Hey, I’m Tiff, The Face's editorial assistant and a DJ and radio host from London, currently living in Camden. I write about culture for the most part and I’m also a host in Devon Turnbull’s listening room at the Reverb exhibition. I host a show on Voices Radio called Seasonal Expression every month where I explore a particular temperature in a particular place through an hour of sound and music.
Left image: Tiffany in the listening room at the Reverb exhibition | Right image: Tiffany doing work for The Face
Can you reveal your hidden gems in London for enjoying culture or just hanging out?
Cable Cafe in Oval, it was my old local and they have jazz and chess nights during the week. It’s also down the road from a salsa class I used to go to in the basement of Adulis, the Eritrean restaurant.
The people at MAP Cafe in Kentish Town are great too, reggae, dub and huge ital plates - what’s not to love?
Left image: Cable Cafe via their Instagram | Righ image: MAP Cafe via their Instagram
Close-up Cinema is a tiny screening room in the back of a film library in Shoreditch. It feels like you’re in someone’s house.
Bunker Club has insanely cheap drinks and a tiny, intimate dancefloor - go for Haseeb Iqbal’s nights. I spent last NYE there and had a great time; Haseeb played Bob Marley at midnight and everyone had a singalong.
[La Fomo note: Haseeb Iqbal's next night at Bunker Club, and the final of this year, takes place on 29 November. You can get tickets here!]
Left image: Close-up Cinema, via their website I Right image: Haseeb Iqbal at Bunker Club, via his Instagram
Speaking of clubs, what's your favourite club? What does your ideal night out in London look like?
I love a small sweatbox like Peckham Audio or Bunker Club, but Jazz Cafe lineups always take the cake for me. Habibi Funk and Pino D’Angio (RIP) were particularly great nights out.
What are your neighbourhood’s go to places?
Never For Ever! My partner and I had our first date there so it holds a special place in my heart. Free pool too which can be hard to come by.
And News & Coffee, they have little magazine stands where you can find magazines big and small. I recommend picking one out at random, I’ve discovered a lot of nice publications that way and it’s a great way to help keep print alive.
Left image: Never For Ever by Tiffany Lai I Middle image: News & Coffee, via their Instagram | Right image: Tiffany at Peckham Audio
What’s your favourite art gallery – and where’s the perfect nearby spot for a bite or a drink afterwards?
Camden Art Centre always has brilliant curation and they have a cute garden in the back that’s perfect to relax in afterwards. Or you can take a stroll down to The Arches wine bar - it’s full of kitsch little lamps and vintage signs.
Which events are on your radar right now?
A little biased here but I do love that The Face has such a strong history, people over 40 always have such fond memories of the magazine, so I’m looking forward to diving into the archives a little at the exhibition The Face Magazine: Culture Shift at The National Portrait Gallery.
I'm also excited about Migrating Sounds: The music of diaspora from Scopitones to Tiktok on 21 November. Scopitones were an early sort of jukebox that played ‘music videos’ and this event is going to explore their history in connection with migrant culture. Many of these machines lived in bars that were particularly popular with people of a diasporic culture. That’s about the extent of my scopitone knowledge so I can’t wait to learn more and hear some tunes I haven’t before.
What’s the most memorable event you’ve attended in the past few months?
It’s got to be Margins United at EartH Hackney. It was a festival celebrating East and South East Asian subculture hosted by Eastern Margins and it was just run so smoothly. DJ Love’s set was great, Benedict Wong made a surprise DJ appearance, I had tteok-bokki on the dancefloor - there were even mahjong tables! To see such a celebration of E/SEA culture in general and especially its subculture was really heart-warming and refreshing.
Left image: DJ Love at Margins United, by @dejafu.vpd l Right image: Yeule at Margins United, by @dejafu.vpd
What’s your guilty pleasure in London?
Glasses shopping. I pride myself on being great company when glasses shopping because I’m pretty honest about what does or doesn’t suit your face. For some reason I’m terrible at doing this for myself which means I’m often running round the city throwing different frames on my face hoping I’ll finally find the ‘the pair’. Some favourites: General Eyewear in Camden, Pop Specs in Brixton Village, Worshipful Spectacles on Mare St and the Find Unusual stall on Portobello Road market.
Tell us your favourite grassroots initiative/collective in London!
Four Winds Mahjong Club in the ESEA community centre in Hackney. Everyone is so lovely and the teachers are endlessly patient. It’s such a nice way to bump into friends and use your brain in a different way. The luncheon club that’s hosted there is also a great initiative.
Which Londoners should we all be following on Instagram for creative inspiration?
@ariamark is a photographer who spends his winters volunteering in Ukraine and rebuilding roofs. He’s a great (if somewhat more extreme) example of how we, as creatives, can give back to the communities that inspire our work.
@movimientoslondon @joshffb and @polyritmo for great music.
@2cperrea @bonita.worldwide @vinylb1tch and @hunnisucklevents for very fun events, especially if, like me, you’re into salsa, reggaeton, zouk and dancehall.
What’s your relationship with London?
London can feel isolating but I think you get out as much as you put in, a little effort goes a long way and I love that if you have niche interests, the size and diversity of the city means that’s always rewarded. Plus, the people are very very funny.
