Strong Island

Local Events

The Day Of The Rabblement Album Launch

This bank holiday monday 6-piece folk indie band The Day Of The Rabblement will be launching their debut album ‘Night Time Rallies’ through Psychedelia Records.

In celebration of the launch the band will be playing a live show as part of Love Castle Road Mini Festival. Castle Road itself will be closed to traffic between 10am and 3pm. As well as music there will be stalls, food, fun and of course a chance to visit all of the shops.

You can find out more about the band on Facebook and Twitter.

‘Night Time Rallies’ will be available from the band directly and from Pie & Vinyl Record Cafe, Castle Road. I’ve been lucky enough to listen to it and I thoroughly recommend purchasing a copy!

The Day Of The Rabblement

The Day Of The Rabblement

Castle Road Vintage and Spring Fair

Just to remind you that this coming May Bank Holiday the Castle Road Area Traders Association are holding a two day Vintage and Antique Spring Fair on Sunday 26th and Monday 27th. Both days are completely free and there will be unique stalls, live music, food, drink, lots of fun and it is certainly promising to be a great event for all the family. Castle Road will be closed off from 10am till 3pm for your chance to really enjoy what’s on offer without having to squeeze to the side of it’s narrow road.

Pop along for a browse down this wonderful road as many of its quirky shops, and cafes including Pie and Vinyl, The Brocante, Revive |nteriors, Sabre Sales, Roberts Antiques, Sellers Coffee House, & The Barley Mow to name a few will be open for your perusal.

Pie & Vinyl will also be curating a couple of special acts for your enjoyment with ‘The B of The Bang’, ‘Retrospective Soundtrack players’ and wait for it……’The Day of The Rabblement’ – who on the day will launch their début album ‘Night Time Rallies’ in conjunction with Pie&Vinyl on Psychedelia records.

For more information or stall enquiries please contact Richard from Sellers Coffee Shop on 07742 526738. We will follow up with further details soon.

image

Amazing mixed media illustration by Sue Meredith

Strong Island & My Dog Sighs present Head Jam

We are stoked, as always, to be working once again with local artist My Dog Sighs on what is set to be one of the largest mural paintings in the city.

Rick from Head Hairdressing on Albert Road conceived the idea of having the courtyard to the rear of the local barbers transformed in to a permanent giant art piece. From precision multilayered stencils, through bubble gum cutsie to surreal illustrative mayhem, My Dog Sighs has hand picked his favourite artists from across the country to produce the ultimate street art dreamscape courtyard.

Head Jam will run all day so feel free to pop along, take a look, have a chat, hang out, meet the artists and enjoy the atmosphere. There will be music on all day, a BBQ turning over in the background if you want to stick a burger on (not supplied), and please feel free to bring along a beer too. Everyone is welcome, so bring the kids so they can see some of the countries finest street artists working together in this unique environment.

Attending artists include: Snik, Wah Graff, Id-iom, Korporate Kaine, Process Smith and of course My Dog Sighs. Be sure to check their links to see more of their amazing work and we look forward to seeing you.

Head Jam

Korporate Kaine

Snik

Screen Shot 2013-05-23 at 20.21.59

Id-iom

My Dog Sighs

Wah Graff

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Free Start of the Summer Party at The Registry

Next Thursday (30th May) sees a celebration of the end of university term and the start of summer with a free party and bands at The Registry from 8pm – 1am. The bands lined up to play are:

Beta Blocker and the Body Clock
Poledo
Abattoir Blues

There will also be a pop up shop from Feel Like It Clothing too.

Find out more at the Facebook Event.

Free Start of the Summer Party at The Registry

Castle Road Vintage and Spring Fair

This coming May Bank Holiday the Castle Road Area Traders Association are holding a two day Vintage and Antique Spring Fair on Sunday 26th and Monday 27th. Both days are completely free and there will be unique stalls, live music, food, drink, lots of fun and it is certainly promising to be a great event for all the family. Castle Road will be closed off from 10am till 3pm for your chance to really enjoy what’s on offer without having to squeeze to the side of it’s narrow road.

Pop along for a browse down this wonderful road as many of its quirky shops, and cafes including Pie and Vinyl, The Brocante, Revive |nteriors, Sabre Sales, Roberts Antiques, Sellers Coffee House, & The Barley Mow to name a few will be open for your perusal.

Pie & Vinyl will also be curating a couple of special acts for your enjoyment with ‘The B of The Bang’, ‘Retrospective Soundtrack players’ and wait for it……’The Day of The Rabblement’ – who on the day will launch their début album ‘Night Time Rallies’ in conjunction with Pie&Vinyl on Psychedelia records.

For more information or stall enquiries please contact Richard from Sellers Coffee Shop on 07742 526738. We will follow up with further details soon.

image

Amazing mixed media illustration by Sue Meredith

Photos from Arrows of Love at The One Eyed Dog

Photos from the recent Arrows of Love show at The One Eyed Dog in Southsea are now up on the Strong Island Recordings Facebook page. Some are shown below but visit the SIR Facebook page to see the whole album and give the page a Like if you want to keep up to date with the upcoming shows and releases they have planned soon.

www.facebook.com/StrongIslandRecordings

Photos from Arrows of Love at The One Eyed Dog (1)

Photos from Arrows of Love at The One Eyed Dog (2)

Photos from Arrows of Love at The One Eyed Dog (3)

(Photos by Strong Island Media)

Detailed Victorious Festival Lineup Details Announced

The other day Victorious Festival announced details on which bands will be playing which stage over the festival weekend. Check the poster below for full details and keep an eye on their website for more details.

victoriousfestival.co.uk

Victorious Festival

3rd Portsmouth Tattoo Extravaganza This Weekend

You may well be aware that the Portsmouth Tattoo Extravaganza returns for it’s third year this weekend at the Pyramids Centre. The event brings together international artists to Portsmouth plus local artists too and lots of traders and bands/DJs. You can find out loads more about the event at:

www.tattooextravaganza.co.uk

3rd Portsmouth Tattoo Extravaganza

Early Bird Tickets For Victorious Festival Finish Friday

Early bird tickets for Victorious Festival at the Dockyard on the 24th & 25th August end this Friday. Early bird tickets come with these added extras:

- Queue jump at the main gate. Beat any crowds at the entrance and walk straight in.
- 1 FREE drink worth up to £4 at any on site bar (excluding real ale festival bar).
- 1 FREE souvenir lanyard, programme and site map.
- Misc. goodies from the main sponsors Jack FM, The Belle Isle and Coors as well as the other local sponsors.
- Entered into a draw to upgrade to ACCESS ALL AREAS tickets. 20 VIP Tickets available.
- ‘Recommend a Friend’ Dockyard ticket discount promotion and a competition prize draw to win A Victorian Festival of Christmas tickets.

You can order your early bird tickets from HERE.

Strong Island will be heavily representing at the festival again this year too, more details on that soon.

Victorious Festival Poster

Rising To The Challenge with The Rowans Hospice

The Rowans Hospice provides palliative care to people in Portsmouth and South-East Hampshire living with terminal illnesses and they are currently looking for brave participants who want to jump out of a plane or walk backwards down a building and raise some money for them! Sound like you…

Funds raised from these events will go towards the Hospice’s £4.6 million annual running costs and help the Hospice keep providing all of its services free of charge.

Skydive 11th May – A thrilling experience: Jump in tandem with an instructor at 10,000ft, freefall 5,000ft at 120mph, steer the parachute onto the drop zone. All training and equipment provided on the day of the jump. They also have a jump date scheduled for 7th September or you can do a date of your choice if neither of these work for you. The jump costs £225 to do it and they ask that you raise £200 on top of this for the Hospice.

Abseil 18th May – Participants are wanted to brave the 110ft descent (11 storeys) down their brand new Abseil building, The University of Portsmouth’s Mercantile House in Portsmouth. Join World Record holder Doris Long on her actual birthday as she attempts to break her record for the oldest person to abseil at the amazing age of 99! The abseil costs £15 per person and they ask that each participant sets themselves a fundraising target of £100 per person too.

For more information on either, please contact The Rowans Fundraising team on 023 9223 8531 or look on their website for more info at www.rowanshospice.co.uk

Features

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island & local artist When We Were Cows present ‘Southsea in an Instant’ an instant photography afternoon walk where anyone with a camera that uses Polaroid, Impossible Project or Fuji instant film are welcome to get involved. We will be exploring Southsea seafront from 1pm on 18th May with our instant photography cameras, starting off at The Bridge Tavern Pub at The Camber in Old Portsmouth. We’ll then make our way to The Hot Walls and then along the Millenium walk and then the Prom to South Parade Pier.

From the pier we’ll make our way to Albert Road and we’ll then be holding an instant, pop-up exhibition with the photos taken during the walk in Little Johnny Russells from 5pm to 7pm. We’ll then put the photos up on our upcoming exhibitions archive section of the Strong Island website soon after.

If you want to get involved simply pop along to The Bridge Tavern from around 12:30 to 1pm, the more the merrier and all that. Look forward to seeing you there!

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island & local artist When We Were Cows present ‘Southsea in an Instant’ an instant photography afternoon walk where anyone with a camera that uses Polaroid, Impossible Project or Fuji instant film are welcome to get involved. We will be exploring Southsea seafront from 1pm on 18th May with our instant photography cameras, starting off at The Bridge Tavern Pub at The Camber in Old Portsmouth. We’ll then make our way to The Hot Walls and then along the Millenium walk and then the Prom to South Parade Pier.

From the pier we’ll make our way to Albert Road and we’ll then be holding an instant, pop-up exhibition with the photos taken during the walk in Little Johnny Russells from 5pm to 7pm. We’ll then put the photos up on our upcoming exhibitions archive section of the Strong Island website soon after.

If you want to get involved simply pop along to The Bridge Tavern from around 12:30 to 1pm, the more the merrier and all that. Look forward to seeing you there!

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island Clothing Co X Portsmouth Supporters Trust T-Shirt Available for Pre-Order

As you are probably well aware from reading the news recently, the Portsmouth Supporters Trust succeeded in their bid to take control of Portsmouth FC making it the biggest community owned club in the UK. It is a long and hard fought victory by the fans that have endured years of bad fortune, bad news and bad performances and a couple of the SI crew have seen most of them! PST’s aim is to bring about responsible, democratic representation at Portsmouth Football Club and so help promote the highest standards of transparent governance, accountability and embed Portsmouth FC deeper into its community through greater communication and co-operation with its fans.

We contacted the PST back in November last year to put forward our idea of doing a Strong Island PFC edition T-shirt to raise money towards buying a share in the club. The PST warmly welcomed the idea and we are pleased to say we are now putting our plan into action.

Strong Island is keen to get behind the trust as are many others. We’re going to pledge £5 of every limited edition SI X PFC tee sold towards Strong Island buying a share of the football club, therefore financially helping PFC in it’s aim to become stable again and continue to be a hugely important aspect of the city.

The design itself is a re-imagining of the common elements from the iconic Portsmouth FC logo from the 1980s and the Strong Island logo, with two swords in place, each dated with the club’s FA Cup wins. The Strong Island Clothing Co. items are normally hand screened in East London but for this particular tee they are produced literally just down the road from Fratton Park and will be at a special price of £15 (plus P&P).

No matter if you are passionate about football or not, we hope this tee is a way of showing support for a club that is now a beacon to the rest of the country for a city and a community that strives to work together for the better.

To pre-order the t-shirt click on the link below. Tees will be back from the printers soon and we hope to have orders in the post by the end of the month, if not sooner.

Strong Island Clothing Co. X Portsmouth Supporters Trust T-Shirt

Anglepoise, Strong Island and The University of Portsmouth Present The Creating Balance Project

We are very proud to announce The Creating Balance Project, a new, collaborative project between Anglepoise, Strong Island & the University of Portsmouth to celebrate a design classic and local creativity in Portsmouth. The project aims to showcase the working studios and disciplines of artists and designers across the island and connect them to local photographers to capture, document and collaborate.

Anglepoise lamps have been given to each of the 10 participating artists/designers and the 10 photographers involved have used the lamps to light the photographs, give a sense of place and document the artist, where they work & how they create. During the collaboration sessions University of Portsmouth BSc TV and Broadcast students Massimo Marzullo and Jonas Jakunas have been documenting the project, producing short films for each collaboration.

Later this summer key images from each photographer will be printed and displayed with the films, lamps, photos and more in an exhibition in Portsmouth and one in London (TBA).

The collaborations are:

Andrew Whyte & Peter Clutterbuck
Matt Sills & Lorna Apps-Woodland
Paul Gonella & Tristan Savage
Russell Squires & Farkfk
Josh Knill & I Love Dust
Thor Haley & William Pounds
Rob Luckins & Roo + Barry Abrook
Cotton Candy & Neal Layton + Sadie Tierney
Matt Saxey & Deer Park Alpha
My Dog Sighs & Jack Daly

The project is progressing over the next couple of months and already two films are finished and many collaborations complete. Below are the completed collaboration films and we will be posting updates on The Creating Balance Project regularly here on Strong Island. To keep up to date with the project also please check the Creating Balance website where you can see loads of photos from behind the scenes of the collaborations.

creatingbalanceproject.tumblr.com

A huge thank you to Claire Sambrook, Simon at Anglepoise and everyone involved.

The Creating Balance Project

The Creating Balance Project (3)

The Creating Balance Project (4)

The Creating Balance Project (5)

The Creating Balance Project (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Spring 2013 Capsule Now Available

It’s been a while (apologies) but the Strong Island Clothing Co. spring 2013 capsule drop is now available and online in the Strong Island Shop Ahoy store! The drop includes some brand new Branded tee colourways, a new grey crew (highest quality, carefully selected and sourced) and a collection of accessories including new beanies, our seriously high quality Branded iPhone cases (4 & 5) from Etch and our hand crafted, leather coin pouch collaboration with Raw & Auburn.

To kick this capsule drop off right we visited the home of Portsmouth’s Eberhardt signwriters and neon sign specialists. Eberhardt are a true creative business gem of the city with a very long history and still produce hand crafted, carefully designed neon signs, a rare and special craft these days. Check the photos below and the behind the scenes edit too to see more. Photography principally by Jack Daly.

View the full lookbook HERE.

www.strongislandclothingco.com

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (2)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (3)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (4)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (5)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (6)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (7)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (8)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (9)

Opening Night of the My Dog Sighs Exhibition at The West Bank Gallery in London

Southsea and Portsmouth street artist (and Strong Island contributor) My Dog Sighs had the opening to his solo show in London last night and as expected, he killed it. ‘Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me’ opened at The West Bank Gallery and is home to not only the largest collection of My Dog Sighs’ work to date but also shows his work sparking off in to some new directions of creativity including the apples, collaborations with other artists and a room covered with paintings that can be cut out to reveal a painting underneath.

Word was that pre-opening sales had gone really, really well and there were people outside the gallery at 8am, ready and willing to wait the ten hours on the pavement to get their chance to have a look and buy some of My Dog’s work. Don’t take our word for it, below are the thoughts and opinions of the show by the people who experienced it and I think say all you might need to know…:

“I’ve been to several exhibition openings but none as been as warm as the one of MyDog. He was there happy to meet his fans and the staff was friendly, helpful and more than happy to introduce you to him. And about the art, what can I say; it’s truly sweet and inspiring. You have either the eyes that give an entire story in their gaze to the delightful stick men, all accompanied by simple but touching phrases”. – Dette Marhez

“I queued from 8 in the morning and throughout the day MDS popped out offering coffee and to talk to the brave hardy souls braving the temperatures. His whole manner on the run up and throughout the day and night is an example to any up and coming artist and artists in general. The gallery is a cracking space to show in and the work on show was of the highest order. MDS and the collabs were exhibited so well it was pleasure to wander around and warm up!” – Rob Pike

“The show promised big things and I was not disappointed. After an impressive 12 months from his first solo show at Pure Evil, I was looking forward to seeing how Can Man had progressed. There was not a bare wall in the gallery and the whole show felt like an art hunt with pieces hiding in every nook and cranny. With so many pieces to choose from MDS had taken his work to the next level and even managed to capture the innocent of a lost can on the street that you can take home and put on your wall. The hype is well deserved and things can only get better!” – Ryk Turner

“I loved it. It’s kind of like he’s brought life and beauty back to the discarded and neglected. Whilst other pieces capture solitude, loneliness and searching, leaving you topped up with that warm-glow of finally finding The One!” – Les Black

“Had a fantastic time. Just unbelievable what he’s managed to produce. Incredibly varied work. Totally stunning”. – Rick Christie.

The show is open to public until Sunday 31st March and there is also a bit of a special event tomorrow (Saturday) too. Gallery open daily 11am-7pm. Below are photos of last night’s opening by Strong Island homie Jack Daly.

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (2)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (4)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (5)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (6)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (9)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (10)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (11)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (12)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (3)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (16)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (17)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (18)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (20)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (22)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (23)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (24)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs