Coachella Magazine Vol. 2 Issue Nº6

COACHELLA M A G A Z I N E

"Freedom is Free"

CHICANO BATMAN CARLY VALENTINE KATBING AMAIRIANA NORIEGA DESERT X ENTER THE WORLD OF

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WARHOL TYSEN KNIGHT CULT OF INDIVIDUALY PHARRELL & MURAKAMI RETURN TO COMPLEXCON DMC COMICS

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PHANTOGRAM BISHOP BRIGGS OCHO OJOS YIP YOPS

MODERNISM WEEK THE CUL-DE-SAC EXPERIENCE photograph by JEVPIC

The Ultimate Celebration of Midcentury Architecture, Design and Culture

February 15-25, 2018 Tickets on Sale NOW

Supporting Preservation, Education, and Neighborhoods.

Tickets and information

modernismweek.com Major

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2018 sponsors as of October 12, 2017. Photos by Jake Holt Photography, Lance Gerber and David A. Lee. Modernism Week is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.

Media

MASTHEAD

COACHELLA M A G A Z I N E

F O U N D ER / PU BL I SH ER ED I T O R I N C H I EF

JORGE PEREZCHICA ED I T O R AT L AR G E

EVERETTE PERRY M U S I C ED I T O R

ROWLAND AKINDURO V P M AR K ET I N G

JERRY PEREZCHICA C R EAT I V E D I R EC T O R

LUNAFORA FAS H I O N S T Y L I N G

LIZZ CASTLES W R I T ER S

JORGE PEREZCHICA ROWLAND AKINDURO EVERETTE PERRY C O N T R I BU T O R S

JEVPIC photography/art direction GISELLE WOO writer LISA MONIQUE hair/mua SABRINA GINSBURG hair/mua S PEC I AL T H AN K S

CITY OF INDIO INDIO PERFORMING ARTS CENTER T H AN K S

ARRIVE PALM SPRINGS GRÉ COFFEEHOUSE & ART GALLERY TRINA TURK/MR. TURK

COACHELLA MAGAZINE © 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without permission from the publisher.

The views expressed in COACHELLA MAGAZINE are those of the respective contributors and not necessarily shared by COACHELLA MAGAZINE.

VOLUME 2 ISSUE Nº 6 COACHELLA MAGAZINE ( ISSN 2471-5980 ) IS PUBLISHED QUARTERLY AND PRINTED IN THE USA.

Celebrating the Arts & Culture of Coachella Valley, California and beyond COACHELLAMAGAZINE.COM | INFO@COACHELLAMAGAZINE.COM

hand painted jacket by SOFIA ENRIQUEZ belt and pant REVIVALS STORES photograph by JEVPIC

model @AJCASSOU

CONTENTS

COACHELLA M A G A Z I N E

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DEPARTMENTS 7 8 16 18 19 20 22 24 25

EDITOR’S LETTER HAUTE SPOT CHRONICLE CHELLA GIRL ART NEWS CHELLA GUY COLLAB CHELLAVISION POETS & PROVOCATEURS

FEATURES ART 26 40 50 60

CARLY VALENTINE AMAIRANI NORIEGA KATBING DESERT X

MUSIC 80 COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL INTERVIEWS W/

CHICANO BATMAN PHANTOGRAM BISHOP BRIGGS SOFI TUCKER YIP YOPS OCHO OJOS

FILM 98

TYSEN KNIGHT

FASHION 102 REALITY BYTES 132 CULT OF INDIVIDUALITY

CULTURE 134 COMPLEXCON 144 DMC COMICS

APPENDIX 146 DESERT HAUNTS ON THE COVER: CHICANO BATMAN Future Music, Los Angeles, CA. photograph by Lunafora

#realitybytes p.88 photograph by JEVPIC

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ED I TOR’S LETTER

entelechy noun: the realization of potential.

— Oxford Dictionary

As we navigate through modern life, whether it’s from a personal level or a global perspective, I am reminded to “embrace your inner light and continue to shine.”

Every year marks an end and a new beginning, like the change of seasons — we laugh, cry and exhale. In my hometown, I am excited that the Coachella Valley continues to have a renaissance with more change than I can remember. The revitalization project of downtown Palm Springs is ushering a new era of hotels, shops and restaurants, blending old and new into a Modernist-meets-Millennial vibe. I recently attended the grand opening celebration of the Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs hotel, a night filled with fireworks display and music headlined by Yip Yops, a local band with a bright future. In early 2017, I toured the inaugural launch of Desert X, an exhibition of site-specific work by some of today’s most recognized contemporary artists. The exhibition garnered global acclaim and was one of my favorite moments I spent documenting for Coachella Magazine. Every year I am humbled by the opportunities to capture major shifts in arts and culture.

I want to take a moment and give a shout-out to RowLow, Jevpic, Lizz Castles and the city of Indio for their continued support to the magazine and live events.

In many regards, 2017 was a most auspicious year, but overall the biggest lesson I came away with was how to balance work and personal life — going from falling in love to heartbreak was an experience that flipped my world upside down, changed my outlook and pushed me to grow as a person. “Continue to shine,” a friend tells me. “Thx” I replied. “Keep focusing on the beautiful and powerful within yourself,” a friend wrote assuredly. Through ups and downs, I was grateful to be surrounded by optimism that got me through 2017. And that is what I wish for everyone in 2018: May you all embrace your inner light and continue to shine.

In Vol. 2, Issue No. 6, we highlight artists who imbue creative potential. From Carly Valentine’s photography project Daughters of the Desert that is uniting women in the High Desert. To recent college graduate Amairani Noriega, who’s work explores the duality of life and death. Katbing’s warm color palette and humorous characters that make a splash in unexpected places. A special thanx to Desert X, a site-specific biennial exhibition. Art imitates life in Tysen Knight’s documentary The Art of Hustle. Up-and-coming bands Ocho Ojos and Yip Yops make their debut at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Reality Bytes, a fashion feature with familiar brands such as Adidas and new inspired talent from Fatherakki, Es Mucho and UTB LIFE$TYLE. For the cover story, Rowland Akinduro interviews Chicano Batman about the band’s new music “Freedom is Free.” Where signs of potential are pushing boundaries, making waves and creating an impact, we are pleased to present our entelechy issue.

Jorge Perezchica Founder / Editor in Chief

H AUTE S POT

ST YLE / BE AUT Y / D ECO R

DESERT QUEEN An ode to the changing of seasons, the extreme elements of the desert and her mysterious within the sands: Life. Death. Rebirth.

SHOUX MEDIA - Cyrina D Hadad photographer - Jonas Yuan model - Tee Marie stylist - Lindsay McWhorter designers - Lindsay McWhorter & Lunar Jewels producer/art director

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H AUTE S POT

photo JOSEPH MADDON

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ST YLE / BE AUT Y / D ECO R

Adidas Spezial Jacket and Pant Horwich Blue

Originals Spezial Trainer shoes ADIDAS

Chronixx x adidas Originals’ SPEZIAL ADIDAS.COM/US/ORIGINALS

Chronixx, the 24-year-old Jamaican reggae star, is the face of adidas SPEZIAL collection.

Part of the adidas Originals output, SPEZIAL is inspired by the rich sportswear heritage of adidas’ own archive and its global cultural impact.

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H AUTE S POT XIO DESIGN STUDIO BY XIHOMARA ALVAREZ XIODESIGNSTUDIO.BIGCARTEL.COM

Xio Design Studio creates woodwork with geometric designs and vibrant colors. Handcrafted by Argentinean artist Xihomara Alvarez, raised in Miami Beach and now based in Joshua Tree, CA. Xihomara makes everything from wall hangings to furniture. The woodwork is inspired by the desert landscape, with pendletons and chevrons that remind her of sun rays. Her color pallet takes cues from bright neon, Keith Haring, Basquiat, graffiti and anything 80’s era.

Photos by © Carly Valentine

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ST YLE / BEAUT Y / D ECO R

THICK AS THIEVES SHOPTHIEVES.COM

Jeremy Smick & Samantha Caltagirone, a husband and wife team who packed up everything owned and moved from the Midwest to beautiful Palm Springs, California to open their first brick and mortar on June 1, 2017 called Thick As Thieves.

The front room is a highly curated retail store filled with handmade goods, antique finds and unique gifts that blend industrial, primitive, Americana, modern and global styles. The back room has been designed into a quaint gathering space that’s perfect for groups of all kinds.

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C HR ONIC LE

RAICES CULTURA installation at Coachella, in Indio, CA. April, 2017. photo by Elizabeth Tamayo

NALANI HERNANDEZ of Caramelo Manifestations performs a sound bath at the first annual Desert Boheme in Indio, California.

LADY GAGA performs on the Coachella Stage photo by Auden Bui ©Coachella 2017

DMC at the first annual FANTASIA COMIC CON - in Indio, CA. MAY 19, 2017 IOTA HAUS fashion show Empire Polo Fields, Indio, CA. March 31, 2017.

COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL at The Empire Polo Club on April, 2017 in Indio, CA. Arial photo by Andrew Jorgenson ©Coachella 2017

MICHAEL COSTELLO runway show at FASHION WEEK EL PASEO March 21, 2017

LORDE photo by Auden Bui ©COACHELLA 2017 PEOPLE 2017 / PLACE S FUTURE photo by Greg Noire ©Coachella at The Empire Polo Club on April, 2017 in Indio, CA.

LUNAR JEWELZ FASHION SHOW At Sharon Ryder’s Art Pop gallery Palm Springs, CA June 30, 2017

/ CONNECTED

CRISTOPHER CICHOCKI – CIRCULAR DIMENSIONS A multi-sensory performance inspired by the desert and its underwater origins.

Palm Springs Art Museum’s Annenberg Theater.

DESERT X opening reception of “I AM” by Tavares Strachan.

Rancho Mirage, CA. February 24, 2017

DESERT X AFTERPARTY Palm Springs, CA February 23, 2017

RHONDA: QUEEN OF THE DESERT Palm Springs Air Museum - April 13, 2017

EVERETTE PERRY Artists Council 2017 recipient.

“A Frame Study #1” on display at Palm Springs Art Museum. Oct. 7, 2017

SPLASH HOUSE Palm Springs pool party August 15, 2017

CHE LLA G I R L

lilian RODRIGUEZ interview + photo JORGE PEREZCHICA

In 2017 Lilian Rodriguez was promoted to festival director of the Palm Springs International ShortFest. For the last three years she had been festival manager working closely with festival directors and works yearround on the Palm Springs International Film Festival. She sat down with us to talk about everything from starting as a projectionist to aspiring film critic and creating energy to take ShortFest to the next level.

Can you tell us about your educational and work background?

I grew up in Coachella. I graduated from Coachella Valley High School and then I went to college. I did some film studies at UC Irvine, we had some very good professors and mostly learning about genre of filmmaking. I graduated in 2008 which is like right when the recession was at its low. So like everyone who got out of school at that time there was nothing to do really, you couldn’t really find a job especially in film. So I had to come back home. I worked at different places. I was a substitute teacher for a while. I was also a projectionist at the Cinémas Palme D’Or for about five years. I loved that place. I was there when they were doing actual film, I had to thread the film and I loved it. And I think if we’d kept film forever we’d be still doing it. But then you go to DCP and it’s all digital and they don’t need a projectionist anymore.

So than I had to find another job.

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Did you always want to be involved in the film industry?

I actually didn’t know what I wanted to do in film but I know I’ve always liked watching movies. I thought I wanted to be a film critic at some point. I knew that if there’s a job where I can watch movies — and it turns out there is, we can watch movies for a living. That’s why I studied film, because I wanted to do something with it, because it’s been a part of my life since I was little. And it’s the one constant in my life. Other things come and go but I always want to have movies.

What’s the most important thing you learned as festival director?

For me the most important thing is listening to what other departments need, and that was the first thing that I did when I became the festival director. Listening to their needs and understanding what we have to do. That’s the most important thing that you could do if you’re ever in a position where you have to lead, listen to people and try to work corroboratively.

What’s do you enjoy most about your work?

Every year is different because you get a new group of filmmakers and people coming, but it’s just the energy of it. Year after year, that it kind of gives you life to keep going. And that’s really the best part for me, that energy that you feed off.

web: PSFILMFEST.ORG

A RT N EWS

ENTER THE WORLD OF WARHOL Palm Springs Art Museum’s upcoming Art Event 2018 to be held Saturday, January 27, 2018 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Guests to this Pop Art-fueled spectacle are encouraged to dress in an “anything goes” manner that relates to the enigmatic artist, Andy Warhol; from sixties retro couture to Studio 54 chic, to Andy look-alikes or even black tie. This new event is a precursor and celebration of the major Andy Warhol Prints exhibition at the museum March 3 through May 28.

The “not your typical gala” happening is being presented by the Museum’s Board of Trustees, Museum Associates Council and Co-Chairs Donna MacMillan and Roberta Holland. The event will honor Arlene Schnitzer and Jordan Schnitzer, whose extensive Warhol print collection is featured in the exhibition.

The extravaganza kicks off at 6 p.m. with tantalizing cocktails and appetizers in an area that recreates Warhol’s famed creative workspace, The Factory, featuring a wall of the artist’s iconic Marilyn Monroe prints. Following, guests will proceed to Warhol’s World with a Splash of Studio 54 and will be treated to entertainment that includes multiple unique performances by renowned circus artists arranged especially for this themed event by Fabrice Lemire, Artistic Director of CRYSTAL by Cirque Du Soleil. An elegant dinner with elaborate food stations by Chef Brad Toles of Savoury’s Catering will be served at 7:30 p.m., with dancing continuing into the night.

Art Event 2018 is an evening that is certain to garner far more than 15 minutes of fame.

Tickets to Enter the World of Warhol Art Event are $750 per person.

For more information visit psmusuem.org or call (760) 322-4844.

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CHE LLA G UY

LUNAR JEWELZ interview + portrait JORGE PEREZCHICA

Can you tell us about yourself and where you grew up?

I’m from Palm Springs originally. I grew up here my whole life, never really left the valley. I’ve been an artist my whole life. Painting is what I started with and it evolved into jewelry. When I was in high school like about 15, I started hot-gluing beads and crystals on to like ring bases and I just started fiddling with stuff that I had. But I’ve always had a passion and interest in gems and minerals. I’ve always loved crystals and I’ve always just included them in my work.

Was there a moment you felt it was possible to pursue jewelrymaking as a career?

When I started making my own stuff in high school, people would just stop and ask me where I got it from and if they can get one too. So, I started making them for people and they gave me money for it. I just started from there, it was like a donation kind of thing. Then I just started a little business from there.

How would you describe your aesthetic?

I would describe the aesthetic of my designs to be very cosmic and galactic bright and colorful. I do like to play with just simplicity as well as like clear quartz and just simple gems. But I’ve been obsessed with rainbows and magic.

What’s the story behind your brand name Lunar Jewelz?

Well my mom and my grandma’s last name is Luna. So I’ve always had an affinity with the moon and celestial bodies in space. Luna definitely had to be there and the jewels, I’m all about jewels. My middle name is Julian so Lunar Jewelz kind of meshed together, but I added a Z. When did you first start doing the pop-ups?

I started about two years ago. My first one was in Cathedral City, a random swap meet kind of thing next to the IMAX and that’s where it started. From there, I kind of jumped around and found a whole bunch of stuff on social media, met different artisans that let me know different pop-ups. So it’s just kind of sprouted from there How do you find inspiration within the festival lifestyle?

Festivals have been a lifestyle that I’ve been kind of living the last couple of years since high school and I’m obsessed. I met so many amazing, beautiful souls and they admire my work and I feel like my work is meant to be at major festivals. I just love the essence of freedom, you can literally just wear whatever and rock it out, vibe and just be a gypsy.

What was it like doing your first workshop at a festival?

My first official workshop was at Desert Trip. That was amazing. Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, I mean it cannot get any better. Two weekends, it was bliss, pure bliss magic. It was amazing working with just complete strangers that were just happy to be there, working with you, because you had free crystals to wire wrap with and I had an amazing time. It was just the coolest thing to make hands-on jewelry, teaching them the simplest technique, not even telling them what to do. They literally would just do their thing and it was just so cool.

Your work is more unusual than what I see out there. Where do you find the bones to make your jewelry?

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I collected bones and stones all throughout my life. I’ve just had a knack for going on hikes, finding bones and just not being able to leave them there. So these bones have been in my collection for years.

Also I’ve had friends that know I have a passion for bone work and taxidermy art and they send me them in the mail. They’re like, “I found this jaw bone, I’ll send it to you.” And then, the crystals I’ve always found in different gem events I go to, different gem expos and all sorts of stuff, even thrift shops. You never know what you’ll find.

Is there a bone you haven’t worked with yet but would love to?

I would love shark jawbone, like a shark jaw mouth intact with the bones you can literally just make a giant choker with shark teeth — yeah shark jaw. I like jaw and mandibles, they look really cool, they’re usually more sturdy.

Can you tell us about your creative process behind your work?

I definitely have a different collection of different things. I have simple stuff that I know I can make in less than an hour. And then I have the stuff that I work hours on end with that I play with for days and that could have a lot of intention and thought put into. But I honestly just grab what calls to me with the stones and I just start wrapping or I’ll start braiding and make a choker or a headpiece. I’m just always on the go and creating. So even if I’m at a pop-up you’ll find me making something.

You had your first fashion show this year at Art Pop, tell us about it.

That was my first official runway fashion show at Art Pop. It was really awesome. I was honored to have that going on. Everything was thrifted vintage clothing that my friends and I have collected in the valley. It’s all sourced at Angel Views & Gypsyland, just a whole bunch of stuff that I’ve collected. And the jewelry that went into it was just based on the last five years of my work.

Do you plan on opening your own shop some day?

Definitely want to open my own shop. That’s the main goal and I would give that the 10-year goal. But in-between all of that I would love to vend in major music festivals, Lightning In The Bottle and Coachella fest. I also do my workshops at music festivals — it’s been amazing. If I can do more with workshopping and teaching people how to make hands-on DIY jewelry it would be kind of fun, and then also have my jewelry and design business with me on the side.

What are you currently working on?

I’m actually working on perfecting and refining my designs, I want to do silversmithing and metalsmithing, so all sorts of metals but silver is my love. I have to make some really awesome engagement rings in the near future and just awesome fine jewelry.

What makes your work different and stand out from the crowd?

Every piece is one-of-a-kind. As much as I try and replicate a piece, it will never look like the original piece. I don’t often really see a whole bunch of bone jewelry out there, but I just try and make it as different as possible.

The more rainbows and glitz I can add to it, the more magical.

IG @LUNARJEWELZ

michelle ann RIZZIO KDHS ENTERTAINMENT AND EVENT COORDINATOR interview + photography JORGE PEREZCHICA Can you tell us about yourself and background in radio?

I am considered the program coordinator for the entertainment and technologies program at Smooth Transition Inc. But as far as what I think of myself, I am probably just like a force more than anything.

I grew up in Desert Hot Springs, graduated from Desert Hot Springs High School in 2009, went through the entire school system here. And then went off to college at University of San Francisco. My focus has always been on being able to equalize the music industry, especially for getting exposure for local musicians. As I got to college, I signed up for KUSF which was 90.3FM at the time and I did my training and volunteering, so I could get onto their radio station. I had a blast just getting to understand this amazing terrestrial world that I had only ever listened to on the other side of the radio dial. In 2011 the school

had sold the license, and I got escorted off the premises by these men in suits. I was like, “what’s going on, is this a bomb threat?” I was sitting inside of the lobby with a band that was supposed to be interviewed that day and all of a sudden my phone rang and I got this email saying that the school had sold the license of 90.3FM to Entercom and Clear Channel. I was like “what in the world, how can that happen?” It was my first experience of understanding social injustice in our media world. I just became obsessed with the idea of mass influence, and how people can reach out and get attention.

What was it like transitioning from Desert Hot Springs to San Francisco?

It was a huge culture shock. I just I went, I didn’t I didn’t even go up there with my family for a tour. I just went by myself and I saw

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ALTERNATIVE MEDIA CAN CREATE SOCIAL CHANGE AND YOU CAN SOLVE INJUSTICES THROUGH CREATING DIALOGUE. — Michelle Ann Rizzo

everything, I fell in love and I was like, “This is where I gotta be, you know. I need to learn from here,” and I totally did… I became pregnant my senior year of college, I literally became pregnant like my first day of my last semester. So I was in my first trimester going through my last semester of college and it was difficult. I was like, “Am I gonna graduate, am I gonna do this, what’s gonna happen to me?” I ended up graduating in 2014. After many months and years of helping to build up the KUSF org, I came back here, had my son in October of 2014 up at Joshua Tree.

For a while, you hosted your own radio station KDHS from home in Desert Hot Springs. Tell us about it?

Ten years ago, my dad was disabled and confined to a wheelchair. He was at home all the time, and he did not like what was playing on the radio. He purchased a license for 98.9 FM in Desert Hot Springs, set up an antenna and his own micro FM station, and listened to it in the car. When I had come home from university, my dad encouraged me to take the ball and run with it. I was figuring out how to use this resource and turn it into a community opportunity. How can we train people to have shows and get them to have professional diction, professional pronunciation and create really quality content. We went into construction from 2015 to March 2016 for a private in-home studio and then in the beginning of 2016, we opened our doors to volunteers to come in and start pre-producing 3 hour programs for 98.9FM. At one point, it was brought to my attention that our license was not valid. My dad had been a victim of a scammer and we took the frequency off the air immediately. After two years of building our brand, we suddenly didn’t have a frequency anymore. Feeling pretty irate, I asked myself “How am I going live out my vision?” I went and meditated with myself and I asked, “What am I gonna do?” It became very clear to me that KDHS was an acronym for something much larger than simply a frequency — it was “Knowledge, Desert Hot Springs.” And it needed a home away from our home.

How did KDHS and Smooth Transitions Inc. come together?

I started looking for a public production space for KDHS after realizing that my home studio was not going to work for bringing volunteers off the street, especially with a little tiny infant turning into a toddler running around. So I started putting the word out that I needed a public production space and I ended up finding Robin and Elsa who are the executive directors of Smooth Transition Inc. which is a postsecondary accredited vocational school in Desert Hot Springs. I ended up meeting them in September 2016 and they were like, “We need you, we need you to come over and be a part of our school.” So they got me involved with Smooth Transition Inc. I ended up becoming a partner with them at KDHS, Knowledge Desert Hot Springs and now we are a transmedia broadcasting lab for the Smooth Transition Inc. entertainment and event technologies program. So we offer volunteer opportunities for DJs to learn how to create podcasts, how to learn how to do post-production with Adobe Audition. I teach them how to use videography programs such as Premiere Pro, so that they can truly be prepared to go out into the scene out here and create transmedia productions. Since we’ve partnered with Smooth Transition we are now a non-profit educational non-commercial radio station. We create transmedia productions that go on our Mixcloud, we do a lot of podcasts as well. I will be teaching how to do live broadcasting and how to do on-site broadcasting all from your phone as well as whatever media device you have. And I will be soon teaching a course here called transmedia broadcasting which will go into the history of broadcasting.

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CO L L A B

My goal is to attract a sponsor to donate an FCC license to us, so that we can get on the radio airwaves again and really get that terrestrial feel and terrestrial content being disseminated to our local citizens here in Desert Hot Springs.

You helped build KDHS lab from the ground up — What has that experience been like so far?

This was just an empty room when I came into it and I was told to just do what I could. I got a lot of donations the school gave me, a small budget to be able to get some content and some equipment in here. It’s been a slow start for sure. I’ve been throwing shows here for two years now and my analytics are all over the place. But for me, I can’t lose my gas, I can’t lose my fuel because I know that there are kids here that will benefit so greatly from my all-ages events. Smooth Transition Inc. has allowed me to create our entertainment and event technologies lab as a full all ages place. We can have all ages music here. We can have all ages theater happening here. We can have all ages everything, and that’s the only all ages place here in Desert Hot Springs. I decided to shift my focus to the youth and create these all-ages events and create this hub that’s safe for these musicians to come and showcase their music, showcase their art showcase their poetry and be able to get the recognition that they want from an intimate setting.

Explain transmedia to someone who’s never heard of it before?

Transmedia is being able to take a story and tell it over various media platforms, tell it over SoundCloud, tell it over mix cloud tell it over Twitter. It’s taking the person looking at them holistically as DJ and saying you know what, you have more than just a voice you also have a brand. It’s no longer about being confined to the regulations of the FCC or any sort of governing agent, it’s about learning how to be your inner authority all the time and being able to express that on multiple platforms. Transmedia is something I say all the time and I get a lot of looks for it because it’s not something that’s said often but really it’s the postmodern answer to broadcasting. It’s taking what we’ve learned for the past 50 years of broadcasting from television and radio and you know all these amazing different avenues that we’ve had in the past that have now no timeline associated to them no audience that’s going to be fixated on them and learning how to grasp people. I think that the way that you do that is through multimedia content. With transmedia you give them pictures to look at, you give them videos to look at — and that leads them to all these different avenues.

What do you love most about radio?

What I love the most about radio is being able to take an idea and turn it into a production. So watching these DJ’s come in here and being on the other side now and training instead of being the DJ myself is super rewarding come in here, these volunteers who have no idea what they’re doing, some of them don’t even know how to operate a computer, like I’m sitting here helping them take this idea out of their mind, of how they want to portray themselves to the world, how they want their ethos to be shared with the world and creating a really awesome content out of it. I have been super rewarded by hearing the podcast that have been produced here. I think radio can change the world and I think that’s why corporate media has completely monopolized the frequencies. I’d like to create a brand new kind of motif for what radio is, like the storytelling that goes involved with it, how do you see it online, how do you see how that fits into all the other choices. Especially with people’s attention spans right now.

web SMOOTHTRANSITIONINC.COM/KDHS COACHELLA MAGAZINE

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CHE LL AV I S I O N

top: host ROWLAND AKINDURO (CENTER) WITH GUEST ARTISTS YIP YOPS bottom left to right: FRANK LEMUS, CAKES, FATHERAKKI, KATE LONDON, TREEM HEFFNER

“THE FUTURE WILL BE CHELLAVISED.” — jorge perezchica, executive producer Chellavision showcases counterculture with interviews of artists and musical performances.

Hosted by Rowland Akinduro and taped in front of a live audience at Indio Performing Arts Center.

Presented by Coachella Magazine and sponsored by city of Indio, CA. To be in the audience or a guest, go to coachellamagazine.com/chellavision Chellavision Short Film Fest is a monthly program of international short films and music videos.

The “Best of the Fest” program will screen at the end of 2018.

To submit a short or music video go to filmfreeway.com/chellavisionshortfilmfest

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P OE TS & P R OVOCATEURS

LOVE IS...

HEARTBREAK IS... submitted by LEE LOCKHART

Poets & Provocateurs is a monthly open mic featuring artists from the Coachella Valley and beyond.

A commemorative coffee table book with poetry, photography and art is published annually.

Hosted by Rowland Akinduro and presented by Coachella Magazine.

For calendar of events or to submit work go to coachellamagazine.com

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ART

carly

VALENTINE It was a family trip across the country from New Jersey to the Grand Canyon that inspired a 15 year old Carly Valentine to first fall in love with the desert. Carly credits her mother and grandmother as powerful, creative women who have always been supportive in the pursuit of art and they celebrate that.

Carly started photography in forensics at 16, shooting for her father’s fire investigation business. But it was a fire scene she remember specifically, that it became clear she was more interested in photography as an art form. Carly transitioned as a young adult, traveling often and visiting museums. She studied at the Art Institute in Philadelphia and set up a photography business with a studio in New Jersey for about six years. Then she came to Joshua Tree, CA., and fell in love with the community, and decided to settle there. From a young age, the vastness of the desert translated “freedom” and it’s like nothing she ever experienced before. After meeting many inspiring and creative women in the Hi Desert, Carly Valentine is embarking in one of her most personal and transformative projects yet: Daughters of the Desert. interview JORGE PEREZCHICA

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self portrait by CARLY VALENTINE

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JORGE PEREZCHICA: Can you tell us about yourself and background as a photographer?

CARLY VALENTINE: I started photography in forensics when I was about 16. My father owns a fire investigation business and I was shooting for him. There was a fire scene that I remember specifically: This burned piano and keys covered in soot, and the paper was curled.

I just thought it was so beautiful. I couldn’t stop shooting it and my dad said, “That’s not what we need, it seems like you’re interested in photography as an art form, so maybe you should go explore that.” So, I just started traveling all the time, taking road trips. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is where I saw fine art photography for the first time and I loved it. It was the work of Josef Sudek that moved me the most. I was raised in New Jersey but I went to school at the Art Institute in Philadelphia. Even then, I thought all I was going to do was forensics and did my internship with the state police. Then friends of mine asked me to shoot their wedding. I was nervous but did it anyway. I loved it so much that I started a photography business and had a studio in New Jersey for about six years. Then I closed it to move out to the desert. Now I live in Twentynine Palms.

JORGE: What motivated you to move to the desert?

CARLY: I dreamed of living in the desert since I was fifteen and was just looking for the right place. Then I came to Joshua Tree and fell in love with the community and decided to settle here. From a young age, the desert just translated freedom for me, the vastness of the landscape.

I wanted that for so long and now that I’m out here, I feel that deeply.

It really just allows you to pursue the life that you’ve wanted to, and to explore whatever art form you want. The community is so incredible, they support you in everything that you do and celebrate you. I really love the artist community out here. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.

JORGE: Did you explore other creative mediums before establishing a career in photography?

CARLY: My grandmother gave me painting lessons when I was younger, so that kind of sparked my creative flow and my mom is very talented too. Those are powerful creative women in my family, and I was just figuring out which medium was for me — and photography ended up being it.

JORGE: Your photography has a unique quality. How would you describe your work, the aesthetic?

CARLY: I don’t really know how my work comes off, but my work is very emotional and it’s creating a sacred space with the person that I’m photographing. I think that comes through in the images. Other than that, I’m influenced by photographers who I’m friends with, I love following them to support them. But some of the masters that I love are Josef Sudek and Imogen Cunningham. I like finding my influence from other sources too, from paintings to movies and just noticing the gestures that people have.

JORGE: How do you set up or compose your portraits?

CARLY: I know a lot of photographers that do sketches of what they want the image to look like and I don’t do that. I really just decide how it’s going to look within the moment as it’s unfolding. A lot of that has to do with the way people naturally interact or the way they move. I don’t pose people. I allow them to move within the landscape and see how they’re affected by it and document that.

JORGE: You are busy nowadays working on a unique project “Daughters of the Desert.” How did that come about — what was the inspiration?

CARLY: My friend Sarabeth and I were talking one night at an event, we were just discussing how many powerful, talented woman there are in the desert, how inspired we are by them and how crazy it is that we don’t get together regularly. We were surprised too that there wasn’t a place to do that and we only saw each other in passing at events. I just decided to start this project as a way to get a women’s collective moving. The main goal is to get a building for us, so that we can be

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together all the time and do good things for the community.

JORGE: Has anything surprised you about the project since it began?

CARLY: I was surprised by the response, I did not expect this many women to sign up. I thought it would maybe be like 20 people. I started by taking a picture of my friend because she supported the project. I wanted to see it begin — and when that negative came back, I was just so floored by it, the power in it and the image is incredible.

I started thinking about what the project would include and wrote my artist statement. Then I created the secret Facebook group and I added a couple of people and encourage them to add people. The next morning, I woke up and there was like a couple hundred people in the group. I was shocked. So far I think I’ve shot about 70 and it’s close to 200 people signed up.

JORGE: Have you set a completion date yet or is the project ongoing?

CARLY: People ask me that all the time. I don’t have an end date for it right now. It seems like the majority of the woman who have social media have heard about it, but I found out the people who don’t have social media are still finding out about it through word of mouth.

So, I want it to be open to them. I especially want the elders in the community to find out about it, because I have so much respect for them. I guess it’ll stop when people stop signing up. But for right now, I still get sign-ups every day.

JORGE: What are the requirements to participate in the project?

CARLY: It’s all artists from the High Desert. There are some people who live here part-time, but the requirement is that you’re an artist who creates in the High Desert, because the Low Desert already has an incredible women’s collective “Wyld Womxn.” I have a lot of respect for what they’re doing and I’m glad that they provide that for the Low Desert.

JORGE: The project requires artists to add something to the portrait.

How do you begin, what is your creative process like?

CARLY: They book a portrait session through the website, we go to any location in the High Desert that inspires them most. We just have a conversation about their story, what inspires their work, what they create, what it means to them to be a part of the collective — and then, they stand, grounded in the space. There is a moment right before I take the picture where I say “take a deep breath” and then I tell them what I want them to think about and it’s based on their story.

I never never really know what’s going to come out of my mouth. I just like feeling the connection with them and creating a sacred space and being clear about how grateful I am that they’re part of it. It’s like taking a moment to reflect on their path and what this will lead to in the end, the fruition of it.

JORGE: What is your camera of choice for the Daughters of the Desert project?

CARLY: I started using this camera (pointing to a large format 4X5 camera) back when I was in school and I fell in love with it because it’s so hands-on. It requires a lot of patience that I usually don’t have. So I’m constantly being tested and learning about myself with this camera.

I put it down for a long time when I started my career, but knew that I was going to use it again for something big. I didn’t know what until I moved out here and came up with this project. I just love that it doesn’t block my face when I’m shooting, so I’m able to have direct contact and have a moment with, and interact with someone before I take their portrait.

JORGE: Can you mention some of the artists you have collaborated with on Daughters of the Desert, anyone you would like to give a shout out to?

CARLY: It started with Anna Olivia, an amazing musician and collage artist, and my friend Sarabeth, an incredible musician and writer — they’re both huge inspirations to me. I mean there’s a lot of people on the list that I’m excited to shoot that I haven’t yet. I met them through the collective and I look forward to getting to know them better. There’s a lot of people that have moved me through their work, through the experience of shooting together. There are really so many,

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I DREAMED OF LIVING IN THE DESERT SINCE I WAS FIFTEEN AND WAS JUST LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT PLACE. THEN I CAME TO JOSHUA TREE AND FELL IN LOVE WITH THE COMMUNITY, AND DECIDED TO SETTLE HERE. FROM A YOUNG AGE, THE DESERT JUST TRANSLATED FREEDOM FOR ME, THE VASTNESS OF THE LANDSCAPE. — CARLY VALENTINE

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I can’t name them all but every single experience has been a really, really beautiful, creative process.

JORGE: Will each session include one image per artist or a series of images? And will there be any additional information, like a story behind the images?

CARLY: It’s going to be one image to artist and they’ll receive their print which I’m building the dark room for right now. The print will be about 20x24 or 16x20 inches. I’ll give them their print and then they apply their medium of choice to it. The images will be paired with a form that all the artists are going to fill out, basically explaining why they chose that location, their work and their inspiration, and it’s going to be a huge thing paired with. The whole show will be a collaboration to promote everyone’s work.

JORGE: How will Daughters of the Desert be presented to the public, have you found an ideal space?

CARLY: It’s going to be presented at Taylor Junction in Joshua Tree, CA., and we can’t wait to do the show there. We’re thinking about breaking it down into three parts, because there are so many images and I don’t want the walls to be too busy. It would be great to have each showing be an event where female performers can be on stage to promote everyone’s work. It will be exciting to see it unfold and then it’s going to be published in a book of all the images paired with the writing.

JORGE: Have you been documenting the process as well?

CARLY: Sarabeth has been coming with me on some of the shoots and doing behind-the-scenes footage, so they can understand what the process has been like.

JORGE: What would you say is the most important lesson you learned so far throughout the project?

CARLY: I’m still in the middle of it and I’m learning everyday about myself in the collective. For right now, I’m just like, I don’t feel like the work is mine anymore. I feel it belongs to everyone else and it has become clear to me that this work is happening because the other women manifested it. I’ve heard so many times that they’ve been praying for something like this to happen and I just feel really honored to be doing this work and I’m completely floored by this opportunity.

JORGE: What was your vision behind the project from the beginning?

CARLY: My vision from the very beginning, I kept imagining being surrounded by these images which include everyone’s artwork — and everyone in the community just looking around and thinking, “Yes, I love these women, I support them, I want them to succeed”. We can all work towards getting a women’s collective and a building for that. Just to be surrounded by the creativity in our community, I think will be really powerful. I can’t wait to see what else this community is capable of.

JORGE: What would you like viewers to come away with? Is there a larger message or statement you want to express?

CARLY: I feel like this project is giving the women in the community a voice, they’ve always had a voice, but this is about a collective voice and what we can do for each other, for the community as a whole. How to learn from each other and feel supported in that way. I think that in this political climate, it’s really important to have a safe space where we can gather and heal and feel powerful together. I keep envisioning the circles and meetings that we’ll have and the feeling that it will create. I want everyone to be able to leave and go out into the world and be able to return to that feeling, so they know that they’re supported and they know they’re empowered. They can do that on their own but they also have us to fall back on. Regarding the art world, it’s really incredible what women have been doing and the voice that they’ve been giving to fighting for women’s rights and equality and making a presence. Being a feminist isn’t about rising above, it’s about equaling out. So this work that we’re doing is to have an equal playing field and I think this is the perfect community to start in and be a really good example.

JORGE: What’s one of the biggest challenges you face as a photographer?

CARLY: The most challenging thing is pursuing personal projects while

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also having a career. But I think it’s incredible that my camera makes me money and also allows me to pursue fine art. I remember in school that one of my teachers said, “You won’t do your own art once you start your career.” And we all thought “That’s crazy. We would never — really?”

And it’s true, it was hard to find the time for it, but it is possible, and I’m learning that through this project. The connections that you make and how therapeutic it is to be able to express yourself in that way and seeing that in other people, providing that for them is really a blessing.

JORGE: Growing up, did you have any mentors in your life?

CARLY: My mom and Oma, I have great respect for them and the way they’ve influenced me. It was a drive across the country from New Jersey to the Grand Canyon that made me first fall in love with the desert.

They took me on that trip over the summer before I went to high school and it was such an important and influential experience. They’ve always been supportive of me pursuing art and they celebrate that.

JORGE: What do you think about the photography industry today, since there are more tools and outlets available than ever before?

CARLY: I think it’s a really exciting time to be a photographer. People are still supporting the film industry and I’m really excited about that.

Polaroid just came back. I’m thrilled about what the Impossible Project did to make that happen. I think that everyone has their own style and so I don’t think it’s really a competition. It’s just wonderful to be in an industry where everyone finds their voice in their own way and there are different types of cameras that they can do that with, different types of film. I’m constantly finding new ways to express myself through it.

JORGE: What keeps you motivated each day?

CARLY: Within my career, with wedding photography, documenting love is my job. It’s so wonderful to be able to do that and to create heirlooms for people and that’s a huge honor. That’s what keeps me going is sharing this moment with people and documenting them in it. Within the project, I feel inspired by the stories that people share with me and the time that we share. Every single day, I’m just amazed at the way the people open themselves to be part of this and it keeps me moving forward. I’m excited to wake up every morning and find out what stories I’m going to hear, and meet new beautiful people.

JORGE: Do you use social media often to promote your work or look for inspiration?

CARLY: It has definitely helped me with marketing and getting the word out. But as far as using it for anything else, I don’t really look for other photographers, because I don’t want to compare myself at all. I find inspiration from other sources and it has to come from a very pure place.

JORGE: When you are not taking photos, what are you doing in your spare time to relax and stay creative?

CARLY: I have morning rituals that I do. A lot of it is just meditating and doing some yoga. I have a little altar where I sit and give thanks to my ancestors and connect with the people that I love. And then hiking, I’m not like a rock climber or anything but we live in such a beautiful landscape and being in tune with it has really helped me stay grounded and focused. It’s really good for the heart and mind.

JORGE: What advice would you give to young, aspiring artists interested in pursuing a career in photography today?

CARLY: Go for it. I think you should pursue all interests that you have.

Maybe photography will end up being it for you and maybe not. It’s still an incredible art form to explore and it’s very fulfilling in a lot of ways. If you’re serious about it, I wish that you would take the risk. I remember the first day I opened my photography studio and sitting at my desk and thinking, “What did I just do?” My portfolio was very minimal at the time, and I just, I just knew that I had the talent to pursue it — and so I went for it. Sometimes it’s really worth the risk.

web CARLYVALENTINEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM links DAUGHTERSOFTHEDESERT.COM

DAUGHTERS OF THE DESERT photography by CARLY VALENTINE

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Amairani

NORIEGA Amairiani Noriega grew up the youngest of three sisters in Thermal, CA., and describes it as “Small town, made up of pretty much all trailers and a few houses throughout, the rest is all agriculture.” In those formative years, before Netflix and chill, Amairana was looking for fun in creative places and ways. And she did. She was happy wandering outside in the sandy hills that surrounded her home. Amairani’s parents are immigrants from Mexico and they made a living in the best ways they could. Looking back, Amairani had everything she could ever need. In the last years of high school her family lived in Indio, CA., where she began to explore various creative outlets from photography, theater, and digital art. But Amairani’s main passion is drawing, here she discovered something magical about the simplicity of a pencil and paper. She transitioned into college and enrolled to Cal State LA. Amairani started experimenting with my art and her drawings went from realistic to more abstract.

Amairani stays motivated by the community that surrounds art. She is inspired by music, Coachella Valley sunsets and in organic things that experience life and death, because that is essentially the human condition. interview JORGE PEREZCHICA

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GROWTH

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ESPESURA - acrylic on paper

CHOKE

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CIRCLE OF LIFE

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TV GIRL

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DANCING DEATH

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top: LET GO COVER ART bottom: FATHER STRETCH MY HANDS REMIX

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DARLING GIRL RECORD

I FIND BEAUTY IN ORGANIC THINGS. THINGS THAT EXPERIENCE A LIFE AND A DEATH, BECAUSE THAT IS ESSENTIALLY THE HUMAN CONDITION. — AMAIRANI NORIEGA

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COACHELLA MAGAZINE: Can you tell us about yourself, growing up between Thermal and Indio, CA and your art background?

AMAIRANI NORIEGA: My name is Amairani Noriega. Most people call me Ami because it’s easier to pronounce. I’m 24 years old. I was born in Indio and raised in Thermal, CA. Anyone who grew up in Thermal knows, it’s a small town made up of pretty much all trailers and a few houses throughout, the rest is all agriculture.

I grew up the youngest of three sisters and now have a 7-year-old brother who lives in Coachella with my mom. I spent my last years of high school living in Indio and graduated from Indio High School.

That’s really where I met some of my good friends that I still keep in touch with and where I began to explore my artistic interests. Simply because my previous high school had less funding and offered less electives, which were always my favorite classes. When I moved to Indio, I started getting even more into theater, photography, and digital art. My passion is drawing. There is something magical for me about the simplicity of a pencil and paper. I also really enjoy painting, graphic design, printmaking, sculpting, and pretty much everything I can get my hands on. I’m a sucker for tea parties with my roommates, picnics, and skorts that are always too short.

CM: You mentioned growing up in a one bedroom trailer park in Thermal — what was that experience like? Was your family supportive towards your art and creative endeavors?

AMAIRANI: It’s mostly agriculture and trailer parks, so my sisters and I had to look for fun in creative places and ways. And we did.

This was well before Netflix, Hulu, or anything like that and we had no other choice than to wander outside in the sandy hills that surrounded where we lived. I grew up happy. I had everything I could ever need and looking back, I think part of that was because we were living so simply. My parents are immigrants from Mexico so they made a living in the best ways they could at the time, but they always made sure we were comfortable and I’m grateful for that. My sisters have always been supportive about my art, and while my parents weren’t unsupportive, I think there was definitely some disconnect about my projects outside of your basic STEM subjects. My eldest sister Veri was the bio major, the middle sister Oyuki was the math major, and then there was me, still trying to figure things out.

CM: Did you always want to be an artist. And was there a special point in your life that you felt art was going to be a career?

AMAIRANI: Actually no. As much as I love making and learning about art, I equally love learning about psychology, science, philosophy and math, so it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to major in or even consider art as a career. My eldest sister is the one who really sparked my interest in art and who inspired and encouraged me to be creative, but I always had the idea that I needed to have a career in math or science to really make my parents proud.

I kept thinking, what would bring in the most income. Surely I thought it would be science, so I enrolled at Cal State LA as a biology major. I did like genuinely like biology, and still do, but because my decision was influenced by money and not passion, I found myself doubting that I would actually enjoy a career in biology in the long term. It was really until I finally convinced myself that money is not an issue if you are doing what you love. Yes, that’s something you hear iterated so much, it’s a cliché. So cliché it’s almost like you don’t believe it applies to you personally. Though that’s not the case, what makes it cliché is that it’s so true. If you are doing what you love, you will find yourself around people who love that too and it makes the possibility of art as a career feel more obtainable and real. It took me a while to figure that out, and I will admit it was pretty scary, but after being in school for two years, I finally changed my major to graphic design and the opportunities that came from that decision have been amazing to say the least.

CM: What was the experience like moving from the Coachella Valley

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to attending college in Los Angeles? Was it a smooth transition?

What was the main thing you learned from your college experience?

AMAIRANI: It was an exciting transition. I grew up with a really strict mom and couldn’t wait to move out and go to college. I knew I wanted to live and go to school in LA because that’s where my sisters lived after they moved out. I would visit them while in high school during vacations and just fell in love (mostly with the climate difference). I’m kidding, although that was a plus. I was away from home and free from my parents jurisdiction. It represented freedom for me, and I knew the easiest way to keep that freedom was to go to school. When I first moved, I lived with my sister Oyuki, and my sister Veri lived 15 minutes from us. So I had their support in every way imaginable throughout that transition. And to this day, I still have that support, so I consider myself lucky for that. The most important thing I learned is probably the idea that school doesn’t make a person more intelligent. It’s not the institution, it’s the education. It sounds obvious but in my first years of college, I had this distorted idea that the person I was when I started school and the person I would be when I graduated were two totally alien people, not considering all the challenges in between. A lot of times I did feel like I wanted to give up and drop out and that school was a drag or it wasn’t for me. Yeah, it’s hard to juggle fun stuff and getting up early, but I had to really wake myself up and not just physically speaking but also mentally. I had to scold myself and remind myself that I’m lucky to even have this opportunity. Education is not about going from point A to point B, it’s not something you “finish” when you “graduate,” it’s about continually improving yourself so you better connect with your surroundings, especially other people.

Once I saw it in that light, I started taking school more seriously. All we need is to have that eagerness to continue to learn. In school, after school, or outside of school in general.

CM: How has your artwork evolved since graduating from college?

AMAIRANI: Tremendously. I really owe it to a handful of my art professors who actually put in the effort to make my classes more challenging but also taught me to be more aware of my surroundings.

And not only my art professors but my philosophy professors and peers that really challenged me and got me to think differently. Our environment is what influences us and the more you learn about the world around you and the people in it, the more you start to figure out how you can connect with that or if you’d like to connect with that at all. And when I started to kinda figure that out, I became more open to things that I might have considered uncomfortable otherwise. So I started experimenting with my art more. My drawings went from super realistic to more abstract.

CM: What keeps you most inspired and motivated as an artist?

AMAIRANI: What keeps me most motivated is the community that surrounds art. I’m amazed at all the different ways that creative people can come together. I’m inspired by my friends who are also visual artists or musicians. Seeing your friends conquer hardships and find successes alongside you is really motivating because it’s really is an amazing feeling to experience that growth together. I take a lot of inspiration from music itself. I’m also really inspired by nature. The Coachella Valley sunsets and cacti because that’s what I saw growing up. The best color palettes and patterns are found in nature as well. I find beauty in organic things. Things that experience a life and a death, because that is essentially the human condition.

We are all these “things” that live among one another and will all one day die, and that’s a beautiful thing we all have in common.

CM: You work both in illustration and graphic design. What is your creative process for each?

AMAIRANI: My creative process for both are quite similar. I like to use a lot of illustration in my graphics so I tend to begin my process with simple sketches after doing quite a bit of research. After

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OUR ENVIRONMENT IS WHAT INFLUENCES US, AND THE MORE YOU LEARN ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND YOU AND THE PEOPLE IN IT, THE MORE YOU START TO FIGURE OUT HOW YOU CAN CONNECT WITH THAT. — AMAIRANI NORIEGA

sketching out my ideas, I take the best qualities of each and combine them into a solidified sketch. Since my work is collaborative a lot of the time, I discuss that idea with whomever I’m working with. Once we come to an agreement I can finally start to draw it digitally. I just got an iPad which is really great because I can draw straight onto the program which cuts down my work time drastically. I run the final piece by my partner or client and make any final adjustments if needed.

CM: How would you describe your aesthetic and personal style?

AMAIRANI: I would say my style is organic. I tend to stay away from hard edges and use a lot of lines. It’s weird because when I draw with pencil I get very realistic with shading and detail but when I draw digitally that completely changes. My drawings are flatter and more 2-dimensional, and of course a lot more colorful. I love using bright backgrounds contrasted by white lines in the foreground.

CM: Are there any reoccurring motifs or themes you explore in your work? You mentioned beauty in nature and organic things.

AMAIRANI: Yeah, for the last two years or so I’ve been interested in exploring the idea of growth. I took a philosophy course about two or three years ago that focused on how to live a meaningful life, and a lot of material we read touched on the idea that to find meaning in one’s life, one must first have goals, and then take action in order to realize these goals. So naturally, I pondered that upon working on and reaching these goals, we experience growth. Whether that be intellectual growth, spiritual growth, and the more obvious, physical growth. A lot of my drawings, paintings, and graphics have been centralized around this idea, and so I’ve been using a lot of plants and flowers in my work as one way of representing that.

CM: What do you normally do on your spare time away from art?

AMAIRANI: I love live music so going to shows and concerts is a regular activity for me. I also really enjoy stand up comedy. So apart from watching a lot of it on TV, I often go to comedy shows around LA. More recently, I’ve been spending more time watching as many films as I can. I love visiting my favorite neighborhood coffee shop Holy Grounds. I love it because they host art nights as well as comedy nights and support local artists by selling some of their goods. They just recently reopened after getting hit by a car so I’m extremely happy to hear they are back. And lastly, I’m always up for trying new restaurants because who doesn’t love food?

CM: What are some challenges you have faced thus far as an artist and what have been exciting opportunities that came your way?

AMAIRANI: Working with musicians is always really exciting because one of my favorite challenges is representing music visually.

Working as a junior graphic designer for two years at Cal State LA was a great opportunity because it allowed me to have hands on experience early on that I would have otherwise not had until I got a job at a design firm. A huge challenge I face daily is finding validity in my career in between projects now that I’m not working in an office environment. It’s tough finding clients and then maintaining them and so when you’re working a normal job to survive, it’s easy to get stuck in that cycle because having money flow in constantly is

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nice. Having enough money to make your rent, eat, and still be able to do fun stuff between projects is definitely a struggle.

CM: Can you tell us a bit about one of your favorite projects you completed?

AMAIRANI: My senior project was probably the most challenging but also the most rewarding project I’ve worked on. Challenging because we had the freedom to create anything that fell under the category of graphic design, so I couldn’t decide what I wanted to make. Then, I had the crazy idea to make a book. I took this opportunity to really explore the ideas of growth and decay that I have been so intrigued by. What I didn’t consider was that I had decided to write and illustrate a book, and make a gallery installation for the finished product in about 13 weeks time give or take. And like, how do you successfully illustrate the idea that since we all experience growth and decay, we should learn to accept death and not let it dictate our actions? Because if you think about it, a lot of times we let our our fears consume us. We might stop ourselves from experiencing something, closing the door to a possibility of growth, out of fear of failing or fear of getting hurt. So I had some help with the writing portion of the book, because I’m better visually than I am poetically, and then did it. I made a book and made an installation for it in order to exhibit it in the gallery.

CM: What advice do you have for young aspiring artists interested in pursuing a career in the creative industry?

AMAIRANI: My advice would be to not get discouraged by seeing the successes of everyone around you. It’s easy to fall into that pit, scrolling endlessly on Instagram, seeing what everyone else is up to.

Just remember, everyone works at their own pace and everyone is dealing with their own hardships. Also, everything on social media is only a small spectrum of all the possibilities in the world, and frankly, there’s already enough of that going around. Be as weird and as different as you possibly can because that’s what will set you apart.

CM: What are you currently working on and where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

AMAIRANI: Right now, I’m really just trying to establish myself as a working artist. I’m building a clientele because that’s how you survive as a freelance graphic designer. Meanwhile, I’m working on fun projects like a Day of the Dead themed t-shirt design for Selenamos, a Selena cover band based in LA that will be performing on a cruise ship. I’m also working on a branding project for a new cannabis company that is based in Pomona.

CM: Thank you very much for your time.

AMAIRANI: Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know artists from the Coachella Valley. It’s quite nice to see people from your hometown being creative and doing well. I think the valley needs more representation aside from Coachella Fest because anyone from the valley knows that Coachella Fest is only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more hidden beneath the surface.

web CLARADELAVERNO.COM

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kat

BING

From murals, to graphic design, festival installations and music videos, Katherine Bingley aka Katbing has appeared in unexpected places with quirky characters and a warm color palette. When she used a white trash receptacle as a canvas because she forgot her sketchbook and turned it into a work of art, I couldn’t help but take notice. As I browsed through her image gallery on social media, I found a familiar work painted at Bart Lounge, a popular bar+art hangout in my hometown Cathedral City, CA. At first glace, viewers can glean a sense of the artist’s personality pervade throughout her work, composed with humor, imagination and curiosity. Katbing says, she is inspired by the people around her and how ridiculous life is.

The artist is usually asking questions about why things are the way they are. Sometimes it’s more therapeutic. interview JORGE PEREZCHICA

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PHOTO BY LEXI BONIN COACHELLA MAGAZINE

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EMPATHY’S CHILL

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‘MERIKUH 2017

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MUSIC TASTES GOOD FESTIVAL 2016 — LONG BEACH, CA PHOTO BY JOHN BENSON MEDINA

DESERT DAZE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2017 - JOSHUA TREE, CA

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COACHELLA 2017 - THE EMPIRE POLO CLUB IN INDIO, CA

BART LOUNGE, CATHEDRAL CITY, CA.

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JORGE: Can you tell us about yourself, where you grew up and your art background?

KATBING: I grew up mostly in San Dimas, CA and was back and forth between Sacramento and Pasadena for a while. I was really into skateboard art in elementary school and Jr. high and I’d make copies of World Industries, Toy Machine etc. stickers for my friends’ to put on their binders. In high school, I took two years of art and it was always my favorite class, but I had no idea it’d lead anywhere.

After working retail jobs and being back and forth with community colleges, I finally decided I was going to make graphic design my career because it sounded like a practical living that incorporated art.

Even though I kind of hate design sometimes, I realized recently that it made me a much better and more patient illustrator and painter.

Also, knowing adobe software helps me with proposals for murals and installations hard core.

JORGE: When we met at Coachella, you mentioned that you forgot your sketchbook, so then you started drawing on the cardboard recycle bins at the festival. What were the reaction and feedback you got?

KATBING: I was sitting in the one of the beer gardens before my merch shift and I was all ready to sit down, drink a beer and do some doodling in my sketchbook. When I realized I didn’t have it in my backpack, I just started looking around for some paper and I saw those white cardboard box trash cans and I was like fuck yaaa perfect. This was the first one I sharpie’d up. I dragged it off to be side of the beer garden and started drawing on it. A couple of security guards were standing around shootin the shit n one of them was talking about the festival goers and how some of them were beautiful and some, not so much — to which the older security guard responded, “Everybody got a lil beauty in em.” So I wrote it on the box and when I turned it around, the guy saw it and loved it. So I asked his name and wrote it next to his quote. I think I drew on 7 or 8 trash cans on weekend 2.

JORGE: What was your experience like at Coachella this year overall and working at the merchandise booth?

KATBING: It was BUSY and hot, but I had a great time. Especially the second weekend because I got to see a lot more bands and enjoy the fest and art during the day. And Bonobo and Mitski ruled ass.

Holy shit.

JORGE: I love the warm color palette and sense of humor in your work. Where does your inspiration come from? What keeps you motivated as an artist?

KATBING: Thank you! I’m pretty inspired by the people around me and how ridiculous life is. I’m usually asking questions with my work.

Why are things the way they are? Why are people the way they are?

Why am I the way I am? I guess I’m always trying to find meaning in things and my art is either trying to find an answer or trying to forget that I have so many questions. Sometimes it’s more therapeutic. I’ll draw or paint for myself and it makes me feel like I have a purpose. I love being around people and I always wanna be good to the people around me, and if I’m making art and making myself feel worth something, it makes me more lively to be around and I can be more interested in the lives of others and make my people feel good about themselves. I ask myself the, “why do I make art” question all the time and it always comes back to this, “It makes me feel good,” which makes me a pleasant person to be around. Because if I’m happy, I can make others happy.

JORGE: You work in various mediums from, illustration, grahic design and painting murals. What is the creative process for each?

KATBING: I started illustrating with ink and color pencil while I was getting my degree in graphic design. I was tired of all the rules of design and I needed an outlet where I could make art on my terms and get messy. Eventually, I started drawing with fancy markers and it

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became more than just doodling. A lot of the time, I illustrate with the intention of it becoming something bigger. So I’ll draw with marker on paper then transfer the design onto a huge canvas or wall. For murals, I use house paint, roller brushes and paint pens. I love doin murals. Let me paint one for you.

JORGE: How would you describe your artwork and personal style?

KATBING: I’d describe my art as playful and colorful and cartoonish and obnoxious with some interwoven themes of anxiety and depression and cynicism. Does that make sense? Abstract? It’s abstract.

JORGE: I actually first noticed one of your murals at Bart Lounge about 2 years ago, but didn’t have the artist name attached to it. I’ve always liked your style and I’m glad I finally got to meet the artist. Can you tell us a bit about that piece and how the mural came about?

KATBING: My awesome friend Michael Murphy, was about to open his new bar/arcade/gallery, Bart Lounge in Palm Springs and when he asked me to paint a mural, I was super excited. Michael’s an amazing artist with great taste, so I was pretty thrilled about this one. He picked out one of my illustrations on Instagram and asked me to do something like it on the wall. I’m so honored to have a mark in Palm Springs next to Michael’s awesome murals and a bunch of other incredible artists.

JORGE: I notice reoccurring motifs in your work such as faces and fish.

What do these mean to you and how do you use them to express your ideas in your art?

KATBING: I started drawing the fish a few years back while listening to “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” by Radiohead. I remember I was at my friend Alex’s apartment and we were listening to it on vinyl- because we’re that cool- and I was doodling and the weird fishes with humanish faces just looked so cool to me. I’m pretty sure it was Alex’s idea, but don’t tell her that. The weird fish is kind of one of my symbols now. I’ve made stickers, got a tattoo, I even painted one at a bar/hostel in Cambodia.

JORGE: What are some of the challenges and benefits artists face today as compared to the past, before the internet and social media?

KATBING: Well Van Gogh didn’t have Prozac or social media, so that’s a bummer. Instagram and Facebook have been so so helpful for me.

I get inspired by other artists all the time. I can communicate with other artists, I feel validated when I get a shit ton of likes and so many opportunities have come out of having an internet presence. Sometimes it’s overwhelming though because I’m just a small fish in this huge social media art world and I worry that I might not have the thing that sets me apart. BUT that’s when I try to remind myself that I’m doin this art thang for me and fuck everything else. Sometimes it works.

JORGE: Can you tell us a bit about one of your favorite projects your working on or completed?

KATBING: Favorite project so far was an 8x8x8 foot box installation at Music Tastes Good Festival in Long Beach. It had faces on each side singing lyrics to songs by artists performing at the festival (Warpaint, Iron & Wine, dr. Dog and the specials). It was quite a process, from the initial mock up proposal to meetings with the art director of the festival and budget proposals. It made me realize that I can really do anything if I get the right resources. I look forward to going even bigger with future installations.

JORGE: What direction do you see yourself going as an artist 5 to 10 years from now?

KATBING: BIG. And all over the world. Stay tuned.

JORGE: What are you currently working on?

KATBING: I’m painting an acoustic guitar for a friend and I’m working on some mural and installation mock ups for upcoming events.

web KATBING.COM

“

I’M PRETTY INSPIRED BY THE PEOPLE AROUND ME AND HOW RIDICULOUS LIFE IS. I’M USUALLY ASKING QUESTIONS WITH MY WORK. WHY ARE THINGS THE WAY THEY ARE? WHY ARE PEOPLE THE WAY THEY ARE? WHY AM I THE WAY I AM? I GUESS I’M ALWAYS TRYING TO FIND MEANING IN THINGS AND MY ART IS EITHER TRYING TO FIND AN ANSWER OR TRYING TO FORGET THAT I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS. — Katbing

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ART INTE R NATI ON A L title: VISIBLE DISTANCE / SECOND SIGHT location: GENE AUTRY TRAIL AND VISTA CHINO artist: JENNIFER BOLANDE

photo by LANCE GERBER, courtesy of DESERT X

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THANX, Back in February 2017, I toured Desert X, a site-specific biennial exhibition that took art outside the museum walls. It created an Alice in Wonderland kind of experience from installations to live performances. The tour resonated with a deep sense of awe, because it was more than just art, it challenged viewers to discover new places throughout the desert and see the world from a new perspective.

I had a blast visiting each work and envision Desert X becoming a beacon for innovative art that is pushing boundaries. As a Coachella Valley resident, Desert X proved to be another great reason to love my hometown and welcome visitors from all over the world. I am already looking forward to the 2019 edition. — Jorge Perezchica

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title: ONE I CALL location: WHITEWATER PRESERVE artist: SHERIN GUIRGUIS

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ONE I CALL IS A SITE-SPECIFIC SCULPTURE. THE PIECE IS MODELED AFTER TRADITIONAL PIGEON TOWERS FOUND THROUGHOUT THE DESERT VILLAGES OF EGYPT. — Sherin Guirguis

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title: DONATION BOX location: 2500 N PALM CANYON DR, PALM SPRINGS artist: GABRIEL KURI

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title: CURVES AND ZIG ZAGS location: HOMME-ADAMS PARK artist: CLAUDIA COMTE

title: SHYBOT location: EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE artist: NORMA JEANE

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title: THIRD PLACE 2017 location: 64150 PIERSON BLVD, DESERT HOT SPRINGS artist: RICHARD PRINCE

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top title: HOLLOW EARTH location: AVE 42 & GOLF CENTER PKWY, INDIO artist: GLENN KAINO opposite title: MONUMENT location: RAMON RD & BOB HOPE DR, RANCHO MIRAGE artist: WILL BOONE

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top title: HEARTH location: SUNNYLANDS CENTER & GARDENS, 37977 BOB HOPE DRIVE, RANCHO MIRAGE artist: LITA ALBUQUERQUE opposite title: ALIVE! location: PALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM artist: JEFFREY GIBSON

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“

IT WAS LIKE A HUMBLE, NICE LITTLE SWEET PARTY THAT I REMEMBER FROM MY YOUTH IN THE DESERT.

title: LA FIESTA EN EL DESIERTO location: 85963 GRAPEFRUIT BLVD, COACHELLA artist: ARMANDO LERMA

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— Armando Lerma

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Artist Tavares Strachan at opening reception, February 24, 2017

view from the sky

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I AM, JUST AS I THINK OR I WANT, ARE EGOISTS ASSERTIONS, YET THE EGO IS NOT SHAMEFUL WHEN IT IS ALIGNED WITH SOMETHING GREATER (HEART, SPIRIT, PEOPLE OR LAND).

— Tavares Strachan

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title: “I AM” location: 35050 VIA FLORENCIA, RANCHO MIRAGE, CA 92270 artist: TAVARES STRACHAN

title: MIRAGE location: DESERT PALISADES artist: DOUG AITKEN

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photo by LANCE GERBER

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MY INSTALLATION IS CALLED THE CIRCLE OF LAND AND SKY. IT’S A 165 FOOT DIAMETER CIRCLE MADE UP OF 300 MIRROR-POLISHED, STAINLESS STEEL REFLECTORS THAT REFLECT THE LAND AS YOU APPROACH IT AND REFLECT ONLY THE SKY WHEN YOUR IN THE CENTER. IT’S A PIECE THAT YOU CAN NEVER SEE THE SAME WAY TWICE. IT’S HIGHLY INTERACTIVE, ALWAYS IN THE STATE OF CHANGE, DEPENDING ON WHERE THE SUN IS, DEPENDING ON WHERE THE SKY IS, DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU ARE WITHIN THE SPACE OF THE DESERT. I WANT TO DO THINGS BIGGER AND MORE EXPERIENTIAL. I WANT TO DO THE KINDS OF PROJECTS THAT WILL AFFECT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AND THE BEST WAY TO DO IT IS OUTSIDE OF THE MUSEUM OR GALLERY WALLS. PROJECTS LIKE DESERT X WHERE IT’S OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND IT’S FREE AND ANYONE CAN SEE IT 24 HOURS A DAY. IT’S A VERY UNIQUE ART EXPERIENCE, IT’S AMAZING. — Phillip K SMith III

”

title: THE CIRCLE OF LAND AND SKY location: FRANK SINATRA DR & PORTOLA AVE, PALM DESERT artist: PHILLIP K SMITH III

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M USIC

THE

INTERVIEWS

photo credit: Copyright Roger Ho ©Coachella 2017

CHICANO BATMAN CARLOS ARÉVALO, BARDO MARTINEZ, EDUARDO ARENAS and GABRIEL VILLA At FUTURE MUSIC Los Angeles, CA. photograph by Lunafora

CHICANO BATMAN interview ROWLAND AKINDURO

ROWLAND: How would you guys describe your music to someone who’s never heard your shit before?

Chicano Batman: Capirotada!

BARDO: Okay, Capirotada is a Mexican type of food. It’s actually like a dessert, and they put all kinds of goods. It’s like they put a bunch of bread, cheese, ice cream, and they put it in the oven for hours. And it comes up — well my aunt puts ice cream in it.

EDUARDO: Raisins, Coconuts, plums it has everything and everyone has their own twist.

ROWLAND: So an amalgamation of the sweet stuff.

BARDO: Yes, exactly.

ROWLAND: Good stuff. I was listening to your songs and I noticed there’s a lot of very soulful elements to them. You’d say, is that the driving force behind your sound?

BARDO: I think it’s four of us, so we all have different drives. But I think we kind of all settled on this aesthetic of soul music and how soul music has basically wrapped its arms around the world. Whether it’s from Latin America, whether it’s Asia, Africa, etcetera. Soul music has influenced each other throughout — soul music has traveled the world, and artists have influenced themselves collectively throughout the centuries. James Brown influenced people. May have influenced somebody like... Give me somebody. Who James Brown might have influenced. Somebody — CARLOS: Fela Kuti.

EDUARDO: Exactly. That’s a good example.

CARLOS: He takes the sound and flips it and makes it his own thing.

That’s just, what’s happening. Soul music we’re influenced by it and it just does that.

BARDO: Yeah and Fela Kuti also influenced Lisandro Meza in Colombia. They do a track and just cover a Fela Kuti track or an Afrobeat track or whatever in the 70s.

ROWLAND: So the influencers of the influencers.

Bardo: Yeah exactly.

ROWLAND: And it keeps going.

BARDO: Yeah and we kind of like, really kind of focused on late 60’s and 70s music.

ROWLAND: Which in that era to me I feel is really quality versus quantity oriented. Would you guys say that you have that aesthetic to yourselves? To your sound?

BARDO: Yeah definitely. It took us a long time to put out this last album that we just finished, and we put a lot of energy into making sure that the sounds were right. We worked with a producer from New York his name is Leon Michels. He’s part of the Menahan Street Band.

That whole Daptone Records crew who he has worked with in the past.

So those guys have definitely been studying that sound for a long time.

The gear that they have in that studio is of that aesthetic. You know what I mean? That’s what they focus on. They put a lot of energy into making sure they get those- and craft those sounds.

BARDO: So we were very lucky to have connected with them. To approach the aesthetic that we’ve been working at for a long time now.

ROWLAND: And this is the first time you’re working with him?

EDUARDO: Our first album was a late 60s exploration and now we’re about 1974. If you want to talk about-

ROWLAND: Timetables. Time scale?

EDUARDO: Yeah. Exploration. Wild. Wilderness. You know, adventures and how we’re honing in on the dimensions of our latest album.

ROWLAND: And you have some experience in production as well, right? In producing other bands and- Is that something that adds to your own sound? And maybe talk about the experience with that.

BARDO: Sure.

EDUARDO: Yeah. I mean, we all have gear we use to record. We’ve been doing it for a long time our first album we recorded at my house down the street, when I lived here. That required Gabriel to bring all his microphones and all our collective instruments. The second album was the same way. We recorded it at his house, we brought in everything we got. It’s just like every damn cable. Every adapter we had. So by the time we’ve come to this level, recording the last album, we had some experience in terms of mic placements but I think we focused on arrangements.

BARDO: Arrangements.

EDUARDO: Arrangements is key. Simplification. Letting harmonies pop out. I think in this album we’re more focused as musicians than we are as engineers, as producers considering we’re working with a hot team with Leon Michaels as producer as Bardo was saying.

Rowland: I was watching an interview with Keith Richards and he was talking about how even just that space, the space between sonic arrangements like you’re talking about like melodic compositions is super important. That air. When I hear your sound I kind of hear pauses in the right time. It’s not constantly filled with unnecessaryBardo: Yeah. I feel like that’s always a constant challenge to get the vibe.

Like to get a particular feeling you know what I mean? It’s always about different feelings. For all of us it is. I mean, yeah for this record we’re definitely approaching different songs with different feelings. Like we have one song called La Jura which is a slow build. We have like- it’s just guitars. You know what I mean? And then the beat drops a minute later. You know what I mean?

Bardo: So we definitely play with that, there’s all kinds of vibes but you know. Chicano Batman is about continuously delving into different vibrations and feelings.

ROWLAND: How has it been dealing with stereotypes?

BARDO: It’s been rough. It’s been a constant — I mean, our name is Chicano Batman so... Obviously a lot of people take that as face value.

You know we’re artists right? So we’re working in the world of ideas.

So... You don’t know how somebody’s going to interpret you. You have no idea, so obviously we get that because of how we look.

Rowland: Like a gimmick flack and then all of a sudden they realize they’re exposed to this whole different world once they hear you.

Bardo: Yeah. Hopefully. I mean that’s what we’re working towards.

EDUARDO: But you know that’s good man. You know, I think that’s a positive thing. When somebody comes at you with judgment on who you are it exposes more about who they are. You know? Without having to have listened to anything. So it just talks about- it just starts rooting people in their own perceptions of reality. The reality is there is a lot of people creating beautiful art. Creating a lot of beautiful novels, contributing to the world of philosophical frame of thought in our position today and I think that if people aren’t ready for that they have

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a lot of work to do themselves. Despite whatever color, or gender or orientation we are. It’s all contributing to this bigger thing. You’re either ready for it or not but if you’re not, you’re going to be left behind.

Rowland: You believe in aliens?

EDUARDO: Hell yeah.

ROWLAND: Collectively?

GABRIEL: Yeah I guess so. You have to believe in a lot of things.

Eduardo: I think if we don’t believe in aliens we’re ignorant, man. We’re one small little ass rock in a big ass universe. So if you don’t believe in aliens, then I don’t know what you believe in.

ROWLAND: What is something your fans will be super duper surprised about. About individually about you guys? Like that they wouldn’t normally know about you?

BARDO: That’s a good question. That’s a hard one.

EDUARDO: Talk about your three testicles. I’m messing I’m messing.

BARDO: I think that’s what’s going to be surprising to some folks. I think this guy right here as some of the most amazing life experiences that — of anyone that I’ve known.

ROWLAND: Dos Equis guy got nothing on ya?

BARDO: Yeah straight up this guy is the guy, you know what I mean?

He used to be the man with the mullet, now he’s the man with the cut off ruffles.

EDUARDO: Wolverine.

BARDO: Yeah man, this guy has been all over the place. He left Colombia when he was young. I mean he could tell you his own story.

GABRIEL: Yeah in Colombia I just travel, be lucky to go to Europe and have an amazing experience and discover amazing music over there. Basically. And just develop this passion and get to California and meet these guys that’s like the craziest adventure.

BARDO: He studied drumming in France for five years.

Rowland: Whoah.

GABRIEL: Yeah and this guy hereBARDO: Fluent French. Speaks fluent French.

GABRIEL: Amazing to find guys-cats that inspire me every day, you know? Like we discovered new sounds. Like this album, I basically discovered soul music through their own listening experience. For me that’s new but I’m trying to get into that mood and vibe with the old records and jam and all the compositions and bringing it to band. So its like everyday is a different journey here. Yesterday I was in Colombia, right now I am here.

ROWLAND: Oh wow. That’s awesome. That’s pretty crazy. You guys just came off a tour.

BARDO: We just came back from San Francisco, we played a sold-out in Fillmore. Actually pretty much the whole tour was sold out which was great. We started off in Seattle and so our last show, which was a few days ago Saturday night at the Roxy was sold out.

ROWLAND: Nice.

BARDO: So yeah it was a good feeling.

ROWLAND: And you guys have some upcoming?

CARLOS: Yeah that was basically — this is basically a little gap we have in the tour but the meat of the tour doesn’t start until the end of the week and that’s when we’re gone for about a month. So the West Coast, which is like a ten day thing and then we tour the whole country all the way back to Coachella. In April. That’s when we’ll be back.

ROWLAND: How does it feel being vets?

CARLOS: We’re probably more seasoned performers I would say.

We played on some pretty big stages since then. That just helps you build confidence and also our musicianship keeps getting stronger and stronger and I think we pay attention to more things like production value in our shows now. We’re bringing a three piece back up vocalist this time around. They’re in this band called Seventy Nine Point Five.

Basically when we recorded the new album we had these singers from

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the band Mariachi Flor de Toloache record the backup vocals on that whole record and to recreate those sounds live we were able to get another group of musicians to come in and sing with us. I think just paying attention to stuff like that.

ROWLAND: What’s the most fucked up thing you’ve seen on the road before?

CARLOS: Let me see.

BARDO: Let me see.

GABRIEL: On the road, on the road when you’re driving and you see the dead carcasses, all the roadkills.

CARLOS: The roadkill on I-10 going to Texas.

BARDO: It’s pretty bad. Coyotes and shit run over.

EDUARDO: We could work as a pound. You know like animal control? If we had a side gig as animal control we could be making a good living. Cause we’re on a tour bus.

BARDO: Exactly. Picking it up while as we go down the 10.

EDUARDO: Yeah on the 10 freeway.

BARDO: Man we would have that shit full.

Eduardo: I mean do you want deer? Do you want coyote? What you want? What you want? You want porcupine? We got you. What you need? You need rat?

ROWLAND: What’s the last thing that you guys wanna mention that maybe we didn’t mention in this interview?

BARDO: Our album is out, it’s called Freedom is Free. We released itseems like a few days ago. It’s out worldwide. You can find it wherever and get your copy.

Eduardo: I think most importantly is to give thanks to the fans because they’re the ones who are putting us here eight years strong. People have a relationship to our band, to us. I think none of this would ever be possible without them. They’re the ones who keep coming, who keep sharing our music to their friends and to their loved ones. And that love just keeps growing and the community just keeps getting bigger.

We’re nobody without the help of the people.

ROWLAND: I have a special question for you guys from Arturo and Erika Castellanos from the 760. They said: “What’s the meaning in the song Balloons? And why the balloon?”

BARDO: It’s really like a simple song. For me it’s about an existential experience. I was just hanging out at the park and I saw a spider just like- actually I didn’t know what it was but it looked just like a balloon flying away. You know? And then I was just staring at it for a long time I was just chilling. Relaxing. You know. Just enjoying delving into my own thoughts. You know what I mean? And then I saw this balloon flying away and the more I stared at it the more I realized that it was a spider. And then I just kind of tripped out on my own, my own thought process.

ROWLAND: Whoah.

BARDO: You know what I mean? Just like- that’s what I mean by existential. That it’s like your perception, et cetera. You know. Kind of the way like, you see somebody like Aldous Huxley writes about perception. Obviously you have all kinds people who have written it in reference to drugs and to LSD and all those things. Like in the sixties and whatnot. It’s really, as George Harrison would say, it’s in your head.

It has nothing to do with drugs you can get on a trip without drugs.

It’s just all how you perceive and how you are able to connect with the world around you.

ROWLAND: Thank you guys very much.

EDUARDO: Thank you.

GABRIEL: Rowland, nice to meet you.

BARDO: Great to meet you brother.

EDUARDO: Thanks I know it was a bit of a mission.

ROWLAND: You too brother. Labor of Love.

To watch the video interview, scan this QR Code

INDIO, CALIFORNIA

photo credit: Erik Voake ©Coachella 2017

photo credit: Charles Reagan Hackleman ©Coachella 2017

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photo credit: Chris Miller ©Coachella 2017

PHANTOGRAM interview JORGE PEREZCHICA

PHANTOGRAM: My name is Josh from Phantogram, and I’m Sarah.

JORGE: Can you tell us about your Coachella weekend 1 experience and do you plan to do anything differently for weekend two?

JOSH: We had a lot of fun. We had a really good time and a great audience.

This weekend we’re going to switch up our setlist a little bit and just rock out. And we’ve been on a little tour in between. So we’re staying busy.

JORGE: Can you tell us about your new album titled “Three.”

JOSH: Our new album is just a natural progression of what we do as a band. It’s a little bit different and more to the point I think as far as a pop sensibility goes, where the songs are a bit shorter. It’s not a very long album but we’re definitely very proud of it, it’s very strong and the most running theme throughout the album is pretty much about like — I guess heartbreak in a lot of ways.

JORGE: When you prepare for a festival like Coachella, is there anything that you do differently compared to other festivals or venues?

JOSH: Well, when you play a festival like Coachella or any festival, we know that we’re limited on time to a degree, like we’re only playing 50 minutes set as opposed to normally we play for an hour and 20 minutes. So we’ve got to figure out what songs that we want to play and we try to think of in a festival kind of crowd — what the audience would probably prefer to hear more. You can’t play too many of the slow jams, you’ve got to keep people

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alive on their toes. So yeah we just put forth the same energy at festivals that we do in our live show at venues or clubs or theaters. And we’re happy that it translates and we’re happy that we have fans that come to see us play.

JORGE: Has there any been a moment that stands out to you at Coachella?

SARAH: I think for me, seeing the crowd and seeing how many people showed up was actually a moment. I think for us there was like thirtythousand people watching us and I think it’s been one of our biggest festivals so far. So that was great.

JOSH: Yeah, definitely looking out into the audience and just remembering that were like, “Wow, holy crap!” We’re just humans and there are all these other human beings here to see us perform, and it’s a really amazing experience to get to entertain people and create art that affects so many people that care.

JORGE: Is there any artists you’re looking forward to seeing at the festival?

JOSH: I’m looking forward to seeing Radiohead tonight for sure. I think us and the whole band is. We’re gonna play and then hang out for a little bit, have a couple drinks and then go watch Radiohead play.

JORGE: Anything else you would like to add or say to your fans?

JOSH: Thanks for listening and if you haven’t heard of us, check us out.

Come to our live show, you won’t be disappointed, and look out for new material coming out. And thanks to Coachella for having us.

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photo credit: Charles Reagan Hackleman ©Coachella 2017

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photo credit: Erik Voake ©Coachella 2017

BISHOP BRIGGS interview JORGE PEREZCHICA

JORGE: You were born in London, moved to Tokyo at age four with your family and then grew up in Hong Kong from the age of 10-18. What was your childhood experience like before you moving to Los Angeles?

BISHOP BRIGGS: It wasn’t until I moved to LA that I found out it was a very weird upbringing, but I think it’s all about what’s being played in your living room. And I was really lucky my parents were always playing Motown music and Otis Redding, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. So it really inspired me to pursue music.

JORGE: Did signing come natural to you?

BISHOP: Well, thankfully when I was four, which is when I started doing karaoke, I was so fearless. Then of course as I got older, I became very insecure and scared, but I tried to never let it stop me and I just tried to put my all into every performance.

JORGE: You attended the Musician’s Institute in Los Angeles, what did you gain the most from that experience?

BISHOP: That was where I first got really introduced to performing other people’s songs. I was really lucky for my final project, I got to sing “Piece of My Heart” by Janice Joplin and that’s when I finally felt like myself. I jumped around on stage. I was screaming, I was on my knees and that’s how I perform now. So, it was a great introduction to all of that.

JORGE: Can you tell us about the lyrics and music video to “Wild Horses?”

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BISHOP: Wild Horses was written during a really dark time in my life, you know. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be free or happy and could I have both and that’s what the song is about. To be able to write such a dark song and then have it in a commercial was such a huge dream come true. And then as far as the music video, it was about creating this mystical world and these different characters, these different facets of my personality.

JORGE: What was your experience like performing at Coachella?

BISHOP: Oh my gosh. It’s so surreal to be here and experiencing this. I’ve always dreamed of playing here. We’re really lucky we got to play the Gobi Stage after Jack Garratt, which I can’t even believe and we get to do it all over again this weekend. So I’m really excited. And then today I got to go out on stage with Banks & Steelz, which was so much fun. So it’s truly been a dream come true. This whole thing.

JORGE: What is something about you that fans may be surprised to know?

BISHOP: I do talk a lot on twitter and I talk a lot on Snapchat and I talk a lot on Instagram. So I don’t know if I’ve done a good job at keeping any form of mystique. Something people would be surprised to know about me is that I play Sims, the video game. Which basically means I create houses and families and careers in an online version — it means I’m the coolest person in the world.

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photo credit: Everett Fitzpatrick ©Coachella 2017

“

I’M ALWAYS JUMPING AROUND AND IT’S KIND OF MY WAY TO EXPRESS MYSELF. THE LYRICS AND THE MUSIC THAT’S WRITTEN IS STRAIGHT OUT OF MY DIARY, YOU KNOW, IT’S A REALLY INTIMATE MOMENT. SO IT’S KIND OF MY WAY OF EXPRESSING; THROUGH JUMPING AROUND, SWEATING, CRYING, LAUGHING, HAVING IT ALL ON STAGE AND BEARING IT ALL. — Bishop Briggs

”

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photo credit: Greg Noire ©Coachella 2017

SOFI TUKKER interview GISELLE WOO

GISELLE: Briefly tell us how you two met. Was it an instant connection?

SOPHIE: It kind of was, actually. We were both at Brown [University] and we met our senior year. I was playing acoustic bossa nova — jazz inspired music — and Tucker [was] a house music DJ. We were playing the same party at this art gallery. Tucker came early, saw my set, and ended up remixing one of my songs on the spot. It was really fun and sounded really cool. Basically since that day we’ve been working together every day.

If you hadn’t met, where do you think your paths would have led you?

SOPHIE: I really don’t know. I had a fellowship in Brazil I was planning to go to. I didn’t know what was going to happen [once] I was there, but I was going to teach music and yoga and just kind of see what happened from there. I just love Brazil and the music there. So that was my plan, but it was kind of a short-term plan. I think I was hoping it would lead me to music in some way.

TUCKER: I knew I was going to try to do the music thing. That was my passion after I stopped playing basketball, but I didn’t really know how I was going to do it. It was really nice to find a partner to do it with. I mean, I wasn’t like, scouring the streets looking for a good musical partner, but luckily it happened.

SOPHIE: “Scouring the streets…” (laughs) Sophie, you mentioned that deep inside you wanted music to be a part of your life?

SOPHIE: Yeah, definitely. Even when I didn’t say it out loud, I think inside I was hoping that would be the case. I used to tell people that I wanted to be

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a firefighter ballerina, but what I really meant was [a] rockstar.

TUCKER: Now we start fires instead of putting them out. (drops mic) How would you describe SOFI TUKKER to readers that haven’t heard your music?

TUCKER: It’s hard to describe. Whenever I start to describe what we do, people look confused. “Well, it’s like house music but, you know, it’s half in Portuguese, and Sophie plays guitar and sings, and I do like, low talking. I play some bass, I hit some books.”

SOPHIE: When we get to the ‘books’ part, they start scratching their heads.

Is there something that your fans would be surprised to know about you?

TUCKER: Maybe that we tour around the country in a little minivan.

GISELLE: That’s so rad, do you guys drive it yourselves?

TUCKER: I wish Sophie would help...

SOPHIE: (laughs) Can you tell us how it felt being on the Gobi Stage — making us all dance — both weekend one and two of Coachella?

SOPHIE: It felt so good. I mean, we didn’t know what to expect. We didn’t know if anybody would show up — it was so hot.

TUCKER: We knew that Coachella was really famous for a reason, but we didn’t really know why everyone was like, “Holy shit, you’re playing Coachella?” We were like, “Well, you know, we’ve done some other festivals.

It can’t be that different.” And it really was different. When we were up there, and after the shows, we were really kind of mind blown. [We] thought, “Wow, something cool just happened.” It felt really good to connect with

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photo credit: Greg Noire ©Coachella 2017

that many people. They were so willing and open to take our vibes and vibrate them right back.

Did you guys feel a difference between weekend one and weekend two?

SOPHIE: Definitely. Weekend one for me was way more nerve wracking.

TUCKER: It was more stressful and way serious. We also had a lot more press.

SOPHIE: I didn’t remember to drink and eat, and I was just on stage like (faint laugh). But the second weekend was kind of the opposite because we knew how to prepare, so we drank a lot of water.

TUCKER: We know how to do festivals now.

What was your impression of the festival? Was there a special moment that stands out to you?

TUCKER: It was way better than I could’ve even thought, to be honest. I was real excited just because it’s “Coachella” and it’s such a “thing.” I really didn’t know how cool it was. The art created a vibe and an openness. Having weird unicorns in the middle of the place — I feel like it made everyone feel like a unicorn (laughs). And just the openness and the friendliness of everyone.

SOPHIE: I think that everybody really put a lot of effort and care into what they were wearing. How they were freely expressing themselves — both energetically and visually — I think it made for a really amazing, open vibe, like Tucker said.

TUCKER: I think my favorite moment was after the second show. I was so excited ‘cause I felt so good about the show and the connection we made and everything. We went and danced at Maya Jane Cole’s DJ set in the YUMA tent an hour after we got off stage. It was probably my favorite moment in the whole two weeks.

What was the concept behind your stage design? Can you explain the wheel with the animal-printed drum pads?

SOPHIE: Those are actually books. That’s why Tucker was saying he hits books (laughs).

TUCKER: We put contact microphone triggers inside every book, so when [we] hit it, it plays a sample. It’s different in each song. It was a fun, cheap and creative way to play, build our own instrument and get something different on stage. It kind of becomes a third member.

Sophie, how long have you been playing guitar? What is your songwriting process like and when does Tucker come in, or vice versa?

SOPHIE: I haven’t actually been playing the electric guitar for very long. I started playing the electric guitar the day that we wrote “Drinkee,” which was our last week of college. That was a couple years ago. We pretty much make the songs in the same room together, just vibing off each other the whole time. It’s not like I write a riff separately and then bring it to Tucker.

[I doodle] around while we’re together making the song, and maybe there’s already some drums, maybe there’s bass, maybe there’s nothing.

TUCKER: Sometimes I’ll be like, “Wait, do that part again!” or “What did you just do with the walk up here?” And sometimes she just nails it right away. It depends.

Tucker, if you could be an animal, what would you be?

TUCKER: I’d be a giraffe, but a lion is cool.

SOPHIE: He has a really long neck (laughter).

What about you, Sophie? If you were to be an animal, what would you be?

SOPHIE: On our book tree, we’ve got animals around it. If you look closely on Tucker’s side, they’re all different giraffes. On my side they’re all different types of cats, like panthers and leopards. [So] definitely the female lion category. Strong and smooth runner. do you have any advice to up-and-coming artists who want to break into the industry?

TUCKER: I would say the best thing that we could advise [to] anyone is — make music that you love, that you want to hear yourself and that you can really stand behind and be proud of and excited about.

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photo credit: Quinn Tucker ©Coachella 2017

YIP YOPS interview JORGE PEREZCHICA

JORGE: What has the experience been like to play at Coachella and how did you prepare for the 2 weekend festival?

ISON: It’s been great, it’s been a pretty hectic week. As soon as we got the call it was just straight to work. Just getting everything ready in position to just take advantage of this. As soon as we got the call, I just went straight for the camera, let’s capture the moment you know, got to get that on video.

MARI: It’s a much larger stage. It’s a much different playing experience than any other venue we’ve played. So getting used to that stage and learning how to fill that space, I think it took the first weekend to build up on it.

ISON: Just being able to go through the process, because a lot of the first weekend was trial and error. “Where do we go? Who do we talk to you?”

There was a lot more stress because it was crunch time. We had to get everything in place to take advantage of it. That was a lot of the first weekend, just making sure that we were ready. And then the second weekend, we had a whole week to prepare. We knew who to talk to we’d already kind of started forming relationships with these people and we were comfortable with the stage. We were able to look back on our performance from the first weekend and critique and we’ll maybe just walk the stage a little better.

JORGE: So, in general you got more insight into the whole process.

ISON: It’s a completely different experience that none of us have been through before. We’ve been going here for years and we’ve always gone with

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GA you know. So we were there to watch the bands, whereas here as an artist, we look at these bands as kind of friends and peers. Just being able to have that connection with these people and these types of people not just the band’s but just the crews as well. Being able to meet them and see how they work together and behind the scenes of their productions is just is pretty inspiring to us to talk to.

MARI: The bands that are bigger with us basically, with more experience just time wise in the industry has been helpful as well. I think those conversations have kind of almost guided us just by seeing how they work together and what little tips they’ve given us or what they think is good that we’ve done. Stuff like that and it’s been a great thing.

JACOB: And you know talking to some of the artists that we admire is really inspiring and really humbling. Just to know like these people are just people, you know, they’re just artists and they worked their way up. I skipped a whole week of school because we were working on our set. And I’m excited and I’m not excited to go back to school. I’m curious to see how it’ll be going back if there’s a difference at all.

ISON: Yeah, I mean it’s always been a big goal of ours as a band to play Coachella and you know that we’re here, it’s just like, what are we gonna do with this, you know. It’s obviously a huge opportunity and it’s just making the best of it. We’re not here just to party it up and go see our favorite

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photo credit: Roger Ho ©Coachella 2017

bands. It’s about like networking, building connections. First and foremost we’re building relationships with these people who are now colleagues. You know, it’s also getting this band to the next level, making Coachella the launchpad for the rest of our careers. We want to make clear that this is a big opportunity not a lot of bands get to have, not a lot of bands get to show what they can do and we’re really appreciative of that — but this is in no way the peak of anything.

JORGE: I noticed your parents have been very supportive, they are always at the shows. How much has their support had an impact on you guys as a band?

ISON: You don’t see it very often. And I think it was a very unique situation that we’ve all found ourselves and not just with each other but with the support of everybody’s parent. All the parents and everything just being able to take us to LA shows at 2 o’clock in the morning and having to go to work the next day. I think the reason why they do it is because from early on they saw the potential. And they were just along for the ride.

JORGE: What is the biggest challenge for you as a band?

ISON: I think constant urge to progress. It’s just the progression. Being able to progress and wanting to progress is probably the most important thing.

And I think that’s where a lot of bands either fall or you know rise. I think we naturally want to progress like we’re never satisfied very easily with a lot of our stuff until we progress.

MARI: We’ll work as hard as we can, we’re not just whining. How do we progress? How do we do it? Lets start.

ISON: After we get to the point where we feel like we’ve progressed to where we want to, we’re like, “Okay, now we know why we’re here.” It never stops.

It’s always ongoing, always pushing. And I don’t think that ever will stop

us for as long as the bands are together. I feel a good example of that is Coachella, like we just played two Coachella shows. And I feel like after both shows we’re just like fuck yeah. The feeling is just like, we’re hungry for more, we want to do this more often. We want to be playing other big festivals like this and this is just the first of many. We want to climb to get to where we want to be.

MARI: And talking about difficulties, that is that mental space which I think we’ve all been feeling quite a bit. It’s just like that space that you’re pushing with everything you have. But whenever you’re pushing just isn’t budging yet and then you get a breakthrough like this. And it just takes you to that next level.

JORGE: What advice do you have for kids that are watching you guys and are interested in pursuing a music career?

ISON: Write your own songs. Start writing, because there’s a lot, there’s some bands out there that have the talent but you know, they’re not writing, they’re not writing anything. You can only play covers for so long, you know. That’s something that we had to go through as a band starting early.

It was hard in the beginning, because just saying, “Oh you know, we’ll write songs.” It’s a little open ended and not the easiest thing to do for a lot of people. But it’s just a necessity if you want to do it. And just be just be honest with yourself. There’s no, there’s no gain in BSing yourself, because you can’t BS yourself through this business. Just watch your back and write songs and your age doesn’t matter.

MARI: You can do the same thing if you’re 30 or if you’re like 12, it doesn’t make a difference.

ISON: Follow your dreams.

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photo credit: Greg Noire ©Coachella 2017

photo credit: Greg Noire ©Coachella 2017

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OCHO OJOS interview JORGE PEREZCHICA

JORGE: What’s the backstory behind Ocho Ojos — how did you meet?

CESAR FLORES: So basically Danny and I met through social media. It started like, I posted something saying “Does anybody want to have a jam, you know get together and play some music?” And he responded. So we got together and right off the bat, since we both come from families that have musical background. It was very easy for us to get together and click and be able to come up with music and jam. We started playing in October, our first show was a cumbia hosted by Raices Cultura, in Coachella, California.

They had this event and one of my friends, she was helping with the organization asked me to play. At the time, I had just met Danny, so I asked him to jam with me and that essentially became the first gig when it all started.

DANNY TORRES: It’s been really quick working with Cesar. Right off the bat, since we started playing together, we clicked and we had a good chemistry with playing music together, which is sometimes pretty rare to find. It’s only been about five, six months since we started playing, we started playing shows left and right. Sometimes you know, getting booked twice in the same night, sometimes three. But aside from that, it’s been a really quick process working with Caesar.

JORGE: Is your sound influenced by your hometown? What would you say, is the main driving force?

CESAR: I grew up in Coachella. I was born in Indio, California. I think here in the valley, the type of style that we play is different. A lot of influences were outside sources, like people who introduced me to Chicha, the psychedelic cumbia from Peru and you know, all the Latin rhythms that I got used to playing with and other bands and stuff like that here in the valley.

JORGE: What was your reaction when you received the call from Coachella?

DANNY: The day we found out we were kind of on edge, because there were still some last minute decisions taking place. So we’re kind of still waiting for a second, third call in the evening. It was kind of like surreal. So we were like, “Are we good? Are we not good?” But then we got the official confirmation and then we’re like, “All right, we can rest easy, you know, we’re good to go.”

JORGE: Did you notice a difference between the first and second weekend?

CESAR: I think in regards to the crowd, I think it was kind of the same.

But what I noticed in comparison to last weekend, last weekend a lot of our friends came, you know, they were like, oh yeah, we’re going to go watch you to support you. So when we got on the stage, you know, we saw them, because all the homies are there. But this time, we went on and we saw people who we didn’t know but they were there waiting. So it was like almost like if like new and they wanted to see us play. So that was pretty cool. We had fun. I mean the show went great, I felt pretty confident, Danny he was killing it. Everybody else was doing a solid job. So I would say, it went well. As far as playing at Coachella, I mean we play at places like Bart, and The Hood and like backyard shows — and it was just really nice to have the type of equipment, you know, that they have here. Their production was amazing, you know, it’s really cool. It’s really cool to have.

JORGE: What is Ocho Ojos currently working on?

CESAR: Start getting our music published, start networking with people who promote shows out of town. Now that we have this on our resume, I think that will make other promoters and others bands take notice like, “Oh, these guys, they played here. So maybe they know what they’re doing and have an agenda.” Like Danny said, we’ve been pretty active ever since we started the group. We’re also going to release an EP that we already have recorded.

JORGE: I notice artwork by Frank Lemus on your drum set and t-shirts, can you tell us about your collaboration, how that came about?

CESAR: Danny and I, we had this open mic that we would host at Raices Cultura and for the whole time that we hosted the event, we would get one or two featured artists to come and display their art or do some live painting. Frank Lemus was the first artist that we got for the event and right off the bat, he was very cool and I really liked his work and he really liked her music. So he was just like, “Hey man, I liked the name, you know, like the music, I’m going to draw something out.” And he basically came up with the logo, I just really liked it. So that became the logo for our merchandise. Shout-out to Frank Lemus, he’s also somebody else who’s very supportive.

JORGE: I noticed DJ Alf Alpha was also on stage. How did you guys meet?

CESAR: We met Alf Alpha in December when we had this show at The Hood. It was a Selena tribute, cumbia night and it was Alf Alpha and we were opening up. Alf Alpha listened to our set and he really liked it. He was like, “Hey man, I’m going to have this event, it’s called Super Sonído and I have it at Bart. The one he invited us for was a New Year’s Eve edition.

Towards the end of the night he also invited us to jam with him. We pretty much clicked and it just became a project. That’s what it’s now, “Los Pleyboys” with Ocho Ojos and Alf Alpha. What we do, is we create riffs, it’s a very free it’s like a jam basically. We have these melodies like jazz, so it’s very improvisational and it’s very free and it’s very danceable because it’s cumbia. We mix it with hip hop and funk and a little bit of everything.

JORGE: How would you describe the music scene in the Coachella Valley?

CESAR: I think the fact that Goldenvoice gives some of the local bands opportunities, it’s kind of like a privilege that we live here and that they have this really big festival. Sometimes they need some local bands — so if you’re over here putting in work you know, they’re going to call you.

They’re not going to call the bands that are not active and they’re not really doing anything. So I hope that makes the other local bands hustle. Not like a competition, but create networking in the way that everybody is getting their shit done together.

DANNY: It’s just been definitely a fun experience and us being here from Coachella. It’s been a great privilege to get the opportunity to play here. It’s just been a lot of fun, I don’t know how to describe it. We got to play, we’re on stage, we got artist pass, we’re chilling.

CESAR: So if you want to check us out, ocho-ojos.bandcamp.com follow us and download our music.

IT’S JUST BEEN A LOT OF FUN, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT. WE GOT TO PLAY, WE’RE ON STAGE, WE GOT ARTIST PASS, WE’RE CHILLING. — Danny Torres

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JAN BLOMQVIST interview + photo ROWLAND AKINDURO

ROWLAND AKINDURO: So you’re originally from?

JAN BLOMQVIST: Berlin. I mean I was born in Hanover but I spent half of my life in Berlin.

ROWLAND: Cool, so what got you in the music? What was the moment when it struck?

JAN: It’s difficult to say because I started playing guitar when I was eight years. My Auntie gave me some hippie tunes and she gave me a guitar. She was from Munich. I mean, I was always playing in punk rock bands and stuff, but the moment it really kicked me was when I was 19 in a club in Berlin and I heard some minimal techno. It was this crazy underground techno party and I was like, “Whoa shit, I want to do that.” And then I traded my guitar for Techno.

ROWLAND: Now I noticed that you have a lot of vocal elements to your music. Watching you on stage, I noticed that you’re taking it a step further by doing live vocals. How did that come about?

JAN: Well I was partying in Berlin for so long and I was already working on my own style and I always felt it was missing something. I was always a huge fan of Radiohead and English music. I was always impressed by stuff like Brit-pop. I was always missing something in the underground techno scene in Berlin. So I thought OK let’s do some deep bass and some minimal stuff combined with piano tunes could work, I think, and somehow I put some elements of vocals in it. But maybe it’s too much; I don’t know. Maybe on my next album I’ll put less vocals in it. But on stage for example, I love to be kind of rock ‘n’ roll, you know? I cannot imagine to be just a DJ playing

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tunes. I need to do something with the crowd and give an experiencesomething personal.

ROWLAND: How was your experience been so far here at the festival JAN: To be honest it’s been super crazy, super hectic trying to find the stage.

And when I first went on, the crowd was not feeling it as much, but by the end they were going wild; so that was super satisfying. I have been looking forward to this event for months. It’s super different than Europe.

ROWLAND: What’s your favorite part about the states?

JAN: Oh, New York definitely.

ROWLAND: And your favorite part about Europe?

JAN: Favorite part about Europe. Berlin. In Europe there is so much happening in such a small area like for example: it’s only 500 km from Berlin to Italy and like only 500 km to Paris or Amsterdam and there’s crazy, huge steep mountains with so many nice cities. And what I love in the USA, you travel here and you think oh my god this is such a wide country it’s so nice to be here.

ROWLAND: So from a feeling perspective what would you say the process has been versus the technical aspects of your music? I noticed that you use ableton. And how has that evolution happened feeling wise? Because I know the aligned mind and heart is a refined tool of perception and sometimes we take a mental approach to music and sometimes we take an emotional approach. Do you think you’ve gotten farther taking the feeling approach versus the mental approach? I know it’s a layered question.

JAN: Exactly that’s what I was missing in Berlin like everyone was doing these crazy techno parties. Like they were unbelievably phat there still phat.

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photo credit: Lunafora

But it was missing this feeling this heart stuff. It was difficult to find a way to express your ideas like Bob Dylan, you feelings like Radiohead and put it together in a beat like Richie Haughton this is of course difficult. It is a lot of work honestly. In the beginning nobody trusted me, they were like, “what are you doing there? You cannot combine Richie Haughton kick drums with Radiohead vocals, that’s not possible.” But I think yeah it is possible for example like in festivals today, toward the beginning everybody is like, what the fuck is he doing? But if you give me like one hour everybody understands it I think.

ROWLAND: Do you feel you have a mastery now or that you have a long way to go? How far along on your career do you think you are from your perspective?

JAN: I never called it a career. My aim was just to make a living off of music, because I’m a lazy guy and I don’t want to work. I was working as a barkeeper in Berlin. That was fun also but I don’t think you can be successful in anything that you don’t like. My aim was always, only do the things that I really love to do. That’s what I’m still trying to continue. Even though I know I’m kind of successful and I don’t really have to think about money anymore, I try to focus on happiness and focus on the things I really love.

ROWLAND: Was there a certain point where you realized, oh money can’t buy happiness?

JAN: Yeah for sure. I mean look, I was so happy when I was a barkeeper.

I mean, I had absolutely no money but I was like a child in Berlin. I was so free and I felt like, “Oh my God I can do everything.” And for example now, I always have to think about everything twice, like can we buy this?

Should we invest in this guy? Is he a good guy? Maybe not. Which video maker should we call? No, for sure, money doesn’t make you happy. The only chance you have to be happy is to do what you love to do.

ROWLAND: And when you’re on stage do you genuinely feel the reaction from the peoples’ emotions?

JAN: I need it. I really need it. Like for example: today was difficult, as I

told you toward the beginning, the people were like, “well, what the fuck is he doing here.” Because I think maybe in the USA, people aren’t really used to this kind of music. Like EDM and Hip-Hop is really big here. For example: Hip-Hop doesn’t even really exist in Europe anymore. So people are watching me, and I really need the interaction with people. It took me about 30 minutes to get somebody in the crowd and then I was fine and for the last hour I was really happy.

ROWLAND: What are some of the upcoming projects you have?

JAN: I’ll be working on the next album for sure. I’m always making new tracks and making new ideas happened. I’ve been working on my ideas for 10 years now and it’s never finished. There’s a certain line that I follow. My passion is always to make people feel melancholic vibes and then give them a feeling of happiness.

ROWLAND: Bring them down then bring them up?

JAN: Exactly. And this is kind of like a mission which never stops.

ROWLAND: So it’s like the Yin Yang all in itself.

JAN: Exactly.

ROWLAND: [Question in German *translated* “Say something funny in German.”]

JAN: [proceeds to make a hilarious quip about the clothing choices of a portion of the population who attend coachella in German] ROWLAND: Is there anything you want to mention to your fans?

JAN: Yeah, keep trying to be happy — happiness is the only thing that you cannot buy. The only way you can get it is just keep being yourself, trust yourself, and love your friends.

ROWLAND: Thank you very much!

JAN: Yeah thank you!

ROWLAND: I’m from Austria, I was born in Vienna.

JAN: Oh, so you understood what I was saying!? Can we do it again!

ROWLAND: Ha ha. ich liebe dich that’s all we can say anymore.

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TYSEN KNIGHT interview + portrait JORGE PEREZCHICA Where did you grow up and begin your artistic journey?

I grew up in Willingboro, New Jersey. I was born in Florida but I was raised in New Jersey and I got my start in art as a young kid. I used to collect baseball cards as a small kid and I would draw the front of the baseball card of my favorite players. And that’s when I discovered, “Wait a minute, I’m pretty good at this. I’m pretty good at drawing.”

So that’s when I found out that I had the ability to be an artist.

Growing up, was your family supportive about your art?

My family was very supportive of my art. When my mother discovered what I was doing, she encouraged me to take art classes. I went to this teacher’s house, she was about 80 years old and she was showing me how to paint fine art. It just bored me. Doing regular portraits of flower pots and animals out of magazines really wasn’t my thing. I didn’t like using paintbrushes. When I was in junior high school, there was a team of kids that were rappers and graffiti artists and I got involved into that crowd — that movement. At the time, what was fresh was airbrushing on jeans. I would take orders at school instead of doing schoolwork. I would actually do graffiti on jeans and it was real popular back in the early ‘90s. That’s what got me introduced into doing edgy street art.

We had no money, so we would go to hardware stores and steal spray paint cans, and spray buildings, and spray trains. I was maybe around 15. I never got any serious trouble, thank God. Was this the moment you felt you could make art as a career?

I used to make money painting on jeans for other teenagers, my mom’s friends they needed business cards, I would make logos for them, I would also draw on t-shirts. So as a young teenager, I saw that I could make money from creating art. I was able to see that there was monetary gain for something that I did creatively. That was one thing that at an early age I was able to see, that I could possibly make a living from being an artist. I was actually blessed and fortunate enough to be able to see that at such an early age.

Are you self taught or formally trained as an artist?

I’m self-taught. I’m best creatively when I can create off inspiration.

Art is so wide open in so many different ways. Art is all around us.

Everything around us is art. I think as long as you’re creative and more importantly not afraid to put yourself out there, not afraid to express yourself and not fitting into the mold of what people think artists should be. I think if you have that goal in mind, I don’t think there’s any limits that can be put on you. That’s not a knock to people that go to art school because I think that’s important to go to art school for different reasons. But I just think for me, the best way I did it was, I was self-taught and always work from a creative space from things that inspired me. I don’t work any other way. If it doesn’t inspire me I won’t pick anything up. I will not do it. It has to speak to me, it has to come to me and then I’ll execute it from there.

How did the inspiration for “The Art of Hustle: Street Art Documentary” come about?

At one point for about a year, I just locked myself in my home and just watched Netflix. I was like a Netflix junkie and I was just watching any art documentary I could find on Netflix. I watched on Picasso, Banksy, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, I even got into some comic books. Then all of a sudden one day a thought clicked in my head, “I should make a documentary about street art” because I have the film background. I thought if I can get a cameraman, I can direct it. I can write a treatment. I think I could film a street art documentary. That’s what came to me: “How do I take me, Tysen Knight, as a street artist

and let more people get to know who I am?” If you just go to a gallery and buy a piece of art you don’t really get a feel of who that artist is. So this is a way that I can put myself out there, people can get a feel for who I am as a person and why I create the way I create. Now when you go buy a Tysen Knight piece of artwork you can match the personality and who I am to that piece of artwork and it makes it more personal to the collector.

When did production for “The Art of Hustle: Street Art Documentary” begin. What was the process like?

I started production October 2016. I worked a full schedule at the barbershop for 60 hours a week. Then on my days off, Sundays and Mondays, I was filming the documentary for nine months straight with no breaks. The process took about a year to actually get it done with a physical copy of “The Art of Hustle: Street Art Documentary” in my hand.

How would you describe your artistic style?

My style of art is a mixture of pop art, urban street art with a little splash of fine art. I was successfully able to blend all those genres of art and come up with my own style, which is unique to me. In Palm Springs, I was able to be a street artist one night and then another night have an art show in a fine art gallery. Because I was the first street artist to be selected into the Desert Art Center, Palm Springs. They’ve never had an artist that was a street artist be a part of their art program there.

I was fortunate enough to be able to bridge that gap between street art and fine art. I spoke to the president at Desert Art Center at the time, he said they selected me because it was so unique and different but it was still within the confines of what they thought fine art could be.

Kind of like how Picasso’s work has these weird distorted figures but it’s still considered fine art. I kind of stayed in that realm, a lot of fine art collectors in his gallery, they took to me and actually wanted to learn about graffiti. They wanted to learn about street art and i was fascinated because I thought everybody just thought oh no graffiti, that’s bad. At the Desert Art Center, they wanted me to start a street art program for children and show them how to do different wall murals and things.

They were all so fascinated that I never use paintbrushes.

You also featured other artists in the documentary as well. Can you tell us a bit about them?

I know it’s very hard for artists to get recognized, also I want to give other artists opportunities to have a voice as well. I spotlighted a homeless artist out of Palm Springs named Scratch, also a tattoo artist and a street artist out of a Cathedral City named Blanco and Victoria Blak (a cubism artist out of Long Beach) and Dimitri Halkidis owner of Galley 446, one of the first street art galleries in Palm Springs. I wanted to showcase different artists doing different genres of art but we all had one thing in common: We all had a love for creating and we all had a love for art. That’s kind of where I was going with the project, to showcase me as an artist, for people to know me better and also show people that I want to help other artists. I think it’s really important to share your wealth, share your experiences. If it’s something I can give someone, I would like to spread the wealth around.

What do you want viewers to come away with after watching “The Art of Hustle: Street Art Documentary” Well the first thing I want the public to learn is a little bit more about street art. I want them be educated about the reality of street art. When I was a kid and discovered I was an artist, I was always told I would never make any money from art. You only make money off art when the artist

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THERE’S NO REAL CONCRETE WAY TO BE SUCCESSFUL. THERE’S NO A TO Z. THERE’S NO MATHEMATICAL OR ALPHABETICAL WAY OF GETTING THERE. I WANT TO TELL PEOPLE, JUST BE INSPIRED. — Tysen Knight

dies and that’s something I always stuck in the back of my mind. But I see that’s not the truth anymore, so I want to educate people on art and let them know that art is not something that rich, snobby people drink wine and look at on a wall and purchase. Art can be purchased by anyone. I want them to look at art as an investment, yeah it’s easy to go to a local store and buy a screen printed piece of art to throw on the wall. But I want people to say, I can own a piece of art, it’s not just for millionaires and billionaires. I can actually own a piece of art that’s personal to me, that I can pass down from generation to generation.

That’s something I want people to have a better understanding of the art world. I want people to better understand me, Tysen Knight, as an artist. I think people getting to know me better will allow them to understand my work more clearly. I want them to take away that, let’s not be so judgmental when we’re dealing with people. Just because someone’s homeless or someone’s a punk rocker or African American, that doesn’t matter, because at the end of it all, we all still have one thing in common: We all love art and we all are creative, regardless of lifestyle, race, religion or sexual preference. Once we learn that we all have things in common, I think a lot of our problems in society can be solved.

How would you describe the street art scene in the Coachella Valley?

I think the street art scene in Coachella Valley is definitely growing. I see that it’s starting to pop up a little bit more. But we got to realize we live in a more of a resort type of city, more retirement type of town, so it’s going take time. I think it’s going happen because I’m living proof that is happening. I’m getting older retirees interested in street art because of me coming in and shedding a different light on it. I think

”

over time in the next 10 to 20 years we will be known in Coachella Valley as a mecca of street art like Miami, Los Angeles and New York.

You had your premier screening at the IPAC-Indio Performing Arts Center. Can you tell us about that experience?

I was amazed at the turnout. We had all ages, they were from 10 years old to maybe 60. I’ve been getting positive feedback ever since we screened the film. I have people that want to buy art now, they want to sit down with me and purchase a piece of art. I have people that have known me for years gain another level of respect for me. I had someone come up to me and tell me that since I’ve seen your film I really got to know who you are as a person and these are people that have known me for years. I was honest and I opened myself up to being vulnerable.

I took off that hard shell and let people into who I am as a person and I let people go on that emotional ride with me.

Anything else you would like to add?

I would like to just add something inspirational to any artist that’s going be reading this article about me, Tysen Knight. I remember when I did the screening, a young kid asked me a question, “How did you know that you were going be able to shoot a film and get it completed?” I try to let him know there’s no road map to success. I had to put fear to the side. I told him there’s no real concrete way to be successful. There’s no like, okay I’m going A to Z, there’s no mathematical or alphabetical way of getting there. I want to tell people, just be inspired. Control your fear, believe wholeheartedly and what you’re doing and just continue to push forward. web TYSENKNIGHT.COM

FAS HI O N

REALITY BYTES

photography

JEVPIC LUNAFORA hair

LISA MONIQUE mua

SABRINA GINSBURG styling

LIZZ CASTLES art direction

JEVPIC models

NIK KIELER JAMI TODD DUSTIN SMITH MIRANDA RODRIGUEZ ROBIN DENTICE

men’s Jodye - Mustard shirt Moss - Gold dress PUBLISH BRAND jewelry & purple jacket from REVIVALS STORES location Customs Coffee

women’s Moss - Gold dress men’s Jodye - Mustard shirt PUBLISH BRAND jewelry and purple jacket from REVIVALS STORES location Customs Coffee

pink shirt UTB LIFE$TYLE hand painted overalls by SOFIA ENRIQUEZ women’s necklace from REVIAVALS STORES location ARRIVE Palm Springs

this page: hand painted overalls by SOFIA ENRIQUEZ women’s necklace from REVIAVALS STORES opposite page: pink shirt UTB LIFE$TYLE Jansen - Mustard jogger pant PUBLISH BRAND location Ice Cream & Shop(pe)

Adidas Spezial Jacket and Pant Horwich Blue Originals Spezial Trainer shoes ADIDAS location Ice Cream & Shop(pe)

this page: Aimee Dress Heather PUBLISH BRAND black veil from REVIVALS STORES opposite page: women’s jacket and Milton men’s pant PUBLISH BRAND Adidas Spezial Two Elevens Longsleeve (Green / White) ADIDAS location Palm Springs Fan Club

women’s dress WILL STILES women’s jewelry and shoes from REVIAVALS STORES men’s Kelton - White shirt and Milton pant PUBLISH BRAND location Palm Springs Fan Club

this page: Garin - Heather sweater Bethy - Light Heather sweater PUBLISH BRAND opposite: Jasiah - Rust suede riders jacket PUBLISH BRAND women’s top and bottom from REVIAVALS STORES Adidas Originals X Spezial Pleasington Rain Jacket ADIDAS drink from RESOVOIR location ARRIVE Palm Springs

white & blue shirts PUBLISH BRAND hand painted pants FATHERAAKI jewelry from REVIAVALS women’s swimsuit bottom from model’s own location ARRIVE Palm Springs

this page: hand painted jacket SOFIA ENRIQUEZ opposite page: Camryn - Indigo jacket PUBLISH BRAND women’s tank top UTB LIFE$STYLE location ARRIVE Palm Springs

this page: Aliens men’s tee shirt and pant PUBLISH BRAND hand painted clothes FATHERAKKI location ARRIVE Palm Springs

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yellow jacket PUBLISH BRAND hand painted pants FATHERAKKI underwear from model’s own location ARRIVE Palm Springs

this page: Reynaldo men’s jacket PUBLISH BRAND opposite page: Zaid jacket, shirt and Lyric pant PUBLISH BRAND hand panted shirt SOFIA ENRIQUEZ location ARRIVE Palm Springs

Reynaldo men’s jacket PUBLISH BRAND hand painted pant FATHERAKKI location ARRIVE Palm Springs

Tag People

Groovy Motto men’s shirt, Lyric pant Oasis Dress Coral PUBLISH BRAND women’s coat REVIVALS STORES hand painted vest by SOFIA ENRIQUEZ shoes from model’s own

B4N

Groovy Motto men’s shirt, Lyric pant Oasis Dress Coral PUBLISH BRAND hand painted vest by SOFIA ENRIQUEZ

CULT OF INDIVIDUALITY text+photography JEVPIC Attention-grabbing has become the next great thing to being on stage here at Coachella.

It’s your chance at 15-minutes of fame just by standing out amongst a crowd of thousands.

You might end up in a fashion blog, mistaken as a DL celebrity, look so cool you get backstage, get photographed a gazillion times to become insta-famous, leading to your modeling career. What ever the case, it’s an adrenaline rush and validation — free of judgement. Where out of the norm is the norm and rebelliousness is conformity. All this creative friction and sui generis paved the way for Coachella to become the institution for inspiration. Lovingly creating war between cult and culture from what’s genuinely authentic and what’s forcefully contrived or worse derived. Summed up best by Aristotle, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” It’s not any singular article of clothing or person, it’s the entire experience that influences runways and triggers designers to envision the next big thing. It might shape your style or awaken your individuality.

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COMPLEXCON photography LUNAFORA

The second annual ComplexCon in Long Beach, California was hailed as “our generation’s world fair,” boasting musical performances by the likes of N.E.R.D., Gucci Mane, M.I.A., and Young Thug. From November 4-5, the event attracted thousands of millennial fans eager to explore the cultural landscape of art, music, ideas, toys and fashion. The host committee consisted of Pharrell Williams who returned as cultural director and Takashi Murakami who designed the event’s brand identity and curated the Art Zone.

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ART BY - TAKASHI MURAKAMI

ILUZIVER - LIVE PERFROMANCE AT COMPLEXCON

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SINGER, SONGWRITER, MODEL NICK @NICKANDNAVI THE MELODY EHSANI BOOTH AT COMPLEXCON

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GANGSTER DOODLES - HARDCOVER BOOK ALL DOODLES ARE MADE ON 3X3 POST-ITS.

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MURAL BY MATT GONDEK @GONDEKDRAWS

@VIET.RAW INSTALLATION AT COMPLEXCON

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RICARDO CAVOLO @ricardocavalo

“DEATH OF A NATION” MURAL BY DAVID SABASTAIAN.

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DECONSTRUCTIVE POP ARTIST MATT GONDEK HOLDS UP A LIMITED EDITION PRINT - EXCLUSIVELY AT COMPLEXCON

HAND PAINTED SNEAKER BY @DAVIDSABASTIANANTI

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JADEN SMITH - PHOTO BY @JEVPIC

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SOME PEOPLE ARE STYLISTS SOME PEOPLE ARE STYLE - CHRIS LAVISH @NYCLAVISH BAG BY @LOUISVUITTON X @TAKASHIPOM

LONG BEACH, CA

KIMOJI BOOTH AT COMPLEXCON

BODEGA PIRATE RADIO AT COMPLEXCON

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DMC

DARRYL MAKES COMICS FIRST ANNUAL INDIO’S FANTASIA COMIC CON interview + portrait JORGE PEREZCHICA JORGE: How did you first get into comics?

DMC: Before I got into music, I was a kid, all I did was read comic books. That’s all I did. So now hip-hop comes over the bridge from the Bronx. I lived in Queens. I went to Catholic school my whole life. I was a nerdy, geeky Catholic school kid who by the way, straight A’s, always on the honor roll, five stars, always at the top of my class. All I did was go to school. I was excellent student and all I did was read comic books.

JORGE: I read that you grew up in a foster care home. Can you tell us about that experience and did it have an impact on your life?

DMC: I didn’t find out I was adopted until I was thirty-five years old.

So my friends were teasing me and said, “Gee, you’re really a superhero, because most superheroes are adopted.” But what had happened was before Run-DMC broke up, we was touring the world. Lifestyles of the rich and famous, lot of money every night, Run-DMC, everybody knows me. I got depressed into wanting to kill myself. Everybody was like, “Yo, why you want to kill yourself? You’re DMC, you know, first to go platinum, first on the cover of Rolling Stone, first with the big sneaker deals, you open doors for people through the medium of hiphop. None of that meant nothing to me. So I wanted to kill myself, but I was like, if I died tomorrow, I want people to know the DMC story.

You can listen to the records, look at the videos, there’s a behind the music about us, as like two or three books, but nobody knows her little boy. I wanted to tell the world, “Yo, I’m Darryl McDaniels from RunDMC. I was born May 31st 1964.” That’s all I know about the day I was born. I just want to know more extra things to make it interesting for the reader. At that time, I was the alcoholic, suicidal, metaphysical, spiritual wreck. I read the Bible twenty times. It didn’t do nothing for me. I read every book by Deepak Chopra, it’s doing nothing for me. I read through the books and spiritual books. They didn’t do nothing for me. Jack Daniels and Jim Beam became my best friends — that didn’t do nothing for me. One day my mom calls back with my father, “We have something else to tell you — you’re adopted, but we love you.”

That’s how I found out, a couple of weeks later I found out that I was a foster kid.

JORGE: Tell us about your comic book — it takes place in the 1980’s?

DMC: We put it in the eighties universe because the 1980’s historically was one of the most creative, artistic, innovative times in history. You had hip hop, you had punk rock, you had the Ramones, you had Lou Reed, you had Debbie Harry, you had the Beastie Boys, you had RunDMC. But you also have Keith Haring and Basquiat. So you had artists, designers, journalists, intellectuals and graffiti. The eighties universe was one of the most creative, positive times on earth, but there was crime and poverty and graffiti in the society. The social issues that affected people living in those cities. We put it in that eighties universe because even though there was definitely the structure and darkness everywhere, you had the arts, the music, the sculptors, play writers, the musicians and the painters doing something that was positive and powerful.

JORGE: What are the superheroes in the “DMC” comics universe like?

DMC: My heroes were the breakdancers, the Adidas suits, and the sneakers and the hats. Our superheroes are going to dress like the people we looked up to. So that’s why our superheroes don’t have a shield in pirate boats. He wears a fedora, like Run-DMC dude, because that’s dope, you know what I’m saying? He wears an Adidas shoe because that’s dope. What we had to learn was, you can’t go to the mall and buy an Adidas suit out of the store and fight crime. You got to design one that’s able to take ray guns, lasers, heat blasters, bombs, fire and lightning.

JORGE: Who are some artists that you would love to work with?

DMC: I want to work with so many artists and writers, but my real goal is the reaching out to all artists out there who are blocked creatively.

Just a seventeen year old kid who’s brilliant. He or she shouldn’t have to wait to graduate college to submit a resume. If they meet me and their work is dope, they can do it. A 52 year old artist and older, never got to draw for Marvel and DC, I’m going to give them that chance.

JORGE: What are your current thoughts on the hip hop scene?

DMC: It is what it is. What it lacks is responsibility. What it lacks is respectability. And also what it lacks is innovation, creativity, and the desire to go above and beyond everybody else’s expectations. What I mean by that is, I didn’t spit lyrics to impress sixteen, seventeen year old friends. I wanted adult, politicians, journalists, scientists, directors, designers, chemist, physicist, to say, “Oh my God! Did you hear what that young person said and do you hear that music he’s using?” There will never be an MC greater than DMC, call me the K-I-N-G nobody will ever be as dope as me.

JORGE: If your life were turned into a movie who would you like to play your character?

DMC: Oh Wow. That would probably be just somebody who was in town. I would love to give him, the unknown, the chance. I was an unknown when I came along with a microphone. I’m getting ready to put my life story on Broadway, to the person that plays me has to understand the story because it’s not just about me. The story involves a multitude of people and situations that allowed you to get where you are.

JORGE: How did you get connected with the Fantasia Comic Con? DMC: Oh, I met Orlando (Harding), I’ve seen Orlando, who created it at various Comic Cons and he just saw that I was passionate about the art, the creativity and the whole existence. I told him, “Yo, when I’m around creativity and art with other people who being creative and artistic, whether we know it or not, we’re changing the world.” So he said, “You know, I’m doing my first Comic Con in Indio, would you come?” And I was like, “Does the king of rock dominate every microphone he touches?”

JORGE: Anything else you want to share?

DMC: Issue number three of the “DMC” Darryl Makes Comics universe will be coming soon to a bookstore near you. web DMC-COMICS.COM links FANTASIACON.COM

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NIGHTLIFE PAPPY & HARRIETS 53688 Pioneertown Rd Pioneertown, CA pappyandharriets.com BART LOUNGE 67555 E Palm Canyon Dr, # 124 Cathedral City, CA bartlounge.com HARD ROCK HOTEL PALM SPRINGS 150 S Indian Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA hrhpalmsprings.com THE HOOD 74360 Highway 111 Palm Desert, CA thehoodbarandpizza.com DATE SHED 50-725 Monroe St Indio, California dateshedmusic.com TACK ROOM TAVERN 81800 Avenue 51 Indio, CA tackroomtavern.com AMIGO ROOM (760) 866-6180 701 E Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA RED BARN OF PALM DESERT 73290 Highway 111 Palm Desert, CA redbarnpalmdesert.com COSTA’S NIGHTCLUB 74855 Country Club Dr Palm Desert, CA COPA NIGHTCLUB 244 E Amado Rd Palm Springs, CA copapalmsprings.com CLUB 5 BAR 82971 Bliss Ave Indio, CA ZELDAS NIGHTCLUB 611 S Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA zeldasnightclub.com

F O O D + D R INK BAR 340 N Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA barwastaken.com

THE TROPICALE 330 E Amado Rd Palm Springs, CA thetropicale.com WORKSHOP KITCHEN + BAR 800 N Palm Canyon Dr, Ste G Palm Springs, CA workshoppalmsprings.com EUREKA! INDIAN WELLS 74985 Highway 111 Indian Wells, CA eurekarestaurantgroup.com BIG ROCK PUB 79-940 Westward Ho Dr. La Quinta, CA thebigrockpub.com CHILL BAR PALM SPRINGS (760) 327-1079 217 E Arenas Rd Palm Springs, CA chillbarpalmsprings.com LULU CALIFORNIA BISTRO 200 S Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA lulupalmsprings.com DRAUGHTSMAN 1501 North Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs, CA draughtsmanpalmsprings.com SHIELDS DATE GARDEN (800) 414-2555 80225 US Hwy 111 Indio, CA shieldsdategarden.com GRÉ COFFEEHOUSE & ART GALLERY 278 North Palm Canyon Suite C Palm Springs, CA grecoffeehouse.com

SALO N/SPA/BE AUT Y TERRA LANE HAIR DESIGN 73-300 El Paseo Suite C Palm Desert, CA terralaneonelpaseo.com J. RUSSELL THE SALON 72996 El Paseo Palm Desert, CA jrussellthesalon.com LIBERTY SALON (760) 340-5346 41750 Rancho las Palmas Dr, Ste I Rancho Mirage, CA

S HO PPING EL PASEO SHOPPING 73472 El Paseo Palm Desert, CA shopelpaseopalmdesert.com TRINA TURK + MR TURK 891 N Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA trinaturk.com DESERT HILLS PREMIUM OUTLETS 48400 Seminole Dr Cabazon, CA premiumoutlets.com/outlet/desert-hills THE SHOPS AT THIRTEEN FOURTY FIVE 1345 N Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA theshopsat1345.COM WESTFIELD PALM DESERT 72-840 Highway 111 Palm Desert, CA westfield.com/palmdesert THE RIVER AT RANCHO MIRAGE 71800 Highway 111 Rancho Mirage, CA theriveratranchomirage.com

AT T RACT IO NS THE INDIAN CANYONS 38520 S Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA indian-canyons.com COACHELLA VALLEY PRESERVE 29200 1000 Palms Canyon Rd Thousand Palms, CA coachellavalleypreserve.org PALM SPRINGS AERIAL TRAMWAY One Tram Way Palm Springs, CA pstramw ay.com THE LIVING DESERT (760) 346-5694 47900 Portola Ave Palm Desert,CA LivingDesert.org INSTITUTE OF MENTALPHYSICS (760) 365-8371 59700 Twentynine Palms Highway, Joshua Tree, CA mentalphysics.net THE INTEGRATRON (760) 364-3126 2477 Belfield Blvd Landers, CA integratron.com COACHELLA MAGAZINE

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“Midnight Bloom” by Carolyn Johnson

MARCH 30 - APRIL 1 AT THE INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN

An International Palette with 200 Juried and Acclaimed Artists representing more than 25 Countries | Paintings, Sculpture, Jewelry, Pottery + Ceramics Photography, Art Fashion + More | Children’s Activities | Saturday + Sunday “Eggs + Champagne in the Garden” brunch menu ‘til noon | Admission $13 Children Admitted Free | Free or Valet Parking | Open Daily 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

IndianWellsArtsFestival.com Produced by Dianne Funk Productions © 2017 Festival Information: 760.346.0042