24th March 2021

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

Alternative Press Magazine • 9th December 2022

Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova is reclaiming their body through sex work

WHAT DOES THE MODERN FEMINIST LOOK LIKE? Fourth-wave feminism has long surpassed the righteousness of exposed ankles or fighting against the ‘50s distilled housewife archetype; there have been great strides to overcome the challenges of ascertaining equal rights for women with regard to gender pay inequalities, abortion rights or protecting women from targeted violence — though, that’s still an uphill battle. But bras aren’t being burned, and period blood is no longer being smeared in protest, s

Loudwire • 24th February 2022

Op-Ed: Is Marilyn Manson Turning to Christianity + Why Does it Matter?

Reports of Marilyn Manson’s appearance at Kanye West’s Sunday Service sent the internet into a frenzy of chaos and division and now some are questioning whether the self-professed Antichrist Superstar’s unexpected turn to Christinaity has ulterior motives. Manson, whose career has been partly defined by criticizing and rejecting Christianity, was spotted at Ye’s Sunday Service not only as an attendee but as a participant in a prayer with Ye and Justin Bieber. This was a rare public appearance f

Loudwire • 24th February 2022

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

Alternative Press Magazine • 19th May 2022

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

8th June 2021

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

Alternative Press Magazine • 6th January 2023

10 incredible alternative albums that turn 10 in 2023

2013 was a monumental year in pop culture, to say the least. Internet and meme culture was starting to peak, with doge images and "Harlem Shake" videos dominating every feed of social media platforms that were just starting to boom, and sites like Tumblr and Wattpad became a breeding ground for an army of unshakeable fandom communities. In music, especially, the year couldn't have been more of a game-changer. As 2000s bubblegum pop, the rise of gloomy nü metal, and mid-00s pop punk all cooled o

Alternative Press Magazine • 21st March 2022

Glam Goth Beauty is transforming alternative beauty standards—here’s how

The landscape of alternative beauty is vastly and rapidly changing. With the rise of #AltTikTok catapulting the umbrella of alternative culture, music and fashion into the mainstream eye, now even the Kardashians can be seen sporting an edgier, “punk”-inspired look. This popularity is mostly a cause for celebration, opening the floodgates to a whole new generation, and making alternative items more accessible and affordable than ever. In conjunction with heightened awareness of the Black Lives

15th July 2021

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

12th June 2021

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

Alternative Press Magazine • 22nd April 2022

How TikTok allows artists to take direct control of their own narratives

In the age of accessibility, where you now can learn how to produce your own tracks from YouTube tutorials, young women in music are taking their careers back into their own hands. Fading are the tedious mind games from an industry resilient in its sexist ways; no stooping to the “female-fronted” trope to sell yourself or groveling for the same opportunities handed to men. While groundwork has been laid to implement better opportunities for women over the decades, online spaces are paving a way

Alternative Press Magazine • 27th May 2022

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

NME • 24th January 2022

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

Loudwire • 24th February 2022

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

Alternative Press Magazine • 24th October 2022

Meet the Swemos, the Taylor Swift and emo fandom taking over the internet

What’s something Taylor Swift and emo bands have in common? While that statement feels like some kind of "chicken crossing the road" jive, you’d be surprised what similarities Swifties and swoopy-haired emos share. Whether it’s despairing lyrics poetically mapping out the cruel fate of a broken heart or how the media has often vilified both for those vulnerable lyrics, their common denominator seems to lie within their fanbase. Self-described “Swemos” sit at the crossroads between loving Swift a

Alternative Press Magazine • 12th May 2022

How 'After Laughter' became Paramore’s saving grace

Have we retired the “ahead of its time” cliché yet? Granted, nowadays it is grossly misused for releases that barely scratch the surface even at their best. But on its five-year anniversary, if we take a look back at Paramore’s 2017 record After Laughter, there really is no other release in their discography that better emphasizes that sentiment. Though not entirely groundbreaking for the vast landscape of music in that time period, After Laughter became the saving grace for a band unraveling at

Alternative Press Magazine • 8th August 2022

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

Alternative Press Magazine • 25th August 2022

Everything you need to know about Gen Z's favorite skin care-forward brand

Welcome to Generation AP, a weekly spotlight on emerging actors, writers and creatives who are on the verge of taking over. As the fashion and beauty world explodes at the seams with 2000s nostalgia, from bright colors and detailed packaging, many makeup brands are eager to incorporate the liveliness of the 2000s into their branding, but few manage to pull it off. One company breathing a euphoric sense of new beginnings that encapsulated the early 2000s with its equally innovative approach and

Alternative Press Magazine • 16th September 2022

Nova Twins on anarchy in the US, owning your power and embracing the limitless 'Supernova' mantra

There's the cliche "the sky's the limit," but London duo Nova Twins have taken their success to astronomical feats. In addition to buckling a second studio album under their belt only two years on from their debut LP, they've also secured a record deal with Marshall, collaborated with their heroes Bring Me The Horizon and Jason Aalon Butler, toured globally, been nominated for the 2022 Mercury Prize and grown their Nova Twins community into an unstoppable force. Read more: Magnolia Park deliver

8th November 2021

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