London To Do List by the divine chanteuse Gabby Young

Cult chanteuse and founder of the performance sensation Gabby Young and Other Animals, Gabby Young reveals her top London haunts and secrets!

Be sure to book tickets to her show at the Scala on the 13th June here. Also, you can follow Gabby on Twitter here. We’ve had a sneaky peak (or the aural equivalent) of the new album, and it’s absolutely beautiful – check it out here!

Tell us about your favourite secret/offbeat places in London (food, going out, entertainment, relaxation)?

I spend my free days in my garden or on Hampstead Heath with my dog- either in the meadow by Kenwood House or keeping an eye on the swans and cygnets! I really love where I live and hardly go elsewhere. I have Swains Lane down the road, with the lovely cafes and traditional shops and the best local pub – The Bull & Last is at the end of my road with the best hot scotch eggs known to man. I am also obsessed with The Everyman Cinema in Belsize Park – all the best movies, sofas not seats and drinks & popcorn brought to you! I just saw Moonrise Kingdom there last night and didn’t want to leave!

What offbeat events are on your To Do List in the next month or so?

I’m pretty busy in June but I want to make time to join in the Jubilee celebrations because I love a good street party and how alive London gets at times like this! Also my mum is performing in a choir at the London Wonderground with a crazy ‘rapping granny’, Ida Barr, so I’m looking forward to that! Also my favourite band Revere are launching their new music video on 6^th June and the wonderful Jess Bryant, who is supporting and singing with us at Scala, is playing a special album release show at Islington Arts Factory on 24^th June and I’ll be there with bells on!

What are your favourite things to do for free or little money in London?

Ah, well I have a blog on doing things for as little money as possible for the flat so finding things at the local tips, on freecycle and gumtree are essential to me. I am always rooting around and it works… my boyfriend and I did up our flat and garden on a minimal budget because of findings and giveaways. Also walking…. I used to hate it but if I have a dog in hand I could walk all day- it’s the best way to see London!

What’s your ultimate London confession?

That I lived here for a year when I was 18- in Chiswick studying singing and hated it… I swore I would never come back. I come from the countryside and the city was a big shock to me but luckily I got over it by 23 and moved back – this time to Portobello, which I loved and eventually to north London which feels more like home than anywhere else I’ve been.

What event or product of your own would you like to pimp on To Do List?

It’s got to be our album launch show at Scala on 13^th June… we’re really putting on an event. This time it’s a village fete themed with Gabberdashery stalls (where we sell lots of brilliant, affordable things from cakes to clothes!) amazing supports, who are all my favourite London artists that I have become friends with through the years and all have inspired me enormously so I can’t wait to introduce them to our audience, 2 hilarious comperes who will have a raffle and maybe even a knobbly knees competition! Of course our band’s set will be full of surprises with a brass band, choir, string section and more that will all be revealed on the night. We are playing the whole new album back to back with some oldies thrown in for a good old fashioned sing along too! It will be a night to remember and we really can’t wait!

Rupert Dannreuther

I am Joint Editor at To Do List. I like free, cheap & offbeat London, especially: cabaret, art, theatre, pop-ups, eating out, quirky films, museums, day trips, social enterprise & much more.

www.omglondon.com