LeftLion Magazine #129

Future Bubblers: Nottingham's Ella Knight and TONYSPARK on the Gilles Peterson Discovery Scheme

Now in its fifth year, the Gilles Peterson and Brownswood recordings-backed talent discovery scheme Future Bubblers has a...

Food Review: Secret Burger Club

24 September 20

Frequently found at Nottingham Street Food Club, we put their patties to the test...

I'm Not From London Are Celebrating Their Fifteenth Birthday

23 September 20

Whether lockdown is coming to an end, or there’s still some way to go, time continues unrelenting. So as the legendary Nottingham record label, promoter and publisher I’m Not From London reaches its impressive 15th birthday, it continues to look ahead with a series of exciting projects, including the current Be Scene and Heard, a Youth Music project aimed at helping partial to fully deaf 18-25 year-olds get experience in the music industry. With one eye looking back over fifteen years of shaping Nottingham’s musical landscape, and one firmly placed on the future, we caught up with Managing Director Will Robinson to discuss the importance of I’m Not From London...

5 Nottingham Albums to Listen to This Month

22 September 20

The latest Nottinghamshire releases...

Out of Time: Frank Stratton and the Battle of the Little Bighorn

21 September 20

It was an event that sent shockwaves ringing through the country, and remains the most devastating military defeat the United States had ever suffered against the Native Americans. Not only was the Battle of Little Bighorn one of the most significant moments in the story of America, but the massacre of General George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry at the hands of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse remains amongst the most controversial and definitive military actions in U.S. history. And witness to it all was Frank Stratton, a 28-year-old former printer from Nottingham…

Witch of the East's Singer Aeris Houlihan on Her Turbulent Journey to Their Upcoming Album

19 September 20

With a story that wouldn’t look out of place in a HBO series, Witch of the East lead singer Aeris Houlihan certainly has plenty of experience to draw upon for writing new material. From serving in the armed forces to spending months incarcerated in Eastern Europe as a transgender woman, she talked to Alex Mace about her fascinating story, as well as the band’s upcoming music...

MOAN Zine on Female Pleasure, Illustration and This Month's Cover

18 September 20

Since 2018, MOAN has been exploring female pleasure through the perspective of women. After two successful issues and this month’s LeftLion cover, we chat to the woman behind it all about how it all began, receiving and illustrating stories around desire, and what the future holds for MOAN...

The Chimera Plantarium Project Are Working with Primary School Kids to Create Art

17 September 20

Lenton locals may have spotted the remnants of The Chimera Plantarium Project on Church Drive. Two vividly coloured and curiously shaped murals command a presence that hints towards their leafy beginnings and leaves passers-by turning their heads. They are just some of the work delivered by artist Chiara Dellerba and the children from Years 5 and 6 at Edna G. Olds Academy, as part of Primary’s Making Place project. Working together, they explored and created artwork based on the idea of spontaneous plants – wild, urban flora. Spontaneous plants are resilient creatures and their perseverance to thrive almost anywhere, even in abandoned, overlooked, or routinely neglected areas, is something us humans could learn from. We spoke to Chiara, to find out more about the project…

Talking Cakes with Fran Jesson, owner of Sugarberry Cake Studio

16 September 20

Weaving through the avenues of Sneinton Market, you’ll find an eclectic range of shops that will stimulate your senses for one reason or another. There’s Art of Football, with its multicoloured loud and proud exterior, Blend’s toastie bread, which invites you in with delicious smells from across the street… and Sugarberry Cake Studio: adorned with flowers, glossed with minty pastel, and with tasty goods baked to perfection. Formerly Oozee Boozee Bakes, the studio has rebranded to showcase it can do more than tipply treats. Our Food Editor Eve Smallman chats to owner Fran Jesson to find out more…

Food Review: No.12

15 September 20

As lockdown restrictions started to lift, there was only one place that Jason Edgar wanted to reacquaint himself with...

Ben Rose on The Angel Microbrewery, Lockdown Recovery and Vegetarian Cooking

14 September 20

Any regular visitors to The Angel Microbrewery or The Golden Fleece will be familiar with Ben Rose. Having turned two of Notts’ most iconic pubs around, he’s one of the city’s original purveyors of veggie food, with both pubs offering a full menu of meat-free options. And if that wasn’t enough, he even dedicated his kitchen to the Open Kitchens project during lockdown, providing hundreds of meals for those most in need. Christina Geggus caught up with him to find out more...

Artist Mitch Proctor, a.k.a Bon Idle, on his new comic: Henshin

13 September 20

Nine years ago, a mysterious explosion plunged a city into a seemingly endless blackout. That is, until a Mark Zuckerburg-like tech billionaire rebuilt it into a futuristic metropolis – but to Journalism student Alex, this shady figure’s motivations don’t quite ring true. Alex’s hunch soon thrusts him into a world of superheroes and monsters in Henshin, a new series from Notts-based artist Mitch Proctor, a.k.a. Bon Idle...

Hockley Hustle Presents Green Hustle: The Digital Festival Celebrating All Things Sustainability

13 September 20

A highlight in our calendar comes every October when, on the last weekend of the month, the streets of Hockley are taken over by musicians, poets, street performers, food vendors and punters for the annual Hockley Hustle festival. For obvious reasons, it won’t be returning for its fourteenth year, but that doesn’t mean Team HH are taking a (probably well-deserved) break. Thanks to funding from Arts Council England, they’ll be treating the people of Nottingham to a few different projects. The first of those is Green Hustle, a digital festival celebrating, promoting and exploring all things green in our city…

Shreya Sen-Handley on Being the First South Asian Woman to write an International Opera

12 September 20

She’s had two books published by HarperCollins, written for international media and was even the regional head of a television channel at the age of 25. It’s fair to say that there are achievers in this world, and then there’s Shreya Sen-Handley. And if that impressive CV wasn’t enough, she’s now become the first Indian and South Asian woman to write a Western, international opera, called Migrations. We catch up with the multi-talented writer to find out more...

Notes From a Mental Health Nurse: The New Normal

10 September 20

Our resident mental health nurse returns with advice on how to cope with life post-lockdown...

The Inside World of Nottingham BID's Festivals...

09 September 20

Nottingham’s blessed with more than its fair share of events, ceremonies and festivals, many of which have been facilitated by the Nottingham Business Improvement District (BID). Formed in 2012, Nottingham BID has offered support, information and funding to some of the city’s biggest cultural offerings and, with the upcoming ballot to determine whether they’ll continue next year scheduled for October, we caught up with some of the festivals that have benefitted from their support to see how they’ve coped during lockdown, and what Nottingham BID means to them…

City Stylin' #29

07 September 20

We took to the streets to find the most stylish folk in town...

OnlyFans: The Notts Creators Selling Nudes During Lockdown

07 September 20

It’s safe to say that it’s been a pretty manic year so far, and certainly not the vision of 2020 we had hoped for. But through the struggle, a lot of us have found creative ways to feel connected. And in this case, to bring in some extra money. With social media being used now more than ever, especially when each day seemed neverending, OnlyFans – the online platform on which creators can post explicit content for a monthly subscription fee - is one of the businesses that has thrived since the pandemic...

Illustrator Kate Sharp talks Children's Books, Lockdown and Drawing Animals

06 September 20

After catching our eye with a sweet illustration of our magazine stands you can find around town, we’ve had the pleasure of working with recent-graduate illustrator Kate Sharp for our spot-the-difference series and many other illustrations featured in our past few issues. After she bagged a Young Creative Award for her children’s book, Lion’s Hate Pigeons, we took a deep dive into Kate’s colourful world, discussing her past, present and future plans…

The Thompson Brothers on Goose Fair, Holidays and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

02 September 20

Nottingham's most opinionated grocers on...

Overheard in Notts

01 September 20

It's everyone's favourite time of the month...

Food Review: Roxy Ball Room

01 September 20

We headed to the Thurland Street venue for a night of tequila, pizza and ping-pong...

An Undertaker in Notts

05 August 20

Ever wondered what life as an undertaker is really like?

Object Walk: 1887 'Bloody Sunday' Bludgeon

04 August 20

We’ve teamed up with the National Justice Museum to put objects from the past into the hands of people of the present. This month, we took a bludgeon used during the 1887 Trafalgar Square protests – also known as Bloody Sunday – to Josh Osoro Pickering of the Nottingham Castle Trust.