Anchored in Chalkwell Park TRAWLER SUMMER 2017 www.thetrawler.net FREE 08.07.17 Superior Audio Since 1986 BRITISH DESIGN, SUPERIOR SOUND. From compact speakers and stylish table top radios, to integrated music systems and perhaps the most elegant radiogram available, the choice is yours. And, whatever you choose to listen to, you can relax in the knowledge that you are listening to the very best. You are listening to Ruark Audio. To view our full range of audio products or to request a brochure please visit our website. Alternatively, contact us on 01702 601410. Available locally through, HB Electrical Leigh On Sea, Rayleigh Hi-Fi and Waitrose Southend. www.ruarkaudio.com TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 Ruark_Brand_Ad_Trawler_June.indd2 1 07/06/2017 17:29 TRAWLERWelcome to 08.07.17 DESIGN BY Rich With CONTRIBUTORS Welcome... Liam Jefferies Daryl Easlea Superior Audio Since 1986 Well, it’s that time of year again! Hooray for Summer – the season of being outdoors, eating Colette Bailey Sadie Hasler al fresco and of course, festivals! Syd Moore Jacqueline Johnson For this edition of Trawler we’re delighted to bring you a Village Green special on Southend’s Sarah Barlow very own arts and music festival. It's right here on our doorstep, celebrating the very best of Luke Osborne local, home-grown, creative talent alongside invited guests from around the world. PHOTOGRAPHY Si Brandon So – here in Trawler – we bring you the full download on what’s on and where to find it (see the Jon Webber full programme and map on the centre pages) as well as interviews with some of the highlights on Matt Allen Benedict Johnson the bill this year – and not just on the music stages – from organic mushroom farmers to high end, Clarissa Debenham hand-made handbags – it’s all there at Village Green – and right here in Trawler! Frances Beckerman Paul Tait From the gorgeous Kate Nash (on our front cover) to inimitable Nothing But Thieves on Simon Fowler page 14 to story telling and digital art, we cover a huge and diverse range of arts and culture COVER just like the festival itself. PHOTOGRAPH Kate Nash Photographer: Our usual thanks go out to the Official Trawler Photo Heroes Si Brandon – as well as Yoshitaka Kono photographers of images taken from the archives of Village Green, many of whom volunteer Fashion Direction Rebekah Roy their time and talent (Matt Allen, Jon Webber, Benedict Johnson BRITISHand Clarissa DESIGN, Debenham) Hair and make up: SUPERIOR SOUND. Evan Huang using Barry M and Mac As you know, we like to provide a leisurely, sunny Sunday morningFrom read compact with speakers Trawler. and stylish table This top radios, to integrated music systems and perhaps Assistants: Adanna issue is more of a ‘pore over me, plan my day, hour-by-hour, make surethe most I elegantdon’t radiogram miss available, out theon choice a Chikwe, Lauren Mann, is yours. And, whatever you choose to listen to, you Location: single bit of the amazing programme, how the blinking flip I goingcan to relax infit the it knowledge all in?’ that youkind are listening of issue. to the very best. You are listening to Ruark Audio. The Lalit London Hotel To view our full range of audio products or to request a brochure please visit our website. SPECIAL And if you don’t have your tickets yet – or, if you’ve had you’re headAlternatively, in the contact clouds us on 01702 and 601410. don’t THANKS TO Available locally through, HB Electrical Leigh On Sea, know when, where or what Village Green is – here’s how you findRayleigh out Hi-Fi more...and Waitrose Southend. Village Green: 8 July 2017 – 11am till 9pm www.villagegreenfestival.com www.ruarkaudio.com See you there! Ruark_Brand_Ad_Trawler_June.indd 1 07/06/2017 17:29 Rich With @RichGrowCo Editor du jour www.thetrawler.net TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 3 Voluntary Service | PHOTOGRAPHY Matt Allen Behind the scenes of Village Green an army of volunteers bring everything they can to help you enjoy the day... 4 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 5 Photo: Tait Photo: Paul 6 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 7 The Urban Farmers (Luke Osborne and Panagiotis Drakoulis.) show the three stages of mushroom growth Urban Farming| WRITER Luke Osborne in Southend AQAR CHOUDHRY SUFFERS FROM TINITUS. the process but also an endless journey into the world of mycology. Typically, when being affected by this in the night, he will listen to BBC world service until he falls asleep. One As for the “urban” element, the pair thought the project was best suited for night there happened to be an interview on there about an the urban environment. One of their key attributes is being able to convert innovative company in the Netherlands who were using waste coffee to an ‘urban waste’ - used coffee grinds-into something nutritious. Wgrow these fantastic Oyster Mushrooms. There would have been no point collecting from Leigh and Southend Waqar and his business partner, Luke Osborne have a mutual friend and only to process it out in the sticks somewhere. The project is entirely got talking at a party. He knew that Luke owns and runs a Renewable local…well 98%. All their coffee grounds are collected from cafes in Energy Company (EnergyMyWay) and that he was very into sustainability Leigh and Southend, the ‘Farm’ is located in the heart of Southend, and naturally the conversation moved onto the subject of the radio show. beneath Maple recording studios in the Grainger Road Industrial Estate and the mushrooms are sold and consumed within the local area. Urban Waqar is a drug and addictions councillor and the pair wondered if there Mushroom’s furtherest supplied restaurant is the Anchor in Hullbridge. would be any scope in merging their two ethos’ of sustainability and re- habilitation through a similar project to that in Rotterdam. So, they decided They provide the cafes with reusable plastic buckets into which they empty to email the guys at Rotterzwam (zwam being dutch for mushroom!) and their used coffee grinds. These are collected on Mondays, Wednesdays and arranged a Skype to talk over their operation. Fridays to ensure that they are relatively fresh, and replaced with clean buckets. The coffee grinds are then taken back to the farm and put through Swiftly, Waqar and Luke ended up flying out to see them a few weeks later a mixer with a number of key ingredients- all natural. Urban Mushrooms and embarked on not only a weeks internship, learning the ins and out of don’t use any chemicals in their process. 8 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 “The hooks and tie-wraps are re-usable, the spent substrate becomes an incredible compost and soil improver and the buckets are re-useable”. Luke Osborne and Waqar Choudhry show off their marvellous mushrooms The mix is then decanted into 5 kg bags, which are hung in an incubation room for around 4 weeks in a pitch black, warm environment. When the bags are ready, they are moved over to the fruiting room, which is where the magic happens. The fruiting room is cooler and mimics daylight. This forces the mycelium to think that it is the ideal time to ‘fruit’ and that is when it produces the mushrooms. The guys are very grateful to their affiliates at all the coffee shops they work with. Early on they approached them and explained that Urban Mushrooms could help them reduce their carbon footprint as well as their waste streams and they were very happy to get on board and be a part of it. Luke and Waqar feel that the customers appreciate ethical businesses and they help to facilitate that. They try to reuse everything that they can where possible. “The hooks and tie-wraps are re-usable, the spent substrate becomes an incredible compost and soil improver and the buckets are re-useable”. The building itself hadn’t been used for 25 years, so you could say they have breathed new life into that. All the floor coverings are offcuts and discards that were going to be heading to landfill. Any unsold mushrooms are either given to the Storehouse or turned into mushroom powder. This is all done to promote people to take away their own hand produced bags. Waqar and Luke are the ‘circular economy’, where the discards from one process are not also looking to partner with other local producers and organisations and classified as waste- but an available resource for the next industry. hopefully offer a way to ‘up-skill’ disadvantaged members of the community. As for the future, Urban Mushrooms hope to expand what they are doing. Luke is really looking forward to this year’s Village Green. He loves The fresh mushrooms are a ’showcase’ piece and the business would love seeing the diversity that the festival brings to the town as well as a good more restaurants to come on board and support local foods. They have mix of food, music and arts to look forward to. The guys are running an some great restaurants and chefs using their mushrooms but are keen to educational stand there on the Friday for the schools, as well as being gain more of a following. around all day on Saturday. They are now selling fantastic kits for people to grow their own oyster When asked what his favourite mushroom dish is, Luke states “The mushrooms from their own coffee waste, which as well as the benefit of fantastic mushroom soup that my wife makes, however, I do make some completely fresh food in your kitchen, is a fun educational piece for the mean tandoori mushrooms roasted in the oven!” children to learn about sustainability and food.