New York Welsh

Jemima Williams a NY-based illustrator from Aberystwyth in South Wales. Prior to moving to the US she worked for eight years as a designer for the children’s television program Peppa Pig.

Davey Newington is a musician and front man of Cardiff band Boy Azooga. Their debut album ‘1, 2 King Fu!’ was released earlier this year, ahead of the band’s transatlantic tour, including a stop at Rough Trade in Brooklyn on October 24. Boy Azooga burst onto the scene in 2017 with their breakout hit, ‘Face Behind Her Cigarette’, which NME called “a total firecracker, with its mammoth riffs and splashy harmonies, all punctuated by stomping sleigh-bells.” Since then, they’ve performed all over UK and parts of Europe, lining up at Green Man festival and appearing on Jools Holland. Signed to London-based indie label Heavenly Recordings, their music draws on a range of influences from Black Sabbath to the Beach Boys, Frank Zappa to African synth legend, William Onyeabor. In this episode, Richard and Gideon chat to Dave over FaceTime, while he’s in transit between locations for a music video shoot. Among other things, they discuss Davey’s reaction to the last 12 months, marching in Cardiff as part of the SWS campaign, and what expect at a Boy Azooga gig.

Emma Pritchard is a Fashion stylist from Pontypool. After graduating with a degree in Fashion & Design from University of Wales, Emma swapped the UK for Asia to embark on a career in advertising. Emma ended up spending 9 years in Singapore, initially working as an Art Director on brands such as Elizabeth Arden, Guess and DeBeers, and later as a stylist. In 2006, she relocated to New York where she’s since amassed impressive portfolio and roster of loyal clients including, Puma, Cadillac, L’Oreal, Visa, and more. While still owning a house in Pontypool, and visiting her family frequently, Emma now calls New York her home. On this episode, Gideon and Richard chat with Emma about what’s involved in being a fashion stylist, the pros and cons of Instagram, and how managing photoshoots with big name stars come with a unique set of challenges.

Tom Chandler is a Welsh actor from Penarth in South Wales. He currently plays Begbie in the Off-Broadway show, Trainspotting Live. The play is an adaptation of the 1993 book by Irvine Welsh about the struggles of a group heroin addicted friends living in Edinburgh, most widely known for the 1996 film of the same name. What makes Transporting Live so unique is its immersive nature. With no 'fourth wall' the actors are free to interact with the audience throughout the performance. The play initially came under mixed reviews with some lauding its ambition while others questioned its political correctness. In August, the play was extended until the end of October 2018, which is perhaps the best indication of its enduring success.

Gareth is a multi-disciplinary designer based in Nuremberg, working on the ‘Futures’ design team for Adidas. This summer, Gareth was selected to participate in Adidas’s annual design program in New York, working alongside other star designers from around the world. On the episode, Gareth tells the boys how he finds his inspiration, his philosophy on seizing opportunities, and how he grew up in Capel Hendre wanting to be a mechanic but ended up designing cars in Japan.

Writer-director Claire Fowler is a filmmaker from North Wales, based in New York City. Her most recent short, ‘Salam’, a film about a Syrian female Lyft driver on a night shift in New York City, had its World Premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. After studying at Oxford University and the Royal College of Art, Claire made a name for herself after making a number of human rights-themed documentary films, including ‘Open Heart’ an emotional journey that highlights the plight of the struggling Palestinian health care system. In 2008, she won a Fulbright scholarship to study film in the US, where she graduated with an MFA honors in screenwriting from Columbia University. Since then, she’s won the grand prize in Shore Scripts Screenwriting Competition and Starz Denver Screenwriting Competition for her feature screenplay, ‘Little House’, while her AFI DWW short film, ‘Noodles’, which premiered at Nantucket Film Festival, was acquired by Nowness in 2016. In this episode, Richard and Gideon discuss Claire’s journey from North Wales to Brooklyn, the challenges of funding a short-film, and what it takes to film in the West Bank.

Hywel John grew up in West Wales, and London. He attended Bristol University and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After initially coming to New York in 2008 as an actor, appearing in Rupert Goold’s production of Macbeth—alongside Sir Patrick Stewart—Hywel moved to the United States permantly in 2014 to further his career as a playwright and screenwriter. His plays have been professionally staged all around the world: in Wales, Edinburgh, Finland, Denmark, New York and London. The London Evening Standard has called Hywel’s work “a gem”, while The Guardian has compared his work to that of Harold Pinter. Hywel currenlty splits his time between New York, Alabama and Wales, while working on a commission for National Theatre Wales, entitled ‘The Wales Window’. On this episode, Richard and Gideon sit down with Hywel to discuss his New York journey from budding actor to transatlantic playwright.

On this episode, the boys speak to Cian Llewellyn, an actor, producer and director, whose debut short recently screened in cinemas across the United States.

Lucy Jones is an award-winning designer and entrepreneur with a unique focus on addressing the needs of those in society often ignored in the traditional fashion design process. Originally from South Wales, Lucy came to New York to study fashion at the world-renowned Parsons Schools of Design, whose alumni include the likes of Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Joel Schumacher and Paul Rand. After being awarded Parsons’ Womenswear Designer of the year Class of 2015, Lucy began to attract national attention for her bold and innovative work, resulting in her being selected for Forbes 30 under 30 at the age of just 24. She has since had commissions from both the Museum of Art & Design (MAD) and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)—where her piece was procured for the permanent collection. Later this year, her fashion lifestyle brand, Ffora, is set to launch globally. In this episode Gideon and Richard discuss Lucy’s design philosophy, bouncing back from failure, and an almost overlooked invitation to the White House.

Illtyd Barrett came to New York in the 90s with the intention of experiencing the good, the bad and the ugly side of a city that would come to be his home for the next two decades. After years of feeling like the only Welsh person in the city, the artist and musician, decided he wanted to create a bar and restaurant that would be a beacon of Wales across the Atlantic. In 2016 Illtyd and his brother Dom opened the doors of the Sunken Hundred—named after the mythical lost kingdom submerged by the rising sea—to which they received enthusiastic reviews from The New Yorker and New York Magazine. Unfortunately, even the reputation of serving the city’s most spectacular pasty wasn’t enough to keep the restaurant from being swallowed up by rising rents and a competitive restaurant scene and, earlier this year, the brothers called final orders for the last time. In this episode, the boys discuss Illtyd’s arrival on a vanishing New York art scene, the days surrounding September 11th, and what it means to be part of a community in a city that never sleeps.