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XANTHOS OF BAZOOKA
RESERVE 5-POCKET PANT
BREAKING: BØRNS, BULLY, SON LITTLE, BASEBALL CARD VANDALS
20
ADVICE FROM PARADISE: LOVE ADVICE (AND MUSIC) FROM NEDELLE TORRISI
22
BILL BRYSON’S GUIDE TO TRAVEL
26
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: KURT VILE
30
FREAKY STYLIN’: GETTING INTO BED WITH BIG GRAMS
40
NEW ORDER, NEW FAITH
46
TIME MAY CHANGE ME: THE EVOLVING ART OF MEL KADEL
Publisher Alan Sartirana
Editor-in-chief Pat McGuire
Art director Melissa Simonian
Senior editor Marty Sartini Garner
Editorial assistants Christian Koons, Nate Rogers
Associate editor Bailey Pennick
Editorial intern Jessica Lynn
Design intern Taylor waldschmidt
Writers A.D. Amorosi, Jessica Jardine, Kyle MacKinnel, Kurt Orzeck, Mischa Pearlman, Ken Scrudato, Laura Studarus, Nedelle Torrisi
Images Brian Thomas Grove, Lisa Hanawalt, Mel Kadel, Chad Kamenshine, Catie Laffoon, Timothy Saccenti, Emily Shur, Neph Trejo, Whitney Weir ANTHEMIC AGENCY Natalie Anderson, Mike Bauer, Sarah Chavey, Jacqueline Fonseca, Jeremy Gabriel, Amber Howell, Ed James, ADRIAN MOREIRA, Natania Reed, RICARDO RIVAS VELIS, Kyle Rogers, Robert Sanchez, ERIN YASGAR
ON THE COVER: BIG GRAMS PHOTOGRAPHED by Timothy Saccenti; THIS PAGE: ART BY MEL KADEL
10
T H E
T H R E A D
U
N
F
I
L
T
E
R
U N P R E D I C T A B L E
E
D
breaking
BØRNS By Mischa Pearlman
Photo by Nick Walker
THEY SAY THERE ARE THREE THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN IT COMES TO REAL ESTATE PROPERTY: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. It seems that adage can go a long way when it comes to music, too,
Before the bugs got it, though,
because it wasn’t until Garrett Borns
Borns
moved from New York to Los Angeles in
other songs—these with his good
2013 that inspiration for his first single
friend, producer/songwriter Tommy
as BØRNS, “10,000 Emerald Pools,”
English—resulting
struck and his dreamy, breezy, ethereal
EP as BØRNS, Candy. Released in
synth-pop sound was, well, born.
November 2014, its four tracks are
“The energy definitely felt right
sumptuous, serene slices of summer
out here,” says the twenty-three-
that simultaneously look back to the
year-old singer-songwriter over the
past and step forward into the future.
phone from Los Angeles, “as well as the
“Past Lives” starts off with a Beach
place I was living and the people I was
Boys-esque melody before heading
seeing…and my headspace. Everything
off in a totally divergent electro-pop
interconnected and it felt very inspiring
direction, while “Electric Love” is
managed
to
write
in
his
three
debut
for a new kind of sound to come out. a kind of sad, kind of happy, wholly It’s very enlightening, living out here. upbeat pop song. California is definitely where I’m meant
to be right now.”
the time,” he explains. “I didn’t know
“That was just my headspace at
Although he moved to Silver Lake
anyone in California when I moved out
at the start of last year, Borns’ first
here, so I guess my kind of escape
place of residence in LA—where he
was to write these fantastical love
wrote “10,000 Emerald Pools” with his
songs about how amazing it would
friend Jack Kennedy—was a secluded
be if the woman of my dreams just fell
tree house that overlooked the city. from the clouds!” Location, location, location.
“It was a beautiful environment,”
just yet, “Electric Love” hasn’t gone
says Borns, who’s originally from Grand
unnoticed—not least by one Taylor
While
that
hasn’t
happened
Haven, Michigan. “It was very open, Swift, who branded it an “instant there was no traffic, it was up a hill, and I
classic” to her millions of Twitter
didn’t really have any neighbors. I could
followers. With a debut album coming
pretty much just play music at any hour
this October, you’d think that might put
of the night, whenever I felt like it. I had
some extra weight on his shoulders,
an outdoor kitchen and fruit trees around
but Borns insists he isn’t feeling too
me. But it was definitely rustic and it also
much pressure as a result.
definitely needed some TLC. It was not
FROM: Los Angeles, via Michigan and New York
glamorous. It was very ramshackle. But
chuckles. “I don’t let it affect me in a
YOU MIGHT KNOW HIM FROM: Taylor Swift calling his song “Electric Love” an
it was also about time that I moved out, negative way, I kind of just use it as fuel. I
“instant classic” on Twitter
because it was starting to crumble and
don’t like to think too far ahead—I like to
NOW: Releasing his debut album, Dopamine, on Interscope
be eaten by termites.”
absorb as much as I can each day.”
BACKSTORY: A gentle soul who moved to LA, found new inspiration, and set out to take the music world by storm
10
FLOOD
“I think pressure’s good,” he
息2015 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. FENDER速, JAZZMASTER速 and the distinctive headstock designs commonly found on these guitars are registered trademarks of FMIC. All rights reserved.
PURE VINTAGE
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breaking
FROM: Nashville, Tennessee
This article being no exception, one of the first things you’re bound to hear about Bully is how they sound like a grunge band reincarnate. It’s not a
YOU MIGHT KNOW THEM FROM: The innate desire to scream at the top of your lungs
completely
NOW: Shaking hair out of their faces across the country in support of Feels Like, out on StarTime International/Columbia
guitarist/lead
BACKSTORY: Retro-progressive rock quartet led by Alicia Bognanno, one of the most honest voices to arrive since flannel became cool again MEMBERS: Alicia Bognanno (guitar/vocals), Stewart Copeland (drums), Clayton Parker (guitar), and Reece Lazarus (bass) FOUNDED: 2013
untrue singer
“which means more than two parts,” cracks Bognanno), the LP feels specific to a time and place, and its energy is impossible to ignore—the absolute antithesis of elevator music. Columbia
description—and imprint StarTime International signed Alicia
Bognanno Bully to release it, which may sound
would be the first to admit that—but fancy, but it’s 2015, and as Bognanno in simply summing up the gnarled and explains, “A lot of the contracts I’ve beautiful music of the group’s LP Feels Like seen between quote-unquote ‘major as ’90s alternative revivalism, you would labels’—or ‘indie labels that are owned be dodging the needle-sharp point of by a major label’—and ‘indie labels,’ the album’s very modern emotional core, the difference is, like, a tour van or and misrepresenting one of the freshest not.” debuts in recent memory.
And that’s really at the crux
“I guess I would prefer to be called of it, inevitably: Bully could have
‘grunge’ than ‘garage,’” says Bognanno, existed
in
1993, but
they
don’t,
sitting in a booth at Canter’s Deli in Los and their unintentional defiance of Angeles with bandmates Stewart Copeland, common twenty-first century genre Clayton Parker, and Reece Lazarus. “And I designations most basely indicates don’t think it’s ‘indie’ because I don’t know just how much they stand out from what the fuck ‘indie’ means. So I guess if what’s predominantly going on in rock I had to choose, ‘grunge’ at least makes and roll right now. sense. But if I didn’t have to choose, I would
“It’s
just...prefer not to.”
responsibility or whatever to know all of
Melvillian
preferences
not
our
immediate
aside, that,” says Copeland, speaking of their
Bognanno has every right to readily place within the industry. “Just kind of dismiss the “garage” label in particular, focusing on being a band presently, and given that she recorded, engineered, and writing decent songs, and playing well mixed Feels Like in Steve Albini’s Electrical is.” That’s no doubt the right answer Audio studio in Chicago, where she had (particularly on such a topic while previously interned before going on to form sitting in an establishment with Guns Bully in Nashville. And like the frequently N’ Roses posters looming on the walls), applied “grunge” descriptor, Albini’s name but a telling one, nonetheless, as the gets thrown around a lot in relation to the quartet jettisons into an unknown (but album, but Bognanno is quick to clarify that, in their case, promising) landscape.
B u l ly By Nate Rogers
despite being “the best engineer ever,”
hosting it in his space. Photo by CHAD KAMENSHINE
Arranged
to
match
roll and stuff.” And so we will. the
band’s
sincerely utilitarian live show, and captured takes (barring the more “elaborate” tracks,
FLOOD
“We have a manager and he can
with the actual production beyond simply “And people can write about rock and
predominantly in a minimal amount of
12
the In Utero producer had no involvement think about that,” Copeland goes on.
breaking
son l itt l e By Christian Koons
PHOTO BY Anthony Saint James
Last year, while touring through Europe in the fall as Son Little, Aaron Livingston felt extraordinarily at ease.
rock, R&B, and soul with elements
Shows were going well and, without his
imaginative and entirely human.
phone, he felt happily disconnected,
A good example of this stylistic
free from the distractions of life back
blend is “Cross My Heart”—a cut
home in the States. “I was feeling
from his debut EP Things I Forgot
very unburdened, unusually so,” says
and the first song he wrote as Son
Livingston, remembering. “Then I was
Little—in which Livingston’s voice
just suddenly slapped awake.”
channels a young Stevie Wonder
The abrupt rousing came from a
while he strums a dusty blues lick
French journalist who caught him up
over blippy R&B percussion and a
on the news about Michael Brown in
driving hip-hop groove.
Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York.
“That was a buzzkill,” says Livingston,
Livingston’s process. “There’s so
a hint of sarcasm emphasizing the
much you can do without trying
understatement. It wasn’t long after
now,” he says. “It’s so easy to
his return to America that Livingston
sit at your laptop and make an
wrote “O Mother,” a spare, mournful soul
orchestral masterpiece without any
ballad in which he sings with a raspy
instruments. It forces you to mess
tenor, “Can I love the world and hate
around and try different things, if you
how it makes me feel? / ’Cause I don’t
really wanna make something that
wanna kneel / Is there anyone who’s got
sounds different.”
my back for real?”
for
The New Yorker called the song
FROM: Born in LA, grew up in Queens, lived for a stretch in Philadelphia, but now calls New Jersey home YOU MIGHT KNOW HIM FROM: His guest spots with The Roots, his work with RJD2 as Icebird, his production for Mavis Staples, or his 2014 debut EP Things I Forgot NOW: Releasing his soulful, exploratory debut LP on Anti-
14
FLOOD
a distinctive, incredibly modern sound—songs that are both highly
Sonic
invention
Livingston
honed
experimentation
is
key
his
to
taste
through
a sequel to Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City
collaborations with The Roots (his
Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler),” and
vocals appear on 2004’s “Guns Are
iconic gospel singer and civil rights
Drawn” and on 2011’s Undun) and
activist Mavis Staples—whose recent
RJD2, with whom Livingston released
EP Livingston produced—called it a
an album as the indie-funk act Icebird.
“masterpiece,” heralding the tune as
a sort of contemporary anthem for the
to putting sounds together that
disheartened ethos of black identity in
maybe most people wouldn’t think
America. In a recent interview, Staples
to combine,” says Livingston. “They
said, “I’m looking at the world seeing
both encouraged me to do my own
the ’60s all over again. These young
thing and not worry about what other
black men, and white men, too, they
people said.” Although so far, in
need to hear ‘O Mother.’”
Son Little’s case, the words of other
Despite BACKSTORY: The artist once known as Aaron Livingston commands as many genres as he does instruments with his new nom de rock, Son Little
of reggae and psychedelia to craft
the
apparent
timelessness of Livingston’s music, billing him as a throwback act would be a mistake. On his debut album Son Little, Livingston blends blues, southern
“Both of those artists are open
people have not been something to worry about.
ROUD
PROUD
breaking
BASEBALL card VANDALS By Marty Sartini Garner
photo BY neph trejo
If you grew up in the late ’80s and early ’90s, you grew up in a world where Bo Jackson, Wayne Gretzky, and Michael Jordan could have their own cartoon. Ken Griffey Jr. could play a
card. That’s why we do so many cards with bizarre sentence structures and absurd statements.”
The brothers have amassed a
following impressive both for its quantity— they have over seventeen thousand
non-threatening movie villain. Real-life
Instagram followers—but also in its quality:
expansion teams could be named after
the Anaheim Angels’ C.J. Wilson and Josh
fictional children’s teams. In the post–Pete
Reddick of the Oakland A’s have both
Rose, pre–steroid era, sports marketing
posted pictures of themselves in Baseball
was, if not more innocent, at least still
Card Vandals gear, while people from
trying to work within traditional forms. Royals legend Bret Saberhagen to Lil Jon That included the baseball card, which
himself count themselves as fans.
companies were cranking out like peanuts
and Cracker Jacks well into the Clinton
though. After the brothers tweaked a
administration—by one estimate, as many
Dave Winfield card to say “If there’s
as eighty-one billion cards per year were
grass on da field, play ball,” the Hall of
produced at the time. In the same way that
Famer “made sure the Twitter universe
you have dead skin cells drifting around
knows that he is in no way affiliated
your room as you read this, you probably
with us,” the brothers say.
have baseball cards tucked away around
your house. You just don’t see them.
into paroxysms of anxiety over the
They’re not universally beloved,
And if your dad is currently going
That may soon change thanks to Beau
Abbotts’ dramatic devaluation of their
and Bryan Abbott, the two brothers behind
lifelong card collection, tell him to rest
Baseball Card Vandals. What they do is
easy. “Cards from the ’50s and ’60s
simple, if horrifying to men in their sixties
that are in decent condition are scarce,
who still haven’t gotten over their parents
so they were worth more money in the
ditching their own card collections: they
’80s,” they say. “But then, everyone in
scribble. They doodle. They deface. They
the ’80s thought their cards would be
remix old sports cards—the worthless
worth a ton of money in thirty years, so
“commons,” in the trade’s lingua franca—
they kept them in pristine condition
reshaping faces and bodies, rearranging
right out of the pack. Which means
words. The results are sometimes juvenile, there’s a fucking ton of those cards in
FOUNDED: Started on Tumblr/Twitter/Facebook in November 2012; added Instagram in March 2014 FROM: Originally Baseball Country, USA (i.e., St. Louis); now, Los Angeles YOU MIGHT KNOW THEM FROM: The irreverently defaced baseball cards that have earned them a healthy social media following NOW: Confusing Hall of Famers and frustrating collectors the world over as they near their 2,000th card
often nonsensical, and almost always
great condition, so they’re not scarce
hilarious. And while they’re not above the
at all, and not worth anything.”
occasional dick joke, their creations can
also be dark and oddly moving.
be an idiot to mark up a mint-condition
“We have a special affinity for sad or
Griffey Upper Deck rookie, one of the
embarrassing words next to confidently
most valuable cards of the brothers’
smiling players,” the brothers say via e-mail
day. In the meantime, they’ll stake their
from their home in Los Angeles, where their
reputation on their ability to vandalize
vandalized cards recently won them jobs at
the commons. Or, as they put it, “Our
a creative agency. “We never sit down with
brand is nothing without the unfortunate
any ideas beforehand. They’re all generated
bodies
by what’s on the card: the player’s facial
forgettable ’80s middle relievers.”
expression, their body position, and, most importantly, the words and letters on the 16
FLOOD
Besides, they say, you’d have to
and
faces
of
completely
Dear Nedelle, What if your partner is mega-religious and presses questions like “Do you believe Jesus died for your sins?” I kinda grew out of that stuff. It’s like being looked down upon and judged by a person that should lift you up but doesn’t. I think the core issue here is acceptance. Can your partner love you unconditionally or not? It’s a simple question, but somehow it’s so difficult to put into practice. Sometimes people are good on paper but can’t make it work IRL. This is something that both of you should consider. If your core values are too then you may have hit a wall. That said, I’m very different from my boyfriend in some ways, but we work hard at focusing on the things we have in common. We try to quell fights (in our case, heated philosophical discussions) before they start. No one is the perfect match for another person; you have to decide if they’re right enough to look past the differences. This may sound cynical, but Hi, My name is Nedelle Torrisi.
it’s not—I’m just a pragmatist! Someone you can have fun with, have good sex with, and not
I’m a musician with a bunch of albums out on different labels and under different
fight with is the new soul mate. Ha.
monikers: Nedelle, Nedelle and Thom, and Cryptacize. The most recent one just came out on Ethereal Sequence/Drag City under my full name. It’s called Advice From Paradise.
Good luck!
I began giving out love advice on my Tumblr a couple of years ago, and I’m happy to
Song recommendation:
have my column run in FLOOD. Have a question? Need some advice? Ask me anything at
“Fight the Good Fight” by Triumph
AdviceFromParadise@gmail.com or ask anonymously at AdviceFromParadise.com.
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FLOOD
IMAGES BY WHITNEY WEIR; DERADOORIAN PHOTO BY BENNET PEREZ
different and they’re always causing fights,
Please allow me to welcome my newest guest columnist: Angel Deradoorian! Angel, who has played in Dirty Projectors and Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, just released her wonderful debut solo album as Deradoorian, The Expanding Flower Planet.
True Love Butterflies Dear Nedelle, What’s the secret to finding and keeping true love? Dear Advice From Paradise, Straight to the point. Respect! I’d say that the answer to both
I really like this guy but I’m terrified to ask him out. I feel drawn to him, but the thought of
is the same—to become so happy with yourself and your life
talking to him makes me feel like I could throw up. It’s the worst. I don’t know him that well,
that you become a magnet for other positive people. Maybe
which is of course why I want to know him better. I know that the ultimate advice is to “just do
you’ve noticed that someone who is deeply unhappy and/or
it,” but I guess I’m looking for tips on how to psych myself up beforehand, or how to swallow
self-loathing can’t attract others. And if that person gets lucky
my nerves.
enough to attract another doom-and-gloomer, they might not be able to keep the relationship.
Deradoorian says: My first inclination is to have you ask yourself, “What is making me nervous?” Is it the anticipation that has built up over time, or are you fearful that your
So now that I’ve talked about attraction, let’s talk subtraction.
conversation might fall flat? Sometimes it’s nice to just say, “Hello, how are you?” and start
You should be so happy that someone who comes into your life
the communication slowly. Ask him about himself. People are drawn to self-confidence.
is just a bonus (OK, I know it’s easier said than done, but I’m
I know this does not come naturally to everyone, but we all have some of it, and we can
describing an ideal). You don’t need the person, but they are a
conjure it up. To me, part of self-confidence is not having expectations of others. Taking
great addition to your life. If they leave, you’re still doing your
the risk is the hardest part, but when you drop your expectations, you can just let it go.
thing and you don’t have a hole in your heart. Dependency and
I’ve found that when I like someone a lot and have this feeling, I am idealizing them.
neediness are major no-no’s.
I have to remind myself that they are a person just like me—that they aren’t better or stronger in any way, but just have a different energy, perhaps.
You might be thinking, “Society emphasizes happiness so much—it really stresses me out. Am I happy enough? What
I’ve heard it’s sometimes good to say something like “I’m a little nervous” aloud to lessen
if I’m a bummer?” Well, as long as you’re trying your best,
the feeling inside. It’s a very honest opening to a conversation, and sometimes it can
you’re doing just fine. Most of us don’t have the good fortune
defuse the anxiety.
of saying “I’m so dang happy” every morning when we wake up. Here’s a tip—you can fake your way into changing your
Song recommendation:
mind. Smile when you’re being negative. Replace a grunt with
“Come & Talk to Me” by Jodeci
a laugh. Go out and be with people when you want to be alone. It tricks your brain. Good luck! Song recommendation: “You Make Loving Fun” by Fleetwood Mac
Bill Bryson’s
GUIDE TO
TRAVEL By Pat McGuire
In the five-plus decades he has spent traveling the globe and recording his adventures, the award-winning author Bill Bryson has seen a lot of changes. “So many things are easier now, but places are so much more crowded, too,” says Bryson. “It was a lot quieter when I first started. We didn’t appreciate it at the time, but I look back now and think of it as a kind of golden age. I bet the Louvre was a lot quieter in 1973 than today.” Anyone who has fought through the merchant hordes hawking selfie sticks outside the Colosseum or haggled in grand bazaars alongside forty thousand of their closest iPhone-tethered friends has certainly experienced that rub. An “observer more than a participant” in his own words, Bryson—no slouch of an adventurer, to be sure—has seen the travel bug spread far and wide, as accessibility, technology, and public interest continue to improve. But, as the author of myriad BEST-SELLING books on experiences abroad, he may in fact be partly to blame for certain international influxes. Surely more than one family has been inspired to renew their passports after reading of the Iowa native’s hilarious trips and travails through England and the rest of Europe, Australia, Africa, seldom-seen parts of America, and beyond. This fall, the beloved account of his middle-aged attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail, A Walk in the Woods, is being released on the big screen, starring none other than Robert Redford as Bryson and Nick Nolte as his gruff partner in crime, Katz. In addition, a new book about his adopted home of Great Britain, The Road
to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island, is on shelves this winter. FLOOD rang the author at his EUROPEAN residence for a guided tour of his seasoned traveling methods. Here, READ Bryson’s notes on how to see the sights, dismiss nosy seatmates, and pack enough reading material to endure a ten-hour delay on the tarmac.
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23
Packing and Preparing Because I tend to be disorganized, I like to be as organized for a trip as I can be. I’ll double check that I’ve got my passport and all the papers I need. [How I pack] depends on the kind of trip, whether it’s for research or vacation. I don’t feel like a master packer; I try really suitcase, it’s all wrinkled to hell, and if I’m doing something work-
In Transit
wise, I have to iron a shirt every day. The only thing I’ve learned
On planes and trains, I tend to read or work on my laptop. I find
over the years is to start with an empty plastic bag so you can put
it really valuable time to get work or reading done without any
dirty socks and underwear in so they won’t get mixed up with your
interruptions. I only watch television on a plane when I’m having
clean stuff. I used to take the dry-cleaning bag from the hotel but
my meal. In cabs, wherever I am in the world, I really love to
increasingly all these hotels use canvas bags as a sign of classiness.
watch the scenery and look at the cities. In Australia, they have
But they’re no good—I can’t steal them out of fear they’ll add it to
a wonderful tradition of passengers sitting up front with the
my bill.
driver, so you can see right out the front windshield.
[The day before a flight], I’ll go through the process of packing four
Dealing with Chatty Strangers
times as much reading material as I can possibly do in a week. I know
Boring people seem to have a real instinct for finding me. I’m
it’s foolish, but I just have to do it. I couldn’t bear to be somewhere
not very gregarious so I tend to not seek out conversations. My
and not have a lot to read. I’ve sort of gone to the digital world—I
general approach to life is to sit and watch the world go by and
have a Nook—but I don’t download books, just manuscripts and
spy on people, as it were, rather than wade into the middle.
magazine articles. I’ve just come from Australia and I took four
There are exceptions to that, but by and large I don’t like to
physical books; I read half of one of them. And I knew that I wasn’t
talk to strangers. If I’m doing a travel book, I tend to come up
going to read them, but I thought if we ended up stuck somewhere,
with a clumsy lie: I’m there for a funeral or to visit someone.
if an engine needed to be rebuilt and we’re stuck on the tarmac for
I’ll talk to a friendly cabbie, though; often, I’ll initiate those
ten hours, I wanted to make sure I had plenty to read.
conversations and just ask about things I’m seeing or how the economy’s doing. But on an airplane, I’ll be polite but I won’t
Researching Your Destination
initiate conversation. That’s my time.
I’m perversely more inclined to do research when it’s a trip for on a place, I don’t like to know too much [in advance]. I try and
Where To Stay and How To Get Your Bearings
fill in all the gaps afterwards. That’s sometimes a risk, but what it
I always try to stay in an old, established hotel in a historic part
means is you turn a corner and see something and you have that
of town rather than something fashionable or up and coming. I
wonderful sense of discovery, whereas if you’ve read a guidebook,
don’t particularly like boutique hotels. I do like to be somewhere
it tells you to turn a corner to see the Duomo or whatever. I think
in the thick of things where you can step out the door and walk.
that robs you of the excitement of the experience. And the fact is,
I tend to give myself a distant destination that will take me
if a city has a cathedral, you’re gonna stumble on it; you’re gonna
through interesting areas and I’ll walk to it by one route and then
work out where the big museums are. I do occasionally miss out on
come back by another. I check out a beach, or head for parks—
little treasures but at the same time I find things that I feel nobody
wherever the largest parks are, that’s generally a reliable way of
else knows about.
finding your way around a city you don’t know.
pleasure than if it’s for work. If I’m doing a travel article or book
PREVIOUS PAGE: “Bill Bryson on the South Downs Way in East Sussex” by Sam Bryson. Courtesy of Bill Bryson
hard to fold things neatly, but when I take something out of the
Required Tools and Gadgets I have never succeeded with digital maps; they’re convenient if you want to know how long it takes to drive from Las Vegas to San Francisco, but in terms of actually studying routes, I’d much rather a physical map. I usually take a little travel alarm clock because I’m completely bewildered by most hotel alarms and I never have any confidence that I’ve set it correctly. I don’t have a lot of confidence in wake-up calls, either. I’m not very attached to gadgets or devices. Nowadays, I take a laptop but that’s about
Recording Your Journey
it. I do have a collapsible walking stick I take if I’m going to be
Most times I take some kind of a camera and take a lot of
doing any walking out in the open or on trails. I find it kind of
really crappy pictures to aid my memory. I often roll the
comforting, but it’s also quite useful just to keep yourself from
car window down and snap a random picture with my arm
stumbling as you’re going down an embankment.
out the window, just so I’ve got a record of the landscape. I do take notes but not terribly well, and I try to sit down at
Language Barriers
the end of each day and take a half-hour to jot down basic
I’m conversant in all the different forms of English, which is
observations. But often I find the things I jot down turn
kind of like speaking another language sometimes, but other
out to be of no use to me when I write the book.
than that I don’t have any language skills at all. I do think that’s one of the fun parts of travel—that sense of being completely
Recognizing Your Journey’s End
bewildered because you don’t speak the language. Cyrillic or
Sometimes it’s just because you’ve come to the end; you’ve
Chinese or something adds an extra dimension. I quite enjoy
done a coast-to-coast journey or something. When I did
not knowing which is the drugstore and that kind of being lost.
The Lost Continent, the idea was to do two big circuits of the US, and both of them brought me back to Des Moines,
Sustenance
my hometown. So that’s how I knew it had ended. But
I like to eat, and it’s a big part of the day, but by no means am I
this book I’ve just done on Britain was a bit different. First
a foodie. I don’t go to huge amounts of trouble to get the best
of all, there isn’t really a natural way to progress through
possible meal, but I do enjoy a meal and I try to experiment
Britain. And also, because I live here, it didn’t really feel
a little bit with local cuisine. And alcohol—it can often seem
like a journey of discovery—I just felt like I was at large
[in a book] like that’s all I’m doing in the evenings, drinking
in the country I live in. So, choosing an itinerary and
and drinking, and in a sense that’s true. But it’s also because
deciding I’d gathered enough material were both slightly
I’m at a loose end, away from home and in a strange place, so
odd challenges. And in some ways, I didn’t need to make
what else are you gonna do? You’ve got two options, really: sit
the trip at all, because I live here—most of the things I was
in your hotel room and watch TV, or go to a pub and have a
concluding I could have done without leaving home. At the
drink or two. So I tend to drink a lot more when I’m traveling
same time, it also felt like I could have spent the whole of
around for books and articles than I would at home. I hardly
my life on the road, because even though it’s a fairly small
ever drink at home.
place, there’s just so much in Britain.
FLOOD
25
U n d e r the In fluence Kurt Vile, a father of two and self-described family man, is soaking up the comfort and company of his home in Philadelphia before leaving to
begin the press cycle for his sixth album, b’lieve i’m goin down.... “I write a lot at my parents’ house,
strangely enough,” he says. “I’ll drive to the suburbs, hang out with my dad, listen to music, play guitar on the porch and, driving back, I’ll get inspired.”
Despite his fondness for domesticity, Vile’s career as a widely acclaimed, incredibly talented, and
totally unconventional troubadour keeps him on the road a lot, even when he’s not touring. The
making of his newest record took him from the hills of Athens, Georgia, where he fleshed out song ideas with his band The Violators, to the barren desert landscape of Joshua Tree, California,
where he learned the mystical ways of West African world-fusion rockers Tinariwen, and, finally,
back to his home studio in Philly.
Here, Vile takes us track by track through a selection of songs from b’lieve i’m goin down... and offers an in-depth look at the writing process behind his idiosyncratic style.
E I V
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By Christian Koons Photos by Marina Chavez
T “P re t t y P imp in ”
always a little weirder, but I just wanted to go into classic mode. It’s got that kind of ethereal, dark thing.
It’s funny—for at least the last two records, the pop jams came latest. I had a lot It was a heavy song. The words are kind of sad, just talking about life and death. We
my bandmate, were essentially working on the record ourselves, totally insular.
were not resting very well that whole time; we’d stay up later and later, and it was
All of a sudden we had a swamp of material, and I knew I needed some kind of
definitely scaring me. I was like, “Man, this song’s too dark.” My favorite part is the
producer. Just when I thought I was going to drown in this swamp of digital mess,
way the horn synthesizers come in, in the middle; it just kind of explodes out of
Rob Schnapf [Elliott Smith, Beck] reached out.
nowhere—just this warm, emotional chord. I’m proud of that one.
R
of spaced-out, darker folk music before “Pimpin” came along. Me and Rob Laakso,
So I flew back to Philly and we were just going to mix with him, but then I was inspired by the situation, and I wrote “Pretty Pimpin.” It turned into this pop jam,
“Wh eel h ouse”
which we needed really bad. Those harmonies just came… I’ve never had a harmony just come down from the heavens into my head like that—it was just all there.
“Wheelhouse” is definitely my favorite song. I went straight from Athens to Joshua Tree to jam with Tinariwen at [famed desert recording studio] Rancho de la Luna. It’s crazy because they don’t speak very much English. But they were teaching me
“I’ m an Ou t law ”
certain styles. On their guitars, they would just tune their low E up to a G, so they’d be playing chords, but they had this sort of drone—it almost sounded like they
This was one of the earliest recordings for the record. Down by the shore, I was
were playing two chords at once. It has this spiritual quality. I moved my strings
reading that book Blood Meridian [by Cormac McCarthy], which is just a mind-
around on my Jaguar—I don’t know how I did it, but it’s a really weird tuning. I’ll
melter. I was also getting back into my banjo. It has the high drone string that has
have to look it back up to relearn it.
U
this hypnotic, rustic folk thing—you can really get lost in it. When [my] band showed up, the magic happened, we just played it live. It was this
I recorded that in my space; I call it the Red Room. We got all the basic tracks done
spiritual tune—a spiritual mantra of some sort. We did two takes and used the
on my reel-to-reel. I went down to Athens where my drummer Kyle [Spence] has
second one. That’s the key to playing with great musicians like Stella [Mozgawa, of
a home studio. He played drums on it and I added that Wurlitzer solo and some
Warpaint] and Farmer Dave [Scher, of Beachwood Sparks]. They were reacting in
really cowboy-esque lead acoustic guitar. There’s, like, subliminal Ennio Morricone
real time. Dave, one of his tricks is just to react to the lyrics that I’m singing, and he
vibes to it. It’s a ghostly tune.
tries to get that out of his instrument. That’s my crowning moment so far in, like, real music. I mean, it’s all real music,
“T h at ’s L ife , t h o (a l m o st h at e to say) ”
but, something like “Pimpin”—you play it live, then you overdub, then you polish it off. But “Wheelhouse” was all done in real time. It’s the closest we could come to Pharoah Sanders or John Coltrane—that stuff is spiritual, but it’s all live. It’s not
pretty standard folk tuning. Most of my tunings I come up with myself, and they’re
second-guessing or fine-tuning or getting rid of your mistakes, it’s all there.
K
“That’s Life” is the first song that I recorded with The Violators in Athens. It’s in a
E “ L ife L ik e T h i s ” I was coming up with that simple piano intro—it’s just a couple chords, but it’s real pretty. I started hearing it as a pop song, mainly because the piano was so pretty and the drums were so tight. These days, the lyrics come pretty fast and I just jot them down. A lot of it spawns from having a good time and laughing
L
with friends. I incorporate funny sayings or funny jokes into it, not as a cop–out but because they’re a life force. I belted out the lyrics really quick. I had this guitar riff in my head and I laid it down really fast, because we had limited time at the studio anyway. But, sometimes the faster you work and the less you think, you realize that’s the best stuff. We were mixing it for three days—losing the point, basically. The whole song was birthed [from] off-the-cuff stuff that happened really fast. And then we found an early mix and it was clearly the best one. Thank god for that early rough mix.
“ Stan d I n si d e ”
I
I’ve had this song written for a super long time. I wrote it back in ’05, I think. It’s
got the hypnotic thing—fingerpicking those dreamy minor chords. It’s a simple love song with a humoristic side to it. Well, not humor, but, you know, “Don’t talk to me / Just walk to me”—if someone took it at face value, it would sound like you’re a complete dick. I always had vague ideas for the song that never felt right. All throughout my life I would go back to it. It’s very real, done live—a natural folk song. For whatever reason I always imagined it at the end of a record. We overdubbed a bunch of stuff to it, only to take most of it away. That’s always a recurring theme: add all this stuff,
V
overthink everything, only to get rid of it all for the stuff that’s really real.
BY KYLE MACKINNEL PHOTOS BY TIMOTHY SACCENTI
“I need another lover like I need another hole on the side of my temple,” unloads Antwan Patton—to whom “only the ladies” refer as Antwan and is better known anyway as Big Boi—in the opening moments of Big Grams’ “Run for Your Life.” Urgently delivered over Josh Carter’s jungle-swelled backbeat, the statement assumes a different posture as Sarah Barthel beckons with her choral refrain, “Tell me, where you wanna go?” The irony of the lyric lies in the fact that neither OutKast’s more sizable Boi nor Barthel and Carter’s Phantogram are exactly strangers to collaboration. As it happens, the trio comprising Big Grams were in bed together well before their debut project commenced. Back in 2011, professed Phantogram fan Big Boi invited Barthel and Carter to his Stankonia Studios in Atlanta to work on what would become three of the more successful tracks from his second album untethered to OutKast counterpart André 3000, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors. Despite representing relatively disparate strata of the musical landscape (Phantogram had theretofore released only 2009’s Eyelid Movies and a handful of EPs against Big Boi and OutKast’s extensive back catalog), a mutual respect swiftly formed, and the prospect of deeper collaboration became a foregone conclusion. “We are just huge fans of one another,” says Barthel. “Big expressed how much of a fan he was to us, and obviously we were big fans of him. It’s like, you’re working with your favorite artist, and it’s bound to be really cool.” Hardly the type of emcee to absently fetishize an indie synth line via sampler, Big Boi has long demonstrated his admiration for all walks of musical life. He claims “Jig of Life” as his favorite Kate Bush song, bonded with Barthel and Carter over The Flaming Lips, and once even collaborated on a show with the Atlanta Ballet. But equally essential to the Big Grams recipe is the gusto of Barthel and Carter in their adept willingness to work with a high-profile artist while their own musical identity establishes itself. (The duo released their second full-length, Voices, last year and are currently working on the follow-up.) “There was no fear in the room,” says Big Boi of early Big Grams sessions. “On either side, everybody was willing to do whatever it took to make the jam.” Further crystallizing Big Grams’ chemistry is their communal sense of humor. The rapport among Big Boi, Barthel, and Carter is especially apparent when they are goofing off, quip-cracking about such captivating topics as band lap-dances and psychedelic drugs. Whatever the context, listening to Big Grams is an exercise in how music has the ability to overcome external circumstance. When done right, as it has been here, collaboration can escape the confines of its creators’ individual pasts. There is a dialogue of musical substance present on tracks like “Goldmine Junkie” or “Drum Machine,” and instead of becoming a stilted pissing contest, this collab album is the type that illuminates everyone involved. Speaking of dialogue, FLOOD has the ’gram portion of Big Grams on the line right now. It’s a labor of love and the sheets are drawn. Won’t you jump in?
FLOOD
33
How did you all originally meet, and how did the Big Grams
rooms, so once we got it going we’d go off into our separate spaces
collaboration originate?
and just embellish on the ideas and come back and be like, “OK, this is what I got.” Start laying things down like that.
Sarah Barthel: We met each other a long time ago. Around 2012, 2011 maybe? We started collaborating with [Big Boi] on his last
When you guys aren’t discussing music, what do you like to
record—three songs off of his Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors.
talk about?
We wanted to keep moving forward, keep releasing things, so this was a good opportunity for us.
Sarah: B-40, usually. [Editor’s note (just in case): B-40 refers to smoking a blunt while drinking a 40 oz. malt liquor beverage.]
Josh Carter: It was something that we planned on doing, where it was talked about a long time ago that we would make a record, and
Big: Yup. Strip clubs.
fortunately, we all kept our word. Sarah: Strip clubs… [Overcoming apparent technical difficulties, Big Boi jumps onto the conference call.]
Were there any strip club outings?
Big Boi: Man, what’s going on with these bogus-ass calls, man?
Big: Yeah, we had a couple. In Atlanta, we went to Diamonds [of
[Laughs.] How are y’all doing today?
Atlanta] on several occasions.
Sarah: Good, how are you?
Sarah: Dave Chappelle?
Big: Good, man, just got to Virginia Beach, just looking at the
Big: Oh yeah, we went to the Blue Flame with Dave Chappelle
waves splash. It’s dope.
after the Dave Chappelle comedy show. We had a good time.
Did you all work together in person much on this project, or did
Is there an inherent sexuality wrapped into artistic collaboration?
it involve lots of passing files back and forth? Big: I think everything, to me, has got some sexuality to it, for the Sarah: We did a lot of both. We went down to Atlanta and camped out
fact that the music is freaky. I like to make records that you can
for about a week a couple of times, and then Big came out to LA a few
have fun to, you know what I’m saying? That’s what creates that
times, and then the rest was great because we could do it via e-mail,
vibe when you get somebody loose.
because we had other things to do as well. We were separated, so it worked great. It’s definitely more fun to be in the same room, though.
Sarah: Yeah, it’s, um…you have to take a bunch of mushrooms first, though. [All laugh.] Then you figure it out.
Big: It was pretty unorthodox. Sometimes, Josh would come up with a beat, or we might start saying something back and forth. He
Josh: I just think that it’s a record that’s good for making love, it’s
might make a joke, and that shit might turn into a line in a song.
good for driving to, it’s fun to skateboard to, it’s fun to shoot hoops
It was just the chemistry, just being in the same room and having
to. It’s sexy, it’s fun, it’s thoughtful, provocative…
music on that enabled us to pour all that creativity into one space. In LA, we had two rooms, and in Atlanta, we had two or three
Big: It’s a good soundtrack to your life.
Do you find that you have challenged each other’s creative limits
across state lines, you’d get fifty years for the same thing that you
in a certain way?
don’t get no time for if you were in seattle or los angeles, which is kind of crazy. It’s not like we’re in different countries; this is
All: yeah, definitely.
the same country.
Josh: a lot of the project was us pushing our boundaries as artists
Sarah: What else?
and getting out of our comfort zone, and doing something brand new for all of us. and that’s what made it so fun for me; it’s not a
Big: oh, yeah: eliminate the income tax. how about that? Because
Big Boi record, it’s not a phantogram record.
that income tax is really…there’s no need for that. I just don’t like my tax dollars going to create weapons and things that kill people,
Sarah: It’s a Big Grams record, which is something completely
and babies, and innocent folks. yeah. I’m a humanitarian, by the way.
different. We just wanted to put a bunch of music out that we might not necessarily put on our own records. you know, there
Was there a certain moment when you realized that Big Grams
are songs that I rap on, which I never thought that I would do, but
would be a successful collaboration?
it’s fucking fun and it sounded really cool when the end came out. Josh: I think that when Big had us come down to stankonia, we Big: right. Break down the barriers.
really hit it off right away. When we started working on songs it just kind of clicked. I knew deep down that we were destined to
If we manage to elect Big Grams for President in 2016, what will
make something really cool.
be its first order in office? Big: In the studio when we were all working on Vicious Lies, we Big: Um…legalize marijuana, I think. might as well.
came up with the whole concept to do a record. people were really excited about the collaboration that we did. to see everything
Josh: yeah.
coming to fruition is amazing; it’s the brainchild of us just sitting in a room. and then now, the focus is done, the video’s done,
Sarah: yup.
people are excited and loving the songs, and it’s like fate. I feel good about it, man. these are two really cool people that I’ve been
Big: that’s the only thing left to do, really. We have to think,
blessed to be put with, you know what I’m saying? and I think this
we’re all on the same land mass, but if you go a couple of miles
is how things are supposed to be going right now.
STREAM MUSIC TO ANY ROOM FROM ANY DEVICE.
BACKYARD Methodology: Conducted by Google Consumer Surveys, December 3-8, 2014 and based on 417 online responses. Sample National adult Internet population.
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FLOOD
New Order, NEW FAITH By Ken Scrudato Photos by Nick Wilson
FLOOD
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It’s been joked
that the post-punk generation is the first to lack the
“Writing and recording does become harder work as you get older,” singer-guitarist
slightest sense that it will someday grow old. And perhaps only lending fuel to those
Sumner admits of birthing their first new album in a decade. “It was very intense—at one
flames of denial, every new crop of buzz bands gushes with fawning homages to their
point, we were doing seventy-hour weeks. But, then, this is all I’ve ever done.”
most hallowed influences—name-checking Gang of Four here, Public Image there, and Joy Division everywhere. Said influencers are thusly inspired to stage seemingly
New Order, it must be said, is newer—and renewed. Gilbert returned to the studio for
perpetual reformations, carrying on as if the very idea of “ending” a band were an
the first time since 2001, and her touring replacement Phil Cunningham, as well as Tom
unthinkable absurdity.
Chapman—who filled the hole left by bassist Peter Hook’s animosity-charged departure—
are now fully colluding members. And perhaps poetically verifying the post-punk circle
“In the old days, bands used to break up," says New Order keyboardist Gillian Gilbert. “Or
of life, they have now signed to Mute Records, once surely the ideological riposte to the
the singer would die in a plane crash and that was it.”
band’s former label, Factory.
It’s perhaps a little jarring for her to put it exactly that way, considering how New Order
“Yeah, us and Depeche Mode—it’s weird,” Gilbert observes. “But it does feel like we’re
were literally borne from the aftermath of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis’ suicide. As the
starting all over again, which I think shows on the album.”
history books have it, remaining members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris bolted a few more synthesizers onto their musical manifesto and carried on under
What shows, in fact, are New Order’s exalted and long dormant technological
the starkly literal moniker New Order. Gilbert joined shortly after.
inclinations, informed by three years of live performances, and fans’ “apeshit” reaction to the trotting out of their dance floor classics. And if ever they could benefit from a bit
Now, it would be fairly impossible to argue that New Order haven’t actually broken up at
of self-referentialism, what more fertile ground than “Confusion” and “Blue Monday”?
least once since then. Five years of silence had passed before a reunion gig in 1998, and
2001’s Get Ready was vaguely hailed as a “comeback” record. Yet with the release of Music
Sumner enthuses, “Just getting back into electronics has been very exciting—it’s been so
Complete this fall, there ostensibly comes a promise that they now intend to carry on as
long. We’re doing all the things we dreamed of doing in the ’80s but couldn’t because of
long as is necessary.
the limitations of technology.”
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“Writing and recording does become harder work as you get older. But, then, this is all I’ve ever done.” —bernard sumner
FLOOD
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What Music Complete does best is serve as a reminder of New Order’s sheer sonic power
Sumner a “twatto,” so best to not hold one’s breath for reconciliation.
when they get things right. Indeed, the explosive “Singularity” might be the most
successful marriage of trance and heavy metal yet. And returning to their early ’80s
Despite using words like “alienation” and “depression” to describe the atmosphere after
Damascus moment, “People on the High Line” and “Tutti Frutti” tap various veins of
the release of 2005’s Waiting for the Sirens’ Call, Sumner is stoical, if not a little relieved:
NYC club culture from that time, which forever propelled them onward from their
“[Hook]’s chosen what he wants to do, and he must be happy doing it, because he wasn’t
post–Joy Division gloom.
happy in New Order. He wanted things done his way, and if it wasn’t done his way, he
wasn’t happy.”
They even invited a couple of their most fervent acolytes—The Killers’ Brandon
Flowers and Elly Jackson from La Roux—into their normally tightly guarded recording
Yet with the band seemingly riding a new high, Sumner pauses for a strikingly
process. But easily the strangest track is “Stray Dog,” in which Iggy Pop recites Sumner’s
confessional moment, seeming to want to apologize for his own part in New Order’s
existential poetry over a sort of fuzzed-out Stooges update. “I can’t stop drinking / It’s
well-documented erraticism of days past: “I was getting fucked up all the time, drinking
in my blood,” Pop snarls, to eerie effect.
too much—though I’m not the only one in the band guilty of that. Some performances
would be amazing, and some just no good and I think it was down to how hungover
Still, while Music Complete decisively proves there was no problem summoning the
we were. So it was our own fault—we put ourselves in that position. But I guess nature
fabled New Order muse, there’s an undeniable sadness to the apparently permanent
sorts you out in the end. We still have a drink…we just don’t get shitfaced.”
departure of Peter Hook—with so much of their mythos having rested in the three
surviving members of Joy Division bravely carrying forward from tragedy. And
Expect many more such revelations when Sumner’s autobiography, Chapter and Verse:
melancholy epics “Academic” and “Nothing But a Fool” do sort of cry out for his
New Order, Joy Division and Me is released by Thomas Dunne Books this November. But
inimitable bass styling.
don’t expect it to send Hook running back into his arms.
Gilbert reckons, “I believe we do have a good sense of our history. But then, if you’re
In spite of it all, what New Order has always unfailingly managed is to galvanize new
always thinking about what happened in the past, I don’t think it gets you very far.”
generations of fans, as Gilbert is all too happy to verify.
To be sure, Hook’s assertion that his absence equates to a Queen without Freddie
“I’ve been surprised by how many young people are coming to the shows, especially in
Mercury is a quite good bit of enmity-tinged hyperbole. He’s also publicly called
Paris, Brussels, and Brazil. It’s all very exciting.”
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B y B ailey P ennick I mage s by M el K adel
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When looking at a piece of art by Los Angeles–based artist Mel Kadel, each brushstroke hits a nerve. Layers of striking reds, blues, and greens seep into sun-soaked parchment, forming the fanciful adventures of a dark-haired woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Repeated generations of canvases covered in intertwined knots and personified clouds champion Kadel’s painstaking commitment to detail. A finished work takes a significant amount of time, but the development of her psychedelic universe has taken Kadel’s whole life.
“I’m constantly absorbing,” explains the laid-back artist. Like her art, Kadel is constantly changing and growing. From moving across the country to making the leap to work as a full-time artist, Kadel has hit major milestones, but the brilliance of her art comes from the pieces’ unconscious changes—like when you look in the mirror and suddenly realize you’ve aged. Without her even noticing, Kadel’s art has matured right before her eyes and she’s struck by the small but significant changes that have developed over time. During a visit to her Los Angeles home, we talked about where she’s been as well as what’s on the horizon.
How did you decide that coffee-stained paper would be your preferred medium? I used to make pen and ink drawings on old book pages—specifically those two first and last blank ones [in every book]—and I liked the old fashioned feeling. It gave warmth to the drawings. Eventually I wanted to get into ink washes and get a little bigger, so I started mimicking that old paper by staining [new] paper. I had to find thicker, heavier paper to hold up all of the paint. I think I’ve got it down to a bit of a science; I know how [the coffee] grabs the edges of the paper and absorbs [the painting’s] color, so there’s this immediate natural softness and pastel quality to the pieces.
I’m perpetually struck by your protagonist—a darkhaired woman who always looks a little bit pissed off. What can you say about her? Well, I can’t really pinpoint why—and I think about this a lot—but once I started drawing her, she evolved into this constant in my work. I think I hit a certain point in my life and became more focused on the feeling of the painting: the look of the world she was in, and not so much who she is. I’ve tried to take her out of my work—there was a series I did where I just covered her up in knots and ropes—but I keep coming back to her. She’s aging now, along with me, which I’m finding interesting. She’s not as young as she used to be and she’s getting a belly! That’s something that might be a direct result of the last few years of my life. I don’t want these pieces turning out cutesy—I enjoy that she’s getting a little dirtier. She’s wearing weird makeup now, she’s dying her hair like crazy old women who dye their hair blue, and I’m happy that she’s going off into a more psychedelic aging world.
Sometimes your pieces have more than one character in them, and they’re always intertwined or interacting on a very communal level. What draws you to portraying these human relationships? Maybe I’ve become more aware of our connections with each other? It’s the same way that when we walk into someone’s house, we also walk into someone’s mood. It directly affects you and then you move on with your day and sometimes you spread that [lingering mood] onto someone else. I want my art to be the feeling of those relationships—that could be male/ female, family, whatever. The interaction is what’s important. If I drew [the dark-haired woman] with an old man, who may be her dad, the piece isn’t about [family], it’s about the feeling of interconnectedness. It’s about the relationship that she has with other people and, really, the relationships that we have with ourselves. That’s why sometimes you see her with her mirror image of herself and you’re not sure if she’s with another person or if she’s just interacting with herself. Sometimes I find that I don’t know which it is, either.
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PA I N T I N G. ”
And what about aligning oneself with a place? You grew up in the suburbs of Pennsylvania and now you’re in Echo Park in Los Angeles. How has the change in location evolved your art? Messing around with staining paper was a direct result of being in California. I was sitting under multiple trees, so a bunch of foliage started popping up in my work. I still look outside and see palm trees and think it’s hilarious. I feel so connected to where I came from and I’m close to my family, so I’m still very curious about this place, but I think my work is so “California” now: flowers and sunshine. The feelings can be dark at times, but I think that the color palette is brighter now. I noticed the playful nature that everyone had [in LA], like the artist community. On the East Coast I was so confused, but here, I just relaxed and started feeling comfortable with it…even if it was a little hippie. I just shut off the judgment that I was feeling. I think [my heroine’s] happier too, even though she’s still pissed off!
Mel Kadel's flower ball, photographed by Emily Shur in Iceland, July 2015.