"IONA Be Famous!!!..." - but this beautiful Brit songstress actually has real talent!

James Murphy’s InChelsea Interview Sketchbook:

Iona Maclean: singer, songwriter, star in waiting..

Talented, beautiful and a great performer, Iona Maclean is a name to watch. Iona writes and performs an eclectic range of songs. Standout tracks include ‘Now That’ (soft and striking melody) and ‘City Girl’ (acoustic morality poem). Think the magic of Carly Simon with a dash of Sheryl Crow, an echo of Nina Simone and a hint of Shakira and you have just a flavour of Iona’s style.

Iona will shortly be departing for The U.S.A. where she is meeting with several eager record labels about releasing her upcoming album, ‘Sweet Contradiction’. Iona is also developing her own label.

JM: May I say you have a lovely voice? Just speaking, even without the singing, it’s very catchy..

Iona: Haaa, you may say that if you wish, I didn't know a speaking voice could be catchy but I'm thrilled that you think so!JM: Sum up your music style. Iona:

My style is diverse. It combines sweet Acoustic soul with quirky and catchy pop hooks. Some of my music is very funky with big beats and yummy bass. But a few tracks could be described as Sweet Acoustic poetry.JM: I notice your sound is familiar but not derivative. How did you strike that balance?

Iona: I fell in love with music listening to different kinds of Soul; Nina Simone and Elkie Brookes are two very different kinds of Soul singers but they key very much into my heart. Whatever they sing, you feel your heart rise.

Personally, I have to do something authentic...I can't fake it: I've tried, it doesn't work! I write songs everyday, ‘have done since I was 11yrs old! The sound I have is just what the inside of me sounds like...and sometimes I let out a little bit of internal music. I wonder if it sounds familiar because we all have an internal sound?

JM: You also combine quite upbeat melodies with down beat lyrics. Sometimes vice versa. Is that deliberate?

Iona: My album is called ‘Sweet Contradiction’. It's about the depths and breadths of peoples’ personalities and characters. We are layered, complicated creatures. My songs show the dichotomy of emotion and that is what I'm interested in. Hence the title ‘Sweet Contradiction’.JM: You seem very ticked off with the celebrity subculture. How can you avoid that subculture as you break the American market?Iona:

I find the celebrity scene frustrating. I've had friends over the years explode in different media. I have been around that ‘shiny, sticky stuff’ that people think of as perks of the celebrity. But I am no longer interested in counterfeit fun. True, being a singer and songwriter is not an easy way to make a living if you're unwilling to ‘play the game’. But society is tiring of the fake, and that feeling extends to the U.S scene.

JM: Plan of action for your American tour?

Iona: We’ll do West coast to East. Not stopping everywhere, but we have dates in some key areas. When I arrive, I’ll go to the studio in New York and record the entire album. For the first month, I'm in the studio with Mirk (my producer, from ‘Mirk and the New Familiars’, who just released his début album ‘LOVE’).

Then I have some meetings with management companies in NYC and L.A. Then I fly my New York band to the first dates of the tour. I've also got the support of someone at ‘Jive’ records (Britney’s label), who just wants to get my music out there as he loves my voice! And there’s been talk of me starting my own label out of ‘The Music Community’ that I started last year.

JM: Would you relocate to America, permanently?

Iona: I was brought up on a farm in Sussex and that will always be who I am. The soft rolling hills, wild flowers, sunrises and big outdoor parties woo me home! There is nowhere like England.

I have lived in Chelsea in London, on and off for six years. That's my home; the little corners I write in, like the bookshop in Worlds End. The other day, I wrote songs at their miniature piano, as customers milled around, just reading and listening.

But I do love Greenwich Village and Soho in New York. In particular, a bar called “The Room” that I go and write in, from 1am until closing time. There's always a secret place to discover for me. I am young, single and creative. I go where the music takes me!

JM: Greatest strength and weakness as writer and performer?

Iona: My greatest weakness used to be paralysing shyness. I would drink to help me perform. Then I would record and do the meetings. But I got sober seven years ago. And in the last two years, something just ‘clicked’.

I no longer feel like I'm standing on stage naked sharing my heart with people who have the ability to crush it if they speak while I sing. Now I belt it out. And I love every second of my job!

JM: Favourite piece(s) in your back catalogue and why?

Iona: I fall in love with some songs as I write them. If I don't, then I simply will not use them. If I don't love them, who will? I once got a thank you letter from a lady in Canada who heard “HEAVEN”, saying that her husband had died in Iraq recently. ‘HEAVEN’ comforted her with music. And that's what it's all about. I sing my heart!

JM: Where do you stand on cover versions?

Iona: I am hard-line on this. Always have been. My line is “I don't do covers!” I sang at a Private Members Club in NYC on the night of the American Elections and every area was rammed. I was on stage when Obama got elected and the whole place went crazy...so the crowd started to shout for a Victory song. But I don't do covers!

So I told the guitarist to play anything and I would give them a Victory Song. Out of my mouth poured a new song and by the end, the crowd were singing it back! It's called ‘CHANGE BABY, CHANGE!’ We just recorded it last month before I flew back. It might be one of the tracks on the album.

That said, last Saturday I was at the wedding of a friend, and I performed Bob Dylan’s “To make you Feel My Love”. David Cameron and his wife were in the second row. I wanted to go and chat to them but my shyness kicks in every so often. Maybe I should send them a copy of ‘CHANGE..’ when it's finished?!

JM: You are candid about having had a few jobs to support the music. What were the best and worst moments?

Iona: Music can be the worst paid job of all time! So yes I have had shed loads of jobs to support it. I hated being an extra in films. I was told off for mucking about with the actors. The other extras hated me for not taking it seriously and not ‘knowing my place’!

My other jobs included cleaning houses. On one occasion whilst cleaning a client’s house, the client crept in and asked if it was me on the TV. She didn't know I had another job. She thought I was just an eccentric!

And I loved being a bicycle courier, riding around London, giggling and singing. Also, it's mostly boys who do the job so I got to flirt, write songs between jobs and be on my beloved bicycle.

JM: You have lovely curly hair. Naturally like that or styled?

Iona: Haaa, I get out of the shower put product in my hair and get on my bike and it dries big, blonde and curly. Often I do it straight as people think I look more glam. My Agent in NYC likes to play with my look as she works for several magazines as the Beauty Editor. She tries to get me clothes for events.

But last time I had to do a big show a large fashion house said they'd love to dress me. So I emailed them and said I was a UK 14/US size 10. They sent a pointed email in reply: ‘We don't do clothes that big’. I laughed it off, and said ‘thank you’, but left. I understand why so many public figures become “minis”!

JM: Iona.it’s been a pleasure. ‘Afternoon tea sometime soon?

Iona: Yes afternoon tea at Bluebird on Kings Road or Sketch on Conduit Street would go down a treat! Thank you darling.



For samples of Iona’s work go to www.myspace.com/ionam

Photographs by Jono Self and Melinda Wells

InMagazines are a brand name owned and published by INDEPENDENT NEWS LIMITED (c) copyright 2009.

AUBERGINE - 11 Park Walk, SW10

Once the premises of Gordon Ramsay, Aubergine has for many years had at the helm William Drabble. What follows are notes from my most recent meal. The dining room has a skylight at the back and makes good use of mirrors to create a sense of space in what is not a large dining room, which at capacity could seat around 50 covers. Three courses were £68 for dinner, with a tasting menu at £85, but there was a set lunch for £29 with a selection for four choices of starters and main courses.

The extensive wine was strong in France but also has some well-selected suppliers from elsewhere, though mark-ups are far from generous. Guigal Hermitage 1988 is listed at a chunky £145 for a wine that costs perhaps £35 retail. Egon Muller Kanta Riesling 2006 is £45 for a wine you can buy in a shop for around £17.

At the top end, the very fine Vega Sicilia Unico 1995 has a price to match: £520 compared to a shop price of around £210. Breads are made from scratch and consist of a selection of rolls: white, brown, sesame, dill, black olive, rosemary and a walnut and raisin usually served with the cheese. I am a great proponent of restaurants making their own bread, but found these pleasant but oddly unexciting (5/10).

An amuse-bouche of “terrine” of beetroot appeared to be just some pickled beetroot slices, topped with a blob of sour cream, and a rather tasteless drizzle of chive sauce, presumably mainly to add colour. The beetroot was quite acidic, and for me simply uninteresting (2/10).

My starter was a set of scallops or to be precise (this being London, four thin slices of scallop) on a puree of mushrooms. The scallops were correctly cooked, and the mushroom puree was well-seasoned though I suspect it was not made with the costliest of mushrooms and so had merely pleasant flavour, and presentation was simple (4/10).

My main course of John Dory was cooked well, though its layer of parsley on top had surprisingly little taste for such a distinctive herb, and for me the fish left on its own would have been better. A bed of spinach was fine, as was a thin red wine sauce, but the cream of mushrooms were just button mushrooms, which are never going to excite (5/10).

My companion’s dishes were of a similar or lesser standard, with carelessness showing through with a coarse hair appearing in her otherwise fairly tasty poor cheek dish; I think this was a hair from the pig that had not been properly removed in preparation.

For dessert, poached cherries with soufflé beignet were pleasant, though the temperature of the elements of the dish was oddly variable, served with a nice almond ice cream (5/10). Coffee was good, served with capable petit fours such as a nice mini lemon tart and a moist financier (6/10 for the petit fours).

As with the last visit, I felt slightly let down given this is a restaurant with a Michelin star. Some dishes are borderline one-star level, but others are clearly not, and given the price tag this is a problem. Service was pleasant, though our waitress seemed essentially unable to speak any English at all.



Review by Andy Hayler

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The Un-Funny TRUTH about Scientology

Scientology is NOT a religion it is a Criminal cult !

InMagazines are a brand name owned and published by INDEPENDENT NEWS LIMITED (c) copyright 2009.

Quadrophenia: Iconic rock opera takes to the stage

The Who’s iconic rock opera double album comes to the stage for the first time, more than 30 years after its release.

In 1993, The Who successfully adapted Tommy to the stage and gained great acclaim and are sure to follow suit with Quadrophenia. The film version released in 1979 became a cult hit, telling the tale of Jimmy, a young man disillusioned with his life and dull job, and misunderstood by his parents. The hedonistic teenager dreams of more, and lives for the music and mod fashion of the time. He embarks on a life changing trip to Brighton, culminating in the infamous clashes between the mods and rockers in the 1960’s on Brighton beach.

The young cast of unknowns are vibrant and bring the songs to life on stage, while the use of four characters to depict Jimmy’s confusion and angst over himself and the changing world around him makes for a great piece of theatre.

The score includes "The Rock", “The Real Me”, “5:15”, "Love, Reign o'er Me" and the title track. “Love, Reign o’er Me” aptly captures the longing and heartache of unrequited love and the need to feel wanted and cared for that that never truly leaves you. While “The Real Me” describes Jimmy’s loss and confusion at growing up in a changing world.

Pete Townsend worked as the creative director on the adaptation, and says the 60’s story of Quadrophenia is still as relevant and important today as it was when the album came out. Indeed coming of age tales always have a relevance as teenage angst never goes away, and no matter how much the world changes, those same problems, your parents not understanding you, that girl not even noticing you when you spend every day thinking about her and trying to fit in with your peers are everlasting.

Quadrophenia makes its debut in Plymouth’s Theatre Royal and will tour throughout the country in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bath, Manchester, Sunderland, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Leeds, Nottingham, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Brighton, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Oxford, Wimbledon, Southampton and Reading.

For more information and booking details see http://www.quadrophenia.co.uk/tickettour/

Natalie McEwan

InMagazines are a brand name owned and published by INDEPENDENT NEWS LIMITED (c) copyright 2009.

Elen moves on from Chelsea football star

The News of the World have published pictures of Chelsea football star, Frank Lampard's ex, Elen Rives, with another man.

The man is said to be 22 year- old Sevenage Borough FC defender, Lawrie Wilson.

The pair strolled through the streets of Soho, stopping to kiss and flirt before booking a room at the Sanderson Hotel last Sunday night.

This could come as either a blow to Lampard or a welcome relief. The two split earlier this year after a four year relationship. While it's not clear who initiated it, it is rumored to be Frank who called time on the pair.

This is the first time she has been linked to anyone romantically while Frank has been caught playing the field-in more ways than one- several times.


You can read the full story here

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/310149/Chelsea-FC-star-Frank-Lampards-ex-fiancee-Elen-Rives-spends-night-with-mystery-hunk.html

Image courtesy of www.notw.co.uk


By Michelle Cooper

InMagazines are a brand name owned and published by INDEPENDENT NEWS LIMITED (c) copyright 2009.