In Conversation
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Music
In Conversation: Damiano
With a sound that blends cinematic pop, alternative R&B and atmospheric storytelling, emerging artist Damiano is creating music that feels both intimate and immersive. His debut single, Little White Lies, draws inspiration from a transformative trip to Los Angeles, exploring the tension between ambition, illusion and self-discovery. As he continues to carve out his own dreamlike musical world, we caught up with Damiano to discuss the song, the creative process behind it, and the experiences…
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Arts and Culture
Creative Spotlight: In Conversation with Kenneth Hesketh
Where Sound Becomes Structure — Kenneth Hesketh on architecture, atmosphere and the strange emotional power of composition. For Kenneth Hesketh, music was never simply something he did — it was an environment he inhabited. Born in Liverpool in 1968, his earliest formative experiences came as a chorister at Liverpool Cathedral, where sound itself became something physical, architectural and psychologically charged. Reflecting on those years, Hesketh says becoming a chorister at nine placed him inside “an…
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Music
In Conversation: The Kowloons
The Kowloons are quickly carving out a reputation for their catchy melodies and authentic indie sound, drawing inspiration from Britpop greats while pushing confidently into new territory. With a new EP out this month and a series of standout live dates lined up, we caught up with the band to talk influences, Liverpool’s thriving music scene, and what 2026 has in store. For people who are just discovering you, how would you describe The Kowloons…
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Music
In Conversation: Eugene McGuinness
A decade on from Domino Records, an evolved Eugene McGuinness is back with his new album Eugene McGuinness Versus the Universe, recorded in the heart of the city with old friends at Liverpool’s Docklands Speed Shop. Ahead of McGuinness’ album launch at Rough Trade Liverpool presented by Mellowtone, this Saturday 21 March, we had the chance to speak to Eugene about his career so far and what’s on the horizon for this chapter… Please can…
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Arts and Culture
Creative Spotlight: In Conversation with Eleanor Rees
Eleanor Rees: Where Place Becomes Voice For Eleanor Rees, poetry has never been a performance of the self. It is something quieter, more porous — a practice of attention rooted in landscape, language and the subtle negotiations between the human and the more-than-human. Across more than two decades of work, the Birkenhead-born poet has traced rivers, parks, mythic figures and post-industrial terrains, building a body of writing that listens as much as it speaks. Rees’s…
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Music
In Conversation: Soraya Verjee
Soraya Verjee is one of Liverpool’s young rising Classical musicians. During her Undergraduate degree at University of Liverpool, Soraya became passionate about championing underrepresented composers following an increased awareness of the male-dominated industry. Studying at the Brit School and graduating from the University of Liverpool in 2025, Soraya has already begun to establish herself as a budding concert pianist, working on many exciting projects that champion female composers as well as appearing on the BBC…
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Theatre in Liverpool
In Conversation: Elizabeth Huskisson
Rage, Reckoning, and BSL: Huskinson Refuses Your Complacency. On 13 March, Unity Theatre hosts a one-night-only performance that refuses to let its audience sit back in passive comfort. Where Have All Our Women Gone? is written and performed by Elizabeth Huskisson, and it arrives with a clear intention: to disrupt, to confront and to demand something of the people in the room. This is not theatre as escapism. Huskisson’s solo show tackles male violence against women and girls,…
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Arts and Culture
Creative Spotlight: In Conversation with Naive John
From pixels to paint — Naive John builds images that resist meaning and reward patience. On the edge of Liverpool’s Toxteth district, amid terraced streets and the low hum of passing traffic, there’s a studio that feels less like an artist’s room and more like a laboratory. The light is subdued. Brushes are laid out with care. A monitor glows quietly in the corner. At the centre of it all stands Naive John — painter,…
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Music
In Conversation: KOJ
KOJ is a rising rap sensation from South Liverpool. With a unique fusion between the rawness of grime culture and the eclectic creativity of UK rap. KOJ delivers authentic, personable lyrics that cut deep – placing him firmly among the UK’s most formidable talents in rap. We spoke to KOJ ahead of his headline show TRiBE in Liverpool this Saturday 7 February, to talk about his journey in music and what’s in store for him…
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Arts and Culture
In Conversation – Elinor Randle
Past, politics, people — Unity carries them all into a future that’s safe and fiercely of it’s own making. There are buildings in Liverpool that don’t just hold memories, they argue back. Unity Theatre is one of them. Tucked just off Hope Street, it’s a space that has always felt slightly out of step with the city’s grander cultural institutions — and proudly so. Born out of the Merseyside Left Theatre in the 1930s, Unity’s roots…
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Arts and Culture
Creative Spotlight: In Conversation with Rowena Gander
Rewriting the Rules: How Rowena Gander Turns the Pole into Power, Memory, and Queer Visibility Gander is quietly rewriting what it means to be a queer performer in Liverpool. And she’s doing it from a pole. Not the kind you see in glossy magazines or nightclub corners, but a pole that doubles as memory, as protest, as stage partner, and as research object. Liverpool’s arts scene has always had its heavyweights, but few artists here…
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Arts and Culture
Creative Spotlight: In Conversation with Paulina Kurzydlowska
Paulina Kurzydlowska – charting a practice where memory meets the modern There is something quietly radical in the way Paulina Kurzydlowska works. She moves easily between memory, nature and the digital, letting thread, paint and pixel coexist in ways that feel both intuitive and deliberate. She describes herself as a mixed-media fine artist working across painting, textiles and digital processes, creating what she calls “new ways of experiencing our physical world.” Her work always seems…
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Arts and Culture
Creative Spotlight: In Conversation with Sorrell Kerrison
Sorrell Kerrison — Threading Colour, Chaos and Compassion In the vast and vibrant landscape of contemporary textile art, few voices hum with as much honesty, energy, and defiant colour as Sorrell Kerrison’s. A self-taught embroiderer, musician, and multidisciplinary artist now based in Liverpool, Kerrison’s practice is a deeply personal dialogue between sound, texture, and emotion — a visual symphony where needle and thread replace strings and frets. Once a touring musician and frontwoman, she has…
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Music
In Conversation – Rachael Jean Harris
Wildly original and beautifully human — Rachael Jean Harris has a voice that makes the everyday feel profound… Liverpool singer-songwriter Rachael Jean Harris appears as part of the Yoko Ono Lennon Lunchtime Concert Series at Liverpool’s Tung Auditorium on Wednesday 22nd October 2025. Rachael has been described by BBC6 Music as “wildly original,” fusing folk, jazz, and progressive elements to carry listeners through evocative narratives. Long a devotee to the richness of language, poetic imagery,…
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Arts and Culture
Creative Spotlight: In Conversation with Blaise Drummond
Between Nature and Architecture: Blaise Drummond’s Quiet Pursuit of Balance. In the latest instalment of the Liverpool Noise 2025 Creative Spotlight series, we turn our attention to Blaise Drummond, a Liverpool-born artist whose work quietly excavates the tensions between the built environment and the natural world. Raised on the fringes of the city—suburban Heswall, in his case—with marshes, untamed patches of land and the edge of industry always in view, Drummond’s early years planted the…
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Music
In Conversation – Alan O’Hare
Thirteen Years, One Tradition: Alan O’Hare on Keeping the String Show Special. For thirteen years, Alan O’Hare — the singer-songwriter behind Only Child — has captivated audiences with a unique annual show: a folk-rock performance transformed by the classical grace of a string quartet. This year, the gig returns to Prohibition Studios for the second time, a venue chosen for its remarkable intimacy. With only 45 seats, the space allows the audience to feel the music, making the concert…
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Music
In Conversation – Austerity Dogs
Born out of lockdown chaos and fuelled by raw poetry, dark humour, and blistering beats, Austerity Dogs are carving out their own corner of Liverpool’s underground. What started as a chance experiment between engineer/producer Lachlan and writer/comedian Jono has grown into a post-punk spoken word project that blends grit with wit, politics with poetry, and rage with moments of sharp relief. From cassettes passed between friends to gigs alongside Goldie Lookin Chain, the duo have…
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Music
In Conversation – Mark Simpson
An Architect of Sound: From Liverpool’s Streets to the Global Stage. Hailing from Liverpool’s vibrant and culturally rich landscape, composer and clarinettist Mark Simpson returns to his roots as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s (RLPO) new Artist in Residence. This residency marks a significant artistic homecoming for the musician, whose journey from a young Liverpudlian with a free clarinet to an internationally acclaimed composer is a testament to both his prodigious talent and the city’s…
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Arts and Culture
Creative Spotlight: In Conversation with Gay Caul
Finding Equilibrium: The Geometry of Regenerated Spaces. Stepping into the world of artist Gay Caul is to encounter a captivating dialogue between urban landscapes and geometric abstraction. Her work, deeply rooted in an engagement with regenerated dockland areas, translates the dynamic tension and relationships found within these spaces into a language of hard-edged forms and bold lines. Gay Caul’s reductive approach strips back the complexities of urbanisation, focusing on the fundamental structures and their interplay.…
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Music
In Conversation: Kulturess
Self-described as “Evil twins on a rap star mission”, Kulturess are establishing themselves as one of the most exciting artists in the local scene. Sisters Tabitha Jade and Eliza Mai were both cultivating their own solo careers pre-Covid, with acclaim from BBC Introducing Merseyside and BBC 1Xtra. After the lockdowns hit, the sisters began to work together for the first time, writing, producing and live streaming — and through all of this, Kulturess was born.…
