music – Kooky ©

The Sundowners shortlisted for the GIT awards

Article by Amy Jackson

Photography and film by Kelly Irvine

The GIT award, founded by Liverpool music blog ‘GetIntoThis’, was created as a way to celebrate the best of new Merseyside based music. Each year, 12 artists are selected that best represent the success of the growing music scene in Liverpool.

This year, the GIT awards are to be held at the Kazimier on Saturday 4th April.

Among this years nominee’s includes The Sundowners, a band with whom we’ve worked closely with on a number of projects. Read about our work with The Sundowners here and here.

Click here to take a look at the video shot and edited by Kelly at Kooky Studios of the Sundowners at their album launch gig.

The Sundowners recently spoke to GetIntoThis about their nomination, and the journey that led them to where they are now.

“We were at practice just last night going over old tunes which were great at the time. But we were laughing about them, they just seemed so naive, and if that was out there on a record you wouldn’t be able to take that back. I’m glad we’ve evolved and got to where we are now, and the stuff that we’re putting out is the first record and is what we’ll be known for forever,”- Fiona Skelly on the bands growth.

“There’s so many good bands. What I like about Liverpool bands is that no one gives up, they just keep going. There’s a strong scene and a strong connection between all the bands.” – Niamh on the passion of the Merseyside music scene.

You can read the full interview here.

Doors open at 7.00 at the Kazimier on Saturday, so don’t miss out on a chance to celebrate the talent that Merseyside has to offer!

April 1, 2015April 1, 2015 by kookystudios Categories: event, Fashion, fashion film, liverpool, music, The SundownersTags: GIT awards, kazimier, kooky studios, liverpool, liverpool music, music, the sundowners Leave a comment

The Threshold Festival 2015

This weekend the 5th annual Threshold Festival takes place right on Kooky Studios doorstep in the Baltic Triangle. A diverse range of artists are set to perform in various venues in the area, including Constellations, The Observatory Bar, 24 Kitchen Street,Unit 51 and our very own Baltic Social, with acts ranging from musicians and comedians, to a display of visual art, films and talks from experts. Threshold was started by Kaya Herstad Carney and Chris Herstad Carney “for artists by artists”, in an attempt to promote the grass-roots music scene and provide a platform for performers at various levels.

For more information about the festival and to find out the line up visit the website here
or follow @ThresholdFest

March 28, 2015 by kookystudios Categories: musicTags: baltic social, baltic triangle, kooky, kooky music, kooky studios, liverpool, music, photography, threshold Leave a comment

Electric sounds

Article by Amy Jackson

Photography by Kelly Irvine

Here at Kooky Studios, we’ve been busy with some exciting work for national hairdressing brand Electric Hair.

With salons around the UK, Electric Hair has been hailed one of the most important brands, and one to watch in the industry. The award winning hair stylist behind the brand, Mark Woolley, created a range of styling products combining the best ingredients and ensuring a salon finish every time. Electric Hair has been coveted by celebrity figures such as Paloma Faith and Sienna Miller, and continues to impress, being recomended by the likes of Harpers Bazaar. Kooky Studios have been chosen to promote Electric Hair’s new hair product, E-Spray hairspray, ready to be released in Spring this year. Containing cotton oil extract, jojoba oil, bamboo extract and shea butter, the hairspray has been specially designed for catwalk and photo-shoot ready hair, with a natural but strong hold. In addition to this, the hairspray protects against UV damage, contains moisture enhancing ingredients to avoid hair from drying out, and a non oily formula that drys on the hair with a flawless finish. You can purchase E-spray here and you can book an appointment with your local Electric Hair salon here. Electric Hair is also available to purchase at selected stores such as Harvey Nichols Beauty Bazaar.

For our photo-shoot, we collaborated with the amazing Merseyside based band, Sundowners, made up of Alfie and Fiona Skelly, Niamh Rowe, Tim Cunningham and Jim Sharrock. With an array of musical influences such as the Rolling Stones and Fairport Convention, the Sundowners are taking the UK music scene by storm, having performed at the prestigious BBC introducing stage at Glastonbury Festival. The Sundowners are represented by Liverpool based record label, Skeleton Key Records, ran by Neville, Ian and James Skelly, members of the indie rock band, the Coral. Liverpool bar/nightclub The Magnet were kind enough to let us shoot Niamh Rowe and Fiona Skelly, the bands leading ladies to promote the new product. If any of the fabulous vintage jewellery worn in the images caught your eye, you should definitely check out Niamh’s etsy page IntoTheLightVintage here and Fiona’s etsy page ShikobaSpirit here. The leather trousers worn by Fiona in one of the shots, have been customised by the talented stylist Kirsty Price, who you can learn more about on her page. Sundowners eponymous debut album was released February of this year, and has been inspired by a range of brilliant artists, such as Tame Impala, Portishead and the Velvet Underground. Listen to the album here or buy tickets for their remaining tour dates here or to buy tickets to watch the Sundowners support Paul Weller at Halifax on the 18th March click here.

Remember to keep up to date with the Sundowners on facebook and twitter.

Hair by Phil Gallagher at Electric Hair

Assistance by Ben Brown

Makeup by Nadine Wilson

Styling by Kirsty Price

Photography and graphics by Kelly Irvine

Fashion film by Kelly Irvine

Location – The Magnet Liverpool

March 11, 2015 by kookystudios Categories: Fashion, kooky studios, music, The SundownersTags: electric hair, harvey nichols, kooky studios, liverpool, photography, skeleton key records, the magnet, the sundowners 4 Comments

The Sundowners On Tour and The Liverpool Echo!

The Sundowners’ UK tour has officially kicked off! make sure you book your tickets here and check out our photography on their official tour poster and The Liverpool Echo!

The band have added new dates to their tour, including the 18th and 20th of March in Halifax and York where they will be supporting Paul Weller on his own sold out tour.

For more information about The Sundowners read our exclusive editorial When the Sun Goes Down

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/sundownersUK

checkout our published work also by The LiverPool Echo’s Jade Wright.

January 31, 2015February 13, 2015 by kookystudios Categories: artist, kooky, kooky studios, music, musician, The Sundowners, Uncategorized, woodstockTags: band, kooky, kooky love, kooky studios, liverpool, music, paul weller, the sundowners, TheLiverpoolEcho, tour, uk tour Leave a comment

Dave O’ Grady

“A perfect cocktail of folk, blues and pop.” is what critics have hailed Dave O’ Grady’s musical style. This particular review coming from a Dutch radio host, Marthijn De Wit, is proof of Dave’s international fan base. This fan base owes much to his tour of Europe in 2012, where he supported Rich Robinson, performing in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Belgium. His band, The Dave O’ Grady Trio, frequently tour Liverpool’s gritty music scene, and their sound has been likened to that of musical greats such as The Black Keys and Ray Lamontagne.

Dave’s critically acclaimed success has not come overnight. At the age of 20, he had shared the stage with legends such as Bon Jovi, Seal and Ringo Starr. His folk influence, no doubt was inspired by his upbringing in Ireland, where he is originally from.

This week we shot Dave, in Saltdog Slims, the bar famous for its ‘steins and brines’ sold throughout the night, as well as it’s quirky contribution to Liverpool’s nightlife.