FOXES Magazine #0.4 - March 2016

FOXES MAGAZINE

Issue 5

SONNY & JACK

at Tomorrow is Another Day

MICHAEL MONROE - CULLEN OMORI - VANT - THE MIGHTY BREAKS THE GORGONS - FILM HOOLIGANS - AXEL SWAN MALDINI - THÉO BIANCONI

Previous page Sonny wears: jacket stylists own customised by Servadio, top by Christopher Shannon, jeans by J.Lindeberg Jack wears: jacket and trousers by Beyond Retro Current page Jack wears: jacket

by J.Lindeberg, rings stylist own

CONTENTS

FOXES MAGAZINE

MARCH 2016

+ CULLEN OMORI by Alexa Lopez + MICHAEL MONROE by Aaron Sinclair

+ AXEL SWAN MALDINI by Laura-Allard-Fleischl + VANT by Phoebe Fox + THE GORGONS by Jack Eden + SONNY HALL & JACK LAVER by Nuria Rius + THE FILM HOOLIGANS by Lida Fox and Aida Nizankovska + THE MIGHTY BREAKS by Kamiel Scholten + THÉO BIANCONI by Claudia Revidat

MASTHEAD

EDITORS-IN-CHEIF

Tina de la Celle & Julian de la Celle

CASTING DIRECTOR Tina de la Celle

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Nuria Rius, Aaron Sinclair, Alexa Lopez Laura-Allard-Fleischl, Phoebe Fox Jack Eden, Lida Fox, Aida Nizankovska Kamiel Scholten, Claudia Revidat

MARKETING DIRECTOR Zoe Peretz

INTERNS Nicki Contreras, Aimee Perez

SPECIAL THANKS

The Lights of Soho, The Whiskey, Bekah Zietz James Embiricos, Amy Sciarretto, Paula & Servadio All involved in The Film Hooligans: [Lida, Aida, Lili, Grace, Maria, Ana, Jake Aled, Robbie, Kiki, Rex, Julia, Veronika, Natalila, Patrycja, Yannis]

Current page Sonny wears: top by Cottweiler, necklace models own

N E L L U O C MO RI Cullen Omori, formally of Smith Westerns, is back and at it with a new solo album entitled New Misery out March 18th via Sub Pop. We spoke over the phone from his home in Chicago about taking music into his own hands, his past aspiration to be a filmmaker and his hamster Tomato.

PHOTOGRAPHY ALEXA LOPEZ

FOXES Magazine: Where are you right now?

Cullen Omori: I’m in Chicago, we did a mini three-day tour and then I was doing some press stuff; kinda waiting till I go down to SXSW. They’ve made it so much longer than it used to be. There’s a film part to it too. I’ve done it twice with Smith Westerns, it’s worth doing, but after a while it’s a grind.

FOXES: Are you from Chicago?

Cullen: Yup, yup, born and raised on the north side. I like living here. I think it’s different than living in LA or New York. I guess I could move, but I’m there when I’m making music or doing an album or whatever; I go there enough to where I can still enjoy it and still live here. There aren’t a lot of indie bands from Chicago either; you can be successful in a band in New York or wherever and it’s a dime a dozen, you know? Everyone does it. My thing about Chicago is that, because it’s not New York or LA, you can really hone your music and your live shows.

FOXES: Do you have a spirit animal?

Cullen: A hamster or a mouse. I like rodents. I would say a stuffed animal is my spirit animal. I have a hamster too, his name’s Tomato, he’s like a little black bear and he’s super cute.

FOXES: Did you grow up in an artistic family?

Cullen: Well, my dad played guitar, but not as a job. He loves music and he plays all the time. He builds his own amps and guitar pedals and stuff. I’d rather tease out the creative stuff that I do through the effects, more so than playing these massive solos. I have so many effects on this new album, both vocally and on the guitar.

FOXES: When did you start playing music?

Cullen: I started playing music when I was like 10 or 11, but it was like I tried playing piano and I didn’t like it. I tried playing the clarinet and I didn’t like it. Then, in high school, I started picking up the guitar. When I was making music in Smith Westerns I was kind of learning to play guitar while I was in the band. I would learn to play new chords and then tried to integrate them into whatever song we were writing.

In Smith Westerns I played rhythm guitar so a lot of the arrangements fell on Max, our other guitar player and songwriter. When I didn’t have him and decided to do it myself and not have a bunch of musicians backing me up, I knew that I’d have to work out how to fill in those holes that were usually taken care of.

FOXES: How do you feel it’s different now? In the sense that you had a partnership with someone writing music together and now you’ve taken it solo.

Cullen: Well, I mean, I don’t know. I like it and I’m enjoying it. When you’re in a band, there are a lot of personalities you have to deal with. You get to celebrate when things go well and kind of stick together when things aren’t, but at the same time those are more personalities and creative ideas in the studio and on tour. So you have to be really in tune with those people. In Smith Westerns we did click for a long time and then we just didn’t. I like the idea of going from that and then doing something like this where I get to make all the decisions, it’s all on me. It’s definitely a different experience.

I do miss the camaraderie, but at the same time, personal for me, I enjoy being able to write this way.

FOXES: Do you miss playing in Smith Westerns?

Cullen: Um...no. We had done it for so long and at this point it ended somewhat amicably. I don’t see Max as much anymore. I see Cameron pretty often because, well, he’s my brother. We did play a show on that little three-day tour where Cameron played bass on my song “Cinnamon” since I don’t have a bass player live. It’s really just two guitar players, and keyboards and the drummer sings too. But I don’t really play music with him anymore. I’d done it for so long that I don’t miss it really. I mean, I might miss playing music in a band setting, but maybe not particularly with those guys.

FOXES: How would you say musically this new solo album is different than Smith Westerns stuff?

Cullen: There’s a lot of different things. People are going to say that there are elements that sound like Smith Westerns; naturally, because I was a big part of writing the songs. In a musical sense though, I think I did a better job at, where in Smith Westerns, Max and me would always argue about what is synthesizing your influences and what’s kind of becoming a revivalist in retro. For this, I really wanted to make something that was more of a synthesis of all my influences. I wanted it to be something where you could kind of hear pieces that resemble music that I like, for example, I wanted to be a bit like Roxy Music and I wanted to be glam but kind of be brit pop too, I just didn’t want it to be any one thing where people would go, “Okay, track number three is the brit pop song.” I relied more on synths with this one too and I feel like when you say that people automatically think it’s going to be dance music, but I just wanted to make songs that were genre-less. My biggest thing with writing music is that I want people to be able to play the chords or hum the song and still get enjoyment.

“

FOXES: Have you ever had any other creative aspirations?

Cullen: Yeah, before I was in Smith Westerns I was pretty dead-set on becoming a filmmaker, more an experimental filmmaker. I had this huge VHS camera and I used to shoot all of these films with my friends in high school. There was this one movie I made called The Punk Agenda and it was 17 minutes long; it’s like the punk version of The Odyssey.

There’s a punk gang called The Sweat Socks and, I don’t know, there’s a trailer on YouTube if you can find it! I was originally going to go to Pratt to do experimental film and then I took a year off and did music. I came back to do film again, but at that point I wanted to do music and even though they say college is the place to go to getthe basic non-hamburger-flipping job, I think that I’d rather do music than be super imprisoned in debt. Film is cool, but what I started to see was that even if you were the best filmmaker in the world, you still have to collaborate with a ton of different people.

You can’t just do it yourself; or you can’t with just one or two people. I really like to just do it myself, and I don’t know if people will like it, but we’ll see with this record [laughs].

I recorded the album in June, mixed it in July and it was mastered and done in September, so I’ve just been sitting on my hands waiting for it to come out and to see what people think of it. I hope that people can just view it as new music and not just relate it back to Smith Westerns.

FOXES: So I heard you used to work at a hospital?

Cullen: Yeah, well that got put in the press release and then when it first came out, I think through Pitchfork, they had it written down as if I had worked every single day in a hospital [laughs]. During those years between Smith Westerns not officially breaking up and then officially breaking up, I was recording a lot of music just to record and I didn’t have a record deal and wasn’t planning on doing an album, and I would work odd jobs. My friend does medical supplies and stuff like that and we would go to these hospitals and we’d clean the hospital beds and service them. So that was one of the only day jobs I’ve ever had, the first time I had a real job, but it was pretty lax, really. It was just a period in my life where I didn’t know what I wanted to do. We would listen to this crappy radio and put on the Top 40 music and talk about it, then go back to his house after that and record together.

There was a basement at the house and then his mom would come down and bring us dinner [laughs]. That’s kind of how I learned how to make an album without having, like, Max write all the guitar parts and all the arrangements. It’s how I found my rhythm and my tempo and I got to play around with a lot of ideas.

I really like to just do it myself, and I don’t know if people will like it, but we’ll see with this record!

”

FOXES: Do you remember the first record you ever bought?

Cullen: Yeah, I think the first one was...Now That’s Music, that compilation of, like, Top 100 music or whatever. It was the second one in ‘96. A big track on it was “Special” by Garbage. I always gravitated more towards pop music, but I grew up with my dad loving the guitar-rippage songs from Jimi Hendrix and Steve Vai. He would be like, “That’s not real music, listen to this!” So I was really drawn to pop stuff but then got into more guitar music because that seemed to be what was cool, like, pop music was fake!

FOXES: Do you remember your first concert?

Cullen: I was never really into new music and I remember one of the first times Max and I hung out we went to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at this historic venue in Chicago in 2005. Then I went to Lollapalooza after that.

FOXES: When were you born? Do you follow the zodiac signs?

Cullen: Not really, I know I’m a Taurus though, I just don’t know enough about it. That’s where it ends for me with that stuff.

FOXES: Tarantino or Kubrick?

Cullen: Uh...hmm...I would say Quentin Tarantino. I know it would be more film schooly of me to say Kubrick, but I would say Tarantino.

FOXES: Blur or Oasis?

Cullen: Oasis, hands down. I feel like instead of Blur it would be Oasis then Pulp then Blur, or even Suede would be one of the top ones.

M I C H A E M L O N R O E

PHOTOGRAPHY AARON SINCLAIR

We caught up with Michael Monroe backstage before his gig at The Whiskey in Los Angeles where he told us about his start with Hanoi Rocks, how he feels being called an icon in 80s Rock n Roll fashion and his home in Turku, Finland.

Michael Monroe: What do you wanna know? Fashion? I never really thought of fashion.

FOXES Magazine: You were a fashion icon in the 80s for sure.

Michael: That’s what they say, I’ve heard it said, but I don’t know how [laughs].

FOXES: How do you feel about it?

Michael: I don’t know, really. Surprised, and it’s very flattering if I’ve influenced people, as long as it’s in a good way. It depends on who we’re talking about. I think trends in fashion and stuff--I never wanted to follow any sort of trend or anything like that because then everyone becomes the same. I always wanted to encourage people to be individuals, be themselves, not necessarily to look like me. Most people look much better with a crew cut, a t-shirt and jeans, ya know?

Most people look ridiculous trying to look like me. There was a time where I noticed that everyone had blonde hair, big hairdos, which I never wanted to have, I just wanted to have a little wavy hair, because my hair was boring and straight. My mother said, “Girls will be jealous of your eyelashes,” and I said, “Why can’t a guy have long eyelashes? Why can’t I wear make-up?” Alice Cooper, Little Richard--he was really the one that started the whole thing and he’s still the best Rock n Roll singer ever, I think. Alice Cooper was the one that talked about show business and how on stage he would perform and communicate with his eyes, that’s what you do in life also, so I figured I’d do that all the time; I mean I’d wear make-up every day anyway, not just on stage.

FOXES: Where did you grow up exactly?

Michael: Helsinki, Finland. I was born and grew up there until I was around 17; I left home to start Hanoi Rocks in 1980. The three of us moved to the streets of Stockholm; myself, Sami Yaffa and Nasty Suicide. We were living on the streets, homeless for about 6 months. Andy McCoy, he never lived on the streets, he had a girlfriend [laughs]. What do you call a guitar player without a girlfriend? Homeless, right?

In any case, the first drummer was Swedish and he worked at a place that was an old people’s gymnasium or something and we stored our gear there in an empty room. I had one cardboard box and a suitcase and that was all I owned, but the rehearsal space we used to rehearse at was at a subway station, like, a fallout shelter, it was a little outside the city. It was deep underground and there was a guard that would make sure no one rehearsed overnight, but some nights we’d just hide behind the amps and wait till the guy was gone and then play all night! We walked around the center of the city, around the old town and then came back around and by that time we had just enough to buy a hamburger, if we’d get a hamburger EACH it would be a luxury. Sometimes we’d just buy a bottle of wine and forget about the hunger. Started out with nothing, and I still got most of it left!

FOXES: Who inspired you?

Michael: Well, Neal Smith, the Alice Cooper Band’s drummer, he had the coolest hair. I used to have really long hair too. Hanoi Rocks had a cool style in a different kind of way than everyone else. Guns and Roses had a good thing, and we were a big influence in them, but they had their own thing too. Musically, they were heavier, like, Aerosmith heavier. Then, the style, it was a bit rougher. Axl could wear anything [laughs]. I saw him wear a kilt once too, definitely a Pistols influence. You know, you get influenced by people and you take a little here and you take a little there and then you mix and mash and make your own thing.

FOXES: Where do you live now?

Michael: I live in the city of Turku now, in Finland. It used to be the capital 100 years ago or something, then it burned down and they made Helsinki the capital. But Turku is the oldest city in Finland. I live in a nice place by the river, it’s beautiful. My building is preserved; they preserve all the old buildings so that the history is kept.

FOXES: Something they don’t do very well here [laughs].

Michael: Yeah, I’ve noticed. I lived in Manhatten for 10 years, in the lower east side, across the street from the Hell’s Angels clubhouse, then before that I lived in London for 5 years, and Stockholm before that. Of all those cities I’ve chosen my own choice of Turku, Finland.

FOXES: Were you surprised coming here and having the success you did?

Michael: Oh, well you see, to me, I could never relate to that hair metal scene. I was like, “Posers suck,” and all that.

The way they were sporting the style was this cliche “Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll!” There were a lot of those bands. I think they missed the point. To us it was more punk, being an individual, a rebel rocker, or whatever. I didn’t want to be part of that whole idea of, “we’re so whacky, chicks and drugs!” I was like, “Oh God...” It was quite embarrassing to me. People would come up to me and ask me if I was in a band and I’d tell them I was an aspiring plumber. And how many times I got, “Are you from that band Poison?” and I’d say, “I’ll give you some poison.” [laughs] For me, it was more about the music and the attitude. The lyrics have to have something more to say than just, “We’re wild, and crazy and let’s get laid.”

FOXES: Do you remember the first record you ever bought?

Michael: Yeah, the first record we got in my family, I have two older brothers, and my father used to buy records, was Led Zeppelin ll. Then Fireball by Deep Purple. It has, in my opinion, the best solo Ritchie Blackmore ever did. It’s in the song “No, No, No” and it’s this great slide solo and he does all the bluesy stuff in there.

“

You get influenced by people and you take a little here and you take a little there and then you mix and mash and make your own thing.

�

Photography - Laura Allard-Fleischl Fashion - Jessica Gwyneth Fashion Assitant - Isabelle Landles Grooming - Lydia Warhurst using MAC Cosmetics + Bumble and Bumble

THE LIGHTS OF SOHO Axel Swan Maldini | Two Management

Previous page: shirt by ALEXIS HOUSDEN, jacket by OUTSIDER MOTORCYCLE CLUB, jeans by RACHAEL SHEPARD, scarf by ROCKINS, jewellery by NORTH SKULL & OUTSIDER MOTORCYCLE CLUB

Opposite page: t-shirt by OLIVIA PUDELKO, pants

by RACHAEL SHEPHARD, jewellery by NORTH SKULL Current page: leather jacket by MARTINE ROSE, t-shirt by OUTSIDER MOTORCYCLE CLUB, pants by ALEXIS HOUSDEN, scarf by ROCKINS, jewellery by NORTH SKULL

Hat & jacket by OUTSIDER MOTORCYCLE CLUB, t-shirt MODEL’S OWN, trousers by ALEXIS HOUSDEN, scarf

by ROCKINS, jewellery by NORTH SKULL

Top: jumpsuit by RACHAEL SHEPHARD, scarf by ROCKINS, jewellery by NORTH SKULL Bottom: jacket & trousers

by RACHAEL SHEPARD, scarf by ROCKINS, ring by NORTH SKULL

Previous page: jacket by OUTSIDER MOTORCYCLE CLUB, top by ALEXIS HOUSDEN, scarf by ROCKINS Current page: t-shirt by MARTINE ROSE, jeans by BETHANY WILLIAMS, scarf

by ROCKINS, jewellery by NORTH SKULL

NAME: Axel Swan Maldini HOMETOWN: “I was born in a small town in West Yorkshire, but grew up in Milano, Italy.”

D.O.B: July 9th, 1992 (Cancer) SPIRIT ANIMAL: “Surely a Swan.”

HOW DID YOU GET INTO MODELING? WERE YOU SCOUTED? “I got scouted at the age of 16, in my crust-punky days and I obviously refused the offer. Got into it only quite recently thinking I’d give it a shot and see how it is.”

WHAT ELSE DO YOU PURSUE CREATIVELY? “I’m a visual artist and a graphic designer. (www.axelawanmaldini.com) I also play bass guitar in a couple of bands; we’re about to release our latest LP with my main one called Ojne (ojne.bandcamp.com).”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE BAND? “I don’t have a favorite. Recently, I went back to my roots and I’m listening to a lot of street-punk.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MOVIE? “The Warriors.”

WHAT ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT? “I’m passionate about ladies, skateboarding, design and photography and beers.”

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST RECORD? “My first record was a 1979 Crass EP.” TARENTINO OR KUBRICK? “KUBRICK.” OASIS OR BLUR? “OASIS.” DALI OR PICASSO? “Both are sick artists!”

Previous page: jacket & jeans by BETHANY WILLIAMS, scarf by ROCKINS, jewellery by NORTH SKULL Current page: leather jacket by MARTINE ROSE, t-shirt by OUTSIDER MOTORCYCLE CLUB, pants by ALEXIS HOUSDEN, scarf by ROCKINS, jewellery by NORTH SKULL

Special thanks to Lights of Soho, www.lightsofsoho.com

Shirt, trousers & jacket by ALEXIS HOUSDEN, jewellery by NORTH SKULL

V NT V

VANT have been dominating the London music scene at breakneck speed since their formation in 2014 with no signs of slowing down. Signing to Parlaphone in 2015, these boys have been selling out venues throughout Europe and are about to embark on a European tour in April.

PHOTOGRAPHY PHOEBE FOX

FOXES Magazine: When and where were you born?

Mattie Vant: 29 April 1990. Sunderland.

FOXES: Do you have an interest in zodiac signs or is it all in people’s heads?

Mattie: As much interest as I have God. It’s fun to conspire and pretend at times. If it makes people feel better about their own lives, gives them hope and meaning or helps them sleep better at night then there is no harm in that. If it causes them to wage wars, promote ludicrous ideals of sexism, racism and homophobia or allows the rape of innocent children than it can quite frankly go fuck itself!

FOXES: What would your spirit animal be?

Mattie: Taurus the Bull. Yeah, definitely Taurus the Bull.

FOXES: When did you first realise you wanted to play music and start a band?

Mattie: When I was about 13 I found out that this nerdy kid that lived in the next street to me was in a band. This made me realise that anyone could be in a band and that’s the beauty of music. So I found out that he practiced at some local community run “bands project” thing, went along and started my own band from there.

FOXES: How did VANT form/how’d you guys all meet?

Mattie: 75% of us met in a music venue I ran in Dalston and the other 25% was through old friends.

FOXES: Main influences?

Shakira and Chopin.

FOXES: On a songwriting standpoint, I know that you like to incorporate political and environmental issues, do you feel it’s necessary to shine a light on some of these things and if there was one issue you wanted people to better educate themselves on, what would it be?

Mattie: It’s massively important. It’s probably the only thing (like star signs for some people) that helps me sleep at night, we live on a very fucked up but very beautiful planet and we need to realise that we are the first species in it’s history that is actively pursuing it’s own extinction. The environment is the number one issue we are facing at the moment, the problem is we’re too busy blowing each other up to unite and deal with the problem, the only real thing that we can do as individuals is try to educate future generations and hope we can somehow change our own destiny before it’s too late.

“

The environment is the number one issue we are facing at the moment, the problem is we’re too busy blowing each other up to unite and deal with the problem.

”

FOXES: Do you remember the first record you ever bought or that was given to you as a gift?

Mattie: Wheatus’s Teenage Dirtbag. I think it was a gift. Might of been Hearsay’s Popstars, either way the late 90s was a dark time for music!

FOXES: The first live show you ever went to?

Mattie: The Subways at Manor Quay in Sunderland.

FOXES: It seems like a lot of great things happened for you guys as a band this last year and it feels like a lot more people are noticing what you’re doing, how does that feel? Did it seem fast to you?

Mattie: It has been an amazing journey so far but to be honest I can’t wait for it to get faster and faster, that acceleration is the most exciting thing to me. For any band releasing their debut album you need that extreme pace to give the record it’s best possible chance of success. We’re aiming for a number one so that momentum is crucial.

FOXES: If you could spend 24 hours with anyone in music history, alive or dead, who would it be and what would you do?

Mattie: Neil Young, I’d just sit on his ranch with him, try not to bother him too much, hope we get along and maybe learn a few things from him.

FOXES: Tarantino or Kubrick?

Mattie: Kubrick.

FOXES: Oasis or Blur?

Mattie: Blur.

FOXES: Picasso or Dali?

Mattie: Dali.

FOXES: What’s to come in 2016 for VANT? Mattie: A ludicrous amount of touring and a debut album.

THE

PHOTOGRAPHY JACK EDEN

The Gorgons: one of Brighton’s best bands and you’ve probably never even heard of them. With lo-fi sounds influenced by Thee Oh Sees and the early White Stripes, these guys are making music that screams in your face and leaves you begging for more.

GORGONS

Ben Newdick and Chris Moon.

FOXES Magazine: Are you guys from Brighton then?

Chris Moon: No, I came down here for Uni, then I just moved here. I’m originally from Kent.

Ben Newdick: And I’m from Stradford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Great town, Shakespeare and everything [laughs].

FOXES: When did you guys start the band?

Ben: Like, two years ago?

Chris: Yeah. We were in a four-piece together and we played in gigs with them for a while, but we both wanted to do something different to what they were into, which was a bit more lo-fi, fuzzy...

Ben: We wanted to play around, make it more fun, I think.

Chris: Ben had a riff he was playing around with, but we couldn’t really do anything with the old band, and then I had one so we just decided to go one day to the practice room together. Ben played drums on my one and I played drums on his.

Ben: Which I can’t do, I’ve never played in my life.

Chris: Me neither, neither of us were drummers. Then we just wrote the songs there and recorded them there and then thought it was pretty fun and easy and challenged ourselves to come back another time and do the same thing; play drums on each others riffs, write the songs and record them the same day.

FOXES: It’s really good stuff. It reminds me a lot of The Oh Sees and a lot of the early White Stripes stuff.

Ben: They’re our favorite bands [laughs].

FOXES: I love that you guys just threw yourselves into drumming like that.

Chris: Even though none of us are drummers, we both insisted on being drummers in this band. The first time we played live, I had to do the drum soundcheck for all the bands that night and I’d never done it in my life [laughs].

I think it brings something to it though, like, I’ve never seen anyone play drums like Ben plays. It’s like he’s struggling to, to...

Ben: To play. [laughs] Chris: Yeah, but it comes out with a sound that I’ve never really heard before.

FOXES: So do you switch off live too?

Chris: Yeah, we had to construct a setlist so it wasn’t half and half, because that seems a bit contrived, but we also didn’t want to be swapping around every song. We had to come up with a choreography.

Ben: We’re lucky that there are some songs where we just both play guitar.

FOXES: When were you first really introduced to music?

Chris: I think for me it was when I was in school and I first heard The White Stripes, it opened it all up. Before then I had just been listening to Zeppelin and all that, which are still amazing, but it wasn’t very inspirational because you listen to Jimmy Page and you go, “Why bother?!” I can’t do that.

But then I heard The White Stripes and it clicked. It became so much more about less. From then on I’ve mostly been in duos.

Ben: We’ve never talked about this before, this is the first time!

FOXES: See, you’re learning about each other!

Ben: I listened to a lot of T.Rex and I’d listen to Electric Warrior all the time, that was it. I loved it. Then when I realized I could actually play something was--there’s a John Frusciante album which he released just after he left the Chilli Peppers called Niandre Lades or something like that. It’s a bit much, as in, it’s quite intense, not for every day, but his guitar playing is amazing in it, it’s clinky and not perfect and then I realized that not perfect music is amazing.

Chris: It’s like people who just stick their fingers up and be like, “Yeah, I know I can’t play, but I’m gonna do it anyway.”

FOXES: Do you remember the first record you ever bought or that was given to you?

Ben: Given, I got Queen Innuendo by my auntie. I bought something like Moby’s Play or The Offspring’s Americana [laughs]. Two very different bands. I didn’t buy Linkin Park because it scared the hell out of me.

Chris: The first one I got given to me my dad found on the road. It was a CD single of The B-52s doing The Flintstones song. The first one I bought was probably an old Green Day album, like Nimrod and Dookie. If you didn’t have a Green Day hoodie you were an idiot [laughs].

Ben: I didn’t have one then...I guess I was an idiot.

FOXES: Do you remember the first concert you ever went to?

Ben: I went to go see Steve Vai [laughs]. He had, like, lasers coming out of his fingers!! It was good fun.

Chris: I don’t know. I’ve been trying to wrack my brain; I’ve been talking to my brother about this actually. We were talking about when you first start going to gigs you try to start to be someone, like, trying to find out who you are and trying to be as cool as `you can be. You always think how lame it would be to start making a list of all the bands your ever see, but now I wish I did because I can’t remember now. I have to look back at old festival line-ups to remember it. I remember going to see Test Icicles. Their slightly emo, a bit punk.

Ben: I want to start a band that’s called UHT and the Pasteurizers which is like a pun on milk. [laughs]

FOXES: When you guys aren’t playing music is there anything else you guys pursue?

Ben: Well, I work a lot, I’m a chef. That’s all I do, apart from this. One of my main creative outlets is working in a kitchen.

Chris: That’s how we met, we both met in a kitchen. He was my boss. There’s always music on in kitchens because it’s such a stressful place. We put on Thee Oh Sees and Silverhouse a lot. It worked so well, having this really loud, fuzzy music while you were cooking. But, I do a lot of recording and a lot of mixing in a lot of different bands.

FOXES: Where did the idea of starting Dead Bell Records come from?

Chris: Probably when I first started really getting into production and recording stuff. Nobody else was really that interested so I decided to put my own name on it. You get so many crap bands who are like, “Hey, listen to my song,” and none of it looks professional. So even if it just has a fake name on it, it seems more real. Everyone on the “label” is really just my music [laughs]. There’s one fake band that’s me on every instrument and with a different name for each person; it’s a fake five-piece band.

FOXES: Oh man, look at that!

Ben: It’s disgusting isn’t it?

Chris: [laughs] There’s one of me doing just bluesy acoustic stuff. There’s one I’m in with an actual drummer too. But they’re all just my stuff.

Ben: It’s a good archiving thing, isn’t it?

FOXES: If you could choose a spirit animal what would it be?

Ben: I’d like to run free like a deer! Can that be the quote in the magazine?

Chris: My favorite animals are ants, they’re amazing. Ants are the greatest animal. They’re better than people. When I was a kid I really liked nature documentaries. Ants farmed crops way before people did.

Ben: Really? Did you know that? [laughs] Chris: There’s a desert somewhere where it’s so hot that no animals can come out-Ben: Apart from ants!

Chris: Yes! It was like this ant that was wearing chrome!

That’s just unbelievable.

FOXES: Who are some of your favorite bands?

Ben: I really love The Clash, Chris hates The Clash.

Chris: I’m one of the only people in the world.

Ben: He hates London Calling, who hates that album?!

Disgusting! I would say Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall too.

FOXES: If you could pick between the two, which one would it be?

Ben: Maybe Thee Oh Sees you can delve more into it, but then Ty is just badass! Seeing Ty was one of the most unbelievable shows of my life. I think I’d pick Ty but I don’t want to cause I also want to pick Thee Oh Sees.

Chris: I think Ty has been more of an influence on me because of the production on his albums. It’s amazing.

FOXES: Have you guys put out a full length album yet, or just singles as of now?

Ben: Yeah, exactly that. Just meeting up and recording loads of stuff.

Chris: We sort of thought about just not doing an album because each song is written on that day that we record it.

The last song we did I had one line that I quite liked but that was it, I didn’t have any of the music written and we just plugged in and came up with it there. I think you had a chord progression that you liked but no lyrics too.

Ben: Yeah.

Chris: Each song is really different. So to make an album-Ben: If we made an album there would have to be a point to making one.

Chris: Yeah, some kind of coherency, and that’s just not really how we write songs.

Ben: At the moment [laughs].

Chris: I also like a lot of the 60s bands that used to just put out 45s all the time. I’d like to just release them all as singles and then any album would just be a compilation. The Gorgons - The Early Years [laughs].

FOXES: What do you have coming up?

Chris: More writing and more recording. Trying to get as many gigs as possible, but it can be quite difficult.

Ben: Yeah, getting time off that matches together can be hard.

Chris: We find a that a lot of promotors don’t get back to us because our sound is so lo-fi. One promoter responded saying, “Thanks for the demos,” and I didn’t want to tell him that this was the real thing [laughs].

Ben: This is polished!

“

The last song we did I had one line that I quite liked but that was it, I didn’t have any of the music written and we just plugged in and came up with it there.

”

to be a rock and not to roll

photography: nuria rius fashion: sam thompson grooming: paula delgado models: sonny & jack at Tomorrow is Another Day

Current page Sonny wears: jacket stylists own customised by Servadio, top by Christopher Shannon, jeans by J.Lindeberg Jack wears: jacket and trousers by Beyond Retro

Current page Sonny wears: waistcoat and hat

by Beyond Retro, trousers by CMMN SWDN, necklace models own Opposite page Jack wears: jacket and trousers by Beyond Retro

Opposite page Jack wears: suit by Richard Anderson, necklace models own Current page Sonny wears: top by Cottweiler, necklace models own

Current page Sonny wears: jacket stylists own customised by Servadio, top by Christopher Shannon, jeans by J.Lindeberg

NAME: Sonny Hall HOMETOWN: “The Underworld.”

D.O.B: “Before Christ (B.C)” June 10th, 1998 (Gemini) SPIRIT ANIMAL: “A cockroach.”

HOW DID YOU MEET JACK? “At an Andy Warhol convention.”

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR FRIENDSHIP? “Rocky.”

HOW DID YOU GET INTO MODELING? WERE YOU SCOUTED? “Drugs, sex and alcohol .”

WHAT ELSE DO YOU PURSUE CREATIVELY? “7 day benders.”

WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW? “Drinking Alize under a Persian rug.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE BAND? “Boyzone.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MOVIE? “Zoolander.”

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST RECORD? “Green Day’s Dookie” TARENTINO OR KUBRICK? “Taratinik.”

OASIS OR BLUR? “Bloasis.”

DALI OR PICASSO? “Kurt Cobain.”

Current page Sonny wears: neck scarf stylist own Jack wears: top

by Beyond Retro, jeans by J.Lindeberg

Current page Jack wears: faux fur jacket, trousers and belt by Beyond Retro, necklaces models own

Current page Jack wears: jacket

by Roundel, top by Pepe Jeans, jeans by J.Lindeberg Opposite page Sonny wears: jumper by Cats Brothers, jeans by CMMN SWDN, belt by Beyond Retro, boots by Won Hundred

NAME: Jack Laver HOMETOWN: “South London.”

D.O.B: 15th August 1998 (Leo) SPIRIT ANIMAL: “I’m not really sure, maybe a cat.”

HOW DID YOU MEET SONNY? “Math class in school.”

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR FRIENDSHIP? “Crazy and dysfunctional, but always fun.”

HOW DID YOU GET INTO MODELING? WERE YOU SCOUTED? “I was waiting to go into a club in Shoreditch about a year ago and got scouted there.”

WHAT ELSE DO YOU PURSUE CREATIVELY? “I study graphic design at the moment and I also play guitar and jazz piano.”

WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW? “Drinking a coffee by the river.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE BAND? “Right now, The Smiths, The Doors, The Beatles, The Libertines, Weather Report...”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MOVIE? “Donnie Darko.”

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST RECORD? “I think it was a Guns n Roses Greatest Hits album.”

TARENTINO OR KUBRICK? “Kubrick.”

OASIS OR BLUR? “Blur.”

DALI OR PICASSO? “Dali.”

Current page Jack wears: jacket

by J.Lindeberg, rings stylist own

Current page Jack wears: jacket

by J.Lindeberg, rings stylist own Opposite page Sonny wears: waistcoat by James Long, trousers by Maison Kitsune, belt stylist own, shoes by Garment Projects, necklace models own

Current page: Jack wears suit by Richard Anderson, necklace models own Opposite page Sonny wears: waistcoat by James Long, trousers by Maison Kitsune, belt stylist own, shoes by Garment Projects, necklace models own

Opposite page Sonny wears: waistcoat and hat from Beyond Retro, trousers by CMMN SWDN, necklace models own

THE FILM HOOLIGANS Lida Fox and Aida Nizankovska

A mess of musings from a mixed up youth

by Lida Fox

s bean as d a R n bana d a m s bean as d a m n bana d a r My life is so shit that it’s good; it’s so good that it’s shit.

Don’t

worry

about

me, I’ ve gon e insa ne

I don ’t wa nt to don’t be ta want ken s to be eri taken . Ser ously. I iousl y.

The r Tha e onc e w t p a u Tho ugh t her s a gi t r A s ift in un rl wit o e s w A c urce ere nding h two of ons c tan t e ompla again, pains. brains i mot ion n, al dra in.

I rem ember how t o thi nk, I think .

s brain d e i Fr of side es and a e bit d e g froma

Life is disillusioning.

Sorry, I’ve misplaced my brain.

lose.

I , win in. ed. ry to lose, I w get scar t I I When ngs ry to oo much, t I , thi l n t l e a h k W n t I thi t think a .

When ’ ht I don up alrig n e h W d ly en usual

I’m probably always wrong.

Hi, I’m off.

Words and photos by Aida Nizankovska

Hi, it’s your girl Aida, mortally drunk, can you handle me?

The beginning of 2016 was one of those spiritually fulfilling times in my life. And I don’t mean faith enhancing and character building experience.

I mean it literally, spirit(ual), aka I could not put my drink down. And why would I? I’ve spent the last three weeks in Paris and if France is not the capital of fermented grape juice, I might as well doubt everything I’ve ever heard in my entire life. During my stay in Paris I must have gone through at least 30 varieties of wine. Now don’t go thinking I have a drinking problem, it’s called tasting and it’s very classy.

One faithful night our “tasting” reached level supreme and we ventured into the depths of 18ème. There, squeezed in-between fake French McDonald’s and some magazine shop are the doors to the best night club I’ve ever been to. Le Titan is one of those old school locations that retained their 1980s feel.

The club was dark and smelled strongly of cheap bleach, faded red sofas were squeezed in-between pillars supporting the ceiling and the DJ’s cave was behind a thick metal gauze. I loved it straight away. Deep techno, open bar, everyone’s off their face, the walls are shaking, the dance floor looked like a pile of arms, legs and velour. The club was filled with smoke, chipped black paint fell on us from the ceiling and the kitsch multicoloured lights twirled of our faces further enhancing the sweet alcohol induced sensation of dancing in a paint-confetti rain.

And I did what I do best, got drunk and took pictures of my friends. Veronika and Julia both have this sexy “I don’t give a fuck” attitude that reflects so well on film. Their lit cigarettes made incredible light lines in the air as they danced, showered with the kitsch disco ball reflections. Aled got naked for me so I think I must have some of that Terry Richardson charm in me, persuading blindly drunk people that taking off their clothes for the camera is the best idea they could ever have. Now all I need is a checked shirt and a pair of 20:20 vision empty frames and I’m all set.

I would describe the rest of the night as NC-17 rated, all documented on a 36 frame roll. All the faces, spilled drinks, kisses and back bends are now evidenced on film, neatly rolled up and stashed deep inside my bag. And I think there’s only one conclusion to be drawn from all my Parisian escapade experiences: Paris is definitely the Las Vegas of Europe.

Aida out.

THE MIGHTY BREAKS

Coming from The Netherlands, The Mighty Breaks give us just the right dose of psychedelic, garage rock. We spoke to Thomas Foster about finding the bands “sound,” his love for Wes Anderson and owls.

PHOTOGRAPHY KAMIEL SCHOLTEN

(top) Thomas Foster, Bart van der Elst. (bottom) Joris Zuiddam, Olivier Schiphorst.

FOXES Magazine: So you just got off work?

Thomas Foster: Yeah, I work at some Asian place, it’s pretty boring.

FOXES: Where do you live exactly?

TF: We live near the The Hague, near Amsterdam.

FOXES: Did you all grow up there?

TF: Yeah, we’ve all known each other growing up in Voorschoten.

FOXES: When did you first start playing music then?

TF: Um, we started about 5 years ago, so we’ve been doing it for kind of a long time. We have a new bass player now; we used to have another one but he left because he was studying a lot and couldn’t combine it. It was different music then...more the 60s beat music. A bit like The Who and stuff.

FOXES: What is it more now?

TF: It’s changed again [laughs]. It hasn’t really changed a lot, but we’re basically going away from the heavy psychedelics. We’ve found the sound that we like and we’re writing songs in that sound. I think it’s more like garage/pop. It’s not really, really heavy anymore, but it still has that garage sound to it too.

FOXES: From what I could find, you’ve put out an EP and your single “People of the Sun,” have you put anything else out yet?

TF: Well, in March we’ll be putting out a new single with a video too.

It’s been a long time though, I think “People of the Sun” was a year and a half ago! We’re putting this one out now to show people that we’re still around, we do a lot of shows though, so we aren’t completely silent.

FOXES: When was the last show you played?

TF: Um, yesterday! [laughs] FOXES: Do you ever play outside of The Netherlands?

TF: No, we haven’t yet. It would be cool to do it though.

FOXES: Do you feel you’re going to focus on that more now?

TF: Yeah, we’ve finally got a whole plan on what we need to do. I think the last half a year, since we’ve gotten a new bass player, we’ve been more productive and active. When we didn’t have him we were rehearsing every month or so, but now it’s every week and it’s nice.

FOXES: What are some of your main influences?

TF: I think the two main ones are The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. Sometimes we try to do a bit of a Dandy Warhols rip off [laughs]. When you have the organ and the dirty guitars it works out a little bit. They’re simple songs, they’ve got four chords, great chord progressions. It’s simple and catchy, but sounds really 60s too. We’re a fan of the revival bands. I think we’re bigger fans of the 60s revival bands than the real 60s garage bands; the songs sound better to me.

FOXES: Who’re you listening to now?

TF: I’ve been listening to lots of 90s music, like, Dinosaur Jr as well as Sparklehorse. But new music...we do listen to a lot of Foxygen. They’re nice to listen to because you can hear all the influences, it makes their songs really interesting. Ty Segall too. I’m a big fan.

FOXES: I see you got a Ty Segall poster back there!

TF: Yeah, yeah. I saw him in Amsterdam when he was doing the tour for Manipulator. I really want to see him with The Muggers. He’s turning out to be a proper frontman now. That was one thing I liked about him, that he never really wanted to be the frontman. It’s the same thing for me, I don’t really like to stand in the middle, I like to stand on the side and have our bass player in the middle because we don’t really like the big frontman idea. It’s like your one thing.

FOXES: Is there anything else you pursue creatively?

TF: I mean, I’m really interested in film. I used to study at the Dutch Film Academy in Amsterdam, but I didn’t really like it. Now I’m trying to study directing for documentaries. I’m a big fan of the old westerns, and strange documentaries. I’m also a big Wes Anderson fan...and Tarantino.

FOXES: If you could choose one which would you choose?

TF: I think I’d have to go with...Wes Anderson. He puts out his own world. He’s one of the only directors that can put Owen Wilson in a film and make the film look good! [laughs] FOXES: Do you remember the first record you ever bought?

TF: [laughs] Jesus...I think the first record I got was an ELO Greatest Hits album. I’m a huge fan of ELO. And the first CD I ever bought was, I think, the first album from The Arctic Monkeys. Before that I always got CDs from my uncle and stuff.

FOXES: Do you remember the first concert you ever went to?

TF: The first concert was...[laughs]...I went to go see Muse, which I wouldn’t do now. It’s like your 12 years old and you really like the big guitars, and I thought it was really cool.

FOXES: If you could choose a spirit animal what would it be?

TF: Hmm...I think I would go for an owl. Our bass player is one of the biggest fans of owls. He knows all the strange facts about owls. I think he was bored one day and he read the whole wikipedia page or something.

They’re very relaxing birds.

FOXES: Are there any local bands you’re friends with?

TF: Yeah, there’s a Dutch band called Iguana Death Cult. They’re great guys, it’s always fun. We’re friends with another band called Goodnight Moonlight as well.

FOXES: Do you feel like there’s a big music scene coming out of the Netherlands?

TF: Uh...no. Not at all. [laughs] They’re some really good bands here and some great people, but when there is a band that makes it big they kind of are on their own island, they don’t really group up with other bands. That’s just the way I see it, I don’t know if it’s like that, but you look at the Orange County/Burger Records scene, all the bands are friends and they go to each others shows and stuff, but it’s not really like that here.

FOXES: It’s funny that everyone seems to know The Burger scene wherever you go.

TF: It seems really cool to me.

W p

“ We’re basically going away from the heavy

psychedelics. We’ve found the sound that we like and we’re writing songs in that sound.

”

IN WAVES THEO BIANCONI PREMIUM MODELS

PHOTOGRAPHY CLAUDIA REVIDAT FASHION GRACE SUNDARATHITI

Previous page: pants by Each x Other, sweater by Arthur Ballorin Current page: leather jacket by Each x Other, pants by John Galliano, turtleneck sweater

by John Galliano, shoes by Paul Smith

Opposite page: pants by Each x Other, overcoat by je fais mal a la tete, blue turtleneck by John Galliano, jacket by Arthur Ballorin Current page: pants by John Galliano, shoes by Paul Smith

Current page: pants by Each x Other, oversized leather jacket by John Galliano, white denim by Each x Other, pullover by Each x Other

Current page: overcoat by Alexander Asvarischtsch, Ets Thierry and Interlining Freudenberg, shorts by John Galliano, pullover by Arthur Ballorin

NAME: Theo Bianconi HOMETOWN: “I’m from the north of Paris, where I grew up in a small town in the countryside.”

D.O.B: May 6th, 1993 (Taurus) SPIRIT ANIMAL: “My spirit animal would be a cat. Not because I’m gracious,mysterious and elegant, but mostly because I can spend a day sleeping and I can make your life a living hell if I’m hungry.”

HOW DID YOU GET INTO MODELING? WERE YOU SCOUTED? “As every boy, from every country, from every age, the first one to scout me was clearly my mom. When I was 16 years old she used to tell me, ‘You’re tall, you’re beautiful, my son, you could do modeling!’ But as a teenager I thought, like all people my age, that it was a thing all mothers said. Four years later she bought me a photoshoot and a book with a photograph. I came to Premium models like, ‘Hey it’s me! What are we going to do?’”

WHAT ELSE DO YOU PURSUE CREATIVELY? “I’ve practiced theater since I was 6. Now I have a theater degree, I give acting lessons in my town and I try to write some plays. That’s really difficult, but I manage to take time to practice. More recently I started photography. As a model, I have a chance to meet a lot of really excellent photographers from around the world. So I can learn step-by-step in every photoshoot I do.”

WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW? “If you mean right now in that exact moment, I’m eating a snickers. But I need to pack my stuff because I’m leaving to Tokyo for two month to work there.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE BAND? “I love popular bands from the 70s & 80s. Like Toto, Earth, Wind & Fire, A-Ha, Bon Jovi etc. Some could find them kitsch, but I love that. I’m also really into classical music, like Rachmaninov, Dvorak, Debussy. In today’s music, I love The Dropkick Murphys, The Artic Monkeys, Ratatat.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MOVIE? “That’s a really difficult question. My favourite movie is Sleuth by Kenneth Branagh. After that I love Snatch by Guy Ritchie, The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson, Interstellar by Christopher Nolan.”

WHAT ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT? “I’m passionate about ancient history and science. I like to read science magazines, watching conferences, and basically trying to understand how the world works.”

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST RECORD? “My first record was Linkin Park Meteroa.”

TARENTINO OR KUBRICK? “Definitly Tarantino. Even if Kubrick was a genius.”

OASIS OR BLUR? “Tough question...I’ll choose Blur because I love Damon Albarn, particularly in Gorillaz.”

DALI OR PICASSO? “Picasso. I think that Dali passed to much time to try to appear as an artist rather than taking care of his work.”

Current page: leather shorts by Alexander Asvarischtsch, ACM & Leather Gruppo Dani, coat by Arthur Ballorin

SOCIAL CULLEN OMORI TWITTER: @CullenOmori INSTA: @cullenomori FACEBOOK: Cullen Omori SPOTIFY: Cullen Omori MICHAEL MONROE SITE: www.michaelmonroe.com INSTA: @michaelmonroeofficial FACEBOOK: Michael Monroe SPOTIFY: Michael Monroe AXEL SWAN MALDINI INSTA: @axelswan FACEBOOK: Axel Swan Maldini VANT SITE: www.wearevant.com INSTA: @wearevant FACEBOOK: VANT SPOTIFY: VANT THE GORGONS SOUNDCLOUD: Dead Bell Records SONNY HALL INSTA: @sonny_hall TWITTER: @sonnyskeeno JACK LAVER INSTA: @jack_laver TWITTER: @jack_laver FILM HOOLIGANS SITE: www.filmhooligans.com THE MIGHTY BREAKS INSTA: @themightybreaks FACEBOOK: The Mighty Breaks SOUNDCLOUD: The Mighty Breaks THEO BIANCONI INSTA: @theodieu

NURIA RIUS INSTA: @nuria_rius AARON SINCLAIR INSTA: @aaron_sinclair_ ALEXA LOPEZ INSTA: @alexxalopezz LAURA-ALLARD- FLEISCHL INSTA: @lauraallardfleischl PHOEBE FOX INSTA: @_phox JACK EDEN INSTA: @jj_eden LIDA FOX INSTA: @lidafoxy AIDA NIZANKOVSKA INSTA: @nizankovska KAMIEL SCHOLTEN INSTA: @kamielscholten CLAUDIA REVIDAT INSTA: @claudiarevidat

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