September 2026
Nick Cave
Anyone who’s talked to me in the last eight months probably knows that I bumped into Nick Cave in my favourite coffee shop in Lewes (Taith). In early August, I saw his biggest ever show, which was such an event in Brighton that even the train station announcements were changed to his voice. Through songs, books, and films, I’ve been drawn to his masterful ability to play life back at us, in all its deepest struggles and highest joys.
Back to Lewes, I didn’t say a word; Josh did have a half-hearted attempt at flashing the Betty Davis vinyl we’d just bought, to no effect. Somehow, that felt fitting for the relationship he manages to create with his audience and this seemingly impossible oscillation between mystical figure and vulnerable human.
Stolen Space
Stolen Space is an underground and urban art gallery tucked away at the start of Brick Lane. Their latest exhibition, Create and Annoy, showcases skaters turned artists and artists shaped by skating. It’s “a tribute to grit, style, and the underground ethos”.
I grew up in a family of skateboarders and BMX riders, brought up on stories of how skateboarding and the likes of the Lords of Dogtown were liberating for my dad's generation. And every Sunday, we used to pick up kids from all walks of life to head to BMX races.
I don’t skate or ride myself, but I’ve always been drawn to these sports and what goes beyond them: an obsessive commitment to a very hard discipline, a space in which every fall can be big in consequences, and a willingness to find your people somewhere outside the obvious places. Let’s not forget, always with a slight tendency to annoy.
Goodwood
I was invited to the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the first time, a British institution I’ve always been intrigued by. I’ve learnt by now that a British institution also means a dress code! The hat was the key requirement, and I found myself running around town trying to find one that might be the right fit.
Once there with my hat, I was surprised by the scale of it all. Daytime fireworks, gigantic car sculptures, the noisy and shambolic paddock, and, in the middle of it all, cars and motorbikes going to and from The Hillclimb. Meandering through all of this, you get to see some of the most incredible designs: unique lines, unexpected colours, beautiful materials. From tailor-made, revisited classics to brand new, made-to-order Italian barchettas.
Being a relative novice to this world (though Peugeot was the first brand I ever worked on), I found myself appreciating how, at its best, car design pulls the broader creative world towards beauty, sensoriality, and flow, and how each country has developed such a distinctive design identity from its own mix of historical, cultural, and environmental influences.
Geordie Jazz
This one is shorter, as I only got to stay for one song. We checked out the Love Supreme Jazz Festival this year. It was our daughter’s first festival, and she loved it all, except for the one band that turned out to be our biggest discovery of the day. It was “too noisy”, apparently, and so we had to leave.
They’re called Knats and play “Geordie Jazz”, blending jazz, drum and bass, punk, and electronic influences. We did realise later that they were these three stylish guys who had lunch next to us, not as short a time as we thought then! I love how they carry the North East of England with them, and with it the community stories, resilience, and hard-won optimism.