The Alternative London Podcast Gary Means

Steve Chapman, better known as Steve Xoh, is a visual artist and creator with an unusual, yet endearing and playful twist on reality.
In this episode we talk about Steve's wide-spanning array of unique ideas and his need to constantly create.
With a seemingly endless pit of inspiration, from the surreal to the down right silly, he captures his audiences imagination and brings them along for the ride.
Despite the huge success of some of these projects, Steve has an admirable and intuitive sense of when to stop. Despite his fans often wanting more.
I've been one of those fans for a while now, and talking to him here only deepened my admiration and respect for him as an artist and all-round great guy.
Hope you enjoy the episode. You can follow Steve on Instagram @stevexoh

In this episode I speak with Don Travis, photographer and co-founder of Future Hackney.
Don has lived in Hackney almost her whole life and is passionate about her community and it's cultural diversity.
Future Hackney is a public art project, telling stories of the area and it's people's through photographic imagery in public spaces.
We talk about her current displays, Gillet Square Stories and Protest Stories - both of which are currently live and can be seen in Dalston and Hackney, respectively.
We also chat about current issues facing the East End and the country at large. We discuss how Don's documenting of protest groups such as; Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion, Trans Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter and many more, alongside the current strike action have given Don optimism for a more positive future.
Don is a really strong and inspirational woman, so it's fitting that this episode is released on International Woman's Day 2023.
Enjoy.
You can follow Future Hackney here @futurehackney

In this episode I sit down with French film photographer, Tiffany Roubert.
In 2018 Tiffany took on a part-time role with Alternative London while she developed her photography career. During the pandemic she spent time in her wife, Carla’s native Brazil and took her photography full time.
Tiffany’s images capture a life lived in the moment and her style, along with her obvious rapport with her subjects, can turn the most mundane situations into pieces of art of the highest quality.    
Needless to say, I love Tiff’s work and have really enjoyed seeing her evolving as an artist and building up a well-deserved, dedicated fanbase over the past few years.
Last week saw the release of her first publication – In Between – so I thought it was a good time to catch up and talk about her journey since leaving Alternative London a few years back.
Due to a mistake with the recording, we unfortunately lost the first ten minutes and had to start again. A shame, as we were in full flow and it felt a bit contrived revisiting those parts but I think we found our way back in.
Hope you enjoy it. You can follow Tiffany’s work here: @tiffanyroubert

In episode 20 I chat to artist Dave Buonaguidi - otherwise known as The Real Hackney Dave. 
We chat about Dave’s mid-life epiphany during which he left his marriage and his career in advertising and became an artist. 
Dave is a fascinating guy and a natural story-teller and I loved hearing about his time in 90’s Spitalfields as it just started to become cool (If you’ve been on one of our tours you’ll probably know Dave’s former home, 11½ Fournier St!), his time at channel 4 during the Brit Art Years and how he’s continued to move with the times and constantly reinvent himself. 
I speak to him as he prepares for his solo show at BSMT space alongside other projects and find a guy who is always working to make his art better and who creates it for the people. 
I loved this one, hope you do to.  
You can follow Dave’s instagram here; @realhackneydave and drop your comments here @alternativeldn

One of Britain's master bronze makers, artist and environmentalist - it's the one and only Jonesy!
Mark Jones moved to East London in 1988 to take up work as a finisher in a bronze foundry. Apart from a few stints abroad, he has been there ever since.
In that time he has produced works for some of the most well known artists of our times. Alongside his professional work however, his bronze street works have lead him to become one of the most endearing street artists in the East End.

The intricacy and detail of Jonesy's work, not to mention the fact that he's working in bronze, has always blown me away. But this conversation quickly turned towards the purpose and message behind the art on the streets - the environment.

Jonesy was an early advocate for environmenal change and I'm really glad he used this platform to share his thoughts and wisdom with us.

I always love talking to Mark and I hope you enjoy listening to him. Undoubtedly one of my personal heroes

In this episode I speak to entrepreneur and Jewellery maker, Nadia Abbas.
Nadia, Quincey and Luke co-founded Stööki in 2011 as a Jewelery brand with its roots firmly in London youth culture.
We talk about the highs and lows of running a sustainable fashion business in a throw-away world, how Stööki survived after the tragic and untimely passing of Quincey and how everything Stööki does is centred around building community. Stööki is more than a brand, it's a movement.
Nadia is so passionate about her craft and a real inspiration to anyone - particularly young women of colour - thinking about starting their own creative endeavor.
You can find Stookie here @stooki and here www.stooki.co.uk and their workshops here http://www.stooki.co.uk/pages/workshops

And a big thanks to Krissie @east_end_trades_guild for linking us up - you can find out more about their amazing work over on their Instagram.