FOXES MAGAZINE
ISSUE 3
S A R U D N HO ANTON NEWCOMBE - CHARLIE OLDMAN BEACH PARTY - PAVES - DEAD COAST
CONTENTS
FOXES MAGAZINE
JANUARY 2015
MUSIC 6 10 28 34 44 76
ANTON NEWCOMBE PAVES BEACH PARTY HONDURAS FUZZ CLUB RECORDS DEAD COAST
FASHION 16 CHARLIE OLDMAN 54 TARAS SEREDA
MASTHEAD
EDITORS-IN-CHEIF
Tina de la Celle & Julian de la Celle
CASTING DIRECTOR Tina de la Celle
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Alex James Taylor & Julian de la Celle
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Phoebe Fox, Maud Maillard, Kimbra Audrey Derek Perlman, Dana Boulos, Lilly Creightmore Katy Lane
MARKETING DIRECTOR Zoe Peretz
INTERNS Abigail Leyva and Nicki Contreras
SPECIAL THANKS
Stuart, Lizz Steichen, Ana Cristina Guimaraes Peter Utz, Sara Cath, Old Griffith Park Zoo Crista Simiriglia
Jacket Some[thing] Sweater Sandro Trousers Ly Adams
DIGGING INTO
ANTON NEWCOMBE Photography Katy Lane
Julian de la Celle: So, you live in Berlin now, how do you like it? What made you decide to move there? Anton Newcombe: I do indeed. I started making a move in 2007, I think, juggling NYC, Reykjavik & Berlin. My original plan was to live in Iceland but then their economy hit a major snag and it became a drag to be there as everyone was preoccupied with the devaluation of the money, the freezing of their bank accounts and an uncertain future. Interesting to watch from the outside, interesting like a car wreck I guess. Anyway, I decided to just settle on the eastside in Berlin...it’s lovely. It’s wonderful to be a spectator, on the edge of a society that is constantly evolving, truly evolving. There is the history of the all wars and national socialism, of the DDR, STASSI and reconciliation, rebuilding and reunification, of leadership...and now taking in 1,000,000 refugees or 1% of the population- it’s insane energy...then we have the arts - Berlin spends a billion euros a year on funding the arts. Everyone tells me they love this city and it’s nightlife...I find I can just be a ghost and get on with my life and my art. Freely. The city is safe and civil. Lastly there was a dramatic turn toward the right wing since 9/11 and a parallel great slumber for the masses as we enter this great endless war...all the nations of the west drift to the right, and closer towards a police state and nobody seems to care too much....it’s 2016 now and everyone has a computer in their pocket...if you don’t know the truth, it’s because you have no use for the truth. I chose to live in Berlin and Germany as they have a history of the secret police and fascism, there are checks and balances that no longer exist in America and the commonwealth, or elsewhere as you shall see. Safety yes, but absolute power corrupts absolutely...and we see corruption growing, not shrinking, with all of this surveillence.
J: When did you first realize you wanted to play music? A: I started playing music daily around 9, I think, and I was trying to create music with other people when I was around 12. I never thought I could play music in a group or be a star on TV or whatever...I didn’t have any of those kinds of dreams or examples...the idea and desire to be in a group came from watching local punk and post punk groups, surf music and whatnot...and thinking “these people really aren’t that smart...I can do this.” That led to trying to play with people that didn’t have dedication or talent, or maybe just ideas...always something missing that weeds a person out...it forced me to write the music I wanted to sing, and grow etc. J: Who were you listening to growing up? Did you come from a musical family? A: My mom and sister love music...I find it easy to explain that I didn’t listen to mainstream in the 70s. I fucking hated rock, Led Zeppelin you name it. I sort of went from 60s to post punk....I could go into details if you want...but if I were to describe something to you about my journey... it’s like every guitar player I knew coming up...they deep inside them had this fucking crap rock backbone...their default approach to guitar licks was some lick from Led Zeppelin or Motley Crue or any mainstream shit that they grew up on... My backbone was 60’s and their influences...old folk and country. Spanish and classical music and punk and post punk...a real mish mash do it yourself perspective. J: Do you remember the first record you ever bought? A: Isaac Hayes.
J: What was the first live show you attended? A: That info could be shrouded by the foggy mists of memory and time. I’ve seen a lot of great and freaky things...over the years and early on... J: How did the Brian Jonestown Massacre form? What made you say “Let’s start this now”? A: Well, I started out trying to find a group that was making music I wanted to hear...I had groups back at home, but I was now living in San Francisco and there just were not any. I started out by trying to create demo tapes, 4-track recordings of ideas to show people and send anywhere, to labels, magazines...whatever. J: I was told by Alexandria at Fuzz Club that you’re into virtual reality right now, what about it most fascinates you? A: Well, I am into mixed media and it looks like we are going to try and create a VR EP of sorts...but I’m interested in doing a project using the cinechamber (10 screens, 21 sets of stereo and sub) having elements of that translate into a gallery exhibit using shapes and themes including paintings and rug work along with sculpture, neon and prints, then there would be the oculus terminals, and downloads for Google cardboard etc later... J: Were you involved in the post-production side of things from the very beginning? A: I think the answer is yes.
J: How did you start your own label and why? A: I have always had an imprint and understood how the music business worked...in the way all hip hop artists now are brought into a label by an artist on the artists dime, then they later start their own label...it’s endless... But I knew this stuff decades before any of these people... I guess my problem is that I hate the mainstream and money is not my main goal. I don’t really care about sales, volume dollar - I guess that’s why I am still here and doing very well...
J: Talk a little bit about writing music for film and TV. A: For the project I just completed...Moondogs - the director said I could do whatever I wanted basically, and that’s the dream really, but then any intelligent person would notice that a certain film requires specific music... and so you find yourself not as free as you thought you were... for instance, a filmmaker could hire you saying “we have a project for you and you can do anything you want as you want...” only to find the film is about Norwegian death metal....or something. Anyway, it was cool and I refused to read or watch the movie until I loaded it into my avid/ protools and started with the first cue...I then proceeded to work from start to finish and added a track for the end credits. I also refused to show the producer or director anything until they could see everything as I didn’t want anyone to take anything out of context. I was able to play with the fact that you have no idea what kind of film it is or what would happen next because I didn’t know myself, I only had the guide music they shot to (my own music etc) and that gave me an idea about the tempo that I could ignore or adhere to. I find that film people can lack imagination in the mainstream for many reasons...one is the ‘360 deal’ where cross marketing makes business happen. Batman relaxes at home to Rihanna while he enjoys a Pepsi, hops into a BMW and flips on the new Katy Perry...changes into his batmobile as Danny Elfman or Trent Reznor provide the cue until wham....it’s Adele moaning some moving bullshit about how nobody knows what it’s like to be a superhero. I want to work in Europe with people and make good films better with great musical ideas, but I also don’t want to be a 24/7/365 machine slave, I don’t want a job, I want to work on art with artists. I feel fortunate that I have two more films lined up besides my work with remixing, BJM, Tess Parks and everything else I do. J: Are there any new bands or musicians that stand out to you right now? A: Well, I would like to record another record with Tess Parks. J: What’s to come in 2016? A: We tour Europe & North America, and hopefully make it to Japan...I imagine this will be my most productive time of my life...knock on digital wood.
PAV E S Photography Phoebe Fox
Where did you all meet? Luke: I met Mike at University, we went to the same Uni together. The people who I was hanging out with weren’t typically into guitar music, so we gravitated towards each other. He was into a completely different scene, like, more hard rock and I was more into a bit more mellow stuff. The first time we played together I brought along an electric guitar and he brought along his Les Paul and a big Marshall stack! [laughs] It just didn’t click, so we didn’t play together for probably about another 5 months or so. Then I had a flat in Hackney, he had a flat in Whitechapel and we were both in London for the summer so we just had a jam and we spent all the last months of summer playing music and it converged and came up with something in the middle. I met Tom in a little pub in Camden playing in a little acoustic band playing snare but I could tell he was a good drummer and I asked him to jam with us. Then Perry? Perry: Met through mutual friends. Luke: And that’s the story! [laughs] No, but we were looking for a bass player and had the idea to audition a few people. Perry was the first person to come and we had a jam. From the first rehearsal it just worked, he was good fun and had a few drinks after. What’re some of your major influences? Luke: Actually, I was in the car the other day and I was listening to the equivalent in France to Classic FM, it’s called Musique; not very original. And see, all French radio is crap, but I managed to jot down this thing called The Sea Symphony and the part was The Waves. Perry: Speaking of Wavves, they’re a pretty good band! I’m really into the LA psych scene like Allah-Las, Wavves, The Growlers, Ringo Deathstarr, I know their Texan, but I’m into them at the moment. Luke: Okay, right, it’s by Vaughan Williams. I’ll put it on now! [Listen HERE] Get Mike to join while this is playing! Mike: Hello, yeah? What the hell is going on? Luke: Personally I’m very inspired by the 60s. I like what the Brian Jonestown Massacre have done. They’ve taken the 60s stuff but brought it to a different universe with a modern twist.
Speaking of BJM, we have Anton in this issue as well. Luke: Oh hell yeah! Can you put us on opposite pages so that when you flip the page it’s Anton? [laughs] I’ll see what I can do! [laughs] Where’d the name come from? Luke: I feel very self conscious answering every question, but I do have the answer to this one. What happened was we were looking for names and we brought out a dictionary because we thought we might find something really cool. We stopped on paves and I said that’s interesting because in May of ’68 there were the French riots in Paris, which were primarily student riots and left wing riots against social structure and they used to come up with little phrases they would graffiti. One of them was “Sous les paves, la plage” which translates to “Under the paving stones, the beach.” When they would get into confrontation with the police they would rip of the paves from the streets and throw it at them and that was a really strong image, ripping up societies structure and throwing it in society’s face. So, as blown up as it is, I like the idea of the name because it has a lot behind it, you can read into it in a deeper way. Do you guys remember the first record you bought? Luke: Beethoven’s 7th. [laughs] Perry: I remember stealing the Marhsall Mathers LP by Eminem from my parents. Then I think I went out and bought Guns and Roses The Greatest Hits. Mike: AC/DC Back in Black. Luke: See, there are a lot of people that are cooler than me. It’s even worse because I can remember the next three CDs given to me. It was INXS, Sting doing a cover of Fields of Gold and Van Halen The Best Of.
Do you remember the first live show? Luke: Probably friends playing. But my first concert was…[laughs]…I went every Sunday to see classical music! In Toulouse, every Sunday of every month, if you were a kid you got in for free or very cheap and they would do an hour and a half concert to get kids into music. Perry: I think it was Muse opening up for U2. Luke: [laughs] Oh, I just remembered what Mike’s was! Mike: What? [laughs] Luke: You tell him. Mike: Well, I’d seen a lot of little bands play but the first major one was Justin Timberlake! [laughs] I didn’t buy the tickets though. Are you guys friends with any local bands? Luke: I think what’s really good about this 60s movement happening again is that you become friends with the people you meet and play with. It’s a close-knit community. I mean, there are some great bands in London right now. What do you guys have coming up for 2016? Luke: Well, the 4th or the 5th we’re going to the studio in London; recording on the 4th and mixing on the 5th. This will be more of a country song, but rock too. We want to release it as soon as possible after that. Gig wise, we’ve got some good ones coming up. On the 9th of January we’re playing this night This Feeling that’s called Big In 2016, a kind of showcase. Then we’re recording another single to be released around March. In the Summer we want to put out a bigger format of music, we don’t know if we want to keep putting out singles or if we want to put out a full album just yet. I think, as a band, we’re ready to do it and we have the material for it.
CHARLIE OLDMAN PHOTOGRAPHY DANA BOULOS STYLING KEYLA MARQUEZ GROOMING MARYGENE ROSE
Shirt Saint Laurent Jacket Saint Laurent
Jacket Saint Laurent Jeans Saint Laurent
Jacket Saint Laurent
Where are you from? Los Angeles? Yeah, I’ve lived all over LA, many different places. I lived in England for three months, in Winchester too. That was fun, it’s when my dad was filming. When did you get scouted by Saint Laurent? I was at Coachella this past year, taking photos of Jack White, and then this man took a photo of me, I took a photo of this man, I had no idea who he was. I was like “he’s taking photos from a better spot, I’m gonna go steal the spot where he’s taking photos.” I was wearing this camo Saint Laurent jacket and this man complimented my jacket and I said “thank you, I love it!” And he goes “I designed it.” He was my favorite designer at this time, and I was mind blown. Then after the show we were working to the grade area where Jack had his trailer and stuff and he was like stop by the LA the store and tell them I want to do a photoshoot and I went in the next weekend on Friday and they almost did the shoot that same day, but they decided to do it on that next Monday. Was modeling ever something you wanted to pursue or did it just happen? A lot of people had told me to do it, and I just never really tried to do it, it just happened. Actually, two years ago, I was on Melrose and Natalie who is the casting director over at Saint Laurent, she scouted me, sent me e-mails. I didn’t think it was real cause it’s Saint Laurent. There’s no way that this was actually happening and so I just ignored that. Then Coachella happened and I saw Natalie in Paris and I was like “Are you the one that scouted me like two years ago?” and she was like “Yeah, some random woman asked me if I was a pedophile because I just came up to you guys and started talking to you!” You do photography too, when did you get into that? A couple years ago and I just kind of got more and more into it. It’s not something I want to do for a living but I love doing it. If I get to show my work, that’s great, if not, that’s fine, I’m just doing it. What kind of camera do you use? For film I use a Pentax 67 and then for digital I use the Leica M-P. Is there anyone you look up to style wise? Like, if you were to say Bowie inspires you… Well Bowie does inspire me, yeah. He’s a very nice guy. I love Jack White’s style too. Hedi Slimane, of course too. My father. He wears mainly the classic English clothing.
I was told you are designing some dresses? Yes, I’m basically getting samples made of all my designs, which I’ve drawn out. It’s woman’s couture vintage with a modern twist style. Then I’m getting them made for my friends cause I’m gonna have a bunch of people wear them so that I can shoot them and then have kind of a look book of what my designs are. When did you get into that? I’ve wanted to be a designer for the past year or two and initially I started drawing men’s stuff, but I kind of realized that there was more to be done with woman and I love drawing it more. The couture is more of an art form. When I buy clothing, I look at the beautiful pieces and it makes me happy to wear it. I’m not so much doing it for the brand, it’s just the nicest brands make the most beautiful clothing, like Saint Laurent is my favorite brand. So I just want to make woman’s clothing that woman can wear and be happy wearing it and find beauty in the clothing. Are you going to Italy? Yeah, I’m moving to Milan in, maybe, September to study under Prada’s design team. I would be studying under the woman’s design team and then maybe eventually getting a job on the design team and then after that I can get a job on any design team. It’s like an understudy or an apprentice. What are some musical influences for you? I love Jack White and Bowie, I like basically all types of music, there’s no specific type, except for all those kind of crazy…I don’t like rave music, I just…no. Do you remember the first record you bought? The Beatles, I don’t remember which one, it’s just I grew up on them and my dad would always play them and I have every single one of their albums, I always have. Do you feel like your dad’s been an influence on you creatively? Yeah, I love his style and it got me into fashion more. He’s been kind of an influence in my life in general too. He does photography as well. He’s influenced everything I do, pretty much. Other than you going to Italy, what else is coming up for you this year? I heard about a gallery? Oh yeah, me and my brother are doing a photography show at the Leica gallery. We’re working on taking photos for that, and that should be around February.
WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO FROM THE SHOOT HERE
Jacket Saint Laurent Shirt Saint Laurent Jeans Saint Laurent
Jacket Saint Laurent Jeans Saint Laurent
Jacket Saint Laurent Shirt Saint Laurent Jeans Saint Laurent Shoes Saint Laurent
BEACH PARTY Photography Derek Perlman
How about you all introduce yourself along with your spirit animal. James: I’m James and my spirit animal is Rob Banks. Nico: I’m Nico and my spirit animal is a coyote. Rob: My name is Rob Banks and my spirit animal of the moment is a flying cheetah. Nico: A flying Cheeto? [laughs] Rob: You know what, it’s a flaming hot Cheeto. Where’d you guys meet? James: I met Rob when I went to see his band play, the one he used to play in; not anymore! Nico: I met Rob a long time ago. Rob: Yeah, I met Nico a while ago, and we were playing in other bands but started talking about playing together, like a guitar/drums kind of thing, but we never did it. Then when I met James and we started talking we actually got together and started hanging out and went to his bedroom as usual [laughs]…and that’s where the magic happened and we made some good demos, like a lot of bands do. Nico: Then you were like you should meet my buddy James and I think it was at the Kill City party a couple years ago. We all met and started jamming the next week and went from there. Influences when you started? Rob: Definitely at the beginning it was like psych garage rock from the 60s and we liked American garage rock and stuff that was dirtier and messier. People like The Black Lips and Velvet Underground stuff. Nico: Elvin Jones, a great jazz powerhouse drummer, Mitch Mitchell and obviously Ginger Baker, I mean all the classics, John Bonham. Mike Clark who played with the Headhunters, down to fucking Dave Grohl, he rules. Do you guys remember the first record you guys ever bought? James: Offspring! Definitely remember that and then Smashing Pumpkins. Oh! And Third Eye Blind. My mom bought me these CDs. Nico: My first record was the Farside. Rob: I love, like, Warren G “Regulate.” It was like a cinematic story. Not that I could relate but I was absolutely enthralled by it. This homie is saving his homie. But my first one was probably a Nirvana CD like In Utero or something.
Any venues in LA you like to play? Nico: The Troubadour is one of my favorites. James: I think the Wiltern would be cool. Nico: My favorite is also The El Rey, when I was a kid I grew up in LA and I’d go see shows there and then when we actually played there and it was rad. James: I also like playing house parties and stuff, the shit where we have to bring all our own gear to and stuff, those are fun to me. Do you guys remember you’re first live show you’d been to? Nico: Mine was Wings in Connecticut. James: Green Day at the Henry Fonda. Rob: Mine was Blur in Santa Barbara. It was so wild. We were in the pit of the Santa Barbara Bowl and everyone pushed forward for Song 2 and went on stage with him. I remember he lost his shoes and everyone was throwing them around. My cousin got slammed into a speaker and lost his hearing for a week. Nico: When Radiohead did those two-three days at the Hollywood Bowl, my ex girlfriend bought me tickets. The problem was she was such a Radiohead fan that she was just crying the entire time during the show. Rob: It was beautiful, man. I was there too. James: Rob was his girlfriend. Plot twist. I know you guys worked with Ty Segall a bit? James: Yeah, we had 5 songs that we wanted to do and he has his studio that he was building which is right down the street from here. We did a bunch of songs and ended up sticking with two of them: “Can’t Surf” and “Fun” and those were the ones that were released. Are there any other things that you do other than music? Nico: A bunch of shit. I do art direction for commercials and music videos. I do set building too. Rob: I’ve worked in film over the years on and off. I like to write and I’ve directed a few shorts and indie stuff. James: Just music, that’s all there is.
Do you guys have a preference in analog and digital? Nico: Eh, not really. I’ve heard a lot of bands that do analog stuff to do analog and to me it doesn’t really matter because if it sounds like shit, then it sounds like shit. James: A lot of it has to do with how far you’re willing to go with it. If you’re willing to go full analog on something, there’s a novelty to recording to tape and the process is really exciting, it’s a little more real. From a photography perspective it’s like shooting on film vs filming digital, you’re putting a little bit more effort into it, a little bit more time to make sure you’re getting what you want. Rob: This is a good example of why I love analog and I always will over digital, only because of what type of music we make, which is loud rock music, it’s something that should be captured somewhat live or somewhat organically. Weird mistakes and weird stuff is kind of the cool part of it. When we were recording with Ty, I remember we did a take for “Can’t Surf” and it was my solo. I was playing it live recording to tape, which of course he’s a true believer in too. So we were recording live and I hit some note and I was like “fuck!” and you could hear it on the mic and he was like you need to keep it! It was a good reminder that if we did it digitally we would just be like let’s suck that part out or punch this in but with tape it’s a lot harder to do that. James: It’s a bit more honest. Rob: It’s way more honest! It’s even changing our culture in the sense that people expect a perfect *thump thump* from a drum. But you put on a Zeppelin record and you can hear that Bonham is a bit off beat, same with Keith Moon, but when they did it on the tape I bet everyone looked around and said “that’s fucking great!” But nowadays we’re driven by everything needing to be perfect, and precise. James: I think also there’s an aspect of like if you have the opportunity to go back a million times to fix something, you’re going to and you’re going to nit pick it to the point where you’re creativity is just gone and you go so far into it that you forget what you’re even trying to do. A lot about music, for us, is the energy of it and when you’re just focused on getting something perfect, your energy is so off.
Are there any other bands you’ve become friends with or were from the start? Rob: Yeah, I think that any music scene is connected through friendships. James: I mean, we’ve been around as a band with a lot of other bands that had already been bands, or we’ve watched them grow and it’s been really cool. Some of our first shows with certain bands are doing really great now and it’s fun to watch that! We played with Cherry Glazerr a lot at the beginning of their band, this band Bleached, and we’ve opened for The Black Lips, Dead Meadow, Off!, Beast Coast… Rob: Night Beats too. They’re cool dudes. And Cosmonauts too. What’s coming for the new year? Rob: We’re wanting to really record and write a lot of material. We have a lot of songs in the incubator and we want to develop them and nurse them to life! Then we definitely want to tour this year once we finish the record. James: Yeah, I think this is the first time as a band that we decided to stop playing for a little bit. We were doing little tours and stuff like that but it was never a full tour because we didn’t have a lot of material. Now it’s the first time we’re deciding to stop and focus on really recording this album and finishing that.
HONDURAS Photography Kimbra Audrey Photographer’s Assistant Alexandria Spencer Foot Words Julian de la Celle
From Brooklyn’s underground Honduras approaches, intent on filling your ears with music that matters. They’re a band with a range of sounds reminiscent of that of the old CBGB days, a tinge of the early Strokes sounds, and even a bit of Brit Pop in the mix. With their EP Morality Cuts, a batch of singles and their debut album Rituals behind them, Honduras is ready for more. We spoke to frontman Pat Phillips while he was staying in his hometown of Columbia, Missouri and this is what we had to say.
Where exactly in Missouri are you right now? Pat Phillips: Columbia, Missouri, it’s a college town that’s kind of right in the middle of the state. And that’s where you were born? Pat: I was actually born in St. Louis but most of my life was spent growing up here and our guitarist Tyson, he’s actually from here too. We’re both from a little Missouri town. [laughs] So you two met first? Pat: Yeah, I’ve known him since elementary school. Literally his dad was my tee-ball couch, but we started kind of hanging out, he was a year older than me, and we were making music towards the end of high school. He went to Chicago, I went to NY, but we’d keep just sending each other tracks and recording when we were together and kind of solidified that music relationship. Did you guys have a band before Honduras? Pat: Um, high school he had his own band called Lake Effect and I had my own which was like a class under him, but there wasn’t really a lot going on in our town, I mean, there’s like Battle of the Bands and a small emo scene happening. I had to get out of here when I was 18. [laughs] There’s just kind of the conservative...surrounded by a state school with college football and all that stuff. Where are you? I’m in LA. Speaking of Missouri, my dad, he’s French and he lives over there, but he bought a church in Armstrong, MO a few years back. Pat: How’d he buy a church? [laughs] I don’t know how one does that, but I think someone just wanted to get rid of it…and it was cheap at the time. He wanted to make a recording studio out of it but no one wanted to go to Armstrong, MI to record. Pat: Yeah, I mean, it’s not a bad idea. Me and Tyson still have dreams of having a studio on a farm or something out here. Maybe when we start making some money, which is probably never. [laughs]
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We didn’t really give a shit about the landlord, obviously, so we just kind of turned the basement into a rehearsal space and recording studio and drew on the walls and stuff.
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So you went to NY, he went to Chicago, when did you finally meet up again in NY? Pat: Um, when Tyson moved to NY I think it was 4 or 5 years ago. We had some interest in a previous project that was more singer-songwriter driven that me and him had worked on but…I had just really shifted the kind of music I wanted to make and living in NY, I’d already lived there for 5 years at that point. Just more of a rock sound, more energetic, louder than the music we had previously made. Then when did you meet the other two? Pat: I’ve actually known the drummer Josh since he was 18 years old, so probably about 6 or 7 years. Then Polly, our bassist, I’ve known for 4 years just from the Brooklyn music scene. He played in a band called The Denzels that kind of disbanded around the same time we were looking for a new bass player. So that was pretty fortuitous and it all meshed really well. So what made you start the band? Pat: We started about 4 years ago and Tyson and I always wanted to plan a band together in NY. We were living in this apartment together, this basement in Bushwick, and we had some difficulties with the landlord that had another roommate sue him or something and we won the case, so we were able to live there for free for a full year! We started the band right around that time. We didn’t really give a shit about the landlord, obviously, so we just kind of turned the basement into a rehearsal space and recording studio and drew on the walls and stuff. You can’t really do that in Bushwick anymore but it worked back then. What are some of your major influences? Pat: Um, kind of when we initially started it was based around bands like Wire, The Rolling Stones, some of the CBGB bands like Television and Richard Hell. We had some 60s garage influences and first-wave punk and we’ve kind of evolved over the years just to keep picking up more influences. But yeah it was probably that first-wave punk that we were trying to recreate in the beginning.
Where’d the name come from? Pat: There’s this graffiti on the Williamsburg bridge, and I’ve always walked that bridge. Right around the time of starting the band I was walking it like every day. From the lower east side going into Brooklyn you just look up and there was this “Honduras” in graffiti written like 4 or 5 times. I would just always look at it and it just stuck with me. It’s still on the bridge, one of them is crossed out, there’s like a heart next to one, obviously it has nothing to do with our band— You never know! Have you ever done a shoot with that bridge? Pat: No, I mean, I’ve had countless friends just walk the bridge and tag me like “Oh my god!” What are some of your favorite venues to play in NY? Pat: Um, it’s funny how venues are always evolving in NY, especially with a lot of the ones in Williamsburg closing in the past couple years, but currently…I really like Palisades, I like Baby’s All Right. It’s not a DIY venue and it’s not like a Bowery, but it kind of sits there in the middle in a perfect way. It hold about 300 people. I saw Beach House there with my girlfriend which was pretty amazing. What were some of your favorites before they closed? Pat: Um, 285 Kent Ave, we actually only played that one once, but that’s probably the famous one that was in Williamsburg that closed down this past year. I actually work at a DIY venue/restaurant/bar called Alphaville which has really gained steam this past year, basically the whole staff of 285 Kent works there now. But my favorite DIY venue was this place called Big Snow Buffalo Lodge which was pretty close to the projects in like Bushwhick and East Williamsburg, but one of the owners ended up getting shot by a stray bullet one day at a show and after that they closed it down, I think it was a little bit too dangerous. That was when we really started playing and…I don’t know, our band really evolved there. It was a good DIY venue for bands on the up to grow and smoke weed in the basement. [laughs] How was SXSW last year? Pat: It was good, that was our 2nd SWSX, we played better shows this year than the first year. The first year we kind of just went down there and played what we could, which was too many shows in front of like 15 people. But this last year we played this Thrasher Converse show with Wavves and Iceage and that was probably the first bill we were on that
Do you remember the first record you ever got? Pat: I think it was Weezer Blue Album when I was in 4th grade, recommended by my cousin. I remember buying that CD and being pretty excited. But the first concert probably left a bigger impression on me. I was 9 and my dad is a big music guy, a musician himself, and he took me to go see Public Enemy and Cypress Hill in St. Louis and we were definitely the only two white dudes. I probably also got stoned as a 9 year old just from all the second hand smoke. [laughs] I just remember being fascinated. I’ve always loved hip hop and really got into it when I was a teenager in junior high and a lot of in originated from him taking me to that show, but he was also into punk rock and The Stones and Sonic Youth. Who are some local NY bands or bands from outside of NY that you were friends with from the start or became friends with from playing out more? Pat: We have a pretty close-knit relationship with Sunflower Bean. We share a manager with them and our manager is actually my girlfriend’s sister and so it’s been really fun to watch them do what they’re doing. We’re fans of Twin Peaks, they’re out of Chicago. They’re really good guys, and they’re crazy. Speaking of Sunflower Bean, for the Paralyzed video you featured Julia Cumming, where’d the concept for the video come from? Pat: Um, our drummer Josh actually came up with that concept and he directed it with his friend, so I’d have to give most of the credit to him. Then my girlfriend’s a stylist and she styled the whole thing. Josh was going for some kind of Howard Hughes-esque thing. We shot it in this really sketchy motel in New Jersey. It was pretty empty and we thought we’d get in trouble for just shooting a video and whatever but literally, like, we saw crack heads, we saw the prostitutes, we saw the business men, it was a very sketchy place [laughs] maybe it added to the vibe of the video! What do you guys have coming for 2016? Pat: Yeah, we recorded four songs last week and we’re gonna put out this little EP, self releasing that in late January. Then in early January we’re going on tour with this punk band from Toronto called The Beverleys for like 8 days. Then in February we’re actually touring with Sunflower Bean for about 10 dates. We’ll be down at SXSW and we have some other festivals coming up as well. Hopefully we get on Burgerama this year and can come to LA in-be-
Casper and Alex of
FUZZ CLUB RECORDS Photography Lilly Creightmore
How did Fuzz Club come to be? Casper: Originally Fuzz Club was the name of my MySpace page back in the day. I used to post music from the bands I liked and I remember having ‘Black Grease’ by the Black Angels on there. Then it turned into a t-shirt label for printed band tees. I’d set up a production line in Brazil when I was living there playing football a few years ago, and started producing the tees along with a fashion line that is best left forgotten! I did that for a little while but then I broke my foot and so had to stop playing and move home to Norway. I was stuck there unable to work so I took a trip to Austin Psych Fest where I met a load of incredible musicians and decided it would be cool to put out a compilation of all the new up and coming artists I knew. I spent an evening sending out emails to the bands asking if they wanted to take part. I checked my emails a couple of days later thinking I’d be lucky to have one or two responses, but instead there was a huge stream of replies saying ‘yes’. That was how the first Reverb Conspiracy compilation came about and how Fuzz Club the record label started. Alex: Now it’s a record label but we don’t expect it to stop evolving. We want to grow Fuzz Club into lots of different things, all with music and the psych/experimental ethos at its core. How did you meet each other? Alex: We met it London about three years ago. I came home from work one day and Casper was cooking me dinner in my kitchen. He was staying at my house that I shared with Keith from Bad Vibrations. Keith and Casper were putting on the London show of the first Reverb Conspiracy tour and so Casper was crashing with us along with a bunch of bands: Singapore Sling, Wall of Death, Sonic Jesus and The Wands. We had a crazy, crazy couple of weeks of partying and music and when Casper left London to head home to Norway he asked me to come and spend Christmas with his family there. Christmas in Norway was kind of our second date and we’ve been together since. Casper: It wasn’t really the music that we bonded over. I told Alex about a digital development project I’ve been working on and she’s worked in that industry for a while so we started brainstorming and coming up with all these great ideas, and ended up developing the concept together. It’s not ready yet but we’re hoping to be able to tell people about later this year.
How did you go about finding bands to put on the label? Casper: I spend a lot of time on YouTube finding music, so many of the first bands were ones I’d already been listening to for a long time that were unsigned. There’s never been any shortage of great music to release. The first band I signed was The Underground Youth, which has become a band really close to my heart. The Underground Youth helped me build up the first group of bands because they were quite well known among the musicians and had their own fans already, so it was easy to grow it from there. Now, the bands recommend a lot of artists to us and we have a few friends that are always trawling blogs and YouTube finding artists that they recommend to us too. We also discover a lot of bands at gigs, like 10,000 Russos who we saw at Reverence Festival and signed on the spot because their show was so amazing. Alex: If you talk to Craig (Underground Youth) about that first meeting, he says that Casper arrived with all these huge crazy-sounding ideas about all the things he was going to do with Fuzz Club. Craig says he thought that if Casper could pull off half of it, they’d be in good hands. But he’s ended up doing everything he said he was going to, which has been a happy surprise for all of us! Was it ever your intention to start a label beforehand, or did it just happen? Casper: This style of music has always been my passion but I never thought I’d have it as my job too, so I really love it. Alex: I never expected to work in music but I always wanted to have my own business and create a brand, so Fuzz Club gives me both of those. And it’s so nice doing something that people really value and enjoy. What was the first record you bought? Casper: I bought a tape from a Norwegian band called Raga Rockers. The album was called Forbudte Følelser which means ‘forbidden feelings’. Alex: I bought two CDs at once which were Nevermind and the first album by Silverchair, who are an Australian grunge band. I wanted to buy Blood Sugar Sex Magik but my parents wouldn’t let me.
Your first live show? Alex: Smashing Pumpkins at home in Auckland, New Zealand on their Mellon Chollie tour. Casper: I really don’t remember, it might have been Roskilde Festival in Denmark sometime in the nineties. Who were the first few bands you signed? Casper: The Underground Youth, Sonic Jesus, Singapore Sling, Dead Skeletons, The Wands, Black Lizard...that was a crazy week! How many do you have now? Casper: We work with around 40 artists, but they’re not all ‘signed’ to Fuzz Club. We work release-by-release which gives the artists the freedom to choose their own direction, and experiment outside of what the label might want. If someone ends up putting out a killer pop record we won’t be the best label for them so they shouldn’t be stuck with us, nor us with them. Having said that, we have about 15 artists that have been with us a long time which we expect to be with for a long time yet. How has it grown since you began? Casper: We’ve been going nearly four years and each year feels like a massive journey where so much has happened. If I look back at what we wanted to achieve at the start, we did all of that in the first year, so now the goals have shifted quite a bit. We’re at this turning point where there’s too much going on for us to stay small, but we’re not big enough to deal with everything that’s happening, so we’re going to be very, very busy. We’re doing 4 or 5 releases a month in 2016 so there’s a lot to do. Alex: It feels like the end of the beginning. I’ve just quit my job to work on Fuzz Club full time cause there’s too much for one person to manage alone now. We’ve also just brought on a couple more people so there are seven of us altogether and it feels like a real little team rather than one guy slogging away in his living room. We’ve decided to go all out and throw everything at it this year. Not everything’s going to work but it’ll be an exciting time.
What’s in store for the future of Fuzz Club? Casper: Lots of new releases and represses of earlier albums that have sold out. We’re also starting a live session series. We have a friend here in London that has an amazing studio with all this great analogue equipment; a Neve console, 2” tape recorder and the whole shebang. We’ll be recording everything to tape with no overdubs to create an authentic live recording. The bands we’ve spoken to love it as they’re used to recording to digital, and lots of them record in their own studios and bedrooms so this will be a totally different experience and a bit of a test for them. We’ll create a film series from it and press the recordings to vinyl. Alex: We’re also starting a monthly event in Hackney in March. It’s an independent label fair during the day with street food and craft beer vendors, and a selection of bands in the evening. We’ve pulled together a group of like-minded labels from the UK, Europe and a few from the US to get together each month almost like a pop-up store for great quality underground music. We’re hoping that having this as a regular thing will give a bit of a focal point to the London scene and become a regular meeting point for fans from around Europe and the UK. There are a few other things in the mix that it’s a bit too soon to talk about. If any of it comes off though, it’ll be a good year for Fuzz Club.
Jacket Sandro Trousers Ainur Turisbek Shoes Rambaut
I WANNA B
D E T A SED
E
TARAS SEREDA with
BANANAS MODELS Photography Maud Maillard Styling Glen Mban
Grooming Shuhei Nishimura Artwork Taras Sereda
Sleeves Masha Ma
Jacket Sandro, Shirt Tiger of Sweden Top Masha Ma, Jeans Sandro Boots Lathbridge
Sleeves Masha Ma
Top Masha Ma Jeans Sandro
Necklace Espèces Jewellery Top Ainur Turisbek
Where are you from? Ukraine How did you get into modeling? My friend pulled me into the modeling agency in New York. So many wonderful things came out of it ever since and sometimes it even has nothing to do with modeling or fashion. (r.i.p. Bart aka Vartholome Vilnius Vlad’anu ) Your favorite part about modeling? Striking a pose.
Your favorite live show? Miles Davis and John Coltrane performing live with Gil Evans orchestra at CBS program, 1959. Or any other performance by Miles. It’s always breathtaking. I love to go see live jazz performances. Wish Miles was still here. And Tupac and Biggie ......I also enjoy orchestra performances or going to the opera it makes my mind and thoughts to travel elsewhere while I listen to it especially when you have your eyes closed.
Your favorite thing to do when you aren’t working? Hobbies? Painting or taking a long walks around places I’ve never been to and thinking about painting. Or cooking which surprises a lot of people not expecting me to.
First record you ever bought? “The Eminem Show” by Eminem
Anything coming up you would like to tell us about? My home girl Zalina is throwing this white party next week for her 33rd birthday. Never worn all white so I’m looking forward to that experience. But you know it feels like I would do all black just for the hell of it, which I also haven’t done that much of... Or maybe red? Or royal blue hmmmmm...
What is your favorite animal? An Ape.
What type of music do you listen to? Maybach music. Your favorite band? The Rolling Stones.
What would be your dream job? Taking shifts as a chef sometimes in my own restaurant.
Your favorite city? Paris, because I’m here right now. Who started modeling first, you or your brother? Do you get to work together much? I started first but I don’t know, he might go further I think. No we didn’t have a chance to model together, but everything else is always done together. So when I’m away, like now, I miss my N like crazy!
Jacket Sandro Trousers Ainur Turisbek
Jacket Masha Ma, Sweater Sandro Trousers Tiger of Sweden, Boots Lathbridge Necklace Stylist Own
Jacket Louis Vuitton x Itu Trousers Ly Adams
Jacket Ainur Turisbek Trousers Ly Adams
DEAD COAST
Photography Phoebe Fox Words Alex James Taylor
“We’re not a very lucky band” explains Dead Coast frontman Luca Bianco, referring to the London band’s revolving door lineup – since their genesis they have been through a Spinal Tap-esque amount of band members. But their present line up – Luca Bianco [vox/guitar], Jonny Turner [guitar/ keys], Craig Leadbeater [bass] and Mari Mardou [drums] – is resolute, and this tight relationship translates to their sound. Having proven their quality with several adept EPs, Dead Coast have honed their aesthetic, roughed up the edges and carved their individuality. Resulting in Shambolic, their debut full length record set for release this February. The title proves aptly harmonious with the record’s diverse sound range. Each track holds its own individuality without fracturing the overall disposition. Where their first EPs sonically captured those psychedelic, progressive grooves first forged by the likes of Sky Saxon and Roky Erickson – and later collected in the era-defining Nuggets and Pebbles compilations – Shambolic sees the band shift focus. Whilst they maintain that underpinning West Coast romanticism they cruise away from California’s sandy beaches on a soul-searching pilgrimage spanning their influences; from Serge Gainsbourg through The Beach Boys to obscure Italian movie scores. Instead of simply tweaking the dial Dead Coast give it a hefty spin.
Alex James Taylor: Your debut record Shambolic comes out this February, where did the title originate from? Luca Bianca: I like the word, it means chaotic and the album definitely fits that framework. Each track has its own mood and sound and tone, so in that way it’s all a bit shambolic. Jonny Turner: Yeah the record is very mixed and varied, so it sort of made sense as a name and suited the overall feel of the album. AJT: Speaking of each song sounding different, your EPs had a real West Coast garage sound, whereas your record has a much wider and diverse range of influences in there. You’ve really expanded your sound. JT: Yeah, we are drifting away from that West Coast sound a bit, we still really love all that music but I think the more we play together the more we are trying to hone our own individual sound. Also all our music tastes are so varied and that definitely filters into our music.
JT: And you’ve been together since 2012? LB: Since 2012 with one incarnation of the band, this lineup we have now has been together for around two years now. We’ve been through quite a few line up changes. We aren’t a lucky band, trust me, people leaving the band, problems keep arising. But this is the strongest band line up we’ve had and it’s the real Dead Coast. It all started when me and Craig met each other whilst working together at a music store, we started jamming and writing songs and then we brough in Jonny and eventually Mari [who was away in Italy at the time of this interview]. It was the West Coast sound that really inspired us to begin playing together at the start. AJT: Which bands in particular? Craig Leadbeater: The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and then the psychedelic revival that came back like three years ago or something, that resonated with us. LB: Yeah, that revival scene was key, it clicked with us. Then Lollipop Records came along and they released our first cassette, we were one of the first bands to release music on their label and the first band outside of America to release material with them.
AJT: The psychedelic scene seems to be invincible in its appeal, every ten years or so there’s a revival, whether that’s via The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Spaceman 3 in the 90s or the current crop of bands such as White Fence and Ty Segall. Just look at the recent mega success of Tame Impala, psychedelic music is obviously still thriving, why do you think this is? JT: Yeah, the trick is that you have to update it each time and add a contemporary spin to it. We really love the early 60s retro stuff but you can’t just replicate that, you have to use it as a springboard and then add your own individuality into the mix. Take what you love and then make something new with it. CL: That’s what we try to do, we’ll always keep that sound and use reverb and delays and all that, but focus on trying to make new sounds with new techniques. AJT: The lead track from your album, Hills Made of Sand, definitely fits that criteria. It’s got those psych sensibilities and yet there’s also a Britishness to it, a bleakness that reminds me of The Clash or Ian Dury. JT: Yeah I get that, and it also has that ska, offbeat guitar which eludes to that as well. LB: Yet there’s still that 60s vibe underneath it. AJT: And the organ sounds great. LB: Organ is always good, whenever you put an organ on a song you know it’s going to be good. AJT: It adds to that escapist, dreamlike aesthetic you’ve really nailed. JT: It’s definitely got that surreal aspect to it, our songs tend to be a bit out there. It’s a bit of a departure from reality, a psychedelic trip to a higher ground. LB: Sometimes when we jam we go into a trance and you do feel like your in another world when you’re all in sync.
AJT: The video for Hills Made of Sound works really well with that surrealism [in the video the band are washed up sea creature exploring Brighton], you must have got a lot of strange looks whilst filming. CL: Well the initial idea was to have something to do with sand, but then we went to Brighton where there’s absolutely no sand as it’s a rocky beach [laughs]. Then we just went on Ebay and bought these fish costumes. JT: Mines on a heap still somewhere in my room. LB: The aim was to shoot something funny but also dark and with a twist. The weather was great that day as well because it was fucking miserable, just as we wanted it. It was really funny to shoot. For the next video [for their next single, Jenny Loves The Sun] we were talking about shooting something based on the Roman Polanski movie The Tenant [1976], we’re going to film that at the beginning of January. AJT: Individually, what are the first albums you ever bought? CL: Unfortunately, mine is Mr Blobby. JT: Mine is as bad as Craig’s, it was The Cartoons. They were real people dressed up as cartoon characters, really weird and awful. LB: The first one I bought was John Lennon’s Imagine. JT: It was actually Mariah Carey [laughs]. LB: [laughs] Mariah Carey Fantasy, you remember the video where she’s wearing rollerblades?
SOCIAL
ANTON NEWCOMBE TWITTER: @antonnewcombe
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TARAS SEREDA INSTA: @sereda_taras
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KATY LANE INSTA: @misskatylane
PHOEBE FOX INSTA: @_phox_
DANA BOULOS INSTA: @danaboulos
DEREK PERLMAN INSTA: @666fucktard666
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