Louise Wallis

Louise Wallis also known as Luminous

Louise Wallis is a DJ, singer, and writer who is also known for her animal advocacy. She lives in London, England.

Early life

Louise Wallis was born in 1964, into a musical family in Birmingham, England. She was raised by her mother and maternal grandparents. Her grandfather Syd had his own band, notorious in the post-war years for raucous all-night parties, and her great grandmother Kitty was a celebrated pianist who played pubs and clubs into her 90s.

At age seven, Wallis acquired a step-father and a new brother; she also acquired a kitten, to soften the blow of a sudden move to Southampton. She sought solace in the company of animals, developing a particular passion for horses.

By the age of 18 she was a fully-fledged animal activist and vegan.

Animal advocacy

In 1990, as a Regional Campaigns Officer for the National Anti-Vivisection Society, she organised one of the largest national anti-vivisection marches ever held (25,000 people).

She then carried out undercover investigations in 1990. Seeing a job advert titled 'An Important Role working with Animals', she soon found herself working as a trainee animal technician with the drug company SmithKline Beecham.[1] She applied for a job at a second animal research laboratory St Bartholomew's Medical School[2] where she worked for several months before being sacked after, in all likelihood, a police tip off. In a bizarre twist of fate, Louise had moved into a flat on Burgoyne Road in north London, which had been vacated by another activist, John Barker, who was later unmasked as an undercover police spy.[3] Nevertheless, Wallis's story made national press, and she was dubbed "Britain's No 1 Animals Rights Campaigner" by the Sunday Sport newspaper. With the National Anti-Vivisection Society she launched a 'Free the Beagles' campaign calling for the release of 24 dogs for whom she had cared at SmithKline Beecham; the company refused, and all 24 dogs were destroyed.

In November 1991 Wallis was elected president of the Vegan Society. She commissioned and produced the charity's first film, Truth or Dairy,[4] starring Benjamin Zephaniah and directed by Franny Armstrong. She also created World Vegan Day in 1994, to mark the Society's 50th anniversary; the event has since been celebrated every 1 November around the globe. On 29 March 1995 she gave evidence on animal welfare at the infamous 'McLibel' trial,[5] the longest-running case in English history, which involved two activists sued by McDonalds for distributing a leaflet called 'What's Wrong with McDonalds?' In 2013, it emerged that this leaflet had been co-written by another undercover police spy, Bob Lambert.[6]

On 2 October 2010, Wallis gave a speech at the national 'March for Farmed Animals,' marking World Farm Animals Day.

She briefly returned to the Vegan Society as a director in November 2010, before resigning in June 2011. She continues to write for the Society's magazine The Vegan.

Music

Under the pseudonym Luminous, Wallis DJs and sings in the band Luminous Frenzy, a collaboration with her guitarist / composer partner Frank Frenzy. Reviewers have compared her haunting,[7] siren-like vocals[8] to Sia, Alison Moyet and Portishead's Beth Gibbons.

Luminous Frenzy performed at the first Bestival in 2004, and the Big Chill Festival 2005.[9] Big Chill founder Pete Lawrence later cited the band as one of several that year that he considered to be "at the cutting edge of musical progression". Luminous Frenzy's debut album, 'Violence Ambience,' (Freeport Records) was released in 2006, and launched at the Big Chill Bar. It included the track 'McEmotion', written for and featured in McLibel,[10] a film directed by Franny Armstrong[10] and later selected by the British Film Institute for their series "Ten Documentaries That Shook the World".[11] The critically acclaimed single 'Three Cliffs Bay' followed in 2007, recorded with Adam Thomas.[12] Expanding to a five-piece, Luminous Frenzy went on to develop a heavier rock-driven sound. This led them to record their next single, ‘Momentary/Random Generator,’ with producer Paul Sampson, whose credits include Catatonia and "Crash," a Top 3 US hit by The Primitives.[13]

Wallis was voted one of the World's 'Top 100 Female DJs', in a comprehensive world-wide listing[14] in the first, and so far only, poll of its kind. She was ranked 68 (19 in the UK), between Radio 1 DJs Annie Mac and Annie Nightingale.[15][16] For many years she had a monthly DJ residency[17] at the legendary venue The Foundry[18] where she also appeared as a guest on Tracey Moberly's The Late, Late Breakfast Show with comedian Mark Thomas. A French house music fan and francophile, Wallis has performed twice at the French Institute's 12-hour extravaganza 'My Night With Philosophers'.[19][20][21]

Combining her love of DJ’ing and veganism, Wallis has created two popular vegan-themed DJ mixes. ‘Vegan Anthems’ in 2010 was described by the award-winning blog Our Hen House as “an eclectic, moving, unexpectedly genius set.”[22] In 2011, Luminous created 'Vegan Artists – from Sigur Rós to Black Sabbath' in what she described as "an odyssey."[23]

Author

Wallis writes for various health and lifestyle magazines including Get Fresh!, Your Healthy Living, Vegetarian Living and The Vegan. She has interviewed musicians Johnny Marr,[24] Moby and Geezer Butler,[25] the dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah, and comedian Richard Herring, as well as vegan chefs Mimi Kirk[26] and Mel Baker (aka the Kind Cook).[27]

References

  1. "Issues : About vivisection : Investigations : SmithKline Beecham Laboratories, Stock, Essex". National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS). Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  2. "Issues : About vivisection : Investigations : St. Bartholomew". National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS). Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  3. Lewis, Paul; Evans, Rob (3 February 2013). "Woman's 18-year search for truth about police spy who used dead child's name". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  4. "Truth or Dairy". Vimeo. 21 August 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  5. "Witness statement: Louise Wallis". McSpotlight. 28 July 1993. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  6. Lewis, Paul; Evans, Rob (21 June 2013). "McLibel leaflet was co-written by undercover police officer Bob Lambert". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  7. "Luminous Frenzy – Three Cliffs Bay". YouTube. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  8. Geddes, Jonathan (25 April 2007). "Luminous Frenzy – 'Three Cliffs Bay' (Freeport) Released 23/04/07". Gigwise.
  9. "Big Chill 2005 Line Up". Virtualfestivals.com. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Credits – STORYVILLE: McLIBEL". BFI Film & TV Database. British Film Institute. 16 April 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  11. "Documentary: shaking the world". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. September 2007.
  12. http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Review.aspx?id=5192
  13. "Coventry and Warwickshire – Entertainment – Pop into the Past". BBC. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  14. "Results of the Top 100 DJ Poll! : You Asked For It, You Got It!!!!". Shejay, the Online female DJ booking agency & dance music ezine. Shejay. 1 March 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  15. "THE TOP 100 FEMALE DJs". Shejay. Archived from the original on 5 April 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  16. "THE TOP 100 FEMALE DJs". Clubpages.net. 23 August 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  17. http://www.foundry.tv/archive/diary/index.050609.html
  18. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/feb/03/foundry-gallery-set-to-close
  19. "2012 Edition – My Night With Philosophers". Institut-francais.org.uk. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  20. "2013 Edition – My Night With Philosophers". Institut-francais.org.uk. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  21. "2013 Edition – Programme". Institut français du Royaume-Uni. 7 June 2013. P… is not Dead, Luminous Frenzy: The DJs of Luminous Frenzy Sound System will provide the soundtrack to My Night with Philosophers, a 12 hour musical and philosophical journey with a special focus on Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Music
  22. Singer, Jasmin (20 October 2010). "Vegan Anthems (You NEED to Hear This…)". Our Hen House. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  23. Singer, Jasmin (26 July 2011). "DJ Luminous and Her "Vegan Artists" Mix". Our Hen House. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  24. "Johnny Marr interview". Louise Wallis. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  25. "Geezer Butler interview". Louise Wallis. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  26. Wallis, Louise (November 2011). "Young at Heart". Get Fresh!. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  27. "Interview with Mel Baker, The Kind Cook". Louise Wallis. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
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