communication - ISSUE 01 by inbtwn.

inbtwn.

(communication) ISSUE 01

background photo of cover taken at Wolfgang Tillmans gallery exhibition // Los Angeles, CA

designed and edited by: Taylor Seamans

Dear readers, Thanks so much for reading the first issue of “inbtwn.” This issue focuses on communication — through what we say, what we listen to, what we wear, what we do. Talk is cheap, art isn’t. This issue is filled with photos, collages, drawings, and doodles that touch on some of those ideas that go along with communication — interaction, understanding, misunderstanding, self-expression, and all that sort of stuff. We spoke with Mark Arkinson and Carolyn Flaherty, both musicians using SoundCloud and other internet platforms to spread their songs, to understand a bit about what they’re communicating through their music. We also have a piece by Emma Hager on fashion. Thank you, as well, to everyone else who submitted content. For future submissions, send your writings, photos, artwork, or whatever else to inbtwncollective@gmail.com. Enjoy the first issue! Always, The “inbtwn” Staff

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// carolyn flaherty instagram: carolynnnflaherty soundcloud: carol tumblr: canyonqueen

CAROL

an interview with singer-songwriter, Carolyn Flaherty, on the process of creating her music, her musical inspirations, and the power of internet platforms for connection

Q: Describe your music in 3 words. Carol: Dream pop, kinda sarcastic, imagery. I have a lot of imagery in it, but a lot of it is making fun of myself in a sarcastic way. I’m not sure if people can really tell; people always ask, “What does this even mean?” Q: What is your creative process? Carol: Writing is my favorite thing to do, or my main thing. I started when I was 16, now I’m 19. I would just record voice memos, that was pretty much it. Now, I have all the software programs. I use ProTools and Garageband. So now, I’m writing more with keys. I have a bunch of old Casio keyboards that I collect, and I love the noises on them. They have old drum machines and other cool stuff I’ve been discovering. When it comes to making songs, I just kind of start. I guess it’s never quite the same. But I also keep a journal and draw from that.

Q: Your music has a very “at home” recording feel, in a good way. Do you feel like the technology you’re using is going to change what you’re expressing in your music? Carol: I’m trying to stick with a lo-fi sound sort of. I want to build it beyond just the guitar and my voice, I’m past that now. I’m building with drum machines and different organ noises, but I definitely want to keep that “at home” vibe. Q: “Lighthouse Lullaby” is your most listened to song on SoundCloud. Can you talk a little bit about what inspired this song? Carol: So, I live right by the ocean on the east coast, and there’s a lighthouse about 7 minutes from my house that everyone goes to. I guess that’s what it’s named after. So it’s about being at home. But also about thinking you knew someone really well and realizing that you fantasized all this stuff about them but that you didn’t even ask them their name or

questions about their life. You’ll never be able to completely understand anyone but yourself, you know? So yeah, it’s about that and thinking you knew someone. Q: Did you you expect it to be big? Carol: Not really. It was one of the first ones that I wanted to take more seriously. I was teaching myself home recording, how to build it up which adds texture, but I didn’t expect it. It’s definitely one of my more romantic ones — I’m definitely a hopeless romantic. Q: How do you feel different internet platforms, like SoundCloud, are helping people get their music out there? Carol: The biggest thing for music now is that no one has a monopoly on it anymore because we can all do it, you know. You can have these recording companies, and distribution—which is obviously still really important and people need that kind of exposure—but if you spend enough time and you want it enough, you can do it all yourself with the internet because they give you these internet platforms where you can reach people all over the world. It’s crazy to look at your stats and see people listening in different states and countries. And Tumblr especially, I started when I was 12 and just never stopped and now I have 35k followers. That’s how I get a lot of my exposure now.

Even though the internet isn’t that personable, it is very personable at the same time. When I’m more involved in my social media platforms and reach out to more people and talk to people, people start to notice things on their dashboard. You make friends on the Internet, people I had as mutual followers on all my accounts. Reaching out to people and talking to people helps my audience grow.

“The biggest thing for music now is that no one has the monopoloy on it anymore because we can all do it.” Q: You said earlier that writing is your main thing. How do you feel about originals versus covers? Carol: I think cover songs are very important because learning other people’s songs and styles helps you learn what you like and translate that to your music. I’ve stopped covering stuff lately, I still learn songs of artists that I like, but I’m more focused on originals. I think I might start posting some covers in the future though. Q: Do you have a music inspiration that you draw from?

Carol: I’ve been listening to The Velvet Underground, I just love the way Nico sings. I love Beach House, you can probably tell by the different drum machines I use. I love the vintage noises that they have. I have a very high, sweet, feminine voice, but I’m very attracted to voices where you can’t really identify the gender of the voice—I think Nico and Victoria Legrand have that kind of voice. But I also love Astrud Gilberto so much, she’s one of my favorite vocalists. Q: Is there something you hope to communicate through your music? Carol: I think especially for my early music, it was more timid maybe. But at the same time with things that are feminine, I don’t want them to be viewed as timid or less than something. I think it’s important for girls, especially in music, to be able to know, even if you’re a vocalist, every part of the music and record everything yourself. That’s my goal for myself and to get across in my music. Being a vocalist, you don’t have to know everything about the music, but you should. I think girls now are that much more confident and don’t view themselves as anything less than equal, and I think that’s so important and I hope that comes across in my music. So, hopefully I can continue to do it all myself.

Fashion — “a way of materializing the human experience” by Emma Hager

Last week, on a bright and hot summer Saturday – one of the first truly thick and oppressive days of the season – I ascended the steps of the Met in New York. I’d been there many times over the years, often to get out of the heat, but mainly to meander, from room to room, through space and time, all for the price of my donation dollar. Each year, the Met’s Costume Institute puts on a large fashion exhibit. Its themes range from designers (Alexander McQueen), to nations (China) to movements (punk), but all seek to explore social, historical, cultural, and political moments through the medium of clothes. If this seems a tall order, it might be. You’ve heard the usual complaints before, I’m sure. That fashion is expensive and excessive, vapid and frivolous, and therefore entirely alienating and low. After all, how could most of us – the ones whose annual salaries are less than the cost of a couture dress – possibly find solace, or understanding, in fashion? But then there they are, the unassuming masses, filing, rather chaotically, through the hall

of Impressionist paintings, and into the white and jarring space that holds the “Rei Kawakubo/ Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between” exhibition. There, among the well-dressed fashion people, the art gallery-looking folk, and the fashions on display, are so-called “anti-fashion.” The middle-aged men, clad in cargo shorts and white sneakers, who have wandered into the exhibition somewhat haphazardly. These men, and the museumgoers like them, stare at the avant-garde creations with timidity and skepticism. Tulle dresses with cotton lumps, or sleeves sewn about the neck are unusual to anyone, but especially the uninitiated. Radical manipulations of the physical can seem particularly unnatural

when expressed through the medium of cloth. Slowly, though, the “anti-fashion” is pulled into the tide, and they file in closely, looking at the details of the clothes – like the baby dolls embedded into wedding gowns – with awe and surrender. This surrender is, in part, due to the unfathomably remarkable craftsmanship of the clothes. There’s a collective disbelief at the human ability to assemble garments of such precision and intricacy. But more so, I like to think this surrender is one to the larger universality of clothes. Birth, life, death, marriage, uncertainty, love, beauty, pain, lightness. These themes, or emotions – these social currencies, really – are at the very core of the Comme des Garcons creations. The forms seem like abstractions of human reactions we feel to be so simple, so steady in their manifestations. But the clothes reflect, with beautiful actuality, the true complexity of the human experience. The pretense of fashion, in this moment, does not diminish, but it does absolve the skepticism of its unknowing viewers. I witness this understanding, between the museumgoers and the fashions, and am brought to tears. It has been a long time since I’ve thought about fashion, what it can do, what it can be. The exhibit reminds me of this, and the fact that I’ve traditionally found a sense of self and solace in the craft. As I’ve gotten older, however, my interests have shifted. Clothes are no

longer the necessary vehicle for self-expression or communication in my world. Now, I’ve got books and theory. The classroom, what with its utopian disposition, is the current tool of choice. Often I’m in boyish and nondescript clothes; a button-down shirt, a pair of trousers. I suppose this communicates, or reflects, my shift in interests aptly. Still, when I’ve some free time, I’ll slip into some of my more extravagant garments – a shirt with sleeves made of old lace bloomers, a dress with a quilted, fairytale-patterned bottom – and walk around my room. It’s a simple and private act, a line of communication open only to sides of self. But its purpose is iterative of that of the exhibition: to materialize, through a sartorial outlet, the human experience. I don these clothes and feel my dexterity develop, before putting my boyish uniform back on and stepping out into the world.

// mark arkinson soundcloud: mark arkinson

MARK

an interview with musician, Mark Arkinson, on his sound, song titles, resampling a cappellas, and inspirations

Q: Tell me a bit of background about how you got into music. Mark: I was super into music my whole entire life. I was really into rock as a kid. My dad played every instrument, I played the drums growing up and then just taught myself piano. And then, no one wants to say they came from dubstep but I definitely was really into dubstep in eighth grade through high school. I moved to Santa Barbara, it was a completely new place for me. I started making beats and made a ton of friends. SoundCloud introduced me to the anime side of music, and that’s how I got into the style I am into now. Q: How did anime lead into you developing your own style? Mark: I used to join these Skype calls with these guys, and we’d watch all this sad anime. It was super weird when I first started, but then I started doing it and now I have anime posters all over my room. It all just kinda came from that; it’s all just based on things

that anime has, a lot of sad stuff— like high school love stories pretty much. I just tried to incorporate how that made me feel and put it into music. Q: Describe your music style in a few words. Mark: I always say “beat oriented music.” I’ve definitely taken a more house style lately but that’s just because of what I’ve been listening to. Q: You have minimal vocals in your songs, more vocal chops if anything. When you’re building your songs, is it about the beat or do you have the voices in mind too? Mark: I definitely incorporate the voices very soon. That usually makes a track. Vocals are like a cheat code to making your song sound good. So I’ll put down chords and immediately chop up vocals and try to make it fit. The vocals are from songs I’ve done with singers in the past and I just keep resampling them over and

over again. I use the same 5 a cappellas for every song I’ve ever made.

Q: Do you have “go to” drum kits, synths, and other sounds or is each song its own experiment?

Q: You have interesting titles on your songs, such as “we can split these nachos, i probably can’t finish them by myself anyways, idk.” How do you come up with these?

Mark: I have the same kick drums I like, same shakers and high hats, but if it isn’t the exact sound I’m looking for I can create my own. But I definitely try to go for the same sound every time.

Mark: Most of these are based on real life situations. For that one, I was really drunk and I wasn’t sure what was happening and I really liked this girl. We went and got nachos or I sort of guilt tripped her into getting them with me, and we shared them and then she wouldn’t hang out with me weeks later. So then I made that song. The track titles are exactly what they mean pretty much.

“If it isn’t the exact sound I’m looking for, I can create my own.” Q: You have a somewhat electronic influence to your style. Are you recording in your own instruments or just using software ones? Mark: It’s pretty much all done on my computer except for random percussion, whistles, or just random background noise. I have a cheap microphone to do all that, but all the pianos and other things are just done on my computer.

Q: October Weekend is your biggest song; did you expect it to be this big when you made it? Mark: Um, well no. When I originally made it, I mean even now, it’s just a giant loop, there’s not much changing. But when I was making it, I told myself this is the most beautiful intro I’ve ever made. And to this day, I still think that, and I still get comments on that intro. But no, I definitely have other songs I think deserve to be more popular than that one. Q: You like to have a break between the build and drop, how much do you think about adding this? Mark: I think about it all the time. I do that in I think every one of my songs. I try to have a giant silent break because I feel like it’s really dynamic. I almost hate it when other people don’t do that. Q: Do you do collaborations? Mark: I actually have almost no collaborations; I do very few in general. It’s mostly because I have a very weird workflow. I will

sit down and do it in one night. I don’t spend multiple days working on things. They’re all just quick little ideas that I manage to get out. The only one I have is with Resotone. I was a huge fan for years, and I messaged him and said, “This is the greatest song I’ve ever heard.” And he said, “Thanks man, we should work together sometime.” So I think that’s my only collaboration. Q: You said you’ll just make a song in one night, how does this creative process go? Do you have the idea in your head, or do you sit down and think of something?

Q: Where do you see your music going? Mark: Music is just a hobby. I meet a lot of people who think I should do other things with it, and you could but I don’t have time. I was going to school and working and trying to fit music into that as well. It takes a lot of time and work to make a career out of it. It was a hobby from the start, and I said for years I don’t want to sell my music. All my stuff should always be free to download. I just want to do it for fun.

Mark: It’s either or. Sometimes I just sit down and it works out. Usually when I upload something I have an idea in my head and I rush home really quickly cause I’m like I have to get this out. And then either it turns out how I wanted it to or it doesn’t. Q: Do you have specific artists who inspire who? Mark: Right now, definitely Petit Biscuit. And then one of my top 5 favorite artsits Owsey, he’s even switched to more of an electronic style. He was doing deep house, I guess you’d call it — I don’t get too far into genres. But it slowly grew on me. It’s sort of garagey as well. I’ve been listening to him non-stop. As well as Olli, he’s a super close friend and one of my favorite producers. He does music all across the board.

uh huh, got it.

July 2017