BLAIRE March 2015

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FEBRUARY 2014

EMILY EATON EDITOR SARAH LONG CREATIVE DIRECTOR MONICA JANKOWSKI MUSIC DIRECTOR EDITORIAL CONTRUBITIONS: NICHOLAS IVANOVIC LIFE MITCHELL PASCOE SPORT TORY PRICE FASHION TOM BENSLEY LIFE MIA FRANCISCO LIFE SPENCER HADLOW LIFE YEN LI WONG LIFE BRADLEY COWAN MUSIC ZOE BRADLEY MUSIC FEATURING: MITCH GOBEL/MGRA, IVAN OOZE, EGO, THE SIMPLE ONES, DALE BIGENI, STEPHAN ORDONEZ FASHION SPONSORED BY OZ APPAREL ENQUIRIES / SUBMISSION / ADVERTISING: SARAH@BLAIREMAGAZINE.COM ABN: 62359130068 WWW.BLAIREMAGAZINE.COM

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WE’VE GOT THIS FRESH LITTLE UNIT MAKING TRACKS IN OUR LIMITED EDITION BLAIRE MAGAZINE T-SHIRTS. WANT TO GET YOUR HANDS AROUND ONE TOO? PRE-ORDER AVAILABLE SOON. WWW.BLAIREMAGAZINE.COM 4

CONTENTS

6.

FEELIN’ SPECIAL

8.

MITCH GOBEL RESIN ART

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IVAN OOZE

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MUSIC REVIEWS

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EGO

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DOES IT FEEL GOOD TO BE A TERRORIST?

30. HUNTED 34.

PHOTOGRAPHY / STEPHAN ORDONEZ

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TERRORISM AND MEDIA

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FASHION / THE SIMPLE ONES

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ART / DALE BIGENI

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ALCOHOL + SPORT = VIOLENCE

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CHEEKY CHAPTERS / FIFTY SHADES OF THE BIG O

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FEELIN’ SPECIAL Doctors want to prescribe an infamous rave-party drug to depression suffers.

Tripping complete fucking balls was a major part of the 90s raver lifestyle.

Well, that and glow sticks. If you didn’t have some sort of ‘out-of-body’ experience during the night, then what were you doing here? Lets say you wanted to transverse into said ball-tripped dimension, how would one go about it? By getting your hands on some Special-K! I should probably point out that this Special-K couldn’t be found in your local supermarket; it’s locked up in the medicine cabinet at your local vet, because it’s used on dogs and horses as an anaesthetic.

So why bring this up now? For some readers, there’s a chance their parents were cooked out on this very drug during their heyday. I’m bringing it up now because Special-K is back in style and will be possibly prescribed by your favourite pill pusher; your local doctor. So pull out your parachute pants and Nirvana records because its 1993 again.

You heard right, not drug dealers but fully-fledged doctors are considering prescribing Special-K. A recent development has emerged that the drug (ketamine) can instantly cure depression in mere hours compared to regular antidepressants, which take months or weeks to work. Which is interesting, considering the drug was placed on the controlled substances list in 1999.

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Before being placed on the controlled substances list, Special-K was popular party drug that mirrored the effects of PCP or ‘angel dust’; you would enter a lucid dream-like state where you would lose control over your entire body and be lost in the flashing strobe lights. To imagine what it’s like, I’d recommend watching the episode of ‘The Simpsons’ where Lisa drinks the water at Duff gardens and proclaims ‘I AM THE LIZARD QUEEN!’ It made it almost impossible to distinguish reality from fantasy. It could be snorted, injected into your muscles or added to your drink or joint. It could even be combined with ‘pingers’ (ecstasy) to extend the trip.

Something isn’t right with this picture though; prescribing a former partydrug to people with a proven mental disorder surely isn’t curing it. As a former depression suffer myself, I understand 110% about wanting to feel something, to feel anything, after a long period of feeling nothing. You do feel impatient, but this seems to be jumping the gun just a bit, don’t you think? Are suffers actually cured or is their pain just alleviated in a temporary stated of drug-fuelled abyss?

It’s a tricky thing to diagnose too as it’s a very subjective disease.

Depending on how you word it, some

(prick) doctors will tell you to snap out of it and go for a walk while others will happily write you up a dosage like it’s a pack of gum. Getting the stuff easily would certainly save the time for the people who break into animal shelters and ransack the stuff. But that’s an entirely different story.

What about the after-effects of the drug? There is quite a list: increased heart rate and blood pressure, vomiting, numbness, increased depression, amnesia, hallucinations and potentially fatal respiratory problems. It’s no secret that ketamine users can also develop cravings for the drug like crack cocaine. To top that all off, its still one of the main ingredients in the infamous ‘date rape’ drug that is still dropped into unsuspecting ladies’ drinks today.

Let me say this again, doctors are considering prescribing this stuff!

Researchers are in the process of finding ways to reduce the side-effects, but I think health professionals really need to focus their attention elsewhere. Depression is something that cannot be cured overnight. It seems both doctors and patients are becoming impatient to find a quick solution. When you’re first diagnosed, it’s a matter of trial and error in finding what medication agrees with your body and what doesn’t. When one form

of medication doesn’t work on you after a month or so, you move on to another one. It can be a harrowing experience. But we want things now; we want things to happen sooner; we no longer want to wait.

Ultimately, depression often requires a two-pronged approach; treating depression is a combination of medication and therapy. A warped life perspective is one of the main symptoms, so a lifestyle change is often needed to resolve these issues or a system put in place where a mental health professional works with the person to help create a new frame of mind.

It’s great that society is increasingly acknowledging depression as a real mental disorder, but there needs to be a realisation that while taking Special-K might make you feel something, it won’t cure the problems you have; just prolong it; exactly like a junkie.

Nicholas Ivanovic

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MITCH GOBEL RESIN ART MItch is the up-and-coming, earth-shaking inspiration who is capturing our hearts by changing the world. His fascinating resin art is sold to raise profits and awareness for wildlife charities. Mitch has an amazing dream and is inspiring others with his conservation efforts.

Mitch, thanks for taking the time in chatting with Blaire Magazine. We think you’re seriously rad for giving a shit about the environment and totally support your idea of raising awareness! Gen-Y are now becoming the leading generation and we need to start making a difference in this world, rather than being sucked into this saturated society of materialistic rubbish.

CAN YOU PLEASE BEGIN WITH GIVING US A CHARACTER DESCRIPTION OF WHO YOU ARE? Firstly, thank you and I couldn’t support your statement against being sucked into the saturated society of materialistic rubbish more! I can’t stand that mentality, there’s so much more to life than what people see on TV or hear on commercial radio… I’m a realist, I’m not ashamed or embarrassed to promote what I’m passionate about through my art and I think that’s why it’s been so successful.

WHAT HAVE YOUR LAST 24 HOURS CONSISTED OF? (WE DIG DETAIL.) Haha okay well, right now it’s 10:30pm so this time last night I was working, I usually work late doing write ups for artworks getting back to emails etc. Today I started a new commission piece that I’ve been building the frame for, for the past few days and I’m pretty stoked with how that’s turned out so far.

This evening my manager Alex and I had a meeting to finalize an artwork giveaway/competition that we’re about to launch with a boho-style jewellery/ accessories company called Arrow Divine. When you can call going out for Japanese and a few drinks with a company like Arrow a business meeting, it feels like we’re doing something right.

CAN YOU PLEASE TELL US ABOUT THE MGRA CONSERVATION THAT YOU HAVE FOUNDED? WHERE DID THIS STEM? WHY DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD? I’m glad you asked, in the last few days MGRA Wildlife and Habitat Conservation was finally registered! At the moment our focus is on supporting other conservation charities. Being able to support charities like the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors and Sea Shepherd is something I’m really passionate and proud about doing. In doing so, we build an audience for my art, which builds an audience for what we want to do with our own direct conservation efforts. We want to help protect an area of temperate and alpine rainforest in East Gippsland, called Goongerah. I took a trip out to Goongerah in the middle of winter, camping last year. I was there alone for four days filming. I

took my car (which is the furthest thing from a 4WD you coud find) up some pretty sketchy, snow-covered dirt tracks, slept in a tent in temperatures of -4 degrees and long story short, I was bitten by a wombat but I completely fell in love with the place. It’s insane, completely wild and humans haven’t touched some parts in a long time. As far as I’ve seen, Goongerah is the very essence of the word wilderness and I want it to stay that way. Again, long story short Goongerah is and has been under threat from commercial logging companies for the past few decades and words cannot express how against that I am…

You really need to see it to appreciate the environment. Some of the trees and eco systems there are more than 600 years old.

WHO/WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATION TO MOTIVATE YOUR VISION? Steve Irwin. Specifically hearing stories of him and how he acted behind the cameras. He created the person he needed to be in front of the world to put himself in a position through which, he could fulfill what he was passionate about, becoming a celebrity gave him a voice and I know he wasn’t in it for the fame. He had a genuine passion for conservation and that idea is part of what motivates me.

I appreciate my art more than anything because it gives me a platform to make a difference in a way, which without it, would have been difficult. When I was a kid I wanted to be a Zookeeper but I hated school and without a proper education, creating a living for myself in that industry was going to be hard. It’s awesome that I can now combine the two things that I love, into one career or lifestyle. I love what I do. I grew up on a farm and my whole life animals have surrounded me, which is why I’m so passionate about conservation. I don’t want to live in a world where I can’t enjoy nature and animals.

YOU SEEM VERY BUSY AT AUSTRALIA ZOO AT THE MOMENT. CAN YOU PLEASE TELL BLAIRE’S READERS WHAT YOU’VE BEEN UP TO? Yeah, my team and I have been pretty busy with Australia Zoo. In mid February we spent a few days there, promoting the media release for the $25,000 donation. To announce the donation I created an artwork, which we also donated to the zoo, to be auctioned off later this year. In the design I incorporated some of the zoo’s animals, a Koala and a Sulpher-Crested Cockatoo by putting paint on their feet (non toxic) and having them walk across the piece. We had a bunch of local and national media companies such as Channel 7 and The Daily Mail rock up to the event, which to be honest was pretty nerve racking. Last year MGRA created a short film about the vision project but nothing was filmed live. Believe me when I say that at 9am with a cockatoo in one hand, a koala in the other and seven big shiny cameras in your face, it’s a little stressful… on top of that, I am not a morning person.

YOU’VE BEEN SUPPORTING SOME AMAZING CHARITIES LATELY (WILDLIFE WARRIORS, SEA SHEPPARD) BY SELLING YOUR PAINTINGS AND DONATING THE MONEY TO THEM. WOULD YOU CONSIDER LAUNCHING YOUR OWN CHARITY SEPARATE TO YOUR CONSERVATION? As I mentioned we just have! But the amount of support we’re giving to these organizations is putting a strong financial strain on MGRA. In saying that, we are fast getting on track. I’ve got my next exhibition launching on April 18 in Melbourne and we’re hoping within the next 18-24 months that we can buy our first block of land in Goongerah or East Gippsland and start regenerating, or alternatively put some money into creating a documentary of those forests to show people just how special they are. Awareness is the key. Until people know what’s happening and what’s at stake, it will continue to be destroyed.

WHAT IS ONE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE THAT’S REALLY PISSING YOU OFF AT THE MOMENT? Logging is up there, as is the decline of the Great Barrier Reef, but in relation to how angry a post can make me in a short period of time or instantly and 10

that hands-down goes to Kendall Jones. She’s a self-absorbed, wrongly educated, Barbie-doll-type hunter from the states who’s made a name for her self through poaching some of the worlds most endangered and beautiful animals.

She did a Facebook post a while ago posing proudly with a leopard, which she had just shot and killed. As a result of not just that post but also a build up of exposure to these horrific stories and images mainly through social media, I’ve recently been researching anti-poaching efforts and I’m currently trying to find the most influential anti-poaching group to support through my art. That’s definitely going to be MGRA’s next big conservation endeavor.

WHICH COUNTRY IS NEXT ON YOUR LIST, TO HELP AID THEIR ENVIRONMENT? Africa. In my mind the heart of poaching lies there and although most of it is seen as third world environment, there’s a huge westernized influence there, which I think is partly a result of anti-poaching and other conservation efforts.

I feel like support and organisation in Africa will be hugely appreciated and would go a long way.

YOU’RE PUMPING OUT A LOT OF ART TO PURSUE YOUR VISION. DO YOU FIND IT HARD BEING CREATIVE UNDER PRESSURE? Yes. The pressure of my last exhibition had me in the studio for 18 hours a day.

Although I’m happy with the finished artwork and most have sold, it wasn’t as enjoyable as it usually is for me. But without that work I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in and pushing myself that hard was a really valuable experience for me, It’s taught me a lot about myself.

DO YOU GROW AN ATTACHMENT TO ANY OF YOUR PIECES? IF SO, HAVE YOU STASHED A FEW THAT YOU WERE MEANT TO SELL? Yeah I do actually, I definitely miss a lot of my art. A huge amount of work goes into each piece. I build them completely from scratch, from selecting the materials and building the frame to hanging the finished piece is usually a 9-10 day process and I do grow an attachment to my work, some pieces more than others. I still can’t afford not to sell my art though. If I can sell them and make a difference, that’s the key.

WHAT GETS YOU IN THE ZONE TO HELP YOUR CREATIVE JUICES FLOW? Music and coffee! There’s a producer from the states, Pretty Lights. It’s hard for me to call but he’s probably one of my favorite artists of all time and his music is a massive influence on my work. I named my unique, world first effect (which I’ve developed over the two years), after him and I’m proud to say he’s actually acknowledged my work and our conservation efforts a couple of times now, through his Instagram page. It’s a pretty cool feeling knowing that he’s a fan of my work!

YOU’VE TEAMED UP WITH THE BABE MIMI ELASHIRY; SHE’S VERY INFLUENTIAL AMONGST WOMEN AND MEN OF THE INSTAGRAM WORLD. I COMMEND YOUR CREW FOR TEEING UP SOMEONE WHO COMPLEMENTS YOUR VISION. WHAT IS SHE LIKE TO WORK WITH? Yeah the collaboration with Mimi had been a long time in the making. Mimi’s passionate about environmental conservation too and she’s a big fan of my work. Needless to say working with her has been pretty cool, she’s down-toearth and has worked hard to get into the position that she’s in, and I’ve got nothing but love for that girl. Her promotion of my work and our conservation efforts with Sea Shepherd has been the single biggest advancement in MGRA since I started my art. The day that Mimi posted about MGRA on her Instagram, our fan base grew by 45% in 24 hours! A fan base that we had been building for a year, almost doubled in one day. It was pretty insane.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO SOMEONE WHO HAS A VISION, BUT IS YET TO PURSUE IT?

I don’t know anyone who’s achieved something great by staying comfortable.

For me personally, without having so much at stake in doing what I did, quitting my job and then erasing the person who I had created through my own insecurities in order to be my true self, without that I wouldn’t have wanted it to succeed so bad. I put myself into a position where failing was not an option in my mind. In saying that, I did it sensibly and I practiced my art alongside my full-time occupation, managing a wholesale plant nursery for 18 months before I went ‘all-in’. If it failed, I could’ve bounced back eventually, I would’ve been okay but mentally that wasn’t an option for me, it was and still is everything or nothing. Without taking a risk, I wouldn’t be here.

Whenever I was going through a rough patch leading up to the exhibition (and that was the most stressful period of time in my life) I would say to myself, ‘How bad do you want this?’ It might sound cliché to say that, but that action or mentality rather, was a huge influence on where MGRA is now.

IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE INFLICTED PAIN OR SUFFERING ON OUR WILDLIFE? When you let your emotions control you, you make mistakes or at least I do.

I’ve learnt that the hard way. With questions like this, I think it’s ignorant to not try and appreciate both sides of the story and I’d have to look at situations individually. Unless someone gets off on killing animals then I think education is key.

For example, old mate, Kendall Jones. As much as what she does infuriates me, I can appreciate that she’s been brought up in an environment where hunting or poaching is not only endorsed, but also encouraged and her mentality on what she does isn’t her fault. I honestly believe that I personally could twist her view on what she sees as conservation and I would love nothing more than to spend some time with the environmental monster that is Kendall Jones.

IF YOU HAD THE POWER TO SPEAK TO ANIMALS, OR BRING ALL WILDLIFE BACK FROM EXTINCTION, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE? Natural selection is inevitable, you can’t change the past, But I appreciate you can learn from it. I’d definitely speak to animals that would be sick!

ANY LAST WORDS FOR TONY ABBOTT? Haha, I don’t have an educated enough opinion on politics, he’s a brave dude ill give him that.

I would like to thank Blaire Magazine for this opportunity to voice my conservation efforts (and vent). I always use my art as a voice for conservation but being able to go into this much depth is awesome.

Finally if anyone wants more info on what my team and I are doing or if they want to see some more artwork, you can find all the info plus our film ‘The Vision Project’ on our website www.mitchgobelresinart.com Interview by Sarah Long

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I NEVER REALLY DECIDED THAT I WANTED TO DO MUSIC AS A CAREER. IT JUST SORT OF HAPPENED.

IVAN OOZE

You probably don’t know who Ben Townsend is. But I bet you’ve heard of Ivan Ooze – the killer performer from Melbourne who is doing great things in such a short period of time in the industry. He has already supported Cypress Hill and Ice Cube on tours and he smashed performances at both Beyond the Valley and Raggamuffin. We chatted to him about his music background and where he thinks his music will get him in the next couple of years.

OUT OF ALL THE POSSIBLE NAMES YOU COULD CHOOSE, WHY IVAN OOZE? Pretty much because it was the Power Rangers super villain and I used to watch Power Rangers all the time when I was younger. So I guess it was fitting. Most of his character traits match my traits too because I don’t know, they are like stupid traits. So I just chose it because I thought it was cool.

WHEN DID YOU DECIDE THAT MUSIC WAS WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO FOR A CAREER? I never really decided that I wanted to do music as a career. It just sort of happened. I used to do it as a hobby because I really had fun with it. But yeah, it just sort of fell on me when I released the viral video that I had uploaded to Facebook. That got me thinking that I could do this as a career. Now hopefully it all works out.

I READ SOMEWHERE THAT YOUR DAD IS ALSO A MUSICIAN? DO YOU EVER ASK HIM FOR ADVICE ON THINGS OR DOES HE VOLUNTARILY GIVE YOU HIS TIPS AND TRICKS OF THE TRADE? Yeah he played in the Wild Beaver Band and he also fronted for AC/DC and stuff like that. He played with like JJ Cale and heaps of others so that’s pretty dope. He always tries to give me tips and tricks of the trade but he’s old as hell now so he doesn’t really know. Like he knows a lot about the music industry but not a lot about where it’s at today. If I have a new song or anything though, I always show it to him and see what he thinks. It’s sort of funny though because he’s grown up on a completely different type of music to me. He listens to the songs I show him and he can’t even understand what I’m saying because I’m speaking too fast [laughs].

I TOTALLY GET IT. HE WOULDN’T BE UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA AND STUFF. He’s been trying to use Facebook but its pretty ridiculous. Every two minutes he will like come into the room and he will ask for my help. He’ll be like, ‘How do you like someone’s status?’ And I’ll be like, ‘Click the like button.’ It’s pretty hilarious.

YOU’RE FROM MELBOURNE, AND YOU JUST RECENTLY TOURED THERE FOR YOUR FIRST HEADLINING SHOWS. HOW DID THAT GO? It was great! I did the Ice Cube and Cypress Hill tour at the Forum and there was another one at the old billboard venue – 170 Russell. It was sick! The crowd reaction was awesome! I played the first headline show last month at the Shebeen and it was intense. It was so crazy. One of the craziest gigs I’ve ever played. It was fucking nuts!

WERE THERE ANY MOMENTS FROM THE TOUR, GOOD OR BAD THAT WERE REALLY MEMORABLE FOR YOU? Rolling joints with Cypress Hill was pretty memorable, ‘cause that doesn’t really happen every day [laughs]. But yeah meeting Ice Cube and jittering up like a 19

ROLLING JOINTS WITH CYPRESS HILL WAS PRETTY MEMORABLE

bitch was pretty memorable. I said I wouldn’t jitter up, but then I jittered up like a bitch anyway. That was pretty funny [laughs]. It was hilarious.

SPEAKING OF ICE CUBE AND CYPRESS HILL, WHAT DID YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THE EXPERIENCES OF TOURING WITH THOSE GUYS? Definitely a lot to do with stage presence. Their stage presence is like really phenomenal. it’s phenomenal how they work the crowd and how they break it down throughout their performance. It’s how they lead up to their next songs or their monologues. It was really interesting to see how they did that.

A lot of their stuff works and gets everybody in a zone and pretty much makes everyone into one person. Everyone just goes nuts at the same time. Its crazy!

Especially Cypress Hill. They’re one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.

YOU’VE JUST RECENTLY PLAYED BEYOND THE VALLEY, WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE FESTIVAL? Favourite moment… probably stepping onto the stage. Yeah that was definitely one of the best moments for me. It was very surreal. You sort of don’t know what you’re doing up there and so you just start doing your thing. Then the crowd reacts and just starts dancing along. They’re having a good time and you’re having a good time. It’s just crazy. But watching Allday play as well was pretty nuts. His fan base is crazy so it was pretty dope watching him live.

DOES PLAYING AT SOMETHING LIKE BEYOND THE VALLEY OR EVEN RAGGAMUFFIN IN NZ BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE, OR DOES IT PUT A LOT MORE PRESSURE ON YOU TO KEEP PRODUCING REALLY GOOD STUFF? It does both. It builds you up, but at the same time it does put pressure on you to keep making good songs. You’ll always experience all this kind of stuff and you want to keep doing it. So I guess that’s the motivation to keep writing the songs and keep putting one hundred percent into what you’re doing. It’s all about the experience and focusing on what’s been happening and you can’t really describe it. It is just a really weird experience [laughs].

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE TRACK ON THE RINGWOOD RICH EP? It’s probably ‘Terrorwin’ with Lucy Pallot on the hook. I hadn’t met Lucy before and then two, three other people bailed out on the doing the hook. One of my mates knew Lucy and was like, ‘I know a chick who could do the hook’. She was really great at singing it and it went down really well. I think its my favourite though because I spent the most time on it and it outlines what I think of the music industry and what I think about pretty much everything to do with it. So yeah, that’s my favourite track on the EP. YOU RELEASED THAT EP LAST YEAR AND YOU’RE HOPEFULLY RELEASING THE NEXT ONE SOON. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE COMING TRACKS? Well, I actually have a mixtape in the works coming out first with ten tracks on it. There’s some collabs on there with some Australian dudes and one American dude so that will be sick as. But yeah there will be ten completely different tracks on it. Everything is all just mixed. It is a complete variety of tracks.

YOU’VE HAD QUITE A LOT OF SUCCESS WITH EVERYTHING SO FAR IN A RELATIVELY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME. WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT SAYS ABOUT AUSTRALIAN RAP AND HOW IT’S RECEIVED? You’ve sort of got to judge it. Like, I got lucky. I wasn’t really looking at it in the beginning. I was focused on having fun and mucking around. But looking at Aussie rap right now, you can tell what people like and don’t like and what they want to hear. At the same time, you’ve got to stay true to yourself and to what

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you are saying. So it all depends on what kind of audience you want to go for and exactly how you want to rap. That is the most important thing.

DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION FROM OTHER AUSSIE RAPPERS OR DO YOU THINK IT’S EASIER TO FIND INSPIRATION INTERNATIONALLY? I actually don’t listen to much Aussie rap. The main Aussie rap group I was into was the Funk Lordz. I just reckon they’re hilarious. But yeah, I don’t really listen to much of it. I listen to a lot of US-based rap. That’s probably why my voice is the way it is and I sound the way I sound, it’s why I dress the way I do – its all from those sort of records.

WHO IS THE ACT/ARTIST THAT WOULD BE YOUR ULTIMATE COLLABORATION? Uh dead or alive?

LET’S GO BOTH. Dead would have to be Jimmy Hendrix. Definitely. Or maybe Bob Marley. Alive would probably be… I don’t know all the good guys are dead. [laughs]. Nah, I guess alive would probably have to be someone like Andre 3000. Someone like that. Or Childish Gambino. Or even the Gorillaz. The Gorillaz are dope.

Someone sort of funky would definitely be a cool collaboration.

WHERE IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU LOVE TO PERFORM? It would be cool to perform on Niagara Falls. Like on the falls. You would have a stage built on top of it and you’d just perform from the top. Niagara Falls are pretty dope. Or even at one of the wonders of the world. That would be pretty cool.

YOU ARE A PRETTY COOL DUDE, BUT DO YOU HAVE A MUSICAL GUILTY PLEASURE? THERE HAS TO BE ONE… I don’t know if this is really uncool but I listen to a lot of Lil Wayne. Like, a lot. I was into a lot of corny as rap from like, back in the day and there’s heaps of it.

I know ‘Lollipop’ word for word. It’s pretty shit. That’s a bad guilty pleasure. I shouldn’t have even told you that.

I SWEAR THAT INFORMATION WILL NOT BE WIDELY AVAILABLE ALL OVER THE INTERNET AFTER THIS INTERVIEW. [laughs] Thank God. WHAT DOES IVAN OOZE ‘OOZE’?

Oh, oh that could get real bad. I’ll say ‘fun’ and ‘pleasure’. Oh and a good time.

LAST SONG OR ALBUM YOU DOWNLOADED? Let me check… The Gorillaz, D-Sides.

WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’LL BE IN FIVE YEAR’S TIME? I’ll probably still be in my bungalow. Or probably somewhere worse like a gutter or something maybe [laughs]. Somewhere that is terrible. You’ll be able to find me there because I am terrible at saving my money.

WELL WE HOPE NOT. LAST QUESTION FOR US, THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE IVAN OOZE? Super. Awesome. Cool. I thought about it long and hard. It was a tough decision to just pick three.

Monica Jankowski

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MUSIC REVIEWS / BRADLEY COWAN

RAE SREMMUND / SREMMLIFE The first question I asked after listening to Sremmlife for the first time was: Has Soulja Boy revamped his image and released this record under a different name? But after forcing myself to go through the album one more time the music grew on me. I realised that unlike Soulja Boy, Rae Sremmund’s music has a little more complexity and this album proves this brother duo is more than a one hit wonder. The stand out track from the album, ‘No Flex Zone’, will transform even the richest white girl into a krumping, ghetto master on the dance floor. Although I have no idea what the hell a ‘Flex Zone’ is, I haven’t been able to stop myself from singing about it for the past week.

If you are a fan of hip-hop music then you need to add Sremmlife to your Pandora playlist. If you’re not a fan then this could be that album that will forever change your taste in music.

HOZIER / HOZIER Irish musician Hozier has done nothing but nail it with the release of his debut, self-titled album.

‘Take Me To Church’ has been cleverly written, to gain praise from about anyone that has ever liked music in any form. Hipsters announce they heard it before the radio got its hands on it, and mothers think it’s a beautiful ballad promoting Christianity.

Even gay people can’t stop raving about ‘Take Me To Church’ due to the homoerotic segments of the black and white in the artsy-style video. There is more to this album than just the soon-to-be-overplayed radio hit. Hozier proves why he was a good choice for The Byron Bay Blues Festival with ‘Jackie And Wilson,’ another foottapping track played along to a pop-style bluesy beat.

Hate it or love it, there is simply no denying Hozier’s talent as a musician, he is just different enough to make an impact on the world of music in 2015.

DORSAL FINS / MIND RENOVATION Melbourne ten-piece Dorsal Fins have combined their musical talents to release the debut album Mind Renovation. Imagine putting the best bits of the Australian underground music scene into a blender, giving it a few pulses and then pouring it through a funnel deep into your eardrums – that would be the most dramatic way to describe this very special release. The huge team behind Dorsal Fins includes members of bands such as Eagle and the Worm, Saskwatch, The Bamboos and New Gods.

The lead single, ‘Mind Renovation,’ holds a catchy yet minimalistic styled tune which must have been a difficult thing to achieve considering the hordes of musicians involved in creating and performing on the track. If you love yourself some ripper Aussie tunes and can’t decide who to put on when throwing ya shrimp on the barbie, then we recommend Dorsal Fins.

MEGAN TRAINOR / TITLE The young Megan Trainor only made her way into the public eye last year and has already gone to number one in 58 countries with her catchy bubble-gumflavoured hit ‘All About That Bass.’ Her debut release, Title, Is filled with hits of a similar calibre. They’re upbeat, wholesome, and lack any form of edginess.

In fact with her squeakyclean image she could be in the running to knock Taylor Swift off her perch as America’s current sweetheart. Unfortunately for this Nashville-based pop star, listeners have realised that whilst her first single may have been the catchiest thing to come out of 2014, the rest of the album is not so hot. The songs within Title are all so similar that her fans have quickly become bored and have gone back to listening to One Direction. Megan Trainor’s Title is a perfect example of ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ and in less than six months this star will be nothing but a dull smudge in the pits of the music industry. Soz girl.

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EGO 24

EVERYTHING IS A BIT O SHOW, BUT IT’S

OF A MESS IN THE S ALLOWED TO BE

Ego is a new breed of musical explorer – he combines DJ skills with bespoke audio visual experiences to bring you the wackiest music. His latest, ‘Flips And Flops, Drips and Drops’ combines his love of piecing together musical clips with a visual trip that perfectly brings you on a journey through his dreamy landscape. We caught up with him to see where the inspiration comes from and what we can look forward to from him in the future.

SO YOU’VE JUST CREATED AN AMAZING NEW VIDEO FOR YOUR EDIT OF ELECTRIC MANTIS’ ‘FLIPS AND FLOPS, DRIPS AND DROPS’, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE CONCEPT? That’s part of a wider show. Basically I narrowed down the theme of the show where I wanted it to be about dreams and dreaming and imagination and so then I think through of all the samples I can think of to do with that.

Where The Wild Things Are is just one of those stories in books and tales that really exemplifies that and I wanted to do something with it. And so I started collecting samples and I found that Alt-J acapella of Where The Wild Things Are and the book and just tried to work out how to meld that together. I found that ‘Flips and Flops’ beat which had the energy and the right kind of vibe.

Generally it’s just messing around in the studio and I try to put them together in some sort of coherent fashion. So that’s what came out and that fits in with the mixtape and the new show really well. So yeah I’m happy with it.

YEAH IT’S AMAZING! AND THE VIDEO IS PRETTY TRIPPY. Yeah I guess that’s my style is to try and have a lot of repetition and visual looping and things like that on screen.

WAS THERE ANY REASON THAT YOU CHOSE DREAMS AS A THEME? I guess because it fits really well with my style in terms of things being trippy and I feel like that’s the best vehicle for it to make sense to people. I think that every psychedelic or surrealist artist uses dreams as a vehicle because that’s where they get their inspiration from. The last mixtape I did was all based around a trip and going on a journey and so this one was more about what happens inside the mind.

SO YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT THEN. Exactly. That’s the thing I find it hard to stick to a real tangible and narrative idea where things flow from A to Z, it’s kind of like everything is a bit of a mess in the show, but it’s allowed to be, it can twist and turn and not shake people off.

YOU’RE ON TOUR AT THE MOMENT, HOW’S THAT GOING? Yeah so I’m halfway through at the moment and will be in Melbourne on February 6, so that’s towards the end of the tour. The show’s been going well and everything is based around that idea of dreaming.

YOU’VE DONE SHOWS IN QUITE A NUMBER OF ALTERNATIVE VENUES LIKE AN ART GALLERY, IS THERE ANYWHERE THAT YOU’D LOVE TO PUT ON A SHOW AND THAT YOU THINK WOULD WORK REALLY WELL WITH YOUR STYLE? I don’t know, I guess when I rock up and see a festival and see projections on the Opera House [Vivid Festival in Sydney] I think to project onto a world icon would be pretty rad. Other than that I love intimate cool shows, so like art galleries or maybe a dish in a movie theatre or something cool like that. I like the idea that that visuals create the atmosphere so you don’t need to be in a conventional space. You can be anywhere and the visuals create the space around you and that’s what I’m working toward. Hopefully later this year I’ll do shows that are in really unconventional spaces but are still in the same format of DJ and visuals and bringing them to life and creating the party vibe.

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HOW DID YOU ORIGINALLY GET INTO THE AUDIO VISUAL/DJ GIG? I started as a DJ first doing a little bit of video production at the time for a record label and I’d dabbled a little bit in it in the past so it was quite an easy step to start thinking about visuals. I had a friend show me the video-DJing tools and process and I jumped in with him on a night in Melbourne where I was living at the time. And we did a film clip night where we downloaded film clips and played it in a DJ set. And then that became a lot easier and I got my head around that and I started to imagine what I might want to do with these tools so that’s where I’m at now. The point where I’m creating all the visuals for my own show. So it was a bit of a long path to get here from where I started which was just downloading film clips and playing at the end of a bar to playing in art galleries, so it was kind of a weird, twisted path. I never saw myself as a visual artist, I was always a DJ and audio artist and that flipped somewhere back there.

SO DO YOU PREFER THE VISUAL ELEMENT NOW? I feel like somewhere back there I stopped having these audio ideas and started having these visual ideas. And that’s quite weird. I set a task to make my visuals what I wanted them to be and by doing that I started to imagine a lot more visually and something in my head stopped thinking of sounds and songs and mixes. So I do feel that I’m a lot more visually inclined now than audio inclined. And I’ve heard a lot of people say kind of the same thing. As soon as they’ve changed mediums they stop having these ideas about the old mediums. You’d like to think of artistic inspiration of coming from the middle of nowhere, it just comes in the middle of the night. But you obviously steer that. So by me saying I want to work really hard on visuals, I started being really inspired visually and having more visual ideas than audio ideas.

YOU’VE COLLABORATED WITH QUITE A FEW HIGH PROFILE PEOPLE LIKE THE PRESETS AND LANA DEL REY, HOW DID THEY COME ABOUT? Often I’ll create something for my show and then I’ll send it on to the artist or the label and tell them I’ve done this, and do what you want, or rework it. Other times people see my work and ask if I can work on their new campaign. And other times a third party will get involved and make it all happen which is super handy as well. So it happens every which way.

IS THERE ANYONE RIGHT NOW THAT YOU REALLY WANT TO COLLABORATE WITH? I don’t know, I change all the time. I’d love to pick one current Australian producer and build a show in conjunction with them, you know to actually piece together something in collaboration. At the moment I tend to make things quite isolated. To start from scratch with someone and say hey let’s create a show and they create the music and I’ll create the visual, that would excite me. I don’t know who that would be with.

DO YOU THINK YOU’LL HAVE A LOT MORE TIME ON THAT AFTER YOUR TOUR? Yeah absolutely, I’ll just need to find that balance where I’m working on other people’s stuff and playing around with my old ideas with no real deadline attached to them. That’s the delicate balance.

IS THERE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR YOU WANT TO DO NEXT? I love switching up and changing around. I want to do some more stuff relevant to an arts audience and more gallery things like that. And more collaboration ideas. I’d also love to do some projects where I can just focus on one idea that’s served up to me or I come up with. So something super specific. Something that really tests your imagination.

AND FINALLY, IT HAS TO BE ASKED… DO YOU HAVE A BIG EGO? Some might say yeah, an ex-girlfriend maybe [laughs]. I don’t think so, I haven’t been told. A lot of stage managers have commented on how humble I am with that name, but they don’t really know me [laughs].

Zoe Bradley

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I NEVER SAW MYSELF AS A VISUAL ARTIST, I WAS ALWAYS A DJ AND AUDIO ARTIST AND THAT FLIPPED SOMEWHERE BACK THERE

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DOES IT FEEL GOOD TO BE A TERRORIST? Australian Jihadists have been accused of enslaving Australian women in an Islamic State stronghold. Why are Australians still attracted to converting to IS?

You’ve seen the photo. If you haven’t seen it, you’ve heard about it – or maybe you saw the censored photo, showing a boy of about seven with eyes blacked out, holding up a black, human head-sized square, its indigestible brutality unsoftened by its censor. The father’s chilling caption, ‘That’s my boy!’ twists the whole sordid display until it becomes unfathomably strange. This is taken by a proud father teaching his son what he believes to be important.

You saw this, but how did you see it?

What did it mean to you?

Khaled Sharrouf’s photo and his recent behaviour – plus a slew of other devastating events – have the world stuck in a kind of speechless discussion. Everybody’s talking about ISIS and Muslim extremism and religious terrorism, be it about the Sydney siege, Charlie Hebdo or Sharrouf’s social media displays, but the brutality of the events and the breathless pace at which they continue to occur has left everybody without the words to make sense of it all. These attacks ought to make us wonder, what is the attraction to joining a group like ISIS? Early this year, Australian residents Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar kidnapped four women and held them hostage in Raqqa, the unofficial capital of ISIS. Sharrouf and 28

Elomar held them hostage, tried to force the Yazidi women to convert to Islam and forbade them from crying or even showing any sadness.

It’s strange to think that two Australian men would behave like this. Both Elomar and Sharrouf are guilty of crimes against their own country and it seems they’ve turned to ISIS to exercise whatever fury they have burning inside of them.

Sharrouf has a history of drug use and schizophrenia, but it would be unfair to blame his behaviour on his mental illness. Mohammed Elomar was a professional boxer in Australia before he moved to Syria. They have since committed themselves to spreading the word of the prophet Muhammad and Islamic State all over social media and via a series of violent, global attacks. Their behaviour is indicative of a deep anger and frustration with the rest of the world, but what is the attraction to it? What is it about the core beliefs of the religion that inspire somebody like Khaled Sharrouf to not only convert, but to force his family to follow him?

It’s important to step away from the individuals for a moment and look at the religion itself to gain some understanding. Islamic extremism is the promotion of Sharia law, which is an all-encompassing religious system of law Muslims believe is

proscribed by Allah (the Arabic term for God). Members of IS feel it is the only form of governance acceptable for human beings. This means that, to an extremist, any other kind of worship – even non-belief or indifference – is an insult to Allah and is breaking Sharia law and therefore needs to be converted or, failing that, eradicated. Muslim extremists see it as their jihad (religious duty) to instil this form of governance throughout the entire world. In a way, the recent global attacks have been a form of spreading the word, or even a sinister kind of advertising.

It needs to be said that this kind of extremism is doing more harm to Muslims than good. Non-extremist Muslims fear the reputation of their religion as becoming associated with terrorism and irrational, gang-like violence, when most Muslims would never consider behaving the way IS do. It’s not entirely clear what IS members like Elomar and Sharrouf want, but it is clear that nobody else is benefiting from it.

Still, while it may be harmful to the religion’s reputation, extremism can be appealing to the individual on a psychological level, even to the point of brainwashing. A young, impressionable Australian like Mohamed Elomar, who already has a criminal history and a potential

violent streak as a boxer, could easily be persuaded by a charismatic mentor. Mentors have the ability to appeal to a student’s frustrations and anger because the student looks up to their mentor. Elomar may have been convinced by his mentor Sheik Feiz (whom Elomar has since denounced for not promoting the religion properly) to use whatever frustrations he had towards defending the Muslim religion.

A group like ISIS also functions in similar ways to a gang. All over the world, people lacking a stable group with whom they can identify are drawn to gangs, because the gang provides them with acceptance and a sense of security in exchange for their services. Conversion can begin at any age, as is evident with Khaled Sharrouf and his sons. With a charismatic leader or mentor, a group like ISIS has dangerously seductive potential.

the name of their god. I do know that branding all Muslims terrorists spreads infectious hatred, but even solely labelling ISIS a terrorist group is still detrimental. It’s important to learn about any group (or any item of breaking news, for that matter) under different guises than the ones the media have dressed it up with.

Both the group and the individuals responsible for the attack need to be examined and questioned, but we also need to question how we choose to look at what’s happened, which was certainly the case with the Sydney siege. Who do we blame when we see something go wrong? A global event causes an equally worldwide reaction. What kind of effect is our reaction having on the damage already caused by the attack?

Tom Bensley

As you’ve probably guessed, I don’t have an answer to what attracts people to commit acts of terror in

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HUNTED Kendall Jones is causing a stir amoungst social media for hunting and killing wildlife then posting her proud moments.

These are a series of letters* between Kendall Jones aka ‘Idiot of the Year’ and myself. Enjoy…

Hi Kendall, just a friendly letter to say you are an idiot. Fondest, Mia. Um, hello, Mia. Not too sure who you are, but I’m pretty sure you know who I am. I mean, how could you not? I’m, like, practically famous. Did you hear about the ‘Hottest Hunter of 2014’ competition I created? Did you get, like, offended or something? Let me guess, are you, like, one of those bare-foot animal lovers who, like, chain themselves to trees and burn their bras and have man-hair arm-pits and get on their high-horse and preach to everyone? Horse… that’s an animal I have not killed yet. Hey, thanks for the idea. Bye now, Kendall xx Kendall, just a friendly letter to say I was wrong. You’re not an idiot; you’re a FUCKING idiot. In fact, you are nothing more than a MURDERER. Have a great day, Mia. Mia, first of all, I do not appreciate your harsh language. My mama raised me to, like, have an opinion. So, you dissing me is just mean. You do not, like, understand that what I am doing is for the greater good of all animals. If you seriously loved animals, you would know this already.

Second of all, you are seriously just a rude, mean, and probably fat, girl who just hates on me because I am happy and, like, seriously successful and following my dreams. After talking and crying with my family I feel the need to, like, explain to you and all the other haters out there who don’t appreciate me. Okay, so hunting is, like, a big deal for me. I love it. There, I said it. I. LOVE. IT. And I am not going to apologise for it. Until you, Mia, and all the crazies out there have actually shot a rhino the size of a car, you will seriously never understand the thrill and sense of purpose I get when I kill animals. And just to clarify, I am actually SAVING animals. It is called utilitarianism. Google it. And, like, this is all for conservation. I am helping African villages. I am doing good. So stop hating on me. I hope you find your purpose in life and stop trying to ruin mine. – K. Jones.

Excuse the orange stains all over my latest letter to you. I just cannot seem to stop vomiting at the thought of your ridiculous and insane words and opinions. In response to your highly intelligent comments: Yes, I do like bare feet, no I have not chained myself to a tree, no I would not burn a perfectly good Kayser Very Sexy brassiere and FYI, I shave.

For the love of life, do you not see who you truly are? Do you not feel the impending sense of malice smothering you in the darkness when you lay your bottle-blonde head down to sleep? Honestly, what the fuck did you do when you watched the Lion King as a kid? I think I am more than justified when I suspect you did not jump up and down singing Hakuna Matata like the rest of us. No, you were probably sitting on your parent’s Bear rug cheering when Mafasa died in the stampede. > 30

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I love animals. It is certainly no secret that I am a crusader for the rights of animals, big and small. So when some moron like you comes onto the scene, I get my knickers in a knot. Why? Why am I, like, seriously “hating” on you dearest Kendall? Hmmm, let me count the ways… 1) No amount of fake smiling and southern belle cuteness is going to detract away from the horrors you have inflicted on animals and the people who, like me, see you for what you really are. 2) This utilitarian shit needs to stop. It is not up to you, or any other bloody human being, as to what animals “must” be removed in order for the rest of the species to survive. There is a thing called ‘Nature taking its course.’ Google it. 3) You are a fame-whore. You want your own reality TV show. You like the fact that you cause outrage and controversy. What teenage girl posts graphic and shocking photos of dead animals all over social media? Oh that’s right, attention-seeking airheads like you.

The photo of you sitting atop a beautiful lion is burnt into my brain. The photo of you holding a bloodied leopard around its stomach makes me ill.

What part of your conscience says this is good? This is unhealthy. If you really do care about saving animals from extinction and helping local villages than here’s a wild idea: BECOME A VET! Become a VOLUNTEER in a local African school and EDUCATE them. Inform them that POACHING is bad. Shout to the skies that hunting is not a crime, but is ABUSED by those only seeking gratification, money and fame.

Whatever do I mean? Well it is no lie that people like to hunt. Hunters generally hunt pests, sometimes animals that will be dinner to a family, and every so often food and livelihood to a village. Enlighten me as to how killing a rare white rhino is actually helping the white rhino population? No matter what lies you spurt or how well you convince yourself of your so-called righteous actions, the way you smile and pose with an animal you have just slain is sickening. It is sad. If you have just taken the life of an innocent soul, ask for forgiveness, do not glorify murder. – Mia Oh my God, where do you get off? That was just, like, seriously nasty and uncalled for. I don’t even understand what you are, like, saying. Stop contacting me. Stop making me out to be an animal killer. I love animals and I love hunting.

Seriously, you are so annoying. You don’t appreciate what I am doing, so just leave me alone. When I finally get my own TV show you are going to be seriously jealous. – K. Jones.

In the somewhat modified words of a wonderful saying, ‘Back off bitch. Seriously.’ – M. B. Francisco

*All letters are written by me. Though, I am pretty certain that Kendall would have said EXACTLY all of those things. Just saying.

Mia Beverley Francisco

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STEPHAN ORDONEZ Here’s a fun fact; I dislike bare feet very much. Especially in the summer times, flip-flops are the worst inventions for people like me. My name is Stephan Ordonez, 28 years-young, born and raised in Honduras, and a proud Torontonian. From a very early age, I’ve appreciated music for its rhythm and lyrical significance, but the main aspect is symbolism. Music allows me to zone out from any given setting and to seclude myself with my thoughts.

Photography is my newly discovered talent much of which expresses what I’m about as a person. The barrier of my timidness is overcome through my lens – the gateway of my craziness.

My inspiration is a correlation of my thoughts and ideas. The theme of my work is to reveal the beautiful urban scenery of Toronto through my eyes.

Wes Borland, guitarist of Limp Bizkit, is a great inspiration for me. A man of simple character yet an artist of a masked dark personage. The darkness behind my pictures serves almost as a metaphor to my philosophy of life.

I have strong faith and believe in the ultimate good, but I am adaptive to the reality that there exists evil and to value good you need to embrace evil.

Among my ventures in the heart of Downtown Toronto, I have engaged with fellow peers in which I’ve learned useful techniques to better embrace my style. Toronto will always be the scope of my work, however within the next coming years I aim to express my art through my lens in all parts of the world. Welcome to my world.

Email: stephan.ordonez@yahoo.com Facebook: facebook.com/stephan. ordonez Instagram: tdotcam

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TERRORISM AND MEDIA The Westernisation of news.

According to The Beatles, all you need is love. I beg to differ – a person on the receiving end of handouts is pretty much in deep shit.

Being dependant on other people – irrespective of the amount of love one is receiving – is no walk in the park. The true source of power comes from money and information. There is something that can be said about learning from history. But we know that it is very easy to control what goes out to the masses. Who are the lesser people to disagree when the powers-that-be rule that something is said to be true, never mind that it’s a downright exaggeration or even a blatant lie. Much like in Westeros, whoever holds the information often holds the power. Anything less and you’re probably going to end up minus a head.

In that effect, who holds the strings where information is concerned?

Is there something wrong with the way we are receiving news today?

Journalists can bleat about integrity, honesty and independent reporting.

Still, it often so happens that we get fed the same old updates ALL THE FREAKING TIME. How is one piece of news deemed to be more important than the other? Like it or not, International or World News 40

nowadays just seems to encompass updates of the white variety; whereas other gray areas are more likely than not swept under the carpet. There are 195 countries in the world (196 if you count Taiwan) – why the heck, in our International News section, do we get snippets of the US President playing golf while on vacation? I’m not sure if this only happens during ‘slow news days’ but surely someone could have dredged up something more newsworthy to be reported that day?

To put this into perspective, let’s take a look at a few events which have occurred in the past few months around the globe. On 15 December 2014, staff members and customers at The Lindt Cafe in Sydney were held hostage by an armed man for 17 hours. Within the hour, news of the siege went viral and updates were broadcasted instantly. The area surrounding Martin Place was turned into a sea of flowers as people from all over the world came to pay their respects to the victims. Social media exploded with #illridewithyou as Australians pledged their support to Muslims who feared public persecution as an aftermath of the siege situation. Many wept and mourned as stories of how the hostages supported each other

and kept the faith throughout the ordeal streamed out onto local and international news feeds.

On 7 January 2015, 12 people (which included cartoonists, journalists and a police officer) were killed when two gunmen stormed into the offices of the satirical Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris. The two gunmen escaped and this sparked a manhunt around Paris and surrounding northern regions. On 8 January 2015, a policewoman was shot and killed just outside Paris – initial reports suggested that the two attacks were linked. On 9 January 2015, Cherif and Said Kouachi – the Charlie Hedbo gunmen – were killed in Dammartinen-Goele after a police siege. On the same day, suspected accomplice Amedy Coulibaly was shot and killed at a Jewish supermarket in eastern Paris. As a sign of solidarity, 3.7 million people marched across France on 11 January 215 – the figure includes world leaders and renowned public figures. #JeSuisCharlie and #JeSuisAhmed were shared in France and around the world, as was #VoyageAvecMoi. On 3 January 2015, Islamic extremist group Boko Haram practically annihilated the people in the town of Baga in Nigeria. While details are

still sketchy, Amnesty International estimates that as many as 2000 perished in the attacks – men, women, elderly and young children alike. Since 2009, Boko Haram has terrorised western Nigeria in their aim to establish an Islamic state within the country. The death count has risen to tens of thousands throughout the five years of Boko Haram’s reign of terror in Nigeria. Shouldn’t such massacre be more known around the world?

Apart from the #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign in April 2014 (where 300 Nigerian school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram), nothing much else has cropped up on the radar where Boko Haram is concerned.

Perhaps the best barometer of how media handles news trends around the world is captured by the interest surrounding the Ebola virus. Although the first few cases of the outbreak occurred in West Africa in April 2014, it wasn’t until October 2014 when the world started paying attention to the reality of the Ebola virus. By then, a good 3431 people had already succumbed to the virus in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. That many

deaths caused by a deadly virus should account for public interest, right? Still, it was only when a certain Thomas E. Duncan was diagnosed with Ebola and subsequently died from the virus in a Dallas hospital, did people really start worrying about the potential repercussions. Of course, the news gained further headway when two American missionaries were found to have symptoms of the virus and flown to Atlanta for treatment (where they eventually recovered).

This is not an argument that newsworthiness of an event should be parallel with the death toll or damage to properties. I believe that all four events are equally important stories that deserve to be told around the world. Rather, it is a call to news agencies to stop fucking around with what they deem to be relevant news.

People around the world should have a chance to be heard – the media industry would do well to look at what it chooses to disperse as news instead of only worrying about the bottom line.

Yen Li Wong

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FASHION / TORY PRICE

ETHICAL FASHION HAS A BAD REP FOR BEING DAGGY, BUT WE ARE TRYING TO PROVE THAT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE

What do you get when you combine two brothers, drawings of turtles that smoke and a mum who has a screen-printing hobby? The answer is simple!

Actually a more correct answer would be The Simple Ones, but this label is anything but. Matt and Jamie are the boys behind the name and I got to chat to Matt about everything simple. Matt thinks that mountain goats are awesome because they climb mountains, personally I think he’s easily impressed. What is impressive is that a small label started in mid 2014 in the garage of the family home is setting a new standard for fashion by creating a product that is sustainable and environmentally friendly.

WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST STYLISH OUT OF YOU AND JAMIE? He’d like to say him, but I think I take the cake. He looks up to me in a way. Ha ha.

WHO CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF CREATING YOUR OWN LABEL? I have always been interested in t-shirts, I have a pretty big collection myself and so does Jamie. I floated the idea to him last January and he was all for it!

It all started when mum began screen printing, and it was kind of just a logical progression for us two to start experimenting and it just grew from there.

WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR FIRST MILLION HOW MUCH ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE YOUR MUM? Probably 900K. Seriously she does so much and without her we never would have even started.

WHO DOES WHAT IN THE LABEL CREATION? Jamie is all about the business side, it is 100% his domain and then I’m looking after the designs. I still go to him with designs and he is the first one to be brutally honest and tell me if it’s shit. In terms of the production that is a team effort, or it was until he jet setted off to Sweden last week!

WHAT DO YOU GUYS DO IF YOU DISAGREE ON SOMETHING? ‘Oh fuck him!’ Nah, we generally don’t disagree too much and we have pretty similar views for the label and where it’s going. We are both really easy going and a major argument is yet to happen, but I will let you know if it does and you can mediate!

DO YOU THINK HE IS THE TYPICAL OLDER BROTHER? No not at all. Honestly we could be the same age we get along so well. It’s pretty cool to work alongside him.

YOUR WEBSITE BIO CLAIMS YOU GUYS TO BE A TWO-MAN BAND, ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A THIRD MEMBER? I CAN PLAY THE TRIANGLE! Yeah we would love it! We are always open to new members you should join.

Especially since I can’t sing and only took up the guitar to impress girls we need a bit of help!

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I LOVE THAT I CAN BE SO HANDS-ON WITH EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LABEL

IT’S PRETTY RARE THESE DAYS TO SEE BRANDS NOT ONLY DESIGNING THEIR OWN STUFF, BUT ALSO HAVING ALL OF THE PRODUCTION IN AUSTRALIA, IS IT AS TOUGH AS THE BIG BRANDS MAKE OUT? When we first started The Simple Ones we decided that the tee market was already so saturated with options and we didn’t want to be another run-of-themill import brand because it probably wouldn’t work. Both of us really thought if we are going to make it, let’s make it right. Together we sourced an organic cotton supplier here in Melbourne and found a production site in Sydney that is sweatshop free. I actually got to visit last week and it’s so great to be able to put a face to the name and see the passion that drives the production team, I love that I can be so hands-on with every aspect of our label, it makes it so much easier to deal with any fuck ups.

HOW DO YOU GET PEOPLE WHO DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT TO CARE ABOUT WHERE THEIR PRODUCT COMES FROM AND IT’S IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT? It’s really difficult and you can’t win them all, but once people feel the quality of the tees we produce and see that it lasts they come around to the idea of a $50 tee versus a $25 one. I think that ethical fashion has a bad rep for being daggy, but we are trying to prove that it doesn’t have to be.

SINCE SOCIAL MEDIA SITES LIKE INSTAGRAM HAVE EXPLODED WITH FASHION BLOGGERS AND THERE ARE MORE FAST FASHION OPTIONS THAN EVER BEFORE. PEOPLE HAVE BECOME OBSESSED WITH BEING ‘ON TREND’ AND TREAT CLOTHING LIKE IT IS DISPOSABLE, MAJORLY FUCKING THE PLANET IN THE PROCESS, WHERE DO YOU THINK THE RESPONSIBILITY LIES? Appealing to the masses is never going to get you anywhere and I can’t stand the trend of clothing being disposable. I have been guilty in the past of buying a tee and only wearing it once or twice, but creating The Simple Ones has made me so much more aware of wastage and the environmental impact of just accumulating more clothing that doesn’t last.

SUSTAINABILITY IS A BIT OF A BUZZ-WORD AT THE MOMENT, WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THE SIMPLE ONES DOES TO KEEP ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT TO A MINIMUM? We use organic cotton that is 100% pesticide free, we only use water-based paints in our printing, we have particle separators which make sure nasty chemicals get strained out, and where we do use chemicals we have chosen the minimal amount possible to still create a quality product. I think having local production is the key to sustainability, because we can implement and regulate these things, where as if we were off shore like so many other brands, we would have such limited control over those things.

SPONSORED BY OZ APPAREL OZAPPAREL.COM.AU

YOU GUYS HAVE A MAJOR FOCUS ON SIMPLICITY. IS IT BECAUSE YOU LOVED THE SHOW THE SIMPLE LIFE STARRING NICOLE RITCHIE AND PARIS HILTON? Yeah, you’ve got me! I always liked Paris she was my favourite!

SERIOUSLY THOUGH, WHY DID YOU NAME A FASHION LABEL AROUND IT? When we first decided to start designing stuff I just kept thinking keep it simple. I didn’t want the design to over shadow the tee and really wanted to make The Simple Ones a recognisable label. The name really echoes that idea.

The other day one of mum’s friends admitted to me the other day that she hated the name to start with, but it’s really grown on her so we must be onto something!

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DALE BIGENI

Hi there, my name is Dale Bigeni, I’m a 29 year-old from Sydney that loves to get high off art.

Art and my family are the two most important things in my life. I’ve been creating since a very young age and I will continue to do so until a very old age if possible. My art is highly influenced from punk rock, skateboarding and tattoos.

Most of my art is digitally finished but not restricted to just the computer. I love skulls, some will say it’s my ‘thing’.

There’s nothing boring about them ever!

My art is highly detailed. Colours don’t make an appearance often, and I like to try new techniques and styles as much as I can. I work a lot with clothing brands, bands, and even assist some tattooists with creating digital art from their traditional lines. I enjoy illustrating both traditionally and digitally, depending on my desired outcome. There is no medium that I won’t give a fair go, if given the chance.

Outside of art you can find me being a father to two precious girls and a husband to my beautiful wife. I also enjoy skateboarding, live music, the beach, and fast cars. I don’t have much time to be lazy and I’m constantly coming up with new ideas – art related and not. I’m very driven and I try to put my all into every part of my life including art.

In the near future I’ll be having my first solo art show, so please follow me on the social waves, and stay tuned to this space for updates. I’m also for hire for all illustrative and design jobs you might be interested in. Thanks for hanging out! www.dalebigeni.com

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Instagram: artbydale

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email: dalebigeni@gmail.com

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ALCOHOL + SPORT = VIOLENCE Having a beer at the cricket or footy is standard practice in Australia. The fights that break out between supporters is often fuelled by alcohol. What effect is this having on our kids? Is this teaching them that drinking and violence are okay in public situations?

My father drinks beer and it hasn’t resulted in me jumping anybody in the street. There’s a headline for a newspaper which won’t have them leaping off the shelves. Far too often, it is the common man, the silent majority, who is forced to watch news bulletin after news bulletin about how out of control Australia’s alcohol problem is. With almost an exhausted sigh, the government seems resigned to the fact that there is no changing the current generation.

Their emphasis is instead placed on the next lot of children who are nearing the age of their first alcoholic temptation.

Melbourne is world famous for its strong sporting culture, and for as long as man has known how to kick a ball, there’s been another bloke with a stubby watching on. The Australian cricket team no longer takes to the field with a beer sponsorship emblazoned on their uniform, which in turn makes its way onto the replica worn by children. Attendances at these events are rising, as is our population, and thus, so has the amount of ‘alcohol-fueled’ attacks.

This is crap. Statistics are not the truth bearers that they are heralded to be. A rising amount of supporters will equate to more people who 52

potentially dislike each other. More attendees is a positively logical reason for more kegs of beer being sold. After reading a report on how rising violence at sporting events is a result of a higher alcohol intake, I am further convinced that this author has never attended a cricket match. Do you realize how much it would cost to get drunk at any MCG function?

At over seven dollars for a plastic cup of medium-strength beer, you would need a loan to get drunk enough to knock someone out.

Which brings me to my next point, which ingredient in alcohol is being blamed as the ‘rage drug’? From my experience, alcohol often makes the event more enjoyable. I am not about to endorse the use of foul language around children, but if you are taking your kid to an AFL game and expect them not to hear an F-bomb or two, you’re following the wrong code.

Most calls are quite humorous, and are even well received by the opposition supporters who are also there, having a good time. I would be much more concerned about the sober sore loser behind you, whose weekend hinges on the result of this game. He’s the one who might not take too kindly to his star forward being called a gutless wonder.

The AFL and cricket are notorious for the alcohol-related culture they bring to the grandstands, and yet the soccer is where we are experiencing most of our violence. Police are constantly on the lookout for flares, keeping rival supporters apart and even closing streets as they make primitive pilgrimages to their stadium of choice. Majority of these people are sober, so in turn does this mean these people aren’t drunk enough?

After 90 minutes of scoreless sport, I’d be reaching for something stronger than water.

Instead of teaching our children about legal drinking limits, and how to monitor your alcohol intake, teach them how to socialize and function in society. Our problems spawn from an incredibly loud and arrogant minority who are yet to learn the concept of losing a game. Clubs struggle to maintain success, so periods where celebrating becomes seldom are quite common in sport. Instead of letting your child throw a tantrum, or walk away when it gets too tough, explain why it’s happening. Teach them how to deal with any feelings of anger or frustration they might be feeling. Be a parent.

Alcohol is not the reason why people punch each other. It can be the

catalyst from transforming a thought in someone’s head into reality, but ultimately, that’s the person they are deep down. It is perhaps the bluntest version of truth serum we have at our disposal. If a man wants to hit another guy, he’s more likely to do it under the influence, this is true. So how about we actually punish these people, instead of the slap on the wrist they are currently receiving?

Your punishment is currently deemed by the angle at which the victim falls at, and what they strike their head on during the descent. A lottery system would be more accurate.

Our sporting arenas already employ people in charge of monitoring patrons’ alcohol intake, and refusing service to those who have had enough. The next step involves prohibition type enforcements, which would be taking a giant leap backwards. As a human race we are proud to claim we are the pinnacle of evolution. If that is true, I think our peak was the better part of a decade ago. Do-gooders will ruin this country.

Mitchell Pascoe

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CHEEKY CHAPTERS / SARAH LONG

FIFTY SHADES OF THE BIG O Because women desire pleasurable attention in the bedroom.

As she demanded to know his dirty little secret, he grabbed her hand and escorted her upstairs. They approached a door at the end of the hallway. He reached into his pocket to take out the key and hesitated. He gazed into her eyes and questioned whether she wanted to continue with his devilish tour. She begged for him to just open it, anticipating the worst.

He unlocked the door and it swung open. She strolled in. Her eyes fell out and onto the floor. The room was ridden with red, red silk, red walls and red lights. While she was busy trying to regain herself, she placed her hand on a hard rod. It was bound with leather that had straps running off the end.

‘It’s called a flogger,’ he claimed. She peered up at him and continued to walk around the room in awe of what she was witnessing.

‘Say something.’ He firmly suggested.

She didn’t know what to say.

Hanging cuffs fell off the wall. Chains connected to all four corners of the bed. There were rails of spikes, balls, leather whips and these costumes that she couldn’t even fathom why there were holes, where holes shouldn’t be.

‘Do you do this to women, or do women do this to you?’ She questioned.

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‘I do this to women. Women who want it.’ He answered.

She couldn’t quite understand his fetish. She stared blankly into his eyes.

‘But why would you inflict this pain on women? What do they get in return?’

She asked.

‘Me.’ He responded with a smirk. He then continued to explain that she would play the role of a submissive, while he was the dominant.

He pulled a gag ball off the wall and began swinging it around, before questioning whether she wanted to taste test the idea of his fantasy world. She was extremely reluctant.

The idea of being tied up, whipped on the butt cheeks and blindfold didn’t sound like the mix bag of fun that she was generally up for. But as he began to gently kiss down her neck, he whispered that he would make it as gentle and pleasurable as possible. She was weak at the knees.

While kissing her, he placed his hand down south and began massaging her through her jeans. As she groaned for more, he stopped. He demanded that she take her clothes off and leave nothing on, but her underpants. He directed her over to a corner of the room and waited until she had done what she was told.

She walked over to that corner and stripped down. She had a cheeky little smile of excitement on her face, but also was intimidated by the idea of him having full control of her, especially in her most vulnerable environment.

He walked over to her, stood in front of her and said, ‘are you ready?’

‘No, I don’t think I ever will be.’ She responded.

He reassured her that everything would be okay and began to caress her smooth, perky breasts while kissing her mouth, softly. He then guided her over to his bed. He made her lay down on her back. Before anything, he stripped down naked – he then straddled her, grinding his hard dick up against her pelvic bone. She reached out to bring his body closer into hers, when he firmly grasped her wrists and threw them behind her head.

‘Don’t. Leave them there.’ He demanded.

He then grabbed a blindfold from the side of the bed and placed it over her eyes. She let out a little nervous giggle. He guided her wrists to the top of the bedhead, while handcuffing them, so she was completely restrained. He then selectively chose items around the

room, ice cubes (from the fridge) and the whip that she previously had her eyes on. She layed there squirming around, anticipating his next touch.

Was it going to be pain, or pleasure?

He again straddled her, this time an ice cube in his mouth. As he slowly leaned in towards her bare breasts, he ever so gently covered her nipple with his whole mouth. He massaged the tip of it with his tongue. The coolness of the cube slowly melted away while the residue ran down the side of her boob. She became completely erect. Goose bumps followed, the entire way down her left side. The ice block had finally dissolved into both nipples. He subtly sucked and nibbled down the middle of her stomach. Her pelvis thrust forward, as she tried to escape the cuffs. He slid her underpants down to her ankles and separated her legs. He took another ice block into his mouth, while massaging the inside of her vagina with two fingers. His tongue by this stage was cold and he placed it right on top of her clit. She let out a cry of pleasure, as she arched forward to have more of her in his mouth. He continued to finger her vagina, while graually speeding up. She became moist. As the ice block rapidly melted away against her, he pressed his tongue hard, up between her lips.

her bare, naked arse. As she squirmed around, trying to protect her from the pain, he un-cuffed her and demanded that she turn around on all fours. She remained blindfold and anxiously spun around onto her knees and hands. He positioned himself behind her, oiled up the end of his hard, erected knob and aggressively entered inside of her. He thrust long and hard. She again groaned – but this time, much more relaxed. He was deep inside of her, holding her waist, when he let out a yell of total orgasmic satisfaction. She fell onto her stomach, as he lay on top of her, trying to catch his breath.

‘So, will you be my submissive?’ He asked. She still had no answer.

If you’ve not yet clued in – I have just provided you with my rendition of ‘Fifty Shades of Fucked Up,’ aka Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s s something that I’m sure you’ve all either already seen, or know what it’s about. If not, read above, but make sure to include that this girl was very recently a virgin, who had never seen a penis before. So let me just say – I played nice.

The real version in fact, was a lot less realistic than what I had produced. The real edition entails a girl, who plays the role of some innocent journalist. She gets roped

into interviewing a bachelor who’s a billionaire and CEO of his company, defined as ‘Grey Enterprises’ but we never actually know what that is?

(Probably selling online gimp porn).

But he takes a fancy to this girl, while she’s interviewing him. It must be the way she rolled the pencil around on her lips. Or the fact that he got a kick out of knowing she was completely intimidated by him. What he’s most intrigued about is the fact that she’s a virgin. His response was, ‘Where have you been?’ indicating that it was her purity, which answered his initial questions as to why his deep, dark deviant self was so lured in. By the way, the characters lacked total chemistry.

It’s all kind of twisted to be honest. I would say that the movie attempted at portraying subliminal messages of how a woman must always play the submissive role, whether it’s in or out of the sheets, but the truth is – there was nothing subliminal about it at all. The movie sets out on a path of destruction where women are objectified.

For me as a proud feminist, this is a big no. The only reason why certain men want us to play the inferior role is because they’re aware that we are smarter and stronger sex (I would

He suddenly positioned himself upright. She fell back deep into the bed. He reached over for the long, hard leather-bound rod. He stood beside the bed and started to sway the leather straps up and down the middle of her torso, paying special attention to her sensitive spots. As he tickled her body with the hard leather straps, making her toes curl, he continued to pinch her erect nipples – sending electrifying orgasmic shocks down her body.

Before she could deepen herself into this sensation, he pulled back the whip and released it against her rib cage. She let out a short, sharp cry – but this time it was different.

Then again, he unleashed another leather-strap slap, but this time against her stomach. He then asked his submissive to raise her legs into the air, once again whipping across 55

love to see them push a baby out the end of their dicks). Over time we have intellectually used our assets just to prove this. Then Fifty Shades of Grey was produced, which women are actually supporting – this is something I’ll get into soon.

The actual joke lies in the fact that the main actor woos this girl with a bunch of materialistic objects, like a helicopter ride, which of course he owns, a bunch of beautiful hotel rooms, a new laptop and a new car!

Like fuck me, what are you trying to say about women, Mr Grey? Yeah we like our shoes, but we need much more than bloody diamonds. They can’t cuddle us at night. All of this is in hope that she would sign this stupid contract, of her becoming his submissive, while he plays the dominant. She never signs it. Credit to her. She’s not a fucking puppet on a string (haha well she kind of was in the movie).

The storyline continues with a vicious cycle of this behaviour, as he attempts to tantalise her taste buds with what sort of life he can provide her with, however one thing continues to stop her in her path. That question is, ‘How can you inflict pain and think it’s okay?’

Okay, so besides the fact that this movie has destroyed everything that was gained from the first wave of feminism, and second mind you. Our great-grandmothers would be rolling over in their graves, while trying to tell us to set some bloody standards.

It also embarrasses and takes the absolute piss out of individuals who enjoy a bit of SNM in the bedroom.

They’re probably sitting back munching on their popcorn thinking, ‘mate c’mon, that’s not how you do it!’

However, there is something positive that I can draw from this film and as per usual, it’s extremely important to leave the best till last. For a very long time with much “research” of modern day pornography, the woman is much MUCH more objectified by the male.

As her three holes are utilized purely for the basis of the male getting off.

And of course he finishes by getting 56

off all over her face – because what’s porn without plastic/unrealistic scenes of a woman being absolutely demorilised by the penis, man and his jizz all over her? Apparently nothing. Porn is a tool – but its also desensitising society (that’s for another time).

If you eliminate all the bullshit, Fifty Shades of Grey gives a woman exactly what she wants and needs.

Not sure yet? It’s called an ORGASM. Women are wired just as much, if not more sexually than a male. We have desires and crave attention.

Our sexuality has been suppressed for years and through the creation of the contraceptive pill, sex toys and the exploration of women’s sexuality, we are becoming empowered. And it’s fucking awesome, not to mention sexy!

This movie breaks down the social normality of man, penis, and three holes by exploring woman’s body and her desires. Unfortunately, it’s completely up to the discretion of the male of when and how he wants to please her, but it’s honestly some groundbreaking stuff. The woman has become the subject of pleasure, while the male performs oral sex on her. The movie has recoginsed that we also require that ultimate goal of pleasure in the bedroom.

Fuck the submissive/dominant shit – that man is focusing on her and her vagina AND making her come.

I applaud the dude! Thank you.

Women have been able to support and immerse themselves in this makebelieve world, as there are elements (attention, desire, sexual exploration, pleasure, orgasms) within the story line, in which they yearn for.

I’m not an advocate of 50 Shades of Grey – but all bullshit aside, we can at least attempt at using this as a stepping-stone into creating a world of sex in which women can find the ultimate goal of exploring their bodies and embracing the orgasm.

Until next time x

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