FLESH & BONE In pursuit of art and music VOL. 18
FLESH & BONE In pursuit of art and music
THE TEA M FOUNDER / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Brandynn L. Pope
COPY EDITOR
Donald Kimber
DESIGN & LAYOUT
Brandynn L. Pope
COVER DESIGN
Morgan Fraser
COVER PHOTO
Brian Wooden
ILLUSTRATOR
Jason Lambidis
WRITING TEAM
Sara Almlah Morgan Fraser Logan Grudecki Ashley Houston Donald Kimber Ethan Oviatt Dorian Pintaric Brandynn L. Pope James Ward
PHOTOGRAPHY TEAM
Courtney Cook Christina Kelley Clare Kim Rickie Miller Brandynn L. Pope Brittney Tambeau
INQUIRIES & SUBMISSIONS
fleshbonemagazine@gmail.com
WEBSITE
fleshbonemagazine.com
/fleshandbonemagazine
F EATURES 06
POLL QUESTION
08
STAFF STORY
Illustration | Jason Lambidis
Rickie Miller & Ashley Houston
56 ALBUM REVIEWS 60 PLAYLIST
MU S IC 12
AP Tour
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Silver Snakes
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The Bergamot
Gallery | Brittney Tambeau Interview | Brandynn L. Pope Interview | Brandynn L. Pope
24 Silverstein
Interview & Photography | Brandynn L.Pope
28 Citizen
Interview & Photography | Brandynn L. Pope
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Vanja Vukelic
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Rosie Hendry
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Brian Wooden
Interview | Brandynn L. Pope Interview | Brandynn L. Pope Interview | Brandynn L. Pope
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AR T
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Is every creation of an artist a personal work? There’s always been arguments regarding artists who create work for other people, commissioned or not, versus those who do art completely for themselves. Is the work that an artist does with someone else in mind still an expression of themselves, or is it simply a product of another person’s mind?
No 12% In my mind, work created for other people is a collaboration. It’s not the product of one mind –it’s an extension of both, the artist and the receiver.
(ROSE HENDRY)
I don’t really view the art I make as personal because I’m constantly learning from others around me. When I make art for someone else, it’s still my mind but it’s also from the mind of the artists I learned from or felt moved by.
(NICK HAMM of CITIZEN)
please do not reproduce Jason’s work without his personal consent
Yes 88% Is every creation of an artist a personal work? There’s always been arguments regarding artists who create work for other people, commissioned or not, versus those who do art completely for themselves. Is the work that an artist does with someone else in mind still an expression of themselves, or is it simply a product of another person’s mind? Ultimately, regardless of commission or personal work, it is still the artist who is creating from their own essence. The idea might be someone else’s but the product is the symbiosis of the minds. Again, this can be interpreted in many ways. I believe everything exists in this space we call life, and from my own perspective I create because I need to. I need to express what is within, but I also create to encourage others so potentially we can evolve our consciousness together. Alternatively, not all art is meant to be public . . . sometimes we create just for us, and sometimes for us all . . . but I believe that intentions are more important than anything else.(VANJA VUKELIC)
It’s always an extension of themselves but every artist is different. I personally make music for myself, but seeing other people enjoy it as well is extremely rewarding. (ALEX ESTRADA of SILVERSNAKES)
live music photography:
Rickie Miller & Ashley Houston
To introduce ourselves, our name’s are Ashley Houston and Rickie Miller: two 20 year old music photographers from Central Ohio that enjoy music enough to spend hours upon hours in a car traveling to concerts, but it’s become so much more. We’ve made this a career by photographing and interviewing some of our favourite bands. Over the past two years we’ve worked more shows than we can count and have loved every minute of it. We’ve both been going to shows for quite some time, but here in the past two years we started traveling together and shooting shows for Flesh & Bone Magazine as well as independently. We’ve gotten so accustom to doing it that we have a routine down and it doesn’t even seem like that big of a deal to drive 3-4+ hours away from home for a concert. Three years ago, while in a joint vocational school for Photography, we wouldn’t have ever imagined doing half of the things we do on a weekly basis now. Music is everything to us and it’s completely surreal to be where we are at such a young age. We’re incredibly blessed to interview and photograph bands that have completely changed our lives. Passion will move mountains for you.
Photographed By Rickie Miller
Photographed By Ashley Housten
Photographed By Rickie Miller
Photographed By Ashley Houston
State Champs Brittney Tambeau
Neck Deep
Brittney Tambeau
Knuckle Puck Brittney Tambeau
Bullet For My Valentine Ashley Atlus
While She Sleeps Ashley Atlus
Hoodie Allen Ashley Atlus
Being As An Ocean Brandynn L. Pope
Silver Snakes FACEBOOK - YEAROFTHESNAKES.COM
My name is Alex Estrada, I sing and play guitar in Silver Snakes. I come from 6 generations of Musicians, My Father is a grammy nominated Mariachi band leader and producer. I own a recording studio in Los Angeles, CA. Ive produced records for bands such as Touche Amore, Joyce Manor, Nails and our own records.
Are all of you from Los Angeles, or did you all find each other in Los Angeles? How did you all come together to be the band that you are now? Would you say that building yourselves as a band in a scene like LA’s has had a specific impact on you? What is the music scene like there for your general genre of music? We are all from the Los Angeles area, we have all played in several bands over the last 15 years. We consider ourselves mostly an active touring band. There isn’t a tight knit music scene by any means in Los Angeles. We are friends with some amazing bands in the area but venues are few and far between outside of the sunset strip area.
Saboteur is a lot darker than your previous albums. What about it has that darker element? Was this decision made due to the environment of your lives at another time or a decision that was reached together? The band has been inching further and further to this style because it’s what we like. We listen to a lot of stoner rock, doom metal and industrial music so it was only natural that at one point the influences would just click and start to effect the music we were writing.
How did the writing experience differ from the previous albums, if at all?
It wasn’t very different at all. I had dozens of ideas saved on my phone recorder for the last few years. When it was time to make this record we
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just started to piece together the ideas. It was our first time adding electronic elements to our music so that was a whole new process for us. A lot of trial and error on that side of things. Though there a re the “underlying messages of sabotage and deception” are those the only themes that you have pursued on this record? What specific themes do you like to touch base on while writing? Is there something specific that you want listeners to take out of the experience? I wanted to leave the lyrics open ended. Sabotage can mean so many different things to each person. Saboteur has it’s own story to me personally but I never wanted to impose that on others. It’s meant for the listeners to decide.
What do you think is important for people talk about when it comes to art and music? Do you find that there is something that is not address enough? I think people should actually talk less and listen more. Whenever somebody hears a new song or new band their first instinct is to label it, to analyze it, and to associate it with other things they are familiar with. The music industry has become to reliant on the validation of others rather than the personal connections that should be made between the songs and the listeners.
MUSIC
What have you taken out of working with a band as established as Coheed and Cambria? Are there any specific tour stories that stick out in your mind, whether it is with Coheed or on a separate tour? We are learning a lot from being on bigger tours. It’s a whole other ball game. The schedules, level of professionalism and development of routine is something that we are adjusting to. I personally love it. Knowing that we will be playing to a huge room of passionate music lovers is all we’ve ever wanted. Coheed is really helping us reach new people in new places and we are forever grateful.
You have recently released Saboteur coffee. What is it about coffee that made you want to do a special release for it? Why with the specific flavours that you chose (caramel, toffee, dark chocolate and cherry)? Do you want to produce more limited merchandise like this in the future? Big coffee fans in this band. These guys are making pour over coffee every morning, noon and night while on the road and at home. We reached out to Populace about working together and they were
very helpful and enthusiastic about the partnership. The coffee they roasted for us is fantastic and very limited. We love to partner up with companies that have values and a work ethic aligned with our own. I’m personally really into this amazing vegan boot company based out of LA called Nicora shoes. I would love to work with them on something in the near future.
Now that Saboteur is out, what are the plans for the rest of 2016 for Silver Snakes? What should people be looking out for? We were just confirmed to play Chicago open air festival in July along with Ministry, Marilyn Manson, Meshuggah and many more. Other than that we are really hoping to make it back over to Europe sometime this summer.
The Bergamot THEBERGAMOT.COM
Our names are Nathaniel Hoff, 29, and Jillian Speece, 27. Nathaniel is one of 3 boys and Jillian one of 2 girls. I guess you could say we are the All-American love story. Nathaniel’s claim to fame is that he was born 15 minutes from where Michael Jackson was born in Michigan City, IN - right next to Gary, IN. We both grew up in South Bend, IN and fell in love in high school after writing a couple of songs together at the insistence of our art teacher. We both went to IPFW in Fort Wayne to play golf for the Mastodon’s and then went on to move to NYC after taking on music as a full time career. Music has always played a huge role in both of our lives in addition to being the link that connected us initially. I was hired by Jillian to give her guitar lessons - she still cannot play to this day.
It’s not often that you come across two people who work with just themselves as husband and wife in music. How did you come to decide that the people you wanted to create music with were each other?
We had chemistry making music together from the onset. After writing our initial song, it was featured in a competition as one of the top pieces written that year. So quickly we realized we had a knack for writing together. Then came love and then came the decision to make our passion a career. At the time it seemed like an easy choice - but we had quite a battle the first couple of years out of the gate. Music is a hard field of work these days - we literally manage almost everything ourselves down to the social media content. Recently, our team has expanded significantly on the success of our recent release “Tones”. But in those early years we did every single task that is needed to successfully run a label and manage our careers. Since music is such a time consuming profession we are super lucky to have each other - we keep each other balanced. It is stated that you “sold everything [you] own for [your] soul mission.” I feel that there is a bit of a story with this. What is it about music that made you want to sacrifice different elements of your life? What is your main goal with creating music?
Well I hate to encourage such a cliché here, but in late 2010 we sat in front of a computer and had to make a decision about utilizing our lives savings towards the pursuit of music. We went back and forth, but in the end we pulled the trigger. In retrospect that was a HUGE decision for us and went on to open up a wealth of opportunities for us going forward. Plus, it really opened us up to the idea that we had to be all in for our dream - there was no 50%. Our goal is to enrich others lives through music. We both grew up playing sports and music in college, but then came a time when we had to choose. We decided individually, and together, that creating meaningful music was a greater way to contribute to the human experience than to pursue sports - and so we did. We have never looked back.
A lot of your music lyrically focuses on human development and their interactions with the world. Is there a specific topic that you guys are passionate about exposing and discussing? What do you feel needs to be considered more in our modern age as well as within music? We love looking at the influencers in our lives and how much we are controlled by them both consciously and subconsciously. The goal of our art is to try
and capture the human experience right here and now using our individual voices. We live in what Neil Postman describes as a “Technopoly - a world that is completely surrendered to technology”. I read this book in college and it had a lasting impression on me as an artist. Artists and writers can say controversial things way before the world has accepted it as reality or true - so this concept of Technopoly has a constant strand throughout our writing. Some grew up in the industrial revolution great art reflected both the pros and cons. Well, we are growing up in the technological revolution and we hope to be a part of the collective consciousness and commentary on both the pros and cons of this period in history.
How does the music from your new album, Tones, contrast with that you have done in the past? What is one of the most important tracks, for you, off of the album?
for us to break away from the industry and try to innovate by meshing an album, a tour, and social peace movement in a space that has been long overdue for some change. Forget the exclusivity of bands on the road - we invite each fan to be a contributing part of our tour. We were surprised by the grand applause on Kickstarter. People really spoke up and said “Yes, we believe in this concept” and we listened. Being out on the road shooting this documentary has been life changing. The people we have met not on the road have said they will never forget the night they first signed a car. What more can I say? A book and movie will come in the near future. Stay tuned.
Are there any stories that stand out in your adventures as musicians, both on this particular tour as well as on past tours?
The night that we had an NFL player jump out of his car and sign our car in Important tracks: Forget About Tomorrow, Philadelphia was pretty awesome. It was about 9 PM and we were in downtown Tones, Alive, Remedy, School Notes. I Philly. This guy pulls up and is giving us mean we love them all - we overspent a thumbs up with some friends. We role our budget making this album because down the window and explain The Unity we couldn’t stand the idea of neglecting Collective USA concept - he literally any of the recordings. Tones is a major jumps out of the car grabs a marker production. It is an album that screams Happiness and Joy - in an age that supper and signs. The other guy yells as we are pulling away “Do you know who signed music is the standard. We had no desire your car?” we did not - but as he pulled to add to the albums in the world that away he said he was one of the top accommodate to the “supper club” idea prospects this year in the draft. This all of music. We had no ambitions to be background music and we went for a huge happened over a 30 second period, we were literally blown away. There are so sounding album. Now, I know this would be considered passé by most music critics many great stories to share from this tour, unfortunately too many for this interview, but music has never been a background but maybe we could do a follow up affair in either of our lives. Music has always been the centerpiece so we created interview just on this topic. the album that we both desired.
You have a lot of touring experience. Has the Unity Tour treated you any differently than past tours? Why did you choose to fund it using Kickstarter? Were you surprised by the grand applause of a positive response to your Kickstarter campaign?
Has The Unity Tour been any different? Quite. From NFL players jumping out of their cars at stoplights to sign the car, to full on conversations in traffic jams, and just simple interactions at gas stations this tour has been a really different experience. I find the music industry itself to be a more boring industry than the CPA industry. We live in an age - post 60’s - that is completely status quo in the music industry. The select few control the movements of almost all the listeners’ fingers across the music spectrum. From the corrupt dispersion arrangements of Spotify to the record labels goal of imitation - this industry can be quite taxing. The Unity Collective USA was the opportunity
What should we expect out of the documentary is being made along side everything with the Unity Tour?
Long nights, great interviews, and all sorts of confessions. I feel like this documentary is capturing the average life in 2016 - which is proving to be a pretty extreme year. From politics, music, and just everyday life. This is a low budget documentary in terms of our ability to hire people on to help - but we relish in our rawness. We are able to use this rawness as a way to capture life on the road for a duo surviving in an industry that is falling apart like the Titanic. There is this weird theme emerging from the documentary about belief in your dreams and surviving in a very difficult climate. By having a raw approach the documentary is kind of taking on a life of itself - we are not sure of where it will go but all I can say is we are excited to see the final film.
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Silverstein FACEBOOK - SILVERSTEINMUSIC.COM
F
or many of us, we reflect on the name Silverstein and think of the band that constructed the album Discovering The Waterfront, a record that included timeless songs such as “My Heroine” and “Call It Karma.” For the actual members of the band, they reflect on their childhood and the poet Shel Silverstein, in which they named their band after. While pieces of their songs included inspiration from the poet, quoting different lines from him, the group has found an additional eleven years worth of inspiration. During their tour promoting their most recent album, I Am Alive In Everything I Touch, we were able to catch up with bassist, Billy Hamilton, to discuss where the band is now on their journey. Last year Silverstein embarked on their ten year anniversary tour of their full length, Discovering The Waterfront, an album that is arguably essential to the inspiration of a lot of the post-hardcore music scene. During that time they had also released their first single off of their most recent album, “A Midwestern State of Emergency.” The full length was released on May 19th of 2015. While in the past the band found themselves creating narratives taken from their personal lives reiterated by vocalist, Shane Told, they released during the production of their 7th
album This Is How The Wind Shifts that there was a pool of stories that they still could dive into. Billy Hamilton went on to say “you can’t write about the same break up forever.” Instead Silverstein found themselves writing a conceptual album that showed an extensive geographical journey within North America. Taking inspiration from this venture, the band decided to create another conceptual album for I Am Alive In Everything I Touch. When asked about the defining theme behind the album Hamilton went on to explain the significance of those who have been following the band, how the album is directly relating to those who have come up to talk to them, or even just attend shows. The album title reflects on those people, their life and experiences and how a lot of their life is thanks to the other people living their own lives around them. This is why their album starts out in Toronto as well as ends in Toronto, the city which the band originates from.
After so many years of working together and compiling so many songs that the band loves as well as the fans, a lot of decisions have to be made on what can be showcased in a set time. It is expected that out of every Silverstein show you will hear “My Heroine” and Hamilton went on to say that he cannot see it ever being written out of the set list. It is an important staple of who they were as a band into what they have now. When asked about the songs that the band have retired he went on to say that there are not a lot that are going to be completely excluded. “Even the ones we were like ‘what were we thinking?’ still are significant to who we were,” he states. Reflecting specifically on the song “Still Dreaming” he states the amount of couples that have come up to them, informing them that it was their wedding song, or the song that resonates with them the deepest as a couple. Though it is a sweet sentiment to them, it is a song that the band no longer feels the need to play anymore. Starting off working along side Victory Records Silverstein has found a lot of movement as a band. It wasn’t until the release of Rescue in 2011 that they moved
over to Hopeless Records. Now, for I Am Alive In Everything I Touch, they have teamed up with those in Rise Records. When asked about all of the changes between the labels, Hamilton goes on to explain that regardless of the move as a band they have kept all of the relationships that they made with the different labels. The team they worked with in Hopeless are still those which they visit and talk to consistently. There is still so much more for the band to experience. Even after sixteen years together the group still has a lot that they wish to see and do, tours that they still have not been able to take part in, and people that they still wish to meet in other parts of the world. Each step along the way has been significant to the progression of the band as well as what has become of their sound and what they are doing now. Coming up on almost a year since they have released their 8th studio album, there is still a lot more that Silverstein has planned and hopes to experience. Now it is just a matter of time for the fans to wait and see what will come next.
Citizen
CITIZENBAND.NET - FACEBOOK - INSTAGRAM
Balancing high school itself seems like a task for any teenager, let alone to have a successful band come into formation during this time. Back in 2009 Ohio based band, Citizen, formed under these conditions, sounding something of pop punk, eventually falling into something a little more transcendent and dark. Only three years after their formation they were able to sign to Run For Cover records and release their first full length by 2013 by the title of Youth. Now the band has released their second full length, Everybody Is Going To Heaven, and taking on as many tour as they can be a part of. During their current headlining tour we were able to catch up with twenty-two year old guitarist, Nick Hamm.
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“I
t was certainly frustrating trying to balance ambition and reality” Hamm reflects on the bands time going back and forth between school and shows. Though at the beginning of it there had been an intensive desire to tour he thinks back at it being naivety, something that he thought he was ready to do but still had not fully fathomed what it entailed. What school during the week and shows on the weekends ended up doing was creating a hunger for more, making graduation seem more like a breath of fresh air for the freedom to do more. Though Hamm states that touring has become harder over the last few years he still finds himself enjoying the experience. There is a consistency with Citizen, showing off an artistic side to them beyond that of the music that they have created. Unintentionally, their music has become a lot darker than it had previously, “but we definitely wanted to make a record that would be a tad polarizing,” Hamm states. This sound has worked hand-in-hand with a lot of the other forms of creative outlets that the band has shown off. Nine months after the release of Everybody Is Going To Heaven the band released a B-Side by the title of “Nail In Your Hand.” This track was premiered in an art exhibition as an installation piece. When discussing the track Hamm explains, “we really didn’t know how we wanted to eventually
unveil it. There’s definitely a reason it didn’t make the album but it isn’t a song we wanted to go unheard.” More than anything the group wanted to be creative with the song and its release. With the installation coming together in a way that the band could enjoy there is a possibility that the idea could be expanded for a future premiere. Not only was “Nail In You Hand” an example of the creativity that the band stands behind, but also the music videos that go along side their tracks. With their videos such as “Stain” and “Yellow Love” there is a specific aesthetic that shows off who the band is. “The Yellow Love video is sort of a loose sequel to the Stain video. They’re both heavily based around plants and I think both have a similar tension and beauty,” Hamm continued to explain the videos, “The ideas I had for the Yellow Love video were actually ones I had for Stain but they just weren’t realized enough.” Not only does he recognize the use of plants life in these videos but makes a comment
to even the cover of Youth to which featured flowers in the formation of the title. Rather than working specifically around the colourful beauty in flowers the group found themselves indulging in the look of muted plants and weeds as a nod to the fist full-length. It shows off the dissonant transitionary period into Everybody Is Going to Heaven. “I certainly think we are more meticulous than ever about music videos or visuals in general,” acknowledges Hamm, “I like the idea of separating audio and visual, not really basing videos on lyrics but more on mood. I think i makes for a more interesting video.” Not only do the visuals of the videos excite Nick Hamm, but he also finds himself interested in design and fashion. The specific visual of Citizen also goes along with what they sell to their fans. In the past they have released limited edition merchandise, to which Hamm admits to it enabling some urgency surrounding the band. By the end of it all, what they create, especially the music, is meant to be something that others can connect to, even if a record, such as their most recent, is intended to connect a little less. Consciously, Nick Hamm has realized that what resonates with people and their admiration of Citizen is due to vocalist, Mat Kerekes’, ability to communicate a specific mood which people
can relate to. He continued to say that “people loved Youth because they felt it. Everybody Is Going to Heaven is a bit more complicated and precise of a mood. It’s more introspective. I think there’s things I would like to talk about in our music that I have trouble communicating as I am not a lyricist. Mat, as a lyricist, writes from the insideout.” Though he is able to help amplify mood and feeling with guitar, Hamm admits to his frustration of wishing he was able to communicate certain feelings through a poetic outlet, especially in the current climate of the world. As it stands now, it is simply something that he feels passionately about while Kerekes’ writes the lyrical portion of the bands songs. With “Nail In Your Hand” released there was some speculation of Citizen already setting up a release of another album. When asked to address this Hamm has stated that there will not be anything any time soon but rather that they would love to have an album finished before the end of 2016. Of course, that is still a hypothetical in the bands life. For now, Hamm signs off stating that he’s “definitely feeling very hungry to write the best material of our lives.”
Vanja Vukelic MERAKILABBE.CA
Originally from the tiny mountainous town of Vares, Bosnia, the visual artist Vanja Vukelic has found residence in Toronto, Canada despite having traveled throughout her twenties through both Brazil and Europe, taking time to sit in on ceremonies and exist within the natural world. It was a time that enabled her to delve into her internal journey as well as her physical journey that she had been taking. She found herself returning to Toronto with the all of the knowledge she gained from her experiences ready to walk a new path, one that has led to her creating MerakiLabbe approximately two and a half years ago.
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ART
What kind of materials do you like to use in your art work? Is there anything that you want to explore or try more? Is there something that you have worked with that you are particularly keen on using again? How would you describe your style as an artist? I would say it is minimal visionary. In my work I hope to transcend the physical and portray new visions of awareness; encouraging seeing beyond ordinary perceptions.
What is it about sacred geometry that you are most attracted to? It was symmetry and visual appeal at first. I could always intuit the ancient and the sacred being hypnotized by it in nature and all life. I was guided in this direction through pain and what it was a difficult time in my life and shortly after discovered the hidden energy and potential unlocked when immersed in this healing art. The foundation of all life and creation is geometric language. It is the matrix of time and space in which all is possible through this driving force of cosmos. It opened me up even further to the currents of Mother Nature and my own potential. I guess what most attracted me to sacred geometry was the unknown. 36 | Flesh & Bone
I mainly create with graphic pens and markers. I would like to use more watercolors, but being somewhat of a control freak I like to stay with what works.
You openly state that you are honouring the feminine and “Mother Earth.� What about those concepts specifically do you enjoy celebrating and bringing to light in your work? What is one of the most passionate topics for you to explore? The most passionate topic for me to explore in art, writing, or conversation is the cosmos and all that is contained within. I am deeply guided by the ancient and unknown, and am fascinated with all existence in general. I feel called to encourage others to cultivate devotion and gratitude daily for all the Earth’s abundance offered to us. The Feminine aspect of my creations is a gentle reminder to me and all women in the world of our personal power and the myriad of our life giving capacities.
You have had your drawn works adapted into tattoos, whether it be temporary or permanent. When someone asks you for this kind of commission piece, how does it differ from what you are drawing on paper?
Your colour pallet is very defined throughout your work. Is there a specific reason why you choose the colours that you do as well as what is set in regular black ink versus a mix of both?
In this case I am guided by someone else’s idea, which is always interesting to explore, but I guess it’s never the same as when I create from my own well of imagination. The difference is that with combined imagination we can create a personal piece of art telling a story someone will carry on their body forever.
I am drawn to all things minimal, so with the use of white I hope to express purity, innocence and simplicity of our being. I am also a perfectionist, (something I am learning to let go of,) so I guess there is a connection with white there as well. I prefer to use light, soft colors which evoke harmony and peace, and since I am pretty new in this world of art I am still learning and discovering what it all means to me.
You use a lot of nature in your art work. Are there any specific motifs that you like to keep present within your art work? Yes. One of my favorite minds is that of Carl Jung, who was an avid explorer of human psyche, astral worlds, and the visionary mentality. I believe alchemy of symbolism is very important in understanding the world, especially our unconscious, so I do use reoccurring symbols of inner eye, serpent, and the moon to awake and unearth the unconscious in myself and potentially in those who will understand the symbolism I portray in my drawings.
You have also taken some time to work with collage. What is it about collage that you like? Is this something that you would like to work with a lot more? Do you see it as a collaborative effort? I love working with collage. I also love photography, and these two forms will definitely be explored in the future. It’s been difficult finding time for all I want to explore within myself, but I know I will walk many paths in this life, and collage works will be something I am ready to bring back.
You have used your work to make cards and illustrate on notebooks; where would you like to see your art work in the future? How would you like it to be adapted into different things? I love to write. I wrote my whole life. I can freely say that I am a writer/ poet more than anything else. I am slowly starting to integrate my written expressions with my illustrations and that is exciting beyond language. I am currently working on a book, and see myself offering collections of books, journals and writing materials to inspire others on their creative process and life in general. I want to encourage writing and sacred journaling, and this is where I see myself guided towards.
Rose Hendry BIG CARTEL - INSTAGRAM
Ever since 2013 Rose Hendry has decided to follow her itch for artistic creation on a professional level. Always finding her love of art being placed on the side-lines, she admits that it was originally something more of a hobby. Though she studied subjects such as Art History in university, she found no formal education, and is instead completely self-taught in the practice. Working in monochrome, she uses ink to create imagery of the botanical and beastial, as well as geological formations, incorporating many geometric elements. Now living in Koblenz, Germany, she has announced herself as the creator of Rose + Wolf, and has every intention of carry her artistic momentum forward.
“The most important thing I’ve learnt is to swallow my fears and just do it,” Rose Hendry emphasized. As an artist who comes from a self-driven background, the aforementioned sentiment came as no surprise. She continued on to say, “I’m an absolute perfectionist by nature—my default setting is to be way too hard on myself and this can sometimes be completely disabling.” Possibly one of the greatest struggles of the artist is to be too critical of their own work, and the fine-lined illustrator is certainly not exempt from the feeling. Hendry finds herself drawing on a daily basis, stating that if she did not drive herself to do so then her hand would forget the motion. In her mind, creativity does not have its line drawn at producing formal work. Whether it is producing photographs, doodles, or creating a mood-board on
Pintrest, to her, all of it is valid in her creative process. “Steal your time back,” she states, “You have to put a hell of a lot of inspiration in to get something substantial out.” Coming out of Germany, there is a world of inspiration for her to take from. Hendry is completely influenced by where she is and everything that is going on around her. Her town, Koblenz, surrounds her with beautiful “walds” or woods that follow the seasonal changes with the river as well as the surrounding countryside. Landscapes such as this and the one she experienced in Cornwall have moved her in a way that enables her to replicate their beauty in her work. She states that she struggles to
understand how people are inspired by anything else but nature, saying that she’s “obsessed with the forms and textures of plants and flowers, winged insects, mountains and moons, birds and feathers . . . the list goes on. I’m least comfortable drawing mammals, as depicting fur is a work in progress for me. I haven’t had the opportunity to study it as closely as other textures so that’s something I’d love to do more of.” Looking at details of her work, one can understand her desire to depict and hold a realistic texture. Her line work is not so intricate that it takes away from the final form of the creature, but still creates movement and personality in every subject. Taking a look through Rose Hendry’s portfolio exhibits her consistent line work, as well as the creatures she
is predominantly inspired by. She works in pen and ink, stating that it is everything for her. The only time that she uses digital programs is for her corrections and in preparation for print. Hendry states that, “I need my work to feel hand-drawn, and I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what can be done with this medium.” When she first started her artistic journey, most of her influences were in black and white. This varied from 16th century woodcuts, to Victorian line work masters, (such as Aubrey Beardsley,) to tattoo blackwork and vintage science diagrams. Rather than using colour to build form, she is far more interested in hinting at form through tonal value. Her work is easily adaptable into the tattoo medium, and she has found herself drawing commissions up for different clients
regularly. She strongly considers tattoo artists and illustrators to have the same skills, just worked onto a “fleshier” drawing surface. When taking on a tattoo design, she approaches it differently: “I think about placement and how a design will ‘fit’ the body, and the process is a lot more collaborative.” There are some things that she does want to try out in the future that differentiate from the work she publishes now, stating, “I’d like to experiment more with watercolour or ink washes, as I am fascinated by 19th century natural history illustrations and wonderful artists like Audubon. But I’ll always be a black and white girl at heart.” As for themes, Hendry is interested in what she thinks as the “Movement In The Still.” To describe this, she states that the creatures and scenes she draws out are that which are overlooked on a daily basis. “We’ve become so detached from nature,” she explains, “So busy and so used to instant, flashing visual stimulation that it’s incredibly hard for us to register our environment properly anymore. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to spot these moments and I want to share them.” Envisioning the year ahead with her work, Hendry states that she just wants to keep on learning, looking, and making, “That’s enough of a goal for the next 20 years.”
Brian Wooden INSTAGRAM | BRIANWOODEN.COM
“ I am an artist and musician, 26 years of age, living in Nashville, TN
for the past 3 years. I was living in Savannah, GA for a little while, going to school before I moved here. I attended a school for art and design and was able to be surrounded by other uniquely skilled individuals. I believe that was critical for me to develop as an artist and really find my own voice. When you are surrounded by so many people who are amazing at what they do, passionate about what they do, and in many cases, better than you at what you do, it really forces you to grow. �
What are you reflecting on in your current work? Are there any specific themes that you try to explore in your art work? With my most recent series, I have been exploring the human form and attempting to break it down into simple, geometric shapes and lines while still maintaining the movement and character of the body. For me, this is a way to go back to some of the basics and explore older concepts in a different way. Studying the nude human form is nothing new, but I really wanted to attach my own perspective to it and approach it in a manner that was unique to me. It is really an attempt to break down and simplify the forms right up to the point that they may otherwise be unrecognizable.
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I feel that it is safe to say that you are an “outside of the lines” sort of artist. What is it about this technique that you are so drawn to? Your “Defining Disorder” series is specifically geared toward that mentality. How did you come to create that particular series?
The “Defining Disorder” series came about really when I had the urge to just throw some paint on some canvas. I wanted to create a sense of chaos with the materials and then go back and attempt to gather that chaos and bring it to some sort of structure. I think most of our environment is in constant chaos and its up to us to create order out of that.
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You have shared pages of your sketch book on your website. Would you say that figure studies and sketchbook drawings are just as significant as large-scale work? Do you find yourself sketching and bringing a lot of those elements into the largescale work?
How did you choose the individuals that were the subject of your portrait series? The portrait series began as an experiment when I wanted to add a bit more thought to the application of materials after the “Defining Disorder” series. I wanted to be thoughtful, yet loose and aggressive with the underlying paint and essentially create a bed for the bold black lines to be set in place. The specific people came from a mixture of requests, and whoever was in my mind at the time. The Marilyn Monroe piece specifically was created based on an old photograph taken by Richard Avedon. This has always been one of my favorite photos due to the lack of physical expression and conveyance of emotion.
What would you say is most influential to your work? Which influences do you end up absorbing and then reflecting directly back onto your projects? I’m very inspired by cartoonists and animators, specifically Bob Camp and some of the artists behind characters like Ren and Stimpy and other similar shows. The expressiveness and dynamics of those drawing had a huge impact on me as a child and I really try and hold onto elements of that even when working on seemingly unrelated pieces. The variance in line width and the way all the shapes fit together and overlap so perfectly to create some really beautiful character work.
Everything starts from the sketchbook. There is just as much nonsense in those pages as there are usable ideas. Its really just a matter of throwing enough shit against the wall until something sticks. When it sticks, I’ll put it on a larger piece.
What other canvas’s do you want to utilize? Is there anything in particular that you want to try out in the future with your painting? Is there anything that you wish that you were better at or could integrate into your work more fully? I’m quite torn between the use of my own canvases, and buildings/walls. I love working large, so I started building large canvases, but you can only build them so big. Walls are the next natural progression, but the problem with them is that they tend to belong to other people who may or may not want things painted on them. If they do want something on them, they typically will not give you free range over subject matter, color, even style. So lately I have been starting to experiment with wheat pasting commandeering walls that look like they could use a little love. Just trying not to get caught.
Are there any projects that you are hoping to get started on within the next year? I am already in the process of creating new illustrations to be turned into wheat paste pieces that may be popping up around town. I really enjoy putting things out into public spaces without any name attachment and observing and listening to reactions. You get a much more honest response that way.
ALBUM REVIEWS The 1975 ALBUM: I Like It When You Sleep, For You Ae So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It RELEASE: 26/02/16
STAND OUT: “The Sound”
AUTHOR: Ashley Houston
The 1975’s second album arrives freighted with expectations, and not just the usual expectations that get heaped upon the follow-up to a platinum-selling debut: advance publicity suggests that listeners should prepare for something strange, confounding, and experimental. “Hugely ambitious and surreal,” “no easy listen,” and “2016’s most unpredictable album,” are just some of the comments emanating from what’s left of the musical press. Not only did The 1975 earn its first number one album on the Billboard 200 chart with I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, but the band also claims a fun piece of chart history. With 71 characters, (including spaces,) it’s the longest album title ever at No. 1. The band’s second album has a much more distinct and radical character than their slick debut, drawing from the effervescent
Denzel Curry ALBUM: Imperial RELEASE: 09/03/16
STAND OUT: “Story No Title”
AUTHOR: James Ward
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It isn’t often I dive headfirst into a project from an artist that I have never heard of before, but after seeing some significant buzz on the interwebs, I decided to give Denzel Curry’s new mixtape a shot. The Florida rapper has delivered a tight tentracks with hard verses, sparse but good features, and great production. The beats on this project go hard, and Denzel’s flow goes even harder. Lyrically, he’s an animal, exploring topics such as drugs, robbery, and other thug-related activities. When the tape passes the halfway mark, Denzel has clearly proven that he could beat you to death with a sock full of batteries, but on the more introspective tracks like “Pure Enough,” it’s clear that he can also beat you with a sock full of feels. The hooks and choruses are where this project becomes
8.5 polish of early ‘80s Hot 100 pop that they flirted with on “Heart Out.” Single “Love Me,” for instance flagrantly splices Bowie’s “Fame” and “Fashion.” There seems to be a theme in tying the new with the old: to find the Easter Eggs hidden in their music, from melodies that echo old material, (“The Sound” calls back to “She Way Out,”) to sequels of first album situations, (“A Change of Heart” follows on from “Robbers”). The band’s musicianship seems finally to be catching up with their aspirations to be a dominant force in radio pop. It is ultimately a winning, catchy, hourplus collection of guitar pop that shines a light on an era of music that time seems to have forgotten, and has very few modern rock, (or “indie,” as meaningless as that term is,) signifiers.
7 hit or miss. Tracks like “This Life” have great flow and melody, but a lot of the hooks towards the beginning of this project don’t do much for me. Denzel is great at delivering both aggressive and laid-back tracks while always being hard hitting, and with a title like Imperial, I respect that he was able to drop a couple great Star Wars references as well.
Kendrick Lamar ALBUM: Untitled Unmastered RELEASE: 04/03/16
STAND OUT: “Untitled 2” AUTHOR: James Ward
untitled unmastered. is the latest surprise release from Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar. After dropping the game-changing To Pimp A Butterfly early last year, I will defend to my grave that he is one of the most consistent and compelling artists of our generation. After a sensual jazzy introduction followed by an apocalyptic verse from Kendrick, this project hit me with a left hook. “untitled 02” is an incredible track with a surprisingly modern flair to it that will also undoubtedly excite fans that haven’t appreciated the more organic, jazzflavoured instrumentation that K-Dot has been dabbling in lately. Although tracks like this and “untitled 07” still have a jazz influence, the prevalent bass and rattling hihats are much more reminiscent of his work on Good Kid Maad City. Bangers like these make me wonder if we will be seeing a more refined fusion of these styles on future projects. The next few songs, especially “untitled 03” and “untitled 05” could have fit very snugly into the track listing for To Pimp A Butterfly, with lyrics that explore race and crime over some magnificent jazz instrumentals. Tracks like these, as well as “untitled 06” are where
Landscapes ALBUM: Modern Earth RELEASE: 08/04/16
STAND OUT: “Radiance” AUTHOR: James Ward
Landscapes are a melodic hardcore outfit from across the pond that have been on my radar since the self-release of their 2012 album Life Gone Wrong. I thought that album had some decent tunes and since Landscapes haven’t put out anything in almost 4 years they might deliver something refreshing. Unfortunately, the band delivers some very poor vocal performances over some of the most dime-a-dozen instrumentals I’ve heard from the genre. Modern Earth indulges in almost every cliché in the book, including deadpan spoken word interludes where the singer sounds just as bored delivering his lines, as I am listening to them. But for me, the nail in the coffin is really the singing. I can’t help but laugh every time I hear the hook on “Death After Life” because the frontman becomes
8 the features on this project really shine: Jay-Rock and Punch both deliver killer verses while Anna Wise and Cee-Lo bring some unique and catchy vocal melodies. “untitled 07” is the longest track on this project and Kendrick brings some of the most catchy and hard-hitting verses I’ve ever heard from him, (and that’s not just because he drops an Evil Dead reference). At about the halfway point the track transitions into a jam session with Kendrick and his band, a light-hearted and personal moment on the record which I enjoy a lot. However, it may end up annoying some fans that are only looking for the banger single. The only weaknesses I can think of are the lack of a cohesive theme and flow, as well as the more raw, unfinished production. But these flaws are already presented to the listener through the title. untitled unmastered. is essentially a handful of tracks that simply weren’t good enough or didn’t fit within the flow of To Pimp A Butterfly, but the sonic quality of these songs makes me nothing but stoked for his next commercial release.
4 offensively off key, and this singing pops up on just about every song. What is tragic is even on tracks like “Escapist”, the singing is so whack that I can’t enjoy it when the band actually manages to pull together a decent instrumental. However, Landscapes do manage to redeem themselves towards the end of the album. There are some more interesting instrumentals on the tracks “Transient” and “Radiance”, the latter of which is probably the best joint on the record – this song has great energy and most importantly no singing. This record just sounds so derivative; if you’ve heard anything that bands like Defeater and Capsize have been doing over the past couple years, you’ve pretty much heard everything Modern Earth has to offer.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ALBUM: This Unruly Mess I’ve Made RELEASE: 26/02/16
STAND OUT: “White Privilege II” AUTHOR: Donald Kimber
Macklemore can rap about anything and it impresses me; his seemingly innate sense of musicality, his stunning voice, skill with rhyme and intellectual banter never fail to excite me. The track “Light Tunnels” works perfectly as a first song, drawing heavily on imagery of birth, revelation, and heaven to launch the listener into this new, more overtly analytical album. Additionally, the biting commentary directed towards the music industry is a clue to this album’s major motif of critique. The track casts Macklemore as a resistance fighter, fighting for good against many of the evils of contemporary society: “Hip-hop has always been political, yes / It’s the reason why this music connects” (f/ “White Privilege II”). However, do not fear that Macklemore has abandoned his trademarked ridiculousness! “Downtown” provides this in plenty, but continues a strain of resistance to popular culture/conception. The song also contains the album’s most clever rhyme: “There’s layers to this shit player, Tiramisu, Tiramisu / Let my coattail drag but I ain’t tearin-my-suit, tearing
Turnover ALBUM: Humblest Pleasures EP RELEASE: 18/12/15
STAND OUT: “Humblest Pleasures” AUTHOR: Ethan Oviatt
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Humblest Pleasures by West Virginia based group Turnover is a follow-up to their latest full-length Peripheral Vision, as well as a sonic continuation. The change between albums for Turnover was a radical one, swapping an emo-tinged pop-punk sound for reverb-soaked pop-throwback tunes. Both tracks on this new EP push that change further, welcoming a more ambient and shoegazeing sound while maintaining the reflection and angst from releases past. This is clearly demonstrated in the title track’s closing lyrics: “it’s disheartening that after everything evaporates, a lot of pain, and all the words I sing, and the perceptive things that I explain, I haven’t changed.” Whether intentional or not, the only major flaw is
8.5 my suit.” No other artist so artfully mixes satire with outstandingly creative and skillful rap. The real star of this album is “White Privilege II,” a song drenched in its own hyper-self-awareness of the appropriation of black music. This leads to an exploration of the artist’s inability to escape from the exploitation of his craft, or to remedy it. Consider that he uses a conventionally black medium to express his own discontent with his own use of the very same medium he expresses himself in! His ironic, and again contradictory portrayal of his encounter with a fan further highlights the possibility that he may be doing unintentional harm by his appropriation. The woman’s inability to see that the music is not meant for her children, and even worse, is not meant to strain out the negative, an important trait and progenitor of hip-hop/rap, gives credence to his own worry. She is the face of appropriation: taking what she likes and dismissing the rest as the struggles of people who deserve it.
7 that the two songs the EP is comprised of struggle to excite. Track two, “Change Irreversible,” is technically sound and boasts a swaying, relaxing melody throughout, but doesn’t quite capture the same lasting earworm effect that is expected from Turnover. With the release of Humblest Pleasures, Turnover validates and cements the direction that they are taking their music and does so in a pretty convincing and pleasing way.
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ALBUM RELEASES 04/01 04/01 04/01 04/08 04/08 04/08 04/08 04/15 04/15 04/22 04/29 04/29 04/29
Welcome The Wor ms The Follower The White Album Gor e Midnight Machine Love Str eams City Suner Ever I n T h e Riv e r o f L ig h t You’ ll Pay For This Santana I V Outer H eaven The Ship White Hot Moon Real Life Tr as h Mag
B le a c h e d T h e F ie ld We e z e r D e fto n e s L ig h ts Tim H e c ke r Wo o d s Bear Hands S a n tn a Gr e y s B r ia n E n o Pity S e x S a y Ye s
05/06 05/06 05/13 05/20 05/20 05/20 05/20 05/20 05/27
D ealBr eak er Get Gone D own I n H eaven D anger ous Woman I f I ’ m H ones t Fallen Angels 7/2 7 Things Will Matter All Of Our Gods Hav e Ab a n d o n e d U s
R o y a l Tu sk S a r a to n e s Twin Pe a ks A r ia n a Gr a n d e B la ke S h e lto n B o b D y la n F ifth H a r m o n e y L o n e ly T h e B r a v e A r c h ite c ts
06/03 06/03 06/03 06/13 06/13
Wild Things Love You To D eath As h & I ce Atomic Pas s ing Shade
L a d y H a wke Te g a n a n d S a r a T h e Kills M o g a wi Twin R iv e r
PLAYLIST _____
Here are some suggested tracks brought to you by the staff.
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ld hi C ox ild ikn W ard C
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ill M c ni ly ta mi Sa Fa e se os en Th ef In elf D S
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4 Dissolve Being As An Ocean 4 Kobe Bossk Down 4 Come Anderson .Paak
4 XC Sorority Noise Act 4 Disappearing The Ready Set You 4 Follow Bring Me The Horizon oz. Dream 4 40 Good Charlotte And I 4 You PVRIS
4 Keeper With Confidence Don’t Have To Dance 4 We Andy Black
click on the 4 buttons + images to play the song!
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