to "change the world one kid at a time by giving them the tools and resources to meet their unique potential". FOHTA's vision is to modernize the community center concept by empowering kids to learn through new technologies, arts, media and motivation.
In 2017, Pharell Williams designed a 1000 euro sneaker in collaboration with Chanel and Adidas.
Verizon partnered with Williams on April 26, 2019, to launch a tech-fused music curriculum in a nationwide Verizon Foundation Learning schools. The education organization under Verizon Foundation works toward providing free technology, internet access, technology-focused curriculum to under-resourced middle schools.
Personal life
Williams married his longtime girlfriend, model/designer Helen Lasichanh, on October 12, 2013. They have a son, Rocket Williams, born in 2008. The Despicable Me song "Rocket's Theme" was written in honor of his son. In September 2016, they announced that they are expecting another child. In January 2017, the couple welcomed triplets.
In 2005, Williams was voted "Best Dressed Man in the World" by Esquire. He is a fan of the science fiction series Star Trek, as indicated by his consistent use of the Vulcan salute to signify his label name, Star Trak. Williams is a skateboarder and has a half-pipe inside his home.
Williams is building a $35 million afterschool center in his hometown Virginia Beach. His charity "From One Hand To AnOTHER'" is a foundation developed for youth between the ages of 7 and 20 in at-risk communities throughout the country.
In 2015, Williams bought a home in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles.
Williams says he now regrets being associated with the song "Blurred Lines".
Williams offered internships to 114 Harlem High School students. All the 114 Harlem High School students have been accepted to colleges and the purpose of Williams's donation was for the purpose of helping the students become the next leaders to bring about change. Williams stated the mission of the program by saying:
"History will confirm it – we are in the midst of another Harlem Renaissance." Promise Academy High School commencement speaker guaranteed the #ClassOf2019 with A-list internships at the end of their freshman year of college so they can begin their paths to successful careers.
Discography
Solo albums
In My Mind (2006)
Girl (2014)
Collaboration albumsWith N.E.R.D
In Search Of... (2002)
Fly or Die (2004)
Seeing Sounds (2008)
Nothing (2010)
No One Ever Really Dies (2017)
With The Neptunes
The Neptunes Present...Clones (2003)
Filmography
Despicable Me (2010) – Composer
Despicable Me 2 (2013) – Composer
The Voice (2014–16) – Himself
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) – Himself
Hidden Figures (2016) – Producer, composer
Despicable Me 3 (2017) – Composer
The Grinch (2018) – Narrator
Tours
Dear Girl Tour (2014)
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totalrockfiend · 4 years
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Celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary: The Class of ‘94 Rocks!
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1991 may have been the year Nirvana broke...
And the unleashed a Grunge-y tidal wave on rock radio, then dominated by slickly produced, Top 40-driven acts, and MTV’s Hair Metal heavy rotation. Deftly washing both away in seemingly one fell swoop.
But while Nirvana may have kicked off the party, 1994 was year the ‘90s alt-rock explosion reached it’s apex. (At least viewing the whole affair with the 20/20 clarity hindsight so often affords.)
Why do we care? 
A fair question, Grasshopper! 
Mostly because this genre defining class is celebrated its 25th, or Silver, anniversary in 2019 (the year to which we’ve just bid are final farewells). 
And WOW! What at year for rock records 1994 proved to be...
Green Day became multi-platinum punks. 
Weezer took nerdy indie rock mainstream. 
Stone Temple Pilots hopped off the Grunge bandwagon and emerged as starts in their own right. 
REM got back to rockin’. 
Live (the band) took a turn toward grungy noise-rock. 
And loads of other bands served up some of their most memorable raging slabs, too.
So, in honorarium, I’m taking a moment to laud my top picks for best in show from ‘94s venerable class, along with shouting out TO a few honorable mentions (just for good measure)...
Dookie, Green Day
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On their 3rd effort, and first for a major label (Reprise Records, a subsidiary of the mega entertainment group, Warner Bros), these Bay Area punks (and one-time Gilman Street darlings) rocketed to the stratosphere with Dookie.
The powerhouse album would go on to sell 20 million records, become a worldwide smash, spawn five Billboard Top 10 hit singles (including three #1 singles), and turn the band into international SUPERSTARS -- with a capital S!
While the capable power trio laid down tight, inspired performances, the Dookie’s success was due largely to singer + guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong’s insightful and impassioned songwriting. From masturbation to the shear boredom of life to totally losing your marbles, Joe’s reflective songs captured the trials and tribulations of everyman, with a wry, relatable wit.
And in turn, Green Day paved the way for the Offspring, Blink 182, and legions of other bands who stormed the mainstream in the resulting Pop Punk explosion of the latter ‘90s.
(The Blue Album), Weezer
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Whether it’s technically an eponymously titled record, or the true title was always meant to be the “Blue Album” (as it’s long been known), who can say?
Here’s what is certain: Rivers Cuomo -- with his horn-rimmed glasses, Dungeons + Dragons shrouded past, and penchant for shredding -- and his band, Weezer usher nerdy indie rock onto mainstream rock radio and heavy rotation on MTV.
With crunchy guitar-driven odes to sadness and angst, this multi-platinum behemoth made it cool to be quirky nerd. Rivers was a (and like still is) a dude who could equally admire elves and KISS. And proved, once and for all, that’s OK.
And much like Green Day, Weezer inspired countless imitators in their unlikely march to mainstream success.
Purple, Stone Temple Pilots 
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When Stone Temple Pilots first launched of out of the gate, with their uber-successful debut, Core, my disdain for outfit could not have been greater. 
Each successive song on that album felt like an ode to a Grunge standard-bearer... 
Sex Type Thing was their Alice In Chains tune. 
Wicked Garden was their Soundgarden track. 
And Creep was their Pearl Jam song.
Yet, on their sophomore outing, STP proved they were more than mere Grunge rock hangers on. With rocked up ragers, like Vaseline, countrified romps, like Interstate Love Song, and fabulously folk-y ditties, like Pretty Penny, Purple is a bona fide masterpiece.
Monster, REM
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I’ll give you a hint/sneak preview here -- I’m working on a Hot Take On a Tired Topic post titled “REM Only Has Three Good Albums,” and Monster is one of them!
To my ear, REM was always at their most compelling when the consciously RAWKED. And Monster was a return to form for the band in that regard.
After stepping away from touring to make two folk-inflected records -- Out of Time and Automatic For the People -- REM came roaring back with the aptly titled Monsters.
From the anxiety riddled panic of What’s the Frequency Kenneth to the eerie bombast of Bang and Blame to the Sonic Youth-y noise rock of Crush With Eyeliner, Monster saw REM bring the guitars, often a whole lot of ‘em, front and center. And the group rocked out harder than they ever had before, or ever would again.
Throwing Copper, Live
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Live’s debut, Mental Jewelry, with it’s understated, mellow folk rock earned the band many accolades, not to mention respectable sales.
But not content to play it cool (or continue in their folk-y toned tenor), the band returned with a sophomore effort that cranked the guitars up to 11 and pushed singer Ed Kowalczyk towering voice faaaaaaaaaaaar out front in the album’s ferocious mix.
This high energy approach resulted in a Billboard #1 album and four hit singles. Which in turn established four lads from York, Pennsylvania (Yup, land of the famed Peppermint Paddy!) as poster boys for the then bright-burning Alt-Rock scene.
Some Honorable Mentions
Alongside these high-flying releases, ‘94 yielded loads more incredibly successful rock records, including...
Superunknown, Soundgarden
Seattle stalwarts and one of the leading acts in the “Grunge Movement,” Soundgarden scored their biggest on with the fourth record, Superunknown. The album’s soaring success was due largely to its chart-topping singles, including Spoonman, Fell On Black Days, and, of course, the tune MTV hung its hat for the summer of ‘94, Blackhole Sun. 
The Downward Spiral, Nine Inch Nails
Trent Reznor and company set aside the bubbling and burbling synths of NIN’s depbute record, Pretty Hate Machine, and went full Industrial metal, a la Ministry, on the sophomore record. But while roaring tracks like Mr. Self Destruct and March of the Pigs blow the roof portions of the record, the album still manages synth weirdness with the very warped Closer, and delicate balladry courtesy of Hurt (a song Johnny Cash would later cover, issuing an incredibly powerful rendition).
Vitalogy, Pearl Jam
Vitalogy represented Pearl Jam’s third and final album in the band’s “grunge trilogy.” True to form, the boys rave it up with the punky, Spin The Black Circle, and get noisy on Tremor Christ and Whipping. But Seattle’s best also craft a pair of heartfelt ballads with Nothingman and Better Man. The record also includes my all-time fave Pearl Jam track, the masterpiece of loud-soft dynamics, Corduroy.
Unplugged, Nirvana
Nirvana honcho, Curt Kobain, sadly chose to end it all in ‘94. But he left his millions of adoring fans with an incredible live document with the band’s storied performance for MTV’s then hugely popular Unplugged series. And Curt generously invited a few friends to the party. Former Germs (and later, Foo Fighters) guitarist, Pam Smear was added to the lineup as a “permanent” member. In addition, Kurt + Chris Kirkwood, of the Meat Puppets, joined the band for brilliant performances of Puppet’s classics, Lake of Fire + Plateau.
Parklife, Blur
Britpop had yet to blossom in the US in the mid-90s. But never-the-less, four lovable lads from the UK managed to squeak the best record of their potent discography into the venerable class of ‘94. The rollicking Parklife is a feel good spin from front to finish. And features Blur’s all-time signature tune, the gender-bending hit single, Girls and Boys.
Definitely Maybe, Oasis
Was Definitely Maybe the spark that ultimately lit Britpop into the raging fire that overtook the States? Could be. What’s certain is Definitely Maybe is one of the most snarling debuts since the Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks. And with equal parts sneer Pistols attitude, classicist rock stylings, and relentless “piss-taking,” as the Brits would term it, DM is a ‘90s era masterpiece.
Sixteen Stone, Bush
The UK’s answer to grunge? Bush’s debut album, Sixteen Stone, is certainly a likely candidate. But in reality, this album is more than a bandwagon jumping effort. The razor-sharp performances, and compelling song-craft, courtesy of lead singer + chief songwriter, Gavin Rossdale, cast this record as a staunchly compelling statement all on their own.
Stranger Than Fiction, Bad Religion
In the game since the late ‘70s, Bad Religion certainly qualify as one LA Punk’s founding fathers. Yet, who woulda thunk the band would not only still be afloat, but go mainstream (or at least sign to a major label) and decade and half later? Yup. And up. Moreover, BR even managed a charting single that same year with 21st Century Digital Boy.
How About You?
Hope you enjoyed this little jaunt down memory lane, cuz I certainly did!
But rather than hog the proceedings, I’d love to hear about some of your faves from records from the Class of ‘94... So, whadya got for me?
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dazstormretro · 5 years
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My Final Retro Memories - Sept 1999
Now in my final year at uni me and a group of mates had decided to move out of our dilapidated student house and return to dorms for one final blowout. So in the September of 1999 with my bags packed and both my PlayStation and N64 boxed up I arrived back in Derby to finish off university in style.
Unfortunately as the year progressed the workload on my university course increased dramatically leaving less time for video gaming. Saying that I still tried my best to fit in the odd hour here and there. My next purchase would be Final Fantasy VIII in the October of this year on the PlayStation (probably not the best choice when your trying to write a dissertation!)
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Having loved the previous instalments in the series I was looking forward to this particular title with great excitement. I must have invested a good chunk of time into FF VIII but unfortunately due to my course work stacking up and the stop/start nature of RPG progression the game eventually ended up on the shelf, yet another uncompleted Final Fantasy game.
Feeling I needed a change of pace and having recently watched Saving Private Ryan next up was Medal of Honour. A brand new game created by Steven Spielberg which would kick off the trend for WW2 first person shooters on consoles. Medal of Honour was indeed a fantastic addition to my PS1 collection. Taking on the role of Lieutenant Jimmy Patterson I soon found myself being completely immersed in war-torn Germany. With many varied objectives and missions to complete I must have played through this game countless times over the coming months, I especially enjoyed the sniper based stages, taking out Nazi soldiers with the perfect headshot was extremely satisfying.
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Throughout 1999 and into 2000 I consumed yet more episodes of the X Files, enjoyed watching Peter MacNicol in Ally McBeal and first came across Spaced created and staring the very talented Simon Pegg. Crammed full of nerdy references to tv shows, movies and video games Spaced was (and still is) such a great show featuring zany characters, hilarious scripts and summed up the late 90’s to a tee.
Fast forward to June of 2000 and my university career had finally come to an end and I was thrust out into the real world to try and carve out some kind of career for myself. Having a full time job defiantly effected my gaming time during this period. I stopped buying the latest gaming magazines, new consoles past me by and most of my spare time was taken up with girlfriends and socialising.
Not being on the pulse of the latest console releases during this time may have actually worked to my advantage as in the July after saving up some cash I purchased Perfect Dark for my N64. Launching late in the N64’s life meant a lot of people missed out on Rare’s latest first person shooter.
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Being a massive fan of Goldeneye which I had played to death the year previous Perfect Dark was an obvious choice. I remember it took me a good few weeks to save the £60 needed to purchase the title plus some extra cash to buy the memory expansion pack which was needed to play the game, increasing the consoles RAM storage capacity to 8 MB.
Once again I would jump into this game with both feet, playing and replying missions over and over. In fact I would play this game on and off for the next two years up until I finally sold my Nintendo 64. Like Rare’s previous shooter you took on the role of a secret agent (this time a female lead called Joanna Dark) and set about completing various missions armed to the teeth with futuristic weaponry and later in the game a sidekick alien by the name of Elvis?
Still to this day I enjoy a quick half hour session on Perfect Dark, taking out enemies with the Laptop Gun, launching grenades into glass elevators with the SuperDragon and watching the blood fly.
Perfect Dark was my last memorable exciting gaming purchase from back in the day. As a kid the anticipation of receiving a new game to play was overwhelming. Reading reviews over and over, researching every last bit of detail all while counting down the days until it’s release was so exciting. At the point of buying Perfect Dark I might have been in my early 20’s yet I still remember that buzz of finally receiving my copy after saving my hard earned cash over the summer.
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That Christmas there would be no video gaming related items, instead I had asked for a Sony portable mini disk as my main gift. Gaming was once again starting to take a backseat with only the occasional Perfect Dark shooting rampage occurring.
Everyone has their own perception of what they class as retro. In my mind my retro gaming memories finished around 2001 when I sold my N64 and handful of games for beer money at a local videos games shop (a regret which I still have to this day). I would go onto purchase Final Fantasy IX on release in the February of this year but this wouldn't last long before also being traded in and like my N64 my PlayStation was soon after sold to help fund a lads holiday to Greece. I do remember going over to my mate Robs house the day he purchased a Sega Dreamcast and playing multiplayer Power Stone well into the early hours which was great fun but not enough to convince me to once again join the side of Sega. By mid 2001 I was consoleless and and it would remain that way for over a year. This was the first time since receiving my Sega Master System back when I was eleven that I didn’t video game.
By no means was this the end of my love for video games, far from it. In late 2002 I would once again join the console generation after purchasing a PS2. Over the coming years I would continue play games in my spare time owning such systems as the PS3, XBox, Wii and most recently a PS4 and Nintendo Switch. In fact my interest in video games (both modern and retro) is just as involved now as it was in my teens. Granted my multi-player gaming sessions have dwindled over the years and that initial excitement of getting a new game or console doesn’t have the same appeal that it once did but video games still rule in my book.
Nowadays my gaming time is evenly split between actually playing games and both reading and watching YouTube videos relating to the latest gaming news or retro perspectives. I also enjoy whipping out an old issue of Mean Machines or Super Play once in a while to get a little nostalgia kick. Only time will tell if this hobby will continue into my later years but as of 2019 I can’t see any signs of it slowing down.
So that’s the end of my my retro gaming memories. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my adventures in the world of video games, maybe it’s even helped spark a few gaming memories from your own gaming past? I must admit I’ve thoroughly enjoyed casting my mind back and reliving some of these amazing times from my childhood.
Since first playing Roland on the Ropes on my brothers Amstrad 464 back in 1988 which lead to my Sega Master System the following Christmas I’ve been hooked. I feel very lucky to have lived through so many momentous gaming moments over the years. From the UK launch of the Mega Drive to the Super Nintendo, the now famous Sega vs Nintendo wars, the heyday of the video games magazine, the 90’s arcade scene through to the launch of the first PlayStation. These are just a few examples of how great the 1990’s were to a young gamer like myself, exciting times indeed.
Anyway that’s enough waffling from me, it’s back to my man cave to see if I can remember how to play Goldeneye with that bloody controller!
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1dreality · 5 years
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The New Direction of Liam Payne
Liam Payne discusses anxiety, romance rumours and what's next for the ex-One Direction star
Lucas OakeleyMay 30, 2019
It’s raining in West London. Every weather man, woman, and app had forecast that sunshine would be on the agenda for the day. But no. It’s raining. So, we’re stuck inside instead.
Alternating between balancing on a set of dumbbells and showing off adorable videos of his son, Bear, to the cooped-up crew, Liam Payne doesn’t seem to mind all that much about the weather. He’s used to plans changing pretty quickly.
“I’ve found in my life at the moment, because of the way things have happened, that everything’s kind of fast-forwarded,” says Payne, his dark eyes lighting up like those of a prospector that’s just panned a nugget of gold, “everything has fast-forwarded.”
Payne’s lived pretty much his entire life on fast-forward. He had his first X-Factor television appearance at the age of fourteen. He embarked on his first world tour with a little band named One Direction—you might have heard of them—only four years later. The band sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and had four albums debut at number one in the US charts. He even found the time to meet the future mother of his child somewhere in-between. As for fatherhood, that’s a life achievement the singer notched at just twenty-three.
As Payne ambles about the studio, it’s hard not to notice that even the tattoo on his forearm bears a striking resemblance to the fast-forward button on a television remote. Or a Spotify skip button.
Having recently performed alongside Rita Ora at the Global Teacher Prize concert in Dubai, Payne looks healthy and tanned, kissed by the sun even though his visit to the region was greeted by weather not dissimilar to today’s overcast conditions. “I think the weather’s just following me around at the minute,” he says with a laugh as abrupt as the first half of a hiccup. “There’s an air of something almost Vegas-y about Dubai,” adds Payne, “everything’s a little bit of a show there.”
Payne is no stranger to bit of a show. As well as having spent the better part of a decade touring the world with One Direction (the band is currently on a definitely indefinite hiatus) Payne helped break a concert attendance record in the Middle East last year by performing in front of 110,000 people. “I didn’t eat anything at dinner beforehand because I was thinking no-one’s going to turn up,” he admits.
To make Liam Payne nervous certainly takes some doing. Back in 2009—when ambitions of winning X-Factor as a solo performer were still very much at the forefront of his mind—Payne sang in front of over 29,000 fans as part of the pre-match entertainment of a game between his local football team Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United. A pretty heady experience for a boy not yet old enough to drive a car.
Now 25, Payne knew from an early age that he could “hold a tune”. What it took him longer to realise was that others couldn’t. “I think I thought it was just a normal thing that people could get on with,” he says with a shrug. That may well have been the case when it came to his local theatre group, but when considering most of the “normal things”that people “get on with”, we’d hazard a guess that the majority don’t involve amassing over two billion streams on Spotify.
But that’s Liam Payne for you: unassuming, self-effacing, and—for the most part—a guy who seems just genuinely happy to be here. It’s easy to forget when deliberating the merits of Linkin Park’s nu-metal masterpiece ‘Meteora’ with Payne that his face was once plastered on the bedroom walls of millions of tweens the world over.
Payne’s achieved extraordinary success in the quarter of a century he’s exhausted so far. So much so that you’d expect the moment that sparked off his passion for music to be equally spectacular. A real spontaneous Kevin Bacon dancing-in-an-abandoned-warehouse sort of epiphany. The reality is that it wasn’t romantic or sexy in the slightest. It was karaoke. “I used to go out to Cornwall and see my grandad and we’d always go to this karaoke bar and we’d sing a load of different stuff,” says Payne.
What sort of “stuff” does a future pop-star sing in a karaoke bar in a small town on the west coast of the UK? Well, the same oeuvre that you or I are have probably crooned into a microphone at midnight at Lucky Voice: ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams.
While Payne isn’t ashamed to admit that he was listening to Williams pretty much 24/7 as a youngster (“No, I really was”), one of the first CDs he bought with his own money was an Eminem record. Growing up with both Robbie Williams and Marshall Mathers as his idols, he places his own sound as “somewhere in-between the two”.
A little bit Slim Shady and a little bit Rock DJ, that intersection of pop and rap is reflected in Payne’s solo career so far. His debut single, the catchy-as-the-plague earworm ‘Strip That Down’, featured Migos alum Quavo and went on to be certified platinum in both the US and the UK. The title track of his First Time EP also saw Payne join forces with rapper French Montana. Payne’s certainly not the first popstar to align themselves with a more urban sound in an attempt to appeal to an older demographic. Nor will he be the last. The transition from squeaky-clean boyband member to fullyfledged solo artist is, after all, anything but easy. To use a Take That comparison: for every one Robbie Williams, there are a hundred Mark Owens.
When it comes to One Direction, it’s still a bit too soon to tell who the Robbies and the Marks of the bunch are going to be. “When we did the band stuff it was very—not exactly scripted—but let’s just say you kind of knew your audience very well,” says Payne. “We’d usually sell a tour out before we’d even done an album. And then they [the record producers] would go: ‘Right, you’re doing stadiums’. And then you’d go: ‘Okay, so we need longer choruses—the kind of songs that people can chant in a stadium’. You had to kind of write around the tour.”
If that process sounds a bit paint-by-numbers, that’s because—by Payne’s own admission—it was. “It’s a very backwards way to do it,” he admits, “obviously people don’t really tend to write like that. But we just had no time, so it was like: ‘Quick! We need another hit and another and another!’ It was actually easier to write in that scenario because there were so many hoops you had to jump through. It wouldn’t necessarily be my choice of music now—it wasn’t something that I would listen to—but I just knew how to make it, if that makes sense?”
Going from such a canned bop formula to a world of complete creative freedom is a daunting prospect for anyone looking to make it as a solo act. But that was far from the only challenge Payne faced. Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music have drastically altered the music industry since the phone-to-vote days that launched One Direction. “The way that the industry kind of works now is kind of a difficult one because of the way albums are and the introduction of Spotify,” says Payne. “When I was in the band, Spotify wasn’t really a thing for us, we didn’t really care. We used to sell a lot of albums and physical copies, so it was different for us. As I got more into the solo stuff it was a kind of, like, a bit f**king confusing.”
All you need to do is look at the chains that Payne draped around his neck during the releases of a series of sophomore singles to see a man adopting a kabuki mask that didn’t quite fit. A man who was, in his words, a bit f**king confused. “‘Strip That Down’ was amazing and I was really happy with the success of it—but it didn’t necessarily paint the right picture of me and who I actually am,” he says, “I always found, to start off with, that with a lot of the chains and the clothes and the fashion, I was kind of hiding behind something. We did a billion streams for ‘Strip That Down’ but it still all gets a bit heady and at a certain point you’re like: ‘what the f**k am I doing here?’ It’s a bit like being stuck out in deep water and you’re just going ‘well, it would be really nice to get back now.’”
Payne might still be far from the shore, but he seems to be treading water at a more comfortable pace nowadays. “It took me a long to get my head around it,” he says, “and obviously at the same time I was having a baby and all that different stuff. So, there was a lot of s**t to go through at that time to get to where I am now.”
“I don’t feel the need to hide behind the clothes any more. I feel like I can finally be who I am and enjoy being myself”
And where is Liam Payne now? Well, he’s sat in front of me looking comparatively anxiety-free: comfortable and relaxed in a plain black tee and pair of tailored HUGO trousers. “My style and my fashion sense are all quite laid back now because that’s kind of the way I am as well. I don’t feel the need to hide behind the clothes anymore. I feel I can finally be who I am and enjoy myself.”
The last few years have witnessed a real boy-to-man transition for the ex-boy band squaddie. A coming-of-age moment came when he arrived at Frank Sinatra’s house in Palm Springs to record his part of ‘For You’ with Rita Ora. A crooning, finger-snapping, rather embarrassingly-waist-coated rendition of ‘Fly Me to The Moon’ was what Payne sang to get through his first ever X-Factor audition. Walking into Old Blue Eyes’ home, for Payne, came with the realisation that he’d “made that complete full-circle journey”.
Suffice it to say there’s no turning around for Payne in that journey when it comes to the fame front; he’s well in the thickets of the tabloid jungle. Headlines about who’s “breaking silence on romance rumours” with the popstar are a daily occurrence in the British papers. So too are accompanying photographs of his face. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Payne has, after all, got a rather nice face. The latest use of which has seen it become the face of Hugo Boss’s latest HUGO menswear line.
“To be honest, they called me and it just seemed to make a lot of sense at the time. It was a direction that I knew I’d love to go down,” says Payne on how his partnership with the brand first came about. “It’s very rare that a big company like Hugo Boss comes around asking for you to be the face of it. It’s a bit of a dream come true actually.”
Previous Hugo Boss ambassadors include the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Jamie Dornan and Gerard Butler. Handsome faces. Familiar faces. Faces that are now forever immortalised in the public conscience. A fact that Payne is all-too conscious of himself. “I was looking through the different people that they’ve had on their roster over the years and they’re all people that I look up to,” says Payne, “So, I’m obviously quite excited but it’s also a bit daunting because these things,” he spreads his arms in a gesture that aptly sums up the rigmarole of press junkets and interviews, “are literally around for forever now.”
Moving from location to location and outfit to outfit, it becomes evident that dressing to hide who he is, is no longer on Payne’s agenda. As he’s grown (both figuratively and literally) in the public eye, and Payne’s now come to accept the lane he’s in. “I’ve become more in tune with things now,” he says, “as the years go by, I think you gain a different level of confidence and find out what works for you and what doesn’t, rather than constantly trying to be something that you’re not. If that makes sense?” It does.
What makes less sense is why Payne decided to go with chains in the first place “It was quite funny at the time when everyone used to get really mad about it,” he says referencing outraged headlines like: Sleepy Liam Payne leaves a London studio wearing a HUGE gold chain. “It just didn’t really matter to me.”
What matters to Payne is when those stories affect the lives of those around him. One particular article published in the British newspaper, The Daily Mail, last year that attempted to insinuate he was romantically linked with a member of his team irked Payne so much that the usually apolitical Twitterer took to social media to criticising the newspaper.
“The difference with that story was that the people that they were putting me with have families, boyfriends, girlfriends,” explains Payne, “I go home every night and know that people write horses**t about me daily. I won’t worry about it because I know it’s f**king bulls**t. But for someone who’s never had a story written about them before? If they go home and their partner’s reading the paper going like: ‘what the f**k is this?’ It’s difficult for them to be able to explain that.” Payne’s voice ratchets up a few decibels when he says this. He uses more than a few words we’re not legally allowed to print. I can tell that he cares about this. That it needles him. That it’s not something he has to say, but rather something that he needs to say. So, I let him.“I asked for this, I get paid very handsomely to be here and it’s part of my life and I get it. It’s alright. You can write what the f**k you want about me but when it comes to other people who work with me? That is not on.”
“I asked for this, I get paid very handsomely to be here and it’s part of my life and I get it. It’s alright. You can write what the f**k you want about me but when it comes to other people who work with me? That is not on.”
The only way for Payne to cut through that noise is by doing the thing he knows best: making music. “Everything I do is very, very public a lot of the time. I get reported on a lot for different things. I just think there’s a certain line where I have to have my say. And that there’s only one way for me
to do that—which is through my music.”
The din of noise that Payne has to compete with has increased somewhat substantially over the last two years thanks to the addition of his son, Bear. Although Payne attests that Bear is as “good as Goldilocks”, he’s aware that being a dad and a popstar aren’t easy responsibilities to balance.
“People make it out like a lightbulb comes on and suddenly you’re a dad and it’s like… no. [Being a father] is something you have to learn and I’m not afraid to say it takes more than a f**king minute to get your head around the idea of what it is.”
Payne might not have his head fully around the concept quite yet but, as we talk about his relationship with Bear, it becomes evident that Payne’s already nailed one of the most important aspects of being a dad: caring. “The not understanding is the most difficult bit,” he says with the weariness of a father well above his years, “especially when you have a toddler who doesn’t understand how to communicate and you can’t understand what they want.”
Communicating as a public figure becomes increasingly difficult when navigating the glut of information that exists online. Do a quick Google search for ‘Liam Payne’ and you’ll be greeted by countless fan sites with a never-ending litany of “facts” about the man. Facts like:
“Liam Payne prefers showers over baths”
“Liam Payne sleeps naked”
“Liam Payne has a phobia of spoons”
While Payne is quick to assure me that most of what you’ll read online is straight B.S., one fact did keep cropping up again and again. And I mean, c’mon, I couldn’t not ask him about the spoons, could I?
“Yeah, I did have a fear of spoons,” he groans with the weariness of a man who’s been pelted with countless pieces of cutlery, “but it wasn’t so much a fear as something that’s now turned into a thing because of the internet. I was forced in detention once to wash up dirty plates and spoons and I think it just put me off looking at how dirty some of these spoons came back. But people used to throw spoons at me in concerts! I should have said I had a fear of pillows—that would have been comfier.”
All things considered, a fear of spoons is a fairly harmless rumour to spread. But rumours rarely ever are. Most are vicious; spreading like wildfire and burning all of those they touch. “I’ve been dead,” says Payne abruptly. “People I love have been dead.”
The non-stop 24-hour nature of the news cycles can be overwhelming to read, let alone to be involved in via the announcement of your own death. “You have to learn fast and we [One Direction] had to grow up pretty quick in the circumstances that we were under or else you kind of f**k it a little bit,” he says. If you’ve ever seen clips of The Beatles or BTS getting mobbed on the streets, you know the kind of hysteria that can ensue when boyband members are seen out in public.
“I don’t think I struggle in the sense of what you would naturally think of when I’m walking down the street with every person stopping me,” says Payne, “I mean, it happens sometimes but it’s mainly mentally where you struggle with it. It’s the getting ready and always knowing that you might be photographed.” From elaborate airport fits to the loungewear he puts on to pick up a pint of semiskimmed milk from the shop down the road, there’s never a moment where Payne and his clothing aren’t in danger of becoming front page news.
One of the ways that Payne combats that simmering anxiety is by going for a run at 5am every morning. It’s probably why he’s been able to maintain his sanity so far. And probably why he’s in—as evidenced by his numerous topless Instagram photos—such great nick.
I’ll get days where I just don’t want to leave my house. Even if it’s just going to the shop. I’d be going i to order a coffee at Starbucks and I would sweat because I wouldn’t know whether I was doing the right thing or not. I would be thinking: ‘f**k, I don’t want to be here’.”
“I love it. I get myself outside and into the day and get past that fear of ‘what if this happens?’ or ‘what if that happens?’. Because, for a long time, I became—what’s the word?” says Payne, gesticulating wildly as if he’ll catch the phrase careening around his head like a runaway wasp, “there’s a word for this condition where you stay inside and never leave, it’s in Ocean’s Twelve…”
I saw Ocean’s Twelve last week. The word he’s looking for is agoraphobia.
“Yeah, that’s it. I developed a bit of agoraphobia. I would never leave the house. And I do sometimes suffer with it a bit in the sense that I’ll get days where I just don’t want to leave my house. Even if it’s just going to the shop. I’d be going i to order a coffee at Starbucks and I would sweat because I wouldn’t know whether I was doing the right thing or not. I would be thinking: ‘f**k, I don’t want to be here’.”
I worry for a moment whether Payne is feeling that same feeling today but decide instead to take likely misplaced solace that my innate knowledge of the Ocean’s film franchise has won him over. “I even used to have a really bad problem with going to petrol stations and paying for petrol. I can feel it now—it was like this horrible anxiety where I’d be sweating buckets in the car thinking ‘I don’t want to do this’.”
Many people suffer from moments of panic and instances where we feel crushed by the weight of the world’s expectations and Payne is all-too aware that his specific anxieties stem from a position of privilege. “Unfortunately, it does happen to everybody in this industry,” he says, “I think at a certain point you just have to get over it as quickly as you can.”
There we are once again: back to doing things quickly. Back to being on fast-forward. Back to doing countless interviews in specifically allotted time slots. Back to that constant pressure where “everything happens a little bit quicker in my world than it does in everyone else’s”.
Everything might be happening a hell of a lot quicker for Liam Payne than me, but I’m still interested to know: what’s next for the man? What does he want to achieve in the not-yet fast-forwarded future? “I’m hoping for something a lot more than what I’ve done so far, if that makes sense?” Having listened to Payne’s solo discography in preparation for this interview, it really does.
Sure, Payne’s produced a spate of bonafide bangers—songs that will have you singing along as you whip down Emirates Road—but they’re also songs that are, for the most part, still formulaic. They’re catchy, glossily well-produced, yet contain something of an air of inauthenticity about them.
And, having met Payne, I can’t help but feel they seem at odds with his unabashedly authentic self. As he tells me: “People can see right through that s**t and it’s difficult for you to then go and say ‘buy this record!’ if you don’t really believe in what’s going on.”
So, what does a man who’s (sort of) afraid of spoons actually believe in? Moreover, what does a man who eats ice cream with a fork want to be remembered as having believed in? “I’m obviously really happy with some of the stuff I’ve done. Like breaking world records with the band and all sorts of amazing stuff. But in the recent years, it’s been a bit topsy-turvy with me kind of finding my way. And I’d rather not be remembered for a lot of those things. I want to make a really amazing album that’s not, like,” and he air-quotes here, “important, but something that people really get into. Something that makes certain people feel a couple things. I think that would be the best thing for me. I just want to make people move, if that makes sense?”
In case you haven’t already noticed, that question (‘if that makes sense?”) is practically punctuation to Payne. It’s a caveat that ends many of his statements; an interrogation of his own beliefs and a moment where his PR armour reveals its chinks and offers a glimpse of the man beneath the surface. A man that is equal parts cocksure and uncertain—a man who’s very rarely both and almost never neither.
While he might be living on fast-forward—and shows no signs of slowing anytime soon—Liam Payne, for the moment at least, might just be in the midst of the most interesting time of his life. His legacy is currently being written, awaiting the day we’ll eventually look back with a clearer idea of whether he’s a Robbie Williams or a Mark Owen. As for me, I’m just hoping that the next evolution of Liam Payne’s career is a lot more Liam Payne than the last. If that makes sense?
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dansnaturepictures · 5 years
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11/11/18-Great White Egrets and more at Blashford Lakes 
With me feeling a little bit better from the bug I had yesterday I was itching to get out somewhere today, and with my energy levels still low and the weather unpredictable the hide dominated Blashford was the perfect place to come. I was welcomed early on by a sight of the bird of Blashford for me, the Great Spotted Woodpecker. 
The most memorable moments of the trip though would come from visits to the hides overlooking Ivy Lake, particularly ivy north hide where I headed first. From it I firstly saw one Great White Egret the presence of rings showing it was the famous Walter the oldest of his kind in the UK that flew round and came close to the hide. I took the 1st picture in this photoset of him. Then to my delight a second one flew across the lake at the back. I saw one from the ivy south hide later in the visit, I know a third bird had been reported lately but with a stop off in the woodland hide in between one of the mobile birds from ivy north could easily have had the time to fly there and this one was very far back so I couldn’t detect Walter’s rings so I can only assume it was a bird I had already seen today. 
Even so through that’s only the second time I have seen more than one Great White Egret in a day, the first being when I saw my first of 2016 at the Bird Fair at Rutland Water that August. This is also an unprecedented fifth sighting of these birds in a year for me, now a primary member of my club of amazing birds I may only hope to see once in a year that I have seen more than once. If I had been told this time last year I would see Great White Egrets five times, Marsh Harriers eight times, Hobby four times and Water Rail three times just to name a few I’d have known I was onto an absolute cracker of a year and so it had proved. The Great White Egret picture today also means with only two pictures taken of the bird before this year, I have taken exactly twice the amount of pictures of them this year than I ever did before. 
With my bird year list record now beaten as I did the last two years too its easy to consider this as my greatest ever birdwatching year. It like the other two certainly now is my greatest ever year for the amount of bird species I saw with the highest ever in a year, but the word greatest broadly can mean quite different things. 
Would I for example actually brand a year like 2007 or 08 my greatest because it was just as I was getting into it and the interest sparked and as such lots of sightings of birds I have and haven’t gone onto see again felt maybe more fabled as they were part of my late childhood. But I have to say its hard to look past a recent year if I ever wanted to award this title beyond just which year I have seen the most in which will obviously always be a main measure of success. 
With year lists only started by me in 2011 every year since has allowed me to measure it more easily. In 2013 a revolution in my hobby occurred in terms of how gripped birds made me and a new bank of species I began to see. 2016 saw a revolution of its own with the extension of such banks, amazing moments and fast starts, top species within years and big totals that obviously 2017 and 2018 followed on with. So maybe its just not worth arguing and admitting that each year has its own top top moments which will be unique to one another and I have been blessed with a few years of birdwatching greatness for me. 
But I have to say with the quirk like all the large amount of fantastic species I have seen this year and I went on to see many again and rare ones too, the record total for me again, the Scotland trip and so much more it feels like I might have fewer greater years of birds than this. Today was just one of many magical moments and yesterday as I lay ill annoyed after a week of work I couldn’t get out and watch birds a Sparrowhawk flies over my house which just shows how very lucky I have been and 2018 simply has been sprinkled with fate and birding and all wildlife magic. 
Before I left ivy north I saw a Cetti’s Warbler and heard it too, my second in as many Sundays with one heard at Farlington Marshes last weekend its great to have these warblers year round now. As I said I went via the amazing woodland hide where I took the 3rd and 4th pictures in this photoset of a Nuthatch and Blackbird. Between the ivy north and woodland hides I took the 2nd picture in this photoset of the sun shining through trees. 
In the ivy south hide I also had a great moment as at a place I had often seen one of my favourite birds the Kingfisher I just caught the flash of blue of one. This was my first seen since February which I was relieved about as someone mentioned to me over the summer how the cold weather of last winter hit their numbers a bit and this was the first I saw since before the first “beast from the east”.
Wildlife Sightings Summary: Four of my favourite birds the Great Spotted Woodpecker, Kingfisher, Pochard and Little Egret, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Coot, Mute Swan, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Cetti’s Warbler, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow and Grey Squirrel. 
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orbemnews · 3 years
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'All Belarusians are hostages to Lukashenko's regime,' say citizens now cut off from Europe “We are cut off from the rest of the world,” 54-year-old Nikolai, who is only identified by his first name due to security concerns, told CNN from his home in Minsk. “(President Alexander) Lukashenko is doing everything possible to isolate the country and return the Iron Curtain.” “I don’t feel trapped, but there’s no freedom either,” he added. “All my friends are worried about the future of the country … we are very pleased with international solidarity and assistance.” European Union (EU) leaders on Monday called for a ban on Belarusian airlines flying in European skies and urged their national carriers to avoid Belarusian airspace. Many, including Finnair, Air France and KLM, have followed suit. For Belarusians inside the country, the restrictions will squeeze what little freedoms they have left under strongman Lukashenko. Belarus partially closed its land borders to its own citizens wanting to leave the country in October last year, citing Covid-19 concerns. In reality, critics say it was an attempt by Lukashenko to tighten his 27-year-grip on the country, following a disputed presidential election in August that sparked some of the biggest demonstrations in the country’s recent history. Travel restrictions were imposed on neighboring Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine, though not Russia, an indication of Lukashenko’s close ties to President Vladimir Putin. Belarus and Russia share border controls under a longstanding agreement, meaning direct road links to Russia are open to Belarusian citizens. Inside Belarus, there are conflicting feelings about the most recent flight ban. ‘Total helplessness’ One tech industry worker in Minsk, who preferred to remain anonymous for safety reasons, told CNN that a “feeling of total helplessness” following the “brutal” pushback of riot police against protesters during demonstrations — which she attended for over three months last year — has pushed her family to leave the country. “The police are detaining people directly in their neighborhoods and the reports about ill-treatment in detention are brutal,” she said, adding that she broke into tears when she heard about Protasevich’s arrest — thinking he could face the death penalty. Now, the rerouted flights are upending her plans to relocate to a neighboring country for work in June. Although her flight with Belarus’ flag carrier Belavia was canceled, leaving by land still remains an option for her as she has a job offer. Her husband, however, would need to risk a detour via Moscow, she told CNN. The tech worker said she believes that the flight ban is a small price to pay for the future of the country. “If these bans help Europe to pay attention to what happens here, I am OK to tolerate the inconvenience,” she said, noting that she hopes they will “kick off more real sanctions.” But not everyone feels as patient. “Most people in my circle constantly talk about the need to leave the country. The news that the last way out is closing has caused a lot of anxiety — everyone wants to know they can leave if they have to.” Some people are very angry at the European politicians for the decision, she added. Ales, 31, who is only identified by his first name, told CNN from Minsk that “many people like myself are happy that the West finally is doing something real. However many people are anxious about not having the possibility to fly to the EU countries or Ukraine. “Due to the closure of the land border, the plane was the only option for many people to leave the country. There are still options to transit through Russia but it is more expensive and lengthy,” he said. Ales added that: “Right now, all Belarusians are hostages to Lukashenko’s regime, and he is the one to blame for the international isolation of Belarus that worsens all the time.” Another citizen, Anastasia, who lives in Minsk and preferred not to give her second name due to safety concerns, told CNN it was important “not to wait for the moment when it will be impossible to leave for many years like it was with the Iron Curtain in the USSR.” Anastasia said she and her husband Vladimir were “very happy” with the EU’s response. “We believe that terrorists have seized power in our country, and they should be treated exactly as terrorists,” she said. Belarus borders three EU member states — Latvia, Lithuania and Poland — and a striking image of flight paths tweeted by European Council President Charles Michel early Tuesday showed hundreds of planes skirting around the country. Some routes appeared to have returned to Belarus airspace later in the day. Families kept apart For Belarusians outside the country, the flight ban throws doubt over when they’ll be able to see family members again. A 33-year-old Belarusian man living in the UK, who preferred not to give his name due to safety concerns, told CNN that he relied on his Belarusian family for childcare — but it would be a struggle for his parents to visit without direct flights. “The decision is of course an inconvenience for the general public, but it also is for the regime — so I support it for now,” he said. Olga, a 33-year-old Belarusian living in the UK who preferred not to give her last name, said the demand for flights via Moscow would increase with the EU ban. But those Russian flights were “expensive and inconvenient” for a family with a small child, she added. A trip between Minsk and London via Russia would take over 13 hours instead of the more usual three. But Olga thinks the EU’s reaction is adequate: “It is an action against the regime, which is much better than just words of concern.” “On the other hand, Belarusian authorities have been killing most means of communication inside the country and with the rest of the world — and now the opportunity to leave is also taken away,” Olga said. “Looks like we’re a North Korean branch now.” International outrage Protasevich was one of dozens of Belarusian journalists and activists campaigning in exile against Lukashenko’s rule. He is the founder of the Telegram channel Nexta, which helped mobilize anti-Lukashenko protests, and was charged last year with “organizing mass riots and group actions that grossly violate public order.” He is on a government wanted list for terrorism. The 26-year-old journalist was traveling on Ryanair flight 4978 from Athens, Greece to Vilnius, Lithuania on Sunday when shortly before touchdown the plane was diverted by Belarusian air traffic control to the capital Minsk over a supposed security alert. The diversion sparked widespread fury and mounting fears for Protasevich’s safety after a video emerged of the dissident Monday in which his supporters believe he is confessing to crimes under duress. Source link Orbem News #Belarusians #citizens #Cut #Europe #hostages #Lukashenkos #regime
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Best Ao3 Fanfiction Ziam
Hello! In my opinion this are the best fan fictions that are out there of Ziam. These fan fictions are only on Ao3. I hope you will enjoy them just as much as I did. 
1. Permanent: At twenty-six, Liam has made a name for himself as one of the best football players of his generation. He's in the prime of his game when a car accident threatens to end his career permanently. Depressed and hating the world, Liam heads back to his home town to take some time off and find himself again. He doesn't expect to find life pretty much the way he'd left it eight years ago, and he definitely doesn't expect to find something that might make him want to stay permanently, but that's what he gets.
2. Don’t Go: Liam's out of the country most of the year because of his job, but he needs someone to take care of his dog. Zayn thinks he's hit the jackpot when he starts renting the room in Liam's apartment. He gets the whole place to himself most of the year, and all he has to do is walk and feed a dog. He never expected to fall in love with Liam, but it happens anyways.
3. Can I keep you: Liam is always trying to do what's best for himself and his daughter, but raising a kid on his own at twenty-two, on top of juggling school work and a full-time job, isn't easy. Zayn just wants a chance to show Liam that he's not going to walk out on them. And Liam's daughter, Emma? She just wants to keep Zayn.
4. Floating On The Water: Liam just wants to get through his last summer working at Malik Resort before University without incident. Of course, life is never that easy, and he ends up getting roped into giving the bosses son, Zayn, swimming lessons. That wouldn't be so bad, if Zayn didn't happen to hate him so much.
5. Not Happening: Zayn and Liam are roommates. They hate each other. (Most of the time.)
6. The Beauty of Defiance: Two married couples, two different dynamics that are bound to self-implode - Zayn and Liam meet on the edge of their respective wife's success and do not hesitate to fall. What follows is a hard crash, paired with the resulting sparks. Ziam/ Married!Men/ Affair/ AU
7. You're The Shining Distraction That Makes Me Fly: Zayn is a recently new single father, falling into his role without ease until Liam, his son's first grade teacher, helps him a little to adapt to the new lifestyle.
8. Just Let Me Know: Zayn wakes up in a hospital, eyes blurry and head pounding, only for a doctor to tell him he's lost two years of his life. And if that's not awful enough, something's different with Liam, off like something has changed, and Zayn doesn't understand. Until he does. And then it's somehow worse.
9. Ode to the Artichoke: Scale by scale, we undress this delight.It’s about best mates and late summer evenings and impromptu footie games in the backyard and Zayn watching Liam score incredible goals and Liam desperately wanting Zayn to watch him score those goals. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking poetry and miscommunication and crossed signals and boys who don’t know how to tell each other how much they love each other. But in the end it’s really all about Zayn loving a tender-hearted artichoke and hoping that the love is returned. Somehow.
10. Never the Same Tide Twice: Zayn is a successful pop star from the UK, transplanted to LA. He is the product of completely contrived and neatly packaged PR and marketing, including a fake name. Liam Payne is a professional surfer who lives alone in a bungalow on the beach, taking a break after a string of successful competitions. When their paths cross accidentally and it's clear that Liam doesn't recognize him in the slightest, Zayn drops his tired pretenses for the opportunity just to be himself for once.
This are the fan fictions that I laughed, smiled, cried about. Some made me a mess but that’s okay. I hope you will enjoy them just as much as I did. Have fun reading :)
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greatpretending · 7 years
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Can you do a Tom Holland x reader soulmate au? Can the readers BFF also be soulmates with Harrison which is what causes the reader to meet Tom?
Alright nonnie, I’m not sure that this is what you were looking for, but you sparked some inspiration in me and I ran with it. I didn’t have the energy for a full-blown fic tonight, but here’s 2000 unedited words of my fingers vomiting on my keyboard. I hope you enjoy!
Elena is your best friend and the best part of your life.
She’s sweet, funny, sassy, and doesn’t take shit from anyone.
The two of you met in kindergarten and became inseparable. Even though you were in different classes for third and fifth grade, you’d managed to keep your friendship strong.
You two went on each other’s family vacations and spent full weeks at each other’s houses during the summer.
The day you watched her punch a kid in the nose for calling a boy a slur was the day you fell in love with her.
Elena was absolutely perfect, except for one thing: she was obsessed with finding her soulmate.
You didn’t give a shit about your soulmate. You knew there would never be a person you loved more than Elena.
People found their soulmates by making skin contact for the first time. No one was ever able to explain it, everyone who found their soulmate said “you just know” whenever someone asked.
So you took to wearing hoodies and jeans- covering as much skin as possible, because despite having held hands with and hugged Elena multiple times, there was no “magic spark” or “sudden feeling of rightness”
If Elena wasn’t your soulmate, you didn’t want one at all.
Elena, however, felt differently. About as differently as possible. She went to those stupid “Soulmate Speed Search” gatherings where you paid twenty bucks to be stuffed in a room with a hundred other people and shake all their hands. It was disgusting.
After you graduate high school, you both go to college in-state. The separation is hard, but you’re close enough that you get to see each other at least once a month.
Right before your senior year of college, the two of you decide to take the summer to go on a roadtrip.
She tells her parents that it’s just that- travelling- but you know she’s hoping to find her soulmate out there, she was so disappointed that she hadn’t found hers in college, like so many people did.
So the two of you learn how to check oil and change a flat tire, pack up the car, and head out. One of you signs up for a Planet Fitness Black Card membership so you two always have a place to shower, even if you’re sleeping in the car.
You go all over the place, but it isn’t until early July, when you’re in NYC when it finally happens.
You’d let Elena drag you to a club because while it wasn’t really your scene, she loved to dance, and you loved to make her happy.
But you started to get worried when she went up to the bar to get you a couple more drinks and she didn’t come back for half an hour.
When you went searching, you found her by the line to the bathroom, pushing some dude up against the wall and shoving her tongue down his throat. Everyone was uncomfortable.
You pulled her off of him, and she turned to look at you, but didn’t let go.
“Y/n! This is Harrison! He’s my soulmate!”
And your heart breaks.
Elena convinces you to put your road trip on hold. Harrison is in town for the next few weeks for work, but then he’s going back to England.
You offer to just fly home and let them work things out together, but Elena begs you to stay
So you do.
Harrison is staying in an apartment with his best friend Tom, who Harrison works for, and after hearing what happened, Tom invites you and Elena to stay there with them. You appreciate this, because you weren’t looking forward to spending the next couple weeks sleeping in the car. Hotel prices in the city were astronomical.
Luckily, Tom’s apartment has three bedrooms, so you get one two yourself.
Elena stays in Harrison’s room, and you spend a lot of nights sleeping with your headphones in.
Tom and Harrison spend most of their time at work. Sometimes you go with them to the set of the movie Tom is working on, and sometimes you explore the city.
Since Harrison and Elena are attached at the hip now, you and Tom spend a lot of time together.
You’re not a touchy-feely person. You don’t like personal contact unless it’s from Elena or your immediate family. Tom picks up on this and respects it.
Tom is a nice enough guy, he’s silly and fun and he makes you laugh, but you’re still bitter and broken-hearted from watching the person you love find her soulmate, who isn’t you.
One night, you wake up hungry, and Tom finds you at the kitchen island with a bowl of cereal. He pours his own bowl and joins you.
You don’t know if it’s the quiet safety of the late hour or your inability to hold it in any longer, but you find yourself telling him everything. About how much you love Elena and how hard it is to watch her love someone else. You tell him how you think the whole soulmate thing was bullshit, and how people shouldn’t rely on something scientists can’t even figure out to determine who they should spend their life with.
Tom is sweet and sympathetic, even if he doesn’t agree. He shows you where he hides the good snacks.
You find yourself meeting him there at the kitchen island almost every night after that. The two of you sharing a snack and talking for an hour or so before heading back to bed.
You learn about all his brothers and he shows you countless pictures of Tessa. You talk about school and the differences between growing up in the states and growing up in the UK. You laugh over the words you pronounce differently. You say you’d love to visit London one day and he promises to fly you out there.
You become friends.
Meanwhile Elena and Harrison are still figuring out how they’re going to make their new relationship work. Elena still has a year of school left and Harrison can’t just drop everything and move in with her. They agree they’ll have to do their best long-distance until Elena graduates.
You listen to Elena as she vents and worries and cries about this. You don’t understand how she can care so much about someone she’s only known for a month.
Tom and Harrison are set to fly back to England in a week, and you and Elena have to drive home and get ready to go back to school.
Just three days before you all go your separate ways, the four of you go out for dinner to a nearby pizza place. Afterward, Harrison and Elena excuse themselves to go back to the apartment, and you and Tom decide to walk around the city for a bit.
You’re walking down the street, talking and people watching, when you roll your ankle in a broken piece of sidewalk. Before you can go down, Tom catches your arm.
And the whole world stops
A sudden warmth floods from the spot where your skin is connected, it squeezes your heart and fills your eyes.
You know.
But you don’t want to believe it.
You flinch out of his grasp and stumble backward, hand over your arm where he had been holding it moments ago.
You look up at him and he looks just as shocked as you are. Neither of you move for a long time.
Finally, you say. “We should get back to the apartment.”
Tom doesn’t reply, he just nods, and the two of you walk back in silence.
When you get back, you pull Elena out of the bathroom and into your room, and you don’t talk to Tom for the rest of the night.
In the morning is Tom’s final day of shooting for the film. You hate sending him off to work without talking about what happened, but you just don’t have enough time before he heads out.
He’s kept late that night. Harrison comes home around ten and says Tom still won’t be there for another few hours.
You’re waiting up in the kitchen with a bowl of cereal when he finally comes back.
He looks exhausted, but he sits down at the island and pours himself a bowl. Determined to stay awake as long as it takes to work things out between you two.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t actually take that long.
You tell him you really like him. You’d never become so close with someone so fast before. You appreciate his friendship and you certainly don’t want to lose it.
But you’re also not ready for a romantic relationship. You need time to move one from Elena and accept that she’s with someone else. On top of that, she and Harrison might be able to make long distance work, but they’ve had a month to figure it out. You only have two more days.
Tom, being the amazing soul that he is, is completely understanding and supportive. He can handle one more year apart if it means spending the rest of his life with you, his soulmate. But he doesn’t say that out loud, because he knows it would freak you out.
So when you and Elena take him and Harrison to JFK a few days later, you leave him with a long call and a promise to Skype soon.
You and Elena drive home, and college starts back up, people moving around you as if that summer had never happened. How could the world still be turning like it always had when your world had been completely flipped upside down?
You and Tom text almost as often as you and Elena do. You Skype weekly. You dream about him often, though that isn’t uncommon for soulmates.
Tom sends you a cereal bowl that says “midnight snack” on it for Christmas, and you cry because you miss him.
You hoped you would be able to see him during Spring Break, but then you’re offered an opportunity with one of the professors in your field that you just can’t pass up.
But when you’re standing on the stage at graduation, your family, Elena’s family, Elena, Harrison, and Tom are all in the audience.
When you find them afterward, your cap falls off your head as you run into Tom’s arms.
Hugging him feels like coming home.
You all go out to dinner, and you not-so-subtly make sure you sit by Tom. You don’t leave his side for the rest of the night.
Your family and Elena’s family drive home after dinner, while you, Elena, Harrison, and Tom go back to your apartment. It had been a long day for everyone, and Elena and Harrison retire early, with promises to not have sex on your guest bed.
Then it’s just you and Tom. You feel like things should be awkward but even the silence is comfortable.
You talk into the late hours of the night, but eventually his jet lag catches up with him. After one particularly large yawn, you take his face in your hands, and you kiss him.
It’s unlike anything you’ve felt before.
You had kissed people before, but it was nothing compared to kissing Tom. When you kissed Tom if felt like every inch of your skin was on fire.
Tom sleeps in your bed that night (fully clothed, this was not the time for that) and as you drift off to sleep in his arms you think that it’s okay that Elena didn’t turn out to be your soulmate. She would always be your best friend, and your soulmate in a different kind of way. Your bond with her wasn’t any weaker now that you had these ridiculously dorky and ridiculously sweet boys in your life. If anything it brought you closer together, and you didn’t even think that was possible.
No, Elena wasn’t your soulmate. Tom was, and you couldn’t be happier with anyone else.
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