www. bassculture islands .com
Photographer: Kerron Riley
Location: Trinidad & Tobago
PLATFORM FOR CREATIVE MELTDOWNS EDITOR’S NOTE
Welcome to the premier issue! I want to take you all on a journey through creativity and its’ expression. I want you to feel good looking at this magazine, to be impressed by the high quality images and inspired by the featured talents. It is all about you, it is all for you- the reader! The aim is to share a bit of paradise with the world by showcasing beautiful images of the Caribbean landscape throughout the whole magazine in every issue. Trinidad and Tobago is our primary location in the Caribbean and Amsterdam in Europe, so to start off breath in the beauty of the twin islands photographed by Kerron Riley. You will find drawings, photography and carnival make up artistry. We also spoke to Orange Grove music band because they are in the middle, between St. Martin and Holland. Vinyl records artist, Lobyn Hamilton, lives in the US but his work is undeniable so I had to share it (plus his family roots are in the Caribbean ;). Enjoy and stay with us for many more to come.
Ania Orlowska
CREDITS
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Editor in Chief Ania Orlowska Creative & Art Direction Kerron Riley Managing Editor Lina Komin Graphic Artist Kerron Riley Consultant Graphic Artist Jorge Cumbre Che Geoffroy Advertising & Creative Contribution Marko Depender www.bassculture.nl Special Thanks to Cover: Photographer Kerron Riley Marko Depender Bassculture Foundation
Photographer: Kerron Riley
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w w w. t h e o r l o w s k a . c o m
SUMMARY
Photographer: Kerron Riley
Location: Trinidad & Tobago
Lobyn Hamilton
30
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Richard Taylor
Orange Grove
Versia Harris
70
94
Kerron Riley
80
56
44
Dina Hartandi
Kirk Thomas
20
Photographer: Kerron Riley
Location: Trinidad & Tobago
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Photographer: Kerron Riley Model: Arielle Moses
Tr i ni da d
an d Tobago
Kirk Thomas
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C a r n i va l Makeup ART I S T RY
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Model: Sian McIntosh
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WO 2 JULI
KING AYISOBA
ZEA / UMEME AFRORAVE MINYESHU & KOKO LAWS
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L o b y n Hamilton ‘I believe I am still scratching records, sampling, cutting records, mixing records. ‘ ‘I believe I am still DJing. I believe I am still scratching records, sampling, cutting records, mixing records. My work is the analog manifestation of what I would do as a DJ. Also the recycling aspect of using all of the discarded records. For the thousands of records I have used over my career span, most of them have been unsold, forgotten, and of unknown music and artists. For me, the work is giving new life to the work that others may not have even known. Picking up the pieces of shattered dreams to create something truly memorable and unique. Not to mention the deep respect I have for vinyl and music in general. Being able to recreate and use the album art, the record label and even the vinyl is something that I love doing. A while ago I went through some turbulent time in my life. One day I injured my leg , went down to my basement and out of frustration began to break up my DJ records. I left the whole mess for couple of months until that day when I came down and began to do my vinyl art work. For me I was literally picking up the pieces of my life. So from that point on it was using what I had and making sure that I kept moving forward. When people see the work I want them to experience something that they have seen something worth remembering. Something that makes them stop and make their eyes light up. I want them to see something they haven’t seen before.’ - Lobyn Hamilton
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YOUR A HER
AD GOES RE!
Photographer: Kerron Riley
Location: Trinidad & Tobago
www. bassculture islands .com
Ne th er lands The
DINA HARTANDI
My illustrations are the way for me to express myself.
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‘My illustrations are the way for me to express myself. I try to take the viewer to an imaginary world that’s inside my head. When I’m making an illustration, I go with the flow and try to experiment with shapes. I never know how an illustration will turn out. I feel like if I knew and followed the exact steps, I would never be open for change and improvement of the picture. I love how every splatter and stroke is never planned. When the balance is right, the illustration is done and I’m happy.’
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Photographer: Kerron Riley
Location: Trinidad & Tobago
www. bassculture islands .com
KERRON RILEY
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THIS IS MY CARNIVAL FACE Trinidad and Tobago
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HOLLANDSORANJE.NL THE ULTIMATE DUTCH DRESS, ALSO CAN BE WORN AS A SHIRT
Photographer: Kerron Riley
Location: Trinidad & Tobago
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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Richard Tylor
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a . k . a 1R abbit
About the rabbit About the rabbit The “1” in 1rabbit literally implies oneness or interconnectedness, inter-dependance of everything. In traditional Buddhist teachings there is strong belief that everything appears to be individual and separate, but in actuality it is part of a greater whole – The Universe. This fundamental belief strongly implies that every sentient being is born with the right to happiness and various forms of non-suffering. It is the foundation of compassion and the beginning of the journey toward enlightenment. The “rabbit” is the alias the artist chose based on the Chinese zodiac year. Born in the year of the rabbit, his sign is usually associated with ingenuity, wisdom and peacefulness. “1rabbit-creative force” implies that there is only 1rabbit/1artist – meaning that both you and I have the ability to create and share various forms of expressions of ourselves, for greater good of all sentient life.
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Versia Harris My fascination with fictitious stories and fairytales inspired me to create my own fictional space; a space that allows me to play with the idea of fantasy influencing actual thoughts and behaviours. The swan headed character in my two animations ‘A dream is a wish your heart makes when you’re awake’ and ‘They say you can dream a thing more than once’ continuously battles with her fantasies of herself and her actuality. I am captivated by the process of viewing fiction, consuming it and subsequently projecting the fictional images into actuality so that it almost seems as if it becomes a part of one’s reality. As such, the narrative generates a comparison between the girl’s fantasy and reality. She is a manifestation of a person both beautiful and flawed aspiring to acquire perceived superior physical and behavioural attributes of another’..
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“Dwelling within a small place in a small space. Through the window is the only way to go. Don’t worry you don’t have far to fall” Versia Harris
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“I wish I was inside of you when you created yourself” Versia Harris
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“Apparently I ask people to piss on me. It’s a subconscious fetish.” Versia Harris
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Photographer: Kerron Riley
Location: Trinidad & Tobago
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YOUR AD GOES HERE!
Simpel is the new Cool
amsterdam-berlin-newyork w w w. r i p e l i f e . n l
The Netherlands
O RAN G E G R OVE
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The Children of The Islands
Interview with Michael Maidwell Photography by Gienne van Engelen
Bassculture Islands is a magazine featuring Caribbean artists. What is band’s connection to the Islands? Our two founding members, Jacob Streefkerk (guitarist) and myself, Michael Maidwell (lead vocalist) are both from the island of St Maarten/St Martin. Jacob came to the island as a baby and I was born there. We both left after high school to pursue our dreams and explore what the rest of the world had to offer. Currently we live and play in The Netherlands.
What is Orange Grove about? What drives you? What do you feel is your calling as a band? We are here to create music that our fans enjoy throughout their lifetimes. We just want to add to their life experience by providing them with more songs that speak to them. We see and feel what joy music brings to people and that brings us great pleasure, knowing that our creations are impacting people’s lives in a positive way. Along the way we’d like to just keep enjoying the good times that come from doing what we do.
How often and where do u Your favorite island guys visit the Caribbean? in the Caribbean We tour a lot in the Dutch Caribbe- is...... and why? an. We’ve done quite a few shows on St Maarten/St Martin, Curacao and Aruba … we’ve also played before on Anguilla, Barbados, Antigua, Statia and Bonaire. This summer we have shows coming up in St Martin on June 14th for the St Martin Billfish Tournament, Curacao, Zanzibar on June 22nd and a few other islands are being added as well.
St Maarten/St Martin...it’s my home and where my whole family lives, so that should say enough already. I’ve been to many islands in the Caribbean though and they each have something different to offer. Of course every island has its drawbacks just as St Maarten does, but I will keep looking forward to coming back to my island. As long as I’m not living there, I will always leave with a heavy heart.
What do u like about both places (Europe, The Caribbean) when it comes What are your most to the music business. exciting latest projects I like the wild wild west style of setting as a band? things up on the islands. We can just pop into the radio stations on very short notice, sometimes without any notice at all. We can shoot video clips on the islands and get per mits very quickly. Aside from doing all that, we can be jumping in and out of the lovely Caribbean Sea and/or Atlantic Ocean!
At the moment we are busy in the Basement studio again with Bas van Wageningen who recently produced our songs ‘Ready For It’ and ‘When I Return’. Actually, at this very moment, I am sitting in the Basement asJacob and Tim are record
bassculture islands ing their guitar tracks. We are very excited about what is going on in here and we can’t wait to share it with all of our fans! Also happening right now, our song ‘Ready For It’ was remixed by Bob Sinclar and is being released in a bunch of different countries in Europe at the moment.
You mentioned the Bob Sinclar remix. Tell us more about the song and how it came to be that Bob Sinclar remixed it? We wrote the song a little over a year ago and quickly decided to go into a very good studio to record it. We chose to record it at The Basement studio in The Hague, with Bas van Wageningen co-producing it together with us. It turned out to be a very good decision. A few weeks after, we were on our way to the island of St Maarten to perform at the 2013 St Maarten Heineken Regatta. We got a great tip to contact one of Sinclar’s friends while we were there to see if he’d be interested in doing collaboration or remix of some kind. I contacted Thierry, gave him our new song ‘Ready For It’ because we all thought this would be a wicked track for somebody like Sinclar to remix. A couple weeks later, on April 1st of all days, we received an email from Sinclar himself telling us that he loved the song and would like to work on it! At the moment the song has been released in a couple countries (Italy and Greece) and many more are to follow in the months leading up to the summer.
The biggest dream to still become a reality..? In the future we’d like to have our band based in the Caribbean with our own studio near the beach with a few mango and banana trees in the garden, but that’s fast-forwarding a few years. Whatever comes first though, that or the Grammy awards is all fine by us.
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‘I like the wild wild west style of setting things up on the islands.’ ORANGE GROVE
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Photographer: Kerron Riley
Location: Trinidad & Tobago
www. bassculture islands .com