VOLUME 2
ISSUE 3 MEET STEVE, ALYCE, DIM & CESIA
CESIRA STEVE ALYCE BEN
VOL U ME
2
Cesira full-time flat white consumer, and lead guitarist of The Jungle Giants.
06 - 15
Steve
Alyce
Veteran barber, surfer, and coowner of Uppercut Deluxe men’s grooming products.
Seasonal weather complainer, and Westfield Insider blogger.
16 - 23
24 - 33
MINK PINK Watch Out Stripe Jumper $59.95, MOTEL Juliette Skirt $94.95, ICON BRAND Battleground Beanie Green $24.95.
Cesira
full-time flat white consumer, and lead guitarist of The Jungle Giants.
MINK PINK Watch Out Stripe Jumper $59.95, MOTEL Juliette Skirt $94.95, ICON BRAND Battleground Beanie Green $24.95.
Meet Cesira Aitken If you’re not careful, you might end up chatting with Cesira for a whole afternoon about Jeff Buckley, Justin Timberlake, or RunD.M.C. This girl lives and breathes music. Not such a bad quality if – like 19-year-old Cesira has – you’ve quit your day job to focus on your already nationally acclaimed band, which has spent the better part of the last year touring the festival circuit and recording. Cesira was hooked from an early age, barely putting down her guitar from seventh grade onward. “I think I nagged my parents for a while, in late primary school. My dad played me a lot of Led Zeppelin and Hendrix. I asked to play drums first and dad was like ‘NO!’” Cesira says laid-back big-town Brisbane has been the perfect training ground for the band. “It works well. For our band, we all live so close together, and it’s so easy to collaborate, and see bands and do rehearsals and sort of vibe off that, and keep developing. I really like how it all goes together in Brisbane.” The Jungle Giants’ sound can be a challenge to categorise, as Cesira says it can change in phases as their influences do. “As far as a genre; indie-rock, not pop,” she says. “There’s definitely been consistent development from work to work; from EP to EP to album. “It would be boring if we didn’t develop our sound further with every recording!” Touring life has already spawned plenty of stories for Cesira to tell the astonished grandkids one day, but she says her highlight so far has to be a star-studded boat party earlier this year. “The funnest thing ever, was in January we got to go on a boat party on Sydney Harbour with Two Door [Cinema Club], and The Vaccines,” she reminisces with a grin. “They’re like two of my favourite bands, so that was really wild for all of us. We were like ‘WHAT?’”
PAINT IT RED Spent Youth Tee $34.95, LEE Mid Licks Black Gloss $189.95, VERALI Goldy Boots $89.95, CASIO Analogue Watch $59.95.
PAINT IT RED Spent Youth Tee $34.95, LEE Mid Licks Black Gloss $189.95, VERALI Goldy Boots
My dad played me a lot of Led Zeppelin and Hendrix. I asked to play drums first and dad was like 'NO!'
s $89.95, CASIO Analogue Watch $59.95.
MINK PINK Easy Rider Jacket $109.95, MINK PINK Green Day Check Dress $89.95.
STREET STYLE? I’m very casual. Maxi dresses and jeans and tops. I don’t really head out in my wedding dress that often… I keep it comfortable.
FAVOURITE BRAND? Guitar brands are my fashion. I’m a Fender girl!
BEST THING ABOUT TOURING? Big crowds, and good gigs The bigger the crowd, the better. Because everyone is in a mass party mood. That’s our vibe. The looser the crowd, the cooler the shows.
FAVOURITE JAMS? The Dandy Warhols are my favourite band right now. You Were The Last High is probably my favourite track at the moment.
FAVOURITE HANGOUT? Coffee shops. In particular, Swich on the south side in Holland Park. A lot of my time is spent there, particularly after coming home from recording and not working anymore. My time is filling time between flat whites.
Assembly Sail Boats Printed Shirt $79.95, Ziggy Pins & Needles Chino $90.00, Converse All Star Hi $89.95.
Steve
Veteran barber, surfer, and co-owner of Uppercut Deluxe men’s grooming products.
I've always surfed. That's where that vibe of Uppercut comes from.
Academy Fenway Parka Tan $179.95, Silent Theory Crew Tee White $29.95, Lee L1 Black $129.95.
Meet Steve Purcell Steve Purcell is stumped. His brow furrows in concentration, as he tries to answer the trickiest question of all: shortboard or longboard? “It’s a tough one. It’s so stressful the night before surfing trying to decide whether to go to Noosa and ride the log, or get a beachie somewhere down the coast.” As Steve’s mind floats somewhere deep inside a glassy earlymorning barrel, it’s easy to forget he’s the co-owner of one of Australia’s fastest growing fashion labels. Steve and his childhood friend Luke Newman started a barbershop in Brisbane five years ago. Around the same time the lads realised there was a growing hole in the market for men’s hair wax. “Dudes were wanting to wear wax, but weren’t willing to walk into these hairdressers and shops that they wouldn’t want to be seen in, let alone buying hair wax in,” Steve says. Being the opportunistic ‘Aussie’ blokes they were, Steve and Luke immediately set about filling the niche, and Uppercut was born. “I knew exactly what men were after. It took us about two years, until we finally found what we were super stoked with.” When asked what inspires him, Steve is quick to take jump back to the beach. “I’ve always surfed. That’s where that vibe of Uppercut comes from,” he says. “On the other hand, the perfect balance is Luke who’s a skater. We meet in the middle.” Steve has been a barber for 13 years, and is happy to see the art form returning to its former glory. “I remember going to the barber shop with my Poppa, and ‘old Charlie’ used to cut my Poppa’s hair, and I used to sit on the booster seat. I saw how cool it was. My Poppa had so much respect for his barber, and he went to his barber for 40 years, and never cheated on him. They had this connection.”
Wrangler Warhol 27MW Denim Shirt $99.95, Komono Magnus watch $119.95.
Assembly Sail Boats Printed Shirt $79.95.
STREET STYLE? I don’t know if there is even a word for my style ... What have other people said? [laughs]. I like a simple t-shirt and jeans that fit well with a nice pair of Vans. I like the unassuming look. Check-shirt definitely!
Favourite Brand? Uppercut!! No, my favourite labels are ones that are un-assuming.
Favourite Hangout? I like having coffee at Brother Espresso, or I like Three Monkeys in West End. Anywhere my friends are.
Summer or Winter? Winter. The waves are better and less crowded. I also like putting on a jacket and a pair of jeans.
Favourite Jams? If you could look at the playlist on my iPod, you’d freak out, it’s a bit of everything! Yesterday I was listening to Johnny Cash. I like his later stuff. It’s got so much truth to it. You can see that as he was getting older, he’d led a rock n’ roll lifestyle, and he was starting to realise it.
ALL ABOUT EVE Star Dust Muscle $39.95, NEUW Daisy Jean Black Pepper $149.95.
Alyce
Seasonal weather complainer, and Westfield Insider blogger.
ALL ABOUT EVE Star Dust Muscle $39.95, Neuw Daisy Jean Black Pepper $149.95.
MINK PINK Flower Bomb Tee $49.95, MOTEL Demi Overalls $109.95, STAPLE Silky PU Bomber Jacket $109.95, STUSSY Chloe Beanie $34.95.
Meet Alyce Cowell Everyone in the world seems to be a blogger. What separates 25-year-old Alyce Cowell is that she actually gets paid to do it. Originally from the Gold Coast, Alyce puts her success partly down to a lucky move to Melbourne four years ago. “As soon as I got there, opportunities were landing in my lap,” she remembers. Alyce’s big break came when she won a competition to become the Westfield Insider blogger, which is now her main gig. She also runs the Westfield Facebook page, and is constantly on the move, traveling to media events, industry nights, and teaching people how to wear the latest trends. “I’m one of those people that gets bored really easily. I could never have a job that’s nine-to-five, kind of just sitting behind a desk. I think I would last about a month!” One of her highlights as a professional blogger came as a spicy surprise. “I was just at home one day, and one of my bosses called and asked me if I had a passport. I was like ‘yeah…’ She called me back that afternoon, and said ‘pack your bags, you’re going to London’!” If scoring a free trip to London for a week wasn’t dope enough, Alyce also got to work with British TV fashion magnate Gok Wan on a commercial for his Australian tour. Alyce also has another fashion blog, The Influencer, which she runs with two other friends. She says it’s their different styles that make the blog so interesting. “We all write different, and we all dress different. Anyone that reads it can relate to one of us!” For someone as successful in the industry as Alyce, it’s hard to believe that she wasn’t always smiling for the camera, or punching out the latest online opinion piece. “I was pretty daggy growing up, and even in high school, I was a bit of a dag!” Alyce laughs. “It wasn’t till around the time that I’d just got out of school, and it was that whole op-shop revolution where everyone used to just op-shop all the time. That was probably the main thing that made me interested in fashion.” Alyce used this newfound love for fashion, combining it with her interest in writing and magazines to get to where she is today, although she still admits to relying on her boyfriend Ben, the “jeans expert”, when it comes to denim.
STREET STYLE? I always describe my style as split personality. One day I’ll wake up and I’ll be wearing head-to-toe black, and then the next day I’ll be wearing something really girly, and the next day I’ll be like ‘why did I even wear either of those outfits? They’re gross!’ It changes depending on my mood.
Favourite Jams? I love Foals. At the moment, I’m also listening to a lot of Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky. They’re both so cool. I’m really excited for the new Daft Punk album!
SUMMER OR WINTER? I’m right on the fence with this. I love winter because of the clothes, but Melbourne winter is like death, and I also love sun and the beach ‘cause I’m from the coast. I complain either way.
WORDS FOR THE YOUNGSTERS? Get experience wherever you can. Don’t ever think that things are beneath you. Even if you have to get experience with a fashion designer ironing a hundred white t-shirts, just do it, because those are the kinds of things that will open doors for you.
FINDE
ERS KEEPERS Comforting Lie Long Sleeve Top $89.95, PAINT IT RED Hard Luck Shorts $44.95.
NEUW Dot Pattern Shirt $99.95, LEE L Zero Arizona Blue $149.95, NIXON Time Teller P Matte
Black $99.95.
ILLUSTRATIONS by Ben Greer.
VOLUME 2
ISSUE 3 MEET STEVE, ALYCE, DIM & CESIA
CESIRA STEVE ALYCE BEN