Noctis Issue 5
Welcome to the OBSESSION issue of Noctis.
We all have them from those small things we wake up thinking about, to those of you with obsessive compulsive disorder and others with phobias. Being obsessed with certain things in life can be a blessing and without the obsession’s we have here at Noctis, the issues before this and this one itself would never have seen the light of day, so firstly a thank you to the team and everyone in this issue for delving into their obsessions for us. The issue laid out before you features some of our favourite people from different artistic pursuits including, Audrey Kitching, Yuki Minami, Eliza Delite, Thomas Codd, Sophie Dean, Neil Craver, Rob Jarvis, Petite Noir, Digitalism, Ego Troopers, Let’s go Safari, Zowie, Sizarr and Jupiter. Features 6 Zone1Artysan 22 Thomas Codd 32 Audrey Kitching 48 Eliza DeLite 58 Subaquática 80 An Afternoon Fling 84 Pop Bakery Fashion 10 Fascination 26 A Test Of Character 38 Intimate Preoccupation 52 Clean Freak 70 Entomophobia 96 Causa Mortis 110 Efflorescence 116 Little Sweetheart Art 86 Velo Love 104 Ready for Life Music 122 Petite Noir 126 Let’s Go Safari 132 Sizarr 134 Jupiter 138 Zowie 142 Digitalism 144 Ego Troopers 2 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
Noctis Editor in Chief Leoni-Blue leoni@noctismag.com
Fashion Editor Sophie Monro-Pruett sophie@noctismag.com
Music Editor Erin Davies erin@noctismag.com
Beauty Editor Marie Isabel maz@noctismag.com
Features Editor 32
Carl Ellis-Coward carl@noctismag.com
Graphic Designer Jo Smolaga josmo@noctismag.com
Web Management 58
Joe Stephens @noctismag.com
Editorial Assistant Jodie Shepherd jodie@noctismag.com
Interns 70
Daniela Bertolone Leah Adams info@noctismag.com
ILLUSTRATION BLEU PICKARD
WWW.BLEU-LINES.COM
CONTRIBUTORS IMAGE MAKERS
STYLE MAKERS
NEIL CRAVER RHIAN COX CLAIRE PEPPER DAVID RICHARDSON ROB JARVIS LUCA SAGA GITA BUGA YOSHI TAKAKONO CORWIN PRESCOTT GRACE ELKIN
SOPHIE MONRO - PRUETT HOLLY BARBER MELANIE WILKINSON RHONA EZUMA RACHEL HOLLAND JENNIFER GEACH AUDREY KITCHING SOPHIE GATEN
ILLUSTRATORS BLEU SOPHIE GAINSLEY YUKI MINAMI
MODELS CHARLI @ OXYGEN PHOEBE WATSON @ MODELS 1 MONIKA @ FIRST MODELS VALEN @ LENIS MODELS PIERRE @ SAPPHIRES LALITA LEE CHADILA @ PREMIER MODELS JACK ROYEL @ D1 KARA @ NEVS MODELS CAROLINE @ FIRST MODELS 4 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
WRITERS
GROOMING
GREG SWABY LEONI - BLUE JACK ROYLE ALEXA TOMASZEWSKI SOPHIE DEAN HOLLY MAY TURNER JAYNE BECCA CHANTEL BEAVEN CHRIS NEWMAN TARA MCEVOY ERIN DAVIES
LAUREN JOHNSON BAMBIFACE RYAN HENEGHAN CAMILA HEWITT GISELLE FRYATT YASMIN FRANCIS NINA SAGRI TOMOYUKI CHRISTINA ZEMURA
SPECIAL THANKS DESIGNERS: ANA EVERY, GREGORY NICHOLAS, OBSCURE COUTURE, TOPSHOP, COS, CARIN WESTER, PHILIP LIM, H&M, GOGO PHILIP, NICOLA BRINDLE, ROKIT, MONKI, MARIA PIANA, TRAMP IN DISGUISE, JULIA BURNESS, CULIETTA, KATE SPADE, GANNI, ANGELA BRANDY, BEYOND RETRO, KAT MACONIE, IMOGEN BELFIELD, JAMES HOCK, XSENIA & OLYA, ROCCOCO, AMERCIA APPAREL, EVMORFIA, ANGELA BRANDY, MARINA SPETLOVA, LALA LOVE BERLIN, FRED BULTER, BETSEY JOHNSON, AYTEN GASSON, MAWI, ASOS, IMOGEN BEDFIELD, TARA STARLET, NELLY, JACQUELINE NICOLE BROWN, ALICE MENTER, ANDREW MAJTENYI, ELENOR AMOROSO, BLACK AND BROWN, DICHA, SAM EDELMAN, EDEN DIODATI, 18 AND EAST, SIMMI, FRANCESSA MARROTA, LITTLE BLACK DRESS, NEGARIN, BERNARD CHANDRAN, GESTUZ, ASHLEY ISHAM, JULIA BURNESS, LAKO BUKIA, MADAME REVE, EASTERN MYSTIC, KIRSTY WARD, MAISON, FIONA PAXTON, UNISA, BYUNGMUN SEO, JAMES KEARNS, JOE GOODE, ELIZABETH PEK, ROOPE, DAN CAO, PETER JEUN HO TSANG, TOM CODD, UNIQLO, VINKI LI, GEORGIA CASE, JESSICA KAYLL & ROSIE NOLAN PRS: MATERIAL PR, DUST PR, I PR, BLOODY GRAY PR, FELICITIES PR, H PR, POP PR, SNOW PR.
Zone1Artysan – Blog featuring all my own views yeah? Of a up and coming Media Icon & VJ.
Posted on: Friday 13th [of] July 18:03 Friday the thirteenth. I laugh in your face. I mock you. Been looking over all the news about the Games™ that are coming soon. Whole of London™ is covered in sycophantic Made-in-Taiwan bunting at the moment. And I hope you’re all ready for The Great BBC to disappear for the next six weeks, as it falls over itself to spaff on about Team GB™. Or whatever this money-making farce is gonna cause. Can’t believe the army have been brought into “help” supervise the public because G4S are so phenomenally incompetent. What a joke; it’s just a way to normalise us to the sight of troops on the street, I bet.
Posted on: Friday 27th [of] July 15:17 So it’s all about to begin. Goody gumdrops. Tube delays, traffic grinding to a stand still – not that I drive -totally in control of my carbon dap print, on my fixy ride-and-glide, yeah? Loads of these Olympic™ helpers everywhere trying to direct the shit out of all the extra tourists cluttering up our City. Gonna head out later and to film some Olympic™ size chaos! All these phony corporate sponsors just hopping on the bandwagon, throwing their cash at a bunch of jockey ‘roiders!
Posted on: Friday 27th [of] July 23:43 Have been seeing a lot of traffic about my post and, yes, I knew Danny Boyle had put together the opening ceremony. I am very in touch with media events, I read Wired and G2, they are my Qur’an man. And I have been watching it! Well, dipping in and out as I’ve got my Olympic™ disruption VT to edit, but it looks okay, I guess. The VT is going to be a bit ironic mind, as there was no mad rush or crush, total Olympic™ wash out man, no one’s gonna turn up to see people leaping into a sand pit at this rate!
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#Z1A Get following. START BELIEVING THE HYPE.
Posted on: 31st [of] July 15:42 Trolls. We all hate them. But now I’ve really seen and heard it all. What a horrible little twerp! I am of course talking about the little thug who e-bashed that diver Tom Daley, about his Dad dying of cancer. What a disgrace! I hope they lock him up but, really, some people just shouldn’t be given a keyboard. What is wrong with folks, eh guys? Do people just sit down at a keyboard, switch on their PCs (Windows users, ugh) and switch off their brains? Sad, sad, sad indeed.
Posted on: Wednesday 1st [of] August 04:19 Five days this circus has been going on, loads of events and so-called sports and Team UK, or whatever, haven’t even won a medal yet! What a joke! All this hype and cash, a complete waste. And the athletes are as corrupt as the Official Sponsors™, four teams were thrown out of the badminton today – totes not even a real sport btw – for throwing matches. Not cool. I pronounce the Olympic™ spirit to be nugatory.
Posted on: Thursday 2nd [of] August 22:01 HA! What can I say, following my post yesterday about Team UK winning sweet fuck-all, they’ve won three gold medals - so I read – I’m not watching any of this pithy side show to my normal day-to-day life in LDN. Remember #Z1A. Been hunting about for some frames for my vintage Olympic™ Games™ prints for the lab. Only good thing to come out of this, the past. Where the city boys didn’t and cant get their hands in!
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Posted on: Sunday 5th [of] August 21:01 Popped down to the Puma Yard on #brckln today. Picked up a new tracky top, so I could decked out correctly to watch the only thing worth watching tonight. Usain #Bolt. #Hero. Big up yourself, man. Ain’t no rasclart gonna stop the B-man! Thinking about getting a Bolt portrait tat done, any thoughts guys?
Posted on: Monday 6th [of] August 17:06 Wow, what a crazy weekend. Sorry, I’ve not blogged properly but no doubt you guys will have seen my stream of updates on my Twatter. Team GB™ seems to be turning this around; medals flying in everywhere now. I was lucky enough to watch what was the greatest ever night for our country’s athletics history. I’ve got it all recorded and am mixing it down into a choice VJ mini-set, hope you’re all following and bigging up Jess & Co. She’s a real treasure and from The North, a simple working class lass come good. Bit like Morrissey, and my true followers will know how much I like him from my triple set of VJ salutes to the great Smith and his solo work that I put together last spring.
Posted on: Monday 6th [of] August 17:48 In response to a few folk’s replies to my last blog, let’s just call them blaters haters, I was never against the Olympics™ at all, and some of the language you used in your comments is disgusting! I’m no Daily Mail bandwagon slagging off the “lefty liberal” ceremony and then lathering the front page in Gold™ and Glory™. This is a clean blog! Stuff like this why I just cant bare to use facebook anymore, so many fakers and trolls around. The web is about truth and freedom guys! Anywoo needless to say friends, these folks have been blocked and reported. No time for haters, only gonna slow me down!
Posted on: Tuesday 7th [of] August 19:45 Chris Hoy. The Hoyster. The real McHoy. Watched a legend, another greatest gold-medal™ athlete ever! And he rides a fixy too! Enigmatic, honest, dedicated and a hero, all champion qualities that he has and as I possess them (and maybe a few more) I def think we’d hit it off, could take him on favorite fixy runs through Z1 and out West. Gonna tweet him now.
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Posted on: Friday 10th [of] August 22:25 Well haven’t we done well Great Britain, so sad it’s all nearly over. But so proud of what we have achieved, a tiny island nation of heroes against the world, come on yeah! I’ve been down the Olympic™ Park taking some snaps with my Holga today, one of the girls is putting on a photo collage show at the Loft and I am gonna enter my piece, “One Fine Olympic™ Friday”.
Posted on: Saturday 11th [of] August 03:12 Really worried about the way Team GB™ are being run now, we haven’t won a medal for like three days now. Come on Seb-Co! Get it together, yeah? Gonna mash up some VT and send it off to them, something inspiring, with some properly uplifting beats threading through it. Suggestions welcome - I was thinking of using the National Anthem mash-up I made for the Jubilee.
Posted on: Sunday 12th [of] August 21:58 Anthony Joshua, a man so hard he doesn’t need a last name! Just won our last gold medal in the boxing. It was fantastic, - great atmosphere. Still no word from Chris Hoy. Probably too big for the little guys and his fans anymore, he’s let all that so-called success go to his head. Having a closing ceremony party at the studio tonight, watch out for some dope vidagram posted later!
End of Posts.
WORDS GREG SWABY EDITOR HJ FANTASKIS
FASCINATION
Without OBSESSION Life is Nothing
PHOTOGRAPHY ROB JARVIS • PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSISTANT JAMIE BRUCE • STYLING RACHEL HOLLAND • STYLIST’S ASSISTANT MARIA MARTIN-CARO • MUA NINA SAGRI USING LAURA MERCIER • HAIR TOMOYUKI AT EARTH HAIRDRESSING • SET DESIGN KATIE MACGREGOR • MODEL VALEN @ LENI’S MODELS
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Dress Eleanor Amoroso • Earrings Asos • Leather cuff Black and Brown • Clutch bag Little Black Dress • Mawi Ring Union Jewellery
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Dress and Cape Eden Diodati • Jaws necklaces Jacqueline Nicole Brown • Rock ring Imogen Bedfield • Shawl 18 and East
Dress Andrew Majtenyi â&#x20AC;˘ Waistcoat Eleanor Amoroso
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Blouse Tara Starlet • Leather Harness Black and Brown •
Cross ring Jacqueline Nicole Brown • Double ring Jacqueline Nicole Brown • Cuff bracelet Alice Menter
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Dicha Earrings Union Jewellery • Vest top - Gestuz • Jacket - Gestuz • Leather Gloves Scotch & Soda
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Trousers Lako Bukia • Lace Top Francesca Marrota • Cape 18 And East • Belt Black And Brown • Sequin Neck Cuff Madame Reve • Cascade Shard Necklace Eastern Mystic • Clutch Little Black Dress
Earrings A Peace Treaty from Union Jewellery • Necklace Dicha from Union Jewellery • Jacket Bernard Chandran
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Suit Maison Scotch • Jewelled Cuff Fiona Paxton • Ring Imogen Bedfield • Necklace Mawi from Union Jewellery • Belt Black and Brown
THOMAS CODD Y
Your brand is influenced by the traditional British subcultures of ‘skinhead’ and ‘mod’ – why do these subcultures provide such a big inspiration to you? Why there’s two in particular?! I can clearly tell you the skinhead one came later and is definitely the more prominent and that is solely done to the Shane Meadows film This is England. I watched it in my 2nd year at uni and fell in love, the boots were my first pull! I wanted the doc martens Ox blood boots ASAP! The rest followed, my jeans that were always so skin tight like Johnny Borrel or Russell Brand became more tailored 501 cut and braces were a necessity. My long blonde locks were slashed off leaving me with the bare skin head look of the characters! I Was hooked and it Where did you grow up and when did you first was round the time of 3rd year graduate collection know that you wanted to work in fashion design? planning and this was all I could think about. The I grew up in suburban north London in a place skinheads were the baby brothers of the mods, called Enfield where I still live. It’s like most suburbs, you can see that in the tailored look and Fred I won’t lie and say there is much excitement there Perrys so if you do skin you are doing Mod. They or reason for me to be influenced or inspired to come together and they are the 2 pillars holding get into this business. It definitely came from Thomas Codd London up. something from within, an evolution in my What makes your designs unique compared to personality and interests. I am your regular joe, a other emerging brands? male who is straight and loves football and had My designs are unique as i don’t follow trends or dreamt to be a footballer like the majority of fashion, the last time I bought a fashion magazine blokes in this country. Although another dream was in my 2nd year at uni and even then it felt and ambition popped into my head and that was unnatural. It was a POP magazine, the style of to study fashion! I do think it comes from my dad and even going back to his dad, my grandad never brands and designers were arty, out the box, crazy left the house without being in a suit, even to put a for the sake of it. It didn’t appeal to me! It’s not what I perceived as fashion or my personality. I bet on a horse and my dad is very label conscious don’t honestly know the dates for London fashion and also seems to get it right and look sharp. So week, I don’t read any blogs. Wait, only if it’s on it could be hereditary to an extent and I also think me lol! I wake up, go online, check my sales and via the football obsession my icon was David then go on sky sports news and then the sun Beckham, when you think Becks you can easily newspaper online, everything Thomas Codd overlook the football and see the style icon and London related or designed is influenced only by this defiantly triggered a lot of my style choices when I was younger. So naturally the footballer kid me and my self centered world, what is before found another vice in Clothes and style, ending up is trusted subcultures that have been there and succeeded. Seasons have seen Thomas codd in wanting to be a designer of my own look. ou and your menswear brand Thomas Codd London is a very up and coming label. What was your first big break into the world of fashion design? My first big break had to be securing with Behave boutique in Shoreditch to stock my graduate collection! I had always loved the Behave stores as they stocked brands like April 77, a label which also stems from subculture and music and I saw in my grad pieces a place in the market. I boldly believed Behave would take it on! And they did. I remember being ecstatic and believing then that this was a brand on it way and I was not a student but a fashion designer with his own label.
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PHOTOGRAPHY AARON GIBSON
London design differ very little and also designs from the first collection are still available like Fred Perry. Go in their store from year to the next they are still selling the same polo tops! Why? As they design not for today but for always and dont change for anyone - customers buy into that style and want it on tap. We are the same, we are Thomas codd London, this is what we do and our style, If you like it as many of you do already thank you and you’re welcome! If you don’t get it, it’s because you havn’t seen us or your still making your mind up. But we will always be here with the same ethos for when you want to jump on board. Your brand has a very distinctive style, full of plaid and bleached denim with a ‘This is England’ feel – who would be your typical customer? Typical customer I would say would be the cool kids who are east London bound and going by my trips to the post office and writing out the addresses, I have a big following in Asia and Scandinavia. This is easy to say due to the loudness of some pieces, but I have noticed that due to the styles from season one still being on sale like a denim bleach shirt, it is now easier on the eyes for your regular joe who is happy in a pair of chinos and a printed T or Ralph Lauren polo down the local pub. The brand has really opened up to a much wider audience and I know this from my surburban heritage and talking to mates and dealing with them first hand on orders. They have become more fond of the ‘scarier’ pieces! This brings me alot of delight, as although it’s not a commercial style my intention was always to be a commercial brand for everyone! You won’t find snobbery within this designer! What do you do in your downtime? My downtime is like most males’, as I have mentioned I pride myself on being a normal bloke who makes a living throws bleach on denim! Lol! I go to the gym, I play football! See my girl friend, go to the pub and when I can be swayed I go to a club. Nothing too crazy you see, sorry to disappoint! I could lie and say live in shoreditch, sit on the cobbles of brick lane and weekly visit art galleries but that’s just not me.
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How would you describe your brand in three words? Charismatic, aggressive and sharp As you are a graduate of Fashion and Design from UCA Rochester, do you believe that your formal education has helped or hindered you in your journey to becoming a fashion designer? I definitely don’t think it’s hindered me. I know that by going it has helped bundles, as it was there I developed the grad collection which went on to become my first season. So it was a major help in that respect, but the practice of sewing has been lost as I don’t do that anymore, nor do I pattern cut. So technically it hasn’t helped and I would say that everything from the meeting at Behave and every other brand related thing from styling a photoshoot to dealing with the business side of the label was self taught. I think universities should take a look at that, as they should want students to prosper and want to create their own brands, but how and where do they start?
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Everything Thomas Codd London related or designed is influenced only by me and my self centered world
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What one piece of advice would you give to someone wanting to start a career in fashion? Only one piece would be are you sure/mad? I think only the strong survive this! I’m only getting started, 2 years is still early days, it seems like 12 years. Be ready to Struggle, to be broke, to gamble and to take Knocks but be true to yourself and your style, stick to your guns and be only you. Don’t let them tailor you to be more like them as you may aswell just work for someone else as then it is not your work, design or brand.
You have been successfully selling your designs all over the world via the ASOS Marketplace. Have you found that this has helped you gain more recognition within the fashion world? I have Asos marketplace to thank for everything, it was a stylist via Asos that contacted me to shoot for Noctis! Boutique’s from Leeds, Milan and the Ukraine I’ve stocked in found me via ASOS. The promotions on ASOS have led to more followers on twitter and my Facebook fan page, the brands highest sales every month since January 2011 are from the site. ASOS marketplace is the greatest platform for any new label. Who do you consider to be your personal fashion icon? I am going to go with David beckham, I mentioned him earlier and his influence on me when I was younger and thought I don’t follow his style now as I would say I have my own style! As an individual he is still an icon, he is constantly changing his look still and always getting it right and still has a major sway on most young men style choices. If you had the chance for anyone to model your clothes who would it be and why? I’m very aware of what effect David Beckham had on superdry years ago wearing one of their t-shirts. So the power of the right celebrity wearing your product can be life changing, I would want to answer Beckham again as he still has a great pull on male fashion and the majority of lads decisions of what to wear. Though it’s hard to see now Beckham in tartan trousers? The man can pull anything off but realistically him in a short sleeve tartan open with one my printed vests, I’d be a millionaire lol I’d have blokes queuing up all over the place for that look. Have you got any exciting plans for Thomas Codd London in 2013? I have a lot of new stockist lined up for aut/win 12 so it’s looking really promising building up my client list and the plan is to carry that on! Also branching into the idea of a pop-up shop to test the demand as a lot of customers do enquire about if we have a shop and there is the idea of a trial womenswear line, a few pieces to mirror the men’s WORDS JAYNE BECCA
aTestof of
CHARACTER Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value
PHOTOGRAPHY LUCA SAGE • STYLING RACHEL HOLLAND • GROOMING CHRISTINE ZEMURA • MODEL PIERRE FROM SAPPHIRES
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Suit Jacket Byungmun Seo • Shirt Byungmun Seo • Glasses Black Eyewear from Roope
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Neoprene Coat Elizabeth Pek â&#x20AC;˘ Clear-Rimmed Glasses Black Eyewear from Roope
Suit Jacket Byungmun Seo • Shirt Byungmun Seo • Glasses Black Eyewear from Roope
Leather Jacket James Kearns â&#x20AC;˘ Wool Skirt Byungmun Seo
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Jumpsuit Byungmun Seo • Glasses Stylist’s own
AUDREY KITCHING PHOTOGRAPHER CORWIN PRESCOTT • STYLING AUDREY KITCHING • MAKEUP BAMBIFACE • HAIR RYAN HENEGHAN • INTERVIEW AND ARTICLE ALEXA TOMASZEWSKI
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When she’s not jamming to the Ravonette’s or Marina and the Diamonds (mixed in with healthy doses of Spice Girls, of course), she’s usually working on her fashion lines, her writing or on bettering herself. Not to mention Audrey Kitching is obsessed with sipping Earl Grey tea, the Queen’s favorite export or getting her job done. “I just kind of focus on the moment,” says Kitching in a telephone interview from New York City with Noctis magazine. “I try not to worry about tomorrow or next week or what I have to do in the distant future.”
Jumpsuit BCBG • Shoes Jeffrey Campbell • Belt/Jacket Vintage • Sunglasses DIY • Ring Barbra Pelligrino • Necklace/Earrings Topshop
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er multi-colored hair is reminiscent of the My Little Ponies many of us collected in our younger years, she is as bubbly as you’d imagine Barbie might be, and cites both pop culture references as huge influences. Audrey Kitching, 27, covers major Internet real estate as a designer, stylist, model, fashion journalist and style editor at Buzznet.
Obsessed with movies, Kitching says she learned to be more ‘in the now’ from Kirsten Dunst’s role in the film Melancholia. “I just watched it and it’s a very depressing movie about the end of the world - a doom and gloom movie,” says Kitching. “I grew up with anxiety and her character is so depressed. The end of the world comes and everyone around her is freaking out about it but she has this calm sense like ‘Oh, I’ve been depressed my whole life and now something depressing is actually happening and it’s comforting.’” Kitching says she realized you cannot worry something bad is going to happen, you just have to embrace what is; which is kind of how Kitching is embracing 90’s girl pop and women performers in music, right now. “I’ve been on a weird girl power kick recently,” she says. But the real question is: does it cross over into her street style?
“It might be the style which makes me drawn to the music or the music makes me drawn to the style,” says Kitching. “I haven’t figured out which comes first but my style is more feminine recently, girly with flowers, more summery that kind of stuff and I’ve been less edgy, and the music’s been more pop. So, it goes one-in-one.” Kitching is known for blogging her street style and about her designer/vintage finds. With her very unique taste she can often be found decked out in her favorite fashion obsessions: bubble glasses, multiple bags, platform shoes and adorned in rings, all while running to and from her home office, sample shopping, and shoots. Recently she`s also running to attend her newest fitness obsession, mat Pilates, a mix between yoga and Pilates. “I’ve been doing it three mornings a week and it is pretty rough. It’s only an hour and a half but from the moment you walk in the door they
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I’ve been on a weird girl power kick recently
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“I was trained in an institute and I was trained by Aveda,” Kitching says about her expertise on the subject. “I would say the key to good hair is oil treatments, taking good care of it, not double processing the growth, letting it grow out a bit and extensions.”
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work you until you leave,” says Kitching. As winter settles in she’ll mix things up with a more low-key meditation class. Another thing Kitching could be said to be obsessed with, as evidenced by her dedication to regular exercise, is taking care of herself - body, spirit and mind. From her head to her toes Kitching tries to keep it clean, at least when she’s not covered in make-up. “I try to avoid sugar, gluten and dairy and I don’t eat any meat or fish, but it’s hard to definitively not eat those,” she says. When travelling she sometimes allows some sugar, but notes it does strange things to her body. “I go back and forth between Asian cuisine and Mexican, depending on my work schedule and if I’m going to be wearing something tight or if I’m just lounging around with friends,” she says about eating habits. “If it’s more me time, I’ll eat a ton of tacos, nachos, or burritos.”
I try not to worry about tomorrow or next week or what I have to do in the distant future
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Dress Motel Rocks • Jacket Vintage • Belt Vintage • Earrings Topshop • Necklace H&M • Bangles Topshop • Ring Shampalove
Ears Big Tease • Necklace Karen London • Earrings Vintage • Shirt/Pants Vintage • Bangle Topshop
She tries to buy only organic and eat a clean vegan diet. She also goes to great lengths to protect her trademark locks.
Kitching grew her roots out for a few weeks to allow more experimentation with color, as well as utilizing extensions, micro beads and clip-in hair pieces to add a dramatic effect to her look. Ultimately, this allows her to change her look more often without damaging it. Constantly embracing change? Just another thing Kitching is obsessed with. Her multiple lines, Tokyolux and Coco de Coeur, currently under the Audrey Kitching Los Angeles title, are undergoing a major re-branding as she shifts focus from North America, where the lines have exploded over the past two years, to Japanese markets. For the meantime Kitching will be strictly focusing on her showroom in Japan. “I’ve been designing my own clothes my whole life. I just kind of jumped into design without really understanding the business side of it,” says Kitching of her early years. “It’s not so glamorous but it’s so fun and rewarding. It’s worth it.”
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Kitching’s team just wrapped up some of the work for spring 2013, and says she thinks when these items come out in March it will showcase all the hard work going into the current process. Generally, in terms of fashion direction, Kitching knows what her audience like and dislike. “My brand is so strong and it’s always in line with things like bright colors, so I like to mix a sense of class or a high-end piece to mix with the clothes so it’s not too childish,” she says. “Or it’s the other way around, where the location is very girly and fun and the clothes are very sophisticated.” ``I like to mix the classic with the fun and young and to me that’s my brand,” Many fans don’t realize the extent to which Kitching is involved in shoots as well as in overall look and design. In addition to modeling, she often works as a stylist and fashion director. In fact, it’s something Kitching hopes to continue doing long after her modeling and designing days are over.
Preferring Marilyn Monroe to Jackie O, Kitching is definitely a girl’s girl. When she’s designing she tries to keep in mind a broad audience, but admits to knowing what she is drawn too. Jeremy Scott and Christopher Kane are her current fashion obsessions. “I browse my top ten and then branch out and keep an eye for any newcomers I might find interesting or unexpected,” says Kitching on how she tries to keep an open mind.
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I like to mix the classic with the fun and young and to me that’s my brand
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Ultimately you are bound to find the fashion muse doing something low-key rather than ultra-diva. ”My gay friend Bret and I have a girl’s night at least once a week,” she says. “We wear really comfy clothes. We go shopping with sunglasses on and our shopping bags. Then, we eat really junky food like French fries or onion rings. Then, we come back to my house and watch DVDs and dye my hair or do different colors. We do face masks and stay up really late.” Then as if to prove she’s as down to earth as the girl next door, she says her ideal date is a movie night, because she’s a huge movie nerd. This small girl in her oversized burn-out tee, platforms and ballerina bun is just as likeable as Teddy Ruxpin. There’s not a Naomi Campbell ‘tude to be found for miles as Kitching is just as bubbly and pink in manner as she is in hair color, while sipping Perrier.
Shoes Elizabeth And James • Dress Vintage • Ring Marc Jacobs • Necklace Karen London • Ears Big Tease • Bangles Urban
“I don’t think people realize from my clothing lines to my editorials everything down to the hair, the make-up, the location, the mood, the feel, is what I come up with”.
She wears: Print Silk and Velvet dress Vinki Li • Shoes Topshop • He wears: Woven and Printed Jumper and 38 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com Trousers Georgia Case, Jessica Kayll & Rosie Nolan • Socks Uniqlo • Shoes Topman
Intimate Preoccupation a new way of dressing this season, patterns are your friend
CREATIVE DIRECTION/STYLING SOPHIE GATEN • ASSISTANT LINNEA NORDBERG • PHOTOGRAPHY SARAH MILDRED • HAIR STELIOS CHONDROS • HAIR ASSISTANT ROY ALEXANDER • MODELS KARA MARSHALL AND JACK ROYLE
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She wears: Orange Dress Elaine D Cao • Jewelery H&M • He wears: Shirt Peter Jeun Ho Tsang • Tartan Suit Tom Codd
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He wears: Red Suit, Shirt, Tie & Shoes Peter Jeun Tsang • Socks Uniqlo •
She wears: Green Silk and Velvet Print Trousers & Top Vinki Li • Socks American Apparel • Shoes Topshop
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He wears: Suit and Shirt Peter Jeun Tsang â&#x20AC;˘ She wears: Blue Velvet Dess Vinki Li
Shirt Diana Zhou
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Like the foaming wave that beats the coast. Its your loving touch I crave the most. A kiss from you would makes me spin, make my heart twist. I know your likes, your dreams, your fears. I felt your pain I cried your tears. I’ ll always be here for you, I’ve loved you for years. I havent the courage to approach you and tell you the truth. Your beauty is too much my attention is proof. I’ ll keep this burning desire close to my chest. I guess I’m not in love I’m only obsessed
WORDS JACK ROYLE
PHOTOGRAPHER GRACE ELKIN 48 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
Eliza DeLite A
s the London 2012 Olympic Games spread across our screens this summer, something else is spreading far more friskier than Tom Daley’s trunk bulge and this time, it’s relatively X-rated. Crowned Britain’s golden girl in the World Burlesque Games, welcome to the stage Miss Eliza DeLite. Known uniquely for her multifaceted performances fusing both iconography and 50’s tinged routines; Eliza’s ability to charm audiences arises out of a show that collides past-time tradition with present electro, 80’s pop and swing mash-up’s, always with a blush of comical salvation. Her bitter-sweet renditions sway somewhere between the lines of Betty Page and Snow White; what a wonderful thought! It’s clear to see from her winning performance ‘Like A Prayer’ that Eliza’s creative spark and interests splurge from a wide range of symbolic references to religion and taboo - even this performance would rouse the mind of Lewis Carroll and other twisted types. Eliza DeLite really outshines other modern burlesque dancers; she holds style, class and above all an alluring aura of dominance and passion all wrapped up sweetly with a bit of good ol’ fashioned ‘av-a-banana’ fun!
Burlesque is a skill that allows for the dancer to be original and free upon the stage, but how does it all begin? I caught up with 20-year-old Eliza and asked her a few questions on her personal experience with this rare-breed of entertainment... How did you first start off when entering the world of burlesque? I joined a society whilst studying at university which gave me the chance to get back up on stage - I had previously studied dance and had years of involvement with various stage productions which I put to one side when I decided to pursue studies in art & photography. This was just the push I needed to get me on my way and it soon changed my career goals. I would now consider this my profession despite the photography degree. What sort of reactions did you get from once you recognised this was your ideal pathway? I never had any particularly bad reactions, most friends thought it was great and exciting, some friends thought it an odd choice but in general it was a positive reaction. It was a while before I fully let on to my family exactly how serious I was about it and naturally I had reservations about letting them in on it but since they “found out” (I think they knew all along) they’ve been incredibly supportive. As for support, have you collected a large following? Any obsessive fans yet? I have a small fan base that has been following my career in burlesque since I began and that’s really nice. I’ve not had any serious “crazies” though, apart from my mum (only joking... she is probably my biggest fan though!). I have been stopped and recognised at the train station or out and about by people who I honestly don’t recognise but they know exactly who I am and come to my shows
and to be honest whilst I should be feeling really flattered, I’m usually feeling embarrassed that I have no idea who they are when they stop me to say “Hi”! I recently called upon my followers for some help whilst I was trying to raise some cash to be able to afford a particularly expensive but very important video (of my win at the World Burlesque Games) and was inundated with supportive messages from people telling me that I was an “inspiration” - that was really lovely and made me realise that what I’m doing does have some impact on other people, it was very encouraging! Before taking stage, do you have any rituals or superstitious preparations? I always have to make sure my hair is ready well in advance - this may sound silly but to get my hair from how it is naturally (very straight and fine) to how it is when I get up on stage or in front of a camera takes a lot more than you might expect. It usually has to survive two performances in a night and maybe another two the next night at the most (a photo shoot too if I plan things right) so my technique for hairstyling is pretty hardcore. I do it the old fashioned way with very strong products and this takes some time. Everything else sort of slots in to place, I make sure I keep my skin well moisturised so it looks it’s best under stage lights and I do my make up most days anyway so I’m in a pretty good routine with that.
“
The feedback you get whilst performing can be really electric
”
What does it feel like for you when the curtains draw and it’s just you and the audience? It feels great; I’m doing the thing I love the most. The situation isn’t always perfect and occasionally I can be lacking energy before I go on and am not quite in the right mind set, but usually after the first 10 seconds of music I’m fully focused and giving it my all. It’s great to connect with the audience which is why I enjoy this kind of 50 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
performance so much; the feedback you get whilst performing can be really electric. Most of your performances vary aesthetically, but what sparks up as inspiration for creating a routine? The starting point is different every time, Sometimes it’s a piece of music, sometimes it’s an inspirational image or an icon, sometimes it’s a costume idea. A couple of my acts were built to reflect the era of the 30’s & 40’s stars so I did a lot of research by looking at different images, old footage and choosing exactly the right music. My signature act - “Like a Prayer” was inspired by Catholic paintings of the Virgin Mary and other religious iconography. It does take a while
to develop an act and it can change during the course of development but I’ve never reached the “finished” point and been disappointed with myself for not sticking to the original plan - you have to do what feels right. It seems quite difficult to be different in the burlesque world unlike music or dance for example, how competitive is it behind closed doors? I’m not going to sugar coat this - simply, yes. It’s both an incredibly competitive and incredibly supportive industry at the same time. Costume help acts to stand out from one another, how do you get hold of these uniquely designed
outfits? I make AS MUCH as I possibly can within my own technical abilities, when I reach my limits I call in the folk that can turn my ideas into physical pieces. I am lucky to have a lot of creative friends and our skill sets overlap nicely so it’s always nice to give the commission to someone you know and can work with closely and still have the creative input. Favourite book? “Pretty Things” by Liz Goldwyn Daily Routine? Coffee, shower, full make. Marmite pasta for lunch, and swing dance on a Monday evening. If it’s a weekend then it may involve several hours on a train to where ever I’m performing and then several hours back again the next day. I use this time to zone out a bit and whilst I’ve tried to be productive on trains (reading, writing, making things) it always results in just me, my headphones and my iPod. Sunday afternoons/evenings are my crash out time! Little Habits? Generally being messy, interestingly people who meet me assume I’m a tidy person (based on my efforts with my appearance) but I tell them that a lot of mess is made in the process of me getting ready! For me burlesque seems like an ancient art of seductive enchantment, a mysterious 17th century ritual that breeds deep in modern society. Eliza DeLite is merely one of many pioneers in the extravagant art that is pulling up the stockings and tightening the corset of old-time entertainment.
Eliza currently hosts a series of nights called Electro Tease around Leicester that keeps the burlesque scene thriving; forget the bohemian blazes of Moulin Rouge and make way for a new wave of glitter-studded, rockabilly girls. Raunchy, charming and perfectly sweet; she may be without a top, but she’s sure to stay there. WORDS HOLLY MAY TURNER
PHOTOGRAPHER CLAIRE PEPPER • MAKE UP AND HAIR CAMILLA HEWITT S. MANAGEMENT USING LIZ EARLE COLOUR • STYLIST MELANIE WILKINSON • MODEL PHOEBE WATSON • SHOT AT 63 SUN STUDIOS 52 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
Top Cos â&#x20AC;˘ Trousers 3.1 Phillip Lim
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Coat, top and shoes all Topshop â&#x20AC;˘ Skirt Cos
Blazer Carin Wester â&#x20AC;˘ Dress Topshop
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Top Carin Wester â&#x20AC;˘ Shorts Acne
Top and skirt both Cos â&#x20AC;˘ Shoes Topshop
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Exploring the lines between life and death, Neil Craver lets us into his surreal world of exploring the female body
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N
eil what does your photography mean to you, what feelings does it provoke? Photography is a type of “show and tell”; it’s about creating the images and feelings I have within me. The images and feelings in my head are translated into the external world. Photography for me is like any other art form, it’s nothing but tools of an alchemist, and the body is the magic medium. Do you have any perceived feelings you want the viewer to express? Most of my work is positioned in a nucleus of a simple idea and the details mimic the movement of falling leaves, both beautiful and impossible to predict. I am very intrigued with the idea of ambiguity within my work; embracing the subjective ideas of the viewer, such as: floating/sinking, pain/pleasure, living/dying. What drives you to take underwater imagery, and what equipment do you use? The series has been a long project of mine; spanning about three years now! I photographed the series using a Cannon mark 2 1Ds; I just recently semi-finished it and felt like I should really show the world this series. I have always loved the purity and the undying movement of liquids. Even in my painting and sculpture work….they always have a melting or specific motion to them. I first started the project shooting with my camera in a fish-tank because I didn’t have the money to buy an underwater housing. It gave me the split-level look that I wanted, but really lacked the control I needed. I had too many close calls floating around in the rock quarry; so I found the cheapest underwater bag that I could get. All the images are shot at the same abandoned rock quarry in North Carolina; it’s a secret spot only known to the couple of people that are adventurous enough to find it. I had to really study the light that would enter the mouth of the quarry because it’s literally a big hole in the ground; I can only get about 3 or 4 hours of good light in a day. Each season I get better and better; really understanding the light and the time of the year to start shooting. Late summer is the best; the sun barely skims the mountain around the pit and the water clarity is better if the water is very cold! The water clarity
is the biggest problem of all, in the middle of the summer I can’t shoot; the water is to cloudy to see. I must wait about five days of no rain because the run off of the soil around the pit makes the water dirty. Besides all that it’s a private land too and the police told me to leave before or I will be ticketed! You play on the lines of sexual innocence with your models looking young; how do you feel about this, and how do you use this with your subjects? I think this is a perceptual assumption, which could play into the ideas of ambiguity. For me the images are not sexual in nature. It is an interesting idea, because water is thought of as being a means of purification and of innocence. I want the models to be somewhat homogenous in form; as to strip the personal character from them so that the body could almost be perceived as male or female. To my astonishment, the water really harmonized the characteristics of the models; with the detachment of gravity, the skin became smooth and fresh. The models actually range in age from about 21 to 45, some of them being mothers.
“
Photography for me is... nothing but tools of an alchemist, and the body is the magic medium
”
What makes a great stand-alone image to you? For me it’s an image that captivates and expands ones imagination. The image contains a rarity, which provokes a natural curiosity and desire to understand the object/image.
How do you go about choosing your models, what qualities are you looking for? As stated in question 4, I prefer for the models not to have any defining bold characteristics that would identify them as an individual person rather than simply a human form. Not to say they should look identical, but I stray away from tattoos or other very noticeable individual qualities.
To me your images are like movie stills, have you ever considered making films with your subjects? If so how would you differ the two mediums? I would like to one day introduce videography to the series once I can acquire adequate equipment and secure a location without the worries of dangerous or legal conditions. A moving clip would differ from the current images in that I could emphasize the setting in which the subjects reside; not only focusing on the body in the image, but also showing off the beauty of the rocks, trees, fish, and bubbles that surround her. When viewing your work I get the impression these girls are drowning, escaping the real world, is this something you work with, or are you more interested in the natural form, how it floats underwater? My project statement may answer this question: Omni-Phantasmic *Omni1. A combining form denoting all, every, everywhere; as in omnipotent, all-powerful; omnipresent; omnivorous. *Phantasmic1. Something apparently seen but having no physical reality; a phantom or an apparition. Also called phantasmal. 2. An illusory mental image. 3. In Platonic philosophy, objective reality as perceived and distorted by the five senses. This project is meant to be consumed with your emotions, and not simply perceived with your sense organs. I wanted a transcendental meaning behind them; not only with the use of chromatics and aesthetics. But with my intended focus be on the philosophical theories, I wanted a “subliminal composition” to create an under tow of messages to stress the strong influences of unconscious elements affecting and driving people’s lives. With the creation of a strong undercurrent of incommunicable thoughts; this will be the stage for illuminating the subconscious intellect into absolute perception. The visual aesthetics are purely symbolic in their thought application and structure; with decomposing forests of broken memory connections, and tumbling of vertigo into 62 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
the correct positions of phenomenal reality. The shallowness of the area above the horizon line indicates the division of the limited amount of information consciously perceivable (atmosphereabove) and the larger mass storage of all the sense information, rationalizations, and prejudices of the subconscious below (hydrosphere-below). The nexus of contingents between drowning and floating, falling and flying, dying and living are some of the main unphysical-intangible themes in this series.
“
This will be the stage for illuminating the subconscious intellect into absolute perception
”
What you can perceive and process is an extremely finite portion of what you receive from the physical environment. And to truly grasp the vexing questions of your inner facilities, you must open yourself to a flood of unrestricted information. So one must dive into the cloudy placid waters of the subconscious world to uncover a linkage between the conscious and the subconscious mind. Once the excavation is started; the illumination of the self-imposed restrains of values, ideas, and moral codes will dissolve. When the subconscious floods pass society’s imprisonment; starting a process of uncontaminated awareness; a penetrating understanding will unfold!
Where can we catch your work in the UK? Have you approached any UK based galleries? I certainly wish my work was being seen in the UK, but it is tough sometimes to get it out there…haha. I participated in a “Summer Show” group showing at the Host Gallery in London in 2011, and am still seeking gallery representation in the UK.
WORDS LEONI-BLUE • IMAGES NEIL CRAVER
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ENTomoPHOBIA The beauty in everything little or big fashion connecting with nature PHOTOGRAPHER LEONI-BLUE • STYLIST SOPHIE MONRO PRUETT • MUA MARIE ISABEL • HAIR CHLOE MONRO PRUETT • STYLING ASSISTANT LEAH ADAMS • MODELS CLADIA @ PREMIER, MONIKA @ FIRST • ILLUSTRATOR SOPHIE GAINSLEY 70 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
Cladia wears: Dress Gestuz • Bracelet Yorkshire Pearl • Ring Reid Peppard • Shoes Aldo Monika wears: Dress Gestuz • Necklaces Reid Peppard • Bracelet Michelle Lowe-Holder • Shoes Topshop
Cladia wears: Jacket Meg Cornwell Belt Beyond Retro Skirt Charlotte Barry
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Cladia wears: Dress Helen Steele • Necklace Reid Peppard • Coat Ulyana Danyleyko • Tights Falke • Shoes Stylists own
Both wear: Charlotte Barry
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Cladia wears: Dress Helen Steele • Necklace Reid Peppard • Coat Ulyana Danyleyko • Tights Falke
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Monika wears: Dress House of Wilde • Coat Charlotte Barry • Necklace Hayley Kruger • Tights Falke • Shoes Jeffrey Campbell
Cladia wears: Neckpiece Michelle Lowe-Holder • Top Topshop • Leggings Helen Steele
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Monika wears: Headpiece made from vintage scarves • Fur Cape stylists own • Sheepskin Vest House of Wilde
AN AFTERNOON FLING with Ms
Sophie Dean
This is probably-no-definatley,
TOTALLY INSANE,
I thought to myself, as I applied an extra lick of paint to the ever-expanding white streak in my hair. I am eleven years old and about to enter high school. The turn of the century’s just occurred, the internet is taking off, all my friends are going mental for Furbies and I am nursing a neurosis so niche and random that it’s actually worrying. I am BAT-SHIT OBSESSED with Rosa from Eastenders A.K.A Beppe’s Mum. (For those of you that are unfamiliar, Rosa DiMarco A.K.A Beppe’s Mum was a fictional Italian matriarch from the soap opera Eastenders, who didn’t do much really apart from flap around her kids in a stereotypical fashion that the writers obviously imagined to be standard ‘Italian Matriarch’ behaviour).
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I had stumbled upon her one bored evening, as I attempted to complete my Spelling, or my Maths, or my Whatever, the nations most glorified soap playing aimlessly in the background. Having been raised on a diet of Bette Davis films and Sunday drama school, I was naturally drawn to the shriek of some batty woman losing the plot- so imagine my joy when the sound of some batty woman losing the plot pierced my consciousness. My attention was diverted to the screen and I watched as a middle aged woman with a grey streak in her hair got whacked around the face by a younger bird. She fell. The camera closed in on her face. Her lip quivered. The credits rolled. Having literally only just started watching twenty seconds previously I had absolutely no idea what the Hell was going on but it didn’t matter. This was engaging. This was EXCITING. I was intrigued, not by Eastenders per se, but by this character. I waited eagerly to glean some context from the omnibus at the weekend and by the time it finished I was smitten. Now, quite clearly, there was something amiss here. There was no reason why I should have had any attraction to, or common ground with, this made up woman off the T.V. I was an eleven year old, living in Worcester, who’s toughest life choice so far had been deciding whether to buy Aqua’s ‘Doctor Jones’ or Lou Bega’s ‘Mambo No.5’ with my one pound
pocket money. She, for the purposes of fiction at least, had a dead husband, four kids and was running a restaurant in the East End of London. But love (and possibly mental illness) is blind. I was BANG in to her. From then on my life was ALL ABOUT Beppe’s Mum. I taped every episode religiously, learning all her lines off by heart, which I quoted to people at random and in perfect imitation (for about a week my answer to any question was ‘No Beppe,I will not back down’ much to the bewilderment of my teachers).I spent my evenings blocking up the phone line trying to glean more information on this not-real woman, which was a long and arduous task in those days, what with it being the age of dial-up, when you had to wait ten minutes for your computer to connect only to inevitably be kicked off again moments later. As well as this, you were forced to make a choice between being able to make and receive calls or being able to surf the web. Suffice to say the phone did not ring much during this period. My obsession grew by the day and at one point, having been left alone in the art room at school with access to several pots of paint I even put a grey streak in my hair to mimic hers. Now, you may be imagining that I must have been in for some horrendous bullying, my bazaar penchant being too much for the other kids to deal with, resulting in total ostriaization from my peers. WRONG.
ILLUSTRATION JO SMOLAGA
THEY LOVED IT!
The reaction to me arriving in to class with a copy of the of the previous night’s script painstakingly transcribed in to my maths book and doling it out to whoever was ‘playing the scene’ with me that day ,was not one of annoyance, anger or even the most legitimate feeling of allutter terror-but a sort of jolly gameness. It was something to do I guess, and who doesn’t love a bit of role-play on a Monday morning? (In more reflective moments I have wondered if my ability to convince a fellow eleven year old girl to ‘be Beppe’ for between one and three hours, was a little sinister...perhaps this was how Charles Manson had started, slowly recruiting people to act out scenes from a popular soap opera before moving on to Beatles music and then, eventually, massmurder and rape….But it’s been years since then and no mass-murder or rapes have happened on my watch so we’re probably safe.). Even my mum, who would have had the right to be totally livid/terrified by this ludicrous development in her daughters psyche, was totally chilled, patiently helping me wash the paint out of my hair for the tenth time only to see it reappear again a day later. 82 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
To be fair she was probably relieved that I’d chosen an infatuation that could not, in some way, lead to me getting pregnant. In fact, in comparison with some of the darker shit that goes on with kidsabuse, bullying, drugs, competitive dance-offs-my Rosa obsession was a breath of fresh air. After all, I wasn’t hanging about in dark parks with strange boys or bunking off school. No, she knew where I was at all times-In front of the computer, looking for facts about-and pictures of- Beppe’s Mum.
I forgot to press record on the VCR a couple of times midweek but duly taped the omnibus instead (I was committed, even when in doubt).There were no two ways about it though-I was losing interest.
However, that might have just been the vibe she was giving out cos coincidentally the writers decided to axe the entire family around this time (apart from Beppe, OBVS). I was, of course, devastated. Although my interest had been fading, I didn’t like the idea of the decision being Ideal. taken out of my hands-no one likes to be dumped right? I picked myself I carried on like this for months, up and steeled myself for the final happily lapping up the stilted dialogue goodbye. The last few weeks passed like it was written by Shakespeare, in a blur of bad storylines and nonkeeping an eye on the BBC website sensical dialogue that had obviously for character updates (there were been cobbled together quickly so as hardly any incidentally, probably due to get them to Do One as fast as to the fact that I was the only one possible. I watched, dutifally, as she really bothered by the over-30’s exited Walford in a taxi, leaving only category).But obsession, like it’s less Beppe to carry on the family name sinister cousins Love and Lust, is a (harsh ending I know. No one leaves fickle thing. Slowly but surely it began Eastenders in a taxi unless they to weign. I carried on as normal are truly useless). I expected to at first, thinking that it was just a feel a sense of loss but none came. funk, that we’d get out of it, swings Life returned to normal. I went and roundabouts, you know how back to school and allowed others it is. But gradually I started only to pick what games we played. I copying down ‘key scenes’ (defined by stopped asking my mother for blank arguments and/or crying) instead of tapes from the Poundshop.I washed everything she said, which had been the paint out of my hair for the standard up until that point. last time. I was, to all intents and Less and less I began to wander up purposes, back to ‘normal’. to people and call them
“BEPPE!”
in a pithy-but-uncanny imitation.
WORDS SOPHIE DEAN
Pop Bakery Hi
Clare, what gave you the idea to start baking and create your own business out of it? How did it all begin? I found the POPs on a blog in America and was totally inspired, had been looking for a product for me to start a food business with and as soon as I saw the POPs I was in love. Put them on facebook and got such a good reaction I started giving them to different magazines and instantly got good press and the orders started flooding in! With the old saying of ‘keeping it in the family’ How nice it is to own a business where you work so closely with your mum? It's lovely working with my mum, my parents have always worked from home, so it feels very natural having a business in the family home, my mum was a childminder before so we had lots of babies ruling the house, miss them, but happy we have POP now.. Whats your daily duties, who bakes who decorates, how do you come up with your creative POPs? I decorate and mum does the baking part of the process, I have lots of lovely art students who help me with POPs, we don’t invent our own designs the customers do, so I receive emails asking for all sorts of crazy things and we discuss it and create it in to a POP! 84 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
Talking about your designs. Having a look through your gallery, you guys have so many different ones ranging from The muppets, Coke bottles, Ice cream›s and animals. Which are your favourites to craft and what have been your biggest challenge? I really love my baby POPs, don’t know why, just think they are a cute design and simple enough to make which helps! Hardest POPs are always the animated ones, like we're just about to do this new cartoon called skylanders next week, kids cartoons are so complicated these days, not like when we were young, stuff like Snoopy is an easy POP. Did these guys called Gigglebellies the other day, crazy how intricate the designs are. Way too fussy, I prefer a simple Zippy any day!
You run a stand at Harrods, Which I will be visiting with a friend, how did you get such a huge contact for a start up business? We don’t run a stand at harrods, used to be in Harvey Nichols but it didn’t work, their bakery buyers are always on the look out so normally they will approach you. I don’t like being in shops though, way better us being an online business and concentrating on the event side of things.
You work with big clients, who’s been your most demanding, and who’s asked for the most exciting designs? We do mostly fashion events, they aren’t demanding but it is annoying when they only get their budgets last minute so tend to order without enough notice, but we’re pretty flexible here so tend to always be able to complete the orders! The most exciting thing we did recently was a beauty shoot made from POPs for Vogue magazine, can’t say anymore though, all top secret! Always love doing Charlotte Olympia, a loyal POP customer, we do POPs to suit each new accessory or shoe design she has each season, so just today I was making these moon POPs for this new super pretty moon clutch she has made..
You also have your very own Book collection ‘POP Bakery‘ and ‘POP Party‘ how did these come about and how much fun are they to complete.? The publisher CICO approached me very early on and so we worked with them on both books, loved making the second one, even though it was super stressful as I was running the business at the same time. Your Youtube videos are very handy for beginners and throughout the learning curve, is this something you like doing being in front of the camera? I did that video for the publishers as a promotional thing for the book, didn’t think I would like it but ended up being quite fun, if I had the time I would do more! Your step by step reminds me of watching 'Art attack' as a child, I would love to see you on a bakery show of your own, is this something you and your mum would consider? Oh my god I used to LOVE Art Attack, would be amazing to have my own show! Maybe one day.. What was the first design that kicked it all off? I think the Russian dolls are what we are known for, when I did those I realised the possibilities that were out there for us to create.
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When I found the POPs I knew they were the perfect fashion accessory!
”
What your fav afternoon sweet snack? My mum is always baking so we always have ample cake aside from even the POPs, today I had her blueberry german kuchen for breakfast, was yummy. Working for your self and owning your own business, can you give our readers some empowering advice to go it alone? I guess you have to take risks, sounds cliché I know, and be brave, so don’t worry if the first idea was a total flop, eventually you will find something that you know will be a success, I had a book full of all these different ideas of businesses, from my own chocolate bar to baking parties for kids, the one that stuck was that I wanted a sweet that was very fashiony, I envisaged leopard print and tie dye prints but didn’t know on what, maybe cupcakes, when I found the POPs I knew they were the perfect fashion accessory!
WORDS LEONI-BLUE
VĂ&#x2030;LO LOVE A love story between a girl and her bike, beautifully written in a summer haze 86 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
PHOTOGRAPHER YOSHITAKA KONO • STYLIST/ ART DIRECTION JENNIFER GEACH • ASSISTANT LEAH ADAMS • MODEL CAROLINE @ FIRST MODELS BLACK BICYLE RICH PR
Pink Playsuit Beyond Retro
Blouse Vintage â&#x20AC;˘ Blue Cardigan Beyond Retro 88 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
Pink Playsuit Beyond Retro Gloves Vintage
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Dress Beyond Retro Hat H&M
Skirt and Blouse Beyond Retro
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VĂ&#x2030;LO ANATOMY Rear Brake
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C A U S A
STYLIST HOLLY BARBER MODEL CHARLI @ OXYGEN MODEL MANAGEMENT MUA AND HAIR STYLING LAUREN JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHER RHIAN COX
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M O R T I S
Leather top Gregory Nicholas â&#x20AC;˘ Skirt Obscure Couture
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Ribbons Obscure Couture
Feather Headress Stylist’s own • Vintage Lace Top Stylist’s own • Leather shorts Gregory Nicholas
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Headpiece Obscure Couture â&#x20AC;˘ Dress Gregory Nicholas
Top Ana Every â&#x20AC;˘ Skirt Gregory Nicholas
Ready forLIFE
FASHION ILLUSTRATION YUKI MINAMI
YUKIMINAMI.COM
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Efflorescence PHOTOGRAPHY, STYLING, HAIR & MAKE UP GITA BUGA MODEL LALITA LEE
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Floral Headpiece & Neck Corset Gita Buga â&#x20AC;˘ Dress Vintage
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Top Vintage â&#x20AC;˘ Floral Headpiece Gita Buga
Floral Headpiece & Top Gita Buga
The fun of dressing up, in sugary sweet tones
PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID RICHARDSON • STYLIST RHONA EZUMA • MODEL MONIKA AT FIRST MODEL MANAGEMENT • MAKE UP ARTIST & HAIR STYLIST GISELLE FRYATT • NAIL TECHNICIAN YASMIN FRANCIS • STYLIST ASSISTANTS NATALIE WILSON, RANDY LEI • LOCATIONS ALL STAR LANES BRICKLANE, THE WORKING GENTLEMEN’S CLUB BETHNEL GREEN 116 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
Earrings Maria Piana • Dress Tramp In Disguise • Bracelet Julia Burness • Hair Piece Culietta • Socks Topshop • Shoes Kate Spade At Rokit Vintage • Necklace Gogo Phillip
Little Sweetheart
Hat & Cape Rococco Vintage • Top Monki • Earrings & Necklace Gogo Philip
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Shirt & Skirt American Apparel • Earrings Gogo Phillip • Necklace Maria Piana • Jacket Evmorfia
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Earrings Gogo Phillip • Necklace And Bracelet Imogen Belfield • Skirt James Hock • Boots Beyond Retro • Top Xsenia & Olya • Belt Roccoco Vintage Bricklane
Necklace, Ring & Earrings Gogo Philip • Jacket & Dress Nicola Brindle • Cardigan Rokit
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PHOTOGRAPHER LEONI-BLUE
PETITE M
NOIR
y interview with Yannick Iluga aka Petite Noir was conducted in The Premises Café, situated in front of The Premises Studios where he was practicing that day his upcoming live show the following night. He was a little bit late but considering all but a week prior to the interview he was on the other side of the planet I don’t really mind. The café is a little busy, filled with an atmosphere made up of people chatting over late lunches, the sounds of the kitchen, Nural the café manger darting to and fro, the occasional swoosh of a bus filtering through the open door and some 40s jazz filtering through all of that on a unseen stereo somewhere. Yannick enters from a door that leads directly from the café into the studio; he’s much taller than I imagined him, has a good handshake and is gently spoken with a very mellow and smooth South African accent. He looks just a touch weary from his travels possibly, also I have just pulled him out of all day practice session, for what will turn out to be possibly his umpteenth interview with a music journo.
His thoughtful answers are interspersed with gentle laughs at some of my questions and when he talks of his music, family and what has helped get him to this stage in his career he beams broadly. Seating himself opposite me, on the wall behind me looking down on him are the framed faces of a score of other artists who have used the studio next door. N: What have you been doing with yourself today? Y: Just practicing really and getting ready for our first show tomorrow N: Is it sounding good then, practice going well? Y: Ya, ya its going really well man, its really cool. I actually like having other guys coming in and playing now, seeing my music being played live is great. I love the live element and having other people playing my songs is great! I pressed Yannick if he felt like the conductor working with the guys in the live band Y: Ha ha, nah, no I’m just the guy standing at the back and singing a bit really… A touch of the understatement and rather reserve bashful run through his responses during our interview with him. We moved on to discussing his early life travels and heritage and how that has helped to shape and mould himself and his music. Y: Erm well, ya ya, even though we didn’t stay in
Belgium for very long and I have spent most of my life growing up in SA, I’ve seen it all in my family, not just my parents but through the rest of my family who stayed in Europe and studied there and have influenced me that way. These experiences and influences from Yannick’s extended family have helped to open his mind to what is possible musically and allowed him to sculpt his equine sound. Y: This sort of makes me feel like I can do anything, anything is possible really, anything I want to do, like working without boarders. N: Petite Noir has already received quiet a lot of attention from the music press being picked as an artist of the day by the Guardian and praised by Rolling Stone how does it make you feel? Y: Its cool, its nice, but yeah I try not to read in to it too much, its obviously amazing, anyone will tell you that.
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I love the live element and having other people play my songs is great!
”
But praise from his peers and other artists would please Yannick a bit more for this Musician slash Producer, keeping an open mind to genres and influences’ are very important to him Y: Having an eclectic taste is important, I mean its obviously really, everyone gains influences from someone else, so I sort of have to look back sometimes into music that can still have relevance today even if its 25,000 years ago you know? I’m over here to play live shows but I am still always looking for influences and new ideas all the time, I am always thinking and adding to what I am doing. I am planning to move here pretty soon. I am always looking around and thinking what I can take, I don’t see why not you know? I think you have to really to grow you know? I find I am 124 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
good at referencing ya? I take something that I find and think ok this is cool, I think it’s amazing and everything sort of does that. But when you start to try too hard that’s when things start to deconstruct themselves. N: But you don’t want to risk becoming some sort of cover band do you? Y: Ah ha ha, Well no exactly! I don’t want to cross the line from giving a nod to an artist to trying to just simply replicate them. Yannick is over in the UK to play a series of live shows over here and we all know what the music scene here is like, he explained to me what its like back in South Africa & Cape Town Y: It’s really, really small! But its growing, there really aren’t many break through artists at the moment but there are some really really good artists who are around. I wanted to know whether he thought it had helped him to be “found” because he has been able to stand out from the crowd a bit more Y: There are quiet a few acts I guess but everyone sort of does the same thing, and because it’s small and everyone plays similar music they aren’t gaining a lot of influences from one another. I mean without really counting in Cape Town and Stellon Bush (an area just out side of the city) there are probably fifty bands that are established or actually playing out. You could see them all in a year maybe. While here there are like 1000s of bands you know! Its crazy haha. I guess I just try to be Myself, a lot of people in SA sort of stick to one thing, say like African music, rather than trying to create something new. They all just stick to their genres really, which limits them to what they can do and where they can go. This issue of Noctis we are looking at obsessions. Yannick was not particularly forthcoming on whether he had any but when I revealed I was a little bit of a sneaker junky Y: I really like shoes in general but I don’t have any crazy obsessions though really. And what’s he been upto in the UK besides maybe checking out Size? Y: A lot of stuff, a few meetings with labels, worked on other things as well as the live show, had a lot of interviews (apologies Yannick – but hopefully this is the first one in a jazz café attached to a studio) and met a lot of journalists,
I’ve done so much already! And being over here now I am closer to a lot of people I look up to. Just being over here I am getting new ideas coming but also at the same time I don’t necessarily see them (other acts) as I used to if that makes sense? Just being over here now feels like I am getting on, or starting to get on the same level as them. A lot of new projects and stuff have come to mind since being in London, including colabs. People I really want to work with you know, well actually there is this guy called King Cool, he’s signed to a US label called.., but he’s from the UK and I really wanna work with that guy. I don’t really know what the chances are but he’s very cool.
That pretty much concluded the interview, with management hovering, wanting to whisk him back into the practice room, Noctis thanked him for his time and looked forward to seeing & hearing the bigger fuller live sound of Petite Noir the following night.
For Petite Noir sounds check out; facebook.com/petitenoir1 And for info on the Premises Café; premisesstudios.com/café WORDS GREG SWABY
126 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
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It’s a new ban d, save for the
”
name
S
o Clive and Ryan, you were a two-piece for quite a while. What brought you together in the first place?
Clive : Myself and Ryan met in 2005, whilst working together in a pub, we played some music together one summer holiday then both went our separate ways through university. In 2010 we found ourselves living in the same place again, and started playing music because we were bored! I had a lot of musical experience in the years inbetween playing in a couple of bands, a powerpop outfit called Amy Can Flyy and an electro noise duo called Vecheka (with Noctis’ very own music editor), as well as doing some professional music work. I wanted to start a band for myself, to write music that I wanted to play and to take it seriously and work hard. Luckily myself and Ryan were on the same page. Ryan : I’ve always been a huge fan of LOTR and I made it a personal mission of mine a few years ago to bag myself a Sam Wise lookalike. I think I succeeded. From a musical standpoint, we were just two friends with nothing better to do than try out a bit of song writing when living in such a small village, You can’t take a good friendship for granted, it needs to be bled for all its worth.
How did Oli and James charm you before getting involved?
Clive : We actually found Oli and James through the internet! After exhausting all of our immediate musical contacts we had to resort to adverts. We had some nightmares before James and Oli though, including an audition with a 40 year old bass player who’s favourite instrument was the Irish Bouzouki (I’m still not entirely sure what that is) and another bassist who’s idea of good lyrics were “amplifier, amplifier, no sir I am not a liar, it is just my amplifier”. When Oli and James came along it was sweet relief just to have people who we could find ourselves getting along with, and who could play their instruments well and had a good attitude. And now they’re our buddies. Win. Ryan : With ability truth be told. The preceeding auditionees for the roles, weren’t up to it, or lacked real enthusiasm for the music. James had an itch to start playing again after a long hiatus from 128 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
drumming, and it showed from the first moment he sat at the kit, just what he had up his sleeve. Oli in my opinion is a training jedi. Its exciting to kind of know how good he could be before he will recognise it a few years from now.
What kind of effect has it had on the way that you work now being a 4 piece?
Ryan : It’s a new band, save for the name. Everything has changed. Me and Clive said lately that we could have changed the name and people would not have murmured a word. We are just a better prospect all together, live and in recording.
Excited for the release of ‘BYOB’? Tell us all about it.
Clive : Very excited! This is the first publicly released recording of ours to feature Oli and James and live drums as well! It is definitely our heaviest and upbeat song. What I like most about it is it shows us in a different light than a lot of our other
material. Whilst we are sure 9 times out of 10 where we fit in terms of genre, we take influence from an awful lot of different things. So in BYOB you’ll hear a very distinctive ska element, although we are not in any way a ska band! I think this shows the side of us that is extremely diverse and veering towards surprises, and this encompasses our attitude to music as a whole. James : Can’t wait. It’s our first single released as a proper 4 piece in the studio and we all absolutely love the song so it should be great. Looking forward to seeing how it does! Exciting times! The single is out on the 20th August. Please check it our and we hope you will love it as much as we do!
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Listening to LGS should be a religious experience, with more wine and less pews
”
What’s the writing process like for you guys?
Clive : Sir Paul McCartney once said in a Beatles documentary that any time that John Lennon played him a new song, he felt like a fan sitting there and listening, and couldn’t wait to have a go himself. This is kind of what it’s like for us. Myself and Ryan do the majority of the writing, and this usually happens whilst hanging out, drinking coffee, smoking fags and sharing theories on the new Batman movie and how it’s gonna be awesome! Then one of us plays a song we’ve been working on and the enthusiasm takes over and we both find ourselves finishing off parts for eachothers songs. We work together very closely. Oli has now joined in with the songwriting, which adds a great new dynamic, and his first offering “A Motorbike Called Life” is a strong contender to be our next single.
Ryan : Unpressured, always relaxed and nearly always out of the blue. Clive will have the guitar in his hands 9 times out of 10 and I’ll let him fuck around until I’ve got a melody sorted, mostly humming, until I’m confident the words aren’t garbage. Away from one another we’ll usually come over and do a bit of show and tell, and the other one will do an impression of Simon Cowell or Louis Walsh depending on if the song is the dogs balls or contrived wank.
Will we be seeing anything like an EP or Album from you in the near future?
Ryan : That’s the great hope. An E.P or album in the next year would be a chance to express our sound to a new listener with enough time to convert them to our ways…listening to LGS should be a religious experience, with more wine and less pews.
As this issue of Noctis is all about obsession, are there OCD tendencies we should know about?
Clive : I have a very random obsession with cables. There is a proper way to coil a cable. A cable can last a lifetime if you look after it properly. It is not done by coiling it over your arm, it’s done by gently coiling from a centre point and letting the wire coil itself naturally without forcing itself to kink. Nothing pains me more than turning up at a venue and having to do your own sound and being presented with a box of cables all tangled together……yeah, that’s a bit of an obsession. Ryan : I love glitches, noise glitches, human glitches or stammers, it cracks me up and if possible I will rewind what I am watching or ask to hear it over and over again if someone has done one. I am basically obsessed with laughing and making people laugh, an attention seeker like any frontman. Oli : I realised the other day I have quite a few. I’ve got to have the volume on an even number, preferably a multiple of 4, whether it’s on the radio in the car, the TV or the laptop. I’ve occassionally lost concentration at the wheel trying to get the volume right! I also don’t like spending £2 coins, they’re far too precious to give away.
Had any creepy obsessed fans yet?
Clive : Not as of yet no. I think we’ll know we’re onto something when we do! I have however learnt that it’s not a great idea to hook up with girls that you meet at your own gigs! ‘Nuff said. Ryan : The last two gigs we’ve met some proper characters, and by that I mean drunken ex crack addicts, with half a mind to rape you and half a mind to buy you a pint, not pleasant, but really funny when they actually rape Oli.
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Are you prepared to love, hate or be mildly entertained by us?
”
Are there any bands/musicians that you find yourselves obsessing over right now?
Clive : I think there are a few bands that we constantly refer back to. Off the top of my head I would say Pete and the Pirates, Born Ruffians and The Hives. PATP are in my opinion the best British indie band on the circuit today. Their song writing is just genius and they have such a fresh sound that I couldn’t quite describe without the readers listening to them. Born Ruffians are from Canada and are a sort of lesser known, but more real version of Vampire Weekend. Once again their songs are extraordinary and they have a gift for making extremely quirky songs with extremely catchy hooks. And The Hives, if you don’t appreciate their genius, I pity you! Oli : It’s all been about The Libertines recently for me, I’ve had their albums on repeat, and watched far too many of their Youtube interviews. There’s also an Australian pyschadelic rock band called Tame Impala, who are quite big in that scene at the moment. I got massively obsessed with their debut a couple of years back, and I’m just getting back into it again after hearing their new album taster. My obsession with The Smiths and Oasis is an ongoing thing really.. 130 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
You’ve played with some really amazing bands. Who was your favourite and why?
Ryan : Ear PWR not for being great, But for being memorable in their between songs banter. “Nah let’s not play that song, that songs bullshit”. That kind of thing.
If you had the chance to collaborate with any act in the world, who would you choose and why?
Clive : That’s a very hard question because there’s so many. There was a band called Yourcodenameis: Milo who had a great idea, which I would love to try and emulate in the future. They recorded an album with themselves collaborating with loads of different artists where they wrote and recorded a song with each artist in a day. This would be a great test of your creativity and a fantastic way to weigh yourself among your peers or your idols! The first invites would go out to Frank Turner who I’m sure could teach me a thing or two about song writing, and Howling Pelle Almqvist who could teach me a thing or two about being awesome! Ryan : Probably Pete and The Pirates, just to see if together we could write the friendliest and yet most surreal sounding indie song of all time
Will we be seeing a full UK tour anytime soon?
Clive : With any luck, yes! We have a few gigs booked over the summer including dates in London, Bournemouth and Portsmouth, but we would love to get out and play across the country, we’re just waiting for the opportunity! We had an enquiry to play in Nashville the other day, but unfortunately they couldn’t bare the cost of flying four young men out to The US for one show! We would’ve done it if they could!
You’re out at dinner and it’s dessert time. What’s the one thing you’d choose and not share, even with your most beloved?
Clive : Generally speaking I’m a lot like Joey from Friends. “CLIVE DOESN’T SHARE FOOD!” Although I would let someone have a small taste of most things, but if there was a decent lemon meringue pie about, it’s my way or the highway! Oli : Chocolate Brownie.
If you were interviewing you, what would you want to ask?
Clive : I think I would probably want to be asked “Why Should people listen to your band?” To which I would answer “What have you got to lose? We’re not a marmite band. Some people will love us, some people will hate us, and some people will find it agreeable and be mildly entertained. You don’t know until you try” Either that or a question about Batman so I can get my nerd on.
Ryan : Who does your hair? Seriously? A chimp?
Any last words?
Clive : Are you prepared to love, hate or be mildly entertained by us? If so, have a listen at www. letsgosafari.co.uk Ryan : That’s a bit of a threatening ending to an inter---ahhhhhh WORDS CHANTEL BEAVEN
SIZARR
132 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
S
o our starter for ten, how are you doing chaps? What was it like to be featured in a magazine such as The Rolling Stone? Everything ok with you guys? Jaaaa! Feel-Good is our thing
Whats in the name Sizarr? If a rose were called by any other name it would still smell nice, so how did the bands name come about? In Joke, historical reference? Nothing. It’s a blank page (to continue as poetic as you were). We wanted a short name that is free of associations and stands for nothing but ourselves.
Growing up what were or still are your favourite games and consoles or perhaps a lucky stuffed Fragle?
We spent most of the time playing Xbox and I must say for that time that was the best console in my eyes. Then I (Deaf Sty) bought the Xbox 360 but it sucked. It broke after a month because it had that three rings of death thing! I was playing the first Assassin’s Creed then and could never finish it because of that.We all played Tony Hawk’s from the first game on it though!! So that’s probably the band’s favorite game!
We spent the summer trying to build a weather machine, think it worked in reverse, what has been the creation for your summer? Germany was mui caliente the last couple of weeks so our creation was popsicles!
Who were the bands you looked upto when you were growing up? Who’s names were written your back packs?
There were lots of names. Our backpacks weren’t even big enough to write those names on them. P had a backpack saying “Punks Not Dead” once.
Having had your vocals compared to Jeff Buckley and The Walkmen how would you see yourselves? It’s hard to say because a voice just comes naturally. And I also don’t feel like a great singer technically so it’s more about the color or tone of the voice and that’s something you don’t have to think about.
Well it was only a really small sidebar article but still The Rolling Stone is the big-american-richassoil-millionaire of music magazines so that was cool
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We want to have a performance with a hologram dead guy... Maybe Beethoven but on Synthesizers
”
What’s on the to do list for the rest of this year? Album launch? Festival slots? An award nomination perhaps? Ya our album will be released September 14th in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The rest of the world will have to wait a bit longer or get it online. But for the rest we’ll start slowly. We’ll play a tour in October and see what happens after that.
Everyone loves a collaboration, who have you guys got a eye on working with in the feature or would like to work with on future projects?
We want to have a performance with a hologram dead guy like 2Pac on Coachella. Maybe Beethoven but on Synthesizers.
When your not making great music what do you like to spend your time doing? Arts and Crafts? Extreme sports? P enjoys la vie en rose, Deaf Sty paints mangas and Gora Sou knows nothing but music!
Boarding Time is out now, Purple Fried is out soon. WORDS GREG SWABY
134 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
JUPITER
F
irstly, why the name Jupiter?
Jupiter conveyed many things that relate to our music: space is a recurring theme in Disco, so is mythology, but Jupiter is also the name of a cult synth by Roland )notably used on Thriller) and most importantly it’s a simple name that’s easy to remember, whatever your native tongue may be.
I understand that you both met on a vacant dancefloor while studying in London. As far as I know London’s not significantly famous for a vibing Italo or 80’s electro-funk scene...you must feel lucky to have found each other?! Absolutely! I guess it’s not a vibrant scene in London but Mama Used To Say had a special appeal to another crowd: it was featured in a seminal mixtape by Steinski & Double Dee in the early 1980s and has been a turntablist favorite ever since. That could explain why it was being played that night.
How were your experiences studying music in London?
One of the great things about British academics is that you can study pretty much anything you like in University. Our studies were focusing on production, which meant we had a lot of time to do music, both in and outside campus. We basically started Jupiter during our time there.
Do you feel like there’s something unique or significant about your bond together that helps you to make records? That’s almost like psychoanalysis, we can’t answer that question...we’re in too deep!
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Space is a recurring theme in Disco, so is mythology, but Jupiter is also the name of a cult synth by Roland
”
Saying that, what’s your studio time like? Is it ever difficult to synergise and manage both of your creative energies?
Well we work for extensive periods of time, locking ourselves up in the studio, being creative, then arguing and then being creative again.
Dance music in London can certainly be rather aloof at times whereas your music is distinctly fun and accessible. How has your music compared to that It can certainly be hard to manage obsession and of your peers at music college and how do you feel curb it before it begins to stifle progress in the starting off in London has influenced your sound? studio. Would you say this ever applies to you? Being in London at the time meant being under What (if anything) do you obsess over creatively? the influence of certain definite styles of music; I was definitely more into dub and hip hop at the time while Amélie listened to a lot of indie rock and electro. These styles all had an impact on our music, electro being the most obvious. Seeing a vibrant new French scene emerge (the so-called French Touch 2.0) and most of all, matter in the UK made us understand that something was cooking and it was the right time to start a band. 136 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
We are super obsessive with details and such, sometimes to the point where it gets counterproductive. That’s one of the perks of working as a band rather than a single-person entity though, when one gets stuck in an infinite loop of counterproductivity the other one is here to drag him out of it.
What instruments and synths are giving you your favorite sounds at the moment?
We’re running on a MS20/Jupiter-6 combo which does wonders! These synths complement each other so well we hardly need any other...for now haha.
I understand you’ve been globally touring your album ‘Juicy Lucy’. What’s the response been like thus far?
The response’s been great, people seem to enjoy the album very much. We’re not gonna leave it to rest though, we’re starting to gather ideas for our second opus.
What’s your live set-up been throughout the tour?
We’re three people on stage plus a sound engineer. I’m on the bass (synth & electric), Amélie’s on lead (vocal & synth) while our third musician is triggering samples, playing rhythm synth and tweaking a few bleeps and blops. Oh, I intermittently go a little Roger Troutman on my talkbox as well.
Could you pin-point a particular highlight from your time spent touring together? Travelling on a global scale is the definite highlight of touring, we get to see so many people and places! Much more than we ever did before; if we were to pick a particular place so far, Japan has been awesome.
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We work for extensive periods of time, locking ourselves up in the studio
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Seeing a vibrant new French scene emerge and most of all, matter in the UK made us understand that... it was the right time to start a band
What’s your vision for future albums and performances?
”
We’re just gathering ideas for our next album at the moment, no one really know how it’s gonna turn out yet. As far as performances go, we have a lot of touring lined up in the near future so we’re gonna be looking at improving our live show as much as we can.
Finally, what does the next 6 months hold for Jupiter?
Basically touring, a new single, a music video... probably more things but 6 months is like eternity in this day and age.
WORDS CHRIS NEWMAN
138 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
ZOWIE N
ew Zealand’s sporting stars may have attracted more attention than its musical talent of late, yet all that could be about to change with the advent of one Zoe Fleury, a.k.a Zowie. Armed with a distinctive brand of dancefloor-filling electro-pop and a killer sense of style to boot, we’re prepared to guess that she won’t just be working her way up your playlist, but could also be making an appearance on your list of style crushes. The punchy popster may have undergone an image overhaul, changing her name from ‘Bionic Pixie’ back in 2009, but if one thing has remained constant it’s her undeniable and unwavering talent. A penchant for catchy hooks and sing-along ready lyrics has already garnered comparisons with the likes of Lady Gaga and The Ting Tings, making the critics go weak at the knees and rendering Zowie a household name in her native NZ. Fresh from supporting Katy Perry and Mark Ronson, 2012 looks set to be the year that she makes her mark on this hemisphere. With that in mind, Noctis caught up with Miss Fleury to chat influences, plans for the future and, er - calculators.
How would you describe your style?
Musically it’s a real mish mash of Industrial POP, Hip-Hop, Electro- Punk elements. Very rhythmically-tastic!
Who are your major influences?
Musically Nine Inch Nails, Atticus Ross/Trent Reznor, M.I.A, Peaches, BOWIE, Prince and Refused. Certain movies/anime/cartoons really inspire me too - Tim Burton’s work is inspiring!
You previously played with the likes of Peaches and The Kills, and toured with Mark Ronson and Katy Perry. Do you feel this experience has influenced your current live show – and if so, how so?
All have been very different from each other and they all have been an influence in the sense of learning what an amazing show is - what works live. Different ways of working crowds. They are all AMAZING live acts so what we’ve learnt has been endless, everything from the smartest way to pack down gear afterwards!
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New Zealand has a super solid music scene
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How does your work with The Bengal Lights differ from your solo material?
The difference is I’m drumming behind a full kit the whole time with The Bengal Lights and sharing vocals with Maeve Munro (Guitar/vox). It’s very rock’n’roll/punk influenced. There are bits here and there more vocally where I might growl in songs and the cheekyness is a big part of The Bengal Lights which is a strong element of the ZOWIE work too. I also drum here and there for the Zowie live show with my drummer Jordan Clark.
What acted as the catalyst for you to change your stage name to Zowie from Bionic Pixie?
It was something I always had in my head, I knew I’d want her to evolve in some way. Looking to artists like Bowie, Prince and Marilyn Manson who were doing that all the time it just seemed exciting and Bionic Pixie needed a name as she is ‘A’ Bionic Pixie. The Zowie material is still very Bionic Pixie though. Zowie just seemed right to me.
Perez Hilton is a fan, having described you as one of five musical acts to watch out for in 2011. How has such a positive response from high-profile figures affected you in your career to date? It’s been great for us. Perez is such a music lover and has helped spread the word on loads of great artists . Having the likes of Mark Ronson and Katy Perry picking us to tour with them has had an amazing impact on us, the live show has always been a really important factor in the whole thing. I have an amazing band I work with so it’s great having pressure from the likes of these people!
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Can you tell us a little about your latest single, My Calculator?
I wrote this track in Sweden with an amazing songwriter/producer Henrik Jonback. I’d had the title for quite a while and wasn’t too sure what I wanted it to be about but I just loved the title ‘My Calculator’. Once I was in the studio with Henrik we just started coming up with manic synths, fast paced beats and ‘My Calculator’ was the perfect title. The idea of the story is someone is toying with my head and the ‘1623’, which is the main lyrical hook in the chorus, represents a number (a phone number/house number) that you’ve found on their phone that isn’t yours, and “Don’t you remember me?” well that says it all. It’s a very sarcastic song sung to the person it’s about. When I say “Read My Calculator” it’s also meaning read my vibe/body language.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
So many things have really stood out I guess behind the scenes writing and finishing my first album was amazing and writing with a long list of dream writers I’d always wanted to write with. The Katy Perry tour was unreal too, we played 11 shows with her on her California Dream Tour. So many things over the years have been highlights to be honest!
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I always wanted to be an Astronaut too
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Do you feel that growing up in New Zealand has had an influence upon the style of your music? My parents have had a major influence on me in the sense of growing up with a very musical Dad (who played guitar on my album) he always thinks outside of the box and their favorite bands have really been some of my major influences -
Gary Numan, Grace Jones, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson andThe Police. Always going to gigs that my Dad was playing at with some top New Zealand acts over the years has been influential.
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I love fashion and being able to blend in art with music is so much fun
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing now? I’d probably be working on the other side of it, maybe my own label. I always wanted to be an Astronaut too.
Your look is definitely iconic – would you say that you’re conscious of the importance of image in relation to your music? Who are your favourite designers?
I love fashion and being able to blend in art with music is so much fun. Everything for the live show look, outfits to drum stick colors. I have loads of favorites designers - Jeremy Scott, Tina Kalivas, Balmain, The Blonds and Gareth Pugh.
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Do you feel that the music scene in your home country at present is a vibrant one?
For sure and its cool because people are all sounding really different from one another which is good - New Zealand has a super solid music scene.
Do you prefer playing live shows or the process of writing and recording? I love both but playing live is too hard to beat!
You’ve previously mentioned that you started out playing the drums - is this still an important element of your music?
Super important. Drumming it’s where my heart is and it’s what I majored in at music school, I’ll never put the sticks down. In my songs the beat HAS to be interesting but also the other instruments need to have something interesting going on rhythmically as well, the guitar or vocals, all of it. Live drums are an important factor we really focus on as well.
Having the likes of Mark Ronson and Katy Perry picking us to tour with them has had an amazing impact on us
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What’s in the pipeline for the remainder of 2012?
I’m hoping to just tour tour tour. We’re in planning stages at the moment but can’t wait to see what’s in store, hopefully over to the U.K super soon!
WORDS TARA MCEVOY
D
igitalism are a German electro duo, founded in 2004 in Hamburg, consisting of Jens “Jence” Moelle and İsmail “Isi” Tüfekçi. Jens likens Digitalism’s songs to simple chapters in a complex novel about social interaction and attraction, with distorted baselines and thumping rhythms comprising the punctuation. Digitalism’s debut album, Idealism, was released 9 May 2007 as Digitalism on Toshiba EMI Records in Japan, on May 21, 2007 on Kitsuné Music in France and on Astralwerks in North America. The album includes re-edits of the previously released singles “Jupiter Room”, “Zdarlight” as well as their “Digitalism in Cairo” original re-edit of a track by the Cure which actually doesn’t feature a sample from the track.
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In June 2011, Digitalism released the second studio album, I love You Dude, on Cooperative Music. The ablum includes the previously released singles “Blitz” and “Stratophere”, the hit-single “2 Hearts” and a cooperation with Julian Casablancas. All over the sound on the second album has become more openminded. Digitalism’s sound is crossing the limits between Electro, Rock and Indie. Digitalism has remixed tracks for Tom Vek, The Futureheads, Daft Punk, Tiga, Klaxons, White Stripes, Monk, Depeche Mode, Cut Copy and many others. Their tracks and remixes are played by DJs such as Erol Alkan, Soulwax, Boys Noize, and Justice, among others. Having come from a heavy German influenced Electro sound, they began as DJ›s creating live edits and then falling into a studio working on an album. Although when it came to the studio a whole new world opened up which led them to start playing live in 2005. Saying that the jumped first.. deciding to improvise as they had never played in bands before. Learning a lot as they went along, although not always feeling comfortable within where they were, very quickly adapting to their new situation. With initial shouting vocals on Idealistic it soon became apparent that singing was the next step although neither would claim themselves as a singer it became the natural progression. After touring the globe they became a well oiled machine and coming back into the studio they put their live knowledge to use and came to the realization that it would have to be carried across into the new material. Which in turn lead to a much poppier second album. The band has changed form a few times throughout it’s life having started as a duo and built into a full band including drums although now has come back to its original form. Touring as a duo once again. Claiming that they are now on the verge of finding themselves in their music. When it comes to playing live Jence says there is only so much that a live band can really do especially when it comes to electronics and that the it’s an interactive experience.
Which takes everything a step up from being DJ’s into a full performance as they are entirely different things and need to be approached with very different attitudes. With the new DJ Kicks album out. Both of Digitalism have always kept to their roots of starting out as DJs. Having sat back in the studio to start working on some new material they got a call to ask if they wanted to do DJ Kicks which they didn’t hesitate to jump on. Saying it’s a big honor, like getting a knighthood for DJ’s. All of their legends having made one. It all really comes back to the formation of Digitalism. Having met each other in a record shop whilst working their they soon took to the decks at the back of the shop when it was empty and started to DJ together. Remembering the DJ Kicks albums from the shop, also making their way into their own record collections. They describe their DJ Kicks album as the essence of Digitalism, having some of their own songs and some other songs as well but all combined in one package. Digitalism had a quick chance to discuss their obsessions with us and claim that their 1st obsession was computers and the concept of logic. Having had to program from a child’s age just to play games, they have developed this into their music, With a newer obsession being programming synthesizers. The emphasis on simplicity, which rubs off on their music. This shows when they start to discuss moving from digital synthesizers to older analog patchable synthesizers, saying they prefer to play and create music with more freedom which can be seen with their current output.Finally traveling which becomes a big obsession as a part of their lives, spending a lot of time on the road. They are now are starting to look at new things to, with the feeling of freedom they can jam and create anything. So look out for Digitalism with new material and shows soon. And go pick up their excellent new DJ Kicks album. WORDS ERIN DAVIES
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EGO
TROOPERS
F
irstly how did you guys meet and how did you come up with the name ego troopers?
What are your thoughts on the resurgence of techno in the last 2 years?
Oli: So this is what happened: Mo bought an oil lamp in his local thrift store. He got home, unpacked it, and started hugging and rubbing it full of joy. Well, you can fill in the rest… since then we’re true technobros. Mo: And the name comes from nowhere, we hate the name. But we got used to it and a lot of people actually compliment us about it.
Mo: Well honestly we can’t tell you that much about it because we were too young during the ‘golden techno ages’. But the last year has been very exciting. Guys like Blawan, Locked Groove and Paul Chambers have really brought back the sound of the ‘good old days’ without being too retro or passé. Straight up future techno from the past!
Mo: We started off as just 2 friends jamming acid music on some analog gear two years ago. Recorded some raw demos, send them to Stephen & David (Soulwax/2manydjs) and couple weeks later they asked us to open their Soulwaxmas tour in Europe. From there on the ball just kept rolling, more gigs & productions and well, here we are!
Mo: Well it’s something between Mumbai Science, Sound Of Stereo & ourselves. All we can say is that we’re winning.
You two have one of the biggest Techno sounds about at the moment. How did you get into Techno?
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We have heard rumours of an ongoing prank war One of the biggest questions on most peoples minds between you and another act.. How did this come is how did you guys get into the industry so young? about?
Oli: Around the age of 11 I discovered Kraftwerk. From there on, it didn’t take me long to get into synthesizers, analog synthesizers in specific. Bought my SH101 when I was 13 and never stopped collecting. Once I had the TR707 I just began jamming and along came techno. But actually, I’ve never told anyone this, the biggest reason why I started making dance music is because of Benny Benassi’s “Satisfaction”. Not because of the clip -I swear- but because of the bassline and the use of sidechain I guess, such a pumpin’ tune man! Mo: I also started around the age of 11, or 10 maybe: good old Garageband, just putting together some Apple Loops, mostly power ballad guitar riffs and bits & pieces which fitted nicely with them. It sounds cooler then it was really. But anyway, from that point I started listening more fanatically to music. Justice & Boys Noize where big business round that time too, really changing the game. In fact the first record I ever bought was ‘Cross’. 146 Issue 5 www.NoctisMag.com
This issue is about Obsession. What is it that you two obsess over?
Oli: Anything with music and sound really. Mo:Yeah music, I can’t help but feel obsessed with a certain artists or type of music, for instant Odd Future: I’m an absolute Odd Future freak.
We started off as just 2 friends jamming acid music on some analog gear two years ago
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What instruments and synths are your favourite’s to turn to at the moment? Oli: That would be the SH101, there is no track of ours without that one in it. But also the Korg Mono/Poly and SC Drumtraks have been giving me expensive energy bills the last couple months…
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Ego Troopers has always been about having fun
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If your studio was burning down what is the one thing you would save? ( Don’t worry you don’t have to say each other, we won’t tell anyone!)
Oli: SH101 under my right arm, TR707 under my left arm, MonoPoly on my back and the Drumtraks balancing on my head. Ok that’s cheating. Mo: My chair.
Your single Polar was released on Blood Music last year. How did you get in touch with Fake Blood?
Mo: We had some tunes finished and decided to send them around a little. To our big surprise almost all the people we send it got back to us with positive feedback. Theo (Fake Blood) asked us if we wanted to release them on Blood Music and so we did. I think the label is absolutely great and keeps releasing fresh stuff. That’s probably what I like the most about Blood Music: it doesn’t release music that often. I don’t think there’s a big business plan or anything like that… it’s just about good music.
Is playing live something that could be on the cards?
Oli: Absolutely! We’ve been talking about playing live ever since we started 2 years ago. But we need more music so we can play a set that is diverse enough. Also, you should have some kind of (club) hit to really get people interested and hyped to see you play a 100% with your own stuff… But definitely, yes. With the analog gear and a good lightshow… hopefully someday!
You played at Soulwaxmas last year and tomorrow lands this year. What has been your touring highlight?
Oli: We did a lot of gigs this summer. I think Rara Aves in Amsterdam, Tomorrowland, Pukkelpop, Creamfields in Spain and Laundry Day here in our
hometown Antwerp were friggin’ great. But the one gig that sticks out with head and shoulders was a local party in Belgium called ‘Casa Blanca’. We played in a huge tent for more then 2000 people and the crowd was eating out of our hands, crazy! Mo: Back in March we played in Social Club (Paris) with Mumbai Science and The Subs. Was definitely one of the most remarkable nights we ever did. The crowd in Paris is always on another level and the atmosphere playing there together with our friends was just amazing. Next friday (21/09) we’re playing in Fabric on the Blood Music label night again! Pretty sure it’ll be another one to remember.
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I don’t think there’s a big business plan… it’s just about good music
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Finally, what does the next 6 months hold for Ego Troopers?
Oli: We have our collaboration with the guys from Sound Of Stereo coming out soon. We’re also working on our second EP, with ‘Warehouse’ on it. But we’re still a bit unsure of what we want to do with our music. We’ve evolved a lot since our first EP (‘Polar’ & ‘Whale’ were made 2 years ago) and the music we’re making now is more old school & raw, yet a lot cleaner of production then people are used from us. So we’ll have to figure some stuff out, but either way we need to get these tunes finished asap. Mo: Oh and we stopped doing remixes. We’ve never been big fans of making a remix in the first place, in 2 years we only did about 4 or 5 of’em and it’s more of a drag then fun to do. In the end, Ego Troopers has always been about having fun. In the studio and on stage… if we don’t like it we don’t do it! WORDS ERIN DAVIES
To all our contributors and readers, we would like to thank you very much for sticking with us throughout the making of this issue. This has been a great issue to put together and we have had loads of fun delving into and pulling to the surface our many different obsessions and talking to other people about theirs. If you were watching the end of a television show you may be told at the end that “If any of the issues featured within this.......” But in this case I’m sure we can all set them aside. Our next issue will have the theme ‘Folklore fantasy’ so if you can remember those childhood tales then please get in touch with us with your ideas and submissions to info@noctismag.com Thank you very much for reading and we look forward to putting together the next issue and showing it to all of you. Peace x Leoni Blue Editor in Chief
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