Get us in your inbox

Search
  1. Essential listening

    The Horrors, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Spacemen 3.

    Identifying features

    Black hair. Black clothes. Black accessories.

    Find them at…

  2. Essential listening

    Caspa, Digital Mystikz, Burial.

    Identifying features

    Self-produced CDs.

    Find him at…

    Brixton tube station, BM Soho.
  3. Essential listening

    UK Subs, The Adverts, Buzzcocks.

    Identifying features

    Bullet belt. Boots. Mohican.

    Find him at…

  4. Essential listening

    John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Benet McLean.

    Identifying features

    Pork pie hat or beret. Drink in hand.

    Find him at…

  5. Essential listening

    Disclosure, Jamie XX, Julio Bashmore.

    Identifying features

    Designer labels. Big glasses. Lego jewellery. Endless stamina.

    Find them at…

  6. Essential listening

    Slayer, Black Sabbath, Amon Amarth.

    Identifying features

    Air drumming. Headbanging. Skulls.

    Find him at…

  7. Essential listening

    Swim Deep, Peace, Wolf Alice.

    Identifying features

    Bleached hair. Denim. Artfully faded band merchandise.

    Find them at…

  8. Essential listening

    Jeff Mills, Spiral Tribe, Club Cheval.

    Identifying features

    Neon. Patterns. Eccentric vintage.

    Find him at…

  9. Essential listening

    Elgar, Parry, Britten.

    Identifying features

    Buttocks of steel. National pride.

    Find him at…

  10. Essential listening

    Linda Perhacs, Villagers, Erland And The Carnival.

    Identifying features

    Harmonica holder. Tales of folk. Plaid.

    Find them at…

London's musical tribes

Illustrator David Ziggy Greene spent three months meeting London's music fans and drawing the city's scenes and subcultures for us

Advertising
David Ziggy Greene on how he drew the tribes:

‘In some instances I hunted certain tribes out: I went to jazz bars and folk open-mic nights, and spoke to dubstep CD sellers outside tube stations. But others like Techno popped up by chance, in the street or record shops. Sometimes a character was too good to ignore on the street, so I would stop them and ask what music they listened to.

‘Each tribe was depicted with genuine re-occurring traits and styles – if I spotted a pork-pie hat more than once in a jazz bar, then I thought that was a nice touch to use. Where there are metal fans there are chin-beards, so I had to include that.

‘The quotes were as close as I could keep them to what the real tribe members said. I would ask similar questions to all the people I found: what sort of personality does it take to be into metal or jazz or house music? Or, what obscure stuff should one should listen to to be a true fan of dubstep or folk? Or, how did they get into that type of music? Asking things like that also helped me to find similarities in the tribal personalities and decide which characteristics to draw.

‘The tribe which broke most of the rules in the series was the Psychedelic Garage Goth tribe. These characters were directly drawn from one specific couple who I bumping into on the street. They turned out to be avid Time Out readers, who actually spotted themselves in the magazine and wrote to say they were thrilled. Thank goodness.’

Recommended
    You may also like
    You may also like
    Advertising