Anna is a graduate of The University Of Brighton 2007 in Critical Fine Art Practice. She is a practicing artist. Her work has been featured on the cover of The Mental Virus magazine and she has gone on to become the in-house illustrator. She has illustrated a soon to be published book cover and poetry anthology. She has also illustrated posters for both Lupine and Wigan Music Collective.

She has organised and curated 6 exhibitions, the first being ‘Art.Breath.Meditiation’ in Brighton (2005). She has exhibited at a number of shows, including The Salford Film festival, and Cornerhouse (Best of Manchester Showcase) where she held a Q&A session. Her work was also shown at Moho live where she won public choice, featured on the BBC screen at the Triangle, Manchester, and she has been interviewed for an internet channel.

She has worked at Turnpike Gallery, Leigh, both as a volunteer and as a paid live guide. She is a founder member of NXNW and is involved in designing its branding and promotional material.

John is editor and founder of The Mental Virus Magazine, a publication that features art, photography, poetry, fiction and other writings from around the North West. He is a graduate of Bolton University (BA Creative Writing & English Literature 2005) and is currently studying towards a PGCE.

He is an event co-ordinator for various monthly events: ‘The Wonderful Arty Types Show’, an arts based night that features poetry, music, film and art, and an Open Mic Poetry night. John has also been involved in running events for the Wigan Words festival and acted as consultant for event bookings in 2007/08

John is also a poet and his first collection, ‘The Importance of Magic in the Void’, is due out in 2009.He regularly performs his poetry around the North West of England. He also performs his spoken word with musicians. John is also writing a novel that has attracted interest from a highly respected agent in London.

Sean is an MMU Graduate (BA Hons Design & Art Direction, 2001) and is one half of Lupine Promotions, who have been active members of the local music scene since 2003. He has extensive experience in event management, putting on over 500 gigs and clubnights. With Lupine he’s brought many big names to Wigan including The Arctic Monkeys and Pete Doherty. Lupine’s clubnight ‘Northern Lights’ was recently featured in The Guardian, The Times and on Steve Lamaqc’s Radio Show, and regularly attracts over 700 people a week.

Sean is also a musician and designer. He was a founder member of both Amberwood and Filthy Romance, both of whom have appeared at Haigh Hall music festival. In 2005, Filthy Romance played in Paris and were featured in NME.

He is in charge of Lupine’s Marketing & Branding and has produced promotional material for Wigan Music Collective and Haigh Hall Music Festival, on behalf of Wigan Leisure Culture Trust, as well as designing for The Mental Virus Magazine.

He is a founder member of NXNW and co-creator of its logo and branding.

 Ruth is a graduate of MMU with both a BA Hons (2004) and Post graduate diploma (2006) in Design and Art Direction. She is a practising artist who has devised and run many successful workshops across the North West including Positive Futures at the Turnpike Gallery, Leigh, which was aimed at 14-19 years olds based around sexual health, and Lowton Girls where she visited the youth group (aged 11-26) for three months as a freelance artist. She was also an ambassador for Set Point which promoted healthy eating, art and technology in primary and secondary schools in the north west. In 2006 she was selected for a three day residency in Cambridge by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship.

In 2006 Ruth also started the Wigan Arts Collective and is a founder member of NXNW.

A graduate from MMU with a Ba (hons) in Politics , Dylan has worked in the music industry for almost a decade. From 1999 he worked with Coalition Management in London where he designed and maintained the website for ‘Witness’, a band signed to Island Records. He later formed the promotions company Lupine which is run as a partnership with Sean Doherty. He also works as a DJ, tour manager and UK booking agent for various acts (most notably Gerard Starkie).

From 2007 he has worked as the sole UK representative for Lichen Media, a Scandinavian magazine and newspaper publishers who will be launching on these shores mid 2009.

His latest project is Lupine Travel, launched in early 2008. The company offers budget holidays to unique destinations and now has partners in places as far away as Siberia, China, Ukraine and Turkmenistan. They will soon be offering specialised music related tours of the UK.

Jane herself has had almost 70 exhibitions including many solo shows and is preparing for a large solo show in Oldham Gallery in 2010. She has also been in publications including the international “Katalogue Volume 1 – From Pop to Politics” and The Mental Virus, and was invited to judge at the West Lancashire Open Exhibition in 2007.

He is also a practicing artist, regularly exhibiting artwork around the country. He and has recently exhibited in Bristol, London, Birmingham, andLiverpool as part of the city of culture 2008. This also includes raising money through charity art auctions. Neil is also an associate member of the standish based OK Studios art group and exhibits work through the studios yearly. His sculptural work has been published in the acclaimed Dot Dot Dash! book published by Gestalten in 2006.

He joined the NXNW team after being part of the poster exhibition in 2008.

Jennifer has attended Wigan Music Collective events since her teens but has only more recently become involved in the committee. She is currently Vice-Chair and as well as chairing the Collective’s fortnightly meetings has taken part in discussions with The Wigan Leisure Culture Trust as part of the organisation of the annual Haigh Festival, also contributing to its promotion and working on the day.

Rob’s contribution, as well as being a general pair of hands and revenue collector at gigs has been to put time and consideration into the management of the Collective, and to enthuse in its activities. Currently a co-opted committee member, he has held the positions of Secretary, Chair and Vice-Chair, and has acted as a compere at Haigh festival.

He has over 400 public performances behind him as a guitarist/bassist and singer, perhaps the most notable as joint front-man of Wigan punk rockers Gunpowder Plot, with whom he penned and performed some of best material.

He is currently involved with internet-based comedy gangsta/hiphop outfit 4Pac & C:UNiT.

Baz Wilkinson is a combined honours graduate in European Film & English from MMU who is currently studying at Bolton University for a PGCE in English Literacy. He has been involved with the Wigan music scene for over ten years. He has written both film and music reviews for student newspaper/magazine (PULP) and is now writing for online magazines and music publications. He has played in various bands and is also the founder member of Imploding Acoustic Inevitable: an underground urban folk promotion venture. It operates as ‘not-for-profit’, and is currently in its third year. Through I.A.I., Baz has played a significant role in previous NXNW Festivals, adding to its diversity.

Baz has also been involved with the setting up of Wonderful Arty Types Show which promotes all the arts in one night. This venture has extensive links across the North West, and UK, and is connected to Write Out Loud. I.A.I. has also held successful fundraiser events for local charities and mental health organisations, and has been featured in national music publication The Fly as well as getting very good reviews in student newspapers at Manchester Metropolitan University and at Manchester University. Since its humble beginnings it has managed to attract bands from all over the UK, and even from Europe and America, and has built up a strong network between itself, the artists, and independent record labels. Many of the bands and artists that have played/performed have gone on to play at major festivals within the UK and America including Glastonbury, and South By South West Festival.

Vivien is currently a third year studying Interactive Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her work mainly involves stop motion animation using varieties of media exploring themes of childhood, mental health and personal experiences. However challenging the underlying ideas behind her work, she always tries to emphasise the playful and tactile elements of her subjects. Her short films have been shown across the country including in London at Rotoreleifs, The Candid Projection Room and Takes with Last Night Productions as well as numerous events in Manchester including at The Green Room.