Dynamo: Streetz Is Watching
More than anyone else in this game, street magician Dynamo represents finding your own fate. He might not rap or sing, but this talented 22 year-old regularly rolls with everyone from Will Smith to The Streets, Snoop Dogg to The Arctic Monkeys. Hattie Collins catches up with Dynamo to discover the secret to his success.
17 years ago, in a small house on the Delph Hill estate in Bradford, Steven Frayne’s grandpa bought his grandson a magic book. Within months, the seven year-old had gotten pretty good; fast-forward to 2007 and the 22 year-old is probably the best magician working in the UK today. "F*ck me. That’s the greatest magic I’ve ever seen," gasps Coldplay’s Chris Martin on Dynamo’s self-made and self-financed DVD, 'Underground Magic: Volume 1', which also features the shocked expressions of everyone from Snoop to Mike Skinner. "Dynamo is the inside of Steven Frayne getting out. Does that make sense?" the boy himself wonders in his Bradford brogue. "I have all these visions and Dynamo is how I express them, how I get them out of my system. Dynamo is what’s inside me."
What was the first trick you ever did?
I had two matchboxes and they were painted red and green. I had red matches in the green box and vice versa and the trick was that I swapped them over. My grandpa showed me that one. He wasn’t a magician really, he just used to do tricks, so he could win a beer. Blagging runs through the family!
How did it become a full-time job?
Bouncers wouldn’t let me in to clubs cos I was always small, so I’d do magic to blag in! After a while, people kept telling me to film it so I made a website and put it on there. The first DVD (Undergound Magic) was never planned, it just happened. The last one, Concrete Playground ended up being distributed by a major, though they messed it up.
Why, what happened?
The people we dealt with had a lot of talk, but they didn’t necessarily deliver the goods. I got messed around and it knocked me back more than I’d been knocked back before. I took it quite hard. But you need to hit bottom to bounce back up. By January I was really motivated again. No matter how much you know, you’re never too knowledgeable to know more.
What’s a typical day for Dynamo?
Everyday is so different; for example late last year, I was at the airport for 6am to fly to Oslo to shoot the Raconteour’s Hands video. The woman told me my passport was faulty because there was a tiny tear, so I couldn’t fly. So me and my manager Dan went from Stansted airport to the London passport office, which just happened to be closed that day so from there we had to go the Head Office in Peterborough. There was a big queue so we had to wait until 6pm to get the passport and head back to get the last plane to Oslo. The train broke down but we managed to jump into a cab and eventually, we made the plane and I did the video!
Or, another day you might host a dinner with Will Smith, right?
Yeah, it was for the (Fresh!) Prince’s Trust. He presented me with an award for my achievements, because the Prince’s Trust gave me a start-up loan years ago. When Will got up to talk about his new film, he just talked about me instead! To me, that’s how I judge success - things like that are gratifying to me. Anyone can big themselves up, but when someone else does it, it really means something. I’ve had Snoop do a rap for me, Ian Brown write me a song and I’ve had Coldplay on my DVD.
What’s been the secret of your success?
I work my arse of and I think you can see that when I perform. And secondly, I’m one cool mo’f*cker! Nah, I think I break all the stereotypes of what a magician is. And it drives me on to prove people wrong – all the people that put me down in the past is a great inspiration!
From card tricks on the pavement to blagging his way backstage at concerts, Dynamo’s trademark trickery sees him bodypop while slamming the ace of hearts through the windows of moving tube trains and pulling Polo’s out of his neck (true stories). "I call myself an entertainer. I don’t perform magic," he says. "What you see and how your mind perceives it is the magic. Without the spectator there is no magic, it doesn’t exist." What makes this kid’s triumphs even more impressive is the fact that he lives everyday with severe Crohn’s Disease.
What is Crohn’s?
Imagine you’ve got a big, deep cut on your arm or your leg. Every time you eat, it’s like rubbing dirt onto it. There’s no cure and it gets worse everyday. It means my body aches all the time and I have problems sleeping cos of the scar on my chest where I had to have a life-saving bowel operation four years ago. To be honest, I nearly died but it’s taught me not to take anything for granted. And smile now and then; there’s always somebody worse off than you.
What are the highs and lows of being Dynamo?
I love getting that reaction; that moment of wonder on someone’s face. Other highs are getting to travel, which is also a low because you get tired. And getting to meet people, and I don’t just mean famous people - I love meeting all types of people.
Any advice for those interested in being the next Dynamo?
Well, don’t try and be the next anyone, be yourself first and foremost. Magic’s worked for me cos I did it my own unique way. If you want to do something, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. So many people told me I couldn’t do it and they were wrong. If you think you can prove people wrong, go for it.
You’ve been on MTV, Ch. 4, had your own DVD; what’s next?
I can’t say too much but we are working on other TV projects. I’m off to Miami for the Music Conference, which we’re filming for a mini documentary called Dynamo’s Five Nights In Miami. I’m also working on a stage show that I’m looking to take to theatres. I’m also director of my own film company, Inner Circle and I’m in a film too that’s out next year. It’s called The Grind (check thegrindmovie.com) and I am the face of the adidas ZX trainer. Check the ads at sneaker-magic.com or on youtube.com. You’ve got to put your heart and soul into this; I’ve done a lot while I’ve been here but I haven’t touched where I want to go.
Having done so much, what are you most proud of?
I’ve achieved more than I ever imagined. So I’ll never stop working cos I’ve already achieved more than anyone thought. The only way now is up and I’ve just got to enjoy the ride.
Check Dynamoworld.com and MySpace.com/dynamodynamo
17 years ago, in a small house on the Delph Hill estate in Bradford, Steven Frayne’s grandpa bought his grandson a magic book. Within months, the seven year-old had gotten pretty good; fast-forward to 2007 and the 22 year-old is probably the best magician working in the UK today. "F*ck me. That’s the greatest magic I’ve ever seen," gasps Coldplay’s Chris Martin on Dynamo’s self-made and self-financed DVD, 'Underground Magic: Volume 1', which also features the shocked expressions of everyone from Snoop to Mike Skinner. "Dynamo is the inside of Steven Frayne getting out. Does that make sense?" the boy himself wonders in his Bradford brogue. "I have all these visions and Dynamo is how I express them, how I get them out of my system. Dynamo is what’s inside me."
What was the first trick you ever did?
I had two matchboxes and they were painted red and green. I had red matches in the green box and vice versa and the trick was that I swapped them over. My grandpa showed me that one. He wasn’t a magician really, he just used to do tricks, so he could win a beer. Blagging runs through the family!
How did it become a full-time job?
Bouncers wouldn’t let me in to clubs cos I was always small, so I’d do magic to blag in! After a while, people kept telling me to film it so I made a website and put it on there. The first DVD (Undergound Magic) was never planned, it just happened. The last one, Concrete Playground ended up being distributed by a major, though they messed it up.
Why, what happened?
The people we dealt with had a lot of talk, but they didn’t necessarily deliver the goods. I got messed around and it knocked me back more than I’d been knocked back before. I took it quite hard. But you need to hit bottom to bounce back up. By January I was really motivated again. No matter how much you know, you’re never too knowledgeable to know more.
What’s a typical day for Dynamo?
Everyday is so different; for example late last year, I was at the airport for 6am to fly to Oslo to shoot the Raconteour’s Hands video. The woman told me my passport was faulty because there was a tiny tear, so I couldn’t fly. So me and my manager Dan went from Stansted airport to the London passport office, which just happened to be closed that day so from there we had to go the Head Office in Peterborough. There was a big queue so we had to wait until 6pm to get the passport and head back to get the last plane to Oslo. The train broke down but we managed to jump into a cab and eventually, we made the plane and I did the video!
Or, another day you might host a dinner with Will Smith, right?
Yeah, it was for the (Fresh!) Prince’s Trust. He presented me with an award for my achievements, because the Prince’s Trust gave me a start-up loan years ago. When Will got up to talk about his new film, he just talked about me instead! To me, that’s how I judge success - things like that are gratifying to me. Anyone can big themselves up, but when someone else does it, it really means something. I’ve had Snoop do a rap for me, Ian Brown write me a song and I’ve had Coldplay on my DVD.
What’s been the secret of your success?
I work my arse of and I think you can see that when I perform. And secondly, I’m one cool mo’f*cker! Nah, I think I break all the stereotypes of what a magician is. And it drives me on to prove people wrong – all the people that put me down in the past is a great inspiration!
From card tricks on the pavement to blagging his way backstage at concerts, Dynamo’s trademark trickery sees him bodypop while slamming the ace of hearts through the windows of moving tube trains and pulling Polo’s out of his neck (true stories). "I call myself an entertainer. I don’t perform magic," he says. "What you see and how your mind perceives it is the magic. Without the spectator there is no magic, it doesn’t exist." What makes this kid’s triumphs even more impressive is the fact that he lives everyday with severe Crohn’s Disease.
What is Crohn’s?
Imagine you’ve got a big, deep cut on your arm or your leg. Every time you eat, it’s like rubbing dirt onto it. There’s no cure and it gets worse everyday. It means my body aches all the time and I have problems sleeping cos of the scar on my chest where I had to have a life-saving bowel operation four years ago. To be honest, I nearly died but it’s taught me not to take anything for granted. And smile now and then; there’s always somebody worse off than you.
What are the highs and lows of being Dynamo?
I love getting that reaction; that moment of wonder on someone’s face. Other highs are getting to travel, which is also a low because you get tired. And getting to meet people, and I don’t just mean famous people - I love meeting all types of people.
Any advice for those interested in being the next Dynamo?
Well, don’t try and be the next anyone, be yourself first and foremost. Magic’s worked for me cos I did it my own unique way. If you want to do something, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. So many people told me I couldn’t do it and they were wrong. If you think you can prove people wrong, go for it.
You’ve been on MTV, Ch. 4, had your own DVD; what’s next?
I can’t say too much but we are working on other TV projects. I’m off to Miami for the Music Conference, which we’re filming for a mini documentary called Dynamo’s Five Nights In Miami. I’m also working on a stage show that I’m looking to take to theatres. I’m also director of my own film company, Inner Circle and I’m in a film too that’s out next year. It’s called The Grind (check thegrindmovie.com) and I am the face of the adidas ZX trainer. Check the ads at sneaker-magic.com or on youtube.com. You’ve got to put your heart and soul into this; I’ve done a lot while I’ve been here but I haven’t touched where I want to go.
Having done so much, what are you most proud of?
I’ve achieved more than I ever imagined. So I’ll never stop working cos I’ve already achieved more than anyone thought. The only way now is up and I’ve just got to enjoy the ride.
Check Dynamoworld.com and MySpace.com/dynamodynamo
Submit to:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
ZOLA-HOLLY VALANCE-MAGIC
18 Apr 2007, 08:59
18 Apr 2007, 08:59
$..WOOOOW~~~~~$~~~~GOD BLESS YOU DYNAMO..$
