Come and join us for a night of intrigue and curiosity around our theme and FFantasic FFeatures on January 30th at The Signal Pub Dartmouth Road (opposite Forest Hill Station) from 7pm onwards.
A self-professed rebel with a mission, Esther Kwaku is the Founder and CEO of The Nerve Network, a platform helping people living in remote places and on low incomes to start their own businesses. Having travelled to over 40 countries, her drive for social change has seen her working on global humanitarian issues across the world including in Sudan, DR Congo, Uganda and Myanmar.
Fast forward to today and Esther now leads the vibrant team that is Nerve – a network of talented do-gooders and kick-ass change-makers. She is passionate about telling inspiring human stories with dignity - no bullsh*t or flies-in-eyes adverts. This is #realtalk right here.
Working with communities all over the world she has seen first-hand what it takes to thrive through repression and the sheer tenacity people go through every day in the spirit of renewal. Esther will share stories from some of the remarkable places she’s been to on her journey; the brilliant people she met along the way and the moments that sparked ideas for transformation through her ventures to make powerful change happen.
This is all about the highs, the brave mistakes and taking badass steps forward for the things you care about. Viva renewal!
Brilliant people. Brilliant Minds. Brilliant Changes.
Find out more about the brilliant work happening now at: www.wegotnerve.com
From street cyphers, and freestyle battles, to supporting Rag n Bone man on his European tour, Catford based rapper Thales brings an insight into the culture, challenges and rewards of pursuing a dream, while addressing some of the deeper issues society currently faces and the complexity surrounding them.
“More than one lost,
and I won’t glorify the shooter or the one shot,
heart been pouring mine out and since his lungs stopped,
writing what I’ve done wrong,
knives that take a brothers life over one song,
floors, I’m walking on a red one their carpeting,
I can’t pretend I cant defend this market when,
see these lack of morals man I can't respect
they think a shotta build a future not an architect.”
Writing since the age of 13 his love and art of the craft along with a determination to provide a voice for those who arnt always heard has been his main driving force.
“I brought light to the room,
sat while my boys dad put that light under a spoon,
fact,
that this aint lightening the mood, but life left from his wife’s chest and life never resumed!.”
Honesty and the importance of telling his own story has always been the main focal point right up until his first official release on “Linkup TV” titled “Honestly” which saw him collaborate with German producer Ben Rushan & Nicki Minaj designer dead lotus couture.
His motivation comes from both the art of mastering the craft while making sure his music remains truthful and highlighting the challenges faced with juggling a dream and full time job.
“Imagine driving through Lewisham and rolling down the window. Thats what i sound like, its a reflection of everything you see, hear and experience.
The good, the bad and probably somethings you agree and don’t agree with.”
Follow Thales on instagram @thalesthegreat
Torie is a leading, international public speaker, writer, influencer, entrepreneur, world traveller and lecturer. She is an Ambassador for "Yes I Can" with the British Government Department for Work & Pensions, Founder of both Epilepsy Sparks and Media Evolution, and Writer for Huffington Post.
Winner of Media Volunteer of the Year (Epilepsy Action, UK, 2017) Torie has spoken in UK Parliament and featured in multiple publications.
Relying upon her own personal strength has seen Torie overcome personal, professional and public adversities regarding disability and in 2013 she chose to have brain surgery at the UCL Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, London.
“Disability changes you. It doesn’t define you.”
Featuring on UK BBC London, 5Live, talkRadio, US Brain Waves Audio and Australian Noongar Radio, Torie’s BBC3 YouTube video in which she featured: “Things Not to Say to Someone with Epilepsy” has been viewed more than half a million times.
Featuring neurological professionals and patients from all over the world, Torie frequently writes for Epilepsy Sparks’ blog and will be speaking at the 2018 International Epilepsy conference in Zurich.
Born in the UK, Torie grew up in both England and Australia and has worked for international firms with staff in Europe, Australia, the US and Asia.
Find out more about Torie and the incredible work she continues to do to improve awareness and overcome societal stigma about Epilepsy:
www.torierobinson.com
Tunday Akintan has played the sax with stars like Amy Winehouse and the Foo Fighters. Now he and his wife Jasmine have opened a bar in Lee that combines their passion for music and food.
Saxophonist Tunday Akintan and his wife Jasmine opened Lagos Bar on Lee High Road in 2018 so they could share their love of music and food.
Tunday was born and lived in Lagos in Nigeria and came to London aged 17. “There was a place near our house [in Nigeria] where people used to go and play music and dance,” he recalls as we sit in his cosy bar and chat over coffee.
“As a young child I was drawn to the music and when I was about seven or eight I would run errands for the musicians just so I could be around them and watch them play. I still remember that joyful noise and the idea with Lagos Bar is to replicate that here.”
From an early age Tunday – who cites Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti as another musical inspiration – wanted to play the saxophone, but his father had other plans.
“My dad was very against music and there was no question of me having lessons. He just thought that musicians were a nuisance and that they didn’t have any money. He wanted me to follow him and become an accountant.”
However, Tunday began to teach himself to play other instruments by accompanying his mum to church. “My mum is a big churchgoer so she took me with her and there I got to play the drums, the tambourine, the cowbell and all sorts.”
Tunday’s father had previously lived in London for many years and had family here, so when Tunday was older his dad asked if he wanted to study accountancy in the capital. “I said yes, although I knew in my heart I didn’t want to be an accountant.”
He went to stay with his father’s cousin in Elephant and Castle but after six months he dropped out of college and decided to pursue his own dreams. He found a music shop on Walworth Road where the owner let him pay for a saxophone in instalments and he bought books to teach himself.
One day he was on a 53 bus that took him past Goldsmiths in New Cross.
“When I first arrived in the UK I chatted to a girl at the airport who mentioned she was going to be studying at Goldsmiths. I just remembered that name and that you could study there, so I got off the bus and went in.
“I found the music department and introduced myself to Colin Crawley who was a music teacher there. I said, ‘I have come from Nigeria and I want to study music’.
“I didn’t have the qualifications to do a degree but he told me about a six-week summer course. By this time I had started playing drums and keyboard in local churches and I used the money I was paid to pay for the course.”
Over the next five years Tunday enrolled on dozens of short music courses at Goldsmiths and eventually got a place on a music degree. “Every time I did a course I asked what I could do next. I could paper a wall with all the certificates!”
He began to fund his studies by playing saxophone in bars and clubs. “One night I got chatting to a DJ on the street. He noticed my saxophone case and asked me to come and jam with him at Cafe de Paris. The manager liked it so much he hired me on the spot and I played there for five years.”
For a while Tunday worked with Amy Winehouse. “I met her at a gig and we worked together before she was famous. I wasn’t surprised she got noticed. She had a passion and belief in what she was doing.”
Since then he has played saxophone alongside everyone from Jools Holland, the Foo Fighters, Songhoy Blues and Lemar to French rapper MC Solaar, and he also has his own band that tours and performs every year at the Southbank Centre.
He met his wife Jasmine at Goldsmiths and they have always talked about opening their own bar.
“I love making music and Jasmine loves making food and they go hand in hand. We just wanted to share what we love with people who we knew would love it too.
“As a musician I am booked to play at other people’s venues all the time but I have always dreamed of creating somewhere of my own where I could play saxophone, where other musicians and DJs could play too, and people could come and listen and drink and eat and chat.”
After years of looking at places all over south-east London they finally came across the former Flames restaurant on Lee High Road and set about transforming it. “The vision we had would have been impossible if the bills were mounting up so we have done everything ourselves.
“We got the keys last July and spent months doing it up. We changed the entire place, removing the low ceiling and painting everything. Friends said we were mad and it was very tiring, but we did it.”
All the fixtures and fittings are recycled, from the bar top, which they found on the street near where they live in Bermondsey, to the lights, which Tunday made out of old trumpets and trombones.
“Aside from making music, I love making things and using my hands,” he says.
“We are only small but customers say we have created something very special and it’s personalised. Everyone who buys a drink gets to request a tune from me on the saxophone."
As well as playing live music and hosting DJ sets in the bar, they also have a space downstairs, where Salsa Motion offers salsa classes every Thursday evening. Lagos Bar is open during the day for coffee too, with the added bonus of being able to listen to Tunday rehearse.
“I usually practise for about seven hours a day so rather than doing that at home I now do it here.”
If you haven’t been to Lagos Bar yet it’s a definite must: www.lagosbar.co.uk
Words by Nikki Spencer, photo by John Yabrifa
After a failed attempt to go out dancing in Soho one night when she was in her 40s, Nikki decided to create the kind of club night that she and her friends wanted to go to : One that was fun, welcoming and non-judgemental, and all importantly, one where everyone could dance their socks off to feel good 70s & 80s soul, funk and disco classics from Chic and Chaka Khan to Sylvester and Sister Sledge.
She called it Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet after the 1979 Gonzales track and on a Saturday night in March 2010, in the upstairs ballroom at the Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich, HSDY was born.
There were vinyl DJs spinning the tunes, dancers leading ‘line-ups’ to get everyone up and boogying, and prizes for the best retro outfits.
It was an immediate hit and Nikki and the HSDY crew have been partying and spreading the disco love ever since, with events in south east and north London, Croydon, and now Leeds too, and people coming from all over the UK and Ireland and Europe, and even the US and Australia, it’s been featured everywhere from Radio 4’s Saturday Live and PM to Stella and Woman & Home magazines. HSDY was launched so people in their 40s and 50s would have somewhere to dance, but everyone from 18-88+ is welcome.
There are single people, couples, families partying together, and groups celebrating everything from birthdays and school reunions to works dos, and hen and stag and “sten” nights.
And more amazing FFacts about HSDY is 10% of profits from the nights go to Cancer Research UK. In 2017 Nikki took part in CRUK’s Machu Picchu Challenge.
To book tickets for HSDY events in 2020:
www.haventstoppeddancingyet.co.uk