About
Hello! My name is Anika, I’m 19 and live in London. I moved here from Kent when I was 18 to study business at Cass Business School, and it was NO FUN. I spent a couple of months doing a part time internship at FatCat/One Little Indian Records and then spent the summer working at Songkick and then dropped out of university (it wasn’t music centric enough!!!).
Now I am looking for a ‘proper’ job but keeping very busy. I write this blog (mostly) daily and shoot (almost all) the shows I go to. Since I moved to London I’ve been to over 200 gigs, in a year. I really like live music. You can see my photos here.
I have had the pleasure of being involved in many things and have made lots of wonderful friends. I sometimes write the odd word for For Folk’s Sake and The 405 and am a regular photographer for The Line of Best Fit. You should also visit the wonderful Wears The Trousers, a truly great website.
I also promote shows with my friend Lynn (who runs For Folk’s Sake). We’re called The Allotment and we’d love it if you would come to a show. We have big plans. I also sometimes help out with The Local, who are some amazing promoters with great taste and such friendly, kind, warm hearts.
I take photos and draw posters, and help out with Bandstand Busking. A truly fantastic, great group of folk who put on something really special in London. My favourite busks are the Wildbirds & Peacedrums and Alessi ones- check them out!
I draw alot. I draw comics, posters and illustrations. It’s really fun. You can see some of my comics here.
I’m at shows most nights! If you ever want to come say hi please do. I take photos; I’m at the front (usually on the left- left is best!).
CONTACT:
Well, I’m currently in between jobs, so if you want to give me anything to tide me by… that would be grand! I am available for work. I can do photos, draw stuff, odd jobs… you name it!
If you are a band and would like to give me a tip please do. If you would like to mail me anything that would be nice.
Or if you just want to say hello…
EMAIL: anikainlondon@googlemail.com
Thanks for visiting!
Jen said
anika i think your website is amazing…
im goign to read it more often so i know what you are up to! (but not in a stalkerish sense) ha
anikainlondon said
aaw thanks Jennifer! It should start getting more interesting again soon, I have my first gig of the year tomorrow (yay!) and there are some more interviews on the way which I am excited about
Alvaro said
You seem amazing.
I’ll be reading your site.
anikainlondon said
Thank you!
sparky said
hello, i’m very sad and just googled myself in that blog search bit. glad you liked the show i think i know which one you were! where can i get a copy of your comic it looks amazing!
anikainlondon said
Thanks, Sparky! Email me your mailing address and I’ll put one in the post for you at the weekend
chongy said
Your photos are amazing, very nice work! How did you start off with photography? and getting into gigs for free? I’m intrigued!
anikainlondon said
Thanks! I started by just going to loads of gigs and taking my camera along. Practice, practice, practice!
chongy said
Will do! How are most places in terms of letting you take cameras in? I can imagine some places can be a bit of a pain. Have you ever had to leave a gig outright because you had a professional camera on you?
anikainlondon said
I don’t know where you are but in London most venues are fine, it’s just the bigger ones that get a bit sensitive about it. Here they don’t refuse you entry, they’ll just make you check your camera into the cloakroom.
chongy said
You are a star, thanks for the excellent responses!
anikainlondon said
No worries
Glad to help!
Nik Vestberg said
Hi. Great photos from last night. I put one of them on my blog…with a link to yours of course…hope you don’t mind.
Can I just ask…did you take any more photos of us (Moustache of Insanity) or Allo Darlin?…it’s not every day someone takes “proper” photos of us you see.
Nik
Blacky said
one of the most disgusting photos of me i think i’ve ever seen. I’m not photogenic i guess. Your blog is pretty damned cool. Have been checking up on it for a while now. x
anikainlondon said
Thanks, Anna. Sorry about that…. I don’t think you’re not photogenic though!
Steve said
Hi Anika, i’m amazed and in awe at the number of gigs you attend and really like the reviews/photos you upload.Are there any websites/links you can recommend that list most/all of the FREE gigs available.By the way i’m aware of Pure Groove/Rough Trade East/The Social/Bandstand Busking, but are there any more i should know about?
P.S. I was also at the Fanfarlo Bandstand/Rough Trade and ICA gigs and they were great each time.I also liked Stricken City at the ICA and as i’m sure you’re aware,they’re playing a free gig at The Social,Tue 9/6 with support from Gold Panda/Gallops/Copy Haho none of whom i’ve heard,but am looking forward to checking out.Also hope the weather clears up for todays bandstand busk, it should be good.
Take care and cheers, Steve.
anikainlondon said
Hey Steve, thanks for writing! I’m not sure if there’s anywhere that notes ALL the free stuff going on. My friend Chalky does a weekly post that often mentions alot of good free stuff, her blog is here: http://www.terriblelovesongs.com/
Hope you enjoyed the Bandstand Busk on Sunday, wish I could have gone!
Steve said
Cheers Anika, thanks for replying and for recommending your friend Chalky’s site.I hadn’t come across the Banquet Records instore link before and also like the fact that the site’s like having your own gig diary, giving you a reminder of most of the good stuff coming up each week.
The Bandstand Busk on Sunday was sadly reduced from three bands to just one (The Gorgeous Colours) as the other two pulled out through illness.(Although my cynical mind suspects they woke up Sunday morning,saw all that rain and thought stuff playing out in that for a game of soldiers.However i may be doing one or both a disservice and hopefully they may both be able to play at a later date.Either way, the sun did appear in the afternoon and The Gorgeous Colours did a sterling job playing an extended 7 song set,even managing to coax some of the crowd into singing along to a couple of the songs.(I wisely refrained from this as i didn’t want to spoil peoples day).
Lastly i went to The Social tonight to see Gold Panda/Copy Haho/Gallops/Stricken City.Due to tube strike,i only caught the second half of Gold Panda’s set and as it’s not my bag musically i’m not going to offer any opinion.Next up were Copy Haho who are a fairly young band from Scotland.Bar an occasional jarring chord change which sapped a bit of the energy from the odd song, they played a very solid set particularly when they went up-tempo and i’d certainly like to see them again with a few months gigging under their belt.Then came Gallops who are from Wales.All their songs were instrumental and despite numerous sound effects,distortion etc. and plenty of effort i struggled to remain rapt in their songs for any great length of time.They could certainly use some vocal input on a few of their tunes to help flesh them out.(4 blokes from Wales and none of them sing??,what’s the world coming to?)Sadly for me, Gallops… more like the trots.Finally headliners Stricken City appeared and even had 1(Amos i think) or poss. more from Fanfarlo watching on.They were definitely the highlight of the night and played another very good set much like the one at the ICA the week before.All in all a bit of a mixed bag, but still glad i went.
May veture to Puregroove tomorrow to see Fol Chen,bye for now.
Stacy said
I was just at Beach House and decided to see if anyone had just ‘tweeted’ about their gig! So after some link clicking… i’m here! I think i might have seen you at some gigs before. Nice site! Shall be following
anikainlondon said
Thanks Stacy! Beach House were wonderful, weren’t they?
Stacy said
Indeed they were
martin thompson said
hey anika, i think you may have seen us play, i run hungamunga with lloyd. dropping you a message as i see you’ve started a night at the betsey, we would love to play one in the future. x
anikainlondon said
Hi Martin, thanks for the tip!
Anna said
Hey Anika,
Until then, keep up the good work – your photography is enviable.
I’m really enjoying your blog and the photos I find on flickr. Seems as if we share a large amount of musical taste and we even went to the same gigs two days in a row when I was in London this July (Alessi’s Ark and St. Vincent). It’s fun to sort of live vicariously through someone else while one is stuck in a small town in Germany (if that doesn’t sound too weird).
It could well be that you’ll see me and my camera lots when I move to London next August/September
Anna
anikainlondon said
Hi Anna,
Thanks for reading and the kind words! Those shows in July were great, weren’t they? Where can I see your photos? I may well see you next year then
Anna said
Yes, I really loved those shows. Went to Alessi spontaneously because it was just up the road from where I was staying. Ah the luxuries of living in London.
You can see my photography on flickr, sweetlyuntied is the name. I don’t have much gig photography up though because I live in the middle of nowhere at the moment, unfortunately.
c42753s said
Hi, I have been reading through your posts and would love to be able to sap some of your London music know how! I’m trying to start up an up-to-date blog of open mics and jam nights in London: for the scene to refer to when they’re looking for new opportunities or wanting to get their own night publicised to the community. It’s very early days, and I know about “the vac” which is often quite out of date but if you know of any regular spots that you can recommend it would be much appreciated! This is not a plug (I’m not far enough in for that kind of thing yet!) it’s just a request for your expertise: Your blog is great and I’ll be sure to continue reading – such glorious time-wasting opportunities!
beck said
Hello Anika
I’ve got a little something for you that I think you might be interested in. Well, me and a couple of my friends are hosting OxBush, in West London, on Monday 2nd of November 2009, where we’ll have the delicious Alessi’s Ark head lining, who’ll be supported by the much talked about 6 day riot and the lovely electro pop stylings of Run Toto Run, with a special solo set from Treetop Flyers frontman Reid Morisson, and to tie it all up we have Dj antics from the Oh, Inverted World guys, and for those who are fans of folk, fun and electro pop, which it seems you maybe – wow mama! This’ll be music to their ears.
The reason for my message is that we would love it if you could give us a mention on your blog, webiste, whereever whatever, we’d love you to be involved! Even a little mention on your website could make a world of difference. We’d also love to see you at the gig of course.
We’d love to hear back from you, even if it is just to say a yes or a no (hopefully a yes!). For info about out night, I’ve added a little more info below, but you can also check out our blog at http://www.jammyox.blogspot.com.
Thanks for your time.
Rebecca Crouch
listen&follow
Mark said
Great pics and gig reviews. Enjoying your blog. Mumhra.