The Weekend With Claire Marie Healy

“A great solo Saturday will probably involve bopping around the exact same square mile of Hackney that I always do, except this time unchained from my studio desk. For galleries, after a scoot around Victoria Park there’s a neat triangle of Soft Opening, Auto Italia and The Approach you can hit, and I usually like the curation in those spots. For The Approach, you have to go through the pub to get there, which is just cute. I’m curious to see the Del LaGrace Volcano photos at Auto Italia this Autumn – they documented leather dyke communities in San Francisco in the 70s and 80s, it looks really special.

From there I might pop in to browse some clothes, books and jewellery at Twos, my friend’s shop very high up at Regent Studios. The vintage selection is great and it’s also just an awesome place to hang out, especially over this summer with its really amazing view. Unfortunately, with Perfect Lives, Twos, Donlon Books, Waste Store etc all in close proximity, the risk of me buying a book (or zine / paper-based object) I don’t really need is very high on the weekends.”

“I’m excited to get my copy of Drool, Charlie Fox’s take on the classic girlhood canon of Little Red Riding Hood. It’s his first novel. I love how he threads obscure pop cultural knowledge into his writing without it being annoying, it’s like magic!

But I usually have a classic novel on the go for when I’m going to sleep. Right now, it’s Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady. Often I find myself watching films before reading the books, and I found Jane Campion’s adaptation so strange and unforgettable when I watched it recently that I had to see what she was drawing from. As my friend Colleen put it, it’s really been an Isabel Archer summer…”

“I’m not super foodie – please don’t make me queue for my dinner! – so for me, my loyalty to a restaurant is extremely vibes, ease and conviviality-based. If I am made to feel like I’m stepping back in time in some way, I’m usually happy. I will always love the East End in the 2000s vibe of Bistrotheque in Hackney, the elegance and people-watching of St John in Farringdon, schnitzel and martini at Fischer’s in Marylebone. But I think my ultimate weekend eating has to be having a huge and chaotic meal at a Chinese restaurant with friends – a long and lazy Sunday with everyone fighting over the dim sum and ultimately over-ordering. The Phoenix Palace in Marylebone has an especially amazing interior – we always go at Christmas.”

“I have been a Gregg Araki devotee ever since I cut my bob to be like Rose McGowan’s in The Doom Generation as a teenager, so one of the few new films I’m excited to see in the cinema at the moment is I Want Your Sex. I know we have a cultural nostalgia for all the 90s grunge associations he came up with, but I think there’s something to be said for the hyper-bright, soapy look and feel of Araki’s recent films. (side note: his Mysterious Skin is really one of the most hauntingly beautiful movies ever made, truly a masterpiece).”

“It’s September and I’m launching a new project, so no surprises really that I am on a stationary kick. Right about now, the search begins for anywhere that has the Hightide 16-month Planner in stock – they always sell out so quickly. I like that they run from Autumn of one year into the entirety of the next year, rather than pretending that our working year begins in January. It’s a Japanese company – everything they make is so cute and calming. If anyone has an ‘in’, let me know….”

“I’m really getting back into almost quite classic indie guitar music, with super clear vocals and lyrics, guitar solos, the lot! Like This is Lorelei, who has new record out which is super fun – almost country. My friend Liam Parsons, formerly of Good Morning, is supporting him next year, and is definitely one to watch.

But now that spooky season is upon us, I WILL be listening to the GOAT Grouper for the duration and I would really, really like to go to the sold-out Cafe Oto shows in November if anyone out there can help a sister out?”