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...

  “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. ...

Lisasinson by Victoria Herranz Spanish garage rock is almost entirely synonymous with Hinds , the rambunctious, all-female band who took Madrid’s sounds to international ears in 2016 with their jangly debut Leave Me Alone . Formed in 2011 by Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote, the frontwomen joined forces with bassist Ade Martín and drummer Amber Grimbergen to become Spain’s most internationally successful indie export, sparking an interest in the Spanish capital’s thriving underground scene. For a country raised on the tontipop of Las Ketchup , Eurodisco acts like Baccara and hallmarks of tradition like Julio Iglesias , a new generation of bands were emerging who had always had to look abroad for the ramshackle rock ‘n’ roll sounds that their own country wasn’t making. As the now well-documented Madrid scene came to light, it became clear that not since the countercultural Movida Madrileña movement in the 70s and 80s following Franco’s dictatorship had the city’s scene been so vi...