Photo: Sarah Akomanyi
Photo: Dani Willgress
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Photo: Ashleabeaphoto
Metro •

'I was the kid no one would sit with — my podcast helps people feel less alone'

Welcome back to How I Made It, Metro.co.uk’s weekly career journey series. This week, we’re looking at the alternative music industry from the perspective of 23-year-old Yasmine Summan, a West Bromwich-based journalist, social media manager, podcaster, and TikTok creator. They’ve been involved in the alternate music scene for a number of years, starting their journey as a YouTuber dedicated to all things emo music, before pivoting to TikTok, social media management, and journalism. After grad
Knotfest •

On Wednesdays We Wear Black joins the podcast network

As an important voice within alternative culture, hosts Sophie K and Yasmine Summan of the award-winning podcast On Wednesdays We Wear Black have cultivated and nurtured a dedicated following with their unique brand of candor. The conversational series finds an intersection of sex, racism, music and subculture in a way that confronts heady talking points with a sense of honesty and humor. Earning a 2022 Heavy Music Award in the Best Podcast category, the potency of the duo is evident given thei

Am I Too Brown To Be Emo? How Alternative Beauty Favours Whiteness

Though progress is slow, awareness and activism inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years has marked a turning point, particularly for alternative culture. Social media is a great place to start challenging what we perceive as the alternative norm. Marley is a YouTuber and the CEO of Glam Goth Beauty , and a pioneer for many young Black women and non-binary alternative beauty lovers. On Instagram, her beauty brand has a reach of 50.5k followers and champions alternative people
Loudwire •

What Can We Learn About the Double Standard Toward Women in Rock?

As Loudwire reported last month, on a night intended to celebrate the latest and greatest in rock and metal, things were swiftly cut short when the Heavy Music Awards 2021 caught a righteous case of nip slips and fat bass rips that resulted in the Twitch stream being cut short. Streaming live from the 02 Forum London on Thursday Sept. 2, fans enjoying a raucous performance from Trash Boat and Wargasm bassist Milkie Way — or some patiently awaiting Sleep Token’s headlining set — were left disapp

My Keloid Scars Went TikTok Viral. Here's How I Really Feel About Them

My keloid scars weren't always this big and painful. When I was 17, I decided to get four ear piercings in the space of a few months. What I wouldn't give to warn the wide-eyed, rebellious teen sat in a piercing shop that it might not be such a genius idea. Why not wait and see how they heal? I'd ask myself. As much as it pains me to write this sentence, maybe my parents were right when they said I didn't know absolutely everything. But by that point, I'd already donned my choppy black fringe an
The Telegraph •

The 50 best podcasts to listen to right now

Podcast of Ideas A boisterous alternative to In Our Time in which the best ideas come from the audience, not the experts. Episodes cover everything from assisted suicide and a fourth industrial revolution to racism in policing and trans inclusion in sports. The motto of this podcast is “free speech allowed” – you’ve been warned. For fans of In our Time and Planet Normal Chopper’s Politics The Telegraph’s Associate Editor (Politics) Christopher Hope reports from the true core of Westminster: t
Loudwire •

Why Do Venues Take Merch Cuts From Bands? - We Asked People Involved

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, the topic of conversation on the minds of bands, fans, venue owners, and on any social media platform you can find is merchandise cuts. It has been a standard practice for years for venues to take a percentage of the money a touring artist makes at their merch stand. The venue sacrifices some of its floor space to allow artists to sell T-shirts, hoodies, vinyl, patches, etc. In exchange for this privilege, the artist must surrender
Loudwire •

The Most Memorable Rock Music Festival Performances of All Time

From Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock to Knocked Loose at Coachella, festival stages bring out the best in musicians. Many artists leave their mark on music history not only through their artistic contributions but also their absolutely iconic stage performances that live on for decades. The grandiose scale of it all, performing not only to hundreds but thousands upon thousands of music lovers, gives more creative freedom for stage design, props, costume changes, and fun pyrotechnics that make for ast
louder •

Enter Shikari's Rou Reynolds: the songs that changed my life

Whether it's classical ballads or gritty nu metal breakdowns, the eccentric frontman of Enter Shikari’s music tastes are as vivacious the music he makes. Who knew Beethoven was a great way to get pumped before lashing out some killer live shows? With their latest offering A Kiss For The Whole World hitting shelves and streaming services, we’re catching up with Rou Reynolds to talk about the albums that changed his life. “It's a very emotional, nostalgic one. For a certain period of my life, my
louder •

Every track on Bring Me The Horizon's Sempiternal album ranked from worst to best

2013 was a year jam-packed with epic releases, memorable pop culture moments, internet meme mania and the relief of surviving the 2012 apocalypse (well, not really). Music found itself in quite an interesting place; riding from the explosive high of 00s metal that seemed to dim as quickly as it lit, the early 2010s became something of a cooling-off period for the rightfully exhausted metalcore genre. Once every band you could find on a Warped Tour lineup had played the same riff into its grave,
Alternative Press Magazine •

Meet the My Chemical Romance superfans camping through thunderstorms

This weekend My Chemical Romance kicked off their huge worldwide tour in the U.K., starting at Cornwall, England’s Eden Project. Ahead of the band’s first performance at Milton Keynes Stadium, where they’ll be residing for four nights in a row starting Thursday May 18, Alternative Press caught up with fans camping out from the crack of dawn, despite weather warnings and the brisk British spring breeze. “The duvets are here, the snacks are here… we’re just gonna sleep on the floor,” says 19-year
Alternative Press Magazine •

The next 8 “legacy artists”—who are they?

Who are the next legacy artists? The “legacy” title for rock 'n' roll artists seems to be one exclusively reserved for the elite crop of pre-'90s musicians, and even regarded as an insult by music snobs to any band that aren't withering into their old age and incapable of making music. Instead of waiting for that march to the great abyss, why not pay artists their flowers while they’re still around to be celebrated? As we settle into the 2020s, early 2000s to 2010 nostalgia is creeping up on mi
Loudwire •

7 Times Musicians Battled Their Record Labels

Musicians have been talking about defying “the man” since the dawn of time — it’s the rock ’n’ roll ethos, right? It seems to some bands that “man” was their record label, and “defying” them actually resulted in a few lengthy court battles to fight over ownership of music, fulfilment of contracts, album prices and much more. Rather than battle of the bands, the music industry has had far too many battles with the labels. We’ve selected some of the more intense or notable battles artists have un
NME •

Abby Roberts: "Working with Arctic Monkeys - is that not the dream?"

You may already be familiar with Abby Roberts through her huge TikTok presence. Having amassed over 17 million followers with her posts about make-up, beauty and art, she’s since worked with the likes of Yungblud, Zara Larsson and Liam Payne, and recently featured as a guest judge on the BBC’s Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star. The 20-year-old online sensation is now entering the world of music, with a six-track EP of hard-hitting anthems that come from a place of great emotional and mental
Alternative Press Magazine •

How the Boulet Brothers, Venus Envy and more are breaking the boundaries of drag

Smeared lipstick, vivaciously spiked hair, large pleather boots — drag and alternative culture are not so dissimilar, the two having danced hand in hand over the decades, basking in one another’s great glory. Drag and punk share the same ethos, after all: stamping out hate, doing it yourself and pushing the boundaries of what society demands. ’80s hair-metal bands and 2000s emo singers evidently took their cues for hair and eyeliner from drag queens, too. This notion of changing your appearance

How I Celebrate My Indian Culture Alongside My Alt Beauty Identity

I have never been ashamed of my South Asian heritage – and I never will – but I admit to being afraid to flaunt it, given my father’s experience. The word ‘struggle’ doesn’t go far enough to describe the inhumane treatment he endured. His youth was consumed by 'P*ki-bashing', whereby South Asians would be chased home, beaten up, have their belongings stolen and, in some cases, murdered. As a budding engineer in his teens and early 20s, he would push himself to exhaustion in an effort to prove hi

Why Is Enjoying Beauty When You're Non-Binary So Difficult?

As a non-binary person – someone who doesn’t identify as male or female – my relationship with beauty has always been a battle of never fitting in (nor wanting to). Growing up, I was an awkward, brown emo kid in a body I wasn’t sure was my own. I donned a choppy, Avril Lavigne-esque haircut and smudged black eyeliner to stray far away from the assigned idea of femininity which society had attributed to me and my vagina. Soon, alternative beauty became a solace and allowed me to reject very 'girl
Loudwire •

11 Bands Leading the Screamo Revival

Remember those studded belts and knee-high Converse you’ve been clinging onto for dear life as the last reminder of “the good ol’ days” – MySpace, damaged backcombed hair and an unorthodox amount of energy drinks. Relics of your former life now collecting dust in your parents attic? Well, unlike the overdue Beanie Baby return, it may be time to crack those bad boys out because screamo is back with a vengeance. /. Social media has been the catalyst for this return, marking a decade of the Rawrin

Are These Popular Beauty Trends Racist?

"The fox eye trend is catastrophic to the Asian community," agrees tattoo artist Alex Lawson . As the fox eye peaked in popularity, many pointed out that it relies on taking facial features from East Asians; features which have often been mocked. It's wrong – not to mention racist – to glorify these features on white faces alone. "I've had strangers in the street pulling their eyes and shouting slurs at me," continues Lawson. "People want to wear Asian features without living the effect of being
Loudwire •

Pop Punk's Inevitable Comeback - How Did it Even Survive?

You might have heard everyone raving and rejoicing that pop punk is “finally” back. A new generation of teenagers are reviving the genre’s beloved years through viral trends on TikTok while artists such as Machine Gun Kelly and All Time Low storm the mainstream front with it. While critics will dispute that it never really died, no one’s asking how the hell it even survived? Gatekeepers, allegations and breakups — pop punk has barely made it out alive. Here’s how it did. Pop Punk Never Died, S