Shut Your Pretty Mouth #4 by Nick DeCosemo

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH G I R LS / G I R LS / G I R LS

Dev + Nicola Roberts + Oh Land + Skylar Grey ISSUE 04 – MARCH 2012

14. What are you we aring? Chicks we dig tell us about their style

16. Alis Pelle schi Photographer or performance artist? Who care when the results are this good

04. Dev The â&#x20AC;&#x153;bass down lowâ&#x20AC;? girl on music, crazy flat shares and tantalising tattoos

08. Ge orgia Hardinge Ten things that get this incredibly hip new designer through London Fashion Week

10. Nicola Rob ert s How the Girls Aloud star spread her solo wings

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

Contents

34. Lois And The Love Vintage fashion and chat with the other Winstone girl (and her ace band)

24. Skylar Grey The hip pop writer du jour goes grunge

28. Oh L and

42. So shoot me

Up close with the ethereal pop pixie

Pap pics from the latest SYPM parties

44. Pret t y Good 32. What is b e aut y?

Cool new acts making our ears drool

Some of our favourite femmes puzzle over pulchritude

Shut Your Pret t y Mout h Shut Your Pretty Mouth is a pop-up club night run by future supergirls Charli Aitchison, Maya von Doll and Lisa O. It's also this magazine, a website, social network and a statement of intent. For more info on Shut Your Pretty Mouth, gossip, pictures and to find out how you can appear in the magazine, go to www.shutyourprettymouth.co.uk Editors: Lisa O, Maya von Doll and Charli Aitchison Design: Matt Black Production Editor: James McIrvine Contributors: Jess Knight, Charlie McCracken, Georgia Somary, Kim Zamorano, Lucy Nize, Alison Rowley

Devil woman

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

Dev has been making serious waves since teaming up with hip hop/ indie-pop duo The Cataracs. The waves became a tsunami after the Far East Movement sampled her vocal for the worldwide smash ‘Like A G6’. Now, with her own debut album The Night the Sun Came Up released she tells SYPM all about living with boys, small town noise and those ‘degenerate’ tattoos… WORDS: LUCY NIZE

Hey, Dev. How are you? And what are you up to? Hey, I’m good thank you! I’m in New York right now. Cool, and what have you got planned for your day? Today I’m just doing some press stuff and hanging out and then I’m flying back to Los Angeles because I have radio stuff to do tomorrow. So it’s a pretty busy schedule for you as far as promo and

stuff like that’s concerned? Ye ah a little bit, but it’s good though. The album deserves it. You travelled to London last tour what did you think? I thought it was really fun actually, it had a really really cool vibe. I was there for like two weeks, which was absolutely amazing. All the shows and stuff were really fun. I got to play Wembley stadium with J LS and the Far East Movement, which was cool because there were like 80,000

kids there, and I got to do some really fun club shows as well. I’m going back to Europe in about a week or two, Then I get to go to Brazil, then Lebanon and then Paris, so that’ll be fun. I’ve never been to any of those places before. D i d yo u g o o u t p a r t y i n g i n London at all? Erm, well by the time I was done performing I was usually too tired, but I guess performing

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH at a few club shows kind of counts. I remember one night I did like three club shows in a row, so it was fun. Luckily you missed our riots, did you see them on the news? I did and I read a lot about it and heard it from friends and stuff like that. It’s really really sad and unfortunate, it really is. Which other acts are you really digging? Let’s see…I really like The Naked and Famous. Um…gosh there’s so many… I like all of Drake’s new stuff I’ve been hearing. I’m really into that, I thought that everything I’ve heard so far that he’s done has been great. Yeah, I don’t know, just a few random acts like that I guess. You lived with The Cataracs in LA, is that right? Yes, I did . We moved out in the springtime, but yeah I lived with them in a loft with a studio in downtown LA for about two years. So how was that? It was cool. Living with The Cataracs was a lot of fun, they’re, you know, really really close friends of mine and we got to make some of the best music. We also recorded videos and did photo-shoots. But I’m definitely happy now to be out of that house because I was living with four boys, so yeah...(laughs) It used to get a bit stinky, right? Yes, just a little. (laughs) Was it quite a party house? Um… yeah. We definitely had our moments, but for the most part we kind of worked out of there. So we didn’t like too much partying going on, because then there’d be a lot of mess and random people. But we definitely had our moments, it was great. It was a really great space and we got a lot done there, it was awesome.

And which videos did you record there? The party scene of ‘G6’ was shot in the loft and my ‘Booty Bounce’ video was shot in my kitchen.

them personally, we met because of music. It wasn’t until we moved in together that we really got super close, but you know it was great and they’re like my best friends now.

Maybe you could’ve just had a normal party, and then just brought the camcorder. (laughs) That’s what we probably should’ve done actually.

Did they use to lead you astray? Never, no they always looked after me. It’s cool, a brother/sister type of thing.

Maybe the people wouldn’t have been quite so good looking. Actually, yeah, of course. That’s usually generally what happens, people get sloppy after a minute. Could be a slightly messier looking video! Exactly, sweat. Lots of sweat. Yeah like real sweat, rather than sprayed on for artistic sheen. Sprayed on sweat, exactly. How did you meet The Cataracs? Erm actually I met The Cataracs in 2008 over MySpace, because we both had music on there. I was a fan of theirs before that but I didn’t know

DEV DRESSES DOWN FOR A MORE INTIMATE PERFORMANCE

You used to le ad them astray then, right? (laughs) Maybe sometimes, but that’s okay of course. Did they use to try and take you to strip clubs and stuff like that? N o , t h a n k f u l l y ! I w o u l d t h ro w a fit. They already know that. They probably didn’t want to hear me bitch. (laughs) Tell us about your style because obviously you’ve got a pretty distinctive look. Thank you! So, where do you shop? I shop at a lot of different vintage shops and boutiques in downtown

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH Los Angeles. I work a lot with the women’s brand Hellz Bellz. They do the styling for my videos and TV performances. They’re great, I’ve worked with them since the beginning and I used to intern for them before I got really serious with my music. So check whatthehellz.com,, they’re amazing. How’s your style changed from b efore you hit the big-time to after you hit the big-time? Back home, growing up, I always dressed a little different and people always knew me for that. But being from a small town I didn’t have a lot of stores that were close, so I couldn’t dress completely how I wanted. Now I have more opportunity for that, I use it to my full advantage, and go crazy with it. And people send you a lot of free stuff now as well, I would imagine? Yes, which is funny because now that I actually have money I get the free stuff, it’s so fucking wack. (laughs) That’s the irony, isn’t it? It’s like completely backwards. It’s like, I needed the free shit fours year ago! Exactly, it’s so funny. What was it like growing up in a small town? You must’ve stood out quite a bit right? Yeah, a little. I got along with all types of people growing up and I hung out with a bunch of different types of people. But yeah definitely I was looked at as being a little different, for sure. Did you go to raves and stuff like that when you were growing up? I went to a lot of shows but never raves . I missed that whole era, I think, but they seemed great. America seems to be embracing dance music, especially what was once considered European-derived electro and that kind of stuff. Yeah, we’re jacking the style a little bit. It’s good!

Has that filtered down from the big cities to small-town America? It has definitely filtered down, you turn on top 40 radio stations now and everything’s sort of up-tempo like that. I think it’s good for America, we’re going through a sad time and this sort of happy and up-tempo and uplifting music is good. I don’t think it’ll ever die in the big cities though. Were you into that kind of music when you were growing up? I was into alternative emo-like hipster band music. I always went to shows

album they’ll see that the majority of the album is me singing, I may be rapping over like tw o songs . It comes from before I met The Cataracs when I started making music on my own. Just on my computer on Garageband in my closet and stuff. I always sang, or rapped, whatever you want to call it, over beats that my friends would make. I was never in a band or anything like that, and I’ve always gravitated to pop or hip hop beats and production. In ‘Booty Bounce’, you say that

“Nobody really messed with me when I was growing up... I’ve never had to fight anybody but if I did I would whoop them!” and smoked cigarettes and thought I was way too cool for everybody. But I went through a lot of phases, I always listened to rap and hiphop and pop obviously, you know all that stuff. So what emo bands were you into? I would always go to the Warped Tours, I really liked Brand New and Taking Back Sunday and The Used and stuff like that. What sort of hip-hop acts did you like? Um, I really liked Eminem, I really liked Fugees and Lauryn Hill. I really liked Snoop obviously and Tupac and stuff like that. My Dad always played Dr. Dre like a maniac around the house. I was brought up to listen to a lot of everything I guess. When did you go from being this emo girl to being an MC? A lot of your style is ab out rapping although I know you sing as well. Was there a revelation, or was it just after you met The Cataracs? I think a lot of people only know me for ‘Bass Down Low’ and ‘G6’, which are rapping based songs, if that’s what you want to call it. I think once people listen to the

‘I ain’t too pretty, to slap a hoe’. Have you ever punched a girl? (Laughs) Ah! That’s so funny. No, I’ve never needed to. Nobody ever really messed with me growing up, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But yeah I’ve never had to fight anybody but if I did, I would whoop them! (laughs) Yeah of course! Could you quickly just tell us ab out the tattoos you have? Oh yeah! My tattoos, none of them have any real meaning. They’re all actually kind of degenerate, one of them is a Cataracs lyrics, which is probably one of the most meaningful. I don’t know, I’ve always liked tattoos, I got my first when I was like 16 or 17, my Dad took me to get it done, but yeah they’re a lot of fun. I like expressing myself that way, they’re very liberating. Do you have any that can’t be shown on daytime television? (laughs) No, no. All of them can be. Okay, we’ll have to take your word for that. Dev's album The Night The Sun Came Up is out now

Georgia Hardinge The newest, hippest designer on the style world’s radar reveals the 10 things that get her through the Fashion Week circus. Kettle Chips and Top Gun anyone? WORDS: DEB WILLIMOTT

The music Jess Mills. She seems to be who I love at the moment as I work with her so often. I’m also a big 80s and 90s fan. Oh – and Tina Turner, my mum loved her so it’s ingrained in me. Which tune? ‘Private Dancer’. Lady Gaga or Madonna? I love them both. They are strong women who inspire millions.

The person My stylist Alvene Johnson [who also styles for Florence + The Machine]. She provides constant support and is the most amazing woman in my life. She’s also my love guru. The last piece of advice she gave me? “Wear your bicycle helmet”.

The snack Crisps! Kettle Chips, yeah. I have a not so secret addiction.

The cussword “Shit”... or maybe “bollocks”. I love bollocks. (giggles). I do have quite an immature side and backstage at fashion week you need it to get through. I never use the ‘C’ word. I have to say “downstairs” or “lady garden.” What do I call boobs? (pause) Let’s play it safe with “melons”.

The film It would have to be an ‘80s movie – I’ve seen them all . If I had to choose...let me look, I have loads in my cupboard (fumbles about) Either Mermaids, Big, Top Gun but most likely Groundhog Day.

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

The clot hing I just bought some fab prints from Bethnal Green. I tend to mix my collection with key new buys and vintage styles. But I have to be comfy while I work – I can’t be sewn into trousers! During fashion week I doll up and often wear my own stuff, especially if I’m meeting people. For shoes I love wedges. They are the way forward – just like a normal shoe, but higher! And you can run for a bus much faster and safer. In the studio I tend to be more comfortable and relaxed. I do love my joggers!

The b ooze I should be hip and say “whiskey on the rocks” or something cool like that. But I’m pretty relaxed when it comes to my drinks. I love red wine and cocktails! My last big hangover? When I moved studios recently. We had a mobile Margherita Man come and the margheritas were really rather strong. Even Margherita Man got merry. I had to have a word!

It em in your handb ag Now let me think, there are quite a few options to choose from. Ah yes, I know lip balm, I can’t get through the day without it! I carry way too many things in my handbag, I could probably live in it if I needed to. It’s my mobile house and comes with me everywhere. I sometimes go out with a pair of scissors in there. Not really very safe I know!

The ‘happy t hought ’ I’ll always fantasise about my next amazing dinner. I love, love, love good food and drinks. Wine, cheese and paté is my ultimate combination to eat with my friends or my w onderful housemates . Leading up to a show I don’t have enough time to enjoy a nice dinner, so when the show is done I can really sit down with family and enjoy a hearty meal. The Daily [an online newspaper] have asked me to make a dish of the day for them and I’ve agreed and decided to include my infamous cake recipe and decorate it with a heart... It’s all about love this season!

The mantra Less is more. That’s all I have to say on that one...

NicolaRobe Ever the cool one in Girls Aloud, her debut solo album Cinderella’s Eyes features collaborations with cutting edge electro producers Diplo, Metronomy, Dimitri Tikovoi and Dragonette. Nicola tells all about going solo, launching a make-up range and designing Cinderella’s shoes WORDS: JAMES McIRVINE

So, ‘Be at Of My Drum’ was a quirky pop smash, ‘Lucky Day’ was a dreamy bedroom love song, while your current single 'Yo-Yo' is a masive electro pop anthem. Your album seems to be quite varied. Are you something of a chameleon? Isn’t everyone a chameleon? The record is predominantly an electro album but there are waves of severity of electroness. ‘Sticks and Stones’ is just a Wurlitzer with some rough synth. It’s simple, ballady and quite emotional. From there it goes all the way to the serious, deep, dramatic ‘I’, which I wrote with Metronomy. And then further to the craziness of the Diplo track. I think there’s something for everyone who likes electro. What’s your favourite song on the album? It changes every couple of weeks. At the moment it’s ‘Sticks and Stones’. It’s really personal, so I put a lot of pressure on myself to get the lyric right and do the song justice. I do it acoustically and I'm really proud of it. You’ve worked with the coolest of the cool producers (see above). If you could throw one other cool kid into the mix, who would it be? I tried some stuff out with Ladytron at the start. I wanted to push my boundaries with electro to see where I was at. I love their work and Rubin

is a really talented musician. I’d have liked that to have worked out a bit better. It would be great to take that sound further. Are you writing at the moment? Yes I’m always, always writing. I miss making the record so much. If I’m on a vulnerable day, I feel a bit sad not being at the studio being creative, singing all the time. It was like an adventure. I really miss it a lot. You’ve said that you’re inspired by M.I.A - is it just feisty-political-girl power-rap that gets you going or are there other influences too? I’ve always been inspired by powerful female vocals. It’s not quite MIA but I just bought the new Beyoncé album. I can‘t turn it off. Everything’s about the voice. You’re listening to the technique and the emotion in the tone. She’s like a machine, her voice is even better than it was on her last record, she’s made herself better. The MIA admiration comes from the whole package. She doesn’t give a fuck. She’s political, she wears what she wants, her music is adventurous and her beats are so alive. As a proud ginger, what did you think of MIA’s ‘Born Free’ video (the one with the ginger kids getting blown up with landmines etc)? I know, good God, I couldn’t really watch it to be honest. I thought it was

interesting, the angle she’d taken. How she’d twisted the situation and highlighted it that way. But I couldn’t watch it. I have a soft heart, so anything like that to do with children ( especially bloody ginger ones!), it’s not going to work. Your song ‘Lucky Day’ really showcases your voice in a way most people haven’t have heard before. The video also showcases your pants – are you pioneering the no trousers fashion? We think it'll go down a storm. Possibly, yeah, why not? The thing is, if it had just been a knee length floral dress then it would have been shit. We cut it up and I specially chose the leopard print pants to clash. I thought “yeah fuck it, I’ll do it while I’m young”. On top of that it was 120 degrees in New York. There were no trousers going on my body that day, let me tell you that for nothing. If I could have, I’d have been walking around in a bloody swimsuit or something. It was so hot, all body hang–ups went right out the window. How long was the shoot? We started at half seven and finished at ten. It wasn’t too long. Gosh I’ve been on shoots with the girls that were 5.30am to 5.30am. So when they said call-time 7.30am, wraptime 10.00pm I was like, “Woooh! I can deal with that”. So Cheryl became a national treasure, Nadine had a special bonding session with Tesco... and I think it’s fair to say you became the ultra cool one - how does that make you feel?

PRETTY MOUTH SHUT SHUT YOUR YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

berts

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH Is being cool, cool? I just don’t know about any of that. Everything has to be labelled nowadays doesn’t it? I don’t know, I really don’t see myself as cool at all. C a n yo u b e c o o l i f yo u t h i n k you’re cool? It’s not a question you can answer about yourself. You’re damned if you say you’re cool and damned if you say you’re not. It’s like “what the fuck?” You have to do a live duet with either Jedward, Lady Gaga (she stays in her egg through the whole performance and smells of rotting meat) or Justin Bieber - who do you pick? Can I have my own egg? If I’ve got my own egg and she’s got hers then it would be Lady Gaga. But if I’m stood on my own and she’s locked away that would be embarrassing. So maybe it would be Justin Bieber.

If you’re going to work with me, both can take ages. I’m such a perfectionist it’s not even funny. The album took me 18 months from start to finish. The mixing alone took four months because I’m so particular. I like songs when they’re in demo form and I don’t like them when they’ve been overly produced or overly mixed. People from the label may be like: “it sounds amazing” but it has to be right for me. I have a very fine ear but I don’t talk in musical terms so it takes a lot longer for me to explain exactly what’s wrong with it. The beauty of working with Dimitri [Tikovoi] is that he understands me and he wants to understand me. You

looking forward to seeing? Topshop, House of Holland… it’s really difficult this season as the record is out at the same time. I’ll be running from Daybreak to a fashion show, back to Alan Titchmarsh and back to a fashion show…

hardly ever find that with producers. He’s gone far beyond what he was ever supposed to. He believes in the project, wants it to work and wants to be a big part of the team. I welcome that with open arms as wide as you can imagine. It’s incredible that I met him and Maya (von Doll)… so talented. I didn’t have an A&R so I was pretty much on my own. I didn’t feel anyone had my back. As soon as I met them I felt we were like little musketeers and that’s why it worked.

shining through. I always go to fashion fringe that showcases the strongest new designers who’ve just graduated. Fashion moves fast and young designers are so rearing and eager. They might not have the budgets, so their fabrics can be a bit shit, but it’s their imagination that’s on show.

Changing outfits in between? Well of course! I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen with the diary but I’m really excited. It feels like it’s not been fashion week for ages. What/who do you think is going to be big next season? I’m not really sure. I’ve been so immersed in the music that it’s been difficult to find time to look at who’s

Jedward don’t even get a look in? Jedward don’t. No. As well as being a budding pop star, you have fingers in many other pies. You’ve been linked to Vivienne Westwood, interviewed the Mother Monster and have your own make up range Dainty Doll. Can you tell us what other special projects are up your sleeve? I always have things. What’s really frustrating about being creative is that stuff takes so long. Meeting after meeting after meeting… it’s like, what the hell? By the time it comes to life, the excitement and the creativity has moved onto something else. Like with the make-up range. First you come up with the product. Next you work with the chemist. Then you have to approve the sample, which can take ages if the chemist doesn’t get it right. When it’s approved after three months, it takes another five months to go through stability testing and manufacturing to finally be on the shelf. It’s a long process. Which takes longer, putting out an album or a makeup range?

With London Fashion Week coming up, there’s no doubt we’ll see you buzzing round the circuit. Which shows are you most

What are your three fashion must haves? A leather jacket, a Mulberry handbag and some colourful, killer shoes. Perfect. You designed some shoes didn’t you? Yes, I wanted to call the record Cinderella’s Eyes and had this pipe-dream of creating the modern day glass slipper. I put it to the label and they

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH commissioned it. I was like: “Hell to the yeah!” What girl is able to create her own shoe? I worked with Atalanta Weller. She’s a really cool new designer whose shoe shapes are really imaginative. I suggested we use Swarovski crystals to highlight the glass on the slipper. I think we pulled it off but they’re hard to wear. I wore them for the album shoot. Ideally I’d like to wear them for a gig, but they’re so delicate. The dip-dye trend... revolutionary hair accessory or passing fad? Whatever, like. I can’t bear how people feel they can make the judgement that something’s a fad. Style is such a personal preference. If you find something that suits you then just because it seems to be going out of fashion are you supposed to change it? Fashion moves so fast. One moment you’ll have blue hair, the next pink, the week after it will be natural, you’ll have a perm, then it will be poker straight… you can’t keep up. Your poor hair is going to be ruined. Just do what you want. If you could have given the August rioters some fashion advice, what would it have been? Floral balaclavas and kigus for tracksuits? Oh Christ, I don’t know. They were lovers of black weren’t they. Good God that is a little… I feel I don’t want to condone their outfits. They don’t deserve fashion. You’ve got to pick between The Only Way Is Essex or My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding for its style credentials, which would you choose? The Only Way Is Essex. They go that extra length. They’ve even got vajazzles! But they wear a lot of fake tan, would you ever wear fake tan again? I used to wear fake tan to a level that was unhealthy, to the point of being hysterically orange. I would never go back there. When I shot The Truth About Tanning documentary, I got close to people who were so ill, and visited families that had been tragically touched by cancer because of sunbeds. I can’t

condone them. Fake tan is a much safer option but I would always say you should try and be as happy with yourself as possible. Pe o p l e a re s o q u i c k t o j u d g e how other people should look. Just worry about your own thing and get that right. How was it being styled, being put in Lipsy dresses for years? It’s hard when you’re 17. Where I’m from it’s all about tracksuits so I didn’t have much imagination about fashion. I was from a very small town. It wasn’t until I came to London. Your life changes, your surroundings change and your horizons broaden. Your imagination gets wilder because it’s allowed to and it’s got room to. More people should be aware that fashion is a form of expression. If you feel that you need some kind of identity then fashion can give you that. Who’s your favourite stylist? I’m working with Alison Elwin and Victoria Adcock. If you are a strongminded person, everything has to come from you and it’s important to find people who are prepared to work with that. A lot of stylists are stylists because they like to put people in things and I can’t deal with that. If I don’t feel like myself, then I’m screwed. I can’t be at my best. I need someone that’s willing to just help me, rather

too moody. What’s your best facial feature? What do you do to enhance it? Probably my eyes. False lashes are key. If it’s for stage you can get massive curly ones but if it’s day-to-day, you can put on tiny thin ones that don’t look like they’re on but give you an extra bit of oomph. What’s your make-up philosophy? Always get your skin right. Always, always, always find your own skin tone and learn your skin type. Once your skin looks really good you’re more than half way there. Do you have a big make-up fan club? The Dainty Doll foundations go from really fair to medium skin tones . There aren’t many brands that cater for really fair tones, so I get a lot of contact from women who are just thankful that someone’s made a line like that. What frustrated me before is that a lot of the big corporate companies didn’t cater for pale-skinned women because it wasn’t fashionable. It’s terrible because there are a lot of women who really need light tones and they were just being ignored. That really pissed me off. So I was like: “right fuck it, I’m going to do it.” And I did. So I get a lot of letters about that and its really nice.

“More people should be aware that fashion is a form of expression. Find your own fashion and run with it” than take over. Do you have any fav ourite photographers? I love Ellen von Unwerth. Whether it’s a bit daring, a bit sexy, beautiful or a bit girly – she understands every angle of femininity and her lighting is incredible. I also worked with Frederike Helwig. She shoots everything with flash. Everything’s bold and in your face. It feels a bit younger. But cool-young rather than

Do you have plans for any other fashion lines? It's not really my decision to say. You can’t get ahead of yourself just because you like clothes. Do you really deserve one? It’s a difficult question to answer, because I take it seriously. But you know what? I would love to do a shoe line. I think it would be fun.

What are you wearing? Chicks we dig, tell us about their style Barb ara Ryan “Today I'm wearing my tie-dye unitard, which I’ve been wearing so much lately, with one of my mum’s tees I chopped up on top (both from American Apparel). I've also got a second hand jacket on, desert boots (from Clarks) and a blingy gold Marc by Marc Jacobs satchel.”

Angelique Celler

“When I wake up every morning I dress according to how I feel. To me, fashion has a lot to do with fantasy and imagination. One of my main fashion influences would have to be Grace Jones. She's beautiful and is an icon to many misfits and fashionistas like myself.”

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

Alis Pelle schi

Charlie Savage “The clothes I like are indie/rock and vintage and hippyish. I like Topshop, Drop Dead, vintage stores and my favourite is Urban Outfitters. Also old rock tees from music shops. Someone who inspires me with fashion is Taylor Momsen as I love how creative she is and that she has her own sense of style.”

Ruby Blue s “As a performer, costume is a huge part of my life. I get my inspiration from everywhere... film, literature, to what's on the runway. I'd describe my aesthetic as 'Apocalypse Showgirl' although it changes from weekto-week. I spent the winter dressed as a teenage emo superhero, living in a cat-ear hoodie from Neurotica and full-length Lost Boys 80s vampire coat! My favourite designers are the extraordinary Rachel Freire and Lyall Hakaraia.’’

“I love to become different characters and I love colours. Bambified with a mixture of sex and darkness, my motto is you can be whoever you want to be. My fashion is inspired by: my home Bradford, popular culture, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Disney films, the 90s and badly dubbed porn.”

Occie Warren “I'm wearing a floorlength body-con dress and am wrapped in cassette tape coil. I ' m a l s o we a r i n g fish net tights and, of course, lots of eyeliner.”

Alex Scot t Griffe L auren Savage “The clothes I like are things that have a rock vibe about them, and anything that is just a bit abnormal. People that inspire me fashion-wise are Amanda Hendrick and Hayley Williams.”

“ Fa s h i o n d o e s n ’ t always inspire my outfits. I am inspired by music mainly. I love to wear my arctic fox fur hat whether it’s winter or summer. Alice from Crystal Castles is one of my main fashion influences.”

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

Take aAlis Peek Pelleschi You can be old, mad, bad, royal... Alis Pelleschi is happy to take your picture. Just don't bore her with something she's seen before. She tells Georgia Somary...

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

With bleached brows and Barbie pink hair, this northern lass looks a bit like a futuristic superhero, or maybe even a naughtier, adult edition of My Little Pony. Much like a superhero, this photographer/ film maker/stylist and all round artist has a number of alter egos: “I think at the moment, I’m kind of like a sexy, northern, dirty, fun, intense powerpuff girl!” Pelleschi’s playful, often cartoonish personal style is definitely a “significant expression of [her] photographic work. They are both constantly evolving”. Her photographs are raw and colourful, depicting anything from gun-toting East End Barbies to Dianamad superfans. They are quirky to say the least but her skill is to make even the most bizarre set ups seems effortless rather than contrived. Her photographs are intense and full of drama and owe some debt to David LaChapelle, one of Alis’ “ultimate photographic heroes”. Not content with staying on one side of the camera, Pelleschi often features in the work herself: “I loved performing growing up and went to a performing arts high school…and definitely like being in control of every aspect of the creative process”. Despite being a self-proclaimed creative control freak, Alis loves to collaborate, “I loved shooting the FASHION ICONS series (senior citizens in ‘contemporary’ clothing), anyone can be a fashion icon!” Apart from the O.A.P.s, Alis hopes to photograph none other than y’Majesty herself, as well as working with the eccentric John Waters, who is near and dear to her heart (she wants to fuck him). Who w ouldn’t she w ork with? Artists whose work is overused to

the point where it’s become boring. She prefers to work with people that “intrigue and inspire”. “I recently created a self portrait piece honoring Carri (cassetteplaya) for Bullett magazine. I took bold pieces from her archive and created a series inspired by her. That’s what I love doing.” When photographing collections, Pelleschi seems to play both the stylist and the actress, and is clearly as interested and inspired by the model as the clothes themselves. Rather than seeing fabric wrapped round lifeless limbs, there’s a man clutching his backpack smiling – it’s all a bit tongue in cheek and youthful. Alis, performer that she is, prefers to create something she can capture naturally in the moment, her art often playful and teasing, not overly serious. Although she is never thoughtless. “I think my best shoots are the ones where I have had time to think what I want”. “I’m planning to take over the world”, jokes Alis, although she must be doing something right, because she has been published in Glamour, i-D and Notion to name a few. SYPM is glad to present a selection of some of Alis' best shots over the next few pages. See if you can guess which ones she features in!

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

Skylar Grey – misery is back

Collaborations with Eminem, Rihanna, Diddy and Dr Dre have cast her as hip hop’s darling but 20 years after Nirvana’s Nevermind what Skylar really wants is to bring back grunge WORDS: GEORGIA SOMARY & MAYA VON DOLL

Hey, you already know this girl. But maybe without realising it. She’s the 25 year old Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who is responsible for the biggest-selling single of 2010, Eminem/ Rihanna’s ‘Love The Way You Lie’, as well as Diddy Dirty Money’s ‘Comin Home’ and more recently Dr. Dre’s ‘I Need A Doctor’. Now Skylar Grey is going solo, and SYPM were lucky enough to catch her first UK show at XOYO, before popping round for a little chat the following morning. Walking into the room late is a pretty, raven-haired girl, who gives everyone dagger eyes (she relaxes after a cup of tea), and looks a bit like Shirley Manson. Much like her 90s lookalike, Skylar’s performance the night before was effortlessly cool. It was refreshing to hear loud guitars over hip hop beats, a raw and welcome sound in a time when synth seems to be the instrument of choice. She played tracks from her new album. ‘Final Warning’ was a

particularly notable one, during which she shouted to the crowd “How many of you ladies out there been cheated on by your fucking boyfriends?” in her Mid-Western drawl. Visually, it was pretty cool to see a girl not wearing a leotard on stage, a look that Skylar seems decidedly unimpressed by: “Everybody’s wearing them, they’re not that flattering to be honest with you. I don’t know why they feel like they need to show their camel-toe”. Instead of feeling the need for a circus-like stage show she prefers to be comfortable and was dressed in jeans and a hoodie – simplicity reflected in her music. Her video for ‘Dance Without You’ is a nice slab of misery in a sea of hyper-colourful and blingtastic pop videos, cited as being like “the song Garbage never did”, a huge compliment for the girl who wants to see a new wave of 90s grunge inspired pop, like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. “I feel like I kinda have elements of that 90s

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH style sound mixed in with this new pop, hip-hop combination thing.” Talking about live shows, Skylar admits to being more anxious about performing in front of festival goers than her peers and critics at the Grammys (she was nominated for best songwriter, and joined Eminem and Dr Dre on stage at the awards to perform ‘I Need A Doctor’). “I was more nervous about if we’d won... They make the Staple centre very homely. They’ve got carpet on the ground and it just feels like a big ass living room, to me. It didn’t feel as gigantic as I thought it would feel, as opposed to being on stage with M (she means Eminem, obvs) at V Festival where there’s 100,000 people, that’s a lot more like ‘woah!’. Her first UK single, ‘Invisible’ (released in the UK last September), is a song that she feels a lot of people can relate to: “it’s a combination of autobiographical and then… just things that I notice… and see.” The album, named Invinsible (a mash up of invisible and invincible) by Marilyn Manson – who also collaborated with Skylar on the track ‘Can’t Haunt Me’. “I reached out to him cos I didn’t want my first feature to be an expected rapper, you know, so I went out after Marilyn who I’ve been a fan of for years.” The album is produced by Alex Da Kid, the guy responsible for connecting Skylar with Eminem, Dr Dre and Diddy – and who’s currently working with Cheryl Cole. She laughs off our suggestion that he was her knight in shining armour, explaining that she had in fact found him: “I basically said ‘I wanna work with you’ and then we collaborated. Writing ‘Love The Way You Lie’ opened a lot of doors for this girl, something Skylar is grateful for. “When you write a song, you have an emotional attachment to it... it’s surreal to hear a melody and lyrics that I wrote being sung by Rihanna”. Despite using a lot of hip hop beats in her music, Skylar never grew up listening to hip hop: “[it’s] a very new thing in my life. Dude, I am so like out of the loop”. She grew up in a very small town in Wisconsin without TV and shopping malls (the town didn’t even have stop signs). Having little to do, she spent a lot of time making music and learned to play piano, guitar, and lap-dulcimer. A Mid-Western

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH girl through and through, complete with a tattoo of her beloved state on her arm, she is not a huge fan of the skin deep L.A. scene. “When I moved out to LA, I was like ‘woah!’ People wouldn’t show up to dinners, and that was normal.” However Skylar is tougher than your average middle America girlnext-door (she once had a part time job editing porn – it paid well), likening herself to the Ice Queen in Narnia (well, we did ask her which storybook queen she’d most like to be). She even spent a year living in a cabin (complete with outhouse) in the middle of nowhere. A bit like Into The Wild but without the tragic ending. “For a year before I got that I had been dreaming of a place that I could escape to and be alone and simplify my life... a place where I could focus on being creative and not have to worry about the business side of music because it was really

“I’d literally have to eat fruit off the trees... going through hard times gave me a lot of inspiration” getting me down to the point where I had writer’s block.” Before temporarily becoming a hermit, she had been bone broke, living with a psychopath who stole the little she had at the time. “I’d literally have to go out and eat fruit off trees, avocados. I think going through these hard times gave me a lot of inspiration for things to write about that I know a lot of people in the world can relate to. Cos, lets face it, life is hard you know?” As we leave at 11am Skylar is tucking into a Caesar salad – in her heavy black eye makeup and combat boots – and asking where she is going next (she prefers to let others worry about cars and wake up calls). We’re sure, wherever she’s going, it’ll be a long way from Wisconsin.

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

What’s the worst thing to come out of your pretty mouth? “Anything I’ve said regarding any other band. Note to self: don’t talk to The Guardian while drunk at the Mercury Awards” Tahit a Bulmer, New Young Pony Club

“When I was a kid I was on a boat and got a bit seasick. I’m pretty sure I puked up a pooh. I’ve been told this is biologically impossible. However it certainly looked like a pooh. Pretty disgusting.” Richard, singer wit h The Feeling

"I love you..." Dave McCracken, producer/writ er ext raordinaire

“I’d murder a homeless person for a glass of rosé.” Mart ina Sorb ara, Dragonet t e mic mist re ss

”A Waffle House breakfast, Dallas, R.E.M. tour 2003.” Ed Harcourt , le gendary t roub adour

“‘Let’s carry on!’ after [Oasis at] Knebworth in ’96. I should have gone straight to Wales and stayed there. But the upside was I learned a lot about life in the next 12 years before I packed in music.” Alan McGee, founder of Cre at ion Re cords and Popt one s

H 28

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH Although you now live in the US, you’re originally from Denmark. Which kind of Nordic female artist do you think you’re most like: pure pop Robyn or more leftfiled like Bjork? I see myself with a leg on each side. Production-wise, I’m always trying to do things that are quite challenging, fun and experimental. Song writingwise, I like to write songs that have a pop-ology to them . Songs that you can sing without editing; that still sound like a song and are not too dependent on the production. How has living in New York influenced your lyrics? New York has influenced me in many ways. It definitely made me quite restless at first – it’s a city with so much energy and it kind of kept me up all the time. There was always something that I wanted to explore. ‘White Nights’ is about that – it refers to those nights where it never gets dark and you never sleep because there’s a constant source of inspiration that just keeps you going. Before you got signed to Epic in New York you had booked yourself

your own US tour which culminated in you playing at SXSW. Why did you decide to tour the US? I decided to tour the US because since the very first song I wrote, I have always written in English and I think generally I’m quite an adventurous person – I always like to put myself in situations that are challenging. I had always had this dream about going to America, so I just went with my backing band and pretty quickly – I think actually the first show I played out there – there were a few major labels turning up in the audience. Epic Records then signed me out of their New York office . Did you not see London’s e clectic music scene as the place where you could take things to the next level? Oh definitely. I have actually lived in London for long periods of time because I recorded and wrote over half the record there. Most of it was actually recorded and written in Streatham because Dan Carey, one of the producers lives there. I also worked with Dave McCraken a lot in Notting Hill, so a big percentage of the album was created in England. I

really loved it and I love the British culture, so I would definitely like move to the UK someday. The flashing, floating interactive ‘contraption’ you use in live shows is amazing, so you obviously like your gadgets. What’s your home studio set-up? Do you record ideas into your phone when they come to you, write with a guitar/keyboard or do you have a mini-studio area? The most holy place for me to write is just on a piano. That’s kind of my church. When I’m sat in front of the piano, just by myself, it makes me concentrate and makes me get out whatever it is that I need to get out. I think the piano is my shrink in a way! I mean, I never know what it is I am going to write, but I always know I’m going to write something. Every time I walk away from the piano or studio, I’m always surprised that it was that song that came out of [the session] because I can never really plan it. I think that’s one of the wonderful things about being a songwriter; you walk into the studio with nothing and then at the end of the day you walk

Synths, gongs and a Scandinavian soul. Oh Land’s sugar style hides a complex character. The electro-folk Amazon talks piano therapy, kissing girls and kamikaze wasps...

Uh, oh. Here comes trouble WORDS: ALISON ROWLEY & MAYA VON DOLL

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I wanted to be the biggest pop diva in the world, I would have made a record very different to this.â&#x20AC;?

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH out having created a whole new story. You approach music from an arty perspective, are you ever afraid that this might b e ‘too much’ for some? I think it can be a little bit more challenging than things that are completely ‘middle of the road’, but that’s what I want, you know? I don’t aspire to make anything that everybody on the planet can relate to, that’s not my intention. I just want to produce music that is fun and emotional for me to make and then I hope that with that music I can touch somebody else. I guess if I just wanted to be the biggest pop diva in the world, I probably would have made a record very different to this!

Quick-fire choice s: Lordi, Aqua or Abba? I think I may have to be a little nationalist and actually say Aqua. I listened to them when I was very young Sum up the following females in the industry in three words: Britney: That’s really difficult! I would say... Cute, cute and cute! She’s very sweet. You mentioned in a recent interview that one of your t o p t h re e a l b u m s o f a l l time is actually Britney’s

You talk ab out drawing on all the senses when writing. How w ould you de scrib e the scent of your album? The scent? Hmmm, I would describe it as ‘forest, right after it has rained’.

[At this point the phone line goes dead. When we are eventually reconnected, we find out Oh Land has been stung by a wasp that’d flown into her car]

Does any of it smell of sex? [Laughs] I think probably if I could pick one song, it would most likely be ‘Rainbow’. That’s the sexiest song I’ve written. Do you have a ‘type’ when it comes to guys then? No, I’ve always been very surprised by how little I have a type. I’ve never had two boyfriends that were in any way the same. I think the things that I value in people are when they are kind of emotionally clever and have their own view on things. You supported Katy Perry on her U K tour. What’s your favourite song of hers and, more importantly, have you ever kissed a girl and liked it? My favourite is definitely ‘Teenage Dream’. And have I kissed a girl? [Laughs] Yeah, I have actually. It’s quite a weird story, but the first time was with my best friend that I lived with. We were both dancers... Yeah, that was pleasant!

You trained for many years as a ballet dancer. If we had the power to resurrect one of these guys and then hired a little dance studio in Brooklyn, who would you choose to spend the day sweating in a pair of leggings with - Rudolf Nuriyev or Michael Jackson? Rudolf Nuriyev, he’s my idol and was the most charismatic person. You can just see in pictures that he had such a strong aura... I’m fascinated with him. If I could ever meet him, I would. He inspired me to take up dancing, especially when he was dancing with Margaret Fontaine. I just loved the way that although Margaret was not a particularly amazing dancer technically (I mean, she was really quite old when she got her break with her career), the way she danced with him – with so much emotion and courage – it blew people away. That said, I’m a big fan of Michael Jackson as well, so if we could dance as a trio that’d be excellent!

Hello, I’m here! I got attacked on my arm, but I’m OK! Ouch. Where were we? B l a ck o u t . D o yo u h a ve a favourit e t rack from that album? ‘Piece Of Me’ - I just think the production is genius. The way that her voice is autotuned in the second verse is so musical. OK, back to the words to finish off Robyn: Erm... neon, boys, disco. Adele: I haven’t listened to her much actually. Chairs [laughs], hair, tears. Gaga: Hmmmm . Le ather, vampires and Madonna Yourself: Metropolis, Amazonas and... wolf.

Damn wasps, always ruining interviews! Are you already thinking of your next album and does it have a particular vibe/is there a set direction you’d like to take? Right now, I get new ideas every day. One day I want it to be quite folky, the next day I’ll be listening to hiphop and… I don’t know, it changes a lot. I actually have no idea! I guess I’ve got two sides of me that you can also hear on this album; one of them is kind of up-tempo and fun and the other is more melancholic and has a bluer side to it . I feel like those two sides are constantly struggling inside me. I don’t think I could make an album that was one or the other. I think I would always have to have those two sides

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

What is beauty?

A sunset, the sea, a cat called Wolfie... We asked eight of our favourite females what beauty means to them “Beauty is the feeling I get when I see what the universe creates every day and night, when the sun rises and sets. It’s a free Kodak moment twice a day and a fresh start.” Mercede s, red-hot new singer and MC

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Beauty is wild and free... Beauty is not perfection, Perfection is not me... Alex, of pop duo Oh My!

‘’Beauty for me is the sea, I come from a seaside town and the sea is something of awe and beauty....’’ Sara Leigh Shaw, drummer t o t he st ars

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH “Wisdom, grace, poise, personality and intellect. An idea excecuted with originality and pure motives. Simplicity and knowing who you are inside and out. This is real beauty to me.” Ros aly Pfeffer, M .I .A . protégé

“The beauty of life, is that you don’t have to be modernly beautiful to live it.” Ke l l M i t ch e l l , photographer (with some h e l p f ro m C.S. Lewis), k e l l m i t ch e l l . com

‘’Beauty is how we construe it to coincide with our own likings and ideals of what beauty is. Due to the subjective nature of how we, as individuals, determine something as being ‘beautiful’, it has the wonderful ability to transform itself into an abundance of different forms. Beauty’s ability to inhabit any person or anything we wish it to is a beautiful thing in itself.” Ta r a , t e e n blogger, u-ni-corn. t u m b l r. c o m

‘’Beauty is universal and is known in all languages . It can come in human form or it can be something else such as a landscape, the sunset, art, a performance or a piece of music. I think beauty in a person is someone who is passionate about others, accepts their flaws and talents, and is comfortable and confident with their true self.‘’ Ke l s ey Ellison, s i n g er/dancer/ b l o g ger k i m onot ime. t u m blr.com

‘’Seeing my cat Wolfie snuggle up to my 8 month old baby to stop him crying’’ G i t a L angley, s i n g er wit h Th e L angley S i s t ers

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

Whole lotta

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

ta love

Actress, model, headline grabber… Lois Winstone has impressed critics in a number of high profile roles – but to many she is overshadowed by her famous sister (Jaime) and dad (Ray). But her new blues band, Lois And The Love, may just be about to change that PICTURES: LUC COIFFAIT

WORDS: JAMES McIRVINE

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

We go backstage at London’s iconic KOkO venue with Lois to meet her bandmates and get the lowdown on their murky pasts and bright futures... WORDS: JAMES MCIRVINE

Lois and the Love are about to play their biggest gig yet. They’ve made it through KOKO’s backstage maze of stairs and corridors and have sunk into black leather sofas in a suitably vaudevillian, deep red dressing room. Tonight’s venue is the kind that sorts the seasoned pros from the have-a-go-zeroes, so tension’s high. But so is morale. “I used to come here as a kid, bouncing up and down to different bands,” says Lois. “It’s a lovely venue, I can’t believe I’m playing now. It’s a really big thing for me.” Lois is Ray Winstone’s daughter and Jaime’s sister. Acting must be in the blood since she’s in films too. She was also the face (and body) of

All about the L

a 2009 Ann Summers collection. But Lois is extraordinarily friendly and grounded, especially for someone who’s spent so much of her life in the media spotlight (she appeared in Nil By Mouth with her father all the way back in 1997). She’s recently completed two films but from here on in “music is absolutely the priority.” As for more modelling Lois laughs heartily at the idea: “I’m not a model! I did that on the off-chance. I had fun with it but I’ve always been a singer. I’m too old to be a model!” She started dabbling in music in

a hip hop crew called Crack City. “I was 19 and quite mental,” she explains . “I think I gave it a nice balance. The two boys were quite political while I was quite sexually charged. It worked well, it took away a lot of the hatefulness and teenage angst.” Lois’s new blues-tinged rock band seems a far cry from bedroom hip hop. Janice Joplin and Portishead come out as strong influences. They say if they had to be pigeonholed then they’d be pretty happy if those two names were on the label.

The Love began when Lois got together with childhood friend Dean Sharp to bash some musical ideas together. This went so well they decided to form a band with her singing and him taking on guitars, keyboards and backing vocals. Dean’s had a colourful past in and out of the music world. For a while he played with Ark Of The Covenant, a collective formed by General Santana Deeds best known for being Pete Doherty’s “bezzy mate”. Pete frequently joined them on stage (“I didn’t understand a word he was

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH ket.” All that’s certain is that he possesses a drumming talent that belies his 20 years. When it comes to the gig itself, it turns out that early jitters about a small turnout were unwarranted. After ‘Starcrossed Lovers’, their incendiary Yeah Yeah Yeahs-style opening number, they’ve almost fired up the crowd to the point of a full-blown stage invasion. “Farkin ‘ell, there’s a load of people here” shouts Lois in a tone and accent very like her father’s. But the band are clearly energised by the chaos. Dad can’t make it tonight as he’s working and sis is waylaid at a machineless Florence’s birthday celebrations. Though both would normally be supporting with mum – who’s pogoing enthusiastically on one of the ornate balconies.

e Love saying… but it was great!”). Bizarrely, another career path had him working for Hamleys children’s store, resplendent in a gold blazer and red tie. He was so good he was even headhunted for Harrods’ toy department. LATL's audience response is not unlike the Christmas rush in a toy store, so the experience could stand him in good stead. Though sadly there’s no sign of the outfit. Dean met bassist Oli Longmore in the General’s project. He seems to be the ‘wild one’. The man you want at your side when other band’s

“I’m not a model! I did that on the off-chance. I had fun with it but I’ve always been a singer. I’m too old to be a model!” riders are going neglected but who you don’t want to peak too early in the gig. Following the sound check he’s shepherded home, tonight there’s no margin for unpredictables. Paul Noble, known as the Wizard, is the most experienced member of the band. He’s also part of the management team (“I’m sort of the backroom boy, but they’ve made me go on stage”). A production and guitar warlock, he contributes to the band’s more out-there, leftfield soundscapes. Finally there’s Eddie Banda the drummer, the last to join and the youngest. No-one’s quite sure how they found him: “My little Ed just kind of fell out of the sky and landed on my lap,” remembers Lois, while Dean recalls: “He was left on her doorstep in a massive Moses bas-

The band keep momentum throughout with songs exploring all manner of musical territory. ‘Eye of the Storm’, a rock-out-before-you-blackout White Stripes inspired number, earns the most raucous response. At the other end of the spectrum is ‘Dark Serenade’, a sort of space-soul for the Pseudstep generation, which brings the right sort of gravitas to end the show. Work starts soon on an album, an Ibiza live date is on the horizon and, in the background, there are rumours of a Major Label bidding war. The future looks sparkly for LATL. Post-gig, huddled-up and smoking through a turret window, the atmosphere is euphoric. “What you think babes?” asks Lois. I t h i n k yo u ’ re g o i n g t o n e e d a bigger stage.

So shoot me! Pap pics from Shut Your Pretty Mouthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two latest parties

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

Pretty Good Hot new talent making us drool right now

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

Scarlett Etienne INTERVIEW BY CHARLI XCX

Rock'n'roll, DJ product ion Princess, Scarlett Etienne is a sequin pop siren. SYPM sat down to talk about her world. And her underwear. You seem like a bit of a super girl - DJ/producer/singer/ songwriter/etc... if you had to pick one, which would be your favourite? That’s such a hard question. Today I’ll probably say producer, as producing music encompasses all of these skills, and it’s the thing I find the most challenging. Tell us how everything started for you? Did you just wake up one day and think – I’m going to be a pop star? I was still in the womb when that was decided! Do you produce your own tracks or is there room for collaborations? Are you a bit of a lone wolf in the studio or is it all about the party vibes, i.e bangout -a-b ot t le-of-t equila-andlets-write-a-hit type thing? All of the above! I have been producing most of my own stuff, I do tend to get stir crazy in the studio if I’m left alone for too long with my machines! I do like a good collaboration, and I’m always searching for pe ople who share t he s ame musical vision. And yes, I’m all about the bottle of Mezcal and party vibes in the studio! Your song ‘S E R IOUS’ is kinda catchy – how did that one come about? I wrote that song on my Gibson Les Paul guitar, using a very simple chord progression. It

was a sunny day in London, in my studio. It was written, produced, and the video was shot in a matter of ten days. In the video we see you climbing over rooftops in your underwear and a selection of dresses/leotards (obvs not afraid of heights). How important to you is your st yle and where do you get your inspiration from? Personal style is extremely important to me. I even started designing myself so I could fulfill my own fashion fantasies! My line is called “House of Starlett”. The concept is future interpretations of classics...I like t o refer t o it as “Space Burlesque”. Simple, elegant, playful, colourful . My st yle is inspired by Dita von Teese, Alexander McQueen, Bjork . I’m also super obsessed with how ridiculously immaculate Victoria Beckham looks when she’s in airports. Bitch. Leather Balmain leggings and a Birkin Bag? Yes PLEASE! On a quick note - I love your pants in that video (I wasn’t perving... they’re kinda hard to miss, lots of ass shots going on) - where are they from? Ooh thank you! It’s ok, you can perv! Those would be the high-waisted satin hotpants from House of Starlett . I’ll make you a pair, babe, your ass would look fabulous in those!

thing that’s important to you as an artist? Ooh la la. Fiery? Me?! One must exercise their freedom of speech. And hell yes, sexuality and girl power all the way. Is there an album coming? And if so what can we expect - more 80s infused poptastic sequin bangers? Absolutely. I’ve been re-inspired to make techno music, as art ist s like Ge s affelst ein and labels like Boys Noize and Turbo have put out some fucking great releases as of late. So I’m currently working on some dance singles for my own independent label STAR LET T records, as well as an album. The album t une s I’ve got so far are most definitely some poptastic sequin bangers fused with underground techno DIRT. I like to describe the sound as TECHNOLECTROPOP. When can we next catch you live/DJing? I always post updates about upcoming gigs on my facebook page www.facebook.com/scarlettmusic. I'm lucky to have loads of DJ gigs in places like Barcelona, Milan, Mexico City, Madrid, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Sicily, Singapore and Romania... plus lots of London dates. And of course, I will be performing live at Shut Your Pret t y Mouth soon! Finally, a quick fire round - NYC or LDN? Top or bottom? Rock'n'Roll legend or Pop Princess? LD N / TO P / R O C K'N'R O LL PRINCESS

I think it’s fair to say you’re a pretty fiery character and there’s a fair bit of sex banter going on on your twitter (cheeky). Is girl power and sexuality some-

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

Grimes INTERVIEW BY CHARLI AITCHISON

AKA Claire Boucher, Grimes recently released ‘Darkbloom’, a split E P with fellow Canadian d’Eon, and has been taking the States by storm, opening for Lykke Li. Hello Grimes, how are you today? Good :) I heard about you through David E Sugar’s twitter. He was saying you write and produce everything yourself. Is this true? How important is it for you to have creative control of your project? I do produce everything . I find it essential to have complete creative control over every aspect of a project. Do you know David E Sugar? - I think he fancies you a bit too… (shhh… potentially awkward…) Haha no, I’m sorry, I don’t. I’m not too acquainted with cool music or anything like that. Your song ‘Vanessa’ is amazing. Who is this mysterious girl you’re talking about? Some girl from my elementary school who was really weird – I just tried to find her and couldn’t. So I named a song after her. Also the vide o is b e autiful . It seems so organic. Did you work with a director to create it or were these all of your own concepts and ideas as well? I directed the ‘Vanessa’ video myself, but I worked with a d.o.p. named John Londono who really should be credited for the visual elements, because he's the best in Montreal. He contributed a lot to the overall look. Who are you inspired by? I’ve read a lot of comparisons to the

Cocteau Twins. To me, I think of Bat For Lashes meets Kate Bush meets just general magicalness... Well, I’m not a huge fan of Bat for Lashes or Kate Bush, but I do see why I get compared to them. I’m inspired a lot by TLC, New Edition, Destiny’s Child… stuff like that. But also Enya, Black Dice, Dungeon Family, and HTDW. My music doesn’t necessarily sound like what I’m inspired by. To me you sound like a bit of a supergirl. If you had to have one super power, what would it be? Invisibility or eternal life, probably. Can you tell us what your favourite pop song of all time is? (I know it’s a hard one.) There are three: Rihanna, ‘Only Girl in the World’; Mariah Carey, ‘Fantasy’ and Prince, ‘When Doves Cry’. I think they‘re the greatest songs ever written. How do you feel about the current state of pop music? I absolutely love it, and am incred-

ibly inspired by it. I think pop and underground music are both better now than they‘ve been in a long while. It’s a very inspiring time. I listen to the radio a lot when I want to be inspired. I love the new Britney album so much… What can we expect from a live performance? Subtle and shy or vomit on face and scream the walls down? Not really either – I’m in the process of becoming more comfortable onstage, but it’s not super crazy. I’m definitely past being super shy (I hope). Finally, what are your goals/targets over the next year or so? I want to make good records, work on my side project, see as much of the world as possible, and keep my head on right while touring… that’s tough.

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH INTERVIEW BY KATIE ROWLEY

The Swedish duo released their first single ‘Manners’ on Kitsuné in 2010. Produced by Patrik Berger (of Robyn fame), the song’s lessons on a bitter break up are masked by triumphant girl-power beats. Icona Pop are a band (and more recently a DJ duo) to look out for, so is there any substance behind their catchy name... How did you become Icona Pop? We met one night through a common friend. We were both at a point in our lives where we just said “Fuck it” and were out partying a little bit to much. Aino was heartbroken and Caroline had a frustrated mind. When we met, we totally fell in love. The day after we wrote our first song. It was magic. We moved in together and wrote music day and night . We didn’t believe in sleep, haha. The first week we booked a gig, one month later we stood on stage with a band and six new songs. We hyped it hard because we thought people wouldn't show up. When we got to the place there was a huge line outside and people couldn’t even get in. We had to improvise a lot but it was our best gig. It’s quite a presumptuous name. What’s your plan for becoming the next icon of pop? First we’re gonna release a fantastic album and throw ourselves out there. We‘ve been living and creating our own little Icona Pop world for a long time, now we‘re ready to let the rest of the world in. Icon of pop, pop star, queens of pop… you can call it what you want. At the moment we‘re focusing on doing our thing and being creative, but hell yeah! We have big plans. There’s been a recent barrage of beat heavy synth laden pop from our Scandinavian friends, with the likes of Lykke Li, Oh Land, Fever Ray, The Knife and some unkowns called Abba – what sets your sound apart? We love pop! We have two different

Icona Pop musical backgrounds and that makes our sound a little bit more messy and dirty. A lot of galloping drums and twisted synthesizers supporting the classic pop melodies. We are two girls and we sing most of the stuff together, without harmonies.

music. If someone gives us cool kid status, then “thank you!” Lets just hope it‘s for the music.

Who or what inspires you? We get inspiration from each other and from our friends. Like for ‘Manners’, we lived with a bunch of girls and every morning we'd be hearing new stories of heartbreak. This year has been amazing. ConYour single ‘Manners’ has the line “take a se cond look and stantly travelling, sleeping on floors, you’ll see/ there is no one like meeting wonderful and fucked up me” – what would someone see people telling us their life stories. It’s easier to write when you‘re away on their first look? Two very tall girls with a lot of cojones from home. We‘re both dreamers and probably wearing way too much get easily bored. We‘re very black black even though it’s a hot, hot or white, never in the middle. Super summer. And laughing a little too happy or really down. We think you can hear that on our album. loud at our own jokes… How are your manners? They could be better, sometimes. Which do you prefer - being on stage or in the studio? The stage is by far the best place. You supported Kitsuné protégés Is Tropical at London’s XOYO – would it be fair to give you the cool-kid status? We love Kitsuné and Is Tropical! It was a great night. When it comes to cool kids status we don’t care. We are just doing our thing and we are playing for the people that like our

Did you like Chiddy Bang sampling ‘Manners’? Would you like to collaborate with anyone else? Yeah we love it! There are so many we'd want to work with, for example Prince… but we hear he's very busy. Pet Shop Boys, Miike Snow, Chemical Brothers, Simply Red, Santig old and many more.

ww w.un d erb ell yho xt o n .com

sh ut your p ret t ymo u t h .co .uk faceb ook .co m/ h ello syp m

Pl us ! a live PA per f orm ance from Mercede s

DJ s Li t t le Boo t s Icona Pop Lou M adh u

Lond on, N1 6N U 7pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mid ni ght Free e nt r y

I SS U E #4 L AU N C H PA RT Y U N D E R B E LLY H OXTO N

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH