ILUKA - Brave Like a Lion

ILUKA, the alter-ego of Sydney songstress Nikki Thorburn, is here to give the smoky retro jazz croon a youthful facelift. While still only 20, ILUKA has already travelled through Europe and Africa, scribbling lyrics on scraps of foreign street maps and bringing them together in her debut EP, To The Place which was released early 2011 under her birth name.

ILUKA is set to keep momentum building with the imminent release of her follow-up EP Eyes Closed. Keep up to date with news of releases and live shows by following her Facebook page.

Getting To Know... Fanny Quest

Fanny Quest is the first person to star in one of Bobbysix.com's promotional videos. You can see the result of our video shoot below. First though, read our interview with the Brighton-based German model:

I started modelling after somebody came up to me at a party in Germany and asked me if I was interested in it. I went for a test shoot the next day and it went well, so that's how it began. After I finished school, I didn't really know what I wanted to study. I decided that, before I ended up studying something that I didn't really like, I should come to England to get life experience. When I moved to Brighton, I went to the casting for Brighton Fashion Week. It was a really great opportunity and one of the best experiences of my life.

I see modelling like art. It's not just a picture on paper but should really represent a person. I think I'm a very happy and friendly person and I try to bring that across.

I would really like to travel all over the world. I want to stay in England at first and, if modelling works out, I'd love to go to New York for a while because I've heard it's an amazing place. I think being in Paris must be nice. There's so much stuff you need to see in your life, to get to know what you really like.

Aside from modelling, I'd like to do something with media and communication. I would like to be a presenter because I love to talk - I am very talkative and open to people. But if this doesn't work, I would love to have my own bakery. My passion is baking, cooking and presenting food.

I'm currently listening to lots of jazz. I love jazz. And old music like The Beatles. Happy music. I don't like commercial stuff like Lady Gaga.

I absolutely love Brighton. Everybody is how they want to be. They are enjoying their lives and a lot of people are trying to live their dreams. Everyone is respectful. People don't have preconceptions and they get to know you before they make decisions about you. It's really nice and it isn't like, just because you are young and blond, you are stupid or something. People give you the opportunity to show them how you really are.

I had fun making the video for Bobbysix.com. It is always interesting to get to know what you can do. You just need to be a bit confident. Before you try it, you don't know if you can do it well or not, so it was good, because now I know. It's always important to learn new things and to be open.

You've read the interview and seen the pictures, now check out the video Fanny starred in, exclusively for Bobbysix.com:

Interview and video by Bobby Townsend.

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Mulatu Astatke at The Komedia, Brighton

An Ethiopian legend of jazz was in Brighton last week. BobbySix.com reviewer 25ThC was so inspired that he left the gig wanting to learn the trumpet:

MULATU ASTATKE
Komedia, Brighton 25th May 2011

You may not have heard of the Ethiopian Jazz legend that is Mulatu Astatke but he has been making music for over 50 years pioneering his own genre of Ethio-jazz, melding western jazz with traditional Ethiopian Melodies. I have to admit I only became aware of his presence a couple of years ago when he released the amazing Inspiration Information album with the Heliocentrics but have been a huge fan ever since.

The long queue outside his show at Brighton's Komedia was an early sign that this was going to be a gig to remember and, once inside, the packed crowd warmly welcomed Mulatu onto the stage as he started straight into his signature melodies. He stood up front in a long white robe and masterfully played the vibraphone, hypnotising the audience and leading his band of accomplished musicians.

Backed by an especially mentionworthy brass section, he played a number of classics and some new material including Motherland as he rotated between vibraphone, piano and congas. The stand out track was Yegelle Tzetza which has recently been sampled by Nas and Damien Marley on their track As We Enter from their Distant Relatives album. You can watch the performance of this track here. He finished the set with another classic by simply stating "This is a track I wrote for myself so I called it Mulatu". You would be strongly advised to catch Mulatu live if you can or on record if you can't.

Review by 25ThC