Photograph
Stephen Kingston
2024

Stephen Kingston edited the 100,000 circulation free megazine Uptown – ‘A Happening Paper In A Happening City’ - between 1986 and 1990, which specialised in Manchester music, fashion and lifestyle before the world got there. He also edited Avant magazine – ‘What’s sorted in the North West’ – when the world did get there. While doing all this, he was also a music writer and reviewer for Sounds, had a music page in the South Manchester reporter (Trelawney’s Sounds of the Suburbs) and contributed to I-D magazine, Jockey Slut, Evolution and ELLE magazine amongst others.
When Avant and Uptown shut, he wrote for an array of publications including the Manchester Evening News, Ministry of Sound, The Times, the Daily Telegraph, Independent, Daily Mirror…and had the ‘Boy’s Stuff’ page in Just 17, while doing record reviews for Penthouse.
He also wrote the conclusion to `Highflyers:clubravepartyart’ (Booth-Clibborn 1996) and ghosted ‘Pamela Anderson in Pictures’ (Random House 1996) but we don’t talk about that…
Having come to his senses, he co-founded and edited Salford Star community magazine in print and online for 15 years (2006-2021) – ‘with attitude and love xxx’ - and now co-ordinates the Bury New Road project, reviving heritage, from The Fall to Bugzy Malone and back.