Rough It Up Issue

Page 1

Peaches Esther Perbandt Ebony Bones Ari Versluis Jeff Mills






Team Editor-in-Chief Fashion Editor

Marcel Schlutt

Art Director Art Editor

Nicolas Simoneau

mschlutt@kaltblut-magazine.de

nsimoneau@kaltblut-magazine.de

Amanda M. Jansson

ajansson@kaltblut-magazine.de

Emma E.K. Jones

Art Editors

ejones@kaltblut-magazine.de

Nicola Phillips

Music Editor

nphillips@kaltblut-magazine.de

Friedericke Suckert

Movie Editor

Fashion Woman Editor

Fashion Assistant

Fashion Uk Editor

Editor Netherlands

Photo by Suzanna Holtgrave

fsuckert@kaltblut-magazine.de

Anita Krizanovic

akrizanovic@kaltblut-magazine.de

Nico Sutor

nsutor@kaltblut-magazine.de

Karl Slater

kslater@kaltblut-magazine.de

Michelle Hèlena Janssen

mjanssen@kaltblut-magazine.de

Proof reading and editing by Nicola Phillips and Amanda M.Jansson.

Marianne Jacquet, Suzanna Holtgrave, Bernhard Musil

Peaches, Photography by Suzana Holtgrave, Postproduction by Suzana Holtgrave & Florian Hetz - florian.hetz@me.com -

www.kaltblut-magazine.com KALTBLUT Magazine is published by KALTBLUT Media UG, Nicolas Simoneau & Marcel Schlutt

K A LT B L UT MAGAZ I N E I L i ni enstraße 1 3 I 10 17 8 Be r lin I G e r man y

Welcome to THE NEW KALTBLUT. I just can’t believe it has already been 3 years since we published our very first print issue. Time is flying. And I love it. This issue is dedicated to all our friends, artists and family who have supported us all this time. We are still growing up. It´s still a big adventure for us. I have the feeling that right now we are leaving our teenager years and are turning to adults. We lost some weight .. like we say in Germany .. The „Baby Speck“ is gone. And we’ve had a little face lift. I and my team, we hope you will like THE NEW KALTBLUT. And I wanna invite you to be one of the first ones to see how we grow up. We met some amazing artist for this issue. Interviews with icons like Peaches and Esther Perbandt, and our newcomers, like the one and only Ebony Bones, are making this issue very special to us. So, I really hope you guys will love it like we do. A personal note: The world is getting tougher, the world is becoming more intolerant. What is wrong with you world? What is wrong with you humans? Why all this anger, hate and intolerance? Millions of people running away from war and danger. Freaks are ruling the world. Humans!! WAKE UP! This is not the world I wanna live in. This is not the behavior of humans. It is time for a revolution of humanity. Let´s ROUGH IT UP and lets fight together against all this shit in the world. Let´s make the world a better place. For us, for our children and for the future of humanity. I also wanna thank Munich based fashion label ANA ALCAZAR. For believing in our vision. For the trust in our work. You are some real KALTBLÜTER. You are part of our family. Also a big thanks to Nicolas Simoneau without you - I and the magazine would be nothing. You make my heart smile. You never judge me and our work. I love you for this. Thank you! And now… enjoy our brand new issue. Marcel Schlutt


C

8. Troy Roy 14. Art interview

o

n

t

e

46. Ari Versluis

The now and future of Berlin menswear

Art Interview

52. Voyage Voyage Things that makes 55. you go mmmmmmm Rubric

24.

Introducing feature - Sui Zhen

Music Interview

26.

t

76.Esther Perbandt 84.Archie Fitzgerald 90.Some like it Hot 100. Fashion interview

Art Interview

Früher, Jetze & Morgen

Fashion Editorial

n

Fashion Editorial

Prodromos Emmanouilids Art Interview

Rubric

56. Lux DeLuxe 62. Peaches Fashion Editorial

104. Jeff Mills 108. Music Interview

Ebony Bones

IN DREAMS | Uninterpreted Dreams and other Divinations A photographic series

32. It‘s safe to say you dig the backseat

Fashion Editorial

40. Meet me at the

C a t w a l k

Rubric

42. Paul Waak Art

Interview

Music Interview

68. Bedtime Stories 70. A Tough Guy Refugee in Film: 75. a short overview Rubric

Fashion Editorial

Essay

112. More Sneakers Than a Plumber‘s Got Pliers

Rubric

114.

Bijlmer Beauty

Beauty Editorial

118. Enditorial The End


sorry

Interview with Glitch Artist Troy Roy

8

Interview by Nicolas Simoneau

How did you came to Glitch art? I probably started around two years ago. I just read about Glitch art on the internet somewhere and it seemed to be really easy to start with. I didn’t even know about any Facebook groups. These came like one year after I started, so I didn’t share anything until then. Do you have a feeling that Glitch art has become more visible and a little more mainstream during the past 2 to 3 years? Oh yes, definitely yes. And I think one of the reasons is that


people started to make apps for it, like really easy apps. So it was really easy for people to use, and also they could make art really quickly.

super_official

Glitch art becoming more mainstream, do you think it’s a way to go against all this Photoshop retouch- perfection we see so often at the moment? Yes I think it’s definitely a sort of reaction. With Photoshop and retouching everything to make it perfect, so precise, it was like a sort of protest in a way. Even public figures you can deconstruct in that way really easily, you know? I don’t really like the Glitch apps anyway, it’s so easy to create without them, and everything ends up looking so similar. It’s almost lost it’s initial purpose in the way. The glitching you mean? Yes. Exactly! I also noticed that Glitch art started to get a certain aesthetic which doesn’t make any sense when you think about the fact that it’s about creating something by the art of destroying it. Lately you’re seeing beautiful pictures, it doesn’t make sense. Exactly, and right now you can pretty much see what people did to the pictures. A lot of images looks the same, not all of it does, but it looks very similar. People doing the same thing, trying to give it a certain look, it’s almost turning into a Photoshop filter! What’s the deal with the Roman statue thing? It’s everywhere right now! I actually used to use that a lot! The whole internet sort of, vaporwave culture, it somehow bled over into Glitch art and blended together. But now the statues are used constantly. Which I’m not going to complain about it, I do find it really beautiful, but lately, it’s just being overdone. I’m have a feeling of saturation. I get the thing about taking some classical art work and bringing it to a modern sense, but this is pretty overdone now. I think it’s because this art is beautiful and those statue pictures are beautiful, and so you can take beautiful photos and glitch it in a beautiful art piece. Your work is more landscape based, and I’ll almost want to say, still life. Definitely. I try to create giant installation pieces that in the real world are almost impossible to do Like these giant skulls and sneakers? Exactly, stuff like that. What’s your process when you work on this landscape? If I look at some Glitch images it’s easy for me to find how did this person started and with which images, but in your case I find it difficult to find what comes first. Usually what I do is to find a landscape that I like. From there I’ll create 3D models, and I’ll glitch them, I’ll destroy them. I always have an idea about how I want it to look like, but it never really completely turns out like that. Of course, that’s the thing about the Glitch art, right? That you actually can’t have exactly what you want. You can’t really control.

I_Cant_Feel_My_Face


Im_Sorry_About_Your_Home_I’ll_Pay_For_The_Damages

Yes. I mean you can to a certain extent, let’s say, like with the 3D stuff, I create and then I text edit a lot. And then I sit there and find out which part of the code corresponds to which part of the 3D object. But it takes forever going through all of that code and figure out what is does, so you can control a little bit. I always go for something that’s a little bit creepy I guess, and seems kind of lonely or isolated and then go from there really. But I’m always working on like 4, 5 different pieces at once, depending on how I’m feeling that day.. How long do you work on one piece before to have it really done? Four or five hours usually. Sometimes it’s only 30 minutes thought!

10

Do you also do some music and video Glitch? I used to do music a lot more a couple of years ago. I also did videos but I never really posted them. Are the types of media related at all? Sort of. There is this guy I know who Glitches his pictures and then puts audio with it. I don’t really do it that way. What I would do is I will use a synthesizer and bring it into say, GarageBand and then having this mp3 file I would Glitch that and

bring it back into GarageBand and cut it up from there. It’s not really Glitching, it’s just using a sample I guess. It’s really hard nowadays to define what’s Glitch and what’s not, sometimes because of the usage of apps or layers. What is your definition of Glitch? Well there is Glitch art where people will figure out with Photoshop using filters how to get an image that looks like Glitch, and then there’s apps. I guess pretty recently it’s been called a Glitch aesthetic. There is always this argument in the community with what’s Glitch and what’s not, I just feel like if it’s actually Glitch, it’s Glitch art and if it’s just got the Glitch aesthetic then it’s something else. But they still belong in the same category. Yes, it’s just that the process is different. One of them is like basically what Glitch art was originally rejecting, is doing exactly that to look like Glitch art. The whole point of Glitch is that you 100% don’t know what you’re going to get. I mean it took me ages to make my first Glitch images: I open it in the text files, and add stuff and then delete stuff, but at first when I saved it, it was just black images. It took me a lot of time to understand that maybe I’ve add too much or


glitch

[glich] Slang. Examples Word Origin noun 1. a defect or malfunction in a machine or plan. 2. Computers. any error, malfunction, or problem. Compare bug1(def 5). 3. a brief or sudden interruption or surge in voltage in an electric circuit. verb (used with object) 4. to cause a glitch in: an accident that glitched our plans. Origin of glitch German 1960-1965 1960-65; perhaps < Yiddish glitsh slippery area; compare glitshn, German glitschen to slip, slide

We’re_All_Dead_Anyway


deleted too much information, so I did again until finally the result looked like something which was not a black picture. So I have the feeling that to really control the effect you’re putting in a picture is almost quite impossible. I think that’s exactly one of the answers between Glitch art and aesthetic, even if you really know what you’re doing with Glitching, you’ll always have this thought of, “Well, I still don’t know what it’s going to look like at the end!” Yeah, and that’s my favourite part of it! You can’t completely take the randomness out of it, you know? You don’t have complete control over it.

Nothing_And_Nothing

deathlies

Exactly. You are a contributor of the Glitch Artist Collective. How did this happen? I just searched for a Facebook group and I remember when I found them it was just 5 thousand people following the page, and now it’s like 25 thousand! The group has a lot more direction now though. Do you produce a lot of pieces for the group? I used to produce a lot more. I use to do photo collage and then when I started proper Glitch I will do 5 to 10 of those in an hour, Iike Glitch a photo. But it takes me much more time also because i’m doing 3D stuff and also composition rather than just Glitching an image. We can really see the evolution in your work. If we look at the first work it’s more like images Glitched, as you just said, then we can we can see the introduction of 3D elements in the composition. The programs you use, did it take a lot of time to learn how to use them? Yes totally. I never have any formal training with all of these programs. I mean my mum is a Graphic Designer so I’ll do a bit of Photoshop, but like for Cinema 4D and Blender it was reading tutorials on the internet and just trying to figure it how do it.

12

What’s your main inspiration for these composition? Mostly I really like horror movies, like Dario Argento. His cinematography is incredible and i think quite a lot of my work in inspired by that, the

The_Soft_Middle

FOREST_HORRORS

FreshlySqueezed Hit_Em_Up


The_Soft_Middle

Dead_At_5_O’clock

the_chrysalis

colours as well. He uses these super bright colours and pastels. He creates scenes that look sort of creepy or suspicious, like you don’t know what’s going to happen. What’s next? I want to get onto 3D printing, or making more videos which aren’t completely Glitched but only partially. Or introduce some sort of Glitch character, which you could do with CGI pretty easily. I mean, everything becomes more and more mainstream, until something else happens. More glitch can be seen at www.purehoney.glitchartistscollective.com

5_Shots_couldnt_Drop_Me

whatever_in_creation_that_exists_without_my_knowledge_exists_without_my_consent


FrĂźher, Jetze & Morgen The now and future of Berlin menswear

14

Leggins: Vektor I Vest: Vladimir Karaleev I Coat: Nico Sutor I Shoes: Vladimir Karaleev



Top: Maximilian Kattwinkel Jacket: Sarah Effenberger Trousers: Kai Gerhardt Leather-Cape: Nobi Talai Necklace: Vladimir Karaleev


Shirt: Mads Dinesen Coat: Mads Dinesen Vest: Sarah Effenberger Trousers: Mads Dinesen Hat: Mads Dinesen Harness: Mads Dinesen Shoes: Velt


18 Vest: Vladimir Karaleev Coat black: Nico Sutor Coat mustard: Sean Neubauer Glasses: Maximilian Kattwinkel



Slipover: Sarah Effenberger Shirt: Sarah Effenberger Jacket: Sarah Effenberger Coat: Vektor Trousers: Vektor Shorts: Sarah Effenberger Shoes: Velt

20


Shirt: Sissi Goetze Overall: Esther Perbandt Vest: Maximilian Kattwinkel Scarf: Kai Gerhardt


Shirt: Brachmann Trousers grey: Brachmann Trousers striped: Maison Mason Skirt: Nobi Talai Pullover: Sarah Effenberger Harness: Mads Dinesen Hat: Esther Perbandt

22



INTERVIEW

Introducing feature - Sui Zhen Interview by Nicola Phillips Photography by Phebe Schmidt

Emerging from the depths of Melbourne’s electronica scene, Becky Freeman, known predominantly as Sui Zhen, is a fine addition to the uprising cluster of multimedia artists, with an aesthetic that would make any heavy Tumblr user foam at the mouth. Inspired by Japanese contemporary design, ASMR videos, and with her digital doppelgänger, Susan, at the helm, Sui Zhen invites us into the milky-chrome corner of her surreal world with new album, Secretly Susan. By distorting the line between reality and fiction, Sui speaks of delving into the “digital ocean” and just how Susan found her. Because everything you read online is true, right?

A lot more artists have been making an impression from Melbourne lately, why do you think this is? I think it’s largely to do with the strong and supportive community. People feel that they can pursue music for themselves and create their own sound. Most of my musician friends have a few different projects going on at the same time, and little scenes are nurtured with shared band members and collaborators making video or designing artwork for releases and events. People help each other out. The scene is not hidden or underground, it’s very present in daily life. I think it’s really encouraging to see your peers doing well and working hard at all aspects of their music career, it’s infectious and flows through the community. At the helm is the radio station Triple R. It allows new music to get airplay and reach larger audiences, so bands have a chance at growing their fanbase. Despite all the arts funding that has been cut recently by the Abbott Government, the community is still making and producing quality music. I have pride in Melbourne’s scene. Do you find that being a female music producer leaves you at a disadvantage in the music industry today? I don’t consider myself any different to any other musician or producer because I’m female. I think that sexism and racism are still very present in society today and those attitudes filter into the music industry. Personally, I demand the same respect I would from anyone, regardless of gender, I guess that is my response to discussions around discrimination within the music industry.

“I think music should always do the talking. But sometimes visuals work so beautifully alongside music, it makes sense to create a whole world for some songs.”

Are any of these issues reflected in your music/lyrics? The meaning of my lyrics may evolve over time, as I have new experiences. And I hope that listeners will find their owning meaning and interpret them to be relevant to their own experiences also.

24

What was your approach when you began writing Secretly Susan? What was your process? I took different approaches depending on the instrumentation I wanted to use. Probably five or so songs were written on guitar and the other half were started with a drum machine, so the guitar ones I’d usually have a strong melody and some words in mind to begin with. The drum machine songs are move groove based. I wanted to write songs that I would be happy singing for a long time, they generally begin as personal expressions and grow into songs that I hope others will find a connection with. Writing the song is the easy bit, it can take just an hour or a few. The rest of the time is spent refining the instrumentation and arrangements.

Is Susan an alter ego of yours? How did you find her? I found Susan in the digital ocean. She is meta-data manifested into a representation of a person, someone’s digital doppelgänger. If you took all the things you see online about someone to be real, than that person might be Susan. Susan and I probably share a few attributes. She enjoys the sensation of gently touching ferns, and having nice clean socks. She takes comfort in banality and procedural pleasures. I was also greatly influenced by ASMR videos. Your visual style in your imagery and videos is very clean cut, like a Photoshop dream! Is graphic design something you’re interested in? Who are your favourite designers/artists?


Yes! I have been studying a post-graduate course in design for a couple of years now. I’m doing it part-time in and amongst work and music. But it is a great passion and something I wish to pursue into academia alongside my music career. I’m particularly inspired by Japanese aesthetics and design approaches. Some favourites are Ikko Tanaka, Shigeo Fukuda, Yukimasa Okumura, Koichi Sato… The Tokyo ADC (Art Directors Club) Annuals are a great resource if you’re curious about Japanese contemporary design. There are so many amazing artists within the history of graphic design it’s a like opening a can of worms once you start looking in the right places. Some artists I am inspired by are Chris Johansen, David Shrigley, Marcel Dzama… and then photographic performance artists, Cindy Sherman, Sophie Calle, Ming Wong… ah! I could go on and on. Don’t get me started on film. With such impressive visuals alongside your music, do you find yourself as a multimedia artist rather than just a music producer? Yes, I think I do consider myself as a multimedia producer alongside being a musician. I also work as a producer within the tech industry creating digital tools to help engage audiences in galleries, museums and cultural sites. But in terms of creative output, I mostly try to channel that through my music projects. I’ve made videos for others but time

is an issue. I need to choose carefully what I do and it makes most sense right now to focus my video/ design skills into Sui Zhen stuff. Do you think it’s important to have something visual alongside audio? Or should the music just do the talking sometimes? I think music should always do the talking. But sometimes visuals work so beautifully alongside music, it makes sense to create a whole world for some songs. It really depends what the goal is. I’m a songwriter at the core, so I focus on creating music that stands on it’s own, but then again I love film and music gives me the opportunity to play a bit in that world. What have been some of your most influential producers? Now, I’d say Haroumi Hosono, Yasuaki Shimizu (responsible for Mariah Shinzo No Tobira) and Robin Millar (“the man behind Sade”). Like design, Japanese producers during the 80s around the time when a

“Susan and I probably share a few attributes. She enjoys the sensation of gently touching ferns, and having nice clean socks. She takes comfort in banality and procedural pleasures.”

lot of great Roland analog gear was being made was a super interesting time for production in Japanese electronic pop music. When I was younger I would buy soundtracks for documentaries about Africa before getting into 90s grunge and dance music in a big way. I took a lot of influence from The Cranberries, Sugar Cubes, Smashing Pumpkins and Ace of Base when I was a teen. Did you start producing music at an early age? What type music was “in” when you were growing up? Did you take any part in the music scene at the time? I started learning to read and play music at around eight years old. My first instrument was the trumpet and I played in the jazz band and orchestra. I was also in the school vocal ensembles and choirs. I picked up guitar around fourteen heavily influenced by my older brother’s grunge rock band Whirling Pit. I played my first gig as soon as I was old enough to enter a pub at eighteen supporting one of my brother’s bands. I played just acoustic guitar, and most likely strummed terribly angsty teenage songs. I was active in the folk, poprock scene in Sydney through my early twenties before really discovering and defining my own style which came with time and practice. But also with collecting records and starting to DJ after several trips to Japan. The bands that I considered “in” when I was growing up were Regurgitator (great 90s Australian band!), Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Chemical Brothers, PJ Harvey… We watched a late night music video show called RAGE (which still exists!) to discover new cool bands, and we’d have to tape them to VHS to make cool video playlists. This is before YouTube. I’d also tape stuff off the radio to make mixtapes. What would be a dream collaborative project for you? Co-producer, music, artist, photographer, etc. I would love to work with Sean Nicholas Savage and write a duet album. I don’t know how our voices would sound together but he’s such an amazing songwriter, and prolific too. An unsung hero of this generation. There are so many Japanese producers I’d love to work with. I’ve never heard a live drum sound quite like Shintaro Sakamoto achieves and I would love to learn how he does it. In terms of video and photo I would absolutely love to work with artist Charlie White. His work influenced my music videos for Secretly Susan. How would you describe your music in three words? Just ask Susan. The most influential piece of art you’ve heard/ seen? Something I still have a visceral memory of was Ryoji Ikea’s Test Pattern. I experienced that in Tokyo last year. And prior to that I’d say Teshima Art Museum near Naoshima in the Seto Sea, Japan. It was the biggest emotional impact architecture has ever had on me. And it brought tears to my eyes. Don’t Google it, if you haven’t been just go. The last song you listened to? I just had rehearsal with NO ZU so the last song I listened to was live Ui Yia Uia: https://soundcloud. com/chaptermusic/no-zu-ui-yia-uia

Secretly Susan is out now on Remote Control Records.


How far is Athens from Berlin, Garissa from Paris or Palmyra from Baltimore? There is a negative situation that today’s societies avoid to realize, projecting it only as an unfortunate exception of a decadent periphery. The pressure applied on social classes, regions, countries or whole continents, doesn’t threat the alleged ideals of our world, it only proves them to be false. If it was reason that gave birth to these ideals, then reason is wrong. If logic was invoked in what divides us today, then logic is invalid. If rationality is the authority that handles our reality, then rationality is incorrect. It is not a passive denial but a conscious rejection.


IN DREAMS | Uninterpreted Dreams and other Divinations - A photographic series By Petros Koublis

Hardly through these watery spheres shall we perceive, with sighs, our ancestral heaven; at intervals even we shall cease altogether to behold it. By this disastrous sentence direct vision is denied to us; we can see only by the aid of the outer light; these are but holes that we possess, not eyes. Orphic fragment from the Hermetic Corpus 2nd century AD


A Mythology of the Unseen The human spirit perpetually unfolds like a wavy veil, frail but confident, with a fragile but tenacious persistence in its sinuous movement. For every new part which is revealed through this curvy progression, another one becomes hidden, partially distorted and eventually forgotten, unreachable, such as the foregone realities of our origin. For, in this case, our awareness is not subject only to a rational and precious knowledge built upon the foundations of reasoning, but also a matter of how accurately and intimately we perceive the ancestral parts of the human experience, these fundamental fragments that are getting covered by the veil, the links of the past that hold together the chain of our spirit’s evolution. For even reason itself unfolded gradually. It first tried to methodically express everything through unified theories that were including both rational conclusions about the physical world and philosophical assumptions about the intelligible one as well. These unified theories were attempting an ambitious balance between a mere scientific thought and the metaphysical ideas which dominated the world during the ancient times, resulting both in what became the foundation of modern science but also in a complicated corpus of mystical allegories and obscured interpretations over the human experience. There are limits to our perception, therefore we are not able to fully perceive what is essentially mind-independent, free of form, shape and definition. We are bound to keep addressing a mental version of reality, limited

28


within the confines of our understanding. Through Mythology the human spirit could philosophically approach those remote areas of a system much bigger than what we are able to perceive. As if through Myths, our spirit is able to overcome the boundaries of the mind and expose our intuition to a much greater reality, letting us lift the veil for a moment and feel what lies underneath. These primordial narratives are not attempting an interpretation of the unknown, but they offer an accumulation of the human experience, they talk about the history of the Psyche or, as Freud described it, the distorted vestiges of the wish-fantasies of whole nations, the age-long dreams of young humanity. Then, in the form of a lucid dream, they reveal the archetypes that connect us with the most distant areas of our spirit, where the seeds of our evolution were first planted into the fertile soil of imagination. Everything seems to have emerged from the realms of a dream, a parallel universe in space and time without any observers but our own intuition. A world without observers is a world without definitions and therefore things are defined not by the way they appear but by the way they are. Infinite and incomprehensible to our senses. This is where every new idea arises from, within this vast realm of possibilities, so that everything is interpreted and experienced in a new way every time we manage to push the boundaries of our understanding a bit further. Myths continue to echo a signal sent from the very first pulse of humanity, like a dream hanging between the oblivion of a distant past and the revelation of a secret future, in a world that breathes life into a new reality every time we look at it. Because we were given the ability to dream beyond our vision.

Keep up with Petros’s work at www.petroskoublis.com




It’

32


Safe To Say You Dig The

sackseat B

Photography: Marc Huth Production & Styling: Anita Krizanovic Model: Sandra S @ M4 Models Hair & Make Up: Kati Mertsch Hair & Make Up Assistant: Reeve Baker P h o t o A s s i s ta n t : N i c o E r n s t P h o t o A s s i s ta n t : Y a n n i e P รถ p p e r l i n g

ecole Boutique Top: commeonveut available at Vest: Tiger of Sweden Hat: Tiger of Sweden Falke Tights: Panty: Tr es Bonjo ur t ilnes t S : s g in r r a E


34

iani Top: R Skirt: Riani Vest: minimum Hat: Stylists Own Tights: Falke Earrings: lolaandgrace Ring: Sabrina Dehoff


tonia Goy n A : s s e r D Jacket: Stine Goya Panty: Tres Bonjour Tights: Falke : DSTM Stockings & Necklace Shoes: Kennel & Schmenger


Top: Augustin Teboul Leggins: Augustin Te boul Jacket: Tiger Of Sweden Braclets: Coccinelle ndgrace Eaarings: lolaa Shoes: Hien Le

36


Skirt: Riani Body: minimum Jacket : Kling Stola: Annie P Boutique Necklace: Éecole


38

ndgrace Necklace: lolaa


ke Tights customized as a Top: Fal Jacket: Marina HĂśrmanseder Tights: Falke Sunglasses: ChloĂŠ hoff Earrings: Sabrina De


Meet me at the

J.W. Anderson GUCCI

For the past few years, KALTBLUT has been invited to take the front row seat during some of the most famous and inspiring catwalks from around the world. We have traveled from Fashion Philosophy FashionWeek Poland in Lodz to London, Paris, ModaLisboa in Portugal, Milan and New York and Berlin. Here are some of our favourite looks from the runway for the Fall/Winter season 201516. Selected by Marcel Schlutt and Anita Krizanovic

Alexander Wang

40

Givenchy

David Catalan

Haider Ackermann

ca


COMME des GARÇONS

Luis Carvalho KTZ

Vivienne Westwood

Patrick De Padua

atwalk Sopopular


PA U L

SPOT ON

WA AK

Paul Waak is a Berlin-based illustrator, and graduated from the well renowned Universität der Künste (UdK) in 2014. Paul’s creations are bizarre and dark-sided, not really children-friendly. He isn’t in denial about the complexity and diversity of our reality and wants to show us the counterpart of our perfect beauty, perfect body saturated world. Dark tones, deformed bodies, these alternative humanoids are not what we would want to see on a daily basis, nevertheless they are important to our maturing, awareness and open-mindness. “VERTEX MAXIMUS”, his upcoming book, is a constructed like a children’s ABC-book. Each letter represent a word, and each word illustrated by a dark humor comic book style story composition, directly out of Paul’s unique and twisted mind. Do not miss it!

42

Keep up with Paul’s work at www.paulwaak.de





INTERVIEW

46


ARI VERSLUIS Interview by Michelle Hèlena Janssen

Always when I encounter Ari it is as though he pierces through a person’s very existence just by looking at them. Simply by seeing their clothing, or behaviour. How they talk or walk. He’s always watching. The Rotterdam based photographer is famous for his work on Exactitudes, documenting the “codes” of different groups. For 20 years he’s been recording individuals as they are and therefore creating an anthropological record of humanity. He knows all about subcultures, and their history. We talked about youth culture, Berlin, punk and a new generation of refugees. At first I wanted to talk about Exactitudes, but you’re involved in so much more than that. Like Encounters, what’s that about? Encounters is another concept series which depicts makeshift studio interventions which changes perspective and widens the lens for a broader chronology next to Exactitudes. It has to do with the fact that I see a lot of people who are worth portraying because I think it’s of general historical interest to do so, but not with the perspective of Exactitudes. Exactitudes is about uniformed identities, an anthropological record of people’s attempt to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. But it’s only for 10 to 15 percent of people who will fit into this concept of group identity. The Encounters series are more personal and instinctive, where Exactitudes is more a real collaboration and ongoing discussion on style and identity with Ellie Uyttenbroek, the profiler of the series. Over the years I photographed and archived lots of good and interesting appearances, who never really got the right exposure. With Encounters I am expanding this method by building some pop-up studio’s in divergent cities to purely look at individuals and their narrative. This happens literally on the streets, instead of the internet. Because It’s all about information beyond revolution and globalization nowadays, youngsters from different cities like Stockholm, Milan or St. Petersburg all act the same; differences in style are fairly marginal. Apparently

we live in such a controversial individualistic time now that the quest of a group belonging has changed. On the internet, people are connecting with people with the same interests and ideas. Do you see any subcultures starting on the internet? It definitely happens on the internet. But I’m someone who wants to see and experience in reality how someone looks, smells, speaks or how his/her posture is. It’s about realness. I’m very convinced and analogue about that – “it’s not what you wear, it’s how you wear it”, the whole attitude. I’m looking for that presence and shifting attitudes in Encounters, and of course with Exactitudes as well, but on a different level. In the end, anyone can wear an outfit, and Instagram hiss ass off but if you don’t feel what you wear and don’t know how to rock, it makes no sense at all. Like trends? A trend can evolve into a subculture if it runs for a longer time but it really has to do with attitude. In that manner it’s about a certain boldness and discipline, you should for example have the guts to become a real vegan or really party for 36 hours non-stop. For example in Berlin… Exactly, Berlin is still heaven for that. If there’s anything controversial and counter-culture, it’s the element and concept of time. The fact that you lose your sense of time in a 36-40 hour party,


is so at odds with this world, where everything up to every minute of your life is arranged. Your smartphone keeps you on track, people keep looking you up. It’s the chronos time and kairos time. If you suddenly disappear for 40 hours, that’s pretty intense nowadays. Yeah you’re always connected except for that “time” of going out. It’s what I experience aswell; the only time I’m not connected is when I go out, especially in Berlin. KALTBLUT is situated in Berlin, but I hear people say it’s not the same as it used to be. Maybe the expats, like me, have a lot to do with it, do you experience it differently than before? What I notice is that all these internationals come to Berlin to reinvent it. They want to recreate a sort of party atmosphere and that actually makes it even a little boring, because the same old tune is being repeated and mono-cultured over and over again, so to speak. Fashion and trends are all very cyclical, but the rotating time is faster now. Accelerated returns. Every 5 or 6 years everything is reinvented again, and then the current young generation thinks it’s completely new. If you look at it from a distance, it’s rooted in a much longer tradition. It’s really nice to go in- and out [berlin] because then you can see it better, you keep a certain distance. “See the drama, don’t wanna live it constantly”. What characterizes Berlin though, is that it’s a city of freedom. Youth doesn’t have to rebel so much anymore, you can manifest what you want to be, feel and believe in. Those are absolute characteristics of subcultures. It has a certain element, which yields culture, music, appearances and all sorts of magnificent transitions which are important to let a subculture live. That’s what I always perceive in Berlin, unlike many other cities that all have other problems. It’s pretty amazing and unique that it goes on even the reinvented mode of the expats. If you look at the former youth cultures it was always about rebelling and I think in Berlin that’s not the case anymore, it’s more about celebrating now.

48

What I often see, like the kids trying to reinvent Berlin, is that we romanticize a certain subculture from the past, and that it’ll become a [FASHION]trend rather than a redefined subculture. Like Gabbers, a large subculture that started in the Netherlands. The higher “educated” culture takes inspiration from lower cultures, but for what, rebelling? We used to think that intelligentsia originated counterculture. At a certain point it turned around, it did not come from intelligence, but was powered by lower classes. I always felt that the


real noteworthy youth cultures are by definition working class. You don’t have to think about it. “I just want to shave my head and listen 200 BPM’S, period!” It’s not an intellectual process at all, it’s an urge. Other people will try to intellectualise it, and that was the problem with Gabber, they couldn’t. They didn’t know what to do with it and that’s why it took so long. They didn’t even dare to go to those parties so everything they wrote about it came from 2nd or 3rd hand. The reason why the Gabber worked so well in the intellectual environment with Exactitudes, and not only in the Netherlands but over the whole world, is because we didn’t have a story. We just portrayed them to show that they’re just dudes full of adrenaline, nothing more than that. I just think that youth cultures are not that relevant anymore. Generational branding or thinking in a specific group from 18 to 22, it makes no sense. 5-YEAR-OLD kids are going to yoga classes in LA and there are 60 year old longboarders in Berlin, so what the hell are we talking about. It’s the revolution of our time, everything is possible. Why do you think this happens? We’re living in a fast lane. If you think you’re on to something then there’s already a new group who think the exact the opposite. That’s the tragedy of being young. When you’re part of a youth culture you think you’re a king, but you will fastly realize other kings are waiting to take your throne. If you think you’re unique and you see there are 7 million other people doing just the same, you strive for something else or you go totally normcore. And now we have a whole additional layer of gender on top, which is very political. You can see it in for example skinhead culture. It’s a very tough look, but now that ultra macho masculine thing can be combined with a dress. A lot of interesting things are happening with gender, some people even strive to be gender-neutral. And they all have their own sets of behavior and rules. In Amsterdam androgyny will have another look then in London. The thing about this time is that we have a huge generalisation, you can be aware of everything through the internet, but this also results in very diversified upcoming micro-communities instead of oldschool subcultures. Well, your last Exactitudes series are from 2014 though, are you working on a new one? Not really, we are more in a reflective mode.


What about punk? Punk never dies. These times don’t really feel like punk though. It’s a whole different era now. I always think it’s so fascinating that kids look back with nostalgia to what other generations did. Punk, however, was so strong in appearances that it’s very logical that new generations continue to play with it, and that’s what’s happening. If you’re sensitive to style and youth culture and all those aspects, you now have an enormous map of fashion theories. That was not the case years ago, you just bought your i-D magazine at the kiosk and that was it. Now, you can trace back all the codes of every youth culture there ever was. Those codes are being decoded, altered, cut and reassembled into a new language now. That’s the punk of today. It can have the appearance but is completely different. It might be more substantive than appearance. Yeah there is certainly a kind of intellectual layer. Punk never dies indeed. But it was very intense. When I first saw punk in London, I think I was 18 or 19, it scared the hell out of me. Were you punk? Half a year after. With a mohawk? Yeah everything, I went to the Sex Pistols in Paradiso and I was sold. Destroy everything, moshpits, it really was a revolution, I didn’t give a shit, spraying graffiti everywhere, lovely. No future. This generation might not be so radical. Our generation doesn’t really go against the grain; we post things on Facebook and share, but not in real time. We don’t agree with a lot of things but at the same time we don’t have riots. True, but you should change your perspective; you speak from the perspective of a white “privileged” girl. That’s becoming a problem because what’s really happening in the Paris banlieues, radicalisation or anything to do with radical islam is really something different. You can see a lot of cross-cultural shifts, for example in fashion. We are poorly informed of all those codes in terms of clothing. You can tell whether an African woman is Muslim or not, or whether she comes from a Parisian or Brussels enclave by what bag she’s wearing. In Berlin this is very much ignored, these cross-pollinations of subcultures. Clothes work as a wonderful indicator and as a language. It’s the ‘coolness’ of the muslim guy in streets that we respect him. The fact that the lengths for guys go over the knees as long as a djellaba, those are the centimeters of importance in fashion. That’s what fashion has always been about but it has changed to the guy. There’s more of a revolution in men’s fashion in where you can notice cultural transition. Women have gone from midi to maxi to mini and now you can walk around in your naked butt. Not on Instagram though. The guidelines of Instagram work as a new kind of Bible. They prohibit to express yourselves. What is it with Instagram, do they have some sort of holy jury? So don’t hide behind your fucking Instagram but use your tits as machine-guns, as Lydia Lunch said. Freedom is very relative.

Keep up with Ari’s work at www.ariversluis.com

50



V o y a g e Welcome to KALTBLUT´s new rubric “Voyage, Voyage“. From now on, we will take you with us on trips around the world. Let’s start with one of the most beautiful countries in the world: Portugal. For a few years I have been traveling to Portugal for ModaLisboa, the fashion event in the South of Europe. Every time I’m there I go on a little trip through the country. And I lost my heart in Portugal. What I like the most about Portugal is the rich history. I mean, what would the world be without the brave men of Portugal who travelled around the world, 4-5 hundred years ago? Let´s face it, Europe would look different

History

Portugal became its own kingdom in 1139 but was not officially recognized until 1143. The border with Spain has been almost the same since the 13th century. Fishing and trade with other countries are important here. Portugal was important in world exploration for two reasons. Henry the Navigator, a prince from Portugal, was very interested in exploration. Inventions in navigation led to a bigger knowledge of geography. This world exploration began the Portuguese Empire. Portugal was a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries. However, it lost a lot of money soon after this. The city of Lisbon was destroyed in an earthquake in 1755. The country was occupied during the

Napoleonic Wars. It lost its largest colony, Brazil, in 1822. In 1910, Portugal became a Republic, and in 1926, a military group took control of the country from the Portuguese 1st Republic. This began a time of rule by fascist governments that

52

nowadays without these people. Portugal has been named many times as the poorest region of Europe, and yes, maybe there is some truth in it, but for me Portugal is just pure magic. The nature wows me everytime. The beach and the coast, the mountains. The food. Art and fashion. But most of all, Portugal is rich of the most lovable people with a big heart. The people there are proud, strong, sexy and always with a big smile on their face! Portugal is a forgotten kingdom. And now, where Autumn has just arrived here in Europe, you should book a trip to places like Lisbon, Porto or the Alentejo Region.

lasted until 1974. That year, a peaceful left-wing army coup, called the Carnation Revolution, happened. The coup changed how the country was run. Portugal went into the European Union in 1986. The capital and largest city is Lisbon.

Lisbon

Lisbon is the hub of a multifaceted area that appeals to different tastes and senses. In a city that has been influenced by many different far-off cultures over time, there is still a village feel in each historic

neighbourhood. Stroll through the Pombaline grid of streets in the Baixa district that opens on to the Tagus in Praça do Comércio, then follow the river to discover some of the city’s most beautiful parts: the monumental area of Belém with its World Heritage monuments, the mediaeval quarters and the latest contemporary leisure spaces, such as the Parque das Nações. If you continue to the mouth of the river, you’ll understand why they say that Lisbon is the centre of a vast resort. Along the coastal road you’ll find beaches and beach resorts that combine villas and hotels from the beginning of the 20th century with marinas, terraces and excellent golf courses. Further along the coast you’ll come across world-renowned surfing


V o y a g e beaches, but also the palaces scattered across the cultural landscape of Sintra, a World Heritage Site. The wide variety of landscapes and heritage is always close by, whether to the north or south of the capital. With beaches, natural parks, cultural routes and accommodation for all tastes, it is hard to escape the Lisbon region on a visit to Portugal.

Porto and the North

It was in the Porto and in the North regions that Portugal was founded in the 12th century and the Portuguese became a people and a nation. Porto, a World Heritage city, is the gateway and departure point for a journey across the natural and cultural diversity of the region. It is known for the Port wine which is shipped from here all over the world, but also for a heritage which combines ancient churches and monuments, such as the Cathedral and the Church of São Francisco, and modern buildings, such as Casa da Música and the Serralves Museum. And also for its School of Architecture which bred

Favorite spots in Lisbon

1. A Vida Portuguese Store. An amazing store with vintage and 1950´s Portugues products. An eclectic store that holds only Portuguese brands and products for the home; from hand-made olive oil soaps to home decor, shoes, pantry, pastry, vintage posters. 2. São Pedro de Alcantara Terrace. At this spot you have the most amazing view over Lisbon. Sit down, have a coffee and just enjoy Portugal pure.

names like Álvaro Siza Vieira and Eduardo Souto de Moura, both winners of the Pritzker Prize. The region is crossed by the River Douro which enters Portugal between the ravines and mountains of the interior to flow through the entire World Heritage landscape where the Port and Douro wines are produced. It is from here that the wine is sent to the lodges at Vila Nova de Gaia, as the cruises touring the region make their way upriver. In this area of mountains and natural parks, the region’s heritage is seen in its castles, such as the one in Guimarães, and the shrines and churches which are the stage for pilgrimages in the summer. You will find the Baroque architecture of Northern Portugal in its stone and gilded carvings side by side with rural chapels. In its cities, which retain a human scale, such as Viana do Castelo, Braga, Lamego, Chaves and Vila Real, and in the manor houses and stately halls, you will find the genuine Portuguese people, who like to share their table, their customs and traditions.

Alentejo Region

Favorite spots in Porto 1. One of the must-see buildings is the Casa da Música concert hall built by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas with Office for Metropolitan Architecture as part of Porto’s project for the European Capital of Culture in 2001, and functions as Porto’s landmark since finished four years late in 2005 and with costs of 100 Million Euros well spent. 2. The Lello Library best known for being the interior inspiration for the Harry Potter movies. This is a must go place for all book lovers.

The vastness of the landscape is dotted with cork oaks and olive trees that withstand time. Santarém is a natural viewpoint over the immensity of the Tagus. Here and there, you find a walled town, such as Marvão or Monsaraz, or an ancient dolmen to recall the magic of the place. Around the hills, low, whitewashed houses stand on small knolls, castles evoke battles and conquests and the yards and gardens are witness to the Arab influences which shaped the people and nature. In the Alentejo the power of the land marks the time and cities like Elvas and Évora, listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, show the tenacity of the people. Perhaps this is the reason that culture and spirituality take on a singular character here. These memories of the past are also shared by other cities, such as Santarém, Portalegre and Beja, and in the former Jewish quarters, particularly in Castelo de Vide. The flat land makes hiking and cycling easy, though horses are also part of the landscape. You can combine these rides with birdwatching and, in dams such as Alqueva, with the tranquillity of the waters or stargazing. But you must also explore the coast. The landscape here is hilly and rugged, with small sheltered coves between


V o y a g e would become less important, and the performers became merely singers (fadistas). Maria Severa Fado-Singer (1820-1846) The 19th century’s most renowned fadista was Maria Severa. More recently Amália Rodrigues, known as the “Rainha do Fado” (“Queen of Fado”) was most influential in popularizing Fado worldwide. Fado performances today may be accompanied by a string quartet or a full orchestra. If you have the chance to visit a Fado concert on your trip: GO!! I’m sure you will be blown away.

the cliffs, many of which are ideal for surfing. You will also breathe the scents of the countryside here, the aromatic herbs that season the fish, seafood and other regional fare to be accompanied by the region’s excellent wines.

Food

I lost my heart in Portugal, and not only because of the warm welcome from the people there, the food is just amazing. If you ever go to Portugal, you need to eat fish or one of the typical sweets. Portugal is a seafaring nation with a well-developed fishing industry and this is reflected in the amount of fish and seafood eaten. The country has Europe’s highest fish consumption per capita and is among the top four in the world for this indicator. Fish is served grilled, boiled (including poached and simmered),

fried or deep-fried, stewed (often in clay pot cooking) or even roasted. Foremost, amongst these is bacalhau (cod), which is the type of fish most consumed in Portugal. Love it! Have you ever eaten a Pastéis de Nata? No?? Oh you should! Many of the country’s typical pastries were created in the monasteries during the Middle Ages, by nuns and monks, then sold as a means of supplementing their income.

54 Fado

This kind of music is pure magic, full of soul and pain but also hope. Fado appeared during the early 19th century in Lisbon, and is believed to have its origins in the port districts like Alfama, Mouraria and Bairro Alto. There are many theories about the origin of Fado. Some trace its origins or influences to “cantigas de amigo” (friends songs) and possibly

Where to sleep?

Every time I’m in Portugal I sleep in the most beautiful places. If you go on a trip there you should sleep at least one night in a Pousadas de Portugal. The Pousadas of Portugal had their origin in the 40’s, when

ancient Moorish influence, but none conclusive. Fado typically employs the Dorian mode (natural minor scale), Ionian mode (natural major), sometimes switching between the two during a melody or verse change, more recently the Phrygian mode (common in Middle Eastern and Flamenco music), which is not considered a traditional feature of this genre. A particular stylistic trait of Fado is the use of rubato, where the music pauses at the end of a phrase and the singer holds the note for dramatic effect. The music uses double time rhythm and triple time (waltz style). Fado performers in the middle of the 19th century were mainly from urban working class and sailors, who not only sang, but also danced and beat the fado. During the second half of the 19th century, the African rhythms

the first Regional Pousadas were built to provide visitors with board and accommodation, in keeping with the style and traditions of each region. In the 50’s, a new concept of Pousada were created; The Historic Pousadas are located in carefully restored monuments. Pousadas are a visitors option with a uniqueness that keeps the flame of Portuguese hospitality alight. Situated in castles, monasteries, fortresses and places of special natural beauty from the North to the South and in the islands, the Pousadas of Portugal are real treasures of our History. Pousadas of Portugal have kept alive the original objectives of a unique cultural experience through the respect shown in the restoration of their national architectural heritage adapted to modern demands of comfort and well-being. Places that offer a fascinating journey through the Portuguese culture as well as traditions and art. In the Pousadas there is always a story or a secret to tell, a legend or a tradition to recount. Text by Marcel Schlutt Photos by Marcel Schlutt & Mike Van Der Ent Pasarella


NICE STUFF

nd Backpack Cole Haan Brown Wayla

The new Sony a7S II Camera

Toni & Guy Hairproducts - Glamour Collection

Raumfeld Stereo L WiFi tower speakers

Things that make s Boot s y Hi k d c u a N e J nited by U

Bec ky Sun gla sse sb yM onk i

BLK DNM Cam el C oat for

ygoou

MÜHLE - Razor set

mmmmm will suck. Must have items and without them you Selected by Marcel Schlutt

J.F Schwarzlose Perfume

nes attan rs Pl eadpho a e n Urba ireless H W ADV-

Veja Esplar Low Leather Copper

irls r for g aux Fu F h c t Pa Coat in ASOS

Ni ke Ai rM ax 90 LT HR

nie Levi´s Bea

Nike air Max 90 Ultra Essential

boy s


DELUXE Branden Top by Our Legacy Necklaces by Pyrrha Bracelets by Tateossian

Larissa Top by Ji Cheng Dress by Mini Tran Necklace by Pebble Rings by Gemporia

56

Photography Karl Slater Styling Bo Yeon Makeup Isabell Boettcher Hair Kristopher Smith Models are Larissa Goldner @Nevs Models & Branden Kennedy @Select Models Special Thanks to Orestes Economou & Portia Shaw from Pop PR


Top by Gina Bacconi Jewellery by Pebble


Suit by Richard Anderson Savile Row Shirt by HunterGather Cross necklace by Pebble Necklace by Pyrrha Midi ring by Ekria All Jewellery by Pebble

58


Branden Sleeveless Jacket by HunterGather Trouser by Wood Wood Chain by Culietta Larissa Top by Jean pierre Braganza Skirt by Manish Arora Gold Pendant by Ekria All jewellery by Pebble


Larissa Dress by Mini Tran Jacket by Ji Cheng Necklaces by Pebble Rings by Gemporia, Joubi, Ekria


Larissa Top by Manish Arora Trouser by Georgia Hardinge Mask by Manish Arora Rings by Pebble

Branden Top by Avorio Trouser by Broken Fab


Photography by Suzana Holtgrave Interview by Nicola Phillips Production by Marcel Schlutt + Nico Sutor Styling by Anita Krizanovic Hair and make up by Timo Bloom Set Assistant Vivian Mรถnch Body by DSTM

62

INTERVIEW


Peaches BLOODY HELL! Leather mask by Marina Hoermanseder Body by DSTM

For almost two decades Peaches has deservedly earned the title of Queen of electroclash. Brushing away stereotypes, gender norms and presenting her own philosophy, whether it be in an Abe Lincoln hat with matching beard, sequined hot pants, golden jumpsuit topped off with a dildo, or a dress adorned with several dozen breasts, performance artist and musician Merrill Nisker worked on new album ‘Rub’ with Vice cooler, follow up to 2009’s ‘I Feel Cream’, with a last minute appearance at YOSISSY! Festival, Berlin this year before her extensive ‘Rub’ tour. As the cover star of our new ‘Rough It Up’ collection we couldn’t think of a more fitting spokesperson to express freedom of expression, having your own agenda, and being proud of being whoever the fuck you want to be.


You’ve been living in Berlin for years now, what persuaded you to move in the first place? I was travelling around Europe and Berlin seemed like a cool place, it had some really weird underground places. I went to one place, which is now a Pan Asian food spot, and there was just people doing kind of, whatever they wanted in this space, and they let me perform there, and I dunno, it just seemed like a place that was open and it had a lot of potential where I could enjoy myself. Do you think it still has potential now? Hell yeah! Way more. You can still find crazy shit and do whatever you want. People complain, but they shouldn’t because there’s way worse cities you could be in. There’s things you can do here that you can’t anywhere else. Even some of the clubs. I recently went to a night at Kit-Cat Club, it’s incredible. Even for the sheer fact that they’ll let you drink out of a glass by a pool! You can’t do that anywhere else, nevermind have sex and do whatever you want, wherever you want. Or you know, act any way that you want. Even in L.A. you can’t swim in the pool without a shirt on, or naked, you have to have the proper bathing suit on or they’ll kick you out. No glassware, no running. It’s just the tolerance here, there’s no hysteria, it’s like if something happens then we’ll work on it. It’s not like, “Oh my god! Somebody’s in the pool naked!”. You know? I remember that night, some guy was just riding his bike and fell off. No one was like, “have you got insurance?”. Five people just got him back up and sent him on his way. People just want to live. Let’s not call the police on each other. Did you record the new album ‘Rub’ here in Berlin? No, in L.A. I’m living between there and Berlin. I’ve lived in Berlin for around 15 years now, but I bought a little house over in L.A. with a garage, and that’s where I recorded it. This album, like the last, doesn’t have any guitars in it, is there a reason for that? We did try some guitar, it just didn’t work. There was actually this really good song that I did with Nick Zinner together, and it wasn’t actually that we didn’t love it, but Adult Swim they do the Summer Singles so we were like, okay maybe we can work on that song, so we did and it ended up being really good. So that’s got a lot of guitars in it, but it’s not on the album. Could you tell me a little about your book? There was a photographer, Holger Talinski, he was fresh out of photography school and just a skater kid, and just started getting into taking pictures at shows, and then more and more he asked if he could take a picture of me smoking a joint, a picture of me sleeping, a picture of me meeting my parents, you know, just pictures like that. So over four years we had a big collection and started editing them together, because I can’t you know, just let him do what he wanted to do, but I let him insert my aesthetic too which was important because I’m the subject of the book.

64

We had a very different aesthetic actually, because a lot of the pictures he took were not completely in focus, but I just thought that they captured something real and something raw. And he really liked the technical aspect, so it was really good to work together and I think we understood each other after laying tonnes of pictures on the living room floor, going over and over, “Why don’t you like this one?” he would ask. We never really fought but we definitely had different opinions. Were there thousands of photos? Yeah! There are still thousands, and sometimes now I’ll say “Hey, do you have that picture of me in that purple jacket?” or whatever it is, and then we’ll look at it and think, “Fuck, why

didn’t that picture going in the book?”. There’s just so many. I love how he’s captured every single concert you played and caught nearly every single moment on stage and behind it. Yeah and you know, beyond backstage, the duality of the human and the superhuman. Do you think you’d allow him to continue his work? Erm, I mean he has started to take a few more pictures of me. I think it’s nothing that you want to force. I read the part in your book about Yoko Ono on her 80th birthday, that must have been incredible! She came to Berlin with The Plastic Ono band to do a concert, and they asked me to pick my favourite Yoko song so that we could perform it. I thought that, you know, there would be other people asked to do this but I was the only one. That was really bizarre. And then she asked me to do the ‘Cut Piece’, which is almost 50 years old. She originally did it in 1965. It’s incredible because it’s a very, very strong piece that’s lasted a long time. You think it’s such a simple idea, but then if you’re involved in it, it’s incredibly powerful. Did Yoko approach you personally to do it? Yeah, she asked me to do it for Meltdown festival that she was curating. It’s funny because I’m so in your face and in control of everything, so this is the most vulnerable I’ve ever been on stage. I didn’t move at all, I didn’t talk at all. And I actually got a performance from the audience because people were coming up and approach me, some people would cut off parts of their clothes and offer it to me, people wanted to talk to me about stuff, people would be perverted and cut particular areas of my clothing away. And the audience would also respond to all of this happening too. Was this the first time that you’ve been involved in performance art in this way? I find what I do is very close to performance art, and I don’t get shy about it and I think that it’s important, but that’s the first time that I was still and quiet on stage. Did you ever think that you’d be this big of an influence? I never really thought about having a musical career. I just thought about combining music, like Riot Grrrl and electro, and making it this electronic rock force. This really strong, good repetitive force. I was just trying to experiment with all of these different things, and then it just seemed to be a gateway into the next 15 years of music. And attitudes too! And also when I was expressing, it was with not just sexuality. Basically my philosophy, or whatever you want to call it, is just to make sure people feel comfortable in their body, whatever body that is. Whatever combination of femininity or masculinity they have, without being bullied or feeling ashamed or feeling like they have to hide it. There’s so many things in our world, religion, sociological pathways in jobs and politics, that take us away from this. And this is the most important thing that we need to know, you just need to be yourself. I wanted to be myself, so that’s the way I like to express it. I like that you’ve expressed your philosophy in this entire rock opera of yours too. Yeah, ‘Peaches Does Herself ’. I actually, after high school, went to theatre school, I wanted to be a theatre director. I wanted to make cool musical, like The Who’s ‘Tommy’ or ‘Phantom of the Paradise’, ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’, the cool ones. And then I quickly got very disillusioned with theatre, it’s kind of always like a step back, and also working with so many people I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to focus on what I wanted to do, like getting the actor to do this, or getting the lighting correct.


“Basically my philosophy, or whatever you want to call it, is just to make sure people feel comfortable in their body, whatever body that is.�

Body by Marina Hoermanseder


So I quit. And then I found music, and I experimented and then I happened upon Peaches, where I continued for ten years and then a theatre asked me to do a production, which was really funny because I never thought about making a cool musical again. And then I was like, “Oh! There’s my cool musical!”, the sort of research of what I’ve done the past ten years during all of my performances and what I’ve said, my iconography. So it was quite exciting to do that. And who doesn’t want a cool musical? Would you do another musical, or performance type piece? I don’t know, I’m really enjoying making the videos for the album. I mean, I’ve made videos for every album, and my first album I made seven using Super8 so they were really like performance pieces. It’s really fun this time around because I have my own record company now, and it’s my own money, but it’s even more like there’s no infrastructure for where videos should take place. They’re just short films that you want to do. You can go as hardcore as you want. Do you have any ideas for your next videos? Yeah I’ve already done six for the new album. The girl in the video with the laser for a butt plug, that was Empress Stah.It was all her act and she asked me to write a song for it. I wrote the song and then I asked if I could make a video for it. Will all of your videos have a theme running through them? I’m trying to make them have some sort of connection, but there’s so many different ways of working. It’s even incredible that I’ll get them out before the album is released because the last album took two years for all the videos, so yeah. But the whole thing probably won’t be a cohesive movie or something.

Body by DSTM

Hollywood tends to be ageist towards women, do you think the music industry is similar? Fuck yeah! I think that Hollywood is fighting back in a really good way though. Like Meryl Streep has started a new foundation for women over 40 to screenwrite. So you know, things like that are really cool. And I think that now women who have power are doing really cool things with it, it’s getting better, but it’s still like a bit weird. This comedienne, she was like “Remember when Sally Field was Tom Hanks’ girlfriend and all of a sudden she was Tom Hanks’ mother?” You know like, the men get to stay young. Let’s say some young actor is in his 20s, then he’s 45 but the women are still in their 20s, it’s just like a weird standard that doesn’t make any sense. It perpetuates this image of women in this certain way. Have you gotten into Amy Schumer at all? She’s a really great comedienne and she did this one skit on her TV show called “The Last Fuckable Day”, with Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Patricia Arquette. Amy happens upon them while they’re all sitting down celebrating something, and she’s like “Wow, I love all ya’ll, what are you doing?” and Tina is like, “Oh well, we’re just celebrating Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Last Fuckable Day!” and of course, she asks what it is. “Oh you know, it’s the day where Hollywood tells you that you’re not fuckable anymore”. Julia is just sat there, looking all excited, saying how she’s going to stay home and knit, and she’s looking forward to it. Amy asks, “Does this happen to men?”, and they all just started laughing like she’s crazy. I relate a lot to female comediennes, especially the older ones. They’re kicking ass at the moment with their cutting humour.

66

Would you do another collaborative type project, like the one you did with The Flaming Lips? Yeah I mean I love doing side projects, like the Peaches Christ Superstar thing. It’s good. It keeps you going. I like doing other projects on the side because I can go back to what I was doing and enjoy it more. Out of all of your videos and tours, do you have a favourite outfit? I like a lot of outfits of mine. I really like the pink leather outfit, that’s got really big shoulders almost like teeth. Yeah, I really like that. I like walking on people wearing that. Do you wear it out occasionally? Yeah sometimes. But I try and get new outfits. What pisses you off? What pisses me off is just not feeling like I’m in the right space to do what I want to do. Keep up with peaches on www.peachesrocks.com



Bedtime Stories By Michelle Hèlena Janssen

KALTBLUT gets intimate! Introducing Bedroom Stories for the first time. KALTBLUT meets people on the street that captivate us and wants to get a little more personal, invading their personal space. We think your bedroom is your most vulnerable place, and that’s what makes it that much more interesting. Get to know young pioneers from different cities, starting in Amsterdam and Berlin. We’ll be documenting and exposing their secret bedroom stories for you.

Name Wout Dullaert Age 22 Zodiac sign Aries Lives in Rotterdam Zodiac sign traits Having Capricorn as ascendant makes me passionate, enterprising, energetic, ambitious and warm, but I’m also a smart-alec, bossy and highly aware of my strengths.

68

What inspires you? Pastis bottles, flora, foreign cigarette packaging, exceptionally good food and Warhol’s philosophy. Who would like to be if you could choose anyone else? Donna Summer, to witness the rise of disco at the labor of my own hands, such an inspiration for the world What’s the strangest thing that happened in your bedroom? Everyone dances naked in their room after showers, right? So I was doing my very own interpretation of some vogueing-ish dance, while my neighbor across the street was throwing a baby shower, so I had an audience of women overly exposed to hormones applauding me, that was fun. What’s your favorite spot in Berlin? To be completely honest, I’m not in Berlin often enough to decide on a favorite spot. However, my #1 spot in the world is the waterside at Le Bouveret in Switzerland, along the lake Geneva. Enclosed in the Alps, you feel like you’re in the 60’s because of all the white/yellow striped canopies and rich old people. No better place to pull out your speedos than there.


Name Esmay Age: 23 Zodiac sign: Pisces

NEW IN

Lives in: Amsterdam Zodiac sign traits Imaginative, intuitive, emotional, empathy, analytical, passionate, patient, dualistic, observing, escapist What inspires you? The human body Who would you like to be if you could choose anyone else? Julia Roberts What’s the strangest thing that happened in your bedroom? Having sex for an art project What’s your favorite spot in Berlin? My best friend’s house.

Name Thomas Age 26 Zodiac sign Pisces Lives in Hoorn Zodiac sign traits Actually I have close to zero characteristics of Pisces, but a lot of my ascendant Gemini: I’m a thinker and love to communicate and exchange ideas. I’m rational, but can be doubtful and have a hard time making choices. Also, some people might think I’m superficial, because I’m very social but don’t get too personal with people I barely know. What inspires you? Music & people. Who would like to be if you could choose anyone else? Jack Sparrow. What’s the strangest thing that happened in your bedroom? My cat. He’s a weird, funny little creature. What’s your favorite spot in Berlin? YAAM.


FASHION STORY

70

Jacket Japan Rags BLO H BRANDO Shirt EDWIN D.I.E Denim Shirt Pants Cross Jeans Taperd Blake Glasses Stylist own Watch G-Shock GA-110 NM-3AER


A Tough

GUY Photography by Bernhard Musil Model is Dominik Berberich @Modelfabrik Hair and make up by Timo Bloom Styling by Nico Sutor Production and Concept by Marcel Schlutt Location: Blogfabrik Berlin Special thanks to G-Shock


Sweatshirt BLK DNM Black Sweatshirt60 Knit Pullover Sopopular Pants BLK DNM Black Leather Pant 25 Watch G-Shock GA-110 NM-2AER

72


Pants BLK DNM Black Leather Pant 25 Shoes New Balance Watch G-Shock GA-110 NM-4AER


Overall Sopopular Jonathan Overall Watch G-Shock GA-110 NM-9AER

74


Refugees in film: a short overview

ESSAY

Text by Friedericke Suckert

It’s 2015 and every day thousands of refugees try to reach the supposedly safe Western Europe. Beneath all the artisans and doctors, a lot of artists want to live a better life. But how will this be possible? Beside the big amount of money, you need networks and friends, your aesthetics should work in a different cultural context or fill a new niche. Thinking about all those adversities it’s time to research all those historic exile artists, their influence and their failures. The biggest refugee crisis of modern times took place in 1933-1945. When Nazi Germany occupied Europe, a lot of Jewish, communist, LGBTIA*, Sinti and Roma and other people were forced to flee where ever they could get a visa to. It’s no secret how much German filmmakers influenced Hollywood. One of the most important ones is Marlene Dietrich, who emigrated in 1930 for the „Blue Angel“ by Josef von Sternberg. (Fun Fact: Hitler’s first camera lady Leni Riefenstahl also having been one of his favorite girls for this part.) Dietrich became a legend and a super star, she supported the U.S. American troops during World War II and was treated like a traitress in Germany afterwards. She never returned, although she worked a lot in Europe. Marlene Dietrich is one big name for success, but no one really knows how many actresses and actors failed overseas. A lot of them were able to live because of the “European Film Fund”, established in 1938 for the support of pursued Jewish filmmakers. Times were still rough, especially for the technicians. The Union for Film Workers paid a lot of attention that their U.S. American members still got enough jobs. The USA in general and Hollywood in particular didn’t offer a warm welcome to all those refugees in pure need. A few were able to work in France in the beginning of the persecution. Max Ophüls and Richard Oswald for example, but as the occupation started they also had to leave. Fritz Lang, the director of “Metropolis” left Germany in panic, even though Goebbels loved his work. He was able to work in Hollywood, also shot Anti-Nazi-Movies. But still, too many artists died in German concentration camps. After the war, only a few of the expats returned to Germany and tried to process their hurting and dark experiences, like Peter Lorre and Fritz Kortner, but after six years of war and twelve of persecution, the Germans didn’t want to see anything about the past. They needed Operettes and comedy, no accusations of their own guilt. The big film organization in the Soviet Zone of Germany was called DEFA, a governmental institution. They didn’t hesitate and exhibited the crimes of the Nazi regime. “The murderers are among us” is the first drama, taking place at the bombed and destroyed Berlin, about the exconcentration camp prisoner Susanne and an exsoldier, who try to move past their experiences. Most of the movies in the new GDR were communist propaganda, but the rules became loose year after year. A lot of old novels and Grimm fairy tales were staged, they’re still legendary, * Lesbian, Gay, Bi Trans Inter and Asexuell

because of the beautiful and fond settings and the lovely story telling. Time goes by and a lot of young directors and actors/actresses grew up. “The Beatles” and the “Rolling Stones” changed everything, young people dreamed of Beat music and freedom. And they put their dreams on the big screen. “Spur der Steine/Track of the Stones” in 1966 was rated as “non-socialistic”, so the director Frank Beyer wasn’t allowed to work for the DEFA for ten years. The pressure on the artists grew bigger and bigger, spies decomposed the scene and so people started to flee. Especially those who protested against the expatriation of the singer and songwriter Wolf Biermann were forced to leave the country and the creative scene changed a lot. On the other side of the Wall, a lot of them needed to start a new career, because no one knew or waited for them. A few actors like Manfred Krug became TV stars, but most of them worked on tiny province stages. Katharina Thalbach, a former Brechtactress, celebrated big successes, but she was one in a million, a big talent. Armin Müller-Stahl and Ulrich Mühe also worked in Hollywood and Punk icon Nina Hagen was able to start a new life in the USA, those were the lucky exceptions. When the Wall came down, most of the expat film people were left in a grey zone: the East Germans could forgive them the betrayal, the West Germans still didn’t know them. So a lot of them were trapped in a kind of ‘Nostalgia’, did Cabaret and Boulevard. A functioning network kind of trapped in a certain circle of insiders. The prejudice started to fade and the East German drama schools grew popular again, well known for their intense and disciplined work with their protégées. Another big part of “Exile movies” are the Iranian directors, who have to face the conservative Islamic regime. The Iranian National Film Society was founded by Esmail Koushan and Farrok Ghaffari in 1949. Iranian movies aren’t like Hollywood or Bollywood movies: they’re not supposed to be a big office hit, they’re supposed to be alternative and aesthetic. Iran was an open minded society, a lot of young directors were trained in the 1970s. They travelled around the world, earned a lot of awards at big European Film Festivals and were loved for the unique Farsi beauty. That all ended with the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Ajatollah Chomeini’s soldiers burned down half of the theatres in the country, there was no minister for

film anymore and every kind of Western art was persecuted. In 1975 Iran produced 68 films, in 2005 there were 26.. Nowadays the movies that are allowed are big commercial hits, stories about the Great Islamic Revolution or flat romantic comedies. But the alternative filmmakers are very much active, there’s a big underground scene. Directors who are under house arrest make movies with their smart phones, put them on a USB and smuggle them to big Festivals like Cannes or Venezia. The last big success was “Taxi Teheran” by Jafar Panahi at the Berlinale 2015, where he won the Golden Bear. It’s about life nowadays, where he’s surrounded by spies and it’s hard to find a little niche where he can breathe. Iranian movies are often a simple observation of life itself. Also a lot of women are part of this underground scene. Their kind of story telling is very artistic and often kind of reflects the classic Persian culture. Like the work of Shirin Neshat. Most of Iranian don’t want to leave their country, even though they’re facing all these restrictions. The bond between them and their country is to thick. “You can’t make Iranian movies when you’re not in Iran.” The new generation of female directors like Marjane Satrapi (“Persepolis”) and Ana Lily Amirpour (“A girl walks home alone at night”), who grew up in Europe and USA combine their Oriental origins and Western experiences into a new and more plain style of Persian culture. European directors with foreign roots are also a big essential part of our culture! Fatih Akin, son of a Turkish foreign worker, is one of the best directors of our times. He shows the conflict between the Turkish roots and German society in a brutal way in “Gegen die Wand / Head-on”, but also the resulting subculture. The French-Algerian director and actor Kad Merad is a superstar of French comedy, exposing the French clichés. Culture Clash is a beloved and needed genre in European Film, the Brits are still the masters of it. Well... The conclusion is: Refugees welcome! Alignment is a basic ingredient of film making and storytelling. We always need the input of foreign cultures and someone who holds a mirror towards us. Unfortunately, a lot of young artists won’t be able to develop their creativity if they can’t find a network or welcoming surrounding. Let’s hope they do and great things will happen.


Esther Perbandt T h e

B e r l i n

Q u e e n

o f

G l a n d e r o u s

F a s h i o n

Interview, styling and photography by Marcel Schlutt, Models are Elizabeth Ehrlich and Jacob Jungenkrüger, All fashion and hat by Esther Perbandt, Accessoires by Perlensäue, Portrait Esther Perbandt by Birgit Kaulfuss

Esther Perbandt is the leading lady of Berlin fashion. She is one of the few Berliners who are born and raised in Berlin. Being part of the fashion circus for more then 10 years, her designs have been described many times as tough, snotty and elegant. And yes, that’s right. Her shows during the Berlin Fashion Week are always one of the highlights, and it was during this time that I had chat with the designer about her work, why people should stop talking negative about the fashion scene from our hometown, her time in France, what she thinks about blogging and dressing famous people. Hello Esther! Welcome to our KALTBLUT family. We’ve been big fans of your designs for a couple of years. Your aesthetic has been described many times as tough, snotty and elegant. How would you name your style? It is very hard for me to describe my work. I could find a hundred words to describe it, but not sure if this is enough. So even worse for me to give you three words (often asked in interviews). How could you squeeze a free minded work made for personalities between 30 and 65 into such a small box? Whatever three words I would choose, there are millions of people who feel not attracted by them. I don’t like that. Who builds a different drawer, fall into it himself. Let´s talk a bit later about your work. And let´s speak first about yourself. You were born and raised in Berlin, right? That makes you one of the few “real” Berliners. How was growing up in Berlin? And what was your childhood like? This is true love. I grew up in West Berlin, so literally on the island, how we used to say. When I went with my family to West Germany during holidays I always got the feeling of being something very special. People kept asking how it is to live on that island. And everybody seemed to know that in West Berlin all the cool people live or move to: The hippies, the conscientious objector, the rebels, the musicians.... I remember that it made me proud. Being a kid in West Berlin I never felt the borders, but I know that it was something else for my parents.

76

It´s now 26 years ago that the Berlin wall fell, do you remember what you did that day? I can remember every minute, sitting in front of the TV with my little brother in a city close to Berlin. I still have goosebumps. I don’t remember how I actually got the news, if I was told by my mother or from the radio. I came back from school and was supposed to have a drum set lesson that afternoon but I didn’t go. I didn’t even give notice to

my teacher. I thought there are more important things to do and see this afternoon. I just went straight away to the Brandenburger Tor and sat there on the barrier and looked down to the wall of police who still stood there irritated and didn’t know what to do. During the early 1990s, you must have been in your teenager years. I think it must have been an amazing time in Berlin. What did you do during those years? Have you been part of the techno music movement? Or how did you grow up during your teenager years? I was not that much part of the techno scene in Berlin. I played drums in a political singer songwriter band of which I, back then, didn’t even understood the lyrics myself. Most of the weekends I spent in our rehearsal cellar and hung out with the three guys of my band, half of them at least six years older than me. During Love Parade I was mainly working at a Bungee Jumping like thing called “Super Swing“. Three sixty metre high towers that were standing on Potsdamer Platz, where there was not one single building back then. You were hanging in a hang glider harness between two of the towers. Another wire pulled you up to the third tower, sixty metre high. With a release cord you could loosen yourself and fall into a super swing. I had to do show jumping and get the people ready or jump with them if people didn’t dare alone. You had all these crazy freaks from love parade there. It was a hell of a time! Despite that, I do somehow miss all these little illegal bars and clubs where you had to enter via a window. There was so much to discover. At what point in your early years did you recognize that fashion and design is something you love? I grew up without a television. My biggest fun was playing with a huge box of garments to dress up. My sister, Sarah, and I had this box since we were very little, I would say I was only 3 years old. There was one tank top (back then it was a dress for me) in bright yellow, blue, red and black block stripes. It was my favourite one and


INTERVIEW


78


I wanted to wear it all the time over years (no worries, I don’t remember that, but I was told). I still have this piece in my closet. It is somehow very important to me. When I look at it, I can still understand why I loved it so much. Maybe it is important to me because it was a first sign. We played with this box for a very long time, even as teenagers. I realized that I like to play with identities. And apparently I kept on doing that. Do you remember the first piece you ever did? And what was it for? Yes, I made trousers out of an old millefleur printed cotton. But I couldn’t wear it, because I ignored the necessary pattern cut of the crotch. I was very frustrated. I think I was 9 or 10 years old. From that point on, how did your passion for fashion became an option for a lifetime job? How did you learn the basic skills like sewing etc? Were you self taught? I kept on trying things myself. And yes, I did garments for my Barbie dolls When I was about 12 years old I had two ideas of a profession: architect or costume designer. For becoming an architect I was told that I am too bad in mathematics, so I did a school internship with the costume designer at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz. I couldn’t even finish it because I became so ill as I was so shocked at how much a costume designer needs to work! I saw my life dream melting away. But then I decided to switch from costume to fashion (which was of course was a much better idea). During school I started doing classes in fashion illustration in my free time, and somehow tha’ts the story. The rest is known! You completed a European Master’s degree in Fashion and Textile Design and Post-Graduate study at the IFM – Institut Francais de la Mode in Paris, why Paris and not London or New York or Berlin? How was your time in France? I can only guess that it must have been an amazing time! To be honest, I think I was somehow guided. I don’t remember the moment, where I asked myself, “Hey Esther, where do you wanna go?”. The option was there and I took it. But I do get your point. If you see my work today you might think that this fits much better to New York or London. I remember that I wrote a message to my boyfriend who I left behind in Berlin, the moment when I arrived in Paris, “I love it, everywhere is music, the city, the subway and everybody looks so elegant.”

Paris and France was definitely the finishing of the raw diamond concerning style, elegance and femininity. I did learn so much in France, the beautiful language of course, moreover a lot about myself. But I would not call it amazing all of the time! They have been very tough years, the school in Paris has a very high level and demand, the apartment was a shithole, I had no money for going out. I stressed myself so much that I got very ill and more and more I lost the capability of seeing colours and straight lines. After your studies you worked in the design team at Chacok in the South of France, how did this happen? And how important was that time for you to grow as a designer? After I finished IFM I had some job interviews in Paris. One was at Kenzo, I think it went well, but before they came back to me I had the offer from a designer friend to join him as a design assistant for Chacok. He also did IFM, but a year before me, and got hired as Head of Design. The third new hired person was a product manager from Kenzo. Chacok back then wanted to renovate the image of the brand which got old with their customers and we were chosen to fly down there and rock da house. It was a 24/7 job. Difficult to enter, like a virus a company which has been guided by somehow family and friends since the 70s. My friend got fired after one season, there was no new Head of Design, so I had all of the sudden the full responsibility over the design for one season. But the company didn’t communicate that and didn’t allow me to go on the catwalk after the show in Paris. Still I am doubting if I would have the balls to do my own business without that experience. Cote d’Azur is not a place for young people. Only work, no friends, no family, but a high cellphone invoice caused by my homesickness. I would still and always say, “Je ne regrete rien!” You founded your own fashion label back in Berlin during 2004, what made you come back? Why did you not start your own business in France? After my time in France I definitely needed some time to recover and came back to Berlin to recharge my batteries. My plan was actually to go back to Paris and apply for jobs over there, I never had in mind to start my own business. That was in spring 2003. Running around Berlin I felt the dynamic in the fashion scene which got bigger during that time: It was the first


or second season of Bread and Butter and Premium and there was definitely something in the air. Moreover, I was fed up with homesickness and decided to stay. Despite the dynamic and the scent in the air there was no job to find. So luckily, with the biggest portion of naivety which you can find on this planet, I started the label Esther Perbandt. No business plan, no money, no idea, but a little funny collection which was back then still crazily colourful. Starting a new brand is a lot of work; sleepless nights and lots of power is needed. How did it work out for you in the beginning? Did you got any support from family, friends and business people? I didn’t know any business people, but I did have a lot of support by friends and family. Not in a financial way, but psychologically and manpower wise. My mother always supported me in my creative ideas. My stepfather was not at all happy about my decision. He probably guessed that I would have 15 very hard years in front of me. Luckily I didn’t know that. Was there ever a point where you questioned yourself? Did you always think that you were doing the right thing? And if so, how do you deal with those things in your mind? Oh yes, my atelier always had and has a nick name, ‘Palace of Tears’. I was questioning it a lot, I was desperate, I was left without any power, but I always thought, “What else can I do? I have to do this, and I will fight for it and one day it will work out.” Friends did ask, “how can you still sleep at night?” Luckily I do sleep like a stone, whatever happens. Probably it’s what helps me surviving, lots of sleep!

80

As I mentioned before, your design has been labeled with many names like tough, elegant, avantgarde and so on. How much of Berlin is part of your fashion vision? And what makes Berlin the perfect place for your inspiration? Berlin is my root, so it is definitely part of it. I was born here, I have experienced important historic moments here and the feeling that Berlin is something special hasn’t left me yet, although of course it has changed a lot, and not only in a good way. But I guess that it is rather the root, which is delivering me the juice for inspiration, than the actual physical presence here. Let´s talk about your AW1516 collection. The collection is named “I believe in miracles”. What do you want to tell us with that name? What was the inspiration for this collection? This sentence is a very important one for me. I do believe in miracles. They do happen. Otherwise I could not explain why I and my label are still on the market. There are a lot of people who do believe in me, who trust me, who push me forward. This is also miracle like and I am more than grateful fort that. Besides the collection was dedicated to the seven million analphabeths in Germany. Reading a book makes me feel alive, and it’s hard to imagine that so many people are not able


to share this pleasure. From that background I had the idea with the black catwalk and the models walking with long wooden sticks with attached chalk at the end. While pulling these sticks behind them, they left lines and marks on the catwalk and somehow write. With this show I supported the charitable association, ‘Kopf Hand und Fuss’, which is developing the first app for analphbets. When you start to work on a new collection, how does it begin? What do your work days look like during this process? Oh this is really unromantic. There is not a fixed time when to start. I mean there should be one, but as there is always so much to do parallel, this date is being pushed again and again. Often a new collection starts with a title. I am very easily hooked by words. Then this title gives me the overall atmosphere for the collection. But you have to imagine that rather like a new chapter in a diary. You don’t really see later what you read. Then I continue first with styles and details, but in general it is always an Esther Perbandt collection and I am not reinventing the wheel. Even during the last weeks before finishing a collection I am mainly sitting in front of the computer all day long and doing daily business.

You do menswear and also womenswear, who is easier to please with fashion? The boys or the girls? The guys are the severe critics but the more challenging ones. Unfortunately a lot of women spend a lot of money for garments no matter how they are made or produced. Most important fact: they feel sexy in it. Luckily, I don’t deal that much with those species, as my garments are rarely sexy by themselves. The piece becomes sexy by the woman who is wearing it and who is making is curious to discover what is underneath. For the AW collection, can you tell us with what kind of material you worked with? And where do you find your garments and material? I always work mainly with natural material: wool, cotton, viscose, silk or newer fibres like hemp, milk, bamboo. I try to get them mainly from Italy or France as I try to produce my products as much as my business allows it in a sustainable way. Unfortunately I can’t control where my suppliers always get their fabrics from. I find my material on fabric fairs with suppliers I have worked with for a long time already. You unveiled this collection during Berlin Fashion Week at the famous tent, but I also know the year before you showed your collection at Volksbühne with an amazing show. We all know that there is a lot of bad talking about the Berlin Fashion Week, what do you think about the local fashion festival? And how important is it for you as a designer to show there? I am fed up with people talking negative about Berlin. They should shut up because they are


killing our energy. People shouldn’t be surprised if one day there are no designers left in Berlin. There are still a large amount of designers who work their arse off to keep up the image of the free creative city Berlin. They make great presentations and shows, small concepts, big concepts in great offsite locations or even like I did, try to change the boring band-conveyor handling in the tent. I had my very first bad critic from the Tagesspiegel last fashion week. They apparently send someone to watch fashion and fashion events who doesn’t like fashion and has no spirit of creativity. It was quite interesting for me to deal with that critic as it was the first one I’ve had in my career so far. Of course it did hurt, but this person didn’t leave one good comment on any of the designers. I really ask myself what his intention was. To eliminate Berlin of designers? No problem, he is heading the right way. I am also fed up with discussions about Berlin becoming the new fashion metropolis. I wish Berlin more self confidence, it’s a great city with a lot of potential. I recently saw a film about the crazy free minded art projects in the 90s in Berlin. There is still a little bit left of it, but not much. In our permanent ambition to become like someone else, like another city, like another fashion metropolis, we risk to lose the very last part of it. Do you think German designers get enough support from the Government? Or German magazines? When I look to London or France there is so much support for fashion, but I have the feeling, here in Germany, no one cares. Even the German Fashion Council founded by Christiane Arp is a joke. The same old people are part of it. The same designers get pushed. I am kind of bored of this.. There are a few projects and support from the government, for sure it might not be comparable with London or Paris, but it would be unfair to say that there is nothing. Some years ago we were complaining that the government support cake is divided into far too many tiny cake pieces which only helps designers to survive one more week. I was always asking to shape bigger cake pieces in order to build up a few designers which will one day become big and carry the figurehead of Berlin. And to decide which ones that should be, was not in my hands. We all have our favourite ones, no matter what, and probably it’s something very human to act according to that. I’ve had hundreds of interns by now and there were ones I really loved, there were ones I did like a lot

and there were ones who I liked less. I can’t avoid it. Of course for an organization like that one, I do wish a bit more of objectivity. But once again, a cage full of humans. There are two options, you can either accept that or waste time and energy complaining about it. I don’t think that you change a single thing with screaming loudly, at least this is not my method. If you are not in the chosen inner circle, you just carry on being diligent and find other people to support you.

My nickname is ‘Granny’ not because of my age, but because I am somehow a very old fashioned person.

Let´s talk about the bloggers on Facebook and Instagram. My point is that social media and bloggers are killing quality. I even think that some designers are just designing for a photo on Instagram and not for customers. What are your thoughts about it? How close do you work with bloggers and how important are they for a designer nowadays? I totally understand your opinion and I did / do have the same in general. I empasise in general, because my opinion is changing or has to change. There are millions of blogs which have basically no quality at all, but there are also quite a lot which do help the designers. My nickname is ‘Granny’, not because of my age, but because I am somehow a very old fashioned person. I would describe myself as someone who needs a long time to follow quick changes in technologies and trends. I love gentlemen and good behaviour in a funny way I like the ‘Knigge’ book and I stick to good and old values. I was resenting blogs and blog requests for quite a long time, because I just didn’t want to understand it. I am now slowly getting myself into it, just because I see how important it gets. I don’t work closely with any bloggers but I could imagine to build up an inspiring cooperation with someone who has the same approach. Can you name 3 MUST HAVE items for the autumn/winter season for each fashion lover? Oh I am sorry, I definitely can not. First of all I do not care that much about trends. I hardly check them myself. This is a way of rescuing me from getting insecure about my own way of thinking and my work and also rescuing me from copying. Most creative people are very sensitive and open-cell like. They get easily hooked by beautiful things, words, atmospheres. Sometimes without realising it you soak something like a sponge, you digest it and you make it to something else or sometimes something very similar. But second and maybe more important, I don’t want to tell someone what to wear. We are not living in a dictatorship. I am more than happy if I hit the taste of various people with my designs. But what a sad term actually this is: A must have! I know that many actors and musicians are wearing your designs. Is there any famous person you would love to design for? And if so, why that person? I get quite a lot of requests from talent agencies, asking if I would like to dress one of their clients. I rarely agree as most of the time it is a person in an agency who believes that this might fit. But in the end those people just look dressed up and personality and the garments don’t melt into each other. You can right away tell, that they would never wear something like that in their free time. I would like those people like musicians and actors or whoever to discover my style themselves. Then it becomes an authentic story for both. I know that this is the much longer way to get publicity but I do prefer it that way. To answer your question, of course I do dream of some great personalities and I am sure our ways will cross one day. Esther, thank you very much for your time and the interview. We can not wait to follow you on your journey in the fashion world. Where do you see yourself and your brand in 2030? Oh wow, well I can’t avoid dreaming sometimes of myself in 2030 laying in my garden of my little house in the south of France (which I am dreaming of owning then) and writing a book. But let’s be honest, I would be bored after two weeks latest. Having my own brand is my life, my dream, my baby. I will still be there, bigger, stronger, wiser. And the brand will have more products, more sales points, more concepts, more fantastic big projects with inspiring people. I am so much looking forward to it.




Archie Fitzgerald When we discovered Archie Fitzgerald’s work for the first time we were obsessing within minutes. From England, to Berlin to Melbourne, this is an artist whose work is so mindblowingly fucked up it gets you really hooked. The inspiration behind it partly explains that: serial killers, paedophiles, rapists, internet freaks, anything wrong in people’s heads. Read on about what’s happening in the head of one of the greatest illustrators of all time! Do you remember the first thing you ever draw and liked? What was it? When I was in primary school I would draw ‘cool dude’ characters over and over again. They would all have like adidas t shirts and sunglasses and a beard and hat like Ali G. Not sure why I liked drawing them so much, I didn’t dress like that at all. Then I got into bands like Less Than Jake and NOFX and would copy their CD covers and stuff.

16/17 would definitely be Ralph Steadman and Basquiat. I got really into Henrik Drescher’s work later on and other illustrators like that but now I don’t take much influence from other drawers/illustrators. Visual stuff that inspires my work these days is more like 60s/70s magazine/book covers and graphic design like Tadanori Yokoo, Asian art, 70s sci-fi art, surrealist stuff and weird disturbing internet things I find.

How did you decide on becoming an illustrator eventually? I would never say that I’ve decided to be an illustrator and I wouldn’t even say I’m an illustrator. I did study illustration and most of my work is drawn but it’s not illustrating anything apart from my own ideas, apart from the occasion when I draw something for someone else. I’m not great at making 3D stuff and don’t enjoy it that much and I find painting a bit annoying so drawing with pen and ink is what works for me.

Your work is very bold. Did this ever cause you any trouble? Not as of yet. I think it’s so fictional and surreal looking that people don’t take the disgusting sex and stuff too seriously.

How do you come up with the stories you illustrate to? Where do you get inspiration from? I come up with them in my head but I do take influence from various things. It depends what I’m into at the time, at the moment I’m quite into the deep web and weird stuff that goes on through the internet and the people that inhabit it. Paedophiles, stalkers, drug dealers, cam girls, and people addicted to the internet who never leave the house like hardcore gamers and porn addicts. Other stuff I get inspiration from is weird people like serial killers and rapists and also books and films and stuff in my own life… In terms of drawing, what are your major influences? Two big people that influenced me a lot especially when I was around

Are there any other forms of art that you would be interested in experimenting with? Yeah for sure, at the moment my other main project I’ve been working on is music. I have a cheap midi keyboard and logic and I’ve been making weird music and writing songs and stories to go with them that I want to perform when they’re ready. The stories and subject matter is very similar to my drawings so I’m a bit worried that when people hear some of the fucked up stuff coming from my mouth they might take offence but I’ll have to wait and see. Also with my drawings I want to incorporate installation to add more to the experience when I exhibit so that is something I’m going to be working on soon. What’s the most annoying thing someone can say about your work and why? That it’s funny. Sometimes people have seen my work somewhere and think it’s hilarious and that’s annoying! I guess the reason why is because I don’t think it’s funny and there’s nothing about it that’s meant to be funny.

Interview by Emma E K Jones & Amanda M Jansson


86



Have you ever exhibited your work? How did it feel? Yeah I’ve done exhibited in Bristol a few times and Berlin a bunch of times. I love it it’s great, one of the most satisfying moments when you’ve been making work is when people come and enjoy it.

What are you currently working on? An exhibition perhaps? Yeah well I’m currently working on a few things. The first thing is the music I mentioned earlier, I want to record some of it soon and work on being ready to do some stuff live. I have a screen printed

zine which is going to be coming out around September published by Culture Commune and I’m working on a zine that will be published by Re:Surgo. And yeah I’m trying to get an exhibition in Melbourne so been writing some proposals and things for an exhibition I really want to do. Keep up with Archie’s work at www.archiefitzgerald.com

88



Some Lik Top: Oasis Trousers: Oasis Leathertop: Oasis Jacket: Meindl Necklace: By Malene

90

Maya M Lucio Anita Krizanovic (@ Pearlmanagement)


ke It HOt Birger

Earrings: By Malene Birger Braclet: lolaandgrace Shoes: Kennel & Schmenger

Aru & Franco Erre Patricia Piatke

(Photography)

(Production & Styling)

(Hair & Make Up)


Dress: Stills Blouse: Filippa K Cape: Asos Coat: Tiger Of Sweden Shoes: Bobby Kolade Ring: By Malene Birger Earrings: lolaandgrace Tights: Falke

92


Dress: By Malene Birger Skirt: Oasis Top: Augustin Teboul Cardigan: DOUUOD Vest: Joseph Bag: Dr Martens Shoes: Tommy Hilfiger Braclets: Coccinelle Earrings: lolaandgrace


94

Pullover: Filippa K Skirt, jacket & bag: Marina HĂśrmanseder Sunglasses: ChloĂŠ Earrings:


lolaandgrace

Tights: Falke


96

Dress: By Malene Birger Top: Augustin Teboul Cardigan: DOUUOD Vest: Joseph Bag: Dr Martens Earrings: lolaandgrace


Coat: Annie P Sunglasses: Salvatore Ferragamo


Pullover: By Malene Birger Skirt: By Malene Birger Top: Annie P Coat: Annie P Bag: Coccinelle

98


Necklace: Tommy Hilfiger Watch: Tommy Hilfiger


INTERVIEW

Prodromos

100


Emmanouilids Interview by Amanda M Jansson & Emma E K Jones

Prodromos Emmanouilids is an analogue photographer from Greece, who can capture anything he wants and always make it feel special and bear his signature. With an immense archive, he luckily continues snapping and is unstoppable when it comes to capturing the right moment. His photographs are rough, honest, unpretentious and still breathtakingly beautiful. How did you begin with your photography? I began photographing as a schoolboy on trips. My first film I shot at the age of 12. Since then I spent all my money in films capturing every special school and family event. What are your influences? What has shaped you as a photographer? I can’t really speak about my influences. I’m yet very confused. For sure my biggest influence is nature. Nature not only as countryside but like we often say “natural beauty” etc. Secondly, the civilized society we live in. What shaped me as a photographer? Suffering, pain, love, a huge amount of them changed me from a young person into a grown man, so as a photographer too, giving me the current form. How do your surroundings and daily routine affect you as an artist? I get inspired by them. I use them in my pictures. I use faces, people, landscapes, items, activities, ideas, everything my surrounding contains. Although sometimes I express only my feelings I still have to use my environment. How difficult or easy is it to shooting nude? I love capturing nude bodies. I love the skin. The only difficulty shooting someone nude is in making the model feel really comfortable in front of the lens. My aim is to make him look at my lens like gazing into my eyes. What is your working progress? How do you plan and go ahead with your projects? No specific working progress. I’m experimenting constantly. I try lots of stuff. My basic line of planning is go as natural as can be. This issue’s theme is rough it up. Did it ever get rough for you while shooting? Well, nothing ever got rough during any shooting, BUT there were moments where I got really rough and I captured myself in this situation, “bloody” moments. Would you describe yourself as a rough person? In which sense? I’m a very patient person and rarely lose my

patience. But when l’ve lost my temper I’m getting very rough. Also I prefer to consider myself rough in more personal moments such as in bed. What’s the best and worst you ever heard about your work? The worst thing I’ve ever heard about my photography is when I visited a friend holding my then new camera, a lubitel2, and he told me “What is this old thing around your neck? And tell me that you spent money just for taking old photographs?” On the other hand someone who I admire so much, once while looking at my pictures said “impressive… interesting how your vision develops as the years go by.” In your work you push boundaries. Is that so in your daily life as well? In my work just like in my personal life I feel free. I prefer to think that there are no boundaries. The only limit I put is human existence. I don’t like to push people against their will. “Our freedom ends, where another’s freedom begins.” Have you ever been caught or seen by anyone while shooting nude outdoors? What did you do or what would do? Luckily, I’ve never been caught while shooting nude outdoor. I’m always very careful and prepared, I ask for directions. When I choose a location it has to be familiar to me. I need to know if people are passing by or how often, what time I have to take the shoot. I remember once on a Greek holiday while I was returning home from work I was passing trough Greek Olympic facilities, a place where there is always lots of people but not on a Greek bank holiday. So it was my chance to take my nude self-portrait. My only problem was the security car passing every 5 minutes. I calculated everything, I set up all the rest and the right moment I took the shot. It took more than five minutes, I saw the car several times but I took my clothes off only once. Although I’ve been seen once or maybe more often while taking nude self-portraits, nothing bad happens, people changed their course and let me alone, that’s all!


r001-016

r001-012

r001-013

r001-001

r001-007-5

r001-006

r001-002

r001-003

102 r001-001 (2)


What do double exposures of yourself mean? What is your thought behind it? Well done! very interesting question. To be honest I’ve never thought of this. Double exposures? At first it was an experimental process. I really loved the aesthetics of the result. Reminded me of some kind of painting. Now, I believe it is the most interesting part of my work cause it does not provide all the information that clearly. Kind of mysterious. My double exposures don’t mean anything more special than others’. It’s a way of displaying more than one feeling of a person in one single frame. Also it’s turned into a way of exposing someone naked without his identity being recognized, this has made it a lot easier to find models to pose naked.

r004-013

r001-026

r001-008

r004-019 (3)

r001-032

r001-027

How do you look for models? Is it easy finding people to pose for you? All my models are people I know, they are friends, friends’ friends, lovers etc. When I meet a person and find it interesting in my way I always suggest him/her to pose for me. I present to him/her a part of my work to show and make him/her complete a picture of the potential result. Sometimes, it happens the other way round. People look at my work and ask me first if I want to take pictures of them. This gives me quite a pleasure. It’s so important to me when people like my work and ask to be part of it. It means trust! In general it’s not easy at all finding people to pose for me. Most people are hesitating to be exposed in nude. Greek society still is conservative with nudity, people believe if they get exposed this way it may cause them problems in their daily life. How does the political situation in Greece affect your work as an artist? Greece has been facing a big political and economical crisis in the past years. It is very difficult for most of people, as it is for me too. Things like finding a job, paying your bills, health insurance, even your food can be and are our daily problems. The hard part are politicians, everyone is disappointed in them over and over the past few years. The hopes are fading and struggling with your problems is getting harder and harder. When the state isn’t supportive, you lose your will to fight and this is what makes your daily struggles more difficult. So I think my work is an escape window from this hard situation in Greece. It makes me forget the difficulties and transfers me to another world, giving me a reason to continue fighting in the real one. That’s why while looking at my pictures you can see beautiful men, naked bodies, love, sex, children toys, sea, sky, beautiful sceneries. I prefer to capture anything that doesn’t remind me of my daily struggles. I am not thinking of my work as a political act, but more of a way to not be political. What are you working on at the moment? I’m thinking of starting to capture female figures. Lately, I spent most of my time with women, especially lesbians who became very good friends. I realized that these girls are really beautiful. A beauty reflected from the inner one. So I feel the need to capture that beauty! Stalk Podromos on www.in-public.tumblr.com


FUTURE UPwith JEFF MILLS Interview by Marianne Jacquet Photo by Yoko Uozumi

Jeff Mills is a visionary artist from Detroit born in 1963 and a legend of the electronic music scene. Together with Juan Atkins, Derrick Mau and Kevin Sanderson, he contributed to build what became Techno Music.

Following his creative instinct for more than 2 decades, Mills has explored the dimensions of sound far beyond the club culture. His career is an example of artistic freedom and ethics. It is hard not to mention his involvement with the collective, Underground Resistance, that set the techno music free from social discriminations and distributed the sound of Detroit all around the world. Since 1992, Jeff Mills is releasing his music, Cine-Mix and film productions on his label Axis records. Interview Opening track: Terry Riley by Africa Express Beside the incredible fascination of watching the artist in motion whilst creating, the Exhibitionist 2 has a strong didactic aspect, is it a desire to present Techno music as a more accessible medium to a larger public? Yes, exactly. My objective is to show the creative process from beginning to end and how everything is pulled together in the form that most people here it. The “track” or the “mix” I think by showing this will allow for a better understanding, and hopefully, a better appreciation of the art form and genre.

seriously, rather than always for entertainment. If we can all agree that we need music, then it’ll be around for as long as possible. Do you think that it is a duty to educate and communicate on a more intellectual level and to ennoble Techno music? Yes. I also believe that producer have a certain amount of responsibility to try and bring something new to their listeners. That, at some point in the course of their careers and work, an effort to go beyond what is expected should be normal. They should feel free to do that and not confined by the opinions of the public and media.

The diversity of your work, is close to a researcher, always out framing to another environment, your approach to music is almost anthropological. Have you ever wished to quit music for physics? No, I’m quite occupied with trying to figure out how to describe things through Music. It’s more than a full time job! I think that the usage of translating subjects of certain relevant topics gives more value to the purpose of music. If we can do more with music, then as societies, we’ll might consider music more

104

The constant appetite for the future and novelty of this former student in Architecture lead Jeff Mills to break with the patterns of music genres and art conventions. Answering to the invitation of the Louvres in Paris, Jeff Mills succeeded in ennobling techno music alongside the pianist Mikhaïl Rudy with whom he performed « When Time Splits » in front of the psychedelic masterpiece film « l’Enfer » of Henri-Georges Clouzot Jeff is presenting, on September 25th, a second opus of the « Exhibitionist 2 », a DVD and record but above all an opportunity to enter the maestro’s mind and the core of the machine. Mills explains to us his vision on his artistic and scientific collaborations starting now - FUTURE UP! You have built in your career a bridge between the club scene and its industrial background and some of the most respected cultural institutions, are you fighting the dichotomy between these two worlds are embracing it? I have no problems working at both levels. In fact, I’m learning a great deal from other ones and applying it to the other. These new experiences are shaping the way I perceive and what I strongly believe to be of substance. As an artists, I could not asked for anything more than this. When you are improvising on your instrument, is it the same mindset that drives you when you are performing on a film score? No, it’s different. Improvising is an immediate psychological response. A gesture based on how I feel or that I’m convinced I could accentuate by doing a particular thing at that precise second or moment. In scoring film and the

way I manage it, I first memorize the film and mostly compose off of my memories of certain scenes. Then, I’ll watch the film and measure the length and duration of the Music in order to make them fit into each part or scene. How do you sync with other humans and other machines? In Classical performances, synchronization is managed when the conductor and musicians hear a click or pulse sound that’s being created and generated by my drum


machine. In djing and applying the drum machine to records or tracks, that’s done manually by hand. Meaning, that the drum machine is layered on top of existing music manually. No sync is connected. It’s very interesting to do this because each sound source can have their own tempo and scale (from not being synced together). The set up of your studio in the Exhibitionist 2 is quite minimalistic, would you say that « Less is More » but is vintage the key or do you like to mix all type of technologies? I really prefer to use as few machines and equipment as possible to make tracks. Having to consider using them more wisely, more strategically. In this mind-set, less is certainly more, but not by for the sake of making Minimal Music, but rather because I often feel more sound simply isn’t needed or I can’t

imagine more than that (at that moment). The minimal setting of the scenes in Exhibitionist 2 was thoroughly thought about and discussed. What I wanted to do was to either showing a lot of things or nothing at all. In showing nothing, I want the viewers to only concentrate of what’s there because everything in the frame is for a reason. Do you still surprise yourself on a TR 909? Yes, there are things that can happen, or should I say, ways I can get stuck with situations that I have to figure a positive way out of. In all of the drum machine segments, I’m only using 1 - 4/4 time signature pattern. Changing, writing/erasing throughout the segment, but the machine is much more capable than that. In most of the scenes, I’m writing instrument patterns while playing others at the same time. You describe the musical process as a «concept in progress», it is the development in time of ideas. Is it why you are multiplying the film music performances? Yes, that’s correct. I do not know the exact term for what I’m doing by encompassing all my actions into one swift movement (even career wise), but to me, it all seems connected to one another - film, dance, cinema, djing, music production, etc. There is no real distinction between them anymore. There are different approaches of the same thing in the DVD. Programming music is the same as making it. Being spontaneous in both situation creates the same result.

Is the video format more attractive than a painting or a still picture? Each person should decide that, but I prefer still photographic images more than anything. There is the limitation and what this does to the viewer’s mind that I think is more important that revealing the whole passage of preserved reality. We do not exist and live in stillness, which is why I think it’s so unique - so special. You have closely worked around the op art and the kinetic light sculptures of Vasarely when you performed « When Time Splits » and « Chronicles of Possible Worlds ». You more recently created an exhibition “WEAPONS A small but potent collection of music affiliated avant-garde objects”, would you consider you curating work as a psychedelic experience? Well, I would consider them more like psychedelic questions on topics that do not really need an answer. Sometimes, I think the only thing that could ruin a great idea is a comment from someone else. So, I try to approach this type of work in a way that takes to aspect of knowing how people feel from experiencing it - that the projection of the work is one way only. There is a certain amount of freedom by doing this and I think its plays out in the way the projects are created. The Weapons show was exactly this case. I was told that a concept like this would not work. A small show of art and artifacts that included music, clothing, and many other things – where the atmosphere was just as important as the items themselves. Nothing in the show tried to convince anyone of anything. It was just there in Tokyo for only 4 hours on 1 day.

Watching your mix skills and your hand choreography in the «Exhibitionist 2 » is fascinating, it could be compared to a pianist passion and paradoxically doesn’t it also demystifies your persona? Yes, and this was the purpose of showing it as closely as possible. To normalize it so others may understand and expand upon it. Music needs a constant flow of free thinkers and doers. I believe this is the fastest way to improve and enrich the art form of Music. You have contributed to the rise of a movement and a culture as an artist and as a label,as a curator, can we say that you have become its philosopher? No, I’m just someone who deeply believes that music can enhance people’s lives. That, it can make them us realize things in ways where words cannot. I take it very seriously because I realize that people are giving their attention and spending there time and money to have something special. They can always be somewhere else, doing something else. What would be the best track to fade out this interview? Gil Scott Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.


106



Ebony

BONES

108

Interview by Nicola Phillips Photography by Kiko Dionisio


From starting her own record label, to touring with iconic punk outfit The Slits, Ebony Bones is not interested in following the crowd. The BritishCaribbean singer-songwriter has already built up an impressive résumé in the last few years – and has come a long way from her hometown of Brixton, South You’ve visited Berlin a few times this year, how have you found it? Has it lived up to your expectations? Berlin is beautiful and definitely currently flying the flag as the cultural center of Europe. It’s nice spending time and playing here as my dad lived in Berlin during the 60s. Where are you from originally? What was it like growing up there? Was it a place surrounded by music? I was born in London and grew up in Brixton where my dad had a small vinyl stall selling music. Music has always served as a soundtrack to my life Were there any artists or producers at this time that really stood out to you? I recall loving everything from The Sex Pistols to Parliament, Siouxsie Sioux to Grace Jones. But I was particularly interested in producers, such as Nile Rodgers and Brian Eno. What was it like when you first started producing your own music? Did you find it difficult? Do any boundaries exist? I think it’s important not to consider boundaries, but to step outside the circumference of what people expect you to be in life. Be your own hero. I’m still growing as a producer and feel honored anyone cares about my journey. Who was the first person you worked with? Are you self taught or did you receive training? What’s the most exciting part of producing your own music? Is there a certain key element you can’t do without? I first collaborated alongside drummer Rat Scabies from The Damned and went on tour with bands like The Slits. Originally I trained as an actress which I wasn’t that great at, after a while I realised I just wasn’t very good at taking directions. Music represented liberty to me, something I think most artist can’t live without. Does the name Bones refer to “the bare bones”? Is what we see, what we get? Rat Scabies named me Bones. It’s also the name of an Irish musical instrument, so I’ve heard

London. Influenced by an eclectic mix of post punk, old-school afro-beats and open minded production methods, Ebony’s music goes hand in hand with her killer sense of style, fearless attitude and outspoken attitude towards breaking down boundaries in the modern music industry.


What was it that drove you to record ‘Behold, a Pale Horse’ in India? I had the opportunity to work with members of The Symphony Orchestra of India, which I couldn’t turn down. However parts of the album were also record in London for my Smiths cover of ‘What Difference Does It Make’ alongside The New London Children’s Choir. What was it like working with an orchestra? Did you learn any valuable lessons? I learnt that some of the most amazing string musicians in the world are living in India, I just adore the culture clash and cross pollination of two different sounds coming together. You have a new EP coming out, ‘Milk and Honey Part 1’, where was this recorded? Can we expect any surprise collaborations on the album? Very excited about the EP which features the amazing Lady Miss Kier of DeeLite. The EP was recorded in London and New York. Will the album be a start to a new series? Not sure I’m still working on it, but sounds amazing so far. What was it like filming your new video for ‘Oh Promised Land’? I think the hardest thing for artists isn’t making the art, it’s getting it out once it’s completed. The actual shoot was a lot of fun and features friends and members of my label 1984. What’s it like being involved in Ray Ban’s Campagin4Life? I saw the clip with The Russians, do you think it’s important to “mix up tradition”? It was an honour to produce the soundtrack for Ray Ban’s new campaign, even nicer that they asked me to be in it. Tradition has never appealed to me personally, so “mixing” it up seemed appropriate and in line with my ethos artistically. What was your first live performance like? Will that moment of anticipation will ever subside? I’m always nervous before I go on stage. Music is perhaps one of the only things that has the power to galvanize people. Music and perhaps sport.

110 Name a song or an artist that you could always listen to, no matter what mood you’re in. Maybe the B-52s, maybe Public Enemy, maybe The Smiths, depends on the day of the week.


What stage would you love to perform on? The never ending Stage of Life. What is your ultimate karaoke song? Ebony & Ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. Did you ever think you’d be where you are today? No not really, partly due to the deficit of female producers in the industry, it just didn’t seem like a realistic aspiration. What would you say to an aspiring music producer? It’s always good to be underestimated, you can’t lose. What’s next? Next year I have a collaboration with Yoko Ono.

Pick Ebony’s bones at www.iamebonybones.com


adidas Originals Superstar

Nike Air Max Tavas

More

Geox - nebula

sneakers than a Nike HypeFresh

plugomt bpleierrs’s By Nicolas Simoneau and Marcel Schlutt using flim 8 colors by The Impossible Project

adidasOrginalsTubular

Antony Morato High Top

Nike Kaishi Red Converse Andy Warhol

112

Converse ChuckTaylor

New Balance

Women Elite 580

adidas Superstar 80s

y k S a t a i Prem


TAKING FASHION BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

Photo: David Schulze

dashmagazine.net


Bijlmer Beauty Photographer: Marnix Postma @ HMS Amsterdam Styling: Debbie Trouerbach Hair: Tommy Hagen @ Angelique Hoorn Make-up: Charlotte Mailhe @ Angelique Hoorn Model: Ronja @ Tjarda Model Management


On The Left Page I Black marble bomber: Nada van Dalen I Top: Monki I Marble bracelets: Oform I Bronze rings: Shanthi Voorn I Gold chain necklace: Monki Gold bracelets: River Island I Gold necklace: River Island I Marble necklace: River Island I YSL earrings: Stylist own

On This Page I Sheer top: Monki I Turtleneck: Monki I Marble bracelets: Oform I Gold chain necklace: Monki I Gold bracelets: River Island I Bronze rings: Shanthi Voorn Gold earrings: Stylist own I Nails: Malibu 1992


116


On The Left Page: White marble bomber: Nada van Dalen I Top: Calvin Klein I Cap: Etudes I Bronze rings: Shanthi Voorn I Gold chain necklace: Monki Gold earrings: Stylist own I Nails: Malibu 1992

On This Page: Turtleneck logo: Misbhv I Vest: Nada van Dalen I Gold chain necklace: Monki Gold bracelets: River Island I YSL earings: Stylist own


Available on the App Store


Imprint KALTBLUT Magazine - Linienstraße 13 10178 Berlin - Germany www.kaltblut-magazine.com www.facebook.com/kaltblut.magazine www.twitter.com/KALTBLUTMAG www.kaltblut-magazine.tumblr.com KALTBLUT Magazine is published by KALTBLUT Media UG (haftungsbeschränkt) CEO: Nicolas Simoneau, Grünbergerstr. 3, 10243 Berlin, Germany

I n f o info@kaltblut-magazine.de

Photo by Suzanna Holtgrave

P r e s s

Pot Pourri.

Finally, I know. It was about time right?! What took us so long? Well, we’ve been thinking, re-thinking, maybe over thinking things, new directions, possibilities, ideas. And here we are, brand new on the outside but still the same on the inside, the spirit lives on! Having Peaches as a cover gurl, is nothing short of sensational. Not just because she perfectly fits with our theme “Rough”. Peaches is free. Peaches does whatever Peaches wants to do. And nowadays being able to be really free, I can tell you is not such an easy thing. So high five and like Peaches says “Put your dick in the air”. Last time I did it, I caught a really bad cold - was sick for two weeks - Ouch.

Also black is boring, don’t you think? I mean wearing black from head to toe is over, assuming it was in at one point. I am not saying you should go to Desigual but you know, I’m just saying try and mix it up a little -finding a middle ground never hurt anyone. Also, black outfits all over make you look like weekdays models and, in this specific case, it is not a good thing. And please, most important thing, be happy (like seriously, just a bit at least). There will always be a reason for you to be sad, stressed out, annoyed, so for the next minute or so just push it all out of your mind. Forget about that

shelf in your living room that needed to be fixed six months ago, forget about this appointment that you have to make with your dentist, forget about that bossy chief of yours who is incompetent and has bad breath. Enjoy yourself. Be content of your situation. Let’s be satisfied, let’s love ourselves and love our neighbours. Love, love may not be the answer to everything but it definitely helps to grow, to keep going. I have been living in Germany for 8 years now and not only do I love it, but that’s my home now. I’m really proud to see how well Germany is doing with the refugees lately. The world is changing, faster than we think, and it won’t ever be the same again. People leaving the ones they love behind because of the war. I didn’t think that I would experience such a thing in my lifetime. And somehow it feels good to see that Germany, among other countries, is helping, saying “come here people, we welcome you with open arms, and we’ll find a proper solution later. For now just come and rest. Come and live.” Love and generosity. Refugees are not just passing by, they are here to stay. We are going to be…a new Europe, a stronger one, a more colourful one, a bigger one. The world is really changing. And we are -each and everyone of us- a part of this movement.

Let’s celebrate tomorrow together. And last but not least, thanks to the team, the contributors, to anyone who’s been around. See you soon and till then “Let me see you put your dick in the air”! Yours Nicolas

press@kaltblut-magazine.de

Adverstising advertising@kaltblut-magazine.de

E v e n t s events@kaltblut-magazine.de

All Copyright at KALTBLUT Media UG All of KALTBLUT´s contributors are responsible and retain the reproduction rights of their own words and images. Reproductions of any kind are prohibited without the permission of the magazine, editor and each contributor.


120


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.