Bidoscapes: A Decade of Bido Lito!
To celebrate a decade of our favourite pink pages, we got in touch with Chris Torpey, founder of Bido Lito! to delve into their archive and talk us through some of his fave moments at the forefront of the Liverpool music and arts scene.
When we started Bido Lito! in May 2010, the intention was that the artists would take centre stage: we weren’t going to be bogged down in historical anecdotes and mining the myth or Liverpool music heritage, but create a platform where the here and now was given the limelight. Over the course of 10 years, we’ve documented the work of hundreds of musicians, artists, DJs, promoters and creatives of all stripes, and a great supporting character has emerged as we’ve told these stories: the city.
The city – and, indeed, the whole Merseyside region – has been a backdrop to many of these fascinating stories, helping us to bring the profiles to life with a sense of familiarity. Across the countless photoshoots and interviews we’ve done, the locations have added an extra, living element to each story, bringing a sense of immediacy to the various accounts. By looking through the photography in Bido Lito!, you should be able to marry up the featured artists with places you recognise; if this makes their work feel more real and accessible, then it can help to bring the whole scene to life.
We’ve had the pleasure of working with dozens of photographers down the years who have shared this desire to make Bido Lito! a monthly love letter to Liverpool. This has resulted in some fabulous feature photography being printed in our pink pages, from which we’ve picked out a few of our favourites. The backgrounds vary massively, from artists’ natural habitats to dominant city landmarks, the famous Liverpool skyline to great array of greenery and natural wonders we’re lucky enough to be surrounded by. There are places we walk past every day, and some that contain hidden stories. The musicians we feature are adding to these layers of history every day – we’re just pulling out those stories, and using the cityscape as an extra character to help relay them to you. Because, as you’ll find, the city is not just a canvas, but an active participant in the story.
Christopher Torpey
Bido Lido! Founding Editor
PHOTOGRAPHY
MC Farhood by Michelle Roberts
May 2016 // Issue 67
Liverpool Cathedral
“This is one of my favourite photo shoots, and I think it’s powerful when you know the back story. Farhood – or Fred to his Liverpool mates – left his native Iran when he was 18 for a new life in the US, away from repressive system he found in his home country. His journey was curtailed in Liverpool at John Lennon Airport, when a contact who was to help him get to the US didn’t show. He spent four years floating between prison, a hostel and living on the streets while his asylum claim was processed, then rejected. He then converted to Christianity – despite being an atheist – and had a subsequent asylum claim accepted. In Liverpool he fell in with the music world and crafted an EP of his own material, Tike Tike, where he barked polemical raps in Farsi over some grime beats. His artistic work then blossomed, and he is living and working successfully as a multi-disciplinary artist. The shots were taken from Great George Square, on Nelson Street in Chinatown, so that the Anglican Cathedral looms over him, and made the front cover of our June 2016 magazine. Because of Fred’s natural ease in front of a camera and the way Michelle shot them, the photos came out striking: and when you read about the story, the symbolism becomes complete.”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-mc-farhood/
Michelle Roberts – https://www.sheshoots.co.uk/
All We Are by Robin Clewley
July 2017 // Issue 80
Mersey Ferry
“I’d always wanted to do a shoot with All We Are where we emphasised that they were a unit of three complementary pieces, each with very different backgrounds and cultures. Rich is from Cork, Guro is from Norway and Luís is from Brazil, but over the years they’ve become one inseparable whole. And Liverpool has been a key part of their own story, being where they all met, put down roots and contributed to the city’s creative scene while they built their band up bit by bit. I always wanted to ask them about Liverpool being a port city, a melting pot with a huge flux of people and ideas, and if that related to their own experiences; I interviewed them sat on the Pier Head to talk about this, then we carried on the conversation on the Mersey Ferry as it cruised up and down the river. Robin captured this great shot as the ferry came back in to dock at the Pier Head, and all the pieces fit together. Rich is also wearing my sunglasses in this shot, so I’ll take a tiny portion of production credit on this, too!”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-all-we-are-2017/
Robin Clewley – https://www.robinclewley.co.uk/
Forest Swords by Keith Ainsworth
August 2013 // Issue 37
Thurstaston
“Even if you don’t know where Matthew Barnes (Forest Swords) is from, you can tell that nature and landscapes play a huge part in his creative process. His work is full of sweeping, undulating grooves and takes on a wide, cinematic scope. For the release of his 2013 album Engravings, we ventured over to Thurstaston, in Wirral, to capture Matt in this environment for the cover feature. Thurstaston reputedly gets its name from the sandstone rock at its summit, which may or may not have been named in reference to ‘Thor’s stone’, a place linked to the area’s Viking heritage. The stone itself is marked with grooves that point to its potential importance in rituals and sacrifices dating back hundreds of years. The fact that Forest Swords had a song called Thor’s Stone on that album was too delicious a connection to ignore.”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/forest-swords/
Keith Ainsworth – http://www.arkimages.co.uk/
Miss Stylie by Mike Brits
April 2012 // Issue 22
Sapphire Gym
“This is all about attitude and power, which Miss Stylie has in abundance. Mike produced one his characteristic shoots for this feature, taking Stylie to Sapphire, the MMA gym in Huyton and pulling out all the stops. I just love how much Stylie embodies the character in this – you can learn so much about her as an artist in her body language here. Pure power!”
Mike Brits – http://mikebrits.com/
Stealing Sheep by Joe Wills
April 2011 // Issue 11
Make Art Studios
“There’s a video that goes with this which will help explain more about the space. It was above the NCP car park between Wolstenholme Square and Duke Street, which is now a bowling alley! It was our second catch up with Stealing Sheep, and their first cover, which caught them as they were really in the ascendant. I love how the light falls across all of them in this shot, and how it makes them look like one entity from three individuals. It also reminds me of that really creative patch between 2010 and 2014 around Wolstenholme Square, when space like this – and in Wolstenholme Creative Space – were full of work and gigs and art by loads of different artists. It was exciting and DIY and there was lots of collaboration. It keeps my spirits up whenever I look at the uniformity of the buildings that have gone up in their place since, thinking back to how fun it used to be.”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-stealing-sheep-2011/
Joe Wills – https://www.obscenic.com/
James Canty by Nata Moraru
June 2015 // Issue 57
St James Gardens
“James looks like a pre-Raphaelite painting in this shot, slumped beneath a tree like a fallen cavalier. The light was gorgeous when Nata took this, and we just played around. The cemetery in the grounds of the Anglican Cathedral is such an atmospheric place, an oasis of calm in the middle of the city; we’ve used it for lots of photo shoots down the years. But this one just captures a sense of longing that perfectly suits James’ music. I can’t remember who brought the balloon, but it worked a treat to offset the colours. I love this set of photos.”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-james-canty/
Nata Moraru – https://www.facebook.com/NataMoraruPhoto/
Bang On by Jennifer Pellegrini
May 2012 // Issue 23
Leaf, Bold Street
“A great creation from Craig and Jen on this, getting Elliot dressed up as a country gent and enjoying some cream tea and cakes. Not your classic situation for a grime rapper! Elliot was always great in indulging our ideas (we had him eating a record player in a previous photo shoot!), and he went full on with this for the June 2012 cover shoot. The upstairs space in Leaf is an ideal backdrop to portray sartorial elegance; and, just because grime is rough and fast and without airs and graces, it doesn’t mean that it can’t still be sartorial or elegant.”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/bang-on/
Jennifer Pellegrini – https://www.facebook.com/jenniferpellegrini.musicphotographer
Welcome To The Dark Ages by Dan Dares
August 2017 // Issue 82
Bold Street/North Docks
“Wow, what an epic few days it was when the Justified Ancients Of MuMu returned in 2017! The JAMs/KLF disruptors Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty planned a great spectacle to ‘celebrate’ the 23 years since they’d burned one million pounds on the island of Jura, and they were adamant that Liverpool was going to be where that story came full circle. When they arrived in their ice cream van on Bold Street for a midnight book signing at News From Nowhere, it was like Lady Gaga had descended, with fans and amateur paparazzi everywhere. By the end, when they ceremonially burned coffins on a pyramid-pyre at Clarence Dock, it had been a whirl of a few days taking in the occult, art interventions, trolleys, Jarvis Cocker, badgers and the police. It was a pleasure for Bido Lito! to be involved in this – and these photos by Dan Dare captured the madcap reality playing out on the streets of Liverpool, where the ley lines draw together all manner of Discordian ideas.”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-what-became-of-the-dark-ages-klf-jams/
Dan Dares – https://www.facebook.com/dandaresphotography/
MC Nelson by Keith Ainsworth
June 2018 // Issue 90
Sefton Park
“I could hear the characteristic thump and vibe of Africa Oyé in the background as we took these photos with Nelson; he was due to play on the main stage later that day, and took the time out to get some shots for his cover feature. Nelson explores his identity and his relationship to his home city with great clarity in his music, in particular the uncomfortable relationship Liverpool has with its links to slavery. There were many obvious locations we could have used for this, but Sefton Park seemed a slightly tangential fit: a familiar place for nelson from his youth, growing up in Aigburth; the home of Oyé, a positive celebration of the African diaspora; and the brook, which runs through the park from the Mersey, via Otterspool, being named the River Jordan, with the religious overtones that chimed with Nelson’s own musings. Plus, the grotto is a very atmospheric setting full stop.”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-mc-nelson/
Eleanor Nelly by Georgia Flynn
May 2016 // Issue 67
Crosby beach
“I really like the simplicity of this – the guitar case, the expanse of sky above, the families in the background walking about between Gormley’s iron men. It’s very hopeful, and speaks of the possibility ahead for an artist at the start of their musical journey.”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-eleanor-nelly-2016/
Georgia Flynn – http://www.georgiaflynn.com/
Roy by Gary Lambert
July 2019 // Issue 102
Everton Library
“The Bard of Walton, captured brilliantly in front of the crumbling, overgrown Everton Library. This is perfect juxtaposition, and tells you all you need to know about Roy’s kitchen-sink dramatism through his verses. It’s also real, of the streets, and unflinching. Most of the real human stories play out below the radar, in real peoples’ lives, which is what makes artists like Roy so important.”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-roy/
Gary Lambert – https://twitter.com/glamgigpics
Bill Ryder-Jones by Jennifer Pellegrini
August 2010 // Issue 4 and Issue 18
Gustaf Adolfs Kyrka
“I just adore this picture! Bill sat in front of the organ in the Scandinavian Church on Park Lane, where he recorded some of the orchestral sessions for his first album If… (based on the Italo Calvino novel, If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller). Jen did this shoot with Bill in August 2010 during those sessions when we first spoke to him – and then we used this shot on the front cover just over a year later when the album came out. I really like how peaceful it is, and how, with the artist’s back turned, the organ and the surroundings take on the mantle of being lead character. I could look at this for hours!”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-bill-ryder-jones-if-2010/
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-bill-ryder-jones-2011/
Phoenix Violins by Antonio Franco
November 2015 // Issue 62
The Bluecoat
“Phoenix Violins is one of those hidden gems that very few people know about, but knowledge of its presence at the heart of a city centre institution never fails to make you glow a bit. Michael Phoenix runs his violin repair and sales business in a small unit off the Bluecoat’s central garden, and works by candle light to stay true to the traditions of his craft. Antonio wanted to catch Michael at work in as authentic a way as possible that respected his work, which made it a challenge to capture the shots – but I think it was worth it. People like Michael and the work he does are so important to a city having character and charm, and a real depth to a music culture. It really heartens me to know that there are practitioners as dedicated as Michael in our midst as we’re going about our daily lives. It feels right.”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/feature-phoenix-violins/
Antonio Franco – https://www.antoniofranco.net/
Beach Skulls by Charlotte Patmore
April 2012 // Issue 23
North Docks/Lime Street
“I just love Beach Skulls!”
https://www.bidolito.co.uk/beach-skulls/
Charlotte Patmore – https://www.charlottepatmore.com/
Kazimier Garden by Keith Ainsworth
November 2017 // Issue 84
Seel Street
“By the end of 2017, we’d seen such turmoil around music venues in the city that we felt we had to comment upon it. The issue that this picture was the cover shot for was also the one with which we published a report into the health of the city’s music sector. It put some facts and figures on the bones of what we already knew, that there was a lack of support for the grassroots music infrastructure in the region, and that music venues in particular were feeling the pinch. I managed to convince Keith to accompany me on a jaunt about the city to capture some of the remaining venues, and produce a series of shots showing the spaces before people were in them or shows were taking place. The resulting set spoke of something a little eerie, a portentous sight of what these crucial spaces would be like if we failed to look after them. The cover photo kind of picked itself: the sight of the Kazimier Garden, the last vestige of the great, irreplaceable Kazimier club, being loomed over by new residential developments, illustrating perfectly the threat of rampant commercialisation in the city centre. Keith managed to heighten the sense impending doom by muddying his knees and using a convex lens to make it seem like the surrounding buildings were crowding over the top, cutting off any sunlight and almost enveloping the venue. Sometimes you have an idea of how things will turn out – but, often, it’s in the vision of others that the real magic is found.”
