Barbara Frankie Ryan does her own thing:
“At my school the art teacher was like the trunchbull and everything had to be drawn from life and tonal. A camera can do that, what's the point? I think it's way better to come up with something from your head.”
Barbara Frankie Ryan (yeah, I just kind of feel the need to say her full name every time) : 17 years old, Londoner, owner of a brilliant zine called BFR mag (www.bfrmag.blogspot.com). Oh, and she used to be a DJ but she “just kinda stopped when I started sixth form it was probably the distraction of boys to be honest. I went to an all-girls school for five years and now I go to an all-boys school with around 120 boys and about 40 girls so there was a lot of adjusting to be done.” Despite being exhausted from having just done 2 hours solid at the gym (! Exercise is my kryptonite!), she still managed to be witty and wonderful. Well, see for yourself...
Barbara? Barbara Frankie? BFR? Babs?
My name's Barbara, my middle name is Frankie, but at my current school everyone calls me Babs. And I sort of love initials and that's what BFR is for - Barbara Frankie Ryan. Not so simple eh?
What made you want to start your own zine?
I've always kept notebooks (moleskines to be exact, because they're the best). And I guess I just put all my poems and drawings into it. I wasn't really aware of what a "zine" was until other people started to refer to my mag as one. And I love magazines full stop. Even the ones you get free in the sunday papers.
Do you plan to continue BFR mag and perhaps build it up to a magazine one day?
YES! That would be brilliant, all glossy and available in WHSmith! Fan-tas-tic. But I'm not too sure about that. I wouldn't mind working in fashion journalism whether it is for myself or someone with a similar mindset and ideas. But, I'll definetly continue. Every few months I go through a "i'mgonnastopmakingbfrmag" phase, but then one of my friends will ask me when the next issue is coming out or I'll get a cool email from someone and then I get into the mag even more so.
Speaking of fashion journalism, you’ve had a few internships with fashion magazines, right?
My Dad is so cool, (he's an artist and does lots of illustrations and collaborations with mags) so he managed to fix me up with internships at ELLE, Rubbish/The Daily and Eley Kishimoto (fashion designers) and I'm really greatful for it.
What were they like?
I guess being an intern, you just have to be really down to earth and helpful, no one wants a grumpy girl who would rather pick her split ends than archive past editorials. Like at ELLE everyone was soo lovely, I was in the art department. And it wasn't like the Devil Wears Prada or Anna "from hell" Wintour nonsense if you get me?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Working in a magazine perhaps?
Crikey, I don't even know what I'm doing next weekend! Next year I'm doing a foundation in Art & Design, which I'm really excited about and I'm really looking forward to. I'm not sure if I'd want to work in a magazine that soon (I guess I’d be 27), at the moment I'm thinking more of an illustration or fashion design route, but nothing is certain. Yet.
Are there any artists/designers that really inspire you? In particular, the people (or even places or things) that have inspired your art and writings?
I guess you can draw parallels between me and Daisy de Villeneuve's work (check her out she is awesome). David Hockney is awesome, "A Bigger Splash" is my favourite painting. In terms of inspiration Marc Jacobs always gets my heart thumping- he's something very special.
And I guess like if I’m at a party and someone says something really funny or witty, I'm like that would make a sick picture and then I play with the words and make a picture in my head. Or sometimes I'm pissed off with people or really happy with them. I guess people are just really good at fucking around with your emotions and I love that. That's what I like.
How would your perfect day go?
Wake up, no alarm clock, sunshining. then me and my parents would have fry up and the best bacon in London from the farmers market. Then I would go to school and all my lessons would be cancelled and we'd hop on the 148 bus to Hyde Park and play twister and have waterfights. Then we'd go to Patisserie Valerie for lunch and then i'd come home and watch the Come dine with me omnibus. And I would eat lasagna for supper and go to bed full. I think I'm easily pleased.
Name your top five BELONGings.
(see what I did there)
That was cool.
1. My 2009/2010 diary. has everything in it.
2. Coats. The barbour + the fake fur. Essential for the nightbus home.
3. All my harry potter dvds (I'm such a loser)
4. My phone, I have a blackberry but I'm not one of those annoying people who are on them all the time
5. My glasses - 'cause I would be blind without them.
Triple chocolate cookies or brownies?
I'd pass and go for a rockyroad.
How do you (if you do) want to change the world?
Less hungry people and less greedy people.
BFR RECOMMENDS...
Places in London
I love Pimlico for charity shops and all the mad people who live there.
I like Covent Garden for shops, as it has everything you need and not too busy.
I like Columbia rd for things you want but don't need.
Holland Park for skiving lessons.
And anywhere near to the river.
New bands
My mate Sam is in a band, which I guess I should plug. Called the Myth Machine. They make lovely sounds from violins and ukuleles and xylophones and do covers of Andre 3000 and kelis and sean paul and stuff, but it sounds really beautiful even though it's songs you'd usually bump and grind to. http://themythmachine.tumblr.com/
I'm always raving about I Blame Coco. She's sick, but I like most things.
Vinyls
Firstly, I love 7"s because they're cheap as chips. I’d rather pay like £3 for something I can hold with a lovely cover than pay 79p for something with no substance off iTunes. The sound is special. But it's quite annoying at the moment, I need to change my needle, so I'm currently playing no records in fear of scratching them up.
Zines
Verity Pemberton (she's wicked, she's like 20 and makes costumes for Florence + The Machine) she makes a zine called Don't Know Yet which is really really fashion-y and ridiculously cool. Also the Eel and ME magazine
Magazines
Like every month I always buy Vogue, i-D, ELLE and TeenVogue. Then others are LOVE (twice a year), POP (if I have money) and The Economist (which is really good). But my dad has subscriptions to Vogue Italia and Harpers so I steal those off him!
Making A Zine
Don't make it similar to BFR! Haha. Just do it how you want, don't want to sound cheesy. But if you're into collecting stamps make your zine about that.
1. Always carry one with you, because when people hear "oh yeah I have a blog" they switch off because everyone has one these days. But if they have something physical they can read on the toilet they're more likely to remember you.
2. Find your target audience. I wanted pretentious kids, so I left mine inside 7"s in rough trade off Brick Lane and so on. Also leave them around school. That’s always good.
3. Send them to everyone you know. find the editors of all your fave magazines and send them a copy of your zine and a suck up letter and who knows you may get a reply!
4. Don't make it about money. ’Cause your mind-set will change. You probably will make a loss, but if you love doing it who cares!
5. Make friends with the school librarian so you can get mates rates photocopying.
End of.
see previous post: http://thisiswherewebelong.blogspot.com/2010/03/barbara-frankie-ryan-and-why-she-is.html for extracts from her zine or, more sensibly, just head over to her site now for the entire things http://www.bfrmag.blogspot.com/ .
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