Faris Badwan is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist of The Horrors, and more recently one half of Cat's Eyes with Rachel Zeffira^[1].

Early life[link]

Born in Bexley, Kent^[2] on 21 September 1986 to a Palestinian father and English mother, Badwan grew up in Warwickshire along with three brothers, Tarik, Harry and Laith, and attended Arnold Lodge School in Leamington Spa. In 1999, Badwan obtained a scholarship to the exclusive public boarding school Rugby School, where he met Horrors bassist Tomethy Furse^[3]. Continuing his education, Badwan moved to London to study illustration at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2004,^[4] eventually deferring from his studies to concentrate on his musical career with the band.^[5]

Musical career[link]

Badwan is best known as vocalist for The Horrors, an Alternative Rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, their debut album "Strange House" was released in 2007. Badwan is notorious for his onstage activities, which have featured violence, the use of black paint to mark audience members, scaling anything available, and using items found in the stage area to antagonise the audience.^[6] Badwan and his band were thrown out of a concert in Massachusetts in 2007 after he accidentally smashed a ceramic bust of Elvis Presley on stage.^[7] He once fractured his nose when Horrors guitarist Joshua Third accidentally hit him with his guitar headstock. He also enjoys reading, writing, and directing short videos.

Prior to forming The Horrors, Faris took part in a pseudo-punk band, The Rotters, named after the novel The Rotters' Club by Jonathan Coe. The band formed in a hurry after a club offered them a gig, and featured Badwan on drums, Dylan "Rotter" Wigoder on vocals, "Robot" Jess Meek on bass guitar, and Emily "Rotter" Watson (later of London band Boys of Brazil) on guitar. Although not in any way a serious drummer and unable to keep a steady beat, Badwan took up the instrument and played on the band's only single, the triple A-side "Japanese Punk". The Rotters have admitted they are not a serious outfit, wrote all their songs in a matter of hours and never practised; the band are theoretically on hiatus rather than defunct, but a reunion seems unlikely.

Faris released a one-off single under the pseudonym of Lumina, teaming up with ex-Ipso Facto member, Cherish Kaya to record a cover of the Black Lips song "I'll Be With You".^[8] This recording appeared as a B-side on the Black Lips single "Drugs".^[8]

Badwan also produced Hatcham Social's 2008 single "So So Happy Making".

Badwan's illustrations have also earned him admirers, he has had his work featured on releases by The Horrors, the Charlatans and Hatcham Social,^[4] and VICE magazine has done a feature on his work. His 'Drawing A Straight Number Nine' exhibition featured a drawing series of 100 new works by the frontman and took place in London.^[9] Due to its popularity it was then taken to Milan, Italy.^[4]

Badwan discussed his work, "What I wanted to get across with this exhibition was how much of a part of my life drawing always has been. It invades all of my daily routine, be it in the shredded form of masking tape stuck to my walls, line-drawings on restaurant napkins or supermarket receipts, to the sketchbooks I carry with me. It really is the one constant solid thing in my life – a stream which runs regardless of what I happen to be doing or where." Livemusic.fm

In 2011 Faris collaborated with Canadian opera singer Rachel Zeffira under the moniker Cat's Eyes. The band have released an EP Broken Glass, and a full length self-titled album. The visual artwork for the debut album was directed by Chris Cunningham. Cat's Eyes are currently working on a follow-up record.

Faris recently appeared on the TV show Soccer AM, scoring in the spot kick challenge. He talked about his love of football and is a Blackburn Rovers supporter.

References[link]

Badwan(باڈوان) is a Union Council, situated on the bank of River Swat. It is a part of Adenzai Tehsil of Lower Dir District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It contains many small villages including Badwan Upper, Badwan Lower, Baghkandi, Safrona, Gadar, Barorri, Leko, Ghwando, Torogato, Swato Banda, Ghazo etc. Its population is approximately 25,000. In the past Badwan was a part of a union council known as Khadagzai Abazai which comprised Badwan, Brangola and Khadagzai. But now Badwan is a separate union council.

Govt. High School for Boys Badwan

Nazims / Naib-Nazims[link]

• 2005 - 2009

• Israr (N)
• Faridoon Khan (NN)

• 2001 - 2005

• Gul Muhammad (N)
• Jehan Bahadar (NN)

Education[link]

There is a boy's high school, a girl's high school and around 45 Primary schools for boys and girls. Haq Public School is the only private educational institution in the area. Some families prefer to send their children to it. Others prefer to send their children to Jamal English Education Academy, Chakdara Public School, and University Public School(UOM) etc. situated in Chakdara. All of these schools provide pick and drop services to students. Most of the students study until Matriculation and stop because of lack of access and high cost of going to nearby towns. A small number of male students go to Gulabad Degree College for Boys and University of Malakand, Chakdara. A very small number of female students go to FEF girls college, Chakdara.

Military Operation Against Taliban[link]

During the military operation of the Malakand division against Taliban insurgents Badwan was declared clean and there were no Taliban insurgents. The residents of Badwan showed hospitality to the internally displaced persons (IDP) and gave shelter to them. They shared their houses and food with them and furthermore, they also helped them in finding medical assistance. A school was established for the kids of the IDPs where volunteers would teach. Those who got shelter in Badwan, appreciate the honesty and support of the locals.

Income Sources[link]

Agriculture is the main source of income of most of the people. Many people are also working as government employees, mostly in the education sector. Most of the females are housewives though some are working in the education and health departments. Young people go to other cities like Rawalpindi, Karachi, Muzaffarabad, Islamabad, Lahore etc., to find jobs. Some people are also working abroad in different countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Korea, Malaysia, Europe etc.

Sports[link]

Most of the young boys play Cricket and Football (Soccer) in the evening. The people of Badwan (especially Badwan Bala) are good players of volleyball. Tournaments are arranged by people which may be only for local teams or sometimes teams from nearby towns also participate. The main problem which the players are facing is not having a proper playground and funds.

PTCL and Cellphone Services[link]

There is a PTCL digital telephone exchange which covers most of the village. As Badwan is in Dir Lower its area code is 0945^[1]. The phone number of the exchange is (+92)(0945) 805000. All the phone numbers are with the prefix 805 and 76 e.g. 805xxx. 76xxxx

All the major cell phone operators which operate in Pakistan are functional in Badwan. They include Mobilink, Telenor, Ufone, Zong and Paktel.

Badwan-Batkhela Road Project[link]

Currently, a big project going on in the area is the construction of a 4.5 km road connecting Badwan and Batkhela ^[2]. Work on the project has already been started. Though, it will take years to complete, it will give faster access to the town of Batkhela and will improve the living conditions of the residents of Badwan.

Post Office[link]

There is a branch post office in Badwan. Though, administratively Badwan is a part of district Dir Lower, the post office is attached to the General Post Office of Batkhela. The post code of Badwan is 230 21.^[3]

See also[link]

• Chakdara
• Shawa
• Shad Begum
• Kityari
• Ramyal

External links[link]

• Frontier Education Foundation
• University of Malakand

References[link]

Coordinates: 34°38′49″N 71°58′00″E / 34.646837°N 71.966586°E / 34.646837; 71.966586

Medal record
Rugby Sevens
Competitor for  Wales
Rugby World Cup Sevens
Gold	Dubai 2009

Rhys Webb (born 9 December 1988 in Bridgend, Wales)^[1] is a Wales international rugby union player who plays at Scrum-half for Ospreys^[2] and Wales U20.

In 2008/09, Webb pushed his way into the Opsreys starting 15 after injuries to fellow scrum-halves Mike Phillips and Jamie Nutbrown. He plays his domestic rugby for Aberavon in the Principality Premiership,^[3] having previously played for Bridgend Ravens and Bridgend Athletic. Webb, a scrum half, was a member of the age grade set up in the Ospreys region, winning the Reebok Regional Championship trophy with the Ospreys U18 during the 2005–2006 season and as a losing finalist with the Ospreys U20 during the 2006–2007 season.

Webb played for Wales U18 in the 2005–2006 U18 Home Four Nations Championship and was called up as a member of the 2006–2007 Wales U19 set up for the IRB U19 World Championships. He was called up to the Wales U20 squad for the 2007–2008 RBS U20 Six Nations Championships where he played three times and scored a try, and was also in the squad for the 2008 IRB Junior World Championships.

Webb was a member of the Wales squad that won the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai and continues to be part of the national rugby sevens set-up in 2010.^[4]

In January 2012 he was called into the Wales 35 man senior squad for the training camp in Poland prior to the 2012 Six Nations Championship. ^[5]He made his full international debut for Wales versus Italy on 10 March 2012 as a second half replacement.

References[link]

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