Rocket Barbers

There’s a lot of hairy man-love at Rocket Barbers. The independent men’s barbershop has just opened its second site on Stoke Newington High Street, and it’s just as welcoming as the popular original. Regulars are treated to bear hugs, beard and moustache-wearers have their own social night, and you’ll share the space with dogs, a couple of kids, and the Wayne’s World soundtrack on any given visit. It’s the kind of atmosphere other men’s spaces try a little too hard to muster, but laidback co-owners Stephen Murphy, 33, and Neil Scothorn, 31, seem to have nailed it. The interior – wonderfully wonky – is a onetime butchery and the crumbly tiled interior remains. With other new barbers painstakingly set-dressed as a sort of gentlemen’s parlour with stuffed ferrets, imported beers and hangout zones, Rocket is a little rougher around the edges – and is all the better for it. “It takes too much effort to be pretentious,” explains Steve (whose foot-long beard has been known to scare small children). Although the pair both started out in different salons in Nottingham, it was a chance meeting in Melbourne where Steve and Neil became friends. Both working at the same popular barbershop in St Kilda, they had an idea that they might set up a similar concept back home. It took a couple of years – Steve moved back to the UK, Neil spent time kick boxing in Thailand – but they opened their first Rocket Barber in November, 2011 in a small site on Hackney Road. Since then they have made a swift business of cutting and clippering the men of east London and the new, bigger Stoke Newington site is going from strength to strength. 50s style side-parts and fades make up the bulk of their repertoire at £18 a cut, and once a month there’s a beard bar – a night of clipping, trimming, and professional moustache twiddling – plus booze. Only last time they announced it on Twitter they misspelled it accidentally leaving the D off beard, introducing the guys to a whole new hairy fan base. The shop has five new barber chairs (with two more to come), a washing area, record player, and a yet-to-be developed back garden (Neil has big plans for a tiki bar). There’s no booking; that’s how Steve and Neil like it. Just turn up, get clipped, and feel the man-love.