the Collective

Charlie is a Berlin-based art director, DJ, creative producer, graphic designer, and the magisterial head of IXCHEL. An insatiable maker-happener of things, Charlie’s infectious energy and passion have seen him launch and grow the careers of some of today’s most exciting and critically acclaimed artists. 

As a many-limbed puller of multiple strings, Charlie’s creative direction informs many if not all veins of IXCHEL’s output – from tenacious campaign work to visuals and concept design. Above all, he is the ultimate gas man, grinding to establish platforms for artists then bringing out their very, very best. Charlie has worked on releases with a combined 7 Mercury-Prize nominations, multiple Jazz FM Artists & Albums of the Year wins, the Ivor Novello Award for Innovation and a UNESCO Crossing Borders ‘Album of the Decade’. 

Ella is Collective Director at IXCHEL. She is based in Bristol. Supporting all facets of the operation with creativity, coordination and cultivation, Ella has been a central part of IXCHEL from day one. Her passion, tenacity and interpersonal skills are essential in keeping the collective driving forward together into new and exciting territory. 

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Raised on the fields of festivals, always in the company of musicians and artists, Ella was inducted into the creative industry early. She is the life of any party and a weapons dealer in the dance. After meeting Charlie on such a dance floor, she helped to build IXCHEL from the ground up. Her work for the collective includes art direction, artist coordination, management and communications.
 

Kenny is Creative Strategist at IXCHEL. He is based in London. A tireless champion for progressive and just artist representation, Kenny has worked for years at the very top of licensing and rights in the music industry. With an eagle eye cast over any [top-level] decision, he ensures that every step guarantees suitable commercial viability, without compromising the art. 

At all stages of the publishing process Kenny makes sure that everyone is in-the-loop and fairly treated, and that everyone gets their paycheck (or there's high hell to pay in lieu). He ensures all negotiations entail maximum flexibility, freedom and room for growth for the artist, and helps to jimmy them out of any previous restrictive arrangements. At IXCHEL, Kenny has designed a pioneering contracting system for the collective that has already won the plaudits of various industry heads. 

Seb is an internationally published portrait, music and fine art photographer based between London, Bristol and Cambridge. His images have been used by top brands, record labels, on magazine covers, and featured in photo essays and editorials. With a special gift for capturing the inward expanse of any moment, Seb’s work is known for the dreamlike, immersive quality he extracts from whatever he’s shooting. 

Working exclusively with Fujifilm and Leica equipment, Seb’s instinctive practice utilises analogue controls, environmental light, vintage lenses and dynamic settings. He has photographed many of today’s jazz pioneers including Yazz Ahmed, Joe Armon Jones, Michael Kiwanuka, Sampa the Great and Ezra Collective, and has worked with world-leading brands like lingerie designers Edge O’ Beyond and Fleur of England.

Ash Walker is a London-based DJ, producer, curator, bandleader, and intergalactic sound-dealer. A world-renowned crate-digger of soul, jazz, R&B, latin, dub and roots, Ash has spun around the world. He’s played with The Specials in Brixton, at the infamous Royal Mail squat party, on the canals of Venice and Stateside in LA and San Francisco. As an artist he is equally well-travelled, from recording classical percussionists in the Morrocan Atlas Mountains, to gracing the stage at countless iconic venues including The Jazz Cafė with his five-piece, the Ash Walker Experience.

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Ash records using a range of analogue equipment, from moogs and theramins to Hammond organs and Wurlitzer pianos. A connoisseur of texture, distortion and overdrive, Ash’s production recalls the synergy between organic and synthesised sounds that defined the music technology of the 1970s. Internationally recognised as a fiercely underground artist and performer, Ash’s production and curatorial work provide much of the backbone of IXCHEL.

Sophie is a Trinidadian-English illustrator based in London. One of the most exciting names on the scene currently, Sophie’s hand-drawn works capture the vibrancy of movement, dance, vitality and communion like few others working today. Working with various high-profile commercial, political and musical clients, her extensive sleeve designs for jazz artists Soweto Kinch, Yazz Ahmed and Ash Walker have already sparked comparisons with Blue Note legend Reid Miles.

Using just felt-tips, pencils and paints, Sophie’s illustrations weave natural and folkloric symbols and patterns into modern scenes of liberation, nature, mythology, festivity and dance culture. Music, politics, nature and community are central inspirations for much of Sophie's work as is her dual cultural heritage. She has worked with many world-leading clients including Dr Martens, Adidas, Gal-Dem and The Green Party.

April is Amplification Manager at IXCHEL. A gifted and versatile storyteller, April has worked right across the creative industries; as editor, marketer, designer, community manager, organiser and publicist. With fearless ambition, self-made connections and a creative eye for any medium, April has curated and broadcast the work of some of the world’s best-known artists. 

Starting with an artist’s own aims for self-presentation, April helps creatives hone their voice and amplify their story through organic partnerships and publicity, strictly valuing quality over quantity. In her six years in the industry April has worked on exciting collaborations with Riz Ahmed, FKA twigs, Solange, IDLES, Tyler Mitchell, Renell Medrano, Grimes, Michel Gondry and Bon Iver.

Leo writes copy at IXCHEL. He also writes essays, short fiction and screenplays for short films. 

When writing about artists’ work, Leo likes to wear long trousers made from sporty material!

Engineer

Camilla is a set designer and interior stylist based in Berlin. Working on sets and stages in Berlin, Copenhagen and Hamburg, Camilla’s evocative designs subvert notions of normality and perfection in familiar spaces. Juxtaposing idealised environments with abject materials, she uses uncanny furnishings like hair and scissors to reflect the naturally occurring ‘imperfection’ in normal spaces.

Drawing inspiration from her surrounding environment, people and found objects, Camilla has been designing and acting with the acclaimed Danish theatre group SIGNA for 7 years. She has recently branched out into set design for film. 

Rahel is a German actress. Starring in acclaimed, progressive theatre productions in Austria, France, England and across Germany, she has been based in Berlin for two years. From children’s theatre to immersive, in-yer-face and grotesque plays, Rahel is fascinated by the physical, conventional and formal boundaries of theatre. Recently expanding her range, Rahel has also appeared in short film and TV productions.

Concerned firstly with the physicality of a performance, Rahel approaches her roles via observed behaviors, postures and tics, inhabiting first the body, then the psychology of her characters. She has acted with the acclaimed Danish group SIGNA. 

Chris Gray is a multi-award-winning oil painter, print-maker, master draughtsman and teacher based in London. A master craftsman, Chris has cultivated a deep connection to the materials and physicality of his art. Chris’s work visits modern subjects through the processes of the 19th century ateliers. As he puts it: I paint what I see. Fuck the chaff.

Through a process of “visual abstraction”, Chris breaks down his subjects visually into abstract, fundamental shapes, which then develop into representational images. His portraits, landscapes, still lifes and prints have won him a ‘One To Watch’ mention at the Federation of British Artists show for outstanding British art graduates, the John Purcell paper award and the Young artist of the year at the Pastel society. He has exhibited and led workshops with the Dulwich Picture Gallery, King's College, and others.

Editor / sound Designer

Nolly is a makeup and concept artist based in Bristol. Painting and designing for art and fashion shoots, portraiture, magazine covers, zines, TV and film, Nolly has been practising for 2 years. Her transgressive, evocative work explores the space between the abject and the erotic; gore, bondage, BDSM, horror and submission.

At IXCHEL Nolly paints artists for various shoots, including Yazz Ahmed for the cover of Jazzwise magazine. She is also a central creative force in concept design for all IXCHEL film and video work, and champions exclusively cruelty-free, vegan products.