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...

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...

  “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. ...

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...

Zines by Shannon O'Neill from Sister Ghost  The first opportunity I ever had to have my writing   published was in a zine. Imagine Tumblr circa   2013, submissions curated from likeminded blogs   on feminism and stan culture, bound together in a   PDF and fired out to a list of email subscribers to   be printed off and cherished. These free, self-   published mini magazines, with little regard for     editorial standards, censorship or house style,   allowed teenage girls to talk about whatever they   wanted to, how they wanted to. A haphazard   mixture of sketches, newspaper cuttings, defaced   images, fan art and handwritten messages were   splashed across A4 pages to express anger, love,   political views, share experiences and give advice.  Often synonymous with the 90s Riot grrrl   movement and punk scenes, zines (short for ...

Gemma Bradley does a little bit of everything. The Across the Line alumnus now spends her Sunday nights on the Radio 1 airwaves showcasing the freshest new sounds on BBC Music Introducing. Also a musician and singer-songwriter in her own right, her blend of poppy melodies, R&B grooves and signature soulful drawl have helped her carve out a unique position in the Irish music scene. Upcoming single ‘Better’ is a departure from the sugary ‘Obsessed’, leaning into her love of R&B and featuring collaborations with local jazz drummer David Lyttle and Dublin rapper Jamel Franklin. Gemma tells Dig With It about her creative process, straddling two sides of the music industry and why vanilla is a misunderstood ice-cream flavour… Gemma Bradley gets vocal What are your earliest memories of music? Being in the car with my mum listening to different kinds of records – Amy Winehouse, Corinne Bailey Rae, Bob Marley too, Macy Gray. That shaped a lot of the stuff that I began to write later on....