During quarantine with my fiance and her mum, I got to hear some incredible stories about growing up in the 90s during Brittish rock and rolls golden era. Jackie has worked with just about every major British musician since her humble beginnings in the mid 80’s. From Bowie to the Pet Shop Boys, the makeup artist and mother of three has gathered plenty of stories to pass on down. She sat with Kitty and I and told a few of these stories using makeup to revive them with new context. All looks were done in quarantine between mother and daughter.
When was the first time you played with makeup?
“I grew up in a small Yorkshire farming village. There were 20 kids total in my school and only one other girl my age. I remember occasionally going into York to shop at Miss Selfridge, which was sort of the only store if you were young. I got a shiny purple lipstick from there. Everyone who was a little bit edgy had it. It was thee lipstick. It was hard to get anything really gothy in York during that time. It was just when Goths started to become known. Siouxsie Sioux was my icon. I loved her. Of course there was no Internet or anything, so the only way that I saw her was in magazines. I would devour those magazines. I loved music, and the “punkier” side of things. It might have just seen her in a tiny black and white photograph in the live section, but I became obsessed with her makeup, it was so strong. Fierce... she was the original fierce. I did like to wear a punky look. I would go downstairs in the pub that I lived in and my parents would go, “Oh my goodness what are you doing?” I wanted people to look at me and say, “Oh my god, why is she dressed like that?” I wanted that reaction because that’s what it was all about. You wanted people to be a bit disgusted, frankly.
“I wanted that reaction because that’s what it was all about. You wanted people to be a bit disgusted, frankly.”
What was it like when you left home?
As soon as I finished school, I was like an Exocet Missile with London as my destination. I wanted to be a makeup artist in the music industry and I just knew I had to go. I didn’t know anybody who did makeup. I didn’t know any photographers or film makers, and I knew nothing about the industry, but I was determined and I loved music. Music was my way in. All my friends were in bands. Not famous bands in those days. They all had other jobs. If they ever got to the point where they had a photo session, I was there doing hair and makeup. “I’ll do it! Me, me,me!” One of my oldest friends from York moved down after me and he was in a band called the Godfathers. They had to us, massive success because they had records. I did hair and makeup and I also drove their bus occasionally. I was one of the few sober people in our 20s... Road crew plus hair and makeup. Mike ended up moving into a room in my horrible scuzzy house, which I have to say he still lives in today, 30 years later… Mike, what’re you doing?
Do you remember one of your first big breaks?
One of my massive lucky breaks was meeting Andy Earl, who was a very big pop photographer at the time. I had a musical boyfriend who had a tiny recording studio that shared a building with Andy’s studio. He said, “You must meet him” and continued to list off countless names of major bands that he’d shot with. I introduced myself to him and said, “Hi, I’m Jackie, John’s girlfriend... and I’m also a makeup artist.” He immediately said, “ Oh my goodness what are you doing tomorrow?” And that was it. I worked with him for years and I still do. He got me to do the Cranberry’s album cover and that was probably my first big job. Before the Cranberry’s we shot this rockabilly band. Rockabilly was a punk version of rock n’ rollers. They were supposed to be performing a gig at Easter and they decided a great way to promote the gig would be to have an image of the lead singer hanging on a cross.
Andy’s studio was right next to the Barbican, which was a Brutalist concrete building with a big open area in the center. The idea was to bring the cross right into the middle of it and have the artist hanging there with a crown of thorns. I covered him in fake wounds and we dragged the cross in, stuck it up and eventually the police arrived. It turns out there was a Catholic school right next where we’d set up. They’d taken huge umbrage the fact that we had staged a crucifixion in the Barbican. They wanted to confiscate the shoot, so Andy just gave the police one roll of film and said that’s all we’d shot. Of course it wasn’t but it was enough to pacify them, and off we trotted. So the first time I saw my work was a guy getting crucified. It was probably for a small gig in Camden in some tiny pub or something.
Have you ever been star struck?
Only when I worked with David Bowie. He was amazing. I’d worked with Elton John the week before, and Elton was going through one of his difficult phases. I have worked with him in better times, but he was going through an extremely rough phase. He didn’t want to do the video at all and he was being an absolute, tricky little monkey. The whole management team was so stressed out... it was a very very difficult day. On the same week I booked a shoot with David Bowie and I expected everything to be the same. I expected the management to show up and say the room needs to be re-painted, for personal stylists to bring in endless racks of clothes, and for a barrage of flowers and fruit to precede them all. I was there very early all set up, and everything was bizarrely quiet. Then I heard a black diesel cab pull up outside, and suddenly David jumped out by himself with a pack of fags in hand. And that was literally it. He popped his head in the room, and with a warm smile went, “Oh are you doing makeup?” He was so cool. When he sat down I asked him what he wanted to do. He bounced the question right back to me, asking what I’d like to do instead. He was just adorable.
How different are the rock-stars we see on stage behind the scenes?
People put on performances. I’ve worked with Alice Cooper since 1989 when he did Poison, and I still work with him if he comes here. He’s based his whole career on leaving Alice on the stage. That’s not him, he’s not that person. I learned that from him really. That’s the way to survive it... If you take Alice home, you’re in trouble. For a while, in the early 70’s, he took Alice home and Alice nearly killed him. He eventually learned how to leave Alice on stage. He became a rock and roll survivor and such a brilliant one at that.
What Inspires You?
The thing about working with artists is the inspiration usually comes from them. You tend to just fall in love with the people that you’re working with all the time. I’ve worked with Petshop Boys for 30 years and I cannot wait to see them again once Covid is over. They always wear something crazy. They push the limits fashion wise. The great performers always include everybody in the room. They listen to the group because they surround themselves with trusted people. You become a part of a family with bands. With the pop groups like Liberty X, The Steps, and The Vamps, I’ve become like their mum. And I’m happy to be that. They are amazingly talented musicians but some of them are younger than my kids. I adore them and I love getting them ready to perform.
What’s Life on Tour Like?
The bands I tour with now are big bands, so the teams are very professional and there’s rests scheduled in. If there’s a day off everyone goes absolutely nuts, but if there’s a gig the next day people actually sleep. I did a world tour with Avril Lavigne and she was so great despite the endless weeks of press. It must have been incredibly difficult, especially because she was on her own. I really felt for her. When fans would mob her they assumed I was her mum. Her look is so easily my look, a big dirty black eye and nice skin. I remember her joking that I should put on a hoodie and just pretend to be her. She was really funny behind the scenes. I liked being around artists and creative people. I liked being with people who actually needed my help. Models are already beautiful, but artists aren’t always. They could do with a little bit of help, some of them. I could give them a little bit more confidence to perform. Especially when you work with someone for years, you’re almost there to make sure everything goes alright. You can be a part of a team that makes a performance work. I really enjoy that.
Are there any trends today that have come back aroud?
Oh, definitely. All that stuff comes back. It’s all about the big dramatic black eye, which Siouxsie was the queen of. It’s like all fashion, you go from drain pipes to flares, to drain pipes, to flares. It goes around and around.
Do you have any advice for new makeup artists?
I can only imagine how daunting it would be to start now . When I started I didn’t know a single makeup artist, now there are millions. However, the great thing is that nobody knows nothing anymore. You can google just about anything and there are a gazillion makeup courses. Every makeup artist in the world is on Instagram, and my best advice would be to reach out and assist if you can. Just stay determined and never ever give up.
Model: Kitty Hayes @Next
Makeup: Jackie Tyson @Alchemy
Photos: Taylor Tupy