Born in Hampshire in 1992, Marika Hackman released an EP of covers in 2012, followed three years later by her debut album, We Slept at Last. Since then, her releases have included 2017’s I’m Not Your Man and 2019’s Any Human Friend, which was described in the Observer as “her most accomplished record to date”. She lives in east London with her partner, Polly Louise Mackey, AKA the electronic musician Art School Girlfriend. Hackman’s fourth album, Big Sigh, is out on 12 January via Chrysalis Records; she is touring from 12 January in Brighton to 21 March in London.
1. Film
It’s a classic high-school comedy, directed by Shiva Baby’s Emma Seligman and starring Rachel Sennott. It’s nostalgic but has a queer thread running through it, where these two lesbian students who are the butt of the joke at the school start a fight club to try to get their cheerleader crushes interested in them. And then all hell breaks loose, basically. The whole thing is just incredibly unhinged: you have no idea where it’s gonna go, which makes it a very enjoyable, exciting watch. One minute you’re howling with laughter and the next there’s blood spraying everywhere.
2. Pub
Conveniently, this is my local: it’s a proper, classic old East End pub. It’s also a queer pub, and they put on drag nights on the weekends. It’s a staple of that Stepney and Limehouse area, which are really old-school queer parts of London, so it’s got a community that’s been going to these events for decades. This pub brings generations together and it’s something to be celebrated. You could almost walk in and think it was quite an intimidating place, but then you realise that everyone there has this shared experience. And it’s a lot of fun.
3. Book
Is This OK? by Harriet Gibsone
I’ve been terrible at reading for a while, but I read this in the summer over a day and a half. It’s a memoir, and she’s in the same generation as me. It goes through the MySpace era, navigating the music industry, online obsessions – I think, with a teenage brain, it was so easy to get completely fixated on things. Every single phase felt pertinent to what was going on in my life at that time. Her writing is so funny, but also really direct and honest. There are moments of real poignancy.
4. Instagram
Prompt Forum is a collection of AI art that’s prompted by artists. The images on it are very arresting and strange: there’s a lot of bulbous flesh and teeth and bodies that have collided – latex and clowns and things. Everything’s at a slightly wrong angle. I think AI is really scary, especially when it’s creeping into the creative industries, so there’s a slight dark element to it in the back of my mind. But when I’m in one of my scrolling sessions, those pictures always stop me in my tracks.
5. Place
Meadow Park is home to the Arsenal women’s team. They’re playing more matches at Emirates now, which is fantastic, but there’s something magical about Meadow Park. It has a capacity of only 4,500, so it feels very intimate. At the end of matches, the players come round and say hi and sign things, which is the only time in my life I have felt truly star struck. I have this thing with footballers where I’m rendered unable to speak and act like a complete nerd – but I did manage to get a selfie with Beth Mead and Kim Little.
6. Restaurant
Brutto, London EC1
We went a couple of months ago for a fancy dinner, and it’s a beautiful restaurant. It’s got an evocative, rustic atmosphere: red-and-white tablecloths, candlesticks in wine bottles. You feel like you’re in a film, which is what you want from an Italian restaurant. The food is incredible. We had one of the big steaks you split with each other, haricot beans, bread with anchovy butter, a big old square of tiramisu. I think we had a pasta dish as well. So we went all out. We’re going again in a week because we loved it so much.
