It’s a frosty morning when I meet Sonny and Luis, the creators of Salford Badge Club, in a bustling coffee shop. The pair are adorned with eclectic badges, some comic books, cutouts of text – or even a photo of Pablo Escobar.
Everyone at the table orders a flat white with oat milk, which Luis comments is ‘typical’ through a smirk. Luis offers everyone some of his blondie, which we politely decline.
Sonny Baker Royle and Luis Beckett run a free monthly badge club out of Luis’s studio in Brunswick Mill, Cheltenham St, where they provide the equipment for people to create whatever badges they like over tea and coffee.
‘The idea is so simple, you can get people from all different practices together, chatting and having a brew’ Sonny tells me.
There, people can exchange badges or meet up with friends or like-minded people.
They describe it as an accessible space for people of any creative level. ‘We’re facilitating a mindful atmosphere, where people can achieve something relatively easy, and meeting people is a part of that. Of course, it’s gonna attract creative people, it’s like a festering pot all mulching together. It’s a great thing for people to try.’
Luis describes the beginnings of the club: ‘We were just hanging out in the studio with the badge maker, and we said ‘Other people would probably enjoy this.’
‘We started calling it a badge club as a joke, but other people came to the studio and said it was fun, so we just said ‘Let’s do this’. Luis explains that it all happened very naturally. He’s wearing a hat adorned with multiple badges, one being a cutout of David Beckham, which he tells me is his favourite.
‘I just seen it and it looks like a mugshot’ Sonny interrupts through their laughter: ‘It’s kind of like old school Beckham.’
Luis owns two machines now, having previously bought his first one for a university project.
The machine, which the pair have named, uses film to seal whatever cutouts people unearth. He pulls off the hat and holds it within my eyeline.
‘I sold a really expensive Von Dutch jacket to buy the machine, but it’s a great investment. If you buy a badge maker, you can start a whole club called Salford Badge Club.’
The pair sip leisurely on their coffee as they explain why they think the badges are important to those who come: ‘People make badges for their band or creative endeavours; badges by nature are a statement or a conversation starter.
‘Sometimes these really special things can sit in a drawer, but turning it into a badge immortalises it and you can wear it every day,’ Luis tells me.
Sonny expands: ‘Badges are like a club thing anyway, if you have band badges or whatever, it’s like showing your tribe.’
Both have extensive creative endeavours, Sonny is a musician, a DJ and a poet, on top of using his collaging skills to rip up and source various ephemera for badges.
‘We’re an open space with no enemies, except maybe librarians, or collectors.’
He gestures to Luis, and grins ‘You’re an actual artist, you’. The pair hold an obvious admiration for each other’s work.
Luis, who originally grew up in Irlam, returned to the city after finishing a fine art degree at university. Luis expresses a love for his hometown’s rich art scene ‘With Salford, as a place, it’s sick to see creative independent development thriving and expanding.
‘There’s a real creative community there, and it’s sick to be part of a grassroots community-based project. This is a club I would’ve liked growing up there, the fact it’s in my hometown is quite special.’
Henry James Collier is a local artist who attended the previous session. The boys described him as a ‘man on a mission’ in their workshop. Henry’s shelf in his room is cluttered with various badges and trinkets.
‘They laid out all of these random magazines for people to use. I found a magazine full of criminals and made one.’ He smiles for a second. ‘Is that bad taste?’
Despite his vivacious personality, Henry speaks earnestly: ‘I feel like Salford has so much space, but the artistic side is quite hard to get into- but everyone knows where Brunswick Mill is, so you can cultivate these people.
‘Even if I’m not meeting new people, it’s just so nice to spend time doing something simple with friends.’
Sonny and Luis are also conscious of helping the local community, opening up the workshop to build supportive spaces.
‘We’ve also been running this workshop at the Booth Centre for people experiencing homelessness. That’s a different group of people who can use the workshop in the exact same way.’
The two are visibly enthusiastic as they add: ‘We see people making very personal badges to give to other people, for family, partners, people using it as a vehicle to start conversations. People are more relaxed and easy to speak to when their mind is preoccupied with a task.’
‘Badge club can be serious; badge club can be silly. It’d be wicked to do something with older groups, or even schools and colleges. Badge club is free, it will always be free, even though we accept donations.
‘We’ll have a regular thing every month for anyone, anyone is welcome, but we also want to use the same format for targeted groups, or fundraisers like something with Salford Lads Club. That would be full circle.’
Sonny jumps in as they nod at each other eagerly- the pair bounce off each other effortlessly in conversation: ‘It’s fun to do the fun side of it, but we can also help the community in different ways.
‘Badges seem like such an unimportant thing, but the more I think about it, they’re taking over my entire worldview- maybe badges are how we build communities and have fun together.’
As we finish our drinks, Sonny turns to me: ‘I didn’t anticipate how much of my life was going to become about badges.’ Luis places a cigarette he just rolled on the table and giggles.
‘I use that word a lot.’
‘The next one should be at the start of December, back at Brunswick Mill, and every last Wednesday of the month in the new year.’
Luis is enthusiastic in his assurance. ‘It’ll be like fight club, you’ll see other people on the street wearing loads of badges, and just give them a nod- see you at the next one type of thing.’
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