First of, THANKS to everybody who participated in this issue. Without you Guys all this wouldn’t be possible! A special thanks goes out to my very good friend and photographer Jannie Stentoft for doing several photoshoots for the magazine this issue! THANKS Jannie, you’re the best. With that said, I now have to apologize for the 1 week late publishing date. We have had such great success with this magazine since we started in January and we have had real trouble keeping up. That meant we’ve needed to push our publish dates to every 2nd month instead of every month. We are going to try that out. But if something is worth waiting for, we will in the future take the liberty to push release dates on forthcoming issues. All to give you the best magazine possible. Now a little update on our print-on-demand. We are working really hard to make this happen so people all over the world can order a hard copy of the magazine, but right now the wait is on the print guys. So as soon as we know more you will know! Thanks for reading our magazine and hope you enjoy this issue! Best, Daniel Cover Illustration (self Portrait) Matthias Seifarth www.matthias-seifarth.com
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Alexandre Willaume Ned Cantrell Jaegersborggade Ruben & Bobby Errol Lorre Troels Abrahamsen Matthias Seifarth Muuto Emil Monty Freddie Vic’s Pages Rasmus Svane Jensen Liquid Lovestories Fallulah Lasse Dearman
Alexandre Willaume - alias FuckikeA Danish artist and actor, Alexandre Willaume invited us inside his studio to see his latest works and have a chat about them. Photo: Jannie Stentoft, www.janniestentoft.dk More Info: www.fuckikea.dk - www.alexandrewillaume.dk
We were lucky enough to have a chance to go meet and have a chat with the Danish artist and actor, Alexandre Willaume who works under the artist name FuckikeA. We got to see some of his latest works and hear what drives him and what messages he wants us to get through his pieces. First of we were met by a smiling and happy man. He had barely slept the previous night, working to finish his latest work, which now was done. We came in to his studio and were met by the new piece, a big one showing the pope bleeding from the crotch having 4 choir boys on the knees in front of him. That was a pretty good presentation for us, knowing some of his pieces in advance, I knew that he wants to be provocative through his works so I wan’t surprised. But you still get that little grin on your face when you see it because you just know it will divide the waters. This is how Alexandre works, he gives his view on problems in society through his art and you can feel he has a strong drive and urge to deliver a message. For him it doesn’t matter if people misunderstand the true meaning of it. He is doing these pieces for himself. His Name “FuckikeA” isn’t meant as a direct hate towards the Swedish furniture giant. It just describes a state of mind Alexandre thinks most of us are a slave to, even him. The “throw out and change” state of mind. Almost everybody is so focused on getting new and better things, so a lot of people don’t bother spending time finding things they like, cause its just going to be replaced within six months. All this doesn’t mean that we have to only pick up second hand stuff and live a life that has been, but just to think about reuse instead of constantly wanting more and more.
Even though its only a couple of years ago Alexandre started to focus a lot more in his art, he has already developed a distinctive style that shows it’s the work of him. When he first started he was unlucky enough to have his laptop stolen which contained around 30 pieces that never made it to physical form. That however didn’t stop him from developing his style and ideas. He works in different series but all with the same goal of being provocative and to make people take a stand. What ever it’s his series putting his meaning on the Danish royal family out for display or the brilliant series of kids with super powers. That series comes from the idea of what would happen it we didn’t tell our kids what they can and cannot do. They come to this world with no notion about what they are able to and Alexandre feels that people in general are way to fast at telling their kids what they can’t do, so he wants to show this through those pieces. It’s Alexandre’s vision on life presented in different forms. We understand his drive and ideas and we love his pictures because they truly come from Alexandre with a deep passion, both for the message and the art itself.
Ned Cantrell - yes, it’s all glass! British glass artist, Ned lives in Denamrk with his wife, fellow master glass artist, Karen Nyholm. His work has been displayed around the world. Has created the works you see on the following pages. Enjoy these wonderful pieces of art. More Info: www.nyholmcantrell.dk
Jaegersborggade
- the new place to be
In Copenhagen you will find a lot of streets, but not many is as interesting as Jaegersborggade is becoming. So next time you are in Copenhagen, make sure to drop by this street. It is filled with special botiques. Photo: Jannie Stentoft, www.janniestentoft.dk More Info: www.jaegersborggade.dk
Ruben & Bobby
- Gameboy’s, G.I. Joe’s & haircuts In Jaegersborggade,Copenhagen you find Ruben & Bobby’s cosy place. We were lucky enough to get a nice chat with the guys. Enjoy the feature and make sure to pay the guys a visit!
Photo: Jannie Stentoft, www.janniestentoft.dk More Info: www.rubenogbobby.dk
In Jaegersborggade, Copenhagen. You will find a little shop, that is both unusual and yet so familiar. It’s what you would describe as a second hand shop, but then again it’s so much more than that. The two owners, Ruben & Bobby have their own unique way of how they want their shop, what things to sell and how to run it. To really understand how cool a place it is and how nice the guys are you have to go there, these pages will only give you a little taste of what it’s like. So what do they do? Well, the shop is a combination of several things. Bobby is a trained hairdresser and Ruben is a trained graphic designer and both of them have a great love for old things, games, action figures, old drum machines etc. All of this comes together in their shop. Bobby cuts hair in the back of the shop, the only place in Denmark (I guess) where you are able to get a proper flattop haircut like the American high school bullies and Ruben sells his own T-shirts, named “Familien (The Family)” and one of a kind drawings. This combined with a mix of old Gameboys, GI Joes and old electronics gives this very special and homely feeling you get when you go there. They want to bring that old vinyl feeling back as they describe it themselves. The way you feel about a vinyl album is completely different from that of a CD. Its the same with the old Gameboys and the old games, you know it so well and most of us grew up with a gameboy in our hand, its just so less complicated than the games and consoles out there today. With the old ones you can just sit down and play. The ever changing shop will always be a must see if you are in Copenhagen and if you live there and haven’t been in the shop yet, shame on you! The doors are always open for a talk or a haircut. Just make sure to take some time and drop by the shop, you won’t regret it!
Errol
- the sneaker business
British photographer Errol Lorre has spend a lot of time doing this on-going project of his. Photographing collectors of sneakers together with their passion. Enjoy this very cool and special series. Photo: Errol Lorre, www.errolphotography.com
What inspired you to start taking up photography?
Do you have a specific message you wanna say with the series?
Well i used to play bass in a band and really wanted something where i had more control and could maybe do on my own. So i do portrait and fashion photography (laughs) even more people involved. What was the inspiration to the sneaker series?
I really approached the whole project from a documentary point of view rather than focusing on highlighting ‘rare’ shoes. Also by shooting in a documentary style it shows how ‘normal’ these people are. The only difference is they collect sneakers. I find the whole thing of people sometimes having 2000 plus sneakers in the house/ flat amazing.
Well a few years ago i got into collecting in a small and this lead me to the portrait project.
Working on any new projects you wanna share with us?
Your sneaker series, has it been a long term process so far? Initially it was a difficult as i really didn’t know any collectors apart from a friend of a friend. It was really a process of joining forums and then trying to contact people. That in itself had it’s own changes as most forums have alot of politics going on and being a ‘newbie’ has certain drawbacks. It really was a case of building up trust and relationships. Once i’d shot a few well known collectors that kind off got the ball rolling. Also it’s very easy to think everything happens in London, but alot of collectors of certain brands live up north in Manchester, Scotland, Sunderland for example. That in itself has it’s own implications as the project is self funded.
I’m working on a exhibition for “The Sneaker Business” series that should happen later this year and who knows maybe a book. Also my “Do you have an Afro?” series needs to ‘outhere’ Gonna be alot more fashion stuff this year, so stay tuned. London’s beginning to warm up again after a harsh winter and i’m itching to go. So stay tuned :-)
Troels Abrahamsen - Blck & Wht
We were lucky enough to sit down and have a chat with Troels about his new solo album “Blck” and what it means to him. Use the iTunes link to jump directly to the album. Photo: Jannie Stentoft, www.janniestentoft.dk More Info: www.supertroels.dk
For those of you who don’t know the name Troels Abrahamsen, I will not give you a full biography on him. I’d rather encourage you to listen to his music and get sucked into his universe that way. The way I first was introduced to him. Troels is a busy man on the Danish music scene, he has had several solo projects, the latest in his own name, been a busy remixer and he is the lead singer in the band Veto. A talent that can’t be denied in any way. We met up with Troels in Copenhagen for a little chat about his new solo album “Blck”. Troels comes from a family of musicians so playing music comes naturally to him. He started out like a lot of musicians do, through a band in his teens. And that is, in a thumbnail, how he got to where he is today. But as said before, this is not about Troels’ life, its about his music. Personally Troels is really happy about his first solo project, “Wht” and he wanted the sequel “Blck” to be completely different from that and much more club like some of his earlier projects like “Mockin’ Bird”. The actual outcome of “Blck” differs from that first belief. One could simplify it and say its a lot like “Wht” and he hasn’t done anything new, but that would be wrong in every sense of the word. Troels was not satisfied with the original “Blck” idea and wanted to start all over. It meant that the release was postponed until early this year. “Blck” was a process, I didn’t know where exactly I was going when I started and it evolved from there and gave me a chance to try out new things and grow with the album. It was nothing like when I did “Wht” that album was really planned and I had a clear idea of what way I was going with that. “Blck” was much more open, anything could happen and I see that album as a vital brick in my development as a musician. This also made the album a lot more lonely to create, because I had nothing planned and I had to live in my own little world for quite some time to get it right. This might have had a little effect on the style of the music, it has a melancholic feel and I think it came from me feel a little trapped in my own world while doing this.
When “Blck” came out some of the reviews were better than others, like you would expect when you release an album. But as Troels says, the reviews aren’t important to him in any way, who could benefit from five lines of nonsense. On “Blck” Troels really wanted to find a balance between the very clean sound of electronic music and the organic of the acoustic. He did that by recording the electronic drums again but this time on analog drums and then combining them to make a much more rich and organic sound. This also helped when it came to translating the studio produced music into music that would work on tour, an issue that can be quite complex if whole tracks a entirely produced in software. I was a bit curious about how it is to be a musician in our day and age and how Troels’ view on the whole digital world was. Not surprising he embraces it the best way he can, he has his own blog, where fans could follow him under the process of creating “Blck” he uses Facebook to connect with fans and he loves the digital music distribution. My ideal release would be a digital and a vinyl. No cd. Digital is so easy an accessible for everybody, and nothing beats the feel and sound of a vinyl.
Matthias Seifarth
- the cover artist
This issues cover artist is German illustrator, Matthias Seifarth. we completely fell in love with his style and knew we had to have him do the cover. Enjoy his other works and pop by his site. More Info: www.matthias-seifarth.com
For this issue’s cover interview we did it a bit differently. Instead of us digging into the mind of our artist he told us in a little life story and where he gets those crazy ideas for his wonderful illustrations.
I was born in 1980 in Warendorf, a little town in Northrhein Westfalia. Since I was in kindergarden drawing was always my hobby/my passion... After my exam, I started studying design At the university of applied sciences in Münster, Germany. I moved to Hamburg, where I had stints as a graphic designer and illustrator at both agencies springer & jacoby and santamaria. But that wasn’t satisfying to me so I decieded to go freelance for illustration. I did not work on my style purposefully, it is more that inspiration comes to me from the oddities of everyday life, strange characters I see on the street, that have unusual, also macabre undertones. Dark atmospheres and seemingly old-fashioned motifs are the means I use to represent objects and people in their own nature and in their solitude - melancholy, romantic and twistedly disquieting. I often take my inspiration for them from old items found at the flea market, old magazines, old photo albums, which always conceal something waiting inside them for me. I like to place a question mark over the things that surround me. For these reasons I want to devote myself more to poster art, cover design and editorial illustration. Visual design for music for example always fascinated me. I’m not a fan of downloads, so I buy albums complete with their booklets in the original. This brings the music closer to me. Illustration in this sphere can be a quite elemental way for publishers and magazines to set themselves apart from the mass.
If I were a song? Well currently it’s kind of a mixture of dead man’s bones “loose your soul” meets coco rosie’s “lemonade”
Muuto
- new scandinavian design
The Danish design company Muuto knows how to get the right designers for their products. that shows in the great succes they have recieved in the cold north. we give some of their best designs yet. More Info: www.muuto.com
Together with the best younger Nordic designers the visionary design company Muuto wants to regain the position of the golden era and once again make Scandinavia a leading region of design. Muuto, the 2 year old and already internationally successful Nordic design company, strives to add fresh perspectives to Scandinavian design and thereby put the region back in the lead on the international design scene. That is why they chose the name Muuto - inspired by the Finnish word ”Muutos”, meaning change or fresh perspective. ”We believe that the road to success for modern Scandinavian design lies in a strong belief in the best younger designers. We give the designers the freedom and inspiration to create new designs, and we see it as one of Muutos´ primary goals to be on the forefront in the development of the designers”, says Peter Bonnén.
The two founders of Muuto - Peter Bonnén and Kristian Byrge - are very ambitious, striving to have their products represented in the leading design shops in all major cities around the world. The first twenty-four new designs are already launched from leading designers like Norway Says, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Harri Koskinen and Louise Campbell, all sharing Muutos´ambition to add new chapters to the proud Scandinavian design tradition. Muuto is firmly rooted in Scandinavian design, hand-picking designers from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, and giving them the freedom to express their personal design philosophy when designing everyday products for the home. ”This gives the Muuto designs great diversity and character, linking them with the nordic heritage – a heritage Muuto is proud of and which all the designers carry with them as part of their professional luggage”, says Kristian Byrge. - Muuto Press release
Emil Monty Freddie
- editorial
Danish photographer Emil Monty Freddie did this issues editorial series. And we think it will be a guy we are going to see a lot more from in the future. Drop by his site for more. More Info: www.montygraf.blogspot.com
LONG LIVE THE HIGH STREET – COS SPRING 2010 CAMPAIGN If you haven’t already booked a summer trip to any of the bigger cities in the world, now is the time! The spring collection of COS, the Swedish sister company of H&M, has truly and utterly swept me of my feet! They deliver amazingly fashionable and smart clothes for women and men who want high fashion with good quality at an affordable price. Visit www.cosstores.com for you to get swept under your feet like me!
LOOK OUT CHAPS! Rivets, gold and buckles for all it’s worth! This spring, Givenchy gives you all you can ever ask for. Gosh, I wish I was a guy sometimes! It’s bold and fearless and I assure you, with a pair of these, you could go anywhere!
HAVE YOU MET PIPPA SMALL? Editorial Spain based photographer An amazingby jewelry designer from Canada named Pippa Leana Varnes Small is the great designer of this stunning bracelet made from recycled glass and brass and is plated in 2 Photographer: Leana carat Varnas, www.xochitli.dk gold. For £65, it’s yours! Styling: Nerea Lurgain, www.nerealurgain.com Find it at www.matchesfashion.com Make up/Hair: Fernando Zunino, www.fernandozunino.com Model: Stephanie Backström, www.modelbooking.com
JIMMY CHOO The man who’s got a special little room in every woman’s heart has, together with The Elton John AIDS Foundation, launched “Project PEP”, a line of punk rock accessories. An amazing 25% of the proceeds go to the Simelela Rape Center in Cape Town. The collection includes eleven items, bags, shoes, mobile accessories and a cuff. Go get yourself a piece of this rock chick collection with shout-out punk prints of Union Jacks, diamonds and graffiti lettering and thereby join Project PEP!
CRUSH OF THE MONTH Take a look at this pretty little printed drawstring pochette from Lanvin, the retro glamour is all over the place! It sure is precious, which is reflected on the also precious price tag of £435. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for an immediate wage growth!
FASHIONISTAS BY KURT GEIGER AND SCHOLL The big clog trend has now reached all the stores around our cities and one pair is even more gorgeous looking than the other, but have you tried to actually walk in any of them? For me, it’s like handing my feet over to the butcher. Well, this is the end of that tragic wooden story, from now on, that’s nothing but a memory. Scholl have collaborated with Kurt Geiger and created a fantastic collection of wooden hotties. And they also guarantee a fact that we can’t take for granted nowadays, you are actually able to walk in them! As expected, they are a bit pricey but pick a heel height that you feel comfortable with and you’ve done your feet a big summer favor! Find them at www.kurtgeiger.com
Vic’s Pages Picture sources: www.cosstores.com www.klang.blogg.se www.luxuryblog.org www.matchesfashion.com www.kurtgeiger.com
- oh fashion
A couple of fashion treats from our London based fashionista.
Rasmus Svane Jensen
- draw, draw and draw
Danish upcoming illustrator Rasmus Svane Jensen, gives us a little taste of his special style on the following pages. Hit his blog for more illustrations. More Info: www.graphicnotes.blogspot.com
Are you the kind of guy who always has drawn and could never stop again? YES! I have always drawn and i have always been told that it would be something to stick to, so I have tried that the best I could. What always have kept me going is the big pulseing creative vain the skate culture is a big part of. Have you worked your way towards a distinctive style in your illustrations. Or did it came to you naturally? I have tried to think about my style and tried to change it several times. But I always seem to fall back to my natural line, and I have finally started to accept them. Who or what is your inspiration? When I was younger my big hero was the famous Disney cartoonist Carl Barks. Since then it has changed to the Gorillaz illustrator Jamie Hewlett, Banksy and classic drawings from the 40’s and 50’s. In what direction are your illustrations going at the moment? The next big style change that Im trying to push myself into is illustration as they where made in graphic design in the first half of the 20th century. I really like the colours, the simple figures and patterns. My illustrations will probably not go through the complete style change I would like, but hopefully some of the technics and nice details from that time will stick with me for use in the future.
Liquid Lovestories
- liquid love & hard facts melt together Danish photographer Michael Berg took the assignment of doing an art exhibition at the World Out Games for homosexuals. The feedback on the pieces was amazing and now Michael wants to spread the word even more. Photo: Simon Meyer, www.krissim.dk More Info: www.liquidlovestories.com - www.michaelberg.dk
For photographer Michael Berg, the artist behind the love story, it’s about much more than pretty pictures. They need to force people to take a stand about both the pictures and in this case, the subject of homosexuality. It all started at a party where Michael was approached with the question of him doing pictures for a gay exhibition, World Out Games. The World Out Games is a sports event where only gays can participate. Besides this sports event, there is a homosexual rights conference where the Liquid Lovestories was to be shown. To begin with, the fluids weren’t supposed to be the the main content in the series. Michael wanted to use families, gay couples with kids and then place them in various situations. This however proved to be much much harder than expected. It was basically impossible for him to get volunteers for the pieces. A lot of ideas were thrown around, but the different test shots didn’t live up to the vision had for the exhibition. So it was back to a blank canvas. He wanted something completely different, something graphic and beautiful. This combined with a Dymo strip of hard facts about homosexuality and the treatment of gays around the world. This was a contrast to the soft and nice fluids. Michael decided that the best way to show something you can’t grasp or hold, would be by using something we all know but has the same characteristics, it’s ever changing. The liquid represents “love”, this undefinable “thing” that nobody can control or deny. All the pictures are made from water and pigment dye mixed together to get the right combination of colours. Made specifically for the exhibition at the World Out Games, it was a project that fitted Michael perfectly. Asked to give his perspective on homosexuality and their rights, he let his passion for art and the provocative, drive him to the end result. They are designed to catch your eye with their beauty and then force you to confront the hard facts printed on them.
“The whole process of the series has really made me think and re-think some of the thoughts and statements there are about gays and lesbians. I was met with a lot of different attitudes from the people around about the project. People even thought I turned guy just because I spend on long time digging into the problems and focusing 100% on the project. That just shows how narrow-minded people are.” - Michael Berg The love stories have already evolved, from being a specific exhibition at the World Out Games to an exclusive collection. Each piece is sold in 10 prints each and 20% of the commission goes to charity for the gay and lesbian community. New pieces in the series are on their way, to constantly keep focus on the problems the GLB community faces everyday from the society. Another exhibition of Liquid Lovestories is coming to Hamburg, Germany at gallery www.dock-56.de end of June and that will be with 11 new pieces never published before.
Fallulah
- only human
Danish photographer Anders von Greffelstejn who has become a Lillevegas favourite. has shot this series of Danish artist Fallulah. Use the iTunes link to hear her songs be back in next issue for her interview. Photo: Anders von Greffelstejn, www.andersvongreffelstejn.com More Info: www.myspace.com/mymusicbank
Lasse Dearman - mr music
Danish, but London-based photographer Lasse Dearman has a passion for music photography. It’s very hard to deny the talent he has and it wont be long before bands are in line to get their pictures taken from Lasse. Enjoy Photo: Lasse Dearman More Info: www.lassedearman.com
Alex Glover, R O M A N C E
ElectroJuice
Frank Ziyanak, The Wong Boys
How is it being a Danish photographer in London? The fact of coming to London without any contactions and trying to build up a network has been a very big challenge for me. In general there is just a lot more photographers over here and most of them are just as good as you, so competition is hard. As a music photographer I have had several occasions were a lot of the upcoming bands already have been shot by different photographers without them being known in any way. On the positive side, there is so many things to photograph here and there are so so many upcoming bands, so its just to get out there and find them! You mostly focus on music photography or do you also explore other genres? Music photography will properly always be my main focus because thats where my heart is. I have lately started to explore lifestyle photography a bit more. It’s different photographers like Ryan McGinley, Ed Templeton, Gavin Watson and not least my good friend David Richardson who has opened my eyes for this genre. I recently bought a analog Olympus camera that I carry around 24/7 and snap everything that catches my eye. What I love about this type of photography is that I don’t have to concentrate on setting the camera right or explaining how it should look, what counts are images that have a story. Do you search for specific artists for your photos? There is no doubt that that I exclusively search for specific artists. I would rather do free work for bands that I choose, than get paid for taking pictures of bands I have no relation to. For me its always about making the pictures reach new highs, so of course it works best if I photograph artists whose look, style and music I can relate to. I have tried several times to take pictures of random artists and it always ends up being something I don’t like. So I always find artists who inspire me for the pictures. That way the pictures also ends up being much more personal.
Besides that, its very important to find new bands and follow them to the top, build up a relationship to them, that will show in the pictures! There are so many photographers in the world, and you have to stand out somehow and by hand picking your motives you are already defining your own style. Is there any artist or band, you must photograph? If I could chose the artist I would want to photogragh in the world, it would be by far, Pete Doherty. He’s the one person I can think of that has the most charisma. What will the future bring? My future is quite unknown yet. I have applied for the photojournalist school in Denmark, but I still don’t know if Im going to get in. Otherwise my plan is to keep taking pictures here in London, maybe move to Copenhagen and start there. But now its one step at a time.
Mads Kolding, Electrojuice
Malthe Fischer, Oh No Ono
Mattias Kolstrup, Dúné
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