THE LUNA COLLECTIVE ISSUE IX x BETWEEN FRIENDS by lunacollectivemag

THE LUNA COLLECTIVE

F E ATURING: BETWEEN FRIENDS ISSUE IX | SEPT/OCT 2019

a note...

Hi there - welcome to Issue IX. This is a fun one. I know I say it every single magazine we make, but there are some really cool individuals and pieces highlighted in this issue. The point of all of this is to give talented people that we love a spotlight and creatives a place to showcase their work - and it’s awesome that we get to do that. Do you ever get that feeling where it just feels like a lot of things are possible? So much so, it kinda overwhelms you? Between this boom of the DIY nature and social media, it feels like everyone is doing something - and that’s really cool. It is so easy to feel inspired by consuming social media at a glance when creatives are able to showcase their work so easily. It can also make you feel like you aren’t doing enough. Like no matter what you do, someone will always make something better. So use this as a reminder to not get caught up in what everyone else is doing and to just mind your business. Do your thing and focus on what you need to do to be where you want to be. Work on impressing yourself - no one else really matters.

xox, Sophie

Some Tunes For You BETWEEN FRIENDS - iloveyou Avalon - Deadbeat Boy WILLOW - Time Machine The 1975 - People Kid Bloom - LEMONHEAD BOYO - Habits The Neighbourhood - Middle of Somewhere BROCKHAMPTON - SUGAR Kate Bollinger - Talk About It (B-Side) cehryl - Heat Wave Slow Hollows - You Are Now on Fire Cuco - Bossa No Sé (feat. Jean Carter) HUNNY - Everything Means Everything Meant Everything girl in red. - i’ll die anyway. Alfie Templeman - Like An Animal Goldlink - U Say (feat. Tyler, The Creator & Jay Prince) Hope Tala - Lovestained Pip Millett - Make Me Cry Lana Del Rey - California LAUNDRY DAY - Harvard Sam Plant - The Only One I Want Is You! Jadu Heart - Harry Brompton’s Ice Tea Roy Blair - I DON’T KNOW ABOUT HIM MUNA - Taken Noso - Allie STRFKER - Fantasy Victor Internet - Veins Kid Hastings - Frame Of Mind Rex Orange County - 10/10 Turnover - Much After Feeling Scan To Listen On Spotify

Kid Bloom / 23

Splush Swimwear / 29

Maris Jones / 33

Jenna King / 17

Cehryl / 11

R E E L

Millenial Vacany / 5

C O N T E N T

Leilani Mitchell / 51 In The Moment Submissions / 57

Noso / 79

Between Friends / 39

Mariรก Alverez / 85

MILLEN VACAN VACANCY noun

va•can•cy the state of being vacant; empty

NNIAL NCY

A PROJECT CONCEPTUALIZED AND SHOT BY MICHAELA PERAU

MILLENIAL VACANCY CONTEXTUALIZES IMAGERY SYNONYMOUS WITH PARTY AND YOUTH CULTURE; WEALTH, COMPULSIVE SELF-AWARENESS, AND VISIBILITY WITH SOCIETAL FACT. EXPONENTIAL GROWTH OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE, ADDERALL, XANAX, AND ANTI-DEPRESSANTS USED AS PARTY DRUGS. INTENTIONALLY PAIRED WITH ALCOHOL TO INDUCE HABITUAL BLACK OUTS. A DIGITAL YOUTH WHOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LIVES REMAIN INTERTWINED WITH A STEADY STREAM OF NOTIFICATIONS SUBCONSCIOUSLY STOKING FEAR FOR OUR FUTURE. DAILY SHOOTINGS, TERRORIST ATTACKS, AND WARNINGS OF CLIMATE CHANGE GENERATIONALLY NUMBED VIA DIGITAL PING. MILLENNIAL VACANCY IS A PROJECT CONCEPTUALIZED AFTER HAVING AMASSED LOS ANGELES NIGHT-LIFE IMAGES COMMISSIONED FOR PROMOTERS AND INFLUENCERS VIA POINT AND SHOOT OVER THE COURSE OF MY LAST UNDERGRADUATE SEMESTER OF COLLEGE. DIVORCED FROM THEIR AESTHETICIZED INTENTION THE PHOTOS THEMSELVES PERSONIFY A GENERATIONAL ANXIETY SURROUNDING SOCIETALLY FORCED EXPEDITION OF ADOLESCENCE AND ITS SUBLIMINAL AFFECTS ON BEHAVIORS OF THE INDIVIDUAL. IDENTITY PRESCRIBED BOTH BY THE GENERATIONAL INSIDER, AND SOCIETAL OUTSIDERS.

SCAN TO WATCH

THE IMAGES THEMSELVES THEMATICALLY TIE TO ABSENT IDENTITIES, CROPPED AND PIXELATED VISAGES, DEFACEMENT, AND CONSIDERATION OF THE VACANT GAZE. COMMUNICATING AS A GENERATIONAL GROUP THE MENTAL CHAOS EMBODIED IN THE ACT OF PARTYING. A VISUAL STORYBOARD FOR A NIGHT IN THE LIFE OF THE MILLENNIAL, AS PIXELATED, NUMB, AND VIOLENTLY INTERRUPTED AS OUR REALITY.

SCHMENNA

Interview By Sophie Gragg Design by Olivia Boryczewski

WITH A LOVE FOR PEOPLE AND PHOTOGRAPHY - Jenna King uses her art to connect with others and create a community. The Los Angeles based creative brings in a variety of elements to her work, including her love for spiritualism, to make her works truly her own. King has recently dove into her photographY more seriously than ever before and plans to keep manifesting everything and more. LUNA: I’ve noticed you do a lot of portrait photography - would do you like about taking photos of people in particular? KING: I think portrait photography sort of fell in my lap as I’m really just a “people person” at my core. I love genuinely connecting with and just understanding human beings—our emotions, quirks and complexities. I studied social sciences with an emphasis in psychology in college, so I’ve always felt super comfortable with human interaction surpassing superficial boundaries and “noise”, plus I’ve dabbled in just about every medium of art (aside from photo), so I’ve found that creating, really anything, together is truly a powerful way to deepen our connection as a community holistically. Using my camera lens is just one method of serving as a portal to invite different audiences into my world and get a glimpse of the authentic connections I have with friends, family and even strangers. LUNA: Can you talk a bit more about your transition from doing photography as a hobby to freelancing as a career? KING: You know, I could’ve never foreseen photography (or any medium honestly) as a “real” career growing up, yet photography has lowkey been a hobby of mine since I was in middle school. I had this busted two megapixel camera on my old cellphone and really thought I was digital picasso taking a hundred pictures of the sky, hahaha. But even funnier, is I used to run this analog appreciation blog on Tumblr when I was in like nineth grade, despite never shooting film before. I’d literally just browse Flickr and repost cool photos I found & made sure to credit the original artists. I’ve always been drawn to the grit, grain and faded, yet rich colors, of film, so I learned how to edit my digital photos to have a similar aesthetic and feel. In high school, I was actually in an after school visual arts program where much of the work I created either involved drawing or photography! I even received sponsorship for a digital photography semester course at OTIS college, which I never truly appreciated how dope that opportunity was back then (shout out to Culver City High & AVPA). Throughout the first few years of college I’d do my digital photo thing and create little video projects here and there, just for fun or to post onto my Instagram. However, as I started to meet more people who were artistic and determined to manifest a living by maximizing their creative gifts, it opened up the space for me to envision that for myself as well! What really transitioned my hobby into freelance was when I neared my senior year and randomly registered for a black and white film photography class two weeks late into the fall semester. I not only discovered a new love for this more intimate, hands-on approach to photography, but realized I was pretty fucking good at it (if I do say so myself). I’d spend hours in the dark room outside of my three hour long class developing + printing my own rolls of film that I’d learned to shoot manually. As I would share more of my work on social media, I received pretty fond remarks by my friends and the overall online community. Ultimately, I started receiving referrals from others and general inquiries about my rates (trying to figure out what I was “worth” was probably the most pivotal moment in my journey to be honest). But I think trusting my intuition to just keep going and flowing with wherever life wanted to drift me towards has allowed my creative passion to alchemize into an actual (& forever growing!) career, so I’m super grateful. 18

LUNA: I know you’re also a pretty spiritual person, do you think you’ve been able to bring that into your work in anyway? KING: Absolutely! I realized that I hadn’t started to consistently create art until I grew more aware of the deepening of my spiritual journey, while also battling with some pretty intense mental health issues throughout college. I used to be pretty fucked up in my head and spirit, but it wasn’t until I experienced what is called “the dark night of the soul,” that I realized my suffering was directly linked to the misalignment of not fulfilling my soul’s purpose while utilizing my own creative powers. To be an artist and pursue a creative career (or just take it up as a hobby) is a spiritual practice in and of itself. By creating authentically from my spirit and sharing it with others, I maintain my spiritual practice without feeling like I’m stepping outside of myself and thus, it’s inherently felt when you engage with my work. After all, art is a tool we use (whether consciously or subconsciously) to heal, connect and communicate messages from our soul that simple dialogue could never convey. It makes us feel and that’s all spirituality ultimately is—to me at least. LUNA: What feeling do you want people to feel when seeing your photos? KING: Banking off my last statement, I just want people to feel. Anything really—so long as it’s authentic, connective and healing. Brownie points if my photos make you feel as if you’ve immersed into the scene of the image or like you’ve gotten to know the subjects a bit more personally/intimately just by indulging. LUNA: Broad question so answer however you like - what’s next for you? KING: So much more art to be released! Of course more film photos in general, but I’m also figuring out how to release my film photography book onto Amazon and book-selling sites and creating more content for my Youtube channel! If you like vlogs, travel videos, sustainable fashion lookbooks, self-care, mental health and vegan food check me out! I’m also releasing a documentary soon and just collaborating with other amazing artists/healers (who also happen to sometimes be my friends) to help bring their visions to life.

KID BLOOM Story By: Bree Castillo | P hotos + Design By: Nikoli Partiyeli

Kid Bloom is in his bag, baby! Lennon Kloser, better known for his alias Kid Bloom who created hit tracks “Different State of Mind” and “Electric U,” released six compelling love songs that encapsulate his growth and vulnerability as an artist. Lemonhead has solidified the singer-songwriter’s identity as he matured into his own sound of compelling arrangements that transcends genres and time. The LA-based artist has come a long way since his early breakout hit back in 2016. Since then he has dropped out of college, trading his music degree for a music career. “Getting good is your job. No one can do that for you,” he says. Through tracks “Parents House” and “Prom” were only released last year in 2018, Kloser continued to experiment with pop and created something different, searching for his sound. A year later, he returned with his newly found voice and direction and showcasing it perfectly with Lemonhead. After releasing his latest project, the now 23-year-old, says he is comfortable and confident in his writing abilities, so much that he could write a polka song, which is something that has never been the case. The artist attributes his success to following the right formula of pursing music authentically. Kloser emphasizes the importance of acceptance and determination in writing music and while he knew that what created in the beginning might not be the best, he continued writing and purging until eventually clean water started flowing. Even though Kid Bloom is no new name to the music world, he says that it was only recently that he realized that his love of music has turned into a full-fledged career. Like many of today’s artists, Kloser struggles with the confinements of genre and the expectations that follow suit. While he is an artist who is known for his psychedelic groove and arrangements, he does not limit himself to these expectancies. Instead of categorizing his sound, he rather his music be able to stand alone. Kloser explains,

“I don’t want any of that. I want you to hear a song and fucking love it, no matter what. It doesn’t matter what it is.” He references artists like Brockhampton whose lyrics do not necessarily align with the same topics that are traditionally seen in their community, breaking the expectations and stereotypes of rap. Kloser believes that the music world is entering a time where genre seems to matter less and less, serving as a benefit to all artists. Now, not only as an artist but a producer, he is collaborating with people from different realms in music, creating what he wants and giving no thought to the genre imposed restraints. Kloser’s growth as an artist is truly captured in every passing track. His latest masterpiece, Lemonhead, comprises six curated love songs written during a time of self reflection. Kloser explores a time in his life that was drained of love and transposed them into his most vulnerable project yet. He says he wrote over 100 songs for his album and dwindled them down by choosing the ones that felt the most humanistic. He sees Lemonhead as his first project that is truly him. Comparing his early music to his most recent, he shares, “I wrote Different State of Mind and all those other songs and I really love those songs. Those are very special and these are very special.” Taking influence from the 70’s and icons such as Supertramp and Electric Light Orchestra, Lemonhead creates an unskippable tracklist worthy to stand next to his inspirations. However, while his music is inspired by this era, he laces idiosyncrasies into his tracks that sets them apart from a 70’s sound emulator. Kloser had always liked the idea of making older classics and pieces nostalgic to a time period, but has learned to create a beautiful balance of a tasteful homage and edge. His efforts have led to a timeless attitude accepted in past and modern genres. When it comes to visuals, Kloser has been taking a more cinematic approach. Being inspired by movies and their forceful

effect of storylines compels him to write music that flows just like a film. This idea translates to his visuals as well. Kloser notes, “That’s when videos are amazing. When you bring to life what the song is already bringing.” Recently Kid Bloom, released his music video for his track EVRWNDR proving that feelings are fatal. The director, Jack Begert, whose repertoire includes Kendrick Lamar and ScHoolboy Q, successfully portrays Kloser’s intimacy with listeners depicting the isolating effect that emotions can have on a person. The film-like music video and the authentic, selfreflective lyrics join together to truly create an experience for his listeners. With over 40 million streams and 600,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, Kid Bloom seems to just be getting started. With his newly found groove, he will continue living his dream of having a song be the reason he sets foot anywhere as he travels across California and Texas for his upcoming tour. He says,

“I want to make more stuff and then play these shows really well. Now is the time to do so. If I don’t do it now it’s gone.”

Photos By Carianne Older For Splush Swimwear 29

Story by Shayan Saalabi | P hotos by Allison Barr | Design by Olivia Boryczewski PHASES COME AND GO BUT ART IS FOREVER. “I was dumb and didn’t tell people to follow me on Instagram,” filmmaker and photographer Maris Jones says of Vine’s twilight. Jones, a New Yorker by way of Philadelphia, amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on the video sharing app during its brief heyday. “I was home after college and I was bored and looking at these Vines and I thought, ‘You know, I think I can make these,’” Jones adds. “The first few were terrible, but you gotta’ start somewhere, so I slowly started doing it and, almost immediately, whatever I was holding inside of me for so long came out.” What Jones was holding inside her was a cinematographic style dripping in saturated 1980s energy. “When I first left school, I thought I was going to be an editor, which is hilarious to me now,” Jones says of her transition to Vine-making and eventually full-fledged filmmaking. “My parents were artists, so I think I was having a hard time being artsy -- I think I was trying to hide that, like my rebellion was to be what people perceive as ‘normal’, but you can’t hide who you are.” If you watch Jones’s early Vines -- you can still pull up compilations on Youtube -her ingenuity immediately comes through. Limited by their six-second timeframe, most Vines were unedited, with only enough room for a crude joke or some slap to the face. However, Jones’s Vines are incredibly thought-out and wellproduced, a stark contrast to a majority of the content at the time. In one, a hand-painted cutout of David Bowie chants “We can be heroes” in stop-motion. In another, Jones, a blue headband holding back her blonde Glam Metal locks, strums a white electric guitar, each strum sending off a beam of yellow lightning. There are plenty more, though each is unique in six seconds or less.

Jones’s presence on Vine grew, and she soon caught the attention of Adolescent Content’s creative director Ramaa Mosley and executive producer Hope Farley. Adolescent Content, a creative agency that guides young creatives, linked Jones to commercial opportunities outside of Vine. “When you first leave school, or you’re starting your career, you have no idea how to deal with the industry at all,” Jones says. “You’re just ejected into the universe with nobody to turn to, so it’s helpful to have those people that’ll say, ‘This is what you need to do, and we’ll help you do it.’ It’s always good to have those people.” As Jones’s career began to takeoff, Vine -- the app that Jones had so thoroughly mastered -- shut down in October of 2016, suddenly stripping Jones of her established audience. “I realized that I probably shouldn’t have been dependent solely on one platform,” Jones remembers. “Vine was such an insane thing, and I was getting jobs all the time because of it, and when it ended, I thought, how do I translate this elsewhere?” Luckily, Jones, with the help of Adolescent Content, was quick to explore other avenues. She shifted her content stream to Instagram and YouTube, where she is free to time travel without worry. She is particularly drawn to Instagram, where her short films can sit right alongside her photography. “I’ve grown a lot since Vine ended because of the ways I can post on Instagram,” Jones says. “At that point, I hadn’t really started taking photos or making exactly what I make now. I’ve just gotten older -- and I guess my brain started to change a little bit, too.” Instagram is a crowded space and Jones is yet to match the following she had on Vine, but she’s getting there. Jones knows, maybe better than anyone, that no app is a be-all, endall of artistic output. “Since Vine ended, I’ve had this strong fear of relying too heavily on social media,” she says. “But I definitely have more of a love for social media than a hate. I’m still a firm believer that if you post the things that you love and put a lot of work into, people will see it.” And what Jones loves most is color and, of course, the 80s. “There was this time during the 80s when they were making these adventure films that were dark but still pretty lighthearted. They’re all very hazy and all very real, but they’re not at all, and I absolutely love that vibe,” she says. “And I love color. I’m bad at math. I’m bad at science. I’m bad at reading and all these things, but the one thing I know I’m okay at is color. I’ve always been drawn to color.” This decade -- one of constant turnover, of what’s next? -- is winding down, and we’re left to wonder what, if anything, will last. Jones, as a creative competing for our ever-thinning attention, is removing herself from the Internet wave riding that has come to characterize consumption. “Everything now is so ‘This is what’s in’ and ‘We’ve got to do this,’ but within a few months, it’s irrelevant,” she says. “We all get so focused on what’s happening today, and I just think that there’s so much darkness being projected right now that the best thing that I can do is take people away from their heads for a moment and make them feel good.” Making people feel good is never a bad goal. It’s something that can’t be perfected. It’s something that takes a lifetime, and Jones is okay with that -- I think we all are.

Interview By: Sophie Gragg | P hotos + Design By: Nikoli Partiyeli

AT THE PEAK OF AN EVOLVING MUSIC INDUSTRY - BETWEEN FRIENDS IS THE EPITOME OF IT ALL. In a time where experimentalism and individualism is flourishing, the band showcases their creativity like no other. Comprised of brother and sister Brandon and Savannah Hudson, Between Friends has found the joy of creating things, well, between friends. The effortlessly cool sound and visual aesthetic of Between Friends is as authentic as it gets thanks to the pure passion and ability the siblings share to do it all. Though making their way into the entertainment industry at young age, Between Friends only came into existence in recent years. The duo has embraced everything they’ve learned to create the project they’ve always wanted in a musical era they’ve envisioned. Brandon and Savannah welcome their development as both people and artists with open arms - and have big plans. LUNA: You’ve been in the entertainment industry since you were kids. How has your previous experience in music translated into the band you are now, Between Friends? BRANDON: It’s really funny how it all came about because I think out of every project we’ve ever done this was the most casual. Which is crazy to us because I feel like our whole lives we were so focused on the seriousness of everything. We were making the music for Between Friends for fun on the side. SAVANNAH: It was on the side of what we were focusing on and we started falling in love with what we were doing on the side more than what we were doing in real time. BRANDON: We started focusing on making pop music in my bedroom studio with just Sav and I making it for fun. Then we realized it was working and that we should maybe do that as our main project. LUNA: Was this the same time when the Bedroom Pop scene starting blowing up? SAVANNAH: Yes, definitely. BRANDON: It was around the same time. We were just trying stuff out. Honestly, it was without us trying to make a certain type of music. We’ve just always been fascinated by Pop music and how something becomes popular.

SAVANNAH: I think the main point of transition for us was when we started making the music and would play it for our friends at parties and wouldn’t tell them it was us to just see their reaction. It was really cool. Showing our music to our friends was something we were never super good at doing. We just didn’t feel the love for our past music like we did for this music. So when we showed it to our friends and they showed it to their friends we realized people liked the music, and we liked it. BRANDON: We would be at college parties and just throw it in the aux and see what people would think without telling them it was us. LUNA: The music that you were making before was more on the alternative side rather than Pop right? SAVANNAH: Yeah and it’s because we were kids trying to figure out our sound, and I mean we’re still kids figuring it out. BRANDON: In the past, most of the people who knew of us only knew of us because of those past projects, but it’s been cool because the past year now a lot more new people know us as Between Friends which is what we want. SAVANNAH: We cherish the people who have been with us since the beginning, but the whole process of becoming an artist is finding new people. LUNA: Now that you’ve made the transition to making Pop music, are there are specific artists that have sonically influenced you? BRANDON: We listen to a lot of music. SAVANNAH: Like a lot - and all across the board. BRANDON: Honestly I feel like the biggest inspiration to us is the new format of playlisting on Spotify and Apple Music. I feel like these streaming services are really highlighting genreless popular music in a playlist together. We’re really big fans of the playlist “Pollen” on Spotify because it’s exactly what we’re doing at home. It all fits in this mold but it’s also different from everything else. SAVANNAH: I also think 2019 has been a year of honest music in a very impactful way. I think the artists aren’t really afraid to be honest and be like “if you’re with me

then you’re with me and if you’re not, you’re not but I’m still gonna be making the kind of art that I want to make” so I think that’s a big inspiration for us as well just because Pop is Pop and it’s not limiting. BRANDON: Especially the past year the word “Pop” with what’s come out and been successful has just been crazy. It’s such a huge span of music. LUNA: So when people ask what type of music are you making do you just say Pop? BRANDON: Yeah we just say we’re making Pop music. SAVANNAH: We used to get so stressed out about it and ask “What are we?” but we’re Pop. BRANDON: Don’t you kind of hate when you’re at a bar talking to some musicians and you ask what type of music they make and they say “indie wave meets alternative and electronic.” SAVANNAH: “It’s kinda like if you take lofi with a little R&B vibes.” BRANDON: It’s like I have no clue what that even means. SAVANNAH: I also think we kinda learned the hard way with that because we’ve been making music for so long and we were those people at the party saying that. BRANDON: We definitely did and then realized it was stupid. LUNA: You don’t really need to have a genre anymore. SAVANNAH: Exactly. It’s also that you tell people what you are and that’s what you are. BRANDON: It’s like Brockhampton saying they’re a boyband and everyone saying “okay”. SAVANNAH: So that’s another thing I’ve learned. If we were rap artist and I said we were country people would say “maybe there’s a little twang in there”. You tell people what you are and they accept it. LUNA: Do you think the Bedroom Pop term/genre is limiting in anyways? BRANDON: It does limit you because you’re the one

doing it all. We are doing this and there is a limited amount of stuff I can do until I learn how to do more to make it better. So I agree that it’s a boundless world of music inspiration. We can do whatever we want, but it’s more so how well can I make a top 40 record. It’s gonna always sound like Sav or me making this record. LUNA: Are you pushed to change that? SAVANNAH: Of course. I think whether you’re the biggest Pop artist in the world or the biggest artist in any genre there’s always that need/want to be pushed to another level of your artistry. BRANDON: I mean Clairo did it perfectly. It was very bedroomy and then she created a buzz, grew and became something different. She was able to get there and did it herself. She got to a level where she was allowed to go to the next level. LUNA: It’s cool because we’ve seen the first generation of the Bedroom Pop stars blow up and now get to see how they evolve. BRANDON: That’s exactly what we want to do. We want to become the best at what we love and we want to perfect our craft and continuously grow and change. I feel like the recordings we’re making now for our next batch of song shows that we’ve both gotten a lot better than the first batch. Which is cool. SAVANNAH: In a different way too. You can’t even compare. BRANDON: We weren’t thinking about how to top our previous music, we just started doing something different and realized that was the sound for the next EP. It’s different and it’s definitely growth for us. LUNA: The visual side to Between Friends is a huge part of it all and seems important to both as individuals. Is that side something you always were bringing in or as you got older it developed? SAVANNAH: I think it was always a very important thing to us but we didn’t always have control over it. I think that made us hungry to want to do it more. Once Brandon started to learn how to produce and honing in on that a few years ago, I knew producing wasn’t my passion but I loved writing and playing with him. So I figured he could focus on producing and I focus on visuals. We

can brainstorm together and I’ll make the videos and try my best, take classes, make logos, covers and whatever it takes. I think being able to do that is good as well because being signed or being involved with people who think they have 100% control over you means if you don’t have an idea for the cover they’ll give you one and you’re stuck with it.

BRANDON: For our music video for “Affection” we were actually able to shoot it on 35mm which made the vibe for us. We were really set on that and I know we definitely want to be doing that more.

For us and this past wave of music, we were kinda like “Here are the songs, here are the cover arts and here are the videos.”

SAVANNAH: We’re your modern day consumers for sure.

BRANDON: Sav was very on top of that. I remember we had the 5 songs that we released ready and we sat down and talked about what we wanted the cover art to look like. She hit up a bunch of different friends and came up with ideas, so each cover was either shot by Sav or her and one of our friends that we wanted to collaborate. SAVANNAH: Everything in this project, and it sounds cheesy, is between friends. Our creative team is our best friends. It’s me calling my friend at three in the morning and asking them to hold a light for a photo. It’s the most fun for sure and it feels the most authentic to me. BRANDON: That’s what’s so funny. Our whole lives we thought to be successful it has to be so professional. Everything for this was done so casually. It almost baffled us because it works.

There’s constantly inspirations. We do watch a lot of TV and fuck with Netflix and consume everything.

BRANDON: We kinda fuck with everything. SAVANNAH: We’re very inspired by LA too. We’re inspired by driving around and just wanting to drive and listen to music. That inspires me as much as a movie would inspire me. LUNA: Since you two are the only ones involved in your creative process, how has that process evolved with you? Are you treating it more seriously now? BRANDON: Honestly this year it’s become a full time thing. As soon as it connected we realized we needed to be doing this all the time.

SAVANNAH: I’ll never forget when our manager asked us what the budget was for a shoot and I was like “Um I mean $50 for like the light cover and film.”

SAVANNAH: We have a studio at our house and so it used to be in the middle of the night or in the morning we’d work on an idea and it’d be chill. But this is now a Monday through Friday, noon to late type of thing. We’re working on a new project and are going to top the last one, or at least try to. It’s become more serious I would say after this last EP because we have to release more.

LUNA: Beyond your friends, are there any inspirations that shape your visual aesthetic?

LUNA: Has this new pressure made things more difficult creatively?

SAVANNAH: There’s tons. We definitely love films and TV.

SAVANNAH: Yes. There’s definitely days where we’ll be in the studio all day and not make one thing and say that we can’t make a song today, and that’s ok.

BRANDON: We’re big fans of 35mm film work when it comes to visuals. SAVANNAH: Whenever we see that we love it. BRANDON: When a movie is done on film, like obviously Quentin Tarantino stuff, but we when we see an old film and it’s actually film it looks a certain way and it feels really cool. SAVANNAH: It feels a certain way for sure.

BRANDON: For sure. We get upset sometimes with each other. It’s not that there’s this crazy pressure, it’s pressure that we put on ourselves so internally we deal with it. We get in the studio and think how do we be awesome every single time. That’s just not what happens. Sometimes it’s a vibe and you get it and other times not. We’ve learned that this year. SAVANNAH: We’ve learned to accept that it’s okay too. In the beginning we were not cool with that. We didn’t know what was going on and then we realized it’s okay to

not make a song that you love everyday. It’s like asking a painter to make a painting that you like everyday and are willing to show the world.

LUNA: Since you both are responsible for the image and brand of Between Friends on social media, what has your relationship been with that side of things?

LUNA: You’ve mentioned you’re working on a new project. How would you compare it to your previous music? Can you even compare it?

SAVANNAH: I think we grew up in a social media based world. We’re Generation Z kids pretty much. It’s definitely an interesting thing. You could take it so many ways. For us it’s just a bridge for us to connect with more people and show them who we are.

BRANDON: I don’t know. To me it sounds like being a kid. SAVANNAH: It’s more fun. The first EP was trial and error, but also the first thing we were ever putting out as Between Friends and it had to be so many things. But this project is just what we like right now. BRANDON: It has a name and everything, and when you see the name and listen to it you’ll get it. It’s not like a concept piece or anything but to us it’s reflective of the music we love. SAVANNAH: The first EP was like the breakup. This EP is after the breakup where everything’s okay. BRANDON: The one word I’ll say, that isn’t the title of it, that I would use to describe it is sweet. It’s just sweet. SAVANNAH: Sweet but dirty. BRANDON: It hits hard but in a sweet way. To me it just reminds me of the feelings I had when I was a kid. I think it’s really nice and I like it. LUNA: Now that putting music out as an EP rather than an album is becoming more popular, do you think there’s going to be more pressure on EPs? SAVANNAH: Oh for sure. BRANDON: I feel like nowadays artists will drop an album when it’s time to drop. It’s always an album meaning a big project. SAVANNAH: I also think there’s almost an equal amount of pressure for an EP. I hope this doesn’t disrupt Brandon’s thought process. For an album you have between 10 and 20 songs to fiddle around. For an EP you need six bangers or people won’t listen. People want to hear every song on an EP and like it, so if three of them are bad then half of your EP is bad.

BRANDON: And we don’t take it very seriously. SAVANNAH: We don’t take it seriously because this city is filled with people whose life is Instagram. Imagine a world where Instagram is gone - half of these people wouldn’t exist. BRANDON: I just think of social media as a marketplace for ideas. That’s what I like it for. LUNA: The access to both making and sharing music has definitely increased, creating a whole boom of music being uploaded everyday. How do you feel like you can navigate an industry like that? SAVANNAH: You just gotta wear your head forward. And support other people. I feel like another thing about LA is people have this perception that everyone is in a competition with each other and we’re not that way at all. All of our friends are artists and do something in the artist industry and we love it. We promote each other and bring each other up. But so many people are weird about it. It’s so crazy. If your art can’t speak for itself or it’s rip from somebody else then that’s on you. LUNA: All of your music is pretty personable, so is there something consciously you want people to take away from your music? BRANDON: I feel like in terms of a message we’re just trying to be normal kids. It was the whole point with our name. Let’s actually be ourselves and make songs about things happening in our lives. It’s really what it is. I do hope that when people listen they feel happy and are into it. If they connect that’s definitely a goal. SAVANNAH: I think stepping down from the aspect that lyrically is so up there. Just writing real feelings

and thoughts. I had a hard time with that when I was a teenager because I didn’t know how to say something without saying it directly until I realized I could just say it. BRANDON: We were always trying to think of a word for a word and metaphors for what we were saying. SAVANNAH: As soon as we realized we could just say it so directly it worked out. LUNA: Do you think people aren’t as forward and simple with their lyrics because they’re afraid? BRANDON: They like to be complex. SAVANNAH: I think complexity and they want to protect themselves in their own bubble. They don’t have to really say and can say it differently and maybe people can relate and it just fogs up people’s relatability scale. BRANDON: Frank Ocean is like the most complex dude in Pop music and says whatever he wants. He says it like it is. And if it is a metaphor he’ll tag it with “bitch” or something that takes you back to him being a normal dude. I feel like that’s very common in Hip-Hop music and we fuck with Hip-Hop so much. They just say it.

LUNA: The year is starting to wind down, so what do you want the rest of 2019 to bring you? BRANDON: It sounds cheesy but we write goals down every couple of months. We have big goals and big dreams. We just want to continue to be ourselves and want to reach other people and encourage new people. SAVANNAH: And work hard. BRANDON: We want people to see that if you try your best where it could go. Would you not say that seeing an artist you like just saying to work hard and do your thing can bring you success is cool? That’s the message. SAVANNAH: It’s not even a matter of you can do it, it’s more so you’ll feel good. That’s the new thing for me. If you can do what you love to do and can do it and share it with other people. At the end of the day, whether you do it or not, you’ll feel good. BRANDON: Also just be yourself all the time too. That is awesome. Being a unique person, 100% you, is my favorite quality in anyone. When someone is 100% themselves they shine. You shine when you are yourself. I feel like we’re inspired by people that are themselves and we always want to be ourselves. I think that’s whole message of Between Friends - why try to fit in when you stand out?

LEILANI MITCHELL Interview By Sophie Gragg | P hotos by Leilani Mitchell | Design by Allison Dowd

HER PHOTOS TAKE YOU ON VACATION - and every time it’s blissful. Creative Leilani Mitchell has developed her artistic style to enable to view feel like they’re in the moment of the photo in the dreamiest way. With a foundation filled with adventure and geunine love thanks to her Hawaii roots, Mitchell’s work taps into the pure beauty of her world. Though still considering photography nothing more than a hobby, Mitchell is no short of passion when it comes to capturing beautiful moments and people. LUNA: It seems like it’d be pretty impossible to grow up in Hawaii without it impacting your art. What do you think the biggest impact your surroundings have had on you as an artist? MITCHELL: Hawai’i is everything. It’s beautiful, amazing and magical. But it’s about so much more than the beauty. I grew up on a tiny dot in the middle of the ocean with people who taught me how to surf, swim, dive, hike; how to never stop playing. How to value money and things but never be fulfilled by them. How to love and love and love until it hurts - especially when it hurts. As an artist, that’s everything. I only want to see that love through my work. I don’t ever want it to be solely based on beauty. LUNA: You’ve progressed a lot as a photographer in recent years, how did it become a more serious thing? MITCHELL: I wouldn’t consider photography to be my career at this exact point in my life, but I definitely have gotten work through it lately. I think it’s really just about the confidence. I had a friend give me a pretty blunt reality check a few years ago; she just told me that if it’s something I like doing, then I’m allowed to say that. I’m allowed to call myself a photographer. It was pretty much as simple as realizing that. So I did that. LUNA: What was the transition from Hawaii to NYC like for you? MITCHELL: Everyone keeps asking me how I’m coping being “without” aspects of Hawai’i. Without the beach, without the nature, things like that. I decided really early on that if I kept believing I was losing things I would go absolutely insane. I’m not losing anything. I’m gaining everything NY is offering me. Hawai’i is always going to be a part of me, and I’ll never lose that. Plus, I have a miles card. LUNA: What feeling do you want people to feel when seeing your photos? MITCHELL: I love photos that make you wonder. I love a photo that makes you stop and look at it and say, “What is going on here? What’s the story?” I don’t know if I’m achieving that as much as I’d love to, but it’s fun to try. I guess a part of me just wants people to think my photos are interesting, not just nice to look at. LUNA: Broad question so answer however you like - what’s next for you? MITCHELL: I have literally no idea. It’ll probably be fun though.

IN THE MOMENT 57

Abby Waisler / Los Angeles 59

Isabella Vega / Miami 60

Kari Trail / Menlo Park

Gabrielle Gowans / New York City 61

Valentin Espey-Davis / Randolph

Abby Raffle / Austin 63

clark fork If you want to. go revisit the memory of us by the Clark Fork come and look for me, ankle deep, take off your jeans and swim in pull my cotton underwear aside and let me suck on your fingers afterwards ( I promise I won’t let you touch the bottom, you whispered ) when you leave me again, I’ll remember how you looked walking through the summer smoke and how all space was gone once you wrapped your arms around me a space filled with shots of tequila someone else’s perfume on your sheets quarters spent at the laundromat. dreams that we would never pick a paint color for.

- Charlotte Larson / Minneapolis

Meira Bashir / Salt Lake City 66

Forecastâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; thunder in your area but no rain and no God with a flashlight either just the feeling the air on your skin like a slip the feeling that fills up the sky

Sonia Feldman, Lizzy Myers / Cleveland, Brooklyn

Come Again The feeling of my mother’s hand (or maybe yours) in my hair— these lines are drawn and redrawn —who is what and to whom. A wave may go on forever if it likes— memory will open —and then fold if you touch it twice.

Becca Serena / Ontario

Kimberly Maltez / Sunland 70

Rozella Kim / Seattle

6 word story Divine moment captured in overexposed film. - Ivan Salinas / Panorama City

A Moment of Trauma Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m lying next to you, Hands in my face, Hiding to protect myself. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re pounding my back, Yelling, blaming me. You force me to turn around, Then tighten your grip Around my arms. You lean in closer, still screaming, Now crying. I ruined the night. Can you walk with me Through that moment And see how it lives with me? One experience of many I struggled to break free from.

- Matt Smith / Pasadena Pip Hicken / Melbourne

Tatum Van Dam / Los Angeles

Christy Flaherty / Augusta

Carolina Davalos / Guadalajara

to live in-moment, if time is not a river, rushing, but a lake where moment is myriad: infinite, indefinite where moment is a fold-forming; topographical; en proceso and where life isÂ but a series of selves; assemblage of cells, is to feel the past as prophecyÂ is to feel that I am you can you feel it?

- Abby Maxwell / Victoria

The photographs in my series â&#x20AC;&#x153;Foreverâ&#x20AC;?, explore the dreamy fluidity of a summer night. Summer nights have always drawn me in with an air of endless possibilities. These nights feel endless, yet are always fleeting. As soon as the evening washes over the sun, I am struck with an uneasy yearning to explore what lies in the darkness. Anything feels possible when the moon is full and the breeze is warm. I used slow shutter speeds to invoke a sense of mystique in the movement. The warmth from the red neon lights envelopes a figure, beckoning to be uncovered. By capturing these nights on film, I aim to create an everlasting feeling from fleeting moments.

-Kayla Smith / New Jersey

Story By: Sloan Pecchia | P hotos + Design By: Nikoli Partiyeli “I’m proud of my identity and the different aspects of it but I feel like once that starts to supersede everything else I feel like that’s where you’re kinda pigeon holed. Like Elton John is a great songwriter not just a gay man.”

There is a certain pressure that is placed on people in their 20s. Parents generalize and say they’re the best years of a person’s life, while TV shows and movies romanticize them in a way that makes people wish for the day they turn two decades old. Abby Hwong, known as NoSo, is now in her 20s and has discovered, like many other 20 year olds, the feeling of being incredibly lost. The difference between Hwong and many others her age is that she is navigating that feeling through her music. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, it wasn’t until Hwong moved to LA that she seriously started pursuing her artistry. She moved in the middle of high school, due to the relocation of her dad’s job, and found that change to be challenging. Unlike before, she started to take songwriting more seriously, and channeled all of her emotions into her music in order to overcome her personal struggles. Simultaneously, she had also applied to a songwriting camp in South Africa that turned out to be one of the best weeks of her life, “I submitted for a songwriting contest where I went to South Africa with 5 other kids. So when I was feeling really isolated at a new school, this song writing program happened which was like the best experience of my life. We all went by ourselves, our parents didn’t come. I think that kicked in the ‘this is the best feeling I’ve ever had’ feeling.” When she first took up songwriting her songs were more funny than they were genuine. Coming to LA, the shift in attitudes between the two cities was apparent,

“I grew up in a suburb that was really strange - the movie Mean Girls was based on it. It was a very clinical feeling - just so white suburban. I was very subdued there and couldn’t really be myself. Coming to LA and seeing the music scene here, it’s just so much more open minded than it was in Chicago. I think it was just because of the area I was in.” Though the move from Chicago to LA created a shift in mindset, that is not to say that Hwong has lost her humor in her songs entirely. She now just comes at it from a different perspective, having embraced more of who she is as a person and a musician,

“All of it kinda comes from the perspective of being a minority who is gay who is kinda navigating these spaces that are predominately white spaces where I felt like I had to water down my personality, or not be me. Now that I feel like I’m comfortable with myself it’s still just trying to figure out everything. But I do write about the intersectionality of it all. I’ve been writing a lot more songs that are more sarcastic.” If you listen to her song “Summer” the lyric, “Staring at me / A sausage party of salmon shorts surrounding you” is an incredibly clever way of referencing predominantly white straight men. When she sings it to a crowd of people it always gets a good laugh. When she talks about her music, Hwong makes sure to point out how her sound has changed, “Before it was a bit bright and pop punk cheery, but now it feels a bit more ambient woozy soundscape and more guitary. First and foremost I’m a guitar player. I like singing but it’s never been a primary thing.” Though Hwong feels as though her

singing is an afterthought, it’s her voice that details these comically relevant stories. With that being said, her guitar playing is like no other. The intricacy of the chords and the precision of her finger picking is truly a stand out. The imagery in Hwong’s songs allows you to visualize, as if the scene was taking place in front of you and the song was playing on the radio in the background. This makes a good deal of sense considering where Hwong finds her inspiration, “I find myself more inspired by things like TV shows and movies. I like movies but not as much as TV for some reason. I really like well done TV. So for some reason whatever show I’m watching really shapes me.” She’s recently been watching Euphoria, which she says has an aesthetic that evokes a sense of nostalgia that is also present in her music. Representation is essential, however when certain aspects of someone’s identity supersedes others, parts of them can fall by the wayside that are still really important to who they are. It was important to Hwong that when being

represented her sexuality and race weren’t the things that were defining her, “That’s where it’s kinda weird because I’m proud of my identity and the different aspects of it but I feel like once that starts to supersede everything else I feel like that’s where you’re kinda pigeon holed. Like Elton John is a great songwriter not just a gay man.” While her identity is something that has shaped her experiences, she tries to find the balance between not wanting to be defined by that and understanding that it has also has shaped her life. At the end of the day she says that regardless of pronouns she’s still writing love songs and love is universal.

Photos By Mariรก Alverez | Shot On Dubble Stereo Film 85

MUCH LOVE TO...

MarĂa Alverez / @shotbymaria Allison Barr / @alliisonder Between Friends / @betweenfriends Cehryl / @cehryl Olivia Boryczewski / @oliviaboryczewski Abby Hwong / @nosomusic Maris Jones / @themarisjones Jenna King / @schmenna Lennon Kloser / @kidbloom Khristine Le / @khristinejoys Leilani Mitchell / @lawnzhawaii Nikoli Partiyeli / @nikoliparty Michaela Pereau / @michaela_perau Ocean Wong / @ocean.w

T h e L u na C ollect ive ISSUE IX X BETWEEN FRIENDS The Luna Collective is a platform for the creative community spotlighting a variety of young artists. This film only magazine highlights talented individuals we come across as well as the work of our readers. The magazine is only one part of The Luna Collective so join us to see what else we get up to.

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THIS ISSUEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TEAM

Founder & Editor In Chief: Sophie Gragg Graphic Designers: Olivia Boryczewski, Khristine Le, Michaela Perau & Nikoli Partiyeli Photographers: Allison Barr, Michaela Perau, Nikoli Partiyeli & Ocean Wong Writers: Bree Castillo, Sloan Pecchia, Shayan Saalabi & Grace Sowerby 93

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THE LUNA COLLECTIVE â&#x201E;¢ 2019