Julia Bottoms: Freelance journalist based in London

 Bylines in: CLASH Magazine, Buzz Magazine, South Wales Argus, Cardiff Times, Quench Magazine, Rover

Writer for Buzz Magazine, Opinion Editor at Empoword Journalism                                                                                                          MA Magazine Journalism at City St George's University of London
Previous Deputy Editor of SPA Award Winning Quench Magazine                                                                                                              BA English Literature, Journalism and Media at Cardiff University

CLASH MAGAZINE

Buzz Magazine

Midlands duo BIG SPECIAL return with more brash cultural critique

National Average (So)


In many ways, a surprise sophomore album from Big Special is anything but surprising. From the get-go, the Black Country two-piece have appeared allergic to status quo conformity, as made clear by the stinging cultural critique of their debut, Postindustrial Hometown Blues, released just over a year ago. If that record forged a sense of collective resilience born of collapsed faith in the state of the state, then National Average narrows its gaze to the individual experi...

NYC indie quartet FRANKIE COSMOS are familiar yet comfortable on DIFFERENT TALKING

Different Talking (Sub Pop)


The first self-produced and self-recorded album by NYC four-piece Frankie Cosmos, Different Talking embraces a DIY ethos, offering a familiar yet comfortable blend of mumblecore twee and easy-breezy millennial hipster. Frontwoman Greta Kline returns with her characteristic stream-of-consciousness lyricism that defined her early Bandcamp releases; her lyrics feel like a conversation with Frank O’Hara, if O’Hara spoke with the meandering tenor of alt-pop artist Okay...

Take 5: LANA DEL REY

Marking the first performance in Wales by Lana Del Rey – a modern-Americana mythologist of the beautiful and the damned, with anthems galore for generations of #prettywhenyoucry ‘sad girls’ – Julia Bottoms selects five tracks from her nine-album discography.


Capturing hazy vignettes of summers spent being “fresh out of fucks forever”, this hypnotic trip swirls around for nearly 10 minutes, never sounding like it quite knows (or minds) where it’s headed. Lana doesn’t seem to either, drifting t...

The ruin of the River Wye – and what can be done about it

Stretching over 150 miles across Wales and one of its most significant natural features, the ecosystem of the River Wye has been increasingly damaged by pollution, with intensive chicken farming – and murky legal loopholes – the primary culprit. Julia Bottoms puts on her goggles for a closer look.


The ranunculus aquatilis, also known as the common water-crowfoot, is a keystone species of the River Wye. Whilst it can grow in either slow- or fast-moving freshwater, it will only flourish in full...

Eight musicians in constant motion: CAROLINE's live return to Cardiff

Clwb Ifor Bach is considered one of Cardiff’s more intimate venues for live music, but space was even tighter than usual for London-based eight-piece Caroline, touring to promote their newly released second album.


Violin and electric guitar duo Peiriant (‘machine’ in Welsh) open the evening. Like Caroline, they marry post-rock minimalism with traditional folk – titling their tracks simply, such as Taflu Dwr (‘throwing water’) and the charming Spoons. Husband and wife duo Rose and Dan Linn-Pea...

Experimental London rockers CAROLINE are sprawling, lopsided and terrific on album 2

Caroline 2 (Rough Trade)


Three years on from London-based eight-piece Caroline’s eponymous debut, its aptly titledsuccessor arrives. Departing from the meditative repetition of Caroline, this slow-burn in industrial buildup and fracture explodes into a sprawling jangle of lopsided riffs, from opener Total Euphoria onwards.


Intermeshing synthetic post-rock and Appalachian folk, the record centres on what vocalist Jasper Llewellyn calls “different things happening at once that are also simul...

From the Black Country to Black Mirror: BIG SPECIAL interviewed

Big Special are stamping their name on the UK punk scene in big capital letters. Julia Bottoms sits down with the Black Country duo to discuss opening for Pixies, class politics, and featuring in the new season of Black Mirror. 


“I grew up thinking that music just wasn’t meant for me,” says Joe Hicklin of Big Special. And yet it’s safe to say that Hicklin has well and truly proved his younger self wrong. The Birmingham-bred double act are opening for the Pixies on their UK tour this month, wi...

Artist AUDREY ALBERT discusses her exhibition at Cardiff’s FFOTOGALLERY

Julia Bottoms visited south Wales’ premier photography-based artspace, Ffotogallery, to check out its current exhibition – Audrey Albert’s Belongers – and hear from Albert and her collaborators about the Chagossian diaspora it depicts, likewise the story behind their diasporan status.


Between 1968 and 1973, the British government forcibly deported between 1,500 and 2000 native Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago to build a joint US-UK military base on one of its main islands, Diego Garcia...

London indie rockers HONEYGLAZE on their quest to be the Real Deal

South London-based band Honeyglaze are raring to chat about their big Texan adventure at this year’s SXSW festival, representation in the indie scene and touring their latest album Real Deal. Julia Bottoms spoke to the trio the day after their recent Cardiff gig.


As you might expect, Honeyglaze sound like warm liquid sunshine – but their live shows stir their syrupy smoothness into stormy, postpunk overdrive. Viscous guitar soundscapes dissolve, beginning to reverberate as if funnelled throug...

The Buzz Festival Guide 2025: what's on in Wales across the year

We figured this was about the time of year you start to get itchy flip-flops, so we’ve done our annual duty and, with fab words by Julia Bottoms, compiled a comprehensive list of Welsh festivals (with a couple of cheeky interlopers from over the border we happen to love) that’ll light up your spring, summer and a little bit of autumn. The festival landscape is wide, varied and in many cases precarious, but it deserves your love, and certainly has ours.


The King Arthur, Glastonbury, Fri 2-Sun...

International Women’s Day 2025: inspirational Welsh women of today

Taking place annually on March 8 across the world, International Women’s Day continues to serve as celebration and education in equal measure. This year, Julia Bottoms has furnished us with a shortlist of Welsh women doing great work in 2025.


For over 50 years, Marian Delyth has put a lens to the people and places of Wales, painting the country as a nation of radical activism. Her solo exhibition Darnau/Fragments kicked off the Wales International Festival Of Photography last year, with poign...

Ones to watch: THE CHEEKY HABIBIS

Ahead of their single release gig at Porter’s, Julia Bottoms talks to The Cheeky Habibis lead singer Gabriel Lester and bassist Les Davies about their “baptism” into Cardiff’s music scene via last year’s Sŵn festival, as well as their religious awakening to Nick Cave…


Cardiff-based post-punk three-piece The Cheeky Habibis – Gabriel Austin Lester (vocals/guitar), Hadi Checri (drums) and Les Davies (bass) – are tackling the big questions with their latest single Being Human, but in their charac...

From noisemakers to wordsmiths, Buzz's ONES TO WATCH in 2025

Thinking about what might happen in the world over the next 12 months is a daunting prospect on many levels, but if there’s one surefire bet it’s that all the people, groups and companies featured in Buzz’s annual Ones To Watch for 2025 will enjoy the fabulous success they deserve. And how’s that going to happen? With the help of YOUR purchasing power and staunch support!


Hailing from Splott in Cardiff, Adjua Mensah worked on her debut EP Self for a good 18 months before its eventual release...

Christmas 2024: your complete events guide to the festive season in Wales

We’ve rounded up all the Christmas things taking place in Wales at the tail end of 2024 worth informing you of, with Julia Bottoms and David James doing the legwork.


S


Pantos


A parody of the J K Rowling book, the villainous Bella La Strange is now Belinda La Weirdo and out to wreak havoc on Harry Panto! Spellbinding potions and wizardry come to fruition for muggles of all ages to enjoy. 


Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl, Fri 1 Nov.


Tickets: £13. Info: here


Dick, a poor boy who lived i...

MARIAN DELYTH: DARNAU - a profound lens on 50 years of Welsh culture

Having put a lens to over 50 years of life and culture in Wales, photographer Marian Delyth’s exhibition Darnau | Fragments kicks off the month-long Ffoto Cymru, aka the Wales International Festival Of Photography. Julia Bottoms went along to Cardiff’s Ffotogallery to have a look…


Digging through the archives of her 50-year long career, Marian Delyth’s diverse portfolio of work bespeaks “fragments of a lifetime of chasing the light” – a reference to William Henry Fox Talbot, inventor of using...

Halloween and beyond: spooky events in Wales this month

Spanning Wales and encompassing theatre, music, trains, wicker men and pumpkins, check out this litany of events and activities for Halloween 2024, compiled by Julia Bottoms.


Family-friendly  


One of the most haunted buildings in Wales is offering a selection of torchlit ghost hunts and tours, alongside witch trials and potion classes suited for ages four and up. 


Llancaiach Fawr Manor, nr Caerphilly, until Fri 22 Nov.


Tickets: prices vary per activity. Info: here


Baby’s first rav...

Laughter by the sea: ABERYSTWYTH COMEDY FEST brings big names to mid-Wales again

Mid-Wales is becoming something of an epicentre of standup comedy. Now in its sixth year, the Aberystwyth Comedy Festival – a spinoff from its bigger sibling over in Machynlleth – brings four back-to-back days of comedy to venues across this charming seafront town. Julia Bottoms whittles the action down to five.


Off Menu foodie podcaster Ed Gamble cooks up a serving of self-deprecating comedy gold in his touring show Hot Diggity Dog. For starters, there will be Gamble’s signature dish of manc...

From comedy to classics: autumn’s best theatre in Wales 

There’s something for all tastes in this quickfire double-page guide to what’s popping up on stages in Wales this October and November – AKA the autumn season. Drama, standup, musicals, monologues, family-friendly, adults-only… let Julia Bottoms be your guide.


Gary Owen’s shattering modern classic returns to the Sherman Theatre stage this autumn in Wales with Alice Eklund’s dynamic new production. Performed in Welsh with English captions, this one-woman drama is about the brutal impact of aus...

WALES BURLESQUE FESTIVAL celebrates body inclusivity with Future Icons opener

The 2024 Wales Burlesque Festival debuted at Chapter Arts Centre, with Friday’s Future Icons Show & Competition seeing performers from around the world competing for the title of WBF ‘Future Icon’ 2024.


Magnetic host Mercury (Alexander Luttley) launched straight into action with a heidi-heidi-ho-hilarious rendition of Minnie The Moocher. By my reckoning, the majority of the sellout audience were seasoned burlesque viewers – they brought foot-stomping energy to the room and insatiable hunger f...

Your flexible friend: NOFIT STATE’s Tom Rack on new show BAMBOO

Contemporary circus company NoFit State is embarking on a UK tour of their latest outdoor production, an outdoor acrobatics performance featuring only UK-grown bamboo and human bodies. Co-artistic director Tom Rack tells Julia Bottoms about how the project sprouted shoots, and what he hopes audiences will take away from it. 


Traditional circus is a transitory, transient experience. It visits, performs, packs up and leaves, leaving only a flattened patch of grass and the fleeting memory of its...

WELSH BALLROOM COMMUNITY: Leighton Rees Milan on the legacy & future of pioneering group

The Welsh Ballroom Community is the first – and so far the only one – of its kind in Wales. Ahead of their appearance at the Wales Burlesque Festival, Julia Bottoms spoke to WBC founder Leighton Rees Milan about the group’s dedication to honouring their legacy and their plans to throw Wales’ first-ever mini-ball.


The ballroom scene is not just a scene. It’s a movement, a celebration and a testament to the rich history of LGBTQ+ cultures and the enduring strength of its community. Primarily fo...

From bog snorkelling to train racing: unusual outdoor activities to do this summer in Wales

From bog snorkelling to Race The Train, strange things are happening on the fringes of mid and west Wales – sporting activities, but not as you know them… Julia Bottoms has more info on when and where you can take part in these unusual outdoor activities in Wales this summer.


The small Powys town of Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales is home to a string of unusual, yet internationally renowned, competitive outdoor activities every summer, devised by a team named Green Events. Perhaps the most widely kn...

Starry nights & movie lights: exploring Wales’ outdoor film events this summer

Julia Bottoms is armed with woollen blanket, foldy chair and supermarket popcorn to face a marathon month of outdoor film screenings around Wales this summer…


Based between Cardiff and Somerset, Sunset Cinema offers a unique outdoor cinema experience: screenings only commence when light levels allow, synchronising your movie night with the setting of the sun.


Catch Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody under the stars on Sat 10 Aug at Twr Y Felin Hotel in St Davids (7pm, tickets £10; info: here)....

Celyn Jones’ MADFABULOUS: Anglesey’s eccentric Marquis to get film treatment

Celyn Jones’ upcoming film Madfabulous paints his homeland of Anglesey in vibrant technicolour with a riotous and celebratory ode to the chronicles of Henry Cyril Paget, 5th Marquis of Anglesey. The cinematic polymath talks to Julia Bottoms about the muses behind his upcoming film. 


Starring BAFTA nominee Callum Scott Howells (It’s A Sin), Celyn Jones’ forthcoming indie film Madfabulous chronicles the real-life adventures of one of the 19th century’s richest aristocrats in Europe. A flamboyan...
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Awards !

Quench Magazine

Quench Magazine, Issue 207- June 2025

Welcome to Issue 207 of Quench Magazine, all around the theme of DREAMING, bringing our year to an academic close! Thank you to everyone who has supported Cardiff Student Media this year, and to everyone at Quench Magazine.

Welcome to Issue 207 of Quench Magazine, all around the theme of DREAMING, bringing our year to an academic close! Thank you to everyone who has supported Cardiff Student Media this year, and to everyone at Quench Magazine.

Interview with Turning Montana Band -

Hailing from the Valleys, five-man rock band Turning Montana are injecting a fresh, youthful edge to Welsh sound in 2025. Quench talks to frontman Sam Jones about Nirvana, Cardiff’s music scene, and their new single ‘Names in the Night’. 


The interview transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity. 


Julia: Congratulations! You’ve just released a new single ‘Names In The Night’. Could you tell us about the track and how it came about?


Sam: ‘Names In The Night’ is based on a bit of a...

Bonding in all its forms -

From joint ‘rope’ socials with the Cave Society to navigating online trolls, Aber KinkSoc President Alex talks to Quench Deputy Julia Bottoms about Aberystwyth’s very own kink society. 


Ah, University – that cherished baptism into adulthood, an epoch of self-discovery and exploration, and perhaps regrettably for many, the most sexual freedom you will ever have. But in the charming seafront university town of Aberystwyth, students are exploring questions of self-identity and expression in sli...

Act One’s The Small Mermaid: A Horny Whirlpool of Eco-Conscious Crustaceans -

Under the sea, it is certainly wetter. Act One’s sin-soaked panto The Small Mermaid plunges us into the deep end of a very wet (fever) dream; think Rocky Horror meets Sea World meets Am-Dram. 


Directed by Millie Quarm (Twelfth Night), the plot is anchored in the upcoming erections, I mean elections, of the human world – of which Just Stop Oil leads the polls – much to the vexation of underwater Motherlord and oil magnate Ursula. She commissions her minion Liz Truce to spy on the affairs of JS...

Act One’s Twelfth Night: An Elaborately Tangled Web of Displaced Desire -

The lights dim and the familiar opening twangs of ‘Love Story’ echo out across Cardiff’s Temple ofPeace. It is through this unexpected fusion of the Swiftian and Shakespearean that Act One DramaSociety’s production of Twelfth Night transports us into the mystical realm of Illyria. Directed byAmelia Quarm and produced by Luke Knights, the production premiered in February for a three dayrun; starring students across years, the production was attended by an audience of over 200 strong.One of the mo...

Student Drag Show Review: Sly’s Self-Conscious Slay Was An Elitely Executed Lesson in Camp -

A night of naughtiness, raucous laughter and pure queer joy, Student-run drag show Sly landed with a bang on the 25th of April in the Student’s Union. The university’s first-ever drag show and held in support of Mind Mental Health Charity, Sly’s triumph represented a landmark feat for Cardiff’s queer communities.


Creative polymath Josh Salisbury created, hosted and performed as a part of Sly. Since late January, Josh has put months of tireless work into refining every inch of the show. He com...

QUENCH MAGAZINE, Issue 204 - International Women's Day

Welcome to Issue 204 of Quench Magazine! This is our International Women's Day issue, dedicated to celebrating the voices of strong women at Cardiff University and beyond. We hope you enjoy reading this special edition in honour of International Women's Day.

Welcome to Issue 204 of Quench Magazine! This is our International Women's Day issue, dedicated to celebrating the voices of strong women at Cardiff University and beyond. We hope you enjoy reading this special edition in honour of Internat...

South Wales Argus

The controversial history of the Millennium Centre 20 years on

Despite weathering various economic challenges throughout the past two decades, including a recent 10 per cent budget cut to Arts Council Wales, the WMC has enjoyed relatively stable commercial success as one of Wales’ crucial economic drivers, hosting shows like Hamilton, which comes to the stage in November this year.

Funded by the Welsh Government and National Lottery Millennium Fund, the Centre was designed by Jonathan Adams of Capita Architecture (formerly called Capita Percy Thomas)....

20mph speed limit: Wales' communities have their say

Since being implemented in September 2023, the controversial policy has elicited considerable contention amongst the public, with some supporting the move towards safer roads, and some criticising it as a monumental waste of money.

The Welsh Labour Government claims that the policy has been a success in ‘reducing collisions, saving lives and reducing injury’. Statistical evidence has shown that crashes have reduced by eight per cent, and figures from Transport for Wales have shown that speed...

March for Palestine in Cardiff taking place ahead of Eid

On Saturday, April 6, the Newport Palestine Solidarity Campaign will be holding a March for Palestine outside Cardiff Central Library, using children's shoes as a symbol of the devastation suffered by the children and young people during this conflict.

Zahid Noor, spokesperson for the Newport Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said:

The March for Palestine campaigners have been asked to bring children's shoes to highlight the harrowing truth. (Image: Newport Palestinian Solidarity Campaign)...

National walk to work day is tomorrow, here's how to make the most of it

The annual occasion is not only a way for people to implement healthy changes to their lifestyle, but also to encourage people to consider environmentally sustainable travel alternatives.

With the clocks changing and spring very much upon us, there is no better time than the present to be getting outside and making the most of the early spring mornings.

According to figures from Climate Action, 11 per cent of people from Newport commute to work via public transport, with another 9 per ce...

Cardiff Times

Port Talbot Gotta Banksy Review - Cardiff Times

‘We want to change Port Talbot from being a go-from place, to a go-to place’, one local resident implores. A local story that made headlines reverberate globally, Banksy’s Christmas gift to Port Talbot in 2018 appeared on the garage of a local steelworker – the first Banksy in Wales.
Whilst the industrial centre of Port Talbot is often made out in grey shades, the Sherman’s newest original, directed by Paul Jenkins, paints a community in vivid technicolour; this theatre project lets the everyday...

A Christmas Carol Review: A Snowglobe of Festive Exuberance Given a Gender Shake-up - Cardiff Times

Madam ‘Ebbie’ Scrooge has topped The Times Rich List for 7 years in a row, but her heart is far from being as full as her pockets. Joe Murphy’s charming staging of Gary Owen’s adaptation returns to Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre, brimming with Dickensian dramatics. This high-spirited production playfully reverses Scrooge’s gender while offering up a visual party bag of exuberant festive bustle.
Unafraid to stray from the original, Murphy’s production delivers a buoyant jaunt back to 1843 Cardiff, in...

Odyssey ‘84 - Kitchen-Table Tales Of The 1984 Miners’ Strike Are Hoisted To Homeric Heights - Cardiff Times

What does it mean to be a part of a Welsh community? What shapes Wales’ contemporary identity? These are the questions that lie at the heart of Sherman Theatre’s newest production, Odyssey ‘84, which revisits the Miners’ Strike of 1984 through the lens of Homer’s Greek classic The Odyssey.
Penned by Tim Price, one of Wales’ most successful playwrights (following the meteoric success of Nye), the play commemorates 40 years since the strike, paying homage to the lives and communities irrevocably t...

Jekyll and Hyde the Musical; Raw musical talent carries this twisty tale – By Julia Bottoms - Cardiff Times

Gothic musical Jekyll and Hyde the Musical swept the Sherman Theatre for two nights earlier this June, bringing the award-winning cult classic musical phenomenon to Cardiff. Loosely based on the original novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, the theatrical adaptation is written by double Oscar and Grammy-winning Leslie Bricusse, featuring a tracklist of lively pop rock hits from multi-Grammy and Tony-nominated Frank Wildhorn. Director Kevin McCurdy presents the amateur production by arrangement with...

The Women of Llanrumney Review: A fearless and unflinching look at a hidden chapter of Wales’ colonial history - By Julia Bottoms - Cardiff Times

A fearless and unflinching look at a hidden chapter of Wales’ colonial history, The Women of Llanrumney is a hard-hitting historical drama playing at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff. Directed by Patricia Logue, The Women of Llanrumney is Azuka Oforka’s full length debut play; its searing address to the consequences of slavery is profoundly moving. Its presentation of black female resistance renders it a masterful process of cathartic reckoning and a tribute to women’s survival under unimaginable...

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