The Essential List: Karl Waters
A wordsmith from day dot, Karl Waters started his career as a sub-editor on magazines and then as a Teletext editor (remember that?) for a book publisher. He learned the value of compelling storytelling in these jobs, before moving on to over a decade of award-winning years as an advertising copywriter, culminating in his current role as creative partner at Dublin creative agency JWT Folk. There he works with brands like Vodafone and An Post (the Irish postal service), creating ideas that get real people talking.
Lifestyle
o Place of birth: Monaghan. If there’s a hard border, this town’s fame will grow.
o Hometown: Dublin.
o Staycation: West Cork.
o Vacation: If you’d asked me a few years ago I’d have answered New York. Then I became a parent.
o Pet: It’s three years since Leon the cat ran in front of a car. It’s fitting that he departed this planet doing what he loved, sprinting across busy roads.
o Place of work: JWT Folk.
o Place of workout: Local gym or park.
o Mode of transport: Recently my lovely bike’s been gathering rust, so car.
o Bonus travel essential: Podcasts.
Culture
o Artist: Erik Bulatov. It may be Russian propaganda art, but it’s real pretty.
o Musician: On a scale, everyone from Oneohtrix Point Never to Type O Negative.
o Commercials / music video director: Romain Gavras.
o Film director: Michael Haneke or Steve McQueen.
o Film: There are many. Recently Victoria. All shot in one take, which sounds like a gimmick. But it wasn’t.
o Series: Line of Duty is fun. Particularly the Northern Ireland cop. It would kill me if he was crooked.
o Commercial: Ice Cream for Adults – Halo Top.
o Music video: The Blaze ‘Territory’. Every shot is perfect.
o Video game: I was great at Tekken when I was younger.
o Board game: Heated, competitive games of Scrabble. Rock n roll. That is living.
o Book: I’ve never been able to get Slaughterhouse-Five out of my head.
o Podcast: Caliphate. Quite heavy, but really informative.
o Newspaper (off or online): The Guardian.
o Magazine: The New Yorker. I’ve a backlog of around 50 issues to catch up on.
o Bonus culture essential: Darts. Yes, darts.
Food and Drink
o Breakfast: All winter I experimented putting extra things in porridge. I’d mixed results.
o Restaurant: Grano, Stoneybatter.
o Cheap bite: Cowtown.
o Working lunch: The Press Café.
o Snack: Grapes.
o Guilty pleasure: Indian takeaway. Although, I feel no guilt.
o Bar: The Glimmer Man.
The Glimmer Man, Dublin
o Booze: Beamish.
o Not booze: San Pellegrino lemonade. The fancy 7up.
Kit
o Phone: iPhone.
o Computer: MacBook Pro.
o TV: This reminds me I need to buy a new TV.
o Headphones: Sennheiser HD 25.
o Camera: Canon 550d.
o Soundsystem: I’ve a tiny portable speaker called a Minirig. I enjoy showing people how loud it goes.
o Where you document an idea: In Notes on my phone.
o Casual clothing: Sweaters.
o Smart clothing: Shirts/blazers.
o Footwear: Boots. Converse. Nikes. New Balance.
o Collection: Vinyl.
o App: I’m thinking of deleting social media apps off my phone.
o Favourite social media feed: Twitter.
o Work program: Keynote.
o Analogue work tool: A pen and notepad.
