Fashion creatives compile a mixtape of the music that inspires their work.
This month we turn to London salon Bleach for the mixtape. Bleach is where you can book in to get your hair dyed just like in the magazines. Led by super hairstylist, twenty-three-year-old Alex Brownsell, who brings those dream cuts and colours to life, their trademark dipdye style is seen all over the catwalk, the coolest clubs, and now the high street. Setting up in the soon-to-be-legendary East End nail bar Wah, Bleach is now in Topshop’s Oxford Street store. Who knows, without Bleach where would Nicki Minaj get her ideas from?
Wu-Tang Clan feat. Snoop Dog ‘Conditioner’
“This song is a bout conditioner, after you have washed your hair its tangley and dry if you condition it it goes silky and soft, i think wu tangs on about gangster shit but i dunno about them gangsters we mostly get teenage girls in our salon.”
Pavement ‘Cut Your Hair’
““Darlin’ don’t you go and cut your hair / Do you think it’s gonna make him change?” This song means a lot cos when you get dumped, the first thing you do is cut your hair – sometimes too short by accident – and that definitely doesn’t make him change, cos boys like girls with long hair.”
Shampoo ‘Trouble’
“This song is one of our faves, it just sums up a Saturday night really, especially the bit about the night bus.”
Willow Smith ‘Whip My Hair’
“Willow Smith is amazing; she’s like a mini dancer – we wish we had those moves. She’s also got mega funky hair all the time, and a stylist! She knows about the importance of whippin’ ya hair and has let the secret into the world for us all to know. Also, in the video, she puts her braids into paint and splashes the paint on people – that’s kind of like a dip dye, which is a very popular hair colour at bleach.”
Beck ‘Devil’s Haircut’
“Basically Beck had a dream about Keith Flint from The Prodigy one night and woke up and wrote this song… maybe? Devil’s hair cuts are spikes and horns and the colours are green and red, they’re a bit weird and gross and sci-trancey. Yuk, we don’t do them at bleach.
The Strange Boys ‘A Walk On The Bleach’
“Is is just funny cos bleach rhymes with beach.”
Scotty Vanity ‘I Like Your Hair’
“I found this song the other day, it’s pretty funny. I like the lyrics, especially the line: “hey bitches, my scalp itches”, cos this pretty much sums up having your hair bleached; it does really itch.”
Guns N’ Roses ‘Hair Of The Dog’
“This isn’t actually about hair, it’s about a hangover and having a drink to try and be less hungover. Good drinks for a hangover are Bloody Marys or Bellinis – sometimes a can of Strongbow is quite good too.”
The Flaming Lips ‘Girl With Hair Like An Explosion’
“I like the idea of hair like an explosion – it means multi-coloured and a mess: cool.”
PJ Harvey ‘Hair’
“This song’s a bit sad and emo; it’s about Samson, that giant man who was really strong but someone cut his hair and he wasn’t strong anymore.”
Xzibit ‘Choke Me, Spank Me (Pull My Hair)’
“This song’s quite rude and sexy – if you’ve got bleached hair however, you shouldn’t let someone pull it cos it might fall out. Just a word of warning; I’ve seen this first hand.”
Nirvana ‘Hairspray Queen’
“Kurt Cobain’s singing about hairspray. We all love a lot of hairspray for making your hair crunchy. A good trick if you want dry big hair is to spray loads of hair spray on your hair and go to bed… In the morning it’s an amazing mess.”
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds ‘Black Hair’
“Nick Cave is a bit gothy and he likes gothy birds with black hair. Be careful if you dye your hair black because it’s really hard to strip out… We’ve all done it before.”
David Bowie ‘Sorrow’
“This is a really great song and David Bowie really likes a girl with long blonde hair. We all wish we had long blonde hair like the girl in this song.”
Blondie ‘Atomic’
“The best line in this song is: “Ah, oh your hair is beautiful, ah,
tonight”. You definitely have a good night if someone tells you
you’ve got beautiful hair when you’re out clubbing.”
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Listen to Bleach’s playlist now on Spotify. Go to: bit.ly/clashmixtapebleach
