Bournemouth on Blonde Bond

Bond thriller, “Quantum of Solace”, is released tomorrow. The people of Bournemouth spoke on whether Daniel Craig, since succeeding Pierce Brosnan as 007, fits the classic Bond formula.

Grace Hawkins, 21, A Topshop employee from Luton believes that “Daniel Craig is a refreshing take on James Bond” and that Pierce Brosnan is old and boring. She also said that it’s unlikely she will see Quantum of Solace until it comes out on DVD.
Andy Morris, 18, a student living on King Edwards Avenue, Bournemouth, similarly doesn’t see the new Bond movie as essential viewing. Mr Morris felt that it was “difficult for Craig” to take on the role partly because of his uncharacteristic Bond look. Overall, “Craig couldn’t surpass Pierce Brosnan or Sean Connery”.

Hannah Roberts, an 18-year-old nursing student, living in Abbotsbury House in Bournemouth said of Daniel Craig, “He doesn’t look like the typical Bond”. She said she hasn’t seen Casino Royale and only really knows what Daniel Craig looks like.
Frequent Cinema-goer, Oliver Fairweather, a 13 year-old student from Southampton, said he will be going to see the new Bond film. Even so, he thinks Daniel Craig “Doesn’t look like Bond” and that “Pierce Brosnan was a much better Bond.”
Fellow 13-year-old student from Southampton, Jack Mountain said he liked Daniel Craig, but still prefers Pierce Brosnan to his successor.



He said he thought Casino Royale was “amazing, spectacular and emotional” and was excited about the new release.
Susan Sutton, a retiree, from Amersham, Buckinghamshire stated her desire for the Bond of her youth, “To me Sean Connery is James Bond”. The 73 year old hasn’t seen Casino Royale but thinks Daniel Craig just doesn’t suit the character. “He’s not dark enough or suave enough, though he is handsome”. “He’s too rough and chunky”.
Similarly husband, Richard Sutton, 70, thinks “You’re asking the wrong person, I’m a Connery fan through and through”.

Life in the day - Daniel Duke

The singer-songwriter, 18, lives with his Mum, Sue, Dad, Andy, brothers James and Patrick, sister Rachel and their two dogs in a house just outside Banbridge, Northern Ireland.

I wake up, usually between nine and eleven o'clock, to the sounds of Radio 2 emanating from my clock radio. Depending on the time my twin brother, James, might still be in bed. We've shared a room for the last 18 years and its not a bad situation; there are no privacy issues and we don't get in each other's way so its fine. If he's awake I'll talk to him for a while and if he's not around I might read for a little instead. Then I'll get up and have breakfast, which usually consists of cereal but if I feel like it I'll have an egg and toast instead.

After Breakfast, I'll sit down at the computer, check the BBC news website, check my email and turn on the radio. After that I start any graphic design work I have to do. I've been dabbling in graphic design for a few years now and quite often do pro bono work for friends and family. It’s a lot of fun and it gives me something to do during the long summer holidays.

Around 2pm I'll have some lunch; a sandwich or some pasta. I usually make something quick and easy. Some days I'll walk into town and meet up with friends for lunch or a coffee. After lunch I pick up the guitar or sit down at the piano and play for a while. I play through covers and my own music but I try to write at least one song everyday just to keep me “sharp”, so to speak. I've been playing guitar for seven years and piano for four. I play a variety of other instruments and write and record a lot of my own music. I'm also in a number of bands so sometimes my day will be taken up with a band practice, beginning at 12pm and finishing late in the evening.

After playing music for a while, I'll go and watch some TV or play xbox with James. My older brother, Paddy gets home at around 6pm from work and I talk to him for a while or we play xbox together. If its a Monday or a Friday both my mum and dad will be working so I wont see them until around half six. On any other day of the week only my dad works but he's usually not home until between seven and nine. If my mum is off work she might go and visit her parents who live in a care home about 20 minutes drive away from our house. Unfortunately both my Granny and Grandpa suffer from Alzheimer and dementia, which is hard work for my mum. They are both content though so it’s not too bad.

We usually eat dinner around 7pm or when dad gets home from work. Dinner could be any number of things and is usually cooked by mum. On a Friday my Granny, on my dad's side comes over for dinner with us and I'll play scrabble with her and my parents. The same thing happens on Sunday nights as well, but we'll usually have something a little more fancy for dinner. On a Sunday we also take our black labradors - Tilly and Tess for a walk, in a nearby forest park. My mum, dad, aunt, uncle and they're dog, Spencer all go and we end up walking four dogs around the park, with the addition of Lucy, my granny's Pomeranian.

On some days I'll have a gig in the evenings, either playing with one of my bands or on my own. On these days I'll spend the day preparing – practicing and sorting out my instruments and set list. Then I'll head off to the gig early in the evening and won't be back until pretty late depending on how the night goes.

Bedtime varies greatly. If I've been out I'll go to bed at whatever time I get in. If I'm at home I'll usually head to bed around 1am but if I feel I haven't had a productive day I'll go on the computer and try and do some more design work or anything constructive. I sometimes stay up until after 4am, by which time I'm exhausted. In bed I might read for a while, depending on how late it is. Then I drift off, sometimes listening to music or good old radio 2 again – I don't like falling asleep in silence.

Zac Who?

It’s Zac Harris ladies and gentlemen, and those of you who don’t know his name already, will soon because he’s the next big thing on the alternative music scene. Written by Daniel Duke.

Sitting in Starbucks with Zac Harris in Bournemouth town centre, he seems nervous; perhaps because this is the first profile piece anyone has ever written about him. He asks if they do Earl grey tea, an interesting request for an 18 year old. “I’ve never been served tea in a mug before”, he says, a comment that could reflect on Harris’ personal life or perhaps on Starbucks’ etiquette. Zac nervously plays with the strings on his teabag, revealing vulnerability you wouldn’t associate with someone in the public eye.

Zac Harris is an 18 year-old singer songwriter from West Howe in Bournemouth. He’s just started to make it big on the local music scene and further afield; supporting Pete Doherty at the Bournemouth Opera House and playing a private exhibition gig at Selfridges in London being just two highlights of an impressive portfolio of past gigs.

Zac has always loved music and used to sing along to the radio when he was younger. He attempted keyboards but began playing guitar when he was 12. He was inspired to write songs and perform his music when he watched a DVD of Jeff Buckley performing live. “Watching that, I just knew what I wanted to do,” admits Zac. Buckley has been and still is a huge influence on Zac and reviewers have duly noted it. One admirer even went as far as saying, “Your music’s dope, it’s like the soul of Jeff Buckley reincarnate.” To Zac, though being compared to such a great musician is a compliment, he doesn’t want to be branded as the next Buckley. He says, “It’s really flattering when people say that I sing like Jeff Buckley but I don’t want to be Jeff Buckley; I just want to play my own stuff.” Today Zac’s inspiration comes more from bands like Radiohead, artists like Patrick Wolf and interestingly, the lifestyle and poetry of the beat generation of the 1950s.

Playing to a crowd of 10,000 people last year is one of Zac’s greatest achievements but more so, is his opportunity supporting Pete Doherty. He notes that this is the biggest crowd he has ever played to “who were there for music”.
He is a fan of Pete Doherty and went to a Babyshambles gig in The Twisters, when he was 14, “I didn’t know it was 18 plus until I left the venue. That was crazy, it was a good gig.” He talks about it being weird, supporting someone as famous as Pete Doherty and saying that it was “an honour” to play on a bill with so many talented people. Zac was full of nothing but praise for the other artists. He met Pete Doherty after the gig and simply says, “He was cool.”



The compere of the Opera House gig managed to get on everyone’s nerves says Zac. “The crowd were chucking pint glasses at him by the end of the night, he laughs.” Pete ended his set by throwing a chair and table off the stage, nearly injuring someone. The security apparently said it was the roughest night they’d experienced. Zac on the other hand, simply describes it as “a great night,” and adding, “It was an experience,” he says grinning.

Zac is sure of his goals and aims for the future. He is hoping to complete his debut EP for release in the first quarter of 2009. He is very excited because he’s never done an official release before and he is recording this with Stuart Semple, the artist, who has produced work for The Subliminal Girls including music videos and CD releases. Zac has been frustrated by delays on the release, especially glandular fever, which meant he couldn’t sing at all. He will definitely be releasing something soon, though and is hoping, “It’ll be nice and special as well.”

The next step for Zac after that is to get on the bill of a whole tour, supporting a band. His dream is to support Radiohead, but realistically he’d love to support Kid Harpoon, another up and coming artist. Zac sees him as another musician doing something similar to what he is, namely in the way he plays guitar, “He strums the hell out of it and I give my guitar hell all the time.” He says he loves the sound it gets and the aggressive feeling he can achieve in his music by playing like this.

Zac has already played with artists like Sue Denim of Robots in Disguise, supporting on half of her mini tour. He did a duet with her, singing Leonard Cohen’s ‘First we take Manhattan.’ “The tour was really good fun and I met some wicked people as well,” says Zac.

Zac talks about his family fondly and states how supportive they are of his music. His dad used to play him Manic Street Preachers and Bob Dylan when he was just a kid though which could have affected him and says of his son’s talent, “I have always enjoyed Zac's music and ideally I think with his unique abilities, and by that I mean his voice, style of guitar playing, song-writing and performance he will be able to get the type of contract with a record company that will enable him to develop a long term career.” Zac’s sister, 15, also plays guitar and sings but he sees her as a writer instead. “She’s good with words,” he says. Zac’s close friend, Mike Dent, a 17 year-old student in the band Metropolise said, “I've known Zac for 6 years and he's been my best friend. He's a great guy, he's very nice and his music is fantastic. There are a lot of solo artists in the Bournemouth area, but Zac really does stand out from the crowd.” Dent also said, “I've always known that he would get far at some point and supporting Pete Doherty at the Opera House proved that.”

As Zac talks about the Bournemouth music scene he becomes animated and opinionated. He thinks there is a lot of demand for live music in the area and he loves living here. He stresses that a lot of people criticize the music scene here but he believes that, “a music scene can only be as good as what you put into it.” He thinks that people in Bournemouth are lucky because there are so many good venues, like 60 million post cards, ibar and The Gander. “I’m pretty much in love with Bournemouth, it’s an inspiring place to live.”

Recently Zac has been expanding his sound and his style, experimenting with “using beats” in his live performance. He happily acknowledges that it went down well and he is excited about improving and expanding on this. “I feel like I’ve got so much I want to do,” reveals Zac. He doesn’t want to just keep one style as an artist and says he’d rather grow and evolve as a person. “To me that’s what’s exciting.”