Issue 3

ISSUE 3

YASMINE VINE “Burlesque is more about self expression and freedom and loving your body...”

LEAH GALINDO

Creativity through makeup

ADAM CAMPBELL “I enjoy the journey of making my art”

Photo by Matthew Finley Photography

Since our first issue of Vignette Obscura Magazine, it has been our goal to grow constantly and develop our audience. While the magazine continues to grow and develop, we as people have also grown. We have become more tenacious in areas where we lacked a back bone and gentle in areas where we were too aggressive. We take deadlines in earnest but no longer fret without cause. While we are still trying to figure out several things, we are more comfortable and confident in our magazine.

The body issue of Vignette Obscura Magazine features artists and musicians who have chosen the human body as their muse. We have deviated from our usual crop of artists and photographers in featuring two burlesque performers. In meeting Yasmine Vine and Bettie P'asian, we found that burlesque is about the beauty of every body type and the confidence that comes with choreographing a routine that captivates audiences.

We are featuring a group of musicians that could not be anymore different from one another. One of the bands featured specialize in being as entertaining and unusual as possible from switching instruments throughout their set, to the dress one of the members chooses to donn. I hope you enjoy the body issue of Vignette Obscura Magazine as much I enjoyed meeting the people featured in its pages.

Sevanny Campos Senior Writer/ Overall pain in the ass

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Senior Writer

Sevanny Campos

Junior Writer Felipe Sandoval

Editors

Sevanny Campos Tammie Valer

Photographer Tammie Valer

Designer

Tammie Valer

Special Thanks

Adam Campbell, Alexander Watts, Andre Chavez, Bettie P’asian, Carly Jo Owens, D’Meetri, Jesse MacLeod, Leah Galindo, Matthew Finley, Nicole Flores, Rockefellas, Roxbury Cafe, The Parlor, The Regal Peaches, The Sex Tape Scandal, Yasmine Vine

MATTHEW FINLEY

Written by

Sevanny Campos Each artist has their own medium to express their art.

While Matthew Finley has chosen photography as a medium, he uses a "dead form" of photography to convey the beauty of the male body.

Upon entering Finley's studio, the smell of chemicals enters the nostrils. The strong odor is not overwhelming but it is a presence. One may think Finley is a purist, as it looks and smells like he develops his own film. Finley does in fact use a camera from the 1850's called a “large format- wet platesliding box camera” and uses tintypes; beautiful detailed black and white images exposed on a sheet of tin. He then develops the image in a dark room adjoined to his studio.

In the middle of the converted studio is the instrument in what is a clash of old and new. Finley had music playing in the background and studio lights set up surrounding the camera. It is a clash and friendship between technologies as the camera looks old compared to the lights surrounding it. The partnership between technology occurs when Finley uses the flash, as the camera does not have its own. Finley uses a separate flash that he can use at moments notice.

During our time at his studio, he demonstrated how the camera works. He prepared the tintype using chemicals. While the tin was drying, he placed one of us under the studio lights.“You will have to sit for about 20 seconds. Try to choose a comfortable position and a comfortable facial expression. You can breathe and blink but try not to turn your head or change your expression too much,” he said.

What initially drew us to Finley was his lovely, almost feminine images of nude men. The men are posed with flowers and others are adorned with a necklace

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of shells. Each image is cold, imposing, and breathtakingly beautiful.

"When I decided I wanted to do some fine arts, I didn’t have direction. A friend of mine said ‘you should start with something that gets you excited, that you are attracted to at very gut level’. As a gay man, well the male body, was a good way to start”, Finley said, “I didn't want to do anything pornographic. I have a classical sensibility or aesthetic so I just want to see where the light was hitting the body, use the shadow, explore the male body that way," Finley said.

Finley, a calm reserved man, initially started a career in acting as a method to express himself and emerge from his shell. "I pursued acting for quite awhile.

I'm not the most outgoing, talkative person," Finley said, "I was drawn to acting to facilitate my communication and expression."

After trying his luck as an actor in Los Angeles, he came to the realization of needing to find another way to express himself. He bought a digital camera and took classes. After photographing for five years, he was approached by a man named Christopher Pollard.

Pollard had the equipment for tintype photography but not the skill, therefore enlisting Finley. "I met a gentleman by the name of Christopher Pollard.

He wanted to start a business. He doesn't have much photography experience but he has the equipment,” Finley said. "We started Finley Pollard Photography. We do still life photography and portraits. I also do my fine arts projects with tintypes now.”

Finley’s photographs are classically simplistic. He uses minimal props and almost never has a backdrop. The focus of the photograph is on the subject.

They have nothing to hide behind.

“I am inspired by greek statues. I don’t like a lot of clutter of things in the photo or things in the frame,” Finley said. “I have an idea of what I want to get in a photograph. Lately I have been into the idea of greek gods. I worked out what props I need to convey with the minimal amount of things.”

While his work is beautiful, one cannot help but feel loneliness and sadness when looking at the lone subject.

Finley expressed his desire to make the photograph as true as possible. Since most of his subjects stay still for periods of time, it is a challenge to convey happiness and joy. Due to the difficulty of holding an expression for a long period of time, Finley covers the faces of his subjects. Covering the models face allows the viewer to focus on the contours of the male body and focus on the story the photographer is trying to convey.

“I want people to see the beauty of the form, the beauty of the light and the beauty of the male figure without being threatened and without it being controversial,” Finley said.

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For more of his work visit

www.matthewfinleyphotography.com

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ADAM CAMPBELL

Written by Sevanny Campos Adam Campbell normally has a scrap of paper/sketchbook and a pencil in hand. The artist only raises his eyes from the paper when he is spoken to directly. As for the graphite on the paper, it forms a character drawn with incredible detail. The figures are in motion as if they are about to embark on a great journey. Adam is a recent college graduate and is currently interning at Titmouse animation studios. He graduated with a bachelors in Animation, with an emphasis in storyboarding.

Arriving late to our interview, I entered the studio and the artist was already engaged in his sketchbook.

Looking up only when I was seated, he placed the sketchbook aside and said “I’m not very good at these, I don’t really know what to say.”

Sevanny: Let’s start with you telling me about yourself.

I only do this for job interviews so I have a prerecorded answer for that question. I’ll try not to use it though. I just try to do art. I don’t pay too much attention to what I am doing. I don’t put too much thought into it, I just do it. So when I am asked questions like ‘Tell me about yourself?’, I don’t really know how to answer that because I don’t really think about myself. That was super weird, I’m sorry.

It’s cool it’s not the strangest thing I’ve heard. You said you just do art but at what point did you start?

My parents gave me a chalkboard when I was very young and that’s when I started doing art. I was drawing whales and dinosaurs. I didn’t even know it was art. I was just using this piece of chalk.

I think I was five or six and that’s when I started.

serious. I now regret that. I entered college and I realized ‘Crap, I have to choose something that I really enjoy doing.’ I don’t want to choose something I don’t like. This is serious business. That’s why I chose art and that’s when I got pretty serious about it.

So when did you start taking it seriously? When did you consider art as a career?

Actually, more recently than I would like to admit. My family and my friends would tell me growing up ‘you can be an artist when you grow up’ and I thought it was silly. I guess my original intention was to do something more

I was watching your animated short but I couldn’t really concentrate because I was at a stop light.

Well, it started off as a group project for an animation class. I pulled a few friends together and decided to do a short film. Sadly, it’s something most students don’t do anymore. I knew I would be the storyboard artist for it,

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about perspective. I think it helps that I like watching films so much. I don’t feel like I am wasting my time. I feel like I am pulling from every movie and learning from it. It works out. I can watch movies and not feel too guilty about wasting time. I literally just chose storyboarding when I became an art major. I was asked by the counselor what my favorite thing to do is and I just said storyboarding because he put me on the spot but it turned out that I really enjoyed it after I started to do it.

Do you use storyboarding in all aspects of your art?

I mostly use storyboarding for my career. I don’t use it for myself. I don’t constrain myself to the storyboard format. I just draw characters and figures doing something. Since I am not drawing for a film, I don’t really have to use the format. I enjoy figure drawing.

It’s what I like to do as a pastime. I like to go to figure drawing workshops. If I can’t go to a workshop, I’ll just think it up in my head and draw it out.

What is something necessary in your art?

My characters have to be relatable and have to have soul and be multifaceted.

I don’t like characters that are very one dimensional. There are great one dimensional characters like the Joker but the characters that I am interested in drawing and creating feel different kinds of emotions. They are not completely stupid and they are not totally smart. They are somewhere in the middle and the characters have several things going on in their lives. since that is what I had been training to do. I became the director. I pushed myself into that role because it was a pretty rocky start. People didn’t really know how to work together at first.

I had to be mean to people to get them to turn things in on time. I really looked like the bad guy and that’s how it started off but as soon as the ball was rolling, it just finished. It ended kind of rocky because we all pulled all-nighters.

What are you working on now?

Right now I am working on another short film with a friend. Ironically for this film, I will not be doing the storyboarding. I will be doing the

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animation and character designs.

It is going to be a thirty second film.

Something really quick and short.

It should be done in a few months and then I am going to move onto something else. I don’t know what yet.

Tell me about storyboarding. All I know is an outsider’s view, like how Disney made Tiana.

I would say storyboarding is turning the script, which is words on a page, into pictures on a page. The storyboard artist reads the script and draws what he imagines the film to be. Like being a writer without using words. You have to know a lot about film and know a lot

What do you like about your work?

I definitely like doing it but I am very critical. My philosophy about art is that nobody knows how to do it. Everybody is learning how to do it. I am definitely still learning how to do it but when I do something that I do like, I like seeing how it has been completed. I sort of lose myself when I work. The best way to compare it to is when you drive somewhere and blank out, then realize you’re at the destination. That is how I draw. One of the greatest feelings I’ve had is coming out of that immersion and realizing that I’m done and that it looks really good. I enjoy the journey of making my art.

For more of his work visit

www.adamcampbell1994.wix.com/adamstoryartist

JESSE MACLEOD

Written by Sevanny Campos At an open mic night, a woman steps off the stage just finishing a beautiful set. The next performer is set to take the stage. The bar is crowded with people celebrating a birthday, sports fans and hecklers. That’s right, hecklers, at an acoustic open mic.

While the majority of the bar’s patrons are occupied with themselves and how many amber colored drinks they can put down their throats, a small amount of people surround the stage in anticipation for the next musician.

As the volume level of the voices at the bar continue to be thunderous and brassy, a man walks on stage with a guitar in hand. He introduces himself as Jesse MacLeod and begins to play.

The noise slowly begins to die down as MacLeod strums his guitar. By the time he begins to sing, the bar is silent, except for a heckler who was kindly removed from the premises. MacLeod is unfazed or unaware to what is going on around him and continues his song.

MacLeod is a songwriter from southern California. He has a slight twang in his voice when he speaks that gives the impression he may be southern. In all actuality, the twang adds to his appeal.

The songs on his EP Red Flag are reminiscent of a personal journey the songwriter has traveled, accompanied by just a guitar. The sound is simple and beautiful.

“When I write, I try to draw from something that I’ve lived and experienced or at least observed from someone else.

Relationships."

Coming from a musical family it seems as though MacLeod was bred for a life in the music industry. His father is blues musician, Doug MacLeod, while his mother is the head of a church ensemble.“My parents did not force music on me. They didn't hand me a guitar or demand that I play the piano for certain hours of the day. I think they did that because they knew that I would come to resent it,” MacLeod said.

MacLeod became involved in music during his adolescence. Being surrounded by blues growing up, he chose a different path to make music.

“An underground hip hop crew came to my school to perform called The Visionaries,” Macleod said. “One of the members, Key Cool, was an alumni

of my high school. They would come once a year and play during lunch.

I listened to the lyrics and heard what they had to say. I thought they were so cool because they rapped about things I could relate with.”

MacLeod immersed himself in hip hop, purchasing a beat machine and released records. MacLeod performed at hip-hop shows until he was 23 years old. During that time, he wrote his own music and verses.

“My friends got really inspired. We started going to underground hip hop shows around Los Angeles. We would battle each other and get into freestyle sessions,” MacLeod said. “It was more of a hobby for them but I felt like I had a knack for it. The whole rhythmic part came naturally to me.”

It was during college, in a music theory class, that MacLeod considered a change in his music direction. In the class, he discovered how chords worked and began to translate his knowledge onto a keyboard. However, as a performer, a keyboard and amp are quite difficult to transport.

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“I always wanted to play songs for people and it would be a pain in the ass to lug my keyboard around. One night, I could not sleep and drove home. My dad was out on tour. I took his Charles Fox guitar and the next day I bought a Learn How to Play Guitar DVD from Guitar Center and I’ve been on that path ever since,” Macleod said.

After his departure from hip hop, MacLeod’s merge into songwriting was almost natural. His need to perform for people played a large part in his transition. Since then, he has released a full length album called In Between Homes and his EP Red Flags.

“Wanting to sing songs for people at the house kind of grew from there. I started going to open mics and playing in coffee shops,” MacLeod said. “I just love getting on the mic and getting up in front of people.”

Ending his set at the bar, the crowd seems mesmerized as the guitar chords fade into silence. MacLeod looks confident as he stands up and leaves the stage. Finally, the rambunctious crowd is still only to erupt in applause and cheering. Several people approach MacLeod after the end of the show. Many grab a business card and a copy of his EP Red Flags, while others exclaim how that one song really affected them. The crowd was still loud, only now, they are all talking about one thing.

“Songwriting allows me to say things that I wouldn’t be able to say in person. You can say things in your song that are personal and chances are if it means something to you, it will mean something to somebody else and that’s the best part.

For more on his music visit www.jessemacleod.com

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D’MEETRI

Written by Sevanny Campos

When thinking of Minnesota, a person never considers it a mecca of musical growth and development. One pictures the Mall of America, the Minnesota Vikings, the Timberwolves and of course, the upper midwestern accent “Dontcha know!” It is in this unlikely setting that D’Meetri emerged.

D'Meetri was placed in a foster home at 11 months. His mother was involved in theatre as were his older siblings.

Coming from that background, he and his younger siblings looked for methods to be creatively involved. At the age of seven, art presented itself in the church choir.

D’Meetri is a R&B/Pop singer with a vision to be great. He relocated from Minnesota to Atlanta and to Los Angeles in pursue of a singing career.“The music scene is very small in Minnesota, it is mainly underground hip hop. I sing all kinds of music but lately I’ve been singing pop music and to sing pop in Minnesota, nobody is looking for it. So I had to leave to go get seen elsewhere,” D’Meetri said.

“Getting involved with music stemmed from church. There was no theatre program in the fifth grade. Around sixth grade, I joined band,” D’Meetri said.

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“The thing about me is I could pick up an instrument and in a week I could learn it.”

D’Meetri continued to be involved in music and the arts throughout his adolescence. After performing at a school talent show, the principal of his agricultural high school suggested he change schools. In his sophomore year, he entered a performing arts high school where he was exposed to the creativity and commercialism of the music industry.

“It was a random school in the middle of nowhere and the school was built around two recording studios and I thought it was heaven. ‘You do your work and get in the studio. Hell yeah’, he said. “That’s when I started learning the ins and outs of being an artist and the music business.”

After completing an extended high school education, D’Meetri decided to leave Minnesota and looked toward Atlanta. Through Twitter, he was able to get in contact with songwriter, Troy Taylor. The singer sent Taylor music for three years. After his commencement, he uprooted to Atlanta and met with Taylor and gave him a CD. “On that CD was five different tracks.

Mainstream, some R&B, and hip hop but I was a stickler about what I wrote and so I left him the CD and later Taylor called me and asked to write a song with me,” he said.

D’Meetri wrote music with Taylor without receiving payment. Still, he gave his time and creativity for the development of beautiful music. During his time with Taylor, he was exposed to the challenging and demanding nature of the music industry. After working with the songwriter for some time, Taylor terminated the partnership between them, saying he only worked with D’Meetri because he had free time.

“When it comes to being a songwriter, it’s best to get out as much emotion as possible because artists will feel it but I can’t stand having to write for someone,” he said.

Without a purpose in Atlanta, he decided to move west toward Los Angeles. He came to Los Angeles because he knew someone with a talent agency. After struggling with money, he was forced to move back to Minnesota.

Upon arriving there, he asked his uncle for a loan to return to Los Angeles. His uncle agreed to the loan and D’Meetri made his way back to Los Angeles.

For more on his music visit

www.dmeetri.com

Since his return to Los Angeles, he has been doing commercial work, while still growing as a musician. D’Meetri has been releasing his work in hopes of getting a record deal. “I want to say what people feel but I want to say it in my own way. I want to release the best music and have people feel it,” D’Meetri said.

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F E AT U R E

LEAH GALINDO

Written by Sevanny Campos Leah Galindo is sitting outside of a coffee shop on a summer day.

With sunglasses shielding her eyes, she looks relaxed and completely confident. As she is sipping her coffee, a man that had passed her does a double take and approaches Galindo to tell her she is the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Galindo accepts the compliment, says thank you and returns to the conversation.

It’s hard to believe that only a year ago, Galindo did not have this confidence.

“My mother and people can tell me that I am beautiful and how great I am, until they are blue in the face,” Galindo said, “But I was always so critical of myself and felt unsatisfied.”

Galindo is a badass. She is a mother, girlfriend, mortgage broker, teacher and makeup artist. Her determination to live and to provide for her family has taken precedence in her life. A year ago, Galindo discovered her passion for makeup artistry. While most artists find their medium earlier on in their lives and then spend the rest of the time cultivating their medium, Galindo did not discover her passion for artistry until last year.

Being a mother, Galindo chose mortgage as a form of paying the bills. While she was financially stable, she was miserable. She recollected that she was making good money but feeling completely unhappy. We sat down with her to discuss her journey from mortgage to happiness and the liberation of women through art.

“We are our own worst critics, which I think is so sad. Now that I am an adult and I look back, women endure so much,” she said. “We need to put ourselves on a pedestal because we are breadwinners. We take a lot of emotional stuff, I mean we give birth to a human being.”

Sevanny: So makeup, how did you get started with it?

It’s so funny. I have been doing mortgage since I got out of high school. I’ve been in an office since I was 18. It paid the bills and I thought ‘Hey I’m making all this money and I have

my own car and my own apartment’.

I thought I was doing it big until the market crashed. After my son JoJo arrived, it became all about him. It still is. I became all about being the young PTO mom, the soccer mom and I don't know what happened but I fell into depression.

I just felt unsatisfied. I tried going back to school a few times. I don’t know what I was thinking but I always found my way back to doing mortgage. So I was in this slump. I worked from home and I was depressed. So one day, my cousin calls me and asks me ‘what’s wrong with you.’ I was giving him the whole “woe is me” speech and he said to me, you need to find something you have a passion for and I told him I did not have one.

I always wanted to do something to help people but I did not think about makeup until my cousin brought it to my attention and asked ‘why don’t you do makeup?’ The reason why he said that was because he is a celebrity hairstylist. He said ‘we can team up and do the hair and makeup together’ and I didn’t even think about it. I always liked makeup. I always admired it but I didn’t wear it so much and I never thought of it as a career. The day after he suggested it, I found Ruby’s Makeup Academy, which was perfect for my schedule and it was local.

How long ago did all this occur?

This was a year ago! After I graduated, the exact same day, the instructor approached me about being an assistant instructor. I was an emotional wreck, honestly, until that moment I had never followed through with anything in my life, except taking care of my son.

Not that that wasn’t enough but I just

wanted something for myself.

The instructor said she saw my passion and attitude and wanted me on board.

That’s why I tell my students, it’s your attitude that’s going to get you further than your artistry.

It’s only been a year and I have had a lot of opportunities in the industry.

While interviewing leah, we deviated from the questions quite and discussed work, relationships and men. This progressed to a conversation about her son, JoJo and Galindo’s determination to raise him to be a good man.

I don’t want my son to be a douchebag.

I sit with him and I talk to him like he is a grown man. I tell him that he needs to work hard because that is what men do. I tell him that he needs to respect women because that is what men do.

Granted, I do not have anyone opening the door for me but I always say I want JoJo to be everything I never had. I want him to be that Prince Charming.

Ok, so you’re a mom, you’re a girlfriend, you work in mortgage, what else do you do?

So I am a mom and girlfriend, which that is a lot and I’m noticing it now because it’s summer and I want to pull my hair out. Especially because we are in the midst of moving and I do my mortgage job from home and right now it’s not as busy. Normally, I would work on my laptop all the time.

I work during the early mornings and in the afternoon I would go to Ruby’s and then I would do my freelancing. Then if

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I have time, I would go to LA and I have a little job over there too at a law firm am always working.

There is a skit from the show in Living Color, that says Jamaicans have a lot of jobs. In Living Color was my family’s favorite show. It was Saturday Night Live for my family. In the skit, they have this family of Jamaicans and the girl was telling her parents that she had a boyfriend and she said, “Mommy I love him” and her mom asked, ‘How many job he have?” to which the girl said, “He only have one job.” Then the family says, “Oh no he lazy, man, he lazy,” and she says, “But I love him.”

Anyways, I always go around my family and my family tells me, ‘you’re like the family in Living Color’’ and I say ya but my man only has “one job, he lazy man.” Luckily my boyfriend thinks it’s too funny.

But the thing is, I am not juggling these jobs because it is awesome. I am juggling because each of these jobs, if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. So I have to maintain these jobs because there could be some slow months. I have to do it. I have no choice but at least I get to do what I love, which is makeup.

You painted an entire body of art on Samantha Pearl. What was the idea behind that?

I love playing with paints. I’ve done face painting on kids before and let me tell you working on kids is the greatest thing ever. You do a little smidgen of something and they go ‘Woah! This is the coolest thing. Thank you.’ I mean, you have to work quickly but it’s priceless.

So ya, I love working with paints. I love beauty makeup. That’s where the money is at but I want to expand. I want to work with airbrushing and body art. I want to explore my creativity. I was not artistic at all until I started face painting. I was using my instructors old pallet and started playing with the paints and I started face painting on my son. I did the Hulk on his face and I was surprised with myself. I have never done any of that. I can’t do that on a piece of paper. I was like, ‘Wow I did that!’ I realized I am an artist. Ever since then, I want to do more body art and

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I want to get more face painting gigs because kids are freaking awesome.

That zombie shoot we did really opened my eyes because I had never worked with prosthetics before and that was so cool! The things you can do with makeup are so amazing. I worked on a short film where I had to portray a car accident victim and I have a gallon of blood and I thought how freaking cool is this!

I love beauty makeup. I think it is beautiful but I want to get more creative. I want to create some dope shit. For Samantha Pearl, it was my first bodypainting and I wanted to do something that I’d feel comfortable doing. I actually ran out of paint but it came out good. I picked the cherry blossom and thought to add butterflies on her and that’s just how it came about.

So you work a lot, then you teach at Ruby.

Which I love teaching. I still have my insecure moments since I’m newly into my artistry. Sometimes I second guess myself but honestly I like the environment because I am still excited about the career and they are too, so we kind of feed off of each other’s energy.

In the classroom, I let them know the good, the bad, and the ugly from my experiences and I think they should know. I get re-inspired because at times it can get discouraging because makeup is a hustle. If you are not on it, you are not getting work and your name is not getting known. That’s why you have all these people on Instagram and social media constantly posting stuff because that’s the way to get your name out there but you still have to pound the pavement as well.

I am trying to build my account in social media but if I am out there pounding the pavement, meeting people on a personal level confidently, I’ll get it. I am more of a personal person.

That’s another thing I tell the girls at the school, ‘You have to surround yourself with the environment, whether it be at chool or your makeup artist friends.

You have to surround yourself with it.’

I have this Kevyn Aucoin book. He is a makeup artist. Whenever I get discouraged, I just go and read his book and it inspires me. I have to remind myself of what kind of artistry I want to do because sometimes I am surrounded by what everyone else wants to do and that’s not my way but I also want to learn. It’s work to maintain that ambition, so I have to do it because now I have an opportunity to do what I want to do to get by and that is a beautiful thing.

Honestly, the confidence that came with that, I never had confidence in myself at all. Anyone could tell me how beautiful I am but I’m not going to believe it. It was just something I always had to deal with and now I have more confidence in myself and what I am capable of and that is such a beautiful feeling. Now I’m like fuck finally! It took forever.

I was my own worst critic and still am but I used to make big things out of the smallest things and right away I would be so negative toward myself. It sucked not having that confidence in myself, because it held me back from a lot of things.

What do you say to people who compare makeup to hiding and wearing a mask?

I put on a ton of makeup and honestly, on my days off, I can’t wait to not wear makeup but I’m not putting it on because I’m ashamed. It is an art.

I wake up and I put music on and I get out my palette of colors. I’m not trying to hide anything. I’m just being creative.

Makeup is one of those things when I’m in a bad mood, I will rock a smokey eye and put some dark lipstick and you’re not going to talk to me. In the summertime, I’ve started wearing brighter colors. Makeup is more of an expression.

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People are beautiful without makeup.

It’s just about enhancing beauty.

Not changing.

That’s my form of makeup.

For more on Leah visit

www.makeupbyleahgalindo.com

NICOLE FLORES

Written by Sevanny Campos "Bringing out that inner confidence that people don't actually know they have is the best part of doing makeup." Having done Bettie P'asian’s makeup, one of the burlesque dancers in this issue, we felt as though Nicole Flores artistry needed recognition. I met Nicole at a photo event. Upon arriving at the event, Flores was already working on the face of a man with a flare for glam metal. She decided upon a dramatic smokey eye and black lip liner, blended with dark lipstick for the man’s image. While the look was exaggerated, it fit the model perfectly. The photos turned out great thanks, in no small part, to Flores.

Makeup artists have the stigma of having an "occupation" not a"career" as one cannot get a degree from a four year university. However with the popularity and necessity of the craft growing, it won't be long before that stigma will change. Painting, contouring and shading on the human face is one of the biggest challenges in every art form.

In speaking to Flores and seeing her paint on a person, the amount of time each individual received before being placed in front of the glaring lights of a studio, was pure work and dedication.

When finished applying the last details of makeup on each person, she did a thorough once over to make sure her vision was correctly carried onto the person’s face.

Coming from a fine arts background, Flores has tried most mediums of art.

She chose makeup for its challenge and ever changing canvas. She spoke to us after painting the lovely face of Bettie P'asian.

Sevanny: How did you get started in makeup?

I got started doing makeup in high school after some friends asked me.

I did it on and off until one day I released I couldn't do the 9 to 5.

Makeup was something I always enjoyed doing. I decided to go to school and become a makeup artist.

When did you start the makeup academy?

I started at Ruby's Makeup Academy in October 2013 and graduated in January of 2014. It was an 11 week hands-on course. I was taught professional makeup artistry, smokey eyes, cat eyes, what works.

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Tell me about your makeup kit. It seems as though artists carry a massive amount of equipment?

It is my baby. It is definitely a labor of love. Including my chair and my all my makeup boxes, my kit is worth approximately $3,000. I did not buy everything at once. It is definitely a labor of love.

If you don't mind me asking, what pays the bills?

I had side jobs as a receptionist. That helped pay the bills for a bit but for the record I am 100 percent a freelance makeup artist. I never say no to any challenge.

Speaking of challenges, what is the biggest challenge in doing makeup?

Having an overly demanding client.

Someone who overthinks and doesn't let me do my job. Luckily, I haven't encountered anything like that just yet but I have friends in the industry and that is their biggest issue.

What is harder, men’s or women’s makeup?

Both are about the same level of difficulty. Men's make up is a bit simpler. A part of me is quite lazy.

Sometimes I just want to get in and out and not worry about the details but I am completely comfortable doing both. Creatively, I have more fun doing women's makeup. I don't really have a preference.

Because you work on the body and faces, what do you see when you see the human body?

I see life. I think what the human body does is so amazing. You start as a tiny baby to an awesome human. Everyone is just so different and people have so many different ways of adorning their bodies. The possibilities are endless.

What is the best part of doing makeup?

The best part would have to be bringing out that inner confidence that people don't actually know they have.

Some people have never felt pretty and have never been called beautiful.

Putting on a bit of makeup and seeing their reaction is the best feeling in the world. Sometimes people will start to cry and say 'I have never felt pretty until this very moment.'

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There are women who don't feel beautiful without makeup and then there are memes floating around saying things like "I saw my girlfriend without makeup and I wondered why she ever put it on." As a makeup artist, does that affect you?

Makeup is a personal preference.

Women should be allowed to wear makeup, no matter how much they wear. People have skin conditions like discoloration and cannot go out without heavy makeup.

Some people have been blessed with beautiful skin and do not need it. In all honesty, it is a personal choice and women should not be judged for wearing makeup.

For more of her work

www.nikkivonmunstermua.weebly.com

BETTIE P’ASIAN

Written by Felipe Sandoval | Edited by Sevanny Campos

Bettie P'asian is a burlesque performer and model from the Los Angeles area. She attended the California Institute of the Arts, where she was classically trained in acting. P'asian also received training in pole dancing, contemporary dance, hip hop, mime, experimental movement and singing.

A burlesque performer needs to be able to get over stage fright to be able to show the audience what they can do. "I find a lot of release in physical expression and it's really fun," P'asian said. When asked if she had taken dance classes as a child, she explained her mother’s attempt to do so.

"When I was really little, my mom put me in ballet but apparently I hated it. So then she put me in gymnastics and I wasn't crazy about that,� P'asian said. "Then she put me in this acting program that had a lot of movement based classes. Kind of experimental, modern, contemporary stuff and I really loved that."

The driving force that led P'asian into the glamorous burlesque scene was her love for pin-ups as well as the vintage era. "I was inspired by Bettie Page, Marilyn Monroe, all these classic sex icons and when I had the opportunity try it out, I really enjoyed it".

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Bettie stepped into the burlesque scene. She explained her first performance was at Cal Arts helping out one of her friends. Though being shy about it at first, this is where she began to embrace the beauty of the body that burlesque emphasizes.

"It opens up more opportunities to perform. It would open up many more opportunities for me,� she said.

You can see the enthusiasm in her portfolio, be it her modeling work or burlesque performances.

When asked how she prepares for a show, Bettie responded by saying that she still gets nervous from time to time.

"Sometimes I find myself in the moment of a routine or a movement and I have my choreography. I have what I do but I get so inspired to do something that was not planned and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't," P'asian said.

Bettie P'asian expresses herself through the beauty of burlesque and cabaret. She takes charge in her choreography and production, being as creative as she wants, to put on a spectacular show.

For more on Bettie P’asian visit www.bettiepasian.com

YASMINE VINE

Interviewed by Felipe Sandoval | Written by Sevanny Campos

Wearing a gold corset, black wrap of silk and fur and stockings attached to a garter belt, Yasmine Vine exudes the confidence and sex appeal of a burlesque performer. Now a singer, Vine used the skills and boldness she learned as a dancer to make her transition to a pop singer.

“The reason I got into burlesque was because I wanted to learn to be comfortable on stage. I figured if I could get down to pasties on stage, I will never have stage fright again,” Vine said.

Growing up watching Madonna’s Blonde Ambition, the singer always had a passion for the performing arts. She took ballet as a child and later studied

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dance in college. Though she had years of instruction, Vine did not fit the mold of a traditional dancer. At that point, she was searching for a type of dance that would suit her.

“I started working at a dance store in Hollywood,” Vine said. “Every time a dancer came in, I would ask them what dance school they went to, just because I had a passion for it.”

One day a group of girls entered the dance store and Vine asked what dance school they attended. The ladies responded by saying they were burlesque performers and proceeded to invite Vine to a burlesque performance.

“Burlesque is more about self expression and freedom and loving your body, than anything else.

I had to do it,” she said.

“It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was a mixture of acting, expression, costuming and dance.”

After the performance, Vine signed up for burlesque veteran, Bella Beretta’s 11 week course in burlesque. Surrounded by glitter, feathers and grandeur, Vine fell in love with the creativity and freedom that came with burlesque. She went on to have a seven year career performing burlesque.

Before the sequenced feathers, Vine’s journey to performing started in a hostile environment as the performer was raised in Iran until the age of nineteen. Vine’s family immigrated from Iran to the United States when she was three years old. However, financial troubles led to the family’s return to Iran, when she was ten years old.

“It was very shocking when I first arrived. Growing up in America, you’re free as a kid and then you go into this hostile environment.” Vine said.

“My life went from color to black and white.”

Vine’s life changed drastically after moving to the hostile nation. As women, almost everything is illegal in Iran. Women are required to cover their bodies and may not travel without their husband or a male relative. Music, dancing and singing are also prohibited in the Islamic nation.

“When I lived in Iran, it was already being attacked by Iraq and everyone was scared. So all I would do is sit in my room and watch Blonde Ambition over and over again. Dancing and singing were a comfort to me,” Vine said.

As performing arts of any kind are illegal in Iran, Vine obtained Blond Ambition through a smuggler.

As mentioned before, dancing is outlawed in Iran. However, that did not stop Vine. The performer took ballet lessons from an underground studio ran by a woman.

“I couldn’t just go to dance class,” Vine said. “There was only one place where one could buy ballet shoes. A Russian/ Armenian had a store very far away and he built the shoe for you.”

In these circumstances, Vine continued to dream of returning to the United States and becoming a performer. At 19 years old, she had the opportunity to return to the United States.

“It was not easy. I did not have to sneak out because I had been to the United States before but it was not as easy as buying a ticket and getting on a plane,” she said. “Especially because I was moving by myself. That was very scary.”

Vine’s family was supportive of her relocation to the United States. Her mother and sister would follow Vine two years later and settle in the United States.

“So then I myself, not my family, was very Muslim. It was very different for me to go from being Muslim to a burlesque dancer. I was very Muslim, even after coming to America. I would still fast and go to Mosque,” Vine said.

It was the events on 9/11 that pushed her away from Islam. Praying in the same direction as violent extremists caused her to distance herself from the religion. According to Vine, following the religion was not in line with who she was and caused her to be unhappy.

“I think every woman should do burlesque because you get the experience of fully being a woman. You get to enjoy it. It’s not about seducing men” Vine said.

“It is the only dance form that complements the form of a woman.”

“I started meditating and I do that very often and my whole life changed,” she said. “Then I was introduced to burlesque.”

Following her break from Islam and her tenure as a burlesque performer, Vine transitioned into singing pop music. However, burlesque plays a large role in her performances.

“As a performer, my roots are burlesque and I like to incorporate it in my songs. So in addition to pop music, I am also creating more jazz/burlesque music,” she said.

Yasmine’s career has been a crazy and unparalleled journey. Her time as a burlesque dancer allowed her to be accepting of her body and enabled her to be confident on stage.

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For more on Yasmine visit

www.yasminevine.com

THE REGAL PEACHES Written by Sevanny Campos

The term “musical yard sale” has never been truer about a band than The Regal Peaches. The eclectic band released their self-titled EP on June 15th and had a party to commemorate the occasion. The release party included a performance by them at the end of the night.

A large crowd gathered at the Roxbury Cafe in Beverly Hills to celebrate with the band. Throughout the night, members of the band mingled with the guest, thanking them for coming and offering them refreshments.

Mostly, the crowd was anticipating the band’s turn behind the mic at around 11pm. The Regal Peaches are one of

the few bands whose audience not only dances to the music but also sings along. Their sound is catchy, lively and absolutely their own.

One of the unique qualities of the Peaches is their ability to change instruments and vocals throughout their set. Since every member plays everything, the band differentiates themselves by their appearance. Trent Matthew Baron II performs in a dress.

He sported a striped number for the release party. Chris Lopez dons a chicken hat. Kevin T. Hill has the longest beard of the group and Derek Heath wore a polka dot shirt.

“We really enjoy playing music with each other and we enjoy getting better at different instruments. We love listening to different music and we all enjoy writing songs,” Lopez said.

“It’s pretty much that we spend a lot of time writing our songs. We don’t really think about our sound particularly. We probably have a chord to the song and then we all work on it together,” added Baron II. “And it just happens to be whatever it comes out to be.”

“We’ve never really defined what our sound’s going to be. Initially, when we first started playing, it derived from the fact that each of us writes songs for the group. When we initially started, we

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Trent,” Lopez said. “It was the first rehearsal we had. Kevin and Derek had taken off and me and Trent were still hanging out in the studio. Trent had this riff, actually, the whole song and I just started singing this melody and I was really drawn to the chorus and then we went from there.”

The last song the Peaches played during their set at the Roxbury Cafe was “Standing in Line.” The band had just finished their original set, however, the audience cried for another song.

Heath picked up the microphone and a guitar riff began a new song. The crowd let out a huge cheer and began to sing along with Heath. “Standing in Line” allows the audience to sing along by chanting this simple phrase, “LoveLove-Love.”

“Standing in Line was all Derek,” Baron II said. “Yes,” added Heath. “That was actually a song that I started writing and just sat in the wings for years. I probably wrote a piece of that song years ago before the Peaches ever happened and I just never had an outlet for it, until the Peaches got together.”

After their set, their great performance was the subject of conversation for every person at the cafe. The crowd was practically hungover from the excitement. Each of their songs is intricate and beautifully crafted. It is no wonder the band wanted to have a big celebration of this accomplishment.

did not sound like one band. Over time in playing with each other and being around each other, it began to form a unified sound,” Heath said.

As soon as the band took their place on the stage, everyone in attendance crowded around them. The band began their performance with “Blame It on the Weather”; a bouncy, catchy and lighthearted song began with a harmony of voices. The audience

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immediately recognizes the tune and begins to dance along to Lopez’s vocals. Towards the end of the song, there is a beautiful guitar solo to which the crowd swayed from side to side in unison with the song. As the song ends, the crowd breaks into applause and the band quickly changes instruments for their next number.

“Blame It on the Weather was all Chris,” Heath said. “Actually, it was

“We want to keep going and keep moving forward. We want to see just how kooky we can get,” Heath said.

“We get pretty technical. Every song should be fantastic.”

“My personal goal as a musician and with the band is to write beautiful music and this is the first band I’ve been in that I truly enjoy everything that we are doing. I can listen to it and say ‘wow that’s pretty’ or ‘that’s bad ass’,” Baron II added. “Everything that we do, I love.

Each of us has inspired each other.”

“Its never about showing up and making the songs.

We show up and say how can we make this song as pretty as it can possibly be,” Hill said. “We started out in a certain level of our musicianship and now we are growing together, by writing songs and learning from each other and also incorporating different influences. The goal is to keep getting better.”

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For more on The Regal Peaches visit

www.theregalpeaches.com

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THE SEX TAPE SCANDAL

The Scandal’s music is filthy and dirty.

It is the kind of music to make men angry and make women feel sexy. One could easily see their musical influences in their appearance, and write them off as a nostalgic band, but singer Corey Creeps’ angry, screaming vocals gives them an edge.

We caught the band’s performance during the first round of a “Battle of the Bands.” The band had a long set which included songs from their “Cheap Date” EP as well as their upcoming EP. From start to finish the Scandals connected with the audience. Guitarist, Benji Lixx, would walk off the platform into the crowd, guitar strapped around his chest. At some point he would be on the floor playing a solo with the crowd dancing and cheering around him. Bassist, Jimmy Lee, was constantly walking into the crowd. His stage presence was reminiscent of glam metal flamboyant and demanding.

While Creeps, Lixx and Lee competed and teased the crowd, drummer, Ronnie Fallout, was absorbed in his drums. Looking toward the back of the stage one could catch him making an expression to match the song being played. The band had a fantastic stage presence and great performance.

They finished their set with a cover of Motorheads, “Ace of Spades” and loud cheers of appreciation from the audience.

After thanking the crowd, The Sex Tape Scandal sat down with us to talk discuss their new EP titled “Pretty Ugly.”

Written by Sevanny Campos The Sex Tape Scandal is an anomaly in a world currently enthralled with EDM, indie and pop music. They look like the product of a Motley Crue brawl back in the 1980’s and are a testament of the survival of sleaze rock in the last two decades.

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Sevanny: Tell me about your music?

Benji Lixx: We love to play rock and roll and that’s what we do.

Corey Creeps: It’s loud, it’s crude, it’s mean. I dont know, it says fuck you. We spend a lot of time writing those songs.

Tell me about your first EP, why those two songs?

Lixx: “Cheap Date.” Those were the first two songs that we could get recorded and we could get done. They may sound musically complicated but we played them so much that they came out like nothing. So now we are recording a new EP called “Pretty Ugly”.

album that is going to be done around November.

How did you come up with the name for the EP? Lixx: Me and Corey, the singer, we live together and I was getting ready in his bathroom and he asked what the hell I was doing. I said I was getting pretty and he jokingly said pretty ugly and I said we should name that the new EP and he said ya sure I like it. I thought it was a joke and I told Ronnie and he loved it.

Fallout: I heard about it and I was just like, wait, that’s awesome and I said to Benji, I heard your idea and he said, it was a joke.

Creeps: It perfectly describes us.

Lixx: Then we just ran with it. The whole duality thing as far as the album artwork goes and the way everything just goes with the music. There are two sides to every coin.

Musically, what do we expect from the new EP? Creeps: Upgraded versions of everything anybody has ever heard.

Fallout: A ruder guitar tone. A more organic feel to the music.

Creeps: Awesome vocal harmonies.

Ronnie Fallout: ‘“Pretty Ugly” is actually going to have the two songs from the first EP re-recorded and remastered, plus two new songs.

Is there a reason why you are rerecording them?

All: YEAH! Creeps: We recorded the whole album and kind of got screwed out of it. So those are the two remaining tracks that we have of that and we’ve gone and recorded at a different place.

We’ve re-recorded the whole album.

Lixx: And this time we’ll get them a lot faster and a lot better. It’s what we want not what he wants.

Fallout: We recorded the whole album, walked away with two songs and got screwed out of the rest of it. It was kind of a blessing in disguise. If we hadn’t had gotten screwed around for a year and half, we wouldn’t have met the kids now making our album. These child prodigies of Syrian Productions. So these first four tracks are a taste of the

How did you come together?

Creeps: Well, Ronnie and Benji sucked together for like years and years. Then Jimmy found them and basically put two young men in the right direction and then they found me and I was just getting drunk all the time. Then they brought me into the mess.

Lixx: It worked out for the best.

Jimmy Lee: His (Corey Creeps) main thing at the time was getting drunk and rolling cigarettes and I thought to myself, he’s fucking perfect.

Lixx: I remember Ronnie and I asked him the same question we asked Jimmy. Do you like Motley Crue and he said he loved Motley Crue and we said, ‘you’re in the band.’

Lee: He showed up wearing these weird gloves.

Creeps: Why the fuck was I wearing gloves?

Lee: The surgeon gloves and he just stood there and he didn’t say anything.

We asked him ‘Are you ready?’ he said, ‘I don’t know’ and I said ‘Well we’re going on.’

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Lixx: Then he combusted on stage.

He blew everyone away.

Corey, how did you find out you could scream like that?

Creeps: I don’t know. You just get drunk and you don’t give a fuck and you just let out all the stresses of the week. Back then, I didn’t even have a job. I was stressing, sitting around watching cartoons and let it out during the weekend.

Lee: We had a discussion on our way home after a show one day. If Mr. Creeps did what he does on stage anywhere else, let’s say at a mall or swap meet, he’d probably get arrested or some sort of disturbing the peace bullshit. But he could get away with it on stage.

Creeps: It’s therapeutic release.

In the first EP you have a song called “Two at a Time”, how did that come about?

Lixx: I wanted to write about having a threesome.

Ronnie: And I wanted to write a song

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about doing a bunch of drugs. We wanted it to be a double entendre.

Creeps: It just ended up being a song about our drug use.

Lixx: I had to fight Ronnie about the second guitar solo. My argument was that since it was a double entendre, you had to have two guitar solos.

The second song on the “Cheap Date”, it’s a bit complicated.

Creeps: It’s an older song called “Torment.”

Lixx: That was before Corey joined the band. We had to record the song three times over and the final version of the song is what you hear now. The song is originally abiut a bassist that we had to kick out of the band. He was one of our best friends but he couldn’t play bass and he wasn’t making time for the band. He was focusing more on school so I wrote the song about the suffering of having to get rid of one of your best friends. I knew that once he left the band, we would not hang out with him as much because the band hangs out all the time. Then Corey decided to make it more about a chick.

Creeps: Well I didn’t know it was more about a dude in the first place, so I changed it. I made it just a little bit better.

You mentioned that Corey added onto Torment. How does your songwriting process work?

Lixx: It’s different for every song. We usually start a song with four chords and go from there. There is a song that will not be on the EP but will be in the album called “Party Song”. I said let’s just write a whole song with only four chords and make everything based off of those four chords.

Creeps: And our song “Bad Girl” was just some shit we came up with at a bar. I was wasted and yelling the words to it, making it up, ‘Bad girl, I want a bad girl’ and the next week these guys wrote the fucking song and it worked.

What I was singing in the parking lot went exactly with what they were playing.

Lixx: Actually three songs came out around that time. We were playing a going away party and I was trying to figure out how to play a Def Leppard

song and that’s how the main riff for “Two at a Time” came out and we built the song around that. We swapped the chorus for “Bad Girl” for the chorus for “Two at a Time” and we also came up with “Party” around that time. One of our songs, “Take Your Revenge,” I wrote in the same key as “Halfway in the Grave,” which will be on the new EP by the way. It was on our demo but now it’s on the EP and it’ll sound awesome, “Pretty Ugly.”

You’ve been together for three years and have played a large number of shows. What’s next for you?

Lixx: Playing more shows. Bigger shows.

Fallout: Not just that but we might go on tour very soon. We will be on tour this year but I can’t say too much right now.

Lixx: Mostly because we are still figuring out the right places to go to.

Creeps: The next thing for us is to release the EP. Four songs to let people know about our album coming out this year and the tour behind the EP. Indie music is pretty big right now, how do you compete with it?

Lixx: We don’t really try to compete with that. Anyone can pop in a CD and enjoy it but it’s different when you go and see the band and they put on a great show. If they sound as good as they play on the CD, good for them but who cares if you can’t see some crazy shit going on on stage.

Creeps: We try to make it a performance. It’s entertainment.

What’s your ultimate goal?

Fallout: World Domination.

Creeps: To be bigger than KISS. Lixx: I’m down for that.

Lee: Make rock music dangerous again.

There was a time where you had to listen to Skid Row late at night so your parents wouldn’t bitch at you. Right now, rock music is so saturated with play it safe bands. Their music is very digestible and it’s very easy going.

Even if you don’t know the song, you can predict the next part because that’s how predictable it is. Rock music comes down to being edgy and dangerous.

Lixx: Rock music is larger than life.

Creeps: Taking people out of their everyday life and for one night of the week, you get to come and see us.

Fallout: Everyone wants to be crazy and have no inhibitions and be a rockstar. I mean, how many people want to be rockstars in this lifetime?

Our goal is to give people a little slice of the rockstar life and let them enjoy it with us. Or rather for us to enjoy it with them.

Lixx: After one of our shows at Stingers, we were telling this guy about the party we were at the night before and he was completely blown away.

He said ‘I can’t believe bands will do that nowadays. I thought those bands had died off.’ They are not dead. They just aren’t around as much as they used to be.

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Lee: I read a quote from a former rockstar in the 80’s that said, “Back then, debauchery was king.” With us, it is still king. It comes down to having a good time and making sure the crowd is having a good time.

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For more on The Sex Tape Scandal visit www.thesextapescandal.com

What sets The Regal Peaches apart from other bands, is that they are all equally talented. Each member contributes a song on this EP. This self-titled EP can be purchased on iTunes and their Bandcamp. Buy it now! www.theregalpeaches.com