LOSER
AMERICA ISSUE
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from LOSER We guess this editors letter is as relevant to this issue as it is to us about to hit our One Year Anniversary, so let’s start with that. We always thought of LOSER as a manifestation of all our overwhelming desires to express ourselves. And really, it is, just not as how everyone believes. We don’t have articles on articles, we don’t highly concentrate on politics, we don’t write about why we choose to take the photos we did, or write the writing we write because our “something to say” is in a completely different language. And that’s why we created LOSER, in the simplest explanation, that is why (as well straight up *ahem* losers that wanted to start a project..). So thank you for listening to what we do have to say, thank you for giving us enough support to say it, thank you for not being afraid to use your “voice,” and submitting. Thank you. And happy One Year of LOSER. Now, about the theme, we’ve had this issue in our mind for a long time. Picturing pages of grainy suburban towns, the flag, of things that we fight for, the flag, and of what America is to you, to us. Americana is defined by Merriam Webster as “materials concerning or characteristic of America, its civilization, or its culture. Broadly: things typical of America or American culture” We thought it’d be interesting for people to respond to this. America is always changing rapidly but especially right now. What better time to ask a bunch of adolescent artists to weigh in? Lots of love, Lucy and Olivia (LOSER Zine)
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Table of Contents AMERICA
by SOFIA G.P............................................................................. 06
Suburbia
by Sam R................................................................................... 12
Letter toAmerica
by Zana A.................................................................................. 18
Gotta Work Together
by Alexis Quesada.................................................................. 20
Coney
by Jennifer I. & Sophie V...................................................... 22
Dancing Home
by Olivia W................................................................................. 26
Lets inflict change
by Sophie V. & Olivia W.......................................................... 28
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by Lucy J
Decades of America
by Oliva & Lucy & Logan ..................................................... 32
NYC PLAYGROUND
By Olivia W and Lucy J.......................................................... 42
Road Trip by Madeleine Z............................................................................... 48
LOSER interview with Eddie O’Keefe by LOSER....................................................................................... 50
Art
by Sasha R................................................................................ 56
LOSER Featured Film Decades of LOSER
by Lucy J................................................................................... 57
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A M E R I C A
by SOFIA G.P.
@sofbarcelona
He spoke of the city back in the day Of power and trust We spoke back of the city now 6
The car squeaked like an old man reaching for his cane. Old and worn but onwards it moves The man was too worn, but his face was kind and his voice sounded like wind over mountains
Of power and trust We drove by the Empire State Building lit like a young woman falling asleep We drove past the sleepy THE hungover the hungry and the real
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by Sam R. @scrama p
SUBURBIA
SUBURBIA
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AMERICA America is a country full of expectations and hope. When we hear America, we think it’s superior to other countries. It’s thought of like the country paved of gold in other countries. However, America isn’t perfect and ideal as most people think it is. It has flaws just like us human beings. I think America is pieces and shreds of a picture. America is only whole when the people are in the picture. To me, America is a land of diversity and a country that’s filled with people’s dreams and expectations! -Sharmin K @ayy_shar
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by Zana A.
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How is it that the world is so negative and yet all our movies are about love and accepting each other and working together?� Because every body wants the same thing, and everybody has different ideas on how to get it. we gotta listen to each other and we have to work together. Photo by
Alexis Quesada @alexismariequesada
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by Jennifer I. & Sophie V @jennifer.iospa
@sophviee
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america to me is
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america
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M 25
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I dance home in the dark. Under lamp lights and Window shades. Under melodies and disco parades. Other people’s hearts, I am body and mind. I am everything that is All of those things and all of it Combined. I dream of the golden hour and flower pots, and flour. I dream of the day my art isn’t shit and love isn’t shit, And life is a little less shit, I dream of loving back and not alone. of good songs, and spring time, Of good jobs and hot cups of tea. I dream of movies, and cheesy lines, of practiced spontaneity, and beautiful people, different voices. I dream of beautiful people and voices and words and promises and lack thereof. So much of my dreaming leads to you, But I have to remember I dream for me too. The moon is half full and i’m dancing home in the dark, And soon my dreams will come true.
by Olivia W. @ollygolly123
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CHANGE CHANGE CHANG CH I think its time that we begin to accept our ability to inflict change. It is time that instead of waiting for what we want to happen, we work for it, fight for it, and believe in it enough to let it encompass the passion in all of our multitudes. We are right when we speak of being the future. Time is a reflection of us, America is a collaboration of all of its us-es. Bono said that “America is not just a country, it is an idea.� America preached the idea of a land of opportunity. For centuries this has been the place you come for a better life. Of white picket fences, of families, and homes. A land for everybody and everyone. America is nothing with out its people.
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HANGE GECHANGE CHANGE CHANGE We are the future because we are its past and its present. We are the future because who we are must be what we preach, and what we expel. Karma will come told. We are America. Lets make this America great, not again, but better than ever. We go forwards, and we must go forwards together. We must listen to each other because believe it or not, we all hope for basically the same things. For love, and companionship. For connection, and success. We want our voices to be heard. And we all want the best.
Photos by Sophie V. & Olivia W. 29
So
lets listen,
be open,
lets work together.
This world is ours,
this world is ALL of ours.
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Lets inflict change.
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Sugartown by Oliva & Lucy
Jewelry by Susan Alexandra @Susan_Alexandra
Makeup by Meredith G. @Meredith.griffin
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Photo by Zana A.
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The
60s! Playlist by Lucy J
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 36
sugar town as tears go by its my party my boyfriends back leader of the pack be my baby son of a preacher man wishing and hopin my girl you’re sixteen fly me to the moon chapel of love you don’t own me these boots are made for walkin Christmas daydream i found a reason jailhouse rock in the still of night the wonderer can’t help falling in love girl you’ll be a woman soon day tripper
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by Oliva & Lucy
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Times by Natalie Claro Oh how the times have changed For we used to be “classy” Now we dress as we please SoA adults claim us “trashy” Oh how the times have changed For women were curvy Plump and voluminous Now medias prey on skinny Oh how the times will change Generations will shift trends The next standard may be thicker And then we will reflect: “Oh how the times have changed” For we used to be healthy Now we mien as we please So adults call us “fatties” Oh how times will always change But mustn’t we care? Why do we surrender To what society deems fair? Be fabulous! Be brave! Be prepared for when they say Oh how the times have changed And then look the other way
Photo by Logan Charles Jenkins @jackofalltrxdes 40
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LOSER says there’s nothin’ more
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American than hanging in a
NYC PLAYGROUND By Olivia W and Lucy J
Modeled by Sofia GP and Saamara Jewelry by Cat Lowry
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And I sit in the dimly lit room Feeling as the need for validation bleed into the air It was comforting in its complete absence of unconformity Blatant in its practices the room smelt of teenage girl. Tucked into their own coroners of the universe they sat in that same small bedroom. Being defined only by verbal reflections and the backlight of their only connection to the world. They talked about love and hate and what they knew and didn’t know about each one. They spoke of near stories and moments Pixels as memories Promises and practices teenage girls Losing their characters for short moments to find lost planets full of different lives. we see what we shouldn’t be, couldn’t be, and never would have We see what we used to be but justify what we have become leaving no room for small aliens or birds of even tongue pixels as memories Promises and practices Teenage girls 47
ROAD
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TRIP
by Madeleine Z.
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LOSER interview with
Eddie O’Keefe The director talks about his new movie Shangri-La Suite —“a pulpy 16mm fever dream” of americana—featuring love, murder, mayhem, and...ELVIS! LOSER: When did you start working on Shangri-La Suite/ how long how did the whole process take? Eddie O: My writing partner and I started working on the initial pieces of what would become Shangri-La Suite about six years ago. We were both working at the Chateau Marmont at the time – Chris was a bell hop; myself, a cook. We just started spitballing ideas one day on our lunch break and eventually a larger story started to form. It took us about three months to write the first draft. Then, a few years to attach producers and actors and find the money. We shot it three years ago now and it still isn’t out everywhere. Been a long road.
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LOSER: What inspired you to make Shangri-La Suite?
LOSER: How did you pick your cast/find Jack and Karen?
EDDIE O: Shangri-La Suite is a movie I’ve been directing in my head since I was fifteen years old. I always wanted to make a lovers on the run film. And a movie about Elvis. Somewhere along the way, those two urges combined. I’m also attracted to films that feel like dreams; or poems. I wanted to make a movie that felt like that. A pulpy 16mm fever dream. Something not so concerned with plot or character, at least not in a traditional sense; something that was more about feeling. And atmosphere. We called it Shangri-La Suite because we wanted it to feel like a suite of music. Like an old warped pop song.
EDDIE O: Of the hundreds of actors I had the privilege to watch audition for the roles of Jack and Karen, Emily and Luke were simply the best fits. I knew instantly, the first time I saw their tapes. They knew how to be truthful and authentic while also existing within the canted, heightened universe of the movie. No easy task. I couldn’t be luckier to have found them. They’re some of my best friend in the world. We went to war together making that movie. LOSER: Are you a big Elvis fan / what inspired you to tell the Elvis part of the film? EDDIE O: I grew up in a house where music was playing con-
Ron Livingston as Elvis Presley
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stantly; 24/7 -- particularly Elvis. My old man is somewhat of an Elvis freak. And for a long time I rebelled against that; I didn’t find much value in his music. It felt old fashioned and lame to me. But as I got older, that slowly changed. I found that there was some stuff, particularly his ballads and gospel numbers, that were really affecting and beautiful. At some point in college I read Peter Guralnick’s two-part Elvis biography and became sort of obsessed. Guralnick’s books presented Elvis as not some bloated mythological goofball, but as a flesh and blood human; a real soul; an artist. I had never seen that side of Elvis portrayed in fiction and so I wanted to do that.
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LOSER: How did you decide on the music in the film / where did I Don’t Want to Die come from? EDDIE O: Music is my first love. In a lot of ways, I’ve always felt like a musician trapped in a filmmaker’s body. When my writing partner and I write, we often create playlists that inform the characters and mood of the story we’re working on. So with Shangri-La, music was a priority from day one. We had lists of dream tracks we hoped to get, even prior to production. I was lucky to work with an incredible music supervisor, Justin Gage, who runs Aquarium Drunkard. Through him, we secured a number of those dream tracks, as well as many, many others. I was also fortunate to have great composers in the Mondo Boys and Greta Morgan. “I Don’t Want To Die” was a song that the Mondo Boys wrote to replace Simon and Garfunkel’s “April Come She Will,” which we used for the end of the film in the rough cut (and which we obviously couldn’t afford). When it came time to find a female vocalist, we thought of Emily right away. On top of being an amazing actor, Emily is an incredible singer. The timbre of her voice and the sadness of the track really matched. LOSER: When and where will the movie be available to see/buy? EDDIE O: If you live anywhere other than North America, there’s a good chance the film is already out in your country under the title Kill The King. For
Emily Browning and Luke Grimes as Karen and Jack 54
those of you in America and Canada (and a few other places), the film will be available on iTunes and other OnDemand services this spring. LOSER: What is your advice for young people who are just starting out in film/photography? EDDIE O: My advice is to always be writing, taking photos and making films. Whatever your passion is, do it. Don’t worry about it being good. Experiment and fail and try again. Also, be true to who you are. Dig into who you are. Find out what it is that you and only you can express. Because I think that’s what people want to see.
My advice is to always be writing, taking photos and making films.
Whatever your passion is, do it.
by Sasha R 56
LOSER Featured Film
Decades of LOSER
by Lucy J
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AND, dont forget to send us more of your cool stuff to: hello.loser.zine@gmail.com 58
instagram: @loser.zine
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