Up close and personal with Cardiff’s new music heroes
- Text by Niall Flynn
- Photography by Elijah Thomas
In May 2018, when Cardiff band Boy Azooga made their debut on BBC music show Later… With Jools Holland, it was a victory for the entire city.
See, the Cardiff scene is a tight-knit one. Be it through creative collaboration, the attendance of each other’s shows or the fact that various bands are all known to live together under the same roof, Boy Azooga belong to a much larger (and just as loud) musical family.
For Elijah Thomas, this camaraderie has always been a keen point of interest. The photographer – who grew up in the Rhondda Valleys, but now lives in Manchester – used to play drums in a band that came up before the current crop of young, Welsh acts. He recognised the fellowship between Cardiff’s various musical circles from the get-go.
So, starting last year, Thomas embedded himself within the worlds of the city’s acts and artists, capturing them as a united, collective force.
“This is only a small section of [the scene], but even among these bands there are so many unique sounds,” he explains. “These guys all hang together, some even live to together in the same house but not one of them sounds the same.”
“As a photographer, it’s interesting to me because there’s genuine feeling there: a sense that these guys want to create good art, to make something memorable. They have the right reasons to create.”
After a year’s worth of shooting, the photos have now come together for a new exhibition. Titled A Scene Within A Scene, the show depicts an eclectic group of musicians with a mutual respect for each other’s work.
Featuring Boy Azooga alongside the likes of Sock, Private World, Rainbow Maniac and Buzzard, Buzzard, Buzzard, Thomas’ work is an electric portrait of the city and the musicians that make up its sound.
“It’s been a very exciting time for Cardiff music – Azooga appearing on Jools Holland was something else,” Thomas adds. “I was on tour with them when I heard the news they got the slot. I felt like a proud uncle or something.”
“I get the chance to photograph the guys who help fill my Spotify playlists – it still makes me smile when I see that they used one of my photos on social media.”
A Scene Within A Scene is showing in two parts, at Cardiff’s CAMPFA and Blue Honey Night Cafe, on 2 August, 2018.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
Bernie Sanders introduces Clairo at Coachella, urging young Americans to “stand up for justice”
Coachella charmed — The Vermont Senator praised the singer-songwriter for her efforts in raising awareness of women’s rights issues and Gaza.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The Changing Face Of Brooklyn, New York’s Most Colourful Borough
After three decades spent capturing stories around the world, Magnum Photographer Alex Webb finally decided to return home to Brooklyn – a place that champions chaos, diversity and community spirit.
Written by: Alex Webb / Magnum Photos
The mundane bliss of New York’s subways in the ’70s
NYC Passengers 1976-1981 — During a very different decade in NYC, which bounced between rich creativity and sketchiness, photographer Joni Sternbach captured the idiosyncratic isolation found on its rail networks.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Analogue Appreciation: lullahush
Ithaca — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. Today, it’s Irish retro-futurist lullahush.
Written by: lullahush
Spyros Rennt captures connection and tenderness among Berlin’s queer youth
Intertwined — In the Greek photographer’s fourth photobook, he lays out spreads of togetherness among his friends and the German capital’s LGBTQ+ party scene.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The rebellious roots of Cornwall’s surfing scene
100 years of waveriding — Despite past attempts to ban the sport from beaches, surfers have remained as integral, conservationist presences in England’s southwestern tip. A new exhibition in Falmouth traces its long history in the area.
Written by: Ella Glossop