Kristen Sinclair

 “Wait, are they covering the Thomas the Tank Engine theme song?” Ciara abruptly detracts from what she was saying to point out the gimmicky chug coming from the next room. The rest of Problem Patterns burst into laughter. The band are sitting in a circle on the floor of their rehearsal space off the Springfield Road, a cosy studio littered with battered sofas and cables. Ciara and Alanah sip on iced coffees; Beth and Bev unpack their kit as we chat. Their neighbours have unknowingly joined in on a private joke. “Thomas the Tank Engine was pivotal in album recording,” Alanah laughs. “We’d just stick it on whenever we needed cheering up.” The band are still recovering from their first live set of the year at the Atlantic Bar in Portrush the previous weekend. When I ask how it was, they answer in a chorus of superlatives – amazing, electrifying, sweaty. The sold-out goodbye gig for the iconic north coast venue saw Problem Patterns take to the stage alongside ASIWYFA, Brand New Friend, Fe

Belfast’s queer history is all around us – and the LGBTQIA+ Heritage Project NI is aiming to uncover more. As part of their work, the project organises volunteer-led walking tours which usually start from Writers’ Square and snake all around town, from Botanic to Cathedral Quarter. The heritage trails retrace the steps of old Pride marches, reveal spots which used to house covert gay bars during the Troubles and highlight the vital work of activists. “If we included everything in one tour, it would take us about four hours!” laughs Mary Ellen Campbell, the project’s coordinator. “People tend to imagine that our history is just bars, whereas we see our heritage as being in every sphere of life – politics, art, religion, business… as well as [in] bars and [as] entertainers,” she explains. “LGBTQIA+ people are and have been everywhere. Now it’s about acknowledging and celebrating that fact.” Mary Ellen was involved in the original project which finished in October last year and has come o

Marcus Keeley has reinvented himself on TikTok. Comedian and veteran of the Belfast creative scene, you may know him from his detailed reviews of unremarkable places, from Homebase to Applegreen to the dump, narrated in his signature witty monotone. His most popular, a visit to Tesco in Newtownbreda, has been viewed over 584,000 times. “Occasionally [TikTok] would offer me these ‘aspirational’ review style videos of people going out for a fairly standard meal or spending a night glamping in Fermanagh as if it was a life-changing experience. I’m not denying folk having a nice time, but the express reason of these videos seemed to me to be to make it more than what it is. A lot of the time they come off as quite insincere too, which just led me to questioning why these videos were being made at all. From boredom these sorts of videos inspired in me, I rattled off a few clips of very mundane, everyday experiences but presented in the same style of an influencer. It turns out that going to

Under the blue domed ceilings of the former Tesco building at 2 Royal Avenue, Rym Akhonzada is behind the counter at the newly opened Yallaa café. The goods on sale range from local favourites fifteens to Arab specialities like manakeesh. Originally from Tunisia, Rym is a linguist and the founder of Yallaa, a social enterprise with the aim of promoting Arab culture here in the North. ‘Yallaa’ means ‘let’s go’ or ‘let’s do it’ in Arabic. “It is probably the most spoken word in the Arabic language and throughout the Arab world,” she explains. “So that’s why I’ve chosen the name, something that’s easy to pronounce for non-Arabic speakers, but then it has a meaning to it as well.” The positive, energetic connotation of the word is reflective of the work the organisation does. Yallaa started in 2016 in Lisburn to support Syrian refugees with their integration and social needs. To date, hundreds of people benefited from the activities and services offered. With the amount of projects going o

  “I am not a criminal” Sara* photographed by Stuart Bailie I meet Sara for the first time in a city centre café on a chilly January evening. We browse the touch-screen menu of elaborate coffees and settle on something sweet and iced. She is an Iranian musician, refugee and the driving force behind a scheme bringing music to asylum seekers here. Sara is not her real name, but one she uses to protect her family back in Iran. Sara was forced to flee her home country and has been in Belfast for over six months. As guitar teacher by profession, music has been a lifeline for her here and now something she can use to help others in similar situations through the Guitars for Newcomers initiative. Organised by Darren Ferguson, head of local arts organisation Beyond Skin, the project takes donations of old guitars from the public, has them refurbished and given to asylum seekers. Many of the recipients of the guitars are learning to play for the first time – and that’s where Sara comes in. When

Fiona McDonnell’s work is all over Belfast. From the Ulster Sports Club to the Sunflower bar to the clothing of passers-by, you’ve probably seen it without even realising. Fiona designs posters, prints, stickers, T-shirts and album sleeves – her work reaches all corners of the city’s creative scene and beyond. Think bright colours, eye-catching text and often political subject matter with her signature injection of colour, humour and flair. The illustrator’s digital brush has brought dancing horses to life for local clubbing institution Ponyhawke and made Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams a little friendlier than we remember them. Her work provides a welcome splash of brightness to the often dreary place we call home. “I love an obnoxiously bright colour palette! I use very limited colour palettes and tend to pick between two to five set complementary colours. It’s funny because in real life I’m known for wearing all black, I feel like all my love for colour is expressed through my illustrat