12 Questions with Jazamin Sinclair

Please tell me a little bit about who you are.

I’m an artist, a musician/singer-songwriter, and a photographer. I was born in 1980. I love music, comedy, swimming, and reading. I ride a motorbike and I support Liverpool FC. I can also speak a little bit of Welsh, Italian, French, and Spanish.

 Where are you from?

I’ve moved around a lot, so it’s kind of hard to say where I am from. I was born in Chester (but I never lived there, so I don’t feel like I am from there AT ALL). The places that most feel like home to me are Liverpool (because most of my family are scouse and because I’ve lived here for the best part of twenty years now) and South London (where we lived when I was aged 5-10 back in the late ’80s).

From 1980 – 1986 we lived in Mynydd Isa (North Wales), New Brighton, Sandbach, and Audley (Near Stoke). Then from 1986 – 1990, we lived in a few places in London (Hammersmith, Balham, Tooting, Victoria, Brixton). Then 1990 – 1998 in North Wales (St. Asaph, Cerrigydrydion and Mynydd Isa), then from 1998 – 2003 in Cardiff (Llanishen and Splott). In the middle of that in 2001 I lived and studied in Italy (Viterbo and Vignanello) for several months. Then in 2003, I stayed/lived with my dad who was living in the USA (Maryland) for a couple of months. And from 2003 – 2021, I’ve lived in Liverpool (in a couple of places in Tuebrook from 2003 – 2012, and a few different places around Aigburth from 2012 – 2021).

I also have mixed heritage and race. I’m still finding out about my heritage and family history, but I know on my mum’s side her mum & dad and grandparents were from Liverpool (Bootle/Litherland) and Ireland, and on my dad’s side his mum, dad, and grandparents were from Liverpool (Toxteth/Aigburth), Ireland, Cornwall, and Barbados. I did my ancestry, and it says my heritage is based in Ireland (Munster), England (Northwest/Cornwall), Wales, Scotland, Mali, Benin & Togo, Ivory Coast & Ghana, and Nigeria.

A short bio/history.

I am a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is made up of photography, illustration, filmmaking, painting, drawing, music, design, organising exhibitions and workshops. I graduated with a degree in Fine Art from Cardiff in 2002 when I also received The Welsh Assembly Award for Fine Art. I believe art can change the world, can educate, and can offer new perspectives. I have been practicing for nearly twenty years, displaying artwork in, and organising over 100 exhibitions (including being the exhibition organiser for Liverpool’s Threshold Festival, Liverpool Mental Health Festival, and at The Egg Café).

I create satirical semi-autobiographical illustrations and socio-political artwork that highlights and documents the current political climate under the project name Illustrated Prosody. I also take documentary, political, and music photographs, and make figurative and abstract-realism paintings and drawings.

Herbs by Jazamin Sinclair

Some of my artwork is based around my lived experience and view of the world – as a queer, mixed heritage/race woman with mental health issues. I was raised by a single mother who was also an artist and activist, during the eighties in Thatcher’s Britain in South London, when we experienced homelessness. At this same time, my aunties were helping to organise some of the first Pride marches and events in London and I went to many protests and demos. All this still informs and influences my work and my opinions today.

I am currently developing my debut album/EP and my music blends folk-punk sounds, biting lyrics, and harmonies. A self-taught singer-songwriter, I regularly play gigs in and around Liverpool; I have also performed in Manchester, Cardiff, London, as well as internationally, in Italy and the United States. In 2015, my song was selected for Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition’s Longlist by Clash Magazine who selected my song ‘Ten Years’ for its “skillfully executed, folk-derived songwriting”. And I have been singing with Sense of Sound Singers since 2005.

NSG: Hi Jazamin, how are you and how’s your day going?

JS: Good thanks – I’ve been listening to and singing along to tunes while I edit some photos and answer these interview questions.

NSG: You describe yourself as a multidisciplinary artist that’s made up of various art forms, like photography, illustration, filmmaking, painting drawing music and design, would you tell us a bit more about this and what it means to be a multidisciplinary artist?

JS: I guess multidisciplinary is the simplest and quickest way for me to describe what I do when people ask. I do lots of different things – I like the variety, and I have never been able to choose one particular area that I prefer over another. Everything I do is creative in some way though, and there are links between all of the elements of what I do. I think that being creative is a very cathartic way to express myself and to make sense of things. Also, the variety gives me lots of different opportunities – so when there is not much work in one area (for example photography), I can try to get work from another area (such as painting or gigging). Aside from the work I do to pay the bills, my recent creative work has become quite socio-political.

Verbatim by Jazamin Sinclair

NSG: We’ve been aware of you and your breath-taking work for a while now, you’ve been creating for a long time haven’t you? When did it all start and what led you to become an artist?

JS: Thank you very much! I have basically been around art, music, and performance all of my life. My mum and dad are/were both artists and musicians and although they divorced when I was about 18 months old, and I didn’t meet my dad again until I was 23, I found I had quite a lot in common with my dad, creatively as he was a painter and a musician who sang and played guitar. My mum went to art college in Alsager when I was about 3, and she used to take me with her quite a lot. We also lived in a student house with a load of my mum’s friends from college at that time, so I was surrounded by artists, musicians, and performers. I just remember always drawing, painting, singing & dancing. My mum specialised in sculpture, but she also did painting & drawing and played guitar & sang.

I was creative all the way through school too. To me, it’s just something you do – often as a form of expression. I find being creative is a huge outlet and it keeps me sane as well. As a teenager, I had to choose between art or music GCSE in school (there was no option to do both) and so I opted for art. I also learned recorder at school, and later had piano and violin lessons, plus my mum also taught me to play some guitar – and encouraged me to teach myself to play and to write my own songs. I was always in the school choirs too (both in London and in Wales) and when we lived in Wales the school choir performed at various Eisteddfod competitions.

I later did my degree in Fine Art at University at UWIC in Cardiff and specialised in painting. In 2002, after I’d finished my degree, I had a mental breakdown (due to a psychotic episode and depression because of trauma). I was unable to work for a while, and I was on income support. My mum & stepdad had just divorced, and my mum was on her own with my brother & sisters. So, my mum moved home (for her) to Liverpool and my stepdad moved home (for him) back to London. At that time, I moved back home and in with my mum for a while (while I got myself well again) and helped her out with looking after my brother & two sisters while she was working full time. And then in 2003, I did a photography course at NOVAS, Liverpool where I learned more about shooting and developing film photos in the darkroom and I loved it. Later, when things went digital, I transferred my film photography skills to digital photography and editing, and later again, I learned video/filmmaking skills too. Some of what I do is self-taught, and I have learned a lot from making mistakes over the years. In 2004, I did a course in Community Arts Management at LCAD (formerly CADT) which was great. And in early 2005, I was asked to join Sense of Sound Singers by Jennifer John. The knowledge, confidence, and skills I learned from Jennifer, Saphena, Perri & Juliet (Sense of Sound’s original founders) have been invaluable in developing my skills as a singer and performer. We have done all kinds of gigs/concerts and toured around the country including BBC1’s Last Choir Standing; Paco Peña’s Requiem for The Earth; Songs of Praise; The Royal Variety Performance; Olympic Torch relay, and a Greenpeace anti-trident campaign. We have also performed with artists such as Pink Floyd; Damon Albarn; David Coulter; Chrissy Hynde; Imogen Heap; Paco Peña; The Farm; Ringo Starr; and Seal.

In 2007, I came off my anti-depression and anti-psychotic medication and I was working towards coming off income support. I’d continuously been creative when I was off work sick, and so made the decision to go self-employed in 2007 (as part of a partnership). I got into debt trying to run a business at first and this led to me going bankrupt in 2013. After this, I started again as a sole trader, whilst going back to doing part time work waitressing and washing dishes, and then part time work as a sales assistant in the art shop Made-Here. Eventually, I was able to go fully freelance doing what I do, and all of it is creative now – which I love!

Keep America Great! by Jazamin Sinclair

NSG: A lot of your work comes from a political standpoint doesn’t it? Like a lot of your drawings and paintings call out the government on issues ranging from Austerity, Brexit, and poke fun, or maybe aim to expose lies from people like Boris Johnson, Mogg, Farage and Donald Trump just to name a few. Can I ask what motivates you in this area of your work and these creations?

JS: Basically, it comes from a massive amount of distrust and anger towards the Tories if I’m honest. I think a lot of this stems from growing up in the ’80s in Thatcher’s Britain and from my frustration at the Tory government we’ve been under for the last eleven years. I saw all my family struggle so much as a child, and a lot of that was as a direct result of the Tories. When I was little me & my mum (who was a single mother) became homeless for a while, despite my mum working several jobs with me in tow while she put herself through college. (She was the first person in our family at the time to get a degree). And still, afterward there was no work or anywhere for us to live after she had done this when we moved down to London in 1986.

I remember seeing some stand-up comedy and satire growing up, and being drawn to the likes of Julian Clarey, Alexi Sayle, Spitting Image, and The Young Ones. I also loved books by Michael Rosen and Roald Dahl and in particular Michael Rosen & Quentin Blake’s illustrations. I think satire can be an effective way to educate too if it’s done well. Cold War Steve and We Fail are both making incredible artwork at the moment.

For my own artwork, it is something I am still working on – I look back on some of the work I’ve made and wish I’d done things better or more effectively, but I guess that’s part of the process. Armando Iannucci said at one point in 2020 – satirists don’t really need to satirise things right now because the politicians in charge are satirising themselves with the things they are doing – and he’s right.

I wanted to try to create artwork in my own style that either documented or satirised the government and politics in general. I find I often create work in response to things as they happen. So, some of the first few political pieces I made were on the same day the Brexit referendum results were announced. I also get so frustrated and angry (and sometimes depressed) when I watch or read the news – because of some of the bullshit we are fed, and at the sheer audacity of some of the politicians. In order to make the artwork, it means I have to read or watch more of the news though, and I have to study their faces (sometimes for hours on end) which is grim! Some of the work I make is not satirical, it is more of a documentation of what has been said or has happened. I don’t think you can call all of it satire, because it is just not funny – some of it is images of politicians such as Farage, Rees-Mogg, Johnson, or Trump with direct quotes from them that are just horrific. 

Label by Jazamin Sinclair

Ahead of the General Election in 2019, I made a piece called ‘Verbatim’ to highlight Boris Johnson’s bare-faced lies and his racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, and sexist comments, because I kept seeing and hearing people say they thought Boris Johnson was harmless or funny and I was thinking – no he’s not! I was also trying to make sense of the stuff he was coming out with about Brexit at the time (quite a lot of it didn’t add up). The drawing started off quite simple, but the more & more I read, the more shocking quotes I found. I have seen people try to argue that it’s ok because he said some of these things years ago, but he has still never even acknowledged or apologised for some of the most horrific, racist comments he has made (even when challenged in parliament and asked to do so on numerous occasions). And this is the man who is in charge of running the country! The kind of rhetoric, that he has used, is in my opinion, really dangerous. I think the powers that be, and the media, all know this and use it to their advantage so well.

At a similar time, Trump was in power in America, spouting similar, if not worse, rhetoric, and then later inciting violence and hate crimes from the far right – just look at the language he used ahead of Capitol Hill being stormed by his supporters. When the elections in America happened last year and Trump was (thank fuck) voted out, I made more artwork in the run up to and following on from that. The illustration I made of Rudy Guiliani speaking at the Trump press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping called ‘Keep America Great’ was based around an article I read by Richard Hall in the Independent, which documented the bizarre and hilarious set of events as they unfolded that day. I read this article and then spent a couple of days obsessively drawing. (I later sent Richard Hall a message on Twitter with the drawing, and he asked to buy it from me). This drawing, although satire, is basically just a documentation of things as they actually happened though. 

One piece that is more satirical is a drawing I made called ‘Nanny Issues’. The title is a play on Jacob Rees-Mogg’s relationship with his nanny – which is why I painted him lying down with a baby bottle in his hand (but in the position he was in when he fell asleep in Parliament). He is positioned on the stairs behind Trump and Johnson who were stood on the stairs at the G7 summit. I drew Donald Trump in a Dark Helmet (from Spaceballs) ‘Space Force’ outfit, alongside his Space Force quote; Boris Johnson in an Incredible Hulk outfit alongside his quote about Hulk; and David Cameron playing with a Farmyard Animals playset and holding a toy pig, where it’s supposed to look like he is getting ready to fuck the thing. In the background, you also have Theresa May running through a field of wheat in a painting on the wall. Looking back, I kind of wish I’d included Thatcher in there somewhere too. I made this picture, to sum up, the sheer ludicrousness of the people in charge, and because I can’t get my head around why everyone is ignoring the fact that these cartoon character, grown-up-children, are essentially taking the piss out of us all.

I also made a piece called ‘Toy in Cummings’ Hand’. This drawing was after Dadaist/Antifascist artist John Heartfield, who made a ‘Toy in Thyssens’ Hand’ in 1933. Heartfield made this ahead of WWII, as a warning (as was a lot of his work), and to try to inform people of the rise of nationalism and populism. In this drawing, I used the quote that Cummings made where he said, “Tory MPs largely do not care about these poorer people. They don’t care about the NHS.”. 

Tramlines by Jazamin Sinclair

NSG: Is it fair to say you’re quite a socially conscious person? I was reading your biography on your website about how your mother and aunties were artists and activists during the 1980s, with your aunties being heavily involved in organising some of the first Pride marches in London! What a fantastic family! Do you remember much from this period and do you think it’s important for children to be more aware and involved in these issues from a young age?

JS: Yes I remember lots of it and yes I think I am fairly socially conscious. I spend hours reading up on things and trying to make sense of this world, a lot of the time things don’t make sense though, and I often feel like I know so little as well. But yes, I definitely believe that it is important for children to be aware of and involved in these issues from a young age. No one is born racist or homophobic, are they? That kind of shit is learned from somewhere, and so I think that education is key to raising awareness, and in working towards a more tolerant and ultimately less polarised society. As I’ve already said, I am queer (bi/pansexual), I have mixed heritage and I am a woman – so these issues also affect me personally, and they affect so many of my friends and my family too. 

As you know, I spent my childhood moving around and when my mum put herself through art college and we lived in a student house with all my mum’s mates (on a farm) and quite a lot of my mum’s friends were activists – so that, as well as being around the organising of Pride meant I had my eyes opened to politics, art, and music from a really young age and has shaped a lot of who I am and my opinions today. My mum worked loads of different jobs – including in pubs, as a cleaner, as a roadie, driving a mobile library, as a post-woman, and as a support worker (working nights). When I was 5, we moved down to London where my aunty and her girlfriend were living. We stayed with my mum’s boyfriend for a bit in Hammersmith, then we squatted for a bit in a flat in Balham until the police chucked us out. Then we moved into my aunties’ flat down the road. After this, we moved in to stay with my mum’s mates (and their friends) in Balham/Tooting while we were waiting for a council flat. We were also housed for a short while in a room in a B&B in Victoria (where apparently the man running the place told my mum we could stay rent free if she slept with him – so we got out of there sharpish). Anyway, we finally got a flat on Stockwell Park Estate in Brixton when I was about 7. Some people seem to have fears/issues and bad opinions of Brixton because of the uprisings, similar to how I’ve heard people talk about Toxteth. But this, in my opinion, is just a fearmongering narrative (and the kind of thing that is re-enforced by government and by the media). I thought Brixton was a great place to live, with so much going on – and as I said before, South London and Liverpool basically feel most like home to me.

In the late ’80s, my aunties were organising Pride marches and events, and for a few years, I spent ½ of my week staying with them in Balham and ½ of my week with my mum in Brixton. When I was with my aunties, I used to get to go along to Pride meetings and demos and I also helped out backstage one year and met and went on stage with Lily Savage.

In 1988, Margaret Thatcher and The Tories made Section 28 (AKA Clause 28) law. Section 28 prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality” and “the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”. Thatcher said: “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay” and, “All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life. Yes, cheated.”

This essentially meant that it was illegal for teachers to say that it was ok to be queer, and Thatcher was calling Gay/Lesbian families like ours ‘pretend’. I was photographed as a kid holding a placard that said ‘Stop Clause 28’ on it, at a Pride demo in Leeds and the photo was used inside and on the cover of Gay Times. Words that Thatcher and the Tories were using at the time empowered the likes of the National Front, who turned up at that same demo in Leeds to counter protest the Pride demo. Similar things are happening today, with the EDL, UKIP, and Brexit party fuelled and encouraged by the language of Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.

Also, back then, Section 28 and Thatcher’s words caused gay men, in particular, to be stigmatised and blamed for HIV and AIDS. Plus, The Tories have always made out that single mothers are terrible. When I think about everything my mum went through on her own, working and trying to make ends meet, I have so much admiration and respect for her. She taught me so much as well – about women’s rights, feminism, racism, apartheid, and LGBTQI+ rights, as did my aunties. My mum also overcame violence and abuse from my dad, and from one of her boyfriends, and had her own mental health issues to cope with as a result of everything. 

Art Therapy by Jazamin Sinclair

We moved to St. Asaph in North Wales to live with my mum’s new boyfriend, who then adopted me and became my stepdad, when I was 10. (I also changed my surname at that time to ‘Sinclair’, it had previously been my dad’s surname ‘Payne’). If I’m honest, it was a culture shock living in St. Asaph, compared to living in Brixton. Wales is a beautiful place, I met some amazing people, and I learned to speak some Welsh, but there was a fair amount of racism and homophobia there back then as well. I got into fights with other kids: with some of the lads at school who used to call me a dyke on a regular basis – after I had a go at one of them for being homophobic (and after I told him my aunties were gay); and with some of the kids who were racist about the drawing I did of my summer holiday which had my mates from London in it, who were black. I also got really angry and had an argument with one of the teachers who told our class that being gay was wrong. Right there, you can see proof of, and the knock-on effect of, homophobia and racism in government – and the direct effect of that in the classroom. And Section 28 essentially legitimised my teacher’s homophobia. Thankfully Section 28 was repealed in England and Wales in 2003 (and in 2000 in Scotland) – but that is really not that long ago when you think about it is it?

Now, the fact that we have (or have had) the likes of Johnson, Trump, and Farage using the rhetoric that they do, to win votes and support from people who are disillusioned with politics, terrifies me. They have been elected and given positions of power, because they have appealed to working class people, and they use divide and rule tactics. Politicians try to blame austerity on immigration and benefit fraud but fail to mention tax evasion. If rich billionaires and corporations were taxed properly, they could easily end homelessness and austerity. (Instead, there is still a law called the Vagrancy Act, introduced in 1824 which says it is illegal to be homeless and gives police the power to fine someone £1000 simply for having nowhere to live). By using the kind of language that they do, politicians covertly legitimise and empower extremists to commit hate crimes against anyone who is marginalised, and as a result, there has been a recent increase in racist and homophobic attacks. Recently, the government have also proposed a new Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts (PCSC) Bill, which has so many questionable elements to it that could breach human rights laws and persecute people who are marginalised. The bill has already passed through The House of Commons and is now at the committee stage in the House of Lords, which is why there have been so many “Kill the Bill” protests to try to stop it. Also, the way the Tories have handled the Pandemic, and all the extra lives that have been lost due to their incompetence and negligence, as well as the amount of money that has been awarded in Covid contracts to Tory-linked companies is shocking. Boris Johnson treated the pandemic like it was a joke, especially at the beginning – saying he’d been “shaking hands with everybody” at a hospital where there were patients who had coronavirus and also allegedly making that sick joke where he called it “Operation Last Gasp” when discussing the manufacture of more ventilators.

NSG: You’re also a musician who has gigged all over the country and played live in Italy and America and even had a song selected for Glastonbury’s Emerging talent competition! Tell us a bit more about your music.

JS: I am a self-taught singer-songwriter and I have been creating and developing an album/EP for quite a while. I have got lots of material, and one track fully recorded and mixed, so it’s just a case of finishing recording more. I was in the process of recording when we went into lockdown last year – so, like many other musicians, things got put on hold for a while (plus I’ve also written new stuff in the interim and I have lots of new ideas of things that I want to do).

When asked to define which genre my music belongs to, I usually say folk-punk, but it’s not just that – it’s quite varied. And as I mentioned before, I am a member of Sense of Sound singers (where we often sing acapella). I have quite mixed taste in music, and I love reggae, dancehall, punk, dub, ska, folk, soul, rock, funk, pop, dance, drum’n’bass, hip-hop, and grime.

In 2015, my song ‘Ten Years’ (which my mate and former band member Lee Oxton co-wrote the music for) was selected for Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition’s Longlist by Clash Magazine, for its “skillfully executed, folk-derived songwriting”. The song was written about my biological father, who I met and stayed/lived with for a bit in 2003 when I was 23 (while he was living over in the States). He was addicted to alcohol. When I wrote it (just before Christmas 2012), he was still alive, but he’d been hospitalised after being taken into A&E at The Royal for a week or so, after drinking solidly for a few weeks before this. He was really ill and basically out-of-it at first, and he was forced into a week of sobriety but immediately started to drink again as soon as he came out of hospital. I wrote the song to express how I felt – I really wanted him to start living his life again if he could. He died in 2014 though – basically drinking himself to death. He had lots of issues with his mental health, and with alcohol and drugs over the years, but he was also a hugely prolific artist, photographer, and musician. I’ve had my own issues with mental health, alcohol, and drugs, but I stopped drinking alcohol in April 2019 – and honestly, it is one of the best things I have done. It was affecting my mental health in a really adverse way, and I’d pushed the self-destruct button too many times. It was ruining my relationships and stopping me from doing so many of the things I wanted to do as well. I reached a point where enough was enough. Also, seeing just how destructive alcohol had been in my dad’s life was (eventually) a real wake-up call to me.

Dock Road by Jazamin Sinclair

Music-wise, I have been developing more political lyrics and songs that are a bit of a work in progress still, but I’d say they run along a similar vein as some of my political artwork, and I have lots of other songs that I sing that I’ve written over the years. Mainly when I write, it is just a form of expression, to make sense of whatever is going on in my life at the time. I can’t wait to get out there and perform my own music live again now that we can!

I have recently also written a spoken word/poetry piece that was partly in response to the horrific rape and murder of Sarah Everard by policeman Wayne Couzens and to the #notallmen hashtag that was trending on Twitter for a while. It also encompasses some of my own feelings and experiences as a woman who has survived rape, sexual abuse, and violence. When I wrote it, I was having therapy for Complex-PTSD, severe anxiety, and depression, all of which were largely because of the things I have experienced (some of which go back as far as childhood). Writing has always been a cathartic way for me to process and cope with my emotions, fears, and anger. I recently performed the piece at an event called ‘Whose Body Is It’: A charity event organised by We Want Women, Not Your Babe Collective, and RASA Merseyside. 

NSG: How has the lockdown been as a working photographer, have you been able to shoot at all?

JS: When we went into Lockdown, I tried to do a bit of street photography, but to be honest, due to my mental health at the time, it just all filled me with anxiety. (So, I stopped for a while, hid away, and got back into painting. This was initially as a coping mechanism but then I also sold some artwork and got some commissions, which was great because all my other work had been cancelled at the time). 

At the end of 2019, I went from a really busy time of working insanely long hours – shooting events and gigs in the run up to Christmas and New Year – to having zero work in January 2020. At this point, I was also totally burnt out and felt really lost. I was scared of where I was heading mentally, feeling suicidal and I actually thought I was going to lose it on a few occasions at that point in time. So in the February just before the first lockdown last year, I self-referred to Talk Liverpool for help. (At this point, I was diagnosed as having Complex-PTSD, severe anxiety, and depression. And as I mentioned earlier, back in 2002, I had had a psychotic episode, followed by depression, where I was almost sectioned, and a few years later I also attempted suicide by taking an overdose… and I really didn’t want to end up back at that place again). Talk Liverpool initially gave me online CBT, and then put me onto a long waiting list for one-to-one trauma therapy. Being in lockdown and the isolation of that made things even harder for a while, but in November last year, my therapy began and that was so useful. Therapy can be really difficult at times – but ultimately it has helped me to make sense of and manage my emotions and reactions (such as rage, anger, anxiety, paranoia, and fear). It also enabled me to process loads of stuff (such as memories and flashbacks from various traumas), to actually let go of so much, and to get to a much better place mentally.

And in terms of photography, I have recently started to get back out there with my camera to shoot more street photos again. I went to London in July to see friends and family and I went back to Brixton and took loads of photos there. I’ve also been taking pictures around Liverpool again, and as things started to open up, I started to get more photography work booked in (such as events, portrait shoots, and weddings).

NSG: Another project you’ve been heavily involved in for a long time is Liverpool’s Threshold Festival, can I just say what an amazing thing you guys have done with this festival! How are things looking with it, as I hear you guys are going to do a digital festival in April as the last one?? 

JS: Yes, so Threshold Festival is now finished, and as you say, it was mostly digital this year. There were some incredible artists who participated. It is sad that it is all over, and I’ve loved organising exhibitions with Threshold Festival, but we did it for ten years and we’d all reached the point where we all wanted to focus our energies on other things a bit more. Threshold CIC as an organisation is continuing – but in a smaller way – it will be involved with, or produce smaller events in the future – but will not be running anymore full festivals.

For a while longer though, the artwork and music from the festival this year can be viewed in the online legacy galleries. There’s some fantastic stuff in there – so be sure to check it out!: https://thresholdfestival.co.uk/gallery

NSG: So, this pandemic has changed a lot of how we work and socialise, being a music photographer how do you see the future of live music, gig, etc, and do you think we’ll ever get back to full on concerts and shows? 

JS:

I think yes we will, and we are. Things are starting to return to how they were a bit now aren’t they? And once it is completely safe, I think it will all return to how it was. The sad thing is the number of promoters and music venues that have been forced to shut down or have been put out of business as a result of it and the way things were handled by the government (especially at the beginning) in terms of offering music venues and festivals adequate support and cancellation-insurance. It’s great that so many people are now getting fully vaccinated though – so fingers crossed for things continuing to fully open up going forward.

NSG: Talking about gigs, what was the last one you went to or shot? 

JS: Just before lockdown in March 2020, I performed at two gigs as part of International Women’s Day events, organised by ‘We Want Women’ and ‘Liverpool Sisterhood’ at Blackburne House. I also photographed some of the other performers. It was great to be a part of both of those and there were so many talented musicians and poets involved.

And then post-lockdown, a few weeks ago I performed with Sense of Sound Singers at Cream Classical alongside K-Klass at The Pier Head – it was so good to be singing live again! I also photographed Positive Vibration – Asian Dub Foundation were amazing at that (I’ve loved their music since the ’90s and I was so excited to see them live) plus it was brilliant to see Dawn Penn, Tippa Irie, Horseman & The Uppercut Band, General Levy, Congo Natty & Congo Dubz, Dub Defenders and Buddah. And then just recently I photographed Liverpool Sound City and discovered loads of new artists and a few more familiar Liverpool bands/musicians too. Highlights for me were Callum Easter, The Vegan Leather, Kay Young, Weezy Jefferson & Chanté Amour, Sweets, Carla Prata, GRACEY, Mason Owens, Rejjie Snow, The Lathums, Jamie Webster, and Red Rum Club. (I really wanted to catch The Clockworks, Stone, but I missed them – apparently, they were dead good as well!)

NSG: If you could cook dinner and sit down and eat with three people from history who would they be and why?

JS: Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, and Bob Marley. They were three incredible and inspirational people. 

NSG: What’s the rest of 2021 look like for Jazamin Sinclair?

JS: I’ve actually been fairly busy again now things have started to open up. I’ve been photographing/filming a variety of things – events, festivals, weddings, club nights, theatre, boxing nights, workshops, portrait/band shoots and currently have lots of editing that I’m working my way through. I also have some design work that I am doing, and I have a couple of illustration/painting commissions that I’ve been working on. 

Other than that, I plan to make time to finish recording my own music & to finally start releasing it (I have been saying this for years – and it’s been a very slow process, but I am getting there with it). And I want to create some new political illustrations and paintings.

Toy in Cummings’ Hand by Jazamin Sinclair

NSG: Any local artists you think we should keep an eye out for?

JS: Yes, there are so many great artists and musicians in Liverpool. You should check out all the visual artists in Threshold Festival virtual gallery (not everyone is from Liverpool, but they are all are really good!) including Marjorie H Morgan, Tinsel Edward, Robyn Woolston, Ben Youdan, Max Da Silva Willis, Lo Tierney, Zee Davine, Cyrano Denn, Andy Wolfenden, Nathan Pendlebury, Sasha Spyrou, and you, Billy Vitch – to name a few… Plus music from Mersey Wylie, Elevant, Lil Nate (Go For It Records), Kapil Seshasayee, and of course Threshold’s founder Kaya (Science of the Lamps).

I’ve also recently started reading a book called ‘LOCKS’ by Ashleigh Nugent who is a Liverpool writer and that’s really good so far. I also like the band Rats who I first heard about through NSG magazine – their collaboration with Skinnyman on the song ‘Jack’ is really good, and then there’s musicians like Jetta, Ragz Nordset, Jazmine Johnson, Killerfernandez, Seafoam Green, and Mickey Locks/Chedeye Knights, Mason Owens, Stone, Jamie Webster, and Red Rum Club who all have some great music out at the moment…

A few other artists worth mentioning that I like (but who aren’t Liverpool based) are Darren McGarvey whose book ‘Poverty Safari’ I’ve not long finished reading, and who has also made a really good short series called ‘Class Wars’ (he’s also a great musician/lyricist/rapper); Cash Caraway who wrote the book ‘Skint Estate’; Dane Baptiste – check out his podcast ‘Questions Everything’ and his show ‘Bamous’; and Skin (lead singer of Skunk Anansie) who is amazing, and whose autobiography ‘It Takes Blood & Guts’ I’ve also just started reading. Plus, the following bands/musicians who I think are ace: Wulu, Little Simz, Bob Vylan, Kae Tempest, Akala, OneDa, Dawn Raid UK, Idles, Stanley Odd, and The Skints… to name a few!

NSG: Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed by us, anything else you’d like to add?

JS: I think that’s it – I’ve chatted on for long enough ha – thank you so much for asking me to do this interview!

To follow Jazamin and her work on social media click on the links in pink below.

Website

Instagram