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EDITORIAL STAFF Britt Middleton Founder and Editor-in-Chief Fashion and Beauty Director britt@sundaemag.com
Cameron Hubbard Arts&Culture Editor
cameron@sundaemag.com
Alisha Torrealba Music Editor
alisha@sundaemag.com
Christian BC Music Historian
christianbc@sundaemag.com
Tom Vinson Contributor
tom@sundaemag.com
Amanda McRae Contributor
amanda@sundaemag.com
Kevin Yang Contributor
kevin@sundaemag.com
PHOTOGRAPHERS Haley Barlar Contributing Photographer
PRODUCTION STAFF Jack Cusumano Art Director
jack@sundaemag.com
Asha Ellison Copy Chief asha@sundaemag.com
INTERNS
Lauren McCarthy Editorial Frances Palmer Design & Production Like what you see inside Sundae Magazine? Tells us at soundoff@sundaemag.com Advertise With Us: Sundae Magazine offers a full range of advertising options. Contact: ads@sundaemag.com PRESS Inquiries Contact: britt@sundaemag.com FOR INTERNSHIPS/FREELANCE OPPORTUNITIES Contact: britt@sundaemag.com 2
OCTOBER + NOVEMBER 2010
p4 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
M USIC p5 p6 p7 p8 p9 p10
ON CUE GOOD VIBRATIONS GROWING UP NATIVE HELLO, OPERATOR GIVE ‘EM ENOUGH ROPE OPPOSITES ATTTRACT
p13 SUNDAE’S BEST
T HREADS p14 ROCK AND ROLL QUEEN p16 SHOP GIRL
P RETTY p18 OUR BEAUTY CHEAT SHEET p19 CATWALK CALLING
C ULTURE p20 MASKED HOPE p21 WHEN CULTURES COLLIDE p15 SUNDAE SHOUT OUT
D OMESTICA p24 CONFECTIONALLY SPEAKING p25 TWO STEP
C HEAP TALK p26 THE GENTLEMAN’S GAME PART 3 p27 THE (UN)SOCIAL NETWORK p28 BANGS
Photo by Haley Barlar
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Photo by Haley Barlar
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Rolling into fall, it seems time will soon morph into hyperspeed. First comes Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then the host of winter holidays that follow. And before you even have time to re-pack your snow globes, it’ll be the start of a whole new year. Time flies when you’re having fun, right? Well, we’ve been having blast, and this issue is a capsule of the great adventures we’ve had since we left you in the summer. To start, we sat down with Chromeo, the Kings Of Clichés, in Atlanta for an exclusive interview about the inspiration behind their latest LP, Business Casual, their love for Wu-Tang, and their appreciation for a great pair of legs (more on that on page 10). We also caught up with L.A.’s Local Natives, who took us to the real Gorilla Manor to share how they found infinite inspiration in chaos. We sent Sundae Magazine guest writer Torre Clauss to L.A.’s Culture Collide festival, a four-day experience featuring artists from every corner of the earth (Ziggy has landed on page 21!). As always, you’ll hear new music from all of our favorite artists on our October/November playlist at 8tracks.com/sundaemag. Fall fashion trends may come and go, but rock and roll is forever – that’s why we love the Samantha Thavasa by Tinsely Mortimer Fall 2010 collection, which is inspired by the teased hair and spandex of 80s metal (page 14). And speaking of straight off the runway, we road tested the biggest make-up looks from the Fall 2010 runways to find out which were haute and which were a hot mess (our conclusions on page 19). While we were in New York City recently, we popped into Screaming Mimi’s, the most bodacious boutique for vintage designer finds, to find inspiration for innovative looks that are as easy to pull off as they are to put on. So before it is time to countdown the final hours of 2010, stop and take it all in. Be it the leaves turning, the temperature dropping, or even the pumpkin spice latte you’re drinking outside Starbuck’s. Be present. You know we will be. Love and Leisure, Britt Middleton Editor-in-Chief, Sundae Magazine Britt@sundaemag.com
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MU ONCUE SIC
New releases to plot on your radar. Hear from all the artists on our monthly mix at 8tracks.com/ sundaemag By: Britt Middleton
White Denim Photo courtesy White Denim
White Denim Bridges Hiatus With New (Free!) Music In September, White Denim announced that they were not only hard at work on the follow-up to 2009’s breakout, Fits, but they were also going to share what they’ve come up with in the meantime. Titled Last Day of Summer, the album, which was recorded in the band’s Austin, Texas, home studio, is an offering of previously unrecorded tracks dating back to 2006 and a glimpse into the experimentation likely to surface on the band’s still-untitled third LP. And just because they’re real swell guys, the entire album is available for free (or donation, if that’s how you roll) on their website, whitedeminmusic.com. Opener “I’d Have It Just The Way We Were” is a proper start for the record, which supports the band’s signature mix of slinky jazz percussion, overdub, spacey psychadelic arabesques and low-fi fuzz. Last Day of Summer is available now at whitedenimmusic.com.
Violens’ Amoral A Nightmarish Retreat For the same reason you read Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark as kid is why Amoral, the debut from Booklyn’s Violens, works so well: sometimes you just want to be in someone else’s nightmare. Welcome to the mind of producer/multi-instrumentalist Jorge Elbrecht. Elbrecht, also is a member of New York City’s multi-faceted LansingDreiden art collective, Iddo Arad (synth) and Myles Matheny (guitar), create vivid imagery and Kafkaesque complexity in this startlingly good debut effort. The result is all at once dreamy (“Violent Sensation Descends”) and imposing (“Acid Reign”) and surreal enough to make you question if it was all a dream. Amoral is available on Friendly Fire Recordings and Stactic Recital on November 2.
Violens Photo courtesy Friendly Fire Recordings
WEEKEND Photo courtesy Slumberland Records
WEEKEND Brings Serious Noise With Debut LP It may seem like only yesterday that WEEKEND’s Shaun Durkan (vocals/bass/ baritone guitar), Kevin Johnson (guitar), and Abe Pedroza (drums) formed WEEKEND in San Francisco – well, it wasn’t yesterday. It was actually late last year. But in less than a year’s time, the band has scored gigs with Japandroids and will release their debut double LP, Sports, in November. Calling on inspiration from post-no Wave noise bands DUSTdevils and Sonic Youth, Sport probes the very heart of garage thrash (“Youth Haunts”) to uncover unbridled passion and beauty in the remaining ash (“Veil”). “Our goal has always been to balance the abrasive qualities of punk and noise with something more introspective and vulnerable,” Durkan says. “Creating that simultaneous push and pull. Like the beauty of an oil fire.” Ferociously powerful, Sport is a standout in the anti-pop revolution. Sport is available on Slumberland Records on November 9.
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GOOD
VIBRATIONS By: Alisha Torrealba
See which releases get our stamp of approval Salem: King Night From the very start of their debut full length, King Night, Salem seems to hit the darkest depths of your soul at full-force. Lodged somewhere between your personal hell and heaven, the title track blasts in samples of “O Holy Night” with sputtering 808 beats. The album’s ominous landscape continues with the terrifying sounds of “Asia” and “Frost”, weaving in Heather Marlett’s dreamy, ethereal vocals, contradicting your impulse to shiver. The track “Sick” justifies its name with spatters of effervescent beats and wavering backing vocals. Jack Donoghue’s melting dirty south style rap is later introduced in tracks “Trapdoor” and “Tair.” Even on their earlier EPs, Salem has an undeniable ability to walk blurred lines between light and dark, or simple and complex. They have progressed in leaps and bounds since, and their creation of an entirely new sound stemming from the infusion of hip hop, electronica, and beautifully blank, pop-tinged melodies is exhilarating. King Night presents a challenge to accept the occasional gleams of light within a completely fucked up existence. Absolutely brilliant.
Crocodiles: Sleep Forever Sleep Forever’s noisy garage riffs and reverb-drenched vocals may recall the sounds of their debut, Summer of Hate, however the five-piece band has now reestablished themselves in a more mature and realized manner. With the new pulsing waves of synth melodies and glockenspiel in “Hearts of Love,” the album’s textures are impressively complex. “Hollow Hollow Eyes” (my favorite track on the album) is intensely haunting, with a chirping organ and creepy, funhouse-type melodies that hurl you into a swirling abyss. The album is actually quite brief, with only 8 tracks total and a very obvious midway point with “Girl In Black,” where all aspects of where Sleep Forever has taken us is scrapped and plunged into a dreamy, sparse lovesick limbo until being revived again with the title track. Now there is certainly nothing wrong with wearing your influences on your sleeve, but my one hope for Crocodiles is that they leap much further away from their Jesus and Mary Chain sound in the future. Still, Sleep Forever is overall a very enjoyable second run with loads of potential.
Das Racist: Sit Down, Man The common lament of too-serious hip-hop is graciously diffused with groups like the Cool Kids, and now Das Racist. With their first mixtape release Shut Up, Dude, the Brooklynites created a swarm of buzz around their smart beats and pop culture soaked lyrics. Sit Down, Man continues on the well-deserved hype with an impressive and lengthy list of producers (Diplo and Teengirl Fantasy, to name a few). Alongside the zany references, though, tracks like “People Are Strange” have higher-brow messages to go along with a great bouncy beat. However, nobody can make something substantial out of Enya samples, so I would recommend skipping “Return to Innocence” all together. Despite a few missteps, Das Racist has proven to be much more than just a novelty act.
Röyksopp: Senior Röyksopp’s release of Junior in 2009 skyrocketed their already positive reputation. Now as its follow up album name suggests, Senior presents a more sophisticated exploration of the band’s signature elements. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always establish constructive growth. Compared to the duo’s eccentricity and tendency to tap into what seemed like countless sources of inspiration on their previous releases, Senior stays pretty safe most of the time, gravitating around varying degrees of introspective soundscapes. Beautiful, yes, but it is difficult to remain engaged. “Tricky Two” is an embellished version of the release on Junior, sans vocals. Despite the reappearance working against it, it is actually one of my favorite tracks. While “Forsaken Cowboy” displays the same moody tone as the rest of the album, its quirky beat, representative of a trotting horse, contends well with the longing sounds of guitars and synth. The speedy release of this album leads me to believe that even though Junior and Senior were recorded at the same time, the latter was neglected somewhat in its final touches.
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*albums rated on a scale of 1 to 5.
GROWING-UP
NATIVE By: Britt Middleton
“There was so much potential in what we were doing.” -Ryan Hahn Local Natives on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There is something about California. “The weather is perfect, there’s the ocean and mountains…” Ryan Hahn’s voice trails off. There’s a hint of homesickness there that recalls a kid at sleepaway camp for the first time. Only, he’s thousands of miles away from the creature comforts of his Los Angeles, California, home. For the last month, day in and day out, it’s been a vicious cycle of cramming into a van and driving all day to a venue, playing a show in the evening, piling back into the van and driving all night to make it to the next European city by morning. Tour life is brutal -- even more so the first time out the gate. Hahn, guitarist and vocalist of indie rock outfit Local Natives, and his bandmates aren’t taking this opportunity for granted. Yet on this day in August, as the sights of a small town on the French border become a blur in the rearview mirror, even they find it hard not to wax poetic about days spent slumming it in the home they once shared in Orange County, California. The place, affectionately named Gorilla Manor, is where Hahn, guitarist Taylor Rice, keyboardist Kelcey Ayer, drummer Matt Frazier and bassist Andy Hamm went through a second adolescence together, and it is where they wrote the material for their debut LP of the same moniker. “It was insanely messy and there were always friends over knocking around on guitars and our thrift store piano,” Hahn recalls. Quitting day jobs and immersing themselves in their habitat, they focused on recording the album of their young lives. As a result, Gorilla Manor is just as much a part of the dynamic as the music itself. “There was so much potential in what we were doing,” Hahn reflects back. “[We] couldn’t recreate that even if we wanted to.” Not that there’s been much time to reflect on the past. They were one of the breakout acts at SXSW in 2009. By summer 2010 they became fixtures on the summer tour circuit. A performance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson this past May put them before their biggest audience yet.
Despite its chaotic origins, Gorilla Manor remains a lucid thought. “Sun Hands”, with its bursts of shimmering guitar and three-part harmonies, speaks clearly to growing pains faced over the band’s three-year history – physical and emotional isolation from loved ones, the search for enlightenment, and coping with wanting what you can’t have, especially after it’s already been lost. A cover of Talking Head’s “Warning Sign” also appears on the album in the form of a deconstructed arrangement, imbued with the band’s signature harmonic swells. “During recording for the album, we were listening to a lot of Talking Heads,” Hahn says. “Then one day we were playing a festival and we wanted to make our set longer, so we added in ‘Warning Sign’ …and it eventually ended up on the record.” As for now, Hahn says the focus is not necessarily where they are headed in the future, but expressing gratitude for where they are in the immediate present. “We never anticipated to be touring they way we have been,” Hahn starts, sounding a bit more optimistic than at the beginning of our conversation. “We’re still not living in the lap of luxury- we’re still riding around in a van and working hard. But we are really enjoying it.” 7
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HELLO,
OPERATOR! By: Lauren McCarthy
Most people who meet at a bar in New York City exchange phone numbers. DJ Sammy Bananas and singer Maggie Horn instead swapped inspiration and started the genre-defying mash-up act Telephoned.
Sundae Magazine: How did you two meet? Sammy Bananas: We both had been in New York for a little while and there is a certain scene here, so I had heard some stuff that Maggie had done through mutual friends. The genesis of the project came about when we ran into each other at a bar and came up with this idea of doing a dance music cover of a T-Pain song.
would cover either one of my all time favorite artists or one of the best songs of all time, because then you put yourself in the position of having such high expectations. Some artists do their thing so well. MH: No Gaga. SB: I don’t know how we would do Björk.
SM: What genre would you put your music into?
MH: I would do Bjork.
SB: In some ways we have created our own genre, because we tried to trail blaze “beat-music-cover-band” as a genre.
SM: After you met and began putting together music, what was your first live show like?
Maggie Horn: Within that, I think that we still cover so many genres. We’re in the studio right now and we just finished an alt-country song, so it’s hard to pinpoint down where we are as a genre.
SB: That was actually just about a year ago. We were working on our music for about a year before we even thought about putting on shows.
SM: How do you decide what songs to include in your covers? MH: We typically agree on what songs we want to do. We have very similar sensibilities, so we are usually both feeling a particular song at that moment. Then, [to create a mash-up] it’s kind of like a game. You get into the studio, you pick what songs you like, and it just comes about organically. SM: Are there any songs that you would never dare to touch?
MH: It kind of just happened for us. Someone was setting up a show for CMJ and said, “We really want Telephoned to play” so we thought, “I guess we gotta get a live act together!” SM: How was the tour with Chromeo? MH: Unbelievable. I can’t explain how much it could not have been better for our very first tour. Chromeo sold out 80% of the venues, so we were playing bigger crowds than we could have ever hoped for. We got a lot of face time with a lot of new fans.
SB: I don’t know… We’ve done Justin Bieber and Soulja Boy. SM: What’s in the future for Telephoned? MH: “Toot it and Boot it!” SB: Someone told us to cover a song called “Toot It and Boot It,” and we said no. But then it was weird, and three people had suggested that, and we were like, absolutely not. For me though, it would be hard for me to see how we
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SB: We are now working on now what’s going to be the first full Telephoned music. The first release is going to be a two-sided 7-inch. The first side is going to be original music, and the other side is going to be a cover of that. So we’re covering our own songs, yeah.
GIVE ‘EM ENOUGH
ROPE
With their sophomore effort, Total Life Forever, UK’s Foals are out to disprove the old adage. By: Britt Middleton
WG: Well, allowing vocal melodies to be more important in the song-writing process was new to us, really. Often with old material, vocals had been an afterthought, a spur of the moment addition. A song like “Spanish Sahara” just highlights the space we had during the writing of this record. We had been through a debut band’s whirlwind of touring, press and expectation, and had the chance to write again, sometimes all together or less intensely in twos or threes. This naturally led to differences in songs written by jamming with all five of us. It was important to us that we made that come across. We have grown up since Antidotes and alot had happened in a short space of time. You need to allow your mind to catch up with your body sometimes when you move so fast. SM: There also appears to be worldly theme. We caught everything from guitars echoing the tinniness of steel drums (“Total Life Forever”) to slinky, Caribbean jerk-flavored bass (“Miami”). Is there something particular that inspired this record?
Sundae Magazine: You guys are touring a good deal right now. How are the crowds responding to the new album? Walter Gervers (bass, backing vocals): So far it has been great. We have relished the thought of touring a new record for so long now, and it has really refreshed us. Often it’s difficult to appreciate that people won’t have heard new songs before, and we know the importance of actual live practice and “trial and error”. It’s all very well rehearsing new songs in the daytime-comfort of a practice space, but everything changes after a few stiff drinks and the blur of an actual show... songs need time to air and evolve, most have had more chance than others; some are still a bit box-fresh. But people are responding really well. We can play sets with more color than before. Instead of going balls-out for an hour straight, we can allow ourselves some lulls and a breather. SM: Funny you say that. Total Life Forever seems like a departure from the high-wattage jolt powering your 2008 debut Antidotes. The music remains dance-y, but the schizophrenic fret play and hallowing vocals have been deeply refined. What prompted the change? WG: The wattage remains; the space and patience is new. We allowed ourselves some time off and space to regroup our thoughts, and we did not want to tell the same tale twice. What Total Life Forever represents is our evolution from a young band to something wiser and fully-formed. Bands are often not given the opportunity to naturally progress. We had learned a lot technically and sonically, too, but we never had the time to expand things in a studio environment. After two years of touring, its a progression, and we want to continue our learning curve and improve always. As Foals, we wont lose the influences of dance and funk records, but [we] don’t want to give fans remakes of old songs. We want to widen the palette, I suppose. SM: In the past you’ve said that with Total Life Forever the band broke free from the previous set of aesthetic “rules,” yielding a more honest presentation this time around. When it came down to writing and recording, what pieces were most important to carry over, and what needed to go? WG: Honesty is key. We work best when we trust ourselves and write music that we enjoy and we would want to hear and play. That is exactly what spurred the first album – listening to minimal techno and recreating those patterns and ideas with our instruments. As for what needed to go, I think the moment bands sit down and over-analyze their beginnings and early influences they are in trouble. You can regret some decisions you made in the past, perhaps, or hark back to things, but continous forward-thought is far more constructive.
WG: As a title, we wanted Total Life Forever to be an impossible statement, but one which was positive and hopeful and echoed people’s wishes these days to experience as much as possible. There’s too much stimuli – it’s like the mind has reached saturation. It’s a time of technological overload, and Yannis had been reading this Ray Kurzweil book, The Singularity is Near. This influenced a lot of the lyrical themes on the album. Musically, we had been listening to more early 90’s hip hop, stuff like Souls of Mischief, Lords of the Underground, Big L and lots of old smokey funk vinyls, as well as listening to real classics like Bowie whilst recording to look at “pop” structures then applying them to stranger songs. The aim was to make Total Life Forever an entire record rather than a collection of songs. We wanted it flow and be immersive and expansive, almost oceanic in parts. SM: What was your biggest fear in following up your widely hailed debut? Do feel you overcame it? WG: For every band that ‘second album’ phrase will surface at some point, and we agreed on not letting it concern us or interfere with the natural course of writing and recording. It’s dangerous to let such external factors influence the music you are making, especially whilst in Sweden recording, we purposefully shut ourselves away in an immersive space, away from home and from distractions, too. The hype around our first record had subsided and we wanted to give fans and others who hadn’t heard us something new.
SM: Your video for “Miami” is pretty incredible. We would probably pay to watch drag queens and bodybuilders throw down, but alas, you gave it to us for free! Who came up with that idea?
WG: All from the mind of our close friend and collaborator Dave Ma. He has been there with us from the very start of the band. We met properly when we were recording demos in a farm in Oxfordshire, and Dave just arrived with a holga and a tape recorder. That was that. His idea for “Miami” seemed perfect and far out, but related to the sweat of that song, and the sort of sticky, close vibe of it. We were just sad not to get to go to LA with him to do it. He made a lot of new friends, we missed out.
SM: Speaking of progression, this album as feels more sentimental; it’s almost tangible in cuts like “Spanish Sahara”. How has the band grown both personally and professionally to get to this point?
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OPPOSITES
ATTRACT By: Britt Middleton
For the boys of Chromeo, contradiction is kind of the whole point.
Photos by Britt Middleton
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“You want to do this New Jack style, on the steps?” Dave Macklovitch asks casually. His affinity for 90s pop culture comes up many times throughout our interview. Outside the Masquerade, a decrepit 1890’s-era mill-cum-concert venue in Atlanta, Georgia, Macklovitch surveys the sprawling urban vista from atop the iron staircase where we stand. It easily shoots 30 feet in the air, and his lanky, well over six-foot stature exaggerates these proportions. Dressed in tailored dark jeans, hunter green v-neck, and sporting a pair of black square-framed glasses, he fits right into the hipster landscape. But there’s a whole side of him that’s not visible on the surface, and part of that persona will tonight take the stage and unleash waves of weeping guitar on to thousands of midnight revelers. But that’s the thing about Macklovitch and his band Chromeo: there is much more there than meets the eye. Macklovitch appears rested and eager despite that fact that is the last show after a month long trek around the U.S. In less than a week’s time, he will be back on the road for another round through Europe in support of Chromeo’s latest LP, Business Casual, released in September. Macklovitch, better known as Dave 1, one half of electro-funk duo Chromeo, and his counterpart Patrick Gemayel a.k.a. P-Thugg, have made their name by playing with contrast. Striking balance between sexy, serious, business, and pleasure is a recurring theme throughout their decade-plus history together. We move inside to a sparse dressing room flanked with two couches and not much else. It’s probably the most bland of settings for two dudes known for their electrifying live shows, and despite such surroundings, they seem genuinely pumped to perform. Tonight’s show is especially memorable as it marks the first time the band will play in Atlanta. It’s also sold out show. Without making a sound, Gemayel rounds the corner and settles into one of the worn couches. His typically trimmed goatee and mustache combo have morphed into bristly beard territory, and his bald head, rarely seen sans baseball cap, gleams like polished quartz. Dressed down in long khaki shorts and a loose button-down exposing his jolly physique, he looks more Havana kingpin than maestro of one of music’s great funk revival acts.
Together, they appear an odd couple at best. Macklovitch is extroverted and analytical, Gemayel contemplative and observant, yet their relationship, both musical and personal, is cemented by their polar qualities. They met in high school while playing in a live funk band and bonded instantly over their love of hip-hop. “We were serious about hip-hop, too. Contrary to what appearances may suggest, I’m a hip-hop fanatic,” Macklovitch says, his eyes lighting up. “Where I grew up was so different than that. Coming from Canada and being a Jewish kid, when I listened to it I was like,‘Oh my God, man!’ I never heard of a guy with gold in his mouth. We don’t have that in Canada!” Macklovitch checks off the “top dudes” on his list – Wu Tang, Kanye, Drake – and up-and-comer Yelawolf. He and Gemayel even produced some hiphop tracks together in college before forming Chromeo, which eventually gave way to the hip-hop- infused funk of their debut album, She’s In Control, in 2004. Flash forward to 2007 and the duo is enjoying the spoils of success with their follow-up, Fancy Footwork. The titular track, boasting zigzagging synth beneath Macklovitch’s smooth crooning, earns rotation on MTV and in sweaty dancehalls across the globe. This past June they played a surprise mash-up set at Bonnarro with none other than John Oates of Hall and Oates, of which Macklovitch and Gemayel have called a clear influence on their funk-pop aesthetic. (Writer’s note: John Oates was on the guest list for the Chromeo show in Nashville the night before, but he didn’t show. Macklovitch wouldn’t divulge why, but hinted, half jokingly, that old Oates might have some unresolved beef.) Particularly with Business Casual, bridging the gap between business and pleasure hasn’t been so easy. Unbeknownst to the world, Chromeo, with an outward mission to make you move, do, in fact, want to be taken seriously. “There are more interesting things happening to us musically, even though what we do is catchy, electronic pop,” Macklovitch starts. “The idea wasn’t to alienate the fans, but just show a natural progression toward a more sophisticated direction.” Business Casual remains rife with infectious hooks, soaring synth and pop
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clichés; the sophistication comes by way of less obvious soundscapes, warmer chord progressions, and vibrant harmonies. “Just as we did on the first album, it was a lot of experimenting,” Gemayel says. “In Fancy Footwork, we kind of nailed the funk sound, the drum sounds. Now we tried to incorporate more of that soft rock [sound] with more piano. We [even] put in string sessions in two songs. Just trying to explore what we can do and what we can’t do.” What they came up with is a varied body of work, including a ballad composed entirely in French (“J’ai Claqué La Porte”; Macklovitch also happens to be working toward his Ph.D. in French Literature), and a sevenminute long synth-y trip (“You Make It Rough”). Even after more than decade together, building a consistent Chromeo aesthetic is still something both Macklovitch and Gemayel grapple with. “Every band that we look up to, from The White Stripes to Prince to Wu Tang, had one consistent image. We try and do that with our logo, our looks, and our album covers,” Macklovitch says. “Then you really bring people into your universe, and if they don’t like it, [that’s] cool. But at least it’s easily identifiable.” Perhaps the most identifiable signpost is the pair of prop legs that have
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become fixtures in the band’s music videos and on stage at their live shows. When I bring up that some critics have called them sexist, Macklovitch’s mood darkens. “It’s just an aesthetic object. It could be feet, it could be a nose – anything. Some people are too literal about it. I feel like what we do is so much based on clichés that those images don’t have a literal value anymore,” he says. You can almost hear the gears turning inside his head. “When you look at the legs, the reference isn’t, ‘Oh my god this woman is exploited for her nice legs and they cut her up and put them under a keyboard!’ You think about erotic cinema, French films from the 60s, you think about Pirelli calendars from the 70s and Robert Palmer videos. It’s this whole universe of stuff that you have in your culture that awakens.” “It’s a balance between the fun and the seriousness,” Gemayel adds, somewhat diffusing the somber mood. “You have to take yourself seriously, but if you are too serious you become a bit cheesy. But if you’re having too much fun then you become a joke band.” He pauses for a moment. “I think we walk that thin line.”
SUNDAE’S BEST SUNDAE MAGAZINE AND 8TRACKS.COM PRESENT SUNDAE’S BEST, YOUR ANSWER TO THE BEST PLAYLIST, EVER!
PRESENTED BY:
22 hot tracks to get you through the first days of fall. LISTEN @ 8TRACKS.COM/SUNDAEMAG
1. “Superball” - Magic Kids 2. “Never Listen to Me” - The Thermals 3. “Baptism (Story of Isaac Remix)” - Crystal Castles 4. “Bermuda” - Kisses 5. “The Dawn Of Your Happiness” - Violens 6. “Miami” - Foals 7. “Warning Sign” Local Natives 8. “O.N.E.” - Telephoned 9. “Night By Night” Chromeo 10. “Asia (oOoOO Remix)” - Salem 11. “Gangsta Rap” Total Warr 12. “Company I Keep” - White Rabbits 13. “Lucky 1” - Avey Tare 14. “Not Getting There” - Blonde Redhead 15. “Hearts of Love” - Crocodiles 16. “Black & Yellow” - Wiz Khalifa 17. “Christian Dior Denim Flow” - Kanye West ft. Kid Cudi, Pusha T, John Legend, Lloyd Banks & Ryan Leslie 18. “Come On Sister” - Belle & Sebastian 19. “Truth” - Chiddy Bang 20. “Erase Me” - Kid Cudi 21. “Crossed Wires” - Superchunk 22. “I Get Lonely Too” - Drake
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THR
ROCK AND ROLL
QUEEN
EADS
Tinsley Mortimer’s Samantha Thavasa line rocks out Fall 2010. Photos courtesy Tinsey Mortimer
By: Britt Middleton
Sundae Magazine: The Fall 2010 collection seems very different from your previous work. As a designer, what story are you telling with this collection? Tinsley Mortimer: My collections very much reflect my personal style and moods at the time I am designing them. This collection is still very me and feminine, but it has a little more toughness I feel than usual. I was inspired by corsettes and lace and over all 80s glam rock. Its the music I grew up to and always loved but I started listening to it again more recently. SM: We love how you made feminine flourishes like corset lacing very tough and rebellious. Is this a wink and a nudge to your own rebellious side, or the rebellious side inside every woman? TM: I don’t feel that my collection is rebellious, but I think it definitely reflects a severe change in what is going on in my personal life. I don’t feel rebellious but I do feel stronger and tougher!! SM: With pieces like “Poison” and “Metallica”, it’s clear your inspiration stems from 80s glam rock. What about that era do you find so interesting? Are you still a fan of that music? TM: This collection was inspired by lingerie, lace, and corsets mixed with late 80s/early 90s rock bands. I grew up in that era with bands like Whitesnake, Metalica, and Def Leppard, and I wanted the collection as a whole to have that glam rock look. SM: Who was your 80s hair metal band crush? TM: It’s hard to say! I loved Bret Michaels and Bon Jovi, and oh, Sebastian Bach was hot!! SM: What are some fall trends you are loving right now? TM: The trends I love for fall are the femme fatale look: black lace, the military look, army green camo colors, chunky sweaters, trench coats, skinny cargo pants and lace up military-inspired boots. SM: Your reality show “High Society” brought your personal life to the forefront and earned you a whole new set of admirers. How difficult was it to balance that pressure with your professional role as a designer? TM: My role as a designer is built into my real life, which of course includes my personal life. I was hired by Samantha Thavasa because they wanted me to inject my personal style and taste into a line for them. My experiences in life are where I draw my inspiration from. Having my life put on camera hopefully brought more attention to the company. I felt very comfortable with the cameras being there and feel I learned a lot about myself from the process. I do feel much stronger from the experience which is definitely reflected in this collection. Photo by Haley Barlar
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Shop the rest of the collection at samanthathavasa.com
1. Metallica $415 Gives fuel us fuel, gives us fire, give us that which we desire!
Roses & Guns $325
2.
Welcome to the Jungle!
Poison $295
3.
If every rose has its thorn, then consider us pricked.
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SHOP
GIRL Coast to coast, we navigate the most bodacious boutiques. By: Britt Middleton
Photos by Britt Middleton
It’s come to my attention that certain mass retailers have kind of killed the whole originality thing. Yes, I want to load up on 2 for $20 skinnies and on-trend tunics like the next girl, but what’s a bigger bummer than showing up for a night with the girls and it looks as though you’re all wearing the same uniform (and not in a good way)? Case in point, we can all stand to break out from our comfort zone and work a little harder to find inspiration. This month, while in New York City, I stumbled upon Screaming Mimi’s and loved it so much I just had to share! Nestled in the creative-cool Noho neighborhood, Screaming Mimi’s (382 Lafayette Street) specializes in vintage apparel that’s culled from all over the world. Inside, hanging on meticulously coordinated racks, are designs from the most glamorous names in the world (Dolce! Gucci! Vuitton!) and racks upon racks of kitchy-yet totally-fun crop tops, military issue field jackets, perfectly broken in cowboy boots and accessories for days! Can’t make it to NYC? Obsesses over the looks at screamingmimis.com. Happy shopping!
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PRE TTY
UR BEAUTY
CHEAT LIST Our staff tried them, and we’re spilling the beans! See how we get our pretty on. By: Amanda McRae and Britt Middleton
Aveeno Positively Radiant Makeup Removing Cleanser $6.49, target.com
1.
By far one of the best makeup removing cleansers and the price cannot be beat! It’s great for everyday use and the oil-free and soap-free formula never dries out our skin. This is a must in our nightly beauty routine! Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Wash $ 9.99, target.com
2.
Rich and deeply indulgent, this body wash packs a powerful punch with skin protecting organic shea butter, coconut oil, Myrrh, and Frankincense, which is known of its toning and anti-aging properties. Youth in bottle! Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer $36, ulta.com
3.
A little bit goes a long way with this heralded pore-shrinking, line smoothing formula. Not only will it leave your skin feeling smooth, but it also prolongs makeup wear (i.e. if your casual night out suddenly kicks into overdrive!). Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous Waterproof Mascara in Very Black $8.99, walgreens.com
4.
The slight curvature of the brush helps to lengthen and separate lashes to their fullest potential. Go easy, though: just apply two coats to top lashes one on the bottom lashes to really make eyes pop! Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Fast Dry Nail Color in Quicksand $4.99, Walgreens.com
5.
We’ve botched enough manicures to know that time really is on our hands. Save yourself the anguish of smudged digits and try one of these ultra smooth, quick drying lacquers. Pigmented color in just one coat? Now that’s what we call time management. Neutrogena MoistureShine Gloss in Wine Wellness $8.99, drugstore.com
6.
Photo by Haley Barlar
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For shine that can effortlessly take you from day to night, try this gloss in Wine Wellness. Plus, Evening Primrose Oil, Vitamin E and Jojoba Oil keep lips smooth, even in fickle fall temperatures!
CATWALK
CALLING We break down five trends from the Fall 2010 runways. By: Lauren McCarthy
While your only catwalk opportunity is probably down the cereal aisle at Super Target, that’s no reason not to steal the playful and dramatic looks from the Fall 2010 runways. Not convinced? Skeptical? Drawing a blank for how to start? Fret not, for we tested five top Fall 2010 beauty trends to see which work and which are faux pas! 1. Smudged Eyeliner This intense rocker-chic look was seen at hip designers like Zac Posen, Rachel Roy, Derek Lam and Gwen Stefaniís L.A.M.B. Models stormed the runway with eye make-up that looked like it was salvaged from a late night at the Bowery Ballroom. Sounds easy enough, but this messy look might be best left for Kate Moss. 2. Intense Colored Lips Designers like Peter Som, Missoni and Christian Dior didn’t just put fall’s deep, sophisticated colors on their models’ clothes, they also put it on their lips! While deep purple and orange were big colors for lipstick on the runway, we recommend a classic ruby red, which flatters every coloring. To put on a contemporary spin, layer on your shiniest clear lip-gloss like models at Donna Karan. Instant glamour, and you didnít even break a sweat!
it on as little or much as you like to take you from day to night, as seen at Carolina Herrera. From lavender to plum, they all work, and more importantly, look cute no matter what time of day! 4. Bold Brows Full-browed girls, rejoice (and put down those tweezers)! Large, luscious brows are back in this fall, and bigger than ever. Thakoon put blondes and brunettes alike down the runway with dark brows that were unashamedly full, while Erin Wasson x RCVA kicked hers up one notch by sporting spiky brows, although we recommend that you leave that look to the professionals. However, if you do want to give your brows an extra kick, try some tinted brow gel from some pigmented intensity. 5. Bare Faced As seen as BCBG and Madewell, this look is all about the dewy, fresh-looking skin. Base your entire look around a great foundation. Luckily, this simple trend consists of staples that everyone should already have in their makeup bag (concealer, mascara, blush, and foundation). This look only takes a few minutes to do and is key for running errands on the weekend. Bonus - it can act as a base for any of the other trends. Yeah, itís pretty much the perfect fall look. What can we say, basic is beautiful!
3. Violet Eyes It is inevitable--with each season comes a new take on the smoky eye. Luckily, this fall, it’s violet - a universally flattering shade! Layer
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CUL TURE
MASKED
HOPE
Why is it that Halloween, a tradition once heralded for its creative liberties, leaves so little to the imagination? By: Kevin Yang
The unfortunate part about Halloween in our modern society is that no one dresses up as anything scary anymore. What ever happened to dressing up as a zombie, a mummy wrapped in toilet paper, or just tossing a sheet over your head and calling it a ghost? Now people dress up as something crazy original like a pirate or a schoolgirl, and give it a “sexy” spin. Year in and year out, I see girls and guys alike wearing costumes that have been tried to the point that it’s almost expected: sexy nurse, sexy police, sexy outlet plug…it’s all been done. I feel that dressing up sexy is some sort of safety mechanism. I guess that, for the most part, girls have always dressed sexy - or at least tried to on Halloween. We even have that infamous line from Mean Girls where Lindsay Lohan states, “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” Some girls often have no shame (or mirror) to notice how vulgar they look. Just put on a short skirt, a bikini top and a little black dot of eyeliner on your nose - you can instantly pull off the most revealing, unrealistic mouse ever. However, girls can forgo the typical sexy fairy or some form of a sexualized feline and maybe dress up as a manatee this year. That can be sexy. Instead of a sexy peacock, how about dressing up as our nation’s emblem, the bald eagle? What about a sexy lamp? That certainly will turn heads. Halloween also tends to be a strange mix of amateur celebrityimpersonation night and people with no creativity. Last year, about two out of every ten people (no really, I counted!) were dressed as Lady GaGa. That was such a fantastic and original choice because no one saw that red lace outfit she wore to the VMAs. I personally recall going up to everyone who was dressed up as Lady GaGa and telling them, “Your outfit is so original! You’re the first Lady GaGa that I’ve seen all night!” This year, girls have already told me they plan on dressing up as Katy Perry, and let’s pray it’s the version donning next-to-nothing in the “California Gurls” music video. It’s amazing how people can come up with such thoughtful ideas. Raise your hands if you’re going as Ke$ha this year! No one? In preparation for this year’s Halloween celebration, I whipped out my notepad, went to the nearest comic convention, and took some serious notes. The people at these conventions clearly know their approach for Halloween. If they can pull off a complete Lord of the Rings outfit, what will they pull off for Halloween? My only concern is that it might be hard to find a liquored-up sorority girl pulling off a sexy Chewbacca in heels.
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WHEN CULTURES
COLLIDE
Photo by Haley Barlar
Sundae Magazine guest writer Torre Clauss brings the sights and kick ass sounds of L.A.’s Culture Collide Festival. By: Torre Clauss
I soon realized it was almost midnight, which means 3:00 a.m. my time; but sleep wasn’t on the agenda. I was well on my way to watch Klaxons perform. Thank you Red Bull, the official sponsor of awesome! The first time I met the Klaxons was in the U.K. at the Reading Festival in 2007 (Klaxons won NME Award for Best New Band.) They blew me away, and, in return, I busted out my best dance moves for them. And after three years of waiting, they brought me their sophomore album Surfing the Void. Disco and I were so excited to have a dance-off to the Klaxons that I wasn’t exactly prepared to turn and see bassists/vocalist Jamie Reynolds, who was standing right behind me. And also at this moment, I realized just how drunk I was. Crap.
My most resent epic adventure happened in October at FILTER Magazine’s First Annual Culture Collide Festival. It’s a four-day extravaganza servicing breakout acts from nearly every continent. This year’s line up was insane: Black Lips (USA), Klaxons (U.K.), Tokyo Police Club (Canada), Monotonix (Israel) and City Riots (Australia), just to name a few.
I went up to Jamie, and in my really bad British accent I said, “Ello, ello, ellooo lovely! I am so happy that I bumped into you!”
I am currently writing a book on music festivals, and as a gift to myself every year for my birthday, I make sure to attend one. Last year I attended CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival in New York City. There, I fell in love with the Temper Trap and the ever-so-lovely Mumford and Sons, and Rumspringa. This year for my 34th 33rd birthday (I figure this is a good age to start lying), I decided to visit one of my best friends, Disco, in L.A. and check out Culture Collide.
Disco and I made it back to the hotel that night and recouped for the next evening when we would take in Voxhaul Broadcast and festival headliners White Lies (U.K.)
My flight from Atlanta, Georgia, landed in Los Angeles around 10:00 p.m. My driver got me to the hotel in record time. I ran into the lobby and met up with my dear friend and co-pilot Disco (trust me, her name matches her personality!). A few celebratory Red Bull-vodkas later and we were on our way to the first round of festival dubachery at the Echoplex in Echo Park, a hipster haven in east L.A. As Disco I entered the venue, I noticed a familiar face. I have never been to L.A., so the chances of me seeing a familiar face are statistically slim. As I got closer to this face, I said, “Sam? …CMJ Festival?” She responded, “OMG, Ziggy!” (My nickname. Can’t let my friends have all the shine, right?) Sam is another amazing person that I met at the CMJ. She works in PR for the Echoplex. Sam, Disco and I went to the bar to down some more Red Bull-vodkas, because the five we already had were clearly not enough.
He answered, “You’re British?” And I said, “No” in my unosophisticated American tongue. We laughed and began a fantastical conversation.
Disco and I made our way to the front row to get our dance on at the Voxhaul Broadcast show. One of the highlights of the evening was “Timing is Everything” from their latest EP Fact Fiction and Turquoise. They put on one hell of a show, and afterwards, I had the opportunity to talk to the band. I introduced myself and said, “Ello ello ellooo lovelies, my name is Ziggy!” Vocalist David Dennis sat down on the step next to me, shook my hand, and said, “Ello Ziggy, my name is Davie Dennis of the Hempshire Choir,” in a really good British accent. We both busted out into hysterics! Davie Dennis of the Hempshire Choir had to go and pack up his gear, and in the couple minutes that he was able to spare, before the White Lies hit the stage, he said to me, “Ziggy you have a way of digging deep and I hope I gave you enough for your book.” He did. The Culture Collide Festival is going down in my book as a hidden gem of city festivals. Next year’s birthday gift will be Austin City Limits. And I cannot wait for that adventure.
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DOME STICA
CONFECTIONALLY
SPEAKING
This month, our foolproof recipe for Applesauce Cookies twill transform your home into holiday headquarters for you and your freeloading friends! By: Asha Ellison
There is so much more to be excited about in the fall other than dropping temperatures and warm colors. The festive flavors of the season are just as important—and fun—to celebrate! In hopes that you will indulge in the glorious autumn days ahead, I will share one of my favorite seasonal treats with you. Applesauce cookies are refreshing and just sweet enough to satisfy any sugar craving without sparking a coma, though, during holiday family gatherings, that’s kind of the goal, right? Applesauce Cookies • 1 cup packed brown sugar • 1 egg • 3/4 cup shortening • 1 cup applesauce • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves • 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) • 1 cup dried cranberries (Craisins, optional) Instructions: • Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease cookie sheets. • In a medium mixing bowl, mix the brown sugar and shortening until smooth. Add wet ingredients (egg and applesauce). • In another medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Also add in walnuts or cranberries. • Add flour mixture to applesauce mixture. • Create teaspoon-sized balls of cookie dough and line them 2 inches apart on baking sheets. • Bake for 10-14 minutes until edges begin to brown. • Cool thoroughly on wire racks, then serve!
Photos by Asha Ellison
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Suggested Drinks: Wanna spice things up a notch? Warm these delightful cookies up with a glass of hot cocoa or apple cider. You could even indulge in a little egg nog to take the flavor to a whole other level!
Recipe, Round 2t: There’s something about applesauce cookies that makes you feel at home. But don’t be afraid to let these sugar babies shine! Dress the cookies up with a drizzle of cream cheese icing or spread a thick layer of icing between two to create a stellar sandwich and both you and the cookies will be an all-night sensation! • • • • •
Cream Cheese Icing Recipe: 4 oz. softened butter 8 oz. cream cheese 2 cups confectioners’ sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions: Beat cream cheese and butter together at medium speed until smooth. Add in confectioner’s sugar and blend one cup at a time. Finally, add vanilla extract and mix until contents are smooth and creamy. Place icing in an icing bag and decorate as desired.
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TWO STEP Two ingredient drink recipes. By: Jack Cusumano
Celery Peppar
“...If Bloody Mary... was a flavor of Vitamin Water...”
Ingredients: • Absolut Peppar • Celery Soda Feel like getting weird? Try this one on for size. I like to think of it as a deconstructed, sweetened, shortcut version of a Bloody Mary. Like, if Bloody Mary was a soda, or a flavor of Vitamin Water (and why isn’t it?). The less weird among you might substitute the Peppar for Gin, but you might want to be careful not to die of boredom. I’m worried about you.
Dark ‘n’ Stormy Ingredients: • Dark Rum • Ginger Beer This drink became popular in countries like Australia and Bermuda, but made its way stateside via sailor communities on the east coast. Oh, who am I kidding? You probably only ever heard of it because Jon Hamm likes to drink them. All that really matters is it is delicious, and impossible to mess up.
Lazyrita Ingredients: • Tequila • Limeade
Drink photos by Jack Cusumano Sidebar photos by Haley Barlar
Here is where you need to ask yourself: How lazy am I? So lazy that you’d rather just mix tequila and limeade than make a proper margarita? If you answered yes, does that unsettle you on some deep level? On the upside, a nice, natural limeade is much better for you than a cheap-o bottle of margarita mix. Maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.
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Photo by Haley Barlar
CHEAP
TALK
THE GENTLEMAN’S
GAME Part 3 of 3
By: Tom Vinson
It’s not such a gentleman’s game after all... Salty Parker had nailed Bonine in the shoulder, but it may have only edged the skin of the bat. “He robbed me of my perfect game.” It would have only been the second in World Series history. From home plate, I look up at the batter and see the stadium lights. I had been waiting for this. That dizzying feeling. When you stand in the middle of a giant, open field and you spin around. When you have to lie down with your face in the ground because you have nothing to hold onto and you feel like you may fall off the edge of the earth. What will I be for Halloween...oh, who cares? Baseball!!! It’s right here and it’s never seemed so alive. There are not trees towering above the stadium but a leaf fell on Cornhowser’s cap. Right on the brim. Baseball players are sentimental people.... Coasley swings and misses. Walks to the dugout... “A pitcher spends a good deal of his life gripping a baseball...” Catfish Hunter hits a groundball to shortstop...walks to the dugout “ ….in the end it turns out it was the other way the entire time.” Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer... “I’m convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than a car.” Boog Powell flies out. Caught. I see great things in baseball. It’s our game. The American game... Or so says Walt Whitman. Game over. What should one do to survive the winter? Sit by the window and wait for spring. Pre-season starts in sixteen weeks.
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THE (UN)SOCIAL
I implemented a one week plan, a digital detox, to rid myself of the excesses
NETWORK
of digital communications – text messages, superfluous e-mails and IMs –
Did Facebook kill my social life?
The first hours were strangely the easiest. By the time I took the challenge
By: Britt Middleton
some good. All was quiet. I spent time reading real books and listening to
and returned to the humble beginnings of mankind: natural, inconvenient human contact. Well, this would be interesting.
on, I was so fed up with myself that a little time away from Facebook did me real CDs. If I wanted to dish about last week’s episode of 90210, I actually
“You’re going to be successful and rich. But you’re going to go through life
called my girlfriends to do so. I got my formerly desensitized ass up and
thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a nerd. And I want you to
drove the movies rather than reading someone else’s summation via news
know, from the bottom of my heart, that won’t be true. It’ll be because you’re
feed. I was, in fact, living life again! It was as if all the neurotransmitters in my
an asshole.”
body had come alive. I became acutely aware of how I spent each hour of the day – laundry, research, shameless indulgence in The Hills. I was beginning
--- Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) to Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) as
to get used to being so disconnected.
portrayed in The Social Network. By day three, however, I knew I needed to take it further. I needed to recluse Was I, too, an asshole? The question resounded in my mind long after the
into the confines of my own persona in order to feel the full benefits of this
ending credits of The Social Network, the harrowing tale of how Facebook
cleanse, because without knowing who I really was, there would be no way
founder Mark Zuckerberg, once a social pariah, became the most popular
for me to show that side to the real world, both physical and digital. This
supergeek on the planet. I myself am one of the 500 million active Facebook
required upping the ante, cutting out television and limiting internet use to
users in the world, and I admit that it has served some good. I’ve gotten
only essential e-mail and Google searches. On the upside, my sequestration
back in touch with childhood friends, buried the hatchet with ex-boyfriends,
prompted the initial plans for Sundae Magazine. It was a welcomed diversion
and even made some lasting new relationships along the way. But the more
that kept me engaged for the next three days. Then suddenly, by day seven,
I logged on, the more artificial it felt until the people on my friends list—
the end of my detox, I wasn’t feeling so alive. I was feeling paranoid as all
people I celebrated birthdays with, walked across the stage at high school
hell. Spending so much time alone only pointed out how difficult it would
graduation with, shared a popsicle under the bleachers with—seemed like
be to assimilate back into the world. I couldn’t blame Facebook for my
complete strangers.
social woes. I had to take responsibility for the fact that I had become lazy, indifferent and negligent of the people I truly wanted to be close to. My quest
Do you ever find yourself completely comfortable exchanging comments
to be “connected” had, in reality, forged a schism.
with one of your Facebook buds, yet having nothing to say when you’re with that same person, face-to- face? I had become so accustomed
It’s been eight months since my experiment. I still a struggle to navigate the
to impersonal electronic exchanges that I couldn’t remember how to
social cues of our digital world. However, I no longer use Facebook as my
emotionally connect with other people. It was like going through a second
sole means of communication. If I can help it, I will go through a number
adolescence. I felt gangly and awkward, like I was waiting to “grow” into
of channels before sending an instant message, as inconvenient as it may
my online persona. I had handicapped myself by swapping meaningful
be. To put my theory in practical application, when I was in New York City
phone calls, letters and casual conversation
recently, I met up with a friend who I regularly chatted with online (we actually
with the convenience of hitting “send”.
arranged to meet via a series of Facebook and e-mail messages). It was the
When would people crave to be really
first time I had seen him in over four years and it’s wasn’t terrifying. It wasn’t
real again? I wondered. This past
dull and it wasn’t awkward at all. It was great. Without taking the time to call
February I found the courage to
myself on my own bullshit, that may not have been the result. We still talk
find out.
regularly through e-mail and Facebook, and even though Facebook makes our interactions more convenient, I constantly remind myself that he’s no further than a phone call away. Case in point: Facebook is an ingenious resource for forging meaningful relationships. It is not, however, a rulebook for how to keep them.
Illustration by Jack Cusumano
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